Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Sore? You Mean Like Wipe it With Ben-Gay??

It's Over. Thank God It's Over.

The obscene, incestuous spectacle is over; the 2018 Grammy Awards closed to abysmal ratings. Even the "I Really Wish I Were President" hand puppet act by Hillary Clinton was not enough to generate much interest.

 Send in the clowns
Maybe it was the more than three and a half hour run time, maybe it was the surprise Hillary Clinton cameo and political stances than seemed to take up more airtime than the music or maybe it was the move to a January broadcast that hobbled last night’s Grammys. Regardless of the reason, somewhere the 60th annual Grammy Awards lost the groove – at least when it comes to ratings and viewers.
It was the lowest rated Grammy in nine years. It was a close runner up to my high school graduation video featuring my shop teacher's paper silhouette portraits and the Smithtown Indians cheerleaders pyramid blooper reel.
With a 12.7/21 in metered market ratings, the Recording Academy’s big hootenanny was also way down from the early numbers from the LA-based February 13, 2017 59th annual show. By way down, I mean a just over 20% decline from last year to what looks to be an all-time low for the ceremony.
Next year I suggest that the Grammy producers include a video of Greatest Indictments Ever of the Obama Administration. That may draw a crowd.

Friday, January 26, 2018

The Fog Of War

Have you gotten tired of all the back and forth blogging and tweeting that take us from "Trump is Toast" to "The Deep State is Going Down?"

Does anyone really know what is truly happening? I have a strong feeling that if they do, they're keeping mum about it, for good reason. The number of unsolved homicides and suspicious suicides surrounding national political intrigue is enough to give anyone pause.



I believe we are experiencing the Fog of War. Both sides are using smoke screens to obscure their maneuvering, to draw the public's attention away to something shiny while actual events are occurring. This is to be expected. And let's not doubt for a minute that there is a war in progress and it still could go either way. Mueller wants to hang Trump's pelt on his tent post and Trump wants to destroy the bureaucratic and financial/global interests that drive so much of this nation's foreign and domestic policies.

During much of my recuperation from surgery I have tried to follow the various threads/sources that allegedly reveal the various plots and subplots that are gripping the nation's political elites. I feel that I am little more informed than I was several months ago simply because ... who can you trust? Who is spinning and who is straight? Who sees through the chaff and who is co-opted?

To no one's surprise, the Kabuki theater antics of the media are of no help at all.

But in the flood of emails that have received so much attention there are several opinions I have formed/strengthened that I can espouse:
  1. The upper level management of the FBI was/is severely politically compromised. No surprises here.
  2. The upper level management of America's intelligence community was/is likewise compromised. The extent of this is somewhat surprising.
  3. The upper level management of all three branches of our government is lying through their teeth in one way or another. No surprises here either.
  4. Everyone at these stratospheric levels knows what the others at this level are doing and they are all scared spitless. Hence the lies, hence the Fog of War.
Eventually heads are going to roll. Bet your bottom dollar on this.
Whose heads? 
Good question.
It will probably take several months before we know. Grab some popcorn and adult beverages of your choice, it will take a while before all the maneuvering is done and the strongest (smartest? most clever? most ruthless? most prepared?) emerges as the winner. I sincerely hope Trump emerges victorious, but probably not unscathed.

What really ticks me off is that the Fog will probably not be completely swept away for years. The Fog surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy still lingers and I have a feeling that present day events will be no different.

But that's just my opinion. What do I know...

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Vacation Mode Activated

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

Back in mid-October of last year I received an alarming phone call at 6:00 AM from my best friend of 40-plus years.  She informed me she was having her daughter-in-law take her to the emergency room.  Her son rushed to her side and called for an ambulance instead.
I travelled to the beach to visit her in-hospital for what I thought would be the last time I would ever see my best friend alive.  
To make a long story short, she was placed in intensive care and very nearly died.  She was released from the hospital 18 days later.  She had suffered from cerebral hypoxia, a depravation of oxygen to the brain, and suffered substantial memory loss.  Mercifully, her memory has mostly returned.
Its time to visit my friend again so, I am packing up the PT Cruiser and Sophie The Wonderdog and heading to the beach to see my best good friend for a couple of weeks and celebrate her 77th birthday. 
While I’m away, co-bloggers Proof and Sig94 will keep an eye on the place. I have queued up the ladies for the regular Monday feature “Flowing Curves of Beauty”.  The rest will be up to the guys.  

Monday, January 22, 2018

Did Schumer Bend The Knee?

Democrats lost the shutdown war. They declared for weeks they would not back any funding bill without a bipartisan agreement to protect so-called Dreamers. As Day Three of a government shutdown dawned, Democrats folded like a cheap suit voting to reopen the government.
The White House labeled the government closure the “Schumer Shutdown” sending the Democrats into a bit of a panic.  The label stuck and the stench of fear clung to them like a skunk had sprayed them as the New York Times and the Associated Press blamed them for shuttering the government.
What did the Democrats get out of the shutdown?  Not a damned thing.  President Trump has managed to show Republicans how to show some spine and in so doing they, I strongly believe, have managed to erase some of the stigma of past shutdowns.

“Today's cave by Senate Democrats—led by weak-kneed, right-of-center Democrats—is why people don’t believe the Democratic Party stands for anything,” said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “These weak Democrats hurt the party brand for everyone and make it harder to elect Democrats everywhere in 2018.”
Oh, dear Stephanie. The Night King called for Schumer to bend the knee or he would destroy him.  Senator Schumer’s formal act of submission was a glorious sight to behold.  Crying Chuck will be treated with leniency, but there will be no trust in this lying 10 lb. blivet in a 5 lb. sack.
I tweeted this to Sen. Schumer early this morning:
And now for some comedy gold I present disgraced poodle, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz:
UPDATE:  Welcome readers of Evil Bloggerlady.  We thank her for linking to this post. 

Flowing Curves Of Beauty

Newton's lesser known law of physics: For every male action, there is an equal and opposite female over-reaction.



Sunday, January 21, 2018

Schumer Shutdown: The State Of Play

After a continuing resolution to keep the government open was passed in December of 2017, Democrats signaled they would not support future spending bills, even clean ones, until the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) were addressed. FISA is a done deal. CHIP was funded for six years with the House spending bill that passed on January 18th and DACA permits won’t expire until March 5th
President Trump issued a six-month enforcement delay on DACA when he decided to wind down the program gradually last September, citing the Obama-era program as constitutionally questionable. The delay was meant for Congress to get the DACA legislation right. 
The mantra from the Left when the government shutdown became effective was Republicans control the White House, the House and the Senate.  The Senate make-up is comprised of 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats and 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats.  The Democrats do not control the Senate, but they can obstruct any and all bills due to the 60-vote threshold required to pass legislation.  Majority Leader McConnell asked to take up the Continuing Resolution that would have prevented the shutdown, but Sen. Schumer objected.
During the 2013 debt ceiling negotiations, Sen. Schumer noted tying immigration to budgetary matters was an exercise in chaos. “You know, we could do the same thing on immigration. We believe strongly in immigration reform. We could say, ‘We’re shutting down the government, we’re not gonna raise the debt ceiling, until you pass immigration reform.’ It would be governmental chaos.”
As Congressional leaders and White House officials ran around Capitol Hill like chickens with their heads cut off during a rare Saturday session, Chuck Schumer spoke with a poster strategically placed in the background as he spoke from the floor.  The poster read:  Trump Shutdown.
Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) spoke from the well of the House with a poster behind him as well which had a photo of Schumer and his 2013 quote:  “A government shutdown is the politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.”  This rankled the Democrats who objected to the poster’s presence on the floor.  There was a vote and The Great Poster War of 2018 was settled allowing Byrne to continue his speech.
On Saturday evening, McConnell said he would force another vote on a short-term funding bill at 1 a.m. Monday, unless there's an agreement before then. That will ramp up the pressure on both sides to come up with a deal over the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Twitterverse rightly mocked the Schumer Shutdown.  The graphic above uses an image from the 2009 film The Road.  Within the graphic I took a tweet from Jonah Goldberg I found most amusing.  His tweet was a perfect smackdown of a tweet from CNN’s Jim Acosta lamenting a “completely empty” snack machine in the White House.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Democrats Overplayed Their Hand In Shutting Down The Government

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell castigated Democrats from the Senate floor saying Democrats forced a "completely avoidable" shutdown. "What we have just witnessed on the floor was a cynical decision by Senate Democrats to shove aside millions of Americans for the sake of irresponsible political games." 
“This is completely unfair and uncompassionate for my Democratic colleagues to filibuster government funding, harm our troops and jeopardize health coverage for 9 million children (CHIP) because extreme elements of their base want illegal immigration to crowd out every other priority,” McConnell said.
Only five Democrats voted to advance the bill:  West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Missouri’s Claire McCaskill and newly elected Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama.
Republicans who broke ranks by voting against the Continuing Resolution to keep the government open were Rand Paul of Kentucky, Little Miss Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Utah’s Mike Lee and Jeff “Nutcake” Flake of Arizona.  John McCain was absent while battling brain cancer.


CNN’s Martin Savage conducted a roundtable interview with five Democrats from Youngstown, Ohio. Each of them crossed party lines to vote for President Trump in 2016.

Savage’s questions focused on the voters’ opinions of his first year in office. The responses from the diverse group of voters left the interviewer’s jaw on the floor and serves as further evidence a majority of Americans do not agree with shuttering the government over the DACA program.


UPDATE:  Welcome readers of Pirate’s Cove.  We are grateful to the Admiral for linking to this post.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Welcome To The Twilight Zone

Fired FBI Director James Comey graduated from William & Mary in 1984 with a double major in chemistry and religion, and will teach for a full academic year beginning this fall according to Reuters.
William & Mary President Taylor Reveley said, “Jim Comey is among William & Mary’s most distinguished alumni. Over the years, he has been deeply committed to his alma mater. He understands to the core of his being that our leaders must have an abiding commitment to ethical behavior and sacrificial service if we are to have good government. Our students will benefit significantly from his experience and wisdom.”
That statement clarifies Comey’s absurdly holier-than-thou tweets.

Facts Contained In Memo Are “Jaw-Dropping”

After the release yesterday of a 4-page memo outlining surveillance abuses by the United States government, Republican lawmakers approved making it available to all members of the House of Representatives.  It has been suggested the memo contains answers to questions regarding abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
It is clear, based upon responses from leading GOP leaders there was a bias against Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the 2016 Presidential Election by the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) tweeted, "I have read the memo. The sickening reality has set in. I no longer hold out hope there is an innocent explanation for the information the public has seen. I have long said it is worse than Watergate. It was #neverTrump & #alwaysHillary. #releasethememo."
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), called for the public release of the memo's information. “The House must immediately make public the memo prepared by the Intelligence Committee regarding the FBI and the Department of Justice. The facts contained in this memo are jaw-dropping and demand full transparency. There is no higher priority than the release of this information to preserve our democracy."
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) called the memo "alarming" and "shocking," respectively.
“Part of me wishes that I hadn’t read it, because I don’t want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much," Meadows added.
Rep. Jordan explained, "Here is the process: Chairman Devin Nunes in the Intelligence Committee in the House can bring the committee back together. They can have a vote. If the majority of the Committee votes to release these documents, the Executive Branch gets a certain amount of time to review them. If the Executive Branch gives the thumbs up they go public. This could happen real quick. Chairman Nunes is committed to getting this information to the public."
Stay tuned.  This is a one helluva fast-moving scandal many have described as more egregious than Watergate.

UPDATE:  Welcome readers of Pirate’s Cove.  We appreciate the Admiral linking to this post. 

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Trump The Winter Olympics

South Korean President Moon Jae-in lavished praise on President Donald Trump for making a "huge" contribution to bringing North and South Korea together for landmark talks.
After the first intra-Korean talks in over two years, the President indicated the United States would be willing to speak to North Korea “under the right circumstances,” although it was far from clear whether this would pay dividends.
According to the South China Morning Post, in a joint statement the North pledged to send a large delegation to next month’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the South, but made a “strong complaint” after Seoul proposed talks to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
South Korea asked its neighbor to halt hostile acts that stoke tension on the peninsula, and in return, the North agreed that peace should be guaranteed in the region.
South Korea announced it will march under a unified Korean flag, according to Reuters Sports. The BBC reported the two nations have also agreed to field a joint women's hockey team although they will compete separately in other sports.
While the two Koreas have agreed to allow their teams to walk together in the Winter Olympics, North Korea will not be able to field a team for the Summer Olympics having recently lost two of their best sprinters who defected across the DMZ back in December.

Hungary Passes “Stop Soros” Laws

Hungary built long fences along its southern borders in late 2015 to stop the flood of migrants fleeing war-torn Syria.
Between January and November 2015 an estimated 1.5 million people are estimated to have crossed the EU external borders illegally.
As the crisis became untenable that year, European Union Chief Jean Claude-Juncker made an impassioned plea for Europe to take in their share of refugees saying, “To me, it is clear the Member States where most refugees first arrive─at the moment, these are Italy, Greece and Hungary─cannot be left alone to cope with this challenge.

In 2016, there were 29,432 applications for asylum in Hungary.  Of that number 22,835 were men, 6599 were women and 8551 were children.

According to a published report from EuroNews, Germany was asked to grant asylum to 27,536 migrants and France to take in 19,714.
Wikipedia lists the number of terror attacks in Germany at four since 2015 and France has been stricken a total of five times by terrorists.  Each attack was officially listed as committed by radical Islamists.
On September 6, 2017 the European Union Court of Justice dismissed a challenge by Slovakia and Hungary over the mandatory quota program.

The mandatory quota system was approved in September 2015 by a majority of EU member states, but was rejected by Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary.  Poland supported the plan, but later strongly opposed it when the Law and Justice Party came to power.  
After attending a meeting of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Germany Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor OrbĂ¡n announced Hungary would refuse to take in refugees declaring he is following the will of his people─a deliberate jab at Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel─whose open-door policy has come under fire.
“Most refugees,” said OrbĂ¡n, “come to Europe not because they are fleeing dangerous conditions at home but because they want to take advantage of economic opportunities. As such, they shouldn’t be considered ‘refugees’ so much as ‘Muslim invaders.’”
In a published report today in DailyMail-UK, “Hungary has introduced new laws which it says will penalize groups that receive foreign funding to aid illegal immigration.”
“The government has dubbed the new legislation the 'Stop Soros' laws, because it blames Hungarian-American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros for Europe's migration challenges─in part because of his funding of groups that support the rights of refugees.”
“The ‘Stop Soros’ laws include mandatory registration of some non-government organizations that 'support illegal immigration'”, officials say. 
“A 25% tax would be imposed on foreign donations that NGOs collect, and activists could face restraining orders that preclude them from approaching the EU's external borders in Hungary. Furthermore third-country nationals could also be subject to a restraining order anywhere within the country.”
“Exact details are not clear because the bills will only be published and submitted for public debate on Thursday. But pro-government media reported that they could result in a ban on Soros─who has U.S. and Hungarian citizenship─from entering the country.”

UPDATE:  Welcome readers of iOTWReport.  Once again, we’ve been the recipient of MJA’s linky-love.  Thank you so much.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Remember Flake's Impassioned Speech When Obama And Holder Went After The Media? Yeah, Me Neither.

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake’s speech on the Senate floor this morning absurdly ignored how the “free press” he chose to defend against President Trump colluded with Clinton, Inc. and the Democrat National Committee to destroy him.  It was what I would describe as a “deep state” oratory and a simultaneous job interview for MSNBC or CNN which shall be henceforth referred to as The Empire of Lies.
In his 2,117-word diatribe Flake decreed, “No politician will ever get to tell us what the truth is and is not. And anyone who presumes to try to attack or manipulate the truth to his own purposes should be made to realize the mistake and be held to account. That is our job here. And that is just as Madison, Hamilton, and Jay would have it.”
“Of course, a major difference between politicians and the free press is that the press usually corrects itself when it gets something wrong. Politicians don’t.”
We knew for days before Flake’s missive he intended to compare President Trump’s disdain for the “fake news” to the savage Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.  As more and more people became aware of his intent, he drew an unrelenting backlash and tried to walk it all back with this tweet:
The Twitterverse had a few tongue-in-cheek thoughts for “Snowflake” following his speech today:

When Doody Calls

“My father was a mailman.” 
That bit of idyllic family history has me wondering why no other offspring of mailmen have sought to run for president.  Obviously, John Kasich distinguishes himself as the pick of the litter; uniquely qualified and profoundly prepared to lead the country.
Seth McLaughlin, Politics Desk Reporter for The Washington Times wrote, “From his perch in the Ohio governor’s mansion, Republican John Kasich is keeping a keen eye on President Trump’s every move and showing a willingness—some say eagerness—to hurl rotten tomatoes toward the leader of his Party when he gets upset with the act.”

“He has become a go-to anti-Trump source for the media and often doesn’t even wait for the press to call. Instead, he leaps in to pile on after presidential missteps.”
“While insisting he wants Mr. Trump to succeed, Mr. Kasich has pointedly refused to rule out mounting a primary challenge against the president in 2020. He said he wants to maintain a voice in the party because ‘you never know when duty calls.’”
Kasich is a rude SOB.  Ask the Ohio State trooper he called “an idiot” when he ticketed him for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle; or the crusade he went on making sure his local Blockbuster store took the film “Fargo” off its shelves.
“Usually, I speak out against the status quo on behalf of the little guy, but sometimes I get a little crazy and go off about something like this Fargo business, with no real expectation but to let off some steam. I can’t imagine it’s all that much fun to be on the receiving end of one of my tirades, but I’m here to tell you it isn’t much fun to be making the delivery either.”
Kasich is a hothead.  While on the campaign trail during the 2016 presidential election, he got angry and grabbed a recorder from a reporter for The Financial Times who made the mistake of asking why he should be the nominee of the Republican Party having won only one state.
Kasich has a long history of uttering gaffes. He showed off his love for Hispanics by saying he always leaves a nice note for the Latina maids at hotels. A month after that comment, he said anyone who would have problems with his cuts to social security should “get over it.” Kasich praised all the women who came out of the kitchen to vote for him during his first political run in the 1970s.
While campaigning in New York, he took it upon himself to condescendingly explain Bible stories to rabbinic scholars.
His most covered gaffe was when he advised a young woman worried about the college rape epidemic to avoid alcohol-fueled parties. 
“Kasich eating” was one of the top Internet searches during the campaign.  Then-candidate Trump scorched the mailman’s son proclaiming, “I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion.”
The Ohio governor has no plans to challenge Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown who is up for re-election this year, but the chatter for the 2020 presidential election has heated up.  “There has to be fundamental chance, in my opinion, with all of us.  I’m willing to be a part of that.  I want my voice to be out there,” Kasich said.
The pick of the mailman’s litter has spoken.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Presidential Physician Destroys The Left’s Narrative Confirming President Trump Is A Stable Genius

CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller tweeted, “On the president's mental acuity, Dr. Ronny Jackson said, ‘The president is very sharp, very intact.’ He declared the president ‘fit for duty─for this term and another,’ if he's re-elected.
It was indescribably satisfying to watch Adm. Ronny Jackson during today’s extraordinary press briefing humiliate the mainstream mongrels who have mercilessly hounded this President.
As Tom Rogan noted at The Washington Examiner, “…to the chagrin of much of the press corps, Jackson seemed medically wowed by Trump's health. The former "Apprentice" host, he said, "has as a very unique ability to just get up in the morning and reset." It was amusing to watch as the decorated military officer delivered an intellectually robust and professional performance to a press corps that had hoped he would say Trump was insane. As the limited, mouth-foaming reactions on Twitter now attest, Jackson is beyond reproach for all but the most ardent liberal fanatics.”
“The admiral's conclusion? All clinical data indicates Trump is currently very healthy, and he will remain so for the duration of his presidency."

UPDATE:  Welcome readers of iOTWReport.  We are grateful to MJA for linking to this post.

UPDATE II:  Welcome readers of Fisherville Mike.  We wish to thank Mike for linking to this post.

The 51st State? Independence Declared From “Commiefornia”

An effort to stand guard over liberty is taking shape in the least likely place I know of─California.
Four years ago, a venture capitalist named Tim Draper sought to split Commiefornia into six parts.  The effort failed miserably.
"The current state of California has become governed by a tyranny," the founding group’s Vice Chairman Robert Paul Preston declared.
“After years of over-taxation, regulation, and mono-party politics the State of California and many of its 58 Counties have become ungovernable. The nature of the State becoming ungovernable has caused a decline in essential basic services such as education, law enforcement, fire protection, transportation, housing, health care, taxation, voter rights, banking, state pension systems, prisons, state parks, water resource management, home ownership, infrastructure and many more.”
Claiming the authority of Article 4, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, the aspiring 51st state plans to convince California's legislature to split the state before submitting the resolution to Congress.
Despite obstacles, doubters, and obvious long odds the group stands united in their statehood dream. “We have to demonstrate that we can govern ourselves before we are allowed to govern,” Tom Reed, a founder, told CBS.
The list of dysfunctions crippling “Commiefornia” would easily fill a volume: a  dysfunctional legislature that has been gerrymandered to protect virtually every seat; a dysfunctional proposition system enables special interests to craft protected fiefdoms via the ballot box; recalcitrant public unions who don't see anything wrong with public servants getting 90% of top-pay in pensions while still earning big bucks as "contract employees", an enormous population of undocumented workers who pay only sales taxes and whose employers pay no payroll taxes only scratches the surface.
I’m rooting for these courageous citizens and hope their dream of statehood is realized.


Monday, January 15, 2018

Race Baiter: MLK Would Have Wanted Impeachment Of President Trump

Denise McAllister is a cultural and political commentator for The Federalist, Real Clear Politics, and Hot Air. Today she posted a piece at PJ Media entitled, “Martin Luther King Jr. Tells Us To Take Personal Responsibility, Not Blame Others”.
One paragraph stood out: “Rage roams our streets looking for those to blame, always searching for fuel to maintain its fire. And there is always plenty to find in this fallen and imperfect world. Bitterness never fails to find a broken promise, a thoughtless word, a failed policy, or a lingering disappointment on which to feed.”
Enter Maxine Waters (D-CA), John Lewis (D-GA), Frederica Wilson (D-FL) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) who have announced they will skip President Trump’s State of the Union address on January 30.
Waters marked MLK Day on Twitter by suggesting the civil rights icon would have advocated for the impeachment of President Trump were he still alive today.
Jonathan Turley, a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal theory to tort law appeared on Fox’s The Story with Martha McCallum.  He noted that legislators do not need to be present for the SOTU and neither does the President.  He may merely deliver a written statement to the Speaker of the House.
“Having said that, it’s a long tradition.  The members have to distinguish between the officeholder and the office,” Turley said.  “It’s not about them.  People are really upset with their government.”  Turley called attending the address an “institutional responsibility.”

Jeff Flake Proclaims The Second Coming Of Comrade Stalin

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) plans to deliver a speech later in the week torching President Trump’s attacks on the Empire of Lies known as the mainstream press.  He also intends to compare the President of the United States of America to Josef Stalin.
Flake’s senate term ends in January 2019.  From now until then, he intends to deliver a series of speeches outlining how Donald Trump’s presidency has impacted the country.
Excerpts of his speech were provided by Flake’s office to NBC’s Kasie Hunt.
“2017 was a year which saw the truth—objective, empirical, evidence-based truth—more battered and abused than any other time in the history of our country, at the hands of the most powerful figure in our government.”
“Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies.”
“The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him ‘fake news’, it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press.”
“The similarities to Stalin should be a source of great shame for senators,” Flake will add.
Flake’s specious criticism is the benchmark of someone whose thirst for stupid is unquenchable; his ignorance of Stalin’s savagery alarming.  Upon the death of Stalin in 1953, the millions he incarcerated cheered at the demise of one of history’s most murderous dictators.
In Episode 1 of “Russia’s War:  Blood Upon The Snow” , the opening narration reveals to the viewer: “Unknown to the Soviet people, before his death Vladimir Lenin drew up a testament; an assessment of the leaders who would come after him.  The outstanding personalities he recognized were Leon Trotsky and Josef Stalin. But his postscript contained a political time bomb─a condemnation of Stalin’s character and his suggestion that Stalin’s post of General Secretary should be taken from him.  The testament was never made public.”
“Blood Upon The Snow” features rarely seen archival war photographs and astonishing footage from over a dozen countries...some of which are believed to be the only filmed evidence of some of the most infamous WWII atrocities, such as the Katyn Forest Massacre of 4,000 Polish officers by the Soviets.  The filmmakers assert it is the only documentary evidence of Stalin's Order 227, his brutal decree to embattled troops at Stalingrad that any Red Army soldier in retreat would be shot by "blocking units" bringing up the rear.  It provides remarkable insight into what led to the death of 65 million Soviets during Stalin’s reign of terror.
Comrade Flake’s contempt is enraging.  He is employing something purely Soviet:  Make accusations and then end things by suggesting someone be locked up in a psychiatric facility. 

Flowing Curves Of Beauty

                            Man:  Am I healthy enough to use Cialis or Viagra?
     Doctor:  Yes, you’re healthy enough, just not attractive enough.