One Citizen Speaking

MICHAEL COHEN PLEADS GUILTY TO A CRIMINAL ACT COMMITTED BY MANY POLITICIANS

Let me first say that there is little or no doubt in my mind that Michael Cohen appears to be a dodgy sleazebag attorney much like Michael Avenatti the anti-Trump progressive attorney who represents the whore Stormy Daniels who accepted money to have sex with men in what appears to be commercial transactions and then violated her non-disclosure agreement to extort money from Donald Trump.

It appears that Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a non-crime for personal reasons that had nothing to do with Donald Trump -- in spite of the progressive mainstream media propaganda that is throwing around words like, resignation, impeachment, and smoking-gun. All of which are based on one-sided fallacious and malicious assumptions by a politically-motivated prosecution team.

Check out part of the Cohen sentencing memo…

EXCERPT FROM THE GOVERNMENT’S SENTENCING MEMORANDUM PRESENTED IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK IN THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. MICHAEL COHEN, DEFENDANT (Case 1:18-cr-00602-WHP Document 27 Filed 12/07/18) 4. Cohen’s Illegal Campaign Contributions On approximately June 16, 2015, Individual-1, for whom Cohen worked at the time, began an ultimately successful campaign for President of the United States. Cohen had no formal title with the campaign, but had a campaign email address, and, at various times advised the campaign, including on matters of interest to the press. Cohen also made media appearances as a surrogate and supporter of Individual-1. (PSR ¶ 39). During the campaign, Cohen played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories – each from women who claimed to have had an affair with Individual-1 – so as to suppress the stories and thereby prevent them from influencing the election. With respect to both payments, Cohen acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election. Cohen coordinated his actions with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. (PSR ¶ 51). In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1. (PSR ¶¶ 41, 45). As a result of Cohen’s actions, neither woman spoke to the press prior to the election. (PSR ¶ 51). Cohen Causes the Magazine to Pay Woman-1 In approximately June 2016, a model and actress (“Woman-1”) began attempting to sell her story of her alleged extramarital affair with Individual-1. Woman-1 knew that the story would be of considerable value because of Individual-1’s candidacy for president. Woman-1 retained an attorney (“Attorney-1”) to represent her in this matter. (PSR ¶ 41). Attorney-1 then contacted the editor-in-chief (“Editor-1”) of a popular tabloid magazine (“Magazine-1”) and offered to sell the story to Magazine-1. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (“Chairman-1”) of the media company that owns Magazine-1 (“Corporation-1”) had a prior relationship with Individual-1 and Cohen. In August 2014, Chairman-1 had met with Cohen and Individual-1, and had offered to help deal with negative stories about Individual-1’s relationships with women by identifying such stories so that they could be purchased and “killed.” Consistent with that offer, after Editor-1 told Chairman-1 about Woman-1’s story, they contacted Cohen to tell him about the offer. (PSR ¶¶ 40-41). At Cohen’s urging and with his promise that Corporation-1 would be reimbursed, Editor-1 began negotiating the purchase of Woman-1’s story. On August 5, 2016, Corporation-1 entered into an agreement with Woman-1 to acquire the “limited life rights” to the story of her relationship with “any then-married man,” in exchange for $150,000 and a commitment to feature her on two magazine covers and publish over one hundred magazine articles authored by her. The agreement’s principal purpose was to suppress Woman-1’s story so as to prevent the story from influencing the election. (PSR ¶¶ 41-42). Between August 2016 and September 2016, Cohen agreed with Chairman-1 to assign the rights to the non-disclosure portion of Corporation-1’s agreement with Woman-1 to Cohen for $125,000. Cohen then incorporated a shell entity called “Resolution Consultants LLC” to be used in the transaction. Both Chairman-1 and Cohen ultimately signed the agreement, and a consultant for Corporation-1, using his own shell entity, provided Cohen with an invoice for the payment of  $125,000. That assignment was never completed, however. (PSR ¶¶ 43-44). Cohen Pays Woman-2 On October 8, 2016, an agent for an adult film actress (“Woman-2”) informed Editor-1 that Woman-2 was willing to make public statements and confirm on the record her alleged past affair with Individual-1. Chairman-1 and Editor-1 contacted Cohen and put him in touch with Attorney-1, who was also representing Woman-2. Over the course of the next few days, Cohen negotiated a $130,000 agreement with Attorney-1 to purchase Woman-2’s silence. Cohen received a signed confidential settlement agreement and a separate side letter from Attorney-1. (PSR ¶ 45). Cohen did not immediately execute the settlement agreement, nor did he pay Woman-2. On the evening of October 25, 2016, with no final deal in place with Woman-2, Attorney-1 told Editor-1 that Woman-2 was close to completing a deal with a media outlet, under which she would make her story public. Editor-1 texted Cohen that “[w]e have to coordinate something on the matter [Attorney-1 is] calling you about or it could look awfully bad for everyone.” Chairman-1 and Editor-1 then called Cohen through an encrypted telephone application. Cohen agreed to make the payment and then called Attorney-1 to finalize the deal. (PSR ¶ 46). On October 26, 2016, Cohen emailed an incorporating service to obtain the corporate formation documents for another shell corporation, Essential Consultants, LLC, which he had incorporated a few days prior. That afternoon, he directed that $131,000 from his HELOC – the same HELOC he had obtained by means of false statements, see p. 8-10, supra – be deposited into an account he had just opened in the name of Essential Consultants LLC. The next day, Cohen wired $130,000 from that account to Attorney-1. On the wire form, Cohen falsely indicated that the purpose of the wire was to pay a “retainer.” On November 1, 2016, Cohen received copies of the final, signed confidential settlement agreement and side letter agreement from Attorney-1. (PSR ¶¶ 47-50). After the election, Cohen sought reimbursement for election-related expenses, including the $130,000 payment he had made to Woman-2. Cohen presented an executive of the Company with a copy of a bank statement reflecting the $130,000 wire transfer. Cohen also requested reimbursement of an additional $50,000, which represented a claimed payment for campaign-related “tech services.” Executives of the Company agreed to reimburse Cohen by adding $130,000 and $50,000, “grossing up” that amount to $360,000 for tax purposes, and adding a $60,000 bonus, such that Cohen would be paid $420,000 in total. Executives of the Company decided to pay the $420,000 in monthly installments of $35,000 over the course of a year. (PSR ¶¶ 52-53). At the instruction of an executive for the Company, Cohen sent monthly invoices to the Company for these $35,000 payments, falsely indicating that the invoices were being sent pursuant to a “retainer agreement.” The Company then falsely accounted for these payments as “legal expenses.” In fact, no such retainer agreement existed and these payments were not “legal expenses” – Cohen in fact provided negligible legal services to Individual-1 or the Company in 2017 – but were reimbursement payments. Cohen then received the $420,000 during the course of 2017. (PSR ¶¶ 54-56). First, Cohen’s commission of two campaign finance crimes on the eve of the 2016 election for President of the United States struck a blow to one of the core goals of the federal campaign finance laws: transparency. While many Americans who desired a particular outcome to the election knocked on doors, toiled at phone banks, or found any number of other legal ways to make their voices heard, Cohen sought to influence the election from the shadows. He did so by orchestrating secret and illegal payments to silence two women who otherwise would have made public their alleged extramarital affairs with Individual-1. In the process, Cohen deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election. [OCS: The suggestion that these were “illegal” payments is contrary to the intent and wording of the Campaign Finance law that specifies that payments of this type cannot be paid from campaign funds – which would be illegal. Furthermore, the idea that a principal can instruct their attorney to execute a non-disclosure agreement is a normal and customary occurrence in both the business and political world. In fact, these allegations and arguments have never been tested in a court of law and merely represent the one-sided unilateral interpretation of the prosecutors.] It is this type of harm that Congress sought to prevent when it imposed limits on individual contributions to candidates. To promote transparency and prevent wealthy individuals like Cohen from circumventing these limits, Congress prohibited individuals from making expenditures on behalf of and coordinated with candidates. Cohen clouded a process that Congress has painstakingly sought to keep transparent. The sentence imposed should reflect the seriousness of Cohen’s brazen violations of the election laws and attempt to counter the public cynicism that may arise when individuals like Cohen act as if the political process belongs to the rich and powerful. [OCS: If these allegations are literally true, politicians at the local, state, and federal level who have been a party to signed non-disclosure agreements to conceal sexual harassment and other criminal activities are similarly guilty and should be held accountable. In fact, both chambers of the Congress should be compelled to make public all non-disclosure agreements that have been executed or prosecuted for obstruction of justice.] Cohen’s submission suggests that this was but a brief error in judgment. Not so. Cohen knew exactly where the line was, and he chose deliberately and repeatedly to cross it. Indeed, he was a licensed attorney with significant political experience and a history of campaign donations, and who was well-aware of the election laws. [OCS: If Cohen was well-aware of the election laws, he knows that there is a credible defense to these particular allegations. But, for his own reasons, perhaps to avoid a harsher sentence, the crushing expenses of a defense that would lead to bankruptcy,  or the involvement of family members in income tax evasion, he chose to plead rather than contest the case. The fact that Cohen chose to plead guilty to a non-crime of an interpretation not tested in a court of competent jurisdiction says absolutely nothing about “Individual 1 – thought to be Donald Trump.” You may wish to ask yourself why this matter was prosecuted in New York – with their limited knowledge and experience with campaign finance law and not by the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C. where there is an abundance of knowledge and experience? Of course, the answer is politics.] In fact, Cohen publicly and privately took credit for Individual-1’s political success, claiming – in a conversation that he secretly recorded – that he “started the whole thing . . . started the whole campaign” in 2012 when Individual-1 expressed an interest in running for President. Moreover, not only was Cohen well aware of what he was doing, but he used sophisticated tactics to conceal his misconduct. He arranged one of the payments through a media company and disguised it as a services contract, and executed the second non-disclosure agreement with aliases and routed the six-figure payment through a shell corporation. After the election, he arranged for his own reimbursement via fraudulent invoices for non-existent legal services ostensibly performed pursuant to a non-existent “retainer” agreement. And even when public reports of the payments began to surface, Cohen told shifting and misleading stories about the nature of the payment, his coordination with the candidate, and the fact that he was reimbursed. [OCS: These are the same tactics used by wealthy individuals all over the world to hide real estate purchases from the public and the media; and in many cases, for real security reasons that could result in the injury and death of the occupants. There is nothing particularly sophisticated or evil about these security and privacy procedures.] This was not a blind act of loyalty, as Cohen has also suggested. His actions suggest that Cohen relished the status of ultimate fixer – a role that he embraced as recently as May 2018.12 Cohen was driven by a desire to further ingratiate himself with a potential future President—for whose political success Cohen himself claimed credit—and arranged for the payments in an attempt to increase his power and influence. Indeed, after Cohen caused the media company to make an illegal expenditure, in a secretly recorded meeting Cohen took credit for the payment and assured Individual-1 that he was “all over” the transaction. And after making the payment to the second woman, and after Individual-1 was elected President, Cohen privately bragged to friends and reporters, including in recorded conversations, that he had made the payment to spare Individual-1 from damaging press and embarrassment. [OCS: That an attorney surreptitiously recorded and released a privileged communication with his client only points to the douchebaggery of Cohen and an act that should get him disbarred.] Cohen’s criminal violations of the federal election laws were also stirred, like his other crimes, by his own ambition and greed. During and after the campaign, Cohen privately told friends and colleagues, including in seized text messages, that he expected to be given a prominent role and title in the new administration. [OCS: Why should anyone be surprised that Cohen was a sycophantic ass-kisser and attempted to leverage his connections to Donald Trump, the Trump Campaign, and the Trump Organization for his own personal gain?] <Source>

Bottom line…

The actual campaign finance rules do not speak to Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) or many other contracts, payments, arrangements, acts of a private nature, etc. as being treated as campaign contributions. In fact, it would be illegal to use campaign funds to settle private matters by or for the candidate. That the matter has never been adjudicated and is the one-sided opinion of a partisan prosecutor is important. 

However, the saddest and most serious consequence of Michael Cohen’s plea deal is not that Cohen plead guilty to a non-crime that had never been litigated in a court of competent jurisdiction, but the progressive mainstream media propaganda arm of the Democrats failed to report on this matter in a fair and unbiased manner.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

NANCY PELOSI: IMPOSING SAN FRANCISCO VALUES ON AMERICA

Stupid is as stupid does…

The City of San Francisco has rapidly become a cesspool, where the homeless openly defecate on the sidewalks and the druggies drop needles anywhere they please. It is a sanctuary city where illegal aliens have killed law-abiding citizens, some without consequence. A city that was caught illegally shipping illegal alien minors to the Southland rather than turning them over to ICE.

Now we find the progressive socialist democrats wanting to turn our entire country into an open borders sanctuary for anyone who wants to come to this country. It appears, at least to the progressive Democrats, that there is little or no harm in importing poverty, illiteracy, disease, and crime into our nation – or even changing our American culture to that of a safer version of a third-world nation.

We should all remember Pelosi’s classic remark about the bill supporting Obamacare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Now imagine what she might say about the Security Wall that would protect our Southern Border.

Bottom line…

We are so screwed with progressive socialist democrats like the coming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

-- steve

WHY DEMOCRATS CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH ELECTIONS ON ANY LEVEL

Why should we be surprised when billions of dollars targeted at remedying the illiteracy, poverty, disease, and crime somehow wind up in the pockets of politically-connected politicians? Or why Chicago politicians bleat about racism, police brutality, and do absolutely nothing to clean up the inner city cesspools where people, mostly in the minority community, are slaughtered on a weekly basis? Why did our first black U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, ignore the systemic abuse of fellow blacks and others in Chicago while going after institutional racism? And why should we be surprised when Democrats interfere in local, state, and federal elections?

Here is how the Democrats engage in provable election fraud they say does not exist…

A college kid running for 13th Ward alderman gets a lesson in the Chicago Way The David is David Krupa, 19, a freshman at DePaul University who drives a forklift part time. He’s not a political powerhouse. He’s just a conservative Southwest Side teenager studying political science and economics who got it in his head to run for alderman in a race that pits him against the most powerful ward organization in Chicago. The Goliath is the 13th Ward Democratic Organization run by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, aka Boss Madigan, the most powerful politician in the state. Boss Madigan has long hand-picked his aldermen. He likes them loyal and quiet. The current silent alderman of the 13th Ward is Marty Quinn. “I’m from Clearing,” Krupa told me. “All I want to do is get on the ballot to address the serious issues we have, from public safety to taxes. People don’t want to say things out loud here. People who’ve challenged the 13th Ward get intimidated. You know the neighborhood.” To get on the ballot, Krupa was required to file 473 valid signatures of ward residents with the Chicago Board of Elections. Krupa filed 1,703 signatures. But before he filed his signatures with the elections board, an amazing thing happened along the Chicago Way. An organized crew of political workers — or maybe just civic-minded individuals who care about reform — went door to door with official legal papers. They asked residents to sign an affidavit revoking their signature on Krupa’s petition. Revocations are serious legal documents, signed and notarized. Lying on a legal document is a felony and can lead to a charge of perjury. If you’re convicted of perjury, you may not work for a government agency. And I know that there are many in the 13th Ward on the government payroll. More than 2,700 revocations were turned over to the elections board to cancel the signatures on Krupa’s petitions. Chicago Board of Elections officials had never seen such a massive pile of revocations. “The board has received a few revocations here and there in very rare electoral board cases over the years,” said election board spokesman Jim Allen. But more than 2,700? Impossible, no? “They're pretty rare, and no one can remember anything approaching this volume of filings in past cases,” Allen said. “For the board, the next step is to begin the hearings on all of the objections that have been filed against any candidates' nominating petitions. We can't speculate, though, on the legitimacy or any other legal questions about any of the objections or the corresponding petitions.” The number of revocations far exceeds the number of signatures Krupa collected. That means false affidavits were filed with the elections board. Why would thousands of people lie on a legal document of revocation, and say they’d signed Krupa’s petitions, when they didn’t sign Krupa’s petitions? Were they just being nice? Mike Kasper, the elections lawyer for the 13th Ward, said his side has filed objections to Krupa’s petitions of candidacy and “we’ll wait for the elections board to take it up when it does.” Pressed about the large number of revocation petitions, Kasper said he's aware of the issue, but that “it is my practice to decline comment on any pending litigation.” There is no litigation, yet, but election attorney Michael Dorf, who is representing Krupa, says this case is a “clown car of felonies.” “You know the 13th Ward better than I do,” Dorf said. “This is clown school and election fraud. This is going way, way beyond the line. David is a huge underdog. Go ahead and beat him on Election Day, or do subtle fraud, like taking away yard signs, but when this number of false affidavits are filed, you’re talking fundamental fraud, epic fraud. “We turned in 1,703 signatures. We compared them to the 2,796 revocations, and found only 187 matches, meaning only 187 people who signed David’s petitions filed revocations,” Dorf said. “So, what about the 2,609 people who didn’t sign for David but who filed revocations? That’s fraud. That’s perjury. That’s felony.” [OCS: The fix is in … just like on the national scene where the Democrats engaged in massive criminality and were protected by other Democrats in office, we find the same thing playing out once again. Wrongdoing by Democrats does uninvestigated and unpunished.] Dorf said that he will ask the elections board next week to refer the matter to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. But Foxx, a Democrat, won’t want to anger the Boss. Neither will incoming Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who famously said he would not “go fishing” for corruption, and who also received a million dollars in Madigan political money. And current Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, is the Boss’ daughter. [OCS: Who will investigate the investigator? Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office is investigating Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration’s response to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at a Downstate veterans home that left more than a dozen veterans dead over several years, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. “We are investigating whether any laws were violated in the response to the risks of and outbreak of Legionella at the Quincy veterans’ home, where many people died,” Madigan spokeswoman Maura Possley said in a statement. “There needs to be an investigation to determine if laws were violated and whether residents of the home, their families, veterans’ home staff, and the public were informed in a timely and appropriate manner.”] This is Chicago, where the Davids get crushed by the Goliaths. And where the boss is the boss. <Source: A college kid running for 13th Ward alderman gets a lesson in the Chicago Way - Chicago Tribune>

And this scenario is repeated over-and-over again in areas where the Democrats have become the keepers of the inner city and simply siphon of taxpayer money before it can remedy the grievances that the Democrats promise to remedy in return for political power. Along with control over the unions, handing out government jobs, one might say that the Democrats have truly surpassed the organized crime figures that dominated the city in the days of Al Capone.

It’s a cancer, it is malignant, and it is metastasizing…

Bottom line…

You cannot trust Democrats to govern with accountability and transparency. And if there is any constant in the party it is the promotion of systemic racism, sexism, and homophobia for the purposes of gaining or maintaining political power.

In the present case, it will not be feasible to charge all of these people with a serious felony as they are busy emptying out the prisons and creating a new cohort of voting democrats, previously-convicted felons. It is no wonder that the County is known as Crook County and even the most egregious violations by Democrats are ignored.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

IS ROYCE LAMBRETH THE LAST HONEST JUDGE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT?

EXCERPTS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MEMORANDUM OPINION IN CIVIL CASE 14-1242 ISSUED BY SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE ROYCE C. LAMBERTH On his first full day in office, President Obama set a worthy standard for his administration's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act: A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, "sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants." In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open government. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike. [FOIA] should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears. Nondisclosure should never be based on an effort to protect the interests of Government officials at the expense of those they are supposed to serve. In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies ... should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public. All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA. <Source: Freedom of Information Act Memorandum, 74 Fed. Reg. 4683 (Jan. 21, 2009)> [OCS: Like so much of what former President Barack Obama said, the truth revealed by his Administration’s actions directly contradicted his lofty words. We have ample evidence of the government keeping information confidential because it was embarrassing, disclosed errors and failures, and was done to protect the interests of Government officials. Likewise, we have  ample evidence of the executive branch agencies failing to respond promptly, if at all, to both legitimate oversight Congressional inquiries as we as to FOIA requests from the public.] But in this case, faced with one of the gravest modem offenses to government transparency, his State and Justice Departments fell far short. So far short that the Court questions, even now, whether they are acting in good faith. Did Hillary Clinton use her private email as Secretary of State to thwart this lofty goal? Was the State Department's attempt to settle this FOIA case in 2014 an effort to avoid searching-and disclosing the existence of Clinton's missing emails? And has State ever adequately searched for records in this case? 11. When asked why it took so long for State to own-up to the missing emails and to its initial search's deficiency, counsel cited "normal FOIA practice." 10/12/18 Tr. 41:21-22; see also 5/1/15 Status Report at 6, ECF No. 16 (calling this "a run-of-the-mill FOIA dispute"). Counsel's responses strain credulity. And even before this recent chicanery, the Court found enough signs of government wrongdoing to justify discovery, including into whether Clinton used her private email to intentionally flout FOIA. See. 3/29/16 Mem. & Order, ECF No. 39. But the Court put-off setting a specific discovery order, mindful of parallel proceedings before Judge Sullivan, see Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dept. of State, No. 13-1363, and ongoing investigations by State's Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the House Select Committee on Benghazi.  [OCS: One of the most frequent delaying tactics of the Obama Administration seems to be withholding information based on seemingly endless “investigations,” many of which simply languished in a slush pile of papers until they could be administratively terminated once public interest had evaporated and attention was shifted to the next egregious Obama scandal. Since those inquiries concluded, the Court now orders the parties  to meet and confer to develop a discovery plan into whether Clinton used a private email to stymie FOIA, whether State's attempts to settle the case despite knowing its initial search was inadequate amounted to bad faith, and whether State's subsequent searches have been adequate. II. CONCLUSION To see if it can rule out egregious government misconduct and vindicate the public's faith in the State and Justice Departments, the Court orders the parties to meet and confer to plan discovery into whether Clinton used a private email to stymie FOIA, whether State's attempts to settle the case in late 2014 and early 2015 amounted to bad faith, and whether State's subsequent searches have been adequate. The parties are to submit a proposed plan and schedule for discovery within ten days. Once discovery ends, the Court will determine the adequacy of State's United States District Judge Royce C. Lamberth’s December 6, 2018, Memorandum Opinion in Judicial Watch, Inc., Plaintiff v. U.S. Department of State, Defendant (Civil Case 14-1242) <Source>

 

For those who are wondering about the Judge…

Lamberth was born in 1943 in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas, where he was a member of the Tejas Club, and from the University of Texas School of Law, receiving a Bachelor of Laws in 1967. He served as a captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army from 1968 to 1974, including one year in Vietnam. After that, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1978, Lamberth became Chief of the Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office, a position he held until his appointment to the federal bench. Lamberth was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on March 19, 1987, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by Judge Barrington D. Parker. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 13, 1987, and received a commission on November 16, 1987. He served as Chief Judge from 2008 to 2013. He assumed senior status on July 15, 2013. He also served as Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 1995 to 2002.  <Source>

There is little doubt that anything can escape the Judge who apparently has seen and done it all – including a seven-year stint on the FISA court. This is the type of Judge who should have been appointed as the Special Counsel. A no-nonsense judge who has a low tolerance for fools and those who attempt to deceive the Court.

Bottom line…

Our court system is at the center of administering justice, yet so many judges turn out to be activist judges attempting to usurp Congressional authority as the sole lawmakers or to cover up partisan and governmental wrongdoing.

Unfortunately, so many documents have been destroyed, so much perjured testimony has been heard, it is doubtful that there will be any meaningful or valid criminal referrals from this “civil” case and the various principals and their associates will have, once again, escaped the consequences of their actions.

As for Judge Lamberth, one might wonder if there are any other courageous judges willing to defy the entire system to administer a trial where all parties are held to the letter of the law and obvious distortions, mistruths, and attempts to hoodwink the court are called out and the perpetrators held accountable.

Where are the FISA judges who issued multiple warrants authorizing spying on an American citizen based on “manufactured and bogus” evidence? Are they ever going to hold those who deliberately mislead the court or perjured themselves accountable for their actions? Has the FISA court proved it is so inept that it cannot legitimately safeguard the constitutional freedoms of Americans who have entrusted the Court with extraordinary power to operate in total secrecy based only upon the representation of the government’s opinion?

Considering the many misdeeds of the IRS, FBI, DOJ, and Department of State, one can only conclude “We the People” are indeed truly screwed.

-- steve

LAUGH OF THE YEAR: JOE BIDEN BELIEVES HE IS THE “MOST QUALIFIED PERSON” TO BE THE PRESIDENT”

I couldn’t stop laughing, the arguably dumbest man to serve in office and one who has consistently been on the wrong side of history, is apparently delusional in thinking that he is the “most qualified person” to be the President of the United States. Of course, what is not funny is, considering the other socialist candidates in the Democrat aptly-named bullpen, he might be right.

Lest we not forget, it was the Democrat Party that destroyed healthcare, weakened the military, invited illegal aliens into the country to eat our lunch, subverted an election, provided aid and comfort in the form of billions of dollars to our sworn enemy, and has eroded all of the non-partisan institutions like the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Lest we not forget, it was the Democrat Party that colluded with Russian elements to interfere in a presidential election to benefit a candidate that was known to be a liar, a corrupt politician who sold access to her position for personal gain, and who committed numerous prosecutable criminal acts – the least of which was a massive cover-up of her own actions and that of the Democrat administration.

From the Communist News Network… 

Joe Biden believes he is the 'most qualified person in the country to be president' During a stop for his book tour in Missoula, Montana, Monday night, former Vice President Joe Biden discussed his 2020 prospects, saying he believes that he is the "most qualified person" to be president, noting a decision is coming in the next two months, and acknowledging he's a "gaffe machine." "I'll be as straight with you as I can. I think I'm the most qualified person in the country to be president," Biden said to applause at the University of Montana. "The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that have been in my wheelhouse, that I've worked on my whole life." [OCS: The idea that Biden can be “straight” with anyone belies a lifetime of missteps, misdirection, and mendacity.] "No one should run for the job unless they believe that they would be qualified doing the job. I've been doing this my whole adult life, and the issues that are the most consequential relating to the plight of the middle class and our foreign policy are things that I have -- even my critics would acknowledge, I may not be right but I know a great deal about it," he added. The moderator, Bruce Feiler, pointed out some of the potential liabilities of a Biden campaign, saying "He's too old. He signed, he cosponsored the crime bill. He was the chairman of the judiciary committee during the Anita Hill hearings, and he's out of touch in the era of Me Too. $1.5 million ain't gonna cut it anymore, you need $100 million. Who wants to wake up at 6 a.m. for the next two years and get insults from the President of the United States?...You're a gaffe machine. I could go on. Which of these scares you the most?" "None of them," Biden said before moving on to defend some of those potential liabilities. "I am a gaffe machine, but my God what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can't tell the truth," he said. "I'm ready to litigate all those things, the question is what kind of nation are we becoming? What are we going to do? Who are we?" [OCS: “Litigate?” Not discuss or debate? That’s another key indicator of the way Democrat’s think. They use the courts and pre-arranged settlements to achieve that which they cannot obtain at the ballot box or in Congress where votes will be recorded. As for being a “gaffe machine,” unfortunately the joke was on the American people who believed that Biden was one of them – Joe Lunch-bucket – even though he lived most of his life as a government employee. ] "Whether or not I run, whoever runs, I'm going to break my neck to make sure they win," he said. "We can't have four more years." [OCS: Regardless of what you think about President, the man or the politician, he has acted as a circuit breaker to disrupt the continuing flow of corruption and the loss of personal liberties in this nation. He is not a conventional president, but then again, these are not conventional times.] Earlier in the night, Biden discussed some of the missteps of his 1988 presidential campaign, including accusations of plagiarism while he was in high school. "It all came out in the wash -- I never did plagiarize, I never did -- and it all was proven that that never happened," Biden said. However, in 1987, Biden acknowledged that he had plagiarized part of a law school paper. [OCS: Repeat the lie until it becomes the accepted truth in the public’s mind.] <Source>

“You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” — Attributed to Abraham Lincoln

Bottom line…

The Democrats have polarized our nation, and cannot be trusted with domestic and foreign policy. To nominate a Democrat is to move our Republic closer to a man-made disaster. The truth is that Joe Biden, even at his advanced age is not a leader, but a very loud cheerleader. That he considers himself to be the most qualified person to be the President of the United States is not funny and is symptomatic of delusional Democrats.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

THE GOVERNMENT'S BIG LIE ABOUT THE POSTAL SERVICE

Once again we have one of those government-commissioned studies to point the United States Postal Service on a sustainable path …

Of course, it is all bullshit because the United States Postal Service consists of unionized government workers who tend to vote for progressive socialist democrats who are willing to look the other way while kicking the can down the road and raising the prices of postal-related services.

It all started with an unwise political mistake that perpetuated union domination in an era of rising competition…

In 1967, President Johnson formed a Commission on Postal Organization, the “Kappel Commission,” to examine the Department. The Commission’s findings served as the basis for the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act (PRA). This law (1) created the new USPS as an independent establishment of the executive branch of the government; (2) established a Board of Governors, who would select the Postmaster General; (3) directed USPS to become a self-funded entity, without a taxpayer subsidy; (4) retained postal employees as members of the civil service, but permitted postal unions to bargain over wages and benefits; and (5) established a new Postal Rate Commission to review and make recommendations on postal rates.

There is no practical way to sustain any organization with politically-connected leadership and dominated by progressive labor unions whose business model is based on socialism and is basically anti-competitive.

In FY 2018, labor costs accounted for 76 percent of the USPS’s overall operating costs. Labor Costs Current law specifies that the officers and employees of USPS “shall be in the postal career service, which shall be part of the civil service.” Career postal employees are represented by nine unions and two management associations. [OCS: All of these organizations: American Postal Workers Union, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Association of Postal Supervisors, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, and the United Postmasters of America are disproportionately comprised of democrats who represent enough votes to sway congressional elections and scare the bejesus out of politicians on both sides of the aisle.] Postal workers, like most federal civil service employees, participate in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), as well as in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB), and are covered by the Federal Employees Compensation Act for workers’ compensation claims. However, unlike other federal workers, the PRA authorizes collective bargaining on compensation, some benefits, and conditions of employment, and postal unions are therefore able to negotiate compensation, benefits, and working conditions. Given their federal employee status and the role that the USPS plays in the economy, USPS employees maintain a unique collective bargaining position. They can bargain for wages and benefits as private sector unions do, without the same level of risk that their company will go out of business. [OCS: Or that a strike will result in mass layoffs without the necessity to re-hire the entire workforce.] In recent years, the USPS has been able to achieve limited labor reforms. Postal salaries have risen at slower rates than those in the private sector, collective bargaining agreements have gradually transferred a portion of health premiums from the USPS to individual workers, and the USPS has been able to lower the number of employees, from a high of over 905,000 in 1999 to around 634,000 in 2018, relying more heavily on non-career employees. However, the USPS’s labor costs continue to represent a significantly higher proportion of total operating costs than its private sector competitors. Additionally, “no layoff” clauses exist in many of the USPS’s collective bargaining agreements, limiting management’s ability to adapt the USPS’s business model. [OCS: In the USPS it is hard to terminate any employee without a long and costly procedure that involves union representation and the result is likely to be overturned on appeal to a politically-aware board. Incompetence is not a crime nor a punishable offense in the unionized world of the USPS. It is far more likely for fast and efficient workers to be throttled-back by their peers lest they make the entire group look bad or accidently, heaven forbid, set a new performance requirement.] Long-Term Liabilities Despite the USPS’s attempts to contain labor costs, each of its three major benefit programs imposes a large long-term liability on the USPS unrelated to either the productivity of its workforce or the “profitability” of the USPS. While the USPS can negotiate some of the cost sharing of these benefits, the provision of these benefits is governed by statute. The USPS has over $126 billion in unfunded worker liabilities stemming from its pensions ($43.5 billion), retiree health benefits ($66.5 billion), and the federal workers’ compensation program ($16.4 billion). [OCS: I defy anyone to show me how a company, even a Microsoft or Amazon, can rationally deal with billions in unfunded worker liabilities and the ongoing debt service of an aging group of retirees who contribute nothing to the enterprise.] Pensions As noted above, Postal workers, like most federal civil service employees, participate in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The combined USPS unfunded liability for these programs was $43.5 billion as of the end of FY 2018. The USPS, like federal agencies, cannot change the structure of these benefits. Although the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act prevents private companies from taking away pension benefits that workers have already earned, it allows them to end all accruals going forward, even for current employees. There is an ongoing trend for private companies to either end future accruals or terminate their defined benefit plans altogether to reduce the amount of long-term liabilities on their books. [OCS: It is hard to believe that Congress, with the sole power of the purse, cannot put forth constitutionally acceptable legislation that would remove union influence from government institutions and reform government pension plans.]

Bottom line…

The United States Postal Service is doomed as no business model that is anti-competitive, rewards seniority over merit, parses positions to generate additional jobs (and union memberships), and that does not hold people to account for their productivity is likely to be sustainable in any real-world economy.

How can you possibly recover when you are billions in the hole and profits cannot cover costs plus debt service. In the real world, this is called insolvency and leads to a court proceeding known as bankruptcy. 

Now it appears that the only politically expedient resolution is to engage in a form of wealth redistribution – forcing higher costs on large-scale shippers and passing seventy-six cents out of every cost dollar to unionized workers.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

PERVERTED JUSTICE

When it comes to the progressive socialist democrats, whether they are in a position of power or when they are represented by a media propaganda mill, it appears that all of the consequences of bad behavior fall on the Republicans.

After two years, nobody has proven that candidate Donald Trump, his campaign committee, or now-President Trump and his administration colluded with the Russians to gain an advantage in the 2018 election.

However, there is ample “evidence” that members of the Obama Administration committed prosecutable crimes. Hillary Clinton’s campaign team and the Democratic National Committee conspired with cutouts and Russian and other foreign sources to disadvantage a presidential candidate and rig an election. And, that Hillary and Bill Clinton, personally, along with their foundation, received Russian-sources funds. Add to that the destruction of documents, lying to investigators and Congress, and the gross obstruction of justice.

There is also a case to be made that the immunity offered to various Obama and Clinton associates should be nullified as they were part of a grand conspiracy to obstruct justice and hide criminal wrongdoing.

We see the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, going after Trump’s attorney for crimes committed prior to Trump’s campaign and inauguration. So why are there no charges against Hillary’s attorneys who had access and possession of classified information without the necessary clearances or who destroyed documents which were clearly relevant to a criminal case and many under subpoena?

Bottom line…

It appears that the Clinton’s, once again, have skirted justice and have walked away with millions of dollars. This is not the first time an administration has subverted the IRS, DOJ, and FBI – one need only follow the machinations of the Barrett report from Clinton-era Special Prosecutor David Barrett.

Now, with the House progressive socialist democrats assuming control over the investigating committees, including the demonstrably corrupt liar Adam Schiff (D-CA) in a leadership position, the fix is in and there is little or nothing that can be done. The mere fact that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, himself suffering from numerous conflicts of interest, will deliver an unprecedented report to Congress via leaks is just another sign that the GOP is impotent and unwilling to fight for their beliefs.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

2018: REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER 7, 1941

Remembering the greatest generation …

Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal awarded by the government to those who were present and accounted for on December 7, 1941, or their survivors.

How they would have laughed at the pussification of America, where colleges decry “trigger words” and provide safe spaces and crying rooms for those that can’t seem to cope with American politics. They would be appalled at the gun restrictions and the disarming of the law-abiding American citizen – creating even larger pools of victims. And, they just might have had something to say about the daily slaughter of American citizens in the inner cities. Unfortunately, the anti-war hippies went on to govern the nation; giving us inanities and openly inviting our enemies into the highest reaches of government. We have do-nothing, inept, incompetent Marxists and Communists serving in Congress. Never could I imagine such un-American behavior in our government, education, entertainment, media, and in all other walks of life.

A wise man once said that culture does not change by design or legislation, it changes one death at a time. With the older generation dying off and unable to provide guidance and a historical context to the actions of those left in charge of our government and institutions. The idea that we would celebrate any political ideology that naturally leads to totalitarianism and which produced millions of dead individuals should be abhorrent to every American. Yet you find stone-cold psychopathic killers on tee-shirts worn without concern in public and posters feting thugs and murders hanging in public places.

Something is radically wrong with our nation and it is now impossible to ensure future Americans that there will still be a free and democratic America in the future.

Dedicated to all of the military members and support staff who gave their lives to protect the United States of America from our enemies on December 7, 1941, and who stand watch over America in this time of political division and turbulence.

Division Patch: The Taro Leaf My Father (24th Infantry “the First to Fight Division,” 63rd Field Artillery Battalion, Battery C; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii -- Saturday, December 6th, 1941)

Re-read the speech given by Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 8, 1941 …

Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu. Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, Dec. 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.

Bottom line …

We live in treacherous times; with a divided nation polarized by corrupt politicians pursuing their own personal and political agenda. When our enemies, both foreign and domestic are using our own laws against us. When our military faces an asymmetrical threat – a guerilla force that does not wear uniforms, hides among women and children and thinks nothing of using medical and religious buildings to shield their nefarious activities. And should we fire back, we are roundly condemned in the media and on the world stage for the loss of “civilian” life and the destruction of “religious” or “medical” institutions.

In a time when we are dishonored by soldiers and government employees with a personal agenda and who decides to release damaging classified information to both embarrass the United States and provide aid and comfort to our enemies. And yet we remain afraid to charge them with treason. Where we openly traded five top enemy commanders for one deserter – all to empty out the enemy combatants in Guantanamo Bay to allow the former President and Marxist-in-Chief to feel good about himself and to fulfill a campaign pledge.

We watch our enemies mutilate and behead people whom they consider “infidels” – claiming their religion is the “Religion of Peace” and mounting a media campaign to feed “happy-talk” propaganda to the American people. All-the-while condemning our use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” to save lives when they themselves use hand tools, power tools, electricity, and red-hot metal to coerce confessions and extract information.

Most of our generals struggle with political correctness and trying to preserve some semblance of their careers. Knowing that a military is designed to kill people and break things in order to force a “diplomatic” solution on terms favorable to America. Not act as a police buffer between warring tribes or rebuilding the infrastructure of a country when ours is desperately in need of repair or replacement.

We pretend that our enemy, Saudi Arabia, is our friend even though much of the radical jihad is funded with Saudi money – perhaps as a bribe to prevent the jihadists from overthrowing the Kingdom. We recoil in mock horror when they kill and dismember a vocal dissident although every other dictator has done worse, and on a mass scale.

Our Congress refuses to allow America to become fully energy independent; preferring costly and unreliable energy sources rather than using what we currently control or switch to clean, cheap and dependable nuclear energy.

And, worst of all, our media leads the fifth column of those who want to destroy America from within.

We are approaching a tipping point when we must make a decision. To fight for the America of those who went before us or to become a Marxist paradise like Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela. If isolationism and communism is the answer, let the anti-America bastards go to North Korea. A closed society that should have perfected communism without the taint of outside influences.

Do not dishonor those who died and who will die fighting for an America we know and love. Start thinking about what you can do to change the leadership in Washington, your state and your communities. If we do not, once again, unite against a common enemy, we are doomed.

-- steve

ALTON NOLEN: DOMESTIC TERRORIST JIHADIST OK'ED FOR EXECUTION IN OKLAHOMA

It appeared that former President Barack Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder had no problem involving the Department of Justice in Ferguson, Missouri where a white police officer on routine patrol was attacked by a black thug who subsequently lost his life when struggling for the officer’s weapon.

The federal criminal investigation into the fatal shooting of Michael Brown sought to determine whether the evidence from the events that led to Brown’s death was sufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Wilson’s actions violated federal civil rights laws that make it a federal crime for someone acting with law enforcement authority to willfully violate a person’s civil rights.  As part of the investigation, federal authorities reviewed physical, ballistic, forensic, and crime scene evidence; medical reports and autopsy reports, including an independent autopsy performed by the U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Medical Examiner Service; Wilson’s personnel records; audio and video recordings; internet postings, and; the transcripts from the proceedings before the St. Louis County grand jury.  Federal investigators interviewed purported eyewitnesses and other individuals claiming to have relevant information.  Federal prosecutors and agents re-interviewed dozens of witnesses to evaluate their accounts and obtain more detailed information.  FBI agents independently canvassed more than 300 residences to locate and interview additional witnesses. The standard of proof is the same for all criminal cases: that the defendant committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.  However, unlike state laws, federal criminal civil rights statutes do not have the equivalent of manslaughter or a statute that makes negligence a crime. Federal statutes require the government to prove that Officer Wilson used unreasonable force when he shot Michael Brown and that he did so willfully, that is, he shot Brown knowing it was wrong and against the law to do so.  After a careful and deliberative review of all of the evidence, the department has determined that the evidence does not establish that Darren Wilson violated the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute. The family of Michael Brown was notified earlier today of the department’s findings. <Source>

But then-President Obama and Attorney General Holder could not bring themselves to use the term “Islamic terrorist” or demand that the Department of Justice treat this brutal attack which saw one victim beheaded and another severely injured during what was clearly a domestic terror attack by a Jihadi screaming “Allahu Akbar.”  Instead of charging this case as a federal terrorist act on domestic soil, the DOJ instated that the local District Attorney charge this under state law as a common murder and attempted murder.

It was more than “workplace violence,” the attack was a clearly defined case of domestic terrorism against Alton Nolen…

Nolen told police in 2014 he beheaded his co-worker, Colleen Hufford, and tried to behead another woman at the plant because he felt “oppressed” as a Muslim. “You know all I was doing was … what I was supposed to do as a Muslim,” Nolen said. “It’s in the Quran.” There were reports that Nolen had tried to convert several of his co-workers to Islam and they were not receptive, which may have fueled his rage. Nolen’s court-appointed attorneys are now asking the jury to find him not guilty by reason of insanity. They argued he is mentally ill and believed what he was doing was right because of “delusional misinterpretations of Islamic teachings,” according to the Oklahoman, a local newspaper covering the trial. An expert witness took the stand Monday on behalf of the defense and told the jury that the Quran contains no instructions for Muslims kill unbelievers by beheading unless it is a time of war. <Source>

And powerful people requested that Eric Holder and the Department of Justice not repeat the mistake of calling this workplace violence like they did when Major Nidal Hasan  shot up Fort Hood resulting in 13 dead and 30 wounded …

Rep. Frank Wolf, who represents Virginia's 10th District and is chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Justice, today sent the following letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to investigate the recent beheading in Oklahoma as a terrorist attack and to not just quickly dismiss it at workplace violence like was done in the Fort Hood terrorist attack in 2009: Dear Attorney General Holder: Later today, the Cleveland County, Oklahoma district attorney's office is expected to seek charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon against Alton Nolen for his beheading of a woman and stabbing of another at a food processing plant in Oklahoma last week. I am writing today to urge the Justice Department to continue to investigate this decapitation as terrorism and not be quick to just dismiss this as "workplace violence," as this administration notoriously did in the case of the 2009 terrorist attack on Fort Hood, which left 13 dead and more than 30 wounded. It has been reported that over the past two years Nolen was becoming radicalized. According to CNN, his Facebook page "included images of Osama bin Laden and an apparent beheading," and his social media posts became "almost exclusively related to Islam in April 2013 – shortly after he was released from prison." He also reportedly got into trouble at work for "trying to convert co-workers to Islam," according to CNN. In the wake of the department's failure to "connect the dots" between Anwar Aulaqi and Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Hasan, it is more important than ever for you to make clear to the department's agents and attorneys that this is, in fact, terrorism and to determine whether this or other plots are part of an effort by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or al Qaeda to radicalize Americans and direct attacks in the U.S. Whether the Nolen investigation ultimately shows that he communicated directly with terrorists abroad or was independently inspired by the recent ISIS beheading videos, there is no question that this attack represents a direct threat from radicalized Islamist extremists to the American people. We cannot again let political correctness drive this investigation and prosecution, as this administration did in charging Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Hasan with "workplace violence" instead of terrorism. Then, as now, authorities sought to downplay the Islamic radicalization of the perpetrator in the months leading up to the attack, as well as any outside influence from terrorist groups. As we all know now, Anwar Aulaqi played a key role in the radicalization of Hasan and al Qaeda propaganda motivated his terrorist attack – something the FBI failed to connect prior to the attack, as detailed in the Webster Commission report. Read more…

Justice delayed…

This is one of those cases where the perpetrator was caught red-handed (no pun intended) and there is absolutely no doubt that he killed one person and maimed another in a case of Islamic terrorism. On October 1, 2018, the United States Supreme Court rejected domestic terrorist Alton Nolen’s final death penalty appeal and cleared the path for Oklahoma to execute the Jihadist. Unfortunately, Oklahoma cannot legally obtain the drugs necessary for lethal injection and is now attempting to develop a protocol for the use of nitrogen to painlessly kill convicted felons.

Bottom line…

Once again, we find that the progressive socialist democrats and their propaganda press corps cannot be relied on to protect and defend the safety and security of Americans, but are willing to allow innocent Americans to die in the name of political correctness.

Whether it is decimating our military or inviting an invasion of criminal thugs into the country, there is no way that Democrats can keep us safe. Something to remember when people speak of Kamala Harris, the female equivalent of Barack Obama, as a viable candidate in 2020.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

SENIOR CITIZENS: THE SADDEST SIGHT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

In the wealthiest country on the face of the planet, I believe the saddest sight that I have seen in any newspaper article is a picture of an elderly woman, dressed in what appeared to be her “good” dress lying fully clothed with her purse clutched tightly in her hand on a bed in a rather decrepit motel, rented on a weekly basis using a voucher. She wasn’t going anywhere – just existing. I remember these picture years after and continue to ask myself, “how the hell can this happen in our nation?”

Now, my sister shows up to tell me she went to one of her club meetings where a lone Christmas tree stood decorated with little slips of paper. Each piece of paper containing the wish of an impoverished senior citizen. My sister took two ornaments off the tree and the result is heartbreaking.

One contained a request for a gift card to a grocery store. The other a request for a warm set of pajamas and slippers. Neither person requested what might be considered a “present” in this land of opportunity and abundance.

It doesn’t matter who you help or how you help … just that you help.

Don’t turn your back on the aged, infirm, poor, and the suffering. Consider giving directly, without going through a charity that will siphon off their share for overhead.

Bottom line…

I see bond issues for millions or even billions of dollars to be spent on “affordable housing” or “assistance to the poor,” so why do most of the dollars wind up in the pockets of politically-connected special interests? Why is it that our basic infrastructure continues to decay while money is still being spent on silly, meaningless art projects and other such nonsense?

What is lacking in our country is leadership. Leadership on the local, state, and federal level. Leadership that is not self-serving and politically self-perpetuating.

While your first duty should be to take care of immediate family and then extended relatives, considering giving a little more to another person this holiday season. Not the professional panhandler with the sign in a high0traffic area, but someone who looks like they could use a few extra dollars or piece of clothing.

Let this holiday season be a joyous one for you and your family – and try to spread the joy in your immediate area.

-- steve