October 27-28, 2019

Oct 27 01:24 DFL unserious towards corruption
Oct 27 02:29 ISIS leader al-Baghdadi dead
Oct 27 11:01 Democrats' sickening silence
Oct 27 16:26 The death of Democrats' patriotism

Oct 28 03:04 Proof that Trump is amazing
Oct 28 07:53 Dems upset over Baghdadi snub
Oct 28 10:58 Raddatz challenges Schiff
Oct 28 21:05 Pelosi's impeachment about-face

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DFL unserious towards corruption

Apparently, the DFL isn't serious about protecting whistleblowers . If the DFL was serious about eliminating corruption, this wouldn't still be happening:

A state whistleblower says she is still being retaliated against months after she reported wrongdoing. Faye Bernstein, a compliance officer at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, said she has been excluded from the work she did before speaking out, told by superiors that her opinion "is no longer needed," and encouraged to take time off or seek therapy when she objected to the retaliation she continues to face. And Bernstein said some employees have even started "wild and hurtful rumors" to discredit her.

Bernstein, a 14-year veteran of the department, raised concerns in July about "substandard and noncompliant" state contracts that were being approved by leaders in the agency's behavioral health division, which pays out millions of dollars in contracts and grants for programs that include battling addiction and the opioid epidemic.

This started before the Walz administration but it's obvious that the Walz administration isn't taking their responsibilities seriously. When she was appointed, I said that new Commissioner Jodi Harpstead was a terrible pick . That was mid-August. It's now late October. Changing the culture takes time but it isn't unreasonable to think that Ms. Harpstead should get 1-2 of her top priorities fixed in that time. According to this testimony from Ms. Harpstead, changing the culture wasn't a high priority:
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That's depressing. What's depressing, too, is that, after naming Harpstead the new commissioner 2 months ago, Democrat Gov. Tim Walz essentially disappeared. I just did multiple searches for Gov. Walz but found only a handful of articles, most of which dealt the insulin issue. The insulin issue is important but the DHS whistleblower/bullying scandal is important, too. Walz and the DFL have disappeared on the issue of eliminating fraud within DHS.

The DFL hasn't provided meaningful oversight on DHS. Tim Walz has disappeared. Walz's new leader for DHS, Jodi Harpstead, hasn't prioritized changing the culture in her new department, meaning that DHS's culture remains toxic. Big government that thinks it doesn't answer to anybody is a nightmare. Why doesn't the DFL think that stopping corruption and bullying is a big thing? The DFL has treated these scandals like they aren't interested.

Posted Sunday, October 27, 2019 1:24 AM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 27-Oct-19 07:24 AM
The DFL is a bunch of do nothing tax the rich hypocrites so why would they want to do anything to change the way DHS runs? That would take accountability and Gov. Timmy is more interested in why vaping is so popular than stopping the millions of dollars of waste. DHS needs to be blown up (figuratively) and re-built.

ISIS leader al-Baghdadi dead

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ISIS leader, is believed to have gotten killed in a targeted raid in Syria. If true, the world (meaning the US military) will have rid itself of another bad guy. Details are still incomplete but what's being reported is that "A U.S. official told The Associated Press late Saturday that al-Baghdadi was targeted in Syria's Idlib province. The official said confirmation that the IS chief was killed in an explosion is pending. No other details were available. President Donald Trump teased a major announcement, tweeting Saturday night that 'Something very big has just happened!' A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, would say only that the president would be making a 'major statement' at 9 a.m. EDT Sunday."


UPDATE: The Jerusalem Post has confirmed with US Pentagon officials that al-Baghdadi was killed :

After previous reports remained vague, a senior Pentagon official and an Army official both confirmed to Newsweek that the operation was successful, and that the man killed was indeed Baghdadi. Official confirmation is currently pending DNA testing. According to Newsweek's report, following a brief firefight upon the US forces' advance to Baghdadi's compound, he committed suicide by activating an explosive vest. Two of Baghdadi's wives were killed as well when they detonated their explosive vests.

Good riddance. This might be the best paragraph of the JPost article:

Many critics of Trump's Syria pullout have expressed worries that it would lead the Islamic State militancy to regain strength and pose a threat to US interests. An announcement about Baghdadi's death could help blunt those concerns.

To modify a line from President George W. Bush, it's foolish to misunderestimate President Trump. People have been doing that since the start of his campaign. I'm certainly guilty of that. Most people are.
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Just like President Obama got a bump in the polls after the bin Laden raid was perfectly executed, it's expected that President Trump will reap the rewards of this raid, which appears to have been quite successful. This report is important:

The United States military has conducted a special operations raid targeting one of its most high-value targets, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), Newsweek has learned. President Donald Trump approved the mission nearly a week before it took place .

Amid reports Saturday of U.S. military helicopters over the Syria's northwestern Idlib province, a senior Pentagon official familiar with the operation and Army official briefed on the matter told Newsweek that Baghdadi was the target of the top-secret operation in the last bastion of the country's Islamist-dominated opposition, a faction that has clashed with ISIS in recent years.

Congratulations to the military and special operators who conducted this apparently successful raid. Here's to a job well done.

Posted Sunday, October 27, 2019 2:29 AM

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Democrats' sickening silence

When President Trump officially announced that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed by US special forces, President Trump said that al-Baghdadi died while "whimpering, crying and screaming." Unfortunately, that's more than what Democrats have said this morning. Just moments ago, Adam Schiff, the Democrats' Impeachment Chairman, said "Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff were not informed in advance of the U.S. special operations forces raid in northwestern Syria in which ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died, Schiff said on ABC's 'This Week.'"

Considering the need for secrecy to accomplish this dangerous mission, it isn't surprising that Pelosi and Schiff weren't notified. They've done nothing to suggest that they're trustworthy at keeping secrets. In fact, Schiff's actions have suggested that he isn't trustworthy whatsoever, especially on a mission this sensitive. This article highlights President Trump's thinking:

In a press conference, Trump responded to a reporter who asked if he informed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the strike ahead of time by confirming that he didn't. "No, I didn't," Trump said. "I wanted to make sure this kept secret, I didn't want to have men lost, and women, I didn't want people lost."

Implicit in that statement is that President Trump didn't think Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff could be trusted to keep this operation secret. Considering the daily selective leaking from Schiff's closed door faux impeachment hearings, President Trump's decision appears well-founded.

To be trusted, people need to be trustworthy. Schiff has proven to be the House's leading liar and leaker. This was a super-sensitive mission involving dozens of our best operators. Why would President Trump trust Democrats, especially Schiff?

al-Baghdadi is killed

Here's President Trump's news conference:
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This is a great day for the United States and the world. This isn't the end of ISIS but it's a great way to demoralize ISIS. This won't help with ISIS recruitment, either. One sick bastard has breathed his last breath.

Good riddance. The only downside of this is that Democrats were too partisan to issue a statement congratulating President Trump and thanking US special operators for pulling off a daring, dangerous raid. It would've been nice to see Democrats put America first instead of putting Democrats first.

UPDATE: That didn't take long. After a brief 6-hour delay, Speaker Pelosi finally issued this statement on the US operation that took out the former leader of ISIS:


It isn't surprising that Speaker Pelosi still sounded bitter towards President Trump.
UPDATE II: This says it all:


Posted Sunday, October 27, 2019 11:11 AM

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The death of Democrats' patriotism

This morning, Democrats got news that ISIS mastermind Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed. Rumors of al-Baghdadi's demise started leaking out around midnight last night. One of the first Democrats to get the news was Eric Swalwell , who told Chris Wallace "I was told right before I came on."

Speaker Pelosi was upset, saying "The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top Congressional Leadership were notified of in advance, and on the Administration's overall strategy in the region. Our military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington." Instead of being just praising the military's performance, Pelosi's statement spent too much complaining. The Russians were alerted because the strike force flew through airspace controlled jointly by Turkey and Russia. During his news conference, President Trump told reporters that the Kurds, Syrians, Turks and Russians were told that US helicopter gunships would be flying through their regions but weren't told why they flew through.

When President Trump announced that he was pulling troops out of Syria, he took tons of criticism, including from some Republicans. Now, he's getting praised profusely by Republicans. Pelosi wasn't the only Democrat whining. Adam Schiff, the House Democrats' Impeachment Chairman, couldn't stop whining either. According to this article , Schiff said "The idea that we would pull our forces away from this vital ally, the Kurds...and now we're sending our troops back in to protect oil?. So we'll betray an ally, but we'll go back in to protect the oil? That sickens me."

The US military just killed the world's most-wanted terrorist and Schiff is whining about a detail? Where's the patriotism? I haven't seen it from the Democrats. The Democrats' statements have been, putting it charitably, qualified. This is how a patriot makes a statement:

I applaud President Trump's announcement that U.S. special forces have eliminated ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The world's most wanted man has been brought to justice. The world is a safer place today.

This victory for the U.S. and our many counterterrorism partners is a significant step for the campaign against ISIS, for the future of the Middle East, and for the safety of the American people and free people around the world.

A victory like this is only possible because of the expertise, skill, and courage of those who work to keep the United States safe. I am grateful for the intelligence professionals who laid the groundwork for this raid, for the brave American servicemembers who risked everything to carry it out, and to President Trump and his team for their leadership.

While we welcome the fact that al-Baghdadi has been brought to justice, we know we cannot underestimate the resilience of terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda. The important counterterrorism work of the United States, our international coalition partners, and local forces will not end with this significant victory. To the contrary, history shows us how vital it is to keep building on this victory and continue our work to set the conditions for the enduring defeat of ISIS, al Qaeda, and other terrorists in Syria, in Afghanistan, and around the world.

That's Mitch McConnell's statement. That's the right pitch, the right attitude. Vice President Pence provides the best explanation of the raid in this interview:
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Pence quickly dispatched the impeachment questions before quickly pivoting to killing al-Baghdadi and praising the professionalism of our special operators. Today is a day to praise our military and its commander-in-chief. Politics can wait until another day.

Posted Sunday, October 27, 2019 4:26 PM

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Proof that Trump is amazing

Anyone that thinks that President Trump isn't amazing isn't paying attention. It isn't about whether you agree with his tweets or not. It's about President Trump's ability to focus on what's most important the past month. Democrats have been trying to impeach President Trump since before he took office. That's 3 years ago. While Resist Democrats, aka Do-Nothing Democrats, have stood against virtually everything President Trump advocated for, President Trump has implemented policies that've put the United States on the right path economically and from a national security standpoint.

Just 48 hours ago, Do-Nothing Democrats and their media allies criticized President Trump's decision to pull a handful of troops out of northern Syria. Some Democrats said that "the White House had no 'real plan' to combat the terror group following the U.S. pullout in Syria." Sunday morning, President Trump held an hour-long news conference to announce an operation that killed the world's top terrorist, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. That happened without the world knowing what was happening. President Trump knew what was happening for 3 days.
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Despite Democrats' constant criticism, President Trump has made great decisions. President Trump's economic policies have strengthened families while lifting minority families out of poverty. President Trump's military policies have brought troops home without giving comfort to terrorists. (President Obama can't say that.)

Despite the Democrats' 3-year-long impeachment investigation, President Trump's policies have made the US more prosperous, rebuilt rural America, made the US energy dominant while rebuilding the military and strengthening border security. He's done this without a single vote from Democrats. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has strengthened the US economy. That passed without a single Democrat vote in the House or Senate.

Each day, President Trump has to listen to busybodies throw hissy fits about him allegedly committing treason or the walls closing in . He's had to listen to has-been reporters claim that what Trump did was " worse than Watergate ." Additionally, President Trump has had to listen to commentators insist that that day's testimony was a bombshell .

President Trump just keeps chugging along. He's heard this crap for 3+ years. It hasn't stopped him from giving as good as he's gotten. It hasn't stopped him from getting major initiatives enacted. When he puts this all together at the Convention next year, it'll make for an impressive-sounding acceptance speech that'll rally longtime activists and newly minted Republicans alike.

I don't think that President Trump can walk on water but I'm convinced that he's accomplished as much in 3 years as Bill Clinton accomplished in 8. Considering the hostile press he's faced daily and the Do-Nothing Democrats impeachment insanity he's had to deal with, it's amazing he's still standing, much less flourishing. When impeachment falls behind him, President Trump won't have to deal with the BS that he's had to deal with his entire presidency.

Hopefully, President Trump will be re-elected with a bigger GOP Senate majority while retaking the House away from the nuts that currently run the Democrat Party. If we have unified government again, the economy will improve and more reforms will get accomplished.

That would be truly amazing.

Posted Monday, October 28, 2019 3:04 AM

Comment 1 by eric z at 28-Oct-19 09:28 AM
He showed up at a World Series game. AP, carried by Seattle PI, reported he was roundly booed with a chant among some, "Lock him up." Regardless of spinning, that is fact. I'd like to see that happen. Locked up, with Joe Biden his cellmate. The sun would shine brighter and birds would sing better were that to happen. There has to be a first step out of the quagmire.

Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 28-Oct-19 11:04 AM
Trump is that step out of the quagmire. He speaks for millions of uppity peasants that the Democrats forgot about years ago.

Comment 2 by J. Ewing at 28-Oct-19 10:11 AM
What quagmire? Economy up, regulation down, wall up, the Caliph down. The only quagmire we still have is the Democrat do-nothing Congress, mucking everything up.

Comment 3 by Chad Q at 28-Oct-19 05:43 PM
I'll take this quagmire over the one Obama had us in for 8 years. That one was real, this one is only in the minds of people with TDS or true socialists.

Dems upset over Baghdadi snub

It's finally coming out that Democrats are upset that President Trump told Turkey and Russia about the al-Baghdadi raid without notifying Pelosi, Schumer and Schiff. Pelosi and Schiff have spent the past 3 years lying about President Trump colluding with Russia but they expect to be trusted? On top of that, Schiff has been leaking cherry-picked testimony in the hopes of poisoning the jury pool.

Trust doesn't work that way. To be trusted, you actually have to be trustworthy. Schiff, the Democrats' Impeachment Chairman, has proven multiple times that he isn't trustworthy. He's leaked testimony like a sieve. He's lied about having proof that President Trump colluded with Russia. His latest dishonesty involved Schiff making up out of whole cloth a statement he attributed to President Trump:
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After a stunt like that, he expects to be trusted? If he thinks that, then he's stupid. Then again, he might be stupid regardless.

Pelosi, in a statement released shortly after the president's address, thanked the U.S. Special Operations forces for carrying out the raid, praising "the heroism, dedication and skill of our military and our intelligence professionals", but questioned why the Trump administration choose to notify other nations of the raid and not congressional lawmakers.

Actually, the statement wasn't released in a timely fashion. Veteran journalists like Maria Bartiromo commented multiple times that Speaker Pelosi hadn't released a statement until late morning. Obviously, Pelosi was upset about not getting notified. Tough- she has herself to blame. If she hadn't tried stabbing President Trump in the back multiple times, perhaps she wouldn't be treated like this.

Like I said earlier, if Democrats want people to trust them, Democrats need to earn the people's trust. That won't happen if Democrats keep making up charges that accuse President Trump has done everything from committing treason to colluding with Russia to extorting Ukraine for personal partisan gain. The Democrats' bitterness is stunning. The Democrats' dishonesty is appalling. If they're upset, let them choke on their dishonesty.

Posted Monday, October 28, 2019 7:53 AM

Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 28-Oct-19 10:09 AM
So why haven't these Democrats been brought up on charges for leaking information out of their secret meetings on impeachment? If those meetings are so national security secret, why are Democrats allowed to openly discuss them for the media?

Raddatz challenges Schiff

During his interview on ABC's This Week, moderator Martha Raddatz challenged Adam Schiff, the Democrats' Impeachment Chairman, when Schiff said that John Durham's investigation is tainted . Schiff said "This is tainted because of the motivation, which is a political one, to serve the president's political interests." Moderator Martha Raddatz replied, saying "You have no evidence of that yet whatsoever, however."

After that, Schiff tried regaining the upper hand, saying "The president has been calling for the Justice Department to investigate Comey, to investigate Clapper, to investigate anyone who stood in his way and now what is Bill Barr doing? He's doing an investigation of - a criminal investigation of some of the people responsible for this probe so you can, I think, connect one dot to another."

Actually, it isn't difficult to connect the dots. Jim Comey signed the FISA warrant application that relied heavily on the Steele Dossier. When the application for the warrant was presented to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the Dossier was stamped as verified, meaning the contents could be trusted. In testimony in Britain, Steele testified under oath that the Dossier hadn't been verified.

That immediately suggests that the predicate for launching the Obama administration's probe into the Trump campaign wasn't legitimate. That's the opposite of tainted. If anything, the Durham and Horowitz investigations are required because of that information. That doesn't prove Clapper's or Comey's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt but it's definitely justification for the investigation.
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What's interesting is that Schiff, the rabid dog Democrat who's leading the Democrats' impeachment investigation, said that "you can assign good people to do an illegitimate investigation." I don't see how that's possible. If the investigation is illegitimate, a prosecutor with integrity will shut it down fast. Durham was assigned this investigation back in May "to investigate the origins of and potential wrongdoings in the Russia probe." If the probe has transitioned from an administrative review into a criminal investigation means that Durham has found something noteworthy. That isn't a guarantee of criminal convictions but it can't be ruled out either.

Posted Monday, October 28, 2019 10:58 AM

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Pelosi's impeachment about-face

Speaker Pelosi is spinning like a top after pulling a 180 on a formal impeachment vote . Pelosi insists that this isn't an admission that Democrats have run an illegitimate investigation thus far. That spin doesn't pass the laugh test, though. A complete 180 can't be seen as anything except a reversal/admission.

Ms. Pelosi's statement is filled with misleading statements. For instance, Ms. Pelosi's statement says "the Constitution does not mandate the process for impeachment and there is no constitutional requirement that the House of Representatives authorize an impeachment inquiry before one begins." Technically, that's right. Actually, it's deceptive as hell. While it's true that the Constitution doesn't provide a checklist to be followed, there are constitutional principles that must be upheld.

One such constitutional principle that must be upheld is the principle of separation of powers. Congress has subpoena power but only in the context of fulfilling its legislative responsibilities. Their subpoena power disappears the minute it's used for investigative purposes. The term used is "legislative purpose." If the thing that's getting subpoenaed isn't being used to write legislation, then it's an invalid use of subpoena power.

Further, the Constitution doesn't permit people in the Legislative Branch to impanel a grand jury. Only people in the Executive Branch have the authority to impanel grand juries. Adam Schiff isn't part of the Executive Branch.

Just last week, a federal court confirmed that the House is not required to hold a vote and that imposing such a requirement would be "an impermissible intrusion on the House's constitutional authority."

That ruling is stupid. First, the Constitution says that " The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment ." The courts have defined "The House" as being the entire House of Representatives, not just the Speaker. This isn't insignificant. When Speaker Pelosi stated that the House was conducting an impeachment investigation, there wasn't a vote of the whole House. It was just a declaration by Speaker Pelosi. Official votes are the only things recognized as official actions of the House and Senate. This statement is worthy of a snot-nosed little brat, not the Speaker of the House:

They argue that, because the House has not taken a vote, they may simply pretend the impeachment inquiry does not exist.

Until the Constitution's requirements have been met, the impeachment inquiry doesn't exist in the eyes of the courts. Who's stupid enough to think that a court would think that an investigation whose rules change daily would pass muster on due process? An Obama-appointed airhead might buy that but that's about it. Further, past precedent matters. The rules that governed the Nixon impeachment governed the Clinton impeachment, too. The 'Rodino Rules' weren't adopted for President Trump. Why haven't they? Are they too transparent for Schiff and Pelosi? Do Schiff, Pelosi and the Democrats realize the flimsiness of their case, which leads them to think that a secret investigation, filled with Schiff leaks, is the only chance they have at gaining an impeachment?
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It's interesting that the CNBC correspondent characterized this as a reversal by Speaker Pelosi. It isn't interesting because I disagree. It's interesting because I didn't expect that from a media organization.

Posted Monday, October 28, 2019 9:05 PM

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