January 31, 2018, - 10:57 am

Trump’s State Of The Union & the Gross, Sweaty Kennedy Response

By Debbie Schlussel

A few words about President Trump’s State Of The Union address, last night. Methinks the liberal media wasn’t listening to the same speech I heard. It was one of the most moving, Reaganesque speeches I’ve heard in years (with a few objectionable exceptions). And then there was the sweaty Kennedy Jr. response, which had echoes of Nixon in the famous Nixon-Kennedy Debate.




Last night, I heard Donald Trump hit all the right notes. Whoever wrote that speech, did a masterful job. The naysayers in the media who called it divisive and “too long” are the same ones who did verbal Lewinskys after every Obama yawnfest. For a “long” speech, I thought it went by very quickly because it was so good and so well-delivered by Trump.

The President spoke of the economy he revved up with tax cuts . . . something Ronald Reagan did in his first term, but not in the first year (not even close). He talked about all the pay raises, manufacturing jobs and plants coming back to America, and the Detroit comeback (which I’ve seen firsthand, though Detroit has a long–decades-long–way to go). Trump talked about our veterans getting choice in healthcare, about eliminating the ObamaCare individual mandate–a statist tax that crushes America’s middle class. He spoke of many, many things he’s done to make America great again . . . or at least on our way there.

Trump talked about American sovereignty and how he wants to stop foreign aid to countries that disrespect us in the U.N. That’s a policy that’s long overdue. I’m glad he reinforced America’s right to recognize Israel’s capital and the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem. Trump talked about our “defeat” of ISIS. And, yes, it is true that ISIS has lost almost all significant ground in Syria and Iraq, but it is strong throughout the world with its random terrorist attacks targeted against Westerners. So ISIS is not defeated. Not even close.

To me, the most moving parts were the recognition of the “Lenny Skutniks” (so named because Ronald Reagan was the first President to use the State of the Union to highlight special Americans who were his guests in the House balcony–the heroic Lenny Skutnik jumped into the freezing Potomac River in the dead of winter to rescue Americans whose plane had just crashed there).

I was most moved by Ji Seong-ho, the North Korean defector and amputee who escaped on his crutches and now helps others defect. He is a true survivor and a hero. His story moved me to tears. What an incredible person! No, he’s not American, but he is in spirit.

And although I feel that any American who goes to North Korea “for a tour” is stupid–and then vandalizes some banner there on top of it, making the person even more of a moron who took an incredible risk with very bad odds–I felt very bad for the parents of Otto Warmbier. You could feel their pain and their tears brought at least one to my eye.

I was also moved by the grieving parents of the two girls who were murdered by illegal aliens in MS-13. But I felt that the message might have been lost on even the President, as he then pushed for “a path to citizenship” for the so-called DREAMers of DACA. There were only supposed to be 600,000 or so left on DACA, and Republicans hadn’t even been considering citizenship for them. Now Trump wants to expand it to the 1.8 million–many of whom are not covered by DACA (because they have significant criminal behavior in their records or because of other important negative factors)–and put them at the front of the line. Uh, no thank you.

I also hated his pimping of “paid leave” for parents. No. You want to have kids, that’s your choice. Don’t put it on employers to raise your family. That hurts small businesses the most and forces them to cut jobs. We are not Europe. Stop trying to be like that Madonna-obsessed soon to be Dar-al-Islam. You just bragged about cutting taxes and regulations, bringing jobs back to America, and improving our economy. Paid leave does the opposite of all these things. It’s a job-killer, a business killer, an innovation killer. Period.

I wanted to believe in and agree with Trump’s statement toward the end of the speech: that we have American values that make us strong and make us able to come back from and beat anything. I’m not so sure about that anymore. I don’t think all of America stands for the same thing. In fact, I think there are far too many in our midst who are self-hating and don’t identify with “American values” of “liberal democracy.” They think everything America does is the worst and want us to fall.

And speaking of that . . . there were the Democrats–the hags in Black, the Blacks in African garb (who nevertheless prefer this “sh-thole” country to the ones from which they were sold into slavery by Muslim Arabs), and other bitter-looking shrews (female AND male). Who could miss the things they did NOT stand up for or even give a tiny bit of applause: giving veterans healthcare choice–nope they don’t want that; not telegraphing our plans to the Taliban in advance–I guess the Dems want them to know and to bomb our military personnel to oblivion or to many missing limbs and deformities; allowing Americans who are dying, to try experimental treatments immediately, without government obstacles–Let Them DIE! say the Dems, so no clapping for that either; jobs back in America–the Dems want Americans unemployed and dependent on them for handouts, I guess.

I noted the behavior of the uber-annoying, pretentious, arrogant-ette Debbie Dingell-ing (or as some of my friends call her, Dingellberry; but I prefer what this most self-indignant woman on Earth is: just a dingaling). When Trump spoke of Detroit’s comeback and all of the plants that are moving to Michigan, she just sat there in her ugly Black mourning garb. Um, her district is filled with auto plants and auto suppliers and union workers breaking their backs on the line, every single day. And also, many of them who are unemployed and looking for work. I guess she wants them at home on welfare. Whatta bitch. But, then, anyone who’s ever met her has known that about her for years. Tell me something I didn’t know.

One other thing: I found it odd and a bit unsettling that Melania Trump arrived with her own motorcade, separate and apart from the President. I get that she’s upset about the Stormy Daniels stories, but she knew whom she was marrying. His personal life isn’t exactly a secret. You’re married to the guy, he’s the President and the chief of the Free World. Do the classy thing and ride in his limo, lady. You weren’t on my ballot. He was. When you’re in the same town going to the same event at the same time, don’t do some silly feminist “Time’s Up–My Own Limo” move to embarrass your husband publicly to the world or make some other feminist statement. This isn’t The Real Housewives or the Grammies. This is serious business.



SWEATY KENNEDY

And then there’s that sweaty, strange redheaded kid the Democrats rounded up and corralled away from some frat house, for their response. I have news for them: Millennials don’t care about the Kennedys and Camelot. They don’t remember them. Sorry. This Frankennedystein with the high forehead and Jay Leno jaw didn’t cut it. He wasn’t ready for prime time. Yeah, I get that this guy–Joseph Kennedy–is the grandson of Robert Kennedy. But nobody south of 70 cares. Just sayin’. And by the way, this is America. We got rid of royal families and inheritances of power in 1776. And we got rid of it again when we rejected (for a second time) the second Clinton who wanted to be Prez.

And his delivery was awful. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears with every sentence. I couldn’t tell whether he was shrieking or lecturing me or a combination of both. Either way, I didn’t like this young Kennedy–who, in his late 30s, has never worked a day in his life–telling me anything about the world. Stick to what you know: a lavish Martha’s Vineyard compound. And that’s all you know.

Was that white saliva coming out of both corners of his mouth or just the logical ravine of the sweat dripping from his forehead on its way down. Ah, so that’s what they mean by trickle-down economics. The stuff coming out of the sides of his mouth reminded me of a villain in the movies who has just taken a cyanide pill to avoid being captured by the good guys and facing justice. Like I said, this guy was assuming the role of Nixon in that debate against JFK, this guy’s great-uncle. And Nixon had nothing on him, in the facial sweat gland department. “Sweaty Kennedy”–it sounds like a new hipster garage band.

Finally, I note they had this guy standing on some sort of stage with an audience–a stage and an audience that resemble that of Saturday Night Live. And his performance did look like a bad, humorless SNL parody of some politician wannabe.

So, to sum up: Trump, Presidential and moving. Kennedy, a sweaty mess–Camelot is over. America is becoming great again. To the extent it can be at this point.

***

Another thing (yeah, I’m like Columbo): I noted that the unemployed halal Donut King, Chris HAMAS Christie, now has a job. The beached whale was on ABC News last night along with his fellow liberal “Republican” beached whale-ette, Meghan McStain, trashing the speech. Um, who didn’t win a single state for Prez? And who won? I rest my case. Go get a donut, sore loser. This guy couldn’t even get hired in New York sports talk radio. But ABC News bailed him out. Soooo typical.




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44 Responses

Welcome back, and a grand slam in her first AB since reentering the lineup folks. That’s our Debbie.

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on January 31, 2018 at 11:12 am

    Alfredo you couldn’t be more right buddy. Now where did I put my glass of Cuban rum…LOL!

    Ken B on January 31, 2018 at 11:41 am

      Also nice to have you back Debbie.

      Ken B on February 1, 2018 at 8:56 am

I am soooooo sick of these pretentious “movements” (BLM, metoo), not because horrible things don’t happen, but because I am sick of hearing about how “racist” we are, and how Trump caused all of this. Do I agree with Trump on everything? No, but he is not the demon the media makes him out to be.

mindy1 on January 31, 2018 at 12:39 pm

Welcome back to the fray, Debbie!

I fell asleep watching the speech, so I really appreciate reading your critique.

(Alas! I also slept through the super blue moon lunar eclipse.)

John Robert Mallernee on January 31, 2018 at 12:53 pm

Hi Debbie:

What bothered me the most about the SOTU speech was the behavior of the Democrats. There are things we can and should expect Democrats and Republicans to agree on, but there were few, if any indications from the Democrats.

The most scary thing was when the President acknowledged his directive to move our U.S. Embassy to Israel to Jerusalem. The Republicans gave the President a rounding ovation. The Democrats sat on their hands.

Deb! This is merely the execution of a law passed by Congress in 1995. Here’s the House roll call on that law:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1995/roll734.xml

Here’s the Senate roll call on that law:

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=1&vote=00496

Nancy Pelosi voted in favor of moving the embassy. Why wasn’t she standing? Dick Durban voted for moving the embassy. Why wasn’t he standing? John Lewis voted for it. Why wasn’t he standing? Mikulski, Hoyer, Feinstine all voted for moving the embassy. I didn’t see them standing.

In 2008, Barack O’Bama told the AIPAC national convention: “… Jerusalem must remain the capital of Israel and it must never be divided.” Where was he last night?

Thanks to these politicians and so many like them on the Republican side, I didn’t have any great expectations that President Trump would move the embassy to Jerusalem when he made the pledge in 2016. Did you?

When the announcement came, AIPAC’s response was ridiculously muted. It went something like: “ER… uh… well… ya know, we always said that was something that should be done.”

Ya know! Perhaps I forgot that Trump’s campaign pledge carried with it his natural thirst to build swanky buildings in red-hot real-estate districts. Who knows whether that made him more determined! All I know is that even the most Israel-flag-waving Democrats in Congress sat on their hands when the President mentioned it during the speech. THAT was a very bad scene.

Fran Tarkenten’s voice keeps ringing in my ears: “What’s going on here!”

Sincerely,

There is NO Santa Claus (aka “TINSC)

There is NO Santa Claus on January 31, 2018 at 1:06 pm

The only thing that bothered me was the “pathway to citizenship”. I would like to know what this means. Does this mean learning English and being sufficiently educated without a criminal record? Does it exclude terrorists? Does it mean being pro American? Or does it mean “just give me your name and address so we know where to send you your citizenship papers, along with our complimentary voter registration papers”. We better make sure it is not the latter.

Jerry Doegen on January 31, 2018 at 2:18 pm

I did not see the speech, but during the day some Democrats, including my CongressBITCH, Jan Schakowsky, said they were going to boycott the speech. Unfortunately in my district there are too many voting morons to get rid of her.

David Makowsky on January 31, 2018 at 3:09 pm

Excellent discussion, Debbie!

Jim2 on January 31, 2018 at 3:20 pm

This is a terrific assessment of the President’s SOTU speech. And, indeed, some of the most powerful moments in the presentation were those with ordinary people as emblematic of the American spirit. I was not aware that Ronald Reagan was the first President to introduce the idea, starting with Lenny Skutnik. And whoever came up with that brilliant idea in the Reagan administration deserves some kudos. All of the people’s stories were moving in their own ways, and I too could feel my eyes tearing as Ji Seong-ho raised his crutches in triumphant victory.

The Partisan Democrat response to the President’s achievements was shameful, but predictable, even though by refusing to applaud such things as lower unemployment, making America safer, the American flag, and so forth, they were actually conveying the message that they hated those things.

The speech itself was beautifully written for the most part. Based on its style, I’d conclude that Steven Miller was the principal writer, with plenty of Donald Trump’s own suggestions included. Miller is known to be able to “channel” Trump’s personal speaking style and spars very effectively against anti-Trump media pundits. But I’ve personally watched Trump up close on his presidential campaign trail during one of his visits to my city and found him to be a skilled speechmaker. (He spoke well about a variety of issues without any notes or teleprompter during that visit.) So, most likely, Trump had a hand as well in the crafting of the speech.

Ralph Adamo on January 31, 2018 at 4:29 pm

Watching the reactions and behavior of the anti-Trump people makes me shudder to think what would happen if they ever gained absolute power in this country. It would make the horrors of the French and Russian revolutions, and their aftermaths look like a children’s party.

I admire Trump’s economic policies, and also think he made many good points in his speech. Having said that, I would feel better if the Commission on Election Fraud hadn’t been abandoned. It is astonishing that Trump and the rest of the Republicans have decided not to go after fraud committed by millions of people. And then there’s Iran.

Little Al on January 31, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    Not abandoned. The work on election fraud has been rolled into the DHS which, as I understand it, has subpoena powers the commission lacked.

    Raymond in DC on February 2, 2018 at 3:15 pm

Why did they put Kennedy in front of that car? It reminded me of his great uncle and Chappaquiddick.

BigKitty on January 31, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    Yeah the optics for the Kennedy rebuttal were all jacked up. The car thing was just the cherry on top of that failed sundae.

    Ken B on January 31, 2018 at 7:22 pm

Wow, The Return of Little Al almost made me get off this bus two miles before my stop. How do you say you have been missed in English? Hope his health is good.

Y’know, I was thinking, when Debbie said “gross, sweaty, and Kennedy,” that’s actually hilariously redundant.

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on January 31, 2018 at 7:10 pm

Finally as an alien I can understand a lot of the objection to ObamaCare at least in terms of the individual mandate seeing it described as “a statist tax that crushes America’s middle class.”

Australia’s scheme for funding healthcare has what it calls Medicare to cover a portion of the fees charged by medical providers, i.e. doctors, against about 5700 items of service on the schedule. That is universal at 2% of net taxable income although those on less than about USD15000 pa are exempt.

Services charged by hospitals for an admission (accommodations, theatre fees etc) are a different question and are paid for out of normal tax revenue, if admitted as a public patient which choice is open to anyone and all.

However one can wait years to be admitted for elective surgery with choice of doctor(s) often made by the hospital so the option to elect to be admitted as a private patient is also there for all, and in private hopspitals that is the only option.

One is billed direct by the hospital but many people who desire this option elect to take out private insurance to cover the very large charges which might ensue.

Nevertheless many do not so choose and to provide an incentive to do so, and thus relieve the strain on demand for taxpayer funded hospital cover, Australia also charges an additional levy on taxable income which is just another tax.

However unlike the Obamacare charge it is subject to an income tax threshold whereby if one earns under about about USD70K one pays nothing whereas above that one pays just 1% on a sliding scale up to 1.5% for households on above roughly USD105K. For families the thresholds are double these levels and increase. Thus low and middle income earning families are protected from the Obamacare style tax if they choose to stay with the public option.

Weird indeed that Obamacare couldn’t even think of something along these lines to not hit the middle class.

Oscar on January 31, 2018 at 7:23 pm

When will you be back on Twitter, Debbie?

G: I will post on that to address it. Thanks for asking. Please stay tuned. DS

guy on January 31, 2018 at 9:34 pm

Welcome back Schlussel, I missed reading your OT writings on realistic pertaining to the real world of human nature. But nonetheless though, I think that President Trump gave s great speech in the State of The Union to Congress, a tad better than last years.

He was right about the economy on how it’s incentivizing that everyone is lifting themselves back up (I can speak from experience Ms. Schlussel and everyone that I’m benefit from the “Trump hump”, where I’m back in the labor market with a new job) and no longer being dependent and/or on welfare. Both you’re right and he’s right Debbie that the manufacturer jobs returned back to your native Michigan from Mexico earlier this month, and that everyone is looking for a new job, etc.

And another thing is the “MS 13” gangs, mainly of illegal aliens where I read a story about nearly a year ago in Suffolk County, New York (not too far from where I’m currently located) that they killed two Black girls (not a hate crime, there wasn’t any criminal citation proof of such), where the girls parents attended the SOTU to see our President give the speech, et al!

Sean R. on January 31, 2018 at 9:44 pm

Nailed it Deb. A+

#1Vato on January 31, 2018 at 10:26 pm

Good take on the blacks. We owe them nothing. They demand reparations because they know America is the land of opportunity to rip whites off.

Primetime on January 31, 2018 at 11:19 pm

Welcome back, Debbie. Excellent analysis as usual.

JeffE on January 31, 2018 at 11:29 pm

I thought it was the greatest speech since Ronald Reagan.

I’ve waited a lifetime for a President who made us feel proud of country and what it means to be an American.

Trump is that President. I can live with the few liberal throwaway lines in his speech because they have no chance of becoming law.

The Democrats hate him so much they will NEVER consider any rational policy on immigration and family leave.

Debbie has been shadow banned from Twitter. Lots of people say far worse and they’re still in good standing.

That says a lot more about Twitter than it does about her and she still has her website. They can’t censor what they don’t like on it.

A good review of Trump’s SOTU. He’s not Reagan but people are warming up to him. He genuinely loves and cares for America, even if I don’t agree with him on everything.

And his classless opponents? When you can’t stand up and applaud real American heroes, nothig more need be said.

NormanF on February 1, 2018 at 5:50 am

The media’s coverage of Trump’s SOTU did seem like something out of Bizarro World, didn’t it? Some even thought Nancy Pelostic Surgery had the look of someone who was just eating a bug that somehow got into her mouth.

As to Stormy Daniels, one wonders if she’s a vassal of the Deep State that is so obsessed with facilitating a coup against a duly elected President and government. I’m sure Larry Flynt paid her to crawl out of the woodwork, given his own desire to have Trump overthrown and his long-standing drive to take out anyone – either in office or running for it – with an ‘R’ and/or ‘C’ next to their name while not touching the most reprobate of Democrats (i.e. Bill Clinton). Or if not Flynt, any number of Hillary’s allies.

It is evident that the #MeToo movement is at its core anti-male, especially given an event to counter SOTU staged by fat slob Michael Moore in which he ranted about how now was the time to fight to end so-called “white male privilege.” That obsession amongst the Left may well also have something to do with the drive to promote, glorify, and further spread transgenderism we are now seeing at this time – totally motivated by a disdain for our culture and our heritage and for the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of society (the same motivation for Democrats’ “open borders” drive to flood this country with more illegals and Muslims – not any “compassion” for either group).

I did notice, after the “Sweaty Kennedy” caption, the rest of this excellent article was justified center instead of left. In terms of positioning (as someone who knows about graphics and a bit about web page formatting), it strikes me as somewhat odd. But the points are still salient.

Concerned Patriot on February 1, 2018 at 6:28 am

Having my morning coffee and joint to the valuable comments added during my sleep time last night.

Excellent all around, concise, stellar commentary by NormanF, and I think I could do a lot of listening to CP if we were having Cuban cigars, and he wanted to talk about formatting. I did a weeee bit of formatting, working with graphics, text boxes, etc., back in the all too early days of desk top publishing.

Keep it coming, folks, good to see the core members of Debbie’s ‘family’ here, always great commentary, as I begin my sixth year on this web site.

I’m off to read Debbie’s commentary on the ONE story I have managed to avoid for days, Melania’s outfit. But because Debbie has decided to put it up on her site, now I HAVE to read about it. GRRRRRRRR!!!

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on February 1, 2018 at 9:16 am

I was also reading the part of “The Donald’s” advocacy of paid family leave, and couldn’t help but remember an article on Debbie’s site from 2016 in which that plank was one thing advocated by First Daughter Ivanka – one of several ways she has his ear on certain policies. And she ain’t exactly rock-ribbed conservative, herself.

Concerned Patriot on February 1, 2018 at 12:57 pm

Welllll, my extremely long winded post about Melania’s pantsuit didn’t make it up, but I will affirm what CP said here. I remember that article well. She, despite a quite beautiful face, and her husband, are liberal Democrats, no secrets, no disguises. We knew we were getting a possible mixed bag with Trump as president, but . . .

A(NYBODY)
B(UT)
C(LINTON)!!!

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on February 1, 2018 at 1:01 pm

Instead of Jay Leno, I thought Kennedy looked more like Conan O’Brien’s illegitimate love child.

And AMEN to everything else!

Sean M on February 1, 2018 at 1:19 pm

    Yeah Sean this Kennedy looks like Carrot Top and Chelsea Handler had a baby…LOL!

    Ken B on February 1, 2018 at 2:15 pm

      Speaking of Conan O’Brien and Carrot Top, don’t look for Saturday Night Live to do anything funny with Joe Kennedy’s speech, even though the laughs would be easy to generate.

      If I were writing for SNL, I’d have Joe Kennedy foaming at the mouth in a never-ending flow, which his sycophants ignored that and applaud wildly for statements that don’t even qualify as clap-trap. (The special effect would be done by hiding tubing under the actor’s makeup and pumping foam through the tubes at both sides of Kennedy’s mouth.) Toward the end of the sketch, the foam would be pouring onto the floor at the feet of the audience as they give him a standing ovation. Then to close the sketch out, CNN pundits would be praising Joe Kennedy, saying how his “foaming at the mouth” was evidence of his passion and conviction for attacking President Trump.

      Instead, SNL will find some stupid, unfunny way to attack Trump.

      Ralph Adamo on February 1, 2018 at 3:11 pm

It is good to see you back. President Trump generally made his points well, and I suspect that the television audience got it. As for Melania Trump, she needs to realize that part of being a #Flotus is supporting The President of the United States. Public displays of being miffed are inappropriate in such situations. However, Melania Trump seems to be genuinely likeble and gracious, unlike Michelle Obama.

As for Joseph Kennedy, he looked like someone who belonged in adult daycare.

Worry on February 1, 2018 at 4:50 pm

Excellent post Debbie and once again it’s nice to have you back. I stayed up to watch President Trump’s SOTU speech mainly because I just wanted to see how he’d do. Some people like style and others like substance. I like both and he pulled them off bigly. The only thing that I didn’t like was the part about the so-called DREAMers and DACA. Before any talk of citizenship for these people the Southern border wall and immigration reform should be priority.
As to the ridiculous behavior of the Dumbocrats it was beyond pathetic but expected. If you can’t even stand and clap for what’s positive for the average American (tax cuts) or our fine Veterans most of which who will never be the same again then that’s all that needs to be said about you. What I really wanted to say about the clowns in the Congressional Black Caucus would get me banned here so I’ll just move on.
Speaking of moving on the Kennedy rebuttal was a total joke. Joey wasn’t ready for primetime and it showed. Did he eat the trick foaming donut and have a shot of niacin before he came out. He looked shaker than when Governor Jindal gave his response to Obola’s first SOTU. I guess only a Democrat can look foamy, weepy and sweaty at the same time. In any event President Trump did an good job and continues to make the dopey Dummycrats and liberals heads explode. Is he perfect(who is) heck no but he’s a hell of a lot better than the PIAPS would’ve been.

Ken B on February 2, 2018 at 8:39 am

Well, while I await a rather long winded post I put up yesterday to (perhaps) make it through the spider web, let’s try this.

Anyone remember the drama at the Wellstone Memorial? Funeral mass? That was pure political theatre. So, this, which I did not watch, and would not have even if there WERE a TV in this empty house, was a long time coming.

Beware the Demmicans and Republicrats, statists ALL.

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on February 2, 2018 at 9:59 am

Nope. Hateful tone throughout. Post and responses.

Lisa on February 2, 2018 at 9:23 pm

Fine speeches are nice but Democrat majorities for perpetuity probably won’t result in anything fun and really that’s all that Trump’s amnesty deals have secured.
Never seen a party celebrate its own demise with such gusto.
Just give them a flag to wave and it’s off to the races.
When Ryan looks positively exuberant you know something is wrong.

Mochizuki Koga on February 3, 2018 at 11:10 am

On the DACA thing, there is no reason to give voting rights i.e. citizenship to them, even if they want to legalize them as a part of any deal on the wall, chain migration & merit based immigration

However, his problem here – for now – is the GOP Senate. You have the AZ Snow Flakes – both Flake & McCain opposing an end to DACA, and backed by Lindsay Graham, Bob Corker and probably Collins & Murkowski. The president ought to be – on the RNC front – purging the legislative party of these RINOs, but hasn’t shown any interest in this. Bannon was at least doing a good job here, until he blew it by showing a pathetic lack of judgement in trusting Michael Wolff.

On ISIS, I think it’s a question of terminology. While various Islamic groups in other places in the world did declare affiliation to ISIS, they’re not a part of it: ISIS is just the jihadist group in Iraq & Syria that has been reduced to zero. It’s true that other Jihadist groups worldwide – like Hamas, Hizbullah, Boko Haram, Lashkar e Toiba, Abu Sayyaf in Philippines, Jemiah Islamiah & Lashkar Jihad in Indonesia – are continuing the Jihad in their countries, and some of them have declared allegiance to ISIS, some to al Qaeda, and others are still freelance.

I think sooner or later, the president will have to reiterate what he said in Dec 2015. When discussing the recent attacks in New York, they bring up the lottery (for the Uzbek) and chain migration (for the Bangladeshi). Yet, what’s the only thing common to Uzbekistan & Bangladesh, aside from both being in Asia? One word: they’re both Muslim countries. And neither was on the travel ban list – something that’s now ended, so that ‘refugees’ from those countries can restart entering the US.

The family leave thing – I’m not a fan of it, but w/ more and more automation, I think it’s headed towards becoming a moot point anyway. What I found more disappointing was no attempt to address entitlement reform – which is the biggest portion of the budget. On this one, if Conservative Republicans become more in number in both the House & Senate, they ought to revisit that in either 2019 or 2021.

Infidel on February 3, 2018 at 8:54 pm

The hot news story, after the President’s SOTU address, is the FISA warrant story, so allow me to share my unique “conspiratorial” take on the story. If you’ve been following the story, you know that the Republicans have presented evidence called the “FISA memo” in the media that supports that the DOJ and the FBI committed fraud that was ultimately intended to benefit Hillary Clinton’s campaign against Donald Trump. And the Democrats have, in response, claimed that the FISA memo is a “nothingburger” and a “big yawn.”

Based on my analysis of the FISA memo and both arguments, however, I’ve concluded that both the Republicans and the Democrats will likely prove to be right! How could that be, you say?

Allow me to explain. While there is no question that the DOJ and the FBI participated in a fraud on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to surveil Carter Page, a U.S. citizen, the Deep State is not so foolish as to engage in such fraud without having all bases covered, and that includes the FISC who issued the FISA warrant. The Deep State has long ago stacked that deck with judges possessing not an ounce of integrity and are always ready to act on behalf of the Deep State when called upon to do so.

In the end, the entire case against the DOJ and the FBI, just two government agencies under the control of the Deep State, rests with the FISC that agreed to rely on two sources as a basis for the eventual issuance of the warrant: the dossier authored by a foreign agent, Christopher Steele, and a Yahoo News report that Steele gave to Yahoo News. (Though some may argue otherwise, the fact is ironclad that Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe testified before the Committee that but for reliance on Christopher Steele’s 35-page “dossier,” the FISA warrant would neither have been sought nor obtained.)

But common sense should tell everyone that a FISC with any integrity and intellectual honesty would never rely solely on such flimsy “evidence” as a Yahoo “news” article to “corroborate” the claims made in the so-called “dossier.” A real FISC Court with any integrity and intellectual honesty would demand that the DOJ present proof that both the “dossier” and the Yahoo article were legitimate sources of information before granting the FBI the right to conduct surveillance activities of a private citizen who was not even charged or suspected of committing any crime.

But this FISC did not perform its job, and merely rubber-stamped the DOJ’s and the FBI’s request. This is a red-flag that the fraud extends beyond the DOJ and the FBI.

Thus, I can predict here and now that if a full investigation is ever conducted going all the way up to the FISC, the FISC, if called upon, will be fully prepared to affirmatively state that although the “dossier” and the Yahoo “news” article were considered in the decision to approve the warrant, the “support” was considered “holistically” and was not dependent on those sources. In other words, the FISC is fully prepared to state that the warrant would have been approved without the “dossier” and the Yahoo “news” article regardless of the fact that the DOJ and FBI would not have sought the warrant without them!

Courts do this sort of thing all of the time when a flagrant judicial “error” has been made. Courts do not like to admit that they were wrong, let alone that they failed to properly do their jobs under the law. And no judges are going to admit that they felt pressured into approving the warrant. Thus, if called to the carpet, the FISC will go into ass-covering mode, just as the DOJ and the FBI have already done and continue to do.

This is why I conclude that the Republicans are right about the fraud, but the Democrats are also right that this case will, nonetheless, amount to a “nothingburger” and a “big yawn.” I still hope that I’m wrong about the Democrats’ claim, but my natural skeptical self tells me that justice will not prevail and that the truth will be silenced. After all, you can’t very well have a Secret Society if they can’t keep any secrets like this one.

Ralph Adamo on February 4, 2018 at 3:01 pm

I believe Trump’s pledge to allow a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegals is a ploy to demonstrate the fanaticism and malevolent intentions on the part of the Democrats, as he insists that Congressional approval and funding to build a wall must be obtained for this to happen. He’s betting on the Democrats’ refusal to comply with this very reasonable – nay, vital – quid pro quo. He must be aware that granting citizenship and voting rights to so many Third World illegals is a virtual guarantee that Democrats will achieve permanent hegemony over our government. Certainly, the Democrats know this, and are doing everything they can to ensure that this occurs. As I say, Trump is betting that Democrat approval would not be forthcoming, and he is, of course, correct.

commonsense on February 8, 2018 at 12:29 pm

Excellent points on the SOTU. I enjoyed the speech and the amazing guests. When I saw Nancy Pelosi sitting there, she looked like she was in mourning.

Carol B on February 11, 2018 at 3:38 pm

Trump and Jared needed money. No legitimate bank would loan them a penny. They went to Russia begging. Russian contacted Deutsche Bank and expressed a willingness to guarantee the loans that Trump and Kushner were looking for. Russia demanded that Trump conspire with it to elect him POTUS thereby insuring relief from US sanctions. Trump agreed BIGLY. Deutsche Bank extends credit. Vlad hires trolls to hack various key states. Trump wins election via the Electoral College. Within one month of inauguration, Trump Administration calls for the removal of sanctions against Russia. Any questions?

DisgustedAtYouPeople on February 13, 2018 at 9:59 pm

The proof is in the policies….Trump bombs Syria….arms Ukraine…pressures North Korea…trying to get a fair deal with Iran….all against Russia’s wishes……Hillary was against sanctions when she was SOS…the Kremlin tries to help Hillary stop a movement in the USA to elect Trump…Hillary/Kremlin fails…. So who is right?

DisgustedAtYouPeople on February 13, 2018 at 10:06 pm

Damn right Gun Control. An AR-15? For what. What is its purpose you foolish NRA clones. Disgusting.

DisgustedAtYouPeople on February 14, 2018 at 11:10 pm

The army uses an M-4. The AR-15 is basically the same as an M-4. Why are they purchaseable? Republicans are just bad people. No way around it. Bad

DisgustedAtYouPeople on February 14, 2018 at 11:22 pm

Mueller Mueller Mueller Mueller Mueller!!!!!

DisgustedAtYouPeople on February 16, 2018 at 1:59 pm

Republicans look like complete fools. Repealing smart and solid executive orders. NRA is trash too

DisgustedAtYouPeople on February 17, 2018 at 6:25 pm

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