News and commentary: progress in work

Tag: Trump

Trump to CNN: See You in Court

As a business mogul, U.S. President Donald Trump sued people and got sued. He often won either in court or via out-of-court settlements (the latter process which resolves most lawsuits). In the aftermath of a series of undercover videos released by muckraker James O’Keefe and the Project Veritas crew, the Trump campaign says it intends to sue CNN, whose motto probably should be revised to “the most dis-trusted name in news.” read more

Politics Is the Art of the Improbable

Most people go through day-to-day life without being consumed by politics. Politics is an afterthought. That’s kind of the way it should be and is perhaps the best argument for the smallest-possible government. Led by the cancel-culture-implementing outrage mob, unfortunately, the institutional, socialism-supporting left in America seemingly wants to politicize everything and disrupt the country’s cohesion. read more

Trump Disinvites Himself from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

U.S. President Donald Trump was voluntarily absent from the head table on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton Hotel ballroom. And you can add this to the list of Trump administration accomplishments: In removing himself from the guest list, the president rendered the so-called nerd prom — the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner– irrelevant by boycotting the “once ultra-trendy, star-studded” event for three consecutive years. read more

The Media Resembles a Doomsday Cult

Whether it’s because of his outsized, boastful salesman personality, the hair, or the spray tan, the doomsday-is-nigh mainstream media has conducted an obsessive, irrational vendetta against U.S. President Donald Trump. The media treats developments in the news cycle like the end of the world, and doomsday is at hand. Then it’s on to the next controversy du jour. Let’s stipulate the president can sometimes be his own worst enemy by stepping on and/or obscuring his message and accomplishments with needless feuds and overly combative or imprecise rhetoric. Whether you like his demeanor or not, however, the Trump’s MAGA agenda — in fulfillment of campaign promises perhaps like no other president — is all about making America stronger, safer, and more prosperous. read more

What Was Trump Doing on ’60 Minutes’?

President Donald Trump made news about various national and international issues on the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes, but one had to wonder why he agreed to an interview on that extreme-liberal program in the first place?

Unlike the worshipful treatment that Obama received from the 60 Minutes “journalists,” Trump had to know that he would be subject to a hostile, interruption-filled interrogation on that platform.

No one wants a softball interview either. But, after a series of questions about the controversial Justice Brett Kavanaugh confirmation struggle in relation to the uncorroborated sexual assault allegations by Christine Blasey Ford, Trump being Trump foolishly came up with the “we won” remark, which predictably blew up on anti-social media without, of course, the context.

What he probably trying to say was that now that Kavanaugh has been seated on the high court, it’s time to move on.

In context, the “doesn’t matter” reference seemed to be referring to the question of whether Ford was being truthful or not rather than his commentary at the Mississippi campaign rally. Nonetheless, given the media atmospherics, Trump needs to be more precise, if that’s possible.

When you’re so bad at your job you can’t even quote your own interview with the president United States correctly.

Seriously – read the transcript.

This is a lie. This is misinformation. This is fake news. https://t.co/a9CiQXIqaX read more

Trump’s Supreme Court Pick

President Donald Trump is set to announce his Supreme Court nominee tomorrow night at around 9 p.m. Eastern time. Some so-called pundits (usually among the Never Trump GOP cohort) have touted U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah. Ted Cruz, who received Lee’s endorsement for president in 2016, also recommended his friend and colleague for the high court.

Trump has demonstrated an ability to find common ground with former foes such as Cruz, Rand Paul, Lindsay Graham, and potentially Mitt Romney. While Lee is on Trump’s list of highly qualified Supreme Court contenders, and who seems to be a fine gentleman, is also a Never Trumper who declined to endorse Trump in the general election and even released a video calling for Trump to drop out of the campaign after the Access Hollywood tape surfaced.

If Lee had gotten his wish, Hillary Clinton would be sitting in the White House (no replacement GOP standard-bearer would have defeated her) and embedding far-left activists in the federal judiciary.

Mike Lee’s naive champions, and they should have their pundit cards revoked, are deluding themselves that he would “sail” through to confirmation because he’s part of the club.  Recall that when Trump nominated Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general, the Alabama senator suddenly became a racist and received 47 no votes when he the nomination was narrowly approved by his colleagues.

The Democrats and their media allies have already freaked out without knowing who Trump will tap for the Supreme Court, and the actual nominee when revealed will only increase their hysteria, Mike Lee notwithstanding.

If you can believe the media, the front-runner seems to be Brett Kavanaugh, the appeals court judge on the D.C. Circuit who is getting support from both the Bushies and Ann Coulter, but who knows.

Judges Amy Barrett (who has only been on the 7th Circuit for less than a year) and Raymond Kethledge of the 6th Circuit (who to his credit writes his own opinions rather than delegating the tasks to law clerks) are also supposedly among the finalists, again if news reportage is accurate. Several other men and women are also mentioned.

When you consider all the identity politics permeating the political culture, would it not be better for President Trump to nominate a woman for this vacancy?

Time will tell.

The president has presumably mentioned to those whom he has interviewed that he expects that there will be other SCOTUS vacancies down the road.

With all the doom-and-gloom, sky-is-falling panic among the progressive cohort primarily about the future of Rove v. Wade — the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in all states — being overturned, that outcome seems unlikely.

It’s been often said that pro-life activists need to change the culture first.

In addition, recall that the high court had the votes in hand to throw out Obamacare entirely, but Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly switched sides at the last minute. A similar scenario could play out if an abortion-related case reaches the court after Trump’s nominee, whoever he or she is, is seated.

The media likes to push everyone into either the pro-choice or pro-life camps, moreover, and most people probably are conflicted about the highly personal and sensitive abortion issue. Even liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had implied that the Roe ruling was too sweeping and thus hyper-politicized the controversy.

Apparently Democrats gave up on erroneously claiming that the McConnell rule (previously known as the Biden rule) precludes a Supreme Court conformation in a midterm election year. The Senate confirmed three of the current sitting justices during off-year elections.  The aforementioned precedent only applies during a presidential election year.

It was Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and former majority leader, who in late 2013 eliminated the filibuster rule, and as such, allows judicial nominees to be confirmed by a simple Senate majority.

McConnell, then minority leader, cautioning Harry Reid not to invoke the “nuclear option” — lowering the vote threshold for confirmation for judges and Cabinet officials from 60 to 51 votes. McConnell as majority leader added Supreme Court Justices to the lower threshold. https://t.co/Oeh7lRXasY read more

Crying Honduran Child Separated from Migrant Mother Was Never Separated

A crying little girl whose image was blasted all over the Internet as a symbol of the Trump (and Obama) administration’s harsh family separation policy was never separated from her mother at the southern border. They are currently detained together in McAllen, Tex, where the mom has applied for asylum.

“The moving photo was used by the liberal media and far left activists to pummel the Trump administration for its decision to start strictly enforcing immigration laws at the border,” Gateway Pundit explained.

But wait, there’s more.

From the Washington Post:

“But the girl’s father told The Washington Post on Thursday night that his child and her mother were not separated, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed that the family was not separated while in the agency’s custody.”

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Daily Mail reports the mom left three children behind in Honduras and also was deported from the U.S. in July 2013 according to ICE. Reentry after deportation is a felony.

“[The husband] said that [his wife] set out on the 1,800-mile journey with the baby girl on June 3, at 6 am, and he has not heard from her since…He said he heard from friends that his wife paid $6,000 for a coyote – a term for someone who smuggles people across the border.”

Time nonetheless says that it’s our story, and we’re sticking to it.

JUST IN: Time magazine standing by the cover: pic.twitter.com/gXKg4shL6F read more

Tender Age Shelters and Adult Virtue Signaling

The U.S. has perhaps the most generous immigration policies on the planet, and when combined with an unsecured border, makes all the current virtual signaling, selective outrage, and hyperbole about separating families at the border so tedious and phony. America has a big heart for those in need, making any comparison to concentration camps disgusting.  The situation at the border is chaotic and tragic to be sure; the government has now opened what it calls tender-age shelters for infants and toddlers. There is talk that President Trump may issue an executive order to minimize family separation.

A “kids in cages” image circulated on social media that dated back to the Obama administration stoked the current controversy, however. The White House was slow out of the gate in the messaging department, but recall that the same media and political class were completely silent when minors were detained under Obama.

As an aside, when tragedy TV and the online social justice cohort are engaged in a feeding frenzy (does anyone even remember the national firestorm over the racially charged Roseanne tweet?), it can a good time to disconnect entirely.

In the alternative, scripted entertainment on the Hallmark Channel might be an option. Apart from a crazed stalker here and there, you’ll find movies that depict warm, earnest, and community minded people who live in immaculate small towns, drive beautiful cars and reside in well-appointed homes, and where love is about to bloom between two high school sweethearts, one of whom has just returned from the big city.

That said, as others have observed, it does seem like anytime news emerges – such as rampant FBI corruption at the executive level – that conflicts with the anti-Trump narrative, the media runs with a story, dubious or otherwise, that can restore their ability to self-righteously condemn the 45th president.

As has been revealed, most of these Central American children come to the border unaccompanied, so they’ve already been separated from their parents even before they leave their own country to make a dangerous journey north. A report in the Daily Caller suggests that border agents are considering DNA testing to distinguish between a parent and a human trafficker. Imagine the media outrage if a child was harmed by a pretend parent or relative.

Keeping families intact can also mean staying in your home country rather than violating U.S. immigration laws. Moreover, as Tucker Carlson pointed out, anyone  arrested in the U.S. justice system, American citizen or otherwise, finds himself or herself separated from family.

“Massive illegal immigration is supported by both sides of the professional political machine,” the Conservative Treehouse noted. “All Democrats and most Republicans support mass immigration. Almost no DC politicians want to take action on any policy or legislation that stops the influx.”

Amidst all the disingenuous and politically motivated virtue signaling, there are some bastions of sanity on Twitter as this compilation suggests.

Political journalism needs a bit of housecleaning on this child border crisis. I'll start. It was going on during the Obama years in large numbers. I never wrote about it. Was completely unaware, in large part because few reporters were interested enough to create critical mass. read more