Donald Trump names Reince Preibus as his Chief of Staff
Donald Trump, who won election running as an outsider vowing to end Washington corruption, has named Republican establishment insider and head of the Republican National Committee Reince Preibus as his Chief of Staff.
Here is more:
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, according to Trump’s campaign.
In choosing Priebus, 44, Trump has tapped a Washington insider who is viewed as broadly acceptable by vast swaths of the Republican Party. Priebus was recommended by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and will be a bridge between the White House and the Republican-led Congress, as well as the heads of Cabinet agencies.
The choice signals Trump’s willingness to work within the very establishment he assailed on the campaign trail. Priebus, a lawyer and longtime Wisconsin political operative, has been head of the RNC since 2011 and is well liked within Washington after years of forging ties with Republican leaders and lawmakers. He will undoubtedly start to smooth over residual friction from a campaign during which a number of Republicans refused to endorse Trump
November 13th open thread: ‘Everybody Knows’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, November 13th. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
Last week we discussed 9 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.
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Earlier this week Leonard Cohen passed away at the age of 82 so I thought I would share my favorite Leonard Cohen song. Here is “Everybody Knows” performed live in 1988.
How about a bonus video? One of my favorite singer/songwriters is Nick Cave. Nick Cave has been compared as a songwriter by some to Leonard Cohen. During a documentary on the legendary songwriter Nick Cave performed Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” and I thought I would share this one with you as well.
frui diem
Election video: ‘Who’s laughing now?’
Once again I will open a Donald Trump post stating that I did not support the billionaire businessman in the election this year, I voted for Gary Johnson. You can laugh at me for my vote it you want to but I could not vote for him and to be honest I still have major questions about how he will govern.
Having said that I do love the fact that this election, mostly through Wikileaks, has exposed how the mainstream media was not only in the bag for Hillary Clinton but also was colluding with the former Secretary of State to ensure her election. We all knew the mainstream media had an agenda and a bias but this election cycle showed us that the bias was far beyond what even we thought it was. I hope and pray that I will be proven wrong and that Donald Trump will be a good, constitutionally minded President, but even if my fears are realized at least the mainstream media has lost all the credibility it had left–it it had any credibility left to begin with…
Here is a video entitled “Who’s Laughing Now?” which shows the media laughing at the prospect of Donald Trump even having a remote chance at beating Hillary Clinton and it ends with the election results. Be careful what you wish for…
I think you will enjoy this:
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Barack Obama abandons the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The early repercussions of the Trump regime are already being felt as tonight the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Barack Obama is abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Here is more:
Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s presidential election has prompted President Barack Obama to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.
According to the Journal, the White House had hoped to push the deal forward in the lame-duck session of Congress, assuming Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had won the election. Her loss has already changed the political landscape:
Just days after Donald Trump surprise victory, U.S. officials said Republican congressional leaders had made clear that they wouldn’t consider the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership in the remainder of Mr. Obama’s term. The White House had lobbied hard for months in the hope of moving forward on the pact if the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, had won.
The TPP is an interesting story because it was drawing mixed reviews on both sides of the aisle however a majority of Republicans in the Congress apparently supported it because Barack Obama was granted fast-track authority to negotiate the deal in private. Yet prominent Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders opposed the deal. The voters were also spit on this issue.
Barack Obama had planned to push the deal through in the lame-duck session under the assumption Hillary Clinton–who has flip-flopped on this deal so often that we really did not know where she stood–was going to be the President-elect at this time. With Donald Trump’s opposition to the deal Barack Obama has come to the conclusion that his opportunity to pass the TPP has gone by the wayside.
I was not a supporter of Donald Trump but I have to admit this is off to a good start.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
New Hampshire 2016 election results
Contrary to the national popular belief New Hampshire remains a solidly purple state, it is not the blue state many people think it is and this was evident in Tuesday’s election. Hillary Clinton may have won the state’s 4 electoral college votes while Democrats Maggie Hassan and Carol Shea-Porter won their Senate and House of Representative bids respectively, but the state elections paint a slightly different picture.
Republican Chris Sununu became the first Republican governor in the state in 12 years, while the Republicans held on to a 3-2 majority in the Executive Council. The Republicans also won a 13-10 majority in the State Senate and hold a 201-161 majority in the State House.
With the Republicans in solid control of both the executive branch and the legislative branch of state government it is going to be very interesting to watch what happens in the state over the next two years. The Republicans should be able to get their agenda passed. Maggie Hassan was a popular governor but the truth is she was held in check by the Republicans–especially on the budget which she took credit for even though she vetoed it–and now it is possible the Republicans will get the credit for what Maggie Hassan somehow successfully took credit for.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
California voters want to secede after Donald Trump wins the election
Just a few short weeks ago Democrats were aghast after Donald Trump claimed he might not accept the results of the election. Hillary Clinton claimed Donald Trump was “undermining the pillar of our democracy.” She also stated “we’ve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them.” But she was not alone: other Democrats and the mainstream media attacked Donald Trump as “un-American” for making such an outrageous statement and Democratic voters piled on.
But that was then and this is now and a funny thing happened on the way to Hillary Clinton’s coronation–she lost. Now some California voters are refusing to accept the results of the election and are promoting a secession from the union. They are calling it #Calexit, here is more:
That massive blue block on the left – encompassing California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington state – stands out quite a bit against all of the red.
So it may not be a huge surprise that people living in that Democrat-voting block are now looking at other options – specifically, secession.
Since Donald Trump’s electoral victory was first announced, #Calexit has been trending on Twitter, with distraught Californians looking to form their own state.
It was easy for the voters to talk tough when they bought into the mainstream media’s hype that Hillary Clinton had this election in the bag but now that they have lost they are showing their true colors. The truth is they only want people to accept the results when the results go their way, otherwise they are just as petulant as they accused Donald Trump as being.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton
Regular readers of America’s Watchtower know how I feel about Donald Trump and how this election cycle has really had me down. Last night I was just going to surf the internet and keep up to date on the results of the election on the computer however it was not long before I had to go upstairs and watch the news coverage. Election day has always been an exciting day for me and it was not the same without watching the coverage live and I soon got sucked into the drama.
It was not long before I could sense the momentum Donald Trump seemed to be gaining even though all of the so-called pundits on Fox News were trying to claim nothing special was happening which would stop Hillary Clinton from becoming the President-elect.
I remember watching the coverage in 2012 and texting some friends about the results as well as posting thoughts in the open thread that year. My friends were cautiously optimistic about Mitt Romney when the results started to come in, however I was deeply troubled by Florida. Mitt Romney needed Florida and yet it was too close to call for several hours, this had me realizing it could be a good night for Barack Obama.
Election Day open thread
I posted an election night open thread back in 2012 and it was pretty popular so I thought I would do the same this time around. I have to admit that I have never been as unmotivated to vote as I am today but I will head to the polls and “vote my conscience.”
As for the New Hampshire races: with the exception of the Second Congressional District in New Hampshire, where is appears as if Democratic incumbent Anne Kuster is going to coast to victory, all the other races seem too close to call. It does appear as if the Republicans are trending in the First Congressional District, in the Senate race for Kelly Ayotte’s seat, and in the governor’s race but it should be a long night before we know the outcomes of these races. This could be good news for Donald Trump but we will have to wait and see.
As I write this I do not know whether I am going to hold my breath and vote for Kelly Ayotte (after emailing her on more than one occasion telling her I would never vote for her again) or write myself in. I am leaning towards holding my breath in order to hold the Senate but it is far from being set in stone…
An open thread would not be complete without a musical selection so here is Radiohead performing “Electioneering” live from 1997.
I will stop at nothing
Say the right things
When electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote
And somewhere we will meet
When I go forwards, you go backwards
And somewhere we will meet
Ha, ha, ha”
Wikileaks: CNN and the DNC colluded on questions to be asked during Donald Trump interview
Just last week CNN fired interim Democratic Committee Chairperson Donna Brazile after it was learned she was sending debate questions CNN intended to ask Hillary Clinton during a town hall style event in advance. As if that were not bad enough we are now learning through Wikileaks that CNN was apparently colluding with the Democratic National Committee on questions the network would ask Donald Trump during a scheduled interview.
Here is more:
Newly released emails from WikiLeaks suggest that the Democratic National Committee colluded with CNN in devising questions in April to be asked of then-Republican primary candidate Donald Trump in an upcoming interview.
In an email to DNC colleagues on April 25 with the headline “Trump Questions for CNN,” a DNC official with the email username DillonL@dnc.org asked for ideas for an interview to be conducted by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.
The sender of the email would seem to be DNC Research Director Lauren Dillon, who was identified in previous reports of DNC emails released by WikiLeaks in July.
Several hours after the first email was sent, Dillon said in a follow-up email that the interview had been cancelled, “as of now,” but shared a list of questions thought up by the DNC that she said could be used for the next interview.
Some of the questions included: “Who helped you write the foreign policy speech you’re giving tomorrow? Which advisors specifically did you talk to? What advice did they give you? Did they give you any advice that you chose not to take?” Others explored Saudi Arabia’s alleged involvement in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a pre-preemptive strike against North Korea and court martials for members of the military who didn’t follow orders.
But that is not all: Lauren Dillon was also in contact with CNN about upcoming interviews with Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina:
A separate email from Dillon that same day said “CNN is looking for questions” for then-GOP primary candidate Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and “maybe a couple on” former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
CNN’s response was move along, nothing to see here because this happens all the time and is “unremarkable.” The network claims it also contacts Republicans before interviewing Democrats but that is as believable as the IRS claiming it was also targeting tax-exempt Democratic groups when there is no evidence to back it up. I am not buying what CNN is selling here…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Hillary Clinton has sworn time and time again that the she only deleted personal emails related to Chelsea Clinton’s wedding and yoga pants and if this story is true we might now know why the former Secretary of State did not want the American people to learn the details of how Chelsea’s wedding was paid for.
Back in 2014 a top Clinton Foundation staffer, Doug Band, wrote an email to John Podesta in which he raised concerns about how Chelsea Clinton was using foundation money to pay for her wedding and for her lifestyle, here is more:
Former top Clinton Foundation staffer Doug Band wrote a letter to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta warning him that a probe into Chelsea Clinton’s use of “foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade” could hurt the entire organization, according to a Wikileaks email dump.
“The investigation into her getting paid for campaigning, using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade, taxes on money from her parents,” Band wrote to Podesta in a January 2014 email.
“I hope that you will speak to her and end this,” Band said, adding, “Once we go down this road….”
Move along, nothing to see here…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
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