Saturday, September 29th open thread: ‘I Held Her in My Arms’
Today we have a wedding to attend which is about two hours away and we will be staying overnight and coming home in the morning so the open thread comes a day early this week. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the weekend. Nothing is off-topic here.
Last week we discussed 4 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates. You can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
My recovery continues nicely and I have next week off before returning to work with a 20 pound weight restriction on lifting. As I was taking my daily walk the other day I heard a song and thought to myself this was sort of apropos to the goings on in Washington this week.
Here is The Violent Femmes performing “I held Her in My Arms” as performed live in 2016:
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Republicans delay Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote to allow the FBI to investigate
Earlier today the Judiciary Committee voted to send Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate for a test vote on Saturday with the intention that the official vote would take place on Tuesday. However while voting in favor of sending the nomination to the Senate Jeff Flake demanded an FBI investigation into the sexual misconduct charges which have been levied against the nominee.
Shortly thereafter the Republicans agreed to a one week delay to allow the FBI to investigate and the President has issued the order, although it appears as if the procedural vote will still happen on Saturday. Here is more:
Senate Republicans have agreed to delay a vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation for one week to allow for an FBI probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against the judge, according to a statement issued by the Senate Judiciary Committee Friday.
The committee requested that the White House “instruct the FBI to conduct a supplemental FBI background investigation with respect to” Kavanaugh’s nomination, the statement said.
The president agreed in short order. In a tweet posted by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Friday afternoon, the president said had ordered a supplemental investigation that would be “limited in scope and completed in less than one week.”
I know conservatives are angry about this delay but at this point I do not see any other option. For his part Brett Kavanaugh said yesterday during the hearing he would testify to the FBI today if they wanted to talk to him, this does not sound like somebody who is afraid to me. It sounds like somebody who wants to clear his name and this is the best way to do it if he is telling the truth.
Of course even if the FBI clears Brett Kavanaugh the alt-left sky-screamers are not going to accept the investigation as legitimate and they will still riot, but the Republicans have nobody to blame but themselves for allowing it to get to this point in the first place.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Republican Senators doxxed from Congressional computer
Apparently it is not good enough to the alt-left sky-screamers that people like Sarah Sanders and Ted Cruz can no longer go out to eat and enjoy a meal with their families without being harassed and threatened because now some committee Republicans’ personal information, including home addresses and phone numbers, have been released so they can be harassed at home as well.
Here is more:
The personal information of several Republican senators who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee was published online in the middle of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony before the panel Thursday.
The information — including home addresses, phone numbers, and personal email addresses — appeared on the Wikipedia pages of Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee of Utah, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
“It’s shocking that someone would post Senator Hatch and other Judiciary Committee Republican’s personal information, including home addresses, putting their families in danger,” said Matt Whitlock, communications director for Hatch. “That it’s happening as they ask questions in a Supreme Court confirmation hearing is just another sign of how terrible this process has gotten.”
And to make matters worse it turns out the leaks came from a Congressional computer, meaning somebody on the inside did this and the reason would be so obvious as to not need even be mentioned but I will mention it any way–this is an attempt to intimidate committee Republicans so they will not vote for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation at tomorrow’s scheduled vote.
According to a Twitter bot that identified the changes, the edits appeared to come from a computer on Capitol Hill
But is a less vague Tweet by a reporter at Politico the leak came from a computer from the House of Representatives:
The left is not going to be happy until somebody gets hurt. No, strike that because Steve Scalise has already been shot and that did not satisfy them, the left is not going to be happy until somebody gets killed.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Rooting for rape? The awkward position of the left
I have been blogging for well over ten years now and there have been highs and lows, political battles won and political battles lost, and there have been times when writing was easy and times when writing was hard. But there has never been a time like this. A time which makes me question why I even bother paying attention to politics at all. A time which makes me question why I care or why I try.
I am talking about the Brett Kavanaugh situation and the accusations against him, but I am not talking about the politicians. I expect the politicians to be ambitious, designing men and women with no scruples or morals who will do or say anything to get elected and reelected. I am talking about the leftist voters and what I noticed on Facebook yesterday.
If you go on Facebook you will see that the right naturally believes the women are lying and the left has already convicted Brett Kavanaugh and believe he is lying and nobody is concerned with the truth or waiting for it to play out.
But that is just the beginning because it has gone way beyond hoping for justice with the left, that would be understandable, and has reached the point where the left is actively routing for, and hoping that, these women were raped by Brett Kavanaugh. Rooting for rape? That is the awkward position of the left, but it has a position they have gleefully taken because it would help them and their agenda. And how are we supposed to debate when one side comes from such a position? How can we reason with people who have lost all reason?
But that is where we are and it is so frustrating. Since Donald Trump was elected we have joked about enjoying a systematic and steady decline of sanity from the left. We have laughed at how he was driving them insane. It was fun watching them scream at the sky but it is no longer fun because now they are rooting for evil because they believe it will help their political agenda.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:6 NIV) But nobody is interested in waiting for the truth for “their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.” (Proverbs 4:16 KJV)
Where do we go from here?
Brett Kavanaugh: ‘I will not be intimidated into withdrawing’
With his chances of confirmation seemingly falling apart right in front of our eyes Brett Kavanaugh remains adamant that he is innocent of the charges being levied against him, going to far today as to state he “will not be intimidated into withdrawing.”
Here is more:
“They debase our public discourse. But they are also a threat to any man or woman who wishes to serve our country. Such grotesque and obvious character assassination—if allowed to succeed—will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from service,” Kavanaugh said in the letter toGrassley and Feinstein.
“I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. The last-minute character assassination will not succeed,” Kavanaugh continued.
It is also being reported that he and his wife will be appearing on television tonight to speak about these accusations. These words and what he has been saying all along do not sound like the words of a man who is all too concerned with the accusations. He sounds like he is innocent but then again sometimes a man doth protest too much. I do not think that is the case here however, I think this is a man who is unwilling to let these accusations take him down without a fight.
But I am more and more getting the feeling the fight is already lost and Brett Kavanaugh just either does not realize it or is unwilling to admit it to himself. I find it hard at this point to see a path to his confirmation because any Democrat from a red state or a state Donald Trump won in 2016 who was thinking about voting in favor of Brett Kavanaugh before all of this happened is unlikely to vote in the affirmative at this point, and I would be willing to bet a few Republicans are going to be intimidated and will not vote for him either.
If Brett Kavanaugh is not confirmed than no Donald Trump nominee short of Merrick Garland will be confirmed either–the blueprint has been laid upon the table and this is just the beginning of what we can expect, especially after the rout that is coming in a couple of months if the Republicans blow this and it appears as if they have.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Sunday, September 23rd open thread: ‘Mad World’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, September 23rd. 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 8 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates. You can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
Here is Tear for Fears performing “Mad World” live in 1984:
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
New York Times report claims Rod Rosenstein wanted to secretly record Donald Trump and invoke the 25th amendment
A report in the New York Times today claims that Rod Rosenstein wanted to secretly record Donald Trump in the Oval Office and then use that recording to convince cabinet members to remove the President using the 25th amendment. Here is more about this blockbuster report:
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein proposed secretly recording conversations in the Oval Office with President Trump last year and discussed the possibility of Cabinet officials invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president, according to a New York Times report.
The Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Friday that Rosenstein made comments to other Justice Department officials in meetings in spring 2017 about secretly recording Trump after the president fired FBI Director James Comey that May.
The allegations are said to be laid out in contemporaneous memos written by then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired by the Justice Department earlier this year amid an internal leak probe.
In the discussions, Rosenstein reportedly floated the possibility of recruiting Cabinet members, such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, now the White House chief of staff, behind an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment.
Rod Rosenstein is calling this fake news:
“The New York Times’s story is inaccurate and factually incorrect,” Rosenstein said in a statement issued by the Justice Department. “I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda.
“But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment,” he added.
Others are claiming Rod Rosenstein was being sarcastic but we all remember that old adage about true words and jesting, think about it, who would even think of joking like that if there was not a feeling of truth behind it?
What we have learned from the Democrats in the Brett Kavanaugh situation is that there is no such thing as due process any more and people like him should simply step down based on the accusations alone, so I would argue based on the logic of the Democrats that these charges are serious enough for Rod Rosenstein to either step down immediately or be fired.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Keith Ellison’s accuser releases medical document showing she feared ‘retribution’ if she came forward
We have been told over and over by Democrats that when a woman makes an accusation against a man she should automatically be believed no matter how old the accusations might be. The latest example of this comes to us via the Brett Kavanaugh hearing–just the accusation alone disqualifies him from being considered for the Supreme Court according to the Democrats.
I am of course not saying the woman should not be believed or that the accusation should be taken lightly or ignored but I am wondering why the Democrats are so selective in their outrage and their condemnation. If a woman should automatically be believed when an accusation is nearly 40 years old (and let’s not forget the Roy Moore decades old accusations which derailed his campaign) why then are these same Democrats giving Keith Ellison a pass for accusations which are just a couple of years old?
In case you have not heard, Keith Ellison is co-chair of the Democratic National Committee and he had a penchant for beating his girlfriend over the years–allegedly–and yesterday we learned that she was threatened by the Democratic party to keep quiet.
Now Keith Ellison’s accuser is releasing a medical record from last year where she admits she feared retribution if she came forward with the accusations. Here is more:
A 2017 medical document released Wednesday by Karen Monahan said she feared “retribution” if she revealed her allegations of abuse against her former boyfriend, Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison.
Ms. Monahan posted the Minnesota clinic’s write-up from her visit to corroborate her accusations of physical and emotional abuse made public in August, which Mr. Ellison has denied.
“When I post this, it gets deleted every time,” she tweeted.
The document from the Park Nicollet clinic dated Nov. 28, 2017, said she was being treated for anemia and that she attributed it to the stress from her relationship with Mr. Ellison, which he has said ended in 2016.
“She states that she was in a very stressful environment for years, emotional and physical abuse by a partner with whom she is now separated,” said the clinic’s progress notes. “She did not have any physical injuries that required a physical examination in the past.”
The medical report continued, “She identifies the individual she was involved with as congressmen [sic] Ellison, and she is worried about retribution if she identifies him publicly.”
The Democratic National Committee is allegedly investigating these accusations but to date there has been no public condemnation or righteous indignation from the Democrats, there have been no cries of outrage calling for Keith Ellison’s resignation, and they are standing behind their man. The hypocrisy of all of this is astounding but not surprising, proving once and for all their outrage is selective depending on a political agenda and has nothing to do with protecting women.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Kim Jong Un agrees to let nuclear inspectors into North Korea
For the last several weeks we have been hearing reports that Kim Jong Un has been continuing his nuclear program on the down-low, using the promise of denuclearization, and the halting of nuclear testing, as cover to gain time to secretly work behind the scenes on the program.
This may be true, and I would not be surprised if it is, but last night Donald Trump announced that the North Korean dictator has agreed to let nuclear inspectors into the country. Here is what the President Tweeted:
This leads to the obvious question; is Kim Jong Un serious about letting inspectors in or is this part of the possible deception I mentioned above as the dictator looks to gain even more time?
It looks like Mike Pompeo is taking this serious as he has agreed to restart the talks with Kim Jong Un, here is more:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said that he would restart denuclearization talks with North Korea with the goal of completing the process by 2021.
The comments came on the heels of meetings this week between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after which Kim vowed to dismantle parts of his nuclear program in exchange for certain concessions from the United States.
“On the basis of these important commitments, the United States is prepared to engage immediately in negotiations,” Pompeo said in a statement.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Keith Ellison’s accuser claims the Democratic party ‘threatened’ her
If you get your news from the mainstream media I know what you are thinking; wait a minute, isn’t the title of this post wrong? Shouldn’t it read “Brett Kavanaugh” and not “Keith Ellison?” It is forgivable if you have not heard that a couple of weeks before the Brett Kavanaugh accuser came forward a woman came forward against Democratic Party Co-Chairman Keith Ellison and accused him of domestic abuse because the mainstream media has not found this story newsworthy for some strange reason.
But the double standard lies not just in the mainstream media, the Democratic party has taken exactly opposite positions on these two cases. Of course the Democrats are claiming that Christine Blasey Ford must be heard and should be believed, and this is consistent with what they have been saying about the #MeToo movement all along…with one notable exception.
It goes without saying that Keith Ellison is that one exception but it was not hard to predict this was going to happen:
https://twitter.com/rosiebudpisces/status/1041660327442755585
Karen Monahan responded on Twitter:
“No, they don’t,” Monahan answered. “I’ve been smeared, threatened, isolated from my own party,” she continued, regardless of her efforts. “I provided medical records from 2017, stating on two different Dr. Visits, I told them about the abuse and who did it. My therapist released records stating I have been dealing and healing from the abuse.”
You will notice these accusations are from last year and not from 40 years ago and there is more:
“Four people, including my supervisor at the time, stated that I came to them after and shared the exact story I shared publicly,” Monahan continued. “I shared multiple text between me and Keith, where I discuss the abuse with him and much more. As I said before, I knew I wouldn’t be believed,” she said.
Basically what we have here is proof of something we already knew to be fact. The Democrats do not care about the well-being of the women in question in any of these cases. They care only about the politics of it and either protecting or condemning the person accused of the crime depending on which side of the aisle they sit and at least in this case the Democrats are quite transparent indeed.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
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