Sunday, September 9th open thread: ‘Lovesong’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, September 9th. 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 7 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. The Twitter widget in the sidebar is fully interactive and updates my tweets in real time, and it allows you to respond or retweet my tweets right from the blog.
My recovery is coming along nicely and I feel great. I am still not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds–which is basically anything heavier than a gallon of milk–and I cannot do any pushing or pulling, but I have my follow up appointment on Friday and maybe some of the restrictions will be lifted. Hopefully I will get the okay to drive!
Today is Lauri and my 29th wedding anniversary. Back in 1989 Robert Smith wrote and recorded a song as a wedding present to his wife Mary. The Cure still perform this song at every show, here is “Lovesong” as performed by The Cure in 2008 and dedicated to the love of my life.
frui diem
Donald Trump threatens to use military funding to build the wall
Donald Trump has made good on several campaign promises but his biggest promise remains unfulfilled. I am talking of course about building the wall on the southern border. (Excluding his statement about making Mexico pay for it, because although Democrats like to make fun of the President and his supporters for making that claim most people understand that was sort of a throw away line and did not take it seriously.)
Failing to secure border wall finding is not the President’s fault as he has run into resistance from the normal parties–namely the entire Democratic party and the establishment Republicans–but Donald Trump may have found a way around the resistance and he is threatening to use it if he cannot get border wall funding through the Congress on its own.
Donald Trump has long considered the situation at the southern border to be a national security issue and as such is now considering using military funding to build the wall, here is more:
President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s considering using military resources to finish construction of his long-promised border wall instead of relying on Congress to fund the project through the Homeland Security Department’s budget.
‘We have two options,’ he told DailyMail.com aboard Air Force One as he flew from Billings, Montana to Fargo, North Dakota. ‘We have military, we have homeland security.’
He was asked specifically about using the Army Corps of Engineers as a taxpayer-funded construction crew.
Trump said he would prefer to fund the ambitious construction ‘the old-fashioned way – get it from Congress – but I have other options if I have to.’
The possibility of diverting Pentagon funding and assets to build a border wall is a hole card the president is holding but has never directly acknowledged before.
Two Defense Department officials told DailyMail.com in August that the Army Corps of Engineers could take on the task.
‘They build levees that hold back massive walls of water,’ one said of the agency. ‘They can build one to hold back drugs and human traffickers.’
This is a possibility that has been talked about by some in the past but, as the article points out, this is the first time Donald Trump has mentioned the possibility. Liberals’ heads would explode if Donald Trump tried to pull this off, and for the first time in most of their lives they will suddenly be offended by the possibility of taking finds away from the military.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Cory Booker’s ‘Spartacus moment’ was fake
Trying to make a name for himself heading into the 2020 election, calling himself Spartacus, claiming he was breaking Senate rules, and daring the Senate to oust him from his seat Cory Booker today made a scene when he released documents in the Brett Kavanaugh hearing which were for committee eyes only.
These documents were supposed to show that Brett Kavanaugh is a racist who also does not believe Roe V Wade is settled law and because of this the Republicans were supposed to be trying to hide the documents, but Cory Booker apparently felt the moral obligation to show the public these records no matter the personal cost.
The documents themselves turned out to be duds which showed nothing of the kind but the news that his bombshell fizzled was not the biggest embarrassment for Cory Booker today because there was no personal cost on the line.
Despite his bluster and his tough talk it turns out that early this morning these documents were actually approved for release to the public and Cory Booker knew it, although others at the hearing did not.
What a fraud! Although I am sure his theatrics played well with the left, which cares neither about the contents of the documents nor the authenticity of his claim he was putting his career on the line to bring them the truth.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Secret cabal in the White House seeks to thwart Donald Trump
The New York Times printed an anonymous op-ed piece today from a person who claims to be in the Trump administration and who claims there are people in the White House actively working to thwart parts of the President’s agenda.
Donald Trump is taking this news as fact and so even though it is from an anonymous source we will treat it as fact here are well. Here is more:
The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.
I would know. I am one of them.
My first reaction was that the New York Times was trying to make a mountain out of a molehill–so the President has not simply aligned himself with yes men, there is nothing wrong with a little debate from within an administration on the issues. But this person makes it look like more than that because he or she claims they are working behind the scenes to stop him.
Here is more still:
To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.
But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.
That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.
The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.
Although he was elected as a Republican, the president shows little affinity for ideals long espoused by conservatives: free minds, free markets and free people. At best, he has invoked these ideals in scripted settings. At worst, he has attacked them outright.
In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion that the press is the “enemy of the people,” President Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic.
Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more.
But these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.
There is more but I think you get the gist of it. These people are not part of the so-called leftist Resistance movement but rather appear to hold onto more traditional conservative values, values they do not believe the President consistently holds. In other words they are Washington insiders who are upset when the status quo is shaken up and you can tell this by what they consider to be victories (while failing to give the President credit for the victories) and what they consider to be “misguided impulses.”
Here is what really bothers me about this story, again assuming it is true; why did the author feel the need to say anything? I cannot figure that out, wouldn’t it be better for this cabal if it was kept quiet? What is gained by telling the public (and the President) that this is going on, other than feeding the egos of the people involved? If it was simply ego it could lead to their fall.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
The left accuses Zina Bash of flashing white supremacist symbol at Brett Kavanaugh hearing
Although I have been home coalescing all day I decided it would be best for my recovery not to watch the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, and judging from the headlines I have seen and the few articles I have read I made the right decision.
As unhinged as some of the Democratic leaders have become their followers have become even more unhinged and the best example of this is the Tweets that have been circulating about Trump aide Zina Bash. She has been accused of flashing a white supremacist sign while sitting behind Brett Kavanaugh during the hearing today to let Trump supporters know this Supreme Court nominee was on their side.
Here are a couple of the Tweets:
https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1037055835728478213
The left is desperate to stop Brett Kavanaugh and as disgusting as some of the personal attacks were this one might take the cake. To be fair, I Googled the okay symbol to see if it was somehow connected to white supremacy and I did find an article which attempted to connect it to the phantom alt-right because Donald Trump uses it when he gives a speech but that was about it.
But the interesting thing about this whole faux story is the fact that Zina Bash is Hispanic and her grandparents were actually holocaust survivors. You would think the left would at least have looked this up before running with such a ridiculous story but the end justifies the means and if that means telling a little white (can I say that?) lie than so be it.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
John Kyl to replace John McCain in the Senate
In today’s other news, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has named John Kyl as John McCain’s replacement in the Senate. Here is more:
Prolonging the uncertainty over who will fill the late John McCain’s U.S. Senate seat, the governor of Arizona on Tuesday announced the appointment of former Sen. Jon Kyl but said he has only committed to serve until the end of the year.
“It’s my hope that he serves longer.” Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, said as he announced the pick at the Arizona Capitol. He said Kyl was “the best possible person, regardless of politics.”
Kyl, a Republican who retired from the Senate in 2012 to spend more time with his family, is currently shepherding Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kyl’s appointment will make it possible for him to vote for the nomination.
That is the opening paragraph, it did not take very long to pick up on the negative bent of the article, did it? For months it had been speculated that Cindy McCain would replace her husband when the time came but it appears as if that was just a media creation and maybe some wishful thinking by the family. (Perhaps the family was even running a silent campaign through the media.) Either way it is pretty obvious Associated Press is not happy with the selection, most likely because the media failed to sway the Governor.
Anyway, it is pretty clear to me that John Kyl is there for one reason and one reason alone and that is to vote for Brett Kavanaugh in a few weeks. He has been working with Donald Trump to push the nominee over the finish line and now he will have a vote in the matter. Cindy McCain would not have been an automatic vote for Brett Kavanaugh and we should be thankful the Arizona Governor did not succumb to the media pressure to try to stick it to the President one last time.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
New Mexico compound teen says he was being trained for Jihad
It should be the biggest story of the year but it has not received much coverage at all. I am of course referring to the compound in New Mexico where five adults were training children to carry out school and hospital attacks. Even in the coverage which we have seen in the mainstream media the focus has centered on the child endangerment changes and not on what was actually going on in the compound.
This was easy enough for the mainstream media, and somewhat understandable, as long as the state charges were related to the treatment of the children but, after a judge let the men out of jail despite the death of one of the children, the state bungled the case and all charges were dropped. This is when the Feds finally stepped in an arrested the men on conspiracy and weapons charges.
Due to political correctness the mainstream media might not be willing to admit that what we have here in New Mexico was an extremist compound where people were being trained to carry out Jihad, but if the media is honest it will be harder to ignore because one of the children has admitted that is what was going on here. Here is more:
A 13-year-old boy who was part of group taken into custody at a squalid New Mexico compound last month has told FBI agents his mother’s boyfriend was training him to conduct “jihad” against non-believers, according to federal court documents.
The boy was among 11 children and five adults living at the compound in Taos County when it was raided on Aug. 3 by local sheriff’s deputies who discovered a cache of firearms and the children living without food or clean water. The dead body of a three-year-old boy was found buried at the site later.
In an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, an FBI special agent wrote that Leveille’s 13-year-old son told investigators that his mother’s boyfriend, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, wanted to “get an army together” and train them for jihad.
The boy told agents that Ibn Wahhaj trained him and another of Leveille’s teenage sons in firearms and military techniques, including rapid reloads and hand-to-hand combat, and told them jihad meant killing non-believers on behalf of Allah, according to the affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in New Mexico.
Of course this is a no-brainer, we all knew what was going on here despite the blackout in the mainstream media, but I would expect additional Federal charges to be coming at some point. It is pretty scary to think that something like this was happening on United States soil but I have to admit it is not totally unexpected, I just wonder if there are others out there as well.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
FBI arrests New Mexico compound owners
As if it were not bad enough that the five men who are accused of setting up a compound to teach children how to commit school shootings were free on bond in the first place your blood must have boiled when the charges were dropped last week. I know mine did.
As troubled as I as by that news I was still holding out the hope that the Feds would get involved on some type of weapons charges and yesterday it finally happened. Here is more:
The FBI has arrested five residents of a compound in Amalia, in Taos County, N.M. (Amalia Compound), on a federal criminal complaint charging them with violating the federal firearms and conspiracy laws. The arrests were announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson and Special Agent in Charge James C. Langenberg of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division.
The defendants, Jany Leveille, 35, a Haitian national illegally present in the United States, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, Hujrah Wahhaj, 37, Subhanah Wahhaj, 35, and Lucas Morton, 40, are charged in a criminal complaint that was filed earlier today in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. The criminal complaint charges Jany Leveille with being an alien unlawfully in possession of firearms and ammunition in the District of New Mexico from Nov. 2017 through Aug. 2018. The criminal complaint charges the other four defendants with aiding and abetting Leveille in committing the offense, and with conspiring with Leveille to commit the offense.
This is the first good news to come from this case since the story first broke and maybe we are on the road to justice here after all.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
I’m home!
Hello everybody, I just wanted to let everybody know that yesterday afternoon I finally made it home! It took about a week longer than I expected but hopefully the worst is behind me now.
Thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes, they are all deeply appreciated.
Chuck Schumer strikes deal to streamline judicial confirmations so Democrats can hit the campaign trail
“The resistance wilts in August”
That is the subhead on this Huffington Post article. You may be wondering what the line is referring to because all indications show the resistance is still as strong as ever and Democratic voters are excited to head to the polls.
The subhead is in reference to the Democratic leaders in the Congress, Chuck Schumer to be exact, stricking a deal with Mitch McConnell to expedite 15 of Donald Trump’s judicial nominees before the mid-term election so that the Democrats could hit the campaign trail a few days early.
Senate Democrats just gave a huge gift to President Donald Trump: They agreed to expedite votes on 15 of his nominees to lifetime federal court seats because they wanted to go home.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) had lined up votes for all those district court nominees last week. Normally, Senate rules require up to 30 hours of waiting time for each nominee ― something Democrats typically take advantage of to delay action on confirming Trump judges. But Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) cut a deal with McConnell on Tuesday to bypass the wait times and let them all get through.
Why? So Democrats could get back to campaigning and focusing on winning re-election in November. The Senate is now out of session until next Tuesday.
And here is more:
It’s a major win for Trump and McConnell, whose No. 1 priority is filling up federal courts with conservative judges ― many of whom are incredibly anti-abortion, anti–LGBTQ rights and anti–voting rights. Trump has gotten 26 circuit court judges confirmed, more than any other president at this point in his term. Another way of putting it: 1 in 7 U.S. circuit court seats is now filled by a judge nominated by Trump.
Chuck Schumer made a political calculation and he determined he could afford to let these judges be confirmed even though they are supposedly opposed to everything he believes in because it would be of more benefit to the holding on of power to have a few more days on the campaign trail. He put politics ahead of policy and I would be upset if I were a Democrat but we see this time and time again from the Washington elites. Gaining and holding on to power is what is most important to them.
The thing is most people do not pay attention to judicial nominees, with the exception of the Supreme Court, so it might be a gamble well worth taking if it were not for the fact he sold himself out for a few votes Democrats probably do not need in the first place.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
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