Photo above: Trump Rally at Hershey, PA 12-10-2019
A few months back, I started getting emails from something called The Black Sphere. They began showing up in my throwaway email box and always lands in my Junk folder. After getting bombarded daily for many weeks, I finally read one, the guy writes interesting headlines which piqued my curiosity.
It turns out that The Black Sphere is a website by a talk show guy named Kevin Jackson.
Radio Talk Show Host Kevin Jackson
Kevin has the unfortunate task of going head-to-head against the Rush Limbaugh timeslot. No wonder I never heard of him. Anyway, he had an article today that I thought would be of interest to my readers. Kevin talks about the crowd size of Trump rallies versus the 2020 Democrat hopefuls. Partially, I read this based on comments that my dad made over the weekend about watching a Trump rally and being inspired.
I wrote recently about Trump’s rally in Hershey PA. Over 23,000 people showed up in a town of under 15,000. One thing I left out of that post is the fact that had the highway patrol not shut down areas of the freeway, thousands more would have been outside the arena waiting to hear the president. A friend of mine who lives and works in the area updated me on this fact.
If you add up all the Democrats’ events over the past 3 months, the combined total wouldn’t surpass what Trump accomplished (audience-wise) at ONE event. For Democrats, there is no smoke. No smoke, no fire.
But Trump’s events look like towering infernos. They have all the appeal of a rock concert, and in fact Trump breaks attendance records at almost every venue.
Call this what you want, but I must say that I’m convinced Trump-mania is real. Sadly for Democrats, they offer nothing close.
The disparity of crowd size that Trump draws compared to anyone else is monumental. And unlike the Democrats, Trump doesn’t have to pay people to fill empty chairs. I think Trump will easily be re-elected and unlike other Presidents, his second term will be much more productive that his predecessors.
Orson Scott Card wrote a book many years ago called Speaker for the Dead and yesterday Christianity Today decided to do just that claiming that Billy Graham himself would have opposed the Orange Man and support his removal via impeachment. Today I wish to unpack this controversy and the Graham family’s response.
In our founding documents, Billy Graham explains that Christianity Today will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith. The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic. It requires comment.
The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible.
That said, we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love.
So here’s the setup. We (Christianity Today) have a charter granted to us from Billy Graham to speak to actions in the public square. Thus Christianity Today is “the voice” of evangelical Christianity. So dear readers, listen up.
Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had it out for him from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings. And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.
Then the editor of Christianity Today says we know the Democrats have it in for Trump and we have only heard from one side in this impeachment thing but…
But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
So literally without any evidence presented, we at CT know that Trump is guilty as sin. Why? Because we don’t like his Twitter posts.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
That Trump fired guys that were later convicted as criminals—many in a failed effort to take him out—and yet despite Mueller’s Report, he is still there. Oh, and he admitted that he likes women and has done business in New York (immoral actions in business?).
Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment. That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.
Trump broke the Ten Commandments so for God’s sake he must be removed.
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
How can you be a Christian and support Trump? If abortion is an important issue for you then remove Trump and give us a pro-abortion Democrat so sanity can return to American politics.
So we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due, to try to understand their point of view, to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump.
We have done our best to put up with you Trump supporters but it’s time for you to throw him under the bus otherwise he will be reelected and God help us if he is.
Rebuttal
Billy Graham voted for Trump
On social media, Franklin Graham wrote, “Christianity Today released an editorial stating that President Trump should be removed from office – and they invoked my father’s name (I suppose to try to bring legitimacy to their statements), so I feel it is important for me to respond.
“Yes, my father Billy Graham founded Christianity Today; but no, he would not agree with their opinion piece. In fact, he would be very disappointed. I have not previously shared who my father voted for in the past election, but because of this article, I feel it is necessary to share it now. My father knew Donald Trump, he believed in Donald Trump, and he voted for Donald Trump. He believed that Donald J. Trump was the man for this hour in history for our nation,” he said.
“For Christianity Today to side with the Democrat Party in a totally partisan attack on the president of the United States is unfathomable. Christianity Today failed to acknowledge that not one single Republican voted with the Democrats to impeach the president. I know a number of Republicans in Congress, and many of them are strong Christians. If the president were guilty of what the Democrats claimed, these Republicans would have joined with the Democrats to impeach him. But the Democrats were not even unanimous – two voted against impeachment and one voted present. This impeachment was politically motivated, 100% partisan. Why would Christianity Today choose to take the side of the Democrat left whose only goal is to discredit and smear the name of a sitting president? They want readers to believe the Democrat leadership rather than believe the president of the United States,” Franklin Graham wrote.
Christianity Today ignores the Bible when trying to tell us what to believe about impeachment. In fact, what they said in this editorial is so unbiblical as to be nothing but sins of omission. What does the Bible say about rules of evidence?
1 Democrats have never produced one witness with firsthand knowledge of anything let alone two or three.
One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Deuteronomy 19:15
“Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” 2 Corinthians 13:1-2
In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. John 8:17
2 Do not decide a matter without first hearing both sides
“He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.” Proverbs 18:17
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Proverbs 18:13
Trump a notorious sinner and so are you
Is President Trump guilty of sin? Of course he is, as were all past presidents and as each one of us are, including myself. Therefore, let’s pray for the president as he continues to lead the affairs of our nation. – Franklin Graham
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law Romans 2:12
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:10
Trump’s Character
Christianity Today attacks Trump’s character with ad hominem claims “He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women.” The claim is used as a factual statement without any proof or foundation and is used to buttress their assertion of his guilt in the impeachment accusations.
President Trump has been married more than once, as was Ronald Reagan whom I regard as the greatest President of the 20th Century. Trump surrounds himself with beautiful women but does not have a reputation of having intercourse with them in the Oval Office as has been the practice of other Presidents. Divorce is a sin in most circumstances but this has not been an issue in Evangelical circles for many decades. Was this a shot at Stormy Daniels?
Most of those who formerly worked for Trump and are headed for jail were convicted of offenses prior to being on Trump’s payroll. We have previously documented on this blog that Trump’s pool of campaign staff was not top tier, especially early in the campaign. Trump got last pick of those that remained after Bush, Rubio, Cuz, etc. had hired their staffs. Any people not in this category were never found guilty but entrapped. They had the choice of fighting prosecutors with unlimited budgets or saving their personal assets and taking a plea deal. This was not a criminal issue but an economic one. In light of recent revelations by the government, some are trying to undo their plea bargains and be cleared.
Hitting Trump with the argument that we don’t like what you say on Twitter is not relevant to the impeachment issue either. On Twitter, Trump is typically defending himself in real time or touting his accomplishments; neither of which the media is willing to report. In a world with 24/7 news coverage in which almost 100 percent of everything about Trump is presented negatively, what do you expect him to do? Trump, like Saint Nicholas, hits heretics right between the eyes.
CT concludes by saying Evangelicals should flee Trump
My question is why? I can rebut their assertion in several ways. Here’s three quick ones.
“You can’t beat something with nothing.”
“You go to war with the army you have not the one you want.”
Oh, and Trump is president because it is God’s will.
Conclusion
CT asks something that deserves comment. “Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior.”
My response is this, if we continued down the road Obama put us on, it would be illegal for us to have any public witness for our Lord and Savior. All religious institutions were being subjugated to the State by the State’s use of the sword and mandated to accept homosexuality and other perversions, compromise on abortion, and the core claims of Christianity such as Jesus being the only way to God. We as Christians were staring into the abyss. We were in danger of having our children removed from us by the State, our institutions outlawed, and other retributions visited on us for being practicing Christians. (This is always the experience of Christians in socialist societies.) Trump stopped this momentum and is reversing this danger to the very fabric of our existence. Trump is our Constantine. Whether he is one of us or not, he has never said but his policies are exactly what Christianity needs to be legal and free in this country. The fact that Christianity Today is willing to throw us under the bus to score cheap political points is all you need to know. They are not on the side of light.
The final tell in their editorial is, “we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due…” No. They are tired of us sticking to this man in spite of all hell being loosed on him and him being unscathed. Folks all this impeachment stuff has done is insure the Donald Trump will spend the rest of his days fighting for this country and for us. The days of ex-Presidents sitting silently on the national sidelines are over. Trump will remake the Republican Party just as I’ve been saying for many years. To NeverTrumpers and Democrats, look out, the Orange Man cometh in wrath and vengeance.
Folks I just don’t get it. Why will the House vote to impeach President Trump? There is no hope of getting a conviction in the Senate. The House effort has zero Republican support and has been predetermined before Democrats even created “charges” to make against the President.
CRA motivational flyer as seen at Stop Trump call center
Oh, yes I fully expect that Mitt Romney—whom I once voted for—will throw Trump under the political bus if he gets the chance but I’m hoping he resists his baser instincts to pile-on. I think the Senate Democrats running for President must recuse themselves. This, action alone will make getting a 2/3 vote to convict in the Senate an impossibility.
Is this really the 2020 Presidential campaign? Sadly, I think it’s all they have because they certainly don’t have a worthy opponent to Trump. Furthermore, Democrats have already said that they will impeach Trump again and again. Folks, such an attitude is shredding the Constitution—Ok, what little of it remains—and turn us into a banana republic. The political games being played now cannot be walked back.
I agree with the Sith Lord that the Republic will fracture into different nation-states—a possibility that he has discussed for many years—but it’s painful to see. I feel like I’m in ancient Israel right before the masses were carted-off into captivity by Babylon and Egypt.
Trump the Negotiator
I’m going to state something that is only superficially true but has some merit. Trump is like Jesus in a few ways. First, with him there is no neutrality. Second, his trial is one of false accusations and conflicting accounts which are not corroborated by any evidence. Third, his enemies want to crucify him. Fourth, he is like a fulcrum, he is dividing the sheep from the goats. Trump will go down in history as the most divisive figure in the White House since Lincoln. Fifth, Trump is triumphing over his enemies because the traps they laid for him are in reality their doom.
The number three political party in California, the embattled California Republican Party (CAGOP), has taken a page from Karen England’s playbook and decided to raise money off the efforts of someone else’s ballot initiative. In this case, the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom. The only problem is that California’s Republicans have no interest in supporting either recall effort (there are two measures currently gathering signatures). Just like Capital Resource Institute did during Proposition 8 and other efforts during that era, the GOP is raising money off of the ballot initiative and diverting the money to keep their doors.
Here is CRA expat Steve Frank’s summary of the story. (Emphasis in original)
“Meanwhile: The California Republican Party has sent a fund-raising pitch seemingly embracing an effort to recall Newsom.
GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said money raised would go to the party, not the recall backers, the Sacramento Bee reported.
A long shot: Qualifying a recall for the ballot could cost $10 million. In its most recent filing, the California Republican Party had $1.6 million in the bank, and many legislative seats to defend.”
You read that right—“GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said money raised would go to the party, not the recall backers, the Sacramento Bee reported.”
Folks, I left the Republican Party a few years ago but I’m sure they never voted to support the recall of our Governor so how can they pretend differently; even if they are just feigning it. Surely, Chad Mays and those other gutless wonders at the “Bill Mill” would never stand for such a display of speaking truth to power; especially, when they covet the power more than their political or eternal souls.
Folks this recall effort is doomed before it gets started but the fact that the CAGOP is anywhere near it shows how out of touch their leadership really is. Perhaps if Republicans in California advocated answers instead of cheap gimmicks their registration numbers would stabilized. Sadly, they have yet to hit bottom. Charles Munger did a number on these guys and they couldn’t see it at the time or even now.
The Democrat’s moral elevator appears not to have a bottom floor. As you may be aware, a coup to replace Donald Trump is taking place as we speak; a coup so terribly thought-out it makes third world opposition parties (and the CRA) jealous. While congressperson (don’t want to assume gender here) Adam Schiff has done a great job to damage his own brand, this Earl Blumenauer fellow did him one better.
Democrat’s Elevator to Hell
Earl’s Stunt
You see, Ambassador Gordon Sondland initially refused to testify at the impeachment circus. Sondland was ordered by the State Department not to cooperation with the Democrat’s subpoena. As a result, Earl Blumenauer (I)—for registered Idiot—made this statement, “Anyone who cares about America should not do any business or stay at any of Gordon Sondland’s hotels.” Blumenauer’s news release then continued, “Not until he fulfills his duty as a citizen to testify and turn over all relevant documents to the House of Representatives.”
Subsequently, and no thanks to Congressman Earl, the Ambassador changed his mind.
“Notwithstanding the State Department’s current direction to not testify, Ambassador Sondland will honor the Committees’ subpoena, and he looks forward to testifying next Thursday,” Robert Luskin, Sondland’s attorney, said in a statement.
Even after Ambassador Sondland testified, Blumenauer has not withdrawn his call for a boycott.
FYI: Sondland did testify, and essentially buried Schiff today by the way.
Another Boycott
Blumenauer called for a boycott, which seems to be a play the Democrats continue to run from their failed playbook. How many times have we seen it now? Chick-fil-A, Ivanka Trump‘s brand, and now Sondland’s hotel brand, conveniently located in Portland, Oregon Blumenauer’s district. Problem is? Sondland stepped down as chairman and an executive of this chain when he entered into public service a year ago. This is a factual matter that Blumenauer knows full well. Sadly whether due to all his years in public service or living in the Swamp, Earl Blumenauer decided to join the chorus chanting, “Who needs rules when hearsay is more important than truth?” Does Blumenauer even have the slightest idea who gets hurt the most under his boycott idea? Hint it ain’t the millionaires up top.
Earl Blumenauer–honored as one of the most pot friendly guys in Congress
The bottom line is, the Sondland hotel workers in his district get hit the hardest. It’s similar to when a corporation does not perform well, the layoffs start at the bottom not the top. The folks being directly impacted work in the hotel industry meaning they are likely low wage jobs, in essence the people who need the work and money the most. Doesn’t that sound like the people the millionaires in the Democrat Party claim to represent and fight for?
These boycotts never go well or have unintended consequences. While Chick-fil-A may have caved slightly on LBGTQ issues, they saw a huge uptick in sales. Ivanka Trump’s line is doing outstanding, and from what I can see, business is booming at Trump properties! We here at reallyright.com don’t believe in boycotts and are happy to see this one implode.
Blumenauer and his ilk are the worst kind of humans. These guys get elected and try to influence everything and legislate things they hate out of existence. What exactly was the purpose of this call for a boycott? Because Sondland wouldn’t testify at the circus? Last I checked, you have a 5th Amendment right…maybe I should send Blumenauer a copy of our rights as citizens. On the other hand, maybe Earl Blumenauer could exercise his right to remain silent instead of opening his mouth and removing all doubt.
Blumenauer is the perfect example of a lemming. Pelosi or Schiff tell him to jump and he will gladly comply…for our county’s sake I hope it’s off a long pier!
Just remember, boycotts hurt those at the bottom not the top…and yeah, that impeachment trial is going just great for the Democrats! Not!
Troll
PS Hope Hicks I am truly sorry you have to watch your former boss go through this. I’m available by phone if you ever need to chat, a consultation, or just get something off your chest; just reach out to the owner of this blog.
Editor’s Note: With all due respect to Troll, whatever Sonderland did to Schiff, he managed to bury himself as well.
The disparity between accounts comes as Sondland’s spotty recollection of events related to the Ukraine matter came into question in other ways during Wednesday’s hearing. At one point, he blamed part of his difficulty in reconstructing events on the fact that he is “not a note-taker or a memo-writer.” Republican counsel Steve Castor later critiqued the witness’ lack of notes, records, and recollection as a “the trifecta of unreliability.” Sondland responded that his recollections had been “refreshed by subsequent testimony, by some texts and emails that I’ve now had access to.”
Three stories that make a difference that were buried in the last few days.
California is fulfilling their role as a take no prisoners, authoritarian regime. In the latest moves to ban the internal combustion engine and anything else that uses fossil fuels, California has created another list of politically incorrect people that are to be avoided. This time the list includes automakers that will not be allowed to sell to the State. First on the list are GM, Chrysler, Nissan, and Toyota.
Mary Nichols-California Air Resources Board
California issued a statement late Monday saying that as of January the state would only buy vehicles from automakers that recognize the California Air Resources Board’s authority to set tough greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles. California also pledged only to do business with automakers that committed to stringent emissions reduction goals.
Separately, the state also said it will no longer buy sedans that are powered only by internal combustion engines, no matter who manufactures the car. It will buy only plug-in electric or hybrid sedans, although California would make an exception for certain public safety vehicles. That rule does not apply to SUV or truck purchases.
This list is in addition to the ones that prohibit State employees and athletic teams from California State Universities from traveling to other States because the States are pro-life or pro-marriage; both of which are outlawed in California. I’m sure a similar list banning travel to places based on gun ownership is also in the works.
As a result of this utopian B.S., Elon Musk looks to be the beneficiary of more taxpayer money that he didn’t really earn. Of course this will be in addition to the money being directed to him as a result of the solar panel mandate that begins in January. Elon, by far, is the most heavily subsidized fellow in the history of the planet. Elon gets more corporate welfare from the government than any defense contractor ever dreamed.
Elon Musk has tax money to burn
Next up is California oil production, a story which is told via two news accounts.
But since taking office in January, Newsom’s own department of energy management has approved 33 percent more new oil and gas drilling permits than were approved under Newsom’s predecessor Jerry Brown over the same period in 2018—a median of 174 permits to drill new oil, gas, and cyclic steam wells approved a month, based on Geologic Energy Management Division (CALGEM) reports analyzed by CityLab.
The rate of fracking permits approved also soared at the start of the year, up 109 percent through June.
The fact that fracking approvals in California had spiked in the new year was first reported in July by the FracTracker Alliance and Consumer Watchdog. Newsom responded quickly to the news, firing the head of the approving agency for employing regulators who owned stock in oil companies, and directing the department to stop approving fracking permits. Since June 28, California hasn’t cleared any new hydraulic fracturing projects. After publication of this story on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Newsom announced he was fully stopping the permitting of new hydraulic fracturing pending independent scientific review. He also said he’d issue a moratorium on “new permits for steam-injected oil drilling.”
The lesson is, if you support jobs and energy then you won’t last long holding an appointed government office in California.
I think Chevron should move its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas ASAP and close all their California refineries when they go. If California wants to ban fossil fuels then I think the private sector should cooperate. Let’s give politicians a world without gasoline and diesel now. Why wait until 2040? After all, there’s no time like the present. Give fossil fuel users the same treatment that PG&E is giving their electrical customers. Clearly the environmentalist message is, if you hate the planet so much that you use fossil fuels, then you deserve some payback. You can’t break addiction without pain.
Oh and speaking of pain, our illustrious leaders also want to ban the last reliable fuel used to generate electricity, natural gas. (FYI nuclear is banned in California and hydroelectric is not considered renewable energy.)
Maybe we could shut natural gas off for a week or so in February just to show people what that’s really like. Maybe such a move right before the Primary Elections in March would cause voters to make more sensible choices on the ballot.
I saw this quote in a Fox News opinion piece—please note that whatever their shortcomings, at least Fox knows to label opinion pieces as such as opposed to a news article from a Leftist media outlet where it’s all opinion disguised as news—anyways, something occurred to me as I read these words; namely this, Pelosi is like Obama. Read this and then I will continue my thought.
Pelosi, fellow California Democrat and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and their Democratic co-conspirators in their attempted coup are going to do whatever they want, however they want, because they think the rules don’t apply to them.
After all, who’s going to call them out for their misdeeds – their partisan allies at the fake and corrupt New York Times and Washington Post? Come on.
Let’s face it: unhinged radical Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota are calling the shots on behalf of a mob of anti-Trump socialists who have seized control of the Democratic Party.
The third paragraph states, as we have here many times, that AOC and the Broad Squad are calling the shots in the Democrat Party, but what struck me as I read this is that Pelosi is like Obama! We keep viewing Speaker Pelosi as not in control, feckless, and ineffective but is there something more? Perhaps. Maybe Pelosi sees herself as like Obama. Does the phrase, “Lead from behind” ring any bells? Obama did that for eight years and Democrats love and adore him.
Yeah, Nancy Pelosi is leading her party from behind. There, now we know what’s going on. She has emptied herself of what she wants and instead is giving her caucus want they want.
I think the meaning of leading from behind has become slightly muddled because it’s so easy to poke fun at the slogan itself. As Ben Armbruster at the liberal Think Progress points out, Nelson Mandela popularized the concept of leading from behind. Armbruster dug up the following quote from Mandela:
“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” In his 1994 autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” Mandela also described it this way:
“I always remember the regent’s axiom: a leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”
So despite the funny phrasing, at the heart of the idea of leading from behind is the empowerment of other actors to do your bidding
So is Nancy Pelosi the “Good Shepherd” and the House Caucus (or American people) her sheep? If so, doesn’t that make her Christ? So wouldn’t that make government God? It fits her worldview but is this reality or delusion?
Here’s a contrary view of leading from behind.
Leading from behind is not leading. It is abdicating. It is also an oxymoron. Yet a sympathetic journalist, channeling an Obama adviser, elevates it to a doctrine. The president is no doubt flattered. The rest of us are merely stunned.
Frankly the thought I had on the phrase “leading from behind” is one you hear about in war-torn areas where human life has no value. You line up the POWs, or women and children, side-by-side, depending on what type of despotism that you prefer, and march them through suspected mine fields to insure that passage is now safe for your troops. Why sweep for mines when others can cheaply do it for you?
So is Nancy being benevolent by giving her Caucus what they want or marching them through a mine field? The correct answer is both; especially, for the 31 new people that won seats last held by Republicans prior to the 2018 election. Some pundits are talking about Democrat gains in the next election but I think Nancy is risking it all to pursue the promised impeachment drive. She knows she can’t deliver a fatal blow to Trump but her immediate concern is for her political survival. I think her days are numbered, both on the planet and in politics but as Joe Serna used to say, “The chief job of a politician is to be reelected.” Those in power, especially in D.C., never willingly give it up, they only resign when they are carried out feet first in a body bag. So as you watch the impeachment drama unfold, remember that Speaker Pelosi is just like Barack Obama, she is leading from behind and given the circumstances that suits her just fine.
The conventional wisdom is that the veil between this reality and another is somehow supposed to be thinnest over the next few hours. On the day that many celebrate phantoms, ghosts, and other apparitions, our illustrious public servants in Washington have decided to play the swamp version of trick or treat.
Personally, I think we are seeing dead people pretending to be something they’re not. Anyway, Democrats, the Party of the dead, have decided to put all their electoral eggs in the impeachment basket without actually voting to impeach. Thus they will be playing subpoena trick or treat with anyone that might advance version 2.0 (two point oh) of the witch hunt to overturn the 2016 election.
But while they are high fiving each other on this pyric and partisan victory, the wheels have quietly come off of the whistleblower bus. Not that CNN or MSNBC will report it, but the mythical whistleblower has been outed. Behold Eric Ciaramella (pronounced char-a-MEL-ah).
Ciaramella is a holdover from the Obama administration and a registered Democrat. He’s been accused of leaking like crazy. He worked with Joe Biden, he’s a vocal critic of President Trump, and he invited a DNC operative inside the White House to attend meetings. He also helped instigate the investigation into Russia collusion. So, of course, Democrats would believe his second-hand complaint about President Trump’s phone conversation with Ukranian President Zelensky over the actual transcript of the call itself.
The report claims that federal records show Ciaramella attended a state luncheon with Joe Biden’s office back in October 2016. You’ll never guess who else was there? Former FBI Director James Comey and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper. You can’t make this stuff up. The report says it was strange for Ciaramella, a relatively low-level GS-13 federal employee, to have been there. And it describes Ciaramella’s invitation as “unusual,” saying it “signaled he was politically connected inside the Obama White House.”
For a town that leaks like a sieve, Washington has done an astonishingly effective job keeping from the American public the name of the anonymous “whistleblower” who triggered impeachment proceedings against President Trump — even though his identity is an open secret inside the Beltway.
More than two months after the official filed his complaint, pretty much all that’s known publicly about him is that he is a CIA analyst who at one point was detailed to the White House and is now back working at the CIA.
But the name of a government official fitting that description — Eric Ciaramella — has been raised privately in impeachment depositions, according to officials with direct knowledge of the proceedings, as well as in at least one open hearing held by a House committee not involved in the impeachment inquiry. Fearing their anonymous witness could be exposed, Democrats this week blocked Republicans from asking more questions about him and intend to redact his name from all deposition transcripts.
“Everyone knows who he is. CNN knows. The Washington Post knows. The New York Times knows. Congress knows. The White House knows. Even the president knows who he is,” said Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst and national security adviser to Trump, who has fielded dozens of calls from the media.
Yet a rare hush has swept across the Potomac. The usually gossipy nation’s capital remains uncharacteristically — and curiously — mum, especially considering the magnitude of this story, only the fourth presidential impeachment inquiry in U.S. history.
The official added that it soon became clear among NSC staff that Ciaramella opposed the new Republican president’s foreign policies. “My recollection of Eric is that he was very smart and very passionate, particularly about Ukraine and Russia. That was his thing – Ukraine,” he said. “He didn’t exactly hide his passion with respect to what he thought was the right thing to do with Ukraine and Russia, and his views were at odds with the president’s policies.”
“So I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the whistleblower,” the official said.
Eric Ciaramella is the posterchild of everything wrong with Washington yet somehow he fancies himself to be the real life Jack Ryan.
Hey Eric, remember the opening credits for Mission Impossible where they say, “If you are ever killed or captured, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.” You might take that counsel to heart because when your usefulness is over to Congressional Democrats so is your shelf life. My advice to you is if you get a card or package from Nancy Pelosi (or Ted Kaczynski) don’t open it.
Lastly, even though today is Hillary’s birthday, if she knocks at your door tonight don’t open or we’ll never see you again.
As predicted in this space, Joe Biden is toast. His poll numbers drop every week, his debate performances have been panned; there is no more saving grace. He has nothing left to prove and now national Democrats are sending his campaign a warning he may be embarrassingly defeated in Iowa! You hate to see it. Here is why Quid Pro Joe became a national laughing stock.
First Joe has always tried to maintain a “moderate, I’m one of you image.” He has worked hard to cultivate this blue collar political persona. He is from Scranton. He rode Amtrak. He never allowed Washington to change him. To his credit he carried and acted like a common man. Biden has tried to be the guy one could have a drink with after work and talk local issues. He parlayed this narrative into a 36 year career in D.C. as a Senator. He became known as a foreign policy wonk and when chosen to be Obama’s VP, the people said “OK. Joe is a moderate. He won’t let Obama get to far off course.” In effect, Biden gave Obama the gravitas which the junior Senator lacked in his bid for the White House in 2008. In many ways this image worked just fine for Biden and in truth, if he ran last go round, he may have gotten the nomination (assuming Obama endorses him, over Hillary).
His problems started not long after he left the White House. He tried to mold himself after the cool uncle of yours who let you have an extra soda or extra candy over mom and dad’s objections.
The Real Joe Cool
The problem is Father Time is undefeated and Joe has a long history of elected politics. Joe was elected Senator in 1974. This blogger and several new generations of voters were born in 1985 or later! To us, Joe is seen as a try hard; trying to be all things to all people, which is fine, but his record is his own worst enemy! He supported the war in Iraq, then opposed it, then supported it again. He went from being tough on crime and drugs to essentially decriminalizing and legalizing most crimes. His role as Obama’s VP also clouds his record further. It’s hard to claim policy differences when you served in the White House and ran for re-election on the same ticket as Obama. Biden in many ways is a liquid whose beliefs and policies take the shape of which ever mold he is poured into. The bottom line is while he may be trying to impress the younger voters, the older ones know Joe!
Joe Biden announced his presidential run and he figured the field would clear out for him…incorrect. He isn’t the Clintons who are still well liked (mostly due to fear of reaching room temperature) or the Obamas who will be loved forever. In fact, more Democrats jumped into the race because Joe has a penchant for gaffes and has a long political history that isn’t very favorable to him. Bernie is scared of no one, Liz Warren feels she will be the first female president, Sparatacus still thinks Kathleen Blasey Ford is telling the truth about Kavanaugh, Buttiegieg thinks he will be the first gay president, Tom Steyer has $$$ to burn and thinks he can influence the race. No one feels a need to drop out. Worse yet for Biden, those in the Democrat presidential field all view Trump as a failed president who is easily beatable.
Truth be told, Biden should still be the frontrunner, but he cannot get out of his own way! You see the primary is not one filled with moderate voters, so Joe had a small piece of the electoral pie to start with, He tried to tack left, but; Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Harris, Booker and others have that wing accounted for. Then he tried to outflank everyone and get Obama to endorse him…didn’t happen, I am sure he told the Clintons to stay away, and I guess that worked. Truth is, moderate Joe always could get about 28% in a national poll, and if he stayed free of scandal while the others hammered each other he could have won…then the death knell came.
His son, Hunter, was discovered to be on the board of directors of a Ukrainian Gas company, paying him $50,000 a month. Month….not a year….he makes in one month what the average “middle class” worker makes in a year. The news media tried to provide him cover saying that a Clinton, Romney, and Kerry were on the board as well….then Joe became gaffe prone Joe again. At the most recent debate he addressed the issue saying “neither his son, nor himself did anything wrong” and essentially pulled an Obama in saying, “Move along! Nothing to see here.”
However there was something to see. Joe showed his true colors in a sense; he thumbed his nose at the public, specifically the working types who he tried to emulate. Hunter Biden knows nothing about how a utility operates, try getting on to any company’s board of directors with similar knowledge…it doesn’t happen. This is the real reason his numbers have dropped so bad. Biden likely finishes fourth in Iowa. He showed his whole act was phony from the get go. In the end, he is just another politician trying to advance his and his children’s wealth, not doing what is best for the country.
Unfortunately for Joe, this is a gaffe he can’t come back from.
Ok, let me get this straight, for two and a half years, Democrats have been accusing President Trump of colluding with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election so when they get around to kind of, sort of, half way, impeaching the guy, they are impeaching him for interfering in the 2020 election by colluding with Russia’s enemy Ukraine? Whiskey Tango …?
They added: “The evidence we have already collected paints the picture of a president who abused his power by using multiple levers of government to press a foreign country to interfere in the 2020 election. Following in the footsteps of previous impeachment inquiries, the next phase will move from closed depositions to open hearings where the American people will learn firsthand about the president’s misconduct.”
–Democratic committee chairs — Reps. Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Eliot L. Engel, and Carolyn Maloney
Folks, this is all you need to know about the 2020 election. Mueller was a bust but the hearings must go on. They don’t have any ideas or candidates that can win so they are trying to steal the White House by demoralizing Trump and terrorizing the already timid Republican establishment. Ironically, the more establishment types that don’t run for reelection, the better off our country will be.
Trump is playing 3D chess with this bunch that think checkers is too much for him. Their overreach is breathtaking to watch. We in the heartland are watching and not happy, but really energized to vote once again for our President.
