It’s Friday, July 20th, 2018…the 74th anniversary of Operation Valkyrie…but before we begin, writing at Townhall.com, Kurt Schlichter details how, once again, Progressives are crying “wolf”:
“Following Monday’s summit in Helsinki, many American pundits and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle criticized President Trump for what they perceived as his failure to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) slammed Trump’s “shameful” performance, and former Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan went so far as to call Putin the “master puppeteer” of the Oval Office.
Some may expect me to lend my voice to this chorus of condemnation.After all, I have personally experienced the devastating consequences of Putin’s expansionism. In 2008, when I was the president of Georgia, Russia shocked the world by invading my country. To this day, one-fifth of Georgia’s territory remains under illegal Russian occupation, and Georgia lacks a clear roadmap to NATO membership.
The Helsinki summit did not change my view of the Russian president. As I have reiterated many times, Putin is pure evil.There is no doubt in my mind that U.S. intelligence agencies arrived at the correct conclusion: Russia did meddle in the U.S. 2016 election, and Putin himself directed the operation.Again, I speak from personal experience on this topic: In 2012, Russian intelligence services interfered in the Georgian parliamentary elections, boosting the Kremlin’s preferred candidate through disinformation operations.
Thus, my opinion of President Trump’s policy vis-à-vis Russia is perhaps more positive than one might assume from my background.My reasoning is two-fold: After a lifetime of firsthand experience with Russian aggression, I must evaluate Trump’s actions against the proper historical context.In doing so, I have found that Trump’s actionsspeak for themselves.
…On the first point, I consider it unfair that Trump’s performance in Helsinki has garnered harsher criticism than other incidents in recent memory. In 2012, for example, a hot microphone at a global nuclear security summit picked up then-President Barack Obama assuring Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have “more flexibility” to negotiate with Putin after the presidential election.
During a debate with GOP opponent Mitt Romney the same year, Obama casually dismissed the Russian threat, quipping: “The 1980s called; they want their foreign policy back.”Although Trump could certainly have been more forceful by condemning Putin’s crimes, his statements at the Helsinki press conference were nowhere near as concerning as his predecessor’s remarks about Russia.
This brings me to my second point: Trump’s actions toward Russia speak louder than words— and so did his predecessor’s. Indeed, the Obama administration’s foreign policy undermined America’s credibility in my region, which Putin considers Russia’s “backyard.”There are many opinions about Trump’s rhetoric on Crimea, but it is a fact that the Russian land grab in Ukraine happened on Obama’s watch.
…Rather than changing his course after Moscow redrew the borders of Europe by force, Obama doubled down. Despite bipartisan consensus in favor of selling lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, and vocal support from his own administration officials (including Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton), Obama repeatedly refused to authorize the sales.
Instead of anti-tank weapons, the Ukrainians defending their territory from Russian invasion received hot blankets and canned goods from the Obama administration. At the same time, Obama asserted that the Ukraine conflict had “no military solution.”With these words — and more importantly, these actions — he was perceived by some on the Russian side as accepting the Kremlin’s sphere of influence in Ukraine.
Despite my warnings, the Obama administration also essentially turned a blind eye to Russian meddling in Georgia’s 2012 elections. The result was devastating not only for Georgia, but for American interests: A Kremlin-backed oligarch (who has substantial interests in Russian energy firm Gazprom) ascended to power in a strategic U.S. ally. Moreover, Russia’s meddling in Georgia’s elections functioned as a proving ground for information operations later used in the United States. To his credit, Obama accepted this reality in 2016, when he expelled dozens of Russian diplomats, but this response was too little, too late.
By contrast, Trump authorized the sale of lethal defensive weapons to both Ukraine and Georgia in 2017. The Trump administration went beyond the congressional mandate in sanctioning Russian authorities involved in the annexation of Crimea. Earlier this year, the United States imposed the harshest sanctions yet, targeting Russian oligarchs as well as government officials.
Trump’s rhetoric on energy at the Helsinki summit, which has been largely overlooked, is also a reason for optimism. The backbone of the Russian economy is energy, and Russia’s dependence on fossil fuels is Putin’s Achilles heel. At Monday’s press conference, Trump stated that U.S. liquefied natural gas exports would “compete” with Russian gas in Europe. This reflects Trump’s comments at the NATO summit, where he criticized Germany for supporting the Nord Stream II pipeline.Trump was correct to call attention to this project, which will enrich the Kremlin at the expense of struggling pro-Western allies like Ukraine…”
We frankly don’t know Mikheil Saakashvili from former CJCS John Shalikashvili; but you’ll forgive us if we trust the former’s opinion, having personally witnessed the working end of Vladimir Putin’s aggression as enabled by The Obamao, far more than anything Hillary…
…some funny-as-a-crutch comedienne…
…the “leader” who opened up Europe to its second Islamic Invasion…
…or the love-child Pierre Trudeau bequeathed Canada, not to mention some hijab-sporting illegal-immigrant-activist…
…has to say.
Now, here’s The Gouge!
First up, if it’s true…
…He must truly despise the prevaricating hypocrite who is the subject of the Wednesday edition of Jim Geraghty’s Morning Jolt:
“…Obama said progress requires “laws that root out corruption and ensures fair dealing in business.” Does he think the Clinton Foundation fits into that vision? How about the former Obama Treasury secretary Tim Geithner’s tax evasion? How about former congressman Charlie Rangel’s tax evasion? The six-figure and seven-figure sums of unpaid taxes of Tom Daschle, Claire McCaskill, or Al Sharpton? Does Obama grasp why the public might virulently recoil when those who support higher taxes escape serious consequence for not paying their own? (Not to mention those who escape consequences for breaking national security statutes under which others are jailed?!?)
…And when Obama complained, “Unfortunately, too much of politics today seems to reject the very concept of objective truth. People just make stuff up,” a lot of Americans no doubt heard, “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan, and if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” ringing in our ears. Obamacare was passed with the necessary assistance of a pack of lies, with its architect gloating about the “stupidity” of the American voter and boasting that the “lack of transparency is a huge political advantage.”Obama hates cynical, dishonest politics — up until the moment he needs it.
…Later in his speech, Obama added, “In the West’s current debate around immigration, for example, it’s not wrong to insist that national borders matter; whether you’re a citizen or not is going to matter to a government, that laws need to be followed; that in the public realm newcomers should make an effort to adapt to the language and customs of their new home.”How different would the Obama era look if he had emphasized that message at every opportunity?…”
Instead of the polar opposite…in every respect!
This is one apple that didn’t fall far…
…from the tree: the truth is simply not in him.
Since we’re on the subject of self-serving, double-dealing narcissists, in today’s installment of Idiots on Parade, NRO‘s Jack Crowe relates the most recent, nonsensical ruminations of the…
“Embattled former FBI director James Comey urged Americans to vote Democrat in the upcoming midterm elections in a Tuesday night tweet. Comey, a former Republican who was fired by President Trump last year, claimed in the late night tweet that the GOP-led Congress has failed in its obligation to stand up to the president when he strays from American “values.”
“All who believe in this country’s valuesmust vote for Democrats this fall,” he wrote.“Policy differences don’t matter right now.History has its eyes on us.”…”
Which values arethose, Mr. Comey: the unrestricted slaughter of the unborn? Deliberately divisive race-based politics? Open borders? The abolishment of ICE? The continued erosion of time-honored Judeo-Christian morals and values? Offering up the world’s strongest economy to the false idol of anthropogenic global warming?
Seriously, help us understand your precise point: please identify specific examples where and how Trump’s conduct in office would warrant otherwise right-thinking citizens of the United States to re-empower the likes of…
…them?!? Which is, surely by coincidence, the same pack of Progressives who previously empowered the likes of YOU…
…to destroy the credibility of America’s intelligence and law enforcement institutions.
This is particularly rich coming from the disgraced, fired former FBI director who, mere months ago, tweeted this…
…in support of the disgraced, fired former FBI deputy director of the FBI. Does Comey really believeanyone is the least bit interested in anything he thinks or says?!? If so, he’s as blinded by his ego as Brennan and Clapper.
Which begs the question…
We just know the day we left the service of the Navy, our security clearance, at any level, went with us.
Speaking of the Three A*smigos, rumors Brennan, Clapper and Comey plan to start their own law firm…
…remain unsubstantiated.
Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side:
Finally, we’ll call it a week with two titillating tales torn from the pages of The Crime Blotter. Exhibit “A” comes to us courtesy of a young Jersey lass less concerned with murders than malls:
“A New Jersey woman reportedly bludgeoned her mom and grandmom to death with a nightstick, leaving the lifeless bodies inside a blood-spattered, high-rise apartment while she used the women’s cash and credit cards to live it up in Atlantic City and New York City.
…Authorities closed in on Barbera just days after the slayings, using the stolen credit cards to track her to midtown Manhattan, where they eventually spotted her at the Port Authority Bus Terminal…”
Pure Jersey, baby…particularly hanging out at a bus terminal! Like Veruca Salt, Heather Barbera’s…
Though in Barbera’s case, it’s a short trip from Rikers Island to New Jersey to stand trial for murder and robbery.
Then there’s Exhibit “B”, brought to us by Emelia Holden, a Savannah waitress who doesn’t appreciate unsolicited physical contact from customers; in this case, one Ryan Cherwinski:
You GO, girl! If we were to suggest a punishment which would fit this literal a*s clown’s crime, Cherwinski would have the choice of either having to watch this video every single night at bedtime for the next ten years, or allowing Holden one good kick…
…where it counts. We’d suggest Cherwinski opt for the latter, as his wife and two kids were evidently in the restaurant and witnessed his arrest…so it’s not like he’s going to be needing his nuts for some time.
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