{"id":55719,"date":"2018-01-09T19:32:03","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T00:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=55719"},"modified":"2018-01-09T19:32:15","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T00:32:15","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-monday-january-8th-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=55719","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Monday, January 8th, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Monday, January 8th, 2017…but before we begin, the WSJ<\/em>‘s Dan Henninger records…<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Non-Accidental Presidency<\/span><\/h1>\n

Donald Trump didn\u2019t want to be president. History had another idea<\/span>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“…Hillary Clinton and her Democrats whiffed on the biggest hanging curve in history<\/span><\/em>. Barack Obama<\/em>, after the 2008 financial crisis, chose to focus on redistribution rather than restoring the economy\u2019s dynamism<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> If this had been anything<\/span> resembling the wise choice, Mr. Trump would not be president now<\/span><\/em>. Even FBI chief James Comey admitted to a mild case of nausea due to the likelihood that the bureaucracy\u2019s (foolish and improper) intervention on Hillary\u2019s behalf helped elect Mr. Trump.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the press still looks for the Russia collusion narrative somehow to repair matters. Coverage of Mr. Wolff\u2019s book dwells inordinately on a Steve Bannon quote calling Don Jr.\u2019s meeting with a Kremlin lobbyist \u201ctreasonous.\u201d<\/span> Read on<\/em><\/span>, and by \u201ctreasonous<\/em>\u201d Mr. Bannon means \u201cstupid<\/span><\/em>.\u201d The Trump campaign should have sent a cutout to meet a Russian emissary far from Trump Tower.<\/span> Any \u201cdirt<\/span>\u201d on Hillary should have been quietly channeled to Breitbart<\/span> \u201cor maybe some other more legitimate publication<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In other<\/span> words, the campaign should<\/span> have played the Russia angle the way those pros at the Hillary Clinton campaign did<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Now a 70-year-old grandfather with a 10-figure stake in our status quo world<\/em> (even if it\u2019s not as big a 10-figure stake as he likes to pretend) is president despite himself<\/span><\/em>. His violations of the \u201cnorms\u201d are perhaps not as apocalyptic as the Chicken Littles say.<\/span> They are certainly unlikely to be emulated by whoever comes along next. In the meantime, he\u2019s playing his role usefully<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> His corporate tax reform was overdue<\/span>. <\/em>His curbing of Washington\u2019s regulatory excesses leaves the country better off<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> There is movement on North Korea\u2019s nukes, a problem that four presidents conspired to dump in Mr. Trump\u2019s lap<\/span><\/em>. His immigration and trade actions are more difference-splitting than the press likes to admit.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently we are meant to learn from this episode that a president can find his way without being a scholar of public policy<\/strong><\/em><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

Sorry, but what does it say about not only the quality,\u00a0<\/em>but the\u00a0qualifications<\/em><\/span> of The Opposition…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…when you lose the Presidency<\/em><\/span> to Donald Trump<\/em><\/span>?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, here’s The Gouge!<\/strong><\/p>\n

First up, courtesy of NRO<\/em>, a little background as to why we have little faith in ANY<\/em><\/span> investigation the current cast of deep-state characters at the FBI<\/em> or DOJ<\/em> may undertake involving anyone<\/em><\/span>\u00a0even\u00a0remotely<\/em><\/span> connected to Hillary or Obama, as Deroy Murdock details…<\/strong><\/p>\n

The FBI\u2019s Dubious Probe of Hillary\u2019s Emails<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

It was a veritable spa of special treatment<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“The FBI did everything but drive Hillary\u2019s getaway car<\/em><\/span>. Former secretary of state Clinton is a free woman largely thanks to the tender loving care that the FBI provided her and her conspirators during its probe of her illegal, unsecure email server and related abuse of government secrets<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span> GOP lawmakers concluded this after grilling FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on December 21<\/em><\/span>, behind closed doors, according to John Solomon\u2019s molar-grinding expose\u00a0in Tuesday\u2019s The Hill.<\/span> <\/strong>\u201cFor the first time, investigators say they have secured written evidence that the FBI believed there was evidence that some laws were broken,\u201d Solomon reported. This proof includes what Solomon calls revelations of \u201cirregularities and contradictions\u201d in the FBI\u2019s inquiry.<\/p>\n

…Meanwhile<\/em><\/span>, Hillary jets willy-nilly around the globe and even denounced President Trump\u2019s North Korea policy as \u201cdangerous and shortsighted\u201d while peddling her book in Seoul, just 120 miles from Kim Jong-un\u2019s Pyongyang headquarters. This was her most despicable misdeed since losing the White House<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> This farce is the polar opposite<\/span> of the national ideal chiseled in marble above the entrance to the Supreme Court: \u201cEqual Justice Under Law<\/span><\/em>.\u201d It will remain so until Hillary Clinton<\/span>, her henchpersons<\/span>, and<\/span> her FBI fan club are all<\/span> locked up<\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>“<\/p>\n

Along with Lois Lerner, John Koskinen, Susan Rice and Barack Hussein Obama himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a related item, as Andy McCarthy also accurately observes at NRO<\/em>, “In the Clinton-email case, her intent, regardless of her motive, was clearly criminal<\/em><\/span><\/a>.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more on the asinine antics of the most-recent incarnation of The Choom Gang, we turn again to the\u00a0WSJ<\/em>‘s Dan Henninger, who describes their concerted effort to…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Make Iran G<\/span>reat Again<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

Like Barack Obama, Iran\u2019s leaders don\u2019t know how a real economy works<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Iran erupted last Thursday<\/em><\/span>. By Friday<\/em><\/span>, the protests against the government, which began in Mashhad near the Afghan border, had spread to dozens of cities.<\/span> So when we traveled on Saturday<\/em><\/span> to a movie theater on Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side to see \u201cDarkest Hour,\u201d Gary Oldman\u2019s portrayal of Winston Churchill, imagine the jarring dislocation when the theater\u2019s previews included a trailer for an admiring documentary of Barack Obama\u2019s foreign-policy making, \u201cThe Final Year<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The preview screen filled with expressions of earnest intent from Mr. Obama, Susan Rice, Samantha Power, Ben Rhodes and the Iran nuclear deal\u2019s handmaiden, John Kerry<\/em><\/span>. About 100 minutes later, we were watching Churchill shout at his war cabinet that you cannot do deals with dictators<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> That would have been about the time this weekend that protesters in Iran were shouting \u201cDeath to Khamenei !\u201d It\u2019s nice to see the Iranian people have a sense of humor.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Producing<\/em><\/span> the past week\u2019s protests against the Iranian regime was not the goal<\/em><\/span> of the six-party Iran nuclear deal. Back then<\/em><\/span>, the Khamenei-Rouhani regime was represented as America\u2019s\u00a0partner<\/span>\u00a0in a good cause<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> Now the governments of the U.S., U.K., France and Germany (Russia is a Khamenei ally, and China only supports crackdowns) have to decide whether their Iranian partner is the people in the streets or the government that is shooting them<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the preview of \u201cThe Final Year,\u201d the Obama team members convey confidence in the rightness of everything they did.<\/span> But as we learned in November 2016, there was one big thing the Obama people never understood<\/span>: how a real<\/span> economy works<\/span><\/em>. By real<\/em><\/span> economy, I mean the private economy<\/em><\/span>, not<\/em><\/span> the economy of <\/em>public spending<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A central element of the nuclear deal was that it would \u201chelp\u201d the Iranian people by lifting sanctions and injecting $100 billion of unfrozen assets into Iran\u2019s economy<\/span><\/em>. This was much the same economic theory behind the Obama administration\u2019s 2009 injection of $832 billion into the U.S. economy.<\/span> Both flopped<\/span> because both<\/span> made the real economy essentially a bystander to state guidance<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Obama $832 billion went up the government\u2019s fireplace flue. The Iranian $100 billion went into ballistic missile production and for Iran\u2019s proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The moment has arrived for invidious comparisons<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Donald Trump is president<\/em> because the Obama-Clinton Democrats forgot about hard-pressed voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> The Khamenei-Rouhani regime is under assault because working-class Iranians began this week\u2019s revolt in cities beyond the capital<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Come to think of it, isn\u2019t that disconnect between the people running governments and the people trying to make a living in the real economy the core reason behind the world-wide burst of populism<\/span><\/em>?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

…A theme now emerging in Western media is that if Europe\u2019s leaders support President Trump\u2019s \u201caggressive\u201d posture toward Tehran, that will undermine both the sanctified Obama nuclear deal and support for \u201cliberals\u201d in the Rouhani government. This is where we came in<\/em><\/span>, watching Winston Churchill convince a timid British establishment that an outward-moving dictatorship won\u2019t stop at anyone\u2019s border.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The moment has arrived to admit that Iran\u2019s missiles, nuclear technology and armies won\u2019t stay inside its borders until the people getting shot in the streets are recognized and supported by a too-timid world<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span>“<\/p>\n

And that Barack Hussein Obama is either, quite literally<\/u><\/em>, the reincarnation of Neville Chamberlain…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…or a dedicated disciple of anti-American Islamofacsism.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as Michael Brown reports at Townhall.com<\/em>, the anti-Trump madness continues unabated:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Has President Trump Lost His Mind or Has CNN Lost<\/span> Its Bearings<\/span><\/span><\/a>?<\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We’re going with the latter!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up, also courtesy of\u00a0Townhall.com<\/em>, Matt Vespa notes how…<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Media Torches Supposed Bombshell Book On Trump, Author Says Parts Of It Could Be Totally<\/span> Wrong<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Parts”?\u00a0 How about the vast majority<\/em>, if not all<\/span> of it!\u00a0 Oops<\/em><\/span>!\u00a0 Which begs the question just how desperate are<\/em><\/span>\u00a0Dimocrats and their MSM shills?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since we’re on the subject of the totally desperate, if not delusional,\u00a0FOX News<\/em>\u00a0relates this misguided effort to appeal to “health-conscious” donut downers:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dunkin\u2019 Donuts eli<\/span>minates artificial dyes<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yeah,…that<\/em><\/span>\u00a0oughta bring the organic tofu eaters in by the<\/em> dozens<\/span><\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And in the Environmental Moment<\/em><\/span>, the WSJ<\/em> provides further confirmation hypocrisy is the one<\/em><\/span> thing Environazis own exclusively<\/em><\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Marrakesh Climate Express<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

A Governor\u2019s green polic<\/span>y adviser has a giant carbon footprint<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hyppos of a feather herd together!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed an executive order in 2016 on telecommuting, noting that letting public employees work remotely can \u201creduce transportation-related greenhouse-gas emissions<\/span><\/em>.\u201d And those emissions do<\/em><\/span> add up, especially<\/span> if you commute from Morocco to Washington<\/span><\/em>\u2014as the Governor\u2019s senior climate policy adviser, Chris Davis, has done since August<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHeather and I have hoped to expose our two boys to life overseas and an opportunity to act on that long-held goal recently materialized when she was offered a teaching position [in] Marrakesh, Morocco,\u201d Mr. Davis told his colleagues in an email last summer obtained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute\u2019s Chris Horner.<\/span> Lucky for him, \u201cas our climate work has grown increasingly international in scope, the Governor asked me to continue to help build those networks from abroad.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When Mr. Davis traveled from Marrakesh to New York to Washington for work this fall, he incurred more than $3,700 in taxpayer-funded expenses. He emitted more than 4,500 pounds of carbon on the journey, according to a United Nations flight emissions calculator.<\/span> The Governor\u2019s office also approved $2,082 in expenses for Mr. Davis\u2019s expedition from Morocco to Germany in November.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Inslee\u2019s office must have anticipated<\/em><\/span> that the climate adviser\u2019s travels could raise constituents\u2019 eyebrows.<\/span> Mr. Davis\u2019s official job description got a rewrite<\/span>, and it\u2019s peppered with adjectives like \u201cinternational<\/span>\u201d and \u201cglobal<\/span><\/em>.\u201d Before<\/em><\/span> he embarked, he huddled with his boss, Keith Phillips, and Jaime Smith, the Governor\u2019s executive director of communications<\/em>, to develop talking points \u201cif asked to explain Morroco [sic],\u201d as Mr. Davis put it in another email<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

…This Marrakesh climate express is all the more noteworthy given that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is under fire for a trip to Morocco in December to promote U.S. liquified natural gas. Critics<\/em><\/span> claim Mr. Pruitt has no role on trade policy<\/em><\/span>, but LNG exports carry legitimate environmental implications.<\/span> Natural gas is the least carbon-intensive traditional energy source<\/span>, and Morocco relies heavily on coal<\/span> for electricity, so American LNG could cut<\/span> its emissions<\/em><\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While at the same time<\/em><\/span> you can cut the hypocrisy with a knife<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Seriously, you couldn’t make<\/em> this sh*t up<\/span>!!!\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

One quick question: what does he<\/em><\/span>…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…have in common with these<\/em><\/span>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Answer: they both produce not only a lot of hot air, but one helluva<\/em><\/span> lot more CO2 than the rest of us…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…combined<\/em><\/span>!\u00a0 And we’d be willing to bet just\u00a0one<\/em><\/span>\u00a0of those eruptions produced far more CO2 than every effort of the Environazis has eliminated to date.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the way, we spend an entire week each year personally watching<\/em><\/span> Popecatepetl just oozing<\/em><\/span> CO2 into the atmosphere, whether erupting or not.\u00a0 So go ahead, thou Professionally Sensitive: keep driving that Prius<\/em><\/span>; it’s about as effective as a…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Turning now, appropriately enough, to\u00a0The Lighter Side<\/em>…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then there’s these classics courtesy of Balls Cotton:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Which provides the perfect lead-in for our final item of the day, as we’ll call it a wrap with this from Jim Geraghty and his\u00a0Morning Jolt<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forget the Nicknames. It\u2019s Cold and Snowy.<\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I concur with John Kelly –\u00a0the columnist, not the White House chief of staff –\u00a0in his exhaustion of special names for weather patterns<\/em><\/span>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

These days, nothing<\/span> can be normal. Now a full moon<\/span> is a \u201csupermoon<\/span>.\u201d<\/span> A cold snap<\/span> is a \u201cpolar vortex<\/u>.\u201d A snowstorm<\/u> is a \u201cbomb cyclone<\/u>.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Really<\/span>? A bomb cyclone<\/span>?<\/span> That doesn\u2019t even make sense<\/span>. Shouldn\u2019t<\/span> it be cyclone bomb<\/span>?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Actually, it should<\/span> be: \u201cIt\u2019s January<\/span>. It\u2019s going to be cold.<\/span> It may get windy. It may snow.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s as if the weather suddenly hired a public-relations consultant: \u201cWe\u2019re really going to try to add drama and danger to your brand, to make people sit up and take notice and maybe want to hide under the bed when they hear your new, much more menacing name<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

Which is frankly why we’ve given up even reading<\/em><\/span> or watching<\/em><\/span> the “news”.\u00a0 And more<\/em> frankly, that includes<\/em><\/span> FOX!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Magoo<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Monday, January 8th, 2017…but before we begin, the WSJ‘s Dan Henninger records… The Non-Accidental Presidency Donald Trump didn\u2019t want to be president. History had another idea.   “…Hillary Clinton and her Democrats whiffed on the biggest hanging curve in history. Barack Obama, after the 2008 financial crisis, chose to focus on redistribution rather than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1988,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55720,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55719\/revisions\/55720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}