[Daily Caller] Fox News’ Tucker Carlson revealed Friday that Carter Page sent emails to the Trump campaign after a FISA warrant was granted to spy on him.
"The question at this point is how many people in Trump’s orbit weren’t spied on by the FBI? Trump advisor Carter Page was placed under government surveillance in the fall of 2016 after the feds used uncorroborated claims from the Trump dossier to justify a FISA warrant," Carlson said. "We know from congressional testimony that page spoke with Trump advisor, Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon while he was being spied on‐meaning that Bannon was likely spied on, too."
"Tonight, based on our own reporting, we can tell you that Carter Page also sent email messages to members of the Trump campaign during that same period. Presumably the FBI intercepted those as well," The Daily Caller co-founder said.
"Suddenly it looks like the Obama administration may have spied on a significant portion of the Trump campaign team. Just how many people were surveilled and to what extent? How much did President Obama know about it? We still don’t have the answers to those questions, though we definitely have the right to them."
#1
How can effective communication surveillance take place if no one is communicating ?
Here's the list of targets but don't start until we have the FISA warrant approved. If you have any questions once we begin, save them to 'draft.' We'll be monitoring your account daily. You'll be contacted via the usual method.
#2
Just maybe Page was a mole for the FBI surveillance and deliberately contacted Bannon and various Trump operatives to help the FBI cast the net wider.
[Daily Caller] At least four separate coincidences have emerged as the public learns more information about the unverified Steele dossier and how it was crafted.
The origin story of the 35-page document was pretty simple at the outset. Fusion GPS, which was investigating then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, hired former British spy Christopher Steele to write the dossier.
But as more details about the dossier trickle out into the public forum, connections have surfaced that raise questions about how information made its way into the salacious document.
Here are the four most significant "coincidences."
Trump Tower
The first coincidence to emerge from the dossier involved the June 9, 2016, meeting held at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and a group of Russians.
Two of the Russians in the meeting ‐ Natalia Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin ‐ happened to be working at the time of that meeting with Glenn Simpson, the founder of the opposition research firm that commissioned the dossier. (RELATED: Revelations From Glenn Simpson’s House Intelligence Committee Interview)
Simpson, Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin were working on behalf of a Russian businessman on a lobbying campaign to undermine a U.S. sanctions law called the Magnitsky Act.
Simpson met before and after the meeting with Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin but says he was not aware of the Trump Tower meeting until it was reported in July. He has also denied telling the two Russian operatives about his work on the Steele dossier.
Trump Jr. accepted the meeting after an acquaintance offered to provide him with dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A Russian government attorney at the behest of Russia’s prosecutor general would provide the information, according to the acquaintance.
The offer matches up loosely with some of the allegations in the dossier, including that the Kremlin provided dirt on Trump’s political opponents.
Trump Jr. and others in the meeting say that it went nowhere and no meaningful information was exchanged. They also say that there was no follow up to the meeting, which lasted around 20 minutes.
Simpson himself appeared to acknowledge the odd overlap between his work on the two Russia-related projects ‐ the dossier and the work with Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin.
"I mean, thank God I didn’t know anything about the Trump Tower meeting, or I would really have some explaining to do," he told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during a closed-door interview in November.
[LI] Earlier this week we wrote about the possible involvement of Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal in feeding information to Christoper Steele, author of the infamous Clinton/DNC funded dossier. That dossier formed a key part of the FBI’s presentation to the FISA court to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page.
One of the key links in the Blumenthal-Steele stories was former State Department employee Jonathan Winer:
Devin Nunes has a new target: Jonathan Winer, the Obama State Department’s special envoy to Libya, and longtime Senate aide to John Kerry. Winer received a memorandum written by political activist Cody Shearer and passed it along to Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence official who had compiled his own dossier on Donald Trump.
The release of last week’s House Intelligence Committee memo accusing the FBI of surveillance abuses marked the end of the first phase of Nunes’s investigation into the probe of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Now, the committee chair told Fox News on Friday, the probe is moving into "phase two," which involves the State Department. His focus is on the dossier compiled by Shearer, and passed along by Winer, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
That Blumenthal was the source of the information passed on to Winer appeared to be confirmed by Trey Gowdy in an interview with Martha McCallum, Trey Gowdy suggests Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal fed info to Steele weeks before election:
Anyone who owns a gun is being manipulated by the Russians. Online ads posted by entities with ties to the Kremlin are trying to get Americans to buy more guns so they, the gun owners, can kill each other off. All this is according to California Congressman Adam Schiff.
If owning a gun is tantamount to being in collusion with the Rooshuns, then Tovarishch, we need to talk.
One Russian Facebook acquaintance I have, Pavel Kukhmirov (Pavel Rasta) likes guns a lot, mainly because he is part of the militia that defends the People's Republic of Donetsk. Especially the M1911. The M1911 was shipped to Russia in large numbers during WWII.
His call sign is Shakespeare.
It didn't take the Kremlin's stupid ads for me to follow Pavel Rasta, Aleksandr Koffman and Aleksandr Kots.
I follow Kots because he is a military journalist for Komsomolaya Pravda, and has been in Syria as well as in Donetsk and Lugansk. He is prior service Russian airborne, and has a wife and at least one kid.
Koffman was the foreign minister of the DPR in 2014-2015, before he and a number of his allies were deposed and replaced. On his Facebook page he has discussed Russian films, his dawg and his son. In the new exchanges I have had with him, he never suggested I kill my countrymen, no matter what kind of loudmouth pricks they are.
Not even once.
All the Russians I have named are Russian patriots. They love their country, their language and their culture.
Why Schiff thinks that he needs to advise anyone about their contact with Russians is just weird.
It is simple in my mind. The state government of New York, once their prosecutions begin, will effectively declare war on its residents.
Loads
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Pistol ammunition prices were mostly steady. Rifle ammunition prices were mixed.
Prices for used pistols were lower. Prices for used rifles were mixed.
New Lows:
Texas: .308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic): Palmetto State Armory: $600
Florida: .223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic): American Tactical Imports: $350
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Red River Reloading, Silver Bear, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own Brand, CRN, Brass Casing, Reloads, .17 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, RN, Steels Casing .15 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Fedarm, Own Brand, RN, Brass Casing, Reloads .14 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.38 Special, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Highland Lakes Ammo, Own Brand, FN, Brass Casing, Reloads .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 500 rounds: Fed Arm, Own brand, TMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Able's, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .32 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: SG Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .30 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks))
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Red River Reloading, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: True Shot Gun Club, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.30-06 Springfield 145 Grain. From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Target Sports USA, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .60 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: United Nations Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .53 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))
.300 Winchester Magnum 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .81 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Target Sports USA, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .85 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged 4Q, 2017)
.338 Lapua Magnum 250 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Ten Ring, Brass Casing, SP, 2.15 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 200 rounds: Cabelas, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, HPBT, 2.80 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo King, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 5,000 rounds: Ammo King, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2017))
#1
New Lows: Texas: .308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic): Palmetto State Armory: $600 Florida: .223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic): American Tactical Imports: $350
#4
trying to get Americans to buy more guns so they, the gun owners, can kill each other off.
Someone else said it first, but there are basically two Americas - one with a lot of guns and a low murder rate, the other with a few guns and an insanely high murder rate.
You can look at this partition a number of ways. Geographically, it is inner city vs rest of America. Racially, it is black and hispanic vs white. It is more insightful, IMHO, to look at it culturally but there is no money to be made in that. Right, Jesse "coin flippin' be racist" Jackson?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2018 17:36 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Why Schiff thinks that he needs to advise anyone about their contact with Russians is just weird.
The Democrats can't just out and out bad mouth the American people. So they replace the word American with Russian. Because to the Dem Communist run media and Democratic party, we are the deplorable foreigners.
#7
The cannibals' song, (shchi da kasha)
"Who knows what went wrong?" (pishcha nasha)
"Since of course we were right
When we bled their borscht white,
A conundrum remains: "Who lost Russia?"
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Islam did not forbid slavery. According to Islamic law, a Moslem can own slaves, buy them and sell them as he wishes. Despite this fact, Moslem societies have stopped practicing slavery and the slave market has been banned for a long time.
This is natural and logical progress, as human beings naturally respond to social and cultural development. Other nations and peoples have similarly given up many old practices because many of them are no longer in keeping with the times.
One of the most important evidence is that Moslem societies stopped Sharia punishments such as hand cutting or stoning, as well as criminalizing the narrow understanding of jihad because it contradicts humanitarian principles.
What about "religious institutions", which continue to actively propagate in other countries? Is propagation suitable abroad in today’s age, which requires non-interference in the affairs of other countries?
Stereotypical image
Does this activity fit the stereotypical image of Islam, which unfortunately has been tarnished and associated with terrorism, especially as aspersions have been cast against the funding of seminaries, which are believed to be promoting terrorism.
We may all recall here the ’preachers’ who incited the youth to join ISIS or those who flaunted their sins, their crimes and the killing of innocent people in Syria. Despite the proliferation of "preachers" around us, our societies did not know the concept of a "preacher" before the rise of the Sahwa movement as the title was coined for political purposes, particularly to promote divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... ness and intolerance.
"Moslem" society does not need anyone to remind it about Islam. A few days ago, I witnessed a charity advertisement encouraging people to donate money to convert non-Moslems in China. Despite our "very, very, very" small size compared to China, which is a great nation, we seek to change the faith of its people, as if it is our legitimate responsibility to undertake this religious duties on behalf of Moslems in China.
We might end up inviting the wrath of the Chinese dragon.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
#1
Saudi Arabia "banned" slavery in the 1960s. It's still unofficially practiced.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/10/2018 0:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
One imagines Harvey Weinstein clouting his forehead with the heel of his hand. "You mean if I'd been on the record opposed to what I was doing all that time, it'd been honky dory..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 12:26 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Taqqiyah.
Slavery is legally banned, and actively — even avidly — practiced, throughout the Ummah and beyond. One might say it is a mark of the Third World, causing as well as reflecting the ills contained in such societies. Moslem societies, it has become clear, have not progressed at all on this subject, except temporarily here and there.
Perhaps the use of the English word preacher is new, but the giving of sermons encouraging much stricter observance of Muslim law and the support of jihad is not, whether in formal houses of prayer or in the street.
h/t Instapundit
[FutureofCapitalism] An inner-circle aide to President Trump, Rob Porter, resigned earlier this week, and his two failed earlier marriages are now front-page news in the New York Times.
The story is sad for many reasons, starting with the reported treatment of the ex-wives and including the downfall of Porter, who had an impressive background as a Rhodes Scholar, former chief of staff to Senator Hatch, and son of Roger Porter, a big deal Harvard professor and former White House official who was Master of Dunster House.
It's resonating in part because it fits into pre-existing narratives. The "Trump is a misogynist" narrative is reinforced by the idea that the president kept an alleged wife-beater around the White House. The "Trump is a stumbling clown" narrative is reinforced by the idea that Porter wasn't properly vetted to begin with or that then his departure was prolonged and botched by a White House that first defended him and then dumped him overboard.
But there's a third possible narrative that the Porter story might fit into ‐ one that I haven't yet seen written about. That is the story of a too-powerful and potentially abusive FBI at war with a White House that is trying to rein it in.
[AmGreatness] Back in December of 2015, Dan McLaughlin wrote an excellent piece in The Federalist on the then-upcoming Republican primary race. It offers quite the window into the political decision making of Donald J. Trump. In it he accurately outlines Trump as the candidate employing the Observe, Orient, Decide, and then Act principles (the OODA Loop) of famed American fighter pilot and strategist John Boyd.
Unfortunately for McLaughlin, at the time of that writing he, like many, rather spectacularly misunderstood who Donald Trump is in actual fact. His entire piece examines as real the strategically erratic character Trump has clearly created for social, business and media consumption purposes.
Donald Trump is nothing if not crazy like a fox‐as unpredictable as Sun Tzu, and as fearsome like a boss.
Some have argued that President Trump’s recent State of the Union speech was designed primarily to troll Democrats. I disagree. The trolling effect (e.g., a steady stream of bad optics televised in prime time‐and subsequently easily turned around into an RNC ad‐showing Democrats behaving disrespectfully, rolling their eyes, shaking their heads, groaning, looking down at their cell phones, and even walking out in a huff) is real, but was a fully expected side-benefit of the address. No, the President is on something of a John Boyd "Destruction and Creation" mission.
Operating like a general giving the command for his massive political army to advance on the adversary, the State of the Union speech was the best political oration of my lifetime. I’ll try to quickly detail why by quoting a personal favorite, Richard Fernandez of the Belmont Club. In a piece he wrote in December 2016, just prior to Trump’s inauguration as our 45th President and in the context of Trump’s signaling with respect to what should be our posture with China, Fernandez wrote that:
The Democratic Party should stop underestimating Donald Trump. The good news is that he moves at nongovernment speed. The bad news is that, due to his outsider status, nobody knows exactly where he is going. Continues.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
No, no, keep underestimating him. That's a good idea.
I think this writer just read about the OODA loop and wanted to write about it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
02/10/2018 2:57 Comments ||
Top||
#2
A truly radical approach was absolutely necessary to deal with the media/leftist industrial complex and with the newspeak of political correctness.
#3
Yes #1. Do do however believe Trumps education has given him a solid foundation to ooda. He is far more patriotic that anyone has given him credit for. The public sees it and responds. The only ones who refuse to see this are our elites and power hungry control freaks. They still believe it is their ballgame and so all have to play by their rules.
[DAWN] THE notification by Pemra barring all satellite TV channels, FM radio stations, and cable operators from promoting the upcoming Valentine’s Day is the latest example of how reluctant the state is to allow the people an opportunity to enjoy themselves. As basis for the notification, the electronic media regulator reprinted an interim court order by the Islamabad High Court from February last year; the court had issued the instructions while hearing a petition in this regard. That petition was never taken up during the past year and remains pending ‐ hence Pemra’s reprinting of it in its notification that has disappointed those who might have been looking forward to joining the world in presenting their loved ones with a flower or two on Feb 14. This is both discouraging and disturbing, especially when we consider that Pakistain is a country that has had more than its fair share of tragedy and suffering ‐ on account of militancy, intolerance, crime, poverty and a host of other factors. In such a situation, the state should have been doing its best to open up new avenues of entertainment, instead of adopting a moralistic approach egged on by conservative elements for whom happiness in any form is anathema. By letting people indulge in harmless diversions such as Valentine’s Day, the state might even have given citizens a sense of shared bonhomie and street vendors selling flowers and balloons a chance to make some extra money. Instead, officialdom seems bent upon actively stamping out any avenues of light-heartedness to which this beleaguered citizenry might take recourse.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... it is not only about Valentine’s Day; a much larger and worrying trend is evident in the country. The centuries-old festival of Basant is just one of the many other examples of the regression we see. There was a time when this kite-flying festival earned Lahore millions in revenue and provided joy to young and old alike. It was banned ostensibly for reasons of safety as the kite twine could prove lethal and the risk of careless kite-flyers falling from rooftops was a concern. Instead of actively finding a way to make Basant safe, the state has imposed an outright ban on a festival that the right-wing lobby associates with ’Hindu’ traditions. Sadly, Pakistain is on its way to becoming an island with its face turned towards regression, isolation, and a complete lack of heed for future consequences. Deep introspection is required ‐ urgently.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] A LYNCH mob in a university was shocking enough.
But in the hours and days after Mashal Khan’s tragic and vile murder, the true dimensions of the horrifying crime became apparent ‐ a young man brutally murdered in an institution of higher learning after a lie was deliberately spread that he had committed blasphemy in alleged posts on social media.
The lie was invented by members of the university who were threatened by Mashal’s courageous activism on issues ranging from alleged corruption in the university to a hike in university fees.
Everything the public has come to learn about Mashal since the despicable murder has shown him to be an exemplary university student and an upright, morally conscious citizen. April 13, 2017, was a dark day in the country’s history.
So it is with some relief, though mixed with concern, that the first phase in the quest for justice for Mashal has concluded.
One death sentence, five life sentences, 25 three-year imprisonments and 26 acquittals are itself evidence of the sheer number of people involved in the crime and the difficulty of securing convictions in a case involving false but religiously motivated accusations.
It is encouraging that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has declared its intention to file an appeal against the acquittals by the anti-terrorism court, but the retraction of statements by witnesses to Mashal’s murder will likely pose challenges.
KP police and prosecution were surely aware that pressure would be brought to bear on witnesses to deny statements implicating the murderers and others involved in the lynching.
Fear for personal safety and the security of family members of witnesses would have been an unfortunate reality for the witnesses in the highly charged trial.
The KP government should have taken steps to protect key witnesses and encourage full and accurate testimonies.
If in a case that sparked national outrage and scrutiny, the police and prosecution were unable to secure convictions of all the accused, what hope is there for cases that do not attract such intense media coverage and national interest?
Shocking though not surprising has been the response of some religious parties to the ATC verdict. The acquitted individuals have been greeted as heroes and hailed for their role in the murder of a man against whom accusations of blasphemy are demonstrably false.
With a general election on the horizon, all political parties are likely to try and gin up support among their respective bases.
But it is depressing that parties such as the Jamaat and JUI-F would take the violent death of an innocent young man and insist that it is those who had a part to play in his murder who have been wronged.
The state should consider instituting a scholarship or naming a centre of education after Mashal Khan.
There should be no ambiguity allowed on the fact that a tremendously brave young man was brutally killed by liars and bigots.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
[IsraelTimes] Defense secretary denies US being dragged into broader war, says Russia not involved in 'perplexing' overnight attack on US-backed fighters
The closer the US gets to its original goal in Syria of defeating the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, the murkier its end game. New layers of complexity are descending on a shifting battlefield, as demonstrated by a deadly barrage of American air and artillery strikes on a shadowy attacker.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Syria decided to try to start WWIII tonight.
The longer he lives the worse they will be.
#3
When and how. I believe that a week after 9/11 we should have parachuted a couple 15 Mt nukes into Mecca while our diplomats explained that US technicians would visit the bombs weekly, and any interference or unauthorized approach would result in immediate detonation.
I'd recommend the same for Damascus.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 14:33 Comments ||
Top||
#4
" The end game is simple. We come home. They remain barbarians. Only thing uncertain is when we come home."
For some, this is home.
For the Lord, it is waste.
They had better Pray they have US. There has never been a better power. Ever.
[AmericanThinker] Most associate the term "radicalized" with ISIS. But radical movements aren't limited to a religion. A jihad is a crusade for a principle or belief involving struggle" and "resistance."
The Washington establishment, the Deep State, and special interests have launched their own jihad, built on a battle cry to "resist." Today, calls to "resist!" echo through Congress as half of the House and Senate stage a mutiny against a duly elected president.
"Resist!" is the call to arms from Democrat leaders (Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama) and radical activist groups (Black Lives Matter, Antifa).
More than 50 organizations have formed to "resist!" the Trump administration.
Just as ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls on his followers to resist infidels, so this Washington cabal calls on its warriors to resist our government, to obstruct the president.
These machinations are not conducted in the shadows, not a secret plot carried out in the dead of night. It's all in our faces. Rush Limbaugh warns of a silent coup, Sean Hannity a "soft coup," Ambassador Bolton the "first coup d'état in [U.S.] history."
Wow ‐ a domestic plot to take down our government, and the best we can do is chronicle the uprising? How did we get to the place where we witness a coup and tacitly accept it?
In a word, the media, the left's super-soldiers, brought us to this point.
This powerful propaganda tool is utilized to take the state message into every living room, bedroom, workplace, and gym, anywhere there's a TV or internet, omnipresent, Big Brother.
Like Hitler's "Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda," the media control information, reporting only news that attacks our president and those working to exonerate him. They bury news of lawlessness that implicates Democrats ‐ Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, any member of the leftist cabal.
But why are the media protecting the bad actors? Is it their liberal bent, their far-left ideology? Well, yes and no. Yes, the media are radicalized, wholly devoted to the progressive dogma of the left, but it's more than that. These faux journalists couldn't spew their poison, advocate the overthrow of a president, without their boss's permission, without government approval.
Oh, I know: Time Warner, Comcast, and other private corporations, not government, own the media. Except corporate America and government are one and the same, partners in a corrupt merger.
The roots of this merger are in the iron triangle, a mutually beneficial three-way relationship among Congress, government bureaucrats (the Deep State), and special interests (corporate). No surprises here for those who have followed Rantburg for some time but interesting nonetheless. What would be interesting is who bought the MSM? Marshall McLuhan said: "Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity." More at site.
#2
It'd be fascinating to watch some of the "living, breathing Constitution" Left's arguments against the Second Amendment applied to the press protections of the First Amendment.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] THE notification by Pemra barring all satellite TV channels, FM radio stations, and cable operators from promoting the upcoming Valentine’s Day is the latest example of how reluctant the state is to allow the people an opportunity to enjoy themselves. As basis for the notification, the electronic media regulator reprinted an interim court order by the Islamabad High Court from February last year; the court had issued the instructions while hearing a petition in this regard. That petition was never taken up during the past year and remains pending ‐ hence Pemra’s reprinting of it in its notification that has disappointed those who might have been looking forward to joining the world in presenting their loved ones with a flower or two on Feb 14. This is both discouraging and disturbing, especially when we consider that Pakistain is a country that has had more than its fair share of tragedy and suffering ‐ on account of militancy, intolerance, crime, poverty and a host of other factors. In such a situation, the state should have been doing its best to open up new avenues of entertainment, instead of adopting a moralistic approach egged on by conservative elements for whom happiness in any form is anathema. By letting people indulge in harmless diversions such as Valentine’s Day, the state might even have given citizens a sense of shared bonhomie and street vendors selling flowers and balloons a chance to make some extra money. Instead, officialdom seems bent upon actively stamping out any avenues of light-heartedness to which this beleaguered citizenry might take recourse.
