[Johnathan Turley] This week we have been discussing Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent speech at Northwestern University Law School detailing the claim of President Barack Obama that he has the right to kill American citizens based on his inherent authority and the ongoing war on terror. I previously wrote a blog and a column on the issue. Those pieces noted that Holder limited his remarks by referring to targeted killing "abroad." However, I noted that the Administration’s past references to this power are not so limited. Indeed, the only limits stated by the Administration have been self-imposed standards and what Holder calls "due process" ‐ expressly excluding "judicial process." Now, FBI Director Robert Mueller has entered the fray. On Wednesday Mueller was asked in a congressional hearing whether the current policy would allow the killing of citizens in the United States. Mueller said that he simply did not know whether he could order such an assassination. It was the perfect moment to capture the dangerous ambiguity introduced into our system by this claim of inherent authority. I can understand Mueller deferring to the Attorney General on the meaning of his remarks, but the question was whether Mueller understands that the same power exists within the United States. One would hope that the FBI Director would have a handle on a few details guiding his responsibilities, including whether he can kill citizens without a charge or court order.
#3
President Barack Obama that he has the right to kill American citizens based on his inherent authority and the ongoing war on terror.
How convenient that there always seems to be some fucking war going on.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/05/2017 9:55 Comments ||
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#4
One would hope that the FBI Director would have a handle on a few details guiding his responsibilities, including whether he can kill citizens without a charge or court order.
Ambiguous about whether he can kill citizens in the U.S. That is a dangerous man.
Mr. Mueller should be reminded about an excerpt from our Declaration of Independence:
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and happiness.
#5
On Wednesday Mueller was asked in a congressional hearing whether the current policy would allow the killing of citizens in the United States.
Waco? Ruby Ridge? It is already here, the only thing is that Mueller is too mealy mouthed to admit it.
[Breitbart] The inclusion of salacious gossip about Martin Luther King in the latest release of John F. Kennedy assassination documents serves as a headscratcher before it catalyzes an ah-ha moment.
The files allege wild orgies, prostitutes, fathering a love-child, drinking benders, and other activities unbecoming of a minister. Conspiracy theorists hopeful for any tidbit validating their belief in an establishment out to destroy King and Kennedy likely see the material as one would expect them to see it. But given that the collection of much of the dirt came about because Robert F. Kennedy, the attorney general, approved it surely puts a wrinkle in that narrative. The fact that his brother served as president during some of this unintelligent intelligence gathering complicates it further.
The pertinent question here, however, pertains not to the Kennedys empowering the FBI to perform as the National Enquirer of law enforcement. Here’s the real puzzle: Why did the federal government include these documents in the John F. Kennedy assassination materia
ls?
#2
So there was no shortage of slander back then. Documents would slide in to discredit and slander people back then. The report, I read some of it, only stopped short of saying the niggers danced nakid around a fire. Wait, remove the fire and the report said it, using negros instead...It read like bullshit to me. MLK might have been a lot of things, but not this and
s makes the Trump papers look tame...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/05/2017 9:15 Comments ||
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#3
Remember, J. Edgar Hoover was FBI director at the time. He was a man widely reputed to collect this type of information about a lot of people so he could use it as leverage. He probably had a lot of information about the Kennedys that would be very interesting too. After all, Bobby let him stay on as Director, didn't he?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/05/2017 10:01 Comments ||
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#4
In the rush to remove Hoover's collection of intel dirt from FBI headquarters after his death, sure, some stuff probably got "misfiled." Of course, some of that "misfiling" might not have been completely inadvertent.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/05/2017 12:57 Comments ||
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The economy grew by 3 percent in the third quarter -- July, August and September -- despite three Category 5 hurricanes devastating Houston, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
Economists expected 2.5 percent growth.
President Trump delivered what he promised -- and better than expected. It's what he does. He beats expectations. That's why he is a billionaire and Jeff Flake is not.
From CNBC:
The U.S. economy unexpectedly maintained a brisk pace of growth in the third quarter as an increase in inventory investment and a smaller trade deficit offset a hurricane-related slowdown in consumer spending and a decline in construction.
Gross domestic product increased at a 3.0 percent annual rate in the July-September period after expanding at a 3.1 percent pace in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
The department said while it was impossible to estimate the overall impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma on third-quarter GDP, preliminary estimates showed that the back-to-back storms had caused losses of $121.0 billion in privately owned fixed assets and $10.4 billion in government-owned fixed assets.
Under Obama, these stories used the word unexpectedly because the results were worse than expected.
That's because Obama did not know what he was doing.
Trump does.
Rolling back 1,000 regulations, approving two pipelines, renegotiating trade deals, and appointing competent businessmen instead of political hacks to the Cabinet not only have a long term effect, but are goosing the economy in the present as well.
From CNBC:
Businesses accumulated inventories at a $35.8 billion pace in the third quarter in anticipation of strong demand. As a result, inventory investment contributed 0.73 percentage point to third-quarter GDP growth, after adding just over a tenth of a percentage point to growth in the prior period.
Businesses stock up when they think business will expand.
They sell off stock when they expect sales to fall.
Under Obama, most businesses sold down their inventory.
I just checked my 401-k. Ot's ip 19.49% since we elected Trump president. I am fully invested in Jack Bogle's Standard and Poor 500 index fund. It's a nice safe investment for us poor old retirees that is worth looking into at any age.
Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, who throughout last year's campaign predicted gloom, despair, agony, deep dark depression and excessive misery if we elected Trump, told the New York Times today: “There are no real headwinds to growth for the first time since the expansion began. We are at full employment and we are in full swing, let the good times roll.”
#1
I just checked my 401-k. Ot's ip 19.49% since we elected Trump president. I am fully invested in Jack Bogle's Standard and Poor 500 index fund. It's a nice safe investment for us poor old retirees that is worth looking into at any age.
Yes, since the Federal Government has all the bank money borrowed and your saving accounts are LOSING 3-5 percent per year.
[Zero Hedge] Perhaps the most shocking revelation contained in the excerpts from former DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile’s book was, unsurprisingly, buried in a Washington Post overview of the various allegations (and frankly, we’re surprised the Post, given its status as a protector of the Washington establishment, deigned to publish it).
In the aftermath of Wikileaks’ decision to publish a cache of emails stolen from the DNC’s servers, Donna Brazile says she became increasingly paranoid about both possible Russian efforts to sway the election. Surprisingly, she says top Democrats initially instructed her not to discuss her concerns with others.
#4
That's the problem with murder, you can't take it back and it never goes away. May take a while, but given the amount of information in the public arena we will hear more about Rich.
[Townhall] President George H.W. Bush and his son President George W. Bush are remarkably candid in their distaste for their successor President Donald. J Trump in a new book, reports the New York Times.
Mark K. Updegrove’s new book, "The Last Republicans," details the dynastic power and influence the Bush family once had over the Republican party and their concern over the impact President Trump is having on the GOP.
The Times piece gives details into the forthcoming book, such as Bush senior calling Trump a "blow hard."
#3
Poor guys are having a tough time accepting the fact that the voters rejected their little clan when they put Jeb against Trump. Trump hasn't hurt the party. The party hurt itself by running milquetoast, RINO candidates like McCain, Romney and Jeb. Trump is trying to fix it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/05/2017 10:59 Comments ||
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#2 What do they say about Obama? I can't think of anything they have said about Obama. George H.W. is reported to have voted for Hillary. George H.W. Bush has also been reported to say that "Slick Willy" is like a son to him. Must be an Arkansas connection.
I'm beginning to get buyer's remorse from the Bushes.
#9
Engineer by training, genetics, and disposition, JohnQC. I like it succinct and brief
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2017 13:57 Comments ||
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#10
AlGore and John Kerry would have been better? I don't think so
Yeah, well, that was the problem, wasn't it?
I might have gone for a third party in 2004 as a protest vote but I couldn't bear the thought of Teresa Heinz-Kerry in the White House and her ugly mug in the TV news every night.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/05/2017 14:32 Comments ||
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#11
The Bushes have always comported themselves according to the precepts of noblesse oblige.
They believe that they are worthy of rule and will not fight on behalf of the peons. They are most comfortable with those who also feel that they are true leaders. People like Hillary, Joe, Kerry, Bill are, for that reason, accepted.
[Dawn] INSTEAD of fading away into oblivion, the Council of Islamic Ideology has been restored to full strength after remaining non-functional for almost a year following the retirement of its former chairman Maulana Sheerani. On Friday, it acquired 11 new members, of whom Dr Qibla Ayaz was appointed chairman. The CCI is a statutory body with a minimum of eight and maximum of 20 members, including one woman, whose function is to supposedly ’advise’ parliament on whether laws are in consonance with Islamic injunctions. That in itself makes it a superfluous body, given that the legislature is bound by the Constitution to make laws that are not contrary to the Koran and Sunnah. Moreover, objections to legislation on religious grounds can be referred to the judiciary as a check and balance.
A body like the CII has no place in a democracy because it serves as a platform for unelected regressive elements to influence decisions made by parliament. Misinformation and arguments based on flawed reasoning, if cloaked in the garb of religion, can hobble attempts at progressive legislation. Right-wing parties in parliament have time and again used statements by the CII to derail, delay or, at the very least, water down laws meant to empower and protect women. During Maulana Sheerani’s years as chairman, the CII was inordinately fixated on issues pertaining to women and marriage ‐ and in the process spurned both logic and modern technology. To cite but two pronouncements, the body denounced a minimum age for marriage as un-Islamic and rejected the use of DNA as primary evidence in rape cases. Unfortunately, politicians themselves, even those from ostensibly progressive parties, have by their actions magnified the role of the CII in lawmaking by regularly seeking its input on social issues, especially in the context of women’s rights. One may well ask why they do not do so in other areas such as the economy, given that an understanding of the subject is among the criteria for nomination to the CII.
[Wash Times] A majority of millennials would prefer to live in a socialist, communist or fascist nation rather than a capitalistic one, according to a new poll.
In the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s "Annual Report on US Attitudes toward Socialism," 58 percent of the up-and-coming generation opted for one of the three systems, compared to 42 percent who said they were in favor of capitalism.
The most popular socioeconomic order was socialism with 44 percent support. Communism and fascism received 7 percent support each.
Marion Smith, executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said the report shows millennials are "increasingly turning away from capitalism and toward socialism and even communism as a viable alternative."
"This troubling turn highlights widespread historical illiteracy in American society regarding socialism and the systemic failure of our education system to teach students about the genocide, destruction, and misery caused by communism since the Bolshevik Revolution one hundred years ago," Mr. Smith said in a statement.
#2
Well, when you throw out history what do you expect? It is not just the historical charnel house of death and suffering from communism/socialism but the fact that so many of those of Euro ancestry can't figure out that their predecessors either were thrown out or left on their own accord. The Millennials need to be encouraged to do the latter if they find capitalism so abhorrent.
[AmericanGreatness] He broke me,” Kathy Griffin famously said of our 45th President as she gazed, narcissistically, upon her self-inflicted wounds after incomprehensibly and symbolically decapitating the man Politico once called an outsider and an outer-borough brawler.
Many Americans of the conservative persuasion have been waiting for a brawler who would fight the good fight internally and not worry about breaking things or being overly attentive to decorum.
Writing in the Kansas City Star this week, Robert Leonard, a self-described liberal political junkie from Iowa who can’t stand the sound of Donald Trump’s voice, gave the clearest evidence yet of the astounding ability of Donald J. Trump to break things that very much need breaking.
Leonard itemized the conventional wisdom about Trump and recited all of the Left’s hopes and dreams for undoing his influence. Then, the surprising conclusion of said liberal political junkie:
This is delusional.
Here in conservative rural America, Trump is ascendant.
Yes, it is delusional, Mr. Leonard, and yes he is ascendant. Not just in conservative rural America, either.
Leonard compared and contrasted Trump’s Value Voters Summit speech as he first read it (he couldn’t bear to hear it because, remember, he hates Trump’s voice) and then as he understood it on a second reading, and this is instructive. He knew of the speech, in a vague and opaque way, through the filter provided by the mainstream media. This meant the import of the thing was diminished in his mind by reinforcing his focus on perceived gaffes and the hope that the president, once again, in the judgment of the “important people” failed.
Leonard, however, was stunned by the political substance of what he read:
Looking only at the written word, and putting Trump’s arrogant off-script comments aside, it was a beautiful speech. Powerful. Inspirational. Brilliant even.
The effect of the comparing and contrasting caricatured media filter to a first and uninhibited reading and then, most importantly, to a second reading speaks volumes. As Leonard made the effort to understand Trump as he understands himself, he discovered something ”powerful,” ”inspirational,” and even “brilliant.” You won’t find those three words often used to describe anything about the current president by people like Robert Leonard, but then, most of them don’t step outside of their echo chambers long enough to hear him as their neighbors do.
Leonard itemized ten different themes of Trump in this speech. To my ears, it’s extremely easy to see the winning formula they represent, for they clearly set down lines of demarcation that have strong appeal in a primarily center-right nation:
1) We’re sustained by the power of prayer versus Democrats who want prayer out of the public sphere.
2) Mass murder event caused by an act of pure evil versus Democrats who blame guns and want to take them away.
3) Honoring first responders versus elevating thugs and viewing our protectors in blue with disdain.
4) Quoting scripture versus Democrats ridiculing those who do.
5) Stressing American unity versus Democrats dividing American society into victims and oppressors.
6) Trump saying “We love our country” versus Obama going on an international “apology tour.”
7) Protecting the unborn versus Democrats turning a blind eye to the horrors of abortion.
8) Focus on strengthening the family unit versus Democrats’ policies that pull families apart.
9) Pride in American history versus Democrats tearing down monuments.
10) Great respect for the American flag versus Democrats who take a knee. Read the rest at the link
#1
Rainmakers had the Democrat's Number: "Government Cheese"
Give a man a free house and he'll bust out the windows
Put his family on food stamps, now he's a big spender
no food on the table and the bills ain't paid
'Cause he spent it on cigarettes and P.G.A.
They'll turn us all into beggars 'cause they're easier to please
They're feeding our people that Government Cheese
Give a man a free lunch and he'll figure out a way
To steal more than he can eat 'cause he doesn't have to pay
Give a woman free kids and you'll find them in the dirt
Learning how to carry on the family line of work
It's the man in the White House, the man under the steeple
Passing out drugs to the American people
I don't believe in anything, nothing is free
They're feeding our people the Government Cheese
Decline and fall, fall down baby
Decline and fall, said fall way down now
Decline and fall, fall down little mama
Decline and fall, decline and fall
Give a man a free ticket on a dead end ride
And he'll climb in the back even though nobody's driving
Too ******* lazy to crawl out of the wreck
And he'll rot there while he waits for the welfare check
Going to hell in a handbag, can't you see
I ain't gonna eat no Government Cheese
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2017 8:13 Comments ||
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#2
My concern is that a good candidate can be found in 2024 who is not corrupt and who is also a fighter and doesn't mind trashing PC, Washington decorum and all the other icons that need trashing. Trump was hired to break things that needed breaking.
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.