Give Me A Break!

There has been some criticism levied against the three young Americans who subdued a heavily armed gunman on a high speed Paris bound train.

US Airmen Spencer Stone and National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos were traveling on vacation with their friend, Anthony Sadler. Also among the passengers: American born French citizen Mark Moogalian and British IT consultant, Chris Norman.

Moogalian became suspicious when he saw a young Moroccan, Ayoub el-Khazzani enter the bathroom with a large suitcase. Moogalian saw the Moroccan exit the bathroom brandishing a Kalashnikov assault weapon and tried to subdue him. He suffered a serious gunshot wound to the neck.

Stone, Skalatos and Sadler heard the gunshot and immediately charged the shooter. Stone grabbed the shooter in a chokehold; suffering stab wounds to his neck and a partially severed thumb. The trio subdued the shooter with the help of Norman; who secured the gunman with his neck tie. Once the shooter was secured Skarlatos picked up the rifle and checked the other passenger cars to make certain no other gunmen were onboard.

Stone, ignoring his own serious injuries turned his attention to the wounded Moogalian. Trained as an EMT by the military, Stone pinched off the bleeding artery in Mooglian’s neck until medics could arrive.

El-Khazzani was armed with an assault rifle, pistol, box cutter and several clips of ammo. Stone, Skarlatos, Sadler, Norman and Moogalian are credited with saving an untold number of lives on the 500 passenger train.

Days later Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler were awarded the Legion of Honor; France’s highest award.

Here’s where the controversy comes in.

Stone, Skalatos and Sadler were on vacation when fate summoned them. As typical American males they had little in their suitcases but shorts and tee shirts. With little more than a day’s notice that they were to be honored they didn’t have much time to procure “suitable” attire for the event. So they settled on the American staple…khakis and a collared golf shirt.

The couture police were horrified…ripping into the trio for not having the good taste to dress appropriately for such a prestigious affair. Apparently style trumps substance in the eyes of the fashionista.

Give me a break!

There are numerous reports that when the shot was fired the train personnel were nowhere to be found; having apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

I’m sure they were immaculately attired as they ducked for cover.

"PC" Distraction

I can’t believe that I’m saying this! I agree with Donald Trump!

Trump says that political correctness (PC) in this country has gotten way out of hand. I agree! Not only do I think that we have become too thin skinned; I believe that smart people are skillfully using PC to distract us in order to further their agenda.

Case in point! Yesterday Hillary Clinton touched off a firestorm on the right when she compared Republican policies on women’s health issues to the manner in which ISIS treats women. As you might expect the right responded with hair on fire outrage:

“Hillary Clinton owes Republicans an apology. How dare she compare the opinions held by a large segment of Americans to the tactics used by the butchers who fly the ISIS banner.”

“Can you imagine the reaction from the left if a Republican had uttered those words?”

Yes I can. Republicans have been just as guilty of engaging in dog whistle politics to fire up their base and infuriate the left. For every racist remark Republicans fired off at Barak Obama I am sure I could find an equal number of left wing slurs against George W. Bush’s intelligence.

Hillary Clinton’s recent combativeness on the stump make it clear that she has grown weary of the constant questioning about her email issues. She has no good answer. That, along with her prickly demeanor and condescending attitude…are killing her in the polls. What better way to change the narrative than to roll out a new shiny object for the press and public to chase. Red meat for the press to quote...partisan rhetoric to fire up the base.

The immediate result…only one question about her emails.

As I said Republicans are equally adept at playing this game. The faux outrage over Clinton’s remarks fires up the right and turns the discussion away from Republican policies that ARE very unpopular with most women.

All of this nonsense distracts us from having a substantive discussion about the important issue at hand…women’s’ health…specifically a woman’s right to choose.

Of course all of this discussion hinges on whether or not you believe that government should have a voice in women’s health issues.

I don’t.

Taking The Coward's Way Out

Over the past several weeks the media and the ruling class of this country have been focused on the three ring circus that will ultimately elect the next leader of the free world. Lost in the entertainment value of this process is that we have a sitting government in place that has several weighty matters on its immediate agenda.

There is a contentious nuclear deal with Iran that needs to be approved, a transportation fund that is about to run out of money, a continuing resolution to keep the government open and the always popular raising of the debt ceiling. Oh, and there is the ongoing war against ISIS that congress has yet to approve.

These are important and complicated issues; each deserving of substantive and thoughtful deliberation on the merits. A thoughtful deliberation that cannot be achieved when an amendment defunding Planned Parenthood is thrown into the mix.

There is yet another conservative movement afoot to defund Planned Parenthood. The RNC talking points go something like this: The federal government funds Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood provides abortion services. We don’t believe that the federal government should be paying for the murder of innocent babies. Therefore we want to defund Planned Parenthood.

The conservative plan is to attach an amendment defunding Planned Parenthood to any bill that raises the debt ceiling, replenishes the transportation fund, or proffers a continuing resolution to keep the government open. The hardliners are willing to shut the government down if they don’t get their way.

What this argument lacks in matters of fact and responsible governing is only exceeded by its blatant pandering and ideological fervor.

Let’s take a moment to consider the facts.

Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of reproductive health services in the United States. According to its website, Planned Parenthood provides sexual and reproductive health care, education, information and outreach to over 5,000,000 women, men and adolescents. 97% of Planned Parenthood’s services focus on breast and cervical cancer screenings, HIV screening and counseling and contraception. 3% of its clinical interactions are for abortion services; roughly 300,000 per year.

Planned Parenthood is supported by over 8,000,000 activists, supporters and private donors. Roughly one third of the organization’s $1 billion in revenues comes from government grants and contracts. Planned Parenthood is prohibited by law from using any of its federal funding for abortion services.

Defunding Planned Parenthood will result in an increase in unwanted pregnancies and abortions as well as an increase in the instances and severity of breast cancer, cervical cancer and HIV infections.

I for one wish that the number of abortions was “0.” I wish that every pregnancy would result in the placement of the child in a warm and nurturing home. But in reality there are other factors that often come in to play. As a male member of our species I will never have to make that most difficult of decisions. I cannot fathom telling a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body; especially in a situation where the pregnancy is the result of a violent crime, incest or in those instances where the pregnancy places her life in danger.

Planned Parenthood has proven over time to be an essential part of our society. It has contributed in a positive way to an improved quality of life for millions of Americans. Defunding Planned Parenthood will have serious consequences going forward. Abortion adds a moral and emotional component to the discussion that cannot be overlooked.

It is for all of these reasons that any move to defund Planned Parenthood is deserving of substantive and thoughtful deliberation on the merits. Secreting the measure through as some sort of afterthought amendment does not give it the hearing it deserves.

So if Republicans want to defund Planned Parenthood then let’s have that debate. But let’s have an open and transparent discussion. Republicans should put a stand-alone a defunding bill on the floor. Debate the merits. Look 5,000,000 women and men in the eye and tell them why them why Planned Parenthood is not worthy of the country’s hard earned tax dollars. Have the political courage to stand up for your ideology.

Attaching a measure of this importance as an amendment to some omnibus funding bill is not only bad governance…

…its political cowardice.

Pushing Back

Donald Trump continues to thumb his nose at the establishment. Whether it’s the RNC, Washington politicians, the national media or the conventional rules of decorum; none are sacrosanct in Trump’s world. “I say what I say…and if you don’t like it…” says the never apologetic Trump.

So far it’s working.

Trump spent the past forty eight hours engaging in behavior that would kill the political career of any other politician.

You are no doubt aware of the dustup between Trump and FOX NEWS over anchor Megyn Kelly’s questioning of Trump during the debate. FOX NEWS president Roger Ailes had reached out to Trump and it appeared that fences had been mended.

Kelly, who anchors FOX NEWS’ “The Kelly File” returned from a two week vacation on Monday night. Trump took the opportunity to Tweet that he preferred the show without Kelly and that he hoped she would take another unscheduled vacation…soon. He then went on to call Kelly a “bimbo.”

Trump’s unprovoked attack stunned and angered Ailes who thought that a truce was in place. The respected news mogul normally does not lower himself to respond to lowly politicians. He simply unleashes his powerful “news” organization to bury them. Pity the conservative politician that dares to cross FOX NEWS. But this was Trump and Ailes thought he had been wronged.

Ailes fired off an unprecedented response in which he ripped Trump’s behavior, defended his anchor and called on Trump to apologize. One by one each of the FOX NEWS personalities piled on in like kind.

Unbowed, Trump defiantly refused to apologize; demanding instead that Kelly apologize to him.

Last night Trump traveled to Dubuque, Iowa where he was scheduled to hold a brief press conference before giving a stump speech to supporters.

Trump was systematically calling on reporters when UNIVISION anchor, Jorge Ramos interrupted Trump and began what amounted to a long winded speech criticizing Trump’s stance immigration. Trump told Ramos to sit down and wait until he was called upon. Ramos defiantly persisted with his rant. Trump eventually looked toward security who escorted Ramos from the room.

Trump was immediately asked if removing Ramos was the right thing to do. Trump said that Ramos was interrupting him, that he would be happy to have Ramos return and that he would be happy to answer Ramos’ questions. Ramos did return…Trump took his question…and he and Ramos engaged in a lengthy and heated debate over Trump’s immigration policies.

Trump, Ramos and UNIVISION have a history. UNIVISION is THE news source for the Hispanic community; boasting a viewership that exceeds all the other cable news network’s combined. Jorge Ramos is a highly respected news anchor for UNIVISION. Ramos is so highly regarded that he has been referred to as the Walter Cronkite of the Hispanic community.

UNIVISION was scheduled to air Trump’s Miss Universe Pageant but pulled the plug when Trump made his derogatory comments about immigrants crossing our borders. Trump has since sued UNIVISION for $500 million for breach of contract.

Ramos has tried for months to get Trump to sit down for an interview. Trump has rebuffed the ever persistent Ramos; going so far as to publish a letter Ramos had written to Trump that included Ramos’ private phone number.

Both men came into that room looking for a confrontation. Ramos pushed Trump’s buttons and Trump did not back down.

Backing down is not in Trump’s DNA.

The Des Moines Register is the largest newspaper in the key primary state of Iowa. The Des Moines Register Editorial Board recently criticized Trump’s campaign and called on him to bow out of the race. Trump responded by barring the newspaper’s reporters from his events.

I don’t know anything about running for public office but it seems to me that pissing off the most powerful men in the conservative and Hispanic news media would not be the way to go. But this is Trump and when it comes to Trump conventional wisdom need not apply.

Trump is the clear Republican frontrunner in all the national polls. A recently released state poll in New Hampshire shows Trump holding 35% of the vote among likely primary voters. That's up from 24%. That’s TRIPLE the support of his closest challenger, John Kasich…and DOUBLE the combined support for establishment candidates: Bush, Walker and Rubio. South Carolina shows Trump similarly positioned; widening his lead to double the numbers of his closest rival.

Toward the end of last night’s press conference Trump made an off the cuff comment that I think best explains his early success in this campaign.

A reporter asked Trump why he engages in these late night Tweets and harsh attacks. He said: “When you are pushed you push back. I think we could use a little more of that in this country.”

Apparently voters agree.

A Stench Reminiscent Of Days Gone By

I’m starting to “Feel the Bern.”

Maybe it’s because Bernie Sanders’ message and genuine persona resonate with me. Or maybe it’s because I’m simply growing tired of the nonsense coming out of the Clinton Campaign.
The media firestorm that has engulfed the Clinton campaign over “Emailgate” continues to burn. Try as she might, the candidate can’t seem to stop herself from adding more fuel to an already raging inferno.

The Clinton Campaign, tired of being beat up in the press over her use of a personal server to store her government emails, decided to take the offensive. The candidate held what turned out to be a prickly press conference. A combative Clinton reasserted her defense that she did nothing wrong and that she never sent nor received emails “marked classified” via her personal email account. She concluded the session dismissing any negative effects the email inquiry may have had on her campaign; insinuating that the general public wasn’t interested: “No one is asking about this except you guys.” At the same time her surrogates were taking to the news broadcasts and delivering the same message. “Nothing to see here.”

Unfortunately for Mrs. Clinton, the Obama Justice Department has flagged 305 emails that they consider sensitive enough to deserve further investigation.
Reuters has reported that emails received via a Freedom of Information inquiry document numerous pieces of substantive correspondence with foreign officials and heads of state. Though not marked specifically as “classified” they are documents of a sensitive nature whose preservation one might argue is ill suited for an unsecured private server.

And then there is the matter of the State Department and its culpability in all of this. One has to wonder why then Secretary of State Clinton was permitted to use an unsecured personal server to house her emails. Why didn’t the State Department…or the White House for that matter… demand that she follow White House protocols and use the government email account/server as required of all federal employees.

Both the State Department and the White House have been suspiciously reluctant to comment.

Secretary of State John Kerry was asked about his predecessor’s use of a personal email account to conduct official business. Kerry, who uses the government provided email account to conduct his government business, just shrugged as if it didn’t make any difference: “I expect the Russians and the Chinese have already hacked into my emails as well.” Apparently keeping our sensitive information safe isn’t worth torpedoing the party’s leading candidate for president.

There are those that have compared this email controversy to the depressing days of Watergate. Some would consider that pandering to score political points. I won’t go there.

But I will say this. Throughout their decades of public service, Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill have demonstrated a ”Nixonesque” revulsion for the press and an anal retentive obsession with their personal privacy; while operating under the theory that rules are merely suggestions and compliance is merely a choice.

How else does one explain why Secretary Clinton, in clear defiance of a White House directive, made the conscious decision to archive her email correspondence, not a secure government server, but on a personal server kept in her home. How else does one explain why she elected to back up that server, not via one of the fifteen government approved/secure vendors, but an off book mom and pop operation out of Chicago; who backed up her sensitive correspondence on a server stored in the linen closet of the owner’s apartment. Is there any reason to make these conscious decisions other than to control the data and thwart any press inquiries through the Freedom of Information Act? There may not be anything illegal to see here. However Clinton's lack of good judgement speaks volumes.

I don’t know if this situation is comparable to Watergate…but there is a stench here that is reminiscent of those days gone by.

That’s why I’m starting to “Feel the Bern.”

I’m hopeful that Vice President Biden will enter the race as well. Win or lose Biden will bring a breath of fresh air to a campaign that could certainly stand a bit of “airing out.”

Clinton Has No One To Blame But Herself

I just don’t get Candidate Hillary Clinton. One would expect a woman as intelligent and accomplished as she is would learn from her past mistakes. Yet Candidate Clinton, much like Secretary Clinton, Senator Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to operate under the misguided belief that the rules of propriety and law do not apply to her. This sense of entitlement has once again placed her in the crosshairs of her political enemies. More importantly, this time it is the Justice Department that has her in its sights.

You have no doubt heard all the hubbub about Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email account and server while acting as Secretary of State. The legal question is whether or not Secretary Clinton improperly sent, received and preserved classified material via that personal account and server. The question of her use of good judgement is another matter.

There has been a lot of stuff reported in the media about this situation. Most of it is wrong. So I thought that I would provide an unvarnished outline of the facts that have been corroborated by numerous sources. No politics here...just facts. Then you can judge Hillary Clinton’s veracity for yourself.

While serving as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her personal email account to send and receive government emails. She says that she did this for convenience because she believed that using her personal email account for personal business and the email account provided to her by the State Department for her government work would be too cumbersome. Mrs. Clinton also chose to archive all of her emails on a personal server which she kept in her New York home. She says she believed this to be appropriate because the server was the same secure server her husband, Bill Clinton, used while serving as president.

Mrs. Clinton says that all emails sent to or received from State Department officials and or employees were archived on the State Department’s server and that any other emails were of a personal nature with no connection to the government. She says that many of her predecessors used personal email accounts to conduct the governments business. She said that she never received or transmitted any classified material via her email account.

Mrs. Clinton did not break any laws by using her personal email account to conduct government business. She did not violate any laws by archiving those emails on a personal server. However upon taking office President Obama issued a directive that all employees of his administration would use the government provided email account to conduct all government business. Mrs. Clinton’s actions violated that directive.

A few months after Secretary Clinton left office the State Department began a systematic cleanup of their archived communications. They contacted all former secretaries of state and asked them to turn over all their old emails for proper archiving purposes. In compliance with that request Mrs. Clinton ordered her staff to review all the emails on her personal server in order to determine which emails would be turned over to the government. She and her staff determined that 55,000 pages of emails would be released to the government in compliance with the request. 30,000 emails were not released. Mrs. Clinton subsequently had the 30,000 emails deleted and the server scrubbed.

In reviewing the 55,000 pages of emails the State Department found 6 that they believed were of a sensitive nature and required more investigation. The FBI began a review of the 55,000 emails and found sufficient cause to believe that a review of the other 30,000 emails was warranted and requested that Mrs. Clinton turn over her personal server. A subsequent review of the previously scrubbed correspondence has thus far brought 305 emails into question due to their sensitive content.

Mrs. Clinton has adamantly denied any impropriety. She has stated that this whole topic would have never come up had she not voluntarily released her emails to the State Department for the sake of transparency. She has brushed aside the entire firestorm as “politics as usual.”

Of course we now know that Mrs. Clinton did not voluntarily release her emails for the sake of transparency. She responded to a State Department request by selectively releasing 55.000 pages of emails while attempting to permanently destroy 30,000 others. It is only natural to question the content of those 30,000 deleted emails.

Assuming that Mrs. Clinton did not transmit any classified documents; we know that Mrs. Clinton did not break any laws by using her personal email account to conduct government business. But we also know that she violated a directive from her boss…the President of the United States.

There has been a great deal of speculation as to why then Secretary Clinton elected to use a personal server to archive her government emails. I’m not going to get into speculation. I will simply say that while her decision to operate in this manner may not have been illegal it certainly calls her judgement and sense of propriety into question.

As for Mrs. Clinton’s assertions that this is all just “politics as usual”; let me say this. The formal inquiry into this matter is being conducted by Justice Department officials appointed by the leader of Mrs. Clinton’s Democrat Party…President Barak Obama. It is anything but “politics as usual” when the FBI is involved.

Candidate Hillary Clinton finds herself embroiled in yet another firestorm. It is a firestorm fueled by a long history of questionable behavior, obfuscation and entitlement. It is a firestorm that could seriously threaten her run for the White House.

It is firestorm for which she has no one to blame but herself.

This Is A Disaster!

THIS IS A DISTASTER!!!

That was respected conservative “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough’s take on the Republican Party’s latest sojourn down the rabbit hole.

The festivities began Sunday when frontrunner Donald Trump unveiled his immigration policy on “Meet the Press.” In a 1900 word position paper Mr. Trump reiterates his call for strengthening our border security. He advocates building a wall along our southern border; which he promises under his leadership will be at Mexico’s expense.

Then Mr. Trump goes where that no Republican with presidential ambitions has dared to go. Mr. Trump calls for the mass deportation of all 11 million immigrants here illegally including all of their children...EVEN THOSE CHILDREN WHO WERE BORN WITHIN OUR BORDERS.

Translation: Mr. Trump’s position on immigration reform is to repeal the birthright provision under the fourteenth amendment of the constitution which grants automatic citizenship to anyone born within our borders. Mr. Trump claims that the 14th amendment along with other related federal statutes are the driving force behind the country’s illegal immigration problem.

Trump’s announcement forced his opponents in the race to once again find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to address an issue better left unsaid. Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie tacitly supported Trump’s position. Jeb Bush, looking like he would rather be anywhere than running for president, dismissed Trumps plan saying: “his plan, if that’s what they’re calling it, needs to be grounded in reality. We need to stop focusing on all the things that are wrong and start focusing on the solutions.”

A few days ago you had Marco Rubio, considered by many the Republican’s “Candidate of the Future” calling for legislation that would make abortion illegal with no exceptions; even in the case of rape, incest or the health of the mother. Now you have the Republican frontrunner calling for the mass deportation of all illegals including children born within US borders.

If you want to win elections...ticking off women and Hispanics may not be the way to go.

It should be noted that nowhere in this conversation did any of these allegedly fiscally conservative Republican candidates mention that the deportation of 11 million illegal immigrants would cost over $10 trillion dollars and crash economy.

Hillary Clinton is stumbling badly with “Emailgate.” This should be an opportunity for Republicans to make some headway in national conversation.

Instead Donald Trump is framing the narrative and the supposed “legitimate” candidates are stumbling and bumbling to keep up.

Scarborough is right! If you are a Republican…

THIS IS A DISASTER!