PDJT living rent free inside unhinged Demo-Dopes heads

DJT does it again!!!!

Anyone who can send the Left over the edge with an off-hand remark about some esoteric issue like the 14^th Amendment is a true American hero.  To understand this dynamic consider the unhinged Left’s reaction to the Pittsburgh shootings.  PDJT immediately condemned the shooter. The Left immediately condemned PDJT.  WTF!

I am not a Constitutional Scholar.  I never played on one TV. I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn last night, but I do know there are legitimate arguments on both sides*.  The Left’s reaction to PDJT’s comment is telling.  They do not consider the legitimate arguments on both sides of the issue or even the effect of the current understanding of the law – unlimited chain migration, rewarding law breakers, a magnet for all of South and Central American’s unskilled, uneducated, often disease ridden, often criminal element etc. are having on the country.  Instead they simply attack PDJT for bringing the whole thing up. Talk about attacking the messenger…

*NOTE:  Ask Dopes like Harry the roach Reid who – like always – have been on both sides of the issue.

The Left’s reaction to PDJT’s proposal is all you really need to know.  The fact that they’ve gone all hysterical, renewing accusations of racism, this ism, that ism, all isms, over what many believe to be a commonsense idea means that PDJT is directly over the target.

I just do not know how anyone can keep up this level derangement for nearly two years now.  How can that be healthy?  I recall The Empty Suit years, but I do not recall ever advocating for punching, running Dopes out a restaurants, burning, trashing, revolting, resisting and generally acting like an unhinged loon because TES woke up in the White House for 8 horrible years. 

I did advocate for buying guns and ammo – still legal I believe – for the coming revolution should Dopes ever suspend or tamper with or legally block election results.  The logic being, revolution is the only option after the electoral process suspended or corrupted.  Am I wrong?

Lex never advocated for violence against Libs because they were Libs.  Lex never even advocated for violence against Libs for being the prevailing political wind in America for a time. In fact, Lex was of the opinion that, before PDJT, there wasn’t dime’s worth of difference between the Dopes and Rat establishment Republicans.  So there’s that.

It’s a mystery to me how anyone can get up every morning and be miserable because 63 million Americans disagree with them.  Given the Leftist mantra “BUT, BUT, BUT, Shrillda the Hutt won the popular vote!!!” – more people disagree with me.  I don’t care.  I sort of like being a part of the new counter-culture. 

PDJT seized on the 14^th Amendment to rally his base.  It’s brilliant.  Dopes are PO’ed.  It’s great.  As an added benefit, the problem of anchor babies might actually get fixed.  How great is that!

You that know as the Dopes hurl one disingenuous epitaph after another at PDJT, they are cursing his brilliance for bring the issue up a week before the mid-term.  Most people with a brain, Left or Right, legal or illegal, know that birth right citizenship is a stupid policy.

Bravo PDJT!

Migrant caravans, security, fake news and revolution

The migrant caravan is back in the news
The increasingly fake news Fox News Channel had DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Fox News Sunday.  Host Chris Wallace asked the secretary what threat the children who populate the caravan pose to America. 

The answer to that question is more questions:  How many Chris?  Give me a number.  How many children should we allow to illegally enter the country and bring with them a long chain family member?  What’s a good number, Chris?  We are now seeing a rise in childhood diseases we long ago eradicated in America.  Why do you suppose that is?  Whose schools should be overrun with the 10s of millions of children trying to enter the country illegally, Chris?  We know Sidwell will not be one of them.  Whose communities are going to be overrun and foot the bill for the influx of 10s of millions of poor, uneducated, unskilled illegals, Chris?  My guess is that it won’t be yours or the like-minded effete bastards like you advocating for opening the borders.  So, give me a number, open you own community schools, healthcare facilities and provide them housing in your neighborhood, Chris, or STFU.

Security expert David media Hogg on armed guards
The Hogglete says advocating for armed guards is just an effort to sell two guns.  Hmm, okay, I'll get another.

Logic has never been the Libs' long suit.  Armored cars, banks, Hollywood swells, high profile pols, court houses etc. etc. all have armed guards, so there must be some undeniable benefit to the move.

The Griffin's comment in the post below is the perfect case:  Had the Pittsburgh shooter attacked any Synagogue in Israel, the event would have been over in about 5 seconds.          

The word “fake” key to PDJT statement on fake media
PDJT has never said, “The news media is the enemy of the people.”  He often says, “The fake news media is the enemy of the people.”  The latter is an absolutely true statement.  

Simple poll question:  Are news outlets that spread fake news an enemy of the people?  My guess is that a large majority of the people would agree with that statement.

So when the news media leaves out the word “fake” from PDJT’s quote, they are ironically spreading fake news.

JamesCromwell: There’ll be revolution, blood in the streets, unless Trump stopped
Okay.

Monday morning round up

Another shooting

After the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, PDJT said that an armed guard might have changed the situation.  That triggered Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto to opine, “I don’t think that the answer to this problem is solved by having our synagogues, mosques and churches filled with armed guards or our schools filled with armed guards.” 

Both are right.  Are armed guards “the answer” to preventing these kind of shootings?  I’ll bet not.  Crazies are gonna do crazy.  There’s probably very little that can stop it in total. 

That said, an armed guard might have changed the situation.  It might have changed the calculation for the shooter to even show up in the first place. Once engaged, shooters, savvy ones anyway, will direct their fire at the guard engaging them allowing innocent’s time to fight, take flight or cover. 

I look at the armed guard scenario in public places like a bowl of chicken soup when suffering from a cold.  It can’t hurt, and it just might help. The Liberal answer is, as always, to do nothing except to make sure victims are defenseless as possible. 

Megyn Kelly – bye, bye

After being sheeshcanned from NBC, the downfall of Megyn Kelly, which began during the first Fox News Channel Republican Presidential Candidates’ debate, is now nearly complete.  Kelly apologized profusely after some ham handed remark about it being ok for trick or treaters to wear blackface. 

Military doctrine has a counter intuitive tactic for how to handle an ambush.  The book says, rather than taking cover in the beaten zone and being picked to pieces over time, the trapped unit should attack into the ambush.  Think of Tombstone – the movie not the pizza.  When Wyatt Earp’s boys are trapped in a crossfire, Wyatt (Kurt Russell) stands up and attacks across the creek straight into the ambush saving the day. 

After her remarks the PC crowd had Kelly in an ambush.  She should have attacked the babies who were upset with her remarks:  “Go to hell.  Who the F__k are you to tell people what they can and cannot wear on Halloween? You PC fascist bastards are pathetic.”  The result might have been exactly the same, but she would have gotten out with some modicum of self-respect. 

I’m wondering how I might react to a black kid dressing up in preppy clothing with whiteface and a sign around his neck that reads “White Privilege”?  Instead of throwing some treats into his bag, I’d reach into it and redistribute his bounty among the other kids.  Then I'd be arrested and thrown in jail.     

Idiot offers idiotic take on PDJT
The idiot NY governor, Andy Cuomo, who once said that “America was never that great”, now says PDJT’s language is “wholly inappropriate for a president”.  GFY Andy.  When they’re whining like that, you know you’re over the target.

  

Nice political ad
I watched this John James ad and immediately sent him $25.  I’d like to see PDJT go into Detroit for this guy.  This would be a good follow up to the TPUSA conference of young black leaders. 

Bill Belichick has a counter intuitive strategy for attacking opponents’ defenses – not unlike the strategy for countering an ambush – attack the supposed strength. PDJT should walk right into the lion’s den where the Dopes think they are strongest and go after votes there.  At a minimum, it’ll scare the sh*t out of the Dopes.

Catholic Bishops prefer acting on easily solved problems like climate change rather than in-house sex abuse

Catholic bishops are calling for “urgent action against climate change”.  YGBSM. This like hiring a guy to cut your grass who shows up and spends the day complaining about the flaking paint on your second story shutters.  WTF?  Do your F-ing job. I took the case to my pastor. 

Subject:  The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Dear Father Dan,

I know you’re a busy guy, but this is infuriating.

  

I only have two problems with the attached news article:  One, there’s a huge sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church.  Two, climate change. 

The bishops could chose to tackle the sex abuse scandal with full transparency.  It is 100% within their purview to do so, or they could chose to virtue signal on climate change which there’s little to nothing they can do anything about, but might serve to change the subject from their own scandal.

Not to put too fine a point on it, it’s comical at this place in time to think that the bishops believe that they have the moral authority to speak out about anything – other than the Gospel - until they get their own house in order.  Something about removing the log from your own eye.

Seems to me the Pope, the bishops and the Catholic Church would be better served if they took the subject line to heart and focus on their own mission and scandals before hectoring the faithful about things outside those lanes.

RE the non-bomb bomber
It appears that the perp is a dyed in the wool Trump supporter.  So that would mean Lex's snarky take that it was a Dope was incorrect.  I'm not ready to furl the false flag yet.  This whole thing appears to be too neat. 

All self-respecting Leftist now want to be bombed by the non-bomb bomber

The fake mail non-bomb bomber is still sucking the oxygen out of the news cycle. Someone needs to send fake bombs down to the caravan so as to force the fake news media to cover fake bombs down there.

When does a ruse become a non-story?  There’s a long running gag among my 9-11 cookout buds.  The Griffin sent BrewBrother a Christmas card – postage due – via a third party that supposedly contained a $100 Cabela’s gift card. The card exists. I’ve seen it.  It passes between third parties but never makes it to the intended target – BrewBrother.  I don’t know if there’s a $100 gift card inside or not.  I doubt it, but who knows.

The point is that no one inside the group takes the Christmas card/gift card gag seriously any more, if they ever did.  It’s just a long running joke – or is it.

So when does the non-bomb bomber story become a joke.  Never, I suppose.  These things, like a handgun laying on the coffee table, always have to be assumed to be loaded. But for the masses - well outside any effective blast radius - this is just an obvious BS ruse.

Given the relative cartoonish nature of the non-bombs, my guess is that any self-respecting Leftist that has not received one of the non-bombs is disappointed and wondering how they get on the list.    

Today’s JG Rant
Hats off to C. Ambrose Hemsoth for setting gay conservatives straight, no pun intended, as to where their political interests lie.  Now do black conservatives.

Hemsoth is apparently the elected, selected, divined and chosen arbiter of all things good for all LGBTQ+.  Being a monolithic Borg-like mass, before gays develop an opinion about what’s in their own best interest, they’d better bounce those interests off Hemsoth.  Only Hemsoth has the key to correct opinions for the LGBTQ+ community.  

Hemsoth’s message to all free-thinking LGBTQ+ prepared to vote their own economic interests, to vote to protect life and their rights under the constitution is for them to get back in line. Get assimilated, or get straight.    

Gay Republican acting against interests

I find the letter by Taylor Vanover (“Warm, welcoming GOP poised for big victories,” Oct. 15) quite idealistic and full of nonsense.

Running as a Republican because you are pro-life, pro-Second Amendment and a fiscal conservative is understandable. Doing so in spite of social policy that is entirely against you is, however, questionable. Regardless, to believe that your party members who have “welcomed [you] and shown [you] nothing but kindness” is kindred to accepting you for being gay is nothing less than naive.

Courtney Tritch's comments regarding her opponent and your party's homophobia have little to do with whether he or they are capable of shaking your hand while smiling and helping you as a “friend” to prop you up as their token gay. Nor were her comments in retaliation for his claim regarding the legality of her fundraising. Rather, Tritch's comments were directly related to her opponent's disgust toward her “deeply disturbing and offensive” event at a local LGBTQ+ venue. His and your party's attitude toward public policy and statements that actively work against your community are what is in question.

That you have been blinded to the fact that you are actively working against your own interests is both disheartening and concerning, and I sincerely hope that your certainty in prognostication regarding your congressman is in complete, blissful error.

C. Ambrose Hemsoth

Fort Wayne

Fake "bombs" = fake crisis = Demo-Dope dirty trick ahead of the midterm

I did not send the crude explosive devices to high visibility Demo-Dopes and supporters.  I do not know who did.  As such, I can offer no accurate insight into the motives of the “bomber”.

That puts Lex in step with about 99.99999999999% of the people in the world. For some reason that has not stopped a long list Demo-Dopes and their sycophant army of “journalists” all of whom have heaped blame on PDJT in particular and Republicans in general.

So here’s what we know:

Eight bombs were sent.

The targets were all high profile Demo-Dopes.   

None of the bombs detonated.

Idiots blame PDJT.

That’s pretty thin gruel upon which to make such fantastic accusations against PDJT.  Thinner even than the Crazy Creepy Dr. gal’s accusations against Justice Kavanaugh and certainly thinner than the criminal liar Swetnick’s gang rape charges against Kavanaugh, but this how the Dopes run these days.

Given the paucity of facts, it’s foolish to speculate on who the bomber is or what his motives might be.  I only use the word “his” because - let’s face it men – there’s a 99.9% chance the perp is male, because women do not typically deal in such things and would not risk a fingernail chip working with needle nose pliers.

Since CNN deals in speculation, let me go on CNN on make the case that the “bomber” has to be a Dope.  Here’s the argument:

None of the bombs detonated*.  It’s not even known if the devices were capable of detonating.  What more evidence do we need that the “bomber” is Dope?  Nothing the Dopes deal in ever works. So the bombs are consistent with Dope policies – total failures.

*NOTE:  In the future in order to be called a “bomber”, I think we ought to establish a rule that at least one bomb has to detonate, otherwise it’s the work of a “failed bomber”.   

Look at the targets: 

What Republican wants to get rid of the gift that keeps on giving – Shrillda the Hutt?  No we cannot stand the b*tch, but she’s electoral gold for us.  Even Dopes cannot stand her, and she figuratively drives Republicans to the polls.  We hope she lives forever and just keeps on talking.

 

Why would a Republican target a brain dead idiot like Low IQ Maxine Waters??  We love to watch while she struggles, searching in vain for a coherent thought.

In the age of #METOO why we would want to bomb Billyboy Billbo Clinton?  Any time #METOO comes up the Republican auto response is – “Where were you when Billbo was raping and groping his way through public life?”

 

The Empty Suit? Please.  O’Doofus reminds me of Mr. Cook once telling me that a certain neighbor wasn’t worth the 50 cents it would take blow his head off with a .45.  So it is with TES.  Every time he tries to take credit for the economy, you can hear the entire country guffaw.

Failed former AG Eric the wad Holder?  As the caravan approaches, the Wad is the perfect juxtaposition to Dope’s open border policy.

CNN?  Bwaaaaaahahahahaha.  The dead cat and paint drying networks have more viewers.

In short, not one of the targets – even Soros is a worthless target unless you can blow up his money - is better for the Republicans to have dead rather than alive.

The “bombs”.  Who the hell made these things?  They look like something Wily E. Coyote, Ahmed the clock boy or the prop department at a high school drama club might come up with. Here’s a more effective bomb:

The delivery system.  WTF?  A soft side mailer envelope?  YGBSM?  A cigar box was just too hard to come by? The only thing that would have made it more obvious is if the mailer envelope had a window where you could see the device without actually opening the envelope.

Timing.  2 weeks before the mid-term?  There are few true coincidences in life.  This is just way too convenient.   

Who benefits?  Well clearly the Dopes. The gag has flipped the script on the Mob Vs. Jobs meme the has become effective for PDJT and Reps.  It has also chased the “caravan” - aka illegal alien mob - from the front pages.

This thing has the smell of Duke Lacrosse, UVA rape, mattress girl feel to it.  Fake BS.  Like when a waitress at a restaurant produces a check with a racist comment at the bottom.  How often do those turn out to be the work of the waitress herself after she gets a couple grand from a gofundme page?

Prediction:  I think the Dopes, by their inflammatory rhetoric, have brought this on themselves from one of their own.  When the perp is caught, his defense will be that it was a joke. Look at the devices.  Of course it’s a joke. 

Russia failed. Stormy failed. Ford failed. Khashoggi failed. The MOB failed. Now what? Send bombs to ourselves & blame Trump.      

According to the MSM and Dope Party rooting for America is now racist

PDJT is pretty plain spoken.  He called porn star Stormy Daniels - horse face, Shrillda the Hutt – crooked, Jeb!! – low energy, illegal aliens – rapists and murderers, MS13 – animals, Demo-Dope activists – angry mobs, Rosie O’Donnell – fat slob, CNN – fake news, NY Times – failing, Lizzy Paleface Warren – Pocahontas, Kin Jun Un – Lil’ rocket man etc. etc. PDJT is the great labeler, and the labels stick.

There’s a rather endless list of PDJT truisms. PDJT’s blunt way of speaking has often gotten him in trouble.  When asked about John McCain, he said he preferred war heroes that were not captured.  The Access Hollywood unguarded moment was supposed to be the end of the Trump Presidential Campaign.

Okay, Lex we got it. PDJT is a rather unfiltered, shoot from the hip, let her rip spokesman.  What’s the point?

Well the point is that when PDJT told the crowd at a Houston rally that he was a “Nationalist” the MSM went nuttier than usual.  That’s code, that’s a dog whistle, that’s thinly veiled racist speak, blah, blah, blah. 

It’s just really weird that the exact same people who bitch about PDJT’s blunt impolitic way of speaking are now saying PDJT codes his white nationalist leanings.

First off, PDJT was never once labeled a racist before he took his famous escalator ride.  What are the chances that a guy who was never once accused of racism before deciding to run for president would decide that being a racist was a winning presidential campaign strategy? Nary has a day slipped by since the campaign against Shrillda the Hutt heated up that the MSM has not labeled PDJT a racist.

So since day one PDJT has been an America first, MAGA candidate and president.  But when he announces that at a rally, he’s a racist.  When he explains his nationalism in the clearest terms, globalist are “not interested in our country so much”* and that he is interested in this nation doing well, he’s not a nationalist at all – he’s a racist.

*NOTE:  It’s almost impossible to find the actual quote from PDJT at the Houston rally.  I watched it.  I knew what he said.  But it’s hard to find PDJT’s juxtaposition of globalism Vs. nationalism that he made at the rally on any search engine.  Why am I not surprised.

This whole thing reminds of the Olympics way back when.  NBC (I think) anchor Bryant Gumbel chastised Americans for rooting for the American team.  YGBSM?  No.  See that would be nationalism I guess.

I root for the American teams in international sports.  I root for the Americans in combat.  I root for the Americans in economic competition. I root for the Americans when the Americans compete with anyone anywhere. I guess I’m a nationalist.  I guess by MSM, Demo-Dope logic I’m a racist.     

https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2018/10/23/cnn-jim-acosta-trump-white-nationalist/

Today’s JG Rant

Re: Photo of Mike Braun accompanying front page article, “Poll puts Donnelly, Braun in dead heat” of Oct 23, 2018

Given the journalistic integrity at the JG, I’m absolutely certain the picture of Mike Braun on the front page of the Oct 23^rd edition was the very best anyone at the JG could manage.

The JG used a professional campaign photo of Mexico Joe Donnelly but couldn’t manage offer up the same for Mike Braun. 

This obvious bias on the supposed “news page” of the JG proves is that the JG is populated by underhanded, double dealing, unprofessional hacks. 

Is there one professional journalist employed by the JG that might point out the blatant EDITORIAL favoritism toward Mexico Joe that the photos demonstrated ON – THE – NEWS - PAGE?  Apparently not.        

PDJT uses Dope hatred of PDJT to make them look like the fools they are

Just 3 years into his political career Trump is already a master at political jujitsu.  He has used the Demo-Dope tendency to lash out at all things Trump against them beautifully.  

The most famous example may be when PDJT called MS13 “animals”.  A kind epitaph given the barbarity of the gang, but way too cruel for the Dopes who took MS13’s side against the president.

YGBSM! No Grand Nan from San Fran Peloser and the Dopes actually maligned PDJT for the comment insisting instead that MS13 are children of God.  Okay fine.  So were Jeffery Dahmer, Tim McVeigh, Osama bin Laden, Jo Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot etc. These are rather easy things for the average American to understand.  Dopes support MS13.  PDJT wants to “throw them the hell out.”  Pretty simple eh. 

A close second would be Peloser's clueless reference to tax breaks as "crumbs". Maybe $1,400 is "crumbs" to a California millionaire, but it's real money to most people.

My guess is that had the Dopes tried to work on the margin with PDJT, they’d be in a much better position for the mid-terms than “resisting” all things Trump – even those that are clearly in the best interest of the country. They could not bring themselves to place country over their hatred for PDJT. 

Lex’s oft asked question: Okay let’s suppose that Dope’s don’t hate America.  How would what they do and advocate for be any different if they did? 

Answer:  It wouldn’t be one bit different. 

Their actions give them away. They hate the country as founded.  They hate PDJT way more than that.  Which is really weird because before the famous escalator ride, they loved Trump or least quietly tolerated him.  They never called him a racist before that.  Now nearly everything he does or says is labeled racist by Dopes. 

The latest brouhaha is the Hispanic mob marching north to break into the country.  PDJT has vowed to stoop them.  Dopes are at best quiet and worst advocating opening the borders to the mob.  

What is the Dope message for the mid-term?  I’ll give you a minute.  Play final Jeopardy ditty in your head.  Okay time up watta you got?  A big squadoosh.  The only thing the Dopes stand for is their hatred of PDJT and by extension the country that is doing so well under his leadership. 

David Gelernter wrote in the Wall Street Journal explained it this way:

“Not that every leftist hates America. But the leftists I know do hate Mr. Trump’s vulgarity, his unwillingness to walk away from a fight, his bluntness, his certainty that America is exceptional, his mistrust of intellectuals, his love of simple ideas that work, and his refusal to believe that men and women are interchangeable. Worst of all, he has no ideology except getting the job done. His goals are to do the task before him, not be pushed around, and otherwise to enjoy life. In short, he is a typical American -- except exaggerated, because he has no constraints to cramp his style except the ones he himself invents.”

A rather long way to get to Lex’s one word answer to the question, “Why do you put up with PDJT?”  Answer:  Results.

Bring congress back and make them vote on the caravan

After thanking the Mexican government several times for halting it, the caravan, now estimated to have reached 7,000+ Central American illegal aliens wanting to enter the US, has resumed.

PDJT has vowed to close the US – Mexico border and deploy the US military to stop the caravan. Unless the military is given permission to set up 10 miles on the Mexican side, what good is the military going to do?  The military will be constrained by the same BS laws as the Border Patrol – right?  So essentially, by sending in the military, we’re going to increase the Border Patrol by several 10s of thousands to catch and release the 7,000 invaders more efficiently once they enter the US. WTF?  That’s not the answer.

If the Mexican government does not immediately stop the caravan, PDJT should call for congress to return to Caligula, D.C. to deal with BS their laws. This would be a great boon to Republican challengers to have their BS Demo-Dope pols pulled off the campaign trail to deal with a problem of their own making.  It would also get the cowards on record on this issue prior to the election.

The session should be for a single issue – fixing immigration.  The law should end chain migration, require employer to use e-verify, stiffen penalties for hiring illegals, pass Kate's law requiring minimum sentencing for illegal alien felons, total funding for the wall, ends visa lottery for merit based visa program, ends catch and release, allows migrants including “families” to be held indefinitely until their case can be heard.  An indefinite hold would act as its own deterrent because none of the violators’ are not going to want to spend time cooling their heels in a detention center instead accessing the American welfare system which, if they do, should be cause for immediate deportation.

Bring congress back and make them vote.  The Demo-Dopes will sh*t themselves.

Today’s JG rant
Re Tom Hayhurst’s letter, “Care privatization would hurt veterans” of Oct 22, 2018

It’s nice to know that Hayhurst and big government Democrats prefer that veterans die while waiting in line at the VA rather than being allowed to access life-saving private care.

The only parts of the VA “under assault by President Trump, and Jim Banks” as a result of the Veteran’s Choice Program are long waiting periods and rude, incompetent VA administrators.

Simply stated, Veterans choice program does not dismantle the VA.  Rather, the program allows veterans to receive private healthcare if they are unable to schedule an appointment at a VA clinic within 40 miles of their home within 30 days.  It is no more complicated than that.

I wonder if Hayhurst or the alert JG editorial staff know that the Veterans Choice Program passed the senate by unanimous consent and passed in the House of Representatives 414-0.   If they do, why write and publish a letter misstating the act's intent and then blaming PDJT and Rep Banks for the lie?  One thing is for sure, it could not be to float a fake news story or engage in total political hackery just before the mid-term – could it.  Pfft, of course it could.

Care privatization would hurt veterans

Attention all veterans: the VA health care system is under assault by President Donald Trump, and Rep. Jim Banks is part of the problem.

The VA has been rated highly in several independent studies. VA health care providers have special knowledge in treating patients with conditions such as PTSD and Agent Orange exposure. Despite this, an effort is under way to shrink the VA hospital system and to force vets to obtain health care from the private sector. Last year, Trump fired VA Secretary David Shulkin because Shulkin was actively opposing VA privatization. Banks supported this decision.

I served in the U.S. Air Force. A few years ago, I joined the successful effort to save Fort Wayne's VA hospital. Fellow veterans: Tell Banks to support our VA hospital and to end his and Trump's efforts to “privatize” the VA.

Tom Hayhurst

Fort Wayne

The Saudi Impossible Mission Force takes out Khashoggi

I can just hear Saudi Crown Prince MBS wondering aloud in one of the 150,000 rooms in his palace, “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome journalist?”  The Saudi super-secret Impossible Mission Force commander MoEathan bin Huntallooakbar takes the Crown Prince’s lament for action.

MoEathan assembles his Saudi IM Force.  He gives his briefing:

This is the target – Jamal Khashoggi.  Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to snatch Khashoggi, kill him, dismember his body, return it to Saudi Arabia and spread it to the winds.  As always, if any of our IM Force is killed or captured, the Crown will disavow any knowledge of our activities. 

Question:  Will we need any high tech devices, disguises, aliases, drugs, green screen TV devises to make the target think he’s somewhere he’s not, an elaborate map of the city sewer system, ability to hack city traffic lights for a quick escape or fake diamonds, bonds or gold – you know the usual stuff these IMF missions use?

Answer:  No, but we will need a couple of good bone saws.

The plan is remarkably simple. We fly into Turkey in full view of the world. We invite Khashoggi to our consulate in full view of the world.  When he arrives, we kill him, dismember the body, load it into our luggage and fly home.

Question:  This looks like an ordinary run of the mill demonstration of the typical barbarity that occurs in the Middle East hundreds of times every day, why is this an IMF mission?

Answer:  Because we – the Saudi IMF - are the ones doing it this time.

Question:  Are we worried about blowback for murdering a well know journalist?

Answer:  No.  We killed Danny Pearl with nary a word.  We killed four Americans including an ambassador with nary a word.  We do this sh*t all of the time.  Why would this be any different?

Question:  Won’t the rabid American media try to hang the murder on PDJT?

Answer:  That, of course, would be totally hypocritical.  If they didn’t blame Shrillda the Hutt for Benghazi, how the hell can they blame PDJT for what we do to Khashoggi?        

Look, as a guy who once advocated for nuking Mecca (kiddingly [I think]), no one has less regard for the sh*thole that is the Middle East in general and Saudi Arabia in particular than Lex. We should not do one thing in the Middle East that is inconsistent with our own national security and economic well-being. 

Khashoggi’s dead.  We should feign as much indignation as necessary to get on the other side of his murder.  We should sanction Saudi Arabia to the extent that it does not threaten our economy or national security.

Individual Americans can afford to be outraged by Khashoggi’s death.  The American government cannot. $5 a gallon gasoline and/or canceling 110 billion dollar military equipment deal that will push Saudi toward the Russians or Chinese serves no purpose – zero. 

The exact same people who believed that The Empty Suit was too stupid or incompetent to know what was going on his administration with regard to Lois Learner, Shrillda the Hutt, The Wad Holder et al’s criminal activities are now saying that Saudis know everything that everyone in their satrap is up to.

My guess is that TES and the Saudis both knew.       

Too funny
Orin Hatch took a DNA test.  The results are hilarious.

       

Today’s JG rant

I had to check.  Yup, it’s the same guy.  The same Bill Bruening that used John Cardinal Newman’s notion of “converging probabilities” to divine that Sarah Sanders is likely a liar (JG letter of Jun 16^th) has dumped that notion to conclude that Dr. Blasey Ford’s oft changing, unsubstantiated, fantastical tale of sexual assault at the hands of (stew in this Bill) Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh qualifies her for heroine status (JG letter of Oct 18^th).   

Bruening cannot be serious.  Dr. Ford’s story has more holes in it than the star ball at the Chicago Planetarium.  Dr. Ford’s story is not just uncorroborated. It’s flat out contradicted by the four people Dr. Ford herself places at the event.  This is not a he said – she said event.  It’s a she said – they said event.

Dr. Ford flat out lied about at least a couple aspects of her story.  She claimed she developed a fear of flying as a result of the “attack”, but she has been proven to be frequent long-haul flier for vacations and annual family visits.  She said she needed additional front door in her home to ensure multiple escape routes.  Turns out the additional door was to create a separate entrance to a self-contained unit within the home for a renter.

Dr. Ford can’t remember the key facts of the event such as where it took place, when it took place, how she got to or from the event, but she absolutely certain she only had one beer.  That’s very convenient.

Bruening should fairly apply Cardinal Newman’s notion of “converging probabilities” to Dr. Ford’s ridiculous story then we can all marvel as he twists himself like a bag of Twizzlers to conclude that she’s anything other than a run of the mill liar or a psychopath in need of serious treatment.

Moral distinction between lies,false statements

Sarah Sanders has taken much criticism for deliberately making false statements during her news conferences. I will not address her veracity but will focus on a moral distinction that might make the controversy more focused.

Any one of us can make a statement that is false. I might say that the answer to a math problem is x, but it turns out I was mistaken because the answer was y. So, making a statement that is not true is probably something we all have done at some point. That fact is not politically controversial.

Making a claim that is false and knowing the claim is false is lying. We can debate whether it is always wrong to make a claim that you know is not true. 

Sanders' statements might be false, but they might also be lies. How can we tell the difference? I do not have enough knowledge to say that her making a false statement is a lie – that she knew the claim was false and made it anyway. I can say it is possible her statement is false, but she might not know that it is false and thus she did not lie. But the issue is more complex. Is her ignorance culpable or nonculpable? Is the ignorance something she should have known and failed to find out? Or is her ignorance something we have no right to expect her to know?

If you watch Sanders' news conferences, you know she does not always give an answer to a reporter's question. She often says that the question needs to be referred to “outside counsel.” Is that a good answer or is it a transparent attempt to avoid a tough question? Your answer might depend on your own political views.

The political discussion about her statements is another issue. But we can all admit that Sanders knows whether she is lying or just making a statement that is not true. Others might also know she is lying. We need to distinguish between the moral issue involved with lying from the political issues about Sanders' lying.

My own view is that there is significant (but not totally compelling, at least at this time) evidence that she knows she is lying and has culpable ignorance. I base that view on my understanding of the notion of “converging probabilities,” a notion borrowed from John Cardinal Newman.

Bill Bruening

Fort Wayne

Heroines, but no heroes, in Kavanaugh process

The past few weeks have been one catastrophe after another in the Senate's attempt to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. Both parties should be ashamed at their “circus” performance.

We have plenty of white men to blame – especially those who get angry and shake fingers at those who disagree. It was not a high point for those of us who put country above party. It was not a high point for those of us who believe that the truth does not depend on red and blue.

I am disgusted by the performance of the senators who looked ridiculous and petty. There are several people who were not reduced to narrow partisanship, screaming and shouting. The funny thing is that they are all women. I suggest there were no heroes during the confirmation, but there were several heroines who conducted themselves with honor and dignity.

Of course, Christine Blasey Ford is a heroine – even if you do not think Kavanaugh is guilty of anything. She conducted herself with dignity and principle. She was not well treated by the committee and others involved in the hearing.

The second heroine is Brett Kavanaugh's wife, Ashley. She sat behind him during what had to be an excruciating hearing concerning her husband's behavior. She sat stoically and obviously defended her husband both by her presence and her silence.

The third heroine is Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. Her impassioned speech about why she could not vote for confirmation is exactly the courage that elected officials need to emulate. You do not have to agree with her position, but you need to admire her courage.

There are no heroes in this catastrophe. The screaming and shouting was from men. After the hearings were over, I felt the need to tell the women in my life that not all men are like the officials who embarrassed themselves on national television. I felt like watching Looney Tunes because the performance is at least funny and does not make me want to vomit.

Bill Bruening

Fort Wayne