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Don't Be Shocked (Shocked!) by Alaska Threats
by Jonah Goldberg
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 Top Headlines 
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Firm behind anti-Trump dossier also worked for Russia, Senate witness says. (Fox News)
 
Ted Cruz: Voters will feel "sense of betrayal" over liar-nObamaCare failure. (Washington Examiner)
 
Not so hot: Al Gore's "Inconvenient Sequel" meets with skepticism even from the Left. (The Washington Times)
 
Feds spends millions on failed program to combat extremism in America. (The Washington Free Beacon)
 
U.S., El Salvador team up to target MS-13 gang members. (CNS News)
 
Venezuela's socialist government bans all protests starting Friday. (Hot Air)
 
Marxist group disbands because members were too rich, white. (Campus Reform)
 
African-American women are increasingly buying guns, statistics show. (The New York Times)
 
Trump awards officers Medals of Valor for actions in Scalise shooting. (Fox News)
 
Humor: Jeff Sessions wakes up next to severed horse head. (The Babylon Bee)
 
Policy: Yes, we should block-grant Medicaid. (National Review)
 
Policy: The Democrats' unprecedented nominations blockade. (Senate Republican Policy Committee~The Patriot Post
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DHS Secretary Gen John Kelly
Replaces Priebus As Trump Chief Of Staff
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{rickwells.us} ~ On Friday President Donald Trump announced the inevitable was taking place, that he was making a move at the Chief of Staff position... the leak infested position, and bringing in his Homeland Security Secretary to fill the spot. The selection indicates that Kelly is someone President Trump trusts as a capable leader who knows how to keep his mouth shut and whose respect for the office of the President is unquestioned. He must certainly feel that Kelly is a loyal American who will put country and the success of his administration ahead of personal recognition and career considerations. President Trump made the announcement via tweet, saying, “I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/ Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American…. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration.”...http://rickwells.us/dhs-secretary-gen-john-kelly-replaces-priebus-trump-chief-staff/
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'A 'For Sale' Sign at City Hall': FBI Indicts
2 PA Dem Mayors in Pay-to-Play Probe
 
{insider.foxnews.com} ~ Two Democratic Pennsylvania mayors were indicted Wednesday as part of a wide-ranging FBI corruption probe... The mayors of Reading and Allentown - the state's third-largest city - were named among the defendants in the five-person indictment. Acting U.S. Attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania Louis Lappen said Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski (D) was charged with 14 counts relating to running a pay-to-play scheme, and other offenses. Lappen said Pawlowski and former Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer (D) "essentially put up a 'for sale' sign in front of their city halls to sell city work to the highest bidder," Lappen said, according to WFMZ-69 News... http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/07/26/fbi-pay-play-probe-pennsylvania-allentown-pawlowski-reading-spencer-indicted
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Watch RINO John McCain Path of Betrayal –
Grim GOP, Jubilant Democrats
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{rickwells.us} ~ John RINO-McCain is going out with a bang and unfortunately it wasn’t the sound of him putting himself and the rest of America out of his misery... Many Americans are optimistic that this will be the last we’ll see of him in the Senate. Whether it is or isn’t, he certainly made himself the center of attention as he once again reinforced his RINO credentials. RINO-McCain seemingly went out of his way to drag things out, keeping the Senate, Vice-President Pence and President Trump hanging for over two hours, past midnight, doing whatever they could think of to bring him into the Republican fold he so willingly shuns. RINO_McCain didn’t disappoint his Democrat allies, he saved liar-nObamacare. He can now go to wherever he wants for his cancer treatment, as his non-liar-nObamacare Senate Cadillac health care coverage allows him to do. He really did get to keep his doctor. He can bask reflectively at the irony of his betrayal, that what may be his last act before getting the best care on the planet was to stick Americans with what is arguably the worst, and a socialism bill to go along with it...He was not allow on this betrayal. 6 others where involved. http://rickwells.us/watch-rino-john-mccain-path-betrayal-grim-gop-jubilant-democrats/
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Massive RINO DEFENSE Force Called
On TRUMP Supporters Questioning Gas Tax
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{rickwells.us} ~ Rancho Cucamonga was the scene of a pathetic display of the police state in action as Trump supporters ventured into RINO country, the offices of California Republican Marc Steinorth... As the plaque hanging on his wall from the SEIU indicates, he’s a sellout. Steinorth’s latest affront to the people of California is his siding with the cap and trade globalists to impose a $.71 cent per gallon gasoline tax. After navigating past the locked door into the extremely relaxed workplace where not a lot of actual work seems to be being done, the patriot Trump supporters, including the Grindall61 contingent, voice their complaints. An aide for the RINO Steinorth attempts, unsuccessfully, to apply the same brainwashing techniques that work on many of the mindless idiots who finance their own demise. They supported his treachery and will soon be paying through the nose for the “privilege” of driving as a result. The price of anything that is transported by truck as well as services which involve fuel will rise as well. Nice job of understanding the issues before you vote, idiot citizens. Now you’re stuck with liberal trash sticking the knives of globalism in your backs. Unfortunately, the aware Californians pay the price right along with you... http://rickwells.us/massive-rino-defense-force-called-trump-supporters-questioning-gas-tax/
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  Videos of the week  
Planned Parenthood Medical Director: “Dismemberment” Abortion “Checkbox” Skirts Partial-Birth Law
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John McCain Kills ‘Skinny’ Repeal of liar-nObamacare
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Grant Stinchfield Tells liar-Hillary Clinton ‘What Happened’
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Criminal Probe Of Wasserman Schultz IT Staffer May Impact Dozens Of Democrats
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UCLA Fires Conservative Professor Who Defended Free Speech
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Why Are Democrats Blocking Testimony of Fusion GPS?
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Don't Be Shocked (Shocked!) by Alaska Threats
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by Jonah Goldberg
{
townhall.com} ~ It's a bit of a cliche to quote "Casablanca" when it comes to Washington's gift for manufactured outrage, but the classics are classics for a reason. When Captain Louis Renault orders Rick's saloon shut down, Rick played by Humphrey Bogart protests: "How can you close me up? On what grounds?"

Renault played by Claude Rains replies, "I am shocked -- shocked -- to find that gambling is going on in here!"

Then, a croupier walks up to Renault and hands him some money: "Your winnings, sir."

"Oh, thank you very much," Renault says. "Everybody out at once!"

The scene came immediately to mind amidst the instant outrage over reports that the Trump administration was threatening Alaska's senators. On Tuesday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted not to move to debate on the Senate health care bill. That angered the president. She "really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!" the president complained on Twitter Wednesday morning.

That afternoon, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke called both Murkowski and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to a story first reported by the Alaska Dispatch News. "I'm not going to go into the details," Sullivan told the paper, "but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs [policies] and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop."

The story sent "shocked -- shocked!" shockwaves across Washington. How dare the Trump administration threaten the state of Alaska!

Come now.

Let me say up front that what Zinke did may be politically unwise. It may be unethical. It may be crude.

But it's not illegal. It's normal.

Every administration in American history, and every regime since the first city-states formed in Mesopotamia, has played some version of this game, not merely from time to time, but every single day. Rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies isn't some breach of the established rules of politics; those are the established rules of politics.

Every White House has a political operation that reminds policymakers that this state should get better treatment than that state for one political reason or another. It's the job of the policymakers to know when to listen to that guidance and when to ignore it.

The proper symbol of FDR's imperial presidency wouldn't be a ball and scepter but a carrot and a stick. Roosevelt held his coalition together by awarding massive defense contracts to Southern states whose senators were the barons of the defense and appropriations committees. His freshly minted Social Security Board threatened to withhold funds from states that resisted compliance with the Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare program. LBJ's Health, Education and Welfare Department threatened to terminate funds for states that didn't enforce civil rights.

Congress is no better. It has used the Highway Trust Fund time and again to force states to comply with its will. In 1974, Congress declared that any state that didn't set its speed limit to 55 mph would see the money spigot turn off. In 1975, Congress did the same to force motorcyclists to wear helmets. In 1984, the same technique was used to raise the legal drinking age.

And now let's discuss the great state of Alaska, a place I love and have spent much time in. My wife is from Fairbanks, and much of her family is still there. Alaska fancies itself a land of rugged individualists. Its nickname, emblazoned on its license plates, is "The Last Frontier." A more accurate nickname might be "The New West Virginia" for its addiction to pork. At the height of the earmark era in Congress, Alaska ranked No. 1 on the list of recipients, thanks largely to former Rep. Ted Stevens, the self-styled "Emperor of Earmarks."

No one runs for federal office in Alaska without promising to bring home the bacon from Washington. In fairness to Alaskans, one reason that's seen as necessary is the federal government controls so much of the state about 60 percent of its land is controlled by Washington.

Murkowski herself lobbied for months for a special Alaska-only carve-out under the Better Care Reconciliation Act -- the nearly $2 billion "Kodiak Kickback." It proved to be not enough, but the "for sale" sign had gone up.

Zinke's heavy-handedness will probably backfire because standing up to threats is one of the only things that plays better in Alaska than accepting porcine bribes.

But the outrage is all part of the show. As Hyman Roth says in "The Godfather Part II," "This is the business we've chosen."
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