The Front Page Cover
2016 The truth is the gold of today
Featuring:
Don’t Take New Hampshire for Granite
Peggy Noonan.
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The South Carolina Cage Fight https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/emaillemons/ftr/divider-line.png" width="250" height="11" />
Saturday night's Republican debate in South Carolina featured some of the most vitriolic fratricidal infighting yet. Or as political analyst Charles Krauthammer wryly observed, "We went here from WWE to the UFC. This was a cage fight of the sort that I don't think we have seen at the presidential level before." Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio got rather ugly at times. Silver-spooners Jeb Bush and Donald slump-Trump went after each other even more harshly. Of course, slump-Trump went after everybody, from George W. Bush to the audience, and he was generally more angry and agitated than we've seen him. The end result was that John Kasich looked like the most reasonable man on stage, usually aiming his fire at Democrats. (If we hear Ben Carson offer the "thanks for including me in the debate" line one more time...)
At times, we weren't sure it was a Republican debate. Despite his civil demeanor, Kasich argued for the virtues of nObamaCare /Medicaid expansion, while slump-Trump commended the wonderful efforts of Planned Parenthood and sounded like a Democrat on Social Security. Worse, slump-Trump practically made an in-kind contribution to MoveOn and other leftist groups with his 9/11-truther and Bush-lied-on-Iraq nonsense. slump-Trump decidedly did not get Iraq right, and he slandered most Republican voters with his false line of attack. Fortunately, Rubio did get it right when he defended Bush for using the intelligence we had at the time, and when he faulted Bill Clinton for his failure to follow intelligence and take out Osama bin Laden. Too few Republicans are willing to make that case.
National Review's Jim Geraghty sums it up: "If the Republican Party wants to nominate a man who thinks Bush could have prevented 9/11 but chose not to, who knew Iraq had no WMDs and lied the country into war anyway, who sneers and shouts and bellows and interrupts and accuses everyone else of lying... if a majority of South Carolina Republicans look at all that and give it the thumbs up ... then yeah, maybe it isn't my party anymore."
This coming Saturday's South Carolina primary could thin the field further. We certainly hope that's the case, anyway, because it's time to begin consolidating the not-slump-Trump vote.
-The Patriot Post
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slump-Trump's Political Attack on Cruz's Citizenship Donald slump-Trump is bluffing. On Friday, ahead of the GOP debate, slump-Trump tweeted, "If @TedCruz doesn't clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen." Apparently, Cruz has been bringing the heat to slump-Trump's campaign, with his attack ads in South Carolina criticizing the real estate mogul for abusing eminent domain — using the government to take private property to give to another private party for personal use. In response to slump-Trump's previous rhetoric on Cruz's status, a Houston-based attorney filed a complaint in the federal court system, petitioning the Supreme Court to take up the question of what defines a natural-born citizen. Attorney Newton Schwartz wrote in his complaint, "This 229-year question has never been pled, presented to or finally decided by or resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. Only the U.S. Supreme Court can finally decide, determine judicially and settle this issue now." We do have an answer to Cruz's citizenship, though. The ballot commission in New Hampshire and the Illinois Board of Elections ruled that yes, Cruz is eligible to hold the office of president.
The key word in slump-Trump's threat is "If." slump-Trump's move to sue is only dependent on Cruz's campaigning style and his standing in the polls. If slump-Trump actually thought he had a legal case, he would have already sued. -The Patriot Post
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Shock Study: Earth Acts Like a Sponge!
This should help coastal residents sleep a little better, at least for a while longer. According to nasa.gov, "A new study by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and the University of California, Irvine, shows that while ice sheets and glaciers continue to melt, changes in weather and climate over the past decade have caused Earth's continents to soak up and store an extra 3.2 trillion tons of water in soils, lakes and underground aquifers, temporarily slowing the rate of sea level rise by about 20 percent."
First, a quick primer. The hydrologic cycle occurs when precipitation that is deposited over land through the process of ocean evaporation gets recycled back into the ocean via tributaries. Minor disruptions in that process such as through "persistent regional changes in soil moisture or lake levels," says NASA, can altar "the rate of sea level rise from what we would expect based on ice sheet and glacier melt rates." But what scientists haven't been able to determine until now was how much water runoff gets sucked up by the earth. Satellite measurements now provide a clue. According to lead author J.T. Reager, "We always assumed that people's increased reliance on groundwater for irrigation and consumption was resulting in a net transfer of water from the land to the ocean. What we didn't realize until now is that over the past decade, changes in the global water cycle more than offset the losses that occurred from groundwater pumping, causing the land to act like a sponge — at least temporarily."
Alarmists will inevitably say this discovery doesn't change the overall threat posed by rising sea levels, which "97% of scientists" claim is linked to man-made global warming. We have another theory: Could it possibly be that something — say, our Creator — knew something we didn't and developed a system to handle naturally rising sea levels? Imagine that. -The Patriot Post
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Iran Will Soon Pump Oil at $1 Per Barrel
Tim Maverick
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Sorry slump-Trump, But They Found Evidence
of WMDs During Iraq War
Jeff Dunetz
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Saudi Arabia,
Yemen and the Politicized UN
Richard Kemp and Jasper Reid
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Hizballah Has Russian Technology Capable
of Downing Israeli Jets
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{investigativeproject.org} ~ Hizballah is using advanced radar technology to "lock on" to Israeli aircraft flying reconnaissance missions over Lebanon, according to Israel's Walla news service and reported by i24 News... The new technology enables Hizballah to identify Israeli jets and fire missiles at them, Israeli security sources said. "The connection between Hizballah, Russia and Syria have greatly changed the rules of the game in the region...Hizballah is indicating to Israel that it is ready for the next stage," said an Israeli security official, quoted in Walla. http://www.investigativeproject.org/5158/report-hizballah-has-russian-technology-capable.
Reports Showing War Against ISIS
Wasn't Working Were Deleted
Daniel Greenfield
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The Progressives' Phony Democracy
Bruce Thornton
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ISIS Leader Moves to Libya
Pete Hoekstra
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Shishani as a Georgian special forces soldier and as an ISIS leader
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{investigativeproject.org} ~ The barbaric and elusive Chechen commander who recruited British executioner "Jihadi John" has moved to Sirte, Libya to assume control of ISIS operations in the terrorist organization's metastasizing Mediterranean caliphate... The Investigative Project on Terrorism first learned about the movement of Abu Omar al-Shishani – among the world's most-wanted terrorists – through its exclusive Middle East sources. Other news organizations later confirmed the account. Al-Shishani is a former American-trained officer in the Georgian special forces. He developed a reputation for his ferocity and effectiveness while fighting against the Russians during the 2008 invasion of Georgia and later for ISIS against dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria. http://www.investigativeproject.org/5160/isis-leader-moves-to-libya.
Weasel Of The House Ryan Dodges On
Lame Duck Hustle Of TPP
Rick Wells.
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Rule Change Dashes Hope for Afghan Military Allies Seeking Refuge in U.S.
Alana Goodman
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A U.S. soldier speaks to Afghans, aided by an interpreter
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{freebeacon.com} ~ Afghan translators who worked for the United States military could find themselves ineligible for U.S. visas due to a recent State Department decision that retroactively changed the requirements for applicants... The rule change, which increased the minimum employment requirement for interpreters from one year of U.S. government service to two years of service, was passed by Congress in September 2015. Advocates say the State Department has been applying this change retroactively to interpreters who submitted applications months or years before the rule was passed—a decision that could impact as many as 3,300 Afghan translators who are under threat from the Taliban. http://freebeacon.com/issues/rule-change-dashes-hope-for-afghan-military-allies-seeking-refuge-in-u-s/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=e3358b44fd-WFB_Morning_Beacon_02_16_162_15_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-e3358b44fd-45611665.
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Don’t Take New Hampshire for Granite
Peggy Noonan.
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Rick Santorum suspended his campaign. He didn’t catch on but was generally held in high regard. When voters think you’re a good guy but not the winner, they see to it that you leave as a good guy who’s not the winner. He seemed to me one of the Republicans most attuned to the shifting political moment—one who knows that certain old assumptions about the base no longer apply and maybe haven’t for some time. He did not emphasize traditional GOP themes of competition, opportunity, individualism. His concerns were more implicitly communal. Raise the minimum wage? Sure, help where you can. Of the candidates he seemed to have most absorbed Pope Francis’s Great Insight: that the modern world is a field hospital after battle. So in many ways is America 2016. John Kasich knows it also. He didn’t discover drug addiction and mental health issues by reading a long takeout in a magazine. He knows it because he lives with the people of Ohio.
Rick Santorum suspended his campaign. He didn’t catch on but was generally held in high regard. When voters think you’re a good guy but not the winner, they see to it that you leave as a good guy who’s not the winner. He seemed to me one of the Republicans most attuned to the shifting political moment—one who knows that certain old assumptions about the base no longer apply and maybe haven’t for some time. He did not emphasize traditional GOP themes of competition, opportunity, individualism. His concerns were more implicitly communal. Raise the minimum wage? Sure, help where you can. Of the candidates he seemed to have most absorbed Pope Francis’s Great Insight: that the modern world is a field hospital after battle. So in many ways is America 2016. John Kasich knows it also. He didn’t discover drug addiction and mental health issues by reading a long takeout in a magazine. He knows it because he lives with the people of Ohio.
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Donald slump-Trump was dinged by Iowa, but not by losing—loss happens. He dinged himself, perhaps significantly, with his subsequent reaction. He was robbed, we need a recount, he may sue. Mr. slump-Trump’s supporters are derided as working-class knuckle-draggers and if it amuses you to see them that way you can, but his people respect style. There he let them down.
Donald slump-Trump was dinged by Iowa, but not by losing—loss happens. He dinged himself, perhaps significantly, with his subsequent reaction. He was robbed, we need a recount, he may sue. Mr. slump-Trump’s supporters are derided as working-class knuckle-draggers and if it amuses you to see them that way you can, but his people respect style. There he let them down.
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In politics—in life—you have to know how to lose. The presidency itself involves losing—the bill fails, the talks stall, your numbers plummet. You have to be supple, have some give. “All political careers end in failure”—you never get all you want and in the end you slink away or get thrown out. How to respond? You don’t whine, you don’t complain, you don’t act like a little rhymes-with-witch. You take it full in the face and keep walking. Anyone can win with style. A real champ knows how to lose.
In politics—in life—you have to know how to lose. The presidency itself involves losing—the bill fails, the talks stall, your numbers plummet. You have to be supple, have some give. “All political careers end in failure”—you never get all you want and in the end you slink away or get thrown out. How to respond? You don’t whine, you don’t complain, you don’t act like a little rhymes-with-witch. You take it full in the face and keep walking. Anyone can win with style. A real champ knows how to lose.
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The press is dying to write their “End of slump-Trump” pieces and will if he under performs in New Hampshire, where he’s long held a double-digit lead.
The press is dying to write their “End of slump-Trump” pieces and will if he under performs in New Hampshire, where he’s long held a double-digit lead.
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On the Democratic side, Hilly Clinton did not “win” Iowa; she had a near-death experience and emerged intact. In October she was winning by 41 points. Monday she effectively tied Bernie Sanders. She is now trying to limit the size of his expected New Hampshire victory.
On the Democratic side, Hilly Clinton did not “win” Iowa; she had a near-death experience and emerged intact. In October she was winning by 41 points. Monday she effectively tied Bernie Sanders. She is now trying to limit the size of his expected New Hampshire victory.
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She has been game and alert, especially Wednesday night in a town-hall interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. But the effect was marred by her answers on Goldman Sachs and the six-figure speech fees they paid her. Why so much? “I don’t know, um, that’s what they offered.” She added that at the time she didn’t know she would be running for president. It was reminiscent of Dan Quayle telling reporters in 1988 that yes he got into the National Guard and didn’t go to Vietnam, but when he made the decision, “I did not know . . . that I would be in this room today, I confess.” If he’d known of the future political necessity, this suggested, he would have gone to the stupid damn war. All the smart people who say Mr. Sanders cannot possibly beat Mrs. Clinton as the battle moves south are no doubt correct—and yet he is more in tune with the motivating spirit of his party right now than she is, so who knows?
She has been game and alert, especially Wednesday night in a town-hall interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. But the effect was marred by her answers on Goldman Sachs and the six-figure speech fees they paid her. Why so much? “I don’t know, um, that’s what they offered.” She added that at the time she didn’t know she would be running for president. It was reminiscent of Dan Quayle telling reporters in 1988 that yes he got into the National Guard and didn’t go to Vietnam, but when he made the decision, “I did not know . . . that I would be in this room today, I confess.” If he’d known of the future political necessity, this suggested, he would have gone to the stupid damn war. All the smart people who say Mr. Sanders cannot possibly beat Mrs. Clinton as the battle moves south are no doubt correct—and yet he is more in tune with the motivating spirit of his party right now than she is, so who knows?
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A final small thing, though it’s really my headline regarding New Hampshire. On a recent trip I watched candidates in town halls and forums in middle-school gyms, community clubhouses, hotel ballrooms.
A final small thing, though it’s really my headline regarding New Hampshire. On a recent trip I watched candidates in town halls and forums in middle-school gyms, community clubhouses, hotel ballrooms.
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I keep thinking of the young woman, black, about 20, I saw departing a Sanders event with a friendly young Asian man the same age. Are you for Bernie? I asked. “Have you seen my T-shirt?” she replied, and opened her jacket: “Carson 2016.” I laughed and asked if she was trolling. She was startled. “No, we just go see all the candidates.”
I keep thinking of the young woman, black, about 20, I saw departing a Sanders event with a friendly young Asian man the same age. Are you for Bernie? I asked. “Have you seen my T-shirt?” she replied, and opened her jacket: “Carson 2016.” I laughed and asked if she was trolling. She was startled. “No, we just go see all the candidates.”
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This of course is a great New Hampshire cliché—they won’t vote for you unless they’ve met you three times. Yet when you see it, something stops you. Every adult in New Hampshire seems to go hear every candidate at least once. They listen and take their measure; they give it the most precious thing they have, time. They take their duty seriously not because they’re jerky and self-important but because they have self-respect. They believe they are the winnowers. Their function is to get the Reasonable Possibles, put down a marker on their favorite, and then throw it to the South.
This of course is a great New Hampshire cliché—they won’t vote for you unless they’ve met you three times. Yet when you see it, something stops you. Every adult in New Hampshire seems to go hear every candidate at least once. They listen and take their measure; they give it the most precious thing they have, time. They take their duty seriously not because they’re jerky and self-important but because they have self-respect. They believe they are the winnowers. Their function is to get the Reasonable Possibles, put down a marker on their favorite, and then throw it to the South.
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At the meetings they don’t ask meek, deferential questions. I saw them lecture candidates, mildly upbraid them, inform them. At a Kasich town hall he was put through his paces on the integrity of state water reservoirs. At a Hilly rally she was pressed on protocols governing the U.S. nuclear arsenal. At a Jeb town hall a woman spoke of Iraq and said if the people who launched that war had known history they wouldn’t have gone in. What, she asked him, is the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni? Mr. Bush gave a brief, broadly accurate answer. “You’re partially right,” she said, and then delivered a precise lecture on the history of Islam, ending with the observation that if American policy makers really knew history they wouldn’t be throwing around phrases like “carpet bomb.”
At the meetings they don’t ask meek, deferential questions. I saw them lecture candidates, mildly upbraid them, inform them. At a Kasich town hall he was put through his paces on the integrity of state water reservoirs. At a Hilly rally she was pressed on protocols governing the U.S. nuclear arsenal. At a Jeb town hall a woman spoke of Iraq and said if the people who launched that war had known history they wouldn’t have gone in. What, she asked him, is the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni? Mr. Bush gave a brief, broadly accurate answer. “You’re partially right,” she said, and then delivered a precise lecture on the history of Islam, ending with the observation that if American policy makers really knew history they wouldn’t be throwing around phrases like “carpet bomb.”
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They have complete democratic confidence. They’re not shy. They’re doing due diligence.
They have complete democratic confidence. They’re not shy. They’re doing due diligence.
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I would look at them in the audience: the frail old lady with thin white hair; the big, rough biker-looking guy; the pleasant middle-aged teacher; the silver-haired accountant with two young kids; the beat-up middle-aged woman with rheumy alcoholic eyes who is sweetly gracious, modest, as she moves to give you a seat; the obese, wild-haired man bursting out of his torn, cracked leather jacket; the giggly, chatty middle-aged redhead in the NoLabels.org sweatshirt; the Patti Smith-looking woman, tall, pale and austere; the hunky football player; the skinny hipster girl in architect eyeglasses and torn jeans. Everybody listening so closely to the candidates. Beret guy, too, with a white bandage on his eye and a beard that went down to the third button of his shirt. What a crew we are.
I would look at them in the audience: the frail old lady with thin white hair; the big, rough biker-looking guy; the pleasant middle-aged teacher; the silver-haired accountant with two young kids; the beat-up middle-aged woman with rheumy alcoholic eyes who is sweetly gracious, modest, as she moves to give you a seat; the obese, wild-haired man bursting out of his torn, cracked leather jacket; the giggly, chatty middle-aged redhead in the NoLabels.org sweatshirt; the Patti Smith-looking woman, tall, pale and austere; the hunky football player; the skinny hipster girl in architect eyeglasses and torn jeans. Everybody listening so closely to the candidates. Beret guy, too, with a white bandage on his eye and a beard that went down to the third button of his shirt. What a crew we are.
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“They’re professional voters,” said a campaign operative at dinner. No, it is more than that. It is more like, “We may be a field hospital, we may be high, we may be damaged by the collapse of the American culture, we may be the prime victims of deindustrialization, but we are: citizens. And we do our job.”
“They’re professional voters,” said a campaign operative at dinner. No, it is more than that. It is more like, “We may be a field hospital, we may be high, we may be damaged by the collapse of the American culture, we may be the prime victims of deindustrialization, but we are: citizens. And we do our job.”
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“We will pick a president.”
“We will pick a president.”
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Choked me up as I witnessed it. No joke. Choked me up.
Choked me up as I witnessed it. No joke. Choked me up.
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