TheFrontPageCover
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Hitting Assad, and Putin, Where It Hurts 
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Deadline Passes With No Contempt,
Impeaching Rosenstein - Congress' New 'Red Line' for Docs
{ rickwells.us } ~ The DOJ’s response to Congress threatening contempt and impeachment for noncompliance with demands... for the production of 1.2 million documents is not unlike someone short on cash sending in their payment to the finance company but “accidentally” forgetting to sign the check. It’s a trick to buy time that has the appearance of a good faith effort. With Goodlatte and Congress, the pathetic response is equivalent to mailing the check back with a new due date in the future and an offer for an unsecured line of credit. It seems that Paul Ryan has stepped on them, told them to “just be patient.” The unsigned check that DOJ has sent to Congress comes in the form of two US Attorneys who are looking into problems at DOJ, one in Utah rope-a-doping on the corruption cover up and another in Chicago working to devise a scheme to complicate what should be a simple matter of sending a van to the IG’s office, loading it with 1.2 million documents in question, and driving to Capitol Hill... https://rickwells.us/deadline-passes-rosenstein-congress/.
GOP bill sends illegal immigrants
to the back of the line for organ transplants
by Pete Kasperowicz
{ washingtonexaminer.com } ~ Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., has introduced legislation that would give legal U.S. residents preferred status over illegal immigrants... when it comes to receiving donated organs. Posey's bill, which was filed on Friday, would amend the Public Health Service Act to "give preference to individuals who are lawfully present in the United States over individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States." An aide to Posey said that means illegal residents could still apply to receive donated organs, but "will not receive organs until all legal residents have been satisfied."... https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gop-bill-sends-illegal-immigrants-to-the-back-of-the-line-for-organ-transplants .
Judicial Watch Sues Justice
and State Departments for Uranium One Records
{ judicialwatch.org } ~ Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State for all records of communications relating to Uranium One... (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-00722)). The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 29. Judicial Watch sued the agencies after they failed to respond to two December 22, 2017, FOIA requests. Judicial Watch asked the Justice Department for: All records regarding, the company Uranium One (otherwise known as Uranium One, Inc. or SXR Uranium One, Inc.). The State Department was asked to produce: Any records relating to the company Uranium One (otherwise known as Uranium One, Inc. or SXR Uranium One, Inc.), including records of communication sent to and from officials in the Office of the Secretary of State, Office of the Legal Advisor, Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, Office of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Office of International Security and Nonproliferation, and the Office of Political-Military Affairs from January 20, 2009 through December 31, 2013. This lawsuit is part of Judicial Watch’s continuing investigation of the highly controversial 2010 Uranium One deal....
John Podhoretz: Comey Admits To A Series Of “Extraordinary Blunders” In ABC Interview .
ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp Discusses Dems Shrinking Generic Ballot Lead.
Kroger CEO: Tax Cuts Allowed Us To Raise Minimum Wage, Invest Millions Into Education Benefits.
FRACK the Paris Climate Deal at March For Science 2018!.
Dershowitz Slams Gutless Comey For Leaking Memos Of Trump Discussions.
The History Of Chemical Weapons.
In Memory Of Gunny, R. Lee Ermey: Salty Language Bloopers From ‘Mail Call’.
The Truth About What’s Really Happening On The Gaza Border.
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Hitting Assad, and Putin, Where It Hurts
by Harold Hutchison: From the squawking that has come from certain corners of the commentariat, you’d think that Donald Trump and his administration put no thought into hitting Syria again. That assumption is way off the mark — we needed to respond to (at least) the third use of chemical weapons against civilians by Syria’s murderous dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Even Great Britain and France joined the U.S. strike, and not without the risk of angering their own burgeoning Muslim populations. In 2013, Assad first crossed the “red line” of using chemical weapons. Predictably and unfortunately, Barack liar-nObama didn’t follow through on his threats against Assad and foolishly chose to trust Vladimir Putin with a deal to remove those weapons. When Assad used chemical weapons again in 2017, testing the resolve of the Trump administration, Trump hit an airfield pretty hard, targeting the Su-22 Fitter ground-attack planes at that base.
Assad has once again tested Trump’s mettle. While we have made significant strides to contain the Islamic State, Assad is challenging how far the administration will go to subdue the Syrian regime now that Putin has provided him with human shields in Russian uniforms.
After strikes on top of the sustained economic and diplomatic efforts, will Assad, and Putin, get the message this time? Probably not. Moreover, given that Assad isn’t hesitant about using chemical weapons on his own people, he’s not likely to think twice about handing them off to terrorists like Hezbollah or Hamas.
The good news from this second round of strikes is that we have diminished Putin’s shield. Russia did not use its advanced S-400 systems to try to protect Assad, and in fact moved his ships out of the way. Furthermore, Trump, who is already trying to leverage Putin, has now improved his chances by tying Putin closer to Assad.
Putin now has two unappetizing options: He can either hang Assad out to dry and lose credibility as an ally in the region, or he can be seen as defending a government that uses chemical weapons on its own people. So Trump’s strategy now is to negotiate a way for Putin to save some face — maybe by offering to lift some sanctions if Putin can talk Assad into leaving power and accepting exile in Russia.
This situation, though, isn’t risk-free for the United States. If Assad uses chemical weapons again, restoring deterrence would require either escalating the fight or folding. Hopefully, though, Putin and Assad will blink first.
A final note on the constitutional authority — or lack thereof — for these strikes. It must be reiterated that Trump is aiming to clean up the mess his predecessor left him, and that can limit options. He is also enforcing the Geneva Convention prohibition against the use of chemical weapons. He declared “mission accomplished” already and has no intent (yet) to expand U.S. military action in Syria. That said, he should have sought Congress’s backing. For its part, Congress has no interest in taking such tough votes, and thus happily cedes authority to the president, which has become a terrible precedent going back many administrations. But the Authorization for Use of Military Force against al-Qaida and its safe-haven nations does not cover action against Assad’s regime. Nor does the 1973 War Powers Resolution, because this was not an act of self-defense against an immediate threat to the U.S.
The U.S. hasn’t formally declared war since 1941. That’s not likely to change any time soon, no matter the administration or the Congress. ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/55376-hitting-assad-and-putin-where-it-hurts
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