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His Personality Blocks His Agenda
by Tom McLaughlin
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Trump Impresses and Presses in Speech to Top
Muslim Leaders
Donald Trump delivered a powerful and well-received speech to the U.S.-Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh on Sunday, in which he called for the Islamic world to commit itself to the fight to end "Islamic extremism." Trump encouraged Muslim leaders to own the responsibility for defeating Islamic terrorism, stating, "America is prepared to stand with you — in pursuit of shared interests and common security. But the nations of the Middle East cannot wait for American power to crush this enemy for them. The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their countries, and for their children. It is a choice between two futures — and it is a choice America cannot make for you."
Trump briefly noted the epic humanitarian crisis (caused by the policies of Barack liar-nObama and liar-Hillary Clinton, we'll add), which has seen hundreds of thousands of refugees exiting the Middle East. But he also offered a vision of hope: "This region should not be a place from which refugees flee, but to which newcomers flock."
He pointedly challenged the religious legitimacy of radical Islam, saying, "Every time a terrorist murders an innocent person, and falsely invokes the name of God, it should be an insult to every person of faith." Trump continued, contending, "Terrorists do not worship God; they worship death."
In a veiled but obvious rebuke of liar-nObama's failed Middle East policy, Trump pledged that the U.S. would adopted a foreign policy of "principled realism." He elaborated, "We will make decisions based on real-world outcomes — not inflexible ideology. We will be guided by the lessons of experience — not the confines of rigid thinking. And, wherever possible, we will seek gradual reforms — not sudden intervention." And later in his speech, Trump directly focused his sights on Iran, noting its current regime's fueling and funding of terrorism. Saying that from Saudi Arabia was rather pointed.
Trump's clear tone change from the previous eight years is welcome both for Americans frustrated with the U.S.'s lack of leadership in the region and for Middle Eastern leaders who were alarmed by liar-nObama's repeated concessions to Iran. Trump's visit was more than mere words, as he also signed a joint arms agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia worth almost $110 billion. Next up: visiting Israel. On his first foreign trip, Trump is proving himself a capable statesman.
~The Patriot Post
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Tomi Lahren Hired By Pro-Trump Group
by Andrew Kugle
{freebeacon.com} ~ Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren has been hired by the pro-Donald Trump group Great American Alliance for a communications role... The nonprofit group's leaders announced Lahren's hiring on Monday. The organization wants to use Lahren's "growing national profile" to help promote the group's mission, which includes mobilizing grassroots support for President Trump's agenda... http://freebeacon.com/culture/tomi-lahren-hired-pro-trump-group/
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Flynn to take 5th rather than
testify at Senate hearing
by Ed Morrissey
{hotair.com} ~ It seems that the Senate Intelligence Committee couldn’t cut a deal with Michael Flynn after all. The Associated Press reports this morning that the former national security adviser will refuse to provide any testimony... and will invoke the Fifth Amendment instead. Last week, the AP ended up with some egg on its face when it relied on Senate Intel chair Richard Burr’s contention that Flynn had decided to “defy” a subpoena. It turned out that Flynn’s attorneys had not actually responded to the subpoena at the time, forcing everyone into a retreat from the story. As I noted at the time, Flynn had demanded immunity at the end of March in exchange for this testimony, a demand which Trump endorsed at the time. Burr rejected the offer almost immediately, with sources telling NBC that such a request was “wildly preliminary” at that stage... http://hotair.com/archives/2017/05/22/ap-flynn-take-5th-rather-testify-senate-hearing/?utm_source=hadaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl.
Active ISIS Water, Food, Injection Poisoning
Plot Uncovered In Captured Docs
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ Anyone who was around and remembers the Chicago Tylenol murders in 1982 knows how vulnerable we are as a society to evil, sick people who just want to kill... In those murders seven people died from the original lacing of Tylenol capsules with potassium cyanide. There were several more death from copycat offenders. Nobody was ever charged or convicted for the crimes even though there were batch numbers on the medications. Imagine how difficult or impossible it is to prevent similar attacks, to prepare, and to identify and track down the perpetrators as they move from target to target. The description of evil, sick people who just want to kill fits ISIS terrorists. with some recent discoveries of them conducting tests on “human guinea pigs” revealed in documents found hidden in Mosul University after Iraqi special forces recaptured the large portions of the city from ISIS terrorists. The unwitting victims were given tainted food and water that contained compounds used in pesticides and which are easily available, including in the US. It is feared from the information uncovered they had a program that has been in existence for at least three years to develop the capability to conduct such attacks utilizing formulas which dissolve quickly in liquids...http://rickwells.us/active-isis-water-food-poisoning-plot-uncovered-captured-docs/.
Tillerson Reveals Sabotage By Staffer Writing
Trump Russia Meeting Summary
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, exposed what may be a significant weakness of the Trump administration, one that is being exploited by the left with great effectiveness... It was an issue raised a week ago in a Lou Dobbs commentary on the fact that we’re in a war and that the left is fighting their aggressive campaign much better than the suspect and often feckless defensive maneuvers of the White House. In making his case Dobbs noted, “The all too civil, low energy, Trump White House Communications team remains flat-footed and failing.” That evaluation is supported in information that was used as the foundation for Wallace’s question. The official summary quoted Trump as saying, “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”... http://rickwells.us/tillerson-reveals-sabotage-staffer-writing-trump-russia-meeting-summary/
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Donna Brazile warned off
private eye on Seth Rich murder
by Alicia Powe and Liz Crokin
{wnd.com} ~ Former Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman Donna Brazile is the high-ranking DNC representative who allegedly called police and the family of murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich... and demanded to know why a private investigator was “snooping” into Rich’s death, the private eye revealed to WND Monday. “The high-ranking DNC official that called the police after I inquired about Rich’s case was Donna Brazile,” veteran homicide detective Rod Wheeler told WND. “Why shouldn’t I reveal who it was?” Brazile, who was also a CNN contributor and a liar-Hillary for America donor at the time, was caught providing Democratic Party nominee liar-Hillary Clinton with questions that would later be asked of liar-Clinton at a televised CNN town hall. In an interview with Fox News before the election, Brazile denied leaking the questions to liar-Clinton. But in a March 17, 2017, column for Time magazine, she finally admitted doing so, saying it was a “mistake I will forever regret.”... http://www.wnd.com/2017/05/bombshell-donna-brazile-probing-seth-rich-murder-says-private-eye/
{wnd.com} ~ Former Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman Donna Brazile is the high-ranking DNC representative who allegedly called police and the family of murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich... and demanded to know why a private investigator was “snooping” into Rich’s death, the private eye revealed to WND Monday. “The high-ranking DNC official that called the police after I inquired about Rich’s case was Donna Brazile,” veteran homicide detective Rod Wheeler told WND. “Why shouldn’t I reveal who it was?” Brazile, who was also a CNN contributor and a liar-Hillary for America donor at the time, was caught providing Democratic Party nominee liar-Hillary Clinton with questions that would later be asked of liar-Clinton at a televised CNN town hall. In an interview with Fox News before the election, Brazile denied leaking the questions to liar-Clinton. But in a March 17, 2017, column for Time magazine, she finally admitted doing so, saying it was a “mistake I will forever regret.”... http://www.wnd.com/2017/05/bombshell-donna-brazile-probing-seth-rich-murder-says-private-eye/
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Especially if you’re playing against the fragile ego of Donald J. Trump.
His Personality Blocks His Agenda
by Tom McLaughlin
{tommclaughlin.blogspot.com} ~ I voted for him, yes, and given the same choices I’d do so again, but he’s making an ass of himself. Maybe that’s not entirely true because he’s behaving much the same way he did through the primaries, so I guess he already was an ass and he’s just reinforcing that general perception. When he actually governs I like what he does, but his personality blocks his agenda.
Cruz was my choice, but Trump won the nomination. During the primaries and general election campaign I wrote columns critical of Donald Trump and my conservative readership reacted. Some agreed. Others said Trump was the only candidate strong enough to kick butt in Washington — both Democrat and Republican butts — as necessary. I agreed that was indeed necessary, and Trump seemed fearless — unaffected and unintimidated by whatever criticism media directed to him. He’d throw it right back and that’s why he won. But is he really as fearless as he seemed?
A truly tough leader would stick to his battle plan, would expect criticism, and wouldn't let it knock him off track. But maybe voters overestimated Trump’s strength. We’re still in the early rounds of this long fight, but the left and the media — which are one and the same — are getting to him. They haven’t landed any solid punches because there’s no evidence of collusion with the Russians, but they’re playing a head game with Trump and it’s working. He’s not sticking to his fight plan. The criticism is affecting him, bigly. The liar-Hillary campaign focused entirely on Trump’s temperament, but she lost because of her own flaws. It’s ironic now that she was right about his temperament. It’s tripping him up.
Senior advisor Steve Bannon said last February at CPAC that: “[C]orporatist, globalist media… are adamantly opposed -- adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has… If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. Every day -- every day, it is going to be a fight.”
Bannon was absolutely right. He said then that he believed Trump would stick to his agenda through it all, but I wonder what he’s thinking now. Are the rumors of Bannon’s reduced influence true? I have no inside information, but I don’t think Trump has been acting on Bannon’s advice during the past couple of months. I’ll bet Bannon is trying to channel Will Rogers, whose sage advice was: “Never miss a good chance to shut up.” Most of us who voted for him wish Trump would just shut up — and put his phone away too. Don’t tweet until you first consult with advisors.
Is Trump really as tough as he pretends to be? Perhaps, but with many braggarts there’s a deep-seated, inferiority complex under a brusque persona. He can’t point to positive opinion polls the way he did in the primaries, and from which he drew energy. Media onslaught against him since his inauguration has been unprecedented and relentless — and he’s not handling it well at all. A recently-released study on Trump’s first 100 days from Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy claims he got three times more media coverage than previous presidents — and 80% of it has been negative.
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government study
Fox News was the most balanced, but even their coverage was slightly more negative than positive. O’Reilly and Hannity were unequivocally with Trump, but the rest were either lukewarm or against him. It’s not too late to get back on track. The foreign trip is helping and Trump is sticking to script, mostly. Let’s hope that continues.
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government study
When he was negotiating real estate deals, Trump dealt with people who wanted to do business with him. If he expressed annoyance they would be inclined to compromise, but it’s not like that in politics. Political enemies on the left are not moved by petulance. They’re persuaded only by massive public support of the kind Ronald Reagan had. They’re not seeing that behind Trump so they’re obstructing him wherever they can. They rely on their media army to portray the November election as illegitimate. They’ve relentlessly charged that Trump won only because the Russians helped him. That there is no evidence to support this after almost a year of investigation — zip, zero, nada — doesn’t deter them in the least.
I don’t know this but I’d guess that Trump hasn’t played much poker. The left is bluffing. It has nothing, but as Cool Hand Luke said in the famous movie by that name: “Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.”
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