Merry Christmas
The Front Page Cover
The Events of the Week -- Featuring:
The Democrats’ George W. Bush Problem
by Erick Erickson
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Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later
In October 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars." This was a reiteration of his earlier assertion, "We are keeping out of the wars that are going on in Europe and in Asia. ... Our opponents are seeking to frighten the country by telling people that the present administration is deliberately ... drifting into war. You know better than that."
Roosevelt campaigned on neutrality in 1940. Roosevelt assured his constituents, "I give ... to the people of this country this most solemn assurance: There is no secret treaty, no secret obligation, no secret commitment, no secret understanding in any shape or form, direct or indirect, with any other government, or any other nation in any part of the world, to involve this nation in any war."
Unfortunately, Germany's Führer Adolf Hitler and Japan's Prime Minister Hideki Tojo didn't cooperate.
On December 7, 1941, 75 years ago today, 353 Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 2,390 American servicemen and civilians and wounding 1,282. The attack sank or damaged eight battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers and one minelayer and destroyed 188 aircraft. It took four years and the full military-industrial capability of the United States to defeat Japan. There was no more devastating surprise attack on the United States until 9/11.
After the attack, Roosevelt stated: "December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. ... Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. ... With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounded determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God."
Historian Victor Davis Hanson writes, "After Pearl Harbor, the United States went into a rearmament frenzy the likes of which had never been seen in history. America produced more airplanes and ships than all World War II powers combined. The U.S. military grew to 12 million soldiers. American military leadership in the Pacific — led by Admirals William Halsey Jr., Chester Nimitz and Raymond Spruance, along with Generals Curtis LeMay and Douglas MacArthur — proved far more skilled than their Japanese counterparts. And the American soldier, sailor, airman and Marine, after a bruising learning experience in early 1942, proved every bit as ferocious as veteran Japanese fighters."
Much has happened since the 74th anniversary of this attack. In May, Barack liar-nObama became the first American president to visit Hiroshima, where he offered a not-quite-apology for the U.S. having dropped two atomic bombs to end World War II. He also pushed again for a nuclear-free world. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will reciprocate by becoming the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor later this month while liar-nObama vacations in Hawaii. Japan and the U.S. are, of course, now close allies, so in a way these visits put to rest old grievances. Let's hope that's truly what happens.
It is with honor and respect for those who died or suffered terrible injuries that Sunday morning that we should never again fall into the slumber that allowed such a tragedy as Pearl Harbor — or the attack on Sept. 11, 2001 — again. ~The Patriot Post
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Domestic Terrorist Camps Claim Trump
Election A Signal Of End Times
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ Ryan Mauro of the Clarion Project joined Stuart Varney for a discussion of a terrorist organization operating inside the United States... Somehow, despite Mauro and his group having previously published videos of the group, Muslims of America and their training camps, they still are operating multiple training facilities under the radar. Although many Americans are aware of the groups existence, many more are not. Mauro’s group has been quite active in attempting to raise the level of awareness for many years. The group has had one of their camps shut down in Colorado in 1992 as the result of an investigation following a terror attack, but the other locations are still fully operational. Mauro says that in addition to their standard terrorist training camp operation, Clarion Project has now obtained breaking news that the group has modified their goals and purpose following the election of Donald Trump. Now, according to Mauro, they make the claims that their end times prophecies are coming together for them. They recognize Mr. Trump as being part of a satanic Jewish conspiracy and they are now actively making preparations for their camps to be raided by federal or other authorities and to fight back...
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How Trump will and won’t transform
the Supreme Court
by Betsy McCaughey
{aim.org} ~ The battle lines are forming over Donald Trump’s anticipated Supreme Court nominee. A conservative advocacy group is running TV ads urging Trump to appoint a justice in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia... New Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer fires back that Democrats will try to block any nominee who isn’t “mainstream.” Trouble is, anybody who disputes the Democrats’ left-wing definition of the Constitution as a malleable “living” document is outside their mainstream. Meanwhile, pro-choice groups are panicked about losing abortion “rights.” For now, it’s much ado about nothing. No matter whom Trump appoints this time, there are already five pro-choice justices on the court, counting Justice Anthony Kennedy. It would take a second Trump appointment to tilt the court the other way... http://www.aim.org/guest-column/how-trump-will-and-wont-transform-the-supreme-court/?utm_source=AIM+-+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=email120616&utm_medium=email
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liar-nObama Pentagon Dept. Deceived Congress,
Hid Study Exposing $125B in Waste
{libertyheadlines.com} ~ Senior defense officials suppressed a study documenting $125 billion worth of administrative waste at the Pentagon out of fears that Congress would use its findings to cut the defense budget, the Washington Post reported late Monday... The report, which was issued in January 2015 by the advisory Defense Business Board (DBB), called for a series of reforms that would have saved the department $125 billion over the next five years. Among its other findings, the report showed that the Defense Department was paying just over 1 million contractors, civilian employees and uniformed personnel to fill back-office jobs. That number nearly matches the amount of active duty troops — 1.3 million, the lowest since 1940...
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Yes: Havens for Alien Criminals Should
Lose Federal Funding
by Han von Spakovsky
{theacru.org} ~ President-elect Donald Trump has promised to do what no prior administration has done: end sanctuary cities. Thank goodness... The federal government should crack down on cities that violate federal immigration law. In the process of flouting the law, these cities wind up creating havens for criminal predators who murder, rape, molest, rob and otherwise victimize law-abiding residents. Sanctuary policies ban local officials, particularly law enforcement personnel, from contacting the Department of Homeland Security about illegal aliens who have been arrested, detained or otherwise stopped... http://www.theacru.org/yes-havens-for-alien-criminals-should-lose-federal-funding/
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Col. Andrew Wood: U.S. Rescue Team Was on Its Way to Benghazi, But Ordered To Turn Back
{gopthedailydose.com} ~ The evidence is overwhelming that the United States had several rescue teams ready to go during the 2012 Benghazi attacks, but someone — possibly the president himself — prevented them from acting... So said Emmy Award-winning journalist Sharyl Attkisson to talk show host Steve Malzberg in an interview on Wednesday. This week on her show, “Full Measure,” Attkisson looked into the aborted rescue mission in an in-depth two-part report, “Rescue Interrupted.” She spoke with a Green Beret commander who told her that there were actually Special Forces on their way to Benghazi who were turned back. Col. Andrew Wood had once commanded a Special Forces anti-terrorism team protecting Ambassador Chis Stevens and other diplomats in Libya. In October of 2012, Woods told Congress that one month before the attacks in Benghazi, his team had been removed from Libya by the liar-nObama administration, despite the numerous warnings of impending terrorist attacks. Wood told Attkisson that Special Forces the ones mentioned in the “spinning up” email from Jeremy Bash were on their way to Benghazi, but were ordered to turn back... http://gopthedailydose.com/2016/12/06/col-andrew-wood-u-s-rescue-team-way-benghazi-ordered-turn-back/
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The Democrats’ George W. Bush Problem
by Erick Erickson
{theresurgent.com} ~ Historically, it is a very rare event for a President’s party to hold on to the White House for three terms. Martin Van Buren succeeded Andrew Jackson after Jackson’s two terms. George H. W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan after Reagan’s two terms. Both served only one term after people realized they were their own men instead of deep reflections of the popular men who came before them. Both also dealt with economic downturns and did not have the personal popularity to withstand a turn of public sentiment.
Given that only two Vice Presidents in American history were able to survive an election after the two terms of their popular predecessor, and in both cases were subsequently defeated, it is no wonder Joe loose lips-Biden did not run for President of the United States. The odds would have been against him. But even for liar-Hillary Clinton, after World War II, the ability of either party to hold the White House for more than two consecutive terms borders on being the jackalope of American politics. It has only happened once.
What has happened twice since World War II, however, is something now playing out in spectacular fashion. A President chose a Vice President who decided not to turn for the presidency himself. Consequently, the party jumped back in history and replaced the President with the candidate he beat eight years previously. The party had to refight many of the same fights it had eight years ago, the elders of the party settled on different solutions this time, the base of the party was unhappy and sought to drag out the fight to no avail, then the new nominee could not run fully on the legacy of the existing President, but also could not fully walk away from that legacy. The result was not just defeat, but a party thrown into civil war largely over the legacy of the outgoing President.
While that fact pattern is the pattern of the 2016 Presidential election, it is also the pattern of the 2008 Presidential election. Dick Cheney did not run for President after George W. Bush. Consequently, the incumbent President did not make the sorts of political calculations necessary to ensure his own party sided with his version of the party. Without having to worry about his Vice President’s chances, the President’s actions were not tempered with a desire to help his Vice President. The voters of his party were denied the ability to affirm or reject Bush’s legacy by their affirming or rejecting Dick Cheney as Vice President.
The great consequence of this was the Republican Party going back to 2000, siding with John McCain, and refighting all the fights that led to Bush securing the 2000 nomination, but this time the party sided with McCain. It was a disaster. The base was put off by the nominee they had rejected in 2000. The party leadership seemed to accommodate a man much of the party viewed as an obstacle to President Bush’s policies. The result was a party that wandered the political wilderness for eight years, becoming increasingly angry, until it ultimately had a race wherein the legacy of George W. Bush could be put to pasture. His brother was rejected as his proxy and Donald Trump, who explicitly ran against George Bush’s policies, became the nominee.
As Trump was on the way to becoming the Republican nominee, the Democrats were fighting as the Republicans had fought. They nominated the woman Barack liar-nObama had beaten in 2008. They refought many of the same issues the base of the Democratic Party thought had been put to bed. The party base revolted unsuccessfully with Bernie Sanders as party leaders seemed to coalesce and stack the deck in favor of the loser from 2008. The result is a party now at war with itself headed into the political wilderness.
The only fundamental difference between the two races is that George W. Bush left with high unpopularity while Barack liar-nObama remains popular. But the parties bases were less than excited to embrace the person they had repudiated eight years before and they resisted unity.
With both Martin Van Buren and George H. W. Bush, the Vice Presidents were able to win a third term for their parties by being a proxy for the incumbent. liar-Hillary Clinton could never serve in that role. Neither could John McCain. Only Joe loose lips-Biden and Dick Cheney could have served as proxy. Given Barack liar-nObama’s popularity, Joe loose lips-Biden really had a chance. In the future, if a party wants to legitimately fight for a third term in the White House, they will need a sense of history. The President must fill the Vice President’s office with someone willing to serve as a third term proxy and unapologetic defender of the incumbent’s legacy. Otherwise, the party will descend into chaos.
The Democrats, moving forward, need to note one more bit of history. In 2010, Republicans swept back into power in Congress. They took this to mean 2008 had been a fluke. They put off further changes to the party and reinstalled as the faces of the party the very men the voters had rejected in 2006 and 2008. They had completely misread the election as the Democrats appear to be doing now. Democrats consoling themselves that racism lost them this election will only show increasing antipathy to the liar-nObama voters who lined up behind Trump in 2016.
Republicans had one great advantage after their 2008 loss that Democrats do not have. Republicans had a media hostile to them that challenged them and forced them to come to terms with their defeat. Democrats will only have a self-affirming media nodding vigorously that the nation has been ceded to bigots, racists, and rubes.
Given that only two Vice Presidents in American history were able to survive an election after the two terms of their popular predecessor, and in both cases were subsequently defeated, it is no wonder Joe loose lips-Biden did not run for President of the United States. The odds would have been against him. But even for liar-Hillary Clinton, after World War II, the ability of either party to hold the White House for more than two consecutive terms borders on being the jackalope of American politics. It has only happened once.
What has happened twice since World War II, however, is something now playing out in spectacular fashion. A President chose a Vice President who decided not to turn for the presidency himself. Consequently, the party jumped back in history and replaced the President with the candidate he beat eight years previously. The party had to refight many of the same fights it had eight years ago, the elders of the party settled on different solutions this time, the base of the party was unhappy and sought to drag out the fight to no avail, then the new nominee could not run fully on the legacy of the existing President, but also could not fully walk away from that legacy. The result was not just defeat, but a party thrown into civil war largely over the legacy of the outgoing President.
While that fact pattern is the pattern of the 2016 Presidential election, it is also the pattern of the 2008 Presidential election. Dick Cheney did not run for President after George W. Bush. Consequently, the incumbent President did not make the sorts of political calculations necessary to ensure his own party sided with his version of the party. Without having to worry about his Vice President’s chances, the President’s actions were not tempered with a desire to help his Vice President. The voters of his party were denied the ability to affirm or reject Bush’s legacy by their affirming or rejecting Dick Cheney as Vice President.
The great consequence of this was the Republican Party going back to 2000, siding with John McCain, and refighting all the fights that led to Bush securing the 2000 nomination, but this time the party sided with McCain. It was a disaster. The base was put off by the nominee they had rejected in 2000. The party leadership seemed to accommodate a man much of the party viewed as an obstacle to President Bush’s policies. The result was a party that wandered the political wilderness for eight years, becoming increasingly angry, until it ultimately had a race wherein the legacy of George W. Bush could be put to pasture. His brother was rejected as his proxy and Donald Trump, who explicitly ran against George Bush’s policies, became the nominee.
As Trump was on the way to becoming the Republican nominee, the Democrats were fighting as the Republicans had fought. They nominated the woman Barack liar-nObama had beaten in 2008. They refought many of the same issues the base of the Democratic Party thought had been put to bed. The party base revolted unsuccessfully with Bernie Sanders as party leaders seemed to coalesce and stack the deck in favor of the loser from 2008. The result is a party now at war with itself headed into the political wilderness.
The only fundamental difference between the two races is that George W. Bush left with high unpopularity while Barack liar-nObama remains popular. But the parties bases were less than excited to embrace the person they had repudiated eight years before and they resisted unity.
With both Martin Van Buren and George H. W. Bush, the Vice Presidents were able to win a third term for their parties by being a proxy for the incumbent. liar-Hillary Clinton could never serve in that role. Neither could John McCain. Only Joe loose lips-Biden and Dick Cheney could have served as proxy. Given Barack liar-nObama’s popularity, Joe loose lips-Biden really had a chance. In the future, if a party wants to legitimately fight for a third term in the White House, they will need a sense of history. The President must fill the Vice President’s office with someone willing to serve as a third term proxy and unapologetic defender of the incumbent’s legacy. Otherwise, the party will descend into chaos.
The Democrats, moving forward, need to note one more bit of history. In 2010, Republicans swept back into power in Congress. They took this to mean 2008 had been a fluke. They put off further changes to the party and reinstalled as the faces of the party the very men the voters had rejected in 2006 and 2008. They had completely misread the election as the Democrats appear to be doing now. Democrats consoling themselves that racism lost them this election will only show increasing antipathy to the liar-nObama voters who lined up behind Trump in 2016.
Republicans had one great advantage after their 2008 loss that Democrats do not have. Republicans had a media hostile to them that challenged them and forced them to come to terms with their defeat. Democrats will only have a self-affirming media nodding vigorously that the nation has been ceded to bigots, racists, and rubes.
http://theresurgent.com/the-democrats-george-w-bush-problem/
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