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January 2020

Gallup: Majority Opposes Trump Removal By Matthew Continetti

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/gallup-majority-opposes-trump-removal/

As if we needed further evidence of our divided country: Gallup’s latest poll shows that a majority, 51 percent to 46 percent, opposes removing President Trump from office.

The polls are as divided as America. A CNN-SSRS poll conducted shortly after Gallup’s survey has a majority favoring conviction, 51 percent to 45 percent. The CNN-SSRS poll was of registered voters. Gallup’s was of adults. The RealClearPolitics average of polls is a tie: 47 percent for removal, 47 percent against it. The FiveThirtyEight average has 49 percent supporting impeachment, and 46 percent opposing it.

So America is split. And perhaps a little confused. What’s remarkable is how stable this division and confusion is. The “Pro’s” have held a slight advantage in FiveThirtyEight’s calculations since October. The “No’s” have held the slightest of edges in the RealClearPolitics average since December. Throughout it all, President Trump’s approval rating has waxed and waned within the low- to mid-forties.

 

Gallup’s number is positive for Trump. The pollster has him at 44 percent job approval. “Trump’s recent job approval ratings — though below the historical average 53% for post-World War II presidents — are among the highest of his presidency,” writes Jeffrey M. Jones.

They are also above his average 40 percent approval during his term. “Trump’s job approval ratings are nowhere near as high as Clinton’s were during his impeachment saga, but they are among the best Trump has registered as president.” They are also right about where Barack Obama’s approval was as he kicked off his successful reelection campaign.

Government in the Shadows By Victor Davis Hanson

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/anti-trumpers-conduct-shadow-government/

Goodbye to the peaceful transfer of power.

T he frenetic opposition to Donald Trump by the Washington establishment, the new progressive, hard-left Democratic party, and in particular the veterans of the Obama administration has led to the ruination of a number of hallowed protocols and customs.

Impeachment has been redefined as a mere vote of no confidence and will become a rank political ploy for years to come once an opposition party gains a majority in the House. It is taking on the flavor of a preemptory device, a vaccination, rather than a medicine, as if to prevent future hypothetical crimes in the absence of current impeachable offenses.

Whistleblowers are now mere political operatives, who work with the opposition party to disseminate second- and third-hand rumor to prompt impeachment frenzies.

The FISA court has been disgraced. It was revealed to be either incompetent or actively partisan in its failure to question the Steele dossier’s legitimacy, in ignoring the warnings of Devin Nunes’s memo, and in the court’s selection of hard-core anti-Trump partisan David Kris to monitor FBI compliance with the recommendations of the Horowitz report. At this point, the existing FISA courts should probably be dismissed and the laws authorizing their creation rewritten.

Austrian Coalition Agreement: The “Road to Serfdom” by Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15469/austria-coalition-agreement-serfdom

Most of what the People’s Party and the Greens grandly announce in their pact paves the road to an illiberal democracy, even a totalitarian country, by introducing a dictatorship of political correctness.

“[There is a] major restriction, if not ultimately, the abolition of the most important fundamental and human right, freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is the central basis and prerequisite for any democracy based on the rule of law. This is exactly why Turkey or Russia are not democracies — there are elections there, but people are constantly being locked up for [their] opinions.” — Andreas Unterberger, Austria’s most widely read political blogger, January 3, 2020.

Now, a number of institutions, funded by taxpayer money, will be established to monitor those people whose opinions are no longer acceptable…. the measures introduced in the coalition agreement which target only “right-wing extremism or extremists” will lead to a new wave of turning people in that is reminiscent of a very dark era in Austrian history.

“This is the first time since 1945 that the fight against thoughts has become official government policy in Austria.” — Andreas Unterberger.

While most of the world’s attention was focused on the death of a terrorist leader, Iran’s Qasem Soleimani, and the ensuing missile retaliation in the Middle East, a small country in the heart of Europe was once again ruled by an elected coalition government. Following snap elections in late September 2019, the Austrian population exhibited great patience until the start of a new decade, when, on January 2, the Austrian People’s Party and the Greens proclaimed, to paraphrase the Vatican: “Habemus gubernationem!” (We have a government!)

Given that the two parties entering this government are polar opposites in terms of political orientation, left vs. right, it is not surprising that the negotiations for a “viable” and lasting government took 100 days until their successful conclusion. Moreover, given what the Greens stand for — the climate, preventing “right-wing extremists” (namely the Austrian Freedom Party) from entering government ever again, and transparency — it would seem irreconcilable with the People’s Party’s goals: migration and law and order. At first, only the Austrian and European mainstream media and the European Union enthusiasts in Brussels were optimistic about this new coalition. The latest polls, however, indicate rising approval among the population.

How long this enthusiasm will last, remains to be seen. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz praised the 326-page coalition agreement as “incorporating the best of both worlds”, and although it contains the proverbial “good, bad and ugly”, regretfully only little can be considered good. In fact, most of what the People’s Party and the Greens grandly announce in their pact paves the road to an illiberal democracy, even a totalitarian country, by introducing a dictatorship of political correctness. As argued by Andreas Unterberger who runs Austria’s largest political blog:

“[There is a] major restriction, if not ultimately, the abolition of the most important fundamental and human right, freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is the central basis and prerequisite for any democracy based on the rule of law. This is exactly why Turkey or Russia are not democracies – there are elections there, but people are constantly being locked up for [their] opinions.”

Afghanistan Is Joe Biden’s War Julie Kelly

https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/20/afghanistan-is-joe-bidens-war/

It’s easy for the Democratic frontrunner to claim now that he would order troops home if he’s elected president. But first, the former vice president needs to account for the disaster that he and Barack Obama left for Donald Trump to clean up.

Joe Biden often brags that he was Barack Obama’s foreign affairs consigliere during their eight years together in the White House.

“One of the reasons Barack Obama picked me as vice president is because he lacked the background in foreign policy,” Biden told an NPR reporter in December. “He knew what he wanted to do, he knew how to get it done. But notice every time we had a problem on Capitol Hill, who went up and got it fixed?” Biden, of course, was referring to himself.

But as Obama’s legacy on international affairs implodes under the glare of Donald Trump’s brighter achievements, the role of Obama’s self-proclaimed BFF and global guru deserves long-delayed scrutiny. And no other Obama-era debacle merits more scrutiny than the war in Afghanistan, America’s longest-running war that continues to cost young lives and tens of billions in U.S. tax dollars each year.

In an explosive series published last month in the Washington Post, “The Afghanistan Papers” provides firsthand accounts from the war’s closest managers. Dozens of interviews offer insight into how the conflict has been mishandled from the start; how intelligence has been politicized; and how top officials, including former commanders-in-chief, have deceived the public and Congress about the real status of the war.

U.S. Army Purchases Israeli Spike NLOS Missiles How Obama’s perfidy led to the marriage of an Israeli missile with an American gunship. Ari Lieberman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/us-army-purchases-israeli-spike-nlos-missiles-ari-lieberman/

The United States Army announced that it will purchase the Israeli Spike Non-Light-Of-Sight missile (NLOS) for its fleet of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters (and possibly for its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms) as an interim solution for a missile with greater standoff capabilities. Built by Raphael Advanced Defense Systems, the Spike NLOS has a range of 25 kilometers, which is more than double than that of the American Hellfire missile.

The missile, which features an advanced tandem warhead design is capable of penetrating reactive armor as well as the latest variants of composite armor. The “Non-Line-Of-Sight” is a reference to the Spike’s “over the horizon” capabilities, which enables the missile to engage an enemy target through indirect, standoff positions. This feature, along with the Spike’s range makes the pilot much less vulnerable to air defense systems, including anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft artillery.

The Spike NLOS can be guided via a laser designator or real-time wireless data link. The operator can also abort the mission after launch or change targets. This is an important feature that enables the operator to limit collateral damage should civilians suddenly appear or alternatively, to direct the missile toward a more valuable or dangerous target. The dynamic and fluid nature of the modern battlefield makes this feature invaluable. The Hellfire does not have this capability.

Israel produces a wide variety of Spike missiles with different ranges for different combat situations. Some variants are light-weight and can be shoulder fired while other variants are heavier and can be launched from combat ships and areal platforms. Variants of Israel’s Spike are in service with 31 militaries worldwide but there is no better advertisement for the Spike than getting the U.S. Army’s imprimatur.

Beware the Fool’s Gold of Diplomacy Negotiation only gives the Mullahs time. Bruce Thornton

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/beware-fools-gold-diplomacy-bruce-thornton/

The killing of Qassem Soleimani by a U.S. drone strike, and Iran’s accidental downing of a Ukrainian commercial airliner, have both humiliated the mullahs and exposed their lethal incompetence. Continuing protests by Iranian citizens against the feckless and corrupt regime reveal deepening fissures in the Iranian political order, as President Trump’s “maximum pressure” on Iran’s economy continues to bite deeper.

But while we should be pushing harder on the tottering regime, the same old voices of idealistic internationalism are calling for “diplomatic outreach” and “negotiations” to rewrite the nuclear deal. President Trump’s goal of that pressure, at least rhetorically so far, is also to renegotiate the nuclear deal and give it teeth, though he has put the burden on Iran to take the first step. And Britain, France, and Germany have triggered the nuclear agreement’s “dispute mechanisms” which could lead to broader “snap-back” sanctions on Iran. They too are calling for a renegotiated agreement.

But instead of yet again mining the fool’s gold of diplomacy, we should resist this glittering fraud. Diplomatic “engagement” with Iran will achieve nothing other than to give Iran time to spin its centrifuges, and inch closer to a nuclear weapon and the missiles to deliver them.

During the busy Lunar New Year, an aggressive coronavirus is on the move By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/during_the_busy_lunar_new_year_an_aggressive_coronavirus_is_on_the_move.html

A growing viral threat in China reminds us that there’s a very thin line between civilization and disaster. Moreover, it tells us that our government should be focusing on disease preventing and not on whether boys should be using girls’ bathrooms. But first, a little history to put things in perspective.

The world’s biggest die-off in recorded history – known as the Black Death, the Great Morality, the Pestilence, or the Great Plague – got its start thanks to a period of global cooling following the life-giving force of the Medieval Warming Period (950-1100 A.D.). During the warming period, land became more productive, and the population grew and expanded into formerly barren lands. (Greenland was once actually green.) When the climate began to cool, though, crops diminished, leading to starvation and weakened immune systems. War was normative.

The plague started in China, as rodents fled areas that were drying out in the cooling world. In 1347, Genoese traders were in the port city of Kaffa on the Crimea (now in Ukraine), when the Mongol hordes, who were looking for greener pastures, laid siege to the city. The plague-ridden Mongol army engaged in biological warfare by catapulting corpses into the city. The Genoese traders who escaped carried the plague to Sicily, and from there it spread to the rest of Europe. Best guesses are that 75 to 200 million people died.

Now that the stage is properly set, here’s the news from China today, and it’s way better than the news from China in the 14th Century:

An outbreak of a never-before-seen coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan dramatically worsened over the last few days—the case count has more than tripled, cases have appeared in new cities, and authorities have confirmed that the virus is spreading person to person.

The World Health Organization announced Monday that it will convene an emergency meeting on Wednesday, January 22, to assess the outbreak and how best to manage it

Mitch McConnell proposes a swift impeachment proceeding. By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/mitch_mcconnell_proposes_a_swift_impeachment_proceeding.html

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a “Resolution to provide for related procedures concerning the articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, President of the United States.” The plan calls for such streamlined proceedings that the whole impeachment could be resolved by the end of next week, before President Trumps State of the Union address on February 4.

These are the main terms in the 4-page document:

The House shall file publicly available evidentiary materials that the House Judiciary Committee produced or that others submitted to it.
The Senate shall vote on whether “to consider and debate under the impeachment rules any motion to subpoena witnesses or document.” 
Depending on the vote, the House may have admitted into evidence some or all of the materials in the record.
The deadline for the House and the President to file motions other than evidentiary motions is 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 22.
Motion responses are due by 11:00 a.m. on the same day.
Oral argument on the motions will be held at 1:00 p.m. on the same day.
After a ruling upon the motions (if any are made), the House will have a 24 hour time period over the course of two days to make its case.
The President will then have the same amount of time (24 hours over two days) to present his defense.
Senators will then have 16 hours to question both parties.
Following questions, each side is allowed no more than 2 hours to argue whether or not addition witnesses or documents should be subpoenaed. The Senate shall immediately rule on those arguments.
If the Senate votes to allow more evidence, the witnesses shall be deposed and only then will the Senate decide which witnesses will testify.
And then the Senate votes.

Contrary to leftist hopes and conservative fears, the Richmond rally was peaceful By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/contrary_to_leftist_hopes_and_conservative_fears_the_richmond_rally_was_peaceful.html

Leftists craved the thought of violence occurring at Monday’s Second Amendment in Richmond, Virginia, while Second Amendment supporters were concerned that groups such as Antifa would use false flag operations to make trouble. Fortunately, as Fox News reported, “A gun-rights rally in Richmond that brought thousands of people from across the country to protest a push by Virginia Democrats for comprehensive gun control ended peacefully without any major incidents.”

The rally exposed deep faultlines in America when it comes to guns. On the conservative side, gun rights activists note that the first shots the American revolutionaries fired, on April 19, 1775, were to prevent the British from acting on orders to seize and destroy arms and munitions hidden in Lexington and Concord. From the start, America has been about the people’s right to keep and bear arms.

After the Americans had routed the British, the Founding Fathers remained focused on the fact that the only defense against a tyrannical government is the People. To minimize the risk that could arise from a federal government with a standing army, James Madison, writing in Federalist #46, spoke of the best bulwark against a tyrannical government’s troops:

To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands . . . fighting for their common liberties. . . . It may well be doubted, whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. Those who are best acquainted with the last successful resistance of this country against the British arms, will be most inclined to deny the possibility of it.

Gun Owners Rally in Richmond . . . and the Predictions of Violence Look Like Panic By Jim Geraghty

Perhaps the police presence kept everyone on their best behavior. Or perhaps it was the presence of all of those armed citizens. Perhaps the hateful types decided to stay away — or perhaps they were never that likely to show up in significant numbers at all. Governor Ralph Northam enacted unprecedented emergency security measures out of fears that racists will be in attendance. Because if we Virginians know anything, it’s that Ralph Northam would never tolerate anything racist.

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One and a half hour after the rally officially ended, one woman was arrested for wearing a mask. According to police, she was warned twice; charged, and then released on her own recognizance. As the Richmond Times-Dispatch notes, quite a few rally attendees wore ski masks; the day was frigid.

The day went, by almost every measure, exactly the way Second Amendment advocates and law-abiding gun owners hoped it would . . . well, by almost every measure. Apparently the leaders of the new Democratic majority in the state legislature think getting 22,000 people to attend a rally outside the capitol on a frigid morning is no big deal:

Democratic lawmakers — including House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw — told AP the rally wouldn’t impact their plans to pass gun-control measures, including universal background checks and a one-handgun-purchase-a-month limit. Democrats say tightening Virginia’s gun laws will make communities safer and help prevent mass shootings like the one last year in Virginia Beach, where a dozen people were killed in a municipal building.