Mr. Schiff’s Impeachment Opus His overstatements reveal the weakness of the Democratic case.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mr-schiffs-impeachment-opus-11575418600?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

These columns warned that once the machinery of impeachment was up and running, it would be impossible to stop. And so on Tuesday Adam Schiff released his House Intelligence Committee report on Ukraine that finds President Trump guilty of playing domestic politics with foreign policy. But it’s clear the President’s real sin is being the willful, undisciplined Donald Trump voters elected.

The bulk of Mr. Schiff’s 300-page opus is a prosecutorial account of Mr. Trump’s four-month attempt to persuade new Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce investigations into corruption and Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election. It is not a flattering tale, and it would make a compelling plank in a 2020 campaign indictment of Mr. Trump’s character and poor judgment.

But Mr. Schiff’s report casts himself and his cause as much grander. He is Adam at the bridge of our republic, heroic defender of American democracy. His introduction is worth quoting at length to capture his pretensions to nonpartisan statesmanship.

“The decision to move forward with an impeachment inquiry is not one we took lightly. Under the best of circumstances, impeachment is a wrenching process for the nation. I resisted calls to undertake an impeachment investigation for many months on that basis, notwithstanding the existence of presidential misconduct that I believed to be deeply unethical and damaging to our democracy,” he writes.

Hollywood Socialism By John Stossel

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/hollywood-socialism/

Hollywood is now obsessing about increasing ethnic and gender diversity. Good. There’s been nasty racial and gender discrimination in the movie business.

Unfortunately, Hollywood has no interest in one type of diversity: diversity of thought.

In most every movie, capitalism is evil.

Greedy miners want to kill nature-loving aliens in “Avatar.” Director James Cameron says: “The mining company boss will be the villain again in several sequels… Same guy. Same mother—-er through all four movies.”

One reviewer calls a scene in the recent “Star Wars” movie “a beautiful critique of unregulated capitalism.”

“Unregulated capitalism” is such a stupid cliche. Markets are regulated by customers, who have choices; we routinely abandon suppliers who don’t serve us well.

In the movie “In Time,” rich people live forever by buying more time, which they hoard while arranging for higher prices so poor people die.

I guess rich movie people feel guilty about being rich.

In the new Amazon series “Jack Ryan,” the hero asks a good question about Venezuela: “Why is this country in the midst of one of the greatest humanitarian crises in history?”

Because socialism ruined the country’s economy! But no, that’s not the answer Jack Ryan gives.

“Nationalist pride,” not socialism, is named as the culprit — and the politician who will fix things is an activist running “on a social justice platform.”

The producers reversed reality, portraying leftists as Venezuela’s saviors rather than as the people who destroyed it.

An Ambulance with Your Pot Order? Gatestone Institute moving ahead with yearlong review of legalized marijuana

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15242/marijuana-accidents-michigan

During the new year… Gatestone will be empaneling experts to examine this emerging threat to motorists, pedestrians, those in the workplace, and young people.

We need to understand the implications of that on public health….

Marijuana has been listed as the most common drug involved in fatal car accidents, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999, the last time such data was available.

Within hours of Michigan permitting the legalized sale of recreational marijuana this weekend, state police reported a driver found to be under the influence of marijuana crashed his truck into a police cruiser. The driver was arrested after admitting he had been smoking pot before the accident, and the state trooper was treated for minor injuries.

That incident is just a single snapshot of what the nation may be facing as more and more states move forward the legalization of recreational marijuana sales, underscoring the reason why Gatestone Institute will be conducting a series of symposiums in the coming year that will closely examine the potential impact of legalized pot on the wellbeing of our nation’s children, occupational safety, transportation, and the enormous potential for substance abuse.

Gatestone stated: “In 2020, we expect the momentum to legalize recreational marijuana will only increase. What deeply concerns us is that there has not been a thoughtful and comprehensive review of what this means. Should we have specific safeguards in place that will protect our society? Have states put the anticipated tax revenue from pot sales ahead of the safety of their constituents?”

During the new year, Gatestone will be empaneling experts to examine this emerging threat to motorists, pedestrians, those in the workplace, and young people. “In truth, there is not a segment of our nation’s population that will not be impacted by the arrival of legalized marijuana. We need to understand the implications of that on public health,” Gatestone added.

Marijuana has been listed as the most common drug involved in fatal car accidents, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999, the last time such data was available. “Based on these statistics, that number will most likely increase exponentially in the coming year.”

In the wake of the Michigan accident state police were quick to remind the public in a tweet:

“This [accident] is a reminder that on the day legal marijuana can be purchased, do not smoke and drive. Just like alcohol use a ride service, designated driver or stay home.”

‘Why do they hate us?’ Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/why-do-they-hate-us/

Europeans, specifically those in the United Kingdom as they approach elections, “are reluctant to accept and admit that, despite all the Holocaust education and commemoration that’s taking place—and all the solemn declarations about having thoroughly learned the lessons of the past—anti-Semitism has returned in such strength.”

As part of an evening news segment on Dec. 2, Israel’s Channel 12 examined the panic among British Jews over the prospect that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn could become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom. The broadcast focused on a small meeting of anti-Corbyn activists at the London home of a woman named Ida Simmons. Simmons had participated the previous week in a demonstration against Labour’s “Race and Faith Manifesto,” which denounces all forms of ethnic or religious discrimination, except those behind the very specific verbal and physical battery of Jews.

No surprise there.

In the first place, Corbyn—like his fellow anti-Semites the world over—denies that anti-Semitism is a particular, rather than general, form of hatred, deserving of a category all its own. Secondly, he uses his antipathy towards Israel as an excuse to enable what has become a shocking revival of the kind of anti-Semitism that had been taboo in Europe for decades after the Holocaust.

His self-described “friends” in Hamas and Hezbollah skip the pretense, boasting that their efforts to eliminate the Jewish state and to kill Jews everywhere derive from the same Divine commandment.

A woman’s murder reignites visions of France’s anti-Semitism By Abraham H. Miller

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/a_womans_murder_reignites_visions_of_frances_antisemitism.html

Kobili Traore, 29, a Muslim immigrant to France, killed Sarah Halim, 65, his Jewish neighbor, while armed French police stood outside her door, listened to her anguished screams, and did not respond until she was thrown off her balcony to her death.

Sarah Halim was the mother of three, a physician, and a kindergarten teacher.  She had long feared Traore.  Her death was a minor item in the French media.

The French government is refusing to prosecute Traore for his crime because he was high on cannabis and deemed not responsible for his actions.

If Traore had run over someone while drinking, he most certainly would be held responsible, for France has some of the strictest drunk driving laws in Europe.  Drinking does not mitigate one’s responsibility for vehicular homicide.

Whether that would apply if the driver were Muslim and the victim were Jewish, however, now seems a fair question.  Since 2003, twelve Jews have been killed in France for being Jews.  Their assailants were Muslims.

Catherine Herridge, now at CBS, devastates ‘Whistleblower’s’ legitimacy By Thomas Lifson

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/catherine_herridge_now_at_cbs_devastates_whistleblowers_legitimacy.html

Moving from Fox News to CBS has not diminished the immense value of Catherine Herridge’s work.  If anything, the move has increased the number of Americans gaining access to insightful work that questions the MSM’s phony and biased narratives.  Nick Arama of RedState calls our attention to a tweet of hers yesterday that “highlights the fundamental problem with [the] whistleblower’s story with just one pic”:

In the CBS article linked in the tweet, she notes that long after filing a whistleblower complaint that failed to disclose prior contacts with the staff of Adam Schiff — probably a matter of lying in a sworn statement, and therefore criminal conduct — the still unnamed (in the MSM but widely believed to be Eric Ciaramella) whistleblower:

… reached out to the intelligence community watchdog on October 8 to clarify the nature of his or her contact with Democratic majority staff of the House Intelligence Committee before the complaint was filed.

The whistleblower acknowledged reaching out to the committee, but claimed that nothing substantial was discussed and that the staff member directed them to go through official channels, according to the “Memorandum of Investigative Activity,” provided to House and Senate Intelligence Committee leadership by intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) Michael Atkinson. The form is dated October 18 and documents the October 8 outreach by the whistleblower.

North Dakota Company Wins $400 Million Contract to Build 31 Miles of Border Wall By Zachary Evans

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/north-dakota-company-wins-400-million-contract-to-build-31-miles-of-border-wall/

A North Dakota company repeatedly touted by President Trump won a contract to build sections of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Defense Department announced on Monday.

Fisher Sand and Gravel won the $400 million contract to build a 31-mile wall in Arizona’s Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, to be completed by the end of 2020.

Company chief executive Tommy Fisher is a GOP donor and has claimed during appearances on Fox News that the company can build the border wall faster than the Army Corps of Engineers.

Trump has pushed since May for the Defense Department to accept Fisher’s bid. The President repeatedly brought up the company in conversations with Department of Homeland Security officials as well as Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers.

“I am glad to see more progress being made to secure the southern border, and I am grateful to see a good North Dakota company like Fisher Industries getting some of the work,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a supporter of the company, in a statement. “I know they will do very well, performing high quality work at a good bargain, all for the security of the people of the United States.”

“Fisher Industries is looking forward to the opportunity to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on this important project,” read a statement from the company given to National Review. “We are excited to show our high quality work…while helping to secure our southern border.”

Strategic Questions for EU Leaders on NATO’s 70th Birthday By Christopher R. O’Dea

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/12/strategic-questions-for-eu-leaders-on-natos-70th-birthday/

Now is the time for Trump to press Macron, Merkel, and others on the security risks posed by China.

L eaders of North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries are gathering in London this week to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the alliance. It’s the perfect opportunity for President Trump to declare a big halftime lead in his campaign to persuade other members to meet their financial obligations to the alliance. It’s also an opportunity to meet one-on-one with European leaders and assess their readiness to confront the growing threats that China’s geopolitical expansion poses to alliance members.

France
Trump should take French president Emmanuel Macron’s call for a new EU army as a sign of interest in defending France, NATO members, and the West from new security challenges. But a few questions could help channel Macron’s vigor into efforts against more-immediate threats.

For example: Does France have any plan to evaluate the cybersurveillance risks posed by the Chinese undersea fiber-optic cable soon coming ashore in Marseille? Ironically named the PEACE cable, the fiber link will add a major new connection between the EU and China through interchanges serving Pakistan and Djibouti. The PEACE cable involved Huawei Marine Networks until U.S. attention on Huawei forced it to sell its subsea subsidiary. The buyer, Hengtong Optic-Electric Co. Ltd. is a Chinese conglomerate of more than 50 companies in telecommunications, cable systems, and electrical power. Hengtong became involved in the PEACE cable last October, when it set up a venture company for the project in cooperation with Hong Kong-based PCCW Limited, and appointed Huawei Marine to perform the undersea work. For its part, PCCW is partly owned by China Unicom Group, a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company. PCCW runs the electronic passport and identity card systems for the Hong Kong government, as well as the securities clearing system for the Hong Kong Exchange.

Such complexity is par for the course with Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). But it should not confuse Macron, himself an investment banker trained in unraveling opaque corporate structures to get to the real decision-makers. The bottom line is that a Chinese technology SOE will soon have what French telecom operator Orange called a “gateway” into the EU data network, through the new digital window that Orange is building for the Chinese in Marseille.

Indeed, Marseille has become a major site of Chinese strategic expansion. The ancient port city is home to CMA CGM, a shipping and port operator that is the main partner in the Ocean Alliance with China’s COSCO Shipping — which now dominates global container shipping, port operations, and logistics services. Despite capital infusions from Chinese state lenders over the past several years, CMA recently announced it was selling its stake in 10 port terminals to China Merchants Port Holdings Co. Ltd., which already owns about half of CMA’s terminal business. The French line also sold two container ships to Shanghai Pudong Development Bank for an undisclosed price, and leased them back. The cash will help CMA finance its $1.7 billion purchase of CEVA Logistics, which operates one of the largest logistics businesses in the U.S. The stress on CMA’s financial resources prompted one rating agency to downgrade CMA’s debt, but more importantly, the bailout meant that Chinese operators had taken over the hard assets of a Western company in a strategically important sector.

No, Trump Isn’t Threatening Our Constitutional System By David Harsanyi

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/no-trump-isnt-threatening-our-constitutional-system/

Recently, Tom Nichols, a leading anti-Trump voice (and a former colleague), informed me that “Trump has already changed our constitutional system in ways that will outlast us both. You think it’s worth it. I don’t.”

I hear this claim all the time. Trump’s antagonists keep telling me that conservatives, unable to win through democratic institutions, have adopted extreme policies that are corroding the constitutional order. How is still a mystery.

When I point out that religious freedom, one of the issues social conservatives tend to worry about, doesn’t depend on democratic institutions, Nichols tells me: “I remember when conservatives swore to stop liberals from getting things through the courts as fundamentally inimical to our system of government.”

What policies have Trump-era conservatives conspired to push through the courts that are “fundamentally inimical to our system of government,” I wondered?

“Outlawing abortion, changing the meaning of the second amendment to mean Home Bazookas are two that come to mind,” he answered, “but you’re being slippery here: You want the courts, not the legislature or the public, to be the vessel of ideas. The same thing cons once hated about liberals.”

Now, I understand it’s become routine to scare the public about guns, but there’s never been any political desire or effort to make Home Bazookas, or even fully automatic weapons, more easily available. (Though Tom is free to a buy a Bazooka if he pleases.) In the Heller decision, decided long before Trump’s presidency, Justice Scalia defined protected firearms as weapons in “common use.” It’s the left that wants overturn settled law.

Impeachment Power Can Be Abused, Too By Andrew C. McCarthy

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/12/impeachment-power-can-be-abused/

Democrats say Trump exploited his constitutional power for political purposes, but how is that different from what they are doing now?

I t is not a good look for Democrats, in purporting to respond to the president’s abuse of his constitutional power over foreign relations, to abuse the House’s power over impeachment. That, however, is exactly what they are doing in their unseemly zeal to impeach President Trump on a blatantly political deadline.

In a December 1 letter, White House counsel Pat Cipollone notified House Judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) that the president will not participate in the committee’s first open hearing on Wednesday, December 4. Ordinarily — not that there’s anything “ordinary” about the potential impeachment of an American president — I’d be inclined to assess this as poor judgment.

After all, the lack of due process has been one of the president’s major complaints since late October, when the House belatedly voted to endorse the impeachment inquiry that Democrats have been conducting for months. Among the fundamental elements of due process is the opportunity to be heard. Having denied this opportunity to the president in Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff’s faux grand-jury phase of the proceedings, Democrats are now inviting the president to participate in the Judiciary Committee phase, where articles of impeachment are soon to be drafted and voted on. The president’s complaints are apt to ring hollow if he carps about the witnesses from the Twitter sidelines while forfeiting the right to question them at the formal hearings.

Abstaining now could also be problematic down the road. Eventually, there will be a Senate impeachment trial. Because the House is now giving the president an opportunity to examine witnesses, Senate Democrats will have a good argument that transcripts from Nadler’s hearings should be admitted as trial evidence — i.e., the president should not be heard to complain since he will have passed up his chance to confront his accusers.