Reasons It’s Time to Fire Rod Rosenstein

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. . .I don’t play four-dimensional chess. But it seems to me that when a subordinate undermines the president, defies Congress, flouts the rule of law, and now bucks the chain of command, it’s time to reach onto the chess board and relocate Rosenstein’s office to McMurdo Research station in Antarctica. If I were president, Rosenstein would share a desk with Bruce Ohr in their new Antarctic empire. Allow me to offer a very incomplete list of justifications to reassign Rosenstein to the polar tundra. . .

Recently, The New York Times published an allegation that Rosenstein, as acting attorney general, “suggested last year that he secretly record President Trump in the White House… discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit.” . . .

It’s one thing to resist congressional oversight. It’s another thing to do it while giggling and smirking during a congressional hearing and a public speech in Washington. If any lawyer had done the same during a proceeding before an Article III judge, the judge would have been duty-bound to have sanctioned his lack of decorum. A president should not tolerate his subordinate showing such contempt for a co-equal branch of government. . .

Rosenstein has a history of obstructing Congress and disregarding the president’s calls to cooperate with Congress. . .

Rosenstein has ignored serious violations of the law by Trump’s opponents while aggressively pursuing Trump’s allies. More disturbing, Rosenstein tolerates the political violence of Antifa and its numerous instances of viciously attacking political opponents. The DOJ would prosecute the attacks as civil rights violations if the victims were leftists. (Read more from “Reasons It’s Time to Fire Rod Rosenstein” HERE)

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Jihadist Beheader in Oklahoma Cleared for Execution

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This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially cemented the execution of America’s least known Islamic terrorist. Jihadist convert Alton Nolen is now set to be put to death in Oklahoma, likely by nitrogen gas inhalation.

The Supreme Court’s October 1, 2018 rejection of Nolen’s final death penalty appeal went unremarked upon by news media so, partly as a result, I missed it. But the Nolen case is very much worth remembering, along with all terror attacks that occur on U.S. soil, if not just for the victims and their survivors but for lessons that can and must be learned.

The September 24, 2014 attack in Oklahoma is somewhat notable in the annals of many officially uncalled terrorist strikes in that Nolen emulated a favorite ISIS death tactic no doubt learned online: he fully beheaded a co-worker—the beloved wife, mother, and grandmother Colleen Hufford—inside the Moore, Oklahoma food processing plant where they both worked. Shouting “Alluah Akbar” throughout the attack, Nolen used the same oversized butcher knife on the neck of a second co-worker, Tracy Johnson, when the company’s chief operations officer, a reserve law enforcement officer named Mark Vaughn, burst in with an AR-15 rifle. He shot and wounded Nolen as Nolen disengaged from his second victim and charged at him with the bloody knife.

Such an attack must generate a particular horror in its witnesses and, when Nolen is finally put to death, one should keep in mind what Hufford must have experienced in her last moments. . .

Rather than to call this an Islamic terror attack and charge it federally as such, President Obama’s U.S. Department of Justice let the local district attorney charge Nolen under state murder statues (and as an assault and battery against survivor Traci Johnson). The whole disgusting affair was quickly forgotten by the rest of the nation, government, and all but those involved and some locals. But make no mistake: This was a jihadist terror attack on American soil. (Read more from “Jihadist Beheader in Oklahoma Cleared for Execution” HERE)

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The Democratic Party’s Fault Lines Are Immigration and Identity Politics

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. . .Take immigration, for example. As the Central American migrants storm the U.S.-Mexico border, the line of argument has shifted within the left from “they are never going to come” to “they are only poor refugees.”

Reihan Salam pointed out in the latest National Review podcast that migrants, who had to pay thousands of dollars to human traffickers in the past, can now have the relative safety and comfort of travelling in caravans, with food and blankets being provided by activists and NGOs, helping their every move. This is almost a copybook replication of the European migrant movement, with NGOs and activists with immense funding acting hand in hand with human traffickers.

It is also unsustainable, as the majority of the migrants in this scenario are military-aged men (just like Europe), brandishing their own countries’ flags, chanting worker’s solidarity slogans supported by socialists, and pelting stones at U.S. service personnel. Regardless of what some in the rational left still think of mass migration, this optics will eventually force them to choose between taking a stance of de facto open borders, or use of force and deterrence to stop this precedent. . .

The second fault line is identity politics. Post-2016, the Democrats have not found a way to move forward and are even divided in their diagnosis of what the problem is. The progressive wing of the left wanted a free hand and got one in the recent midterms, but the results were not kind to them.

Two key races, for example, showed the limitations of identity as a factor. In the gubernatorial race in Georgia, the far-left Stacey Abrams is refusing to concede in a manner now prevalent on the left. Abrams was a darling of the media, ticking all the intersectional boxes, which somehow led her to believe in her inevitability of winning and she is now disputing reality. (Read more from “The Democratic Party’s Fault Lines Are Immigration and Identity Politics” HERE)

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Republicans Have Already Surrendered the Border/Budget Fight

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It’s become an annual December ritual. Republicans act like Santa Claus and delivers the Christmas goods for the Left, while leaving their most dedicated voters with nothing but a lump of coal. It’s a ritual that Trump was supposed to change, but it shows no signs of changing.

President George H.W. Bush was an American hero, icon, and statesman to whom we owe the highest national honor. But his funeral and memorial services should not change the fact that Republicans and Trump owe us a budget this week in the House that will deal with the border loopholes and sanctuary cities and build the wall. Then Trump should demand that McConnell force one vote after another on the House budget until the opposition is compelled to hold the floor in an authentic talking filibuster. Forcing Democrats to defend the invasion at our border in front of the cameras for a sustained period of time is the only way to break this stalemate.

Sadly, President Bush’s passing provided Republicans with the perfect subterfuge with which to sell us out, even though they were already looking for an avenue to cave. They are planning to pass a two-week continuing resolution that will expire right before Christmas on December 21, knowing full well there will be no appetite for a border fight right before everyone leaves town for the holiday.

There is no reason we can’t deal with the ultimate government shutdown – the suspension of law and order at our border – while we hold a funeral for President Bush. Republicans know this as well as we do, but they never had any intention of fighting.

First they caved on Obamacare, now they are at peace with permanent funding of Planned Parenthood, and tomorrow they will formally drive a stake through border security.

With over 200 people being apprehended every day in just one border sector, there are thousands of aliens crossing every day, on pace to reach one million this year, factoring in the likely number of individuals who are not caught. The damage to this country in terms of crime, drugs, public charge, and even diseases is immeasurable. It is the ultimate job of the federal government to defend against this invasion and this is why we have a federal budget. Republicans think they are “avoiding a shutdown,” but they are in fact perpetuating the shutdown of a sovereign nation-state.

Illegals are being told they have the right to break into our country and steal our identity, and nothing is done about it.

They are counted in the Census and continue to vote in elections, and nothing is done about it.

They drain our resources, strain our schools, and create dead weight on the health care system, and nothing is done about it.

We have the worst gang and drug crisis in our history from this very Central American migration, yet courts are now empowered to block deportations of even the worst elements.

I’d call that a government shutdown, all right.

Yet when Mitch McConnell is asked about the budget question, he sounds like an apathetic and detached commentator rather than a leader of a right-of-center party speaking to the outrage of the public over stolen sovereignty. When asked about the prospect of a government shutdown, McConnell merely said, “I don’t think we’ll get to that point.” He went on to say the president needs to negotiate with Democrat leadership. Well, what about threatening to force a talking filibuster and making a list of demands on Democrats? What about showing some emotion for the terrible costs of this invasion? We need a leader, not a floor scheduler.

And where is the president himself? Why did the White House and all outside conservative groups spend the final weeks of full control promoting Soros’ jailbreak instead of fighting for national sovereignty, the most basic purpose of the federal government’s existence? Amazingly, many of these so-called social conservatives who didn’t utter a peep about defunding Planned Parenthood and the judicially mandated transgender agenda in the military spent their political capital trying to convince us that letting gangbangers out of prison is pro-family. To McConnell’s credit, he isn’t excited to take up the so-called ‘prison reform’ bill, but he’s not excited to act on anything – good or bad.

And speaking of priorities, while our immigration priorities are not in the bill, the priorities of cheap labor will eventually be in the omnibus. Congress plans to double the number of H-2B non-agricultural, unskilled seasonal workers that will continue to be a public charge on America. Also, even before legislators pass the omnibus prior to Christmas, they are slipping in extensions of the flood insurance programs and the Violence Against Woman Act (VAWA) even in the two-week stopgap bill.

Evidently, we can afford to go without border security but we can’t have any lapse in this broken flood insurance program or a special-interest program that uses an important issue to subvert due process.

There’s one other point many in the media are missing. The perfidy and betrayal of the past several months on the budget actually make it easier for Republicans to fight this week on the remainder of the budget. Republicans have already caved to Democrats on spending levels and enacted five of the annual appropriations bills for the entire fiscal year 2019, composing three-quarters of this year’s discretionary spending. That includes Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, Legislative Branch, Defense, and Labor-HHS-Education. They already capitulated on astronomical spending levels for HHS and Education. But either way, the military, Social Security, and health care programs are already funded for the remainder of the fiscal year. It’s only seven departments that remain subject to the stopgap funding bill or an omnibus. So there is literally minimal risk over a shutdown, even in the minds of timid Republicans. Why not use the budget to focus national attention on our border and all its vices for a week or two? Why not have Trump give a series of prime-time speeches making his case?

Sadly, it appears that the House will pass a new stopgap bill on Thursday without a recorded vote, so the public won’t even be treated to a debate. What a sad way to end an eight-year run of GOP House control. (For more from the author of “Republicans Have Already Surrendered the Border/Budget Fight” please click HERE)

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Yes, the ‘Prison Reform’ Bill Lets out High-Risk Inmates and Sex Offenders

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The criminal justice reform bill, oops, I mean “prison reform,” was crafted precisely with the intent of reducing the federal prison population, even though it has already declined from the 1990s levels. Now that the public has gotten wind of the odious nature of this bill and are appalled by the philosophy propelling it, suddenly the leading voices for it are claiming that nobody gets early release, including sex offenders. The text of the bill and the opinion of the Department of Justice prove otherwise.

First, when supporters say nobody is released early from prison under this bill (aside from the drug traffickers who get sentencing reduction on the front end), they are saying that home confinement and halfway houses are not early release. Before we get into the fact that this bill does offer complete early release, let’s not forget the consequences of mass home confinement of convicted criminals. While the system already has a process for good time credits and home confinement, this bill would offer such an arrangement for tens of thousands of prisoners for as much as one-third of their sentences. As I’ve noted before, the security apparatus for home confinement is already a joke, and nobody has explained how law enforcement would have the resources to deal with this in such large numbers. The bill doesn’t appropriate enough funding to deal with this, because proponents want to preserve the talking point of saving money, even though the Bureau of Prisons has confirmed that home confinement costs almost three times more per diem than a federal prison.

But it’s worse than that. This bill allows these convicts to leave home confinement for numerous activities, including ridiculously vague “job-seeking activities.” Indeed, these people, many of whom are irremediable gangbangers, will continue their trade of drug trafficking.

It gets worse still. Turn to page 12 of the bill and you will see that the Senate bill added a clever trick over the original version.

Notice how the Senate bill adds a second option for the outcome of time credits: “supervised release.” That is straight-up early parole, not even in a less secure home confinement.

Now, let’s turn back to those eligible for such credits, which are earned simply by doing what they do now and Orwellianly defined “productive activities.” A number of federal sex offense convictions are not included in the exceptions from early release credits. Here are at least 4 of them:

18 U.S.C. 2250 – failure to register as a sex offender

8 U.S.C. 1328 – importing aliens for prostitution

18 U.S.C. 116 – female genital mutilation assault with intent to commit rape, aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, and other offenses. This offense is listed among the exclusion list, but only “if the offender has a previous conviction, for which the offender served a term of imprisonment of more than 1 year.”

Remember, anything not on the list of exclusions is eligible for early release, including many of those currently convicted of drug trafficking who will also receive front-end sentencing reductions.

Proponents of Soros’ jailbreak maintain that these people will never be designated as “lower-level” threats in the risk assessment, and therefore, will not be eligible for early release.

This is simply not true. The Bureau of Prisons sent data to Sen. John Kennedy’s office showing that 72 percent of sex offenders are currently classified as “low security.” An email from a top DOJ official given to CR by Sen. Kennedy’s office explains that “of the 15,526 inmates currently serving a sentence for a sex offense in federal prison (approximately 10% of all current federal inmates), 11,283 (approximately 72%) are currently classified as low security inmates. 3,132 (approximately 20%) are classified as medium security inmates. 1,106 (approximately 7%) are classified as high security inmates.”

One can only imagine how many more will be designated as low-risk once liberals reclaim control of the DOJ and have a statutory weapon with which to release as many prisoners as possible.

The lie of this bill gets even worse than that. It turns out that the problem is not only the liberal classification of “low-risk,” but that even prisoners who might be designated as high- or medium-risk will be eligible for early-release credits, which include either home confinement or parole. A careful reading of the bill shows that bill sponsors lied when they repeatedly said hat “only prisoners classified as minimum or low risk may redeem these time credits to reduce their sentence.” This was a point made quite clear in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s official fact-sheet of the bill.

Now, turn to page 41-42 of the bill, and you will see, again, a dual track for eligibility, just like we saw with home confinement or supervised release. Either they are designated as low-risk, or the prison warden can sign off on release, which means even if they are designated as higher-risk.

This is important considering that on page 39, the bill explicitly allows high-risk individuals to participate in this early-release program. If you put these two provisions together, it’s clear they will get early release, and it’s all subject to administrative fiat.

The liars who are promoting this bill, once they are caught, tend to demur by suggesting that a good warden will never sign off on such a thing. But the joke is that these same proponents are the very pressure groups that will give the BOP hell down the road and agitate on behalf of every single prisoner for release.

Even proponents of the bill admit on their website that this is not just about low-level criminals.

Availability of prerelease custody by requiring the BOP to transfer low and minimum risk prisoners to prerelease custody—either a half-way house or home confinement. Because the bill provides that BOP shall do this, BOP will in effect be required to improve contracting with residential re-entry centers, and improve current policies. Even for those who are not designated as low or minimum risk, the FIRST STEP Act provides a pathway to petition for prerelease custody.

These clever provisions in the bill all stem from one point. Most people in federal prison are really bad, and in order to get them released, proponents need to lie about their bill because they know the public doesn’t support their insidious goals. The question is how many other talking points have been fabricated in order to grease the skids of this runaway jailbreak? (For more from the author of “Yes, the ‘Prison Reform’ Bill Lets out High-Risk Inmates and Sex Offenders” please click HERE)

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Ninth Circuit: Law Barring People from Encouraging Illegal Aliens to Enter U.S. Is Unconstitutional

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday struck down a law that makes it a crime to “encourage or induce” someone to come to the United States illegally.

According to the Court, the law violates people’s First Amendment rights because “it criminalizes a substantial amount of protected expression in relation to its narrow band of legitimacy prohibited conduct and unprotected expression.”

“We do not think that any reasonable reading of the statute can exclude speech. To conclude otherwise, we would have to say that ‘encourage’ does not mean encourage, and that a person cannot ‘induce’ another with words,” Judge A. Wallace Tashima wrote in the Court’s opinion. “At the very least, it is clear that the statue potentially criminalize the simple words – spoken to a son, a wife, a parent, a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, a student, a client – ‘I encourage you to stay here.'” . . .

The case, United States of America v. Evelyn Sineneng-Smith, was brought about when Sineneng-Smith, a former immigration attorney in San Jose, California, told her clients in the U.S. on visas that they would apply for permanent residence by applying for labor certification from Department of Labor. (Read more from “Ninth Circuit: Law Barring People from Encouraging Illegal Aliens to Enter U.S. Is Unconstitutional” HERE)

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Michael Flynn Provided ‘Substantial’ Information for Mueller Probe. This Is His Recommended Sentence.

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By Townhall. In a memo released Tuesday, Robert Mueller recommended a lenient sentence, with no jail time, for former national security advisor Michael Flynn because of the “substantial” help he’s provided investigators.

“Given the defendant’s substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range, including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration – is appropriate and warranted,” the memo states, Fox News reported. . .

The memo doesn’t provide any insights into what Flynn told Mueller. It did, however, note that Flynn provided “communications and documents” about his time in the Trump administration. (Read more from “Michael Flynn Provided ‘Substantial’ Information for Mueller Probe. This Is His Recommended Sentence.” HERE)

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Flynn Was Key Cooperator and Deserves Little Prison Time, Mueller Team Says

By New York Times. Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, helped substantially with the special counsel’s investigation and should receive little to no prison time for lying to federal investigators, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Mr. Flynn was a key cooperator who helped the Justice Department with several investigations, prosecutors for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, said. He sat for 19 interviews with Mr. Mueller’s office and other prosecutors and handed over documents and communications, they said.

“His early cooperation was particularly valuable because he was one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight” into the subject of Mr. Mueller’s investigation — Russia’s election interference and whether any Trump associates conspired, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing recommendation memorandum and an addendum that was heavily blacked out. (Read more from “Flynn Was Key Cooperator and Deserves Little Prison Time, Mueller Team Says” HERE)

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Jeb Bush Says It’s a Time to ‘Celebrate’ His Father and the Trump Family Has Been ‘Gracious’

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Jeb Bush, son of the late former President George H.W. Bush, told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday that his family was celebrating the legacy of his father and praised the Trumps for being “gracious.” . . .

“What people want to talk about is: Well why isn’t the president giving the eulogy? And it’s because we have a unique circumstance here,” he explained. “My brother was president. It’s like, I’m sorry. First dibs, as we used to say. I don’t know how to explain it other than that.” . . .

Bush described his father as “the most generous, kind person you’d ever meet,” and said he hoped his father’s “kindler, gentler” approach would prevail over the more combative style of politics.

“My dad will be surrounded by friends inside the National Cathedral and many that couldn’t get in. The guy has built a network that is pretty amazing,” he said. “People want to share their love for him, and it’s just a great time to be his son.”

“This is a time to celebrate George H.W. Bush, not to grieve his loss, and that’s what we’re doing as a family right now,” he emphasized. (Read more from “Jeb Bush Says It’s a Time to ‘Celebrate’ His Father and the Trump Family Has Been ‘Gracious'” HERE)

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Whoa: Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Forklift He Intended to Use to Assassinate Trump

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By Townhall. Who is Gregory Lee Leingang? Well, he’s the North Dakota man who just pled guilty to stealing forklift he intended to use to kill President Trump last year. Leingang had intended to use the forklift to ram the president’s motorcade. It got stuck in the gate on the day of Trump’s visit to Andeaver Mandan Refinery. Leingang fled, but was later apprehended by local police (via Grand Forks Herald):

Leingang reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors, entering a guilty plea on Friday for attempting to enter or remain in a restricted building and on grounds while using a dangerous weapon, that is, a forklift.

U.S. Assistant State’s Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell said Leingang was aware that the president was coming to town on Sept. 6, 2017, to give his speech at the Andeavor Mandan Refinery, an area which had been cordoned off for the motorcade route.

Prior to the president’s arrival at around 2 p.m., Leingang had stolen a forklift in Mandan and entered the motorcade route, according to Sasse Russell.

“The intent was to basically try to get to the limo, flip the limo and get to the president and he wanted to kill the president,” Sasse said.

(Read more from “Whoa: Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Forklift He Intended to Use to Assassinate Trump” HERE)

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Inside One Man’s Failed Plan to Use a Stolen Forklift to Assassinate Trump

By The Washington Post. . .The arrest capped off a string of crimes Leingang committed in the region that day, according to Mandan Deputy Police Chief Lori Flaten.

Earlier that morning, Leingang had set two fires in Bismarck, on the other side of the Missouri River, and had stolen a truck from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, Flaten said.

Leingang later abandoned the truck, then crossed the river over to Mandan and made his way to a sports complex under construction near the Mandan oil refinery — “which is where he got the forklift,” Flaten said. (Read more from “Inside One Man’s Failed Plan to Use a Stolen Forklift to Assassinate Trump” HERE)

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If We Don’t Cut Debt and Spending, the U.S. Is Poised for Another Financial Crisis

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. . .Here’s the thing about inflation and fighting it: In the short term, raising interest rates actually accelerates inflation. From April 1977 through April 1980, the Fed very cautiously raised interest rates, just a little at a time, hoping to gently rein in inflation. Instead, inflation took off like a bull out of a rodeo chute.

The Fed responded by accelerating interest rates with panicked leaps, adding as much as a percentage point a month for several months between 1980 and the peak in 1981. Interest rates on three-month Treasuries jumped from 7.07 percent in June 1980 to 16.30 percent in May 1981. . .

Picture this: There’s a stack of privately held money that’s almost as much as all the things that can be made and sold within a given year. The people who hold onto that money are content with keeping it in low-interest bank accounts, their mattress, or a safe. Sure, they might lose 2 percent of the value to inflation every year, but that’s more than worth it because the cash acts as a hedge against uncertainty.

The higher inflation gets, the more expensive it is to hold cash. High inflation makes it more likely that these stocks of money will be spent or converted to assets, pushing prices up even higher. It’s like a fire and it feeds on itself accelerating with panic buying. Only by paying recession-inducing higher interest rates on bonds and bank accounts can saving cash become economical.

Here’s where we are today: If everything goes according to plan, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculates that, by 2020, more than half of all personal income taxes will be required to just service the national debt, and those interest payments will exceed our military budget. However, if inflation kicks off, we have much more privately held money sitting on the sidelines now than we did back in 1981. If people become afraid to hold cash because inflation is eating it up too quickly, the tsunami will be unstoppable. (Read more from “If We Don’t Cut Debt and Spending, the U.S. Is Poised for Another Financial Crisis” HERE)

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