McCain Staffer Had Nasty Plan for Tea Parties

The IRS targeting of tea party and Christian groups during the 2012 presidential election campaign, when Barack Obama was seeking his second term, was just one of many examples of the deployment of the federal bureaucracy for political purposes during the previous administration. . .

Judicial Watch has obtained internal IRS documents that show a staff-level employee for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., urged the IRS to audit the targeted groups until it became “ruinous” for them.

Henry Kerner was McCain’s staff director and chief counsel of the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee at the time. He since has been appointed by President Trump to the United States Office of Special Counsel.

“The explosive exchange was contained in notes taken by IRS employees at an April 30, 2013, meeting between Kerner, [former IRS official Lois] Lerner, and other high-ranking IRS officials. Just ten days following the meeting, former IRS director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner admitted that the IRS had a policy of improperly and deliberately delaying applications for tax-exempt status from conservative non-profit groups,” Judicial Watch said. . .

“The Obama IRS scandal is bipartisan – McCain and Democrats who wanted to regulate political speech lost at the Supreme Court, so they sought to use the IRS to harass innocent Americans,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. (Read more from “McCain Staffer Had Nasty Plan for Tea Parties” HERE)

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What Ultimately Took Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain Wasn’t Mental Illness. It Was Something Worse

. . .Every human being must at some time confront the same disease that claimed Anthony, Kate, Robin, and every other person who takes his or her life: meaninglessness. Why are we here and is this life worth living? It’s a sobering thought. . .

There is a reason trauma victims, combat survivors, and celebrities are so vulnerable to suicide. Victims of abuse and witnesses to war are exposed to a depth of humanity that many of us never get to. The lowest lows show us just how depraved and hopeless this world can be.

As Kate, Anthony, Robin, and so many other entertainers show, even giving joy to others, in the end, is not enough. So in the end, why bother? How can we not be defeated when we set our eyes on the brokenness of this world? The answer: to fix our eyes on another world. The writer C.S. Lewis famously said that, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” If we believe this life is all there is, the darkness will blind us to the majesty and beauty of life.

Suicide is the tragic, but reasonable response to being confronted by life’s reality with no salve of deeper meaning to bandage the wound. This is why a life without God, no matter how grand, will always leave our hearts unfulfilled.

So please, take medication. Talk to your family. Go get treatment. Your life is precious to God and the people around you. It is worth fighting for. But no matter what help those things bring, our hearts only find true peace when they live for the one who created them. I wish my friends Kate and Anthony had felt that peace. (Read more from “What Ultimately Took Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain Wasn’t Mental Illness. It Was Something Worse” HERE)

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New Poll: Guess Who the Majority of Voters Blame for Family Separation at the Border? The Results Are Surprising

By Townhall. . .According to a new poll from Rasmussen Reports, the majority of voters are holding illegal aliens accountable for the current separation crisis, not Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or President Trump (bolding is mine).

Most voters blame the parents of the separated children at the border for the latest illegal immigration crisis, not the federal government.

When families are arrested and separated after attempting to enter the United States illegally, 54% of Likely U.S. Voters say the parents are more to blame for breaking the law. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 35% believe the federal government.

To help understand the current political debate over the children issue, a closer look shows that 82% of Republicans and 56% of voters not affiliated with either major political party feel the parents are more to blame for breaking the law. But 60% of Democrats say the government is more to blame for enforcing the law.

. . .

In the meantime, Congress is working on a number of immigration bills in an attempt to fix the problem. The House is expected to take a vote Thursday, with moderate and conservative Republicans split on a number of illegal immigration issues. (Read more from “New Poll: Guess Who the Majority of Voters Blame for Family Separation at the Border?” HERE)

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House Republicans Cancel Immigration Votes in Embarrassing Setback

By Washington Times. Staring at a certain defeat, House Republicans canceled votes on their immigration compromise Thursday — an embarrassing setback for leaders who thought they had finally been able to wrangle some unanimity on an issue that has bedeviled them for years.

Lawmakers emerged from a closed-door evening meeting to say their new goal is a vote sometime next week, after they try to make tweaks to win over conservatives while keeping moderates on board.

The vote on the “moderate” compromise bill was postponed just hours after a more conservative bill failed in the House by a 231-193 vote. More than three dozen Republicans joined Democrats to kill the legislation.

Worried about a twin rejection on the same day, Republican leaders decided on a cooling-off period. (Read more from “House Republicans Cancel Immigration Votes in Embarrassing Setback” HERE)

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James Woods Eviscerates Obama Legacy, Posts His Own Version of Time Cover

By Conservative Tribune. The liberal media has declared all-out war on President Donald Trump, evidenced by their incessant and self-righteously indignant negative coverage of virtually everything he says and does.

The latest outrage du jour for the virtue-signaling liberal media is the “zero tolerance” border policy — based on court precedent set in 1997 and clarified in 2016 — that results in illegal immigrant families being temporarily separated when detained and processed following illegal entry into the country.

That policy from the administration has been likened to the vile and despicable acts of the Nazis, and the media has gleefully perpetuated the notion that Trump and his administration have taken delight from splitting up families and throwing children in “concentration camps.”

Along those lines comes the latest magazine cover from TIME — who have a history of slamming Trump on their covers — which juxtaposes a smugly smiling Trump looking down on a sobbing illegal immigrant girl who’d been detained with her mother at the border.

There’s just one big problem with TIME’s cover and accompanying piece — the separation of illegal immigrant families at the border didn’t start with the Trump administration, but occurred under the past few administrations as well, including that of former President Barack Obama.

(Read more from “James Woods Eviscerates Obama Legacy, Posts His Own Version of Time Cover” HERE)

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Crying Toddler on Widely Shared ‘Time’ Cover Was Not Separated From Mother

By NPR. In the image, a little girl wails in uncomprehending sadness and anxiety.

Her face flushed nearly as pink as her shirt and shoes, she stares up at her mother and a U.S. official, both too tall to be seen. The 2-year-old Honduran child’s panic is so palpable, it’s difficult for a viewer not to feel it, too. . .

There’s a complication, though: The little girl was not ultimately separated from her mother, according to her father. The man, whom Reuters identified as Denis Valera, has told multiple media outlets that mother and daughter were detained together while seeking asylum in Texas. (Read more from “Crying Toddler on Widely Shared ‘Time’ Cover Was Not Separated From Mother” HERE)

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Jacketgate: Media Freaks out About What Melania Wore on Plane Ride to Visit Immigrant Children in Texas

President Trump responded to the media speculation Thursday evening with his own explanation of the First Lady’s jacket.

Many in the media freaked out Thursday over a jacket first lady Melania Trump wore when boarding the plane to visit immigrant children in a Texas detention center. The $39 Zara jacket reads “I really don’t care. do u?” on the back.

Melania Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement: “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope this isn’t what the media is going to choose to focus on.”

She also mentioned the time the media attacked the First Lady for wearing heels when boarding the plane to visit Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas.

(Read more from “Jacketgate: Media Freaks out About What Melania Wore on Plane Ride to Visit Immigrant Children in Texas” HERE)

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Pentagon Covering Up Fact That Female Officers Nearly Sank USS Fitzgerald?

An anonymous email came in over the transom this morning:

Hi, Stacy.
During the early weeks after the USS Fitzgerald was speared by a lumbering Philippine container ship, it was noteworthy that the captain and a couple of admirals were publically named, but not the actual officer in charge, the officer of the deck. (OOD) The other person who should have kept the Fitz out of trouble is the person in charge of the combat information center, the Tactical Action Officer. That individual is supposed to be monitoring the combat radar, which can detect a swimmer at a distance of two miles.

Not until a year later, when the final reports are made public and the guilty parties have been court-martialed, does the truth come out. The OOD was named Sarah, and the Tactical Action Officer was named Natalie, and they weren’t speaking to each other!!! The Tactical Action Officer would normally be in near constant communication with the OOD, but there is no record of any communication between them that entire shift!

Another fun fact: In the Navy that won WWII, the damage control officers were usually some of the biggest and strongest men aboard, able to close hatches, shore up damaged areas with timbers, etc. The Fitz’s damage control officer was also a woman, and she never left the bridge. She handled the aftermath of the accident remotely, without lifting a finger herself!

Look it up: The OOD was Sarah Coppock, Tactical Action Officer was Natalie Combs. . . .

When I noticed last year that they were doing all they could to keep the OOD’s name out of the headlines, I speculated to my son that it was a she. Turns out all the key people (except one officer in the CIC) were female!

Indeed, I did some searching, and Lt. Coppock pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty. Lt. Combs faced a hearing last month:

In an 11-hour hearing, prosecutors painted a picture of Lt. Irian Woodley, the ship’s surface warfare coordinator, and Lt. Natalie Combs, the tactical action officer, as failing at their jobs, not using the tools at their disposal properly and not communicating adequately. They became complacent with faulty equipment and did not seek to get it fixed, and they failed to communicate with the bridge, the prosecution argued. Had they done those things, the government contended, they would have been able to avert the collision.

That two of the officers — Coppock and Combs — involved in this fatal incident were female suggests that discipline and training standards have been lowered for the sake of “gender integration,” which was a major policy push at the Pentagon during the Obama administration. (Read more from “Pentagon Covering Up Fact That Female Officers Nearly Sank USS Fitzgerald?” HERE)

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BADASS: What This British Special Forces Sergeant Did To Six Taliban Terrorists Is Incredible

By The Daily Wire. Great Britain’s equivalent of the American Navy Seals are the Special Air Service (SAS) fighters, the British Army’s most renowned special forces unit. One SAS sergeant fighting the terrorist Taliban in Afghanistan in January showed why SAS forces rank with the best in the world in a harrowing confrontation with six Taliban fighters in a nearly pitch-black tunnel.

After the SAS fighters had destroyed a Taliban base, six Taliban fighters escaped into an underground cave complex in northern Afghanistan; one of the fighters was a “high-value target.” The series of tunnels were perfect for claustrophobia; less than two feet wide, four feet high, and almost completely dark. Then the 29-year-old sergeant, a veteran who had fought in Iraq, took it upon himself to pursue the Taliban fighters.

The mission had only been partially successful because the base was destroyed, but the SAS were after a “high-value target” and he had escaped into the tunnels. It was pretty clear none of the Afghan commandos was going to go in after him so he volunteered. There wasn’t enough room to use a long-barreled weapon so the Brit used his Glock 9mm pistol and grabbed a claw hammer. He couldn’t see the Taliban but he could hear and smell them. He shot three of them dead one after the other but then his pistol jammed. He fought two more in the dark where the tunnel opened into a larger room that was partially lit by a candle. After he killed those two, he was attacked by another but killed him almost instantly with a single blow.

(Read more from “Badass: What This British Special Forces Sergeant Did to Six Taliban Terrorists Is Incredible” HERE)

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British special forces soldier killed six Taliban in pitch-black, Viet Cong-style tunnel fight

By Military Times. . .The soldier was part of a joint British and Afghan special forces operation launched against a Taliban base in northern Afghanistan, the Daily Star reported.

The commandos involved in the operation successfully destroyed the base, but several Taliban, including a high-value senior commander, were able to flee into an underground cave complex.

When no Afghan commandos volunteered to enter the tunnels, the SAS soldier took it upon himself to complete the mission. . .

For 30 minutes, he relied on sound, smell and touch to track and kill six terrorists in the pitch-black, suffocating environment. . .

The soldier, an Iraq veteran, called the 30-minute fight the most difficult of his military career. For at least an hour after returning above ground, the solider was unable to speak due to his level of distress. (Read more from “British special forces soldier killed six Taliban in pitch-black, Viet Cong-style tunnel fight” HERE)

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He Survived Nazi Concentration Camps – His Message on Border Security Will Silence the Media

By The Daily Caller. David Tuck was enslaved by the Nazis and survived multiple concentration camps. In the wake of pundits and politicians comparing immigration detainment facilities in modern day America to Nazi concentration camps, Tuck felt compelled to speak out.

“Wake up,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller. “Look it up. This is not the Holocaust.”

Tuck was born in Poland in 1929. When he was 10 years old, the Nazis invaded his country. They marched through his neighborhood, identifying Jews. David had a golden Star of David sewn to his clothes and was moved to a ghetto. . .

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal likened America’s zero tolerance immigration policy to the “cattle cars of Nazi Germany.” Pundits and politicians have echoed the sentiment. . .

“I don’t believe it when I heard it,” Tuck said when he heard Blumenthal’s statement, “They know nothing of the Holocaust.”

“They are politicians, looking to get paid,” he said, repeating that those who make the comparison “know nothing.” When asked to compare the American border detainment facilities to actual concentration camps, Tuck said, “This is a country club.” (Read more from “He Survived Nazi Concentration Camps – His Message on Border Security Will Silence the Media” HERE)

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Jeff Sessions Says Child Migrant Holding Cages Not Like Nazi Germany ‘Because They Were Keeping Jews From Leaving’

By The Independent. Accusations that child detention facilities on the US-Mexican border are similar to Nazi concentration camps were always likely to be rebuked by the White House – but perhaps no one quite expected Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ line of reasoning.

“This is a real exaggeration,” he told Fox News. “Because in Nazi Germany they were keeping the Jews from leaving the country.”

Even the avowedly conservative presenter Laura Ingraham seemed momentarily taken aback with the response, quickly moving the subject on. . .

Earlier, Democrat senator Dianne Feinstein had been among several politicians and commentators to say the actions were comparable with Hitler’s Germany.

But Attorney General Sessions said: “We’re doing the right thing. We’re taking care of these children,” adding “they are not being abused”. (Read more from “Jeff Sessions Says Child Migrant Holding Cages Not Like Nazi Germany ‘Because They Were Keeping Jews From Leaving'” HERE)

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The FBI, the DOJ and Hillary Clinton’s Huge Weiner Problem

Remember Anthony Weiner, also known as “Carlos Danger” — the former congressman who kept texting people pictures of well, umm, that part of his name? It all made quite the splash because he is married to Hillary Clinton’s consigliere and constant sidekick, Huma Abedin.

Turns out that Anthony was such a perp — and so enthralled with his own — that he was sexting with a minor. That is a federal offense carrying up to 10 years in prison. So, he got raided by the New York Police Department and the New York office of the FBI. . .

Only a few hours after the New York office of the FBI took possession of the Weiner laptop, on September 26, 2016, the FBI computer expert discovered it contained more than 140,000 emails involving Hillary Clinton. They were from multiple domain names: State.gov, Clintonemail.com, ClintonFoundation.org, HillaryClinton.com and Blackberry devices. The agent had what he told the inspector general was an “oh shit moment” — recognizing that he had found evidence important to the most important investigation — and he immediately reported it up the chain.

According to the inspector general’s report of June 14, specifically Chapters IX-XI, the treasure “trove” of emails covered Mrs. Clinton’s entire tenure as Secretary of State.

We already knew that President Barack Obama was emailing her on her unsecure server at Clintonemail.com, and Cheryl Mills had written an email noting how “obvious” it was to anyone that this was not State.gov and therefore unsecure. The president jolly-well knew it was not a secure communication as he used an alias. (Read more from “The FBI, the DOJ and Hillary Clinton’s Huge Weiner Problem” HERE)

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Mark Meadows Drops Multiple Bombshells in Hearing About Clinton, Russia Probes

By The Daily Caller. North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows made two startling claims in a House hearing on Tuesday, asserting that there is “growing evidence” that FBI officials altered documentation of witness interviews in the Hillary Clinton and Russia probes.

The Republican also revealed the name of an FBI attorney he believes is the bureau employee who was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation in February after he was found to have sent anti-Trump text messages.

Meadows made the revelations in a round of questioning with Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

On Thursday, Horowitz’s office released a scathing report that documented FBI officials’ mishandling of the Clinton investigation. It also laid out a slew of text messages that FBI officials and attorneys sent criticizing Donald Trump.

“I think the other thing that I would ask you to look into, there is growing evidence that 302s were edited and changed,” Meadows said. “Those 302s, it is suggested that they were changed to either prosecute or not prosecute individuals. And that is very troubling.” (Read more from “Mark Meadows Drops Multiple Bombshells in Hearing About Clinton, Russia Probes” HERE)

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Republicans Tear Into IG Finding on Clinton Probe

By The Hill. House Republicans on Tuesday took aim at a finding from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) inspector general that anti-Trump bias did not influence the outcome of the Hillary Clinton email probe, during a fractious and extended hearing that pitted dozens of lawmakers against the watchdog.

Although GOP members did not directly criticize the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, they repeatedly made the case that his report showed FBI officials had “prejudged” the outcome of the Clinton probe — a long-held Republican grievance — and suggested that his review was incomplete.

“While we appreciate the [inspector general] and his staff for a very detailed investigation, it is critical for the public to also hear what was not included in the report due to the [inspector general’s] refusal to question ‘whether a particular decision by the FBI and DOJ was the most effective choice,’ ” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.).

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) argued that Horowitz should have probed how federal investigators on the so-called Midyear team voted in the 2016 election, as well as who they gave money to or whose bumper sticker they applied to their car. (Read more from “Republicans Tear Into IG Finding on Clinton Probe” HERE)

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