Archive for May 7, 2016

Clinton could be interviewed by FBI within days

May 7, 2016

Clinton could be interviewed by FBI within days: report

By Julian Hattem

Source: Clinton could be interviewed by FBI within days: report | TheHill

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton could be questioned by the FBI about her private email server within days, according to a report from ABC News on Friday.

The upcoming interview could speed up the timetable for the investigation and potentially bring the federal probe to a close, months before the general election kicks off this fall.

Clinton’s campaign has been hounded by criticism from Republicans about the personal server, which she used exclusively during her tenure as secretary of State.The federal investigation is centered around the possibility that Clinton or her senior aides mishandled classified information. While the State Department has maintained that none of the emails that passed through Clinton’s server were marked as classified at the time, more than 2,000 of the roughly 30,000 emails later handed over to the department and then released to the public were marked as classified at some level.

The FBI did not respond to an inquiry about the investigation concerning Clinton’s server on Friday. It was previously reported that the FBI has conducted interviews with some of Clinton’s top advisers, including Huma Abedin.

Top Obama Aide: We are the Ventriloquists that ‘Shape the News’

May 7, 2016

Top Obama Aide: We are the Ventriloquists that ‘Shape the News’, Truth RevoltTrey Sanchez, May 6, 2016

Truth revolt

An interview in The New York Times with President Obama’s assistant and speech writer Ben Rhodes reveals chilling insight into an administration that has positioned itself as a ventriloquist to mainstream press outlets. 

Obama’s presidency happened to coincide with the dramatic shift in how people access news. As the newspaper print business began to crumble and more and more people turned to the Internet for their news, the Obama administration was in the perfect position to seize and control the content that was published. And they did so unabashedly.

Seasoned journalists lost their jobs in droves and took with them decades of knowledge and experience. Replacing them was far cheaper labor: young 20-somethings who were very eager and willing, but had no knowledge of history. The perfect puppets for the Obama show.

Rhodes explains:

“All these newspapers used to have foreign bureaus. Now they don’t. They call us to explain to them what’s happening in Moscow and Cairo. Most of the outlets are reporting on world events from Washington. The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That’s a sea change. They literally know nothing.”

Based on the conversation with Rhodes and his assistant, Ned Price, the NYT goes on to detail just how “adept” the administration is “at ventriloquizing many people at once:”

The easiest way for the White House to shape the news, he explained, is from the briefing podiums, each of which has its own dedicated press corps. “But then there are sort of these force multipliers,” he said, adding, “We have our compadres, I will reach out to a couple people [and] I’ll say, ‘Hey, look, some people are spinning this narrative that this is a sign of American weakness’ …  and [then] I’ll give them some color, and the next thing I know, lots of these guys are in the dot-com publishing space, and have huge Twitter followings, and they’ll be putting this message out on their own.”

The NYT compared the old spin with the new:

This is something different from old-fashioned spin, which tended to be an art best practiced in person. In a world where experienced reporters competed for scoops and where carrying water for the White House was a cause for shame, no matter which party was in power, it was much harder to sustain a “narrative” over any serious period of time. Now the most effectively weaponized 140-character idea or quote will almost always carry the day, and it is very difficult for even good reporters to necessarily know where the spin is coming from or why.

Spin has always been a part of politics but this president is a master. In fact, spin is the way he started his presidency. Flashback to Obama’s former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn: she explained their press strategy leading up to Obama’s election in 2008:

“Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn’t absolutely control…

“One of the reasons we did so many of the David Plouffe [Obama’s chief campaign manager] videos was not just for our supporters, but also because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters. We just put that out there and made them write what Plouffe had said as opposed to Plouffe doing an interview with a reporter. So it was very much we controlled it as opposed to the press controlled it.”

Obama’s strategy has always been to make the press cover what he was saying. That’s why during his campaigns he preferred doing live interviews so his words couldn’t be edited.

The president’s Jedi mind trick as Hopey-One Kenobi: This isn’t the news you’re looking for. Move along.

Vlaams Belang new video

May 7, 2016

Why Are There Still Palestinian Refugees?

May 7, 2016
Published on May 2, 2016

It’s been seven decades since the 1948 Arab-Israeli, and yet there are still an estimated 4 million Palestinian refugees…and zero Jewish refugees. With so many nearby Arab allies of the Palestinians, how did this happen? What does it say about Israel? What does it say about its Arab neighbors? Dumisani Washington, Diversity Outreach Coordinator for Christians United for Israel, explains.

Help Spread the Truth about Israel. Donate $3 Today: https://donate.prageru.com/checkout/d…

I Vote Against You

May 7, 2016
Published on May 6, 2016

Isn’t democracy wonderful?

U.S. forces now on the ground supporting combat operations in Yemen, Pentagon says

May 7, 2016

U.S. forces now on the ground supporting combat operations in Yemen, Pentagon says

May 6 at 2:30 PM

Source: U.S. forces now on the ground supporting combat operations in Yemen, Pentagon says – The Washington Post

An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the “Chargers” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, prepares to land on the flight deck of guided-missile destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG 66). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Pasquale Sena)

The Pentagon has placed a small number of U.S. advisors on the ground in Yemen to support Arab forces battling al-Qaeda, military officials said on Friday, signaling a new American role in that country’s multi-sided civil war.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. personnel had been in the country for about two weeks, supporting Yemeni and Emirati forces that are fighting a pitched battle against militants near the southeastern port city of Mukalla.

“We view this as short-term,” Davis told reporters.

Officials said the U.S. military is also providing Emirati forces with medical, intelligence and maritime support, and is flying surveillance and aerial refueling missions. It has also staged a ships from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit off Yemen’s coast. The flotilla includes the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship with Marine infantry and aircraft, and two destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Gonzalez.

Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the United States was helping the Arab forces plan operations as part of its “limited” mission in and around Mukalla.

“We welcome operations undertaken by Yemeni Forces, with the support of Arab Coalition Forces, to liberate the Yemeni port city of Mukalla from control by al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP),” Ryder said in an email.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said that the U.S. presence, approved at the request of the United Arab Emirates, was “way small.”

Even a tiny military footprint marks a milestone for U.S. involvement in the Yemeni conflict, which brought an end a year and a half ago to a long-running U.S. mission there against AQAP.

After the internationally recognized Yemeni government, unable to contain Shiite Houthi rebels, collapsed at the end of 2014, the United States was forced to pull out Special Operations troops who had been training and advising their Yemeni peers.

[Yemen is turning into Saudi Arabia’s Vietnam]

The departure was a blow to U.S. efforts to battle AQAP, which has long been considered the most menacing al-Qaeda branch and which has seized on the chaos of the ongoing conflict to strengthen its military position.

Since then, the United States has confined its military activities mostly to supporting a Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthi rebels, which the Kingdom sees as an Iranian proxy force. The Pentagon has provided some intelligence and aerial support to the Saudi-led air war.

The new American advisory team will support the Emirati troops and Yemeni forces loyal to the old government as they seek to capi­tal­ize on recent headway against AQAP in Mukalla, which was seized by militants last year.

Ilan Goldenberg, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the U.S. presence would reinforce an encouraging trend. “This is exactly the type of [situation] where a little bit of American support goes a long way,” he said.

President Obama’s preference for using small Special Operations teams to conduct targeted operations or advise partner forces has been a hallmark of his global security strategy.

American officials also considered the Mukalla offensive a success because it marked an unprecedented coalition action against AQAP. U.S. officials have long encouraged Saudi Arabia to broaden its focus in Yemen beyond the Houthis, and have also complained of high civilian casualties in a conflict that has killed at least 6,000 people.

The United Nations continues to seek a political solution in peace talks in Kuwait City.

Military officials declined to say what type of U.S. personnel were on the ground in Yemen or provide their exact location. “They are not in harm’s way,” the U.S. official said.

[U.S. targets al-Qaeda in Yemen airstrike that kills dozens, Pentagon says]

Even after the end of its training mission, the United States has tried to contain AQAP’s growth using periodic airstrikes of its own.

Davis said the United States has conducted four strikes against al-Qaeda militants since April 23, killing 10 militants and wounding one. In March the Pentagon announced it had killed more than 70 al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen in one of the largest U.S. strikes conducted in the country since the beginning of operations there.

According to a Long War Journal database, the United States has conducted roughly 140 airstrikes in Yemen since 2002.

Cruz, Trump, and Ryan: The Unimagined Week

May 7, 2016

Cruz, Trump, and Ryan: The Unimagined Week, Gingrich Productions, Newt Gingrich, May 6, 2016

No one imagined three days ago that a month would disappear from the campaign calendar.

The morning of the Indiana primary virtually everyone assumed there would be a fight for the GOP nomination at least to June 7 when California, New Jersey and several other states vote.

Many thought the contest could go on after June 7 because Trump might still be a few delegates short.

Some hoped there would be a contested convention in July.

Suddenly, Tuesday night, Senator Ted Cruz cut either one or two months out of the calendar.

In a very wise, realistic step he suspended his candidacy. This allows him to avoid a month of negativity. It will serve him well. He leaves the race a much bigger, stronger figure than when he entered. He is plausibly a candidate for the Presidency in 2020 if Trump loses. (Actually, Cruz is so young he is plausibly a candidate for President in 2040). He has the name recognition and financial network to become a future governor of our second biggest state. He would be a superb choice to fill the Scalia role on the Supreme Court. He can now take some time to think long and hard about his future.

The Cruz decision had a big effect on both Trump and Ryan.

First, the Trump team was focused on winning the nomination. They were consumed by delegate hunts, future primaries, and winning a convention with a lot of opposition trying to stop them.

Suddenly the Trump team has had to shift direction, focus, and scale.

Trump himself has to move from an enthusiastic gladiator fighting Republican rivals to a national leader seeking to unify both the party and the country. The shift has been huge and sudden. It will take weeks to complete.

Second, Speaker Ryan represents a serious, policy oriented Washington based approach that is somewhere between skeptical and hostile about the Trump candidacy.

On the morning of the Indiana primary the Washington policy Republicans still had hopes of a contested convention. Most thought that, at a minimum, they had six or seven more weeks to negotiate with Trump as he tried to win the last few delegates.

In some ways the Cruz withdrawal was the worst possible world for Washington policy Republicans.

Suddenly, Trump was unchallengeable. He was the nominee. None of the reconciliation and communication process had occurred.

Furthermore, by winning so early and so decisively, the Washington policy Republicans feared there was a very real chance Trump would now wander off into whatever policy inventions and maneuvers he wanted to.

Speaker Ryan was looking for a maneuver to slow down the Trump consolidation of power and force a negotiated dialogue toward some kind of accommodation between two very different set of policy goals.

Ryan’s Thursday statement that he could not yet endorse Trump was dangerous. It was also in some ways a demonstration of fear and weakness.

Faced with an amazing avalanche of personal victories for Trump, Ryan apparently felt he needed a big enough event to get Trump’s attention.

This is a very dangerous game.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is correctly trying to develop party unity now that there is a nominee.

Ryan’s statement may have been given a bigger play because of the same day announcement by the two Bush Presidents and Mitt Romney that they would not endorse Trump or attend the convention.

As someone who supported all three for President it was a bit outrageous to have them suddenly wiser and purer than millions of Republican voters. It is fine to have them skip Cleveland which ought to be focused on the future not the past. It is not acceptable to have them desert the party which made them national figures.

Hopefully Ryan and Trump will work through to an accommodation in the next week or so.

Running for president is hard.

Governing is even harder.

This is just one more bump on a road that Trump has triumphantly been on for a year. There will be a lot more bumps and his ability to solve them will determine if he becomes President.

Ryan also faces the challenge of leading a House GOP which could rapidly split into unmanageable factions.

There is a lot at stake.

Video: Muslim Brotherhood @NRA director @GroverNorquist shown as agent of jihad #RemoveGroverNorquist @NraWayne | Pamela Geller

May 7, 2016

Video: Muslim Brotherhood @NRA director @GroverNorquist shown as agent of jihad #RemoveGroverNorquist @NraWayne

ByPamela Geller on May 6, 2016

Source: Video: Muslim Brotherhood @NRA director @GroverNorquist shown as agent of jihad #RemoveGroverNorquist @NraWayne | Pamela Geller

 

I have long exposed Muslim Brotherhood operative Grover Norquist’s jihad-terror related connections. He is a very dangerous man, particularly because the clueless RINOs welcome him into their exclusive circles. His mask of “tax reform” seduces the fiscal conservatives, but their ignorance of or refusal to evaluate his jihad ties is inexcusable. Grover takes stealth jihad to the next level.

If that wasn’t enough, he sits on the board of the NRA. They are currently tabulating the vote to remove him. Let us pray reason prevails. Inshallah 🙂

If the National Rifle Association keeps Muslim Brotherhood operatives on their board, we are going to need a new, competing organization. Seriously.  How can Wayne LaPierre make all those NRA televisions ads warning of “radical Islam” while having a soldier of Allah sitting on his board? ‪#‎RemoveGroverNorquist‬

Above photo: Copies of checks made out to Norquist’s organization from America’s largest al Qaeda financier, Abdurrahman Alamoudi (now serving prison time for jihad-related crimes).

“Video shows embattled NRA director Grover Norquist as Islamist agent,” WND, May 5, 2016:
Results of gun group’s 1st-ever recall effort now being tabulated

As the National Rifle Association decides the fate of board member Grover Norquist, who is under a recall petition, a video has emerged of Norquist at a Muslim event that confirms fears the paid lobbyist is using his influence to open doors for radical Muslims on Capitol Hill.

This week, the NRA is tabulating the results of a special ballot cast in the gun-rights group’s first-ever recall of a sitting board member for ethics charges. Long-time members voted on a petition to remove Norquist from the NRA board over accusations he is an agent for the radical Muslim Brotherhood and has for decades aided and abetted its leaders, including one now imprisoned on terrorism charges.

In the video shot at a Detroit event with leaders of terrorist-supporting Muslim Brotherhood front groups, a teary-eyed Norquist is seen telling a story about how he convinced a sitting U.S. senator to reach out to “Muslims leaders.”

See the video here.

“I wasn’t quite sure I could tell this story without ID’ing the guy it was about, um, but I went to talk to a U.S. senator, leader, um, and I said, uh, I have seven projects I’m working on and one of them was: Would you like to meet with Muslim leaders to talk about issues of concern to the community?” he recounted for the largely Muslim audience.

“And he said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, I don’t think anybody in my town, state, uh, is comfortable with Nation of Islam stuff,’” Norquist continued.

A year later, Norquist revisited the senator and pressed him harder on the issue, this time with success. The unidentified senator agreed to meet with the Muslims whom Norquist represents.

“All of a sudden he discovered that there were (Muslims) in his state,” Norquist said, fighting back tears.

Get the the book that exposed CAIR from the inside out, and the only book ever to provide the real “inside” story of jihadism run amok in the U.S., “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America.”

Norquist made the remarks Oct. 2, 2011, at the National Leadership Conference sponsored by the Arab American Institute in Detroit, where he was featured along with senior Council on American-Islamic Relations official Dawud Walid.

CAIR has been identified by the Justice Department as a U.S. front for both the radical Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch Hamas, which has been designated as an international terrorist group by the U.S. government since 1995.

Norquist has strenuously denied charges that he’s spearheading an Islamist influence operation against the U.S. government. But the video clearly captures him admitting he has aggressively promoted Muslim interests on Capitol Hill.

WND submitted a request to Norquist’s organization for  comment, both by phone and email, but did not receive a response.

The leaders he represents have become increasingly bold.

Last month, for example, several prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders – including some who have been investigated, even arrested, for terrorist activities – stormed the Hill to lobby lawmakers to fight measures to crack down on terrorism, curtail immigration and aid Israel.

Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney, who has sounded alarm bells over Norquist, called their campaign “Muslim Brotherhood Day on Capitol Hill.” The staff of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reportedly turned the group away as soon as they arrived.

High-profile NRA member Glenn Beck charged that Norquist is acting as a deep-cover spy for the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated a terrorist organization in several countries.

“Grover Norquist is the modern-day version of that KGB handler,” Beck said. “The infiltration has happened and he’s the doorway to it.”

Beck has threatened to leave the NRA if Norquist is re-elected to the board.

Norquist’s bio on the NRA’s website describes him as one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington because of “his ability to control Republican Party politics.” It does not mention his lobbying for Islamists and Arab nations, however, nor his founding of an Islamic institute, which solicited donations from a major Muslim Brotherhood figure who landed in federal prison on terrorism charges.

As first reported in the book “Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washingon,” Norquist’s old lobbying firm, Janus-Merritt, was a registered agent for terrorist Abdurahman Alamoudi and received some $40,000 from the al-Qaida financier.

At the same time he was giving money to Norquist, Alamoudi was funneling money to al-Qaida, according to the government. After his conviction last decade, the U.S. Treasury Department revealed Alamoudi was one of al-Qaida’s top fundraisers in America.

Norquist and his Muslim partner at his lobbying firm also represented the Pakistani government concerning military aid. Islamabad has been accused of protecting al-Qaida leaders, including Osama bin Laden.

In addition, canceled checks show Alamoudi gave Norquist at least $20,000 in seed money to start up his Islamic Free Market Institute, which was run by Alamoudi’s deputy and later appeared on a Joint Terrorism Task Force threat matrix, according to “Infiltration.” One of the stated goals of the institute is to promote Muslims to positions of power.

During his silent partnership with Norquist, Alamoudi made public statements in support of terrorists, including at a pre-9/11 rally for Hamas and Hezbollah across from the White House.

The top of Alamoudi’s agenda was convincing the president to eliminate the Justice Department’s use of undisclosed evidence in deportation cases against Arabs suspected of terrorism. On the eve of 9/11, Norquist personally went to the Hill and lobbied to, in his words, “get rid of the secret evidence laws which have been used to discriminate against Muslims and Arabs in this country.”

Norquist also helped several Islamists secure a meeting with President Bush on the issue before it was canceled by the 9/11 attacks, according to “Infiltration.”

After 9/11, Norquist and his Islamic Institute lobbied against the USA Patriot Act.

Norquist married into a Palestinian Muslim family in 2004. He and his wife signed a letter to Republicans in support of the controversial Ground Zero mosque planned for construction near the fallen Twin Towers, which angered the survivors and relatives of victims of 9/11.

“We’ve got a guy here that has been associated overtly with known terrorists, like Abdurahman Alamoudi, Sami Al-Arian and also with people that have at least been identified in court as being supporters of the Iranian government, like Khaled Saffuri. And then (CAIR executive director) Nihad Awad as well,” Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, executive vice president of the Family Research Council, said going into the NRA vote.

“This guy, Grover Norquist, is overtly connected to these people, and probably has been since at least 1998,” Boykin added. “Yet he is on the board of the National Rifle Association.

“This is not what we need at the National Rifle Association.”

However, former NRA president David Keene steadfastly supports Norquist.

“I’ve worked with Grover for 20 years. He has dedicated his life to constitutional principles,” said Keene, now editorial editor of The Washington Times. “NRA members should vote ‘no’ on the recall ballot.”

The ATR website features praise for the longtime activist from leaders in Washington and media.

CBS’s “60 Minutes” said, “Since creating Americans for Tax Reform at Ronald Reagan’s behest back in 1985, Norquist has been responsible more than anyone else for rewriting the dogma of the Republican Party.”

The New York Times called him “the high priest of Republican tax-cutting.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “It’s because of soldiers like Grover that the conservative movement is so vibrant today.”

Op-Ed: Britain’s Labour Party and the sunny side of Adolph Hitler

May 7, 2016

Op-Ed: Britain’s Labour Party and the sunny side of Adolph Hitler, Israel National News, Jack Engelhard, May 6, 2016

Suddenly, Hitler is back in the picture, and quite popular too.

If you’ve been following the news trending from Britain’s Labour Party, you know that’s where anti-Semitism has been making a comeback with a vengeance, if it ever left, and where some 50 Labour members have been suspended and others have been censured for tasteless remarks against Jews and/or the Jewish State.

All that, but they can’t seem to suspend anti-Semitism.

Several of these rascals have been named, including the lady who forcefully suggested that Israel ought to be cleansed of Jews and moved to the United States. Quite a few of these names sound foreign and nothing like what we’ve been used to over the centuries, like Winston, Clive and Ken.

Instead, Mohammed ranks near the top for names given to newborns in the UK.

Yet the biggest headline comes from the former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who’s been quoted as saying that Hitler was a Zionist.

Dare we call that anti-Semitism – that, plus the resurfaced obsession with Jews in the first place? Well, anti-Semites come in a variety of sizes.

But, as we see, one word fits all.

From my findings I have concluded that there are people who are full-time anti-Semites, they go to bed and wake up like that — and people who are part-time anti-Semites, I call them weekend anti-Semites, acting on the impulse when it’s slow around town and there’s nothing better to do than hate Jews.

That’s when people like Ken Livingstone awaken themselves to the sunny side of Adolph Hitler.

We have them here, too, in the United States, like author Michael Chabon who gets double credits; he is Jewish and a full-time anti-Semite. Impressive!

Back to Britain, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, himself with shaky credentials as a Zionist, says, who me?

He claims that there’s no anti-Semitism going on in his back room worthy of the label.

He wants it defined. Let me try. True, there is no such thing as an official anti-Semite. We trust our instincts when we come across one.

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart explained it like this when he was asked to rule on pornography, “I know it when I see it,” and that is precisely how it works for me when I am asked to pin it down on anti-Semitism. We know who you are, period, and if that sounds too harsh, imagine how we feel when out of the blue we are Topic A all over again.

For what reason? Who knows? Anti-Semites, they know.

Truths is, I never liked using the term and have avoided it as much as possible in my books and columns, first because it is shopworn, overused, too simple, and it is the ultimate putdown. So here, however, is the problem. There is no substitute. An anti-Semite is an anti-Semite and no synonym will do.

I checked the Thesaurus and nothing doing; it keeps sending me back to anti-Semitism, and back to Britain and the rest of Europe.

If I sound touchy about the anti-Semitism roiling Labour this very day, well we’re in a period of remembrance for the Holocaust that wiped out more than half my family, so now is not the best time for keeping a stiff upper lip, which anti-Semites seldom do anyway, being ever so quick to speak freely about their intolerance.

For me, as a novelist, Israel is the perfect love story – the Romance of a Land and its people.

At the moment when Britain’s left – and who knows about the right? – is so busy with the Jews, thank God we have this blessed Land.

We know what anti-Semites can do once they get their hands on us – but now it’s not so easy, is it?