My wife taught me the incompetent driver maneuver.  We were traveling on the freeway, she had her turn signal on, but the car next to her would not yield and let her move over.  She just jerked toward the lane anyway and then quickly jerked back.  She called it the incompetent driver maneuver.  The other vehicle honked its horn at her and backed way off.  She then calmly moved over.

I am not recommending this.  For one thing, my wife is very skilled at the incompetent driver maneuver.  A less skilled driver might make a serious mistake.  In addition, some recent road rage incidents are a reminder that people don’t always respond the way you expect.  That being said, the incompetent driver maneuver actually works.

I don’t know if the Trump attack on Syria is brilliant or stupid.  I do know that the entire world is looking at him differently than they did yesterday.  Trump has shown that he can and will take decisive action with little or no warning.  Some people will applaud this, some will scream to high heaven, but all will be well aware of the risk of Donald Trump merging into their lane.  Like I said, the incompetent driver maneuver, while not recommended, can be effective.

TDM

Michael Savage used to famously say that liberalism is a mental disorder.  I used to laugh at that, but this is a pretty good explanation for the mass hysteria now on full display.  Liberals rely primarily on emotion and they often disregard inconvenient facts.  If one defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then one is also describing liberalism.  One of the sad consequences of insanity is that during times of stress it can border on suicidal.

Liberals are not upset that Hillary Clinton is not President.  They never actually liked her.  They are just devastated that Donald Trump is President.  They cannot bring themselves to endure the unendurable.  In their minds Donald Trump is a crude, ruthless lying xenophobic misogynist tragically and inexplicably inserted into the Presidency.  They simply cannot accept the fact of his Presidency.  They were desperately hoping that someone somewhere would find the longed for smoking gun that would remove this national nightmare.  Deep down they know that Russia did not steal the election and the Trump campaign didn’t want or need Russia’s help to beat Hillary Clinton but the alternative is to accept the legitimacy of the Trump Presidency and they cannot do that.

This is why they will not and cannot give up on the ridiculous nonsense that Russia, with the help of Trump, stole the election.  To give up on that would be to acknowledge that Donald Trump is the legitimate President of the United States and to liberals that is a fate worse than death itself.

This is why they can’t comprehend why anyone would be concerned about the Obama administration spying on the Trump campaign and his transition team.  In their delusional minds, this is not a crime; it is an actor of honor.  They would be far more upset if Obama wasn’t doing everything possible to resist the Trump Presidency.

This reminds me of the scene from “A Few Good Men.”  Colonel Nathan Jessup, played by Jack Nicholson, is outraged that a pipsqueak like Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, would dare challenge him with regard to his duty to defend Guantanamo.  When Kaffee pushed him, Jessup responds by saying:

You can’t handle the truth…Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns.  Whose gonna do it?  You?  You, Lt. Weinburg?  I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom.  You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines.  You have that luxury.  You have the luxury of not knowing what I know.  That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives.  And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.  You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall.  We use words like honor, code, loyalty.  We used these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something.  You use them as a punchline.  I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provided, and then questions the manner in which I provide it.  I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way.  Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post.  Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled too.

Liberals think they are Colonel Jessup defending the country from Donald Trump.  They are outraged that anyone would even care if they used extraordinary methods to achieve that goal.  But what liberals fail to grasp is that Donald Trump is the President of the United States, he was elected in a fair and honest election and he does not begin to resemble the monster they have created in their own delusional minds.  This is the consequence of liberals convincing their supporters and themselves that one must hate anyone who dares disagree with them.  They have deluded themselves into believing that those who disagree with them are not only wrong, they are by definition evil.  This blinds them to the real evil on full display by those they choose to admire solely because they appear to worship at the same altar of political correctness.  Those who cannot recognize evil, eventually embrace it ultimately leading them with no escape from the road to destruction.

TDM

Many of us still remember when Susan Rice lied her ass off on national television following the Benghazi attacks.  Other than Bill and Hillary Clinton there have been very few political figures so willing to look the American people straight in the eye and lie.  Incredibly the main stream media so quick to call Donald Trump a liar if he disagrees with the size of the crowd at his inauguration didn’t seem to notice and certainly did not care.  When is the last time you heard anyone in the main stream media call Susan Rice a liar?

President Obama rewarded her performance by appointing her to be his National Security Advisor.  It is important to note that this appointment does not require Senate approval and put Rice in a position where Obama could invoke executive privilege to prevent her from testifying before congress.

This reminds me of a scene from a Bridge Too Far.  General James M Gavin, played by Ryan O’Neal asks Major Julian Cook, played by Robert Redford to lead an assault across the river, in small unarmed boats, under fire.  Gavin tells Cook that he needs someone willing, able and stupid enough to carry out the assignment.  Those are the same qualifications President Obama recognized in Susan Rice.  If she was not aware that everything she said on those Sunday Talk Shows was utter nonsense, then she is beyond stupid.  If she did know and still lied then she is even more stupid.

Now there are numerous reports that Nunes has solid evidence that Susan Rice personally asked to have members of the Trump campaign and/or transition team unmasked from intelligence reports.  This apparently was requested in writing.  Like I said: stupid! This is way beyond bad.  This explains exactly why Devin Nunes responded the way he did and why he gave immediate notice to President Trump.  It is impossible to even pretend that Susan Rice did this without Obama’s knowledge and consent.

This scandal is now perilously close to directly involving President Obama. The hounds are on the blood trail and it leads directly to President Barack Obama and the Oval Office.  The only real question is whether the main stream media will ever admit the seriousness of these allegations.  They have been pretending that the “potential” collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is the big story.  The problem is that they have zero evidence of this.  The other problem is that there is zero evidence that Russia had any impact on the election.  In addition, Trump is spot on when he says that Clinton had a lot more direct personal connections with Russia than anyone remotely connected with the Trump campaign.  Trump is not a rino Republican afraid of his shadow.  He can and will fight back and if Democrats pursue this story, we are going to learn a lot more about the Clinton Foundation and Bill’s $500,000 speaking fees.  In contrast to the lack of evidence regarding the Trump campaign there is a mountain of evidence regarding the Clintons.

Nunes was not disclosing Susan Rice’s name because he was too busy building his case.  Now that her name has been leaked, it is probably only a matter of hours before she is called to testify. If Obama tries to prevent her from testifying, on the basis of “Executive Privilege” that will create several problems.  One is that the Supreme Court ruled against Richard Nixon when he tried to use Executive Privilege to avoid the Watergate scandal.  In addtion if Obama claims executive privilege it will be considered by at least some people to be an admission of guilt.  On the other hand, if he does not invoke Executive Privilege, Susan Rice will be asked to testify under oath. I predict her asking for protection under the 5^th Amendement.  Susan Rice should already be lawyering up and she might seriously consider upgrading her personal security.  Otherwise Rice Crispy will be more than a cute headline.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/03/obama-adviser-susan-rice-sought-names-trump-officials-intelligence-reports/22024089/

Democrats are going to try dismiss this as minor compared to the much more significant problem of Trump working with Russia to steal the election.  That probably would work, with the New York Times, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. It has already worked, predictably, with CNN.  While there are certainly a lot of liberals who will continue to buy that nonsense, I doubt that there are enough of them to carry the day.  Remember, there weren’t nearly enough of them stupid enough to vote for Hillary Clinton.

The bottom line is that it is increasingly clear that, once again, the Obama administration abused power for political reasons.  It is long past time for Democrats to get over the fact that Hillary Clinton lost and start paying attention.  Abuse of power is not a minor problem and it threatens everyone, not just the Tea Party.

TDM

Most people think the Trump helped Russia steal the election myth will be a continuing theme throughout the Trump Presidency.  This would be true, if Trump was a typical Republican terrified of his own shadow.  Instead he is fighting back and he is winning.

The problem for the liberal left and Democrats is that there are few if any facts supporting their position. It is increasingly clear that Democrats still cannot come to grips with the fact that Hillary Clinton lost.  There are four stages to recovering from a tragic event: denial, anger, depression and acceptance. A lot of Democrats remain in denial desperately hoping they will find a way to reverse the results of this election.  They are delusional.

The results are already stunning and likely to become devastating.  Trump has successfully forced people to look at the obvious abuse of power by the Obama administration.  While the main stream media cannot find any evidence of this, they need only look at their own reporting.

But Trump did more than that.  He reminded people of all of money flowing to the Clinton foundation, the huge speaking fees to Bill Clinton and the transfer of us uranium resources to Russia.

Now we learn that Grassley may have found the ultimate poison pill.  It turns out that the unverified dossier about Trump’s campaign ties to Russia came from Fusion GPS.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/31/company-linked-to-trump-russian-dossier-has-its-own-kremlin-connection-us-senator-says.htm

If Russia was interfering in the election, it is quite possible it was in opposition to Donald Trump.

“According to a complaint filed with the Justice Department, Fusion GPS headed the pro-Russia campaign to kill the Global Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions on Russians designated as human rights abusers. This was the same time, Grassley said, that the FBI was relying on the anti-Trump dossier and the man who produced it for Fusion to further its investigation into Trump and his Russian ties.”

The FBI, investigating this Dossier upon the request from John McCain missed this little tidbit.  Ouch!

Fusion GPS did not deny this lobbying effort, just said that “it didn’t need to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, because it partners with a U.S. Law firm to ensure compliance with the law.”

The longer this goes on, the more embarrassing it becomes for Democrats.

This a reminder of an important lesson taught to every attorney.  Never ask a question to which you do not know the answer.

TDM

Who would have thunk?  During an interview on MSNBC, Dr. Evelyn Farkas, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense literally admitted that the Obama administration was using the intelligence services to spy on the Trump campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVGp2FZmVA4

The transcript speaks for itself:

I was urging my former colleagues, and, and frankly speaking the people on the Hill [Democrat politicians], it was more actually aimed at telling the Hill people, get as much information as you can – get as much intelligence as you can – before President Obama leaves the administration.

Because I had a fear that somehow that information would disappear with the senior [Obama] people who left; so it would be hidden away in the bureaucracy, um, that the Trump folks – if they found out HOW we knew what we knew about their, the Trump staff, dealing with Russians – that they would try to compromise those sources and methods; meaning we no longer have access to that intelligence.

So I became very worried because not enough was coming out into the open and I knew that there was more.  We have very good intelligence on Russia; so then I had talked to some of my former colleagues and I knew that they were also trying to help get information to [Democrat politicians

It will be interesting to see how the liberal left handles this.  Odds are they will focus on the evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and ignore the massive abuse of power by the Obama administration.  But the problem is that if there is so much material, why haven’t they been able to produce a shred of evidence?  The obvious answer is they don’t have such evidence or we would all know about it.

We now know why former Obama intelligence officials were publicly stating there was no evidence of collusion.  They knew that the real story was the surveillance itself and they were trying to head off an investigation into that.  Thanks to the brilliant Ms. Farkas, we do have a smoking gun, just not the one they wanted or expected.

Incredibly she not only admits that intelligence was being gathered, she admits it was done deliberately, she admits it involved classified information and it was being preserved and distributed to Democratic politicians.  It was also being deliberately withheld from Republicans.  It does not get any worse than this.

The main stream media will try to down play this but Fox is about to go nuclear. This story is so juicy and so significant that within hours at least some in the main stream media will jump on the bandwagon.  While they are liberal and they hate Trump they simply cannot ignore a story this explosive.  It is hard to imagine someone supposedly so smart being so incredibly stupid.  But then, liberals are not necessarily known for common sense and logic.

TDM

If the following article is true, there was foreign interference in our election, but not by Russia and not for Donald Trump. It turns out that the real interference may have been by Estonia who gave John Brenna, Director of the CIA, a false tape recording alleging money from the Kremlin was going into the U.S. Presidential campaign.

https://spectator.org/health-care-and-we-the-people/

It appears as those Brennan, who hates Trump, went on a mission to investigate Trump and defeat him. Perhaps Brennan even believed the story and thought he was doing the right thing. Democrats are often willing to believe incredible myths about Donald Trump, so this is more than consistent.

There is so much misinformation out there that one has to be skeptical about everything. However, this at least makes sense. This is very typical of Democrats, who consistently botch foreign policy, being terrified at putting a Neocon Republican in charge of national security. Perhaps the most fascinating part of this is Joe Biden visiting the Baltic States and saying that Barack Obama had their back and would defend them. It would be the ultimate irony if this whole mess was started by people stupid enough to believe that Barack Obama would ever have stood up to Russia.

TDM

Penny Chenery inherited a coin flip negotiated by her father. Odgen Phillips the owner of Bold Ruler was the other participant. Bold Ruler would be bred each of two years to a set of mares. The winner of a coin flip would get first choice of the foals in 1969. The second would get first choice in 1970. In addition, the loser, as a consolation prize, would get the last remailing foal. In effect the loser ended up with two horses. Phillips won the toss, but the first horse never did much. Neither did the second choice taken by Penny Chenery. But the consolation prize, the third horse, turned out to be Secretariat, arguably the best race horse ever.  Sometimes you win by losing.

Republicans botched it and were unable to come up with a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare. They look like squabbling fools. They are pathetic. However I have been following this bill closely and I personally think they dodged a bullet. The problem is that any bill acceptable to moderates would still look a lot like ObamaCare. That is why critics call it ObamaCare Lite. On the other hand any bill that met the requirements of groups like the Freedom Caucus would have been equally bad, on the other extreme. This bill would have fixed nothing, except the blame and that would have fallen solely on Republicans.

So while Democrats are rejoicing, keep one thing in mind. ObamaCare is coming apart at the seams and Donald Trump is right, Democrats “own it.” Not a single Democrat voted for the bill and not a single Democrat made any recommended changes to the bill. They are focused solely on obstructing Republicans and then rejoicing because nothing gets done.

Republicans dodged a bullet by failing to replace ObamaCare with a fiasco. Even if they had passed a great bill, the media and the Democrats would have presented it as a train wreck. All the downsides would have been magnified and the good sides ignored. On the other hand, if (when) ObamaCare implodes the result will be loud demands for somebody to do something about it. While those of us familiar with ObamaCare understand the problems, many people remain oblivious. The pain has been painted over with major funding by the federal government. Trump many not have been able to repeal and replace ObamaCare but he isn’t going to fund it either. Neither are Republicans in congress. Major pain is on the way.  The only reason a lot of people like ObamaCare now is that they don’t have to pay for it.  That is about to change.

In addition, Trump is now likely to get the rest of his agenda passed quickly, including tax reform. Republicans will not be enthusiastic about another embarrassing defeat. In the meantime, Dodge City is a good place to be.

TDM

Republicans are the most inept political party in the history of this nation, with one exception. Democrats are proving to be even dumber. The Democratic Party is totally controlled by the wacky liberal left. This makes democrats incapable to acting rationally.

Chuck Schumer has announced that Democrats will filibuster Gorsuch.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/23/schumer-says-dems-will-filibuster-gorsuch/

This is good news, for Republicans, because this is really stupid. This is proof that Democrats will never consider supporting anyone nominated by Donald Trump. Gorsuch will be approved in spite of Schumer’s efforts. The only question is whether any Democrats will cross party lines and vote for him. Odds are that at least some Democrats, up to re-election next year, will seriously consider doing that. If Democrats cross party lines and vote for Gorsuch, in spite of a filibuster led by Schumer, he will have lost control of his caucus. If they don’t cross party lines, Republicans will just vote him in with 52 votes setting precedence for the next nominee. Either way it is a big win for Republicans.

The smart move by Democrats would have been to allow some of their caucus members to vote for Gorsuch. He would be voted in with more than 60 votes and Democrats would preserve the right to insist on 60 votes. If they filibuster, it will prove that no nominee appointed by President Trump will ever be acceptable to Democrats. What difference does it make if Democrats will always vote no? Republicans will be justified in approving this and all future Supreme Court nominees with 51 votes.

The only thing that could save Democrats now would be if Republicans snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Democrats are proposing that they will not filibuster if Republicans agree that 60 votes will be required on all future nominees. There is no reason for Republicans to accept that deal. They would gain nothing but a guaranteed fight with the next nominee. There certainly are several RINOs like Graham and McCain who will think this is a splendid idea, but fortunately they no longer control things.

We should all give thanks that Republicans have been blessed with such stupid opposition.

TDM

The testimony by James Comey yesterday was a bombshell; it’s too bad most of the pundits in the main stream media missed it.  They were so thrilled when Comey said he had seen no evidence of a wiretap in Trump Tower and that there was an ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the election that they missed the lead.

Donald Trump did not miss it.  He sent out the following tweet:

FBI Director Comey refuses to deny he briefed President Obama on calls made by Michael Flynn to Russia.

CNN interpreted this as: “Rebuffed by Comey’s testimony, Trump tweet teases new theory”

CNN missed the point.  At the same time Comey was testifying that he had no evidence of anyone wiretapping Trump Tower, his testimony was providing the proof. Michael Flynn called the Russian Ambassador from Trump Tower. We know that someone intercepted this conversation and recorded it.This is so simple that even Democrats should be able to grasp the concept. If you call someone and their phone is tapped and your phone call is being recorded, are you being wiretapped? Democrats and James Comey would say no.  The rest of us would say hell yes!

Comey admitted that he has been investigating the Trump campaign since July 2016, that the investigation was ongoing and that he did not brief either the House or the Senate Intelligence Committees until just recently.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-in-trumpworld-probe-comey-decision-to-keep-everyone-in-dark-could-have-far-reaching-repercussions/article/2617960

“he apparently kept the existence of the investigation a secret from the chairman and ranking member of the House and Senate Intelligence committees.” 

Comey’s justification for failure to inform congress was: “I think our decision was a matter of such sensitivity that we wouldn’t include it in the quarterly briefings.”

He “thinks?” If he made the decision, wouldn’t he “know?” Did he make the decision at all?  He says it was “our” decision.  Who else, besides Comey, participated in the decision to not inform congress?  “What did the President know and when did he know it?”

Comey obviously briefed senior members of the Obama administration, because they are on record about it.  At a minimum they knew there was an investigation being conducted.  Remember the only evidence of collusion was the investigation itself.

Trump pointed out, correctly, that Comey did not deny briefing President Obama about the Flynn conversation.  Comey knew that Flynn’s phone call was tapped.  There is no other plausible explanation for the FBI having a transcript of that call. If Comey did brief Obama, this may be smoking gun evidence that Obama personally knew Trump Tower was being wiretapped.

Neither Donald Trump, the ranking members of the House Intelligence Committee or the Senate Intelligence Committee can afford to ignore this. The Director of the FBI admitted under oath that he deliberately withheld critical information from them.  If they ignore that they will be abdicating power to the Director of the FBI.

Donald Trump has to be seething about Comey’s show during the hearing but other than the tweet, he is not talking about this.  Has he given up and accepted defeat or is he preparing to do battle?

When Trump goes to war, he goes silent:

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/07/trump-i-dont-give-a-specific-isis-plan-because-i-dont-want-enemies-to-know-it.html

“I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is,”

Democrats would be wise to prepare for incoming.

TDM

Democrats are in serious trouble.  This is what happens to people who will not consider making a decision based solely on what is right.  Democrats know that Gorsuch is highly qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice.  But the Democratic Party is dominated by hard left liberals who will never consider just doing the right thing for the right reason.

If Gorsuch is approved with Democratic votes, the Democratic leadership will have lost control of the caucus.  On the other hand, if no Democrat votes for Gorsuch, Republicans will just change the rules and vote him in with 51 votes.  This decision will be based purely on politics and as a result it is likely to be the worst possible decision.

When someone tells you that they are only interested in obstructing you, there is no point in negotiating with them.  Your choices are to run them over, by pass them or run away.

This reminds me of a time I was invited to watch the San Francisco 49ers play the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia.  This was at a time when the 49ers were the class of the league and the Eagles were a second tier team trying to reach the next level.  (No, I was not stupid enough to wear my 49ers gear J).  Prior to the game and during the first few moments the fans were going nuts.  It was one of the loudest crowds I have ever experienced.  All the Eagles fans were shouting about how “the 49ers were going to learn who was really tough.”  By half time the 49ers had the game well in hand and they were dominating the Eagles in every way possible.  The stadium went from extremely loud to deathly quiet.  I heard a lot of the same fans quietly saying: ‘I knew we couldn’t beat these guys.”  By the start of the third quarter a lot of fans had gone home.  The stadium was virtually empty by the end of the game.

Democrats are really loud at the moment, but so far they haven’t won anything. Trump, on the other hand has already gotten a lot done.  Since Democrats are clearly unwilling to work with him on any issue, they are becoming increasingly irrelevant.  Trump is either going to run them over or just ignore them.  This is not a man likely to back down and run away. If all you are doing is screaming and your team is getting pushed all over the field, at some point the crowd will shut up and go home.

TDM