I don’t know of a single person, white, black or any other color, who thinks the situation with regard to George Floyd was remotely acceptable. There are many demands for a conversation about racial inequality in this country. So far, they all seem to be focused on the problem with white cops assaulting black men. There is no doubt that race should not be a factor in how police treat suspects. No one wants people treated unfairly solely because of their race. But that is only part of the conversation and failure to discuss other equally if not more important issues is a huge mistake.

For me the best example of racism in this country is abortion. Most reports are that black women have the highest abortion rate at 27.1 per 1,000 women. The number is closer to 10 per 1,000 for white women. There are disputes regarding the actual numbers, but by any measure a much higher percentage of black babies are aborted then white babies. What could be more racist than denying an unborn child even the chance at life? Even if you consider yourself pro-choice, this statistic should trouble you. Regardless of why this happens, it does happen and the impact is horrific.

In 2018 there were 14,123 murder victims in the United States. 7,407 of them were black. 6,088 were white. Every study shows that most people are killed by members of the same race. White people tend to kill white people and black people tend to kill black people. This means black on black crime is resulting in a disproportionate number of deaths in this country. Those lives also matter.

In 2015, the life expectancy of a white female was 81.3. For a black female it was 78.5. The life expectancy of a white male was 76.6. For a black male it was 72.2. This is a significant improvement from 1990. Then the life expectancy of a white female was 79.6 and a black female was 73.6. The life expectancy of a white male was 72.7 and a black male was 64.5. So, things have improved, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Those black lives matter too.

Let me be blunt. If doctors feel threatened when they are in high crime neighborhoods, don’t be surprised when they open up their practice in an area they consider to be safer. If store owners feel threatened when they try to operate in high crime neighborhoods don’t be surprised if they chose to open their next store somewhere else. If police feel threatened responding to reports of crime in a high crime neighborhood, don’t be surprised to see a reduced police presence. If school teachers feel threatened to teach school in a high crime neighborhood, don’t be surprised if they choose to teach in another school district. If there are fewer opportunities for a job, don’t be surprised if people turn to crime. The people most impacted by this will be the people who need the most assistance. It is a vicious cycle that will not change until everyone becomes united on solutions that actually work.

Yes black lives matter. All black lives matter. And it helps almost no one to focus only on one area of concern while doing close to nothing to fix other, far more deadly, problems. I don’t know the solution to this. But I do know of historical examples where real change was made possible.

My wife and I recently watched the Baseball Documentary on PBS. It reminded me of the story of Jackie Robinson. If anyone had a right to complain about unfair treatment it was Jackie Robinson. He was not even allowed to stay in the same hotel as the rest of the team. Before he even joined the Brooklyn Dodgers some players threatened to boycott the team to stop him. He was subjected to racial slurs we couldn’t even imagine today. He was sometimes deliberately injured by white players who hated him because of the color of his skin. The odds were stacked against him, but Jackie Robinson knew that if he succeeded, he would change the world, at least with regard to major league baseball. Incredibly, he did succeed. He didn’t succeed because he was given special privileges or concessions. He succeeded because he made it impossible for anyone to even argue that he was not up to the challenge.

I have often thought about this. What if Jackie Robinson had been given special privileges? What if he was allowed four strikes or a head start to first base? That would have been the ultimate insult. It also would have made it impossible for him to revolutionize professional sports in this country. He shouldn’t have had to endure any of this. He deserved better. But he did endure and we should all be grateful. We should do more than that. We should learn from his example.

Branch Rickey deserves credit for giving Jackie Robinson a chance. Jackie Robinson deserves credit for taking advantage of opportunity. But we all benefited from two people who showed enough courage to recognize the problem and more importantly make the sacrifices necessary to fix the problem.

The problem between police and black males will change when and only when two things happen. One is that police believe that the color of one’s skin has nothing to do with whether or not someone is guilty of a crime. It is when police treat everyone the same, regardless of race. The other is when black males learn that police have a difficult job and dangerous job. The less police feel threatened by someone the less likely they are to respond with violence. It is when both sides learn to appreciate and respect each other.

Some of the protesters get it. They are the ones walking toward police with their hands in the air, showing they are not a threat. Some protesters have even prayed with police. Others do not. They are the ones standing in the back throwing things, setting fires and looting stores. It is time to focus on those capable of being part of the solution and not those who insist taking actions that will only make the problem worse.

It is critical to note that some of the worst offenders are not even black. To them, race has nothing to do with this. They thrive on chaos without regard to the impact on others.

Ultimately, if we want to end racism, we need to listen to people like Martin Luther King:

https://ourlutherking.com/i-have-a-dream-speech-text/

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King changed the world, not with violence, but by rejecting violence. It still not perfect, but it is much better than it was. Incredibly he even dreamed of sitting down at the table of brotherhood with those he could hold most responsible:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood

True on August 28, 2963. True today.

TDM

Donald Trump is going where Angels fear to tread. When he says he thinks the Russia Collusion investigation was a hoax designed to overturn the results of an election, he means it. When he says this must never happen again to a U.S. President, believe him. He has gone completely away from defensive and is now on offense. It is important to remember that the President of the United States is the most powerful person in the world. This is why the alleged abuse of power by the Obama administration is so serious.

This reminds me of when President Clinton bombed Iraq on December 16, 1998. I remember Ted Koppel pointing out the “coincidence” of this taking place two days before the scheduled House vote to approve two articles of impeachment. He then said he refused to consider the possibility that Clinton did this for any reason other than a threat to national security, because that would be “unthinkable.”

Other than the Democrats and the MSM who colluded to remove Richard Nixon from office, Presidents have always been given the benefit of the doubt. That is the way it should be. It is truly unthinkable for a President to abuse power for political purposes.

Yet, incredibly, more and more evidence is being produced suggesting that President Obama did exactly that. There are allegations that he used our intelligence agencies, the DOJ, and the FBI to spy on the Trump campaign during an election year. It is increasingly obvious that this happened, the only real question is what did President Obama know and when did he know it? Now there are serious allegations that the Obama administration tried to obstruct Donald Trump from fulfilling his duties as President of the United States and literally set in motion activities that in retrospect look like an attempted coupe. It frankly does not get any worse than that.

The MSM has ignored this story. Partly because they adored Obama. Partly because they hate Donald Trump and partly because it is indeed, unthinkable. But, in spite of the best efforts by a lot of people to avoid even considering this, the day has indeed arrived. William Barr just appointed a U.S. Attorney to investigate why the Obama administration unmasked Michael Flynn and other members of the Trump campaign and administration. It is important to note that this moves beyond investigating what happened and has now moved into investigating motive. That is what happens just before people are indicted.

We can expect the Obama administration and their fawning supporters in the MSM to try and keep this under wraps. But things have changed. Last week Kayleigh McEnany literally challenged reporters to do their job and ask questions about this. The usual suspects and their RINO supporters in the MSM were outraged. But the people watching this with a grain of common sense realize that McEnany has a point. Why is the press so focused on questioning everything said or done by Donald Trump while turning a blind eye to far more serious things allegedly done by Obama?

The Senate is holding hearings next week and the first witness will be Rod Rosenstein. Lindsey Graham will ask Rosenstein if he would still sign the Carter Page FISA warrant if he knew then what he knows now. Don’t expect Rosenstein to take one for the team on that question. Rosenstein is also going to be asked about the reason for authorizing the Mueller investigation. He has no choice but to say he relied on information provided him by people in a position of responsibility. He is equally unlikely to take a bullet for anyone on that either. Rosenstein is between a rock and a hard place. He knows Republicans are out for blood. He also knows he has no friends on the democratic side of the aisle. No one has ever accused him of being stupid. When he left office he rather deliberately did not take a personal shot at Donald Trump. The only safe thing for Rosenstein to do at this point is to tell the truth and stick to the facts. If he does that, the results could be catastrophic for a lot of people. One thing is certain; this is unlikely to be boring.

It is obvious that President Trump is now on full offense. He finally has his full team ready, willing and able to take this on. Unless many of the documents being released through various sources are all forgeries, it is Trump who has saved up all of his ammunition. Trump has field commanders like William Barr, Trey Gowdy, Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and John Ratcliffe. His opponents are led by people like Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden and a cast of thousands. Both teams frighten people but for opposite reasons. No sane person wants to be investigated by someone like William Barr. No sane person wants to trust his defense to someone like Adam Schiff.

This reminds me of when General Grant captured Fort Donelson. Confederate Generals Floyd and Pillow fled the fort when defeat was inevitable. They considered themselves too valuable to be captured. When Grant learned about General Pillow “evading capture” he said Pillow was right where he wanted him, leading a confederate army. I suspect Donald Trump is equally thrilled at the quality of the people assaulting him.

Trump is now going where angels fear to tread and he is kicking up a lot of dust. Fasten your seat belts, this is going to be a bumpy ride.

TDM

Few people know the real history of Memorial Day. This actually dates back to the Civil War. It was called Decoration Date and was to commemorate the deceased of the Civil War. It was first observed on May 30, 1868. It involved a large ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Most southern states refused to honor Memorial Day until after World War I. After World War I, Memorial Day was adjusted to celebrate the deceased in all wars. Memorial Day became a national holiday in 1971.

https://www.inthelighturns.com/history-memorial-day-infographic.html?msclkid=9ba484a4bdae1c652345da6c87cffbf1

For those of us who are combat veterans, this day holds special significance. Many of us had friends who never made it home. I will never forget.

I graduated high school in 1965. That was the class that went to war. Our class lost a lot of people in Vietnam. Few of us would have predicted that on graduation day in 1965. I certainly had zero intention of pursuing a military career. Like a lot of other people, it was the military draft that motivated my decision. Most of the people I flew with in Vietnam did not consider themselves to be heroes. They were just people who realized it was our turn to answer the call and while we didn’t want to go, we couldn’t consider asking someone else to go in our place.

I still remember getting on an airplane in Seattle and taking off for my second tour in Vietnam. I looked around the plane and there were a lot of solemn faces. Few looked like they considered this a great adventure. Instead they looked like ordinary people, more than a little terrified, but grimly prepared to do their duty. Prior to boarding that plane I had watched wall to wall anti-war demonstrations on TV.  These naïve and selfish people thought they were showing great courage and saving the world. They had no clue regarding the reality of who and what we were fighting in Vietnam. In my mind, this was the opposite of courage. The real demonstration was by all those men who quietly kissed their loved ones goodbye and got on that plane.

So while I have special memories for the friends who did not survive the war, I also remember the men on that and many other similar planes. They get little or no publicity and few even notice. But they are the ones who demonstrated what courage looks like and why it is so important.

TDM

California is about to enter wild fire season. We have already had some small fires even before the hot summer weather hits. So far these fires have been small. But they are a warning of what is to come. But the real wild fires in California this summer will be political.

Governor Newsom has arrogantly sowed the wind and is about to reap the whirlwind. His heavy handed approach to COVID 19 has done incredible damage to the California economy. What makes this more devastating is that Newsome did this state-wide, including areas where there is virtually no COVID-19. He is still arrogantly trying to micromanage reopening California, with catastrophic results. We are getting new cases in California, but so far they are coming from areas which are and have been shut down.

California was already in serious financial trouble because of severely underfunded pension programs. A lot of people realized the state budget looked like a Ponzi scheme. Well now the Ponzi scheme has run out of new income in part because of unforced errors. Like every other Ponzi type scheme, once new income stops the scheme collapses almost immediately.

This all could have been prevented. All Governor Newsome needed to do was let counties make their own decisions. They would have reopened large portions of the state weeks ago. But instead he arrogantly chose to be “the man” and “the man” botched this big time.

In March Newsom was predicting that 56% of Californians (25.5 million people) would get COVID-19 over an eight week period. That eight week period is now over and this is beyond absurd. He even hinted that martial law could be used, if necessary. He did activate the National Guard, but only on humanitarian assignments.

Newsom: “If we’re to be criticized at this moment, let us be criticized for taking this moment seriously. Let us be criticized for going full force and meeting the virus head on.”

Governor Newsom, you got. You deserve all the blame for over-reacting to a virus that has a mortality rate of less than 1% and which has impacted 80,430 people. That is just slightly less than your estimate of 25.2 million people.

Everyone in California is paying a steep price for this major miscalculation. Newsom remains oblivious. When Jake Tapper asked: “how much of the state’s financial crisis is the result of pre-existing financial obligations?” Newsom responded by saying: “None.” Even Tapper did not buy that. Note to liberals: “When you’ve lost people like Jake Tapper, you’ve lost the country!”

Newsom estimates there is already a $54.3 billion deficit. Ironically, Newsom admitted there was a serious pension liability problem, but pretended it was under control.

That $54.3 billion is a direct result of COVID-19. Just a few months ago, I introduced my January budget but, with, again, a projected surplus. We paid off 100 percent of our debt we had inherited over seven or eight years ago. We were using $9.13 billion of the surplus last year to pay down long-term pension obligations,”

Newsome has already announced cutting state funding for education and other programs. He has cut the wages of California State employees by 10%. He is hinting at cutting first responders. Yet, at the same time, California has miraculously found the money to pay benefits to illegal aliens. He has found the money to pay hotels to house the homeless. This won’t fly in Peoria or anywhere else.

Newsom needs to submit a balanced budget by July 1. He is out of time. Every week, every day, every hour there is a delay in getting the state re-opened makes the problem worse. It may take years for California to recover. Newsom has to cut spending NOW! No one is going to loan California enough money. The federal government is not about to bail out California, regardless of what Nancy Pelosi thinks.

Democrats will predictably try to solve the problem by cutting the things that matter most to people. They always do that. They will also respond by trying to increase taxes. There already appears to be another stealth attempt to overturn Prop 13. They will also try to blame Republicans, but Democrats dominate California and every statewide office is held by a Democrat. This time the blame game won’t work. None of this will work. California already has extremely high taxes. People are fed up.

California recalled a governor once before, unless far less troubling circumstances. But that will take months and will result in a free-for-all similar to when Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor. In the meantime people are getting more frustrated and angrier. The liberals who have been trying desperately to convince themselves that COVID-19 was the worst risk to mankind in world history will find themselves shrieking to a rapidly shrinking audience. COVID-19 deaths are down, COVID-19 hospitalizations are down, but the deaths from other causes did not miraculously go away.

As COVID 19 fades quickly into the background, the economic destruction including the inevitable deaths will become increasingly impossible to ignore. There is a political wild fire, already burning, that will soon envelope this state. This will be hotter than you can imagine. It will be more destructive than anyone thought possible. It cannot be stopped; nothing can even slow it down. Soon the question will be who will survive and then the focus will be on how to prevent this from ever happening again.

TDM

We are only days away from hot weather. The high-pressure ridge will move in, California skies will clear, and temperatures will soar. This happens every year.  But this year is going to be much hotter than normal, because of factors not involving the weather.

The California economy has been absolutely shredded by the extended lock-down. This is being exasperated by unnecessary fear. If the intent were to get everyone terrified by COVID-19, that worked brilliantly. Every decision is based solely on fear of COVID-19. We are arrogantly lectured about listening to the science, but there is little if any real science involved. They are frankly guessing.

We don’t even know if the lock-down and social distancing accomplished anything. It certainly did not stop the spread of the disease. We were told this was necessary to flatten the curve so our hospitals would not be over-whelmed. Our hospitals were not overwhelmed, and no one predicts they will be overwhelmed in the future. There is plenty of PPE and we are selling excess ventilators to other countries. Have you seen that flatten the curve graph lately? Me neither. You won’t see it because the original graphs based on computer models now look absurd.

If you think 2020 started out bad, we have only just begun. California is running out of money. It had to borrow money from the Federal Government to pay unemployment checks. Governor Newsom just cut the pay of every state employee by 10%. It won’t end there. Soon he is going to be announcing a hiring freeze and massive layoffs. Wait until they start cutting pension benefits. California is rapidly running out of cash. Income is way down, and expenses are skyrocketing. No business, no government, no state, no country can survive that kind of economic meltdown. The state must find a way to rapidly increase revenue while drastically cutting expenses. Instead our Governor is giving money to people here illegally. If you think people are angry and frustrated now, give it a week.

This is stupid and painful, and no one seems to consider what will happen when the California runs out of money. Who is going to loan this state money? The federal government? China?

So far, people have gone along, because the pain is not yet obvious and because they bought into the fear of the virus. That is about to change, quicker than the weather. At some point the truth will become too obvious to ignore. Sacramento remains shut down. As of today, they have had 1,211 confirmed cases and 54 deaths. California has had 74,396 confirmed cases and 3,108 deaths, and about half of them came from nursing homes. Los Angeles County has had 36,529 cases and 1,755 deaths. Fresno has had 1,156 cases and 16 deaths. San Francisco has 2,026 cases and 36 deaths. Only five counties have had more than 100 deaths: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, and Santa Clara. El Dorado has had no COVID 19 deaths. Placer has had 8. Yet the entire state is hunkered down in fear, At some point, when the devastation from a collapsed economy becomes all too real, even liberals will realize this is insane.

Look around you. What is obviously true is obviously true. Eventually what is obviously true becomes obvious to everyone.

TDM

Richard Burr has been Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for a long time. He is very good friends with Democrat Mark Warner. The main stream media considered this to be great bi-partisan cooperation. In reality it was a RINO Republican coordinating his activities with ranking Democrat, Mark Warner. While Burr pretended to be “bi-partisan” Mark Warner was and is completely partisan.

The result was that the Senate Intelligence Committee refused to investigate anything Obama while green lighting investigations of the Trump administration. Recently this committee approved a statement saying that the ICA conclusion that Russia had interferred in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump was substantiated by the evidence. That is clearly not true and documents recently released, over the objection of Chairman Burr, prove that this is not true. Actually it looks like there was better intelligence indicating that Russia wanted Hillary to win.

Well Richard Burr was caught selling stock shortly after learning about COVID-19. Yesterday his phone was literally seized by the FBI yesterday. Today Richard Burr stepped down as Chairman of the Senate Inteligence Committee. He called Mitch McConnell who said that was the right thing to do. It will be interesting to see who replaces him. That decision is up to Mitch McConnell. This new person is almost certain to start asking some serious questions. We can be certain that the new Chairman is not about to let Mark Warner continue to call the shots.

This couldn’t come at a better time for Trump and a worse time for his opponents. The John Durham investigation is heating up and now the Senate Intelligence Committee is unlikely to participate in the cover-up.

Burr is likely to find little support from anyone, including the remaining RINO Republicans. Those who are afraid to stand up to Democrats will be equally afraid to stand up for people who foolishly considered them to be friends.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will be a “Burr less show” and that is a very good thing.

TDM

Creedence Clearwater Revival produced “Bad Moon Rising” in April 1969. John Fogerty, who wrote the song, considered it to be a happy tune. Students in Berkeley used it as a theme song during their anti-war demonstrations. Here are the actual lyrics:

Bad Moon Rising

I see a bad moon a-rising

I see trouble on the way

I see earthquakes and lightnin’

I see bad times today

Don’t go around tonight

It’s bound to take your life

There’s a bad moon on the rise

I hear hurricanes a blowing

I know the end is coming soon

I fear rivers overflowing

I hear the voice of rage and ruin

Don’t go around tonight

It’s bound to take your life

There’s a bad moon on the rise

I hope you got your things together

I hope you are quite prepared to die

Looks like we’re in for nasty weather

One eye is taken for an eye

Don’t go around tonight

It’s bound to take your life

There’s a bad moon on the rise

There’s a bad moon on the rise

The students in Berkeley thought this was an anti-war song. If so, that would have been news to John Fogerty. He actually based it on a movie called “The Devil And Daniel Webster.” That was about a farmer who made a pact with Satan for economic success and then asked Daniel Webster, who was a lawyer, to help him break the contract. Since the plot took place in 1840 odds are it had little to do with the Vietnam War.

Others believe it was a warning regarding abundant drug use by celebrities. As for me, I just liked the music. So did a lot of soccer fans in Brazil. Although I knew the actual lyrics, to me it sounded like they were really singing: “There’s A Bathroom on the Right.” In some ways, those lyrics would be equally accurate since people caught in this type of situation often are desperate in need of a bathroom.

Regardless of why Fogerty wrote this, the words sure seem to apply today. There is a Bad Moon on the Rise. I do not know how many people will die from COVID 19, but I fear the failed cure will be far more devastating than the disease itself. I hear hurricanes of economic destruction blowing. I know the end is coming soon, because everyone is going to run out of money. I fear economic rivers overflowing and doing more damage than most people can imagine. I hear the voice of rage and ruin, growing louder every day. The incredible damage done by irresponsible and power hungry politicians bowing down to non-existent science will be increasingly difficult to ignore.

I do think there is a bad moon on the rise. And yes, I do think a lot of people will be in desperate search of a bathroom to flush this all away. Let’s hope they are smart enough to realize there really is “A Bathroom on the Right.” Heaven help us if they continue to take guidance from those who directed us into this mess.

TDM

GONE WITH THE WIND

Seldom in the history of American broadcasting have so many people been so blatantly wrong about such a material subject. The MSM, particularly CNN and MSNBC has been obsessed with the conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Numerous people, like James Clapper, came on the air and said this. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said this at every opportunity. Evelyn Farkas not only said that Russia collusion was real, she made the following appeal:

“I had a fear that somehow that information would disappear with the senior people who left so that it would be hidden away in the bureaucracy, that the Trump folks, if they found out how we knew what we knew..about the Trump staff dealing with Russians that they would try to compromise those sources and methods,” Farkas said during a March 2, 2017 interview on MSNBC. “That’s why you have the leaking. People are worried.”

Privately, under oath and under pressure from Trey Gowdy, Farkas admitted she never had any evidence of the Trump staff dealing with Russia. She also had no information connecting the Trump campaign to the hack of the DNC servers, but you didn’t know any of this, until now.

Now we learn that no one even had evidence of Russia hacking the DNC servers, including the folks at CrowdStrike. That’s right folks. That too was a big lie. They still don’t know who hacked the DNC servers.

Today more documents will be released proving this beyond any doubt. For the first time the American people can see the cold hard truth for themselves. If these clowns were capable of embarrassment, they would be humiliated. But they aren’t capable of feeling embarrassed. They aren’t capable of admitting error. They aren’t capable of admitting bias. Instead we can be sure they will try to find a way to blame this, on Donald Trump. Adam Schiff already tried to blame this on COVID 19.

It won’t work. Not this time. It won’t work because there are literally hours and hours and hours of news anchors lying on national television. Every day, every hour, every show, every person, got this wrong.

They got away with this because they were all in collusion. They got away with this, because Adam Schiff blocked release of crucial documents. They got away with this because senior members of the FBI blocked release of documents. They never dreamed they would be confronted with the actual documents. They were wrong.

The FBI had already turned over some documents to John Durham who sure looks to be on the path to indictments. Now the DNI has declassified the rest turned them over to the DOJ and released them to the press. No more unidentified sources. We can see what people actually said, in their own words.

There is already an entire team of people poring over these documents, line by line. They are probably having trouble controlling the giggles. They are not going to find evidence of a conspiracy by the Trump campaign to collude with Russia. That never happened so there was never any evidence of that. Instead they will find a conspiracy against the Trump campaign. A conspiracy that involved people at the highest level of government potentially including President Barack Obama. People who were working with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

They will find a mountain of evidence that the MSM was a willing partner in this conspiracy. Ready, willing and able to make the most serious possible accusations against a sitting U.S. President without a shred of evidence. Now we know it was much worse than that. They did have evidence, evidence that none of it was true.

What makes this worse is that they cannot refuse to cover this story. When the DOJ dropped the charges against Flynn, it forced full public disclosure. The damage has been done and it is not reversible. Even Trump haters will be furious. Furious that they were led to believe things that were so clearly untrue. Furious that they were given false hope. Furious that they defended the indefensible.

Look at your TV lineup tonight. Write down the names of the news anchors, the reporters, the producers, the panel members. Now seal that list in an envelope and look at it again on Labor Day. You will be shocked at how many people will be gone. Some will resign. Some will be fired. Some will retire. Some will be on assignment. But they will all be gone. They will be gone because no one and I do mean no one, will ever believe them again. Look now, because soon they will all be gone with the wind.

TDM

The DOJ officially dropped the Michael J. Flynn case today. It is hard to imagine the judge refusing to just dismiss the case. What is more important is that the DOJ did this while disclosing documents shredding the decision to prosecute Flynn in the first place. Simultaneously the DNI told Adam Schiff to release documents he has been hiding for over two years or the DNI would release them. Schiff quickly folded.

The statement by the DOJ is astonishing:

https://apnews.com/ae1ad252bb13490db2ceffc5d17b6d92

“After a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information” it has concluded that Flynn’s interview by the FBI was ‘untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn’ and that interview was ‘conducted without any legitimate investigative basis.’”

This was the result of a recommendation by U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen.

“Through the course of my review of General Flynn’s case, I concluded the proper and just course was to dismiss the case. I briefed Attorney General Barr on my findings, advised him on these conclusions, and he agreed.”

Brandon Van Grack abruptly withdrew from the prosecution team.

It is important to note that this report is from the AP, which is no friend of Donald Trump. That is why the following conclusion is an even bigger bombshell:

“Other documents show that the FBI had been prepared weeks before its interview of Flynn to drop its investigation into whether he was acting at the direction of Russia.”

Christopher Wray made no comment other than to acknowledge that the FBI had turned over documents to the Inspector General and to U.S. Attorney John Durham. Oh, he also reminded people that he was not Director of the FBI when this happened.

The MSM cannot ignore this story. There are already some liberals trying, and failing, to say this is abuse of power by the Trump DOJ. They question the independence of the Justice Department under William Barr. But the problem is the more this is investigated, the more reporting on this, the worse for Democrats. Even the MSM cannot report on this without also reporting on the actual documents and those documents are devastating.

John 8:32. “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

TDM

Christopher Wray is the Director of the FBI. He has resisted giving interviews and releasing documents to congressional committees. Several conservative commentators have complained about this and questioned whether Wray is willing to take on corruption in the FBI. However, I noted that this criticism never came from William Barr or President Trump. So I went back and looked at what Wray actually said. He repeatedly said he would not comment on an ongoing investigation. He would then defend the integrity of the FBI.

Wray refused to release documents or allow interviews by congressional committees. That was interpreted as being part of a cover-up. There have been times when that tactic was used by unscrupulous people to avoid answering questions. They used the illusion of an investigation to perpetuate a cover-up. But there are also people who don’t comment on an ongoing investigation because they are not interested in making news they are interested in making arrests. It is now obvious that Christopher Wray has been cooperating with William Barr and John Durham. Perhaps it is because he is less interested in making the news and more interested in obtaining criminal convictions. Here is the actual FBI statement:

“With regard to certain documents in the Michael Flynn matter from the 2016-2017 time period that are now the subject of reporting by the press, the FBI previously produced those materials to the Inspector General and US Attorney Durham,”

“The Flynn investigation was initiated and conducted during this time period, under prior FBI leadership….Director Wray remains firmly committed to addressing the failures under prior FBI leadership while maintaining the foundational principles of rigor, objectivity, accountability, and ownership in fulfilling the Bureau’s mission to protect the American people and defend the Constitution.”

The fact that the FBI released this now is beyond significant. It is clearly designed to get those pesky congressional committees and the news reporters to back off. But it is also implies that Durham is poised to start indicting people. The FBI wouldn’t have released this statement without approval from both Barr and Durham. They would not have given such approval unless they already had all the evidence they need.

Many of you have wondered how some of this could have happened without anyone being held accountable. McCabe was fired, but everyone else seemed to get away with a slap on the wrist. But sometimes silent people are dangerous people. When they speak, people go to jail. We just may be dealing with that rare but important breed of prosecutors who could care less about what the public or anyone else thinks. They are focused only on building a case that will result in conviction.

Frankly, some of those conservative commentators should have known better. If the FBI had released these documents sooner, before the investigation was complete, they would have just given criminal defense attorneys a road map for defense. It is like the local prosecutor who knows a key piece of evidence crucial to a criminal conviction. The prosecutor also knows that the prime suspect does not know this evidence exists. All of us have watched a TV crime show where we have seen this in action. The detective is interviewing the suspect. The suspect does not know that the detective has the murder weapon with the suspect’s finger prints on it. So the suspect lies. If the suspect knew what evidence the detective had, an explanation would have been prepared. This is why any competent detective or prosecutor that is asked about a criminal investigation responds with: “no comment.” That is just the way it works. It is the way it should work.

It sure looks like a lot of former FBI employees who thought they were above the law about to learn this the Hard Wray. It just could be a beautiful thing.

TDM