Islam vs Itself

For John, BLUF:  Talking past each other.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump Adviser Defends President's Approach To 'Radical Islamic Terrorism'

The source is National Public Radio and these are the folks heard on "Morning Edition" on 1 March 2017. Here are the participants:

• RACHEL MARTIN, HOST
• SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE Reporter
• STEVE INSKEEP, HOST
• SEBASTIAN GORKA, EXPERT

Here is the beginning of the transcript:

We review Trump's speech with Scott Detrow and talk to Sebastian Gorka, the deputy assistant to the president, who gives his take on the president's speech to Congress and his approach to terrorism.

Here is the money quote:

GORKA: Well, of course it isn't. That would be asinine.  As I've written in my book, this isn't a war with Islam, this is a war in Islam.  As the king of Jordan, King Abdullah, as the president of the most populous Arab nation in the world, President Sisi, has stated, this is a war for the heart of Islam.  Which version is going to win, an atavistic, 7th century, blood curdled version such as propagated by al-Qaida and ISIS or whether it's going to be the one that is our allies' version, the Jordanian, Egyptian the Emirates?

It's not a war with Islam.  That would be absurd.  It is a war inside Islam. And we want to see our friends win that war.

Let us look at the key point.

It's not a war with Islam.  That would be absurd.  It is a war inside Islam.

The problem today is a contest for "the heart of Islam".  It is a contest wherein the elders in Islamic Countries and Communities have to decide if they will submit to the view of Islam as given to us by the likes of Daesh Leader Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi or by someone more like Jordan's King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein.

Regards  —  Cliff

Quiet Coup

TRIGGER WARNING:  In which I lose it about the Democratic Party Establishment.

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking

From The Old Gray Lady and the team of reporters, Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Goldman and Michael S Schmidt.  The dateline is 1 March of this year.

WASHINGTON — In the Obama administration’s last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election — and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.

American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.

Three anonymous sources?  Three former American officials who are afraid to be named because they are trafficking in classified information?  If they were real whistle blowers they would go to their agency's IG or talk to friendly Democratic members of Congress.

Yes, and The Old Gray Lady is out trolling for leaks.  This is a screen capture from today:

So, it looks to some of us that the Democrats, lead by Former President Barack H Obama, are working to overthrow President Trump.  And, for good reason.  President Trump is disruptive.  He stands up to Democrats (and the Main Stream Media).  He stands athwart history, in a way Mr William F Buckley, Jr, put it:

A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.

And, it is especially embarrassing that the Dow Jones keeps on going up and up.♠

It is my hope that the Democrats are just going to beclown themselves.  On the other hand, the alternate view is that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is trying to restrict gun ownership just for the purpose of allowing a Democratic Party Coup and preventing a counter-coup from the Republicans, the Conservatives, the Libertarians, the Americans.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Even Nobel Laureates are being proven wrong by the Dow Jones, and President Trump.

Woodward: Do Your Job

For John, BLUF:  I think Watergate Reporter Robert Woodward is bringing some sense to the issue.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Woodward:  Press ‘Shouldn’t Whine,’ Not In ‘Media’s Interest’ To Have ‘War’ With Trump – We Should Continue Investigations

Well, it is Breitbart, if that bothers you.  The reporter is Mr Ian Hanchett and this is way back on 24 February 2017.

Here is the lede:

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward stated the press “shouldn’t whine, and if we sound like we are an interest group only concerned with ourselves, it doesn’t work with the public.  At the same time, we need to continue the in-depth inquiries, the investigations.”  He further argued it’s not in the interest of either the Trump White House or the media to war with each other.

Actually, at this point, Mr Trump is winning.  The press doesn't yet know it.♠

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I think Massachusetts US Rep

Trump Being (Relatively) Humble

For John, BLUF:  I find it unattractive when Presidents reference themselves.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump references self 60 percent less than Obama in first joint session speech

From The Washington Examiner and Ms Emily Jashinsky, today.

With our form of government, with a Congress as well as an Executive (and a judiciary) it should be a lot of "we" and very little "I have a phone and a pen."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

AP Clueless Re US Terrorism Statistics

For John, BLUF:  When you think you know the answer it is useful to sometimes check it anyway.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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AP 'Fact Check' FAIL:  Trump Claim on Terrorism and Immigration Correlates with Justice Dept. Data

Well, what did you expect?

The AP said "The terror threat posed by those coming from overseas? Trump overstates it." and the letter from the Department of Justice said otherwise.

From Pajama Media and Mr Patrick Poole, last night, after the President's speech to Congress.

As the Roman Poet Juvenal asked, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?.  That is, "Who watches the Watchmen?".  Today we might ask, "Who fact checks the fact checkers?"

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Anti-Sesmetism Source

For John, BLUF:  The Press/Left likes the narrative that the Right is threatening Jewish Community Centers and Cemeteries.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Jewish center bomb threats top 100; kids pulled from schools

This is a CNN article by Mr Eric Levenson and Ms AnneClaire Stapleton, updated this morning.

But, the InstaPundit blog post on this went to the Twitter Account of Mr Vaughn Sterling, of CNN.

Here is the key paragraph:

Law enforcement officials believe many of the threatening calls to Jewish community centers have originated overseas.  So far, none of the threats have been carried out.  But the lack of destruction has not made them any less chaotic or anxiety-inducing.

OK, so what this is telling you is that all those "Alt-Right" Anti-Semetic cretins living out in the hinterlands of the United States are actually living overseas.  Alternate explanation is that they are smarter than you and are able to place phone calls from overseas while hiding in the deep forest camps here in the US.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

President's Speech

For John, BLUF:  The President Done Good last night.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump’s Speech Was Quiet — And Quietly Radical

This is from the FiveThirtyEight Blog and is by Mr Ben Casselman.  It is filed under "The Trump Administration".  It is my suspicion that the staff at FiveThirtyEight are all Democrats.  But, they have a special advantage.  They know there is a clue bag and they use it, from time to time.  That makes them different from regular Democrats.

Here are the first three paragraphs of the article, which is well worth a read:

Reviews of President Trump’s first address to Congress on Tuesday night seem to be converging around a single theme: It was Trump at his most subdued.  “Trump Softens Tone in Outlining Goals,” read the lead headline on The New York Times homepage Wednesday morning.  The Washington Post commented on Trump’s “milder tone”; The Wall Street Journal said the address “turned from the ominous language” of his campaign speeches; Politico went with “Trump tries on normal.”

And they’re right. In tone and style, Trump’s speech was relatively normal, at least judging it against his earlier efforts.  He opened his address by condemning recent threats against Jewish community centers and the shooting last week of two Indian immigrants in Kansas City, something he had been criticized for not doing earlier.  He called for unity and cross-party cooperation, and stayed away from attacks on the press or his political opponents.  Apart from a few banal ad-libs, he largely stuck to his script.

But beneath the gentler tone, Trump’s speech — a State of the Union address in all but name — was quietly radical.  He called for a complete overhaul of U.S. policy on taxes, trade, immigration and health care.  He proposed spending billions more on defense and as much as $1 trillion on infrastructure.  And he promised a new version of his controversial — and currently stalled — travel ban on visitors from seven majority Muslim countries.

Hat tip to the FiveThirtyEight Blog.

Regards  —  Cliff