Bernie blames Hillary for allowing Russian interference

Politico

The senator and his top political adviser also denied Mueller's assertion that Russian actors backed his campaign.

"Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blamed Hillary Clinton for not doing more to stop the Russian attack on the last presidential election. Then his 2016 campaign manager, in an interview with POLITICO, said he’s seen no evidence to support special counsel Robert Mueller's assertion in an indictment last week that the Russian operation had backed Sanders' campaign. 

"The remarks showed Sanders, running for a third term and currently considered a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, deeply defensive in response to questions posed to him about what was laid out in the indictment. He attempted to thread a response that blasts Donald Trump for refusing to acknowledge that Russians helped his campaign — but then holds himself harmless for a nearly identical denial. 

"In doing so, Sanders and his former campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, presented a series of self-serving statements that were not accurate, and that track with efforts by Trump and his supporters to undermine the credibility of the Mueller probe. 

“ 'he real question to be asked is what was the Clinton campaign [doing about Russian interference]? They had more information about this than we did,” Sanders said in the interview with Vermont Public Radio. 

Gun-grabbers exploiting children to capitalize on grief. News crew coached Dvid Hogg on his story

Tony Branco

Thomas Lifson  . . . "It is a longstanding trick of the left to find people who are victims of something related to one of their causes and then proclaim "absolute moral authority" for the person who parrots the left's points.  See, for example, Cindy Sheehan.  And they hit the jackpot at MSD high school in the person of a student there named David Hogg.  CNN featured him a couple of days ago:"
. . . Hogg wasn't planted, but it looks to me as though he is a media-obsessed young man, seeking airtime now and a career in TV in the long run.  Big League Politics looked into his activist mother, Rebecca Boldrick, who apparently took him on a visit to CNN Headquarters, where he posed at an anchor desk:

Twitter discovered embarrassing video of him rehearsing his lines:

Sheriff Clarke Alleges Student Gun Control Effort Has "Soros' Fingerprints All Over It"

YouTube Apologizes For Promoting Video That Fueled "Florida Shooting Conspiracy"

Cries to 'Ban the AR-15' Based on Ignorance and Hysteria

Townhall.com/political-cartoons/bobgorrell

Michael Filozof

". . . What we need instead is a cool-headed and sober analysis to find out why so many people, in the prime of life, in the wealthiest and most prosperous society in history, are willing to casually murder scores of strangers – and usually kill themselves in the process.
Until we answer that question, massacres are going to continue, with or without AR-15s.  So long as they do continue, the rest of us need all the self-protection – and freedom to defend ourselves – that we can get."

 Stop Mistaking Evil for Mental Illness  . . . "As our culture grows more and more secularized, it has become a common practice to describe those who commit widespread acts of violence – especially if such violence involves the death of multiple human beings – as "crazy."  Some of this is tongue-in-cheek, but much of it is sincere.  I believe that this is the direct result of the psychiatric community attempting to redefine what is moral.

For decades, we have witnessed the psychiatric community taking acts long considered evil, or at least immoral and "illegal, and deeming them a "psychological disorder" that needs to be cured.  It's good for business, I suppose.

"However, it's a disaster for the culture.  As C.S. Lewis lamented in his essay "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment," when it comes to crime and punishment, we too often are facing off with those who believe "that all crime is more or less pathological."  Thus, instead of the criminal "getting what he deserves" – what used to be called "justice" – we must heal or cure him, and, as Lewis puts it, "punishment becomes therapeutic.' "

The Russians are as good as caught. Now what do we do? (Updated)

Rich Terrell

Mueller Indictments Reveal Russia's Real Goal … And Who's Been Helping Them  "Scandal: For more than a year, Democrats have been pushing the story that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. But the evidence keeps piling up indicating that it was Democrats, wittingly or not, who've been helping Russia achieve its real meddling goals.

"The latest comes from the indictments issued Friday by Special Counsel Robert Mueller against 13 Russians accused of illegally meddling in the U.S. political system. This has been taken by Trump critics as proof that Russia did, indeed, conspire to meddle in the election.

" 'But if you read the indictments, look at the Facebook ads, the Trump "dossier" and other evidence, it becomes clear that the goal of this meddling wasn't to elect Trump, but to create anger, hostility, bitterness, and discord in the U.S." . . .

Rich Lowry update: The Russian Bot Hysteria   "If only Joe McCarthy had lived to see this moment, when it is suddenly in vogue to attribute large-scale events in American politics to the hand of Russia and to inveigh against domestic subversion.
"Robert Mueller released an indictment of 13 Russians for crimes related to their social-media campaign to meddle in our internal affairs in the run-up to and aftermath of the 2016 election.
"The New York Post couldn’t find any evidence of planned pro-Trump and anti-Hillary rallies in New York — not exactly a swing state — in June and July of 2016. Pictures and videos that appear to be from Russian-initiated pro-Trump “flash mobs” in Florida show a handful of people in various cities. This at a time when Trump was routinely  holding rallies with thousands of people that garnered lavish media coverage. " . . .

The Russians didn’t do anything to us that we weren’t doing to ourselves, although we were doing it on a much larger, more potent scale. The Russians are just aping the arguments we are already having with one another, and the sewerish level of much of the discussion on social media. 

. . . 

Joy Reid Favorite Pundit Of Russian Trolls  . . . "Reid has attacked Christians, denounced Christmas bonuses for her employees, spread fake news on several occasions, joked about Nazis, and claimed the Trump era is the worst time to be a human."

Guilty Plea in another Mueller Process Crime prosecution unrelated to Trump Campaign or Russian Meddling

Slain cop's widow writes open letter after his emotional funeral

UK Daily Mail  "The widow of a slain cop has written a letter explaining that she 'almost lost her faith in humanity' - but had it restored by the good people of Chicago. 

"Erin Bauer's husband, Paul, was shot six times last Tuesday after responding to a call that a man had fled tactical officers when asked about a recent shooting in the area.

"The 53-year-old chased the man to a stairwell before being gunned down. Shomari Legghette, 44, has been charged with first-degree murder.   

"Now Erin has written an emotional letter praising the city of Chicago after mourners packed out a church to say farewell to Commander Bauer at his funeral on Saturday.

"She wrote: 'I'm writing to thank the people of Chicago for the outpouring of love and support at this horrendous time in our lives.' 

"Thanking those who 'waited for hours in the cold' to attend the service at the weekend, she said: 'You have no idea how much that meant to us.'

"Mrs Bauer added: 'I saw people of every color taking time out of their day, not only to pay respects to Paul, but to the entire Chicago Police Department. They are the men and women who selflessly put their lives on the line each day to protect people they don't even know. They are my new family." . . .

 More.

Pastor Billy Graham dies aged 99 after a lifetime serving as a spiritual leader to millions of people and multiple US presidents

UK Daily Mail

Billy Graham passed away at the age of 99 on Wednesday of natural causes at his home in North Carolina 
He  preached to over 200 million people in his lifetime and prayed with every single president since Harry Truman
Graham's wife Ruth died in 2007 and he is survived by his five children, 19 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren
He was a close friend and ally to Dr. Martin Luther King, who credited him with some of the success of the Civil Rights Movement 
'The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man,' wrote President Trump 

All the presidents: George H.W.Bush, Bill Clinon and Jimmy Carter with Graham and his son Franklin in 2007

. . . "In the end, he preached to over 200 million people over the course of his lifetime, and at one point prayed with every single president since Harry Truman. 

He was close with Dr. Martin Luther King as well, who credited Graham with the playing a huge role in the success of the civil rights movement.

Graham refused to segregate his audiences starting in 1953, and would later decline invitations to hold one of his famed crusades in South Africa during apartheid. 

" 'Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the Civil Rights Movement would not have been as successful as it has been,' said Dr. King of Graham. 

"He was also a huge inspiration to Vice President Mike Pence, who shared his thoughts about Graham's passing on Twitter.am. We send our deepest condolences to the Graham family,' wrote Pence.

" 'Billy Graham's ministry for the gospel of Jesus Christ and his matchless voice changed the lives of millions. We mourn his passing but I know with absolute certainty that today he heard those words, "well done good and faithful servant." Thank you Billy Graham. God bless you.' " . . .  

Read more. 

"Billy Graham Will Not Be Advisor to Obama Because of His Abortion Position" From 2008.
. . . " 'But he's our president-elect, and those positions that he holds that are contrary to Biblical teaching, I hope that God will change his heart," Graham added.

Obama's position in favor of unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy for any reason was a key issue for pro-life voters during the campaign.

"Obama also came under fire for supporting the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, a Congressional bill that would make unlimited abortions under Roe v. Wade the national law and overturn the abortion reduction laws of all 50 states." . . .

His legacy lives on through his son, Franklin Graham's ministries:

. . . Billy Graham believed a lot of things he wouldn't necessarily preach "because he knew they would offend or divide people," Wacker added.
But Franklin has taken a different approach and created his own path—speaking directly and bluntly to Americans. Though he looks like his father — Charlton Heston-esque, square-jawed, tall and rangy — his bravado in the public square “is my mother coming out in me," he says.
Franklin has used his sermons and sharp-voiced Facebook posts, where he has 6.3 million followers, to mock both Islam and LGBT rights, along with to raise funds for "persecuted Christians.' "

Samaritan's Purse
"Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan's Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ. Emergency relief meets desperate needs of victims worldwide. Operation Christmas Child delivers more than 10 million shoebox gifts to poor children in more than 100 countries each year. World Medical Mission sends doctors, equipment, and supplies to underprivileged countries. Community development and vocational programs in impoverished villages and neighborhoods help people break the cycle of poverty and give them hope for a better tomorrow. Vulnerable children are rescued, educated, fed, clothed, and sheltered, letting them know that God loves them, Jesus died and rose again for them, and they are not forgotten."

10 of the Best Charities Everyone's Heard Of:  Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse is rated #4, and by a secular rating site yet.

Another anti-Trump Olympian crashes

Don Surber  "A year ago, Olympian Maddie Bowman said would not visit White House if she win another gold at the Winter Olympics.
"Not a problem.
"The Trump Effect took care of that for Bowman.

. . . "Apparently, booing the president is OK, but athletes (a few of them millionaires) are above reproach.
" 'Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Americans are now rooting for their fellow Americans to fail at the Olympic Games," she wrote.
" 'First it was Adam Rippon, then Lindsey Vonn, then Gus Kenworthy. All three dared to speak out critically against the leaders of our country, something that is about as American as apple pie, and very much in keeping with the First Amendment."
"Add Maddie Bowman to the list.
"Brennan thinks the First Amendment applies only to those with whom she agrees.
"I defend her right to write such garbage.
"But I maintain the right to call it garbage." . . .

Sheriff Offered Free Concealed Carry Classes to Teachers – The Number Who Signed Up Is Mind Blowing Photo of Benny Johnson BENNY JOHNSON

First this: No, The GOP Didn’t Pass A Law Last Year To Let The Mentally Ill Buy Guns  Where do some people get their news; The View?

Now:  Daily Caller 

 "An Ohio sheriff is offering free concealed carry classes to teachers in his district, and the number of applicants is overwhelming their system.
"The horrific school shooting that happened in Parkland, Florida has reignited the debate over gun control.  It has also opened the debate over arming teachers in classrooms. Some select school districts allow teachers to carry weapons, but the practice is rare.

"Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones offered free concealed carry training in a Facebook post after the tragedy in Florida.

"The immediate response to the offer was overwhelming. The 50 spots for training was filled in 20 minutes." . . .

Joe Scarborough: Attacking Trump Is 'What We Do' (Video at the link)

MRC  "After insisting for months that President Trump has been undermining one of America’s most vital institutions with his attacks on the news media, the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe briefly dropped their act. On Tuesday, host Joe Scarborough admitted that as a member of the media, attacking Trump is just “what we do.”

"Scarborough and fellow co-host Mika Brzezinski have had a tumultuous relationship with the President, and indeed their largely favorable treatment of him during the 2016 primaries now seems almost impossible to imagine. But the relationship between Trump and the news media in general has been unprecedentedly vicious since he declared his presidential run in July of 2015.    

"On rare occasions, the media have shown their hand and admitted to their vehement anti-Trump bias. One particularly notable example was Jim Rutenberg’s New York Times article published in August of 2016, which described a Trump presidency as “potentially dangerous” and admitted the Times’s “reporting [would] reflect that.” However, Scarborough and Brzezinski have consistently maintained that their coverage of the President has been both fair and honest.

"That all went out the window on Tuesday. In a segment about President Trump’s response over the weekend to Robert Mueller’s recent indictment of Russian saboteurs, Scarborough appeared dumbfounded that the President was still affected by the media’s unfair treatment of him.

“ 'Like, how could you be shocked, if you were Donald Trump, that the media is going to say negative things about you?” he wondered aloud, evidently baffled that the President had not yet made his peace with media bias. He added with a smirk, “It’s like a Geico ad. It’s what we do.' ” . . .

Let's talk about gun control, shall we?

After Sandy Hook, I hated guns and my emotions cried for them to all disappear; the image of terrified children being, well, you all know. 
But we know, too, that peaceful people and shop owners - the Korean store owners during the LA riots protecting their businesses comes to mind - will be the first to lose their protection. Those with children serving as policemen would dread the thought of them entering dangerous areas of cities like Chicago to try taking those guns away.
This nation has a myriad of evil people with guns who have no qualms about killing others because of the color of their skin or their clothes, their politics, their shoes, or, well, just because it's a certain day of the week.
I cannot help but blame the liberal left (redundant, perhaps) for creating a society  where we need weapons to protect ourselves and knowing now they want to take away that protection.
Tell me again why the coach / security guard in the school at Parkland had no gun. The Tunnel Dweller

Did the Progressive 'Broward County Solution' Cost 17 Student Lives?

" 'We're not compromising school safety.  We're really saving the lives of kids," boasted Michaelle Valbrun-Pope, executive director of Student Support Initiatives for Broward County Public Schools, in August 2017.

"Valbrun-Pope was referring to what an article by Jeffrey Benzing in Public Source calls the "Broward County Solution."  As Benzing relates, Broward County used to lead the state of Florida in sending students to the state's juvenile justice system.  County leaders responded with a perfectly progressive solution: "lower arrests by not making arrests.' " . . .

. . . In July 2012, the Obama administration formalized the pressure on school districts with an executive order warning school districts to avoid "methods that result in disparate use of disciplinary tools."  . . .

. . . "A secondary motive was to protect Obama's misbegotten quest to achieve racially statistical "equity" for youthful offenders by not arresting them for very real crimes." 
And Democrats think "President" Kamala Harris won't give us more of this?

All the Laws in the World Aren’t Going to Cut It  Just a bit of philosophical ruminating .

Democrats Rush to Politicize Florida School Shooting  And while the bodies of the victims were still warm and many parents of victims were still . . . "awaiting news about their children, Democrats, predictably, began calling for limits on gun ownership and blaming Republicans for the violence that ensued at the school.

"Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) was first out of the box, slamming Republicans for not passing legislation to prevent individuals on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns. He called for a "debate" on gun control." . . .

Texas Sheriff Who Trains Teachers to Carry Guns: “Day of Doing Nothing is Over” . . . "After the shooting in Parkland, Florida, many people are saying we have to “do something” but few people know exactly what that is. One school system in Argyle, Texas decided to make changes after Sandy Hook. They dedicated a police force to their schools and began training teachers to carry guns.

"Sheriff Paul Cairney of Argyle appeared recently on MSNBC and explained how it works." . . .

We are going to see more of this approach. A Republican congressman from Colorado named Patrick Neville is a survivor of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School. He is pushing for more concealed carry in schools.

The Russians are coming! . . . Well, er, maybe not.

Rich Terrell

Media Start To Second-Guess Trump-Russia ‘Collusion’ Conspiracy Theory
. . . "NBC News published what the network hyped as a “potential bombshell” in September, claiming that Manafort’s notes from the Trump Tower meeting contained a “cryptic” reference to donations in relation to the Republican National Committee (RNC). The story quickly fell apart."

CNN Reporter Literally Goes Dumpster Diving For Collusion Evidence In St. Petersburg  " . . . CNN is doubling down on its coverage of possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.

Guilty Plea in another Mueller Process Crime prosecution unrelated to Trump Campaign or Russian Meddling  . . . "Mueller claims Van Der Zwaan lied about his communications with former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates and with someone else only identified as Person A and deleted emails that his office requested concerning a report from 2012 with Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice." . . .

Feds face new demands to probe Hillary Clinton . . . "The complaints focus on the “sham Clinton investigation” concerning her use of an unauthorized and unsecured computer server for the nation’s classified secrets while Hillary Clinton was U.S. secretary of state, and the Uranium One scandal, when millions of dollars came from Russia to the Clinton Foundation just as she was on a committee authorizing Russian ownership of uranium assets.

“ 'The first lawsuit is against four agencies: the Department of State, Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and U.S. Treasury Department. In this suit, we are seeking to obtain documents concerning a decision by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) to transfer the U.S.’s controlling interest in Uranium One to the Russian state-owned ARMZ – a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian nuclear giant, Rosatom,” the ACLJ explained." . . .

Judge Napolitano Weighs in On General Flynn Indictment: “Judge Sullivan Must Suspect a Defect in Guilty Plea”  "Judge Nap says Judge Sullivan must suspect a defect in General Flynn’s guilty plea.

Judge Napolitano: So Mike Flynn pleads guilty. A new judge comes in. It’s time for sentencing. Bob Mueller delays sentencing until May. That’s normal. You have a cooperating witness. You don’t want to sentence him until after the cooperation is finished. And then the judge on his own, not in response to any application from General Flynn’s lawyer says, “By the way I want all exculpatory evidence.” Evidence that could help Flynn or hurt the government to be turned over to Flynn’s lawyers. Why would we want that when General Flynn has already pleaded guilty. That is unheard of. He must suspect a defect in the guilty plea. Meaning, he must have reason to believe General Flynn pleaded guilty for some reason other than guilt. Do people plead guilty for a reason other than guilt? (Yes.)… So now the question arises: Was he guilty? Did he lie to the FBI? Did the FBI agents who interviewed him, one of them who was Peter Strzok believe that he lied or did he say, ‘We don’t see anything wrong.’… We don’t know the answers to that. But it may very well come out that as a result of Judge Sullivan, a very courageous federal judge in DC, ordering this information to be reviewed.

Rush: 'Reason Hillary Isn’t Charged Is Because...Obama Would Have to Be Exposed'

CNS  "Speaking with host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, radio pundit Rush Limbaugh said the real reason the liberal politicians and media won’t stop accusing President Donald Trump of colluding with Russia is that they want to protect Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

"Now that the dubious methods and motives behind the warrant used to spy on the campaign are being exposed, the left is desperate to distract the public from, and cloak any culpability and knowledge of misdeeds by Clinton and Obama, Limbaugh said:

“ 'I think this is all politics and, Chris, it hasn’t changed from the get-go. It is about protecting Hillary – and Obama.

“ 'Obama is the primary person being protected, because all of this spying and all of the collusion to destroy Trump happened with his knowledge and, probably, encouragement.

“ 'And the reason Hillary isn’t charged is because that would mean Obama would have to be exposed as participating in this scheme, too.' ”