DEMOCRAT LOGIC COMIX: Kathy Griffin's #Resistance Edition

Summer intern Biff Spackle captures it pretty accurately:

Hat tip: BadBlue Uncensored News.
 

Handicapping the Trump Cabinet

There's a lot of speculation out there, but here are my guesses for President Trump's (doesn't that phrase feel good?) cabinet.

• Attorney General Rudy Giuliani
• Secretary of State former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
• DHS Secretary Gov. Chris Christie
• Secretary of Defense Sen. Jeff Sessions
• Department of the Interior former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
• Secretary of Energy Harold Hamm
• Surgeon General Ben Carson
• National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
• Chief of Staff Reince Priebus
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
• Secretary of Agriculture former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue
• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
• Secretary of Labor Victoria Lipnic
• Secretary of Education William Evers
• Veterans Affairs House retiring Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller
• EPA Director Myron Ebell

Alright, you geniuses: what did I get wrong?
 

The Constitution, Donald Trump and the Sarah Palin I Used to Know

By Jen Kuznicki

How is it possible to suggest that after all the exposure that Donald Trump has had, the positions he’s taken, and the smack he’s talked, that he is a constitutional candidate who most represents the constitutional restoration of our government, free market capitalism, and a return to our Judeo-Christian principles?

It seemed awfully strange that Sarah Palin would try to help Donald Trump, given that her most memorable speeches and work always seemed to track toward our founding and constitutional principles. I have been a Palin fan since 2008; in fact, my first ever published piece was in defense of this great Hockey Mom from the Great White North, who thought outside the box and drove the establishment crazy. She was the first true maverick of recent years.

FLASHBACK AUGUST 2015: "Sarah Palin Endorses Donald Trump After He Promises To Give Her Power, Relevancy"

Today's report that Sarah Palin has endorsed Donald Trump appears to be somewhat dated.

On August 14th of last year, Kit O'Connell reported that Palin had endorsed Trump "[after he] recently promised to give ... Palin a Cabinet-level position in his administration."

Perhaps the geniuses at the RNC can take a look at the Republican Presidential Poll over at the Drudge Report

And by the RNC, I mean the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Crony Capitalism.

As I mentioned yesterday, Jeb Bush has about as much chance of being President as Justin Bieber has of serving on the Supreme Court.

1. 47% (166,593) Scott Walker
2. 14% (48,652) Ted Cruz
3. 12% (44,323) Rand Paul
4. 8% (27,589) Ben Carson
5. 5% (16,749) Jeb Bush
6. 4% (14,105) Sarah Palin
7. 4% (13,201) Marco Rubio
8. 2% (5,434) Donald Trump
9. 2% (5,368) Mike Huckabee
10 1% (5,159) Chris Christie

Real impressive showings for the Beltway Establishment's favorites, Bush and Christie.

It's early, but I'm starting to get a warm, fuzzy feeling about 2016.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

IT'S TIME: The Cruz Coalition Is Coming!

Based upon a speech by the invaluable Trevor Loudon.

Could you support a ticket like that? Let me know in the comments.

Oh, and let Ted Cruz know on Twitter. It's time we started taking this country back.

DREAM TEAM: The Leaders of the Second American Revolution

An absolute must-watch video by Trevor Loudon.

So this is what I would do if were a man like Ted Cruz.

I'd want to get that coalition together now, early, before Jeb Bush gets any money and any support. I'd want to rebuild that Reagan coalition. So I'd be going to these groups right now. And the first thing I'd say to them: I'm going to run and run early.

And I'm to put Allen West on my VP ticket.

And then, for you libertarians, I'm going to make Rand Paul my Secretary of the Treasury and he can do what he damn well wants to the Federal Reserve and the IRS. He can take them down, abolish them, do what he wants.

And then you energy voters, Sarah Palin, Secretary of Energy. Drill, baby, drill, Drill in your backyard if you want to. Two dollar a gallon gas for every American family. Keystone pipeline, open it up!

Scott Walker, Secretary of Labor. Right-to-work all over, folks, every state.

Herman Cain, Secretary of Commerce. De-regulate, de-regulate, de-regulate. EPA gone, OSHA gone, the whole lot.

John Bolton, Secretary of State. Tell your enemies where to get off, rebuild your alliances.

Ambassador to the United Nations... no one.

Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of Health and Human Services. End the welfare culture in this country.

Attorney General, Mark Levin. Stick it to the vote fraudsters, people.

And for the Christians, who often don't care about politics, but they do care about the education of their children, I'd say to them: vote for me this time and we will get rid of Common Core, we're going to get rid of the Department of Education, we're going to protect your home-schooling rights because David Barton will be Secretary of Education.

You could fill the whole cabinet, folks. Fill it now.

Would you rally to a team like that? Would you get out of bed every day, can't wait to get to the phone banks, and open your checkbook, and knock on doors to get those people in power.

And wouldn't it unify the base? Because everyone's getting something. You might not like Sarah Palin, but you love Allen West. You might not like John Bolton, but you like Rand Paul.

It's inspiring, with a clear policy direction. You know what you're going to get. Because where else do you work your butts off for a nebulous promise. We don't do it in business. We don't do it in our education. We know what we're going to get. That's why we work. With this team, we will work like nothing else.

And think about it, folks. You've never had a bigger team of Constitutionalists, conservatives, and libertarians, than you have today. Far more than Reagan had. And you've got all of these millions of people just itching to save their country. You've got all of these leaders out there that can't wait to gut the federal government.

You put the base with the leaders and who is going to stand in your way? Imagine, right now, you put your eggs in one basket. And they can demonize a Mitt Romney. Try and demonize 20 hard-core, Constitutional conservatives, a bunch of Rottweilers, who don't take any crap from anyone... who are all backing each other up.

You've got a team, folks. You win football with a good team. Why not win politics that way? Because you've done it before.

You didn't have a founding father, guys. You didn't just have George Washington. You had George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Sam Adams and Benjamin Franklin and James Madison.

It was a team that won the first American Revolution and you need a team to win the Second American Revolution.

I love this idea. I love it.

Pass it on.


Hat tip>: BadBlue News.

HILLARY VS. BARACK: Someone's Lyin', Sarah Palin Edition

As Hillary positions herself for another run in 2016, she faces a daunting task. She must distance herself from the very same failed administration in which she played a leading role. Evidence for this new wedge between the Clinton and Obama camps is flying fast and furious (NPI), as evidenced both by her book and Edward Klein's new tell-all, Blood Feud.

To wit, Hillary wrote that the Obama team asked her to attack Sarah Palin in 2008:

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reveals in her new book that Barack Obama’s team asked her to attack Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) chose her as his running mate in the 2008 presidential race.

"[The Obama camp] immediately issued a dismissive statement and reached out to me in hopes I would follow suit,” she wrote. “But I wouldn’t... I was not going to attack Palin just for being a woman appealing for support from other women,” she wrote. “I didn't think it made political sense, and it didn't feel right. So I said no."

Strangely enough, Obama’s team is pushing back:

...Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe denied former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's claim in her 635-page, critically panned memoir "Hard Choices" that the Obama campaign requested Hillary attack then-Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin because she was a woman.

"We never tried to do that," Plouffe asserted "We did want her to go out there and speak, but not about Sarah Palin's gender..." Plouffe's statement is in direct contrast to what Clinton wrote in the opening pages of "Hard Choices."

Who's lying? Knowing this bunch of buffoonish crooks, I'd wager both.


Hat tip: The Masked Avenger.

RESET: The Obama administration opts for fake sanctions on Putin

Guest post by George Friedman

The United States announced new sanctions on seven Russian government officials April 28. A long-used tactic, sanctions can yield unpredictable effects or have no effect at all, depending upon how they are crafted. It is commonly assumed that sanctions are applied when a target country's actions are deemed unacceptable. The sanctioning nation presumably chooses sanctions to avoid war when war would be too costly or could result in defeat.

Sanctions' stated purpose is to induce behavioral changes in a target state by causing economic pain. To work, sanctions must therefore cause pain. But they must not be so severe that they convince the target state that war is more desirable than capitulating to the demands of the sanctioning nation.

When Sanctions Work Too Well

In July 1941, when the Japanese invaded Indo-China, the United States responded by freezing all Japanese assets. The United Kingdom and the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia) followed suit. The sanctions were quite effective, and Japan wound up cut off from the bulk of international trade, losing 90 percent of its imported oil. Japan had to respond, but instead of withdrawing from Indo-China, it attacked Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese example is worth considering. The United States placed Japan in a situation where its oil supplies would be depleted in months, at which point Japan would cease to be an industrial power. Tokyo could have accepted the American terms, but once it did this, it would have established a U.S. veto over Japanese decisions.

The Japanese did not trust the United States and were convinced that any capitulation to sanctions would simply lead to more U.S. demands. Tokyo understood the risks of war but calculated that these risks were lower than the risks of complying with U.S. demands (though the Japanese might well have been wrong in this calculation, and Franklin Roosevelt might well have known that Tokyo would choose war over capitulation). Faced with sanctions that would cripple the nation, Japan chose war.

HOW EMBARRASSING FOR THE MEDIA: Sarah Palin Right Again on Foreign Policy

In 2008, Sarah Palin predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be encouraged to invade Ukraine after Barack Obama's feeble response to Russia's invasion of Georgia.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned that if Senator Barack Obama were elected president, his "indecision" and "moral equivalence" may encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine. Palin said then:

After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next.

For those comments, she was mocked by the high-brow Foreign Policy magazine and its editor Blake Hounshell, who now is one of the editors of Politico magazine.

In light of recent events in Ukraine and concerns that Russia is getting its troops ready to cross the border into the neighboring nation, nobody seems to be laughing at or dismissing those comments now.

Richard Clements at The Aviationist confirms that an invasion is now underway:

Some 10 Russian Mi-24 Hind helicopters were allegedly filmed entering Ukrainian airspace over Crimea.

Amateur video uploaded on Youtube shows eleven Mil Mi-24 helicopters allegedly flying towards the military airport at Sevastopol early in the morning of Feb. 28.

According to some regional media outlets, the news of the gunships was confirmed by Ukrainian Border Guards.

And:

CNN airing new image of Russian tanks in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/vZKSpJg9Jc

— Jon Passantino (@passantino) February 28, 2014

Gee, this seems like a good time to slash the U.S. military to World War I levels.

RUSH GOES BALLISTIC: Attacks on Cruz, North, West and Palin are Attacks on Me

Rush has officially drawn a line in the sand and we Constitutional conservatives, Tea Party activists, and Reagan Democrats all need to join up to support him.

...over [my] 25 years, when anybody, any conservative, Ollie North, I don't care who it is, when they've come under assault, Clarence Thomas, I don't care, whether I knew 'em or not, I ran in there and I defended 'em to the hilt because of the cause, because I knew exactly why they were being targeted. Sarah Palin. I went in there and defended these people because I know that it's an effort to undermine everything I believe. They attacked Palin, they attacked Ollie, they attacked Clarence Thomas, they're attacking us, me.

Well, it's not enough just to come here and tell you, "Oh, look what they're saying about Palin. See ya, folks, have a great day." Then tomorrow, "Oh, look what they said about Newt. See ya, folks, have a great day." Why am I doing this? And the reason I wrote this [children's] book is to try to counter what's going on. Why would you write a book on how the left has corrupted education if you didn't have some desire to fight it? And this is what has frankly stunned me ever since Barack Obama's election. I understand there's a fear of the media, and I understand there's a fear of Obama's race, but it's time to get past that. The guy's president. He's destroying the foundations of this country, as founded. He's literally setting his sights on transforming this country into something it was never founded to be.

I don't think that should happen, and I've been under the impression that everybody else that's not part of the Democrat Party has been of the same mind-set, and that's where I've been wrong. So those of us who fight back upset the applecart, are those who just want to sit there and accept it and try to manage their lives and careers in the midst of this mess because we're upsetting the applecart. So we have to then be attacked as whatever.

That's why they're going after Cruz. What are they going after Ted Cruz for? What's he done to anybody? It's Obama they ought to be going after! Why are they going after Mike Lee? That's why we defend these guys. They're out there actually trying to beat this stuff back, and they're doing it because they love the country. They're doing it because they're shocked and saddened by what they're seeing happening here, and they don't think it's time to give up.

Look how rare that is! Sarah Palin, the same thing. Look at what happens to people that do that. I mean, even Republicans go after 'em. They went after Reagan, too. It's the same thing, but Reagan was able to overcome it. It's a sad thing that there's only been one of him, but that's because they've done everything they can to revise history from that era and make people think it was the exact opposite of what it was. But, folks, the whole point of this latest book has been to join people, 'cause I know there are a lot of you.

This is the thing I know. A lot of you are fighting back, the Tea Party is. A lot of you do want to arrest this stuff and stop it and reverse it. A lot of you do want get rid of the current liberal power structure that's destroying the fabric of the country, cultural, politically, societally, economically, you name it. It's a wrecking ball that's been unleashed each and every day, and I know all of you in the Tea Party and most of you in this audience are trying to stop it.

Rush has written a children's book -- "Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans" -- that makes a great gift for the holidays. It can be used to start fighting the insane collectivist rhetoric of the Far Left Democrat Party at a very young age.

Which, all things considered, could be one of the most important things we can do.

SO VERY, VERY SAD: Democrat John Larson says it's "simply not fair" to subject Congress to Obamacare

Well, we wouldn't want members of our ruling class suffering with the rest of us.

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) was being debated, proponents were accused of saddling Americans with inferior and expensive health care while keeping generous coverage for themselves at taxpayer expense. To rebut that allegation and build confidence in the bill, a provision was added mandating that members of Congress – and their staff members – get their coverage through the new exchange system the bill set up. Now that the time to sign up for exchange coverage is nearing, a Democratic member, Rep. John Larson (D., Conn.), is saying that “this is simply not fair” – as key staff members head for the exits to avoid Obamacare.

Politico reports that “many on Capitol Hill fear it could lead to a brain drain” and notes that “[t]he problem is far more acute in the House, where lawmakers and aides are generally younger and less wealthy.”

What? Obamacare disproportionally hurts those with lower incomes? It may come as a surprise, but it shouldn’t. We’ve known this since before the legislation even passed.

More to the point, why did Rep. Larson vote to impose on the country a health coverage system that “is simply not fair”?

Sarah Palin is right. The problem isn't a few agents in Cincinnati "going rogue". And it's not a few reporters -- and their parents -- being targeted for doing their job. And it's not a couple dozen contractors leaking classified documents. The problem is government grown so big that it intrudes into every aspect of our lives.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

QOTD: Sarah Palin Shreds John Boehner and the Miserable Failures in the Establishment GOP

Now this is what I call speaking truth to power:

Please read and pass along this article.

We send good conservatives to D.C. to fulfill the promises they made to the electorate, and yet when they stay true to their word the permanent political class in their own party punishes them.

This won't be forgotten come 2014.

Right now the GOP establishment is more concerned about the opinion of the media and the Georgetown cocktail circuit than they are “we the people” who hired them. For all this new talk of how the GOP needs a “populist movement,” it would do them good to remember they already have one; it’s called the Tea Party movement, and it won for them the majority they now enjoy in the House.

John Boehner needs a primary challenger in Ohio. The qualifications are simple: he or she must be able to fog a mirror.

Newt Gingrich just rang up a few extra points on my tally: says Palin would be a viable VP or Secretary of Energy

If swear to all that's holy that I would pay serious money to watch the reactions of the moonbats when President Gingrich and Vice President Palin are sworn in.

Newt Gingrich said that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be among the candidates that he would consider when considering a potential running mate, adding that the former GOP vice presidential nominee would be an ideal candidate for secretary of Energy.

Gingrich, speaking Wednesday during a conference call with conservative voters hosted by Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition, was asked by one of the attendees whether he would consider Palin as a running mate.

"She is certainly one of the people you would look at. I am a great admirer of hers and she was a remarkable reform governor of Alaska, she’s somebody who I think brings a great deal to the possibility of helping in government and that would be one of the possibilities," Gingrich said...

I wonder how hard a Vice President Sarah Palin would kick Lisa Jackson's ample posterior (metaphorically speaking, of course)?

Photo: Sarah Palin meets Valerie Bertinelli

@WolfiesMom (Valerie Bertinelli) tweeted this photo the other day:


Hat tip: Don Surber.

Photo: Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader Greet One Another, December 2012

Wouldn't this pair blow a few minds?

With Senator John Kyl vacating his post in 2012 and the Palin family moving to Scottsdale, wouldn't the former governor make an outstanding replacement? I mean, not only for Kyl, but for the anti-charismatic Mitch McConnell as well?

And it goes without saying: Rep. Allen West should be the House Speaker. No one else, save Paul Ryan perhaps, carries the conservative leadership mantle as well.

Sarah Palin's Statement: No, I Won't Run for President

It's a shame:

October 5, 2011

Wasilla, Alaska

After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year. I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation's governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency. We need to continue to actively and aggressively help those who will stop the "fundamental transformation" of our nation and instead seek the restoration of our greatness, our goodness and our constitutional republic based on the rule of law.

From the bottom of my heart I thank those who have supported me and defended my record throughout the years, and encouraged me to run for President. Know that by working together we can bring this country back – and as I've always said, one doesn't need a title to help do it.

I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for President where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables. We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs.

Those will be our priorities so Americans can be confident that a smaller, smarter government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people can better serve this most exceptional nation.

In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.

Thank you again for all your support. Let's unite to restore this country!

God bless America.

- Sarah Palin

In the former Alaska governor's exclusive interview with Mark Levin, Palin cited -- among other reasons -- the Left's vicious attacks on her family.

DINGLEBURY, A CARTOON BY GARRY TRUDEAU

By Garry Trudeau:

ESPN now censoring analysts' anti-Obama tweets (curiously, insulting Sarah Palin still perfectly acceptable)

Dana Loesch reports that ESPN is now in the business of censoring reporters who criticize El Presidente.

A note for future prospective ESPN employees: You can only cheerlead Obama at ESPN. I’m not joking... Case in point: The network’s golf analyst, 12-time PGA Tour winner Paul Azinger hit out at the President’s amount of golf games on Twitter:

Azinger’s remarks prompted ESPN to crack down:

ESPN is coming down on Paul Azinger for mocking President Barack Obama on Twitter. The golf analyst tweeted Thursday the Commander-in-chief plays more golf than he does — and that Azinger has created more jobs this month than Obama has.

On Friday ESPN ‘reminded” Azinger his venture into political punditry violates the company’s updated social network policy for on-air talent and reporters... "Paul’s tweet was not consistent with our social media policy, and he has been reminded that political commentary is best left to those in that field,” spokesman Andy Hall told Game On! in a statement."

ESPN’s Hall would not comment on whether Azinger, who won the 1993 PGA Championship, will be fired, suspended or punished in some way. “We handle that internally,” he said.

Here's a thought experiment: had Paul Azinger complimented President Subprime McDowngrade or angrily slammed a conservative, would he have been similarly censured?

Gee: as it turns out, the loopy nitwit named Kenny Mayne seems to have avoided ESPN's censors secreting tweets like this:

No double standard there.


Hat tip: TrendingRight.

GOP Beltway Insiders Charles Krauthammer and George Will Describe the Substantive Reasons Sarah Palin Can't Win

Charles Krauthammer's substantive reasons that Sarah Palin can't win in 2012:

I think it would make no sense for her to run. I think her chances of winning the nomination are small. The chances of winning the general election are probably nil. I think, for the same reasons you articulated, 60 percent negatives. That's almost impossible to overcome. And it isn't as if that is forever. Hillary Clinton had very high negatives at many points in her career. But over time, they tend to soften.

...The problem with her, I think, is that she is not schooled. I don't mean she didn't go to the right schools... But when it comes to policies, she's had two and a half years to school herself, and she hasn't. And that's a problem. You want a president who will be able to not have to learn on the job. We've already had that... ...with President Obama and with others... It's the lack of effort to school herself and the lack of insight to see that she needs it...

...I think if you're going to master policy, especially world affairs, you've got to know history. As you said, you have to know how things evolved, and she is weak on that. It's not as if she can't learn. The fact is it doesn't appear as if she wants to sort of sit down, spend some months schooling herself, as many people have done in preparing for the presidency. If you're a governor of any state, you face a narrow range of issues, and you don't have to deal with the world. It's incumbent on you to actually learn about it.

So, just to recap, Sarah Palin can't win against Barack Obama because she has high negatives, she hasn't "school[ed] herself", and she's weak on history. But an incompetent community agitator with no executive experience, no private sector experience and who is an acolyte of Alinsky is qualified because he has a beautiful, cultured speaking voice.

George Will's substantive reasons that Sarah Palin can't win in 2012:

The independent voters have made up their minds about her, and it is a negative judgment they’ve made... After the 2008 campaign she had two things she had to do: she had to go home to Alaska and study, and she had to govern Alaska well. Instead she quit halfway through her first term and shows up in the audience of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and other distinctly non-presidential venues...

Just to recap: independent voters have a negative opinion of Palin. And the fact that Democrat operatives had filed 18 frivolous lawsuits -- all later dismissed -- against her (source: Associated Press), which were bankrupting her family, had nothing at all to do with it. That, plus appearing in the audience of Dancing with the Stars, disqualifies her.

Is this really what passes for informed commentary inside the Beltway?

Remember: Krauthammer worked for Walter-Freaking-Mondale in 1980. George Will endorsed Howard Baker in 1980. Both of these guys completely missed the Reagan revolution.

Krauthammer and Will are certainly smart dudes, but their political instincts appear to be for s***.

Palin can win. Bachmann can win. Cain can win. Ryan can win. Santorum can win. Obama is a sitting duck if confronted with a true, articulate Constitutional conservative. He's a walking, talking disaster as President. And everyone knows it.


Hat tips: Mark Levin and Gateway Pundit.