That's Not An Oversight, That's A Plan

Sure, ISIS uses Facebook and Twitter to recruit, but should we check Facebook and Twitter to evaluate visa applicants? No so fast, you privacy pirate! Those foreigners have civil rights too, or something; from ABC News:

Secret US Policy Blocks Agents From Looking at Social Media of Visa Applicants, Former Official Says

Fearing a civil liberties backlash and "bad public relations" for the Obama administration, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson refused in early 2014 to end a secret U.S. policy that prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas, a former senior department official said.

"During that time period immigration officials were not allowed to use or review social media as part of the screening process," John Cohen, a former acting under-secretary at DHS for intelligence and analysis. Cohen is now a national security consultant for ABC News.

One current and one former senior counter-terrorism official confirmed Cohen's account about the refusal of DHS to change its policy about the public social media posts of all foreign applicants.

Bad public relations"? Well, they are getting that.

Here's a pro tip for our hard-working government officials - if you are trying to choose between protecting the lives of Americans and protecting the civil liberties of foreigners not covered by the US Constitution, don't overthink it.

Yes, we understand that a portion of Obama's base hates America even more than ISIS does, but still, Obama is President of all Americans, even the bitter-clingers in flyover country. And that will be true for another year, regardless of how much both sides regret it. Think of it as a bad marriage with a delayed court date. Smile, be civil, don't pour hot coffee on each other - we can get through this. And think of the children.

#TheHolidaysAreHardest

WHOSE FACE IS RED NOW?

Former DHS under-secretary Cohen said he and others pressed hard for just such a policy change in 2014 that would allow a review of publicly-posted social media messages as terror group followers increasingly used Twitter and Facebook to show their allegiance to a variety of jihadist groups.

Cohen said officials from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) both pressed for a change in policy.

"Immigration, security, law enforcement officials recognized at the time that it was important to more extensively review public social media postings because they offered potential insights into whether somebody was an extremist or potentially connected to a terrorist organization or a supporter of the movement," said Cohen, who left DHS in June 2014.

Cohen said the issue reached a head at a heated 2014 meeting chaired by Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, other top deputies and representatives of the DHS Office of Civil Liberties and the Office of Privacy.

"The primary concern was that it would be viewed negatively if it was disclosed publicly and there were concerns that it would be embarrassing," Cohen said in an interview broadcast on "Good Morning America" today.

But they kept the Greenwald vote.

Comments

[Sue]

#proudbitterclinger #Obamaisnotmypresident #othersidedoesn'tseemtoregretanything

[Sue]

#sorrynotsorry

[Sandy Daze]

Non-Americans' personal security is sacrosanct.

Americans --? meh.

Think of the compromises of personal identity for our personnel, both civilian and military--who have had clearances at one time or another, and trusted the government to keep that information secure.

Hell, LifeLock?

The govt is no paying two different organizations to monitor my identity for the next three years, Mrs Daze got the letter over the weekend saying due to information (non-)security issues, she too was entitled to three years of identity protection.

And so it goes.

Yet, we mustn't look at the social media of non-Americans who want to immigrate here.

YGBSM !

(You gotta be kidding me!)

[Sandy Daze]

...now paying...

[Thomas Collins]

Tell me I'm reading this incorrectly. Tell me the Federales' policy is not the following: (i) Federales, through NSA data gathering, may monitor just about any site a citizen visits; and (ii) out of fear of hurting Mohammed's and Aroob's feelings when the foreigners attempt to enter the US, Federales wouldn't check their Facebook and other social media musings, and even now checking is only spotty. I must be missing something.

[Thomas Collins]

I'm beginning to come around to the view that the number of Americans who need to be slaughtered is a single jihadist attack for Federales to take serious action is about 300,000.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Why is there any privacy violation of scrutinizing SOCIAL media? Do any of these clowns understand what words mean?

[NK]

TC@11:43-- that is indeed your tax dollars 'at work'.

[rse]

New post with my views of the new federal ed legislation signed last week. The Scientizing Politics was from a 1984 conference on the probable effects. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/scientizing-public-policy-implementing-orwellian-tyranny-by-statute-via-the-mind-and-personality/

[Old Lurker]

"Do any of these clowns understand what words mean?"

That's a joke, right?

[NK]

CH-- oh they understand. that 'explanation' is just BS to hide the ugly truth. ValJar doesn't want any muslims vetted. PERIOD. What did Goldfinger say about 'enemy action'.

[Thomas Collins]

CH, I suspect they do understand that monitoring social media doesn't raise the privacy concerns that monitoring, say, private emails and text messages would. It's just that a significant portion of our federal officials have been sufficiently politically correctized that they fear asking Mohammed and Aroob about their posts about the glory of killing the infidels might suggest we are prejudiced colonialists.

[Sandy Daze]

But we're told that the loss of the NSA's monitoring of all comms by everyone is the single thing that kept the Feds from cracking this case...

[Sandy Daze]

They'd rather hang the threat, if not the actuality, of monitoring your private communications over the head of each and every American citizen, then even think of looking at a wannabe immigrant's facebook postings...

[Sandy Daze]

It's "For The Children"

doncha know, therefore WE MUST.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Yeah the interwebz seem to be a one way street.
Our idiot Secretary of State can post her classified emails in a place an Alfred E Newman of hackers could find them and the rest of the government puts a "trespassing welcome" sign out on every government employees personal and private info but for fear of offending we don't even look at PUBLIC postings by potential terrorists.
What kind of mentality is it that pervades those who whose job it is to protect us that they are afraid of the blowback from looking at PUBLIC postings, while retaining the right to lob a Hellfire at the same guy before he gets his visa?

[Sandy Daze]

Ban guns...
..."For the Children"
Allow homosexual "marriage"
..."For the Children"
Teach transexual and bisexual glory !
..."For the Children"
Ban smoking...
..."For the Children"
Ban fracking
..."For the Children"
Send weapons to Mexican cartels...
..."For the Children"
Release the GITMO Five ...
..."For the Children"
This is not who we are...
..."For the Children"
Unrestricted abortion...
..."For the Children"
What are you worried about, citizen, it's
..."For the Children"

[Sandy Daze]

Let in every stinking muzzie with terrorist ties and well, it's
..."For the Children"

[buccaneer morgan]

Alex mayorkas, mcawful crony.

[henry]

Sandy, that explains banning Christmas. After receiving that list of stuff, what more could "the children" desire from some fat old white dude?

[NK]

BTW-- love TM's headline to this post. The headline is terrible but true.

[James D]

Let me see if I've got this straight:

The Federal Government refuses to even look at PUBLIC statements by prospective immigrants to evaluate their security risk to this country and its citizens.

And at the same time, that same Federal Government allows PRIVATE information about tens of millions of its employees to fall into the hands of hostile foreign governments.

[NK]

JamesD-- Oui. remember what Aurick Goldfinger said about enemy action.

[jimmyk]

To be fair, not all social media content is public. Twitter is mainly public, but Facebook isn't, necessarily. I'm not sure about some of the others like Snapchat, Instagram, etc. because I don't use them. But the idiots at DHS don't even seem to be making that distinction.

[Sandy Daze]

And at the same time, that same Federal Government allows PRIVATE information about tens of millions of its CITIZEN employees, THEIR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, to fall into the hands of hostile foreign governments.

Added a bit to your statement, if you don't mind, James D.

[James D]

Yeah. I think we passed "enemy action" a long time ago.

[Sandy Daze]

If you are a citizen, say something threatening about one of our electe4d officials on a social media site, and see if the Feds come knocking...

BUT, But, but, if you are a foreigner, say something threatening about America, and the USG will give you a Visa and $$ to get settled. Hell, if you are expecting, the local rubes might even throw you a baby shower--and you do not even have to attend...

[James D]

rse's latest blog post, linked at 11:47, is absolutely horrifying.

Ryan should never have allowed that bill to even come to a vote, let alone pass it.

[matt]

You will be happy to know that Rachael Dolezal is now comparing herself to Caitlyn Jenner concerning the frangibility of identity.

And so we now get to pick out exactly who and what we want to be and it is magically so.

So I am going down to the Post Office and putting in a change of address for Warren Buffett to my P.O. Box. How can they deny me?

[buccaneer morgan]

Speaking of gitmo, the newest varsity quarter for the Arabian conference has quite a record.

[Sandy Daze]

KT McFarland today on Stu Varney said, yada yada yada Trump... but "I support a two-month ban on all (yes ALL) immigration" until the immigration process is secure.

[Sandy Daze]

is it "KT" or "Katie" ???

[Sandy Daze]

narc @ 1219,

do you mean that the team is on offense and can throw the bombz?

[Sandy Daze]

Got good arms ?

[Miss Marple 2]

Just got done selling some old Fisher-Price toys to a guy who is a dealer that I have seen occasionally at the auction house. He's retired USAir employee (not a pilot, I think ground crew) and he said it will make people mad but he's supporting Trump.

He also thinks Obama is a Muslim.

This is my anecdotal report from the field today.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Jeh Johnson refused in early 2014 to end a secret U.S. policy that prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas

So, any background on the origin of the "secret U.S. policy"?

I mean, surely if it was implemented, say, prior to Jan 21, 2009 - that would be trumpeted rather loudly . . . Blame Bush!!!

If one assumes that it is, in fact, a policy implemented since Obama became president - who authorized it and when? Is Obama's signature on a piece of paper somewhere?

Hah, I kid. Obama just found out about this "secret U.S. policy" roughly 22 minutes before TM did - using the same source...an article about it.

And make no mistak, no one is more upset about this than Obama.

Why.....Obama's upset enough about this that he will probably release multiple squirrels to "handle" it.

But not before we get a couple stories about how he is asking withering questions of people in his administration.

[GUS]

k...T

[NK]

Matt-- that's fair enough. If you 'feel' like Warren Buffett, you are Warren B and entitled top all rights and privileges thereof.

[exdemocrat]

someone elsewhere on the interwebs (Belmont Club, i think) repeatedly asks: "If Obama were doing everything he can for the other side, what would he be doing different?'

[Gentlejim]

The Left and MFM remind me of two ten year olds standing on the playground having this discussion:
#1 "you're a poopy head"
#2 "I know you are, but what am I?"
#1 "takes one to know one"
#2 "your mama"
#1 "I'm telling"

[Gentlejim]

Jeff,
404 didn't know about the policy because ValJar doesn't think he has need to know on everything she's doing.

[rse]

Thanks James.

I was just glad I was able to come up with examples that recognized what is happening is in fact a danger.

Remember too that Ryan called the 1061 page statute for a vote less than 48 hours after it appeared to be available for reading. This was not passed after due deliberation. It was passed before it could be read and damning language discovered.

I can tie all that language to Cass Sunstein and his nudging initiatives too as well as a White House Task Force that reports to Holdren. That which makes it binding also makes it all traceable to a knowing tracker.

[rse]

One more point, every single Dem voted yes. They know precisely what kind of fundamental transformation this seeks and how it ties to economic justice as a supposed human right.

[buccaneer morgan]

I should have said coach,

[Porchlight]

New poll has Trump at 40% among GOP voters (Monmouth poll).

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/poll-trump-tops-40-percent-national-support/article/2578294

Tick tock.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Basic explanation of what the last 7 [and more] years of central bank foolishness is bringing us.

[GUS]

Obama is about to run his mouth AGAIN.

A tree falling in the woods.

[Porchlight]

Sorry, 41 percent, not 40%.

Barone notes that Trump does better on robocall polls than live person calling. Interesting.

[GUS]

we are leading NOTHING Mr Obama.

[Miss Marple 2]

I see he is reading a statement.

[GUS]

Miss Marple, I had to turn the Sociopathic bastard off. Anyone who still buys this fukwads SHIT SANDWICH is insane.
Our 4 star generals and admirals stand there like eunichs.

[buccaneer morgan]

There were some episodes of the six million dollar man I didn't even remember.

[daddy]

Good Morning.

Obama is giving his speech now but Momma is sitting on the couch next to me and she (Former Dem) says she hates the guy so much that she can't stand to listen to his voice, so she has forbidden me to turn up the volume and transcribe whatever he's saying, so sorry but I can't live blog his jabber this morning.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Not to worry, daddy; we've all heard it fifty time before.

[GUS]

Daddy, Obama is saying the same shit he always says.

Reporter: Mr Ofukwad, why haven't you committed American resources to DESTROY the JAY VEEEEEEE?

[glasater]

Wonder if there's any embarrassment by those military guys having to flank this B0zo..

[daddy]

Well Gus,

Hopefully the Climate Talks in Paris really rebuked them something fierce.

[henry]

from twitter it seems Obama is claiming to hit ISIS "harder than ever"... #pillowfight

[buccaneer morgan]

Cbs stated with the soaps, while abc and nbc removed all doubt.

[NK]

CBS is tiptoeing towards Fox to try to steal some ratings points from the Prog Redoubts of Comcastvetzia and ABCavda.

[lyle]

The gigolo SecState lives large off a dead man's family fortune:

She owns five luxury homes and a private plane, The Flying Squirrel. Mrs. Kerry’s fortune — now estimated at $1.2 billion — has been her passport to a world of privilege and power far beyond that of the average political wife.

Her Gulfstream is named after a ski run on Mt. Baldy (Sun Valley). Happens to be my favorite as well. Dammit.

[buccaneer morgan]

Well their stated entertainment division is apart from their news, kidding.

[Miss Marple 2]

That dem gal on the noon show on Fox (Julie something, I think) said that is was a terrible speech and tone deaf. He didn't address the very real and justified fears Americans have HERE AT HOME.

Basiclaly, for those who missed it, he READ a laundry list of things we have done, "bombed these places, killed these leaders, etc." Continue to work with coalitionpartners blah blah.

Absolutely nothing new and infuriating.

Napolitano predicted it was a pre-Christmas PR stunt, and now that he has spoken Napolitano says it was a tone-deaf failed PR stunt.

Brett Baier says it was a lot of facts and figures, but no change in strategy. He doubts it would be comforting at all to people who are worried.

[MarkO, brimming with the spirit of E. Scrooge]

Palaver.

Anyway, I feel better knowing the IRS will check all of our social media comments.

[daddy]

...a secret U.S. policy that prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas

In other words, "they can't connect the dots because they don't have any dots to connect."

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

And they don't have any dots to connect because they have their hands over their eyes.

[henry]

A Gorelick special

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Wretchard's latest;
On the disintegrating political scene in the US.
Sorry for the length but this comment by Subotai Bahadur, one of his best regulars is worth quoting in full;

The claim by the Nomenklatura that more exposure to Muslims, next door or in the workplace, will lead to reduced fears on both sides and more integration is palpably untrue. Leave aside the experiences of our troops in Islamic countries for a moment. The refusal to integrate by Muslims combined with their theology of the rightness and necessity of forcing all non-Muslims to submit make them really poor candidates for neighbors. The more you know them, the less you are willing to tolerate.

I am Chinese in ancestry. To westerners, that is pretty foreign. My dad came over here alone as a child. He started out in New York's Chinatown. But as soon as he had gotten his bearings, learned the restaurant business in Chinatown, and learned English he moved to the Midwest. There was no Chinatown there, and he had to learn to interact with and work with all y'all crazy round-eyes. He became more American than some Americans, combining that with the pioneering entrepreneurial nature of South Chinese.

Outside of poorly understood tales of the "Tong Wars" [in turn of the century San Francisco] you don't hear of violence from Chinese immigrants, or most immigrants to this country. I would note for accuracy, that the "Tongs" referred to were not the one at war. Tongs are fraternal organizations based on Clans, Families, places of origin in China, etc. Think Elk, Moose, or Lions focused on helping Chinese. The ones who were fighting were Triads, which are criminal syndicates descended from resistance movements born in fighting foreign dynasties centuries and millenia ago. And they make the Mafia look like a Montessori pre-school. And they were fighting each other and ignoring all y'all.

Now, name one non-Muslim area of the world where Muslims have come to where there has not been violence by Muslims against non-Muslims. Even in Buddhist Burma/Myanmar, the Buddhists have had enough and are fighting back finally and expelling them. When you are enough of a pain in the tuchus that pacifist Buddhists go to war in self-defense against you, maybe its you and not them.

In this country, Islam has always been tied to and protected by the Left and by Black racial supremacists. The government is always intent on protecting their rights to aggress against other groups, and persecute those who defend themselves from attack by them.

More exposure to them does not lead to more tolerance. It leads to a Jacksonian reaction against them, and the government officials that protect them regardless of purported party differences.

Which is one small part of the appeal of Trump, and the panic that is enveloping both wings of the Bi-Partisan Governing Party. He speaks what many people see as the truth based on what they have seen about the government and political system; and he has the potential to break many rice bowls on both sides of the aisle.

And he is probably the angel of death for not only the Republican Party, but also the Uniparty system we have evolved into.

If the GOPe rigs the convention against him [I've previously listed the rule changes that would allow that and linked to the meetings within the GOPe that they admit are to prepare for a brokered convention]; they will lose so badly, up and down the ticket, that they will cease to exist. The GOPe thinks that they will be able to rebuild from the rump party organization. The world has changed. Once the Left gets full control again, now that they have rendered the rule of law moot along with the Constitution; the GOPe will go the way of the Mensheviki, and by the same means probably.

If the GOPe allows the nomination process to continue and Trump gets the nomination, they will have the choice of trying to win or deliberately sabotaging him to prevent his election. The leaders of the GOPe are already making public statements that if Trump is the nominee, they will support Hillary. If Trump wins anyway, he will have no reason not to take out the GOPe as well as the Left that they have joined with. And Republican voters will have no reason to ever support the GOPe again.

If Trump loses because of GOPe treachery, we will get the same result as if they had rigged the convention. What we are watching is the death throes of the Republican Party.

The one outcome that promises a possible peaceful future, is IF a GOPe outsider wins honestly, and then tries to clean up government and restore a form of Constitutional government acceptable to the people. And there is no guarantee that the outsider would do that, or would succeed against the opposition of the political establishment if he tries. But we know that a) both current parties have contempt for the rule of law, and b) both parties have contempt for the limits of the Constitution, and c) neither existing party would even pretend to try to return to the time when they were subject to the people and the Constitution.

There is an old Chinese saying, where they usually only quote the first part:

"May you live in interesting times" [what interests historians is war, famine, death, and upheaval]; and then the second part, "May you come to the attention of officialdom.". We are pretty sure to get both parts.

And perhaps another saying:

Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln.

Subotai Bahadur

[NK]

exactly. These same POS Dems making excuses for Obummer's see no evil policies made heir bones screaming about GWB not connecting the 9/11 dots. Now they claim you can't even refer to any dots because..... Islamophobia. What is the word when hypocrisy goes plaid?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Miss Marple:
Napolitano predicted it was a pre-Christmas PR stunt, and now that he has spoken Napolitano says it was a tone-deaf failed PR stunt.

Hopefully that's all it is. Obama pr stunts where he comes out and says something about how well things are going according to him lately portend an attack somewhere.

[NK]

BTW-- as I mentioned at our Campbell Apartment meet up, the apartment has the wrong tartan drapes. Here is the Clan Campbell tartan; my son's drunken scottish friend called this to management's attention when he demanded free drinks as he was a namesake. http://ccsna.org/jsep50a.htm

[daddy]

The claim by the Nomenklatura that more exposure to Muslims, next door or in the workplace, will lead to reduced fears on both sides and more integration is palpably untrue...The more you know them, the less you are willing to tolerate.

Sad but true.

Good paste, Iggy.

[glasater]

I'm seeing the 'lurker' on tv right now :-)

[GUS]

Jeff, he did kill Bin Laden with his own hands, the economy is booming, ISIS is contained on the run, fill in the blank, and unemployment is non-existant.

Good Time, ain't we lucky we got 'em.

[Miss Marple 2]

Jeff,

So true. That "You're next" addressed to ISIS will probably provoke a response.

He's not doing anything different, so coming out and reading all those numbers and pretending he's doing something and then taunting them is probably the worst combination of things he could have done.

[lyle]

Tim Blair (via Insty):

Last month Islamic terrorists slaughtered 130 innocent men and women, the youngest aged just 17, in a series of vicious attacks across Paris. More than 40,000 government leaders, negotiators and activists subsequently arrived in Paris to decide what the global temperature will be for people whose grandparents haven’t been born yet.

If you want to get an idea of exactly where political priorities are in 2015, the above paragraph is a pretty good place to start.

[lyle]

Oh, and the MFM cheer lead the climate scam that will enrich untold number of cronies and further impoverish the world:

http://soopermexican.com/2015/12/12/watch-objective-unbiased-reporters-cheering-and-applauding-global-climate-hoax-deal/

[GUS]

Miss Marple, I am at a loss as to whom Obama was speaking to. He lies, blusters, bullshits, makes stuff up, and the MILITARY BRASS takes it. Spineless bastards.
Isis was 20,000 violent rogue muzztards, and Obama let them grow and grow and grow.
How would 9,000 air strikes no finish them off. He's lying.

[henry]

GUS, you spelled "leaflet drops" wrong

[Miss Marple 2]

Gus,

Obama thnks if he says something it's the same as being true. He was just speaking for himself and his wish-casting.

I think I will clean for a while. Either that or take a nap. HA!

[Marlene]

lyle@1:03...Howie Carr likes to mention that Kerry lives off his second wife's dead first husband's fortune.

[James D]

Everything about the comment Ig quotes at 1:14 is spot on. I think this really makes the best point about the problems of getting along with Islam:

When you are enough of a pain in the tuchus that pacifist Buddhists go to war in self-defense against you, maybe its you and not them.

[Momto2]

MM - I just heard on the radio speculation that Trump may not do well in Iowa because they must come out in person and declare who they are voting for.

The discussion was that that many people who will vote for Trump will not say they will because of the negative talk against him. They said he would do better in New Hampshire and other places where the vote is a secret ballot. Your anecdotal evidence seems to lean the opposite way -- people are happy to say they support him. The radio host also said a cab driver initiated a conversation and was a Trump supporter. Interesting.....

[daddy]

Rush appears to be on the Ted Cruz bandwagon today in hour 1.

Not openly cheerleading, but Rush is discussing Cruz's moves up in the polls and is suggesting that the difficulty Trump has in criticizing Cruz is due to the way Cruz had handled himself. Rush is praising Cruz's character and particularly his "steadiness." It is obvious that Rush admires Cruz.

Rush is also mentioning that he finds Cruz completely authentic, but does admit that he knows that Cruz comes across to some people as artificial or contrived---same situation we've described here.

Now Rush is suggesting that there may be as much Establishment fear of Cruz as there is of Trump, possibly more.

I wonder if Rush ever browses JOM?

[NK]

my 1:20 was meant for jimmyk and CH.

[Gentlejim]

JamesD,
My thoughts exactly. I'd copied that exact sentence for a comment, but you beat me to it.

[clarice]

I'm working off a clunky old computer, so it's very hard to keep up. If anyone remembers the thing besides Wobenzym that Man Tran mentioned yesterday, pls email me, I'm intrigued. Yhmx

[daddy]

Trish Regan on FOX Business (who I don't suspect is a hard corp conservative) plays a few clips of Obama's speech this morning, and then shaking her head, asks the following of her guest, Retired Maj Gen Bob Scales:

Trish: The Question is, does he really understand the threat that we face now? Does he understand, really, that we are at War?...Let me ask you that question, do you think the President fully understands the scope of the problem right now that we are at War?

General Scales: No, I don't think so. I don't know if you caught the body language in his speech but he clearly was uncomfortable Trish, and I felt sorry for the four 4-Stars who were potted plants behind him, listening to him read this list...there's a sense that the President is not in this...ISIS gets this as well, and our Allies in the region understand the seriousness of the situation, and so everybody wants to know What's Plan B, What's the new Strategy, How do you take ISIS down, What's your plan for winning, instead of like a score card at Halftime...

[JMHanes]

Sandy Daze:

"But we're told that the loss of the NSA's monitoring of all comms by everyone is the single thing that kept the Feds from cracking this case..."

Actually, what I remember was initially an immediate (suspiciously well coordinated) chorus, bewailing the Feds inability to penetrate encrypted messages. Perhaps such complaints have been muted by embarrassing revelations like the social media fail, but that will be just a temporary lull. I do not doubt that legally mandated encryption back doors are Item #1 on the law enforcement wish list -- although eliminating PC rules of engagement has got to be way up there, and way easier to implement.

[Old Lurker]

" instead of like a score card at Halftime..."

He can WISH that this is halftime. I think we are a long way from halfway there. What is Churchill's line about end of the beginning?

[Black Gold]

"discussing Cruz's moves up in the polls"

12/14/15
"Trump hits a new high in national poll

According to the results of the latest Monmouth University poll surveying voters identifying as Republican or independents leaning toward the GOP, Trump earned 41 percent, nearly tripling the support of his closest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who took 14 percent. "

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/poll-trump-new-high-216741

[daddy]

General Scales: According to what I've read we've killed 12,000 ISIS fighters in the last year, and in the last year they've grown by 30,000. That type of math doesn't play well when you're engaged in a Global War.

[buccaneer morgan]

Specially when you consider what nine of these people wrought in one night.

[Miss Marple]

Cruz will not draw as many crossover votes. Dems can vote for Trump if they are fed up. Don't know if they could bring themselves to vote for Cruz.

People who have finally decided on Trump are pretty firm. That dealer I talked to this morning said they had left him no one else to vote for.

If Trump can get new voters to the caucus in numbers, he could still win. Those polls are based on likely caucus voters.

[Old Lurker]

OK, I'm surprised. Bergdahl to be Court Martialed.

[rse]

clarice-the other thing mt mentioned was krill pills.

[henry]

And Pete Rose still shut out by MLB.

[daddy]

Now Trish has on my Fav, Former 4-Star General, Jack Keane.

General Keane: ...Most of all, what we truly need, is a sense of urgency and resolve and commitment to truly defeat ISIS and give the American people some sense of when that's going to happen and how that's going to happen.

Trish: That's been missing throughout...Overall, when you look at the President's Strategy, is this one of really trying to defeat ISIS, or is this one of simply containing ISIS? And there's a difference.

Keane: No doubt about it. His Strategy, despite the rhetoric to defeat it, by actions, by commitment of resources, by sense of urgency, by resolve, is Containment. He has said it's a multi-year Strategy, and what's dangerous about that is his Secretary of Defense and his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs both stated in Testimony last week and the week before, that we're not Containing ISIS, and therefore not even that portion of his Strategy is working. And the longer that you drag this out, it's obvious to our audience here, that the longer the ISIS is going to be able to kill and the longer the ISIS is going to be able to threaten the American people. That's the issue.

[Puddin Floppy-Feet]

A counter to Iggy's 1:14 by Mark (Black Hawk Down) Bowden.

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/12/donald-trump-mark-bowden-playboy-profile#16

Well, he is a bit grating and full of himself.

[Old Lurker]

Well you know how it is, Henry Big Sports has to keep it clean because they know how slippery is the slope once they look the other way on matters of character.