Scooter Libby Pardoned By Trump

Let's have the Fox News version just so we know what feedback Trump is hearing.

The WH press release notes that NY Times Jailbird Judy Miller recanted, or at least regretted, her trial testimony in a 2015 book. I would say she is less central to the story than she (or the Weekly Standard) imagine, but still.

BACK IN THE DAY: In 2013 NY Timesman Peter Baker wrote about the Bush years. Bush didn't pardon Libby because he (and his lawyers) thought Libby was guilty. OK, so did yours truly, although given the posing on both sides I would have been OK with a full pardon as Bush headed out the door.

NO ONE WILL EVER CARE BUT... It's a sidebar to a sidebar but Ms. Plame's pension details would go a long way to resolving her status under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. A key point is whether CIA rules had considered her as serving abroad in the the five years before the leaks. her pension gets an upward bump for service abroad, so there is an official CIA scorecard on that. Oddly (bit not inexplicably) Special Counsel Fitzgerald buried the pension info in court filings and discovery submissions. Why would he do that if it made his case for him? Puzzling.

Back when I was younger and even more enthusiastic, I did poke at the definition of "service abroad" for government employees. I never struck gold for CIA officers, but if Ms. Plame had been a geologist with classified status the case would be clear. State Department rules also distinguish between "travel abroad" and "service abroad". As to the CIA, who knows whether they wrote their own rules on this point.

Comments

[Porchlight]

A banner day for JOM.

I came on board during the Libby case as did so many others.

Thanks, TM, for highlighting this and for your gracious hosting and writing/sleuthing all these years.

[Thomas Collins]

The USA Today article is unbelievably shoddy. The article makes it sound as if Libby was the leak source.

[Tom R]

Bringing this over from the last thread.

Tom R, my over-the-top wishful thinking centers on Carter Page as (first and foremost) a Defense Intelligence asset and only secondarily someone the FBI has made use of. But, yes, if this can loop back to the craziness of that whole Valerie Plame nonsense -- heavenly.

FWIW I always operate under the assumption that the current "Deep State" cabal traces its existence back to the Soviet moles who successfully infiltrated the Federal government and who Senator McCarthy was trying to expose until they destroyed him. For me at least that makes it easier to process why they have been actively trying to destroy the country from within for the past several decades. See the discussion on evil from yesterday by several posters.

It's fairly obvious the Deep State is very good at covering its tracks. I have no idea what kind of document or digital trail of their activities may be in existence. If a trail of evidence does exist, IMO the Trump presidency is likely our best and last chance of fully exposing their criminal misdeeds.

Trump obviously had an ulterior motive for bringing up the Libby pardon at this specific moment in time. While it could be a warning shot over the bow about prosecutorial overreach by the SC, if it was somehow connected to exposing the Plame/Wilson/Grossman Deep State corruption a tingle would run up my leg for an extended period of time.

[Thomas Collins]

The most recent USA Today article doesn't suggest Libby was the leak source, but does recite Dem talking points, and makes no mention of Armitrage.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/13/trump-pardons-scooter-libby-bush-cheney-aide-convicted-lying-fbi/513953002/

[Thomas Collins]

Actually, the offending sentence is still in the USA Today article.

"And so Libby told a number of journalists that it was Plame who decided to send her husband on the mission — thus blowing her cover."

[Jane]

Me too Porch - and the first thing I did was ask a question (what is 2 plus 2 plus something) which Clarice answered.

[Jim Eagle]

What goes around comes around.

And Miss M, I noticed in your last comment on the previous thread that you are plagerizing my comment from yesterday on how tee-totaler Trump has the advantage when all these people he meets start drinking or sniffing coke:)

Attribution, please?

/being snarky not smarmy

I lost another long piece on the previous thread about Tucker Carlson's terrific rant/analysis of going to war over Syria and Gas. What followed from that program (on the 9th?) was that he was doing Putin's bidding.

IOW's the left wants to go to war. And Tucker and me are Putin Puppets.

I am always suspicious when the party of Code Pink, ANSWER and MoveOn.org want to go to war. Aren't you all also?

[Jane]

I am JIB.

[Bunky]

Nice job Mr. President! I’ll say it again......he gets it.

[maryrose]

JIB:
I thought that comment sounded familiar.
Very true however.
President Trump has their number and they are scrambling.

[GUS]

Not at all Jack, you see the FULL COMMIE Party just loves them some DEAD BABIES. And sometimes they even have US pay for them.

[Captain Hate]

JiB,

That's why Bosnia and Kosovo had me in the WTF mode.

Btw, check my Zuckerberg feed for a link to the CT/Ginsberg film.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Sorry, Jack, you are exactly right. After I typed it I thought "where did I hear that" but didn't bother to search.

I will try to attribute when I do stuff like that, which is only right.

[narciso]

In other news general hafter is dead, details were not forthcoming

[Mara Schiffren]

Doing the happy dance!

[sbw]

We did a series of three editorials in 2007 that Clarice pointed to that, unfortunately are no longer there. I have to find out why. 3/14/2007.

[maryrose]

I got the link to JOM from Instapundit and loved the discussion throughout the Libby ordeal.Today is a great day.
Justice triumphs.
Now we just need to secure Justice for the people of Haiti who suffered the scam perpetrated by the Clinton Foundation.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Justice at last!

Look up 'fake news' in an encyclopedia and you should see a picture of Valerie Plame (alongside one of the fake Texas ANG memos). It will be interesting to see where Tump goes with this.

[clarice feldman]

https://www.weeklystandard.com/the-case-of-the-brmissing-crime/article/13848

Just a recap. At the time I wrote it we knew Fitz knew before the witch hunt that Armitage was the source. we learned afterward that so did COmey and Mueller. And even more recently the CIA stated that at the time Plame was not a covert agent and the leak had jeopardized no one.

[Tom R]

As predicted, the first DOJ IG report gets released as soon as Comey's book gets released. This one is on McCabe.

https://static01.nyt.com/files/2018/us/politics/20180413a-doj-oig-mccabe-report.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/us/politics/former-fbi-deputy-director-is-faulted-in-scathing-inspector-general-report.html

[sbw]

That was 07/03/2007 I think.

[Sue]

Armitage...UGO.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQd4ra392cw

Link to live feed of White House press briefing with Sarah Sanders.

[Sue]

Did we ever learn who the person on the street was that Novak referenced.

[Tom R]

Just a recap. At the time I wrote it we knew Fitz knew before the witch hunt that Armitage was the source. we learned afterward that so did COmey and Mueller.

FWIW like many other here I discovered JOM during Plamegate. Your track record throughout the entire affair created a perception in me that you were an EF Hutton type poster. Ever since then I've always paid extra attention anytime I read one of your posts.

[Dave (in MA)]

How come Libby wasn't just allowed to have been described as having "lack of candor" instead of getting a felony perjury charge?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

The Associated Press
‏Verified account @AP

Raul Castro will step down next week as president after a decade in office, handing the position to expected successor Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Tammy Bruce: Repubs are increasingly demanding that Ryan step down as Speaker now.

[Jim Eagle]

CH,

Wasn't that a hoot? Bringing it over here for the others to see.

The surreal, existential Alan Ginsberg with Cecil Taylor. Give yourselved a Haight-Ashbury moment and relive the insanity of Beat meets Jazz:)

http://www.historicfilms.com/tapes/7753_274.27_282.27

[maryrose]

TomR:
I announced that IG report wrt McCabe on the previous thread.
Like you , I absorbed all the information Clarice would post as the best source of the truth and the most up to date summary of what was happening.
She continues to be a treasure.

[clarice feldman]

I do my best, Tom R--thanks. Everyone here did on that case.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Adam Schiff
‏Verified account @RepAdamSchiff
5h5 hours ago

On the day the President wrongly attacks Comey for being a “leaker and liar” he considers pardoning a convicted leaker and liar, Scooter Libby. This is the President’s way of sending a message to those implicated in the Russia investigation: You have my back and I‘ll have yours.
=================================

Apparently Schiff and Gregory have been hanging around together.

[daddy on iPad]

Have just started to read the intro on the IG report just released that discusses McCabe's lying under Oath to the FBI investigators and to IG Horowitz. This bolded bit caught my eye:

We further found that on July 28, 2017, when questioned under oath by the OIG in a recorded interview, McCabe lacked candor when he stated: (a) that he was not aware of Special Counsel having been authorized to speak to reporters around October 30 and (b) that, because he was not in Washington, D.C., on October 27 and 28, 2016, he was unable to say where Special Counsel was or what she was doing at that time. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor – Under Oath).

What that tells me is that even the FBI knows how illegitimate and unreliable are unrecorded interviews, so that when Horowitz was going after McCabe he was smart enough to put that sunuvabitch under Oath and with a Tape recorder running. Good. Hang that lying bastard McCabe.

Also worth mentioning once again how in the Scooter Libby case, IIRC, Agent Eckenrode's written notes of his unrecorded interview with Scooter Libby mysteriously went missing.

[maryrose]

TomR:
Love the link.
I bet the failing NYT hated to report this story.

[Janet 🚬 - I wish my family had a poncho]

WaPo editorial board 2006 - End of an Affair

"But all those who have opined on this affair ought to take note of the not-so-surprising disclosure that the primary source of the newspaper column in which Ms. Plame's cover as an agent was purportedly blown in 2003 was former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage."....

"Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101460.html

[Dave (in MA)]

Raul Castro will step down next week as president after a decade in office

Tanned, rested and ready, the Dems can run him for Senator of one of the new Californias.

[daddy on iPad]

We additionally found that on November 29, 2017, when questioned under oath by the OIG in a recorded interview during which he contradicted his prior statements by acknowledging that he had authorized the disclosure to the WSJ, McCabe lacked candor when he: (a) stated that he told Comey on October 31, 2016, that he had authorized the disclosure to the WSJ;

They have the muther******dead to rights!

Exhibit A for why all FBI interviews in future have to be recorded.

[Tom R]

For anyone who doesn't want to use the NY Times link, here is Sundance's article on the DOJ IG McCabe report with the report embedded.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/04/13/breaking-doj-inspector-general-michael-horowitz-releases-oig-report-on-andrew-mccabe/#more-148034

[Davod]

"I am always suspicious when the party of Code Pink, ANSWER and MoveOn.org want to go to war. Aren't you all also?"

Yes.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Janet,

Send that editorial to Schiff For Brains and have one of his aides staple it to his empty head between his bug eyes.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Sarah Sanders had her ammo ready! She was ready with lists of his lies and leaks, also had a list of democrats who opposed him, points out that he can't find time to testify before Congress and yet sat down for 5 hours with George Stephanopolis.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

I wonder who will interview Armitage and Powell, those evil bastards, on their thoughts on the pardon.

Fitz spent millions trying to nail someone and got the wrong guy on a process rap with the full knowledge of Comey and Mueller. What a bunch of stooges.

Then he went to Chicago and spent more millions on an equally useless case.

Today we see Comey dumping all over Lynch on the Clinton investigation.

Comey then asserts that he thought the Moscow Hilton Golden Showers story was true after he denied it before Congress when he testified.

McCabe has been named as a serial perjurer by the IG.

Notice a pattern here?

[daddy on iPad]

This is the perfect moment for Trump to have pardoned Libby.

The Left can either scream about the unfairness of Libby being pardoned for lying or they can scream about the unfairness of McCabe being fired for lying, but they can't have it both ways. One highlights the other. Thank goodness Horowitz recorded those interviews.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

I hope Horowitz has hired some muscle to protect Page because the long knives will be out.

[Tom R]

In a week chock full of controversial news, the one story that may be the most shocking is today's revelation that Tonya Harding is going to be a contestant in the next season of Dancing With the Stars. Oh the horror!!!!

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

And according to JackStraw this is the first of many IG reports.

Tick Tock bitches.

[clarice feldman]

Hi, Mara! Welcome.

[Sue]

I care about Libby.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Thread with redacted documents about Cohen's being under criminal investigation which was just revealed:

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/984863096006172674

[Tom R]

Did Trump order the rehiring of Ezra Cohen Watnick to assist with a future offensive against Amazon?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-13/oracle-is-said-to-lead-anti-amazon-lobby-on-pentagon-cloud-bid

[matt - deplore me if you must]

Fuck you Tillman you troll. How dare you hide behind a hero's name to spew your propaganda.

I think I like the fact more and more that Sessions has recused himself. There needs to be a cleansing of the higher echelons at DoJ and the FBI and he has remained above the fray as the hard slogging work has been done. I wonder how well he knew this when he took the job on?

[Davod]

Janet:

I saw Wilson at a Congressional hearing forced to tell the truth. It was a pity the media didn't seem fit to jump all over him.

[fdcol63 🇺🇸]

Man, the last thread was a long one!

Still trying to catch up. LOL

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

VERY IMPORTANT!!

Larry Schweikart
‏ @LarrySchweikart
5m5 minutes ago

This is beyond huge. Cankles now it is shown was under CRIMINAL investigation during the election and the Deep State FBI concealed that info from the public.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dar6qzvUQAAWUEB.jpg:large

(Image is excerpt from IG's report)

[Jane]

I care about Libby too. And this is the prefect day for Sessions to fire Rosenstien. Get crackin' Jeff!

[fdcol63 🇺🇸]

From previous thread:

Thomas Collins @ April 13, 2018 at 10:51 AM

Thank you! A pretty good summary of my own thoughts. Seems like if you're not a die-hard 4D chess and "Trump = Jedi Master" proponent, you're scoffed at and relegated to the Ledge anymore.

[maryrose]

Clarice:
Your article from back then is wonderful.
I was happy to read it again and get the full picture.

[Old Lurker]

fdcol "Man, the last thread was a long one!"

Would have been longer if I had taken the bait RG spread in the barnyard by slandering Ledge Dwellers saying they believe a list of things few if any of my roomates believe.

TK jumped on him immediately telling him he was describing the former JOM NeverTrumpers but not those who are still here, dwelling happily on the Ledge.

RG is usually more careful than that so I wonder if that was a window into what he really thinks people who disagree with him believe.

[Janet 🚬 - I wish my family had a poncho]

Another old CTH post on Michael Cohen -

also from Jan 2018 - Look at the video. The NYTimes reporter - "If that's not true, who made it up?"..."this was not planted by some Clinton operative. This was probably concocted by Russian intelligence."
WRONG
"The conspiring crew ran DOJ/FBI FISA-702 searches on “Michael Cohen Travel”, and simply got the wrong guy."
It WAS Clinton operatives.
January 15 ·
this seems like a very big deal - "Occams Razor: One of the dubious FBI FISA-702 search subjects was Michael Cohen; and that turned up a “raw data” result for a Michael Cohen traveling to Prague.

That’s how a false Michael Cohen story got into the dossier.

A FISA-702 raw data search gave a return on Michael Cohen, the wrong “Michael Cohen”. That raw data was given to Fusion-GPS who put that inaccurate raw data into the compiled opposition research dossier. That’s how it got in there."

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/15/horsepucky-narratives-political-suppositions-and-the-atomic-hammer-of-truth-occams-razor/

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
2m2 minutes ago

DOJ just issued the McCabe report - which is a total disaster. He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey - McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!
======================

Go get 'em, Mr. President!!!

[Appalled]

Jnc —

Just catching up on thread. I thought Libby got a raw deal and said so at time. Took me a while to get there.

[fdcol63 🇺🇸]

rich,

Dude, those were some dark videos!

The most disturbing one I've seen in a while is this one from Rammstein's Till Lindemann:

CAUTION!! Very disturbing content!

LINDEMANN - Praise Abort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWE_M0CX9So

[daddy on iPad]

Remember how Comey told Grassley under Oath that he was unaware of anyone at the FBI ever engaging in unauthorized leaking to the Press? Well from this paragraph in the IG Report we learn that everybody at the FBI leaked to the press:

8. McCabe Admonishes Two FBI Executives for Leaks in the October 30 WSJ Article Regarding the CF Investigation

Two FBI Executives, NY-ADIC and the then-Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Division (“W-ADIC”), told us that they each received calls from McCabe admonishing them for leaks contained in the October 30 WSJ article about the CF Investigation. At no time did McCabe disclose to either of them that McCabe had authorized Special Counsel to disclose information about the CF Investigation to the WSJ reporter.

So just from that paragraph we see that 2 FBI Agents leaked to the WSJ, and they did it on the exact same story that McCabe himself had authorized a different underling to leak to the same WSJ Reporter. Yet Comey had never heard of such a thing.

[clarice feldman]

Thanks, maryrose.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Kyle liked
Heshmat Alavi
‏ @HeshmatAlavi
5m5 minutes ago

#BREAKING
USS Winston Churchill, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer equipped with guided missiles, has just entered the US Navy combat zone in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a US Navy official.

[Beasts of England]

Had to change my attitude, and it's almost 80° here today, so: It's Subterfuge season!! About a month earlier than usual, but...

We're taking a late lunch and a much needed break from:

The Season Opener

~ two parts pink grapefruit juice
~ one part Champagne
~ one part rum
~ two wedges of lime

Serve over ice in a large tumbler.

Ahoy, polloi!! 😎

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

RG is usually more careful than that so I wonder if that was a window into what he really thinks people who disagree with him believe.

Who knows. I've remarked here before that we all had our come to Jesus moments, at least those of us who stuck around, and I'm not about to be taken to task for any purity tests.

[A.S.]

I can't believe Tom still has all those Plamania links on his sidebar! And some still actually work!

[Dave (in MA)]

He LIED! LIED! LIED!

He LACKED CANDOR! LACKED CANDOR! LACKED CANDOR!

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Beasts!!

Welcome back, and that drink sounds delish! It's almost 80 here too, with a breeze.

The dogs are all out lying on the grass in the sunshine. I think they have hated the cold weather lingering as much as we have. (Alas, cold on Monday with snow showers.)

[Old Lurker]

MM "Arleigh Burke-class destroyer equipped with guided missiles, has just entered the US Navy combat zone in the Mediterranean Sea"

Man I hope there aren't any cargo ships sailing merrily toward their destinations in that area.

:-)

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/984870512424873985

More IG report dissection, i which we find out that Lisa Page threw DOJ leadership under the bus to protect McCabe.

[Old Lurker]

Cap'n, I meant to speak in support of your post a few days back about what you expected from Trump's "management style", and what you did not expect re 4D Chess. Agreed completely.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Here is Sarah Sanders' smackdown of Comey:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dar7RB2WAAAdW7r.jpg

[Extraneus]

How come Libby wasn't just allowed to have been described as having "lack of candor" instead of getting a felony perjury charge?

We laugh about it, but that's apparently the actual language of the FBI Offense Codes that McCabe violated.

[Captain Hate]

I figured you did, OL, with no need for immediate confirmation.

Btw, per JackStraw the sole purpose of this OIG report was to explain why McCabe was fired so it's not an all encompassing item at all.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elliott-broidy-quits-rnc-post-after-report-on-payment-to-ex-model-1523645801?tesla=y&mod=e2tw

[GUS]

Do my fellow JOM'ers all realize how disturbed a grown man would have to be, to troll like he does??
Seriously. Stop for one minute and think about it.
This is an grown man.

Someone mentioned recognizing your enemy. Recognize what your disturbed enemy will do.

[Tom R]

From Clarice's old Plamegate article linked above:

Wilson, as would later become clear, had never debunked anything. The forgeries had not shown up until eight months after his February 2002 trip to Niger. Indeed, his interviews with officials there, the Senate Intelligence Committee would later conclude, "lent more credibility, not less, to the reported Niger-Iraq uranium deal."

The forgeries have always been the root cause of my belief that the Deep State within the CIA intentionally lied to Bush Jr about Saddam's WMD program. Wilson provided the CIA with documents showing that Saddam was trying to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger. These documents reinforced the CIA's belief that Saddam was trying to restart his nuclear weapon program.

As Clarice pointed out, 8 months after the fact it was discovered these documents from Niger were professional forgeries. "Professional" meaning some state-level intel agency (CIA, MI6, KGB/GRU etc) was likely involved in creating the forgeries. Valerie Plame was a James Bond-type NOC agent. She was a classic spy you see depicted in movies and books. Someone with her technical expertise would either know how to create such a professional forgery herself or she would know who/where to go to get the forged documents made. To cover her tracks she could have conspired with a fellow progressive leftist in an allied intel agency like Christopher Steele from MI6, who is an avowed socialist.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Captain Hate,

Right, it's just McCabe.

However, from this report we learned that Clinton was under criminal investigation during the campaign, that McCabe chastised 2 agents for leaks that HE originated, that he lied to Comey, that he lied to the IG, and that the IG records interviews and doesn't just take notes.

Pretty good chunk of information from a subset of a much larger report.

\

[GUS]

This morning their was a post that show LIBTARDS trying to claim that McCabe was a reliable Republican.

Yes, that's why McAULIFFEE gave his wife $700,000.00

[Extraneus]

Valerie Plame was a James Bond-type NOC agent. She was a classic spy you see depicted in movies and books.

How do we know that?

[Buckeye]

Beasts

Is the boat in the water?

If so, enjoy the weekend!

[GUS]

WAS???

[Extraneus]

Yes, Gus, and Planned Parenthood gave her $168K. For a state legislative seat in VA...

What ever happened to all that money, anyway?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jack Posobiec
‏Verified account @JackPosobiec

#BREAKING Nunes: The Obama State Department set up some sort of "backchannel" with one of our Five Eyes partners to share intel outside of normal procedures that led to the start of the Trump investigation

[Tom R]

The date for the official release of Comey's book is next Tuesday. Now that the McCabe portion of the DOJ IG report has been released, what are the odds that McCabe gets formally indicted next Tuesday?

[Old Lurker]

MI6

[GUS]

Let the go-fund-me-I'm-corrupt spending commence.

[GUS]

I believe it was December 16, 2016 that The Bi-Sexual in Chief started bleeeeeting about the RUSSIANS punking his administration. That is when the Conspiracy against Trump to flight.
A month after the FULL COMMIE realized they were in deep shit, they cashed the insurance policy.

[fdcol63 🇺🇸]

OL,

RG and I have chatted about things over dinner. He knows that I have not yet fully bought into the 4D chess thing, although I've told him I'm hopeful that this is so and that Trump can, indeed, weather the incredibly malevolent and organized Deep State storm arrayed against him.

I'll be the first to admit that I did / do the following:

1) I supported Cruz in the GOP primary. But Cruz - and all the other Never-Trumpers - completely lost my support because of their scorched earth attitudes after losing to Trump and refusing to adhere to the exact same pledge they demanded of Trump ... that they support the eventual GOP nominee in the general election.

2) I did not think Trump or ANY GOP nominee had much of a chance against Hillary, mainly because of what I believed was Obama's and the Dems' efforts to weaponize the IRS and other elements of the Federal bureaucracy / Deep State against the GOP, the effect of the Millennial vote (which I believed had already tilted the polity from center-right to center-left), the Soros-funded efforts to impact all the county Supervisors of Elections and state Elections officials, the historic chance to elect the first female POTUS, etc. etc.

I was wrong .... and thank God! Fortunately, the vote went Trump's way in a large enough margin that even the Dems weren't able to steal this one.

3) I am now, and have been since after the primaries, firmly behind Trump. He's doing exactly what I had hoped, and he's pissing off all the right people. Despite his flaws and often unstatesman-like way of communicating, he's effectively playing the Dems and media like violins - because they really are SOOOO predictable - and he's getting around the gatekeepers in the MSM with Twitter and reaching folks directly through social media.

He's so unpredictable that the MSM and Dems just don't know how to respond or react effectively to him. Which is a GREAT thing!

Hope it continues.

But I often DO think Trump needs to dial some of his rhetoric back a little. I think we all love that he gets in their faces and fights back, but I still think he could do it with more tact.

Like this latest response to Comey. Sure, I love that he's bashing Comey ... Comey is a despicable creep .... but I fear that Trump's words will help to further erode and lessen the public's respect for future Federal officials. When the dust clears and the Deep State is cleaned out, we will need for people to be able to feel that they can have faith and confidence in the officials that have been appointed or elected to these offices.

4) I think people can often over-complicate things and lose sight of their goals if they try to be too cute by half with a bunch of 4D crap. And by being 4 or 5 steps ahead in the strategy in their own minds, they leave opportunities for their opponents to make moves 2 levels back that throws monkey wrenches into those well-planned out moves.

And while Trump himself may be a "Jedi Master" capable of keeping all that shiznit - as RG likes to call it - straight, too many others just can't.

Criminy, I'd rather they just focus on playing a consistently good game of checkers in which they win most of the time!

5) And even if we assume that Trump is successful, and that he defeats the Deep State, and for the rest of this and Trum's second term, he's successful in accomplishing his goals, I still have a lot of pessimism regarding the future.

As squaredance so elequently put it yesterday:

"Once the boomers die out, it is hard to see how the young recover the values that our civilization would need to survive and turn this around. They have no memory at all of what this nation once was, or what a balanced, morally ordered and sane society looks like."

Trump may fix things temporarily, and his reforms may help in this regard, but this is a generational problem that took 50+ years to create, and just simply won't be fixed quickly.

I've heard some talk about the exceptions to the rule among the Millennials they know, like their children and others. Fine, but they are definitely a minority among their generational cohorts.

And I've heard others, primarily former McGovernites and other former Dem supporters, who talk about their own conversions from Dems to GOP or conservatives, for whatever reason. And that this should give me hope and lessen my pessimism.

To them, I just utter this caveat:

I understand your conversion. But from your ages, you were all mainly Boomers yourselves, and had been educated and raised in a culture far different from that in which these Millennials have been raised.

Much of what we Boomers may have taken for granted, they have not experienced or been taught, or they've been taught to distrust or loathe.

Predicting what THEY will do, based on your own conversion experiences of the 60's, 70's or '80's, is like comparing apples to oranges, IMHO.

[Tom R]

Valerie Plame was a James Bond-type NOC agent. She was a classic spy you see depicted in movies and books.

How do we know that?

I'm going off memory from numerous posts made on this blog discussing her history in the CIA history. IIRC the fact she was a former NOC agent was why the Leftists made such a big deal about her identity being outed being a federal crime.

[PDinDetroit]

I believe I followed from American Thinker over here to JOM. I also take special note when you post clarice.

Great news for Scooter, Great WH Press Conference today. I love it when Sarah tells them to "knock it off" and they LISTEN!

I don't have much headspace today and will continue to watch for tidbits from the IG report from y'all.

The doctor's office called and wanted to put me inpatient Sunday at 3 PM, but cannot until I am better from the upper-respiratory bug and off the meds for that. Now, the earliest is probably a week from Sunday. Freaked out for 2 day notice went to supremely disappointed and not knowing when again. It hasn't happened often, but I broke down in tears.

I had a feeling yesterday that I would be in the hospital soon and that it will save my life, not necessarily to resolve the migraines. I will be at Royal Oak Beaumont tonight for the MRI/MRA, so I am not leaving before the miracle happens (a phrase from recovery literature - means this too shall pass).

[Extraneus]

I believe everyone here doubted that she was a spy, and no one ever uncovered any evidence that she was, which is why the "outing" accusation was dubious from the get-go. I was never a Plame expert, but I'm pretty sure that's what TM's referring to with the pension stuff in the post above.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Headsnipe01
‏ @Headsnipe011
2h2 hours ago

FBI Director Christopher Wray traveled this past week to Israel, the West Bank, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar to meet with several of the FBI’s key international partners. Throughout his trip, the Director discussed areas of mutual interest...

Complete thread with more details here:

https://twitter.com/Headsnipe011/status/984857029184577537

[fdcol63 🇺🇸]

I'm elated that Trump pardoned Libby. About damn time!

G.W. Bush lost much of my respect for his failure to pardon Libby. IIRC, I believe he didn't because it was supposedly Libby's lie to Fitzgerald, denying that he uttered Plame's name, for which Libby was sentenced.

Is that correct?

[Jim Eagle]

800K pre-published Comey books are ready to go. Which validates my thesis that in our fractured country, there are 800K certifiable nutso, crazy, insane, partisan idiots out there.

More laughable is the left's continuing illusion that Valerie Plame was some kind of James Bond femme Agent Provocuteur like Natasha in Bullwinkle the Moose.

[Extraneus]

Gowdy: We Need an Apolitical FBI — Can’t Think of Anyone Who’s Done a Better Job of Politicizing the FBI Than Comey Has in Last 36 to 48 Hours

[Porchlight]

Had to change my attitude, and it's almost 80° here today

Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

I'm not really a Buffett fan, but he's got that right.

That drink sounds swell, Beasts! On the list.

[Extraneus]

“I think it is sad,” Gowdy said. “One of the things that Director Comey I agreed on, we need an apolitical FBI. We had fairly heated exchanges about that. I can’t think of anyone who has done a [better] job of politicizing the FBI than he has in the last 36 to 48 hours than talking about tanning bed goggles and the length of a tie. That is the beneath the dignity of the office he held. So, I’m really disappointed. Whether or not the intelligence communities vetted this book, I hope he let them do it, so he is not disseminating classified information. My guess is he did. But the writing of the book in general and some of the things he is talking about are frankly beneath the dignity of some really important offices he once held.”