Iraqi Government Protests President Trump’s Visit to U.S. Troops in Western Iraq as a Violation of Their National Sovereignty: The Iraqis Are Right—We’d Be Hollering if Another Nation’s Leader Showed Up Here Without Going Through Proper Diplomatic Channels

President Trump went over to Iraq a few days ago and visited U.S. troops stationed in Western Iraq for Christmas; by all accounts the visit was successful, though the liberal press attacked the troops and the President for staging a campaign-style stop, which has started another cycle of viciousness between the President and the press.  

That’s one part of the story.

The other part of the story was that the Iraqi government wasn’t told President Trump was coming, and did not have the opportunity to tell him “no” like any other sovereign nation would have the opportunity to do, including our nation if a foreign leader turned up here without permission.

There’s a big difference in President Trump turning up in Iraq three days ago, and when President George W. Bush turned up in Iraq in November 2003.   The difference was that the U.S. had just overthrown Iraq’s dictator, and the President of the United States, for all intents and purposes, owned Iraq and all of it’s problems as there was no effective Iraqi government, just an international authority.

Times have changed.   I think that our leaders should respect the sovereignty of Iraq and other nations as we expect the same of them.  That door needs to swing both ways in order for the system to work.

And if the Iraqi government votes to demand that U.S. troops are withdrawn, our government should do so.    The U.S. has plenty of bases in the region to hit ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria should the need arise.

Former Secretary of State Tillerson and President Trump Exchange Fire: I Believe Tillerson’s Version of Events

I was a longtime critic of Rex Tillerson before and during his tenure as the Secretary of State under President Trump, and I’m still not fond of him, but in a recent interview he made several revelations about his professional relationship with President Trump.

He described Trump as “undisciplined” and as getting tired of being told “no” by Tillerson because the President’s proposals would be illegal or would violate various treaties.    This has the ring of truth to it as Trump’s behavior in public has been highly impulsive and destructive.

He also said that the President doesn’t like to read reports that were being submitted to him.   Trump fired back on Twitter (of course) by calling Tillerson as “dumb as a rock”, “lazy,” and a mental case.   That’s rich, coming from a President who is an egotistical maniac.

I’m inclined to believe Rex Tillerson’s version.    The revolving door of people coming and going in the White House, President Trump’s 3am Twitter rants and hypocrisy on saying that he couldn’t get rid of Tillerson fast enough (yes, he could have—that’s on President Trump alone) is all the proof I need to believe Tillerson.  

I’m not one to read books from disgruntled employees of the various Presidents, but if Tillerson writes one, I think I’d read it.

If Whitaker Recuses Himself From Handling the Russia Probe, He Might As Well Resign Too: This Issue Crippled the Entire Sessions Tenure at the Department of Justice and Trump Doesn’t Need a Continuation of What He’s Already Had for Two Years

To the surprise of no one, President Trump asked for and got Jeff Session’s resignation as the Attorney General today.   His deputy, Matthew Whitaker, was sworn in as the Acting Attorney General not long after, and the Democrats began demanding that Whitaker recuse himself from running the Russia probe.

If he does, he may as well submit his resignation at the same time.   Trump’s already had a crippled Attorney General for two years; why should that situation continue, now that Sessions has resigned?

We need an Attorney General in charge of the entire Justice Department, not a portion of it.

Feinstein Shouldn’t Be Writing to FBI and White House for Clarification About FBI Investigation of Supreme Court Nominee: She Should Be Writing to the FBI Explaining Her Role in Suppressing Knowledge of Possible Sexual Assault Since Late July and Why She Revealed the Information the Way She Did

Dianne Feinstein received Mrs. Ford’s letter on July 30th that accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault and suppressed it until it was most useful to the Democrats.   This just reeks of criminal conspiracy.   To make matters worse, she originally said she gave the letter to the FBI after she received it, but in reality, she didn’t refer it to the FBI until mid-September. 

Then she had the audacity to throw Mrs. Ford under the bus to save her own neck.   If I was Mrs. Ford, I’d be feeling awfully disrespected by those who took up her mantle.

This confirmation process has been botched from day one, and the Democrats are to blame for it.   The FBI should have been contacted the next day, and the information investigated fully.  It would have been over and done with over a month ago.   But that’s not what we have.

Do the Democrats recall what happens when they pull stunts like this?   The Republicans do the same thing down the road when the Democrats least need or want it.   This vicious cycle needs to come to an end.

And who are the Democrats to claim moral authority on sex crimes?   There’s a list of accused Democrats as long as my arm; the Republicans are equally as guilty.    

They need to stick to their agreement about the FBI investigation, read the report and vote up or down based on what they read without further delay.   If enough Republicans don’t like what they read in the FBI report, Kavanaugh will be voted down, and the Democratic criminal “resistance” rendered moot.

Unlike the Democrats, if they see something morally reprehensible in the FBI report, they’ll vote against the nominee because it’s the right thing to do.  If it was a DEMOCRATIC nominee, the Dems would be doing their best to overlook it; see the Bill Clinton and Al Franken matters respectively.  

Feinstein needs her own FBI investigation.  If an ordinary Jane or John were to suppress evidence of a sex crime, or any kind of crime for that matter,  how much trouble would that Jane or John be in if they were discovered as Feinstein has been?   Criminal charges against Feinstein are in order here.   And the sooner, the better.  

Congress cannot act like this without consequences.   Examples need to be set.   Revolting!

Pope Francis, DO SOMETHING! Your Church is Drowning and You’re Standing on the Shore With Rescue Gear and Doing Nothing!

I’m very frustrated with the Pope.  

I can live with his liberal theology, as misdirected as it is, but what I can’t stand is his deafening silence on the scandal that’s enveloping his Church worldwide.  He’s like a lifeguard standing on the shore with rescue gear IN HIS HANDS and watching as someone drowns.   How long are you going to stand there and do nothing, Pope Francis?

If he can’t do the job, he should follow Pope Benedict’s example and step down.

If this scandal goes unaddressed for much longer, his abdication of his papal responsibilities will make it impossible for him to govern the church.   He’s nearly in an untenable situation right now,  with half the church wanting to show him the door over his ineffective crisis leadership.

Pope Francis also needs to understand that not everyone is out to create scandal.   Many want to put a stop to it, and these are the last people that Pope Francis should be telling to “shut up.”   He needs their help quite badly, and they need him to get his act together, and show some spine. 

Do it!

McCain Loses His Fight Against Brain Cancer: The Country Has Lost an Island of Calm in a Sea of Chaos

Senator McCain lost his battle against his cancer this morning, and the country has lost a voice of reason.

I agreed with him on various issues over the years, and disagreed with him over others, but time may well prove that he was correct on the vast majority of his stands.

We need more like him in Congress; he was one of the few who could actually negotiate with his opponents across the aisle and express the feelings of conservatives who were/are being increasingly targeted by liberal hate groups and companies.

I think the country was a lot safer with John McCain around than it is without.   He will be missed.

Russia: Staged Chemical Attack Being Prepared in Syria That Will Trigger U.S. Missile Attack on Syria….Translation: Russian Spetznatz Are Assisting Iranian and Syrian Forces With Chemical Attack Preparation and They’re Going to Blame the UK and US When It Happens

Russia’s preparing the world for another scene of carnage in Syria by announcing through the media that another chemical weapons attack is going to take place before it happens, and that UK special forces are helping anti-Syrian rebels to do it, which, Russia predicts, will cause Western military action in Syria again.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out.   Russia’s chafing over accusations that it tried to assassinate a former Russian spy and his daughter in the U.K. using Soviet-era chemical agents and wants to put the UK government in the same position, while dragging in the U.S. at the same time.  Sanctions against Russia over the UK attack go into effect on Monday.

I have no doubt that a chemical weapons attack will happen, except it’s Russia, Syria and Iran who will be behind it, not the U.S. or United Kingdom.  

This is a Russian false flag operation, not an American or British one.   So why doesn’t Russia do something to stop it, since they’ve already announced how much chemical agent will be used in this Russian false flag operation?

This is an obvious Russian trap for President Trump, who may well attack Syrian and Iranian positions in Syria in response, which will lead the Russians to launch a media blitz stating that President Trump is “wagging the dog” to throw attention off his domestic legal problems, which will trigger a liberal response.   The Russians want to massively destabilize the U.S. political system by any means, so this kind of operation would fit right into their anti-American (and anti-British) agenda.

The Russians have proven to be highly effective at firing up liberals in this country and know exactly which buttons to push to get a response, since they’re already unhinged by everything Trump.

Trump is Right; Sessions is Wrong: He Never Had Complete Control Over the Justice Department or It’s Operations: After All, Didn’t He Recuse Himself From All Things Russian and Turn It Over to Someone Else?

There have been some interesting Twitter volleys and media comments between Attorney General Sessions and President Trump in recent days.  

Trump said that Sessions doesn’t have control over the DOJ (and never did) and wanted to know why Sessions didn’t tell him that he was going to recuse himself from all things Russian before he was confirmed.

Sessions fired back that he had complete control over the DOJ and that it wouldn’t be improperly influenced by politics.

Sessions seems to be the one out of touch in this conversation.  

He surrendered control of the Russia investigation to his deputy attorney general, and the FBI and DOJ have both been improperly influenced by politics already.  The Clinton emails are all the evidence needed.  And Sessions hasn’t done enough to root “Never Trumpers” out of the FBI or DOJ.

In this instance, Trump is right to criticize the Attorney General.   I don’t think the AG is going to last much longer.