Happy May Day as President Trump Celebrates the Great Work of His First 100 Days

It's May Day and a public holiday all over Europe on Monday. May 1 is celebrated as the day for workers to be feted, but as most traditional holidays everywhere, it has become just another long weekend. • • • TRUMP CELEBRATES HIS 100 DAYS. There is one person who has been working hard since January 20. President Donald Trump. His record, despite the mainstream madia's efforts to belittle and deny his achievements, is impressive. • On Saturday evening, President Trump hosted a patriotic rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with thousands of supporters marking the promises he made and kept during his first 100 days in the White House. The President told his rally audience : “There is no place I would rather be than right here in Pennsylvania to celebrate our 100-day milestone to reflect on an incredible journey together and to get ready for the great, great battles to come and that we will win in every case. Make no mistake, we are just beginning in our fight to make America great again!” Vice President Mike Pence introduced President Trump as “a man of his word and a man of action,” acknowledging their 2016 “big, beautiful victory” in the blue-leaning state of Pennsylvania. At the start of the rally, Trump told the roaring crowd that more than half of Americans say that the media is out of touch with everyday people. His return to Pennsylvania was a thank you, like the one he delivered to Florida voters last month in Tampa. To screams and cheers, the President said “now arrives the hour of action” -- as he rallyied his base with one of his credos : “Buy American and hire American!” Trump said : "For the last 100 days my administration has been delivering every single day for the great citizens of our country, whether it’s putting our coal miners back to work, protecting America’s steel and aluminum workers, or eliminating job killing regulations, we are keeping one promise after another and frankly the people are really happy about it. The previous administration gave us a mess. For decades our country has lived through the greatest jobs’ theft in the history of the world. Our factories were shuttered. Our steel mills closed down. Our jobs were stolen away and shipped far away to other countries, some of which you have never even heard of. Politicians sent troops to protect the borders of foreign nations but left America’s borders wide open for all to violate.” Trump also noted getting nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch appointed to the Supreme Court with relative ease in a politically divided Senate as well as approval of the Keystone pipeline. • • • THE FACTS. While the MSM repeats relentlessly that Trump has failed to keep his promises, the same MSM also accuses him of using executive orders at "a record pace" (to keep his promises??). Restore American Glory published a post last week that stated : "He could have made good on every single one of his campaign promises and the media would still be calling his presidency an abject failure. Hell, the more of his agenda he accomplished, the worse the reviews would be. He should stop worrying about satisfying the press, which is filled with liberals who want him to fail. He’s doing a fine job, and he should be proud of what he accomplished." The article goes on to congratulate President Trump for getting Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court, saying : "Anything on top of that is gravy." Then, the article adds that he didn’t just nominate Gorsuch, he also signed two executive orders intended to limit immigration from terrorist havens like Libya and Yemen -- orders "blocked by liberal judges, but we haven’t heard the last on that," pointing out that Trump is not to be held responsible for an activist judiciary. Then Restore American Glory says : "Let’s talk about foreign policy as it pertains to Syria and North Korea. After eight years of inaction -- or bad action -- on the part of the Obama administration, Trump is finally letting these rogue nations know what’s up. He is telling them that it’s a new dawn in American politics, and this bright, early morning has no room for dictators who threaten their citizens -- and the entire world -- with disaster." Other Trump orders are mentioned -- permitting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline as proof of his commitment to furthering America’s energy interests; and noting that while he hasn’t yet found a way to fund and begin construction on the border Wall, statistics show that crossings along the Mexican border are down nearly 90% since he took office in January, "an enormous accomplishment that shows you just how powerful it is to have a President who’s serious about illegal immigration." • We can also add some other actions Trump has taken in his first 100 days -- • signing an executive order rescinding an Obama-era policy keeping most of the Arctic seas off-limits to drilling and asking the Department of the Interior to review the current five-year offshore leasing plan, and in the same order also preventing the Department of Commerce from creating new marine national monuments or expanding existing ones and ordering the department to conduct a review of offshore monuments to see if they run afoul of the original intent of the Antiquities Act. • in a similar executive order, directing the Interior Department to conduct a review on land-based national monuments. Interior will examine whether national monuments created over the past 20 years should be rescinded or modified. • promising at his address to the National Rifle Association convention to "never, ever infringe" on Second Amendment rights and declaring Obama's alleged "assault" on those freedoms is over : “I am here to deliver you good news: the eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end....I will never, ever infringe on the rights of the people to keep and bear arms.” • The Trump White House is watching the North Korea situation closely and consulting with China about Kim's behavior, while asking for another round of UN sanctions and moving part of the US Pacific Fleet into Korean waters. Several administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, have said that the era of "strategic patience" with North Korea is now over. • Trump announced that he was on the verge of pulling the US out of the North American Free Trade Agreement via executive order, and while the MSM and #never Trump Republicans were wringing their hands in pulbic about his "stupidity," the deal maker President got what he wanted -- President Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau placed emergency calls to President Trump almost immediately after the news broke : “I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate NAFTA rather than terminate. I agreed subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships are good -- deal very possible!” In an official statement, Trump said : “It is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation. It is an honor to deal with both President Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, and I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better.” The MSM, ProgDems and GOP aside, this is what hardball negotiations are all about, and it is what separates Trump from the rest of the do-nothing politicians in Washington. If Trump is able to secure US workers a better deal through NAFTA, he will only be able to do so BECAUSE he is willing and ready to scrap the deal completely. This deal maker tactic apparently still eludes the power elite in Washington DC. • • • DEAR READERS, I wish everyone a very Happy May Day. Celebrate the value and joys of work and remember President Trump, the man who is working day and night to make America and the world fair, safe and, yes, great. It is comforting to know we have an American President working for all of us again.

Casing the Colors © Week 7

Casing the Colors © Week 7 • • • CHAPTER 13 • Scott Bennett arrived at the White House at 19 hours with military promptness. He told his driver to take Kate and him across the Potomac to Alexandria. He always enjoyed the seafood at a little Wharf Street restaurant and on this rather cold, damp late winter evening, he hoped there would be few other diners to disturb them. But when their limousine pulled through the White House gate onto Fifteenth Street, photographers pressed their cameras against the car windows, shouting questions. The driver kept moving, rounding the corner onto Constitution Avenue, but the media was close behind. "Head out New York Avenue toward Baltimore," Scott ordered. "Maybe we can lose them." But General Bennett was too hot to be abandoned by the media that pursued him constantly. "Damn, Babe, I thought we'd steal an evening for ourselves. Just the two of us." "Not in this town," Kate said. "Let's go to Dad's," she offered, wickedly thinking of taking Scott to TRACES, the restaurant where she and Stu had had lunch after the Pentagon briefing. "The driveway and perimeters are patrolled. At least we'll be safe from your adoring press. I'll cook dinner." "Okay, but when does the media sleep?" he asked, his voice feigning despondency. "When you stop being the all-star General, and I don't expect that to happen tomorrow," Kate added pointedly. "You seem to be enjoying the notoriety." "Yeah, the same way I enjoy the dentist." General Gordon was still at the Pentagon so they had the house to themselves. Kate started to organize salad and pasta while Scott studied the kitchen wine racks for the right bottle of the General's always expensive, always excellent wine. As Scott opened and tasted one, he thought about General Gordon. Without question, Jim Gordon was first of all a soldier and when he had been assigned to combat zones he truly led his troops, living beside them in infested jungle huts and eating the same rations they ate. They respected him for this because they knew that his family had great wealth and that he could have avoided every hardship tour for the diplomatic niceties of Washington. Scott knew all this, as did every soldier who had ever served under Jim Gordon, but Scott also recognized that Jim was a leader whose troops would obey any command, not only because they knew he would be beside them but because they knew he was the smartest damn soldier they would ever meet. Smart with the finesse of intellect applied to the finest military education, but also smart with the gutter sense needed to survive in the cesspools of war. If they were going to die, his soldiers knew it would not be because some tightass young officer was too stupid to understand the situation and react properly. If any command put them face to face with death, Scott Bennett knew from personal experience that Jim Gordon would be the first to shake death's hand and smile at the bullet. But, when it came to personal comfort, civilian style, including the lovely soft Margaux he was now sipping, Scott also knew that Jim was in a class by himself, never settling for anything but the best. That was, after all, his reason for being a soldier, as he explained it to Scott. America was the best and there was no finer victory than to win for her. It was easy to see where Kate's independent spirit and devotion to country came from. God, he thought, what a soldier she would have made. He took his wine along and started a fire in the two-way fireplace between the kitchen and family room. As he settled into a comfortable chair to watch Kate cook, he asked, "Is Stu going to last over the long haul?" "Are you worried he won't?" she tossed back lightly. "He seemed awfully goddamned jumpy today." "We all were. It was a difficult meeting." "That's the point," Scott persisted. "Things aren't going to get any easier. We haven't even started the real counter-attack yet." "Scott, I'll try to keep Stu on political message," Kate answered impatiently, "and I'll try to keep you and the rest of the military from demanding the impossible of the American public. That's all I can promise." "You're not shouldering this problem alone," he replied, refilling his wine glass. "It's just that I worry about Stu and his ..." "Blackness?" Kate said, finishing his thought. "Don't waste your time worrying about Stu. He's as tough as you are, in his own way," she added, hoping time would prove her assertion to be true. The phone rang, startling them. It was General Gordon calling form the White House. "Can you get here right away, Stu is on his way. Bring Scott with you." "What's wrong, Dad?" "Just get over here," he answered. • • • CHAPTER 14 • When Kate and Scott arrived at the White House, an aide took them into the Cabinet Room. Secretary of State Bill Stevens was there, along with the President, Attorney General George Morrison, Stu Wellford and General Gordon -- all insiders in the American Agenda team. "What's going on?" Scott asked as he and Kate found empty seats at the big oval table. "President Katerinov has been on the phone from Moscow," the President said. "Former Soviet President Tcherenkov has been detained by the Russian parliament." "It was apparently a combined act of the Russian parliament and the satellite Republics, done without the knowledge of Katerinov or the Russian government," Secretary Stevens explained. "The leaders managed to convince the anti-Katerinov members of the Duma to act on their behalf. President Katerinov has assured me that his government is firmly opposed to the action and in full control." "But why now after so many years?" Kate asked, quickly ticking off the darker possibilities inherent in the news. "My guess," Bill Stevens said, speaking softly but emphatically, "is that the Russian Duma at finally feels it has sufficient political muscle to embarrass and then eliminate Katerinov and they're using Tcherenkov as the weapon. I'd say Katerinov is in more political trouble than he's admitting, but I doubt the Republics have forged enough joint political strength to break Katerinov's domination of the political agenda." "What we are sure of," Stevens continued, "is that Tcherenkov is being held incommunicado outside Moscow and that the Republics insist on trying him for crimes against humanity. The Russian parliament says it has taken this long to properly prepare the case against him." "More to the point, he's the last Soviet leader still free," George Morrison said. "All the others are either in prison or dead." "Tcherenkov is a Nobel Laureate," Scott Bennett said. "He's the man who ended the Soviet regime. He's a very old man. To hell with the posturing about crimes against humanity. It'll be the Circus Maximus. Throw a Christian to the lions to keep the hungry masses from thinking about the jobs and food they don't have." Attorney General George Morrison, who was a San Francisco lawyer renowned for his patient, dogmatic pursuit of justice and his inability to be anything but frank with friend and foe alike, laughed cynically. "General Bennett, they can damn well do as they please, can't they? Moscow is a little too far east for American law to apply." "George," Bill Stevens bristled, "we're not debating the fine points of international legal procedure." "I know," the Attorney General said, running his hands over his slicked back wavy hair, "but they'll do whatever they like, won't they? Who's going to stop them?" "What's President Katerinov's reading?" General Gordon asked. "General Bennett's conclusion is close to Katerinov's," Bill Stevens answered. "Katerinov thinks the Republics will drag out all the Soviet atrocities one more time, blame President Tcherenkov because he was in power at the end of the Soviet regime, and then sentence him to life imprisonment with a lot of it as probation in exile." "Great, just great," Scott said, slamming his fist on the table. "A noisy, uncontrollable international crisis while we're knee-deep in our own problems. The timing is perfect. Too perfect. The Soviet hard-liners and their friends in the Republics take one last shot at the West, hoping the United States will be too busy with its own problems to stop them." • • Scott Bennett was right. During the next week, while western governments postured ineffectively, individual Americans and Europeans vented their moral outrage at the events in Moscow. Disbelief that Russia would let the Republics use Moscow for the show trial was mixed with anger at the Russian president's seeming unwillingness to exercise decisive leadership. In truth, President Katerinov was unsure of the real depth of support for his government. Things had gone well when he could promise oil dollars and a thriving economy, but the world economy had shifted, leaving him unsure of his available financial resources. He tried to protect Tcherenkov from the Duma in order to maintain his credibility with his western benefactors, but he wasn't strong enough to keep a majority of its members united behind his call for the release of the last representative of their old enemy. The Duma wanted to eliminate the possibility that Tcherenkov would somehow retrieve sufficient power to combine with Alexei Katerinov and finally confront and defeat their hard-line pro-jihadist policies. Katerinov was outraged that the Russian parliament couldn't see that Tcherenkov was meaningless, an outmoded remnant of a political past with no future to lay claim to and no past to exploit. American cities already overwhelmed by the growing terrorist rebellion had to accommodate large groups of demonstrators demanding American action to gain Tchernekov's release. Europeans, who had always been less in awe of the last Soviet leader, watched dispassionately as events unfolded. Predictably, the Tcherenkov trial became the latest focus of media attention. Every reporter expressed the hope that the former president would escape with nothing more than the humiliation of being tried. Every commentator challenged the western powers to go to his aid in recognition of their debt to his past efforts to break the Soviet grip on Russia. At the trial, Tcherenkov presented his own case, displaying the dignity that had made him popular in America. The arguments of his hard-line accusers were dwarfed by his eloquent responses. But the Republics had found a temporary common ground in his trial. Their ethnic and religious bickering and military clashes, which had begun almost immediately after post-Soviet suppression ended, ceased temporarily as they came together to have their last victory over the remnants of Russian domination. President Tcherenkov was sentenced to life in solitary confinement. The world was horrified but, being accustomed to the victories of quasi-legitimate outlaws in the post-Soviet world, it was resigned to its inability to change the outcome of the trial. • • Finally, Bill Stevens decided to act unilaterally on behalf of his old friend by going to Moscow personally. As acknowledged leader emeritus of the world diplomatic corps after his stunning successes in helping to end the Syrian war and bring a modicum of peace to the Middle East, he had the moral authority to speak on behalf of Europe and most of the Middle East, as well as America. In Moscow, the Secretary met with President Katerinov and the leaders of each Republic, suggesting that the price for continued western economic assistance and critical food supplies was the release of the former Soviet president into the custody of the United States. The Republics protested noisily that the West was interfering in their internal affairs, a position meaked to the media that encouraged malcontents to take to the streets to demand the departure of the American Secretary of State. But Bill Stevens stood his ground. Ultimately, knowing they were cornered by their massive need for western help, the Republics fell silent while Katerinov turned President Tcherenkov over to the American Embassy military police. Katerinov detailed his personal military guard to escort President Tcherenkov and Secretary Stevens to the Moscow airport. The American diplomatic limousine, with the Stars and Stripes on its bumper snapping in the wind and an American Embassy military escort surrounding it, sped through dark early morning Moscow streets enroute to the plane waiting to fly them out of danger. Television cameras reported the event live to a relieved and watching world. A departure at first light was meant to keep Russian observers to a minimum, but many people lined the route, keeping silent watch as President Tcherenkov was once again sheltered by his western friends. Occasionally, a hand would flutter weakly in support, but more often, the crowds directed a sullen palpable hostility toward the man who had freed them from dictatorial political shackles only to let them sink into what they perceived as an even less tolerable and constantly expanding economic and political morass. As the two men mounted the stairs to the official US plane, several rifle shots suddenly rang out in the cold dark early morning. President Tcherenkov staggered, falling against the aircraft's stairway railing. Secretary Stevens was pushed by Secret Service personnel up toward the plane's open door. Half the American military escort formed a barricade, weapons pointed toward the stunned crowd to prevent another round of fire while the rest of the escort dragged Tcherenkov into the plane and then slammed shut the port. The barricading military were left outside on the stairway to deal with the hidden assassins. The pilots wheeled the 747 onto the runway and roared up into the still dark sky above Moscow. As the plane gained altitude, Bill Stevens grabbed the White House hot line. "We're heading for Ramstein," he said. "President Tcherenkov is very badly wounded." President Harper listened, struggling to appreciate the situation. Bill Stevens asked him to alert the German Chancellor, to have airspace over Ramstein cleared and to arrange for doctors, ambulances and a secure area at Ramstein where no media could interfere with the medical team. Suddenly, Stevens was silent. "Are you there, Bill?" the President repeated several times. Bill Stevens answered, his voice cracking with emotion and anger. "President Tcherenkov is dead." The President put the phone down and closed his eyes. Would it ever end.

The GOP and RNC Are Committing Political Suicide Every Day They Don't Support Trump's Agenda

US District Judge William Orrick should be reprimanded. At the very least. • • • HIS POLITICAL BIAS JUST KEEPS ON COMING. Fox News anchor Greg Jarrett said Wednesday that the appearance of partiality should have been enough for Judge William Orrick to disqualify himself : "His established record of political and personal bias demanded recusal. I’m betting he didn’t even consider it. Orrick came into the case with glaring conflicts of interest. First, he was an accomplished “bundler” for Barack Obama, raising over $200,000 and personally donating more than $30,000. Later, he was rewarded with a federal judgeship. So, his political favoritism is more conspicuous than it would be for your average federal judge." But, Jarrettt revealed new examples of Orrick's bias : "Orrick worked on key immigration cases for Obama’s Justice Department, overseeing the Office of Immigration Litigation. He worked on cases that dealt directly with federal pre-emption of local immigration laws -- the same subject matter over which he now presides." And at his Senate confirmation hearing, he promised to deal with his potential conflicts by recusing himself from “cases involving issues, policies or initiatives developed by the Obama administration” in which he was involved at the Department of Justice. This is a key example of Orrick ignoring his own bias as a federal judge because, as Jarrett points out : "...the Obama administration deliberately chose not to pursue sanctuary cities that were violating the 1996 federal law requiring them to cooperate with federal immigration agencies like ICE." Was Orrick involved in that decision? We don(t know, but the appearance of bias is there. And, Canon 2 of the Code of Conduct for federal judges states : “A judge should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.” It requires judges to “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary”. Federal statutory law is more specific. Under 28 USC 455 : “A judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might be reasonably questioned. Further, he must recuse himself “where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party...” • Based on these standards, would a reasonable person question Orrick’s impartiality? Yes -- because Orrick has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a "party," President Trump, who vowed to reverse President Obama’s immigration policies on which Orrick worked, but apparently did not consider recusing himself from presiding over the sanctuary cities case where that bias was plainly visible. • In yesterday's blog, I mentioned that Orrick, as a US District Judge, also blocked the release of videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s alleged involvement in abortion-related activity. What Jarrett tells us is tqt Orrick "did not seem ethically bothered that his wife is considered a pro-abortion activist, as described in multiple publications including The Federalist. Yet, Judge Orrick did not disqualify himself although Title 28 requires disqualification in any case in which a judge’s spouse has 'an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.' Again, we have the appearance of bias. • In another case, Orrick ruled that two judges did not have to recuse themselves from presiding over a case in which the judges themselves were named as defendants. Read that shocker again ! A judge gets to sit in judgment of himself when he’s sued? As Jarrett put it : "One can reasonably conclude that in Orrick’s judicial universe, “recusal” doesn’t exist under any circumstances." • So, now it is perfectly clear why Orrick ruled against President Trump in the sanctuary cities case. His bias undoubtedly led to his opinion that refused to accept the terms of a law Congress passed 21 years ago that prohibits local governments from obstructing federal officials in their enforcement of that law. The President is legally permitted to withhold federal funds from obstructionist local governments, as long as the money is related to immigration and law enforcement. That is exactly what the Trump administration has warned it will do. If the case reaches the Supreme Court, President Trump stands an excellent chance of prevailing. But, President Trump is onw being targeted by federal judges in the 9th Circuit, known for their liberalism, and many appointed by Barack Obama, who favored raising to the federal bench activist judges who write laws instead of interpreting them. And, says Jarrett, the longer this continues, "the more the public’s confidence in a fair and impartial judiciary is being steadily eroded." • We might add,especially while canctuary cities harbor approximately 5.5 million illegal immigrants. • • • SPLIT UP THE 9TH CIRCUIT. That is one solution being considered. Sarah Westwood of the Washington Examiner wrote on Wednesday that President Trump said he has "absolutely" considered proposals that would split up the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where judges have blocked two of his executive actions. The interview with President Trump took place at the White House. Trump said : "Absolutely, I have. There are many people that want to break up the 9th Circuit. It's outrageous. Everybody immediately runs to the 9th Circuit. And we have a big country. We have lots of other locations. But they immed iately run to the 9th Circuit. Because they know that's like, semi-automatic." • It is not surprising that President Trump's comments came the day after US District Judge William Orrick's temporary block of Trump's efforts to withhold funds from any municipality that refuses to cooperate with immigration enforcement officers. Orrick argued that Trump had overstepped his authority in January when he directed the Justice Department to put immigration-related conditions on grants for so-called sanctuary cities that may not be directly related to law enforcement. The case, if appealed, would go to the 9th Circuit, where judges halted two different versions of an executive action aimed at tightening vetting requirements for immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, because both actions called for a temporary suspension of some immigration from several predominantly Moslem countries. • Trump told the Washington Examiner : "The language could not be any clearer. I mean, the language on the ban, it reads so easy that a reasonably good student in the first grade will fully understand it. And they don't even mention the words in their rejection on the ban. And the same thing with this [sanctuary city decision]. I mean, when you have people that are being enabled to commit crime. And in San Francisco, when you look at Kate Steinle being shot and here is the court, you know, right in that same general area. And when you look at a Kate Steinle, when you look at so many other things." • Kate Steinle is the young woman gunned down in 2105 by an illegal immigrnat in San Francisco, a sanctuary city. President Trump has frequently pointed to Steinle's murder as proof that sanctuary city policies are harmful to American citizens. He told the examiner : "Sanctuary cities have been very, very dangerous, very, very bad. And, you know, we've done a great job on law enforcement, we've done a great job at the border. And all of our most talented people say sanctuary cities are a disaster." • Trump isn't alone in considering the break-up of the 9th Circuit. Republicans have long criticized the 9th Circuit for its perceived liberal leanings and its enormous geographical reach, which has led to bureaucratic backlogs. GOP lawmakers have repeatedly introduced legislation that would carve out several states under the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction and create a new court designed to lighten the Ninth's caseload. The 9th Circuit hears appeals from courts in nine West Coast states and two US territories. Of its 25 active judges, 18 were appointed by Democratic Presidents. Trump said Wednesday that opponents of his policies have engaged in "judge shopping" in their efforts to find a sympathetic judicial platform for their partisan objections : "You see judge shopping, or what's gone on with these people, they immediately run to the 9th Circuit. It's got close to an 80% reversal period, and what's going on in the 9th Circuit is a shame." • • • A NEW FOX POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR TRUMP. While President Trump is battling the 9th Circuit, Fox News on Thursday published a new Fox News Poll taken as the Trump administration nears its 100-day milestone. President Trump’s job approval ratings are at 45% approve of the job he’s doing. That’s low for a new President because of the issue of "draining the swamp" and "change." Only 43% think the President is succeeding in bringing real change to Washington, while 50% say he’s failing. But, 46% think Trump is keeping his campaign promises in general, while 44% disagree. Vice President Mike Pence outperforms his boss : 50% of voters approve of the job he’s doing, while 33% disapprove, but 16% are unable to rate him. Roughly equal numbers of Republicans approve of Pence (85%) and Trump (86%). The good news is that 67% of voters approve of Trump using airstrikes to punish Syria for chemical weapons, and the number saying the economy is in “poor” shape is lower than it’s been in more than a decade -- by 52-34%, voters see the nation’s job situation improving -- the first time since 2004 that more than half say so. And, by a 5-point margin they say it feels like the economy is getting better rather than worse for their family (42-37%), and more voters think Trump’s policies are helping the economy rather than hurting it (37% vs. 25%). On terrorism, 38% think the President’s actions are making the country safer, while 34% say less safe. And, 45% are happy with the way things are going -- the highest satisfaction rating since October 2012. Satisfaction dropped 46 points among Democrats since the White House changed parties in November -- and jumped 58 points among Republicans. Overall, most Republicans also feel encouraged by what they’ve seen to date (84%), think Trump is keeping his promises (80%), and that he’s succeeding at bringing real change (76%). The President’s best job ratings are on handling ISIS (54-37%), terrorism (51-43%), and the economy (48-44%). He gets lower ratings for his handling of taxes (40-44%) but that was before the new tax plan was announced, foreign policy (43-49%), and immigration (44-54%). His worst ratings come on health care, where he’s underwater by 21 points (35-56%). Voters want Washington to work on health care. When asked to pick between reforming the tax system and fixing the health care system, 71% prioritize health care, while only 26% say taxes. Among Trump voters, nearly twice as many say health care tops taxes (64-33%). Over half of voters want all or at least part of Obamacare repealed. Among Trump voters, 5% would switch to the Democratic Party in the midterms, while 87% would vote for the GOP candidate. Meanwhile, 42% of voters say Congress should keep investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but over half, 57%, say it’s time to move on. • • • And that brings me to a related matter. If you look at the Fox Poll numbers, they are lower for President Trump in every case where the GOP Congress has tried to rearrange his priorities -- Obamacare vs taxes for example -- or where where the GOP Congress has refused to move on Trump's stated priority -- the Wall and immigration or foreign policy initiatives attacked by #neverTrump Republicans. When Trump can lead as he wants to, the polls are positive. • But, let's consider another poll result. According to an April 20 Washington Post/ABC News poll -- when asked if President Donald Trump “is in touch with the concerns of most people in the United States, while 32% said they think the Republican Party understands their concerns, but, only 25% of Americans think the Democrat Party understands their concerns, and a whopping 67% say they consider Democrats to be out of touch. The results by age demographic should be especially worrisome for a party looking to rebound from its 2016 loss -- 65% of those 50 years and older and 67% of those between 18 and 49 years old say Democrats are out of touch. For Republicans, those numbers are 55% and 69%, respectively, giving the GOP the advantage with older voters who are more likely to turn out in the 2018 Midterms. Karl Rove says : "Democrats continue repeating one of Hillary Clinton’s most costly mistakes by ignoring the real-life concerns of the Americans and instead focusing on faux outrage against Donald Trump. While both parties should / must work to change their negative numbers, Democrats are at special risk of declining further decline if they keep neglecting issues important to voters. • DEAR READERS, let's put this alongside a Thursday Breitbart article about an interview Laura Ingraham had with Ronna Romney McDaniel, the Republican National Committee Chairwoman. Ingraham asked : “The President comes out yesterday and says there’s going to be a wall. So what is the RNC doing specifically to push the Trump agenda and help it get traction in Congress?” Romney-McDaniel replied : “Well I think part of it is communicating to our lawmakers what we are seeing on the ground. And I’m from Michigan. I was part of the Trump movement as a Michigan chair, and I know that our voters are going to hold us accountable in 2018 if we do not keep the campaign promises that were made. When you get to Washington, sometimes you forget what was said outside and it’s important that we bring that back to Washington and let them hear what the voters expect of this government and of the President.” • Then came the bizarre shocker from Romney-McDaniel. She added that members of Congress would “lose the trust of our base if we don’t keep our promises. Our base is going to walk away They’re going to feel like, ‘Hey, you said one thing on the campaign trail to get elected and you didn’t act on it.’” • Now, that might sound like real support for President Trump -- IF it hadn't come from Ronna Romney McDaniel. I still have the hateful words of Mitt Romney in my head and heart and I think they will be there forever, with no act of contrition possible. There are some political treasons that simply cannot be forgiven. And, although I do not blame Ronna personally for Mitt's treason, the mere name "Romney" still angers me deeply as a lifelong Republican who worked hard for a man who repaid the Republican base's loyalty with treasonable words against their next chosen standardbearer. • I also wonder just how much Ronna Romney McDaniel knows about the Trump "base" -- would she recognize a Trump base voter if he wasn't wearing his "Make America Great Again" baseball cap? My fear -- call me overly cynical if you wish -- is that this is the latest #neverTrump ploy to drive a wedge between Trump and his base. It smells very bad to me. Who would benefit? Mitt and Jeb and Kasich. Trump has to learn that it must be HIS person at RNC -- not Priebus's or the GOP #neverTrump traitors' person. Our President needs a big bouncer / enforcer at the RNC, not someone with a name that is a red flag to every proudly "Deplorable" Trump supporter, and certainly not someone who is already telling the "Trump base" that they have reasons to walk in 2018. Just as we began an "indictment" list Wednesday for Attorney General Sessons, today we can begin to build a "You're Fired" list for President Trump that includes Ronna Romney McDaniel; Reince Priebus; Paul Ryan as Speaker; any -- absolutely ANY -- leftovers from the Obama White House still working there, even if their job is to peel potatoes; and, if an indictment won't fly, then FBI Director James Comey. YOU'RE FIRED !!! • A new Universoty of Virginia poll shows that a wide majority of those who voted for Donald Trump approve of his job performance as President as he approaches his 100th day in office. The survey found that 93% of Trump voters approve of the job he's doing, while 7% disapprove. And, 70% said the country is headed in the right direction. Glen Bolger, a GOP pollster, said : "Trump voters are extraordinarily loyal and supportive of the guy they voted for last November. All the controversy, all the stuff you read in the media about how it's chaotic, how they don't have their act together -- they don't see it." A man who supports Trump told Bolger : "He said he was going to do something, and he took immediate action...he hit the ground running. He went to work right away." On the crucial issue of healthcare, just 5% of respondents held Trump responsible for the failing so far to appeal and replace Obamacare. Nearly half (48%) blamed Democrats, while 12% cited House Speaker Paul Ryan, 15% faulted moderate Republicans, and 21% blamed the House Freedom Caucus. Trump's voters also still back building of the Wall on the border with Mexico, but if forced to choose between healthcare and the Wall, they prefer healthcare by 72%. The poll also found Trump voters don't trust the media, with 88% saying media criticism of Trump reinforces that the President is on the right track. The same percentage agreed with Trump's claim that the press is "the enemy of the American people." • So, let the Democrats who are trying to corner and destroy President Trump and his agenda take note. Trump bashed them on Thursday about their efforts to highjack the budget process for their special Progressive interests. Here are the Trump tweets strung together : "As families prepare for summer vacations in our National Parks - Democrats threaten to close them and shut down the government....Democrats used to support border security -- now they want illegals to pour through our borders....Democrats jeopardizing the safety of our troops to bail out their donors from insurance companies. It is time to put #AmericaFirst....What's more important? Rebuilding our military - or bailing out insurance companies? Ask the Democrats....I promise to rebuild our military and secure our border. Democrats want to shut down the government. Politics!"....I want to help our miners while the Democrats are blocking their healthcare." • Beware, Ronna Romney McDaniel -- it is NOT "our" base, as you said. It is Trump's base. People voted for Trump, not the Republican Party, and certainly not the Democrat Party. They support President Trump, not the GOP majority in Congress. And there is nothing you and the RNC can do to change that -- unless and until you and Congress carry out the Trump mission to "drain the swamp" and put American citizens back in charge of their own government and country. Trump supporters will vote GOP in 2018 in every district where they cannot find a true Trump "base" supporter to replace the Republican. But, that doesn't mean the GOP or the RNC is beloved, or even safe. It only means that you are in danger of political suicide every day that you do not support President Donald Trump.

An Indictment List for AG Sessions to Consider -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Susan Rice, Jim Comey

President Trump, turn Attorney General Sessions loose to bring Hillary Clinton before the bar of justice under a criminal indictment. • • • Hillary's evil star just hit a new low. According to a report by the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) Investigative Group, Hillary Clinton’s Department of State aides allegedly threatened a South Asian prime minister’s son with an IRS audit in an attempt to stop a Bangladesh government investigation of a close friend and donor of Clinton’s. The story line is that a Bangladesh government commission was investigating multiple charges of financial mismanagement at Grameen Bank, beginning in May 2012. Muhammad Yunus, a major Clinton Foundation donor, served as managing director of the bank. Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and a permanent US resident, told the DCNF about the threatened IRS audit, marking the first known instance in the US that Clinton’s Department of State used IRS power to intimidate a close relative of a friendly nation’s head of state on behalf of a Clinton Foundation donor. • That piece of Hillary & Hacks criminality just makes my stomach sick -- for Bangladesh, and for America and its democratic values trashed once again by a venal woman who could not do anything honorable if she had a gun pointed at ther head. • Wazed told the DCNF it was “astounding and mind boggling” that senior State Department officials between 2010 and 2012 repeatedly pressured him to influence his mother to drop the commission investigation : “They threatened me with the possibility of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. I have been here legally for 17 years and never had a problem. But they said, ‘well, you know, you might get audited.' They would say over and over again, ‘Yunus has powerful friends’ and we all knew they were talking of Secretary Clinton. Everybody knew it was Mrs. Clinton.” • The Prime Minister originally disclosed in general terms the pressure exerted on her son at a February reception in Munich. A Bangladesh newspaper reported the prime minister's statement : “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy had to face pressure from the US State Department to keep Muhammad Yunus as the Grameen Bank managing director.” Hasina added that Hillary Clinton phoned me and exerted the same pressure. Even the US State Department summoned my son Joy three times and told him that we would face trouble.” Hasina said State Department officials told Joy that Clinton would not take the matter lightly. • And, as if that disgusting affair weren't enough, the World Bank also decided to rescind a $1.2 billion loan to Bangladesh while the IRS was pressuring Joy in 2012. The money had been requested in order to build a key bridge near the capital city of Dhaka. The World Bank leveled bribery charges against two Canadian officials, but a Canadian court later acquitted both individuals. Former Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, who twice met with then-Secretary of State Clinton, told the DCNF it was apparent there were links between the World Bank loan cancellation and Hillary's donor, Yunus. Moni now is chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs. Moni said : “Whether there was any abuse by the US Government or the Secretary of State, that I cannot say. I can only say we saw two facts : One was the communications from the State Department, and then the other one was the withdrawal of World Bank’s loan.” But, Moni was more direct about Yunus’ role in the World Bank cancellation : “Professor Yunus obviously tried to punish or tried to retaliate and punish the government of Bangladesh, especially [Prime Minister] Sheikh Hasina. He knew how important the Padma [bridge] was for our economy, for our people’s government, and it would revive the whole of south of Bangladesh. Obviously, he tried to use that to get out of the situation he was in, and he wanted to punish the government." • Clinton met with Yunus three times as Secretary of State while the Bangladesh government investigation was underway, according to an August 2016 Associated Press report on Clinton Foundation donors. The AP said : "Throughout the Bangladesh government’s investigation, 'He (Yunus) pleaded for help in messages routed to Clinton, and she ordered aides to find ways to assist him.' ” • Nonprofit government watchdog Judicial Watch obtained Clinton emails that showed her aide Melanne Verveer regularly updated Clinton on Yunus’ ongoing plight. Clinton also supported Yunus in other ways. The US Agency for International Development, part of State Department, partnered with the Grameen Foundation for a $162 million micro-finance project in 2009. The agency separately awarded $2.2 million to the foundation. • Yunus first ran into trouble when a 2010 Norwegian documentary charged that he diverted nearly $100 million of Grameen Bank funds to finance his private enterprises. Yunus presently owns more than 50 private and nonprofit companies, ranging from Grameen Telecom to firms in the fashion industry and even a yogurt company. Wazed said word of the $100 million diversion did not sit well with many Bangladeshis who earn an annual per-capita income of $1,314 : “The whole Grameen Bank embezzlement issue was important for us. You know, he took $100 million from Grameen bank and transferred to his private trust to create 57 personal, private sector projects.” Wazed added that “Yunus eventually paid it back, but that’s not the point. He took the money, and the bank is a state-bank not authorized to provide big business loans.” • After the Bangladesh government commission report came out in 2013, officials removed Yunus as managing director. Prior to the scandal, Yunus was a high-flying bank executive who championed “micro-credits,” small loans to try to lift the poor out of poverty. He won the admiration and later financial and political assistance of the Clintons when the former President was governor of Arkansas. The Clintons also frequently hosted Yunus at the Clinton Foundation annual Clinton Global Initiative galas in New York. He was heavily promoted as a CGI speaker nearly every year from 2008 to 2016, according to the Foundation website. • And, Yunus was awarded the 2006 Noble Peace Prize, reportedly with backroom lobbying by Bill Clinton. As a New York Senator, Clinton successfully pushed Congress to award him the Congressional Gold Medal. Then-President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in 2010. Yunus, in turn, was a donor to the Clinton Foundation. Grameen America, one of Yunus’ major American organizations, gave between $100,000 to $250,000 to the foundation, according to the Clinton Foundation website. His Grameen Research group donated $25,000 to $50,000. • • • HILLARY CLINTON MUST BE INDICTED. It isn't necessary to review all the offenses Hillary has committed -- they range from Benghazi to misusing classified documents to an unprotected secret email server to selling her office of Secretary of State in a pay-to-play scheme that benefitted her family Foundation. We could toss in suspicions that she misused IRS files of her enemies, used insider trading to make illegal profits, and had the strange facility of finding dead her "friends" who were being difficult. • WHERE IS THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PERJURY INVESTIGATION? In August 2016, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee told the media that they would in a September hearing question FBI officials about allegations that Hillary Clinton committed perjury. A GOP committee aide confirmed to TheHill that lawmakers intend to question the FBI about the lawmakers’ charges because the Obama Justice Department had announced earlier that it would not indict the former Secretary of State or her aides for mishandling classified information. In August 2016, Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz wrote to the US Attorney in Washington with detailed allegations of how Clinton appeared to have misspoken about key details of her email setup before the House Select Committee on Benghazi last October. During her appearance before the Select Committee on Benghazi, Clinton made at least four concrete statements about her bespoke email arrangement that the FBI later proved to be false, the lawmakers claim. For instance, Clinton claimed at the time that none of the messages on her machine were marked as classified, though FBI Director James Comey later asserted that at least three bore some markings indicating they were sensitive. The FBI told the lawmakers earlier in August that it was reviewing their recommendations and “will take appropriate action as necessary.” • • • THE FBI AND COMEY ROLE. Joel Pollack on September 30, 2016, published an article in Breitbart that reported on FBI Director James Comey's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee a few days earlier in September. Comey told the Committee that he could not remember why the agency determined that former Cheryl Mills did not know about Hillary Clinton’s private email server, when there was proof she did. Mills, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff at the State Department, and now her lawyer, wrote personally to Clinton’s private staff about the server, but then told the FBI she did not even know what a “server” was. As the Wall Street Journal‘s Kimberly Strassel noted in a September 2106 column, the deception ought to have earned Mills a prosecution for perjury -- and a deeper probe of Hillary Clinton -- but the FBI chose to look the other way. Instead, not only did Mills receive immunity from the Department of Justice, but she was also allowed to sit in on the FBI’s interview with Clinton -- and to walk out of her own interview with the FBI when she was asked questions about the email scandal that she decided she did not have to answer. Central to Mills’s apparent super-immunity is her assertion of attorney-client privilege. The privilege, which can only be waived by the client, prevents an attorney from disclosing any communications from his or her client. Mills asserted that she did not have to tell the FBI about the server because she only learned about it once she was Clinton’s attorney -- i.e., after she left the State Department, where she had been a “counselor” and chief of staff but did not represent Clinton personally as her lawyer. • The only way to make sense of these contradictory facts, sqys Pollack : "is to believe the incredibly unlikely theory that Mills knew about the server when she was at the State Department, but forgot about it when she left, then was reminded about it by Clinton once she was her attorney, but could not talk about it without permission from Clinton at that stage, thanks to the attorney-client privilege she conveniently enjoyed." • That stretches even the expansive Washington imagination. And, it's not the first time Mills has been linked to a cover-up. In 2013, a State Department diplomat who had been in Libya during the Benghazi attacks told Congress that Mills had instructed witnesses not to cooperate with Congress. She is also alleged to have interfered with other investigations. • That is the last official information or journalistic rpeorting on Hillary's perjury probe. Has the House Judiciary Committee simply given up? Did Attorney Gereral Lynch write to the House Judiciary Committee to say the DOJ would look at the perjury allegations the Committee raised? Did Comey take another dive? Or has Hillary dodged another bullet?? • • • WHY IS COMEY STILL AT THE FBI? Jim Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee in March, and, according to LawNewz, his testimony boiled down to this : "Obama’s wiretapping is 'fake news,' and the Trump-Russia connection isn’t (or at the very least they are investigating)." Although the FBI almost never discusses ongoing investigations, Director Comey had shattered that rule, blabbing to TV cameras and Congress like the local gossip. Comey explained that in “unusual circumstances where it is in the public interest,” he would share what information he could about what’s been going on with our President. Comey began his hours of testimony with the confirmation that Trump’s campaign is being investigated, and that the investigation is a criminal one : “I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed.” Trump handled that long-winded explanation with a short tweet : "James Clapper and others stated that there is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia. This story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it!" • But, Comey had more to say. Representative Adam Schiff and Comey discussed President Trump’s Saturday-morning tweet accusing then-President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. Here is the exchange : SCHIFF: First, the President claimed, quote, “Terrible. Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism,” unquote. Director Comey, was the President’s statement that Obama had his wires tapped in Trump Tower a true statement? COMEY: With respect to the President’s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI. The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components. The department has no information that supports those tweets. SCHIFF: The President accused Mr. Obama and presumably the FBI of engaging in McCarthyism. As you understand the term McCarthyism, do you think President Obama or the FBI was engaged in such conduct? COMEY: I’m not to try and characterize the tweets themselves. All I can tell you is we have no information that supports them. SCHIFF: Were you engaged in McCarthyism, Director Comey? COMEY: I try very hard not to engage in any isms of any kind, including -- including McCarthyism. • Ouch. President Trump probably had today blocked out on his calendar for some fist-bumping over the opening of the Neil Gorsuch confirmation hearings. Those hearings were wildly overshadowed by Comey’s testimony, which painted pictures of Trump as everything from foolish to criminal. Comey’s hearing may have been the ultimate full-circle. Or perhaps the ultimate penance. James Comey, as LawNewz put it : "intentionally or not, almost certainly helped Trump secure his win in November. And now, his statements suggest Trump to be a liar at best and a traitor at worst. While Trump may have amused himself with tweeting in real-time today, as if the Congressional Hearing was some kind of reality show finale, I’d bet a search of his Google history would show, “can the President fire the FBI director?” • And, after the whopper Comey told Congress about Obama and Co. not "wiretapping" Trump and his team, maybe the FBI Director himself could be indicted for perjury to Congress. • • • COMEY HAD TO KNOW SUSAN RICE USED NSA SURVEILANCE FOR DOMESTIC POLITICAL PURPOSES. Former President Barack Obama’s national security advisor Susan Rice ordered US spy agencies to produce “detailed spreadsheets” of legal phone calls involving Donald Trump and his aides when he was running for president, according to former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova, who told the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) : “What was produced by the intelligence community at the request of Ms. Rice were detailed spreadsheets of intercepted phone calls with unmasked Trump associates in perfectly legal conversations with individuals. The overheard conversations involved no illegal activity by anybody of the Trump associates, or anyone they were speaking with. In short, the only apparent illegal activity was the unmasking of the people in the calls.” Fox News and Bloomberg News, citing multiple sources, reported that Rice had requested the intelligence information that was produced in a highly organized operation. Fox said the unmasked names of Trump aides were given to officials at the National Security Council (NSC), the Department of Defense, James Clapper, President Obama’s Director of National Intelligence, and John Brennan, Obama’s CIA Director. Joining Rice in the alleged White House operations was her deputy Ben Rhodes, according to Fox. Colonel (Ret.) James Waurishuk, an NSC veteran and former deputy director for intelligence at the US Central Command, told the DCNF that many hands had to be involved throughout the Obama administration to launch such a political spying program : “The surveillance initially is the responsibility of the National Security Agency. They have to abide by this guidance when one of the other agencies says, ‘we’re looking at this particular person which we would like to unmask.' The lawyers and counsel at the NSA surely would be talking to the lawyers and members of counsel at CIA, or at the National Security Council or at the Director of National Intelligence or at the FBI. It’s unbelievable of the level and degree of the administration to look for information on Donald Trump and his associates, his campaign team and his transition team. This is really, really serious stuff.” Michael Doran, former NSC senior director, told the DCNF that “somebody blew a hole in the wall between national security secrets and partisan politics.” This “was a stream of information that was supposed to be hermetically sealed from politics and the Obama administration found a way to blow a hole in that wall,” he said. Doran charged that potential serious crimes were undertaken because “this is a leaking of signal intelligence. That’s a felony. And you can get 10 years for that. It is a tremendous abuse of the system. We’re not supposed to be monitoring American citizens. Bigger than the crime, is the breach of public trust.” Waurishuk said he was most dismayed that “this is now using national intelligence assets and capabilities to spy on the elected, yet-to-be-seated President. We’re looking at a potential constitutional crisis from the standpoint that we used an extremely strong capability that’s supposed to be used to safeguard and protect the country. And we used it for political purposes by a sitting president. That takes on a new precedent.” • On Wednesday, we learned that Justice Department rules limit supplying politically sensitive information to the White House, under Attorney General guidelines : The attorney general guidelines for the FBI state that “compromising information concerning domestic officials or political organizations, or information concerning activities of United States persons intended to affect the political process in the United States, may be disseminated to the White House only with the approval of the attorney general.” The sharing of compromising FBI information also must be “based on a determination that such dissemination is needed for foreign intelligence purposes, for the purpose of protecting against international terrorism or other threats to the national security, or for the conduct of foreign affairs.” • The prohibitions in guidelines may explain why the FBI so far has refused to cooperate with the House committee’s investigation of Susan Rice. Specifically, as of Wednesday, the FBI still has not responded to a request for documents that could explain how the White House was able to “unmask” the names of Americans incidentally spied on during a foreign electronic intelligence operation that ran from November to January -- the same months the Trump transition team was working. FBI spokesman Andrew Ames would not say why the bureau has not met the House committee’s document request. But, he added : “The FBI will continue to work with our congressional oversight committees on their requests.” According to congressional sources, the investigation is trying to determine if Susan Rice, President Obama’s national security advisor, was involved in a clandestine political spying operation using foreign surveillance as cover. Rice is expected to be a central witness in the coming weeks before committee investigators to explain the unmasking and wide dissemination of what the committee chairman, Representative Devin Nunes, has called improper electronic surveillance of Trump transition team officials. Nunes has said dozens of electronic intelligence reports appear to have revealed that information on Americans was improperly and widely disseminated throughout government during the presidential transition. The acting attorney general at the time was Sally Q. Yates, and the House committee is expected to question her in addition to Rice about the FBI’s role in the intelligence-gathering controversy. The guidelines also list six categories of sensitive information that can be routinely shared with the White House -- information on foreign spy activities in the United States, signs of an imminent foreign attack or cyberattack, data on foreign leadership changes and information about foreign economic or political events that could have an impact on national security. • The New York Times reported in March that the Obama administration officials were “scrambling” during the final days to collect and disseminate intelligence on any ties between Mr. Trump and his team and Russia, fearing that once in office the President would destroy compromising information gathered by US spies. Obama also loosened rules on sharing raw electronic intelligence gathered by the National Security Agency on December 15 -- weeks before Obama left office. A 26-page directive signed by then-Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper has been criticized by privacy groups as posing new risks that Americans’ rights will be violated. • • • DEAR READERS, while we are urging Attorney General Sessions to indict Hillary Clinton on any number of alleged criminal offenses, we can also add several other name in the hope that AG Sessions will get his staff working on indictments for Rice, Comey , Clapper, and Brennan. • And we might snag Barack Obama at the saame time. The question is whether it is a crime for a President to nominate a federal dsitrict judge in the expectation that he will later go after the President's political foes. That seems to be what happened when US District Judge William Orrick, appointed by Obama, in 2012, for the Northern District of California, ruled this week that the US government can’t withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. According to Public Citizen, while working as a lawyer in the private sector, Orrick raised $200,000 for Obama and personally gave $30,800 to various committees working on behalf of Obama. Bias? Ideological conflict of interest? Judge Orrick also, in 2015, blocked the release of the notorious underground recordings of Planned Parenthood, in which the sale of harvested organs from aborted fetuses was discussed. Public Cicizen asks ; "Could you find a better Judge to defend 'the rights' of sanctuary cities? Given Obama’s stance on sanctuary cities, he may as well have issued today’s judicial order himself. Judge Orrick is his proxy." President Trump tweeted : "First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban & now it hits again on sanctuary cities-both ridiculous rulings. See you in the Supreme Court!" • And, this time, dear readers, the Supreme Court will have Justice Gorsuch on the conservative side.

Progressive Psychos with Bludgeons and Axes Will not Cave-in to Conservative Tea and Sympathy

A MODERN FABLE. A 6-ft 5-in psychopath hulk sneaks up behind a professional heavyweight boxer dancing around his punching bag and cracks him on the head with a steel pipe bludgeon. The boxer finally wakes up and realizes he is lying on the floor with one arm taped behind his back. He looks up and sees the psycho looming over him. The Psycho gets the boxer to his feet and then says : "Now we'll see who is the best," waving his axe in one hand and his steel bludgeon in the other. The boxer looks down at his free hand -- it is empty. The psycho makes one swing to the body with the bludgeon, follows with the axe to the head, and the boxer falls, dead. Moral : If you are in a game with psychos, keep your back against a wall, and load and use both arms. • • • THE ATTACK ON FOX NEWS. It is an attack not just on Fox but on every conservative journalist who speaks in support of President Trump. The goal is to destroy every conservative voice and network. The attack is led by the Progressive Democrat Left. • THE COWARDLY ADVERTISERS. Business Insider reported this list of advertisers that left O'Reilly or Fox as of April 4 : Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Lexus, Subaru, T. Rowe Price, Ainsworth Pet Nurition (Nutrish dog-food), GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer, Sanofi, The Wonderful Company, Credit Karma, Orkin, Esurance, UNTUCKit, Coldwell Banker, the Society for Human Resource Management, TrueCar, Wayfair, Ancestry, LegalZoom, H&R Block, Invisalign, Vision Works, Pacific Life, Old Dominion Freight Line, Advil, Touchnote, Carfax, Reddi Wip, Progressive, Stanley Steemer, Liberty Mutual, BambooHR, Jenny Craig, and Quincy Bioscience (Prevagen). • SEAN HANNITY. In his opening monologue Monday night, Fox News’s Sean Hannity addressed the “well-orchestrated effort by the intolerant left in this country” that is trying to “silence every conservative voice,” including his. Following the ouster of Fox New’s Bill O’Reilly, Hannity appears to be the next target at Fox News. He said he has hired lawyers and will challenge his “serial harasser” -- an individual he did not name -- in court. • TruthRevolt named the "serial harasser" -- Debbie Schlussel, a columnist, attorney and former Fox contributor, who has harassed Sarah Palin, Steven Crowder, Free Republic, Melanie Morgan, and Sean Hannity over and over again. Schlussel recently appeared as a guest on a Tulsa Radio program and accused Hannity, of sexual misconduct. Schlussel accused Hannity of the same type of behavior that lead to Bill O’Reilly leaving the beleaguered Fox News last week. Among the allegations -- Schlussel claimed that while at an appearance in Detroit which they both attended, Hannity invited her back to his hotel room. Schlussel said that after she turned down his advances, she was not invited back on his program. Schlussel said : “This kind of stuff is all over the place at Fox News and anything that has to do with Sean Hannity." Liberals reacted with glee over the supposed shortcomings of Hannity. For example, the Daily Beast's headline shouted, "Sean Hannity Accused of Inviting Fox News Guest to His Hotel Room." • WELL, NO. It wasn't that at all. After Hannity said he would hire lawyers and go after the "serial harasser," Schlussel changed her story. She told Lawnewz that she doesn't believe what happened between the two amounted to sexual harassment. She said she was never 'sexually harassed' by Hannity, that he invited her back to his hotel, not his hotel room, but that she thought Hannity "weird" and "creepy." In a letter sent to the Huffington Post, Hannity said Schlussel’s claims were “100 % false and a complete fabrication," and called her a “serial harasser who has been lying about me for well over a decade.” • Prominent conservatives have been ousted from their positions recently over sexual issues. Roger Ailes, the head of the most powerful cable news network, is gone from Fox News, and Bill O’Reilly, the highest-rated cable news personality, is also gone. In light of this trend, Hannity accused Schlussel of being just one part of a larger “coordinated effort afoot to now silence those with conservative views.” • The truth has a way of emerging. • • • HANNITY IS BOTH RIGHT AND WRONG ABOUT HOW TO REACT. On Monday, Hannity said : “In this fiercely divided and vindictive political climate, I will no longer allow slander and lies about me to go unchallenged, as I see this now to be a coordinated effort afoot to now silence those with conservative views. I will fight every single lie about me by any and all legal means available to me as an American.” THAT is right and it seems to have worked with Schlussel. • But Hannity also said this isn’t just about him : “I’m speaking out tonight so that you, our audience, will understand what is really happening and what is really at stake when it comes to freedom of speech in this country....there have always been efforts and attempts to smear and slander and besmirch me and other conservatives, but it has never been as intense and completely insane as it is right now....If we don't stop it right now, there won't be any conservative voices on radio or television left. Now I'm not the only one that these liberal fascists routinely target. Like me, conservatives are monitored on radio and TV, every word they say. Liberal fascism is alive and well in America today. Their goal is simple. They want to shut up and shut down, completely silence all conservative voices by any means necessary." • BUT, then Hannity showed that he may not understand the war he is in. He said : "Here’s the difference. Unlike the left, I don't have any problem with what the other side says. If you want to listen to liberals on radio or TV, read their articles, follow them on social media, go for it. Now, I’ll call them out for their bias. I’ll explain why they’re wrong. I’ll debate them but I’ll never, ever say they should be silenced. And I won't support boycotts to attack their advertisers, a roundabout way of silencing them. So let me be clear tonight. Everyone who publicly supported President Trump is a target. This is very political. We have seen repeatedly that the left knows no limits in these efforts. They have gone after and attacked the first lady; they have attacked members of the President's family, every White House advisor. They've even attacked his daughter and his 10-year-old son. Now ultimately, their goal is to cause as much collateral damage as they can to anybody who supports the president. They have tried to undermine the outcome of this election since November 9th....If we don't take a stand now, if we allow this to happen now, I'm telling you, America as we know it -- freedom of speech as we know it -- is over. Let's stop the boycotts – let’s stop silencing opposition voices. Let all Americans make their own decisions." • • • NO, HANNITY, THAT WON'T WORK. The one weapon the liberal media have left is personal character assassination -- and like the psycho hulk, they are using that weapon to pin one arm behind every conservative back so that they can then bludgeon and axe every conservative until there are no more conservatives left. Conservatives must fight the war that the Progressive Left is bringing to them, a war that will not by won by being soft and tolerant. Stand up and fight back with every tool legally available. • As David Horowitz put it : "Bill O'Reilly was just murdered in cold blood by the liberal media." His crime? Horowitz says it's simple : O'Reilly was the most powerful voice in cable television and he treated Trump fairly and criticized the dishonesty of the anti-Trump media....Even before he took the oath of office, the press, working with Barack Obama's most loyal aides, decided they were going to do whatever it would take to stop President Trump, and sabotage his administration. • Horowitz noted that after Trump won Obama even made a cryptic comment, saying Fox News played a key role in defeating Hillary. But, Horowitz writes that the GOP and Trump must recognize that they are not just fighting policy ideas, but an ideology -- a Progressive one with a radical agenda to stop Trump in an effort to reduce America's power and greatness. • • • WHERE WAS BARACK? He spent a month in isolation in the South Pacific, 'unwinding and beginning his memoirs.' But, Barack Obama also used the time to agree to a $400,000 fee for speaking to a prominent Wall Street firm, according to Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business Network, who stated that Obama will speak to a health care conference sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald in September. Gasparino tweeted : "The huge fee puts Obama at the top of the list of speaking fees for former government officials." Hillary Clinton received over $200,000 apiece for each of her speaking engagements at Goldman Sachs. Those payments later were used against her by political rivals, who argued they were evidence that the former Secretary of State was too close to Wall Street. Obama has joined her on Wall street and I do not hear one MSM voice critical of his anti-Progressive decision or fee. • Could Obama have been lying low while his lackeys did the dirty work of "murdering" Bill O'Reilly and going after Hannity?? We will probably never know because no Progressive MSM outlet would investigate that angle. • • • THE IRAN DEAL BITES OBAMA AGAIN. But, we do know that new information by Politico suggests that the details of the prisoner swap that the Obama administration released were lies. As part of the Iran deal, the United States agreed to release some of its Iranian prisoners in exchange for some of Iran's American prisoners. At the time, the Obama administration called the Iranians being released “civilians” and described them as individuals who would be on trial for “sanctions-related offenses, violations of the trade embargo.” But, Politico recently discovered that the Department of Justice accused some of the released men of being national security risks. Politico's Josh Meyer writes : "Three allegedly were part of an illegal procurement network supplying Iran with US-made microelectronics with applications in surface-to-air and cruise missiles like the kind Teheran test-fired recently, prompting a still-escalating exchange of threats with the Trump administration." It has also been reported that the DOJ dropped charges against over a dozen fugitives in an effort to aid the White House in making a deal with the Iranians -- the Obama administration did not release the names or details of these men at the time, but it has now been uncovered that three of them were attempting to lease a Boeing aircraft for a Hezbollah-supported airline, and another was accused of conspiracy to buy thousands of US-made assault rifles and smuggle them into Iran. The “biggest fish” that got away, according to Politico, is Seyed Abolfazl Shahab Jamili, who was charged with conspiring to acquire parts “with nuclear application for Iran via China” for close to seven years. (2005-2012). Politico alleges that most of the dealing going on internationally was done without many DOJ officials knowing. Some DOJ individuals had spent decades attempting to infiltrate the networks where these types of individuals operate, and when federal prosecutors and agents learned the true extent of Obama's releases, many were shocked and angry. The new Politico report cites experts claiming that it appears the Obama administration made decisions regarding the Iran deal for political “shrewd calculations” and that the moves elevated our national security risk. Politico writes : “The former [senior Obama administration] official also acknowledged the complaints by agents and prosecutors about cases being derailed but said they were unavoidable, and for the greater good.” • Will the Trump DOJ and State Department go after the new public information released about Obama? • • • BRENNAN'S CIA COLLUDED WITH FOREIGN SPIES TO TRAP TRUMP. And, if the Iran news isn't enough, the DailyWire reported a headline, from The American Spectator : "Confirmed: John Brennan Colluded With Foreign Spies to Defeat Trump." The American Spectator stated : "Seeking to retain his position as CIA director under Hillary, Brennan teamed up with British spies and Estonian spies to cripple Trump’s candidacy. He used their phony intelligence as a pretext for a multi-agency investigation into Trump, which led the FBI to probe a computer server connected to Trump Tower and gave cover to Susan Rice, among other Hillary supporters, to spy on Trump and his people. John Brennan’s CIA operated like a branch office of the Hillary campaign, leaking out mentions of this bogus investigation to the press in the hopes of inflicting maximum political damage on Trump. An official in the intelligence community told the American Spectator that Brennan’s retinue of political radicals didn’t even bother to hide their activism, decorating offices with 'Hillary for president cups' and other campaign paraphernalia." Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources told the Guardian. The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence -- known as "sigint" -- included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand. But, the American Spectator hit the point succinctly : "Were the media not so completely in the tank for Obama and Hillary, all of this political mischief would make for a compelling 2016 version of All the President’s Men. Instead, the public gets a steady stream of Orwellian propaganda about the sudden propriety of political espionage. The headline writers at Pravda couldn’t improve on the official lie, tweeted out by Maggie Habermans: “Susan Rice Did Nothing Wrong, Say Both Dem and Republican House Aides.” • The American Spectator's special report did not mince words : "A supporter of the American Communist Party at the height of the Cold War, Brennan brought into the CIA a raft of subversives and gave them plum positions from which to gather and leak political espionage on Trump. He bastardized standards so that these left-wing activists could burrow in and take career positions. Under the patina of that phony professionalism, they could then present their politicized judgments as “non-partisan.” All of this took place at the moment when Brennan was auditioning for Hillary. The American Spectator says : "He desperately wanted to keep his job and despised Trump for his alleged “Moslem ban,” a matter near and dear to Brennan’s heart. Not only was he an apologist for the Moslem Brotherhood, but Brennan’s Islamophilia dated to his days in college, when he spent a year in Cairo learning Arabic and taking courses in Middle Eastern studies. He later got a graduate degree with an emphasis in Middle Eastern studies. In 1996, his ties to the Islamic world tightened after he became the CIA’s station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He once recalled that “during a 25-year career in government, I was privileged to serve in positions across the Middle East -- as a political officer with the State Department and as a CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, I saw how our Saudi partners fulfilled their duty as custodians of the two holy mosques of Mecca and Medina. I marveled at the majesty of the Hajj and the devotion of those who fulfilled their duty as Moslems by making that privilege -- that pilgrimage.” So, is Brennan a Moslem?? And was he working for another Moslem?? We don't know. But, the American Spectator says : "Out of this Islamophilia came a special dislike of Michael Flynn, who had planned to rip up the Obama-era 'reset' with Moslem countries. Furious with Flynn for his apostasy from political correctness, Brennan and other Obama aides couldn’t resist the temptation to take him out after rifling through transcripts of his calls with the Russian ambassador. They caught him in a lie to Mike Pence and made sure the press knew about it." • The rest, as they say, is history, and we are left with the reality that the Obama administration flagrantly betrayed the public trust by using the intelligence agencies as a political weapon. Whether this was done with the knowledge and approval of President Obama, we do not yet know. But, we already know that people like Brennan and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice were in on the game. We don’t know who was snookered and who was intentionally deceptive. Estonia and Britain, named in the Brennan scam, are US allies. But, says the American Spectator, their motivations are obvious. Trump terrified them with his threat to withdraw from NATO. These countries are also desperate to stop the populist momentum that led to Brexit and may also lead to the election of Marine Le Pen in France. They watched how Trump talked about Vladimir Putin and they panicked. Their panic has now turned into fear -- the fear of being found out in their deception. • • • DEAR READERS, can we expect that the Trump DOJ led by Jeff Sessions, who is agressively on the job now -- and dare we hope the FBI led by that most unpredictable of Directors, Jim Comey -- will address all these questions frontally and bring to justice all the perpetrators who have so badly sullied America's values and reputation. To know that the machine of American justice is turning would satisfy all Americans who are conservative supporters of the Constitution and President Trump. • BUT, a big BUT -- there is the other war being fought. The Hannity, O'Reilly, conservative media war that is really a war against all conservatives. And, although the Progressive Democrat media will not tell you, conservatives are winning with many Americans on many issues. • On April 21, Blabber Buzz and Breitbart reported that Californians favor private school vouchers. It turns out that even liberal Californians want taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and religious schools, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). The eye-popping poll states that 60% of adults favor “providing parents with tax-funded vouchers to send their children to any public, private, or parochial school they choose.” Among registered voters, 55% favor vouchers, and, among likely voters, 50% favor vouchers. Among adults, 73% of African Americans!!, 69% of Latinos!!, 56% of Asian Americans, and 51% of White Americans favor school vouchers. This news could not be much worse for ProgDems or much better for President Trump, and his pro-school choice as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. • And, on Good Friday, Patriot Post reported that with Progressive sweetheart Pope Francis leading the so-called dangerously outdated Catholic Church, many Progressives, both Christian and atheist, anticipate the Catholic Church finally will ordain women, welcome homosexual priests, and hand out condoms at the rectory. Pope Françis' famous “Who am I to judge?” is Progressive proof that he’s a champion for some obscure, long-awaited rise of Catholic "tolerance." Yet while the world gushes over the reformist moves of Francis, many conservative Catholics feel stranded and are searching for a new home. Francis has begun the process of overturning the traditional Catholic teaching that divorced and remarried Catholics cannot receive Holy Communion. Immediately, Maltese bishops began allowing openly homosexual Catholics to receive Communion, too. Francis also protected a member of the Knights of Malta, Albrecht von Boeselager, when a scandal erupted accusing Boeselager of distributing condoms to the poor through a Catholic charity despite the Church’s forbidding the use of artificial birth control. The Chancellor of the Knights, confronted by Francis' support for distributing condoms and not wanting to be compliant in the violation of Church teaching, resigned shortly thereafter and surrendered control of the Order to Francis -- ceding the oldest, most powerful independently governed entity in the Catholic Church to its new Progressive Pope. American Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the most prominent bishops in the Catholic Church, warns that there is “a very serious division in the Church which has to be mended” or it “could develop into a formal schism.” For some Catholics, the schism has already happened. Even the Washington Post admitts that Progressive churches are “dying” at the rate of a million members a year, while conservative churches, both Catholic and Protestant, are “thriving.” Patriot Post calls Francis the first pope of modern times to undermine some of the Catholic Church’s core teachings. When read under the guidance of its tradition, Catholics believe that the Bible leaves very little room for alternate interpretations that allow for accommodations of modern “morality.” It is solely because of its steadfast teachings that the Catholic Church has not joined Progressive Christendom in its watered-down spirituality. The modern distorted view depicts the “Buddy Jesus” who not only doesn’t call sin what it is but approves of whoever (or whatever) you marry or whatever gender you decide to adopt. While many Protestant denominations continue to split over whether to allow homosexual pastors or other “progressive” social issues, the Catholic Church has stood firm for centuries. Francis’ ambiguity on the Church’s core teachings is alarming to many Catholics, who fear a slide even further into the mire of leftist 'tolerance.' The rumblings of an 'underground Church' are already beginning. It’s entirely possible that #notmypope may become the most tweeted hashtag of the year among Catholics who are tired of burying their heads in the sand. • And, President Trump has struck a blow to the Progressive media lapdogs of the Washington press. Trump announced last Saturday that he will be holding a rally that happens to be the same night as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner : “Next Saturday night I will be holding a BIG rally in Pennsylvania. Look forward to it!” The rally will be held April 29 in Harrisburg, the day that Trump marks the 100th day of his presidency, Politico reported. No White House staff will attend the dinner either as a show of solidarity with Trump, and outlets such as Vanity Fair, TIME, People, Bloomberg, and the New Yorker have canceled their parties. • So, to close the loop -- the Progressive hulk psychos are attacking conservatives with bludgeons and axes. Why should conservatives simply lie down and take the beating? What is wrong with boycotts? Why would any conservative want to buy a product from one of those companies that boycotted Fox News and O'Reilly? Why would conservatives watch the Correspondents Dinner on TV? Why would any conservative watch anything on CNN, NBC, CBS or ABC. When I watch Fox or read conservative internet news, I learn what these MSM lapdogs said without having to look at their smug Progressive faces. • And, why oh why are the GOP congressional committees not exposing the Progressive Obama and Hillary lackeys for the elitist, intolerant, entitled and closed-minded criminals some of them are. Could GOPers in Congress be in bed with the Progressives? • And in BREAKING NEWS, why would the US spend its money to fund the International Monetary Fund or help German Chancellor Merkel save her bacon by protecting Germany from unwanted and dangerous Middle East refugees when Ivanka Trump was booed in Berlin on Tuesday for saying her father is a "tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive." The moderator had to move the discussion on amid a chorus of boos. These are not friends and allies worth spending and dying for. They are Progressive globalist ideologues who detest conservatives and especially President Trump's walloping of Hillary Clinton last November. • Americans, indeed the majority in the West, support the conservative fight. When you are at war with Progressive hulk psychos, don't let your values tie one arm behind your back. Don't be afraid of a little down-home truth. Don't intellectualize. Act !!!

Yom Hashoah : Holocaust Remembrance Day 2017

YOM HASHOAH. Israel and her friends all over the world are marking Israel's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in memory of the 6 million Jews systematically killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah. It is one of the most melancholy days on Israel's calendar. Cafes and other places of entertainment shut down while TV and radio stations broadcast documentaries about the Holocaust from Sunday evening until commemorations end at sundown the next day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials attended the main ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. On Monday morning, Israel mostly came to a two-minute standstill to remember the dead when sirens wail prompted people to stop in their tracks and motorists to pull over and stand still outside their vehicles with their heads bowed in silence. • • • TRUMP ADDRESSES THE WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS. President Trump delivered an address to the World Jewish Congress. Here is the text of his speech : "I am deeply honored to speak with you tonight, as the World Jewish Congress gathers in New York City with the leaders from across the world. First, I want to thank Ronald Lauder, not only for his many years of friendship - and he truly has been my good friend, he even predicted early that I was going to win the presidency - but also for his leadership of this organization. He has done a fantastic job. Today we are reminded of this organization’s long and heroic history fighting for the Jewish people. Your brave leaders warned the world of the planned atrocities that sought to extinguish an entire people. On Yom HaShoah, we look back at the darkest chapter of human history. We mourn, we remember, we pray, and we pledge : Never again. I say it, never again. The mind cannot fathom the pain, the horror, and the loss. Six million Jews, two-thirds of the Jews in Europe, murdered by the Nazi genocide. They were murdered by an evil that words cannot describe, and that the human heart cannot bear. On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, we tell the stories of the fathers, mothers and children, whose lives were extinguished and whose love was torn from this earth. We also tell the stories of courage in the face of death, humanity in the face of barbarity, and the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people. Today, only decades removed from the Holocaust, we see a great nation risen from the desert and we see a proud Star of David waving above the State of Israel. That star is a symbol of Jewish perseverance. It’s a monument to unyielding strength. We recall the famous words attributed to Theodor Herzl : 'If you will, it is no dream. If you will it, it is no dream.' Jews across the world have proved the truth of these words day after day. In the memory of those who were lost, we renew our commitment and our determination not to disregard the warnings of our own times. We must stamp out prejudice and anti-Semitism everywhere it is found. We must defeat terrorism, and we must not ignore the threats of a regime that talks openly of Israel’s destruction. We cannot let that ever even be thought of. To all of you tonight, who have come from around the world, let it be known, America stands strong with the State of Israel. The meaning of that state for so many is captured by the words of a German Jewish musician. Escaping Germany before 1937, he settled in the ancient land of Israel. Sometime later, he received a visit from a British official, who found him living in a hut, with only his piano for company. The official recognized the musician and said : This must be a terrible change for you. The musician looked back at him and replied : It is a change - from hell to heaven. Many of you here today helped fulfill the same dream, the dream of Israel for millions, a dream that burned in the hearts of oppressed and fallen and which now draws the breath of life from a joyous people each and every day. Thank you for your leadership, for your service, and for your vision of a world that is more free, just and peaceful place for all of God’s people. Thank you and God bless you all." • You can find the video version of the speech at < http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.785272 > • • • EXODUS. Perhaps because I was a teenager when the book Exodus by Leon Uris appeared in the United States, and thanks to my mother I was allowed to read it, I always associate the Holocaust with the word "Exodus" -- the Exodus of the Jews from Europe and all over the world to Israel after World War II, to a place where they would be safe and have a homeland at last. Leon Uris is criticized for having written a purely fictional account of an Israel that never existed and recreating Jews to make Americans identify with their courage and determination as freedom fighters -- but he did it immensely better than any book before or after, and it indelibly marked America. Yet, I am also a Christian, and the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt to their Promised Land thousands of years before America existed -- with the wonderful story in Exodus 3, taught to every Christian child -- is imbedded in my soul. The Covenant made by God that He would be the God of Israel forever is taught to Christian children as the Jewish Covenant that is shared by Christians because of their belief in the one God and His Ten Commandments. As children we were awed by the eternity-arching Omnipotence of God's own description of Himself when He spoke to Moses : "I Am Who I Am." • So, as we remember the horror of the Holocaust and mourn the Jewish dead who suffered unimaginably under the Nazis, I would like to share the eternally promising story of the Covenant, because that is when the Jewish people were chosen and received their strength to survive, even against Unspeakable Evil. • Exodus 3:3-22 : "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt : And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty. But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians." (King James Version) • Pray for the Holocaust Dead. • Remember.