Lucas Daniel Smith's blog

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THE HILL, by Sharyl Attkisson, Opinion Contributor — September 17, 2019

Excerpt:

What will Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s latest investigation reveal? Will Congress hold hearings about it? Will former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe actually get indicted? After all, it’s said that a motivated prosecutor can “indict a ham sandwich” if he really wants to.

We’re so wrapped up in the daily tick-tock, we could be losing sight of a big picture that’s come into focus over the past two years. For the first time in our nation’s history, an inspector general — one appointed by President Obama — has determined that at least two men who sat in the top spot at the FBI committed multiple violations that warrant possible prosecution. That in itself is a scandal with national implications deserving of headlines, congressional hearings and promises to overhaul a broken system.

Of course, the complicating factor in the whole mess is that the government entities responsible for addressing any wrongdoing are the same ones inextricably tied to the alleged wrongdoing. 

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View the complete article including links and comments at:

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/461599-weve-lost-sight-of-the-real-scandal

I was there. This is what I witnessed.

FrontPage Mag, by Paul Joseph Watson — September 18, 2019

Excerpt:

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View the complete article including image, video, links and comments at:

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/09/watson-video-truth-about-hong-kong-protests-paul-joseph-watson/

CNBC, by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. — September 17, 2019

Excerpt:

• Stephen Schwarzman says he’s hearing that Chinese officials are working quickly to shut down outbound shipments of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.
• “There’s a huge reorganization going on in China regarding fentanyl to try to shut it down,” the billionaire co-founder of Blackstone says.

Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman on Tuesday said he’s hearing that Chinese officials are working quickly to shut down outbound shipments of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.

“There’s a huge reorganization going on in China regarding fentanyl to try to shut it down,” said Schwarzman, who said he had conversations with authorities, whom he did not identify, during a trip to China three weeks ago. “And if what they said is true, you will see this really going down quickly,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin that has played a role in fueling the U.S. opioid crisis. The Department of Homeland Security was considering labeling fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction earlier this year.

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View the complete article including image and links at:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/17/schwarzman-im-hearing-china-is-working-to-stop-illicit-fentanyl-shipments.html

RealClear Politics, by Charles Lipson , RCP Contributor — September 17, 2019

Excerpt:

Partisan politics has crept into every corner of American life. Every topic, from jokes to films, is now refracted through that lens. It’s a revoltin’ development, as one sitcom character used to say, and it’s time to call it out.

Most issues do have a political dimension, of course. But seeing everything that way leaves no space for other topics, no room for play or humor or friends with different views. It intrudes on the private world of family, friends, and voluntary associations. People need that space to flourish. A tolerant, liberal democracy should provide it.

I saw this suffocating environment up-close and personal this week when I posted a funny comment by Louisiana’s Sen. John Kennedy. His earthy metaphors and odd juxtapositions make him one of Washington’s most quotable figures. In today’s hyper-divisive politics, however, even the most innocuous quote can land you in the briar patch. I felt a few of those thorns when I posted his comment.

What did Sen. Kennedy say? “Trusting Russia, North Korea, and Iran is like trusting a Jussie Smollett police report.” What’s wrong with that? Not a thing. It’s funny, fair, and memorable. But when everything is partisan, you can always find something wrong. If nothing comes readily to mind, blame the speaker for something else. He’s from the wrong political party. He supports the wrong policies. He’s the wrong race. He’s the wrong gender. This sour perspective, says Sen. Kennedy, is “why aliens won’t talk to us.”

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View the complete article including image, links and comments at:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/09/17/when_politics_smothers_everyday_life__141267.html

SARA CARTER, by Staff Writer — September 16, 2019

Excerpt:

In a major twist, NYTimes editorial was pressured to make a correction to it’s bombshell story about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, that the “alleged victim said she did not recall the purported sexual assault in question at all.”  (bold emphasis added)

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View the complete article including images and links at:

https://saraacarter.com/nytimes-does-it-again-omits-the-fact-that-kavanaughs-accuser-was-clintons-defense-attorney/

SHARYL ATTKISSON — September 15, 2019

Excerpt:

There’s a bit of news in the case of Jeffrey Epstein. He’s the convicted sex offender who somehow managed to commit suicide in a New York jail last month while he was supposed to be under close watch.

My public information request about his death— has been formally denied.

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In the case of the Epstein documents I requested, the federal Bureau of Prisons responded by stating that it is withholding all of the documents entirely. – (bold emphasis added)

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View the complete article including image, links and comments at:

https://sharylattkisson.com/2019/09/all-prison-documents-about-jeffrey-epstein-withheld/