Lucas Daniel Smith's blog

Stilton’s Place, by Stilton Jarlsberg — October 28, 2019

Excerpt:

Saturday night “live” is what ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi wasn’t following a daring special forces operation last Saturday night. Troops went in, cleared the compound – killing those who resisted – then closed in on al-Baghdadi himself.

The ISIS leader scurried down a dead-end (literally) tunnel with three of his children, then blew all of them to bits with a suicide vest.

President Trump, in a statement Sunday morning, made it clear that al-Baghdadi “died like a dog. He died like a coward. Whimpering, screaming, and crying. The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him.”

Trump’s willingness to take a metaphorical leak on al-Baghdadi’s grave stands in stark contrast to Barack Obama’s more measured (to put it mildly) statement upon the killing of Osama bin Laden. Obama described Osama as a terrorist and killer, but did not further personalize attacks on bin Laden’s character nor the manner of his death. And we should note that as an additional show of respect for bin Laden (and not Islam, because Obama specifically stated that “Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader”),  Obama ordered the terror mastermind’s body to be washed and wrapped per Muslim tradition, then immediately buried at sea without further forensics.

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View the complete post including image, links and comment at:

http://stiltonsplace.blogspot.com/2019/10/pieces-in-our-time.html

GATEWAY PUNDIT, by Jim Hoft — October 27, 2019

Excerpt:

NEVER FORGET—

Last night President Trump and America won again!

US forces killed the barbaric leader of ISIS, Abu Al-Baghdadi, last night near the Syrian–Turkish border.

Al-Baghdadi was the leader of the ISIS Caliphate.  He was held by the US in 2009 until the Iraqis and the Obama administration agreed to let him go.

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS),  transformed a few terror cells on the verge of extinction into the most dangerous militant group in the world in Syria and Iraq.

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

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/10/flashback-never-forget-isis-terror-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-was-held-at-us-prison-camp-bucca-in-2009-until-obama-white-house-agreed-to-let-him-go/

RealClear Politics, by Frank Miele — October 28, 2019

Excerpt:

Nancy Pelosi has harpooned the great white whale. Now let’s see what happens to her Pequod.

If you don’t remember your classic American literature, Moby Dick sank the whaling ship Pequod and killed all aboard except the lone character of Ishmael, who lives to tell the story of how obsession destroyed Captain Ahab and those who served him.

The analogy of Melville’s “Moby Dick” to Pelosi’s revenge-obsessed pursuit of Donald Trump is an apt one.

Trump is a force of nature, just as the white whale was, and he has a habit of biting Democrats off at the knee. No wonder they thirst for retribution, but despite the Greek chorus of attaboys from the Resistance Media, Captain Pelosi and her three mates — Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney — are unlikely to prevail in the long run.

Let’s look at some of the scenarios that are possible if President Trump were to be impeached by a Democratic Party that has come unmoored from reason.

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

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/10/28/sorry_dems_–_even_if_trumps_impeached_he_still_wins_141591.html

Lawmakers haven’t decided yet whether they should focus solely on Ukraine—or write a broader indictment of the president.

The Atlantic, by Elaine Godfrey — October 22, 2019

Excerpt:

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave her blessing to an impeachment inquiry three weeks ago, she also laid down a marker: The investigation wouldn’t center on any of the issues that Democrats have obsessed over for the past three years. Not Russian interference, or emoluments, or security clearances, or family separation. Impeachment would be about Ukraine—and only about Ukraine.

But while that decision helped quell years of frantic debate over whether and why and how Democrats might seek to remove the president, it also foreshadowed the coming battle among House Democrats about what the actual articles of impeachment should look like. Democrats seem to have made strides in their investigation in recent weeks, but they still have this major hurdle to resolve—a hurdle that could have significant implications not just for the success of the inquiry, but for Democrats’ ability to keep control of the House in 2020.

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View the complete article including image and links at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/impeachment-trump-democrats/600448/

NEW YORK POST, by Bob Fredericks and Nikki Schwab — October 23, 2019

Excerpts:

Fed up with the lack of public access to an impeachment inquiry they likened to a “Soviet-style process,” dozens of House Republicans stormed into a closed-door Intelligence Committee hearing, refused to leave — and even ordered pizza.

The pro-Trump lawmakers, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, barged into the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, where Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper was preparing to give a deposition.

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“Voting members of Congress are being denied access from being able to see what’s happening behind these closed doors, where they’re trying to impeach the president of the United States with a one-sided set of rules. They call the witnesses,” declared Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who later ordered Dominos pizza for reporters and New York-style pies from a shop called We the Pizza for lawmakers.

“This is a Soviet-style process. It should not be allowed in the United States of America,” Scalise went on. “Every member of Congress ought to be allowed in that room. The press ought to be allowed in that room.”

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

https://nypost.com/2019/10/23/house-republicans-storm-closed-door-trump-impeachment-hearing/

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SHARYL ATTKISSON — October 24, 2019

Excerpt:

The following is an excerpt from my latest column in The Hill.

Quid pro no.

The current impeachment debate is being framed in terms of whether or not there was a “quid pro quo”— as if that is the bar that will determine whether or not President Trump did something egregious.

There are big flaws with this framing, as well as with the use of the term. 

Diplomatic quid pro quo — requiring certain actions, behavior or “conditions,” in return for U.S. aid — is common, according to current and former diplomats I spoke with, and foreign policy guidance. “Under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the President may determine the terms and conditions under which most forms of assistance are provided.”

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View the article including comments at:

https://sharylattkisson.com/2019/10/quid-pro-no-in-ukraine/