Poll Gives Trump Best Economic Rating in Almost Twenty Years

Posted on January 27, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 27, 2020

While the president takes a hit on some issues in a Sunday Fox News poll, the most important issue finds him in fine shape.

55% give him positive marks on the economy, easily the most vital issue to voters right now. That’s the best poll number on the economy since 1991. The poll breaks down mostly on partisan lines. His job approval remains at 45%.

However the president is underwater, sometimes just barely, on guns, immigration, foreign policy, health care, government spending, race relations, and the environment. Again, very partisan breakdowns.

The worst mark is on the bellwether question of how things are going in the country, 56% are dissatisfied. That number can bite hard.

Now this is no death knell for the president. Numbers come and go and he is in overall good shape. But those who think a Trump landslide is guaranteed better think again.

Could he get one in the Electoral College? It’s possible. But the variables that have to be in place before that can be said with any degree of credibility are at least several months away.

But the same people who filled social media with idiotic and presumptuous “Red Tsunami” memes, when every legit sign pointed to the GOP losing the House, are now talking Trump walkover.

You say, but the polls were all wrong in November 2016 and thus they’re wrong now. Yup, the partisan polls were wrong. Hence my “legit” qualification above. There were honest brokers even in 2016 who said Trump had a real shot. Allan Lichtman was one. Helmut Norpoth another. Hell, even Michael Moore did. The South African polling firm Brandseye got it right after nailing Brexit earlier in the year.

In 2017 Lichtman also predicted eventual impeachment.

He’s not made a call for November yet. But given his rules of the road and methodology it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he predicted reelection. But landslide? Not likely.

Confirmation bias, basing your analysis on what you want-not on what the facts say, is a malady common to partisans of all stripes. We see it every day on the Democrat side of the Senate impeachment trial. It weakens and brings arrogant lethargy. It depresses vote totals by complacency.

Conservatives and Republicans should be smarter than that and work like we’re two points behind right up until election day. Or, we are at risk of another “Red Tsunami” scenario.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Poll Gives Trump Best Economic Rating in Almost Twenty Years appeared first on The Political Insider.

Intel Hero Recovers From Clinton Machine Hit

Posted on January 27, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 27, 2020

Wayne Simmons, 66, served his country for most of his adult life. First in the Navy, enlisting in 1973, and soon after that in the shadowy world of undercover operations.

But at the same time he was coming up the Intel ladder another even more covert shadow was rising in America. It was, beginning with the mid-70s Church Committee in the Senate, the ascendancy of an anti-American establishment inside of the American elite. That group would slowly gain power over the years, in the process doing all they could to cripple U.S. Intelligence.

Wayne Simmons would become a victim of their sordid quest.

According to Simmons, he spent 27 years in the covert world as a contractor with the CIA in sensitive posts that took him from Central America to Afghanistan. He was in that war torn Asian locale as late as 2010, though officially retired since 2000.

After his service he became an unpaid analyst for Fox News Channel from 2002-2014. That’s where he ran afoul of the Clinton Machine.

In 2012 Hillary Clinton was serving, mostly herself, as the Secretary of State in the Obama administration. In September of that year our Libyan embassy was overrun in Benghazi. Ambassador Chris Stevens and others were killed by an Islamist mob. Obama, Clinton, and their cohorts at first lied about the attack and then ignored it ever happened. The blood still stains their hands.

Veterans of the Intel world like Simmons, and this analyst, were outraged at this betrayal of U.S. personnel in the field. Simmons had been saying as much on Fox News. That put him on the Clinton radar.

Two weeks after he again laid the blame for the attack square on the shoulders of Hillary Clinton on a show on Fox News, he got a knock on his door. It was April 9, 2014.

Federal agents interviewed him in his home. 18 months later he was arrested on charges involving fraud against the government. The apparent scope of his legal railroading defies imagination. The judge and his own attorney were old associates who allegedly bartered Simmons’ fate between themselves. The process was not to the benefit of Simmons.

It resulted in Simmons being found guilty of a charge he only found out about at the last minute. This was after a deal had supposedly been worked out with the prosecution. The same judge, T.S. Ellis, also handled the Manafort and Mike Flynn cases.

Simmons then spent 25 months of his 33 month sentence in a federal prison. He was released this last October 18th.

Today he resides in Annapolis, Maryland. He is working on clearing his name and various other projects. Before this article I came to know of him. I now consider him a friend. One that has been wronged by those who have also wronged America for quite awhile.

It’s time that score got evened.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Intel Hero Recovers From Clinton Machine Hit appeared first on The Political Insider.

Developing: Rocket Strikes U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

Posted on January 26, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 26, 2020

Amid escalating tensions on the streets of Baghdad, the U.S. embassy was hit with a rocket attack on Sunday that damaged the embassy restaurant. No casualties are yet reported.

The Iraqi government blamed the attack on an “unruly militia” backed by Iran.

Other rockets hit the Green Zone adjacent to the city’s riverbank. No injuries at all or serious damage.

Much like the recent Iranian missile attack on U.S. forces that also resulted in no serious damage or injury, this attack seems intended to keep up PR pressure while insuring that the U.S. does not respond with force.

Baghdad is on edge because a major religious leader withdrew his support from the anti-government movement, causing the usual keening rent-a-crowds to fill the city’s Khilani Square on Sunday with their scripted screams and contrived anger. Some protestors are reported wounded.

In another incident, one protestor was killed Sunday and six were wounded by security forces at Baghdad’s Wathba Square.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Developing: Rocket Strikes U.S. Embassy in Baghdad appeared first on The Political Insider.

Gun-Controlled Baltimore Suffers 5 Murders in 8 Different Shootings

Posted on January 26, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 26, 2020

As we await Super Bowl Sunday we can see another type of game being played out in liberal bastions across America. It’s one where everybody loses.

On the recent weekend earlier in January when the AFC playoffs were held in Baltimore, twelve people were shot.

Five of those individuals were killed in eight separate shootings.

Baltimore had 348 homicides last year, that it knows of, its fifth year in a row with over 300 murders and the deadliest year ever on a per-capita basis.

City council president Brandon Scott, a Democrat running for mayor/captain of the Titanic wrote, “A day that should have been met with pride and community was once again flooded with violence and loss,” recalling the football game. Baltimore lost that game too.

“This violence is heartbreaking and must stop now,” continued Scott, in a crocodile sentiment that could be replaced with effective action if the Baltimore pol understood the concept of empirical evidence.

Federal crime stats paint a clear picture. Of the top five urban murder theme parks in the U.S., per 1,000 in population, all of them are Democrat-run cities with stringent gun control laws. Ergo…

They are: 1) East St. Louis, MO. 2) Chester, PA. 3) St. Louis, MO. 4) Gary, IN. And five, the Charm City itself, Baltimore, MD.

As has been said, “An armed society is a polite society,” and one wonders what the murder rate would be in Baltimore if every time a miscreant pulled a weapon a law-abiding citizen or citizens close by pulled out their own weapons.

Would that shooter be more or less likely to unholster their weapon if they knew they would also get shot?

Don’t know the answer? Ask Jack Wilson, who saved many from probable death by recently taking out a vicious gunman at a Texas church service.

Better yet, ask the gunman. Oh gee, I guess we can’t. And anyway, Gil Scott-Heron seems to have the right answer.

How many decades do we have to suffer urban murder rates that turn our inner cities into shooting galleries until the people in those depressed locales get back the constitutional right to shoot back?

In all likelihood, given the current political leadership in Baltimore and other Democrat-run cities, many more.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Gun-Controlled Baltimore Suffers 5 Murders in 8 Different Shootings appeared first on The Political Insider.

NBA Star Kobe Bryant Killed in Helicopter Crash

Posted on January 26, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 26, 2020

Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, 41, was killed on Sunday in a helicopter crash over Calabasas, California.

The city is about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ESPN and ABC News confirm the report.

The Sikorsky s-76 aircraft crashed with five people on board. The cause of the accident is not yet known.

Bryant played with the LA. Lakers for 20 years and won five NBA championships. He was named all-star 18 times, was a 15 time all-NBA player, and was the 2008 NBA MVP.

Bryant had a colorful personal life and was known for his actions on and off the court.

His death will no doubt draw mourning from fans and retrospectives of a great sports career cut short by an untimely death.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post NBA Star Kobe Bryant Killed in Helicopter Crash appeared first on The Political Insider.

CNN Admits Trump Legal Team Success, But Argues a Lack of Diversity

Posted on January 26, 2020 by LifeZette

By PoliZette Staff | January 26, 2020

Following a swift and decisive round of opening arguments by the Trump legal team in the Senate impeachment trial, members of the GOP and staunch followers of the President were left encouraged. But they were not the only ones. Even oft-antagonistic CNN agreed with the sentiment of a strong performance by Trump’s team.

CNN legal analyst and liberal commentator Jeffrey Toobin shocked viewers when he admitted that the Republicans were “winning” the impeachment trial. Here is what he said.

“Again, I just think the Republicans are winning here. The president is winning here. And as long as they don’t completely fall on their faces, which they’re all competent lawyers, they’re not going to do that, I think that’s fine for them.”

However, despite his comments acknowledging the GOP’s success, he was quick to point out the lack of diversity on Trump’s legal team. He further stated that “President Trump has too many white men as lawyers,” needing something negative to spin for CNN viewers.

Toobin bashes ‘White House and white people’ legal team; wonders if women will be ‘allowed’ to speak #ImpeachmentTrial https://t.co/S9XhRsNBjl

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 25, 2020

He went on to describe the lack of women and pondered whether or not the Trump team would allow them to speak, in a clear zing meant to further the mainstream media’s narrative that the Trump White House is misogynistic and plump full of bigots.

Of course, as a counterpoint Toobin was certain to highlight diversity within the Democrat party, citing their strong commitment to the cause and equal representation among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics.

This is all too typical of the Democrat narrative, manipulating the optics and overall message while hiding behind the indefensible claims of racism, bigotry, xenophobia, or whatever the cause du jour may be.

While diversity is certainly welcomed and should be championed on all sides, placing the most qualified people into positions of power, regardless of race or gender, should remain the priority this country.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post CNN Admits Trump Legal Team Success, But Argues a Lack of Diversity appeared first on The Political Insider.

Pence and Prince Mark Solemn Occasion, Battle Domestic Anti-Semites

Posted on January 26, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 26, 2020

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and heir to the British throne Prince Charles of Wales both attended the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Press reports mistakenly said the Prince snubbed Pence. But they met before the main reception and thus had no need to speak at length again during it. That’s when the media said they saw the snub.

This is not true. VP and Prince Charles spoke prior to entering the event floor and after his remarks as well. https://t.co/Qr79TN42Ax pic.twitter.com/LhsQVtHMRF

— Katie Waldman (@VPPressSec) January 23, 2020

The two men face interesting scenarios in their own nations in regards to anti-semitism.

In the UK the far left Labour Party, the main opposition to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s strong and popular Conservative Party, is rife with anti-semitism. It got to the point in the recent UK election campaign that Labour party members and office holders left it in the middle of the hustings, so as not be associated with such a vile grouping.

Labour’s anti-Israel views, its cozying up to Middle East terrorists, and its fear to fight Islamist extremism is considered a large contributing factor to its tremendous bashing by the Tories at the polls.

Here we see Democrat leaders like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib take a once pro-Israel party and drag it to the edge of reflexive anti-Israeli stands and associated anti-semitism.

Thus both men have challenges on their hands.

RELATED: The Broken Down Caravan

Pence has pro-Israel President Trump’s ear. Also, as a possible successor to Trump, Pence may have to navigate his own way through these treacherous geopolitical and ethnic waters. For the sake of both nations he dare not run aground now or later.

As a constitutional royal with family issues that would drive any father to distraction, Prince Charles does have a role to play in the UK’s social and political debates. But he can not exert himself too strenuously in this regard. That would violate the constitutional settlement that took place after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In that most British of coup de tats, King James II, who tried to rule, was overthrown by his son in law and daughter, William and Mary, who agreed to reign but not rule. That has since been the practice.

At any rate, both the U.S. and the U.K. face internal anti-semitic political movements. It is good to know that leaders of each nation are fighting against the pernicious doctrine.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Pence and Prince Mark Solemn Occasion, Battle Domestic Anti-Semites appeared first on The Political Insider.

Nadler Calls Trump a “Dictator”

Posted on January 26, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 25, 2020

It is a very strange type of despot who allows his political opponents to remain out of jail, much less publicly criticize him in front of a free national legislature where one house of that body has also been given permission by said dictator to try and remove him from office.

But then, President Donald Trump is unique in many ways.

Yes, the Democrats closed up their trial arguments on Friday with the gem of Democrat House manager Jerry Nadler accusing Trump of being a “dictator.”

Now we have put up with many flights of fancy from the Democrats. But the claim that they live under a dictatorship, while they flagellate President Trump in front of a global audience, is surely one of their most absurd lines.

What the Democrats are doing, as previously noted in this space, is a move their ideological ancestors perfected in their heyday in the mid part of the last century. It is the “big lie.”

Repeat the most ridiculous lines often and loud enough, as long as you control the great part of the press, and there are those out there who will buy them regardless of the concept’s strident advocacy for cocoa puffs.

Combine that with the Democrat preference for arbitrary emotion over logic or facts and you have the kind of scenario where adult pundits on various cable news outlets will term Adam Schiff’s trial strategy and delivery as “brilliant” and “inspiring.”

Team Trump states that they did not intend to bring up Hunter Biden to any significant extent in their presentation. But since on Friday the Democrats obsessed on the Bidens, now in rebuttal the GOP has little option but to answer their forward defense on Monday.

Why the Democrats would do this, knowing full well the GOP would respond and thus put the Bidens center stage, is an interesting question to ponder.

And the plot gets curiouser and curiouser.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Nadler Calls Trump a “Dictator” appeared first on The Political Insider.

Why Do Democrats Suddenly Hate Russia?

Posted on January 25, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 25, 2020

There was a time, it feels like centuries ago, when the Democratic Party fought America’s enemies all over the globe. During a good part of that time the main adversary was the communist Soviet Union.

After unsuccessfully ridding itself of communist influence in the 40s and 50s, Dems like Harry Truman fought the communists in Korea, John Kennedy fought them very badly in Cuba, and Lyndon Johnson fought them in Vietnam. We know how that turned out.

But after the Johnson era in the Dem party it was taken over by appeasers and blatant communist sympathizers like George McGovern, Frank Church, and Ted Kennedy.

For two decades starting in the 1970s the Dems urged patience and caution with the Soviets. They championed every Soviet “peace” initiative that came down the pike. They openly sided with communist forces in the field in Vietnam, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. At the very least they wanted “peaceful coexistence.” At the most, a Soviet parity then superiority to American influence around the world.

But in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan seemed to use the Dems as a reverse barometer. He executed everything they despised from labeling the Soviets an “evil empire” to confronting them behind their own lines. It worked and the Soviets bit the dust on Christmas Day of 1991.

And soon, the Dems fell out of love with Russia.

True, during the Boris Yeltsin era of the 90s the Clinton administration was close to them. But when Putin took over in 1999 the Dems began actively opposing the country. Why?

I would stipulate, because the Russians were no longer communist.

When the Russians were powerful geopolitical rivals they were just fine to Dems. When they were Marxist Leninists, no problem. But have Putin wrap Russia in the Greek Orthodox faith and go bonkers for wild west capitalism and the Dems lose their long term crush on the nation.

This is not an apology for Putin’s Russia. I would not want to live there. But then, I’m not Russian.

What has happened is that the long dormant, then influential, and now dominant authoritarian socialist faction of the Dems, as evidenced in the popularity in that party of Bernie Sanders and AOC, hates Russia for turning its back on communism.

And worse for the Dems, the Russian people like America, Americans, and Donald Trump.

Enough to drive the Dems to barking madness.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Why Do Democrats Suddenly Hate Russia? appeared first on The Political Insider.

Congressional Democrats Add Insult to Injury by Alienating Second Possible Impeachment Trial Swing Vote

Posted on January 25, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 24, 2020

The only way the Dems had a shred of a chance of convicting President Donald Trump in the current Senate impeachment trial was by bringing over several GOP Senators on early votes that could start a rockslide towards GOP guilty votes.

So what do they do?

They insult the Senate.

Specifically House impeachment manager Jerry Nadler, who this analyst has had a run in with in the past, told the Senate they were engaged in a “cover up” if they did not vote with him and that the Senate itself was also “on trial.”

In rebuttal, presidential counsel Pat Cipollone gave as good as he got.

As we reported earlier on Friday, Nadler’s tone did not sit well with possible swing vote Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) who publicly registered her distaste and signaled her non-happiness with Dem tactics. That cannot help their case with her.

Now Politico is reporting that fellow possible swing trial vote Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) was so ticked off at Nadler that she sent a note to presiding judge U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

She commented to Politico, “It reminded me that if we were in a normal debate in the Senate, that the rule would be invoked to strike the words of the senator for impugning another senator.

So, I did write a note raising the issue of whether there’d been a violation of the rules. I’m going to cast my vote regardless of the congressman’s performance. His negative comments about the Senate will not have any impact.”

Oh yes they will.

That note, and no doubt his own observations, caused Roberts to tell the assembled pols and lawyers, “It is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and the president’s counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

He continued, “One reason it has earned that title is because its members avoid speaking in a manner, and using language, that is not conducive to civil discourse.”

If the GOP 53 vote shield wall holds then the Dems not only have come all this way for nothing, dragging the nation and the government along with them, but they may be forced to give their own Senators vote waivers to protect those who hail from Trump states.

If that comes about, Nadler may regret his words. But the president won’t.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Congressional Democrats Add Insult to Injury by Alienating Second Possible Impeachment Trial Swing Vote appeared first on The Political Insider.