A few CPAC moments to ponder...

So, CPAC is going on right now, and while I'm not going to go through every single speech, I did want to highlight a few of favor and/or interest...

First, the Great One(s)!

TRS: Both Mark Levin and Ted Cruz were at CPAC this morning and had a rousing discussion on several issues relating to the Constitution, including how to drain the swamp, activist judges in our lower courts and the nomination of Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, separation or powers and much more.

Related link: ‘This election was a MANDATE for protecting the CONSTITUTION!’ – Ted Cruz

Then, a very moving, Vice PRESIDENTIAL speech from Pence...

TheBlaze: Vice President Mike Pence gave a rousing speech Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, asking the conservative community to give President Donald Trump and his administration their prayers.

“With your help and with God’s help and with President Donald Trump in the White House…the best days for America are yet to come. Let’s get to work,” Pence told the crowd.

The Vice President ended his speech with an anecdote about being sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The bible used during the ceremony put him in mind, he said, of a piece of scripture he shared as a metaphor for the vision of the Trump administration.

“If his people, who are called by his name, will humble themselves and pray — [God will] hear them from heaven and he’ll heal this land,” Pence said.

“One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” he finished.

Related link: Pence: Time to Wake Up From Obamacare Nightmare

And finally, President Trump's very Trump speech...

TRS: President Trump was at CPAC 2017 this morning where he gave almost a 50 minute speech to a very lively crowd. The first part was focused on ripping the media with the rest focused on his agenda in a very campaign-style speech.

Some good, some GREAT, some rambling, kinda all over the place, but...it's Trump! (and please for "two years, don't do anything" when it comes to uprooting Obamacare!)

Related links: Trump signs NEW executive order on repealing massive federal regulations
Trump Audio: “If countries are going to have nukes, we’re gonna be at the TOP OF THE PACK”
MEDIA OUTRAGED as Trump BANS press from White House briefing!!

Oh, and a very HONORABLE mention towards a constitutional education that should underpin all of conservatism from Dr. Larry Arnn...

At CPAC, Hillsdale College President Discusses Conservatism and Trump

Why is the GOP just sitting around on repealing Obamacare after winning the impossible?

Excellent question and great critique of the situation, so I don't want to abbreviate any of this article for fear of missing a single word of its importance...

CR: In other news, Congress has said it plans to debate repealing Obamacare, maybe sometime end of February, and “hopes” to have a bill end of March. Maybe not … the GOP could just keep stalling.

How many times have Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare in the last six years? Twenty, 30, 40 times? MSNBC claims it’s around 62. In 2015, Congress actually put a repeal bill on President Obama’s desk.

And now that Republicans control every lever of power in the legislative process, suddenly the task to repeal has become monumental. Not so when the GOP was in the minority.

It is not easy to name a member of Congress — or any GOP elected official — who has not run on repealing Obamacare. Certainly every House Republican worth his or her salt is already on record voting for a full repeal — that is, back when there was no danger of those bills seeing daylight. As one member recently phrased it: “We’re playing with live rounds this time.”

The prospect of making a difference has resulted in schoolboy stage fright. The chance to win has made our guys terrified of facing the other team’s fans in the parking lot.

Campaign pledges to do away with the Affordable Care Act were not always, nor even often, married to specific replacement plans. It was widely acknowledged from the start that repealing the law would leave room for debate over the best market-based solutions. Well, Republicans got their chance. Voters believed them. And within five weeks, the repeal movement has smashed up against barriers erected by the very members who ran and won on the promise of ACTION.

A repeal bill would not pit the country against the party — that is only what the opposition wants us to believe. What is certain to damage the party, perhaps irreparably, is a stalled Congress, an impotent executive, and a surviving health care law that continues to wreak havoc on a country that has stridently rejected it. Leave the law where it is, and the GOP flushes its mandate. There are too many other things to accomplish — and such little time to see them through — for this party to squander its credibility on the one issue it can wipe out with a two-page bill.

In the age of Trevor Noah, Lena Dunham, and John Oliver, elected Republicans have my sympathies. Liberal elites control the levers of culture, and as such, it is hard not to believe that after the non-stop bombardment from liberal media, even when in power, that one is governing in direct opposition to the wishes of a hostile electorate. But it is an illusion. Trump won because he saw the illusion for what it was. He ignored the ache of bad press, shaking off the weight on his shoulders intensified by a media-biased bubble. He proved that if you simply press on and do what you told the voters you would do, the voters will keep up their end. They will show their appreciation by showing up for you.

Republicans must learn this lesson, if no other.

Dammit, don't squander this!

Related link: Yes, we can repeal EVERY WORD of Obamacare

ADDENDUM: Please prove this ASS-CLOWN wrong!

TheResurgent: What an asshat.

Ousted Speaker John Boehner, aka the administrator of acquiescence, the satrap of surrender, the Duke of dedition, weighed in on the GOP-controlled Congress repeal and replace of Obamacare.

POLITICO captured the moment.

“[Congressional Republicans are] going to fix Obamacare – I shouldn’t call it repeal-and-replace, because it’s not going to happen,” he said.

He called all the talk about fast action on a new health package wildly optimistic. “I started laughing,” Boehner, who never saw a Democratic plan he wouldn’t cave to, said. “Most of the framework of the Affordable Care Act … that’s going to be there,”

In a nutshell, Boehner, if he’s not just trolling Congress, believes that the signature issue that carried the GOP to dominance since 2010 and into the White House will be laid in the grave, along with Republican chances in 2018.

Listen, Republican Members of Congress and Senators, whatever this man says, do the opposite. He says you can’t agree on health care. So agree to get 100 percent rid of Obamacare and put something in its place that isn’t a train-wreck doomed to fail. If you don’t, when you lose at the ballot box, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

ADDENDUM II: Firing a shot across the bow of the GOP-controlled Congress at CPAC on Thursday, VP Pence said it's time to 'WAKE UP' from the Obamacare nightmare!

TheResurgent: Vice President Mike Pence didn’t mince any words when he addressed CPAC on Thursday, making it clear that when it comes to repealing and replacing the Unaffordable Care Act, the Trump administration would not settle for any half-baked measures:

"Let me assure you, America’s Obamacare nightmare is about to end, despite the best efforts of liberal activists at town halls around the country. The American people know better. Obamacare has failed, and Obamacare must go."

And:

"We’ll have an orderly transition to a better health-care system that finally puts the American people first."

If this all sounds familiar, it’s only because the GOP has been campaigning on repeal since this monstrosity was signed into law seven years ago. It’s also a big reason why the GOP took back the House in 2010, followed by the Senate in 2014.

So why the urgency to bring it all up again at CPAC? Well, with all the leftist astroturfing taking place at Republican town hall meetings across the country, some rallying of the troops is in order. But it’s also pretty obvious that Pence fired a warning shot at the GOP-controlled Congress, which has been sending mixed signals about its own determination to repeal Obamacare. That kind of wish-washyness was perfectly encapsulated by former House speaker and all-around surrender monkey John Boehner when he told Politico that no way, no how would Republicans repeal the law.

Thankfully, as Ted Cruz said, “The last I checked, Boehner doesn’t have a vote anymore.” But Boehner is still representative of that wing of the GOP that can’t quite get its head around the fact that they are in control. Maybe it’s just because they can’t shake the loser mentality after eight years of Barack Obama–but I think it’s more likely that they’re just plain scared. It was one thing sending the White House repeal after repeal, knowing that the president would veto every time. It’s quite another to send a repeal to Donald Trump, knowing that he’ll sign it. Repeal means taking responsibility. Certain factions in the GOP, whose default position is to cringe, are now balking at that.

Democrats, meanwhile, know full well that Republicans are toast if they don’t deliver on repeal. That’s why they’ve been pouring so much effort into these town halls. They figure if they can scare individual members enough, Congress will drag things out and water things down so much that voters will abandon them in disgust. In this, the Democrats are correct. That’s what makes immediate repeal and replace not only good for the country, but essential for the GOP as well.

Mike Pence knows that. Let’s hope that Congress gets the message too.

Related link: Republican Murkowski hated Obamacare in 2015, loves it now

Trump's new immigration orders return to traditional enforcement...except for 'dreamers' (ADDENDUM)

DHS is hiring more ICE and Border Patrol agents and starting construction of the wall. According to Secretary John Kelly, the DHS is going back to traditional routes of immigration enforcement. However, Trump and Kelly are not doing anything about the Dreamers. ~ MLS, 2/21/17

Just a quick reminder/differentiation between the hysteria of the fakes and 'enemies' (these are the first three that popped up on Google, mind you):

New Trump Deportation Rules Allow Far More Expulsions
Trump admin sets stage for mass deportations
President Trump's Fear-Based Immigration Orders

As opposed to more legitimate sources (that are buried beneath the muck):

Trump's New Executive Order on Immigration: What You Need to Know
DHS secretary orders immigration agent hiring surge, end to 'catch-and-release'

Never doubt, they know exactly what they're doing. Anyway, onto the topic at hand...

It sounds like a toughening of policy with better organizational structure and rollout, except for the part that drifts off to dreamland...

FNP: Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly moved Tuesday to implement a host of immigration enforcement changes ordered by President Trump, directing agency heads to hire thousands more officers, end so-called “catch-and-release” policies and begin work on the president’s promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

“It is in the national interest of the United States to prevent criminals and criminal organizations from destabilizing border security,” Kelly wrote in one of two memos released Tuesday by the department.

The memos follow up on Trump’s related executive actions from January and, at their heart, aim to toughen enforcement by expanding the categories of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation.

The changes would spare so-called "dreamers." On a conference call with reporters, a DHS official stressed that the directives would not affect Obama-era protections for illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and others given a reprieve in 2014. But outside those exemptions, Kelly wrote that DHS “no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.”

A DHS official said the agencies are “going back to our traditional roots” on enforcement.

The memos cover a sprawling set of initiatives including:

• Prioritizing criminal illegal immigrants and others for deportation, including those convicted or charged with “any criminal offense,” or who have “abused” any public welfare program 
• Expanding the 287(g) program, which allows participating local officers to act as immigration agents – and had been rolled back under the Obama administration 
• Starting the planning, design and construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall 
• Hiring 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers 
• Hiring 5,000 Border Patrol agents 
• Ending “catch-and-release” policies under which illegal immigrants subject to deportation potentially are allowed to “abscond” and fail to appear at removal hearings 

It’s unclear what timelines the secretary is setting for some of these objectives, and what budgetary and other constraints the department and its myriad agencies will face. In pursuing an end to “catch-and-release,” one memo called for a plan with the Justice Department to “surge” immigration judges and asylum officers to handle additional cases.

While congressional Republicans have vowed to work with Trump to fund the front-end costs associated with his promised border wall, the same memo also hints at future efforts to potentially use money otherwise meant for Mexico – following on Trump’s repeated campaign vow to make Mexico pay for the wall. The secretary called for “identifying and quantifying” sources of aid to Mexico, without saying in the memo how that information might be used.

Pardoning dreamers only continues the allowance of a foot in the door for chain migration, doesn't it? Compassion or coy? Subject to change? Maybe law & order citizens are just expecting too much? Too much winning?

Related links: BREAKING: Trump to keep protections on DREAMERS — Here are the new immigration directives
Ok this is good move by the Trump administration…

ADDENDUM: And finally we hear something back on the travel pause to those countries of concern...evidently it's a little more pared down as well...

Here’s what is different between the old immigration executive order and the new one…

Happy Presidents Day!

While the American Idiots across the land continue to rally over nothingness (they still haven't figured out that the fundamental principles of our constitutional governance enjoins that the will of the majority shall prevail, not mob rule), we're going to handle President's Day with a more satisfying demeanor.

Today is Presidents Day. It's a time set aside to honor all those who served as America's Commander in Chief, whether honorably or otherwise.

There have been 45 Chief Executives, ranging from the first (and arguably best!), George Washington, in whom the day was originally created in celebration of, to the current officeholder, Donald Trump. And I believe it is more by Providence than not that Presidents Day resides within the month of not just the best's birth, but that of three of America's greatest presidents' birth: Washington, Lincoln and Reagan. So it is with this divine coincidence that we celebrate the day with quotes from these historical American leaders.

February 22, 1732 - George Washington
(First President, 1789-1797)

“In politics as in philosophy, my tenets are few and simple. The leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is to be honest and just ourselves and to exact it from others, meddling as little as possible in their affairs where our own are not involved. If this maxim was generally adopted, wars would cease and our swords would soon be converted into reap hooks and our harvests be more peaceful, abundant, and happy.”

"The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period, the researches of the human mind, after social happiness, have been carried to a great extent, the Treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labours of Philosophers, Sages and Legislatures, through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the Establishment of our forms of Government."

"Government is not reason, and it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master: never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

"It appears to me, then, little short of a miracle, that the Delegates from so many different States (which States you know are also different from each other in their manners, circumstances and prejudices) should unite in forming a system of national Government."

“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”

"The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."

"The Constitution, which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon all."

"The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country."

"I now make it my earnest prayer that God would… most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion."

February 12, 1809 - Abraham Lincoln
(Sixteenth President, 1861-1865)

"The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name -- liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names -- liberty and tyranny."

"The prosperity of the United States is not the result of accident. It has a philosophic cause. Without the Constitution and the Union, we could not have attained the result; but even these are not the primary cause of our great prosperity. There is something back of these, entwining itself more closely about the human heart. That something, is the principle of "Liberty to all"—the principle that clears the path for all—gives hope to all—and, by consequence, enterprise and industry to all."

These communities, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures. Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children and their children's children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began -- so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built.

"Let it [the Constitution] be taught in schools, seminaries and in colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling books and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become the political religion of the nation."

February 6, 1911 - Ronald Reagan
(Fortieth President, 1981-1989):

"The Founding Fathers established a system which meant a radical break from that which preceded it. A written constitution would provide a permanent form of government, limited in scope, but effective in providing both liberty and order. Government was not to be a matter of self-appointed rulers, governing by whim or harsh ideology. It was not to be government by the strongest or for the few. Our principles were revolutionary. We began as a small, weak republic. But we survived. Our example inspired others, imperfectly at times, but it inspired them nevertheless. This constitutional republic, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, prospered and grew strong. To this day, America is still the abiding alternative to tyranny. That is our purpose in the world -- nothing more and nothing less."

“Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: 'We the people.' 'We the people' tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. 'We the people' are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which 'We the people' tell the government what it is allowed to do. 'We the people' are free."

"I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts."

"The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of these United States are covenants we have made not only with ourselves, but with all mankind. Our founding documents proclaim to the world that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few. It is the universal right of all God's children”

"Now I realize it's fashionable in some circles to believe that no one in government should encourage others to read the Bible. That we're told we'll violate the constitutional separation of church and state established by the Founding Fathers and the First Amendment. The First Amendment was not written to protect people and their laws from religious values. It was written to protect those values from government tyranny."

"Without God, there is no virtue because there's no prompting of the conscience. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."

May we learn more day by day from the wisdom of these great men, wisdom undoubtedly drawn from and reflective of the Word...

“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our ruler, the LORD is our king; he will save us.” — Isaiah 33:22 RSV (The three branches of government, a reflection the divine words spoke by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah. “For the LORD is our judge [judicial]; the LORD is our lawgiver [legislative]; the LORD is our king [executive].”

”Moreover choose able men from all the people, such as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe; and place such men over the people as rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.” — Exodus 18:21 RSV

Happy Presidents Day.

This American speaks TRUTH on sanctuary cities & illegal immigration

"There are 90 million Americans out of work who want to work in this country. Sanctuary cities are racist! The black communities alone have been destroyed by illegal immigration. It's like we're going through the second civil rights movement!"

Daaamn! This woman tells it like it is (to the despair of the media & Democratic narrative, but I repeat myself). The TRUTH about sanctuary cities and illegal immigration isn't so hard to discern after all...the American Citizenry of any & all color or creed sees it!

CT: A pro-Trump black woman didn’t hold back how she felt about illegal immigrants and sanctuary cities during a recent town hall meeting in Cudahy, California, and she echoed what many people are thinking.

“Sanctuary cities are racist — black communities have been destroyed by illegal immigration,” the woman said.

Many people agree with what this woman had to say.

There are about 300 communities that fall under the category of “sanctuary city,” and President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for such cities that prevent law enforcement from holding criminal illegal aliens for immigration authorities. Trump also promised that he would help inner cities by bringing back jobs that have gone to illegals.

Democrats are not going to like what this woman had to say because it doesn’t fit into their narrative, but they might have a hard time trying to prove her wrong.

Steven Crowder publicized a like piece showing other minority Americans at this meeting BLASTING sanctuary cities and illegal immigration for the institutionalized racialist demographic politics that they've been utilized for. Between this, crime and the eugenics of abortion, the black community in America is literally being wiped out. The devastation must end.

Related link: Narrative BUSTED: Hispanic Voters Actually SUPPORT Trump Deporting Illegals. The Numbers…

Additional sources: Black Republican Blog

Calling Them Out! Media assumptions vs public perception...

"Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day." — Thomas Jefferson, 1807

"Media in this country doesn’t understand that they are hated by everybody. The radical leftists know the media is liberal and don’t think they are aggressive enough and the rest of America knows the media is liberal and we can’t stand them." ~ Mark Levin, 2/16/17

Well, while the rest of us have been busy with jobs, family and, well, LIFE, the media have flailed about for the past three days over Thursday's press conference with President Trump.

The Donald strikes back: 8 must-see moments from the most Trump press conference ever

President Trump slams the media for not covering successes https://t.co/Sbc4OcRudg pic.twitter.com/iEcJtg8w9X

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 16, 2017

In a wide-ranging, and at times contentious, press conference lasting over an hour, President Donald Trump gave an update on his administration’s progress and answered questions from the media.

The news conference was called to announce the president’s selection of Alexander Acosta to lead the Labor Department, after the previous nominee Andrew Puzder withdrew his name from consideration Wednesday. But the topics addressed ranged from accomplishments made by the administration in the first four weeks, to the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn, and the dishonesty of the media.

Trump: "The press honestly is out of control." pic.twitter.com/b6VzaTk0i3

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 16, 2017

Even some more honest alternative sites have gotten their feathers ruffled with the simple talk (I thought we'd already agreed that we lost on sophistication?). Regarding the media on whole, its soul-search is obviously not complete when comparing their assumptions to public perception (reporters should consider how it played with the public in 2016). Perhaps its just that the media bulls have met their matador in Trump, and they've forgotten that ninety-nine percent of the time the matador wins!

The press doesn't just have Trump Derangement Syndrome. They now have full-blown Trump Psychosis. And like most people with serious disorders, they are teetering close to the brink of self-immolation.

Nothing could have been more apparent in the president's press conference Thursday. Almost none of the reporters were able to muster up a question without sounding adversarial or biased.

And when they did contort themselves to ask a question with seeming impartiality, you could see the strain all over their faces, as if they were doing a favor so great they deserved a Papal dispensation.

The press in general believes and acts as if they are a protected class. But this leads to them behaving like bulls at a corrida, rushing around everywhere, attacking every possible target until the matador arrives, focusing their attention. Yes, Trump gives them plenty of possible targets -- more than he should and doubtless would like to. On this particular occasion, he blabbed on about having won more electoral votes than anyone since Reagan, when he didn't. But this obscures the larger issues on which he is so often right and in sync with the public. And on this day, he was able to play the press like a picador, banderillero, and matador all rolled into one.

I understand when some make the point that the politics of the day, particularly from the Office of the President, shouldn't simply devolve into name-calling, tit for tat ideals or the like, that there should be a decency in politics. But perhaps that allusion is off target. Perhaps it has much more to do with setting the record straight by calling them out?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that there is some truth in what President Trump says when he calls the news media an “enemy of the people.” Granted, the language he chose uncomfortably invokes tinpot “Peoples Republic” dictatorships, and for that reason I would have chosen something different; but Trump may actually be on to something here.

I’ve railed for years about how a biased media is a threat to the Republic (usually right before the bartender tells me that maybe I’ve had enough and it’s time to call for a cab). The reason that the Founders specifically set aside protections for a free press in the First Amendment is that they understood that a government–even a freely-elected one–was going to try and get away with as much chicanery as it could, and that the best bulwark against that was a press that would hold it accountable to the voters. The problem these days, however, is that we don’t have a free press. Oh, they may be free to do whatever they want without interference from government; but rather than exercise that freedom, most of the media (at least on the network level) have willingly chosen to become a de-facto propaganda organ for progressive causes in general, and the Democrat Party in particular. With the stories they cover–and, more importantly, the stories they don’t cover–they have actively sought to advance a narrative for the express purpose of pushing the country farther and farther to the left, all while nurturing and providing cover for Democrat politicians. And they’ve done this by openly lying about their motives, presenting themselves as neutral when they are anything but.

In other words, the news media have been trying to push us to a one-party state–one in which government becomes bigger and more intrusive, while civil liberties (at least the ones leftists don’t like) shrink ever smaller. That is the very definition of a threat to the Republic.

Does that make the media an “enemy of the people”? The answer is more gray than even honest Trump critics might think.

Dan Bongino, CR contributing editor & fill-in for Levin on Friday's program, also made a similar point that perhaps there's a lot of looking at this in the wrong way...

The media is totally melting down over President Trump’s Thursday press conference. Partisans from both sides are looking at this in the wrong way. Trump didn’t trample on his message. His message is that the system is broken and he’ll dismantle it including the media which is part of it. In addition, the media sees it as an attack on them because they see themselves as outside voices that everyone looks to for truth. However, the American people see the media as a propaganda machine for the system. The media think they have exposed Trump as a lunatic, but the people in America like to see him as a fighter. Every time Trump slaps the media his approval ratings go up. People think in stories and Trump finished the book for them and until liberals understand that they will continue to be beaten.

There's a lot of simple truth here. In more blatant ways than not, the media has become a propaganda extension of a corrupted one-party system. And while this again speaks volumes towards media assumptions vs public perception, the warning remains: never count the American Left out or underestimate the length of their supposed beaten state, which can arguably be tied into Marc Giller's line that "the answer is more gray" when considering the "enemy of the people." All in all, though, I think it is a fair statement to say that there resides within the public at large a matured level of detestability towards an untrustworthy media that rivals (and perhaps supersedes) even that of many unliked and unnecessary governmental entities. So if they won't change on their own, then perhaps the only option is to help them change. And along with its pundits, the same can be emphatically stated of the government's politicos and appointees.

Related link: Rush says Trump can defeat ‘Deep State’ attacks if he MOVES on his AGENDA items

ADDENDUM: Levin breaks down whether the media is really the 'enemy of the people'...

CR: “You have to be Helen Keller to not believe that the media in this country are not liberal,” said said Conservative Review Editor-in-Chief Mark Levin on his Monday evening radio show in response to recent attacks on President Trump for his “enemy of the people” comments.

President Trump may have come under fire for attacking the media, but he and the American people have a clear reason to, especially when such news organizations sell themselves to the country as unbiased arbiters of information.

“There’s a mindset” in the old media such as daily newspapers and major networks, just like there is in academia and in the nation’s capital, Levin said.

“The media in this country have a mixed history,” he conceded. “But let’s not pretend that they’re objective and nonpartisan,” he concluded before going into a 2015 Washington Times story breaking down partisan media bias by the numbers, “because they’re not.”



“They know they’re leftists,” he added later. “We know they’re leftists, too, so why lie about it?”

“When we criticize the media … we’re exercising our First Amendment right,” he said. “There’s nobody’s calling to eliminate press freedom in this country,” yet “there are people running around saying that this is how dictatorships start.”

“When Barack Obama was running around criticizing Fox News and talk radio,” said Levin in response to recent criticisms of the president’s comments, “I don’t remember anyone else saying that was were dictatorships start.”

“How many stories did you run,” then, Levin asked the media, about abuses of the First Amendment under the Obama administration?

“I suspect little or none,” he concluded, “because you don’t give a damn.”

Judge, Senators present solutions to Trump on dealing with executive order & the 'Nutty 9th'

Trump addressed the 9th Circus's ruling Friday morning, vowing more security actions next week...

Pres. Trump on 9th Circuit Court ruling: "We will continue to go through the court process and ultimately I have no doubt that we'll win." pic.twitter.com/JASWUMGpRF

— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2017

There's of course much speculation on what next week's action might be. Former Judge Andrew Napolitano had some advice for President Trump today: rescind the executive order and issue a new one!

Trump should take that advice, and simultaneously encourage Congress to advance their bill to split up the Nutty 9th!

FoxNews: As judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals weigh the legality of President Trump’s immigration executive order, a Republican push to split up the controversial court -- and shrink its clout -- is gaining steam on Capitol Hill.

Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona introduced legislation last month to carve six states out of the San Francisco-based court circuit and create a brand new 12th Circuit.

They argue that the 9th is too big, too liberal and too slow resolving cases. If they succeed, only California, Oregon, Hawaii and two island districts would remain in the 9th's judicial fiefdom.

The court has a reputation as one of the most liberal in the country, in large part because of its makeup. Eighteen of the court’s 25 active judges have been appointed by Democrats. Former President George W. Bush appointed six justices, while former President Barack Obama appointed seven.

Congress created the court in 1891. At the time, the area was sparsely inhabited – only four percent of the U.S. population lived in the area compared to today’s 20 percent.

In 1998, Congress appointed a commission to reexamine the federal appeals courts’ structure. The commission ultimately recommended against splitting the 9th Circuit.

But carving up the large circuit isn’t out of the realm of possibility. In 1929, Congress split the 8th Circuit to accommodate a population boom and increased caseloads.

There's Congress's precedence...now DO IT! Perhaps we can get some better, originalist judges appointed to the new circuit as well.

Related link: Republicans create bill to fracture the “nutty” 9th Circuit Court

Price now in position to dismantle Obamacare

Warm up the shredder!

FoxNews: Tom Price was sworn in to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after winning Senate confirmation early Friday morning, placing him in position to lead the way in dismantling Obamacare.

It was the Senate's fourth consecutive contested vote for a Trump Cabinet secretary. Partisan battles for Cabinet posts are usually rare, but the first weeks of Trump's presidency have seen little collegiality between the two sides.

Price is a veteran House member and orthopedic surgeon who Republicans call a knowledgeable pick for the job. ...

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to pare back elements of ObamaCare that do not require a congressional vote, The Wall Street Journal reported. Price is expected to follow through on the order.

Don't give in to the ridiculous Democratic scare tactics. Rip the HELL out of this government takeover! Restore free market solutions, promote a variety of plans, expand HSAs, create larger pools across state lines, enable competition among insurance companies, push through tort and entitlement reforms, defund Planned Parenthood, rejuvenate medical innovation, and finally, do what everyone wanted in the first place, tackle the rising costs of procedures and prescriptions!

Assad says some refugees are 'definitely' terrorists

Can't get any more blunt than this, yet the Left's politicos, pundits and judiciary somehow know better? Don't take it from me. Take it from the guy who'd know. I mean, his country is still on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list after all!

Yahoo: Weighing in on one of the most contentious issues in American politics — the danger posed to host countries by the 4.8 million people who have fled from Syria’s civil war — Syrian President Bashar Assad told Yahoo News that some of the refugees are “definitely” terrorists.

In an exclusive interview with Yahoo News at a presidential office in Damascus, Assad said President Trump’s freeze on admitting refugees from his country — part of an executive order that has drawn widespread protests and is being challenged in federal court — “is an American issue” on which he would not take sides. But asked if some of those who fled are “aligned with terrorists,” Assad quickly replied, “Definitely.”

“You can find it on the Net,” Assad went on: “Those terrorists in Syria, holding the machine gun or killing people, they [appear as] peaceful refugees in Europe or in the West.” He said he couldn’t estimate how many there might be, but he added that “you don’t need a significant number to commit atrocities.” He noted that the 9/11 attacks were pulled off by fewer than 20 terrorists “out of maybe millions of immigrants in the United States. So it’s not about the number, it’s about the quality, it’s about the intentions.”

As for the future of Syria’s 4.8 million refugees, Assad said, “For me, the priority is to bring those citizens to their country, not to help them immigrate.”

Wow. Sounds downright reasonable, huh? But not even this dictator would convince the American Left. They care more about the invented-out-of-thin-air so-called rights of a foreign people unendingly ushered into our nation (no less for dependency and votes, mind you) over the safety of their own fellow citizens. It's sickening the lengths they go to and the turmoil they'd thrust on our country just to regain power. But that's the dirty of it all.

Related link: Trump thwarted: 100 Syrians 'rushed in' over just 2 days

9th 'Circus' says no pause on free flow of non-citizens from countries of concern

No big shocker here from the leftist clowns that have made a three-ring circus of the judiciary in this nation...

BREAKING: 9th Circuit DENIES stay. https://t.co/HLs0EVbY2y pic.twitter.com/y9Plsl2w6W

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) February 9, 2017

Trumps response:

SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

LISTEN: Mark Levin explains PATHETIC ruling from the 9th circuit on Trump’s immigration EO

Mark Levin weighed in on the ruling from the 9th circuit on Trump’s immigration executive order, calling it both pathetic and predictable.

The bottom line, as Levin points out, is that the court is conferring due process and constitutional rights onto a class of individuals that don’t have it.

Previously on Wednesday, Levin says Donald Trump has every right and reason to criticize liberal judges:



I believe it was this same show in which Levin reiterated the need for a Convention of States. Lawmakers should come together not only to impose term limits on judges, but to also renew what Article III Section 1 clearly specifies, "shall hold their offices during good behaviour." Rogue decisions based outside the jurisdiction of the courts cannot be viewed as good behavior. Levin says it's time to rein in the rogue federal judiciary NOW! 



Oh yeah, and there was this!

LAWFARE: "Remarkably, in the entire opinion, the panel did not bother even to cite this (the) statute." A disgraceful decision!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2017

Related links: WATCH: Alan Dershowitz explains Trump’s next best move and it’s NOT the Supreme Court
Ted Cruz: Trump should WIN if he takes travel ban to the Supreme Court
Showdown: Trump vs. Judiciary, Pass The Popcorn
Poll Shows Americans Approve Of Trump Executive Orders

ADDENDUM: Daniel Horowitz has a GREAT answer right here:

Want to take back our sovereignty? Start by breaking up the Ninth Circuit

The spectacle of the U.S. government having to grovel before the Ninth Circuit to determine whether we are a sovereign nation or not should draw attention to another important initiative: the effort to break up the tyrannical Ninth Circus Court of Appeals.

Believe it or not, the courts did not create themselves. Congress has plenary control over lower courts and the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Congress can abolish the lower courts altogether and reroute their cases to state courts. Every aspect of the court system’s structure — administrative procedures, rules of adjudication, methods of interpretation, and logistics of proceedings — can be regulated by Congress in any way. As such, it goes without saying that Congress can, as it has done in the past, modify the geographical jurisdiction of an existing circuit.

ADDENDUM II: Levin addressed more on Friday...



Related links: LEVIN: EARTH TO LEFTIES, THE COURTS ARE OFTEN WRONG!
The Ninth Circuit’s stolen sovereignty should serve as final wakeup call

Sessions CONFIRMED as new AG

Done...Finally!

BREAKING: Senate votes to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions as the next US attorney general https://t.co/ZLFSPwxDhG https://t.co/LzT7OJsHrm

— CNN (@CNN) February 9, 2017

Sen. Ted Cruz released a statement exclaiming that Sen. Sessions will restore the Rule of Law!

“The confirmation of Sen. Sessions to be the 84th Attorney General of the United States is wonderful news for those who revere the rule of law. Sen. Sessions has impressive credentials, and having worked alongside him on both the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, I have witnessed firsthand his steadfast integrity, his passion for the rule of law and law enforcement, and the profound mutual respect and admiration that exists between him and our men and women in blue.

“Jeff Sessions has led a remarkable career representing the people of Alabama, and he is undoubtedly well suited to serve the American people as the next U.S. Attorney General. I look forward to working with him as he takes on this new role and restores integrity to the leadership of the Department of Justice.”

I certainly hope so. We could use some actual Justice for a change from Obama's Holder/Lynch injustice department!

Cruz ROASTS the socialist in Obamacare debate

Obamacare? Aren't we done with that yet? Nope. But if Tuesday night's debate gives us any indication where that catastrophe is going, then perhaps we'll be done with it soon enough...

TheResurgent: Tuesday night CNN hosted a debate between Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders about the Affordable Care Act. While there has been a great deal of discussion about the effectiveness of such a debate, there was little doubt that it would be entertaining. Cruz has a reputation for being a skilled debater, going back to his undergraduate experience with the Princeton debate team. Sanders, despite his cult following and brash speaking style, left a lot to be desired in the Democratic primary debates against Hillary Clinton. Any serious political observer pretty much knew Cruz would wipe up the floor with the old socialist curmudgeon, and Ted did not disappoint. There were several great moments from the night, but three in particular stand out.

First, in what may be the most cringe-worthy moment of the night, Bernie severely mishandled a question from Texas small business owner LaRonda Hunter. As part of Obamacare, all businesses employing more than 50 workers are required to provide their employees health insurance. Ronda operates several hair salons in Texas with 48 employees, and she does not have the profit margins required to provide health insurance. She asked Senator Sanders, “How do I grow my business without raising prices to my customers or lowering wages of my employees?” Bernie then proceeded to lecture LaRonda about leaving her employees without healthcare and taking a competitive advantage over businesses that provide insurance. It was a horribly awkward exchange, and Bernie came across as a raging communist blockhead. Much like Obama’s infamous “you didn’t build that” line, Sanders demonstrated that liberals have a severe disconnect with small business owners. If you don’t do anything else today, you need to watch the clip:

Shortly after the exchange on small businesses, Senator Sanders tried to pivot to administrative expenses and the bureaucratic burden on healthcare providers. Naturally Sanders blames the paperwork burden on insurance companies, not Obamacare. Ted, on the other hand, turns this point into a strong attack on the Affordable Care Act. In my eyes this was the key moment of the night, as it basically represents the entire debate in a nutshell. Specifically, look at the evidence Cruz provides vs. the lack of evidence from Sanders. That was pretty common throughout the entire debate.

And lastly, Cruz gives a blistering rebuke of Sander’s assertion that healthcare is a human right.

“Let’s talk about what rights are. Rights means you have a right for government not to mess with you, for government not to do things to you. If you look at the Bill of Rights, free speech means the government can’t silence you when you’re speaking. Religious liberty means the governoment can’t control who you worship, what your faith is. The Second Amendment means the government can’t take away your guns. Those are rights.”

Overall it was a phenomenal debate, and Cruz demonstrated how conservatives should be attacking Obamacare. Personally I thought the debate was very productive, and I hope this won’t be the last of its kind. There were even a few areas of genuine agreement, such as efforts to go after big pharma, cut through red tape within the FDA, and allow import of approved drugs from other countries. No matter how small those agreements may be, that’s a big deal. It sends a message to Americans that even the two most diametrically opposed men in Congress can agree on some issues. In the hyper-polarized political climate we live in, that’s no small victory.

Related links: Obamacare Is a Failure
Hilarious! Mike Lee Educates Ted Cruz On The Benefits Of Socialism