“LEFT JAB AND RIGHT JAB” JUNE 17, 2019

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“LEFT JAB AND RIGHT JAB”

“Right Jab And Left Jab” was created because we have two commenters that post on a daily basis either in our “IS IT TRUE” or “Readers Forum” columns concerning National or International issues.
Joe Biden and Ronald Reagan’s comments are mostly about issues of national interest.  The majority of our “IS IT TRUE” columns are about local or state issues, so we have decided to give Mr. Biden and Mr. Reagan exclusive access to our newly created “LEFT JAB and RIGHT JAB”  column. They now have this post to exclusively discuss national or world issues that they feel passionate about.
We shall be posting the “LEFT JAB” AND “RIGHT JAB” several times a week.  Oh, “Left Jab” is a liberal view and the “Right Jab is representative of the more conservative views. Also, any reader who would like to react to the written comments of the two gentlemen is free to do so.

FOOTNOTE: Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.

12 COMMENTS

  1. Pocahontas overtakes Sleepy Joe:

    A poll of Minnesota Democrat presidential primary voters released over the weekend shows that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has overtaken former Vice President Joe Biden as the frontrunner in Minnesota, a major development that highlights both Warren’s national surge and Biden’s weakening lead ahead of the first debates.

    Warren, at 21 percent, leads Biden’s 20 percent in the Change Research survey, conducted June 8 to June 12. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) comes in third with 19 percent, while home state Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is in fourth at 16 percent. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is next with 11 percent, followed by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) at 4 percent, former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX) at 3 percent, Andrew Yang at 2 percent, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro all at 1 percent:

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/06/17/poll-elizabeth-warren-overtakes-joe-biden-minnesota/

  2. Hey far left liberals, this is just one reason that southern border security is very important:

    Mexican Feds, DEA Raid Industrial-Scale Fentanyl Lab in Border State

    MONTERREY, Nuevo Leon – Mexican federal authorities raided a large warehouse outfitted by cartel members to allegedly manufacture industrial quantities of fentanyl in closer proximity to Texas.

    https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/06/17/mexican-feds-dea-raid-industrial-scale-fentanyl-lab-in-border-state/

    • Mexico apprehended nearly 800 illegal migrants Saturday, an indication that their government is stepping up immigration enforcement amid pressure from President Donald Trump.

      Mexican authorities nabbed 791 illegal migrants, according to the National Migration Institute, a department within the Mexican government that tracks and manages migration through the country. The foreign nationals were found among four different tractor-trailer trucks stopped in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

      https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/17/mexico-apprehends-800-illegals/

  3. Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs Ban on So-Called ‘Sanctuary Cities’

    Florida’s Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, has signed a bill into law that bans any Florida city from declaring itself a “sanctuary city” to give illegal aliens a free pass from committing crimes.

    The bill would mandate that all local police must cooperate with immigration and federal law enforcement officials.

    “I am proud to sign the bill presented to me by the Florida Legislature to uphold the rule of law and ensure that no city or county jurisdiction can get in the way of Florida’s cooperation with our federal partners to enforce immigration law,” DeSantis said in a statement on Friday, according to Fox News.

    “This is about public safety, not about politics. We must do everything within our power, and use all the tools available to us, to ensure that our communities are safe,” DeSantis added.

    https://godfatherpolitics.com/florida-gov-desantis-signs-ban-on-so-called-sanctuary-cities/

  4. Texas City Votes To Become State’s First ‘Sanctuary City of the Unborn’

    he five-member city council just voted unanimously Tuesday to designate Waskom as “a sanctuary city of the unborn” — the first of its kind in Texas, KTEK reported.

    In front of a packed house of pro-life supporters, they passed an ordinance to prevent abortion providers from locating in their city.

    https://www.westernjournal.com/ct/texas-city-votes-become-states-first-sanctuary-city-unborn/

  5. The sheer lunacy of the far left:

    On Father’s Day, Kamala Harris Compares Military Dads to Illegal Aliens and Criminals

    Democratic Party presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (CA) posted Father’s Day greetings to Twitter on Sunday comparing deployed military fathers who are away from their children on Father’s Day to illegal aliens and accused criminals.

    Your Democratic Party, America.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/on-fathers-day-kamala-harris-compares-military-dads-to-illegal-aliens-and-criminals/

  6. Conservative Rains 🔥🔥🔥Hellfire🔥🔥🔥 On ‘Monstrously Wrong’ Right-Winger Blackburn For Derailing Foreign Election Meddling Bill

    In a scathing column for the Washington Post, CONSERVATIVE Jennifer Rubin dropped the hammer on Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) for blocking a bill in the Senate that would have required campaigns to report offers of information that are already illegal under current law.

    As Rubin notes, Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub just warned Donald Trump and congressional lawmakers that accepting foreign help was illegal. In a statement, following the president’s explosive comments on ABC, Weintraub wrote, “Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office. It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election. This is not a novel concept”

    Despite that, Blackburn chose to not join her colleagues in unanimous consent on the bill proposed by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) leaving it up for a formal vote at a later date. According to Rubin, Blackburn’s decision was “monstrously wrong.”

    “She is in favor of a brand of tribalism that is so morally blinding as to cause her to oppose safeguarding our elections from hostile powers,” wrote the CONSERVATIVE columnist. “In a pathetic effort to defend her vote, she made a long, rambling statement insisting that the bill was overbroad, would somehow entrap volunteer doorknockers on campaigns and would cause campaigns to report “dreamers” (!?).”

    “It was utterly ridiculous and utterly deplorable,” she added. “All public figures have a choice. They can be resolute in defense of the Constitution, or they can be lackeys of a president who’s willing to betray our democracy.”

    Rubin — who grown extremely disenchanted with the Republican Party under Trump — then indicted the whole party.

    “Blackburn is not an outlier. She is emblematic of a party and of a right-wing media machine, including pundits who know very well that Trump’s comments are monstrously wrong,” she wrote. “These people have jettisoned principle, patriotism and honor. Americans of goodwill must run Trump’s party out of power up and down the ticket in 2020 — and shun those who carried their water when the country needed truth-tellers”

    https://wapo.st/2ZoaJr3

  7. Day 876: Probably Not A Good Idea

    1/ Trump backtracked on his willingness to accept help from foreign governments, saying “of course” he would “absolutely” report an encounter to the FBI. Trump, however, added that he’d alert the FBI only after reviewing the material first, “because if you don’t look at it, you won’t know it’s bad.” (New York Times / Politico)

    📌 Day 875: Trump admitted that he’d “want to hear” from foreign governments with damaging information about his political opponents. Trump claimed “there isn’t anything wrong with listening” to a foreign government if they contacted him and said “we have information on your opponent.” Trump also rejected the notion that accepting damaging information from a foreign government would constitute election interference, saying “It’s not an interference, they have information – I think I’d take it.” FBI Director Christopher Wray during congressional testimony last month told lawmakers that “the FBI would want to know about” any foreign election meddling. Trump, however, said he might alert the FBI “if I thought there was something wrong,” but then said “The FBI director is wrong, because frankly it doesn’t happen like that in life.” (ABC News / Associated Press / NBC News / New York Times / Bloomberg)

    2/ Mitch McConnell downplayed Trump’s willingness to accept foreign dirt on political opponents and not report it to the FBI in 2020. McConnell said Democrats keep bringing up the 2016 presidential election because they “can’t let it go,” and accused Democrats of trying to “harass” Trump. Lindsey Graham, meanwhile, said taking help from foreign agents would be “probably not a good idea.” John Cornyn added: “I’d rather just have Americans participate in American elections.” (Politico / CNN)

    3/ Senate Republicans blocked a bill requiring campaigns to tell the FBI about any offers of foreign assistance they receive. Marsha Blackburn called the legislation’s reporting requirements “overbroad,” and complained that it would require campaigns to worry about disclosures at “so many different levels.” Mark Warner said Blackburn’s assessment of the bill was “not accurate,” and “The only thing that would have to be reported is if the agent of a foreign government or national offered that something that was already prohibited.” (Axios)

    4/ The head of the Federal Election Commission reiterated that foreign assistance is illegal in U.S. elections. “I would not have thought that I needed to say this,” Ellen Weintraub tweeted. “Let me make something 100 percent clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election.” (Politico / The Hill)

    5/ The Justice Department supported Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s refusal to turn over Trump’s tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee. The Office of Legal Counsel released its legal rationale for refusing to provide Trump’s tax returns to Congress, saying the request was designed to make the returns public, which “is not a legitimate legislative purpose.” (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)

    📌 Day 841: The House Ways and Mean Committee subpoenaed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over Trump’s tax returns. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig was also subpoenaed. Chairman Richard Neal gave Mnuchin and Rettig until until May 17 to turn over six years of Trump’s returns, and is expected to go to court to enforce his request if the Trump administration continues to argue that the committee does not have a legitimate legislative purpose that warrants compliance. Earlier this week, Mnuchin rejected Neal’s request for the returns. Trump previously vowed to fight all subpoenas from House Democrats. Subpoenas are now pending from the Ways and Means, Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, Financial Services, and the Intelligence Committees. (CNBC / New York Times / Politico / Washington Post /Wall Street Journal)

    Notables:

    The owner of one of the Japanese oil tankers that was attacked in the Straight of Hormuz says the U.S. is wrong about the attack, contradicting the claims made — without evidence — by Trump and Mike Pompeo. The U.S. military released a video and claimed that it shows Iranian boats retrieving an unexploded mine from the oil tanker, but the owner of the tanker says his sailors saw “flying objects” just before it was hit. Yutaka Katada called the reports claiming the tanker was hit by a mine “false” and denied any possibility of a mine or torpedo attack because “the impact was well above the water.” Trump blamed Iran for the attack, describing the country is a “nation of terror.” (CBS News / New York Times / Washington Post / Daily Beast / NBC News / NPR / The Guardian / Associated Press)

    Trump doesn’t plan to fire Kellyanne Conway for her repeated violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity in their official roles. “It looks to me like they’re trying to take away her right of free speech,” Trump said, “and that’s just not fair.” A report submitted to Trump by the Office of Special Counsel found that Conway violated the Hatch Act on multiple occasions by “disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.” (Washington Post / CNN)

    The Trump administration and Congress owe Washington, D.C. more than $7 million in expenses from Trump’s 2017 inauguration. The total cost of the four days of events, parade, and gathering of roughly 600,000 people on the Mall, was $27.3 million. Congress appropriated roughly $20 million for Trump’s inauguration. (Washington Post)

    Ivanka Trump made $4 million from her investment in the Trump International Hotel last year. (Bloomberg)

    D.C. residents filed a petition to revoke the Trump International Hotel’s liquor license. D.C. law states that license applicants must be of “good character and generally fit for the responsibilities of licensure.” (Washington Post)

    A physicist appointed by the White House to counter the federal government’s own climate science consulted a group that disavows manmade climate change. William Happer reached out to the Heartland Institute to discuss his arguments in a paper attempting to knock down the contributions of fossil fuel emissions in climate disruption. Happer is now a member of Trump’s National Security Council. (Associated Press / The Guardian)

    The Trump administration cannot block pregnant, undocumented teenagers held in government custody from getting abortions, a federal appeals court ruled. The court concluded that they were “rejecting the government’s position that its denial of abortion access can be squared with Supreme Court precedent.” (CNN / BuzzFeed News)

    ICE placed 5,200 adult immigrants in quarantine after being exposed to mumps or chicken pox while in custody. About 4,200 have been exposed to mumps, 800 exposed to chicken pox, and 100 have been exposed to both. (CNN)

    Trump declined to endorse Mike Pence for president in 2024, instead said he would give it “strong consideration.” (USA Today / Politico)

    http://bit.ly/2ZyF4Dv

  8. Officials Hiding Details Of Anti-Russia Espionage From 💩Trump💩 For Fear He’d Nix It—OR ALERT RUSSIA

    There’s a lot to unpack in this New York Times story describing newly aggressive United States infiltrations of the electronic systems that make up Russia’s electric power grid. The surreptitious placement of software that could potentially disable or damage a nation’s power grid—whether as inconvenience, or catastrophically—has been for years a tool in the arsenal of Russia, China, the United States and other technologically advanced nations; United States’ own infrastructure has been relentlessly targeted

    That the Times was able to publish the story at all, sourced to “current and former government officials,” suggests that advertising the expanded program may be much of the point. In the words of a particularly famous presidential adviser, “The whole point of the Doomsday Machine is lost if you keep it a secret.” Whether the United States has or has not truly infiltrated the grid at all is beside the point; the main outcome of the Times’ story will be a frantic scramble by Russian security efforts to attempt to identify and thwart the new threat. That national security officials pointedly did not object to the publication of the Times’ story in advance (despite Trump’s less than coherent blasting of the paper) may be taken as evidence that the leaking of the program is an intentional and tactical act

    But then there is this humdinger: A note that Trump’s own government officials are attempting to withhold from Trump the details of their actions because of an institution-wide perception that Donald Trump would immediately either forbid their operations towards Russia or turn around and reveal those details to the Russians themselves:

    Pentagon and intelligence officials described broad hesitation to go into detail with Mr. Trump about operations against Russia for concern over his reaction — and the possibility that he might countermand it or discuss it with foreign officials, as he did in 2017 when he mentioned a sensitive operation in Syria to the Russian foreign minister

    That is, as the kids say, a hell of a thing. Top actors in the U.S. military and Trump’s own government are attempting to evade filling Trump in on the details of an anti-Russian espionage effort because of an informed suspicion that Donald Trump might well sabotage their efforts on behalf of their Russian targets. They are acting with at least some consideration that Trump, as president, may either be acting as foreign agent or is simply so incapable of restraint that he could expose intelligence details he has been given in order to ingratiate himself with, or merely make smalltalk with, foreign visitors.

    “Pentagon and intelligence officials” consider the possibility of Trump intentionally or inadvertently taking action to protect Russia significant enough to dodge briefing Trump on the operation’s details, concerned enough for multiple of them to express it to New York Times reporters, and that’s buried many paragraphs down?

    The thing of it is, of course, that those officials are not wrong. Trump has repeatedly stepped in to defend Russia from the United States intelligence services, most substantially via repeated rebuffs of U.S. intelligence conclusions on Russian hacking and propaganda efforts during the 2016 campaign. Trump did indeed expose classified information during his very first photo-op with Russian government officials; Trump’s private meetings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, meetings in which no American government official is present and no record of the conversation is allowed, is both wildly not-normal and a continued source of alarm.

    If the intelligence community sees Donald Trump as a significant threat to the nation’s national security concerns, they have ample evidence for thinking so. And we still have not even the barest inkling of the counterintelligence conclusions associated with the Mueller investigation into Russian contacts with Trump’s 2016 campaign team: Intelligence officials are, so far, still refusing to brief Congress. That is another very peculiar act, by the intelligence community, and it seems implausible that they would take such action merely for the sake of peeving lawmakers.

    http://bit.ly/2Zzw0yj

  9. 💩Trump💩 Again Attacks Press As ‘Enemy Of The People’ And Suggests Public May ‘Demand’ He Not Leave Office

    For reasons that can only be guessed at 💩Trump💩 is in an especially foul mood this weekend. That has manifested itself primarily as ever-escalating attacks on the free press, repeating in multiple tweets charges that the “Corrupt News Media” is “without doubt, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

    Among his attacks, 💩Trump💩 accused the New York Times of committing a “virtual act of Treason” in reporting that the United States is increasing “Cyber Attacks on Russia,” adding in a second tweet: “ALSO, NOT TRUE”

    It again needs to be said that this is not normal or acceptable behavior. Using the office of the presidency, 💩Trump💩 has maintained a steady campaign of rhetoric accusing the free press—specifically, whatever outlets have last published stories on him and his presidency that he doesn’t like—of being the “enemy” of the nation, charges that continue to stoke violence against political journalists. At best, he does not appear to care that this targeting of the press is resulting in violence; at worst, that is his intent.

    This continues to be a betrayal of his office, and his apparent inability or unwillingness to restrain himself continues to be plain evidence that he is dangerously unfit.

    His idle musing that perhaps “the people” might “demand” that he remain president after two terms, however, is yet another manifestation of his narcissistic delusions. In Trump’s own mind he is both wildly popular and transcendentally accomplished, able to make America “GREAT” again through sheer force of will; it then stands to reason, he presumes (or, at least, declares) that any reporting to the contrary, in any venue, is a conspiracy against him. He is not right in the head. He is stoking violence, seemingly on purpose. He is manipulating bigotries as means to power; he is using that power primarily for self-promotion and self-enrichment.

    It is not normal, it is not acceptable, and as the Republican Party rallies around his delusions and vigorously defends even his provably criminal acts it continues to metastasize into something very close to fascism. Using the office to declare journalists to be enemies of the state is right now, today, doing extraordinary harm to our democracy. Republicans, however, continue to be silent

    http://bit.ly/2Zt4lin

  10. Washington Post drops the hammer on the ‘breathtaking arrogance’ of Kellyanne 🐀 Conway in brutal editorial

    Addressing a report from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel recommending White House counsel Kellyanne 🐀 Conway should be fired for flagrant violations of the Hatch Act, the Washington Post editorial board hammered the 💩Trump💩 confidante over her smirking response

    “🐀 Conway is well-versed in long-standing ethics law that bars federal employees from engaging in partisan politics while on the job. Restrictions of the Hatch Act have been spelled out to her in formal training, individual conversations and multiple written communications by the Office of White House Counsel. She simply doesn’t care that she violates the law. ‘Blah, blah, blah. . . . Let me know when the jail sentence starts,’ she quipped to a reporter”

    According to the Post, that puts her on the same level as her above-the-rules boss 💩Trump💩

    “Even worse than her breathtaking arrogance is that the president she works for — and on whose behalf she regularly and belligerently violates the Hatch Act — cares even less about the rules,” the editorial continues.

    “💩Trump💩 made clear Friday that he had no intention of following the recommendation of a watchdog government agency that Ms. 🐀 Conway be fired for her ‘egregious, notorious, and ongoing’ Hatch Act violations,” the piece added, citing the OLC report.

    Adding “given 💩Trump💩 disdain for the norm and the premium he places on slavish devotion to him, it’s no surprise he didn’t fire 🐀Conway but instead rose to her defense,” the board commended Trump administration official, special counsel Henry J. Kerner who issued the damning accusations.

    “Credit to Mr. Kerner, who was appointed 💩Trump💩 for his clear-eyed examination of the issues and unprecedented recommendation to fire someone in such a high-profile position. Calling out Ms. Conway’s egregious behavior and the danger it poses serves as a rebuke not just of Ms. Conway’s actions but of the president as well”

    https://wapo.st/2WOFowb

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