The abrupt resignation Monday evening of White House national security adviser Michael Flynn is the
Source: Former Obama Officials, Loyalists Waged Secret Campaign to Oust Flynn
Doug Smith: Discrimination versus Prejudice
13 Feb
Doug Smith: Author, historian, patriot and lead contributor to Free State Patriot
February 13, 2017
When I was a wee lad, I once ate food off a dirty dish that had sat overnight. I took a brief, disgusting sip of turpentine. When I was a foolish lad of 16, one of my friends decided the time had come for me to experience a new vista. He bought me a bottle of Boone’s Farm Apple “wine” and a pepperoni and banana peppers pizza from a Huntington, WV pizza shop who shall remain nameless and blameless for what occurred. The wine, by courtesy only, in that it does derive from fruit, is more closely associated with embalming fluid and starter fluid, with artificial flavorings. Someday I hope to repay him for the favor, and the next day’s misery, and the violent rejection of all that horrible combination in my stomach. With a hammer.
Some years later, when I was actually old enough to do so, I bought for myself a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild Bordeaux, 1976. Produced in the Bordeaux Region of France from a mix of cabernet, merlot, and Malbec grapes, it has a high tannin content for a rich, fruity flavor and pairs nicely with lamb or beef dishes, and pungent cheeses. I enjoyed a few glasses of it with a filet mignon, rare, coated with blue cheese crumbles, and slices of aged Sharp Cheddar.
Mind you I have not shifted from writing about politics, social issues, and history and taken up the Food Critic chair at Free State Patriot. This is personal history, and illustrates a point I wish to make.
In both cases I drank some wine and ate some food. While the latter was a gastronomic delight, the other was an object lesson on foolishness, or “Why we do not treat 16 year olds as adults. “ My stomach and head made the point very succinctly, both times.
In one case a friend paid 5 dollars for that foul liquid and the pizza (Ok, this was 1972) with a nefarious purpose. In the other, I paid, well, quite a bit more for an excellent meal.
The difference in the two experiences was my discrimination, born of experience and study. Because I had learned to be discriminating.
In our modern and poorly used lexicon, “discrimination” has become a bogey man, a veritable evil and flaw in character. But that is the result of poor understanding of the word, its meaning, and its vital importance in becoming an adult.
We all need to learn to discriminate between better and worse, wrong and right, wise and foolish, dangerous and safe, nurturing and destructive. Otherwise, not only do we miss out on some wonderful meals, but we continue to act from the same foolish notions as a child, with the same unfortunate results.
One discriminates between foods that are tasty and nutritious compared with that which is vile, and so eat better as we learn. I would happily have subsisted on peanut butter and chocolate ice cream when I was 8. I would not eat asparagus or okra, and wanted only the drumsticks from a turkey. Now, I understand that peanut butter is fine, but not the only real food on my menu. Chocolate Ice cream is wonderful, as an occasional dessert, but moderation is called for. Grilled asparagus is wonderful, and the breast meat from that bird is perfect for those after Thanksgiving sandwiches.
Okra, of course, is still a vile, slimy disgusting weed, that falls into the genre of food reviews by Dr Johnson who wrote in his dictionary “ Oats: a grain, eaten in England by horses, but in Scotland by people.”
But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes. Mature, adult humans learn to discriminate. On the food front, we learn, and in the arenas of life we learn as well. Or we stay children.
We learn that the man who lies to us about the little things will likely lie about anything. So we discriminate, based on experience, as to which people we will trust to repay a loan, or return a tool, or show up on time. Or we suffer the results.
We discriminate, based on experience and reading, the areas in a town that are safe or not to walk about at night. Or we suffer the results.
We discriminate about which places we would like to visit on vacation. I would love to travel to Ireland, but would never willingly fly to Iran or Somalia. Does this mean I hate Persians and Somalis? No. It means I can discriminate between a place where I can walk about and see sights and share meals and stand next to Molly Malone ( well, her statue), and places where warlords attack UN convoys of food and steal them, or Western citizens are imprisoned routinely and held for ransom. I discriminate between a country that is friendly and has good ties to my own, and those which demonstrate their hatred of my country, and by extension, me.
Common sense, or wisdom, or, discrimination, tells me I will never drink Boone s Farm, or eat okra (ok, on that one I concede some may differ with me, but yuck!) or put myself at the mercy of people who hate my country and my countrymen. To do these things would be foolish.
To avoid those places and people who hate me, to seek to keep them away from me and my countrymen, to love my own country and people, and put our interests foremost, these things signal reasoned, sober, discrimination.
They do not signal hatred, or unreasoned fear, or some character flaw.
These are the reasoned thoughts and actions of an adult. Those who insist on moral equivalence in everything and everyone, and refuse to learn and practice discrimination are still eating cold eggs from that dirty dish, and calling it steak.
Playing games with the words will not change what ends up in their stomach. Or their community.
How Obama is scheming to sabotage Trump’s presidency | New York Post
11 FebWhen former President Barack Obama said he was “heartened” by anti-Trump protests, he was sending a message of approval to his troops. Troops? Yes, Obama has an army of agitators — numbering
Source: How Obama is scheming to sabotage Trump’s presidency | New York Post
Report: 72 convicted of terrorism from ‘Trump 7’ mostly Muslim countries | Washington Examiner
11 FebSince 9/11, 72 individuals from the seven mostly Muslim countries covered by President Trump’s extreme vetting executive order have been convicted of terrorism, bolstering the administration’s immigration ban. According to a report out Saturday, at least 17 claimed to be refugees from those nations, three came in as students, and 25 eventually became U.S. citizens. The Center for Immigration Studies calculated the numbers of convicted terrorists from the Trump Seven: — Somalia: 20 — Yemen: 19 — Iraq: 19 — Syria: 7 — Iran: 4 — Libya: 2 — Sudan: 1 The Center’s director of policy studies, Jessica M. Vaughan, based her blockbuster report on a 2016 report from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, then chaired by new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that report found that 380 out of 580 people convicted in terror cases since 9/11 were foreign-born.
Source: Report: 72 convicted of terrorism from ‘Trump 7’ mostly Muslim countries | Washington Examiner
Mark Caserta: Liberals trying to slow down the Trump train
10 Feb
Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor
February 10, 2017
Winning the 2016 presidential election was possibly the single most important conservative victory in my lifetime, for many reasons. But paramount to the win is the pending balance of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Liberals, having been reduced to lamenting, ad nauseam, the election of Donald J. Trump, will no doubt seek to bog down the pace at which our new president is working to re-align our nation with our founding fathers’ original intent.
And look for them to do so using the federal court system.
The progressive movement has been notorious for attempting to fundamentally change interpretation of the U.S. Constitution for political gain. The assertion that “any” individual, regardless of religious affiliation, has a constitutionally protected right to enter our country illegally, without comprehensive vetting, is fundamentally and constitutionally unsound.
Citing the First Amendment as justification for violence, property damage and rioting in the streets is simply unabashed lawlessness and nothing short of domestic terrorism.
Understand, our nation’s top security leaders already have told us we don’t have an adequate system of vetting individuals from terror-ridden countries. Last year, FBI Director James Comey told a congressional committee that we could “query our database until the cows come home” but if Syrian terrorists have never been on the law enforcement radar, it won’t do any good.
As a candidate, Trump pledged to protect Americans through “extreme vetting” of people from countries representing significant terror concerns. His recent executive order temporarily banning travel from these countries was simply fulfilling a promise to the American people.
But despite the fact voters decisively elected a president willing to compromise Washington political correctness rather than the lives of Americans, some on Capitol Hill are willing to stay the course.
Last Friday, a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary nationwide restraining order on Trump’s executive order, questioning its “rationale.” The Department of Justice is appealing the ruling, but this may be one of many such cases eventually decided by the Supreme Court.
Currently, the Supreme Court (operating shy one justice since the passing of Antonin Scalia) is fairly balanced. Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are arguably extremely liberal, while Samuel Alito, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas are widely considered conservatives. Justices Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy could be considered moderates.
But two of the justices (Ginsburg and Kennedy) are over 80 years of age, and Breyer is 78. The remaining justices range in age from 55 to 67. Besides the replacement of Justice Scalia, we could see any number of Supreme Court nominations by the current administration.
President Trump intends to nominate Supreme Court justices who will not attempt to “legislate” progressive views from the bench. And obviously, a GOP-controlled Congress and conservative-leaning Supreme Court would be beneficial to his cause.
Trump could, in fact, determine the court’s balance for decades!
So, while the left may be successful at “slowing down” the Trump train, Americans will ensure he succeeds.
Liberals can get on board, but they may have to “sit in the back seat,” just as President Obama suggested in 2010 that Republicans should do in likening running the economy to driving a car.
Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.
Soros Fingerprints All Over Anti-Trump Lawsuits | LifeZette
6 FebMore than a dozen lawsuits and counting have been filed against President Donald Trump’s executive order that temporarily blocks visas from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. Looking beyond the handful of emotional personal stories that are gaining the media’s sympathy, there is a more predictable political power dynamic at play. The lawsuits largely stem from organizations bankrolled by billionaire leftist George Soros and Democratic state attorneys general. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has carried out a political vendetta against Trump, led 15 other state attorneys general in a joint statement condemning what they called an “unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful executive order.” The Democratic AGs also said, “Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country and no president can change that truth,” a curious statement from the party that targeted the Little Sisters of the Poor. “It shouldn’t surprise anyone that pressure groups funded by George Soros are litigating to keep U.S.
Source: Soros Fingerprints All Over Anti-Trump Lawsuits | LifeZette
Mark Caserta: Trump continues to work for the American people
3 Feb2.3.2017
“Political correctness” has seen its day in Washington. “America first” is the new defining vernacular on Capitol Hill, without regard to progressive disapproval.
Just as Donald J. Trump promised the American people, he is methodically addressing debilitating liberal policies which have been crippling our nation and making us increasingly vulnerable to terrorist attack.
Last week, President Trump continued his decisive approach to returning our nation to the rule of law by fulfilling his campaign pledge to fight illegal immigration, which arguably catapulted him into the GOP nomination and ultimately a monumental presidential victory.
Following the ceremonial swearing-in of Homeland Security Director, John Kelly, by Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s pen immediately went into action, signing two more executive orders protecting our nation’s sovereignty.
The president’s first executive order called for the construction of a wall along our southern, U.S.-Mexican border. It also provided the DHS additional resources, including 5,000 additional border agents, to stop illegals from entering the United States without “inspection” or “admission.”
Following Trump’s executive action, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his praise of the president’s decision to build a wall along the border per a column in the Washington Post, by William Booth.
“President Trump is right,” Netanyahu wrote. “I built a wall along Israel’s southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea.”
Trump’s second executive order bolstered the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch of the U.S. government and its ability to enforce existing immigration laws.
Multiple news agencies, including CBS News, reported Trump’s order reinstated the Secure Communities Program, which ICE “uses to target undocumented immigrants, directs the State Department to withhold visas or take other measures to ensure countries take back” illegal immigrants.
The order also strips federal grant money from sanctuary cities that harbor illegal immigrants, despite opposition from liberal mayors across the United States who vow to maintain their sanctuary city policies.
Liberals have no justification for allowing unvetted, illegal immigrants across our borders – period. And subscribing to the progressive mantra of “compassion” and “inclusion” is dangerously nave.
Sadly, this counterfeit compassion is largely responsible for borders which may have already been breached by a terrorist cell intending mass casualties within the U.S.
The inconvenient truth of the matter is that progressives are willing to “bet your life” just for a vote, and Americans have had enough.
Liberal Democrats and the GOP establishment had better take note of the resounding message voters sent last November.
There’s a new sheriff in town and he’s working for the American people.
Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.
Mark Caserta: Team Trump shows it’s ready to go to work for Americans
27 JanDespite liberal obstacles…
Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor
1.27.2017
President Donald J. Trump wasted no time, following his inauguration, going to work for the American people.
Wielding his own version of a “pen and phone” legislative approach, President Trump signed his first executive orders in the Oval Office last Friday evening. His initial actions addressed national security, healthcare and, arguably, the economy.
Minutes after taking the presidential oath using two bibles, one presented to him by his mother and the other used by President Lincoln at his first inauguration, President Trump made his official entrance into the White House, where he commissioned Gen. James Mattis as secretary of defense and John Kelly as secretary of homeland security.
He also signed executive orders instructing federal agencies to “minimize the burden” of his predecessor’s signature healthcare law, essentially “stopping the bleeding” of Obamacare by preventing any further potential actions being taken to preserve the presumably outgoing piece of failing legislation. All this per CBS News live coverage of the Trump inauguration.
Understand, this sort of decisive approach is Donald Trump’s “brassy” way of setting the tone for his next four years as president. Skeptics have already begun mocking Trump’s “first 100-day plan” as overly ambitious. But, it’s apparent they don’t understand effective management skills and the art of networking, delegation and accountability.
An integral competency President Trump sought in his choices for cabinet members was the proven ability to manage people and resources. Frankly, this was an aptitude the Obama administration was sorely lacking and adversely consequential to his legacy and success. This faculty will play heavily in Trump’s execution.
I assure you, part of the Trump interview process included the candidate’s vision for formulating their teams and their detailed plans as to how they would achieve their respective goals.
Pursuant to fulfilling his promises to the American people, I believe the Team Trump has already begun laying the foundation for the major initiatives which got him elected to the presidency.
President Trump will waste no time addressing some “low-hanging fruit” and negating his predecessor’s executive orders, which largely ignored the wishes of most Americans. Eliminating government regulations unduly impacting American workers will be at the top of his list.
President Trump will rely heavily on his strengths as a businessman and negotiator and set into motion his intentions to renegotiate deals adversely impacting American jobs, such as NAFTA, or deals compromising our nation’s safety, such as the Iran nuclear deal.
I suspect engineers are finalizing plans for the wall he will build at the southern border. He will then circumspectly begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from our country and canceling visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.
Any day now, Trump will select a Supreme Court replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Additionally, Trump’s first few weeks in office will be spent identifying his resources and providing clarity as to his expectations.
The stage is set and the wheels are in motion.
Team Trump is ready to “Make America great again.”
Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.
Doug Smith: May “all those responsible” choose well.
22 Jan
Doug Smith: Author, historian, patriot and lead contributor to Free State Patriot
Doug penned this column on January 20, 2017, before, during and after the Trump inauguration:
This is the last article I will begin to write during the Obama administration.
Later today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as 45th POTUS, and the liberal progressive statist utopian leftists will be doing a lot of swearing as well.
But I digress.
Barack Obama leaves office today, causing many on the right to breathe a great sigh of relief, after being somewhat fearful 8 years ago that we might not survive him. Many on the Left are in tearful hysterics, certain we will not survive a pragmatic semi conservative succeeding a dedicated Leftist Radical. Everyone, just take a big deep breath. We survived 2 World Wars, are fighting a 3rd one, survived several Depressions, the Soviets, numerous economic downturns, and attacks on our way of life and our core institutions from within and without. The Snowdults (my own term, do you like it? These are folks over the age of 18 who apparently have none of the requisite skills or knowledge to function in the world as what were previously called adults, do, despite many their age pounding the ground with a rifle, driving a Submarine, or holding down 2 jobs to support a family.) retreat to color and play with puppies and weep inconsolably that things are not fair, like a 3 year old, but yet here we still are.
We have survived Barack Obama. We are about to start cleaning up his mess. We did not get the POTUS to do so that many wanted, but we did reject one who was more of the same, with less charm and more greed. I was not a Trump guy, but found him clearly and vastly preferable to HRC. I remain a conservative and patriot, believing in this country as truly exceptional and unique in history, and believing the values we have mostly espoused are those most likely to move us in a better direction.
As Ooopsicus, that 4th century Roman mostly remembered for his quotes, “Jupiter’s nose hairs, look at all the Visigoths! And, Honey, get the kids, we’re moving to Britannia. “once said “Goth Darn it, nobody is too big to fail. “
And so, I have a few observations on this day of transition, which will perhaps be a cusp in the history of our nation.
- There have been several cusp events in the last century that shaped us. Kennedy and Vietnam, Carter and Iran, Reagan and Russia, Bush and 9/11 key among them. These were significant emotional events, and shaped how we perceive and act. This could be one of those. We shall see.
- When you’re in command, Command! When you win, act like you’ve won. Don’t apologize for governing differently than your opponents. People elected you based on what you said you believed, and they expect you to act reasonably like it. When someone like the GOP tries to win with one idea, then move away from it because their opponents talk badly about them for it, their friends and supporters will play a trump card. ( I couldn’t resist)
- “The Crown must not only act generously, the Crown must be seen to be acting generously. “ In short don’t let your enemies or your adversaries control the narrative. The biggest mistake the Bush 43 administration made was the choice to “ Stay above the fray, “ and not respond to the lies and character assassinations of the opponents on the Left. Conservatives have paid the price for that for over a decade, as the Left got away over and over with characterizing him as an incompetent fool of a cowboy. Even today, after years of recounts have shown that Al Gore did, indeed, get thumped in 2000, despite trying to suppress military votes (No, Big Al, we have not forgotten that), despite using the courts, which are the ballot box of choice of the Left, and spending millions, and even the NYT conceding quietly that Gore lost, Bush won, Lefties will still parrot the narrative. So, despite the jokes and shaking heads about Trump Twitter, he should not let the Left control the narrative.
As I continue this article, Donald Trump is now the 45th President of the United States. Regarding the Liberal Women’s marches this weekend, a few notes.
- Conservative women or women’s groups were systematically disinvited from the march. But it is all about women’s rights. And Donald Trump’s mouth. Sure.
- Most who marched voted for Hillary or Jill. Typically, they don’t accept the results of the election, and so they march. Screaming in the streets is not how we distribute power. If they voted, their votes were counted, and that is that. (But what of the ones who marched in other countries? Answer? I don’t care. It is not your country. You don’t get to pick our leaders, or our policies.)
- I note that there were no marches in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, or Nigeria. I note that none of the crowd from this weekend marched against Boko Haram, who quite literally captured schoolgirls and forced them into slavery. But at least they held up some signs on Twitter. Thank God for their help. Otherwise, all those victims would still be in slavery. Oh, wait…
- So, since we are debating numbers who attended the Inauguration, are there more or less women protesting the boorish behavior of Donald Trump than there were protesting the boorish behavior of Bill Clinton? Oh wait, that’s right. Leftie women went on the talk shows to insist that they would take the place of the objects of his peccadillos. As long as he voted right. Or rather, left. Hypocrisy, anyone?
- Also on the subject of how many attended the Inaugurations of Trump vs Obama, remember all the threats of violence, protests, and violence actually perpetrated around Obama’s weekend? Of course you don’t. But you know what, keeping Andrea Bocelli from singing at the event (Classy, Lefties, very classy. You made death threats and threatened to end the career of an enormously talented blind man. Oh well done. Bask in the pride of your accomplishments.) doesn’t change one thing. Maybe it is high time we got away from having the Hollywood A-listers involved. But with or without Celine Dion, Bruce Springsteen, or Meryl Streep, Donald Trump is still President of the United States. Maybe he will get back to a Teddy Roosevelt tradition, a day a year on the lawn with a lemonade just chatting with the folks who want to come and greet their President.
- Since I have been politically aware, and able to vote, we have had Reagan, Bush, Bush, and Trump. It seems, according to the Left, that they all wanted to kill grandma, starve children, enslave minorities, start a nuclear war, and take the vote away from women. Evidently they all fell short, in that women, and minorities, and grandmas continue to flock to the US, not away from it to the socialist utopias of Russia, or Cuba, or even Venezuela. The US is still, 8 years of damage by Obama s radical leftism notwithstanding, the best place in the world to live regardless of your race, or sex, or class. Rosie O Donnell has not, and will not, keep her promise to leave the country if her favorite liberal is not elected because there is no better place to go. I remember all too well the hysterical lies and misrepresentations of the left when, under Clinton, the Dems proposed increasing the amount spent on school lunch programs, and the GOP countered with a smaller increase. HORROR! The GOP wants to cut school lunch programs. Please, I can’t learn if I’m hungry. Don’t make me go to school hungry. Disgusting, and typical Lefties. Thus has it been, and thus is it still.
You know, after a while, it stops resonating with a lot of people. The Left, like Nancy Pelosi weep about how many are going to lose insurance when Obamacare is repealed, but never admit how many have lost, or given up as unaffordable the insurance they had because of Obamacare. They tout the low unemployment, but ignore that 90 plus million not working, the much higher percentage of jobs that are part time, temporary, and lower wage than they were before. They ignore that the average Joe has not seen a real increase in take home pay in a decade, but has lost ground. They point to the handful of cherry picked successes, and ignore the larger, broader failures.
But when it comes to “kitchen table issue”, the folks trying to pay for food, and insurance, and medicine, and rent, and energy, the folks know how it is for them. The folks know how it is for their neighbors. The folks no longer have much interest in what liberal millionaires have to say about how great things are. The folks are not impressed by rioters, and the same old stuff of the Left. They shake their heads and think, Wow, these guys really miss the 60s, don’t they? Then, they look in their bank accounts, and their refrigerators, and they know.
And they say so. And Said so. They said so in 2010, 2012, 2014, and last November. They said, you guys are not getting it, and we are going to vote for a change from what you are doing.
Obama s administration was a failure. It damaged the country. It damaged the Democrat Party. And the very vocal ones, the ones who get on TV, continue to double down on the same bet, and shriek and weep for the Halcyon days of Obama.
So we as a nation, and the GOP as a party, and Trump as a President have a moment of real opportunity. It has taken 3 elections, but the legacy of Obama has been decimating the Democrat Party and giving Trump the Presidency. The hard Left is still hysterically trying to reclaim what has been resoundingly rejected in 3 successive elections. 4, if you count the fact that the Clintons in the person of Hillary have now been rejected twice.
If they continue as before, and I’m sure they will, and if the GOP and Trump take the message of these elections and govern according to the promises they have made, they have a chance to prove the validity of ideas of limited government, individual responsibility and liberty, American exceptionalism, strong defense, and identifying and hitting hard at our enemies, and being the greatest friend to our friend. If they are true to their promises, the country can bounce back and be even stronger than ever. A President Trump can ask in a debate in 2020, Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago, and get the answer on Nov 8, absolutely! The Democrat Party, having cast its lot as the party of fringe interest groups, and abandoning its traditional constituencies of working class Americans, and failing most of the groups it claims to support, is poised to be marginalized for a generation.
It is a time to choose wisely, and consider what is truly important to us as Americans. That is true for the GOP, the POTUS, and we, the people. In 2008, Barak Obama had the White House and both Houses of Congress. He made choices with that political capital, and we are where we are.
The people have spoken, and now here we are.
Choose well, Mr. President.
Free State Patriot 