By Florida Bill
Inspector General Michael Horowitz...Come out from behind that rock and tell Americans the results of your investigation into the conduct of James Comey as you promised you would do.
Is the former FBI director a "fix" artist and a leaker of privileged documents who supervised a "sham" investigation into the alleged misdeeds of Hillary Clinton?
What is already pretty clear is that Comey lied in public statements after being sworn to tell the truth; that he forwarded privileged documents to the Washington Post newspaper, and that he sought to protect Hillary Clinton from negative attacks. Is the time coming where citizens will hear the truth, unfiltered by a biased media hellbent on destroying President Trump?
FBI Director Christopher Wray, appointed by President Trump in June and confirmed by the Senate in September, has testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and assured everyone that Horowitz is assessing the conduct of the former FBI chief in his investigation of Hillary Clinton and her mishandling of classified emails. Wray also indicated that he, along with everybody else, would like to see some movement on the part of the IG.
We will await his findings and then take the appropriate and necessary action if warranted, Wray told Congressmen on the committee.
Wray is the FBI chief who replaced Comey who was fired by President Trump on May 9. Wray was grilled for several hours by U.S. Representatives who demanded to know the fate of Comey. There are many who believe Comey "tanked" his investigation of Hillary Clinton, ignored her criminal misdeeds, and then conspired with Democrats and biased FBI agents to promote her candidacy for president.
On Jan. 12, 2017, nine days before President Trump was sworn into office, Horowitz announced at a news conference that he would examine the behavior of Comey for possible misconduct in his investigation of Mrs. Clinton and use of her private email server in her basement while she was Secretary of State in the Obama administration. If misconduct is found, Horowitz said he would not hesitate to recommend prosecution. He promised a written report at the conclusion of his work.
IG Horowitz was appointed in 2012 with confirmation by the Senate to provide oversight of the sprawling Department of Justice, which includes the FBI as its key component. The IG supervises a nationwide work force of more than 450 special agents, auditors, inspectors and attorneys with a mission of detecting fraud and mismanagement. The announcement by the IG of his investigation of Comey's probe of Mrs. Clinton, came in the midst of a firestorm of complaints about Comey, and of the "get out of jail free" card which he gave to Mrs. Clinton despite evidence indicating her criminal behavior in the handling of classified emails; and her corrupt supervision of the billion dollar Clinton Foundation.
Following President Trump's victory, Democrats came out swinging. They demanded Comey's resignation, blaming him for Hillary Clinton's failed candidacy because of his bizarre and questionable investigative techniques. Republicans, on the other hand, saw Comey as a manipulator who conducted a "sham" investigation of Clinton, sans a grand jury, predetermined that Clinton would be adjudged innocent of any misdeeds and would ultimately be elected President.
Soon after Trump discharged Comey using his constitutional authority, embittered Democrats sought to turn the tables on President Trump and shift attention away from Comey and his questionable exoneration of Mrs. Clinton.
To accomplish that, and with the assistance of the "fake news" media, Trump was accused of "collusion" with the Russians. Subsequently, a Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, a personal friend of the embattled Comey, was appointed to that post. Currently, Mueller's investigation is spinning its wheels, but has not produced an iota of evidence of "collusion," and Mueller, himself, has failed to live up to his reputation as a professional who will be fair and unbiased. Because of apparent conflicts, and a troubling close friendship with Comey, the respected Wall Street Journal newspaper, and Judicial Watch, a bipartisan government watchdog organization, along with several congressmen, have called upon Mueller to resign as special counsel. At the same time, there have been calls for President Trump to fire him.
The case against Comey is strong, and it would be virtually impossible to envision a path taken by Horowitz that does not identify missteps and misconduct by the former FBI chief as he ran interference for Mrs. Clinton. Comey has even acknowledged in public statements that he downplayed the seriousness of her criminal investigation saying he did so at the direction of Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Was the investigation of Mrs. Clinton a "sham"? Horowitz has that question in front of him. Among the facts for him to consider are that Comey never empanelled a grand jury and never questioned Mrs. Clinton under oath and had prepared a statement exonerating her of any misdeeds months before the investigation came to an end.
Director Comey looked the other way as Mrs. Clinton ignored subpoenas for documents and emails, including 33,000 which were scrubbed permanently from her computer. Grants of immunity were provided by Comey to her closest aides, Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills for unknown reasons. Thousands of Clinton emails were later discovered on the computer of Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, an ex New York congressman now serving a prison sentence as a sex offender.
Comey has also been said to have ignored allegations of Mrs. Clinton's allegedly corrupt practices in directing the operations of the billion dollar Clinton Foundation which was receiving donations from foreign officials while she was Secretary of State. In one case, the foundation received $145 million dollars from Russians who had gained access to 20 per cent of America's uranium reserves after Mrs. Clinton approved the transfer.
Horowitz has been silent concerning his investigation. In November, he was ordered to appear before a congressional committee, where he reported that his investigative team had interviewed many witnesses and would complete its work by March or April of next year, and written conclusions will be provided at that time.
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By Florida Bill
A couple of years ago, the wires were buzzing with news of the feud between Fox TV's Megyn Kelly and then candidate Donald Trump.
They initially paired off during a debate as Kelly, a former attorney with a Chicago law firm, roasted Trump, then one of 17 candidates for President, for having called some women "pigs and disgusting animals." In the weeks following, Trump attacked the comely Kelly as an inept "bimbo," who got so angry and emotional that blood was coming from her eyes and everywhere else. His twitter rage went on for weeks and months.
When the dust from that noisy affray finally lifted, Kelly was a new face on NBC, earning $15 to $20 million annually, and Trump went on to become the nation's 45th President. All in all, it was kind of a "Thrilla in Manilla" as Muhammad Ali used to say, with everyone winning.
Now the 47-year-old Kelly has taken on the egotistical Jane Fonda, an octogenarian who has defeated aging with a bucket of botox and plastic surgery. Her philosophy seems to be, admire me, but don't ask how I did it.
Last September, Fonda was a guest on Kelly's new morning show to promote her new film and to demonstrate her personal ageless countenance and ability to cultivate a supple spine. Kelly strayed from the script and asked Fonda about the plastic surgery which had ironed out her wrinkles and made her look like anything but an old bag of 80. Fonda pretty much dodged a discussion on that subject, but she was angry.
Through the next months, Fonda appeared on various TV specials, showcasing her looks while promoting her latest film, "Our Souls at Night", co-starring Robert Redford, no spring chicken himself. In her chats with the all-knowing TV pundits, Fonda upbraided Kelly for her impertinence and inappropriate inquiries about her cosmetic surgery. Kelly was inept as an interviewing host and has a lot to learn, asserted Fonda.
After Fonda took pot shots at Kelly as a TV amateur with much to learn, and doomed to fail, Kelly came back swinging with the same calm determination with which she had belittled Trump for his barnyard talk about women.
Fonda, said Kelly, has spoken openly about her joy in giving a cultural face to older women. Well, the truth is, most older women look nothing like Fonda, who turned 80 in December of 2017.
Fonda had discussed her cosmetic surgery on Entertainment Tonight, and with magazine writers, Kelly said, but now is bellyaching that the questions of her cosmetic surgery by me were "inappropriate" and off limits.
This is a woman whose name is "synonymous with outrage," said Kelly. No one should ever forget her treatment of our military during her visit to North Viet Nam. Soldiers and millions of Americans still refer to her as "Hanoi Jane," because of her sweet talk and hand holding with the country's enemy while sitting behind enemy guns which had been used to shoot down American pilots. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was much clamor calling for Fonda to be formally charged with treason, but it never happened to the disappointment of ex-GIs.
After Kelly reacted during an interview on Variety, the liberal Fonda crowed on the "View" and tore her apart as a "bitch," and "just awful" and "doing it for ratings." The liberal axe was out, but the blade was dull and Kelly probably gathered more fans than she lost. Who knows, maybe she even got a raise?
Since Fonda seems to have been willing to discuss her nips and tucks in the past, can we assume that she turned so prickly about it this time because she was in the presence of another beautiful woman more than 30 years her junior? C'mon Jane, everybody knows that it takes more than good genes to look like you do at 80.
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By Florida Bill
No one knows for sure if President Trump characterized Haiti and other nations as "shithole countries." He says that he did not, and several other persons including Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, who were sitting near him when he spoke at a private meeting, agree he never used that unflattering epithet.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen joined Cotton and Purdue in stating that she never heard any inappropriate language used by the President.
The question of the President's description of Haiti and other struggling countries is dominating reports concerning a private meeting at the White House called to discuss DACA (Deferred Action for Children Arrivals) or dream children and the building of a border wall. Participating were congressional leaders and immigration officials. The purpose of the meeting was to come up with a solution to protect the nearly 800,000 children brought into this country with their illegal immigrant parents.
But no one seems to be focusing on whether or not anything substantive or new came out of the meeting, because the media could not resist the chance to bash the president for his purported offensive dialogue in a closed door meeting. Some years ago, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham who also attended the meeting, described Haiti, a country which provides no sewage treatment for residents, as a "hellhole," a more refined way of calling Haiti a "shithole;" but he declined to confirm or deny what the President had said behind closed doors.
Democrats all around contended that the bigoted Trump had referred to Haiti with the vulgar word, which was one of seven made famous by the late comedian George Carlin.
The "get Trump" media concentrated almost exclusively upon the presidential language as told to them by Illinois' Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, who fought back tears in describing the President's words as "vile, hateful and racist."
Durbin contradicted the President and his colleagues as well as the homeland security secretary. The president repeatedly referred to poor nations, principally Haiti, as "shitholes," he said. Durbin is the assistant minority leader in the Senate and has been a senator since 1997, but he has a checkered history when it comes to telling the truth.
Trump himself has denied any vulgarity. He said that his language was "tough," but respectful for Haiti, one of the poorest nations on the planet with 60 per cent of its 10.8 million residents earning less than $900 annually, and where residents provide their own toilet facilities.
Durbin established his reputation as a liar a few years ago when he posted a note on Facebook charging that a Republican lawmaker told President Obama during a private session he attended that "I cannot stand to even look at you." The media loved it and exploded with accusations of GOP racism. Unfortunately for them, Obama's press secretary, Jay Carney, subsequently corrected the record, and put down the disingenuous Durbin. "That never happened," Carney told reporters.
In 2005, in a speech on the Senate floor, the duplicitous Durbin attacked President Bush as an endorser of torture in his role as commander-in-chief. Durbin compared American soldiers guarding detainees at Guantanamo prison in Cuba to "Nazis, Soviet gulags and :Cambodia's Poi Pot." He was accused of treason by Bush adviser, Karl Rove. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, whose son was a soldier serving in combat, demanded that the senator apologize to the nation. Eventually, Durbin returned to the Senate floor and said he was sorry for his anti-American comments, and regretted offending anyone. In 2012, President Obama issued an executive order protecting DACA children from deportation, and he said in doing so that it was up to Congress to fashion an appropriate law dealing with these immigrants. Congress ignored the problem and Trump upon taking office a year ago, invalidated the overreaching and illegal Obama order and gave Congress until next March to fix the problem and protect the children, some of whom are serving in America's military.
President Trump has said he favors protecting DACA children brought to America by parents who entered the country illegally, but only if Congress approves construction of a wall along the country's southern border. The wall was a key promise to citizens who supported his candidacy in 2016. He vows repeatedly that he will keep that promise for a wall which would extend for about 800 miles along the most penetrable sections of the border and would cost some $20 billion dollars.
Unless there is border security, he has said, illegal immigration will continue and in 10 years there will be another million DACA children needing protection. Amnesty for DACA will never be considered by this administration, Trump has said.
As to Haiti and and other poor countries, Trump said that he is very much in favor of continued immigration, but that everyone that comes to America must come in legally and merit should be a factor. Currently, there are some 11 million undocumented residents in the United States and that would include some 75,000 to 125,000 Haitians. Census figures show there are about 400,000 Haitians residing legally inside the USA.
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By Florida Bill
The idea of an African American woman running America from the Oval office is producing unrestrained excitement among the Hollywood and social media crowd. Oprah Winfrey lit the flames with her comments at the recent Golden Globe dinner at which she was presented with the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement.
Oprah was dressed in black in solidarity with the MeToo movement, and she touched upon racism and gender inequality with some veiled hints that she might be available for a political promotion to the big stage.
With her appearance and comments, the pundits opened up with incredible, almost orgasmic, support of an Oprah candidacy in 2020 on the Democratic ticket. Considering her level of political experience, we are guessing that it is the idea of her beating Trump that appeals to the glitterati more than the actual thought of the pudgy billionaire queen of TV talk shows actually presiding over America's domestic and foreign affairs and commanding the U.S military.
That is really something to chew on. Maybe I am old fashioned or something, but the idea of Oprah Winfrey, a billionaire talk show host famous for her battles with losing weight and surprising her audience with free cars and other giveaways, ensconced behind a desk in the oval office of the White House, issuing orders to army and marine generals, strikes me as ridiculous beyond description.
Doesn't experience, qualifications and judgment count for something? Would her confidants and advisers include Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, and in animal matters, Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer. Would Michelle Obama be in line as her vice president, or could they end up running against each other in a contest that would break Hollywood hearts? Al Sharpton, the racial snake from New York--would he be assigned to keep a close eye on police activity in all matters dealing with race?
You would think the glow of her halo would fade as charges she pushed a fake book and looked the other way as students at her Academy for Girls were molested by the matrons in charge continue to bubble to the surface--except that she seems pretty much invincible in the eyes of her enormous, mostly female, audience.
Generally, Americans want their president to be wise and concerned about destiny and goodness for their country. He or she should be educated from the study of books and in the ways of the world. As Kipling once wrote, "talk with kings, but don't lose the common touch."
Personally, I am concerned that the 63-year-old Oprah harbors ill will for Caucasians believing that these bewhiskered old white guys are responsible for all of the racial dissension and mistreatment of African Americans. Does she want reparation to be paid to Black Americans? Bigotry will never end until older white men die off, she has said.
She has had nothing but praise for former President Obama, yet it was Obama who presided over increased racial tensions in the nation; animosity toward police; an increase of the national debt by $10 trillion dollars and more and more tax dollars for legal and illegal immigrants. In the 2008 presidential election, Oprah endorsed Sen. Obama and it was widely reported and hailed by the liberal media. Oprah declined to introduce Sen. McCain or his running mate, Sara Palin on her popular afternoon talk show so that her viewers might meet the candidates. But Barack Obama, like Winfrey, an African American, was welcomed with wild enthusiasm and open arms on her show. Whatever qualifications a candidate for the highest office in the USA, in fact in the world, ought to have, I don't believe Oprah has them. "Clueless celebrity" would fit. Ronald Reagan was a movie celeb who became president, but then Reagan had also served two terms as governor of California; and had displayed political knowledge and a basic respect for other men and women, without regard to race.
Oprah specialized in finding new drugs and diets. Even pop culture denizens whose so-called area of expertise is controversial in mainstream circles get a platform on her show, like Jenny McCarthy and Suzanne Sommers. Dr. Phil was called out when necessary to assess the psyche, and Dr. Oz, who has had to apologize for certain over-the-top endorsements, dispensed advice when it came to knocking off pounds. Dr. Oz also happens to be a member of the anti-semitic Nation of Islam headed by Louis Farrakhan.
Oprah has said in the past that she would not run for political office, but then who knows. In her speech at the Golden Globes ceremony, she upbraided those who would misbehave when it came to harassing women. This all seemed more than a little phony, considering her past chummy relationship with and praise of Harvey Weinstein, perhaps the most notorious sexual predator spinning about Hollywood. Oprah has made tons of money and is considered a billionaire, but she is "uniquely unqualified" to serve as President. Even the liberal New York Times has discouraged her from doing it. She allies herself with the Hollywood nut jobs and the far left media and would certainly do her thing to open borders even more. But she has never demonstrated any patriotism or respect for the nation's military and her understanding of government is anyone's guess.
Oprah is "uniquely qualified" to resume her talk show and enhance her fortune. That is exactly where she should remain.
xxx
