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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

The Hunter is Now the Hunted?



Friends, the biggest news these days is that several polls are putting Joe Biden way ahead of his rivals for the Democratic nomination.  He's getting a bump, for sure, and he continues to benefit from a divided opposition.  If I were a non-Biden Dem running for President, I'd be nervous!

You may want to read this article, which suggests that the house of cards (so to speak) built by Democrats and deep state operatives in the attempt to steal the 2016 election from Donald Trump, and then to derail his presidency, may be close to collapse.  Maybe.  I'm not convinced, and I'm also of the opinion that in many ways it simply doesn't matter what we find out about the apparent coup based on the Trump-Russia hoax, because even the most alarming revelations will be dismissed or ignored by the mainstream media.  Only an aggressive prosecutor who obtains indictments and convictions against the coup plotters would truly make a difference, politically -- and only bringing the plotters to justice can protect our democracy from similar threats in the future.

https://spectator.org/listen-to-joe-digenova/

Is the fate of the Supreme Court the most important thing at stake in 2020?  Almost certainly.  This article suggests that Democrats and liberals may not rise to the occasion.  I sincerely hope they won't!

https://newrepublic.com/article/153729/2020-ruth-bader-ginsburg-election

We all know that Fox News is arguably a proxy for the right, and CNN and MSNBC are arguably proxies for the left.  For the same reason, the ratings of these networks can give us a clue about which side has momentum.  Since the 2018 election, and since the denouement of the Mueller inquiry, it would appear that the wind has gone out of liberal sails, while conservatives are energized.  This bodes well!

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/fox-news-april-ratings-number-one-cnn-falls

Lastly, you know how I feel about erasing history.  Maine has just decided to jettison Columbus Day in favor of "Indigenous Peoples' Day."  Ick!  I have nothing against American Indians, but Columbus represents the fusion of European culture with that of the Americas and, eventually, of Africa and Asia as well.  If we reject Columbus, we essentially reject America itself!  We are saying that we wish all those nasty white people had stayed put.  I won't accept this.  Boo, Maine!

https://www.foxnews.com/us/maine-gov-signs-bill-changing-columbus-day-to-indigenous-peoples-day

Monday, April 29, 2019

Bad Weather, High Taxes, and Democrats Galore -- Three Reasons Why the Northeast is in Decline



Friends, unlike the writers for the Simpsons, I don't believe that Upstate New York is a waste of space, and nor do I believe that the Empire State as a whole is without its charms.  That being said, the Northeast in general suffers from a debilitating triple-whammy: long, bleak winters; high taxes in almost all categories, especially property taxes; and a stifling burden of over-regulation, bureaucracy, and pie-in-the-sky socialism, engendered by the death grip that Democrats have on almost every Governor's mansion and state legislative chamber north and east of Pennsylvania.  It's enough to make any conservative, patriotic, capitalistic resident of one of these benighted states want to flee in terror to the Sun Belt.  Now, I'm not for or against such a strategy, but it helps to understand how the Northeast got to be so dysfunctional, if only because it's a cautionary tale that our fellow Americans elsewhere can learn from.  Check out this article, which discusses the extent of the tax burden in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut -- and why it is almost certain to rise even more.*  Sobering stuff.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-29/high-tax-states-like-ny-nj-and-ct-are-a-sign-of-inefficiency?srnd=opinion

*Please note that the figures given for income tax rates are MAXIMUM rates, so they are somewhat deceptively high, but the wider point is that we pay through the nose, and that part is true.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Does the Ghost of Paul von Hindenburg Live in Joe Biden?



Friends, you may well ask yourselves: is THIS the true face of Joe Biden?  What you're looking at is a picture of German President (and retired Field Marshal) Paul von Hinbenburg on his deathbed in 1934.  Sure, both Biden and Hindenburg are dead, or nearly so, but that's not my point.  Hindenburg is most famous for appointing Hitler to Germany's chancellorship in January 1933, but, as you'll see in my latest article, Hindenburg's presidential election victory in April 1932 may reveal important clues about Biden's strategy for victory in 2020.  Read on, and see what you think.  The analysis builds on my blog post on Thursday.

It's Official: Joe Biden is Running for President...of Germany in 1932

April 1932. Germany is seething with tension as it navigates the darkest days of the Great Depression. Political extremism is on the rise. Street battles between fascist and communist thugs are common. The German people, though, opt for sanity, decency. They re-elect as their President a retired Field Marshal and hero of the First World War, the elderly Paul von Hindenburg. The runner-up? The wild-eyed, aggressive populist Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party. Germany — and all of Europe — breathes a collective sigh of relief. There will be no “Third Reich,” after all.

We all know how this story ends. Von Hindenburg, despite his election victory in 1932, is forced to accept Hitler as Chancellor in 1933. By 1934, Hindenburg is dead, and Hitler is Führer. Germany — and Europe — are doomed.

Joe Biden is hoping you've forgotten the last part of the story, because it's the first part that he wishes to replay in 2020. His campaign launch video makes that clear.

Biden argues that 2020 will be a simple, binary choice. On one side, you have Klansmen and Nazis, represented by the “white nationalist” protesters in Charlottesville in 2017, “bearing the fangs of racism,” who Donald Trump allegedly defended as “very fine people.” On the other side, you have innocent doves, true paragons of American decency, who reject “hate” and wait patiently for Nazi brutes to assault them and run them over with their cars. Trump, of course, is the champion of white supremacy, Nazism, and hate. Biden is the hero and defender of all that America stands for. He is, moreover, the “known quantity,” the trusty old war-horse who, like Paul von Hindenburg, can protect his country from fanatics and extremists.

Americans versus Nazis. An easy choice, right? Assuming no one thinks critically about Biden's message — and we can be pretty sure that no one in the Washington press corps will — he just might get away with it.

The inconvenient truth of the matter is that Biden is deliberately misrepresenting what happened in Charlottesville, vastly oversimplifying the nature of the protesters and counter-protesters, just as he is prevaricating about President Trump's remarks about “very fine people.” Trump never meant to include Klansmen, Nazis, or white supremacists, and he made that perfectly clear at the time.

So Joe Biden is a fraud. No matter — plenty of frauds have flourished in the long history of American presidential politics. Biden may be one of them.

Biden's gamble is that the American people despise Donald Trump so much that they will happily embrace a trusted, experienced “moderate” candidate — like Paul von Hindenburg or Joe Biden — over the disastrous alternative. Biden does not even bother to construct an argument for why he, geriatric Joe Biden, should be chosen over the other 20 Democratic candidates for the presidency. That, presumably, is beneath his dignity. He wants to keep it simple: it's kindly Uncle Joe versus all the racist monsters who haunt your left-of-center American dreams.

One other thing is clear from Biden's launch video. He intends to focus on minority voters. His message stokes the usual fears common among non-white Democrats: that America is full of white racists, who would happily assault you, re-segregate you, re-enslave you, and perhaps even kill you, if they weren't restrained by a benevolent federal government, presided over by a Democrat in the White House. 

Once again: America versus Nazis. It's the same morality play that liberals have been running for 60 years. Why change the plot now? Indeed, one wonders whether Biden would be capable of it.

The tired, disingenuous nature of Biden's candidacy does not mean that he will lose. The theme of anti-racism has endured in the Democratic Party, and in America, for so long because it works. Everyone hates racists. Ergo, if you paint your opponent as a racist, you have a good chance of winning.

It will be Trump's task, and the duty of Republicans and conservatives, to explain that it isn't the President or the GOP that is stoking racial antagonisms and exploiting racial fears and resentments. That would be the party of race preferences, of reparations, of identity politics, of political correctness, and of knee-jerk claims of discrimination. That would be the Democrats.

Race is indeed America's Achilles' heel — on that score Biden is right — but the Bidens of the world aren't part of the solution. They're at the center of the problem.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.

Friday, April 26, 2019

Exploiting the Fallen: Why I Oppose Free Tuition for Gold Star Families



Friends, Governor Cuomo is at it again.  This time he's using taxpayer dollars to give full college scholarships to the spouses and children of servicemen and women killed in the line of duty.  In other words, he caved to Republican pressure.  I'm not convinced that perks and entitlements for the families of the fallen are in New Yorkers' best interests, though, and the political exploitation of their grief sickens me.  My perspective may go against the grain, but give the article a read and see what you think:

https://amgreatness.com/2019/04/25/cuomo-is-wrong-to-give-free-tuition-to-gold-star-families/

Here's some more grist for your mill.  This article is about the Obama administration's attempts to lobby the Ukrainian government to help it find dirt on Donald Trump -- and to suppress dirt on Joe Biden's son.  Keep an eye on the Ukrainian connection to the Trump-Russia hoax, as well as the British connection.

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/440730-how-the-obama-white-house-engaged-ukraine-to-give-russia-collusion

That pesky U.S. economy just keeps growing and growing.  Darn!  Don't consumers know that nothing is more important than defeating President Trump in 2020?  Maybe the Dems' fondest wish will come true, and we'll have a recession soon.  But I doubt it.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/26/717158760/economy-probably-rebounded-in-first-quarter-thanks-to-strong-spending

This is a very interesting article on China's rapidly improving missile capabilities.  In the realm of strategic nuclear forces, the Chinese are completely outclassed, but in short and medium range missiles, and anti-ship missiles, they've made a lot of progress.  Since our global dominance is founded on the ability of our aircraft carriers to go anywhere, and bomb anything and anyone, this is a source of concern.  We can and will, I presume, engage in a missile-building arms race, but we also need to find ways of neutralizing enemy missiles.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-army-rockets/

The Power of the People



Friends, on Tuesday New York's State Senate is taking up the issue of divestment from fossil fuel producers.  As you know, I think divestment is a terrible idea, so I bestirred myself to write this letter to the State Senators who will decide whether or not to proceed with the divestment plan.  Will they accede to my will?  Anything's possible, but in a democracy we are wise to speak up and speak out whenever we can.  Yes, we can vote every two years for members of our state legislatures, but it really does make a difference when they HEAR from us in the interim.  My advice: be loud, be proud, and be conservative, most of all!

To the Members of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance:

As a New York state resident, taxpayer, and government employee, I write to urge you in the strongest terms to reject the proposed Fossil Fuel Divestment Act (S.2126/A.1536). New Yorkers rely on fossil fuels to provide the vast majority of their energy, and thus for electricity, transportation, and heat. It would be both hypocritical and senseless for the state to require the Comptroller to divest the Common Retirement Fund from an industry that is literally indispensable to New Yorkers' well-being.

Furthermore, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has made his opposition to the bill clear, partly on the grounds that it may conflict with his duty under the New York State Constitution to uphold his fiduciary responsibilities to present and future retirees. Simply put, investment decisions, according to the Constitution and state law, are to be based solely on the goal of maximizing performance for beneficiaries, and not to fulfill any political or ideological agenda. Passage of S.2126/A.1536 would thus set a dangerous precedent, since it would introduce political criteria into the management of the Common Retirement Fund for the first time.

Lastly, I hope the state legislature will be mindful of the fact that many “fossil fuel companies” are in reality fully aware of the need to transition to renewable energy, and they are seeking to lead the charge and to make alternative energy sources practical and profitable. By divesting from these companies, New Yorkers would lose valuable leverage over energy producers. By remaining engaged with these companies, by contrast, we can help them to understand that a gradual transition to clean energy is in everyone's interests.

I encourage you to read my recent article, published at Townhall.com, that discusses why divestment is such a bad idea for New York and New Yorkers:


I would be happy to discuss these issues further at any time.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy
Associate Professor of History
SUNY Alfred

Thursday, April 25, 2019

It's Official: Joe Biden is Running for President...of Germany in 1932



Friends, it's finally happening: Joe Biden is running for President.  His campaign launch video is a must-see for all Americans.  It's extremely interesting how Biden is framing the election.  Basically, he's saying it's Joe Biden versus THE NAZIS!  He alludes to President Trump's controversial -- and massively misconstrued -- remarks about the violence in Charlottesville in 2017 surrounding the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.  Biden casts the pro-Lee faction as a bunch of Klansmen and Nazis, and the counter-protestors as innocent doves.  The truth is considerably more complicated. 

All this suggests two things to me: first, Biden believes unalloyed moral indignation vis-a-vis Trump is both justified and politically useful, and in that sense he may be right, because Trump's image has been so damaged by unfair criticism that even equating the President of the United States with Hitler or "the Klan" may seem reasonable to many people, and especially to Democrats.  Two, Biden is pitching his campaign first and foremost to minority voters, telling them, for the umpteenth time, that the "crazed" racists are at the gate again, and only good old Uncle Joe can protect them.  Biden probably realizes that many white progressives don't like him and will instead vote for Sanders, Buttigieg, O'Rourke, Harris, or Warren.  Be that as it may, if Biden can hold white moderates and most non-white voters (who are HUGE in the Democratic Party), he'll be the nominee.  We shall see.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/04/25/biden_launches_2020_campaign_america_is_at_stake.html

In other news, the Florida legislature is inching closer to a ban on "sanctuary cities."  Kudos to the Sunshine State!  More states ought to punish sanctuary jurisdictions.  Speaking of which, I'm still waiting for a federal crackdown on sanctuary policies.  Can you say "obstruction of justice"???  Bill Barr, I hope you're listening!

https://miami.cbslocal.com/2019/04/24/sanctuary-cities-bill-clears-florida-house/

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Listen to the Newsmaker Show...IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!!!



Friends, as always, whether you listen to me and Brian O'Neil on the Newsmaker Show is a life or death decision!  We cover a lot of ground this week, including Mutually Assured Destruction, and why nuclear weapons are arguably a blessing to mankind.

In addition, we talk about: the "coup" behind the Trump-Russia hoax, the casualties of the Mueller investigation, the highly personal nature of Trump-hatred, assessing Trump's chances of reelection, the politics of illegal immigration and American demographics, the rise of Mayor Pete, the decline of Beto, the tit-for-tat nature of our political discourse, the legacy of George W. Bush and the future of the Bush family, the highs and lows of Sir Winston Churchill, the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the patriotism (or lack thereof) of anti-war protestors, the failure of the mission to rescue the American hostages in Iran in 1980, the pivotal nature of the 1980 election, whether Bob Dole could ever have been U.S President, and the influence of political satire of the sort we see on Saturday Night Live.

Don't miss it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsdq2Ra_YPI&feature=youtu.be

Monday, April 22, 2019

For Liberals, This Time...It's Personal



Friends, have you noticed how Trump-hatred often has an emotionally overwrought, asinine quality to it?  The truth, I'm convinced, is that the Left's disdain for Trump has very little to do with policy.  They just can't stand Donald Trump the man.  They hate his guts.  It's his brashness and his refusal to kowtow to their PC norms that really gets their goat.  In any case, I just had to read the article below, because its title -- "Donald Trump's Personality Is An Impeachable Offense" -- struck me as, well, liberalism to a tee.  The article itself isn't that great.  In fact, it doesn't make a case for impeachment, per se, at all.  It's just a broadside against Trump's character, of the sort we're now used to seeing in the guise of "news."  The takeaway?  The Left simply does not care what pretext they employ to impeach Trump.  They just want him gone.  The law and the Constitution are, and always have been, utterly beside the point.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/mueller-report-donald-trump-egomaniac-bad-boss.html

Be that as it may, the Democratic leadership is too smart to pursue impeachment when they know it will fail.  The rank-and-file "progressives," however, are not smart at all -- and they want to dig their claws into Trump, regardless of the consequences.  The investigations will continue ad infinitum, naturally, but I wonder if the leadership will find a way of putting impeachment to bed?  Censure?  We shall see.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-holds-urgent-conference-call-as-dems-scramble-to-fix-brewing-fracture-on-impeachment

Lastly, although illegal immigration and phony asylum-seekers should be dealt with for far more significant reasons -- like upholding the rule of law and American sovereignty -- we can't escape the fact that all these poor, uneducated, unskilled "immigrants," mostly from Central America, will also be a burden on the American taxpayer.  Read all about it here:

https://www.foxnews.com/us/the-cost-of-illegal-immigration-migrants-cost-us-taxpayers-billions-a-year

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Let the Feeding Frenzy Commence!



Friends, this is the sort of story that I love to see, especially in the pages of the New York Times, which as you know I hold in the very highest regard.  It seems Mayor Pete Buttigieg is in hot water because he fired a black police chief.  The rights and wrongs of the situation are naturally irrelevant, because Mayor Pete is white, and the police chief was black, so, from a leftist perspective, it's game over right there.  The point to me is this: no one, absolutely no one, can emerge from the Democratic primary process unscathed, because no one can ever be pure enough in the eyes of fanatical leftists.  You might as well try to reason with a great white shark...  (Don't even think about it!)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/us/politics/buttigieg-black-police-chief-fired.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

And, while you're here, allow me to say: God Bless Vice-President Mike Pence!  What a breath of fresh air he is.  I agree with everything he says in this brilliant op-ed about the border.  Unfortunately, the chances that Congress will follow any of his advice are nil -- or less than nil?

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/vice-president-mike-pence-congress-must-act-to-end-the-crisis-on-our-border

Friday, April 19, 2019

It's Time to Give Mexico and Central America a Taste of the "Big Stick"



Friends, what we're doing at the border clearly isn't working -- or rather, since the federal courts and the Democrats refuse to allow the Trump administration to deport phony asylum-seekers, our border has become, in effect, one big joke.  This calls for outside-the-box thinking, if we are ever to restore U.S. sovereignty.  My latest article suggests an approach that concentrates on Mexico and Central America, rather than on the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.  See what you think...

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2019/04/19/president-trump-look-to-mexico-city-not-washington-for-a-solution-to-the-border-crisis-n2545053

In other news, the Mueller report is out!  I don't wish to waste any more time than necessary on this charade, which I consider to be the death throes of the collusion delusion, but this article mirrors my thinking pretty well.  Mueller set out to nail Trump -- and he failed.  In the process, Mueller ignored plenty of evidence of wrongdoing by Democrats.  Our task is now to set that right and to bring to justice the would-be framers of Donald Trump.  Personally, I will settle for nothing less.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/19/mueller_strzok_out_with_his_whitewash_report__140106.html

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Slicing and Dicing the American People



Friends, remember when the goal of the civil rights movement was to end discrimination and to create a society in which a person would be judged by his or her merits (we only had two genders in those innocent times), and not by the color of their skin?  Well, the Left has long since moved on from "non-racialism."  Now, race, gender, religion, sexuality, and other "identities" are supposedly integral to who we are, and people demand to be understood based on the groups to which they belong.  Not uncommonly, they demand the "rights" and status to which those groups, specifically, are entitled.  In the process, we are increasingly divided, and "one America" is turning into many Americas, often mutually hostile.  The sad part is that, once people define themselves by their differences, these rifts become self-reinforcing.  As the following article suggests, many people benefit from exploiting these fissures, which are thus likely to deepen and spread:

https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/16/identity-politics-plays-right-hands-big-business/

Also check out this superb take on climate change and energy policy.  Senator DeMint is absolutely right: fossil fuels aren't going away, and they can be, if we let them be, part of the answer to our environmental challenges:

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/438754-green-new-deal-has-a-dirty-secret

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Biden, Bernie, or Buttigieg: The Attack of the "Bs"



Friends, what could be more fun than a good, old-fashioned electoral free-for-all?  That's what the Democratic presidential primaries are shaping up to be.  In Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, we seem to have our first "phenom" of the cycle: he of the unpronounceable last name has rocketed into third place, according to some polls, although Biden and Sanders remain high atop the leader board.  On the latest Newsmaker Show, Brian and I break down the Democratic field and assess each candidate's chances.

In addition, we cover topics as diverse as: Columbus' first voyage to the Americas in 1492, the Bay of Pigs invasion of communist Cuba, the impending release of the Mueller report, the role of WikiLeaks in the Trump-Russia hoax, the merits of our fine Attorney General Bill Barr, AOC's "issues" with Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, and why so many millennials support the Left.

Listen now (or later)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Cxo8qvdnM&feature=youtu.be

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The Eco-Radicals Are At The Gate



Friends, over the weekend I read a fascinating article that argued that climate change and other environmental problems are so potentially catastrophic, and the political response so feeble, that environmental activists and their fellow travelers need to rise up in "rebellion."  The fruits of that loose talk are now playing out on the streets of many cities, especially London, where arrests are skyrocketing.  Now, I do not subscribe to the notion that human beings or the Earth face any "existential" threat, but it does interest me that so many leftists are becoming violent and/or unlawful in response to what they see as the failure of the political class to heed their calls to action.  Mark my words: the more agitated, unhinged, and "rebellious" these left-wing activists become, the more conservatives will win elections...and that's a good thing!

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47945397

Also check out this article about the Vietnam War overtones of Bill Barr's interest in whether illegal or improper "spying" occurred against the Trump campaign:

https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/news-opinion/in-this-corner-bill-barrs-key-statement-was-overlooked

Will Republicans take back the House in 2020?  I believe it's a real possibility, and Democrats, by their wild and irresponsible actions and rhetoric, are making it easier and easier:

http://www.rollcall.com/news/house-democrats-not-task-leading-country

Finally, check out this fascinating take on illegal immigration.  It's happening on such a vast scale that it can't help but have a severe impact on some communities.  I feel for those on the firing line.  On the other hand, I think Hanson's idea that America will become so dysfunctional that "migrants" won't want to come here anymore is a pipe-dream.  If we don't take action to stop this tidal wave of humanity, we'll be swamped -- pure and simple.

https://amgreatness.com/2019/04/14/are-there-any-limits-to-illegal-immigration/

Monday, April 15, 2019

The Collusion Delusion Isn't Dead Yet



Friends, we now have word that the Mueller Report will hit newsstands (are there still newsstands?) on Thursday.  You better believe everyone in Washington, D.C. will be reading it, and the spin will be dizzying!  Republicans will find exoneration; Democrats will almost certainly find collusion and obstruction of justice.  The facts, of course, do not support either charge, but in politics facts are secondary to wish fulfillment, and so we should expect nothing less than a firestorm.  In the end, I believe that the impetus for impeachment is gone.  Other than hearings and investigations, President Trump has nothing to fear for the next year and a half.  Nonetheless, the last part of this week will be interesting.  As the article below suggests, there is ample reason to suspect that Mueller will have added a few nuggets of cloak-and-dagger innuendo to his report.  The goal would be to land a few punches on our valiant leader, even if Mueller can't deliver a knockout blow.  So...beware the Ides of April, for they portend a brief upsurge in Trump-Russia conspiracy theories.

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/04/15/gop_muellers_collusion_bias_could_carry_through_to_final_report.html

Saturday, April 13, 2019

A.G. Bill Barr is a Stand-up Guy: And He's Standing Up for You and Me



Friends, my latest article is about Attorney General Bill Barr, who seems to have grasped the bull by the horns -- and the "bull" in question is the Trump-Russia hoax and its disseminators.  I believe he should be praised and encouraged, lest he bow to Democratic pressure and scuttle the nascent probe.

Read on:

Bill Barr is Exceeding Expectations

When President Trump nominated Bill Barr to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, like many conservatives I was wary. Barr was formerly George H.W. Bush's Attorney General — and the Bush family is notable for its antipathy to Donald Trump. In addition, there was little in Barr's record that suggested that he would be inclined to take on the political establishment. And it was “the establishment,” lest we forget, that considered it normal, even patriotic, to surveil the Trump campaign in 2016 and presume the Republican candidate for President to be a Russian agent. I therefore thought to myself, when Barr was nominated: there goes any hope of holding the Deep State accountable for what it has done to Trump, and to the American people.

But I may have been wrong. Recently, Barr went before Congress, and he was frank about the fact that the DOJ and FBI “spied” on the Trump campaign. They unquestionably did so. No, the American version of 007 was not planted inside the campaign, but actual spies initiated contacts with Trump campaign officials designed to probe them (or entrap them?) on the issue of possible illegal coordination with the Russian government. The FBI (and the Clinton campaign) retained an actual spy, the Englishman Christopher Steele, to entice other actual spies, Kremlin-linked Russians whose motivations can only be guessed at, to dish out unverified and unverifiable dirt on Donald Trump. Carter Page, who worked for the Trump campaign, was wiretapped with the permission of a (deliberately misled) FISA judge, and his conversations with other Trump campaign staff were therefore intercepted and read by Obama administration officials. Moreover, the CIA and other intelligence agencies, both foreign and domestic, became involved in the vendetta against Donald Trump — and thus what we know today about the secret machinations of these Deep State authorities may be just a small fraction of the truth. In all likelihood, the law enforcement and espionage resources that were deployed against the Republican Party, and eventually against the President-elect and the President, were vast. As Barr said to Congress, this is all a “big deal,” and no one should claim otherwise.

I have called repeatedly for the Attorney General to appoint a second special counsel to investigate how the Trump-Russia hoax, and the related investigations, got started. So far he has not done so. This week he did announce, however, that he intends to assemble a “team” to look into the matter. That may mean the Attorney General intends to lead this inquiry himself. It may mean that he will consider appointing another special counsel in due course. What is doesn't mean is that he intends to sweep this potential abuse of power under the rug. That is heartening, to say the least.

Bill Barr may not be the Trumpian pit bull that many conservatives were hoping for, but he is, by all appearances, a man determined to see that justice prevails and that no one, no matter how well-connected, can assume themselves to be above the law. 

Good for him.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.

And here it is in the Olean Times Herald:

http://www.oleantimesherald.com/commentary/barr-exceeds-expectations/article_3f5d3b1c-60b1-11e9-b61a-db4a38242187.html 

Friday, April 12, 2019

How Far and Wide Did the Spy Ring Go?



Friends, in light of Attorney General Bill Barr's recent public admission that the FBI "spied" on the Trump campaign, you may wish to read this article, which sheds light on the nature of that spying.  It seems that the British were instrumental in the effort to pin a charge of "collusion" on Team Trump.  That's hardly a surprise, given the central role played by Christopher Steele, but if the signals in this article are to be believed, a thorough investigation of the origins of the Trump-Russia hoax may embarrass not just Americans, but plenty of foreign intelligence operatives as well.  The $64,000 question, of course, is how much about the plot against Trump is still being concealed from us?

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/04/11/fbi_mans_testimony_points_to_significant_wrongdoing_beyond_spying.html

In other news, the students of Georgetown University can't wait to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves once owned by their alma mater.  Here's a great analysis of this empty gesture:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/12/georgetowns_reparations_virtue-signaling_superficiality_140044.html

It boggles the mind that liberals would open the can of worms that is "reparations," but apparently they really are this dumb and out of touch.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

The Line Between Love and Hate Gets A Little Thinner Every Day



Friends, it's a tried-and-true tactic on the Left to conflate conservative principles with "hate." In the case of homosexuality, all opposition to gay marriage, for instance, is assumed to derive from blind, searing hatred of all gay people.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Lately, it's presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg who is targeting our esteemed Vice-President Mike Pence with charges that he is hateful.  Ben Shapiro makes quick work of those charges.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/04/pete-buttigieg-attacks-mike-pence-bad-faith/

Speaking of the ongoing culture wars, check out this article about the kinder, gentler form of book burning taking place in Barcelona, Spain.  Children's books that don't conform to leftist ideas about gender are to be eliminated.  Friends, I haven't been a child in quite some time, and I'm thankful for that, because I shudder to think how full most children's books and cartoons must be nowadays of left-wing propaganda.  More's the pity, kiddos!

https://www.foxnews.com/world/barcelona-schools-remove-classic-fairytales-little-red-riding-hood-sleeping-beauty-for-being-sexist

I would also like to express my profound disappointment in the British government and the leadership of the European Union.  Britain has been given yet another extension, so that it can avoid the supposed perils of Brexit for another six months.  If I had voted for the "leave" option in 2016, frankly I would be close to despair right now.

On a brighter note, Attorney General Bill Barr is to be commended for his frankness in admitting that the DOJ and FBI "spied" on the Trump campaign -- and for his decision to create a team to look into the origins of the Trump-Russia hoax.  I just hope it's the A-team!

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Take No Prisoners



Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show is a feast for the ears!  Brian and O'Neil and I talk about Bill Barr's grilling by Congress, the need for a new special prosecutor, Joe Biden's Ukraine connection, the declining fortunes of Brexit, and more.

Our historical discussion for the week wanders over the horrors of the Boer War, which presaged much of the beastliness of the 20th century, the rank brutality of the Pacific theater of World War Two, and the means by which "ordinary men" are turned into butchers on the battlefield -- and then back into ordinary men.  We even allude to the legend of John Wayne.  Don't miss it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUvEo7Q79pM&feature=youtu.be

Monday, April 8, 2019

Who Will Rescue British Democracy From Itself?



Friends, it would be nice if the British people's elected representatives in Parliament could be trusted to respect and enact their will, but such is not the case.  Parliament has proven that it will not carry out Brexit in any meaningful sense.  The fate of British democracy, therefore, is now in the hands of the 28 member states of the EU, which may or may not agree to endless extensions of the Brexit deadline, in order to ensure that Brexit never happens.  Read my latest article to learn how this might play out:

Brexit or Bust

On Wednesday, EU grandees will decide whether or not to grant Britain another extension on Brexit. If a delay in the deadline for Brexit is not forthcoming, Britain will leave the EU on Friday without a deal, portending something like a clean break between the U.K. and the European Union — in other words, precisely the outcome that the British people voted for way back in 2016. Fulfilling the will of the voters, however, is the last thing the British and European establishment wants.

For this reason, British Prime Minister Theresa May and a host of EU bigwigs are maneuvering to achieve a “flextension” that would give British members of Parliament up to a year (and who knows — maybe two, or three, or four) to come up with a version of Brexit that carries majority support among Britain's political class. The problem, as ever, is that, while support for Brexit is strong among voters, politicians want nothing more than to weasel out of Brexit and to maintain the internationalist status quo. So far, they've done exactly that.

EU apologists continue to insist that the original referendum was tainted, because Brexit supporters were “misled,” or they were swept up in nasty xenophobic passions and were thus acting on emotion rather than reason. The problem, of course, is that the same caviling objections could be raised about any and all democratic elections that have taken place throughout history. The truth, of course, is that the Brexit referendum, while imperfect, would never have been picked apart had it produced the result the establishment desired and expected: a clear majority in favor of remaining in the EU. Instead, the ballot paper posed a simple, direct question to the British people — shall we remain in the European Union, or shall we leave it? — and they (to their eternal shame, as far as the elites are concerned) had the temerity to answer it wrongly. How dare they?

The sad truth is that Parliament has proven itself utterly incapable of translating the will of the voters on Brexit into legislation and policy. In fact, Parliament has proven more adept at obstructionism and playing for time than it has at governance. The best sort of Brexit that Britons will ever get from their MPs is a squishy-soft customs union arrangement that will continue to bind the U.K. to most EU policies, while taking away Britons' ability to help form those policies. This is hardly what most Brexit supporters had in mind.

And yet...the democratic rights of the British people, trampled by their own leadership class, may yet by rescued and restored. How might this happen?

To grant Britain another extension in the deadline for Brexit, all 28 EU member countries must agree unanimously to a new timetable. Getting 28 headstrong nations to agree to a single course of action is a challenge in the best of times, and these are emphatically not the best of times. The EU is struggling to steer a straight course while buffeted by the crosswinds of Brexit, not to mention other serious challenges. 

It is possible that EU member states will fail to reach consensus on the sort of extension, if any, that Britain deserves. If that happens, then the current Brexit deadline of Friday, April 12th would stand. Britain would be forced to pass Theresa May's flawed Brexit plan double-quick, or it would “crash out” of the EU at the end of this week with a no-deal Brexit. In that case, all the machinations to stonewall Brexit would have come to naught, and the will of British voters would have been upheld by Parliament and the EU — albeit by accident.

Let us hope that comes to pass. Let us hope that at least one EU member state has the courage and the integrity to say “no” to this shameful, duplicitous farce that aims to frustrate British democracy and ignore the voters in favor of the status quo. 

All it would take is one EU state saying “Enough is enough,” or “Elections have consequences,” to save Britain from itself, and to breathe new life into the democratic values and traditions of the West, which are currently hanging by a thread. 

Otherwise, Britons, Europeans, and Americans will ask themselves for years to come: why should I vote, when a vote cast against the interests of the powers-that-be is a wasted effort?

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.

And here's the Townhall version:

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2019/04/09/brexit-or-bust-n2544492 

And, while you're exercising your brain, check out this fascinating article on the over-hyped "green energy" movement:

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/green-energy-revolution-near-impossible 

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Get a Grip, Liberals: Trump Isn't Hitler



Friends, today I bring you a number of articles (none of them written by me) worthy of your attention.  First, like me you may be tired of hearing about how Trump is a dictator reminiscent of Hitler or Mussolini.  The weakness of the analogy is obvious, and the fact that modern political commentators are CONSTANTLY falling back on Hitler as the archetype of evil is just...sad, as evil comes in many forms, history is complex and multifaceted, and the only "lesson" taught by such inane comparisons is that current observers know and care little about history in itself.  Check out this great article on why liberals should stop returning to the Hitlerian well:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/07/stop_comparing_political_rivals_to_nazis_139985.html

This is a superb analysis of how unhinged Democrats have become on the issue of "collusion," and how far to the left they have traveled in response to Trump:

https://nypost.com/2019/04/06/one-truthful-democrat-emerges-to-call-out-partys-delusions/

Don't miss this article, which reveals how false the Left's treasured narrative about hate crimes truly is.  There is, in fact, no objective evidence of a rise in hate crimes -- but there is plenty of evidence that claims of hate crimes are often patently false and/or politically motivated, and the mainstream media, given its own prejudices, eats those claims up like they were chocolate chip cookies.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/nolan-finley/2019/04/07/finley-americas-hate-crime-surge-hoax/3374192002/

Many of you have already heard about the Senate's decision to limit debate time for Trump nominees to district-court-level federal judgeships.  This article lays out the context and potential ramifications.  Democrats themselves once limited debate in just the same way, so they could ram through as many "Obama judges" as possible.  It's amazing to me that, in the last two years, Democratic obstructionism has actually led to the number of vacancies in our district courts increasing!  All that should change now.  America's federal courts are about to get a whole lot Trumpier -- thank heavens!

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/mcconnell-hits-the-gas-on-judges-with-new-green-light

Finally, take note that Rep. Devin Nunes is sending a number of criminal referrals to the DOJ related to the cabal that engineered the Trump-Russia hoax.  I've been calling for a second special counsel to investigate these matters, and I still hope Bill Barr will heed that call, but if he doesn't I would expect that someone in the Department of Justice will look into whether crimes were committed in the furtherance of a conspiracy to damage or destroy the Trump presidency.  Remember, as soon as someone with prosecutorial authority starts examining these issues, there's no telling where that investigation will lead, or who will be caught up in it.  The plotters might start singing like canaries.  None of that happens, though, unless the DOJ does its job, and unfortunately we can't count on that to happen.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nunes-to-send-eight-criminal-referrals-to-justice-dept-concerning-leaks-conspiracy-amid-russia-probe

Thursday, April 4, 2019

The Most Powerful Man in America



Friends, you may be operating under the misconception that President Donald Trump is the most powerful man in this country, but you would be wrong.  That title rightfully belongs to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts -- not because he's the Chief Justice, but because he is the swing vote on the Court, and the Supreme Court, lest we forget, runs the country.  Why are hundreds of thousands of "refugees" pouring over our border, and why are we powerless to send them home again?  Because John Roberts sided with the Supreme Court's four liberals and declared that the Trump administration can't automatically deny Central Americans the "right" to apply for asylum, and to hang out in America for years while their claims are processed.  John Roberts is responsible for that monstrous decision, and no one else.  For this reason, and for others, many conservatives are afraid that Roberts, despite his Reaganite roots, may be a turncoat who will frustrate conservative efforts to transform the country and breathe new life into the Constitution.  Now, I don't claim to have all the answers, but I was cheered by this intriguing article, which suggests that, although Roberts is cautious by nature, in the end he's still a true conservative -- and the long-term direction of the Court will be one that you and I can celebrate.  Let's hope it's true.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/john-roberts-isnt-really-moderate/586273/

I also would like to second the arguments made by Howard Schultz in his recent article about the budget deficit.  He's absolutely right that neither party takes our deficit and debt seriously, and both parties seem to be in the business of foisting debt on future generations so they can hand out goodies and freebies in the short term to voters.  I sincerely hope Schultz runs, because I happen to agree with Democrats that he will help Donald Trump win re-election, but in addition he might be a valuable part of the national conversation and, like Ross Perot, he might raise some issues that both of the major parties would rather avoid.  Good for him!

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/howard-schultz-federal-debt-is-out-of-control-but-no-one-is-doing-anything-about-it

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

At the Risk of Repeating Myself...



Friends, you may be getting tired of me hectoring you about the need for a second special counsel to investigate how the Trump-Russia hoax got started, but I felt I needed to write another article about the subject, given the fact that, for once, the issue is being taken seriously, and now is the crucial moment when Attorney General Bill Barr just might be persuaded to act.  I personally don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that, if we get to the bottom of the Trump-Russia debacle, not only will we protect ourselves from future hoaxes, but in addition the accountability we would be imposing on the plotters would make it far more likely that Trump will win in 2020.  After all, if prominent Dems start going to jail, that can only be good news for Republicans.  On the other hand, if we let this opportunity slip away, and thus framing a presidential candidate for collusion and treason goes unpunished, well, you can just imagine what might become of our democracy and our country.  I feel very strongly about this, so, yes, I had to write about it once more.

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2019/04/03/the-man-of-the-hour--in-the-hour-of-decision-n2544221

Liberal Rage is a Bottomless Pit



Friends, don't miss the latest Newsmaker Show, in which Brian O'Neil and I discuss the (slim) likelihood that Democrats will abandon their vendetta against President Trump and/or admit fault in the Trump-Russia hoax.  We also cover Joe Biden's touchy-feely personality and the feminists who can't abide it, the latest Brexit shenanigans, the death penalty fiasco in California, the Marshall Plan and containment, and North Vietnam's disastrous 1972 invasion of South Vietnam.  Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLSx_eC-PwM&feature=youtu.be

In other news, potential "Border Czar" Kris Kobach has some inventive suggestions for dealing with the migrant crisis.  I like his idea of restricting remittances to Mexico.  This would hit them where it hurts, without blowback for American workers.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trumps-potential-immigration-czar-kris-kobach-proposes-3-step-border-fix

Joe Biden seems to be getting the message that his initial response to allegations of improper "touching" -- Who?  Me? -- isn't sufficient.  He is now saying that he'll change his ways.  That's a smart move on his part, although it won't make the issue go away.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/joe-biden-responds-to-misconduct-allegations-says-hell-be-more-mindful-about-respecting-personal-space

Lastly, this is a very interesting article about a countermeasure that could mitigate some of the ill-effects of climate change.  Technology usually helps us resolve problems caused by...technology.  Small wonder that the environmental extremists don't want to hear it.  They're itching to force you to transform your life and material circumstances in a radical way -- and to make you feel shame for your car, your furnace, your last vacation, etc.  A technological "fix" to climate change is the last thing these zealots want...because it isn't really the climate they worry about it.  It's people, and their wicked ways.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47638586

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

El Presidente Muy Excelente?



Friends, it shocked and appalled many leftists in 2016 when President Trump won approximately 30% of the Hispanic vote, and there are indications that he could do much better than that in 2020.  There are roadblocks, of course -- the media will portray any and all reasonable efforts to stop illegal immigration as "racist" and fascistic -- but Hispanics so far have seen through this propaganda.  In a close election, needless to say, Hispanics could be the deciding factor...as indeed they arguably were in 2016.  Democrats have wanted for years to do to Hispanics what they've sadly already done to blacks: hoodwink an entire community so thoroughly that it will vote en bloc for Democratic candidates, no matter how irrational or self-destructive that choice proves to be.  With Hispanics, Democrats have had only partial success -- and history suggests that, as Hispanics assimilate, intermarry, and move up the economic ladder, their allegiance to the Democrats will fade.  2020 could be the beginning of the end of Dem dominance among Hispanics, I say.  Just you wait!

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/02/hispanics_rally_to_trump_boosting_his_2020_chances_139933.html