Trump Obstructs Justice? Comey's Memo Says Otherwise...

For those Trump haters who are chomping at the bit to see President Trump impeached for “obstruction of Justice,” here is something you might want consider a little more closely.

According to all sources I've seen, including the New York Times and Washington Post, what Comey alleges the President said to him was "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."

I don't have a law degree. I don't even have a college degree. But I worked in law enforcement long enough to know that language, wording and comprehension matter.

Expressing a hope that something happens does not add up to telling someone to stop an investigation. “I hope you can let this go” is not the same as “I hope you can let this go or your job is on the line,” or “I need you to let this go,” or “I want you to let this go,” or even “Let this Flynn investigation go.” It's that simple. Saying “I hope” is a wish, not an order.

If someone says “I hope you die,” that's not a threat. It might be crude, or perhaps evil, but it's not a threat. Not legally.

If Trump did express his hope that the Flynn investigation could be dropped it's just that – a hope... unless, of course, Comey can prove that he was threatened or felt threatened by the words “I hope.” Feelings are subjective. But if the Director of the FBI felt threatened by the words “I hope” then he really didn't need to remain in his position. And since Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe has said no investigations have been stopped or even interrupted by events that have occurred (Comey's firing) there is no case for obstruction of justice.

As I said – I'm no lawyer or judge and I may one day be proven wrong. But in this day where every word people say is under scrutiny, the word hope is just that – hope, which is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the feeling of wanting something to happen and thinking that it could happen.”

I hope Hillary Clinton never runs for public office again. That's a desire that I cannot control. And it's not illegal. And neither was Trump's alleged statement. Of course, only Trump and Comey know what was really said that evening... unless Trump has a recording...

Cultural Worse Than Academic Failure?

This article was written by my father-in-law. I thought I'd share.

The total of one’s experience is education, especially the part that is remembered.

It is general knowledge that American students lag at least 30 other of the most ‘advanced’ nations in academic achievement, while ahead of all others in self-esteem (we like ourselves dumb?). I would caution all, that academics is not necessarily education’s greatest failure. America once had cultural and institutional teaching of patriotism, morality, honor, self-reliance, personal accountability, economics and the total meaning of our founding documents (Declaration of Independence and the Constitution). In addition, boys were taught how to be men and girls were taught how to be women. We had an admirable American culture.

If you find any of our children today who exhibit proficiency in the above subjects, it is because their parents took the place of all other previous sources, bent over backwards, and jammed it into their heads. Schools, churches and (wholesome) entertainment no longer are getting the job done. Most homes are also failing.

This is not another attempt to finger black culture: read Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960 – 2010” to decide how far downhill we’ve come.

In the 60’s, 86% of married women polled believed that it was wrong to have sexual relations with one’s fiancé. Today, comparative numbers of white people under age 50 that are no longer living in former marriages has more than doubled to 27%.

The ‘greatest generation’ grew up storming Normandy Beach and fighting the Japanese across the Pacific, while today’s millennials of the same age feel “unsafe” if someone they disagree with speaks at an event they don’t have to attend on their campus. There went freedom of speech and the ordinary tolerance of it, especially in seats of education.

We formerly declared and taught that an act was absolutely either right or wrong, good or evil, moral or immoral, either based upon the nature and result of the action, and/or based upon a stated code of behavior as a moral order. This required judgment on the part of the individual. This presented a challenge to the contemporary politics that depend upon those who would prefer not to be told that their choices are bad and that their lives are not virtuous.

How can millennials not lean to the left when liberalism is constantly shoved down their throats by their schools, their favorite musicians, (rappers are not singers, but are entertainers) and Hollywood? We should not be surprised that at least 51% of them (millennials) do not support capitalism when their professors are known to be communists extolling socialist gutters like Cuba and Venezuela? Everything liberals teach to our kids is backward from reality.

Liberalism punishes the good or virtuous accused of some unfair advantage while rewarding the evil and/or lazy who claim to be victims of forces out of their control. Instead of trying to build rocket ships and going to the moon, their professors have them trying to figure out their gender and which bathroom they should be using. The victimhood snowflakes think they are entitled to whatever they want for the gratitude we should have for their very existence.

Conservatives must challenge the victim mentality liberals push onto our kids. Never feel sorry for yourself, or seek pity or play the victim. The wait for someone else to solve your problem will always be too long; and if you do get help, you won’t like it, because it will be on the terms of the helper. Cut off funding to institutions that discriminate against conservatism; Support all action for freedom of speech and the first ten Constitutional amendments; Support capitalism, patriotism and morality; these built America and the original American culture.

JIM N. TAYLOR 

White Girls Told Wearing Hoop Earrings Is "Cultural Appropriation"

White female students at Pitzer College in Los Angeles have been told by women of color (African-American and Latinas) to stop wearing hoop earrings because to do so is cultural appropriation. According to a Latina group on campus, white girls wearing hoop earrings exploits black and brown cultures. Really.

When questioned about [the art work above] by one confused student, Alegria Martinez, Jacquelyn Aguilera, and Stefania Gallo-Gonzalez addressed the school in emails explaining the problem.

“The black and brown bodies who typically wear hooped earrings, (and other accessories like winged eyeliner, gold name plate necklaces, etc) are typically viewed as ghetto, and are not taken seriously by others in their daily lives, Martinez wrote. White people have actually exploited the culture and made it into fashion,” she added.

Martinez, who is a member of Latinx Student Union, sent an email to the entire student body of Pitzer College explaining why she feels only women of color should be allowed to wear hoop earrings.

“The art (photo above) was created by myself and a few other women of color after being tired and annoyed with the reoccurring theme of white women appropriating styles...that belong to the black and brown folks who created the culture.

“The culture actually comes from a historical background of oppression and exclusion.

“The black and brown bodies who typically wear hooped earrings, (and other accessories like winged eyeliner, gold name plate necklaces, etc) are typically viewed as ghetto, and are not taken seriously by others in their daily lives.

Because of this, I see our winged eyeliner, lined lips, and big hoop earrings serving as symbols as an everyday act of resistance, especially here at the Claremont Colleges.

“Meanwhile we wonder, why should white girls be able to take part in this culture (wearing hoop earrings just being one case of it) and be seen as cute/aesthetic/ethnic.

“White people have actually exploited the culture and made it into fashion,” she explained.

I guess it makes sense to her.

One cannot help but wonder if Martinez and her fellow activists wear jeans to school. Perhaps that's a practice that she should cease since their creator, Jacob Davis, and his partner, Levi Strauss, were white guys. Or is cultural appropriation another of those things only white people can do?

NYC Council Woman Compares Enforcement of Immigration Laws To Ethnic Cleansing

In a statement that shows not only her far-left disillusionment but also her ignorance, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito recently compared the enforcement of immigration laws to ethnic cleansing.

“I think you said something that’s very powerful here about ethnic cleansing,” Mark-Viverito said at a recent hearing. “I think in the last couple of weeks we’ve seen very, very, very clearly what the ultimate goal is of this administration. There clearly is a sense of purging… of implementing policies to purge certain groups of people from this country.”

Asked about the use of the very strong phrase “ethnic cleansing” Mark-Viverito defended her position.

“When we’re looking at the policies and what’s clearly being verbalized and articulated by this administration unapologetically.. there seems to be a real clear intent that certain types of people are being focused on with the express intent of getting them and removing them from this country,” she told reporters.

“It’s very very strong language, but really there is clear intent in what it is that they’re trying to do,” Mark-Viverito added. “And we’re going to push back against that.”

She is correct that there are certain types of people who are being targeted for removal from the country. They would be people who are here illegally, in violation of our decades old immigration laws. I'm not sure what part of that would be considered ethnic cleansing since there is no particular ethnicity mentioned in the immigration laws as written nor in the recently renewed enforcement of them.

What she doesn't seem to understand is that the Trump administration has written no new immigration laws. They are merely allowing ICE and the Border Patrol to effectively enforce current laws. Does she really believe our current immigration laws are tantamount to “ethnic cleansing?” Really?

I'm thinking not. She's making a bold public (albeit ignorant) statement to gain attention. New York has declared itself a sanctuary city and left-wing politicians are going nuts because Trump simply doesn't care what they say. He's enforcing immigration laws anyway – even in The Big Apple.

People like this woman are grossly exaggerating statements in an effort to force federal authorities to stop enforcing the law as written. The problem with immigration is not the laws themselves but the fact that for decades our government has refused to enforce them stringently. And now that a particular President is doing just that, a Republican President that is, the left is unable to deal with it. Their attitude of “Let anyone in and let everyone stay” is one of the things that will eventually destroy this great nation. And they hate it that Trump and the Republicans are fighting them on it.

The logic (or lack thereof) of some elected officials is baffling. Even more baffling, however, is the fact that they keep getting re-elected.

Columbia Professors: Student Suicides Increase Because Of Trump

Two professors at Columbia University recently penned a letter to the university president saying that faculty and students are “chronically and deeply depressed” over Donald Trump's election and his election is the cause of the recent rise in student suicides.

Really. They said that.

“We know no one at Columbia who is not upset, chronically and deeply, since the election. We know this is true of the administration,” professors Robert Pollack and Letty Moss-Salentijn wrote. “We know this true of the students, and the cluster of suicides this month can have no other meaning."

“But what of ourselves, and what of our colleagues; that is, what of the faculty? So, Mr. President, we are asking you how we, the faculty, may embody what the university values, with a sense of full obligation and with the assurance of full recognition.

Faculty do not have places, times, or administrative permission to acknowledge our own fears to each other,” the letter laments, noting that “venues for such quiet, difficult conversations are very hard to find on our campus.”

The letter goes on...

“Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451 comes close to where we are today. In this vision of the near future, firemen and state agents are ordered to set fires, ordered to burn remaining caches of hidden books wherever they are found.”

I can't help but wonder if they understand the irony of what that last paragraph says...?

Here's my letter to the damaged professors and their depressed student body.

Dear “Depressed,”

I can't help but wonder if at some point in your lives you were told that you should never have to be disappointed and you will always get your way.

That seems to be the only valid explanation for your “chronic and deep” depression over the recent Presidential election. And while the learned professors have no real evidence to support their claim of increased student suicides because of Trump's election, if their claim is true it means your parents and your teachers have failed you.

They have failed to teach you that life is always going to have setbacks and disappointments and that you simply overcome them and move on.

They have failed to teach you that you have absolutely no right to not be disappointed, offended, hurt, or ridiculed.

They have failed to teach you that you cannot and will not be protected from life. Sometimes life is great. Sometimes it sucks but then it gets better. Apparently you didn't learn that.

They have failed to teach you that taking your own life is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

In other words, they have failed to teach you to be adults, ready for the real world.
The real world doesn't have safe spaces to protect your precious feelings. The real world doesn't offer you free counseling, hot chocolate, crayons and puppies when you're disappointed and your feelings get hurt. Honestly – the real world doesn't care. We expect you to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and forge ahead.

Life doesn't stop because you're unhappy.

The real world doesn't play a scoreless game lest one side feel badly about themselves. The real world doesn't hand out participation trophies. You're either going to win or lose – the choice is yours. But nobody (except perhaps the government) is going to hand you everything you want just so you don't feel badly about yourselves.

It' real life. Get over it and grow up.

Sincerely,

Grownups everywhere

Disgraceful: Grieving Military Widow Slammed By The Left

Carryn Owens, the wife of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who was killed in a raid in Yemen, is being vilified by the left. She is being called a pawn of President Trump because of her presence at his address last night. President Trump praised her husband and his sacrifice, as well has hers.

To those attacking her - has it ever occurred to you that the grieving widow would actually be happy that her husband's service and sacrifice for his country is being publicly honored by the President of the United States and most of the elected officials in attendance? Has it occurred to you that in the pain of her grief, she has been given something by the President that she and her children will remember forever?

You want to pretend that Ryan Owens shouldn't have died because the raid never should have taken place. Do you know anything about Navy SEALS? They do what they're told and they volunteer for special missions. They live for them. They put themselves in harm's way intentionally. It's something inside them that is part of them and part of the way they live their lives.

And unless you have inside information into the mission, its purpose, and all of the intelligence that led to it, you who are saying it shouldn't have happened are speaking out of ignorance.

Before you criticise the President and the military for things they do you should at least have some knowledge of which you speak. Your opinion is irrelevant.

Before you criticise a grieving military widow for the choices her husband made try a little of that compassion and tolerance you're always preaching about. Carryn Owens was the wife of a Navy SEAL. She knew the risks. She knew her husband was going to be in danger on a regular basis and she knew he volunteered for it. You don't see her slamming the President, do you?

Wake up.

Did The Liberal Media Miss A Cheap Shot At President Trump??

Dear liberal media -

The other evening it was reported that President Trump had dinner with family and friends at his Washington International Hotel. It was reported that he picked up the tabs not only for his party but also for Secretary of State Tillerson and his wife, who happened to be having dinner at the same restaurant that evening.

At the end of the article I was reading it said that the President gave his waiter a $100 bill as a tip. I did some research (for you) and can't help but wonder if that $100 bill was enough.

According to the article, there were six people at President Trump's table, including him. It said they started off with three shrimp cocktails, divided by all. According to the online restaurant menu, those shrimp cocktails are $24 apiece.

The President apparently had a New York Strip Steak, with ketchup. The steaks are $54 each. I have no idea what sides he had but sides average $12 each with one being $13 and the highest being $16. Let's say he had two sides. That's at least $24 for sides. There were probably dessert and beverage charges as well, depending on what he drank. Desserts average about $12. So far we're up to $150.00 just for Trump's meal and the appetizers.

It's likely that the other five meals at his table were close to $100 apiece since the least expensive entree is $32 and the most expensive is $64. And I doubt anyone was deliberately getting the least expensive thing.

The total bill was most likely over $500, easily. The average tip these days has gone up to 20% for good wait service. Twenty percent of $500 is $100 exactly. If the bill was more than $500 then Trump's tip should have been more.

I recommend you do some research into this to see exactly how much that meal cost. Imaging being able to post the headline “Donald Trump Proves He's A Cheapskate!”

I'm somewhat amazed you haven't thought of this yourselves. I mean - if I can come up with this on my own I can't believe you didn't! After all, you're the experts at making stuff up.

I guess it's been a bad week for you, what with the President biting you on a regular basis.

You're welcome.