Corrupt, Lefty Cristopher Wray SHOULD RIGGLE FOR HIS CRIMES AS FBI DIRECTOR!

 NOVEMBER 17, 2022 BY SCOTT JOHNSON IN FBI, SENATE

WRAY WRIGGLES

Students of ancient history may recall that FBI Director Christopher Wray wriggled away from the Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing this past August 4 when he claimed he had a flight to catch. It turned out that the flight was on the Gulfstream jet dedicated to the Director’s use and he was headed off on vacation. Senator Josh Hawley followed up on Wray’s wriggle today at a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee (video clip below, whole thing here).

Wray is a liar without conscience — even on the relatively trivial matter with respect to which Hawley grilled him. The plane was not going anywhere without him. He therefore didn’t have to leave the previous hearing to catch it. It was waiting for him. That’s the great thing about having a plane dedicated to your use. What a liar.

Wray also stated at the previous hearing that duty beckoned. He had to be off on “other business.” That too was false. What a pathetic liar.

In the course of Hawley’s questioning today, after acknowledging that the “other business” was personal vacation, Wray claimed that it was a meeting with Senator Grassley in Iowa the following week. What a lying buffoon.

Query whether this guy is legally obligated to tell the truth in these oversight hearings. I believe the answer is affirmative, but you can’t tell from Wray’s wriggles or from DHS Secretary Mayorkas’s mendacity (Mayorkas also testified before the committee today). We have a crisis of testimonial mendacity by high government officials.

And all this lying is separate and apart from the public relations applicable to the FBI’s principal business at headquarters in Washington. You can watch Wray wriggle on such business big time in response to Senator Johnson’s round of questions at about 1:05 of the full video linked above.

It is way past time for the FBI to be disassembled. Wray is a walking advertisement for the proposition. This is an amazing demonstration all by itself in six minutes flat.

Please tell me that’s not accurate…” Senator @HawleyMO roasts FBI Director Wray for using a government plane for a lake vacation INSTEAD of answering Senators’ questions.

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“It is one instance among many of the virulent hatred that has consumed the Democratic Party!”

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN 2022 ELECTION, DEMOCRATS

STAY CLASSY, DEMS

Kendall Witmer is a Democratic political operative who describes herself as “comms director” for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s re-election campaign. This is a photo of Witmer (center) with Walz, from Witmer’s Twitter feed:

This is how Witmer celebrated her client’s re-election win. Her tweet is directed at Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate Matt Birk, former All-Pro football player for the Minnesota Vikings:

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=powerlineUS&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1590335519397117954&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.powerlineblog.com%2Farchives%2F2022%2F11%2Fstay-classy-dems-2.php&sessionId=79263814d6fdf9fb720adccc5836c7c23423a498&siteScreenName=powerlineUS&theme=light&widgetsVersion=a3525f077c700%3A1667415560940&width=550px

The tweet has gotten quite a bit of notice locally–a radio host asked me about it on his show this morning–but it hasn’t been deleted. It is one instance among many of the virulent hatred that has consumed the Democratic Party.

Donald Trump….AMERICA’S MOST ABUSED PRESIDENT!

November 16, 2022

Trump’s stellar presidential announcement reminds us why we voted for him in 2016

By Monica Showalter at American Thinker:

President Trump announced for president on Tuesday evening.

He was forthright, straightforward, focused, and full of brief points.

According to Fox News, he began with this:

“In order to make America great and glorious again. I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said Tuesday evening to a crowd of supporters.

“But just as I promised in 2016, I am your voice. I am your voice. The Washington establishment wants to silence us, but we will not let them do that. What we have built together over the past six years is the greatest movement in history because it is not about politics. It’s about our love for this great country, America, and we’re not going to let it fail,” said Trump.

He didn’t get scattered, he didn’t descend into ad libs, and he didn’t attack other Republicans.

He kept his aim squarely on the radical left running this country unchecked and the damage that has been done, speaking of “a nation in decline.”  “We are a failing nation,” he said, speaking of “pain, hardship, anxiety, and despair.”

He focused on specific issues that are absolutely foremost in voters’ minds, according to polls — inflation, energy independence, crime (“cesspools of violent crimes”), open borders, fentanyl, election security, wokesterism in education, the weaponization of the Justice Department, wokesterism in the military, vaccine discrimination, the targeting of parents, the peace during his term, the importance of peace through strength, global respect (Trump called the Afghanistan pullout “the most humiliating moment in the history of our country”), and the broad desire for a one-tier system of justice, which just isn’t here now that the left is in charge.

He spoke of Biden’s many failures, from “falling asleep at major conferences” to his inability to identify the country he was in — a reference to Biden’s identification of Cambodia as “Colombia” the other day, and the general global mockery of the U.S. now that Biden is in the saddle.  He mocked Biden’s failure to show up at a trade banquet with customary wit — “they’re still looking for him” — eventually summing Biden up as “the face of left-wing failure and Washington corruption.”

On elections, he once again focused on the “we” rather than “me” factor, focusing on not his own stolen election in 2020, but the grotesque and internationally mocked spectacle of the midterms, with its extended election-counting, which cuts confidence in the integrity of the system, given that it opens the door to fraud.

On foreign policy, he highlighted his successes, such as the Abraham accords, tying them to his policies of domestic strength, which is a strong point.

He spoke of his success in drawing Hispanic and black voters to the Republicans.

He spoke of backing the blue, linking support for police as a necessity in the wake of the current crime wave.

It was a welcome change, given a series of missteps he’s made (WTH was he doing, attacking Florida’s excellent Gov. Ron DeSantis?), as if righting his course.  He made his campaign voter-centered, not me-centered, and it resonated.

He rounded it off with a unity call, focusing on his successes, which naturally create unity.

What it did was effectively remind voters why they voted for him the first time.

Axios and a couple of others called the speech “low energy,” but that was disingenuous of them, given that it showed the focus they called for and an absence of all the wild ad-libbing that they used to rage about. 

It remains to be seen whether Trump will be the best candidate for 2024, given the legal juggernaut the Biden administration has turned against him, his history of hiring disloyal lieutenants, his inability to admit he’s ever been wrong, and the technicality of his capacity to run for just one term, as opposed to, say, Ron DeSantis, who can run for two.  The shift to a more subdued tone, though, was an impressive start, proof of sorts to voters that yes, he can avoid the mistakes he made and continue with his popular agenda.

I don’t know if he’s going to be the candidate, but he’s definitely not out as a possibility.  His beginning speech was serious and promising.

Thomas Lifson has more thoughts here.

There’s a fragmentary transcript from C-SPAN here.  I couldn’t find any others.

“Target stores are getting looted!”

NOVEMBER 16, 2022 BY JOHN HINDERAKER at Power Line:

ORGANIZED THEFT IS BIG BUSINESS

Target Corporation reported its third quarter results today. The report wasn’t good, in large part because Target stores are being robbed left and right:

Target stores are getting looted, and it’s taking a huge bite out of profits.

The discount retailer told reporters on a call to discuss its third quarter earnings results that inventory shrinkage — or the disappearance of merchandise — has reduced its gross profit margin by $400 million so far in 2022 compared to 2021.

Target said that it expected “shrinkage” to amount to more than $600 million for the full year. What is going on?

A Target spokesperson told Yahoo Finance via email after the call the shrinkage was mostly specifically attributed to “organized retail crime.”

Organized retail crime is when dozens of criminals descend on a store and loot it. Store employees are almost always told not to interfere, and police rarely do anything. In California, theft has been more or less legalized up to $950. It is a misdemeanor, which means it is rarely prosecuted. Major retail chains have closed their operations in San Francisco, among other cities, because they were helpless against teams of organized looters.

Looters don’t consume the stolen property themselves, they sell it on Amazon or other services. This is why it is “organized retail crime.” More from the same link:

Organized retail crime is not just a Target issue as it has impacted other big name retailers such as Best Buy and Rite-Aid. From Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer earlier this year:

Why are people stealing these days? That’s a tough one.

Because they always get away with it? Because our culture relentlessly mocks old-fashioned virtues like, not being a thief?

To some degree it’s a reflection of our times. Simply put, America’s social contract is straining. Until recently we’ve been able to lay out goods—often in mammoth, big box stores with only a handful of employees. When our social contract is strong—i.e people are getting a fair shake—it’s a model that works.

Oh, please. Many billions of dollars in “organized retail crime” because people aren’t getting a “fair shake”? What absurdity.

Now it seems more people are stealing instead.

Yes. How much are they stealing? For the nine months ending October 29, Target reported net earnings of $1.9 billion. That means that 21 percent of Target’s profit was stolen by brazen thieves, due to a lack of law enforcement and cultural decline.*

I am not sure why companies like Target–and, to be fair, every other major retailer–is willing to stand for this. My guess is that they find the issue of “organized retail crime” to be racially sensitive, and, being thoroughly woke, they would rather not talk about it, or do anything about it. Other than quietly abandon communities. And I suppose they rationalize that the cost of organized theft will ultimately borne by the rest of us–shoppers who don’t steal–in the form of higher prices.

This is another sign of a great sickness in our society that, for some reason, we seem helpless to deal with.

* The numbers are a little unclear. Target described the $400 million as an increase over 2021, and organized retail theft was going strong in 2021, too. So the total amount lost presumably is considerably greater than that.