Shutdown, Missing Texts and #MeToo

Welcome to Dean Riffs’ Week in Review. Every weekday our panel of non-partisan judges (me) pick two or three weekday news items on which to comment – after careful pontification, of course. We riff responsibly here.

MONDAY, JANUARY 22

Today Senate Democrats scurried back to their offices, wiped the #SchumerShutdown shinola from their feet, and raced each other to the Senate Chamber to place their vote reopening the federal government.

File their foolish attempt to force a DACA solution by closing the government under #ChuckSucks.

Other than the military and critical agencies like Border Patrol not getting paid, I wouldn’t have minded if their temper tantrum lasted until Election Day. Now that they’re back though, they’ve rushed from the frying pan into the fire of Dreamer discontent.

The blow back from the Democrats backpedaling on their earlier promise to keep the government closed until Congress provided amnesty to DACA beneficiaries was swift and brutal.

Immigrant activists accused them of retreating without getting anything in return, and millions of legal voters were connecting the dots that Democrats seemed to favor the plight of illegals over members of our military, our border patrol and nine million children on the federally funded Children’s Health Improvement Program (CHIP).

To say they gained nothing isn’t quite fair, though. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (the Princess of the Pakistani Email Support Network) told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin what Schumer gained by shutting down the government:

“So the one thing I would say that he did get, is the potential for momentum,” Schultz told a slack-jawed Baldwin.

The final vote in the Senate to reopen the government was 81-18. Not only was Schumer and his leadership team nearly stampeded by Dem senators anxious to vote for reopening the government, especially those up for re-election this fall, ironically the Senate’s Schumer Shutdown may have damaged Democrats’ chances of winning back the House this November.

Can’t wait for the Dems’ encore performance when the four-page report on FISA abuse is released next week. #ReleasetheMemo

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23

The mainstream media continued whistling back the DOJ/FBI graveyard as the stakes grew higher with the the news of five months of missing texts between star-crossed fibbies Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

A day earlier responsible media outlets, aka those not named ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC, reported Attorney General Jeff Sessions notified Congress that texts between Strzok and Page ranging from Dec 14, 2016 to May 17, 2017 were missing.

The missing texts are important because of what transpired during that time, including:

President Trump took the oath of office; National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was fired; the anti-Trump dossier was published; the president fired FBI Director James Comey, and special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate Russian meddling and potential collusion involving the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

What’s the common denominator in many of those events? Strzok interviewed Michael Flynn (without his attorney present); helped promulgate the questionable dossier; was best buds with Comey, and worked as part of Robert Mueller’s investigation until the texts were released showing his and Page’s obvious bias and “loathing” of President Trump.

If you are experiencing a sense of deja vu when hearing about the missing texts, it’s probably because the same thing happened with the IRS and Lois Lerner’s missing emails and Hillary Clinton’s 30,000-plus which were deleted and acid-washed – after they were subpoenaed, of course.

So what did the mainstream media report on if not the biggest FBI-related scandal since Watergate? In no particular order the Super Bowl, the latest royal wedding-to-be, and Minnie Mouse earning her own star on the Hollyweird Walk of Fame.

The media’s honoring Minnie Mouse while dishonoring their own profession with Mickey-Mouse coverage of this mushrooming scandal is irony at its finest.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24

Sir Elton John live streamed an announcement today that his upcoming Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour will be his last.

The 70-year-old rocker’s career has spanned five decades, but you better pencil in six since his upcoming tour beginning this year concludes after 300 concert dates sometime in 2021. And now he wants to quit touring? What a yellow goldbrick!

John refuses to say he’s retiring, but rather said he is “embarking on the next phase of his creative journey.” Hmm…that could mean anything from starring as the next James Bond to making Bennie and the Jets a new political party.

Let’s see, 57 top 40 hits in the U.S., including 27 in the top 10 and nine earning #1. Okay, maybe he’s earned a little R & R – if he can afford it.

In other news today, CBS TV showed its commitment to the Green Revolution by announcing plans to recycle and reboot the hit show Murphy Brown.

The original series starring Candice Bergen ran from 1988-1998 and won 18 Emmy’s, including five for Bergen. How will the acerbic, tart-tongued Murphy Brown character fare in today’s media environment of cable news, social media, sanctuary cities, safe spaces and a take-no-prisoners political environment?

Then again, some cultural sensitivites haven’t changed all that much, such as the episode where Murphy lampooned political correctness:

“Oh, good morning, my little worker ants! That’s just a figure of speech; I would NEVER compare you to insects. At least not after that sensitivity training seminar those maggots at the network forced me to attend!”

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25

Remember the five months of texts between Federal Bureau of Incrimination paramours Peter Strzok and Lisa Page the DOJ said were missing? Apparently the premier law enforcement agency politicized by former President Obama and James Comey wasn’t exactly breaking a sweat looking for them.

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz said today his forensics team was able to track the “ghost texts” after requesting the actual cellphones the agents used. My goodness, what sleuths the FBI brass are! If only they had thought of looking on the four known cell phones Strozk and Page used before informing Congress the texts were lost, the bowed and bloodied agency would have been spared another embarrassment.

The FBI is still America’s premier law enforcement agency, but at this point under the leadership of James Comey, Rod Rothstein, Andrew McCabe, Andrew Weissman and Sally Yates, it appears the DOJ and FBI influenced the 2016 presidential election more than Putin, Russian bots and Macedonian content farmers ever could have.

Also on Thursday, Trump took his Make American Great Again tour on the road to Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum. Many in the media were licking their chops at the thought of the world’s economic and cultural elite dissing the president on the world stage.

The media, as usual on all things Trump, got it 100 percent wrong. Trump was received like a rock star.

He hosted a dinner with European business leaders and CEOs, held bilateral meetings with various world leaders (including African leaders), conducted business roundtables, accepted thanks from CEO’s of Bayer, Adidas and Siemens for slashing corporate tax burdens, chastised Russia for monopolizing European energy markets, encouraged others to deregulate burdensome rules to grow their economies, threatened to withhold all U.S.monies from the Palestinians if they refuse to negotiate in the peace process with Israel, and demanded others respect the U.S.

He concluded with a rousing 15-minute speech that reminded those gathered America was again open for business and “America First” did not mean American alone.

To the surprise of no one that respects how Trump is representing our country, there was no bowing, no apologizing for America and no leading from behind.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26

The #MeToo movement nailed another shameless cad on its public bedpost of contempt and public humiliation, but the circumstances of this particular incident were bemusing to say the least.

Today the New York Times announced that Democrat senior political advisor Burns Strider (his real name – honest) was accused of sexually harassing a 30-year-old female subordinate with whom he shared office space during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Reportedly Strider had kissed her on the forehead, rubbed her shoulders inappropriately and sent suggestive emails. The campaign manager recommended to the candidate that Strider be fired, but the candidate refused, choosing instead to dock his wages and require he undergo mandatory counseling.

The female staffer was assigned a new role within the campaign and required to sign a non-disclosure agreement that prohibited campaign staffers from publicly discussing the campaign’s activities. The sleazy incident went unreported until now.

As faith advisor to the 2008 candidate Strider regularly sent the presidential wannabe daily scripture readings every morning of the campaign (I’m not making that up either). Five years later Strider again supported the same candidate who had stood beside him, this time leading an independent group supporting the candidate’s latest presidential run.

Months after that unsuccessful campaign ended Strider was reportedly fired again – quite coincidentally I’m sure – for sexually harassing another young female aide.

Like Tammy Wynette the unsuccessful two-time presidential candidate has a history of “standing by her man.”

“I was dismayed when it occurred, but was heartened the young woman came forward, was heard, and had her concerns taken seriously and addressed,” Hillary Clinton tweeted Friday night.

“I called her today to tell her how proud I am of her and to make sure she knows what all women should: we deserve to be heard.”

Now thanks to Hillary’s book What Happened and Friday’s tweet, we know “what happened” in both 2008 and 2016.

Thanks for reading Dean Riffs. Welcome to those who love American liberty, free enterprise, and who believe God has blessed our country. For those who believe in open borders, safe spaces, and who think free speech is hate speech, move on – there’s nothing here for you to see.

Sources: cnn.com, foxnews.com, breitbart.com
Photo source: onmogul.com, Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock, pbs.twimg.com, dw.com 

Copyright 2018, Dean A. George©

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