Thursday, April 30, 2015

Our Weasel Of The Week!!



Yes, once again, It's time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were all spectacularly disgusting, but the votes are in and we have our winner winner...the envelope please...

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Baltimore Mayor Stephanie 'Let 'Em Riot' Rawlings-Blake!


Virginia Right! : This week the clear choice for Weasel of the Week is Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Her statement to the potential looters and rioters was a green light to rape, pillage and burn the city. This was both irresponsible and reprehensible. And as we sat there in front of the television watching the police try to block the stones and bricks being thrown, obviously forbidden to respond, it left most with a sick feeling in their stomach.

She said she wanted to "give space to those who wished to destroy.” One can only hope that her career is also destroyed by that stupid statement.

The Independent Sentinel :The Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, is my selection for two weasel statements in one press conference. First, she thanked the anti-white, anti-Jewish, anti-American Nation of Islam for maintaining order, and second she said she "gave those who wish to destroy space to do that as well".

Go to 01:42:



Don Surber : Mustela Baltimoron mayorus Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for giving rioters, arsonists and looters a space of their own. Her actual words:

"I made it very clear that I work with the police and instructed them to do everything that they could to make sure that the protesters were able to exercise their right to free speech. It's a very delicate balancing act. Because while we try to make sure that they were protected from the cars and other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. And we worked very hard to keep that balance and to put ourselves in the best position to de-escalate."

Oberlin graduate! Need we say more? It takes a certain kind of cowardice to stand up to a crowd of lawless outlaws and say, "Do what you want to the girl, but leave me alone."

 Nice Deb :The Mayor of Baltimore,Stephanie Rawlings-Blake gets my vote for dumbest quote of the week:

“It was a very delicate balancing act because while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on — um — we also gave those who wished to destroy, space to do that, as well,” Rawlings-Blake said in all seriousness during a press conference, Sunday.

The weaseliness came during the obligatory walk-back, Monday afternoon: 


“I’ll say the very blatant mischaracterization of my words was not helpful, today. I was asked a question about the property damage that was done, and in answering that question, I made it very clear that we — balanced a very fine line between giving protesters – peaceful protesters – space to protest. What I said, was, in doing so – people can hijack that and use that space for bad. I did not say that we were accepting of it. I did say that we were passive to it. I was just explaining how property damage can happen during a peaceful protest. It is very unfortunate that members of your industry decided to mischaracterize my words and try to use it as a way to say we are inciting violence.”

Because she didn't want to admit that she made a mistake or misspoke, she blamed the media for "mischaracterizing" what she clearly said. This makes Stephanie Rawlings Blake is the very personification of the word, weasel.

She certainly is! What strikes me as most interesting is that, for all the nonsense from the mayor, most of the  Baltimore city council and even the police commissioner (all of whom are black , along with a majority of the police force and 68% of Baltimore's population) about the need to 'protect the community,' their stupidity actually victimized it.

It was the 'community' that saw stores and even homes looted and burned to the ground and who will suffer the damage. It's their jobs that will disappear, and their property values that will plummet. They're the ones who will have to travel longer distances to find a grocery store, a decent restaurant or a pharmacy. Does anyone really think CVS is going to rebuild after this? Why would they? And the small businesses? Faggedaboudit.

Baltimore has gone to some trouble and expense to promote itself as a tourist city and a great place to hold conferences and conventions. Half a dozen have already cancelled, and those people whom work in the hospitality industry are going to have to find some way to eke out the coming month with the loss of a weeks' wages and tips.

I was particularly amused to see the rage from 'the community' directed at Whole Foods for daring to provide sandwiches and other simple meals to the National Guard when they finally got to Baltimore. To summarize their remarks, they won't be shopping at Whole foods anymore because 'they're feeding the oppressors'...here's a typical comment.

Rania Khalek retweeted Zoe Samudzi
As Baltimore's poorest kids are left hungry due to school closure (no school lunch), feeds the oppressor
Rania Khalek added,


 I wonder...did they even think about those kids before deciding to burn down the city over the death of a drug dealer with a rap sheet as long as your arm?

As the ringmaster of this circus,  Mayor Stephanie Rawlings - Blake has already shown us that the next Detroit is already in the making..where racial politics and the public employee unions are combining to create  another Democrat-ruled bankrupt urban wilderness. She's not stupid in the least.she simply understands where  her votes are coming from. It's an established pattern but she and her fellow pols are certainly performing with zest and vigor, and the Golden Weasel was designed to recognize that kind of achievement, was it not?

Ms. Mayor, please step to the podium for your Weasel!

A little scorched? Why, yes! You see, we wanted to give something back  to the Community too, something that would be a memory of this fine occasion for years to come, something symbolic you know...

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and  remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?





Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Hillary Won't Disclose 1,100 Foreign Donor$ - And Has Her Kid Lie For Her




The latest on the money laundering and commingling scam know as the Clinton Foundation passed the 'stranger than fiction' level a long time ago, but it's rapidly descending into it's own realm.

Mrs. Clinton is refusing to release the names and countries of origin of over 1,100 big money donors, many of whom gave money via the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (CGEP)—a Canadian affiliate of the Clinton Foundation established by Frank Giustra, who has donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation and whose company received State department approval of a huge uranium-mining deal in Kazakhstan tat ended up with control of over 20% of America's uranium mines and stockpiles passing to Russian control. And that also resulted in massive cash contributions to the Clinton Foundation, including donations from the company’s chairman totaling $2.35 million that were previously not disclosed.

What's especially ironic is that this came after the Clinton Foundation signed a “memorandum of understanding” with the Obama White House in 2008 promising to disclose its donors as a condition of Hillary Clinton becoming secretary of state. The MOU specifically mentions the “Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative” the former name of the charity as part of the Clinton Foundation covered by the agreement.

Guess what? They never revealed any of those donors, and Mrs. Clinton is refusing to do so now:

Giustra says that’s because Canada’s federal privacy law forbids CGEP, a Canadian-registered charity, from revealing its donors. A memo he provided explaining the legal rationale cites CGEP’s “fiduciary obligations” to its contributors and Canada’s Personal Information Privacy and Electronic Disclosure Act. “We are not allowed to disclose even to the Clinton Foundation the names of our donors,” he says.

On Saturday, responding to the Times story, Maura Pally, the acting CEO of the Clinton Foundation, issued a statement echoing this assertion: “This is hardly an effort on our part to avoid transparency–unlike in the U.S., under Canadian law, all charities are prohibited from disclosing individual donors without prior permission from each donor.”


Except, whoopsie:

Canadian tax and privacy law experts were dubious of this claim. Len Farber, former director of tax policy at Canada's Department of Finance, said he wasn't aware of any tax laws that would prevent the charity from releasing its donors' names. "There's nothing that would preclude them from releasing the names of donors," he said. "It's entirely up to them."

Mark Blumberg, a charity lawyer at Blumberg Segal in Toronto, added that the legislation "does not generally apply to a registered charity unless a charity is conducting commercial activities... such as selling the list to third parties."

CGEP might have a stronger claim if it promised anonymity to donors, says David Fraser, a partner at McInnes Cooper in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who runs a blog on Canadian privacy law. He’s more skeptical of the argument that a charity has a fiduciary duty to donors. "They might have a fiduciary duty to the people they're collecting money to help," he said, "but for the donors that doesn't seem to have the ring of truth."


And then, there's this little item:

While Giustra says he can’t reveal any names, he is willing to disclose that CGEP money comes from “mostly Canadian donors.” The charity is registered in Canada, he says, not to hide the identity of its donors but to enable them to receive Canadian tax breaks that can reimburse them for nearly half of what they give.

However, not all CGEP’s big donors are Canadian. The Canada Revenue Agency—Canada’s IRS—requires charities to reveal whether they receive donations of more than $10,000 (Canadian) from people who are not Canadians, employed in the country, or carrying on business there. In both 2009 and 2010, CGEP filings show that it reported receiving such donations to Canadian authorities.


More from Sean Davis at The Federalist:

The donations were routed through the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (Canada), or CGEPartnership, a Canadian charitable organization. That organization then effectively bundled the foreign donations and sent them along to the Clinton Foundation itself, and it did all of this without ever disclosing the individual foreign sources of the income.

If that sounds to you like more of a laundering operation than a charitable organization, that’s because it certainly looks like more of a laundering operation than a charitable organization. In this case, however, rather than taking cash from blatantly illegal activities (as far as we know) and then cleaning it up by running it through legitimate businesses before it ends up at its final destination, the Clinton Foundation mops up cash from wealthy foreigners, bundles it within a larger organization to hide the money’s original source, and then funnels the cash from that legitimate charity right into the Clinton Foundation coffers. [...]

Multiple Canadian tax and privacy law experts contacted by The Federalist, the Washington Post, and BloombergPolitics said there was no such blanket prohibition on public disclosure of charitable donor identities. While Canada does include a ban on the release of donor information in the course of commercial activity, it specifically exempts fundraising from that definition. And because the public disclosure of a donor’s name doesn’t include any transaction or consideration, it’s not considered to be commercial activity.

“Federal law prohibits disclosure related to commercial activity: things like selling, renting, or bartering of a list. Fundraising is not a covered activity under PIPEDA, the federal privacy law,” Adam Aptowitzer, a Canadian charitable organization attorney, told The Federalist.

And the money quote: If you look holistically at the entire scheme’s setup, at the massive flow of foreign cash, at the refusal to disclose donors, at the secret (and now destroyed) private e-mail servers, at the blatantly bogus excuses, at the falsified tax returns, everything about it suddenly makes a lot more sense...In its current form, the Clinton Foundation is a charity in the same way La Cosa Nostra was an Italian soup kitchen. 

Especially since after 'expenses' only around - wait for it- only 10% or less of the swag was actually spent on anything that could remotely be called 'charity' per the Clinton Foundation's 2013 tax returns.

The Canadian outlet isn't the only Clinton Foundation 'subsidiary' around either. For instance, there's one in Sweden whose primary purpose is fundraising that was registered in 2010 will Hillary Clinton was still secretary of state.They took in $66M Swedish Krona ($8M US) during Hillary's last year in office.And there's another on in the UK whose primary function is fundraising.

 But wait, there's more.

The Clintons have stooped to a new low, drafting their daughter to lie for them in public. Even NPR wouldn't swallow this one:

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary, sought to tamp down new allegations that rich foreign donors had influenced her mother while she was secretary of state by noting that an international anti-corruption group had endorsed the foundation's disclosure practices.

 "What the Clinton foundation has said is that we will be kind of even more transparent," said the former first daughter, now vice chairman of the foundation, at an event sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. "Even though Transparency International and others have said we're among the most transparent foundations, we'll disclose donors on a quarterly basis, not just an annual basis."

 The problem with that, though, is Transparency International never cited the Clinton foundation. It did award Hillary Clinton its 2012 TI-USA Integrity Award when Clinton was secretary of state for "recognizing her contributions as secretary of state in raising the importance of transparency and anticorruption as elements of U.S. policy," Claudia Dumas, president of Transparency International, told NPR. (The organization put out a fuller statement Monday.)

"I am very honored to be here and delighted to be supporting the work of Transparency International-USA," Clinton said on March 22, 2012. She added, "Corruption and the lack of transparency eats away like a cancer at the trust people should have in their government."
She never mentioned the Clinton foundation, and Dumas' organization is focused on promoting government transparency.

"We do not do an examination or any ranking of foundations," said Dumas, who noted that Chelsea Clinton may have simply made an innocent mistake.

It had to have been. I mean, have you ever known any of the Clintons to lie?

Watcher's Council Nominations - Burning Baltimore Edition

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Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:


The Council In Action!!

Don Surber has just published his first book, "Exceptional Americans" and it is definitely a fascinating read. For those wanting further details, my review is here.

Available in paperback at Create Space or Amazon.


This week, The Astute Bloggers, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Pirate's Cove and The People's Cube earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (mandatory, but of course it won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning

Simple, no?

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have for you this week....

Council Submissions

Honorable Mentions

Non-Council Submissions

Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees!

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It's time once again for the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we pick our choices to compete for the award of the famed Golden Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations!

Here are this weeks' nominees....

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Senate Majority Leader And RINO Supreme-o Mitch McConnell!!

 The Noisy Room : My nomination this week is Mitch McConnell for his betrayal to conservatives once again by pushing for the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as Attorney General.


Mitch McConnell bald-facedly lied in October. While he was wooing conservatives for the upcoming midterm election, he stated that any nominee that was going to replace Eric Holder as “the nation’s highest law-enforcement official” must, “as a condition of his or her confirmation,” avoid “at all costs” Holder’s penchant for putting “political and ideological commitments ahead of the rule of law” — including as it “relates to the president’s acting unilaterally on immigration or anything else.” He fibbed big time and betrayed conservatives nationwide. It was his wheeling and dealing that led to the deal that was struck with Harry Reid and that cinched Lynch’s confirmation.

Here’s Mitch McConnell’s deal: If Democrats agree to stop blocking a human trafficking bill over some boilerplate language regarding abortion funding — a position that made them look unreasonable — Republicans, with all the leverage imaginable, will help confirm another attorney general nominee who will rubber stamp the president’s many overreaches. So, you see in the end, the Republicans voted for the continuation of the abuse of Executive power. It’s really just that simple. The reasons given for supporting Lynch included that she was a black woman and the best so far to come out the Obama White House – those are two breathtakingly horrible reasons for Lynch to be confirmed. It’s absolutely shameful politicking.

If you didn’t think Mitch McConnell was a lying, conniving Progressive before… you should now. Once the November election was won and behind him, McConnell went to work behind the scenes to whip up support for Loretta Lynch. He wielded his power from the shadows and strong-armed others into supporting her. By voting for her confirmation, he summarily flipped off any conservative who had been foolish enough to believe his campaign rhetoric. Suckers.


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Baltimore Mayor Stephanie 'Let 'Em Riot' Rawlings-Blake!

Virginia Right! : this week the clear choice for Weasel of the Week is Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Her statement to the potential looters and rioters was a green light to rape, pillage and burn the city. This was both irresponsible and reprehensible. And as we sat there in front of the television watching the police try to block the stones and bricks being thrown, obviously forbidden to respond, it left most with a sick feeling in their stomach.

She said she wanted to "give space to those who wished to destroy.” One can only hope that her career is also destroyed by that stupid statement.

The Independent Sentinel :The Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, is my selection for two weasel statements in one press conference. First, she thanked the anti-white, anti-Jewish, anti-American Nation of Islam for maintaining order, and second she said she "gave those who wish to destroy space to do that as well".

Go to 01:42:



Don Surber : Mustela Baltimoron mayorus Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for giving rioters, arsonists and looters a space of their own. Her actual words:

"I made it very clear that I work with the police and instructed them to do everything that they could to make sure that the protesters were able to exercise their right to free speech. It's a very delicate balancing act. Because while we try to make sure that they were protected from the cars and other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. And we worked very hard to keep that balance and to put ourselves in the best position to de-escalate."

Oberlin graduate! Need we say more? It takes a certain kind of cowardice to stand up to a crowd of lawless outlaws and say, "Do what you want to the girl, but leave me alone."

 Nice Deb :The Mayor of Baltimore,Stephanie Rawlings-Blake gets my vote for dumbest quote of the week:

“It was a very delicate balancing act because while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on — um — we also gave those who wished to destroy, space to do that, as well,” Rawlings-Blake said in all seriousness during a press conference, Sunday.

The weaseliness came during the obligatory walk-back, Monday afternoon: 


“I’ll say the very blatant mischaracterization of my words was not helpful, today. I was asked a question about the property damage that was done, and in answering that question, I made it very clear that we — balanced a very fine line between giving protesters – peaceful protesters – space to protest. What I said, was, in doing so – people can hijack that and use that space for bad. I did notsay that we were accepting of it. I didsay that we were passive to it. I was just explaining how property damage can happen during a peaceful protest. It is very unfortunate that members of your industry decided to mischaracterize my words and try to use it as a way to say we are inciting violence.”

Because she didn't want to admit that she made a mistake or misspoke, she blamed the media for "mischaracterizing" what she clearly said. This makes Stephanie Rawlings Blake is the very personification of the word, weasel.


 

Milwaukee District Attorney And Wanna Be NKVD Head John T. Chisholm!!

The Right Planet : Milwaukee District Attorney John T. Chisholm has been accused of a vicious political witch hunt, authorizing predawn suburban raids against conservative targets. Armed police using battering rams smashed in doors and raided homes, seizing computers, phones, even a child's iPad. Empowered by a rubber-stamp judge, Barbara Kulka, partisan investigators seized massive amounts of personal e-mails and other electronic messages. The targets of the raids were told to keep quiet. Chisholm allegedly told a fellow prosecutor that his wife's weeping complaints about how Gov. Scott Walker's policies would apparently hurt her union motivated him to launch a personal vendetta against Walker's staff and 29 conservative nonprofits for years. None of the targets of the searches were ever convicted of a crime. The courts found Chisholm had no legal basis for his "chilling" heavy-handed "John Doe" investigations. But it appears Chisholm is so thin-skinned and unhinged over all the recent criticism of his fascistic tactics that he suggested on Saturday Gov. Walker should be criminally charged with defamation for criticizing him.

 Well, there it is. What a despicable group of  Weasels...ANY OF THEM COULD WIN! Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

'Exceptional Americans' - Stories You've Never Heard In A Riveting New Book

Exceptional Americans

Ever hear of Ann Hutchinson or Benjamin Eddes? How about Francis and Elizabeth Lewis? Or Anthony Wayne? Or Leland Stanford?

These are just some of the men and women you meet in Don Surber's new book, and had they not existed America would have been a very different country, if it had even existed at all.

The stories themselves, as Surber points out in his preface, are simply lessons in American exceptionalism, and at a time when we're told that it somehow doesn't matter anymore a book like this is a much needed reminder that it very much does.

The lives of the people Surber profiles are examples of why two presidents whom were students of America's history, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan both referred to America as the last, best hope of mankind. Reading it is a reminder of whom we are as a nation.

The book itself is a fine read. Surber sketches his subjects with an historian's eye for detail while his years of experience as a newspaper writer keeps the book from being bogged down with unnecessary minutia.

Harry Truman once said that they only thing that's new is the history you don't know. There's a lot of that history in the pages of 'Exceptional Americans.'

$14.99 at Create Space or Amazon.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Forum: If The Clintons Committed A Felony, What Should Be Done?



Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: Assuming that they are brought to trial and convicted, If The Clintons Committed A Felony, What Should Be Done?

 GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : Not sure how to answer this - so I hit up a certain cat over at Daily Conservative...

The only reason that a public servant would use a private email server hosted out of her house would be to hide her emails from the public she serves.

That’s not just unethical… it’s illegal. And it is the same crime that General Petraeus just pleaded guilty to.

You see, in Petraeus’ case, he pleaded guilty to storing classified materials on his unsecure, private email account. The law requires that classified documents be stored on secure government servers to protect against hackers.

The State Department is saying that Hillary Clinton ONLY used her private email account while she was Secretary.

Which means one of two things:

Either she never received any classified material by email while she was Secretary of State (extremely unlikely) or she committed hundreds, if not thousands, of misdemeanors and felonies by keeping those documents unsecure on her private server.

Those are the only two options. Either Mrs. Clinton wasn’t doing her job, or she was committing crimes on a daily basis.

The penalty for storing classified emails on a non-government, unsecure email server is up to a year in prison and $100,000 fine PER DOCUMENT. This isn’t a felony, but it is a misdemeanor that carries prison time.

The other law that she might have broken is the statute prohibiting the destroying/concealing of government documents. The punishment for knowingly concealing or destroying government email records is 3 years in prison PER OFFENSE.

This second violation is a FELONY and would disqualify her from holding public office!

Did Hillary Clinton illegally kept classified materials on her private email server? It would be inconceivable for the Secretary of State – possessing the highest security clearance – would not discuss anything classified over email.

Laura Rambeau Lee, Right Reason: Considering the most recent allegations against Hillary Clinton, the most damning, and, if proven, felonious actions committed would be:

1. Taking money from foreign governments

2. Deleting over 30,000 emails AFTER they had been subpoenaed by Congress,

3. Improper disclosure on tax returns of the receipt of donations to the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments.

On the first count, Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution states “… no Person holding any office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any Present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” The acceptance of money while serving as Secretary of State, regardless of whether these were payments for special favors, violates the Constitution and U. S. law. If Clinton was still in office, this would be an impeachable offense.

On the second point, deleting over 30K emails after they had been subpoenaed is an obstruction of justice. It is a crime as per 18 U.S.C. §1519 to destroy a document to prevent it from being subpoenaed. According to an article in Thompson Reuters by Law Professor Ronald Rotunda, “Section 1519 imposes up to 20 years imprisonment for what commentators call, “anticipatory obstruction of justice.” A casual observer would find it hard to believe her explanation that they were all private emails and none of a public nature. Are we to believe we have NO trail of any of Clinton’s emails while she served as Secretary of State?

Thirdly, we have the announcement that the Clinton family’s charities will be reviewing and refiling five years of tax returns (and possibly more) after news agency Reuters found errors in how they reported donations from foreign governments. Could it be the IRS that takes down the Clinton Empire? Perhaps, if the rule of law was applied equally regardless of political connections or affiliations, but it doesn’t appear President Obama’s IRS and Department of Justice pay much attention to the rule of law unless it benefits his progressive agenda.

The Clinton’s continued arrogance and belief they are somehow above the law is not a sudden revelation. This attitude has existed since they began their political career. Clinton deflects these latest allegations as right wing conspiracy theories. She and her campaign team do not deny any of the charges. They confidently assert there is no smoking gun or evidence of wrongdoing. With these latest revelations, it appears there is enough “there there” for the Justice Department to launch an investigation. Sadly, I don’t hold out much hope for this happening under the current administration.

As to what should be done if they are found guilty of these felonies, the Clinton Foundation should be stripped of its charitable tax-exempt status retroactively back to its formation, its assets liquidated along with all of the Clintons’ properties and holdings, and all of the monies distributed to charities benefiting America’s veterans and their families. Bill and Hillary should be sentenced to live out the rest of their days in confinement together in a single cell in a federal prison with no possibility of parole. One can dream, can’t one?

JoshuaPundit : If I had to answer this question short and sweet, I could confine my response to one word - nothing. Because nothing will be done. They will not be tried at all, much less convicted.

Not that there isn't quite a bit they could be tried on. According to Mrs. Clinton's own admissions, she committed obstruction of justice by destroying material she had on a private server after congress had subpoenaed it. There's also the tacit admission that she and the Clinton Foundation committed what amounted to tax fraud and misuse of a 501C status by (a) failing to disclose the actual foreign sources of donations, AKA money laundering and (b) mixing together a number of those donations in what appears to be attempt to camouflage their origin with government grants they received, also known as commingling. While an ordinary American would be facing severe prosecution and forfeiture of assets for these crimes, the Clintons are being allowed to refile 5 years worth of taxes and 900 reports to 'fix their mistakes,' after which they will use money from the Foundation to pay, given their means,extremely modest penalties for misfiling.

And we haven't even gotten to the pay for play aspects of many these donations which saw speaking fees for President Clintom skyrocket, and came from countries and businessmen who had business that Secretary Clinton as head of State Department was able to intervene on their behalf, and appears to have done so in exchange for large donations to the Clinton Foundation. Or the fact that she apparently classified materials on her private server, another violation of federal law.

Keep in mind that since the Clintons own the Foundation, they were able to use these 'donations' to invest and pay 'expenses' and to park income from these high paid speaking fees tax free to be used as massive deductions on their other income.

The Clintons won't be tried for a number of reasons.

The GOP leadership in the Senate just signaled clearly that for all the promises and hot air expended, they have no intention whatsoever of challenging any of this president's agenda and that he will be allowed to get away with whatever he wants to. So there will be no special prosecutor or any other assistance from the Obama Department of Justice, which now controls that formerly independent office.

The Clintons are prominent Democrats and frankly, there are different legal standards for Democrats nowadays, especially prominent ones whom likely know where a few bodies are buried. So even in the unlikely event any of this sees a court of law, no federal prosecutors will attempt to do anything more than a wrist slap.

We no longer live in a country of laws when it comes to the Oligarchy, this class we have allowed to rule over us. Instead, the laws, when they're not simply ignored are frequently used as a means to obfuscate and deny justice rather than achieve it.

There is, however an interesting implication, a subtext to the current brouhaha over the Clintons. I'll explore that in a separate item over at my place shortly.

The Glittering Eye : What should happen under those circumstances? They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. What will happen? Nothing. Look at David Petraeus, for goodness sake.


The Independent Sentinel : The Clintons should be investigated and tried if there is evidence. They should be punished if they are guilty. It's pretty straight-forward to me. For their role in turning control of 20% of our uranium over to the Russians, if convicted I think they're traitors.

Wolf Howling : The Clintons are a sordid pair around whom the stench of scandal always hangs. Those of recent vintage are the multiple issues arising from Hillary's e-mail during her time as Secretary of State and her subsequent recent erasure of tens of thousands of those e-mails. Another brewing scandal lies with the Clinton Foundation, a cash machine for the Clintons that does not seem to be acting as a charity and indeed, may well be at the center of undue influence on government decisions while Hillary was Secretary of State.

There is a real question whether Hillary violated criminal laws concerning the handling of official e-mails and the transmission of classified information over non-government means of communication. There are related questions as to whether the State Dept. or Hillary herself have committed perjury in their responses to legal requests for information that would have required production of Hillary's personal e-mails in response. Indeed, the threats Hillary created to our national security by using a private e-mail address not reasonably secured far exceed those created by General Petraeus, who was recently prosecuted for divulging classified material. This is also an issue that ties directly into Behghazi. Because of the whitewash investigation of that incident, one that did not include either Hillary or top levels of the State Department, and because we have not had access to her e-mails, we still do not know what role Hillary played during and in the months leading up to the criminally reckless event that cost the lives of our Libyan Ambassador and several others. Hillary's refusal to hand over her e-mail server for expert analysis and her attempt to address these issues with a stage managed presser before foreign correspondents have all been just jaw dropping in their shamelessness.

Yet other issues surround the Clinton Foundation, Bill and Hill's personal money machine since Bill left office. It is a charitable foundation that has taken in well over half a billion dollars, yet fed out only 15% for actual charitable work, if it can be called that. It appears that much of the Foundation money that has been doled out has directly benefited rich friends of the Clintons, and it appears that numerous foreign sources have given money to the Clintons, and then soon after found themselves the beneficiaries of favorable U.S. government actions. The most notorious of these that we know about so far is the approval of a Russian's purchase of 20% of our nation's uranium mines, an approval signed off on by Hillary in the State Dept. after several large donations to the Clinton Foundation. Then there is the fact that the Foundation has, for years, failed to disclose its foreign donors, either in its tax returns or as part of legally required disclosures regarding potential conflicts of interest during Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State.

I doubt that there is any direct quid pro quo so in any of this so clear as to sustain a criminal conviction. But it stinks like a three day old manure pile in the hot sun. We will know far more about that in a few days, when Peter Schweizer's new book Clinton Cash is published.

So what should be done. In a society where rule of law dominates, Hillary would be face down on a table right now along with her sever, both getting a colonoscopy from FBI agents as part of an investigation similar to that of General Petraeus. The MSM seems unsure of what to do at this moment regarding Hillary, but what they aren't doing is pressing her at any point on the e-mail issue. As to the Clinton Foundation, the MSM appears to be holding its breath, waiting for Schweizer's book release, apparently afraid that even they won't be able to stem the tide.

If Hillary and the MSM have an option, they will see her skate right through until her coronation. We will never have answers about the Clinton Foundation or the many issues surrounding Hillary's e-mail. What we should have is a press treating the Clintons like Nixon and a DOJ that has already opened up investigations. Unfortunately we have neither at the moment, and there will be no investigations until 2017, if ever. Rule of law does not seem to matter to the left in this country, and so long as they hold the levers of power, it will atrophy in this nation.

Well, there you have it.

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Friday, April 24, 2015

The Council Has Spoken!! Our Watcher's Council Results


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The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

"Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence." - Thomas Jefferson

"The Tea Party represents stakeholders in the American system; people who were never involved in politics or thought they had to be, yet realized that political corruption and incompetence threatened not only their families, but the future of the nation itself." - Tammy Bruce


"Politics, n: [Poly “many” + tics “blood-sucking parasites”]-Ambrose Bierce

“All Animals Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others" -New law posted by the pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm

“If you hires you a thief, don't holler if they steals." -old black American saying in the Mississippi Delta


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This week's winning essay,Joshuapundit's -How To Make Millions Off 'Public Service' -The Corrupt Clinton Cash Machine was occasioned by the furor surrounding the release of an important new book about the Clinton Foundation scandal. Here's a slice:

My old editor at Breitbart Peter Schweizer has a new book coming out May 5 entitled “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.”

My review copy will be arriving shortly, so I haven't read it yet. But the New York Times has, and it's good enough that even Pravda-on-the Hudson had to pay it grudging attention,admitting, "He writes mainly in the voice of a neutral journalist and meticulously documents his sources, including tax records and government documents, while leaving little doubt about his view of the Clintons."

That's no news to anyone who has read Peter's other books on crony capitalism, which target pigs at the trough in both parties.

The subject of this particular book is a detailed 186 page investigation of how the U.S State Department would grant favors to foreign entities in exchange for high-dollar speaking fees and donations paid directly to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

As I pointed out previously, foundations are one of the most egregious scams to hide and shelter income and avoid taxation for the super rich:

Now, foundations are interesting creatures. As Jane Fonda shows us , if the foundation has 501(c) status (and the Clinton Foundation certainly does), they can be used as a place to park income so it isn't taxed and can be used for various 'expenses'..or even invested, tax free. Why else do you think that most of the super-wealthy in America like the Clintons have such foundations?

Another thing about foundations that's interesting is that according to the IRS rules, they're allowed to pay salaries and 'administrative costs' (pretty much anything you can think of) with any portion of the donor money, something that has attracted a lot of prominent politicians. Ex-president Jimmy Carter's Peace Foundation, for example provides a very nice income for him courtesy of his anti-Israel Arab friends. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is another prime example of how 'foundations' , 'libraries' and 'centers' can be used as cash cows by their 'owners'.

And here's the kicker about Hillary's 'charitable donation'. Anything the wealthy 'donor' to such a foundation donates likewise becomes a deduction against whatever taxes they might owe the IRS. So if Hillary Rodham Clinton actually did 'donate' all that money to the Clinton Foundation, she got paid two ways..first by reducing her taxable income significantly to lower her taxes and second by acquiring a huge deduction to leverage against the taxes on her other income. And since her husband 'owns' the Clinton Foundation, the money stayed in the family.

Both The New York Times, of all people, and The New York Post had some disturbing things to say about where the huge sums of money the Clinton Foundation collects were spent...and the Clinton Foundation's infrequent audits.

The Clinton Foundation's mission statement ought to be a tipoff:

"We convene businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change."

Or as I would translate it, 'We actively pursue fundraising from governments, private enterprise and our well connected friends for various nebulous causes. Yeah, we got a few good things going on, a few programs we can point to, some conferences and some meetings so we have the slideshow as a marketing tool, but essentially, our real object is fundraising and covering our substantial expenses.'

Don't be surprised if some those 'expenses' end up being in kind, cash contributions to Hillary's 2016 campaign that not only evade McCain-Feingold but allow 'donors to get a nice tax deduction to a 501 C in the bargain. It's a dodge, just like the huge $14 million advance Democrat donor-owned Simon & Schuster ponied up for Hillary's failed book. Hillary will pocket the cash and Sumner Redstone and his friends will recoup it courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers after they deduct it as a loss against their other income.



More at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was David French in the National Review with a gripping piece, Wisconsin’s Shame: ‘I Thought It Was a Home Invasion submitted by Nice Deb .

This is the story of Wisconsin's 'John Doe' investigations where a rabidly Democrat prosecutor found a judge to sign off on targeting what the Left in Wisconsin saw as their political enemies and their families using methods more resembling the Gestapo or the NKVD than what we would think of as a free country. This story has to be read to be believed, and the court case that resulted is now headed to the Supreme Court.

Here are this week’s full results. Only Ask Marion was unable to vote this week but was not subject to the normal 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners


See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Thursday, April 23, 2015

GOP Senate Informs Obama He Can Get Away With Whatever He Wants

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All the bold talk last November about stopping Obama's agenda was revealed today as the sheer hot air (and I'm being polite) that it always was, at least from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the establishment GOP.

Today, he and some of his cronies crossed lines to confirm President Obama's choice for attorney general, Loretta Lynch.

Aside from her genuinely racialist and radical Leftist views, she lacks the one major qualification to be the top law enforcement officer in our government...respect for those laws themselves.

Aside from her vigorous antipathy to any kind of voter ID laws, she made it plain during her confirmation hearings in January that she sees no limit to presidential power when it comes to amnesty by executive order. In fact, she refused to refused to identify to any hypothetical limit to President Obama’s power to stop enforcing existing law via 'prosecutorial discretion' and executive orders.



Senator McConnell as majority leader could have reinstated the filibuster to stop her.

He could have refused to bring her nomination to the floor, just as former Democrat Majorty Leader Harry Reid did with so many things. He didn't.

Instead, he voted for Loretta Lynch's confirmation.

Yes, in the end, the vote was 56-43, with senators Ayotte, Cochran, Collins, Flake, Graham, Hatch, Johnson, Kirk, McConnell, and Portman as the GOP 'yes' votes.

In many ways, this was the ultimate surrender. With Loretta Lynch as Attorney General, there will be no real investigations of the many scandals surrounding the White House. There will never be any kind of special prosecutor named, since that's now all controlled through the Attorney General's office. There will continue to be divisive, racially biased interventions and prosecutions by the Justice Department at every opportunity.

There will be no challenge to this president's unlawful amnesty or to ObamaCare. In fact, the Republican Leadership just signaled to this president that he can literally get away with murder and treat them with the contempt they deserve.

I expect Loretta Lynch to be even more radical, partisan and oppressive then Eric Holder was.There is, after all, a reason why Obama wanted her in the job, and it wasn't her resume.

Our Weasel Of The Week!!



Once again, It's time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special tribute to evil, our 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were all contemptible,but the votes are in and this weeks' winner  triumphed over some stiff competition...the envelope please...

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 Mikey Weinstein, Obama's Personal Czar To Eradicate Christianity In The Military!!

  JoshuaPundit : A lot of people have never heard of Michael 'Mikey' Weinstein. But he's an influential point man in one of President Barack Hussein Obama's most ambitious projects.

 Whether it's trying to force  combat troops to give up their VA benefits, using their coffins as a campaign  photo-op or illegally suppressing their votes, President Obama has shown from day one that he pretty much despises the American military, especially their  values. Since most Americans do honor our military, the president's solution is to change the nature of those whom serve to the degree possible. One way is to force as many men as possible out of the service, especially officers, and replace them with people more likely to see things this president's way, especially when it comes to politics. A second front, if you will, is to change the military's culture so that any semblance of Judeo-Christian expression and values are eliminated.

And that's where a militant atheist like Mikey comes in. You see, Mikey and his 'Military Religious Freedom Foundation' are raking in lots of taxpayers dollars to wage war on Christianity in the military as official Pentagon consultants.

And Mikey Weinstein hates Christians (whom he sees as Tea Party right wingers) and Christianity with a special hatred, as well as religious Jews. He actually blamed Christians for the Fort Hood terrorist attack, saying proselytizing by "fundamentalist Christians"created a hostile environment that caused jihadist Major Nidal Hasan to go on his rampage,

As a result, both retention and enlistments are way down among believing Christians, who have always been disproportionally represented among those who volunteer for military service. And because Weinstein has particularly targeted chaplains, whom he wants out of uniform and denied all military rank and benefits,  recruiting Christian chaplains whom feel they can no longer practice their faith  has become extraordinarily difficult.

 What this portends for the future of America's military is not pleasant to contemplate.


Now this award, the Golden Weasel actually celebrates certain human qualities. To be able to freely demonize and attack people you hate just because without fear of consequences, be recognized and rewarded for it by prog fascists and their tools and to make a handsome living doing it is, to be blunt about it, weasel heaven. Mikey Weinstein has achieved all three, from his posh offices to the Lotus he drives. The president is making sure the Pentagon has his back, and he can destroy the careers of far better men with a phone call. Like I said, he's in weasel heaven. He deserves this statuette, and it belongs on the shelf with all the other awards he's received for his war on Christians in the military.

So here's  your well-deserved award, Mr. Weinstein. As I understand, your efforts have significantly affected retention and recruitment, and polls show that morale in our military is at an all-time low. But hey, that's just a sign of  your success, right?

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Watcher's Council Nominations - On The Trail Edition

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Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:


This week, Seraphic Secret, The Pirate's Cove, Neo-Neocon and Doug Ross earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (mandatory, but of course it won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning.

Simple, no?

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have for you this week....

Council Submissions

Honorable Mentions

Non-Council Submissions


Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!