Patterico's Pontifications

7/1/2016

SWATting Fifth Anniversary

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:55 pm



This house was SWATted on July 1, 2011.

Seems like yesterday . . . maybe because I’m still being sued by Brett Kimberlin.

End of Week Presidential Campaign Items

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:51 pm



HILLARY HEADED FOR THE HOT SEAT

The FBI is reportedly about to interview Hillary. Possibly tomorrow.

SMOD 2016!

The Sweet Meteor of Death is almost neck and neck with Trump in this poll among the 18-29 crowd and independents.

NEWTIE SAYS BAH! TO FREE TRADE

Newt Gingrich helped pass NAFTA and has supported free trade for decades. Today he said Trump’s right on trade.

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, under consideration as Donald Trump’s running mate, is dropping his decades-long support of free trade deals and picking up Trump’s strongly protectionist position.

“I basically agree with Trump’s speech on trade,” Gingrich said in an email to POLITICO on Friday.

At lunch I was telling a colleague I think Gingrich is the VP pick and that it’s been decided for weeks; I hadn’t even seen this story. Now I’m even more convinced Newtie is the guy. As Allahpundit says: Trumpism corrupts.

SARAH PALIN: NEVER TRUMPERS ARE RATS

Sarah Palin says Republicans who don’t support Trump are Republicans Against Trump, or “RATs.” Get it? So come on and join us! I guess is the message. She also said: “You’re either with us or against us!” Guess what, darlin’? There is a third option.

TRUMP IS PRESIDENTIAL AFTER ALL!

Finally: the Donald bought a Tim Tebow-signed helmet for $12 grand with other people’s money, showing his qualifications for the presidency by demonstrating his skill in spending other people’s money in foolish ways. WaPo:

Did Donald Trump violate IRS rules, by using a charity’s money to buy himself a signed football helmet?

Four years ago, at a charity fundraiser in Palm Beach, Donald Trump got into a bidding war at the evening’s live auction. The items up for sale: A Denver Broncos helmet, autographed by then-star quarterback Tim Tebow, and a Tebow jersey.

Trump won, eventually, with a bid of $12,000. Afterward, he posed with the helmet. His purchase made gossip-column news: a flourish of generosity, by a mogul with money to burn. “The Donald giveth, and The Donald payeth,” wrote the Palm Beach Daily News. “Blessed be the name of The Donald.”

But Trump didn’t actually pay with his own money.

Instead, the Susan G. Komen organization — the breast-cancer nonprofit that hosted the party — got a $12,000 payment from another nonprofit, the Donald J. Trump Foundation.

Trump himself sent no money. (In fact, a Komen spokeswoman said, Trump has never given a personal gift of cash to the Komen organization.) He paid the bill with money from a charity he founded in 1987, but which is largely stocked with other people’s money. Trump is the foundation’s president. But, at the time of the auction, Trump had given none of his own money to the foundation for three years running.

The helmet is now worth about 400 bucks. He makes such great deals. He really does. Everybody says so. The deals are so, so great. That I can tell you.

Loathsome TSA Bloodies And Bruises Young Woman During Screening Process. Did I Mention She Is Partially Deaf, Blind In One Eye, Paralyzed, Easily Confused? Oh, And She Also Has A Brain Tumor

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:36 am



[guest post by Dana]

An obvious threat to national security:

Bloodied and bruised Hannah Cohen was led from Memphis International Airport in handcuffs.

The 19-year old was headed home to Chattanooga after treatment for a brain tumor at St. Jude Hospital.

It’s a trip they’ve made for 17-years.

This time, an unarmed Hannah, set off the metal detector at a security checkpoint

“They wanted to do further scanning, she was reluctant, she didn’t understand what they were about to do,” said her mother Shirley Cohen.

Cohen told us she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed, and easily confused, but said she was kept at a distance by police.

“She’s trying to get away from them but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor. There was blood everywhere,” said Cohen.

Hannah was arrested, booked and on the night she should have been celebrating the end of her treatment, she was locked up in Jail East.

Charges were eventually dropped against Hannah, but her family has filed lawsuits against Memphis Airport, Airport Police, and the Transportation Security Administration.

In response to this horrible event, TSA rep Sari Koshetz said, “Passengers can call ahead of time to learn more about the screening process for their particular needs or medical situation.”

This is the same TSA that saw a staggering 95% failure rate when airport screeners failed to stop Homeland Security agents armed with guns, fake bombs and other contraband from making it through the screening process 67 out of 70 times during a nation-wide test of the system. But throw a disabled young woman in their midst, and they’ll take her down before you can say abusive behavior.

But hey, when you consider how hard these screeners work to keep America safe by forcing 95-year old women from their wheelchairs so they can remove their adult diapers and be searched, what’s a little blood, bruising, and brain tumor?

Video at the link above.

UPDATE:

Untitled

Unfortunate situation?? Really??

If reports are inaccurate, then correct.

Did Hannah Cohen refuse to be screened or leave because she was already confused and upset by aggressive screeners as well as her mother being forcibly prevented to come to her aid, both by providing screeners with an explanation of her daughter’s physical limitations as well as being unable to physically attend to Hannah in an efforts to soothe her?

Cohen told us she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed, and easily confused, but said she was kept at a distance by police.

So the police were already there, presumably called by the screeners. Hannah’s mom was restrained and unable to attend to her upset daughter. And mom was also forced to witness her daughter get knocked to the ground, bloodied and bruised, and then arrested. That’s how it’s done.

What is most unfortunate, TSA, is that it appears this assault of Hannah could have easily been avoided had her mother been allowed to explain her daughter’s own unfortunate situation and physically go to her, and mostly, had TSA screeners not been so unreasonable.

I anxiously await the TSA’s release of their accurate accounting of this most unfortunate situation.

–Dana

AG Lynch – Bill Clinton Meeting Follow-Up

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:06 am



[guest post by Dana]

Two days ago, we learned about an allegedly unplanned meeting between AG Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton on a tarmac in Phoenix. The appearance of impropriety and massive conflict of interest has naturally caused an uproar given that Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, is currently the subject of an official FBI investigation along with the Clinton Foundation, in which Bill Clinton is a key player:

Untitled

Since then, several important things have occurred. I’m just going to tick off what has taken place in the space of a few days.

First, according to the reporter who broke the story, Christopher Sign of ABC 15 in Phoenix, the F.B.I. gave unusual orders to those in the vicinity of the impromptu meeting:

“The former president steps into her plane. They then speak for 30 minutes privately. The FBI there on the tarmac instructing everybody around ‘no photos, no pictures, no cell phones.’”

Since when are photos of a former president off limits? Especially when that ex-president is Bill Clinton?

Second, after learning about the now-infamous meeting, Judicial Watch filed an official ethics complaint requesting an investigation into the meeting:

Attorney General Loretta Lynch met privately with former President William J. Clinton on board a parked private plane on the west side of Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona on June 29, 2016, according to multiple press reports.

President Clinton is the spouse of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former Secretary of State, who is purportedly the subject of a national security crime investigation pertaining to the mishandling of national defense information processed by Mrs. Clinton’s personal server during her tenure as secretary.

Additionally, there are press reports that a federal public corruption investigation is on-going concerning conflicts of interest and abuse of official government office involving the financial “commitments” to the Clinton Foundation, speaking fees for President Clinton and former Secretary Clinton’s official acts. President Clinton may be a target of that investigation.

Attorney General Lynch’s meeting with President Clinton creates the appearance of a violation of law, ethical standards and good judgment. Attorney General Lynch’s decision to breach the well-defined ethical standards of the Department of Justice and the American legal profession is an outrageous abuse of the public’s trust. Her conduct and statements undermine confidence in her ability to objectively investigate and prosecute possible violations of law associated with President Clinton and Secretary Clinton. This incident undermines the public’s faith in the fair administration of justice. Simply stated, Attorney General Lynch’s June 29, 2016 meeting with former President Clinton creates the broad public impression that “the fix is in.”

Judicial Watch requests your immediate and thorough investigation of the facts, circumstances, and appearances of ethical, regulatory and legal violations by Attorney General Lynch in connection with her meeting with former President William J. Clinton – and that you report your findings and recommendations to the American public.

Third, according to the New York Times, which for some mysterious reason ignored the Lynch-Clinton story for several days, a Justice Dept. official claims that Lynch will announce later today that she will accept the F.B.I. recommendation:

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch plans to announce on Friday that she will accept whatever recommendation career prosecutors and the F.B.I. director make about whether to bring charges related to Hillary Clinton’s personal email server, a Justice Department official said. Her decision removes the possibility that a political appointee will overrule investigators in the case.

The Justice Department had been moving toward such an arrangement for months — officials said in April that it was being considered — but a private meeting between Ms. Lynch and former President Bill Clinton this week set off a political furor and made the decision all but inevitable.

Republicans said the meeting, which took place at the Phoenix airport, had compromised the independence of the investigation as the F.B.I. was winding it down. Some called for Ms. Lynch to recuse herself, but she did not take herself off the case — one that could influence a presidential election.

Do you believe that Lynch will accept whatever recommendation is made?

She’s keeping her options open, just in case…

Untitled

ADDED: I missed this important point from J. Christian Adams:

Many won’t believe Lynch and Clinton only discussed grandkids and golf in her cozy jet. But I do.

That’s all they needed to discuss for Bill to interfere with a criminal prosecution. Sophisticated insiders don’t need to use clumsy and explicit language. Merely having the tarmac summit interferes with the investigation, even if golf and grandkids were the only topics discussed.

The tarmac summit sent a signal. It is a signal to all of the hardworking FBI agents who have the goods on Hillary.

The attorney general has made it clear what team she is on. The attorney general isn’t on the side of justice. She’s on the Democratic Party team.

This is the unspoken message from Lynch to all of the FBI agents on the case and to all the front-line lawyers at the Justice Department:

When you send your recommendation to refer Hillary’s case to the grand jury, you had better realize your burden to convince me I should sign off on a grand jury request is higher than you thought. These are my friends.

Sounds about right.

–Dana


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