Nancy Pelosi's elitist Democrats -- America, this is the party of the rich, sneering at the poor

There was a time when the Democrats were the party of working Americans. They seemed to understand and fight for the interests of the working class and people living in poverty. Republicans, by contrast, struggled for decades with the perception that they were “for the rich.”

Well, how things have turned around. Just look at the latest economic pronouncements of leading establishment Democrats.

Here in my home state of California, in response to President Trump signing the GOP tax reform bill into law, state Senate Democratic leader Kevin de Leon has taken up a new cause: fighting for the right of the richest Californians to evade their taxes.
It’s almost unbelievable – but true. De Leon (who is also the leading challenger to Sen. Dianne Feinstein in her primary battle as she seeks re-election this year) has proposed setting up a new so-called charity that would enable the Silicon Valley and Hollywood elite to claw back their losses from the Trump administration’s new tax reform law.

If you’re a member of a working family struggling to make ends meet (as pretty much half of American families are after the economic disaster of the Bush and Obama years), then $1,000 makes a real difference.

That tax reform law, let’s remind ourselves, actually means that some of the richest people in the richest parts of America will pay more in taxes, thanks to drastic cuts in deductions for state and local taxes they pay.
To fight off President Trump’s vicious attack on their rich friends (read: donors), California Democrats want to set up a “California Excellence Fund.” Donations to the fund would be matched dollar-for-dollar by tax credits, which can then be subtracted from tax bills as “charity.” It’s a classic liberal version of charity, mind you: all the money would go straight into the coffers of the state government’s general fund.
Who would benefit from this bit of creative accounting? Californians earning over $1 million a year, mainly.
“‘Kevin de Leon: the last best hope for California millionaires.” Not sure he wants that as the bumper sticker for his campaign against Feinstein, but as they say: when someone tells you who they are, believe them.
Another prominent California Democrat also revealed her true colors this past week over taxes: our old friend, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. She dismissed $1,000 worker bonuses given in response to the GOP tax cuts as “crumbs.”
Well yes, that’s what $1,000 may mean to you if you’re married to a wealthy real estate tycoon and live in splendor in San Francisco. But if you’re a member of a working family struggling to make ends meet (as pretty much half of American families are after the economic disaster of the Bush and Obama years), then $1,000 makes a real difference.
You can see the new left elitism in their attitude to immigration too. Their total rejection of any effort to clamp down on the out-of-control low-wage immigration that harms American workers shows that establishment Democrats’ sympathies now lie with big business, not working people.
That’s not true of the Democrats’ populist wing, of course. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont quite rightly points out that it’s corporate America that wants mass immigration.
In a 2105 interview Sanders said: “Bring in all kinds of people, work for $2 or $3 an hour, that would be great for them. I don't believe in that. I think we have to raise wages in this country, I think we have to do everything we can to create millions of jobs. You know what youth unemployment is in the United States of America today? If you're a white high school graduate, it's 33 percent, Hispanic 36 percent, African American 51 percent. You think we should open the borders and bring in a lot of low-wage workers, or do you think maybe we should try to get jobs for those kids?”
That’s Donald Trump’s position too: and rightly so. But establishment Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Kevin de Leon and all the rest who are busy attacking the president’s pro-worker economic agenda have totally lost touch with the needs and aspirations of working Americans. They demean and dismiss them, preferring the company – and the interests – of their wealthy friends and donors.
That’s today’s elitist Democrats: they’ve become the party of the rich, sneering at the poor.

Trump Jerusalem Cartoons

From Oprah to Trump’s tough talk, media attack the president; and other journalistic disasters of the week

Trump touts economic progress in first year

President talks GDP growth, stock market gains and immigration in wide-ranging interview with the Wall Street Journal; reaction and analysis from Glenn Hall, chief editor for the Dow Jones Newswires.

It was a week that blew through controversies faster than our winter bomb cyclone. Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech and speculation that she will run for president, the Michael Wolff book even journalists dispute, DACA and, finally, the storm following President Donald Trump’s purported use of the word “s---hole” to describe Africa, Haiti and El Salvador during a discussion on immigration with a bipartisan group of senators.

The president tweeted Friday morning saying the reports about his meeting with the senators were inaccurate. His tweet stated: “The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made – a big setback for DACA!”

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. President Trump has said the program, which allows about 700,000 immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents when they were children to remain in the U.S. temporarily, will end in March unless Congress passes new legislation that he signs into law. The program was created by an executive order signed by President Obama.
Two Republican senators at the meeting where Trump supposedly used the offensive language – David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas – issued a statement Friday saying that “we do not recall the President saying these comments specifically.” However, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the president referred to some nations as “s---hole” countries at the meeting and said the president made some comments that were “hate-filled, vile and racist.”
It was the kind of week where the media overreacted to almost everything. So much so that their Public Enemy No. 2 – Steve Bannon – was barely an afterthought as he left his job heading up Breitbart News following a falling out with President Trump.
Journalists don’t seem to grasp that if everything is an apocalypse then nothing is. That includes everything from the new tax cuts for 80 percent of taxpayers to the latest Trump tweet to the president getting two scoops of ice cream.
Many journalists had taken time off during the holidays and were clearly trying to make up for lost time – especially at CNN. It was hard to tell which topic they embraced with more zeal, but the “s---hole” comment was the perfect capstone to a biased week.
CNN anchors battled to see who could use the offensive word the most aggressively the night the story broke. Chris Cuomo outdid other anchors on his network. CNN used it in a chyron on his new show and elsewhere. He even wrote it on a whiteboard beneath the words: “THIS IS WHO HE IS.” It was like he was channeling a potty-mouth liberal version of Glenn Beck.
Cuomo moved into full lecture mode, telling the resistance: “It’s not OK. It is who he is.” Somewhere he lost the difference between words said in private versus ones broadcast repeatedly on TV.
NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell tweeted her unsubtle view: “It's been a tough day for intelligence experts, foreign policy advocates, and basic human beings.”
The New York Times published a story devoted to the media coverage, under the headline: “After Donald Trump Said It, How News Outlets Handled It.” The paper led with NBC’s Lester Holt, acting like journalists had never heard rough words before. “Holt opened the ‘NBC Nightly News’ on Thursday with a parental warning: ‘This may not be appropriate for some of our younger viewers.’”
The Washington Post led its website with: “Trump attacks protections for immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries.”
The story was omnipresent. The only issue was how many of the eight letters of the vulgar word news organizations actually used. NPR White House Correspondent Scott Horsley tweeted the deadpan NPR position: “We are using s***hole online. Note the third asterisk in keeping with NPR style. – NPR editors.”
The whole episode was a reminder how much journalists edit when they want. During President Obama’s exit interview with Vanity Fair, he admitted: “I curse more than I should, and I find myself cursing more in this office than I had in my previous life.” Then added: “And fortunately both my chief of staff and my national-security adviser have even bigger potty mouths than me, so it’s O.K.” Other than Biden’s famous F-bomb, this is a side to the Team Obama we never saw.
2. Let’s Elect Oprah: When journalists weren’t freaking out about President Trump doing almost anything, they were celebrating a potential opponent. The Sunday night Golden Globes featured longtime TV and movie star Oprah Winfrey winning the Cecil B. DeMille award. Her speech celebrated the press, so journalists loved it. She noted journalists’ “insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth.” Her speech turned to the #MeToo campaign and told about the “ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights.”
The speech was almost universally seen as a pre-announcement announcement of her campaign to become the next president of the United States. Oprah is a self-made billionaire (who I watched making her name on the Baltimore show “People Are Talking”) and left-wing journalists and activists acted like they had found their populist counterpoint to Trump.
The race was on to see which outlet would celebrate Oprah more. NBC even tweeted out backing for her presidency. “Nothing but respect for OUR future president,” the official account stated, above a gif of a smiling Oprah. It was later taken down and blamed on “a third party.”
CNN was all in. Political Analyst April Ryan described Oprah as an “outstanding” candidate who could “definitely win.” Political Commentator Van Jones envisioned her as “probably the most beloved human being on Earth” and the “queen of the universe.” Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter said “her hopeful message – ‘A new day is on the horizon’ – could have doubled as a campaign rallying cry.”
CBS was nearly as bad, leading its nightly newscast with Oprahmania. Chief Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes described it as “vintage Winfrey.” “But fans thought they heard something more, the crescendo of a campaign address,” she added. One wonders how many of those fans were outside the nation’s newsrooms.
Entertainment media piled on. Ellen DeGeneres called the speech “a barn burner.” Actress Meryl Streep was awed: “Wow! … where do I send that check, you know?” “The View” Co-host Joy Behar called Oprah “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”
3. The Wolff in The White House: By week’s end, it was almost impossible to recall that journalists had spent hours promoting the Michael Wolff book that even they didn’t believe. (Two hours to be exact on ABC, CBS and NBC.)
CNN Host Jake Tapper had a telling Twitter exchange with Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi going over what they considered flawed about the book. Tapper asked: “Do you believe Wolff’s assertion that 100% of the president’s senior advisers and family members questions his intelligence and fitness for office? That’s the main argument of the book.” Farhi’s response showed the problem of the book: “100 percent? No.”
Tapper responded: “He asserts that it’s 100%. So how one then is supposed to regard his credibility?”
Despite that skepticism, Wolff was everywhere. He declared his book “will finally end ... this presidency,” but claimed to “have no political agenda.” MSNBC Host Chris Matthews celebrated the book’s facts. He said he “love[s] the facts in your book because it is a non-fiction book with a lot of facts.”
Those “facts” were certainly … something. MSNBC hyped the “speculation” that Trump is “dyslexic.”  Even lefty provocateur Stephen Colbert was skeptical, asking Wolff: “So how much of it should I believe?” CNBC’s Sara Fagen told ABC perpetual lefty Anchor George Stephanopoulos that the total was only “50 percent.”
Luckily for Wolff, the media didn’t let those “facts” get in the way of them promoting his book off the shelves.
4. Trump Is _____: The rest of the week was filled with invective – journalists and celebrities bashing President Trump any way they could.

• New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof accused Trump of “authoritarian tendencies.”

• CNN Host Anderson Cooper compared Trump to “Wile E. Coyote and Kelly from ‘The Office’” because all pretended to be smart.

• “Morning Joe” Host Joe Scarborough claimed Trump proved he “wasn’t” “in complete control of his mental facilities.” (Yes, Joe said “facilities,” not faculties.) He also pretended Trump listens to the “voices in his head.”

• Actor Robert De Niro complained: “the world is suffering from the real Donald Trump.”

• And TBS’s “Full Frontal” Host Samantha Bee, D-Only Theoretically Funny, announced plans for “The Apology Race,” where her “correspondents will travel the globe to apologize for every garbage thing Donald Trump does.” Reminiscent of the last apology tour we saw that was done by President Barack Obama.

Iran protesters thank Trump, call for stronger sanctions

They are risking their lives to bring freedom to Iran, and vow to continue their protests.

"These uprisings have just begun. People are not at all willing to give up," one activist told Fox News from the streets of Iran.

"Their patience has come to an end and they have nothing to lose. Iran will surely not fall down and people will not retreat from their demands."
The defiance comes as President Trump announced Friday that he is waving sanctions against Iran under the controversial 2015 nuclear deal one last time, and gave the European allies four months to change the terms of the agreement or he may seek to scrap it.
The protesters we talked to demand even harsher sanctions.
"They should impose major sanctions on the regime," one protester demanded. Another added there "should be sanctions for human rights violations."
The protesters are members of the long banned opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI, also known as the MEK). The group's leader, Maryam Rajavi, has been directly blamed by the Iranian government for fomenting the unrest.
Social media videos show supporters unveiling large banners with Rajavi's photo over highway overpasses, and continuing their opposition.
Punitive measures sought
The group is calling for Iran’s oil exports to also be subject to sanctions, the ability of the Tehran regime to access the international banking system to be cut off, as well as other punitive measures.
The activists predict stronger methods will work, and are thanking the president and the American public for keeping up the pressure.
"We thank you President Trump. We call on all of the supporters of the people who press this regime from different fronts, to put pressure with you and overthrow with us," the activist told Fox News in broken English.
He and others said they are grateful that the Trump administration is expressing support for the resistance that has been staging many of the protests. The demonstrations started Dec. 28, and the government claims that they have largely been quelled.
That is why the activists are looking to the United States for inspiration -- and more help.
"Iranian people want to achieve a democratic and independent government, and play a role in it," said one.
"In Iran taxis and buses and public places, you heard people talking that they are happy that the United States and President Trump is actually taking actions on the side of the Iranian people and as you know, the overthrow of this regime and establishment of a free country is in the interest of the entire world.
“This support should continue, and years of appeasement should end. People are very determined and do not retreat despite this severe crackdown."
The demonstrators deny the protests are largely over. Videos posted on social media show activists attacking government outposts, such as firebombing police stations, destroying government property, and chanting anti-regime slogans.
Common goal
Fox News interviewed the protesters through a social media app that demonstrators have been using to evade the government crackdown on the internet.
The protesters we interviewed asked that their locations remain hidden, and their voices altered or not even used at all, out of fears that they could be identified by the government and arrested.
But they all expressed a common goal. They insisted the movement will not end until the hardline theocratic regime is finally ousted.
"To reach this goal they know the value of the support," one activist told us.
The support from the White House has included President Trump's harsh criticism of the regime and its treatment of the demonstrators.
On Jan. 3, Trump tweeted: "Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!"
Earlier this week a White House statement condemned the regime and its mass arrests of protesters. It also said "reports that the regime has tortured or killed some of these demonstrators while in detention are even more disturbing. We will not remain silent as the Iranian dictatorship represses the basic rights of its citizens and will hold Iran's leaders accountable for any violations."
One activist was so scared that he refused to talk, and instead texted this about the president's views.
"He is correct and we approve of what he spoke. He should help the Iranian people. We need internet because the internet in Iran is banned. We ask President Trump to convince European Union to ban the Mullah. We want President Trump to widespread Iranian sound all over the world and show Mullah's injustice to the people of the world."
'Obama failed to act'
In announcing the waiver decision, the president appeared to do just that. The White House statement included several references to the regime's treatment of the protesters:
"The Supreme Leader and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use mass arrests and torture to oppress and silence Iran's people. ... We are calling on all nations to lend similar support to the Iranian people, who are suffering under a regime that is stifling basic freedoms and denying its citizens the opportunity to build better lives for their families -- an opportunity that is every human being's God-given right. ...
“President Obama failed to act as the Iranian people took to the streets in 2009. He turned a blind eye as Iran built and tested dangerous missiles and exported terror. ... (The Iran deal) has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders. The Iranian people know this, which is one reason why so many have taken to the streets to express their outrage."
The president's comments slamming the regime have been echoed by other top administration officials as well.
"Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world," Vice President Mike Pence told the Voice of America earlier this month. "To see the people of Iran rising up, to demand change in their country, should hearten every freedom loving American and people who cherish freedom around the world."
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council last week, "They (the protesters) are acting of their own will, on their own behalf, for their own future. Nothing will stop Americans from standing in solidarity with them. In 2009, the world stood by passively while the hopes of the Iranian people were crushed by their government. In 2018, we will not be silent."
Thousands arrested
The NCRI says there have been demonstrations in at least 132 cities and that upwards of 8,000 protesters have been arrested. One Iranian lawmaker was quoted as saying the number was closer to about 4,000.
One activist texted us that his motivation to overthrow the ruling regime, is simple.
"We have no life in Iran. Our life and death is equal. We have nothing to miss. We want freedom. Just poverty, unemployment and corruption is the result of the Mullah regime ... young people are unemployed. Educated people escape to other countries. Our country has a brain drain problem. The regime does not concern the Iranian people and suppresses any protest and throws people in jail. We want Mr. (Trump) to help us in whatever way he knows."
Another was also very clear.
"Nobody wants to go back, we want to go forward. People what a free republic, that is what people have been chanting. We know that we need to be at risk for a revolution. This is an inevitable revolution and we accept it."

Kentucky to add Medicaid work requirement; first state to follow Trump plan

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin announces federal approval of Kentucky's Medicaid waiver in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort, Ky., Friday, Jan. 12, 2018.  (Alex Slitz/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)

Kentucky received the green light Friday to require many of its Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive coverage.

The Bluegrass State thus becomes the first state to act on the Trump administration’s unprecedented change that could affect millions of low-income people receiving benefits.

Under the new rule, adults age 19 to 64 must complete 80 hours of "community engagement" per month to keep their care. That includes working a job, going to school, taking a job-training course or volunteering.
"There is dignity associated with earning the value of something that you receive," Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said. "The vast majority of men and women, able-bodied men and women ... they want the dignity associated with being able to earn and have engagement."

"There is dignity associated with earning the value of something that you receive. The vast majority of men and women, able-bodied men and women ... they want the dignity associated with being able to earn and have engagement."

- Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin

Kentuckians also will be required to pay up to $15 a month for their insurance, with basic dental and vision being eliminated entirely. However, those benefits can be earned back through a rewards program, such as getting an annual physical, completing a diabetes or weight management course or participating in an anti-smoking program.
The change was approved Friday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Trump administration announced Thursday it would allow for states to impose work requirements for people receiving Medicaid.
Bevin, a Republican, said the decision stemmed from concern about public health. Despite the fact that more Kentuckians have insurance, they’re not becoming any healthier, he said.
The state, along with the rest of Appalachia, falls behind the rest of the U.S. in 33 out of 41 population health indicators, according to a recent study. Bevin believes the new work requirement will help change the statistic.
Bevin’s office also stated in its proposal to Washington that the move will save taxpayers more than $300 million over the next five years, and estimated that up to 95,000 people could lose their benefits because they either didn’t comply with the new rule or they obtained jobs that pay too much money and push them out of the low-income bracket.
However, there are some exemptions to the work requirements that will be enforced starting in July and remain in effect for five years. Pregnant women, full-time students, former foster care youth, primary caregivers of children and the elderly and full-time students will not be affected.
People deemed “medically frail,” a broad term that encompasses people who are battling drug and alcohol addiction, will also be exempt.
Critics of the new plan said the changes could lead to many low-income families being denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork.
Democratic U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, who represents Louisville, calling it a “dangerous and irresponsible” decision that will lead to the “financial ruin” or thousands of families that reside in Kentucky.
Medicaid covers more than 70 million people, or about one in five Americans. Currently, the largest government health insurance program does not required people to have a job or be employed to receive the benefits.

Obama rips Fox News viewers: ‘You are living on a different planet’

The Real World For Him.

Former President Barack Obama resurfaced on Friday and took a shot at Fox News viewers, saying they’re “living on a different planet” than people who consume mainstream media.

Obama made the remarks on the premiere of the new monthly Netflix series “My next guest needs no introduction with David Letterman,” which hit the streaming service on Friday morning. Early in the episode, Obama asked Letterman about his retirement but the veteran talk show host quickly let the former president know who was boss.

“Now here’s how this is gonna work. I’m gonna ask you stuff, and then you respond to stuff,” Letterman joked.
Letterman then asked Obama what he considers the more dangerous threat to a democracy, the president demeaning the press or a foreign power sabotaging the voting process. Both options are clearly jabs at President Trump and Obama answered without mentioning the current president’s name.
“One of the biggest challenges we have to our democracy is the degree to which we don’t share a common baseline of facts,” Obama said. "If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than you are if you are listening to NPR.”

"If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than you are if you are listening to NPR.”

The response got a big round of applause from the presumably liberal crowd at the City College of New York. Obama has a long history of taking shots at Fox News but the recent comment marks his first public attack on the network and its viewers since leaving the White House.
While Trump is often criticized for attacking the media and labeling CNN as “fake news,” Obama’s comment is a reminder that the White House and the press have sparred for decades. Obama once even accused Fox News of “attacking” his administration during an interview with CNBC.
Letterman said goodbye to his long-running talk show two years ago and has launched a six-episode series on Netflix. In each hour-long episode, Letterman conducts a long-form conversation with a single guest, and explores topics of his own outside the studio.
George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey, and Howard Stern are scheduled to be guests on Letterman’s show over the next five months.
Brian Flood covers the media for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @briansflood.

Political Cartoons

Trump: London visit canceled over Obama administration decision

Jan. 27, 2017: U.S. President Donald Trump greets British Prime MinisterTheresa May as she arrives at the White House in Washington.  (Reuters)

President Trump has cancelled plans to visit the United Kingdom next month, according to reports out of London on Thursday.
Trump will instead send Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in his place to christen America’s new embassy in the British capital, The Daily Mail first reported.
He later blamed a move by former president Obama for the decision to cancel.
“Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!” Trump tweeted.
Despite the Feb. 26-27 cancellation, Trump is still expected to visit England later this year, with a Downing Street rep saying: “An invitation for a state visit has been extended and accepted.”
Mass protests would have likely greeted Trump, with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn telling followers they should send the US president a “clear message” by demonstrating again him.
Even Prime Minister Theresa May has clashed with Trump after he re-tweeted anti-Muslim propaganda from a far right British party.

Trump says FBI's Strzok's text constitutes 'treasonous act': report

Congressional lawmakers are reportedly looking into whether Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were behind some leaks to the media on the Russia investigation; reaction and analysis from cybersecurity analyst Morgan Wright.

President Donald Trump said in an interview Thursday that the FBI agent who was removed from the Russian-interference probe and once referred to the president as a “loathsome human being” committed an act of “treason.”

Trump told the Wall Street Journal that the text message from Agent Peter Strzok, where he mentioned an "insurance policy" if Trump was elected, was tantamount to treason.

Strzok was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe in July.
The agent had been deeply involved in the Clinton email inquiry and was in the room when she was interviewed by the FBI. He later helped investigate whether the Trump campaign worked with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Strzok wrote a text message on Aug. 15, 2016, to Lisa Page, with whom he was romantically involved, saying, “I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office -- that there’s no way he gets elected -- but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40."
"Andy" is believed to be a reference to FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.
“A man is tweeting to his lover that if [Democrat Hillary Clinton ] loses, we’ll essentially do the insurance policy. We’ll go to phase two and we’ll get this guy out of office,” Trump told the Journal. “This is the FBI we’re talking about — that is treason. That is a treasonous act. What he tweeted to his lover is a treasonous act.”
Aitan Goelman, Strzok’s attorney, told the paper that it was “beyond reckless” for the president to accuse a man who “devoted his entire adult life to defending this country, of treason.”
“It should surprise no one that the president has both the facts and law wrong,” Goelman said.

Are #NeverTrumpers being consumed by their own fiery denunciations?

Time magazine's new cover, showing Donald Trump's yellowish hair on fire in a cartoonish blaze, symbolizes how the media view the president as a hot mess.

But some of the president's fiercest critics on the right are starting to recognize how their side’s animosity is burning out of control.

The relentless negativity of the #NeverTrumpers actually helps him by making his detractors seem obsessed and unwilling to credit him for just about anything. They give the president a big target, one that is widely distrusted by his base. And they can seem incredibly condescending toward the man in the White House.
This is not just an extension of liberal bias. Many in the #NeverTrump movement are on the right, having tried to block him from winning the Republican nomination and now convinced that he is damaging their movement.
David Brooks, the moderately conservative New York Times columnist, has been extremely harsh toward the president, likening him to a small child and generally rendering him as unfit for office. But in a bit of a reassessment, Brooks now says the critics have gone too far.
People who meet with the president, he says, are often surprised to find "that Trump is not the raving madman they expected from his tweetstorms or the media coverage. They generally say that he is affable, if repetitive. He runs a normal, good meeting and seems well-informed enough to get by ...
"The White House is getting more professional. Imagine if Trump didn't tweet. The craziness of the past weeks would be out of the way, and we'd see a White House that is briskly pursuing its goals: the shift in our Pakistan policy, the shift in our offshore drilling policy, the fruition of our ISIS policy, the nomination for judgeships and the formation of policies on infrastructure, DACA, North Korea and trade."
In other words, for all the sound and fury, the president is doing a reasonably good job.
But the anti-Trump movement—of which Brooks is a "proud member"—"seems to be getting dumber. It seems to be settling into a smug, fairy tale version of reality that filters out discordant information" and views Trump as "a semiliterate madman surrounded by sycophants who are morally, intellectually and psychologically inferior to people like us."
In perhaps the unkindest cut, Brooks says "the anti-Trump movement suffers from insularity. Most of the people who detest Trump don't know anybody who works with him or supports him."

That last point buttresses something I've been saying for a long time, that some of the opposition to the 45th president is not just ideological, not just stylistic, but cultural in nature. And those who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, just like those who suffered from Obama Derangement Syndrome, may be deluded into thinking the whole world agrees with them.
Another #NeverTrumper, Bret Stephens, who joined the Times from the Wall Street Journal, hasn't softened his view of the president. But he does allow that "if the anti-Trump movement has a crippling defect, it’s smugness ... We're the moral scolds who struggle to acknowledge the skeletons in our own closet, the smart people whose forecasts keep proving wrong. We said Trump couldn't win. That the stock market would never recover from his election. That he would blow up NATO. That the Middle East would erupt in violence when Jerusalem was recognized as Israel's capital.
"The catastrophes haven't happened, and maybe that's just a matter of luck. But by constantly predicting doom and painting the White House in the darkest colors, anti-Trumpers have only helped the president. We have set an almost impossibly high bar for Trumpian failure."
It may well be that the Trump-bashing crowd lowers expectations to the point where the president can look good simply by presiding over, say, a substantive negotiating session on immigration.
But if some of the movement's own commentators are seeing its members as smug and insular, it suggests that the fire over the Trump presidency may be consuming them instead.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. 

Trump MAGA slogan 'code for Make America White Again,' black caucus leader says

The leader of the Congressional Black Caucus said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s comments on immigrants from Haiti and Africa are “proof” that his Make America Great Again slogan is code for “Make America White Again.”

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., responded to Trump lamenting about "s---hole" countries during immigration negotiations with lawmakers in the Oval Office, Fox News confirmed. The Washington Post first reported the comments.

“President Trump’s comments are yet another confirmation of his racially insensitive and ignorant views. It also reinforces the concerns that we hear every day, that the President’s slogan Make America Great Again is really code for Make America White Again,” Richmond said in a statement.
Richmond also accused Trump of being more concerned with stemming the flow of African immigrants than helping Dreamers.
“Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that we can negotiate in good faith with a person who holds such vile and reprehensible beliefs,” Richmond said.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., blasted President Trump after his comments on Haitian and African immigrants.  (Facebook)

The congressman's comments echoed remarks made by others in Congress.
“As an American, I am ashamed of the president,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said. “His comments are disappointing, unbelievable, but not surprising. We always knew that President Trump doesn’t like people from certain countries or people or certain colors.”
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said, “Language like that shouldn't be heard in locker rooms and it shouldn't be heard in the White House.”
Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, whose parents were Haitian immigrants, urged Trump to apologize, saying his comments were “unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values.”
About a dozen people, both Republicans and Democrats, were in the room at the time Trump made the comments, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Trump made the comments as Durbin was reading a list of temporary protected-status countries.
The president also suggested the United States should admit more people from countries like Norway instead, the Post reported. Trump had met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and held a news conference with her Wednesday.
In a statement, the White House did not deny Trump made the comments.
“Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people,” said Raj Shah, principal deputy White House press secretary.

DACA Cartoons 2017

Obama White House's lavish gifts from foreign friends revealed

Federal documents revealed that President Barack Obama, his family and a top official received gifts from the Cuban government and other foreign friends during his final two years in office.

Cuban cigars and rum, sculptures decorated in gold, precious gems and even jewelry adorned in diamonds and rubies — all of them among the many lavish gifts the Obama family and administration officials received from foreign governments while President Barack Obama was in office.

In most cases, the Obamas and other officials handed over the gifts to the National Archives.

Federal documents released on Wednesday revealed the gifts during Obama’s final two years in office included more than $2,000 worth of cigars, rum and other famous consumer products from the Cuban government.
Cuba gave the gifts after Obama attempted to ease tensions with the communist regime, a measure that included the easing of the U.S. ban on imported Cuban liquor and tobacco.
The documents released by the State Department’s Protocol Office revealed that Castro gave Obama 205 cigars of an unnamed brand, a humidor and cigar cutter along with the bottle of rum in 2015. The tobacco and liquor were accompanied by a carved wooden bust of Abraham Lincoln.
Obama’s deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, meanwhile, received cigars, jewelry and a music CD — a gift package worth $670.

The Obama family was given two Argentine national football team jerseys signed by star Lionel Messi that were valued at $1,700.  (File)

Government officials are allowed to accept presents from foreign leaders and governments if refusing them would cause embarrassment. But they generally must turn them over to the National Archives if the goods are worth more than a modest amount. Officials also could reimburse the government for their value.
According to the State Department’s documents, Obama and Rhodes turned over the cigars and rum to the Secret Service and the Archives.
In 2016, Castro gave First Lady Michelle Obama a white linen dress and a large decorated ceramic plate worth an estimated $1,190. The Obamas’ two daughters also received linen dresses from Castro, two prints and a Cuban music collection on CD valued at $1,164.
Among other unusual gifts given to Obama by foreign leaders during his final year in office were a gold and silver sculpture of a Bedouin group decorated with precious gems, and a silver tone letter opener and pen worth $56,720 from Saudi King Salman. In addition, the president got a black electric bicycle worth $1,499 from the president of Argentina, who also gave the first family two Argentine national football team jerseys signed by star Lionel Messi that were valued at $1,700.
The most expensive single gift reported in 2016, however, came from the king of Morocco. He presented the first family with an ornate gold-plated brooch adorned with diamonds and rubies, a gold clutch with an emerald and diamond clasp, diamond earrings and gold teardrop earrings with diamonds and emeralds. Those were estimated to be worth $101,200, and were turned over to the National Archives, according to the documents.

Fromer CIA director John Brennan was reportedly given a $4,000 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII Grande Champagne Cognac.  (Remy Martin)

Expensive alcohol and tobacco products seemed to be the gifts of choice for U.S. officials, particularly those in the intelligence community.
Former CIA director John Brennan reported getting a $4,000 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII Grande Champagne Cognac, a $1,800 bottle of Siglo Rum and an unspecified number of cigars worth $500. The documents say those were turned over to the General Services Administration.

Gifts given to government officials must be turned over to the National Archives if the value of them is worth more than a modest amount.  (iStock)

An unnamed official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence received a similar bottle of $4,000 Remy Martin cognac. Curiously, the documents say the liquor was “retained for official use.”

Trump quiets his critics by floating immigration deal, but infuriates his base

Well, he didn't look like a guy who was utterly incapable of doing his job.

In fact, the president of the United States looked like he was grappling with a difficult issue with leaders of both parties—and with the cameras rolling.

Trump’s negotiating session was so unusual that even liberal pundits heaped praise on him for working on the sensitive subject for nearly an hour without kicking out the TV pool, which usually happens after a couple of minutes.
For Trump, actually doing the job—whether it leads to an immigration deal or not—sends a much better message than tweeting that he is a "stable genius."
Of course, much of his right wing exploded at the substance of what he was suggesting, that he could do a deal with the Dems on comprehensive immigration reform.
Still, it was a better narrative than one about Trump's mental stability, or even Oprah.
"After days in which his very fitness for office was debated," the New York Times said, "Mr. Trump appeared intent on demonstrating that he could handle the presidency. He was in command of the meeting while inviting input. He did not berate anyone. He did not call anyone derogatory nicknames. He signaled that he was open to compromise."
The paper added that the bar "was historically low" given the recent chatter about whether Trump is incapable of being president.
"He acted the part, listening intently and guiding the conversation with the control of a firm but open-minded executive," the Washington Post said. "He spoke the part, offering a mix of jesting bon mots and high-minded appeals for bipartisanship. And he looked the part, down to the embroidered '45' on his starched white shirt cuff.
"In short, President Trump on Tuesday tried to show that he could do his job."
And in more dramatic terms, the paper said Trump was trying to answer the question: "Is the 71-year-old mentally fit to be commander in chief?"
So let’s assume that Trump aced this particular class, although some detractors are saying it was just for show. The president himself said yesterday that he got rave reviews from two networks (CNN and MSNBC) for about two hours before they "went south," joking that the anchors must have received calls from their bosses.
But was it wise for him to talk about immigration legislation as a "bill of love," using the same word that caused the right to slam Jeb Bush during his primary run?
Trump said at the meeting that if the Democrats were willing to include funding for a border wall and an end to chain migration as well as legal relief for the dreamers, "I'll take the heat, I don't care. I don’t care--I'll take all the heat you want to give me, and I'll take the heat off both the Democrats and the Republicans. My whole life has been heat. I like heat."
Some conservative commentators, led by Ann Coulter, are apoplectic about what they see as the president abandoning his hard line on immigration. There’s no question that a deal would hurt Trump with at least part of his base.
But I've always maintained that Trump essentially ran as an independent candidate, one who was not part of the Republican establishment. In his first year, he went along with the GOP on just about everything, which was one reason he couldn’t get ObamaCare repealed. If he pushed through some bipartisan bills this year, I believe it would help him expand his base.
Of course, Trump has made feints in this direction before, especially on the dreamers, only to later insist on conditions that made a deal impossible. And the reason that Barack Obama and George W. Bush couldn’t push through a big immigration bill is that the politics are treacherous.
But if Trump tried moving down the bipartisan path, the second year of his presidency could look very different.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. 

High-level Obama appointee billed public for at least $4,000 in cab rides: report

In an undated photo, Vikrum Aiyer, then chief of staff of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, poses with President Barack Obama.  (Facebook)

A high-ranking Obama administration official unlawfully billed taxpayers more than $4,000 for taxi rides from his home to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office headquarters, an internal investigation has found.

Vikrum Aiyer, who served as chief of staff of the agency, a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, forced the taxpayers to foot a bill for at least 130 unauthorized taxi rides – the majority of which occurred during a four-month period in 2016, according to a report released Tuesday by investigators, the Washington Post reported.

Aiyer previously served as President Barack Obama’s senior policy adviser at the National Economic Council. He allegedly impersonated other current and former high-ranking agency officials, using their names on taxi receipts to avoid being caught in the unauthorized scheme.
But the ruse was soon discovered after officials started raising questions. They confronted the Patent and Trademark Office’s then-communications director – one of the names Aiyer used to bill the rides – who told investigators that he did not use the taxis as he regularly drove to work.
“The evidence … establishes that Political Appointee knowingly used the Agency’s Cab Company account for impermissible purposes on a routine basis and that he took steps to conceal his unauthorized use of this account by providing false names and false location information,” Commerce Department Investigator General Peggy Gustafson wrote in the report, according to the Post.

In an undated photograph, Vikrum Aiyer (left) speaks with President Bill Clinton.  (Facebook)

Aiyer’s use of government money to pay for his commute violated federal policy prohibiting such practices.
He did not deny the findings during an interview with investigators in December 2016. Instead, he justified the practice by saying other officials allegedly did the same.
“Political Appointee said he thought it was permissible to provide incorrect trip origin or destination information because this was the ‘protocol that was imparted to [him] by [his] bosses at the time,’ and ‘because this is how … prior bosses approach[ed] it,’ ” investigators wrote, according to the Post.
Over two years, the government paid Alexandria Yellow Cab, a company contracted to provide authorized cab services to agency’s officials, well over $4,000 for Aiyer’s rides, the report said.
While most of the cab rides took him to and from work, investigators also found that Aiyer sometimes used the agency’s cab account to “facilitate his weekend social activity ... but he made it appear otherwise when arranging for these cabs.”

Seal calls out Oprah Winfrey for hypocrisy, calls her 'part of the problem'

Seal accused Oprah Winfrey of having some knowledge of disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein's alleged misdeeds, calling her 'part of the problem' in Hollywood in a fiery Instagram post Wednesday.  (Reuters)

Internationally renowned musician Seal trashed Oprah Winfrey on social media just days after her widely praised speech at the Golden Globe Awards on sexual misconduct in Hollywood, calling her a “part of the problem for decades.”
In a fiery Instagram post Wednesday, Seal republished a pair of photos of Winfrey with disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, including one in which she appears to be kissing the producer’s cheek. Overlayed on the photos, in all-caps, is the text: “When you have been part of the problem for decades, but suddenly they all think you are the solution.”
Seal added a sarcastic comment to the right of the photographs that suggested Winfrey knew Weinstein was mistreating women.
“Oh I forgot, that's right.....you'd heard the rumours but you had no idea he was actually serially assaulting young stary-eyed actresses who in turn had no idea what they were getting into. My bad,” Seal wrote.
He added the hashtag “#SanctimoniousHollywood” to the post.
On Tuesday, comedian and “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane also spoke out against Winfrey, cautioning that celebrity power does not alone qualify a candidate for the presidency.
“Oprah is beyond doubt a magnificent orator,” MacFarlane wrote. “But the idea of a reality show star running against a talk show host is troublingly dystopian. We don’t want to create a world where dedicated public service careers become undesirable and impractical in the face of raw celebrity.”
Juanita Broaddrick, the now-75-year-old retired nurse, has alleged former President Bill Clinton raped her during his 1978 campaign for Arkansas governor, and that his wife Hillary Clinton helped him cover it up. She brought that allegation to Orpah's attention.
“Hey @Oprah #GoldenGlobes,” tweeted Broaddrick Monday. “Funny I’ve never heard you mention my name. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?Guess not. My rapist was/is your friend, Bill Clinton.”