Politics

There Is A Serious Problem With James Clapper’s Remarks About The ‘Mole’ That No One Is Addressing

It was a long day with a lot of tough news, and the former Director of National Intelligence has just added to it.

Published

3 years ago

May 19, 2018

Andrew West

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It’s been a long day with a lot of tough news, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has added to it.

He was interviewed on CNN on Thursday night. In the course of the interview, Don Lemon quoted from one of Trump’s latest tweets.

[CNN’s Don] Lemon stated, “Here’s what the president tweeted this morning. He said, ‘Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI spied on the Trump campaign with an embedded informant. Andrew McCarthy says, ‘There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.’ If so, this is bigger than Watergate!’”

Lemon continued, “That is an extraordinary claim, and based on your experience, what is the likelihood that it’s true?”

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Here’s how Clapper responded:

Clapper answered, “Well, I think this is hyperbole. They may have someone who was talking to them in the campaign, but the focus here, as it was with the intelligence community, is not on the campaign, per se, but what the Russians were doing to try to instantiate themselves in the campaign or to influence it or leverage it.”

Then Clapper made his outrageous statement: “So, if there was someone that was observing that sort of thing, that’s a good thing because the Russians pose a threat to the very basis of our political system.”

All right, so at least he didn’t say “kakistocracy.”

What saddens me is the deflection and faux moral posturing. “Hyperbole”? If the FBI had an informant in the Trump campaign, then it had one. There’s no “hyperbole” involved in pointing that out.

Disputing whether the verb “to spy” applies, which seems to be what Clapper is getting at, is being disingenuous. We’re not talking about 10-year-olds trying to peer into each other’s windows. We’re talking about the FBI. There’s no such thing as the FBI having informants monitoring your activities, and that not having weighty implications, about which there is no need to be “hyperbolic.”

But Clapper’s especially focused moral contradiction is the business about the Russians “posing a threat to the very basis of our political system.”

That has been the mantra of the Russiagate narrative, but no one ever defines it in a way that makes sense. That’s pure demagoguery: an attempt to railroad people with trigger sentiments. Sorry, I’m not selling America down the river for an emotional bumper sticker that has no meaning.

Here’s what has meaning. The actual basis of our political system — which is about government that is consensual, limited, constitutional, and federal — is the U.S. Constitution. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution says the government can’t spy on the people except with probable cause, which means having the “criminal predicate” for a law enforcement operation that the talking heads were alluding to on Thursday.

Clapper apparently wants to gloss over the bright, constitutional line between spying on Russians (green light) and spying on the American citizens in the Trump campaign (red light, and you don’t move a muscle until it changes, after a judge agrees with your reasoning).

The Russians aren’t the threat to our political system here. Careless obfuscators like Clapper are the threat to our political system.

THE FULL STORY CONTINUES HERE

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Opinion

Biden Busted! POTUS Blows Off DC Mask Mandate at High End Restaurant

Not a good look for the guy who keep pushing the mandates.

Published

14 hours ago

October 18, 2021

Andrew West

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In many cases over the last year, we have witnessed Democratic politicians flouting the rules surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, often accompanied by the old anecdote about “rules for thee, but not for me”. This ethos was exemplified by Nancy Pelosi, of course, who was seen on CCTV having her hair done inside of a California salon despite local ordinances prohibiting any customers to be inside the building at all.

Now, in a similarly-hypocritical situation, President Joe Biden has been spotted ignoring the DC mask mandate while dining at an ultra-posh restaurant in Georgetown.

Every American deserves an answer from @JoeBiden directly explaining why he thinks is allowed to break rules that he demands others to follow.

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— Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 17, 2021

White House Press Secretary Jan Psaki didn’t have much of a response when questioned about the poor behavior.

During her daily press briefing, Psaki was asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy to address a video showing Biden and first lady Jill Biden walking through a high-end Georgetown restaurant without masks on Saturday, violating Washington, D.C.’s indoor mask mandate.

“There is a mask requirement inside D.C. restaurants,” Doocy said, “yet President Biden and the first lady were not wearing masks while walking around a D.C. restaurant on Saturday. Why?”

Psaki responded by incorrectly claiming the controversy centered around a photo, not a video, and she said the Bidens were walking out of the restaurant, not through it.

Then came a tense exchange.

“Well, I think what we are referring to is a photo of them walking out of a restaurant after they had eaten, masks in hand, where they had not had put them back on yet,” Psaki said.

“So I would say, of course, there are moments when we all don’t put masks back on as quickly as we should,” she continued. “But I don’t think we should lose the forest through the trees here in that our objective here is to get more people vaccinated, make sure that that schools and companies around the country can put in place requirements to save more lives and keep people safer and not overly focus on moments in time that don’t reflect overarching policy.”

Doocy pushed back, saying the Bidens were clearly filmed walking through the restaurant, indoors, without masks on, but Psaki refused to elaborate.

“There is a caveat for people under 2 or people who are actively eating or drinking,” Doocy said. “So I’m just curious why the president was doing this.”

“I think I just addressed it, Peter,” Psaki responded.

Biden has been adamant about both mask and vaccine mandates of late, and has faced a great deal of pushback on account of his incessant promotion of such guidelines.

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Throughout American history, (and certainly throughout this infernal coronavirus pandemic), there has been a great deal of talk about our elected officials and just how little they seem to care for the rules that they themselves profess to find important. In many cases over the last year, we have witnessed Democratic politicians flouting the rules surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, often accompanied by the old anecdote about “rules for thee, but not for me”. This ethos was exemplified by Nancy Pelosi, of course, who was seen on CCTV having her hair done inside of a California salon despite local ordinances prohibiting any customers to be inside the building at all. Now, in a similarly-hypocritical situation, President Joe Biden has been spotted ignoring the DC mask mandate while dining at an ultra-posh restaurant in Georgetown. https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1449578978243715074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1449578978243715074%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpsaki-biden-video-violating-mask-mandate-overly-focus-moments-time White House Press Secretary Jan Psaki didn’t have much of a response when questioned about the poor behavior. During her daily press briefing, Psaki was asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy to address a video showing Biden and first lady Jill Biden walking through a high-end Georgetown restaurant without masks on Saturday, violating Washington, D.C.’s indoor mask mandate. “There is a mask requirement inside D.C. restaurants,” Doocy said, “yet President Biden and the first lady were not wearing masks while walking around a D.C. restaurant on Saturday. Why?” Psaki responded by incorrectly claiming the controversy centered around a photo, not a video, and she said the Bidens were walking out of the restaurant, not through it. Then came a tense exchange. “Well, I think what we are referring to is a photo of them walking out of a restaurant after they had eaten, masks in hand, where they had not had put them back on yet,” Psaki said. “So I would say, of course, there are…

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Opinion

Trump Boasts He Wouldn’t Need Mandates to Convince Americans to Get Vaccine

BOOM!

Published

15 hours ago

October 18, 2021

Andrew West

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One of the most heated arguments that we have in America today has to do with whether to not the federal government has any right to tell us what to put into our bodies.

Sure, they already seem to have some ideas on this, having decided when we are old enough to drink alcohol or smoke a cigarette while also completely inhibiting our ability to partake in other, more dangerous fare.

But when it comes to medical decisions, there are a great many Americans who’ve decided that this is a line too far, specifically in the case of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Former President Donald Trump, who appears very much to be pro-vaccine, still isn’t pro-mandate, and he has a good reason why.

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“I wouldn’t say to anybody, ‘You have to.’ But I would sell it. Look, I’m very proud of what we did with the vaccines,” Trump told political news host Bill O’Reilly in an interview that will air at 8 p.m. Monday on The First TV.

“It was supposed to take five years and they said it wasn’t going to work. I did three vaccines in less than nine months and they do work, they work really well.”

And then:

Trump added: “I would convince people, take it. I don’t want to push it … When I was president, there was no talk about mandates or anything. Everybody wanted the vaccine. Now a lot of people don’t want it.”

President Joe Biden has taken a far more terse and tyrannical tone in regard to involution mandates, suggesting at one point that “Our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us.”

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One of the most heated arguments that we have in America today has to do with whether to not the federal government has any right to tell us what to put into our bodies. Sure, they already seem to have some ideas on this, having decided when we are old enough to drink alcohol or smoke a cigarette while also completely inhibiting our ability to partake in other, more dangerous fare. But when it comes to medical decisions, there are a great many Americans who’ve decided that this is a line too far, specifically in the case of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Former President Donald Trump, who appears very much to be pro-vaccine, still isn’t pro-mandate, and he has a good reason why. “I wouldn’t say to anybody, ‘You have to.’ But I would sell it. Look, I’m very proud of what we did with the vaccines,” Trump told political news host Bill O’Reilly in an interview that will air at 8 p.m. Monday on The First TV. “It was supposed to take five years and they said it wasn’t going to work. I did three vaccines in less than nine months and they do work, they work really well.” And then: Trump added: “I would convince people, take it. I don’t want to push it … When I was president, there was no talk about mandates or anything. Everybody wanted the vaccine. Now a lot of people don’t want it.” President Joe Biden has taken a far more terse and tyrannical tone in regard to involution mandates, suggesting at one point that “Our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us.”