Meet "The Resistance"- the name chosen for the anti-Trump storm troopers who flood social media with ignorance and hate.

Last week, I was asked to participate in a taped radio interview dealing with allegations of Russian espionage and possible attempts to impact the 2016 Presidential Campaign.  When I discovered that this interview would be taped as opposed to live, I almost canceled; I've been burned by "selective editing" before, and I didn't enjoy the experience.  I eventually chose to participate in the hope that I might be able to actually explain what it means to request a FISA, and how common it has become for Judges in our day and age, to ignore established case law and become political activists.  During the interview, I was asked to comment on California-based artist Karen Fiorito and the growing controversy surrounding the billboard she had painted/created.  As I was unfamiliar with Fiorito, I was unable to comment, and we moved on to other subjects.  The interview itself was for local consumption, and I have no guarantee that it will ever actually be broadcast.  But I had committed the artists name to memory, and that evening, on the internet, I introduced myself to Karen Fiorito, her billboard, and to "The Resistance".

Fiorito is a modern-day hippy/artist from California who burst onto the scene in 2004, with a billboard accusing then-President Bush of lying to the American people, and then asking to be trusted as he ran for a second term.  The current billboard in question sits overlooking downtown Phoenix, and has no written message.  In the center of the billboard is President Trump, who is flanked by two large mushroom clouds.  At either end of the billboard are dollar symbols, altered to also resemble swastikas.  I spent a bit of time examining the image, trying to understand why Fiorito left out long lines of starving refugees and illegal immigrants.  I can only assume that she felt it was time to introduce a new line of attack, but your guess is as good as mine.  Its possible that Fiorito received new talking points/marching orders, which point out that the Left's focus on immigrants and refugees is about to come apart, and a new allegation/attempt to frighten people must be released.  But why mushroom clouds and dollar-swastikas?  Is the Left about to jump-start the "Trump is a war mongerer" narrative?  Its true that Trump is determined to spend more money on National Defense and to use government resources to rebuild the Veteran's Administration, although President Trump has yet to twitter any clues as to which countries might be on his shortlist for annihilation.  And what about the dollar-swastikas; is this somehow a warning that President Trump is planning to send financial aid to fascists and dictators?  Probably not.  Its more likely aimed at the tax issue, including the never-ending accusation that President Trump will find a way to lower taxes on the richest Americans, and transfer the burden to the poorest (you know, the poorest forty-five percent that pay no income taxes whatsoever). 

I respectfully advise anyone who is interested in the Federal Budget and National Security to do a bit of research on the issue of military spending.  Certain technologies advance at a head-spinning rate, and no-doubt our scientists and researchers in the military industrial complex are on the top of their game.  But with the introduction of every new application and the improvement of existing hardware, upgrades must be made across-the-board.  Having the world's greatest military is a tremendously expensive obligation, but an obligation that we can't afford to relinquish to China, Russia or anyone else.  Realistically speaking, military spending grew stagnant under the Obama Administration. His reluctance to spend money on the military was only matched by his determination to avoid using U.S. personnel in a combat posture.  Trying to unravel the Obama agenda vis-à-vis our military always brings on a huge headache, mostly related to the precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, and the immediate, subsequent invasion of Iraq by ISIS.  Today's blog post has a different focus, thank goodness, although trying to decipher the dollar-swastika message might just bring along a headache in its own right.

Since Hillary Clinton conceded the 2016 election to Donald Trump, the Left has done everything possible to damage the Trump Presidency.  It began with a confused attempt at recounts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, with the result of a handful more votes for Trump-Pence.  Then the media lathered itself into a frenzy over a few electoral voters who announced opposition to Trump, also a dead-end.  It was about this time that the Progressive Democratic opposition got itself together, and created a plan to cripple the Trump Administration.  Its marching orders were to make a mess out of Congressional Hearings for trump nominees, and to direct leftover Obama personnel in the Department of Justice and the Intelligence Agencies to create a false narrative that Trump campaign personnel were involved with Russian efforts to mess with the 2016 Presidential Campaign.  The goal of this effort may be to neuter the Trump Administration, but in their heart-of-hearts, they are dreaming of, dare I say it, IMPEACHMENT.  They've managed this operation well, with the media jumping through hoops to print any and all negative allegations, regardless of merit.  They will fail, simply because as John Adams once said, "Facts are stubborn things".  There is no evidence whatsoever that Trump personnel were involved with Russians intent on impacting the 2016 campaign. The is the end, folks, not the middle or the beginning.  Now the Trump Justice Department, hopefully removed of its politically active Obama leftovers, will find out the truth about leaks from government agencies, and discover if FISAs were issued by some activist Judge to allow the wiretapping of the Trump campaign and possibly even a sitting U.S. Senator. 

This group of Progressive Democrats that have declared war on the Trump Administration, are all battle-hardened veterans of the Clinton Campaign, and they understand how to make the best use of a compliant, friendly media.  I've noted a handful of separate Leftist groups with catchy names, but "The Resistance" seems to be leading the pack.  I came to this conclusion by checking out the Twitter accounts of the most offensive members of the entertainment and professional sports communities.  All the well-known loud-mouths have aligned themselves with this group, although the more respectable, suit-wearing political activists have to be a bit more discreet, and the ones behind the scenes are the most dangerous, because they hide behind this mask of fake moderation; they are no more moderate than Alec Baldwin.  Another reason why I'm keeping my eye on this group, is its unclear connection to the media.  For those of us who identify as conservative, oppose big government, support the Second Amendment, demand effective border control and a strong military, stand by local and Federal Law Enforcement, expect a repeal of Obamacare and expect tax policies that encourage economic growth, we are well-aware that the media will not hesitate to manipulate the news in support of liberal political causes (with the exception of Fox News, Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart, and a few brave others).  This new billboard in Phoenix, crafted by Progressive Lefty Karen Fiorito, serves notice as to what "The Resistance" and the Democrats are going after next: support for the military/military spending, and taxes.  No doubt the Trump Team will be ready.  Stay tuned......       

Review Of The Fight Against Islamic Extremism since 2009

Link: A. What Is Our Strategy To Defeat Terrorism?
          B. After Paris, Will Obama Administration Move Against Terrorism?

Barrack Obama has been in office since January 2009.  In 2008, his campaign for the White House targeted the Bush Administration's Foreign Policy, as opposed to the ideas and platform of his opponent, Senator John McCain.  Obama had a field day going after Bush, who was an easy target.  What is it about the Bushes, that they seem so incompetent when it comes to self-defense?  I remember when Bush Senior, while expressing indignation at the Clinton Campaign in 1992, could find nothing harsher than "Bozos" to call his detractors.  Ouch?  Obama criticized the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and openly hypothesized that Bush's "personal" obsession with Saddam Hussein was the reason we had yet to catch Osama Bin-Laden.  The Democrats were energized, and were absolutely focused and driven in recruiting new voters and getting them to the polls.  I can recall Obama's criticism of Bush quite clearly; what I can't remember is an Obama anti-terrorism plan.  Was he planning on pulling the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and using the resources to exclusively search for Bin Laden?  Can anyone help me out here?  In 2008, during the election, what were Obama's intentions regarding Al-Qaeda?  It must have been in the Party Platform that was agreed upon at the convention.  I am anxious to determine just how closely Obama followed his own plan.

The truth is, there wasn't a plan.  What was important was getting the troops out of Iraq.  I can't fault the Administration there; the American people were more than ready to turn the page on that chapter as well.  But if my memory serves me correctly, the Democrats and the left never really separated Afghanistan and Iraq.  The plan was to disengage from both countries at the earliest opportunity.  Once Obama was in office, he realized that Afghanistan was going to be a bit trickier than Iraq, which explains why we are still there.  Another issue that was important to Obama (and something he openly intended to do all along) was the closing of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.  You can bet your last Cuban peso that Guantanamo will be closed before he leaves office.  But aside from the departure from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the closing of Guantanamo, what policy or

Barak Obama at Cairo Univ. 6/4/2009
Source: The Official White
House Photostream-Flickr

plan did Obama have for dealing with Al-Qaeda and the like? The apology-tour must have been part of someone's plan, because something like that doesn't get decided over night.  Strange that during the campaign, he didn't announce his intention to travel to the Middle East, apologizing about the brutish behavior and U.S. history of bullying, to anyone who would listen.  And no doubt, behind closed doors, he also announced that Israel would no longer be getting a "free ride", and that the Arabs and Palestinians finally had a friend in the White House.  I'm positive this message was shared, if not by Obama directly, then by Hillary and her team of State Department apologists.  The coup de grace was Obama's speech in Cairo.  Obama certainly has some strong feelings about the history of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, but did he mention any of this during the campaign?  I don't think the American people would have taken well to our president groveling in front of this particular group of people.  Did I say grovel?  Remember, this is only my opinion.  I saw his attitude as an effort to make the United States appear as a racist, guilty, internally-broken country.

Instead of over-analyzing President Obama, let's get back to the review of terrorism in the world since he took office.  Let's do this by continent, shall we?

• North America: The attack at the Boston Marathon was handled brilliantly by local authorities and because of this, the casualty rate was low.  The FBI has disrupted a number of planned domestic attacks; remember, the news media doesn't always know what's happening behind the scenes.
• South America: The Islamic Extremist community has been involved in criminal activity in South America for sometime.  Both Hamas and Hezbollah have a history of operating in the Tri-Border Region (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina), and recently Al-Qaeda has arrived.  Since the 1994 terrorist attack at the Jewish community office in Buenos Aires, the majority of the Jewish population has emigrated from Argentina.  And let's not ignore the fact that a number of South American governments are openly Socialist, and hostile to the United States (Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina).
• Africa:  Al-Qaeda is having a field day in Africa.  The organization is growing in size and influence in West Africa, and its surrogate Boko Haram has repeatedly embarrassed the Nigerian Army. In the East, Al-Shabaab has become more active in Kenya, taking advantage of the endemic poverty and lack of jobs, to recruit in the townships.  In the last few years, Al-Shabaab has successfully conducted a number of high-casualty terrorist operations.  They have no fear of operating in Mombasa, and enjoy shooting up the wealthier suburbs of Nairobi.  The South African anti-terrorism unit of the SAP had better be keeping a close eye on its townships, especially the ones with high-immigrant populations.  Al-Qaeda and ISIS are there as we speak, recruiting jobless, disaffected young men — especially those with military experience.
• Europe:  Besides the highly-publicized recent episodes in Paris, the UK has also suffered through a number of terrorist-related attacks.  No doubt the governments and police of Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, etc., are keeping tight-lipped about the number of operations they have disrupted.
• Australia:  Late last year, Australia suffered is own horrific pro-ISIS attack in a cafe in Sydney.
• Asia, which includes Iraq, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and is just too much for me to tackle in this post.  Thank goodness the terrorists haven't reached Greenland…yet.

It's safe to say that Islamic Extremism has advanced on all continents with barely a whisper from the world's most powerful nations.  No doubt, the Europeans were waiting for leadership from the United States.  Since 2009, the message has been one of confusion at best.  We went after, and got, Bin-Laden— but his organization has been allowed to aggressively influence policy in two nations (Pakistan and Yemen), and to expand its operations internationally.  Our policy in Syria seems to be a bit confused as well.  Where is the Free Syrian Army?  We are pursuing an important treaty with Iran, but are we at all interested in their military activity in Iraq?  I'm hoping that one day we will look back at February 2015 as the high-water mark for Islamic Extremism.