DHS is taking bids to build the border wall. Never Trump is saying endlessly that Trump won’t do what Trump said he’d do – but what I’m seeing in Trump is a man determined to carry out his promises. Now, maybe at the end of the day political realities prevent Trump from getting all he promised. That is actually fine – and anyone thinking they’ll beat Trump based on a promise not fulfilled will be missing a huge point: Trump is at least trying to carry out his promises. This is very unlike politicians on both sides who routinely start explaining why they can’t even try to carry out their promises.

Trump won’t be attending the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Good – it is an exercise in silliness. All they do is attack Republicans, anyway.

The entertainment industry seems pretty determined to keep alienating large swaths of their audience.

Witches are casting a spell against Trump, his troops and, I guess, people who voted for him. Shall I break it to them that I include Trump in my Rosary? (yes, I included Obama in my daily prayers, as well, when he was in office). Sorry, witches, but Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, Our Lady of Perpetual help does Trump your spells.

Democrats choose an establishment party hack for chair. Some people – including a lot of Never Trumpers – are assuring everyone that the Democrats will win back the House in 2018 and then impeach Trump…which shows that both Never Trump and the Democrats simply cannot accept the 2016 result. I’ve had this and that to say about the 2018 prospects…I’ve made predictions before and I’ve been wrong (and right, some times), so take this as you like: anyone who thinks the Democrats will win the House in 2018 is delusional.

You’ll have to read this one to believe it – woman ticked off at man for opening the door for her.

The whole story of Trump being some sort of Russian stooge is nonsense – and here’s a good break down on it. The whole thing is just bizarre – I mean, Hillary was the one who engineered a big uranium deal for the Russians in apparent conjunction with Russian donations to her foundation…but Trump is the guy Putin wanted in the White House? Don’t get me wrong – Putin’s Russia is a problem for us and the Russians do seek to sow whatever chaos they can in the United States…but there is just no sense to the idea that Trump is Russia’s toady.

There were those who figured they had to oppose Trump, even if it lead to a Hillary victory. Then there were those who understood that allowing a Progressive to win wasn’t worth it. But as it’s turning out, getting Trump in there is doing more to advance Conservative ideas than anything we’ve seen since Reagan – Legal Insurrection notes the changes at the EPA. We’ve got a boss over there who is committed to fact-based environmental policy and this is allowing Congressional GOPers to demand accountability and a bit of science without running into a Progressive brick wall. None of this would have happened if Hillary won – and with the exception of, perhaps, Cruz none of the other GOPers who could have made it would have brought any change like this.

Robert Reich figures the riots in Sweden were caused by Trump’s words – what I’d like Trump to do, now, is announce that I’ll win the lottery. Hey, if the guy has magical powers, I want a payoff!

CIA official takes a firm, moral stand against Trump and resigns…or, former Obama official/Clinton donor takes a powder before getting fired. Take your pick.

Booze isn’t allowed in space. I’m thinking that if human beings are to actually live in space long-term, they’ll eventually have to crack open a cold one. I think we need to really research what getting hammered in space is like. I volunteer to be flown to the ISS and tie one on – for Science!

James O’Keefe says he has hundreds of hours of footage of what goes on in the newsroom. Could be interesting.

North Korea – it’s really, really bad. Keep this in mind whenever anyone says we must not apply maximum force to an enemy during war time. Once the guns go off, the only thing American can accept is enemy surrender. Had we fought the Korean War to a victorious finish in the 1950’s, then we wouldn’t be troubled with North Korea today…ditto had we allowed the Israelis to go to full victory in either the Six Day or Yom Kippur wars. War is bad – not finishing a war is worse.

Texas is over-run with hogs – the solution, I think, it to over-run my grocery store with cheap bacon, but that’s just me.

Varad Mehta about journalists congratulating themselves on their Trump opposition:

For something to be revitalized, it must first have become defunct, gone extinct. The idea of renaissance implies the idea of a dark age out of which it emerges. Journalists sound very much as though a dark age has ended and that they have entered a renaissance. Perhaps they have. But if so, why were they in a dark age to begin with? Or to put it another way, if journalism’s back, where was it hiding for the last eight years?

There is no answer to this question that casts the media in a flattering light. At best, they were merely derelict; at worst, they refused to do their job for reasons of politics and partisanship.

As an aside, I started following Varad on Twitter during the 2016 campaign – exceptionally smart, well-informed man. He seems to be rising in the punditry world, and that is a good thing.

I’m sure if we asked the guys at Rush, we’d get a rather dim view from them about Trump…but, this might as well be the anthem of the Trump Era:

The MSM was a-buzz with stories about how Trump said there was a terrorist attack in Sweden. Well, let’s go to the transcript:

Here’s the bottom line. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this. Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible. You look at what’s happening in Brussels. You look at what’s happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris. We’ve allowed thousands and thousands of people into our country and there was no way to vet those people. There was no documentation. There was no nothing. So we’re going to keep our country safe.

Do you see anything in there which says, “there was a terrorist attack in Sweden”? No, of course you don’t – because there is nothing in there which says, “there was a terrorist attack in Sweden”. This is what is meant by “fake news” – and why most non-Democrats these days hold the MSM in utter contempt. Trump doesn’t speak in rounded, Churchillian sentences – it’s not his style. He’s not an experienced orator. Some times when he speaks it will be quite choppy in delivery and some ideas will get mashed together. But to make up out of whole cloth something that wasn’t there is infuriating. But, that is what the MSM does.

Latest report on the cultural enrichment front.

In a different angle of the fake news front, some on the right are condemning Pope Francis for saying there are no Muslim terrorists. Once again, let’s look at the transcript:

The other is a reflection that I shared at our most recent World Meeting of Popular Movements, and I feel is important to say it again: no people is criminal and no religion is terrorist. Christian terrorism does not exist, Jewish terrorism does not exist, and Muslim terrorism does not exist. They do not exist. No people is criminal or drug-trafficking or violent. “The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence yet, without equal opportunities, the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and will eventually explode.” There are fundamentalist and violent individuals in all peoples and religions—and with intolerant generalizations they become stronger because they feed on hate and xenophobia. By confronting terror with love, we work for peace.

This being in line with Sunday’s Bible reading:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

This is a difficult passage – very hard for us to even try to live up to. But it is the Pope’s job to try and get people to live up to it. Quite honestly, when you hear of a terrorist attack, right after you say a prayer for the victims you are supposed to say a prayer for the perpetrators, as well. No one ever said being Christian is easy. We really can’t confront the Muslim world with a unified voice and face of anger and hate – vigorously as we must battle those who are set on evil, yet we still have an obligation to reach out the hand of love and friendship to all, in the hope that even the worst will eventually grasp it.

On the other hand, this sort of thing is not at all helpful for anyone trying to bring a little love into the world. I view this sort of action as the result, however, of the West’s moral weakness. We’ve so degraded ourselves that we often can’t stand up for what is right.

Don Surber’s sequel to Trump the Press is out – Trump the Establishment. Pick up a copy, today.

And Don Surber notes that in the future, all movies will be made to please Chinese and Indian audiences. Just economics – 320 million Americans, 2.5 billion Chinese/Indians. Its all about the money.

Appears that Mike Flynn has resigned. The Democrats and the MSM (but I repeat myself) got their scalp – but it does appear that Flynn was not entirely truthful in the conversations he had with Russian officials. Lesson: never, ever even remotely shade the truth. But think about this – at worst, Flynn lied about a phone call…Hillary lied about Benghazi and not only didn’t resign, but got promoted to Democrat nominee for President. Keep that in mind: Flynn is out, but don’t play the MSM’s game, here.

All those groups making up the #Resistance? Yeah, just as astro-turfed as you suspected:

Ezra Levin, a former staffer for Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, and his wife, Leah Greenberg, are the president and vice president of the Indivisible Guide’s board, respectively.

Levin is also associate director of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, an anti-poverty nonprofit. Melissa Bradley, who sits on that group’s board, previously worked for Green for All, a group founded by liberal commentator and former Obama administration official Van Jones. She was appointed as a Soros Justice Fellow through the Open Society Foundations, which Soros founded.

Greenberg previously worked for Humanity United, which is funded by Soros’ Open Society Institute.

The secretary of Indivisible Guide, Angel Padilla, works for the National Immigration Law Center, which is funded by Soros through his Open Society Foundations. And treasurer Matt Traidi is the research team director for the Service Employees International Union, a major donor to and endorser of Democrat politicians, Capital Research Center notes.

Hat Tip: Instapundit

Oregon Muse over at Ace of Spades has some words for the Never Trumpers:

You need to shut up and go away.

There are two reasons for this. The first is the whole #Nevertrump thing, which I’ll get to a bit later. More importantly, you need to shut up and go away because your policies suck and don’t work. I’m referring to these policies, which you have been agitating in favor of for over 20 years:

1. open borders
2. comprehensive, multilateral trade agreements
3. a large military footprint overseas

Now, you may not want to admit this, but I think it’s pretty obvious that all of these policies have been abject failures.

Do keep in mind that I still hold that our 2003 invasion of Iraq was the correct thing to do. What I’ve discovered in hindsight is that how we did it was wrong – mostly in that we stopped at Baghdad and failed to press to on Damascus and Tehran. I can’t change what happened in the past – but now I’ll never agree to our engaging in overseas military operations of a major character unless it is unlimited warfare pressed until all our enemies are killed or taken. That said, the last 20 years should have shattered many illusions on all sides. They have certainly shattered mine. I do not believe that some of the policies I earnestly supported in 1997 are the correct policies – and some policies I thought flat wrong back then are now embraced by me. To sit there and adhere to political or economic theory in the face of events disproving the theories is asinine. It is, however, what Progressives do…and any “Conservative” who is still holding to things like NAFTA agreements and open borders in 2017 is merely a Progressive who likes low corporate taxes and bombing stuff from time to time.

Gay New Yorker comes out as Conservative and hate ensues – the man’s statement:

When Out magazine assigned me an interview with the Breitbart.com rabble-rouser Milo Yiannopoulos, I knew it would be controversial. In the gay and liberal communities in particular, he is a provocative and loathed figure, and I knew featuring him in such a liberal publication would get negative attention. He has been repeatedly kicked off Twitter for, among other things, reportedly inciting racist, sexist bullying of “Ghostbusters” actress Leslie Jones. Before interviewing Yiannopoulos, I thought he was a nasty attention-whore, but I wanted to do a neutral piece on him that simply put the facts out there.

After the story posted online in the early hours of Sept. 21, I woke up to more than 100 Twitter notifications on my iPhone. Trolls were calling me a Nazi, death threats rolled in and a joke photo that I posed for in a burka served as “proof” that I am an Islamophobe.

Read the whole thing. Michael Kaplan, the author, appears to have had enough of people trying to fit him in a box. Because he’s gay and from New York, Progressives expect him to hold to certain views and demand he act in a certain way. This is fine for anyone who wants to be a mindless serf…but anyone who wants to think, or even just have a set of friends who are varied and interesting to be around, can’t stand it.

Bureaucrats are feeling a sense of dread over Trump. If you read the article and don’t laugh, you have a heart of stone.

John Schindler writes about an alleged revolt of the intelligence community against Trump – claiming that they are refusing to give certain types of intel to Trump. If true, then this is why we got Trump: the government just doing what it wants, people be damned. We elected Trump – for better or worse – to be the guy in charge of the Executive Branch, which includes the intel agencies. I understand that some of them might object very strongly to Trump – and perhaps even object on reasonable grounds. But it isn’t their job to set policy – that is Trump’s job. If you figure you can’t work for Trump, then resign.

The full 9th Circuit Court may be set to re-hear the Trump case. Apparently, one of the judges demanded it. I’ve never heard of such a thing – the losers in cases before a panel often request a full hearing, but I’ve never heard of one of the judges of the court requesting it. Something is up – I gotta think that this judge isn’t wasting everyone’s time: shouldn’t it be likely that the judge at least thinks there’s a court majority to overturn the 3 judge panel? Perhaps enough judges figure that service to Progressive causes is all well and good, but a judge deciding immigration policy is a step too far? Stay tuned.

Socialism in action:

Biology student Luis Sibira stumbled across the first set of gory remains last November: eight pink flamingos, their breasts and torsos sliced out, leaving their heads, spindly legs and vivid feathers scattered across the marshy ground at Las Peonias Lagoon in western Venezuela…

But this isn’t simple poaching, he said. Sibira and other investigators from Zulia University, a public university in Maracaibo, are convinced that the protected birds have become the latest victims of Venezuela’s growing hunger crisis. People have become so desperate, he said, that they are butchering and eating flamingos.

There is some evidence that Venezuelans are chowing down on cats and dogs, as well. Ask a western Socialist about it, and he’ll just say they still haven’t quite done socialism right…and that this is all our fault, anyways.

German Chancellor Merkel is speeding up deportations – because making nice-nice with Euro-weenies is all well and good, but she’s heading for electoral defeat later this year unless she changes course.

Excellent article by Robert Stacy McCain on how social misfits – often from distressed family backgrounds – become fodder for radicals who want to destroy whatever system happens to be in place at the time. I call this the Uselessly Educated Syndrome – people who have obtained education which is of limited utility who then go on to demand radical social change because if they can’t fit into normal life, then normal life will just have to go. People like this have been pestering civilization ever since it developed enough surplus wealth to give rise to an educated but idle class of people. Do you want to know why the Roman Empire endured for centuries after it’s peak while the British Empire was gone less than 100 years after it peaked? Rome created engineers – Britain created lawyers.

Sanctuary cities are starting to cave to Administration pressure.

Con man gets suckered – Sid Blumenthal, a Clinton functionary, got suckered in by some fake commercials about a non-existent New York City mayoral candidacy for Donald Trump’s father. I keep telling you guys: our Progressive opponents are simply not the sharpest knives in the drawer. A few of them are wicked smart, but most of them are just rote repeating what the smart one’s tell them to say.

V the K has an excellent idea. None of you better spill the beans on this one.

Kurt Schlichter – the left hates you, and wants you dead:

The Left won’t say it out loud – at least not yet – but make no mistake. If violence is what it takes for the Left to prevail, then violence we will have. You saw it, and you were meant to. Berkeley was a message about the price of dissent where leftist hold sway. And they seek to hold sway everywhere.

Read the whole thing.

Denying free speech is a crime:

They told me if Donald Trump were elected, voices of dissent would be shut down by fascist mobs. And they were right!…

…Whether or not Berkeley loses its federal funding over the Milo riots (and it won’t), I think it’s time for action to address this double standard. First, state and local law enforcement agencies need to target violent rioters who seek to silence speakers. It is a felony under federal civil rights law to conspire to deprive citizens of their constitutional rights, among which is free speech. In addition, many states have laws (generally called Klan laws) that punish people who engage in mob violence or intimidation while masked. These should be applied as well.

Read the whole thing.

Anti-Trump rioters blocked an ambulance with a critically ill patient.

Middle school student beaten for wearing a Trump hat.

Gay Progressives protest against Trump, who at the end of the day is working to protect them.

Lady Gaga actually put on a decent half-time show – so, now she’s a Nazi.

Robert Stacy McCain has some advice for parents of college-bound children:

So if you’re a middle-class parent and your kid is a small-town high achiever — Taylor Wallace was a football star and valedictorian in high school — you might want to think twice before sending them to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, Oberlin, etc. Any student with the grades to get into an Ivy League school can go to a state university and excel. He’ll find a lot more middle-class kids he can fit in with, and a lot fewer snotty prep school kids than he’d rub elbows with at Columbia. After your son’s successful career at State U., maybe he’ll become a millionaire, and then he can send your grandchildren to Cornell in appropriate style, but otherwise, just leave the elite schools for the rich kids, most of whom are degenerate atheist swine.

Tough, but fair.

Ten Democrat Senators who will vote on Gorsuch are up for re-election in Trump or near-Trump States in 2018. #Winning.

The Guardian has a well-reasoned article about Trump. The End Times are clearly upon us.

As the people at Instapundit are putting it these days: do you want more Trump? Because this is how you get more Trump:

The British Medical Association (BMA) has told people to stop calling pregnant people expectant mothers because it could offend transgender people. Instead, call those females “pregnant people.”

For some bizarre, inexplicable reason, the MSM is starting to pay attention to military casualties after an 8 year hiatus.

In case you ever need the info: how far away do you need to be to survive a nuclear blast? My father knew a great deal about this – bottom line: far, far away. I actually had his nuclear blast calculator for a long while: handed it off to a niece who is studying physics.

Not all American Muslims are against Trump.

Last night, Progressives were spreading the Fake News that Trump was going to rescind some protections for gay Americans – turns out, he wasn’t. Which is no surprise, at all, as Trump is probably one of the most gay-friendly people we’ve ever elected…remember, unlike Obama, Trump went into office in favor of same-sex marriage.

Like the American left, the French left is figuring that what the people want is even more leftism. We’ll see how that works out – both for French leftists and ours.

While everyone argued about Trump’s crowd size and a zillion Hillary supporters engaged in bizarre demonstrations over the weekend, a few real things happened:

Jerusalem mayor says he’s talking with with Trump Administration about moving our embassy to Jerusalem.

Bergdahl’s lawyers are now trying to claim he can’t get a fair trial under President Trump.

On his way out the door, Obama gave us one more lie.

Democrats are just not getting it: Caroline Kennedy being talked up as a possible Senate and Presidential candidate. You see, she doesn’t have Clinton’s “baggage”, so that will make us all want to elect a member of a worn out, has-been political dynasty…

Some law professors are suing President Trump over the Emoluments clause. Said clause:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And 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

So, even if a foreign leader staying at a Trump hotel is considered an “emolument”, all Trump would need is a waiver from a GOP controlled Congress to get past the difficulty. But, I don’t buy the argument that such is an emolument – the definition being, “a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office”. Donald Trump is neither an employee nor an officer of his various private concerns at the moment. You can argue that because it is still “all in the family”, as it were, he’s getting paid but that stretches it to near impossible lengths. Suppose, Progressives, your favorite Progressive movie star became President…would a foreign leader renting one of their movies work out to an emolument? No – this is just an attempt to work up nothing into something.

Seems that while some of the senior leadership at CIA dislikes Trump, perhaps the rank and file are more pleased with him.

Don Surber reminds us that the same CNN which is after Trump is the CNN which hid Saddam’s crimes in order to retain “access”.

Plenty of speculation on who will be Trump’s Supreme Court pick.

Progressives want to get Trump out via impeachment. The plan works like this:

1. Hold loud, nasty protests on a regular basis.
2. ????
3. Win 218 House seats and 67 Senate seats in the 2018 mid-terms.

No one mention to them that even if Democrats held on to all their Senate seats up for election in 2018 and won every GOP seat up (this would include winning Senate seats in such areas as Tennessee and Utah, by the way), Democrats would only get up to 56 Senators… As I said, don’t bring this up too often…let them dream their little, dreamy dreams. Keeps them busy while Trump and the GOP Congress get things done.

So, what happened today?

Some of our Progressive friends made some rather nasty tweets about Barron Trump…because Presidential kids are off limits, but only if you’re a Democrat.

Another great hearted Progressive had an epic meltdown when Trump was sworn in. Seriously, you’ll get tears of joy just watching it.

No matter how hard any Progressive tries, they’ll never outdo this bit of virtue signalling.

Trump’s anti-ISIS statement in his speech got one Progressive really worried.

Kurt Schlichter has a kind word to say about the protestors.

Trump proposed to de-fund Planned Parenthood on the Roe anniversary.

Nancy Sinatra’s boots were made for walking all over CNN’s lies.

Sweet Meteor of Death apologized.

A guy who goes by the name of “Mad Dog” is now officially our Secretary of Defense.

With Trump, we’ve got our first President who has been in favor of gay marriage since day one in office.

All references to Climate Change were removed from the White House website as of Noon, Eastern.

Progressives were gleeful that fewer people turned out for Trump’s inaugural than Obama’s – like Hillary winning the popular vote, this is meaningless. Maybe if we gave Progressives a cookie for every time they Pretend Win, they’ll go away?

Robert Stacy McCain clears out some of the Progressive cobwebs regarding reality:

Notice how (a) the anti-Trump protests are endorsed by the rich and famous, and (b) the violence of the anti-Trump mob attacking people in D.C. is depicted as a “clash” for which the victims of mob attack are made to seem equally responsible. Also (c) the violent mob getting pepper-sprayed by police is the headline, rather than the criminal activity of the mob which provoked this police crowd-control response.

The news media and the entertainment celebrities have chosen sides, and if any Trump supporters are injured as a result of the anti-Trump mob violence, the liberal elite will say, “They deserved it.”

Bathing in Progressive tears was rather fun today – but never forget that these people will not quit. At least, they won’t quit until they are de-funded and they are forced to get jobs…

I have to say, the sycophancy I’ve seen on the left regarding Obama’s exit has been nauseating – someone once called the MSMers protecting Obama “throne sniffers”…that is what, apparently, most Obama backers are these days. My goodness, I remember when Reagan left office – I was a little sad to see him go, but I didn’t get maudlin about it, nor write hagiographies about him…these Obama-bots are just being pathetic.

There is now a 12-Step program which will de-racist you – preventing you from thinking Ungood thoughts and allow yourself to easily slip into the mental world the Progressive leadership has planned for you. Totalitarians gotta Totalitarian, I guess.

The DOJ says that Chicago’s police force – run entirely by Democrats for decades – uses excessive force. Clearly, reforms are needed – just as clearly, the people of Chicago will re-elect the same Democrats who created this problem.

Representative John Lewis (D-GA) says he doesn’t consider Trump to be a legitimate President. Lewis, in the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement was an American hero – these days, he’s just a partisan hack.

Gay Patriot provides an example of the tolerant left.

I’ve long felt that the underlying reason for the left being the left is a desire to rationalize refusal to do one’s duty by others. This, to be sure, is a bit differentiated from your standard liberal out there – I’m talking about the real far out leftists: the sort of people who, say, clearly and definitively state their opposition to such things as the traditional family. These are people who, for a variety of reasons just don’t dig doing that boring stuff which happens to preserve civilization. People who become leftists just don’t want to do such things, and so they cook up theories about how their refusal to do the job makes them more worthy than those who do. This post by Robert Stacy McCain tends to confirm my view.

A German court has ruled that any Jew or Jewish structure wandering around Germany is an Israeli agent and may be attacked on the pretext of opposing Israeli policy in the West Bank. This isn’t law; this isn’t justice – this is just a refusal to accept facts. In their rush to not be judgemental, the Europeans are turning their nations into Orwellian nightmares.

RELATED: Secretary of State (until noon on Friday, that is) John Kerry is going to Paris to defend Israel. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you…

Kellyanne Conway will speak at the March for Life. Another reason to be glad you voted for Trump…