Marco Rubio

RPT’s Thoughts On Yesterdays Events (The Storming of the Capitol)

Published by Papa Giorgio

For the record:

Trump released a video on social media in which he called for protesters to cease violence and “go home in peace.”

He said, “You have to go home now, we have to have peace. We have to have law and order.”

TWITTER PULLED THAT MESSAGE BTW:

Here were my first thoughts via the FB PAGE for this site:

Just some quick thoughts on the woman shot and killed today in the Capital. First and foremost, I am saddened for her family… her being: “Ashli Babbitt — a 14 year Air Force veteran, served four tours, was a high level security officer.” I suggest that every person who has not read Ann Coulter’s book, Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America, read it. This “mob mentality” does not just exist on the Left, but when caught up in the energy of a large crowd, many will make a decision that alone, in a less stressful environment, wouldn’t make. We are human and are vulnerable at times to peer pressure.

Another thought is that I don’t care who you are — Antifa, Trump supporter, progressive, conservative, libertarian… whatever. If you storm the Capital you stand a high chance of being shot.

I also feel for the officer. I am sure he feels horrible. no one can shoot and kill someone who is unarmed and go home and tell their family, “oh yeah, today was a good day at work.”

Another thing I think that this situation has done is well stated by RED STATE:

….Unfortunately now in addition to people being hurt and this woman dying, they completely changed for the negative any attention that people maybe would have paid to the election concerns. Now some of the politicians are not going to object according to reports, because the left is trying to link the legitimate objections to the actions of the rioters.

Reportedly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to continue the count tonight so we’ll have to see if people who were going to object stick to their principles or they just give up on it all……

Yep

(And people who were ready to object, changed their minds as a consequence to what happened.)

Here are some other worthwhile articles to read before my other thought on an issue cropping up.

LEGAL ISSURECTION:

….Which leads me to the second point about which I am confident. Today has forever changed the trajectory of the Trump movement.

Donald Trump created a movement that brought tens of millions of people forgotten by politics into the system, which brought electoral victory to a Republican Party that had become used to losing to the Obama-coalition, which brought so much progress and accomplishments to the economy and foreign relations. He brought into the movement an unprecedented multiracial and multiethnic coalition united not by skin color but by love of country.

That movement was embodied in Trump, a unique figure, who had all the obvious personality perculiarities that allowed him to withstand a withering attempt to sabotage his administration and him personally. For four years Trump kept things under control, with Twitter as his vent — he didn’t start wars, didn’t sic the FBI and IRS on political opponents, didn’t do any of the truly repressive things his predecessors did. If not for the relentless attempts to undermine his presidency, his term may have been fairly boring.

Yet things have not been kept under control since election day, and particularly in the past 2-3 weeks. I think a lot of his supporters would acknowledge that.

I had no problem with litigating election disputes, even if some of those disputes were suspect. Let the court process run its course, I advocated. But once that process had run out, and not a single judge, not even Trump appointed judges, upheld any challenges, it was time to move onto more productive action. I advocated on December 14, moving towards building a resistance movement, not engaging in futile and stupid actions that had zero or close to zero chance of success, such as proposing alternative electoral votes.

But that’s not what happened, instead unreliable commentators picked up on the notion that Mike Pence could just reject electoral votes, something completely contrary to the plain wording of the Constitution. Neither Pence, nor even any of the Republican Senators willing to challenge the result through the congressional statutory process, took the position that Pence had such power. Yet that notion became an obsession, so much so that even today Trump in his rally speech was demanding Pence take such action.

Anyone who thinks today was just another negative news cycle is deluding themselves just as people were deluded into thinking grand conspiracy theories or Pence could act as kingmaker deluded themselves. Today was different.

The issue will be whether the Trump coalition can hold together, and who can hold it together. Should Trump choose to be that leader, he will retain his core base, there are a lot of Trump supporters — maybe even the majority — for whom it’s just become too much now. It can’t continue the way it was, there has to be some new way of making an American-economy-first, worker-first, capitalism-and-liberty-first coalition stay together.  It may be that there is no one other than Trump who can hold the coalition together, but if that’s the case, then the coalition will break apart because the center cannot hold after today……

DAILY CALLER:

Patriots enlist and defend their country. They work hard, do their best, raise good families. They help their neighbors. They perform civic duties. They grit their teeth and pay their taxes. Then they show up and vote. They compete, they win, or lose, but they do both with grace. These are some of the things patriots do.

They do not storm their own Capitol over a lost election. They do not bum rush members of Congress. They do not assault strangers. They do not push and shove police officers and trash federal buildings. These are things criminals do, and criminals of any political stripe deserve one thing: rule of law…..

May I add that patriots do not remove a United States Flag and throw it on the ground (BREITBART). But to reiterate, Trump called for the protests to be peaceful:

However, unlike BLM members calling for the death of police, and then members of BLM ambushing police and killing them. Or, Antifa and BLM violence resulting in more dead black people in a few short months than all unarmed black perps were shot by police in a year…. and destruction in the havoc in the lives of hard working people,

  • For at least 8 years, Democrats have remained silent as both far-left groups have wreaked havoc in cities across America. (100% Fed-Up)

SIDE-NOTE FOR CLARITY

Just to be clear, I am not condoning (if Lefties cannot pick up what I am laying down) the actions at the Capital by referencing the violent actions OF THE LEFT, I agree with RED STATE when they say:

…Curiously, several people took to Twitter to attempt to justify the scandalous… no, terroristic behavior of those protestors. Most of the tweets look something like this, with lots of callbacks to the BLM/Antifa protests over the summer throughout the world of social media. The general idea appears to be that this protest is understandable, or even justifiable, because the BLM/Antifa protests over the summer were also chaotic and destructive.

Nothing that happened on Wednesday is understandable or justifiable. It was a damn shame, and it is not something we should condone.

A lot of this talk stems from the idea that because the Democrats allowed their side to get away with so much, and because the media refused to hold them accountable, that this is naturally what comes next – it is a continuation of the argument that we should be playing by their rules.

This is something that we should absolutely reject. It is an embarassment and a violation of the very spirit of what we are supposed to be.

We are supposed to be better than they are, not on the same level. We make our case to the public on not burning down American cities, on not violating the Constitution and its institutions. To stoop to their level hasn’t won us anything. At our best, we win elections and make gains in important battlegrounds. When we are at our most base, then we lose….

WE ARE NOT AOC! (source linked in graphic)

…CONTINUING

The media ignores those stories… and like the Accuser, the media “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Which is why the Bible’s warning to those of us saved (and good common sense advice is, “Be on Guard” — “Be watchful.” Here is 1 Peter 5:8-11 via a paraphrase Bible version:

  • Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does. (The Message)

Here are 2 commentaries on that verse 8 that the believer can simply insert “secular society” because the end result is the same in our fallen world (that is, the goals of it and the Devil):

[Notes on verse 8] On be self-controlled see 1:13 and 4:7. Alert is a striking reference to Jesus’ words to Peter (Mt. 26:41; Mk. 14:38). Enemy (Gk. antidikos) is a legal term, a translation of the Heb. śāṭān, used of the adversary of souls (e.g. Jb. 1:6). Here, as there, Satan can be seen as the one who stirs up suffering and persecution in order to test and, if possible, destroy the faith of God’s children. Peter was familiar with this behaviour (see Mt. 16:23; Lk. 22:31). Devil is a Greek word meaning ‘slanderer’. In his role of undermining faith the devil slanders God to men (Gn. 3:1, 4–5) and men to God (Jb. 1:9–11; 2:4–5). On prowls around see Jb. 1:7; 2:2. 9 Resist is the method recommended for dealing with the devil, as in Jas. 4:7 (cf. Eph. 6:11–17). It is the desires of the flesh that one has to flee (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22). The word firm describes the solidity of material objects. No superficial faith will do here, as it is the enemy’s desire to make apostates through persecution. Rev. 12:11 gives further advice for victory in such trials. Throughout the world contrasts with the group of churches in Asia Minor (1:1) to whom this letter was addressed. 10 The call to perseverance is matched by the doctrine of preservation. Since God has called us to share his eternal glory in Christ, we can ultimately rely on him to bring us safely through to it (see Phil. 1:6; 1 Thes. 5:24; Jude 24). The NIV will restore, is a more likely reading than the AV ‘make you perfect’: this is a promise and not a prayer. Restore describes ships being repaired after a battle or storm. Strong (Lk. 22:32) is used primarily of physical objects and may denote fixity of position, firm denotes firmness of purpose, while steadfast has the idea of giving foundations. 11 Power (Gk. kratos, from which the adjective mighty in v 6 is formed) is not the usual word but means God’s overruling might which is guaranteed to bring the Christian through.

David H. Wheaton, “1 Peter,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1384.

5:8 Be of sober spirit. See notes on 1:13 and 4:7. be on the alert. Strong confidence in God’s sovereign care does not mean that the believer may live carelessly. The outside evil forces which come against the Christian demand that the Christian stay alert. Your adversary. Gr. for a legal opponent in a lawsuit. the devil … a roaring lion. The Gr. word for “devil” means “slanderer”; thus a malicious enemy who maligns believers. He and his forces are always active, looking for opportunities to overwhelm the believer with temptation, persecution, and discouragement (cf. Pss 22:13; 104:21; Eze 22:25). Satan sows discord, accuses God to men, men to God, and men to men. He will do what he can to drag the Christian out of fellowship with Christ and out of Christian service (cf. Job 1; Lk 22:3; Jn 13:27; 2Co 4:3, 4; Rev 12). And he constantly accuses believers before God’s throne, attempting to convince God to abandon them (Job 1:6–12; Rev 12:10).

John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 1 Pe 5:8.

The people entering the Capital were not of sober mind, and the “roaring lion” aspect of the Left and MSM used it to their advantage.

Now, on to another thought. Yes, Antifa infiltrated the Trump rally. And? This is no excuse for Trumpeters being led by the nose. They are responsible for their own actions. Conservatives need to be on guard. Period. When racists infiltrated T.E.A. PARTY protests, they were identified and told to leave.

Just a historical jog through our Capitals history, PJ-MEDIA has an interesting article about the other times our Capital was “breached” (link to post in graphic below):

And yes, I still believe the election was stolen. There are too many issues to go ignored. I can walk and chew gum at the same time. The acts of some asses does not change the facts and eyewitness testimony.

BTW, as I type, the Democrats are already trying to have Trump removed. Lol. Even though he agreed to [after the electors were confirmed] to allow for the peaceful transition. And he has stood by his word… but that doesn’t matter to the MSM… they will use the unfortunate actions on Capital Hill to blame Trump.

  • NEW YORK TIMES (Nov 26th): Trump, Still Claiming Victory, Says He Will Leave if Electors Choose Biden
  • WASHINGTON POST (Nov 26th): Trump commits to stepping down if electoral college votes for Biden
  • RIGHT SCOOP (Jan 7th): “There will be an orderly transition on January 20th” – President Trump

But this doesn’t matter. The left will call him a tyrant, just like they called him a racist. When will we learn?

Florida Ballot Shenanigans – Again

Published by Papa Giorgio

Marco Rubio, someone pretty level headed, is starting to sound the alarm regarding “electioneering” in Broward County, Florida:

Marco Rubio has major concerns about the Senate election results in Florida, specifically in Broward County, which hasn’t fully turned their results in yet.

And he’s voicing them now for all to see:

Long but IMPORTANT THREAT ON ELECTIONS IN #FLORIDA.#BayCounty was hit by a Cat 4 Hurricane just 4 weeks ago,yet managed to count votes & submit timely results.

Yet over 41 hours after polls closed #Broward elections office is still counting votes? #Sayfie

Here are a couple more of Rubio’s Tweets:

Here are the two articles Rubio referenced

And GATEWAY PUNDIT has a concerned citizen noting the “chain of custody” (or lack thereof) issues in Broward:

Florida voter JoAnn Knox captured Broward County Election Officials Transferring Ballots in Rented Truck on Election Night!

“This violates all chain of custody requirements for paper ballots,” argues Independent Congressional candidate for Florida’s 23rd District, Tim Canova.

Some more info:

THE DAILY WIRE also notes this recent spat of voter fraud investigations… and it always seems to be Democrats?

…Multiple reports of Democratic voter fraud have surfaced in recent weeks.

In late October, court documents filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleged that four women arrested by authorities had targeted elderly voters in a “voter fraud ring” during the 2016 elections which was funded by a then-Democratic Party leader.

Texas Democratic Party Leader Funded ‘Voter Fraud Ring,’ Says Government https://t.co/XgARtHSItp

— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 27, 2018

Dennis Prager Highlights Two WaPo Stories Debunking Leftist Positions

Published by Papa Giorgio

Dennis Prager gives credit where credit is due. The Washington Post debunks two widely believed stats gobbled up by the Mainstream Media (MSM).

The first story by WAPO fact checks Rubio’s statement about proposed laws making no difference in the recent school shootings:

The other story looks into the widely repeated claims about 18-school shooting already in 2018

We Want Healthcare Made In America

Published by Papa Giorgio

Mark Levin reads from the following FOX NEWS piece:

Even with the Senate health care bill on hold pending the return of a key lawmaker, moderate Republicans already have extracted what critics call “payoffs” from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in exchange for their support.

Those familiar with the process, even from the other side of the aisle, told Fox News “this is how things get done.” But the sweeteners are reminiscent of the wheeling and dealing then-Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., did to pass ObamaCare, which Republicans criticized at the time. 

And just as critics used nicknames like the “Cornhusker Kickback” to blast those ObamaCare add-ons, some are doing the same for the special provisions tucked into the ObamaCare overhaul.

Get ready to hear howls about what critics dub the “Polar Payoff” (for Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski); “Bayout Bailout” (for Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy); and “Sunshine Sellout” (for Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio).

These provisions were added in an effort to win over votes from these senators, Capitol Hill sources told Fox News.

They are as follows: 

  • Polar Payoff — The revised legislation requires that 1 percent of funds meant to ‘stabilize’ the insurance market are available to states “where the cost of insurance premiums are at least 75 percent higher than the national average,” sources told Fox News. Alaska is the only state that meets this benchmark under the new legislation and would receive $1.82 billion over the next eight years, sources said.  
  • Bayou Bailout — Louisiana and Alaska — and potentially other states — would benefit from this sweetener. The provision, a major selling point for Cassidy, would tweak the formula so that states that were late to expand Medicaid could get more funding.  
  • Sunshine Sellout — Sources said this provision was meant to benefit Rubio’s Florida. The tweak would change the way funding is calculated under the “Disproportionate Share Hospital” program, resulting in more money for Florida. 

Former Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, who was the beneficiary of ObamaCare’s “Cornhusker Kickback” and received considerable GOP scorn at the time, told Fox News on Monday that Republicans are guilty of hypocrisy.

“When roles are reversed, it’s humorous,” Nelson told Fox News. “Republicans were criticizing Democrats for things done back then, and now, they’re engaged in the same thing in order to get the number of votes necessary.”………..

“Game of Loans” ~ College Tuition Costs (ECON 101)

Published by Papa Giorgio

There is a law in economics, it deals with artificially propping up businesses, “goods” politicians deem necessary, production, etc. George Gilder notes this in a clip I isolated in an interview:

  • “A fundamental principle of information theory is that you can’t guarantee outcomes… in order for an experiment to yield knowledge, it has to be able to fail. If you have guaranteed experiments, you have zero knowledge”

R-PT’s note: this is how the USSR ended up with warehouses FULL of “widgets” (things made that it could not use or people did not want) no one needed in the real world. This economic law enforcers George Gilder’s contention that when government supports a venture from failing, no information is gained in knowing if the program actually works. Only the free-market can do this.

This applies to the real world in many ways, one being the co$t of college. Here is a very short video explaining this well:

OF course, one of my favorite videos of ALL TIME shows how students “benefit” from a subsidizing of college majors when in reality if they had to pay for college themselves it would be (a) cheaper, and (b) they would go into careers other than their majors… like sign flippers and bartenders (or other fields that are hurting):

The great conundrum of the U.S. economy today is that we have record numbers of working age people out of the labor ‎force at the same time we have businesses desperately trying to find workers. As an example, the American Transportation Research Institute estimates there are 30,000 – 35,000 trucker jobs that could be filled tomorrow if workers would take these jobs–a shortage that could rise to 240,000 by 2022.

While the jobs market overall remains weak, demand is high for in certain sectors. For skilled and reliable mechanics, welders, engineers, electricians, plumbers, computer technicians, and nurses, jobs are plentiful; one can often find a job in 48 hours. As Bob Funk, the president of Express Services, which matches almost one-half million temporary workers with emplo‎yers each year, “If you have a useful skill, we can find you a job. But too many are graduating from high school and college without any skills at all.”

The lesson, to play off of the famous Waylon Jennings song: Momma don’t let your babies grow up to be philosophy majors.

[….]

Kids commonly graduate from four year colleges with $100,000 of debt and little vocational training. A liberal arts education is valuable, but it should come paired with some practical skills.

Third, negative attitudes toward “blue collar” work. I’ve talked to parents who say they are disappointed if their kids want to become a craftsman–instead of going to college.This attitude discourages kids from learning how to make things, which contributes to sector-specific worker shortages….

(HERITAGE)

(For full disclosure, my degree — theology — is one of the lowest paying degrees out there, and the lowest in employment opportunities.) In a short debate of the issue, Peter Schiff notes this “propping up” of useless degrees:

In the above discussion, Diana Carew seems to want jobs created by the government to fit the degrees earned. Otherwise, how would you force the private sector to create such opportunities unless you artificially demand [create] such opportunities? ~ There was zero unemployment in Soviet Russia, but all this “opportunity” collapsed due to economic laws… “this is how the USSR ended up with warehouses FULL of “widgets” (things made that it could not use or people did not want) no one needed in the real world. This economic law enforcers George Gilder’s contention that when government supports a venture from failing, no information is gained in knowing if the program actually works. Only the free-market can do this.” (Peter Schiff gets into the weeds a bit in this video.)

Here is another great PRAGER U video discussing the issue:

This is one of the areas Gary Johnson was correct — supply and demand:

FORBES notes well that most on the Left-end of the spectrum “don’t hate entrepreneurship and innovation,” but that their Econ 101 “part of the brain that deals with economics tends to shut down when discussing sectors like higher education (or healthcare).”

A WASHINGTON FREE BEACON post relates findings from a Federal Reserve Bank (NY) study showing that the federal student loans have increased the cost of college tuition while at the same time college enrollment did not increase:

The expansion of federal student loans has caused tuition prices to increase without increasing college enrollment numbers, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The report evaluated student financial data as well as federal student aid programs “to identify the impact of increased student loan funding on tuition.”

According to the report, yearly student loan originations grew from $53 billion to $120 billion between 2001 and 2012, an increase of about 126 percent. During this time frame, average sticker-price tuition nearly doubled, rising from $6,950 to $10,200 in constant 2012 dollars.

The report found that for each dollar of federal aid applied, tuition increased as well.

“We find that each additional Pell Grant dollar to an institution leads to a roughly 55 cent increase in sticker price tuition,” the report says. “For subsidized loans, we find a somewhat larger passthrough effect of about 70 percent.”

[….]

The report makes reference to a hypothesis put forth by William Bennett, the Reagan-era secretary of education. The so-called “Bennett Hypothesis” holds that “increases in financial aid in recent years have enabled colleges and universities blithely to raise their tuitions, confident that federal loan subsidies would help cushion the increase.”

Many have compared the market for postsecondary education to the housing market…. [see video at the top]

Which brings me to finish this post with a humorous look at the hipster douche-bags scratching his or her head in regard to high tuition costs via REASON-TV:

POST-SCRIPT

In an article entitled, Why Is College Tuition Rising So Much? And What Can You Do?, that updates some of the numbers we are dealing with, I found this part sad (and I include myself in this paradox), because often times the young person takes as much money as they can get for the semester rather than get the bare minimum and subsidize the rest with income from work. (Editor’s note: this in part delays adulthood and why matters important to our body politic being expressed in an elementary way at the college level.) Here is the section:

As of 2015, there was over $180 billion in available financial aid for undergraduates. Of that, 67% was in federal grants and loans.

While federal aid has been valuable to those who otherwise would not be able to afford higher education, it has created something of a paradox.

Students accept whatever aid they can get, potentially failing to weigh the long-term financial risk once they earn that degree. The thinking goes that the debt will get paid back in time once they get a well-paying job.

The higher institutions, for their part, understand that with someone else footing the bill, they have very little accountability to the student to keep their costs in line. The institution will get paid no matter their tuition and fees.

Once that student does graduate, the burden becomes theirs.

It’s a heavy one too.

Currently, student loan debt in the U.S. is close to exceeding $1.5 trillion dollars.

Compare that to the over $750 billion owed in credit cards.

Wow.

Mary Bromley, the articles author, while making some good points didn’t include the idea that getting liberal arts degrees is not prepping the student for the shift towards technological needs for the future, nor did she deal with getting degrees that are actually useful in the real world environment. Mind you, that wasn’t the main idea or push of the article and may be a good “part deux,” but one of the main reasons tuition has risen IS BECAUSE the Federal Government is involved… practical ways to keep costs down that are in the article aside.

Likewise, automation (“robots”) will increasingly replace people in a “growing number of jobs, the skills employers are now looking for are technical skills.” But that doesn’t mean people will lose work over the issue, it means that society as a whole will need to change their focus to more technologically minded degrees. Frank Roberts in an earlier article continues:

What specific skills those might be will depend on the specific job you are looking at.

But, basically those skills would include

  • Computer skills
  • Problem Solving Skills
  • Communication Skills
  • Finance Skills
  • Business Skills
  • Science Skills

[In the article much is made of jobs being filled by persons holding bachelor degrees, but, that may merely be a reflection of the over supply of degrees. It should be noted that at the same time a higher percentage of those turned down for work were also bachelor degree holders.]

So a change to practical degrees dealing with the change in society is a requirement. NOT TO MENTION the trades that support families well should be encouraged as well. (Like a master tool maker, a carpenter, or a plumber, etc., these are high paying jobs that society will always need — and jobs like these are more apprenticeship driven rather that degree driven.)

FORBES notes one study that challenges the status quo:

  • …Beyond.com, found that a striking 64% of hiring managers said they would consider a candidate who hadn’t gone to a day of college. At the same time, fewer than 2% of hiring managers said they were actively recruiting liberal arts grads….

A person starting out in life should consider all of the above. Their choices made now will have lasting effects — speaking from experience.

Trump Appointments Better Than With Rubio or Jeb

Published by Papa Giorgio

The bottom line is that Jeb or Marco wouldn’t have nominated these folks!

MARK HALPERIN: Who is going to drive policy in this administration in education and EPA and Attorney General and DHS? He’s nominated very sharply ideological activists who Ted Cruz I don’t necessarily think would have had the follow-through to nominate.

[….]

JOE: Exactly. I have a story I’ll tell off-camera about telling somebody I wasn’t ready for something [and they said], well that tells me that you are ready for it. But anyway, but again. How fascinating that the Never Trumpers and the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the Bill Kristols, and all the people that were rightly the most skeptical of Donald Trump during the primary, have to sit back going, wow, I would not have gotten this with Jeb or Marco.

A Democrat Hero Dies (Trump v. Obama)

Published by Papa Giorgio

Via the White House:

Statement by the President on the Passing of Fidel Castro

At this time of Fidel Castro’s passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans – in Cuba and in the United States – with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.

For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends – bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.

Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro’s family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.

President-elect Donald Trump’s statement that was just sent out (Gateway Pundit):

President-Elect Donald J. Trump Statement

“Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.

“While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve.

“Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty. I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign, including the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association that endorsed me, with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba.”

One should read the rest of this post below over at GAY PATRIOT:

….Fidel Castro is dead at ninety. Far too long, if you ask me. Castro was a brutal, Socialist, dictator who consigned millions of his people to life in an oppressive, impoverished gulag where they enjoyed no civil liberties and no human rights. He sent troops around the world to commit atrocities against civilians; imprisoned, tortured, and murdered political opponents (or any critics of his regime), sponsored terrorism, and… oh yeah.. sent gay Cubans to concentration camps.

And to the Democrat left, he was a hero.

Bernie Sanders was a huge fan of Fidel Castro, praising him for having “educated their kids, gave their kids healthcare, totally transformed the society.” Bernie Sanders also said that he thought Cuban style bread lines were pretty neat (Reminder: Half the Democrat Party voted for this guy). New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, for example, spent his summer break from college helping Fidel Castro spread communism in Nicaragua. (John Kerry and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey also counted themselves as allies of Nicaragua’s Castro-style Sandinista dictatorship). Democrats of the Congressional Black Caucus  traveled to Cuba in 2009 and returned with gushing praise for the murderous, bloodthirsty autocrat. An NPR reporter described a kiss from Castro’s brother as though it were a Holy experience. Hollywood leftists including Harry Belafonte, Jack Nicholson, Danny Glover, Oliver Stone, Steven Spielberg, Charlize Theron, and, of course, Michael Moore have heaped praise on the dictator. Most recently, NFL socialist douchebag Colin Kaepernick appeared in Miami wearing a Castro T-shirt. Beyonce and Jay-Z honeymooned on Castro’s island gulag. (Canada’s Prime Minister and the Leader of Britain’s Labour Party are also in mourning, the latter referring to the Marxist dictator as “a champion of social justice.”)

Goes to show what the left actually means by “social justice,” (i.e. labor camps for opponents of socialism).

And of course, Castro’s mass-murdering, racist thug Che Guevara is a fashion icon on the left.

[…..]

BTW: Castro died with a Net Worth of close to a billion dollars….

Here is a very long presentation by Humberto Fontova on the medias obsession with this racist mass-murderor. The uploader on YouTube included this as part of the description to the video:

  • “Propaganda is the heart of our struggle. We must never abandon propaganda.” (Fidel Castro, 1955.)
  • “Much more valuable than recruits for our guerrilla force were American media recruits to export our propaganda.” (Che Guevara, 1959.)
  • For over half a century you’ve been conned by the media, academia and Hollywood. Come learn how badly.

More posts on the matter:

Here is a portion of PART DEUX of Gay Patriots posts on Castro:

Here are the facts about the left’s favorite commie:

  1. Castro was an old-world communist dictator who hated individual freedom & maintained power by oppressing & terrorizing his own people.
  2. Castro murdered those who disagreed with him.
  3. Castro ran concentration camps & filled them with “undesirables,” including dissidents, homosexuals, AIDS victims, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Afro-Cuban priests & others declared “unfit” for the moral Cuban revolution.
  4. Castro personally asked the U.S.S.R to nuke the United States.
  5. Che Guevara, a Castro cabinet member, said if the nukes were under Cuban control, they would have launched them “into the very heart of the United States….the victory of Socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims!”
  6. In 1996, Castro shot down American civilian aircraft, killing 3 Americans.
  7. Life for an average Cuban was hell under Castro. Restricted religious freedom, healthcare, food, movement, technology, transportation & regular forced separations of families.
  8. Castro’s own daughter & sister fled his rule.
  9. Castro banned all music by the Beatles in 1964.
  10. On an island nation, owning or riding on a boat was illegal under the Castro regime.

Man versus Boy ~ GOP Wars

Published by Papa Giorgio

Ann Coulter:

There were a lot of long faces at Fox News Tuesday night, but there’s a silver lining for Sen. Marco Rubio. Now he can go be a bartender like his dad! (Have you heard him tell the story about his father being a bartender? Rubio was his pop’s best customer after the debate.)

He can wear a flowered shirt, tell yarns about his father, and if he’s asked to make any complicated concoctions: JEB CAN FIX IT!

Gov. Chris Christie will always be remembered for the noble service he performed for his country Saturday night. He must have known his campaign wasn’t lighting the world on fire, but he was damned if he was going to stand by and let that pretty-boy mountebank win.

Christie smacked Rubio down at the GOP debate by dramatically exposing the fact that Rubio’s only skill is a weird ability to regurgitate “the memorized 25-second speech that is exactly what his advisers gave him” — as the governor memorably put it.

In a surprising move, Rubio responded by regurgitating the memorized 25-second speech that was exactly what his advisers gave him. And then he did it again three more times.

This is what Rubio said, all within about 3 minutes:

(1) “But I would add this. Let’s dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He is trying to change this country.”

(2) “And let’s dispel once and for all with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”

(3) “Here’s the bottom line. This notion that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing is just not true. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”

(4) “I think this notion — I think this is an important point. We have to understand what we’re going through here. We are not facing a president that doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows what he is doing. That’s why he’s done the things he’s done.”

Far from “an important point,” it’s an incredibly boring point: The president knows what he’s doing! But Rubio kept pounding out the words as if he were announcing the theory of relativity…..

Some Commentary on the Debate via The American Spectator

Published by Papa Giorgio

Some points out of ten posted by The American Spectator: “Ten Things You Need to Know From Last Night’s GOP Debate”

1. Carly Fiorina won. And by “won,” I mean “both debates.” She wasted everyone on stage at the “Happy Hour” kids’ table debate, managed to goad the DNC into creating her very own sexist meme, shut down Chris Matthews, and basically Ronda Rousey’ed the whole night. She punched yesterday in the face. Not a single man in the following debate seemed even remotely capable of delivering her knockout performance, and that’s something to be proud of. With a field of sixteen (eighteen? twenty? eighty?), the initial, Fox News debate — on friendly territory — was essential to solidifying your position among the front runners. Fiorina did that without hesitation. Others, in this case perpetual disappointment Rick Perry, spent the time he should have spent preparing for the debate using his surrogates to manage expectations, and made Bobby Jindal look charismatic by comparison, and Bobby Jindal is the human equivalent of notebook paper.

4. Megyn Kelly asked hardball questions of the prime time debaters, which earned her a spate of terrible Facebook fan page commentary and the honor of being called a “bimbo,” a sentiment which Donald Trump immediately endorsed. Which is convenient for Donald Trump, since he made it through the entire debate without endorsing a single policy, except, perhaps, a national program to relocate Rosie O’Donnell to an inaccessible private island. On that, he is likely to earn widespread support. But while the Donald spent the greatest amount of time yammering, among the candidates, he actually said very little. Except that you should be concerned that he intends to run third party. Which is fine. We always need more candidates to confuse elderly Floridian voters.

6. For the first time in history, observation linked Ted Cruz to Mike Huckabee, which is an intriguing development. Post-debate Luntz polling revealed that those souring on Trump were moving “back” to Cruz and Huckabee, neither of whom made a spectacular showing last night, but definitely share some of Trump’s “anti-establishment” credentials (if there is a such thing). It may turn out that the primary impetus behind Trump’s popularity was simply that neither Cruz or Huckabee had yet hit the trail — certainly Cruz seems to consider Trump his stalking horse — but if neither Cruz nor Huckabee can capitalize on the eventual Trump disengagement, the connections will sink all three. Personally, I see this as no loss. You may differ. In which case, feel free to call me a closeted liberal in the comments section as usual.

9. Marco Rubio “won” the debate itself, which is great for Marco Rubio because it’s high time he’s taken seriously as a candidate. He’s good looking, he’s got a great background story, he’s nuanced on policy and the media already hates him so much they pay for people to scour through hours of footage of Miami Zoning Commission hearings. And now he seems like  he could take on the so-called “heavy hitters” he was supposed to be crushed by. Frankly, it would be fun to see him take on Carly in a one-on-one. We’d all be better for it, too.