This is deep weeds inside baseball, but boy howdy does it tell a story. Representative Matt Gaetz (MAGA, FL) goes through the details of yesterday’s House republican conference assembly as they select a Speaker nominee.

What Gaetz reveals in detail is how Kevin McCarthy has been working the conference to undermine any other Speaker candidate so that McCarthy would be renominated as the only possible alternative. The insight and details are really interesting. This is a must watch.

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If Mike Johnson (R-LA) cannot carry the conference, look for the professionally Republican Kevin McCarthy wing to reassemble and attempt reinstallation.

WASHINGTON DC – Rep. Mike Johnson won a closed-door contest on Tuesday night to become his party’s fourth speaker nominee.

Now, the Louisiana lawmaker faces the much tougher task of securing the 217 votes he needs to win on the House floor. Earlier Tuesday, Johnson came in second to Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who then withdrew after former President Donald Trump publicly came out against him.

So, Republicans went back to the drawing board, and made Johnson the latest aspirant to a position the fractured and exhausted conference can’t seem to fill. He beat out a field of four other candidates, including Byron Donalds in the final ballot by a 128 to 29 vote. Some 44 other Republicans didn’t vote for either of the two men.

After winning the nomination, Johnson said he was “very confident” that he could get 217 votes and said “the intention is to go to the floor” for a vote on Wednesday. (more)

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Too many people continue falling for this Lawfare nonsense.   CTH has been outlining what Lawfare operations are all about since we deconstructed the Trayvon Martin narrative.  Perhaps a reminder is useful.

Lawfare, in its most obvious construct, is not a legal approach per se’, it is the intentional manipulation of the legal system to create the optics around information that is intended to be used by media to influence public opinion. {link}

That’s what Lawfare is all about, manipulating public opinion through leaks to the media.  The leaks do not need to be truthful, accurate or directly in line with the prosecution of the case; they are intended exclusively to manipulate public opinion.

Remember, on August 21st, in another ridiculous Lawfare operation, Special Counsel Jack Smith told ABC that Mark Meadows testified that President Trump never attempted to declassify any information {Go Deep}.   That report was transparently false, yet the media ran with it and multiple alternative media promoted it.  Pure nonsense.

In this latest Lawfare effort, again from Special Counsel Jack Smith, again to ABC news, again about former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the claim is the Special Counsel granted Meadows immunity (that’s the hook), and that Meadows told President Trump the 2020 election was not rigged or stolen.

Now remember, Mark Meadows wrote about the rigged and stolen 2020 election in his book, so why would he undermine his own story by saying something completely the opposite to Jack Smith that is only coming out now?   The Occam’s razor answer is, he didn’t.  This lawfare story is all made up, fictitious, anonymous sources, manufactured to create a public impression.

Bolstering the likelihood that Meadows gave no such testimony, Meadows lawyers, when contacted by media, said the story is fake news.   Yet again, everyone falls for it.  This is how Lawfare succeeds, and this is how Trayvon Martin’s fake and fabricated ear-witness girlfriend becomes the key witness and embarrasses the prosecution on the stand.

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Several people have questioned why the U.S. injuries were not reported at the time of the attack.  The answer is simple, Joe Biden was sleeping on the beach at the time of the events. It wouldn’t look good, so the injuries were withheld until today.

(VIA NBC) -Two dozen American military personnel were wounded last week in a series of drone attacks at American bases in Iraq and Syria, U.S. Central Command told NBC News on Tuesday.

The Pentagon confirmed the attacks last week, but the number of U.S. casualties has not been previously disclosed.

Twenty American personnel sustained minor injuries on Oct. 18 when at least two one-way attack drones targeted al-Tanf military base in southern Syria, CENTCOM said.

One of the drones was shot down. All of the wounded personnel were returned to duty, CENTCOM said, and there was no damage to any military installations.

On that same day, another four American personnel suffered minor injuries during two separate drone attacks against U.S. and coalition forces stationed at al-Asad base in western Iraq, CENTCOM said. (read more)

Two dozen U.S. military injured, Biden does nothing.

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Tucker Carlson releases a lengthy discussion of the ramifications of an expanded Israeli War in the Middle East.

(2:00) Col. Douglas Macgregor
(4:20) Threats to the homeland
(6:12) Iran & its missiles
(13:00) Going into Gaza
(19:40) American hostages
(22:45) Impact on the American economy

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As noted by Politico in 2021, when asked about Donald Trump getting involved in midterm primaries, head of the National Republic Congressional Committee Tom Emmer told reporter Jacob Rubaskin, “He’s a private citizen, and he’s entitled to his own opinion.”  “I would tell him that it’s probably better for us that we keep these people and we make sure that we have a majority that can be sustained going forward.”

Emmer followed later in March saying Trump getting involved in the GOP congressional primaries was “not gonna be helpful.”

Fast forward to 2023, Emmer is now the House Republican Whip and wants to be Speaker of the House.  Apparently, Emmer called President Trump this weekend seeking an endorsement.  WATCH:

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President Trump says, “I’m trying to stay out of that as much as possible.”   Meanwhile, all the Republicans who threw their name in the hat to become Speaker of the House want his endorsement.  lol

I’m sure President Trump will leverage the “optimal solution.”

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If you drop the pretending, it becomes crystal clear to see the hostages are being used as leverage to stop a counteroffensive by the Israeli military.  The Obama/Biden administration alignment with Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), permeates the media narrative with calls to negotiate terms for peace and hostage release.

As we expected, Benjamin Netanyahu is being painted into a corner by the Biden administration who are using the U.S. military presence as a shield to force Israel to follow the approved program of the U.S. government.   Biden, et al, want to protect Hamas while simultaneously calling residents of Gaza “victims” to the interests of Hamas and the PIJ.

With 200+ hostages held by Hamas, and up to another 50 held by PIJ, the slow drip of successful hostage release negotiations becomes the justification to stopping the Israeli War counteroffensive.

The two hostages released, Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79, were taken out of Gaza at the Rafah crossing into Egypt, where they were put into ambulances.  However, their elderly husbands were kept behind.  The two women, along with their husbands, were snatched from their homes in the kibbutz of Nir Oz near the Gaza border during Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israeli communities.

WASHINGTON – […]  Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza, vowing to destroy Hamas. Iranian-backed fighters around the region are warning of possible escalation if that happens, including targeting U.S. forces deployed in the Mideast.

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Anthony Blinken appears on CBS Face the Nation to discuss the U.S. response to the Israeli war against Hamas terrorists. Margaret Brennan clutches her pearls and gives her best defense of Hamas/Palestinian terrorists. But the babies and the children, or something; all of that is propaganda. WATCH:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is at the State Department. Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: Morning, Margaret, good to be with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Tension is very high in the region. Are you changing your security posture? Are you pulling any US personnel out of the area?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Margaret, we are concerned at the possibility of Iranian proxies, escalating their attacks against our own personnel, our own people. We’re taking every measure to make sure that we can defend them and if necessary, respond decisively. Not at all what we’re looking for, not all we want, but we’ll be prepared, if that’s what they choose to do.

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Always remember, CNN = U.S. State Dept position.

CNN is reporting the Obama/Biden administration are seeking to delay the Israeli counteroffensive into Gaza in order to gain more time for hostage negotiations.  Israel denies feeling pressure, yet something is holding them back; make of that what you will.  However, the delay itself tracks accurately with the predictable intent of the ideologues behind the hidden agenda of the administration.

CNN – The Biden administration has pressed Israel to delay its imminent invasion of Gaza to allow for the release of more hostages held by Hamas and for aid to reach Gaza, according to two sources briefed on the discussions.

The release of two Americans held by Hamas Friday signaled that more of roughly 200 people believed to be kidnapped by the militant group may be freed after they were taken during the group’s deadly attacks launched against Israel two week ago.

“The [administration] pressed Israeli leadership to delay because of progress on the hostage front,” and the need to get trucks of aid into Gaza, one person familiar with the discussions said. The NSC did not immediately respond for comment.

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Today, the sketchy Pentagon statements about the USS Carney are starting to make sense.  The initial suspicions within the originating statements {GO DEEP} are well founded.  Today, the Pentagon is admitting the events in the Red Sea were “much more significant” than originally outlined.  Here’s the big picture, and we will go a little deeper.

The USS Carney is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer assigned to USS Ford Carrier Strike Group 12.  As part of the October 8th deployment into the eastern Mediterranean, the USS Carney took up a defensive position for the strike group by going through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Fortunately, the Carney arrived in the Red Sea, on mission, Wednesday, just hours before four cruise missiles and 15 drones entered the established defensive perimeter airspace.

The Carney’s interceptions, the defensive activity against the missiles and drones, took place over 9 hours on Wed/Thursday.  All of the interceptions happened in commercial airspace, meaning the drones and missiles were targeted to fly at altitudes of commercial air travel. Obviously, the destination of the missiles and drones was/is unknown; however, the Pentagon said “potentially” targeted to hit Israel.

Now keep in mind, this report from CNN (think State Dept) is from a U.S. official that is NOT the Pentagon.  Meaning this report is political in nature and slanted to provide the State Dept/political Intelligence Community perspective.   Again, this is not a military report; this is a report from the U.S. political angle of government.

CNN — A US warship that intercepted drones and missiles near the coast of Yemen on Thursday encountered a larger and more sustained barrage than was previously known, shooting down 4 cruise missiles and 15 drones over a period of 9 hours, according to a US official familiar with the situation.

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