This might mean Hope Hicks takes over formally as White House Director of Communications….
Palm Beach, Florida (CNN) – Jason Miller, President-elect Donald Trump’s spokesman, has decided he will not take the job of White House communications director he was tapped for just two days earlier.
Citing family reasons, Miller announced he will not continue on to the White House and will hand off his responsibilities as communications director to Sean Spicer, the Republican National Committee communications director who was announced this week as the incoming White House press secretary.
“After spending this past week with my family, the most amount of time I have been able to spend with them since March 2015, it is clear they need to be my top priority right now and this is not the right time to start a new job as demanding as White House Communications Director,” Miller said in a statement he provided to CNN, adding that he is also expecting the birth of his second daughter next month. (more…)

This tweet from President-elect Donald Trump directly implies his willingness to lean into the problem:

And President-Elect Donald Trump is not alone carrying optimism: (more…)

Reflecting on the road traveled, it is important to say:

“Thank You”…

Thank You to Chris McDaniel for being one of the first, perhaps the most important, to charge across the open field and force the enemy to show themselves.
Without McDaniel’s efforts in the spring and summer of 2014 we would never have known what hidden armory the opposition held and what lengths they would go to use them.
Thanks to Mitch Tyner for his steadfast support of McDaniel, and for understanding the longer game, once the discoveries were made.
Two years later Tyner made it possible for us to see, when affirmation was needed most, that candidate Donald Trump was also well aware of the long game – and the opposition.
(more…)

Joe Dan Gorman produces another edition of Intellectual Froglegs, “Christmas Edition”.
Merry Christmas.  Anyone who utilizes the word “idnit” is a brother in arms.

Media and the professional left have been jaw-agape, pearl-clutching amid their discussion of the appropriateness for Donald Trump to directly confront corporate CEO’s about their business models.
Initially their angst was simply because Donald Trump had the audacity to begin staking a pro-worker, “America First” jobs position with Carrier Inc.  The workers won.
President Trump then shifted slightly and spoke toward government contractors such as Boeing (Air Force One Contract) and Lockheed Martin… challenging their costs:

President-elect Trump took stewardship to an entire new level when tasking two competitors, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, for comparative bids and lower costs.  The approach is brilliant.
According to their own report, the F-35 program is Lockheed Martin’s largest program, generating 59% of Aeronautics’ net sales in 2015. (link) Lockheed receives 78% of their $46.1 billion in net sales from the U.S. Government.
(more…)

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued an advisory bulletin warning of possible Islamic Terror attacks against Churches and Christmas events. Simultaneous to this warning, Arizona federal officials arrest a Phoenix man who was plotting a Jihadist attack in support of ISIS.

Heavily armed police now guard the Nativity in Europe

First the warning:

WASHINGTON – Federal authorities warned Friday that ISIS sympathizers “continue aspirational calls for attacks on holiday gatherings, including targeting churches.” The bulletin was issued by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security and issued to law enforcement agencies and private security companies around the US.

(more…)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a Christmas message for his “Christian brothers and sisters” around the world:

(Via Reuters) The Obama administration on Friday allowed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, defying pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as well as Israel and several U.S. senators who urged Washington to use its veto.
The resolution was put forward at the 15-member council for a vote on Friday by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal a day after Egypt withdrew it under pressure from Israel and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Israel and Trump had called on the United States to veto the measure.
It was adopted with 14 votes in favor, to a round of applause. It is the first resolution the Security Council has adopted on Israel and the Palestinians in nearly eight years.
(more…)

Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer joined “Mornings with Maria” Friday to discuss his new role assisting President-elect Donald Trump:

Yesterday President-elect Donald Trump announced Sean Spicer would be the White House Press Secretary.  Today Mr. Spicer made the morning show circuit for several interviews on current events.
Again, we simply remind everyone – CNN (as a ‘media enterprise’) will be the most hostile to the Trump administration or any person within it. Much of CNN’s business model is politically constructed and centered around The State Department political vision.
President Donald Trump settled on Spicer because Trump want’s a more biased media. Trump’s effective communications strategy involves generating as much visible bias from the U.S. media as possible.   The larger goal is to squash all opposition by allowing the media to destroy themselves.
Jaw-dropping confrontation (visible bias) is to be celebrated, emphasized and where possible, enhanced.  Trump wants the media attacking him over everything; he will bait them endlessly toward this objective. Success is achieved by making the media a caricature of themselves.
(more…)