U.S. Senator Rand Paul supports the removal of John Bolton as National Security Advisor due to an abject difference of foreign policy with Bolton.  Also, Senator Lindsey Graham cautiously supports the removal of John Bolton from a concessionary position that Trump is correct, and the endless foreign intervention needs to have some conclusion.
Beyond the orange-man-bad democrats, and their new found political love for Bolton (their former nemesis), interestingly the strongest DC and media voices against Bolton’s removal are foreign policy voices primarily concerned about supporting Israel (Ted Cruz, Mark Levin etc).

.
So far today CTH notes no-one is mentioning Bolton’s failed policy on Venezuela. That policy/effort was all John Bolton; ….and that brings another point into the picture.
(more…)

Citing the continued effort of Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to advocate for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the government of Israel notified Representatives Omar and Tlaib Wednesday night they would not be granted entry visas this weekend.

Not long before the news was public, President Donald Trump tweeted his support for the decision by the Israeli government:

Immediately the political media went bananas with proclamations that President Trump was the cause of the denied entry.  According to many DC politicians demanding the elimination of the state of Israel does not warrant a denial of entry.  The Democrats -and some Republicans- say Israel should respect the voices of American politicians who want to see their nation eliminated.  Apparently Israel disagrees with this position.

WASHINGTON – Israel on Thursday barred Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the Jewish state, citing their support for a Palestinian-led boycott movement — a decision that unleashed a torrent of condemnation by Democratic congressional lawmakers.

(more…)

Iran reports they have seized another oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, in an apparent effort to increase hostilities in the region and make a larger conflict with the U.S. and western allies.  All of this activity has a ring of familiarity to it from the late 1980’s.
In ’87 and ’88 the U.S. took over patrolling the strait to afford safe passage for Kuwait tankers and western-flagged ships. Eventually, following the Iranian attack on a U.S. frigate (USS Samuel B Roberts), there were several U.S-Iran military fights.
It looks like Iran is attempting to provoke a similar scenario today.  Only this time former President Obama and former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appear to be assisting the Iranian government in their political efforts.  As incredible as it might sound at first blush, if Iran kills or captures any American military members in the modern version of the conflict – Obama and Kerry will be working directly for the enemy.  FUBAR:

WASHINGTON – Tehran, Iran — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it has seized British oil tanker, the Stena Impero, in the Strait of Hormuz. The announcement comes one day after the U.S. said it destroyed an Iranian drone.
The military branch said the tanker over “non-compliance with international maritime laws and regulations” and has transferred the vessel to an Iranian port.

(more…)

More than 600 Iranian-funded Hamas terror missiles have been fired into Israel from Gaza. Four Israeli civilians have been killed.  In retaliation, Israel has carried out military strikes against Hamas leaders in Gaza.  President Trump tweets support for Israel.

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Rockets and missiles from Gaza killed four civilians in Israel while Israeli strikes killed 14 Palestinians, most of them militants, in surging cross-border fighting on Sunday, according to Gazan officials and the Israeli military.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the military to continue “massive strikes” against Gaza’s ruling Hamas group and Islamic Jihad in the most serious border clashes since a spate of fighting in November.

(more…)

A report in the New York Times, transparently timed and placed by officials within the intelligence apparatus trying to get out ahead of internal investigations, outlines how the FBI sent counterintelligence spies to engage with Trump campaign officials in 2016.
In a stunning admission The New York Times describes how the FBI enlisted a female agent to work the “operation” in the U.K. during August-September 2016 posing as an aide for U.S. intelligence asset/FBI informant Stefan Halper.
Halper was an FBI operative and  Cambridge professor who set up meetings with Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos.  The female agent used a fake name, Azra Turk, and presented herself as an assistant to Stefan Halper; however, she was actually an undercover intelligence operative of the FBI.

NYT […] The woman had set up the meeting to discuss foreign policy issues. But she was actually a government investigator posing as a research assistant, according to people familiar with the operation. The F.B.I. sent her to London as part of the counterintelligence inquiry opened that summer to better understand the Trump campaign’s links to Russia.

The American government’s affiliation with the woman, who said her name was Azra Turk, is one previously unreported detail of an operation that has become a political flash point in the face of accusations by President Trump and his allies that American law enforcement and intelligence officials spied on his campaign to undermine his electoral chances. Last year, he called it “Spygate.”

(more…)

An incredible moment during the National Prayer Service today as Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, the leader and survivor from the recent synagogue shooting in Poway, California, delivers heartfelt prayers and remarks to President Donald Trump.
The strength of Rabbi Goldstein is inspiring; his message is uplifting; his faith is unwavering, and his courage is affirming. This is an American message of hope and heart.

(more…)

This is something many anticipated in 2017; particularly with the Mid-East visit by President Trump; but it never happened.  However, according to the New York Times, President Trump has a renewed push toward designating The Muslim Brotherhood as an official terrorist group.
The Brotherhood is the political umbrella organization for a variety of extreme Islamist organizations; and was the primary driver of regional uprising during the Islamist Spring (Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen etc). Former President Obama looked warmly upon the Brotherhood and worked earnestly with them to fulfill their ideological goals.
The most visible effort of the political Brotherhood was in Egypt with the election of Mohammed Morsi; which led to widespread violence/chaos and the eventual call by the Egyptian people for General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to step-in.
The Brotherhood leadership was exiled from Egypt, and after a short time in Qatar -and confrontation by the Gulf Cooperation Council-  they were given safe harbor in Turkey by Recep Erdogan.  They likely remain in Turkey today.
(more…)

A shooting at at synagogue in Poway, California, has left one woman dead and three others wounded on the last day of Passover.  Four people -a young girl, two adult men, and an older woman- were injured. [AP News]
A 19-year-old man armed with an “AR-type assault weapon” opened fire at Chabad of Poway shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Saturday according to San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore. Saturday is Shabbat, or the Jewish Sabbath.  An off-duty border patrol agent fired shots at the suspect’s car as he fled the scene but did not injure him.

San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said the suspect called authorities to let them know he’d been involved in the shooting and to provide his location. The suspect, described only as a 19-year-old white man from San Diego, then pulled his car over and was arrested by a police canine officer who was on the way to the scene.

(more…)

The rather alarming aspect here is the multiple layers of editorial review and approval this had to pass through.  This is not simply an example of bad judgement, this is a clear reflection of the ideology within the publication.  Not a single person involved in the process saw a problem with it, until after it was published.  Quite remarkable.

From the international edition of the New York Times: A blind kippah-wearing President Donald Trump being led around -or leading- a dog depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (enlarged below)
(more…)

Following the bilateral meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, both leaders held an Oval Office press availability.  During the presser President Trump was asked his thoughts about the Mueller report.  (Video and Transcript below):

.
[Transcript] -Oval Office- 12:23 P.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s an honor to have Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oval Office. We’ve had numerous great meetings, and we talk usually about trade and military and lots of things.
But today, I think we’re talking about — more than anything else, we’re celebrating the Golan Heights. It’s something that I’ve been hearing about for many years, from many people. I’ve been studying for years.
(more…)