One of the more anticipated interviews this weekend is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussing the Iran Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA) with the insufferable Jake Tapper.
One of the things noted from both Trump’s national speech on Iran, and Tillerson’s statements this morning, is open and unusually visible public support for the “Green Movement” (political opposition) in Iran.

(more…)

There is a myriad of complexity within the Iran issue that extends beyond the substantive issue of whether or not President Trump should again certify compliance with the Iran Nuclear Deal.
For clarity, President Trump would not be ending the deal or ending the agreement.  The President is required (every 90 days) to certify if Iran is upholding the terms of the nuclear agreement.  The next certification is due on October 15th.  If President Trump does not, because he cannot, certify compliance – he notifies congress.  It’s up to congress to decide what to do from there.
Therefore President Trump would not be “tearing up” the agreement, nor would he be “ending the agreement”, he would simply be notifying congress of the compliance of Iran, or lack thereof, according to the monitoring agencies that report to the President.  That’s it.  Now to Senator Tom Cotton.  Watch:

.
Senator Cotton can be an ally for MAGA (see immigration), or he can be a concern for MAGA (see aggressive military intervention), depending on the issue.  It is also important to understand how lobbying efforts impact policy positions as they relate to military intervention.  There are interests in DC pushing us toward military conflict with Iran.
(more…)

On Sunday Vice-President Mike Pence and Second-Lacy Karen Pence left the Indianapolis -vs- San Francisco NFL football game after several San Fran players refused to stand for the national anthem.  The response from their political and cultural left-wing opposition was to call the Pence family leaving the game “a political stunt”.
Interesting, albeit typical, moonbat logic: NFL players refusing to stand for the anthem is not a “stunt”, but VP Pence walking out due to their disrespect is a “stunt”.  White House adviser Kellyanne Conway responds:

(more…)

At times Alan Dershowitz can express insufferable political opinions that can make blood pressure cuffs explode.  At other times, on the libertarian side of liberty principles, Dershowitz becomes an ally against the insufferable overbearing administrative state. He’s an odd duck, but carries a quacker worth hearing.
In this segment, the subject matter is well outlined. However, that said, along with every single person in media and punditry, Dershowitz is not connecting President Trump action to the economics of the Trump foreign policy doctrine.

.
If people would spend more time studying DJT they’d see the foreign policy strategy of President Trump clear as day. POTUS Trump surrounds himself, optically and vocally, with the overwhelming appearance of military solution providers. This is not accidental; it is entirely by design.
(more…)

President Trump participates in a briefing session with military leadership prior to a White House dinner with the leadership and their spouses:

Cabinet Room – 6:04 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. And thank you all for being here tonight. And welcome back to the White House. In particular, I want to thank Secretary Mattis and General Dunford for their incredible leadership and service. I also want to thank General Kelly and General McMaster for joining us this evening, and for their dedication to this administration. They have been really spectacular and done a great job.
It’s wonderful to be with all of you again. As I said during our last meeting, my number-one priority as Commander-in-Chief is to keep our people safe and to empower you, our senior military leaders, to do what you do best. Nobody does it better than the people in this room, believe me.
(more…)

A very emotional female police officer from Puerto Rico’s police department in Guaynabo calls in to a U.S. spanish speaking radio station to tell listeners what is going on in Puerto Rico.  The police woman is very upset, crying and sobbing often, and shares how the Mayor of San Juan is politicizing the situation and not offering help.
The call and video was recorded September 28th, and highlights the corruption within government within Puerto Rico and the Municipal authority of San Juan. The video is English closed captioned (hit “CC” option) and a transcript is below:

Transcript:
Radio Announcer: What is your name?
Police Caller: I cannot give my name because I work for Puerto Rico’s Police Department. I need to pass this information out because the stuff that is being brought from the U.S. is not being distributed.  They are not allowing the Puerto Rican people to receive the donations.
Radio Announcer: What part of Puerto Rico are you calling us from right now?
(more…)

The U.S. media are being intentionally obtuse and in some cases downright false in their assertions of the primary problems for Puerto Rico.  CTH has ongoing numerous conversations with recovery and relief efforts around the entire impacted island.
The most consequential logistical issue was port access for the arrival of relief supplies.  That immediate and critical issue was met by the U.S. Defense Department, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.
However as FEMA Director Brock Long outlines in this interview, albeit with diplomatic nuance, the Puerto Rican municipal government system has essentially collapsed.  Government and public sector workers are not showing up to work, and the U.S. military is having to try and fill the roles of local officials within society.

.
The culture within the island nation is based around comfortable dependency, and Puerto Ricans are currently showing no capacity to care for themselves, their neighbors, or take action as individual communities to help their own recovery.
There are thousands of tons of relief supplies sitting in ports, 3,000 full containers, with the U.S. army ready to help load up Puerto Rican trucks for local delivery. However, the municipal governments and local transportation officials are not lifting a finger to get these supplies into their communities. WATCH THIS VIDEO BELOW:
(more…)

After the devastation created by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is in crisis – everyone agrees with that overall sentiment.  However, as we noted last weekend, the media reporting on the recovery issue is ridiculously politicized.
Hillary Clinton, her crew of sycophants, the democrats and their ideological leftist media cohorts are working earnestly to turn the Puerto Rico crisis into an anti-Trump false narrative.  The media are exhausting themselves on propaganda instead of focusing on real issues of helping the people of Puerto Rico.
Today the Washington Post pushes a story of the U.S.N.S Comfort being ordered to Puerto Rico and claiming it was Hillary Clinton who forced the issue:

We saw this “narrative” coming last weekend and shared the ridiculous nature of it.  The propaganda writer for the story, Dan Lamothe, needed to be challenged because it’s just false; and he even admits he knows he’s written a BS story.
The USNS Comfort is a 900′ (length) x 100′ (width) hospital.  It was built by modifying a 1970’s era oil tanker (old hull design – non bulbous bow), and it weighs approximately 67,000 tons.    It’s essentially still an old oil tanker in water placement design; meaning it needs a port to receive it on arrival.
Additionally, it takes approximately five days to activate Comfort into service.  Fueling, supplying, and the engineering to prepare for ocean passage of a massive vessel is a lengthy process.  She also needs personnel to arrive and stage etc.  All said, the logistics and engineering takes five days prep time.
(more…)

During a meeting at the White House with congressional committee members, President Trump announced he is planning to visit Puerto Rico, and possibly the Virgin Islands, on Tuesday of next week.
The visit is being timed to avoid any impact on first responders, U.S. military units and FEMA crews who are currently working in “urgent mode” to reestablish basic elements of recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s devastation.  WATCH:

.
President Trump’s Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert and FEMA Director Brock Long have been in Puerto Rico reviewing recovery efforts and coordinating the administration’s efforts to assist the island.
(more…)

The majority of people who are providing media opinion on Puerto Rico recovery efforts really don’t have any understanding of the scale of the logistics involved when the impact zone is an island.
Hurricane Maria destroyed hundreds of vessels in and around the various PR ports making entry and exit into harbors a maze of submerged vessel and sunken debris avoidance. In addition, the ports’ infrastructure systems (power, utilities, docking equipment, pump stations, fuel depots, etc) were severely impacted, and in many ports 100% wiped out.  Buoys, markers, harbor-lights, towers, all gone – completely destroyed.

Puerto Rico is an island, so bringing in relief supplies by cargo ship is the only way to deliver massive tonnage of supplies, heavy equipment and material needed to begin any restoration and recovery effort. Without ports those supplies cannot be offloaded. Especially think about fuel shipments. See the issue?
However, in a stunning feat of skill, ingenuity and determination the harbor entries have been mapped for navigable passage by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard while simultaneously the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been working on the land-based side of the port infrastructure. [The major port of San Juan was opened Sept. 23rd.]
All of this is happening while the Dept. of Defense is leading FEMA efforts and providing U.S. marine units, fixed wing and helicopter, to deliver supplies to the hardest hit areas.
(more…)