Yesterday we noted how subtle (and not so subtle) messages have been coming out from Beijing China admitting how the party of Chairman Xi underestimated the cunning fortitude of U.S. President Donald Trump.   Today, a stunning visual is broadcast from inside North Korea which follows the same general outlook.
Remember, nuance and subtle optics are very significant in Eastern projections of political brand messaging.  When they present a nationally broadcast message every grain of sand on the optical beach has been thought out, considered, staged and carefully placed by hand with great forethought toward the intended audience. The optics are everything. [That’s also the reason why POTUS Trump used a video presentation (specifically for Kim) at the end of the Singapore summit.]
In an unprecedented international broadcast, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un delivers a message not just to his people, but more specifically to the international community.  The backdrop, the venue for the message as broadcast, reflects a stunning shift for the country of North Korea.  Notice the background message is ‘economic‘: Business attire; business office etc.  The guiding hand of Chairman Xi is visible, and the transmission is full of messages highlighting the influence of the Trump Doctrine.

.
It is critical to remember that Chairman Xi (Beijing China), is still the leading influence agent over Chairman Kim (DPRK). That nuanced/subtle (hostage/captive) influence message is also inherent in the background of this broadcast. As the U.S. -vs- China confrontation continues, this video message provides additional support that Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping is no longer underestimating the cunning of POTUS Trump.
(more…)

The inauguration of former army Captain turned congressman Jair Bolsonaro was held today in Brazil; delivering the first nationalist outlook to the office of the presidency in decades.
President Jair Bolsonaro and First-Lady of Brazil Michelle Bolsonaro both delivered speeches during the inauguration ceremony, with the first lady also using sign language (her father is deaf).

President Bolsonaro now takes the reins of Latin America’s largest and most populous nation after decades of corruption carried out by Brazil’s far-left politicians. Many will remember a failed assassination attempt on candidate Bolsonaro by opposition from the socialist workers party only a few weeks before the election. Bolsonaro has vowed to end business-as-usual governing which led to rampant corruption.
Many people within the far-left ridiculed Bolsonaro while he was a congressman and stated his Brazil-First outlook was too nationalistic amid a world now driven by global influence. The marginalization by those voices failed and now President Bolsonaro will likely chart a different course.  (Sound familiar?)
(more…)

Before getting to the POTUS and FLOTUS pictures from 2018, it is worthwhile remembering the scale of the opposition we have successfully overcome.
On October 13th. 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump delivered a speech in West Palm Beach, FL, that defined his moment in our nation’s history. The power behind that movement is YOU, the American people.  We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Part of that speech was put to an enhanced video. The entire speech is Here.

.
[ Transcript ] […] Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. There is nothing the political establishment will not do, and no lie they will not tell, to hold on to their prestige and power at your expense.
The Washington establishment, and the financial and media corporations that fund it, exists for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself.
The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election. As an example, just one single trade deal they’d like to pass, involves trillions of dollars controlled by many countries, corporations and lobbyists.
For those who control the levers of power in Washington, and for the global special interests they partner with, our campaign represents an existential threat.
(more…)

President Trump was asked about Senator Elizabeth Warren as a 2020 presidential challenger.  The response was, well, epic.  WATCH:

(more…)

To cap off the most stunning year of journalistic ineptitude, the officials in charge of the New York City Time’s Square celebration have selected journalists to drop the ball.

Leading journalists will ring in the New Year Monday in New York City’s Times Square as the annual ball drop, watched globally by billions, recognizes journalism and free speech.
The group of reporters and editors will appear on stage just before midnight to push the button that officially begins the 60-second countdown to the lowering of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball and the New Year.  ~ Via Time

We shared a discussion thread several months ago about how the media are enmeshed within the story of the DOJ and FBI corruption. The media engagements with the parties swirling around the FBI, DOJ and Clinton-Steele Dossier are so pervasive they could not reasonably report on any aspect of the story without exposing their own duplicity.
As the year comes to a close, and more information surfaces about corrupt DOJ and FBI activity, it’s worth remembering the media’s complicit role.
(more…)

A good discussion between Charles Payne and Gordon Chang on Fox Business over the U.S. -vs- China trade confrontation.  Mr. Chang makes a good point about 2018 being the year where Beijing realized they underestimated the cunning of President Trump.

.
He caught them off guard – There is no doubt in my mind that President Trump has a very well thought out long-term strategy regarding China. President Trump considered strategic messaging toward the people of china very important. President Trump has, very publicly, complimented the friendship he feels toward President Xi Jinping; and praises Chairman Xi for his character, strength and purposeful leadership.
2018 is the year China discovered that President Trump knows how to play their panda/dragon games.
(more…)

No issue encapsulates the weakness of republicans and their simultaneous adherence to the UniParty position on illegal immigration more than the aftermath of illegal aliens killing U.S. citizens.   No-one ever forces democrats to own the consequences to their position; it is very frustrating.
No other issue is as easy to frame, and supported by the majority of American voters, as the issue of illegal alien impacts on local communities.  Yet, we never see republican politicians making democrats own and defend these toxic negative outcomes. The reason is likely because both wings of the UniParty benefit from massive lobbying to keep the problem in place.

.
CTH has tracked this issue so closely through the years it often feels futile for another reminder.  However, with the insufferable political games surfacing, yet again, over the issue of illegal aliens – perhaps it is worth another visit.
(more…)

China’s Communist Chairman Xi Jinping delivered a prepared speech to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on Saturday and stayed far away from mentioning the challenge of a U.S. -vs- China trade reset.

Those who follow China’s historic patterns will note careful and intentional inferences within Chairman Xi’s remarks as shared by SCMP media:

[…] While the Belt and Road Initiative has faced an increasing international pushback amid fears it is saddling poorer countries with unsustainable debts, Xi’s speech steered clear of this and other sensitive topics.

Instead he praised the initiative for helping to improve international ties, adding: “Our circle of friends is expanding.”

“Circle of friends” defined as those political suckers (selfish and corrupt political parasites willing to sell out their countries’ best interest) who accept the smiling panda face and completely ignore the cunning dragon behind the mask maneuvering to enslave the locals.
(more…)

Incoming House Minority Whip Steve Scalise appears on Fox News to discuss the current status of the appropriations impasse and the non-essential government (non)shutdown.

(tweet link)

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham holds a press conference following lunch with President Donald Trump.  Beyond the border security shutdown issues, notably Senator Graham shares:

…” We had a great lunch.  We talked about Syria; and he told me some things I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria”.. [@03:35]

(more…)