NBC is reporting that President Obama intends to continue his efforts at creating as much international crisis as possible prior to walking away from office, and leaving President Trump to clean up the aftermath. 
After initiating the latest international crisis with Israel, the former winner of the Nobel Peace Prize now turns his antagonism efforts toward Russia….
(Via NBC) The White House is preparing to announce retaliatory measures against Russia for its role in directing cyber attacks in the United States, two senior officials confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday.
In October, the United States formally blamed Russia for political hacking attacks, saying they were intended to interfere with American elections. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax that the accusations are “nonsense.”
The new actions, which would be an update of a 2015 executive order, could be announced as early Thursday or Friday, the officials said. They would also likely include economic sanctions coordinated by the Treasury department. (more…)

Liberalism is based on inherently hypocritical positions:

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There are numerous reports where the current events surrounding President Obama’s push to paint Israel into a corner are specifically outlined and addressed with specificity.  However, if you really want to understand what’s going on, you must reference the longer game as it has been domestically constructed and ignored by most media.
Those who have followed domestic U.S. pro-Palestinian activism over the past several years will be able to more easily understand current events against the larger backdrop.
First, it is critical to remember, the antagonistic left fully anticipated Secretary Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Therefore all of the current U.S. political maneuvers, as recently evidenced, must be viewed as increasingly desperate now that their long-term objectives have been cut off by the insurgent win of Donald Trump.
In short, the longer-term approach from the politically professional left, in conjunction with the political activism of the social justice warriors, has been to undermine Israel, and yet do so without visibility toward undermining Israel.  (more…)

Call me cynical, but this announced speech by Secretary John Kerry only inspires thoughts of the Obama administration laying dangerous ideological land mines the incoming Trump administration will have to navigate.
(CNN) Secretary of State John Kerry will deliver a speech Wednesday on the Obama administration’s vision for Middle East peace, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
The speech at the State Department comes as the relationship between the US and Israel frays following the Obama administration’s controversial decision to abstain on Friday from a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Kerry said at the time that, “In the coming days, I will speak further to the vote in the Security Council today and share more detailed thoughts, drawn from the experience of the last several years, on the way ahead.” (more…)

An interesting and thought provoking op-ed in The Hill outlines the issues, and asks the question.  The author, David Weisberg, concludes by saying yes, President Obama will likely pardon Hillary Clinton prior to leaving the White House.
(Via The Hill) […] We should first note that the Obama administration’s decision not to prosecute Mrs. Clinton would not bind the Trump administration. Until relevant statutes of limitations have expired, she could still be prosecuted by the new administration. It is possible in my opinion for Clinton to be prosecuted for either her improper handling of classified information on “home brew,” or allegations of “pay to play” arrangements between the secretary of state and donors to the Clinton Foundation, which could constitute bribery.
The statute of limitations for most federal crimes is five years from the commission of the offense; that would apply to the two categories relevant to Mrs. Clinton. Her tenure as secretary of state ended Feb. 1, 2013, so it is possible that the statute of limitations will not run until Feb. 1, 2018, more than a year after Mr. Trump takes office.
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One third of all recently elected Democrats hail from only three states: New York, Massachusetts and California.  The entire party apparatus is increasingly ancient, archaic and collapsing unto itself because it now focuses entirely on social issues.
Speaking of archaic – The Democrat House leader for the past 14 years is 76-year-old Nancy Pelosi.  House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is 77, and Assistant Minority Leader Jim Clyburn of South Carolina is 76.
Representative Maxine Waters, also from California, is in her twenty-fifth year in the House (elected ’91).  She is also 78 years old.  Watch:

There is a widely discussed interview between President Obama and David Axelrod being discussed today where Obama claims his legacy would have reelected him, if only… etc.
However, the single least discussed aspect to the interview content itself is the reemergence of a truism no-one ever pays attention to.  Just like the Clinton Clan before them, the Obama Clan have no actual home.

President Reagan had his ranch in California; President George HW Bush had his home in Kennebunkport; President ‘Dubya’ Bush had Crawford, Texas; but just like President Clinton, President Obama has no central base; travelers never do.
Specifically because of a life determined by self-interest ideology, when the time comes to dismount the high horse there’s a common inability of Clinton and Obama to do so.  There is a very specific dynamic, a symptomatic common connection.
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Newt Gringrich appeared on Fox News Sunday this Christmas morning for an interview with Chris Wallace.   Substantively this was a good presentation by Gingrich who does a great job this time explaining administrative/executive “Trump”, and common sense as it applies to Trump foreign policy.
At the 07:45 point the discussion turns toward governmental contractors and the DC lobbying community etc.
A key moment also comes at the 10:50 point of the interview where Gingrich identifies something we previously discussed in the primary election: the scope of the swamp, and the predictable “there are trillions at stake” fight.

…”they’ll reach a crisis point; where they are going to look in the room at each other, they’re all winners; and they’re going to say either we’re going to be more reasonable and get along with the city, or we have to become even more unreasonable and break the power structure that’s opposing us. My hunch is they’ll pick the latter”…

I think Newt’s hunch is correct.  That inflection point, timed around the delivery of the first Donald Trump budget to congress, is the epic battle many of us have been waiting for.
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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.
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(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.
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