My oldest son and his wife just bought their first home, and they are in the process of painting and making minor improvements before moving in. As I help them with the painting and odds and ends, I see little things that we all take for granted, and most of us never give thought to. I really never have before, not even in making my own home.
Pretty new glasses that match the plates in the kitchen. A shower curtain that brightens the bathroom and adds a little pop of color and pattern. The small seahorse planter by the sink that matches the color of the curtain and holds a tiny little cactus.
More mundane choices like dishdrains and towels. Carefully chosen necessities like brooms and mops that are all just as much part of making a home as choosing the decor and furniture.
Hearing them talk about the choices for the kids’ rooms, wall colors, new bunk beds, lawn mowers, weedeaters. What kind of furniture might go in the huge family room big enough for the whole clan, plans for a first cookout. Excited children making their own plans as they run in and out of the house. (more…)

Earlier today President Trump welcomed 2018 NASCAR champion Joey Logano to the White House. (Video and Transcript Below)

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[Transcript] South Lawn – 3:56 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Very talented people. Great musicians. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. And good afternoon. Today it’s my pleasure to welcome the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Joey Logano, and Team Penske to the White House. Joey, congratulations. Fantastic. (Applause.)
Team Penske raced across the finish line in the Ford Fusion. You liked the car?
MR. LOGANO: I loved it.
THE PRESIDENT: You better say that. (Laughter.) You better say that.
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China, Russia and Cuba are financing and supporting the socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.  Russian and Chinese military equipment was previously shipped into the country and military members from Cuba are fighting on the ground.
In response to the violence and presence of the Cuban military, President Trump is now threatening a full and complete embargo of Cuba by the U.S.

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Well, it looks like the outcome of a horsetrading deal is starting to assemble.  President Trump meeting with Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer et al, to discuss a $2 trillion infrastructure deal.   Despite their schemes and plots this is worth watching:

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Democrats don’t want the baggage of a tax increase heading into 2020… so Schumer punts the financing of the $2 trillion to President Trump; forcing the White House to deal with the dirty part (likelihood a gas tax increase), while Schumer/Pelosi keep clean hands on the high-brow aspect of beautiful infrastructure. That part is politically predictable.
That said, CTH can see the outline a deal where Democrats exchange votes for President Trump’s trade deals (specifically USMCA); to offset the Wall Street Republicans that will vote against the trade agreements; in return for provisions of an infrastructure deal that will benefit Pelosi/Schumer.
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Rule #1, the Club activity is predictable; they follow a well worn guide. Rule #2, when it appears they are changing strategies, refer back to Rule #1.
The Joe Biden/Stacey Abrams club ticket was visible months ago; discussed in March. Standing between the club’s pre-planned designs and the visibility therein is a great deal of smoke and mirrors.  Everything is done purposefully. Planning and strategy is all they do.

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The media; and more importantly the manipulated polling to feed the media narrative; have been pushing the Biden ticket hard. Very hard. The club spends major cash; this is where the mega-donors and the Corinthian wing-back chairs of the professional consultants, political brokers, come in.  Political polling is a business.
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National Security Adviser John Bolton holds a press availability to discuss the crisis in Venezuela following a briefing with President Trump.  Mr. Bolton said  “we are seeing the Venezuelan people strive to get a government that they control, not an authoritarian military regime”, adding “this is a very serious situation. The president has been monitoring it minute-by-minute throughout the day.”
Bolton emphasized “this is clearly not a coup. We recognize Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela.” He called it a “potentially dispositive moment” for Venezuelans to regain their freedom”, later referencing “a very delicate moment.” If this effort fails, they will sink into a dictatorship from which there are very few possible alternatives.”

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U.S. Secretary of State calls it “Operation Liberty” and supports opposition leader Juan Guaido. The Venezuela regime of Nicolas Maduro calls it a “coup attempt” and has help from Russia and Cuba to put down the uprising.  The regular Venezuelan military, and the ordinary people of the country appear to be caught in the middle.

Perhaps this is the last effort of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to shift the balance of power. The White House is supportive but cautious. Everything is tenuous as Venezuela appears to be on the brink of extreme political violence.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Tuesday made his strongest call yet to the military to help him oust President Nicolas Maduro, and violence broke out at anti-government protests as the country hit a new crisis point after years of political and economic chaos.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Mark Steven Domingo, 26, a veteran and recent convert to Islam, was arrested by federal authorities for his plan to detonate an improvised explosive device in/around San Fernando Valley California.  His targets for the attack included “Jews, police officers, churches, and a military facility.”  Thankfully the FBI intercepted him.
(From the DOJ) LOS ANGELES – A San Fernando Valley man was arrested Friday night after he received what he thought was a live bomb, but in fact was an inert explosive device that was delivered by an undercover law enforcement officer as part of an investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Mark Steven Domingo, 26, of Reseda, a former U.S. Army infantryman with combat experience in Afghanistan, faces federal charges in a terrorist plot in which he planned to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED) for the purpose of causing mass casualties.

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