At the White House today President Trump participated in the Diwali Ceremonial Lighting of the Diya, the Hindu festival of lights.  Anyone paying close attention to the Trump administration over the past two years will note the warmness expressed toward India and Hindu.
We should all pay close attention because you might not see it now, but this will have a direct impact in your household.  While the action by the President is an open and genuine expression of cultural respect and warmth, there is also a stunningly not subtle geopolitical aspect via President Trump’s background diplomacy/strategy to use India (remember: “indo-pacific) as leverage in the larger Red Dragon confrontation.
India is key part of Trump’s counter-strategy that deconstructs Chairman Xi’s One-Belt/One-Road approach toward global economic conquest. Keep watching:

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[Transcript] Roosevelt Room – 2:04 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: I am thrilled to be here for the celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, and I am honored to host this beautiful ceremony at the White House. Very, very special people.
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Last night there were several reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen might be replaced.  Those reports evolved today toward “exit likely but timing uncertain.”  The issue with removing Nielsen is her attachment to current Chief-of-Staff John Kelly; if Trump removes Nielsen, he would likely also have to replace General Kelly because they are essentially a professional pairing and have been for several years.

However, there’s a fantastic report now swirling that former ICE Director Tom Homan might be the lead candidate for Homeland Security Secretary.  That would be an excellent spot for Homan; with all of the current border issues now weighing on the larger national security dynamic.  Hopefully, this ends up being the switch-out.
If it is correct that Nielsen and Kelly are inseparable (most say yes), the issue would then become who would/could replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff.   My own irrelevant recommendation would be toward either current SBA Director Linda McMahon, or perhaps even bring back former Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert.

This is what I call representing the red-blooded patriotic American.  Plain-speak, direct truth; what every middle-American would say to in the same or similar circumstance. And ironically, this is also (almost verbatim) one of the reasons Donald Trump earned my support in 2015:

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The blood of Americans, provided the current freedom of France. Period.
Our inherent American DNA strain is liberty and freedom.  Within that core we achieve, drive, and transfer our united national essence into everything we do.  Even the wealth and economics of our nation are dependent on this cornerstone; it drives our entrepreneurial existence.  We know how to do things, create things, and think completely outside the box on new and innovative ideas for things.
Yes, we are exceptional like that.
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Constant Narcissism News (CNN) has filed a lawsuit against President Trump, Sarah Sanders, John Kelly, Bill Shine and the Secret Service over the White House decision to revoke the ‘hard pass’ of Narcissist News correspondent Jim Acosta.
If rejected, Acosta will likely ride his bicycle in slow circles at the end of the White House driveway while glaring in the windows….

WASHINGTON DC – CNN has filed a lawsuit against President Trump and several of his aides, seeking the immediate restoration of chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s access to the White House.
The lawsuit is a response to the White House’s suspension of Acosta’s press pass, known as a Secret Service “hard pass,” last week. The suit alleges that Acosta and CNN’s First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the ban.

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“Seek first to understand, then to be understood”.

1.) First, please READ THIS ENTIRE THREAD – and the full context of any discussion thread you wish to participate in. Skipping to the comments to express an opinion without reading the content of the discussion is not helpful.
Often, unfortunately very often, we find many of the points injected into comments are already outlined in the construct of the thread itself. -or- Questions asked while the answers are in the primary post.
2.) STAY ON TOPIC – please do not post something unrelated to the specific matter and content of the thread subject. There is a ALWAYS a daily open thread available for any subject you feel should get attention. Never place unrelated, “O/T”, or “Off Topic” comments on a thread unrelated to the topic. It is not ok to say: “sorry, O/T but”… or any iteration therein.
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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 †

Republican Senate Candidate Martha McSally has conceded the Arizona Senate Race to Democrat Krysten Sinema.   The Associated Press called the race, and McSally was quick with a twitter video conceding the race.

As much as this is a set-back in gaining a better majority in the Senate; and as much as we need every seat to protect the MAGA agenda; the side of me that is completely adverse to the relationships with decepticon republicans means I’m not terribly disappointed.
McSally would have been another McCain, Flake, Romney, Murkowski decepticon voice amid a Senate majority that loves the Corinthian pontificators.
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Back on July 22nd, the day after the July 21st surprise release of the Carter Page FISA Title-1 surveillance application, I wrote: “Oh My, This is Either A Sting -OR- The Most Corrupt U.S. Dept of Justice in History” (link).  The issue surrounded the seemingly transparent connection between the James Wolfe indictment and the FISA application.
Three months later, when James Wolfe accepted a single-count guilty plea offer around lying to federal investigators, the answer seemed obvious, at least to me.  Despite the evidence of leaking “top secret” classified documents within the Wolfe indictment DAG Rosenstein initially charged 3 counts of lying; and offered a lower guilty plea on one count.

Along with tenuous congressional testimony; a refusal to comply with document production; and a never-ending defense of the Mueller investigation; Rosenstein gives all appearances of an administrative state weasel.   However, there are solid and reasonable people who genuinely believe both Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller are doing a good, and fair, job for President Trump.
Jeff Carlson over at Marketswork does solid research and analysis.  His position on Rosenstein is far more favorable than mine; and in the interests of intellectual honesty, he could be correct [Here] and [here] and especially [Here], and  I could be entirely wrong.
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Well, this certainly adds context to the charges of purposeful incompetence applied toward notoriously corrupt Broward County Supervisor of Elections, Brenda Snipes.

According to a recent report from the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade County is halfway through the constitutionally required recount of votes.  Meanwhile, Broward County has not started; and there’s almost no-way for them to meet the court-ordered deadline of Thursday afternoon.

(Miami Herald) By noon on Monday, Miami-Dade managed to recount about half of the more than 800,000 votes cast in the 2018 election. Broward County had not yet started its state-mandated recount.
The stark contrast in pace from Florida’s two largest sources of ballots highlights the pressure facing Broward as it tries to meet a Thursday afternoon deadline to recount the more than 700,000 votes cast in the largely Democratic county.
As of noon Monday, Broward still had to calibrate its ballot-scanning machines and sort out the ballots needed to be counted, suggesting the actual recount may not start until later in the day or even Tuesday morning.  (read more)