Holy Cats… things are moving exponentially fast now…
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is now disclosing the nature of his resignation, and why he left Lebanon to spend time in Saudi Arabia.  It appears the Saudi and regional partners provided evidence that Iran and Hezbollah were planning an assassination targeting Hariri and his family.
Saad Hariri traveled to France for a meeting with French President Emanuel Macron.
Yesterday President Trump and President Macron had a phone conversation where they agreed on the need for continued cooperation and partnership with regional allies, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf States and coalition members to confront the destabilizing efforts of Iran and Hezbollah:

JEDDAH: US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday agreed on the need to partner with allies to respond to the destabilization activities of Hezbollah and Iran in the region.
The two leaders’ telephone conversation came in the aftermath of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation, which he announced during a recent trip to Saudi Arabia.
“Both presidents agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hizballah’s and Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region,” a statement from the White House said.

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Everyone is aware how apoplectic the Democrat loonery became when their best laid schemes to put Hillary in the White House ran into the reality of electoral Cold Anger carried by the deplorables.  Lots has been written about the gobsmacked reaction to the election, yet few have outlined the underlying policy reasons for the scope of the panic.
The desperate need for post-election control showcased the lefts’ reaction to fear.  However, it is only by looking at the policy groundwork they lost where a political observer can evaluate the scale of defeat.  Democrats created a continuum pathway that is now entirely controlled by the very nemesis of their controlling belief system.

In a largely under-reported story last week, President Trump installed OMB Director Mick Mulvaney as interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the CFPB.
The CFPB was created to establish power and control over almost every financial transaction in the United States.  But it is only when you review how Elizabeth Warren and the control agents structured the czar head of the CFPB that you recognize the scale of the intent carried within the construct.
When Senator Elizabeth Warren and crew set up the Director of the CFPB, in the aftermath of the Dodd-Frank Act, they made it so that the appointed director can only be fired for cause by the President.
This design was so the Director could operate outside the control of congress and outside the control of the White House.  In essence the CFPB director position was created to work above the reach of any oversight; almost like a tenured position no-one could ever remove.
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On Friday U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spearheaded a ministerial session of officials and leaders from within Africa to discuss ongoing issues and policy priorities from the perspective of the U.S.   [Speech Video and Transcript]

[Transcript] SECRETARY TILLERSON: Thank you. And good morning, everyone. It really is my honor to welcome all of you to the State Department this morning.
And we are grateful to see so many friends and partners here in the United States, and appreciate you traveling to be with us today for this event.
I have been very eager to host this ministerial meeting to bring together leaders from the continent to address our shared goals and, as I was sharing with the chairman of the African Union yesterday evening, I have not had the chance during my time as Secretary of State to travel to the continent.
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Eric Trump appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to review the first year of President Trump’s administration and discuss current events:

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Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney appears on CNN today with Jake Tapper to discuss the Tax Reform Bill and the current Senate version.
Tapper has the ‘Media Matters’ talking points cued up; however, unfortunately for Tapper, Mulvaney knows the intricacies and swats the annoying gnatter chat. Actually, in the $30k example provided by Tapper – Mulvaney went easy on him.

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Interestingly, Mick Mulvaney was also appointed to be the interim head of the CFPB this week; which has ramifications for left-wing economic control loons far greater than the tax reform package.  [More on that later.]  OMB Director Mick Mulvaney also appeared on CBS with John Dickerson (below):
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UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were arrested in China for shoplifting while attending basketball tournament. UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said the players stole from three stores in China including sunglasses stolen by LiAngelo Ball from a Louis Vitton store.
During a state visit to China President Donald Trump requested leniency and consideration from President Xi Jinping. The players were released as President Trump returned from Asia.
Now, the ungrateful father of LiAngelo Ball, LeVar Ball, dismisses the efforts of President Trump:

“Who?” LaVar Ball told ESPN on Friday, when asked about Trump’s involvement in the matter. “What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.”

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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 †

The Argentine military submarine ARA San Juan has been missing for approximately three days.  Today there were reports of seven attempted transmissions from frequencies that appear to emanate from the sub.  However, they were only a few seconds in duration and no direct communication was possible.
The Argentine’s are asking for help.  The U.S. Navy has dispatched a P8-A Poseidon search aircraft and NASA has changed mission for a close proximity P-3 Orion aircraft that was already in the vicinity.

(CNN) The crew of a missing Argentine military submarine tried contacting naval bases seven times, Argentina’s Defense Ministry said. The calls were made on Saturday to different bases between 10:52 a.m. and 3:42 p.m. and ranged from four to 36 seconds long, the ministry said in a statement to CNN en Español. No communication connection was made.
The navy said the military is working with a US-based company that specializes in satellite communication to determine the location of the submarine, which has been missing for more than three days.

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It was massively unreported in 2014 when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took control of the Gaza Sinai border and began removing the Hamas Terror tunnels.  As we watched the local media reporting, it was almost unbelievable how western media were ignoring the events. (example)
A full one-third of all homes on the Gaza border with Egypt contained Hamas tunnels used to smuggle weapons.  One of the discovered tunnels was 1.5 miles long (link).  In order to deal with the scale of the issue, al-Sisi ordered the removal of houses to facilitate an almost mile-wide buffer zone.   During the effort massive tunnels were discovered that the terrorist network Hamas was using to smuggle weapons.

It was al-Sisi’s efforts on that border that eventually forced the terms of a 2014 ceasefire between Hamas/Palestinian Authority and Israel.  By forcing Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to speak with one voice President al-Sisi changed the paradigm of willful blindness supporting terrorism.
Since 2014/2015 the border area has been secured by Egypt and no weapons have been able to flow into Gaza.  The inability of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to fuel further terror created the space for the Palestinian Authority to extend it’s influence.
Eventually, absent their ability to fuel terrorist activity, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood diminished in influence; later granting the PA with unified governing authority.  The “big squeeze” paid off.
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