The Times Can't Let Go, McConnell Goes Nuclear, More Left-Wing Extremism, NATO's Anniversary

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: The Times Can't Let Go
The New York Times just can't let go of the collusion delusion. It published a lengthy 1,400-word report last night desperately attempting to resuscitate the special council's probe of President Trump.

From the opening paragraph of the Times report, we learn that "some" on Mueller's team have "told associates" that Barr's summary left out what they believe was "more troubling" information. This comes to the Times from "government officials and others familiar with their simmering frustrations."

Essentially, the New York Times is reporting third party hearsay from deep state sources who are still mad that Mueller didn't find any collusion.

That's it, folks. There's nothing more to this report. The Times even admits that "it was not clear what findings" were "viewed as troubling for the president." In other words, they don't know anything.

But the Times story will add more fuel to the fringe conspiracy that Attorney General William Barr is now part of a cover-up, adding to Democrat demands that he immediately release the full Mueller report.

Thankfully, the Justice Department is pushing back, and the attorney general is resisting such hypocritical demands, which violate Justice Department regulations.

McConnell Goes Nuclear
Kudos to Senate Republicans and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell!

Yesterday, Leader McConnell deployed the so-called "nuclear option" to end the Democrats' weaponization of Senate rules.

McConnell changed the rules to limit debate on most nominees to two hours, instead of 30 hours. It is important to note that this change does not involve legislation. It applies only to certain nominees.

Changing the Senate's arcane filibuster rule is something I have been calling for ever since Trump was elected. Democrats made no secret of their plans to abuse the rules, and did they ever!

In the first two years of the Trump presidency, there were 128 filibusters of Trump nominees, compared to just 24 filibusters for the last three presidents. That's five times as many filibusters, and for no other reason than that Donald Trump nominated them.

Chuck Schumer was filibustering (demanding 30 hours of debate) virtually every nominee, even ones who were ultimately confirmed without opposition. Schumer's absurd delay tactic was part of the left's "resistance" to President Trump and his agenda.

By needlessly burning up time on the Senate's calendar, Schumer ran out the clock and successfully blocked the appointment of at least 270 Trump nominees -- judges, top department officials, ambassadors, etc. It also prevented the Senate from taking up important legislation.

I realize Senate procedure is not the most exciting topic. But this is a huge victory, my friends!

This means the president will finally get more key people in critical department positions, gaining more control over the federal bureaucracy.

It also means that more conservative Trump judges will be confirmed to the federal courts, perhaps the most important thing the president can do to defend religious liberty and restore the right to life.

More Left-wing Intolerance
Yesterday we told you about CNN's Christiane Amanpour suggesting that the FBI should have "shut down" so-called "hate speech" at Trump rallies, such as the "Lock her up" chant.

Well, here's the latest and far more dangerous demonstration of left-wing intolerance: Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, is demanding work records from former Fox News reporter Diana Falzone.

Now that the left has power, one of the first things it is doing is attacking the editorial decisions of Fox News.

Cummings wants to know why Fox reportedly spiked a story Falzone did about Stormy Daniels. Is that the most important thing for Cummings to be investigating? Is it really any of the government's business?

Trump has rightly criticized inaccurate reporting as "fake news." He has also objected to the left-wing bias of virtually every other major network. But he has not used his power to interfere in news decisions the way Cummings is.

The Trump White House has not seized phone records of the Associated Press as the Obama White House did. The Trump White House has not accused a reporter of being a criminal co-conspirator as the Obama White House did.

And contrary to all the Trump-hate in the media, honest reporters will tell you that this president is far more accommodating to the press than his predecessors.

But now that the left owns the House of Representatives, its totalitarian instincts are coming out, and the First Amendment is in the left's crosshairs.

If Cummings is so interested in investigating the media, I suggest he investigate the disgusting bias that led to the smearing of the Covington Catholic boys.

I suggest he investigate the "culture of leaks" from the deep state that led to endless false stories about Russian collusion.

Sadly, I guarantee Cummings will do none of those things. Instead, he's targeting Fox News, the one major network that is not all in on the left's anti-Trump jihad.

This is more evidence that the left is not interested in free speech or diversity of opinion. It demands conformity. It demands that everyone toe the party line on every issue.

NATO's 70th Anniversary
NATO leaders are in Washington this week, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the historic alliance. Yesterday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed a joint session of Congress. I suspect Stoltenberg's remarks surprised many in the chamber and no doubt disappointed many on the left.

Here's what he said:

"NATO is a strong alliance. But to remain a strong alliance, NATO must be a fair alliance. . . Freedom has enemies, and they need to be deterred. And if deterrence fails, we need to fight.

"Hitler could not have been stopped with peaceful protest. Stalin could not have been deterred with words. ISIS could not have been defeated with dialogue. . . Our desire for a peaceful world is simply not enough. . .

"NATO allies must spend more on defense. This has been the clear message from President Trump. And this message is having a real impact.

"After years of reducing defense budgets, all allies have stopped the cuts. . . Before they were cutting billions. Now they are adding billions. In just the last two years, European allies and Canada have spent an additional $41 billion on defense. By the end of next year, that figure will rise to $100 billion.

"This is making NATO stronger. . . This is good for Europe, and it is good for America."

Remember all the hysteria about how Trump was attacking our friends and alienating our allies? Remember how we were told over and over again that Trump was "soft on Russia"? It was all total nonsense.

In what world is demanding that our European allies step up and spend more on defense "soft on Russia"?

Now we have NATO's top official praising the president's leadership and telling Congress that Trump has been good for NATO, good for Europe and good for America. Hopefully some #NeverTrumpers were listening yesterday.
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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