'Exceptional Americans' - Stories You've Never Heard In A Riveting New Book

Ever hear of Ann Hutchinson or Benjamin Eddes? How about Francis and Elizabeth Lewis? Or Anthony Wayne? Or Leland Stanford?

These are just some of the men and women you meet in Don Surber's new book, and had they not existed America would have been a very different country, if it had even existed at all.

The stories themselves, as Surber points out in his preface, are simply lessons in American exceptionalism, and at a time when we're told that it somehow doesn't matter anymore a book like this is a much needed reminder that it very much does.

The lives of the people Surber profiles are examples of why two presidents whom were students of America's history, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan both referred to America as the last, best hope of mankind. Reading it is a reminder of whom we are as a nation.

The book itself is a fine read. Surber sketches his subjects with an historian's eye for detail while his years of experience as a newspaper writer keeps the book from being bogged down with unnecessary minutia.

Harry Truman once said that they only thing that's new is the history you don't know. There's a lot of that history in the pages of 'Exceptional Americans.'

$14.99 at Create Space or Amazon.

Forum: If The Clintons Committed A Felony, What Should Be Done?

Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: Assuming that they are brought to trial and convicted, If The Clintons Committed A Felony, What Should Be Done?

 GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : Not sure how to answer this - so I hit up a certain cat over at Daily Conservative...

The only reason that a public servant would use a private email server hosted out of her house would be to hide her emails from the public she serves.

That’s not just unethical… it’s illegal. And it is the same crime that General Petraeus just pleaded guilty to.

You see, in Petraeus’ case, he pleaded guilty to storing classified materials on his unsecure, private email account. The law requires that classified documents be stored on secure government servers to protect against hackers.

The State Department is saying that Hillary Clinton ONLY used her private email account while she was Secretary.

Which means one of two things:

Either she never received any classified material by email while she was Secretary of State (extremely unlikely) or she committed hundreds, if not thousands, of misdemeanors and felonies by keeping those documents unsecure on her private server.

Those are the only two options. Either Mrs. Clinton wasn’t doing her job, or she was committing crimes on a daily basis.

The penalty for storing classified emails on a non-government, unsecure email server is up to a year in prison and $100,000 fine PER DOCUMENT. This isn’t a felony, but it is a misdemeanor that carries prison time.

The other law that she might have broken is the statute prohibiting the destroying/concealing of government documents. The punishment for knowingly concealing or destroying government email records is 3 years in prison PER OFFENSE.

This second violation is a FELONY and would disqualify her from holding public office!

Did Hillary Clinton illegally kept classified materials on her private email server? It would be inconceivable for the Secretary of State – possessing the highest security clearance – would not discuss anything classified over email.

Laura Rambeau Lee, Right Reason: Considering the most recent allegations against Hillary Clinton, the most damning, and, if proven, felonious actions committed would be:

1. Taking money from foreign governments

2. Deleting over 30,000 emails AFTER they had been subpoenaed by Congress,

3. Improper disclosure on tax returns of the receipt of donations to the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments.

On the first count, Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution states “… no Person holding any office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any Present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” The acceptance of money while serving as Secretary of State, regardless of whether these were payments for special favors, violates the Constitution and U. S. law. If Clinton was still in office, this would be an impeachable offense.

On the second point, deleting over 30K emails after they had been subpoenaed is an obstruction of justice. It is a crime as per 18 U.S.C. §1519 to destroy a document to prevent it from being subpoenaed. According to an article in Thompson Reuters by Law Professor Ronald Rotunda, “Section 1519 imposes up to 20 years imprisonment for what commentators call, “anticipatory obstruction of justice.” A casual observer would find it hard to believe her explanation that they were all private emails and none of a public nature. Are we to believe we have NO trail of any of Clinton’s emails while she served as Secretary of State?

Thirdly, we have the announcement that the Clinton family’s charities will be reviewing and refiling five years of tax returns (and possibly more) after news agency Reuters found errors in how they reported donations from foreign governments. Could it be the IRS that takes down the Clinton Empire? Perhaps, if the rule of law was applied equally regardless of political connections or affiliations, but it doesn’t appear President Obama’s IRS and Department of Justice pay much attention to the rule of law unless it benefits his progressive agenda.

The Clinton’s continued arrogance and belief they are somehow above the law is not a sudden revelation. This attitude has existed since they began their political career. Clinton deflects these latest allegations as right wing conspiracy theories. She and her campaign team do not deny any of the charges. They confidently assert there is no smoking gun or evidence of wrongdoing. With these latest revelations, it appears there is enough “there there” for the Justice Department to launch an investigation. Sadly, I don’t hold out much hope for this happening under the current administration.

As to what should be done if they are found guilty of these felonies, the Clinton Foundation should be stripped of its charitable tax-exempt status retroactively back to its formation, its assets liquidated along with all of the Clintons’ properties and holdings, and all of the monies distributed to charities benefiting America’s veterans and their families. Bill and Hillary should be sentenced to live out the rest of their days in confinement together in a single cell in a federal prison with no possibility of parole. One can dream, can’t one?

JoshuaPundit : If I had to answer this question short and sweet, I could confine my response to one word - nothing. Because nothing will be done. They will not be tried at all, much less convicted.

Not that there isn't quite a bit they could be tried on. According to Mrs. Clinton's own admissions, she committed obstruction of justice by destroying material she had on a private server after congress had subpoenaed it. There's also the tacit admission that she and the Clinton Foundation committed what amounted to tax fraud and misuse of a 501C status by (a) failing to disclose the actual foreign sources of donations, AKA money laundering and (b) mixing together a number of those donations in what appears to be attempt to camouflage their origin with government grants they received, also known as commingling. While an ordinary American would be facing severe prosecution and forfeiture of assets for these crimes, the Clintons are being allowed to refile 5 years worth of taxes and 900 reports to 'fix their mistakes,' after which they will use money from the Foundation to pay, given their means,extremely modest penalties for misfiling.

And we haven't even gotten to the pay for play aspects of many these donations which saw speaking fees for President Clintom skyrocket, and came from countries and businessmen who had business that Secretary Clinton as head of State Department was able to intervene on their behalf, and appears to have done so in exchange for large donations to the Clinton Foundation. Or the fact that she apparently classified materials on her private server, another violation of federal law.

Keep in mind that since the Clintons own the Foundation, they were able to use these 'donations' to invest and pay 'expenses' and to park income from these high paid speaking fees tax free to be used as massive deductions on their other income.

The Clintons won't be tried for a number of reasons.

The GOP leadership in the Senate just signaled clearly that for all the promises and hot air expended, they have no intention whatsoever of challenging any of this president's agenda and that he will be allowed to get away with whatever he wants to. So there will be no special prosecutor or any other assistance from the Obama Department of Justice, which now controls that formerly independent office.

The Clintons are prominent Democrats and frankly, there are different legal standards for Democrats nowadays, especially prominent ones whom likely know where a few bodies are buried. So even in the unlikely event any of this sees a court of law, no federal prosecutors will attempt to do anything more than a wrist slap.

We no longer live in a country of laws when it comes to the Oligarchy, this class we have allowed to rule over us. Instead, the laws, when they're not simply ignored are frequently used as a means to obfuscate and deny justice rather than achieve it.

There is, however an interesting implication, a subtext to the current brouhaha over the Clintons. I'll explore that in a separate item over at my place shortly.

The Glittering Eye : What should happen under those circumstances? They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. What will happen? Nothing. Look at David Petraeus, for goodness sake.


The Independent Sentinel : The Clintons should be investigated and tried if there is evidence. They should be punished if they are guilty. It's pretty straight-forward to me. For their role in turning control of 20% of our uranium over to the Russians, if convicted I think they're traitors.

Wolf Howling : The Clintons are a sordid pair around whom the stench of scandal always hangs. Those of recent vintage are the multiple issues arising from Hillary's e-mail during her time as Secretary of State and her subsequent recent erasure of tens of thousands of those e-mails. Another brewing scandal lies with the Clinton Foundation, a cash machine for the Clintons that does not seem to be acting as a charity and indeed, may well be at the center of undue influence on government decisions while Hillary was Secretary of State.

There is a real question whether Hillary violated criminal laws concerning the handling of official e-mails and the transmission of classified information over non-government means of communication. There are related questions as to whether the State Dept. or Hillary herself have committed perjury in their responses to legal requests for information that would have required production of Hillary's personal e-mails in response. Indeed, the threats Hillary created to our national security by using a private e-mail address not reasonably secured far exceed those created by General Petraeus, who was recently prosecuted for divulging classified material. This is also an issue that ties directly into Behghazi. Because of the whitewash investigation of that incident, one that did not include either Hillary or top levels of the State Department, and because we have not had access to her e-mails, we still do not know what role Hillary played during and in the months leading up to the criminally reckless event that cost the lives of our Libyan Ambassador and several others. Hillary's refusal to hand over her e-mail server for expert analysis and her attempt to address these issues with a stage managed presser before foreign correspondents have all been just jaw dropping in their shamelessness.

Yet other issues surround the Clinton Foundation, Bill and Hill's personal money machine since Bill left office. It is a charitable foundation that has taken in well over half a billion dollars, yet fed out only 15% for actual charitable work, if it can be called that. It appears that much of the Foundation money that has been doled out has directly benefited rich friends of the Clintons, and it appears that numerous foreign sources have given money to the Clintons, and then soon after found themselves the beneficiaries of favorable U.S. government actions. The most notorious of these that we know about so far is the approval of a Russian's purchase of 20% of our nation's uranium mines, an approval signed off on by Hillary in the State Dept. after several large donations to the Clinton Foundation. Then there is the fact that the Foundation has, for years, failed to disclose its foreign donors, either in its tax returns or as part of legally required disclosures regarding potential conflicts of interest during Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State.

I doubt that there is any direct quid pro quo so in any of this so clear as to sustain a criminal conviction. But it stinks like a three day old manure pile in the hot sun. We will know far more about that in a few days, when Peter Schweizer's new book Clinton Cash is published.

So what should be done. In a society where rule of law dominates, Hillary would be face down on a table right now along with her sever, both getting a colonoscopy from FBI agents as part of an investigation similar to that of General Petraeus. The MSM seems unsure of what to do at this moment regarding Hillary, but what they aren't doing is pressing her at any point on the e-mail issue. As to the Clinton Foundation, the MSM appears to be holding its breath, waiting for Schweizer's book release, apparently afraid that even they won't be able to stem the tide.

If Hillary and the MSM have an option, they will see her skate right through until her coronation. We will never have answers about the Clinton Foundation or the many issues surrounding Hillary's e-mail. What we should have is a press treating the Clintons like Nixon and a DOJ that has already opened up investigations. Unfortunately we have neither at the moment, and there will be no investigations until 2017, if ever. Rule of law does not seem to matter to the left in this country, and so long as they hold the levers of power, it will atrophy in this nation.

Well, there you have it.

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

The Council Has Spoken!! Our Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

"Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence." - Thomas Jefferson

"The Tea Party represents stakeholders in the American system; people who were never involved in politics or thought they had to be, yet realized that political corruption and incompetence threatened not only their families, but the future of the nation itself." - Tammy Bruce


"Politics, n: [Poly “many” + tics “blood-sucking parasites”]-Ambrose Bierce

“All Animals Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others" -New law posted by the pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm

“If you hires you a thief, don't holler if they steals." -old black American saying in the Mississippi Delta


 


This week's winning essay,Joshuapundit's -How To Make Millions Off 'Public Service' -The Corrupt Clinton Cash Machine was occasioned by the furor surrounding the release of an important new book about the Clinton Foundation scandal. Here's a slice:

My old editor at Breitbart Peter Schweizer has a new book coming out May 5 entitled “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.”

My review copy will be arriving shortly, so I haven't read it yet. But the New York Times has, and it's good enough that even Pravda-on-the Hudson had to pay it grudging attention,admitting, "He writes mainly in the voice of a neutral journalist and meticulously documents his sources, including tax records and government documents, while leaving little doubt about his view of the Clintons."

That's no news to anyone who has read Peter's other books on crony capitalism, which target pigs at the trough in both parties.

The subject of this particular book is a detailed 186 page investigation of how the U.S State Department would grant favors to foreign entities in exchange for high-dollar speaking fees and donations paid directly to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

As I pointed out previously, foundations are one of the most egregious scams to hide and shelter income and avoid taxation for the super rich:

Now, foundations are interesting creatures. As Jane Fonda shows us , if the foundation has 501(c) status (and the Clinton Foundation certainly does), they can be used as a place to park income so it isn't taxed and can be used for various 'expenses'..or even invested, tax free. Why else do you think that most of the super-wealthy in America like the Clintons have such foundations?

Another thing about foundations that's interesting is that according to the IRS rules, they're allowed to pay salaries and 'administrative costs' (pretty much anything you can think of) with any portion of the donor money, something that has attracted a lot of prominent politicians. Ex-president Jimmy Carter's Peace Foundation, for example provides a very nice income for him courtesy of his anti-Israel Arab friends. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is another prime example of how 'foundations' , 'libraries' and 'centers' can be used as cash cows by their 'owners'.

And here's the kicker about Hillary's 'charitable donation'. Anything the wealthy 'donor' to such a foundation donates likewise becomes a deduction against whatever taxes they might owe the IRS. So if Hillary Rodham Clinton actually did 'donate' all that money to the Clinton Foundation, she got paid two ways..first by reducing her taxable income significantly to lower her taxes and second by acquiring a huge deduction to leverage against the taxes on her other income. And since her husband 'owns' the Clinton Foundation, the money stayed in the family.

Both The New York Times, of all people, and The New York Post had some disturbing things to say about where the huge sums of money the Clinton Foundation collects were spent...and the Clinton Foundation's infrequent audits.

The Clinton Foundation's mission statement ought to be a tipoff:

"We convene businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change."

Or as I would translate it, 'We actively pursue fundraising from governments, private enterprise and our well connected friends for various nebulous causes. Yeah, we got a few good things going on, a few programs we can point to, some conferences and some meetings so we have the slideshow as a marketing tool, but essentially, our real object is fundraising and covering our substantial expenses.'

Don't be surprised if some those 'expenses' end up being in kind, cash contributions to Hillary's 2016 campaign that not only evade McCain-Feingold but allow 'donors to get a nice tax deduction to a 501 C in the bargain. It's a dodge, just like the huge $14 million advance Democrat donor-owned Simon & Schuster ponied up for Hillary's failed book. Hillary will pocket the cash and Sumner Redstone and his friends will recoup it courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers after they deduct it as a loss against their other income.


More at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was David French in the National Review with a gripping piece, Wisconsin’s Shame: ‘I Thought It Was a Home Invasion submitted by Nice Deb .

This is the story of Wisconsin's 'John Doe' investigations where a rabidly Democrat prosecutor found a judge to sign off on targeting what the Left in Wisconsin saw as their political enemies and their families using methods more resembling the Gestapo or the NKVD than what we would think of as a free country. This story has to be read to be believed, and the court case that resulted is now headed to the Supreme Court.

Here are this week’s full results. Only Ask Marion was unable to vote this week but was not subject to the normal 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 2/3 votes!–Joshuapundit-How To Make Millions Off 'Public Service' -The Corrupt Clinton Cash Machine


• Second place with 2 1/3 votes –The Noisy Room – ISIS In Mexico, Means ISIS Is Here In The United States


• Third place with 1 1/3 votes –Bookworm Room – Yeah, yeah! I went AWOL again, but I still have energy to insult Hillary voters


• Fourth place with 1 vote –The Right Planet – Looking Under the Hood of an Article V Convention, Part I


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Nice Deb – Rush Limbaugh Names And Shames Perps In Wisconsin John Doe Scandal (Audio)


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –VA Right! - All Republican Hanover BOS Unlikely After November 2015 Election


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Rhymes With Right – What Is The Purpose Of Free Speech?


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –The Glittering Eye -The End Of The Dream


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –The Razor – What My Taxes Could Buy


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Don Surber – Thomas Jennings, invented dry cleaning


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – The Doolittle Raid


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Ask Marion – Earth Day 2015 – 45th Anniversary… Looking Back

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 3 1/3 votes! –David French/National Review - Wisconsin’s Shame: ‘I Thought It Was a Home Invasion submitted by Nice Deb


• Second place with 2 votes –Myron Magnet/City Journal – Free Speech In Peril submitted by The Glittering Eye


• Third place with 1 2/3 votes –Tablet/Lee Smith-Inside Obama’s Meeting With Jewish Leaders submitted by Bookworm Room


• Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes –According To Hoyt – Take Your Nose Off My Fist submitted by Rhymes with Right


• Fifth place with 1 vote –IHS Janes 360 – Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State's attempts at cutting Damascus-Homs highway would threaten Assad's control of Syria submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Patti Davis –John Hinckley submitted by The Razor


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Frontpage Mag –Obama Accomplishment: Africans Being Doused w/Gasoline and Set on Fire in Libya submitted by The Independent Sentinel


• Sixth place with 1/3 vote -Publius-Huldah's Blog – Article V submitted by The Right Planet


• Sixth place with 1/3 vote -wolf Howling – Wolf Bytes - The Hillary Follies submitted by The Watcher


• Sixth place with 1/3 vote - The Hollywood Reporter – The Introspective Roger Ailes (Interview) submitted by The Watcher


• Sixth place with 1/3 vote -Breitbart – Scott Walker Lays Out Pro American Worker Stance on Immigration submitted by Joshuapundit

See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

GOP Senate Informs Obama He Can Get Away With Whatever He Wants

All the bold talk last November about stopping Obama's agenda was revealed today as the sheer hot air (and I'm being polite) that it always was, at least from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the establishment GOP.

Today, he and some of his cronies crossed lines to confirm President Obama's choice for attorney general, Loretta Lynch.

Aside from her genuinely racialist and radical Leftist views, she lacks the one major qualification to be the top law enforcement officer in our government...respect for those laws themselves.

Aside from her vigorous antipathy to any kind of voter ID laws, she made it plain during her confirmation hearings in January that she sees no limit to presidential power when it comes to amnesty by executive order. In fact, she refused to refused to identify to any hypothetical limit to President Obama’s power to stop enforcing existing law via 'prosecutorial discretion' and executive orders.



Senator McConnell as majority leader could have reinstated the filibuster to stop her.

He could have refused to bring her nomination to the floor, just as former Democrat Majorty Leader Harry Reid did with so many things. He didn't.

Instead, he voted for Loretta Lynch's confirmation.

Yes, in the end, the vote was 56-43, with senators Ayotte, Cochran, Collins, Flake, Graham, Hatch, Johnson, Kirk, McConnell, and Portman as the GOP 'yes' votes.

In many ways, this was the ultimate surrender. With Loretta Lynch as Attorney General, there will be no real investigations of the many scandals surrounding the White House. There will never be any kind of special prosecutor named, since that's now all controlled through the Attorney General's office. There will continue to be divisive, racially biased interventions and prosecutions by the Justice Department at every opportunity.

There will be no challenge to this president's unlawful amnesty or to ObamaCare. In fact, the Republican Leadership just signaled to this president that he can literally get away with murder and treat them with the contempt they deserve.

I expect Loretta Lynch to be even more radical, partisan and oppressive then Eric Holder was.There is, after all, a reason why Obama wanted her in the job, and it wasn't her resume.

Our Weasel Of The Week!!

Once again, It's time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special tribute to evil, our 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were all contemptible,but the votes are in and this weeks' winner  triumphed over some stiff competition...the envelope please...

 
 Mikey Weinstein, Obama's Personal Czar To Eradicate Christianity In The Military!!

  JoshuaPundit : A lot of people have never heard of Michael 'Mikey' Weinstein. But he's an influential point man in one of President Barack Hussein Obama's most ambitious projects.

 Whether it's trying to force  combat troops to give up their VA benefits, using their coffins as a campaign  photo-op or illegally suppressing their votes, President Obama has shown from day one that he pretty much despises the American military, especially their  values. Since most Americans do honor our military, the president's solution is to change the nature of those whom serve to the degree possible. One way is to force as many men as possible out of the service, especially officers, and replace them with people more likely to see things this president's way, especially when it comes to politics. A second front, if you will, is to change the military's culture so that any semblance of Judeo-Christian expression and values are eliminated.

And that's where a militant atheist like Mikey comes in. You see, Mikey and his 'Military Religious Freedom Foundation' are raking in lots of taxpayers dollars to wage war on Christianity in the military as official Pentagon consultants.

And Mikey Weinstein hates Christians (whom he sees as Tea Party right wingers) and Christianity with a special hatred, as well as religious Jews. He actually blamed Christians for the Fort Hood terrorist attack, saying proselytizing by "fundamentalist Christians"created a hostile environment that caused jihadist Major Nidal Hasan to go on his rampage,

As a result, both retention and enlistments are way down among believing Christians, who have always been disproportionally represented among those who volunteer for military service. And because Weinstein has particularly targeted chaplains, whom he wants out of uniform and denied all military rank and benefits,  recruiting Christian chaplains whom feel they can no longer practice their faith  has become extraordinarily difficult.

 What this portends for the future of America's military is not pleasant to contemplate.

Now this award, the Golden Weasel actually celebrates certain human qualities. To be able to freely demonize and attack people you hate just because without fear of consequences, be recognized and rewarded for it by prog fascists and their tools and to make a handsome living doing it is, to be blunt about it, weasel heaven. Mikey Weinstein has achieved all three, from his posh offices to the Lotus he drives. The president is making sure the Pentagon has his back, and he can destroy the careers of far better men with a phone call. Like I said, he's in weasel heaven. He deserves this statuette, and it belongs on the shelf with all the other awards he's received for his war on Christians in the military.

So here's  your well-deserved award, Mr. Weinstein. As I understand, your efforts have significantly affected retention and recruitment, and polls show that morale in our military is at an all-time low. But hey, that's just a sign of  your success, right?

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Watcher's Council Nominations - On The Trail Edition

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:

This week, Seraphic Secret, The Pirate's Cove, Neo-Neocon and Doug Ross earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (mandatory, but of course it won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning.

Simple, no?

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have for you this week....

Council Submissions

• The Noisy Room – ISIS In Mexico, Means ISIS Is Here In The United States


• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – The Doolittle Raid


• Joshuapundit-How To Make Millions Off 'Public Service' -The Corrupt Clinton Cash Machine


• The Right Planet – Looking Under the Hood of an Article V Convention, Part I


• The Razor – What My Taxes Could Buy


• Don Surber – Thomas Jennings, invented dry cleaning


• Rhymes With Right – What Is The Purpose Of Free Speech?


• The Independent Sentinel – Obama’s Vision for Patriot’s Day Is of a Different Type of Revolution


• The Glittering Eye -The End Of The Dream


• VA Right! - All Republican Hanover BOS Unlikely After November 2015 Election


• Nice Deb – Rush Limbaugh Names And Shames Perps In Wisconsin John Doe Scandal (Audio)


• Bookworm Room – Yeah, yeah! I went AWOL again, but I still have energy to insult Hillary voters


• Ask Marion – Earth Day 2015 – 45th Anniversary… Looking Back

Honorable Mentions

• Seraphic Secret - Holocaust Memorial Day: Death March to Dachau


• Neo-Neocon - How Lois Lerner evaded charges


• The Pirate's Cove - Team Rubio: Amnesty Before Border Security


• Doug Ross - THIS IS A PICTURE OF JUDGE BARBARA KLUKA: Make Her Name a Household Word

Non-Council Submissions

• Pedro Gonzales/American Thinker –Which Republican presidential candidates support amnesty? submitted by The Noisy Room


• IHS Janes 360 – Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State's attempts at cutting Damascus-Homs highway would threaten Assad's control of Syria submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• Breitbart – Scott Walker Lays Out Pro American Worker Stance on Immigration submitted by Joshuapundit


• Publius-Huldah's Blog – Article V submitted by The Right Planet


• Patti Davis –John Hinckley submitted by The Razor


• The Other McCain – Mansplaining and Femsplaining submitted by Don Surber


• According To Hoyt – Take Your Nose Off My Fist submitted by Rhymes with Right


• Frontpage Mag –Obama Accomplishment: Africans Being Doused w/Gasoline and Set on Fire in Libya submitted by The Independent Sentinel


• Myron Magnet/City Journal – Free Speech In Peril submitted by The Glittering Eye


• FOX News – Muslim family says daughter left Alabama home to join ISIS submitted by VA Right!


• David French/National Review - Wisconsin’s Shame: ‘I Thought It Was a Home Invasion submitted by Nice Deb


• Tablet/Lee Smith-Inside Obama’s Meeting With Jewish Leaders submitted by Bookworm Room


• Convention of States Project -Sarah Palin: Debunking the myths of a Convention of States submitted by Ask Marion


• The Hollywood Reporter – The Introspective Roger Ailes (Interview) submitted by The Watcher


• wolf Howling – Wolf Bytes - The Hillary Follies submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!

Income Tax When It Began...And Today, In 2015 Dollars

Courtesy of Against Crony Capitalism.Org

Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees!!

It's time once again for the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we pick our choices to compete for the award of the famed Golden Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations!

Here are this weeks' nominees....

 
 Obama's FBI Director James Comey!

 The Noisy Room : My nomination for WOTW is FBI Director James Comey for smearing one of
America's remaining allies, Poland, over the Holocaust. Comey said in an
article penned earlier this week for the Washington Post: "In their
minds, the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland, and
Hungary, and so many, many other places didn’t do something evil. They
convinced themselves it was the right thing to do, the thing they had to
do." Poland says the passage wrongly implied it was complicit in the
Nazi genocide of European Jews.

Poland has summoned the United States' ambassador in Warsaw over the
article and is demanding a public apology.

From Yahoo! News:

Poland's ambassador to the United States said in a statement the
remarks were "unacceptable", adding that he had sent a letter to
Comey "protesting the falsification of history, especially ...
accusing Poles of perpetuating crimes which not only they did not
commit, but which they themselves were victims of."

Shortly after Poland's announcement, U.S. Ambassador in Warsaw
Stephen Mull told reporters he would attend a meeting at the foreign
ministry on Sunday afternoon.

"Suggestions that Poland, or any other country apart from the Nazi
Germany was responsible for the Holocaust are wrong, harmful and
offensive," he added, speaking in Polish.

"I think that Comey's wider message was that there were many people
in the world that aided the Nazi criminals, or there were people who
did not respond sufficiently, ... also in the United States."

Fail. I believe the smear was intentional because Poland is insisting on
a missile shield for defense and has criticized the US for lack of
effort in supporting the Ukraine and NATO. Comey weasely and slyly
smeared Poland as being just as bad, just as murderous, just as evil as
the Nazis to undermine them on the world stage. This is the regard Obama
holds our allies in. For dissing another ally that will soon join our
other ex-allies, Comey should get a 24k gold weasel with his face
imprinted on it. Same diff.


 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey!!

 The Independent Sentinel : General Dempsey is my hands-down weasel of the week. Weasel isn't a strong enough word. He has decided to politicize his role and the Pentagon. To cover for Barack Obama, he described the imminent fall of Ramadi as not a real issue after so many military lost their lives or were wounded in Ramadi during the surge. Ramadi was the pivotal battle of the surge.

His comments this week are simply dishonest.

“The city itself, it’s not symbolic in any way. It’s not been declared, ya know, part of the caliphate on the one hand or central to Iraq. And the issue here is not brick and mortar. It’s about defeating ISIL, so, as I said, uh, oh, I’d much rather Ramadi not fall, but it won’t be the end of a campaign should it fall. We gotta get it back.”


 
 Mikey Weinstein, Obama's Personal Czar To Eradicate Christianity In The Military

 JoshuaPundit : A lot of people have never heard of Michael 'Mikey' Weinstein. But he's an influential point man in one of President Barack Hussein Obama's most ambitious projects.

 Whether it's trying to force  combat troops to give up their VA benefits, using their coffins as a campaign  photo-op or illegally suppressing their votes, President Obama has shown from day one that he pretty much despises the American military, especially their  values. Since most Americans do honor our military, the president's solution is to change the nature of those whom serve to the degree possible. One way is to force as many men as possible out of the service, especially officers, and replace them with people more likely to see things this president's way, especially when it comes to politics. A second front, if you will, is to change the military's culture so that any semblance of Judeo-Christian expression and values are eliminated.

And that's where a militant atheist like Mikey comes in. You see, Mikey and his 'Military Religious Freedom Foundation' are raking in lots of taxpayers dollars to wage war on Christianity in the military as official Pentagon consultants.

And Mikey Weinstein hates Christians (whom he sees as Tea Party right wingers) and Christianity with a special hatred, as well as religious Jews. He actually blamed Christians for the Fort Hood terrorist attack, saying proselytizing by "fundamentalist Christians"created a hostile environment that caused jihadist Major Nidal Hasan to go on his rampage,

As a result, both retention and enlistments are way down among believing Christians, who have always been disproportionally represented among those who volunteer for military service. And because Weinstein has particularly targeted chaplains, whom he wants out of uniform and denied all military rank and benefits,  recruiting Christian chaplains whom feel they can no longer practice their faith  has become extraordinarily difficult.

 What this portends for the future of America's military is not pleasant to contemplate.

Well, there it is. What a despicable group of  Weasels...ANY OF THEM COULD WIN! Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

How To Make Millions Off 'Public Service' -The Corrupt Clinton Cash Machine

 My old editor at Breitbart Peter Schweizer has a new book coming out May 5 entitled “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.”

My review copy will be arriving shortly, so I haven't read it yet. But the New York Times has, and it's good enough that even Pravda-on-the Hudson had to pay it grudging attention,admitting, "He writes mainly in the voice of a neutral journalist and meticulously documents his sources, including tax records and government documents, while leaving little doubt about his view of the Clintons."

That's no news to anyone who has read Peter's other books on crony capitalism, which target pigs at the trough in both parties.

The subject of this particular book is a detailed 186 page investigation of how the U.S State Department would grant favors to foreign entities in exchange for high-dollar speaking fees and donations paid directly to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

As I pointed out previously, foundations are one of the most egregious scams to hide and shelter income and avoid taxation for the super rich:

 Now, foundations are interesting creatures. As Jane Fonda shows us , if the foundation has 501(c) status (and the Clinton Foundation certainly does), they can be used as a place to park income so it isn't taxed and can be used for various 'expenses'..or even invested, tax free. Why else do you think that most of the super-wealthy in America like the Clintons have such foundations?

Another thing about foundations that's interesting is that according to the IRS rules, they're allowed to pay salaries and 'administrative costs' (pretty much anything you can think of) with any portion of the donor money, something that has attracted a lot of prominent politicians. Ex-president Jimmy Carter's Peace Foundation, for example provides a very nice income for him courtesy of his anti-Israel Arab friends. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is another prime example of how 'foundations' , 'libraries' and 'centers' can be used as cash cows by their 'owners'.

And here's the kicker about Hillary's 'charitable donation'. Anything the wealthy 'donor' to such a foundation donates likewise becomes a deduction against whatever taxes they might owe the IRS. So if Hillary Rodham Clinton actually did 'donate' all that money to the Clinton Foundation, she got paid two ways..first by reducing her taxable income significantly to lower her taxes and second by acquiring a huge deduction to leverage against the taxes on her other income. And since her husband 'owns' the Clinton Foundation, the money stayed in the family.

Both The New York Times, of all people, and The New York Post had some disturbing things to say about where the huge sums of money the Clinton Foundation collects were spent...and the Clinton Foundation's infrequent audits.

The Clinton Foundation's mission statement ought to be a tipoff:

"We convene businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change."

Or as I would translate it, 'We actively pursue fundraising from governments, private enterprise and our well connected friends for various nebulous causes. Yeah, we got a few good things going on, a few programs we can point to, some conferences and some meetings so we have the slideshow as a marketing tool, but essentially, our real object is fundraising and covering our substantial expenses.'

Don't be surprised if some those 'expenses' end up being in kind, cash contributions to Hillary's 2016 campaign that not only evade McCain-Feingold but allow 'donors to get a nice tax deduction to a 501 C in the bargain. It's a dodge, just like the huge $14 million advance Democrat donor-owned Simon & Schuster ponied up for Hillary's failed book. Hillary will pocket the cash and Sumner Redstone and his friends will recoup it courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers after they deduct it as a loss against their other income.

Among other countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman,and the UAE have given millions to the Clinton Foundation. Somehow, I doubt they did it without expecting something in return, which is probably the subject of some of those e-mails Mrs. Clinton doesn't want congress looking at. According to the Times:

His reporting largely focuses on payments made to Mr. Clinton for speeches, which increased while his wife served as secretary of state, writing that “of the 13 Clinton speeches that fetched $500,000 or more, only two occurred during the years his wife was not secretary of state.”

"In 2011, Mr. Clinton made $13.3 million in speaking fees for 54 speeches, the majority of which were made overseas, the author writes."

I don't know if Peter Schweizer's new book will mention it, but we also still don't know what happened to that $6 billion in State Department funds that mysteriously disappeared, mostly while Mrs. Clinton was in charge.

I'm certain the Clinton's opo squad and the ex-Clintonistas  in the media will do their best to spin this and cover it up. And I doubt that this by itself will derail her campaign. But the information is out there, and no one can say they weren't told.

You can pre-order the book here.

An Interesting Interview With The Head Of FOX News

The Hollywood Reporter has a fascinating interview with Roger Ailes, the head of FOX news, by far the number one cable news station. It's a very fair and balanced (no pun intended) portrait of a man who has become a legend in the news business. Here are a few bits:

We talk for nearly two hours about everything from Hillary Clinton ("Do you believe that the stuff on 30,000 emails that were destroyed after the prosecutor told [her] to keep it had things on it about yoga? I don't"), the 2016 presidential field in general ("I haven't heard anybody in election campaigns say things that would make me run out and vote for them yet"), exiled NBC News anchor Brian Williams ("I'd put Brian back, but I'd do it the right way"), fatherhood ("It made me a coward") and his legacy ("I don't give a rat's ass what the world thinks").
As I sit across from Ailes on this Wednesday morning in early April, his eyes dart reflexively to the wall of six televisions to the left of his desk; his networks, Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, and the competition, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Bloomberg. My eyes repeatedly wander to a framed photo on a shelf over his left shoulder. It is an iconic black-and-white photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. escorting children into their newly integrated school in Grenada, Miss., in 1966.

The picture is signed by Dr. Bernice King and Dr. Alveda King, King's daughter and niece, respectively, who attended in November the graduation ceremony for the Ailes Apprenticeship Program, a diversity education program he founded in 2004. In point of fact, though, Ailes actually knew Dr. King back in the 1960s — the two crossed paths occasionally when Ailes was a local TV producer in Philadelphia. It's a nugget of Ailes' 'biography that some might find surprising. [...}

As the country enters a presidential campaign season with dynastic implications, Ailes has a dilemma: How much oxygen does he give the fringe GOP candidates who could torment likely frontrunner Jeb Bush and potentially aid Hillary Clinton in the process. It's not a question he answers directly. "I just don't think I should weigh in on it, even in the press because people will think, 'Well, that's the way he's making the network go.' But it looks like Hillary is going to do whatever she wants," he says, "and the press is going to vote for her."

Asked if he thinks Ted Cruz, the intransigent Texas tea party candidate, has a chance of securing the GOP nomination, Ailes deflects: "Listen, we elected Warren G. Harding. Anybody has a chance. You don't know who you're going to be running against. If the other guy falls on his rear end, you could win." [...]

Ailes always has been in the trenches, and that hasn't changed. He's known to call the control room if he sees his anchors straying into territory over which he objects. "I say, 'Tell them to cut this shit out, but don't tell them I called because that will raise the level too high.' " He participates in the 8 a.m. executive meeting (usually by phone), makes all programming decisions and sometimes even negotiates directly with talent (Megyn Kelly, who is a lawyer, negotiates her own contracts directly with Ailes). [...]


Still, there have been changes at the network since the 2012 election, with Ailes clearly wooing a younger brand of conservative. (The network's median age — over 65 — is the oldest of the news networks, though Fox News still outrates the competition among the advertiser-coveted 25-to-54 demographic.) In 2013, he moved Kelly into the 9 p.m. slot occupied for more than a decade by conservative firebrand Sean Hannity. And he built Shepard Smith — an empathic reporter often suspected of being liberal — a $7 million studio and made him the network's on-call anchor throughout the evening.

"Nobody else has this — it's very expensive," says Smith of his show's News Deck, which is staffed by dozens of producers who monitor news feeds and social media for what amounts to a perpetual news factory. "We're paying a lot of people in case something happens. It's an enormous commitment, and nobody else is making it. But those things don't get talked about. What gets talked about is O'Reilly bloviating about something."

Fox News has 19 liberals on the payroll, though they're often dismissed as straw men. When I put this to Juan Williams, a veteran commentator who wrote a well-regarded biography of Thurgood Marshall, he laughs. "Can you get a witness? I'm a witness.

"Clearly the audience likes the kind of tilt that exists [at Fox News]," he says. "But they're not stupid. They want to hear a real, honest conversation. I am allowed to make substantial, critical arguments. And that never gets stepped on."

Williams, in fact, has known Ailes since 1984, when Williams was covering the White House for the Washington Post and Ailes was a campaign advisor for Ronald Reagan.

"Part of the struggle of being a skinny black kid with an afro covering the Reagan White House is that a lot of people [there] basically thought I was the enemy. Ailes' response to me was, 'You're an underdog in this situation, aren't you? I got your back; I'm going to help you.' And he became a key source for me."

Interestingly, while Fox News is the go-to channel for conservatives, about 37 percent of its audience holds "mixed" views, according to a 2014 Pew study, while 14 percent are "liberal" and 4 percent are "consistently liberal." But Ailes doesn't appear to be all that interested in bringing more of these people to his network. "I don't give a rat's ass," he says, breaking out his favorite rodent reference. "My job is to cover the news and do it accurately and fair. And we do. And voila! We have the largest number of independents watching television of any channel. Why is that? Not because we suck around and try to talk these people into watching our programming. We do programming that appeals to them, and so they tune to us. That's how you get them. You can't be chasing these little balkanized groups of people around. It's just nuts. Do your programming. It should be American. We're Americans. It's a culture. We should defend that culture, and we should reinforce that culture."

The full interview is here, and definitely worth a read.

Forum: Should Federal Laws On Marijuana Be Changed?

Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: Should Federal Laws On Marijuana Be Changed?

 GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : Certainly there is some kinda way to decriminalize weed without legalizing. As best understood, a first marijuana-possession offense is punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine of $1,000, or both. Considered as a serious misdemeanor.

Some reform ideas include that if a cat possess five or fewer grams, they would only be liable for 30 days in jail, a fine from $65 to $625, or both. It would also be classified as a simple misdemeanor.

Perhaps the best thing would be to confiscate the weed and give a ticket not unlike a traffic violation. Sans jail time (after all the courts are jammed up beyond repair with way more serious chiz than ppl having a laugh and getting all groovy).

If busted while operating a vehicle - the auto insurance corp in question could be notified granting higher rates for cats that dig smoking rides.

Bookworm Room : I hate marijuana. I hate the way it smells. And I hate the way it makes people boring and unambitious. Having said that, I don't think we've done much good treating it as a criminal enterprise over the past many decades. The result is that it's become a romantic outlaw drug that most young people think is harmless, when it should have been subject to the same degree of opprobrium as cigarettes.  After all, in both cases, people are sucking damaging carcinogens into their bodies.

If it were up to me, I'd subject it to the same legal restrictions as alcohol and cigarettes, and then I'd work hard to educate people about its myriad downsides. I'd also allow science to study carefully whether it really does have upsides in pain and disease management or whether those upsides are just part of the same romantic outlaw mythology. If marijuana really does have medicinal virtues, they should be encouraged as part of the range of choices available to people with health problems.

JoshuaPundit : It all depends on what your objective is. The fact is that for the most part prohibition doesn't really work unless people elect to to do it themselves. That's particularly true for marijuana, and there are some important reasons why.

First, pot is not only easy to obtain (easier than alcohol in a lot of places for those under a certain age), but it's an aphrodisiac.

I myself preferred other drugs for the same reason I never smoked cigarettes. I simply didn't like the feeling of smoke going into my lungs. But I frequently had marijuana around simply because a lot of  girls really liked it, especially as a prelude to other activities. Faced with prohibition versus hormones, which do you think people are going to choose? Not only that, but almost everybody thinks they're indestructible at eighteen, no? So much for any lectures about health considerations.

Second, selling narcotics is a business, and that includes the new legal 'medicinal ' weed too. In California, one of the few growing pieces of the economy is small 'clinics' where you can buy marijuana provided you have a prescription.They're almost as common as McDonald's.  L.A. Weekly has pages of ads from doctors offering the prescriptions. They'll prompt  their customers on what to say about their 'symptoms,'  generate a prescription and for a going rate of about $35, you have a pass to buy weed legally. And the state, city and county get nifty licensing fees, business taxes and sales taxes.So money talks, which is why changing Federal law is meaningless one way or the other.

Selling illegal narcotics is a big business too. And the same thing applies.

Hezbollah, Islamic State, the Taliban and Hamas all use the profits on illegal narcotics to fund their  operations, just like other criminal groups like the Mafia,  the Triads, the Mexican Cartels, The Union Corse, the Hell's Angels and other similar groups do. The profits from illegal narcotics also fund other lucrative activities like human trafficking, sex slavery, kidnapping, murder for hire and protection rackets as well as Islamist terrorism for the usual suspects. There's a good reason Hezbollah has its headquarters in  Lebanon's Bek'aa Valley, one of the prime drug growing regions in the world.

Some of you might recall what happened to Bill Clinton's Surgeon General Jocelyn Elder .  Like most of Clinton's appointees she was looney tunes, but she manged to get this one right,All she had to do was merely suggest we should at least look at the logistics of legalizing  all narcotics and providing them free in detox clinics versus the billions we were spending on the War on Drugs, the cost of crime  and the huge, swollen criminal justice and law enforcement  monolith we erected as a byproduct.

I guarantee you the phone calls went out that night, not from some guy in named Guido in a sharp suit with a pinky ring but from legitimate donors who got a call from someone who got a call from someone else whom  knew and owed Guido. The  Democrat-dominated congress erupted and got her slapped down hard in a matter of days.

Like I said, big business and it's all part of a chain.

Your friendly local dealer is usually part of the chain too. Unless he's dealing in very minute volumes and goes unnoticed, sooner or later  he gets a visit from the marketing reps of whomever owns the territory he's in. And after things are properly explained to him, he's allowed to continue operating provided he kicks a percentage back upstairs. That's also why most independent dealers also know exactly where to get whatever other adult refreshment you might want beyond weed.

But if the idea is reducing drug consumption, we see a way that self-prohibition could work, By educating young consumers in graphic detail on exactly what their guilty thrill is paying for and whatits supporting, complete with pictures, there's an even chance of cutting down the consumption of illegal drugs substantially...by making buying them uncool and socially unacceptable to those budding lil' social justice warriors.


The Glittering Eye :I'm of mixed minds. I think the advantages of legalization are being tremendously over-estimated and the downside risks even more tremendously under-estimated.

However, I also think that legalization is inevitable so we'd be better off devoting our energies to trying to figure out what the societal implications of legalization will be rather than to fighting it.

 Well, there you have it!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

The Council Has Spoken - Our Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." - President Ronald Reagan

"Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule — and both commonly succeed, and are right." - H.L. Mencken

""The last man nearly ruined this place, he didn't know what to do with it/If you think this country's bad off now,just wait 'til I get through with it!"-Groucho Marx as Rufus T. Firefly in "Duck Soup" 1933

"We have given you a republic - if you can keep it."
-Benjamin Franklin describing the new American government to his fellow citizen Mrs. Powel after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, 1787



 


This week's winning essay by a nose,Joshuapundit's -A Change In The Weather - Looking At The Current GOP Field is the first of two articles (the next one will examine the Democrats) on the current presidential aspirants, their strengths and weaknesses as I see them and how they stack up. I limited it to those whom gave either announced or whom are obviously gearing up to do so. Here's a slice:

It's early days, and a few people who will likely be running haven't formally announced yet. But I think it's worth looking at Republican contenders for the White House and giving you my initial impressions. I'll be looking at Democrats in a subsequent article.

Senator Ted Cruz was the first to announce, and of course caught an initial blast from the Left's media hacks. We certainly can't dignify them with the term 'journalist since so many of them are simply Leftist activists with access to a microphone or a byline. Expect them to ignore blatant violations of law by the likes of Mrs. Clinton while examining in great detail any occasion where one of the Republican candidates borrowed five bucks from someone ten years ago and forgot to pay it back.

In a sense though, Senator Cruz was either exhibiting great courage, a certain amount of naivete or a mixture of the two by choosing the venue and the speech he did for his announcement. And I say that as someone whom admires him a great deal. By speaking at a Christian college at a time when Christians are under vicious attack by the Left and indeed, by the Obama Administration, he showed exactly what a brave man of principle he is. And make no mistake, Ted Cruz is a man of principle.

He is also a dynamic speaker, scary smart and a superb debater who has argued cases before the Supreme Court.

The one false note he's hit so far didn't particularly jar me, but I think it might have bothered others...his emphasis in his speech on his profession of Christian faith.

Ronald Reagan too was a man of rock solid faith, but when he voiced it, he took great care to phrase it in ways that were deliberately inclusive. Ted Cruz did not. For many people, this was their first opportunity to actually hear and see Ted Cruz speak. He's already been painted by the usual suspects as a fanatic rather than the articulate and accomplished man he is, and I have no doubt that some of them felt somewhat uncomfortable, although Cruz's audience obviously went wild over it. I look on it as an unforced error (and by no means a major one) by someone not quite used to campaigning with an eye towards a nationwide audience. And it pales when you look at how dynamically he came across, with no podium and no teleprompter, moving all over the stage to a crowd of wildly cheering students.

Ted Cruz will only get better as he goes along.

It's interesting to compare Ted Cruz with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. While Ted Cruz says the right things and articulates them with great skill and aplomb, Scott Walker simply does things and talks about them in ordinary, everyman style. It's Governor Scott Walker who took on some of most vicious public employee unions in the country and won, Scott Walker who balanced Wisconsin's budget, lowered taxes, oversaw the creation of thousands of jobs,and passed a badly needed voter ID law. And he did it while facing two election campaigns and one recall that were financed by millions of out of state dollars as well as death threats aimed at him and his family. The Left wanted Scott Walker's head badly,even to the extent of judge shopping to try and embroil him in bogus charges of campaign financing misdeeds. But he defeated them because he inherently understood that these people need to be challenged and fought, not accommodated and appeased. And because his performance, not his rhetoric spoke for itself. That experience is going to help him a great deal in the current campaign, as evidenced by his embarrassing the media over a dollar sweater and his superb push back to President Barack Obama's condescending horse manure about 'boning up' on foreign policy vis a vis Iran.

Yeah, Scott Walker has already faced the full force of the Left and survived quite nicely, thanks.And he puts up with zero static from the Left. That combination could take him a long way.


Profiles of Senator Rand Paul and others at the link


In our non-Council category, the winner was The one and only Mark Steyn's wonderful Treason and Corruption submitted by The Noisy Room. All I'll say is that if you've never read Mark Steyn before, you're in for a treat.

Here are this week’s full results. Only The RightPlanet was unable tovote tis week, but was not subject to the 2/3 vote penalty for not voting :

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 2/3 votes!–A Change In The Weather - Looking At The Current GOP Field


• Second place with 2 1/3 votes –The Noisy Room – Obama Strangles the Monroe Doctrine and Embraces Latin Dictatorships, Communists and Fascists


• Third place with 2 votes –Don Surber – Chelsea Called Secret Service Pigs?


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –The Independent Sentinel – U.N.-Led EPA Condemns Congress for Interfering With Their Fiats


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –The Right Planet – RFRA Madness!


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Bookworm Room – Are members of our military the most romantic people in America?


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Ask Marion – GOP Has Great Hopefuls...Needs Strategy


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Glittering Eye -Our Lousy Tax System


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Nice Deb – Daaaang: Dems and Repubs Strike Deal to Ensure Congressional Role in Iran Deal


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –VA Right! - If Presidential Candidates were Hairstyles Hillary Would Be a Mullet


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –The Razor – Gay Married Couples Subject to the Marriage Penalty


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Rhymes With Right – Effort To Censor Pro-Military, Pro-American Film Nearly Succeeds At Michigan

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 1/3 votes! –Mark Steyn –Treason and Corruption submitted by The Noisy Room


• Second place with 2 votes –Powerline – The Crusades Haven't Been In The News Lately submitted by The Watcher


• Third place with 1 1/3 votes – Alan Caruba/Warning Signs – Only Fools Trust Obama or the Iranians submitted by The Right Planet


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –The National Review Editors – Marco Rubio Has the Right Ideas, and More submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –Andrew McCarthy – Obama’s Iran ‘Framework’ Is a Chimera submitted by Joshuapundit


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –Judicial Watch – SIS Camp a Few Miles from Texas, Mexican Authorities Confirmsubmitted byVA Right!


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –Austin Bay – Obama's Iran Understanding: The Verifiable Facts submitted by The Glittering Eye


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –Maureen Mullarkey/First Things – RFRA And My Wedding Ring submitted by Rhymes with Right


• Fifth place with 2/3 vote –Mitch Ginsburg/Times of Israel-How I learned to stop loving Obama and worry about the bomb submitted by Bookworm Room


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Andrew Malcolm – Rubio: 'We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people making them' submitted by Don Surber


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Brett Stephens/WSJ – Hillary and the Liberal Way of Lying submitted by The Watcher

See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?