The New American: Trump was acquitted (Saturday) when only 57 senators voted to convict, well short of the two-thirds majority needed.
Oh, Trump did use the word “fight” numerous times prior to the Capitol mayhem, points out our Leftocracy. Well, I guess he should be shot.
Of course I don’t mean that. But that’s the point: We all use figurative language at times, including combat-oriented terminology and that which could be called, by an alien oblivious to our cultural norms, “violent.” But if that’s legally actionable, arrest every teen who’s ever told a sibling jokingly, “I’m gonna’ kill you!”
More to the point, we’ll have to arrest every Democrat, too. And Trump impeachment defense lawyer David Shoen made this point very effectively Friday, showing the Senate a video of Democrats not only copiously using the word “fight,” but in some instances actually encouraging violence.
The first example is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saying, “I don’t know why there aren’t uprisings all over the country; maybe there will be.” This is followed by Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) proclaiming that “there needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there’s unrest in our lives.” Note that the latter was uttered in the midst of the approximately 600 violent Democrat riots of the last year.
Then came senators Jon Tester (D-Mt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and others talking about the need to go “punch” Trump.” Other lowlights include:
Biden repeatedly using variations on, if we were back in high school, I’d take Trump “behind the gym and beat the h*ll out of him”;
Actor Johnny Depp asking, “When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?”;
Lincoln Project co-founder and political strategist Rick Wilson saying, “They’re still going to have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump”;
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo stating, “Show me where it says protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful” (pro tip: in the Constitution);
Representative Maxine Waters rabble rousing as she tells a crowd to confront Trump officials in public. “Push back on them!” she said angrily. “And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere!”; and
Singer Madonna saying, “I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. ”There’s far more in the video, too, which is below.
The Biden Administration may not yet have a clear stand on its relationship with its “closest ally in the Middle East” – or if it does, the Oval Office may not have shared that information with its media folks.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki squirmed and squiggled on Friday to answer what appeared to be a relatively softball toss – but apparently, to her at least, turned out not to be.
The reporter asked: “Can you please just give us just a broad sense of what the administration is trying to achieve in the Middle East?
“For example, does the Biden administration “still consider the Saudis and the Israelis important allies?”
Pretty tame, right? The Saudis have been allies for DECADES. The US has military equipment parked there and has been helping Riyadh protect its airport from the Iranian-back Houthi terrorists. As for the Israelis, aren’t they the folks with whom America has an “unbreakable bond” ?
CNBC: Brent crude was up 66 cents, or 1.1%, at $63.09 a barrel at 0004 GMT, after climbing to a session high of $63.44, the highest since Jan. 22, 2020.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 86 cents, or 1.5%, to $60.33 a barrel.
Oil prices rose to their highest in more than a year on Monday, after a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it intercepted an explosive-laden drone fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi group, raising fears of fresh Middle East tensions.
Hopes for more U.S. stimulus and an easing of coronavirus lockdowns helped support the rally, after prices gained around 5% last week. Read More
(U.S. financial markets are closedon Monday in observance ofPresidents Day)
LifeSite News: The United States Senate voted 57 to 43 to convict former President Donald Trump of “inciting” the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, a simple majority but too few to meet the Constitution’s threshold for barring a president from seeking office in the future.
Protesters broke into the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6 after the “March to Save America” rally, where Trump said supporters would march “over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” where “we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen-and-women” who were meeting to formally object to the certification of electoral votes from a handful of states.
Viral videos showed protesters engaging in physical altercations with police, pushing against security barricades, breaking through a window, trespassing in congressional offices, and climbing on walls, causing the vote certification to be suspended and lawmakers to be evacuated from the chambers. While many were let in by police and simply walked the halls after the initial breach, there were several deaths, including a protester shot by police, a protester trampled by other protesters, a police officer whose cause of death remains unknown, and others due to unspecified “medical emergencies.”
PJ Media: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have an International Emmy to his name. He may have a book deal and he may be the scion of a major political dynasty, and he may have had the adoring press only a major Democrat or movie star can truly take for granted.
He may also be facing impeachment and jail time.
Friday, the head of the state Republican Party called for Gov. Cuomo to be prosecuted for a raft of actual crimes, and to be impeached and removed from office.
The demand comes after a story in the New York Post, showing a recording of a private meeting between Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and several Democrats in the New York State Legislature. In the recording, DeRosa purportedly told Democratic leaders “we froze” when it came to providing them additional requested nursing home data over concerns brought about by comments from then-President Donald Trump.
ABC News: The Hamas militant group ruling Gaza has replenished its arsenal since a 2014 war with Israel and now has a vast collection of rockets, guided missiles and drones, a senior Israeli military commander said Thursday.
According to Israeli military estimates, Hamas has some 7,000 rockets, as well as 300 anti-tank and 100 anti-aircraft missiles, the commander said.
It also has acquired dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles and has an army of some 30,000 militants, including 400 naval commandos who have received sophisticated training and equipment to carry out seaborne operations, the commander added. He spoke on condition of anonymity under military guidelines.
The smaller Islamic Jihad group, which often acts independently of Hamas, boasts a similar arsenal, the commander said. That includes 6,000 rockets, dozens of drones and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and some 400 naval forces. Read More
PJ Media: On Friday, lawyers for former President Donald Trump presented a few hard-hitting videos contrasting Trump’s calls for peace and law and order with Democrats encouraging harassment and coddling Black Lives Matter and antifa rioters over the last summer.
“To claim that the president in any way wished, desired, or encouraged lawless or violent behavior is a preposterous and monstrous lie,” Michael Van Der Veen, one of Trump’s lawyers, argued.
Trump’s lawyers were not arguing that Democrats should be expelled from Congress, but rather that intense partisan language does not necessarily constitute “incitement.”
“For those who would say that those quotes must be understood in their greater context, i.e., that they were clearly meant to be political speech- we say exactly. The truth is that both … Mr. Trump’s speech and these comments are acceptable political free speech; it is the double standard at play here that is entirely unacceptable, and Mr. Trump [asks] that the Senate reject it in no uncertain terms,” Trump’s lawyers argued in their defense brief. Read More
Oil Price: Just days after one of our favorite macro strategists, Dylan Grice, predicted that the stage is set for “a bull market in oil“, and JPM quant Marko Kolanovic said a new oil and commodity supercycle has begun, oil is starting to get the message, and has jumped more than 2% on Friday…
… rising to the highest intraday level in more than a year as output curbs from top producers whittle down global inventories, while JPM predicts that an epic systematic short squeeze is about to be unleashed next month in oil (we discussed this earlier this week, and will touch on this shortly again).
Oil was set for a second straight weekly gain, as OPEC+ continued to slash output and the group expects a stronger second half of the year, which to Bloomberg indicates “that global inventories will face sharp declines unless the cartel boosts supply.” Indeed, Iraq said OPEC+ is unlikely to change its output policy at a March meeting.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., crude stockpiles are at the lowest in nearly a year. Read More
LifeSite News: The most serious and specific claim related to the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, that he delayed sending military assistance to Capitol Hill Police overwhelmed by the rioters who stormed Congress on January 6, is simply not true, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows argued Sunday.
