Saturday, 30 January 2021

Daily Digest

Daily Digest

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Some Things Never Change

Posted: 30 Jan 2021 04:23 PM PST

(John Hinderaker)

The murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games was one of the most infuriating terrorist acts in modern history. But that isn’t how it is recalled by most Palestinians; rather, it is remembered fondly:

As the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Palestinian Authority made note to praise the efforts of the Black September terrorists who murdered nine Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich in 1972….

In a video shared by Fatah on the anniversary of the death of Black September commander Ali Hassan Salameh, the terrorist attack was classified as “a quality operation.”

January 22 was the anniversary of Salameh’s death–that is, the day when Mossad operatives caught up with him and wreaked vengeance for the Munich massacre. And Fatah, we are told, is the voice of “moderate” Palestinians.

“Salameh left a life story that turned him into a symbol of extraordinary ‎security activity,” Fatah said. “[This] was continued and is still being continued by his ‎students and those who love him, who view him as a beacon guiding ‎them on the path to liberation and return."

This is why history has left the Palestinians behind. Their support for terrorism has led to revulsion around the world, including most of the rest of the Arab world. And yet the Palestinians’ dedication to violence goes on, generation after generation, in part, at least, because hate is assiduously taught in their schools. It should be a warning to us, as our own schools increasingly preach hatred for America: what we teach our children matters.

The Weirdness of Biden’s Inauguration and More

Posted: 30 Jan 2021 09:23 AM PST

(John Hinderaker)

My favorite media appearances these days are on Australian television. Sky News has several excellent hosts, one of whom is Rowan Dean. I was on the air with Rowan Tuesday night, talking about Joe Biden’s inauguration, leaks from the White House about Biden’s mental capacity, the new administration’s blizzard of executive orders, and the Democrats’ second impeachment of Donald Trump. The segment is just six minutes long, but contains plenty that is of interest, I think:

Podcast: The 3WHH on the Cycles of American Historiography

Posted: 30 Jan 2021 09:10 AM PST

(Steven Hayward)

What episode offers you "spice that ramps up the palate, carried forward by the full body, hearty proof, and mouth-coating texture"? This edition of the Three Whisky Happy Hour, if the latest reviews of our choices in the Whisky Advocate are any indication. Alas, we remain unable to resolve our "peat-versus-sweet" single malt debate. In any case, we know the magazine is just a shill for Big Whisky, and we have some suggestions for a better periodical title.

Speaking of periodicals, Lucretia and I take aim at a lugubrious article in The New Republic (a former magazine) that reveals what's really behind the left's need to attack the 1776 Commission report, and by implication bolster the 1619 Project's wrecking crew. As listeners know, the 1619 Project caught a lot of flack from major "mainstream" liberal historians like Sean Wilentz and Gordon Wood, so what does the left need to do? Destroy liberal historians. That's what William Hogeland attempts in "Against the Consensus Approach to History."

As we go through the bad motivation and telling omissions from the article, we pivot to a new short course of sorts that we're calling "Jaffa 101," as Harry Jaffa had the number of leftists like Hogeland decades ago. We barely got started in this philosophy-mining project before our whisky glasses ran dry, so we'll continue with more next week.

Take in your lucubrations here, or down the road at that other saloon. And for a special challenge, go to your favorite podcast source and write a review in the style of The Whisky Advocate.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Clinesmith avoids the clink [with comment by Paul]

Posted: 30 Jan 2021 06:20 AM PST

(Scott Johnson)

The greatest political scandal in American history is going to be swept under the rug. That is the moral I extract from the story that former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to altering a key document supporting one of the government’s FISA renewal applications on the warrant taken out on Carter Page, who must be the cleanest man in the United States.

Among the most informative stories on yesterday’s sentencing hearing are Josh Gerstein’s “Ex-FBI lawyer spared prison for altering Trump-Russia probe email” (Politico) and Jerry Dunleavy’s “Ex-FBI lawyer gets probation for Carter Page FISA email deception in Durham investigation” (Washington Examiner). Coincidentally, the sentencing judge was James Boasberg.

Coincidentally, Judge Boasberg has doubled as a member of FISA court since 2014 and served as its presiding judge since January 1, 2020. Perfect! I take it that it is time to tear down the whole rotten system beginning with the FBI itself and moving on to FISA and the FISA court.

The editors of the Wall Street Journal take up the Boasberg factor in “A pass for Kevin Clinesmith.” This must be Kim Strassel speaking on behalf of the editors:

How can the American people take the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seriously when it doesn't do so itself? That's our view of Friday's sentencing of former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted to falsifying evidence submitted to the court for a warrant to spy on onetime Trump foreign-policy adviser Carter Page.

Federal Judge James Boasberg spared Mr. Clinesmith prison in favor of 12 months probation and 400 hours of community service. The judge said the evidence persuaded him that "Mr. Clinesmith likely believed that what he said about Mr. Page was true."

In their brief, prosecutors made clear how unlikely this is. The evidence of Mr. Clinesmith's animus toward Donald Trump is considerable. As for being an honest mistake, remember that Mr. Clinesmith changed an email confirming Mr. Page had been a CIA source to one that said the exact opposite, explicitly adding the words "not a source" before he forwarded it.

In their brief arguing for prison time, prosecutors contended that Mr. Clinesmith's behavior "struck at the very core" of the candor the FISA court "fundamentally relies on" and "allowed the FBI to conduct surveillance on a U.S. citizen based on a FISA application that the Department of Justice later acknowledged lacked probable cause." Prison time for Mr. Clinesmith, they said, was also necessary to "deter others from committing similar crimes."

Friday's sentencing will fuel cynicism about two-tiered justice. While George Papadopoulos served time in prison for making false statements to the FBI, and a federal judge refused to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn after the Justice Department said they had no basis, a top law enforcement official who abused his police powers while operating in secrecy escapes with probation.

Judge Boasberg should be especially outraged by Mr. Clinesmith's behavior because in 2020 he became the FISA court's presiding judge. With his lenient sentencing, Judge Boasberg has sent a message that FBI agents who deceive the court can get off with a slap on the wrist when they are caught.

Last night Jerry Dunleavy collected disaffected comments from Devin Nunes and others in “Devin Nunes rips ‘two-tiered system’ after ex-FBI lawyer dodges prison time for Carter Page email deception.” They speak for me.

PAUL ADDS: Judge Boasberg was appointed to the bench by Barack Obama whose interests Clinesmith was promoting through his criminality.

The quotable Cuomo

Posted: 30 Jan 2021 05:33 AM PST

(Scott Johnson)

The New York Post reports Governor Andrew Cuomo’s memorable response to “the damning state attorney general's report that revealed his administration downplayed the total number of nursing home residents killed by COVID-19” (video in tweet below).

Cuomo explained, "A third of all deaths in this nation are from nursing homes," Cuomo said. "New York state, we're only about 28 percent — only — but we're below the national average in number of deaths in nursing homes." He’s done a good job! "But who cares — 33 [percent], 29 [percent] — died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died."

The Post provides some useful background on Cuomo’s modus operandi:

Going back to a well from which he's frequently drawn, Cuomo tried to blame officials from the Trump administration, specifically citing former Health and Human Services spokesman Michael Caputo, whom the governor described as a protege of veteran Republican strategist Roger Stone.

Caputo's criticism of Cuomo — which included saying, "The deaths are on his hands" — actually began a month after The Post and other media began reporting on the impacts of the Health Department's since-rescinded, March 25 directive for nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients.

Throughout the pandemic, Cuomo has frequently dismissed criticism of his policies as politically motivated, and has publicly singled out The Post for his ire — even going so far as accusing the city's favorite tabloid of wanting "to kill all Democrats."

The Post has much more, all of it of interest.

I doubt this will make it into the next edition of Bartlett’s, but it’s a keeper.
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