Newt Gingrich: Trump and Iran -- Leading from the front

There could be no greater contrast in leadership on the world stage and in interpreting reality than President Obama’s “lead from behind” model in Iran versus President Trump’s “lead from the front” model.

When the Iranian people demonstrated against the nation’s dictatorship in 2009, President Obama was weak and quiet. He was so interested in getting a nuclear arms deal with the dictatorship that he did not want to irritate Iran’s leaders

In all fairness, the Obama administration was an accurate reflection of the dominant academic elite theory of the world. In the view of the left, appeasement is always better than confrontation, and working with dictatorships is always better than trying to replace them. In the elites’ world, the United States should be a weak, timid country that avoids irritating dictators and upsetting the “international order.”

President Trump represents a remarkably different view of reality. He believes weakness begets weakness. He believes bad regimes are bad. He believes leaders look for opportunities and move aggressively and courageously to advance their vision of the world. He believes America is big enough and strong enough to provide real leadership.

Where President Obama minimized public comment about the Iranian people taking on their dictatorship, President Trump has taken the opposite approach. He called out the Iranian regime’s treatment of its people before there were any demonstrations.

(hat tip Jacquerie): This column dances around the edges, that using our tax dollars Obama funded Islamic terror groups bent on our destruction. Thank our popularly elected senate for letting Obama get away with this.

It's about time the Obama Crime Syndicate and his Police State operations are investigated. We are beginning to get a better picture of how sinister the Obama operation really is (it's still functioning via his non-profit OFA ut of his DC residence). The genesis of the Democrats' "win at any cost" odious Russia misinformation campaign is suddenly clearer.

BACKSTORY Through the last half of 2016, the Obama administration was desperately searching for evidence of some link between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.

<><> They went to great lengths, falsifying requests, twice seeking, then finally obtaining, a court-ordered FISA, that allowed them to spy on at least one Trump associate.

<><> We now know that Obama's NSA henchman, Susan "The Sifter" Rice, had an operation wherein raw NSA intelligence was sifted through for names of Trump associates, in hopes of uncovering dirt of some sort. These efforts came up dry. The Obama administration found no compromising information about Trump or any of his associates.

<><> Ever since the Trump Inauguration, the Democratic Party, especially its NY/DC press wing, has relentlessly pushed the Trump/Russia story. But that hasn’t stopped Democrat factotums in the press from talking about little else for the last three months.

<><>This is the kicker----- all along, the Democrats have known that their spying produced nothing.

This whole Obama/Comey/Mueller/Democrat spy apparat is almost unbelievably sordid. The relevant Congressional committees should investigate thoroughly, and criminal prosecutions should follow where laws have been broken.

The tumultuous events that unfolded after the election and reelection of Barack Obama bring to mind the words of author Mary Shelley when her character, Victor Frankenstein, says: “I live in daily fear lest the evil monster whom I created should perpetrate some new wickedness.”

THE OBAMA YEARS---UNRELENTING SCANDAL (excerpt)
By Ari Lieberman

<><>Solyndra Scandal – The Obama administration provided ths failing solar company with a $535 million stimulus-funded loan, courtesy of the American taxpayer. Taxpayer money kept pouring in despite the fact that the Office of Management and Budget warned that Solyndra was not a profitable or viable company. But it gets worse. The family foundation of billionaire George Kaiser, an Obama fundraiser, was one of Solyndra's main investors. Can you say quid pro quo?

<><> Veterans Affairs Scandal - Over 40 veterans needlessly died while waiting to be seen by doctors at a Phoenix VA facility. Another 1,700 veterans were forced to wait for months before being seen by medical personnel. An audit of the VA confirmed that VA officials systematically altered records and appointment schedules in a deliberate and methodical VA scheme to manipulate data to meet fabricated goals.

<><> Operation Chokepoint Scandal – The Obama DOJ utilized the power of big government to pressure banks to cease doing business with industries with which the administration had ideological differences. Gun manufacturers and gun stores were prime targets even though they had not violated any laws. Eventually, the FDIC admitted to misconduct, bowed to pressure and significantly curtailed the discriminatory regulations after affected businesses threatened legal action.

<><> Gibson Guitar Scandal – Armed federal agents executed four search warrants on Gibson Guitar Corp. facilities in Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., seizing guitars, electronic files and other inventory including wood that was purchased in India and Madagascar. The DOJ alleged that Gibson’s had violated an obscure law known as the Lacey Act which made it a crime to violate the environmental laws of another country. Gibson produced an affidavit from government officials in Madagascar stating that Gibson had violated none of that nation’s laws. Gibson also alleged that the DOJ was misinterpreting Indian law. Gibson’s CEO was a major donor to the GOP but his competitors, who purchased the same materials and were not GOP donors, were untouched by Obama’s DOJ. As part of a settlement to drop criminal charges, Gibson was required to pay a $250,000 fine and was required to donate $50,000 to an environmental group. Gibson was eventually able to retrieve its inventory from the clutches of the DOJ.

<><> Fast & Furious Scandal – A scheme concocted by the Obama administration that went horribly wrong. The administration lost track of some 1,400 guns that made their way into the stream of criminal enterprises including those of the Mexican drug cartels. Two of the guns were found at the scene of the shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Attorney General Eric Holder was cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to the scandal. It was the first time Congress had taken such an action against a sitting Cabinet official. Seventeen Democrats joined Republicans in voting in favor of the criminal contempt resolution.

<><> Eric Holder's DOJ-James Rosen Scandal – FOX News journalist, James Rosen became the target of Obama’s DOJ in yet another example of extreme government overreaching. Believing that Rosen was responsible for a leak concerning a policy decision on North Korea, AG Eric Holder sought a subpoena for Rosen’s emails claiming that Rosen had broken the law “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator.” The government’s affidavit also accused Rosen of possibly violating the Espionage Act. It appeared that the DOJ was acting like the East German Stasi in chasing fictitious enemies of the state. In a rare instance of bipartisanship, Holder was roundly criticized from all sides of the political spectrum and Holder himself was later forced to acknowledge that he regretted the episode.

<><>Gruber-Obamacare Scandal – To establish Obamacare’s validity, Obama hired economist and academic Jonathan Gruber to give the plan his seal of approval. Gruber was later caught on video and audio making several disparaging remarks about Americans, stating that Obamacare’s passage rested on the “stupidity of the American voter.” Democrats later tried to distance themselves from him and tried to minimize his role in formulating Obamacare but there was no debating that he was one of Obamacare’s chief architects and was paid nearly $400,000 for his services. Gruber confirmed what most of us already knew; that Obamacare passed as a result of a concerted effort by the administration to deceive the American people.

<><> Skolkovo Scandal – While serving as secretary of state, Clinton oversaw a program meant to “reset” relations with Moscow and improve ties. The program centered around the Russian city of Skolkovo near Moscow with the stated aim of “identifying areas of cooperation and pursuing joint projects and actions that strengthen strategic stability, international security, economic well-being, and the development of ties between the American and Russian people.”

Hillary's State Dept program transformed Skolkovo into a technology hub akin to a Silicon Valley. Sensitive American technology was transferred to the Russians, substantially enhancing their military and cyber capabilities. The US Army and the FBI concluded that Russia had exploited the program for military applications. The FBI warned American technology companies doing business in Skolkovo that the Skolkovo project was a means by which the Russians would acquire dual use technologies and apply them for military ends. According to investigative author Peter Schweizer, Russian and American companies and individuals involved in the Skolkovo fiasco “had major financial ties to the Clintons.”

Moreover, during the Russian reset period, those entities provided the Clintons with “tens of millions of dollars” in the form of “contributions to the Clinton Foundation, paid for speeches by Bill Clinton, or investments in small start-up companies with deep Clinton ties.”

Benghazi Scandal - U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed during an attack on the American consulate office. The Obama administration initially denied that the attack was terror related and instead peddled the now false and discredited narrative that it was triggered by a reaction to an anti-Muslim film. However, emails later confirmed that administration officials were well aware that it was a well-orchestrated, premeditated attack planned by Islamist terrorists and had nothing to do with an internet film. In addition, a congressional committee found that the delay in deploying military assets to the theater, which it attributed to needless bureaucratic bungling, almost certainly cost those men their lives. (hat tip frontpagemagazine.com)

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