Hillary Clinton's latest E-mails eruption -- Possibly the Worst, to date -- And its timing couldn't be worse, for Iowa

AP reported that the Obama Administration completely clamped down on twenty-two (22) super-secret E-mails in the latest "release" by the U.S. State Department

HILLARY CLINTON AND HER CAMPAIGN GO INTO FULL "DAMAGE CONTROL" MODE ---   HOWEVER,  HRC'S AND HER CAMPAIGN'S CURRENT DEMANDS THAT THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT  IMMEDIATELY RELEASE THE FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE'S TWENTY-TWO (22) "TOP SECRET" E-MAILS DEMONSTRATES HER COMPLETE LACK OF CONCERN FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF SECRET COMMUNICATIONS OR THIS COUNTRY'S ESPIONAGE LAWS 

According to a report in Newsmax  ---   "The Obama administration has confirmed for the first time that Hillary Clinton's home server contained closely guarded government secrets, censoring 22 emails that contained material requiring one of the highest levels of classification. The revelation came three days before Clinton competes in the Iowa presidential caucuses....    State Department officials also said the agency's Diplomatic Security and Intelligence and Research bureaus are investigating if any of the information was classified at the time of transmission, going to the heart of Clinton's defense of her email practices....  The department published its latest batch of emails from her time as secretary of state Friday evening....  ( See "'Top Secret' Info Found in Clinton Emails" by Newsmax Staff from AP feed,  1/30/16, Newsmax/   [http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Clinton-Emails/2016/01/29/id/711904/]).

OTHER NOTABLE FACTS MENTIONED BY THE AP

The Associated Press learned ahead of the State Department's Friday release that seven (7) "email chains"  would be withheld in full from any release to the public, because those "..chains" -- totalling twenty-two (22) E-mails  contained "top secret" information.  The E-mails covered thirty-seven (37) pages; and they included messages a key intelligence official recently said involved "special access programs" — highly restricted, super-classified material that could point to confidential sources or clandestine programs like drone strikes.

IN A LATER ARTICLE, NEWSMAX SHOWED THE HILLARY CAMP GOING INTO FULL DAMAGE CONTROL MODE

In what would be a sidebar story if Newsmax were done in a broadsheet format, the Republican-leaning news blog said the following:  "With the Iowa caucus just days away, Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign quickly went into damage-control mode over the State Department's decision to withhold 22 emails containing "top secret" information found in emails on the private server she used while secretary of state....   'I never emailed anything that was considered to be classified,'  Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, told Dubuque, Iowa ABC affiliate KCRG on Friday, maintaining that she wants the withheld emails to be released....   'I'd love for people to see what I did and I hope that will happen,' Clinton commented in the interview....   The Friday afternoon interview came as her campaign was issuing an official statement about the emails, in which it insists that she wants them released, not withheld by the State Department...."  (See  "Clinton Camp in Damage-Control Mode Over 'Top Secret' Emails" by By Sandy Fitzgerald, 1/30/16,  Newsmax/Home/ Headline [http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/hillary-clinton-damage-control/2016/01/30/id/711965/]).

HILLARY CLINTON & THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN PROVE THAT THEY DON'T CARE ONE WIT ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY AND/OR THE CLASSIFICATION OF SECRET COMMUNICATIONS

By calling on the U.S. State Department to immediately release all of her E-mails, including the ones classified as "TOP SECRET" --  Hillary Clinton, the presidential candidate, has again demonstrated for everybody to see that she does not pay any heed to the classification status of top secret material.  In fact, Hillary Clinton, along with her campaign, is telling the U.S. State Department  to violate the espionage laws of the United States by releasing the 22 E-mails indisputably NOW classified as "top secret";  and again she is doing it for her own convenience to benefit her faltering campaign.
Can there be any doubt that her current attitude is exactly the same as what made her  put this confidential material onto her non-secure private server in the first place  --  or  --  when she told her aides to strip out the security information on the headers of certain classified documents before sending them to her on her private E-mail system.

Capano takes on Mayor, CIty Council Speaker and local Dems over "Quality of Life" Crimes

IN PRESS RELEASE BOB CAPANO SAYS IT’S "TIME FOR CHOOSING" FOR LOCAL DEMOCRATS INCLUDING COUNCILMAN GENTILE AND OTHER DEMOCRATS OVER DE-CRIMINALIZING "QUALITY OF LIFE" CRIMES, WARRANT AMNESTY AND ENDING "BROKEN WINDOWS POLICING" 

From the rest of the Brooklyn GOP it's pretty much the sound of silence  (NOTE:  NOT THE SIMON  & GARFUNKEL SONG) 

According to the once and future Brooklyn GOP council candidate, Bob Capano  ---  “….  It is unfortunate that City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her far-left colleagues [on the New York City Council] have officially begun the process to de-criminalize quality of life offenses with the ‘Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2016’. This would erode the broken windows policies that have made us safer. I know that the vast majority of residents of Dyker Heights, Bay Ridge, and Bensonhurst do not support this effort by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. [and] Councilman Gentile needs to stand up to her on this issue….  The fact that the Council Speaker is also trying to erase open warrants for some offenders to clear a backlog is even more outrageous….”  [A copy of Bob Capano’s release follows this article below at *]

ISSUES FIRST RAISED BY CAPANO IN HIS EARLIER FACE BOOK EXCHANGE WITH LEADING DEMS

Capano’s earliest remarks on this issue were contained in a Face Book exchange with Democratic leader Kevin Peter Carroll.  [That exchange was then sent out to various Republicans and Democrats on Capano’s lists via E-mail]. 


Capano’s initial Face Book comment to Carroll asserted the following:   “I cannot believe that the City Council Speaker and Mayor have officially begun to introduce legislation to de-criminalize quality of life offenses and ‘broken windows’ policy. I wonder if Councilman Gentile and my local Bay Ridge Democrat friends like Kevin Peter Carroll will loudly oppose the Council Speaker and Mayor without reservations.”


About a half hour later, Democrat Kevin Peter Carroll responded with this:   “ I will tell you 1 thing I will not defend them when they are wrong. Unlike your defense of the national Republican Party when most of them vote against states hit by superstorm sandy, like you did last week by false claiming only some voted against support for the victims. FYI when calling me and the councilman out trying to tie us to this mayor and all the things he supports or opposes ,I for one don't blindly defend my party and you know that because of my questions of a former assemblywoman in public ( can you tell me when you publicly criticized a local republican in a tight local race)? I also missed you condemnation post of sen Rubio, sen Cruz, sen Paul , speaker Ryan and most of the other nation republicans who did not represent the areas hit by sandy. Your blind political attacks are sad bob and instead of just criticizing I would hope you would put forward positive ideas for the city, state and nation.”

Whereupon, Mr. Capano sent this E-mail, as his sur-reply to Mr. Carroll:   “Again Peter, of course i disagree, condemn, oppose whatever word you want to use, for those that did not support sandy relief for NY. Similarly, i hope you join me in applauding Congressmen Dan Donovan and Peter King for supporting the aid- can you do that or are you unable to commend local Republicans when they are right??? ….   Also, are you condemning Melissa Mark Viverito and Mayor deBlasio for their proposal to de- criminalize quality of life offenses? You said you would "not defend them when they are wrong". So stop the word games, do you think they are wrong here? Its a simple yes or no. If its a yes they are wrong how about taking it a step further than just "not defending them" and condemning them as i did when ted cruz attacked new york. People are tired of word games they want clarity from their leaders.”  

Capano quickly followed the Face Book comment above with this:  “By the way peter, when i was the district director for congressman bob turner i was with the congressman and FEMA officials in Brooklyn as we saw the areas hit by Sandy and fought with Turner for Sandy relief for Brooklyn & Queens” --  as his final postscript to the exchange on Face Book.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Capano Release,  1/26/15

FORMER OPPONENT CALLS ON COUNCILMAN GENTILE TO UNEQUIVOCALLY OPPOSE COUNCIL PROPOSAL TO DE-CRIMINALIZE QUALITY OF LIFE OFFENSES

CAPANO SAYS TIME FOR CHOOSING FOR LOCAL DEMOCRATS

(Brooklyn, NY) – Bob Capano, who was the Republican, Conservative, and Independence party candidate against Councilman Vincent Gentile in 2009, today called on the incumbent to use his influence as Deputy Majority Leader of the City Council to vociferously oppose proposed legislation to de-criminalize quality of life offenses.

Capano, who has served in senior positions for Brooklyn Democrat and Republican elected officials, stated, “It is unfortunate that City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her far-left colleagues have officially begun the process to de-criminalize quality of life offenses with the ‘Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2016’. This would erode the broken windows policies that have made us safer. I know that the vast majority of residents of Dyker Heights, Bay Ridge, and Bensonhurst do not support this effort by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Councilman Gentile needs to stand up to her on this issue.”

The fact that the Council Speaker is also trying to erase open warrants for some offenders to clear a backlog is even more outrageous says Capano, who served as Director of Community Boards and Community Relations under former Democratic Borough President Marty Markowitz. Capano also said it is time for local Democrats to demonstrate if they are with the main stream of the community or aligned with the far-left agenda of Mark-Viverito. He stated, “This is a real test for all local Democratic leaders in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst- are you going to march in lock-step with Melissa Mark Viverito to bring back policies from the David Dinkins days, or stand with the vast majority of the community who fully support our police and their efforts over the past two decades to make our communities safer.”

Capano concluded, “Throughout my long history of public and community service in Brooklyn I have always taken great pride in working for and with Democrats and Republicans and look forward to doing so in the future. I have taken on some of the extreme views of my own Republican party, and now I hope there are Democratic leaders in our community who will do the same here with this ill-advised legislation.”

Capano, who also served as District Director under former Republican Brooklyn Congressman Bob Turner and served as President of the 68^th Precinct Youth Council[.]

HARD TO BELIEVE !!! >>> Marty Golden is still beating the drum for 421-a tax giveaway to developers >>> like waving a red flag at U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara

State Senator Martin Golden’s quote in the “…Journal” (“Wall Street…” not “Bay Ridge…”) shows how passionate our local GOP legislator is to continue giving BIG tax breaks for BIG-TIME real estate developers under the controversial 421-a program

It’s amazing that  >>> MARTY GOLDEN <<<  is talking about this at all ---  given the  >>> ACTIVE INVESTIGATION <<<  of Mr. Golden by U.S. Attorney  >>> PREET BHARARA <<<  that directly came out of the most recent Moreland Commission inquiries and the Feds’ investigation of the interactions of many big time real estate developers and the NYS legislative leadership (which has already resulted in several top level  convictions)

While more progressive legislators, and even some moderates and conservatives seemed to be hopeful that this particular giveaway to the most powerful developers would be replaced by something that is less of a “giveaway”  ---   “….  Sen. Marty Golden, a Republican representing Brooklyn, saw more urgency. Like some others, he pinned the program’s failure partly on clashes between the governor and the mayor….  ‘Hopefully someone will step forward and get this resolved,’ he said….”  ( See “After NYC Property-Tax Break Dies, Angst Lives --  Immediate prospects of Albany lawmakers restoring the 421-a program look bleak” by Josh Dawsey, Keiko Morris and Mike Vilensky, 1/20/16, Wall Strret Journal/ New York/ NY Politics [http://www.wsj.com/articles/after-nyc-tax-break-dies-angst-lives-1453342550?mod=rss_US_News]). 

Specifically referring to the 421-a tax giveaway,   Kelly Cummings, a spokeswoman for Senate Republicans, said “we still believe it’s imperative that a program is in place that fixes the City’s inequitable taxing structure that is preventing the private construction of affordable rental housing.”  However, others have focused on what really might be holding things up >>>  “… headwinds for 421-a in Albany this year because New York real-estate executives were important witnesses for the prosecution in recent public-corruption trials. Meanwhile, still others, agreeing with SSMG,  say it is an election year and the feud between Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio  [but, isn't that odd  ---  neither Cuomo nor de Blasio have elections in 2016  ---  however, Marty Golden does].

MARTY GOLDEN’S [CONSERVATIVE PARTY] ALLY, DAVID GREENFIELD ALSO QUOTED IN SAME WSJ ARTICLE

The Wall Street Journal article also added this interesting subscript: “….  While other tax subsidies could propel construction, city officials may be forced to change their neighborhood rezoning plans scheduled for a vote this spring in the City Council….  ‘It’s definitely going to throw a wrinkle in the city’s plans,’ said David Greenfield [strongly aligned with SSMG on this and some other stuff], who chairs the land use committee on the City Council…. [Note: there are many other tools to encourage affordable-housing development and the 421-a program plays only one part in construction decisions.]   Developers say they don’t expect an immediate stop in the pipeline, because most developers began many projects before the deadline expired last year. Mr. Lombino said he expected a decline in 18 to 24 months.”

What the National Review's Pooh-pooh of Donald Trump is really all about

Some observers might say,  “This is the latest attempt by ‘The Establishment’ to go after Donald Trump  ---  this time, the part of it that is on the so-called “Right” ---  because Trump doesn’t fit their long- established views of what it is to be a “CONSERVATIVE” 

In my own most-short-hand version:  First, I say,  “Yeah, maybe a little….”  ---   Next,  I say,  “These are really small people protecting their little bits of turf on the vast American political range….”   ---   Then, I say this:  “This National Review assemblage of nay-sayers are playing a losers game of rhetorical political purity --- one where the liberals and/or progressives have kept adding to their political base, such that they are already in control of almost half the American voting public….”  ---   And lastly, on this topic, I say this:   “They are afraid that Donald Trump  is going to break up ALL the old establishment bailiwicks, even theirs among America’s more conservative voters….”

According to a Rich Lowry [“by the Editors”] editorial in the National Review magazine that accompanied the gathering of so-called “conservative” spokespersons lined-up to go “on the record” against the candidacy of Donald Trump in that venerable conservative organ [characterized as  “… NR Symposium January 21, 2016…”]  ---   “Donald Trump leads the polls nationally and in most states in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. There are understandable reasons for his eminence, and he has shown impressive gut-level skill as a campaigner. But he is not deserving of conservative support in the caucuses and primaries. Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones….   Trump’s political opinions have wobbled all over the lot. The real-estate mogul and reality-TV star has supported abortion, gun control, single-payer health care à la Canada, and punitive taxes on the wealthy. (He and Bernie Sanders have shared more than funky outer-borough accents.) Since declaring his candidacy he has taken a more conservative line, yet there are great gaping holes in it…”  (See “Against Trump” by the Editor’s, 1/22/16, National Review/   [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430137/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace]).  <<<  It is quite enlightening to note that some of the very same material appeared in a Fox News piece by Lowry entitled “National Review: Why we're against Trump”  (See  “National Review: Why we're against Trump” by Rich Lowry,  1/22/16, Fox News/ Opinion/ Elections  [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/01/22/national-review-why-were-against-trump.html]). >>>

This “Charge of the Light Brigade” by some “conservative” writers in National Review made the news, right, left and center, within the same news cycle in which it was issued (See eg. :  “National Review Urges 'Say No' to Trump” by Todd Beamon, 1/21/16, Newsmax/ Home/ Headline  [http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/national-review-no-trump-symposium/2016/01/21/id/710381/];   “National Review Is Against Trump, But it Probably Doesn't Matter” by Kevin Drum, 1/21/16, Mother Jones [http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/national-review-against-trump-it-probably-doesnt-matter]; and “National Review aims to take down Trump” by Shane Goldmacher, 1/21/16, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/trump-nationalreview-218079]).

LIST OF NATIONAL REVIEWS ANTI-TRUMP ESSAYISTS 

Reported as the “conservatives” that contributed essays to the National Review “symposium” are:  Thomas Sowell, economist;  Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center;  Glenn Beck, founder of The Blaze;  Edwin Meese and Michael Mukasey, former U.S. attorney generals;  Dana Loesch and Michael Medved, syndicated radio hosts; Cal Thomas and Mona Charen, syndicated columnists;  William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard;  R. R. Reno, editor of First Things;  John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary;  Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs;  Mark Helprin, novelist;  Andrew C. McCarthy, contributing editor, National Review;  Erick Erickson, founder of The Resurgent;  David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth;  Steven F. Hayward, author and presidential scholar;  Ben Domenech, publisher of The Federalist;   David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute;  Katie Pavlich, editor of Townhall.com editor;  and Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

Many of the non-Trumpeteers  above are conservatives that I do respect,  however, some of the others appear to me to be parvenu characters on par with the man that they and National Review are attacking.  Nonetheless, several of their articles, a variety of smash pieces on “The Donald,”  look like they are both thoughtful and principled.  However, don’t be attracted to that “bright and shiny thing.” As far as I’m concerned, there is an ulterior agenda here for both National Review, and people like William Kristol [note that Stephen Hayes and the Weekly Standard chimed in with National Review a day later].  Make no mistake, this is a “Hail Mary pass” kind of maneuver.

WHAT I THINK THIS ATTACK ON TRUMP IS REALLY ALL ABOUT

What are they doing  ???   Why  ???    And, why are they doing it  NOW  ??? 

I think that, more than anything else, it’s a last-gasp attempt by the Neo-Con establishment and a few other conservatives to block Trump before he reaches a tipping point; and he starts garnering a cascade of insider support, including from many key conservatives.  

There are myriad reasons for these writers and spokespersons not to support Trump.  However, I believe that the current National Review gambit is all about a dynamic that has diminished the status and the impact of many conservative intermediators, including the like of national Review.  Donald Trump has been talking over all of these conservative and neo-conservative people and their media outlets; and he has been getting his message directly to the conservative-leaning masses without sucking up to any of the National Review complainers or their so-called “conservative” media outlets. 

It really remains to be seen whether this National Review -Weekly Standard tactic has any lasting impact.  

Personally, although I am intrigued by the Trump phenomenon, I am not FOR Trump; by the same token, and in equal measure, I am not against him, either.

Latest MSM article about Huma Abedin and Hillary Clinton tells lots about Huma's baggage

Huma Abedin is getting more and more  ink devoted to her by the MSM   ---  BUT ---  That’s NOT what Hillary Clinton or the Clinton Campaign wants

“Vanity Fair” Magazine gives “HUMA” the mainstage treatment   ---  AND  ---   “Media Matters,”  a key part of Team Clinton, does a very fast pushback

Breitbart News says   ---   William D. Cohan and “Vanity Fair” Magazine bring out FACTS about Huma Abedin's radical Islamist connection for the first time in a Mainstream Media article   ---  AND  ---  The Clintons and "Media Matters" had to react because these FACTS had previously been reported-on only in the conservative-leaning media 

According to William D. Cohan writing in Vanity Fair   ---    “….  [A]s anyone who follows politics knows, [Huma Abedin is, as Politico once described her, Hillary Clinton’s ‘shadow’].  She began working for Hillary in 1996, when she was a 19-year-old intern fresh from George Washington University assigned to the First Lady’s office. Abedin had wanted to be a journalist like her hero Christiane Amanpour and was hoping to work in the White House press office. ‘Take a chance,’ her mother told her. ‘Don’t fall in love with Plan A.” Huma took the advice. “Sixteen years later, I wouldn’t change a thing,” she told a dinner audience in 2012, at a Fortune conference. “And I got to meet Christiane Amanpour.’…    Over the years Huma has served in several positions, with increasingly important-sounding titles. She has been Hillary’s ‘body woman,’ her traveling chief of staff, a senior adviser, and a deputy chief of staff when Hillary was secretary of state. Now, based in Brooklyn, she is the vice-chair of Hillary’s 2016 presidential campaign. But whatever the title, the job she performs for Hillary has always been essentially the same: confessor, confidante, and constant companion. It’s safe to say that over the years Abedin and Hillary have spent more time together than either has with her husband….  A former adviser to Bill Clinton describes her as ‘a mini Hillary.’  Wherever Hillary goes, Abedin goes. In November 2008, when Hillary flew to Chicago to meet with President-Elect Barack Obama to discuss becoming secretary of state, she took Huma along. During Hillary’s grueling, nearly 11-hour congressional testimony in October about Benghazi, Abedin was there. She has been referred to as a ‘second daughter’ to the Clintons. Others have described Hillary and Huma as like sisters….” (See “Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem“   by William D. Cohan,  1/31/16, Vanity Fair/ News  [http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/huma-abedin-hillary-clinton-adviser]).

That is only the beginning of a very long and penetrating article about Huma Abedin: who she is; where she came from; who she’s married to; and what she seems to mean to Hillary Rodham Clinton and her campaign. 

TEAM CLINTON’S BIG PUSH   ----   AGAINST  THE “VF” ARTICLE ABOUT “HUMA”

Perhaps as big a story as the underlying Vanity Fair article about Ms. Abedin was the catlike reaction by the Clinton team, almost as if they were waiting for it (which they probably were, since VF had asked the Clinton Campaign to make Huma Abedin "available" for comment).

According to a piece that appeared earlier today on the Breitbart News blog,  “….  The left-wing attack machine [Media Matters]   wasted no time in posting an article with false information and smears in order to protect the Clinton campaign [from the Vanity Fair article]….   Hillary Clinton has stated publicly that she helped ‘start and support’ Media Matters, and that organization has consistently come to [Hillary’s] aid with a consistent campaign of misinformation, half-truths and smears of her critics that can then get repeated by [others in] the mainstream media….   The Vanity Fair article must have sent shockwaves through the Clinton camp. It’s rare to read mainstream press criticism of Huma Abedin….   Instead, [Abedin always gets good press and the] mainstream adoration for Huma by the media is often … over the top....”  (See “The Truth about Huma Abedin that Media Matters Doesn’t Want America to See”   by  Lee Stranihan, 1/18/16, Breitbart News [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/18/the-truth-about-huma-abedin-that-media-matters-doesnt-want-america-to-see/]). 

HERE’S SOME OF WHAT GOT “MEDIA MATTERS” AND THE REST OF THE CLINTON TEAM SO MAD

According to Lee Stranihan and Breitbart News ---  “To his credit, Cohan’s Vanity Fair piece on the secretive Abedin confirms a number of facts that have been reported by conservative media for a couple of years but have been twisted and convoluted by the mainstream media….   For example, the Vanity Fair article flatly lays out the information that Huma Abedin was an assistant editor at a publication called the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs from 1996 until 2008….  ‘It turns out the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs is an Abedin family business. Huma was an assistant editor there between 1996 and 2008. Her brother, Hassan, 45, is a book-review editor at the Journal and was a fellow at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, where Nasseef is chairman of the board of trustees. Huma’s sister, Heba, 26, is an assistant editor at the Journal…’ [from the VF article by William D. Cohan]....”

HERE’S WHAT BREITBART & COMPANY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT AND WHAT MEDIA MATTERS IS TRYING TO DO

“….  Not one statement [above] is actually controversial because they can all be confirmed by simple research that refers to primary sources. In other words, you don’t need to reference conservative media in any way to determine the truth about the Abedin family and their connections to Abdullah Omar Nasseef….  As the masthead of this 1996 issue of the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs shows, Huma Abedin was an assistant editor at Journal. Down the masthead you can see the name of Abdullah Omar Nasseef….  Because of the smear tactics used by Media Matters and repeated by the mainstream media, this point cannot be stressed enough: this is a primary source showing Abedin was an Assistant Editor of the Journal. It’s not a right-wing theory, a conservative fever dream, Islamaphobia nonsense or anti-Muslim fear-mongering. It’s a fact, a cold hard fact shown on the Journal’s masthead at the site where the Journal itself publishes….  Because it’s such it’s an easily verified fact, it should not be a significant breakthrough that the mainstream publication Vanity Fair published the truth about Huma Abedin’s clear and indisputable connection to the Journal and Naseef….”    And this:   “…. Because [this information about Huma Abedin is such] an easily verified fact, it should not be a significant breakthrough that the mainstream publication Vanity Fair published the truth about Huma Abedin’s clear and indisputable connection to the Journal and Naseef….  [However, that Cohan and Vanity Fair brought the facts about Abedin to light for the first time in a mainstream media article] is a breakthrough; [and that is] precisely why Media Matters for America immediately went to work trying to obscure the facts, telling its readers— which include many journalists— that claiming Huma Abedin has connections to alleged terror funders is a ‘spider-web of guilt by association.’…”

READ BOTH THE VANITY FAIR AND BREITBART ARTICLES CITED ABOVE ---  AND ---  THEN MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND AS TO WHETHER HUMA IS “A SECRET WEAPON” OR A “BIG PROBLEM” FOR HILLARY AND HER CAMPAIGN TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Bob Capano gives nod toward the national stage with critical statement about Ted Cruz' "New York Values" remarks

Making full use of social media and the internet, the Brooklyn GOP’s most notable spokesperson of late >>>  BOB CAPANO <<<  has weighed in on Ted Cruz'  "New York Values" controversy, made so prominent by both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump at the most recent GOP presidential debate

Capano’s statement kicks-off a quick Democrat-Republican dust-up with another Bay Ridgeite also mentioned as a City Council aspirant

Showing a continuing willingness to take on public figures for their controversial statements, Bob Capano has shifted his sights from a target on the extreme left of the Democrat Party to one on the extreme right of the GOP.  He also has jacked the level of the targeted  opponent in front of him from someone akin to  a very local club fighter, Linda Sarsour, up to a championship caliber puncher fully-accredited on the national stage, Ted Cruz.

As he often does when making his public statements, Bob Capano  made  a simultaneous announcements in the form of an internet press release and as a more personal Facebook posting.

Here’s what Bob had to say about the Ted Cruz remarks:  

“The disparaging comments about New York by Ted Cruz in the GOP debate were disappointing. As I have been saying for almost two decades of involvement in Brooklyn and New York City Republican politics, we must work to create a two-party town by demonstrating to voters the benefits of core Conservative Republican principles like school choice, accountability in government, and policies that promote job growth. This is the message Ted Cruz should have delivered. We can not just give up New York to liberalism.”

A BAY RIDGE DEMOCRAT IS VERY QUICK TO RESPOND ---  AND CAPANO PUSHED BACK JUST AS FAST

It’s quite interesting to note that  Kevin Peter Carroll, one of the Democrats mentioned as a leading candidate for the NY City Council seat now held by Vinny Gentile,  quickly responded to Capano’s statement against the Cruz remarks with a general broadside against several nationally prominent Republicans.  For his part, Bob Capano pushed back just as quickly using as examples of good New Yorkers several local conservative GOP stalwarts.  

SLIGHTLY VEILED HIGH-LEVEL ATTACKS ON DONALD TRUMP --- First, by President Obama in his "State of the Union Address" for 2016 -- AND -- Then, by Nikki Haley during her "GOP Response"

CALL IT “PRESIDENTIAL”  ATTENTION  ---  Trump’s stature can only grow with all of this free PR at the highest level of news-making   --  The annual constitutionally-mandated statement by the POTUS, plus the traditional response by the national “Opposition Party” spokesperson

Donald Trump is now undeniably THE PRIME ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE running in the GOP primaries   ---   even though Obama also had some barbs for Ted Cruz too 

According to the folks at Newsmax, without mentioning him by name, President Barack Obama was directly referring to GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump during his 2016 State of the Union Speech.  Here’s what Newsmax said about that:  “….  ‘It’s easier to be cynical,’ he said. ‘But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future. Those with money and power will gain greater control over the decisions that could send a young soldier to war, or allow another economic disaster, or roll back the equal rights and voting rights that generations of Americans have fought, even died, to secure.’…     ‘Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction,’ he said, in what appeared to be a rebuttal of claims by the Republican presidential front-runner, Donald Trump, whose campaign slogan is “make America great again.” …  ‘The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close,’ Obama said, repeating the sentence.”  (See “Obama Targets Trump in SOTU” by Bloomberg News Staff, 1/12/16, Newsmax/ Headline  [http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/obama-state-union-speech/2016/01/12/id/709222/]).

Here's another passage that clearly is aimed at Trump and that says it all:

".... 'We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion.... This isn’t a matter of political correctness. It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith. His Holiness, Pope Francis, told this body from the very spot I stand tonight that ‘to imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place.’ When politicians insult Muslims, whether abroad or our fellow citizens, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid is called names, that doesn’t make us safer. That’s not telling it like it is. It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. And it betrays who we are as a country....”  (See “Obama slaps Trump in final State of the Union” by Chelsea Schilling, 1/12/16, WND/ Front Page  [http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/obama-slaps-trump-in-final-state-of-the-union/#PmKcqYrVfUYUpH2e.99]). 

The WND account also made note of this: “In another apparent slap at Trump, Obama stated, ‘Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention.’…”

This is how the Newsmax/Bloomberg report handled the President’s remarks that obviously referred to Senator Ted Cruz, another GOP outsider running for President in 2016:  “….  ‘They do not threaten our national existence,’ he said. He again appeared to rebuke a Republican presidential candidate, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who has called for ‘carpet-bombing’ against Islamic State….  When the world comes to the United States for leadership in global crises, ‘our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet bomb civilians,’ Obama said. ‘That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn’t pass muster on the world stage.’…”

THE SO-CALLED “REPUBLICAN” RESPONSE

According to other observers, the GOP spokesperson, giving the opposition party response to the President’s speech also took some time to take a few whacks at Donald Trump.  Here’s the "Daily Mail" headline:  “Republican Nikki Haley warns against the 'angriest' and 'loudest' voices during GOP response in a veiled swipe at Donald Trump”;  here’s  also one of their sub-headlines:  “….  Haley spoke out against angry voices in politics and then segued to make a point about immigration, suggesting that she was jabbing Donald Trump.….” ;

And here’s the Daily Mail's text on the same material: “Sure, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley whacked President Obama's record during her GOP response, but she hinted that those screaming the loudest in the Republican primary deserve some finger-wagging too….  ‘During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation,' she warned at one point….  At another, she said that you don't have to be the 'loudest voice in the room' to make a difference, as she gave her party's official response to Obama's State of the Union address, which he delivered directly before….   Haley's first jab, which seemed to be aimed straight at GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, came as she discussed immigration, the billionaire's signature issue….  'No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country,' Haley stated….”  ( See “Republican Nikki Haley warns against the 'angriest' and 'loudest' voices during GOP response in a veiled swipe at Donald Trump” By Nikki Schwab, 1/12/16 [updated 1/13/16],  Daily Mail/ News [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3396797/Republican-Nikki-Haley-warns-against-angriest-loudest-voices-GOP-response-veiled-swipe-Donald-Trump.html]).

NEGATIVE COMPARISON WITH SOUTH CAROLINA CHURCH SHOOTER “DYLAN ROOF” ???

It's even possible that Nikki Haley tried to compare Donald Trump unfavorably to herself and her home state’s response to the shootings by the right-wing nut Dylan Roof.  First, Nikki Haley mentioned Roof, the shooter this way:  '….  He didn't look like them, didn't act like them, didn't sound like them. They didn't throw him out. They didn't call the police. Instead, they pulled up a chair and prayed with him. For an hour'.…”   Haley, then, pointed to the shooting's aftermath and talked about God…   'We didn't turn against each other's race or religion,' she said. 'We turned toward God, and to the values that have long made our country the freest and greatest in the world.'…” 

FLASH --- UPDATE: BOB CAPANO MAKES PUBLIC STATEMENT ABOUT SARSOUR'S LATEST OUTRAGE

Bay Ridge Republican activist speaks out on Linda Sarsour and her radical Islamist excuses about the Philadelphia police shooting by American Muslim thug

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[The following was received by Galewyn Massey earlier this afternoon from Bob Capano]:

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JANUARY 10, 2016                                                                           

 LINDA SARSOUR & LOCAL COMMUNITY MUSLIM “LEADERS” MUST CONDEMN VIOLENT ACTS IN NAME OF ISLAM

CAPANO SAYS SARSOUR WRONG AGAIN IN HER PUBLIC COMMENTS ON SHOOTING OF PHILADELPHIA COP

(Brooklyn, NY) – Bob Capano, who was the Republican, Conservative, and Independence party candidate against Councilman Vincent Gentile in 2009 and was the former Brooklyn Director of Community Boards, today condemned Community Board 10 member Linda Sarsour for stating that the recent shooting of a Philadelphia Police Officer was not a result of radical Islam, despite all evidence to the contrary.

 

Philadelphia Police Officer Jesse Hartnett, 33, was shot three times at point blank range by Edward Archer. The Philadelphia Police Commissioner stated that while in custody, Archer stated that he shot the officer “in the name of Islam…I follow Allah. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State. That is why I did what I did. Authorities also have said that Archer claimed police defend laws that are contrary to the Quran.  Over the past couple of days, Sarsour has tweeted that the shooting of Officer Hartnett was not the result of Islamic terrorism and “I commend Mayor Kenning for saying this is a criminal with a stolen gun who tried shooting a cop.”

Capano, who has previously condemned Sarsour for her participation in an anti-police protest calling them “racists” outside of Gracie Mansion last month, said, “We can not continue to be so politically correct that we are afraid to call these increasing acts of violence what they are- acts of radical Islam. How can we address this issue if we do not call it what it is. Linda Sarsour and all those who purport to be Muslim “leaders” must condemn violent acts committed in the name of Islam, as this one was in the shooters’ own admission.”

Sarsour has also been widely criticized for posting on her twitter account a photo of a Palestinian boy preparing to throw a rock at Israeli soldiers and calling it “The definition of courage.” She also wrote an op-ed piece titled “New Progressive Era Still Politics As Usual Regarding Israel”, where she criticized New York City Democrats for standing “with a handful of political elites to show unwavering support for Israel” against terrorist attacks from Hamas.    


Capano said, “The residents of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights deserve a Council Member will who will appoint members to Community Board 10 who whole-heartedly support law enforcement and do not have a pattern of making extreme comments supporting violence."