Political commentator and extraordinarily brilliant satirist Mark Steyn was on Fox and Friends this morning to provide his perspective on President Trump’s decision to take action in Syria.

Steyn brilliantly frames the issues. [Hat Tip Stella]

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Additionally, a point that apparently needs to be made. Idiot MSM pundits like Jake Tapper, though it’s not exclusive to Tapper, keep pointing out the 2013 tweet by President Trump warning Obama about action in Syria and framing their narrative about “what changed?” etc.

Just for clarity. Between the 2013 tweet by non candidate Trump and the 2017 action by President Trump, there was a 2014 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) voted and approved by Senate committee  permitting military action in Syria against the backdrop of chemical weapon use and terrorism.

I swear sometimes the MSM are flippin’ idiots, then I remind myself of the David Mamet principle: “In order for left-wing ideologues to keep espousing their cognitively disconnected talking points they need to pretend they don’t know things.”

Yes, indeed.  Pretending not to know things is a useful pretense.

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As the international community takes stock of the ramifications of President Donald Trump’s narrowly focused and strategic military strike against a Syrian air base, Syria’s Bashir Assad vows to fight ISIS even harder; sans chemical weapons.

“This aggression has increased Syria’s resolve to hit those terrorist agents, to continue to crush them, and to raise the pace of action to that end wherever they are.” ~ Bashir Assad

Good.

It is prudent for all interested observers to think sequentially and logically about the deliberative action taken by U.S. President Trump; and not expand or infer a larger motive than is currently evidenced within the scope of the engagement.

There are a myriad of outlying issues and exponential micro-ramifications.  However, there is every indication the current administration fully accepts the larger understanding that only two central elements are present in the Syrian conflict:  Bashir Assad -vs- Extremist Jihadists’ (al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, ISIS, et al.)

It is also prudent to remind ourselves the key principle behind the direct regional talks previously outlined (non-discussed in MSM) has been a clear understanding -between President Trump and the regional coalition they have formed- that ALL EXTREMISM must be confronted in order to achieve the desired regional result.

That said, last night, in the immediate aftermath of the strikes, Secretary of State T-Rex and National Security Advisor McMasters, outlined the reasoning, objectives and substantive considerations behind the U.S. decision.

The media is not adequately reporting on this briefing (all emphasis mine): (more…)

Today President Trump and President Xi JinPing of China conducted bi-lateral meetings to discuss ongoing concerns surrounding trade, finance, military engagement, and the need for China to assist in leverage over North Korea’s hostilities.

[Transcript] 11:22 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I just want to say that President Xi and all of his representatives have been really interesting to be with.  I think we have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China.  My representatives have been meeting one-on-one with their counterparts from China.  And I think, truly, progress has been made.  We’ll be making a lot of additional progress.

The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding.  We look forward to being together many times in the future.  And I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away.

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With Vice President Mike Pence presiding over the Senate Chamber, Judge Neil Gorsuch was confirmed by a vote of 54-45 as the newest associate justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Neil Gorsuch now occupies the former Supreme Court seat of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Three Democrats, Joe Donnelly (Indiana), Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota) and Joe Manchin (West Virginia) voted in support of the confirmation, along with all senate republicans.  Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) did not vote as he is recovering from back surgery.

The Pentagon clearly outlines the reason for President Trump’s strategic and selected military response.  The U.S. is stating evidence that Bashir Assad did launch chemical weapons from this exact airbase, and Russia was willfully blind in their complicity.

U.S. Pentagon – At the direction of the president, U.S. forces conducted a cruise missile strike against a Syrian Air Force airfield today at about 8:40 p.m. EDT (4:40 a.m., April 7, in Syria).  The strike targeted Shayrat Airfield in Homs governorate, and was in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack April 4 in Khan Sheikhoun, which killed or injured hundreds of innocent Syrian people, including women and children.

The strike was conducted using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.  A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars.   As always, the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.

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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife to a summit at Mar-a-lago, President Trump’s private Florida beach resort and residence.

President Xi and his wife were greeted by President Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate before making their way to dinner.

Ahead of the dinner, Trump said he and Xi already had had a long discussion and had “developed a friendship,” and then joked, “I have gotten nothing, absolutely nothing.”

The White House said the location was selected to give the two days of discussions a more relaxed feel. A number of Trump’s top advisers were in attendance, including his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.  (AP report)

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According to ADP payroll processing U.S. private employers are estimated to have added 263,000 jobs in March.  This is likely more than the number employers hired in February and well above economists’ expectations.  This is the largest anticipated job growth in the past two years.

The earlier forecast by ADP National Employment Report estimated growth of 187,000 jobs, with median-range economic estimates spanning 110,000 to 225,000.  The current report is jointly developed with Moody’s Analytics.

The U.S. Labor Department’s more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report comes out on Friday and will include both public and private-sector employment.  Economists polled by Reuters were looking for U.S. private payroll employment to have grown by 175,000 jobs in March, less than the 227,000 in February – so the 263,000 estimate has caught them off guard.  The ADP results are much stronger (100,000 more) than anticipated.

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Secretary Rex Tillerson delivered very important remarks today in Palm Beach Florida ahead of ongoing discussions with the Chinese delegation and President Xi Jinping meeting with President Donald Trump.

Following the segment by T-Rex outlining the parameters for the meetings today and tomorrow, Tillerson communicated a position of the Trump administration that Syrian leader Bashir Assad should step down from power.

“With the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no rule for [Assad] to govern the Syrian people.

The process by which Assad would leave is something that I think requires and international community effort, both to first defeat ISIS within Syria, to stabilize the Syrian country to avoid further civil war, and then to work collectively with our partners around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad leaving.”

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Neither Secretary Tillserson or President Trump are proposing military action to remove Assad.  However, the remarks by Secretary Tillerson about Syria and Bashir Assad are a shift in approach, and were almost simultaneously communicated by President Trump (albeit with nuance) aboard Air-Force One en route to Palm Beach.   See below: (more…)

President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and Karen Pence participate with Secretary Shulkin (VA) and Secretary Zinke in a White House tribute to the Wounded Warrior Project:

[TRANSCRIPT] 9:28 A.M. EDT – THE VICE PRESIDENT:  To all the heroes who are gathered here, to their families, to the patrons of this great project, members of Congress, on behalf of my wife, Karen, it is my great honor standing beside the President of the United States and the First Lady to welcome you all to the White House.  (Applause.)

We’re grateful to have so many who are of such great consequence to our armed forces with us today, as well as those who serve our veterans — our Secretary David Shulkin, Secretary Ryan Zinke — who serve in this Cabinet.  But on behalf of the President and the First Family, a special thank you to Lieutenant General Michael Linnington and Deven Schei.  The Wounded Warrior Project is a source of great comfort to our veterans across the country, and it is an inspiration to the nation.  (Applause.)

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CTH Susan Rice Back Story:

• Susan Rice appears on MSNBC to Explain
• Rice Explanation Points to President Obama’s Daily Briefing

Today, Catherine Herridge is reporting the unmasking requests made by former National Security Adviser were requests for details of daily surveillance of President Trump’s transition team regarding their daily life activity.

(New York) The intelligence reports at the center of the Susan Rice unmasking controversy were detailed, and almost resembled a private investigator’s file, according to a Republican congressman familiar with the documents.

“This is information about their everyday lives,” Rep. Peter King of New York, a member of the House Intelligence committee said. “Sort of like in a divorce case where lawyers are hired, investigators are hired just to find out what the other person is doing from morning until night and then you try to piece it together later on.”

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