There are many new commentators at CTH, and even more new people taking notice of politics for perhaps the first time in their lives.   There is also some confusion noticed between two distinct groups who appear to be talking above and around each other.  Two groups trying to communicate from two entirely divergent sets of understanding.

Perhaps it is valuable to reset the larger frames of reference and provide clarity.

Many, heck, most people think when they vote for a federal politician -a representative- they are voting for a person who will go to Washington DC and write or enact legislation. This is the old-fashioned “schoolhouse rock” perspective based on decades past.

There is not a single congress person who writes legislation or laws.

In 2017 not a single member of the House of Representatives or Senator writes a law, or puts pen to paper to write out a legislative construct.  This simply doesn’t happen.

Over the past several decades a system of constructing legislation has taken over Washington DC that more resembles a business operation than a legislative body.  Here’s how it works.

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Earlier today President Trump and first lady Melania welcomed the President of Argentina Mauricio Macri and his wife Juliana Awada to the White House.

One of the key topics on the agenda for President Macri is trade with the U.S., specifically the Argentinian export of lemons into the U.S.  Understandably California, and to a lesser extent Florida, citrus growers are opposed to large scale imports of competing crops.

Additionally, during the customary Oval Office photo-op President Trump remarks about the ongoing NAFTA trade issues, and the phone calls yesterday between Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexico’s President Peña Nieto:

“If I’m unable to make a fair deal for the United States–meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies, I will terminate NAFTA.”

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The U.S. media are considerably invested in framing NAFTA trade issues around their ever-present need to oppose the White House (Trump Derangement Syndrome); and many of the recent media narratives around NAFTA are entirely false.

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It was only a few months ago when congressional democrat leadership were clutching their pearls because President-elect Trump held a phone call with the political leadership of Taiwan.  House and Senate Democrats rose to defend the honor of China around the precept of the Obama administrations’ acquiescence to the “one china” policy, and Trump’s audacity to call it into question.

Then something weird happened.

President Trump took office January 20th, and after many diplomatic contacts within the administration and their Chinese counterparts, President Trump and President Xi Jinping began to formulate a friendship.

April 5th/6th President Trump and President Xi Jinping met in Mar-a-lago for two days and the outcome has been historic and stunning cooperation between the U.S. and China.  China began pressuring North Korea to stop the military drum-beating. (more…)

This is more than a little funny.  Senator Ted Cruz must not be having much success fundraising for his re-election campaign, as his latest publicity stunt outlines:

In essence, the architect of Obama’s Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority bill is using the border wall, which he is paid to oppose, as a tool to “gruber” his sheeple followers.  Judging by the number of people responding to the tweet, he’s found a goldmine.

As many people are aware, Senator Cruz is part of the ‘controlled opposition’ ploy.  As a dedicated UniParty benefactor of the U.S. CoC lobbying expenditures Ted’s role is to plow through the political field giving a crony-constitutional impression of one thing while loyally working to deliver the end result of the thing he optically rails against, like TPP or TPA.

The El Chapo/wall angle as a narrative and fundraising mechanism, is similar to the dead-end ploy previously exhibited by Senator Rand Paul in last month’s ObamaCare repeal narrative used as his fundraising tool.   Both are fallacies of false choice.  Both have no foundation in actual goal or intention.  Both are ruses.

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San Francisco based Federal Judge, William Orrick, issued a preliminary injunction today blocking any attempt by the Trump administration to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials.

Judge Orrick said president Trump has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

(Via AP) […] U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the preliminary injunction in two lawsuits — one brought by the city of San Francisco, the other by Santa Clara County — against an executive order targeting communities that protect immigrants from deportation. The injunction will stay in place while the lawsuits work their way through court. (read more)

Judge Orrick is a campaign bundler to former President Obama for over $200,000, and is married to a pro-abortion activist.  You might remember Judge Orrick from 2015 when he blocked the release of videos made by the Center for Medical Progress, the group that unveiled Planned Parenthood’s participation in the sale of organs harvested from aborted children.

The collective EU, and every like-minded multi-cultural entity within leftist media together with the Obama globalist operatives, are now laying a path of rose petals for their wunderkind Emmanuel Macron.

If you seek a reference point for the narrative over the next two weeks simply remind yourself how Barack Obama was elected in 2008.  It will be an absolutely identical playbook.

Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old who has never held elected office and is married to his former grade school teacher (24-years his elder), is being heralded as the second coming of the halo-clad unicorn-riding progressive lightbringer Emperor Obama as Macron strides boldly up the gilded staircase toward the purchased French Presidency.

President Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, appears on Meet the Pus with Chuck Toad to discuss The Swamp.

Swamp topics include the administrations’ first 100 days, the imminent risk of a government shutdown, the budget battle, the southern border wall, health care, Marine Le Pen, and President Trump visits to Mar-a-Lago.

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The Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly sits down for an interview with John King’s ex-wife Dana Bash.  The primary topic was border security;

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A newly empowered Chris Wallace takes the big government Fox Media position and begins arguing with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney.   Interested observers will note Wallace defends the U.S. CoC lobbying position around the budget, health care, the border wall, the imminent risk of government shutdown, Trump’s “first 100 days”, necessary tax cuts, cuts to environmental protection etc.

It can be frustrating to watch because Chris Wallace is arguing the exact positions of Tom Donohue, the U.S. CoC and the K-Street swamp’s corporatist lobbyists.

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In advance of a generically created media 100 day way-point to judge the presidency, ABC/Washington Post deliver a poll today (full pdf below) to begin framing the week long narrative.

The direction taken by political narratives is mostly due to a loose coalition of like-minded ideologues within politics and media.  People who run in the same circles, attend the same cocktail parties and gather at the same conventions and group meetings.  The current ‘anti-Trump administration’ approach is no different from prior 2016 election assemblies.

Tomorrow in Chicago, former President Obama is anticipated to rally the ideological resistance to current President Trump.  Enhancing the weekly set-up is a poll from ABC and the Washington Post constructed to cast a negative light upon Trump.  It’s the same formula used in the 2016 election assemblies.

It becomes exhausting, and really quite futile, to dig through the poll construct.  Yes, the pollsters over sample anti-Trump groups, and yes they under sample those methodological groups who would be more favorable in their opinion of Trump’s efforts.  The transparency of the intention is evident within the data they assemble, and even more so within the way ABC/WaPo specifically highlights the data and focuses the attention of the consuming reader or reviewer. (more…)