In the entire ridiculous enterprise of Steve Bannon -vs- HR McMaster the idiots on the #FireMcMaster side are ultimately going to end up delivering an exit for Steve Bannon. Then again, I repeat myself – SEE HERE –
But seriously, if there was validity to the #FireMcMaster issues, which there isn’t, and if we supported the #FireMcMaster cause, which we don’t, anyone with any intelligence at all would drop the anti-McMaster premise during a high visibility national security crisis like North Korea.
Then again, we ain’t exactly talking about the sharpest tacks in the political toolbox.  And if you understand that dynamic, you’ll also understand the reason why Jake Tapper is pushing this story right now.
The real target is Steve Bannon. Cue the audio visual demonstration – WATCH.

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And as unbelievable as it might seem, look at the useful tweet from one of Bannon’s media #FireMcMaster “supporters“.
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Holding the second impromptu press conference of the day, President Trump, Secretary of State Tillerson, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and National Security Adviser HR McMaster delivered remarks following their national security meeting discussing North Korea and global issues.
Speaking clearly, on point and entirely extemporaneously, President Trump and Secretary Tillerson answered questions on a variety of issues. WATCH:

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President Trump is drowning the MSM in news. The media are aging before our eyes. Good stuff.
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It must be weird for the ordinary person around the world to view U.S. politics through the prism of the American MSM lügenpresse.  We’re often left wondering if international observers realize how much deception and fraud exists in media broadcasts of President Trump.
However, that said, a few days ago CTH predicted via twitter that Friday would bring a “breaking news” revelation that President Trump’s administration had been in ongoing negotiations with North Korea.  Today, exactly that happened.

(Via ABC) Despite the bombastic rhetoric exchanged between North Korean and American leaders this week, the Trump administration has been quietly engaged in back-channel diplomacy with North Korea for several months, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The ongoing talks, which were first reported by The Associated Press, included discussions about U.S.-North Korean relations and Americans imprisoned in North Korea, the source said.

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Serial fibber Brian Williams leads his interview segment with a moment of honesty.  During his introduction to a panel segment he leads with the set-up: “tonight our job is to scare you”. WATCH:

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Seriously folks, CTH readers, MAGA supporters, and those who travel the deep weeds of politics and have followed Donald Trump can spot the strategy he is deploying.  The strategy is all about economics and leverage.  The media will NEVER discuss it, because they need to act willfully blind to it and use fear as a weapon.
The media is simply taking advantage of “fear” to position yet another anti-Trump narrative. However, all of their hyperbolic analysis of the North Korea situation takes on new understanding when idiots like Williams let it slip that their job is to “scare people to death on this subject.” He makes it clear their goal is to drive down the public’s trust in the President to handle this threat.
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President Donald Trump, together with Labor Secretary Acosta and Education Secretary Devos, spoke about jobs, his apprenticeship initiative and answered questions about North Korea during a statement at a workforce roundtable in New Jersey on Friday.
President Trump is meeting with Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary T-Rex later today.  Everything is going according to plan.

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There’s something rather enjoyable about watching President Trump discuss North Korea when you fully understand he has ZERO, Nada, Zippo intent on a military approach. When you accept words are just words, and the real confrontation will take place with China over economics, this entire enterprise takes on a rather interesting and enjoyable dynamic….
President Trump has the media, and the entire globe, right in the sweet spot where he likes and enjoys them; everyone is laser focused on the dancing red dot.
Seriously, no kidding, only he could pull this off.  Epic.
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The totalitarian left is beginning to rise up in defense of North Korea.  Partly they are doing this because they are ideologically aligned with a similar totalitarian world view of order that they alone demand to be in control; the globalist view.  However, they do this also as an outcropping of the economics – a generational defense of China.
President Trump will never take first-strike action against North Korea; it’s not his approach.  Instead Trump prefers to take on the economic side of the conflict and he is more than willing to wage thermonuclear economic war against the DPRK’s enabler, communist China.
Remember, e.v.e.r.y enterprising nuclear power needs nuclear allies to protect them during the end-stages of their accomplishment.  History has a perfect track record on this dynamic. It has always been thus…. Always.

To wit, and taking the bait to expose her ideological world-view, German Chancellor Angela Merkel rises up to defend Kim Jong-un from possible military action.

GERMANY – German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Friday against “the escalation of rhetoric” in the wake of rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, adding that she didn’t see a military solution to the issue.

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Life is a weird circle at times. Pay close attention to this very familiar picture. If you were stunned to see previous “conservative” allies drop their masks on immigration when Trump announced his run for office, well, let’s just say we haven’t seen anything yet.

When it comes to North Korea and China – Over the course of the next three months we are all about to witness domestic and international leadership, who claimed to be allies of freedom and democracy, ‘out’ themselves as supporters for the tank ideology in this image.
Watch closely and you will see the international-left rise up in defense of totalitarianism.
Because in full measure of international economic freedom and liberty, well, U.S. President Trump is ‘Tank-Man’.
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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

There is a considerable amount of debate surrounding how much pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping is receiving from the hard-line communist party apparatus.  Some believe Xi Jinping is actually in conflict with the party apparatus and most of the old guard of Hujintao.
There is a line of logic that states the current Chinese rhetoric is not Xi Jinping’s outlook, but rather the position of the communist party controlling the narrative and trying to reassert itself to cause diversion from the tenuous economic position of the Chinese economy.  Whichever perspective might be true, China just officially announced a position that is rather concerning.  According to the latest official communist party position:

♦If North Korea strikes first, China promises to remain neutral.
♦If The U.S. strikes first, China promises to fight on the side of the DPRK.

CHINA – […] Beijing is not able to persuade Washington or Pyongyang to back down at this time. It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardize China’s interests, China will respond with a firm hand.
China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral. If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.

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