SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET:

HUH? – FROM BREITBART:   Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee amid suspicion that a portion of the $107 million it raised was misspent, according to a report.  The Wall Street Journal states the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is in the beginning stages of probing whether the committee’s most prominent donors made sizable contributions “in exchange for access to the incoming Trump administration, policy concessions or to influence official administration positions.”  I'm getting more than a little uneasy about the "investigations" of the president that seem to crop up regularly.  Is there any evidence here?  Or is this part of the overall war on Trump being waged within the Establishment?  I don't doubt that people made donations with the hope that they could influence policy.  That happens every day.  The issue is whether a donation actually led to a provable change of policy.  I'm not interested in a donor's wishful thinking.

SICKENING – FROM CNS:   One of the first two Muslim women elected to the U.S. Congress took a snide dig on Twitter at Vice President Pence for sitting with eyes closed during a heated Oval Office meeting, posting a photo with the caption, “Jesus take the wheel!” - and, the other incoming Muslim congresswoman applauded the insult.  Ihlan Omar’s (D-Minn.) tweet ended with the hashtag #BorderWall, a reference to the contentious issue discussed during President Trump’s meeting Tuesday with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)  The second Muslim woman elected to the House, Palestinian-American Congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib, “liked” Omar’s Pence tweet.  Imagine if Islam had been insulted.  CNN would do two weeks on it.  These two women are trouble.  They do not accept American concepts of religious tolerance, but they will be protected by the fashionable left-wing press.

GETTING SERIOUS – FROM CNS:  (CNSNews.com) – For 16 consecutive years, the State Department under three administrations has rejected advice from an independent statutory watchdog to blacklist Pakistan for religious freedom violations – until now.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Tuesday that he has designated the world’s second most-populous Islamic nation as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for egregious abuses of religious freedom.  Under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), the federal government identifies countries that have engaged in or tolerated ”systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom” as CPCs, a designation that provides for sanctions or other measures designed to encourage improvements.  Pompeo also named nine other CPCs – Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.  A step forward.  If the Dems win the White House in 2020, they'll probably reverse it. 

December 13, 2018