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“Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action’.” - Goldfinger, Ian Fleming (1959) On the eve of America’s election, Democrats and their media wing are putting in overtime suppressing stories that are unflattering to Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. As this newsletter just reported, Walz has longstanding ties to the People’s Republic of China which are highly concerning from a counterintelligence perspective. Just don’t expect the mainstream media to investigate any of this, especially so close to the election. However, when...

Totalitarian killers in pursuit of a murderous utopian agenda can always count on the New York Times to transform them into noble representatives of the popular will. Whether Stalin or Hitler, Pol Pot, or Mao, Fidel, Che or Arafat, the Times will humanize them. The archetype was cuddly Uncle Joe Stalin as seen through the eyes of Walter Duranty. Count on Duranty's successors to enlighten us about how personable these tyrants are...

When it comes to the war in Ukraine, about the only thing that’s certain right now is that the fighting and destruction will continue.Vladimir Putin remains fully committed to bringing all of Ukraine back under Russian control or — failing that — destroying it as a viable country. He believes it is his historical destiny — his messianic mission — to reestablish the Russian Empire and, as Zbigniew Brzezinski observed years ago, there can be no Russian Empire without Ukraine. Both of us have dealt with Putin on a number of occasions, and we are convinced he believes time is...

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote in a new op-ed that the past four U.S. presidents share blame for the crisis in Afghanistan, adding that they all made mistakes that have culminated in the Taliban retaking the country this week. "The past years in Afghanistan have been difficult for every president, our armed forces, our allies and our country. The sacrifices of those who served — and those who died — will forever sear our national memory," Rice wrote in The Washington Post. "Each of us who held positions of authority over those years made mistakes — not because...

If there's one thing Democrats—black Democrats in particular—can't stand, it's an African-American who dares to be a Republican or conservative. Over the years, we've seen the abuse—at times flagrantly racist in nature—heaped on Clarence Thomas and Condoleeza Rice. And MSNBC's Joy Reid outrageously ridiculed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as "Uncle Clarence." Nowadays, Democrat abuse for such inexcusable apostasy is aimed largely at Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. On her MSNBC show Saturday morning, Tiffany Cross repeatedly tore into Scott, branding his response to President Biden's address to Congress, and in particular, Scott's comments on the Georgia election...

The private-equity tycoon Stephen A. Schwarzman, backed by an array of mostly western blue-chip companies with interests in China, is creating a $300 million scholarship for study in China that he hopes will rival the Rhodes scholarship in prestige and influence. The programme, whose endowment represents one of the largest single gifts to education in the world and one of the largest philanthropic gifts ever in China, was announced by Mr. Schwarzman in Beijing on Sunday. The Schwarzman Scholars programme will pay all expenses for 200 students each year from around the world for a one-year master’s programme at Tsinghua...

The Washington lawyer is the quintessential Washington type. He has the huge house in Wesley Heights or Potomac; the million-dollar partnership bonuses; the Rolodex with everyone's private number; the squad of young associates who do the grunt work and call him Godfather; the easy intercourse with pols and corporate chieftains seeking free advice or high-priced counsel--and, of course, the ego to go with all of the above. He slips and slides in and out and around government, usually making his reputation through political work he can then sell on the open market. The Washington lawyer comes in a number of...

On CNN's Carol Costello show today, the following email was displayed: Conversation between Powell, Rice DCLeaks.com Dec 2015 email Leaked email captures Powell, Rice on Benghazi Powell: "Benghazi is a stupid witch hunt. Basic fault falls on a courageous ambassador who thoughts (sic) Libyans now love me and I am ok in this vulnerable place... But blame also rests on his leaders and supporters back home. Pat Kennedy, Intel community and yes, HRC" Rice: "Completely agree"

Gina Haspel's nomination for CIA director has not been easy. The current deputy director of the agency faces critics from both sides of the political aisle who are shining a spotlight on her role in the enhanced interrogation techniques program that was used during the George W. Bush administration. That program, which included what critics call harsh tactics, were employed in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wrote a whole op-ed about why Haspel, who was "complicit in torture," is wrong for the role of CIA chief.Condoleezza Rice, who was national security advisor at...

Brent Scowcroft, military assistant to President Nixon, and National Security Advisor to Presidents Ford and H.W. Bush, continues his attack on the bush foreign policy and Iraq War in an interview by Jeffrey Goldberg in The New Yorker (not available without subscription). In The Washington Note, Steven C. Clemons provides excerpts (here) from the interview: A principal reason that the Bush Administration gave no thought to unseating Saddam was that Brent Scowcroft gave no thought to it. An American occupation of Iraq would be politically and militarily untenable, Scowcroft told Bush. And though the President had employed the rhetoric of...

Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice says she supports President-elect Donald Trump ’s nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for attorney general. “[Sessions] is a man who is committed to justice and knows that law and order are necessary to guarantee freedom and liberty,” she wrote in a Monday letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), according to CNN . “I know that Sen. Sessions will uphold the laws of our great country and will work to ensure that every person here in the United States is given the voice that is deserved,” added Rice, who served...

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Excerpt - NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A former White House official who took top secret documents from U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's office and gave them to opposition figures in the Philippines was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison. Philippine-born Leandro Aragoncillo, a U.S. citizen and former Marine, pleaded guilty last year to taking the documents that included details on threats against U.S. government interests and military personnel in the Philippines. Aragoncillo worked on the security detail assigned to the vice president from 1999 to 2002, where he held a top security clearance. He later took a...

SNIP That was basically the attitude of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie after the Giants cornerback learned the NFL had admitted it erred on two key calls in the season-opening 27-26 loss to the Cowboys — blown calls that certainly could have changed the outcome of the game. “That’s just one you have to live with,’’ Rodgers-Cromartie said. “That was a tough one.’’ A third-quarter pass-interference call on Rodgers-Cromartie, who was shadowing receiver Terrence Williams on a third-and-4 play, handed the Cowboys 16 gift yards and a first down. That directly led to a Dallas touchdown. It should not have been a penalty,...

One of my ongoing political passions is the California US Senate race. For the greater part of my life, I have lived in a state languishing under two of the more liberal and/or worst US Senators in modern history. Dianne Feinstein, the senior senator by a few months, won her latest reelection by 30 points. She had deftly refused to debate her last opponent, arrogantly confiding to one reporter: “I’m running my own campaign.” Feinstein is barely tolerable compared to her ultra-liberal, retiring counterpart. Junior US Senator Barbara Boxer, a progressive figurehead, claimed that a “baby is a baby when...

Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke says that Senator Dick Durbin should explain his own previous opposition to the nominations of black women before accusing Senate Republicans of racial motivations for not confirming attorney-general nominee Loretta Lynch. Last week, after Republicans said they would only hold a confirmation vote for Lynch if Democrats approve language barring taxpayer funding for abortions in a human-trafficking bill, Durbin took to the Senate floor and invoked Rosa Parks, accusing Republicans of making Lynch “sit in the back of the bus.” But as Clarke points out, Durbin voted against the nominations of black women on more...

olitics: Sen. Dick Durbin, who says Republicans have shoved attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch to the "back of the bus," once filibustered and opposed the GOP nominations of black and Latino appeals court judges. Last week, Durbin accused Republicans of forcing Lynch, President Obama's African-American nominee to replace Eric Holder, to "sit in the back of the bus" until a vote on a controversial sex trafficking bill could be held. That thinly veiled reference to the moment in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat in a Montgomery, Ala., bus was meant to paint Senate Republicans as...

mailgate: Spokesperson Jen Psaki now says that the State Department has no record of Hillary Clinton signing Form OF-109, and it could find no record of Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice signing it either. Why check that? 'We have reviewed Secretary Clinton's official personnel file and administrative files and have no record of her signing the OF-109," Psaki said Tuesday, not bothering to explain why that seemingly simple check wasn't done earlier. Of course, there's no evidence or statement from Hillary that she did not sign the form, though Psaki added, "I think we are fairly certain she did not...

A question I often am asked is: "Who would you bet on to win the presidency?" Personally, I don't bet on politics, but here's my current take on the 2016 presidential race—with, of course, the caveat that we don't know which campaigns will turn out the best in terms of organization, strategy, tactics, or execution, much less which candidates will step on land mines along the way. The Democratic nomination appears fairly straightforward. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now the prohibitive favorite. If her early stumbles during her book tour, or remarks like the one she made about...

The US First Lady, Laura Bush, had tears in her eyes yesterday as she listened to a performance by the Watoto children's choir - made up mainly of children orphaned by HIV/Aids. Laura, and her husband, US President George W. Bush, were at The Aids Support Organisation clinic in Entebbe on the last stop of their four-hour visit to Uganda. During the emotional presentation, where President Yoweri Museveni was also present, Ms Bush wiped tears from her eyes as the children sang Christian songs of hope in English. Later, President Bush promised more support to Uganda in the fight...