For the Biz Channels and finance geeks, Davos 2020 is the Super Bowl, and it’s the 50th Anniversary! Can’t tell you how excited I am. We will NEVER forget the first time President Trump and our team went to Davos in 2018. They looked like Olympians! We could not have been MOAR proud of our team! This will be a combination Rally Thread for Day One and background, cuz Momma is excited!

Here is the link to the President’s speech at 5:30am Eastern Time, live from Davos.

Remember what it was like in 2018?

Here is the main link to the World Economic Forum website. You can follow @wef on Twitter as well. This year’s focus is on “The Voice of Youth”. It’s a perfect opportunity for President Trump to ignore pigtail Greta, once again. https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/01/inside-davos-50th-annual-meeting-brings-world-s-best-known-digital-media-creators-to-represent-the-voice-of-youth

Where is Davos, you may ask?

The region is known as Davos Klosters, kind of like two cities which run together, like Dallas/Ft.Worth. There is a large convention facility here, 34 meeting rooms, for 3000 attendees (capacity is 5000). Can’t get a hotel room no matter how hard you try or how much you spend…. and what billionaire would stay in a standard twin? If you want to wander through the facility, with a 360 degree view, take a look here: https://www.davoscongress.ch/en/

There are 235 events for the week scheduled around the official meeting from January 21st-January 24th. Can we imagine how many unofficial events will take place? And the dinner tab? Take a look at the tourism division: https://www.davos.ch/en/davos-klosters/events/ With all the ski-swooshing and ice skating, warm brandy and aperitifs, how can they get anything done? Yet, according to ABC, the hot topics will be climate change and income inequality. Yeah,…….. right. The world’s greatest collection of self-centered billionaires is worried about kids, pollution, and poor people? With what? Carbon credits to assuage their guilt? https://abcnews.go.com/Business/climate-change-economic-inequality-loom-large-powerful-descend/story?id=68403303

Billionaires arrive to Davos in jets, helos or luxury vehicles, but the sight of 3 Marine Choppers, escorted by Swiss helos, coming across the snow-tipped Alpine valley was breathtaking in 2018.

Remember the snipers on the roof of the hotel, to protect the leader of the free world?

All those patsy high-brow billionaires holding out cell phones out like they were at a Trump Rally?
It was AWESOME.

And then, President Trump gave his speech……. Here it is. He warned them all.

And billionaires, scalping tickets to get into the Wilbur Ross speech?
Bwwhhahahhaaaa…… Hilarious.

Maria Bartiromo was able to interview our Wilburine in 2018. In fact, the whole Fox Biz crew is already in Davos, setting up for 2020. Maria had to leave the FOX Sunday broadcast about 48 minutes into the hour because she had the flu. Hope she is well enough to travel to Switzerland. It’s so exciting. We’ve turned the tide. America has the momentum.

Yes, 2020 is a little different than 2018. This time, President Trump and team enter the arena having beaten them all. Trump was right and they were wrong. Time for capitulation and groveling from the ruling class. President Trump’s policies were clearly the best choice, if they really cared about the environment, income inequality, and economic freedom for poor people. President Trump has delivered sweeping victories on these issues for America and the free people of the world.
AMERICANS – Kicking A$$

It took the globalists 100years of working in the shadows, 35yrs in earnest, to destroy nations, raid the peoples’ wealth, and bring the USA to it’s knees. The whole “Awakening” merely proves the lies of globalist ideology. Trump turned on the lights and woke us up.
Trump won many battles in 3years, and now we’re ready to win the war.

Do we all truly comprehend the magnitude of Phase One, and the idea of bringing China to heel? President Trump destroyed the 48yr long China public relations campaign.
In three years? We can’t possible fathom how big of a turn it was. Yet, President Trump knew. Trump did it. Despite overwhelming opposition, one world leader was determined. Our guy!
NO ONE thought that was possible.

THEY told us we had to wait. We shouldn’t “go it alone”. We needed consensus with our allies to approach “the China Problem”.

Bull$hit.

Our “allies” would have dithered like they always do, like they are STILL doing, afraid of the unruly toddler, China, who became an overly-aggressive adolescent. Who has time to wait on leaders with conflicting personal agendas? The CHINA problem was/is obvious. At this point, who would be dumb enough to vote for a Democrat in 2020 who would embrace China, rolling back the progress we’ve made? “Come on, Man”, says Biden, and Bloomberg loves China.

Out in fly-over country, we all knew better because we could see the decay from out front porches. Citizen Trump knew the USA had a problem when Japanese autos were rolling off ships into the port of LA in the 1980s. America has had a “problem” for a long time….., but we were told to get used to it. It was our “new normal”.……… and thus, our factories were idled and rusted. Bruce Springsteen sang songs about factories and idled steel mills. To Don Henley, was it the “End of the Innocence”, or was it merely bad leadership from both right and left?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG-AQir0KV8

Yet, let’s look at what the Trump Team did when they came into office. Aggressively and methodically, beginning immediately after inauguration, Team Trump annihilated French subsidies for AirBus at the WTO and then…. annihilated the WTO.
OMG. Did anyone at CNBC see that one coming?
And renegotiating NAFTA – Senate signing USMCA? In the SAME WEEK as Phase One with China????????

They all thought Trump was crazy/stupid/a dotard/orange/…… and they told us THEY were the experts……. because first they make fun of you, and then, they call you a racist……… right?

THEY were wrong.

THEY are back on their heels and scurrying for cover like roaches.

The mask has slipped.

President Trump is the Conor McGregor of nations, trade, finance, and war.

In an historical perspective, Team Trump turned Word-Wide Trade into the WWE (world-wide economics as opposed to the World Wrestling Enterprise/Foundation). What Trump has done with trade and our economy is the equivalent to a 40 second knockout to the globalists. He proved them all wrong, leaving the pundit class, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Beijing, Brussels, Jebel Ali, all the billionaires, stunned.

Damn straight.

Daddy’s home.
Party is over.
He’s done it all and he does the things that no one else has the courage to do. President Trump is THIS GUY, the fighter, and people all over the world, LOVE IT. From France to Hong Kong, it’s time to let the people be free from the globalists’ sloppy and harmful leadership.

And …..not only has President Trump/Team Trump turned around trade and our economy, he’s begun to intentionally remove well-known threats to peace, stability, and economic prosperity for the entire world, and therefore, our economy. We’ve never seen anything like this before. Amazing from a 30K foot view. Most people can understand a military defense, but we’ve never focused on an economic defense before………. Trump.

No one is talking about the overall strategy of Team Trump….. except us.

Team Trump is intentionally and swiftly alleviating the chances of “Black Swan events”. For instance, Iran mining the Straits of Hormuz would normally cause oil prices to spike and throw the American/EU economies into chaos……… but Iran’s threat to the oil economy has been muted……. because the USA is the #1 producer of oil and LNG in the world. Yes, OIL is one of the top three commodities traded by every single country in the world – Top Three. Again, America leads. We’re even exporting energy.

Don’t think it was easy to turn around the Energy sector after Obama. Recall the waste of Solyndra, and the $6,000/gallon biofuel flown to Afghanistan? Remember, we were within a “smidgen” of entering the Paris Accords, which had very little to do with our precious environment and everything to do with redistribution of American wealth. What was it President Trump tweeted to Macron, “How’s that Paris Accord working out for ya’?“

For America to lead the world from a strong position, and reduce the “Black Swan” or the idea of being flanked, we had to have an economic defense. Lowering the Corporate Tax Cut was a heavy lift. Tweaking our energy policy took an all out effort on behalf of Team Trump, including new pipelines (Dakota and Keystone) and refineries, and fast-tracking the building of said refineries. We should build a statue in honor of Sec Rick Perry.

Good heavens, we’re exporting energy to EUROPE. GRASP the concept! Did anyone from the WSJ forecast that one when President Trump was elected?

Of course, WE knew what the President was doing because HE TOLD US. He was making America safer, and wealthier, again. We listened, and we were with him the whole way.

What about DPRK? A nuclear bomb in Japan or the western US coast would be the ultimate “Black Swan Event”. Past USA Presidents appeased the North Koreans, but not our guy. The pundits told us President Trump would get us into WWIII. Remember? Did anyone expect the President of the USA to walk into North Korea….. after insulting Kim on twitter? Trash-talking….. trolling…… (just like he’s doing with Iran right now?) Wonder why the pundits aren’t talking about “Little Rocket Man”, anymore? Because it worked. Trump was right. Again, the threat was neutralized. President Trump even made Japan and South Korea “Safer Again“…..

Problems in the Middle East would be a likely Black Swan Event. Yet, Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem, called out the Intel community, reordered NATO, organized and unified the GCC, and wrap your head around it — even Israel and Saudi are working together. The pundits told us President Trump should have gone to Canada or Mexico as his first foreign trip. Remember? They thought he was stupid to go to Saudi, and they made fun of him……. and the power of the ORB.

Amazingly, like cherry-on-top for the foreign policy think tanks, AFTER ISIS was mopped up, President Trump, with all attribution to our intel community and military, removed Soleimani, over the objections of the Dems/media. The MSM told us………. again………. WW3 would break out and Trump was reckless. Shareblue collapsed on Twitter and Hollyweird was ready to move to Canada. Trudeau even blamed TRUMP when Iran shot down the Ukrainian airliner. Again, they were wrong! Now, President Trump is now laser-focused in on Iran.

What’s the over/under on the Mullahs making it to next Christmas?

At the last minute, we received President Trump’s schedule of meetings. Take a look at the highlights. MOAR winning? You think he’s not focused on Iran? Let’s say it out loud….. MAXIMUM PRESSURE.

At @wef in Davos, Pres Trump has meetings scheduled
wiht Pres Salih of Iraq, PM Khan of Pakistan, Pres Barzani of Kurdistan Region, et al, says WH.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 20, 2020

OUR guy smoked them out, the corrupt rats, the crony politicos who only want jobs for their inept kids, and Team Trump is reworking their bad deals, all over the world.

Get ready though, because our man, Trump, can do two things at one time. The EU is on his horizon, the Allies who have been free-loading for 70yrs. President Trump forced the EU to reveal themselves, gave the people REAL HOPE AND CHANGE. You betcha, Brussels is in trouble and Merkel is looking for an exit. The EU trade deal is next on the agenda, and Britain is on our side. We all know that, right? President Trump is a like a 20 ton boulder dropped in the middle of the EU pond. BOOM!

Let’s not forget those nipping at our heels at home, those who criticize safely from the sidelines after 4 decades of inaction, those who are angry at the possibility of losing their graft or fiefdom. Consider that our President is mildly irked at the Dems impeachment parade in Congress. Once again, the President is on a world stage at Davos and the Dems are doing their best to undermine him and America. Plus, President Trump has to deal with juveniles like Macron, Trudeau, and Merkel, the puppets to the Davos Billionaire Globalists. I’m thinking, their comeuppance will occur forthwith.

Macron knows he’s in trouble and is trying to get ahead.

Excellent! https://t.co/5OBYCFQCQo

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2020

Does anyone here think the execs at Google, Facebook, and Twitter will intentionally rig the election to stop Trump in 2020? It’s okay, raise your hand. It’s a common fear given the censorship we’ve all endured. Yet, the tech companies CAN’T SCREW OVER PRESIDENT TRUMP. Read the Macron tweet above again – the one about digital taxes. The EU is ready to tax the hell out of our tech companies……. and guess what? TECH NEEDS DADDY TRUMP to help them. President Trump has a hold of them by their billion dollar balls. They cannot escape the EU, and what would obviously lead to every other country in the world taxing them, without a fierce defender like TRUMP. ….. I mean, does anyone think Warren would defend Silicon Valley on a world stage? Make me laugh….

Yeah, Google is screwed. Well played, Mr. President.

Keep in mind, our President specializes in revenge. He has the wind at his back after Congressional approval of USMCA and the Phase One China Deal, President Trump will slay them them in Davos. What a glorious time to be alive! All the efforts to defeat him have failed thus far, and a lesser man would never been able to withstand the pressure. Impeachment will also fail. Fact is, if impeachment was an issue for the finance guys, the market would reflect their concern. Have you noticed? We’re hitting new highs!

“Our economy is the envy of the world.”, President Trump from Battle Creek, Michigan.

Hey, I’m no expert Art Major with a byline at Axios, I just make the blueberry muffins, but I’m thinkin’ payback and a mop-up operation is in the weather forecast for Davos…….

……… along with peace and prosperity.

Note the optics of this week, important for those who don’t follow politics and those few persuadable Independents. LAST WEEK we had Dems impeaching versus President while he delivered on China and USMCA. We had Soleimani and no Iranian war from the week before. THIS WEEK, the President at Davos will take the message of American competence and prosperity to the world.…… versus Dems focusing on impeachment. It’s Trump versus the harpies, and Trump wins on point.

The best is yet to come!

THE BEST IS YET TO COME! pic.twitter.com/YBMOBurdHQ

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2020

Momma is “virtually” headed to Davos, bring your sweaters and skis.

https://media.giphy.com/media/l0MYwvp2YnfOQfeNy/giphy.gif

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Thus says the Lord to you:
‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, 
for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
2 Chronicles 20:15

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This Superlative Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It’s also a place to read, post and discuss news that’s worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot, unencumbered by political correctness. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for your fellow QTreepers.

Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront another poster.

If you feel the need to bare your fangs, we have a companion site – called The U Tree – where all legal speech is allowed and where you can run wild and free with the Wolfpack.

But NOT HERE in The Q Tree. Personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Important Guidelines, outlined here. Let’s not give the Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.

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The Storm is upon us.
Please remember to Pray for our President.

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AND WHAT TIME IS IT?
TIME TO DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!

Our movement is about replacing a failed and CORRUPT political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People.
Candidate Donald J. Trump

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Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights.
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

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On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

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Hopefully, every Sunday, you can find something here that will build you up a little . . . give you a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

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The Battle is Mine

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You. 2 Chronicles 20:12
Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  2 Chronicles 20:15
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds 2 Cor 10:3-4
Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands. 1 Samuel 17:47

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“The Battle Is Mine”
December 22, 2019 by Charles R. Swindoll
Scriptures: 1 Samuel 17:40–47

The beautiful thing about this story is that it’s a perfect example of how God operates. He magnifies HIS name when we are weak. We don’t have to be eloquent or strong or beautiful or physically fit or handsome. We don’t have to be well-traveled or brilliant or have all the answers to be blessed of God. He honors our faith. All He asks is that we trust Him, that we stand before Him in integrity and faith, and He’ll win the battle. God is just waiting for His moment, waiting for us to trust Him so He can empower us to battle our giants.

Remember, Goliath is still a giant . . . still an imposing presence. David had all the odds against him. There wasn’t a guy in the Philistine camp—or probably the Israelite camp either—who would have bet on David. But David didn’t need their backing. He needed God—none other. After picking up the stones, he approached the gigantic Philistine warrior.

The shepherd boy made the giant smile. What a joke! Just imagine! David stood before this massive creature unintimidated!

Intimidation. That’s our MAJOR battle when we face giants. When they intimidate us, we get tongue-tied. Our thoughts get confused. We forget how to pray. We focus on the odds against us. We forget whom we represent, and we stand there with our knees knocking. I wonder what God must think, when all the while He has promised us, “My power is available. There’s no one on this earth greater. You trust Me.”

Be assured, David’s eyes weren’t on the giant. Intimidation played no part in his life. What a man! His eyes were fixed on God. With invincible confidence in his God, David responded, “that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’s” (17:47). There it is. That’s the secret of David’s life. “The battle is the LORD’s.” Are you trying to do your own battle? Trying to do things your way? Trying to outsmart the enemy, outfox him? You can’t. But God can. And He’s saying to you, “You do it My way and I’ll honor you. You do it your way and you’re doomed to fail. The battle is Mine.”

https://www.insight.org/resources/daily-devotional/individual/quot-the-battle-is-mine-quot1

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What about us Deplorables?

What should we do? Should we just “Let go and let God”? Should we all just totally back off in our struggle against the deep state, corrupt politicians, and other manifestations of evil in the world today? Or maybe we should form or join a prayer group to ask God to handle all our concerns (a very good idea, by the way) and then become complete bystanders and onlookers (not so great an idea)?

David didn’t ask Saul to build an alter and sacrifice two dozen bullocks, all the while praying to God that He send down fire from heaven and incinerate every one of the Philistines. David took his sling and some stones and, with full trust in the power of God, went out to meet and defeat the giant Goliath.

While I have absolutely no doubt that God is more than capable of handling (and is) all of the problems in the world that He chooses to address, God works through and uses ordinary people (e.g., Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Mary, the 12 Apostles and Saul), at least in part, to accomplish His extraordinary ends. We, President Trump and many, many others may play minor to major roles in carrying out God’s plans.

What we are experiencing is God’s fight. He will win this fight, perhaps using some of us to further His ends. And, in the end, God’s plan, as He has formulated it from eternity past, will be fully accomplished.

The victory has already been won!

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The Fight Is On

The fight is on, the trumpet sound is ringing out,
The cry “To arms!” is heard afar and near;
The Lord of hosts is marching on to victory,
The triumph of the Christ will soon appear.

The fight is on, arouse, ye soldiers brave and true!
Jehovah leads, and vict’ry will assure;
Go buckle on the armor God has given you,
And in His strength unto the end endure.

The Lord is leading on to certain victory;
The bow of promise spans the eastern sky;
His glorious Name in every land shall honored be;
The morn will break, the dawn of peace is nigh.

The fight is on, O Christian soldier,
And face to face in stern array,
With armor gleaming, and colors streaming,
The right and wrong engage today!
The fight is on, but be not weary;
Be strong, and in His might hold fast;
If God be for us, His banner o’er us,
We’ll sing the victor’s song at last!

  ~  Lelia N. Morris  1862-1929

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Folks, this is one which will make your heart soar. Please read. Link was sent to me by dear husband, on WordPress, thankful and a deep hat-tip to Don Johnson, and of course, Rabbi Dov Fisher. https://ayearningforpublius.wordpress.com/2020/01/16/everyone-is-smart-except-donald-trump-rabbi-dov-fischer/ Copied here. It was apparently written approximately 18 months into President Trump’s Administration. Would love to see what our dear Rabbi has to say currently.

Get ready to cheer!

Friends and followers. This is well worth the read, which is why I am posting on my blog today. Rabbi Dov Fischer makes good sense. Who is Rabbi Dov Fischer? Rabbi Dov Fischer is an attorney and adjunct professor of law, a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Coalition for Jewish Values, congregational rabbi of Young Israel of Orange County, California, and holds prominent leadership roles in several national rabbinic and other Jewish organizations. He has been Chief Articles Editor of UCLA Law Review, clerked for the Hon. Danny J. Boggs in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and served for most of the past decade on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America. His writings have appeared in the Weekly Standard, National Review, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Jerusalem Post, American Thinker, Frontpage Magazine, and Israel National News. READ ON!

Everyone Is Smart, Except Trump

By Rabbi Dov Fischer

It really is quite simple. Everyone is smart except Donald J. Trump. That’s why they all are billionaires, and all got elected President. Only Trump does not know what he is doing. Only Trump does not know how to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. Anderson Cooper knows how to stand up to Putin. The whole crowd at MSNBC does. All the journalists do.

They could not stand up to Matt Lauer at NBC. They could not stand up to Charlie Rose at CBS. They could not stand up to Mark Halperin at NBC Nor up to Leon Wieseltier at the New Republic, nor Jann Wenner at Rolling Stone, nor Michael Oreskes at NPR, at the New York Times, or at the Associated Press. But — oh, wow! — Can they ever stand up to Putin! Only Trump is incapable of negotiating with the Russian tyrant.

Remember the four years when Anderson Cooper was President of the United States? And before that — when the entire Washington Post editorial staff jointly were elected to be President? Remember? Neither do I.

The Seedier Media have never negotiated life and death, not corporate life and death, and not human life and death. They think they know how to negotiate, but they do not know how. They go to a college, are told by peers that they are smart, get some good grades, proceed to a graduate degree in journalism, and get hired as analysts. Now they are experts, ready to take on Putin and the Iranian Ayatollahs at age 30.

That is not the road to expertise in tough dealing. The alternate path is that, along the way, maybe you get forced into some street fights. Sometimes the other guy wins, and sometimes you beat the intestines out of him. Then you deal with grown-ups as you mature, and you learn that people can be nasty, often after they smile and speak softly. You get cheated a few times, played. And you learn. Maybe you become an attorney litigating multi-million-dollar case matters. Say what you will about attorneys, but those years — not the years in law school, not the years drafting legal memoranda, but the years of meeting face-to-face and confronting opposing counsel — those years can teach a great deal. They can explain how to transition from sweet, gentle, diplomatic negotiating to tough negotiating. At some point, with enough tough-nosed experience, you figure out Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” yourself.

Trump’s voters get him because not only is he we, but we are he. We were not snowed flaked-for-life by effete professors who themselves had never negotiated tough life-or-death serious deals. Instead, we live in the real world, and we know how that works. Not based on social science theories, not based on “conceptual negotiating models.” But based on the people we have met over life and always will hate. That worst boss we ever had. The coworker who tried to sabotage us. We know the sons of bums whom we survived, the dastardly types who are out there, and we learned from those experiences how to deal with them. We won’t have John Kerry soothe us by having James Taylor sing “You’ve Got a Friend” carols.

The Bushes got us into all kinds of messes. The first one killed the economic miracle that Reagan had fashioned. The second one screwed up the Middle East, where Iraq and Iran beautifully were engaged in killing each other for years, and he got us mired into the middle of the muddle. Clinton was too busy with Monica Lewinsky to protect us from Osama bin Laden when we had him in our sights. Hillary gave us Benghazi and more. And Obama and Kerry gave us the Iran Deal, ISIS run amok, America in retreat. All to the daily praise of a media who now attack Trump every minute of every day.
So let us understand a few things:

NEGOTIATING WITH NATO

NATO is our friend. They also rip off America. They have been ripping us off forever. We saved their butts — before there even was a NATO — in World War I. They messed up, and 116,456 Americans had to die to save their butts.

Then they messed up again for the next two decades because West Europeans are effete and so obsessed with their class manners and their rules of savoir-faire and their socialist welfare states and their early retirements that they did not have the character to stand up to Hitler in the 1930s. Peace in our time. So they messed up, and we had to save their butts again. And another 405,399 Americans died for them during World War II. And then we had to rebuild them! And we had to station our boys in Germany and all over their blood-stained continent. So, hey, we love those guys. We love NATO.

And yet they still rip us off. We pay 4% of our gigantic gross domestic product to protect them, and they will not pay a lousy 2% of their GDP towards their own defense. Is there a culture more penny-pinching-cheap-and-stingy than the delicate constituents of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? These cheap baseborn prigs will not pay their fare. They are too cheap. They expect America to send boys to die for them in one world war, then another — hundreds of thousands — and then to pay for their NATO defense even a century later. And then they have the temerity to cheat us further in trade

Long before Trump, they set up tariffs against us for so many things If the average American knew how badly Europe has been ripping us off for decades with their duties, no one in this country would buy anything European again. We would say, as a matter of self-respect and personal pride, “I no longer will buy anything but American, no matter what it costs.”

Every American President has complained about the cheating and imbalance — the NATO penny-pinching-cheapness, the tariff and trade imbalances. In more recent years, the various Bushes complained about it. Even Obama complained about it. But they all did it so gently, so diplomatically. They would deliver the sermon, just as the pastor predictably tells the church-goers on Sunday morning that he is against sin, and the Europeans would sit quietly and nod their heads — nodding from sleeping, not from agreeing — and then they would go back out and sin some more. Another four years of America being suckered and snookered. All they had to do was give Obama a Nobel Peace Prize his ninth month in office and let Kerry ride his bike around Paris.

So Trump did what any effective negotiator would do: he took note of past approaches to NATO and their failures, and correctly determined that the only way to get these penny-pinching-cheap baseborn prigs to pay their freight would be to bulldoze right into their faces, stare them right in their glazed eyes with cameras rolling, and tell them point-blank the equivalent of:

“You are the cheapest penny-pinching, miserly, stingy, tight wadded skinflints ever. And it is going to stop on my watch. Whatever it takes from my end, you selfish, curmudgeonly cheap prigs, you are going to pay your fair share. I am not being diplomatic. I am being All-Business: either you start to pay or, wow, are you in for some surprises! And you know what you read in the Fake News: I am crazy! I am out of control! So, lemme see. I know: We will go to a trade war! How do you like that? Maybe we even will pull all our troops out of Europe. Hmmm. Yeah, maybe. Why not? Sounds good. Well, let’s see.”
So Trump stuffed it into their quiche-and-schnitzel ingesting faces. And he convinced them — thanks to America’s Seedier Media who are the real secret to the “Legend That is Trump” — that he just might be crazy enough to go to a trade war and to pull American boys home. They knew that Clinton and Bush x 2 and Kerry and Hillary and Nobel Laureate Obama never would do it. But they also know that Trump just might. And if they think they are going to find comfort and moderating in his new advisers, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, alongside him. Nuh-uh.

So CNN and the Washington Post and all the Seedier Media attacked Trump for days: He is destroying the alliance! He attacks our friends!

Baloney. Obama was the one whom the Left Echo Chamber… Chamber… Chamber — never called out for attacking our friends — Israel, Britain, so many others — while cozying up to Hugo Chavez, bowing to dictators, and dancing the tango for Raul Castro. Trump is just the opposite: He knows who the friends are, and he wants to maintain and strengthen those friendships.

It is no different from a parent telling a 35-year-old son: “I have been supporting you for thirty-five years I put you through college by signing four years and $100,000 PLUS in Loans. You graduated college fifteen years ago. For fifteen years I have been asking you nicely to look for a job and to start contributing. Instead, you sit home all day playing video games, texting your friends on a smartphone I pay for, and picking little fuzz balls out of your navel. So, look, I love you. You are my flesh and blood. But if you are not employed and earning a paycheck — and contributing to the cost of this household — in six months, we are throwing you out of the house.” That boy is NATO. Trump is Dad. And all of us have been signing for the PLUS Loans.”

NEGOTIATING WITH PUTIN.

Putin is a bad guy. A really bad guy. He is better than Lenin. Better than Stalin, Khrushchev, Kosygin, Brezhnev, Pol Pot, Mao. But he is a really bad guy.

Here’s the thing: Putin is a dictator. He answers to no one. He does whatever he wants. If there arises an opponent, that guy dies. Maybe the opponent gets poked with a poisoned umbrella. Maybe he gets shot on the street. Maybe the opponent is forced to watch Susan Rice interviews telling the world that Benghazi happened because of a YouTube video seen by nine derelicts in Berkeley and that Bowe Berghdal served with honor and distinction. But, one way or another, the opponent dies.

Trump knows this about Putin. And here is what that means: If you insult Putin in public, like by telling the news media just before or after meeting with him that he is the Butcher of Crimea, and he messed with our elections and is an overall jerk — then you will get nothing behind closed doors from Putin. Putin will decide “To heck with you, and to heck with the relationship we just forged.” Putin will get even, will take intense personal revenge, even if it is bad for Russia — even if it is bad for Putin. Because there are no institutional reins on him.

But if you go in public and tell everyone that Putin is a nice guy (y’know, just like Kim Jong Un) and that Putin intensely maintains that he did not mess with elections — not sweet little Putey Wutey (even though he apparently did) — then you next can maintain the momentum established beforehand in the private room. You can proceed to remind Putin what you told him privately: that this garbage has to stop —or else. That if he messes in Syria, we will do “X.” If he messes with our Iran boycott, we will do “Y.” We will generate so much oil from hydraulic fracturing and from ANWR and from all our sources that we will glut the market — if not tomorrow, then a year from now. We will send even more lethal offensive military weapons to Ukraine. We can restore the promised shield to Eastern Europe that Obama withdrew. And even if we cannot mess with Russian elections (because they have no elections), they do have computers — and, so help us, we will mess with their technology in a way they cannot imagine.

Tump knows from his advisers what we can do. If he sweet-talks Putin in public — just Putin on the Ritz — then everything that Trump has told Putin privately can be reinforced with action, and he even can wedge concessions because, against that background, Putin knows that no one will believe that he made any concessions. Everyone is set to believe that Putin is getting whatever he wants, that Trump understands nothing. In that setting, Putin can make concessions and still save face.

That is why Trump talks about him that way. And that is the only possible way to do it when negotiating with a tyrant who has no checks and balances on him. If you embarrass the tyrant publicly, then the tyrant never will make concessions because he will fear that people will say he was intimidated and backed down. And that he never will do. Meanwhile, Trump has expelled 60 Russians from America, reversed Obama policy and sent lethal weapons to Ukraine, and is pressing Germany severely on its pipeline project with Russia.

THE BOTTOM LINE

At the end of the day, Donald Trump is over seventy years old. He has made many mistakes in his life. He still makes some He is human. But Trump likewise has spent three score and a dozen years learning. He has seen some of his businesses go bankrupt, and he has learned from those experiences to be a billionaire and not let it happen again. No doubt that he has been fooled, outsmarted in years past. And he has learned from life.

Trump is a tough and smart negotiator. He sizes up his opponent, and he knows that the approach that works best for one is not the same as for another. It does not matter what he says publicly about his negotiating opponent. What matters is what results months later.

In his first eighteen months in Washington, this man has turned around the American economy, brought us near full employment, reduced the welfare and food stamp lines, wiped out ISIS in Raqqa, moved America’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem, successfully has launched massive deregulation of the economy, has opened oil exploration in ANWR, is rebuilding the military massively, has walked out of the useless Paris Climate Accords that were negotiated by America’s amateurs who always get snookered, canned the disastrous Iran Deal, exited the bogus United Nations Human Rights Council. He convinced Canada and Mexico that he would walk out of NAFTA if they didn’t negotiate a new and fair trade agreement (they did), and he has the Europeans convinced he would walk out of NATO if they don’t stop being the cheap and lazy parasitic penny-pinchers they are

He has slashed income taxes, expanded legal protections for college students falsely accused of crimes, has taken real steps to protect religious freedoms and liberties promised in the First Amendment, boldly has taken on the Lyme-disease-quality of a legislative mess that he inherited from Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama on immigration, and has appointed a steady line of remarkably brilliant conservative federal judges to sit on the district courts, the circuit appellate courts, and the Supreme Court.

What has Anderson Cooper achieved during that period? Jim Acosta or the editorial staffs of the New York Times and Washington Post? They have not even found the courage and strength to stand up to the coworkers and celebrities within their orbits who abuse sexually or psychologically or emotionally. They have no accomplishments to compare to his. Just their effete opinions, all echoing each other, all echoing, echoing, echoing. They gave us eight years of Nobel Peace Laureate Obama negotiating with the ISIS JV team, calming the rise of the oceans, and healing the planet.

We will take Trump negotiating with Putin any day.

Thank you, Rabbi!

Welcome to the Friday OPEN THREAD at the QTree! What a week it has been. What would we do without FLEP’s News Roundup to keep up?

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A bit of good news and fair tidings for you all. The quince bush at our house is in full bloom. Time marches on. Spring is around the corner. It’s time for Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, and Easter! Who is sleeping with seed catalogs under their pillow? The guys can be grumpy about spring and pastel flowers but the girls love it.

We don’t believe in political correctness at QTree. You can say what you want, comment on what other people said, and so on. Free Speech is practiced here. ENJOY IT. Use it or lose it. Important Guidelines are outlined here in the January 1st open thread, with an addendum on 20191110. In other words, please keep it SOMEWHAT civil. We have a new board – actually a new SITE – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation. NOT HERE. This board will remain a REFUGE for those who need civility, either some or all of the time. That’s life at QTreehouse.

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SPEAK THE FIVE WORDS BOLDLY TO OUR PRESIDENT!, “I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!“

And remember….. it is time to drain the swamp in DC and LOCALLY. Please make a commitment in the new year to attend a LOCAL board meeting for your town or municipality or school board. Get involved and make your presence known. Put your local officials phone numbers in your cell phone and call them once a week (or more often).

“Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People.”

Candidate Donald J Trump

Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights.
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

The Iowa caucuses are around the corner, USMCA and China Phase 1 are complete, the President is heading to Davos, and campaign season will begin in earnest. We can’t wait! Exciting times.

Bring it on!

How long have we chased “peace in the Middle East”? Probably since long before the USA became a country. President Trump refers to it as the most difficult negotiation of all time. Is it possible that we could be close to peace? Could it be?

Peter Goodman is an economic journalist for the New York Times. Smart guy. While most of us will not go beyond the pay-wall to read the article, here is a brief summary. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/business/economy/iran-economy.html

• The Iranian Economy contracted 9.5% last year.
• Oil exports are effectively “zero” (yeah, a few smugglers but Iran is self-reported as effectively zero oil exports).
• Inflation within Iran is 40%.
• Iranian median income is at point for bare subsistence, can’t go any lower (they cannot survive another year of American sanctions)
• 25% unemployment for those under age 30 (highest demo) and college educated unemployment is higher than tradesmen (smart people with time on their hands)
• An Ayatollah who is 80yrs old, with Soleimani dead, and who just had to admit the Iranians mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner…. just weeks after they killed over 1,000 protesters and imprisoned thousands more.
• The Prime Minister in Baghdad, Iraq, who was pro-Iranian, announced his resignation (because the Iraqis protested corruption within the government), effective end of January (which is why the USA is not listening to his requests to withdraw from the country).

Yeah, it’s ugly in Iran. Yet, as we all know, leaders can rally domestic support against a common enemy. For instance, President Trump can rally farmers against China’s aggression and targeting of American farmers during trade negotiations. Likewise, NORMALLY, Iran has been able to rally domestic support against the USA and Israel……… but a funny thing happened on the way to the Baghdad airport.

We’re seeing a change in sentiment…… Some of the Iranians are talking about a period of darkness, the past 40yrs, and moving to the light…….

#Iranians sang the true national anthem in Gorgan yesterday. Expect the true anthem to be heard across #Iran as the country emerges from 40 years of darkness. pic.twitter.com/viw4ByOyMc

— Alireza Nader علیرضا نادر (@AlirezaNader) January 13, 2020

Emerging from 40yrs of darkness…… Hmmmmm……..

After the death of Soleimani, a three day mourning period was carefully orchestrated. While publicly staged demonstrations, designed for western media, showed an outpouring of loss and support for Soleimani, very quickly, we learned the opposite was true.

Back in November, protests inside Iran were met with brutal force. Local citizens saw the leader of the intensely brutal police/security forces as ………. Soleimani.

“Astonishingly, the death toll has now surpassed 1,500. Over 4,000 have been injured, and more than 12,000 are in prisons and at risk of torture,” said Ambassador Blackwell, referring to the report published by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). 

https://100percentfedup.com/iranian-protesters-cheer-death-of-iran-general-soleimani-he-should-have-been-taken-out-many-years-ago/

And here, after the death of Soleimani, from the Washington Post.

Don’t believe Iranian propaganda about the mourning for Soleimani

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/06/dont-believe-iranian-propaganda-about-mourning-soleimani/ Jan 6, 2020 There are many Iranian voices who think Soleimani was a war criminal, but Western journalists rarely reach out to them. Ironically, the Western media is more skeptical of such state-organized …

Soleimani was not universally loved. Ahwazis were forced to mourn Soleimani and mad about it. They set fire to billboards honoring him. https://www.dusc.org/en/article/5151

Then, President Trump issued the famous Farsi tweets from January 12th, supporting the people of Iran in admiration of their “courage”.

مشاور امنیت ملی امروز عنوان کرد كه تحریم ها و اعتراضات، ایران را«به شدت تحت فشار»قرار داده است و آنها را مجبور به مذاكره می كند.در واقع، اصلا برایم اهمیتی نداردکه آیا آنها مذاکره می کنند یا نه.این کاملاً به عهده ی خودشان است، اما سلاح هسته ای نداشته باشیدو«معترضان خود را نکشید.» https://t.co/DBGGs8QFcJ

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2020

خطاب به رهبران ايران: معترضان خود را نكشيد. هزاران تن تاكنون به دست شما كشته يا زنداني شده اند، و جهان نظاره گر است. مهمتر از ان، ايالات متحده نظاره گر است. اينترنت را دوباره وصل كنيد و به خبرنگاران اجازه دهيد ازادانه حركت كنند! كشتار مردم بزرگ ايران را متوقف كنيد! https://t.co/rzpx3Nfn03

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020

As Scott Adams pointed out, if anyone was worried about meddling in the affairs of another country, let alone an election, this is meddling in a serious way. And we all approve. The media hasn’t even checked up to notice or condemn. Plus, President Trump is winning the persuasion argument. When Iranian students go out of their way to avoid stepping on an American flag, it’s a sea change.

It didn’t happen in just one place, either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBWmJq33GOg

You have to wonder about a regime who paints flags of foreign nations on the ground to condition their citizens to trample said flags. Pretty weird.

Yet, the Iranian Mullahs are not quite ready to slip the mask just yet. Remember how President Trump had to wear down the Panda of China? It takes a while. Here, we are seeing what may be the Mullahs last gasps……… in paid-for-support.

80k Iraqis in the pro-#Iran militias in #Iraq, receive between $1.2 and $1.6 billion a year from Iraqi government. On January 25, they'll hold a "million man" rally to demand withdrawal of US troops. Now you know who the protesters will be. #MSM will depict them as average Iraqis

— Hussain Abdul-Hussain (@hahussain) January 15, 2020

If Iran or the USA Dems/media can convince the US military to leave Iraq NOW, then Iran gain control of Iraq, something they could not do during the 8yr war. While all of us want to bring our men/women home from Iraq, this is not the right time. We’re so close.

Strangely, the UK, France and Germany notified Iran of new UN Sanctions for their violation of the JCPOA. Wut? Didn’t the press tell us that all the EU leaders hated and mocked our President? Yet, they’re doing what we want them to do? How did that happen?

And……… look at where the President’s support is coming from on Iran. He has record numbers of approval for Republicans, the Gulf Council is behind him, the Iraqi people are behind him and want Iran OUT, the UN is now behind him, Russia and China have not uttered a word of condemnation about killing Soleimani (which means they like the idea), and now……… the young Iranian people are shifting sentiment.

The only people opposed to Middle East peace are the Mullahs, Obama leftovers, and the Dems/Press Corps. Gosh, if peace broke out, we would have to hospitalize John Kerry and his minions.

We’re closer than we think. Wrap your head around the idea.

We’re winning.