Trump Replaces Priebus With Kelly. Dems and Vichy Republicans Clutch Their Pearls. “Unconventional”? Darn Skippy. (A KJ Analysis)

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Real-Collusion-600-LI

Well, the Beltway is once again abuzz with fevered criticism and conjecture about an Administrative move by President Donald J. Trump.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that

President Donald Trump replaced Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Friday with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general.

The shift at the top of the White House hierarchy is aimed at bringing order to an administration that has been beset by infighting, as Mr. Trump seeks to notch the sort of sweeping legislative victories that he promised during the campaign but that have eluded him to this point, advisers to the president said.

“John Kelly will do a fantastic job. Gen. Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody,” Mr. Trump told reporters Friday.

The president told Mr. Priebus two weeks ago he was planning to bring in a new staff chief, a senior administration official said. Mr. Kelly was offered the job earlier this week and immediately accepted, the senior official said.

Mr. Trump discussed bringing in Mr. Kelly with a small group of people, the senior official said. Part of the draw, the official said, was that he believes Mr. Kelly can provide effective leadership and has the respect of the West Wing, which is staffed with aides whose ideology falls across the political spectrum.

After Mr. Trump’s announcement, which came as Air Force One landed in Washington after a flight from New York, the president posted a tweet thanking Mr. Priebus “for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!”

Mr. Trump stayed on the plane while Mr. Priebus and other top aides disembarked. Mr. Priebus’s car left the motorcade before Mr. Trump got off the plane.

Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), who was on the plane, said he spoke to Mr. Priebus during the flight from Long Island and was unaware the chief of staff had been replaced. “Good poker face. Showed nothing,” Mr. King said. “We didn’t even know it.”

Mr. King said that as he was preparing to disembark, the president told him and other lawmakers on the flight he would announce Mr. Kelly as chief of staff.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Messrs. Trump and Priebus began discussing the chief of staff’s departure about two weeks ago. Asked when the president offered Mr. Kelly the job, she said, “They’ve been talking about it for a while.”

Mr. Priebus told The Wall Street Journal he submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday. In an interview later with CNN, he said Mr. Trump “obviously wanted to make a change, and I offered my resignation, and he agreed. And we moved on.”

He said he and the president discussed naming Mr. Kelly as his successor and said Mr. Trump “knows intuitively when things need to change.”

Mr. Priebus’s status seemed shakier after Mr. Trump installed Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

Messrs. Scaramucci and Priebus openly feuded, creating a level of tension in the West Wing that advisers said wasn’t sustainable. Mr. Scaramucci this week gave a profanity-laced interview to the New Yorker magazine in which he disparaged Mr. Priebus and other top staffers. One adviser who has spoken with the president said Mr. Trump was dismissive of Mr. Priebus for not returning fire.

Asked on CNN about Mr. Scaramucci’s criticism, Mr. Priebus said: “I’m not going to get into the mud on those sorts of things.”

As homeland security secretary, Mr. Kelly was charged with overseeing implementation of Mr. Trump’s travel ban, which has faced a series of holdups in the courts. The most recent version seeks to impose a 90-day ban on U.S. entry for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and to suspend temporarily the U.S. program for admitting refugees. Mr. Trump said the order would help prevent terrorism.

Before joining the cabinet, Mr. Kelly served as chief of the U.S. Southern Command, the division that oversees U.S. military activities south of Mexico, including Central America, South America and the Caribbean. In that role he focused on homeland-security issues because the post involved monitoring drug trafficking and other smuggling activity south of the U.S.

Mr. Kelly, 67 years old, also served as legislative assistant to the Marine Corps commandant, gaining experience in dealing with Congress.

He has a personal history that reflects the tragedies of war. His son, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed by a land mine in Afghanistan in 2010. On learning of the death, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. , now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put on his dress blues and waited outside Mr. Kelly’s home at the Washington Navy Yard in the wee hours to inform his friend.

Among other duties, Mr. Kelly oversaw operations at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and commanded U.S. troops in Iraq. He joined the Marines in 1970 and retired last year. On Friday, he said, “I am honored to be asked to serve as the chief of staff to the president of the United States.”

The appointment capped one of the most turbulent weeks in Mr. Trump’s young presidency, exposing the difficulty he has had in adapting his executive style to the policy-making arena, veterans of past administrations said. In the space of a week, he saw his press secretary, Sean Spicer, resign, his health-care bill implode, and the exit of his chief of staff.

Though Mr. Trump sees himself as a disruptive force in Washington, some presidential advisers say they believe the internal friction and a fraying of the Republican governing coalition threaten his agenda.

In a check on Mr. Trump’s power, the Senate this week approved a bill that forces his hand in stiffening sanctions on Russia. If he allows the legislation to become law, it could curtail executive power, but a veto would invite suggestions he is being soft on Russia.

Peter Wehner, who worked in the past three Republican administrations, said of the White House: “There’s no strategic thinking. There’s no competent execution. It’s just a free-for-all.”

A pattern that emerges in White House staff shuffles over the last six months is that Mr. Trump is parting ways with people who represent the Republican establishment. He is bringing in people who aren’t as closely tied to the Republican mainstream, a reality that could complicate his relationship with donors and state party officials.

For success in the push to lower tax rates and simplify the tax code, both the White House and congressional Republicans seem to agree Mr. Trump needs a different approach than the hands-off posture he had on health care.

White House aides are hoping to get the president on the road for public rallies and smaller stops aimed at showcasing the tax plan. One idea is to have him sit down at a kitchen table with a family in the Midwest or visit farms and small businesses.

Also under consideration is a kickoff event at the Ronald Reagan Library in California, an official said. It would aim to draw a symbolic connection to another celebrity-turned-Republican president, Mr. Reagan, who ushered in the last major tax overhaul three decades ago.

“You can’t just talk about winning, you have to take steps toward winning,” said Jason Miller, a former Trump campaign strategist who continues to advise the president, in an interview before Mr. Kelly’s new job was announced. “The White House has to remember the fact that the business community and the middle class are looking for positive steps on tax reform.”

Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director, said in an interview: “We have cultivated a lot of organizations—business coalitions, conservative advocacy groups—in shaping our plan for tax reform that will provide a stronger echo chamber and outside support than we had on the health-care battle.”

Let’s analyze this as we would sitting in a booth at a Waffle House somewhere in America’s Heartland, shall we, boys and girls?

It has been rumored for a long time now that Priebus was a source of some of the leaks from the Trump White House by the Main Stream Media.

Reince Priebus is, all stated loyalty to the President aside, still an Establishment (Vichy) Republican.

The thing is…Establishment Republicans did NOT elect Donald J. Trump as our 45th President.

A Populist Movement did.

Dictionary.com defines “populism” as

1. the political philosophy of the People’s party.
2. (lowercase) any of various, often antiestablishment or anti-intellectual political movements or philosophies that offer unorthodox solutions or policies and appeal to the common person rather than according with traditional party or partisan ideologies.
3. (lowercase) grass-roots democracy; working-class activism; egalitarianism.
4. (lowercase) representation or extolling of the common person, the working class, the underdog, etc.: populism in the arts.

That word first reappeared in the American Lexicon, when Sarah Palin almost dragged John McCain’s RINO Rear across the Finish Line, in the Presidential Election of 2008.

The Grassroots Movement, which began way back then led us to a seminal moment in American Politics.

The American People spoke loud and clear on November 8, 2016.

We rejected the Professional Politicians and elected Citizen Statesman Donald J. Trump President of the United States of America.

The Establishment, or Vichy Republicans, for all their declarations of loyalty, still resent being cast aside for a Billionaire Businessman and Entrepreneur.

Hey, “Beltway Boys”…

The problem you face, as the Republican Establishment, is that the majority of Americans are still Conservatives who want decisive leadership from those whom they send to Congress.

You guys have spines of Jell-O.

The public wants new ideas. We are tired of dancing to the Washington Two-Step.

That is the reason for the election of Donald J. Trump. He said the things that Americans had been wanting to hear for decades.

Contrast the energy and the “Populist Movement” behind Trump to the candidate whom the Democrats offered: a decrepit old white woman from the Northeast Corridor, who is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg and whose “rallies” could not even fill up a high school gymnasium.

You “Vichy Republicans”, as I have referred to you as being for the last several years, are looking a Gift Horse in the mouth.

You are positioned, if you immediately start acting as if you have Americans’ interests at heart and not your own, to sweep the Midterm Elections.

All you have to do to be successful is something that you seem to have forgotten how to do, since you were swept into Congressional Power in the 2010 and 2012 Mid-Term Elections.

You need to pay attention and actually listen to the voters who gave you your cushy jobs, instead of trying to tell us what we should believe and attempting to backstab the President whom your party nominated as its Presidential Candidate.

You need to divorce yourself from the Washington Status Quo and start acting as if you a grateful to the American People for your phony baloney jobs.

Here’s some advice from ol’ KJ, if I may be so bold: you members of the Republican Establishment need to climb down off of your bar stools at the Congressional Country Club, and travel outside the Echo Chamber of the Beltway, where actual, average Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, trying to provide for their families, while attempting to make a better life for their children and grandchildren.

Perhaps then, you will get a clue.

Yes, Trump’s handling of his duties and his Administrative Staff is “unconventional”.

But, you need to remember,

THAT IS WHY AMERICANS ELECTED HIM.

HE WAS NOT ONE OF YOU.

As Ronald Reagan, himself, said, at CPAC in 1975,

It is time to raise a banner of BOLD COLORS! Not PALE PASTELS!

And, it is time to get down to the business of MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Dem House Members IT Vendors Were Direct Info Pipeline for Muslim Brotherhood

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

imran-awan-with-Bill-Clinton-1-1024x582

Two Days ago, I wrote a post titled, “House IT Vendor Stole Equipment and Info From DWS and Several Dems on Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence Committees”. Here are a couple of questions which I asked at the time and the conclusion that I reached.

We know that the Awans were sending money back home to Pakistan. Were they stockpiling American Government Information as well?

Evidently they had the “run of the store” And, as we all know, Pakistan is a hotbed for Islamic Terrorism, Was the Aswan Family selling this information to the highest bidder among America’s Enemies?

…Far-fetched? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Remember, Hillary Clinton’s closet friend and confidante, Huma Abedin, has Radical Islamic Ties, including family members in the Muslim Brotherhood.

I hate it when I’m right.

TheGatewayPundit.com reported the details last night…

Just when you thought the case surrounding the Awan brothers could not get any darker, a new piece of news emerges. Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer revealed to Laura Ingraham, who filled in for Tucker Carlson Thursday evening, the Pakistani IT staffers were sending sensitive information to the Muslim Brotherhood. 

The explosive claim is backed up by a report in Frontpage Magazine linking the Awan brothers to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Pakistani IT staffers worked for Democrat Congressmen Andre Carson as well.

Frontpage reported:

“The office of Andre Carson, the second Muslim in Congress, had employed Imran Awan. As did the offices of Jackie Speier and Debbie Wasserman Schultz; to whom the letter had been addressed.

Carson is the second Muslim in Congress and the first Muslim on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and, more critically, is the ranking member on its Emerging Threats Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Department of Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture Subcommittee.

The Emerging Threats Subcommittee, of which Carson is a ranking member, is responsible for much of counterterrorism oversight. It is the worst possible place for a man with Carson’s credentials.

Carson had inherited his grandmother’s seat and exploited it to promote a radical Islamist agenda. He has interfaced with a laundry list of Islamist groups from CAIR to ISNA to ICNA to MPAC. Islamists have funded Carson’s career to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. The Center for Security Policy has put together a dossier of Carson’s connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is the parent organization of many key Islamic terror groups posing a threat to our national security including Al Qaeda and Hamas.

Andre Carson shared the stage at a CAIR banquet with Sirraj Wahaj: an unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing who had once declared,” You don’t get involved in politics because it’s the American thing to do. You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam.” CAIR itself had been named an unindicted co-conspirator in terror finance.”

It’s ironic the Awan brothers cry Islamophobia, when in all actuality, the religion they practice deserves all the scrutiny it receives. Simply put, the Awan brothers are of the Muslim faith sending sensitive information to Islamic fundamentalist group, Muslim Brotherhood.

That didn’t stop their lawyer from complaining about Islamophobia and right-wingers exaggerating the case.

Imran Awan’s attorney released a statement Wednesday after his arrest on Monday….

 
The attorney blames Islamophobia, the ultra-right-wing and pizzagate for his client’s arrest.

The attorney goes on to say Imran and his wife were traveling to Pakistan because he was just fired.

They were both carrying $12,000 when they left the US. Imran was arrested before he could board his plane.

Awan’s attorney released a statement Wednesday:

“The attacks on Mr. Awan and his family began as part of a frenzy of anti-Muslim bigotry in the literal heart of our democracy, the House of Representatives. For months, we have had utterly unsupported, outlandish, and slanderous statements targeting Mr. Awan coming not just from the ultra-right-wing “pizzagate” media but from sitting members of Congress.”

Awan’s attorney also blamed ‘extremist right-wing bloggers’ for harassing Awan’s children.

To no one’s surprise, Awan and his lawyers are now playing victim after he was caught in a cyber-security breach and smashed the hard drives.

As I alluded to in my previous post, Hillary Clinton’s “Bestie” and Political Aide, Huma Abedin, has family who are members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

So, just exactly, who are these guys?

Founded in 1928 by the Egyptian schoolteacher/activist Hasan al-Banna (a devout admirer of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis), the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) — a Sunni entity — is one of the oldest, largest and most influential Islamist organizations in the world. While Egypt historically has been the center of the Brotherhood’s operations, the group today is active in more than 70 countries (some estimates range as high as 100+). Islam expert Robert Spencer has called MB “the parent organization of Hamas and al Qaeda.” In 2003, Richard Clarke – the chief counterterrorism advisor on the U.S. National Security Council during both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations – told a Senate committee that Hamas, al Qaeda, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were all “descendants of the membership and ideology of the Muslim Brothers.”

MB was established in accordance with al-Banna’s proclamation that Islam should be “given hegemony over all matters of life.” Toward that end, the Brotherhood seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate, or kingdom — first spanning all of the present-day Muslim world, and eventually the entire globe. The organization further aspires to dismantle all non-Islamic governments wherever they currently exist, and to make Islamic Law (Shari’a) the sole basis of jurisprudence everywhere on earth. This purpose is encapsulated in the Brotherhood’s militant credo: “God is our objective, the Koran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, struggle [jihad] is our way, and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations.”

Consistent with the foregoing credo, MB since its founding has supported the use of armed struggle, or jihad, against non-Muslim “infidels.” As al-Banna himself wrote: “Jihad is an obligation from Allah on every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded.” Added al-Banna: “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.”

…Embracing Hasan al-Banna’s belief that Islam is destined to eventually dominate all the world, MB today is global in its reach, wielding influence in almost every country with a Muslim population. Moreover, it maintains political parties in many Middle-Eastern and African countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and even Israel. Not only does the Brotherhood exist in Israel proper, but its Palestinian chapter created the terrorist organization Hamas, through which MB has supported terrorism against Israel ever since. Article II of the Hamas charter explicitly identifies Hamas as “one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine.” In January 2006 Hamas defeated the rival Fatah party to win the Palestinian legislative elections, thereby becoming the first branch of MB to control an official government.

Outside of the Middle East, MB exercises a strong influence in Muslim communities throughout Europe. Among the more prominent Brotherhood organizations in the region are: the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations, the Muslim Association of Britain, the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschland (IGD), and the Union des Organisations Islamiques de France (UOIF).

…In early February 2011, Muhammad Ghannem, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, told the Iranian news network Al-Alam that “the people [of Egypt] should be prepared for war against Israel,” emphasizing that “the Egyptian people are prepared for anything to get rid of this regime.” That objective was entirely consistent with former MB Supreme Guide Muhammad Mahdi Othman Akef’s 2007 assertion that his organization had never recognized Israel and never would: “Our lexicon does not include anything called ‘Israel.’ The [only thing] we acknowledge is the existence of Zionist gangs that have occupied Arab lands and deported the residents. If they want to live among us, it will have to be as [residents of] Palestine.”

While the Democratic Party, their Propaganda Arm, The Main Stream Media, and all of their minions, paid and unpaid, spamming Social Media Political Pages, have been pushing the Trump-Russia Collusion Fairy Take 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, a very real collusion has been happening under their very noses which actually threatens our sovereignty as a nation.

The Awans were funneling classified information to the Godfather of Islamic Terrorist Organizations, straight from the servers of House Democrats who served on the Intelligence, Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs Congressional Committees!

No wonder Debbie Wasserman Schultz did not want to cooperate with authorities.

This is a huge story, which apparently the Liberal Main Stream News Outlets felt would go away, if they ignored it.

They’re wrong.

Recorded history of the last 8 years details their collusion with the Muslim Brotherhood, from Hillary and Huma to Obama hosting the Muslim Brotherhood at the White House on numerous occasions.

Concerning their dealings with the Awans, the Obama Administration and the Democrats in the House were either

a) unconsciously naïve

b) just plain stupid,

or

c) treasonous, betraying the country which they were supposed to be serving and protecting for the sake of political expediency.

At this point, considering the deafening silence from the Main Stream Media, I am going to go with

d) ALL OF THE ABOVE

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Trump Ends Obama’s “Social Experiment” by Kicking “Lola” Out of Our Armed Forces.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

 

bradley_chelsea_manning-1000x600

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.” – President Donald J. Trump, 7/26/17

The New York Times reports that

President Trump abruptly announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military on Wednesday, blindsiding his defense secretary and Republican congressional leaders with a snap decision that reversed a year-old policy reviled by social conservatives. Mr. Trump made the surprise declaration on Twitter, saying that American forces could not afford the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” of transgender service members. He said he had consulted generals and military experts, but Jim Mattis, the defense secretary, was given only a day’s notice about the decision.

Mr. Trump elected to announce the ban in order to resolve a quietly brewing fight on Capitol Hill over whether taxpayer money should pay for gender transition and hormone therapy for transgender service members, which had threatened to kill a $790 billion defense and security spending package scheduled for a vote this week.

But rather than addressing that narrow issue, Mr. Trump opted to upend the entire policy on transgender service members, a move that few on Capitol Hill or at the Pentagon expected.

Mr. Trump announced the decision with such haste that the White House could not answer basic inquiries about how it would be carried out, including what would happen to openly transgender people now serving on active duty; of eight defense officials interviewed, none could say.

“That’s something that the Department of Defense and the White House will have to work together as implementation takes place and is done so lawfully,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said.

Still, the announcement thrilled elements of Mr. Trump’s base, who have been dismayed to see the president break so bitterly in recent days with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a hard-line conservative.

Civil rights and transgender advocacy groups denounced the policy, with some vowing to challenge it in court. Pentagon officials expressed dismay that the president’s tweets, blasted out before they could consider how to make the change, could open them to lawsuits.

The ban would reverse the gradual transformation of the military under President Barack Obama, whose administration announced last year that transgender people could serve openly in the military. Mr. Obama’s defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter, also opened all combat roles to women and appointed the first openly gay Army secretary.

And it represented a stark turnabout from Mr. Trump’s rhetoric during his campaign, when he billed himself as an ally of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

The president, Ms. Sanders said, had concluded that allowing transgender people to serve openly “erodes military readiness and unit cohesion, and made the decision based on that.”

Mr. Mattis, who was on vacation, was silent on the new policy. People close to the defense secretary said he was appalled that Mr. Trump chose to unveil his decision in tweets, in part because of the message they sent to transgender active-duty service members, including those deployed overseas, that they were suddenly no longer welcome.

The policy would affect only a small portion of the approximately 1.3 million active-duty members of the military. Some 2,000 to 11,000 active-duty troops are transgender, according to a 2016 RAND Corporation study commissioned by the Pentagon, though estimates of the number of transgender service members have varied widely, and are sometimes as high as 15,000.

The study found that allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military would “have minimal impact on readiness and health care costs” for the Pentagon. It estimated that health care costs would rise $2.4 million to $8.4 million a year, representing an infinitesimal 0.04 to 0.13 percent increase in spending. Citing research into other countries that allow transgender people to serve, the study projected “little or no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness or readiness” in the United States.

The announcement came amid the debate on Capitol Hill over the Obama-era practice of requiring the Pentagon to pay for medical treatment related to gender transition. Representative Vicky Hartzler, Republican of Missouri, has proposed an amendment to the spending bill that would bar the Pentagon from spending money on transition surgery or related hormone therapy, and other Republicans have pressed for similar provisions.

Mr. Mattis had worked behind the scenes to keep such language out of legislation, quietly lobbying Republican lawmakers not to attach the prohibitions, according to congressional and defense officials.

But Mr. Trump was concerned that the transgender medical care issue could imperil the security spending measure, which also contains $1.6 billion for the border wall that he has championed, and wanted to resolve the dispute cleanly and straightforwardly, according to a person familiar with his thinking, who insisted on anonymity to describe it. That prompted his ban.

The president’s decision shocked even Republican congressional leaders, who were aware Mr. Trump was looking into whether taxpayer money should be spent on medical procedures for transgender service members, but had not expected him to go so far as to bar transgender people from serving altogether.

Mr. Trump and Republican lawmakers had come under pressure from Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian conservative group, and an ally of Mr. Trump. Mr. Perkins opposed the bill over spending on transgender medical costs and lobbied lawmakers to do the same.

“Grant repentance to President Trump and Secretary Mattis for even considering to keep this wicked policy in place,” the Family Research Council said in one of its daily prayers last week. “Grant them understanding, courage and willpower to stand up to the forces of darkness that gave birth to it and wholly to repeal it.”

Opponents of allowing openly transgender service members had raised a number of concerns, including what they said was the questionable psychological fitness of those troops and the cost the military would bear for their medical treatment, potentially including gender reassignment procedures. They said the military was being used for social experimentation at the expense of national security.

“This was Ash Carter on his way out the door pulling the pin on a cultural grenade,” Mr. Perkins said on Wednesday. “Our military leaders are saying this doesn’t help make us a better fighting force; it’s a distraction; it’s taking up limited resources.”

Mr. Carter objected to the decision, for its effect on the military and on those considering joining.

“To choose service members on other grounds than military qualifications is social policy and has no place in our military,” he said in a statement. “There are already transgender individuals who are serving capably and honorably. This action would also send the wrong signal to a younger generation thinking about military service.”

While some conservative lawmakers, including Ms. Hartzler, praised Mr. Trump, the president drew bipartisan condemnation on Capitol Hill and outrage from civil rights and transgender advocacy groups.

The majority of Americans do not care what they think.

We want our tax money to be used to assist our military in the job of defending our country and winning wars, not on chopping off someone’s manhood and turning Bruce into “Caitlyn” and vice-versa.

And we do not want our daughters having to share a barracks with a man who wants to be a woman…or claims that he does….or vice-versa.

As a Brother-in-Christ of mine commented on Facebook yesterday,

This is the United States Armed Forces. This isn’t a Country Club.

While Barack Hussein Obama was our Armed Forces Commander in-Chief (Thank God, he isn’t any more), the responsibility for everything that happened to the men and women serving in our armed forces, in which some part of our federal government is involved, both during and after their service, fell on his shoulders and his alone.

Through his treatment of our Heroes as “ancillary” servants to be used for social experimentation and budget cutting, when he wanted to use their money to further his socialization of America, Obama placed our Armed Forces in an untenable situation.

Distinguished American Veteran, Former United States Representative Lt. Col. Allen B. West once wrote the following, concerning Obama’s treatment of our Armed Forces:

Barack Hussein Obama cannot be seen as a Commander-in-Chief and I will never refer to him that way. His fundamental transformation of America means weakening our nation and leaving our Republic less secure. I can just imagine how appreciative and elated his Muslim Brotherhood friends are at this point, to include Turkey’s President Erdogan, as well as the mad mullahs in Iran. 

Spot on.

I remember my ex-brother-in-law, Dave. My late step-sister met him at the USO in Memphis during the Vietnam War. David was a Polish Catholic from outside of Detroit, a Navy guy who received his training in the computers of the day, while in service to our country. When he got out, they got married and moved to Dearborn (now Dearbornistan), Michigan, where he got a job with Burroughs. I remember Dave, because he was always good to me, even though I was just a runt kid, 15 years younger than him. I remember him cleaning his service rifle, sitting on the living room floor of our house, and, making sure it was empty, allowing me to to hold it. At the time, I thought that was the coolest thing I had ever done.

I also remember John. John was a friend of my sister’s, who stayed with us, because of problems at home. As I have related before, my folks were the ones whom all my sister’s friends would talk to when they had trouble at home. John was great guy, as well, who wound up enlisting and serving in that “crazy Asian War”, as Kenny Rogers and Mel Tillis once referred to it in song.

I have related before about my own Daddy and my Uncles, and their service in World War II. I have also had friends that served over the years, and one who is still serving in the Air National Guard.

All of these men were/are Patriots. They enlisted out of duty to God and Country.

Our Brightest and Best, who wear the uniform today, are no less dedicated. They deserve to be treated with respect, not as pawns in a game of political expediency, whose rules as followed by the Previous Presidential Administration. included social experimentation, political correctness, and blatant disrespect by the then-Commander-in-Chief himself.

The greatest American President in my lifetime, Ronald Reagan, once said,

Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.

Reagan was a realist. He realized that, as President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt once advised, the best way to keep America safe, is to “Speak softly and carry a big stick”.

We suffered for 8 long years under a president who spoke like a wuss and carried a feather pillow, a Mexican Flag, and a prayer rug.

And, you wonder why our Best and Brightest always erupt appreciation for their Present Commander-in-Chief, Donald J. Trump?

They are simply happy that they once again have a Commander-in-Chief who appreciates them. And, one who actually has their back for a change.

Until He Comes,

KJ

House IT Vendor Stole Equipment and Info From DWS and Several Dems on Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence Committees

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

imran-awan-with-Bill-Clinton-1-1024x582

While the entire Democratic Party Apparatus has been worried about the Fake News Story of possible collusion by President Trump and his Campaign Staff with the Russians, it appears that actual collusion of another kind was occurring under their upturned noses.

Back on May 22, 2017, The Daily Caller reported that

A criminal suspect in an investigation into a major security breach on the House of Representatives computer network has abruptly left the country and gone to Pakistan, where her family has significant assets and VIP-level protection, a relative and others told The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group. Hina Alvi, her husband Imran Awan, and his brothers Abid and Jamal were highly paid shared IT administrators working for multiple House Democrats until their access to congressional IT systems was terminated Feb. 2 as a result of the investigation. Capitol Police confirmed the investigation is ongoing, but no arrests have been reported in the case.

The Awans are “accused of stealing equipment from members’ offices without their knowledge and committing serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network,” according to Politico. Many of the Democrats who employed the Awans are members of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (A list of potentially compromised members is listed below.)

Their positions gave them access to members’ emails and confidential files. In addition, Imran was given the password for an iPad used by then-Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat. The five came to the U.S. from Pakistan.

Since the investigation became public, the Awans have abruptly moved from longtime homes in Lorton and Springfield, Va.
Imran and Hina recently withdrew their children from their schools, according to members of the Holly Elementary and Lorton Station Middle school communities. Multiple people said Hina told them she was headed to Pakistan where the family has significant property.

Real estate records show Hina listed both the Lorton house and an apartment she owns for sale.

“I came to know from one of their relatives that Hina Alvi and her daughters are moved to Pakistan, Hina Alvi saying ‘we have moved here in Pakistan permanently,’” the Awans’ stepmother, Samina Gilani, told TheDCNF.

Two other sources close to the family, who requested anonymity because they believe it is a “national security issue,” also said that Hina has gone to Pakistan.

Gilani said in court documents the Awan brothers have convinced Pakistani officials that they are VIPs and travel the country with a police motorcade — an assertion that seemingly gives them a major incentive to seek protection there, as well as raising questions about how the computer jockeys obtained that status.

Other court documents and multiple people involved in various financial disputes with Imran told TheDCNF that he was quick to represent himself as “from the U.S. Congress” in personal matters.

The family received more than $4 million in congressional pay, yet their lifestyles in the U.S. were not overly luxurious. Gilani said significant assets were stored in Pakistan.

When Imran and Hina moved out of their 3,200 square foot home in Lorton, Imran told a neighbor he was moving into a home his father, who died Jan. 16, previously occupied.

“They lived there nine years,” the neighbor told The DCNF. “I saw a moving truck a month ago, and he said he was moving to his dad’s house.”

Abid also moved out of his longtime Springfield home, the new tenants told The DCNF.

Gilani said Abid moved into their deceased father’s home with his wife and kids, and Imran moved in as well but without his family.

A third family also lives in the 2,400 square foot house, further indicating that Imran’s wife and kids are unlikely to be joining him. A female African immigrant at Shah’s house said she began renting a portion of the house in April with her numerous children.

That Springfield home is where Gilani, the stepmother, lived with the Awan’s father until his death. She fled after the brothers threatened to have her relatives in Pakistan kidnapped if she didn’t cooperate in a financial scheme, she told The DCNF, echoing statements made in court documents.

A large U.S. House of Representatives seal is now displayed prominently on a first-floor window of the house.

Imran, who has worked for Wasserman Schultz since 2005, “boasted he had many contacts in USA and Pakistan also. He also said that if [I called even] the whole United States police on them,” he would not face consequences, Gilani told TheDCNF. “Imran Awan threatened that he is very powerful” and would use that power to have people kidnapped in Pakistan, she said in court documents.

Tenants of one property Hina owns said she has been unable to pick up rent recently and has not returned calls.

“All contact with her turned off,” the tenant said. “The switch off [to dealing with Imran instead] was odd.”

Imran ordered the renters not to cooperate with law enforcement, the renter said, adding that he told him to begin making out rent in the form of a blank check and giving it to a realtor.

A spokesman for the Capitol Police declined to comment for this story.

Evidently, Awan had unfinished business here. He came back.

Breitbart News reported yesterday that

Imran Awan, the Pakistani IT vendor of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, was arrested by the FBI while trying to flee the country Tuesday, according to a Fox News reporter.

Fox News Capitol Hill reporter Chad Pergram tweeted about the arrest at Dulles International Airport, which he said stemmed from “bank fraud” charges.  

According to Pergram, Rep. Wasserman Schultz responded to the news by terminating Mr. Awan: 

The investigative unit of the Daily Caller News Foundation reported Monday that Imran Awan and other members of the Awan family were under investigation by both the FBI and Capitol Police for “serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network.” According to that report, the Awans had rented their former Washington, DC-area residence to a family while they departed for parts unknown. After discovering they had left “smashed computer hard-drives” and other computer equipment at the Lorton, Virginia home, the Awans tried desperately to retrieve them before they were seized by investigators, going so far as threatening to sue the renters.

The contents of the hard drives is unclear, but Imran Awan and his brothers are reported to have provided services as IT vendors for several House Democrats.

Pergrams tweets suggest that the central criminal violation involved embezzling IT budget money from House Democrats: 

It is unclear what connection these allegations have to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s reports of smashed hard drives and laptops now seized by federal authorities. An earlier report from the same Daily Caller investigation appeared to show Rep. Wasserman Schultz prepared to go to bat against Capitol Police on Awan’s behalf, raising further questions about the nature of the computer equipment. Wasserman Schultz asked Capitol Police Chief Police Chief Matthew R. Verderosa to return a seized laptop to her, appearing to threaten “consequences” if he did not.

Awan and his family members’ exact whereabouts could not be confirmed as this story develops.

As related earlier, Imran and his brothers, Abid and Jamal, worked for several Congressional Staffers.

Per zerohedge.com, in an article posted on February 4, 2017…

Three members of the intelligence panel and five members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs were among the dozens of members who employed the suspects on a shared basis. The two committees deal with many of the nation’s most sensitive issues, information and documents, including those related to the war on terrorism.

The brothers are suspected of serious violations, including accessing members’ computer networks without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress.

Okay. So, what does all this mean?

Well, I have a few questions.

Once she learned that she had crooks working for her and other Democrats, why didn’t Debbie Wasserman Schultz let the authorities know?

Why has it taken so long to “rev up” this investigation? Was “Debbie Downer” interfering in the investigation?

We know that the Awans were sending money back home to Pakistan. Were they stockpiling American Government Information as well?

Evidently they had the “run of the store” And, as we all know, Pakistan is a hotbed for Islamic Terrorism, Was the Aswan Family selling this information to the highest bidder among America’s Enemies?

Was the Trump-Russia Collusion Fairy Tale used to help cover up ACTUAL Collusion between Pakistan IT Vendors and America’s Enemies?

Far-fetched? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Remember, Hillary Clinton’s closet friend and confidante, Huma Abedin, has Radical Islamic Ties, including family members in the Muslim Brotherhood.

This is huge story and a breach of National Security.

However, if you look around this morning, I’ll bet, (and I’m writing this the night before), that this story will receive hardly any coverage on the purveyors of Fake News Stories, who are working so diligently to try to restore the Democrats to power in D.C..

Remember the last story about computers and servers? It involved a certain Democrat Secretary of State, who was later their Presidential Candidate.

The Main Stream Media did their best to ignore that story, too.

However, the American People would not let them.

We should not let them ignore this story , either.

Same Political Party. Same incompetency.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Will Trump Ask Ted Cruz to Be His Next Attorney General?

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

untitled (159).png

Is President Trump about to make a change in the position of Attorney General in his Administration?

Per the Washington Post on MSN.com…

President Trump has labeled his own attorney general as “beleaguered.”

“So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” the president tweeted from his personal Twitter account on Monday morning.

Subscribe to the Post’s Must Reads newsletter: Compelling stories you can’t afford to miss

Over the past week, Trump has been attacking Attorney General Jeff Sessions over of his decision months ago to recuse himself from the investigations into possible connections between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Sessions, a former senator from Alabama, supported Trump from the early days of his candidacy and became a trusted adviser. Ten days after the election, Trump nominated Sessions for attorney general and said in a statement that “Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him.”

In March, Sessions announced that he would recuse himself from investigations related to the 2016 presidential campaign, including those into Russian interference in the electoral process. That announcement came the day after The Washington Post reported that Sessions twice met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and did not disclose those meetings to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing in January.

The Russia investigations have swept up Trump’s eldest son and his son-in-law, greatly angering the president, who says the charges are unfounded and part of a “witch hunt.” Trump has been privately criticizing Sessions for weeks, and he said in an interview with the New York Times last week that he would not have appointed Sessions if he had known the attorney general would recuse himself, as he considers the decision “very unfair to the president.”

The president vented to the world in a series of tweets on Monday morning, lashing out not only at Sessions but also at Democrats and the media, whom he has blamed for hyping and continuing the investigations.

 

Yesterday, what might seem like a strange suggestion for a possible replacement for Jeff Sessions was being floated around: Ted Cruz.

Now, he would not be my first suggestion. That would be Rudy Giuliani. However, Giuliani let it be known that he would only except the Secretary of State Position in the Trump Administration, if asked.

On April 13, 2016, the following post appeared on legalinsurrection.com…

Noted liberal Harvard Law School professor (retired) Alan Dershowitz was on the Kelly File last night, and repeated what he has said before via News Max):

“He came into my class, literally his first day in law school with his right had up – not his left hand, his right hand,” Dershowitz said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “The Kelly File.”

Cruz challenged his professor on everything, which made his job easier, Dershowitz said.

“I was against the death penalty, he’s in favor. I was in favor of the exclusionary rule, he’s against it,” he said. “And he made such brilliant arguments that I never had to play the devil’s advocate.”

Cruz “was one of the best students I ever had,” Dershowitz said.

Many of his liberal friends criticize him for praising the firebrand conservative, Dershowitz said, but he argues, “I have to tell the truth about my students, even if I disagree with their views – even if I’m not gonna vote for him. I’m not going to change history and pretend that this brilliant student was anything else.”

High praise from a man who knows more about the law than 99% of the practicing attorneys in our nation’s courts today.

Back in September of 2013, right before the disaster known as Obamacare was about to cost Americans their Doctors and Savings Accounts, Cruz held a filibuster on the Senate Floor against it.

His spirited defense of Americans’ right to decide their own health care, reminded me of the indefatigable Jefferson Smith, in Capra’s classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. Smith (the late, great Jimmy Stewart) says the following as he’s delivering his filibuster:

Just get up off the ground, that’s all I ask. Get up there with that lady that’s up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won’t just see scenery; you’ll see the whole parade of what Man’s carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so’s he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That’s what you’d see. There’s no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties.

When you get down to it, what Senator Ted Cruz was speaking about was LIBERTY.

Our American Freedom has been endowed by OUR CREATOR. Obamacare was simply a step toward a totalitarian regime taking it away.

If Cruz can bring that same passion to the job of Attorney General and the task of going after the Queen of Mean, Hillary Clinton, and the corrupt crime spree which occurred while she held the position of Secretary of State in the Obama Administration, it should be something that will be talked about for decades to come.

I realize that political ambition and the heat of the battle tarnished him a bit during the Republican Primaries, but I believe that, if called upon, Ted Cruz would make a solid and formidable Attorney General.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Scaramucci, the “Shadow Government”, and Draining the Swamp

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

scaramucci-anthony-white-press-briefing

“I have in my pocket a radio studio, a television studio and a movie studio. The entire world has changed; we need to rethink the way we’re delivering our information.

…In some ways we want to deescalate things and have there be a level of diplomacy. In other ways, we want it to be very hard-hitting and war-like.” – Anthony Scaramucci, Trump White House Director of Communications

Foxnews.com reports that

Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, said Sunday that stopping damaging West Wing leaks is a top priority and that he will take “drastic action” to achieve that goal.

“We have to get the leaks stopped,” Scaramucci, named Friday to the post, told “Fox News Sunday.” “What’s going on right now is a high level of unprofessionalism, and it’s not helping the president. … I will take drastic action to stop the leaks.”

Trump’s roughly 7-month-old presidency has been mired in the controversy about Russia meddling in the 2016 White House race and whether Trump associates were involved.

The controversy has been fueled in part by information leaked inside and outside of the White House.

Scaramucci on Sunday said he would “pare down the staff” to stop White House leaks, but made clear that such efforts will be limited to the communication office and that he wants to start anew.

“As far as I’m concerned, there will be a new start for everybody on the team,” said Scaramucci, whose appointment as communications director forced the resignation of Sean Spicer, who had held that post.

Scaramucci, a former Wall Street executive, acknowledged that he could never change Washington culture and stop the leaks coming from federal agencies within an administration.

He also said the mainstream media still has a “level of objectivity,” but allowed that so-called “fake news” exists to the extent “some individuals … do stretch stories.”

Scaramucci dismissed talk about Trump preparing to pardon people in an effort to stop the Russia investigations or perhaps protect himself, saying, “He has no one to pardon. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

He also defended the recent deleting of tweets that appeared critical of Trump or that presented liberal views, saying his new role is non-political so he didn’t want them to be a distraction.

How many “Deep State” holdovers from the Obama Administration are, even now, working to sabotage the plans of President Donald J. Trump?

What has been conveniently forgotten, thanks to the Liberal Mass Freak-Out over the Trump-Russia Collusion Fairy Tale, is the fact that Barack Hussein Obama, the Former Petulant President Pantywaist himself, has set up his Command Headquarters for his “Shadow Government” just a few blocks away from the White House and has even moved his “right-hand Iranian” Valerie Jarrett, into the house with him and “Mooch”.

Scary? OH, HECK YEAH.

It resembles a Tom Clancy Novel.

You have a Former Nazi Sympathizer, now a Billionaire “Philanthropist”, funding Far Left Causes. Add to that a disgruntled Former President, desperately trying to ensure that his mission to turn the Greatest Country on the Face of the Earth into a Third World Socialist Paradise is not derailed by the unexpected loss of his hand-picked predecessor to a “Citizen Statesman”.

Faced with the reality of a splintered Democratic Party, which has alienated its base by moving to the Extreme Far Left of the Political Spectrum, this Former President , while still in office, decided to spy on the one candidate who might actually have a chance to beat his own party’s lousy candidate in a fair Presidential Election, through the means of obtaining an order to wire tap his offices.

After all that political chicanery failed and the Citizen Statesman became the President, the Former Petulant President Pantywaist encouraged “rebellion”, as if the reality of a nation being torn asunder was some sort of “Star Wars” Movie, through the use of his “benefactor’s”(the Former Nazi Sympathizer) money in the funding of manufactured protests and a Media-Driven, Community -Organizing Assault, which includes the Former President’s own “Organizing For America” Website, which has taken the cheesy name of “The Resistance”.

Not unlike the Bolsheviks of the Russian Revolution, this “Resistance”, with their willing accomplices in the Main Stream Media and within OUR Federal Government, launched a massive assault, through the dissemination of propaganda, manufactured protests, and Fake News, in order to somehow diminish the sitting President, in the hopes of regaining their lost power and continuing their mission, inspired by Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky.

Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the power of the New Media and the resiliency of the average American, here in the Heartland, who stopped believing their lies some time ago.

The more the Democrats press the stupid “Russia Issue” and prove themselves to be nothing but Trump-hating Zombies with no workable plan which is beneficial to average Americans, the more they weaken the momentum of their “Resistance” and strengthen the resolve of both the sitting President and the average Americans who voted him into office, against all odds.

The only way for a happy ending to this real life spy novel is for the 45th President of the United States to fulfill another one of his campaign Promises and “Drain the Swamp”, i.e., the Justice Department and all of the “alphabet agencies” of disloyal embedded operatives left behind by previous Administrations.

President Trump needs to get this accomplished as soon as possible.

The appointment of Anthony Scaramucci is definitely a step in the right direction.

As Julius Caesar found out the hard way, in government, there is always someone looking to stab you in the back.

It is time to take the knifes out of their hands and to stop the incessant leaking which is obstructing not only the Administration of President Donald J. Trump but also the rebuilding of the Greatest Country on the Face of the Earth.

Leakers are traitors not only to President Trump but to all other Americans, as well.

Get rid of them.

DRAIN THE SWAMP. NOW.

 

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Only 6% of Americans Care About “Russia, Russia, Russia”! What That Means. (A KJ Sunday Morning Analysis)

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Wt-Down-600-LA

Recently, Bloomberg News published a poll in which they asked Americans what they were concerned about.

Per Hannity.com,

The survey, conducted last week and released on Tuesday, shows that just 6% of American voters think allegations of Russian collusion in the 2016 general election is a major issue facing the nation.

Individuals were asked “Which of the following do you see as the most important issue facing the nation right now?” Healthcare reform was at the top of the list with 35% of Americans seeing at is the largest problem in the US, followed by unemployment at 13%; terrorism at 11%; and immigration at 10%.

Near the bottom was the “Relationship with Russia” with just 6%.

6% !!!

Let that sink in, boys and girls.

Only 6% of those surveyed cared at all about a story which has dominated every single news outlet for what seems like an eternity.

What does this mean?

It means that average Americans have more important issues in their lives that they have to deal with on a daily basis.

Little things like their families, their jobs and their health and well-being.

It also means something else.

Americans do not give a hoot ‘n holler what the Democrat Elite, their Propaganda Arm, the Main Stream Media, and all of the Liberal Internet Trolls, paid and unpaid, are screaming at the top of their lungs about, concerning the Trump/Russia Collision Fairy Tale.

On that glorious day of November 8th, 2016, when average Americans stood up on our hind legs, when to the voting booths and began the process of taking our country back by electing Donald J. Trump our 45th POTUS, a very clear message was sent load and clear:

“We’re mad as Hell and we’re not going to take it any more.” We do not care what you think or say. We’re taking our country back.

However, the Democratic Elite, the Propaganda Arm, the Main Stream Media, and Liberal Internet Trolls, paid and unpaid, stuck their fingers in their ears, jumping up and down as they held their breath until they turned blue, ignoring the mandate given by American Voters, in favor of one of their own: to obstruct the process of taking America back by slandering the President at every opportunity by concocting Fake News Stories, such as the Trump/Russian Collusion Fairy Tale, presenting them, and having their Fellow Travelers swear to their veracity.

The result has been an obstruction of a President’s Agenda and a rebellion against the Constitutional Process by which we choose our American President, in favor of lies, innuendo, and mob rule, which as the survey by Bloomberg has shown, is only supported by 6% of the people in this country.

Remember the old saying,

One monkey don’t stop no show ?

Well, 6 Americans out of 100 “concerned” about a sitting President’s possible collusion with Russia is not the consensus that the Democrat Elite, the MSM, and those trolling live from Mom’s Basement on Social Media are attempting to convince us that their “concern” is.

As I have written before, during Obama’s two terms as President, America suffered under a “Tyranny of the Minority”.

Obama owed his political success to the benevolence and largess of America and her people.

In his tenure as President, he proved that he was president of some of the people, not all of the people.

And, those of us, whom his failed political ideology did not appeal to, had enough of his failed leadership and decided not to go “quietly into that good night” by voting for Donald J. Trump,  instead of Obama’s chosen successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

So now, it is apparent that the Democrat Elite, the MSM, and Liberal Internet Trolls are a part of a movement whose purpose is to make average Americans submit to their political ideology of “forced Socialism through Fascism” by sabotaging the Presidency of Donald J. Trump and driving Donald J. Trump from office “by any means necessary”.

Well, they can wish in one hand and spit in the other and all that they are going to get is a wet palm.

President Trump is not going any where and neither are those of us living between the East and Left Coasts, here in America’s heartland, who elected him.

The Democrats are still assuming after reading their own press clippings, that all Americans want the Progressive/Marxist Political Ideology and style of governance which Barack Hussein Obama practiced during his time as President.

Well, we all know what assuming does, don’t we, boys and girls?

The American People overthrew the “Tyranny of the Minority”, which we had suffered under for the last 8 years on November 8th.

The Oxford Dictionaries define the word “mandate” as

the authority to carry out a policy or course of action, regarded as given by the electorate to a candidate or party that is victorious in an election.

Guess what, Democratic Elite, Main Stream Media, Facebook and Internet Trolls, Hollywood Celebrities, and the rest of you still attempting to push the Trump/Russia Collusion Fairy Tale while throwing a  Nonstop National Temper Tantrum?

Trump won! Therefore, he does have a mandate.

So, please shut up and go away, unless you wish to help us and the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.

Until He Comes,

KJ

American Industry Beginning to Make a Comeback…Food Stamp Usage Down…Well, Duh.

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

In December (2016), according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record 95,102,000 Americans were not in the labor force, 47,000 more than in November; and the labor force participation rate was 62.7 percent, a tenth of a point higher than in November.The participation rate dropped to a 38-year low of 62.4 percent on Obama’s watch, in September 2015. It was only 3-tenths of a point higher than that last month.

People over age 16 who are no longer working or even looking for work, for whatever reason (retirement, school, personal preference, or gave up), are counted as not participating in the labor force.

When President Obama took office in January 2009, 80,529,000 Americans were not in the labor force, the highest number on record. That number rose steadily during his two terms, reaching a record 95,055,000 in November 2016, then setting another record (95,102,000) in December.

Breitbart.com reports that

Participation in the food stamp program took a dive to the lowest level it has been in seven years, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

USDA statistics on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation showed that 42,609,852 people in the U.S. took part in the food stamp program in fiscal year (FY) 2017, the lowest level it has been since 2010 when 40,302,000 people enrolled in the program.

Food stamp usage has been on a steady decline after 2013, when enrollment in the government program swelled to 47.6 million, the highest amount it has ever been since the program’s inception.

The increase in the number of people receiving food stamps during that period can be attributed to the Obama administration’s effort to allow those with higher incomes to receive benefits. Enrollment in benefits increased by 70 percent from the year former President Barack Obama took office in 2008 to 2013.

Starting in 2014, the number of people on food stamps started to decline slowly. The decline in enrollment began as a combination of the Obama administration’s slight cuts to the food stamp program in the 2014 Farm Bill and state efforts to curb prolonged food stamp dependency.

Obama signed an $8.7 billion food stamp cut into law as a way to placate House Republicans in early 2014 after they pushed for deeper cuts to the program throughout 2013.

Individual states such as Maine also began the process of implementing or reinstating work requirements to participate in the food stamp program that many states delayed putting in place because of the recession.

The cuts to the program, along with state efforts to curb food stamp enrollment, caused a domino effect. In 2014, 46.6 million Americans received food stamps, 45.8 million received benefits in 2015, and 44.2 million enrolled in the program as of 2016.

Although Maine led the way in implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents who wish to receive food stamps, a lot of other states did not catch on until 2016-2017.

Georgia made headlines when thousands dropped off the state’s food stamp rolls after the state gradually rolled out food stamp work requirements starting in 2016. Other states such as Alabama soon followed, and more states are starting to find ways to decrease food stamp enrollment and increase employment.

At the federal level, lawmakers are working on legislation to take food stamp work requirements nationwide and reinstate time limits on how long recipients can receive benefits.

Who are these people who found themselves no longer a part of America’s Work Force at the end of the reign of King Barack The First?

They are average Americans like you and me, who, in their very real despair, had given up trying to find a job, choosing instead to work under the radar as handymen or flea market vendors. some not even working at all, sitting at home and letting Uncle Sugar take care of them.

When you ask Liberals about this unacceptable situation, they will respond to you with charts and graphs designed to buttress their opinion that Obama actually moved America’s Stagnant Economy forward.

And, if that argument doesn’t work, their pre-programmed response is

But…but…Booosh!!!

Quite frankly, the reason that Obama Presidency did not move our economy forward, like President Ronald Reagan did, is because Obama was more concerned about growing the Central Government, than he was about growing American Production by freeing the job creators from punitive tax rates, in order to encourage the growth that will revitalize our economy.

That is why I once spent 6 hours on a Saturday, on the phone with Punjab from Calcutta about my Comcast Cable Box, which was on the fritz.

But, I digress…

Make no mistake, granting amnesty to millions of unskilled, underage illegal aliens would have done and still will do nothing for the health of our economy.

This action would simply provide future voters for the Democrat Party, which is now firmly in the control of the Far Left. If Obama had granted amnesty before he left office, he would have placed a further strain on our economy, as all of these “little rascals”, would rely on their new Uncle Sugar for their “daily bread”.

A popular Liberal Defense that was going around during Obama’s Presidency was the claim that Reagan actually had a bigger Federal Government than Obama.

The funny part is: It’s true.

It was larger because President Reagan, through his sound Economic Policy, actually increased tax revenues.

American Production rose, therefore,  TAX REVENUES INCREASED.

Yes, “Trickle-Down Economics, “trickled up”, allowing for a well-funded, strong American Military and Administration.

You see, boys and girls, that’s the secret of American Exceptionalism, a concept that Obama always gave lip service to, but, clearly, never  believed in.

For America to proper, we must remain free. For America to remain free, we must be prosperous.

American Capitalism is the engine which drives a strong, vibrant economy.  American Capitalism is the result of the courageous Entrepreneurial Spirit of American Citizens. The same “Can Do” attitude which led to Western Expansion and triumphs against those before-mentioned enemies, foreign and domestic.

The current state of the Shining City Upon a Hill can be summarized thusly:

America was formed by men seeking FREEDOM. She grew and prospered because of an indomitable will and spirit forged through the Refiner’s Fire, guided by the common-sense words, inscribed in our Constitution, and administered through a Constitutional Republic. Our nation’s largesse and strength comes through the actions and character of her citizens, not through the usurpation of power by professional politicians, who has long since lost touch with their constituency.

Obama’s attempt to “radically change” our nation into a Third World Barrio was met with resistance, not because of professional politicians, but, because of the defiance of the American People, who love their country.

It was this Defiant Spirit which caused Americans to elect American Entrepreneur and Businessman Donald J. Trump as our 45th President.

And, President-elect Trump recognizes whom he owes his Presidency to.

Which explains the following information, found on CNSNews.com…

Overall, the U.S. economy grew at an annual pace of only 1.4 percent in the first quarter. But the value added by mining grew by a booming annual rate of 21.6 percent, while construction grew 5.6 percent and manufacturing grew 4.7%.

The BEA says that the value added by an industry—which equals the market value of the goods, services and structures it produces minus the values of the goods and services it consumes in production—is “a measure of an industry’s contribution to GDP.”

“Mining increased by 21.6 percent, after increasing 5.2 percent [in the fourth quarter of last year],” said BEA. “The first quarter growth primarily reflected increases in oil and gas extraction, as well as support activities for mining. This was the largest increase since the fourth quarter of 2014.”

On November 8th, average Americans, like those who work in the industries mentioned in the above article, proved that America’s Heritage of God and Country is still alive and well in the hearts and minds of the overwhelming majority of the citizens in this country, even those who have dropped out of the workforce.

A President’s role, if he wants to be viewed positively as a world leader, is to work to restore America to a position of strength, both in foreign and domestic policy.

President Trump understands the mandate that he has been given and is already serving Americans by making deals which are adding JOBS (that “three-letter word” which even Joe Biden says is so important for our country) to bring those who have been separated from America’s Workforce, back into it, helping grow and strengthen our nation’s economy, which, will in turn create more jobs…which will help to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN .

He understands that it all starts with the Engine That Drives Our Country…Capitalism.

And, President-elect Trump already has his hand on the throttle.

Oh…and one more thing…

The Russians did not stop Hillary from continuing Obama’s “Legacy”.

FED UP AVERAGE AMERICANS DID!!!

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Mueller Expands Investigation Into Trump Family Finances. Trump Says That Would Be a “Breach”.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

Mueller-Traps-600-LA

“This seems more like an effort to prosecute Donald Trump.”
“What the hell are we investigating?” “Why are we going through with this charade?” –  U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (R-Wis.)

Foxnews.com reports that

The morning after President Trump publicly warned Special Counsel Robert Mueller to stick to Russia and avoid probing his family finances outside that scope, a new report quoting a single, anonymous source has struck the White House like a bomb.

The report, by Bloomberg News, says Mueller’s investigation has indeed expanded to examine a range of business transactions by the president and his associates.

The transactions in question largely involve Russian interests, and it’s unclear from the report whether the investigation might eye non-Russian dealings – which Trump warned in an interview with The New York Times would be crossing a red line.

Asked whether an examination of his family finances unrelated to Russia would be a breach, Trump said, “I would say yes.”

But the Bloomberg report portrays an investigation that continues to expand and evolve, as the president openly voices frustration with its scope. 

According to the report, investigators are looking at Trump’s involvement with Russian associates on a development in the U.S.; the Russian purchase of apartments in his buildings; Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch and even the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Bloomberg’s source reportedly said this aspect of the probe is rooted in an investigation launched by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, among dozens of federal prosecutors canned by the Trump administration earlier this year.

In the Times interview, Trump complained about multiple aspects of the Russia controversy and case, including that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself from the investigation.

He turned his attention to Mueller as he griped that the special counsel was hiring lawyers who donated to his general election rival Hillary Clinton. 

The president also called him out for having interviewed for the job to replace ex-FBI Director James Comey just before his appointment and warned he could start discussing the special counsel’s “conflicts” on the job.

Trump said after Mueller was named, he said to himself, “’What the hell is this all about?’ Talk about conflicts. But he was interviewing for the job. There were many other conflicts that I haven’t said, but I will at some point.”

The Times interview eventually delved into what Trump might do if Mueller went too far beyond the Russia lane in looking at his and his family’s financial transactions.

“I think that’s a violation,” Trump responded. “Look, this is about Russia.”

Trump would not say whether he’d consider seeking Mueller’s ouster in that scenario but defended his transactions.  

“So I think if he wants to go, my finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company,” he told the Times, according to the transcript. “I don’t do business with Russia.” 

White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked at Thursday’s press briefing whether Trump has plans to fire him, but said, “although he has the authority to do so, he doesn’t intend to do so.”

Back on June 13th, I wrote a post titled: “Special Counsel Mueller Hires Dem Donors. Is This an Investigative Staff or a “Firing Squad”?” concerning the hiring of Democrats to be a part of the investigative team looking into whether President Trump “colluded” with Russia.

In that post I set up and asked the following pertinent question…

…The thing is Muller was appointed FBI Director by George W. Bush whom he served under for 10 years.

When Barack Hussein Obama became President, Mueller served under him for 2 more years.

His past, plus his present staff activity has lead me and others to throw up a red flag about this guy, fearing that he may be another Establishment Political Weasel like James Comey, who followed Mueller as Director of the FBI.

Why would a Special Counsel hire so many financial supporters of the Democratic Party to assist in investigating a matter which the Democratic Party has erroneously linked to a President?

Is Professional Bureaucrat Mueller putting together an Investigative Staff or a Firing Squad?

Well, boys and girls, I think that we now know the answer to my question.

The moment that it was announced that a “Special Counsel” had been named and it was announced who it was, the little hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.

Make no mistake. Mueller is a part of the Washington Establishment.

While it is true that he served under both a Democratic and Republican President, he is still quite partisan. His loyalties are to the Washingtonian Status Quo.

That is why he is expanding his investigation into the business dealings of a then-private citizen.

What boggles the mind is the fact that Donald J. Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. have committed no crime.

Even the Liberal Professor Emeritus from Harvard, Renown Legal Scholar Alan Dershowitz has written in op eds that no crime has been committed.

On, the night of the 2016 Presidential Election, Hillary and her henchman, Podesta came up with this cockamamie Russian Collusion Fairy Tale, which the Libs have been harping on, repeating lies as being facts, as if they graduated from the Dan Rather School of Broadcast Journalism.

As I have written before, the frenzy which they have built themselves into as a group resembles the mentality of an old West Lynch Mob.

They want a hanging, and by gum, there WILL be a “hanging”, even though, as Professor Dershowitz has written, there is no proof whatsoever that the President did anything wrong.

Being the minority Political Ideology in America has never stopped Modern American Liberals from trying to enforce their will upon the American people.

On November 8th, the Electoral College, put in place by our Founding Fathers, stopped them.

And, the Russia-Trump Collusion Fairy Tale is their attempt to circumvent our Constitution.

And now, it is apparent that Mueller is a part of “The Resistance”.

It appears to this average American that Mueller, being well-connected in the Washington Establishment, is cut from the same cloth as Former FBI Director James Comey.

Mueller is turning out to be a political weasel, a professional bureaucrat who views himself to be more important than he actually is, just like Comey.

President Trump needs to go ahead and fire Mueller.

…before he and the rest of “The Resistance” usurp the will of the American People.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Iran Upset Over Trump’s New Sanctions. Too Bad.

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

untitled (156)

The JCPOA can perhaps delay Iran’s nuclear weapons program for a few years. Conversely, it has virtually guaranteed that Iran will have the freedom to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons at the end of the commitment. – Mike Pompeo, Director, Central Intelligence Agency

CNSNews.com reports that

Iran pledged Tuesday to retaliate after the Trump administration coupled its certification of the regime’s conduct with regard to the nuclear deal with new sanctions targeting the ballistic missile program and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Calling the new measures “contemptible and worthless,” the foreign ministry said Iran would respond by imposing sanctions against American individuals and entities that have taken hostile steps against Iran and “other Muslim nations in the region.”

The State and Treasury Departments announced the U.S. has designated 18 individuals and entities, including some based in China and Turkey, for supporting the missile program, Iranian military procurement, or the IRGC – the powerful military organization that has been behind terrorism directed at the U.S., Israel and Jews since the early 1980s, and is deeply involved in propping up the Assad regime in Syria.

Among those targeted Tuesday were an Iran-based transnational criminal organization and three people associated with it.

The organization, the Ajily Software Procurement Group “uses hackers to steal engineering software programs from the United States and other western countries,” said the Treasury Department.

“Some of this software was sold to Iranian military and government entities, which are unable to acquire it overtly because of U.S. export controls and sanctions.  The hackers use computer servers located in multiple Western countries to carry out their thefts.”

The administration linked Tuesday’s measures with a certification to Congress that Iran is meeting its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement.

As a result, the administration informed Congress it will continue to waive nuclear-related sanctions to comply with U.S. JCPOA obligations.

It was the Trump administration’s second such certification, required by law every 90 days.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert made it clear the certification did not mean the administration – which is conducting a review of the JCPOA and associated sanctions relief – believes Iran is embracing the “spirit” of the agreement.

She noted in a statement that according to the JCPOA text, the countries involved anticipate that full implementation “will positively contribute to regional and international peace and security.”

“However, Iran’s other malign activities are serving to undercut whatever ‘positive contributions’ to regional and international peace and security were intended to emerge from the JCPOA,” she said.

The new sanctions are being imposed under two executive orders – one (E.O. 13382 of 2005) dealing with proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and WMD means of delivery and those who support proliferation, and the other (E.O. 13581 of 2011) targeting transnational criminal organizations.

“These sanctions target procurement of advanced military hardware, such as fast attack boats and unmanned aerial vehicles, and send a strong signal that the United States cannot and will not tolerate Iran’s provocative and destabilizing behavior,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “We will continue to target the IRGC and pressure Iran to cease its ballistic missile program and malign activities in the region.”

The measures stopped short of designating the IRGC under E.O. 13224, a post-9/11 order designed to disrupt funding to terrorists. There have been growing calls for the Trump administration to take that step – or the even more far-reaching one of designating the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

In 2007 President Bush used E.O. 13224 to designate the IRGC’s Qods Force for providing support to terrorists, citing Hezbollah, three Palestinian terror groups, and the Taliban. But Iran experts have told Congress that the Qods Force is an inseparable part of the IRGC, which should be designated in its entirety.

Iran engagement proponents, on the other hand, argue that blacklisting the IRGC would risk a violent backlash.

On Monday, Iran armed forces chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Baqeri issued a direct threat along those lines, warning Washington that naming the IRGC a terrorist group “would be a big risk to the US and its bases and forces stationed in the region.”

In response to threats to target the missile program, Baqeri declared that Iran’s missiles would not be “subject to bargaining and negotiation at any level.”

Both the missile program and IRGC are targeted in new bipartisan legislation that passed the Senate last month.

The legislation, which has been sent to the House of Representatives, mandates sanctions against the IRGC as a whole, under E.O. 13224.

‘An environment of uncertainty’

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which advocates engagement with Tehran, on Tuesday criticized the administration’s approach.

“While the Trump administration certified Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA with one hand today, it continues to undermine the nuclear accord with the other by undermining the sanctions relief process,” said NIAC president Trita Parsi.

He accused the administration of having “deliberately created an environment of uncertainty by consistently questioning the validity of the JCPOA, hinting that the U.S. might quit the agreement, and by suggesting that it might pursue regime change in Iran.”’

Iran complained to the U.N. last month that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was advocating “regime change.”

In fact, in an appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Tillerson said it was administration policy to “work toward support of those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of that government.”

“Those elements are there certainly, as we know,” he added, without elaborating.

One group that does call for regime change in Tehran, the exiled National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), welcomed the new sanctions, and reiterated its calls for the IRGC to be designated “as a terrorist entity” and to be expelled from the region, particularly from Iraq and Syria.

“A firm approach is the only correct policy vis-à-vis a regime, which is the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism and extremism,” it said.

And, they are exactly right.

Are you old enough to remember the Iranian Hostage Crisis? If not, here is a summary, courtesy of u-s-history.com:

On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of some 300 to 500 “students” who called themselves “Imam’s Disciples,” laid siege to the American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, to capture and hold hostage 66 U.S. citizens and diplomats. Although women and African-Americans were released a short time later, 51 hostages remained imprisoned for 444 days with another individual released because of illness midway through the ordeal.

…Upon the death of the shah in July [1980] (which neutralized one demand) and the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September (necessitating weapons acquisition), Iran became more amenable to reopening negotiations for the hostages’ release.

In the late stages of the presidential race with Ronald Reagan, Carter, given those new parameters, might have been able to bargain with the Iranians, which might have clinched the election for him. The 11th-hour heroics were dubbed an “October Surprise”* by the Reagan camp — something they did not want to see happen.

Allegations surfaced that William Casey, director of the Reagan campaign, and some CIA operatives, secretly met with Iranian officials in Europe to arrange for the hostages’ release, but not until after the election. If true, some observers aver, dealing with a hostile foreign government to achieve a domestic administration’s defeat would have been grounds for charges of treason.

Reagan won the election, partly because of the failure of the Carter administration to bring the hostages home. Within minutes of Reagan’s inauguration, the hostages were released.

In stark, terrifying contrast, the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, purposely and surreptitiously handed a Rogue State of Radical Muslim Barbarians the means of the destruction of both the United States of America and  our staunch ally, Israel, with his toothless “Nuclear Agreement”

Why did the President of these United States, Barack Hussein Obama, trust Iran, an enemy of freedom, to stand by its “Agreement” to refrain from nuking the United States of America and Israel?

He gave Iran everything they wanted: their money, nuclear capability, and acquiescence by the Government of the United States of America, literally, encouraging the world’s population of Islamic Terrorists to kidnap our own Naval Personnel, with the promise of a huge payday, while he remained president.

By the way, in case you didn’t know, there was a reason, besides his duties as Secretary of State, that John F. Kerry did the bulk of “negotiating” with the Mad Mullahs of the Rogue State of Iran during the second half of Obama’s Presidency…

They were “family”.

As noted on the website of Lt. Col. Allen B. West…

…in 2009, the daughter of Secretary of State John Kerry, Dr. Vanessa Bradford Kerry, John Kerry’s younger daughter by his first wife, married an Iranian-American physician named Dr. Brian (Behrooz) Vala Nahed.

…Brian (Behrooz) Nahed is son of Nooshin and Reza Vala Nahid of Los Angeles. Brian’s Persian birth name is “Behrooz Vala Nahid” but it is now shortened and Americanized in the media to “Brian Nahed.” At the time his engagement to Bradford Kerry, there was rarely any mention of Nahed’s Persian/Iranian ancestry, and even the official wedding announcement in the October 2009 issue of New York Times carefully avoids any reference to Dr. Nahed (Nahid)’s birthplace (which is uncommon in wedding announcements) and starts his biography from his college years.

…Zarif is the current minister of foreign affairs in the Rouhani administration and has held various significant diplomatic and cabinet posts since the 1990s. He was Kerry’s chief counterpart in the nuclear deal negotiations.

Secretary Kerry and Zarif first met over a decade ago at a dinner party hosted by George Soros at his Manhattan penthouse. What a surprise. I have to say, connecting the dots gets more and more frightening.

But it gets even worse. Guess who was the best man at the 2009 wedding between Kerry’s daughter Vanessa and Behrouz Vala Nahed? Javad Zarif’s son.

Does this bother anyone at all?

Apparently Kerry only revealed his daughter’s marriage to an Iranian-American once he had taken over as Secretary of State. But the subject never came up in his Senate confirmation hearing, either because Kerry never disclosed it, or because his former colleagues were “too polite” to bring it up.

Happily, as I have written before, there’s a new sheriff in town.

Foreign Leaders, who enjoyed the advantage that they had under the weak and vacillating Foreign Policy of Barack Hussein Obama, do not want the United States to regain our position as the Leader of the Free World.

And, they certainly do not want a President who will honor our friendship with our ally, Israel.

That is why they feared a Trump Presidency.

It was far more lucrative for them, when the United States “negotiated from a position of weakness”, when we had a vacillating dhimmi in the White House.

Now, they have to negotiate with an American President who has mastered “The Art of the Deal”.

…one who will place America and her best interests, first.

The problem Trump faces with Iran is that they are a state sponsor of Radical Islamic Terrorism. They are bullies who will lie to your face, as they did to our naïve Former President, when he made his “Gentlemen’s Agreement” with them concerning the development of nuclear weapons.

They are testing President Trump’s and our nation’s resolve. Plain and simple.

Just like President Reagan sent a guided missile straight into Libyan Madman Moamar Kadhafi’s bedroom, perhaps it is time for President Trump to “fire a shot across the bow” and get the attention of the Radical Islamic Mullahs who govern the Rogue Country of Iran.

After all, bullies with think twice if you stand up to them and give them something to think about.

Ask the bully in 7th grade whom I hit square between the eyes with my 2s (Tom) drumsticks.

He never bothered me again.

Please allow me to tell another personal Story in closing.

As the Iranian Revolution was occurring, a wonderful family, friends of the Shah, escaped the barbarians who were laying waste to what was once a vibrant nation.

He was an engineer. She was an English Professor at the University of Tehran. They had two young children, a boy and a girl.

He decided to leave his family here and to travel back to Iran to check on his family and try to get them out.

He was never heard from again.

These are they type of people that we are dealing with, Mr. President.

Do not expect any sort of civilized negotiations with them.

Treat them as barbarians who murder their own people with no remorse.

For that is indeed, who they are.

Until He Comes,

KJ