Above the Fold

PELOSI DANGLES IMPEACHMENT: “In a letter to lawmakers Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) issued a warning about the Trump administration’s continued efforts to block acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire from turning over a whistleblower complaint that reportedly involves the president,” Axios reports. According to Pelosi, “If the Administration persists in blocking this whistleblower from disclosing to Congress a serious possible breach of constitutional duties by the President, they will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation.” A few days prior, she told NPR, “I do think that we will have to pass some laws that will have clarity for future presidents. [A] president should be indicted, if he’s committed a wrongdoing — any president.” There’s an important question that needs to be asked here: Why is this even a story? Because of Joe Biden and his son’s questionable antics. The Democrats’ response to the whistleblower complaint is a typical leftist diversionary tactic. And the biggest benefactor is Elizabeth Warren.

SPEAKING OF DIVERSIONARY TACTICS… According to Fox News, “Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, embroiled in a blackface picture scandal, on Friday pledged to ban military-style assault rifles in the country’s most ethnically diverse city in a bid to get his campaign back on issue.” The blackface kerfuffle is not what we in our humble shop would even consider a “scandal.” But what is a scandal is leftist politicians’ deeply entrenched hypocrisy. Once that hypocrisy — which can include cooking 10,500 steaks while simultaneously dissuading meat consumption — goes public, diversion is the only resort.

On the Homeland Security Front

ASYLUM DEAL: “The Trump administration signed an asylum agreement Friday with El Salvador, giving the U.S. the right to repatriate migrants who cross through El Salvador to reach the U.S. and who then request asylum here. Officials hope the agreement, along with a similar one signed with Guatemala over the summer, will change the incentives that have spurred this year’s illegal immigration surge at the border.” (The Washington Times)

TROOPS DEPLOYED: “The United States is deploying military forces to the Middle East after [the recent] drone attacks on major oil sites in Saudi Arabia that the administration of President Donald Trump has blamed on Iran. ‘The president has approved the deployment of U.S. forces which will be defensive in nature and primarily focused on air and missile defense,’ U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said at a news conference Friday. Answering reporters’ questions about the deployment, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the troop deployment as ‘modest’ and ‘not thousands.’” (NBC News)

IRAN RESPONDS: “Iran’s president has warned American and other foreign forces to ‘stay away’ from the region, as Tehran paraded long-range missile[s] capable of reaching American bases. Hassan Rouhani said the presence of such troops in the Gulf has always brought ‘pain and misery’, in a speech made at an annual military parade to commemorate the war with Iraq. Mr Rouhani spoke in response to an announcement made by the US on Friday that it was sending more troops to Saudi Arabia after an attack on Saudi oil facilities both nations blame on Iran.” (The Telegraph)

Politics & Economy

NINTH CIRCUIT OVERHAUL: “President Donald Trump named two nominees for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, tapping a federal prosecutor and a conservative appellate lawyer for the west coast court. The nominees, Patrick Bumatay and Lawrence VanDyke, are likely to elicit strong opposition for Democrats. If confirmed, the pair would raise the number of Trump’s 9th Circuit appointees to nine, with one other nomination pending.” (The Daily Caller)

WALMART PANDERS: NPR reports that Walmart “will stop selling electronic cigarettes, at namesake stores and Sam’s Club locations. The nation’s largest retailer is responding to growing health concerns around vaping, especially among young people.” The ridiculousness of the anti-vaping crusade is supported by the fact that Walmart will continue to sell tobacco products that kill hundreds of thousands of people every year.

EAT MORE CHICKEN: “Chick-fil-A has more than doubled its annual sales since gay rights advocates called for a boycott of the chicken chain restaurant after it was revealed nearly a decade ago that the company donated to organizations that opposed same-sex marriage. In 2018, the company had $10.5 billion in total sales, becoming the third-largest chain in the nation behind Starbucks ($20.5 billion) and McDonald’s ($38.5 billion). It was a 16.7% increase in sales from the year prior.” (Washington Examiner)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: We must not tolerate Iranian aggression against the U.S. or Israel (Fox News)

POLICY: The climate strike is all about indoctrination, not science (New York Post)

HUMOR: iOS 13 “Dark Mode” is just blackface for your phone and should be classified as a hate crime to use (NPC Daily)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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