B.A. Baracus reporting for duty.
I am working on tomorrow’s Highlights of the Week. A few important items are too long for the format so I will give them the space they need today.
ITEM 1: Presidents traditionally leave a letter for their successor. This week, the New York Times revealed the letter Trump left for Biden. The original was written with a black Sharpie.
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Here’s the one Obama left for Trump:
Dear Mr. President—
Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure.
This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don’t know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful. Still, let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years.
First, we’ve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune. Not everyone is so lucky. It’s up to us to do everything we can build more ladders of success for every child and family that’s willing to work hard.
Second, American leadership in this world really is indispensable. It’s up to us, through action and example, to sustain the international order that’s expanded steadily since the end of the Cold War, and upon which our own wealth and safety depend.
Third, we are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions—like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties—that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.
And finally, take time, in the rush of events and responsibilities, for friends and family. They’ll get you through the inevitable rough patches.
Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can.
Good luck and Godspeed,
BO
All the warmth of a freezer. All the insight of a 12-year-old. All the class of a rent boy in Soho.
If Obama really meant it, he would have ended it Mohammed Speed.
ITEM 2: Politico reported:
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) is pushing Senate leadership to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the lame-duck session rather than waiting until Democrats gain control of both chambers in January.
Himes, who is likely to take over the House Intelligence panel next year, told Politico that he recently spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) about reauthorizing the law, which allows the intelligence community to collect data on foreign targets. It is due to expire in March, but intelligence officials have warned that there may be a lag in the needed judicial go-ahead if it isn’t renewed by the end of this month.
“My preference would be, let’s just take the win that’s on the table, get it done in the lame-duck,” Himes said during a wide-ranging interview with Politico on Wednesday. “If that fails, we’ll do something in the first quarter.”
Himes acknowledged that the legislation is “controversial” and said it is “always challenging” to push it through Congress when it comes up for renewal because of bipartisan concerns that the warrantless surveillance law inadvertently sweeps up American data.
“I’d love to just get it out of the way so that we’re not burning a lot of time when we need to be laser-focused on the price of gas, food and housing.”
And by the price of gas, food and housing, Himes means holding Spanish inquisitions on Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio and Elon Musk. Note to Trump administrators: If you aren’t on the list, you are not doing your job.
Trump renewing FISA would just allow the deep state to continue to spy on him. He should veto anything Congress passes. If Republicans pass a renewal, they are removing a chief negotiation tool from the president, so maybe the loony Thuneys will.
ITEM 3: Byron York tweeted, “A new post from President Trump this morning. Message: Vice President Vance will not be negotiating with Iran. In fact, we don’t need a deal with Iran. Seems to indicate that there won’t be major combat operations, either and Trump will let the current economic pressure work.”
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So Trump is doing what they told Nixon to do in Vietnam: Declare victory and leave.
Scott Bessent made that possible by going after Iran’s enablers and imposing sanctions on them. Follow the money may be a cliche but it works.
Trump demoted JD to Kamala/Quayle First Class. Good luck cleaning up the American Augean Stables known as Minneapolis, Chicago and San Francisco.
He’s not Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke. He’s Don Knotts in The Shakiest Gun in the West.
ITEM 4: Attorney General Todd Blanche became the sixth Cabinet member forced to live on a military installation because of death threats from supporters of the communist Democrat Party.
He joins Rubio, Bessent and Hegseth. When they were in the Cabinet, Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi also were forced to live under military guard. Stephen Miller also is in military lockup.
Democrats refuse to imprison illegal aliens but by golly they won’t let Trump officials walk the streets freely.
Biden’s Cabinet and Obama’s Cabinet never faced this. No one has. That’s because that’s what communists do—and communists now run the Democrat Party.
ITEM 5: The press went wild on Veterans Day with the story, as CNN put it, “Video shows soldier reprimanding Hegseth and advisers at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”
The next day, OSINTdefender tweeted:
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal to Specialist Iglesias, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment “Old Guard” sentinel captured on video yesterday halting his walk to admonish the Secretary’s party after some in the group grew too loud near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
The award was presented today at the Pentagon “for the execution of his duties at the Tomb.” Sentinels issue the same warning to any visitor who breaks silence, regardless of rank.
Now you know the rest of the story. May Specialist Thomas Iglesias never have to pay for a beer again.
Finally, yes Mister T served in the military as an MP in the late 1970s. Our service times overlapped. Fortunately for me, our paths never crossed.
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This article first appeared on Don Surber’s Substack. Reprinted here with permission.
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