BloggeRhythms

Tuesday, the Obama family took in a baseball game with Cuban President Raúl Castro in Havana, where they all observed a moment of silence for the terrorist attacks in Brussels, according to Tierney McAfee @people.com.

“President Obama and Castro stood during the somber moment that took place at the close of the first family's historic trip to Cuba. 

Obama sat down for an interview with ESPN at the ballgame, during which he responded to criticism about his decision to attend the game and remain in Cuba following the deadly terror attacks in Brussels Tuesday.

"It's always a challenge when you have a terrorist attack anywhere in the world, particularly in this age of 24/7 news coverage," he said. "You want to be respectful and understand the gravity of the situation, but the whole premise of terrorism is to try to disrupt people's ordinary lives … and as long as we don't allow that to happen we're going to be okay." 

Reading about the POTUS’s continuing his Cuban vacation despite the concern, panic, and desperation of those actually trying to do something about the devastation was remindful of another “leader” who went on as if nothing upsetting had happened quite a long time ago. 

The staff @history.com writes: “In July of 64 A.D., a great fire ravaged Rome for six days, destroying 70 percent of the city and leaving half its population homeless. According to a well-known expression, Rome’s emperor at the time, the decadent and unpopular Nero, “fiddled while Rome burned.” The expression has a double meaning: Not only did Nero play music while his people suffered, but he was an ineffectual leader in a time of crisis.”

Wikipedia adds: “In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne. Facing a false report of being denounced as a public enemy who was to be executed, he committed suicide on 9 June 68 (the first Roman emperor to do so.)”

So, it looks like the current events in Brussels and Cuba prove another very old adage; history truly does repeat itself. 

Back here at home, the battle to replace the POTUS continues, with primary’s in Arizona and Utah for Republicans yesterday, and three more for Democrats that really don’t matter much at all. That’s because Bill’s wife really can’t be caught, unless it’s by the FBI. 

On the Republican side, Trump got the Arizona win, but not the highest percentage of votes, once again. Trump wound up with 47.1% of the vote, Cruz 24.8 and Kasich 10.0. 17.3% voted for someone else entirely, likely write-ins. However, what the totals show is that 52.1% of Arizonan’s preferred others to Trump.

In Utah, Trump was blown out altogether. Cruz came away with a resounding 69.2% win, probably due to Mitt Romney’s help, while Kasich attained 16.9%. Trailing far behind, Trump scored 14%. Meaning a resounding 86% of Utah voters liked others better.

As far as delegates are concerned, Trump now has 738 in total. Cruz comes next at 463, and Kasich 143. When Rubio's still retained 166 delegates are added to the mix, the numbers show 772 for the others combined, 34 more than the front-runner all told. And therefore, it seems that the race for the nomination is very far from over. 

And now, another Ronald Reagan quote, sent by a friend.

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

And then, a Facebook friend posted this one:

Bringing us to  today’s update on Bill’s wife, which is lengthy, but certainly well-worth reading carefully. Because, alongside the email investigation in the House, another major illegality is festering in the background, as follows:

According a press release yesterday, @judicialwatch.org: “Two days after Benghazi attack, Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf, president of Libya’s National Congress, sought a meeting with Bill Clinton through a Clinton Foundation event

Judicial Watch’s release of 276 pages of internal State Department documents revealed the Libyan president “asked to participate in a Clinton Global Initiative function and “meet President Clinton.”  The meeting between the Libyan president and Bill Clinton had not previously been disclosed. The documents also show Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s staff coordinated with the Clinton Foundation’s staff to have her thank Clinton Global Initiative project sponsors for their “commitments” during a Foundation speech on September 25, 2009.

“The State Department material includes background information made by Clinton Foundation partners, which include Foundation donors Nduna Foundation, Grupo ABCA, and Britannia Industries.  Other CGI partners noted in the State Department documents include a federal agency (the Centers for Disease Control) and various United Nations entities, which also receive U.S. taxpayer funds. 

“The transcript of Hillary Clinton’s speech on the State Department Internet site confirms that then-Secretary of State did thank those making “exceptional commitments” to her husband’s foundation: 

And so I congratulate all who helped to put on this (inaudible) CGI [Clinton Global Initiative].  I especially thank you for having a separate track on girls and women, which I think was well received for all the obvious reasons.  (Applause.)  And this is an exceptional gathering of people who have made exceptional commitments to bettering our world.”

“A previously reported June 2012 email chain discusses a “firm invitation for President Clinton” to speak at a Congo conference, hosted in part by the controversial Joseph Kabila. Bill Clinton is offered $650,000 in fees and expenses, concerning which, as Desai emails Mills and others, “WJC wants to know that state [sic] thinks of it if he took it 100% for the foundation.” 

The Judicial Watch lawsuit had previously forced disclosure of documents providing a road map for over 200 conflict-of-interest rulings that led to at least $48 million in speaking fees for the Clinton's during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. “Previously disclosed documents in this lawsuit, for example, raise questions about funds Clinton accepted from entities linked to Saudi Arabia, China and Iran, among others.” 

While Judicial Watch’s litigation to obtain these conflict of interest records is ongoing,  “the State Department has also yet to explain why it failed to conduct a proper, timely search in the 20 months between when it received Judicial Watch’s request on May 2, 2011, and the February 1, 2013, date Secretary Clinton left office.” 

Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, said: “These new State Department documents show Hillary Clinton and her State aides were involved in fundraising for the Clinton Foundation.  It is also incredible that the Libyan president would call and meet Bill Clinton through the Clinton Foundation before meeting Hillary Clinton about Benghazi. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked hand in glove with the Clinton Foundation on fundraising and foreign policy.  Despite the law and her promises to the contrary, Hillary Clinton turned the State Department into the DC office of the Clinton Foundation.” 

In conclusion: “Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit has become particularly noteworthy because it has been reported that the Clinton Foundation, now known as the Bill, Hillary, & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, accepted millions of dollars from at least seven foreign governments while Mrs. Clinton served as Secretary of State.  The Clinton Foundation has acknowledged that a $500,000 donation it received from the government of Algeria while Mrs. Clinton served as Secretary of State violated a 2008 ethics agreement between the foundation and the Obama administration.  Some of the foreign governments that have made donations to the Clinton Foundation include Algeria, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, have questionable human rights records.” 

Thus, while the FBI investigation of Bill’s wife email usage continues, Judicial Watch is covering another flank which casts equal doubt on her honesty and fitness for office. All of which makes one wonder, that for one having no credible presidential credentials, what is it that her supporters actually see in her? 

It also raises the ongoing question once again: Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?    

That’s it for today folks.         

Adios