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Organizers across the country put together "not my President" protests which took place Monday -- President's Day. A schmorgesborg of complaints, few actually related to anything President Trump has done, these protests were meant to highlight the so-called "resistance" movement.

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It was three years ago last month that retired police officer Curtis Reeves, then 71 years old, shot and killed 43-year-old Chad Oulsen in a Florida movie theater. The case became known as the "popcorn shooting" because the shooting allegedly happened over spilled popcorn. Reeves has been charged with second degree murder and aggravated battery.  He has pleaded not guilty to both charges and raised the legal defense of self-defense. As usual, the media has been slathering the phrase “Stand-Your-Ground” all over this case, when in fact the case has nothing to do whatever with “Stand-Your-Ground” or any legal issues of retreat. What is relevant to this case, however, as it is to pretty much any self-defense case in Florida, is self-defense immunity. Yesterday was the first day of Reeves’ self-defense immunity hearing, taking place in a Pasco County courthouse, which we’ll get to in a moment.

Nikki Haley always has been pro-Israel. But as U.N. Ambassador, she doesn't get to voice purely personal opinions, but rather, speaks for the administration. Yet, any ambassador cannot help but bring his or her own style and wording to the job. We certainly saw that with Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan, when he lambasted the U.N. General Assembly after passage of the infamous (and now revoked) 1975 "Zionism is Racism" Resolution 3379. Given that the rhetoric from the anti-Israel boycott movement, including far-left regressive Jews, mirrors the "Zionism is Racism" resolution, it's worth revisiting Moynihan's words.

With higher construction costs and low revenue from low pump sales, a few states have considered raising the gasoline tax in an effort to raise funds for infrastructure. President Donald Trump has promised to put forth $1 trillion to fix infrastructure across the country, but state officials have realized they need to do something for themselves. Tennesse Governor Bill Haslam (R) believes a higher tax would raise $278 million for his state.

The Department of Homeland Secretary has issued memos that provide new guidelines for immigration. These include hiring more agents and ending "catch-and-release," but kept Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) intact. Due to security concerns, Secretary Kelly wants to hire 10,000 ICE agents and 5,000 border patrol agents.

Mike Barnicle, of all people, set the tone for the opening segment of today's Morning Joe, exclaiming "thank you, Jesus" in response to President Trump's pick of H.R. McMaster to take over from Michael Flynn as National Security Adviser. The segment was one belated Valentines Day bouquet of praise for McMaster, coming from members of the panel itself as well as in quotes from a bi-partisan array that included several critics of the president, John McCain notably among them. Perhaps even more significant than the accolades for McMaster was the suggestion that his selection reflected well on President Trump himself.

During his rally in Florida this weekend, Trump brought up the problems some countries in Europe and elsewhere are having with refugees. He singled out Sweden and the left, including many people in media, jumped on it. It turns out, Trump was basing his claims on a segment from the Tucker Carlson show in which filmmaker Ami Horowitz described a documentary project on the subject. Ami returned to the show last night and after Tucker replayed the clip, Horowitz backed up his project with numbers directly from the Swedish government. From FOX News:
Ami Horowitz defends Sweden refugee claims from backlash over Trump remark Filmmaker Ami Horowitz defended his investigation of refugees in Sweden Monday night amid a blacklash after President Donald Trump cited his work during a campaign speech over the weekend.

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Secretary of Defense James Mattis held talks with Iraqi leaders on Monday where he promised them that America has not interfered with the country to take its oil. From The Wall Street Journal:
“I think all of us here in this room, all of us in America, have paid for our gas and oil all along and I’m sure that we will continue to do so in the future,” he told reporters in Abu Dhabi before arriving in Iraq on Monday. “We are not in Iraq to seize anybody’s oil.”

Former Major League baseball player Jose Canseco won't be welcoming our new robotic overlords anytime soon. Monday, Canseco published a flurry of tweets warning about the mechanization of jobs once held by humans. Don't worry, robots "won't attack and kill us like in the movies," they'll just steal all of our jerbs.

President Donald Trump has picked U.S. Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new national security adviser. Acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg will remain as chief of staff to the National Security Council:
“I think that combination is something very, very special,” Trump said of the pair.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that distracted drivers on their smartphones have caused auto insurance companies to raise rates:
Costs associated with crashes are outpacing premium increases for some companies, and insurers say the use of smartphones to talk, text and access the internet while on the road is a new and important factor behind the wrecks.

Here is a story that has gone underreported in the media, but deserves so much more attention. Last September, the Indianapolis Star reported that females have accused now former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician Larry Nassar of sexual abuse. By November the number reached 50 women. Some of these women have spoken out about the alleged abuse, including Jessica Howard, the U.S. National champion from 1999 to 2001 in rhythmic gymnastics. Nassar veiled the alleged sexual abuse as medical treatment for her.

Despite the fact that I hold no medical degree, I don't think I am going out on a limb when I diagnose California's political class as being certifiably insane. The Golden State's legislators are bracing for the repeal and replacement of Obamacare by proposing a single-payer, government-run health care plan that includes illegal aliens.
“We’ve reached this pivotal moment and I thought to myself: ‘Look, now more than ever is the time to talk about universal health care,’” one of Senate Bill 562’s authors, Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, said in an interview Friday.

The MSM is falsely portraying President Trump as having alleged on Saturday that a "terror" attack had occurred the night before in Sweden. Take, for example, this NBC story headlined "Donald Trump Explains Sweden Terror Comment That Baffled a Nation." In addition to the misleading headline, the story includes a video clip of President Trump making his remarks. The chyron at the bottom of the screen reads "President Trump appears to refer to a non-existent terror incident in Sweden." But if you listen to the president's remarks, you'll see that he never mentioned terror. He said: "The bottom line: we've got to keep our country safe. You look at what's happening in Germany. You look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden! Who would believe this? Sweden! They took in large numbers, they're having problems like they never thought possible."

In order to honor President's Day, I thought I would share five of my favorite presidential moments. I'll present them in historical, rather than "top" or favorite, order.

Abraham Lincoln: "Gettysburg Address"

Like many conservatives, I have serious reservations about much that Lincoln did, but this speech is a winner from beginning to end.