Amish at the White House!

quote:

Trump hosts Amish in historic Oval Office visit

President Trump began the holiday break by hosting an Amish delegation in the Oval Office, the first time members of the reclusive community have received that honor.

They might be an odd pairing — the brash and extravagant billionaire president and the humble Amish — but they enjoy a kinship in their Christian faith and work ethic, the Amish visitors told The Washington Times.

“He is a common man just like me and everybody else — very common, very friendly. He called us friends when we walked in there,” said Levi Miller, 56, an Amish farmer from Ohio. “It gets people excited that we have somebody in there who is not afraid to talk about Jesus Christ.”

Mr. Miller was among four Amish businessmen from Ohio who sat down for an exclusive interview with The Times following their Oval Office visit Friday, where they also met Vice President Mike Pence, acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and other top White House officials.

The Amish men described themselves as strong supporters of Mr. Trump and each denounced the House Democrats’ impeachment of the president as a waste of taxpayer money.

“We read the newspaper and it is just ‘impeachment this’ and ‘impeachment that.’ It’s a lot of hogwash,” said Ben Hostetler, 51, a woodworker. “What they are blaming Trump for is what they did themselves.”

The Amish businessmen credit Mr. Trump with fostering a robust economy, protecting religious freedom and adhering to conservative values.

Mr. Miller said the Amish experience the good economic times that Mr. Trump has ushered in, and many will back him in 2020.

“What we see happening at home. Everybody is upbeat. The stock market, everything is up — the economy, the jobs are available,” he said. “The only thing that’s [difficult] about it is you can’t get anybody to work for you. Everybody is working.”

The historic White House meeting also included two Amish business leaders from Pennsylvania and two from Indiana. It was organized by Chris Cox, the founder of the activist group Bikers for Trump, who is also a candidate in the crowded GOP primary in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

For the past two years, Mr. Cox has been working to increase political involvement among Trump supporters in Amish communities, many of which are located in key 2020 presidential battlegrounds such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Neither Washington politicos nor members of the Amish community could recall a previous Oval Office reception for the Amish, though President Woodrow Wilson welcomed an Amish minister to the White House for a prayer service during World War I.

As they approached the Oval Office, Mr. Trump shooed away the press who were assembled for a holiday send-off and heralded the arrival of his Amish “friends,” a gesture that impressed the visitors.

The president and the Amish men discussed matters of faith and the upcoming Christmas celebration. Mr. Trump praised the skill and diligence of Amish workers, recalling how Amish contractors had erected a red barn on one of his properties and completed the job in two days.

Mr. Trump told them that he was impressed by the craftsmanship and how the barn was constructed with wooden pegs instead of nails.

Gesturing to the ornate woodwork of the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said the Amish could do a better job.

The remark drew protests from the unassuming Amish men.

“We ain’t better. No. No,” said Mr. Hostetler, the woodworker.

Joe Hostetler, a 56-year-old cabinet maker who is not related to Ben, explained that the group does not seek accolades, which included not wanting to be seen as boasting about their White House meeting.

“We are Amish people. We are not big people. We are not out people that are going to draw attention to ourselves,” he said.

The Amish, who are known for using horse-drawn buggies, maintain a culture of living simply, dressing plainly and avoiding modern technology. It is a way of life, not a religion, though they follow a traditionalist Christian faith.

The Amish men said they do not harbor any misconception that Mr. Trump is an overly religious man, but they said he shared their Christian ethos and was moving the country in the right direction.

“His faith is changing. It is so much easier, it might sound a little bit rude, but it is so much easier to pray for a government that is doing something in the right direction,” Mr. Hostetler said.

They said Mr. Trump’s businessman ways, something to which they could relate, was what the country had long needed in the White House. It is the same sentiment expressed by many of the voters who backed Mr. Trump in 2016.

“From a business standpoint, he’s doing a wonderful job. That’s what we’ve needed for how many years. How long did the United States need a businessman in there to run the country, to get it going in the direction that we are taking now?” said Eli Hostetler, 60, a grain farmer and chicken grower.

Eli and Ben Hostetler are brothers.

The Amish men said they respected that Mr. Trump was a man of his word, echoing the president’s campaign slogan of “promises made, promises kept.”

“We, especially in our community, look up to somebody when they say something they are going to do, and it is going to happen,” said Joe Hostetler.

After the Oval Office meeting, Mr. Pence escorted the men to his office for some more discussions and prayers.

“You walked in there, there was the Bible, laying open, well used,” Mr. Miller said. “He did a prayer for us. The vice president, standing in his room, doing a prayer. If that is not a humbling experience.”

https://www.washingtontimes.co...ic-oval-office-visi/

quote:

“What they are blaming Trump for is what they did themselves.”

I wish more people could see this. It's SOP for the Dumbocrats: Misdirect by accusing someone of the behavior you have perfected to a "T."

I think a lot of people are seeing the inconsistent information being pedaled by the dems and the propaganda wing and the clue light is slowly starting to brighten.

The fact that some dems are walking away is a good sign but what I fear in November is the apathetic republican voter won’t get off his or her ass and go vote. I think it will be another close election. It needs to be a landslide.

We are a unique group on this forum - more educated and more motivated.

My fear is that the average republican is not much away from simply being the flip side of AOC.

So we need to work to get the message out.

I think you’re dead wrong.

I’m not saying we can sit back and relax, but I think the average Republican voter is fired up and hopping on the Trump train because they see he’s doing what he promised and want it to continue. Hell, even the Amish see it.

“My fear is that the average republican is not much away from simply being the flip side of AOC.”

That’s just silly.

We shall see.

It will be interesting to take a look at the percentage of turnout versus the number of eligible voters.

The midterms weren’t particularly inspiring as far as voter turn out goes.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
We shall see.

It will be interesting to take a look at the percentage of turnout versus the number of eligible voters.

The midterms weren’t particularly inspiring as far as voter turn out goes.

Have faith brother and don’t be such a cynic

Trumps Fund Raising #'s show a different story.

Get real news Not media spin. They want to demoralize us. You want demoralized- Be a millennial democrat and see that Biden + Pelosi are your Standard Bearers.

in the 2016 Presidential election the end of the world was at hand - the enemy was the Hildebeast

a whopping 55% of the electorate showed up - the lowest in turnout since 1996.

In 2004, 31% of republicans turned out, in 2008 it was 29%, in 2012 it was 28% and in 2016 it was 26%

do you see a trend? I do.

its not being cynical, its being observant of behavior and being concerned that a 20-year long trend shows a steady decline in republican voter turnout

that needs to be reversed and we;ve got 11 months to figure out exactly what we can do to get the message out

I'm not so much worried about the Presidential side of the election, I think that the dems have put up the least palatable candidate - someone just shy of full blown dementia

its the House and Senate races I'm most concerned about. And we need a big shift, not just one or two seats

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
do you see a trend?

People aren't used to winning?

NSC chief slashing Obama's 'bloated' staff to create efficient, tight-lipped White House operation

The White House National Security Council staff is being downsized sharply in a bid to improve efficiency within the policy coordinating body by consolidating positions and cutting staff.
A second, unspoken thrust of the overhaul is a hoped-for end to what many critics see as a string of politically damaging, unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information. Leaks of President Trump’s conversations with foreign leaders and other damaging disclosures likely originated with anti-Trump officials in the White House who stayed over from the Obama administration, according to several current and former White House officials.

White House National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien is leading the NSC reform effort. He revealed in a recent interview with The Washington Times that 40 to 45 NSC staff officials were sent back in recent months to the agencies where they originally worked, with more likely to be moved out.

“We remain on track to meeting the right-sizing goal Ambassador O’Brien outlined in October, and in fact may exceed that target by drawing down even more positions,” said NSC spokesman John Ullyot.
Under President Obama, the NSC staff mushroomed to as many as 450 people. Mr. O’Brien plans to cut the staff to fewer than 120 policy officials by early next year.

The downsizing will be carried out by consolidating positions and returning officials to agencies and departments such as the CIA, the State and Defense departments and the military.
Mr. O’Brien noted that the NSC had a policymaking staff of 12 in 1962 when President Kennedy faced down the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis. During the 2000s and the George W. Bush administration, the number of NSC staff members increased sharply to support the three-front conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terrorism.

However, it was during the Obama administration that the NSC was transformed into a major policymaking agency seeking to duplicate the functions of the State and Defense departments within the White House.
“The NSC staff became bloated during the prior administration,” Mr. O’Brien said. “The NSC is a coordinating body. I am trying to get us back to a lean and efficient staff that can get the job done, can coordinate with our interagency partners, and make sure the president receives the best advice he needs to make the decisions necessary to keep the American people safe.”

In the Obama administration, NSC officials wielded enormous power. NSC staff members were known to telephone commanders in Afghanistan and other locations in the Middle East with orders — a violation of the military’s strict chain of command, said military officials familiar with the calls.
“I just don’t think that we need the numbers of people that it expanded to under the last administration to do this job right,” Mr. O’Brien said.

Weaponized leaks

The national security adviser did not address the problem of leaks from the White House or NSC staff. Mr. Trump’s supporters said some parts of the NSC staff appeared to have been weaponized against him early in his administration.

Officials held over from the Obama administration are suspected of leaking sensitive details of Mr. Trump’s telephone calls with foreign leaders.

After Mr. Trump’s election in November 2016 and continuing through the spring of 2017, a series of unauthorized disclosures to news outlets appeared to come from within the White House. Several of the leaks involved publication of sensitive transcripts of the president’s conversations with foreign leaders.
Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican and former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said this year that he sent the Justice Department eight criminal referrals related to the leaks, including those related to Mr. Trump’s conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia.
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon said efforts to weed out the Obama holdovers was a priority early in the administration.

“The NSC had gotten so big there were over 450 billets,” said Mr. Bannon, adding that he and others tried to remove the Obama detailees from the White House.

“We wanted them out,” he said. “And I think we would have avoided a lot of the problems we got today if they had been sent back to their agencies.”

The House impeachment of Mr. Trump had its origins with an Obama-era holdover, widely reported to be a CIA detailee to the NSC staff. The whistleblower filed an official complaint in August saying he had learned secondhand that Mr. Trump’s telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky involved discussions of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and his son Hunter.

The CIA detailee was among the more than 40 officials returned to their agencies.
Another controversial figure on the NSC staff is Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against the president during a House impeachment hearing that he was “concerned” by what he heard on the president’s call to Ukraine. Another NSC official, Tim Morrison, testified that Col. Vindman was suspected of leaking sensitive information to the press, something Col. Vindman later denied.

The House voted along party lines to impeach Mr. Trump on Dec. 18 on charges of abusing the office of the president and obstruction of Congress. A Senate trial is pending.

Former NSC staff member Rich Higgins said the NSC was set up to implement the president’s policies through “command guidance” flowing from the Oval Office to the NSC and then to the various agencies and departments.

Removing obstructionists

Under previous Trump administration national security advisers, the communication flow was usurped as the priorities of senior officials — along with those of outside departments and agencies — were placed higher than those of Mr. Trump himself, Mr. Higgins said.

“The result was a foreign policy that oscillated and pitted Trump’s voters against what appeared to be a calcified bureaucracy,” Mr. Higgins said.

The “privilege” of serving on the NSC staff “was abused by those who took these positions in a willful attempt to obstruct the president’s and his voters’ agenda,” Mr. Higgins said.

Mr. Higgins praised Mr. O’Brien for eliminating those obstructing Mr. Trump’s foreign policy desires from the NSC staff and re-orienting the council’s mission. He called it an important first step.
“Now the national security adviser needs to address — as he is able to support — the coup attempt against the president with all elements of power, and to take immediate steps and implement safeguards and precautions to make sure this abuse of our intelligence/judicial apparatus never happens again,” Mr. Higgins said.
Mr. O’Brien told The Times that another change he put into place was regular meetings of the NSC principals committee — the heads of key security agencies and departments — and the deputies committee, made up of No. 2 officials.

NSC principals include Mr. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire and CIA Director Gina Haspel are also NSC members.

“We have time carved out of the calendar every week for principal committee meetings … so that we can really make policy across the interagency and ensure that the president is getting the best advice possible,” Mr. O’Brien said. “We want to coordinate that policy, and so far I think we have had a lot of success.”
The security adviser denied critics’ claims that he has sought to add political appointees to the NSC staff.

Officials picked for senior posts were selected from within the NSC staff and from other agencies. Longtime NSC Asia director Matt Pottinger was picked for deputy national security adviser along with Middle East director Victoria Coats, a second deputy director.

The NSC executive secretary, Matthias Mitman, is a career Foreign Service officer who came from the State Department and worked with Mr. O’Brien when he was special presidential adviser for hostage affairs. Another State Department official, Andrew Peek, fills the post of senior NSC director for Russian affairs.
“So we’re putting together a very professional, solid management/leadership team. So far, it is going very well. Morale is high at NSC,” Mr. O’Brien said.

The 40 to 45 officials who returned to their agencies were sent back because their tours of duty ended or their positions were eliminated as part of the reorganization, Mr. O’Brien said. Part of the downsizing also involves consolidating positions. Most detailees to the NSC will spend no longer than a year in the White House.
“When they return to the Department of State, or Defense, or Homeland Security, they will be better Foreign Service officers, better military officers, better Homeland Security officials because they spent time here at the White House,” he said. “We are all serving here for a relatively short period of time. The NSC should not be a career position. That is not how it was designed, and that is not how we are going to operate it.”

https://www.washingtontimes.co...urity-council-staff/

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
So we need to work to get the message out.

You have some work of your own to do, like being aware that you should be bolstering your fellow forum members, not trying to bring them down by spreading doubt.

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others." -Robert Louis Stevenson

excellent - I hope the purge is public with enough background info to show just how corrupt they all are

Peter Navarro on Trump Administration Economic Achievements in 2019 and Projections for the Economy in 2020

Watch CNBC's full interview with Peter Navarro
1,969 views•Dec 31, 2019

YouTube Interview > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f278pFePqs

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
do you see a trend? I do.

Sure. I don’t like the trend, and I voted in ever election, but... by the end of the 2008 election cycle, I had to hold my nose to vote for McStain. Long before the end of the 2012 cycle, I knew I’d have to hold my nose to vote for mittens. After Bush 2, then these clowns, it is not surprising there was little enthusiasm in R-ville. Add in that Candidate Trump was an unknown, way out of the ordinary candidate and it isn’t shocking many folks took a wait and see attitude (not saying that was a good choice). After almost four years of President Trump and the Dim’s hijinks over the last several years, it wouldn’t surprise me if the trend were to reverse.

Yes, I heartily agree that we need to continue to support PDJT and work to get the R vote out, but I don’t see a dim outlook.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
do you see a trend? I do.

Sure. I don’t like the trend, and I voted in ever election, but... by the end of the 2008 election cycle, I had to hold my nose to vote for McStain. Long before the end of the 2012 cycle, I knew I’d have to hold my nose to vote for mittens. After Bush 2, then these clowns, it is not surprising there was little enthusiasm in R-ville. Add in that Candidate Trump was an unknown, way out of the ordinary candidate and it isn’t shocking many folks took a wait and see attitude (not saying that was a good choice). After almost four years of President Trump and the Dim’s hijinks over the last several years, it wouldn’t surprise me if the trend were to reverse.

Yes, I heartily agree that we need to continue to support PDJT and work to get the R vote out, but I don’t see a dim outlook.

I agree. I think the trend is entirely tied to uninspiring, establishment candidates who were indistinguishable from the "other guy".

Trump was an unknown in 2016 and that primary was a shitshow. Now, after 4 years, Trump has shown himself to be FAR better than anything the Repubs had on offer in decades--by his actual accomplishments. I expect to see the trend reversed in 2020.

https://www.breitbart.com/2020...n-in-fourth-quarter/

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign announced Thursday it had raised $46 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to Reuters.

The numbers include just the Trump campaign’s fundraising which combined with the RNC fundraising haul will deliver another unprecedented funding boost for his re-election campaign.

A senior campaign official said the campaign haul was fueled in part by a surge of donations after Democrats pursued the impeachment of the president.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I can't afford this impeachment. It is costing me too much money.

quote:

Originally posted by Donald Trump - Brass Balls In Charge:

You're going to say, "Please stop, this is too much winning."

Nope. Not there yet.

Much like Obozo was a boon for gun sellers (remember the memes, "Gun Salesman of the Year?"), impeachment appears to be a boon for the Trump reelection campaign.

Trump rakes in cash with impeachment boost.

quote:

Originally posted by feersum dreadnaught:


However, it was during the Obama administration that the NSC was transformed into a major policymaking agency seeking to duplicate the functions of the State and Defense departments within the White House.
“The NSC staff became bloated during the prior administration,” Mr. O’Brien said. “The NSC is a coordinating body. I am trying to get us back to a lean and efficient staff that can get the job done, can coordinate with our interagency partners, and make sure the president receives the best advice he needs to make the decisions necessary to keep the American people safe.”

In the Obama administration, NSC officials wielded enormous power. NSC staff members were known to telephone commanders in Afghanistan and other locations in the Middle East with orders — a violation of the military’s strict chain of command, said military officials familiar with the calls.

Why am I not at all surprised at this?

Friggen Obama turned everything he touched into shit.

Good on Trump for reining this back in as it should be.

quote:

In 2004, 31% of republicans turned out, in 2008 it was 29%, in 2012 it was 28% and in 2016 it was 26%
do you see a trend? I do.

That's not even possible to calculate.
Those are only estimates.