Goldman Sachs, With Long History of Public Service, Makes Return to Washington in Trump Administration

This is pretty fascinating.

At NYT, "Goldman Sachs Completes Return From Wilderness to the White House":

“Government Sachs” is back. In the Trump administration, economic policy making is being handed to Goldman alumni. https://t.co/xOpGGxPGl3

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 12, 2017

“Government Sachs” is back.

After eight years in the political wilderness, its name synonymous with the supposedly undue and self-serving influence in Washington that brought us the financial crisis and the Wall Street bailout, Goldman Sachs is again making its presence felt. In the Trump administration, to an unprecedented degree, economic policy making is largely being handed over to people with Goldman ties.

The Goldman alumni include Steven T. Mnuchin, the nominee for Treasury secretary; Gary D. Cohn, tapped as director of the National Economic Council and White House adviser on economic policy; and Stephen K. Bannon, who was named chief White House strategist. Jay Clayton, named to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, is a Wall Street lawyer who has represented Goldman.

This week President-elect Donald J. Trump hired Dina H. Powell, a Goldman partner who heads impact investing, as a White House adviser. Anthony Scaramucci, a Goldman alumnus (whom I spotlighted last week), is on the Trump transition committee and is expected to be named to a White House position as well.

And this after Mr. Trump campaigned against Wall Street, excoriated Senator Ted Cruz for his ties to Goldman, and castigated Hillary Clinton for giving paid speeches to big banks, Goldman among them.

The Goldman influx has so far drawn little criticism, perhaps because worries about what once would have been deemed undue influence now mix with relief that there is some adult supervision in the executive branch.

On balance, “it’s a plus,” Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor who built his fortune on Wall Street, told me this week. “Whatever you may think of them individually, you can’t get to be a Goldman partner and survive if you’re stupid, lazy or unprofessional.” (Mr. Bloomberg is co-chairman of Goldman’s “10,000 Small Businesses” initiative, which provides support to fledgling entrepreneurs.)

Whatever bricks Mr. Trump threw at Wall Street during the campaign, investors have cheered his victory, driving the stock market to new highs. And Goldman has been a particular beneficiary, with its shares gaining 35 percent since Election Day — the top-performing stock in the Dow Jones industrial average in that time.

Mr. Trump, a spokeswoman of his told me, sees no contradiction here. There’s a difference between individuals who happen to have worked at Goldman Sachs, at some point in their careers, and Goldman Sachs itself. “He’s said from the beginning that he’ll hire the very best people for the job regardless of where they worked before, which is what he’s done throughout his career,” said the spokeswoman, Hope Hicks.

While the firm’s influence in a Trump administration may reach a new apex, Goldman alumni have long been fixtures in both Republican and Democratic administrations. The Goldman legend Sidney J. Weinberg headed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s influential Business Advisory and Planning Council.

Recent Treasury secretaries with Goldman roots include Robert E. Rubin, a former co-chairman, under Bill Clinton; and Henry M. Paulson Jr., a former chairman and chief executive, under George W. Bush.

Even in the Obama administration, where a Goldman pedigree was something akin to a scarlet letter, Gary Gensler was credited with reviving a moribund Commodity Futures Trading Commission and might have been Treasury secretary had Mrs. Clinton won in November.

Which raises the question: Why would such a disproportionate number of the “best people,” in Mr. Trump’s view, come from just one bank? After all, Goldman is hardly the only large bank, and it is also far from the biggest. It employs roughly 33,000 people; JPMorgan Chase’s work force is many times as large.

Many point to a unique Goldman culture that has long encouraged public service and philanthropy as integral to its business model.

Goldman “does seem to produce people who are very smart and have valuable experience,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “And they have a culture and a long tradition of leaving the firm for public service. The firm pushes them to do that.”

More.

With Six Tweets, Trump Gives Taste of What's to Come

I've been arguing, mostly in conversations offline, that Trump should ditch his Twitter feed after he takes office. He should tweet from the official POTUS account and keep it professional. No personal attacks. No attacks on intelligence agencies, etc.

But it's been reported that he won't stop tweeting after the inauguration. If so, it's going to set a new precedent in presidential leadership and political communications. His successors won't be bound by norms of propriety and professionalism. Trump's in fact changing what it means to be a professional president. He's a showman in office. It's going to be a wild ride.

My only concern is with reelection in 2020. We really need him to serve eight years if we want to build a long-lasting bulwark against the left's onslaught on society and basic decency. I'd hate for his tweeting to be a liability, but it wasn't in 2016, so perhaps it's a new era?

In any case, here's the latest at WSJ, "Six Tweets in 80 Minutes: Trump Gives New Congress a Taste of What’s to Come":

Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got "swamped" (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

In a span of about 80 minutes on Friday morning, President-elect Donald Trump signaled what Congress and the American public may have in store for the next four years.

From 6:19 a.m. to 7:42 a.m., Mr. Trump posted six messages on Twitter in which he criticized the media, tweaked a promise to pay for a border wall and derided Arnold Schwarzenegger for a TV ratings flop—on a show that Mr. Trump himself is producing.

It may have been par for the course for candidate Trump, but it capped an extraordinary first week of a new Republican-controlled Congress eager to do business with President-elect Trump, who in turn got a taste for what life will be like in the nation’s capital as the 45th president two weeks from now.

It was a study in contrasts. Mr. Trump’s rapid-fire missives about an assortment of topics clashed with typical Washington political tactics that prioritize message discipline and avoiding overexposure.

Right from the start, Mr. Trump and his team seemed intent on influencing and, if necessary, overwhelming Washington’s political establishment—the Republicans, Democrats and the news media—that some in the incoming administration view as hurdles to connecting with American voters.

It was a successful battle plan during his 17-month presidential campaign. Mr. Trump’s formula for controlled chaos largely kept opponents on their heels as he rolled over more than a dozen Republican rivals and a better financed and more politically experienced Democratic presidential nominee.

The week appeared to start where the campaign left off, with a Trump criticism of one of the Congress’s first major acts—a Republican proposal to weaken an ethics watchdog. The party quickly abandoned the proposal after the president-elect tweeted his disapproval.

But as it wore on, the challenges of Mr. Trump’s continued strategy became more apparent. At times, his unique approach stirred confusion inside the Capitol and within his own team, according to officials in both places.

When Republicans in Congress started to plan the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a move that Mr. Trump called for on the campaign trail, he took to Twitter to warn them to be careful of the political consequences and that the health-insurance system would fall under its own weight.

With that, more notes of caution were raised within his own party, leaving the Republican strategy for ending the Affordable Care Act looking more tenuous. Mr. Trump soon found his voice again in mocking Democrats seeking to save the act as clowns, but key Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), said late in the week they wanted to settle on a replacement plan before beginning the complex task of repealing the law...

The New Yorker Mocks Trump Voters in Political Cartoon

I saw the buzz on this on Twitter a few days ago.

People were Photoshopping the hell out of this cartoon, by Will McPhail, for the New Yorker:

One from this week's @NewYorker. Hello politics, my names Will. pic.twitter.com/5LfNYnOgMA

— Will McPhail (@WillMcPhail) January 2, 2017

And here's the debate at today's editorial page, "When a cartoon is not just a cartoon: Mastio & Lawrence" (via Instapundit).

And see Legal Insurrection, "The New Yorker’s view of the world, updated for Trump victory," and the Blaze, "New Yorker cartoon sums up anti-elite national mood, angers many."

Do you think there was actually someone at the New Yorker who thought this cartoon made sense, or is it just 100% trolling? pic.twitter.com/EeSC4l7ogS

— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) January 2, 2017

This sums up what liberals think.
Understand, they think you are stupid + need to obey.@exjon @stephenkruiser @AceofSpadesHQ @LarryOConnor https://t.co/pEY2Aedz5H

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) January 2, 2017

Trump Supporters Explain Their Votes

At the Los Angeles Times, "'We're called redneck, ignorant, racist. That's not true': Trump supporters explain why they voted for him."

Black Mob Beats Chicago Man as Bystanders Scream 'He Voted Trump!' (VIDEO)

Really?

We keep getting all these warnings about harassment and "racist" hate crimes from Donald Trump supporters, but when a black mob beats a guy suspected of voting Trump, it's crickets.

Seriously, that's fucked up.

At the Chicago Tribune, "Bystanders yell anti-Trump taunts as man beaten after car crash."

There's video at the link.

Far-Left Labor Leaders 'Reach for 1930s Analogy', Attack Trump's Election as Return of the 'Third Reich'

Well, folks have been going Godwin all year, but this is pretty absurd.

At Politico, "Labor leaders, alarmed by Trump, reach for a German analogy."

Labor leaders, alarmed by Trump, reach for a 1930s analogy https://t.co/icP5pBTPdN

— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) November 15, 2016

University of Rochester Professor Forced to Resign After Pro-Trump Facebook Rant

Wow.

Things continue to spiral out of control.

At the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, "UR program head out for Facebook comment to Trump protesters":

He offered to buy bus fare to Canada for University of Rochester protesters of President-elect Donald Trump if they promised to not return.

Now, Ted Pawlicki won't be returning as director of the university's undergraduate computer science program.

Pawlicki resigned under pressure after posting his irreverent remark on a Facebook page promoting a campus demonstration dubbed "Not My America" that was held on Friday.

"A bus ticket from Rochester to Canada is $16," Pawlicki wrote on the page a day before the event. "If this is not your America, then I will pay for your ticket if you promise never to come back."

The comment, which was subsequently deleted, drew swift condemnation from scores of people, some of whom called Pawlicki "a bully" and "tone-deaf" and reported his remarks as a bias incident.

Pawlicki resigned following the demonstration. His departure was first reported by the university's student newspaper, the Campus Times.

"I apologize for my Facebook post of Thursday, November 10th," Pawlicki wrote in an email to computer science students and faculty announcing his resignation on Friday. "These remarks were ill-considered, and I deeply regret any and all hurt they occasioned."

His email went on to state that he decided to step down after consulting with the dean of the engineering school, Wendi Heinzelman, and the chair of the computer science department, Sandhya Dwarkadas...

Well, I guess the Trump era of anti-PC hasn't hit the campuses yet.

Still more.

ADDED: Pawlicki will continue teach at the university as a nontenured lecturer. He was forced to resign as the director of the undergrad computer science program.

Why Trump Won

From VDH, at the Hoover Institution:

Throughout the course of the 2016 election, the conventional groupthink was that the renegade Donald Trump had irrevocably torn apart the Republican Party. His base populism supposedly sandbagged more experienced and electable Republican candidates, who were bewildered that a “conservative” would dare to pander to hoi polloi by promising deportations of illegal aliens, renegotiation of trade agreements that “ripped off” working people, and a messy attack on the reigning political correctness.

It was also a common complaint that Trump had neither political nor military experience. He trash-talked his way into the nomination, critics said, which led to defections among the outraged Republican elite. By August, a #NeverTrump movement had taken root among many conservatives, including some at National Review, The Weekly Standard, and the Wall Street Journal. Many neoconservatives who formerly supported President George W. Bush flipped parties, openly supporting the Clinton candidacy.

Trump’s Republican critics variously disparaged him as, at best, a Huey Long or Ross Perot, whose populist message was antithetical to conservative principles of unrestricted trade, open-border immigration, and proper personal comportment. At worse, a few Republican elites wrote Trump off as a dangerous fascist akin to Mussolini, Stalin, or Hitler.

For his part, Trump often sounded bombastic and vulgar. By October, after the Access Hollywood video went viral, many in the party were openly calling for him to step down. Former primary rivals like Jeb Bush and John Kasich reneged on their past oaths to support the eventual Republican nominee and turned on Trump with a vengeance.

By the end of the third debate, it seemed as if Trump had carjacked the Republican limousine and driven it off a cliff. His campaign seemed indifferent to the usual stuff of an election run—high-paid handlers, a ground game, polling, oppositional research, fundraising, social media, establishment endorsements, and celebrity guest appearances at campaign rallies. Pundits ridiculed his supposedly “shallow bench” of advisors, a liability that would necessitate him crawling back to the Republican elite for guidance at some point.

What was forgotten in all this hysteria was that Trump had brought to the race unique advantages, some of his own making, some from finessing naturally occurring phenomena. His advocacy for fair rather than free trade, his insistence on enforcement of federal immigration law, and promises to bring back jobs to the United States brought back formerly disaffected Reagan Democrats, white working-class union members, and blue-dog Democrats—the “missing Romney voters”—into the party. Because of that, the formidable wall of rich electoral blue states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and North Carolina crumbled.

Beyond that, even Trump’s admitted crudity was seen by many as evidence of a street-fighting spirit sorely lacking in Republican candidates that had lost too magnanimously in 1992, 2008, and 2016 to vicious Democratic hit machines. Whatever Trump was, he would not lose nobly, but perhaps pull down the rotten walls of the Philistines with him. That Hillary Clinton never got beyond her email scandals, the pay-for-play Clinton Foundation wrongdoing, and the Wikileaks and Guccifer hackings reminded the electorate that whatever Trump was or had done, he at least had not brazenly broken federal law as a public servant, or colluded with the media and the Republican National Committee to undermine the integrity of the primaries and sabotage his Republican rivals...

More.

One thing you don't hear as much these days is how folks said they liked Trump because they wanted a fighter. They wanted someone who would fully push back against the left. That's what I always loved about Trump and I saw in him a chance to destroy radical progressivism. I'm happy to say it's a new day. We might not get everything we want, but there's no denying it's a new era in American politics, and the radical left has been badly sidelined.

Even if that's just for four years that's good enough to help preserve our country for decades. Leftists are again going to have to go back to the drawing board to mount a sustained power grab to match this last eight years. It's glorious.

Outpouring of Anger Has Little Recent Parallel (VIDEO)

It's the shock of it all. Leftist thought they had it in the bag, that, combines with the utter repudiation of the depraved far-left ideology, and it's really set them off.

At LAT, "Tempers on both sides flare in California after Trump's unexpected election victory":

A Bay Area teacher was put on leave for comparing President-elect Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. A woman speaking Assyrian on a Bay Area Rapid Transit train was accosted by another passenger who told her, “Trump might deport you.”

Some Latino students in Northern California were given mock “deportation letters” by a classmate. And a high school student in San Mateo County was given a bloody nose after voicing support for Trump on Instagram.

In the days since Trump was elected president of the United States, one thing has been certain in this divided country: Tensions are high.

The outpouring of anger has little recent historic parallel, said John J. Pitney, a professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College and a former Republican policy aide. Pitney said the closest comparison was with the election of 1800 in which Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in a bitterly waged campaign that included the candidates trading insults.

For many people, this year’s election was less a choice between two candidates than about whether voters felt they would have a place in America, he said.

“A lot of people didn’t just see this election as a matter of political choice but a matter of identity,” Pitney said. “On the one hand, many of the people who voted for Trump see themselves as forgotten and disrespected, and many of the people who are against Trump see themselves as groups under threat. Feelings are going to run very hot.”

Demonstrators across the country have blocked streets in protest of the president-elect. On Saturday, some 8,000 people marched from MacArthur Park to downtown Los Angeles, shouting “Not my president!” as they formed one of the nation’s largest demonstrations so far. Hundreds more peacefully rallied in Hollywood on Sunday.

In other instances, demonstrating has turned ugly. Los Angeles police arrested hundreds of protesters who marched in downtown L.A. in recent days, saying they vandalized property, blocked roads, hurled bottles and refused to disperse. Taggers scrawled anti-Trump messages and profanity on downtown buildings, tunnels, sidewalks — even on a television news van and a police cruiser.

Anxiety has been so high that calls to anti-suicide and crisis hotlines have spiked since the votes were counted.

Steve Mendelsohn, deputy executive director of The Trevor Project, a West Hollywood-based organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ people, said his organization has seen a dramatic increase in calls and messages this week.

“Over 95% of those who called mentioned Donald Trump,” Mendelsohn said. “The general theme was anxiety and fear.”

They worried about potential bullying, their healthcare and whether gay marriage would be reversed, he said. On Wednesday and Thursday, the organization received 688 calls and messages. On the same days last year, they got 307 such contacts, he said.

Fernando Guerra, a political scientist and director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, said the surprise outcome of the election, which many polls had predicted would be won by Democrat Hillary Clinton, is a major factor in the intense reactions.

“So many groups were told this wasn’t going to happen, both Trump and Clinton supporters,” Guerra said. “Both are shocked.”

Guerra said that while he thinks the protests are “a great outlet for a lot of people feeling threatened and emotionally displaced,” the large demonstrations will  last only a few weeks (and possibly re-emerge around Trump’s January inauguration) because it is difficult to organize and sustain ongoing protests.

He also believes the uptick in racially charged incidents is temporary because American public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to racism — especially if Trump and his supporters condemn racist acts.

“This is where leadership counts,” Guerra said...

More.

There Are Worse Things Than Losing an Election

I had the sweetest exchange with Bethany Mandel on Twitter last night, and she really made me think.

Leftists need to put things in perspective:

This is the worst thing that has happened in my life. But eventually we will triumph. https://t.co/BvKm1DKL1i pic.twitter.com/4fSMyH7PrY

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) November 9, 2016

I took my mom off life support at 16 & dad hanged himself 3 yrs later. I'm sorry this election was so hard for you. https://t.co/yTjbeWzCep

— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) November 13, 2016

Reince Priebus Picked as White House Chief of Staff

There'll be some moaning from hardcore tea partiers and "Never Trumpers," but this is an extremely smart pick.

At LAT, "Trump chooses Republican Party chairman Priebus as his chief of staff":

President-elect Donald Trump named Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff on Sunday, suggesting an increased willingness by Trump to work within Washington's system to accomplish his agenda.

Priebus was viewed as a choice who could bring order and experience to Trump's inner circle, which consists largely of family members and advisors with little experience in Washington. He also serves as a bridge to Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The other leading candidate to run Trump's White House staff was campaign CEO Stephen K. Bannon, a more incendiary choice who helped bolster some of Trump's most divisive rhetoric about Muslims, immigrants and other minority groups.

Bannon will also play a major role in the Trump administration as chief strategist, the president-elect said...

More.

Trump rewarded loyalty, and I certainly noticed that Priebus went all out to support Trump after he won the nomination. I was kinda surprised sometimes the way things were going, considering how almost the entire GOP establishment had rebuked Trump time and again. Priebus held firm, and wasn't afraid of criticizing Trump on occasion.

Also at WSJ, "RNC Chair Priebus Is Named Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff."

Democrats Were Crushed in Appalachia

Salena Zito's reporting this year was perhaps the most important in all of journalism.

More here, at the Washington Examiner, "How the Democrats lost the white working class":

On Thursday morning the "Today" show had a segment on with a psychologist who was there to guide parents on how to explain Hillary Clinton's loss to their children.

"Well that is interesting, they sure didn't have a child psychologist on to explain to my children the loss of Mitt Romney, or John McCain. You just simply did not have that," said a suburban mother sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office with the morning show streaming on the television.

The young mother, an IT professional who lives in Pittsburgh, the "Paris of Appalachia," said she was stunned once again how the media still don't get people outside of the big cities.

"Two days later and they still don't get it," said Brad Todd, a Washington based Republican consultant who also caught the show.

Nor did Republicans go to the streets and start burning stuff either, he said, "And, by the way, if Trump had lost and this had happened, think how different this coverage would be. It would, in fact, be meltdown crazy."

Brad Todd has gotten this cultural disconnect for a very long time, reaching back to the 2006 midterm elections that threw his party out of power. Todd, the founding partner of On Message, a GOP media strategy firm based in Washington, has never lost his connection to the five generations of Tennesseans that came before him.

And one of the regions he has really understood was Appalachia, which stretches from the industrial North, through the Rust Belt, down into the Deep South that distinctively follows the migration and settlement patterns of early Scots-Irish Jacksonian Democrats.

These voters are Democrats by birth, a tradition carried on from New Deal-Democrat paternity who fundamentally started breaking with their party when they began cutting them loose after flirting with their support during the 2006 midterm elections. It's been a decade since they offered voters moderate Democratic candidates.

Since then white, traditional-values, working-class, predominantly male voters have been severed from their party so they could build an urban- and cosmopolitan-centered coalition of minorities, elites and women...

Keep reading.

Mary Matalin's Facial Expressions Are Everything (VIDEO)

Heh.

Check out this post from Fuzzy Slippers, at Legal Insurrection.

Mary Matalin is just trippin' on Van Jones and Katrina vanden Heuval. Her facial expressions tell it all.

Here, "Mary Matalin v. Van Jones on Race in the 2016 Election."

Judge Jeanine's Opening Statement: This Was a Revolution (VIDEO)

So good!

She predicted an American Brexit and boy did she nail it!

President-Elect Trump Plans to Deport as Many as Two to Three Million Illegal Aliens Right Away

If you're a leftist, this is scary, but then, it's Obama who's to blame, not Trump.

Leftists had a chance to pass comprehensive immigration reform in 2009, including an earned legalization program, but they put it off, mostly because they wanted to keep illegal immigration as a wedge issue.

Big mistake.

At Blazing Cat Fur, "President Trump Vows to Immediately Deport 2-3 Million Criminal Illegal Aliens":

President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration stance was a central part of his campaign message in 2016 -- and he said in an interview airing Sunday that he plans to immediately deport approximately two to three million undocumented immigrants.

“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably two million, it could be even three million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,” Trump said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “But we’re getting them out of our country, they’re here illegally.”

He continued by saying that after the border is “secure,” immigration officials will begin to make a “determination” about the remaining undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

“After the border is secure and after everything gets normalized, we’re going to make a determination on the people that they’re talking about who are terrific people, they’re terrific people but we are gonna make a determination at that,” he said. “But before we make that determination...it’s very important, we are going to secure our border.”

Asked whether he really plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border -- a proposal that served as a centerpiece of his campaign message -- Trump replied, “Yes.”

Since Trump’s election on Tuesday night, the realities of actually building that wall have begun to set in The Mexican government has publicly reminded him that Mexico will not pay for the wall. And asked about the wall, Trump transition co-chair Newt Gingrich said the wall was “a great campaign device.”

Trump also told “60 Minutes” that the border wall, which was one of the centerpieces of his campaign platform, could be part wall and “some fencing,” in accordance with what congressional Republicans have proposed.

“For certain areas I would, but certain areas, a wall is more appropriate,” he said. “I’m very good at this, it’s called construction.”

First Lady Michelle Obama Attacks Donald Trump for 'Sexual Predator' Comments (VIDEO)

She's going low after saying Democrats go high.

It's the Democrat-left that's dragged this entire election through the mud of personal character assassination. They always do. It's the only way they can win elections.

Julianna Goldman reports for CBS This Morning:

'Sharia-Compliant Soldiers for Allah Who Want Me Dead...'

Cristina Laila is hard to beat, heh.

On Twitter:

This is all I see now👉🏻EVERYWHERE. I. GO. I'm sick of seeing Sharia compliant soldiers for Allah who want me dead‼️ #BanIslam pic.twitter.com/rJD8ZjQKPm

— Cristina Laila (@cristinalaila1) October 13, 2016

And previously, "Cristina Laila Breaks the Internet!"

Sarah Kendzior: Donald Trump is America's Greatest Threat

Ms. Sarah's a great writer, but I think for all her jaded commentary and warnings of American fascism, she sometimes goes over the top.

At Toronto's Globe and Mail, "Trump is right: The greatest U.S. threat is indeed from within. (It's him)."

Belgium Launches Terror Investigation as Islamic State Claims Machete Attack

Following-up from Saturday, "Machete Suspect Screams 'Allahu Akbar' in Latest Belgian Jihad Attack (VIDEO)."

At WSJ, "Belgium Launches Terror Probe as ISIS Claims Machete Attack":

BRUSSELS — Belgian authorities have opened a terrorism probe following a weekend machete attack on two police officers in the city of Charleroi, the latest assault in what has become a relentless summer-long barrage.

The assailant, who was fatally shot during the attack, was identified Sunday by the authorities as a 33-year-old Algerian man who had been living in Belgium illegally since 2012.

Authorities didn’t disclose any indications of accomplices or large-scale planning behind Saturday’s attack, which left one of the officers with serious injuries to her face and neck. The assailant wasn’t carrying explosives or any other weapon, and while he was known to authorities because of his illegal status in the country, he wasn’t known to have any terror links, federal authorities said. They released his initials, K.B., but not his name.

Islamic State’s news agency Amaq claimed the attack was carried out by one of the group’s “soldiers” in response to strikes by the U.S.-led coalition fighting against it in Iraq and Syria.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said federal prosecutors had opened a probe into “attempted terrorist murders,” assigning an investigative judge specialized in terrorism cases.

“The terrorist track is the possibility which is under analysis at this point,” Mr. Michel said, adding that at this early stage it was important to be “extremely prudent” in drawing any conclusions.

The slashing was the most recent in a string of attacks claimed by the Sunni Muslim extremist group that have left scores dead, in what Mr. Michel described as a “new reality” in Europe.

In addition to orchestrating large-scale attacks, directed at least in part from abroad, Islamic State has also encouraged sympathizers to carry out lone-wolf attacks targeting civilians, which authorities have acknowledged are much harder to prevent. In some cases, authorities haven’t been able to corroborate claims of responsibility by the group.

Some of the more recent attacks linked to Islamic State in Europe have been carried out away from the more heavily guarded capitals—including the July 14 attack in Nice, in southern France; the July 24 suicide bombing in Ansbach, Germany, and the July 26 killing of a French priest in Normandy...

More.

Belgium's national elections are scheduled for 2019. Still a ways off, and thus plenty of time for Islamic invaders to launch further rounds of jihad attacks.

Brussels is the capital of European jihad. It's out of control.

Machete Suspect Screams 'Allahu Akbar' in Latest Belgian Jihad Attack (VIDEO)

The daily jihad attacks are back.

Watch, at Euronews, "Two policewomen wounded in machete attack in Belgium."

And at the Telegraph U.K., "Belgian police officers injured in machete attack."

BONUS: Flashback, "Postcard from a Failed State? Attacks Cast Light on Belgium's State Crisis."