Oh, What A Tangled Web We Weave . . . . .

THIS Can't Be The Real Reason, Can It?

The Key Pieces, What You Need To Know

Here are the key pieces from FBI Director Comey's statement of the Hillary e-mail mess, with emphasis added where we deemed appropriate:

I have so far used the singular term, “e-mail server,” in describing the referral that began our investigation. It turns out to have been more complicated than that. Secretary Clinton used several different servers and administrators of those servers during her four years at the State Department, and used numerous mobile devices to view and send e-mail on that personal domain. As new servers and equipment were employed, older servers were taken out of service, stored, and decommissioned in various ways. Piecing all of that back together—to gain as full an understanding as possible of the ways in which personal e-mail was used for government work—has been a painstaking undertaking, requiring thousands of hours of effort. . . .

From the group of 30,000 e-mails returned to the State Department, 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received. Eight of those chains contained information that was Top Secret at the time they were sent; 36 chains contained Secret information at the time; and eight contained Confidential information, which is the lowest level of classification. Separate from those, about 2,000 additional e-mails were “up-classified” to make them Confidential; the information in those had not been classified at the time the e-mails were sent.

The FBI also discovered several thousand work-related e-mails that were not in the group of 30,000 that were returned by Secretary Clinton to State in 2014. We found those additional e-mails in a variety of ways. Some had been deleted over the years and we found traces of them on devices that supported or were connected to the private e-mail domain. Others we found by reviewing the archived government e-mail accounts of people who had been government employees at the same time as Secretary Clinton, including high-ranking officials at other agencies, people with whom a Secretary of State might naturally correspond.

This helped us recover work-related e-mails that were not among the 30,000 produced to State. Still others we recovered from the laborious review of the millions of e-mail fragments dumped into the slack space of the server decommissioned in 2013.

With respect to the thousands of e-mails we found that were not among those produced to State, agencies have concluded that three of those were classified at the time they were sent or received, one at the Secret level and two at the Confidential level. . . .

Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.
For example, seven e-mail chains concern matters that were classified at the Top Secret/Special Access Program level when they were sent and received. These chains involved Secretary Clinton both sending e-mails about those matters and receiving e-mails from others about the same matters. There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation. In addition to this highly sensitive information, we also found information that was properly classified as Secret by the U.S. Intelligence Community at the time it was discussed on e-mail (that is, excluding the later “up-classified” e-mails).

None of these e-mails should have been on any kind of unclassified system, but their presence is especially concerning because all of these e-mails were housed on unclassified personal servers not even supported by full-time security staff, like those found at Departments and Agencies of the U.S. Government—or even with a commercial service like Gmail.

Separately, it is important to say something about the marking of classified information. Only a very small number of the e-mails containing classified information bore markings indicating the presence of classified information. But even if information is not marked “classified” in an e-mail, participants who know or should know that the subject matter is classified are still obligated to protect it.

While not the focus of our investigation, we also developed evidence that the security culture of the State Department in general, and with respect to use of unclassified e-mail systems in particular, was generally lacking in the kind of care for classified information found elsewhere in the government.
With respect to potential computer intrusion by hostile actors, we did not find direct evidence that Secretary Clinton’s personal e-mail domain, in its various configurations since 2009, was successfully hacked. But, given the nature of the system and of the actors potentially involved, we assess that we would be unlikely to see such direct evidence. We do assess that hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account. We also assess that Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal e-mail domain was both known by a large number of people and readily apparent. She also used her personal e-mail extensively while outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related e-mails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries. Given that combination of factors, we assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal e-mail account. . . . 

this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.

NOT Just Another Rap Song . . . . .

Would It Happen To YOU This Way? Really?

A Question Asked, And Beautifully Answered!

What is America to me?
A name, a map, or a flag I see
A certain word, democracy
What is America to me?
The house I live in
A plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher
Or the people that I meet
The children in the playground
The faces that I see
All races and religions
Thats America to me

The place I work in
The worker by my side
The little town, the city
Where my people lived and died
The howdy and the handshake
The air a feeling free
And the right to speak your mind out
Thats America to me

The things I see about me
The big things and the small
That little corner newsstand
Or the house a mile tall
The wedding and the churchyard
The laughter and the tears
And the dream that's been a growing
For more than two hundred years

The town I live in
The street, the house, the room
The pavement of the city
Or the garden all in bloom
The church the school the clubhouse
The millions lights I see
But especially the people- yes especially the people
Thats America to me
Lyrics by Abel Meerpoll, aka Lewis Allen.

When A President Spoke Eloquently About The 4th!

President Ronald Reagan wrote this 4th of July address himself in his own
hand and delivered it on that date in 1981:

For one who was born and grew up in the small towns of the
Midwest, there is a special kind of nostalgia about the Fourth of July.

I remember it as a day almost as long-anticipated as Christmas.
This was helped along by the appearance in store windows of all
kinds of fireworks and colorful posters advertising them with vivid
pictures.

No later than the third of July – sometimes earlier – Dad would bring
home what he felt he could afford to see go up in smoke and flame.
We'd count and recount the number of firecrackers, display pieces
and other things and go to bed determined to be up with the sun so
as to offer the first, thunderous notice of the Fourth of July.

I'm afraid we didn't give too much thought to the meaning of the day.
And, yes, there were tragic accidents to mar it, resulting from
careless handling of the fireworks. I'm sure we're better off today
with fireworks largely handled by professionals. Yet there was a thrill
never to be forgotten in seeing a tin can blown 30 feet in the air by a
giant "cracker" – giant meaning it was about 4 inches long.

But enough of nostalgia. Somewhere in our growing up we began to
be aware of the meaning of days and with that awareness came the
birth of patriotism. July Fourth is the birthday of our nation. I believed
as a boy, and believe even more today, that it is the birthday of the
greatest nation on earth.

There is a legend about the day of our nation's birth in the little hall in
Philadelphia, a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men
gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who
had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign
the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that
the walls resounded with the words "treason, the gallows, the
headsman's axe," and the issue remained in doubt.

The legend says that at that point a man rose and spoke. He is
described as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his
energy for an impassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had
brought them to this moment and finally, his voice falling, he said,
"They may turn every tree into a gallows, every hole into a grave, and
yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in
the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines,
freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is
around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom,
the Bible of the rights of man forever."

He fell back exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his
eloquence, rushed forward and signed that document destined to be
as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him
for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found
who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through
the locked and guarded doors.

Well, that is the legend. But we do know for certain that 56 men, a
little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had
pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some
gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes,
and all preserved their sacred honor.

What manner of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and
jurists, 11 were merchants and tradesmen, and nine were farmers.
They were soft-spoken men of means and education; they were not
an unwashed rabble. They had achieved security but valued
freedom more. Their stories have not been told nearly enough.

John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife. For
more than a year he lived in the forest and in caves before he
returned to find his wife dead, his children vanished, his property
destroyed. He died of exhaustion and a broken heart.

Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships, sold his home to pay his
debts, and died in rags. And so it was with Ellery, Clymer, Hall,
Walton, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Morris, Livingston and Middleton.

Nelson personally urged Washington to fire on his home and destroy
it when it became the headquarters for General Cornwallis. Nelson
died bankrupt.

But they sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea. Five
million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep, 3 million square
miles of forest, field, mountain and desert, 227 million people with a
pedigree that includes the bloodlines of all the world.

In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than
just the birthday of a nation.

It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all
history.

Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those
revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was
a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for
the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given
rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed
by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily
granted to it by the people.

We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.

Happy Fourth of July.

Go Ahead - Say The Words, ALL Of Them . . . .

Places Where The 4th Of July Still Rings True

God. Country. Family.

America's heart beats most fervently in its small towns -- the places where you know your neighbor, your shopkeeper, your first responders, your mail carrier and your public servants.
A place where "service above self" still means something.
A place where the flag still flies proudly and no one -- no one! -- is ever afraid to proclaim: "One nation under God!"
There are towns like this and people like this all over America.
Ronald Reagan knew this. He understood these towns and these people -- ordinary Americans that he called "everyday American heroes." He believed in America because he believed in Americans.
If you want to understand America on its birthday, go to one of these towns. Because, these are the places where the 4th of July still rings true.
"Hope" isn't a slogan. It lives here -- everyday in these small, quiet, unassuming towns. This is where the hope for our future will come from. This is where America will rise again, just as it always has.
We took these photos in Haddonfield, New Jersey -- a town that predates our own nation's birth. But the truth is that we could have taken them most anywhere.
There's a reason why this is our favorite holiday. It's about us -- and about our faith, our treasured heritage, our hopes and dreams, our nation, our promise to and for our children and grandchildren.
God bless America!

A Grand And Glorious Celebration For All!

There's a marvelous new exhibition at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania just up the road from Philadelphia.
It opened on July 2 and we visited it yesterday. It runs through November 4 and this is something you don't wanna miss.
It's called "Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag."
Among the most recognizable icons in the world today, the American flag has enjoyed a long history of graphic renderings and artistic reinterpretations. Although the Continental Congress agreed in 1777 that the United States flag should be comprised of stars and stripes in red, white, and blue, more than a century passed without formal design regulations, yielding a wealth of exuberant and unbridled creative manifestations of the national banner. 

From Civil War-era flags and Native American moccasins to political campaign buttons and original flag art, “Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag” assembles thousands of flag-related objects and artifacts from the private collection of Kit Hinrichs, one of the world’s leading graphic designers and a partner in the international design firm, Pentagram. 

Together, the range of objects and memorabilia presented comprise their own genre of folk art and are a unique part of our American heritage. Designed and produced by Kit Hinrichs and the Stars and Stripes Foundation. The exhibit is included with museum admission.

We were so deeply moved by many of the objects that we saw in this show -- indeed, we spent a great deal of time viewing the collection and reading about the stories behind each object. Many related to critical moments in our history: additions of states to the union, wars, important elections, triumphs and tragedies. But others were carefree and whimsical. Some made us chuckle, some brought a tear to our eye.

This is simply a magnificent show! Bravo to the Mercer Museum and the show's sponsors! We've included some photons below.

Locally Sponsored by:

Mr. & Mrs. Alex Gorsky
Bucks County Republican Committee
FREEMAN’S
Susan E. Kane
Curtis & Carolyn Cowgill
Intercontinental Development