Programming note: Rush is a little under the weather this morning, so I'll be pinch-hitting at the Golden EIB Microphone for Open Line Friday, live at 12 noon Eastern/9am Pacific. Hope you'll dial us up either via the iHeart Radio app or on one of over 600 stations across the fruited plain, such as our old friends at WNTK New Hampshire, where you can listen to the full show from anywhere on the planet right here.
As I discovered live on air, there'll be plenty to talk about today. On Thursday night I joined Tucker Carlson to talk about Nancy Pelosi's "prayers" for President Trump:
We were, however, interrupted halfway through and wound up breaking the news that the President has ordered the declassification of intelligence and other material related to the Obama Deep State surveillance of his campaign:
This is exactly what I proposed on Rush earlier this week: Declassify everything. The lawfully elected President has had to endure two and a half years of smoke without fire. The only way that will stop is if you lift the curtain on Brennan, Clapper, Comey and the others frantically pumping up the smoke machine in the wings. As I said to Tucker:
They will tell you that our friends around the world don't want this stuff out. It should be out. Basically, we had a bureaucracy gone rogue. There is exculpatory evidence about people, about American citizens who went to jail because the deep state went rogue on this. And the only way to get that out there is actually to release it. This should have been done, actually months ago. And it should have been done the day after the Mueller report was filed.
As I mention above, President Trump's last attempt to declassify these materials was scuttled when London and Canberra called to ask him not to - because it would not be helpful to the official storyline re Christopher Steele, Alexander Downer, MI6 et al. This also came up during my two-part conversation with George Papadopoulos - and I agree with George that, while the FBI end of the shenanigans has been well-aired, the CIA contribution has not been.
Meanwhile, it is sad to see my old friends at The Spectator still peddling the line (admittedly via some BBC bloke) that it is Trump's behavior that is "criminal" rather than that of the transatlantic spooks out to get him. The very headline makes the point: "Donald Trump vs British spies." Why are "British spies" intervening in US domestic politics - indeed, in a presidential election? I thank those Speccie commenters who think the magazine has lost its way on this story:
Based on one narrative - that provided by the fascinating interview by Mark Steyn with George Papadopoulos, (Youtube - The Mark Steyn Show with George Papadopoulos) it would appear that forces within the Obama administration, perhaps unofficially, worked out a scheme to set up Trump with falsified evidence that members of his campaign team were colluding with Russia.
And another:
The Papadopoulos/Steyn debrief is one of the most riveting interviews ever... Why is Paul Wood presenting such a deeply spun account?
Indeed.
~You can watch the full hour with Tucker here.
If you prefer me in a non-visual format, I'll be back on Friday evening to launch our latest audio adventure in Tales for Our Time as part of the second anniversary observances of The Mark Steyn Club. I'm immensely heartened by all those Founding Members from that first month two Mays ago who've decided to sign up for another year. On the other hand, if you were waiting awhile to see if we were in it for the long haul, we do welcome new members, and you can find more details about the Club here - and our annual cruises. This year's Alaskan Mark Steyn Club Cruise is sold out, but, next year's - our inaugural Mediterranean cruise - is booking now. And, if you're looking for a present for a Steyn fan, don't forget our special Gift Membership.
