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The 2017 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin was unveiled Thursday.

Barack Obama formally ended his presidency the way he came in, talking to adoring fans about how lucky we are to have him in our lives. Indeed, given the hand-wringing over how Obama’s successor is all about entertainment and theatrics, it was somewhere between ironic and absurd to watch the outgoing president hold a campaign rally for his “farewell address.” And yet, we’ve become so inured to this kind of self-serving pomp and circumstance that no one seems to care. From what I can tell, no liberal commentators minded at all, and most conservative reviewers went straight to the substance — or lack thereof — of Obama’s remarks. I’ll get to that. But it’s worth pointing out the gaudy grotesquerie of the spectacle, because it highlights not only how low we have sunk but the depths to which we may yet plunge, given how Obama helped further transform the presidency into a totem in the culture wars. The first presidential farewell address, and the standard for all to follow, was given by George Washington. It was “given,” not delivered, in that it was written out and published as a letter to the American people in the American Daily Advertiser under the title “The Address of General Washington to the People of the United States on his declining the Presidency of the United States.” EDITORIAL: No, You Didn’t James Madison helped write the first draft toward the end of Washington’s first term. When Washington decided to run for a second term, it was put aside. When he opted not to run for a third term, he gave it to Alexander Hamilton to revise. With a bullpen of writers like that, it’s no wonder that Washington’s farewell ranks among the great works of literary statecraft, but the most remarkable thing about it was that it was given at all. To voluntarily relinquish power — power Washington never wanted in the first place — for the benefit of democracy was one of the most radical acts of political humility in history. During the Revolutionary War, King George III asked the American painter Benjamin West what Washington would do if he won independence for the colonies. West replied, “They say he will return to his farm.” RELATED: Obama’s Last Lament George was stunned: “If he does that,” the king replied, “he will be the greatest man in the world.” Few presidents dared to invite comparisons to Washington until the populist egotist Andrew Jackson opted to write his own letter to the American people. It was the longest presidential farewell ever, coming in at more than 8,000 words. Until Obama, it never occurred to a president to deliver a televised address from anywhere but the Oval Office. Of course, the era of radio and television necessitated — or created the perception of necessity — that presidents address the people directly. Whether that amounted to progress is for others to decide. But until Obama, it never occurred to a president to deliver a televised address from anywhere but the Oval Office. Obama, who has said he’d love to run for a third term if he weren’t barred from doing so (thanks to FDR’s flouting the Washingtonian tradition of serving only two terms, forcing Congress to amend the Constitution), went a different way. He did the next best thing and held a campaign rally as if he were running again. Obama is never more comfortable than when he’s in front of an audience that already agrees with him and shares his stunning self-regard, which helps explain why his was the longest televised presidential farewell ever. The whole speech seemed written to be the final chapter of The Collected Speeches of Barack Obama, which is why he concluded by referencing his 2008 “Yes We Can” speech. #related#No wonder the substance of Obama’s farewell was a high-flown rehash of his greatest hits. He spoke again of Congress being “dysfunctional” in the abstract, but what he surely meant is that Congress isn’t working properly when it declines to do what he wants it to do. Hence the insinuation that disagreement with his views on climate change is contrary to the “spirit” of America and the Enlightenment. He called for a “new social compact” that was indistinguishable from his legislative agenda and insisted that the essence of democracy is the commitment “that we rise or fall as one.” That is not the spirit of democracy at all; it’s the spirit of the “tribalism” and “nationalism” he’s come to disparage. But that has always been the spirit of Obamaism. When people agree with him, that’s democracy working. When democracy rejects his counsel, that’s the bitter Bible-clingers rejecting the better angel of his nature. — Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. © 2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

As if Sunday’s terrorist attack against young Israeli soldiers on an education tour in Jerusalem wasn’t ugly enough, the Palestinian Authority made it even more so — by rewarding the terrorist’s fa…

The best thing that happened to Donald Trump all week is that BuzzFeed published the raw Russia dossier about him. It can’t be pleasant for anyone to see his name associated with prostitutes and a …

Hundreds of videos lost.

The intelligence report on Russia and Trump serves Russia’s propaganda aim to disrupt U.S. politics and institutions....

Following the publication of a dossier containing explosive and unverified info on Donald Trump and Russia, BBC News reported Wednesday that it originated in opposition research done by a former British intelligence officer working for a Super PAC supporting none other than Jeb Bush. If that sounds like a too-good-to-be-true political plot twist, that's because maybe it is—a lawyer for the PAC told TPM it "had nothing to do with British Intelligence officers."

Eyeroll.

For years, the left has pushed the notion that Americans are “implicitly biased.” Hillary Clinton repeated this trope throughout the campaign. In her first debate with Donald Trump, Hillary told NBC’s Lester Holt, “I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police.

“I don’t deserve this, but I know it came from the president’s heart," Biden says.

Barack Obama's Legacy of Failure - Jeff Jacoby: AS HE PREPARES to move out of the White House, .01/12/2017 0:59:47AM EST.

"It's a third country that is building up its military presence on our borders in Europe."

These companies gave away $3.5 billion to charity last year.

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The Trump administration can slow things down for transgender Americans and prevent political advocates from rushing them into sex changes many are likely to regret.

Right to lament growing distrust of our institutions, President Obama fails to locate one its main sources: the Left.

This was originally posted by FriendOfMuslim. The Demographics exhibited in this video are alarming. There were 100,000 Muslims in America in 1970 There are ...

The criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton is back front and center now that the FBI has released proof that her failure to safeguard state secrets caused the secrets to fall into the hands of foreign governments, some of which wish the United States ill.

Venture capitalist, Gawker destroyer and Donald Trump adviser Peter Thiel has taken a look at the Obama presidency, and spotted a flaw: Not enough corruption.

    The final weeks of the President Barack Obama’s administration have been marked by a tumultuous transition as the world inches closer to experiencing a Trump administration. Fears over Russian interference within the United States during the presidential election have evolved into full blown hysteria, involving a plot by Russian intelligence to use President-elect Trump as a puppet. Enter BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed dropped a bombshell on the country when it leaked a two page dossier claiming that the President-elect has deep ties to Russia. Although BuzzFeed even admitted in the article there were “specific, unverified, and potentially unverifiable allegations”, these points were still presented as facts. The documents, which contained errors and misspellings, also contained graphic reports of sexual acts as noted by the Russians. The source was former British intelligence. This is significant because of a number of reasons. When Wikileaks dropped its numerous leaks regarding the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign, many denounced them because the authenticity was not confirmed. This point alone was used by?

Current policy prohibits the president from endorsing specific companies.

Senator Rand Paul took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to blast members of his own party for moving forward with legislation that adds nearly $10 trillion t...

“Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaine”

A Missouri state representative from Platte County is making waves with a declaration concerning First Amendment rights. 

Billionaire hedge-fund manager George Soros lost nearly $1 billion as a result of the stock-market rally spurred by Donald Trump’s surprise presidential election.