How Sarah Palin Helps Donald Trump (VIDEO)

A great piece, from Byron York, at the Washington Examiner, "Byron York: What Palin does for Trump, and to Cruz":

Even though she is much diminished from her heyday a few years ago, Palin still has influence among some conservatives. Trump now has that on his side, and just as important, Cruz doesn't....

At the [Oklahoma] rally I talked with Jamie Johnson, a veteran Iowa politico who supported Rick Santorum in 2012 and Rick Perry earlier in this race, but is now unaffiliated. Johnson saw the Palin move entirely in terms of persuading voters at the margins of the Trump vs. Cruz contest.

"I think the Palin endorsement is important for all of the Tea Partiers who were deciding which of the two they were going to vote for," Johnson said.

Does Palin still have clout in Iowa?

"To Tea Partiers, she does."

"How big a part of the electorate is that?"

"Probably 15 to 20 percent of the people who caucus. I'd say 15 to 20 percent would identify themselves as Tea Partiers more than anything else, such as born-again evangelicals."

"And you would expect that some of them are caught on the fence now between Trump and Cruz?"

"I know for a fact that they are," Johnson replied. "I've talked to several people in the last two months who have been on the fence between Trump and Cruz. So if they're on the fence, this might be just enough to push them over."

Indeed, at Trump and Cruz events in the last two weeks, I have met plenty of people who were for Trump, with Cruz as their second choice, or were for Cruz, with Trump as their second choice. For some of them, Palin's seal of approval might make some difference. Before she spoke, I asked several people at the Ames rally whether Palin had worn out her welcome; none thought she had.

"It's a valuable endorsement because people still view her as an anti-establishment outsider who they can also relate to," said Craig Robinson, a former Iowa state GOP political director who founded the Iowa Republican blog. "And if there is any strategy to the Trump campaign, it is to dominate the media coverage of the race, and Palin's endorsement will certainly help with that."

That's an understatement. Palin's appearance with Trump immediately captured nearly all the media's attention. In coming days, it will inspire impassioned debate, make talking heads explode, and cause fevered speculation across cable TV...

Exactly.

Trump's a freakin' master of media manipulation. He keeps sucking up all the oxygen, and the Palin endorsement really is a masterstroke for the age. I love it. Like I said earlier, the Cruz campaign was probably hating it, and it turns out they were. They were freakin' fuming that the Texas senator didn't get the former Alaska governor's support.

Still more.

Ted Cruz's Terrible Tuesday

As I was saying yesterday, it's been a tough week for Ted Cruz.

At Time:

The day began with a harsh swipe from the king of Iowa’s political establishment. It ended with a Tea Party queen crowning his top rival in the Hawkeye State.

Ted Cruz hasn’t suffered too many setbacks lately. But Tuesday was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day for a candidate hoping to ride a caucus win on Feb. 1 to the Republican presidential nomination...

RTWT.

And ICYMI, "Bob Dole, World War II Veteran, Former U.S. Senator, and 1996 GOP Presidential Nominee, Warns of 'Cataclysmic' Losses with Ted Cruz."

Jackie Johnson's Thursday Forecast

It rained a little early this morning, otherwise is was a nice day. I wasn't out much, actually. Just hanging around, catching up on some sleep, watching the news, and blogging.

Here's Jackie, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Sarah Palin Blames PTSD and Barack Obama for Son Track's Domestic Violence Arrest (VIDEO)

At London's Daily Mail, "Sarah Palin blames son Track's domestic assault arrest on PTSD and Obama's 'disrespectful' treatment of veterans."

Donald Trump More Than Doubles Ted Cruz in New Hampshire, Latest CNN/WMUR Poll Finds (VIDEO)

Trump leads Cruz by more than 20 points in the Granite State, 34-to-14 percent.

At CNN, "CNN/WMUR Poll: Trump leads, Cruz climbs in New Hampshire."



There's a CNN video at that link above.

Bob Dole, World War II Veteran, Former U.S. Senator, and 1996 GOP Presidential Nominee, Warns of 'Cataclysmic' Losses with Ted Cruz

Dole says Donald Trump would do better.

Needless to say, it's been a rough week so far for Senator Cruz.

At the New York Times, "Bob Dole Warns of 'Cataclysmic' Losses With Ted Cruz, and Says Donald Trump Would Do Better":

Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has never been fond of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But in an interview Wednesday, Mr. Dole said that the party would suffer “cataclysmic” and “wholesale losses” if Mr. Cruz were the nominee, and that Donald J. Trump would fare better.

“I question his allegiance to the party,” Mr. Dole said of Mr. Cruz. “I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word ‘Republican’ — not very often.” Instead, Mr. Cruz uses the word “conservative,” Mr. Dole said, before offering up a different word for Mr. Cruz: “extremist.”

“I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress,” he said. “Nobody likes him.”

But Mr. Dole, 92, said he thought Mr. Trump could “probably work with Congress, because he’s, you know, he’s got the right personality and he’s kind of a deal-maker.”

The remarks by Mr. Dole reflect wider unease with Mr. Cruz among members of the Republican establishment, but few leading members of the party have been as candid and cutting.

“If he’s the nominee, we’re going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures,” said Mr. Dole, who served in the House and Senate for 35 years and won the Iowa caucuses twice. He described Mr. Cruz as having falsely “convinced the Iowa voters that he’s kind of a mainstream conservative.”

The only person who could stop Mr. Cruz from capturing the nomination? “I think it’s Trump,” Mr. Dole said, adding that Mr. Trump was “gaining a little.”

He said he had met Mr. Trump only once, 30 years ago. “But he has toned down his rhetoric,” he added. As for Mr. Cruz, he said: “There’ll be wholesale losses if he’s the nominee. Our party is not that far right.”

Mr. Dole repeatedly said he was strongly supporting Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, although he acknowledged that Mr. Bush has had trouble gaining traction...

Dole's about as establishment as you can get. It's a sign, among others, that the GOPe is coalescing around the Donald.

More at Memerorandum.

Jamie Foxx Saves Man from Burning Truck (VIDEO)

Hey, credit where credit's due.

He did a good thing, and the man's father is forever grateful.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Jamie Foxx on rescuing man from burning truck: 'You just had to do something."

And watch, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Jamie Foxx Saves Driver From Burning Truck Outside His Home."

Demi Lovato for Allure

Here, "See Demi Lovato's February 2016 Allure Cover Shoot."

And watch, "Demi Lovato's February 2016 Allure Cover Shoot."

On Twitter as well.

Kelly Brook Posts Photos of Herself Dressed Up as Wonder Woman to Instagram

She makes a pretty good Wonder Woman.

More at the Mirror UK, "Kelly Brook displays incredible cleavage as she dresses up as Wonder Woman."

BONUS: At Celebslam, "It's Kelly Brook's 2016 Calendar."

Donald Trump Supporters React to Sarah Palin's Endorsement (VIDEO)

Watch, at NBC Nightly News.

If anything, Palin's endorsement is yet again a media masterstroke for Donald Trump. He can't not get himself on the nightly news and he can't not dominate the 24-hour cable channels.

And supporters are really enthusiastic at that clip.

San Diego Chargers Should Stay in San Diego

Argues Bill Plaschke, at the Los Angeles Times, "The San Diego Chargers should stay right where they are":

ICYMI: @BillPlaschke takes a sledgehammer to the idea that the Chargers should move to L.A. https://t.co/2ykB0Ruv0E

— Nathan Fenno (@nathanfenno) January 20, 2016

The Rams haven't even been here a week, and already they are risking a penalty for too many men on the field.

The Chargers need to get out of the their huddle, and stay out.

The Chargers need to remain in San Diego where they belong. The Chargers need to forget sharing Los Angeles with the Rams, because they can't.

To welcome the Chargers back to Los Angeles as a second NFL team would be to ignore climate, dismiss history, and ultimately be doomed by both.

First, the climate. There is none. This isn't a Chargers town. This has never been a Chargers town. The Chargers had 21 years to woo us as an uncontested suitor and still couldn't make it a Chargers town.

Do you know one Chargers fan who lives within 60 miles of the proposed Inglewood stadium? In two decades, have you known one fan from L.A. County who drove to San Diego on a Sunday morning to watch a game who was not rooting for the opposing team?

The Chargers will cite statistical evidence that 25% of their fans come from Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire. I've never met one.

There are Chargers fans on the southern and eastern outskirts of San Diego County, but the longtime NFL heartbeat in this town beats through the Rams, and the crazy passion comes from a love for the Raiders. There are more Raiders fans here than Chargers fans, and it isn't even close.

Second, the history. The Chargers have tried to share a stadium with the Rams before. It lasted a year. And the Chargers couldn't wait to leave.

In 1960, the Chargers were part of the fledgling American Football League and played in the Coliseum, and nobody knew they were here.

The Rams averaged more than 70,000 fans, the Chargers would barely draw 10,000. Even for their L.A. debut, the Chargers drew just 17,724, and many of those "fans" were employees of team owner and hotel magnate Barron Hilton...

More.

Also, watch, at ABC News 10 San Diego, "Fans launch 'love letters' campaign to save Chargers."

Desperate Hillary Clinton Campaign to Attack Bernie Sanders as 'Fringe' Socialist Candidate (VIDEO)

Hillary's campaign's crashing, and desperate attacks on Sanders' socialism are going to backfire.

His socialism's exactly why he's surging, especially among young people. I mean, shoot, he's up around 80 percent among Millennials in that CNN/WMUR poll out yesterday.

Sanders has the mojo. Hillary, not so much.

At NYT, "Alarmed Clinton Supporters Begin Focusing on Sanders’s Socialist Edge":

Democrats backing Hillary Clinton, nervously eyeing Senator Bernie Sanders’s growing strength in the early nominating states, are turning to a new strategy to raise doubts about his candidacy, highlighting his socialist beliefs to warn that he would be an electoral disaster who would frighten swing voters and send Democrats in tight congressional and governor’s races to defeat.

It is a scenario many Democrats long dismissed as even remotely plausible: the 74-year-old Mr. Sanders, a registered independent who self-identifies as a democratic socialist, as their nominee. But the possibility of his defeating Mrs. Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire next month has prompted some of her prominent supporters to discuss how they could attack Mr. Sanders if his candidacy began to look less like a threat and more like a runaway train: calling him unelectable and warning Republicans would have a field day if he were the Democratic nominee.

“Here in the heartland, we like our politicians in the mainstream, and he is not — he’s a socialist,” said Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri, who is term-limited and working to elect a Democratic successor. “He’s entitled to his positions, and it’s a big-tent party, but as far as having him at the top of the ticket, it would be a meltdown all the way down the ballot.”

And after months of ignoring Republican cheerleading for Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has started aggressively highlighting how much the opposition is openly providing him aid and comfort — mostly recently in a new ad by Karl Rove’s group American Crossroads that echoes Mr. Sanders’s attacks on Mrs. Clinton’s ties to Wall Street.

“Republicans and their ‘super PACs‘ have made clear the candidate they’re actually afraid to face,” said Jennifer Palmieri, Mrs. Clinton’s communications director.

Mr. Sanders, for his part, has taken to highlighting polls that show him faring better than Mrs. Clinton against some of the Republican candidates, and his aides insist that voters will look past labels to consider his record, ideas and proposals.

Yet Mrs. Clinton herself has begun urging activists in Iowa to consider “electability and how we make sure we have a Democrat going back into that White House on Jan. 20, 2017.” And her supporters, with the campaign’s blessing, are aggressively moving to sow doubts about Mr. Sanders’s viability, a tactic aimed at alarming primary voters concerned about retaining the presidency and regaining the Senate.

For all the authorized fear-mongering, though, it is clear that few Democrats seeking re-election this year relish the prospect of running with Mr. Sanders on top of the ticket...

Really?

The only difference between Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama is that the former's not afraid to wear his socialism proudly on his sleeve.

But keep reading.

ADDED: Oh, it turns out it's Hillary hatchet-man David Brock's who's cooked up this scheme. See WSJ, "Clinton Ally Attacks Sanders on Socialism." (Via Memeorandum.)

At Least 30 Slaughtered in Attack at Bacha Khan University in Pakistan (VIDEO)

The number killed keeps going higher depending on the news source.

At the Guardian UK, for example, "Pakistan university attack: at least 30 dead as gunmen storm Bacha Khan campus."

And the death toll's likely to rise.

Plus, watch, at Euronews, "Taliban claim attack on university in NW Pakistan, 21 dead."

'Whiteness History Month' at Portland Community College (VIDEO)

At Campus Reform, "Portland Community College to devote an entire month to 'whiteness'-shaming."

Maybe some of this SJW business will die down once O's out of office. At least, one can hope.

And watch, at KOIN News 6 Portland:

Katrina Pierson, Donald Trump's National Campaign Spokeswoman, Discusses Feud with Ted Cruz (VIDEO)

Newt Gingrich was on Hannity's last night moaning about how Donald Trump was diminishing himself by "beating up" on Ted Cruz.

C'mon, it's politics, and Trump's not one to stick to Marquess of Queensberry rules. Ted Cruz looked a little downcast on the campaign trail yesterday as well. But as they say, if you can't take the heat...

In any case, here's Ms. Pierson:

Jackie Johnson's Wednesday Forecast

It looks like El Niño's taken a vacation, but that's just temporary.

See LAT, "What happened to El Niño? Be patient, L.A., it'll come, expert says."

Either way, it's been quite mild this past few days.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

The Coming GOP Crackup

Maybe I should pose the title with a question mark, like this: "The Coming GOP Crackup?"

Crackup or not, the churning of the party's a good thing, although journalists like Molly Ball, at the Atlantic, are probably more eager to eschew the query form.

Here, "Portrait of a Party on the Verge of Coming Apart":

Perhaps the GOP’s chaos is just normal pre-primary tension, when an active contest naturally creates an air of conflict, and candidates have an incentive to warn against their rivals in urgent terms. But for many Republicans—the ones not living in fantasyland—the current battle for the party, between the nihilistic forces of Trump and Cruz on the one hand and the uninspiring conventional politicians on the other, feels like something deeper. It feels like a duel from which only one participant will walk away. It feels like the party is on the brink of breaking apart.

With just two weeks until the Iowa caucuses, the prospect of Trump or Cruz as the Republican nominee is no longer distant enough to be ignored. “I’m surprised that it’s lasted this long,” says Cheryl Leonard, a 63-year-old elementary-school speech pathologist, here with her husband and a friend. “I thought that the showmanship would have died down and somebody real would come forward. But maybe that won’t happen.” She agrees with some of the things Trump says about immigration—we can’t let everybody in—but she’s horrified by his divisiveness. “It’s dangerous for the party, the way he’s alienating people,” she says.

Leonard’s husband, Gary, is leaning toward Kasich now that Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator who might have rivaled Kasich as the most liberal candidate in the field, has dropped out. “But I think he’s probably too intelligent to win,” he says ruefully. “If we don’t change right now, there are going to be repercussions.”

On a wall under a high shelf holding shiny amber bottles of bourbon hangs an enormous sign reading “A Strong America Is a Safe America.” The newest Kasich slogan represents his only notable attempt to cater to his party’s fearful mood and lust for machismo. Kasich is introduced by the local state representative, Chip Limehouse, a big, beefy-faced man in a suit, who says: “He’s the adult in the room, and we need an adult running this country!” Among the candidates, only Kasich, Limehouse says, has what it takes to defeat Hillary Clinton in November. “If we nominate the loudest, most outrageous person in the room, we will lose. There’s no two ways about it,” he adds.

Kasich takes the microphone in a blue V-neck sweater and open-collared shirt and does his dorky-dad routine for a few minutes, invoking his mailman father, saying “You’re a doll” to a cherubic 11-year-old girl. He talks about the Ohio budget and bringing people together. “It’s not just about winning an election—it’s about being a uniter, being part of the healing process in our country,” he says. For this crowd, that’s red meat.

Afterwards, standing on the sidewalk outside the bar, I ask Kasich what he thought of Haley’s speech. Trump’s defenders on the far right decried it; which side is Kasich on? He says he didn’t see it—he was out fundraising in California. (Kasich, who has an iPad but not a smartphone and doesn’t use email, doesn’t seem to follow the headlines very closely: A couple of weeks ago, he told reporters he was unaware of the militia standoff in Oregon that was all over the news.) I try again: What does he think about the idea that we should resist the voices of anger? Kasich guffaws and says, sarcastically, “What, we ought to be angrier? Are you kidding me? I don’t think that’s going to fix the problems in our country.”

Kasich has something to add: You may not be able to tell, but he is having the time of his life. “Most people, they get kind of loose and have fun once they lose, and then everybody says, ‘Why didn’t they have fun before they lost?’” he says. “I’m having it right now.” At that, the governor of Ohio turns on his heel and heads for his waiting car.

Trump and Cruz are the outsiders, it’s said, while the other candidates—the ones promoting some version of old-school governance—represent the party establishment. If you’re looking for the establishment, you might expect to find it  at the quarterly meeting of the Republican National Committee, which convened on Thursday in a swank downtown Charleston hotel.

“It’s like the NFL,” says Ron Kaufman, the thin-mustached, Boston-accented committeeman from Massachusetts, a longtime lobbyist and fixer who’s worked for Republicans from Reagan to Romney. (Partisans in each state elect a committeeman and committeewoman to serve on the RNC.) “There are two leagues: the centrist-conservative league, and the right-wing league. We’re in the semifinals to see who’s going to represent each league in the finals.”

Kaufman is for Jeb Bush, who he thinks has an “off chance” to surprise in New Hampshire. The centrist candidate, by his reckoning, has won every Republican primary since 1980; Reagan was only retroactively adopted by the conservative movement, which largely worked against him at the time, according to Kaufman. “I’ve been around since 1865,” he jokes, “so I’m kind of sanguine about the whole thing.” He doesn’t believe that perhaps this year the old rules won’t apply anymore.

If Trump or Cruz does win, he will have laid bare the vacuum where once sat the Republican establishment. Yes, there are the donors, people who give the party a lot of money and think this ought to get them something in return; Trump is running against them. (No less a GOP bigwig than Charles Koch recently lamented his lack of influence on the party.) There are the lobbyists and consultants, but Trump doesn’t listen to them either. There are the elected officials, but they are held hostage by their constituents. There is no smoke-filled room where the poo-bahs could go to work out a deal and end this. In an age of radical disintermediation, parties can’t tell the people what to do...

There's no "off chance" for Jeb. He's through. And Kasich is an also-ran, a footnote in the monstrosity of an anti-establishment realignment.

It's amazing. And exciting!

Still more, FWIW.

Ms. Molly seems wistful at how all the old political firmaments are breaking away.

Edita Vilkevičiūtė for Calvin Klein

She's a smokin' Lithuanian babe.

At Drunken Stepfather, "EDITA VILKEVICIUTE FOR CALVIN KLEIN OF THE DAY."

Kathleen Sorbara Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Casting Call (VIDEO)

Just a couple of weeks now until the big swimsuit issue hits the newsstands!

Ben Carson Campaign Volunteer Killed in Car Crash in Iowa

This is horrible news.

At USA Today, "Carson volunteer dies following wreck in Iowa."

And at the Des Moines Register, "Ben Carson volunteer dies after crash":

Ben Carson chartered a private jet to fly Braden Joplin's family from Texas to Omaha hospital, but he died ~1/2 hour before their arrival.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 20, 2016

BREAKING: Ben Carson campaign volunteer, Braden Joplin, dies of injuries sustained in Iowa car crash today, per hospital. He was 25.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 20, 2016

Here's the crashed van carrying @RealBenCarson staffer & volunteers hospitalized today https://t.co/Rin59yYAxo pic.twitter.com/QgzoSqGuGa

— Timothy Meinch (@timeinch) January 19, 2016

OMAHA — A Ben Carson campaign volunteer died in a hospital here after a car crash in western Iowa Tuesday morning.

The accident prompted the Republican presidential candidate to cancel campaign stops Tuesday and Wednesday.

A van driven by a Carson campaign staffer, carrying three campaign volunteers, lost control and was struck by another vehicle on icy Interstate Highway 80 Tuesday morning near Atlantic.

One volunteer, Braden Joplin, was transported to the University of Nebraska medical center in Omaha with serious injuries. He died in the hospital Tuesday around 4:30 p.m., according to a statement from hospital officials.

The other three people in the van were treated and released at hospital in Atlantic, according to Ryan Rhodes, Carson's Iowa campaign director...

More.

Holy Cow! Bernie Sanders Surges to 'Walloping' 60-33 Point Lead in New Hampshire (VIDEO)

I like, "walloping."

At USA Today, "Poll: Bernie Sanders is walloping Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire."

And at CNN, "CNN/WMUR Poll: Sanders trouncing Clinton in New Hampshire":

(CNN) Bernie Sanders' lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire is on the rise, with the Vermont senator leading the former secretary of state by 27 points, 60% to 33%, a new CNN/WMUR poll has found.

The new poll, mostly conducted before Sunday night's debate, found Sanders' support has grown by 10 points since a late-November/early December CNN/WMUR poll, which found Sanders holding 50% to Clinton's 40%.

New Hampshire Democrats' views on the race are solidifying as well, with 52% saying they have definitely decided who they will support, up from 36% who felt that way in early December. Among those voters, Sanders holds an even broader 64% to 35% lead.

But the Vermont senator's support rests heavily on groups whose participation in New Hampshire primaries is less reliable -- notably younger voters and those who aren't registered Democrats.

There are some signs in the poll that the increasingly contested Democratic race is gaining attention among the state's undeclared voters, who are not registered as members of any party and are able to choose which party's primary they will participate in. In the December poll, 38% of undeclared voters who said they planned to vote said they would likely participate in the Democratic primary, a figure that is up to 48% in the new poll.

Those undeclared voters are critical to Sanders' support: 70% in the new poll say they plan to vote for him, 25% Clinton. Among registered Democrats, it's 50% Sanders to 41% Clinton. Still, that represents an increase for Sanders among registered Democrats. The December poll found him trailing Clinton, 47% to 40%, among that group...

Keep reading (there's more video at the link).

Sarah Palin Endorses Donald Trump for GOP Nomination (VIDEO)

I saw this earlier but was busy at the office working up my syllabi for the spring semester. I think this is a major development. Folks on CNN earlier were dismissing Palin as something of a has-been whose creds on the hustings ain't what they used to be. Actually, I'd beg to differ. I expect she's got millions of loyal supporters around the country who're thrilled by her endorsement, and who're excited to see her "stump for Trump."

It's pretty awesome, frankly. I'll bet Ted Cruz is pretty bummed out about it, in fact, to say nothing of the die hard "constitutional conservatives" bewailing Trump's candidacy.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Sarah Palin endorses Donald Trump's campaign for president":

Sarah Palin, a popular figure among evangelicals and tea party followers, endorsed Donald Trump for president Tuesday, giving the New York billionaire a key source of support as chief rival Ted Cruz tries to undercut his standing among conservatives.

Palin joined Trump at a rally in Ames, Iowa, where she hailed his stand against illegal immigration and his vow to take a tough approach to U.S. adversaries on the world stage.

“Are you ready for a commander in chief who will let our warriors do their job and go kick ISIS’s ass?” Palin asked Trump’s supporters at Iowa State University.

The former governor of Alaska can be a polarizing figure. But her strong following among evangelicals and other conservatives makes her a valuable ally at a time when Cruz, a Texas senator, is casting Trump as liberal on abortion, same-sex marriage and other issues...

Plus, at the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "Sarah Palin Endorses Donald Trump, Rallying Conservatives."

More, at the Des Moines Register, "Sarah Palin endorses Donald Trump for president."

Expect updates.

The 'Black, Queer Liberation Collective' Takes Credit for Shutting Down Oakland's Bay Bridge (VIDEO)

The call themselves the "Black.Seed," although I'm not sure why. Sounds pretty weird. Seems like you wouldn't need too much "black seed" if you're in a queer liberation collective. It's mostly rough-and-ready bare-backing high jinks, NTTAWWT!

From last night, at the Los Angeles Times, "Bay Bridge's westbound lanes reopened after rush hour protest; 25 arrested":

The demonstration was carried out by Black.Seed, which identifies itself as a "Black, queer liberation collective," according to a statement released by the Anti-Police Terror Project.

The collective "shut down the Bay Bridge as a show of resistance to a system that continues to oppress Black, Queer, Brown, Indigenous and other marginalized people throughout the Bay Area," according to the statement...

Here's the group's website, "BLACK QUEER LIBERATION COLLECTIVE BLACK.SEED SHUTS DOWN BAY BRIDGE":

Today, January 18th, Black.Seed has shut down the west-bound span of Bay Bridge. Cars are blocking lanes and individuals are chained across lanes to demand investment in the wellbeing of Black people. Motorists on the Bay Bridge can follow the action by tuning their radio to 107.9, a temporary radio station broadcasting the event. The action can also be followed on Twitter: @APTPaction

Over the last few years, we have seen San Francisco and Oakland destroyed by police murders, rising housing costs, rapid gentrification, and apathetic city officials. Last year, we saw dozens of police murders throughout the Bay Area; since June of 2015 in Oakland alone there have been eight Black men murdered by police.

Today Black.Seed celebrates and honors the radical legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Historically, our people have had to take drastic and dramatic measures to highlight the systemic abuses that harm our communities. 51 years ago, those who came before us participated in direct action in Selma, Alabama, to speak out against the harms of racism and oppression. It is this very spirit of resistance that flows through our lives and actions, in the Black Out Friday, Black Brunches, and highway shutdowns of today.

We are here to move towards an increase in the health and wellbeing of all Black people in Oakland & San Francisco. We stand in solidarity with APTP and demand...

Click through to read the list of demands.

And on Twitter, "Update: All 24 freedom fighters have been released!"

See also the San Francisco Chronicle, "Bay Bridge reopens after protesters chain themselves, shut down span."

When you block traffic on freeways and bridges, you don't bring people over to your side. You piss them off and alienate them. It makes good protest theater, I guess. And virtue signalling.

Conservatives Are Increasingly Frustrated by the Continued Support for Donald Trump on the Right (VIDEO)

I like all the top candidates, Cruz, Rubio, and Trump.

I'll be happy with any one of them and I'll fully support the GOP ticket.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump's making this the most memorable primary season ever. What's not to like?

Well, conservative activists aren't pleased by the surge in support for Trump. It gets ugly on Twitter, where battle lines have long been drawn. I don't let it bother me. Everybody's doing their own thing, pushing their own interests, so it's no skin off my back. I've been out here a long time --- this is the third presidential campaign I've blogged --- and the internecine battles erupt every time.

In any case, at WSJ, "Donald Trump, Ted Cruz Fight on GOP’s Right Flank":

MILFORD, N.H.—Jennifer Ouellette is like many conservatives two weeks before the first votes are cast: thrilled that Sen. Ted Cruz is a leading Republican presidential candidate but flummoxed that his top challenger is Donald Trump.
“How do I convince these people to stop looking at the shiny object and to understand who is the constitutional conservative?” the mother of two from Atkinson, N.H., asked Mr. Cruz at a gathering here Sunday night. “I am having a big fight with my sister about this.”

As the 2016 primary season barrels toward its first balloting, the GOP establishment wing’s split in support of multiple candidates would in previous years have buoyed conservative activists, who have typically been the ones to split among several contenders. But Mr. Trump’s unexpectedly enduring candidacy has complicated that.

In the most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 61% of Republican primary voters describe themselves as conservative. Messrs. Trump and Cruz split that potentially dominant voting bloc almost in half, with 31% saying they support the New York businessman while 27% are backing the senator. Mr. Cruz outpaces Mr. Trump among the most conservative Republican primary voters by a margin of 36% to 28%, by virtue of his support among evangelical voters.

To many activist groups who are beginning to coalesce around Mr. Cruz, Mr. Trump’s appeal among conservatives lies more in his antiestablishment rhetoric, particularly on issues such as immigration, than on most of his policy stances. As the first votes get closer, private gnashing of teeth among the ranks of conservative Republicans about Mr. Trump, and his support among many on the right, is beginning to burst into the open.

A case in point came Monday, when Mr. Trump was invited to speak at Liberty University, an evangelical Christian school in Virginia. Mr. Trump’s religious credentials have come under question by many during his campaign, and after he was given a glowing introduction by Jerry Falwell Jr., the school’s president, Russell Moore, who heads the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission with the Southern Baptist Convention, tweeted: “Politics driving the gospel rather than the other way around is the third temptation of Christ. He overcame it. Will we?”

Erick Erickson, a Georgia talk-radio host who founded the website Redstate.com, said he has “this conversation with conservative groups every day, ‘What can we do to stop Trump?’ ” Yet, he added, “a lot of them don’t want to burn bridges by going after him.”

Penny Nance, chief executive of antiabortion group Concerned Women for America, said socially conservative groups like hers are concerned at the prospect of Mr. Trump’s winning the nomination: They are practiced in combating centrist Republicans—not someone running as more of an outsider than they are.

“I’ve been very clear about my concerns and so have others, but at the end of the day, we’re not good at attacking this way,” Ms. Nance said. “We don’t enjoy it. It’s not what we admire, the negativity in campaigns.”

Still more.

Erick Erickson's no longer the editor of Red State, but folks there are going guns blazing against the Donald. Here's Caleb Howe yesterday, via Memeorandum, "Documents Show Donald Trump's New York Values Do NOT Include Giving To 9/11 Charities."

Amid Rising Antisemitism, 'Mein Kampf' Reprint is a Bestseller in Germany

Yeah, I commented on this a week or two back on Twitter. You think European publishers could time the re-release of "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle") any better?

And it's not just anti-Semitism. Remember, all kinds of misfits and gypsies were murdered as well. Europe's got its fair share of outsiders and undesirables flooding in. Why give extreme groups a reminder of the ideological justifications for the Holocaust?

At Legal Insurrection.

Muslim Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10 In Northwest Pakistan (VIDEO)

Another day, another jihad suicide bomber.

At Blazing Cat Fur.

Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith to Boycott Academy Awards

Hey, I actually support this.

Make the Hollywood hypocrites live up to their highfalutin leftist virtues.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith to boycott Oscars; academy responds":

"I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion," [Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences] President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a statement released Monday night. "This is a difficult but important conversation, and it's time for big change."

She added that the academy would be taking "dramatic steps" to alter the makeup of its membership and to accelerate diversity efforts.

Plus, read Boone Isaacs' statement for the Academy, "A statement from Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs."

More at the Hollywood Reporter, "David Oyelowo Goes Off on Oscars: 'I Am an Academy Member and It Doesn't Reflect Me'."

'The American Dream has nothing to do with socialism...'

Gretchen Carlson picked up on that bit of polling data finding 43 percent of Iowa's Democrat likely caucus-goers identifying as socialist (discussed here, "43 Percent of Likely Iowa Democratic Caucus-Goers Self-Identify as 'Socialist'").

I'm sure some leftists would say that in fact the America Dream wouldn't be possible without socialism --- remember Elizabeth Warren's (and unoriginal Barack Hussein's) "you didn't build that"?

Well, we need more wonderful folks like Ms. Gretchen to say otherwise, bless her heart.

Watch, via Fox News, "Gretchen's Take: More Americans Turn to Socialism as the Answer."

China's Growth Slowest in 25 Years

"Slow growth" for China is almost 7 percent annual GDP expansion. Would that we had such "slow growth."

Still, it's the downtrend that's key, considering all the buzz over the past decade or two about how China's supposedly about to overtake the U.S. as the world's dominant economy, blah, blah.

At WSJ, "China’s Economic Growth Slowest in 25 Years in 2015":

BEIJING—China recorded a pronounced deceleration in growth last year, affirming that a multiyear slowdown is biting the world’s second-largest economy harder and shows little sign of abating.

The growth rate, released by the government on Tuesday, moderated to 6.8% for the fourth quarter and 6.9% for 2015. The annual pace was the weakest in a quarter century, and the quarterly level undershot market expectations, posting its lowest reading since the financial crisis and signaling weakening economic momentum.

Tuesday’s figures put a grade on a tumultuous year that saw the slowdown’s impact spill over to global markets and batter the government’s reputation for competent economic management.

Chinese leaders held an economic policy meeting Monday with senior officials. While state media accounts projected a tone of determined optimism, President Xi Jinping also urged the officials “to stabilize short-term growth.” Premier Li Keqiang talked of “increasing downward pressure” on the economy, complicated by slack global demand.

“The real economy basically hasn’t picked up very well,” said Nomura Group economist Yang Zhao. “We’re going to have a choppier sea ahead of us.”

With growing debt and too much housing and factory capacity, economists—and even Chinese officials—project a tougher year ahead. The stock markets have stumbled into the new year, erasing gains from an unsteady recovery after a summertime crash. And, economists said, the tools the government has traditionally used to revive growth—infrastructure spending, easy credit and ramped-up exports—appear increasingly ineffective.

The 2015 growth rate reported by the government’s statistics bureau was down from the 7.3% gain reported in 2014. Doubts have been raised about the reliability of China’s economic data, though, and 2015’s reported rate sparked renewed concern that growth is slowing faster than the government is saying.

“China’s reported growth rate for 2015 raises many questions rather than providing full reassurance about the economy’s true growth momentum,” said Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University and the former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China division.

Fears over slowing momentum in China and Beijing’s handling of the economy have combined with concerns over plunging oil and commodity prices to pull down nervy global stock markets since the start of 2016...

Still more.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, Warns Against the 'Deceit and Treachery' of the United States (VIDEO)

It's like the playground bully takes your lunch money and beats you up anyway.

Obama's the hapless kid who keeps giving the playground bully his lunch money only to come in for some more lumps.

Watch, via Euronews:

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that his country remain wary of its old enemy the United States.

In his first comments since most EU sanctions were lifted along with many important US embargoes, Iran's highest authority made it clear that Washington should be treated with suspicion.

"I reiterate the need to be vigilant about the deceit and treachery of arrogant countries, especially the United States...

Hillary Clinton Readies for Long Primary Fight Against Bernie Sanders

Hey, good.

She was supposed to be the inevitable nominee in '08 and look what happened. The alternative was probably worse back then, but at least this time around we know she can be beat.

At the New York Times, "Hillary Clinton Gets Set for a Long Slog Against Bernie Sanders":

Facing a tougher than expected challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is preparing for a primary fight that could stretch into late April or early May and require a sprawling field operation in states and territories from Pennsylvania to Guam.

With the Iowa caucuses in two weeks and Mr. Sanders’s insurgent candidacy chipping away at Mrs. Clinton’s once formidable lead there, Clinton aides are acknowledging that the road to the party’s July convention could be an expensive slog. “Remember, I campaigned all the way into June last time,” Mrs. Clinton told CNN last week.

Even though the Clinton team has sought to convey that it has built a national operation, the campaign has invested much of its resources in the Feb. 1 caucuses in Iowa, hoping that a victory there could marginalize Mr. Sanders and set Mrs. Clinton on the path to the nomination. As much as 90 percent of the campaign’s resources are now split between Iowa and the Brooklyn headquarters, according to an estimate provided by a person with direct knowledge of the spending. The campaign denied that figure.

The campaign boasted last June, when Mrs. Clinton held her kickoff event on Roosevelt Island in New York, that it had at least one paid staff member in all 50 states. But the effort did not last, and the staff members were soon let go or reassigned. (Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, said they had been hired as temporary workers to sign up volunteers at the start of the campaign, an effort he said had paid off organizationally.)

The focus on Iowa, which still haunts Mrs. Clinton after the stinging upset by Barack Obama there in 2008, has been so intense that even organizers in New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Feb. 9, have complained to the campaign’s leadership that they feel neglected.

On a call with supporters last week, Mrs. Clinton’s aides laid out a scenario in which the race against Mr. Sanders stretched through April, a prospect that they said would require about $50 million for a national ground operation and other expenses.

“It’s not just a question of the first two states or the first four states,” Mr. Mook said in an interview at Sunday’s Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C. “We’re going to keep going into the map as long as it takes.”

For all its institutional advantages, the Clinton campaign lags behind the Sanders operation in deploying paid staff members: For example, Mr. Sanders has campaign workers installed in all 11 of the states that vote on Super Tuesday. Mrs. Clinton does not, and is relying on union volunteers and members of supportive organizations such as Planned Parenthood to help her.

“It would be good to have the momentum story the day after the caucus of ‘Oh, Bernie won,’ ” Mr. Sanders’s campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, said, “but it’s really about grinding out the delegates, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind.”

More.

'The Revenant' is Really Good

I know a lot of conservatives will dismiss "The Revenant," because Leo DiCaprio is perhaps the most pathetic climate change leftist since Al Gore. That'd be a mistake though. It's a great film. And it's especially great for conservatives, because the film's frontier, man-in-the-wilderness ethic speaks powerfully to American exceptionalism and the ideology of individualism.

Besides, it's an epic of cinematography. A pure beauty to behold. And the story's pretty cool, based on the real life travails of early-19th century frontiersman Hugh Glass.

I can see why the movie's got such huge Oscar buzz. And of course, Leo's been denied a win after five nominations, so he's a shoo-in for a best-actor award this year, especially after seeing how well "The Revenant" did at the Golden Globes.

In any case, the film got decent reviews. See Kenneth Turan, at LAT, "'The Revenant' is a survival tale of beautiful, brute strength," and Manohla Dargis, at NYT, "Review: ‘The Revenant’ Welcomes You to Paradise. Now Prepare to Fall."

Hillary Clinton's 'in the middle of a mini-panic over Sanders' rise...' (VIDEO)

Bill O'Reilly and Charles Krauthammer are having a laugh riot of a time at the clip.

It's good.

Via Fox News:

Record High Surf at Pismo Beach (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "High Surf at Southern California Beaches (VIDEO)," and "Rip-Roaring Surf Along San Diego Beaches (VIDEO)."

Via KEYT News 3 Santa Barbara:

Is America Racist?

Well, there remain vestiges of racism is America today, but not to the extent the Democrat Party --- and President Obama --- would lead you to believe.

Here's Larry Elder, for Prager University:

Rip-Roaring Surf Along San Diego Beaches (VIDEO)

Following-up from this morning, "High Surf at Southern California Beaches (VIDEO)."

And now at ABC News 10 San Diego:

Hayden Panettiere at the Critics' Choice Awards

Hmm... I guess she's been fighting postpartum depression --- and she's beating it, by the looks of things.

At Pop Sugar, "Hayden Panettiere Makes a Triumphant Return to the Red Carpet After Treatment."

And at WWTDD, "Hayden Panettiere Dynamo."

Family of Robert Levinson 'Betrayed and Devastated' by Obama Administration (VIDEO)

This is why people just hate Barack Hussein. They hate him with an unbridled passion.

At the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, "Family of Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran in 2007, upset he wasn't among freed prisoners, say reports."

And watch, at CBS This Morning, "Levinson family feels "betrayed and devastated" after U.S.-Iran prisoner swap." Levinson’s wife, Christine, didn't even get a phone call notifying them of what was happening.

More at CNN, "The family of Robert Levinson speaks." They're really bitter, understandably. This reminds me of the administration's treatment of the Benghazi families, which has been marked by lies and abandonment.

PREVIOUSLY: "U.S. Pays Steep Ranson for Four Innocent Hostages Held Captive by Iran."

Kristen Soltis Anderson Analysis on the Republican Presidential Primary Horse Race (VIDEO)

She's gotten herself a beautiful makeover.

Love that hairstyle.

Remember, she's the author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up).

Via Fox News:



Kirsten Powers is also at the clip. Her book is The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech.

Kristen and Kirsten.

Heh. I get mixed up on those two names sometimes.

Flowing Curves of Beauty

Loveliness.

At the Political Clown Parade.

Hat Tip: The Other McCain.

Way Stations on Marxism's 'Long March Through America's Institutions' in the 20th Century

Barbara Kay has a review of David Horowitz's latest installment, The Black Book of the American Left — Volume 5: Culture Wars, at FrontPage Magazine, "CULTURE WARS: VOLUME V OF THE BLACK BOOK OF THE AMERICAN LEFT":

Some months ago, joining an online discussion initiated by a gay Facebook friend on the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, I countered a bitter remark about Ronald Reagan’s “homophobia” and his primary role in causing so many deaths by (as tactfully as possible) observing that gay activists had to bear their share of the blame for the epidemic in having obstructed public health measures to curtail its spread.

The hostile blowback to this remark startled me in its denialist fury, but the salient point here is the sneering tone in which more than one critic on the thread accused me of merely reiterating talking points raised by conservative polemicist David Horowitz. I was taken aback by the rapidity of the redirect to Horowitz in particular, as though nobody else at that time had raised the question of gay-liberationist complicity in maintaining a cone of silence over the elevated HIV risks inherent in unprotected, promiscuous anal intercourse. (Others did, but nobody else with the persistence, straight-talking candor and politically incorrect judgmentalism of Horowitz).

I conceded that my information about the role played by the gay liberation movement in the AIDS crisis was indeed based in Horowitz’s many public criticisms; but since, like all his writings, his accusations were evidence-based, what difference did it make, so long as his information was accurate? This question elicited anger of an even greater ferocity, and my original Facebook friend finally intervened to end the debate.

That was the last time I ever posted a remark on my friend’s page about anything (he didn’t “unfriend me,” a testimony to our real friendship, even though he expressed private sorrow about my reference to Horowitz), but it remains a sobering reminder of the tenacity of ideology over fact on the Left, and the demonization that is the truth-teller’s lot when attempting to set the record straight on identity-politics myths. When stakeholders in one of our culture’s official victim categories have invested themselves in a self-serving narrative, the last thing they want to think about are facts and statistics that threaten the comforting duvet of the rewritten past in which they have chosen to wrap themselves.

Such historical amnesia, arguably the single greatest besetting sin of the Left and the reason leftist illusions are so difficult to dislodge, is only held in check by the dogged, often thankless determination of objective witnesses to history who record unpalatable truths, and then patiently insert them at regular intervals into the slow-grinding mills of the historical archive until a Day of Reckoning forces respectful attention on them.

That day has not yet arrived. The illiberal liberalism known as progressivism remains ascendant in the West, winning battle after battle in the Culture Wars. Every day, more precious freedom to express one’s opinions is lost, as convenient ideological narratives are privileged on university campuses and in the media, while inconvenient truths are fed into the oubliette of Political Incorrectness.

As the little Facebook fracas I unwittingly set off demonstrates in microcosm, there has been no more determined witness to America’s ideological history in the last half century than David Horowitz, a superior intellect and skilled investigative journalist, whose most formidable weapon is his own history as a hard-left political insider turned apostate, and forensic specialist in the pathogens of his own childhood disease.

Or, for another metaphor, Horowitz might be compared to a political archeologist for whom no potsherd, no coin, no amulet is too imperfect or humble to warrant respectful assessment as a clue in reconstruction of a culture. Horowitz has excavated his life and times with a patience and thoroughness that gives new depth of meaning to the words “second thoughts” in exposing the irrationality, hypocrisy and self-righteousness that characterize the intolerant and punitive mindset that dominates our culture.

Now aging, but with his passion for exposing the Left’s sins undimmed, this happy heretic has for the past few years been re-issuing his essays, speeches and newspaper columns in a series of 10 books under the general title of The Black Book of the American Left: the Collected Conservative Writings of David Horowitz.

With the comprehensive Index that will fill the last book, the series will endure as the definitive prosecution of the Left’s subversion of American freedoms, ideals and willingness to lead in spreading the blessings of democracy that have been the greatest, and sometimes the only, hope for a world struggling to emerge from a variety of totalitarian regimes, from godless Communism to God-drenched Islamism.

Volume Five, Culture Wars, amasses Horowitz’s writings from the 1990s and very early 2000s that explore the Left’s transmogrification of American culture in the second half of the 20th century by means of “the long march through the institutions.” This phrase, coined by Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci, references a dramatic change in Marxist tactics that was conceived in the 1930s, but only took root with a vengeance in the 1970s and ‘80s...

Keep reading.

And don't miss Horowitz's The Politics of Bad Faith: The Radical Assault on America's Future, of which Chapter Five covers the radical left's extreme politicization of the AIDS crisis, "A Radical Holocaust."

Bernie Mopped the Floor with Hillary

From JPod, at the NY Post, via Memeorandum.

And IowaHawk snarks, "In snap poll of Democrats, Ho Chi Minh beats Imelda Marcos."

Hat Tip: Instapundit.

High Surf at Southern California Beaches (VIDEO)

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

43 Percent of Likely Iowa Democratic Caucus-Goers Self-Identify as 'Socialist'

Look, it's not just that partisan Democrats have "favorable" views of socialism. They are socialists.

Here's the New York Times poll from December, "Poll Watch: Democrats, Even Clinton Supporters, Warm to Socialism."

See that? They're warming up to the ideology of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Russia.

Of course, it's not just "warming up." Anyone who's attended a Democrat Party town hall or antiwar protest knows that the driving force of hardline Democrat Party activism is the communist left. I've documented this countless times over the years. It's ridiculous.

But with the Bernie Sanders campaign, the Democrat Party's socialist foundation is out in the open. Shoot, Democrats are shouting their proud socialism from the rooftops. Almost half of likely Iowa caucus-goers proclaim their socialist bona fides.

See the Washington Post, "This number proves Bernie Sanders can win Iowa":

Iowa is a swing state. But when it comes to its first-in-the-nation caucuses, its conservatives tend to be quite conservative, and its liberals tend to be quite liberal.

And even socialist.

As the country begins to decide how it feels about the idea of socialism — thanks to Bernie Sanders's ascendant Democratic primary campaign — it's worth noting here that it's a word that many Democratic caucus-goers have clearly embraced. And, in fact, many even call themselves "socialists."

A little-noticed data point in the new Selzer & Co. Iowa poll, in fact, shows that 43 percent of likely voters in the Feb. 1 caucuses say they would use the word "socialist" to describe themselves.

And to be very clear, this question was not whether they would vote for a socialist or sympathize with socialism; it's whether they consider themselves socialist.

The 43 percent of likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers who self-identify as socialist is actually more than the number who identify themselves as capitalist — 38 percent.

As our own Dan Balz notes, Sanders does better among self-described socialists — though he doesn't quite have a monopoly on them. Balz writes that socialists account for "58 percent of Sanders’s supporters and about a third of Clinton’s."

There isn't great polling on how many Americans overall consider themselves socialists, but a Gallup poll in June showed that just 47 percent of Americans would even be willing to vote for a socialist candidate. Among Democrats, that number was 59 percent.

More recently, a November New York Times/CBS News poll showed 56 percent of Democratic primary voters nationally said they had a positive view of socialism.

And that's not the only identifier that suggests a friendly electorate for Sanders. Forty-four percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers say they consider themselves "anti-Wall Street." Again, these are voters over whom Sanders has no monopoly, but he does have a leg up on Clinton, a more Wall Street-aligned former senator from New York...

Still more.

And previously, "Bernie Sanders Is a Hardline Communist."

U.S. Pays Steep Ranson for Four Innocent Hostages Held Captive by Iran

I get sick thinking about this.

America is being held hostage, by the Kenyan interloper in the White House most of all.

At WSJ, "Iran’s Hostage Triumph":

Now we know that Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and three other Americans were hostages held by Iran in return for U.S. concessions, in case there was any doubt. And on Saturday we learned the ransom price: $100 billion as part of the completed nuclear deal and a prisoner swap of Iranians who violated U.S. laws. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps should call this Operation Clean Sweep.

The timing of Iran’s Saturday release of the Americans is no accident. This was also implementation day for the nuclear deal, when United Nations sanctions on Tehran were lifted, which means that more than $100 billion in frozen assets will soon flow to Iran and the regime will get a lift from new investment and oil sales. The mullahs were taking no chances and held the hostages until President Obama’s diplomatic checks cleared.

We’re as relieved as anyone to see the four Americans coming home, though there was no legal basis for their arrests. Mr. Rezaian had been held since July 2014 and was convicted last year of espionage without evidence. The other freed Iranian-Americans include former Marine Amir Hekmati, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, a dual citizen whose detention wasn’t previously reported.

But the Iranians negotiated a steep price for their freedom. The White House agreed to pardon or drop charges against seven Iranian nationals charged with or convicted of crimes in the U.S., mostly for violating sanctions designed to retard Iran’s military or nuclear programs. Iran gets back men who were assisting its military ambitions while we get innocents. This is similar to the lopsided prisoner swaps that Mr. Obama previously made with Cuba for Alan Gross and the Taliban for alleged deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The U.S. didn’t resolve the case of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007. Iran claims it doesn’t know where he is. Iran also refused to release its newest hostage, oil-industry executive Siamak Namazi, who was detained in October and accused of espionage though no charges have been brought. Perhaps he’ll be held for some future ransom.

The Obama Administration also agreed to drop the names of 14 Iranian nationals from an Interpol watch list. Most notable is the CEO of Mahan Air, an Iranian carrier sanctioned for transporting members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that is suspected of transferring arms to Bashar Assad’s regime.

The prisoner swap helps to solve the mystery of the Obama Administration’s December flip-flop on new sanctions against Tehran’s ballistic-missile program...

Still more.

Amber Lee's MLK Day Forecast

It's going to be a lovely day.

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Come Out Swinging at South Carolina Democrat Debate (VIDEO)

It's a yawner to me.

But see the Los Angeles Times, "Sanders and Clinton bring sharp elbows to final Democratic debate before voting starts":

After a succession of Democratic presidential debates largely absent of the acrimony and personal affronts that have defined the GOP face-offs, a sharp turn in tone was expected as the Democratic candidates took the stage here Sunday.

A tight race will do that. And Hillary Clinton now finds herself in one in the crucial early states of New Hampshire and Iowa. Tonight’s debate is the final such face-off with her main rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, before Iowa holds its caucuses on Feb. 1, and may be her best opportunity to reshape the race in advance of the voting.

Heightening the stakes, Sanders released the long-awaited details of his Medicare-for-all health plan a few hours before the debate was to start.

The plan includes significant tax increases for all working Americans. Sanders' side argues those tax hikes would simply replace the health insurance premiums that most workers and employers pay, but Clinton is likely to point to them as examples of what she says are politically untenable positions taken by Sanders, the self-declared Democratic socialist from Vermont.

Sanders’ plan would impose a payroll tax of 6.2% on employers and a 2.2% flat income tax increase that would apply to all income above the current standard deduction – $28,800 for a family of four. That would be on top of several other tax increases Sanders has already proposed, most of which target taxpayers with incomes above $250,000.

Until recently, Clinton had made only limited efforts to attack Sanders. But her approach of running above the fray has fallen short. Instead, she's in a place the Democratic establishment had not expected her to be: struggling to avoid the embarrassment of losing early states.

With polls showing the race a toss-up in Iowa and Clinton losing to Sanders in New Hampshire, she has changed her approach. Her campaign no longer looks like an operation going through the motions on its way to an inevitable nomination. It is now aggressively seeking to reestablish a comfortable lead, relentlessly attacking Sanders along the way.

Using tough words toward a rival whom Clinton barely acknowledged for months – instead directing her energy toward critiquing the Republican candidates – suggests a campaign in a state of worry. The image of unflappability it has projected since the spring is gone...

Still more.

Hillary Clinton Holds 25-Point Nationwide Lead Over Bernie Sanders in Latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll

NBC's got a Democrat debate tonight.

I've got it on the TV, although I'll probably mute it and read, heh.

At WSJ, "Hillary Clinton’s Lead Over Bernie Sanders Widens":

WASHINGTON— Hillary Clinton has widened her lead to 25 percentage points in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

The former secretary of state leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 59% to 34%, a slightly larger margin than the 19-point gap in December.

The new national poll comes as surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire show the race tightening in the states that play host to the first two nominating contests. While losses there would be a setback for Mrs. Clinton, the new Journal/NBC News survey suggests that she would retain strong advantages in the later primaries. Mrs. Clinton owes her durable lead nationally to her strength with key subgroups in the Democratic primary electorate, including nonwhite, older and moderate-to-conservative primary voters.

The race looks much different in Iowa and New Hampshire. Aggregates of recent polls show the contests to be close in both states, with Mrs. Clinton edging Mr. Sanders in Iowa and the Vermont senator claiming a lead in neighboring New Hampshire.

Nationally, the race has changed little since October, Journal/NBC News polling finds. Support levels haven’t budged much for either of the two leading Democrats since Mrs. Clinton bounced back from a late-summer swoon, which had been driven by questions about her family’s charitable foundation and a federal probe into her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

Four in five Democratic primary voters in the new survey said they could see themselves voting for Mrs. Clinton, relatively unchanged since last March. By comparison, two-thirds said they would consider voting for Mr. Sanders, fewer than those who said so of Mrs. Clinton but up from just 21% in March.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley remains an afterthought; some 22% said they were open to supporting him, and only 2% named him as their first choice.

All three Democratic presidential candidates will square off Sunday night in North Charleston, S.C., in a debate hosted by NBC...

More.

The debate's starting right now.

Movie Review: '13 Hours,' A Great Movie and an Enormous, Enormous Problem for Hillary

At AoSHQ:

13 Hours is, doubtless, the best film of Michael Bay's career. It's also an objectively good movie.

Let me get to the politics first. The film is not blatantly political. Do not doubt, however, that it does not have an overt political meaning. It's overt -- just not in-your-face.

The film is filled with the heroes wondering "When is someone coming to help us?"

There are shots of planes lying dormant while Americans are being shot to pieces.

There is an exchange where one soldier (actually, ex-soldiers working for the CIA called G.S.R.'s) says to the other, "I just saw on the news, they're saying this is because of a protest."

The other says: "I didn't see any protest."

And neither does the filmgoer-- there is no protest. There is simply a coordinated attack which starts out of nowhere. It's obvious what this is from the start; there is no "fog of war," at least not about what started this...

Keep reading.

Plus, Manohla Dargis has the high-brow cultural review at the New York Times, ignoring the politics but confirming that this is a major film, and director Bay's a chest-pounding patriot. See, "The NYT review of '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi'."

Switzerland Seizing Cash and Valuables from Refugees to Cover Costs of Settlement (VIDEO)

Heh.

I'm sure leftists aren't too pleased with the Swiss government. It's acting less than "welcoming," you might say, lol.

At the Washington Post, "Switzerland criticized for also seizing cash and valuables from refugees":

LONDON — Only days ago, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) sharply criticized Denmark for an immigration bill that includes a series of changes that would allow police officers to seize valuables from refugees. The agency feared the bill "could fuel fear, xenophobia."

Now, the Geneva-based organization might have to focus its criticism on the country where it is based: Switzerland. The nation also allows state authorities to seize cash and valuables from refugees, several media organizations reported on Thursday and Friday. The little-known practice has been part of the country's asylum law for almost two decades, according to Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Denmark's current debate on a similar law had led to international criticism, but Switzerland's practice started to make headlines only after the country's public broadcaster reported on the case of a refugee who  entered the country with about $2,000. Consequently, $1,000 were seized by authorities. The TV station aired a copy of a receipt he received from authorities in return.

The Swiss law allows authorities to seize any cash or valuables above the threshold of $1,000.  However, unlike the proposed Danish law, Swiss authorities usually seize money or valuables previously declared by refugees, rather than searching them for such items or cash amounts as they arrive...

It's hard out there for a refujihadi!

Still more.

Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Costa Mesa (VIDEO)

I don't know if these are the same sponsors as the Costa Mesa gun show I attended a couple of years ago, but to attend these things is to forget you're in California. There's a huge interest in Second Amendment rights in the once-Golden State, despite the far-left moral bankruptcy in our politics.

At ABC News 7 Los Angeles, "CROSSROADS OF THE WEST GUN SHOW COMES TO COSTA MESA AS OBAMA PUSHES TOUGHER GUN REGULATIONS."

Bundy Militiamen Remove Government Cameras from #Malheur Wildlife Refuge (VIDEO)

The standoff continues.

At the Portland Oregonian, "Oregon standoff: Occupiers remove cameras, clash with conservationists."

United States to Pay $1.7 Billion in Interest to Iran in Settlement of Claims

This is taxpayer funded, of course.

At Twitchy, "'Iran won the Powerball': ABC's Jonathan Karl reports U.S. just made $1.7 billion 'direct payment' to Iran."

And at Hot Air, "Iran getting $1.7B from U.S. in “debt and interest”."

PREVIOUSLY: "Obama Administration Ends Sanctions on Iran," and "Removal of Iran Sanctions Stokes Regional Anxieties."

Removal of Iran Sanctions Stokes Regional Anxieties

Following-up, "Obama Administration Ends Sanctions on Iran."

At WSJ, "Iran Accord Stokes Anxiety Among Its Rivals":

Foes worry about how Tehran will use billions of dollars of unfrozen oil receipts

Iran celebrated the removal of economic sanctions on Sunday, even as regional rivals warned that it was still out to destabilize the Middle East and needed to be closely monitored.

Western officials said the implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal with six world powers, which allowed for the lifting of some economic sanctions, raised prospects for overhauls within Iran’s political system. The deal has been a priority for President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate in the conservative clerical regime who was elected on a platform of engagement with the world in 2013.

Mr. Rouhani hailed the implementation of the deal, saying this had turned a “golden page” in the country’s history and heralded an economic revival.

“Conditions will be better than before for political and economic relations with regional countries, and we can resolve regional problems,” Mr. Rouhani said in a televised news conference, pointing to hope that the deal would create an atmosphere of reconciliation in the region.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country would continue to monitor Iran’s behavior closely.

“Even after the signing of the nuclear agreement, Iran has not relinquished its aspiration to obtain nuclear weapons and it will continue to undermine stability in the Middle East and spread terrorism around the world while violating its international obligations,” a statement from Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.

In Saudi Arabia, there was concern that the lifting of sanctions would bolster Iran and its allies. A statement by 140 Sunni Muslim clerics urged Muslims to unite against the threat of Shiite Iran. It criticized actions by some minority groups in Muslim countries and accused them of “serving foreign agendas,” a veiled reference to what they view as the loyalty of Shiites in Sunni-majority Arab countries to Iran.

Iran’s rivals are also worried that Tehran will spend some of the billions of dollars of oil revenue unfrozen by the lifting of sanctions on aiding regional allies that include Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Shiite-linked Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Iran’s central bank governor, Valiollah Seif, estimated these funds at $32.6 billion on Sunday. But Treasury Secretary Jack Lew estimated last July that Iran would have access to about $50 billion after sanctions relief.

Mr. Seif said on Saturday that bringing the funds back to Iran would be unreasonable, adding they would likely be used to purchase imports, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. In his speech on Sunday, Mr. Rouhani only said the money “will be at the disposal of our people for economic activities.”

Mr. Seif and other Iranian officials such as Foreign Minister Javad Zarif held up the sanctions relief as a catalyst for investment in Iran and for future cooperation in the fight against terrorism...

More.

Obama Administration Ends Sanctions on Iran

Barack Hussein makes Neville Chamberlain look like a piker.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Nuclear deal ends era of crippling sanctions for Iran":

World powers signed off Saturday on a historic deal that curbs Iran's nuclear weapons-building, eases economic sanctions that have long crippled the Islamic Republic and rewrites diplomatic dynamics throughout the Middle East.

Tens of billions of dollars will soon be available to Iran, as well as access to the international banking system and global markets for the sale of oil and gas for the first time in years, greatly bolstering its ability to rejoin the world economy.

President Obama immediately issued an executive order canceling numerous sanctions levied by the U.S.

The deal, coupled with a secretly negotiated swap that freed prisoners including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, signals a new, if still tentative, era of cooperation between Washington and Tehran after decades of sharp-edged acrimony.

“Today marks the first day of a safer world,” Secretary of State John F. Kerry said in Vienna after the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, headquartered there, certified that Iran had complied with significant steps aimed at dismantling its nuclear production capabilities and had agreed to the most rigorous inspections on Iranian soil to date.

“Today marks the moment that the Iran nuclear agreement transitions from an ambitious set of promises on paper to measurable action in progress,” Kerry added.

Word of the U.N. certification rang out from Vienna to the capitals of the negotiating countries; on the campaign trail, where Republicans were quick both to praise the Americans' release and to decry the administration's negotiating techniques; and in Los Angeles, home to the world's largest Iranian expat community.

The two countries have been bitter enemies since Iranian Islamic revolutionaries seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and took hostages. No one is expecting the renewal of diplomatic ties any time soon — indeed, sanctions remain in place tied to Iran's human-rights record and funding of groups the U.S. views as terrorists — but the Obama administration credited a newfound rapprochement with seeing the nuclear deal to fruition as well as securing the freedom of the American prisoners.

That same spirit, which experts agree has to have been approved by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, also led to the quick release last week of 10 U.S. sailors detained in Iranian waters. What might have become a major international incident a few years ago was resolved within hours.

Even as Washington's relationship with Tehran seems on a smoother course — Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, are on the phone just about daily — the United States' longest-standing allies in the region, Saudi Arabia and Israel, have appeared increasingly on the outs.

Both Saudi Arabia and Israel opposed the nuclear deal, saying Iran could not be trusted and fearing a less-isolated Iran able finally to join the world economic and political stage. The governments of both are notoriously distrustful of and unfriendly with the Obama administration. U.S. officials can point to more fruitful talks with Iran while relations with Israel and the Saudis have turned increasingly frigid...

Still more.

Academics Finally Uncover the Closed Liberal Mind

Scratch a leftist.

At iOTW Report.

Paulina Vega Casting Call for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016

Lovely for Sunday babe blogging.

Via Sports Illustrated:

Jenn Kaelin Bounces on a Hoppity Hop

Watch, "Jenn Kaelin Montage Video."

What a find, sheesh.

At the Hostages.

Rise in Young White Drug Death Rates

Well, the white working class is supposedly dying out, so this seems of a piece.

Now this.

Black Lives Matter activists are loving it.

At the New York Times, "Drug Overdoses Propel Rise in Mortality Rates of Young Whites":

Drug overdoses are driving up the death rate of young white adults in the United States to levels not seen since the end of the AIDS epidemic more than two decades ago — a turn of fortune that stands in sharp contrast to falling death rates for young blacks, a New York Times analysis of death certificates has found.

The rising death rates for those young white adults, ages 25 to 34, make them the first generation since the Vietnam War years of the mid-1960s to experience higher death rates in early adulthood than the generation that preceded it.

The Times analyzed nearly 60 million death certificates collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1990 to 2014. It found death rates for non-Hispanic whites either rising or flattening for all the adult age groups under 65 — a trend that was particularly pronounced in women — even as medical advances sharply reduce deaths from traditional killers like heart disease. Death rates for blacks and most Hispanic groups continued to fall.

The analysis shows that the rise in white mortality extends well beyond the 45- to 54-year-old age group documented by a pair of Princeton economists in a research paper that startled policy makers and politicians two months ago.

While the death rate among young whites rose for every age group over the five years before 2014, it rose faster by any measure for the less educated, by 23 percent for those without a high school education, compared with only 4 percent for those with a college degree or more.

The drug overdose numbers were stark. In 2014, the overdose death rate for whites ages 25 to 34 was five times its level in 1999, and the rate for 35- to 44-year-old whites tripled during that period. The numbers cover both illegal and prescription drugs.

“That is startling,” said Dr. Wilson Compton, the deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Those are tremendous increases.”

Rising rates of overdose deaths and suicide appear to have erased the benefits from advances in medical treatment for most age groups of whites. Death rates for drug overdoses and suicides “are running counter to those of chronic diseases,” like heart disease, said Ian Rockett, an epidemiologist at West Virginia University.

In fact, graphs of the drug overdose deaths look like those of deaths from a new infectious disease, said Jonathan Skinner, a Dartmouth economist. “It is like an infection model, diffusing out and catching more and more people,” he said.

Yet overdose deaths for young adult blacks have edged up only slightly. Over all, the death rate for blacks has been steadily falling, largely driven by a decline in deaths from AIDS. The result is that a once yawning gap between death rates for blacks and whites has shrunk by two-thirds.

“This is the smallest proportional and absolute gap in mortality between blacks and whites at these ages for more than a century,” Dr. Skinner said. If the past decade’s trends continue, even without any further progress in AIDS mortality, rates for blacks and whites will be equal in nine years, he said...

Keep reading.

Via Memeorandum.