Dems' Plan to Counter Criticism: Outlaw It

From Seth Mandel, at Commentary.

Read it at the link. (Sighs, shaking head.)

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

And at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Little Big Foot."

Cartoon Credit: William Warren.

#LiberalRacism: The Left's Cynical Perpetuation of Racist Plantation Politics

Derek Hunter has the epic must-read summary analysis of the week, "Liberal Racism," via Instapundit:

"It’s been fascinating to watch the ultra-liberal MSM work overtime to portray" #Sterling as Republican. http://t.co/GriI7hcqPK @Instapundit

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 4, 2014

.@Instapundit As I've said all along, doesn't matter #Sterling's party ID. He's a liberal to the core. Oops! http://t.co/GriI7hcqPK

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 4, 2014

.@Instapundit And that's far-left Michael Hiltzik at LAT, a rank partisan of the first order. #Progs #Hypocrisy http://t.co/GriI7hcqPK

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 4, 2014

Donald Sterling never will be accepted in polite society again, and rightfully so. He may even be forced to sell his NBA team for his private racist comments. Meanwhile, Democrats will continue to exude racism publicly, and proudly, in the hope that it scares the hell out of voters, particularly minority voters, and keeps them from realizing their lives depend more on who they are and what they do than on any politician or party. Democrats will continue to convince people that even though their lives haven’t improved after decades of loyally voting for Democrats and their ever-increasing government programs, the alternative is worse, so don’t try it.

It’s divisive, cynical, cruel, un-American and racist. It’s also the path to, the reason for, and the basis of Democrats’ power. As long as it works, they’ll never stop doing it.

Donald #Sterling, Racism and Privacy

One of my students mentioned last week that he didn't mind Donald Sterling's "private" thoughts. It's when they become public that's a problem. I responded by saying that I think the distinction between public and private has been pretty much erased these days, and that folks should consider themselves always "in public" when they're speaking, since you never know when you're going to be taped. What about private comments in your own home, folks might protest? Perhaps that's the last bastion for the expression of politically incorrect views, but even that bastion is embattled.

It's taking it to another level to use that "personal" privacy argument to defend Sterling's racism. I think Ben Shapiro, for example, made a lousy defense of Sterling this week, mostly because it sounds as if it's an endorsement, which is how depraved leftists exploited it. See, "Shapiro: Of Donald Sterling's Racism and the Rise of Thoughtcrime."

That said, controlling for disgusting leftist hypocrisy, the issue of thought crimes will be with us as long as the left's regime of acceptable discourse remains the order of the day.

More from the letters at LAT, "The Donald Sterling Case":

Though I wholeheartedly agree that Sterling's remarks are abhorrent, this knee-jerk reaction and bitter reprimand set a dangerous precedent for us all.

I am not defending Sterling's words, but they are his words and his alone. They do not reflect a company policy, nor do they ask that we adhere to their ideals.

Where do we draw the line? How is it our right to tell someone that his comments made in private are cause for a fine of more than $2 million? How do we justify our demands that he forfeit a lucrative business simply because some of us have been gravely insulted?

This is a very slippery slope we have embarked on. When someone is denied the right to express a thought unacceptable in polite society, then we are all denied the right to think for ourselves, regardless of the unpopular nature of those thoughts.

Are we now entering the realm of "thought police"?

Tom DeSimone
Palm Springs

And see Mitch Albom, at USA Today, "Donald Sterling and what we're learning about privacy."

Albom suggests "there oughta be a law" against this kinda posting of private thoughts in the Internet age, but there are some laws already. People can think what they want. Situations will come up where they'll have to defend those views. Sterling's are pretty indefensible, even in the privacy of his own home. He's a small, bitter, hateful man, despite claims by V. Stiviano to the contrary. And for that he's being shunned. Not many NBA stars wanna play for him. The market works that way.

But again, politically it's best to hold the left to its own standards. Progs refuse to accept that fact that Sterling's one of their own, a dyed-in-the-wool Beverly Hills leftist. That's the part I will never stop hammering. Leftists --- and Democrats --- are racist hypocrites now destroying the very fabric of American life. The Sterling case is just the latest in what's going to be a long-running debate on the role of the individual in a PC-drenched and perpetually wired political space. Folks should gear up for the battle. Don't excuse the racism. Instead, pin the responsibility for it precisely where it belongs.

#Sterling Will Fight to Keep #Clippers, Mayor Garcetti Predicts

It's going to be an ongoing drama.

At LAT, "Donald Sterling will fight to keep Clippers, Garcetti predicts."

#Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff Blows Off #Benghazi Select Committee as 'Colossal Waste of Time...'

Pure politics.

Sad too, since the overwhelming evidence points to a massive political cover-up just weeks before the 2012 general election.

At Legal Insurrection, "Dem congressman dismisses Benghazi committee as ‘colossal waste of time’."

Watch it: "Rep. Schiff on Fox News Sunday: Benghazi Select Committee a 'Colossal Waste of Time...'"

Also from Darleen, at Protein Wisdom, "Democrats make it clear: Obama’s political reputation more important than American lives" (via Memeorandum).

Emily Grant, 16-Year-Old at Calvary Murrieta Christian School, Wins Award for Art Project Remembering Her Late Grandfather

I love this.

At the Riverside Press-Enterprise, "MURRIETA: Student’s winning photos tell of late grandfather’s life."

I especially love how Ms. Emily reveres her grandfather's patriotism and values:

A dozen photos representing a dozen memories.

Emily Grant tells the story of her late grandfather’s life in 12 snapshots.

Her piece, “Valor,” won The Press-Enterprise Sponsorship Award at the 52nd Annual Press-Enterprise Riverside County High School Art Show last month.

“My grandfather is a huge inspiration to me and the legacy he passed down will last forever,” said the 16-year-old junior at Calvary Murrieta Christian School.

Emily got the idea for the display when she and her photography teacher visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art last year to see a photo exhibit.

“It was great to see how inspired she was,” said April Estoch, photo teacher and fine arts director at Calvary Murrieta. “She took an idea she saw somewhere else and made it her own. It tells a story that’s very personal to her.”

Emily was able to use the photos for an assignment in her photography class. She got an “A.”

More.

Kids like Ms. Emily reflect the power of our culture's private, religious sphere over the state-worshipping culture of the political left. I mean, an artistic photo display of her grandfather's church marriage and military service? That's like garlic to the Obama-cult teeanagers of the ethnic urban big government constituencies of the Democrat-left. I'm sure leftists will be attacking her as "racist" in no time.

Top Domestic and Foreign Policy Analyst Will.i.am Joins 'Meet the Press'

Heh.

This is pretty delicious, at Twitchy, "Meet the Press jumps the shark: David Gregory invites will.i.am to talk Benghazi, foreign policy."

Lol. http://t.co/sh4CAulhDs discussing foreign affairs and military involvement as a "world traveler." @meetthepress pic.twitter.com/uRS83XXRJY

— J.C. Polanco Esq MBA (@JCPolancoNYC) May 4, 2014

The "as a world traveler" clip is here.

#RapeCultureIsWhen: Campus Sexual Assault is Not More Prevalent Than Any Time in the Past

From today's front-page at the New York Times, "Fight Against Sex Assaults Holds Colleges to Account."

And here's the bottom line up front:

While there is scant evidence that sexual assault is more or less prevalent than in the past — or of how Columbia compares with others — the storm of attention has forced university administrators to pay more attention to a largely unfamiliar set of duties, more akin to social work and criminal justice than to education.

And, well, more "social justice" than education.

Seriously, as I've reported with the shamelessly dishonest Professor Caroline Heldman, irrationalism and hysteria have taken over America's campuses.

More on that at the Other McCain, "‘Pervasive Culture of Sexual Violence’," and "‘Highly Intoxicated Vaginal Penetration’: #RapeCulture and Campus Reality."

The story at the Times focuses on the allegations made by Emma Sulkowicz, who says she was raped by a man with whom she had consensual intercourse two times previously. She also says she was not drinking at the time of alleged rape:

It was eight months before Ms. Sulkowicz of Columbia reported the alleged assault and an additional year before she went public.

In an interview last week, she said she had been assaulted at the beginning of her sophomore year in 2012. The accused, as is often the case in college, was someone she considered a friend, a man with whom she had had consensual sex twice the previous school year.

They went to her room. She said she had not been drinking. They started to have sex, she said, but then he began to choke her, slapped her face, pinned her arms and penetrated her anally. She said she had screamed for him to stop, but that he would not.

“It could take two minutes for it to stop, or he could have strangled me to death,” she said.

The university’s adjudication process, she said, left her feeling even more traumatized and unsafe. “I’ve never felt more shoved under the rug in my life,” she said.

Ms. Sulkowicz's case is one of a number discussed at Blue and White, "“Accessible, Prompt and Equitable”? An examination of sexual assault at Columbia." (And see NYT's, "Behind Focus on College Assaults, a Steady Drumbeat by Students.")

This so-called crisis of campus rape is leading the news following this week's initiative from the Obama administration on college sexual assault, "55 Colleges Named in Federal Inquiry Into Handling of Sexual Assault Cases."

KC Johnson responded to that at Minding the Campus, "The White House Joins the War on Men."

And Christina Hoff Sommers just eviscerates the administration's rank politicization of this important issue. Leftist lies and political exploitation have made things worse, and regressive ghouls are placing real victims of violent assault at even greater risk.

#Clippers Win Despite Distractions

From Bill Plaschke, at the Los Angeles Times, "Clippers are not riven by distraction: They win a series over the Golden State Warriors that could have finished them but instead defines them":

Their owner was thrown out of the league, their organization is buried in chaos, yet the Clippers play on.

They were humiliated by hate, distracted by protests, exhausted by stress, yet the Clippers play on.

It was a series that could have finished them. It was, instead, a series that has defined them.

Exactly one week after their world was rocked by the release of an audio recording containing racially charged comments by owner Donald Sterling, the Clippers finished their fight through the sludge Saturday with a 126-121 victory over the Golden State Warriors in the deciding Game 7 of their first-round playoff series.

A series of seething turmoil ended in screaming relief. A series mired in pain ended in joy. The gestures of Doc Rivers, the rarely celebratory coach who calmly led his team through the continuous controversy, spoke volumes in the final seconds with a fist-pumping dance down the sidelines.

“I needed to exhale ... this was a hard week, it feels like two months,’’ Rivers said afterward. “I just needed to be able to smile and laugh and cheer and be proud of something. And I was very proud of this team.’’

The Clippers' resilience began the night before the game, when the players began texting each other with inspirational messages.
“Guys were texting like, 'No, this can’t be over, it’s not our time to be over,' ’’ Paul said.

Well, the team's fourth quarter play last night was spectacular, as you can see at the clip at top.

And more at the link.

Sharyl Attkisson on the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington

A fantastic Nick Gillespie interview with investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, via American Glob.



PREVIOUSLY: "Judge Jeanine Pirro on #Benghazi: Mr. President 'This Dereliction of Duty Demands Your Impeachment...'"

Judge Jeanine Pirro on #Benghazi: Mr. President 'This Dereliction of Duty Demands Your Impeachment...'

Judge Jeanine brings down the hammer!



These Watergate-era comparisons are coming with increasing frequency. Previously, "Krauthammer: White House Benghazi E-mail 'Equivalent' to 'Nixon Tapes'." And from commenter Simon there:

The White House/Obama team decided to not send help to Americans locked in mortal combat, they let them die, they stood down the military and all so the Obama narrative that he has defeated Al Queda could be preserved for the election.

The election was put ahead of four American lives. Obama et al let them die so they could stay the course on a false election narrative.

Disgusting actions by truly disgusting people.

Indeed. Truly disgusting people.

#Clippers Advance to Second Round of #NBA Championship Tournament

Just now:

Clippers win Game 7, 126-121. They will advance to the second round of the playoffs.
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) May 4, 2014

Added: At LAT, "Clippers defeat Warriors in Game 7; play Thunder on Monday."

California Chrome Wins 140th Kentucky Derby

It's the one time a year I get into horse racing.

Via Twitter:

Giddyup! Kentucky Derby favorite California Chrome was up at 5:45 am to stretch his legs in advance of today's race. pic.twitter.com/Qn0dT38oRs

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 3, 2014

Victor Espinoza and California Chrome are the 140th #KentuckyDerby winners! Congrats to Victor and Chrome. 🏇🏆 pic.twitter.com/qO5JSAesKB

— Christopher Bagshaw (@ChristopherB502) May 3, 2014

California Chrome pulls away to clinch the win at Kentucky Derby. Read the full story: http://t.co/oCKbyEvOGa

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 3, 2014

California Chrome wins 140th running of Kentucky Derby - http://t.co/JefOAKnbkC

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 3, 2014

Here's video by @johnclayiv from April 30 when owner of California Chrome predicted a #KyDerby win http://t.co/eHYcYP1F4y … @KentuckySports

— Peter Baniak (@pbaniak) May 3, 2014

Casey Batchelor

Well, Egotastic's still in business, heh.

See, "Casey Batchelor Bikini Pictures With Such Proud Boobtastic You Might Miss Her Camel Toe."

More at Britain's Daily Star, "Blooming 'eck! Casey Batchelor breaks modelling vow to expose natural GGs."

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Dead at 95

An interesting obituary at the New York Times, "Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Star of ‘77 Sunset Strip’ and ‘The F.B.I.’, Is Dead at 95."

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. "received the Purple Heart after being wounded in the battle of Hürtgen Forest" in WWII. http://t.co/OlNomF7TSK #TCOT

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 3, 2014

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann Calls on Secretary of State John Kerry to Resign

Via Israel Matzav.

She's awesome. Remember, Rep. Bachmann lived in Israel. She hits it out of the park with her comments here. Wow.



Previously Kerry "apartheid" blogging here.

Radical Feminists Take Down Nuts Magazine, Leading British 'Lads Mag'

Perhaps other business issues were at play, but clearly the boycott campaign by bitter, ugly feminists played a huge role in the demise of this 10-year-old institution of men's interest publications.

At Independent UK, "Nuts final issue: Lucy Pinder cries on the front cover as the lads' mag."

Last year, the Lose the Lad Mags campaign was launched which called for the ban of such publications in high-street shops. The Co-Operative chain said that it would only sell such magazines if they were sealed in plastic bags. While Loaded complied, Nuts, Zoo and Front refused to acquiesce and consequently had their publications pulled from the store’s shelves.

Actually, I thought Nuts would weather the storm, but the magazine's circulation is down dramatically from ten years ago, when over 300,000 British men enjoyed each issue. Britain has its share of Lads Mags (so, competition), and interestingly, Nutz gave a shout out to Zoo, it's main rival, in the final edition. Last year Nuts announced that the magazine would not bow to demands to wrap its product in "modesty covers," and perhaps at that time it knew the end was near:

"As has been widely reported in the media in recent weeks, this is no longer a question of whether or not you like men's magazines, it is a question of how far you can restrict the public's ability to consume free and legal media before it becomes censorship."

The Nutz website has been taken down as well.

Check my "Lads Mag" search for more on the British feminist left's campaign of totalitarian censorship.

And at the Other McCain, "British Left’s War on ‘Page Three Girls’."

LOL! Prof. William Jacobson Rips Idiot @EricBoehlert on 'War Criminal' Hillary Clinton's 'Mushroom Cloud...'

#LiberalRacism.

I'm almost flummoxed at how tone (as in "skin tone") deaf are the racist, eliminationist regressives.

Following-up my previous entry, "#LiberalRacism: Condoleezza Rice Bullied Out of Rutgers Commencement."

I just saw this hilarious Twitter exchange via William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, "“College campuses essentially operate on mob rule at this point”":

@EricBoehlert Does that apply to Hillary?

— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) May 3, 2014

.@EricBoehlert " can you send me Hillary's "Mushroom Cloud" TV appearance" http://t.co/o2BN651i1H

— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) May 3, 2014

Be sure to tweet that to @MMfA and @EricBoehlert, the depraved, hate-addled liberal racist.

Yet more disgusting left-wing racism. One standard for whites like Hillary Clinton and another one for blacks like Condi Rice.

#LiberalRacism: Condoleezza Rice Bullied Out of Rutgers Commencement

Another day, another vile liberal racist eruption of hate.

At Newark's Star-Ledger, "Condoleezza Rice pulls out of giving Rutgers commencement speech":

Racist liberal students at @RutgersU win. RT @NROcorner: EXCLUSIVE: Rice Withdraws from Rutgers Commencement http://t.co/nF8OL8bUC4
— Marooned in Marin (@MaroonedInMarin) May 3, 2014

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed out of giving Rutgers University's commencement speech today amid growing opposition among the school's students and faculty.

In a statement, Rice said she informed Rutgers President Robert Barchi that she has decided not to give the May 18 address.

“Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families. Rutgers' invitation to me to speak has become a distraction for the university community at this very special time," Rice said.

"I am honored to have served my country. I have defended America's belief in free speech and the exchange of ideas. These values are essential to the health of our democracy. But that is not what is at issue here," she said. "As a Professor for thirty years at Stanford University and as its former Provost and Chief academic officer, I understand and embrace the purpose of the commencement ceremony and I am simply unwilling to detract from it in any way."

Rice wished good luck to the Rutgers graduates.

About two hours later, Rutgers officials released their own statement.

"While Rutgers University stands fully behind the invitation to Dr. Rice to be our commencement speaker and receive an honorary degree, we respect the decision she made and clearly articulated in her statement this morning," Barchi said. "Now is the time to focus on our commencement, a day to celebrate the accomplishments and promising futures of our graduates. We look forward to joining them and their families on May 18, 2014."

Barchi said more details about the commencement will be announced in the coming days. Rutgers has two weeks to come up with a new commencement speaker.

Added: At Twitchy, "Brit Hume, others slam Rutgers mob’s ‘sickening’ shut-uppery of Condoleezza Rice."

Wonder how graduates of #Rutgers feel about pushing away an accomplished black woman? I thought progressives were supposed to be tolerant.
— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonDC) May 3, 2014

Added: From Robert Stacy McCain, "The Left’s Mob Rule on Campus."