Donald Trump Scorches the Media (CARTOON)

Most excellent.

From A.F. Branco:

Bias Media Well Done https://t.co/BSBEYY6uPW via @afbranco pic.twitter.com/510XeDYzJ8

— Antonio F Branco (@afbranco) January 11, 2017

Jim Acosta's Butt Hurt

Following-up, "Donald Trump Berates @CNN Reporter Jim Acosta."

The new regime's in town, and this administration's not going to tolerate fake leftist news memes.

You post fake news, you lose access --- and you know, that's the way it should be.

On Twitter just now:

Regardless of party, @acosta behavior was rude, inappropriate and disrespectful. He owes @realDonaldTrump and his colleagues an apology https://t.co/LnTkYam8IJ

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 12, 2017

An unfortunate statement. Sean you know that you threatened to throw me out of that news conference if I asked another question. #realnews https://t.co/T4dYXZbomd

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 12, 2017

I have covered 4 presidential campaigns. Democrats and Republicans. This has never happened. Let's deescalate, find a way to work together. https://t.co/wgNsXlwt4z

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 12, 2017

Donald Trump's Business Exit Plan (VIDEO)

The full press conference is at the video.

And at Bloomberg, "Trump to Step Down From Business but Won't Divest Ownership":

President-elect Donald Trump will leave his positions at the various companies of the Trump Organization, but he will not divest his ownership, raising questions about whether he has adequately addressed conflict-of-interest concerns.

“I could actually run my business and run government at the same time,” Trump said at a press conference Wednesday, adding that he recently turned down an offer of $2 billion to do a deal in Dubai. “I don’t like the way that looks, but I would be able to do that if I wanted to.”

Trump’s businesses, which include more than 500 companies with $3.6 billion in assets and ties to more than 20 countries, will be placed into a trust. The trust will be overseen by an independent ethics officer and managed by Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr., and chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who will make decisions without consulting the president. The Trump Organization will terminate all pending partnerships, and won’t enter into new international business arrangements, such as licensing deals for new hotels, while Trump remains in the White House.

“That doesn’t solve any of the problems,” said Richard Painter, who served as a top White House ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush and is now a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. “If he owns it, he has conflicts of interest.”

Existing Trump businesses, which include hotels and golf courses, will continue to operate and enter into new agreements, such as hosting weddings, parties and other events. Those will be reviewed by the ethics officer to ensure they are conducted at arms’ length. Trump’s debts will be paid down, according to their schedules. The company will voluntarily donate hotel profits received from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury, said Sheri Dillon, his attorney.

“President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company that he built,” Dillon said.

Under the law, the Office and Government Ethics may require executive branch officials to divest assets that could pose conflicts of interest. The president himself is exempt, but the ethics office “has for more than three decades asserted authority to make nonbinding recommendations regarding a president’s conflicts of interest,” OGE head Walter Shaub said in a December letter to lawmakers.

Trump’s legal team believes he isn’t in violation of his contract at the federal General Services Administration-owned building where he operates his Trump International Hotel in Washington. Although a provision in the lease appears to prohibit elected officials from benefiting from the arrangement, it is designed to prevent sitting officials from crafting sweetheart deals, the attorney said. Trump minted the deal as a private citizen.

His lawyers similarly believe that the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits gifts from foreign governments and heads of state, doesn’t apply to fair value exchanges between businesses...

Well, actually, I thought Trump's attorney, Sherri Dillon, gave a fantastic presentation. I especially loved the bit about how Donald Trump's business empire is "not dissimilar to the fortunes of Nelson Rockefeller when he became Vice President, but at that time no one was so concerned."

The Rockefeller family fortune was worth well over a billion dollars in 1974, which would probably be worth more than twice that amount in today's dollars. Rockefeller in fact had to testify before Congress at the time, to clarify the avoidance of conflict of interest. But I think Dillon's main point is correct: No one recalls the charges of potential conflicts against Rockefeller. This was right after Watergate. The big deal was just getting a new administration in place. And frankly, as bad as things were back then, I doubt left-wing progressives were as unhinged as they are today. We're in a new era, big time.

But continue reading.

Tennis Star Maria Sharapova Flaunts Tight Bikini Body in Hawaii (PHOTOS)

She's definitely in shape.

And her performance enhancing drug penalty's been partially lifted, so she's nearly good to go for the full pro season.

At WWTDD, "Maria Sharapova in Tiny Bikini in Hawaii and Shit Around the Web."

On set with @head_tennis 🎾 pic.twitter.com/LZRDFaFU4I

— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) January 10, 2017

.@nytimes -- Maria Sharapova Claims Victory and Goes on the Offensivehttps://t.co/k42vg387dU

— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) October 5, 2016

Donald Trump Berates @CNN Reporter Jim Acosta

This is great.

It was an excellent press conference. I was up for a little while watching, then I went back to bed.

I've gotta head into the office for a department meeting, but I should be back by mid-afternoon with more blogging.

Until then, here's the Hill:

Bwahaha! #Trump berates #CNN reporter Jim Acosta: 'You are fake news'. #MAGA #DonaldTrump #PressConference https://t.co/yrViSCXcgW

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 11, 2017

Buzzfeed and CNN Report Potentially 'Compromising' Russian Espionage Story That May Have Been Based on 4Chan Prank

I don't know what to believe anymore.

Julia Ioffe was approached with this story, but couldn't independently confirm the details and declined to report on it.

Here's the headline, at Memeorandum, from CNN, "Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him."

And also from WaPo, via Memeorandum, "Intelligence chiefs briefed Trump and Obama on unconfirmed claims Russia has compromising information on president-elect."

Unconfirmed. That's key. Unconfirmed.

It's fake news.

There's a huge roundup at Hot Air, "Yikes: Intel chiefs told Trump Russia claims to have compromising personal and financial information on him; Update: CNN video added; Update: Memos leaked to BuzzFeed."

Also, at Instapundit, "NEW YORK POST: BuzzFeed’s Trump Report Takes Fake News To A New Level":

So the website BuzzFeed decided to publish a series of memos that have been floating around for months alleging all kinds of terrible things about Donald Trump.

Some of those terrible allegations have to do with efforts to influence the American elections and Trump. Some of them have to do with Trump’s personal sexual conduct.

Readers of this newspaper know well not to include me among Trump’s supporters. But the scurrilousness of what BuzzFeed has done here is so beyond the bounds of what is even remotely acceptable it should compel even those most outraged by Trump’s political excesses to come to his defense and to the defense of a few other people mentioned in these papers whose names are also dragged through the mud.

There is literally no evidence on offer in these memos or from BuzzFeed that any single sentence in these documents is factual or true. What’s more, we know most major news organizations in America had seen them and despite their well-known institutional antipathy toward Trump, had chosen not to publish them or even make reference to them after efforts to substantiate their charges had failed...

More.

See Twitchy as well, "‘How are we going to have an inauguration next week?’ Russians have compromising info on Trump, says source."

And lots of stuff on Twitter, plus CNN's big breaking report at the video below.

CNN going to need more than anon sources to show why the Intel report on its face really is as bad as it looks.

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) January 10, 2017

.@buzzfeednews has published the explosive, secret, unverified reports on Trump and Russia https://t.co/QDXN6mdOyu

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) January 10, 2017

Here's the note I sent to @buzzfeednews staff this evening pic.twitter.com/OcAloWzVzb

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) January 11, 2017

Benjamin Wittes: About that Explosive Trump Story: Take a Deep Breath https://t.co/Hinep12bQv

— Lawfare (@lawfareblog) January 11, 2017

FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017

FAKE NEWS: Buzzfeed and CNN fall for @RealDonaldTrump Hooker Story That was 4Chan Prank https://t.co/XxBBqfnnHt

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) January 11, 2017

SCOOP: Two USC baseball sources confirm for me that @MichaelCohen212 + son visited campus on August 29th, time report places him in Prague.

— Elaina Plott (@elainaplott) January 11, 2017

BuzzFeed Posts Unverified Claims on Trump, Stirring Debate https://t.co/2otVX1Ro2z

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) January 11, 2017

BuzzFeed memo "means publishing open libels and slanders is the job of reporters in 2017." https://t.co/2YONUukS0w

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 11, 2017

Expect updates.

Report: Monica Crowley Alleged to Have Plagiarized Her Ph.D. Dissertation; HarperCollins Pulls What the (Bleep) Just Happened? After CNN Documents Numerous Examples of Lifted Text

This is bad.

I was going to give Ms. Monica the benefit of the doubt, but now another report's coming out that she allegedly plagiarized parts of her dissertation as well.

I met Ms. Monica at the David Horowitz Wednesday Morning Club, in June 2012. She was giving a talk on her book. She signed my copy, What the (Bleep) Just Happened? The Happy Warrior's Guide to the Great American Comeback. (The book page is now pulled at Amazon.)

Plagiarism is an extremely grave charge, and it's extra personal for me, as I'm a scholar. Funny, but when Ms. Monica signed my book I gave her my business card and told her about my scholarly background in international politics. She boasted that that was her field as well, blah, blah. She served at one time as an aide to Richard Nixon, so she's got deep roots in the realist GOP establishment. After I met her, and after listening to her talk at the Wednesday Morning Club, I found an increasing respect for her. Honestly, before that, I found her a bit pompous. I don't think she's all that attractive either.

In any case, judge for yourself. At Politico, "Trump Pick Monica Crowley Plagiarized Parts of Her Ph.D. Dissertation."

And especially, at CNN, "Trump national security pick Monica Crowley plagiarized multiple sources in 2012 book."

The thing about plagairism is that it's so easily preventable. Those long passages people get busted for can be big block quotes or huge paraphrased sections, as long as they're pointed out and such and documented with citations. It doesn't take anything away from the author and it doesn't take more time. Frankly, it's just what you do.

Leftists Foment 'Contentious Dialogues' at Women's March on Washington (Bad Causes Attract Bad People)

Following-up from last night, "White Women Feel Unwelcomed at the Women's March on Washington."

And now at the Other McCain, "Race Divides #WomensMarch as Black Feminists Tell White Women to Shut Up":

Bad causes attract bad people, and the problems afflicting the Women’s March are typical. Seth Mandel notes that organizers of the march include Linda Sarsour, director of the taxpayer-funded Arab American Association of New York. Sarsour is notorious for hateful rhetoric that is not just anti-Jewish, but also anti-American and anti-Christian. When criticized, Sarsour accuses her critics of being “Zionist trolls.”

We should expect only evil from a movement led by such people.

We can't heal as a nation if we don't address the wounds of racism. #womensmarch https://t.co/Ec8HOdwn1Z

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) January 10, 2017

Vile people. Leftists are truly vile.

Manhunt Still Underway for Suspect Accused of Murdering Orlando Police Officer: Reward Raised to $100,000 (VIDEO)

We should be having nationwide protests against the demonic murderers of police officers, especially black police officers.

This is horrific. The suspect's still on the loose.

At the Orlando Sentinel, "Orlando police killer reward raised to $100,000; suspect still on run."

Dana Loesch Responds to Meryl Streep: Leave The Politics Out of Hollywood (VIDEO)

Watch, on Facebook, "My response to Meryl Streep."

Chicago Facebook Beating and Torture Video: Window Into a Depraved Culture

I though of Heather Mac Donald almost immediately when the story broke.

No one's got this beat nailed down better than she does.

At City Journal, "A Window Into a Depraved Culture."

There's no easy block quotes, so read it all at the link.

And don't forget Ms. Heather's wonderful book, The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe.

A Window Into a Depraved Culture https://t.co/LNDiVXRV9E

— Manhattan Institute (@ManhattanInst) January 10, 2017

Drew Barrymore On-the-Go Beauty Secrets (VIDEO)

She's so sweet.

Laura Ingraham Slams Meryl Streep (VIDEO)

Yet more of the backlash against Meryl Streep, this time with the brilliant Laura Ingraham, sporting an Alabama football jersey:

Iconic Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' Knocked Down by California Storm (VIDEO)

At NPR, of course, lol.

See, "Iconic Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' Brought Down By California Storm."

And watch, at KCRA News 3 Sacramento:

U.S. Military Rolls Into Eastern Europe (VIDEO)

An interesting report, from Elizabeth Palmer, for CBS This Morning:

Hannah Ferguson's Poolside Paradise (VIDEO)

Via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

Brandenburg Gate Lit Up in Support of Israel

That's pretty spectacular, actually.

In solidarity with #Israel the Brandenburg Gate is lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag commemorating the victims of #Jerusalem attack pic.twitter.com/TjSDDLTsu6

— Embassy of Israel (@IsraelinUSA) January 9, 2017

Deadly Storms Hammer Bay Area (VIDEO)

Gnarly.

I hope everyone is safe.

And I think we can stop worrying about the California drought now.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

White Women Feel Unwelcomed at the Women's March on Washington

Increasingly, left-wing activism is becoming a movement of race-hatred — hatred against white people.


See the New York Times, "Women’s March on Washington Opens Contentious Dialogues About Race":

You're telling me a coalition led by Linda Sarsour is collapsing under the weight of anger and mutual suspicion? No! https://t.co/F39hOORuYx

— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) January 9, 2017

Race-related confrontations have been erupting among women planning to march against Trump. https://t.co/07LbyDrFji pic.twitter.com/quuFjJyUXP

— NYT National News (@NYTNational) January 9, 2017

No identity politics isn't a problem at all it's the source of all left-wing progress why do you ask?https://t.co/2CZvKW3d4U

— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) January 10, 2017

Support the Women's March on Washington today. We'll see you 1.21 in D.C. https://t.co/eNUNMAL4ji pic.twitter.com/7HvxJnbXcH

— Women's March (@womensmarch) January 2, 2017

Many thousands of women are expected to converge on the nation’s capital for the Women’s March on Washington the day after Donald J. Trump’s inauguration. Jennifer Willis no longer plans to be one of them.

Ms. Willis, a 50-year-old wedding minister from South Carolina, had looked forward to taking her daughters to the march. Then she read a post on the Facebook page for the march that made her feel unwelcome because she is white.

The post, written by a black activist from Brooklyn who is a march volunteer, advised “white allies” to listen more and talk less. It also chided those who, it said, were only now waking up to racism because of the election.

“You don’t just get to join because now you’re scared, too,” read the post. “I was born scared.”

Stung by the tone, Ms. Willis canceled her trip.

“This is a women’s march,” she said. “We’re supposed to be allies in equal pay, marriage, adoption. Why is it now about, ‘White women don’t understand black women’?”

If all goes as planned, the Jan. 21 march will be a momentous display of unity in protest of a president whose treatment of women came to dominate the campaign’s final weeks. But long before the first buses roll to Washington and sister demonstrations take place in other cities, contentious conversations about race have erupted nearly every day among marchers, exhilarating some and alienating others.

In Tennessee, emotions ran high when organizers changed the name of the local march from “Women’s March on Washington-Nashville” to “Power Together Tennessee, in solidarity with Women’s March on Washington.” While many applauded the name change, which was meant to signal the start of a new social justice movement in Nashville, some complained that the event had turned from a march for all women into a march for black women.

In Louisiana, the first state coordinator gave up her volunteer role in part because there were no minority women in leadership positions at that time.

“I got a lot of flak locally when I stepped down, from white women who said that I’m alienating a lot of white women,” said Candice Huber, a bookstore owner in New Orleans, who is white. “They said, ‘Why do you have to be so divisive?’”

In some ways, the discord is by design. Even as they are working to ensure a smooth and unified march next week, the national organizers said they made a deliberate decision to highlight the plight of minority and undocumented immigrant women and provoke uncomfortable discussions about race.

Obviously, the event's less about pushing women's equality ---- and promoting respect ---- than it is about pushing the hard left-wing identity politics of the Democrat Party.

Leftists haven't learned anything from their November shellacking.

And the January 21st event, along with rants like Meryl Streep's last night, will only work to further divide the country and make a Donald Trump reelection more likely.

Keep reading.

Robert Reich's 12-Point Plan for 100 Days of Resistance to Donald Trump (VIDEO)

Heh, I didn't know he had a 12-point plan.

I do now, lol.

At Althouse's, "Robert B. Reich explains his 12-point plan for 100 Days of Resistance to Donald Trump."

Despite Reich's claims, this doesn't look like "the agenda of a powerful America," but of a weak and cranky one. The plan calls for defending sanctuary cities (a big losing, lawbreaking issue); giving to 501(c)3 non-profit political organizations (like the SPLC, which is in fact a lie-infested hate group); and working to "abolish the Electoral College by voting for the winner of the popular vote in your state in 2020" (which isn't the way to abolish the Electoral College, no matter how hard leftists moan and groan about it).

Interesting, in any case.