Director Laura Poitras Reveals 'Falling Out' with Julian Assange (VIDEO)

Via A.P.:

Jackie Johnson's Cooler Temperatures Forecast

It'll be cooler Thursday and Friday, and then back up into the 70s for the weekend.

I'm not complaining. It's been mild.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jackie, whose forecast I didn't get a chance to post last night, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Krauthammer on Comey Firing and Leftist Backlash: 'Democrats Are Hypocrites from the Day of Their Birth. It's in Their DNA' (VIDEO)

Watch, from today's "all-star panel" on Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier, "Trump defends firing Comey amid Democratic backlash."

Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2017

Joanna Krupa Smoldering Instagram Throwback

At the Daily Express U.K., "Joanna Krupa puts on a very busty display as she goes TOPLESS in smoldering snap: JOANNA KRUPA gave her fans a treat as she shared a topless shot of herself on her Instagram page last night."

BONUS: At the Nip Slip, "Joanna Krupa in a Brown Dress!"

'Down So Long'

Some music, until tonight.

Enjoy the lovely Ms. Jewel, getting bluesy:

Anthony Summers, The Arrogance of Power

A timely read, and excellent too.

From Anthony Summers, at Amazon, The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon.

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BONUS: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All the President's Men.

Genevieve Morton Goes Completely Bare (VIDEO)

Via Theo Spark:

Actor Antonio Sabato, Jr., to Run for Congress

The conservative television star was supposedly blackballed from Hollywood after campaigning for President Trump's election last year, at the GOP convention.

He's a stud, and a solid bedrock conservative family man.

We need more guys like him in Congress:

The former “Melrose Place” actor could be the next celebrity headed to Washington https://t.co/0Co7uQGKJ4

— New York Post (@nypost) May 9, 2017

Constitutional Crisis?

Following-up, from the hyper-dramatic Morning Joe segment (whatever sells airtime, I guess), here's Elizabeth Price Foley, at Politico:

Is This a Constitutional Crisis? No. Next question? https://t.co/ipddJ1k2lh @instapundit

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 10, 2017

'Trump made the only legally correct call'
Elizabeth Price Foley is a professor of law at Florida International University.

The FBI director, like all other officers of the executive branch, is an at will employee, which means he can be fired at any time, at the sole discretion of the president. When the deputy attorney general concluded that Director Comey usurped the role of the Department of Justice in his decision not to recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton, President Trump made the only legally correct call, to fire the director. The country deserves an FBI director who respects his limited role as an investigator, and whose reputation is not sullied by inappropriately political behavior. If there is any ongoing FBI investigation into any of Trump's associates, this investigation can and will continue unabated. This is far from a constitutional crisis--it is a confirmation that the Constitution is working exactly as it should.

It's not a constitutional crisis.

It's a partisan witch-hunt.

Democrats are corrupt, evil, and un-American. It's been six month since the election. There's no evidence of Russian collusion or hacking of our democracy. It's a partisan scam.

Just duck beneath all the bullshit flying today.

Olivia Culpo

Lovely.

Beautiful Olivia Culpo steps out in white dress and satin trench in NYC: https://t.co/auAqVpimYV

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 10, 2017

More Echoes of Watergate

Following-up from last night, at Morning Joe:

Melania's First 100 Days

Now that's a First Lady!

All the low-key stuff Melania Trump has done in her first 100 days: https://t.co/pQpJDmQSv1 (Photo: AP) pic.twitter.com/HWXOhOn9cM

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 10, 2017

James Comey Headlines

It's not a "constitutional crisis." Democrats want to make it into one, but it's not.

Today you gotta just sit back and take cover while the partisan bilge flies.

Headlines:

Trump fires Comey as FBI director: A look at Wednesday's front page pic.twitter.com/6tvIdUxJpa

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 10, 2017

On today's #frontpage: @FBI director #Comey's ouster stuns #Washington; #Colleges vexed by rise in #MentalHealth needs pic.twitter.com/740AIPv7t3

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 10, 2017

The front page of The New York Times for Wednesday, May 10, 2017 pic.twitter.com/yPEiXwMXgl

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 10, 2017

Echoes of Watergate

Huge headlines tonight, at the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump," and "Live Updates and Reactions to F.B.I. Director Comey's Firing."

Plus, I love this, below. It reminds me of when I first started following politics. My first political science professor, Mr. McDonald at Saddleback College, was a old-school kinda guy who loved to talk about party machines and political scandals. We had to read two non-fiction books on politics for his course, and I read Teddy White, The Making of the President 1960, and Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon.

Good times, heh.

Analysis: Trump fired the man who may have helped make him president — and the man who perhaps most threatened him https://t.co/QMle9SvrSI

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) May 10, 2017

Conservatives Need Deep Soul-Searching

From Daniel Horowitz, at Conservative Review, "After budget betrayal, conservatives need deep soul-searching":

Thursday, May 4, 2017, will go down as a watershed moment in political history. This day showed us the culmination of all of the vices of our 28-year addiction to the binary idolatry of politics. Under the false dichotomy of binary choices (“but you might get the Democrats”), we are left with a political system that looks like a bad unibrow. If we don’t engage in some serious introspection and forward-looking planning, there is essentially no purpose to continuing this red vs. blue game. We have reached the moment when, just like the Whigs in 1854, after they failed to stand for anything related to the issues of their time, a group of us will have to meet in a schoolhouse and chart a new course.

Speaking of binary choices, I began the day with the choice of watching C-Span 1, where House Republicans sounded like Democrats on health care and were making ObamaCare popular again, or watching C-Span 2 and seeing Senate Republicans extol the virtues of a Democrat budget while having full control over government. For my own blood pressure, I opted for neither.

The events of Thursday – betraying the ultimate promise to save a sixth of our economy and pass a Democrat budget, all with control of all three branches – is the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act moment for the GOP. I am not comparing these issues to slavery, but the political dynamic is identical. At the time, the new Republicans recognized that the Whig Party was completely maladroit and failed to confront the consummate challenge of its time. That is the context from which the Republican Party was born. Yet we have now been keeping a comatose party afloat for 28 years – since the retirement of Reagan – longer than the entire shelf life of the Whig Party.

Too many people will get caught up in the minutiae of the politics, details, and process of the health care and budget bills. The reality is much broader. The party just doesn’t share our values. When a party has principles, it finds a way to win even when it has very little power. Thus the Democrats. When a party has no principles, it finds a way to lose, even with full control of government. Thus the Republicans...

Keep reading.

Carmen Goséy, 'Woke' Student Leader at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Attacks 'All White People' as 'Racist'

This is really something else.

I don't get too many students who are this hardcore on my campus. This chick's got it bad.

At the the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Daily Cardinal, "Outgoing ASM chair condemns university’s attitude toward students of color."

Former ASM Chair issued a letter to the campus community condemning UW-Madison's treatment of students of color. https://t.co/zTc44WQyzG pic.twitter.com/XB1s92ALrN

— The Daily Cardinal (@dailycardinal) May 4, 2017

And at the College Fix, "Head of UW-Madison student gov. leaves in a huff; blames racism, oppression."

Here's her farewell letter:

Dear Campus Community,

As I move on from the role as Chair of Student Council, I believe it is necessary to leave honestly. The University is on stolen, Ho-Chunk land, yet does little to recognize its historic significance. For the University to truly recognize this sacred land and its inhabitants it would have to acknowledge the resentment and oppression that people of color face every day. This institution perpetuates and suppresses the voices that are the most vulnerable. As Chair, I used to be hopeful. I used to be proud. I am no longer content with the University's action and active silencing of students of color on this campus. I ask people of color to reconsider your place at this institution. I ask parents of color to rethink sending your children to this institution.

This University lacks the capacity, courage, and integrity to protect communities of color. I have held one of the highest student positions on campus, and I was a token for white supremacists. In my first semester, I was ambitious to implement change and new initiatives surrounding diversity and inclusion. However, I found myself lost and defeated. I was operating in a white position as a person of color. Now I see that this University was not designed for the success of minority communities; it was designed for white students to learn about my oppression while not having to participate in dismantling it. I have struggled with the juxtaposition of my identity and representing a campus that does not look like me or remotely relate to my experience.

Racism is an institutionalized structure which is embedded in ASM and the University. Racism is a system designed to disadvantage people of color and create inequalities in each pocket os society. All white people are racist. Not only by upholding a system of disadvantage but being born into a conditioned environment where you are many steps ahead. Being a racist is not an option, it is a condition. However, being an anti-racist is a choice. A choice that white people will have to make which boils down to what they are willing to do to actively participate in deconstructing racism.

My last and final words call out an unfortunate reality; this institution does not care about people of color. This institution does care about people of color.

Sincerely,

Your woke, ratchet 23rd ASM Chair Carmen Goséy

Seriously, "woke."

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Steve Bannon and Julius Evola

At the time, a few weeks months ago, the progressive Twitter literati was all "lit" up about this piece, at NYT, "Steve Bannon Cited Italian Thinker Who Inspired Fascists":

Steve Bannon Cited Italian Thinker Who Inspired Fascists. @jasondhorowitz via @nytimes https://t.co/FaVVkYi6OT

— Michiko Kakutani (@michikokakutani) February 19, 2017

ROME — Those trying to divine the roots of Stephen K. Bannon’s dark and at times apocalyptic worldview have repeatedly combed over a speech that Mr. Bannon, President Trump’s ideological guru, made in 2014 to a Vatican conference, where he expounded on Islam, populism and capitalism.

But for all the examination of those remarks, a passing reference by Mr. Bannon to an esoteric Italian philosopher has gone little noticed, except perhaps by scholars and followers of the deeply taboo, Nazi-affiliated thinker, Julius Evola.

“The fact that Bannon even knows Evola is significant,” said Mark Sedgwick, a leading scholar of Traditionalists at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Evola, who died in 1974, wrote on everything from Eastern religions to the metaphysics of sex to alchemy. But he is best known as a leading proponent of Traditionalism, a worldview popular in far-right and alternative religious circles that believes progress and equality are poisonous illusions.

Evola became a darling of Italian Fascists, and Italy’s post-Fascist terrorists of the 1960s and 1970s looked to him as a spiritual and intellectual godfather.

They called themselves Children of the Sun after Evola’s vision of a bourgeoisie-smashing new order that he called the Solar Civilization. Today, the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn includes his works on its suggested reading list, and the leader of Jobbik, the Hungarian nationalist party, admires Evola and wrote an introduction to his works.

More important for the current American administration, Evola also caught on in the United States with leaders of the alt-right movement, which Mr. Bannon nurtured as the head of Breitbart News and then helped harness for Mr. Trump.

“Julius Evola is one of the most fascinating men of the 20th century,” said Richard Spencer, the white nationalist leader who is a top figure in the alt-right movement, which has attracted white supremacists, racists and anti-immigrant elements.

In the days after the election, Mr. Spencer led a Washington alt-right conference in chants of “Hail Trump!” But he also invoked Evola’s idea of a prehistoric and pre-Christian spirituality — referring to the awakening of whites, whom he called the Children of the Sun.

Mr. Spencer said “it means a tremendous amount” that Mr. Bannon was aware of Evola and other Traditionalist thinkers.

“Even if he hasn’t fully imbibed them and been changed by them, he is at least open to them,” he said. “He at least recognizes that they are there. That is a stark difference to the American conservative movement that either was ignorant of them or attempted to suppress them.”

Mr. Bannon, who did not return a request for comment for this article, is an avid and wide-ranging reader. He has spoken enthusiastically about everything from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” to “The Fourth Turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe, which sees history in cycles of cataclysmic and order-obliterating change. His awareness of and reference to Evola in itself only reflects that reading. But some on the alt-right consider Mr. Bannon a door through which Evola’s ideas of a hierarchical society run by a spiritually superior caste can enter in a period of crisis.

“Evolists view his ship as coming in,” said Prof. Richard Drake at the University of Montana, who wrote about Evola in his book “The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in Contemporary Italy.”

For some of them, it has been a long time coming.

“It’s the first time that an adviser to the American president knows Evola, or maybe has a Traditionalist formation,” said Gianfranco De Turris, an Evola biographer and apologist based in Rome who runs the Evola Foundation out of his apartment.

“If Bannon has these ideas, we have to see how he influences the politics of Trump,” he said...

You see, it's very important to document how Trump's key advisers may have been --- or may not have been --- influenced by esoteric fascist thinkers from the 1930s who nobody's even heard about. But when Obama spent a lifetime at the teat of the most radical Marxists, Weather Underground terrorists, and black liberation revolutionaries, to even raise concerns is "racist," gauche, and thus fundamentally lowbrow. You're clinging to guns and religion, bro.

This is why Trump won. And it's why Americans hate politics and the corrupt leftist media.

More (FWIW).

Brittany Pettibone

Following-up from yesterday, "Macron's Regime: So It Begins."

She traveled to France to cover the election --- in style, I might add.

Off to Paris for the French Election. May Le Pen be victorious! pic.twitter.com/eLnoKSkNmu

— Brittany Pettibone (@BrittPettibone) May 5, 2017