Georgia Election Worker Shaye Moss, And Her Mother and Grandmother, Terrorized by Trump Followers After 2020 Election (VIDEO)

Citizens' fear from the repercussion of voting isn't a thing I've ever contemplated. I always thought the intimidation and violence of Southern Blacks was historical, like marchers being beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama during the King Years.

It's cliche at this point to say American politics is ugly and vicious. I know personally from the left's lying, low-down attempts to cancel me, to get me fired ten years ago from my teaching position, that ideological hate drives political polarization. I was physically attacked when I covered the Hamas/International ANSWER demonstrations in Los Angeles. I finally quit reporting them, it got so bad. You get a target on your back.

But I've never been targeted at my home. I've never had to relocate to a safe house for months because of my politics and teaching. Imagine the nightmare that Shaye Moss and her family have been living since November 2020, when President Trump called her out by name during his efforts to overturn the Georgia election results. His words set off mobs of MAGA supporters on campaigns of terror. I want to continue loving President Trump for his time in office before the 2020 election. But everything that happened after that makes me sick. 

The more I see of it, of Trump's very own words, on audio and video, broken down and put in context, makes me hope that he's not the GOP nominee in 2024. Right now I favor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and pray to God he wins and that the conservative movement can start over and rebuild under new leadership. 

There's too much hate in this country. Had not the "Big Lie" taken over Republican politics after the election, and had not January 6th not happened, I'd be the world's biggest supporter for Trump 2024. Now I just can't.

The story's at the New York Times, "‘There Is Nowhere I Feel Safe’: Election Officials Describe Threats Fueled by Trump":

“Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?’’ Ruby Freeman, a Black election worker from Georgia, told the Jan. 6 committee.

WASHINGTON — Rusty Bowers, the Republican speaker of Arizona’s House, braced every weekend for hordes of Trump supporters, some with weapons, who swarmed his home and blared videos that called him a pedophile.

“We had a daughter who was gravely ill, who was upset by what was happening outside,” he said. She died not long after, in late January 2021.

Gabriel Sterling, a top state election official in Georgia, recalled receiving an animated picture of a slowly twisting noose along with a note accusing him of treason. His boss, Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, recounted that Trump supporters broke into his widowed daughter-in-law’s house and threatened his wife with sexual violence.

And Wandrea Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, two Black women who served as election workers during the pandemic in Georgia, suffered an onslaught of racist abuse and were driven into hiding after Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Donald J. Trump’s lawyer, lied that they had rigged the election against Mr. Trump.

“I’ve lost my name and I’ve lost my reputation,” Ms. Freeman said, adding as her voice rose with emotion, “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?”

Election official after election official testified to the House Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday in searing, emotional detail how Mr. Trump and his aides unleashed violent threats and vengeance on them for refusing to cave to his pressure to overturn the election in his favor.

The testimony showed how Mr. Trump and his aides encouraged his followers to target election officials in key states — even going so far as to post their personal cellphone numbers on Mr. Trump’s social media channels, which the committee cited as a particularly brutal effort by the president to cling to power....

Ms. Moss, who goes by Shaye, and her mother became the targets of Trump supporters after Mr. Giuliani falsely accused them in a Georgia State Senate hearing of passing around USB drives like “vials of heroin or cocaine” to steal the election from Mr. Trump.

What her mother actually handed her, Ms. Moss testified on Tuesday, was a ginger mint candy.

But Mr. Giuliani’s claim — later elevated by Mr. Trump himself, who referred to Ms. Moss by name more than a dozen times in a call with Mr. Raffensperger — tore across far-right circles of the internet. Soon after, the F.B.I. informed Ms. Freeman that it was no longer safe for her to stay at her house.

The urgency of that warning became clear after Trump supporters showed up at the door of Ms. Moss’s grandmother. They forced their way into her home, claiming they were there to make a citizen’s arrest of her granddaughter.

“This woman is my everything,” Ms. Moss testified about her grandmother. “I’ve never even heard her or seen her cry ever in my life, and she called me screaming at the top of her lungs.”

While in hiding, Ms. Moss and Ms. Freeman continued to face threats explicitly invoking their race, including a comment that Ms. Moss and her mother should “be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920.”

“A lot of them were racist,” Ms. Moss said. “A lot of them were just hateful.”

Both women testified that nearly two years later, they were still haunted by the threat of violence. Ms. Moss recalled listening to the audio tape of Mr. Trump attacking her and her mother and immediately feeling “like it was all my fault.”

“I just felt bad for my mom, and I felt horrible for picking this job,” she testified, growing emotional. “And being the one that always wants to help and always there, never missing not one election. I just felt like it was — it was my fault for putting my family in this situation.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, quietly responded from the dais.

Ms. Freeman testified that she no longer went to the grocery store, and felt nervous every time she gave her name — once proudly worn bedazzled on T-shirts — for food orders.

“There is nowhere I feel safe,” Ms. Freeman testified. “The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one.”

A Last Look at a Remarkable Presidency

At Issues & Insights, "Trump’s Top-10 Triumphs":

President Donald Trump became an ex-president on Wednesday, as Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. We wish him nothing but the best. But before we let Trump go, we thought we’d review some of his biggest accomplishments while in office. We call them “triumphs,” because they were all big achievements executed against great odds.

More than any other president of recent memory, Trump fought hard for average working Americans. And contrary to the epithets thrown at him by his far-left detractors in the Democratic Party, his policies helped low-income and minority Americans most of all.

We believe – we hope – that Trump’s post-presidential career and reputation will resemble President Ronald Reagan’s. For those old enough to remember, Reagan also was called every vile name in the book, from “senile” to “fascist” and everything between. Yet, today, in retrospect, his presidency shines as a beacon in our nation’s history.

Given the at-times unhinged nature of the criticism directed at Trump’s presidency by the left and Republican “never-Trumpers,” Trump’s performance in just four years was nothing short of remarkable. He promulgated dozens, if not hundreds, of successful policies that other presidents talked about, but never secured.

He reached so many we can’t highlight all of them. But here are 10 that we believe stand out — and that future presidents (are you listening, Joe Biden?) would be foolish to reverse or overturn:

1. Slashed taxes on individuals and businesses. As an earlier administration said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” As much as anything, Trump’s growth-boosting $1.9 trillion in tax cuts and doubling of the child tax credit led to the bottom-up growth of our economy, as unemployment rates plunged for African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and women, and poverty rates plummeted to an all-time low in 2019, before COVID-19 struck. The bottom 20% of incomes posted a 16%-plus rise, the largest ever for those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.Yes, Wall Street and Silicon Valley moguls made out well as stocks boomed. But so did average Americans, especially the middle class. More than half of all Americans now own stock, a fact that’s lost on those who curse the stock market and “tax cuts for the rich.” By the way, the top income earners were the only group to pay more to Uncle Sam under the Trump tax cuts. And income inequality under Trump fell, after rising during Obama’s eight years in office.

2. Forged peace in the Mideast. The big media have tried to pretend that Trump’s unorthodox but astoundingly successful peace deals don’t exist. But it’s no accident that Trump has already been nominated — twice — for the Nobel Peace Prize. He deserves it. This year, thanks almost entirely to Trump’s efforts under the “Abraham Accords,” Israel has normalized diplomatic ties with four Arab League members: Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco. Jordan and Egypt already have ties. Terrorist sponsor Iran, meanwhile, has never been more isolated and on the defensive than it is now, thanks to Trump’s pulling out of President Barack Obama’s phony “nuclear deal” with Tehran’s mullahs. And while the terrorist group ISIS still exists, it has effectively been neutered, a shell of its former self, pushed out of nearly all its strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

3. Created Operation Warp Speed. The Chinese virus hit the U.S. hard. It’s now clear that China’s communist regime downplayed the deadly virus outbreak early, leading to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus that official data show has killed 400,000 Americans. Trump was ridiculed and berated for daring to think he could push the creation of a new, effective vaccine within the remaining months of his term. Yet, as Bloomberg noted on Wednesday, “Vaccinations in the U.S. began Dec. 14 with health care workers, and so far 16.3 million shots have been given, according to a state-by-state tally … In the last week, an average of 806,716 doses per day were administered.” The vaccine critics were dead wrong, and Trump’s push may well end up saving hundreds of thousands of lives in coming years.

4. Deregulated the nation’s economy. It’s not sexy. But Trump promised to cut two regulations for every new one proposed. He beat even that estimate, cutting eight regulations for every one added. If you think that doesn’t matter, consider this: Regulations currently cost the economy nearly $2 trillion a year, or about $14,000 a year for every U.S. household. Trump’s rule-cutting saved the average American household an average of $3,100 a year.

5. Got rid of Obamacare’s “individual mandate”. By far the most odious element of Obama’s first step toward socialized medicine was its requirement that all Americans must buy health insurance. For the first time ever, the U.S. government forced its citizens to purchase something, whether they wanted it or not. This part of the 2010 bill was clearly unconstitutional, as a federal appeals court ruled late last year. Americans are, for now, safe from being forced to buy insurance policies they don’t want. At least, that is, until the new Democratic administration begins its push for Medicare for All, or some other nationalized health care scheme.

6. Restored Supreme Court balance. By naming three new justices, Trump assured Americans that the court’s days of rulings based on politics and ideology, not the Constitution, are over. At least for the foreseeable future. Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, are all strong constitutionalists who have sterling reputations for fairness and non-political legal decision making. “A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers,” Barrett said during her nomination hearings in the Senate, a fitting description for all Trump’s choices. That includes the more than 230 judges he appointed to the federal bench.

7. Forced NATO to reform. Trump pushed NATO members to live up to their commitments to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense, part of a 2014 deal that came after years of NATO countries shirking their duty to pull their own weight in the military alliance. In Trump’s first year in office, just four of the 30 NATO members met the 2% floor. Today, 10 do, and more will increase spending by $400 billion by 2024. By demanding NATO to keep its promises, Trump likely saved the West’s main military alliance.

8. Encouraged U.S. energy independence. By encouraging fracking and approving the Keystone XL pipeline, Trump set off an energy boom. And he did something that no one thought possible just four years ago: He made the U.S. energy independent for the first time in 70 years, meaning we would no longer be held hostage to unstable petro-powers and the vagaries of foreign energy supplies. Fracking enabled the U.S. to boost its output of natural gas, with many major utilities now using the cheap, clean source of energy instead of coal and other major sources of carbon dioxide emissions. The result: the U.S. is one of the only major countries whose CO2 emissions are plunging, with output now at the lowest levels since 1985.

9. Reformed immigration and built the border wall. Despite being called a “racist” and “fascist” and “anti-immigrant,” Trump has now built more than 450 miles of wall to restore control of our nation’s borders against illegal entrants into the U.S., including gang members, smugglers and drug dealers. As journalist Deroy Murdock recently noted, “federal apprehensions and encounters on the U.S.-Mexico border have plunged from 977,509 in fiscal year 2019 to 458,088 in fiscal year 2020 — down 53.1%.” A blow to Mexico? Not according to a recent Reuters headline: “Mexico’s Lopez Obrador says Trump helped Mexico.“

10. Withdrew from the Paris Climate Deal. The U.S. is the only major country actually living up to the Paris Climate Accords’ steep cuts in CO2 emissions. But the deal is still a bad one, since it commits the U.S. and other major industrial nations to shrink their economies over the long run to meet arbitrary CO2 limits in the future. Meanwhile, fast-growing countries such as China and India have few binding requirements on their emissions. The result: Those two countries, with more than a third of the world’s population, continue to spew CO2. This year China’s coal use surged above 2015 levels, “undercutting climate pledges,” according to a news report out this week. Biden’s plan to rejoin the Paris deal will only bolster China and hamstring the U.S. going forward. It’s a climate-based “America last” policy...

Still more.

 

Natasha Lennard, Far-Left Rolling Stone Columnist, Won't Say 'Blue Lives Matter' — Because White Supremacy!

Typical leftist.

She's a former writer for Salon, so that helps explain things, heh.

After Dallas, we dont need to say 'Blue Lives Matter'- it's as established as white supremacy. My 1st @RollingStone: https://t.co/pY4CObQ6Tl

— Natasha Lennard (@natashalennard) July 8, 2016

I won't say Blue Lives Matter, because it does not need to be said. We know this because the death of five officers this week provoked an immediate response from the president, as did the assassination of two NYPD officers in 2014. That's what mattering looks like. While the president’s remarks earlier in the week on the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were moving, dozens of unarmed black men killed by cop go without presidential comment....

There was never any doubt about the mattering of cops' lives in this country. To say Blue Lives Matter is to falsely assert that the cops' lives are undervalued and systematically discarded. They are not — no life should be — and the shootings in Dallas do not change that fact.

Five police deaths provoke cries of "Civil War," but hundreds of black deaths are just the "tragic" normal.

And that is why we continue to shout "Black Lives Matter" — the statement contains in itself the recognition that it very much still needs to be said.

It's also relevant that it has consistently taken the visceral and visual representation of black death — Emmett Till's broken corpse in the open casket his mother demanded, Mike Brown's body in the street, Philando Castile bleeding out onto his whiteT-shirt — to prompt popular and media outrage. Black civilian bodies get humanized only through death. It doesn't take a photo or video of a killed cop to provoke outcry. That mattering doesn't demand brutal spectacular cues.

Which is not to delegitimize growing fears among police ranks that they will become targets by virtue of their profession, their uniform. Dallas shows the validity of these concerns. Yet it remains the case that policing does not even rank in the ten most dangerous jobs, according to a 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Fisherman, farmers and, above all, loggers are more likely to die on the job, and police are, according to the same statistics, more likely to commit suicide than be killed by a criminal. While cops may have reasons for increased concern, this does not deserve a movement. There remain no grounds at all to call police officers a persecuted minority, nor to equate the oppression of black life with that of police in America....

By comparison, for example, Peter Liang was the first NYPD officer to be convicted for an on-duty killing in the last ten years. He shot unarmed black man Akai Gurley in a Brooklyn project housing stairwell, after he had his gun drawn because a stairwell light was out in the residential block he was patrolling. He had not been called to the scene of a crime. He won't spend a day in jail; his manslaughter conviction was accorded a sentence of five years' probation.

I'm not equating the intentional assassination of police officers with the (regular) killing of black people by cops. I don't believe most cops are hunting down black people — but I also don't believe murderous racist intention is necessary to make an execution a brutal, racist act. There are not very many people hunting down cops. Cops' lives are already valorized; it costs everything to take one. For a cop to take a black life, in criminal-justice currency, costs nothing at all. This, again, is what mattering does and does not look like.

Ms. Lennard is someone whose default position is to hate the police, and it's visceral.

Keep in mind that police are the only ones who run to the source of danger, to protect those very same people, black Americans. No one is more important to the lives of blacks, with the sole exception of black families themselves. But as Heather Mac Donald has said, until we see the reconstitution of the black family in America, it's the police who're the first line of defense for at-risk black communities. Leftists like Natasha Lennard thus make the problem worse, actually threatening the safety of black lives.

She might as well be saying, "No Lives Matter," for that's the logical consequence of her thesis.

Carly Fiorina's Camp is Trying to Not Show the Sweat on Her Brow

She's sweating it?

There's no sweating up on the big stage!

Actually, she's just hoping to get up on that stage in the first place.

From Hadas Gold, at Politico, "Carly Fiorina’s play for varsity debate":

Carly Fiorina is in an all-out sprint to keep the momentum going at the polls in hopes of making it into CNN’s varsity debate next month, with recent numbers showing she’s gripping onto that stage by her fingertips.

Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who has never held political office, got a boost on Tuesday as a CNN/ORC poll put her at 5 percent support, bumping Chris Christie out of the top 10.

CNN is taking the average of surveys released by 13 major polling operations between mid-July and Sept. 10 to determine the top 10 participants for the main event, while the remaining candidates who score at least 1 percent across their three best polls will participate in an earlier debate.

Pollsters say Fiorina is on track to make it to the big show on Sept. 16, as long as she is able to consistently score higher numbers in more polls.

Fiorina’s camp is trying to not show the sweat on Fiorina’s brow, even as she hustles. They know that one of her biggest liabilities is a lack of name recognition. So even as headlines have sprouted this week, condemning her executive record as far less than sterling, it still keeps Fiorina’s name out there. And after she delivered a commanding performance at the junior varsity Fox News debate earlier this month, Fiorina’s popping up everywhere, from the Iowa State Fair with her folksy plaid shirt and pork chop flipping, to a tour of Nevada and New Hampshire, for a breakneck schedule of town halls, meet-and-greets, and an education summit.

“We’re going to keep meeting with lots of voters, and answering every question,” said Sarah Isgur Flores, deputy campaign manager. “She wanted to introduce herself to voters,” said Flores on the debate response and good polls. “That was the goal. It’s accomplished.”

Getting to the main stage and delivering a repeat solid performance would be a further boost for Fiorina, showing that she deserves to be among the heavy-hitters. It would also be a test to see if she could break through the noise of Donald Trump, the spotlight hog of the first debate who prevented other candidates from getting their memorable moments.

And ICYMI, at BNI, "It’s taken two months, but the MSM is finally talking about the problem of presidential candidate Carly Fiorina being an apologist for Islam."

Actually, she gave excellent answers on defeating Islamic State in recent interviews. I think we need to hear her round it out on what Islam really is.

My Bad! By Bad! Steve M. at No More Mister Is Not Bisexual — NTTAWWT!!

Well, I've got Steve M. trolling my comments section, telling me how "stupid" I am, for mistaking him with "Steven D" at Booman Tribune.

My bad! My bad! I wouldn't want to make stupid, dumb mistakes with the alphabet or anything, like this one, "Hey, 'No More Mister', It's 'Donald T. Sterling' Who Owns the #Clippers, LOL!"

So, to be absolutely clear (and he really wanted me to be absolutely clear, because, ahem, well tolerance), Steve M. is not bisexual, or homosexual, from what I gather --- not that there's anything wrong with that!!

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Buy Clippers for $2 Billion

Jeez, $2 billion?!!

Talk about sweetening the pot!

At the Los Angeles Times, "Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wins Clippers bidding war for $2 billion."

And at Instapundit, "I WITHDRAW MY EARLIER SPECULATION THAT DONALD STERLING WAS SUFFERING FROM DEMENTIA: Sources: Ballmer agrees to buy Clippers for record $2 billion. In fact, now I wonder if he set the whole thing up. He bought the team for $12 million."

The #NBA Makes Its Case Against #DonaldSterling

The dramatic front-page story at today's Los Angeles Times, "NBA makes its case against Clippers owner Donald Sterling."

This morning's @LATimes hard copy. #DonaldSterling. #NBA pic.twitter.com/DlrKh9N9GC

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 21, 2014

More, "NBA confident about its case against Donald Sterling," and "NBA alleges Sterling-led Clippers tried to cover up scandal."

Donald Sterling and Oklahoma City Prove Too Much for Clippers

The Clippers are out of the NBA West Finals, and not without controversy, "Clippers can't shoulder the weight, falling in Game 6 to Thunder."

Here's Bill Plaschke's column on Doc Rivers' Game 5 meltdown, "Clippers' Doc Rivers goes from voice of reason to loud distraction." (Added: "Doc Rivers calls out officials after Clippers' agonizing Game 5 loss.")

And here the series-deciding (in Rivers' interpretation) final minute of Game 5, where the Clippers blew a 7-point lead with 49 seconds to play. Unreal:



More from Plaschke, "Clippers are gone from the postseason, but it all won't be forgotten."

And on the liberal racism front, "Donald Sterling is refusing to pay $2.5-million fine, reports say." And at Sports Illustrated, "Sources: Donald Sterling refuses NBA sanctions, threatens to sue."

'Across the Los Angeles area — at a coffee shop in Ladera Heights, outside the gleaming office buildings of Beverly Hills — the verdict came down Tuesday and it was not generous to Donald Sterling, the 80-year-old billionaire Clippers owner...'

Splashed across the front-page today, at the Los Angeles Times, "On street, Donald Sterling's comments about Magic Johnson called fouls":

It had been two weeks since recordings surfaced of the Clippers owner telling his 31-year-old companion, V. Stiviano, that though she could spend time with African Americans, she should not allow herself to be photographed with them. Those comments earned Sterling a lifetime ban from the NBA and a $2.5-million fine — but it wasn't until Sterling finally broke his silence, and attempted to defend himself, that Los Angeles' jaw landed on the floor with a unified, collective thud.

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, which aired in full on Monday, Sterling insisted that he could hold on to the team he has owned for 33 years, said fans and sponsors remained in his corner and blamed the media for his troubles. Then Sterling turned to a familiar face and an improbable foil: Johnson, the former Lakers superstar, part of the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership team and one of the most beloved figures in California sports history.

Also, "Magic Johnson defends himself against Sterling's broadsides."

And at CNN, "Magic Johnson in CNN exclusive: I'm going to pray for Donald Sterling."

Magic takes the high road.

PREVIOUSLY: "Donald Sterling Slams Magic Johnson, Cites HIV Status."

Donald Sterling Slams Magic Johnson, Cites HIV Status

Hey, considerable developments surrounding liberal Beverly Hills racist Donald Sterling.

He goes off on Magic. Man, talk about stop digging when you're in a hole.

At the Los Angeles Times:

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling lashed out at Magic Johnson during a CNN interview  broadcast Monday night, alluding to the NBA’s great’s HIV-positive diagnosis and saying, “I don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.”

Sterling’s comments came as he addressed racial remarks he made that prompted the NBA to ban him for life. In a recording released by TMZ two weeks ago, Sterling tells a female friend, V. Stiviano, not to associate with black people, including Johnson.

"What kind of guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then catches” HIV, Sterling told Anderson Cooper. “I think he should be ashamed of himself.”

Sterling also questioned whether Johnson has made a positive contribution to the African American community in Los Angeles. He then pointed to his own charitable work.

“Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people,” he said.

At one point Cooper asked if he apologized to Johnson.

"If I said anything wrong, I'm sorry," Sterling responded. "He's a good person. I mean, what am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don't think so. But I'll say it, he's great. But I don't think he's a good example for the children of Los Angeles."

Sterling apologized for what he said on the tape...

More.

And here it comes, "Gloria Allred slams Donald Sterling's 'pathetic' CNN interview."

RELATED: "Donald Sterling flatly denies harboring racist views," and "Wife would lose share of team if Donald Sterling is voted out, NBA says."

#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."

#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.

V. Stiviano: Donald Sterling Should Apologize for Racist Remarks — #LiberalRacism

At USA Today, "V. Stiviano sits down for interview with Barbara Walters."

I'm still trying to figure this woman out, and this interview is frankly bizarre.

L.A's NAACP Chief Resigns Over Donald Sterling Ties — #LiberalRacism

Epic leftist hypocrisy.

The Los Angeles Times has been on the chapter's case, "Donald Sterling's ties to NAACP under scrutiny after race recording."

This Jenkins dude's been shaking down Sterling despite the latter's long history of liberal racism. Shameless. Leftists simply have no shame.

And here's this morning's report, "Head of L.A. NAACP quits over ties to Donald Sterling."

Also at Fire Andrea Mitchell, "NAACP-LA President Leon Jenkins resigns for sucking up to Donald Sterling."

Beverly Hills Liberal Donald Sterling Speaks Out — #LiberalRacism

At Du Jour, "DONALD STERLING SPEAKS UP":

#DonaldSterling tells DuJour, "I wish I had just paid her off." Full story here: http://t.co/5cTK4o29Qq

— DuJour (@DuJourMedia) May 2, 2014

The embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner on what he’d do differently": The embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner on what he’d do differently": While the dust in Los Angeles has yet to settle after recent revelations of Clippers owner Don Sterling’s regrettable remarks, nothing about the future of Sterling or the team is certain.

Some observers claim the NBA lacks the authority to force Sterling to sell the team while others, like basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabar, are questioning why the billionaire’s private conversations are being aired in public at all.

And while it could be weeks before any definite decisions are made about the future of the Clippers—Floyd Mayweather Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Matt Damon and Sean Combs are all said to be interested in buying the team—during an exclusive discussion with DuJour’s Jason Binn, Sterling expressed remorse for the way his situation’s unfurled. Speaking of girlfriend Vanessa Stiviano, who released to the media audio footage of Sterling on a racist tirade, Sterling says, “I wish I had just paid her off.”

Expect to hear more from Sterling, who tells DuJour he’s limiting himself to interviews with Barbara Walters and the NBA.

Also at USA Today, "Donald Sterling to 'DuJour' magazine: 'I wish I had just paid her off'."

And at the New York Post, "Sterling: 'I wish I had just paid her off'."

Donald Sterling speaks out: "I wish I had just paid her off" http://t.co/0qsqk93uDH

— New York Post (@nypost) May 2, 2014

And CBS Los Angeles.

Donald Sterling Reportedly Breaks Silence Amid Scandal: http://t.co/0vbmbhmxte

— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) May 2, 2014

I'll have updates...

#Sterling Could Face $360 Million Tax Hit on Clippers Sale, Hindering #NBA Push to Terminate Ownership

Today's New York Times feature a sensational front-page report on the high-dollar celebrity interest in the Los Angeles Clippers, "Stars’ Newest Must-Have Item: The Clippers."

But it's doubtful that Donald Sterling will relinquish the team without a fight. See Bleacher Report, "Donald Sterling Reportedly Will Sue NBA If Forced to Sell Clippers."

Frankly no matter how combative and cantankerous he is, no matter how big a fight he puts up, I suspect the prospect of massive tax savings from keeping the team is one of the biggest factors working against NBA moves to force a sale.

See the Los Angeles Times, "Donald Sterling could tie Clippers sale up in court":

If NBA owners ultimately vote to oust Donald Sterling and the embattled Clippers boss decides to fight back, the resulting litigation could drag on for years and set a precedent for American professional sports, legal experts said Wednesday.

While Sterling appears to face long odds in challenging his lifetime ban and $2.5-million fine, legal experts and lawyers who have faced the NBA in court see a more viable case when it comes to opposing a forced sale.

Sterling could seek an immediate injunction, then file suit raising breach of contract or antitrust claims.

If that happens, the courts will find little or no precedent for a team owner facing expulsion because of offensive comments about race.

"We're in a part of sports law where there isn't a playbook," said Michael McCann, a sports law professor at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. "We're in uncharted territory."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the fine and ban Tuesday and said he would encourage the other 29 owners to force the Clippers owner to sell. A three-quarters vote is needed to oust an owner.

The team is owned by the Sterling Trust, which includes Sterling, his estranged wife, Rochelle, and two living children. A Clippers spokesman did not provide percentages of voting rights or other details.

Banned from attending games or having any involvement as owner, Sterling could be motivated to hang on to the team if only for tax reasons. If he were to sell at an estimated $1billion, capital gains and state taxes could exceed $360 million, said Gary Slavett, a Beverly Hills tax attorney.

A large share of those taxes could be avoided if the owner bequeaths the franchise to his family upon death.

Sterling did not respond to a request for comment left at his Beverly Hills office. Two attorneys who have represented him in the past also did not respond to requests for comment.

More.

Daily Beast's @OliviaNuzzi Hammered on #DonaldSterling Hypocrisy — #LiberalRacism

Well, here's an interesting follow-up to my earlier post, "Daily Beast Correspondent Olivia Nuzzi: 'I really don't care about this debate very much..." — #DonaldSterling."

Last night I saw Ms. Nuzzi tweeting out left-wing loser Michael Tomasky's transparent and disgusting propaganda on Donald Sterling's politics. Indeed, she was yammering cluelessly like some first-year sorority pledge about how OMG! "relevant" is Donald Sterling's so-called "Republican registration."

Of course that was after Ms. Nuzzi had already claimed that "I really don't care about this debate very much." Naturally, Ms. Nuzzi didn't "care about this debate" when the actual facts showed Sterling's campaign contribution going exclusively to Democrats and far-left ballot measures.

So, I called her out:

.@Olivianuzzi I thought you didn't "care about this debate very much"? https://t.co/tGLQYK3T02 @tkurlan @mtomasky

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 30, 2014

.@Olivianuzzi Seems like you "care" that #Sterling's a "registered Republican." But how 'bout his poltical giving? @tkurlan @mtomasky

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 30, 2014

.@Olivianuzzi #DonaldSterling: "Thirty years of leftist, Democrat-supporting hate and ignorance." http://t.co/JEYrUKjzdl @tkurlan @mtomasky

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 30, 2014

.@Olivianuzzi Please be honest. There's enough sleazy propaganda right now. #Sterling's a Beverly Hills liberal. @tkurlan @mtomasky

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 30, 2014

That was that. Or so I thought. I didn't hear back from her (the sleazy hypocrite), although earlier today I saw former U.S. Spokesman at the United Nations Richard Grenell calling out Ms. Nuzzi as well:

suddenly Olivia doesn't care #Sterling #Democrat @Olivianuzzi @AmPowerBlog I really don't care about this debate. direct tweets elsewhere.

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

@Olivianuzzi @AmPowerBlog you cared about Bundy's racism but suddenly became uninterested with the Democrat's #Sterling

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

. @Olivianuzzi let's start with the same condemnation you gave to the republican racist......

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

@Olivianuzzi he gave money to democrats.

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

. @Olivianuzzi so do you think you get to write bias without getting pushback? nobody is "attacking" you. it's called accountability.

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

@Olivianuzzi I hope you start writing like a fair journalist or switch to be an opinion writer.

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

why all the #UniteBlue followers, @Olivianuzzi?

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

. @Olivianuzzi the left loves you, Olivia. Keep up the Blue work! just think, there's 2 years left to become an Obama spokesman....

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 30, 2014

Political junkies might remember that Ms. Nuzzi is a former intern for Anthony Weiner's disastrous New York mayoral bid. She wrote a kiss-and-tell-all exposé slamming the corruption and inexperience of the doomed campaign organization. Barbara Morgan, Weiner's classy communications director, attacked Ms. Nuzzi as a "cunt" and a "slutbag." Morgan resigned. I wrote about it here: "Olivia Nuzzi 'Slutbag'."

Funny, though, how "slutbag" doesn't sound so inaccurate now. It turns that Ms. Nuzzi really does "care about this debate," at least when it comes to smearing conservatives and Republicans for backing Cliven Bundy. Here's her piece up today at Daily Beast, "What Cliven Bundy’s Famous Backers Said, Before and After." And notice the dramatic subtitle:

"The Nevada rancher’s breathtakingly racist comments Wednesday left Republican supporters racing to distance themselves. What they’re saying now."

Well, no doubt Ms. Nuzzi would know something about folks "racing to distance themselves" from the racist comments made by ideological partisans. As soon as I pointed out to her that Donald Sterling's a dyed-in-the-wool Beverly Hills liberal, she hightailed it for the tall grass!

The fact is Olivia Nuzzi's way more than ready to smear conservatives when it serves her leftist political and ideological program. Seriously, you've gotta give it up for this woman's astounding liberal racist hypocrisy. She's way down deep in the Democrat tank, a rank leftist hack with a byline. Maybe Barbara Morgan had her pegged all along.

#NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Speaks for the Nation

From Christine Brennan, at USA Today, "Adam Silver unprecedented — and perfect":

The era of leniency and looking the other way in our professional sports world has met its match in new NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

Banned for life? Now that's some serious punishment.

Isn't it wonderful to see a 21st century commissioner throw the book at someone who deserves it?

Silver did the absolute right thing Tuesday in banning Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for his reprehensible racist comments that exploded throughout the news media since last weekend.

The commissioner's news conference in New York riveted the nation – and not just sports fans. The issues at play were the topics that often help form the foundation of high school history classes: racism vs. racial tolerance and advancement, the value of diversity in society, public figures and their private lives, ownership and its responsibilities.

This was about sports, but also about so much more. The conversation transcended sports, and so did Silver's unyielding performance.

He punished Sterling in every way he possibly could – and even in ways he could not. He said he fully expects the support of at least three-quarters of the other NBA owners, a league requirement to remove Sterling as an owner. That's the only thing that's left to do. Silver fined Sterling the maximum of $2.5 million, he made sure Sterling will never appear at a Clippers' game or practice again, and he banned him from making any decisions about his team or the league.

In other words: the works.

The rookie commissioner kicked out the league's longest-tenured owner – forever.

Not since Kenesaw Mountain Landis have we seen a commissioner in any sport debut in the public eye with such a bold stand. This clearly doesn't happen very often. Landis banned the Black Sox 94 years ago.

More.

And don't miss, "Racist Liberal Donald Sterling Banned for Life — VIDEO."