Thursday, January 16, 2020
ICYMI: Roger Scruton, Fools, Frauds and Firebrands
At Amazon, Roger Scruton, Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left.
Bernie Sanders Is a Hardline Communist
From Paul Sperry, at the New York Post, "Don’t be fooled by Bernie Sanders — he’s a diehard communist":
As polls tighten and self-described socialist Bernie Sanders looks more like a serious contender than a novelty candidate for president, the liberal media elite have suddenly stopped calling him socialist. He’s now cleaned-up as a “progressive” or “pragmatist.”Still more.
But he’s not even a socialist. He’s a communist.
Mainstreaming Sanders requires whitewashing his radical pro-Communist past. It won’t be easy to do.
If Sanders were vying for a Cabinet post, he’d never pass an FBI background check. There’d be too many subversive red flags popping up in his file. He was a Communist collaborator during the height of the Cold War.
Rewind to 1964.
While attending the University of Chicago, Sanders joined the Young People’s Socialist League, the youth wing of the Socialist Party USA. He also organized for a communist front, the United Packinghouse Workers Union, which at the time was under investigation by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
After graduating with a political-science degree, Sanders moved to Vermont, where he headed the American People’s History Society, an organ for Marxist propaganda. There, he produced a glowing documentary on the life of socialist revolutionary Eugene Debs, who was jailed for espionage during the Red Scare and hailed by the Bolsheviks as “America’s greatest Marxist.”
****
Sanders still hangs a portrait of Debs on the wall in his Senate office.
In the early ’70s, Sanders helped found the Liberty Union Party, which called for the nationalization of all US banks and the public takeover of all private utility companies.
After failed runs for Congress, Sanders in 1981 managed to get elected mayor of Burlington, Vt., where he restricted property rights for landlords, set price controls and raised property taxes to pay for communal land trusts. Local small businesses distributed fliers complaining their new mayor “does not believe in free enterprise.”
His radical activities didn’t stop at the water’s edge.
Sanders took several “goodwill” trips not only to the USSR, but also to Cuba and Nicaragua, where the Soviets were trying to expand their influence in our hemisphere.
In 1985, he traveled to Managua to celebrate the rise to power of the Marxist-Leninist Sandinista government. He called it a “heroic revolution.” Undermining anti-communist US policy, Sanders denounced the Reagan administration’s backing of the Contra rebels in a letter to the Sandinistas.
His betrayal did not end there. Sanders lobbied the White House to stop the proxy war and even tried to broker a peace deal. He adopted Managua as a sister city and invited Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega to visit the US. He exalted Ortega as “an impressive guy,” while attacking President Reagan.
“The Sandinista government has more support among the Nicaraguan people — substantially more support — than Ronald Reagan has among the American people,” Sanders told Vermont government-access TV in 1985.
Sanders also adopted a Soviet sister city outside Moscow and honeymooned with his second wife in the USSR. He put up a Soviet flag in his office, shocking even the Birkenstock-wearing local liberals. At the time, the Evil Empire was on the march around the world, and threatening the US with nuclear annihilation.
Then, in 1989, as the West was on the verge of winning the Cold War, Sanders addressed the national conference of the US Peace Council — a known front for the Communist Party USA, whose members swore an oath not only to the Soviet Union but to “the triumph of Soviet power in the US.”
Today, Sanders wants to bring what he admired in the USSR, Cuba, Nicaragua and other communist states to America.
For starters, he proposes completely nationalizing our health-care system and putting private health insurance and drug companies “out of business.” He also wants to break up “big banks” and control the energy industry, while providing “free” college tuition, a “living wage” and guaranteed homeownership and jobs through massive public works projects. Price tag: $18 trillion.
Who will pay for it all? You will. Sanders plans to not only soak the rich with a 90%-plus tax rate, while charging Wall Street a “speculation tax,” but hit every American with a “global-warming tax.”
Of course, even that wouldn’t cover the cost of his communist schemes; a President Sanders would eventually soak the middle class he claims to champion. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need, right?
Frankly, all of this is public information.
Folks should read the Bernie Sanders entry at Discover the Networks. Diehard Communist is right.
Megan Parry's Thursday Forecast
The beautiful Ms. Megan, at ABC News 10 San Diego:
Lev Parnas Breaks With Trump and Giuliani
The House Democrat Majority had all the time they needed to conduct the impeachment inquiry. They don't get to relitigate it in the Republican-controlled Senate. That's how it works.
Dems are virtually guaranteeing 45's reelection.
At the New York Times, "Lev Parnas, Key Player in Ukraine Affair, Completes Break With Trump and Giuliani."
Breaking News: Lev Parnas, a key player in the Ukraine pressure campaign, said that President Trump was fully aware of efforts to find damaging information on his rivals https://t.co/JoLY1zMK4s
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 16, 2020
Samsonite Freeform Expandable Hardside Luggage
BONUS: Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution.
Queen Olivia
Throwback☺️ who likes to be naughty in public😳 pic.twitter.com/0PcHS5UXEB
— snapchat: QueenOliviaxox (@sexyoliviaaa) October 22, 2019
And, "How I start my day," and "Let me ride."
'Pro-Choice' Extremists
Very ugly pro-abortion ideology, in any case.
My God. Read this. When the pro-abortion movement takes off its mask, you can clearly see how psychotic, bloodthirsty, and cartoonishly evil it is pic.twitter.com/CnrPwahqTl
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 16, 2020
You couldn't lay out a better example of how the rhetoric of "choice" plays out in real life: Dudes and their henchmen bully women into aborting, then gaslight them by insisting it was all their choice all along--aren't they liberated, independent women?? It's a license to abuse. https://t.co/HbvNDL7Z9r
— Brandon McGinley (@brandonmcg) January 16, 2020
Federal Investigation Into Rep. Ilhan Omar's 'Worst-Ever Crime Spree'
The Feds — including ICE — appear to be investigating Rep. Ilhan Omar.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 16, 2020
“At least three departments are reviewing what could be the worst-ever crime spree by an elected US official”
https://t.co/UnRJav4U71
Even in 2016, there was already enough against Ilhan for an @FBI investigation -- per @FBI guidelines.
— David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) January 16, 2020
But the @Comey FBI was busy with drunken hearsay.
And media/@TheDemocrats felt @IlhanMN’s “identity” was just too perfect for fighting Trump: https://t.co/gdhYT1R2HC
(7/x)
Elizabeth Warren Accused Bernie Sanders of Calling Her a 'Liar on National TV (VIDEO)
The Bernie Bros mimic their model.
In any case, at LAT, "Can a woman win the presidency? Democratic debate delves into sexism in politics."
And the Other McCain, "Elizabeth Warren’s Media Helpers Try to Revive Her Campaign at Bernie’s Expense":
Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate was so white that Antifa would punch it in the face, and moderators for CNN made it clear who they favored among the six white Democrats assembled on the Des Moines stage. We haven’t seen the memo from CNN chief Jeff Zucker, but it was obvious that the assignment was to (a) attack Bernie Sanders and (b) boost Elizabeth Warren. Perhaps many Sanders supporters — who saw their candidate get cheated out of the 2016 nomination by DNC insiders working for Hillary Clinton — will now agree with President Trump’s assessment of the media as “the enemy of the people.”
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Comparing U.S. History Textbooks in California and Texas
If you're raising a family in California, a traditional conservative family, start making plans to leave as soon as possible.
Texas would be good. Or anywhere else, sheesh.
At NYT:
1. 🚨 NEW: U.S. history textbooks are shaped by partisan politics, and then shape the next generation of voters. See how California and Texas teenagers encounter different American stories. https://t.co/bRCPbFVX6O— Dana Goldstein (@DanaGoldstein) January 12, 2020
Kendra, It's Not Too Late to Turn Your Life Around
She's still got her whole life ahead of her and it's not too late to turn things around, dang.
She's looking worse for the wear!
— Kendra Sunderland (@KSLibraryGirl) January 14, 2020
'The Woke Primary'
It's pretty darn funny, when you think about it, heh.
Australia's Fires Signal Climate Change's Global Threat to Wildlife
And there is a threat to wildlife, but it's not from fossil fuels.
So yeah, let's worry about global wildlife, but let's design common sense policies and sideline the fanatical climate change cultists from the debate.
At LAT, "An Australia in flames tries to cope with an ‘animal apocalypse.’ Could California be next?":
On a remote Australian isle, rescuers race to save koalas, kangaroos and other animals https://t.co/kpUn4SRPNK— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 14, 2020
KANGAROO ISLAND, Australia — Sam Mitchell balanced himself on a eucalyptus branch 30 feet above the ground as his meaty left fist clutched a koala, which wailed like a pig with breathing problems. The dark gray marsupial batted its 3-inch black claws in the air helplessly, and minutes later Mitchell crawled down. He and the animal were safely on the ground.
Across much of Australia, volunteers and professionals are fighting to contain widespread blazes, with many also taking risks to save wildlife being killed by the millions. Kangaroo Island, a popular tourist destination and wildlife park off Australia’s southeast coast, has seen some of the worst damage to the nation’s biodiversity. Fires have overrun nearly half of the 1,700-square-mile island, and rescuers have been going tree to tree, trying to save what they can.
“There’s not much that isn’t threatening koalas at the moment,” said Mitchell, who has owned and run the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park with his wife, Dana, the last seven years. The couple started a GoFundMe campaign so people can help with the rescues. Without quick intervention, koalas that survived the fires “are going to die of starvation,” he said.
In terms of human fatalities, Australia’s blazes this year have been less severe than some previous bush fires — with 27 people killed so far this season, compared to 75 during the nation’s 1983 “Ash Wednesday” inferno. But the impact on wildlife this year has been far more devastating, a preview of what California could experience in future fire seasons.
Scientists estimate that fires have killed from hundreds of millions to more than 1 billion native animals so far in Australia. The toll illustrates that while humans can adapt somewhat to intensifying fires — through better emergency planning, more fire crews and “home hardening” — ecosystems are far more vulnerable.
“Most Australian landscapes are in tune with small-scale summer fires, but not the fires of the proportion and intensity that we are observing now,” said Katja Hogendoorn, a professor at the University of Adelaide’s school of agriculture, food and wine.
“These incomprehensibly large and devastating fires are caused by a combination of lower rainfall and higher temperatures, both consequences of climate change, and here to stay and worsen, unless drastic action is undertaken worldwide,” she said. “As the driest and hottest continent, Australia is at the forefront of this environmental disaster.”
Accurate numbers on animal losses are hard to come by as the disaster unfolds, with some fire officials saying blazes will continue to burn into March. But already the damage to natural heritage has become clear on the island, from the bottom of the food chain on up.
The highly sensitive home of the green carpenter bee — which already is extinct in two Australian states and is a food source for larger animals — faces dire straits. Much of the bees’ remaining habitat on the island has burned and, on the eastern mainland, is in the line of fire, experts say.
The endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart, a mouse-like marsupial, relies on low-lying vegetation for protection from birds and feral cats. That largely is gone, as is most of the home of the glossy black cockatoo. Much of the landscape is black and smoldering.
“We’re not sure if they’ll be able to come back. It might be the breaking point for them,” said Michaela Haska, the wildlife park’s head keeper, speaking of the dunnarts and the splashy-colored cockatoos. Males are blackish brown, with red tail bands; females are dark and brownish with some yellow spotting.
On Kangaroo Island, the Mitchells’ 50-acre property is surrounded by burn scars but was untouched by the blazes. The fires choked the skies for days with smoke but were clear on Monday for firefighters and their water-dropping aircraft. For weeks, the wildlife park has become a refuge for animals rescued by volunteers and passersby.
The carcasses of animals litter the shoulders of the roads that run across the island’s rugged landscape. Most are dead, and others are in such bad shape they uncharacteristically move toward humans, either unable to see or starved and disoriented.
“We just get out every morning and look,” said Shona Fisher, 59, who rescue workers say has brought in more than 70 koalas with her husband since the fires began. The pair have taken to visiting the island’s groves of commercially planted blue gum eucalyptus each morning to search for survivors.
At the park, there’s a pop-up tent where crews monitor medical equipment including IV drip bags, bandages, gauze and saucers filled with iodine. Nearby are laundry baskets where koalas are nestled, their burned paws bandaged.
Three weeks ago, the scene at the wildlife park was much different. The Mitchells’ low-slung ranch-style home had a small setup of cages and pens in the back for about 20 koalas and other animals, which was enough to treat an irregular stream of ailing wildlife while they continued to operate their park, cafe and other attractions for tourists...
ABC Executives Tried to Get Abby Huntsman to Shut Up About Toxic Culture at ‘The View’
At the Daily Beast, "ABC Execs Try to Get Abby Huntsman to Cover for Toxic Culture at ‘The View’."
EXCLUSIVE: Behind-the-scenes melodrama at The View amped up on Tuesday when departing co-host Abby Huntsman didn’t comply with network executives’ urgent entreaty to contradict reports describing the show’s “toxic culture"https://t.co/lw4P75hfZ1
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 15, 2020
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Emma Watson Compilation
Of course this sort of sickeningly sinful behavior is to be expected from a woman who considers herself a “feminist”. For in the infidel West “female empowerment” is synonymous with being a tremendous gutter skank whore.Lol.
Just enjoy the photos --- she's still just a kid.
Bernie Sanders Scores the Coveted Emily Ratajkowski Covered Topless Endorsement (VIDEO)
How does make you feel to lust after the body of one of the world's most beautiful women when in the end she's really just down for the lumpenproletariat expropriated by the corporate hyenas of late-stage global capitalism?
Pfft.
I don't try to think about all the complicated stuff. Just fap off you losers, lol.
“Bernie is extremely genuine. He’s consistent. He’s powerful, not because of who he is as one person, but because of the way he invigorates people and excites them, and brings together this movement.” -@emrata pic.twitter.com/ZTD8jjHHCI— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 9, 2020
Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes
I wrote about the @rickygervais monologue, #HollywoodHypocrites and warm nuts. Enjoy.https://t.co/EpSlkKQUC5
— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) January 6, 2020
In a room filled with self-absorbed narcissists, one brave, slightly less self-absorbed narcissist had the balls to speak truth to power—and his name is Ricky Gervais.Read it all.
If courage had a face, it would be a slightly overweight, pasty British multi-millionaire drinking a pint. Taking the stage to host his fifth and final (allegedly) Golden Globe Awards, Ricky spoke for us, the oppressed, six-figure earning, working middle-class, little guy.
I may not have ever flown on a private jet to a private island with a temple, but I got an upgrade to First Class once, and those warm nuts have a way of seducing you into believing anyone cares about your shitty takes. In fact it was on that flight I was inspired to become an opinion writer. I appreciate your hypocrisy, Hollywood, it makes me feel better about my own...
And the video from the broadcast is at the link.
Angry Black Lady Gets Angry at Celebrity Fitness Trainer Jillian Michaels, Who Suggested Lizzo's Morbid Obesity Isn't Something to Be Celebrating
Do let us know when you can twerk and play the flute at the same time, Jillian. Until then, shut your mouth. https://t.co/jvvYlNK5Fu
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) January 8, 2020
Tom Steyer Surges
At the Des Moines Register, "Is Tom Steyer surging? Businessman qualifies for Des Moines debate after polls show him in top 3 in Nevada, South Carolina":
Holy cow Steyer’s at 15 percent in South Carolina?!! #Dems #TomSteyer #BigMoney #BILLIONAIRE 💰🇺🇸🤓 https://t.co/wGNkFkCdxZ
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 10, 2020
I don't think these Steyer numbers are a mistake. Remember, we've had basically no polling out of NV and SC and for months now he's been spending a fortune in both while the other candidates focus on IA and NH. He's had the run of the place.
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) January 9, 2020
OK the links now work:
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) January 9, 2020
NV
Biden 23%
Sanders 17%
Steyer 12%
Warren 12%
Buttigieg 6%
Yang 4%
Booker 3%
Bloomberg 2%
Gabbard 2%
Klobuchard 2%
SC
Biden 36%
Steyer 15%
Warren 14%
Sanders 10%
Buttigieg 4%
Bloomberg 2%
Booker 2%
Yang 2% https://t.co/YJqNyYG9Qehttps://t.co/2LllHmMrJn
WASHINGTON – Political activist Tom Steyer will be on the Democratic primary debate stage Tuesday, barely making the cut after surging in a Nevada and a South Carolina poll were released Thursday evening.Also at Memeorandum.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is leading in Nevada at 23%, according to a Fox News poll. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont follows at 17%. Steyer and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are tied in third place at 12%.
Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana mayor, trailed those four candidates at 6%, followed by entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 4%.
The Nevada poll was conducted Jan. 5 to Jan. 8, with 1,505 Nevada voters interviewed on both landlines and cellphones. Interviews were offered in English or Spanish. Of those interviewed, 635 identified as potential participants in the Democratic caucus. There is a margin of error plus or minus 4 percentage points.
In a separate Fox News South Carolina poll, Biden again led the pack with 36% support. Steyer is in second place with 15%, followed by Sanders at 14% and Warren at 10%.
The South Carolina poll was conducted Jan...
'Juice Jacking'
At Instapundit, "USB IS TERRIBLY UNSECURE: Here’s why you should never use a public phone charger. “You could be the victim of ‘juice jacking’."
After Leaving '60 Minutes', Lara Logan Makes Comeback on 'Fox Nation' (VIDEO)
Flashback to 2012, "Lara Logan Speaks Truth to War on Terror."
And today, at LAT, "A combative Lara Logan plans a comeback on Fox News’ streaming service. Can she succeed?":
“Originally we thought Fox Nation would be purely an extension of the opinion brand of Fox News...The vast majority of the material that we’re doing now doesn’t have any political persuasion at all.”https://t.co/MlsQ6vssck
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 6, 2020
NEW YORK — Veteran foreign correspondent Lara Logan keeps a video of her Texas Hill Country home on her iPad. It shows the sunlight streaming through large trees on the five-acre property with only the sounds of chirping birds and an occasional truck passing by.RTWT.
Logan, who risked her life being embedded in war-torn regions, has no desire to leave the bucolic domicile, even as she starts rebuilding her career as the host of a new documentary series — “Lara Logan Has No Agenda” — debuting Monday on the Fox News-operated streaming service Fox Nation.
“I don’t want to leave my children,” Logan, 48, said in a recent interview at a studio at Fox News headquarters in midtown Manhattan. “I don’t want to move to New York or Los Angeles. I live in a small town. I’m very happy there.”
No one would blame the former CBS News star for seeking some serenity after a turbulent decade. In February 2011, she was sexually assaulted on the streets of Cairo’s Tahrir Square while covering the celebration of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation.
Two years later, a serious mistake in a “60 Minutes” report that questioned the Obama administration’s response to the September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, led to a diminished role for Logan on the venerable newsmagazine program. She took a significant cut in her $2-million-a-year salary, and her contract with CBS was not renewed in September 2018, a stunning downfall for an award-winning journalist and sought-after TV news talent.
But the South Africa native’s combination of grit, charisma and candor has kept her in the spotlight. She resurfaced in February in a 3 ½ hour interview on the podcast of her friend, former Navy SEAL Mike Ritland, in which she described the news media as predominantly left-leaning.
“The media is mostly liberal everywhere, not just the U.S.,” Logan said. “We’ve abandoned our pretense, or at least the effort, to be objective today.”
Right-wing websites and commentators latched onto her remarks, which went viral online. Invitations came from Fox News for her to appear as a guest with its President Trump-supporting prime-time hosts, who nightly accuse mainstream media outlets of liberal bias.
A noodle soup without the soup? A chef doubles down on a sidelined dish.
Her segments were well-received by the Fox News audience, and host Sean Hannity even lobbied his bosses on the air to hire her. Logan’s newest assignment eventually followed.
Logan insists her remarks were not an attempt to position herself a politically partisan pundit for a polarized media age. Her commitment to Fox News is limited to her four-episode series. “I’m not trying to be an opinion person,” she said.
Logan believes viewers who stream her new program will see that it adheres to its “No Agenda” title, despite its association with the conservative-leaning network.
“I can’t control the media landscape,” Logan said. “What I can control is the work that I do. I’m going to do that the same way here the way I did it at ‘60 Minutes.’ To date nobody has tried to make me do anything other than that. Nobody.”
The first episode of “Lara Logan Has No Agenda” looks at immigration enforcement, largely from the perspective of U.S. border agents who work along the Rio Grande. But she also devotes significant time to depicting the dangers that undocumented migrants face, and avoids taking a side in the heated political debate surrounding the issue...
Devin Brugman Morning
Beachy ✨✨✨ pic.twitter.com/wVZfiwOzsF— Devin Brugman (@devinbrugman) March 11, 2019
Click on the full image here.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Ilhan Omar Laughs While Sheila Jackson Lee Discusses U.S. Casualties in Iraq (VIDEO)
She's a U.S. Member of Congress.
In what for most people would be grave moment, she looks like she lining up for pictures at a high school dance, all laughs and giggles.
It's frankly abnormal.
Ukrainian Airliner May Have Been Shot Down in Iran
Maybe it was engine failure?
In any case, at the Conservative Treehouse, "Iran Refuses to Hand Over Black Box From Fatal Boeing Crash Near Tehran – Nose of SAM Missile Discovered Near Crash Site…"
And at New York Magazine, "It Sure Looks Like the Ukrainian Airliner May Have Been Accidentally Shot Down in Iran."
Trudeau was asked if he could rule out that flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv was not shot down: “I can not,” he said: Read more here: https://t.co/hVcgH4TLP7 pic.twitter.com/LueVrnah0s— CBC Politics (@CBCPolitics) January 8, 2020
Remember, Russia Today is a Russian propaganda channel, although sometimes they post real news. (*Shrugs.*)
Turmoil in Middle East Upends Democrat Primaries
At the Los Angeles Times, "U.S.-Iran turmoil scrambles Democrats’ 2020 race, shifting focus to war and peace":
Actually it's not just "the economy, stupid." Voters always rank foreign policy low on their priorities. But it consistently rattles elections. @hookjan anchors our look at how Iran tensions scramble the primary. https://t.co/M1zScu6z6G
— Evan Halper (@evanhalper) January 8, 2020
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s order for the targeted killing of a top Iranian general and Iran’s quick retaliation have scrambled the 2020 campaign, thrusting issues of war and peace to the center of a contest that so far has been dominated by domestic issues.
Iran’s launch of more than a dozen ballistic missiles against a U.S. military base in Iraq on Tuesday night guarantees that the political fallout from the killing of Gen. Qassem Suleimani will not fade any time soon.
“What’s happening in Iraq and Iran today was predictable,” former Vice President Joe Biden said at an event in Philadelphia as news of the attack broke. “Not exactly what’s happening but the chaos that’s ensuing,” he said, faulting Trump for both his past action — abandoning an international nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 — and his more recent decision last week ordering Suleimani’s death by an armed drone in Baghdad.
“I just pray to God as he goes through what’s happening, as we speak, that he’s listening to his military commanders for the first time because so far that has not been the case.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, opening a rally in Brooklyn Tuesday night, said of the retaliatory attacks, “This is a reminder of why we need to deescalate tension in the Middle East. The American people do not want a war with Iran.”
In the days before Iran’s strikes, the rising international tensions had abruptly sharpened Democrats’ disagreements about the U.S. role in the world, personified by the sparring between two front-runners for their party’s nomination — Biden, who’s had a hand in decades of U.S. foreign policy, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an anti-interventionist critic of those policies. Warren has echoed Sanders as she seeks to revive her flagging campaign.
The president’s strike order against Suleimani crystallized what Americans love or hate about Trump: It was the kind of impulsive show of force that fans embrace as tough-guy swagger, but critics fear as his dangerously erratic, even unhinged, behavior. “This brings together a lot of the critiques around Trump,” said Derek Chollet, a former Obama administration Pentagon official who is now executive vice president of the German Marshall Fund. “The weakening of our alliances, the haphazard process, the impulsive decision making, the almost fanatical desire to undo anything Barack Obama did, regardless of whether it is working or not.”
Trump’s decision, which surprised even his own military advisors, came just weeks before Democrats’ nominating contest begins with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, highlighting the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the top candidates.
Biden immediately embraced the opportunity to emphasize the value of his foreign policy experience in a world roiled by Trump’s “America first” policies, touching on his years in the Senate, including as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and as President Obama’s trusted wing man. He did so in Iowa on Saturday, but Tuesday he gave a more formal speech in New York.
Against a backdrop designed to exude presidential leadership — royal-blue draperies and a row of American flags — Biden promised relief from Trump-era chaos. “I understand better than anyone that the system will not hold unless we find ways to work together,” he said. To Democratic critics who dismiss his faith in his ability to work with Republicans, Biden said, “That’s not a naive or outdated way of thinking. That’s the genius and timelessness of our democratic system.”
Sanders has seized on the crisis to remind voters that he, unlike Biden, voted against the Iraq war and has long warned of the risks of U.S. interventions abroad.
“I have consistently opposed this dangerous path to war with Iran,” Sanders said at a recent Iowa stop. “We need to firmly commit to ending the U.S. military presence in the Middle East, in an orderly manner, not through a tweet.”
That message energizes his antiwar base but may be less appealing to party voters more broadly. A November CNN poll found that 48% of Democratic voters thought Biden was best equipped to handle foreign policy; 14% said Sanders was.
Warren has similarly expressed anti-interventionist sentiment, but Sanders’ supporters initially complained she wasn’t pointed enough in condemning Trump. That underscored the challenges she faces as she tries to appeal to Sanders supporters on the left while also appealing to more moderate voters.
Warren “wants to show contrast and pass the commander-in-chief test at the same time,” said Heather Hurlburt, a former Clinton administration foreign policy official at New America, a think tank.
For Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and an Afghanistan war veteran, the Middle East tumult is a double-edged sword, spotlighting his status as the only top-tier candidate who has served in the military, but also his political inexperience.
Whether the issue will continue to grab candidates’ and voters’ attention will hinge on the unpredictable fallout in coming days and weeks. Trump’s response to the Iranian attacks will be fraught with political risks, especially to the extent he is seen as having provoked the hostilities. Typically in campaign seasons, most polls find that foreign policy is not a high priority for voters more preoccupied with economic issues, but when American lives are at risk, the stakes rise.
In most national elections since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, issues of war and peace have been powerful factors. In 2002, Republicans benefited from the post-9/11 political environment under President George W. Bush, whose approval rating was over 60%, and the president’s party gained congressional seats in a midterm election for only the second time since 1934.
In 2004, Democrats’ growing opposition to the Iraq war helped propel Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, a Vietnam War veteran, to the presidential nomination. “I’m reporting for duty,” he said at the convention. But Republicans savagely misrepresented his military record, helping Bush to eke out a reelection victory.
Four years later, opposition to the war also helped vault first-term Sen. Barack Obama first to the party’s nomination over Sen. Hillary Clinton, who voted in 2002 to authorize the war, and then to victory over the Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a hawkish supporter of the war.
When Clinton ran again in 2016, her early support for the war again was attacked by her primary opponent, this time Sanders. During the general election campaign against her, Trump tapped into Americans’ rising weariness with what he called “endless wars” and promised to bring troops home and to reduce America’s military role in the world.
To date, Democrats’ 2020 campaign had focused mostly on domestic issues — healthcare, income inequality, gun control and climate change — and on Trump’s fitness for office.
Celebrate David Bowie's Birthday
I miss him.
A Legitimate Contender, Establishment Democrats Afraid Bernie Sanders Could Win
We'll have a very clear choice in November. And at least with Bernie, the rank-and-file won't be able to claim their party's "not socialist."
At the Associated Press:
He raised more money than any other Democratic candidate in the last quarter — virtually all of it from small-dollar donors — and he’s considered a legitimate contender to win Iowa and New Hampshire next month. https://t.co/v9zn6oBtlb— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) January 8, 2020
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Increasingly alarmed that Bernie Sanders could become their party’s presidential nominee, establishment-minded Democrats are warning primary voters that the self-described democratic socialist would struggle to defeat President Donald Trump and hurt the party’s chances in premier House, Senate and governors’ races.
The urgent warnings come as Sanders shows new signs of strength on the ground in the first two states on the presidential primary calendar, Iowa and New Hampshire, backed by a dominant fundraising operation. The Vermont senator has largely escaped close scrutiny over the last year as his rivals doubted the quirky 78-year-old’s ability to win the nomination. But less than a month before Iowa’s kickoff caucuses, the doubters are being forced to take Sanders seriously.
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, previously a senior aide to President Barack Obama, warned Democrats that Sanders’ status as a democratic socialist and his unwavering support for “Medicare for All” won’t play well among swing voters in the states that matter most in 2020.
“You need a candidate with a message that can help us win swing voters in battleground states,” Emanuel said in an interview. “The degree of difficulty dramatically increases under a Bernie Sanders candidacy. It just gets a lot harder.”
The increasingly vocal concerns are coming from a number of political veterans tied to the Obama administration and the 2020 field’s moderate wing, including those backing former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet.
In some ways, the criticism is not surprising.
Sanders has spent decades fighting to transform the nation’s political and economic systems, creating a long list of political adversaries along the way. Many people connected to Hillary Clinton, for example, still blame Sanders for not working hard enough to support her after their long and bitter presidential primary feud in 2016. Some Democrats still accuse him of not being enough of a team player.
Sanders’ chief strategist Jeff Weaver dismissed the growing criticism as a reflection of the strength of his candidacy.
He raised more money than any other Democratic candidate in the last quarter — virtually all of it from small-dollar donors — and he’s considered a legitimate contender to win Iowa and New Hampshire next month...
'13 Minutes'
John Krasinski to star in Trump era remake of Benghazi movie “13 Hours”— The People's Cube 🚁🤸 (@ThePeoplesCube) January 1, 2020
It’s called “13 Minutes”. It chronicles the 13 minutes from when the Marines landed at our Baghdad embassy to when the Iranian backed militias ran like cowards.#Benghazi
Disgruntled 93-Year-Old Shoots Apartment Manager in Las Vegas (VIDEO)
At London's Daily Mail, "Astonishing moment a 93-year-old man shoots an apartment complex manager in both legs out of revenge after his Las Vegas home was hit by flooding."
And at ABC 7 Eyewitness News Los Angeles:
CNN Attacks Babylon Bee
At Instapundit, "HEH: CNN Attacks Babylon Bee: ‘The Internet Is Only Big Enough For One Fake News Site’."
CNN Attacks Babylon Bee: 'The Internet Is Only Big Enough For One Fake News Site' https://t.co/Mq0IAYhwAf
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 7, 2020
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Leave Your Pronouns!
It's Boy George, of Culture Club fame, at Instapundit, "WHEN YOUR GENDER-BLENDING CAMPAIGN HAS LOST BOY GEORGE."
And Twitchy, "Does he really want to hurt SJWs? Boy George wants everyone to ‘leave your pronouns at the door!’"
Leave your pronoun's at the door!
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) January 6, 2020
BONUS: Flashback to 1995, at NYT, "Boy George: Switching Pronouns."
What Tehran is Likely to Do Next
It's been proxy war for 40 years.
The latest is the rocket strikes on Iraqi military bases (targeting American personnel).
No casualties yet, but this latest conflagration is really just getting started. Neither side seems to want deescalation, and each side's target domestic audience is highly supportive of the action, and thus there's little political incentive to stand down.
I'll have more, as I always do.
In any case, from Ilan Goldenberg, at Foreign Affairs, "Will Iran’s Response to the Soleimani Strike Lead to War?":
Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, was one of the most influential and popular figures in the Islamic Republic and a particular nemesis of the United States. He led Iran’s campaign to arm and train Shiite militias in Iraq—militias responsible for the deaths of an estimated 600 American troops from 2003 to 2011— and became the chief purveyor of Iranian political influence in Iraq thereafter, most notably through his efforts to fight the Islamic State (ISIS). He drove Iran’s policies to arm and support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including by deploying an estimated 50,000 Shiite militia fighters to Syria. He was the point man for Iran’s relationship with Hezbollah in Lebanon, helping to supply the group with missiles and rockets to threaten Israel. He drove Iran’s strategy to arm the Houthis in Yemen. For all these reasons and more, Soleimani was a cult hero in Iran and across the region.
In short, the United States has taken a highly escalatory step in assassinating one of the most important and powerful men in the Middle East.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump argues that Soleimani was a terrorist and that assassinating him was a defensive action that stopped an imminent attack. Both of those assertions may or may not be true, but the United States would never have felt compelled to act against the Iranian general if not for the reckless policy the administration has pursued since it came into office. In May 2018, Trump left the Iran nuclear agreement and adopted a “maximum pressure” policy of economic sanctions on Iran. For a year, Iran responded with restraint in an effort to isolate the United States diplomatically and win economic concessions from other parties to the nuclear agreement.
But the restrained approach failed to yield material benefits. By May 2019, Tehran had chosen instead to breach the agreement and escalate tensions across the region. First came Iranian mine attacks against international shipping in May and June. Then Iran shot down a U.S. drone, nearly touching off an open conflict with the United States. In September, Iranian missiles struck the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia—arguably the most important piece of oil infrastructure in the world. Shiite militia groups began launching rockets at U.S. bases in Iraq, ultimately leading to the death of an American contractor last week. Retaliatory U.S. strikes eventually brought us to the Soleimani assassination.
The most important question now is how will Iran respond. The Islamic Republic’s behavior over the past few months and over its long history suggests that it may not rush to retaliate. Rather, it will carefully and patiently choose an approach that it deems effective, and it will likely try to avoid an all-out war with the United States. Nonetheless, the events of the past few days demonstrate that the risk of miscalculation is incredibly high. Soleimani clearly didn’t believe that the United States was going to dramatically escalate or he wouldn’t have left himself so vulnerable, only a stone’s throw away from U.S. military forces in Iraq. For his part, Trump has been adamant about his lack of interest in starting a new war in the Middle East—and yet, here we are at the precipice.
The United States must, at a minimum, expect to find itself in conflict with Shiite militias in Iraq that will target U.S. forces, diplomats, and civilians. Iraq is the theater where the U.S. strike took place and therefore the most rational place for Iran to immediately respond. Moreover, the militia groups have already been escalating their activities over the past six months. They are among Iran’s most responsive proxies and will be highly motivated, given that Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, one of their top commanders, was killed in the strike along with Soleimani.
Whether a U.S. presence in Iraq is still viable remains an open question. The security situation, which has certainly now been complicated, is not the only problem. The assassination was such an extreme violation of Iraqi sovereignty—done unilaterally, without Iraqi government consent—that Iraqi officials will come under tremendous political pressure to eject U.S. forces. Many Iraqis have no love for either the United States or Iran. They just want to have their country back to themselves and fear being put in the middle of a U.S.-Iranian confrontation. The current situation could turn into a worst-case scenario for these citizens.
But a chaotic U.S. withdrawal under fire could also present real dangers. The mission to counter ISIS remains a going concern, and if the United States is forced to leave Iraq, that effort could suffer a serious blow. ISIS retains an underground presence and could take advantage of the chaos of an American withdrawal or a U.S.-Iranian conflict to improve its position in Iraq.
The repercussions of the assassination won’t necessarily be confined to Iraq. Lebanese Hezbollah, which enjoys a close relationship with Iran and is likely to be responsive to Iranian requests, could attack American targets in Lebanon. Even if Iran decides to avoid a major escalation in Lebanon, Hezbollah operatives are distributed throughout the Middle East and could attack the United States elsewhere in the region. Alternatively, Hezbollah may choose to launch missile attacks on Israeli territory, although this response is less likely. Hezbollah wants to avoid an all-out war with Israel that would devastate Lebanon, and the Trump administration has publicly taken credit for killing Soleimani, increasing the likelihood that a retaliatory strike will target the United States directly.
Iran could conduct missile strikes against U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates or against oil facilities in the Gulf. The accuracy of Iran’s missile strikes on the Abqaiq oil facility in September took the United States and the rest of the world by surprise, although Iran did purposefully attempt to keep the attack limited and symbolic. In the current climate, Iran could choose to become much more aggressive, calculating that in the arena of missile strikes it has been highly successful in landing blows while avoiding retaliation over the past six months.
We should also expect Iran to significantly accelerate its nuclear program. Since the Trump administration left the Iran nuclear agreement in May 2018, Iran has been quite restrained in its nuclear response. After a year of staying in the deal, in May 2019, Iran began to incrementally violate the agreement by taking small steps every 60 days. The next 60-day window ends next week, and it is hard to imagine restraint in the wake of Soleimani’s death. At a minimum, Iran will restart enriching uranium to 19.75 percent, a significant step toward weapons-grade uranium. It has recently threatened to go even further by walking away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or kicking out inspectors. These would be profoundly dangerous moves, and until this week most analysts believed Tehran was unlikely to actually make them. Now they may well be on the table.
Perhaps the most provocative thing Iran could do is carry out a terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland or attempt to kill a senior U.S. official of Soleimani’s stature...
TikTok Hype House in Los Angeles
You have kids, and some very young adults, who are the world's leading influencers on TikTok, which I'm still figuring out. I had to ask my oldest son what's so great about it.
In any case, this piece is fascinating, and mind-boggling.
At NYT:
And please read my story on the TikTok mansion/collab house gold rush happening in LA! https://t.co/btfWpsZkdi
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) January 6, 2020
Playmate Iryna in Bikini and Wet T-Shirt (I Think)
Always wet 😅 TEXT ME HERE https://t.co/M03maYOVmJ pic.twitter.com/dHuBeu0BQy— playmateiryna (@IrynaIvanova) January 5, 2020
Salma Hayek Slays the Golden Globes (PHOTOS)
Just wow.
Here we go! #GoldenGlobes ✨ Aquí vamos pic.twitter.com/sjn79quAVQ— Salma Hayek (@salmahayek) January 6, 2020
I’m so proud of my friend Patricia Arquette, who gave two of the best performances on TV this season.— Salma Hayek (@salmahayek) January 6, 2020
Estoy muy orgullosa de mi amiga Patricia Arquette, que dio 2 de las mejores actuaciones este año en TV. #GoldenGlobes2020 @PattyArquette pic.twitter.com/wCiPyY7asC
Also, at the N.Y. Post, "Cleavage-happy stars let it all hang out at the 2020 Golden Globes."
BONUS: Madeline Osburn, at the Federalist, "Thanks to the Golden Globes, Boobs are Officially Back."
Monday, December 30, 2019
Armed Congregants Kill Gunman at Texas Church (VIDEO)
ABC's report, with video, is here.
Solution to mass shootings- Good guys with gunshttps://t.co/TqoeYcPsED— GrrrGraphics Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) December 29, 2019
Playmate Iryna Loves the Ocean
How much do u love the view of the...ocean? 😘 LINK IN BIO for best view https://t.co/3newd5j9qj pic.twitter.com/WiILlFy6Qg— playmateiryna (@IrynaIvanova) December 28, 2019
'Black Jews'
This person deleted her account.
Let’s go over everything that’s wrong with progressive thinking among minority groups....A hateful black man stabs Jews, & there is an immediate focus on black Jews & white supremacy. White supremacists & black Jews were not involved here... #Monsey pic.twitter.com/99O8JAPa1c— Rocky KAG 🌐 (@IWiIlkaga) December 29, 2019
Bose QuietComfort Wireless Bluetooth Headphones
At Amazon, Bose QuietComfort 35 II Wireless Bluetooth Headphones, Noise-Cancelling, with Alexa voice control, enabled with Bose AR – Black.
BONUS: Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel.
Trump's 'Failures'
Victor Davis Hanson: The Left, far better than the NeverTrump Right, grasped that Trump is succeeding, and that it has little traction in demanding economic, energy, immigration, trade, and regulatory alternatives. https://t.co/xaTxyd73NY
— American Greatness (@theamgreatness) December 30, 2019
Barack Obama's Book Recommendations
As we wind down 2019, I wanted to share with you my annual list of favorites that made the last year a little brighter. We’ll start with books today — movies and music coming soon. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. pic.twitter.com/l5qTGkAPok
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 28, 2019
'We're Not Safe as Jews in New York'
After Saturday night's stabbing, Monsey families are no longer thinking of sweet celebrations. Moms told me they plan to teach their kids self-defense tactics to use walking to the bus.
— Emma Green (@emmaogreen) December 29, 2019
This is what anti-Semitism is doing to American Jewish communities.https://t.co/7amduhp4iN
Trump Ties Obama as Most Admired Man in 2019 — Leftist Heads Explode Everywhere
How could this be possible? Trump as admired as Obama? No way!
So says Gallup, to exploding leftist heads everywhere.
Via Memeorandum:
Barack Obama and Donald Trump tie as the most admired man this year. https://t.co/4bM4XVDNm1 pic.twitter.com/V10ArtL2bL
— GallupNews (@GallupNews) December 30, 2019
Olga's Monday Forecast
I'm talking my young son up to Yucca Valley (by Joshua Tree) to visit my older sister for New Year's.
Thought there was going to be snow on the road today, but it's not looking too bad right now.
Here's the beautiful Ms. Olga, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:
Ashley Roberts Abs
Ashley Roberts shows off her incredible abs in skimpy bikinis as she soaks up the sun in Thailand https://t.co/SjykmfpB0P
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) December 30, 2019
Jennifer Lopez in Red Latex
Jennifer Lopez in Red Latex Workout Gear - https://t.co/Z7NmCzxfaF - pic.twitter.com/KTC7FFzBuZ
— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) December 27, 2019
Sunday, December 29, 2019
The Return of Pogroms to Jewish American Life
After the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Shabbat that killed 11 people last year, and another fatal shooting at a shul in Poway, California six months later, one often heard that the great threat to Jews – even the only threat – comes from white supremacy. Conventional wisdom said it was the political right, and the right’s avatar in the White House, that was to blame for the rising levels of hate against Jews.
But the majority of the perpetrators of the Brooklyn attacks, and the suspects in Jersey City — who were killed in a shootout with the police — and now Monsey, were not white, leaving many at a loss about how to explain it or even talk about it. There is little evidence that these attacks are ideologically motivated, at least in terms of the ideologies of hate we are most familiar with.
And therein lies the trouble with talking about the violent attacks against Orthodox Jews: At a time when ideology seems to rein supreme in the chattering and political classes, the return of pogroms to Jewish life on American soil transcends ideology. In the fight against anti-Semitism, you don’t get to easily blame your traditional enemies — which, in the age of Trump, is a non-starter for most people.
Of course, the rise in anti-Semitism is not incidental to the times we live in. While the Brooklyn attackers are, at least according to demographic trends, extremely unlikely to be Trump supporters, our president, who has a penchant for anti-Semitic tropes, is a conspiracy theorist, and anti-Semitism often manifests as a conspiracy theory about secretive Jewish power.
But conspiracy theories flourish on the left as well in today’s day and age. They twist and torque those rigid ideologies to which so many are enslaved, reshaping the extremes from polar opposites into a horseshoe whose ends meet — again and again — to justify, excuse, or muzzle criticism of anti-Semitism.
It has resulted in a staggering, shameful silence when it comes to speaking out on behalf of the wave of pogroms against the Orthodox. For many people, it seems when they can’t blame the other side of the political aisle, they would rather say nothing at all.
This is not acceptable. The Jewish community’s most visible, vulnerable members need Americans to stand up and say “no more.” They need us to climb out of our trenches and find common ground to fight this ugly resurgence of anti-Jewish hatred.
We can only fight this fight together, because it is a pox on all of our houses. It is only by remembering what unites us as Americans that we can help our fellow Jews and, as “Maoz Tzur” suggests, hasten the time of salvation.
Leftists Allowing — Encouraging — Anti-Semitism to Flourish
I first wrote about the uptick [of anti-Semitic attacks] in May. The reason the city’s liberal political class was ignoring it, I argued, is that the criminals don’t fit their picture of Evil Bigots. They aren’t, for the most part, MAGA-hat wearing white guys with tiki torches. In fact, many of the attackers are people of color, as investigative reporting by Tablet’s Armin Rosen and others has shown.
Imagine if they were white nationalists. How much faster would the mayor and other city leaders have taken action?
“A lot of folks were told it was unacceptable to be anti-Semitic,” de Blasio said in May. “It was unacceptable to be racist, and now they’re getting more permission.” The message was subtle but unmistakable: De Blasio was trying to pin the attacks in bright-blue New York on President Trump.
Hizzoner didn’t surrender the fantasy for some time. In June, he said: “I want to be very, very clear, the violent threat, the threat that is ideological, is very much from the right.”
He left unclear how the Big Apple had come to be populated by ideological far-right types beating up on Jews. His comments underscored his inability to truly counter the type of street-level anti-Semitism spreading through the city.
Will he face the facts now? Or will Jews need to actually die, not just be pummeled, for our leaders to grasp the threat?
“Anti-Semitism is an attack on the values of our city — and we will confront it head-on,”
De Blasio tweeted after this latest round of violence against Jews. He has to stop beating around the bush. These attacks aren’t an attack on “our values.” They’re attacks on visibly Jewish people.
De Blasio needs to stop trying to find a “them” to be the opposite of his “us.” His juvenile obsession with having the right adversaries allows anti-Semitism to flourish.
I used to write about Europeans and their apathetic attitudes toward the Jew-hatred around them. Synagogues torched, Jews beaten — just another day on the Continent.
But now the demon is here, in America. Worse, it’s stalking Jews with increasing regularity in New York City, my city, home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel. Hizzoner’s vague universalist rhetoric obscures this raw reality.
And it isn’t just his ideological blinders. The mayor has also helped create an anti-police atmosphere, in which the vigilant presence of officers is considered a bad thing. At an anti-police rally last month, there were signs calling for violence against the NYPD.
De Blasio’s response? He insinuated that the idea that there’s anti-police sentiment in our city is, yes, another right-wing plot.
In 2020 I don’t want to read another column like this one...
Saturday, December 28, 2019
White Voters See Doom Without Trump
Conservatives will continue to flee the progressive urban enclaves and coastal states, and leftists will continue to cluster into "high-density" shithole municipalities (think San Francisco), drinking their Veuve Clicquot in million dollar townhomes, while moaning about "inequality."
That said, I love the "civil war" metaphor and, frankly, I won't mind if it becomes more than a metaphor (calling Kurt Schlichter).
At NYT, "‘Nothing Less Than a Civil War’: These White Voters on the Far Right See Doom Without Trump":
‘Nothing Less Than a Civil War’: These White Voters on the Far Right See Doom Without Trump— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 28, 2019
Deeply conservative, they organize online and outside the GOP apparatus, engaging in more explicit versions of the chest-beating seen at the president’s rallieshttps://t.co/zOPrfLm9Sf
GOLDEN VALLEY, Ariz. — Great American Pizza & Subs, on a highway about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas, was busier and Trumpier than usual. On any given day it serves “M.A.G.A. Subs” and “Liberty Bell Lasagna.” The “Second Amendment” pizza comes “loaded” with pepperoni and sausage. The dining room is covered in regalia praising President Trump.More.
But this October morning was “Trumpstock,” a small festival celebrating the president. The speakers included the local Republican congressman, Paul Gosar, and lesser-known conservative personalities. There was a fringe 2020 Senate candidate in Arizona who ran a website that published sexually explicit photos of women without their consent; a pro-Trump rapper whose lyrics include a racist slur aimed at Barack Obama; and a North Carolina activist who once said of Muslims, “I will kill every one of them before they get to me.”
All were welcome, except liberals.
“They label us white nationalists, or white supremacists,” volunteered Guy Taiho Decker, who drove from California to attend the event. A right-wing protester, he has previously been arrested on charges of making terrorist threats.
“There’s no such thing as a white supremacist, just like there’s no such thing as a unicorn,” Mr. Decker said. “We’re patriots.”
As Mr. Trump’s bid for re-election shifts into higher gear, his campaign hopes to recapture voters who drifted away from the party in 2018 and 2019: independents who embraced moderate Democratic candidates, suburban women tired of Mr. Trump’s personal conduct and working-class voters who haven’t benefited from his economic policies.
But if any group remains singularly loyal to Mr. Trump, it is the small but impassioned number of white voters on the far right, often in rural communities like Golden Valley, who extol him as a cultural champion reclaiming the country from undeserving outsiders.
These voters don’t passively tolerate Mr. Trump’s “build a wall” message or his ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries — they’re what motivates them. They see themselves in his fear-based identity politics, bolstered by conspiratorial rhetoric about caravans of immigrants and Democratic “coups.”
But events like it, as well as speaking engagements featuring far-right supporters of the president, have become part of the political landscape during the Trump era. Islamophobic taunts can be heard at his rallies. Hate speech and conspiracy theories are staples of some far-right websites. If Trumpstock was modest in size, it stood out as a sign of extremist public support for a sitting president.
And these supporters have electoral muscle in key areas: Mr. Trump outperformed Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, in rural parts of Arizona like Mohave County, where Golden Valley is located. Mr. Trump won 58,282 votes in the county, compared to 47,901 for Mr. Romney, though Mr. Romney carried the state by a much bigger vote margin.
Arizona will be a key battleground state in 2020: Democrats already flipped a Senate seat and a Tucson-based congressional district from red to blue in 2018. For Mr. Trump, big turnout from white voters in areas like Mohave County — and in rural parts of other battlegrounds like Florida, Michigan, Minnesota and Georgia — could be a lifeline in a tight election.
“We like to call this the ‘Red Wall of Arizona,’” said Laurence Schiff, a psychiatrist and Republican campaign official in Mohave County who organizes in support of Mr. Trump’s campaign. “Winning the state starts here, with us.”
Grass-roots gatherings play a critical role in the modern culture of political organizing, firing up ardent supporters and cementing new ones. Small circles of Trump-supporting conservatives, often organized online and outside the traditional Republican Party apparatus, engage in more decentralized — and explicit — versions of the chest-beating that happens at Mr. Trump’s closely watched political rallies...
College Football's Best Semifinals Yet
With the exception of last night --- and USC's loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes --- I haven't watched any bowl games. Today and New Year's day will be great.
At NYT, "College Football Playoff Offers Its Strongest Semifinals Yet":
Critics of the College Football Playoff system, now in its sixth year, often lament its made-for-TV artificiality, its subjective selection process and the role it has played in widening the gap between the sport’s haves and its have-nots.
In reply, proponents of the system need only point to this weekend.
The four best teams in college football will meet Saturday in the most appealing semifinals since the three-game playoff format debuted after the 2014 season. The only tough decisions the selection committee had to make this year were how to seed this a group that includes four of the nation’s top offenses, three undefeated teams, two previous playoff champions, and all four of the Heisman Trophy finalists.
How these particular teams got to this point is pretty easy to decode: They are led by four of the sport’s most talented quarterbacks. The best, undeniably, is Louisiana State’s Joe Burrow, who guided the Tigers to the top ranking and won the Heisman Trophy by a record-breaking margin. The other quarterbacks in the semifinals are Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, the Heisman runner-up; Ohio State’s dual-threat Justin Fields, who has thrown 40 touchdowns and only one interception this season; and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, who as a freshman led the Tigers to a win over Alabama in the national title game last season.
Here’s a closer look at the two matchups on Saturday...
You Don't Say? Rachel Maddow Rooted for the Steele Dossier to Be True
BONUS: At AoSHQ, "Washington Post Columnist Rips Rachel Maddow for Promoting Steele Dossier Conspiracy Theories for Three Years."
More, at Legal Insurrection, "Again We Ask: Why Isn’t Rachel Maddow Treated Like Other Crazy Conspiracy Theorists?"
New York Anti-Semitic Attacks (VIDEO)
And on Twitter, be sure to read the entire Seth Mandel thread:
That Jews cannot walk the streets of New York City without the fear of being attacked is outrageous.
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) December 27, 2019
We need to wake the world up to rising antisemitism.
Please watch and share this video. pic.twitter.com/nYOVWvcJyr
I often relay stories of being stopped from eating off nonkosher menus in NYC by non-Jewish workers (say, in Dunkin Donuts, which has a kosher and nonkosher list of products). Being visibly Jewish in NYC meant something very special, very warm, very home.
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) December 27, 2019
Now it means fear.
Alex Biston's Cold Saturday Forecast
Here's the lovely Ms. Alex, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:
BONUS: "Jennifer Delacruz's Weather Forecast."
At Least the Boat Captain Wasn't Texting
“Take up fishing” they said, “it’ll be relaxing” they said. pic.twitter.com/Q78rxfgnok— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) December 28, 2019
Click on the tweet for the link to the earlier story. Apparently the boat pilot was not texting on his phone.
Roundup: Emily Ratajkowski's Shots
Have you shopped our Baxter bra yet? Available now @inamoratawoman https://t.co/OSTEBd6gmm pic.twitter.com/czltzdzphf
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) December 14, 2019