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May 2017

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on May 31, 2017 31 Comments
Q. Is there anything—anything!—about which the MSM won't criticize about the Trump administration? A. No, judging by the mind-bogglingly minuscule, absurd and hypocritical thing that Chris Matthews has found to carp about. On his Hardball show of May 30th, Matthews got bent out of shape over the fact that Jared Kushner . . . might have a car and driver take him to work at the White House. After video rolled of Kushner emerging from what is presumably his DC home and getting into an SUV with someone at the wheel, a vexed Matthews said:

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 31, 2017 12 Comments
Well, Lebanon has officially banned the movie Wonder Woman after a group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel (CBSI) urged the government to do so since Israeli-born Gal Gadot stars as the lead. From USA Today:
While no official reason was given for the ban, the Associated Press reports that the move follows a campaign in the country against Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, who served two years in the Israeli army. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel. The ban is in accordance with a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 31, 2017 16 Comments
I have written a lot about "intersectionality" theory, particularly how it is used to single out Israel by making Israel the nexus of all oppression in the world regardless of the issue:
Every real or perceived problem is either blamed on or connected to Israel. The concerted effort to turn the Black Lives Matter movement into an anti-Israel movement has at its core the claim that Israel is the root of problems of non-whites in the United States. Thus, if a police chief somewhere attended a one-week anti-terrorism seminar in Israel years ago, every act of brutality by a cop on the beat is blamed on Israel. So too, Students for Justice in Palestine protesters in New York City even blamed high tuition on Zionists, leading to rebukes by administrators against such thinly-veiled anti-Semitism.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 31, 2017 17 Comments
*UPDATE* CNN has cut ties with Kathy Griffin. From USA Today:
"CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program," CNN spokesman Shimrit Sheetrit confirmed to USA TODAY in a statement Wednesday.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) announced on CNN this morning that he will still participate in an event with Kathy Griffin, even after she posed with the bloody head of President Donald Trump. From CNN:
Franken cited Griffin's apology in explaining his decision. "Kathy's a friend and she's a terrific comedian, but this had no business being in our public discourse," Franken said. "And I talked to her. She has apologized -- a real, fulsome apology. She's actually begged for forgiveness, and I believe in forgiveness."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 31, 2017 10 Comments
America recently marked the 40th anniversary of the debut of the blockbuster movie, Star Wars. In 1983, in homage to the movie's popularity, Ronald Reagan's "Strategic Defense Initiative" was rechristened "Star Wars". While the original goal of the program was to build a network of ground-based and space-based systems to shield the country from a massive intercontinental ballistic missile attack, Reagan's successors have scaled back on his original plans substantially. Since President Donald Trump took office, North Korea has launched 9 separate test ballistic missiles, with the goal of developing one that could reach the United States with a nuclear payload.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on May 31, 2017 30 Comments
If, say, Greg Gutfield had held up a realistic-looking severed head of the previous president, do you think Morning Joe would have refused to cover the story? But on today's Morning Joe, when a panelist made reference to "the Kathy Griffin news," Mika Brzezinski put her foot down:

"We're not talking about it. I'm sorry, it's too gross. It's just not worth doing."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 31, 2017 20 Comments
The 2018 midterms are going to be followed like nothing we've seen before, drawing more mainstream media coverage than did even the 2010 midterms.  Although they have lost two special elections (Kansas and Montana) and failed to avoid a runoff in Georgia, Democrats and their media allies really really want the 2018 midterms to be a referendum on President Trump. While we focus often on the fact that Democrats are divided between the Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren wing and the slightly less radical Cory Booker wing, Republicans, too, are divided.  The 2018 Ohio Senate race for incumbent Sherrod Brown (D)'s seat provides a snapshot of this friction. Conservative, conservative-leaning, and Trump-supporting Republicans are already endorsing Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel in what they hope will be a successful rematch between Brown and Mandel.  Mandel lost to Brown in 2012 and last year announced he was running again in 2018.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 31, 2017 11 Comments
There is still bitterness in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party from Bernie Sanders supporters who believe the primary was rigged for Hillary Clinton. This problem was compounded when Tom Perez, a Clinton loyalist, was chosen to lead the DNC over Keith Ellison who had been endorsed by Sanders. Now the DNC has formed a new commission and it's made up entirely of Clinton people. Michael Sainato reports at The Observer:
DNC Voting Commission Consists Entirely of Clinton Surrogates, Ignores Own Primaries The Nation reported on May 25 that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is launching a voting commission in response to President Donald Trump and Republicans forming their “election integrity” commission. Ari Berman for the Nation wrote, “The DNC says its commission will debunk the myth that voter fraud is widespread, document the impact of voter suppression efforts in the 2016 election, and propose solutions to expand voting rights.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 30, 2017 19 Comments
I was a guest on the Tommy Tucker Show on Louisiana superstation WWL this morning. We covered a wide range of topics over almost 17 minutes. Thanks to Tommy for giving me the time. 17 minutes in radio world is like a million years in real people time. We started with the weekend media eruption over Jared Kushner, "Backchannels," and the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation. I'll add some transcription shortly.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 30, 2017 37 Comments
No one knows hypocrisy more than the left. The latest example appeared in a photoshoot with "comedian" Kathy Griffin by photographer Tyler Shields, which has her holding the bloody severed head of President Donald Trump. According to TMZ, Griffin told Shields that the two of them may have "to move to Mexico once the pics got released, for fear they'd be thrown in prison."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 30, 2017 41 Comments
As emblems of the Confederacy all across the country are being dismantled, a Texas Antifa group has picked an odd target for their angst -- a well-loved statue of the Republic of Texas' first President, Sam Houston. Sam Houston was a badass if ever there was one. Not only was he an honorary Cherokee, but it took him a measly 18 minutes to defeat Mexican General Santa Anna, effectively ending the Texas Revolution and creating the greatest Republic that ever was.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 30, 2017 21 Comments
Now former Denver Post sportswriter Terry Frei faced massive criticism after he tweeted he felt "very uncomfortable with a Japanese driver winning the Indianapolis 500 during Memorial Day weekend."  Takumo Sato became the first Japanese winner of the famous car race. The social media pile on led him to apologize and delete his tweet. Later Monday, The Denver Post released a statement that condemned Frei's views and announced he no longer worked at the publication.
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