AND OUR FLAG IS STILL THERE: September 11th: Evil Is Real And So Is Courage.
Archive for 2019
September 11, 2019
DID YOU GO CRAZY OR DID YOU REPORT? ON THAT DAY THEY WOUNDED NEW YORK: I wouldn’t know. I’m just holding the fort. Since that day, they wounded New York.
September 10, 2019
PUNCH THE MCCARTHYITE BULLY IN THE NOSE: One America News Network Files $10 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “One America News Network (OANN) filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit Monday against MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, alleging that the host “maliciously and recklessly” suggested on the air that the conservative news channel is a paid Russian state propaganda outlet. In addition to Maddow, OANN is suing MSNBC, Comcast Corporation and NBC Universal for defamation.”
Under the circumstances, I’m surprised there wasn’t at least one more zero on the claim.
SEEN ON FACEBOOK: “I’ll be quite comfy with Ambassador Grenell as John Bolton’s successor.”
A MAGA VICTORY in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. The NY Times’ pre-results take: “Experts see the race between State Senator Dan Bishop, a Republican, and the entrepreneur Dan McCready, a Democrat, as a test of President Trump’s clout in suburban areas.”
Related: Republican Greg Murphy wins special election in NC’s 3rd District.
Plus:
THIS WAS OBVIOUS TO ANYONE WHO, YOU KNOW, WAS PAYING ATTENTION OR WHO KNOWS KERRY ROBERTS: It was a joke, says Tennessee senator who said colleges should be banned. But there’s a whole industry that pretends to take jokes seriously and then gins up phony outrage. I’m glad they failed here.
WELL, THAT’S RASHIDA IN A NUTSHELL: Rashida Tlaib’s ‘political revolution’ is treason masked as justice.
NEW NFL SEASON OFF TO ROARING START: Antonio Brown accused of raping and sexually abusing ex-trainer.
OPEN THREAD: Disport yourselves in the comments.
HE’S NOT WRONG: Angry Trump: ‘The Media Are an Arm of the Democrat Party.’
JUSTICE IS DONE: Oberlin College denied new trial in Gibson’s Bakery case. “The Court finds that the amount awarded is not manifestly excessive nor does it appear to be influenced by passion or prejudice.”
CAN YOU BELIVE THE SPACELINE FOOD? AND THEY WAY THEY TREAT YOUR LUGGAGE! Interstellar flight is a real pain in the neck.
21st CENTURY HEADLINES: Rejoice in the birth of the gender-neutral penguin.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INVITES ICE TO TOWN HALL. IS SHOCKED TO FIND HE’S BEING DEPORTED: “It’s true that ICE doesn’t put a high priority on people without serious criminal records, but when you just throw it in their face like that you can’t expect them to ignore the law. Were you expecting a merit badge or something?”
DON’T GO WOBBLY NOW: Republicans face crunch time on guns as Trump wavers. Wavering on guns is the only sure-fire way for the GOP to lose next year. Which of course means that the media — and all too many Republicans — are all-in for that.
THE USUALLY GENIAL STEVE MNUCHIN SNAPS AT JIM ACOSTA:
As one would expect, Pompeo and Mnuchin defended the president. “The president is entitled to the staff he wants,” Pompeo said. Pompeo admitted there were “many times” he and Bolton disagreed but added, “that’s true of a lot of people I interacted with.” According to the original notice Bolton was supposed to be at the press briefing motivating a reporter to ask if they were blindsided by Bolton’s departure, Pompeo drew laughter with his answer, “I am never surprised.”
Generally, the two avoided specifics about Bolton’s departure, leaving it to the President or Press Secretary to dive into that pool.
Finally, they called on Jim it’s all about me Acosta.
“Is the national security team a mess?” CNN’s Jim Acosta asked.
“Absolutely not. That’s the most ridiculous question I’ve ever heard of,” Mnuchin snapped. He continued. “Let me say the National Security Team which is what you asked consists of The National Security Advisor, the Secretary Of Defense, Secretary Of State, myself, Chief Of Staff and many others.”
Which is polite Mnuchin speak for; What? Are you a freaking moron?
As with the late Helen Thomas before him, Acosta basically exists for dunking practice by GOP administrations.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The Rise Of The Comfort College. “I started to reply. But a group of younger faculty in the front row demanded that I be quiet and let the students speak. And the students did. They had almost nothing to say about free speech; instead, they testified to the indignities they suffered at Williams. The dean of the college, who was in attendance, praised the students for their passion. And so began Williams College’s annus horribilis, a year marked by protests, marches, threats and demands — everything but rational argument.”
Cost of attending Williams College: $73,200 per year.
GIBSON’S BAKERY V. OBERLIN REVIEWED: Law geeks and people concerned with the “inmates running the asylums” theme at today’s college campuses might find this of interest.
It’s a “point/counterpoint” sort of piece where I was squared up against a University of Michigan Law Professor (a genuinely nice guy, but drowning in the Kool-Aid). He insisted — against the facts — that Oberlin was being “punished for the students’ speech.” That’s the narrative of the MSM, anyway.
I took issue with that:
The narrative that this case “holds a college responsible for the improper speech of its students” is not correct. While the plaintiffs’ painted such a picture in their Complaint, when you read the depos and trial transcript, you’ll see that it is undeniable that school officials did in fact print and distribute the defamatory flyer. The judge called this “indisputable” in the summary judgment opinion. At least 3 credible witnesses testified in depositions and at trial that Dean Raimondo and another school employee carried stacks of the flyers to the protest and handed them out, which satisfied the “publication” element in Ohio libel law. At trial, Raimondo said one of the witnesses (a local journalist) “was lying.” Additionally, the jury heard Leslie Lubinski, an administrative assistant in the Dean’s office, admit that school staff made additional photocopies of the flyer for the protesters. (Trial Tr. 5/30/19, pg. 62).
The refusal of media lawyers to admit reality (remember Gawker’s lawyers insisting that sex tapes of Hulk Hogan “served the public interest”?) and just baldly pretending the facts are not there is just as responsible for the public’s ever-dwindling lack of trust in what is supposed to be one of our most trusted institutions.
Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?
SUZANNE VENKER ON the elusive American husband. “If traditional sex roles were truly passé, as the culture has insisted for years, women would have no problem finding a husband. If it didn’t matter which sex is richer or more educated, women would be perfectly happy in the provider role and would marry any one of the countless men of lesser status who are clearly and readily available. But they aren’t doing that. And many of the women who are doing it are miserable.”
In my observation, even the most outspoken feminist women are okay with the man as provider.
SNOWFALLS ARE NOW JUST A THING OF THE PAST: James Cameron Wants You to ‘Wake the F*** Up’ About This Supposed Climate Crisis. “If Cameron really believed what he’s saying, he’d stop making movies. That industry has a huge carbon footprint. But not only is he making a sequel to Avatar, a movie everybody has forgotten about already, he’s planning four sequels. Avatar 5 is scheduled for release in 2027, which will be tough to do if we’ve already driven off the cliff with the radio cranked up and the top down. He doesn’t actually think we’re all doomed, or there’d be nobody left to buy tickets for his crummy movies.”
(Classical reference in headline.)