HERMAN CAIN HAS NOT LOST HIS SENSE OF HUMOR.

TAKEDOWN OF THE YEAR: Ignore the commentary and watch the CNN “analyst” freak out at the idea of Brennan having his security clearance revoked. Revoke ALL their clearances. If the USGOV needs their assistance they can be cleared on an expedited basis. Instead you’re being lied to so these K-Street scum can make huge consulting fees with lobbyists and mega-corporations.

There, I fixed it.

Related (From Ed): ‘GET OUT!!!’ CNN’s Berserk Phil Mudd Tries to Kick Guest off Show.

BUT THEY’RE SO WOKE!: Ok, Michelle Wolff’s “humor” leaves something to be desired, for sure. She compared First Daughter and White House advisor Ivanka Trump to herpes, made a satirical video linking ICE to ISIS while impersonating Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and celebrated abortions in honor of Independence Day with a parade and marching band. But the best part:

The Daily Beast reported late Friday night that the writing staff and showrunners of The Break with Michelle Wolf found out about their show’s cancellation on Twitter.

As is the case with all these preening Hollywood frauds “speaking truth to power”, screw the worker: “it’s all about MEEEEEEE!”

FILE UNDER “TWEETS THAT DID NOT AGE WELL.” Heh.

THE CONSERVATIVE CONUNDRUM: When is more government regulation justified? My weekly column in the Daily Caller. (Note copious citations to Glenn Reynolds’ work. I only steal from the best).

Related: When Digital Platforms Become Censors.

I’M NEVER ONE TO DOUBT THE PROFESSOR: but this has to be a hoax. Nobody, I mean nobody is named “Nimrod.”

THEY KEEP TELLING ME TRUMP IS WAGING WAR ON THE PRESS: I’d pay good money to see Jim Acosta shoot his petulant self-important mouth off in China. Or Singapore. Or Saudi. Or Thailand. Or Venezuela. Or Cuba. Or Turkey. But unlike Washington DC, it’s hard to get a good facial massage in those places, and a man’s got to have his priorities.  All in the name of brave journalism, you know.
#MeanTweetsHurtsMyFeels

TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME: Is it really a thing?  Yes and no.

My column for The Daily Caller this week…

SARAH JEONG ACCUSED OF LEAVING DEVASTATION BEHIND IN PURSUIT OF A STORY: Reporting from repressive regimes is tricky business. I’ve had to manage many stories over the years filed from Saudi Arabia, Russia and of course, my experience with China and the way it has been surrendered to is almost legendary. Reporters often forget that they are not the only ones at risk: in these countries identifying sources may expose them to not just public harassment but government pressure or even arrest and in some cases torture or worse.

Now infamous Sarah Jeong of The New York Times Editorial Board is being accused of exactly such recklessness by a young woman in China, who claims that Jeong, working for Vice exposed her to danger:

Vice would endanger me for a few clicks because in Brooklyn certain things are no big deal. This is not journalism and does not deserve to hide behind the protection legitimate use of that title warrants, this is a savage abuse of privilege knowing full well that in China I had no possible recourse against a billion dollar company who thought titillating their readers with my personal details was worth putting me in jeopardy.

Read the Whole Thing. ™

LET’S TALK ABOUT MELANIA’S SHOES INSTEAD: I’m not one to say this sort of thing, but if this were happening in a white neighborhood it would lead the news. Every damned day. The Chicago Tribune reports:

At least 41 people were shot from 11 a.m. Saturday through Sunday morning, four fatally, police said. Three of those deaths happened since about midnight in a period when 35 people were shot. During one 2½-hour early-morning period alone, 25 people were shot — two fatally — in five multiple-injury shootings, police said.

One of the dead was a 17-year-old girl who was shot in the face.

If there is such a thing as “white privilege,” its the lower odds of being gunned down in a city run for decades by corrupt Democrats.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Related: Chicago Politicians Are In Bed With The Gangs.

THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE: Acosta faces down Granny in near death experience. Hey, she might be packing Werther’s Originals, and that’s ASSAULT CANDY.

Do. Not. Mess. With. Granny.

Related (From Ed): CNN’s April Ryan Is Shown to Lie About Trump’s Tampa Rally By a Most Amazing Person — Jim Acosta.

ON MY MUST READ LIST: Coming Feb.12, 2019 W.W. Norton & Co., “Gumbo Life: Tales from the Roux Bayou.” If you like great writing or cajun food or thoughtful insight into cultures other than your own…this is a guaranteed must read. Besides, Ken Wells can write like a house afire.

YOU KNEW IT ALL ALONG: Kudos to Michael Isikoff for continuing to dig into this story. Of course the Obama Administration is responsible for lapses in cyber-security. But the pre-programmed responses we’re going to see from the ̶W̶a̶s̶h̶i̶n̶g̶t̶o̶n̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶r̶p̶s̶  DNC stenographers are:

1. Old news, who cares?
2. Collusion! Russia! Manafort!
3. That’s racist.

Note that The Professor has had his eye on this for a while.

CONSPIRACY FANS WILL BE BUZZING OVER THIS ONE: While it’s true that DNC staffer Seth Rich’s murder was both tragic and mysterious (especially given the theories he was the real hacker) and also given the fact that “Arkancide” is a theory that people dangerous to Hillary Clinton have a way of dying under tragic and mysterious causes, Politico is reporting that a federal court threw out claims against Fox News for reporting on the story:

One, filed by Rich’s parents, claimed that Fox News intentionally tried to inflict emotional distress. The other was filed by a private detective, Rod Wheeler, alleging defamation…Fox News later retracted the article. The report, however, prompted a number of conspiracy theories because it contradicted assessments by the U.S. intelligence community that Russia was behind the hacking at the DNC.

I called this back in March here. As I said then and say now, while I have sympathy for the Rich family, the ability to report on this sort of thing — even if incorrectly on a good faith basis — is too important to penalize and discourage.

TOO BAD KEVIN WILLIAMSON DIDN’T GET SUCH KID GLOVE TREATMENT: New York Times hires a Editorial Board member with a pretty nasty Twitter history. (Image below). It’s always amazing how our intellectual and moral betters don’t understand how Twitter works. And so far, from media critics and observers? * crickets*

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): The response from the NYT is basically “sure she said a lot of racist things, but it’s all the fault of white people.”

The “period of time” is about two years, apparently, and many of her tweets aren’t in response to anything.

PROOF WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY OF ABUNDANCE. AND MORONS.

KEEPING THOSE STEREOTYPES ALIVE: NYP reports that New Yawk Governor Andrew Cuomo does his best to make “The Sopranos” look like a documentary instead of fiction:

“Cuomo accepted $15,000 from Saratoga Casino and Raceway, $7,000 from Sea Crest Construction Corp., and two donations of $5,000 each this month from the Northeastern Line Constructors Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association.”

Hmmm…racetracks, casinos, construction companies and electrical contractors.

WHERE DID THE INTERNET GO WRONG? My Daily Caller column (reposted from late last night).

“DADDY, WHAT’S A MODEM?” A look at where the Internet went wrong, in my latest Daily Caller column.

HEY GUYS! SHE’S AVAILABLE NOW! (Let the jokes begin…)

BEST SPOOF ACCOUNT OF THE MONTH: Beverly Hills Antifa.

SHOCKER! Google “Theresa Lund” or read Ed Driscoll’s post here.

Now tell me if this surprises you.

STAY CLASSY: Last week Planned Parenthood NY launched a new You Tube ad with the theme “Freedom to F*ck.” I can’t imagine why they voluntarily took it down.

If you are dying to see it, a You Tuber captured a copy of it.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS, KIDS:  I agreed with Chomsky today probably for the first time in my life. When asked about Treasonpalooza he said:

[F]irst of all, it is a joke. Half the world is cracking up in laughter. The United States doesn’t just interfere in elections. It overthrows governments it doesn’t like, institutes military dictatorships. Simply in the case of Russia alone—it’s the least of it—the U.S. government, under Clinton, intervened quite blatantly and openly, then tried to conceal it, to get their man Yeltsin in, in all sorts of ways. So, this, as I say, it’s considered—it’s turning the United States, again, into a laughingstock in the world.

Salvador Allende, Juan Batista, Patrice Lumumba and Ngo Diem could not be reached for comment.

MIXED UP PRIORITIES: The BBC got dinged to the tune of $273,902.72 (plus additional damages to be calculated later plus attorney’s fees)  this morning for invading the privacy of entertainer Sir Cliff Richard. The OBE’s apartment was raided by police in a sexcapade allegation (that never came to pass) and the court found that BBC had “sensationalized” and violated Richards’ privacy by entering his flat and incessantly broadcasting the footage. The BBC argued that:

“This judgment creates new case law and represents a dramatic shift against press freedom and the long-standing ability of journalists to report on police investigations, which in some cases has led to further complainants coming forward.”

Where was their commitment to reporting in letting 16 years of police investigations go unreported in Rotherham, where Muslim gangs  sexually exploited and abused as many as 1,500 girls? Oh, that would be racist and Islamophobic, I get it. (The UK press refers to the Pakistani perpetrators as “Asian.” How veddy British.)

**Corrected math on damages. Now you know why I’m a lawyer and not an accountant**