WORST. LEGAL ARGUMENT. EVER. “‘Provocative’ pictures of Meghan Markle show payout over topless Kate Middleton photos was wrong, magazine to argue.”

“[The magazine’s] lawyers will argue that it is “hypocritical” to award such a large sum to the Duke and Duchess when other members of the Royal family “are happy with sexy photos”, according to sources close to the case.”

Translation: Well, they didn’t mind having their private parts published, so what’s your problem?

A LITTLE HONESTY GOES A LONG WAY: The Washington Post’s Margaret Sullivan doesn’t let Obama off the hook, and reminds the paper’s #ResistClub members that the scooping up of reporters’ data had some precedent from “The Most Transparent Administration Ever”:

“But Trump’s anti-press bluster aside, there’s a clear blueprint to follow — courtesy of Barack Obama, who once claimed that he would be the most transparent president ever but proved to be no friend to press rights.”

To be fair, this shouldn’t be a case of “whattaboutism.” Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it. I’ll be publishing a column on this, and adding some personal reportorial perspective, as well as a little history. This practice goes back to at least Ike and JFK, and it is Trump’s open declaration of dislike for the press (as opposed to the secret dislike held by previous administrations) that has people particularly freaked out.

WELL, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A FLAMETHROWER?  Science reporter and old pal Elizabeth Lopatto asks the question and more. She looks like she’s having fun.

Not like that wuss from the New York Daily News who claimed to get PTSD after firing an AR-15. Once.

OFF WITH HER SHOW! My Daily Caller column bumped up from this morning, about the irrational demands that people be fired for talking smack:

The demand that people lose their jobs because of something they said (as opposed to something they did) perpetuates a chilling effect that will only drive genuine bigots underground. Even worse, it is punishing people for what Orwell called “wrong-think.” […] it won’t change what or how the “bad” people think: it will only force them to be more circumspect and selective about where such views may be aired. I for one, would rather see such views held up for public scrutiny and debate rather than whispered in the dark back rooms of an obscure beer hall.

FUN FACT: The comments to original morning posting are enlightening. They are the exact same comments I’ve been getting from proggie SJW’s: “She deserves it”…”fight fire with fire”…”speech has consequences”…”the [other side] has rigged the game and we can’t take the high moral ground.” The only difference is the IP posters call me a Hillarybot, and the snowflakes call me a Nazi Trumpster.

PINHEADS WITH PITCHFORKS: YOU’RE A VENGEFUL COWARD IF YOU WANT ROSEANNE BARR OR SAMANTHA BEE FIRED — My latest column at The Daily Caller looks at the bipartisan disease of censorship and mob mentality.

“Fire him!” scream the keyboard warriors. “Boycott her sponsors and threaten them!” demand the social justice warriors on both sides of the aisle. What’s missing here is a sense of proportion, a rational relationship between the speaker, their comments, and their role in society. And it’s happening on all sides of the political and social spectrum.

** Nod to Pat Buchanan on the headline.

FAKE NEWS: THE EUROPEAN EDITION. Cardiff University professor Richard Sambrook dissects three recent fake stories. The first one is of particular interest, because it alleged the London Evening Standard has been selling favorable news coverage to companies including Uber, and Google for £3m. The allegation is made by a fake news outfit calling themselves “www.opendemocracy.net.”

And who are the major sponsors behind this fake news outfit? George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Rockefeller Fund. Hold on…we keep getting told that Fake News is a Russian scheme to keep Trump in power. What gives?

THE PRISON-HOUSE OF POLITICAL LANGUAGE: A must read article in Quilette, about the various ways in which the political left uses the techniques of Newspeak in the real world, in Britain and in the USA, while projecting their own totalitarian motives onto their opponents. Nail on the head stuff right here:

“The US media, stocked with coastal elites who all seem to be on the same page politically (including on the issue of blacklisting those with dissenting opinion), has more or less devoted itself to daily preaching against Donald Trump for the past two years. Criticising or morally condemning Trump is hardly edgy or even a courageous act of sticking one’s head above the parapet; it is expected. Yet these people still call him a totalitarian. How can we account for this lack of self-awareness on their part?”

How dare they allow this to be published! Why, the country is just loaded with “deplorables”!

THE MERKEL LEGACY: A Israeli teen and two of his friends were attacked at a Berlin railway station by a group of Arab men who became enraged when they heard a Hebrew song playing on the Israeli’s cellphone.

“Hebrew music? For 70 years you are murdering children. Berlin is our city now and here we don’t listen to fucking Jewish music.”

“Our city now.” Let that sink in.

IT’S NOT YOU: THEY HAVE BECOME UNHINGED. “Democrat compares budget process to rape, NC to North Korea.” It’s a few days old, but worth noting.

Democratic state Rep. Mickey Michaux of Durham is declining to apologize for comments he made during a press conference on Tuesday, when he expressed his anger over how the state budget is being crafted…”Today we have seen a rape of this budget,” Michaux said Tuesday. “And I’m having problems right now trying to reconcile whether I’m in North Carolina or North Korea.”

I’m surprised he didn’t work the Holocaust in there. The best part…wait for it, wait for it…Michaux, the third African-American elected to the N.C. General Assembly, is serving his 43rd year in office.

WHEN MILLENNIALS DRAW MAPS: The kids running graphics at USA Today must have skipped that day in high school…**pssst: Don’t tell Wyoming**

DEMOCRATS SELL OUT COMMITMENT TO CONSTITUTION: As if you needed more proof of the craven Stalinistic turn of the DNC, the party has pretty much given up on the First Amendment. Of course, their stenographers in the MSM won’t change a thing, and if this trend continues, boy are they going to be sorry.

“The notion that journalistic activity such as cultivating sources and receiving illegally obtained documents could be construed as part of a criminal conspiracy is, according to [Jim] Goodale, the “greatest threat to press freedom today.”

And they think Trump is the greatest enemy to press freedom. Dopes.

GET WOKE, GO BROKE:  When you think that “hands up, don’t shoot” is for real, and you never talk about the Infield Fly Rule, well, this is what happens.

Linda Cohn, one of ESPN’s most prominent female anchors, in April 2017 gave a radio interview opining that ESPN’s politics were pushing away viewers and the network had overpaid for NBA rights. Mr. Skipper called to berate her on both counts, people familiar with the call said.

Hell, I’m still trying to come to terms with the Designated Hitter.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! My weekly column is up at The Daily Caller. This week we take a look into the reporting out of Gaza, and find it’s much more complicated than you might think:

Many of the scenes propagated by mainstream media range from selective editing to outright falsity. It seems to me that the real question is whether such deception is a function of inherent bias, a conspiracy of sorts, or instead, the attention-grabbing motive best described as “if it bleeds, it leads.”

*Bumped from this morning* (NB: Some thoughtful commentators suggested I use the word “and” instead of “or” in the above graf. Point well taken

REPEAT AFTER ME: “We do not have a right to not be offended.” An Oregon high school student is suing his school, saying it violated his First Amendment rights when it suspended him for wearing a Trump T-shirt. The very terrible and horrifically offensive T-shirt can be seen here. I warn you, sit down before viewing because you might faint.

This is why they need to start teaching civics in elementary schools again.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! My weekly column is up at The Daily Caller. This week we take a look into the reporting out of Gaza, and find it’s much more complicated than you might think:

Many of the scenes propagated by mainstream media range from selective editing to outright falsity. It seems to me that the real question is whether such deception is a function of inherent bias, a conspiracy of sorts, or instead, the attention-grabbing motive best described as “if it bleeds, it leads.”

WHERE’S YOUR MESSIAH NOW? Resistance hero Michael Avenatti gets slammed in court for failing to pay a settlement. Extra bonus:

[A]n assistant U.S. attorney said Avenatti had not made a payment that was due last week for unpaid taxes as part of the agreement that was reached in January. Court records show Avenatti had personally agreed to pay about $2.4 million in back taxes and penalties.

Well, maybe he has a future at MSNBC. They love tax dodgers.

LEADING THE WAY BACK TO 1984: Media lawyer and friend Jens van den Brink in the Netherlands explains why the EU attempt to criminalize “fake news” is like taking cyanide to cure a cold:

In 2016 the American politician Ron Paul wrote an opinion piece to the effect that the fight against fake news is a war against free speech, and can lead to censorship. This publication draws the ire of the EU, which promptly labeled the opinion itself as ‘fake news’ – so Paul’s opinion is incorrect according to the EU. According to the EU stating that the fight against fake news can be problematic in light of the freedom of speech is ‘fake news’ and qualifies as ‘spreading of disinformation’. The irony of these accusations seems to be completely lost on the EU.

OLD TWEETS BECOME A NEW WEAPON: My weekly column at The Daily Caller is up. Bonus (interview with the inimitable Scott Adams!)
(Bumped from this morning)

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The New York Times has a dreadfully dishonest headline up. I watched the interview, and Trump clearly, unambiguously, explicitly referred to MS-13. But via editing magic, The Times’ editors expanded the president’s statements.  And if you do not think MS-13 are indeed animals, there are a few hundred rape victims and families of murder victims (mostly Hispanic, BTW) who might have a few choice words for you.
*UPDATE: USAToday pulls the same stunt.**
*UPDATE 2: AP corrects same “mistake,” admits that Trump was specifically referring to MS-13.

OLD TWEETS BECOME A NEW WEAPON: My weekly column at The Daily Caller is up. Bonus (interview with the inimitable Scott Adams!)

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Link fixed!

HEY, CNN, IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK: Hamas’ use of people as human shields continues, and the incurious journalists moving stories like this are either really lazy or really biased, or both. CNN pulls the heartstrings:

Dozens of funerals were expected to take place after 60 Palestinians were killed in demonstrations, according to figures provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Among the dead were eight children, including eight-month-old Laila Anwar Ghandour. The health ministry said the baby was asphyxiated by tear gas.

The unasked question: who the hell brings an eight-month-old infant to a violent riot/protest? Even worse, it appears CNN may have fallen for a propaganda hoax: AP reporting that: 

“Gaza health officials are casting doubt on initial claims that a 9-month-old baby died from Israeli tear gas fired during mass protests on the Gaza border with Israel. A medical doctor said Tuesday that the baby, Layla Ghandour, had a pre-existing medical condition and that he did not believe her death was caused by tear gas.”

That update came the same day as the CNN report, but they apparently couldn’t be bothered to question their narrative.

SURELY, CHER MUST OWN A MIRROR: As I say frequently, “Beware the pious.” Cher, the aging songbird-cum-social justice warrior is being sued for racial discrimination against black people. Here’s a story about of one of her unhinged tweets in which she refers to the President as “a demented racist.”


Pot, meet kettle.

GIANT BOOBS STILL MORE IMPORTANT THAN EMPLOYMENT RATE OR PEACE IN KOREA: Bumped up from this morning, my Daily Caller column for this week.

WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT IN NEWS COVERAGE? Giant boobs, of course. My weekly column at Daily Caller is up!

GREAT CAESAR’S GHOST! FOIA requests filed in November 2016 yielded documents that had names redacted for “privacy.” We now know those names were “Jimmy Olson”, “Lois Lane” and Clark Kent.”
What kind of dope was running the FBI in 2016?