GOSH, THAT WOULD BE A SHAME: Sinema Wants Changes to Reconciliation Bill That May Torpedo the Whole Thing.
Author Archive: Ed Driscoll
August 4, 2022
BRITTNEY GRINER SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS IN PRISON AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY ON DRUG CHARGES IN RUSSIA. “Griner is being used as a political pawn. Now, with the sentencing, it forces the hand of President Joe Biden to do something sooner rather than later and get the American citizen out of Russian prison.”
August 3, 2022
Yesterday I reported that David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery Warner, had fired female CEO Ann Sarnov and had replaced her not with a White Man but with… nobody. He just fired her, and replaced her with no one, deciding that what she had been doing simply did not need to be done by anyone.
And what was she doing? Well, Andrej says she was pushing Feminist Agenda into movies.
Specifically, he says she was the motivating force behind the master plan to eliminate the “problematic” figures of the troublesome, toxically-masculine figures of Superman and Batman from the DC Extended Universe, and replace them with… Supergirl and Batgirl.
Note that the Robert Pattison Batman movie exists in its own separate Batman universe where there are no other superheroes or real superpowers so that isn’t affected. This refers to the crossover universe, the “Justice League” universe.
And in that universe, Batman was going to be replaced by Batgirl, and Superman by Supergirl.
Now, I don’t think this is only about agenda: Ben Affleck simply does not want to play Batman ever again, and is only playing him in short appearances to finish up his contract, and DC cannot come to terms with fan favorite Henry Cavill, who wants a multipicture deal and a firm commitment to make standalone Superman movies.
Maybe it’s a mix of both Feminist Agenda and the brilliant idea of “Let’s just replace the male actors with female ones, who work for 70% of the male actors’ salaries!”
The plan goes like this: In the Flash movie, due to time-travel and multiverse-crossing nonsense, the Michael Keaton Batman enters the Justice League Universe and gets to share screen time with the Ben Affleck Batman. But the Ben Affleck Batman dies, making the older, retired Michael Keaton Batman the official, and only, Batman of the Justice League universe.
Being older and retired, his main role will be to serve as a Mr. Miyagi like mentor to his replacement, the race-swapped Batgirl.
Meanwhile, the Flash movie also introduced Supergirl (also race-swapped, if you can believe that!). She will be replacing Superman.
Henry Cavill isn’t coming back to film a death scene, so they’ll just have to claim he went back to Krypton but died on the way back to his home planet.
When Zaslav — or whoever the source for this story — says that the Batgirl movie will irreparably damage the DC brand, he’s almost certainly not just talking about the film’s quality, which is, of course, almost certainly down to the low level we’ve come to expect from DC.
He’s also talking about this movie establishing that Batman — the real one, the active one — and Superman are dead in this universe and have been replaced by Younger, More Diverse Female Replacements Who Are Superior In Every Way, Bigot.
Which he suspects won’t play as well with the mostly-male comic book movie audience as Girlboss feminist CEOs might. Activist Twitter lunatics demand that Hollywood make movies for them… and then never actually see these movies.
And speaking of franchises with an agenda: Actress in new Star Wars Andor series says it’s a ‘scurrilous’ take on the ‘Trumpian world’ and people losing their rights.
To be fair, Star Wars: Rogue One, from which Andor derives its characters and backstory, and which was released in December 2016, had a bit of an anti-American theme hidden in its subtext. However, it was more obsessed with American Original Sin, since the filmmakers couldn’t have known who was going to win the next election, when production began in the summer of 2015. But like the earlier, funnier Saturday Night Live still doing Nixon jokes six years after he resigned, they just can’t quit the Bad Orange Man.
SOMEBODY SET UP US THE BOMB: Karine Jean-Pierre Says It Was ‘Unconstitutional’ For Supreme Court To Overturn Roe.
THE LEGENDARY LANGUAGE OF IAN DURY RETURNS: Punk Rocker Foretold This Week’s ‘Spaz’ Controversy.
The late great Ian Dury left behind important words for pop musicians and fans to remember: “I wibble when I piddle / Cos my middle is a riddle.” That’s from Dury’s outrageous but inspiring 1981 single “Spasticus Autisticus,” the most controversial of the singer-songwriter’s bawdy tunes. It gains new relevance with the self-imposed censorship displayed by Lizzo and Beyoncé, the latest pop stars submitting to Internet mob intimidation.
Both Lizzo and Beyoncé announced they would change the lyrics of their respective songs “Grrrls” and “Heated” after public complaints that each track uses the word “spaz.” The slang term for an inept, gangly person who lacks physical control is a clipped version of “spastic paralysis,” as in cerebral palsy. Lizzo and Beyoncé have made it a cause, part of the ongoing language putsch that changes the use and meaning of words — whether “infrastructure,” “recession” or “spaz” — for political purposes and social regulation.
Apparently neither Lizzo nor Beyoncé was aware of Ian Dury’s artistry, bravery, and culture emancipation. Dury was afflicted with polio as a child, but his thin, slightly bent figure possessed compact determination that powered his musical rhythm and wit. He was one of the bright lights during the British punk movement’s efflorescence, carving personal space out of its famously political anarchy. Finding liberty in punk artistry, Dury updated the tradition of British music-hall ribaldry and rude folk humor. “Spasticus Autisticus” was ultimate proof that Dury presented his person as an example of proud self-identification — not shame or pity but unstoppable individual will.
The artistic censorship Lizzo and Beyoncé embrace is really just condescension. It goes against their pretense of free speech and feminist freedom, tactics that limit them as progressive icons. Yet this “sensitive” posturing exposes the PC game-playing that makes dupes of the fans they pretend to glorify. They belong to the new breed of political stooges who don’t know the difference between a label, an epithet, and an insult.
Related: Beyonce Caves to the Leftist Language Police and We Have a Few Things to Say About That.
At what point does the Orwellian attempt to curtail language stop?
The left wants to lock us into a cult where they get to decide what are acceptable words to use. That is absurd. Maybe that’s the point — to remove the ability to criticize anything that they say — so nothing can be idiotic, crazy, lame, or stupid, when so many things the left pushes are exactly that. It’s to stop the questioning of the narrative and conform. It creates continuing chaos, so we no longer have moorings to reality and our own thought. We are always kowtowing to what we are told we must say. Treat each other with respect and you can’t go wrong, but locking yourself into this kind of a construct is nuts.
So, no, I reject that as we all should. That’s just dumb and insane.
If Beyonce had ignored the outrage mob, or simply replied, “Guys, it’s just a song,” the mob would have shrugged its collective shoulders and moved on to the next target. Why would she enable them with her surrender?
JOHN NOLTE: CNN’s Latest Anti-Cop Race Hoax Is a Doozy of Desperation.
Here’s the opening paragraph:
The mass exodus of an entire police department after the hiring of a Black town manager in North Carolina has opened a conversation about public safety and race relations in a small town of just over 1,500 residents.
Then we get paragraph after paragraph of this…
Residents split on whether it’s a ‘race issue’
Brittney Hinnant, a Kenly resident, said she feels like the situation is a “race issue” given that Jones is Black, while the entire Kenly Police Department is White. Hinnant also said she doesn’t think the police department supports Black people and she feels they often harass Black residents.
But if you’re able to hang in there for 18 — 18! — paragraphs, CNNLOL drops this fairly important piece of context on you…
Others in the community say they believe there is not a racial component to the situation due to the fact the previous town manager was a Black man. [emphasis added]
Wait.
Whuh?
Hundreds of words devoted to smearing an entire police force as racist, as so racist they would rather be unemployed than work for a black person… And only after 18 — 18! — paragraphs do these lying pigs come across with the truth: that these same people had no problem working under a black town manager before.
This is what happens to a far-left propaganda outlet when they feel it all slipping away, when it knows its ability to sway public opinion is vanishing: they get this desperate, this outrageous, this audacious in their lies.
This isn’t journalism. It’s not even propaganda anymore. It’s trolling, childish trolling committed by angry babies reduced to throwing things for attention…
Earlier: “CNN President Chris Licht’s message to Republican lawmakers: We’re sorry. Please, come back.”
Licht and his boss, Warner Brothers Discovery chief David Zaslav, say they are committed to reshaping the image of CNN no matter the ratings. (CNN makes most of its revenue from cable subscription fees, not commercial advertising, anyway.)
Licht and his overlords have said for months that they’d pivot CNN away from partisan opinions and gain the reputation of a trusted news agency.
For that to happen, CNN must not neglect an entire half of the country, as it did under the leadership of Jeff Zucker.
Be the change you’re promising the viewers, fellas.
TERRORIST AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI KILLED IN THE HOME OF A NEW YORK TIMES CONTRIBUTOR:
Sirajuddin Haqqani is a New York Times contributor.
American forces blew up Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s number two after Osama Bin Laden, in Haqqani’s home in Kabul, Afghanistan.
I’m only being somewhat flippant. The New York Times gave Haqqani space to make a case for the Taliban in its pages. There was no staff revolt.
This is the same New York Times that saw a staff revolt over sitting United States Senator Tom Cotton offering up an op-ed on using force to quell the riots around the United States.
You need to remember the New York Times staff was more at ease with a member of the Taliban in its pages than a sitting United States Senator.
Oh sure – next you’re going to tell me that the AP shares an office building with Hamas. Oh,wait…
ITS APPEAL IS BECOMING MORE SELECTIVE: CNN Just Got Some More Awful News. “Projections from S&P Global Market Intelligence say CNN’s profitability is on a pace to decline to $956.8 million this year. That would mark the first time since 2016 that the network had dipped below $1 billion in profit, according to three people familiar with its operations.”
Which is why we’re seeing headlines such as this: CNN President Asking GOP Lawmakers to Please Come Back, Give the Network Another Chance.
Curiously though, most of the staff haven’t gotten the memo yet: Stelter Brings on Economic Dunce Krugman to Say US Not in Recession.
BIDEN LOOKS FOR OFF-RAMP: White House Stenographer Tom Friedman Throws Zelenskyy and Ukraine Under the Bus, Calling Both Corrupt. What Does It Mean?
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Biden complaining about corruption? Probably means a check bounced.
UNEXPECTEDLY! White House: Oh yeah, by the way, al-Qaeda’s back in Afghanistan. “Kirby’s trying and failing to explain away the inexplicable. Biden and his team want credit for taking out Zawahiri in Kabul — a legitimate tactical win — without accepting any accountability for the actions that not only allowed the head of AQ back into the capital of Afghanistan but that also allowed AQ’s Taliban allies and protectors to take over the country again. Getting Zawahiri was good, but the fact that he was operating openly in Kabul is a direct condemnation of the withdrawal Biden executed, especially in his decision to abandon Bagram and to cut off supplies to the Afghan military that we designed for reliance on American support. Biden’s abandonment of Afghanistan has turned the country back over to the terrorists we’ve fought for the past twenty years. Kirby may not like hearing this, but it’s the obvious lesson from their strike on Zawahiri.”
August 2, 2022
RIP: L.A. Dodgers Announce Vin Scully has Passed Away, Age 94.
WAS IT OVER WHEN GEORGE BUSH BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?! ‘I impeached Bush twice:’ Bumbling Jerrold Nadler stumbles through debate opening.
IT’S COME TO THIS: CA sheriff orders raid on Indiana Batmobile garage, allegedly as favor for friend.
We interviewed the San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney, prosecuting this case.
Dan Noyes: “You wrote a letter to Racop in September of last year saying that there would be no criminal charges. What changed?”
Marie McLaughlin, San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney: “Additional investigation, the detectives were able to obtain search warrants and obtain additional evidence.”
McLaughlin would not discuss that additional evidence or the sheriff’s unusual step of sending four investigators across the country, for what Racop argues is a simple business dispute.
Noyes: “After the case went nowhere with the first criminal case, the civil case, is the sheriff stepping in for a friend here?”
McLaughlin: “I can’t speak to that, I have no knowledge about what relationship if any the sheriff has with the victim.”
We wanted to talk to Sheriff Bolanos about Anagnostou and about the use of public funds – four round-trip airline tickets, hotels for three nights, meals, overtime.* He didn’t return our repeated calls and texts to his personal cellphone. His office confirmed he’s away on a month of vacation; he leaves office in January after losing the election. The undersheriff now in charge, Mark Robbins, and the department’s spokesman, Lt. Eamonn Allen, refused our request for an interview citing the ongoing investigation.
We ran the case by Tony Brass, former prosecutor for San Francisco and the US Attorney’s Office. He told us, “I just can’t imagine why it’s in criminal court. It shocks me that it’s in criminal court.”
He says this squabble over a luxury item, the Batmobile, belongs in Indiana civil court – with no involvement by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department.
“It simply defies reason, in my view, why so many people, so many high-ranking members of law enforcement, would have to go and enforce something so unnecessary? And so trivial?”
* California’s in the very best of hands.
BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Demi Lovato, 29, explains she’s now using ‘she/her’ pronouns as well as ‘they/them’ one year after coming out as non-binary: ‘I’m such a fluid person.’
You spelled, attention-obsessed moral narcissist wrong, Demi.
OKAY, GROOMERS: Florida school district doubles down on offering porn in schools.
EVEN THE GECKOS ARE FLEEING CALIFORNIA: GEICO closes all California offices, lays off workers: report. “GEICO has reportedly closed all 38 of its agent offices in California, laid off hundreds of employees, and will no longer sell insurance through telephone agents in the state. Californians can still obtain GEICO policies in the state, but only through a computer or a mobile device, posing a challenge for those who are not technologically proficient.”
In addition to skyrocketing insurance claims in lawless Democrat-monopoly cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, it sounds like AB5 is causing yet more casualties. On its page headlined, “Own A GEICO Agency,” the insurer notes that “As a GEICO Local Agent, you own a local GEICO insurance agency and are an independent contractor exclusively writing business for GEICO and affiliated companies.” Good work, Sacramento!
QUESTION ASKED: Why Is the White House Quietly Griping about Zelensky Now?
Which Biden administration official is leaking to the New York Times’ Tom Friedman that the White House doesn’t trust Volodymyr Zelensky?
The timing could not be worse. Dear reader: The Ukraine war is not over. And privately, U.S. officials are a lot more concerned about Ukraine’s leadership than they are letting on. There is deep mistrust between the White House and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky — considerably more than has been reported.
And there is funny business going on in Kyiv. On July 17, Zelensky fired his country’s prosecutor general and the leader of its domestic intelligence agency — the most significant shake-up in his government since the Russian invasion in February. It would be the equivalent of Biden firing Merrick Garland and Bill Burns on the same day. But I have still not seen any reporting that convincingly explains what that was all about. It is as if we don’t want to look too closely under the hood in Kyiv for fear of what corruption or antics we might see, when we have invested so much there. (More on the dangers of that another day.)
Your mileage may vary, but I see two possible motives here. Possibility one is that the Biden administration just wants the Ukraine-Russia war to end, and Zelensky isn’t playing ball, so the administration is getting ready to leave Zelensky hanging out to dry. Possibility two is that the administration foresees the Ukraine-Russia war going badly, and is preparing to use Zelensky as a scapegoat. They’re laying the groundwork to argue, “we did everything we could to help the Ukrainians defend themselves, but in the end, they were too incompetent, too corrupt, and too beset by infighting.”
Zelensky is evidently looking to repair his relations with Washington, to keep the cash and materiel flowing in: Ukraine president asks gov’t to study legalizing same-sex marriages.
CLOWN NOSE OFF: Jon Stewart’s Vicious Smear.
Their confusion, and Stewart’s, is rooted in the fact that so many Republican lawmakers voted in favor of cloture in June but against cloture last week. “They’re manufacturing reasons to vote against legislation that they literally voted for just last month,” said one frustrated veteran who appeared alongside Stewart. “And so, it’s really a new level of low.” Advocates for this worthy cause don’t even address the simplest explanation for Senate Republicans’ reversal, which is by no means exculpatory of Republicans, that Toomey and his staff read the legislation more carefully than his GOP colleagues. It must be that those senators, some of whom are veterans themselves, “don’t support veterans.”
“This is the oldest trick in Washington,” Toomey said with due contempt for those who accused him of being a “f***ing coward.” Lawmakers “take a sympathetic group of Americans,” he continued, “craft a bill to address their problems and then sneak in something completely unrelated that they know could never pass on its own and dare Republicans to do anything about it.” It’s such a tired tactic that only those with virtually no exposure to legislative affairs in Washington could fail to comprehend Republican objections, even if they don’t agree with them. That does not describe Senate Democrats. It doesn’t even describe Jon Stewart. They bet that profound displays of anguish over the Republican Party’s heartlessness would find a credulous audience in the press, and they were correct.
Read the whole thing.
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): The press isn’t “credulous.” It’s complicit.
THEY’RE NOT THE ONLY ONES: Arizona Voters Want Sinema to Oppose Manchin’s New Spending Bill. “Democrats celebrated Manchin’s support, but there’s another senator who would need to sign on. All eyes moved to Kyrsten Sinema. The Arizona maverick has kept quiet, but her constituents haven’t. A new poll shows Grand Canyon State voters want her to oppose the new tax-and-spend bill. If Sinema supports the Manchin/Schumer bill, 50% of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for her in 2024. Only 19% said they would be more likely to support her — a 31-point gap.”
OLD AND BUSTED: “15 Days to Slow the Spread” that went on forever, crushing the economy and students.
The New Hotness? “Cover up Your Bumps:” California State Senator Encourages Gay Orgies During Monkeypox Outbreak.
PLAN NINE FROM GOTHAM CITY: Batgirl Won’t Fly: Warner Bros. Discovery Has No Plans to Release Nearly Finished $90 Million Film.
Warner Bros. Discovery will not release “Batgirl,” either theatrically or on HBO MAX, TheWrap has learned. The $90 million project is effectively dead.
Made under a previous regime, “Batgirl” was initially designed to be an HBO Max release, and then was being considered for theatrical distribution. Due to COVID issues and shutdowns, the budget ballooned to $90 million.
The movie stars “In the Heights” breakout star Leslie Grace in the title role of Barbara Gordon.
The leaders of the studio determined ultimately, in spite of reshoots and increased budget, that the movie simply did not work, according to insiders. The new owners and management, led by CEO David Zaslav, are committed to making DC titles big theatrical event films, and “Batgirl” isn’t that. Insiders added that studio brass loves the film’s directors and star, and are actively planning to work with them soon.
C’mon — Warner Brothers released The Bonfire of the Vanities to theaters, knowing full well before production was complete what a debacle they had on their hands. Viewers deserve to see what a train wreck this finished product is as well, even if only on streaming.