ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Megan Rapinoe Calls Out Sports Illustrated’s Lack of Diversity in Sportsperson of the Year Award Speech.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Daily Beast: Tom Steyer Is Running a Donor Scam.

(Link safe; goes to NewsBusters.)

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Cory Booker ‘taken aback’ by Mike Bloomberg’s ‘well spoken’ comment.

“I probably shouldn’t have used the word, but I could just tell you he is a friend of mine,” Bloomberg told reporters in Georgia later Friday. “He is a Rhodes Scholar, which is much more impressive than my academic background. I envy him.”

Booker criticized Bloomberg’s use of the phrase — which is considered condescending and offensive by many African American — after he said it during a “CBS This Morning” interview earlier Friday.

“I was taken aback by it,” Booker, 50, told SiriusXM radio show Signal Boost, adding he hoped the multi-billionaire now understood why the comment was hurtful.

“It’s sort of stunning at times that we are still revisiting these sort of tired, you know, tropes or the language we have out there that folks, I don’t think they understand, the fact that they don’t understand is problematic,” he said.

Yet another Democrat declares his party to be a cesspit of racism.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Fire Drill Fridays joins larger group of climate alarmists to shut down D.C.

Endorsed — please try to keep DC shut down every day of the week.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: ‘Incapable of being gracious:’ De Blasio fumes over Bloomberg bid. After failing in his own 2020 campaign, the New York City mayor aims to sink his predecessor.

As the man said in the umpteenth remake of Godzilla, “Let them fight.”

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Leftists Attack The ‘1619 Project.’

In the “Idea Laundering” post the other day, I mentioned an excellent interview on the World Socialist Web Site with Princeton historian James McPherson, one of the top Civil War scholars in the nation, in which McPherson tore apart The New York Times‘s ballyhooed “1619 Project.” That project, as regular readers will recall, is a massive effort by the newspaper to “reframe” (its word) the American founding around slavery. In the interview, McPherson basically argued that the project’s claims are woke nonsense. 

Read the whole thing. Meanwhile, Reason’s Cathy Young tweets an explanation for much of the New York Times’ craziness in the last few years: “Interesting fact about Gerald Horne, the historian whose work is most commonly cited as basis for the ‘1619 Project’ (or at least the claim that the ‘real’ goal of the American Revolution was to preserve slavery): he’s an actual, pro-Soviet Communist.”

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: The Woke Attack On Pete Buttigieg. If you just treat “woke” as a synonym for “idiotic,” you won’t go far wrong.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Not Woke Enough: Climate Extremists ‘Extinction Rebellion’ Hit For Being Too White, Too Rich.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Warren, Sanders, and Booker Demand Independent Investigation of NBC’s ‘Toxic Culture.’

That’s a bottomless topic, so good luck to all concerned cleaning out Comcast’s Augean Stables.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: “Everybody Is Freaking Out:” Freelance Writers Scramble to Make Sense of New California Law.

Lefty California freelancers stumble into Robert Conquest’s First Law of Politics: “Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.”

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: People want answers after Bay Area TV station uses racist headline to cover Braves NLDS loss.

A Bay Area news station likely wants a do-over after using a facepalm-worthy racially insensitive headline in its coverage of the Atlanta Braves being bounced out of the MLB postseason.

KTVU, the Bay Area’s Fox affiliate, recapped the St. Louis Cardinals’ win over the Braves in Game 5 of the National League Division Series with a chyron that read, “Braves Scalped.”

Heaven forefend.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Biden campaign blasts New York Times in letter to Dean Baquet.

Earlier:

● Joe Biden rages at reporter who asks him about his son and Ukraine.

● There Is Absolutely Nothing Suspicious And Criminal-Like About Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian Director’s Salary.

● According To Hunter Biden, Joe Biden Lied About Ukraine.

● NBC’s Today Show: My, but Hunter Biden’s business in China is interesting…

● Joe Biden campaign asks networks to stop booking Rudy Giuliani.

● Does This Photo Prove Biden Lied About His Knowledge of Son’s Ukraine Business Dealings?

● Hunter Biden: The Most Comprehensive Timeline.

● Ukraine must investigate Joe Biden’s son, says ex-Ukrainian PM.

● Wherever Joe Biden went, son Hunter cashed in.

● Warren Flustered by Hypothetical Ethics Question on Hunter Biden.

● ‘Well, Son of a Bitch’ : Ukraine Scandal Is About Biden.

● Peter Schweizer On Biden’s Ukraine Dealings — Seven Essential Facts.

● ABC’s Jon Karl on Hunter Biden’s Ukraine Business: “If His Name Was Hunter Smith He Probably Wouldn’t Be Getting Paid.”

A whole lot of Democratic Party operatives with bylines are going to be locked up in Joe’s closet…

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: LaRouchePAC takes credit for trolling AOC; AOC doesn’t rule out eating babies.

Flashback to the earlier, funnier days of AOC: Ominous Parallels: Were AOC and LaRouche Secretly Working Together?

But the idea likely didn’t originate with the LaRoucheites: As left-leaning Business Insider reported last month, “A Swedish scientist suggested the climate crisis could lead people to consider eating human flesh. It’s not the first time a scientist has suggested the idea…In 2018, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins put forth a similar idea.”

And finally, as Iowahawk tweets today, “No matter your position on the baby eating issue, I think we can all agree not to let our children get spoiled.”

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Good Grief! NY Times reveals whistleblower is CIA and readers are furious.

There are hundreds of more responses like this from unhappy progressives. But it’s not just social media where people are reacting stongly to the decision to publish this information. The Times is being dragged on its own site by commenters. Here’s a sample:

• “I am stunned the paper would choose to do this. You just gave anyone who might choose to come forward to report a serious governmental wrongdoing ample reason to triple guess that choice.”
• “No, NYT – don’t go there. Do not identify or help identify the WB”
• “You, New York Times, have given enough detail for any amateur sleuth to find him. Would it hurt to wait a few weeks before releasing information that may imperil this American hero?”
• “It is irresponsible of you to so specifically identify the whistleblower. I am disappointed in your editorial decision.”
• “I understand the need to wanting to know more and complete information. But good grief, a person’s life could be on the line.”
• “Why are you trying to out this patriot, instead of investigating the crimes of the president? Unbelievable.”
• “Your actions are irresponsible.”
• “What in the world are you thinking?”
• “DO NOT OUT THIS HERO!”
• “Great article. All that’s missing is where his kids go to school.”
• “Reading this story makes me regret having cancelled my subscription. I’d like to be able to cancel it again.”

And on and on it goes. And I’m not cherry-picking those examples. I’d say the comments are 80 percent against the Times’ decision to publish in varying degrees, with most of the remainder of comments not taking a position either way. Only a handful of people appear to be standing up for the decision to publish.

NYT Maximum Editor Dean Baquet does everything he can to appease his leftist readers, all the way to altering headlines to rewriting America’s founding itself – and he still can’t keep the mob from attacking.

Or as Robert A. George of the crosstown rival Daily News tweets, “Over the last month, the NYT has done a remarkable job in uniting right and left to question its judgment in news, opinion and social media decisions.“

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: ‘Outrage is a commodity:’ Director Todd Phillips bashes ‘far left’ criticism of Joker.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Arizona Democratic Party will hold vote to censure Sinema. “The Arizona Democratic Party is planning to hold a vote this week to determine whether Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) should be censured. The Arizona Republic reports the censure vote is due to the fact that progressives in the state Democratic Party see her as too accommodating to President Trump and his policies.”

During the election she was pitched as a moderate aisle-crosser. Nobody meant for her to actually be one.

DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY AND THE VIRGINIA CLOWN SHOW: “Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has filed a $400 million lawsuit against CBS, alleging the company defamed him when it broadcast interviews with two women he says have falsely accused him of sexual assault.”

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Author Walter Mosley Quits Star Trek: Discovery After Using N-Word in Writers Room.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that season three showrunners Alex Kurtzman — who sources say personally recruited Mosley to the Discovery room — and Michelle Paradise were informed of the complaint via human resources but were not present for the incident in which Mosley allegedly used the N-word multiple times. Sources note that HR called Mosley to inform the acclaimed writer and novelist that typical use of that word was a fireable offense but there was to be no course of action taken against him. Instead, HR informed Mosley that a writer in the room was uncomfortable with it and effectively wanted to ensure he was aware of the studio’s policy.

“Earlier this year, I had just finished with the Snowfall writers’ room for the season when I took a similar job on a different show at a different network. I’d been in the new room for a few weeks when I got the call from human resources. A pleasant-sounding young man said, ‘Mr. Mosley, it has been reported that you used the n-word in the writers’ room,'” Mosley wrote in the Times. “I replied, ‘I am the N-word in the writers’ room.'”

Mosley went on to explain that the individual in HR said that while he was free to use that word in a script, he “could not say it.” Mosley then clarified, “I hadn’t called anyone it. I just told a story about a cop who explained to me, on the streets of Los Angeles, that he stopped all n—ers in paddy neighborhoods and all paddies in n—er neighborhoods, because they were usually up to no good. I was telling a true story as I remembered it.”

Mosley wrote that he is unaware who complained about his use of the word. “There I was, a black man in America who shares with millions of others the history of racism. And more often than not, treated as subhuman,” he continued. “If addressed at all that history had to be rendered in words my employers regarded as acceptable.”

“There I was being chastised for criticizing the word that oppressed me and mine for centuries. As far as I know the word is in the dictionary,” said Mosley. “As far as I know the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence assure me of both the freedom of speech and the pursuit of happiness.”

Mosley, who has a blinding resume as a novelist, appeared as an actor in Denzel Washington’s George W. Bush-era remake of The Manchurian Candidate. And just discovered the hard way that Mao’s struggle session is alive and well in 2019.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Progressive Website ThinkProgress Is Shutting Down Because Nobody Wants To Buy It.

Flashback: ThinkProgress Staffers Unionize With Writers Guild.

Update: “There was certainly a time, more than a decade ago now, when the name ‘Think Progress’ may have been seen as a home for a certain brand of wonky, young progressives who were considered hot stuff at the time. But let’s face it, thinking isn’t nearly as hip as it once was on the far left. Now it’s more about emoting and resistance and canceling enemies. Sites like Now This and Upworthy seem designed to cater to these newer progressives who need emotional content more than they need that ‘one chart’ that explains everything.”

Why, it’s like social media is a virus of the mind, or something.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Ilhan Omar burns the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Rapper Jay-Z Partner with the NFL, Joins the Ranks of the Insufficiently Woke. “The social-justice Left sees only one path to redemption for the NFL, and that’s a team signing Colin Kaepernick…Most NFL teams either are in a mode to ‘win now’ or are rebuilding for the future. Kaepernick [now age 31, and out of football since the end of the 2016 season] isn’t good enough to help a team that’s built to win now, and he’s probably too old to be a building block for the future.”

Related: You know things are bad when the PC mob comes for Jay-Z. “Recall that Nike canceled an entire line of shoes over Kaepernick’s inane PC complaints. In defending the deal, the rapper said: ‘You can’t just throw someone out if they make a mistake. This is the real world. You can’t say, ‘Oh, you made a mistake, you’re canceled. I’m never speaking to you again.’ That doesn’t accomplish anything.’ He’d better hope people will be making that argument on his ­behalf, too.”

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Bill Maher Calls BDS: Bullsh*t Purity Test–Rep. Talib Calls For Boycott Of Maher.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: MSNBC correspondent claims manager told her to avoid looking ‘too Latina’ at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Forget moderates vs. radicals. The debate was a left vs. far left brawl.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Democrats just purged white party staffers, and it’s a bigger deal than anyone wants to admit.

There are two possible interpretations of this mass-purge at the DCCC [The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]. Either a few Democrats are making a racial issue out of a patronage question, once again knifing each other under the cover of intersectionality, or Democrats are genuinely angry that half the staff at the DCCC are white. As often happens with the Democratic Left, it is difficult to tell just where the insincerity ends and the fanaticism begins.

But either interpretation implies that this is not a party fit to govern.

Nobody wants to see whites take up identity politics or demand a certain quota of jobs anywhere. But that isn’t what this was about. This is about an organization that fires people from their current jobs because of their skin color. The insinuation that racist influences led Bustos to choose her staff and pass over better nonwhite candidates marks a continuation of what New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez started when she absurdly accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of racism and sexism.

This firing, and that’s what it is, not a free resignation, sends a message to everyone, and especially to young people of any race who are interested in politics. If an organization is actually willing to fire you from your job just because you’re white, do you really want to be involved with it?

Would you even want to vote for it?

Related: DCCC faces mass staff shakeup: ‘It’s the Monday Night Massacre.’

Among some, the committee’s day of meetings was a source of mockery, especially after a largely drama-free cycle internally under [Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.)], who ultimately helped win the majority for the party.

“The idea of all DCCC staff sitting around for hours on Friday and again today to talk about this internal shit enrages me,” the House Democrat said. “Shut the f— up about your feelings and just focus on winning.”

“You know how NRCC [National Republican Congressional Committee] spent their day Friday and today? Not sitting around talking about diversity and their feelings,” the lawmaker added.

It’s a bit too late for that, isn’t it? For at least a quarter of a century, the New York Times and its management have preached that diversity far outweighs the end results of any endeavor, ranging from the actual product that the Times itself puts out, or as the paper groused just this month, even America landing a man on the moon. That this identity politics-obsessed worldview should impact the Democratic Party on the eve of the 2020 elections isn’t at all surprising. Call it “woke racism,” as Victor Davis Hanson wrote earlier this month, as the mainstream left further mirrors the fringe alt-right.