If Trump Is 'Racist' for Questioning Waters' IQ, What Is Waters for Questioning the Intelligence of Dr. Carson?

When a white, male, Republican politician, like Trump, questions the intelligence of a white, male, British diplomat politician, that's just hardball. When a white, male, Republican politician, like Trump, questions the intelligence of a white, female Democrat, like Pelosi, that's "sexism." When a white, male, Republican politician like Trump questions the intelligence of a black female politician, that's "racism." When a black politician, like Waters, questions the intelligence of a black male Republican, well, that's just hardball.

Larry Elder

"Among the reasons Democrats and their media sympathizers offer to show President Donald Trump's alleged "racism" is that he called Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., a "low IQ individual."
"At a July 2018 rally in Montana, Trump said: "She is a low I.Q. individual, Maxine Waters. I said it the other day. I mean, honestly, she's somewhere in the mid-60s, I believe that." And in June 2018, Trump tweeted: " 'Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max!"
"Trump's tweet was in response to a fiery Water's speech in which she urged a campaign of harassment against members of Trump's cabinet: "Let's make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere." . . .
. . . "But questioning Rep. Waters' intelligence, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin proclaimed, is ... "racist." After all, Waters is black, which to Toobin, places her snugly and safely in a no-fly zone. Toobin said: "How about this Maxine Waters stuff over and over again? Low I.Q. How racist is that? I mean, come on. Let's just be honest about this. How many black people does the President have to attack in these terms? I mean, he's always like whether it's NFL football players or, you know, the UCLA basketball players? I mean, come on. Is it a coincidence that he calls a senior black legislator low I.Q.? I mean, it's revolting and we should just be clear about what's going on here." . . .

But questioning Rep. Waters' intelligence, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin proclaimed, is ... "racist." After all, Waters is black, which to Toobin, places her snugly and safely in a no-fly zone. 

Are Thought Crimes Impeachable?

Victor Davis Hanson

Alleged bad thoughts are not crimes — at least not outside George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.”

"During special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, his legal “dream team” tried to make a secondary case that Donald Trump also obstructed efforts to prove Trump-Russian “collusion.”
"Trump was said to have advised his lawyers and other subordinates, past and present, not to cooperate fully with the Mueller investigation. Yet the special counsel did not pursue any actionable cases of egregious interference by the White House.
"Indeed, Mueller would never have concluded his $35 million, 22-month investigation had he not enjoyed cooperation from the White House.
"White House employees were questioned freely by the special counsel. Documents were released. When the special counsel’s exhaustive investigation into purported Trump-Russia collusion found no such crime, the fallback claim of obstruction arose. Trump allegedly wanted to curtail Mueller’s parameters of inquiry into something that was proven not to be a crime.
"Mueller found no grounds for a criminal referral on obstruction of justice. But he repeatedly hinted that Trump had thought about obstructing the non-crime of collusion." . . .

CNN’s pre-Thanksgiving civility lesson: Trump defenders ‘Should Be Laughed at, Ridiculed, and Scorned’

Thomas Lifson  "When you consider the vast number of people forced to watch CNN as they waited at their gates for delayed airline flights on the busiest travel day of the year, one marked by weather delays in most of the country, this call for harsh derision could affect a lot of Thanksgiving dinners today. Ridicule and scorn do not fit well with the theme of giving thanks for the  blessings we receive as Americans, but then again, CNN, in the ratings tank and discredited for its repeated fake news incidents, has less to be thankful for than most Americans, enjoying higher incomes and lower taxes.

"Watch as CNN legal analyst Elie Honig responds to anchor Brooke Baldwin saying, that the main defense of “I know nothing” is “dead.” . . .

CNN's boss, Zucker.

Embattled CNN Fails to Attract One Million Viewers During Impeachment Month

. . . "CNN’s highest rated show, Cuomo Prime Time, ranked at #23, not in all of cable, but just among the three cable news outlets. Fourteen Fox News shows filled up those 22 slots behind CNNLOL.

"CNN’s godawful morning show New Day, averaged just 556,000 viewers, compared to Fox & Friends, which more than tripled New Day with 1.7 million viewers. Fox & Friends also walloped MSNBC’s Morning Joe, which averaged just 1.2 million viewers." . . .

Rep. Elise Stefanik: how did this bulldog Republican come from New York?

Ms. Stefanik became an internet sensation with a viral video from a hearing in which Mr. Schiff blocked her from questioning former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

'A New Republican Star is born': Elise Stefanik rises amid impeachment drama

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik stood out with her hard-nosed interrogation of Democrats’ star witnesses during two weeks of public hearings on impeachment of President Trump, emerging as a rising star in the Republican Party but also putting a national target on her back.
"The three-term Republican congresswoman delivered a counter punch to Rep. Adam B. Schiff, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who presided over the hearings, repeatedly challenging him on the dais.
“ 'She came across as a well-prepared person who was skeptical or opposed to the idea of impeachment,” said Michael Malbin, a political science professor at the University of Albany and director of the Campaign Finance Institute. “But she did not come across to me, as the way Devin Nunes did or Jim Jordan, as people who are going to attack the witnesses and defend the president at all costs.” . . .  More on Stefanik here

As Drudge Report falters amid anti-Trump shift, rivals on right gain ground

Washington Times

Data from SimilarWeb shows five conservative upstarts on the rise

"The Drudge Report is still the king of conservative aggregator websites, but its rivals are gaining ground.
"Five right-tilting upstarts — Whatfinger News, Liberty Daily, Rantingly, NewsAmmo and Gab Trends — increased their average monthly traffic and engagement, as measured by average visit duration and average pages per visit, from September-October 2018 to 2019, according to SimilarWeb, which shared its data with The Washington Times.
"Another Drudge competitor, the no-frills Citizen Free Press, is also going gangbusters, drawing 2.5 million views in October after launching two years ago.
"At the same time, the marketing-intelligence company found traffic to the Drudge Report during that period declined by 15%. From July to October, Drudge dropped from 96 million total visits to 77 million, prompting recent headlines such as True Pundit’s “Drudge Bleeds Out as Conservatives Flee.”
"The Drudge Report has stoked alarm on the right for appearing to pivot on its support for President Trump, increasingly linking to stories that are critical of the administration and to media websites that are accused of having an anti-Trump bias such as CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
"The same cannot be said of Whatfinger, the largest of the Drudge rivals, which favors links to conservative news and opinion websites such as Fox News, Breitbart, Daily Signal, Daily Wire, Western Journal and WorldNet Daily.

"Whatfinger grew by 40.8% year-over-year, increasing its traffic from 2.23 million to 3.2 million. The next largest site, the Liberty Daily, grew by 72% as its average monthly visits grew to 1.72 million, according to SimilarWeb." . . .

Trump pardons Thanksgiving turkey, jokes that Schiff has subpoenaed the bird

Washington Times  "Like his predecessors, President Trump had fun with the traditionally tongue-in-cheek ceremony of pardoning of the national Thanksgiving turkey on Tuesday — joking that the bird remained calm even under threat of a subpoena from House Democrats.
"Butter, a 47-pound turkey raised in North Carolina, received the traditional pardon in the White House Rose Garden, where invited guests included some Republican lawmakers whom Mr. Trump called “warriors” in his defense against the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
"The president said Butter and his companion, Bread, were specially raised by farmer Willie Jackson “to remain calm under any condition, which will be very important because they’ve already received subpoenas to appear in Adam Schiff’s basement on Thursday.”
" 'It seems the Democrats are accusing me of being too soft on turkey,” Mr. Trump said, turning to the birds. “But Bread and Butter, I should note that unlike previous witnesses, you and I have actually met. It’s very unusual.” . . .