Why is Disney only 'woke' when women of colour lead?

 Asyia Iftikhar (msn.com)

"John is right. We should put ‘entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters’ first – and that is what we’re achieving, with or without political messaging."

"When Disney director John Musker said he understood ‘woke criticism’ and political ‘messaging’ should take a back seat, I couldn’t help but cry – there is no woke agenda!

"Over the past year accusations of Disney’s political pandering have skyrocketed following Halle Bailey’s turn as Ariel in the live-action Little Mermaid (a role which inspired young Black girls everywhere) and American-Latina actor Rachel Zegler’s casting as Snow White.

"What should have been a non-issue blew up into a fiery social media storm with the right-wing’s favourite buzzword ‘woke’ being tossed around like candy. 

"Now acclaimed director Musker – known for helming Disney classics such as Hercules, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid – has put his misguided two cents into the exhausting conversation. 

"First, he addressed the backlash to his 2009 Disney film Princess and the Frog, saying: ‘We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism.’

"John didn’t expand on why he understood the criticism, making this statement even more disappointing. At the time Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) made history as the first African-American princess since the company was founded in 1923. 

"Although the film touched on social class discourse, with Tiana working multiple jobs to support herself and achieve her dream of opening a restaurant, it could hardly constitute as ‘woke’." . . . 

"If you thought it couldn't happen in America, you were wrong."

"Second, American patriots of all political stripes must come to terms with the current fallen state of the nation. The prosecution and incarceration of political opponents on trumped-up (no pun intended) charges is third-world, tinpot dictatorship, banana republic-type stuff—pure and simple." Josh Hammer

RealityBites by Broc Smith

Biden Smiles When Asked About Trump’s Guilty Verdict (legalinsurrection.com)

Joe Biden is asked a question about Donald Trump being a political prisoner by his government.
He grins for a few seconds before walking out of the room without saying anything. pic.twitter.com/00ttZKSMBZ

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 31, 2024

 Post-Trump Verdict, Will the American Right Finally Wake Up? | Opinion - Newsweek  "Like many others in the punditry space, I am a lawyer by background. I practiced law at a major global law firm. I clerked for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. I have I have  published multiple pieces of formal legal scholarship on constitutional issues. I regularly lecture at law schools and present to professional lawyer groups across the country on assorted legal topics. I host two shows, one of which is explicitly legal-based—and with a focus, above all, on the unprecedented lawfare tactics sullying the 2024 presidential race. 

"In other words, I know a thing or two about the law. And I have been doing my part to sound the alarm on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's sham prosecution and eventual show trial of former President Donald Trump ever since the George Soros-backed lawman first dropped his ludicrous 34-count indictment over a year ago. There are far too many technical deficiencies in Bragg's "case," to say nothing of the grotesque manner in which the presiding judge comported himself at trial, to recapitulate here.

"But for present purposes, the key point is this: None of those details matter. None of them.

"The key points following Thursday's first-ever criminal "conviction" of a former U.S. president, rather, are three-fold.

"First, the Democrats' long march to get the nefarious Orange Man by any means necessary, beginning with the 2016 election cycle, has finally worked. There was the Russia collusion hoax—birthed by the failed Hillary Clinton campaign and laundered through Fusion GPS and the tony law firm Perkins Coie LLP. There was the illegitimate spying on Trump campaign hands like Carter Page. There were the Democrats' street hooligans, from the Women's March of 2017 through the Antifa-Black Lives Matter riots of 2020. There was the constant Deep State undermining of the presidential agenda. There were two bogus impeachments—for an entirely inconsequential phone call with the Ukrainian president, and for the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol jamboree that transpired mere days before Trump was set to leave town anyway. Most recently, there was the Aug. 2022 predawn FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago, and all the multistate lawfare that has followed.

"And now, here we are."

Israel Defender Senator John Fetterman Given Hero’s Welcome at Yeshiva University Commencement

 Sen. John Fetterman dramatically whips off Harvard hood at Yeshiva University commencement: ‘Profoundly disappointed’ (legalinsurrection.com)

"Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) gave the commencement address at Yeshiva University this week. Fetterman has been in the news frequently over the last several months for breaking with the progressive wing of his party and standing up as a vocal defender of Israel following the October 7th attacks.

"During the proceedings, Fetterman even defiantly removed his Harvard hood, a dramatic and symbolic gesture. Fetterman was given the school’s greatest award.

The Jewish Journal reports:

Yeshiva University Honors Senator John Fetterman With Its Highest Award

“I’m just a senator with a big mouth that happens to be committed to Israel,” said Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) at Yeshiva University’s 93rd annual commencement ceremony on Wednesday. Fetterman received the private Modern Orthodox Jewish University’s highest honor for global leadership, the Presidential Medallion.

“It is truly humbling to be invited to share in this milestone with the graduates of Yeshiva University,” said Fetterman. “As we gather to celebrate the achievements of the graduating class, we must also acknowledge the profound significance of their journey within the context of the recent surge in antisemitism across the country.”

Fetterman said he was surprised by the invitation to speak at the ceremony, especially after finding out that last year’s commencement speaker was the inventor of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. “I don’t belong in that company, I truly don’t,” Fetterman, 54, told the 1,700 graduates at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens." . . .">To a standing ovation, Senator John Fetterman removed his Harvard Crimson hood during commencement today in outrage over the rampant antisemitism here on campus. This is what true leadership looks like!

🎥 @safier pic.twitter.com/2nSG1liuja

— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) May 29, 2024

Don't Kid Yourself, They Are Antisemites – HotAir     "A Facebook group for Chicago therapists was asked whether anyone would be comfortable taking a Zionist client.   Those who volunteered to help the person were then added to a list of suspected Zionists run by a second group of "anti-racist" therapists." 

Unsurprisingly, some therapists answered that of course they would work with patients who believed the State of Israel has a right to exist, which, after all, is the real meaning of the question. "Are you a Zionist?" is almost exactly the same question as "Does Israel have a right to exist." They mean the same thing, only stated differently. 

Robert De Niro Goes Full Travis Bickle: The Biden Campaign’s Court Presser Turns into a Sad Spectacle

 JONATHAN TURLEY

. . ."De Niro has gone full Travis Bickle. However, now 80, it came across as De Niro screaming at the courthouse for Trump to get off his lawn.

"The diatribe is consistent with the messaging of Democrats, including President Biden, that “democracy is on the ballot” and that this may be our last election. De Niro was not satisfied with that alarmist message and decided to take it to an apocalyptic level in predicting a global meltdown.

"As I have previously written, it is a narrative that ignores our history and our values. To suggest that this may be our last democratic election is to suggest that both branches (and the population at large) would stand idly by as a president assumed tyrannical powers. That did not occur, even when this country was united by wars and national emergencies. With the nation now divided right down the middle, it is even less likely.

"That is why the “democracy is on the ballot” claims border on defamation against our Constitution. We have the most successful and stable democratic system in history. The success of that system is not measured by those who would riot or challenge our values. It is measured by how the system responds. Our system works because it was not only written for times of relative unity and calm, it also was written for times like these.

"What was particularly weird is that the Biden campaign succeeded in reinforcing the view of this case as lawfare, an effort to stop Trump at any cost." . . .

Travesty

 "The case violated virtually every aspect of the Sixth Amendment. The top New York court or the United States Supreme Court had better step in or this will not go well for America." Andrea Widburg 

Trump was tried by a jury not of his peers but of his political enemies, all Democrats

. . ."There were other problems, too, with this case -- Trump was tried by a jury not of his peers but of his political enemies, all Democrats, one a teachers union member, none sequestered, all voting against Trump on election day. Worse still, Trump was tried by a judge with profound conflicts of interest, his daughter a Democrat political operative, himself a Biden donor, giving an illegal donation for which he was only "cautioned" by the New York bar authorities instead of disqualified. Worse still is the oddity of his trying multiple Trump allies in the past, always handing out the maximum sentence he could get away with. That's too much coincidence." . . .

Felon? Trump is in good company - Monica Showalter  . . ."Trump also joins Lech Walesa of Poland for the 'felon' title. Walesa was arrested and jailed in Poland in 1981, shortly after dicator Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law on the entire country based on his protests for free trade unions. Dictators declare national emergencies based on "threats to democracy" and it doesn't take long for them to just round their political opponents up.

"Trump also joins Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, back when it was Czechoslovakia for the title of "felon." Havel had been banned, blacklisted and gagged for years for speaking and writing about the ruling communists' corruption of language, and finally, was imprisoned four times by the communist Soviet puppet regime for challenging the regime. Sound like anyone you know in the states? Certainly the dynamic of harassment and then imprisonment suggests a parallel." . . .

President Donald Trump’s sacrifices are like no other leader in the history of America - Rajan Laad   . . ."Now for Barack Obama. The Obamas entered the White House with $1.3 million. Upon leaving, they received lucrative book, oratory, movie, and podcast deals which caused their net worth to multiply by almost 24 times, to $70 million. Experts claim that if the Obamas proceed on this trajectory they will be worth $242.5 million when all is said and done.

"What do we infer?

"All former presidents have benefitted from their tenure in the White House.

"The benefits are not just financial but social, as they are welcomed in elite circles that probably would have never entertained them before their presidencies.. . .

. . ."There is only one president in recent times who lost financially and socially following his tenure at the White House—that man is Donald J. Trump.

"Before being sworn in his net worth was around $3 billion, due to his amazing success in real estate and as a brand. After leaving the White House, his worth dwindled to $2.3 billion. Trump’s net worth soared to $6.5 billion a few months back when his popular Truth Social became a publicly-traded company." . . .

Team Biden: a black mark on American justice

 

Team Biden Reacts to the Trump Verdict (townhall.com)  "Team Biden is reacting to the guilty verdict handed down to former President Donald Trump by a New York City jury Thursday afternoon after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed 34 felony charges, which were upgraded from misdemeanors with spent statutes of limitations, against him in April 2023. "

"First, the Biden campaign: 

In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.

Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today's verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president." . . .

A Manhattan Canned Hunt: The Trump Jury is Out But is the Case in the Bag? – JONATHAN TURLEY   . . ."Today the jury began its deliberations in the trial of former president Donald Trump. Before jurors left, however, Judge Juan Merchan framed their deliberations in a way that seemed less like a jury deliberation than a canned hunt.

"For many of us, the Trump trial has seemed otherworldly, a vaguely familiar proceeding where common elements of a trial seem to have been flipped.

"Even before the jury instructions, the trial was controversial for both liberal and conservative commentators. At the start of closing arguments, most honest observers were still wondering what the prosecutors were alleging as to the crime that Trump was allegedly concealing with the falsification of business records.

"Then came the closing arguments. Around the country, it is standard for the government to go first with a closing to allow the defense to respond. The government is then given the privilege of a rebuttal after the defense rests. In New York, the defense must go first, giving the government free rein over its closing with no risk of contradiction from the defense. With the exception of objections, any abusive or improper arguments are left to the judge to address." . . . 

Jonathan Turley Has a Lot to Say About the Trump Verdict (townhall.com)

. . ."Merchan did ask about the bail status, and the prosecution said there's no bail.

"Sentencing is scheduled for July 11, four days out from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump will be selected as the party's nominee. Nothing in the Constitution currently precludes Trump from running for president in November.

"Trump is expected to appeal immediately, though the appeals process typically takes years.

" 'This gonna go up on appeal," Turley predicted." . . .