The Trump-Fox kerfuffle

Trump's showdown with Fox News escalates   "The real estate mogul refuses to budge on his debate boycott while his campaign accuses Megyn Kelly of being 'totally obsessed' with Trump."
"Trump slept on it. And he’s not budging." . . .
Another president who hates Fox News more than he hates America's enemies? TD

With Fox News Debate Boycott, Has Trump Finally Jumped the Shark?  . . . "Trump has emerged as the leader of a personality cult. Like any cult leader, his first and highest priority is denouncing anyone who questions his primacy. He filters a qualitative analysis of any person or institution through one overriding concern: what do they think of me? If they're for him, he's for them. If they're against him, he's against them. It's that simple, and there's no nuance to it. There's no parsing through actions, words, or character. It's a package deal. You're for all of Trump, or you're his enemy. Such unbridled narcissism has no business anywhere near the lowest of public office. The notion that it could occupy the White House should instill terror in all of us."     Can't these words apply to Barack Hussein Obama? TD

HopeNChangeCartoons trumps Trump

http://hopenchangecartoons.blogspot.com/

"Republican front-runner Donald Trump has announced that he's pulling out of tomorrow's GOP debate owing to his feud with moderator Megyn Kelly and a general dissatisfaction with Fox News.

"As is the case with all things Trumpish, opinion is divided on whether he's taking a principled stand against what he sees as unfair journalistic practices, is frightened of another tango with the razor-sharp Ms. Kelly, or is so filled with hubris that he's simply lost interest in winning over any remaining voters who remain undecided.

"Hope n' Change can't say which explanation (or combination of explanations) is closest to the truth, but we will say that Trump has again confirmed the fact that no one can predict what he will do. 

"Whether or not that's a quality voters actually want in the Oval Office remains to be seen."  

http://terrellaftermath.com/
Running from a girl's not a New York value

"For all I know, this latest move by the Trump campaign, demanding that FNC remove Kelly from the panel of moderators may be just another clever ploy to control the media coverage of events heading into the Iowa caucuses next week. If so, the reactions I’ve seen so far from fellow Republicans are entirely negative, with the pundits all calling it a huge mistake by Trump with the terms silly, petulant, immature, etc. being bounced about the soundstages."

Trump in 2012: Michele Bachmann Showed ‘Great Disloyalty’ Skipping Debate, ‘People Rejected Her’

Trump went beyond just bashing Bachmann, calling out other presidential candidates for skipping the debate and telling the GOP establishment that “more debate is always better.”

 How Trump could win his war with Fox News . . . "Roger Ailes cannot back down from the moderators for a couple of reasons. Surrender of control of choice of staff would discredit any media outlet, and FNC, although dominant in cable news, is still regarded as illegitimate in parts of the leftist media bubble. Buckling in to Trump would feed ammunition to its enemies. As an FNC spokesman put it last night:" . . . Read More.


Donald Trump: Fox News Statement ‘Disgrace To Good Broadcasting And Journalism’  Maybe Trump would like Candy Crowley more?

FLASHBACK: Ronald Reagan Skipped Last Debate Before IA Caucus – Went on to Win in Landslide

The long, strange history of the Donald Trump-Megyn Kelly feud

"Here´s the conundrum of Donald Trump: Nothing he does should surprise us, but nothing he doesn´t do should surprise us, either. By that, I mean that for all the wacky things he´s actually done in this presidential campaign, there are just as many wacky things that he has said he might do but ultimately didn´t. He´s so darn unpredictable that you can´t even count on him to do the unpredictable. Until Tuesday evening, boycotting a debate fell into the category of wacky things Trump has said he might do — at least three times, actually — but ultimately didn´t. And who knows?"  From Lucianne Donald Trump’s Fox Debate Boycott and The Ridiculous Fox News Response…  . . . "Megyn Kelly, and her sidekick Chris Stirewalt are the visible symptom, not the actual underlying issue. Their partnered ‘too-cute-by-half schtick‘ has been ongoing for several months, including the coordinated antics at the last debate, and in the weeks leading up to the last debate; but again, they are the symptom – not the real issue. "However, it’s also more than a little hypocritical for the same republican voices who were shouting at republican nominees in 2011/2012, for walking into traps with CNN’s Candy Crowley and ABC’s George Stephanopolous, to now be clutching their pearls when 2016 republican frontrunner Donald Trump recognizes the construct in Fox News and avoids it." . . .

Trump says either Megyn Kelly goes or I go. And we thought Obama was petulant!

Donald Trump to Skip Thursday's Debate

"According to CNN, Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told reporters The Donald will "definitely" skip the debate, and "it's not under negotiation." Bullish, Trump reportedly asked "Let's see how much money Fox is going to make on the debate without me, OK?" Trump ran a poll starting at 1 PM Thursday asking his followers if he should participate in the debate. As of 7:50 PM Thursday, there were more than 40,000 votes, and only 52 percent of respondents said "Yes.' "

Inside the Media’s Myth-Making Machine

WaPo: Trump dumps Fox Debate

Trump To Skip Debate: Why Is FOX News Playing Games With Me?
"Presidential candidate Donald Trump said he is "most likely" not going to participate in Thursday's night Republican debate hosted by FOX News Channel and moderated in part by Megyn Kelly. Trump made the comments at a Tuesday evening press conference in Marshalltown, Iowa." 
 "Most likely"? Perhaps he wants to be begged, but I'd say two petulant presidents in a row are more than this country can take. TD

Cruz Challenges Trump To One-On-One Debate Moderated By Mark Levin: "If Donald Is Afraid Of Megyn Kelly"

"But if he's afraid of Megyn Kelly, afraid of Sean Hannity, afraid of you and afraid of Rush, then we could do it without any moderators whatsoever. 
"I'm happy to do an hour an a half with Donald, any time, with no moderator, sometime before the Iowa caucuses. 
"That's a what a candidate who actually wants to work for the people, actually wants to earn the support of the people is stand up and defend your record. 
"So Donald, stand up and do the event, he said last week that he thinks I'm stupid. He should do very, very well in a debate with someone who is so stupid, away from the moderators that he is so afraid of."

Petulance manifested: Trump’s Top Twitter Targets (Since Tuesday)
"If one criticizes Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, he or she can expect a full thrashing on Twitter."

The single most important election issue in 2016: The Constitution!

Bookworm Room

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”   — Presidential Oath of Office

"In this essay, I hope to establish three things:"

"I. That the Constitution is a unique document that empowers individuals over government, making it the bedrock of American exceptionalism;

"II. That Barack Obama has significantly damaged the Constitution’s preeminent position in American government, creating a dangerous imbalance in favor of an unlimited executive backed by a powerful, all-encompassing bureaucracy; and

"III. That we must choose our next president very carefully in order to redress this imbalance lest we wake up one morning to find ourselves living under a permanent de facto dictatorship." . . . Michael Hiteshew

Then the essayist goes on to make his case for the election of Sen. Cruz over that of Mr. Trump. 

The continuing Hillary soap opera: Tuesday

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Hillary and the Law of the Jungle  . . . "President Obama described Comey as possessing “fierce independence” when he appointed the FBI Director. Since that was Obama’s description, we can assume Comey is something less than that, though that is not to say he is a complete tool of this administration, like his nominal superior, Attorney General Loretta Lynch." . . .

. . . As Clinton’s political vulnerability becomes obvious, her legal jeopardy increases. Predators in the wild and in politics do not like to strike unless and until the prey is weak and vulnerable. Clinton is almost there. The FBI is probably waiting. " . . .

However. . . Obama liking Hillary these days   "She’s the only one who can protect his legacy."

Question to Hillary at Dem town hall gave away the phony game being played  "A youthful questioner at last night’s Democratic presidential candidates town hall let it slip that he had been fed a question for Hillary.  The video is embedded below.  This slip of the tongue confirms that whole event was a set-up to help the Democrat establishment’s chosen vehicle win the Iowa caucus and keep the gravy train rolling.  After all, when Hillary was presumed to be strong, the number of debates was strictly limited and then were scheduled for time slots aimed at keeping viewership to a minimum.  But now that Sanders is showing strength, the DNC – run by Hillary ally Debbie Wasserman Schultz – abruptly scheduled a new event." . . .

"The rattled young man then gave away the secret: “I can see why they gave you this question.' ”

Oh, yeah; then there's this: ‘IF I DIE BY COMMITTING SUICIDE, DON’T BELIEVE IT’: BILL’S FORMER MISTRESS FEARS HILLARY’S WRATH

"Former Miss Arkansas worries about possible assassination attempt ahead of tell-all book"  Cheap, gossipy publicity stunt, but it should work, given Hillary's temper reputation.

What a privilege it has been to be a Clinton

"Should Bill Clinton’s sexual misdeeds be an issue for Hillary Clinton’s candidacy?"   From Ann Althouse.
The NYT does one of its forums on this question, asked of 4 women and one man.   (Could this be a glimpse of "New York values"? Well, they did choose David Dinkins and Bill DeBlasio as mayors, completely ignoring Mayor Giuliani's record of cleaning up crime in the city. TD)

. . . "Katha Pollitt says there's "no evidence that Hillary actually did 'enable' Bill’s philandering" or that she "slut-shamed Paula Jones or any of the other women who accused Bill of sexually aggressive behavior." She muses "What is enabling, anyway?" Is it really so different from "love, loyalty, credulousness, naivete, practicality, forgiveness, saving the marriage, protecting the children, just getting on with life"?" . . .

. . . "Nona Willis Aronowitz, a Fusion editor, says: "Even I, a progressive feminist, tend to think of Bill Clinton as a sleazy ex-boyfriend I can’t stop drunk-texting but not, you know, a rapist. He’s one of us, after all. One of our dudes." . . ."

Former Hillary Staffer Calls Benghazi Victims’ Families Media Whores *  . . . "Nomiki Konst said on The Blaze today that the families of the Benghazi victims are calling Hillary Clinton a liar because they are desperate for media attention. Konst has no real claim to know the truth of what happened in Benghazi other than that she worked in Libya after the attacks in Benghazi, but that doesn’t really stop her from trying to say that she knows the motives of the Benghazi victims’ families:" . . .

*Does she mean like Cindy Sheehan, Al Sharpton and Code Pinkies?

The State Department’s Ridiculous Excuse for Delaying the Final Release of Hillary’s Emails   . . . "The State Department just filed a motion to have the final release delayed until February 29th – coincidentally after the first four primaries in the country. Lawyers for Jason Leopold, the journalist whose lawsuit forced the issue in the first place, are having none of it." . . .

Of course, if worst comes to worst and the judge rules against the State Department, I am sure Trump will find a way to save her from a bad news cycle yet again.

DeLay: FBI sources say they're 'ready to indict' Hillary   . . . "One way or another, either she's going to be indicted and that process begins, or we try her in the public eye with her campaign," DeLay said Monday. "One way or another, she's going to have to face these charges." 
"FBI officials have repeatedly declined to comment on the status of the investigation into Clinton and her staff.
Being a Clinton whose every sentence must be carefully parsed, her statement to the effect that she sent nothing marked "classified" must be examined with a microscope. Apparently she had excerpts of classified materials cut and pasted into emails she sent. She would have sent secret material via her private, hackable email but would be "truthfully" saying she sent nothing "marked classified".
Remember also that her husband told Jim Lehrer "there is no improper relationship" and Lehrer let him get away with it.  The Tunnel Dweller

Lena Dunham lists the words and phrases that may not be used against Hillary   . . . "Dunham said during an interview with Variety magazine. “Adjectives – whether it’s attacks on her personal life or the adjectives that are used to describe her clothing – we have to do a full reexamination. I really want to do a list that we hand to media outlets that says, ‘These are the words you can’t use when describing a female candidate: shrill, inaccessible, difficult, frumpy, and plastic.’ I mean there’s just a list of words. If we were allowed to talk about male candidates like that, I’d have a f***ing field day. I’d enjoy my life so much.' ”

The Nominee We Deserve?

 Stephen F. Hayes  

 "Do Republicans deserve to lose? Consider the state of play as we write this in late January, just days from the first GOP nominating contests.

"The Republican frontrunner is a longtime liberal whose worldview might best be described as an amalgam of pop-culture progressivism and vulgar nationalism. His campaign rallies are orgies of self-absorption, dominated by juvenile insults of those who criticize him and endless boasting about his poll numbers. He’s a narcissist and a huckster, an opportunist who not only failed to join conserv­atives in the big fights about the size and scope of government over the past several decades but, to the extent he was even aware of such battles, was often funding the other side, with a long list of contributions to the liberals most responsible for the dire state of affairs in the country, including likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton." . . . 

"Who is to blame? Virtually everyone."

 

Hillary's service trophy and legacy exhibit

http://terrellaftermath.com/

"Welcome to AfterMath. Scroll down for the Cartoon Archive button to see hundreds more."

"For the complete cartoon history go to Cartoon Archive."

Trump, Cruz, and ‘New York Values’

John Podhoretz  . . . "Cruz is operating from a false premise here. In point of fact, the base has had months to evaluate Trump, and one can argue that the base long ago decided he was unacceptable. As I write, national polls have Trump leading the field with 35 percent to Cruz’s 19 percent in the wake of Trump’s seven-month run at the top of the charts and what must be judged the most spectacular primary bid of our time. These polls are problematic, but at the very least what they suggest is 65 percent of the Republican electorate is actively opposed to Trump. They know he’s pro-choice, they know he supports Democrats, they know he’s crude and ugly and insulting, and they know his foreign-policy views are at best inconsistent." . . .

Video Release: Paris Terrorists Shown Training With ISIS in Syria

Legal Insurrection

"ISIS has reportedly released a video that confirms that the Paris terrorists trained in Syria; the video shows the men carrying out executions and reinforces the knowledge that they were not merely “inspired” by ISIS.

"The New York Times reports:

The Islamic State released a video on Sunday apparently showing footage of the men who carried out the November attacks in Paris while they were in Syria and Iraq, where they are pictured carrying out executions, including beheadings.

If the identities of all of the men in the video are confirmed, it would be the first evidence that the group that killed 130 people in coordinated attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 had been sent from the Islamic State’s base in Syria.

The video makes it clear that the Paris attacks were not just inspired by the Islamic State, but rather carried out by core members of the terrorist group, who had been trained and vetted in Syria before being tapped to carry out attacks on European soil. It also aims to show that the assailants — some of whom had European passports — had been carrying out atrocities in the group’s name long before their return to Europe.

"The NYT describes vivid and horrifying scenes from the video." . . .

Movie Review: 13 Hours is red meat for conservative base

"Plenty of disillusionment too.  And it’s pretty clear that, in the motion picture at least, for Silva and Woods the disillusionment crept in long before the men got to Benghazi.  We have the finest men fighting for our country, and we don’t have their backs.  Something to think about this November."

Legal Insurrection

. . . "The blame for the death of four Americans in the hands of the terrorists is never explicitly put on the the highest echelons of government.  Apart from the single sentence “The POTUS is briefed” superimposed over the picture of the White House, nothing assigns the responsibility for the death of four Americans to the president.  Something tells me if it was a Bush White House, the filmmakers would find a way to make it abundantly clear where the buck stops.

"Although Ms. Clinton’s name is never uttered, the oil industry lobbyist Sona Jilliani (Alexia Barlier) initially established herself as a Hillary archetype.  The character is a blue-eyed, Harvard-educated resident of the CIA compound, always on the verge of striking some sort of a deal and always berating the men who risk their lives to protect hers.  But Jillani redeems herself towards the end and, in any event, the Hillary connection, if intended, is in no way obvious to a mainstream viewer.  Because 13 Hours steers clear of partisan politics, it is a better, much less heavy-handed film than it would otherwise had been." . . .

Michael Bay to film Benghazi drama 13 Hours in Morocco and Malta

. . . "Morocco is the top international filming location for desert landscapes and is coming off a strong 2014 that saw a five-fold increase in foreign shoots. Tom Cruise was one of the highest-profile visitors with Mission: Impossible 5.

"Malta is also a popular double for Middle Eastern locations and in recent years has doubled for Israel in Brad Pitt’s zombie drama World War Z (above), and for the Indian Ocean in Tom Hanks’ modern piracy thriller Captain Phillips. " . . .

Trump, National Review, and the concern over Trump's appeal to many voters

Pat Condell on Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and leftist war on free speech they find offensive

Hat tip to John Paul Curnutt; Madras, Oregon

The Voters’ Trump Love Affair Explained in Terms Even Beltway Pundits Can Understand . . .  Media, listen and listen real good:

tapping into anger against the Establishment and over immigration and is a plain-spoken breath of fresh air. 

sounding a nationalistic note in an age where it is not the “elite” norm.

not campaigning as conservative but a populist, which, almost by definition, tends to make one popular in an era of mass discontent.

a crusader against hated political correctness, which has stifled tongues and killed careers nationwide. And in being the first prominent person to defeat the thought police (at least for now) — and by not cowering and apologizing to them — he has become a hero.

 What Democrats know (and National Review forgot)  . . . "N.R.’s demonizing Trump is worse than foolish.  It’s political malpractice of the worst sort: a suicidal rejection of a great opportunity to expand the GOP presidential vote."  
Do not take this as an endorsement by this site. But if Trump -or any other Republican- is our candidate, I will support him.  Vote Republican, people, if only to cancel a Democrat vote. TD

Donald Rumsfeld: Donald Trump has 'touched a nerve in our country'

National Review's Jihad Against Trump   

. . . "It would be an American epic -- the quintessential business pragmatist against the most extreme ideologue to have run for national office in years ... in a nutshell, capitalism versus socialism.  Capitalism is ragged and wild and wooly, like Donald Trump. It changes its mind on a dime. Ideology is secondary.  Socialism is a rigid utopian theory that leads to bankruptcy (at best) or mass-murdering Maoist totalitarianism.  Ideology is primary."

National Review's latest on Trump:

Translating ‘Make America Great Again’ into English
" . . .that the candidacy of Donald Trump is something that could not happen in a nation that could read."
Give Trump’s Jacksonian Voters the Respect They Deserve, but Reject the Donald
. . . "The Trump voter is moderate, disaffected, with patriotic instincts. He feels disconnected from the GOP and other broken public institutions, left behind by a national political elite that no longer believes he matters." . . .
William Kristol: Trumpism Is Just Two-Bit Caesarism  
". . .  Leo Strauss wrote that “a conservative, I take it, is a man who despises vulgarity; but the argument which is concerned exclusively with calculations of success, and is based on blindness to the nobility of the effort, is vulgar.” Isn’t Donald Trump the very epitome of vulgarity?"
Where Is the Evidence for Donald Trump’s Conservatism?

Much more at NRO.

Not Looking Good For Hillary In Minnesota, Head To Head Matchup Shows Hillary Ties with Cruz, Loses to Rubio…

Weasel Zippers

"Oddly Hillary is beating Feel the Bern.

"Via Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Hillary Clinton are early favorites among Minnesota voters in the presidential race, according to a new Star Tribune poll.

Clinton holds a commanding 34-point lead over rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, but the statewide poll of 800 registered voters shows that the former secretary of state could face trouble against two top Republicans. In head-to-head matchups, Clinton is essentially tied with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and trails Rubio, the Florida U.S. senator. Clinton tops Donald Trump by 5 percentage points.

Full article. . .