Oscars and the beautiful, really, really nice people

Oscar Week in Pictures: Ha Ha Land   "I almost—almost—wish I had watched the Oscars last night to take in the sublime moment when the best picture award was flubbed. It was the perfect Twitter moment. La La Land blows 28-3 lead! But La La Land won the popular vote! All La La Land had to do was kick the field goal! Warren Beatty’s biggest flop since Ishtar!

"Only one thing to do morningafterwise—yup, a special edition of TWIP:" . . .

Islamic Republic of Iran Celebrates the Oscars for Anti-Trump Stance

"The Islamic Republic of Iran was well represented at the 89th Academy Awards show after Iranian director Asghar Fahadi won an Oscar for best foreign language film.
"Fahadi was not in attendance during the ceremony as a protest against President Donald Trump.
"The Iranian government praised the entire cast and crew of "The Salesman" for boycotting the Hollywood awards show in protest against President Donald Trump."
 . . .

“I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.," the Farhadi said.

Other disasters you may have missed.

WaPo: The Insane End To Oscars Sends False Message Of Racial Progress  (Video)
. . . "Now feel free to go to the article. But there wouldn’t be any real explanation here about what race has to do with the monumental screw up at the Oscars last night.
"You can see the full flub here, where they name the wrong best picture."
"The reason was Price Waterhouse apparently [gave] Warren Beatty the wrong card, the card for the best actress who was from the film La La Land.
"The accounting firm has two envelopes for each award and somehow the second best actress envelope was given instead of best picture." . . . 

Meet the DNC’s New Organizer in Chief

Tom Perez is both a hard-core progressive and a hard-fighting party insider.

John Fund  "The election of a new chair of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday was clearly an inside-baseball affair. Only 17 percent of Democratic voters had even heard it was happening, according to a new Morning Consult poll.
"Media analysts breathlessly touted the race as one between Representative Keith Ellison, pushed by the forces behind Bernie Sanders’s insurgent challenge last year, and Tom Perez, a former secretary of labor who was supported by Joe Biden and effusively praised by Barack Obama and other establishment voices.
"In reality, both candidates are hard-core progressives committed to the party’s scorched-earth opposition to the Trump administration. As Jeff Stein of Vox noted:

The purpose of this fight can appear somewhat mystifying. Perez was one of the most left-leaning members of Obama’s Cabinet, muting the contest’s ideological stakes by making it hard to understand what precise ideological division the party’s two factions are fighting over.

"The more salient difference was in the candidates’ varying degrees of professionalism. Ellison, a former community organizer in Minneapolis, simply didn’t convince enough DNC members that he could raise enough money or manage the infrastructure that the party needs to rebuild if it is going to climb out of its electoral hole.
"Even though Perez has won only one election in his life (for a Maryland county council), he convinced party insiders that he could rebuild the party’s cadre.
"Conservatives need to pay attention, now that the “whip-smart” Perez (Obama’s words) is running the DNC." . . .

How can reasonable people still remain Democrat Party supporters?

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Just How Bad Is New Democrat Party Chairman Tom Perez?  Everyone seems to think the Democratic Party dodged a bullet in selecting former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez over radical Islamist Rep. Keith Ellison for party chairman. A look at Perez's record shows that the party dodged nothing.

"Ellison's appeal to Democrats was in his openly deranged radical extremism, he was billed as the outsider, the upstart, the new wave to freshen up the stale party that had lost so badly last November. Perez was somehow declared the moderate by default. Fact is, he was just as extreme in his views, but less noisy than Ellison." . . .

The real message of Democrats’ anger and protests  "But the key lesson for conservatives is that with their stubborn refusal to accept Donald Trump as their president, the Democrats are telling us our vote is invalid. It is but a small step from that to a totalitarian belief that we conservatives are undeserving of any vote at all. This map says otherwise. Old lefty folk singer, Woody Guthrie, may be spinning quite furiously in his grave right now but the pure red-hued truth is, for all you conservative Trump voters:

“ This Land is Your Land...”

Poll: Public Opposes Dems Federal Transgender Rule by 2-To-1 Margin…
Never mind that. The minority will riot and destroy communities, favorite celebrities will attempt to destroy their economies until the two-thirds give in to them.

"Why should over 324 million Americans be inconvenienced by the demands of fewer than 25,000 people with the mental disorder of gender confusion? The U.S. Census Bureau has an interactive map which shows the estimated number of transgenders per state."

Union Protestors Target California Republican, Go to Wrong House 

. . . "A similar "protest vigil" was held at the house of Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.). Issa was not home at the time of the protest, prompting his staff to label the demonstration "political theater."
" 'We should absolutely call out this silliness for exactly what it is: manufactured stunts to create political theater," said a spokesman for Issa's office."
. . . "Issa's staff gave the protestors cookies."

General Mattis Puts Kim Jong Un On Notice

US Chronicle

"Secretary of Defense General James Mattis has put the Communist nation of North Korea on notice that the United States will no longer tolerate the country’s “glorious leader,’ Kim Jong Un, threatening the world with a nuclear holocaust.

“ 'America’s commitments to defending our allies and to upholding our extended deterrence guarantees remain ironclad: Any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming.” 

"This according to Newsmax, who reported on Mattis’ recent trip to the region.

North Korea has been an increasingly unstable threat to the world as the country spent a large portion of the Obama administration testing and perfecting their ballistic missiles and hydrogen bombs.

"While visiting South Korea, Mattis discussed a timeline for the construction and implementation of an anti-missile defense program called Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

"THAAD will provide a protective missile defense system that will be able to shoot down missiles aimed at South Korea or Japan.

"This attitude of deterrence through strength is a far cry from the Obama administration’s efforts to severely dismantle the American military, and attempts to get rid of the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

"Though the media did not seem to have a problem with an American president colluding with Russia then, just prior to the 2012 election, Barack Obama was caught on a hot mic telling Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more flexibility to dismantle the US’ nuclear arsenal after his election because he would no longer have to worry about reelection." . . .

Transgender wrestler wins girls gold medal

Fort Worth Star-Telegram  "Mack Beggs came here to wrestle. And wrestle he did, manhandling four opponents over two days as he captured a Class 6A girls state championship Saturday.

"The 110-pound gold medalist also captured something else: The attention of a nation increasingly polarized by transgender issues.

"Beggs, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Euless Trinity High School, didn’t come to the state tournament seeking to carry the transgender torch, or to become a lightning rod, or to be the target of a lawsuit that could end his high school wrestling career." . . .
. . .
"Beggs was born a girl, yet from as early as 3 years old, his parents remember, he has considered himself a boy. Now more than a year after starting testosterone treatment that is transforming his physical appearance and increasing muscle mass to that of or near a boy of similar age, Beggs is required by the University Interscholastic League to compete as a girl and against girls." . . .

Does it seem a bit like this?

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/northeast-tarrant/article135021414.html#storylink=cpy

Read

mBeggs was born a girl, yet from as early as 3 years old, his parents remember, he has considered himself a boy. Now more than a year after starting testosterone treatment that is transforming his physical appearance and increasing muscle mass to that of or near a boy of similar age, Beggs is required by the University Interscholastic League to compete as a girl and against girls.

He would prefer to wrestle boys, but lacking that option, he follows the rules set by the UIL, the state’s governing body for public school sports.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/northeast-tarrant/article135021414.html#storylink=cpy

Beggs was born a girl, yet from as early as 3 years old, his parents remember, he has considered himself a boy. Now more than a year after starting testosterone treatment that is transforming his physical appearance and increasing muscle mass to that of or near a boy of similar age, Beggs is required by the University Interscholastic League to compete as a girl and against girls.

He would prefer to wrestle boys, but lacking that option, he follows the rules set by the UIL, the state’s governing body for public school sports.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/northeast-tarrant/article135021414.html#storylink=cpy

ore here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/northeast-tarrant/article135021414.html#storylink=cpy

President Trump opts out of attending White House Correspondents Dinner

Rick Moran  "Reporters and media types refer to the White House Correspondents Dinner as "The Nerd Prom." The dinner has always served as a platform for big name media members to rub elbows with the rich and famous - especially Hollywood celebrities.


"It has also served as a venue where there has been continuous and unrelenting criticism and mockery of conservative personalities. And if there's a Republican president in office, the invective gets personal.


President Trump doesn't fell like it would be a good use of his time to sit at the head table and be forced to listen to empty headed Hollywood types trying to outdo one another in showing their hatred for him. So he's decided not to attend." . . .

Slime and the Slimers

Clarice Feldman  . . . "One ongoing slime is that Trump is anti-Semitic. Something I heard repeated at Georgetown University, home of a professor of Islamic studies who condoned rape and slavery in the Moslem world just this week. The charge against Trump is not only false, but is a favorite of the sort of people who never expressed interest in the Barack Obama-Rashid Khalidi tape being held under lock and key by the Los Angeles Times. The very people who never concern themselves with the substantial evidence of the anti-Semitism of Keith Ellison, runner up in the race for DNC chair and now appointed as "Deputy Chair" by winner Tom Perez.   Jeff Dunetz details the anti-Semitic acts on the record of Obama, none of which seem to bother the Democratic shills like the ADL and the media. Here are some of them:" . . .

The 12 DUMBEST EVER ‘Bias Incidents’ On America’s College Campuses

Daily Caller  . . . "The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) published an exhaustive survey of such speech-chilling bias reporting systems earlier this month.


"The speech and conduct of some 2.84 million students in the United States are subject to evaluation under bias reporting systems, according to the civil rights group.


"The personnel who investigate student speech — usually called some variation of “bias response teams” — frequently includes law enforcement officials as well as school administrators and public relations staffers. Upon a finding of “guilty,” the teams of cops and bureaucrats summon students for hearings. These meetings are often intimidating and quasi-disciplinary. Their function, FIRE suggests, is to enforce a politically correct speech orthodoxy on campuses.

"Many of the investigations by bias response teams are absurd.


"Here are the 12 most sublimely ridiculous “bias incidents” actually, seriously investigated by “bias response teams” on U.S. college campuses." . . .

"In 2015, the “University Bias Incident Team” at the taxpayer-funded University of Wisconsin-Platteville investigated three female students for dressing up as “three blind mice” for Halloween. The costumes worn by the trio were “abelist” and mocked disabled people, a complaining student charged. "

"At fancypants Colby College, a picturesque little liberal arts college in small-town Maine, the 13-person “Bias Incident Prevention and Response team” investigated someone who uttered the phrase “on the other hand” in 2016. An unidentified student charged that these commonly-used words are “ableist.' ”

GOP rep: We might not be able to repeal ObamaCare because some Republicans are nervous about townhall protests

Hot Air  "Via CNN, I think this is a strategic bit of alarmism by a House conservative, Mo Brooks, to try to light a fire under grassroots ObamaCare opponents. He doesn’t really believe that Republicans in Congress scare so easily that getting screamed at by liberals for an hour at a townhall will undo seven years of repeal fever. Does he? And … is he right to? This is, after all, the GOP we’re talking about. They went from 35 years of Reaganism to Trumpism in the span of about nine months.

"There’s a warning here too for Trump, who’s been keeping a lower-than-expected profile on repeal lately." . . .

By The Way, The Indivisible Mob Booed The Invocation At Cassidy’s Town Hall Yesterday  "In case you missed them, we had two posts earlier today on Indivisible, the left-wing agitation outfit staging these protests – the first exposing the national connections to what happened to Cassidy, and the second outlining its plans to disrupt Cassidy’s event in Breaux Bridge Friday using similar tactics."

Donald Trump Says He Will Not Attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner

My prediction: Obama will be invited and, naturally, will have some lines written for him to trash President Trump to adoring smiles and cheers. TD

Hollywood Reporter. . . "Trump's decision comes after CNN, The New York Times, Politico and several other major media outlets were blocked from attending a Friday White House press briefing. The president also continued to express his dislike for "fake news" media and targeted reporters' use of anonymous sources while speaking to the Conservative Political Action Committee on Friday.

"White House Correspondents' Association president Jeff Mason said in a statement that the group has noted Trump's announcement and is still looking forward to the April 29 dinner, "which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic.

" 'We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession," the statement concludes." . . .

The Daily Mail scathingly covers the issue here. 

. . . "President Donald Trump has announced that he will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year in a shocking break with tradition. 

" 'I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!' Trump tweeted on Saturday afternoon. 

"His announcement comes amid growing tensions between his administration and media outlets.  

"Trump attended the dinner in 2011 with his wife Melania where he was repeatedly mocked by then-president Barack Obama. 

"He skipped the dinner in 2016 during the presidential campaign where Obama again took aim at the then-candidate, saying: 'I'm a little hurt that he's not here tonight. It's surprising. You got a room full of reporters, celebrities, cameras, and he says no.' "

Don’t get mad, get even.  . . . "It’s a disgusting spectacle of insiders patting insiders on the back, and the in-the-know crowd rubbing of self-important elbows. Inevitably, “conservative” correspondents hoping to be accepted into the fold attend." . . .Legal Insurrection

Trump’s ‘Madman Theory’ Diplomacy

The president’s perceived volatility could help make his foreign policy a success.

Charles Krauthammer  "At the heart of Donald Trump’s foreign-policy team lies a glaring contradiction. On the one hand, it is composed of men of experience, judgment, and traditionalism. Meaning, they are all very much within the parameters of mainstream American internationalism as practiced since 1945. Practically every member of the team — the heads of State, Homeland Security, the CIA, and most especially Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster — could fit in a cabinet put together by, say, Hillary Clinton.

"The commander in chief, on the other hand, is quite the opposite — inexperienced, untraditional, unbounded. His pronouncements on everything from the “one China” policy to the two-state (Arab-Israeli) solution, from NATO obsolescence to the ravages of free trade, continue to confound and, as we say today, disrupt.

"The obvious question is: Can this arrangement possibly work? The answer thus far, surprisingly, is: perhaps.

"The sample size is tiny but take, for example, the German excursion. Trump dispatched his grown-ups — Vice President Pence, Defense Secretary Mattis, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — to various international confabs in Germany to reassure allies with the usual pieties about America’s commitment to European security. They did drop a few hints regarding Trump’s loud complaints about allied parasitism, in particular NATO members shirking their share of the defense burden.

"Within days, Germany announced a 20,000-man expansion of its military. Smaller European countries are likely to take note of the new setup. It’s classic good-cop, bad-cop: The secretaries represent foreign-policy continuity but their boss preaches America First. Message: Shape up." . . .

Yet sometimes an off-center comment can have its uses. Take Trump’s casual dismissal of a U.S. commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East. The next day, U.S. policy was brought back in line by his own U.N. ambassador. But this diversion might prove salutary. It’s a message to the Palestinians that their decades of rejectionism may not continue to pay off with an inexorable march toward statehood — that there may actually be a price to pay for making no concessions and simply waiting for the U.S. to deliver them a Palestinian state.

Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Trump side by side

AmericanFlavor