Legal Insurrection

"Sends reporters on a bus tour to learn what real Americans think"

"Credit where credit’s due: the HuffPost (now just HuffPost since founder Ariana Huffington parted ways) is launching a bus tour, stopping in 23 cities so their reporters (or bloggers) can find the answer to this burning question: What does it mean to be American today?

"The bus tour turned mobile video studio hopes to showcase “what we share as Americans, rather than what divides us.”

"A noble goal, if it’s an earnest one.

"HuffPost explains further:

WHY WE ARE DOING THIS
Trust in media has bottomed out. We hope to rebuild some of that — and learn from it — by listening to the public and elevating their stories through our massive distribution network.

HOW WE ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN
We will travel the old-fashioned way — via bus — to 20-plus states to hear from some of the under-heard, diverse Americans who make up the communities that form much of our nation. And by working on the ground with community leaders, nonprofits, educational institutions, local businesses and others, we’ll make sure people know we’re there to listen.

Not on the bus tour? Don’t worry. We’ll be announcing ways to participate online in the coming weeks.

"HuffPost is right about how little faith the general public has in its media, and they’ve certainly contributed to the decline of discourse.

"Lydia Polgreen, HuffPost’s new Editor-in-chief told Politico:

“A lot of us are thinking about journalism and how journalism relates to people’s lives and this project was really a direct result of that, wanting to get out into the country and hear from people about the things that mattered most to them rather than us deciding from our office in the East Village what are the stories that are most important to Americans and hear what people have to say,” she said. “So much of journalism today is elites speaking to elites and I see the role of HuffPost as speaking for really everyone.”

"I want to love this, I really do. Regular readers are familiar with my station as the resident “can’t we all just get along!” blogger here at LI. I routinely advocate for finding common ground rather than focusing on ideological differences, so I want to believe that under new leadership, HuffPost might actually be less focused on divisive posts a la this one:

The Lion of Mosul: Courage of young soldier going undercover as ISIS fanatic to shoot dead six fighters behind enemy lines

I fear this man's days are numbered because of this story being out. TD

 
"After noting down the vital positions and pinpointing where IS were holding ammunition, Mohammed quickly shot dead six of the fanatics."

"A soldier on a perilous mission to gather crucial intelligence deep behind Islamic State lines during the ferocious battle of Mosul shot dead six enemy fighters.

"The fearless special forces hero Mohammed Qasim, dubbed the Lion of Mosul, disguised himself as one of the fanatics and conned them into believing he was one of them.

"The Iraqi discovered the location of ISIS positions and key sniper and machine gun teams.

"Last night senior Iraqi officers applauded the 25-year-old’s actions.

"General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi said: “We are all very proud of what this soldier did. He is a very brave man. He makes us all hold our heads up high.' ” . . .

Prior to funeral for slain officer, teen blared 'F**k tha Police' song from apartment

Rick Moran  "What posseses someone to deliberately try and hurt people who are already in mourning for a loved one or beloved colleague?

"A teen took the opportunity to blare N.W.A's protest song "F**k tha Police" from his upper floor apartment in a building next to the church where slain Officer Miosotis Familia's funeral was taking place. Officers were gathering on the street below when Julien Rodriguez put the song on repeat and blasted it out of his window.

"The kid apologized later - but only after the landlord threatened to evict him and his family.

. . . 

"No doubt the kid thought he'd be a hero to his neighbors and friends for taking the rhetoric of Black Lives Matter to heart and deliberately inflicting an emotional wound on the police and the family of the slain officer. And then to lie about the reason and offer a phony apology? He should be evicted and not allowed to live anywhere else in the city.

"Black Lives Matter leaders are being sued by a Baton Rouge police officer wounded during protests last year for "incitement." While we have to recognize an inherent right of free speech, we shouldn't have to put up with the kind of incendiary rhetoric from Black Lives Matter that leads to actions like that taken by the teenager whose "political statement" was so emotionally damaging to the police and the family of a slain officer." . . .

Police Funeral: “Where are the demonstrations for this single mom?”

Ramirez on Obamacare

So any changes Republicans make to Obamacare will make it "Trumpcare"? 
By that same standard, Mr. Obama prematurely surrendering the war in Iraq to ISIS will make "Bush's war" become Obama's war will it not? The Tunnel Dweller

GOP rallies behind idiotic bill, says Ms. Coulter

Ann Coulter  "Republicans are about to do something very stupid. Using bribery, threats and cajolery, they intend to pass a catastrophically unpopular bill on a party-line vote. 

"GOP: Obamacare is unpopular, so let's pass a new health care bill that's even MORE unpopular. 
"Normal Person: Why would you do that? 
GOP: No, you don't understand. Obamacare is totally imploding, so if we pass this bill now, all its problems will be blamed on us! 

"Republicans would be better off doing nothing. They can survive the ridicule for running against Obamacare through four election cycles and then not repealing it. They cannot survive a bill that does nothing to fix the actual problems with Obamacare. 

"The only explanation for the GOP doing something so stupid and unpopular is that it's all about tax cuts. 

"Why can't we get it through their heads that we didn't elect Trump to cut taxes? Forty-five percent of people don't pay any federal income tax -- and they voted for Trump! Taxes on high earners (or "Hillary voters") are at a historic low. 

"Here's a somewhat more important issue I'd like to submit for Republicans' consideration: PEOPLE CAN'T BUY HEALTH INSURANCE THEY WANT, CAN'T SEE THE DOCTORS THEY WANT AND CAN'T AFFORD THEIR PREMIUMS AND DEDUCTIBLES. 

"How about allowing people the option of buying insurance that doesn't cover sex change operations, gambling addictions, psychotherapy, liver transplants for illegal aliens and so on? 

"Instead of squandering this moment, Trump the businessman should seize it to trumpet the free market. This is a golden opportunity to give a speech explaining why, contrary to everything your professors told you, communism doesn't work. To paraphrase Talleyrand, what Republicans are doing with Obamacare is worse than a crime; it's a mistake." . . .

New York cops turn their backs on De Blasio during funeral for slain officer

Rick Moran  "The massive disrespect shown by New York city Mayor Bill De Blasio for the city policemen and women came back to bite hizzoner during the funeral for assassinated officer Miosotis Familia.

Familia was gunned down while sitting in her police car last week. Instead of attending the officer's wake, De Blasio jetted off to Hamburg where he was the keynote speaker at an anti-Capitalist, anti-American protest. 

"Yesterday, while thousands of police officers paid their final respects to Familia, Mayor De Blasio delivered a eulogy. During his speech, hundreds of cops turned their back on the mayor to protest his lack of respect for the police department.

"It wasn't the first time New York city's finest made such a protest. Two years ago, at the funeral of slain officer  Wenjian Liu, hundreds of police also made their feelings known." . . .

This is a mayor who has taken away some critical law enforcement tools that kept the violent crime rate down in the city and helped protect the lives of officers. He has shown by his words and actions that he doesn't value the work of city police as most of his predecessors have.

To Be Completely Transparent, Trump, Jr. Releases Email Chain Related To Meeting With Russian Lawyer

Weasel Zippers

See the documents here.

Solid counsel for conservatives: "The Right's Image Problem"

"I have a few suggestions most of which have been and continue to be applied. I only state them again because even reaching one or two more people can help change the course of the trajectory:"

Elizabeth Nahas  . . . "As much as I am grateful for my evolution toward truth, the Left’s sound bites have increased exponentially. Consequently, many of us on the Right remain in the underground for fear of retribution. With a Republican President and Congress, why does this continue? The answer is simple: The Right’s image and messaging continues to be abysmal, and without those in power changing the narrative, decay of the Grand Old Party and conservatism for that matter will ensue. Like many on this site, I regularly hear the distortions about the Right without reprieve as evidenced here:

"Recently, I attended a conference which drew people from all over the world with the majority coming from the United States. This particular event was not about mental or behavioral health and was bringing together peers from another profession. Being from the Northeast, I was aware of those colleagues who tilted Left. I was taken aback, however, that Leftist thinking was so pervasive throughout the industry in general. Even at a convention which frowns on any political discussion, I could not escape direct comments or insinuations about conservative principles and, of course, President Trump. Let me stress these people were some of the friendliest people whom I have met as a group coming together, and I have no doubt there are quite a few who are Right in their thinking. Like me, however, they remained in the shadows. Allow me now to provide you with some of highlights:" . . .

. . . "Finally, a third said “now it is time to heal.” In my fantasy world, I wanted to stand up and ask, “Heal from what? Heal from the last eight years of deception, demagoguery and divisiveness with the country brought to a point of almost no return?” . . .

Trump Trolls the Pearl-Clutchers

There's already been plenty written on the pearl-clutching going on, so I'm not going to comment except to say "show me on this doll where the bad video hurt you." Instead, let's just ask what Trump is up to. Yeah, he's not being "presidential." Did anyone really expect him to be? Certainly, I thought his behavior might lose the election, but it didn't: he won. Why should he change? 

PJ Media  . . . Of course, this is all about the famous tweeted GIF of Trump clotheslining a CNN-headed man in a WWE event, which, if I understand the people reacting to it, is the worst thing EVAH and proves Trump is Literally Hitler. And someone remind me that I need a meme that says "No, that's isn't what 'literally' means." 

"Of course, anyone who has been paying attention and isn't suffering from the Trump Trance recalls doing bad Shakespeare in order to indulge Trump-assassination fantasies, or the number of celebrities who have threatened Trump or fantasized about his death, or running stories on how many would have to be killed to get a Democrat in the White House . . .

. . . 

"Instead, let's just ask what Trump is up to. Yeah, he's not being "presidential." Did anyone really expect him to be? Certainly, I thought his behavior might lose the election, but it didn't: he won. Why should he change? 

"In the meantime, though, right now about three-quarters of Americans think the press is biased against Trump. Given the dozens of stories that have been pushed by major media and then proven false, including the recent one that was so false CNN fired three senior people over them and added VP-level vetting for any further Trump/Russia stories, it doesn't seem like an unreasonable conclusion. 

"So, Trump trolls the press with something like the CNN takedown video, in an environment where three-quarters of the populace think the press is treating Trump unfairly. He trolls the press very successfully, causing immense butthurt all through the legacy press. The pearl-clutching hyperbole strikes, and we find out that Trump is as bad as Erdögan and Putin -- who murder and imprison the press. This follows a week of complaints that after CNN got their noses rubbed in yet another false story, CNN is being disrespected by Sean Spicer, and worse, the Trump administration is violating the First Amendment by not putting Jim Acosta of CNN on TV while he berates Sean Spicer. 

"Then those three-quarters of the population said, "Yawn." 

"The press's credibility degraded further. 

"And Trump laughed." . . . 

Captain Kirk meets CNN Liberal Bias - CNN defeated by Trump Wrestling Meme

Marine makes statues of fallen soldiers for families

Fox13 News

"More than a decade after her son died while serving in Iraq a Bradenton mother got a gift that brought her to tears.

"A statue of him - created by a stranger - who's on a mission to honor the memories of Florida’s fallen Marines.

"It's been 13 years since Sheila Cobb has gotten to hug her son.

"Private first class Christopher Cobb was just 19 when he was killed in a gun battle in Iraq. He was a Marine, following in his stepfather's footsteps.  

"A couple months ago, Sheila got an unexpected call - a man, asking if he could sculpt a statue of Christopher.

“ 'He told me to send him some pictures of Christopher and I did,” she told FOX 13 News.

"That man is Cliff Leonard - a Marine, himself. About 7 years ago, he sculpted a statue of a fallen Marine from Jacksonville, where he lives.

"Then, he sculpted all the Marines and corpsmen in the city." . . .

CNN threatened to dox some poor shlub unless he groveled and silenced himself for joking about it. Brandon Morse shows how to apologize to CNN.

"Inducing some random meme-making troll to grovel and apologize for his wrongthink isn't journalism."

Bookworm Room Video at the link. TheBlaze 

✔@theblaze
.@TheBrandonMorse would like to make an apology that is not forced in any way.

More on this as well as the meaning of "Dox". It means much, much more than just giving the name of the person being threatened:

"Dox, or being doxed, in terms of online forum sites, is the physical equivalent of being butt-raped irl. Just as all the greats have, when a person is "doxed", all their personal information is made available for all users to see. Names, addresses, phone numbers and school/work are not spared, and this usually leads to the person ceasing all ties with said websites, if not the interwebs as a whole." Urban Dictionary

What CNN’s Threat To Dox A Redditor Tells Us About The State Of Journalism

"No, this isn’t a First Amendment issue. Just because one of the nation’s most powerful journalistic institutions has the power to track down and ruin the lives of random Reddit users doesn’t mean it should. Just because it can coerce apologies, implicitly or explicitly, doesn’t mean it should, either. At the very least, it’s an abuse of its power and a waste of its resources."