Lester Holt, the cream of journalism

American Thinker

NBC host duped by North Korea after reporting from 'staged' ski resort

"An NBC News host was reportedly duped by North Korean propaganda after he delivered an upbeat news report from a ghost town in the secretive state that had been transformed into a ’busy’ ski resort.

"Lester Holt reported from the Masikryong resort on Monday, a facility that was personally ordered by Kim Jong Un and is typically empty.

"But as Holt delivered the TV report, he failed to notice that the North Korean government appeared to have drafted in skiers who wore identical outfits in an attempt to give the impression of a busy and progressive ski resort.

"During the report, Holt claimed that the the resort is a ‘source of immense pride for a country trying to present a new and modern face to the world’.

. . . 

"Throughout the trip, critics slammed Holt’s coverage for being sycophantic, with The New York Times accusing him of filming ‘propaganda’.

" ‘Yes, NBC is eager to promote next month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. But that hardly required anyone to travel north of the DMZ to film propaganda for a regime that enslaves 25 million people — and holds another 50 million southerners as quasi-hostages, under constant (if low-grade) threat of war’, a damning editorial claimed.

"Holt is yet to directly respond to the criticism."

National Review Editors:Holt’s Assist to Hillary , Sept, 2016:  . . . "If Holt didn’t rappel into the debate Candy Crowley–style, it was because he didn’t need to. Antagonistic questions were directed toward one candidate and one candidate only. Donald Trump was asked about his tax returns, his role in promoting the birther controversy, whether he flip-flopped on the Iraq War, and what he meant when he said recently that Clinton does not have a “presidential look.” Clinton, by contrast, was not asked about her private e-mail server, the Clinton Foundation, Benghazi, or any one of the many topics about which voters have rightly expressed concerns. Instead, she was asked open-ended policy questions and permitted to dilate about renewable energy and the sundry misdeeds of George W. Bush. 

"The institutional slant of the media being what it is, the Republican nominee is always at a disadvantage when it comes to debate moderators, and should prepare accordingly." . . .Read more.

Wow: 'Journalist' Reveals 2005 Photo of Obama and Racist Farrakhan, Kept Secret to Protect Obama's Career

"[Farrakhan] also hurled venom at white people -- calling them the "race of devils," the "anti-Christ, and "worthy to be hated" -- as well as the LGBT community.  He is the moral equivalent of Duke, to whom Trump was linked because of Duke's praise of his candidacy, and Trump's opaque and dishonest responses to resulting challenges from reporters.  By contrast, Obama said he opposed Farrakhan's spasms of hateful ideology, but hey, who was he to tell the guy to stop saying nice things about him? . . .  

Guy Benson

"Now they tell us.  More than a year after President Obama left office, a journalist is finally revealing a photograph he deliberately hid from the American public for well over a decade, for the explicit purpose of shielding Obama from political backlash.  Talking Points Memo has the details, including the story of a 'panicked' phone call placed by a Congressional Black Caucus representative, who was desperate to prevent the photo from going public:" . . .

Evidence mounts of Obama involvement in Dinesh D'Souza's selective prosecution

"There was prioritization all right and it had nothing to do with best use of resources. It had everything to do with what was politically best for himself. And lastly, it validates the truth about D'Souza's claims made in his movies that Obma had a fascistic streak. He was not only like Benito Mussolini, he acted like Mussolini, given his "priorities.' "

Monica Showalter  "Would President Obama have been that petty to target a critic for draconian law enforcement over a movie? The way the Soviet KGB might have targeted a dissident?

Well, given the common thread of socialism in both, it shouldn't be a big surprise that he would.

It now comes to light that apparently, yes, he did. Dinesh D'Souza reports that he seems to have been in that unlucky category, targeted for any violation however minor, after making a couple of richly textured, artistically good and very popular critical movies about Obama. When a minor campaign finance violation was finally found after all that looking, D'Souza got the book thrown at him.

He now tweets that there is evidence for it:

Dinesh D'Souza

✔@DineshDSouza

My file—obtained by the House Oversight Committee—shows FBI red-flagged me as an Obama critic & allocated $100 K to investigate a $20 K caseTwitter Ads info and privacy

and that quite a few government resources went into ensuring he got arrested for something, anything. Here's what he thinks might have been done, given the taxpayer cash that went into pinning something, anything, on him :" . . .

Lindsey Graham, the Uninvited Guest

"Let's see, what's the stupidest way we could do this? Every single day of Trump's campaign he promised everyone a wall and mass deportations. What if we DON'T build a wall, but take the person who got zero votes, was the earliest and most vociferous in attacking Trump -- and involve him centrally in the negotiations on immigration? "

Ann Coulter  "Why does Sen. Lindsey Graham have a seat at the table on immigration? Are Jorge Ramos and Vicente Fox unavailable?

"Graham's claim to fame is: 1) having twice negotiated a voluntary surrender for the GOP on immigration; and 2) winning 0.00 percent of the vote when he ran for president two years ago.

"You could run for president on the platform that we should kill babies and eat them, and you'd get more votes than Lindsey Graham. Who designated this most remote of back-benchers, thoroughly rejected by the American people, as the principal negotiator on Trump's central campaign promise?

"Graham's thought process seems to be: We had an election, I ran for president; literally no one voted for me, so my views should prevail over the guy who won an Electoral College landslide.

"How about getting Dennis Kucinich in there? Has anyone asked Martin O'Malley for help in the "DACA" negotiations?

"To a rapturous media, Graham has been peddling the lie that President Trump blew up a beautiful bipartisan deal on immigration. It wasn't "bipartisan," except in the sense of being "angrily rejected by the voters."

"It's the same deal that has gone down in flames at least twice before. It's the same deal that has already destroyed the careers of Sens. John McCain, Marco Rubio, Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Kelly Ayotte, Mark Kirk and Gov. Jeb! Bush.

"It's the same deal President Bush tried to push through Congress in 2006 -- with Graham's support! -- leading directly to the Republican wipeout in the midterm elections later that year. (Innumerable polls showed that the public hated Bush's proposed amnesty even more than it hated the Iraq War.)

"It's the same deal that voters repudiated for approximately the 87th time when they made Donald Trump president (and -- again -- gave Lindsey Graham zero votes). " . . .  Read more...

Lester Holt sides with Kim Jong-un, mass murderer

John Dietrich   (Cartoons added by TD) "Lester Holt's travels in North Korea have given a favorable view of that dictatorship.  This is unfortunate.

"NBC's Lester Holt traveled to North Korea in advance of the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in order to inform the American public about the situation there.  North Korea is possibly one of the most tragic examples of what 21st-century despotism is capable of.  The Human Rights Watch World Report 2017 claimed, "North Korea remains one of the most repressive states in the world."

"Holt's report can be described only as despicable.  He follows a long line of Western reporters who have been willing tools of leftist dictators.  They were and are accomplices in the mass murder of millions of people.  Pulitzer Prize-winner Walter Duranty is perhaps the best example of this, as he tried to minimize the impact of Stalin's policies in Ukraine.  These policies led to the deaths of millions of people.

"Holt reported from a Potemkin ski resort as apparently happy North Koreans were enjoying their time on the slopes.  Holt also interviewed "people on the street."  To everyone's surprise, they all mimicked the party line.  Had he interviewed someone with suicidal tendencies who wanted to tell him the truth, the tape would never have gotten out of the North.  Holt claimed, "It's impossible to know what people on the street really think."

"Holt's report covering the Olympics has the added benefit of attacking President Trump.  It was an opportunity to portray North Korea in a favorable light while accusing the U.S. president of giving an adolescent response to the North Korean dictator's threats.

"In response to Kim Jung-un's threat Trump tweeted, "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.  Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"  This "mine is bigger than yours" technique may sound undiplomatic, but it might just be a language Kim Jong-un understands.

"Were previous professional diplomatic efforts successful?  The 2008 Congressional Research Service report claimed that the U.S. provided North Korea with over $1 billion in assistance between 1995 and 2008.  This does not include aid provided by the U.N. and NGOs.  Much of that aid originated in the U.S.

In addition to billions in financial aid, former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright gave Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un's father, a basketball signed by Michael Jordan.  This aid comes from ordinary American taxpayers.  This money is going to a man whose net worth is reportedly $5 billion.  The need for aid was necessitated by a climatic phenomenon that seems to frequently attack socialist countries.  North Korea claims that it has been hit by its worst drought in a century.

"Holt's mission was important to NBC.  The network  did not want any mistakes.  Holt is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.  It was important enough to be supervised by NBC News president Noah Oppenheim.  Oppenheim is playing the role played by CNN's former head, Eason Jordan.  Jordan wrote an op-ed in the New York Times entitled "The News We Kept to Ourselves."  In it, he explains how CNN intentionally distorts the news.  In order to maintain access, a reporter must not offend his source.  This is understandable.  However, when the source is responsible for mass murder, moral considerations enter the equation.  NBC apparently has decided to take the side of the mass murderers. "

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing).  He has a Master of Arts degree in international relations from St. Mary's University.  He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

Bradley Manning to the Rescue...of Republicans? Updated

By Taylor Lewis . . . "Manning is many things to many people.  To veterans and current military personnel, he is an unrepentant traitor who carelessly handed over classified information to WikiLeaks, putting active-duty troops in danger.  To leftists and libertarians, Manning is a whistleblower who bypassed traditional media outlets to warn the world about America's war crimes.

"Even the government is split on what Manning is.  For indiscriminately sending 700,000 military field reports and diplomatic cables to a Russia-friendly foreign entity, . . .

 "Manning was charged with numerous crimes, including espionage.  But, after serving seven years of his 35-year sentence, former president Barack Obama commuted his sentence." . . .

. . . "There are innumerable reasons why Manning is unfit for public office.  His previous crimes, however well intentioned, were recklessly treasonous.  He has a known history of attempted suicide attempts, which, if the science is to be believed, is driving his current gender dysphoria.  Then there is the obvious question: why should Manning be a senator?  What experience does he bring to the table, besides spending countless hours in the brig?" . . .

Traitor Chelsea Manning calls for dismantling ICE, no borders, no prisons: ‘Let everyone go’  . . . "Translation: Manning wants hordes of illegal criminals marauding through America’s streets murdering innocent people willy-nilly with no enforcement whatsoever.  Moreover, Manning wants to erase our borders, and apparently wants to close all of our prison, letting criminals run loose on our streets." . . .

Chelsea E. Manning‏ Verified accountMoreno more compromises no more deportations no more prison camps no more borders dismantle @icegov let everyone go #WeGotThis #DACA #DACADeal

. . . " This. by the way, is the modern Democrat Party.  One could hope that the adults in Maryland put an end to this charade, but sadly, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen." . . .

Update,related: 'Harold' the vulture shocks staff by laying an egg after they thought 'he' was male for 20 years

Psychologist’s Explanation Why ‘Right Not to Be Offended’ Is Absurd Silences Media Host

Western Journalism  Video   "Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, a clinical psychologist and University of Toronto professor, takes a methodical and calculated approach to debates with adversaries who often times become flustered by his stoic demeanor.

"Peterson, who has been a notable crusader for the protection of free speech in Canada, sat down with Channel 4 News host Cathy Newman to discuss his rise to prominence after opposing Canada’s controversial law that “amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.”

"“Why should your right to freedom of speech trump a trans person’s right not to be offended?” Newman asked the University of Toronto professor of psychology, The Washington Times reported.

“ 'Because in order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive,” Peterson stated. “I mean, look at the conversation we’re having right now.

“ 'You’re certainly willing to risk offending me in the pursuit of truth. Why should you have the right to do that? It’s been rather uncomfortable.”

" Peterson continued: “You’re doing what you should do, which is digging a bit to see what the hell is going on. And that is what you should do. But you’re exercising your freedom of speech to certainly risk offending me, and that’s fine.
“More power to you, as far as I’m concerned,” he added. " . . .

What's with the leftward political movement of the NFL? UPDATED

Kaepernick named finalist for NFL Players Association 'Community MVP' award

"NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been named a finalist for an award honoring players for their community service work.

"Kaepernick and four other players were announced as finalists for the NFL Players Association’s (NFLPA) Byron “Whizzer” White Community MVP award, according to NBC Sports.

"The free agent quarterback pledged $1 million to various charitable organizations during the 2016 season. He won the NFLPA’s “Community MVP” award during Week 1 of the 2017 season after donating $100,000 to four charities and holding a back-to-school backpack giveaway in New York City." . . .

NFL rejects military veterans' 'Please Stand' Super Bowl program ad
"The military group American Veterans (AMVETS) says the NFL has rejected its full-page Super Bowl program ad that contained the hashtag "#PleaseStand." The ad, with the picture a color guard holding the American flag, also included a call to donate $20 to AMVETS.

"The ad jumps right into the controversy surrounding NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem, originally stoked by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick prior to last season and recharged after inflammatory comments by President Donald Trump last September.

"In a letter sent to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday, AMVETS National Commander Marion Polk wrote that "freedom of speech works both ways." Polk goes on to say, "We respect the rights of those who choose to protest," but "imposing corporate censorship to deny those same rights to those veterans who have secured it for all is reprehensible.' " . . .

UPDATE: NFL Remains Kneeling: Are They Afraid To Show Veterans Respect?  . . . "But Goodell and company still seem to be behaving as if they have more to lose by running afoul of Kapernick’s camp, which includes the player’s union and the vast left-wing media sphere, than they do the fan base and the people they count on to buy tickets to the games." . . .

Beyoncé Bashes Cops in Half-Time Show After Getting Police Escort to the Game  

 "Beyoncé performed a tribute to the militant Black Panthers Party during Sunday evening’s halftime show at Super Bowl 50 that some, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, called a blatant attack on law enforcement. But the pop star might have been late to the performance if she hadn’t received a highway-clearing police escort to deliver her to Levi’s Stadium on time." . . . The video.

Clinton–Obama Emails: The Key to Understanding Why Hillary Wasn’t Indicted

Andrew C. McCarthy

"New FBI texts highlight a motive to conceal the president’s involvement."

Can we assume Obama is checking to see if the cameras are on him?

 Obama, using a pseudonymous email account, had repeatedly communicated with Secretary Clinton over her private, non-secure email account. 

"These emails must have involved some classified information, given the nature of consultations between presidents and secretaries of state,  . . .  and the fact that the Obama administration adamantly refused to disclose the Clinton–Obama emails. If classified information was mishandled, it was necessarily mishandled on both ends of these email exchanges.

"If Clinton had been charged, Obama’s culpable involvement would have been patent. In any prosecution of Clinton, the Clinton–Obama emails would have been in the spotlight. For the prosecution, they would be more proof of willful (or, if you prefer, grossly negligent) mishandling of intelligence. More significantly, for Clinton’s defense, they would show that Obama was complicit in Clinton’s conduct yet faced no criminal charges. 

"That is why such an indictment of Hillary Clinton was never going to happen. The latest jaw-dropping disclosures of text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and his paramour, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, illustrate this point." . . .

 Read more.


The Final Year Reveals the Obama Administration’s Naïvety and Arrogance

. . . "So The Final Year is about the Obama Doctrine, also known as hashtag diplomacy, also known as leading from behind, also known as voting “present” — also known as hands-off. That a lot of people can get killed while you’re wringing them is the movie’s unintended lesson. Summing up, I give you none other than Samantha “Soft” Power herself, who near the end of the doc says in a moment of sudden clarity: “My world is a world where you have 65 million displaced. Yemen and Syria and Iraq, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, Central African Republic, Burundi, South Sudan, Darfur, you know, the list, Afghanistan, of course, Venezuela imploding . . . There are concerns about terrorism and there is a fear of the other and . . . all the trendlines — on democracy, right now, at least — are going in the wrong direction.”

"If only she or her friends had held positions of authority, maybe they could have done something about some of that."

Democrats’ DACA blink long overdue lesson in humility

The Washington Times

"The Democratic blink on DACA, led by none other than Sen. Chuck Schumer, was a long-time-coming lesson in humility for the left.

"And, it’s one that’s going to end up emboldening President Donald Trump further, much to Democrats’ dismay.

"For years, Democrats have run roughshod over the Republican Party, even at times when the GOP held the majority.

“ 'With State of Union, Obama faces Republican-led Congress for first time,” the Chicago Tribune wrote in January of 2015.

"What a so-what moment that turned out to be for Republicans. It was after that, after all, that Obama was able to ramrod through a nuclear deal with Iran — much to the consternation of Israel — as well as broker, with 196 countries, the economy-destroying Paris Climate Agreement. And Obamacare? No comment needed.

"But Trump has broken the camel’s Democratic back — or at least, bruised it a bit. By standing strong and refusing to cave, he led the party to a not-so-significant win on the government shutdown." . . .

Loretta Lynch – Bill Clinton tarmac meeting now makes sense, it was the end not the beginning

Rich Terrell

Legal Insurrection

A signal to the Clintons that all was good; the FBI had made its exoneration decision, and key investigators believed Lynch was aware.

. . . "The key facts we know now but did not know then are:

1. The tarmac meeting was planned, not spontaneous, as we covered on August 5, 2017, ACLJ: DOJ Document Dump Shows Lynch-Clinton Tarmac Summit Planned, Media Coverup.
2. The conduct of Lynch in trying to conceal details was not consistent with it being an innocent meeting, as we covered on August 7, 2017, Loretta Lynch used alias “Elizabeth Carlisle” to email about Bill Clinton tarmac meeting and August 10, 2017, Why did Loretta Lynch need DOJ Talking Points about a meeting she alone attended?
3. The FBI has tried its best not to produce documents regarding the tarmac meeting, and when it did, those documents focused heavily on how the meeting was discovered, as Judicial Watch reported on November 30, 2017.
4. The FBI decided, sometime by early May 2016, not to charge Hillary. The drafts of the exoneration statement now are public, and show a concerted effort to reword the language to support exoneration. These drafts took place prior to the tarmac meeting and prior to the interview of Hillary on July 4th weekend.
5. Senior FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was part of the team investigating Hillary, was removed from the Mueller investigation of supposed Russia collusion in the summer  of 2016 for sending anti-Trump text messages (though the removal was not disclosed for several months). Strzok was involved in editing and softening the Comey draft exoneration statement.
6. Strzok was having an affair with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, Based on text messages recently released, it appears they believed Hillary would not be charged and suggested Lynch Knew the Outcome of FBI Hillary Probe in Advance.

More posts at the Tunnel Wall

Why isn't Chelsea Manning back in jail? Make that "Chelsea"

Monica Showalter   "Chelsea Manning is thumbing his nose at the law again.  Laws, it seems, are for little people, not publicity hogs who get their name in the news.  Or perhaps, as Obama's pardon taught him, it's quite possible to get away with anything" . . .

. . . "It's also reality, if not formally so, that Manning is out of the Army and will never be welcome within a mile of its bases, given his odiously treasonous behavior. 

"But there's something distinctly disturbing about how this guy thumbs his nose at anything he ever agrees to, such as following Pentagon regulations, which he had to consent to for the position he got that enabled him to abuse that trust.  Such rules, in his fevered mind, are for normal people, not him.  The fact that he keeps breaking the law – and getting away with it – pretty well reinforces that he will just go on doing it and, in the end, diminishing the country.

"He's got to learn limits if there is to be any rule of law at all."