The Carnivores of Civil Liberties

Victor Davis Hanson

A bank of microphones sit before a press conference on Capitol Hill

. . . "Liberalism rode high during the Watergate era. It had demanded that civil liberties be protected from the illegal or unconstitutional overreach of the Nixon-era FBI, CIA, and other agencies. Liberals alleged that out-of-control officials had spied on U.S. citizens for political purposes and then tried to mask their wrongdoing under the cover of “national security” or institutional “professionalism.”

"All those legacies are now eroding. The Democratic party, the investigative media, and liberalism itself are now weirdly on the side of the reactionary administrative state. They have either downplayed or excused Watergate-like abuses of power by the former Barack Obama administration.

"Liberal journalists apparently have few concerns that the FBI apparently used at least one secret informant to gather information about the 2016 Trump campaign. Nor are they much bothered that members of the Obama national-security team unmasked the names of U.S. citizens who had been improperly surveilled. Many of those names then were illegally leaked to the press.

"Democrats seem indifferent to the fact that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign paid a foreign agent, Christopher Steele, to compile dirt on Republican candidate Donald Trump — largely by trafficking in unverified rumors from Russian interests. Obama administration officials leaked details from that dossier." . . .

Obama's Netflix; They and the Clintons will never go away.

Netflix twice rejects Hebrew’s right to exist  "A language with ancient roots that chronicled the foundation of Western civilization, arose as a spoken language after a nearly 2,000-year-old slumber, and now symbolizes the re-establishment of Jewish national sovereignty has reached a new milestone in its long and storied history: censorship by Netflix.

"On May 28, the Jerusalem Post reported that Netflix's website had airbrushed out the Hebrew word "shalom" from an image of rapper Jay-Z's T-shirt in the documentary series Time: The Kalief Browder Story.  The very same words in Arabic ("salaam") and English ("peace") remained untouched."

We’ll Never Be Rid of Them: Obamas Sign a Deal With Netflix  . . . "The Obamas aren’t going to be out in “communities” looking for humanity’s hidden gems. They are going to be busy doing the thing they love most: being celebrities.

"A common fear among the more imaginative anti-Obama people back in the day was that he would do something nefarious to keep himself in office past his term limits. I remember talking about that with an astute friend of mine who just laughed at the suggestion. I asked her what was so funny and she said, “They don’t want to be in politics, they want to be TV stars.”

"Bingo.

"I had never really thought of it like that before but as I watched the rest of the Obama presidency it made sense.

"Face it, Obama’s presidential “accomplishments” will eventually be picked apart by honest historians in the far future. He was, however, very good at getting Hollywood lefties to adore him. Sure, they all love Democrats anyway, but Obama makes them swoon.

"Most presidents leave office intent on writing a book or two, or finding a noble cause to throw their celebrity behind. The aforementioned Habitat for Humanity gained fame through the efforts of Jimmy Carter. George W. Bush does a lot of work with veterans.

"Barack Obama got a production deal." . . .

Roseanne's New Job, Michael Ramirez.

National Review

ABC's bipolar values

OK, we've discussed this and agreed Roseanne's comments were unacceptable. But what if Roseanne made this remark about Trump or pretty much any conservative?...

ABC Axes Roseanne’s Hit Show After Her Tweets Disparaging Obama Alum, Valerie Jarrett

“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” said ABC

. . . "The reboot of Roseanne raked in killer numbers, irking critics who were less than thrilled that a pro-Trump, middle-American show could do so well without their blessing." . . .

So then what about this?

Trump: Where is my apology from Disney CEO?

Trump Tweets on ABC's Apology to Valerie Jarrett: They Never Called to Apologize for Insulting Me

‘Roseanne’ Canceled; Why Not ‘The View’?

The Political Insider   . . . "(RELATED: Comedian Joy Behar Mocks Mike Pence For Talking With Jesus: ‘That’s Called Mental Illness’).

"(RELATED: Joy Behar Finally Apologizes for Mocking Christians).

Further proving just how intolerant she truly is, the very same month she attacked Pence’s faith, Behar also outright stated, “As a Democrat, I am offended by Republicans!” (RELATED: Joy Behar Explodes On Meghan McCain: ‘I Am Offended By Republicans!’).

"But perhaps the most disgusting thing to ever fly out of Behar’s mouth occurred in October 2016. During a discussion about Donald Trump’s news conference prior to the second presidential debate, Behar called Bill Clinton’s rape accusers “tramps.” (RELATED: Paula Jones Responds To Joy Behar For Calling Her a ‘Tramp’).

"Yet, she somehow remains employed, and “The View” remains on the air.

"Upsettingly, Behar is far from the only unabashedly bigoted member of “The View.” Earlier this month, co-host Whoopi Goldberg suggested that President Donald Trump should endure torture. (RELATED: Diamond And Silk: Whoopi Goldberg Should Try Waterboarding).

"Even the show’s producers are guilty of outrageous cultural bias: in October 2017, they censored the word “Jesus” – twice. (RELATED: ‘The View’ Censors ‘Jesus’, Twice)." . . .

All emphases in the original. TD

"Terminally hip" Starbucks. Updated already

"If you’re unhip like me you had to look up “third place”
In community building, the third place is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places would be environments such as churches, cafes, clubs, public libraries, or parks. – Wiki"

Rich Terrell

Alveda King: Starbucks Should Stop Funding Planned Parenthood if Serious about Ending Racism. . . "A letter sent to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, and signed by King and other pro-life leaders, said, “If you think this public relations fix means Starbucks is no longer complicit in racism, it’s time to wake up and smell your own coffee.”
. . . ."In her column, King observed to Starbucks the racist roots of Planned Parenthood, beginning with its founder, eugenicist Margaret Sanger." . . .

Updates from the Daily Wire: 

• James Woods Scorches Starbucks. Internet Responds. then there is this one: 
• EXCLUSIVE: A Behind-The-Scenes Look At Starbucks' 'Woke' Racial Bias Training
• How about Jewish customers? 
• Starbucks Excludes Jewish Group From Anti-Bias Training Amid Pressure From Activists
• Starbucks Has Officially Made Enemies Of Jewish Progressive Group

Starbucks: When Your 3rd Place Is Also Your 1st and 2nd Place

. . . "Good luck Starbucks. I hope you enjoy your new 3rd place. Or worse.

Meanwhile, the company's "Third Place Policy" — which would allow anyone to hang out or use the restrooms in its stores, regardless of whether they purchase anything — has already been leading partners and customers to question how Starbucks can continue to function as a business and refrain from becoming a chain of "homeless drop-in centers." – Fox   Hat tip to Doug Ross Journal 

politicalcartoons.com

Marginalizing Melania

Michelle Malkin   Pictured: America's First Lady, Melania Trump

"Need more evidence that there are two Americas? Here: Left-wing hatred of Melania Trump is inversely proportional to flyover admiration for the first lady.

"In just the last month, late-night clown Jimmy Kimmel mocked Trump’s Slovenian accent, CNN contributor April Ryan attacked her as “not culturally American,” former Hillary Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines derided her genteel presence at former President George H.W. Bush’s wife, Barbara’s funeral, and horror writer Stephen King snickered at her hospitalization this week for kidney surgery.

"Yet, while partisans in the political press and entertainment media work hard to stoke division against and resentment of the Trump administration, “Melania” is now among the fastest-growing baby names in the nation, according to recently released Social Security data. And a new poll by anti-Trump CNN released on Monday reported a 10 percent jump in the first lady’s favorability ratings — from 47 percent in January to 57 percent last week.

"That’s nearly 6 in 10 Americans with a positive view of FLOTUS. Uh-oh!

"Imagine how much higher those impressive numbers would be if the same celeb tabloid reporters and TV hosts who slavered over the Obamas in Us magazine and on The View afforded Melania Trump the same courtesies. Imagine if the same couture divas who organized “Runway to Win” Obama campaign fundraisers and published breathless weekly reports on “Michelle Obama’s Best Looks Ever” harnessed their influence to promote Trump’s style and fashion sense." . . .

Harvey Weinstein and The Clinton Protection Racket

Ann Coulter  "Harvey Weinstein's recent perp walk reminds me of another great thing about Trump winning the election: Hillary Clinton isn't president. 

"A New York Times article on Weinstein's court appearance noted how the "ground shifted" last year, finally ending the "code of silence" surrounding powerful men. Why "last year," if this has been going on for decades? 

"The article explained that Weinstein's power was enormous, his connections extensive and his willingness to play dirty without bounds. Did Harvey lose his money and connections "last year"? 

"Nope. But "last year" was the first year of Trump's presidency, or as I like to think of it, the first year of Hillary not being president. Ever. 

"The liberal protection racket for sexual predators was always intimately intertwined with the Clintons. The template used to defend Bill Clinton became a model for all left-wing sexual predators. They all hired the same lawyers and detectives and counted on the same cultural elites to mete out punishment to anyone who stood in the way of their Caligula lifestyles. It was Total War against the original #MeToo movement. 

"Even Teddy Kennedy never plotted revenge on reporters or smeared his sexual conquests as bimbos, trailer park trash and stalkers. That was the Clinton model. 

"Showing how incestuous it was, in 2000 -- two years after Clinton's impeachment -- Weinstein used his publishing company, Talk/Miramax, overseen by Tina Brown, to take revenge on anyone involved in Clinton's impeachment. " . . .

The Fables of the Ant and the Grasshopper

Old version:
The ant worked hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thought the ant was a fool and laughed and danced and played the summer away.
Come winter, the ant was warm and well fed.
The grasshopper had no food or shelter, so he died out in the cold.
Moral of the story: Be responsible for yourself!

Modern version:
The ant worked hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thought the ant was a fool and laughed and danced and played the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper called a press conference and demanded to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others were cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC showed up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America was stunned by the sharp contrast.
How could this be in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper was allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appeared on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cried when they sang, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
Acorn staged a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations filmed the group singing, ‘We shall overcome’.
Jeremiah Wright then had the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid exclaimed in an interview with Larry King the ant had got rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both called for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafted the Economic Equity and Anti - Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant was fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home was confiscated by the government Green Czar.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ants food while the government house he was in, which just happened to be the ant's old house, crumbled around him because he did not maintain it.
The ant had disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper was found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, was taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorized the once peaceful neighborhood.
Moral of the story: Be careful how you vote in 2018.

Hat tip to Robert J. Hope; Sacramento, CA

Why Capitalism Is Morally Superior to Socialism

"Free market capitalism is disfavored by many Americans—and threatened—not because of its failure but, ironically, because of its success."

Walter E. Williams

Several recent polls, plus the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., demonstrate that young people prefer socialism to free market capitalism.

"That, I believe, is a result of their ignorance and indoctrination during their school years, from kindergarten through college. For the most part, neither they nor many of their teachers and professors know what free market capitalism is.

"Free market capitalism, wherein there is peaceful voluntary exchange, is morally superior to any other economic system. Why? Let’s start with my initial premise.

"All of us own ourselves. I am my private property, and you are yours. Murder, rape, theft, and the initiation of violence are immoral because they violate self-ownership. Similarly, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another person, for any reason, is immoral because it violates self-ownership.

"Tragically, two-thirds to three-quarters of the federal budget can be described as Congress taking the rightful earnings of one American to give to another American—using one American to serve another. Such acts include farm subsidies, business bailouts, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, and many other programs.

"Free market capitalism is disfavored by many Americans—and threatened—not because of its failure but, ironically, because of its success. Free market capitalism in America has been so successful in eliminating the traditional problems of mankind—such as disease, pestilence, hunger, and gross poverty—that all other human problems appear both unbearable and inexcusable." . . .

Kanye West Name-Checks Obama, Trump in New Song ‘Ye vs the People’

The Wrap

“Make America Great Again had a negative reception. I took it, wore it, rocked it, gave it a new direction,” rapper sings

. . . "It starts, “I know Obama was Heaven-sent/But ever since Trump won, it proved that I could be president.”

"It also goes on to say, “See that’s the problem with this damn nation/All Blacks gotta be Democrats, man, we ain’t made it off the plantation.” 

"Elsewhere it says, “Make America Great Again had a negative reception/I took it, wore it, rocked it, gave it a new direction.”

"While West is facing serious backlash for his pro-Trump stance, T.I. posted on Instagram that he is trying to educate his friend about his political views. “Yesterday spent the day wit Kanye,” he wrote. “No doubt. Still optimistic something from our discussion gon stick…I refuse to just give up on him. The Old `Ye too important!!!”

WATCH: RNC's First MS-13 Ad Against Democrats Starring Pelosi. It's Brutal.

Daily Wire

"Democrats' Midterm Message: MS-13 Killers...They're Not So Bad."

"The Democrats knew it was coming, but that can't make it any more pleasant to watch. The Republican National Committee has released its first "Democrats defend the brutal MS-13 gang whose motto is 'Kill, Rape, Control'" ad — and it's appropriately brutal.  

"The MS-13 fiasco began with the media falsely reporting on President Trump's condemnation of the notorious gang as "animals," which the media distorted to be a condemnation of all illegal immigrants, despite the transcripts of the incident clearly showing that was not his intent. Even after the Associated Press and a few other outlets publicly admitted to misreported his comments, several Democratic leaders continued to claim disingenuously that Trump was "dehumanizing" all illegal immigrants.

"The unfortunate star of the ad is none other than Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whose "spark of divinity" lecture directed at Donald Trump earned instant infamy. Here's the key excerpt from Pelosi's defense of all "undocumented immigrants," which includes murderous MS-13 members:" . . .

WINNER: Most Self-Serving Democrat Response To Trump's 'Animal' Comment