The situational “Jim Acosta: Roaring Lion to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Purring Kitty to Raul Castro.”

Power Line Blog  "Decades ago, after Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn took up residence in the United States, he noted that some of the same journalists he now observed behaving so rudely toward government officials in America had acted like pussycats when they were assigned to the Soviet Union. His comment, though very likely true, may have been a bit harsh.
"The fact that a journalist isn’t prepared to risk his freedom in a foreign country shouldn’t estop him from being tough on officials in their own free country. On the other hand, a journalist who is hyper-aggressive with officials at home shouldn’t grovel before foreign ones. Stay out of jail, yes. Suck up, no. Defer, not unless the alternatives are too dangerous.
"Solzhenitsyn’s comment came to mind when I read this piece about Jim Acosta by Humberto Fontova. He writes:

If CNN’s Jim Acosta spoke to the mass-murdering Stalinist dictator Raul Castro with half the insolence he sputters at White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders who could blame him?

After all, Jim Acosta’s father fled Stalinist Cuba as an 11 year- old, while Raul Castro destroyed his homeland and shattered his family, same as the Castros — through mass-executions, mass-jailings, mass larceny and exile–shattered practically every family in Cuba.

But no. While addressing the mass-murdering Cuban dictator Jim Acosta’s nervous brownnosing outdid both Eddie Haskell upon his every greeting of June Cleaver and The Scarecrow’s upon meeting the Wizard of Oz.

"Here is the exchange between Acosta and Castro to which Fontova refers:

Jim Acosta: Gracias, President Castro. Thank you, President Castro, for your hospitality here in Havana. I wanted to know, please sir, if you have Cuban political prisoners and why you don’t release them.

Raul Castro: Well, give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately. Just mention the list. What political prisoners? Give me a name or names or when — after this meeting is over, you can give me a list of political prisoners, and if we have those political prisoners, they will be released before tonight ends.

"If he had received this answer from Sarah Sanders or President Trump, Acosta would have insisted on following up, yelling out his questions if necessary — e.g., “Are you seriously denying that your government holds political prisoner[s]?” . . .

. . . Instead, according to Fontova, Acosta murmured another “thank you” and sat down.  . . .

Media ignore Trump’s British support on NATO

The fact that you have heard nothing about this from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC, or the rest of the elite American media tells you how phony is the version of reality they are presenting to Americans. It also is yet another example of the media’s bias.  . . .

The Hill  

"Since President Donald Trump left the NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday and travelled to the United Kingdom to visit Prime Minister Theresa May and other British officials, the elite media have been desperately trying to cast this important overseas trip in a bad light.

"They want you to believe that all NATO member states (along with their entire populations) hate our president, and that even our closest allies are upset and scandalized by his demand that all NATO members pay their fair shares for our common defense.

"The elite media – at least in the U.S. – are so committed to this narrative that they are ignoring evidence that contradicts it.

"For instance, on Wednesday, nine former senior officers of the British military took out a half-page advertisement in the Times of London, agreeing with President Trump’s position on NATO and urging Prime Minister May to heed his advice. It was accompanied by a story, written by the Times of London’s defense editor, describing the fact that the UK was “set to fail Trump’s funding test.' "

White House Mulls Legal Options Over Omarosa’s Secret Taping In Situation Room

Daily Wire

"White House lawyers are examining legal options for punishing Omarosa Manigault Newman for releasing secretly taped recordings with Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly inside the secure Situation Room.

“The very idea a staff member would sneak a recording device into the White House Situation Room shows a blatant disregard for our national security — and then to brag about it on national television further proves the lack of character and integrity of this disgruntled former White House employee,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Sunday.

"Former Trump spokesman Sean Spicer also said Newman could face legal problems for the secret taping in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, known as a SCIF.

"It's an unbelievable violation of protocol and the law," Spicer said. "You can lose your security clearance for bringing your device into SCIF — to bring it in is a violation but to willfully record it — you're entering a whole other realm.' " . . .

Voters More Likely to Credit Trump for Economy Over Obama

Rasmussen "With the unemployment rate still among 18-year lows and the Dow Jones Industrial Average still among all-time highs, voters are slowly giving President Trump more credit than President Obama for the improving economy, though there remains a stark partisan divide. Voters agree, though, that impeaching Trump would be a detriment to the nation’s economy.

"A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters now believe the improving economy is due more to Trump than Obama, while 40% think it is more the result of the policies Obama put in place before he left office. (To see survey question wording, click here.) " . . . 

The Facts About the Individual Mandate Repeal and the Increase in Premiums

Finally, millions of uninsured people no longer will face the threat of IRS tax penalties. For theoreticians who support the mandate, this may be bad news. Those at risk of tax penalties for making rational economic decisions not to buy costly policies they don’t want will take a different view.

Galen Institute

"It turns out sabotage might be overrated.

"A new study by the Center for American Progress argues Congress’s repeal of the individual mandate and a proposed Trump administration rule that would expand the sale and renewal of short-term policies will have a devastating effect on 2019 premiums.

"These acts of “sabotage” mean 40-year-old non-smokers will pay an average of $970 more in premiums in 2019, beyond the increases that would have occurred in their absence, according to the study.  The study then attempts to estimate rate increases by congressional district.  An earlier CAP study estimated statewide premium effects.

"Since rate increases have not yet been announced in most states, CAP estimates premiums will rise by an average of 16.4 percent in those states because of these two policies, on top of an underlying trend of 7 percent, for a total average 2019 premium increase of 23.4 percent.

"But a comparison of the CAP “sabotage” estimates with preliminary 2019 rate filings in cities in 17 states compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests CAP vastly overestimated the effects of these policy changes on premiums. In 13 of the 17 cities, total requested premium increases are less than the statewide increases CAP attributes to these policies. The table below compares the Kaiser data on the 17 cities with the statewide premium effects CAP ascribes to these two policies.

. . . 

For example, CAP predicts that repeal of the mandate and rules changes on short-term plans will increase average 2019 premiums in Colorado by 18.3 percent. But according to a Kaiser analysis of preliminary rate filings, premiums in Denver will rise by just 6 percent. That pattern held for all but four of the cities included in the Kaiser analysis.

NYT Caught Red-Handed Revising History To Give Credit To Obama For The Trump Economy

Rich Terrell

DC Whispers

The bias and deception are so obvious is it any wonder the once great publishing news pillar that was the New York Times has fallen so low? This is the same New York Times that once laid out how bad the economy was in the final year of Mr. Obama’s presidency that is now attempting to link President’s Trump’s remarkable economic success to…Obama.  Check it out:

Via Investors.com:  Economic Boom: Media Rewrite History To Credit Obama Instead Of Trump

"Growth: The stronger the economy gets under President Trump, the more desperate his critics are to hand credit over to Obama. Even if that entails changing the past."A recent New York Times story says it all: “An Economic Upturn Begun Under Obama Is Now Trump’s To Tout.”"The article begins by admitting that “by nearly every standard measure, the American economy is doing well,” then spends the next 1,400 words arguing that the current good times have nothing to do with Trump’s economic agenda."The economy, reporter Patricia Cohen declares, “is following the upward trajectory begun under President Barack Obama.”"Upward trajectory? We seem to recall that the economy was stagnating in 2016 after the weakest recovery from a recession since the Great Depression.In fact, The New York Times itself described Obama’s economy this way in August 2016: “For three quarters in a row, the growth rate of the economy has hovered around a mere 1%. In the last quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016, the economy expanded at feeble annual rates of 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively. The initial reading for the second quarter of this year, released on Friday, was a disappointing 1.2%.”…The next month, CBS News reported that “with U.S. economic growth stuck in low gear for several years, it’s leading many economists to worry that the country has entered a prolonged period where any expansion will be weaker than it has been in the past.”

 Read more...

Fonda Cements Legacy as Hanoi Jane

Robyn Dolgin  "Jane Fonda resumes her performance as an historical revisionist on a subject that keeps coming back to haunt her: the Vietnam War.

"Fonda’s latest foray into her past as a useful propaganda tool for the communists has reared its ugly narrative all over again on the occasion of the thespian accepting a “Lifetime Achievement” award at the Traverse City Film Festival this summer. Michael Moore, the king of propaganda, added to the publicity swirl by heaping accolades on the actress as he bestowed the award.

"Jane basked in the glow of her safe audience at the festival -- taking advantage of the occasion to screen the sanitized version of her life in the recently released HBO documentary, Jane Fonda in Five Acts.

"At the event, gullible liberals made up most of her audience embracing the activist’s “proud” anti-war participation from the 1970s, but not everyone proved to be a fawning fan. Dozens of Vietnam veterans showed up to protest Fonda’s blatantly false wartime assertions including her attempts to delegitimize and demonize American combat soldiers (which has proven posthumously in the case of more than 58,000 veterans). 

"Veterans find many of her actions unforgivable, even 46 years later." . . .

"In 1973, Fonda called returning American POWs “liars and traitors” for telling the truth about their systematic torture and the killing of their comrades in captivity. Fonda’s cruel reception for returning POWs -- many of whom suffered captivity in cages, years in isolation and sadistic beatings -- failed to make the final edit in the appropriately named documentary, Five Acts. The point of the project was to romanticize Fonda’s life -- and to that end many viewers would never learn of the irreparable harm she has caused to others. Most Americans will never know Fonda earned the moniker, “Hanoi Jane,” because of her self-initiated broadcasts -- which included labeling American soldiers “war criminals” -- on Radio Hanoi. She succeeded in demoralizing our troops and acting as a “pro-victory” cheerleader for the communists." . . .

Meanwhile, her brother Peter Fonda tells liberals to steal ballots from millennials and commit voter fraud

Melania forced to call Secret Service after famous actor threatens to kidnap Barron, ‘cage him with pedophiles'

The NFL continues its ways

Police Union Cancels Discount Ticket Program After Miami Dolphin Anthem Protests

The start of it all

"The Broward County PBA recently offered our members discounts to a Miami Dolphins game because that franchise said they were going to honor all First Responders,” read the organization’s Facebook statement, released on Friday. “We entered into this partnership with the understanding that the Dolphins organization would require their players to stand for the National Anthem. This did not happen at last night’s preseason game against Tampa Bay.”
"As a result, the BCPBA will no longer participate in this ticket program, and we are asking all of our members, as well as members of the Dade County PBA and Palm Beach County PBA, not to participate either. If you have already purchased tickets to this game, we encourage you to call the Dolphins ticket office to request a refund because this organization obviously DOES NOT honor First Responders and the dangers they put themselves in every day." . . .

How the NFL lost my trust . . . "'I will not be lectured about my politics by Bob Costas, or any other announcer on ESPN or any other network. The players, owners and announcers need to know that my contempt for them exceeds whatever they may hold for me as Joe Nobody former football fan.

"It's not just the anthem controversy but that is the genesis of my disgust. I no longer trust the game. Let me explain. Following the Anthem protest in last season's Oakland vs. Washington game in September, 2017 it is alleged that the offensive line of the Raiders, upset  at their quarterback's failure to support their protest, allowed him to be sacked and ultimately injured." . . .

Major League Baseball has no Anthem controversy. In fact, this year's MLB All Star Game went out of its way to recognize 29 Congressional Medal of Honor Awardees and all other veterans. They honored these men. The stadium announcer introduced each of these men as the true heroes they are. Tears were shed. Players and all in the stands seemed awed and humbled. I know that I was.

10-Year-Old Crippled Boy Stands for Anthem at Tennessee Fair — NFL Still Kneeling (VIDEO)

The NFL Doesn't Actually Care About You, or Your Service  . . . "Obviously, I was wrong, because here we are again, my friends: another year, another round of protests. And all because the NFL and Roger Goodell have been subverted by the most sinister of human endeavors—politics." . . .

DOJ IG report reveals that the Clinton/Lynch tarmac meeting was planned and coordinated by the Secret Service and FBI

Powdered Wig Society  "Democrats are compulsive liars. I figure the DNC conducts a periodic nationwide lecture series on effective lying to properly train their up-and-coming candidates.

"It has now been revealed, on Page 203 of the DOJ IG report, that the infamous tarmac meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch was not an accidental, spontaneous event as they both claimed, where they discussed golf and grandchildren.

"Rather, the meeting was planned and coordinated by Bill Clinton’s Secret Service detail and Loretta Lynch’s FBI detail. Here’s hoping that those individuals are subpoenaed by Congress to find out what they know about the topic of the meeting, which isn’t a mystery (not prosecuting Hillary), but confirming an egregious injustice." From BizPac Review

. . . 

“The OPA (Office of Public Affairs) Supervisor said that he later learned that former President Clinton’s Secret Service detail had contacted Lynch’s FBI security detail to let them know that the former President wanted to meet with Lynch.”

"As BizPac Review as reported, Lynch and Clinton claimed they only discussed grandchildren and golf during their rendezvous." . . .

Hat tip to Tom Nichols.

Nine Words That Confirm California's Sharp Left Turn Toward Authoritarianism

Investors.com  "By now it's widely known that California is cracking down on plastics — bags and straws — as if they were existential threats. It's virtue signaling gone wild as cities race to outlaw plastic straws because banning plastic bags just wasn't enough. 01:01

02:26

"It was at the one of the more recent book burnings, rather, make that plastic straw bannings, that we were told what many of us already know: The "progressive" left in California won't rest until it has established authoritarian control over everyone's lives.

"The inadvertent announcement was delivered by Santa Barbara City Councilman Jason Dominguez. 

"During the July session in which the City Council voted 6-1 to ban plastic straws and allow plastic stirrers and cutlery to be used only when it is requested by customers, the Democrat said "We have to regulate every aspect of people's lives."  . . . 

. . .  This state is filled with politicians who want to regulate, manage, supervise, subjugate, and muzzle the nearly 40 million everyday people of the state. Don't think so? Consider the following evidence:

• No state restrains commerce with the same degree of enthusiasm that California does. Doing business in California is possible only the right permits, licensing, approvals, and compliance are in hand.

• Few states tax as punitively as California does.

• California has the most restrictive gun laws in the country.

• The free-speech movement began at the University of California in the 1960s, but California lawmakers today want to establish speech codes.

• The freedom to practice religion is threatened.

• Some have complained that Fourth Amendment protections are in danger.

• California's rural residents feel so strongly that they are being tyrannized by left-wing coastal elitists that many want to split off from the rest of the state.

Cartoons added by TD

• Gov. Jerry Brown is an advocate for the "the coercive power of the central state." The animating force behind that advocacy, according to Chapman University professor Joel Kotkin, is a hunger for the state "to gain control over virtually every aspect of planning and development."

• Sacramento is planning to force a full transition away from fossil fuels.

• According to the Cato Institute, only one state allows its residents less freedom than California.

Read the full article

Hillary Embarrasses Herself at the Grammys; "The awards shows are turning into Meet the Press with sequins and cleavage."

National Review, January

It’s merely unbecoming for a winner to taunt his vanquished foe. It’s pathetic for a loser to poke fun at the man who beat her.

"People with “I’m With Her” back tattoos don’t seem to get how wince-inducingly pathetic it was for Hillary Clinton to attempt to rub Donald Trump’s peccadilloes in his face at the Grammys last night, so picture this: 

"A year after blowing a 28–3 lead in the Super Bowl, Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn appears on national television, his eyes full of mockery, to read aloud that gossipy Sports Illustrated story about troubles within the New England Patriots organization. With a victorious smirk on his face, Quinn reads these words: “Brady always knew the hits were coming during Monday morning film sessions — ‘The quarterback at Foxborough High could make that throw,’ Belichick often would say after replaying a Brady misfire.” The audience guffaws in approval.

"Except Quinn would never dare do that even if he wanted to, for one simple reason: He does not get to make fun of Tom Brady, because Tom Brady beat him. You can’t do an end-zone dance if you haven’t scored a touchdown. Your trash-talk license is revoked when yours is the losing side, especially if you happen to be the teammate who fumbled the ball on the goal line. Leave aside the indignity of Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, secretary of state, and presidential candidate, appearing in a cheap throwaway gag at the Grammys during which she reads a bit from the book Fire and Fury about President Trump’s love of junk food. Leave aside the fact that her husband was also once notorious for his love of McDonald’s.

"Leave aside the fact that she and her husband have, like Trump, been the subject of scurrilous, vicious, largely made-up junk-journalism that doesn’t even pass the laugh test, much less a rigorous fact-checking process. She lost; she has no standing to make fun of the man who beat her." . . .

. . . "Clinton should take the advice of J. J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success: “You’re dead, son. Get yourself buried.” Every time she reappears on the national stage she simply reminds us all that she’s a bad politician — ungainly, unnatural, unctuous, forced — and that it is this lack of political skill that resulted in the Trump presidency. A Christmas-time poll by Gallup put Clinton’s approval rating at an abysmal 36 percent. You’d have to be emotionally invested in her to find stunts such as her Grammy appearance anything but woeful for her image. " . . .

Celebrity Activists Do Not Help  . . . "Genuine good will is not something to hold in contempt, even when it comes from silly people who are lecturing the great wide world from behind a wall of Gucci advertisements, but that kind of sentiment is not as useful as we imagine it is." .  .  .

Apoplectic critics can’t answer Dinesh D’Souza’s ideas

Kalman J. Kaplan  "That the political dialogue in America has become toxic is not a new insight, unfortunately, much if not most of it coming from the so-called “progressive elite.” However, for the most part, it has not centered on artistic work, which we would hope would be judged on its own terms.  However, the recent release of Dinesh D’Souza’s current film Death of a Nation has released a torrent of hate and attempts to poison people’s minds against it. 

"On the face of it, the attempt is ridiculous.  D’Souza, while quite intelligent, is controversial.  So what? we may ask.  People are free to see controversial material and judge for themselves without the creators being shunned and even defamed.  D’Souza is a polemicist, and a quite intelligent one. He is an intelligent Republican who  argues that the Democratic Party has falsified history in ways we will outline below.  If his ideas do not stand the test of scrutiny, they will fall by themselves, but if not, they will slowly enter the main stream of opinion. Is this not the way debate should work in a free society?

"However, the hysteric reaction on the left  to D’Souza’s movie is really beyond the pale. Critics do not want people to see the movie and judge D’Souza’s ideas on their merit. Rather they want to quarantine the movie and D’Souza himself as if he were a virulent toxic disease.  This of course is nothing but fascism, which is the point of D’Souza’s movie itself -- that fascism is a disease of the left.  The over the top attempt to quarantine and silence D’Souza’s movie only serves to support his point: that fascism emerged on the left.

"What does D’Souza say in the movie. Let me list a few points I took from it, all of which can be discussed rationally and calmly between people of good will." . . .