The Double Standards of Postmodern Justice

Our institutions offer no principles to explain why some people’s lives are harmed or destroyed, and others’ lives are not.

Victor Davis Hanson

"The New York Times recently hired as a writer and board member Sarah Jeong. The Times knew that in recent years Jeong had posted a series of unapologetically racist anti-white tweets. She had offered wisdom such as “#CancelWhitePeople” and expressed hatred for males.
"Yet when the Times discovered less graphic versions of such tweets from newly hired technology writer Quinn Norton earlier this year, the newspaper immediately fired Norton.
"The message of disparate treatment was that what bothers the New York Times is not racism per se, but who is the racist and who are her targets.
"Over at The Atlantic, there are also no ostensible rules concerning who is and is not fired, and for what reason. Essayist Kevin Williamson was allegedly dropped by The Atlantic for his prior incendiary suggestion that abortion might warrant the death penalty.
"Fine, it is a free country, and private companies can fire whomever they chose. But The Atlantic had no problem hiring writer Julia Ioffe. She had been let go at Politico for tweeting that President Trump might have engaged in incest with his daughter Ivanka.
"Again, the impression conveyed is that The Atlantic is not so concerned with inflammatory speech as with calibrating at whom the venom is directed. If Ioffe had tweeted the same perversities about Barack Obama and his daughters, The Atlantic surely would have fired her immediately.
" 'The American people are losing confidence in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation not just because after 15 months, he has not charged anyone with Russian collusion — the original reason he was appointed. Instead, the pushback is due to the growing sense that rules are made up ad hoc." . . .

OK, Is Being A Double-Talking Idiot Justification Losing Security Clearance?

Ethics Alarms  “ 'And for Mr. Trump to so cavalierly so dismiss that, yes, sometimes my Irish comes out and in my tweets. And I did say that it rises to and exceeds the level of high crimes and misdemeanors and nothing short of treasonous, because he had the opportunity there to be able to say to the world that this is something that happened. And that’s why I said it was nothing short of treasonous. I didn’t mean that he committed treason. But it was a term that I used, nothing short of treasonous.”

"Oh."

"What?"

"To Maddow’s credit, she did point out that “nothing short of treasonous” means “committed treason,” but to her shame, she did not press Brennan to make sense out of this self-contradiction, perhaps because that is impossible, and also because she isn’t about to be properly tough on a Trump critic who was put on the air to bash the President. The whole interview shows Brennan to be an arrogant, presumptuous partisan warrior. I think my favorite quote is when he says

"I gave him a year. I said, maybe he is going to adapt and change. But it seemed like day after day, week after week, month after month, things just got worse. He did not live up to I think what Americans expect of the president of the United States, to speak with great forcefulness but to do it with integrity and honesty. Mr. Trump, time after time, I think has really just disappointed millions of Americans, which I’m trying to give voice to.

And so, I know a lot of people think a former intelligence official shouldn’t be doing this. I don’t consider what I’m doing as political at all. I never registered as a Republican or a Democrat, you know, for my entire life. But I feel such a commitment to this country’s security and its reputation.

"How generous of John Brennan, arbiter of the Presidency, to give our elected President a year. That’s better than the Congressional Black Caucus, I guess, which boycotted his inauguration and gave him no time at all. The Constitution, however, gives an elected President four years.

"Brennan’s comments have shown that he should never have been trusted with security clearance in the first place."

Brennan Threatens To Sue Trump; Giuliani Makes Him Think Twice  . . . "Giuliani went on to suggest that he would question Brennan about alleged intelligence failures that took place under his leadership, including the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, a terror attack which killed 19 U.S. servicemen while he was CIA station chief in Riyadh. He also alluded to Brennan’s 1976 vote for the Communist Party USA’s presidential candidate, Gus Hall." . . .

ANOTHER SLIPPERY ATTEMPT TO PAINT TRUMP AS A RACIST

Powerline  . . . "The truth, obvious to anyone who has been paying attention, is that Trump is an equal opportunity attack dog (so to speak). He has labeled media outlets like the Washington Post “the fake news media.” These media outlets are run by Whites and rely on mostly White reporters and opinion writers. The truth, obvious to anyone who has been paying attention, is that Trump is an equal opportunity attack dog (so to speak). He has labeled media outlets like the Washington Post “the fake news media.” These media outlets are run by Whites and rely on mostly White reporters and opinion writers.

"No one suggests that Trump’s attacks on the mainstream media are “racially tinged.” Yet it would be just as plausible to make that claim as it is to assert that Trump’s disparaging statements about particular Blacks are.

There’s a name for this assertion: Fake news.

Why is the mainstream media so intent on portraying Trump as a racist? Mostly because the people who write and report for it hate Trump.

However, I’m not sure that hatred alone can explain why organs like the Post are labeling clearly no-racial statements as racist. There’s probably more going on.

I suspect that the Trump-hating mainstream media is panicked by indications that the president is more popular among, or at least viewed more favorably by, Blacks than past Republican presidents and presidential contenders have been. Democrats cannot afford to see an erosion in their support among Blacks in presidential elections. Hence, the all out, over-the-top effort to brand Trump a racist.

"No one suggests that Trump’s attacks on the mainstream media are “racially tinged.” Yet it would be just as plausible to make that claim as it is to assert that Trump’s disparaging statements about particular Blacks are.

"There’s a name for this assertion: Fake news.

"Why is the mainstream media so intent on portraying Trump as a racist? Mostly because the people who write and report for it hate Trump.

"However, I’m not sure that hatred alone can explain why organs like the Post are labeling clearly no-racial statements as racist. There’s probably more going on.

"I suspect that the Trump-hating mainstream media is panicked by indications that the president is more popular among, or at least viewed more favorably by, Blacks than past Republican presidents and presidential contenders have been. Democrats cannot afford to see an erosion in their support among Blacks in presidential elections. Hence, the all out, over-the-top effort to brand Trump a racist."

Yes, many of Trumps’s statements seem racist, but it’s just a plain fact that they’re not.  . . . "But, you may be asking, isn’t it racist when he talks about banning Muslims from entering the U.S. and saying that illegal Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals? Nope. Why? Because:

• Muslims aren’t a race
• Mexico isn’t a race . . .

Did Trump Really Save America From Socialism?

Between Watergate and Contra-gate, Democrats charged 83 Republicans with criminal conduct and many went to prison. So far, Republicans have not held even one Democrat accountable for crimes committed that are arguably far more damaging to our democratic process than these two Republican scandals.

The American Spectator

For certain he’s saved us from Obamaism and its socialist designs.

"With the appearance of Death of a Nation, the must-see film by Dinesh D’Souza, a debate has begun as to the role Donald Trump plays in American history. D’Souza argues persuasively that Trump has saved America from socialism while the left and Never-Trumpers insist he has set America back. However, the events of the last few years seem strongly to support D’Souza’s view.

Americans need to understand that the shocking refusal by a major political party to accept the results of the last election and the onslaught of verbal, legal, and physical assaults the Democrats have engendered, are not specific to Donald Trump. In other words, it is now clear plans were made by Obama to exploit federal power during his presidency to give the Democrats control of our nation — perpetually. It really didn’t matter if Trump was the GOP nominee or not. In other words, the chaos we are witnessing today would not have been much different had, for example, Ted Cruz won the presidency.

Sure, the issues and the phony narratives would be different but the intensity of the attacks would be the same and the illegal politicizing of Federal agencies would probably still have occurred. There is little doubt the Dems would have created phony narratives customized for whoever the nominee was, similar to how they customized the Russian collusion hoax for Trump. This is what the establishment Republicans and the Never-Trumpers don’t understand. Long before Trump’s candidacy, total war was declared on the GOP when the Obama administration strategically created the conditions to make its progressive revolution a permanent one. Or so they thought.

First, let’s dump the naivety. Obama has been fully in charge of both the pre- and post- election attacks on Trump. He is the leader of the resistance. The idea that his appointees at the FBI, DOJ, IRS, CIA, State Department, etc., would risk committing multiple felonies without direction from him or his henchman is simply not believable as many long-time political leaders and observers have stated.

Kimmel: That Christian cake baker looks like a woman, and his job is gay; Kimmel's friends in the media sink to even lower levels

These are the sort of comments that even many of us Trump-supporters resent this President for making.

Washington Examiner  “ 'America's conscience” took a break Thursday evening from acting as a teary-eyed advocate for all that is just and decent.

"In the place of ABC’s late-night Jimmy Kimmel: The "Man Show" Jimmy Kimmel. The only thing missing were the women on trampolines.

"Kimmel took aim Thursday at the Christian proprietor of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado. For the late-night funny man, the takeaway from Jack Phillips' refusal to bake a cake celebrating a trans person's transition is that the cakemaker might be gay, and that he sure looks gay.

"“It’s funny because this is a guy who spends all day, every day, meticulously designing flowers out of icing. His whole life is gay, OK?” Kimmel said to laughs. “I don’t know if the wrong cake might bring that to life or what.”

"The late-night host turned his attention to the shop owner’s physical appearance, adding for good measure that Phillips is “the totally straight cake baker."

“ 'You would think that someone who looks like the Reba McEntire’s version of Col. Sanders would be more sympathetic to gender identity issues,” the host laughed." . . .

3 Disgusting Ways the Media Twisted the Truth in the Colorado Baker Transgender Cake Story  "On Tuesday night, the Christian legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit to again defend the Christian baker Jack Phillips, who was targeted by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for refusing to create cake art celebrating a message that conflicts with his faith. Two months earlier, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor in a similar case.

"The mainstream media, unable to ignore the story completely, twisted it out of recognition instead.

"So, what actually happened? In 2012, Phillips refused to create an artistic cake celebrating a same-sex wedding, but offered the gay couple anything else in his shop. For this, the commission persecuted Phillips for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

"The same commission defended another baker's right to refuse to create cakes that stated a message with which she disagreed. Worse, the commission compared Phillips' actions to Nazi apologists, even though Phillips' own father fought the Nazis and liberated a concentration camp in World War II." . . .

A few days later, another caller from a number associated with the name "Scardina" asked for a "birthday" cake for Satan, complete with a red and black theme and an image of Satan smoking marijuana. Phillips denied this cake as well.
On June 4, 2018, the day the Supreme Court issued its decision, someone emailed Phillips claiming to be a "member of the Church of Satan." The email requested a "three-tiered white cake. Cheesecake frosting. And the topper should be a large figure of Satan, licking a 9" black Dildo [sic]. I would like the dildo to be an actual working model, that can be turned on before we unveil the cake."
Scardina's law practice states, "We take great pride in taking on employers who discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and serving them their just desserts."
Scardina complained to the Colorado commission and Colorado found probable cause that Phillips had discriminated against Scardina on the basis of sexual identity. On Tuesday, the ADF filed a lawsuit to block Colorado's attack.

Media Backs Efforts to Destroy Mexican Restaurant That Let Sessions Dine

Independent Sentinel "The owner of El Tiempo Cantina was forced to shut down his eatery’s social media presence and publicly apologize two weeks ago after Stalinist Democrats harassed his family for allowing Attorney Jeff Sessions to dine at his Texas restaurant.

“We’ve actually received many, many, many insults and many, many complaints, and even some death threats,” Roland Laurenzo, the president of Laurenzo’s Restaurant Group said in a phone interview with station KHOU.

His family is currently being harassed.

HE HAD TO APOLOGIZE FOR DOING NOTHING WRONG BUT THE BOYCOTT CONTINUES

“We honestly didn’t get it — we didn’t see that we were doing something wrong,” he added. We didn’t even have any idea that this was going to happen. This has been a total surprise for us. It has been extremely shocking to our family.

"The poor man thinks he did something wrong.

"The owner’s son posed with Sessions, proud that a government official was eating in his restaurant. That sent the Stalinists into a frenzy. They have been boycotting this man for doing nothing wrong, even after he apologized.

"The media is now backing this boycott." . . .

Not ever a great nation, say today's Democrats

No longer the party of FDR who said America would be the "arsenal of the free world" in fighting Hitler and Mussolini

American Thinker

Cuomo: America 'was never that great'  . . . "Cuomo made the comments in reference to President Trump's popular "make America great again" slogan. 

" 'We’re not gonna make America great again," Cuomo said at the event, where he signed anti sex-trafficking bills into law. "It was never that great." 

" 'We have not reached greatness," he continued. "We will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged."

" 'We will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone," he said. "And every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed and every woman is making her full contribution. When that happens, this nation is going to be taken even higher.' " . . .

Trump blasts Cuomo for saying 'America was never that great'  . . . "Later, Trump's campaign weighed in, too, saying in a statement that Cuomo "showed his true, pessimistic colors when he defamed America as a country that was ‘never that great.’" . . .

Anti-Trump “Comedian” Michelle Wolf’s Netflix Show Cancelled

Legal Insurrection  "Only a few months ago, “comedian” Michelle Wolf gave a cringe-worthy performance at the annual White House Correspondents’ dinner.  During that disastrous bit, Wolf crossed several lines of decency, particularly in her personal attacks on White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  So onerous were her remarks that even leftists commended Sanders for her dignified behavior during Wolf’s onslaught.

"That was in April, news broke yesterday that Netflix has cancelled Wolf’s show after only ten episodes.  Apparently, many of those associated with the show found out about it on Twitter.

Watch Wolf at the White House Correspondents’ dinner:" . . .

"You know it’s bad when the likes of MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Andrea Mitchell offer support for Sanders.

Mika Brzezinski

✔@morningmika

Watching a wife and mother be humiliated on national television for her looks is deplorable. I have experienced insults about my appearance from the president. All women have a duty to unite when these attacks happen and the WHCA owes Sarah an apology.

. . .  

Keith Ellison is no lawman

Keith Ellison‏Verified account 

At @MoonPalaceBooks and I just found the book that strike fear in the heart of @realDonaldTrump

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "Another story alleging bad behavior with women, and once again a Democrat in the middle of it.  Nevertheless, I think that Mr. [E]llison deserves a fair hearing on this and let the chips fall where they may.  Time will tell.

"My real problem with Mr. Ellison is that this man is the last person on the planet who should be a "law man," as Scott Johnson wrote:

Here some history is in order: Ellison was an active supporter and local leader of the Nation of Islam in Minneapolis before his election to Congress.  (I set forth this history in some detail in the October 9, 2006 issue of The Weekly Standard.)  Ellison has baldly dissembled about this history since 2006.  In his 2014 memoir My Country, 'Tis of Thee, for example, Ellison simply omitted it and presented himself as a critic of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

This past June, Ellison told Jake Tapper on CNN, "I worked on the Million Man March and I was proud to do so.  That's it."  But that wasn't it.  Ellison first sought office as a Democrat in 1998 as Keith Ellison-Muhammad, a self-avowed member of the Nation of Islam.  (Ellison-Muhammad is just one of three Nation of Islam names Ellison has used over the years.)  Fortunately for him, Ellison's 5th District constituents haven't much cared about his history and the Minneapolis Star Tribune has almost entirely let it rest exactly where Ellison wants it.

But seeking the top law enforcement job in Minnesota and running for statewide office should be a more daunting challenge because Ellison is an extraordinarily poor fit for the job.  Among the troubling threads that run through Ellison's career: support for cop killers.

"How does man look at police officers and say "do your job"?  How can any law enforcement person in Minnesota trust that A.G. Ellison would have his back?

"There is something wrong with a national political party that nominates someone like Keith Ellison for attorney general.  I don't care about his religion or liberal views.  I do care about his disregard for police officers – the same men and women who may be reporting to him next year."   (Emphases and photos added, TD)

The Best Response to Trump: Report Well

Weekly Standard  "The president’s general attacks against the press are at the least obnoxious—and at the most untrue. There is no better way to demonstrate the latter point than to place facts above all else."

. . . "It is a flawed assumption that casual news readers make a distinction between a newspaper’s editorial board and its reporters such that they won’t hold the former’s opinions against the latter’s journalism. Ultimately, it is on consumers to make such a distinction, when they take editorials seriously at all. But editorial boards across the country were begging readers to do just that in this instance—and in unison. The Baltimore Sun's editorial board addressed the problem of the coordinated campaign in its editorial: “[A] coordinated response from independent—dare we say ‘mainstream’—news organizations feeds a narrative that we’re somehow aligned against this Republican president.” To put a point on it: It’s worth pausing before calling so much attention to yourself." . . .

Overthrow the Church of Leftist Guilt

Michelle Obama famously remarked, during her husband’s first presidential campaign, that it was the first time that she was proud of her country. 

American Greatness

"For the past couple of decades, Leftists have used guilt masterfully to convince Americans to vote against the interests of their country. They set forward some lofty and idealistic vision of what justice in America should be, typically using language generic enough to be palatable to both sides. Then they focus on all of the ways we have fallen short of this goal, ignoring the fact that we have gotten much closer than almost any other country or culture in history. And then they offer an opportunity for penance and salvation—keep voting for them and you will continue to be absolved of your sins.

"But Democrats still need the vague feel-good vision of America to appeal to voters’ patriotism—it’s hard to run a country that you hate. And so they use aspirational language effectively to campaign while hiding their overwhelming disgust with the nation. They have never been proud of America. They are only proud of what America could be if everyone capitulated to their demands.

"Mainstream liberals do not advertise this fact loudly, but they don’t hide it, either. John Kerry chose the slogan Let America be America Again for his presidential campaign—a phrase from a Langston Hughes poem that describes an idealized America, laments that it’s never fulfilled these lofty goals, and finally admits that “America never was America” to him." . . .

Spoof comic claims authorship of NY Times op-ed: 'How Can I Cure My White Guilt?'

Thomas Lifson  "I don't know if the New York Times was hoaxed by a by a comedian pretending to be ridiculously P.C. about collective "white guilt," and it almost doesn't matter.  The fact that the New York Times published this op-ed is simultaneously horrifying and hilarious ("horrifarious" in the useful neologism coined by talk show host Joe Getty):

"Tom Maguire of Just One Minute spotted a tweet raising doubt of about the authorship:

... is this for real, or has the NY Times flipped the keys to The Onion?

You know what?  Go with your gut and bet 'The Onion'.  As best I can tell, the Times writers and editors are serious.  Authorship of the letter however, is claimed by a spoof comic who – take a seat, please – mocks the eternally woke.

. . .