CNN, the most (fill in the blank) name in news

Brian Stelter?

Thomas Lifson: CNN media critic attacks White House ground rules for press conferences  "CNN seems to have forgotten the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for."  After filing suit over the revocation of Jim Acosta's hard pass to the White House and winning, that network's media beat reporter is upset.  Speaking on CNN's Newsroom, Brian Stelter seems certain that danger lurks in the new open and transparent rules provided by the White House in response to the judge's demand for due process on decisions over revocation of access to press conferences or the White House." . . .

Brian Stelter?

"This new letter, laying out the explicit rules, will help maintain decorum.  Stelter may not be able to admit it, but his colleague Acosta has been way out of line, and only anti-Trump solidarity among the media (a huge problem that the media won't admit) has prevented public shaming of Acosta by his colleagues, many of whom deeply resent him.

"Stelter has just reinforced President Trump's view of CNN as reflexively opposed to him no matter what he does.

"CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s carnival-barking"

CNN: All Pro-Trump White Women Are 'Racist,' Benefit from 'White Supremacy'
Video

Dallas Cowboys former head cheerleader Cindy Villareal released a movie about the Cowboys squad in the 80s. Cheerleading has changed. Americans love to watch beautiful women in tight sweaters who cheer for one side or the other, the difference is, today they do it as cable news anchors.  Comedian Argus Hamilton 

 CBS' White House Correspondent: There's a Level of Decorum Expected of White House Press Pool

“Some of my colleagues might say ‘what did you do that for? You had the microphone. You have a voice. Speak.,'” Garrett explained. “The President of the United States said, 'Not you.' So my way of thinking [is] that's enough. The President said, 'I didn't call on you. I called on someone else.' Alright then. Some might say you laid down and were too deferential, I don’t feel that way…I deferred hoping he might call on me again, he didn’t, that’s how I orient myself to the institution…and I respect the institution and the country’s choice.”

Jim Acosta Will Only Behave When There's A Democrat In The White House  . . . 
. . . "Reporter[s] rarely, if ever, interrupted Obama while he gave long, meandering answers.

"These were the same reporters, mind you, who'd just spent eight years hounding President Bush. Back then it was NBC News' David Gregory who played the Jim Acosta role, repeatedly sparring with Bush and his press secretary. Gregory's reward for showboating was a coveted spot as anchor of "Meet the Press.' " . . .

Gregory was one of those who asked Mr. Bush if he would apologize for the attack on Iraq. He called Bush a "failed president" in another interview, completely intimidating the president.

Ian Macfarlane

Vile Michelle Wolf has killed off the comedy feature at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner

Well, for me it all began with the celebriweasel Stephen Colbert and his bullying of George Bush at this same affair. TD

Thomas Lifson  "Purported comedian Michelle Wolf, whose vile attacks at the last White House Correspondents' dinner caused open reactions of dismay from the audience, has induced the group to cancel the custom of featuring a comic at its gatherings.  She has managed to diminish laughter, which is in keeping with the thrust of her unfunny, hate-filled work.  Cancelation is the current theme of her career: her Netflix series lasted three months before getting the axe.  Her reliance on shock and grotesquerie – in place of actual humor based on wit – is at the level of a three-year-old saying "poo-poo head" at the family dinner table, expecting a reaction.  The WHCA demeaned itself by featuring her, and the group seems to have figured that out.

"In a press release, the group touted its choice of Ron Chernow as featured speaker at the next dinner.

"I'm delighted that Ron will share his lively, deeply researched perspectives on American politics and history at the 2019 White House Correspondents' Dinner," said Olivier Knox, Chief Washington Correspondent for SiriusXM and president of the WHCA.  "As we celebrate the importance of a free and independent news media to the health of the republic, I look forward to hearing Ron place this unusual moment in the context of American history."

"The White House Correspondents' Association has asked me to make the case for the First Amendment and I am happy to oblige," Chernow said.  "Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics.  My major worry these days is that we Americans will forget who we are as a people and historians should serve as our chief custodians in preserving that rich storehouse of memory.  While I have never been mistaken for a stand-up comedian, I promise that my history lesson won't be dry."

Sarah Sanders being attacked by
"The Voice"

"I have never heard Chernow speak, but I have read some of his first-rate work.  Almost certainly, the WHCA is looking to contrast the current POTUS with practices of the past, but such is Chernow's standing as a serious and fair scholar that he has every incentive to avoid cheap shots.  The biggest danger he faces is speaking over the (air)heads of the journalists assembled.

"The correspondents have taken to calling their fashion-show-cum-laugh-fest the "nerd prom" – as if they had the intellectual standing to merit the term "nerd."  With Chernow attending, the title may become justified.  

"No doubt, there are hopes that President Trump will attend next year's dinner, appeased by the assurance that he will not be roasted by a professional comedian.  But with the WHCA promising to disregard the new guidelines offered by the White House in response to the court-ordered "due process" for removing press passes, it will take some further developments for Trump to risk making himself a target of a group that generally hates him and wants him out of office. "

Bring Out Your Dead

American Digest  "Every night at 6 PM the Sherriff of Butte County reveals the grim count of the dead discovered, so far, in the ashes of Paradise. He also reveals the latest number of known missing persons who cannot be located by family or friends.  Finally, there is the list of homes and businesses destroyed. The raging fires that destroyed Paradise utterly have passed (for now) but the search for the dead is only beginning.

"Last night’s official tally was:

DEAD: 71 (all but one found inside a home.)MISSING: 1,100HOMES DESTROYED: 9,740 (only about 5% have been search so far)BUSINESSES DESTROYED: 336 . . .

. . . "In the ravines and forests of Paradise, cell reception was so spotty that AT&T gave me my own personal internet driven cell-phone tower. If those off the grid in Paradise actually owned cell phones they would have been lucky to get an alert. But most of those did not own cell phones, and landlines didn’t run that deep in the woods. When the fire closed over them they would have had no warning. No warning until the trailer melted around them. And then there was, out behind but still close to their trailer, their large propane tank.

"How many bodies will be found in the pyre of Paradise? Right now nobody knows for sure.  Nobody will ever know for sure. In five years from today, somewhere in the reviving forest of Paradise, some hiker is going to step on a skull. He won’t be the only one."

Women's March founder calls for group's leadership to step down

The refusal of the leaders to denounce Farrakhan contributed to further anger within the group over the issue, the Daily Beast reported.

The Hill "Teresa Shook, the woman who first suggested a women's march following the inauguration of President Trump, is calling on four of the group's leaders to step down, arguing they have steered the movement from its correct course. 

"Shook specifically called out Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Bob Bland and Carmen Perez of Women's March, Inc., for allowing "anti-Semitism, anti- LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric" to become a part of the platform.

" '[My] original vision and intent was to show the capacity of human beings to stand in solidarity and love against the hateful rhetoric that had become a part of the political landscape in the U.S. and around the world," Shook wrote on Facebook.

" 'I wanted us to prove that the majority of us are decent people who want a world that is fair, just and inclusive of Women and All people."

" 'Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez of Women’s March, Inc. have steered the Movement away from its true course," she continued. "I have waited, hoping they would right the ship. But they have not."

"She called on all four to step down and to let other members of the movement take their place." . . .

Palestinian man refused Muslim burial on suspicion he sold land to Jews, to be buried in Jerusalem Jewish cemetery

Legal Insurrection  "Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel allows family of Ala’a Qarash (aka Alah Kirsh) to bury him at Jewish cemetery as an “exception” because the “Muslims themselves are unwilling to bury him” and he was a “righteous gentile” who “showed good will” to Jews."
"In a highly unusual ruling, one of Israel’s chief rabbis has allowed a Palestinian Arab man to be buried in a special plot, reserved for those without religious faith, in the Jewish Har HaMenuchotcemetery in Jerusalem.

"At issue is the decision of Aryeh Stern, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, to enable the West Bank-based family of Ala’a Qarash (also spelled Alah Kirsh) to bury him at the Jewish cemetery as an “exception” because the “Muslims themselves are unwilling to bury him” and he was a “righteous gentile” who “showed good will” to Jews.

"Along with five others, Qarash had been killed back on November 4th in a horrible car accident on Israel’s Highway 90 when a truck collided with a minibus. But Jerusalem’s grand mufti—Ekrima Sa’id Sabri—determined that Qarash didn’t deserve a proper burial at a Muslim site, including in the Muslim cemetery in the east Jerusalem where Qarash’s other family members are buried, because he had been suspected of allegedly selling real estate in that part of Israel’s capital city to Jews a few  years ago." . . .

Not the same Grand Mufti of Jerusalem as met Hitler in 1941. Close though, I'm sure.

The Grand Mufti doing what Jerusalem Grand Muftis do:  Photographs emerge of Palestinian Grand Mufti visiting Nazi camp in 1943

Haj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini (1895?-1974) served as the Mufti of Jerusalem during the British Mandate period, in the years 1921-1937, and was known as one of the most important and influential leaders of the Palestinian Arabs and the Palestinian national movement.

Comedian won’t headline 2019 White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Washington Examiner  "A comedian will not headline the next White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, after Michelle Wolf’s 2018 performance left many fuming.

"The White House Correspondents’ Association announced Monday that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow will be the featured speaker at the annual dinner in Washington.

“ 'As we celebrate the importance of a free and independent news media to the health of the republic, I look forward to hearing Ron place this unusual moment in the context of American history,” association president Olivier Knox said in a statement.

"Chernow said he was asked to “make the case for the First Amendment” during his remarks.

“ 'Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics. My major worry these days is that we Americans will forget who we are as a people and historians should serve as our chief custodians in preserving that rich storehouse of memory. While I have never been mistaken for a stand-up comedian, I promise that my history lesson won’t be dry,” he said.

"The selection of Chernow marks a change in tradition from selecting a comedian to perform at the black tie event. Wolf drew widespread criticism for her remarks at this year’s dinner about White House press secretary Sarah Sanders’ appearance.

"In response, Margaret Talev, who was then the president of the Correspondents’ Association, said the organization would consider new ideas about the format of the dinner.

“ 'Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press,” Talev said. “Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.”

"Over the last 20 years, comedians were picked for all but two dinners. Musician Ray Charles performed in 2003 and Aretha Franklin headlined the event in 1999."

"Here’s a list of previous entertainers:" . . .

Tim Allen, sadly was not on the list:

Tim Allen: Liberals have little sense of humor about themselves, 'so I love poking at it'  . . . "I like pissing people off, and I said there’s nothing, especially in this area, that pisses people off more than a very funny conservative, a smart, funny conservative that takes shots and is certainly self-effacing," Allen said in an interview with IndieWire about his show "Last Man Standing," in which he plays a conservative-leaning character.

"The left-wing point of view is so pervasive that they don’t even realize it’s a point of view. It is just a point of view," he said. "I think this character likes that, he likes to have another point of view. It makes him sharper and more interesting. But we don’t push it."

Allen says in the interview that the character's beliefs aren't exactly his own, but that liberals have a problem with humor targeting them or self-reflecting humor and that it motivates him to prod at the sensitivities of liberals for comedy.

"I think it’s funny to make fun of people that are full of themselves," Allen said. "Liberals have a very small window of sense of humor about themselves, so I love poking at it." . . .

“Fake News” CNN Brutally Summed Up by 11 Hilarious Cartoons

The Federalist Papers  "We all know CNN is the biggest joke in the news business and their hatred of President Trump has caused them to throw what few standards they had, out the window.

"Now they’ve become little more than an opinion channel and an outlet for deranged Democrats.

"Here in 11 hilarious and savage cartoons is everything anyone needs to know about CNN:"

CNN: All Pro-Trump White Women Are ‘Racist,’ Benefit From ‘White Supremacy’

Acosta: our newest celebrity reporter. Watch for him on any TV talk show.

http://www.terrellaftermath.com/

Acosta: the next step   . . . "Which brings us to the dispute about the facts. The key dispute, which the court did not resolve, is whether Acosta “resisted” and/or improper physical contact with the female intern. Since Acosta and CNN both have asserted that he did not even touch her, the White House ought to ask the court to make CNN’s president and Jim Acosta file sworn affidavits to that effect under penalty of perjury. And then they should have the female intern provide her affidavit indicating whether he touched her. They need to set up a classic “He said, she said” situation. Acosta should be eager to swear in court what he said on TV. He need not fear a “perjury trap” if he is telling the truth." . . . Sadly this article actually uses that phrase, "speak truth to power". TD

Earl of Taint

Townhall

Ocasio-Cortez Has No Idea What The 3 Branches Of Government Are

Daily Wire

. . . "Ocasio-Cortez urged people to join Justice Democrats' #OurTime campaign on Saturday to help them identify Democratic House incumbents that are "demographically and ideologically out-of-touch with their districts," the Huffington Post reported.

If you’re a strong progressive leader in your community and committed to getting money out of politics, I want you to join me in Congress. I want you to run.

To run in 2020 without corporate money, you need to start considering now. Join @justicedems tonight to learn more ⬇️ https://t.co/7hkAFkaZ4A

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 17, 2018

"In other words, Ocasio-Cortez endorsed a campaign that says that people can't represent those who are "demographically" different from them, which is the very definition of racism."

There’s Growing Proof that Paul Ryan Was to Blame for GOP Midterm Losses

The Gateway Pundit  "Democrats had a decent haul on election night but since Election Day the Democrats have had A SPECTACULAR RUN!

"In the US Senate Republicans flipped FOUR SEATS in the Midterm elections.

** Republican Mike Braun defeated Senator Joe Donnelly after lagging in the liberal media polls all year.
** Republican Josh Hawley defeated Senator Claire McCaskill by 6 points after only leading by .6 according to the polling.
** Republican Kevin Cramer trounced Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota by nearly 11 points.
** In Florida Governor Rick Scott Senator defeated Bill Nelson by 12,000 votes. This was despite the Democrats’ best efforts to steal a win in Florida.

. . . 

"The Gateway Pundit can confirm that Paul Ryan withdrew funding from a battleground House seat in Michigan two weeks before the election despite the Republican leading in the polling. This Republican later last by a few thousand votes.

"So Where Was Paul Ryan and the Republican Party?

"Paul Ryan was undercover during the election.
"Ryan did go on national TV to poke President Trump one week before the election. Ryan accused the Republican President of using “Alinsky tactics” and “tribal politics” just one week before votes were cast.

"Paul Ryan did nothing to stop the Facebook decimation and elimination of conservative content since the 2016 election.

"And Paul Ryan declined his duty to protect battleground Republicans." . . .

Cheating: Apparent 'Organized Fraud' By Florida Democrats Must Be Fully Investigated

Guy Benson

"We're a week-and-a-half past election day, and Florida Democrats are still refusing to concede the gubernatorial and Senate races they've almost certainly lost. Because the GOP's victory margins were quite thin, mandatory recounts were triggered -- but those margins are still large enough (roughly 34,000 and 13,000 in the governor and Senate contests, respectively) that the outcomes are not in doubt. Following the required machine recounts, apparent newly-elected Senator Rick Scott actually gained a few dozen votes, while apparent Governor-elect Ron DeSantis lost a total of...one vote. Via an Orlando Sentinel reporter: . . .

"State Republicans blasted this as an "illegal scheme" and "organized fraud," and the matter is reportedly the subject of a requested federal probe.  Between the instances of absolute ineptitude, the clear violations of law, and this apparent malfeasance (altering official documents to change deadlines would seem to cross a clear line into fraud), this vote-counting season has been a disgrace in a small handful of Florida's left-leaning counties.  The bad news is that these issues and tactics persist, and must watched with vigilance.  The good news for conservatives is that despite their best efforts, Democrats appear to have lost anyway.  Rick Scott, effectively re-declaring victory, sounds slightly annoyed:" . . .

#Metoo takes more victims

David Paulin: A suicide at the University of Texas Reveals Dark Side of #MeToo Movement

. . . "Morrisett's research offered new insights into alcohol-related brain disorders and alcoholism – an arcane area of research among neuroscientists. Some colleagues called him “brilliant.”

"Morrisett's career, however, was destroyed by a single newspaper article. Published by the Austin American-Statesman, a metropolitan daily, the article dredged up an ugly episode from Morrisett's past – a domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend at the time. It was the sort of inexcusable incident that, sadly, the police and courts handle all the time. There were no serious injuries; it hadn't even merited a headline when it occurred on May 28, 2016. Morrisett, in a plea deal, pleaded guilty to a 3rd degree felony. He was sentenced to four years of probation, called community supervision in Texas, and ordered to receive counseling, take a class on avoiding family violence, and perform 100 hours of community service. Morrisett had thought he was moving on with his life. He had accepted responsibility for his actions and, moreover, had put an apparently volatile and dysfunctional relationship behind him.

"Then, more than a year and a half after the incident, a Statesman reporter contacted Morrisett about the domestic violence case. On his lawyer's advice, Morrisett declined to comment. And not long after that, on Thursday, January 25, his nightmare began: He woke up to see a banner headline across the Statesman's front page: “UT declined to sanction professor who pleaded guilty to violent felony.” The incident had suddenly become timely – tied as it was to the #MeToo movement that, starting one year ago with Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, has since targeted and disgraced a number of prominent or famous men for being sexual predators and abusers." . . .

Clarice Feldman: Then They Came for the White Women  "As the incompetent election managers in Florida finally finish counting ballots barely in time for the 2020 campaigns to begin, and Georgia’s governor candidate Stacey Abrams chooses to "acknowledge defeat" rather than concede, it’s time to take a look at the role of women in politics.
. . . 
"But there was even more to cheer those who were upset by the Kavanaugh hearing debacle. Senator Joe Manchin, who broke from the Dem pack and voted for Kavanaugh, won his re-election campaign. Senators Donnelly,Nelson, Heitkamp, and McCaskill, who voted against him, lost. Certainly, other factors may have played a part, but obviously the Democrats forgot there are still plenty of women who love men and fair play."