CNN: the most busted name in news. Well busted.

 Thomas Lifson:  Trump campaign sues CNN  "I have to admit that the lawsuit that the Trump campaign promises to launch against CNN seems like a long shot to me.  Or, as the media like to say about lawsuits of which they approve, it is an "innovative" or "path-breaking" legal strategy.

"But winning a jury verdict may be beside the point.  The prospect of examining internal documents and compelling testimony under oath promises rich material for political gain.  The rules of civil litigation offer far more flexibility than government prosecution when it comes to gathering evidence.

"Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner:

Outraged by secretly taped anti-Trump comments attributed to CNN President Jeff Zucker and others at the cable network, President Trump's campaign is vowing to sue the company for "a substantial payment of damages."

In a four-page letter to CNN, Zucker, and Executive Vice President David Vigilante, Trump attorney Charles J. Harder cited years of anti-Trump bias at the network and claimed the cable giant has broken its promise of "excellence in journalism."

Listing several examples from the just-released Project Veritas videotapes of CNN insiders describing Zucker's demand for "impeachment above all else," Harder wrote that they "are merely the tip of the iceberg of the evidence my clients have accumulated over recent years."

He added, "Never in the history of this country has a President been the subject of such a sustained barrage of unfair, unfounded, unethical and unlawful attacks by so-called 'mainstream' news, as the current situation."

. . ."Joe DiGenova, who knows roughly a million times as much as I do about the law, sees a strong case, in the Daily Caller (hat tip: Roger Luchs):"

CNN staffers were caught on tape admitting that their network "is totally left-leaning" while pretending that's not the case. The employees say it's an unwritten rule that conservatives and even centrists are not welcome at CNN, that they are well aware of how biased anchors such as Don Lemon are, and that CNN President Jeffery [sic] Zucker has a "personal vendetta" against the president of the United States.  . . .

“They Sold Themselves to the Devil. It’s, It’s Sad.” Laments Floor Manager at CNN Mike Brevna.

Sorry Brits: UK’s First Chick-Fil-A Is Closing Thanks To The LGBT Lobby

Chicks On The Right  "Chick-fil-A just opened its first UK location in Reading, England, on October 10.  By the next day, the location had served over a thousand customers.  Now, just over a week later, the location will be closing.
"Why?  It’s not because the Brits dislike tasty chicken sandwiches.  Nope – it’s because of the LGBT lobby.  Gay rights activists called for a boycott of Chick-fil-A and Reading Pride has been protesting the location.
"As a result, the shopping center where the Chick-fil-A is located won’t renew the company’s lease:

A spokesperson for The Oracle shopping center told the BBC that “the right thing to do” was to prevent the fast-food chain from doing business in response to the LGBTQ outcry.“We always look to introduce new concepts for our customers, however, we have decided on this occasion that the right thing to do is to only allow Chick-Fil-A to trade with us for the initial six-month pilot period, and not to extend the lease any further,” said the spokesperson.

"The protesters and boycotters expressed delight over this news.
"Chick-fil-A has been embroiled with controversy since 2012, when the company’s president, a Christian, came out in favor of traditional marriage.  Since then, LGBTQ activists have been calling for boycotts of the company across the U.S.  However, the call for boycotts have largely backfired.  Americans want that chicken.

Despite the efforts to harm the business, with college campuses and two city airports banning the chain from opening up shop, the chicken empire’s sales continue to climb and have only doubled since the boycotts launched in 2012.

"The company’s sales have increased from $4.6 billion in 2012 to $10.46 billion in 2018, making Chick-fil-A the third largest chain in the U.S., behind only McDonald’s and Starbucks.
"In addition to good food, Chick-fil-A is just a good company.  Their employees are always courteous, and you always see Chick-fil-A willing to pitch in during a disaster – remember when a power outage stranded thousands at the Atlanta airport, and Chick-fil-A opened on a Sunday to serve the stranded passengers?
"Boycotting Chick-fil-A is a great example of (1) viewpoint discrimination and (2) virtue-signaling rather than fighting actual discrimination.  The only thing Chick-fil-A has done wrong is employ a president with conservative Christian values.  Chick-fil-A is not discriminatory: the company both employs and serves people of all races and orientations. 
"But that doesn’t matter to the militant left."

Trump rallies vs the anti-Trump rallies

Dallas Reporter Compares Trump Crowd To Beto’s Counter-Rally — It’s Not Even Close  "Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke held his own rally Thursday to counter President Donald Trump’s Dallas event — and photos suggested he would face a much smaller crowd.

"Dallas-Fort Worth CBS reporter Caroline Vandergriff posted a photo of O’Rourke’s fans beginning to gather outside the 6,350-seat Theatre at Grand Prairie, just a few hours before it was scheduled to start." . . .

O’Rourke’s campaign said his rally drew 5,532 people.  . . . "Both Parscale and Cornyn spoke earlier in the rally, the latter telling the crowd, “Make no mistake about it: Texas will be the firewall in 2020.”
“If they take Texas, they will take the U.S. Senate,” Cornyn said. “If they take Texas, they will take the White House. But we can't let that happen. Not on our watch.”
"At O’Rourke’s invitation, eight of the Democrats running to unseat Cornyn spoke at the Grand Prairie rally, seeking in many instances to tie Cornyn to Trump." . . .

Beto O’Rourke Compares Trump Admin To Nazi Germany…
"Beto looking for his own show on MSNBC?"

Speaking of anti-Trump rallies: Mark Sanford Officially Launches Primary Challenge To Trump With Rally, Only One Person Shows Up  Thousands of Sanford supporters were out hiking the Appalachian Trail at the same time.

CNN Field Ops Manager: It's Bullsh*t, We're Totally Left-Leaning But We Don't Admit It

Project Veritas  "Manager of Field Operations at CNN Patrick Davis Complains “We Could Be So Much Better Than What We Are.”
"“I Haven’t Listened to a 9AM (Rundown) Call in About 15 Years…Just, I Can’t Listen to It,” Explains Davis, “It’s All Just a Bunch of Bullshit.”
"Field Production Supervisor at CNN Gerald Sisnette: “The Only Way This Will Go Away is When He (Trump) Dies. Hopefully Soon.”
“ 'They Sold Themselves to the Devil. It’s, It’s Sad.” Laments Floor Manager at CNN Mike Brevna.
“ 'We Used to Cover News,” Complains Senior Field Engineer at CNN Scott Garber, “We Used to Go Out and Do Stories.”
"Zucker Admits to Being Personally Responsible for Impeachment Coverage: “I Am the One Saying We Should Just Stay on Impeachment.”
"Conflict is What Sells,” Explains CNN Media Coordinator Christian Sierra, “Create Clicks, Get More Money.” . . .

Timothy Meads at Townhall comments on this:

. . . "Poarch started at CNN in 2017 at what he thought was his dream job. He entered a Democrat, he even supported Bernie in 2016, but what he saw at the "most trusted name in news" made him squirm with unease. The dishonesty he saw kept him up at night. At some point in 2019, he had enough of the lies and turned to Project Veritas to help expose the network's bias against President Donald J. Trump and Republicans. Based on the clips, it is apparent that CNN President Jeff Zucker controls everything the network does. And everything the network does is designed to revolve around Trump and making our president look as bad as possible. Critics have argued that the guys on the clips were non-factors at the company. Leftists said these were low-level guys with no real authority. Well, that excuse has now gone out the window because as we learned Thursday, Poarch recorded true veterans of the business who have been there for decades." . . . 

There's a bad smell coming from Schiff's house, the California Democrat

Schiff

Monica Showalter: Fair impeachment for Trump? Not a snowball's chance in Schiff-town  . . . "Are the hearings, conducted in secret, in some dank Capitol Hill basement by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, going to be fair? For starters, they are secret, a big move to exclude voters from making up their own minds. Republicans have been shut out, making this specter a one-party show same as Obamacare.  Leaks already have provided lots of evidence of Schiff witness tampering, both against hostile witnesses as well as coordination with friendlies.

"Think these crazed Democrats will pursue fairness as Noonan says is the critical catalyst? 

"Not a snowball's chance in Schiffdom. Advantage, Trump."

Also by Ms. Showalter:  Schiff caught tampering with another witness  . . . "Yesterday, he got caught trying to shove words into a witness's mouth, to make him say things he didn't want to say. I wrote about that here.

"Today, he's doing something just as bad, getting together with other witnesses and working out a pre-coordinated story for the coming show trial.

"According to Breitbart News:" . . .

Gary Gindler:  Dr. Strangesсhiff, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Impeachment  "Who could have guessed that the words of Soviet secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria to Joseph Stalin, "Show me the man, and I will show you the crime," would be strangely embodied in American politics and jurisprudence in the 21st century?  Moreover, according to Dr. Strangesсhiff — congressman, chairman, and commissar — these wonderful words have recently found their way into the U.S. Constitution.

"Secret impeachment would seem to be a new idea, but the curious Dr. Strangesсhiff borrowed it from the closed Soviet trials of dissidents, "enemies of the people," and other "undesirable elements."

"Bravo, comrade Strangesсhiff!  Please, continue the Orange Man trial behind closed doors.  After all, the American people are ecstatic about closed hearings without access by journalists or lawyers.  They are also especially fond of the removal of the president based on an anonymous gossip-monger, or two, or three.  The number of blabbers is not important, since the transcripts of their testimonies will never be published (not because they are not there, but because that is exactly what the intent was)." . . .

Is everything happening in the basement of the Capitol a mockery of the impeachment process?  Of course.  However, most of all, Americans are interested in only one question: what kind of trick will the Democrats come up with after the hocus-pocus of a permanent palace coup, permanent impeachment, and permanent figureheads fails again?

Kurdish, Syrian, and Turkish Ironies

Victor Davis Hanson

Critics now upset about abandoning our Kurdish friends demanded abject withdrawals — and the abandonment of friends — in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Turkish soldiers stand near military trucks in the village of Yabisa near the Turkish-Syrian border in Syria,

. . . "Like the Poles, the Armenians, the Greeks, and the Israelis, the Kurds are an honorable, ancient, and brave people who drew history’s unfortunate lot of living in a dangerous geography between much larger and aggressive nations. And, to be frank, all these endangered peoples at some point in their histories, ancient and modern or both, seem to have fought against Turkish forces, been targeted by them, or threatened by Ankara.
"So, yes, it is incumbent on the Trump administration in general and on Secretary Pompeo in particular to find ways to prevent mass Turkish attacks on the Kurds, while not inserting American ground troops into a cauldron of fire between Turks and Kurds. That effort will require a great deal of skill and deftness that are weirdly forgotten in the current bipartisan exclamations of “We sold out the Kurds!” — given the labyrinth of paradoxes that surround Turkey, Syria, Kurds, and the U.S. and the lack of information about the actual redeployment of American troops." . . .

WHERE WAS THE MEDIA? ISIS Committed Genocide on Christians, Shiites and Yazidis, Killing 170,000 While Obama Partied and Did Nothing

The Gateway Pundit  "You might have missed the ISIS genocide of Christians, Shiites and Yazidis in Iraq-Syria.
"The media ignored the tens of thousands of victims.
"Obama was president and they did not want to harm him in any way."

"IN 2014 VIDEO WAS RELEASED OF ISIS SLAUGHTERING HUNDREDS OF SHIITE YOUTHS IN IRAQ
"ISIS committed genocide of Shiites. They filmed it and posted it online.

"Shiite Youths BEG FOR MERCY BEFORE THEY WERE MASSACRED BY ISIS—"

. . . "Obama did nothing and media ignored this mass slaughter or told lies to defend ISIS.

In fact, Obama was partying.

"In 2014 Barack Obama partied with African dictators while old women and children were dying from thirst on Sinjar Mountain." . . .

2014: ISIS BEHEADING CHILDREN AND WOMEN (AFTER STRIPPING NAKED) -PARALLELS HINDU STORY  Content advisory

2014: Obama’s monsters ball: How the White House opened its doors to some of Africa’s most evil dictators and homophobes and turned blind eye to their human rights record

Why Obama Spared ISIS Oil  . . . "If ever a statement by a former administration official offered a glimpse into the loony priorities of the Obama administration, this is it. We did not bomb the oil fields upon which ISIS depends for the bulk of its revenue because of our concerns about adding to carbon emissions that promote global warming (in the desert!)." . . .

ISIS convoys unbombed by Obama to keep from polluting 

Former CIA Deputy Director Gives A Stunning Reason Why Obama Has Not Attacked ISIS' Oil Infrastructure  . . . "Then we started asking questions, others joined in, and everything changed: "So now we’re hitting oil in trucks and maybe you get to the point where you say we also have to hit oil wells. So those are the kind of tough decisions you have to make."

"Of course, the lunacy gets even more ridiculous when one recalls that none other than one of the democrat frontrunners for president, Bernie Sanders, suggested in all seriousness that the real cause for terrorism is climate change, an allegation subsequently echoed by both UK's Prince Charles and none other than the chief of the UN, Ban Ki-moon himself.

"So here is the purported logic: climate change leads to terrorism, but one can't eradicate the primary funding source of the biggest terrorist threat in the world, the Islamic State, because of dangers it may lead to even more environmental damage and climate change.

"We are truly speechless at this idiocy." . . .

Woke ‘Batwoman’ Endorsed By Critics, Shredded By Audience

Daily Wire

“Not good, trying way too hard,” writes one audience reviewer. “Very boring and preachy, could of been great but as is now its a HUGE fail,” writes another.

"The new DC Universe television series “Batwoman,” which was hyped by DC and The CW as an overtly social justice-oriented series, finally aired two weeks ago amid much buzz. With two episodes released, reviews of the series reveal a dramatic gap between the response of critics and viewers. While the critics overall have given the series their official endorsement, viewers loathe it to a degree of unanimity rarely seen.

"The new “Batwoman” series features a lesbian lead character who is “armed with a passion for social justice and flair for speaking her mind,” as The Hollywood Reporter described it when it was first announced last year:
. . . 
“ 'Intersectional” controversy quickly arose when the identity of the actress who would play Kane/Batwoman was first announced last year.  Actress Ruby Rose, who generally presents herself as female but identifies as “gender fluid,” came under such severe backlash from angry left-wing critics for being “not gay enough” that she felt compelled to get off social media." . . .

CNN: With a name like "Zucker", it has to be good!

Thomas Lifson: Ratings crash for Dem presidential debates -- CNN hardest hit

"Two conclusions leap out from the ratings of televised presidential debates:

- the viewing public is already tiring of the Democrats’ presidential field;

- the viewing public doesn’t trust and doesn’t want to watch CNN – even when it is televising live events.

"Writing at Breitbart, John Nolte gathers and analyzes the ratings data. Here is the data on the four 2019 Democrat presidential debates in sequence: " . . .  

A debate not worth watching  . . . "My sense is that the candidates are predictably boring.  They have two messages:

1) "I hate Trump" with "I hate Trump more than you do" on the B-side; and

2) "I will give you something for free" with a Spanish “illegals qualify” version for Jorge Ramos.

"The Democrats created a mess with these early debates.  They exposed their candidates way too early and now have to deal with the reality that none of them can beat President Trump." . . .

Venezuela Reaches the Final Stage of Socialism: No Toilet Paper

Rich Terrell

CATO Institute  "In 1990 I went to a Cato Institute conference in what was then still the Soviet Union. We were told to bring our own toilet paper, which was in fact useful advice. Now, after only 16 years of Chavista rule, Venezuela has demonstrated that "Socialism of the 21st Century" is pretty much like socialism in the 20th century. Fusion reports:" . . .

Crime and Scams in Venezuela: What You Need To Know  "IMPORTANT: Venezuela is currently considered a "Do Not Travel" destination by several government travel advisories. For more information, check out our Venezuela travel alerts page.
"How dangerous is Venezuela for travelers? Find out about kidnappings, carjacking, hotel and airport safety." . . .

Lawmaker Dares Bernie Sanders to Visit Socialist Venezuela With No Bodyguards
"A Venezuelan assemblyman, currently in exile from socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime, has issued a challenge to presidential candidate and democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — daring the senator to take a week strolling through the streets of Venezuela without bodyguards and report back what he sees."
. . . 
"Ballasy went on to tell Guerra that activist Jesse Jackson has actually come to the defense of Maduro, and added that both Jackson and Sanders appear reluctant to speak publicly about what is going on in the socialist country." . . .

"If only the right people had tried it".  Does anybody really think our Democrats are the "right people", considering their "social justice" and political correctness requirements? TD

UPDATE: Case in point, Elizabeth Warren...

WSJ Columnist: This Is When The Deep State Felt They Got The Green Light To Defy Trump

Matt Vespa at Townhall  "The moment acting Attorney General Sally Yates decided to defy President Trump concerning his executive order on immigration that the media erroneously dubbed the Muslim ban, you saw the vestiges of what we now call the Deep State. It’s the cadre of government workers who are working against the Trump administration in the shadows. They hate the president and will do anything to push back at all costs. It also doesn’t help that there were oodles of Obama holdovers when Trump was inaugurated in 2017."
"Anyway, the point is that there is ample evidence that there is a deep state working against the Trump White House. Its members are not really known to the public, and The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel details how this anti-democratic club is a cancer to the country in her new book “Resistance at All Costs: How Trump Haters are Breaking America.”

"Strassel notes that former CIA Director John Brennan and fired FBI Director James Comey are some of the folks used as examples of deep state antics. Their conduct was less than honorable; Comey’s was worthy of termination, which Trump promptly did in May 2017. The Department of Justice’s inspector general report makes that quite clear. Yet, she notes these are political appointments that are subject to scrutiny and can be removed." . . . 

"Anyway, the point is that there is ample evidence that there is a deep state working against the Trump White House. Its members are not really known to the public, and The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel details how this anti-democratic club is a cancer to the country in her new book “Resistance at All Costs: How Trump Haters are Breaking America.”

"Strassel notes that former CIA Director John Brennan and fired FBI Director James Comey are some of the folks used as examples of deep state antics. Their conduct was less than honorable; Comey’s was worthy of termination, which Trump promptly did in May 2017. The Department of Justice’s inspector general report makes that quite clear. Yet, she notes these are political appointments that are subject to scrutiny and can be removed. 

Who Is, and Is Not, On the [Democrat] Demand Justice #SCOTUS (Not-So) Shortlist?

Volokh Conspiracy

Omitting all "partners at corporate law firms" excludes most judges from Hillary Clinton's hypothetical shortlist

"Demand Justice has released a "shortlist of possible [Supreme Court[] nominees in the next Democratic administration." The group selected 32 "brilliant lawyers who have spent their careers fighting for progressive values and represent the diversity of our nation."

"Who was selected? The nominees generally fall into 5 broad categories:"

• Academics: Michelle Alexander (Union Theological Seminary),  James Forman, Jr. (Yale), Pamela Karlan (Stanford), M. Elizabeth Magill (Virginia), Melissa Murray (NYU), Bryan Stevenson (NYU), Zephyr Teachout (Fordham), Timothy Wu (Columbia),
• Progressive Litigators: Brigitte Amiri (ACLU), Nicole Berner (GC SEIU), Deepak Gupta (Gupta Wessler), Dale Ho (ACLU), Sherrilyn Ifill (NAACP LDF), Shannon Minter (National Center for Lesbian Rights), Nina Perales (MALDEF), Thomas A. Saenz (MALDEF), Cecillia Wang (ACLU),
• Current/Former Government Officers: Xavier Becerra (California AG), Sharon Block (one of the three NLRB appointments at issue in Noel Canning), Vanita Gupta (Former Obama DOJ), Lawrence Krasner (Philadelphia DA), Catharine Lhamon* (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights), Katie Porter (House of Representatives), Jenny Yang (Former EEOC Chair)
• Federal Judges: Richard F. Boulware (D. Nev.), Jane Kelly (8th Circuit), Cornelia Pillard (D.C. Circuit), Carlton Reeves (S.D. Miss.)
• State Judges: Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (California Supreme Court), Anita Earls (North Carolina Supreme Court), Leondra Kruger (California Supreme Court), Goodwin Liu (California Supreme Court),

"Who didn't make the cut? We can speculate." . . .

*Catherine Lhamon Chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Legal Affairs Secretary, Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom

JOSH BLACKMAN is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and the President of the Harlan Institute. Follow him @JoshMBlackman.