Respected veteran journalist calls out his profession for betraying its principles going after Trump

With John Durham empaneling a grand jury, we may soon have some stubborn facts that even the most deranged of Trump haters cannot ignore, and like Captain Dreyfus, President Trump will be vindicated not just in the eyes of historians in the distant future, but in the eyes of the vast majority his countrymen.

Byrne

Thomas Lifson  "Few are the establishment journalists willing to tell the truth about their profession, which largely has abandoned its commitment to objectivity in the cause of opposing resident Trump and, if possible, driving him from office. One brave soul with standing in the profession just did so. Dennis Byrne, who for decades was a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times and now is retired, has published a remarkable call for journalists to regain their sanity. The title of his column, published on his blog, The Barbershop, tells the story: “As a one-time journalist, I'm deeply ashamed of today's media.' ” . . .

"He continues:

I once was a journalist and proud of my profession.

No longer.

Today's media are habitually violating what once were the profession's governing principles: that the news must be reported objectively, fairly and without bias. As the report of Justice Department's Inspector General Michael Horowitz reveals, the media fed the nation a  steaming pile of BS.

For years, their unrelenting hated of President Donald Trump has been their guiding principle.

"What lends [credibility] is that Byrne is no fan of the 45th president:

Not that Trump doesn't deserve to be nailed. He's his own worst enemy; one might argue credibly that he has brought the BS storm on himself.

But that's not an excuse for the media's self-satisfying, twisted practices. Only a few called their profession to task.

"Read the whole thing!" . . .

REPORT: For The First Time, More People Are Leaving California Than Moving In

And let's look at some reasons why.

The Gateway Pundit

"Progressive policies are hurting the state of California.
"It is now known for high taxes, a massive homeless problem, disease in the cities, and human waste in the streets.
"All of this combined is causing people to flee the state.
"The Associated Press reports:

California still most populous, but stalls at 39.9 millionMore people are leaving California than moving in, evidence of the toll the state’s housing crisis is taking as the world’s fifth largest economy inches toward 40 million people.An estimate released Friday by the California Department of Finance put the California’s population at 39.96 million, just shy of the 40 million milestone demographers had predicted the state would have passed by now.The report shows California added more than 180,000 people when accounting for births and deaths for the 12 month period ending July 1. But when you include people who moved in and out of the state, California lost 39,500.State officials say it is the first time since the 2010 census that more people left California than moved in over the course of a year, contributing to the state’s slowest recorded growth rate since 1900.“People won’t move here because they can’t afford to come in the door,” said Dowell Myers, professor of policy, planning and demography at the University of Southern California. “The jobs are there. The people aren’t there.”More than 158,000 people moved to California over the 12 month period that ended July 1. But more than 197,000 people left.

"The homeless crisis is definitely one of the driving factors here.

"NBC News reports:

HUD estimates 2.7 percent rise in U.S. homelessness due to California housing crisis . . .

All emphases in the original. 

Bring it on! Trump and California Governor Newsom battle over California’s homeless crisis  "California is now a national laughingstock. It’s one-party state government, totally dominated by Democrats, has so badly bungled its treatment of homelessness (not to mention its stratospheric taxes) that its major cities are becoming unlivable, notorious for sidewalks covered in excrement, open drug use by people swarming over parks, sidewalks and spare plots of land under freeway overpasses, and taxpayers fleeing. A huge portion of Californians are actively considering leaving (one in four of the total population; 82% of 18 to 19 year olds), as poignant an index of government failure as can be imagined, short of anarchy or genocide.
"Gavin Newsom, the governor, once was considered a potential future president, despite his despicable personal history (having seduced the wife of one of his best friends), but the crisis on his watch is making that a pipedream now. So what does he do? You probably already have guessed the of course, he blames Trump! Leah Barkoukis reports:
"The Office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom touted its efforts in combating the homeless crisis in the state and took shots at the Trump administration even as federal data shows it is responsible for the uptick in the U.S.'s overall homeless population." . . . 

Ben Carson: I hoped to find more 'urgency in the leadership' in California on homelessness

Homelessness crisis: From houseboats to boulders, unconventional methods used to tackle problem in 2019

Democrat solution: blame President Trump or any Republican within arm's length.

Warren's Claim That Her Father Was A Janitor Infuriates Her Brother

Pelt the Pundits

Seems like an easy mistake to make, but I'm not Warren's brother. TD

"Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren reportedly angered her brother David Warren over the way that she has characterized what their father did for work, calling him a “janitor,” a term that David Warren says is false.

"The Boston Globe reported:  . . .

Families can also disagree on the details of a shared life. According to a family friend, David has disagreed with the way Warren calls herself the daughter of a janitor as she describes the work he found after losing a job as a salesman after his heart attack.

“When she called her dad a janitor during the early stages of this, David was furious,” said Pamela Winblood, 78, a longtime friend of David who had fallen out with him and supports Warren’s presidential bid. “He said, ‘My Dad was never a janitor.’ I said, ‘Well, he was a maintenance man.’ ” (In an interview, Warren said she had no idea why that characterization would bother her brother; she has referred to their father as a “maintenance man” in her 2014 autobiography but often as a “janitor” on the campaign trail.) . . .

. . . "Warren has repeatedly been plagued by accusations from critics that she is a phony and liar over numerous false claims that she has made about her and her family’s history.

"A couple of months ago, Warren came under fire over her claim that she was fired from a teaching job for being “visibly pregnant,” which she has repeatedly claimed on the campaign trail.

"Records obtained by The Washington Free Beacon debunk Warren’s claim:" . .  .

Sharyl Attkisson: The Six Red Flags We Missed Regarding the FBI’s Abusive FISA Witch Hunt Against the Trump Campaign

Matt Vespa  "Well, the Department of Justice Inspector General report on FISA abuses during the 2016 election is out. It revealed that the FBI made glaring errors when applying for the FISA spy warrant against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign official. Page was

viewed as a possible foreign agent and dark lord of the Sith concerning this Russian collusion allegation that turned out to be a total myth. Page was not a foreign agent. In fact, he had worked with the CIA—a piece of information that was left off of the FISA application process. It was one of 17 errors made. Michael Horowitz, the DOJ Inspector General, said that this failure was systemic regarding the omission or exclusion of exculpatory information on the Page warrant. Someone should be fired. 
"And all of this Trump-Russia nonsense was borne from the infamous Trump dossier, a politically biased opposition research project that was funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democrats. The Clinton campaign retained the services of Fusion GPS who then hired ex-MI6 spook Christopher Steele to compile a document to smear Trump. It was largely unverified. It was total garbage. And it was cited as credible evidence in the process of obtaining a spy warrant against Page. The report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller debunked this dossier. And this DOJ IG report delivered the final kill shot. Yet, the damage is done. Page’s name is ruined. And the liberal media kept the Russian collusion narrative alive and well in the news cycle, despite there being zero evidence to back up any of the claims. They wanted it to be true. They peddled fake news to ensure this tall tale would get legs in the new cycle. And it all blew up in their faces." . . .More..

Six Screaming Red Govt. Surveillance Flags That Got Ignored

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has given the FBI until Jan. 10, 2020 to come up with fixes to abuses flagged by the Dept. of Justice Inspector General. In light of the revelations about FBI misbehavior in surveilling Trump campaign associates in 2016, it's clear we ignored screaming red flags that told us government abuse was not only possible-- but was happening.

Six Screaming Red Govt. Surveillance Flags That Got Ignored

Buttigieg Blasted for Christmas Tweet Claiming Jesus Was a Refugee

Leah Barkoukis

Mayor Pete and the Al Sharpton logo

"Democratic presidential candidate was blasted on Twitter or his Christmas day message claiming Jesus was a refugee. 
“ 'Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into this world not in riches but in poverty, not as a citizen but as a refugee,” he wrote. “No matter where or how we celebrate, merry Christmas.”

"According to the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph were traveling due to a census."2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  . . .

Comments included:
 Allie Beth Stuckey

‏Verified account @conservmillen 20h20 hours ago

If the person politicizing Christmas doesn’t believe faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation, if they don’t view the Bible as authoritative, if they can’t even articulate the gospel message, their insistence upon Jesus being a refugee should be the least of their worries—& ours

toddstarnes

✔@toddstarnes

Mayor Pete needs to go to Sunday School. https://twitter.com/petebuttigieg/status/1209833386459750400 …

Lisa Murkowski 'disturbed' by McConnell promise for 'total coordination' with White House; CNN likes this

Voting Female

Washington Examiner  . . .  “And in fairness, when I heard that, I was disturbed,” Murkowski explained to KTUU News Tuesday. “To me, it means that we have to take that step back from being hand-in-glove with the defense, and so I heard what leader McConnell had said, I happened to think that that has further confused the process.”

“ 'How we will deal with witnesses remains to be seen,” she 
added, referencing one of the main reasons the impeachment is at an "impasse."
"Democrats have urged Senate Republicans to agree to call new witnesses, while the White House and many in the GOP want no additional witnesses and a speedy trial. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has so far refused to pass the articles of impeachment along to the Senate until an agreement on terms for a fair trial comes to fruition.While Murkowski called for a “full and fair process,” the Alaska Republican also ridiculed Pelosi's handling of the House impeachment process, saying, “Speaker Pelosi was very clear, very direct that her goal was to get this done before Christmas.”
"Murkowski, who has split from her party on at least one key vote in the past, also made clear she was uncertain as to whether or not she will vote to remove Trump from office." . . .

This from National Review:

The maverick senator, known for breaking with her party on significant issues such as Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court and repealing the Affordable Care Act, said she has not yet decided how she will vote on impeachment.  . . .

McConnell Dismisses Dem Claim That He’s Uniquely Biased: ‘You Think Chuck Schumer Is Impartial?

CNN Analyst Appears to Lobby Lisa Murkowski With Dem Talking Point, but Steps in It in the Process

Elie Honig

Great @lisamurkowski. Now: will you support having key witnesses testify, or do you favor an evidence-free trial?

The 28th Anniversary of the Fall of the USSR is a Time to Remember the Victims of Communism

Daniel Greenfield

"The Soviet Union was dissolved on the 26th of December.
"An empire that once seemed unbeatable and threatened the very survival of the human race with its nuclear arsenal collapsed after popular protests brought down a failing and corrupt regime. 
"Leftists around the world had worshiped at its feet. They had spied for it, conspired on its behalf, and undermined their home countries for it. And when it died, it left behind their detritus in the form of aging Marxists like Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, and their wider circles, who no doubt sigh as the anniversary comes once more.
"The anniversary of the fall of the USSR should be a time to remember the many millions who were murdered in pursuit of the great socialist dream. And the fact that these murders were covered up by the media. The mass murders in the Soviet Union, in Communist China, by Pol Pot and by Che, could not have happened without the active collusion of Western leftists who labored to suppress the stories, discredit political dissidents, and, toward the end, push fake peace efforts meant to help keep failing Communist regimes going.
"All these efforts failed.
"The old Communist regimes collapsed into oligarchies, some, as in China, retained their Communist brand, others, as in Russia, took on a more explicitly nationalist brand, but none of them could sustain the purity of the ideals for which they had massacred, starved, and imprisoned countless millions whose full numbers will never be known. The Black Book of Communism can only tell us so much. Even to this day, Putin's regime continues suppressing efforts to find mass graves from the Stalin era. China censors its own massacres from its internet.
"And our media continues to glamorize Communism while promoting activists who want to see America go down the same path again.
"Leftist theories are unworkable and innately destructive. Their idealism is a hollow shell for narcissism and a lust for power. When they are implemented, millions die."

Why The Democratic Primary Seems Invisible

The Federalist

The Democratic primary has been overshadowed by impeachment, but that's not the only reason so few people are paying attention to it.

"With barely a month to go before the Iowa caucus, the Democratic Party’s presidential primary should be accelerating into the news cycle like a Formula One racecar burning its wheels, but thus far has looked more like a skateboard on the beach. The latest debate was roundly ignored. To steal a joke from Bob Newhart, it practically got a negative rating, which means several people who don’t own televisions were surveyed and said if they did own one they also wouldn’t have watched it.
"Honestly, how can this possibly be? This is, after all, a contest to decide which Democratic hero will square off against a president that most party members view as a combination of Hitler, Darth Vader, and Benedict Arnold. It features the first prominently gay major candidate, and a woman poised to capture the nod for the fairer sex a second straight time. Joe Biden is bringing his “aw shucks guy from Scranton” A game, and Bernie Sanders is yelling as loud as ever.

"There a few plausible reasons why this primary just can’t seem to get much traction. One often cited reason is that Democrats have essentially overshadowed their own primary with impeachment. After all, networks like CNN and MSNBC that should be laser focused on the primary instead spend approximately 58 out of every 60 minutes predicting Trump’s imminent doom, as they have been for three years.
"Given the “historic” nature of this impeachment and all the “bombshells” and whatnot, there’s just not a lot of oxygen left in the green room for primary punditry. Deepening this self-inflicted wound is the fact that several senators who are leading candidates may wind up cloistered in a Senate trial, off the trail, for as long as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., cares to keep them there."  . . .

Happy Kwanzaa! The holiday brought to you by the FBI

Back to the esteemed Cal State professor: Karenga’s invented holiday is a nutty blend of schmaltzy ‘60s rhetoric, black racism and Marxism. The seven principles of Kwanzaa are the very same seven principles of the Symbionese Liberation Army, another invention of The Worst Generation.

Ann Coulter  "Kwanzaa, celebrated exclusively by white liberals, is a fake holiday invented in 1966 by black radical/FBI stooge Ron Karenga — aka Dr. Maulana Karenga, founder of United Slaves, the violent nationalist rival to the Black Panthers. Liberals have become so mesmerized by multicultural gibberish that they have forgotten the real history of Kwanzaa and Karenga’s United Slaves.
"In what was ultimately a foolish gambit, during the madness of the ‘60s, the FBI encouraged the most extreme black nationalist organizations in order to discredit and split the left. The more preposterous the group, the better. (It’s the same function MSNBC serves today.)
"By that criterion, Karenga’s United Slaves was perfect.
"Despite modern perceptions that blend all the black activists of the ‘60s, the Black Panthers did not hate whites. Although some of their most high-profile leaders were drug dealers and murderers, they did not seek armed revolution.
"Those were the precepts of Karenga’s United Slaves. The United Slaves were proto-fascists, walking around in dashikis, gunning down Black Panthers and adopting invented “African” names. (I will not be shooting any Black Panthers this week because I am Kwanzaa-reform, and we are not that observant.)
"It’s as if David Duke invented a holiday called “Anglika,” which he based on the philosophy of “Mein Kampf” — and clueless public schoolteachers began celebrating the made-up, racist holiday." . . .  More...

Trump, sainthood, and Christianity

David Hale  . . . "Think about the war the left wing has prosecuted against Christians and the stifling attacks on the First Amendment they have engaged across the political, law, entertainment and educational spectrum. All against people of faith in the Evangelical world and conversely their support and promotion of those enemies of the cross in the Islamic world who are the actual source of pain, suffering, genocide in the Middle East.

"From every pocket of our social order the left wing has driven Christians from the public square and rained down hell on our American culture. The stripping of Christian Ethic from all areas of public and private life to the point that schoolgirls must be forced to shower with transvestite men in public schools.  Abortion on demand killing children by the millions. Yet a cadre of these leftist Trump-hating Christians want Trump impeached and are attacking those who were upset with a man who thought he was speaking for all of us, when he wasn't.

"Trump isn't a savior. He isn't a saint. He's a flawed man who has reached down into his own soul to uncloud the truth and provide an opening for Christians to once again find a voice and rescue our culture from its death spiral."

The kindness and class of Donald John Trump

Carol Headrick  "Sometimes all it takes is one action to know someone’s kindness and class. 

"President Trump has many such actions: the kiss on the head of the young boy who hugged President Trump while signing the Right to Try Act, the honor bestowed on Miosotis Familia, a New York City police officer killed in the line of duty, and the honor he shows our vets as they respond with serious hugs, no simple pats on the arm for our president.

YouTube screen grab

"The ultimate simple act that displayed President Trump’s kindness and class was his hand on Kim Jong Un’s back guiding him to the right door during the North Korea-United States Singapore Summit.  It takes class to show respect for someone who has not earned it. What Kim earned was a bullet to his head for how he tortured one of our young American men, Otto Warmbier, leaving him brain damaged. 

"During this simple act, I suspect President Trump was thinking of Otto at the hands of this cruel dictator.  For the greater good, at the chance of denuclearization, our president did what he had to do. What we have learned in three years of President Trump’s administration is that he works tirelessly for the American citizens and he does it with kindness and class. We love our president."

Carol Headrick is  author of Obama Elected Trump

An end to tolerance

Some would have you believe that we must tolerate those who reject our national principles of respect for rights, freedom, and justice. Some would have us allow communists to operate freely in our nation, as they strive to impose their own brand of tyranny, in order to destroy our nation, culture, families, and institutions. But communists have brought their war of national destruction to our doors. And there is nothing tolerable about it.

David L. Rosenthal  "The National Anthem commemorates the struggle of America to remain free from despotic oppression by a foreign power from which America had freed itself only a few decades before, after which the United States Constitution was ratified, including the Preamble and the Bill of Rights, cornerstones of American exceptionalism, defining not exactly what America had become, but what America should become. 
"Today, after 24 decades of history and social turmoil, and struggle to improve social conditions in order better to reflect adherence to the principles expressed in the Preamble, America is at a crossroads, faced on the one hand with the option to continue down the road of respect for individual rights and the great purposes for which America was founded, and on the other hand with the option of permitting Communist madmen to transform America into an enslaved nation oppressed by totalitarian brutes. 
"Communist madmen such as Bernie Sanders want you to accept that just one more attempt at communism will magically lead to its successful administration for the first time in its history of producing genocide, poverty, and degradation of society. Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg are not far behind Bernie in their insane initiatives to destroy freedom, rights, and prosperity. 

"Colin Kaepernick took a knee when the National Anthem was played, ostensibly to protest injustice in American society, influencing the unthinking to imitate his protest. But his protest was ignorant, insincere, and ridiculous. While he apparently objects to injustice in America, he goes about wearing tee shirts that glorify some of history's greatest murderous psychopaths, promoters of the most egregious oppression of humanity that the world will ever know. " . . .

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