Obama reacts to Grope and Change

Don Surber  "This is also a non-denial denial."

"David Axelrod wrote in CNN, "Obama team fully vetted Biden in 2008 and found no hint of former aide's allegation."

"That's Obama's story, and he is sticking to it because this story supports Biden while also providing CYA to Obama.

"Make no mistake: Axelrod speaks for Obama. We all know Axelrod would not be vouching for Biden without Obama's blessing. This is political theater.

"This is also a non-denial denial.

"Obama's spokesman began his piece, "When it became clear that Barack Obama would be the nominee of the Democratic Party in the spring of 2008, he commissioned a team of lawyers to begin an in-depth vetting process of potential candidates for vice president."

And Axelrod said, "The comprehensive vet certainly would have turned up any formal complaints filed against Biden during his 36-year career in the Senate. It did not. The team would have investigated any salacious rumors of the sort that travel far and wide in Washington. There were none.

" 'While I was not on the vetting team, as senior strategist to the campaign, I was briefed on their work and potential problems.

" 'Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up. No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else. The team of investigators, expert in their work, would not have missed it."

"Of course it never came up. Reade did not go public with this allegation until a dozen years after the 2008 campaign." . . .

On Biden's prospects

Biden insiders slam Stacey Abrams’ veep pitch: ‘No one takes Stacey seriously’

. . . "In an interview with Elle Magazine a week earlier, Abrams gushed that she “would be an excellent running mate” and lauded her “25 years in independent study of foreign policy.”
"But she has no previous national experience, and is mostly remembered for narrowly losing a race for governor of Georgia in 2018.
“ 'No one takes Stacey seriously. And her public campaigning for the job seems more like a hostage negotiation than an actual attempt to get the job,” a Biden insider told The Post. “Biden is an old school guy and will always be. Picking Stacey would be like picking [Sarah] Palin. He doesn’t need to throw a Hail Mary. He wants a good governing partner.”
"Internally, her star has fallen with the onset of the coronavirus as concerns grow about her preparedness.
“ 'Stacey isn’t ready on day one. Even she knows that and it’s why she’s engaging in this dance. She might get perfunctorily better, but she’s not a serious pick for him. And her campaign is viewed as much as promotion for her book as it is for being chosen as Biden’s VP,” the insider continued, referring to Abrams’ forthcoming book “Our Time Is Now.' ”

Gillibrand, who has spent years focusing on military issues as a senior member of the Armed Services committee, is looking to become a #MeToo reformer in the Department of Defense.“She wants to completely restructure the DoD, the military org chart, and overhaul the way complaints against those in power are handled, particularly as it relates to sexual assaults,” a Capitol Hill insider with knowledge of Gillibrand’s thinking told The Post.

 The smoke-filled room that could oust Joe Biden
. . . "Biden's agreement is a long shot. {Thomas] Eagleton  continued his Senate career after leaving the 1972 ticket over pressure about his mental health, but he was a much younger man. At Biden's age, stepping aside would end his political career for good. Relinquishing the nomination would therefore suggest he expects an embarrassing loss and ruined legacy if he stays." . . .
. . . "The likeliest outcome remains the most straightforward: That Biden will be the Democratic nominee and will face Trump in November. But if Democratic leaders did want to change horses midstream, late August or September could well be when they make their move."

It’s fun watching Democrats struggle with the Biden conundrum  . . . "The Democrats are being poked hard in their collective butt by that famous horned dilemma: Do they defend Biden and hope this all goes away, or do they use Reade’s accusation to push out a candidate who’s long past his sell-by date?" . . .

"I'll be there for you, Joe"

The New York Times exonerates Biden from a sexual assault accusation
. . . "Lastly, it breathed new life into the stories of his insisting on swimming nude* in front of female Secret Service agents.  In addition to that reporting, television network and cable news outlets ran regular panel discussions focusing on believing all women and Biden's history of sexual harassment and inappropriate comments." . . .
*More on Biden skinny-dipping here, here, here, "Nudists like what they see"

Joe has friends standing by him, but one has left the building: His Biden defense didn't go so well for this guy.  

"It's so nice to have you by my side, Nancy"

Time’s Up CEO Praises Biden After Declining to Aid Accuser Tara Reade

Via Weasel Zippers

Washington Free Beacon  "An organization created to help victims of sexual assault—but declined to aid Biden accuser Tara Reade earlier this year—is now praising her alleged assailant.
"Time's Up was created to support victims of sexual assault but declined to assist former Biden staffer Tara Reade, who accused the presumptive Democratic nominee of forcibly penetrating her in 1993. The organization's CEO, Tina Tchen, who worked alongside Biden as a top official in the Obama White House, lauded Biden for his "transparency" in a Friday interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle.
" 'Biden has called for full transparency, he's called for records to come out—that's what needs to happen every time these issues come up, and I would suggest that it needs to happen with other candidates who are running for president," Tchen said shortly after Biden broke his silence on the network.
"During his MSNBC appearance Friday morning, Biden repeatedly rejected calls to release documents from his Senate career, which are currently sealed at the University of Delaware and may include records related to Reade. Biden said the archive does not contain "personnel records by definition" but added that he would not release the documents because they could include policy positions that would become "fodder in a campaign at this time." He also refused to conduct a more specific search of the documents for any mention of Reade's name, saying, 
"There is nothing.… I don't understand the point you are trying to make."
"Formed during the #MeToo movement to help victims of sexual assault with legal fees and public relations, the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund declined to assist Reade in her case against Biden, claiming his presidential candidacy would threaten its nonprofit status. Tchen previously served as chief of staff to Michelle Obama—Biden said he would pick the former first lady as his running mate "in a heartbeat" on Monday." . . . 

Hat tip to Still Out of Service 

Almost Inslee's Secretary of State, now flag-stomping Megan Rapinoe wants to be Biden's VP

Democrats today.

Rapinoe Campaigns for New Gig: Bringing Dems Together ― As Biden's Running Mate! . . . "Joe's wife Jill has already shown support for the wild child Rapinoe, by dying her hair purple to match the U.S. national soccer team player's signature look at the World Cup last year. Mrs. Biden said she would “love” seeing Rapinoe on the ticket with her husband. The former vice-president laughed at the suggestion and said his granddaughter Maisy, who was a high school soccer player, would also support Rapinoe serving as his running mate in November's election.

"Can you imagine a VP Mike Pence vs. Rapinoe debate? A decent, sensible leader paired against a firebrand athlete whose language would be frequently bleeped by network broadcasts! Must-see TV!

"Just think of the national anthem getting played at the DNC convention: Biden running mate Rapinoe, with her history of protests, proudly serving as the party's designated kneeler, disrespecting America's heritage and the veterans who sacrificed for liberty. Armour would love it. Biased media types would eat it up." . . .

"To set the record straight, Rapinoe actually said she would not go to the f***ing Trump White House.

"Biden warned that "Vice president Rapinoe" would have to take a pay cut. One of the leaders of the U.S. women's soccer team's legal fight for equal pay with men, Rapinoe confirmed: 

“You know I’m not into that.” . . .

Can you all see me out there?   

TELLMENOW: tells it as they see it:  American Soccer Star Ignores National Anthem for Sickening Reason

. . . The Daily Caller reported that Rapinoe had previously said that she would ignore the national anthem as a “f*** you” to President Donald Trump, adding that she would “never put my hand over my heart” or sing the national anthem again.
“I’ll probably never put my hand over my heart,” Rapinoe said last month. “I’ll probably never sing the national anthem again.”
“Because I’m as talented as I am, I get to be here, you don’t get to tell me if I can be here or not,” she added. “So it’s kind of a good ‘f-you’ to any sort of inequality or bad sentiments that the [Trump] administration might have towards people who don’t look exactly like him. Which, God help us if we all looked like him. Scary. Really scary. Ahh, disturbing.”

Time’s Up CEO Praises Biden After Declining to Aid Accuser Tara Reade

Formed during the #MeToo movement to help victims of sexual assault with legal fees and public relations, the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund declined to assist Reade in her case against Biden, claiming his presidential candidacy would threaten its nonprofit status

Ian Macfarlane

Washington Free Beacon  "An organization created to help victims of sexual assault—but declined to aid Biden accuser Tara Reade earlier this year—is now praising her alleged assailant.
"Time's Up was created to support victims of sexual assault but declined to assist former Biden staffer Tara Reade, who accused the presumptive Democratic nominee of forcibly penetrating her in 1993. The organization's CEO, Tina Tchen, who worked alongside Biden as a top official in the Obama White House, lauded Biden for his "transparency" in a Friday interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle.
" 'Biden has called for full transparency, he's called for records to come out—that's what needs to happen every time these issues come up, and I would suggest that it needs to happen with other candidates who are running for president," Tchen said shortly after Biden broke his silence on the network.
"During his MSNBC appearance Friday morning, Biden repeatedly rejected calls to release documents from his Senate career, which are currently sealed at the University of Delaware and may include records related to Reade. Biden said the archive does not contain "personnel records by definition" but added that he would not release the documents because they could include policy positions that would become "fodder in a campaign at this time." He also refused to conduct a more specific search of the documents for any mention of Reade's name, saying, "There is nothing.… I don't understand the point you are trying to make." . . .
. . . 

"A National Archives spokesman disputed Biden's assertion, telling the Washington Free Beacon that it does not handle such records. "Any records of Senate personnel complaints from 1993 would have remained under the control of the Senate. Accordingly, inquiries related to these records should be directed to the Senate," the spokesman said."  . . .

South Dakotans Throw Parade for Gov. Kristi Noem After Media Attacked Her Over Non-Lockdown

Stacey Matthews

“We just felt bad that the leadership of our state was kind of getting lambasted. In South Dakota when somebody’s getting discouraged or down on their luck, we step up for each other,” said John Morris of Morris Inc. construction company, who organized the parade.

"Like many other Republican governors who didn’t fall in line with the mainstream media’s “lock everything down” solution for every state in response to the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been heavily criticized for not following their one-size-fits-all approach for how to combat the spread of the virus.

"The Washington Post was among the many national media outlets including CNN to blame Noem last month for a virus outbreak that happened at the Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls." . . .More...

SHUTDOWN UNREST: From CA To NY, Thousands Across Nation Turn Out For Lockdown Protests  . . . "Nearby, hundreds gathered in San Diego to protest the lockdown, too. There was a mixture of mask-wearing and non-mask-wearing protesters, holding signs like “Look Ma No Mask,” “All Jobs Are Essential,” and “Re-Open California' ”
More...

President Trump confronts CNN’s Jim Acosta: Your network ‘tormented’ General Flynn—I hope you report his ‘total exoneration’

Lifezette 
There's no denying that the president is right that what happened to Flynn is shameful, and he is owed an apology by both the FBI and CNN for what happened to him. 
. . . President Donald Trump just let loose on CNN reporter Jim Acosta on Thursday, calling him out for the way his network treated General Michael Flynn.
 "President Donald Trump just let loose on CNN reporter Jim Acosta on Thursday, calling him out for the way his network treated General Michael Flynn.
President Trump fired Flynn just after he took office for admitting to lying to Vice President Mike Pence and the FBI about discussions with Russian officials on sanctions, according to The Blaze. This week, new information has come to light showing that the FBI agents who met with Flynn had done so with the intention of getting him to lie.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

.@CNN doesn’t want to speak about their persecution of General Michael Flynn & why they got the story so wrong. They, along with others, should pay a big price for what they have purposely done to this man & his family. They won’t even cover the big breaking news about this scam!President Trump fired Flynn just after he took office for admitting to lying to Vice President Mike Pence and the FBI about discussions with Russian officials on sanctions, according to The Blaze. This week, new information has come to light showing that the FBI agents who met with Flynn had done so with the intention of getting him to lie.

Naturally there are opinions on that Biden-MSNBC interview

Andrea Widberg: Biden's interview with Mika looked okay but was, in fact, a train wreck    . . . Biden looked unusually alert and tracked fairly well for most of the interview until he got tired and confused (at the 14-minute mark).  More disturbing than that were the misrepresentations and elisions that made it appear as if he were answering the questions when, in fact, he wasn't.  Most surprisingly, Biden insisted that it would be better for him if nobody could see his records before the election.

Biden began by doing what he had to, which was unequivocally denying that he assaulted Reade: . . ."

Ethel C. Fenig: Turns out Biden does not 'believe all women'
. . . "That is why he cluelessly nominated his old Democratic pal from the Senate, Chris Dodd (Conn.) to be part of his vice presidential vetting team.  Yes, that Dodd, who with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) squeezed a petite waitress between them for a senatorial sandwich.  

"It all leaves Tarana Burke, one of the founders of the #MeToo movement, confused. "

Guess Who the NYT Wants to Investigate Tara Reade's Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden  Yes! The DNC! What could go wrong?: "This editorial board, however, is delusional if they believe the DNC will give Tara Reade a fair shake. They've done everything to cover for Biden since he announced his campaign last year.". . . 
"This editorial board, however, is delusional if they believe the DNC will give Tara Reade a fair shake. They've done everything to cover for Biden since he announced his campaign last year. They ignore the dozens of times he's conveniently "forgot" important information, like what office he's running for, what state he's in or even how many grandkids he has." . . .

As former Vice President Joe Biden attempts to keep his failing presidential campaign afloat, he's getting a reality check about the consequences of his party's outrageous "believe all women" standards.

Tara Reade’s Former Neighbor Gives Her First TV Interview

My take is that Lynda LaCasse isn’t a terribly politically sophisticated person which I think helps explain the vagueness of some of her comments about Biden. But her memory of what Reade told her 25 years ago seems clear and full of detail.  We’ve seen what happens to witnesses that disappoint the left. I wonder if there will be a campaign to harass Lynda LaCasse.

Law & Crime reports that a woman named Eva Murry is claiming Joe Biden sexually harassed her when she was 14-years-old, complimenting the size of her breasts back in 2008 at an annual dinner held in Delaware.

MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace: ‘The Right Running A Smear Campaign Against Joe Biden

Biden Wasn’t So Silent When It Came To Charges Against Bloomberg  . . ."He continued his currently hypocritical pummeling of Bloomberg in a tweet, “You think that women, in fact, were ready to say, ‘I don’t want anybody to know about what you did to me.’ That’s not how it works. The way it works is they say, ‘Look, this is what you did to me’ and the mayor comes along and his attorneys say, ‘I will give you this amount of money if you promise you’ll never say anything. That’s how it works.”
"He continued his currently hypocritical pummeling of Bloomberg in a tweet, “You think that women, in fact, were ready to say, ‘I don’t want anybody to know about what you did to me.’ That’s not how it works. The way it works is they say, ‘Look, this is what you did to me’ and the mayor comes along and his attorneys say, ‘I will give you this amount of money if you promise you’ll never say anything. That’s how it works.' ” . . .

Sanity prevails as federal judge slaps down Megan Rapinoe’s fake ‘equal pay’ lawsuit

 2017: FC Dallas under-15 boys squad beat the U.S. Women's National Team in a scrimmage. 

Washington Examiner  "On Friday, sanity prevailed in federal court after a judge finally slapped down soccer star Megan Rapinoe and the U.S. Women’s National Team’s sham "equal pay" lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The decision has sparked widespread backlash, but when you set all the identity politics and outrage-mongering aside, it’s clearly correct based on the facts.

"Federal Judge R. Gary Klausner considered the USWNT’s “equal pay” claim alleging that the women's team faces sex-based pay discrimination compared to the U.S. men’s soccer team. He found it so baseless that he dismissed it without allowing it to proceed to trial. He did allow a few claims related to travel conditions to proceed, but the equal pay claim was the heart of the lawsuit, and it was rejected out of hand.

“ 'The statements offered by Plaintiff [USWNT] are insufficient to establish a genuine dispute that [female players] are paid at a rate less than the rate paid to [male players],” the judge wrote in his decision. “Defendant [U.S. Soccer] has presented evidence that the [USWNT] was paid more on both a cumulative and an average per-game basis than the [men’s team].”

"Cue the hysterical outrage.

"True to her faux-victim style, Rapinoe tweeted, “We will never stop fighting for EQUALITY” in response to the decision. Teammate Ali Krieger said, “We will continue to fight like hell and get what we deserve.’ " . . .

CNN Worships Nancy Pelosi’s Ice Cream Order — Slams Trump For Getting Two Scoops

Daily Caller   Earlier this week, CNN’s Dana Bash followed Speaker of the House Pelosi to an ice cream, but TheDC’s Vince Coglianese points out that Bash’s stance on Pelosi’s favorite dessert is very different from her network’s coverage of a story about President Donald Trump’s ice cream habits.

“ 'She attributes her boundless energy to Italian genes. It’s certainly not a balanced diet — dark chocolate and ice cream,” Bash narrated in a voiceover. “Vaccaro’s has been her favorite since she was a little girl.”
"Bash and CNN’s Poppy Harlow proceeded to joke about Pelosi’s desire for her ice cream to be “chocolate unadulterated!”
"However, it’s a very different tone from past ice cream related stories. Back in 2017, Time published a story revealing that the president gets two scoops of ice cream while his guests only get one. CNN’s Brooke Baldwin and Chris Cillizza mocked the president for his ice cream desires.
“ 'Unfake the News” is a Daily Caller program dedicated to debunking the mainstream media narratives that dominate our news cycle.
"That’s where TheDC’s Vince Coglianese steps in to cut through the PC bull. Each week, Vince takes a closer look at how cable news outlets are telling the top story and then gives you his own unadulterated take." . . .

A favorite of Pelosi

A likely favorite of the Queen to share with Maxine Waters:

Joe Biden Grilled On Sexual Assault Allegations In The Most Unlikely Place…MSNBC!

Joe Biden Grilled On Sexual Assault Allegations In The Most Unlikely Place…MSNBC

. . . "Brzezinski was not satisfied with Biden’s response, and followed up.

“As it pertained to Dr. [Christine Blasey] Ford, high-level Democrats said she should be believed, that they believed it happened,” Brzezinski said. “You said, if someone like Dr. Ford were to come out, the essence of what she is saying has to be believed, has to be real. Why? Why? Why is it real for Dr. Ford, but not for Tara Reade?” . . .

At the very time Biden was being grilled, Thomas Lifson was posting this: 
Increasinglylooks like Biden is toast  . . . "No other group — not labor unions, not trial lawyers, not even the teacher unions — carries more weight among the donkeys than Planned Parenthood, guardians of the human sacrifice ritual at the heart of progressive politics in America today.  And Planned Parenthood understands that its own legitimacy is at stake if it is seen as protecting a sexual predator.

"It is no longer possible to use Democrats' dominance of the mainstream media to lock out the accusations against Biden by Tara Reade from public notice.  It is just too easy to make them look bad by comparing what hacks like Kirsten Gillibrand said about Brett Kavanaugh with their position on Biden.  Planned Parenthood does not want Kavanaugh's critics to look like stupid and corrupt hypocrites.

"Nancy Pelosi's answer to a question about the allegations against Biden did no good for the cause, either.

"I respect your question," Pelosi told the reporter. "I don't need a lecture or a speech." . . . Full article

Biden confronted on past Kavanaugh comments on presuming truth while denying Tara Reade accusations  "Joe Biden stumbled over his words while reconciling his denial of Tara Reade's sexual assault allegations with his statements about the allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Weasel Zippers

"In September 2018, as the Senate grappled with accusations from Christine Blasey Ford that the then-Supreme Court nominee assaulted her when they were in high school, Biden declared that women who came forward with allegations should be believed.
“ 'For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she is talking about is real, whether or not she forgets the facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time," he said.
"His comment was often mentioned after Reade accused Biden in March of penetrating her with his fingers and forcibly kissing her in 1993, when she worked in his Senate office — a charge that he denies ever happened. MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski brought up the statement in Biden's first interview directly addressing Reade's allegations.
" 'You said if someone like Dr. Ford were to come out, the essence of what she is saying has to be believed, has to be real," she said. "Why is it real for Dr. Ford but not for Tara Reade?"

"Because the facts are — look, she — I’m not suggesting she had no right to come forward. And I never — and I'm not saying — any woman, they should come forward. They should be heard. And then it should be investigated," the former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee responded. "If there's anything that makes it, that is consistent with what is being said, and she makes the case or the case is made, then it should be believed. "But ultimately, the truth matters."
"At the end of the day, it has to be looked at. These claims are not true. There's no — I mean, they're not true," Biden said, appearing to cut himself off from saying that there is no corroboration."

""Are women to be believed unless it pertains to you?" she asked.

"Look, women are to be believed, given the benefit of the doubt," Biden said. "If they come forward and say something that is — that they said happened to them, they should start off with the presumption they're telling the truth. Then you have to look at the circumstances and the facts. And the facts, in this case, do not exist. They never happened. And there's so many inconsistencies in what has been said in this case. So yes, look at the facts. And I assure you, it did not happen. Period. Period."

Brzezinski did not let up.

Is Kim Jong Undead or what?

Townhall

Taiwan’s intelligence chief says North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is ‘sick’  "Taiwan’s intelligence chief said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “sick” — and his country has emergency plans for a potential power struggle if he dies, according to reports.
"Chiu Kuo-cheng, the director of the National Security Bureau (NSB), gave a vague health description when pressed at a government hearing about rumors of Kim’s possible death, according to Taiwan News.
""He merely laughed and refused to reply when asked if that meant the Hermit Kingdom’s leader was indeed alive, the report said."  . . .  “This kind of behavior fully utilizes the close and isolated nature of North Korea and, so far, it has been considerably successful,” the report reads. “This is all, of course, mere speculation.” . . .

If Kim Jong Un is holed up in his luxe seaside hideaway in the port city of Wonsan, he may have plenty of company — a harem of 2,000 sex slaves, a report said Friday.
For some, um, diversity, there is this story"
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is in a “vegetative state” after he underwent heart surgery earlier this month, a Japanese magazine says. :
Having undergone surgery, "humanized as a plant" ...?.... "Cardiac stent surgery is not a very difficult surgery. The procedure of inserting a stent into the most important blood vessel can be completed in about 1 minute."However, the surgeon who was operating was very nervous and his hands trembled. Moreover, he had no experience of operating an obese body as much as Kim Jong Un. So it took me about eight minutes to insert the stent."Meanwhile, Chairman Kim Jong Un has become a plant human. The Chinese doctors arrived and examined me, but I couldn't do anything anymore. ''
One story hashtag has the word #undead.

So they say: North Korean state media reports Kim Jong Un made first public appearance in weeks  "(CNN)North Korean state-run media is reporting that Kim Jong Un made an appearance at a May Day celebration, which would be his first public appearance in about three weeks.
" 'Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Cuts Tape For Completion Of Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

KCNA says there was a "completion ceremony of the factory" on Friday, "the international holiday of the working people of the whole world."
"KCNA says: "Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, attended the ceremony."
"No pictures of the ceremony have yet emerged. CNN cannot independently confirm KCNA's reporting." . . .

However..."No pictures of the ceremony have yet emerged. CNN cannot independently confirm KCNA's reporting." . . .