Newsom order sending mail-in ballots to all California voters sparks concerns

Fox News  "The order by the Democratic governor sparked pushback from Republicans, who have opposed the expansion of mail-in ballots out of fear it would lead to voter fraud -- and raised the prospect of a legal challenge.
"The Republican National Committee said it is reviewing its legal options "to ensure the integrity of the election.”
"California Republicans have pointed to problems in the state with voter rolls and a “motor voter” program to register new voters that led to hundreds of thousands of discrepancies -- although the errors reviewed did not allow anyone to vote who shouldn’t have been allowed to.
" 'To mail out millions of ballots to voter rolls have proven to contain alarming errors throughout the state is not a task that these Democrats can adequately manage or safely execute," Jessica Millan Patterson, chairman of the California Republican Party, said in a statement." . . .

Democrats who love ballot-harvesting should love mail-in ballots
The Stupidity of Ballot Harvesting and How It Steals Elections  . . . "Ballot harvesting is the process where organized workers or volunteers--people you don't know--collect absentee ballots from voters and drop them off at a polling place or election office. Nothing can go wrong there; right? 
"Some are so hungry to have voters participate in the process that they are willing to lower the bar for how ballots end up at the election office.  They are so anxious to do this that they will sanctify any hare-brained scheme to raise the voter count.  They forget we live in a free country where it is the right of everyone who meets the requirements to vote or not to vote.  Not voting is a statement and a right of every citizen. 
. . . "Orange County, California -- which was a Republican stronghold for a long time -- had 250,000 harvested ballots turned in on election day.   The Republicans have no infrastructure to pursue testing as to how or whether this process was manipulated or fraud was part of the process." . . .

Flynn should sue and settle for $10 million

Judicial Watch said, "We commend the heroic work of General Flynn’s legal team, led by Sidney Powell, which exposed the criminal conduct by FBI and DOJ officials behind Flynn’s illicit prosecution. This corruption, as we have exposed from the get-go, is the tip of the iceberg. The required next step for justice is the prosecution of the coup cabal who tried to destroy General Flynn and overthrow our president."

Don Surber

"Obama and his posse of henchman from his thug administration framed an innocent man -- Lieutenant General Michael Flynn -- in the hope of flipping him to incriminate President Donald John Trump. To get justice and make himself whole again, General Flynn and his lawyer, Sidney Powell, need to use an old liberal trick called sue and settle.

"Ballotpedia's definition is, "Sue and settle (sometimes hyphenated as sue-and-settle) is a term used to describe cases in which a federal agency is sued by an interested party, declines to defend itself in court, and negotiates a settlement with the plaintiff in a non-adversarial process. Through sue and settle, outside groups sue an agency in order to reach a settlement on terms favorable to the regulatory goals of both. These settlements may require the agency to issue a rule on a particular subject or within a certain timeline.

" 'Sue and settle practices have frequently occurred in response to environmental lawsuits involving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Scott Pruitt, former EPA administrator under President Donald Trump (R), issued a directive in October 2017 that ended the practice of sue and settle at the EPA."

"Flynn and Powell can sue for, oh, $100 million and President Trump could agree to an out-of-court settlement of $10 million. He can claim to save taxpayers $90 million while General Flynn sails away with $7 million after paying a contingency fee to Powell." . . .

Here his defense counsel speaks on the Mueller investigation of President Trump:
Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Mueller Upends Rule of Law, In Final Appearance—Sidney Powell

Face plant: MSM figures use comedian Jimmy Kimmel a source to falsely attack Mike Pence and get humiliated by Ted Cruz

The joy and fun of late-night comedians has long been gone.
Thomas Lifson  "We are at a point in our national political conversation where lies are the principal propaganda tool of the left, and prominent mainstream media figures rely on a comedian’s fake criticisms (since apologized for) to score points against the Trump administration.
"It all started when late night ABC TV comedian Jimmy Kimmel used a deceptively edited C-SPAN video to falsely claim that VP Mike Pence was delivering empty boxes of supplies to a hospital. Via the UK Daily Mail:
"During his monologue in Thursday night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the comedian and host showed a clip of Pence delivering boxes of PPEs to the Woodbine Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center hospital in Virginia earlier in the day.  
" 'Here he is with no mask on, wheeling boxes of PPEs into a health care center, and doing his best to lift them, what a hero… since it was going so well, and also because he didn’t realize he had a mic on, Magic Mike decided to keep it going, listen in closely here,' Kimmel said during the monologue. 
"The video, which was originally broadcast by C-SPAN, showed Pence as he pushed a trolley of big cardboard boxes, then picked them up and put them down outside the hospital's doors. 

Then, when Pence returns to the delivery van, which still has boxes inside it, someone tells him: 'Those are empty, sir. We’re good to go.' 
"Pence responds: 'Well, can I carry the empty ones? Just for the camera?'
" 'Absolutely,' the unidentified man says, as those around them laugh.
"Kimmel then continued his monologue by saying that 'Mike Pence pretending to carry empty PPEs into a hospital is the perfect metaphor for who he is and what he’s doing. A big box of nothing delivering another box of nothing.'

Video and discussion thread here, ending (so far) with this exchange:

"Scarborough foolishly responded and got his ass handed back to him by the Texas senator:

 Remember the top comment follows the one below it:

Senator Ted Cruz lit into Scarborough: 

Ted Cruz

Hmm. When you’re on the defensive for being dishonest & corrupt, perhaps best not to forward fraudulent stories from Jimmy Kimmel (that he’s admitted were false)? You are claiming to be a journalist, after all.... https://twitter.com/JoeNBC/status/1258848363136659457 …

Ted Cruz

✔@tedcruz

Joe, you chased after Trump for 2 years like a teenage girl throwing her panties at the latest boy band; now you pretend to be this indignant paragon of virtue outraged at everything he says & does. All to get invited to DC cocktail parties & thrill the 13 people watching MSNBC. https://twitter.com/joenbc/status/1258877672417120258 …

Joe Scarborough

✔@JoeNBC

Ted, when I make a mistake I admit it. You remain mired in shame because you kowtow to a man who called your wife ugly and said your daddy assassinated JFK. Me messing up a tweet or two will never erase the shame you carry every day of your life. https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1258857624562470918 …

‘Biggest loser of declassification is Adam Schiff’: John Solomon

Youtube   "FOX Business contributor John Solomon discusses why House Republicans have accused Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., of ‘blocking’ Russia probe transcripts and FBI Director Christopher Wray with Lou Dobbs."

"EXCLUSIVE: Transcripts clear Trump campaign on Russia collusion, may raise questions about Schiff, sources say"  "Top law enforcement and intelligence officials affirmed they found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, senior administration and intelligence community officials told Fox News on Wednesday, citing transcripts of House Intelligence Committee interviews that have been cleared for release.

"This would align with the results of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — which found no evidence of illegal or criminal coordination between President Trump, the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016.

"However, the numerous transcribed interviews could raise further questions about committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s past statements saying that there was “direct evidence” of collusion.

“ 'Schiff is in panic mode,” a senior administration official told Fox News."

" Click here for more on our top story."

House Republicans Say Schiff Is ‘Blocking’ The Release Of Dozens Of Secret Russia Transcripts

. . . "But Schiff, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, has withheld the release of the documents for reasons he has yet to explain."The transcripts include interviews with Obama administration officials, FBI officials who worked on the Trump-Russia probe, current and former Trump administration officials, and individuals who have insight into the infamous Steele dossier. " . . .

"Jerry...Jerry...Jerry "

Kayleigh McEnany Pivots From Briefing Question To Full-On Attack On CNN

(RELATED: Kayleigh McEnany: Pelosi ‘Won’t Lay Off The Ice Cream,’ But She’s ‘Just Fine’ With Laying Off American Workers)   Ba-dump-bump

Daily Caller 

 "White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany pivoted Friday from a question from PBS Newshour’s Yamiche Alcindor to an attack on CNN.

"McEnany began the briefing by outlining the Justice Department’s decision to drop the case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, but Alcindor’s question focused on the press secretary’s comments about Trump from five years earlier. (RELATED: New Press Secretary Unloads On Media During White House Briefing)
“ 'In 2015, shortly after the president said some Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminal, you said that language was ‘racist and hateful.’ Do you still believe that today?” Alcindor asked, referencing comments that were recently shared by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski.

"McEnany explained that those comments were a reflection of the fact that she had been watching CNN at the time, adding, “I was naively believing some of the headlines that I saw on CNN.”
"She then pointed out that she had come around to support Trump very soon after that, saying, “In fact, CNN hired me, I was on many eight-on-one panels where I proudly supported this president who I believe is one of the best presidents, if not the best president this country will ever have.” . . .

Reckoning.

Larry O'Connor

reck·on·ing (noun) - the avenging or punishing of past mistakes or misdeeds.

"When one writes a regular opinion column, one is often faced with multiple major stories in the news that deserve further analysis and context that inspire thought and even passion from one's readers. Today, those of us in this noble trade are faced with a serious quandary: Where to begin?"

"Do we celebrate the partial justice delivered to American patriot Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as the Justice Department properly withdrew criminal charges against him?

- Do we focus on the nefarious actions of the Comey FBI and Lynch Justice Department under Barack Obama that led to the vengeful vendetta against the general?- Do we discuss the duplicity and corruption of the Mueller investigators in using the FBI's dirty work to threaten Flynn's family and basically coerce a false guilty plea from him?- Do we pivot to the other major news item of the day and delve into the voluminous House Intel testimony that was finally released thanks to the herculean efforts of Acting ODNI Richard Grenell?- Do we explain how Rep. Adam Schiff has been fully exposed as the lying, defamatory charlatan that he truly is as the testimony proves that he never saw the direct evidence proving Trump/Russia collusion as he has claimed for the past several years?

"President Barack Obama is at the center of all of this. Indeed, Obama oversaw it all, from the start.
"The investigation of Flynn. The surveillance of Carter Page and George Papadopolous. The Steele Dossier infection of the FISA courts. The Kangaroo Court hearings. The Special Counsel investigation built on known fictions.
"None of it happens without Obama." . . .

Vicious racism permeates the Democrats

Ilhan Omar Slams Michael Flynn's Charges Being Dropped: 'White Privilege at Work'

. . . "Despite the obvious reasons for the charges being dropped, however, Rep. Omar claims, without evidence, that the Justice Department abandoned its case against Flynn because he is "white" rather than innocent.Omar took to Twitter on Thursday to falsely claim that the charges were dropped because of "white privilege.' " 

U.S. Media Long Carried Putin's Water - Odd, Given Facebook Uproar

Trump: The ‘So-Called Journalists’ Who Received Pulitzer Prizes for The Russia Hoax Should Be Forced to Give Them Back

2018; Real Clear Investigations  "With special counsel Robert Mueller’s latest indictments of alleged Russian trolls, Facebook is facing heavy fire from prominent critics at the New York Times, Washington Post, and other legacy media for uncritically spreading Russian misinformation. But the probe's newly lengthened chronology, stretching back well before the 2016 campaign, suggests social-media mischief was only part of a deeper Russian propaganda effort in which those same news organizations were also willing and paid participants.

"In 2007, state-owned publisher Rossiyskaya Gazeta launched Russia Beyond the Headlines, a multi-page full-color broadsheet laid out just like a newspaper and distributed, typically monthly, as an insert by some of the most prestigious names in newspaper publishing, including London’s Daily Telegraph, Le Figaro in France and the Italian daily La Repubblica, reaching an audience estimated at nearly 6.5 million readers.
"In the United States, the Russian-state media entity partnered with the Washington Post until 2015 and with the New York Times, which confirmed it still bundles the insert into its regular paper. Angela He, manager of corporate communications for the Times, sent an email “confirming that we do run these ads” and that they conform to Times advertising acceptability standards, but declined to elaborate.
"Russia Beyond, as the insert was renamed in 2017, serves as a “gateway for all things Russia -- from culture, travel, education, language, ways to do business, and much more.” Only a small disclaimer right below the masthead, in light typeface, explains that it’s an advertising feature.
"Russia Beyond paints a picture of a normal country, with normal concerns, including reviews of Moscow’s trendy restaurants and reports from the latest ComiCon. The Russia depicted in its pages isn’t working with Iran and the Syrian regime to slaughter civilians and gas children. Rather, it’s a global actor in good standing, whose citizens don’t understand why the United States and European Union placed sanctions on their country in response to the invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea." . . .

CNN Is Not a News Network; "And Jim Acosta is no reporter"

I should post this every six months.
National Review

     "When ThinkProgress announced that it was going out of business, a few observers wondered aloud, “Why didn’t anybody buy it?” But why would they have, when we have CNN?

Add caption

     "As a child, I was aware of CNN in part because its introductory bumper featured the sinister voice of Darth Vader, and in part because it was both the prototype and the stereotype of the 24-hour news channel. CNN showed up in movies, either as itself or in parodies that imitated its role. It was on in the airports and the hospitals and the hotel lobbies, and in the waiting room at the dentist’s office. When something bad or exciting was happening, you would tell your friends, “Turn on CNN.”
     "CNN was careful and self-consciously nonpartisan — or, at least, it was keen for viewers to believe that it was. Its slogans were “This is CNN” — well, yes — and “The most trusted name in news,” and it cultivated its position within the firmament in much the same way as does Wikipedia today. It could be sensationalist and intrusive at times, but it was sensationalist and intrusive in the way that the paparazzo is rather than in the way that protesters who bang drums in your face and insist that you give up gasoline are. In short, it was what it said it was: a news network.

     "It is no longer that. These days, CNN is a peculiar and unlovely hybrid of progressive propaganda outlet, oleaginous media apologist, sexless cultural scold, and frenzied Donald Trump stalkerblog. When news breaks, it is no longer useful or appropriate to tell someone, “Turn on CNN,” because if he did, he would be as likely to be presented with a wall of advocacy and obsession as with the headlines of the hour. Today, CNN does not broadcast the news; it broadcasts what it wants you to think the news is. At long last, it has become Fox." . . .

Over time, CNN has followed this self-referential instinct to its logical conclusion, and thereby convinced itself that its staff are as much a part of any story as the story itself. Which is why, among the vital pieces of news we have been brought by the network this year, are “CNN reporter gets emotional over his story,” and why one can find multiple stories and videos under headlines that start with “CNN host shuts down panelist” or “CNN anchor shuts down commentator” or “CNN anchors slam . . .” — all of which would, for most of American history, have seemed odd things for a news network to boast about. So self-indulgent has the organization become, in fact, that when I learned this year that it was starting a “CNN Hero of the Year” award, I half-expected to see Brian Stelter tearfully giving it to himself. 

Hat tip to Adrien Verdier at CNN The FAKE NEWS NETWORK

The Five Worst Types of Virtue-Signaling

"an attempt to show other people that you are a good person, for example by expressing opinions that will be acceptable to them, especially on social media:" . . .

Pictures added by TD; text has been cut and pasted to make an overview of the article. Please read the article for the entire context. TD:

American Thinker

"Virtue-signaling is a shallow practice for the lazy and deceitful. If you want to feel good about yourself with minimal effort, virtue-signaling is right for you."

"Virtue-signaling is one of the lowest forms of opportunism, but not all attempts are equal.  Here are the five worst types:" (Excerpts here:) 
1. Virtue-signaling the implausible, for cheap applause (As we see so often on TV talk shows, with - one has to suppose - an applause sign or designated cheerleader)

If anyone confronts Cuomo for his specious assertions, virtue-signaling has a built-in defense system of their superior motives to neutralize criticism about facts.

  

 2. Virtue-signaling their battle against invisible enemies 

Stacey Abrams complaining that she lost the Georgia election because of racism and voter suppression was a complete lie, but her "refusal to give up" still makes her a civil rights hero.

  3. Virtue-signaling for policies they don't support — and doubling-down

For months, Democrats glorified the Green New Deal. Any opposition was only the result of greedy capitalists who didn't want people to have clean air or water.
Everyone saw how Democrats really felt when precisely zero of them voted in favor of the legislation.

 4. Soliciting the applause for their virtue

When Corey Booker insists that Congress has a "moral obligation" to impeach Trump, he is executing the strategy to perfection. 

5. Virtue-signaling for free  

Democrats professing their altruistic motives without any expectation of having to change their behavior is what makes being a Democrat so great!Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he sympathizes with Bernie Sanders' view on billionaires and agrees that "no one deserves to have that much money."  NBA champion Andre Iguodala, actors Jim Carey and Mark Ruffalo, and even millionaire filmmaker Michael Moore openly voice their support for Socialism. There is still no evidence any of them have given away their wealth for the greater good.

. . . "Virtue-signaling is a shallow practice for the lazy and deceitful.  If you want to feel good about yourself with minimal effort, virtue-signaling is right for you."

Kayleigh McEnany Shows She’s Really Good at Being Press Secretary, Roasts Media After Gotcha Question

RedState   "Kayleigh McEnany has brought back in-person briefings now that she’s been appointed to Press Secretary and her first few stabs at the job have not been uneventful. On her very first day, the media were labeling her a “liar” for saying the Mueller report cleared Trump of Russian collusion. I guess we are going to split that hair from here unto eternity.

"Today, McEnany was hit with a ridiculous gotcha question that tried to hold a statement she made on Fox Business months ago over her head. Some reporter posited that she said Trump “would not allow” coronavirus to come to our shores and asked if she’d like to retract that statement. Little did he know that she’d be loaded for bear." . . .

Here she hands it all back to the press

. . . "She’s really good at this and it shows. We’ve missed this kind of whit with a smile in the press room, and it’s a very effective way to shame the media for their ridiculousness." . . .
. . . with these reporters, but his coronavirus briefings likely hurt his formerly rising approval ratings. He needs to let his Press Secretary take the lead, study up, and hit these people with facts every time she stands up there. If this continues, it’ll be very good for Trump’s re-election chances."

California Sheriff Defies Gavin Newsom: I Refuse to Make Criminals out of Business Owners and Moms

RedState

"Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco isn’t about to begin harassing the American people for doing what they should be doing, and that’s going back out and earning a living, producing goods, and generally creating a healthy society. As such, he told the Riverside County Board of Supervisors that he and his department will not be enforcing Governor Gavin Newsom’s overreaching orders.

Sheriff Chad Bianco

"Bianco began by noting that it wasn’t that long ago that the government “ordered residents into their homes, closed their businesses, made them wear masks, forbid them from going to church, and eliminated constitutional freedoms put in place over 200 years ago” in the name of curbing the public health crisis.

"Bianco admitted that it worked, but that while the curve was flattened, there were other numbers not being emphasized.

“ 'What isn’t being emphasized is that 2,000 of the 4,300 people who have tested positive have already recovered and returned to work,” said Bianco. “What that means is that out of two and a half million people in Riverside County, we have only 2,300 residents positive with this virus. Statistically, that is less than a tenth of one percent.”

"Bianco also noted that the tragic loss of 181 lives due to the virus, but also threw out the stat that this was 7/1000 of one percent." . . .