Iran and John Kerry: the evil and the weasel

 Zarif Had No Knowledge of Israeli Strikes Until Kerry Told Him, Translation Reveals . . . "These details are likely to further fuel calls from leading Republicans for Kerry's firing or resignation. The New York Times reported that Zarif said on the tape that Kerry told him Israel launched 200 airstrikes against Iranian interests in Syria. The Times did not provide further details on that issue. But an independent translation of the audiotape commissioned by the Washington Free Beacon shows that Zarif went on to clarify that he had no prior knowledge of these Israeli strikes before Kerry told him.

" 'Kerry told me that Israel had launched 200 airstrikes against you [Iran]," said Zarif. "You didn't know?" asked his interviewer. "No, no," he replied.

"These new details contradict top State Department officials, who have repeatedly said the information was already in the public domain and not classified.

If you go back and look at press reporting from the time, this certainly was not secret, and governments that were involved were speaking to this publicly on the record," State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday during a press briefing.  . . .

 Iran's foreign minister's leaked revelations are eye-opening  "On Sunday, news broke that a private interview that Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had with an economist had been leaked to a London-based Persian news service, which then shared it with the New York Times.  There are several interesting points to the conversation, with two of the most striking being (a) Javad's acknowledging that Trump's decision to assassinate Qassem Soleimani was a powerful strike against Iran and (b) a reminder of why the Biden administration is making a terrible mistake when it politicizes the American military.

"Regarding General Soleimani, Zarif effectively says Trump could scarcely have come up with a better way to damage Iran:

In the portions that were leaked, Mr. Zarif does praise the general and says they worked productively together in the prelude to the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. He also says that by assassinating him in Iraq, the United States delivered a major blow to Iran, more damaging than if it had wiped out an entire city in an attack. . . .

Liberal celebrities hold Kerry's coat tail and suck their thumbs; ‘Please don’t kill us’: Rose McGowan apologizes to Iran for Soleimani death, backpedals, still gets roasted 

Michael Moore sends a message to a dead Ayatollah begging him not to hurt us   Moore's begging did not go over well in Iran: 

The imam of peace wrote on Twitter, “Also, you address your message to Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. That guy died on the 3rd of June 1989. Your whole tweet and message is a mess from start to finish. The current Ayatollah is Khamenei and he has a Fatwa against Music—which you play for him at the start. What a fail…”

The Era of Limbaugh; Why Rush Limbaugh matters

 Matthew Continetti

This post was originally published on Feb. 7, 2020. The Washington Free Beacon is reposting on the occasion of Rush Limbaugh's death Feb. 17, 2021.

 "I had to learn how to take being hated as a measure of success," he told a Boy Scouts awards dinner in 2009.

 . . . "More than a decade later, after the Republican defeat in 2008, Limbaugh once again stepped into the breach. The media likened Barack Obama to FDR. Republicans wavered. Should they cooperate with President Obama in building a "New Foundation" for America? Limbaugh gave his answer on January 16, 2009. "I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year and a half," he said. "I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed." Limbaugh said he hoped Obama failed. "Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it?" The monologue, and the speech he delivered to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., a month later, became a sensation. They set the tone for the Tea Party and Republican victories in 2010 and 2014.

"Limbaugh did not mock Trump when the businessman announced his presidential campaign in June 2015. "This is going to resonate with a lot of people, I guarantee you, and the Drive-Bys are going to pooh-pooh it," he said. He spent the primary reminding listeners of the importance of defeating Hillary Clinton. Trump was not an ideological candidate, he said. Trump was a missile aimed at the establishment. If ideology matters, then you should vote for Ted Cruz. "If conservatism is your bag, if conservatism is the dominating factor in how you vote," Limbaugh said in February 2016, "there is no other choice for you in this campaign than Ted Cruz, because you are exactly right: This is the closest in our lifetimes we have ever been to Ronald Reagan." But, Limbaugh added, the feeling in the country might be so anti-establishment that Trump's unusual coalition could win the presidency. It did.

"To say that Limbaugh supports the president would be an understatement. Last December he introduced the president at a Turning Point USA summit. He mentioned a recent encounter on a golf course. Someone told him it is hard to defend President Trump. "I said, ‘What? Hard to defend the president? It's one of the easiest things in the world to do.' President Trump does not need to be defended." The crowd cheered. A few seconds later Limbaugh said, "How do you defend Donald Trump? You attack the people who are attempting to destroy him. They're trying to destroy you. They're trying to transform this country into something that it was not founded to be.' " . . .

 

Chauvin: The Case Against the Mob

 Ann Coulter  "One of the main arguments being advanced by Eric Nelson, sole attorney for Derek Chauvin in his trial for the murder of George Floyd, is that the hostile crowd itself prevented the officers from attempting to perform CPR in the last minutes of Floyd’s life.

"Even the prosecution’s “use of force” experts admitted repeatedly on cross-examination that a hostile crowd would justify Chauvin keeping Floyd restrained until an ambulance arrived. An officer’s duty to provide care is overridden by his duty to keep himself, the suspect and the bystanders safe.

"As was evident from the videos (and admitted to by the bystander witnesses), they were shouting obscenities at the police, threatening them with bodily harm and, in a few instances, had to be held back from rushing the officers.

"And of course, because of the presence of the angry crowd, the EMTs themselves did not stick around to provide care, but did a “load and scoot,” heaving Floyd into the back of the ambulance and driving three blocks to get away from the mob on the street. They didn’t even want to work inside an ambulance near this feisty group.

"As it becomes increasingly obvious that the belligerent onlookers themselves may have gotten George Floyd killed by creating a dangerous situation for the officers, media commentators leap in to do backup work for the prosecutors by sneering at the idea that the officers might have felt threatened by a few rowdy teenagers.

"     Oh, the big pansies! So, a few teenagers yelled at the officers. Show me just ONE example of disaffected urban youth going from agitation to brawling!

"Here’s one! . . ."

Ann Coulter: "Thanks, jurors! You're safe now. We aren't". One juror feared more rioting

TakiMag.com "To watch the hours of celebratory fist-pumping from government officials and black activists after the guilty verdicts against police officer Derek Chauvin this week, you’d think Minnesota had just won the NCAA tournament.

"One man is dead and another will be spending up to 40 years in prison. How about Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison show a little dignity, with something like: “We had the trial; we’ve got a verdict; I’m not taking any questions”?

"Nope! We got a one-hour spirit rally for the championship team. The key was teamwork. Our guys practiced every night — staying even after the gym had closed! We couldn’t have done it without the fans.

"There wasn’t this much triumphalism when Ted Bundy was convicted! He murdered 30 women, escaped from jail twice, and killed again before finally being brought to trial. We didn’t have hours of gloating after they got the Green River Killer, and it took 20 years to catch him.

"Maybe we’ve gotten less decorous in the past few decades. But how about celebrating the conviction of a gangbanger who killed an 8-year-old girl in a drive-by? Would the media be as giddy about that?

"Not likely. Wild celebrations are in order only for the railroading of a cop." . . . More...

Alternate Juror in Derek Chauvin Trial: “I did not want to go through rioting and destruction again” "Well before the guilty verdict was announced in the Derek Chauvin trial earlier this week, there were concerns that fears of riots breaking out or jury members being personally targeted if they voted the “wrong way” would play a role in their deliberations, especially after some “news” outlets stupidly revealed previously unknown personal information on some of the jurors in the closing days of the trial.

"Lisa Christensen, who was an alternate juror in the trial (but did not know she was an alternate until just before deliberations began), gave an interview to Minneapolis news station KARE 11 on Thursday where she provided the first insight the public is getting into what went through the minds of jurors before and during the trial. Some of the things she said during the interview raised more questions regarding the possibility that some jurors feared voting to acquit would hurt their city – or them.

This is my personal opinion, of course, but it’s hard to believe that fear of retaliation wasn’t present in the jury room on some level, even if it wasn’t explicitly discussed. If you’ll recall, during the jury selection process, some prospective jurors admitted to fears of being targeted by rioters.

More...

'Worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War!' Can Biden really be this dumb?

Patricia McCarthy

That one line tells us everything we need to know about who Biden and the cabal running him are; they absolutely believe that the American people are not only simple-minded but virtual toddlers who will believe anything they say.

"Whoa!  Joe Biden thinks that the relatively mild, wholly unarmed breach of the Capitol was the "worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War!"  How historically ignorant are his speechwriters?  They seem to have forgotten about the assassination of Lincoln, WWI, Pearl Harbor and WWII, the Kennedy assassination, 9/11!  Did they really think that line would resonate with anyone with a modicum of historical knowledge?

"While the entire speech was banal, this was the most egregious spoken line.  That an American president would utter such an unspeakable lie is the measure of this man.  He is a fool.  Surely, he knows better, but he and his handlers believe that most Americans are so dumb, so uninformed, that they will accept such a lie as true." . . .

. . . "Sadly, the fact that the timorous Republicans voted to confirm nearly every one of Biden's radical, racist Cabinet appointees does not bode well for America's survival.  They've put us at the mercy of an almost vicious anti-American left." . . .

More than 200 Seattle police officers quit over the last year, many citing anti-police climate

 Fox News  . . . "Many of the officers cited an anti-police climate in the city – including in the City Council -- and disagreements with police management in their reasons for moving on, leaving the department with what Police Chief Adrian Diaz called a "staffing crisis" on Tuesday.

"He said 180 police officers quit last year and another 66 officers so far this year. 

"Some of the officers retired early while others took policing jobs in other cities or moved on to other careers, the officers said in exit interviews, according to KING-TV in Seattle.

"Diaz said the number of officers left with the department is at "record" lows. "I have about 1,080 deployable officers," he told KING. "This is the lowest I've seen our department.' " . . .

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) coronavirus protocols that match the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance.

Unless you are at a tony beauty parlor having maintenance and repairs performed. TD

Breitbart   . . . "Biden delivered his speech without a mask to about 200 people. The number is about 1,400 invitees short of a traditional speech of this magnitude due to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) coronavirus protocols that match the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance." . . .

 

When a politician uses the word "investments", hold on to your wallet

 Like All Robbers, They Wore Masks  . . . "Hundreds of masked people conspired to rob your children and grandchildren on Wednesday evening in Washington. Like the Hamburglar, Robin Hood, and the Riddler, the thieves hid their faces behind masks.

"Chalking up the facial accoutrement to the bylaws of the Secret Society of the Knights of Fauci misses something beyond their identities. The already vaccinated wore masks for the reasons other violators of “thou shalt not steal” do: so their victims cannot pick them out of a lineup, to allow the anonymity to boost their courage, to psychologically separate themselves from the act, shame.

"The conspirator-in-chief outlined the $6 trillion in proposed and actual spending during his first 100 days in office at the gathering. “We can afford it,” Joe Biden assured his audience. But the weight of a $28 trillion debt and a fiscal year 2021 projected (before Biden took office) deficit of $2.3 trillion contradicts those words.  

"And who is this “we” of which the president speaks?" . . .

Biden tells rich to 'pay their share' with tax hikes as he tops off $6TRILLION Big Government splurge with $2.3TRILLION 'blue-collar’ jobs plan announced in address to Congress slammed by Republicans as a 'boring, socialist dream' "President Joe Biden launched his sweeping tax hikes, attacked Wall Street, said he inherited a country in 'peril' and laid out a list of legislative demands in his first address to Congress.

Walking into a chamber with just 200 lawmakers he pitched his $2.3trillion 'blue-collar blueprint' American Jobs Plan, pushed his $1.8trillion investment into 'human infrastructure' and spoke about how he will try and deal with the border, China, guns and police reform. 

"He also handed over more responsibility to Vice President Kamala Harris by asking her to promote his investment in 'jobs, jobs, jobs' and insisted she would 'get it done', a month after directing her to deal with the border.  

"He opened his speech standing in front of Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi by calling the Capitol riot the 'worst attack on our Democracy since the Civil War' and said 'America's house was on fire' when he took office - but he didn't mention Donald Trump.

"Republicans widely panned the speech as 'boring' and a list of 'socialist dreams'. GOP Senator Tim Scott said in his party's rebuttal that the president was 'pulling the country apart' instead of promoting unity and his remarks were 'full of empty platitudes'." . . .  More...

Joe Biden Announces $1.8 Trillion ‘Human Infrastructure’ Proposal to Congress Partly Financed by Expanding Death Tax   . . . "A breakdown of the tax adjustment from the officially named American Families Plan are as follows:

1. Raise the top income-tax rate to 39.6 percent from 37 percent
2. Raise the capital gains and dividends tax to 39.6 percent from 20 percent for households making more than $1 million
3. Raise the payroll and investment taxes each by 3.8 percent — the top rates on wages and the death tax would reach 43.4 percent from 23.8 percent
4. Use the previous 3.8 percent increase to expand over other types of income currently uncovered like active income from S corporations making over $400,000
5. Adjust death tax to include unrealized gains as sold and thus taxable with an exemption of $1 million a person
6. Limit the ability for real estate to be exchanged without reporting capital-gains income by capping that break at $500,000  . . . 

Coca-Cola receives warning over its attempt to impose racial quotas

 Power Line Blog  . . . "Coca Cola’s stated goal is that the legal teams it hires “be representative of the population it serves,” and the policy’s minimum racial quotas therefore roughly track the racial distribution of the American population at large, rather than the labor market for attorneys. Thus, for example, the letter requires that at least 15% of time be billed by black attorneys. Blacks make up approximately 13.4% of the U.S. population, but only 5.9% of attorneys. . . .

"In adopting this new policy, Coke appears to be following the view of “anti-racist” activist Ibram X. Kendi that justice requires proportional representation in all spheres of life and that the “only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. . . .And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.”

"Such a policy of discrimination is illegal. Since the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (codified at 42 U.S.C. 1981), federal law has prohibited all forms of racial discrimination in private contracting. As the late Justice Ginsburg noted just last year, Section 1981 is a “‘sweeping’ law designed to ‘break down all discrimination between black men and white men’ regarding ‘basic civil rights'” Comcast Corp. v. Nat’l Ass’n of Afr. Am.-Owned Media, 140 S.Ct. 1009, 1020 (2020) (Ginsburg, J. concurring) (quoting Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., 392 U.S. 409, 432 (1968) (emphasis in original). And decades of case law have held that — no matter how well intentioned — policies that seek to impose permanent racial balancing are prohibited."

The abrupt departure of Bradley Gayton after less than a year as General Counsel suggests that Coca-Cola is already aware that its racial quota requirements on outside firms are indefensible. Indeed, if press reports are accurate, Coca-Cola has already paused the policy, though with the intention of retaining at least some of its provisions. This pause is a welcome development, but more is needed. Racial discrimination should have no place in private contracting, and Coca-Cola should act swiftly to publicly undo this destructive legacy of Mr. Gayton’s tenure.

Thanks, Jurors! You’re Safe Now. We Aren’t.

By Ann Coulter; Indiana Gazette "To watch the hours of celebratory fist-pumping from government officials and Black activists after the guilty verdicts against police officer Derek Chauvin this week, you’d think Minnesota had just won the NCAA tournament.

"One man is dead and another will be spending up to 40 years in prison. How about Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison show a little dignity, with something like: “We had the trial; we’ve got a verdict; I’m not taking any questions”?

"Nope!

"We got a one-hour spirit rally for the championship team. The key was teamwork.

"Our guys practiced every night — staying even after the gym had closed! We couldn’t have done it without the fans.

"There wasn’t this much triumphalism when Ted Bundy was convicted! He murdered 30 women, escaped from jail twice, and killed again before finally being brought to trial. We didn’t have hours of gloating after they got the Green River Killer, and it took 20 years to catch him.

"Maybe we’ve gotten less decorous in the past few decades. But how about celebrating the conviction of a gangbanger who killed an 8-year-old girl in a drive-by? Would the media be as giddy about that?

"Not likely." . . .

Joe Concha: It Could Cost Lives if NBC’s Lester Holt Doesn’t Apologize Immediately for Deceptively-Edited 911 Call

“Lester Holt needs to go on the air tonight, John, and apologize on behalf of NBC News, on the NBC Nightly News – because tensions are far too high in this country right now, the stakes are far too high.

Craig Bannister   "NBC’s Lester Holt needs to go on the air immediately and apologize for the way he reported on Ohio Police Officer Nicholas Reardon’s deadly shooting of a knife-wielding Black 16 year-old, Ma’khia Bryant, Media and Political Columnist Joe Concha says.

"As NewsBusters reports, NBC News edited out a crucial part of the 911 call Officer Reardon was responding to and characterized Bryant’s possession of a knife, visible in body camera footage, as merely a contention by police.

"In an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Concha told Host John Roberts that Holt must publicly apologize for the omission - and for conflating Bryant’s death with that of Black Minnesotan George Floyd. In light of the racial tensions already aflame in the country, lives and businesses could be lost, if Holt doesn’t immediately go on the air and set the record straight, Concha said." . . .