Information dominance does not make things true - it just means you can get away with the lies. Patriot Retort
Ann Coulter. . . "Even after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, the media felt the need to pile up the false accusations.
"Their first order of business was to turn it into a story about race.
"The Trump riot has as little to do with race as any story in 21st-century America. COVID, immigration, tax cuts, the stimulus — I could come up with a racial angle for any of those.
"Your assignment: Make the siege at the Capitol a story primarily about race relations.
"You, a normal person, one week later:I’m stumped.
"But to our media, the main point to be made about the riot was:Can you imagine what would have happened if black people had done that?
"An unarmed Trump supporter crawling through a window at the Capitol was shotdead. Please name the black protester killed by the police throughout 2020’s incessant BLM riots, lootings and arsons. He’d already be on a postage stamp.
"During the 2015 BLM riots in Baltimore after a heroin dealer, Freddie Gray, died in the back of a police van, the mayor announced that she was giving “those whowished to destroy spaceto do that as well.”
"If you look at a mob storming the Capitol to protest Biden’s certification as president and immediately think,This is a story about black people!,you’ve got racism on the brain." . . .
Biden’s sole purpose was to play the role of an “electable” candidate who could appeal to independents and anti-Trump Republicans under the ruse of being a centrist just to get Trump out of office. For all intents and purposes, Biden’s job is complete, and a San Francisco liberal is now waiting in the wings to take his place at the appropriate time.
For higher-profile remarks, [Biden would] obsessively rehearse portions until he committed them to memory. And at times through the various iterations of outlining remarks, Biden could grow downright ornery.
“I would never say this,” Biden once snapped at an aide, aghast over the prepared remarks he was reviewing, according to a person in the room during a speech prep session last year. “Where did you get this from?’”
The aide explained that Biden had just said it in a public speech a couple of weeks earlier.
Ouch.
"There are many troubling things about this story. Biden forgetting part of a stump speech is bad enough, but this is an incident that took place last year, but has only come out now. Biden’s handlers kept it under wraps until now. How many other examples of Biden’s cognitive decline from the 2020 campaign have been covered up? If it was leaked to the media earlier, they didn’t report on it then. The obvious question is “why not?”
"Obviously, Politico got the memo. The election is over. Trump is out of office. Biden’s cognitive decline is no longer taboo. It can be discussed ad nauseam by the media now because getting Biden into office wasn’t the primary objective of getting him elected." . . .
"No, liberal media bias isn’t a new thing, and sneaking editorializing into supposedly unbiased reporting isn’t a new thing, either. But over the last four years, both have simply gotten way out of control in mainstream media newsrooms. Unfortunately, journalists, news anchors, and other supposedly “neutral” media figures are showing little to no interest whatsoever in changing course and getting back to the basics of reporting the news free from political spin while allowing the readers/viewers to formulate their own opinions.
"While there’s plenty of blame to go around on the issue of the coarsening of the public discourse, it is inarguable that left-wing agenda-driven news media outlets (and there are a ton of them) have greatly contributed to it – not just in their newsrooms, but also on the web, in particular on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. I have long argued that such platforms have escalated the decline of traditional, trusted, “shoe leather” journalism if for no other reason than that of the lure of RTs, likes, and favorable comments – and the desire to be accepted and loved by the DC Cocktail Circuit – overtakes all logic and reason.
"Simply put, the desire for “Twitter fame” and to be seen as a “woke journo” among some in the media has, more often than not, taken the place of the need to report things honestly and objectively while letting the chips fall where they may and not worrying which side you might have upset. Just in the daily White House press briefings alone, we saw performance journalists like CNN’s Jim Acosta and PBS NewsHour reporter Yamiche Alcindor constantly editorialize in their questioning as well as in how they framed their exchanges on Twitter.
"Earlier today, I came across a thread on this very topic from the late Herman Cain’s 2012 presidential campaign comms director Ellen Carmichael. Ms. Carmichael, who is now the president of a political comms firm, talked about how often it is now that unsubstantiated claims get passed off as fact in the media without any of the normal qualifiers they apply when it’s a Republican making them.
"Rarely do you see “without evidence” attached to sensational Democrat allegations, nor do you see the typical heavy degree of skepticism applied to claims made by Democrats in the same way you see it frequently applied to Republican claims." . . .
"Only liberal reporters, the line of reasoning goes, are capable of asking the tough questions needed to hold those in power accountable. Here are a sample of questions asked of former President Obama by liberal news outlets." . . .
..."Translation: They are trying to make coherent the ramblings of the dumbest man in Washington. I do not envy the task of the corporate press. They must make the dumbest and most corrupt president look like a Lincoln."...
Don Surber "The White House press has gone from rabid dog back to lapdog as President Donald John Trump departs. The puff pieces actually make for good entertainment because of the absurdity of trying to deify Joe Biden.
"Politico sent Natasha Korecki to write about the writing of Chairman Xiden's big speech today, a speech that Senator Chris Coons* hailed as the "most important inaugural speech since Lincoln."
"Never mind that the speech had yet to be written.
"Never mind that FDR had to pull a nation together amid a deep depression.
"Never mind that the same press hailed Obama's first inaugural speech as the greatest ever.
"Never mind that Lincoln's first inauguration speech led to a civil war, and his second led to his assassination.
"Fact check: This is the most important presidential inauguration in 4 years.
"The story began, "Joe Biden paces as he dictates long portions of his speeches to aides, spinning out thoughts that quickly pile into six, seven or eight paragraphs of copy, only to later be scrapped."
"So Xiden dictates a lengthy speech only to have his staff ditch it later when they write the actual speech.
"It is like they are working for Grandpa Abe Simpson." . . .
. . . "ITEM 2: People are banned from the National Mall as Democrats turn it into a warehouse of flags for the installation of Chairman Xiden as the head of state.
"As Terrence K. Williams tweeted, we have 25,000 National Guardsmen protecting 100,000 flags.
"As a reader tweeted, "Thousands of flags, inside a barbed wire pen. A metaphor for what’s coming?"
"As a reader emailed, "How appropriate. They were made in China."
"Democrats fear the people. That tells you all you need to know about the validity of the last election." . . .
Monica Showalter. . . "While the press was left empty with no Trump self-pardon, for those who get them, it's a huge relief. Trump may have been kind of stingy with pardons, but he did extend another act of clemency, sort of like a pardon, that was extremely generous and heartening:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he will offer Venezuelan exiles protection from deportation, a move he has considered for years but refused to do until his last full day in office. . .
. . . "It was sort of like extending a hand to a friend - Venezuelan-Americans after all voted for Trump in Florida in droves, they're known as Magazolanosin those parts, and with many still bringing family members in to save them from starvation, they needed a helping hand on deportations. LIke the pardons, Trump was helping his friends. And it made sense. They were, after all, people who fled a socialist hellhole, so the protection extended is a standing rebuke to all those in Congress and the press, who tell us socialism is just dandy. Besides socialism, they also fled election fraud -- Venezuela has famously rigged elections. It's not as if they've been voting for this socialist mess as some [refugees] from other places have -- they've been voting and seeing their votes cancelled. That alone puts them in empathy with President Trump and the sentiment has been returned." . . .
Japanese Trump supporters rally in Tokyo ahead of Biden's inauguration. . . Some Trump supporters in Japan are drawn to his hardline stance against regional rival China. Others like Kobayashi are part of conservative Christian sects and there are those who are supporters of QAnon, a conspiracy theory that posits that Trump is secretly fighting a global cabal of child sexual predators that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and allies of " deep state ".
"Tokyo has seen several pro-Trump rallies since the election, with participants waving their campaign banners and wearing their distinctive red caps. Wednesday's march was smaller than some previous events." . . .
Yahoo"President-elect Joe Biden is expected to sign 15 executive actions upon taking office Wednesday, immediately reversing key Trump administration policies.
"Why it matters:The 15 actions — aimed at issues like climate change and immigration — mark more drastic immediate steps compared with the two day-one actions from Biden's four predecessors combined, according to incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
"What they're saying: The actions are the first of many, Psaki said in a news release, as Biden works "to address the four crises that he's laid out" — COVID-19, the economic crisis, racial injustice and climate change.
"In the coming days and weeks we will be announcing additional executive actions that confront these challenges and deliver on the President-elect's promises to the American people," Psaki said, "including revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and reversing the Mexico City policy."
“I call on my supporters to put aside the hatreds that poisoned our political discourse for far too long. We are all Americans, and we all deserve to have our rights and political standing honored. Let today be the day that our reconciliation begins.”
"Biden’s speechwriters and handler can come up with their own version of such a call – if they want to.
"But if they don’t, and Biden ignores the festering wounds that trouble the national political soul, then it is not his opponents, and not just the national interest that will suffer. As John Dietrich sagely advises Biden, the well-funded, well-equipped, and now well-experienced violent groups that have continued their demonstrations even up to yesterday could turn against him, becoming a Frankenstein’s monster seeking an actual insurrection, not some tragicomedy as happened two weeks prior." . . .
. . .whom I disliked strongly during the 2016 primaries and into his early administration. But then the character of those who wanted to remove this President, from Democrats in Congress including those again in the new administration, thugocrats in Hollywood and on campuses, and a corrupt news media became fearfully plain to see.
Now we must live as Californians do, waking up every morning, wondering what new burdens will be laid on us all by the silliest of governments. The Tunnel Dweller
Donald J. Trump: On the Threshold of Greatness "Despite the many ways in which he’s reviled today, I believe that history will record Trump as one of America’s greatest presidents. Looking at America’s most admired presidents, I was able to identify the four criteria needed to earn that accolade:" . . .
. . . "This is a life and death threat to the Republic unlike the life and death threats faced by other great presidents. This is an attack on American institutions and values from within and without. If President Trump can save the country from this attack, he will take his place in Mr. Rushmore. I believe that he will."
Yahoo"Joe Bidenhas not yet been sworn in, but already, he is at war with American energy — which is to say, at war with American prosperity. Biden has promised to sabotage the Keystone XL pipeline, a privately financed, multi-billion-dollar project already under way, and “cancel it on his first day,” according to a briefing document cited by the BBC.
"The Keystone pipeline would, if it were allowed to, carry crude from the oil sands of Alberta to Nebraska, where the pipeline would link up with the existing distribution network to send that oil on to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. This would benefit Canadian producers and their investors, American refineries and their large, excellently paid work forces — those good, high-paying, blue-collar jobs Biden talks about — and, most important, American consumers, who would have access to yet another source of fuel at attractive prices from a nearby friendly country. This sort of thing is the point of international economic cooperation.
"The notional case against Keystone is environmental in the main part, and in the lesser part an issue of Indian lands and rights. The environmental case is unsound: Canada has ratified the Paris agreement and takes environmental issues relatively seriously. Innovation and technological improvements have substantially reduced the greenhouse-gas emissions associated with Canadian tar-sands productions — by 30 percent since the 1990s, as the Canadian government calculates. Of course, it matters relatively little whether a gallon of gasoline in the tank of a Cadillac Escalade in Houston is refined from Canadian tar-sands oil or from West Texas oil — the relevant emissions come overwhelmingly from the point of combustion.
"Of course there are environmental challenges associated with the oil sands, as there are with any usable source of energy, including wind and solar. These are regulatory and practical challenges that are perfectly manageable. (Which is not the same thing as a guarantee that U.S. or Canadian authorities, or businesses, will manage them perfectly — that kind of oversight is hard work and a serious business.) The same is true of “fracking” and other petroleum-extraction practices. There are many reasonable ways to manage tradeoffs between economic development and environmental priorities — if environmentalists were interested in reasonable tradeoffs, which they aren’t. Biden, already looking over his shoulder at a restive progressive caucus, apparently intends to buy environmentalists off with other people’s money.
"CNN is making no mistake about it: It wants to censor and close Newsmax from broadcasting as a cable news channel.
"Apparently jolted by the fact Newsmax has skyrocketed to become the 4thhighest-rated cable news channel in the country, the liberal CNN is decrying what it calls Newsmax's "election denialism" and is seeking to have it "deplatformed" from cable and satellite systems across the nation.
"Oliver Darcy, CNN's leftwing media critic, has been demanding cable operators drop Newsmax, which is currently carried by every major system in the nation. Newsmax is also streamed free by most OTT platforms and devices.
"In a CNN columnin early January, Darcy falsely claimed conservative media caused the protests at the Capitol on Jan. 6."
. . .
"In a statement released Sunday, Newsmax said, contrary to Darcy's and Stamos' claims, Newsmax never denied the election results.
"The network called all contested states for Biden as they were certified and accepted him as president-elect Dec. 14, after the meeting of the Electoral College.
"Newsmax also noted, while it justifiably covered the president's allegations about the election, and interviewed his lawyers and supporters – as did Fox News and Fox Business News, it never said all allegations were true.
"The network did note, after years of CNN falsely claiming the Steele Dossier was valid and the Russian collusion claim against Trump was credible, it was never held accountable for its misreporting. Newsmax never called for CNN to be shut down."
As Christopher Arps wrote at RedState, there are more troops guarding the inauguration than there are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. This number is to give off the impression that Trump supporters are violent extremists who may try to storm the Capitol again. It’s more optics than it is for safety.
RedState "Texas Governor Greg Abbott was absolutely disgusted by the “vetting” of National Guardsmen being sent to the Capitol for the swearing-in of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be sure they wouldn’t disrupt proceedings or organize a coup.
"Abbott sent 1,000 members of the Texas National Guard to join the 25,000 National Guard troops to assist with the security detail during the inauguration. When the Washington Post released an article reporting that the Pentagon was going to vet the National Guardsmen for “extremist tendencies,” Abbott took to Twitter to torch the idea and make a threat of pulling Texas troops if they ever did this again.
“ 'This is the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard. No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard,” tweeted Abbott. “I authorized more than 1,000 to go to DC. I’ll never do it again if they are disrespected like this.”
Miami Herald"We’re trying to think of something nice to say about 2020.
"OK, here goes: Nobody got killed by themurder hornets. As far as we know.
"That’s pretty much it.
"In the past, writingthese annual reviews, we have said harsh things aboutprevious years. We owe those years an apology. Compared to 2020, all previous years, even the Disco Era, were the golden age of human existence.
"This was a year of nonstop awfulness, a year when we kept saying it couldn’t possibly get worse, and it always did. This was a year in which our only moments of genuine, unadulterated happiness were when we were able tobuy toilet paper.
"Which is fitting, because 2020 was one long, howling, Category Five crapstorm.
"We sincerely don’t want to relive this year. But our job is to review it. If you would prefer to skip this exercise in masochism, we completely understand.
"If, however, you wish, for some sick reason, to re-experience 2020, now is the time to put on your face mask, douse your entire body withhand sanitizerand then — to be safe — don a hazmat suit, as we look back at the unrelenting insanity of this hideous year, starting with...
"If you don't vote for me, you ain't... receiving these government assistance checks"?
The Political Insider"President-elect Joe Biden announcedthat economic relief for struggling businesses would be based partly on the gender and race of the owners.
"In avideo postedto the Biden-Harris presidential transition team Twitter account, the soon-to-be President admitted his obsession with identity politics by noting skin color and gender would play a part in deciding who gets economic relief from the federal government.
“ 'Our focus will be on small businesses on Main Street that aren’t wealthy and well-connected, that are facing real economic hardships through no fault of their own,” Biden announced.
"He added, “Our priority will be Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild.' ” . . .
