Weasel Zippers "Ouch"
.@ErikWemple, during an appearance on CNN's Reliable Sources, calls out CNN for allowing the Cuomo-Cuomo "love-a-thon" interviews last year but suspending them now that the governor is in the midst of a scandal:
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 14, 2021
"It is a major black eye for this network." pic.twitter.com/jMX1ppqO4T
He also amped up his critique of what he described as the military’s focus on identity politics, noting that Biden recently announced the Pentagon would pay for gender reassignment surgery for active-duty personnel.
HBO "The Pacific"; language advisory
The Epoch Times "A U.S. Marine Corps unit’s Twitter account says it “messed up” in its comments while responding to Fox News host Tucker Carlson as part of a debate over his commentary about U.S. servicewomen.
"The official account for the II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group used a pejorative on social media in responding to Carlson’s recent statements on how the military should be focused more on adversaries and less on culture issues." . . .
"The Marines shared a picture of a female soldier carrying a male one and tagged Carlson, writing that the photo showed “what it looks like in today’s armed forces.”
“ 'Get right before you get left, boomer,” the account said, using a word widely considered a pejorative term."
“How do sex changes in the military make this country safer? That’s not a trick question. It’s not another volley in the culture war. It’s the only question that matters—literally, the only question that matters. But no one bothered to ask it, probably because no one can remember why the U.S. military exists,” Carlson said.
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How long before CNN starts screaming that Biden stole the election? "Well, my friend is OK, but lots of colleagues may not be. According to news reports, the post-Trump blues have hit cable news:
Cable news ratings for the first quarter are in and they show big drops across the board for CNN and MSNBC and even to Fox News, but to a lesser extent.
"Is anyone surprised? After further review, the three biggest losers were Don Lemon, Anderson Cooper, and Chris Cuomo. The advertisers, or the people who pay the invoices, won't enjoy hearing that Chris Hayes, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Don Lemon are not cutting it with that coveted "P25–54 Demo." . . .
When Kenosha Might Have Burned Again, Local TV News Coverage Calmed the Flames their Broadcast Networks Fanned "The CBS national reporter divulged that “prosecutors say that Blake was holding a knife when Officer Sheskey shot him multiple times in the back” (echoing the anchor’s opening to the half hour) and related the finding of self-defense without providing any detail. The story emphasized the city’s being “on edge” and bracing for more trouble. How does such “reportage” help to ease tensions?
The NBC national anchor’s provocative and, according to the press conference being “reported,” misleading opening words for the entire program were, “No charges for the police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back.” He later remarked that Blake was shot “in the back as he leaned into a car.”
As on CBS, there was immediate focus on the “mounting outrage” in Kenosha. The reporter parroted: “seven times in the back.” He related the D.A.’s statement that Blake was armed with a knife and that the officer “could have successfully argued self-defense.” Brief video footage of Graveley does relay his description of the domestic abuse call and of the warrant. Also, the reporter spoke of Blake walking to the car with his three young sons, citing family members instead of the official report which stated that the children (or one child?) were already in the car. Appended to this story was a video clip from Dateline NBC, in which Blake’s father said that his son suffered “seven shots to the back” for not stopping when hateful police officers commanded it. " . . .
"Jen Psaki, Joe Biden’s press secretary, twists and turns to avoid giving any credit at all to President Trump for getting Covid vaccines produced and to market so quickly. She tries to make it sound like anything Trump did was inconsequential. Trump’s Operation Warp Speed supercharged the process, so the vaccines got out far faster than anyone even thought possible. Trump set it all up, but the vaccines came online during Biden’s time.
"Biden’s administration is trying to take all the credit and it ain’t a-washing. Judging from what we’ve seen so far, Biden’s people couldn’t have done what Trump’s people did. It required real-world competence, something always in short supply on the left, which is perhaps part of the reason they are so given to lying.
"Though senior covid administrator Andy Slavitt openly recognizes the Trump contribution, we’ll probably never hear Psaki truthfully handle questions on the subject. Thankfully (for the cause of fairness), reporters have been pestering the hapless Psaki about it .
"All of this transpired within the past few months. America recalls who did what about these vaccines. In their desperation to avoid saying anything good about Trump, the Biden Administration has hung young Jen Psaki out to dry. She doesn’t seem to realize she’s publicizing that Democrats are liars and cheats, not to mention morally small and embarrassingly petty."
"To be sure, the powers behind the scenes don’t seem to realize that, either. It’s painful to watch the woman answer questions, always having to “circle back,” obviously uneasy at not having full command of whatever subject – especially when we’d gotten used to the seemingly effortless professionalism of Kayleigh McEnany.
"It’s gotta suck to be Jen Psaki."
See, the White House had asked reporters earlier in the day to spread their preferred messaging that the speech was uplifting, unifying, and hopeful. So they did. Before he gave it, the media dutifully claimed that was what the speech would do. After the speech was over, they reiterated this propaganda talking point, even though the speech was not at all what was promised.
Biden's speech without the media filter was unmemorable at best, and depressing at worst. With the media filter, however, it was the best speech you've ever heard.
Biden Says If Everyone Is On Their Best Behavior He Might Allow Some Limited Freedoms On July 4https://t.co/qEdIhHrbDV
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) March 12, 2021
"It’s embarrassing. Our corrupt, partisan media are embarrassing.
"Thursday night, President Joe Biden gave a speech to mark the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s delayed acknowledgment of the COVID-19 pandemic that China unleashed upon the world. The media swooned.
"The speech was delivered off a Teleprompter by a man who wasn’t inspiring even when he had better command of his faculties decades ago. It was ungracious, going out of its way to refuse to acknowledge his predecessor’s Operation Warp Speed, the only pandemic response that has worked. And it worked so well: throwing money at private developers and getting rid of regulatory hurdles to do the impossible of obtaining vaccines within a few months.
"The dark and depressing speech was reminiscent of Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” talks. He painted a horrible future with threatened future lockdowns if the people didn’t keep following his rules. The best-case scenario, he argued, was that if everyone did what he wanted, he’d let people have very small backyard barbecues with just a few select people on Independence Day.
“Just two to four Independence Day lockdowns to slow the spread!” is not a particularly uplifting sentiment. The Washington Post had claimed earlier this week that Biden was “impregnable” to mockery, but somehow it wasn’t difficult for the two main satirical news sites to do that immediately:" . . . More...
“Does the White House think it’s a problem that when the CDC tells these migrant shelter facilities that they can be at full capacity — if they’re careful about COVID — many of them do, but when the CDC tells schools that they can open in person at full capacity, many of them don’t?” he asked.
"Doocy pointed out that very few schools are operating at full capacity and asked, “Have the Border Patrol unions and the HHS unions been easier to work with than the teachers’ unions?”
Psaki appeared stunned, as she so often does when asked a substantive question. After some back and forth with the pair comparing American schools with child migrant detention centers and the education opportunities in each of them, Paski deflected and laughed.
“ 'I think that’s a little bit of mixing different circumstances. I would say that,” she said with a smile.
Doocy wasn’t laughing.
“ 'It’s children all in tight quarters … that’s not funny,” he said.
"Doocy appears to be the only person in the White House briefing room these days doing work on behalf of the American people and the country’s embattled youth. Biden has created a humanitarian crisis at the once-secured border. Psaki, accustomed to the Biden-friendly media, apparently thought a laugh would get her out of a tight situation." . . . More...
. . . "Hartley wrote one of the most egregious examples was a headline "Meghan’s seed will taint our Royal Family," that was shown during a montage.
" 'The original, unedited, headline in fact was a report of the suspension from UKIP of someone over this and other racist texts about Meghan. The headline you have broadcast is neither accurate nor could it be said to be an expression of ‘creative integrity.’ It is a thoroughly dishonest misrepresentation of a newspaper headline and article which was the opposite of racist. No one viewing the programme would have understood this from the montage," Hartley wrote. "Associated Newspapers unquestionably supports freedom of speech and the First Amendment. We do not believe in seeking to stifle debate or criticism based on accurate facts. That is however demonstrably not the position in relation to this montage."
"The letter then claimed the CBS special’s creators "seemingly felt the need to create these headlines in the absence of evidence to support their point on a subject the ramifications of which are extremely important and damaging" and the result reflects poorly on producers.
" 'In light of the above, and given that these inaccurate statements have been the subject of prominent public analysis in the UK, we anticipate that you will already be taking steps to investigate the montage and address how it came to be produced. In the meantime it continues to be made available by you to viewers on demand. If you are not making enquiries, then you must do so, if you stand by the principles of accuracy and integrity which you espouse, and remove the montage from the footage without delay," Hartley wrote before adding images of examples." . . .More...
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| Tony Branco |
"Once Joe Biden took office, his administration wasted no time getting the MSM to amplify the claim that the Trump administration did not give them a Wuhan coronavirus vaccine rollout plan. As we reported in January, CNN ran a big story the day after Biden’s inauguration, which quoted anonymous Biden officials saying they were having to “start from scratch” on the rollout.
"It wasn’t just anonymous officials making a claim. Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, told Meet the Press that “the process to distribute the vaccine… did not really exist when we came into the White House.” Biden himself called the vaccine rollout a “dismal failure thus far” and initially set a goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days (he later upped it to 150 million vaccinations in 100 days).
"The problem with the allegation that the Biden team had to “start from scratch,” which Vice President Kamala Harris also claimed, is that it simply wasn’t true. Former Operation Warp Speed staffers, some of them from Trump’s HHS department, were not the only ones stepping forward to refute it with details they said the Biden team left out. Biden’s chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci pushed back on the CNN report as well.
"Not long after Harris made her comments, however, Fauci reversed course and stated he agreed with her more or less. He apparently got the memo that everyone had to be working off the same “start from scratch” page." . . .Read on...
One of cancel culture's intrinsic characteristics is its refusal ever to forgive. In fact, that's its defining characteristic. That's why it's a cancel culture. You can't cancel and forgive at the same time — that's a cognitive disconnect. . . .
"As such, cancel culture is primarily a form of virtue-signaling. It satisfies the imposer more than any supposed victim. In fact, the true victims have often died and passed on generations ago. Canceling people from the distant past obviously doesn't change anything they did. It doesn't change the actual events of history. The virtue-signaling is merely a form of attention-seeking behavior
"The practitioners of cancel culture should be careful. Their approach means that the parameters of safe thought and expression tend to shrink and become ever stricter, with safe behavior becoming a moving target that changes daily. This is typical of all attention-seeking behavior. The status quo never garners sufficient attention. That fluidity drives extremism, so today's practitioners may easily become tomorrow's victims.
"With all this in mind, we should think long and hard before embracing a mindset that a single offense merits permanent banishment of an individual or group from human society. Such an approach will not end well. It never has."
Maybe the pendulum is starting to swing on cancel culture . . . "In the face of Morgan's refusal to do the usual groveling that we've come to expect from celebrities on the receiving end of the woke mob's cancel culture, something amazing happened. While 41,000 may have whined about Morgan, over 220,000 people had petitioned for Morgan to be returned to Good Morning Britain.
"Those numbers are an excellent and much needed reminder that cancel culture is driven by a vocal minority. The majority of people who resent it still have the power to push back."
On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions. pic.twitter.com/bv6zpz4Roe
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 10, 2021
. . . "By the way, if you want to help push back against Critical Race Theory, here's a good cause: William Clark is a high school senior in Las Vegas. He is biracial, with the "bi" in his racial being black. His mother, also biracial, is raising him alone. William attends a charter school, where he is the student with the lightest skin. The school, therefore, insisted that he denounce himself as a "privileged" "oppressor." When he refused, the school gave him a failing grade. Instead of caving, he sued. You can see his mother on Tucker Carlson here and donate here to help his legal fund. (I did.)
"And there's one more entrant in the category of people pushing back against cancel culture: Andrew Cuomo." . . . Read on...
Skidmore student claims ‘cancel culture campaign’ prevented formation of conservative club . . . "Davis says she and her classmate were targets of a “cancel culture campaign” in which members of the student body created a petition claiming that YAL groups were “springboards for hate speech and bigotry disguised as political discourse.” As of Wednesday, the petition had 1,765 signatures. Skidmore has approximately 2,600 undergraduate students.
“ 'I actually chose Young Americans for Liberty because I thought that students would be … receptive to it, because it wasn’t a partisan group … I was clearly wrong about that.” Davis said." . . .
When on the Oregon Coast I observed women Coastguardsmen and was impressed with their competence. One can feel the wisdom in bringing these women into our military service as the Israelis have. Casting doubt on this administration's motives is simply the silliness, extreme silliness, of those making decisions for our military.
I see their purposes as political and very unwise, pleasing only the youthful crowds wearing pink pussyhats in the streets and displaying "social justice" slogans whose words defy reasonable thinking. One does feel fear when associating our military age women with those tearing down historical monuments of our nation. My fears for this generation are somewhat relieved when seeing such people standing to protect what lesser people want to destroy; lesser people allied with elected demagogues in government who have no regard for our nation and her principles. The Tunnel Dweller
Conservative firing Line "On Thursday, Joe Biden’s Pentagon launched an offensive against Fox News host Tucker Carlson in response to his criticism of remarks made by the president.
"“Some of it’s relatively straightforward work where we’re making good progress. Designing body armor that fits women properly, tailoring combat uniforms for women, creating maternity flight suits, updating requirements for their hairstyles,” Biden said, prompting criticism from Carlson.
"The Defense Department responded harshly, falsely claiming the host “dissed” diversity. Part of the coordinated assault included a somewhat juvenile report titled, “Press Secretary Smites Fox Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military.”
" 'Smites?” “Dissed?” Yes, that’s what the official Pentagon website said." . . .
Keep reading...
DOD declares cold war with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson after host’s put down of women in military One reader commented:
"We certainly respect and appreciate all the amazing contributions of women in our military--past and present, and future. However, it seems to me that putting women on the front lines of battle is clear sign of societal decay; it is not decent. Some call this chauvinistic, while it is really chivalrous--if not just sensible.
We should expect our society to protect and revere women--especially pregnant women
Another comment:
Carlson has a very good point. Pretending that pregnant women in combat is a good thing, and a good way to win battles is simply absurd, even if wildly popular among the woke warrior circles. You know it is rampant political correctness and refusal to admit reality when a USMC MGYSGT says "...decisions by military and health care officials to support women, like giving female service members “more time with their children, to recuperate, to get fit and ready ... actually makes us a more lethal, and ready and fit force.”
So, having a soldier/sailor/airman or Marine away from their unit to do all that "mommy stuff" "actually makes us a more lethal, and ready and fit force?” No, it does not. Not at all! Someone else has to do the work that the mommy was not there for in her unit. If mommy missed training taking place, either individually or especially as part of team training, then gets left behind for mommy stuff that results in a degradation of that team's readiness when the billet is left unfilled, or filled with someone who did not train as part of the team.
Women in the military are fine, but not in combat units while pregnant. Anyone who says their being there while pregnant is a plus is ignoring reality of morning sickness, frequent urination needs, hormonal changes, and other basic biological changes. Not to mention the possible damage to the "viable tissue mass" within the woman.
But, those basic realities conflict with the mantra of the left that all forms of diversity are good and somehow make our military stronger, so it will not be tolerated. Carlson is right in his criticism.
Feminizing Boys as We Masculinize Girls
We shall see. Sweden is experimenting with trying to make its pre-schools as gender-neutral as possible, but this necessarily means a reversal of the usual sex roles. The headline of a front page story in the New York Times several days ago reads “In Sweden’s Preschools, Boys Learn to Dance and Girls Learn to Yell.” Is this the wave of the future? If so, decades of research suggest that it is a very uncertain one.
Courage, Fox News.
Daily Wire "Fox News host Tucker Carlson blasted the Biden administration on Thursday night for using the US military to attack his show after he called out controversial things the Pentagon is doing.
“ 'So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the US military,” Carlson said. “While China’s military becomes more masculine … our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine. It’s out of control and the Pentagon’s going along with this. Again, this is a mockery of the US military and its core mission, which is winning wars.”
"The Biden administration responded by publishing an attack on the Fox News host that was posted on the Department of Defense’s official website.
“ 'Press Secretary Smites Fox Host That Dissed Diversity in US Military,” the headline of the piece stated, which stated that Carlson was perhaps attempting to compensate for something because he might “feel like” he has “something to prove.”
"Carlson issued a blistering response to the Biden administration’s attack, stating, “Finding the most effective military pilots or infantry officers or SEAL teams is not [Biden’s] priority.' ”
“ 'It’s not even close to his priority. Identity politics is Joe Biden’s priority,” Carlson continued. “It’s all that matters.' ”
"Joe Biden signed an executive order this week that makes transgender surgery free for the military. From now on US taxpayers will pay for the medical procedures and surgery for transgender candidates.
"The operation is not cheap and can add up to $200,000 per patient. No doubt, this will drive more trans men and women into the military. It’s not clear how this helps the military. But, whatever.
"The Washington Examiner reported:
Taxpayers will now foot the bill for gender reassignment surgery for active military personnel and veterans, with some treatments costing upward of $200,000 under an executive order signed by President Biden.
Tucked inside Biden’s Jan. 25 transgender order, “Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform,” is a clause that repeals an Obama-era policy that prohibited federally funded reassignment surgery. This was followed up by memos from both Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough specifically stating that surgery is now an added benefit.
“This revised policy will also ensure all medically-necessary transition related care authorized by law is available to all Service members,” Austin wrote." . . .
As I have said often, with Democrats we wake up every day wondering what our government will do to this nation and its people. TD
