The campus shout-down movement takes its next logical step

Power Line  "Recently, a friend who is enrolled in a graduate program at a prestigious university asked me whether I would be interesting in speaking to a group of students as part of series on public policy the program was holding. She said that all of the speakers so far have been liberal and that I would add a different perspective to the proceedings.

"I responded, chidingly, that I might be risking life and limb if I participated. She assured me that I would be in no jeopardy because I am not a white supremacist.

"I don’t really believe there would much real risk associated with speaking to a handful of graduate students at this university. However, the shout-down movement is not about preventing “white supremacists” from speaking. It is about enforcing left-wing orthodoxy (which, to be sure, now includes the notion that those who reject that orthodoxy are white supremacists).

"Accordingly, the next logical steps in the shout-down movement are (1) to prevent speech by liberals who don’t embrace key tenets of radical leftism and (2) to prevent speech by mainstream conservatives and Republicans." . . .

When Truth Becomes Obscene. Ask Mayim Bialik

Tiffany Kendal Koogler  "The most appalling and troubling spectacle of the American Left’s bag of tricks is their refusal to simply tell the truth. Democratic representative Frederica Wilson, who resembles both a rodeo clown and a pimp from the movie Shaft, said that President Trump has a brain disorder because he told a widow whose husband died in the Special Forces that: “ he knew what he signed up for… but it hurts when it happens anyway.”

"What’s wrong with that statement? Absolutely nothing. It does not detract an iota from the sadness and somberness of the man’s death, but it is true. What else would someone believe being in the Special Forces entailed? An intense game of Scrabble? Ferocious flour sack races at dusk? Death is on the menu." . . .

"Politically correct language is obscene because it is a language whose entire purpose is to swindle. Hurting someone’s tender feelings has become social leprosy, and anyone who is brave enough to speak truth will find themselves shunned by the elites who shape the narrative and hand out the goodies.

"Because the only currency the Left values is stridently not calling something exactly as it is, they could not understand how to advise Hillary on how to be the one thing voters want most of all: to be sincere." . . . Hat tip to Teri Donahue 

Bialik: “I Am Very Sorry” For My Statement About Modesty And Sexual Harassment

I still make choices every day as a 41-year-old actress that I think of as self-protecting and wise. I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with. I dress modestly. I don’t act flirtatiously with men as a policy.

"Bialik knew that would provoke a strong reaction from other feminists in her industry. She included the principle that women should be free from attack intrinsically, but challenged them to change the culture more significantly:" . . .

If Trump had been Barack Obama things would have been just fine

Gold Star Mother Praises Trump, Says Obama Left Tarmac Before All of the Bodies Were Removed from Plane!  . . . "Karen Vaughn, mother of fallen Navy Seal of Aaron Carson Vaughn, praised the president for his kindness to her and her family.

"Karen’s son Navy Seal of Aaron Carson Vaughn was killed in Afghanistan in August 2011.
"Karen Vaughn also told Rose of how Obama took his photo op and then left before all of the bodies were removed from the plane.

Karen Vaughn: So the president stuck around for our ceremony and then left before those bodies came off the plane. And never even went and spoke to those families of the fallen heroes because they weren’t SEAL Team 6 and it would do him no good politically.

"The Gold Star families know who support them."
 "The Dem Party gives license to black members of Congress to go after President Trump because if he responds they’ll just call him racist.

Words of a general who lost a son in combat resonate . . . " 'If anyone thinks you can somehow thank them for their service and not support the cause for which they fight –- America's survival -- then these people are lying to themselves and rationalizing away something in their own lives, but more importantly they are slighting our warriors and mocking their commitment to this nation," Kelly said.

"Added Kelly: "It's not Bush's war. It's not Obama's war. It's our war and we can't run away from it."
"Thousands have been killed or injured in the wars, but they are not victims, Kelly said." . . .

WH: Kelly Felt Trump's Remarks to Widow Were 'Respectful'  . . . "Gen. Kelly was present for the call and thought it was completely appropriate," Sanders told reporters at the daily briefing.
"He thought the call was respectful — and he thought that the president did the best job he could under those circumstances to offer condolences on the part of the country." . . .
"Kelly, who became chief of staff in July, is a retired Marine Corps general whose son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010."

Lowly Liberals Manipulate Gold Star Families in War on Trump

Jason Cartmill comments in Lars Larson's site: "She heard the whole conversation but she didn't hear the whole conversation and can't exactly remember it. Which is it? He said it but he basically said it. Again, which is it? People sometimes only hear what they want they want to hear during normal conversation. Grieving changes perceptions too. None of us were in the car or in the room and have no clue as to what was said or what wasn't said. At this point, any furor over this is purely speculative.....a manufactured outrage."

Trump Call Controversy Brings Out The Trolls To Threaten Florida Congresswoman  . . . "To be clear, Wilson is the typical Democrat, meaning, an insufferable liberal. However, threatening her with violence is not acceptable.

Fake news or corroboration? Can anyone verify the source for this report? Without provenance, the below is useless. TD

Florida Dem Who Criticized Trump for Disrespecting Soldier's Widow Has Terrible Record of Helping Vets

Leah Barkoukis

The congresswoman also opposed numerous bills aimed at improving VA services provided the veterans and their families

"It turns out the Florida Democrat who criticized President Trump this week for making insensitive remarks toward the widow of a fallen U.S. soldier doesn’t exactly have a great track record herself when it comes to helping veterans.

"Congresswoman Frederica Wilson has repeatedly voted against bills that help veterans and their families, according to VoteSmart.org. 

The measures that Wilson opposed included a bill that could have ensured that families of four soldiers slain in Afghanistan in 2013 received death and burial benefits. […]

Despite Wilson's claim to be “committed to honoring our service members, not only with words but with deeds,” she has voted against most bills ensuring continued funding for veteran benefits, including payments to widows of fallen soldiers, the vote-tracking site shows.

She has also opposed measures designed to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In March 2013, Wilson opposed the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act,” which prevented a government shutdown and provided funds for the U.S. military and the VA.The bill, which passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by the Obama administration, provided funding to the military and the VA until the next government shutdown showdown. […]

 

Weinstein's Pimps: Revenge Of The Ugly Girls

Ann Coulter  "Liberalism is a sexual assault protection racket. Judging by the last week's news coverage, EVERYONE in the liberal universe -- Hollywood, the fashion industry, the media and Democratic politics -- knew about Harvey Weinstein's sexual predations and nearly all of them were covering it up. 

"Liberals circle the wagons to protect fellow liberals. All those sacrosanct laws about rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment are the fire ax behind a glass door: "Break in case of conservative." 

"Weinstein admitted as much by immediately responding to the accusations against him by offering to donate money to fight the National Rifle Association. (That's not the thing we're worried about being cocked and loaded, Harvey.) 

"According to Ronan Farrow's comprehensive article in The New Yorker, "(m)ultiple sources" told him how Weinstein bragged that he could use his allies in the press to crush anyone who crossed him. 

"Longtime editor Tina Brown -- ironically, one of Weinstein's erstwhile clean-up gals -- told Charlie Rose: "What I found really unsettling was how many journalists, frankly, were on his payroll. I mean, you know, Harvey would have everyone on his payroll. All the people at the (New York) Post and people in all the tabloids, people writing stuff, entertainment writers, gossip writers." 

"I knew the gossip pages were written by PR agents, but I didn't realize they were written by sexual predators, too. I was curious about exactly who was protecting Harvey and, luckily, I have a Nexis account. The full list would take me well over my word limit, so this column will focus on the tabloid most slavishly devoted to protecting Weinstein's good name: the New York Post. " . . .

"Farrow's sources cited as their proof of how Weinstein could dirty up an accuser the coordinated tabloid attacks on Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez after she reported Weinstein's assault on her to the police in 2015." . . .

Tony Branco

Gold Star mother says Trump showed DISRESPECT as he spoke to her fallen Green Beret son's widow

– as president says congresswoman who claimed he said the hero 'knew what he signed up for' was FABRICATING his words. 
If at my death I were praised by the president saying that I knew what I was enlisting for, I hope my survivors would be proud and honored.* TD

UK Daily Mail  

President Trump phoned Myeshia Johnson on Tuesday afternoon to give his condolences over the death of her husband Sgt. La David Johnson; Rep. Frederica Wilson said Trump told her the slain solider 'knew what he signed up for'

. . . "The Gold Star mother of an Army Special Forces sergeant killed in Niger is backing up a Democratic congresswoman's version of a condolence phone call between family members and Donald Trump, saying the president 'disrespected' them.

"Rep. Frederica Wilson had told reporters Trump dismissively said to Sgt. La David Johnson's widow Myeshia that he 'knew what he signed up for' by enlisting, adding that 'when it happens it hurts anyway.'

" 'Yes the statement is true,' Johnson's mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

" 'I was in the car and I heard the full conversation. Not only did he disrespect my son,' she said, but Trump also disrespected the dead soldier's father and his widow." . . .

The Most Ridiculous Scandal Of The Night Involves Trump And Rep. Frederica Wilson  . . . "Wilson admitted to ABC News that she “didn’t hear the entire conversation” and that she “just can’t remember everything that he [Trump] said. But that stood out in everyone’s, uh heart, on the call. You don’t say that.”

"Wilson proceeded to claim that the partial conversation that she heard was “an insult to the entire Miami Gardens community, to our entire District 24, to Miami-Dade County, and to this nation.”

"The White House officially declined to comment on Wilson’s tirade.

” 'The president’s conversations with the families of American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice are private” a Trump administration spokesman told ABC News." . . .

Bahamian-American Wilson on right

The congresswoman who accused Trump of upsetting a dead soldier's widow has a history of antagonizing Trump

"As a Congresswoman sworn to uphold the Constitution, Rep. Wilson should know better." Commenting on her wanting to lock Zimmerman up "for his own safety"
Sarah Huckabee Sanders says it's 'appalling and disgusting' that congresswoman 'politicized' Trump's call to a soldier's widow
Rep. Wilson misspelled The young widow's name.

Michelle Malkin on this:  ✔

I call bullshit. This is hearsay, uncorroborated, and out of context pot-stirring by Dem partisans riding the impeachment bandwagon--and recycled by lemmings masquerading as journalists.#fakenewshttps://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/920505428735352832 …12:11 AM - Oct 18, 2017

Twitter Ads info and privacy

. . . Wilson admitted she did not hear the whole call.

“Now I didn’t hear the entire conversation,” she told WPLG,  “but when I tried to find out what the entire conversation was, she said I just can’t remember everything that he said. But that stood out in everyone’s, uh heart, on the call.' ” . . .

Obama pictured saluting soldier's casket. I considered this a cheap trick by a president who loved to inject himself into every significant event, and, like Bill Clinton, wanted to play the role of loving his troops. This was early in his administration and I consider him to have been hoping for street cred with America's troops. 
I cannot believe his mentors Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright would have approved without knowing it was a necessary political posture. TD

* Please excuse my using four personal pronouns ("I"). After eight years of Obama his speech patterns have become mine. TD

Kaepernick’s Collusion Claim Is a Likely Loser

Andrew C. McCarthy

"He’s not good enough to require collusion against him."

"If you’re going to do Muhammad Ali–type activism, you’d better have Muhammad Ali–type talent. That is the ultimate lesson of the Colin Kaepernick saga. 

"The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who has been without a team this season, announced this week that he will file a grievance against the NFL. Collusion, he claims, can be the only explanation for his unemployment: The league and its owners, fueled by President Trump’s “partisan political provocation,” have schemed to blackball him in violation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the players’ union. 

"Kaepernick appears to be within his CBA rights to file the grievance, and to do so personally — i.e., to challenge the league and its owners on his own, rather than through the NFL Players Association. But unless some of the owners and league officials have said or written idiotic things in meetings, emails, text messages, and the like, the collusion suit should be a loser. There is no need to collude against a player who is not an obvious net-plus (in terms of performance and popularity) for any particular team. 

". . . No player has been cut or suspended in the wake of the presidential outbursts, which markedly increased the number of players protesting. Trump has crystallized the public anger over the protest as only his bully pulpit can, but he has had no impact on the status of Kaepernick or any other player.

"So let’s talk Colin Kaepernick." . . .   Read more.

British Socialist healthcare provokes fury with indefinite surgery ban for smokers and obese

Infidel Bloggers video

UK Telegraph  . . ."The CCGs said: “This policy is designed to improve patient safety and outcomes, both during and immediately after non-urgent surgery.  No financial savings are expected as a result of these measures.  We do however hope to improve the long-term health of our residents through the targeted stop-smoking and weight-loss support on offer to patients.” 

"Joyce Robins, from Patient Concern, said: “This is absolutely disgraceful - we all pay our taxes, and the NHS should be there when we need it; we did not agree to a two-tier system.”

"The CCGs already delay surgery for up to nine months for those with a high BMI, telling them to lose at least 10 per cent of their weight.

"The new rules increase the amount of weight the heaviest patients must lose -  and crucially, they mean those who fail to lose weight or give up smoking could wait indefinitely.

"The restrictions mean those with a Body Mass Index of 30 or more will be set targets to reduce their weight by 10 per cent over nine months, with those with a BMI over 40 will be told to cut their weight by 15 per cent.

"At the end of the nine months, any patient who failed to lose enough weight will have their circumstances “considered by a clinical panel” a spokeswoman said." . . .

Healthcare “Death Panels” Alive and Well in Britain  "Government “death panels” may still be years if not decades away here in the United States. But in Great Britain, which has suffered under socialized medicine since 1948, such panels — unlike the patients whose treatment they have denied — are alive and well. Despite the government’s best efforts to get them to pay for lifesaving cancer treatments, they continue to withhold these drugs on the basis that they cost too much, according to a report in the London Sunday Telegraph."'

McCain's amnesia on Obama's foreign policy failures

Jack Hellner

McCain received his medal from Joe Biden.

. . . "Somehow, Senator McCain was able to stand and watch as:

• Obama, Hillary, and Kerry essentially bragged about leading from behind.
• Obama said he wanted to remake America.
• Obama went around the world apologizing for what America had previously done.
• Obama drew the fictitious red line in Syria.
• North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Iran were essentially able to do whatever they wanted with almost zero consequences.
• Obama tried to undermine Israeli elections.
• Obama sold uranium to Russia.
• We paid ransom – over a billion dollar in cash – to Iran.
• Obama considered ISIS the J.V. team.

"How could McCain have watched everything Obama did from his seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and not given a speech about abdicating American leadership?  I would love to have McCain or anyone else list Obama's foreign policy successes and how they maintained our leadership position that McCain says is now under attack because of Trump." . . .

Jefferson Davis School In Mississippi To Be Renamed After Barack Obama
More worthy, I feel are Allen B. West or Doctor Ben Carson schools.

Pyongyang from above: Interactive 360-degree video shows colourful tower blocks, empty roads and infamous Hotel of Doom in North Korean capital

UK Daily Mail  "A photographer has pulled off a world-first by recording a 360-degree video of the North Korean capital city. Following the Taedong River, Aram Pan - flying in a microlight - captures colourful tower blocks and factories. 
"Also visible in the video are the infamous Hotel of Doom, huge Kim Il-sung Square and the iconic Juche Tower. But the appropriately named Pan said despite his unprecedented access, he was still forced to delete material."
. . . 
"A photographer has pulled off a world-first by recording a 360-degree video of the most secretive capital city in the world from a microlight.

"In the spectacular video - which can be moved in any direction by the viewer with a cursor while it plays - Pyongyang's colourful apartment blocks, smoking chimneys and amazingly traffic-free roads can be seen below." . . .

Dare we hope this photographer doesn't come back a lover of the Kim's the way our ping-pong team came back from China praising "Mao-thought"? TD

Is Trump obsessed with wrecking Obama's legacy or simply keeping his promises?

How can the disliked-by-the-press Trump succeed against a celebrity president with a personal hagiographic press following like Obama? TD

American Thinker  . . . "Charles Blow at nytimes.com expands on Axelrod's theme, contending that "Trump's consuming obsession with undoing everything Obama did" is because it is "cold and miserable standing in the shadow of someone greater and smarter, more loved and more admired."

"Blow adds: "There is a thing present in Obama and absent from Trump that no amount of money or power can alter: a sense of elegant intellectualism and taste."

While I regard this petulant, vindictive - I won't say "narcissist" because that word, though unarguably accurate - has been overworked as much as Obama's use of personal pronouns (I. me, my, mine). I still see Obama gloating at his State of the Union, saying, "I won both of them!" 

He loved to say, "my military" as we all watched Iranian vessels swooping in on US Navy ships with neither fear nor respect, adversary Russian planes roaring just feet away from "Obama's warships" and that humiliating video of Iranians forcing Obama's sailors to their knees with hands on their heads, one weeping. TD

. . . "Howard Fineman at huffingtonpost.com says the "conventional wisdom about President Donald Trump is clear enough: He's an infantile, ignorant moron," adding that "Democrats hope against hope that he will be impeached over Russia."

Hanson replies: "Thinking (or hoping) that President Trump will implode, quit, be jailed, sicken, die, or be impeached is not an agenda."

Fineman further observes that "if Trump is a moron, he is a moron on a mission – and with more method to his madness than his enemies understand or want to

consider."  "The tweets are a useful distraction – a kind of air cover for his carpet bombing of federal policy and programs." . . .

. . . 

"Buckley adds that the Iran deal "was a treaty that should never have been adopted without two-thirds approval in the Senate, as required by the Constitution":

From 2013 to 2017 we experienced a period of monarchical government under good King Obama and his executive diktats. Under Trump we're seeing a return to constitutional government. Sometimes that means that things don't happen, and don't get passed. But if so, it's as the Framers intended.

"Roger Kimball, writing at amgreatness.com, concludes that "on the ground, in the real world, Trump is methodically pushing ahead with the agenda he campaigned on."  "In all of these areas, Trump is proceeding not as a wrecking ball but as a deliberate, if often voluble and sometimes exasperating, agent of change."

" 'Either way," Hanson adds, "the Trump presidency is moving at a speed likely unmatched by his predecessors, and he is getting somewhere fast.' ".

The Free Speech Tax at UNC-Gomorrah

Mike Adams

"The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) has long been a cesspool of moral rot and corruption. My longtime readers will recall that the first speech I ever gave on a college campus was at UNCG in 2004. The university had just spent $3,000 the night before to fund a speech by a porn star that referred to herself as the “Queen of Anal Sex” (I promise I am not making this up). But they refused to fund my speech on the First Amendment because it was “too offensive.” To cap it off, UNCG told the College Republicans (CRs) that “political” groups were not eligible for funding. This classification violated a Supreme Court case decided back in 2000.

"It is now 2017, and UNCG is still violating the Constitution in an effort to deter organizations from bringing in conservative speakers. In fact, it has gotten worse as their administrators are now violating their own classification policies in order to implement viewpoint discrimination. This time, they are doing it by unlawfully assessing a fee for the venue where Dinesh D'Souza will speak on November 2 nd .

"The controversy began when conservative UNCG students invited Dinesh D'Souza to speak on their campus through Young America's Foundation's (YAF) nationwide campus lecture program. Students requested funding for the lecture. When they later booked a venue for the lecture, UNCG administrators requested a copy of the speaker contract. As soon as they saw YAF on the contract, administrators disregarded their own rules and reclassified the event, requiring a venue fee not charged to students or recognized student groups that host events on campus." . . .