The Banality of Beto. "Come together"?

Tony Branco

Power Line  "I think I’ve figured it out: Beto O’Rourke is just a younger version of Howard Schultz, spewing forth empty platitudes while hopped up on too much Red Bull or something. Clichés sound so much better when said at high energy! I wonder if the Democrats will have to spread the podiums further apart in their televised debates to prevent injuries when Beto extends his full condor-length wingspan?

"Trump has already figured this out, and Beto will go down next to “Low Energy Jeb” as the handsy candidate who can put even Joe Biden to shame. Jimmy Fallon gets it, too: (Video)
. . . 
"P.S. Even The New Republic has figured Beto out:

The Profound Emptiness of Beto O’Rourke

. . . His rhetoric is as empty as his platform, his paeans to “coming together” the stuff of Obama fanfic. . .

O’Rourke’s posts resemble sophomoric creative nonfiction. They’re maudlin, confusing the expression of emotion with profundity. They’re formless, written in a quasi-literary clipped style. And they’re self-serious, filled with banal observations about the experiences that characterize American political life. But these sketches are also littered with stump-speech cliches. . .

O’Rourke lacks any platform whatsoever. He has no signature idea, and we know little about his political positions beyond the mushy centrism he exhibited in Congress.

Bobby O'Rourke's Gaffetastic Day  . . . "Apologizing for a lousy attempt at humor is one thing. But the outrage mob was lying in wait for O'Rourke and he gave them an obvious opening with his self-deprecating crack. Presidential candidates in 2020 are going to have to walk on eggshells, weighing every word for its potential "insensitivity." In this case, activists complained that a woman couldn't make the same joke, so it was insensitive." . . .

. . . "A 15-year-old daydreaming about a "moneyless society" is pretty common. But "sweet visions filling my head" after running over a couple of "happy happy" kids with his car is definitely not common. I have to ask it: what do you think the reaction would have been if a Republican candidate had written that? Every amateur Democratic mental health professional would declare the candidate unfit for office.

"But for Beto? His apology suffices:" . . .

Beto O'Rourke Is the Candidate For Vapid Morons
"Vapid: offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging."

. . . “My sense is, following some success that I had in Congress, and working with Republicans to actually get things signed into law, including both President Obama and President Trump’s administrations, that I may have an ability to work with people who think differently than I do, come to a different conclusion that I’ve come to on a given issue, and yet find enough common ground to do something better than what we have right now.”

If you finish that passage and think you’ve just read something positive about a Democratic presidential candidate, then—to warp the old Jeff Foxworthy bit—you might be Beto O’Rourke’s constituency.

Democrat Lawmakers Admit During Private Meeting They Don’t Know What Anti-Semitism Looks Like

Free Beacon

Omar doesn't respond when asked to 'affirm Israel’s right to exist'

"A meeting of Democratic lawmakers about anti-Semitism in the party included anti-Semitic jokes and unapologetic members of Congress, the Washington Post reports." . . .

The meeting was supposed to ease tensions between Muslim and Jewish Democrats. It ended with tears.

. . . "Rep. Dean Phillips (D., Minn.), a Jew who represents a district neighboring Omar's, told the room he considered her comments to be "tips of the arrow" of Jew hatred in America. 
"According to "several participants" who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity, 
Phillips asked Omar to apologize and "publicly affirm Israel’s right to exist and protect itself."

Phillips's request that Omar support the right of Jews to exist in the Jewish state and in the United States "stunned the three Muslim Democrats in the room."

"Omar did not reply to the Jewish member's request. Instead, one of her allies responded by changing the subject to the Palestinians. Tlaib "grew emotional and started to cry as she spoke of her grandmother’s suffering in the West Bank at the hands of Israelis," according to the Post.

"Tlaib has faced scrutiny for ties to anti-Semitism and for anti-Semitic comments of her own. In January, she accused senators supporting pro-Israel policies of acting as if they "represent" a country other than the United States. Maher Abdel-qader, one of Tlaib's top campaign volunteers and fundraisers, promotes anti-Semitic conspiracies." . . .

The terrible beauty of George Frideric Handel’s Israel in Egypt

The Bridgehead

"When George Frideric Handel’s Israel in Egypt premiered at the King’s Theatre in Haymarket on April 4, 1739, the audience disliked it. They disliked it so much, in fact, that when Handel put his new oratorio—the first of two he would write that consisted entirely of verses from Scripture—into the opera season, it was cancelled for lack of subscribers. Handel began to rework it, importing arias from other pieces of music, and then resurrected his masterpiece in 1756. The back-to-back thundering choruses and vivid imagery of God’s battle with Egypt on behalf of Israel soon made the oratorio one of Handel’s most beloved pieces, second only to the Messiah. “Handel understands effect better than any of us,” Mozart enviously observed. “When he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.”

"Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending a magnificent performance of Israel in Egypt put on by the University of Toronto Schola Cantorum, the Collegium Musicum, the Choir of the Theatre of Early Music, and the Clarion Choir, directed by Jeanne Lamon and Daniel Taylor and hosted by St. Patrick’s Shrine Church (built in 1881) in downtown Toronto. It was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, the music tearing the audience from the tyranny of the present and at the height of several of the choruses, seeming to break free of time itself. Handel’s soaring music and Scripture’s solemn words arch over time, fusing us with past centuries until the choruses of then and now and in between form a perfect continuum and one can only listen in awe and contemplate the transcendence of true praise." . . .

. . .
Finally:  "When the choirs fell silent after a full evening heavy with meaning, the voices died away to the echoes of the eternal. This was real music, the music of the spheres. The audience sat for a moment, and then began to applaud. The standing ovation carried on until the singers and musicians finally began to file out of the church. Hundreds of years after Handel put the story of Israel’s captivity in Egypt to music, the power of the piece has only grown, contrasted as it now is by the tawdry counterfeit pop that passes for “praise and worship” today. In an age of cheap modernity, Handel’s oratorios soar to ever-greater heights." . .  .

CNN Gets Blasted for Propaganda Promoting Indoctrinated Kids “Demanding” Action On Climate Change

100PercentFedUp  "CNN is all in on the climate change scam and they don’t even sugar coat their propaganda.

"They released a video showing indoctrinated climate kids around the world “demanding” action on climate change. They got a day off school for the “Climate Strike”. What kid wouldn’t do this to get a day off school?

"It’s hard to miss the sign as the video opens.

"It says: “WE DON’T WANT TO DIE”

. . . 

"The ‘Green New Deal’ has been laughed out of Congress so far. Even leftist Democrats are backpedaling to say that this deal needs some work and that it was just an initial plan they rolled out at first.

"Watch as Feinstein hysterically comes back at these little Snowflakes with brutal honesty:

“ 'I’ve been doing this for 30 years. You come in here and say it has to be my way or the highway. I don’t respond to that…I know what I’m doing. Maybe people should listen a little bit.”

"She totally dunks on these kids being used as props." . . .

Former Navy SEAL Suggests 3 Reasons Young People Are Buying into Socialism
. . . "After arm-wrestling and talking for a long time about the former Navy SEAL’s own journey in politics, Crenshaw was questioned on why so many of today's young people are going all-in on the “democratic socialism” touted by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders.

 "According to Crenshaw, there are three main culprits:"

1. No gratitude for the founding principles.  . . .

2. The belief that their generation is better than all other generations. . . . 

3. The internet. . . .

The s-word will scupper Democrats’ 2020 hopes of beating Donald Trump

Scupper: Pretty much down the drain.

Niall Ferguson: Trump is gleefully using socialism as a stick to beat his opposition with    "Last week I began to understand how the Democrats will lose the 2020 presidential election. The reality is that they are not one party, but two: a liberal and a socialist. The former can beat Trump — but not if it is associated with the latter. Socialism is a term for so long regarded as anathema in the US that it used to be avoided altogether: instead of “socialism”, one said either “progressive” or “the s-word”.

"These days, however, the s-word is no longer taboo. The Democrats, in their eagerness to recruit a new generation of young voters, have admitted a faction of radical ideologues into their midst.

"Exhibit A is the Green New Deal unveiled on Thursday by the Bronx’s very own La Pasionaria, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), and the rather less glamorous 72-year-old Massachusetts senator Ed Markey." . . .

From 2017: Wikileaks: Mexican Drug Kingpin, El Chapo, Donated 15M to Clinton Foundation

From way back in 2017, did we all not know this?

Wikileaks: Mexican Drug Kingpin, El Chapo, Donated 15M to Clinton Foundation

London (Wikileaks) 

"Julian Assange launched an attack on the integrity of the Clinton Foundation with the latest intelligence report that says the organization had ties with Mexican drug cartel leader, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán.

"Guzman, widely known as ‘El Chapo’, has an estimated net worth of $2 billion USD. He is currently incarcerated in a high-security Mexican prison and is in the process of being extradited to the United States.

"Speaking at a conference over the weekend, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks stated the report was “yet another blow to the questionable integrity of the Clinton Foundation.”

"A report from intelligence officials found with “high confidence” that $320M Mexican Pesos (approximately $15M USD) was transferred from Guzman’s offshore shell assets in Saudi Arabia and Ukraine to Hillary Clinton’s private account in the Cayman Islands. This was then redirected to the Clinton."

C'mon, FoxNews! BE Fox News! Whatever happened to ..."and still unafraid"?

Why does the never-ending call for "dialogue" between non-Muslims and Muslims in this country exclude asking Jeanine’s hard question relating to possible conflicts between a Muslim congresswoman's fidelity to Islamic teachings and the Constitution? M. Catharine Evans

Fox News pulls Judge Jeanine Pirro off the air – for now, at least
"The outrage industry has claimed a temporary victory at Fox News, or so it seems. 
. . . "I certainly hope that Fox News will not be bullied into cancelling Judge Pirro’s show entirely, though I fear that massive pressure is being brought upon them, via threats of advertiser boycotts, to do just that. She brings a unique brand of exuberant frankness to her reviews of the week and her interviews."

Judge Jeanine is right -- Fox News is wrong  . . . "The funny thing is the judge's logical examination of the origin of Omar's anti-Semitic statements was neither bigoted, nor false, nor inciteful. 

"She asked a valid question." . . . M. Catharine Evans

Judge Jeanine’s constitutionally correct question about Sharia law  . . . "Last week, Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro found herself in curious hot water for asking a legitimate question about Ilhan Omar: "Omar wears the hijab, which according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won’t get molested. Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?' ". . . 
. . . "The question of whether Sharia or any foreign laws, including those from socialist regimes, may be used to dilute or even construe American constitutional law is fundamental to our national political debate. Those who seek to suppress that debate in their pursuit of political correctness do substantial harm to the First Amendment under which they purportedly operate." . . . Mark J. Fitzgibbons

Was Judge Jeanine Pirro's question about Ilhan Omar all that outrageous?
. . . "It was clumsy and dumb -- sharia law has a lot of interpretations, not all of them involving stone-aged head- and hand-chopping, and to wear the hijab is just an indicator of one's professed faith - a well-known faith that stretches over a large part of the globe, and if you come from one of those places, it's very likely that that's your faith. I have many of Muslim friends who wear hijabs in places like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the U.S. and none of those people hold any of the crazy views of Ilhan Omar, let alone hold any stone-aged interpretation of sharia law. " . . . Monica Showalter

President Trump wants the Judge back on the air.  Well that should rally the free press advocates to her side.

Andrew David Wilkow

How can I contact Fox News?
How to Contact Fox News Four ways to do this.
Contact Judge Jeanine.
What is the Fox News Commenting Policy? 
Rainey Rickey posted in Mark Levin's Fan Club of Intelligent, Thinking Women (and Men): (In all-caps to be sure   "THIS IS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER AT FOX 1 (888) 369-4762. IF YOU LOVE JEANINE AND DON'T THINK SHE GOT A FAIR DEAL, CALL!!"

Reuters reporter deliberately withheld damaging info on Beto O'Rourke for a year

In reporting on Sen. Cruz's narrow victory, why does the press not consider the - effectively - campaign publicity that came from CNN, MSNBC (et al) and TV talk shows that all went against Cruz? TD

Rick Moran  "In the November, 2018 election, Rep. Beto O'Rourke came within 3 points of toppling GOP incumbent Senator Ted Cruz. O'Rourke used that near miss and the excitement his candidacy generated nationwide to launch a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination last week.

"But what if Cruz had slaughtered O'Rourke? It's a relevant question because a reporter for Reuters deliberately withheld damaging information that would almost certainly have made a lot of Texans who ended up voting for him think twice.

"The story by Joseph Menn ran on Friday and detailed O'Rourke's membership in the notorious hacking group known as the Cult of the Dead Cow*. While a member of the CDC, O'Rourke hacked online games and stole credit card numbers in order to make free long distance calls. That's not only a serious invasion of privacy, but it's also credit card fraud for which O'Rourke could have been prosecuted and sent to jail.

"Menn defends his decision not to run the story during O'Rourke's Senate campaign because he was writing a book. He says he hadn't nailed down the information completely and no one at the CDC would go on record about Beto's membership in the group. Menn finally made a deal with sources in the CDC not to run the story until after the 2018 election.

"Menn's book is about the CDC and he says he first learned of O'Rourke's involvement in late 2017." . . .

. . . "If writing a book negatively affected Menn's ability to be a journalist, he should have been forced to choose. Instead, he helped launch the national career of a politician who should have gone to jail for credit card fraud."  (Emphasis mine, TD)

*. . . "The Cult of the Dead Cow was notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack computers running Microsoft’s Windows program. It is also known for inventing the term “hacktivism” to describe human-rights-driven security work. O’Rourke’s membership could explain much about his approach to politics and subverting established procedures in technology, the media and government." . . .  From the Guardian's, A big hand for Beto O'Rourke and his amazing waving arms .

Bill Maher Tears Into The DNC For Running Away From Fox News' Tough Questions

"Conservatives have to continually talk to liberal news anchors and reporters because the majority of news outlets are liberal. If conservatives refused to talk to liberal outlets then they'd be construed as "cowards" who are hiding from the tough questions."

Townhall

"During his Friday night show, HBO Host Bill Maher slammed the Democratic National Committee's decision to bar Fox News from hosting a 2020 presidential debate. According to DNC Chairman Tom Perez, the decision was made because Fox "is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates."
. . . 
" 'Last week, the Democrats made a terrible decision when they announced that they had turned down Fox News's offer to host one of their 2020 primary debates, saying that Fox was nothing more than propaganda. OK, so why not go on Fox News and tell them that?" Maher asked rhetorically. 

“ 'You wanna be in the big leagues, but you refuse to ever play an away game? You don’t like the questions that Fox News might ask, so you’re deciding not to take any questions at all? How very Trump of you,” Maher explained. Republicans never shy away from coming on this show, and they come with a smile on their face despite knowing that the only people in the crowd cheering them on are the three campaign aides they brought with them … The audience is against them and they don’t care — it’s an opportunity to expose people to your side of the story.' ” . . .

"Propaganda"? You mean like this from CNN?