Good Tuesday morning.
Here’s what is on the president’s agenda today:
- In the morning, President Donald J. Trump will receive his daily intelligence briefing.
- In the afternoon, the president will have lunch with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta.
Hush now, there’s a revolution in Iran
For five days Iranian “protestors” have taken to the streets in opposition to their government overlords. I use the word “protestors” because those are the words my media betters choose to use. A description like “freedom fighter” is almost always reserved to describe terrorists. Remember the Arab Spring in Egypt that installed the Obama-backed, Muslim Brotherhood proxy Morsi into power? Now those were some real “freedom fighters”!
Obama secretly gave Iran (Hezbollah) over a billion dollars in cold hard cash but the filthy casuals of Iran haven’t seen any of it as it is most likely being used to pay for Iran’s soon-to-be nuclear arsenal, fund terror activities, and line Iranian kleptocrat pockets. The “protestors” are also sick of mullahs and corruption, but that’s paragraph 67 material.
Lee Smith at Tablet explains the situation when he asks and answers Why Can’t the American Media Cover the Protests in Iran?
If the people who donned pink pussy hats to resist Donald Trump are one of the year’s big stories, surely people who are shot dead in the streets in Iran for resisting an actual murderous theocracy might also be deserving of a shout-out for their bravery.
[…]
Selling the protesters short is a mistake. For 38 years Iranian crowds have been gathered by regime minders to chant “Death to America, Death to Israel.” When their chant spontaneously changes to “Down with Hezbollah” and “Death to the Dictator” as it has now, something big is happening.
[…]
The current media landscape was shaped by years of an Obama administration that made the nuclear deal its second-term priority. Talking points on Iran were fed to reporters by the White House—and those who veered outside government-approved lines could expect to be cut off by the administration’s ace press handlers, like active CIA officer Ned Price. It’s totally normal for American reporters to print talking points fed to them daily by a CIA officer who works for a guy with an MA in creative writing, right? But no one ever balked. The hive-mind of today’s media is fed by minders and validated by Twitter in a process that is entirely self-enclosed and circular; a “story” means that someone gave you “sources” who “validate” the agreed upon “story-line.” Someone has to feed these guys so they can write—which is tough to do when real events are unfolding hour by hour on the ground.
Go read the whole thing.
Also read about the Obama-Iran Twidiot Brigade.
Iran protests could start a real “Middle East reset.”
Seems important: “Get out of Syria and take care of us” and “Not Gaza, or Lebanon, I would give my soul for Iran.” The protestors also reportedly shouted things like, “Death to Hezbollah.”
Twenty “protestors” have been killed by the Iranian government so far and the Iranian government is in panic mode
The New York Times drops harassment pay-off bombshell on New Year’s Eve
Here’s one hard and fast truth: if The New York Times (or WaPo, Politco, CNN and so on) is breaking a story, the real story is much worse. Case in point: the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Remember that The New York Times “broke” the story first, which functioned as a soft landing place for the outrageous, horrifying, real story printed in The New Yorker by Ronan Farrow.
Here’s another hard and fast rule: if you want to “break” a story but you don’t want anyone to notice, you dump it on a Friday or during a holiday weekend (bonus for the Friday of a holiday weekend), much like this story was.
The Times‘ story is titled “Partisans, Wielding Money, Begin Seeking to Exploit Harassment Claims.” Partisans, you say? The article opens:
As the #MeToo movement to expose sexual harassment roils the nation’s capital, political partisans are exploiting the moment, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to support accusers who come forward with charges against President Trump and members of Congress, even amid questions about their motivation.
“Partisans” like Democrat Party legal activist Gloria Allred, who is crowdsourcing a lawsuit against President Trump, or “partisans” like rabid Clinton supporter and all-around lunatic David Brock? Are those “partisans” or are they DEMOCRATS?
And a nonprofit group founded by the Democratic activist David Brock, which people familiar with the arrangements say secretly spent $200,000 on an unsuccessful effort to bring forward accusations of sexual misconduct against Mr. Trump before Election Day, is considering creating a fund to encourage victims to bring forward similar claims against Republican politicians.
And to make it fair, the NYT brings in someone on the right: Mike Cernovich.
Activists on the right are also involved. In November, the Trump-backing social media agitator Mike Cernovich offered to pay $10,000 for details of any congressional sexual harassment settlements, and said on Twitter that he would cover the expenses of “any VICTIM of a Congressman who wants to come forward to tell her story.” Shortly before posting that offer, a source provided Mr. Cernovich with a copy of a sexual harassment settlement that led in December to the resignation of Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, until then the longest-serving member of the House.
Let me explain the difference between these two situations. Cernovich made his offer in public, on Twitter, and everyone knew he did it. David Brock and Gloria Allred offspring lawyer Lisa Bloom (former Harvey Weinstein attorney too!) did it in secret so they could lead the public to believe that their accusers just organically came forward. Big difference.
Ms. Bloom would not identify the donors. But two Democrats familiar with the arrangements said a nonprofit group founded by Mr. Brock, American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, gave $200,000, while the fashion entrepreneur Susie Tompkins Buell, a major donor to Mr. Brock’s suite of groups, gave $500,000 to Ms. Bloom’s firm for the last-ditch effort.
That’s a total of $700,000 and we would never have known these “accusers” were getting financial “help.” Now we know, more than a year after these accusations were made.
The Democrats familiar with the financial arrangements said Ms. Bloom’s firm kept the money from American Bridge, but refunded the money from Ms. Buell.
Ninety percent of this article is about Democrats, but the NYT wants to downplay that. The article closes with this wishcast:
The allegations against Mr. Trump might “resonate more” with voters amid the current national conversation about sexual misconduct, she suggested.
Not if they are paid off, honey. There’s more to this story and it’s crazy but it’s not mine to tell. Hopefully, it will break soon.
Women who kept quiet while their comrades were harassed and assaulted to form anti-harassment action plan for the workplace
Time’s Up is a new organization backed by some powerful Hollywood ladies and a fat $13 million budget “to assist women in low-wage industries, a campaign to advocate gender parity among corporate leadership, and proposed legislation to push companies to adopt policies on harassment and discourage the use of nondisclosure agreements.”
Say, how many of these ladies have non-disclosure agreements with their nannies, personal assistants, and plastic surgeons?
“Harassment too often persists because perpetrators and employers never face any consequences,” said an open letter from 300 women in film, TV, and theater. “This is often because survivors, particularly those working in low-wage industries, don’t have the resources to fight back.”
They might face some consequences if you interrupted your “Stars, they’re just like us!” photo shoot with People magazine to announce that a powerful Hollywood movie mogul was raping and assaulting aspiring actresses.
The movement has the backing of top Hollywood figures such as Shonda Rhimes, Ashley Judd, Eva Longoria, Reese Witherspoon, America Ferrera, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Kerry Washington, and Rashida Jones.
Remember, the media was complicit in covering up these scandals. Certainly, in the case of Harvey Weinstein, plenty of powerful “journalists” and editors knew what predator Harvey was doing but they were bought off by promises of book deals and large “consulting” contracts. The progressives love to make these empty, feel-good gestures that absolve them of any difficult decisions…and consequences. No big paycheck, no Hollywood glamor and glitz. Courage isn’t easy.
Your daily WTF: Abedin Forwarded State Passwords To Yahoo Before It Was Hacked By Foreign Agents
Historical picture of the day:
Members of Duke Universitys football team cluster around Elvis Presley for his autograph during a visit to Twentieth Century-Fox studio where Presley is making a movie in Hollywood, on Dec. 2, 1960. (AP Photo/Ellis R. Bosworth)
Other morsels:
Baltimore breaks city record for killings per capita in 2017
Trump designates January 2018 a month dedicated to combatting human trafficking
Gang of youth attacks cops near Paris; video of assault posted online
Deadly violence in Mexico is at record levels, and new crime data adds to the ugly picture
Trans activist who confronted Caitlin Jenner announces run for California State Assembly
Minimum wage rising in more than 3 dozen states and cities in 2018
With new year, California becomes ‘sanctuary state’
New year brings broad pot legalization to California
Federal judge: School districts can’t force football players to stand for the national anthem
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Hits $1 Billion At Global Box Office
Report Makes Lofty Claim That Earth Will Become A Desert Without Paris Deal
Colorado gunman identified as US veteran with a grudge
And that’s all I’ve got, now go beat back the angry mob!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member