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Friday, July 28, 2023
MRC's Jean-Pierre-Bashing, Question Evasion (And Toilet Reference) Edition
Topic: Media Research Center

Bill D'Agostino test-drove a new line of attack on White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a July 5 article:

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been widely criticized for her inability to field even basic inquiries about the scandals plaguing President Biden. Despite the President’s January 2021 pledge to “bring transparency and truth back to the government,” Jean-Pierre has failed to answer practically every such question she’s faced.

MRC analysts examined official White House transcripts of every briefing Jean-Pierre conducted between January 1 and June 30, 2023, recording every time she was asked about one of the scandals facing President Biden — specifically, the corruption allegations being investigated by House committees, and his mishandling of classified documents from his time as Vice President. Analysts found that while reporters asked Jean-Pierre 252 questions about either of these topics, only six received a definitive answer.

Of those 252 total questions, 217 (86%) were about the President’s misplaced classified documents, only five of which (just 2%) were concretely answered. The remaining 35 questions (14%) dealt with the various allegations of corruption against the President, with only one receiving a substantive response.

D'Agostino huffily concluded:

During the last administration, clips of White House correspondents grilling press secretaries about the latest Trump scandal were commonplace on evening newscasts. Now that they’ve disappeared following the decline in coverage of the document scandal, it’s a wonder why reporters even bother to raise such issues during the briefings.

D'Agostino conveniently forgets the actual history of press secretaries in the Trump White House. Its press secretaries once went more than a year without holding a briefing, and the final one, Kayleigh McEnany, was notorious for dodging questions and being mostly propaganda pieces that the MRC absolutely loved (and she also refused to do her job in the final weeks of the administration following the Capitol riot).So it's more than a little hypocritical for D'Agostino to criticize Jean-Pierre for not answering questions when his MRC cheered McEnany for doing the same thing.

Curtis Houck, meanwhile, spent his writeup of the July 5 briefing complaining that Jean-Pierre, yes, wouldn't answer questions involving the right-wing outrage du jour:

Whether it’s the Biden documents scandal, allegations of Biden family corruption, or the latest twist in Hunter Biden’s life of ruin to name a few, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has consistently stuck to the theme of playing dumb when faced with even gentle questions from the liberal White House press corps. Such was the case Wednesday concerning the bag of cocaine found in the West Wing.

In the case of the pedestrian, the AP’s Josh Boak had the first question on it: “[P]er the intrigue over the holiday: Can you give any more details on where the Secret Service found cocaine in the West Wing and how it got there?”

This time, Jean-Pierre said “this is under the purview of the Secret Service” except to reiterate President Biden and his “family were not here this weekend” as well as the excuse that “this was discovered is a heavily traveled area where many...West Wing visitors come through.”

Reuters’s Steve Holland followed up to no avail, “Has the President said, ‘Hey, let’s get to the bottom of what happened here’ with the cocaine?”

Jean-Pierre didn’t budge, kicking the can to the Secret Service.

Tim Graham decided to tag Jean-Pierre with a disgusting toilet reference, sleazily referring to her as "Latrine Jean-Pierre" in the headline of his July 7 column:

White House briefings in the Biden years are often sleepy meetings compared to the Jim Acosta shriek-fests we remember under Trump. Joe Biden pledged he would be so much nicer to the press corps. He promised to “bring transparency and truth back to the government.” But the press is much nicer to him than the other way around.

Biden provides far less access than Trump did. He avoids press conferences and one-on-one interviews like the plague. He only surfaces for softball interviews with Nicolle Wallace or Drew Barrymore – and you could be forgiven if you’re not sure which interviewer was tougher, the cable “news” host or the movie star from 50 First Dates.

[...]

It’s common for press secretaries to defer tough questions to other departments or agencies, but Jean-Pierre is accomplishing some kind of Olympic-level record of blowing off questions. While many question her competence at the podium, her denials are clearly doing exactly what Team Biden wants – to bluster past the scandal questions without answering them. They’d like to pretend there’s no such thing as a Biden scandal.

Graham, like D'Agostino, failed to disclose that the Trump White House went more than a year without holding a briefing or mention McEnany's legacy of dodging questions.

In his writeup of the July 7 briefing, Houck cheered a right-wing reporter advancing a right-wing narrative:

Friday marked only the second White House press briefing of the week in which reporters could question Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the bag of cocaine found in the West Wing. While 13 reporters pressed Jean-Pierre on Wednesday about it, only one would on Friday (and a second to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan).

This was despite the fact that the bag of cocaine’s tale had evolved from seemingly blaming tourists to an area enveloping tourists, staff, and cubbies near the Situation Room. New York Post’s Caitlin Doornbos asked whether “the cocaine belonged to the Biden family,” which drew a hissy fit from Jean-Pierre that “ask[ing] that...is actually incredibly irresponsible.”

A relative newbie to the Briefing Room, Doornbos first wondered what was up with (the cartoonish partisan) Biden aide Andrew Bates ducking a question Thursday about the cocaine probe during an Air Force One gaggle by citing the Hatch Act.

That aside, she cut to the chase: “Can you say once and for all whether or the not the cocaine belonged to the Biden family?”

Houck went on to complain that "nearly two dozens questions [sic] wereallegedly "skipped over" by Jean-Pierre that allegedly didn't need to wait for Secret Service clearance; needless to say, he was silent on his beloved McEnany's history of dodging questions.

Graham had D'Agostino on his July 7 podcast to discuss Jean-Pierre's question-dodging, while not similarlyh calling out the Trump administration's question evasion, in part by not holding press briefings at all.


Posted by Terry K. at 10:39 PM EDT
Newsmax Continues To Exploit Tucker Carlson's Firing For Its Benefit
Topic: Newsmax

Newsmax has been aggressively covering the firing of Tucker Carlson by Fox News, in no small part because it would love to hire him for its own TV channel (and in fact has reportedly offered to give him total control over it), as well as giving it an excuse to tweak its much larger and more popular competition. That coverage has continued:

Also, it wouldn't be Newsmax if it wasn't trying to profit off Carlson's firing -- we've already noted how it was wrapped into a promotion for David Horowitz's Newsmax-published book. It also issued an "urgent poll" for readers to weigh in on the issue that included questions like "What is your view of Fox News?" and "Should Tucker Carlson join Newsmax as a prime-time host?" It has also created a promotion around an upcoming Tucker bio in order to sell subscriptions to Newsmax magazine:

He was the most powerful conservative voice in America.

And then, in a moment, he was gone.

At least from his perch at Fox News.

Now bestselling author Chadwick Moore reveals what really happened to Tucker Carlson in his new book, TUCKER  — set to be released on August 1.

Tucker Carlson has endorsed TUCKER — and Newsmax will be among the first to have copies — check out the FREE Offer Here Now.

[...]

Your FREE copy of TUCKER comes with a one year introductory subscription to Newsmax Magazine (with both print and digital editions) for only $19.95 — a savings of $30 at a regular rate.

Even more surprising than a promotion for a book about a man who long so long ago it was trashing for taking Russia's side in its invasion of Ukraine is that Newsmax isn't even publishing the book; promotions like this typically involve books published by its book division, Humanix.


Posted by Terry K. at 5:54 PM EDT
WND Publishes More False Fearmongering Over A Federal Digital Currency
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily just loves falsely fearmongering about governmental plans to explore getting involved in digital currency. The latest attempt is a June 9 column by Glenn Guest (which was promoted on WND's front page using the same stock photo art it used for previous fearmongerings). He started ominously:

At this moment powerful forces are constructing an economic system that will destroy our way of life and our God-given liberties. Once the architects of this economic system have completed and implemented their digital control system, they will rule over us in what can only be described as absolute despotism.

Even as you read this, they are working hammer and tongs forging the chains and shackles of your bondage, not of iron or steel, but of electronic ones and zeros that will form a digital currency. The global digital currency they are creating will result in the elimination of cash, with digital currency being the only one accepted in the new world economic order. This digital currency will be the mechanism by which they will control your finances and the finances of every person on earth – and by controlling your finances they will control you.

In March of 2022, Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14067 in which he ordered the federal government to begin the process of creating an electronic digital currency called "Central Bank Digital Currency," or "CBDC." In some White House documents this new electronic currency is referred to as "digital dollars."

Statements in Executive Order 14067 and other associated White House documents make it clear that our government has put the pedal to the metal in its effort to create a cashless economic system. Terms like "highest urgency," "whole of government approach" and "we must" are used throughout the White House documents.

As we and others have pointed out, the executive order merely asked the Federal Reserve to explore whether a digital currency should be created and that the impact of such a currency on financial stability and national security should be studied.

But Guest -- who is not an expert on finance but, rather, "pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Danielsville, Georgia" -- is here to baselessly fearmonger, not tell the truth. And baselessly fearmonger he does:

When the cashless CBDC monetary system is put in place your "money" will no longer be possessed or controlled by you. It will exist only in the computers of banks and government. Physical cash will be eliminated, and those who control the CBDC system will have control over your "money" in your account. Banks and the government will decide if and how you may use your "money." In fact, you will not be able to make any decision on your own, financial or otherwise, because all transfers of "money" (CBDC) will be subject to approval by whoever controls the cashless monetary system.

Every decision you make, whether great or small, economic or otherwise, will have to be in line with government policies if it is to be approved. Whoever controls the new system of electronic currency will have the power to decide what you may buy or sell and even if you will be allowed to buy or sell anything at all.

Your choices in life must yield to the whims of those who will exercise this tremendous power over you, or else. To attempt to exercise your will over theirs will mean that you could be declared an economic non-entity. If this happens, you will be banished from the new economic system. You will be unable to access to your financial accounts, unable to purchase even the basic necessities of life. To fall out of favor with those who control the system will mean that you will not be able to be paid by your employer or anyone else because your direct deposit will be deactivated. Any wealth you may have accumulated in digital currency will be stored out of your reach behind an impenetrable wall preventing you from accessing what is rightfully yours. If you are in this situation you will be unable buy food, pay rent or make a house payment. You won't have the option to use cash to make necessary purchases because cash will no longer be accepted.

In fact, FedNow is an infrastructure designed to speed financial transactions and is not linked to any sort of digital currency, real or imaginary. But, again, Guest wants to scare people, not tell the truth, so the fearmongering continued:

Indeed, the "Holy Grail" of tyrants is to have the ability to force the populous to comply with every command. Though control of the masses has been attempted many times throughout history, no government has ever achieved this goal by the use of police and military powers. However, the goal will be reached when government can control all buying and selling by the elimination of cash and its replacement with the digital CBDC monetary system. When the cashless economic system is fully implemented, you will find yourself living in a global gulag.

So, is there really a global conspiracy to destroy our God-given liberty and to to enslave us?

Well, almost 2,000 years ago, God gave us a warning that such a system would indeed exist one day. In Revelation chapter 13, God warns us of a one-world government and a global economic system wherein a person must yield to the dictates of a ruthless tyrant, one who will have almost absolute power. God also warns us that this tyrant will use his control of the world's economic system to compel people to worship him as God. God tells us that he will attempt to destroy those who believe in Jesus Christ. This dictator will rule over this world for a brief period of time and all those who do not believe on Jesus will worship him as God.

I believe that the cashless economic system that is being developed and will soon be forced upon us will play a essential part in the fulfillment of these prophecies.

As you consider what is coming upon our nation, the world and upon you personally, you might be thinking, "What must I do to be saved?" Your question has been asked before, and the answer is the same today as it was almost 2,000 years ago. This question was asked by a jailer in Philippi. He asked Paul and Silas, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The answer to his question and to yours is, "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

The only place of safety is in Jesus Christ.

Search these things out for yourself and seriously consider the ramifications of a completely cashless economic system.

Guest needs to some searching for himself and ask himself why a pastor is repeatedly violating one of the Ten Commandments by lying to his readers.


Posted by Terry K. at 1:31 PM EDT
Updated: Friday, July 28, 2023 1:33 PM EDT
NEW ARTICLE: The MRC vs. Dylan Mulvaney
Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center had already hated Mulvaney for the sin of being a transgender person popular on TikTok. But when Bud Light did a promotion with her, the MRC petulantly decided that the company must be destroyed too. Read more >>

Posted by Terry K. at 1:27 AM EDT
Thursday, July 27, 2023
MRC Keeps Pretending Right-Wing-Promoted Book Bans Aren't Really Book Bans
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center has long been in denial that right-wingers seeking to ban a book from a library are book-banners, insisting that any book ban pushed by a right-winger is automatically justified. Tim Graham kept up that narrative in his March 29 column:

The Left is in an uproar. Parents opposed to their indoctrinating ways are forming a resistance movement. One uproar is over books – assigned books in the classroom and available books in the school library. Disagree with the content of the books? You’re for “book bans.”

Technically, this is accurate inside the school, but the leftist press makes it sound like you’re banning books entirely from public view. They get to pose as the defenders of books and “book learning” and as compassionate defenders of the book-reading needs of the “marginalized.”

[...]

This is how the leftist media operate. They are all about channeling outrage about “book bans,” and spend no time explaining the pornographic passages and images that stoke the controversy. It’s all posing, and no disclosing.  

Curtis Houck whined the same day when it was pointed out that conservatives care more about guns than books:

On Wednesday’s CBS Mornings, co-host, Democratic donor, and Obama family friend Gayle King used the normally light-hearted “Talk of the Table” segment to lambaste Americans (and especially gun rights supporters) for “valu[ing] guns over children” and “the lives of fellow human beings” in light of the Nashville school shooting, adding in another veiled shot at conservatives and Republicans that they should stop “banning books” and work to ban “assault rifles”.

[...]

“Guys, they’re banning books in schools,” King bemoaned, ruling “books can’t kill your children,” but “they” are nonetheless “banning some books in schools, but yet, the rules are very different when it comes to guns.”

And there it is. Conservatives are fine with children being slaughtered, but are over their skis in wanting graphic sexual material kept out of schools for young children.

A May 5 post by Clay Waters complained that the "library lobby" was pointing out book bans:

The PBS show Amanpour & Co. went on an aggrieved rant Monday evening over the supposed threat of book banning. Host Christiane Amanpour set up the interview with the president of the notoriously liberal American Library Association, a group always eager to see dangerous book bans coming from the right, while ignoring squelching of both fiction and non-fiction from the left via Amazon, “sensitivity readers,” and posthumous editing.

The library lobby has put out yet another misleading report on “book bans” in America and Amanpour & Co. were ready to spread hysteria:

[...]

Yet peer behind the rhetoric and it’s clear that most book challenges involve parents being concerned about the age-appropriateness of sexually explicit material, often in picture form.

Waters offered no evidence to back up that claim.

Alex Christy issued a similar complaint in a May 17 post:

The cast of CNN Tonight was all in agreement on Tuesday that conservative attempts to “ban books” are “fascist,” similar to Nazism, and worse than the current trend of leftists re-writing books they did not write. At no point could anyone point to a book that was actually banned.

The genesis of the conversation was Salman Rushdie condemning both the attempts to control school library content on the right and revisionism on the left. For, The Atlantic’s James Surowiecki, the revisionism is wrong, but “But I think the bigger thing is the bans on books in school libraries and in schools that-- places like Florida, Tennessee, Texas, where some libraries, they've talked about shutting down libraries. I think that's far more consequential and far, far grimmer. So I'm glad he was, went after that.”

Re-writing books is actually “far, far grimmer,” because the original book disappears and sometimes for the dumbest reasons, such as the promotion of gender neutralism. Any book that is removed from a school library can still be accessed elsewhere and in its original state.

[...]

Another reason why lefties re-writing books is far worse is that these conversations rarely touch on the kind sexually explicit books that are being removed while ignoring all the fake news on books like Roberto Clemente biographies.

The link Christy supplied to support his claim of "fake news" about a Roberto Clemente bio being removed actually admitted that the book (along with many others) was removed from one school district's library pending approval by a "certified media specialist."


Posted by Terry K. at 10:21 PM EDT
A WND Columnist Who's Not A Putin Apologist
Topic: WorldNetDaily

There may be a lot of pro-Russia apologists at WND, but they're not all Putin puppets. James Zumwalt used May 24 WND column to liken Vladimir Putin to the subject of the Jim Croce song "Bad Bad Leroy Brown," declaring that in invading Ukraine, Purin "bit off more than he could chew, having started a bar fight with someone tougher. Croce's description of Brown at fight's end is not too dissimilar to that of Putin's military today – looking 'like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.' At least Brown's fight is over; Putin's is still ongoing." Zumwalt went on to complain in a very WND way about this as well, noting that Russians trying to avoid getting conscripted into the war are claiming to be transgender:

Not until months later, however, did members of Russia's legislative branch (Duma) discover a ploy some draft dodgers, perhaps preferring to remain in Russia or simply unable to get out, were using to avoid the draft. In 1997, the Duma had passed a law authorizing transgenders to change their gender identity simply by modifying it on their passport with a medical permission slip. In an ultimate slap in the face to Putin's war, at least 3,000 Russian males have recently changed their gender identity under that law. Finally recognizing this loophole, the Duma is working on legislation to mandate more than just a gender identity declaration and medical note by requiring body-altering surgery as well.

Zumwalt further took Putin to task for botching things in Ukraine:

Putin, who came to power in 2000 as a democratically elected president, has manipulated the government machinery to basically establish an autocracy. In 2020, the country's constitution was manipulated to keep him in power until 2036. There is no way the Russian people will tolerate this should the war in Ukraine not end soon.

The conflict now boils down to an unbending Ukrainian resolve and a tyrant's ego. Absent a major battlefield change – such as Putin pressuring Belarus to open a new front in Ukraine – or Ukraine's weapons suppliers withdrawing, a gambling man would bet Putin's days are numbered. Similar to Russia's last czar, Nicholas II, who violently learned the hard way over a century earlier, not listening to your people comes at a very high price.

Just because Zumwalt did one thing right doesn't mean we've forgotten things he's done wrong, like pushing nasty attacks against Alexandria Osasio-Cortez. He and WND also face legal peril after a Zumwalt column (which is still live at WND) promoted a far-right podcaster's false claim that an official with voting-tech company Dominion confessed to changing vote totals and worked with Antifa; that official is suing the podcaster and others for defamation.


Posted by Terry K. at 9:08 PM EDT
MRC Annoyed By SCOTUS Ruling Striking Down Alabama Congressional Map
Topic: Media Research Center

Just because the Supreme  Court has a right-wing tilt these days doesn't mean that the Media Research Center will be pleased with everything it does. Ineeed, it was annoyed that the court struck down a congressional district map in Alabama for violating civil rights because it failed to apportion a second black-majority district. Kevin Tober complained in a June 8 post:

On Thursday, the Supreme Court struck down Alabama’s congressional map on the basis that it was a violation of the 1964 Voting Rights Act. The partisan decision was even more head-scratching when it was revealed that so-called conservative justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh joined the three leftists on the court. As was expected, the three evening news broadcasts gloated over the ruling. 

ABC’s World News Tonight was the most obnoxious with justice correspondent Terry Moran breathlessly hyping the “Supreme Court stunner.”

“Two conservative Justices, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Brett Kavanaugh joined the court's liberals in striking down Alabama's congressional map that critics said diluted the power of black voters,” Moran gushed.

Yes, Tober thinks it's "obnoxious" to preserve the voting rights of people.

Three minutes later, Cassandra DeVries served up her own complaint:

MSNBC asked three Democrats to discuss the Supreme Court’s ruling on Alabama’s redistricting plan, neglecting to acknowledge any alternate view point. NBC senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice Michael Waldman, and former Alabama Democratic Senator Doug Jones expressed surprise that the conservative Supreme Court would uphold Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act when they previously “gutted the 65 [Voting Rights] Act.”

“While the court isn't breaking new ground by just simply reaffirming what the law has been for the better part of several decades, it was a surprising decision, especially from this conservative majority,” Laura Jarrett said, alluding that a conservative court would traditionally choose to ignore the Voting Rights Act.

Michael Waldman, author of The Super Majority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, agreed with Jarrett’s assessment and added, “Overwhelmingly, that population growth comes in communities of color, and they are not being represented in the maps that legislatures have drawn. So this will have an impact beyond this one case as these rulings often do, though it is upholding what had been the law for decades.”

Waldman portrayed the court as doing the bare minimum in its ruling, which fits the narrative of his new book.

[...]

Even when MSNBC agreed with the Supreme Court’s verdict, it still portrayed the conservative court as corrupt. If this is how they treat decisions they support, one can only imagine their response to a decision they dislike.

In a delightful aside, DeVries' post was promoted on the NewsBusters front page with a headline claiming that the MSNBC folks were suggesting the court had "allterior motives" behind their decision. Doesn't anyone copy-edit anything over there before posting?


Posted by Terry K. at 1:45 PM EDT
WND Defends Trump Again After Second Indictment
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily was an aggressive defender of Donald Trump after his first indictment. When his second indictment came, WND was just as aggressive. A June 8 "news" article by Joe Kovacs was heavy on uncritically quoting Trump's rantings about the indictment. Then the columnists weighed in with their pro-Trump sycophancy. Wayne Allyn Root ranted in his more-unhinged-than-usual June 9 column:

re you getting the subtle impression that Democrats don't want former President Donald Trump to win in 2024; that they're scared to death of Trump; that they're so desperate to stop him from winning again, they want him to rot in a prison cell for life?

Congratulations. You're not a complete moron.

The feds just indicted Trump on fake, lame, trumped-up charges. But didn't Democrats just try this trick in New York? It didn't work then. It won't work now. And it won't work next week when Trump appears in court in Miami. And it won't work next month when a Georgia grand jury indicts Trump. This is Groundhog Day.

[...]

Lastly, God is great. God always wins. This is God's plan. The Democrats in power and the people who run our government are evil. Demonic. Satanic. This isn't normal. The things they're doing are Nazi Gestapo-like, Soviet KGB-like, East German Stasi-like. God has done us a favor: He's revealed what Democrats are really like.

This is war. This is life or death. This is the end of America if we don't fight fire with fire.

But Democrats have picked a fight with the wrong crowd. America beat Hitler. America defeated the Soviet Empire. You think we're going to let a brain-dead old man with dementia and diapers trample our rights and freedoms? You're going down.

Joseph Farah ranted in his June 12 column:

Today's the day Donald Trump gets indicted – again.

This is not the first time. And it probably won't be the last.

Call it what it is. It's the U.S. Injustice Department's plan for election interference next year. They'll just keep indicting him till they get it right. Joe Biden explained it this way: "I may not be the only one, but I know him well, and I know the danger he presents to our democracy. We've been down this road before."

Yes, like in the 2020 rigged election when we were supposed to believe that Biden received 81 million votes – far more that any candidate in U.S. history. It's a day that will live in infamy, as a another Democratic president said about the day Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 – a "strong condemnation as the result of a shameful, criminal, or outrageous act." The 2020 fraud will never be forgotten.

Neither will this national abomination brought to us by Special Counsel Jack Smith, Merrick Garland and Biden.

He concluded: "Pray for Trump. That's all we can do."

Rachel Alexander served up her own defense in her June 12 column:

Conservatives who say we need to go with someone for president other than Donald Trump due to the left targeting him with political prosecutions are missing the larger picture. This is one of the most frightening eras in America's history, where the left has weaponized politics to the point of putting our most powerful, leading conservatives in prison. It is not the time to desert them.

If we complacently allow the fascist left to take down Trump, it will become far easier for them to take down others, having set a precedent. It's just a matter of time before they turn their sights on prosecuting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; if he gets the nomination, they'll proceed with a criminal fishing expedition against him.

[...]

While many of us may get annoyed at Trump's sharp attacks on others, including fellow Republicans, deserting him would be a Pyrrhic victory. The left will launch multiple criminal investigations of DeSantis if he gets the nomination. Let's stop ignoring history and face reality. They are coming after Trump because he is the leading candidate to challenge their incumbent president, and sweeping it under the rug and choosing DeSantis instead solves nothing, especially since the left will engage in as much election fraud against him too.

Farah returned to fret in a column the next day:

Think about it. Is this justice?

Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, could receive up to 400 years in prison related to this latest indictment. Is this America? He's the leading candidate to become the 47th president. And he should have served as "45" for eight years, but for a fraudulent election.

In any case, if he is convicted, Merrick Garland and Joe Biden, the Torquemadas of our time, will be sure that he serves the rest of his life in prison and does not ever see the presidency again.

To avoid prison, all he would have to do is return, quietly, to a private life of luxury and sign a pledge to eschew politics. But he could not do that, because he's fighting for you and me. He's determined to eliminate the Deep State, to return America to its promise, like a shining city on a hill.

Andy Schlafly used his June 13 column to build conspiracy theories and spew hate at government workers:

Few Americans would base their vote on where President Trump stored boxes of documents relating to his presidency when he moved out of his residence at the White House. Many public officials take copies of documents with them when they leave office, as Joe Biden did when he left the White House in 2017, and Biden has not been charged with anything.

But many federal workers in D.C. are too virulently anti-Trump to allow the democratic process to work without interference by fanatical federal prosecutors. They have no employable skills outside of government and yet are bankrolled by an unlimited spigot of taxpayer dollars, which would have been shut off had the debt ceiling been enforced on June 1.

The timing of this federal indictment to be less than one week after suspension of the debt ceiling, which keeps the money flowing to them, seems to be more than a coincidence. The GOP majority in the House does not have to allow taxpayer millions to be spent on biased investigators taking pictures of boxes of obscure documents stored in an unused bathroom.

Schlafly conlcuded by ranting: "This new indictment proves how vindictively the Deep State will retaliate. It needs to be defunded."

WND also published a June 13 article by Bob Unruh alarmingly headlined "Corruption confirmed on team prosecuting Trump!" which was a repeat of dirt-digging by far-right outlet Just the News that found something untoward a memver of the prosecution team allegedly did 14 years ago.


Posted by Terry K. at 1:25 AM EDT
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
GDP Turned Positive -- But MRC Can't Stop Talking Down Biden Economy
Topic: Media Research Center

We've documented how the Media Research Center continually talks down the economy under President Biden, particularly when it comes to reporting on GDP. Last summer, it heavily hyped that two quarters of negative GDP that occurred meant there was a devastaing recession and that other economic data should be ignored -- but when GDP turned positive in the fourth quarter, it denied that this meant anything. The MRC was still pushing that narrative at the start of this year; a Jan. 10 post by Joseph Vazquez complained that New York Times economic columnist Paul Krugman called Republicans (like Vazquez) "economy deniers," huffing that "Krugman’s elitism clearly precludes him from seeing economic danger signs that don’t comport with his leftist politics."

When the GDP numbers for the fourth quarter showed it to be in positive territory, the MRC cranked up the spin, with a Jan. 26 post by Kevin Tober insisting that the growth was "anemic":

Forget about the recession and rampant, crippling inflation that has soared to 40-year-highs, MSNBC's All In host Chris Hayes was here to assure you that the Biden economic recovery has been  "one of the most successful, remarkable recoveries in all of American economic history." Sadly for Hayes, the large eyeglasses on his face won't make him seem smart with economically illiterate comments like that. The pollyannaish host made these comments on the heels of Thursday's GDP report which showed the economy grew by an anemic 2.9 percent. 

Hayes began by ironically complaining about the negative media coverage of the Biden economy: "If you've been watching the news over the past few weeks, you might get the sense the U.S. is hemorrhaging jobs, as high-profile companies from Amazon to Meta, to Goldman Sachs, and IBM lay off thousands of workers." 

"But one of the constants of the Biden economy is that there's a weird, persistent gap between the media’s coverage of the economy, which is almost always everything’s terrible, and what the data show about its actual state," Hayes whined.

Apparently, when there were layoffs in major American corporations, it means nothing for the state of the overall economy, and the media was supposed to ignore the news to help Biden's electoral prospects. 

He then pointed to a chart that showed a graph of the direction the economy was headed and bragged that "the U.S. economy grew by 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022."

Tober didn't mention that GDP had been in negative territory for two quarters of 2022, whcih mean the recovery (and postive GDP) really is remarkable. But Tober doesn't get [paid to admit that Democrats are doing a good job, so he had tocherry-pick other numbers that adhere closer to his narrative, despite having insisted just a few short months earlier that GDP numbers were the only thing anyone should be looking at.

When GDP turned in another positive number for the first quarter of this year, the MRC had to spin further -- this time by hypocritcally accusing others of spin. An April 27 post by Vazquez dropped the "anemic" line without mentioning the two quarters of negative GDP last year:

Leave it to the propagandists at The New York Times to try to sprinkle some sugar over an anemic GDP report. 

The Times economics writer Ben Casselman broke out some confetti for the latest economic report showing a lackluster 1.1 percent GDP growth in the first quarter, which was notably slower than the 1.9 percent forecast. But look on the bright side, bleated Casselman in his sub-headline, “[t]he gross domestic product increased for the third straight quarter as consumer spending remained robust despite higher interest rates.” Casselman’s own headline was heavy on nuance and lacking on context: “U.S. Economy Grew at 1.1% Rate in First Quarter.” Contrast the headline with how other outlets reported the GDP story and The Times’s gambit to protect President Joe Biden’s image from the bad economic news becomes clear. Here was CNBC’s headline: “GDP report points to dreaded stagflation, but these stocks can still work in this environment.” Here was Bloomberg News: “US Economic Growth Slows to 1.1% While Inflation Accelerates.” [Emphasis added.]

Casselman’s spin might even give Looney Tunes character Tasmanian Devil a run for his money.

A post that day by Tober again repeated the "anemic" line (while not admitting last year's two quarters of negative GDP) while praising Fox News for advancing the Republican narrative:

On Thursday, Americans awoke to yet another sign our economy was barreling toward a recession caused by reckless government spending and 40-year-high inflation as the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at a pathetic 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023. This was well below the two percent growth economists were expecting, and a far cry from the 2.6 percent GDP growth in the final quarter of 2022. Given this news was released just days after President Joe Biden kicked off his 2024 reelection campaign touting his belief that he's "never been more optimistic about America's future," it was predictable that the "big three" evening news broadcasts would ignore the fact that Biden's economy was teetering on recession. 

While millions of Americans were struggling to afford basic necessities due to sky-high inflation, and living in constant fear of losing their jobs, ABC's World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News, all wasted time on local weather reports, and news that anti-American athlete Brittney Griner held a press conference to discuss her experience in a Russian prison after breaking the law by bringing illegal drugs into a foreign country.

In contrast, Fox News Channel's Special Report reported on the anemic GDP numbers when noting Biden's cratering approval numbers on the economy. "Fox News polls show voter concerns about the economy are more pervasive. 78 percent rating the economy negatively after today's GDP report came in below expectations with sluggish growth at an annual rate of 1.1 percent for the first quarter," Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reported. 

She then read Biden's out-of-touch statement on the economic figures: "We learned that the American economy remains strong as it transitions to steady and stable growth." These comments from Biden, according to Heinrich are "out of sync with how many really feel."

Vazquez spent a May 2 post complaining that CNN was evolving on the possibility of a recession:

CNN apparently can’t get its talking points in order after wantonly lecturing people to “chill” with the recession talk back in February. 

CNN’s May 2 headline didn't mince words about the current precarious state of America’s economy. “Why a US recession is probably coming,” the headline read. That’s the exact opposite of what the same outlet pushed nearly three months prior. “It’s time to chill with all the recession talk,” read the competing Feb. 6 CNN headline. Make up your mind, CNN.

[...]

MRC Business Vice President Dan Schneider called out CNN for its 180-degree turnaround: "The narrative is changing on the state of our economy and our Republic." In Schneider's view, "The legacy media has previously been doing everything they could to protect Joe Biden for his reelection efforts. But recently, you see signs that the media is offering the backdoor to let Biden escape in place of a Democratic candidate in a stronger position to win another term as president."

Vazquez and Schneider didn't mention that the MRC's own recession thinking had also evolved: When there were two quarters of negative GDP, it insisted that this was the only possible definition of a recession, but it had to change that when GDP turned positive in order to keep up its talk-down-the-Biden-economy narrative. And they certainly didn't disclose that their job is to talk down the economy to hurt Biden's re-election chances.


Posted by Terry K. at 9:30 PM EDT
Updated: Thursday, July 27, 2023 10:26 AM EDT
Other Newsmax Columnists Also Serve As Trump Sycophants
Topic: Newsmax

Dick Morris may be the most prominent Donald Trump sycophant at Newsmax, but he isn't the only one. Other Newsmax columnists have pledged their loyalty to Trump as well. Here's a sampling from recent weeks:

Recent weeks have been replete with betrayals in the Republican Party, from the treatment of James O’Keefe to Tucker Carlson’s abrupt firing. The most insidious and shameful of betrayals, though, is the quasi-official pro-life movement opting to work against the re-election of President Donald J. Trump in 2024.

One prominent pro-life organization, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, is leading the charge against Trump. They have the audacity to demonize his stance on abortion: that it is an issue that should be left to the states.

[...]

Enter Donald J. Trump, a brash billionaire who was not steeped in pro-life ideology, but as winner and a doer who vowed to live up to his mandate after evangelicals, many of whom had serious reservations about his character and his ability to lead, got behind him during his 2016 presidential victory.

Trump delivered a victory that no other Republican president could accomplish. He did what none of his predecessors could do, not even the vaunted and idolized Ronald Reagan: He went 3-for-3 in nominating strong, conservative, rule-of-law justices to the Supreme Court. He fulfilled the promise of voting for the Republican Party to support judges, one of the popular canards used over the years to cajole angry conservatives into showing up to support Republicans who repeatedly stab them in the back.

[...]

God is using President Trump, deemed a fool by the sophisticates and the intellectuals and the elites, to shake the rotten system of government to its core, just like God used King David, a shepherd of diminutive stature from a modest background who was considered weak by his rivals, to defeat the Philistine fighter Goliath, become the King of Israel, and rise to be the eternal standard against which all leaders are measured.

Trump exposed the rotten fruits of this system to the world. He revealed its evils and put a strain upon the demonic forces guiding its machinations. Trump deserves four more years to finish the job and continue making his providential progress, and pro-life activists must be on the front lines in helping him overcome the massive institutional impediments to achieve victory in 2024.

-- Gavin Wax, April 28 column

Then-candidate Trump started the War on Woke in June of 2015, boldly declaring, "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. . . . They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." 

In that now-famous moment, he spoke of how Americans must address the ills brought to our country by our open border.

To protect our nation, he announced that it is "way past time to build a massive wall to secure our southern border." He added, "A country without borders is, quite simply, not a country."

President Trump proceeded to launch a fight against political correctness that reshaped the Republican Party.

[...]

President Trump is fully aligned and committed to unabashed America First values. He will shamelessly pursue them.

He has shown us his strength of character and fortitude.

The right team will uplift him to achieve heightened levels of success. Other candidates, namely DeSantis, will claim to be the "anti-woke candidate."

They are just a tribute band. Americans want the real deal.

-- Gavin Wax, May 23 column (Newsmax insisted on putting a disclaimer on this column stating that "The following commentary is not an endorsement for any political party or candidate, on the part of Newsmax," even though it is unabashedly pro-Trump)

Just take a look at the indictment of President Trump. No former president has ever had to go through this kind of mockery, and it is setting up a dangerous precedent that could affect future leaders.

 

I believe Donald Trump was a man who was set in place by God to lead our nation, which I discuss in my book, "God and Donald Trump," and our country was better because of his presidency.

Is it possible God has a plan for this nation? Is it possible He has a plan for His people? I've tried to make the case that President Trump won the evangelical vote by the largest margin in history. I haven't tried to analyze his spiritual condition — only God knows the heart.

[...]

I personally believe Donald Trump is being led by the Spirit and will survive this as he has nearly everything thrown his way by the woke crowd. Join me in praying for this.

-- Stephen E. Strang, June 5 column

Love or hate the guy, it shouldn't be entirely surprising to witness Donald Trump's 2024 election polling advantage surging despite transparently desperate Democrat and complicit media attempts to discredit and disqualify him through dubious criminal investigations and legal charges as provably far worse offenses by Joe Biden are ignored.

Included are two failed sham Trump impeachments, a banana republic style Capitol "insurrection" kangaroo court show trial that omitted key information and disallowed cross examination of witness testimony, and an armed raid on his private Mar-a-Lago residence in search of documents he was authorized to declassify.

-- Larry Bell, June 7 column

How do you continue to support this guy?"

A stranger on Twitter asked me this in the wake of the recent indictment of former President Trump on three dozen felony counts regarding possession and sloppy handling of classified documents. After I made the mistake of responding, the stranger retorts: "BS and you know it. That’s not what happened. You’re lying."

The frustrated liberal’s ever-present fallback.

One reason this writer continues to support "this guy" Trump is because so many other people hate him, so many authorities and politicians and institutions are working so diligently to destroy him.

[...]

So much of the fight about Trump ignores policy and focuses on him personally — his character flaws, alleged misbehavior 25 years ago, mean tweets, his chiropractic talent for bending the truth — that we forget his record as president.

In his first three years in office, the economy grew 50% faster that the average growth of the previous ten years. Employment for blacks, Hispanics and women hit all-time highs.

Under President Trump, the U.S. was the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world, and prices at the pump were below $2 a gallon. On the global stage, we were respected… and feared, because the same traits his haters decry also give our enemies pause.

Trump doesn’t take static from anyone.

That’s one of the main things many of us love about him.

-- Dennis Kneale, June 22 column

In politics today, the biggest rock star remains Donald Trump and it is not even close. At the “Faith and Freedom” conference last weekend, President Trump received thunderous applause.

Among Americans, Trump is the main attraction, the candidate with the most support and the unquestioned leader in the 2024 race for the White House. According to the latest Harvard CAPS-Harris poll, Trump leads President Joe Biden by a margin of 45%-39%.

What is amazing is that Trump leads despite a dizzying array of hurdles placed in front of him by his Deep State enemies. The latest challenge is a 37-count federal indictment stemming from the investigation into classified documents recovered from his Florida estate.

The Deep State has tried everything to derail Donald Trump from the day he descended the “golden escalator” in 2015 to announce his presidential candidacy.

[...]

Americans understand that President Trump has been treated unfairly from the beginning. Despite being surveilled, constantly investigated and marred with false allegations of “Russian collusion,” his administration was extremely successful.

The Trump record of achievement stands in stark contrast to the disaster known as the Biden administration. A new NBC News poll shows that only 20%< of Americans believe the country is going in the “right direction,” while an astounding 74% believe our nation is on the “wrong track.” Even worse for Biden, 68% of Americans believe he does not possess the necessary mental and physical health to be president.”

While Biden is faltering on every level, and his radical policies are failing, President Trump is looking much better in comparison. Americans remember that Trump achieved energy independence, a secure border, a strong economy, a strong military and respect throughout the world. Under President Trump peace deals were being reached while our country entered no new wars.

-- Jeff Crouere, June 28 column


Posted by Terry K. at 6:33 PM EDT
WND Rants That Real News Orgs Won't Call Being Transgender An 'Ideology'
Topic: WorldNetDaily

An anonymous writer complained in a June 6 WorldNetDaily article:

The Associated Press, which stunningly still claims to be a source of "unbiased" news, now has banned journalists from using the word "transgenderism," a new report says.

It's because that "frames transgender identity as an ideology."

It is Tyler O'Neil who has explained in a commentary at the Daily Signal that the organization, which publishes a stylebook used by many journalists, is demanding journalists abide by the transgenderism ideology, but they are not allowed to think of it as an ideology.

The AP, he said, recently updated its requirements, and moves way beyond "bathrooms or pronouns."

"In a classic example of '1984'-style doublethink, good journalists are required to abide by transgender ideology, while denying that such an ideology exists," he explained. "AP's most recent style guide update—published Thursday—instructs them to use a person’s 'preferred' pronouns, deny that sex is a biological fact recognized at or before birth, and use the euphemism 'gender-affirming care' when describing experimental medical interventions that leave patients stunted, scarred, and infertile."

O'Neil explained, "The most recent update to the AP style guide is quite clear: 'Do not use the term transgenderism, which frames transgender identity as an ideology.' Yet the entire document is dripping with this ideology."

[...]

Transgenderism is been put in a spotlight in recent months because of the fact that the Joe Biden administration has made promoting the ideology, along with abortion, a main agenda point for his tenure in office. Further, economic disasters that Anheuser-Busch and Target have brought on themselves in recent weeks – each corporation losing tens of billions of dollars in value – have been over their advocacy for the transgenderism ideology.

But despite all this complaining, the anonymous WND writer doesn't quote O'Neil or anyone else to explain why "transgenderism" is an acceptable word (let alone a "key" one) or how, exactly, being transgender is an "ideology." As the Media Diversty Institute points out, the "ideology" term is used by anti-transgender activists, but it "makes no sense because there is no unified ideology that all trans people believe in. That is, not all trans people experience or understand their identity in the same way and we cannot therefore say that there is a transgender ideology."

It seems our anonymous writer is mad that biased and inaccurate right-wing labeling is being called out.


Posted by Terry K. at 3:25 PM EDT
NEW ARTICLE: Protecting The Guns, Attacking The Protesters
Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center pushed several pet narratives in the aftermath of a Nashville school shooting: hyping the shooter's alleged transgender identity, complaining that guns were being blamed, and attacking state legislators who protested inaction. Read more >>

Posted by Terry K. at 1:04 AM EDT
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
MRC's Mandelburg Has Five Days In A Row Of Anti-Drag Meltdowns
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center has continued to crank out performative outrage over drag performers and shows -- that's how they generate clicks, after all.

An April 3 post by chief MRC homophobe and transphobe Tierin-Rose Mandelburg complained that during thte CMT Awards, singer Kelsea Ballerini "performed on stage with four drag queens to her song, “If You Go Down.” By the grace of God the drag queens were wearing modest clothes (this time) but the fact that they were legit men in tights was still rather obvious. The stage was also decked out in rainbow and confetti. It looked like Jojo Siwa vomited across the set and the stage crew just ran with it." She further whined:

It’s likely Ballerini was protesting the recent Tennessee legislation that barred drag queens from entering the same spaces as children. Remember, the left thinks drag queen, aka professional perverts, should be reading stories to our kids, teaching them how to twerk, and showing them their crotches covered by nothing but fishnets.

The next day, Mandelburg parroted hate from the wilidly homophobic Libsof TikTok over a theater camp:

This wasn’t an April Fool’s joke.

The Young Actors Theater Camp held a weekend drag camp last weekend for students ages 8-18 in Northern California to teach aspiring actors how to dress and perform in drag.

Libs of TikTok tweeted an image of the flyer, which promoted the “free camp." The camp had previously been listed with a $597 fee which included a “bring a friend 4 free” element, but as of its most recent ad, the event was free of charge.

I guess they didn’t have enough registrants. I wonder why.

Details included that the camp was set up to help kids “discover your inner drag and share it with the world," specifically targeted for “queens, kings & non-binary royalty aged 8-18." Because apparently 8-year-olds who, mind you, can’t even stay home alone might be mature enough to decide that they’re neither male nor female.

Mandelburg concluded by huffing, "Let’s just say that Jesus had better come back soon, because we’re in hell." Yeah, Mandelburg's version of hell would incude her not being able to spew hate at people.

The day after that, Mendelburg had a meltdown over a stuffed animal:

If you were thinking about bringing a kid or a loved one to Build-A-Bear anytime soon, don’t.

Build-A-Bear just announced its latest partnership with none other than drag queen RuPaul in order to push drag even more into spaces where kids exist.

RuPaul, who hosts a drag queen competition show on TV, posted an unboxing video on his Instagram page where he got to meet the RuPaul bear. The stuffed toy had an intense amount of gold eyeshadow and black eyeliner, similiar to how many drag queens do their makeup, as well as a giant blonde wig and a gold sequin dress. The dress even has a slit that extended all the way up to the bear's crotch.

Very tasteful, Build-A-Bear.&nbI’d argue that offering a child a teddy bear dressed up as a professional pervert is a great way to exercise grooming behavior.

[...]

It really is sick, the way the left is blatantly and obviously grooming our kids. And it’s also sick that when they’re called out for it, they don’t even care. 

Welcome to 2023 America.

It's a sign of Mandelburg's extreme, sick hatred for anyone different from her that she thinks a teddy bear that nobody is being forced to buy is "grooming."

But Mandelburg was on a roll, and she spent an April 6 post raging against Disney:

If you didn’t think that Disney was out for your kids, here’s your reminder.

Disney’s latest live action movie, "The Little Mermaid," is set to release at the end of May, and this time the creators are harping heavily on leftist religion of wokeism to carry the plot. The antagonist, Ursula, is supposedly based heavily on drag queens.

Melissa McCarthy, who plays the role of Ursula in the 2023 film, sat down with Entertainment Weekly (EW) to talk about the role. Ursula, the original character from the classic animated version of the movie, was in fact inspired by drag queen Devine [sic] back when it was created. But, the new, live action reprise makes it even more obvious.

There's a drag queen that lives in me. I'm always right on the verge of going full-time with her,” McCarthy told EW.

She said she “100 percent” used drag as her influence for the role under the sea. McCarthy also told Pink News that she’d relied on her moments isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic to, let's just say, drag out her inner drag…pun intended. 

“To keep the humour and the sadness and the edginess to Ursula is everything I want in a character – and, frankly, everything I want in a drag queen,” she said.

You'd think Mandelburg would be happy to see a villain be based on drag. Still, that's slightly better than her former colleague in hate, Matt Philbin, who went a tad racist by complaining that a Disney live-action "Peter Pan" movie wasn't white enough (our pointing out of which may have cost him his MRC job).

Manedlburg spent an April 7 post whining that not everybody was being forced to mark Easter Sunday by having Christianity imposed on them:

When you think of Easter, do you think about Jesus, death, resurrection, springtime, bunnies, or church? Well then you’re like most of the rest of the country who knows what Easter is all about. On the other hand, some people think about freakin’ drag queens.

In protest to the “400 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation on the books,” the Los Angeles LGBT Center planned an Easter Day Drag March. 

Now that’s an idea I hope dies and doesn't get resurrected.

[...]

This isn’t the only blasphemy of Easter. Earlier this week, we saw numerous restaurants gearing up for Easter drag brunch events, a drag queen Jesus, and a few drag queen bunnies showing what they called “gay chaos” this Easter season. 

If you wanna wear fake boobs, Walmart makeup and rainbow fishnets, you’re gonna look weird, but do you, boo. But, on EASTER? Really?

We thought right-wingers like Mandelburg opposed having views imposed on others -- but that's exactly what she's doing by demanding that everyonemark Easter the way a right-wing Christian like her would.

That's five straight days of anti-drag hate. Presumably, she gets paid well to spew that much rage.


Posted by Terry K. at 9:56 PM EDT
WND's Latest 'Mark Of The Beast': Portable Digital Health Records
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily has accused a lot of things of being the "mark of the beast" over the years, from implantable microchips to COVID vaccines. Bob Unruh served up the latest candidate in a June 6 article:

The World Health Organization has announced it has taken a step toward a Global Digital Health Certification Network that has as its goal to monitor, digitally, everyone!

The announcement comes from the WHO and the European Commission, after WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said his organization copied a scheme that had been developed during the COVID-19 pandemic by the European Union.

The plans immediately were labeled "Mark of the Beast?" by those watching development of a worldwide agenda to use on citizens.

The Manila Times said Ghebreyesus described the new agenda as a "global public good" and the first step in a scheme for a worldwide health "certification."

Privacy experts long have been alarmed by the idea of a system that would set out to monitor literally everyone. Constitutionalists also are concerned about the related idea that the WHO would force all nations to submit to a global plan that would give it control over health decision-making entirely, meaning a bureaucrat from WHO could shut down a nation's economy, order residents to submit to experimental drugs, or more.

Further, worldwide standards and data monitoring imply some sort of enforcement mechanism that would be needed to require compliance.

You will not be surprised to learn that Unruh's fearmongering is not accurate. The goal of the Global Digital Health Certification Network is to allow easy patient access to vaccination and prescription information across borders in a way that is secure and can be validated, and WHO will not have access to underlying personal information.But Unruh must fearmonger anyway, ominously claiming, "But if people have access to those records, so would governments." Unruh also doesn't name any of these "privacy experts" who oppose this system, let alone directly quote any of them.

In short, Unruh's article offers nothing useful, and its only goal is to spread baseless fearmongering among WND's shrinking base of readers for whom "mark of the beast" is a trigger phrase.


Posted by Terry K. at 6:53 PM EDT
Trump Sycophant Dick Morris Cranks Out Anti-Biden Attacks
Topic: Newsmax

As part of his role as Newsmax's resident Donald Trump sycophant, Dick Morris cranks out lots of anti-Biden talking points as well. Here's what he's done over the past few months with emphasis on two maintalking points, the candidacy of Robert Kennedy Jr. and Republican claims of scandal:

Morris also dutifully repeated Repubican talking points trying to link the Bidens to alleged bribery -- even if he can't actually prove it happened. He wrote in a June 6 column: "We don’t have proof that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe, but the evidence suggests a full criminal investigation of the matter is warranted." He went on full Biden attack in a June 21 column:

However, as reality set in, his job approval fell rapidly.

But his personal favorability or popularity remained higher than his job approval.

People liked him even if they disapproved of his performance in office.

But now, the revelations of accusations of receiving money improperly, the Hunter Biden scandals, his increasing physical disability and his obvious mental inability to cope with today’s problems are taking their toll on his personal popularity.

In the June poll by McLaughlin and Associates, Biden had sunk to all time lows both in job approval and in personal favorability.

Any politician can recover from bad job ratings — they can always do a better job.

But once the job disapproval has crept into his personal favorability it's hard to recover.

It’s easier to convince people that your job performance has improved than it is to tell them that you have become a better man or woman.

So Biden’s political troubles are mounting to a point where he cannot redeem himself. He is becoming unelectable.

But, in an act that can only be compared to ritual suicide, the Democratic Party remains wed to him.

Morris didn't mention that McLaughlin is a right-wing pollster who's best known for working for Trump's 2020 campaign.And one can just as easily argue that sycophants like Morris are commitingritual suicide by tying themselves to an increasingly erratic and amoral man whose behavior continues to get him indicted. Indeed, Morris ended his columnn with more sycophancy:

Let's put the last few weeks in perspective.

Trump was arrested and then indicted in two separate scandals and his ratings improved. Biden is still immune from censure by his biased Justice Department, but his numbers have dropped.

There is a God.

Morris' smear about Biden's "obvious mental inability" earned him a top-of-column disclaimer from Newsmax stating that "The following column has been authored by a non-clinician."


Posted by Terry K. at 2:38 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, July 25, 2023 2:44 PM EDT

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