Sarah Palin Sues The Old Gray Lady

For John, BLUF:  I am pulling for Governor Sarah Palin.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Tucson Shooting:  ‘The Right Is Coming After Us’

From Hot Air, by Mr John Sexton, 10 September 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Last month a judge ruled that Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against the NY Times could go to trial.  Because she is a public figure, Palin still has a tough road ahead of her.  She has to prove that the Times wasn’t just sloppy but is guilty of actual malice or, at a minimum, “reckless disregard” for the truth.  That won’t be easy but the judge in the case did agree it’s not impossible because the Times’ work, in particular that of now-former editor James Bennet on this piece was spectacularly awful.

Today Columbia Journalism Review published the most detailed breakdown I’ve seen of how that terrible editorial got published in the first place.  I’m going to skip over most of the preliminaries here and assume you’re already familiar with the backstory involving Sarah Palin’s Facebook map and the 2011 Tucson shooting by a deranged man named Jared Lee Loughner.  All you really need to know is that, despite a lot of media outrage directed at Palin at the time, there has never been even a shred of evidence that Loughner had ever seen her Facebook map or that he cared one way or the other about Palin.  His politics, so far as they are coherent at all, appear to have leaned to the left.

All of this seemed to be a long settled-issue until the Times needed to put out an editorial about the shooting of some Republicans by a deranged Bernie Sanders fan in 2017.

The idea for an editorial on the Arlington shooting came from [Elizabeth] Williamson, a Washington-based edit-page writer who had previously reported in the US and abroad for The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.  A few hours after the bullets flew, according to her deposition, she sent an email to colleagues with the subject line, “Are we writing on the congressional shooting?” An editor responded, “Can’t see it yet, but keep looking.  A nutcase who hates Republicans???”

Already it’s clear that this is shaping up to be an editorial about political violence and it looks like someone on the left is responsible.

For the next few hours, Williamson and other edit-page staff researched motives for the shooting. Mid-afternoon, [James] Bennet contributed to an email string:  “Did we ever write anything connecting … the Giffords shooting to some kind of incitement?” A colleague offered up a 2011 column in which Frank Rich mentioned Palin’s map but noted that “we have no idea” if Loughner had seen it before the shooting, adding, “nor does it matter.”

Hours before the editorial was published, Bennet is already casting about for a way to compare the shooting at the baseball diamond to the one in Tucson years earlier. Critically, he’s not sure if there’s a connection. A little before 5 pm Williamson submits a draft of the editorial. Here’s what it said about Palin and the map:

Just as in 2011, when Jared Lee Loughner opened fire in a supermarket parking lot, grievously wounding Representative Gabby Giffords and killing six people, including a nine-year-old girl, Mr. Hodgkinson’s rage was nurtured in a vile political climate. Then, it was the pro-gun right being criticized: in the weeks before the shooting Sarah Palin’s political action committee circulated a map of targeted electoral districts that put Ms. Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.

I nhope Ms Sarah Palin wins and wins the appeal, all the way to the Supreme Court.

We need to stop this partisan character assassination by the press.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Impeachment Rumors Continue

For John, BLUF:  It is unfortunate that neither side can concede to the othere side the fact that that side is patriotic,if mistaken.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Clinically Deranged Adam Schiff Mounts His Dead Russia Horse Again

Here is the sub-headline:

Schiff to Russia: “I Can’t Quit You.”

From PJ Media, by Opinionator Stephen Kruiser, 10 September 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

As has been pointed out by many of us recently, the Democrats really aren’t behaving as if their presidential candidate had a substantial lead in the polls.

Yes, the polls have been tightening, but the Dems have been in a sort of flop-sweat panic mode since the Republican National Convention ended.  There is, of course, the fact that every public appearance by der Bidengaffer since then has been hovering in the neighborhood of “unmitigated disaster.”

The Democrats do seem to be trying to get to their October surprises early this year.  That reeks of desperation.

Speaking of reeking, California’s little impeachment pitbull Adam Schiff is back.  Guess what, kids?  He’s got another whistleblower!

I have to say, I think thzt Stephen Kruiser was a bit over the top with his headline.  I don't think that Representative Adam Schiff is Clinically Deranged.  Rather, he is a Democrat, under the thumb of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  And they are both from Coastal California, along with Representative Maxine Waters.

That said, the idea of another set of dishonest impeachment hearings fills me with dread.  More dishonesty doesn't help bring us together.  It makes the media look like fools.  This is a terrible ay to run the Government.

The whole thing is based on the idea that the Department of Homeland Security is suppressing the truth, from the Intelligence Community, about who is meddling in US Elections.  Hint:  Everyone.  And how long has this been going on?  Hint:  For longer than you have been alive.  If you aren't also worried about China and Iran and North Korea you aren't paying attention.

Yes, there is a Whistleblower involved.  Whistleblowers are not necessarily bad people.  In fact there is a role in our system of Government for Whistleblowers.

The biggest external interference in the Presidential Election of 2016 was the Steele Dossier.  It was a fabrication of lies, fouisted off on the American Public, by folks like the Brookings Institution and the Hillary Clinton Campaign.  Thanks to former British Intelligence Officer Christopher Steele.

At the article, linked above, you can find a link to the Fox News article.  For those of you who prefer CNN as a source, there is this link.

The CNN piece says, among other things, that "White supremacy is 'most lethal threat' to the US, DHS draft assessment says".  I am not convinced that the biggest threat facing us is domestic, "right wing" white supremacy.  The piece, by Ms Geneva Sands, wanders over to accusing President Trump of race baiting.  This seems to be a meme being pushed by CNN and the Media in general.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

I Want to Believe It Is Fair and Square

For John, BLUF:  When people tell me thaat there is no election cheating I remind myself that we are dealing with human beings.  Lying, cheating, stealing human beings.  You wouldn't cheat in an election and I wouldn't, but we know there are folks who will.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Confessions of a voter fraud:  I was a master at fixing mail-in ballots

From The New York Post, by Reporter Jon Levine, 29 August 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

A top Democratic operative says voter fraud, especially with mail-in ballots, is no myth. And he knows this because he’s been doing it, on a grand scale, for decades.

Mail-in ballots have become the latest flashpoint in the 2020 elections. While President Trump and the GOP warn of widespread manipulation of the absentee vote that will swell with COVID polling restrictions, many Democrats and their media allies have dismissed such concerns as unfounded.

But the political insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears prosecution, said fraud is more the rule than the exception. His dirty work has taken him through the weeds of municipal and federal elections in Paterson, Atlantic City, Camden, Newark, Hoboken and Hudson County and his fingerprints can be found in local legislative, mayoral and congressional races across the Garden State. Some of the biggest names and highest office holders in New Jersey have benefited from his tricks, according to campaign records The Post reviewed.

“An election that is swayed by 500 votes, 1,000 votes — it can make a difference,” the tipster said. “It could be enough to flip states.”

The President is not wrong to be concerned about possible fraud with Mail In voting.  Worse, just bureaucratic incompetence, overwhelmed by a system that is unfamiliar.

This is not a good point in our history to try out a new system of voting.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Alternate Fallout

For John, BLUF:  Democrats and the Media seem obsessed by the idea that Donald Trump will lose the election in November, but will not walk away on 20 January 2021.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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WHY THE NONSENSE ABOUT TRUMP REFUSING TO LEAVE OFFICE?

From Powerline, by John Hinderaker, 5 September 2020.

And. on 6 September 2020, New Yorker. Writer Jelani Cobb wrote Our Long, Forgotten History of Election-Related Violence.  He worked in the "Trump never leaving office" meme.
From the Powerline article, here is the lede plus two:

One of the Democrats’ more lunatic themes is their insistence that if President Trump loses the election, he likely will refuse to leave office, in effect staging a coup.  Most recently the claim was made by Bernie Sanders. 

Now, Something Important

For John, BLUF:  Sometimes it is hard to keep up.  Sometimes the real news leaps ahead of attempts at humor.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Are Your Texts Passive-Aggressive?  The Answer May Lie In Your Punctuation

From NPR, by Associate Danny Hensel, 5 September 2020.

Here is the lede plus six:

Katherine Rooks remembers when she first learned that a punctuation mark could wield a lot of power.

The Denver-based writer had sent her high school-aged son a text message about logistics — coming home from school.

"I could tell from his response that he was agitated all of a sudden in our thread.  And when he came home, he walked in the door and he came over and he said, 'What did you mean by this?'"

Rooks was confused. How could an innocuous text message send confusion?

"And so we looked at the text together and I said, 'Well, I meant, see you later, or something.  I don't remember exactly what it said.'  And he said, 'But you ended with a period! I thought you were really angry!'"

Rooks wasn't angry, and she explained to her son that, well, periods are how you end a sentence.

But in text messaging — at least for younger adults — periods do more than just end a sentence:  they also can set a tone.

Who knew?

If the "full stop" punctuation can cause such anxiety, one wonders what an exclamation point might do.  Or one of the colons.

I still don't know when to put punctuation inside or outside a quote mark, so this new wrinkle has me totally flumoxed.

But remember, it is NPR, who told us Looting was OK.

Regards  —  Cliff

New US Attorney for the Rest of New York

For John, BLUF:  .The stories coming out of New York State with regard to COVID-19 have been conflicting and confusing and often not believable.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Prosecutor noted for white-collar work named U.S. attorney in Albany

Here is the sub-headline:

Antoinette Bacon expected to take Albany post as predecessor is sworn in as judge

From the Albany, New York, newspaper The Times Union, by Reporter Brendan J. Lyons, 2 September 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

Antoinette T. Bacon, an associate deputy attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice, has been named acting U.S. attorney for New York's Northern District, according to multiple sources briefed on the matter.

Bacon will become the first female U.S. attorney in the district, which encompasses 32 counties stretching from Kingston to the Canadian border and west to Syracuse.

She was at the federal courthouse in Albany on Wednesday afternoon as her predecessor in the position, Grant C. Jaquith, was sworn into his new post as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims. U.S. District Chief Judge Glenn T. Suddaby swore in Jaquith during the brief ceremony.

Jaquith, who led the Northern District office beginning in July 2017, will serve a 15-year term as one of the seven judges on the veterans' court. President Donald J. Trump nominated Jaquith, a former Army colonel, for the judgeship a year ago.

According to her professional biography, Bacon, who is from Cleveland, Ohio, is the Justice Department's national elder justice coordinator and previously served as the national white collar crime coordinator at the executive office for U.S. attorneys.

And here is the DOJ Press Announcement.  The Press Release, from Thursday, 3 September 2020, was titled "ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM P. BARR ANNOUNCES THE DESIGNATION OF ANTOINETTE T. BACON AS ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK".

Here are the first three paragraphs of the Press Release:

Attorney General William P. Barr announced today that Antoinette T. Bacon has been designated as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3345(a)(3).  Bacon will replace U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith, who announced his resignation upon his appointment as a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. “I am pleased that the President has designated Toni Bacon as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York,” said Attorney General William P. Barr.  “Her contributions to the initiatives she oversaw while working for the Office of the Deputy Attorney General are a testament to her relentless commitment to protect and serve all Americans.  I know the Northern District will find Toni to be an exceptional prosecutor and dedicated leader.”

The area Ms Antoinette Bacon worked previously was, as noted, elder abuse.  Notwithstanding the fact that the Governor, Andrew Cuomo, is a blowhard on the issue of the elderly, it is an area that badly needs to be looked into in New York, particularly with regard to Winnie the Flu.  I am not expecting revelations to come flowing out, but rather, the kind of slow, careful, investigations the Barr Department of Justice is known for.

Good luck to the ordinary Citizens of New York.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Government in Overwatch

For John, BLUF:  I don't see much about this in the media, but it smells bad.  We should be better than this.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Judicial Watch: State Dept Records Show US Embassy in Ukraine Monitored Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, Journalists and other U.S. Citizens in Potential Violation of Federal Law

From Judicial Watch, 1 September 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Judicial Watch announced today that it received 372 pages of records from the U.S. Department of State that confirm prior Judicial Watch reporting that the Ukraine Embassy under then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch monitored, in potential violation of law, Donald Trump, Jr. Rudy Giuliani, and major journalists on Twitter on their commentary on Ukraine, “Biden-Burisma 2020”, and George Soros.

The documents list the targeted persons as Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rudy Giuliani, Dan Bongino, Sebastian Gorka, John Solomon, Jack Posobiec, Ryan Saavedra, Sara A Carter, Donald Trump Jr., Michael McFaul, Lou Dobbs and Pamela Gellar.  The search terms that were flagged to be monitored by State Department officials on social media included Yovanovitch, Ukraine Ambassador, Ukrainian Ambassador, Ukraine Soros, Clinton campaign, and Biden-Burisma.

The emails show that Yovanovitch was aware of the social media monitoring program.

Additionally, a State Department contractor warned his colleagues that their monitoring of private citizens was potentially in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.

“These new documents confirm Deep State officials at the Ukraine Embassy seemed to set up an enemies list to help illicitly monitor and report on the social media postings of President Trump’s family and lawyer, as well as journalists,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “The State Department hid these smoking gun documents for months.”

This is a blot on the record of the Department of State.  We, as Citizens, should expect better from those who are representing us overseas.  Now I have even more questions about what was going on in the Ukraine.

Regards  —  Cliff