Mikey Likes It!: 2020-10-11

Saturday, October 17, 2020

How they let us down

Let me start with Jimmy Dore.

And pair that with? Paul Edwards has a great piece at INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE:

With the Presidential election weeks away now and the country rigidly polarized—people violently divided on matters rooted deeply in their moral and cultural biases and unreconcilable—an urgent call is made from true believers in the democratic process, liberals mainly, to vote.

While this is nothing new, the pressure this cycle is more intense than ever. The mantra goes like this: if you don’t vote for their candidate, the other will win, and that will be the end of America. By voting, you act to preserve our great democracy, hence not voting is unthinkable. It would sully your citizenship and spurn your priceless birthright.

Two elements in the mantra need revision. First, we don’t have, have never had, a democracy; at best, a hamstrung republic. Second, not voting won’t end America and whatever you wish to call what we do have. America is ending itself fine on its own, regardless of voting, campaigning, and all the Dada imbecile trappings of our polity.

So, what drives this persistent, passionate adjuration? Why are so many so certain of its critical importance? The idea of democracy, at its origins, was to entrust governance to the Demos, the People. It was a noble concept that, when implemented, was quickly subverted by brute economic power and has been, when tried, ever since.

[. . .]

A century ago, battling the monstrous power of rampant Capitalism, Emma Goldman said, “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” She meant that the core purpose of “democratic” government had nothing to do with improving the lot of its people, and everything to do with maximizing profit for the Capitalist juggernaut. No country on earth has greater government/Capitalism symbiosis than America.

Most Americans, after life-long indoctrination, can’t believe they have been deceived about their government, by their government. A short exercise can address that inability. (If your net worth is $10 million, or your annual income $1 million, stop reading. Nothing for you here.)

Try to recall the last legislation that socio-economically benefited the American people at large. Stumped? That might be because it was before you were born. Two bills have passed that were indisputably for the public good: Social Security, in 1935 under FDR, which also provided for unemployment and aid to mothers with dependent children; and Medicare/Medicaid, under LBJ in 1965. That’s it.

Take that in. Digest that. There has been, in 55 years—the better part of a normal lifetime—no legislation to significantly socially and economically benefit 300 million ordinary American people. None.

One would think that a raging flame from that titanic betrayal would burn great, ragged holes in the smothering blanket of propaganda under which our government hides its crimes. One would think that, like the Finch character in Network, Americans would all be roaring, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more!”

But, no. Instead, the public—passive, deluded victim of this cynical abuse—is urged to vote, to preserve the desperately dirty, spiritually sick racket that has deceived, defrauded and impoverished them.

Nancy Pelosi is the Democratic Party and proof that they are not the party of the working people. They haven't been in years. Tip O'Neil would be repulsed by Pelosi -- and we all should be.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, October 16, 2020. Friday. We take a look at some of the candidates for US president.

Gino Spocchia (INDEPENDENT) reports:

Former president Barack Obama praised Joe Biden’s “good instincts” and said he would use them as president, despite voting for the Iraq war.

In an appearance on the “Pod Save America” podcast, Mr Obama discussed how a Biden administration would be able to implement “actual policy that works”, and that lived-up to his “good instincts”, having learned lessons from almost five decades in politics.

On the Iraq war, the Democrat argued that Mr Biden “learned a lesson from that”, having later admitted that his vote for the Iraq War as a senator "was a mistake".

Here's what actually happened. Barack Obama went on a podcast run by his former flunkies who worship him and, even there, he stumbled and lied. Joe does not have "good instincts." The record does not beat that out. Someone with "good instincts" does not violate women and girls' space to the point that Jon Stewart has to mock you on THE DAILY SHOW as happened when Joe was vice president. Someone with "good instincts" would immediately stop that behavior after being mocked by both THE DAILY SHOW and THE WASHINGTON POST. Not Joe. When called out in 2019, "good instincts" would not result in you, two days after your video 'apology,' making jokes at an assembly of union workers. Joe Biden is an ass. That's what Joe Biden is.

Good instincts? That would not allow your brothers and your son Hunter and now your son-in-law to all be accused of profiting from you, of corruption, of profiting on your public office. Does any living person in your family know how to apply for a job that they are qualified for? Do any of them know how to actually work for a living?

Good instincts do not lead you to make the votes Joe has made throughout his long, long, long political career. Good instincts do not allow you to pretend to support Anita Hill -- while offering her no supporting in the confirmation hearing and while you were telling Republicans that she was lying.

Joe Biden learned his lesson from Iraq?

I guess Barack wasn't a very involved parent before the White House. Or maybe he just wasn't a good parent period. Maybe his own lack of skills was why he was forever trashing African-American fathers?

Here's the basic on parenting. You teach your child to learn from a mistake. Learning from a mistake means admitting you were wrong, yes. That is step one. If that's all you've taught your children, you're a failure as a parent. Words are empty without action. Step two, when you make a mistake is making a real effort to improve anyone you have harmed by your mistake. Joe did nothing to improve the lives of the Iraqi people. In fact, he steered the US effort in 2010 to overturn the votes of the Iraqi people who, in March 2010, voted thug Nouri al-Maliki out after one term. Joe led the US effort to overturn that vote -- despite the fact that we already knew Nouri was running secret prisons and torture chambers. Joe led the US effort to negotiate The Erbil Agreement -- the legal contract that overturned the votes of the Iraqi people.

Liars like Patrick Cockburn have never written one word about The Erbil Agreement. Liars like Patrick Cockburn have blamed Nouri's second term on the government of Iran. The government of Iran did back Nouri. But it was only after the US, working months on The Erbil Agreement, got the agreement signed that the Iraqi political process finally began moving again. In March of 2010, Nouri lost the election. He refused to step down. His refusal, for eight months and several days, brought the Iraqi government to a standstill. This period was called a "political stalemate" (we used the term, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, many press accounts used the term). Did it end in October with Iran's blessing of Nouri?

From November 20, 2010:

March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. The Guardian's editorial board noted in August, "These elections were hailed prematurely by Mr Obama as a success, but everything that has happened since has surely doused that optimism in a cold shower of reality." 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance -- this coalition still does not give them 163 seats. November 10th a power sharing deal resulted in the Parliament meeting for the second time and voting in a Speaker. And then Iraqiya felt double crossed on the deal and the bulk of their members stormed out of the Parliament. David Ignatius (Washington Post) explains, "The fragility of the coalition was dramatically obvious Thursday as members of the Iraqiya party, which represents Sunnis, walked out of Parliament, claiming that they were already being double-crossed by Maliki. Iraqi politics is always an exercise in brinkmanship, and the compromises unfortunately remain of the save-your-neck variety, rather than reflecting a deeper accord. " After that, Jalal Talabani was voted President of Iraq. Talabani then named Nouri as the prime minister-delegate. If Nouri can meet the conditions outlined in Article 76 of the Constitution (basically nominate ministers for each council and have Parliament vote to approve each one with a minimum of 163 votes each time and to vote for his council program) within thirty days, he becomes the prime minister. If not, Talabani must name another prime minister-delegate. . In 2005, Iraq took four months and seven days to pick a prime minister-delegate. It took eight months and two days to name Nouri as prime minister-delegate. His first go-round, on April 22, 2006, his thirty day limit kicked in. May 20, 2006, he announced his cabinet -- sort of. Sort of because he didn't nominate a Minister of Defense, a Minister of Interior and a Minister of a Natioanl Security. This was accomplished, John F. Burns wrote in "For Some, a Last, Best Hope for U.S. Efforts in Iraq" (New York Times), only with "muscular" assistance from the Bush White House. Nouri declared he would be the Interior Ministry temporarily. Temporarily lasted until June 8, 2006. This was when the US was able to strong-arm, when they'd knocked out the other choice for prime minister (Ibrahim al-Jaafari) to install puppet Nouri and when they had over 100,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. Nouri had no competition. That's very different from today. The Constitution is very clear and it is doubtful his opponents -- including within his own alliance -- will look the other way if he can't fill all the posts in 30 days. As Leila Fadel (Washington Post) observes, "With the three top slots resolved, Maliki will now begin to distribute ministries and other top jobs, a process that has the potential to be as divisive as the initial phase of government formation." Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) points out, "Maliki now has 30 days to decide on cabinet posts - some of which will likely go to Iraqiya - and put together a full government. His governing coalition owes part of its existence to followers of hard-line cleric Muqtada al Sadr, leading Sunnis and others to believe that his government will be indebted to Iran." The stalemate ends when the country has a prime minister. It is now eight months, thirteen days and counting.

November 10th The Erbil Agreement was signed and November 11th the Parliament was finally in session after eight months of nothing. November 11th, the KRG website announces:

Baghdad, Iraq (KRP.org) - Iraq's political leaders yesterday agreed to hold the parliamentary session as scheduled on Thursday and to name an individual for the post of Speaker of the the parliament (Council of Representatives). The Speaker post will go to the Al-Iraqiya bloc, which is headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi.
During the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of all the winning blocs at President Masoud Barzani's Baghdad headquarters, agreement was reached on two other points: to create a council for strategic policy and to address issues regarding national reconciliation.
President Barzani, who sponsored the three days' round of meetings, stated that today's agreement was a big achievement for Iraqis. He expressed optimism that the next government will be formed soon and that it will be inclusive and representative of all of Iraq's communities.

The agreement that they are discussing is The Erbil Agreement. If you can't address that agreement, you aren't an honest broker. Patrick Cockburn has never written of it. Never admitted to it. Emma Sky's spoken of it, written of it, even included it a book. If the 'expert' on Iraq can't get honest about The Erbil Agreement, you should wonder what else they're lying about.

Joe was obligated, in 2010, to do what was best for the Iraqi people if he truly realized he made a mistake. In no world is overturning election results a good thing. Joe doesn't think overturning the results are a good thing here in the US. He can't stop pushing the fantasy that Donald Trump won't honor the election results from this upcoming November. And yet it is Joe who overturned an election. The Iraqi people voted out thug Nouri al-Maliki and they risked their lives to do so. Instead of backing the Iraqi people, instead of fostering trust in the ballot box and in the notions of democracy, Joe pushed for the votes of Iraqi people to be overturned.

That was bad enough. But no one has held Joe accountable for what happened.

Yes, Iraqi voting went down as a result. Yes, trust in democracy was not fostered. But I'm referring to the rise of ISIS. That's what resulted from the US government giving Nouri a second term. ISIS rises in Iraq during Nouri's second term and does so in response to Nouri's continued targeting of the Iraqi people. No second term for Nouri, no rise of ISIS. Let's deal with that option and wonder why Joe gets a pass from the press. On that? On everything.

Again, basic parenting is teaching children that words are not enough. "I made a mistake" or "I'm sorry" is not enough. You have to make an effort to make it right. Joe did nothing for the Iraqi people. So his 'mistake' isn't a real admission.

More to the point, he doesn't believe it was a "mistake" to vote for the Iraq War. He believes it was a "mistake" to trust Bully Boy Bush. He was so stupid that he trusted Bully Boy Bush. If, in the fall of 2002, you'd asked most Democrats: Should we trust Bully Boy Bush? The response would have been a loud "Hell no!" But idiot Joe wants to tell you he wasn't as smart as every other Democrat in the country and that he trusted Bully Boy Bush at that point.

Joe Biden said his vote for the Iraq War "was a mistake"? Barack, I believe you've confused him with many of your own voters in 2008 who supported you because you promised -- at campaign event after campaign event and in campaign ad after campaign ad -- to end the Iraq War. They voted for you. You ended up with two terms in the White House, two terms as president. You left after two terms and US forces were still in Iraq and the Iraq War continued. I think it's the deluded from 2008 who now feel that their votes for you were "a mistake."'

Barack left the White House after two terms as president with US troops still in Iraq, still dying in Iraq, with the war still dragging on.

Are Donald Trump and Joe Biden the only candidates you can choose from?

No.

Howie Hawkins is running for president on the Green Party's ticket and he reminds you of some realities about Joe Biden.

Jo Jorgensen is running for president on the Libertarian Party's ticket

"Vote for what you really want," Jo Jorgensen offers.

Howie participated in a debate with other presidential candidates, including Gloria La Riva of the Party For Socialism and Liberation, last week. Though it went off without a hitch on FACEBOOK, there were streaming issues at YOUTUBE.

The organization which sponsored the debate has posted a full version of it to YOUTUBE.

Stream that if you have a candidate in the mix, if you like to be informed or if you're just curious what alternatives exist. Grasp that when Donald said no to a debate, the corporate media did not reach out to Howie or Jo or Gloria or anyone to try to put together a debate or to give them a townhall. If you want to know about the other candidates, you're going to have to do some of the work yourself because the corporate media -- and Amy Goodman of Beggar Media ('send us money, I've bilked PACIFICA out of millions and I still need more!') -- will not cover them. Credit to MORNING JOE on MSNBC for having Howie on last week. We noted that last week. But that's one show and that's one appearance.

Here's Angela Rodriquez on YOUTUBE doing what the corporate media should be doing, explaining the basics.

She can do it from her own home with no budget but the wealthy corporate media can't? No, they won't. This is not a new development. This was part of the corruption that inspired the rage of the film BULWORTH.

Here's Jo Jorgensen taking her message directly to the voters.

Are we noticing the reality that Jo, in her media under-covered campaign, still attracts larger turnout at her events than Joe Biden does?

Gloria La Riva Tweeted:

Salt Lake City and @GloriaLaRiva
 demanding freedom for Leonard Peltier! (10.6.20)

@PeltierHQ

3:53 PM 

The following sites updated:

Friday, October 16, 2020

Nancy Pelosi was wrong? (Yes, as usual she was wrong)

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Does anyone really listen?"

Isaiah did four comics on Sunday. This one and the one I highlighted last time were actual events that he witnessed when he went in for his yearly physical last week. And this is the first comic that I know of where he's put himself in it. That's him in the mask and gloves thinking WTF? of the woman checking in the patient who's not even listening to what the patient is saying.

Now let's note this report.

Wait, wait!!!! Nancy Pelosi just said she was taking care of the American people!!!! You mean Nancy lied? Of course, she lied. When isn't she lying.

The antidote to lying politicians? Jimmy Dore! He's on fire this week and this is one of my favorite videos that he posted today.

That's an important video. I hope you share it with friends and I hope you'll make a point to check out Jimmy Dore. When I started my site back in 2005, Michael Ratner was my favorite truth teller. He passed away some time ago. A lot of the other truth tellers stopped telling truth the minute Democrats had control of both houses of Congress (2007). Right now, there aren't many truth tellers doing programs, Jimmy Dore is one of the few.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, October 15, 2020. Podcasts? So much wasted time.

"Dismissive and glib." That's how Kyle Kulinski described Noam Chomsky's attitude on a recent YOUTUBE segment. I know this because a friend played about a minute of it to me over the phone this morning. I'm not interested in Kyle's 'podcast.' I don't like the way he speaks, I'm not talking about the sound of his voice. He needs to learn that the body has more than one resonator and take it out of his nose. His voice is thin and annoying. But I don't like the way he talks. I don't need to hear a segment about his nuts. I'm sorry, he's not good looking, he's not sexy and why do I want to hear him yammer on about his nuts and what kind of underwear they like and blah blah blah.

I'm not going to link to him for the above reason. But Noam Chomsky wants you to vote the lesser of two evils. Noam would be better off worrying about himself. He'd actually be better off getting honest with his large fan base about who he really is (Noam knows what I mean, I've known Noam for decades). Instead, he wants to hector others.

Brihana Joy Gray and Virgil Texas are doing a new program entitled BAD FAITH. On YOUTUBE, they have one brief video uploaded. I'm stating this to remind you that I'm done with 'podcasts.' I'm tired of the sound quality, it hurts my ears. If they can get on a real platform like YOUTUBE, I'll listen and even repost. But I'm tired of listening to sub-standard sound that hurts my ears. I did it over and over for years but it's just not worth it to me anymore. It's not a reflection on any host and it's not their doing, it's just the format and the sound quality. And it hurts my ears. If they post to YOUTUBE and I find out about it, I'll gladly note them here from time to time.

But our main point here is Noam has no reason to be dismissive or glib. He's doing the same nonsense he does every four years. It's a shame people are more tolerant of it today than they were in 2008. He had to change his public stance in 2008 -- or pretend to. Noam's a good little asset and he knows that and he knows how to work that. He's not an honest broker and I'm tired of pretending for him. I'm tired of being nice about it.

If his work means anything then he needs to stand by it. But he doesn't. Every four years he comes along to tell you how to vote and it's always a repudiation of his published writing but we're never supposed to notice that. 91-years-old, you'd think he'd be able to tell the truth. Pathetic.

On podcasts, Rebecca's husband texted me about Katie Halper's hideous Sausage Show. (See Rebecca's "katie halper's hideous" for more on last night's live show.) It's beyond stupid. Oh, let's be disorganized and debate which announced topic we should go with and then let's Aaron Mate run off at the mouth on the topic no one really cares about by going down a sideroad and never in the history of the UN blah blah blah blah. The announced topic was Hunter Biden.

As they drank their liquids and goofed around it was purse nonsense. It's like that horrible Vaginal Book Club or whatever that Felicity Day does. That's our 'progressive' Felicity Day who explained -- not joking -- that she didn't watch CAGNEY & LACY because it was about two lesbians. No, it wasn't. That was a right-wing reaction to the show and it was a reaction that crippled the show in many ways. CBS was forever giving notes and making demands that one's husband be on and that the other's boyfriend be in an episode -- but not too much sex, don't want them to think she's a 'tramp.'

When you present as a feminist and pro-woman, you need to know your facts. I get that she was home schooled. That doesn't excuse her ignorance as an adult. And to pimp that lie? Stop pretending you're informed and you have anything to offer because you don't.

Katie wanted to discuss Hunter Biden (we noted the story in yesterday's snapshot) but she had to stop in the middle of the podcast. Why? She hadn't read the article. She had to read the article to get up to speed. Despite the fact that this was the second billed topic for her podcast before it aired live.

This is so idiotic. You don't do your work live and make people wait for you to play catch up on their time. She had a hissy fit at the end of the first segment. Why? Her first guest was yammering away like an expert -- and he really wasn't, not on the topics he was discussing. Maybe he can fool the uninformed but I studied Constitutional Law. Jonathan Turley knows what he's talking about. Many others don't. There was a columnist who didn't. And for years, we looked the other way. Then he was doing real damage and I pointed out here that he wasn't a Constitutional Law expert despite billing himself that way, he had no training in the subject matter. He had a hissy fit over my pointing that out but it did end his column with the magazine that had been publishing him. (And that magazine should have done some research of their own to determine his credentials before presenting him as a Constitutional Law expert.) The late Michael Ratner was a Constitutional Law expert.

Because Rebecca's husband texted me and because it was on YOUTUBE, I watched as much of Katie's nonsense as I could take.

Rebecca is right that it is shameful on Aaron Mate's part that he giggles -- like a little boy -- that journalism is being censored. Then, later in the broadcast, he wants to put on his stern voice. No one needs that nonsense. There is nothing funny about censorship.

Katie and Aaron both want you to know that they are sympathetic to Hunter.

What a bunch of nonsense. Corruption should not lead to sympathy. Corruption has destroyed Iraq and it's no surprise that the corruption results from a government that the US government put in place. No surprise at all. Because corruption runs rampant in the US.

And pretending that poor little Hunter deserves our sympathy? For what? For shaking up with his dead brother's wife? For taking money he shouldn't have? For shady deals? For refusing to admit that the child was his? For refusing to pay child support until the court threatened to take the whole matter public?

And let's remember when he slept with Beau's wife, he didn't just start hitting on the widow of his brother, he did it while he was married and while he had children who were old enough to know what was going on. "Call her 'Aunty Mommy,' kids."

Anyway, so Katie has a hissy fit after her first segment and tells her audience that they can't leave negative comments or ask questions for the next guest when she has one guest on!!!!

Shut the f**k up. You put on a piece of crap podcast and you should be glad anyone bothers to even listen to your nonsense. And the Hunter topic was what everyone wanted to hear about. So you shouldn't have opened with your chatterbox and done your unguided and unformed interview. You're not talented enough to go live, Katie, clearly. Having punished your audience with that dull and meandering segment, you then finally brought on Aaron for the Hunter segment. And then you wanted to waste more time going back and forth over whether or not Hunter should be the first topic of the segment or not. It's unprofessional and its unorganized.

I don't watch 'reality' TV. I don't have time for garbage that Katie's doing.

And let's also not forget that she presented as pro-woman (no woman running with Spencer Ackerman is pro-woman) but how many weeks ago was it when she last had a woman on her pretty much daily program? Multiple men, no women.

I'm sick of it and I don't have time for it. She should be ashamed of herself. At least she finally washed that greasy hair, though. I will give her credit for that.

Aaron wanted to tell you that what happened with Syria -- the attack that wasn't but was promoted as real -- is the biggest story of the century.

No, it's not. It's not even the biggest story of the decade. Russia-gate would be the biggest story of the decade. Iraq would be the biggest story of the century. But Aaron Mate doesn't talk about Iraq -- except a fleeting comment or two. Did he learn that in his years working with Amy Goodman?

I'm tired of the 'erection' of false gods (all of whom tend to be male, have you noticed?) who don't really tell the truth about anything. I'm tired of their podcasts where they bring their friends on for what amounts to Stoner Talk that they think is interesting and that whomever has built them up to god status thinks is interesting.

Jimmy Dore is worth following because he tells uncomfortable truths. He does serious issues and serious topics.

Compare the way 'journalists' Katie Halper and Aaron Mate covered the Hunter Biden story with the way Jimmy does in the video below.

Jimmy's working for the truth. He doesn't have to be. He could just waste time the way Katie does. Oh, here's what my dad, a doctor, thinks about Donald Trump!!! Just stop. If that's what you have to offer, you have nothing to offer. But, Katie, is your mom alive? I ask because I'm just wondering if your internalized sexism is so great that even with a living mom, you bring your father on multiple segments over the last weeks but never bring on your mom? Oh, Katie, your hatred for women is truly appalling.

Adam Lucente (AL-MONITOR) reports:

The media landscape in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq includes both party-affiliated news outlets and independent outlets.

Nalia Radio and Television — better known as NRT — could be labeled opposition media. Its founder, Shaswar Abdulwahid, heads the New Generation Movement political party. NRT regularly covers protests, corruption and other controversial issues, and often takes aim at the Kuridstan Regional Government (KRG) and the region's two leading parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The outlet’s critical coverage of the KRG has led to a crackdown. On Sept. 16, NRT presenter Shwan Adil was arrested and released on bail in the city of Sulaimaniyah. Adil is being sued by a senior member of the PUK, the second largest in the Kurdistan Region, for defamation.

In the region’s capital Erbil and the city of Dahuk, NRT’s offices have been closed since August.

NRT risks all to report . . . and Katie's busy playing drinking games and thinking she's some hard hitting reporter or commentator. Wasting all of our time with nonsense.

This is a video from Finland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

See, there are real issues out there. There are lives actually in the balance. But by all means, let's feel sorry for Hunter Biden whose actions include cheapening the service. He gets his dad to put him into a cushy guard spot that he didn't deserve and he can't even stop the drugs long enough so he ends up being kicked out in a matter of weeks. He sullied the military and it's amazing that no one's bothered to call him out for that. He wanted a title and a credit. He didn't want to earn it, the way his brother Beau did. So he got daddy to create a position for him and he was going to ride that credit as long as he could . . . but he couldn't put down the crack pipe.

All the opportunities in the world and he misused every one of them. I don't feel sympathy for him. I feel sympathy for the victims of Iraq.

Where's the drinking game for them, Katie? Where's the endless gas bagging over their plight? Where's your sympathy?

We'll again wind down with this from The Feminist Majority:

Join us for our virtual conference Fired Up Ready to Vote this Saturday!

Dear Common Ills,

We don’t have to tell you that feminists are fired up for the election this November and ready to vote for the future that we know is possible. Join the Feminist Majority and the National Organization for Women (NOW) for a free virtual conference on October 17th and November 7th on the power of the women’s vote and what is at stake during the first 100 days of the presidency.

REGISTER TODAY!

This exciting conference will bring together a host of feminist leaders, thinkers, speakers and activists as well as top political leaders to discuss the issues that matter most to feminists, collaborate and share ideas, and strategize for the future of the movement.

Workshops will include facing the most consequential election of our lifetime, the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, how the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women, expanding LGBTQIA+ rights after the historic June Supreme Court ruling and more.

Our two engaging plenary sessions will feature legendary feminist activist Gloria Steinem, and many feminists already in Congress including Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), former Senator Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) and newcomers Gina Ortiz-Jones who is running for the U.S. House in Texas and Jaime Harrison who is running for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina against Sen. Lindsey Graham.

You won’t want to miss this opportunity to engage with important feminist leaders and organizers who are working to protect the decades of progress made and are paving the way for even more feminist victories this November. Register now!

For equality,

Eleanor Smeal
President, Feminist Majority

Feminist Majority
1600 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22209
United States

The following sites updated:

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

AP and other whores

First up, Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "A Couple Of Paramedics Just Standing Around Talking."

He did four comics on Sunday. I think that one may be my favorite. :D

Now here's Jimmy Dore.

If you missed it, AP is calling the Hunter Biden story 'dubious.'

I don't remember them calling the lies of Russia-gate dubious. No, they ran with that and they presented lies as facts and never corrected the record.

The press will tell any lie to get Joe Biden in the White House. Whores. That's all they are.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:'

Wednesday, October 14, 2020. The media's fluffing of Joe Biden gets some media attention, militias remain an issue in Iraq, and much more.

This morning at THE NEW YORK POST, Emma-Jo MOrris and Gabrielle Fonrouge report:

Hunter Biden introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company, according to e-mails obtained by The Post.

The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month.

“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the e-mail reads.

An earlier e-mail from May 2014 also shows Pozharskyi, reportedly Burisma’s No. 3 exec, asking Hunter for “advice on how you could use your influence” on the company’s behalf.

The blockbuster correspondence — which flies in the face of Joe Biden’s claim that he’s “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings” — is contained in a massive trove of data recovered from a laptop computer.

The computer was dropped off at a repair shop in Biden’s home state of Delaware in April 2019, according to the store’s owner.

Other material extracted from the computer includes a raunchy, 12-minute video that appears to show Hunter, who’s admitted struggling with addiction problems, smoking crack while engaged in a sex act with an unidentified woman, as well as numerous other sexually explicit images.

Miranda Devine (NEW YORK POST) weighs in:

Joe Biden repeatedly has denied knowing anything about son Hunter’s lucrative work on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

“Hunter Biden is a private citizen and a lawyer. The former vice president does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company,” a spokeswoman for Joe Biden said in a December 2015 statement to The New York Times.

Biden has stonewalled on the topic ever since.

“I’ve never discussed my business or their business, my sons’ or daughter’s. And I’ve never discussed them because they know where I have to do my job and that’s it, and they have to make their own judgments,” he told the “CBS Evening News” last October.

And yet, an e-mail obtained by The Post shows a senior Burisma executive thanking Hunter for the opportunity to meet Joe Biden just 12 months after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month.

The claims come as Mike Allen and Hans Nichols (AXIOS) observe the easy ride that Joe Biden has gotten from the press:

Since Aug. 31, Biden has answered less than half as many questions from the press as Trump — 365 compared with 753 — according to a tally by the Trump campaign, which the Biden campaign didn't dispute.

In that time, Biden has done approximately 35 local TV interviews, three national interviews and two town halls.
Biden went almost three months without taking questions from beat reporters.
Biden aides say one reason there's less scrutiny of Biden in the general election is that he already was examined thoroughly in the primary election and over decades in public life.
Andrew Bates, a Biden spokesperson, said: "Who's ‘scrutinizing’ Trump more, Maria Bartiromo or Sean Hannity?"

Biden has yet to be pinned down on an array of legitimate questions, including:

His blunt view of adding new justices to the Supreme Court, which will be a priority for progressives if Judy Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. Biden, who had criticized the idea in the past, finally said he's "not a fan of court packing."
Biden also has mostly gotten off easy on Medicare for All, police funding, Pentagon spending, fracking, reparations for African Americans, the Green New Deal and his support for the 1994 crime bill.
Per Trump campaign spokesperson Andrew Clark: "Biden has been the least-scrutinized presidential candidate in modern history at great disservice to the voters, but the press still has time to rectify that.”

Click here to listen to the topic discussed in an AXIOS podcast. Scott Jennings (LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL) also marvels over the lack of real media scrutiny of Joe, "Biden changes his stripes more than a chameleon in a Skittles factory. And he’s doing it again by claiming the mantle of unity in this election. Today’s Biden is a made-for-media candidacy untested by interactions with his base." On court packing, Jonathan Turley points out, "A recent Rasmussen poll found that 55 percent of Americans opposed any court packing plan and only 27 percent was in favor of the idea." John Kass (CHICAGO TRIBUNE) reminds:

Biden once thought court-packing would undermine the court’s independence and called it “boneheaded” years ago.

But he’s been dodging the court-packing issue on the campaign trail for weeks.

Just the other day, a reporter in Las Vegas pressed Biden, asking: “Don’t the voters deserve to know where you stand?”

“No, they don’t deserve,” Biden said. “I’m not going to play (Donald Trump’s) game.”

Mike Davis (NEWSWEEK) offers:

Another day, another crazy way Joe Biden tries to get out of answering a simple question.

When asked by reporters on October 10 whether, if elected, he would seek to create additional Supreme Court seats, a radical plan known as "court packing," the former vice president replied that "[i]t's not constitutional what they're doing." This baffling response apparently refers to President Trump and Senate Republicans, who are working to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

This clip spread quickly, and it is easy to see why. Many Democrats have condemned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham's plan to confirm Judge Barrett before the election, using adjectives like "wrong," "hypocritical," "shameful" and "stupid." While these comments have no basis regarding a confirmation timeframe comparable to those of many justices who came before her, "unconstitutional" carries far more serious implications. Biden must explain what he meant by this allegation.

On this issue, Jonathan Turley Tweeted the following last week:

Joe Biden just declared “You'll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over.” So the Democratic presidential candidate is telling the voters that he will not tell them if he plans to destroy a core institution in our constitutional system...

...this is an idea put forward by the Democrats, including Biden's own running mate, and a major issue in this election. The test of principle is when it is neither popular nor convenient...

...this is why James Freeman Clarke said that "a politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation." Which is Biden thinking about in refusing to tell the voters whether he will pack the Supreme Court?

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continues to embarrass herself and look out of touch to everyone. She scolded Jake Tapper during an interview and everyone largely looked the other way. So now, instead of answering questions, she thinks it's acceptable to act like an ass. Well, maybe not act. Here she is with Wolf Blitzer.

Jimmy Dore addresses Nancy's nonsense in the commentary below.

She can't answer the question. She just distracts and scolds. She has nothing to offer and has accomplished nothing in her time of leadership. Her claim to represent her constituents is a joke. I'm one of them. We supported marriage equality long before Nancy finally came around. She doesn't represent us. We were opposed to the Iraq War before it started. She promised in the 2006 elections to win the Iraq War if the American people gave the Democratic Party control of just one house of Congress. We gave them control of both houses. The Iraq War continues to this day.

Hammam Latif (ARAB WEEKLY) notes:

The relationship between the controversial Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the activists supporting the popular protest movement in Iraq has moved towards increased tension, after Sadr attempted to put the brakes on the momentum of the popular demonstrations by placing a number of conditions on the street movement, described as arbitrary.

Sadr had hesitated a lot before siding with the protest movement that began in October 2019. Activists said that the Sadrists, the moniker given to Sadr’s followers, did not join in the protests until they realised that they were overwhelming; so they jumped on the wagon of the protests for fear to see their place on the street disappear.

During the months-long series of demonstrations, the relationship between the protesters and the popular current affiliated with al-Sadr was erratic at best. The two parties converged repeatedly at some points but also diverted repeatedly at some others. This relationship, however, witnessed a clear turning point when the United States killed the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, and the field commander of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a raid near Baghdad airport in early 2020.

While the protesters welcomed the US action and saw in it an opportunity to reduce Tehran’s dominance of political, security and economic decisions in Iraq, Sadr and his followers sided with Iran and participated in a partisan demonstration demanding the condemnation of the United States, before the representatives of the Shia cleric in the Iraqi parliament participated in drafting a resolution compelling the government to remove US troops out of the country.

The protests continue. Moqtada lost all standing long ago. He turned on the protesters then retracted the turn, then spun around again. After that? He just became a sad joke. He didn't want men and women protesting together. He issued an order. His order was ignored. It was mocked. Protesters -- men and women -- carried signs mocking him.

Moqtada has his cult. But that's all he has right now. He had a great deal of power; however, he lost it and became a joke. He might regain it, he might not. But no one's really listening to him. Even his recent call to disband all militias got little attention from the press.

On the issue of the militias, MIDDLE EAST MONITOR notes:

Washington called on Iraqi factions to surrender their weapons to the government in Baghdad, following the Hezbollah Brigade’s announcement that it would suspend attacks on US forces in the country.

The US Department of State told Al Jazeera that America urged all armed parties in Iraq to act responsibly and surrender their weapons to the government, adding that the actions of “Iraqi militias” jeopardises the government’s attempts to attract international investment.

It added that the United States and its partners are focusing on helping Iraq face the ongoing economic crisis, security instability and the coronavirus pandemic.

Following successive missile attacks on the Green Zone, seat of US embassy’s headquarters, and military bases accommodating US and International Coalition troops, the US last month threatened to close its embassy, which many Iraqi observers considered as a prelude to launching air strikes on the factions.

We'll wind down with this from The Feminist Majority:

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Eleanor Smeal
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Feminist Majority
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Saturday, October 17, 2020

How they let us down

Friday, October 16, 2020

Nancy Pelosi was wrong? (Yes, as usual she was wrong)

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Wednesday, October 14, 2020

AP and other whores

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