One of the ways that the political establishment (that includes the mainstream media) keeps progressive policies in check is to take as self-evidently true that the Democratic party must appeal to Trump voters if they are to win. Another way to say essentially the same thing is to assert that they must avoid alienating the party ‘moderates’ by adopting policies that are seen as too far to the left. It is only in the progressive media that one finds the argument being made that appealing to Trump voters is a futile strategy and that one would be far better off trying to reach disenchanted voters by pushing a more progressive message.
[Read more…]

You know the feeling when some people at a party are having a serious conversation and another person who knows nothing about the subject tries to force themselves into the group by making an inane comment and then smiling in a self-satisfied manner and the conversers, not wanting to tell the person to get lost because that person may be the self-important child of someone else at the party, instead freezes that person out using their body language?

That happened at the G20 summit when FrancoisEmmanuel Macron, Theresa May, Justin Trudeau, and Christine Lagarde were talking and such a child butted in.

Ivanka Trump appears to be trying to get involved in a talk among Macron, May, Trudeau and Lagarde (IMF head).
The video is released by French Presidential palace. pic.twitter.com/TJ0LULCzyQ

— Parham Ghobadi (@ParhamGhobadi) June 29, 2019

This cringe-worthy video was released by the French government which suggests that they were sending a message.

The recent revelations of the conditions under which migrant families and children are being detained brought the issue once again into the spotlight and has created a furor. One thing that puzzled me was why the Department of Homeland Security and the Customs and Border Protection agency, normally so secretive that they try to prevent reporters and even congresspeople from entering their facilities, allowed the team of lawyers and doctors into the facility, knowing that the conditions were so appalling that even given three weeks notice, what minor improvements they were able to make were never going to bring the conditions up to normal standards of decency.
[Read more…]

If the success of a primary candidate’s debate performance is measured by the difference in interest and awareness by the political class from before and after the debates, then there is no question that self-described “bitch for god” Marianne Williamson is the easy winner even if, and maybe because, few had any idea of what she was doing there or what she was saying. She definitely got the attention of New Zealanders with her response to the question of what would be her first priority as president. Rather than the expected items of climate change or health care or gun control or relations with China, she threw down a challenge to their prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
[Read more…]

I mentioned earlier how jaded we seem to have become about Donald Trump’s behavior that the latest serious allegation of sexual assault by him brought by author E. Jean Carroll got very little play in the major media, apart from a few brief appearances. However, rising anger over this poor coverage has resulted in more attention being paid and for the Times to apologize for its earlier downplaying of the story.
[Read more…]