The Jan. 6 committee was similarly stripped of any pretense. It was as subtle a political move as Pelosi’s ripping up President Trump’s State of the Union speech. Asked what she hoped to achieve from the committee on the first day of hearings, Pelosi tellingly referred to it as a “narrative.” It is the difference between seeing and simulating justice.
According to The New York Times, that narrative is meant to “recast the midterm message” and “give [Democrats] a platform for making a broader case about why they deserve to stay in power.” It was packaged with the help of a high-powered media figure brought in to help stage the event. Much of the media touted how the hearings would be “must-see TV” and would force voters “not to look away” from Trump’s “coup.” Countervailing evidence was edited out. Thus, Trump was shown calling for the protesters to “march” on the Capitol — but not his additional words to do so “peacefully.”
That withheld line from Trump would hardly have exonerated the former president. I publicly condemned Trump’s speech while it was being given, and I called for a bipartisan vote of censure over his responsibility in the Capitol riot. The new footage shown by the committee only magnified the revulsion many of us felt in watching this desecration of our Capitol and our constitutional process. However, such one-sided accounts rob these proceedings of a sense of authenticity and authority.
I didn't watch and I won't. It's tagged and it is phony. Despite being on so many channels it wasn't a ratings hit. It's interesting to people who formed opinions on the evening of January 6th that Donald was guilty. I'm not a fan of Trump or a supporter. Didn't vote for him and would never, ever vote for him. But it does feel like he's being railroaded and does go to the fact that, nearly two years later, Democrats still aren't delivery.
Hey, Nancy, if we're not going to talk about your husband's DUI, could we talk about addressing inflation? Could we talk about you all getting off your asses and actually working for the American people.
"TV: STAND OUT -- maybe, but not in the good way" (Ava and C.I., THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW):
We were even more appalled to see Sandra onstage at the event.
How low was the bar?
Pretty damn low.
Sandra didn't have a routine per se. Just the insults you know. She wanted to be political and she got them all to their feet.
Which only begged the question of why was she there even more loudly.
Sandra wanted to 'joke' or 'riff' or whatever she passes observations off as now about . . . abortion.
Huh?
LGBTQ.
We don't imagine many lesbians end up pregnant by accident. Nor gay men. Nor transgendered people. Abortion really isn't an issue for any in that community other than the female Bs.
Unless, they're raped and get pregnant that way. But Sandra knows to stay away from her rape 'joke,' she learned the hard way after women's centers cancelled her bookings when she made the rape 'jokes' about Sarah Palin.
Sandra didn't belong there. She didn't belong on that stage because of all the time she's spent in the closet. She didn't belong there because of her material (abortion, honestly, that was her bit for this special) and she especially didn't belong up there after her non-stop use of the N-word throughout her career. She's been hurtful with it. Mariah is not the only one who has been harmed.
But Billy wanted to take on Dave Chappelle.
Billy, it's not just the fact that you're not a funny stand up, it's also that you're not a good enough person. Don't throw stones at Dave when you're inviting a racist on stage.
Sandra Bernhard was awful. I don't know why they invited her and I don't know know why she accepted. She wasn't doing anyone a favor. If she wanted to talk about issues, it should have been something to do with the LGBTQ community. For example? The attacks on the transgender community. I don't just mean words, I mean physical attacks. It would have been nice for her to recognize the attacks and killings targeting that part of the LGBTQ community.
She's such a hack and that's all she's ever going to be. It's outrageous that she got away with using the N-word to attack Mariah Carey and I am so glad that Naomi Campbell didn't shy from that when she spoke to Maria on her show.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Monday, June 13, 2022. Inflation continues to increase but Joe Biden wants his war and wants to prop up Nazis in Ukraine while Iraq is hit by another sand storm.
Over the weekend, Joseph Adinolfi (MARKET WATCH) noted, "The May reading of the U.S. consumer-price index -- a closely followed gauge of price pressures in the economy -- deflated hopes on Wall Street, and in Washington, D.C., that inflation had already reached a 'peak.' Instead, the headline inflation number for May came in at 8.6% annualized, a new cycle high." This morning, Marcus Day (WSWS) notes:
Millions of workers in the US and around the world are being pushed to the brink by the staggering impact of rising prices for essential goods and services. “We can’t continue to live like this” is the sentiment gripping ever-growing numbers of people.
Inflation in the US surged 8.6 percent year over year in May, surpassing economists’ estimates. This was the fastest increase in consumer prices since 1981, more than 40 years ago.
Gasoline prices surged the most, rising 48.7 percent from last year, up 7.8 percent in just one month. A gallon of gasoline cost a record average of $5.01 as of Sunday. In many of the country’s most populous metro areas, the price is significantly higher, averaging nearly $6.50 in Los Angeles, close to $6.00 in the Chicago region and approximately $5.60 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Shannon Jones (WSWS) observes, "Led by food and energy prices, the US inflation rate rose to an 8.6 percent annual rate in May, blowing a hole in the budgets of working class families already struggling after more than two years of a deadly pandemic. It is the highest official inflation rate since 1981, more than 40 years ago. Energy costs, including gasoline, surged in May rising a staggering 34 percent year over year. The next highest price rise was in groceries, which rose 11.9 percent over last year. Both items are core essentials."
As the standard of living falls and the prices soar, never forget that the witch of Twitter, Bette Midler, was a-okay with inflation and rising gas prices. What did that ridiculous woman say? That she'd "happily pay more for gas." She just wanted her war on Russia and for her, a piece of garbage, it was worth it. It's not worth it for the American people.
Joe Biden's war of choice is destroying the economy and the way of life of working Americans. It's time the thugs in Ukraine -- that would their government -- stopped draining the American resources. They are a pro-Nazi regime and their racism is well known. It's time to cut off all US aid and any not delivered already should not be.
At SCHEERPOST.COM, Eric Denece explains:
Since 2014, Kyiv has conducted a completely reprehensible policy towards the Russian-speaking populations of the Donbass, to whom it has prohibited the use of their language and refused any autonomy within Ukraine, multiplying harassment, embargoes and bombardments against them without let no one in Europe denounce this scandalous situation, on the pretext that it would have been in line with Russia’s arguments.
Similarly, the West has allowed Zelensky and the oligarchs who sponsor him – notably Kolomoïski – to finance neo-Nazi groups and reinforce his army in order to take over the autonomist regions by force, rejecting any attempt at conciliation. Worse, on February 17, Kyiv deliberately launched into military action in order to reconquer the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk with the support of NATO, knowing full well that Moscow could not remain without reacting, thus triggering the crisis. current.
If it must be recognized that the Russian discourse is excessive concerning the denazification of Ukraine, it is however not without foundation. Individuals and units with extremist values – Azov and Aidar “battalions”, Svoboda and Pravy Sektor parties, etc. – are a reality that the West seeks to minimize in its support for Kyiv, despite the fact that their abuses since 2014 have been proven.
Europeans have therefore become unashamed allies and donors of a regime that protects and finances neo-Nazi groups while we fight in each of our countries against the extreme right. Because these Ukrainian extremists are not harmless nationalists as they would have us believe. Their speech is clearly anti-Semitic and their fighters wear on their uniform the insignia of the infamous Das Reich division , made up of a majority of Ukrainians, responsible for the massacres of Oradour sur Glane in 1944.
If you're not connecting the dots, the UN is. Trevor Austin (WSWS) notes:
The United Nations Global Crisis Response Group warned in a report Wednesday that the ripple effects of the US-NATO conflict with Russia over Ukraine could exacerbate the human suffering of millions around the globe by escalating food and energy prices amid a worsening “global cost-of-living crisis unseen in at least a generation.”
According to the report, the war has the potential to amplify the ramifications of numerous challenges nations face, such as climate change, severe inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turning to Iraq, another sandstorm.
Iraq temporarily closed Baghdad airport Monday as choking clouds of dust
blanketed the capital, the latest crippling sandstorm in a country that
has warned climate change poses an “existential threat.”
It is the tenth duststorm since mid-April to hit Iraq, which has been
battered by soil degradation, intense droughts and low rainfall linked
to climate change.
Earlier this month, to mark World Environment Day, President Barham
Saleh warned that tackling climate change “must become a national
priority for Iraq as it is an existential threat to the future of our
generations to come.”
This is a serious issue, as Betty pointed out in yesterday's "Roundtable" for THIRD:
If you've missed it, for at least two weeks now, Iraq's been getting some attention from the western media. Why? A city, that might be the ancient city of Zakhiku -- dating from 1550 to 1350 BC -- has been discovered -- a place, several buildings. And this is resulted in giddy coverage. And maybe it deserves that because of the discovery. But the coverage should include the reality that this not good news. This is the result of climate change. The city, over 3,400 years old, has only been discovered because climate change is impacting Iraq and the water level of the Tigris River has gotten dangerously low. Again, cover the discovery. But at least equal space to the fact that we're seeing the effects of climate change. As much I appreciate the discovery of the city, I'm more concerned with the Iraqi people who are about go through a very hot summer and do so facing water shortages and drought.
Ayaz Ahmet (HABER TUSBA) notes of the sandstorms:
Experts attribute this phenomenon to climate change, lack of rain and desertification. Iraq is among the top five countries most vulnerable to climate change and desertification in the world, especially due to the increasing drought with high temperatures exceeding fifty degrees Celsius during the days in the summer. Early in the morning, the sky of Baghdad was covered with a layer of dust, which reduced visibility by several hundred meters. Therefore, the Baghdad International Airport Authority has decided to suspend flights in the morning before they can resume at 10:30 am Baghdad time, an airport source said. The dust storm forced authorities in Najaf province, south of Baghdad, to close the city’s airport for several hours before returning to work. Najaf Airport, which includes important religious centers, annually receives millions of visitors from around the world. In May, dust storms in Iraq killed one person and suffocated thousands.
In an interview with an Iraqi news agency, the director general of the Iraqi environment ministry’s technical department warned of an increase in sandstorms, especially after the number of dusty days rose to “272 days a year for two decades.” And he expected: “In 2050, the number of dusty days per year will reach 300.” According to the ministry, increasing vegetation cover and planting dense trees that act as windbreaks are the most important decisions needed to reduce the frequency of sandstorms. At the beginning June, Iraqi President Barham Salih called for action to combat climate change, saying, “Combating climate change must become a national priority for Iraq, and there is no room for inaction as it is an existential threat to Iraq.”
Meanwhile, the political stalemate continues. October 10th, elections were held and they still don't have a prime minister or a president. The Court has stated that the carry over government has limited powers. This hasn't been taken to the court yet but that also means this 'Cabinet minister meets with Saudi Arabia counterpart' nonsense the press keeps reporting really needs to stop as well and don't be surprised if this gets taken before the Court. They're not allowed to do certain things. They were supposed to be dissolved. Now a new hiccup, Qassim Abdul-zahra (AP) reports:
Dozens of lawmakers who make up the biggest bloc in Iraq's parliament resigned on Sunday amid a prolonged political impasse, plunging the divided nation into political uncertainty.
The 73 lawmakers from powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc submitted their resignation based on his request, to protest a persisting political deadlock eight months after general elections were held.
Parliament Speaker Mohammed Halbousi accepted their resignation.
Al-Sadr, a maverick leader remembered for leading an insurgency against U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion, emerged as the winner in the election held in October.
The election was held several months earlier than expected, in response to mass protests that broke out in late 2019, and saw tens of thousands rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.
New content at THIRD:
- Truest statement of the week
- Truest statement of the week II
- A note to our readers
- Editorial: When will MSM admit how useless they've...
- TV: STAND OUT -- maybe, but not in the good way
- Roundtable
- 2022 deaths
- Twitter burn!
- Ava on the hideous Matriarchist Michele Dauber
- Independent media?
- Tweet of the week
- This edition's playlist
- Highlights
Kat's "Kat's Korner: JUDY IN LOVE -- an artistic masterpiece" went up Saturday. The following sites updated:
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Joe Biden responds to the speculation18 hours ago
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Leave the kids alone1 day ago
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The worst groupies ever1 day ago
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JURRASIC WORLD DOMINION1 day ago
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