Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Trump Cartoon


Taking on Trump: The elite media Are now trying to decipher the Donald


After a long summer of denial and disparagement, even the most elite precincts of the media establishment are trying to come to grips with Donald Trump.
First it was the cable news networks, which instantly realized that Trump was good box office, followed by the network morning shows. Then some of the columnists who had dismissed him as a sideshow began to grapple with his rising poll numbers, even those who continued to hammer him.
That was followed by a series of faulty predictions that Trump was about to implode because of this or that corrosive comment, to the point that some talking heads simply announced that they were getting out of the forecasting business.
Trump even scored a “60 Minutes” profile on Sunday for the season opener--drawing 15 million viewers--and later declared that CBS anchor Scott Pelley had been fair to him.
Now some other upscale outlets, rather late to the party, are joining in the dark arts of psychoanalysis: What makes Donald Trump tick, and how has he managed to completely upend the rituals and decorum of a presidential campaign and play by his own set of rules?
What does it say about the electorate that he has struck such a deep chord—and, I would add, what does it say about the media and political insiders who suddenly seemed so clueless?
The New York Times Magazine has just posted its profile by Mark Leibovich, the author of “This Town.” And he begins with an extensive mea culpa:
“Initially, I dismissed him as a nativist clown, a chief perpetrator of the false notion that President Obama was not born in the United States — the ‘birther’ movement. And I was, of course, way too incredibly serious and high-­minded to ever sully myself by getting so close to Donald Trump.
“I initially doubted that he would even run. I assumed that his serial and public flirtations with the idea over several election cycles were just another facet of his existential publicity sustenance. I figured that even if Trump did run, his conspiracy-­mongering, reality-­show orientations and garish tabloid sensibilities would make him unacceptable to the polite company of American politics and mainstream media. It would render him a fringe player. So I decided not to write about him, and I felt proud and honorable about my decision.”
A good confession by Leibovich, who seemed charmed by the generous access after negotiating with Hillary Clinton’s staff over, for example, whether any depiction of her campaign office itself would be off the record.
Unlike overly programmed politicians, he writes, “Trump understands and appreciates that reporters like to be given the time of day. It’s symbiotic in his case because he does in fact pay obsessive attention to what is said and written and tweeted about him. Trump is always saying that so-and-so TV pundit ‘spoke very nicely’ about him on some morning show and that some other writer ‘who used to kill me’ has now come around to ‘loving me.’’’
This is an important point: Journalists not only love that Trump is available, but that he knows how to stir the pot and make news—even at the risk that he will rip them afterward. There are few things more frustrating than landing an interview with a presidential candidate and getting the same canned sound bites we’ve all heard before.
So, a scene from the Trump jet:
“He kept flipping between Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, sampling the commentary in tiny snippets. Whenever a new talking head came on screen, Trump offered a scouting report based on the overriding factor of how he or she had treated him. ‘This guy’s been great to me,’ he said when Bill O’Reilly of Fox appeared (less so O’Reilly’s guest, Brit Hume, also of Fox). Kevin Madden of CNN, a Republican strategist, was a ‘pure Romney guy,’ while Ana Navarro, a Republican media consultant and Jeb Bush supporter, was ‘so bad, so pathetic, awful — I don’t know why she’s on television.’ Click to Fox News. Jeb Bush was saying something in Spanish. Click to MSNBC. Hillary Clinton was saying she wished Trump would start ‘respecting women’ rather than ‘cherishing women.’ (‘She speaks so poorly, I think she’s in trouble,’ Trump said.) Click to CNN. It showed a graphic reporting that 70 percent of Latinos had a negative view of Trump. Click to Fox News. Trump asked for another plate of au gratin.”
The Donald, never unplugged.
Another major piece appears in New York Magazine by Frank Rich, the former Times columnist, unabashed liberal and consultant on “Veep” who doesn’t hide his disdain for Trump. He writes, for instance, of “the quest to explain” how “the billionaire’s runaway clown car went into overdrive.”
But Rich feels compelled to give Trump his due, even as a flawed messenger: “It’s possible that his buffoonery poses no lasting danger. Quite the contrary: His unexpected monopoly of center stage may well be the best thing to happen to our politics since the arrival of Barack Obama.”
Trump, he argues, “has performed a public service by exposing, however crudely and at times inadvertently, the posturings of both the Republicans and the Democrats and the foolishness and obsolescence of much of the political culture they share. He is, as many say, making a mockery of the entire political process with his bull-in-a-china-shop antics. But the mockery in this case may be overdue, highly warranted, and ultimately a spur to reform…By calling attention to that sorry state of affairs 24/7, Trump’s impersonation of a crypto-fascist clown is delivering the most persuasively bipartisan message of 2016.”
While allowing that Trump commits heresy on such matters as taxing hedge-fund guys, Rich ultimately blames the Republican culture: “On the matters of race, women, and immigration that threaten the GOP’s future viability in nonwhite, non-male America, he is at one with his party’s base. What he does so rudely is call the GOP’s bluff by saying loudly, unambiguously, and repeatedly the ugly things that other Republican politicians try to camouflage in innuendo, focus-group-tested euphemisms, and consultantspeak.”
This is the last line of defense for the anti-Trump contingent: The problem is not The Donald, it’s the way he caters to the dark passions of conservative Republicans. But many Democrats are also fed up with politics as usual, which is why socialist Bernie Sanders has improbably pulled close to Hillary in the polls.
With his new tax-cut proposal, Trump has kicked off the second phase of his campaign, one in which he’s offering policy as well as persona. Asked by Matt Lauer yesterday what he would do if his poll numbers sink, Trump said: "If I think for some reason it's not going to work, then I'd go back to my business." But there's no indication he's going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
And if other candidates spoke as openly and frequently with the media as Trump does, we’d have a better campaign.

Planned Parenthood boss clashes with lawmakers over taxpayer $$, videos


The head of Planned Parenthood clashed with congressional Republicans on Capitol Hill Tuesday over the group's taxpayer funding, while using her appearance to attack the group behind a series of disturbing videos showing her organization's workers discussing fetal tissue harvesting. 
Cecile Richards, speaking before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, claimed the videos were "deceptively edited" and "heavily doctored."
Yet just minutes before the hearing started, a forensic analysis said the videos "are authentic and show no evidence of manipulation or editing." The analysis was conducted for the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress.
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, also seemed to brush off the claims of doctoring as he excoriated Planned Parenthood for its allegedly "insatiable" desire for taxpayer dollars. He pointedly cited the millions the group has spent on travel and parties and "fairly exorbitant salaries" even while cutting back, he said, on certain health care services.
"Their desire for more of taxpayer dollars is just insatiable," Chaffetz said.
Chaffetz argued that Planned Parenthood "doesn't need a federal subsidy." Chaffetz, in emotional opening remarks, recalled his late mother's fight with breast cancer, and said much of Planned Parenthood's budget is not going "to women's health care."
Under questioning from Chaffetz, Richards acknowledged her annual compensation is $520,000. (Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., later criticized Chaffetz for the line of questioning, accusing him of "beating up on a woman ... for making a good salary.")
Richards, meanwhile, adamantly defended Planned Parenthood, saying she's "proud to be here" and stressing that their clinics largely provide birth control, cancer screenings and other health care services.
The videos showing conversations on fetal tissue harvesting, she said, were part of a "smear campaign" to "entrap" doctors into breaking the law.
"Once again, our opponents failed," she said.
She said less than 1 percent of their clinics facilitate donations for fetal tissue research, and they do so legally.
Richards won some support from Democrats on the committee. Top Democrat, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, blasted CMP for having "misled and essentially conned Planned Parenthood employees."
But Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called the scenes in the videos "barbaric and repulsive."
A question looming over the hearing was whether any of the footage was in fact altered. Democrats repeatedly suggested that important passages were missing.
But the Alliance Defending Freedom engaged cybersecurity and forensic analysis company Coalfire Systems to examine the 10 "full-footage videos" put out by CMP.
According to their review, the videos were not manipulated. The report said any missing footage was of "non-pertinent" events like meals and bathroom breaks.
"The Coalfire forensic analysis removes any doubt that the full length undercover videos released by Center for Medical Progress are authentic and have not been manipulated," ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox said in a statement.
"Analysts scrutinized every second of video recorded during the investigation and released by CMP to date and found only bathroom breaks and other non-pertinent footage had been removed. Planned Parenthood can no longer hide behind a smokescreen of false accusations and should now answer for what appear to be the very real crimes revealed by the CMP investigation."
The 10 videos released so far capture Planned Parenthood officials casually describing how they sometimes obtain tissue from aborted fetuses for researchers. In one video, a doctor for a Planned Parenthood tissue harvesting partner appears to admit a baby's "heart actually is still beating" at times following abortions and an ex-procurement tech gives a first-person account of watching a baby's heart beat before she dissects its brain.
Planned Parenthood foes say the videos show the group breaks federal laws barring for-profit fetal tissue sales and altering abortion procedures to obtain usable organs. Planned Parenthood and its defenders say it's done nothing illegal and says that CMP Project Lead David Daleiden dishonestly edited the videos to distort what was said.
In written testimony, Richards fired back at Daleiden, calling for him to be investigated after she says he "tried unsuccessfully to entrap Planned Parenthood physicians and staff for nearly three years." Daleiden obtained the videos after posing as an executive of a nonexistent firm that buys fetal tissue for scientists.
So far, the most damage inflicted on Planned Parenthood by the videos is the insensitive way some of its officials discuss the procedures. That has drawn apologies from Planned Parenthood and bitter criticism from Republicans.
Most Democrats have rallied behind the group, and President Obama has threatened to veto GOP legislation cutting its federal money. Public opinion polls show majorities oppose blocking Planned Parenthood's taxpayer dollars. Departing House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., fearing voter anger, have rebuffed conservatives who would shut down the government if Obama doesn't agree to halt Planned Parenthood's money.
The organization receives about a third of its $1.3 billion annual budget, around $450 million, from federal coffers, chiefly reimbursements for treating Medicaid's low-income patients.
Democrats have used a Senate filibuster to block GOP legislation halting Planned Parenthood's federal payments. So two House committees plan to approve filibuster-proof legislation shifting Planned Parenthood's Medicaid funds -- about $350 million -- to community health centers.
The bill would also keep a promise made during this spring's budget debate to repeal key elements of Obama's signature health care law. Panel votes are expected Tuesday and Wednesday.
In addition to the four congressional committee investigations of Planned Parenthood, Boehner has said he will also appoint a special committee to probe the group.

Clinton fundraises with oil magnates despite opposition to Keystone XL


Despite Hillary Clinton's coming out against the Keystone XL pipeline, the Democratic presidential candidate appeared at a fundraiser Friday with major Democratic donors who are heavily invested in the oil and gas industry. 
The event for Hillary was held at the $8.2 million home of hedge fund manager Cliff Robbins in Greenwich, Connecticut. Robbins is the founder and CEO of the Blue Harbour Group, a company that has invested a significant amount of money in the oil and gas sectors. Robbins and his wife Debbie have contributed nearly $200,000 to Democratic candidates over the past decade.
Between April 2013 and September 2013, Robbins' Blue Harbour Group bought six million shares in an oil-field services company called Nabors Industries. The purchase resulted in a 2 percent stake in the company and a gain of about $80 million for the group.
After BHG purchased the shares, the group was said to play a significant behind-the-scenes role in a shift at Nabors Industries that resulted in a "transformation from a broad ranging oil-service company to a pure-play driller, which owns and leases out the world's largest fleet of rigs." The CEO of Nabors said that "Cliff personally participated in the strategic evaluation" of their options and plans.
The evaluation and change of direction involved Nabors agreeing to merge its fracking unit with C&J Energy Services, a move that resulted in a $940 million profit for Nabors and a 53 percent share in the newly combined company. Nabors reported revenues and earnings from unconsolidated affiliates totaling $1.78 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013 alone.

Russians tell US to remove warplanes from Syria, senior official says



Russian officials have demanded that American warplanes exit Syrian airspace immediately, a senior U.S. official told Fox News early Wednesday. 
The official told Fox News that Russian diplomats sent an official demarche ordering U.S. planes out of Syria, adding that Russian fighter jets were now flying over Syrian territory.
The move by Moscow marks a major escalation in ongoing tensions between the two countries over military action in the war-torn country and comes moments after Russian lawmakers formally approved a request from the country's president, Vladimir Putin, to authorize the use of troops in Syria.
The Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, discussed Putin's request for the authorization behind the closed doors. Sergei Ivanov, chief of Putin's administration, said in televised remarks that the parliament voted unanimously to approve the request.
Ivanov said the authorization is necessary "not in order to achieve some foreign policy goals" but "in order to defend Russia's national interests."
Putin is obligated to request parliamentary approval for any use of Russian troops abroad, according to the Russian constitution. The last time he did so was before Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.
Putin's request comes after his bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, where the two were discussing Russia's recent military buildup in Syria.
A U.S. official told Fox News Monday the two leaders agreed to discuss political transition in Syria but were at odds over the role that Assad should play in resolving the civil conflict. The official said Obama reiterated to Putin that he does not believe there is a path to stability in Syria with Assad in power. Putin has said the world needs to support Assad because his military has the best chance to defeat ISIS militants.
Putin said the meeting, which lasted a little over 90 minutes, was “very constructive, business-like and frank".
“We are thinking about it, and we don’t exclude anything.” Putin told reporters at the time
The Kremlin reported that Putin hosted a meeting of the Russian security council at his residence Tuesday night outside of Moscow, saying that they were discussing terrorism and extremism.
Russia has been a staunch supporter of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during Syria's bloody civil war, and multiple reports have previously indicated that Russian troops are aiding Assad's forces. Israel's defense minister also said earlier this month that Russian troops are in Syria to help Assad fight the ISIS terror group.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Russia's Foreign Ministry told the news agency Interfax that a recently established operations center in Baghdad would help coordinate air strikes and ground troops in Syria. Fox News first reported last week that the center had been set up by Russian, Syrian and Iranian military commanders with the goal of working with Iranian-backed Shia militias fighting ISIS.
Over the weekend, the Iraqi government announced that it would begin sharing "security and intelligence" information with Russia, Syria and Iran to help combat ISIS.
Meanwhile, intelligence sources told Fox News Friday that Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani met with Russian military commanders in Baghdad September 22. Fox News reported earlier this month that Soleimani met Putin in Moscow over the summer to discuss a joint military plan in Syria.
"The Russians are no longer advising, but co-leading the war in Syria," one intelligence official said at the time.

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