Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Sarah Sanders does press, prays and bakes pies. When will haters like Chelsea Handler leave her alone?
Ever get the feeling that President Trump, and by
extension his closest staff, can do nothing right in the eyes of the
Washington press corps? It sure seems that way when they pick apart even
sweet traditions like serving our troops on Thanksgiving or the
decorations chosen by the first lady for Christmas. But let’s be
honest, aside from the president, his female staff receive the harshest
and most dishonorable treatment.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Press
Secretary of the Trump administration, innocently baked a pie for
Thanksgiving and posted it to Instagram. It looked delicious. It
shouldn’t have been controversial – it’s a pie – but leave it to the
media to stoke conspiracy, ridiculously accusing Sanders of posting a
stock photo and labeling it #piegate.
Seriously, this happened. Never mind that our nation is grappling
with transformative issues like tax reform or dealing with a mad
dictator in North Korea. The media focused on a pie solely because Sarah
Huckabee Sanders is a member of a presidential administration they
despise. Piegate, however, is just nothing compared to the personal
attacks. It’s shocking the depth to which they will sink, criticizing
her looks, her weight, and her accent.Liberal Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, who makes a career of pettiness and the denigration of conservative women (to the point of being obsessive and creepy), wrote, “And so, at Monday’s off-camera briefing, she stood on the podium, frequently cocking her left eyebrow and raising the left corner of her lips to convey displeasure at the line of questioning. Then, as frequently, she opened her mouth and, with a heavy Arkansas twang, said a lot of nothing.” Most recently, he railed against the “Trump mouthpiece” for her “infantilizing of the press corps” by asking them to say what they are thankful for before submitting a question. The tone of the article went downhill from there.
A piece earlier this year by Pulitzer prize-winning Los Angeles Times’ columnist David Horsey was so nasty they were forced to take down. In it, he called Sanders a litany of things I’d rather not write here.In at time when we are watching the freak show of frat boy behavior unfold in the media, it’s refreshing to watch Sanders handle her job with poise, refusing to engage in futile, useless, and childish behavior.
His comment about being Sanders being a “soccer mom” was particularly disgusting, because he not only denigrated Sanders but implied that soccer moms in general have nothing else to do but bake cookies and wear running shoes. It was an unnecessarily mean.
And do I even need to mention the childish, expletive-packed rant by Wonkette Senior Editor Evan Hurst, who apparently has never met an F-bomb he didn’t like?
Comedian Chelsea Handler wrote last year that we need to “find women that are different than you and figure out the things you have in common. We have a whole generation of girls who are looking at us to see how we treat each other…” Yet just this week she railed against Sanders, choosing to describe her with crass and rude language. Some role model you are, Ms. Handler.
Beyond bad form.
Sanders arguably has one of the toughest jobs in the entire administration as Trump’s press secretary. The White House press secretary must have a grasp of every major and most minor issues on any given day and be able to articulate a concise and coherent answer to a group of people who, for the most part, want to destroy her boss.
The job requires calm under intense pressure. I have yet to see Sanders lose her cool, even when faced with difficult, ridiculous, or from-left-field questions posed by members of the press over and over again. She’s also funny, exclaiming, “Christmas had come early” when alerted to the fact that CNN was boycotting the White House Christmas party.
The White House press corps were not amused.
Dana Perino, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, was only one of two female press secretaries in history (Sanders is the third). She wrote an open letter to Sanders at the beginning of her tenure, urging her to be the “most knowledgeable person in the room” and to “take a moment of gratitude” when walking into the West Wing.
Sanders does even more than that. She reads from a Christian devotional and says a prayer before entering the press briefing room and meeting the press. This is a woman who is grounded in her faith, understands her position, and executes her responsibilities well. On some days it’s a lions den.
One would think that the feminist members of the media would be thrilled to see a courageous woman place another crack in the glass ceiling of power and influence but not so much. Sanders has faced a barrage of negativity from the very people who handled the Obama administration with kid gloves.
In at time when we are watching the freak show of frat boy behavior unfold in the media, it’s refreshing to watch Sanders handle her job with poise, refusing to engage in futile, useless, and childish behavior. The left will never give her a fair shake, and feminists seem to find her a dangerous threat to their demands for fealty from women.
That’s OK; she doesn’t need their acclaim. Young, aspiring professional women love her. Conservative moms at home cheer her on when she is at the podium. People of faith pray for her.
Sanders doesn’t need your approval or even ours, because she plays to an audience of One even more powerful than Donald Trump.
Penny Young Nance is president and CEO of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest women’s public policy organization. She is the author of the book "Feisty and Feminine: A Rallying Cry for Conservative Women" (Zondervan 2016).
Kaepernick receives Muhammad Ali Legacy Award :-)
Is anyone surprised? |
Free agent pro quarterback Colin Kaepernick
received Sports Illustrated's Muhammad Ali Legacy Award on Tuesday,
cementing the jobless athlete’s new role as a civil rights icon.
After receiving the honor, Kaepernick promised that "with or without the NFL's platform, I will continue to work for the people.
"I accept this award not for myself, but on behalf of the people,"
Kaepernick said. "If it were not for my love of the people, I would not
have protested."Singer Beyoncé, who presented the award, said she was "proud and humbled" by the experience.
"Colin took action with no fear of consequence or repercussion," Beyoncé said. "Only hope to change the world for the better. To change perception, to change the way we treat each other. Especially people of color."
Beyoncé was introduced as a surprise presenter by “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah.
Last year's Ali Award winner, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, called Kaepernick a "worthy recipient" during a video tribute.
"He fully embraced the risk to his career in order to remind Americans of the systemic racism that was denying African-Americans their opportunities to equal education, jobs, health and even their lives," Abdul-Jabbar said.
Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem last season to protest racial inequality and police brutality. Other NFL players joined the protest after President Donald Trump criticized the action in September.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” Trump said in Alabama.
Critics of the protests said the gestures were unpatriotic and disrespected the service of men and women in the U.S. military.
Kaepernick parted ways with the San Francisco 49ers in March and hasn't been signed by another team. He filed a grievance against the NFL in October alleging that he remains unsigned as a result of collusion by owners because of his protests.
On Friday, the NFL announced that it was committing $90 million over the next seven years to social justice causes in response to demonstrations like Kaepernick’s.
Kaepernick spoke Tuesday about continuing Ali's legacy for fighting social injustice, saying the boxing great, who died in June 2016, "mentored me without ever meeting me."
"The footprints he leaves are large," Kaepernick said, "and his life is and has been a multi-textured tapestry that is rich in love, wisdom, life lessons and human kindness. I can only hope that I'm taking steps toward walking on the footsteps that he has left behind for the world to follow."
Kaepernick skipped the red carpet prior to the show and was not available for questions. The awards show will be broadcast Friday night on NBC Sports Network.
Kaepernick also recently was honored by the ACLU of Southern California with the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award and was named GQ magazine's "Citizen of the Year" for his activism, which included pledging $1 million to "organizations working in oppressed communities."
Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, forge ahead with moving US Embassy
President Trump on Wednesday will order the State
Department to begin moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from
Tel Aviv, senior administration officials said, a move that fulfills a
campaign promise made to religious conservatives but one that could
inflame tensions across the Middle East.
In his announcement, Trump will say
that the U.S. government recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
One official described it as an "honest" acknowledgement of a
"seven-decade old fact."
“While President Trump recognizes that the status of
Jerusalem is a highly sensitive issue, he does not think it will be
resolved by ignoring the simple truth that Jerusalem is home to Israel’s
legislature, its Supreme Court, the prime minister and is such the
capital of Israel,” one official said.The U.S. would be the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. Other countries who have diplomatic relations with Israel keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
But the embassy move would not be immediate and could take at least three or four years.
The U.S. officials said there are currently about 1,000 personnel in the embassy in Tel Aviv. They added that there is no facility in Jerusalem ready to serve as the embassy site, and it will take time to address security, design and cost concerns.
"It will take some time to find a site, address security concerns, design a new facility, fund a new facility -- working with Congress, obviously -- and build it," one official said. "So this is not an instantaneous process."
Ahead of the announcement, Trump spoke Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has said he supports the U.S. moving its embassy. But Abbas has warned of the “gravity of consequences” should the move become official for “the peace process and security and stability in the region and world.”
WHY TRUMP’S PROMISE TO MOVE US EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM IS SO CONTROVERSIAL
An international affairs adviser for Abbas said that the move “totally destroys any chance that he can play a role as an honest broker” in Middle East peace negotiations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that moving the capital was a “red line” for Muslims, and such an action could result in Turkey severing diplomatic ties with Israel.
The controversy surrounding the move of the embassy dates back decades. A law passed in 1995 under the Clinton administration considers Jerusalem the capital, and even mandates the move of the embassy there.
But the law allows for a loophole used by former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama – an option to issue waivers every six months to delay the move from Tel Aviv.
Trump also took advantage of the loophole, which Republicans have long called to be closed. Trump’s first waiver was signed in June, which drew praise from the Palestinians and some disappointment from Israel.
The administration officials said Tuesday that Trump will still sign a waiver to keep from jeopardizing State Department funding while the relocation process begins.
In January, Republican Sens. Dean Heller, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz introduced legislation that would move the embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel's capital, after the Obama administration abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote to condemn Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Hamas plans 'day of rage' in response to Trump's Jerusalem decision
Terror group Hamas is calling for a
“day of rage” Friday, urging Palestinians to protest President Donald
Trump’s plan to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the
U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.
The group, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., encouraged Palestinians in an official Arabic statement to send a message “with all available means” to Israel after the upcoming Friday prayers.
It added that making Jerusalem the Israeli capital was crossing a “red line.”“We call on the people of Palestine to declare ‘rage day’ on Friday against Israel, denying the U.S. plan to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” the statement read.
It added: "The youth and the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank need to respond with all means available to the U.S. decision that harms our Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a red line and the resistance will not allow any desecration of it.”
Senior Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh also called upon people to stand against efforts to “Judaize” Jerusalem, according to the official group account in Arabic.
The warning follows reports that Trump will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Wednesday and will move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the Holy City, although the process could take up to four years to complete.
Hamas’ English social media accounts, which tend to offer a watered-down version of hostile statements, said the Palestinian leadership urges Palestinians to organize “demonstrations” against Israel and the U.S.
“Palestinian factions declare days of anger on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and to hold demonstrations in cities and in front of Israeli embassies and consulates,” Hamas' Twitter account read.
According to Hamas’ charter, which outlines key principles and policies, the terror group aims to establish a state of Palestine “with Jerusalem as its capital” and states that “not one stone” of the city can be given up.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine. Its religious, historic and civilizational status is fundamental to the Arabs, Muslims and the world at large. Its Islamic and Christian holy places belong exclusively to the Palestinian people and to the Arab and Islamic Ummah,” the charter reads.
“Not one stone of Jerusalem can be surrendered or relinquished. The measures undertaken by the occupiers in Jerusalem, such as Judaization, settlement building, and establishing facts on the ground are fundamentally null and void.”
Multiple Middle Eastern countries have come out against the decision to recognize Jerusalem, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying Monday that moving the capital was a “red line” for Muslims.
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