Mueller Probe Cartoons

Michael Goodwin: Lawsuit shows Democrats are getting desperate as Mueller probe stalls

It’s not just Hillary Clinton who can’t quit Russia. The whole Democratic Party keeps going back to 2016.
In a move that reeks of desperation, the DNC filed a civil suit Friday against President Trump’s campaign, Russia and WikiLeaks, alleging a vast (right wing!) conspiracy to tip the election to Trump.
The suit’s flamboyant charges made headlines, but that only served to obscure the real meaning. Namely, that top Dems are giving up their fantasies that special counsel Robert Mueller will deliver them from political purgatory by getting the goods on Trump.
The trashy suit is their way of trying to keep impeachment and Russia, Russia, Russia alive for the midterms in case Mueller’s probe comes up empty.

Professor who tweeted anti-Barbara Bush comment applauded at arts festival

Sick.

The embattled Fresno State professor who tweeted out against Barbara Bush last week was hailed on Saturday by a local literary community and received backing from civil right groups.

Randa Jarrar, a tenured English professor at the school (also known as California State University at Fresno), sparked outrage after she called the former First Lady  “an amazing racist” moments after she died and said she’s happy “the witch is dead.”

Jarrar has since left the country and is currently on leave this semester. A university’s investigation is underway.
Although the professor was widely condemned for her remarks, a local Fresno literary festival applauded her each time they heard her name.
BUSH-BASHING PROFESSOR HAS FRESNO STATE SCRAMBLING TO KEEP ITS DONORS
Jarrar was set to headline LitHop, a day-long festival for the art community, but withdrew just days before the Fresno event due to the controversy.

Statement from @fresnocity regarding Randa Jarrar's appearance at LitHop. pic.twitter.com/LBXjbA7DxP

— Fresno City College (@fresnocity) April 18, 2018

"I support Randa Jarrar's free speech and I also denounce any violence against her or threats of violence against anyone else," Lee Herrick, founder of LitHop, told the audience of around 100 people, The Fresno Bee reported.
Juan Luis Guzman, director of the festival, said the controversy over Jarrar’s remarks brought the community together. "I saw a lot of people showing their love and support for Randa," he said.
Carmen Giménez Smith, a poet and the new headliner of the festival, dedicated a poem to Jarrar that included the passage “a writer is dangerous,” according to The Bee. The poet said Jarrar is a writer who tests the limits and pursues liberty through her literature.
Jarrar also received support from a Fresno State lecturer who claims to have been demoted after tweeting that President Donald Trump “must hang” in order to “save American democracy.”

Randa Jarrar, a professor at Fresno State, was applauded at a literary arts festival.  (Facebook)

Lars Maischak, a history lecturer, wrote Wednesday that the university and the professor is siding with Jarrar’s attackers and is failing to stand up to the “fascist threat to academic freedom.”
Multiple advocacy groups came out in support of the professor as well.
“Jarrar’s tweets are unquestionably protected speech under the First Amendment and Fresno State has no power to censor, punish, or terminate Jarrar for them,” Adam Steinbaugh, senior program officer for FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), said in a statement to Fox News.

Syracuse University permanently expels fraternity over 'anti-Semitic' video

A fraternity at Syracuse University was permanently expelled Saturday.  (Syracuse University)

A fraternity at Syracuse University was permanently expelled Saturday after an offensive video surfaced that members say was intended as satire.
The New York school's Theta Tau chapter said on its website that one of its members this year is a conservative Republican, and the new members roasted him by playing the part of a racist conservative character.
"It was a satirical sketch of an uneducated, racist, homophobic, misogynist, sexist, ableist and intolerant person," the statement said. "The young man playing the part of this character nor the young man being roasted do not hold any of the horrible views espoused as a part of that sketch."
WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO BELOW 
Chancellor Kent Syverud apparently did not see the supposed humor in the sketch. He called the video "racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, ableist and sexist" in a video posted on the university's website.
He said disciplinary actions against the individual students involved could include suspension or expulsion. Syracuse.com reported that 18 students received citations, which are not criminal.
The video showed a group of men laughing uproariously at performances punctuated by racist language against blacks, Jews and Hispanics and simulated sex acts. Some students contend the video illustrates larger issues of racism and sexism at the university.
The Daily Orange posted the six-minute video on its website that depicts an oath: “I solemnly swear to always have hatred in my heart for n*****s, s***s and most importantly the f***ing k***s.”
The Syracuse chapter of Theta Tau, a national engineering fraternity, apologized for the video Friday and says its members believe racism "has no place on a university campus."
The school said it will never be allowed to release the names of the students in the video over federal privacy law. News of the skit circulated through the campus on Wednesday.
The fraternity did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the chapter's expulsion Saturday, the AP reported.
Syverud said that in addition to expelling the Theta Tau chapter, university official "have begun a top-to-bottom review of our entire Greek system."

Feinstein denies bowing to left-wing pressure on Trump's CIA nominee

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday bristled at the suggestion she is reflexively opposing President Trump's nominee for CIA director to bolster her liberal bona fides during her contested re-election campaign in the left-wing state.
In a testy exchange on CBS' "Face The Nation," Feinstein insisted she is only doing her "due diligence" on Gina Haspel, 61, and played down the role of her insurgent ultra-progressive challenger, state Sen. Kevin de León, in her decisionmaking.
Feinstein was pointedly rebuked in February by the California Democratic Party, which declined to endorse her run for Senate during its annual convention. A majority of delegates backed León.
"I am of the opinion that putting somebody right now at the head of the CIA who played a role in, let's say, torture is not necessarily appropriate," Feinstein told CBS host Margaret Brennan, echoing her past statements on Haspel. "I have met with Gina Haspel. I know her somewhat. I know that she is talented but I also know that she was fully supportive of the program that many of us are very critical of."
Haspel ran the CIA's first overseas detention site in Thailand, where imprisoned militants were repeatedly waterboarded, The New York Times reported in February 2017. The CIA declassified and released a 2011 memo clearing wrongdoing for her role in drafting an order to destroy videotaped evidence of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques.
In March, Feinstein drew widespread criticism from California progressives for referring to Haspel as a "good deputy director."
Feinstein said she wouldn't make a final decision on whether she supports Haspel until after her confirmation hearing.
Haspel would be the first woman to ever lead the CIA.
PROBE CLEARED HASPEL IN DESTRUCTION OF WATERBOARDING TAPES

"I care about who is head of the CIA, and I'm going to do my due diligence."

"There are those who are questioning whether it's possible for you personally to be supportive of her, given the pressures you are feeling from progressives back in your home state of California right now, that you just can't afford to support any Trump nominee," Brennan said. "Can you explain how you're weighing those things?"
Feinstein shot back: "Well, that isn't correct. Obviously, that's your interpretation of it, and you're welcome to that interpretation.
"I care about who is head of the CIA, and I'm going to do my due diligence, have a chance to ask her questions in the public arena and we'll do just that, and then we'll make up my mind whether I believe she's an appropriate person to head this agency," she continued.
While the vastly better-funded and more established Feinstein is widely expected to defeat León during the June primary, the upstart challenger is continuing to build momentum.
Earlier this month, billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer backed León, saying he "has proven himself to be the best of the next generation, and I am proud to support him for U.S. Senate."

Kneeling Kaepernick the Clown Cartoons

Media war on Trump continues around the clock, and other proof of media bias

The media war against President Trump continues without stop. Every hour of every day, somewhere a major media outlet is attacking the president. It might be with a news show. It might be on an entertainment program. It might even be a Pulitzer Prize-winning hip hop album that was chosen because it bashes Trump.
The American media are still angry they didn’t get to pick the president in 2016 and are doing their best to overturn the decision of voters.
This past week, in the midst of the media’s Comet Comey, there was still time for news outlets to bash Trump – whether it was CNN fixated on fired FBI Director James Comey’s prostitute allegations or journalists obsessed with President Trump’s use of the term “Mission Accomplished” for the U.S. strike against Syria.
The host for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Michelle Wolf, even mocked how Trump eats and dared him to attend the dinner. “Yeah! I dare you, you poor little man! I’ll give you $5 if you come,” the “Daily Show” writer said mockingly.
The media were just getting warmed up. Three separate dramas had plots where the president was removed from office. “Homeland,” “The Good Fight” and “Designated Survivor” all envisioned replacing their commander-in-chief. “Madam Secretary,” modeled after Hillary Clinton, went that route in January. Three of the four have preferred the popular liberal fantasy of the 25th Amendment solution.
In “Homeland,” the Cabinet moves against the president because of the “unprecedented” firing of a third of the Cabinet. (Sound like a hint?) “The Good Fight” actually made up a whole bunch of outlandish lies about President Trump, some of which it even admitted to, including that he “colluded with the Russians.”
One character summed up much of the media attack on the president in the real world, as she crafted an entirely fictional series of charges. “This isn’t about truth anymore. And it’s not about lying. It’s about who’s backtracking and who’s attacking,” she ranted.
“Saturday Night Live” even employed Robert De Niro in a skit where he played Special Counsel Robert Mueller. De Niro went on “Today” to fantasize about upcoming appearances. “I hope there’s a couple where I interrogate him, then I arrest him, and then I escort him to jail,” he chuckled.
That takes things to the Pulitzer Prizes: The Anti-Trump Edition. The awards included one for both The Washington Post and New York Times for trying to tie Trump to Russia. The Post also got one for helping Democrats win the Alabama U.S. Senate race.
But the special, “thumb in the eye of Trump,” came with a win for hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar. Here’s Sirius XM radio host Clay Cane celebrating how Lamar’s album “Damn” won. “In ‘The Heart Part 4,’ a pre-album track from ‘Damn,’ Lamar wrote, ‘Donald Trump is a chump, know how we feel, punk / Tell 'em that God comin' / And Russia need a replay button, y'all up to something."
The album, wrote Cane for CNN, “is a punch in the gut, a wake-up call to people who are in intellectual comas.” That’s 2018, where Pulitzers are decided because the media ridiculously, immaturely and irrationally hates Trump.
2. Cuba’s Castro Convertible Leadership: What do you call a Cuba without the Castro dictatorship? Not much different. Sure, the names change, but the socialist tyranny is the same.
Unless you are the leftie news media. News outlets around the world ran with the bogus story claiming Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez was “elected” the new president of Cuba. Other outlets referred to the “election.” Only Diaz-Canel ran unopposed in a typical Cuban farce. Just like the murderous Castros before him.
The Associated Press, that bastion of journalistic integrity, ran a story that the Washington Post headlined: “Miguel Diaz-Canel elected president of Cuba.” The Independent ran an identical headline with a lot more text.
NPR, paid for in part by your tax dollars, actually contradicted itself in one paragraph. It led with how Díaz-Canel “has been elected president of Cuba, officially ending the Castro family's decades of domination of the country's highest office.” Then it added how the event “might better be described as a coronation than an election.” And, of course, Raul Castro is still going to lead the nation’s Communist Party and it’s military.
Not exactly stepping down.
The Chicago Tribune deserves high marks for being more accurate. It ran the headline, “Miguel Diaz-Canel selected as next president of Cuba.”
3. Making Book on Politics: The real problem with media bias isn’t just bad news stories. It’s that you often need to find better stories to offset the original and cross-reference them. Here’s a great example.
CNN’s Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter wrote a ridiculously one-sided story about The New York Times best-seller list. In Stelter’s world, “Every top New York Times best-seller this year has been about Trump.”
The problem with that is that The Times has a ridiculously skewed list and conservatives have complained about it for years. That point gets no acknowledgement at all from Stelter. All he admits is that “there is a caveat about The Times list: Psychologist Jordan Peterson's book ‘12 Rules For Life’ has been a hot seller for months, and might have ranked No. 1, but because it is published by a Canadian company, it is not counted by the U.S. newspaper.”
Hardly the only caveat. Let’s turn to National Review and author Dennis Prager who wrote: “The Times Best-Seller List: Another Reason Americans Don’t Trust the Media.” Prager made a strong argument. “As a writer (who, for the record, had a previous book on that list), I have long known it isn’t a best-seller list.” His most recent book, “The Rational Bible: Exodus,” “opened up on Amazon as the second-best-selling book in America.” He looked to see if it was on the Times list. It wasn’t.
This argument wasn’t new. Even NPR knew about it back in September. “Conservative book publisher Regnery has announced that it will no longer use the New York Times best-seller list in its promotional materials. Regnery says it is biased,” it explained.
This all blew up on Wednesday, when the New York Times was confronted about its bias during a shareholders meeting. The Times even got into a Twitter war with Prager, because that’s the kind of thing a neutral outlet does with a best-selling author.
4. The Rap on Social Security: Just as death and taxes go together, so do Social Security and … Cardi B? The 25-year-old rapper made news this week not just for what she said, but for who agreed with her. Cardi, as the music industry calls her, sang the praises of President Franklin Delano RooWedsevelt during a recent GQ interview. “He's the real 'Make America Great Again,' because if it wasn't for him, old people wouldn't even get Social Security," she said.
Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders put the media into overdrive by commenting on the interview. “Cardi B is right. If we are really going to make America great we need to strengthen Social Security so that seniors are able to retire with the dignity they deserve.”
Billboard headlined its piece: “Bernie Sanders Quotes Noted Economist on Strengthening Social Security: 'Cardi B is Right.'” That article even went on to talk about Cardi’s political future. “Boom. Cardi said it. Sorry Kanye, but Cardi 2020?” Because 2020 has to be even more moronic than 2018. (Thanks to her age, that silliness has to wait until at least 2028.)
Other media outlets followed – CNN, Yahoo, The Hill – pretty much every outlet looking for clicks involving a pop star and an aging socialist. Any way the news media can hype a liberal narrative, they do it. Even something as stupid as this.
Thankfully, there’s always liberal Salon to push an even more liberal narrative. It wrote: “Bernie Sanders may sing Cardi B’s praises – but sex workers say he’s no ally.” Yes Cardi, “a former stripper,” suddenly was caught up in a new battle. Because news can always get more insipid. Always.

Mitt Romney faces Senate primary in Utah after state GOP convention setback

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney ran into an obstacle Saturday in his bid to succeed Utah’s retiring U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch.
At the state’s Republican Party convention in West Valley City, Romney finished second in votes from party delegates, behind state lawmaker Mike Kennedy.
That means Kennedy, who captured 50.18 percent of the delegate vote, and Romney (49.12 percent) will face each other in a GOP primary election June 26.
In comments after the vote, Romney kept an upbeat tone.
“I’m delighted with the outcome. Did very, very well,” Romney told Salt Lake City's FOX 13. “On to a good, important primary ahead. This is terrific for the people of Utah.”
Kennedy, too, was pleased with the results, the station reported.
“I’m a candidate with a compelling life story and a unique set of life circumstances I’d like to use to serve the people of Utah,” he told FOX 13.
Saturday’s convention lasted more than eight hours, mostly because of bickering over rules, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The delegates at the convention tend to be more conservative than Utah’s general electorate, the newspaper noted.
Romney, 71, who ran against Barack Obama for president in 2012, went up against 11 other candidates seeking the Utah’s GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. Most of them were political newcomers who questioned Romney's criticism of President Donald Trump and the depth of his ties to Utah. (Romney is a former governor of Massachusetts, and his late father, George Romney, was a former governor of Michigan.)
Romney is perhaps best known in Utah for his chairmanship of the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were held in the state, and also because he was the first Mormon to be the presidential nominee of a major party. He moved to Utah after his 2012 campaign failed.
In launching his U.S. Senate bid, Romney has tried to keep the focus on state issues rather than his history of well-documented feuds with President Donald Trump, whom he called a "con man" and a phony during the 2016 race.
Trump fired back that Romney "choked like a dog" during his own White House run. But the two men have shown fresh signs of burying the hatchet, and Romney has accepted Trump's endorsement.
Hatch, 83, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, announced his retirement plans several months ago, despite efforts by President Trump to convince him to stay in Washington.