Dan Gainor: Media get their dream House: Press celebrates Democrats’ ‘triumphant’ return to power

The media finally got the fun House they wanted — run entirely by Democrats.  And their arrival made journalists nearly scream in PC glee.
They’ve been fighting President Donald Trump all alone for two years. The arrival of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and liberal media darlings like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set off a veritable House party in the press. They now have powerful allies who will do what they want — attack Trump.It was “a triumphant return to power” for new House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, “a new era” and “an earthquake in Trump world.” CNN even called it “girl power” and pretended she was reaching out in a “non-partisan” way to “women of all parties.” The network actually took her out to her native Baltimore to get ice cream from her favorite ice cream shop.
ABC’s Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran emphasized that “[f]or the first time President Trump entering his third year as president is gonna face an opposition with real power in Washington.”
Apparently, 24-7 press opposition wasn’t enough.
The Washington Post didn’t hide its feelings about the power switch: “Pelosi seeks a return to normalcy, but an unpredictable president may not comply.” The “Democracy Dies in Darkness” paper found the liberal who promised to “light the way” and could barely contain itself. The paper practically took on the role of Pelosi’s press office, noting, “she has a long history working productively with Republicans.”
The New York Times described Pelosi as an “Icon of Female Power” and talked about her rise “from the well-mannered daughter of a Baltimore mayor to a savvy legislator.”
It wasn’t just about Pelosi. Journalists celebrated everything from the Democrats’ fashion sense to diversity — already a media sacred term. The word “diverse” was on many reporters’ lips. But heaven help anyone who didn’t look right (or, left?).
Journalists focused on the women’s clothes and white men’s race — because when they do it, it’s not sexist or racist. Politico’s Congress reporter Rachel Bade skewered the white Republicans in their dark suits. “Sitting above the chamber, you see the stark contrast in color btw the GOP & Dem side: the Rs are all in dark suits. Almost all white men. The Dem side is speckled with pinks and purples and greens being worn by the historic # of women. Also very ethnically diverse,” she tweeted.
Washington Post Fashion Critic Robin Givhan celebrated the Democrats’ fashion sense. She declared, “fashion was not merely a footnote, it was a rallying cry, a defiant gesture, a point of cultural pride — a glorious, theatrical declaration of self. It was white suits and pink dresses, Native American artistry, a Palestinian thobe, a kente cloth stole, a hijab and a skintight pencil skirt with a fur stole.”
Being liberal is a fashion statement.
2. Wall vs. shutdown: The government shutdown and the border wall continue to vex the media who see no reason for either.
This was obvious when Trump held a short briefing in the press room and journalists freaked out that he didn’t take questions. CNN called it, “Trump's press 'briefing' that wasn't.” Mediaite summed up the press room reaction with this: “White House Reporters Heckle Trump After Speech: ‘The Point of the Briefing Room is to Take Questions!!!’”
Theoretical GOP consultant Rick Wilson took the opportunity to mock the Republican base. He told CNN’s Don Lemon, “the wall has always been a con for Donald Trump’s credulous rube ten-toothed base.” One commentator said it was time for the GOP to “change the president’s diapers.”
The New York Times gave an entire page in its Sunday Review for an essay by illegal immigrant activist and sometime journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. It was titled “Portraits From a Caravan – Migrants escaping peril wait in Tijuana for their American dream.” Just in case you thought it might be neutral.
Thankfully, a little truth has seeped into the media coverage of the shutdown. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei characterized the shift in the Democrat Party: “I think the feeling that they have to appear to be really strong by supporting a lot more border security, that that has waned, and that the enthusiasm of the Democratic Party is for protecting immigrants.”
3. This Is CNN: New Year’s Eve is always a tough holiday for CNN as it trots out major anchors and mixes them with lots of alcohol.
Anchors Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper were both drinking. Anchor Brooke Baldwin even tweeted, “Thanks to all of y’all who watched, tweeted, and got #drunkdonlemon trending another year.”
I’ll let Daily Caller White House Correspondent Amber Athey explain the rest. “CNN reporter Randi Kaye kicked off New Year’s Eve by drinking champagne through a bong made out of a snorkel.”
Ah, journalism.
Then there was the self-absorbed segment with “New Day” Co-host Alisyn Camerota who was upset about the social media posts of a retired American Marine arrested by Russia for alleged spying. Why? Because he posted, “Just drinking coffee and watching fake news,” as he was pictured in front of a giant CNN logo.
Camerota was actually interviewing the man’s twin brother and rather than show sympathy over being arrested by Russian thugs, she fixated on the arrested man’s disdain for CNN. “I'm not taking this personally that he's pictured with CNN, but I just am wondering is this a statement on his part somehow?” she claimed, though it was obvious she took it personally.
Then again, the press always takes criticism personally.

James Woods as Oscars host? One writer thinks it's worth a shot

As Hollywood wrestles with what to do about the upcoming Oscars telecast following the Kevin Hart controversy, one writer thinks he knows the perfect host: veteran actor James Woods.
In a Saturday op-ed piece for the New York Post, media writer Jon Levine argues that Woods, 71, could draw millions of new and old viewers to the annual Hollywood gala during an era when award shows of all kinds are facing declining ratings and accusations of anti-conservative bias.
Woods, a Trump-loving conservative, has gained a following in recent years by bashing critics of the president and liberals in general on Twitter. He currently has 1.9 million followers.
“Yes, there would be 'outrage,'" Levine writes. “Hollywood’s Jacobins of propriety would express their horror. Screenshots of trollish old tweets (and there have been many) would make the rounds. Words like 'racist' and 'sexist' would fly a mile a minute. But those costs would be a pittance compared to the millions of new viewers he’d bring in (along with the old viewers who’d be excited to see something different for a change).”
Levine cites the current climate of political correctness, noting that comic legends like Joan Rivers, Don Rickles and even Jerry Seinfeld would not “escape today’s censors.”
“So, in that spirit, why not go full bore with James Woods? Embracing the offensive and learning to laugh at ourselves should be things that bring us together,” he writes.
The Oscars were sent into crisis mode in December when comedian Hart was selected to host the 91st Academy Awards, scheduled for Feb. 24. Within 24 hours, several of Hart's years-old tweets and jokes, which some had deemed anti-gay, had resurfaced.
LGBTQ groups immediately called for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to rescind Hart's hosting invite.
In one of the tweets, Hart wrote: “Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay.”

The meme that Woods posted in July said #LetWomenDecide and #NoMenMidterm. Woods acknowledged the tweet was "not likely" real. (Twitter)

Woods has also come under fire for several tweets and was even temporarily locked out of Twitter for a satirical meme encouraging men not to vote in the 2018 midterm elections.
In 2017, he likened a child to a serial killer in what many called a transphobic tweet.
"This is sweet. Wait until this poor kid grows up, realizes what you've done, and stuffs both of you dismembered into a freezer in the garage," he tweeted.
He also used the social media platform to help a veteran contemplating suicide. The actor offered to talk with the veteran privately.
“Andrew, don’t feel embarrassed that you reached out in the darkness. Nobody thinks you’re foolish for that. You know every one of us reaching out to you right now has some depression, too. I’ll say it. I do,” Woods wrote. "I’m following you now, so you can DM me. We can talk privately. Or we can talk openly right here. Lot of people worried about you right now.
“So think about this. A lot of vets, I understand, have come to where you are tonight. If you could just push this decision off tonight, at least, maybe you would also inspire another vet to seek help. You could save another man, too. By waiting to do this.”

Amid the outcry over his selection as Oscars host, Hart, 39, apologized to the LGBTQ community and stepped down from the hosting gig. He is now “evaluating” retaking the job after Ellen DeGeneres told him she reached out to the Academy on his behalf and they said they wanted him to host.
“I called the Academy today because I really want you to host the Oscars,” DeGeneres told Hart in her talk show that aired Friday. “We want him to host, whatever we can do, we’d be thrilled,” DeGeneres said the Academy told her. “The Academy is saying what can we do to make this happen.”
Hart told DeGeneres he was still angry about how the tweets were brought up less than a day after he was given the hosting job.
“This is stuff I have addressed. I’m not going to pay it any mind because when you feed into that stuff you only add more fuel to the fire,” Hart said. “You have put a lot of things on my mind. Leaving here, I’m promising you I’m evaluating this conversation … Let me assess, just sit in the space and really think.”
Or the Academy could take a cue from writer Levine and give the opportunity to someone like Woods.

Trey Gowdy fires back after Warren claims he left Congress for 'fat lobbyist paycheck'

Former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy served for four terms before leaving the House last week. (Fox News)

Former Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., hit back at Democrat Elizabeth Warren over Twitter in response to the Massachusetts Democrat's claim that he retired from Congress to collect a “fat lobbyist paycheck.”
Warren cited a Daily Caller article on Friday that reported Gowdy would be joining Nelson Mullins, a South Carolina law and lobbying firm.
“@TGowdySC foamed at the mouth with power in Congress, then retired because he claimed he didn't enjoy it. Now it’s clear: Trey Gowdy just wanted a fat lobbyist paycheck. That should be illegal,” she tweeted.
 She then called for a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.
"We need a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of Congress. And fix the swiss cheese def of 'lobbying' so anyone who gets paid to influence Washington has to register. Public service shouldn’t be a launching pad for guys like @TGowdySC & @JoeLieberman to enrich themselves."
Gowdy, who served for four terms before leaving Congress last week, responded on Twitter, "I'm not lobbying. Not now. Or ever. Perhaps you were cracking open a beer when that was announced,” referring an Instagram live video of Warren opening a beer. "Don't mind your criticisms. Just be more sensitive to facts.”
Warren announced this week she launched an exploratory committee to consider whether to jump into the 2020 presidential race.
Gowdy has been a target for Democrats going back to when he chaired the House Benghazi Committee, which many Democrats decried as a witch hunt with the intention of disrupting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

GOP’s Steve Scalise shuts down Twitter debate on taxes with Ocasio-Cortez after ‘radical followers’ allude to Virginia shooting

U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., blamed the "radical followers" of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in his decision to end an online debate over the U.S. tax rate.

U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., abruptly halted a Twitter debate with newcomer Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York early Sunday after at least three commenters made references to the June 2017 shooting in which Scalise and three other people were shot by a left-wing activist.
“snipe his a--,” one Twitter user wrote, in support of Ocasio-Cortez.
“she’s got better aim that James Hodgkinson, that’s for sure,” another wrote, comparing Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter responses to the marksmanship of the suspect in the Virginia shooting, a Bernie Sanders supporter who later died in a shootout with police.
“Kick his cane,” a third wrote.
Prior to the comments, Scalise and Ocasio-Cortez had been debating the Democrat’s proposal for enacting a tax rate of up to 70 percent on income. Scalise had called for letting Americans “keep more of their own hard-earned money.”
He claimed that Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez instead wanted to tax Americans’ income at higher rates in order to “give it to leftist fantasy programs.”
But after the Twitter followers’ comments appeared, Scalise opted to end the online discussion.
“Hi @AOC,” Scalise wrote to Ocasio-Cortez. “Happy to continue this debate on the Floor of the People’s House, but it’s clearly not productive to engage here with some of your radical followers. #StayClassy”
Scalise’s tweet appeared about 1 a.m. ET Sunday, or about two hours after Ocasio-Cortez’s late Saturday tweet, in which the newly sworn-in congresswoman claimed that Scalise didn’t understand “how marginal tax rates work.”
“Oh that’s right, almost forgot,” the Democratic socialist wrote. “GOP works for the corporate CEOs showering themselves multi-million bonuses; not the actual working people whose wages + healthcare they’re ripping off for profit.”
If Ocasio-Cortez had seen Scalise’s 1 a.m. tweet, she offered no immediate response early Sunday.
The 29-year-old New Yorker, who stunned much of the political world in June when she defeated longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley in a primary and then won the state’s 14th Congressional District seat in November, has been drawing increased media attention this week – both for taking the oath of office Thursday and for an anticipated appearance Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
Previews of that taped CBS interview included references to the Democrat’s 70 percent tax-rate plan, to which Scalise and others reacted during the week.
Scalise, the House Republican whip, was himself featured on “60 Minutes,” in his first TV interview months after the Virginia shooting.
The 53-year-old congressman from New Orleans, who represents Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District, spoke of the “little miracles” he was achieving daily during his recovery.
Also wounded in the Virginia attack were Zack Barth, a congressional aide; Matt Mika, a lobbyist; and Crystal Griner, a U.S. Capitol police officer.
Scalise would later write about the shooting in the book, “Back in the Game: One Gunman, Countless Heroes, and the Fight for My Life,” which was published in November.

Speaker of the House Pelosi Cartoons

Pelosi, Nielsen clashed during border-security meeting: 'I reject your facts,' House speaker said, according to report

"I reject your facts," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left, reportedly said to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during a border-security meeting this week. "These aren't my facts," Nielsen reportedly responded. "These are the facts."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen got into a tense confrontation this week, with the California Democrat interrupting Nielsen’s presentation on border security and illegal immigration, telling her “I reject your facts.”
The clash between the top House Democrat and a key member of President Trump's Cabinet occurred during a Wednesday meeting in the White House amid the impasse over the government shutdown, with Trump standing firm and demanding $5 billion for the border wall.
At one point during the meeting, according to the Wall Street Journal, Pelosi interrupted Nielsen, who was citing statistics related to the border, including how many criminal illegal immigrants attempted to enter the U.S. last year.
“I reject your facts,” Pelosi told Nielsen
“These aren’t my facts," Nielsen shot back. "These are the facts.”

"These aren’t my facts … These are the facts."
— Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

Following the episode, Nielsen went to social media to criticize Pelosi and the Democrats for not wanting to hear about the issue of illegal immigration.
“I am disappointed that Dems did not want to hear from @DHSgov about the security & humanitarian crisis we are facing at the border,” Nielsen wrote. “They didn’t want to hear about criminal aliens, drug smugglers, smuggled & abused children or violent caravans trying to breach the border wall.”
“The crisis is not going away-it is getting worse. The status quo in funding & authorities for #DHS is irresponsible & makes our country less secure,” she continued. “Kicking the can down the road is not the answer. I look forward to engaging w Members who want to.”
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, also criticized Nielsen’s presentation, telling Bloomberg that it “was not a credible presentation.”
“It was preposterous,” Durbin said. “At a time when we have the lowest level of apprehensions at the border — stopping people from coming in illegally — the lowest level historically, she is saying that we have all these terrorists and criminals and all these people on their way in.”
Nielsen reportedly told the Democrats at the meeting that border officials along the U.S.-Mexico border had apprehended about 3,000 people with terrorist ties and 17,000 criminals last year.
Pelosi also asked quizzed the DHS head whether she was counting anyone crossing the border illegally as having a criminal record, with the administration denying that’s how the figure was devised.
Wednesday’s meeting didn’t resolve the government shutdown as both sides continue to stick to their principles and refuse to concede.
On Friday, following another contentious meeting in the White House with congressional leaders, Trump warned that the partial government shutdown could last “years” and saying he could even declare a “national emergency” to bypass Congress if necessary to build the wall.
“We can call a national emergency [to build a border wall] because of the security of our country,” Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden, during a lengthy and impromptu press conference on Friday.
“I may do it,” he said, before adding, “If we can do it through a negotiated process, we’re giving it a shot.”

Homeland Security blasts CNN, says TSA 'sick out' report 'grossly misrepresented' situation at airports

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers assist travelers with luggage through a security screening area during a partial federal government shutdown Monday, Dec. 31, 2018, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state. (Associated Press)

A Department of Homeland Security spokesman lashed out at CNN on Friday, labeling as "fake news" the network's report that hundreds of Transportation Security Administration screeners at the nation’s airports have been staging a "sick out" this week amid the partial government shutdown.
In a tweet, DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton accused the network of failing to validate its data and not reaching out to agency officials for verification.
"More #FakeNews from @CNN. Security operations at airports have not been impacted by a non-existent sick out. CNN has the cell numbers of multiple @TSA public affairs professionals, but rather than validate statistics, they grossly misrepresented them," the tweet read.
The TSA, meanwhile, tweeted a more measured response that said employee absences began over the holidays but have had minimal impact on security operations.
"Call outs began over the Holiday period and have increased, but are causing minimal impact given there are 51,739 employees supporting the screening process," the tweet said. "TSA is grateful to the agents who show up to work, remain focused on the mission and respectful to the traveling public."
Even in the middle of the shutdown, TSA officers are mandated to work without pay.
Employee union officials told the New York Times that TSA workers at several major airports have called in sick since the shutdown began Dec. 22. More than 150 called out Friday from Kennedy International Airport in New York City, according to the paper.
One unnamed federal official said the call-outs seemed to be part of a coordinated protest, but union officials said many employees who called out sick were most likely looking for alternative employment to make up for lost wages.
The shutdown is beginning its third week.
A TSA spokesperson told the Times that wait times for passengers to board flights could increase if the call-outs persist, and that the agency "is grateful to the agents who show up to work, remain focused on the mission and respectful to the traveling public as they continue the important work necessary to secure the nation’s transportation systems.”
The concern over airport security staffing followed speculation last month over whether Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would keep her job.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske recently urged President Trump to keep Nielsen despite reports that the president had grown frustrated with her leadership.
"I've worked for Secretary Nielsen for a little over a year now and in my view, she’s been an outstanding secretary of homeland security," said Pekoske, according to the Washington Examiner. "And she has been very, very supportive of me as the TSA administrator, very interested in our issues, and importantly, very engaged with our workforce."

China should think twice before threatening to attack Americans

China is betraying a level of strategic anxiety not yet seen as the impact of trade tariffs looms and its return to its historical power role in the Asia seems to have stalled.
On Dec. 20, Chinese Rear Adm. Lou Yuan, while speaking at a military trade conference, announced that what the United States feared most was casualties and that the easiest way to defeat China’s main rival was to sink two American supercarriers, killing over 10,000 sailors in the process. When that has happened, Admiral Lou announced, then “we’ll see how frightened America is.”
Lou’s statements were followed just a few days later by China’s president, Xi Jinping, who threateningly said China “reserves the option of taking all necessary measures” to ensure “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, a democracy that has governed itself apart from China since 1949.  Xi added that Beijing was willing to “fight the bloody battle against our enemies,” and menacingly predicted: “Reunification is the historical trend and the right path, Taiwan independence is ... a dead end.”
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This is a stark escalation of language. Taken with other examples of bellicose rhetoric that have increasingly issued from Beijing officials, it is clear that Xi Jinping and his supporters have been badly rattled by the recent events.
China’s leaders assumed after the 2008 global financial crisis that the Communist, centrally controlled economic state’s time had come. It would regain its historic role in the region. It could cast off the cloak of a peaceful rise to assume a hegemonic role in the Asia-Pacific region.
But Xi and his followers have watched their diplomatic, economic and military initiatives come up short, engendering increased resistance from other Indo-Pacific nations rather than the realignment China had expected. Now the Trump administration’s trade tariffs threaten to destabilize the Chinese economy, resulting in a cascade failure of Xi Jinping’s broader strategy and threatening to undermine the legitimacy of the Communist Party, hence the stronger and more strident attacks.
China’s desperate attempts to regain the momentum, however, betray an ignorance of the American culture.
China perceived the lack of strategic focus of the George W. Bush administration and the passive “lead from behind” foreign policy of the Obama administration as American decay and decline.  In reality, the foundational aspects of the American economy remain surprisingly strong and the American fighting spirit is not dead -- merely sleeping. Those who would believe that the sinking of two aircraft carriers would trigger an impulse toward retreat would do well to make themselves aware of the United States’ history and the impact events such as the sinking of the Lusitania, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the collapse of the World Trade Center had on the national psyche. What some have labeled the Jacksonian impulse could be described as a tendency toward great power rage. To be sure, it burns itself out. After all, the U.S. is considering leaving Afghanistan, 17 years later.
But make no mistake: Any attack upon a single U.S. aircraft carrier by long-range aircraft, cruise missiles or ballistic missiles would surely generate a response against the bases from which those weapons were launched, the sensors associated with them and the command-and-control nodes that directed them, and then the United States would turn its attention on the Chinese naval and merchant fleet.
Before China knew what was happening, it would be cut off from the overseas sources of energy and raw materials that fuel its import/export economy. Within weeks it would be without fuel and its factories would be shuttered. The American economy, established in a nation that has most resources domestically available, would be able to ride out the storm, even if China attempted to climb the escalation ladder and attack targets in North America.
For China, it is better to get its more bellicose voices under control and approach the bargaining table with the United States over trade issues in good faith and with an openness to real compromise on the economic issues that divide our two nations, rather than resorting to nationalist saber rattling.
Xi Jinping should try harder to understand his real strategic position while remembering that he who rides the tiger finds it difficult to dismount. There will be no return to global hegemony or Middle Kingdom status. China brought its candle out from under the basket too soon, and its broader, aggressive ambitions have been revealed.
As for the United States, it should follow the lead of President Trump and his new acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who between them have identified that we are in an era of great power competition that will require more effort and that the focus of that competition is China, and China and China.