‘Inappropriate Behavior’: Elizabeth Warren Fires Organizing Director

Posted on | October 5, 2019 | 1 Comment

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) campaign on Friday fired its national organizing director Rich McDaniel amid accusations of “inappropriate behavior.”
Warren campaign spokesperson Kristen Orthman released a statement on Friday, confirming that the campaign had been receiving “multiple complaints regarding inappropriate behavior by Rich McDaniel.”
“Over the past two weeks, senior campaign leadership received multiple complaints regarding inappropriate behavior by Rich McDaniel,” Orthman told Politico.
“Over the same time period, the campaign retained outside counsel to conduct an investigation,” she continued.
“Based on the results of the investigation, the campaign determined that his reported conduct was inconsistent with its values and that he could not be a part of the campaign moving forward,” Orthman added. . . .
Details of the accusations remain unclear, but Politico reported that the allegations did not involve sexual assault, according to a source.

So his behavior was “inappropriate,” but he didn’t rape anybody. Also, there were “multiple complaints.” I blame racism!

Category: Elizabeth Warren

‘The Patron Saint of Incels’

Posted on | October 5, 2019 | 1 Comment

The new Warner Brothers/DC film Joker is having an impressive opening weekend at the box office, and there’s talk of an Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix, but critics generally hate the movie for its portrayal of Batman’s nemesis as a misunderstood victim of society. Personally, I am troubled by the subject matter and theme of the film. One thing I recognized long ago is that disturbed personalities have a tendency to cheer for the monster in horror movies. To such people, Freddie Krueger is a hero and role model. So doing the “backstory” on a villain like the Joker, humanizing him and showing him to be a product of an unhappy background, is inherently dangerous. Bad people with a chip on their shoulders are apt to identify with such a figure, and thus to see the Joker’s crimes as revenge on an unjust society.

Nevertheless, I am amused by the angry tone of Joker‘s critics, particularly such feminists as Time magazine’s Stephanie Zacharek:

Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck — he’ll later become one of Batman’s nemeses, the Joker, in case you didn’t already know that — is an odd, lonely guy who lives at home with the mother (played by a wan Frances Conroy) he love-hates.
Arthur works for a sad rent-a-clown joint, and nothing ever goes right. . . .
He gets angrier and more isolated by the minute. No one is ever kind to Arthur; he’s the world’s saddest punching bag. . . .
As you can probably guess, all of Arthur’s travails are leading up to a series of “See what you made me do?” brutalities, most of which happen while he’s dressed up in his clown suit. Violence makes him feel more in control, less pathetic. Killing — usually with a gun, but scissors or a good old-fashioned suffocation will do just fine — empowers him.
But it’s not as if we don’t know how this pathology works: In America, there’s a mass shooting or attempted act of violence by a guy like Arthur practically every other week. And yet we’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Arthur, the troubled lamb; he just hasn’t had enough love. Before long, he becomes a vigilante folk hero — his first signature act is to kill a trio of annoying Wall Street spuds while riding the subway, which inspires the masses to don clown masks and march enthusiastically around the city with “Kill the Rich!” placards. . . .
Meanwhile, the movie lionizes and glamorizes Arthur even as it shakes its head, faux-sorrowfully, over his violent behavior. There’s an aimless subplot involving a neighbor in Arthur’s apartment building, played by Zazie Beetz . . . Arthur has a crush on her, and though he does her no harm, there’s still something creepily entitled about his attentiveness to her. He could easily be adopted as the patron saint of incels.
Arthur is a mess, but we’re also supposed to think he’s kind of great — a misunderstood savant. . . . Arthur inspires chaos and anarchy, but the movie makes it look like he’s starting a revolution, where the rich are taken down, the poor get everything they need and deserve, and the sad guys who can’t get a date become killer heroes.

So, a hero your typical Bernie Sanders supporter can admire? The message of the movie is clear, critic Ian Sandwell says:

[Director Todd] Phillips has spoken about how it’s “good” that movies like this could lead to discussions about violence, but it would have been nice for Joker to explore it more. It has one point to make, and makes it in slightly different ways throughout: the rich are terrible and society needs to do more to help people like Arthur.
That’s not to say that Joker turns Arthur into an anti-hero, at least not for the audience. It’s clear throughout that he’s a psychopath and is not someone to be celebrated.

This theme — “the rich are terrible” — has been overdone by Hollywood, where people get rich making movies that demonize the wealthy. And is it true that “society needs to do more to help people like Arthur”? Well, if locking them up in the looney bin is “helping,” yeah, I guess so.

Crazy People Are Dangerous.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!

Category: Movies

Angry Biden: ‘It’s Not a Conflict of Interest … I’m Not Going to Respond to That’

Posted on | October 5, 2019 | Comments Off on Angry Biden: ‘It’s Not a Conflict of Interest … I’m Not Going to Respond to That’

The stench of corruption:

Former Vice President Joe Biden exploded at the media on Friday when asked about his youngest son’s shadowy business dealings in Ukraine.
The tense altercation occurred during a campaign stop in Los Angeles, California, where the former vice president was asked if Hunter Biden’s service on the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian oil and gas giant, had posed a conflict of interest during his time in the White House.
Biden, who in the past had refused to discuss his son’s business dealings with foreign governments, appeared perturbed by the question.
“It’s not a conflict of interest,” the former vice president said. “There’s been no indication of any conflict of interest, from Ukraine or anywhere else, period. I’m not going to respond to that.”
The question regarding the potential conflict of interest came only hours after the newly appointed Ukrainian Prosecutor General announced he was reviewing allegations of criminal conduct against Burisma.
Hunter Biden joined the company’s board of directors in April 2014, despitehaving no prior background in either the energy industry or Ukraine. As Peter Schweizer, senior contributor at Breitbart News, detailed in his book Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends, Hunter Biden secured the position, which paid as much as $83,000 per month, around the same time his father was tapped to lead the Obama administration’s policy in Ukraine.
The timing of Hunter Biden’s ascension to Burisma’s board immediately raised questions from ethics watchdogs in both the U.S. and Europe concerning conflicts of interest. Adding to the ethical cloud over that appointment was that Mykola Zlochevsky, Burisma’s founder, had his assets seized in the United Kingdom for suspicion of money laundering. Many have speculated Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma’s board was an attempt by Zlochevsky to curry favor with western leaders to prevent further scrutiny of his business dealings.
Such a brazen attempt would not be totally ill-suited for Zlochevsky. The Burisma founder is rumored to be one of eastern Europe’s top oligarchs, a position obtained while serving in the Ukrainian government under former President Viktor Yanukovych — a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was during his tenure in government as Ukraine’s minister of natural resources that Burisma received its oil and gas licenses.

WATCH: Joe Biden explodes when a reporter asks a very simple question:

"How was your role as Vice President in charge of policy in Ukraine and your son's job in Ukraine, how is that not a conflict of interest?"

Biden: "I'm not going to respond to that!"

What is he hiding? pic.twitter.com/jbycKLARhE

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 4, 2019

Remember that Biden denied ever talking to Hunter about his business in Ukraine, but then a photo turned up of Biden and Hunter playing golf with an executive from the Ukrainian gas company. When reporters tried to ask him about that photo, Biden again refused to answer:

“This is the guy that’s unhinged,” Biden said about the president. “He is unhinged. I worry about what he’s going to do — not about me or my family. I’m worried about what he’ll do in the next year in the presidency, as this thing continues to rot on his watch.”

Don’t ask Joe questions about Ukraine! He gets angry when you do that.

Category: Joe Biden, Ukraine

‘Nothing Short of a Coup’

Posted on | October 5, 2019 | 1 Comment

The Trump 2020 campaign recently made an $8 million ad buy, and this is one of the ads that will be running as part of that buy:

The Trump campaign has been piling up millions and the Democrats have given them an excuse to start spending it early with ads like this.
‘
“Punch back twice as hard,” as somebody said.

Category: Donald Trump

In The Mailbox: 10.04.19

Posted on | October 4, 2019 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

OVER THE TRANSOM
Outdoor Life Review: Deer Hunting Tips
EBL: Diahann Carroll, RIP
Twitchy: Watch Joe Biden Rage At Reporter Who Asks Him About Hunter & Ukraine
Louder With Crowder: #Youtube2020 Election Blacklist, also, Drag Queen Strips For Kids At Drag Queen Story Time – How Does This Promote Reading?
According To Hoyt: The Perilous Passage
Monster Hunter Nation: Invisible Wars Is In Stores Now
Vox Popoli: No-Evidence Debunked Disinformation Propaganda, also, A Game Designer Gets It

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Friday Hawt Chicks & Links – The Pollution Edition
American Greatness: The Anesthetic Effect Of Ukrainegate
American Power: President Trump Warns Speaker Pelosi – No Cooperation Until The Full House Votes On Impeachment
American Thinker: Schiff Collusion With Whistleblower The Last Straw
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Climate Hypocrite Friday
Babalu Blog: After Decades Of Mass Killings & Oppression, The 70th Anniversary Of Red China Is Nothing To Celebrate
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For October 4
Camp of the Saints: The Small Businessmen – Guardians Of The Free Markets
Cafe Hayek: Some Links
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Da Tech Guy: Impeachment As Sports Talk Radio & Other Sports Stuff Under The Fedora
Don Surber: Still Calling Us Deplorable
First Street Journal: Male & Female He Created Them
The Geller Report: Antifa Who Assaulted Elderly Canadian Lady Is Syrian Migrant, also, Undercover With Imams Pimping Little Girls For Temporary “Pleasure Marriages”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, A Modest Proposal
Hollywood In Toto: Mesmerizing Joker Targets Oscar, Not Real World Violence
Joe For America: NYPD Hunts For Lion-Taunting Woman Who Taunts Cops On Instagram As Rapper
JustOneMinute: Good Jobs Report And The White House Strikes Back At “Formal” Impeachment Inquiry
Legal Insurrection: Congressional Testimony Of US Ukraine Envoy Contradicts Democrat Narrative, also, Joe Biden Has Bad Q3 Fundraising, Trailing Even Mayor Pete
The PanAm Post: Venezuelan Parliament Approves “Electoral Roadmap” Without Ending Usurpation
Power Line: Thoughts From The Ammo Line, also, Trump Doubles Down (2)
Shark Tank: Wassermann Schultz Blames Trump For Maduro Still Being In Power
Shot In The Dark: Ripped From The Headlines – In A World Where The Media Isn’t A Democrat PR Firm
The Political Hat: Firing Line Friday – What’s Ahead For The Democrat Party?
This Ain’t Hell: WTH? also, Valor Friday
Victory Girls: Kavanaugh Smear Book Fails To Sell
Volokh Conspiracy: Treason, Sedition, & Trump Derangement Syndrome
Weasel Zippers: Rep. Zeldin – Closed Door Hearings Are Blowing Massive Holes In Schiff’s Impeachment Narrative, also, Muslim Activists Demand McDonald’s Serve Halal Food
Megan McArdle: One Day, Trump’s Superpower Of Shameless Self-Regard May Desert Him
Mark Steyn: Eurodee & Eurodum, also, Going Nowhere

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Five reviews. Five stars. Check it out.

Category: Linkagery

Three Headlines

Posted on | October 4, 2019 | 1 Comment

All from Red State:

If New Paul Sperry Report About Whistleblower
Is True, It’s A Game Changer

News Breaks That The Whistle-Blower Worked
For A Current 2020 Democrat Presidential Candidate

Amazing Coincidence That Nancy Pelosi’s Son
Also Has Business Connections With Ukraine

Each of these headlines is significant in making an important point: Democrats are trying to impeach President Trump for allegedly doing the same stuff Democrats always do. Conflicts of interest and using federal power for partisan political purposes? Suddenly Democrats say that’s wrong? As if Obama didn’t do it for eight years?

The report by Paul Sperry that the whistleblower was meeting with Ukrainian operatives to get dirt on Trump in 2016 seems almost too good to be true, so everybody’s waiting to see if it’s confirmed but OH BOY! If this proves to be true, it’s going to be HUGE! Because I’ve got a hunch that, if that’s how it works out, we will eventually find Alexandra Chalupa‘s fingerprints somewhere on this. And then the report that this whistleblower, said to be a CIA analyst, once worked for a current Democrat presidential candidate? Well, what does that tell us about staffing decisions in the our intelligence community, if they’re hiring Democrat operatives as “analysts”? And yes, of course Nancy Pelosi’s son is knee-deep in Ukraine — it’s very lucrative to be the offspring of a powerful Democrat. But if President Trump tries to clear up this corruption? Impeach him!

Category: Corruption, Ukraine

Friday Fiction: 100 Word Challenge

Posted on | October 4, 2019 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

We crossed the ridge as the sky brooded and looked down on the Umgeheuer encampment.

This was the hard part. I beamed instructions to my drone rider, and he dismounted, unaware of his pending demise. We’d clone him again.
As sun set, the drone crawled in low to where their noisy power generators throbbed and poured pollutants skyward.
Past the generators was a large fuel bladder. The enemy was cocky about their camp layout.
The explosives in the drone’s stomach took full advantage of this.
* * *
“Excellent work, Xanthippus,” said General Benton, the drone’s DNA source, upon my return to base.
—
via Darleen