DISNEY+ and TCM

Let's start with news about DISNEY+.  The streaming service has been up and going for months now and all I have to show for it is MUPPETS NOW.  Six episodes.  I got it for all the great new content -- that never came.

Where's that Wanda show?  The Scarlet Witch and Vision?  Well, we finally got to see the trailer for it if not the actual series.  I get that Covid came along.  I also get that it came along all over the world but every week I see NETFLIX offering a new series, a new movie, every week.  And DISNEY+ launched last November -- it's almost been a year.

NBC's PEACOK launched in July and they keep adding new stuff.

I love Miss Piggy but six episodes of MUPPETS NOW really isn't enough to justify me paying a year's subscription for DISNEY+.

So DEADLINE reports:

Disney Plus’ “Ms. Marvel” series has cast its titular lead.

Newcomer Iman Vellani has been chosen to play Ms. Marvel a.k.a. Pakistani American Kamala Khan, Variety has confirmed with a source close to the project.

The character she will play is a 16-year-old Muslim teenager who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, and looks up to superheroes like Captain Marvel. According to Marvel, she has an “an Inhuman ability to alter shape and size [and] employs an idealistic attitude as much as any power to make the world a better place.”

Yes, I'd watch that.  But, note, they just cast the lead.  They aren't filming, who knows how long it's going to be before they start filming.  

In another complaint, has TCM ever been as useless as it is lately?  

Since they ended their August tributes, they have not aired one movie that I wanted to see.  I have not watched one movie in all of September on TCM.

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, September 30, 2020.  SON OF TRUMP: THE DEBATE.

Son of Trump.  In the tradition of past sequels like THUNDERHEAD, SON OF FLICKA and THE SON OF MONTE CRISTO and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, last night a new film was delivered: SON OF TRUMP.

Chris Wallace moderated a debate between US President and GOP nominee Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden.  No others were invited -- not the Green Party's Howie Hawkins, not the SEP's Joseph Kishore, not the PSL's Gloria La Riva and not the Libertarian Party's Jo Jorgensen.  

It was just Donald and Joe.  Or Donald and Donald Jr.  We'll get back to it.

Chris Wallace did not try to fact check.  Thank goodness.  Big boned Candy Crawley ending her sad career in disgrace as a result of her 'fact checks' which, as she herself admitted on CNN immediately after she completed 'moderating,' were incorrect.  The moderator's job is to keep the debate going.  It is the job of the candidates on the stage to hold one another accountable.  So at least Chris avoided that nonsense.

Donald Trump won the debate.

One of the reasons for that is Chris Wallace.  Both candidates interrupted one another throughout the debate, both spoke snide remarks while the other was speaking.  Chris, at one point, corrected Donald Trump who then noted Joe was doing the same thing and Chris replied that Donald was doing it more.

A friend who was -- and still is -- planning to vote for Joe said that moment stood out to him (a well known liberal comic).  Why?  Because it was unfair and reminded him of high school.  He was a class clown. He was not the only one.  He sat with four others and a high school English teacher would always call him out.  It might be any of the other three but she would always single him out.  In part, it was because the other three included the superintendent's son.  But it wasn't fair.

And Chris Wallace, in that moment, made this anti-Trump ("I hated him with all my heart") feel sorry for Donald Trump.

Fairness is something Americans count on.  And that wasn't a fair moment.  When Donald said Joe was doing it to, it was up to Chris to call them both out.  

And Joe was doing it too.

Which is how we got SON OF TRUMP.

The bar for Joe was never going to be that high.  Going into the debate, we all knew Joe was going to lie and the media would look the other way or rush to say it didn't matter.  We all knew that the media would ignore Joe's mental issues and they did.  On the latter, for example, no one's reporting over Joe, in the debate, confusing Medicare and Medicaid. On the former?

Camille Caldera (USA TODAY) claims to fact check whether or not Joe Biden called US troops "stupid bastards."  She concludes:

Based on our research, the claim that former Vice President Joe Biden called the troops "stupid bastards" is missing context. Biden did make the remark in 2016 as part of a call to applaud a fellow soldier. It was a joke, per a spokesperson for his campaign. During the same speech, he praised the troops as the "finest generation of warriors" in the world and thanked them for their "incredible sacrifices."

Camille is missing context and demonstrating that she can't fact check -- either she's an idiot or she's a partisan who can't control her whoring.

In the debate, Donald stated Joe called the troops "stupid bastards."  Camille tells you he did but it was supposed to be a joke.  What's the liar leaving out?

The most important thing.

Joe didn't keep his mouth shut.  Joe responded to Donald that it never happened, that he never said it.

That's the claim that Joe presented.  He didn't say, "I was joking."  He didn't insist, "I said it but . . ."  He said he didn't say it.

That would be lying.  Lying Camille, like what you do with your fact check.

That's not fair and, again, when people aren't fair in their treatment of Donald, it helps him.  

The media's reputation is in the sewer.  And it belongs there.  They lied about the Iraq War, they lied for eight years insisting there were no scandals in the Barack Obama administration (Lois Lerner, Eric Holder being in contempt of Congress, Solyndra's half a billion unpaid loan that should never have happened to begin with, etc.).  Barack employed the media and their spouses. In Ben Rhodes case (a disgusting piece of filth, Ben Rhodes), the brother of the CBS NEWS president David Rhodes.  It was all across the board -- every element of the media.  At THE NATION, for example, they let Chris Hayes cover the White House.  No.  His wife was -- oh, I'm being told that CRAPAPEDIA has scrubbed Chris' entry.  To read it, you don't know now that his wife worked for the White House.  That's okay, the whores of CRAPAPEDIA are not the final word.  We can go to Barack's archived White House pages and grab the information:

For Immediate Release                           

January 28, 2009

President Obama Announces Key Additions to the Office of the White House Counsel

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced more key members of the Office of the White House Counsel, including Deputy Counsels and Special Counsel, Associate Counsels, Deputy Associate Counsels, Research Director, and Staff Assistants and Administrative Assistants. The full list of appointees named today is below. 

President Barack Obama said, "The White House Counsel’s office is tasked with making sure that we are operating under the highest standard of ethics and transparency for the American people.  Ensuring that we have an open and honest government is one of our top priorities, and this team brings together people of exceptional experience and dedication to public service.  I trust they will serve the American people well."

The following announcements were made today:

Deputy Counsels and Special Counsel

Daniel Meltzer

The President has named Daniel Meltzer to be Principal Deputy White House Counsel to the President and Deputy Assistant to the President. Mr. Meltzer is the Story Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Vice Dean for Physical Planning.  He joined the faculty of Harvard Law School in 1982, teaching courses in federal courts, criminal law, and criminal procedure. Prior to his tenure at Harvard, Mr. Meltzer served as Special Assistant to Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and, after leaving the government, practiced law for three years at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C. Earlier, Mr. Meltzer served as a Law Clerk to the Judge Carl McGowan of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Justice Potter Stewart of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Meltzer earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as President of the Harvard Law Review and was awarded the Fay Diploma. From 1988-1992, he served as Associate Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, Iran-Contra Prosecution.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has served as a member of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Judicial Conference of the United States and on the Council of the American Law Institute.

Mary DeRosa 

The President has named Mary DeRosa to be Deputy Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council. Ms. DeRosa most recently served as Chief Counsel for National Security to the Senate Judiciary Committee, working for the Chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy.  Prior to that, she was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  Earlier, she served on the Clinton Administration National Security Council staff as Special Assistant to the President and Legal Adviser and Deputy Legal Adviser.  She has also been Special Counsel to the General Counsel at the Department of Defense and an Associate in the Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles offices of Arnold & Porter.  Ms. DeRosa served as a Law Clerk for Judge Richard J. Cardamone of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, where she served as an editor of the George Washington Law Review. 

Neal Wolin

The President has named Neal Wolin to be Deputy Counsel to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Assistant to the President. Mr. Wolin most recently served as the President and Chief Operating Officer for Property and Casualty operations of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Wolin worked as Executive Vice President and General Counsel to the Hartford Financial Services Group. Earlier in his career, Mr. Wolin served as the general counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Mr. Wolin served in the White House as the executive assistant to National Security Advisor Anthony Lake.  Prior to that, Mr. Wolin was the deputy legal adviser of the National Security Council, providing foreign affairs and national security legal advice to the National Security Advisor and the Counsel to the President.  Mr. Wolin has also served as special assistant to three directors of Central Intelligence: William H. Webster, Robert M. Gates, and R. James Woolsey. Before joining the federal government, Mr. Wolin practiced law in Washington D.C. with the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering, and as Law Clerk for Judge Eugene H. Nickerson of the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Wolin received a bachelor’s degree from Yale College, a Masters degree from the University of Oxford, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Norman L. Eisen

The President has named Norman L. Eisen to be Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform. Mr. Eisen most recently served as the Deputy General Counsel to the Transition, where his duties include serving as lead ethics advisor. He will reprise that ethics role in the White House, as well as helping to advance the President's overall government reform agenda. Before joining the Transition, Mr. Eisen was a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP in Washington D.C. acting as outside counsel to governmental clients in a wide array of matters. He also handled white-collar and Congressional investigations during his 17 years at the firm. He is the co-founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a progressive government watchdog group. Mr. Eisen received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Associate Counsels

Kendall C. Burman

The President has named Kendall C. Burman to be Associate Counsel to the President.  Ms. Burman most recently served as Chief Staff Counsel to the Obama for America campaign.  Earlier in her career, she served as an Associate at Latham & Watkins, LLP.  Ms. Burman received her bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was an editor of the University of Chicago Law Review.

Susan Davies

The President has named Susan Davies to be Associate Counsel to the President. Ms. Davies recently served as General Counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. Earlier in her career, she served in the Department of Justice in the Antitrust Division, the Office of the Solicitor General, and the Office of Policy Development. Prior to that, Mrs. Davies worked as a litigator at Sidley and Austin in Chicago. Ms. Davies also served as a Law Clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and as a special counsel to President Bill Clinton. Ms. Davies received her bachelor's degree from Yale University and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was an editor of the University of Chicago Law Review.

Karen Dunn

The President has named Karen Dunn to be Associate Counsel to the President. Ms. Dunn most recently served as Deputy to Chief Strategist David Axelrod on the Obama for America campaign.  Prior to that, Ms. Dunn served as a Law Clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Merrick Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Dunn worked for Senate candidate and then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as her press secretary and later as her communications director and a senior adviser.  Prior to that, Ms. Dunn served as an aide to Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey.  She received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Danielle Gray

The President has named Danielle C. Gray to be Associate Counsel to the President.  Ms. Gray recently served as Deputy Policy Director for Obama for America, focusing on domestic policy as well as law and judicial issues.  Prior to this, she was an associate with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York.   Earlier in her career, she served as a Law Clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Merrick Garland on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.   She also worked on the policy and research staff of the President-elect's 2004 United States Senate campaign.  Ms. Gray received her bachelor's degree from Duke University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Michael Gottlieb

The President has named Michael J. Gottlieb to be Associate Counsel to the President.  Mr. Gottlieb recently served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.  Prior to this, he was an associate with the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr.  Earlier in his career, he served as a Law Clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Mr. Gottlieb received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Roberto J. Gonzalez

The President has named Roberto Gonzalez to be Associate Counsel to the President. Mr. Gonzalez recently served as an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP.  Earlier in his career, he served as a Law Clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States and a Law Clerk to Judge Guido Calabresi of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  Mr. Gonzalez received his bachelor's degree from Duke University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review.

Virginia Canter

The President has named Virginia Canter to be Associate Counsel to the President. Ms. Canter most recently served as Associate Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Department of the Treasury.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Canter was Senior Ethics Counsel at the Department of the Treasury, General Counsel of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Associate Counsel to President Clinton, and Assistant Ethics Counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Ms. Canter received both her bachelor’s degree and her J.D. from the University of Baltimore.

Caroline Krass

The President has named Caroline Krass to be Associate Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs.  Ms. Krass recently served as Senior Counsel in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice.  Prior to this, she served as Deputy Legal Adviser at the National Security Council.  Earlier in her career, she served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the National Security Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Ms. Krass also worked as an Attorney Advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel, as the Special Assistant to the General Counsel at the Department of the Treasury, and as an Attorney Advisor at the Department of State.  Ms. Krass served as a Law Clerk to Judge Patricia M. Wald of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Ms. Krass received her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and her J.D. from Yale University, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Jonathan Kravis

The President has named Jonathan Kravis to be Associate Counsel to the President. Mr. Kravis recently served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to this, he was an associate at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C. Earlier in his career, he served as a Law Clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Merrick Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Kravis received his bachelor’s degree from Williams College and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Trevor Morrison

The President has named Trevor Morrison to be Associate Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs.  Mr. Morrison is on leave from Columbia Law School, where he is a Professor of Law. Earlier in his career, he served as a Law Clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Betty Binns Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Mr. Morrison received his bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia and his J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Alison J. Nathan

The President has named Alison J. Nathan to be Associate Counsel to the President. Ms. Nathan was recently the Fritz Alexander Fellow at New York University School of Law and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Fordham Law School.  Prior to academia, Ms. Nathan was an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.  She served a Law Clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Betty B. Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Ms. Nathan was the National Voter Protection Senior Advisor to the Obama campaign and a member of the campaign’s LGBT Advisory Committee.  Ms. Nathan received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and her J.D. from Cornell Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell Law Review.

Kate Shaw

The President has named Kate Shaw to be Associate Counsel to the President.  Ms. Shaw most recently served as an Associate Counsel in the office of the General Counsel to the Transition.  Prior to this, Ms. Shaw served as a Law Clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  Ms. Shaw received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Northwestern University Law Review.

And we can stop right there because Kate Shaw is Chris Hayes' wife.   January 20, 2009 he was sworn in and eight days later he announces Kate Shaw's in his administration.  Which means the transition team had already vetted her.  Which means Chris Hayes should not have been allowed cover any White House story or issue for THE NATION.  That's not me slamming Chris.  I don't think he was swayed by his wife's position.  But I shouldn't have to think about it.  Even if there's no conflict of interest, the appearance of a conflict of interest was there.  That's why NPR, for years and years, would not allow Michele Norris (ALL THINGS CONSIDERED host from 2002 to 2011) to cover various topics because her husband Broderick D. Johnson because of his various positions (in the Clinton administration, in the Obama administration, etc.)  

The press repeatedly lied for Barack.  Sometimes it was because he screamed and yelled at them -- or his minions did.  And sometimes they'd get honest as they retired. 

Oh, look, here's ABC NEWS' Ann Compton, retiring in 2014, talking about Barack's tantrums.

Please be clear that while she was the working press, while she was covering the White House for ABC NEWS, she never made these statements.  She never reported those facts.

Barack got a free ride.  That's the reality.

Barack born in Kenya?

Bob Somerby loves to lie and pretend that Donald Trump started that.

Barack Obama, THREE RIVERS PRESS (TIMES BOOKS, a book imprint of THE NEW YORK TIMES, was the original publisher but we're talking an article by AP when Barack was running for the US Senate and THREE RIVERS PRESS is the publisher that re-issued the book in 2004) and AP started that rumor.  Add GOOGLE to it.  In 2008, as Americans were beginning to discover Barack -- Hillary had seemed inevitable to many in 2007.  In 2008, GOOGLE had some anniversary and allowed people to search old news items.  (Later that year they would institute GOOGLE NEWS ARCHIVES which is still up but they no longer maintain.)  It was then that the rumors of Barack being born in Kenya really took hold.  People found the AP articles, the first ones written about Barack, and he was described as being from Kenya in the article.  AP never issued a retraction or correction (to this day).  

Did AP lie?

No.  Their report may be inaccurate, but they didn't lie.  They based that report on the press material for Barack's book DREAMS OF MY FATHER.  That material was put out by THREE RIVERS PRESS.  That material identified Barack as such. 

Author Barack has to approve promotional material that the publisher releases.  He was running for the Senate and apparently missed the mistake.  But this whole controversy is on Barack and THREE RIVERS PRESS>

It's amazing how we can blame everyone but the press.

It's like with Jean Seberg.  How many years online did I have to scream about NEWSWEEK before it finally got added to the record.  The lie, when I came online, promoted by FAIR and every Indymedia outlet, was that Joyce Harber ran a blind item about Jean and Jean lost her baby as a result.

It was a lie.  That was months prior.  Jean went into the hospital when NEWSWEEK magazine ran an item claiming to have interviewed Jean -- they did not -- and telling the world that the child she was carrying was not her husband's -- now that didn't happen, I'm talking about the press, back then, if you were married and pregnant, end of story.  Joyce Harber's item didn't mean a thing to Jean.  The NEWSWEEK story did.  And she and Romain sued NEWSWEEK and won and NEWSWEEK had to print an apology.

Janaury 3, 2006, at this site, I'm discussing Jean Seberg:

 The first time I mentioned Jean Seberg a few months ago at The Third Estate Sunday Review a few members wrote to ask if I was sure what I was talking about -- the government spying on an actress? They did their own research and learned that, yes, it was true and that it went way beyond that. Someone asked at one point (the third or fourth time I'd mentioned Seberg) why I brought her up as opposed to others? That's a good question because there are a long list of victims (some who managed to continue their lives and some who weren't as fortunate).

We focus on the press here. And Seberg (Breathless is a good place to start if you never seen one of the films she made) is a solid example, to me anyway, of the problems with the press. Just to recap (and sorry for those who've followed comments at The Third Estate Sunday Review on this topic), Seberg is attacked by two press organs. The FBI wanted to plant a rumor about Seberg. She was an actress and she was also involved in politics. That included the Black Panthers which appeared to be a source of some of the "nervousness" about her (my term). (The reports from that period, clandestine spying by the FBI, the CIA and military intel, focus on any sexual aspect they can to the point that you visualize a bunch of prigs with their noses pressed to a bedroom window. There's a scene in Coming Home where Jane Fonda and Jon Voight are being spied upon and the comments focus on sex which is a good reflection of what the reports focused upon.)

So Seberg's on the enemy list (Nixon's) and she's spied upon. And the FBI floats the idea of planting a rumor that she's pregnant by a Black Panther in order to attempt to destroy her with the oft cited "middle America." At one point J. Edgar Hoover writes a memo saying not to go through with the plan. Either there are memos that were never released or someone elected to
act upon their own. So a blind item pops up in Joyce Haber's gossip column about an actress who's pregnant by a Black Panther. The item is written in such way that it could be any number of actresses (including Jane Fonda -- Seberg was married and living in Paris at the time) except for noting that the actress was filming a musical (that would be Paint Your Wagon).

Haber was the fall guy for that blind item in the eyes of many. But Haber didn't just come across the information. It was fed to her by her editor. Her editor, who claimed later that he couldn't recall anything about the matter, passed it to Haber by Bill Thomas who wrote on the tip that it came from a good source. He couldn't remember anything though when, in the seventies, it was revealed that the FBI had planned to plant a story like that with the press. When it came out in the seventies (as a result of the committees), Thomas struck the pose of "I don't remember." Haber was quite clear that she didn't take planted information from the FBI and, if this was planted information, Thomas was the one who needed to answer for it.

But, big surprise, everyone looked the other way. That shows you the problems with the press (mainstream) right there. But that's only the first example. Apparently the attempts to shock America over an interracial romance weren't completed. There were additional blind items. (And Nixon's staff, Erlichman, Mitchell, etc. received reports from Hoover that they presumably passed on in some form.) But then the "news organ" Newsweek, supposedly not a gossip rag, runs with it as well.

Edward Behr was the author of the piece. His claim is that he included at the end of the article to demonstrate his knowledge of the subject but didn't intend for it to be included. (It being that Seberg was pregnant by an African-American and not her husband, Romain Gary.) Behr may be genuine in his remarks because in his report that section was labeled "strictly FYI." Somehow (or "somehow") this false fact made it into Newsweek. The editor (Kermit Lansner) offered an excuse (my opinion, lame) that he hadn't checked the edition as he usually did because he'd had a scooter accident that day. (Late in the day, by the way. I'm thinking it was three or four o'clock, as Lansner told the story, when he had his scooter mishap.) True or not, the "fact" that Seberg was pregnant by "a black activist" makes it into Newsweek.

I'm sure that was just a coincidence. I'm sure that these coincidences just happen. It just happens that a rumor the FBI was interested in planting gets pushed onto Haber by her editor (Thomas) and it just happens that a false fact labeled "strictly FYI" ends up in Newsweek which did have fact checkers and was aware of the issue of libel. It didn't even run as a rumor, it ran as a fact in an item on Jean Seberg. I'm sure that all of that just magically happened and Nixon and his crowd were just, by magic, getting all the breaks when it came to this false story.

(Yes, that was sarcasm.)

When the Times (New York) ran a story about Jane Fonda and John Kerry in 2004, about the photo (doctored or genuine, I don't remember) people rolled their eyes because one of the claims (false) was that Fonda and Kerry were at another event together (the doctored photo).
Where Jane Fonda was in the early seventies should never be in question because the government recorded her every move. (Kerry was somewhere on the east coast. The undoctored photo was taken by Al Franken's brother, I believe, who immediately noted that the new one featuring Fonda and Kerry onstage together was a fake. To end this out, Fonda was in Los Angeles, as the FBI noted, at a fund raiser -- I believe for the Black Panthers.)

Now maybe the reporter who worked on that story for the Times suffered the same fate that so many did -- we expected would learn about COINTELPRO and other activities in their schooling and they didn't learn of it. Or maybe the reporter was just lazy. I don't know. But, my opinion, the false rumor never should have been floated in the paper in 2004 when it could have easily been dismissed via the government's own records.

I'm off on a tangent where even I've lost my place. But the point here is that Seberg was engaged in lawful activities protected by the Constitution. Those activities made the government nervous so she was (illegally) spied upon. The government floated the idea of creating false rumors about her and planting them with the press. (That happened also with a number of other actors, by the way.) And two large press organs, the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek, just happened to print the items that the FBI was interested in having planted.

Just happened.

It's just a coincidence that the government's smear plan on Seberg makes it into the press.

If you're a trusting soul, I guess. And I guess I'm not. And that's why we don't highlight Newsweek here and why I don't purchase the magazine. Robert Parry has rightly documented serious problems (more than that) at the magazine in the eighties when he worked for it. That should be enough to bother many people. But it didn't start there and if it ended there . . .

This isn't "wild talk." I've not offered my own theories. This is public record. And it was embarrassing for the Los Angeles Times when it came out in the mid-seventies. I don't remember Newsweek being embarrassed. (I don't remember the Times being that embarrassed. If they had been, the Reagan defense of "I don't recall" wouldn't have flown.)

So that's why I focus on Seberg. She was on the enemies list (Nixon's), she was spied on by the government, Nixon received reports on her (via Ehrlichman), the FBI devised a smear campaign to attempt to shock "middle America" and devalue Seberg and that smear campaign appeared in the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek. In terms of Harber's piece, it was a blind item (an obvious one). In terms of Newsweek, the magazine that never prints that an actor is gay or lesbian until they come out, they ran it as fact. And somehow no one thought that this was something worthy of checking out. It's interesting the way Nixon's interests were so well served by the mainstream press with regards to Seberg but, of course, it was all some big coincidence. That's what the story supposedly is. Like the supposed story on Valerie Plame is that the outing just happened without planning on the part of anyone.

We covered it many times after that (here when FAIR was lying).

They lie and they cover for themselves.  

And they lied like crazy for Barack which is one of the reasons you ended up with Donald Trump.

They've always lied -- Marilyn Monroe killed herself because she didn't have a job anymore!  No, she was already going to return to SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE.  They lie constantly and the American people are sick of it.

They're lying now.

Joe Biden did not do well.

He had one job: Draw a line between himself and Trump.  

All he had to do was appear mature and thoughtful.

Instead, he argued with Trump, he belittled him with insults, he interrupted him.

This is who we replace Trump with?  Son of Trump.

Joe was a disaster.  He lost.

When they go low, Michelle Obama said, we go high.

Well Joe didn't last night.  Joe didn't just step into the gutter, he wallowed in the gutter -- with glee.

"The party is me," he insisted.  Then heaven help us all.

Then he claimed that Roe v Wade was on the ballot.  Questioned, he insisted, " It's on the ballot in the Court."  No, it's settled law.  And when Joe claims otherwise, he weakens it.  Settled law is settled law.  If you support Roe v Wade, that's the argument you make.  The majority of adults in the US favor it.  The decision was made decades ago.  It's settled law.  People who argue otherwise aren't arguing law, aren't arguing fact, they're weakening Roe v Wade.  

I'm no where near done with this debate.  I may do a brief entry tonight, otherwise we'll continue it in tomorrow's snapshot.

The following sites updated:

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oh, katie halper, i wish i missed it

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Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ken Boon September 29, 2020

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Ronnie Spector?

From DEADLINE:

UPDATED: I’ve learned that A24 will team on the Ronnie Spector film with New Regency. The two partnered previously on the Robert Eggers-directed The Lighthouse, and they are part of the Malcolm & Marie film.

EXCLUSIVE: A24 is putting together a film package that will have Emmy-winning Euphoria star Zendaya attached to play singer Ronnie Spector in a film about her life. Deals have just closed for Spector’s life rights and for Be My Baby, the memoir she wrote with Vince Waldron. I’m hearing that early conversations are happening with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury to write the script.

So Ronnie Spector?

Back in 2019, I wrote:

A Bee Gees movie?

Honestly, I'd pay to see that.  Just for the music, in fact.  That includes the songs they wrote and had hits with and the songs they wrote for their brother Andy Gibb.  It also includes the songs they wrote for others like Diana Ross ("Chain Reaction," "Experience," "More and More," etc) and for Barbra Streisand ("Guilty," "A Woman In Love").

Andy's death would be part of the movie.  Even without that tragedy, there's a ton to work with.

My issue, though?

It is nothing against the Bee Gees.  But I do question why we have had a Freddie Mercury film, an Elton John film and now we're about to have a Bee Gees film.

Where's the Diana Ross film?

She's a damn inspiration.

Where's the Aretha Franklin film?  Even GIRLS LIKE US appears to have hit a roadblock (the film based on the bestseller about Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell and Carole King).

Where's the Dusty Springfield film?

Grace Slick just turned 80 on Wednesday so where's her film?

Why are we busy doing yet another movie about male performers when we don't ever do them about women?

Help me out here, what was the last theatrical film about a female performer?

There's the Judy Garland film that just came out.  Before that what?  Diana Ross' Academy Award nominated performance as Billie Holiday in LADY SINGS THE BLUES?

Where's the Doris Day film?

Where's the Mama Cass film?

Women get nothing when it comes to big budget films. 

I left out Tina Turner (WHAT'S LOVE GO TO DO WITH IT), other than that, I stand by what I wrote.  Is Ronnie supposed to be an inspiration film? 

The way I see it, she's got about a year or two of fame and solid recording, then Phil Spector leaves his wife to get with Ronnie and her life goes to hell.  There's the wasted seventies.  An eighties -- late-to-mid eighties -- hit with Eddie Money where she just sings the chorus to "Be My Little Baby" (his "Take Me Home Tonight") and that's it for the charts.  

Do they focus on the abuse from Phil Spector?

I don't get what the point of a Ronnie film is.  I like her, I just don't see a film story.  I wouldn't see one in Mary Weiss of The Shangri-Las.  

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:''

 Tuesday, September 29,  2020.  One day till the big debate  . . . 

I woke up this morning and, while working out, thought, "Oh, I missed the debate last night!"  Then, after a moment, I was okay with that.  But I didn't miss it, it's tonight.  They're calling it a presidential debate.  That's not really true.

Donald Trump is the president of the United States.  He's not debating, for example, Emanuel Macron -- the president of France.  He's debating another person who would like to be president of the United States: Joe Biden.

Another person.  

Singular.  

There are other people running for that office.  

Howie Hawkins, for example, is running on the Green Party ticket, Gloria La Riva is running on the Party for Socialism and Liberation's ticket and Joseph Kishore is running on the Socialist and Equality Party's ticket.  

In addition, there's Jo Jorgensen.

For years, the claim has been that limiting the 'debate' to the Republican and Democratic candidates makes sense because they are the only ones who could logically win due to ballot access issues.  That is not a valid reason for limiting the debates.

However, in 2020, that 'reasoning' is even more problematic.  Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate, is someone who can be voted on in every state.

'Wait, wait, wait, you can do a write-in in any state.'  You can do that but if the name you write-in is not a recognized write-in candidate, your vote may not count depending upon your state's laws.  If you write in Bernie Sanders, for example, in Texas, your vote will go to Joe Biden because, in that state, they 'interpret.'  If you write in any Democrat -- living or dead -- your vote will go to whomever's the top of the ticket.  Rebecca noted that in "why would you write-in bernie sanders?" last week.

Jo Jorgensen can be voted on in every state.  She's met the rules and guidelines.  She should be on the stage tonight.  We should point out that Jo's had it a little bit easier than Howie Hawkins.  Both have had to fight to meet the various rules and guidelines -- which differ from state to state.  But for Jo, meeting those guidelines was largely the end of it.  For Howie?  

He's had to meet the guidelines and then face legal challenges from the Democratic Party.  They've spent a lot of money keeping him off the ballot.  And we call this a democracy?  And Democrats often want to chant "Count every vote!"  The hypocrisy needs to be called out.  We need a better system and we need one that has fairness built in.  

Disenfranchising voters is something we on the left love to point out when Republicans do it.  Greg Palast, in fact, has built a career out of doing just that.  But disenfranchising voters is also keeping candidates off the ballot.  And partisan judges -- Democrats -- who go along with these efforts need to be called out and probably removed from office because they're not holding office to promote the Democratic Party, they're holding office to upholds the law.  

Why do we allow this to happen?  Clearly, the Democratic Party does not value We The People -- two primaries in a row, they've rigged it so Bernie Sanders couldn't get the nomination.  Two general elections in a row, they've given us distasteful candidates who don't run on issues.  And they don't trust the voter enough to allow choices.  There's nothing that Howie Hawkins is offering, issues he's running on, that Joe Biden couldn't co-opt and grab.  But Joe doesn't want to run on issues.  He is against Medicare For All, he is for destroying the environment (as evidenced by his recent pro-fracking comments).  Instead of trying to grab voters from Howie, the Democratic Party uses their energy to keep Howie off the ballot -- the ultimate act of disenfranchisement.  

This year's game plan is to keep every left or left leaning candidate for president off the ballot and present only two choices: Joe or Donald -- with Donald being the man the party and their media counterparts have demonized non-stop.  They're trying to ensure that you have no choice.  And the media is disgusting.  Playing games, choosing sides.  They want to pretend that they're part of a vibrant democracy but they aren't.  They lie for Joe, they fluff for Joe.  Anyone watching this, anyone impartial, should be appalled by how the system has been gamed this go round.

B-b-b-but it's different, it's the election of our lifetime!!!!

No.

No, it's really not.  And that lie's been used over and over -- in 2004, THE NATION called it the torture election, remember?  That's what was on the table.  And we'd never be the same and we'd never and we'd never that and blah blah blah.

Some crazys insisted Donald would postpone the election because it was a pandemic.  Didn't happen.  But I'm seeing a lot of people postponing ethics and truth this cycle to give Joe a 'break' because this is such an important election, so important that facts and standards no longer matter.  So we all pretend, for example, that it's okay Jill Biden is campaigning more than her husband.  In what world?  He's hiding behind her skirts.  If he can't campaign for the job, he's not up for it.  How pathetic that he hides away and he knows the bulk of the press will go along with it and offer excuses and justifications.

There are no legitimate excuses.  He's trying to promote social distancing?  Were that the case, his wife wouldn't be on the campaign trail.  

And the media won't point that out, they won't do their job.  She slaps down Jake Tapper who has a legitimate questions about Joe's 'gaffes' (lies) and says that Donald Trump makes that question moot.  No, Jill, he doesn't.

If you're going to lie, I'm going to have to call you out.  And I avoided mentioning you the whole time your husband was president (violating that only once for a veterans issue) because I do like you and if I noted you, it was only fair that I criticized you if you were wrong.

Jill, you're wrong.

Joe's running to be president.  If he succeeds, Donald is an ex-president.  So how are Joe's gaffes (lies) moot?  They're not.  They go to several important issues and Jake should have pushed back on you.  The press should push back on you.  

Your husband is allegedly running for president -- apparently, Jill's his legs, the new First Lady Roosevelt -- and that means every question deserves answers.  He is answerable to We The People if he wants to be president and it is really shameful to pretend otherwise.

This is just one more election.  The country will still be standing after election day.  And all the people who've whored and lied better grasp that no one needs them anymore.  Norman Solomon, you're a joke.  I tried to forgive you but we clearly can't.

You're a little whore who forgot that Lt Ehren Watada was the issue.  Not some journalist covering him (I'll leave her name out of it, apparently she didn't ask for Norman's repulsive actions).  Instead of supporting Ehren, you chose to publicly insist that he do this or that.  In the midst of his Article 32 hearing? While his future hung in the balance?  You wanted to put additional pressure on him?

F**k you, Norman, f**k you.

You followed that nonsense with injecting yourself into a couple's relationship and the couple divorced, you know who I mean.  To this day, you were the instigator and that is on you.

Then you decided to go PACIFICA RADIO and other stations trashing Hillary Clinton in 2008 -- while failing to inform listeners that you were a supporter of Barack Obama, a pledged delegate.  Now you included that in your syndicated columns and you made that disclosure there because you knew that failing to do so could end your syndicated career -- your writings not good enough to justify syndication and you know it.

So you lied to people over and over.

Then you show up in 2019 and you start trashing Elizabeth Warren because that's what you do, what you've always done, when it comes to women.  That's who you are, a pig.  You were for Bernie!!!! But then you were for Joe.  And it wasn't enough to support Joe, you then had to trash third party candidates.

I get it, Norman, not only are you a whore, but you also couldn't write convincingly of Joe Biden.  So you instead teamed up with  others and start trashing third party candidates.  (The previous sentence originally included one name and the question of: "___ why did you send me into a meeting with a CIA recruiter -- a meeting you passed off as an academic meeting."  I've long told the story here about how I refused CIA recruitment in college.  And I've been very kind by leaving ____'s name blank.  As with Saint Beau, people can be put on notice that I'm pretty damn tired of holding my tongue.  ____ should get honest about their CIA ties.  Or they should retire from public life because I've been about as kind to _____ as I plan to be.)   

Norman, you're useless.  Your trash and now your trash with an odor that everyone can smell.  Clearly, you do not value independent thought or the American people.  The 2024 election cycle will be much better without you.  A reality that you, and many others, will be forced to face.  

Once upon a time, Norman pretended to give a damn about the Iraq War.  He used for publicity.  These days, he pimps War Hawk Joe Biden.  These days, he refuses to demand accountability for the ongoing war.

Not everyone's as cowardly and pathetic as Norman Solomon.

General debate Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention 

25 September 2020 

Thank you, President, 

We are deeply concerned about the systematic and widespread human rights violations in Iraq. We have raised this issue many times before UN relevant bodies and are still of the firm belief that the situation requires special attention by this Council. 

It is appalling that international crimes committed by powerful states against other states are too often erased from humanity’s collective memory and replaced with propaganda to cover up the millions of lives destroyed and extinguished through these crimes. We call attention to the 2003 illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq for which not a single person responsible has been brought to justice. The victims of that heinous war are entitled to the protections of international law and cannot be removed from our collective memory. 

 Therefore, International-Lawyers and Geneva International Centre for Justice repeat their calls to establish an international, independent Commission of inquiry to investigate all human rights violations in Iraq since 2003 in order to hold all perpetrators accountable. 

It is also appalling that the Iraqi government continues to evade calls for accountability for thousands of disappeared persons by branding them as terrorists solely on the basis that they derive from certain ethnic regions in Iraq. Human rights defenders in Iraq are subjected to abductions and assassinations merely for exercising their fundamental rights. 

Impunity enables these violations to persist and we repeat our call upon the Council to take all necessary measures to stop these grave violations. 

Thank you.

Meanwhile Nahal Toosi, Lara Seligman and Natasha Bertrand (POLITICO) report:

President Donald Trump is weighing closing the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as intelligence agencies in recent weeks have picked up specific threats against American forces in Iraq, including against the embassy itself, according to three people with knowledge of the intelligence.

Over the past week, senior U.S. officials have told their Iraqi counterparts that they will close the massive, heavily fortified embassy within days unless Iraqi leaders do more to rein in the Iranian-backed militias lobbing rockets at and otherwise threatening the diplomatic outpost, people familiar with the issue said. 

It’s not clear how imminent any potential attack might be, or whether it is the driving factor in the administration’s recent push to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. But the situation bears echoes of another fraught incident: the attack on the U.S. consulate and another facility in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. 

Looking at the same basic details, Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr insists that civil war will break out in Iraq if this issue isn't addressed while an unsigned piece at ALJAZEERA insists that the Iranian government will see it as a sign of impending war with Iran if US diplomats pull out of Iraq.

How will you read the tea leaves?

Study war no more
Lay down your arms
Study war no more
Lay 'em down lay 'em down now
Study war no more
Lay down your arms
Study war no more

Newsreels rattle the Nazi dread
The able-bodied have shipped away
Molly McGee gets her tea-leaves read
You'll be married in a month they say
"These leaves are crazy!
Look at this town there's no men left!
Just frail old boys and babies
Talking to teacher in the treble clef"

She plants her garden in the spring
She does the winter shovelling
Tokyo Rose on the radio
She says she's leavin' but she don't go

Out of the blue just passin' thru
A young flight sergeant
On two weeks leave
Says "Molly McGee no one else will do!"
And seals the tea-leaf prophecy
Oh these nights are strong and soft
Private passions and secret storms
Nothin' about him ticks her off
And he looks so cute in his uniform

She plants her garden in the spring
He does the winter shovelling
But summer's just a sneeze
In a long long bad winter cold
She says "I'm leavin' here" but she don't go

"Sleep little darlin'!
This is your happy home
Hiroshima cannot be pardoned!
Don't have kids when you get grown
Because this world is shattered
The wise are mourning
The fools are joking
Oh what does it matter?
The wash needs ironing
And the fire needs stoking"

She plants her garden in the spring
He does the winter shovelling
The three of 'em laughing 'round the radio
She says "I'm leavin' here" but she don't go

She plants her garden in the spring
They do the winter shovelling
They sit up late and watch the
Johnny Carson show
She says "I'm leavin' here but she don't go

-- "Tea Leaf Prophecy," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her CHALKMARK IN A RAINSTORM.

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Set Up" went up last night.  The following sites updated:

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  Dissident Voice

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