Third, the Shillaries. The host of journalists, commentators, pundits, and celebrities who took it upon themselves day in and day out to explain, scrub, polish, promote, praise, defend, and sell Hillary as the best thing that could ever happen to our blessed country, because she had an endemic inability to do what politicians are supposed to do: sell themselves to the public. Presidential candidates, especially those with Clinton’s record-breaking funding base, can pay consultants to promote their ideas and promise. We don’t need journalists to volunteer to do it for them, and we sure as hell don’t need journalists who are taking on double-duty as PR flacks to further their own careers in the liberal punditocracy’s cursus honorum from lowly scribe to editor-writer at a highbrow magazine or earnest millennial channel to White House press secretary—or the C-suite at a Silicon Valley unicorn. RIP, my Shillaries.
When it comes to explaining Hillary to the voters, no one performed greater yeoman’s work than our country’s lead explainer, Vox.com “head vegetable chef” Ezra Klein. Back in July—as Hillary was preparing for the Democratic National Convention—Klein published a “Vox Media Storytelling Studio” un-profile (he denied his profile was a profile) cooked with the aid of thirty-one sous chefs (go ahead and scroll down to the credits). The piece launched from a paradoxical observation ne’er seen in the history of politics. Consider “the Gap”:
Why is the Hillary Clinton described to me by her staff, her colleagues, and even her foes so different from the one I see on the campaign trail?I have come to call it “the Gap.” There is the Hillary Clinton I watch on the nightly news and that I read described in the press. She is careful, calculated, cautious. Her speeches can sound like executive summaries from a committee report, the product of too many authors, too many voices, and too much fear of offense.And then there is the Hillary Clinton described to me by people who have worked with her, people I admire, people who understand Washington in ways I never will. Their Hillary Clinton is spoken of in superlatives: brilliant, funny, thoughtful, effective. She inspires a rare loyalty in ex-staff, and an unusual protectiveness even among former foes.
It is truly shocking to hear that people who interact with a politician on a day-to-day basis—especially those who work for her or depend on good relations with her—might have some positive and humanizing things to say about her. But putting that bombshell aside, why should we, the voters, care about a candidate’s affability and humor away from the podium? Would supporters of George W. Bush be dissuaded if they found out that, actually, people who are close to him say he’s not so much fun to grab a beer with? We vote a politician into office for doing what politicians do, which is, among other things, selling us on themselves and their ideas. Hillary might be wonderful in a one-on-one chat, but most of us will, unfortunately, never share Ezra’s good fortune in savoring that truth either first-hand or under the tutelage of Hillary campaign insiders.
I would have passed that onto Trina because she's always taking down Ezzie Klein.
But I see she's already posted tonight ("No laughs left in the joke that is ObamaCare").
But, yes, I always agree with her.
Ezra Klein is ridiculous.
He's a fool.
And a hack.
And C.I. warned us over ten years ago that we were just chopping off the head of Cokie Roberts for new media whores to spout in her place.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Tuesday, November 22, 2016. Chaos and violence continue, the Mosul
operation continues to continue, War Crimes continue, and more.
As we noted yesterday, Iraq's not a news maker currently. Everyone has something else to cover. Even at a State Dept press briefing.
For example, yesterday Matt Lee (ASSOCIATED PRESS) wasted everyone's time again by asking spokesperson John Kirby questions about what the incoming administration will do and John again informed him he cannot answer those questions.
But it got Matt the chance to waste time, to get in one of those barbs that let people think he's independent.
What if WikiLeaks gets a hold of the Matt Lee and Victoria Nuland e-mails?
As someone who saw some of them over a year ago, I know Matt would lose a lot of credibility. Orchestrating with Nuland what to ask, sharing how Benghazi wasn't a real issue, blah blah blah.
Maybe instead of trying to show boat in press briefings, he should do the job the AP is paying him to do?
While the press flounders, US Vice President Joe Biden was noting Iraq. Yesterday, the White House issued the following:
Yes, Mosul.
The slog that never ends.
It's now 36 days since the operation began.
And still it continues.
As do the War Crimes.
As we noted yesterday, Iraq's not a news maker currently. Everyone has something else to cover. Even at a State Dept press briefing.
For example, yesterday Matt Lee (ASSOCIATED PRESS) wasted everyone's time again by asking spokesperson John Kirby questions about what the incoming administration will do and John again informed him he cannot answer those questions.
But it got Matt the chance to waste time, to get in one of those barbs that let people think he's independent.
What if WikiLeaks gets a hold of the Matt Lee and Victoria Nuland e-mails?
As someone who saw some of them over a year ago, I know Matt would lose a lot of credibility. Orchestrating with Nuland what to ask, sharing how Benghazi wasn't a real issue, blah blah blah.
Maybe instead of trying to show boat in press briefings, he should do the job the AP is paying him to do?
While the press flounders, US Vice President Joe Biden was noting Iraq. Yesterday, the White House issued the following:
For Immediate Release
November 21, 2016
Readout of Vice President Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi of Iraq
The Vice President spoke today with Iraq's Prime Minister Haider
Al-Abadi to discuss the campaign to liberate Mosul and the broader
campaign to defeat ISIL in Iraq. The Vice President commended Iraqi
Security Forces for their battlefield successes against ISIL and pledged
continued U.S. support pursuant to our Strategic Framework Agreement.
He also extended condolences to the families of those killed in the
battle to liberate Mosul and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded. He
also commended the close ongoing cooperation between the Iraqi Security
Forces and Kurdish Peshmerga. The Vice President reaffirmed U.S.
respect for Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. He also
underscored the importance to U.S. interests of building on the
successful U.S.-Iraq partnership in the years ahead to protect strategic
gains and to ensure Iraq's lasting stability.
Yes, Mosul.
The slog that never ends.
It's now 36 days since the operation began.
And still it continues.
As do the War Crimes.
#IRAQ شمرية العراق As we noted yesterday, Hayder al-Abadi went on state media Monday morning to denounce the press and human rights organizations for telling the truth.
He doesn't want to stop the War Crimes.
He just wants to stop the coverage of the War Crimes.
Some very kind and strong people who care about Iraq have had faith that Hayder would change things. I have had exchanges with them where I disagreed.
I hope now they're beginning to grasp that (a) Hayder's no different from Nouri al-Maliki and (b) when vengeful people are put in a position with no checks or balances, they only become worse.
James Cogan (WSWS) reports:
The US-directed offensive to recapture the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and surrounding towns and villages from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has entered its fifth week.
The assault involves an increasingly antagonistic collection of armed forces, including some 30,000 Iraqi Army troops, 15,000 peshmerga soldiers of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), thousands of anti-ISIS Sunni Arab and Christian fighters, Turkish Army-backed Turkomen militias, and as many as 20,000 to 30,000 Shiite militia members loyal to the fundamentalist political parties that dominate the US-backed government in Baghdad.
The Shiite militias, known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), are seeking to capture the predominantly ethnic Turkomen city of Tal Afar, 60 kilometres to the west of Mosul, near the border with Syria, and cut off escape routes for ISIS forces to its Syrian capital of Raqqa. The PMF captured Tal Afar airport on November 16. In the past 24 hours, it has claimed that its fighters are on the verge of fully surrounding the city.
The Turkish government, which proclaims itself the defender of Turkomen Iraqis, has repeated its threats to invade Iraq and attack the largely Arab Shiite militias if they “cause terror” in Tal Afar. In operations against ISIS in the western Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, the PMF were accused of sectarian killings and abuses against Sunni civilians. To try to placate Turkey, Iraqi Army units have been dispatched to ostensibly lead any assault on Tal Afar.
In Mosul, Iraqi government special forces claim they are slowly “clearing” ISIS fighters from the eastern suburbs, in the face of fierce resistance, and are eight kilometres from the city centre. Northern Mosul is sealed off by Kurdish pershmerga. To the south, the Iraqi Army has advanced to within 20 kilometres. The vast bulk of the city, however, is still firmly under ISIS control.
The US military has admitted that hundreds of American personnel are on the ground and involved in the combat. British and Australian troops are also reported to be fighting alongside Iraqi units.
US Army spokesperson Colonel John Dorrian told journalists last week that US Green Berets and other special forces personnel were “in the thick of a very tough battle.” Dorrian stated: “There’s no question that US advisors are in harms’ way... It’s not our role to take terrain or close with the enemy, but as the Iraqis move, if they need us, we’ll go where they need us.”
US troops are in combat.
That's the reality.
It's the reality the Hannah Allems have chosen to ignore until after Donald Trump is sworn in.
Then those useless 'reporters' will suddenly discover US troops are still in combat in Iraq.
And they will be outraged.
Outraged.
Jason Ditz (ANTIWAR.COM) observes, "Though reports out of Mosul suggest the offensive there is moving at a snail’s pace, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari talked up the continued 'progress,' claiming the battle is going better than the government had expected."
The United Nations notes:
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that as of Sunday, the United Nations has registered more than 68,500 people as displaced by the military operations to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Monday.
This is a jump from nearly 60,000 people just three days earlier, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.
"A health assessment carried out in Zelikan Camp, northeast of Mosul, showed the urgent and widespread need for psychosocial assistance among displaced families, with nearly three-quarters of those interviewed expressing a strong level of distress," Dujarric said.
Maybe that's what Ibrahim means by progress?
Increased refugees?
We know what the Iraqi position on refugees is: Indifference and hatred.
Iraqi army fires warning shots to disperse hungry #Mosul Iraqi Sunnis civilians rushing for food aid.
#MosulAid
#Warcrimes
#MosulOperation
It was left to the KRG for the last six years to take the bulk of the refugees.
The central government based in Baghdad didn't give a damn.
There's a lot of talk about fake news these days. It's a shame that Twitter's about the only medium really offering context:
David Sirota
14 yrs after media-amplified drumbeat for the Iraq War, same media now decries “fake news” & offers no analysis of its role in such fabulism
RT
‘Fake news’ & ‘post-truth’ politics? What about those Iraqi WMDs? (Op-Ed by @NeilClark66)
As we wind down, we'll include this press release from the office of Iraq War veteran and US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard:
Gabbard Statement on Meeting with President-Elect Donald Trump
New York, NY—U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
today released the following statement on her meeting with
President-elect Donald Trump regarding Syria:
"President-elect Trump asked me to meet with him about our current
policies regarding Syria, our fight against terrorist groups like
al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as other foreign policy challenges we face. I
felt it important to take the opportunity to meet with the
President-elect now before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been
beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian
government—a war which has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives
and forced millions of refugees to flee their homes in search of safety
for themselves and their families.
“While the rules of political expediency would say I should have
refused to meet with President-elect Trump, I never have and never will
play politics with American and Syrian lives.
“Serving the people of Hawaiʻi and our nation is an honor and
responsibility that I do not take lightly. Representing the aloha
spirit and diversity of the people of Hawaiʻi, I will continue to seek
common ground to deliver results that best serve all Americans, as I
have tried to do during my time in Congress.
“Where I disagree with President-elect Trump on issues, I will not
hesitate to express that disagreement. However, I believe we can
disagree, even strongly, but still come together on issues that matter
to the American people and affect their daily lives. We cannot allow
continued divisiveness to destroy our country.
“President-elect Trump and I had a frank and positive conversation in
which we discussed a variety of foreign policy issues in depth. I shared
with him my grave concerns that escalating the war in Syria by
implementing a so-called no fly/safe zone would be disastrous for the
Syrian people, our country, and the world. It would lead to more death
and suffering, exacerbate the refugee crisis, strengthen ISIS and
al-Qaeda, and bring us into a direct conflict with Russia which could
result in a nuclear war. We discussed my bill to end our country’s
illegal war to overthrow the Syrian government, and the need to focus
our precious resources on rebuilding our own country, and on defeating
al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist groups who pose a threat to the
American people.
“For years, the issue of ending interventionist, regime change warfare
has been one of my top priorities. This was the major reason I ran for
Congress—I saw firsthand the cost of war, and the lives lost due to the
interventionist warmongering policies our country has pursued for far
too long.
“Let me be clear, I will never allow partisanship to undermine our
national security when the lives of countless people lay in the
balance."
###
The following community sites -- plus THE GUARDIAN -- updated:
Iraq
