Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Gloria Steinem praised War Criminal Henry Kissinger


Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Clinton Piggy Bank."




clintonpiggybank















What a great cartoon!!!!


I love it.


I do not love Henry Kissiner -- War Criminal.








That's who Kissinger is.


And as bad as it is that Hillary Clinton is seeking his input I'm more appalled by his connection to another woman.


This is from Ava and C.I.'s "TV: Poor sports and strip teases:"

It was one disappointment after another.

Take the judo match.

The winner, Or Sasson (Israel), attempted to shake hands with his losing opponent Islam El Shehaby (Egypt) who refused.

It recalled another poor sport moment of the month -- when former CIA operative
Gloria Steinem sat down with Katie Couric -- now far from the Olympics, in exile on YAHOO NEWS.

The sit down followed the announcement that Kellyanne Conway would be Donald Trump's new campaign manager and, in the process, become the first woman to run a Republican presidential campaign.

Instead of feeling the love, the elderly and balding Gloria whined in that annoyingly nasal way, "It's like seeing an anti-semitic candidate being managed by a Jewish person. It's not heartening at all.  I can't imagine why she's doing it."

As
Cher might say, what a ___.


Feminism is about choices.

Kellyanne's choice is her choice.


It's a valid choice.

Congratulations to her.

Gloria would rather tear the woman down.

It's so interesting that Gloria feels she can rip a woman apart.

This would be the same attention-seeking
Gloria who raved to WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY in September of 1971, "Henry's the only interesting person in the whole Nixon Administration and he's not afraid of hostile reporters.  I enjoy talking with him.  He's the only person on the Nixon team who can talk."

That's War Criminal Henry Kissinger that Gloria's breathlessly slobbering over.

At the height of his War Crimes.

And Gloria also dated him.

Yeah, she did.

She denies it -- the same way she lies about her part in spying on and exposing 'reds' for the CIA -- but others remember it.  For example, when she turned 80 a few years back, her friend
George Mitrovich shared some memories at HUFFINGTON POST including "Dr Kissinger and Gloria were then seeing one another" in the early seventies.




Whenever I think Gloria can't get any worse. . . it turns out I'm wrong.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS): 




Tuesday, August 23, 2016.  Chaos and violence continue, a robot will be sent into Mosul to fight the Islamic State, the Shi'ite militias plan for a post-Islamic State Iraq, Hillary Clinton Tweets about Iraq (no, she's not getting honest), and much more.




Cheryl lost her husband in Iraq. Then Trump's company targeted her and scammed her out of $35,000.









She lost $35,000?


How awful.

That has to be one of the worst things ever . . .

Wait a second.

War widow?

Iraq War widow?

So Hillary has the woman's husband killed and then wants to act as though the $35,000 is the larger crime?

There is no 'moral' ground for Hillary to stand on.

She's a War Hawk and a liar.

She and her cult of liars have tried to water down her vote (and ignore her support) for the Iraq War.

Some, comfortable in the knowledge that Elizabeth Edwards is dead, try to trot out the lie that Hillary was only voting for what she hoped was a UN resolution that would follow.

That's a lie.

Elizabeth called it a lie when she was alive noting that her husband John Edwards did that but that Hillary was supporting war regardless.

As Eric Draitser (COUNTERPUNCH) pointed out yesterday:


Clinton explained to the Council on Foreign Relations in December 2003, “I was one who supported giving President Bush the authority, if necessary, to use force against Saddam Hussein. I believe that that was the right vote….I stand by the vote.” Of course this was in the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Iraq and subsequent capture of Saddam Hussein, a time when one could still justify support for a war that, just a few years later, proved to be politically unpalatable, to say nothing of it being an egregious war crime, as we all knew from the beginning.


And Hillary was not perturbed in the slightest at the hundreds of thousands of women and children whose lives were irrevocably destroyed by the war and its aftermath, one which is still being reckoned with today.



Or as Cindy Sheehan puts it:

The bottom-line is that the Democrat nominee is already a devoted war criminal and the Republican nominee attracts scary support but No Lives will Matter (except the lives of the 1%) to whichever one of these two scoundrels "wins" in November. 


Hillary's war killed a woman's husband and Hillary wants to whine that the widow then lost money?

Maybe she did.  I don't know and I have no reason to doubt the widow.

But I also have no reason to listen to Hillary Clinton on 'loss.'

She's a War Hawk.

And I gave her a chance.

Check the archives.  In 2008, I was able to say, "Okay, maybe the Iraq War vote was a mistake like she (weakly) says."  But then she went on to become Secretary of State and her war streak isn't a streak, it's her full body.

She's a War Hawk.

And she's got no higher ground to stand on from which to point at others.

Frank Erickson wonders to the editors of the DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE, "How do those who are going to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton excuse away her support for the Iraq War? "


They rewrite history.

They ignore the reality that she did nothing to help Iraqi women -- even when a friend and colleague was asking her to do something very minor.

They minimize or ignore her innate secrecy, her disregard for public consent and act as though it's just e-mails.





If Democrats are actually worried about foreign hackers, why aren't they concerned that were on an insecure private server?








Jill Stein is the Green Party's presidential candidate.


And e-mails?

14,900 more discovered by the FBI.


And there's the whole smarmy nature (and illegal nature) of how Hillary used her post as Secretary of State to enrich The Clinton Foundation.  Rosalind S. Helderman, Spencer S. Hsu and Tom Hamburger (WASHINGTON POST) report:




A sports executive who was a major donor to the Clinton Foundation and whose firm paid Bill Clinton millions of dollars in consulting fees wanted help getting a visa for a British soccer player with a criminal past.
The crown prince of Bahrain, whose government gave more than $50,000 to the Clintons’ charity and who participated in its glitzy annual conference, wanted a last-minute meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
U2 rocker and philanthropist Bono, also a regular at foundation events, wanted high-level help broadcasting a live link to the International Space Station during concerts.
In each case, according to emails released Monday from Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state, the requests were directed to Clinton’s deputy chief of staff and confidante, Huma Abedin, who engaged with other top aides and sometimes Clinton herself about how to respond.


No wonder she hasn't held a press conference in over 260 days -- she thinks she can ride it out.

She doesn't want to be shown answering questions she has no answers for.


She's more evasive than Tricky Dick Nixon.

It's not just e-mails.

Barack Obama turned the Iraq mission over to the State Dept in October of 2011.  It collapsed less than a year later because Hillary refused to answer basic questions from Congress.  Gerry Connolly and Gary Ackerman -- both Democrats -- were among those demanding how the money was going to be spent, why money was being wasted on a program the Iraqi government said they didn't want and would not participate in, etc.

The State Dept refused to answer the questions.

She is an enemy of transparency and that's there in her hidden e-mails, it's there in her refusal to release transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street fat cats and it's there in her time as Secretary of State -- four years in which she refused to have an Inspector General -- didn't want the oversight.

And this attitude doomed whatever Barack's plans for a State Dept mission in Iraq would be.


If you believe in Barack, I guess you have to blame Hillary for his refusal to end the Iraq War because if she'd done the mission she was tasked with, maybe the Iraq War would be over.

But she screwed it up like she screws up everything.

Her secrecy and lies always doom her.

And they may have doomed Barack's plan to end the Iraq War.

Instead, the Iraq War continues.

Yesterday, the US Defense Dept announced:

Strikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted eight strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Bashir, a strike destroyed an ISIL checkpoint.

-- Near Haditha, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three vehicles and a mortar position.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a mortar system, a vehicle, five assembly areas, a supply cache and a front-end loader and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Ramadi, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, a vehicle and a boat and damaged a fighting position.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL security headquarters.


Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.



And these bombs fall on populated land -- meaning civilians are at risk.






Coalition killed highest # of civilians in 2yrs of war in July; Russia-Syria strikes killed more than 500 civilians











AIRWARS notes "a total of 9,458 airstrikes had cumulatively been carried out in Iraq and 4,751 in Syria to the end of July 2016."

Meanwhile, the Shi'ite militias that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi brought into the government are planning for a post-ISIS Iraq which they intend to rule.  Adnan Abu Zeed (AL-MONITOR) reports:


On July 26, the Iraqi government announced that the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) will be converted into “an independent military formation affiliated with the armed forces’ commander-in-chief.” The Shiite force was formed in June 2014 in response to religious calls to take up arms against the Islamic State (IS).
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s decision sparked an uproar among Iraq’s Kurds and Sunnis. On Aug. 14, the Kurdish news site Rudaw collected the opinions of analysts and ordinary citizens, all of whom criticized the move as a step toward forming a parallel military force.
Other reports claimed that the government’s decision to take control of the PMU, which participated in the liberation of Salahuddin, Ramadi and Fallujah and are planning to join the battle for Mosul, reflects “a plan to establish a guard similar to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.”


 

The Islamic State has now occupied Mosul for over two years.

And still occupies it.

And the answer?


Clara Strunck (DAILY STAR) reports that they will be using a robot to combat ISIS in Mosul:


The car-sized tank can be directed from up to a kilometre away and has four cameras on board that feed information back to the laptop operator.
It is designed to conduct highly specific attacks while the "driver" sits in safety further away.
According to reports in the Baghdad Post, the tank will be used to liberate an ISIS-held town and has been named Alrobot – Arabic for robot.



The Islamic State has controlled your city for over two years and your 'brave' answer is to fight it with a robot?


No wonder Mosul's been occupied for two years and counting.
















Saturday, August 20, 2016

Summer movies (my top five)

This was a lousy summer for movies.


That's in part due to the failure to provide romantic comedies.


It's in part due to too many comic book movies.


It was a very disappointing summer slate.


The best films of summer 2016?


Number one -- Russell Crowe's THE NICE GUYS. This one's out on August 23 -- DVD and Blu Ray -- and Crowe and Ryan Gosling have a great chemistry.  They team up to solve a mystery. The young girl playing Gosling's daughter almost walks off with the movie.  It's a credit to Russell and Ryan's strong chops that they hold their own against that little powerhouse.  Kim Basinger also delivers a nice performance as do Matt Bomer and YaYa DaCosta.


In fact, if DaCosta's role in the film was just a little larger, I bet she'd be a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actress.




Number two -- MIKE & DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES. This film is hilarious.  It's the funniest thing that played all summer and there's not a bad performance in the whole movie. 


I've long been a fan of Adam Devine, Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick and they were incredible.  I've not been impressed by Zac Efron before outside of his part in THE PAPERBOY but he didn't just hold his own, he matched their level.  This is a hilarious film.


Aubrey better be nominated in the next Academy Awards round.


Number three -- A BIGGER SPLASH.


I caught this one by myself on a day when I was tired and traffic was a nightmare so I just said, "Betty, go see a movie."


I knew nothing about this film going in.  I saw Tilda Swinton's face on the poster and I like her and figured this might be a film where I enjoy Ralph Fiennes (not really true since THE END OF THE AFFAIR).


I could not believe what a wonder this was, it's a real film. 


And Dakota Johnson is delightful as Fiennes' daughter.


There are twists and turns and it's a really satisfying journey.


Number Four -- FINDING DORY.


Sequels generally suck.


But FINDING DORY has to be the best sequel since GODFATHER II.


It works as a sequel, it works as a stand alone film and it is easily the best animated film of 2016.


Number five -- THE BOSS.




This is a funny film.


It would have been a whole lot funnier without Kristen Bell.


She's a wet blanket and she destroyed BAD MOMS (they should have given Christina Applegate -- or anyone else -- her part.) 


She's not that important to THE BOSS so she doesn't do as much damage.


But Bell needs to be out of movies immediately -- especially comedies.






"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS)




Friday, August 19, 2016.

Starting with the US presidential race . . .




4.7m children in need humanitarian assistance - that’s almost 1 in 3 children in the country







When are candidates going to have to answer how to address this issue?


Especially anticipating Hillary Clinton's response since she voted for the Iraq War and supported it for years as a US Senator and then came back around to supporting it as a Secretary of State.


Where are your answers, Hillary?

You unconvincingly use terms like "regret" and "sorry" -- briefly use them -- but where is the act of contrition, Hillary?

Where is your effort to fix what you have done wrong?

The children of Iraq suffer.

They suffer by living in the continued illegal war that you helped unleash.

The children of Iraq suffer from birth defects from the chemicals used in the war.

The children suffer by becoming refugees.

By losing one or both parents.

What is your answer, Hillary?

What is your proposal as Iraq has become a country with one of the youngest median ages in the world?

What is your proposal as children suffer?

It takes a village?

I guess pushing your responsibilities off on a collective is one of avoiding your mistakes/crimes.






Resilience of people in is being stretched to breaking point. Thousands who fled are still displaced










But you're running for president and you should be able to answer basic questions like what are you going to do about the refugee crisis in Iraq?





8 months pregnant in an airport shelter, the fate of one










You're going to change the world for women and girls -- that's what Gloria Steinem and other idiots keep insisting.

So what are you going to do for the women and girls above?

Gloria's not doing a damn thing for them.  She doesn't care about them.

Can we assume the same of you, Hillary?


Or how about Phyllis Bennis.


Phyllis has been the great dabbler when it comes to Iraq.

She picks it up from time to time as though it's a seasonal sport.

She went on DEMOCRACY WHEN? this week to say Hillary is right about Donald Trump.

When?

When she's attacking Donald Trump for failing to aid in creating a new Red scare?

(Considering Phyll's politics, I am surprised.)

When he's saying we don't need to be involved in all these wars?

When, Phyllis, when is Hillary spot on in her criticism of Donald?

Phyllis then wanted to crib from this site and pick up the point I've been making for months, Hillary needs to answer questions about Iraq that go beyond her 2002 vote and address what she would do today.

Thanks for cribbing, Phyllis, but next time call me so I can walk you through the points you haven't put in the time to brush up on.



To defend Hillary, a new push has emerged: "Rape is okay!!!!"

Writer Liza Featherston (author of FALSE CHOICES: THE FAUX FEMINISM OF HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON) notes this disgusting and disappointing trend in a series of Tweets and reTweets:




  1. Yup. I thought they'd just ignore the Bill rape stuff, not create a "woke rapist" trope.




Sometimes I think ppl in One PIerrepont Plaza must read these media apologetics, snicker: CAN YOU BELIEVE WE ARE NOT EVEN PAYING THESE PPL




I expected Woke Tim Kaine. Nothing HRC does is shocking, it's the creative intellectual gymnastics of her supporters that continue to amaze.




I did not expect that to get behind idea of defeating Trump, we'd be asked to believe in crazy Russian conspiracies, rape apologetics.




These people recoil at "lesser evil" frame. Offended by the very idea Clintons could be "evil" and will not stand for it.




I expected to often agree with Democrats, once primary was over. Hey, Trump sucks amiright? But still with the most ridiculous commentary!




What's the single most reactionary position we can get Hillary supporters to defend before the primaries end?




I predict...male prerogative to rape and still be a feminist.

Throwing poor women off welfare. War.

OH WAIT...




How to be a male feminist ally: schedule a post-rape phone call to unpack & apologize.




Feminism is a big tent. But I didn't know it had seating section for rapists.




If you're writing think pieces saying that it's OK if Bill Clinton is a rapist pls ask yourself where you went wrong in your life.






Liza's got the Tweet of the week with the last one:  "If you're writing think pieces saying that it's OK if Bill Clinton is a rapist pls ask yourself where you went wrong in your life."



On Iraq, again, what would Hillary do?




After driving Sunni is out of their homes gov.t left them  with no shelter no water no food








This is an ongoing war and people are suffering.

Presidential candidates need to be discussing this and laying out plans.

Turning to violence, Thursday, the US Defense Dept announced:

Strikes in Iraq
Attack and fighter aircraft conducted five strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Mosul, four strikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed 38 ISIL oil tanker trucks, five ISIL vehicles and six ISIL assembly areas and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL shelter.



Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.



And bombs in Baghdad (not dropped from on high) killed 5 people and left nine more injured.