Thomas Friedman is a Great Man

Saturday, October 19, 2019

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

This week on HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, the big story was a case. A dating ap was discriminating against a challenged or disabled man. It also discriminated against gay people and people of color. Annalise did not like the case and didn't want to be part of it. They did win but by setting the man up. Afterwards, Annalise told the woman (their client) off. She said this ap, that the woman was selling to the US government, would do real damage. The woman told Annalise that she (Annalise) was in no place to judge her because she (Annalise) got people off for rape and murder. Annalise told her, Oh, I know I'm going to hell. I'll see you there.

Michaela took Gabe with her to try to find and confront her dad. She did confront him when he was in an auditorium doing master classes of interviews or whatever. Later she and Gabe fought because Gabe said she shouldn't be trying to swipe his DNA (to prove he's her father) and should be talking to him instead. He wished he could talk to his father (Sam) but his father is dead.

Michaela told him to leave. He wasn't being supportive, so leave, she said, after telling him Asher would have helped her.

Asher's feeling all alone -- especially since Conner and Oliver are setting up a three-way. But then he thinks his luck has changed ("Daddy's back in the game!") when he gets a text from a hot lady.

But it turns out his own sister cat-fished him.

A STAR TREK fan worked on the ap case and had the hots for Annalise. She ignored him repeatedly but then decided to go get ice cream with him. She did ask him if was an FBI agent.

Bonnie is tired of Nate's accusations about Tegan. She also figures out that Nate is working with the FBI. Before this goes further, the conversation comes to a halt because a bloodied and near dead Frank is dropped at the door.

That's pretty much the whole episode except Michaela did find the guts to confront her father. It ended with them seated at the bar and her saying she was going to ask any question she wanted.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Friday, October 18, 2019. "We live in truth" declares Joe Biden's latest daughter-in-law -- and other absurdities.

Starting in the US where the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues, Joe Biden's latest daughter-in-law has something she wants to share. Daniel Chaitin (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reports:

The wife of Hunter Biden welcomes an investigation into her husband's business dealings in Ukraine, but thinks it would probably be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

"Sure. Why not? I mean, nothing's gonna change," Melissa Cohen Biden said in an interview with ABC News discussing her months-old marriage.

"I mean, I would probably — I think it would probably be a waste of taxpayer's money," she added. "But if it would bring peace of mind to whoever needs peace of mind brought to this, I know we have peace of mind, we're okay, we've — we live in truth, so sure."

For those keeping track -- or attempting to -- Melissa Cohen Biden is only wife number two for Hunter. He was married to Kathleen Buhle and had three children with her but he left her for When his brother Beau died, Hunter left Kathleen to hook up with his brother's widow Halle. They broke it off earlier this year. Shortly after, Hunter married Melissa.

Where does Lunden Roberts come in?

That 28-year-old would be one of his affairs while he was with his sister-in-law Halle. Lunden is the woman suing him for paternity of their child and for child support. That case is scheduled for December 2nd. Worth remembering that when Kathleen sued for divorce, she noted that Hunter spent all of his money on hookers and drugs.

So, again, for those trying to keep track of recent history. In 2014, Hunter is kicked out of the reserves for cocaine use. In 2015, shortly after his brother Beau dies, Hunter (married and with three kids) decides it's time to start a relationship with his brother's widow Halle. Sometime during the years he's sleeping with Halle, he sleeps with Lunden. In 2019, he leaves Halle and marries Melissa.

And Melissa tells THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER, "We live in truth."

So sure.

Okay.

John Hudson, Rachel Bide and Matt Viser (WASHINGTON POST) report:

A career State Department official overseeing Ukraine policy told congressional investigators this week that he had raised concerns in early 2015 about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company but was turned away by a Biden staffer, according to three people familiar with the testimony.

George Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state, testified Tuesday that he worried that Hunter Biden’s position at the firm Burisma Holdings would complicate efforts by U.S. diplomats to convey to Ukrainian officials the importance of avoiding conflicts of interest, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality rules surrounding the deposition.

Kent said he had concerns that Ukrainian officials would view Hunter Biden as a conduit for currying influence with his father, said the people. But when Kent raised the issue with Biden’s office, he was told the then-vice president didn’t have the “bandwidth” to deal with the issue involving his son as his other son, Beau, was battling cancer, said the people familiar with his testimony.

He didn't have 'the "bandwith."

And that was when he was 72. He's 76 now, 77 next month.

‏ @ColeenRowley

The corrupt ties that Max Blumenthal describes between various war profiteers, foreign lobbyists, US-NATO politicians, their...

1 reply43 retweets71 likes

‏Verified account @MaxBlumenthal

Behind the partisan theater of Ukrainegate, the Atlantic Council raked in money from Burisma and washed its tainted reputation as it courted Joe Biden. 

NATO's unofficial think tank in Washington is ground zero for pay-for-play arrangements.

My latest:

2 replies120 retweets169 likes

Click here for Max's article.

Tuesday nights, the Democrats held their latest presidential debate. SLATE's THE SURGE examines it today and finds Senator Bernie Sanders to be the big winner:

Bernie Sanders

He’s back.

Last week, the Surge wondered how Sanders would survive three hours of the snap tactical decision-making, and standing, required in Tuesday’s debate, his first public event since suffering a heart attack only two weeks earlier. We figured just getting through the debate would have been a job well done. But even without factoring in those lowered expectations, Sanders turned in arguably his best debate performance of the cycle. It was the same aggressively on-message Bernie Sanders, but with less shouting and an extra dose of humor. He came off as the most honest supporter of “Medicare for All” while Elizabeth Warren repeatedly evaded a point-blank question about its financing. He ripped Joe Biden after the former vice president claimed he was the only one onstage who’d “gotten anything really big done,” running through a litany of some of Biden’s most unsavory achievements. More important than any of this, though, may have been the news that broke in the middle of the debate: New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most well-known Democrats in the country, would endorse Sanders at a Queens rally on Saturday. The rollout had the trappings of a long-canned endorsement that Sanders could use at a time when he needs it. With Elizabeth Warren entering a new phase of intense, front-runner scrutiny, now is the time.

For the debate performances, you can see Ava and my "TV: Let's kill Elizabeth!" from Tuesday night.

Joe Biden's hideous attack on Elizabeth Warren continues to garner attention.

Jane stop this crazy thing!‏ @snarkyanglican 30 minutes ago

Because men yelling at women is normative in patriarchal America @adamcbest. Men taking credit for women's work is also normative. @JoeBiden @ewarren  #patriarchy #sexism 

Adam BestVerified account @adamcbest

If Warren yelled in Biden’s face during a debate while smugly taking credit for his signature achievement, we’d get 100 think pieces asking if she is unlikable or too emotional. But he did exactly that to her and the pundit class didn’t even notice. The media is failing us again.

For a guy accused of casual sexism, Joe Biden sure is good at proving that accusation correct 
#DemocraticDebate

1 retweet1 like

Replying to @krystalball

How is Joe Biden’s consistent and blatant sexism still being totally ignored by the mainstream media?

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How is is "being totally ignored by the mainstream media?"

This is the same media that used sexism against Hillary Clinton in her 2008 run. These are the same players. Oh, yes, for one second Rachel Maddow told the AP that Chris Matthews was a sexist. Two days later MSNBC offered her her own show and Rachel walked the criticism back.

It was non-stop sexism -- including from Barack Obama with his whole periodically-when-she's-feeling-blue-the-claws-come-out.

With the exception of Marie Cocco, then syndicated by THE WASHINGTON POST, not one national columnist called this out. And the only program to explore it seriously as it took place was Bonnie Erbe's TO THE CONTRARY (PBS). After the race was over, THE NEW YORK TIMES took a second to ask, "Hey, was there sexism in the coverage of Hillary?" Fortunately, fake ass media 'critic' Kathleen Hall Jamison was on hand to lie -- and not note her own part, near weekly, in the sexist attacks on Hillary (Kathleen was Bill Moyers' go to guest and she provided cover right there on camera as he went sexist over and over).

What Joe did was hideous. And it did make many uncomfortable. He did act like someone who was about to hit a woman. And it's also true that if a woman had lied about what she'd done, tried to steal credit from a man, the press would pile on. But they largely ignore Joe's lie.

‏Verified account @ryangrim

Joe Biden told @ewarren: "I went on the floor and got you votes." Okay, well, here's his schedule from the day the CFPB passed. He wasn't in the Senate. So when did this happen? (Unless this 2 1/2 hour meeting with Lindsey Graham was a failed effort to win his vote.)

31 replies200 retweets655 likes

It is sexism.

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Joe Biden is being called out for sexism over a heated exchanged with Elizabeth Warren during last night's debate. instyle.io/0k10PaE

1 reply1 retweet6 likes

Maybe I’m just not following the people talking very much about it, but joe Biden’s temper tantrum toward warren was like pure egotistical sexism

Classic workplace sexism in the #DemocraticDebate last night. @JoeBiden thought it was ok for him to claim sole ownership over passing Obamacare and the violence ahaist women act, but felt he deserved credit for the CFPB created by @SenWarren.

Though Anderson Cooper had no concern over sexism, he did find time to ask about THE ELLEN SHOW in the debate. No time for Iraq, of course.

Protests began in Iraq weeks ago. Over 100 people were killed. But let's not raise a real issue in a debate -- right, Anderson?

Ibrahim Saleh (NIQASH) has a report on the protests and here he's focusing on "the tissue seller:"

A woman selling tissues in Baghdad’s Bab al-Sharqi area, a commercial centre in the city, was caught on camera frantically passing out her wares to protesters for free, so they could wipe their eyes when security forces fired tear gas at them. She seemed genuinely concerned about their welfare. The video can be seen here.

The short film, posted online by protesters, was a hit on social media, and the woman, whose name is Dunia, became something of an icon of the demonstrations. Just a few hours later, local artist Saad al-Tayeb, drew a picture of Dunia, depicting her as a statue surrounded by a sea of demonstrators. Instead of tissues though, she was distributing white doves.

Many of the young protestors then made this picture their Facebook page identity. But many locals also expressed guilt about how they used to think of Dunia – many had thought she was handicapped, just another annoying beggar in Baghdad. There was an online discussion about how the tissue seller had shown more humanity and grace than many other residents of the city, having given away her tissues without thinking of the personal financial loss that would entail.

Also new at NIQASH, is Mustafa Habib's piece:

“Parents, teachers, tribal leaders and clerics – how did you dare to let us down, after you saw our blood flowing in the streets?” Alaa al-Saadi, a 23-year-old who had been protested in Baghdad asked, during a phone interview with NIQASH. “We went out there on your behalf too, to try and improve the current situation here. We got nothing in return but silence.”

The recent protests – now being called the “October protests” – differed from past versions of anti-government actions in many ways, including who led them, the authoritarian reactions of the government and the number of injured and dead, as a result. More than 100 people were killed, over 6,000 were injured and around 900 were detained by security forces.

The main players from previous anti-government protests in Iraq did not take overt part in these demonstrations. Neither left-wing parties (such as Iraq’s Communist party), civil society groups or liberal activists, or followers of the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr played a visible role; in past protests, al-Sadr has come to be seen as something of an anti-authority symbol. Instead thousands of young people in Baghdad, Dhi Qar, Diwaniyah, Basra and Maysan found themselves out on the street, angry but without any real plan, experience or support. Many of the younger protestors, some under 16, snuck out of their homes and broke the curfew imposed by security forces, and possibly by their parents as well. The only thing all the demonstrators had in common was a desire for change.

“It was a big shock,” Sadiq al-Rubaie, 19, a Dhi Qar local who had taken part in the protests, told NIQASH. “We heard the buzz of live bullets fired at us and some hit our friends. In the past, the only place we heard bullets and lost friends was playing online games [the game Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, or PUBG, is very popular in Iraq]. Not in reality!”

Al-Rubaie believes that a lack of support from older Iraqis was part of the reason why security forces targeted the protestors – mostly young males, hardly any females took part – so harshly. “They think of us as children,” he argued. “If we had been supported by our parents, relatives or tribal leaders, this would not have happened like it did.”

The following sites updated: