Media critic Howard Kurtz discussed the media portrayal (silence) on Tara Reade's accusation that former Vice President Joe Biden raped her. I thought it was a lively discussion and thank you to community member Yazz who e-mailed the video to me.
I want to note this that Michael Parenti wrote when Margaret Thatcher passed away:
On April 8, 2013, the western world lost a grand dame, an iconic figure, a woman admired by millions while dismissed by others as just another lady in a bouffant hairdo. She came from a modest social background yet she made her way to the top, a woman who could perform winningly in what is arguably the most competitive arena of life. I am, of course, speaking of Annette Funicello, singer and Hollywood actress.
Oh wait, some readers may have assumed I was pumping for Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, who also died on April 8, 2013. No, Thatcher and Funicello had nothing in common, save for the bouffant hairdo and date of death.
Annette Funicello was a child star in the late 1950s, one of the Mouseketeers, complete with enormous Mickey Mouse ears, appearing on Walt Disney's "Mickey Mouse Club." As a teenager, she turned out hit tunes and captivated adolescent hearts in Beach Blanket movies.
How many hearts did Thatcher captivate in her teenage years? Did she even have teenage years? Or did she not vault directly from early childhood into late adulthood? In any case, she was no day at the beach.
The most memorable moment Thatcher ever provided for me was her adulatory spiel to the blood-drenched Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, as the two of them sat in a cozy room in Britain. Pinochet was resisting deportation to Spain to stand trial as a war criminal. He was rescued from justice by Prime Minister Tony Blair who regularly sucked up to reactionary war mongers especially those "friendly to the West."
Without stint Thatcher poured out her gratitude and admiration to a smiling Pinochet for "saving Chile from the communists," and restoring peace, liberty, and stability. She made no mention of the many thousands of Chileans whom Pinochet imprisoned, tortured, executed, or drove into exile. On that visit to Pinochet, Thatcher was wearing her fascism right under her makeup.
Would Annette Funicello ever kiss a dictator's butt the way Thatcher did? I think not. During her stardom, Annette described herself as “the queen of teen,” and millions of fans close to her age agreed. As one critic put it, "Young audiences appreciated her sweet, forthright appeal, and parents saw her as the perfect daughter." Here was the girl you might take home to meet and marry your son. Would you say the same about Lady Thatcher? Only if you really hated your kid.
I really loved that but I grew up loving Annette Funicello and I loathed Margaret Thatcher. Ms. Funicello was on THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB with Cubby. She was funny and smart and could sing and had a winning smile. She was also ethnic in that she was Italian. As a young Jewish girl, Ms. Funicello was someone unique and relatable. I loved her beach movies with my favorite being BEACH BLANKET BINGO. In that film, she sings "I'll Never Change Him."
She also sings the title track with Frankie Avalon.
But I think MUSCLE BEACH PARTY had the best song Ms. Funicello sang in any of the beach films, "A Girl Needs A Boy."
Here is Annette Funicello performing "The Monkey's Uncle" with the Beach Boys.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Tuesday, April 21, 2020. How many women has Joe Biden assaulted? Tara
Reade asserts he assaulted her. Another woman has come forward to say
he assaulted her. All that and more.
Victor Pickard (JACOBIAN) wants you to know that you can save the news industry. Why would you bother?
Three weeks? And on Easter Sunday? That's when THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST and AP did their acknowledgement of Tara Reade's assertion that Joe Biden raped her? And these stories existed not in a world of impartial and objective but in a world of shame and blame the woman who stepped forward.
Victor sounds as ridiculous as Meryl Streep at an awards show talking how great the press is -- the same press that sold an illegal war on Iraq and never, ever took the accountability for that.
Victor Pickard wants you to know that you can give money and save the industry that wants to kill you, the industry that works overtime to sell wars, the industry that works overtime to destroy any candidate that calls for Medicare For All, the . . .
Let it die. Let those losers lose their jobs and see if they can then reflect on how their whoring harmed the people.
The media Victor wants you to save can't even note that Joe Biden's papers are locked away. A Tweet can note what the press in the US won't:
Joe Biden's papers were set to be released Dec. 31,2019 but his campaign rushed to successfully seal them up again because Joe Biden is hiding A LOT in those papers, including his correspondences with southern segregationists and the Tara Reade files #ReleaseTaraFiles
Sivi Lukic Tweets:
It's time for us to see what Joe Biden's senate papers say about Tara Reade. Exposing sexual predators is not a partisan issue. Don't make this political, make this just.
NPR attacked Tara on Sunday with a 'reporter' whom NPR friends say practices a very conservative strain of her religion and is known for saying women who were raped deserved it due to their immodest attire. NPR lets a woman like that even near this story? At any rate, NPR was happy to note that they are seeking a copy of the police report Tara filed but NPR never notes Joe's locked away papers and they certainly aren't pressing him to release them.
This media needs saving? I don't think so.
Professor Anthony Zenkus Tweets:
Tara Reade said she filed a harassment complaint against
Shanna Persin Tweets:
Tara Reade filed a sexual harassment complaint against
Katie Halper speaks with CURRENT AFFAIRS' Nathan Robinson about the way the media is working overtime to smear Tara.
At THEOLOGY CORNER, a writer notes the way Tara has been smeared and attacked and the writers states:
On top of all of this vilification, a popular figure in the entertainment world (who has used the #MeToo movement to boost her own profile) suggested that the allegations were not credible because the media was not reporting on it widely, as if the veracity of these claims were dependent upon the media taking them seriously. And then, when the national media finally reported on the story — reporting which uncovered evidence that (1) Tara told a friend about the assault at the time; (2) Tara was abruptly and without explanation removed from oversight of office interns at the time in which the assault allegedly took place; and (3) there was evidence that Biden had a pattern of consistently engaging in inappropriate kissing and touching — these same stories primarily sought to cast doubt on Reade herself.
Appallingly, the New York Times even deleted, at the request of the Biden campaign, the fact that they had discovered a pattern of Biden engaging in inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature, while the Washington Post misrepresented the publicly available police report which Reade filed.
We have even arrived at the point where Amy Klobuchar, Gretchen Whitmer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders have been asked about the alleged assault by reporters, but Joe Biden has not. One would think, after a month of dozens of interviews on live television, that a reporter would directly ask Biden about Tara Reade’s claims, including the fact that she was abruptly demoted after expressing concerns about Biden’s behavior to her superiors. Combined with the way that Reade has been treated, the fact that the media has failed to engage in this most basic act of inquiry into the alleged assault is a clear statement to fellow victims of Joe Biden: Don’t come forward; we won’t believe you.
That message strikes to my core, because I, too, was sexually assaulted by Joe Biden. But if I go public, will I be called a liar? Will I be accused of being a Russian agent? Will my family and friends be attacked for corroborating my story? Will the media ignore me for weeks, followed by Alyssa Milano going on a podcast to suggest that that is a reason not to believe that it is true? Will the national media attempt to cast doubt upon my credibility? Will those on the short-list to become Biden’s vice-presidential nominee remain quiet and hope this blows over? Will half the country brush me aside and claim that at least my assaulter isn’t as bad as the current assaulter-in-chief?
Victor Pickard (JACOBIAN) wants you to know that you can save the news industry. Why would you bother?
Three weeks? And on Easter Sunday? That's when THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST and AP did their acknowledgement of Tara Reade's assertion that Joe Biden raped her? And these stories existed not in a world of impartial and objective but in a world of shame and blame the woman who stepped forward.
Victor sounds as ridiculous as Meryl Streep at an awards show talking how great the press is -- the same press that sold an illegal war on Iraq and never, ever took the accountability for that.
Victor Pickard wants you to know that you can give money and save the industry that wants to kill you, the industry that works overtime to sell wars, the industry that works overtime to destroy any candidate that calls for Medicare For All, the . . .
Let it die. Let those losers lose their jobs and see if they can then reflect on how their whoring harmed the people.
The media Victor wants you to save can't even note that Joe Biden's papers are locked away. A Tweet can note what the press in the US won't:
Joe Biden's papers were set to be released Dec. 31,2019 but his campaign rushed to successfully seal them up again because Joe Biden is hiding A LOT in those papers, including his correspondences with southern segregationists and the Tara Reade files #ReleaseTaraFiles
Sivi Lukic Tweets:
It's time for us to see what Joe Biden's senate papers say about Tara Reade. Exposing sexual predators is not a partisan issue. Don't make this political, make this just.
NPR attacked Tara on Sunday with a 'reporter' whom NPR friends say practices a very conservative strain of her religion and is known for saying women who were raped deserved it due to their immodest attire. NPR lets a woman like that even near this story? At any rate, NPR was happy to note that they are seeking a copy of the police report Tara filed but NPR never notes Joe's locked away papers and they certainly aren't pressing him to release them.
This media needs saving? I don't think so.
Professor Anthony Zenkus Tweets:
Tara Reade said she filed a harassment complaint against
@JoeBiden
in 1993, but the papers remain sealed at
@UDelaware
. Biden refuses to order them unsealed. What's he hiding? #ReleaseTaraFilesShanna Persin Tweets:
Tara Reade filed a sexual harassment complaint against
@JoeBiden
to his Senate office in 1993. He sent his Senate papers to
@UDelaware
where they are under seal. These papers should be immediately released in the interest of full transparency. #ReleaseTaraFiles #IBelieveTaraReadeKatie Halper speaks with CURRENT AFFAIRS' Nathan Robinson about the way the media is working overtime to smear Tara.
At THEOLOGY CORNER, a writer notes the way Tara has been smeared and attacked and the writers states:
On top of all of this vilification, a popular figure in the entertainment world (who has used the #MeToo movement to boost her own profile) suggested that the allegations were not credible because the media was not reporting on it widely, as if the veracity of these claims were dependent upon the media taking them seriously. And then, when the national media finally reported on the story — reporting which uncovered evidence that (1) Tara told a friend about the assault at the time; (2) Tara was abruptly and without explanation removed from oversight of office interns at the time in which the assault allegedly took place; and (3) there was evidence that Biden had a pattern of consistently engaging in inappropriate kissing and touching — these same stories primarily sought to cast doubt on Reade herself.
Appallingly, the New York Times even deleted, at the request of the Biden campaign, the fact that they had discovered a pattern of Biden engaging in inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature, while the Washington Post misrepresented the publicly available police report which Reade filed.
We have even arrived at the point where Amy Klobuchar, Gretchen Whitmer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders have been asked about the alleged assault by reporters, but Joe Biden has not. One would think, after a month of dozens of interviews on live television, that a reporter would directly ask Biden about Tara Reade’s claims, including the fact that she was abruptly demoted after expressing concerns about Biden’s behavior to her superiors. Combined with the way that Reade has been treated, the fact that the media has failed to engage in this most basic act of inquiry into the alleged assault is a clear statement to fellow victims of Joe Biden: Don’t come forward; we won’t believe you.
That message strikes to my core, because I, too, was sexually assaulted by Joe Biden. But if I go public, will I be called a liar? Will I be accused of being a Russian agent? Will my family and friends be attacked for corroborating my story? Will the media ignore me for weeks, followed by Alyssa Milano going on a podcast to suggest that that is a reason not to believe that it is true? Will the national media attempt to cast doubt upon my credibility? Will those on the short-list to become Biden’s vice-presidential nominee remain quiet and hope this blows over? Will half the country brush me aside and claim that at least my assaulter isn’t as bad as the current assaulter-in-chief?
So far as I can see, there is absolutely no incentive to come
forward. It appears that the Democratic Party and the national media
will go out of its way to discredit me as a person and defend Joe Biden,
even in the face of two credible allegations of sexual assault. And if
so, then (God help us!) my coming forward would only “weaken” the
Democratic nominee, helping improve Donald Trump’s chances of being
re-elected — a scenario which must be avoided for the sake of humanity.
So I guess my question is, do I have to remain silent and vote for a rapist because I live in a swing state?
In Iraq, they are struggling a third time to install a new prime minister. As Kevin Zeller (MNN) observes, "Iraq has burned through two prime ministers in two months, and the third has the massive task of uniting a fragmented country during a pandemic." Sami Moubayed (GULF NEWS) offers:
The formation of a new government in Iraq has dragged on for nearly five months now. After two candidates failed to do the job — Mohammad Tawfik Allawi (former communications minister) and Adnan Al Zurfi (ex-Najaf governor), Iraqis seem optimistic that a third candidate, Mustapha Al Kadhimi, will finally succeed.
For starters, Kadhimi, a former director of Iraqi National Security, has managed to receive backing of all major parliamentary blocs, running across Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian spectrum.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani thinks fondly of him and so does President Barham Salih. The Kurds like him for his long-time opposition to Saddam Hussein.
Iran and the United States have expressed support for his nomination. Both countries had previously worked with Kadhimi on counterterrorism during his four-year stint at Iraqi intelligence.
So I guess my question is, do I have to remain silent and vote for a rapist because I live in a swing state?
In Iraq, they are struggling a third time to install a new prime minister. As Kevin Zeller (MNN) observes, "Iraq has burned through two prime ministers in two months, and the third has the massive task of uniting a fragmented country during a pandemic." Sami Moubayed (GULF NEWS) offers:
The formation of a new government in Iraq has dragged on for nearly five months now. After two candidates failed to do the job — Mohammad Tawfik Allawi (former communications minister) and Adnan Al Zurfi (ex-Najaf governor), Iraqis seem optimistic that a third candidate, Mustapha Al Kadhimi, will finally succeed.
For starters, Kadhimi, a former director of Iraqi National Security, has managed to receive backing of all major parliamentary blocs, running across Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian spectrum.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani thinks fondly of him and so does President Barham Salih. The Kurds like him for his long-time opposition to Saddam Hussein.
Iran and the United States have expressed support for his nomination. Both countries had previously worked with Kadhimi on counterterrorism during his four-year stint at Iraqi intelligence.
His first predecessor, Mohammad Tawfik Allawi, had failed to form a
government because he tried to sideline major political parties, saying
that he wanted ministers chosen for their professional merit, rather
than political affiliation. That works in a country like Switzerland —
but not in Iraq.
Then came Adnan Al Zurfi who failed because political parties could not agree on seats in his government. Previously, Adel Abdul Mehdi had fallen from grace because he allowed his security services to fire at the unarmed street demonstrators, coming across as too pro-Iranian.
Iraq has no real prime minister currently. It does have a president -- Barham Salih. Sadly, the post is a ceremonial post. The Asia Society speaks with Barham below.
Meanwhile Holly Johnston (RUDAW) reports:
Executions in Iraq skyrocketed in 2019, according to a new report published Tuesday by rights group Amnesty International.
Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia combined were responsible for 81 percent of global executions last year, the report found.
Executions in Iraq increased by 92 percent in 2019, the rights group said, with 100 confirmed death sentences carried out.
The spike in capital punishment is mainly attributed to the prosecution of suspected members of the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Human rights organizations have expressed concern at Iraq’s handling of legal proceedings against ISIS militants, labelled as “seriously flawed” by the United Nations.
“Throughout the year the mandatory death penalty was used under anti-terrorism laws for a wide range of acts that do not meet the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold required under international law,” Amnesty’s report said.
The report notes:
A significant increase in executions in Iraq and Saudi Arabia was largely responsible for the rise in executions in the region. Recorded executions went up by 92% in Iraq, from 52 in 2018 to 100 in 2019; and by 23% in Saudi Arabia from 149 in 2018 to 184 in 2019. Seven countries – Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen – were known to have carried out executions during the year. Bahrain resumed executions after not carrying out any in 2018. Amnesty International was able to corroborate information that executions occurred in Syria in 2019 but had insufficient information to provide a credible minimum figure. Iran – where recorded executions reduced by two in 2019 compared to 2018 – remained the top executioner in the region with 251 executions recorded; the country was followed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq, with 184 and 100 recorded executions respectively. These three countries carried out 92% of recorded executions in the region.
BBC NEWS notes, "Worldwide, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes and 142 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice."
The following sites updated:
Then came Adnan Al Zurfi who failed because political parties could not agree on seats in his government. Previously, Adel Abdul Mehdi had fallen from grace because he allowed his security services to fire at the unarmed street demonstrators, coming across as too pro-Iranian.
Iraq has no real prime minister currently. It does have a president -- Barham Salih. Sadly, the post is a ceremonial post. The Asia Society speaks with Barham below.
Meanwhile Holly Johnston (RUDAW) reports:
Executions in Iraq skyrocketed in 2019, according to a new report published Tuesday by rights group Amnesty International.
Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia combined were responsible for 81 percent of global executions last year, the report found.
Executions in Iraq increased by 92 percent in 2019, the rights group said, with 100 confirmed death sentences carried out.
The spike in capital punishment is mainly attributed to the prosecution of suspected members of the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Human rights organizations have expressed concern at Iraq’s handling of legal proceedings against ISIS militants, labelled as “seriously flawed” by the United Nations.
“Throughout the year the mandatory death penalty was used under anti-terrorism laws for a wide range of acts that do not meet the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold required under international law,” Amnesty’s report said.
The report notes:
A significant increase in executions in Iraq and Saudi Arabia was largely responsible for the rise in executions in the region. Recorded executions went up by 92% in Iraq, from 52 in 2018 to 100 in 2019; and by 23% in Saudi Arabia from 149 in 2018 to 184 in 2019. Seven countries – Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen – were known to have carried out executions during the year. Bahrain resumed executions after not carrying out any in 2018. Amnesty International was able to corroborate information that executions occurred in Syria in 2019 but had insufficient information to provide a credible minimum figure. Iran – where recorded executions reduced by two in 2019 compared to 2018 – remained the top executioner in the region with 251 executions recorded; the country was followed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq, with 184 and 100 recorded executions respectively. These three countries carried out 92% of recorded executions in the region.
BBC NEWS notes, "Worldwide, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes and 142 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice."
The following sites updated:
-
-
Joe keeps hiding7 hours ago
-
-
-
-
Fiona8 hours ago
-
-
-
Fools for Biden9 hours ago
-
-
The disgusting Joe Biden9 hours ago
-
Michael Parenti and reading9 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
