Wednesday, June 24, 2020

CNN and NPR parade their bias against General Flynn


NPR reports:

A federal appeals court in Washington ordered a lower court judge to dismiss the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday.
That ruling followed earlier arguments by Flynn's attorneys that the matter had become moot after both they and the Justice Department asked for the case to be dropped.
Judge Emmet Sullivan had paused resolving Flynn's case and began a process to find out more about the Justice Department's decision to withdraw its charges, even after Flynn's admissions and pleas of guilt.
By a 2-1 vote, the three-judge panel on the appeals court ruled Wednesday that Sullivan had intruded on the Justice Department's "charging authority" by seeking further investigation after the department moved to dismiss Flynn's case.
An attorney appointed by Sullivan to counsel him about the government's decision in the case called the move to dismiss an abuse of power by the Justice Department because it was interceding in the case of a friend of President Trump's.

Is there a reason Michael Flynn does not have his title? "General"?


Look, here is the transcript to a 2020 NPR report and, goodness, David Petraeus is credited in the piece as a "general:"

Retired General David Petraeus was commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and led the troop surge in Iraq in 2007. We spoke with him prior to today's expulsion vote when he told us he had an adversarial [. . .]


In January 2015, The New York Times reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department had recommended bringing felony charges against Petraeus for providing classified information to Broadwell. Petraeus denied the allegations and was reported to have had no interest in a plea deal.[23] However, on Tuesday, March 3, 2015, the U.S. Justice Department announced that Petraeus agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina to a charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified information.[209]

In the 15 page statement of facts filed by the government along with the plea agreement, the government stated that Petraeus had provided Broadwell access to documents containing Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information, had later moved those documents to his personal residence and stored them in an unsecured drawer, and had deliberately and intentionally lied to Federal investigators about both providing Broadwell access to the documents and their improper storage. These facts were acknowledged to be true by Petraeus as part of his plea agreement.[210]

On April 23, 2015, a federal judge sentenced Petraeus to two years probation plus a fine of $100,000. The fine was more than double the amount the Justice Department had requested.[211]


But NPR always calls him "general."  Here they are in 2019:

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

All right. I want to bring in General David Petraeus, who has grappled with Iran both as former commander of Central Command in charge of U.S. forces in the Middle East and also from an intelligence vantage point. He is former director of the CIA. General Petraeus, welcome.


I never see NPR noting that Mr. Petraeus is guilty and entered a guilty plea.


But if we put it to the Petraeus test, what do we find?


Former CIA Director and retired US Army Gen. David Petraeus said on Sunday the United States betrayed its longstanding ally in its fight against ISIS, the Syrian Kurds, by withdrawing US forces from the northern part of the country.


Their bias is showing.  You either use titles for everyone or you do not use them for anyone.  They need to explain how this happened, how General Michael Flynn suddenly became the first officer covered by their organizations to not get his title noted in the coverage.




This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Wednesday, June 24, 2020.  Mustafa al-Kahimi plans to visit the US in July, Turkey continues bombing Iraq, RISING is trying to do what exactly?, and much more.

The biggest news out of Iraq today?  That the prime minister is coming to the United States.  Lawk Ghafuri (RUDAW) reports:

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will visit Washington next month to attend high-level talks between the United States and Iraq, foreign minister Fuad Hussein revealed on Tuesday.

Kadhimi's visit will begin the second round of strategic dialogue talks between the US and Iraq that are the first of their kind in more than a decade. They aim to put all bilateral issues on the table, including the faltering Iraqi economy and the possible withdrawal of US troops.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on April 8 that the US and Iraq plan to hold meetings starting in mid-June to discuss several matters, including “the future presence of the United States forces in [the] country and how best to support an independent and sovereign Iraq,” Pompeo said at a Washington press briefing on April 8.

Hussein revealed the planned visit to Washington while receiving UN envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss the strategic dialogue, among other topics.

The most obvious issue this raises is: Optics.  Iraq is struggling with the coronavirus.  Every day seems to bring a new high in the numbers of reported cases and reported dead.  

President Donald Trump has unwisely gone around without any form of mask.  Will Mustafa wear a mask?  If he doesn't, he'll be refusing to curry favor with Donald.  He'll also be sending a lousy message to the Iraqi people. So the most interesting thing about the visit may be the photographs which inform us whether or not Mustafa wears a mask.

Should Mustafa not wear a mask, you can expect this statement he Tweeted to be thrown in his face:

Ahmed Radhi passed away wearing the green jersey, which we all loved watching him wear. May he rest in peace. The life of every Iraqi is precious. Let’s adhere to health precautions to protect ourselves and our communities, until we get through this difficult time together.
5:59 AM · Jun 21, 2020

Ahmed Radhi is the football legend who passed away days ago from the coronavirus.  

Second, this is a rather quick meeting.  May 7th, Mustafa became prime minister.  Two months later he'll be in DC with the President of the United States. 

Some administrations (Barack Obama's) would wait a bit to see where the prime minister stands.  But Mustafa is supposed to be a brief prime minister so there's really not any time to wait -- especially if you need to figure out how many US troops you're going to leave in Iraq while claiming another "withdrawal."  The US Defense Dept refused to call the end of 2011 a "withdrawal" because it wasn't a withdrawal.  They called it a draw down.  That had to do with the reality -- which the late Senator Kay Hagan explained in an open hearing and we reported on it in real time.  THE NEW YORK TIMES, among others, were more concerned with whether or not John McCain had hurt Leon Panetta's feelings.  Excuse me, they were more concerned with creating a story that Leon's feelings were hurt by John.  That was not the case and that was clear by the second hour of that hearing but if NYT couldn't lie to the American people, it wouldn't have survived this long.  (That's the really US press story -- from THE HOUSTON POST to MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS, tell the truth and disappear.)  

Barack just ignored the Defense Dept's use of "drawdown."  Donald's much more confrontational.  If he's using "withdrawal" and it's actually a drawdown (meaning troops remain in Iraq and in surrounding areas like Kuwait -- prepared to re-enter), is Donald going to start firing people?

Again, the meeting is happening quickly.  Donald's going to spend some of his political capital on this visit and he's prepared to do so because he wants a drawdown.  (If Donald secures a withdrawal, we will gladly note that and I will gladly credit it but too many politicians have lied about ending the Iraq War and we'll play wait and see.)  But how much is too much to spend?

Because Mustafa's already struggling with being perceived as weak and ineffective.  It took months for Adel Abdul Mahdi to earn that reputation but Mustafa's got it fresh out of the gate.


First clear constitutional violation by Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s new government: the removal of the Kurdish language from official documents and papers in breach of Article 4 which declares Kurdish as an official language of Iraq
Kadhimi removes Kurdish language from its official papers: Kurdish MPs
The Iraqi constitution designates Kurdish an official language alongside Arabic.




#Corruption become more dangerous and deadly, in #Iraq , with Mustafa Al-Kadhimi taking over as prime minister. Weak personalities, easy to manipulate from Iranian militias like Hashd . #coronavirus



Weak personalities?  Mustafa has yet to call out the Turkish government for terrorizing Iraq.  Why is that?


Turkish President congratulates Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. Turkey’s National Defence Minister Hulusi Akar also talked with Kadhimi via phone according to official stament of Iraq. *#NOTE: Turkey fully supported his efforts of becoming PM of Iraq.


Long seen by the Iranian government as a tool of the US, Mustafa also has some pretty close ties to Turkey.



 The geopolitics are complex, but they are also crude. Turkey has clout; President Erdoğan has several cards to play.

Card one: refugees. Turkey is host to 3.5 million refugees, many of whom would rather go to Europe. For Erdoğan they are a weapon that can be unleashed at any time on the EU and its neighbours. The countries of Europe have domestic, populist, political imperatives for keeping migrants out that trump humanitarian (and economic) reasons for letting them in.

Card two: Turkey is a powerful member of NATO, with the second-largest army of all members and housing 50 US nuclear bombs. It’s the world’s fifth-largest buyer of arms, 60 per cent coming from the US and plenty from the UK, France, Spain and Russia.

Turkey also invests lavishly in lobbying power, spending $6.6 million on influencing the US government in 2018. It is seen as a tricky but strategic ally in the US’s so-called ‘war on terror’ – even though it is supporting jihadist militants with al-Qaeda connections.

Card three: Turkey has nation-state power. Nation states have a mutual understanding. They can have their own armies, without being called terrorists. They can lock up journalists and political opponents, and still be welcome at the table of world democracies. They can displace thousands of citizens and still be courted as a valuable trading partner.



Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Tuesday renewed his country's rejection and condemnation of the Turkish attacks on targets in northern Iraq.

Hussein's comments came during his meeting with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in his office in the Foreign Ministry at the edge of the Green Zone in central Baghdad, a ministry statement said.

Hussein underlined the need "to stop such violations by the Turkish side, considering the attacks as violating the international covenants and laws," the statement said.

Also on Iraq, MEMO notes:

The Iraqi government is currently preparing for “early legislative elections” to complete the country’s sustainable constitutional establishment, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, announced yesterday.

Speaking in a meeting with the United Nations Special Representative for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Al-Kadhimi said that it is “important to have international support and cooperation in the preparation phase.”


That's what Mustafa is supposed to preside over and why he was made prime minister.  These elections will determine not only who serves in Parliament but also who will be prime minister.

In the US?  What is the value of RISING?  Watch the clip below and answer that please.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/leowIB2h4y8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


The rolled eyes and the snarky tones from Krystal?  Does she think she has a high horse to ride?  She doesn't.  Why the hell are they mentioning Philippe Reines?  If there's a reason to mention that vile man, it's to educate your audience.  Reines had harassment complaints against him when he worked under Hillary at the State Dept and Michael Hastings threw that up in his face.  If you're going to talk about the priss-pot, talk about him.  He's a menace and that's the only reason to mention him.

Second, this whole thing about Bernie and his supporters?  What supporters?

He betrayed them and most are gone.  If you're truly a news outlet, Krystal act like you're part of one.  That means making clear that Bernie doesn't 'own' people.  There were people who supported the ideas and the platform he ran on.  Then the coward dropped out.  Then the coward endorsed Joe Biden.  Bernie has nothing to command and it's stupid to think he does.  





We'll close with this news from MS. MAGAZINE:



We are so excited to announce the launch of Ms. magazine's very first podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin! 

You read Ms. online and in print. You follow along on social media. Now, keep up with the feminist movement and even more of Ms.’s substantive, unique reporting with your new favorite podcast. 

Tune in for our premiere episode on Tuesday, June 30 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or MsMagazine.com. 

Get a sneak peek of the feminist analysis, insightful conversations and exciting guests to come: a trailer is available now! We hope you’ll give it a listen, subscribe and rate the podcast. 

On the Issues is a show where we report, rebel, and tell it like it is. Join host Dr. Michele Goodwin as she and special guests tackle the most compelling issues of our times, centering your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. 

Listen to a trailer for On the Issues with Michele Goodwin now — on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

And we’d love if you help spread the word, too! The number one thing you can do to help the Ms. magazine podcast reach new listeners? Subscribe and rate the podcast on Apple. Let’s show the power of independent, feminist media! 

Meet Your On the Issues Host: Dr. Michele Goodwin is a frequent contributor to Ms. magazine and on MsMagazine.com. She is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and also serves on the executive committee and national board of the ACLU. Dr. Goodwin is a prolific author and an elected member of the American Law Institute, as well as an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Hastings Center. Her most recent book, Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and The Criminalization of Motherhood, is described as a "must read."

Tune in Tuesday, June 30 for the first episode of On the Issues with Michele Goodwin: Police Violence — A Tale of Two Genders. Professor Goodwin and her guests will ask critical questions like: where are the women in the field of policing? And why does it matter?

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