2/7/2020
PHONY liberal media turns Republican Romney into HERO for sticking it to Trump (just like it did McCain & Bush)
Mitt Romney is the latest token Republican being hoisted up on the shoulders of the mainstream media thanks to his “courageous” decision to defy Donald Trump by voting with Democrats to impeach the president.
You would think the Utah senator single-handedly defeated Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and then rescued a few kittens out of trees on his way home the way the media is writing about him.
The New Yorker declared that the former presidential candidate “seized” a chance to “rewrite his own place in history” with his impeachment vote.
An opinion piece in the Washington Post deemed the decision “courageous,” and Twitter was full of love for the man once eviscerated by liberal commentators for simply saying “binders full of women.”
The lionization of Romney is nothing new. The mainstream media always keeps a few token Republicans around, and they usually have one they deem worthy of their praises, so long as that person happens to fit with the current agenda, and the current agenda is opposing Trump, so Romney is temporarily safe from the usual scorn his party affiliation and faith receive.
Others have also found themselves walking down that path of praise, past mockery cast aside so they can be deemed heroes for daring to break from Republican ranks and oppose the president.
John McCain
Romney has been crowned the new McCain.
“Like McCain before him, Romney rebukes Trump,” Roll Call wrote after Romney’s impeachment vote.
Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin applauded Romney’s impeachment vote speech by calling it “McCain-esque.”
McCain wasn’t always liked though. When he ran against Barack Obama in 2008, the late Arizona senator was painted as an over-the-hill Republican grouch with racist policies. The Pew Research Center found in the weeks leading up to the election, negative stories about McCain were three to one. Obama, meanwhile, had the opposite problem. Only about a third of stories written about him were negative.
Google McCain’s name today and you’d be hard-pressed to find a bad word about him. Why is that? Could it be his time spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam? No, it’s because he was one of Trump’s most consistent Republican critics.
The New York Times, the same paper that ran an editorial in 2008 accusing McCain of possibly running racist ads, published piece after piece defendingMcCain from Trump attacks. Quite a flip.
Like Romney, McCain was a defeated political opponent later praised as an elder statesman and protector of all things good simply because he didn’t like Trump.
Anthony Scaramucci
He may have only served as the director of communications in the White House for eleven days, but that hasn’t stopped Scaramucci from turning himself into a self-appointed expert on the president.
Once one of Trump’s most loyal supporters, Scaramucci did a complete 180 degree turn in recent months and now appears to oppose everything he once promoted. What’s ironic about him now appearing on CNN and MSNBC or writing op-eds for Huffington Post and Washington Post about how he saw the wrong in his views is the same left-wing media he now frequents is the reason he was out of a job in the first place.
Scaramucci was fired after an interview with the New Yorker where he said some pretty vulgar things about White House officials, including Steve Bannon. Scaramucci thought the comments were off the record and was just as shocked as everyone else when he saw them in print.
George W. Bush
Before the possibility of Trump becoming president was ever a reality, George W. Bush was sold by the mainstream media as the worst Republicans had to offer. He was blasted as racist, incompetent, cowardly, on and on it went. The hysteria over Bush was so bad conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer coined the term “Bush Derangement Syndrome” — sound familiar? — to describe the extremeness that came with critiques of the man.
Leftists like Michael Moore blasted Bush and higher-ups in his administration as war criminals for starting the war in Iraq. Former Los Angeles prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wrote an entire book about prosecuting Bush for murder, and he’s the same guy who wrote ‘Helter Skelter’, the book about cult leader Charles Manson!
A film was even released fantasizing about Bush’s assassination, ‘Death of a President’, and it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. And before there was ever a push for Nancy Pelosi to impeach Trump, she was being pushed to impeach Bush. It was hard to imagine at the time that any politician could ever inspire the vitriolic hate that Bush did.
Then Trump came into the picture and knocked W.’s brother Jeb out of the running for president. George W. Bush in turn criticized Trump. He even defended the media as “essential to democracy” while Trump popularized terms like “fake news” in his war with the press.
Bush went from a threat to democracy to an “unlikely savior,” as the New York Times so subtly put it. He has been so redeemed in some eyes that more loyal leftists have become a tad uncomfortable with the man ranking on ‘most admired’ lists and hanging with celebs like Ellen DeGeneres. They have taken to trying to remind people of the good old days where people fantasized about everything from the man in prison to in the grave on a daily basis.
Coronavirus infections TRIPLE on cruise liner quarantined in Japan with thousands of passengers stuck in ‘floating prison’
Dozens of additional passengers aboard a cruise liner in Japan have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections on the ship to 61 as 3,700 people remain trapped on the quarantined vessel.
Stuck at the port of Yokohama since earlier this week, the ship’s 3,700 passengers and crew face weeks of quarantine as medical workers test for signs of the deadly contagion. The ship is now like a “floating prison,” one passenger said on social media, where haunting images have emerged showing its abandoned halls, once bustling with activity.
Of the thousands of passengers on board, 273 have shown symptoms of illness, such as cough and fever, or came in contact with those who have. All of those passengers have now been tested, Japan’s Health Ministry said, noting the 41 new patients will be transferred to medical facilities in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Shizuoka prefectures, as well as Kanagawa.
It remains unclear whether additional cases could arise on the ship, as the novel coronavirus has been found to spread person-to-person, even among those not yet showing symptoms, with a long incubation period. Some passengers already expressed fear that they could eventually end up stuck on the vessel for much longer than 14 days if new infections occur.
With the number of infections on the ship tripling on Thursday as health screenings continue, Japan now counts at least 86 cases of the lethal coronavirus nationwide, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. The illness has since spread to 25 other countries, infecting over 30,000 and claiming 635 lives in total, most of them in China.
Coronavirus kills 69 more people in China’s Hubei as total cases soar beyond 31,000
REPORT: CHINESE PEOPLE SELLING USED FACE MASKS FOUND IN TRASH
What could possibly go wrong?
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
A New Zealander who lives in China told the New Zealand Herald that “everything has fallen apart” and some Chinese people are selling used face masks found in trash cans.
The man, who lives in northeast China with his wife and two children, told the newspaper, “It’s getting worse by the day … everything has fallen apart here.”
The eyewitness was speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisals from the Chinese government, which has threatened people with 15 years jail time for spreading “misinformation” about the coronavirus.
With shortages crippling many areas of the country, the man said even used face masks were being sold for $50 dollars.
“I see old ladies walking around picking face masks out of the trash and then they sell them on the street the next day laughing about it,” he said. “When China says they’ve got enough and they’re handing them out, they’re not, I can tell you that now – there’s none available anywhere.”
He added that the masks are being ironed to make them appear new and that fights over food such as eggs and vegetables were also becoming a common occurrence.
As we highlighted yesterday, citing numbers inadvertently published by Tencent’s Epidemic Situation Tracker, Taiwan News reported that coronavirus infections are “astronomically higher than official figures,” and could be as high as 10 times those publicly released.
HONG KONGERS EMPTY STORE SHELVES OF FOOD, SUPPLIES AMID CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Stores running out of rice, toilet paper and surgical masks
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Hong Kong residents are emptying store shelves of storable food and household supplies out of fears China will seal its borders, thus stopping exports to Hong Kong.
Residents have already wiped out supermarkets of rice, toilet paper and cleaning wipes in addition to surgical masks and sanitizers which were already running in short supply.
“If China stops exporting stuff here, where would we get our necessities from?” Asked an elderly lady in front of empty shelves, as reported by Voice of America.
The outlet also reported that there’s a “there is also panic buying on rice — a staple food for Hong Kongers — packet noodles and vitamins, leaving the shelves eerily empty, although there was no shortage of meat and vegetables in shops,” suggesting that residents are stocking up on food that won’t spoil.
“There has been a severe shortage of surgical masks and sanitizing agents such as alcohol hand rubs and wipes, with many pharmacies posting notes on their windows saying ‘No masks, alcohol sanitizing agents or wipes available,’” stated Voice of America. “Long queues quickly form outside any shops that announce they have a supply of masks.”
“Thousands braved chilly winds and camped overnight Tuesday outside an outlet at Kowloon Bay that said it had procured a supply of masks from Dubai.”
Additionally, 10 clinics have closed in Hong Kong due to the lack of surgical masks, and another 400 clinics may soon close if more mask shipments are not received.
China’s economic output has slowed down significantly due to the unprecedented quarantine of millions of mainland residents, which has also contributed to the stockpiling in Hong Kong.
Unhinged: Pelosi Claims Ripping Up Speech Honoring American Heroes Was “Dignified”
2/6/2020
This woman cannot stop her hatred and lies… even after she just took the biggest political hit of her worthless career. WOW 😳. 🙏🇺🇸KAG 2Q2Q
MELTDOWN: Trump #Impeachment Victory Breaks Democrat Media
By DronetekPolitics
Democrats: Trump is attacking our elections. Also democrats : We don’t like the results of the election. We’re going to nullify it.
TAIWAN NEWS REPORTS CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS “ASTRONOMICALLY HIGHER THAN OFFICIAL FIGURES”
Claims real numbers are ten times higher.
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Citing numbers inadvertently published by Tencent’s Epidemic Situation Tracker, Taiwan News reports that coronavirus infections are “astronomically higher than official figures.”
According to the online news outlet, “Tencent may have accidentally leaked real data on Wuhan virus deaths.”
The story claims that Tencent accidentally “showed confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019nCoV) in China as standing at 154,023, 10 times the official figure at the time. It listed the number of suspected cases as 79,808, four times the official figure.”
Tencent’s tracker also claimed that the death toll was actually 24,589 – “astronomically higher” than the 300 deaths officially confirmed at that time.
The figures were quickly changed back to the official figures, but Chinese netizens were able to get screenshots before this happened.
“Netizens noticed that Tencent has on at least three occasions posted extremely high numbers, only to quickly lower them to government-approved statistics,” reports Taiwan News.
The report speculates that either a coding problem could be causing the real “internal” data to accidentally be displayed or there could be a whistleblower on the inside who is “trying to leak the real numbers.”
Shortages of test kits as well as victims dying before they can reach hospital and be officially recorded as coronavirus victims has prompted numerous observers to claim that the real numbers are actually far higher.
As we previously reported, a top virologist who was involved in the response to SARS and visited Wuhan said he believes that the coronavirus is “out of control.”
EERIE DRONE FOOTAGE OF WUHAN REVEALS CHINA’S REAL “GHOST CITY”
Scenes resemble apocalyptic horror movie
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
In its latest video on the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, the New York Times managed to fly a drone over the city of Wuhan, which has been under quarantine/lockdown orders from Beijing for more than a week.
The footage is haunting – like something out of an apocalyptic horror movie.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000006960506
Roughly 80% of virus-related deaths have occurred in Wuhan since the outbreak began. But there’s reason to believe the death toll – particularly in Wuhan – might be much higher.
Democrats failed to impeach Trump, but they won’t give up trying – it’s all they’ve got
by Nebojsa Malic
Even before President Donald Trump was elected US president, Democrats began talking about impeachment. Now that it has failed, will they finally accept the result of the 2016 election? Don’t get your hopes up.
Trump’s acquittal in the Senate on Wednesday was a foregone conclusion, given as it takes two thirds of the senators present to convict. The only way for 20 Republicans to switch sides was for the House case to be open and shut – something that only Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) and ‘Russiagate’ truthers in the media actually believed.
In the end, the sole Republican to break ranks was Mitt Romney, and only on one of the articles. Not guilty, exonerated, case closed, let’s “move on” – as Democrats themselves advised in 1999, after the same thing happened to Bill Clinton.
Not so fast. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has rejected the verdict, calling it “meaningless” because what happened in the Senate “wasn’t a trial.” It’s a retreat to last week’s talking points, arguing that the Senate should have called additional witnesses and documents that the House didn’t care to obtain before rushing to impeach back in December.
Never mind that doing this would have meant the House process was flawed, fatally undercut the second article – “obstruction of Congress” – or that the House managers themselves objected to any new evidence being introduced. If you’re expecting logic rather than lawfare, you’re in the wrong town.
Democrats began talking impeachment from the second Trump took office, having failed to prevent that from happening through a variety of long-shot schemes such as “Hamilton electors.” Their initial strategy was to allege “emoluments” and harp on Trump’s undisclosed tax returns, before settling on “Russiagate.” Then the Mueller Report came out and proved to be a dud of epic proportions. Hopes to at least get obstruction of justice charges out of it were decisively crushed by Attorney General William Barr.
Report came out and proved to be a dud of epic proportions. Hopes to at least get obstruction of justice charges out of it were decisively crushed by Attorney General William Barr.
Under tremendous pressure to find something – anything – to impeach Trump over, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi turned to Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff, a fellow Californian. Schiff seized upon a phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, which he was told about by staffers in touch with their former colleagues inside the intelligence community.
Schiff seized on Trump’s reference to Joe Biden’s bragging about getting a corruption prosecutor in Ukraine fired, to claim that this amounted to “soliciting foreign interference” in the 2020 election, since Barack Obama’s former VP was the front-runner for the Democrats’ presidential nomination.
While Schiff and his crew did their best to conjure a crazy conspiracy involving Trump holding up military aid for political leverage – mind-reading and inventing fake transcripts along the way – their case was ultimately smoke and mirrors. Zelensky himself said he was not being extorted, and the parade of other witnesses from within the very bureaucracy Trump had sworn to purge (but obviously hadn’t) had only their personal, anti-Trump opinions to offer.
Paradoxically, impeachment only made Trump stronger – and more popular, if the latest polls are anything to go by. By contrast, Democrats have gone from one defeat to the next this week, starting with Monday’s fiasco at the Iowa caucuses and continuing with Pelosi’s tantrum at Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday.
“This impeachment was a destructive debacle in every conceivable respect, but don’t worry I’m sure [Democrats] will change their behavior moving forward, they have a well-established track record of taking responsibility for failure,” quipped political journalist Michael Tracey after the Senate acquittal.
If Trump wins re-election in November – which increasingly looks like it might happen – expect the Democrats to try to impeach him again. What for? It doesn’t matter, any excuse will do.
Simply put, they have to. In retrospect, impeachment seems to have always been a coping mechanism for 2016, the election that neither Hillary Clinton nor her party ever recovered from losing.
Clinton herself offered more proof of that on Wednesday, accusing 52 Senate Republicans of betraying their oath to the Constitution and saying the US was “entering dangerous territory for our democracy.”
She’s actually correct about that, though not in a sense she may have intended. Democracy works only so long as all participants agree to abide by electoral results. Refusing to accept defeat and attempting to rules-lawyer one’s way out would be bothersome enough at a board game night, but is downright toxic when it infects national politics.
Kaiser Report co-host Stacy Herbert summed it up best, calling the last three years “one horrible remake of ‘Goodbye, Lenin’ in which the entire political and media classes have constructed an elaborate alternative reality so as to avoid having Hillary encounter any further distress which might compound her humiliation.”
Unlike in the 2003 German film, nothing so far has been capable of bursting this particular delusion bubble – which means that America’s long national nightmare is nowhere near over.
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