ET Williams

The Doctor of Common Sense

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1-Way Williams in the White House Press Room?

Talk radio hosts and bloggers may be included in White House press briefings

Trump administration’s proposal for new venue and inclusion of non-traditional media follows president-elect’s latest outbursts against mainstream reporters
trump

Talk radio hosts and bloggers could be given greater access to official White House press briefings once the Trump administration takes office, under a highly irregular proposal being floated that may also remove briefings from the West Wing.

Trump’s pick for White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said on Sunday that due to “off the chart” interest in the new administration, the president-elect was considering moving briefings from the James S Brady press briefing room, which has been used by presidents to address the media since 1970, to a venue with a greater capacity.

A report published by Esquire magazine on Saturday indicated the venue could be inside the Old Executive Office Building, just west of the White House.

“I know change is difficult sometimes,” Spicer told Fox News. “But sometimes change can actually be better.”

Spicer argued the proposal would mean “you can involve more people, be more transparent, have more accessibility”. He suggested that this would mean outlets that are not traditionally part of the White House press corps would be able to ask questions during presidential press briefings.

“There’s a lot of talk radio and bloggers and people that can’t fit in right now and maybe don’t have a permanency because they’re not part of the Washington elite media,” Spicer said, “but to allow them an opportunity to ask the press secretary or the president a question is a positive thing. It’s more democratic.”

Around 200 journalists make up the White House press corps. The Brady press briefing room holds 49 permanent seats for major media organisations, which are granted space by the White House reporters (WHCA). The Guardian is among those outlets allocated a space.

White House briefings are open any journalist that seeks access and passes security clearance, but the president more typically takes questions from major news organisations with an allocated seat.

It remains unclear how the proposal would be implemented, but it is likely to be interpreted as a hostile rebuke to conventional media outlets around the country.

Jeff Mason, the WHCA president and Reuters White House correspondent, said he had a “constructive”, nearly two-hour meeting with Spicer on Sunday. Mason “emphasized the importance of the White House press briefing room” and its proximity to West Wing officials.

“I made clear that the WHCA would view it as unacceptable if the incoming administration sought to move White House reporters out of the press work space behind the press briefing room,” Mason said in a statement. “Access in the West Wing to senior administration officials, including the press secretary, is critical to transparency and to journalists’ ability to do their jobs.”

Spicer agreed to discuss any changes to the current system with the WHCA, Mason said.

During a chaotic press conference at Trump Tower on Wednesday, the first the businessman has held since July 2016, hundreds of journalists crammed into a small pen as Trump frequently lambasted certain media organisations and occasionally individual reporters. Trump was incensed by reports on a leaked and unsubstantiated dossier, which alleged frequent contacts between his campaign team and Russian authorities, and suggested the Kremlin held compromising material that could be used to blackmail Trump.

Trump was also asked by a reporter at Breitbart News what his views were on media ethics and “fake news”, to which he replied: “Some of the media outlets that I deal with are fake news more so than anybody. I could name them, but I won’t bother. You have a few sitting right in front of us.

“They’re very, very dishonest people, but I think it’s just something we’re going to have to live with. I guess the advantage I have is that I can speak back.”

According to the Associated Press, Breitbart News, branded by critics as a racist, far-right news site, was the only media organisation to have a reserved seat in the front row for the conference. Steve Bannon, Trump’s incoming chief strategist and senior counselor, previously served as the site’s executive chairman.

The president-elect’s campaign drew consistent support from numerous conservative talk radio hosts and internet conspiracy theory sites, for instance Alex Jones’s InfoWars. During the campaign, Trump took the unprecedented step of appearing on Jones’s site, known as America’s foremost conservative conspiracy theory outlet. Jones has previously dismissed the Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 elementary school students and six school staff were murdered, as “completely fake”, and has branded the September 11 terror attacks an “inside job”.

Trump was interviewed for around 30 minutes by Jones in December 2015, and later called Jones a “nice guy”. Jones claimed in November that Trump called him to thank him for his support after winning the presidential election.

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-15/trump-team-may-move-briefings-from-west-wing-to-accommodate-more

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Layoffs at Crooked Clinton Foundation

Crooked Hillary Loses Again
Crooked Hillary Loses Again

The Clinton Foundation announced it’s laying off 22 staffers on the Clinton Global Initiative, keeping with a plan to deal with the negative spotlight put on the organization during former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

The layoffs will take effect April 15, the Clinton Foundation said in a filing with the New York Department of Labor Thursday, citing the discontinuation of the Clinton Global Initiative. The move is part of a plan put in motion ahead of the presidential election in order to offset a storm of criticism regarding pay-to-play allegations during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.

The layoffs were reportedly announced internally in September, ahead of Clinton’s stunning loss to President-elect Donald Trump. Many other employees had already begun looking for or accepting other jobs at that time, as it had become clear the future of the initiative was in doubt. It’s unclear how many of the once 200 strong staff might remain at the Clinton Foundation in some other capacity.

The Clinton Foundation could not immediately be reached for comment.

While the FBI concluded its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, a second investigation into the Clinton Foundation regarding allegations of corruption during that same tenure is ongoing.

The decision to sunset the Clinton Global Initiative reportedly set off a dispute within Clinton Foundation circles regarding the best way to handle the fallout from the allegations. Some complained the layoff process was “insensitively” handled, Politico reported, while others took issue with the optics of allowing anyone with the Clinton Global Initiative to stay on.

Read more:  http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/14/heads-are-finally-beginning-to-roll-at-the-clinton-foundation/#ixzz4VrXUxlYS

 

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Zoe Saldana Calls Hollywood a “Bunch of Arrogant Bullies”

Getty/AFP/File Frazer Harrison

A-list actress Zoe Saldana says Donald Trump won the election, thanks, in part, to “arrogant” celebrities whose personal insults created sympathy for the Republican candidate and galvanized his supporters.

“We got cocky and became arrogant and we also became bullies,” the Oscar-winner told AFP.

Saldana, the face of multiple blockbuster film franchises–Star Trek, Avatar,and Guardians of the Galazy–says celebrities demonizing Trump only emboldened the voters who believed in him.

“We were trying to single out a man for all these things he was doing wrong … and that created empathy in a big group of people in America that felt bad for him and that are believing in his promises,” she said.

While she did not support Trump’s candidacy, Saldana says, “I’m learning from (Trump’s victory) with a lot of humility.”

She said she is hopeful that America under Trump will not become the racially segregated society that it once was.

“If we have people continue to be strong and educate ourselves and stand by equal rights and treat everyone with respect, we won’t go back to those times,” Saldana said.

Zoe Saldana on Trump Win
Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone.  Out-sings Nina and out-thinks Hollywood. 

The 38-year-old actress is but one of a growing number of stars who have condemned the cockiness of celebrities during the campaign and now insists that Americans rally around Trump.

“A lot of celebrities did, do, and shouldn’t [talk about politics], Patriots Day star Mark Wahlberg told Task & Purpose about a month after the election. “A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble.”

“You know, it just goes to show you that people aren’t listening to that anyway. They might buy your CD or watch your movie, but you don’t put food on their table. You don’t pay their bills.”

Last week, actress Nicole Kidman said, “[Trump is] now elected and we, as a country, need to support whoever is the president.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/01/14/zoe-saldana-trump-won-hollywood-got-cocky-became-arrogant-bullies/

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Down Goes Obamacare! Senate Votes to Repeal

The House of Representatives voted Friday to approve Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, which sets in motion the repeal of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform legislation, Obamacare, by a vote of 227-to-198, with nine Republicans voting against the repeal bill.

“This provided Congress with the legislative tools that we need to repeal and replace Obamacare,” said Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R.-Wis.), who spoke on the House floor before the vote. “This is the critical first step toward delivering relief to Americans who are struggling under this law.”

It is very rare for a speaker to take to the House floor and comment on a bill, so Ryan’s remarks signal the importance of the vote.

“The law is collapsing, the insurers are pulling out, and people can’t afford it,” he said.

“The deductibles are so high, it doesn’t even feel like you have insurance in the first place,” Ryan said. “This is a rescue mission. This is a necessary move and I urge all of my colleagues to do what is right.”

Nine Republicans voted with Democrats against the bill and no Democrats voted for the bill.

After Ryan was done, he shook hands with other Republicans and walked off the floor.

Although it is the custom for the speaker not to vote, Ryan did join the rest of his conference to support passage of the bill that does not truly repeal the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Rather, because it is a bill using the track set up to pass the federal budget, it only addresses the financial underpinnings of Obamacare, such as the fees, taxes and, subsidies. Future legislation would have to address the rules and regulations.

Republican leaders chose the budget reconciliation process because Senate Republicans do not have the 60 votes required to end debate and proceed to a vote. A budget bill, however, has a fixed 50 hours of debate and then proceeds directly to a vote.

The incomplete repeal and the failure by Republicans to have a companion replacement bill that would cement the parts of Obama’s healthcare reforms that have consensus support—such as protections for people with pre-existing conditions or the ability to keep children on a parent’s plan until age 26—has raised concerns.

Following the speaker at the rostrum, the Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) approached to be recognized.

“I’m so sorry that the speaker left the floor, because I have some very good news for him,” she said.

“Clearly, he does not understand what the Affordable Care Act has brought to our country in terms of expanding access to many more people and to the promise of our Founding Fathers of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” she said.

The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus—the conservative bloc inside the House Republican Conference—Rep. Mark R. Meadows (R.-N.C.), voted for the partial repeal but has voiced his concerns about not having the replacement to Obamacare ready-to-go.

“This has been a top priority of mine and the Freedom Caucus, as I believe it is critical that we give the American people a clear direction and assurance of a smooth transition toward a sound, high quality, and affordable healthcare market—especially so the most vulnerable can get the coverage they need,” Meadows said.

“Going forward, I strongly believe and will continue to express that a full repeal of Obamacare should take effect within two years during the 115th Congress,” he said. “That is what we promised the voters we would do. That is our job–and it’s high time we accomplish it.”

Now that the bill has passed, House and Senate committees must come up with specific proposals for the transition to the post-Obamacare world. The committees are allowed to submit their proposals beginning Jan. 27 in order to be incorporated in a final “budget” bill.

The congressman Meadows whom succeeded as leader of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. James D. Jordan (R.-Ohio), said he voted for the bill because he wanted to get the process going.

“This is step one in the process to repeal Obamacare, a law that has driven up prices and hurt care. There are several steps to come but the goal is very clear: repeal it all – every regulation, every tax, every mandate – and do it this Congress,” Jordan said.

“All the talk of a three to four year phase out is not what we told the voters we would do. I will work to repeal it all as fast as we can,” he said.

 

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/13/obamacare-on-the-ropes-as-house-follows-senate-in-voting-to-repeal/

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Trump to Drug-Test Press Corps?

 

Drug testing floated for White House press corps

One proposal on dealing with the media that was pitched to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team calls for drug testing the White House press corps.

Trump’s attacks on the mainstream media were a cornerstone of his campaign and last week he called BuzzFeed a “failing pile of garbage,” but forcing reporters to undergo random drug tests would provoke a media meltdown.

The pee-in-a-cup proposal (yellow journalism indeed) was one of 13 ideas one candidate for White House press secretary wrote in November in a confidential memo to members of the Presidential Transition Team’s Executive Committee.

He didn’t get the job, and I am not naming him because his proposal could harsh the mellow of his fellow journalists.

Sean Spicer, who was spokesman for the Republican National Committee, is Trump’s press secretary, and told me, “I support whatever security measures are recommended by the Secret Service.”

“Journalists who are at the White House more than one day per week should be subject to drug screenings to occur no more than twice a year at random times,” the memo states. “Refusal to comply should exclude them from credentialing entirely.”

The job applicant also proposed taking away the right of the White House Correspondents’ Association to control reporters’ seating arrangements in the press briefing room.

The current system favors TV networks and certain newspapers at the expense of more ideologically diverse Web sites, bloggers and podcasters.

The Trump administration, the candidate wrote, “should clear a path to communicate more directly with the people and end White House press practices that serve no useful purpose other than feeding the beast.”

http://pagesix.com/2017/01/13/drug-testing-floated-for-white-house-press-corps/?_ga=1.103821888.1990827590.1484341786

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Archbishop Defies Pope: Our Stupidity Turned Europe Muslim

Dumbass Gets Slapdown: No more mooslims damit!
Dumbass Gets Slapdown: No more mooslims damit!

Everyone in Italy and the rest of Europe will “soon be Muslim” because of the country’s “stupidity”, a prominent Italian archbishop has said.

Monsignor Carlo Liberati, Archbishop Emeritus of Pompeii, said that Islam will soon become Europe’s main religion thanks to the huge number of Muslim migrants alongside the increasing secularism of native Europeans.

Speaking to Italian Catholic journal La Fede Quotidiana, the archbishop said: “In 10 years we will all be Muslims because of our stupidity. Italy and Europe live in a pagan and atheist way, they make laws that go against God and they have traditions that are proper of paganism.

“All of this moral and religious decadence favours Islam.”

“We have a weak Christian faith,” he added. “The Church nowadays does not work well and seminaries are empty.

“Parishes are the only thing still standing. We need a true Christian life. All this paves the way to Islam. In addition to this, they have children and we do not. We are in full decline.”

The archbishop added that the problem is not just Muslim immigration. The number of Eastern Europeans arriving over the past few years has also hit the quality of life for native Italians, he said.

“We help without delay those coming from outside and we forget many poor and old Italians who are eating from the trash,” the archbishop said. “We need policies that take care of Italians first: our young people and the unemployed.

“I am a protester. If I were not a priest, I’d be out there demonstrating in the squares. What is the point of so many migrants that instead of thanking for the food we give them, they just throw it, spend hours with their cell phones and even organise riots?”

He even criticised the Catholic Church for giving money to migrants.

“Giving money to migrants wandering around town is not only wrong, but morally harmful because we encourage their behaviour and they get used to that, not mentioning the fact that we already feed them.

“I think sometimes this creates a beggars’ network. I remember that my father went to work very hard as a migrant in Australia so I could go to seminary. So he has experienced in his own skin the discomfort of poverty and the noble virtue of gratitude.”

http://www.breitbart.com/faith/2017/01/14/top-bishop-europe-will-soon-muslim-stupidity/