There was a point in my mid 20s where I had a solid 4-beer-a-day habit. At the time I was dating a brewer and my entire social life just happened to be tied to beer. Going out at night to meet friends for a beer or cracking open a few bottles a pal had brought back from a recent trip (or that my boyfriend had just…

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein has sent a letter to the White House calling for the release of the directive related to the scope of the FBI’s probe of Brett Kavanaugh.

In the letter addressed to White House counsel Don McGahn and FBI Director Christopher Wray and dated September 30, Feinstein wrote: “Given the seriousness of the allegations before the Senate, I am writing to request that you provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with a copy of the written directive by the White House to the FBI.”

She also asked for the names of additional witnesses if the probe is expanded.

On Friday, the White House ordered the FBI to conduct a time-limited investigation into the allegations of sexual assault made against Kavanaugh.

However, on Saturday reports surfaced that the White House was limiting the scope of the probe.

Trump has responded to both the media reports limiting the scope and the Democrats concerns about scope of the probe via Twitter.

“NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I was limiting the FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh, and witnesses, only to certain people,” Trump wrote on Saturday. “Actually, I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion. Please correct your reporting!”

NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I was limiting the FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh, and witnesses, only to certain people. Actually, I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion. Please correct your reporting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018

Then, earlier today, before Feinstein’s letter was released to the media, Trump wrote this:

“Wow! Just starting to hear the Democrats, who are only thinking Obstruct and Delay, are starting to put out the word that the “time” and “scope” of FBI looking into Judge Kavanaugh and witnesses is not enough. Hello! For them, it will never be enough – stay tuned and watch!”

Wow! Just starting to hear the Democrats, who are only thinking Obstruct and Delay, are starting to put out the word that the “time” and “scope” of FBI looking into Judge Kavanaugh and witnesses is not enough. Hello! For them, it will never be enough – stay tuned and watch!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018

[image via screengrab]

On Sunday, Sarah Sanders defended the White House not holding a press briefing for nearly three weeks.

Speaking to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, Wallace asked the White House press secretary why there has not been a press briefing since September 10 and wondered if the decision had been made to move the briefings off-camera because of reporters who “grandstand.”

She replied, “Certainly, I won’t disagree with the fact that they grandstand… I think it’s pretty widely known that it happens.”

Then she said this: “The day that the briefing was initially created, the atmosphere was incredibly different and you didn’t have the same access and ways to communicate with the American public.”

Then when Wallace asked if that meant on-camera press briefings have come to an end, Sanders said, Trump’s White House is “going to continue to do that.”

She stressed, though, that it is much better to hear directly from Trump himself.

“But I always think if you can hear directly from the president and the press has a chance to ask the President of the United States questions directly, that’s infinitely better than talking to me,” Sanders said. “We try to do that a lot and you’ve seen us do that a lot over the last three weeks, and that’s going to take the place of a press briefing when you can talk to the President of the United States.”

Watch above, via Fox News

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Did Kellyanne Conway say rapists and sexual assault perpetrators should go free? Did she blame women for their own assaults, including herself? Well no, of course she didn’t. But that’s the insane thing you might think she said if you listen to some liberals today on social media talking about her appearance on CNN Sunday morning.

Kellyanne Conway says she’s a victim of sexual assault, and then in the same breath says victims are to blame for their assaults? No, Kellyanne, victims are not to blame. Assaulters are. pic.twitter.com/UJMiTS5rXm

— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) September 30, 2018

That’s Emily Singer, Senior Political Reporter for Mic. The images in her post are screenshots of tweets from The Daily Beast.

She went on to say that “you have to be responsible for your own conduct” and slammed calls for an FBI probe into assault allegations against Kavanaugh https://t.co/1ppOtuXys7

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 30, 2018

The subheading of the Daily Beast’s article is “But the top White House aide says she doesn’t expect “anybody to be held responsible for that.”

Amy Siskind, of The New Agenda, said this:

Kellyanne Conway coming forward to say she too was a victim of sexual assault, and then using it to say she doesn’t expect “anybody to be held responsible for that” to shield Kavanaugh, has to be some of the most twisted shit I’ve ever seen.

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) September 30, 2018

Here’s Buzzfeed:

Kellyanne Conway said she is a survivor of sexual assault, but that she doesn’t expect “anybody to be held responsible for that” https://t.co/N3TXRLToTw

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 30, 2018

What are these stories leaving out, besides context and common sense? In Buzzfeed’s case, a direct quote where she says to blame the perpetrator.

Yes, she says to blame the perpetrator. And hold them responsible. She says, and this is a quote that is quoted from the words she said out loud in the video embedded in those articles, “blame the perpetrator.”

Hmmm. Here, watch the clip and see if you, unlike some others, can suss out what Kellyanne Conway was saying.

“That’s who is responsible for sexual assault, the people who commit them.”

Her voice cracks as she says she was a victim of assault. These liberals want you to believe that despite her being a victim, and the obvious impact it had on her, that she thinks those who commit assault should not be punished.

She lists names, like Jake Tapper and Brett Kavanaugh and Jeff Flake, who should not be held responsible, and used the word “anyone” to mean “anyone else” or in place of “etcetera”, as is, again, utterly and perfectly plain and clear in context.

Her comment literally saying to blame the perpetrator is actually quoted in the Daily Beast article, yet they still claim she is saying no one should be held responsible for sexual assault. Note, they are arguing that this is her point, not that she stumbled when admitting to the world for the first time out loud that she’s been the victim of assault. They hear and quote the rest of her remarks, yet still present as their story that she said sexual assault perpetrators should go unpunished.

Also missing from the online “analysis” across the board is that the said allegations should be heard in a court of law.

“They should all be heard, and they should be heard in courts of law, they should be heard in depositions, they should be heard in proceedings. Those who can prosecute, those who have civil and or criminal causes of action should pursue that,” she said.

So what might a person be doing in a court of law with regarding a sexual assault allegation? Could they be holding someone responsible for their actions? Could they be blaming and attempting to punish the perpetrator of assault?

Of course, that is exactly what that means. And what Conway obviously did was say that the perpetrators should should be held accountable, as opposed to holding innocent people accountable or all men in general, or “culture” or any of the myriad other parties or causes routinely cited by the folks who are here bashing Conway..

The take that the Daily Beast, Siskind, Buzzfeed, and others are taking is pedantic, but it’s also monumentally offensive, incorrect, and frankly absurd. They are saying that Kellyanne Conway doesn’t think rapists should be punished.

Does anyone watching that video here actually believe that’s what she was saying?

Conway said in this CNN segment that America has begun to treat both alleged perpetrators and alleged victims differently based on their political views. In response to her appearance this morning, aside from the gross misrepresentation by the gross articles above, check out some of the other reactions from liberal “believe women” Twitter, by screenshot, in case of deletions.

That’s an odd way to believe all women, but a great way to prove Kellyanne Conway’s point.

Watch the clip above, courtesy of CNN.

[Featured image via screengrab]

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Follow Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) on Twitter

Kanye West, or rather the artist formerly known as Kanye West since he now prefers to be referred to as YE, took to Twitter on Saturday to call for the abolition of the 13th Amendment.

The problem is, the 13th Amendment just so happens to be the amendment which abolishes slavery.

West tweeted out his thoughts on the 13th Amendment complete with a photo of him in a MAGA hat.

“We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment,” West wrote. “Message sent with love.”

this represents good and America becoming whole again.  We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America and create jobs.  We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment. Message sent with love pic.twitter.com/a15WqI8zgu

— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018

He then followed it up with this additional thought suggesting “the 13th Amendment is slavery in disguise.”

the 13th Amendment is slavery in disguise meaning it never ended We are the solution that heals

— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018

Then, in a third tweet, he clarified he did not want to abolish the 13th Amendment, but amend it.

not abolish but. let’s amend the 13th amendment

We apply everyone’s opinions to our platform

— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018

West’s message came shortly after President Donald Trump tweeted out his own supportive message to West, who appeared on Saturday Night Live last night wearing a MAGA hat.

Like many, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live (even though I past hosted it) – no longer funny, no talent or charm. It is just a political ad for the Dems. Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told “no”), was great. He’s leading the charge!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018

It is unclear exactly what West was trying to drive home with this tweet but he was likely referring to the clause in the amendment that reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Kim Kardashian West recently visited the White House to talk prison reform and has previously met with Trump to discuss the matter. Kanye has said he is excited by his wife’s focus on fixing the criminal justice system.

[image via screengrab]

In an op-ed published by The New York Times on Sunday, former FBI director James Comey defended the bureau’s ability to conduct an investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh but stressed that “if truth were the only goal, there would be no clock.”

Defending the agency’s ability to investigate, Comey noted that an investigation could be conducted into allegations that happened years ago because time has “very little” to do with memories.

“Yes, the alleged incident occurred 36 years ago,” he said. “But F.B.I. agents know time has very little to do with memory. They know every married person remembers the weather on their wedding day, no matter how long ago. Significance drives memory. They also know that little lies point to bigger lies. They know that obvious lies by the nominee about the meaning of words in a yearbook are a flashing signal to dig deeper.”

Yet, while he noted that the FBI agent — which he said are full of “people who just want to figure out what’s true” —  are capable of doing their job, “it is idiotic to put a shot clock on the F.B.I.”

He added: “But it is better to give professionals seven days to find facts than have no professional investigation at all.”

Calling the process “deeply flawed” and pointing fingers at the political motives on both sides of the fence, Comey also noted that the whole process of investigation is not as hard as lawmakers think.

“If truth were the only goal, there would be no clock, and the investigation wouldn’t have been sought after the Senate Judiciary Committee already endorsed the nominee,” Comey wrote. “Instead, it seems that the Republican goal is to be able to say there was an investigation and it didn’t change their view, while the Democrats hope for incriminating evidence to derail the nominee.

Then driving his point home, Comey wrote this: “Although the process is deeply flawed, and apparently designed to thwart the fact-gathering process, the F.B.I. is up for this. It’s not as hard as Republicans hope it will be.”

Read the full op-ed here.

[image via screengrab]

Appearing on CNN’s Reliable Sources on Sunday, journalist Katie Couric and host Brian Stelter discussed the ousting of Les Moonves from CBS and the general media landscape as it pertains to women and the one year anniversary of the start of the #MeToo movement. Couric lamented the fact that the news divisions of the broadcast giants, and every cable news network, are all run by men. But are they?

Couric said she never saw or knew about any disturbing behavior from her former news partner Matt Lauer, who was fired in #MeToo moment over alleged sexual harassment, but that she did notice the bad culture at CBS News.

“CBS news, I think, it’s clear from Ronan Farrow’s excellent reporting that they have a real culture problem there,” she said. “The culture I found at 60 Minutes personally was very challenging and at times quite offensive, because I think obsequious subservience was a job requirement in order to thrive there, for many women.”

Couric observed that the culture at 60 Minutes has been there for a while, but also that it extends to other news organizations.

“Obviously the male hierarchy has been in place there for years and it’s time for it to end, but they’re not the only network that has a male hierarchy,” she said. “If you look at the news presidents at every major broadcast and cable network, they’re all male. All three evening news anchors are male. The vast majority of executive producers at every network are male. And this really has to end.”

For a few of those male names, we can take a quick look.

The leadership at CBS, where Mooves is out and where Couric was part of the team at 60 Minutes (which she and Stelter discuss in the clip) consists of:

Joseph Ianniello, CBS acting CEO
David Rhodes, President, CBS News
Jeff Fager,Executive Producer, 60 Minutes

All three male, as Couric said. And CNN, the network on which this interview aired, is as follows:

Jeff Zucker, President of CNN Worldwide
Ken Jautz, Executive Vice President, CNN
Michael Bass, Executive VP of Programming, CNN U.S.

There’s ABC News:

Ben Sherwood, President, Disney ABC Television
James Goldston, President, ABC News

As Couric said, men again.

Here is the news choice of progressives, NBC News:

Andrew Lack, Chairman, NBC Universal News Group
Noah Oppenheim, President, NBC News
Phil Griffin, President, MSNBC

MSNBC’s President is an old white man, to be clear.

And finally, Fox News:

Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman, FOX News
Suzanne Scott, Chief Executive Officer, FOX News and FOX Business Network
Jay Wallace, President, FOX News and Executive Editor

Wait…

Yes, Suzanne Scott, a woman, is the CEO of both Fox News and Fox Business Network.

Couric is correct that most of the leadership of news organizations, and in particular where she used to work, are run exclusively by men. But that’s not true at Fox News, a rather notable exception about which she made no note. It’s an interesting exclusion, whether by oversight or omission, but not a contradiction of her overall assessment on the preponderance of men.

Although she didn’t discuss it specifically, we checked out a few major print publications as well.

Liberal New York Times:

Mark Thompson, President & CEO
A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher
Dean Baquet, Executive Editor

Conservative Wall Street Journal:

William Lewis, CEO and Publisher
Matt Murray, Editor in Chief

The Washington Post:

Frederick J. Ryan Jr., CEO and Publisher
Martin Baron, Executive Editor

Again, men. Of the gender balance, Couric says it affects how the news is covered.

“If we really believe that the tone at the top is paramount, then you have to have more diverse voices at the top because they have such an impact on the editorial choices that are made, who covers stories and how they’re covered,” she said.

This is also an argument for viewpoint diversity, made frequently by conservatives, who say that the lack of Republican or conservative voices in leadership in news networks creates a liberal bias. Couric is arguing that the lack of female voices creates a male bias.

It is interesting to observe that we don’t hear Couric arguing about how the news is too liberal, or conservatives arguing it’s too male, very often.

And you have to wonder if liberal bias may have played a role in omitting the fact that the number one and by-far dominant cable news network, Fox News Channel, has a female CEO in a discussion about lack of female executives. A similar situation occurred on The View a few months ago when Fox’s Harris Faulkner had to remind the hosts about diversity at Fox News as compared to the other two cable networks.

Speaking of diversity, former CNNer and prominent female journalist Soledad O’Brien recently ripped her former network, over theirs.

Watch the clip above, courtesy of CNN.

[Featured image via screengrab]

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Follow Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) on Twitter

As the FBI launches an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he’s already decided to stand by the SCOTUS nominee despite acknowledging that he himself is not aware of the truth.

In an 60 Minutes interview set to air Sunday night, Graham told CBS’ Scott Pelley that Kavanaugh had presented an emphatic rebuke of accusations from Christine Blasey Ford who claims to have been attacked by the judge when the two were in high school

“My mind’s made up about Brett Kavanaugh and it would take a dynamite accusation [to change it],” Graham told Pelley. “Dr. Ford, I don’t know what happened, but I know this: Brett denied it vigorously and everybody she names couldn’t verify it, it’s 36 years old. I don’t see anything new changing.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who was also present for the interview, appeared to take a more open-minded stance toward the federal probe, stating that his support for Kavanaugh could waiver depending on what investigators find.

However, like Graham, he also mentioned Kavanaugh’s denials.

“I called him after this happened, the allegations came out, said, ‘Did you do it?'” Graham recalled. “He was resolute, determined, unequivocal.”

Watch the clip above via 60 Minutes.

[Image via screengrab]

Read the rest of this entry »

Illustrations by Garth von Ahnen

Beto O’Rourke was a punk rocker.

If you didn’t know that by now, then you haven’t read any of the many profiles penned on Texas’ Democratic Senatorial candidate.

While his state’s Republican party has tried to turn that factoid into a slam, it clearly hasn’t been working.

If anything, the visuals of O’Rourke playing bass or skateboarding in a Whataburger parking lot have only given the Congressman an aura of reckless, Joey Ramone-like cool.

It seems like it’s only a matter of time before other politicians try to boost their popularity by turning to punk rock themselves.

Here are a few we think will try.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)

Bob Corker will start a heart-felt indie band to show that he’s evolved beyond the raw, populist rage he took advantage of back when he supported Trump.

Expect him to drive the point home with a bunch of 20 minute, minimalist pieces about personal growth.

It’ll be a lot easier than, you know, opposing a Supreme Court nominee or something.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

Bernie Sanders will dive into the punk scene once he realizes that you don’t need party support to start your own zine. You just need a friend at Kinko’s who will look the other way while you use the Xerox machine really quick.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)

Cory Booker bolstered his political rise by rescuing a constituent from a house fire, chasing an armed robbery suspect outside City Hall and taking to the streets to help shovel snow.

Expect him to start going to punk shows so he can be seen helping up kids who fell in the pit.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Since she’s a woman in a scene dominated by sketchy, less-talented dudes, it only makes sense for Elizabeth Warren to join the riot grrrl movement.

She can start subverting gender norms by making Mitch McConnell hold her jacket while she rages.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va)

Joe Manchin is a Democrat, but is usually kept from going along with his caucus due to the political demands of a red state. Punk’s all about alienation, so it’d be a natural landing spot for the Senator.

Plus, have you seen those campaign ads where he shoots various pieces of legislation? He definitely needs some kind of release.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

Look, you know how there are always those ska kids who skank at shows, even if there are no ska bands on the bill?

Judging from the fact that he’s used to blissfully going along his own path, regardless of what obvious issues may be facing his party, Marco Rubio will fit right in.

Last night, Saturday Night Live took aim at Judge Brett Kavanaugh, mocking his love of beer, old calendars and college workouts, but President Donald Trump said he didn’t bother to watch.

Taking to Twitter Sunday, the Commander in chief bashed the sketch comedy show, noting that even though he hosted it in the past, it’s “no longer funny” with “no talent or charm.”

He then added that it was nothing more than “a political ad for the Dems,” praising one of his major fans, Kanye West, for donning a signature Make America Great Again hat following the show.

“He’s leading the charge!” Trump wrote.

Like many, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live (even though I past hosted it) – no longer funny, no talent or charm. It is just a political ad for the Dems. Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told “no”), was great. He’s leading the charge!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018

SNL‘s latest cold open featured Matt Damon as Kavanaugh seated before the Senate Judiciary Committee guzzling water, sniffling and shouting defensively, “I’m not backing down…I don’t know the meaning of the word stop.”

While the comedic routine was clearly meant as a commentary on his emotional testimony Thursday, it doesn’t appear to have been well received by Trump.

[Image via screengrab]

Mediaite’s ranking of the Best Cable News Show at 6 p.m. dropped on Friday, naturally to much fanfare. We’ve been running this ranking since we took a look at the 9 a.m. shows on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, but we only recently had the bright idea to run a reader poll alongside our official ranking so we can see what you guys think about the shows we cover (in a slightly more statistical way than just staring at our frenetic comments section.)

This week, we took a look at the shows competing for the best program at 6 p.m. The competitors: The Situation Room on CNN, hosted by Wolf Blitzer; Special Report on Fox News, hosted by Bret Baier; and The Beat on MSNBC, hosted by Ari Melber.

It’s serious competition, and perhaps the most talent and star-power crammed into the three shows we’ve seen in our rankings yet. Blitzer needs no introduction: he’s Wolf. Baier holds a similar status over at Fox, as the patron saint of the biggest network’s hard news division. Melber, incredibly, gives them both a run for their money by delivering what might be the most innovative and weirdest (in a great way) news program on cable.

We ultimately gave Baier the top slot, for simply how impressive his news program is. Special Report is the gold standard at Fox, and is highly regarded by other networks as well.

As for Blitzer, he’s a veteran, but 6 p.m. marks the second hour of the Situation Room, and the show loses it’s steam a touch. He placed third, a tough break for members of the Wolf Pack, of which there are a few at Mediaite HQ.

Ari Melber, meanwhile, came in second. His show is wildly unpredictable (as we mentioned in our official ranking: Fat Joe feat. Bill Kristol is a collab only seen on The Beat) but also a solid hour of hard hitting analysis with a legal bent.

Our readers apparently agreed with us! Here’s how you placed those hosts:

What is the best cable news show at 6 p.m.: Special Report with Bret Baier, The Beat with Ari Melber, or the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer? Our ranking drops this afternoon. VOTE HERE:

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) September 28, 2018

It was a very tight race between Baier and Melber, with the Fox News anchor pulling away to a 1 point victory in the last hours of polling.

Check back next week for our rankings for 7 p.m.

My first passport was stamped exactly one time for a trip to Jamaica when I was 17. My current passport is on its very last pages, but its first one almost didn’t get stamped at all because it arrived just a few days before a trip to London a few years ago.

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Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) appeared fed up with Judge Brett Kavanaugh‘s behavior at last week’s Judiciary Committee hearing on sexual assault allegations against the SCOTUS nominee, calling out his claim that it amounted to a left wing smear.

Speaking to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Hirono said senators now need to focus on determining “whether Judge Kavanaugh is credible” and “whether he was candid with us,” adding that his allegations that Democrats are involved in a scheme to undermine him “was so bizarre.”

“And, by the way, even as all of these accusations about this being politically motivated are being tossed around, everyone acknowledges, including Judge Kavanaugh, that Dr. Ford is not being politically motivated,” she noted.

The senator then turned to the FBI investigation into Kavanaugh, which was requested last week by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), whose vote for the nominee remains uncertain. Whether the probe will be fair is a lingering question for Hirono.

“The thing is that every Senate vote matters and there is – there is time to get to the bottom of it, even if it’s seven days,” she said, dismayed by the short time frame. “That’s bad enough, but then to limit the FBI as to the scope and who they’re going to question, that – that really – I wanted to use the word farce, but that’s not the kind of investigation that all of us are expecting the FBI to conduct.”

Watch the clip above via ABC News.

[Image via screengrab]

On Fox and Friends on Sunday, Fox News’ Chief National Correspondent Ed Henry blasted former CIA Director John Brennan for his tweet on Saturday attacking Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and prominent defender Sen. Lindsey Graham, and praising Arizona GOP Senator Jeff Flake, who forced the 1-week delay to investigate Dr. Christine Blasey Ford‘s allegations.

“Hang on a second, John Brennan is saying that someone is partisan?” he said with incredulity. Henry said that the job of CIA Director is normally “relatively nonpartisan, but that Brennan was the opposite.

“This guy’s come out of the job and has been, not just an Obama partisan, he has been deranged almost in his attacks on President Trump. Won’t even call him president Trump, says ‘I’ll call him Mr. Trump, I will not give him respect’,” said Henry. “So spare me if we’re going to get a lecture from John Brennan about who’s partisan.”

Henry also suggested Brennan and other Democrats are hypocrites for calling Graham a partisan or “craven.”

“By the way, the second part of the tweet where he gets into, Lindsay Graham is craven? Didn’t John Brennan and everyone else in the Obama administration love him when he was riding shotgun with the late senator John McCain? And whenever Graham and McCain took on President Trump in conscience, on principle, they cheered it on,” he said. “Now all of a sudden Lindsey Graham supports a Trump nominee, and he’s the worst person in the world, and Bill Maher and everyone else, they’re all phony.”

Watch the clip above, courtesy of Fox News.

[Featured image via screengrab]

—

Follow Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) on Twitter

Political analyst Jeff Greenfield didn’t mince words with CNN’s Brian Stelter when calling out the network’s political coverage, which he felt embraced punditry rather than hard-nosed reporting.

“I’m skeptical about almost everything I’ve heard,” Greenfield told Stelter during a Sunday interview. The topic at hand had been the potential scope of an FBI probe into Judge Brett Kavanaugh over sexual assault allegations plaguing the SCOTUS nominee, but things soon turned to matters of journalistic ethics.

“I don’t think it’s surprising, at least in my view, a fair percentage of the press in one way or another thinks of itself as a kind of resistance,” he said, referencing opposition to President Donald Trump‘s administration. “We have to speak truth…we have to correct his statement about what we do.”

Though Greenfield, a veteran journalist himself, acknowledged the media’s role as the fourth estate, he didn’t spare any criticism of CNN.

“I have to say this quite bluntly to a CNN anchor,” he told Stelter. “When I look at CNN, hour after hour after hour I see panels rather than reporting, exchanging opinions, the overwhelming majority of which on this network I regard as quite critical or hostile to Trump.”

Greenfield also added that the press’ position “may be justified” and reporters may have rightfully decided “that they deserve this kind of pushback.” However, he explained the media divide has been exacerbated by increasing polarization.

On the matter of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Greenfield suggested Stelter’s network had already sided with the judge’s opponents and that “most of its people have taken a stand about this president and about this nomination.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said that Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been declining his invitations for them to appear on his Sunday show.

“We reached out to all ten Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats to join us today,” Wallace said on Fox News Sunday. “And for the third week in a row, none of them accepted.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Friday to send Brett Kavanaugh‘s Supreme Court nomination to the floor for a full vote, after hearing from both the judge and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused him of sexual assault.

That vote came after a dramatic last minute request from Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who asked that the FBI take a week to investigate Ford’s allegations. The FBI will investigate Ford’s claims as well as the allegations made by Debbie Ramirez, who claimed Kavanaugh thrust his genitals in her face at a party at Yale University.

Democrats celebrated the request from Flake, as it came after they had argued strenuously that an FBI investigation into the allegations would restore confidence in the process. Republicans were less pleased, though the request was approved.

Watch above, via Fox News.

Following a contentious exchange with Judge Brett Kavanaugh during last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said she was shocked by the SCOTUS nominee’s behavior as she grilled him about his drinking habits.

“I was really stunned about how he acted at that hearing,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper in a Sunday interview, noting that it was “basically a job interview for the highest court of the land.”

On Thursday, as Kavanaugh testified before committee members including Klobuchar, she pressed him to admit whether he’d ever experienced a blackout as a result of excessive drinking. The judge then turned the tables on the senator, asking, “I don’t know, have you?” After a short recess, he apologized for the remark.

However, Klobuchar doesn’t seem to buy Kavanaugh’s claim that he hasn’t suffered memory loss from alcohol consumption.

“It doesn’t quite make sense to me,” she said, adding that “you have these other people from parts of his life who have said that he was belligerent when he was drunk and other things.”

Now, the senator would like to see those individuals questioned by FBI investigators, hoping to get to the bottom of allegations from Christine Blasey Ford who claims to have been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in the 1980s.

“We know that she passed a polygraph test, which while not admissible in regular courts, is used all the time for FBI, for CIA, for Defense Department, and she passed it with flying colors,” Klobuchar said. “So these are the things that the FBI could look at if they evaluate the credibility of the witnesses.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

On Fox News Sunday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told host Chris Wallace that Democrats in the Senate have “exploited” Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh for partisan gain, calling their behavior ‘disgraceful” and “disgusting.”

Wallace asked Sanders about whether the White House was giving specific instructions to the FBI or a list of people not to interview, and Sanders said repeatedly that they were allowing the Senate to run the show, but never specifically denied an exclusion list. She did, however, lay into Democrats from the start. She said that “this can’t become a fishing expedition like the Democrats would like to see it be.”

“They’ve been absolutely disgraceful in the way they’ve handled this process, the way they’ve exploited both Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford,” she said. “I think we cannot allow the people that have acted in bad faith to determine and allow this to become a total fishing expedition by the FBI.”

When Wallace pressed more on whether the White House was interfering, she turned back to Democrats. “Dianne Feinstein and her staff knew about these accusations. They could have done all of this in a private way to protect Dr. Ford. Instead, for the people that claim to champion women, Democrats have exploited Dr. Ford, they’ve exploited this process and I think it’s been totally disgraceful,” she said.

Wallace turned to the question of Ford’s testimony and the statement from President Donald Trump that she was credible and compelling.

“I think certainly anybody who watch that can’t ignore the fact that it evoked some emotion,, but this isn’t about emotion, it’s about facts, and the facts all end on Brett Kavanaugh’s side,” said Sanders. “Certainly in all of the information that came through that hearing there was no corroboration, but nobody could deny that her testimony wasn’t compelling that it wasn’t impactful, and certainly it appears something happened to this woman and I don’t there’s anybody in America who would condone that or be okay with that. I do think the big question is, was that Brett Kavanaugh? And I think based on his testimony and the information he provided, you can easily come away and say it wasn’t.”

Wallace asked Sanders to elaborate. “I don’t have to tell you you’re a woman,” he said. “How did her testimony affect you personally, and how do you explain it? That should be that compelling and that believable, and yet you think she’s wrong?”

“Again, I think that her testimony was compelling but there was no fact-based information that supported the accusation. Equally compelling if not more so was Brett Kavanaugh, she said. ‘And you point out a woman, I’m also a mom. I have a daughter and I have two sons. I think it’s a very, very dangerous place, and a very dangerous road for America to go down, to simply take an accusation and make it fact.”

Wallace played a clip of Ford’s testimony and pressed about seeing her as credible and while saying she is wrong about Brett Kavanaugh after she was so specific and certain.

“There’s no doubt that her story is heartbreaking, and it’s heart-wrenching to watch it,” she continued. “I’ve watched it a number of times. Again I think you have to look at Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony as well, equally heartbreaking. Look at the destruction of his family, look at how this has played out,” said Sanders.

Sanders brought it once again back to the Democrats.

“The biggest thing that I think is so disgraceful and so disgusting the way the Democrats have allowed this process to play out, and allowed both of these individuals to be so beaten down and so destroyed by, frankly, the media who has played a big role in thiS, not to say that they shouldn’t report it but that they’re putting so much information and so much pressure on these two individuals, and I think that this all could have been avoided had Dianne Feinstein and her team done this behind closed doors, not done this in such a public setting– That was what Dr. Ford asked for, she wanted this to be done in a private way and it wasn’t, and it could have been, and a lot of this could have been avoided, and the pain and the suffering that she’s having to relive, and that Judge Kavanaugh is having to experience all could have been avoided.”

Wallace asked if the White House was open to changing course and withdrawing the nomination if the FBI found something to contradict Kavanaugh, and Sanders said that she would not get ahead of the investigation, and reiterated the Administration’s position that he is credible and accomplished, that the FBI has thoroughly investigated him, and that many dozens of people have stood up for his character and integrity even after the hearings.

Watch the clip above, courtesy of Fox News.

[Featured image via screengrab]

—

Follow Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) on Twitter

Senators Chris Coons and Jeff Flake are set to appear for an interview on 60 Minutes, and in a preview released Sunday morning, they weighed in on Brett Kavanaugh‘s furious testimony before the Judiciary Committee.

It was Flake’s last minute decision to call for an FBI investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh that postponed his nomination for a week. The Arizona Republican consulted with Coons, his friend and a Democrat from Delaware, before making his decision that rankled many Republicans on the committee.

60 Minutes host Scott Pelley asked what Kavanaugh’s angry testimony says about his “judicial temperament.” Pelley asked the senators: “Does this man belong on the Supreme Court?”

“If I were unjustly accused, that’s how I would feel, as well,” Flake said, though he conceded that Kavanaugh’s interactions with some senators “was a little too sharp.”

Coons was more scathing in his critique. The Democrat said Kavanaugh’s exchanges with Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Amy Klobuchar “went over the line.”

“He was belligerent, aggressive, angry, and I thought there was a tough dynamic there,” Coons said. The senator added that part of him thought “this is a man who believes that he did nothing wrong, and he is completely unjustly accused and he is being railroaded and he is furious about it.”

Coons continued that he was surprised to hear some of Kavanaugh’s more partisan lines — like his claim that the allegations against him were a plot for “revenge on behalf of the Clintons” — that “made me wonder about his suitability to serve on the bench.”

“That part that he talked about the Clintons I didn’t like either,” Flake said. “It seemed partisan. “But boy, I’d have to put myself in that spot, you’ve got to give a little leeway there.

60 Minutes airs Sunday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Watch above, via CBS News.

As a firestorm of controversy consumes the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh following sexual assault allegations leveled against the SCOTUS nominee, one of his biggest defenders revealed she is a survivor herself.

During a Sunday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway said she’s a victim of sexual assault, a personal admission which appeared unexpected by Tapper, who said it was the first time he had heard it.

“I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape,” she said, appearing to get emotional. “I’m a victim of sexual assault. I don’t expect Judge Kavanaugh or Jake Tapper or Jeff Flake or anybody to be held responsible for that.”

Tapper responded that he’s “really sorry” Conway “went through that.”

Conway made the remarks as part of her ongoing support for Kavanaugh, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, refuting allegations from Christine Blasey Ford that he attacked her at a high school party in the 1980s. On Saturday, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) called for an FBI probe into the matter, delaying his confirmation.

However, Conway contended that the fight over the nominee is “all partisan politics,” recalling that it’s been called a sham by Kavanaugh himself. That’s despite Ford’s testimony before the senators and requests from the dean of Yale Law School and the American Bar Association for an investigation.

On survivors of sexual assault, Conway said, “god bless them, but go blame the perpetrator. That’s who is responsible for out sexual assaults, the people who commit them.”

Returning to her comment about her experience with assault, Tapper then raised questions over how she could stand by a president who claims his own accusers are spreading lies. Conway contended that was different.

“Don’t conflate that with this, and certainly don’t conflate it with what happened to me,” she told Tapper. “That would be a huge mistake.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

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Kellyanne Conway was grilled by Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union Saturday over Brett Kavanaugh‘s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, his alleged heavy drinking, and President Donald Trump‘s response to the process.

The White House counselor started by denying that the White House was “getting involved” in the weeklong FBI investigation ordered to probe the allegations against Kavanaugh, Trump’s nominee for Supreme Court.

“We’re not trying to interfere,” Conway said.

Tapper played a clip of Trump reacting to Christine Blasey Ford‘s testimony, which the president called “credible” and “compelling.”

“Credible means believable,” Tapper said. “Does President Trump believe her?”

Conway replied that Ford’s testimony has not been corroborated, claiming the people at the alleged party denied the assault happened. Tapper corrected Conway by noting that two of the alleged attendees of the party did not deny the assault happened, but said they did not remember it.

The CNN anchor continued to press Conway on whether the president thought Ford to be believable, and the White House official reiterated that he finds her “compelling and credible.”

Conway then called out CNN for not doing town halls on sexual assault like they did on gun control in the wake of the Parkland, Florida mass shooting. Tapper told Conway that CNN has down a town hall on sexual assault and harassment.

Tapper moved on to press Conway on Kavanaugh’s claims in his testimony that he never blacked out from drinking. He played an interview from one of Kavanaugh’s Yale classmates who said she witnessed him “stumbling drunk.” Conway dodged.

Watch above, via CNN.

When Kanye West was announced as the performer for the season premier of Saturday Night Live‘s 44th season, he donned a Make America Great Again hat in the promo. He wore the same hat — a variation of President Donald Trump‘s signature one, customized by West himself — at his performance on the premier last night.

And then, after wrapping up a rendition of “Ghost Town,” with an assist from Kid Cudi and 070 Shake, West took it upon himself to deliver one of his signature rants, this time focused on a current fixation: his support for Trump.

NBC had cut the feed for time, but Mike Dean, West’s longtime producer and engineer, posted a clip of the rant on Twitter.

“You see they laughing at me. You heard em the scream at me. They bully me. They bullied me backstage. They said, ‘don’t go out there with that hat on.’ They bullied me backstage. They bullied me!” Kanye said. A sole audience member clapped.

“And then they say I’m in a sunken place,” he continued. “You want to see the sunken place? Okay, I’ma listen to ya’ll now — or I’ma put my Superman cape on, cause this means you can’t tell me what to do. Follow your heart and stop following your mind. That’s how we’re controlled. That’s how we’re programmed. If you want the world to move forward, try love.”

“I think the universe has balance. 90 percent of news are liberal,” West added. “90 percent of TV, L.A., New York, writers, rappers, musicians. So it’s easy to make it seem like it’s so one-sided.”

KANYE SNL TALK THAT GOT CUT OFF FREEDOM OF SPEECH SHOULD HAVE EXTENDED pic.twitter.com/IpULoEJxsN

— MIKE DEAN! #MWA (@therealmikedean) September 30, 2018

Chris Rock also posted some of the rant to his Instagram story:

From Chris Rock’s IG story, looks like Kanye gave a speech after NBC cut the SNL feed pic.twitter.com/mYpSxqbw9Z

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) September 30, 2018

“I wanna cry right now, black man in America, supposed to keep what you’re feelin’ inside right now,” West sang.

“The blacks want always Democrats… you know it’s like the plan they did, to take the fathers out the home and put them on welfare… does anybody know about that? That’s a Democratic plan,” he said. “There’s so many times I talk to, like, a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist.’ Well, uh, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago.”

The audience could be heard audibly booing West, and at one point Rock laughed and muttered “oh my god.”

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