11/16/16

WATCH! Six communists arrested after attacking Trump supporters, media yawns (video)

By: Renee Nal | New Zeal

Top row: Jarred Roark, 34 (Left); Taylor Tomas Chase, 21 (Center); Joseph Wayne George, 36 (Right); Bottom row: Samuel Benjamin Lauber, 21 (Left); Jason Peterson, 24 (Center); Jade Tabitha Shackelford, 19 (Right). (Photo: DPS)

Communists from the “Red Guards Austin” were arrested after violently attacking Trump supporters during an anti-Trump rally at the Capitol on Sunday night, as reported at a local CBS affiliate.

Trevor Loudon is well aware of the violent and “secretive” Red Guards Austin, who he describes as “extreme Maoist.” This communist group, Loudon explains, is “aligned with the Red Guards Los Angeles and the Kansas City Missouri-based Progressive Youth Organization, both of which were heavily involved in anti-Trump protests before the election.”

Referring to the arrests, the Red Guards Austin posted the following on Facebook using the code name “Puka” for one of those arrested:

A brief perusal of Red Guards Austin Facebook page reveals that this anti-capitalist group is not interested in peace. Advertising an anti-Trump rally last Thursday, they wrote:

“Calling all militants. F— the police. Show up if your pissed at this system and lets shut s— down.”

The communist group shared an event for students from the “Revolutionary Student Front” (which describes itself as a “revolutionary anti-capitalist student movement” ) scheduled for this Friday night called “‘Not My President’ to ‘No More Presidents!'” which seeks to build “a movement that can create a revolution to end capitalism will burn the oppressive roots from which fascism grows:”

“With Donald Trump as president-elect, a lot of us are wondering how we got here and what we can do about it. The Democratic Party won’t save us; even ‘progressives’ like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have said they’ll work together with President Trump. Peaceful protest won’t save us; as Stokely Carmichael said, “Nonviolence only works if your opponent has a conscience. The United States has none.”

The only thing that has stopped fascism historically is an organized anti-fascist fighting force; Hitler was only stopped by the Red Army. The rising wave of fascist movements emboldened by Trump’s presidency can only be countered by an even more bold mass movement of anti-capitalist resistance. Now more than ever, the steps necessary for building this type of mass revolutionary movement need to be made. And only a movement that can create a revolution to end capitalism will burn the oppressive roots from which fascism grows.

Join the Revolutionary Student Front at Jester A203A (tentative) on 6:30 on Thursday, to talk about the concrete steps necessary in building power on campus as working-class students to create a better world and defend each other from the threat of fascism.”

The Revolutionary Student Front supports the Red Guards Austin, according to this post:

Red Guard friends Revolutionary Student Front - Austin

Red Guard Austin are friends with the Revolutionary Student Front – Austin

The Red Guard Austin’s cover photo on Facebook:

Red Guards Austin Facebook photo

The Revolutionarfy Student Front gives tips to protesters who are “new to protests that are more on the disruptive and confrontational side,” such as writing the phone number of the National Lawyers Guild on the protester’s arm before the protest. Not surprisingly, the communist agitators do not discourage violence.

Watch a local CBS affiliate report (mildly) on the arrest:

The same communist organization attacked Alex Jones during a pro-life rally in May, 2015.

Watch the video here:

It is highly unusual for a local news report to identify “activists” as members of communist groups, although the majority (if not all) of the recent anti-Trump protests are indeed organized by communists.

11/16/16

Lazy Liberal Journalists Smear Bannon

By: Cliff Kincaid | Accuracy in Media

Media bias won’t let up just because the liberal media were humiliated on November 8. The bias is now being directed at the President-elect’s conservative appointments.

On Monday night’s CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley proclaimed that the Southern Poverty Law Center had declared that Donald J. Trump’s campaign CEO Stephen Bannon “has no business being in the White House.” Bannon was named as chief strategist and counselor.

In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has no business being cited as a credible source by any responsible news organization. It smears conservatives for profit, diverting attention from real domestic threats, such as the Marxist extremists currently demonstrating against Trump in the streets and threatening to disrupt his inauguration.

Many of the demonstrators are from the ANSWER Coalition, an outgrowth of the pro-North Korea Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party.

But don’t expect to get any information about the ANSWER Coalition from the SPLC.

In fact, the SPLC is in bed with communists of all kinds, having participated in the notorious Left Forum held in New York City earlier this year. We noted at the time that the event featured “an assortment of communists, 9/11 truthers, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activists, and other extremists.”

Even more troubling, SPLC President and CEO Richard Cohen was a member of the “Countering Violent Extremism Working Group” of the Department of Homeland Security in 2010. It is possible that Cohen, in this capacity, was able to get access to classified information, and that the SPLC, in turn, shared its erroneous data on conservative opponents of the Obama administration with federal law enforcement agencies.

The attacks on Bannon stem from his leadership of the news site, Breitbart News, a popular source of alternative news and information which was strongly pro-Trump during the campaign. On occasion, the site features some unorthodox conservative views that Bannon’s critics have tried to pin on him.

The site was named for Andrew Breitbart, who pioneered new and effective ways to undermine the left. One of his disciples, Jeremy Segal, did a video exposing Democratic Rep. Danny K. Davis (IL) being honored at the Communist Party U.S.A.’s headquarters in Chicago for a lifetime of “inspiring leadership.”

Lazy liberal journalists would rather cite the SPLC as authoritative without having to bother to investigate how the group has been exposed by such investigative reporters on the left as Ken Silverstein. At one time, notes Silverstein, the group did some good work against racist hate groups. But later, in order to expand its business model and make more money, it expanded the “hate” label to mainstream conservative organizations. It has accumulated $300 million in a reserve fund and has become “one of the most profitable charities in the country,” with its top officials getting membership in the so-called financial elite one percent.

This journalist was named a member of the “radical right,” a designation then transformed into a charge of “Islamophobia” by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The accusations are designed to silence First Amendment rights and discourage the media from going to conservative sources for news, information and commentary.

Before Pelley uncritically cited the SPLC, Kate Snow was on MSNBC talking about how Trump’s stand against illegal immigration was similar to that of the secretary of state of Kansas, Kris Kobach. She said Kobach had given “support” to the Social Contract Press, which she described as a “hate group” designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Social Contract Press rebuts all of the accusations, while noting that the SPLC’s $300 million cash hoard “rivals that of [the] Clinton Foundation.” It was the Social Contract Press which published one of Silverstein’s articles exposing the SPLC.

Indeed, Silverstein’s exposé was just one section of a major report the Social Contract Press published in 2010 that examined the SPLC’s strategy and tactics.

Yet, it’s Bannon who is being accused of being an extremist. The Washington Post admitsthere’s no real evidence behind the allegation, making it just another smear picked up by most of the media without adequate checking or verification.

What we are witnessing in the faux outrage against Bannon is a fear that the Trump administration and the new Republican Congress will get back to the business of monitoring real domestic threats.

For example, Trump adviser Walid Phares has already indicated that the President-elect will back a bill, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, which could lead to an investigation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Trevor Loudon, the producer of the new film, “Enemies Within,” says the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act could be supplemented by the House and Senate bringing back committees or subcommittees devoted to exposing internal security problems, also known as un-American activities.

A member of Congress exposed in the film for his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood is Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who is running for chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Cliff Kincaid

Cliff Kincaid is the Director of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism and can be contacted at [email protected]. View the complete archives from Cliff Kincaid.

11/16/16

MSNBC’s Election Day “Crystal Ball” is Broken

By: Cliff Kincaid | Accuracy in Media

Instead of underwriting media stars who fail to predict the future, perhaps the University of Virginia (UVA) ought to get back to teaching students marketable skills so they can obtain good jobs.

One of the big losers on November 8 was UVA media star and Professor Larry Sabato, who said on MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell show that “Our prediction is that Hillary Clinton will get 322 electoral votes, and Donald Trump will get 216.”

Trump/Pence are projected to get 306 electoral votes to Clinton/Kaine’s 232.

Perhaps he should take up astrology.

His Crystal Ball newsletter “has been a leader in accurately predicting elections since its inception,” says Sabato’s website. Described as “authoritative,” the newsletter is part of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

His total compensation in 2014 was $380,000.

On the November 7 O’Donnell show, Sabato predicted Clinton would win North Carolina (Trump won it) and that Clinton had a real shot of winning Ohio (Trump won it by nine points).

Sabato said, “One of my great people at the Crystal Ball, Kyle Condik, wrote a book called Bellwether about Ohio…so his contacts are the best and they keep telling us that it’s much, much closer than people realize and that Clinton might, might be able to pull out a victory there…”

Kondik is managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball newsletter.

Sabato also predicted a net gain of four for Democrats in the Senate, resulting in a 50-50 tie in Congress’ upper chamber. “If we’re right about the presidential contest, that means Vice President Tim Kaine (D) will be breaking ties after Inauguration,” Sabato claimed.

Sabato thought there was a chance of Democrats taking the Senate. “If we’re off on the total number of seat changes [in the Senate],” he said, “we think it’s slightly likelier that Democrats get to 51 or 52 than Republicans. That could mean the Democrats pulling out a win in Indiana, Missouri, or North Carolina. If Republicans hold on to the majority, it probably would be because Ayotte survives in New Hampshire.”

In fact, Ayotte lost in New Hampshire and Republicans won in Indiana, Missouri, and North Carolina.

Ayotte alienated Republicans by abandoning Trump. Her campaign alienated conservatives by passing out free condoms to get votes at the University of New Hampshire.

Rather than being losses, the GOP victories were:

In Indiana, the Republican Todd Young beat Democrat Evan Bayh by 52.1 to 42.4.
In Missouri, the Republican Roy Blunt beat the Democrat Jason Kander by 49.4 to 46.2.
In North Carolina, the Republican Richard Burr beat the Democrat Deborah Ross by 51.1 to 45.3.

After the Trump victory, Sabato’s UVA website declared, “We heard for months from many of you, saying that we were underestimating the size of a potential hidden Trump vote and his ability to win. We didn’t believe it, and we were wrong. The Crystal Ball is shattered. We’ll pick up the pieces starting next week as we try to unpack what happened in this election, where there was so much dramatic change from just four years ago.”

He added, “We have a lot to learn, and we must make sure the Crystal Ball never has another year like this. This team expects more of itself, and we apologize to our readers for our errors.”

Perhaps Sabato ought to spend more time teaching classes and less time on MSNBC, CNN and other channels.

To make matters worse, O’Donnell brought on Ana Marie Cox, a rabid feminist now with MTV, who breathed a sigh of relief at Sabato’s prediction that Trump wouldn’t win. But she said America still had a lot to fear because Trump’s success in the primaries had revealed some “real ugly things” about the U.S.

She added, “I am hopeful this is going to be a fairly resounding victory and that is going to put some shame back in people about the kinds of things that have come up during this election.”

Former Jeb Bush communications director Tim Miller was then brought on to say that he was hopeful that Hispanic immigrants would be “the ones to put the nail in Donald Trump`s coffin” in states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

Trump lost in Nevada by only 2 points and Colorado by only about 3 points. Trump beat Clinton in Florida.

Sabato told O’Donnell that a firm called Latino Decisions had estimated that Clinton would get a higher percentage of Latino votes than Barack Obama, and that Trump was at only 16 percent.

The results were much different. In fact, the Pew Research Center says Clinton had a lower percentage of Latinos than Obama, and Trump got 29 percent, two more points that Mitt Romney in 2012.

My crystal ball says Sabato will not change the name of his newsletter and that he will be back in four years making another round of predictions.

O’Donnell himself bought into the hype, declaring that the fear is that “the presidency will be handed over to ignorance, incompetence and bigotry,” but that “the latest polls indicate that…America should have nothing to fear.”

He added, “Donald Trump has taken this country to the brink, and tomorrow voters are likely to take it back.”

This episode of the O’Donnell show demonstrates how the media talk among themselves, using sources that reaffirm their biases, while ignoring objective reality.

We have come to expect this from MSNBC, but to have a prestigious university like UVA participate in such a charade is an absolute disgrace.

“The glass ceiling did not break Tuesday night, but the Crystal Ball shattered,” wrote Andrew Cain of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, in a story about Sabato’s humiliation.

But don’t think that Sabato will slink away in disgrace. He was back on CNN on Monday giving his opinion on the Electoral College.

Cliff Kincaid

Cliff Kincaid is the Director of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism and can be contacted at [email protected]. View the complete archives from Cliff Kincaid.