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Ivanka Trumps best trick is her disappearing move. When the White House makes an announcement thats bad for her personal brand, like withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, Ivanka is somehow nowhere to be found. Its a Friday night and shes observing Shabbat, or, like during the first disastrous Affordable Care Act repeal-and-replace attempt, shes out of town with her kids on a spring break vacation. And on Thursday, Ivanka, who had been working behind the scenes to convince President Trump not to put his fingers in his ears and sing la-la-la while the environmental dystopias of our summer reading list build momentum around us, celebrated the holiday Shavuot with her husband and kids as her father tuned up the jazz band to play a jaunty funeral tunefor the planet.

That Donald Trump didnt make Ivanka stand behind him in the Rose Garden with a poised smile on her face while he took a whizz all over her alleged values is perhaps the most compelling evidence that the president is capable of caring for someone other than himself. But if liberals and progressives take one thing away from Ivankas massive failure to influence the presidents understanding of climate change, its that if daddys love and esteem for his favorite child has such hard limits, the rest of us are definitely screwed.

This clumsy overestimation of her own influence after Trump called Kimberly Guilfoyle to get her take on the Paris agreement, he probablyanonymously submitted a photo of a corgi rowing through floodwaters to We Rate Dogs (verdict: h*ckin scary, 0/10 would not pull out) hasnt put a damper on Ivankas champagne popsicle summer just yet, though. Politico reports that while the rest of the world reels from Trumpsstunningly ignorant display of chest-thumping, Ivanka and Jared remain sanguine, all things considered.

Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, have taken the defeat in stride, according to two people familiar with their thinking on the issue. Their view of their roles in the White House is that theyre playing the long game, helping the president to be successful. And they dont tally their own influence day by day or bill by bill.

(Someone thinks theyre getting that sea wall around Mar-a-Lago!)

Whats instructive here is what the long game actually means for Ivanka and Jared, and it has nothing to with you, me, or anyones children other than their own kin. What part of helping Donald Trump be successful translates into upholding Americas end of an international agreement to reduce carbon emissions? Or for that matter, making sure Americans have access to affordable health care, and women have access to birth control and abortions, and women and minorities receive equal pay for equal work, and LGBT people have civil rights?

Might it now be painfully obvious that the presidents barometer for success has nothing to do with what a person who has no intention of ever voting for him thinks about him, not even for one second?

In the days leading up to and the aftermath of Donald Trumps victorywe heard a lot about the Ivanka Voter the suburban women who found the presidential candidate distasteful but admired his daughter first profiled by Anne Helen Petersen in BuzzFeed.In the sober light of June 2017, it looks more and more like those Ivanka Votersused her as a shield just like her father did, and that Donald was their one true Trump love. Its likely that more Democrats than Republicans held high hopesfor an allegedly smart and classy and compassionate force to set up shop in the White House, like strategist Rebecca Katz, whotold Politico,With Ivanka, we thought at least well always have Paris. But that turned out to be fiction, too.

Im a big fan of Ilana Glazer and I applaud her using her platform to call attention to this issue, but Please tell your dad is not a plan of action to fight climate science denial and harmful isolationism, let alone the nasty mix of ego and petulance that reportedly helped Trump double down on his resolve here. Butwhen it comes to Ivanka wishcasting, Katz and Glazerwere hardly alone out there. Hate to say I told you so to the very well-meaning people I know who clung toan Ivanka the Stealth-Liberal Savior narrative, but two months ago I pointed out the disastrous implications of waiting around for Ivanka and Jaredto inject theirso-called moderating influence into the bottomless breadsticks basket of the apocalypse that is her fathers administration:

. . . liberals and progressives shouldnt make the mistake of mistaking the Democrats for actual Democrats Ivankaisnt in the White House to play Daddy Whisperer on behalf of anyone but herself.Shesthere to shore up herown power, and Jareds, in whatever future form itwill take.

Heres a scary long game for Ivanka and Jared and their designer knock-off vision of Camelot that just could stretchpast the next four years and the four years after that: If Jared could get Pussy-Grabbin Donald elected, what could he do with Poised, Polished, Parental Leave-Passing Ivanka?

Ivanka emergedfrom her Shavuot observance with no remark about theParis agreement, but plenty of empty platitudes about Pride month.

The scathing replies show a near-universal level of personal loathing and frustrationlevied atIvanka that I had yet to see, which means maybe the gloves are finally off when it comes to the First Lady Daughter. Ivanka and Jared will reportedly evaluate every six months whether they willstay in Washington and or return to New York to keep exploiting funding loopholesto build luxury buildings, dragging Section 8 tenants to courtand plundering Cuban culturefor jewelry designsas the president considers rolling back Obamas progress on Cuba-U.S. relations, which no amount of paste bangles and necklaces will be able to stop. Let us hope that Ivanka does what she does best and disappears, this time back to Manhattan.With those two gone,there will be no moresilly false hopes to distract from the three and a half years of work ahead.

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The myth of Ivanka's influence: Liberals built her up as much as Ivanka voters did - Salon

Terrorism has struck the United Kingdom again. Not long after the recent Manchester attack that killed over 20 people, mostly teenager, after an Ariana Grande concert, six people were killed in separate attacks on London Bridge and the nearby Borough Market. The Guardian added that at least 30 people have been taken to hospital, with three suspects being shot and killed by police. A white van was said to have plowed into pedestrians on the bridge, continuing into the Borough Market, where stabbings occurred. As thoughts and prayers are offered for the victims of this attack, Hollywood liberals continue their streak of being just abjectly inappropriate. Actress Bette Midler tweeted, More sorrow and grief at the hands of madmen in London. Men and religion are worthless. Yeah, you can file that under not helping. Seriously? People are dead and you decided to peddle this crap, Betty?

Author Reza Aslan, who ate human brains on his documentary series on CNN in March, went on to call President Trump a piece of s**t. it was in response to the president reaffirming the need to implement the travel moratorium in his executive order thats currently in legal limbo.

This is yet another tragic attack on our ally. Lets hope and pray for swift justice.

UPDATE: Aslan deleted the tweeted and offered an apology.

Read more here:
Sad: You Can File This Hollywood Liberal's Tweet Under Not Helping Post-London Attack - Townhall

For a guy who boasts of his Mixed Martial Arts fixation, his firearms training and just general tough-guy bona fides, Sean Hannity hurts his image when whining. But thats the activity he undertook last night in a 10-minute monologue. A well-hyped monologue, at that:

Heres a snippet from that important tract: Theres not a single liberal cable host in American that I know of that has spoken out against the effort to get me fired, said Hannity last night. Not one. For example, theres people like Bill Maher well, they say they stand up for freedom of speech and they have in the past, but why is he, why are others so eerily silent? In this case, nobody came to the defense of me, defending me and my rights here. Theres a massive double standard when it comes to the First Amendment and the left in this country. Lefties, says Hannity, get to say and do pretty much anything they want when it comes to smearing and attacking conservatives, and 99 percent of the time they get away with it. They dont have to face any backlash, no outrage, no uproar, no boycotts trying to silence them.

Then he cited the example of Kathy Griffin, who earlier this week was shown to have posed with a decapitated head of President Trump. Of course, Griffin faced backlash, outrage, uproar and, yes, she was silenced by CNN, which has pulled her from future New Years Eve specials. But Hannity said, Did you hear me call for her firing? No, you did not.

What has Hannity so upset? Media Matters in May posted a list of Hannity advertisers on its website. Though the post didnt call for an advertiser boycott of the cable veteran, its message wasnt larded with subtlety. Sean Hannity is a professional propagandist for President Donald Trump, as well as a bigot, a sexist, and a conspiracy theorist, started the post. The post landed on a raw backdrop, as Hannity for the previous week had been hyping an evidence-free theory about Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee aide who was killed in July 2016. Though police thought that it was a robbery attempt gone awry, Rich was left with his wallet and watch and credit cards and so some people concluded that it was he and not the Russians who had leaked all those DNC emails to WikiLeaks.

On his program and Twitter, Hannity in May gave wind to this school of thought, based on reports from Fox News and Fox5 (D.C.s WTTG) that cited a break in the case. Even though the reports turned out to be bogus, Hannity kept going with the madness. Why? Because a good Seth Rich conspiracy would be good news for Trump. If this is true and Seth Rich gave WikiLeaks the DNC emails which ultimately led to the firing remember Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the eve of the DNC convention? this blows the whole Russia collusion narrative completely out of the water, Hannity said on his program. Also, Twitter:

A great deal of pressure from the media, social media and Richs parents forced Hannity to eventually bag the story for now, as he said on his show. Disgust with his shenanigans, however, had reached such a level that some advertisers bailed, though the snowball effect that dethroned ex-King of Cable News Bill OReilly and his multiple sexual-harassment settlements didnt materialize.

And so heres Hannity, railing about adherence to the First Amendment. Should Hannity care to consult his pocket Constitution, hed come to grips with the Civics 101 reality that this business about advertisers and his show doesnt pertain to the First Amendment, which outlaws only government abridgment of free speech.

If people want to abridge the rancid speech that Hannity spreads across the Fox News airwaves, well, thats their right their First Amendment right. That doesnt mean its a constructive use of that right. Writing in Politico Magazine, Jack Shafer in April railed against boycotts on the grounds that they turn corporations into content arbiters always a bad choice, he argues.

In the particular case of Hannity, however, the push to separate advertisers from his show isnt precisely what he claims. In his phrasing, its about crushing conservative voices. Whats so conservative, though, about far-flung conjecture about the slaying of a promising young man? Whats conservative about ignoring signpost after signpost indicating that this Seth Rich notion is a loser? Whats conservative about making statements without evidence? Its not as if the backlash against Hannity is pegged to his advocacy of lower taxes, a strong military and deregulation. The backlash isnt even linked to his offer to fly Barack Obama to Kenya!

Pressed on his behavior, Hannity told the Huffington Posts Michael Calderone: Nobody tells me what to say on my show. They never have and frankly they never will. Im not that type of person you can say, Go on air and say this. Thats been the beauty of Fox News all these years. They leave me alone.

Everyone needs editors, especially Sean Hannity. Since theyre nowhere to be found at his workplace, he is encountering them in the public realm.

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Sean Hannity whines: Why aren't liberals defending me? - Washington Post (blog)

President Donald Trumps decision to pull America out of the Paris climate accord was one of the most consequential of his presidency. This was evident in the fact that so many individuals tried to persuade him to stay in the deal and that their efforts often wound up having the opposite of their intended effect.

As counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway told The Washington Post, Hes stayed where hes always been, and not for a lack of trying by those who have an opposite opinion. He started with a conclusion, and the evidence brought him to the same conclusion.

Trump actually seemed pleased when he could upset European allies who were trying to change his mind, with a senior White House official telling the Post that Trump felt disappointing them was a secondary benefit of withdrawing. European leaders even avoided directly rebuking Trumps decision to scold them for their defense spending onNATO so that they could instead focus on persuading him to reconsider his climate change stance.

French President Emmanuel Macron didnt help matters by bragging about his prolonged handshake with the president, arguing that he did this as a moment of truth to demonstrate that he was Trumps masculine equal. This apparently upset Trump and may have influenced his decision to reference Paris in his public statement on withdrawing from the climate accord.

There was another target for Trumps change on the climate: liberals. Asone White House aide told Axios, This is religion for the political left, and our supporters are constantly being asked to change their behavior.

From Trumps perspective, as Amy Harder of Axios noted, the Paris climate deal has nothing to do with climate change. Its an economic issue. To Trump, withdrawing from the accord represents a triumph of populist America over greedy globalism.

Original post:
Liberals and Europeans like the Paris deal, and that's why Trump wanted to get rid of it - Salon

Trumps decision on Paris accord has lefties everywhere shitting bricks, crowed Ann Coulter. Now if they could just sh*t some rebar, we could build the wall!

By Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images.

As soon as Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, the landmark international agreement to curtail the effects of climate change, the front page of the Drudge Report lit up with celebrations. But it shouldnt come as a surprise that these werent about all the coal jobs that were saved, or that America had reasserted its interests and the world, supposedly, would not longer be laughing at America.

Instead, the Drudge Report devoted key front-page real estate exclusively to headlines about the elitist meltdown: OBAMA SLAMS AS LEGACY DISMANTLED, Big Business Begged President to Stick With Deal, DiCaprio Urged Moral Decision, and DEM SUPER DONOR: TRAITOROUS ACT OF WAR! among them. The morning afterward, Breitbarts lead story was not about the withdrawal itself but about Ted Cruz slamming Elon Musk for flying on [a] private jet while lecturing Trump about global warming. And throughout right-wing Twitter, the feeds were filled with this:

Much more than any specific policy matter, Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris accord is seen as a right-wing victory over lecturing liberals and their holier-than-thou preaching. The right has a highly articulated philosophy of this dynamic. In right-wing circles, the term virtue signaling has been transformed from an academic term in evolutionary biology into a catchall describing any expression of angry liberal dissent to a conservative idea, particularly on social media. And the moment that the anti-Trump blogosphere erupted in anger against the presidents decision, conservatives, even the ones opposed to Trumps stance to withdraw from the agreement, couldnt help but feel a sense of vindication. At The Weekly Standard, author and Trump critic Jonathan M. Last, who himself believed that it was pointless to withdraw from the accord simply as a matter of greasing the wheels of diplomacy, could hardly suppress his glee from watching liberals go apoplectic.

Here's the thing about virtue signaling: Sure, it's an empty gesture, but usually it's an empty gesture about something real, he wrote, bringing up the social-media reactions to the Iranian revolution or Boko Haram. But the left's reaction to Trump's Paris pullout is something entirely new. It's virtue-signaling about virtue-signaling. It's like the cold fusion of virtue signaling: the moment when the reaction becomes self-sustaining.

This nuanced schadenfreude seems to be shared in the West Wing. This is religion for the political left, and our supporters are constantly being asked to change their behavior, a top Trump aide told Axioss Jonathan Swan, adding that Trump was irked at being prodded by wealthy corporate magnates who ride in fossil-fuel-guzzling planes and SUVs, then act holier-than-thou. (Elon Musk and Bob Iger withdrew their support from Trumps economic advisory council after he announced his decision.)

But Trumps climate rage extended beyond corporate activists. The Washington Post reported that Trump committed to his plan after he saw Emmanuel Macron, the newly elected president of France, openly brag about how he won their handshake-turned-international dominance contest. Hearing smack-talk from the Frenchman 31 years his junior irritated and bewildered Trump, the Post wrote, and it resulted in his controversial Rose Garden declaration: I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.

The rest is here:
Trump's Paris Withdrawal: Was Causing Liberals Pain Its Central Goal? - Vanity Fair