Speaker Nancy Pelosi has deleted her tweet demanding justice while Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) is now “withholding judgment” after previously calling it an “attempted modern-day lynching.” After politicians, pundits, and the press spent days calling for swift justice and denouncing the Trump Administration for the rise in hate crimes, Washington figures are running for cover as reports grew that Chicago police have evidence of a stage hate crime by “Empire” actor and singer Jussie Smollett. The case again raises the problem of leaders in politics and the media reaching immediate conclusions on such allegations before the evidence has been gathered.
Pelosi deleted her original tweet calling denouncing the “racist, homophobic attack” by alleged Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats in a Chicago subway on Saturday, January 29th, at 2 am.
Sen. Kamala Harris also took the account as true and tweeted “This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.” When confronted with the new evidence, Harris gave the answer that should have been the first response: “I think that once the investigation is concluded, then we should all comment, but I’m not going to comment until I know the outcome of that investigation.”
Sen. Corey Booker also expressed this same view, tweeting “The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I’m glad he’s safe. To those in Congress who don’t feel the urgency to pass our Anti-Lynching bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime– I urge you to pay attention.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually objected to those not treating the attack as an established fact. She tweeted that the attack was not “possibly” a racist and homophobic attack, but that “it was a racist and homophobic attack.”
The story quickly took over the networks and cable shows as the focus turned on how the Trump Administration has unleashed racist forces. Rep. Maxine Waters declared “Why all of a sudden do we have people unable to study while black, unable to mow a lawn while black, unable to have picnic while black, and being attacked? It’s coming from the president of the United States. He’s dog whistling every day.”
Likewise, Roxane Gay tweeted, “I am so sorry to hear what happened to @JussieSmollett,” adding that she was “committed to holding this administration and its ilk accountable for this hothouse of hate being fostered.”
The facts are still being gathered and Smollett denies a hoax. The issue is how the media and politicians use these allegations and the different degree of scrutiny that is applied to different claims. There is a fear that even suggesting that the allegation needs to be proven will be treated as hostility to victims or denial of racial animus in the country. Even today, there is little scrutiny of the media’s handling of the story or how these politicians and pundits used the allegation as a proven hate crime in calling for public action.
Smollett previously appeared in public giving accounts of how he fought back and how “the truth” must be told. He has now released a statement by his lawyers that “As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with. He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”
Say it ain’t so.
The Covington thing is barely over and these nimrods turn around and piss on the exact same electrified fence at the very first opportunity.
they cant land a decent romp in the hay so they opt for cheap thrills?
https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-empire-scenes-cut-attack-controversy-1202560053/
Jussie Smollett Cut From ‘Empire’ Episodes As Attack Probe Continues
As the Chicago police investigation into what really happened to Jussie Smollett in the alleged assault last month intensifies its focus on the Empire actor, the Fox drama is cutting the performer out of the action.
Deadline has confirmed with well placed sources that Smollett’s scenes in episodes of the Lee Daniels and Danny Strong co-created series are being slashed for production on Empire this week.
While the show is back at work today in the Windy City after the long weekend, Smollett will be a rare presence on the set of the Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard led show.
The actor has also been absent as Chicago PD request another interview with him. As Smollett himself has become the subject of deeper inquiry into the supposed assault that occurred in the early hours of January 29, detectives want to know more about the actor’s version of what happened that day on the streets of Chicago and any possible knowledge he may have to indicate the incident could have been preplanned.
The widely condemned attack was previously described as a racist and homophobic barrage that left Smollett beaten, drenched in bleach and with a rope slung around his neck. Openly gay, Smollett portrays the openly gay Jamal Lyon on Empire.
Now the reality appears to be more complex or at least convoluted.
There are no plans right now to make any changes to the remaining episodes of the fifth season of Empire that are already in the can, I hear.
Yet, despite the strongly expressed renewed support by Empire showrunner Brett Mahoney on February 17, upcoming episodes have seen serious rewrites in recent days to reduce the increasingly besieged Smollett’s role both in dramatic stints and musical performances.
Empire returns for the remainder of its fifth season on March 13.
Fox had no comment on Smollett’s scenes being cut, nor would the network confirm any such reports, as first noted by TMZ earlier Tuesday. Reps for the lawyered-up Smollett did not return request for comment by Deadline.
While Smollett is not considered a formal suspect at present, prosecutors and law enforcement authorities are seeking to be enlightened by him about his private relationship with Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo.
The brothers were previously described by Chicago police as “potential suspects” in the attack and arrested last week. Identified as the individuals in the photos of “persons of interest” in the Smollett case, the two were held without charge for 48 hours and then let go on the night of February 15.
Formerly Empire extras, the Osundario siblings, at least one of whom had been Smollett’s personal trainer, are now “fully” cooperating with authorities. They have sat for a number of interviews with police in recent days.
Darren – my comment is not showing up. Is it stuck in the filter?
Never mind – it popped up!
This hoax was a hate crime against conservatives. How many times do people need to be targeted for wearing MAGA hats before we take this seriously? This kind of suppression of political opposition is fascist. Even children get attacked, threatened, and a Disney producer fantasized, publicly, about feeding them, alive and screaming, into a wood chipper, for wearing a MAGA hat.
I suppose the silver lining in all of this is that racist, homophobic assaults must be so uncommon in the US that people have to fabricate stories to get victim stolen valor. What is wrong with our society that someone can make themselves feel important by being a victim? That’s the cost of victim profiteering and identity politics.
How many times are journalists, politicians, Hollywood actors, and others going to get a story wrong about coneservatives, viciously attack them for it, before they wait for an investigation before judgement? Brown Shirts.
Pelosi was fired by the Black Dragon Group; mission–failed
You can’t print it if it isn’t true!
Presidential candidates who immediately started spitting fire, accusing, blaming and attacking Trump, attacking Whitey, attacking MAGA, attacking America, ginning up hatred for American Citizens, Whitey, The United States, Trump, little red hats and summarily making themselves judges, juries and executioners forgot that the locus they were opening fire on millions of American Citizens from was an interview chair.
Apparently they were too blinded by their fits of TDS Rage to understand that
The Great Smollette Hoax was their interview for the job of President of The United States.
The Great smollette Hoax, was the test of their ability to be fair, impartial and judge situations with reason, and clarity based on the Constitution, Rule of Law and facts.
The Great Smollette Hoax was the test to see exactly how the candidate would react to a volatile, potentially explosive domestic situation that could easily lead to the violent deaths of thousands of American Citizens because the hoax was indeed interpreted by thousands of African Americans as the opening volley of a race war on American soil.
The Great Smollette Hoax was a test to see if they would continue to savagely rip and divide the country into races, classes, genders, ages, Citizens with Rights, Citizens stripped of Rights, leftists and conservatives while fomenting hate and branding every White man, woman and child and every conservative in The United States as death camp worthy OR if they would say and do something to bring calm and try to bring people together.
The Great Smollette Hoax was a measure of exactly where the candidate stands on the Commie-o-Meter, the EndJustifies the Means -O-Meter, the Racist-O-Meter, the Death to An Entire Group of American Citizens-O-Meter and the The Justice and Truth-O-Meters.
When the test results come out in 2020 and they find they were not only fired before they were even hired, their rage, hate and blame will be compounded by the fact that they fired themselves by their own behavior and there is no one else to blame. Hopefully then TDS will once again inspire them to take matters into their own unhinged hands and they will put themselves out of our misery.
**** News Flash ****
How long before he loses his job? Self-immoliation?
After Bombshell Reports, Jussie Smollett Doesn’t Plan On Meeting With Chicago Police Today
Feb 18th, 2019, 2:28 pm
“There are no plans for Jussie Smollett to meet with Chicago police today,” the statement said . “Any news reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate. Smollett’s attorneys will keep an active dialogue going with Chicago police on his behalf. We have no further comment today.”
https://www.mediaite.com/entertainment/after-bombshell-reports-jussie-smollett-doesnt-plan-on-meeting-with-chicago-police-today/
His new comments will be “i have nothing to say” and “i want to talk to my lawyer”
Even if Smollett is telling the truth about his attackers, I still am having trouble understanding how the democrat leaders, entertainers and media are connecting the attack to President Trump or MAGA. The men were Nigerian. They hail from a country that has outlawed gay marriage, suppressed women, and generally is an oppressive society punctuated by occasional terrorism. Intellectual honesty used to be considered an admirable– indeed essential– trait. It is hard to find any honesty in that group, intellectual or otherwise.
some humor is needed
“Don’t you think for the attackers to have yelled a racist slur as well as a homophobic slur as well as having a bottle of bleach as well as having a noose sounds a bit overdetermined, like bad television writing?”
“Did you take away any lessons from Covington?
If not, why?“
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-beating-case-question-for-believers/
You want humor. Very well then, Jamaican Mag’s got your back! 😉
Drop kick it with a big ‘ole BAM.
A faker on the masses. No doubt about it.
Bout time to wake yo *** up.
Sometimes—outlandish; other times—preposterous; and
This time—oddly enough, by coincidence, I am sure—accurate and true.
Who woulda thunk it!?
hlm:
“Intellectual honesty used to be considered an admirable– indeed essential– trait. It is hard to find any honesty in that group, intellectual or otherwise.”
******************
Consider yourself lucky. You get to live with a lovely (inside and out) and intellectually honest woman. We share that good fortune.
Mespo, that was a very kind comment and very true. I’ve been trying civil lawsuits for more than 40 years, all over Texas, before juries, judges and administrative tribunals. She still can read people better than I. And, just when I think I’ve figured her out, she says or does something that makes me start all over. But beneath it all is an intellectual honesty that on more than one occasion has changed the way I think. Besides, she makes me laugh.
hlm:
My experience as well and like you, I’ve tried many juries. Even so, I find my wife’s intuitions much better than mine. I do however take a tiny bit of pride from your confirmatory comments about your spouse. I figured out her qualities without ever laying eyes on her. Point for me! I’ll brag to Suzanne. 😀
Employing the “Big Lie” is the end justifying the means.
JT would have been all over the story on how a 11 year old and was arrested for refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance in Florida back in the day, but his MO has changed quite a bit from the days of posts that mattered. If it was a hoax, then someone should be held accountable. But instead he puts up a picture of Pelosi with this story, meanwhile JT seems to be joining the ranks of Dershowitz and Rudy G with throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks in defence of Trump. And to JT’s right-wing base, I’m NOT talking to you or what you think of me. I am sure that there are others that feel the same way but they are bullied or told their opinions don’t matter, and be silent because they feel that only their words count and they hold this site as theirs. It is not, nor should it be.
“The boy was arrested for causing a disruption and refusing repeated instructions from school staff and law enforcement, Polk County Public Schools spokesperson Kyle Kennedy said in a statement. He was not arrested for refusing to participate in the pledge – even though students have the right to do so by Florida law and district policy. ”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/17/florida-student-11-arrested-after-refusing-pledge-allegiance/2900253002/
“Alvarez said she called the office on Feb. 4 because she did not want to keep “dealing with him,” according to her statement. An officer and a school administrator tried to calm the student, the Lakeland Police Department said in a Sunday night press release. The administrator asked him to leave the classroom more than 20 times, police said, and the student allegedly made threats while being escorted to the office. ”
It’s not hard to imagine how this went down.
I love it how Fishwings identifies with obstreperous tweens.
Fishbreath speaketh and says “$&9?/;@@“
As we much expect
Look squirrel.
“I’m NOT talking to you or what you think of me.”
Insert Lesley Gore’s “Its My Party and I’ll Cry if I want to”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_PXIui8sa2U
https://goo.gl/images/d4qKvq
Estovir,….
– This one will work well, too. Every time Fishwings “threatens” to stop talking to “JT’s right-wing base”, she can just play this.
This is required reading for you Fishy:
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2019/02/18/cbss-lara-logan-on-media-bias-unless-you-seek-out-breitbart-you-wont-see-the-other-side/
“Although the media has historically always been left-leaning, we’ve abandoned our pretense — or at least the effort — to be objective, today. … We’ve become political activists, and some could argue propagandists, and there’s some merit to that.” – Lara Logan
“And to JT’s right-wing base, I’m NOT talking to you or what you think of me”.😫😡😜
That’s OK, Fishwings. We’ll still talk to you and tell you what we think of you.😏😊😂
It appears to me that Turley goes to great lengths to see that Free Speech holds this site, not any single individual or partisan line.
However, it’s always a good thing to remember that the Right of Free Speech is not a guarantee against the consequences of that Speech.
Why do we lend politicians any credibility?
Talk about jumping to conclusions, can you imagine one of these loons with their hand on the nuclear button?
Why are peeps being hard on Pelosi,etc. for believing Jussie Smollett? Chicago is MAGA country, Smollett is a well-known celebrity, and large numbers of hate-filled white guys roam around at 2 AM in freezing weather with bleach and nooses in case they meet a Gay, Black TV Actor. Its what Trump supporters do. Why the sneering attitude dudes?
All those gangs in Chicago with black on black violent crimes now hate Mullet bc he took time away from their media coverage 👌🏽
you’re being sarcastic but one of my friends a lifelong Democrat lawyer from Chicago was telling me the other day how he admired and approved of Trump’s trade war with China.
The Rust belt approves of him more than pollsters say.
The mixed bunch of socialists, progressives, and liberals lining up for a turn in the oval office do not need manufactured instances of hatred made attributable to Trump. They have consistently instigated their own fabrications enough to show us every indication they know their only pathway to victory is to cast Trump as a hater. Little may they know they run the risk of revealing to a discerning electorate their very own brand of animosity as their preeminent motivation.
“The mixed bunch of socialists, progressives, and liberals…”
– Ron A. Hoffman
______________
They are not socialists, progressives, liberals and democrats, they are communists; communists-in-waiting; communists-in-hiding.
See what the communist in New York, O’crazio Corkheads, did to the American free enterpriser, Jeff Bezos at Amazon.
The frog is in a gradually heating pot. He won’t know he is being cooked until he is done.
The entire communistic American welfare state is unconstitutional. Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto 59 years after the adoption of the Constitution because none of the principles of the Communist Manifesto were in the Constitution. Had the principles of the Communist Manifesto been in the Constitution, Karl Marx would have had no reason to write the Communist Manifesto. The principles of the Communist Manifesto were not in the Constitution then and the principles of the Communist Manifesto are not in the Constitution now.
Affirmative action, welfare, food stamps, quotas, Obamacare, forced busing, rent control, utility subsidies, social services, WIC, HAMP, HARP, HUD, HHS, TANF, SSI, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, “Fair Housing,” “Non-Discrimination” and every other form and method of Central Planning, Control of the Means of Production (i.e. regulation), Redistribution of Wealth and Social Engineering are unconstitutional.
it is now biting them in their rear end. Look at how Northam is being chased. 😎
Protestors Chant For Northam’s Resignation Outside State Capitol: ‘We Got the Guillotine, You Better Run!’
https://www.mediaite.com/uncategorized/protestors-chant-for-northams-resignation-outside-state-capitol-we-got-the-guillotine-you-better-run/
Feb 18th, 2019, 1:38 pm
A group of environmental and racial justice advocates staged a protest Virginia Governor Ralph Northam‘s (D) office at around noon Monday, calling for his resignation over a controversial blackface photo from his medical school yearbook page.
“We got the guillotine, you better run!” Protesters chanted to drums and tambourines, holding signs demanding Northam to resign. Other chants included phrases such as “No cops! No KKK! No fascist RVA!” and “We want a resignation!”
The protesters were eventually met by police in an apparent standoff, per Virginia Mercury reporter Ned Oliver, as the cops locked the gates surrounding Northam’s office and requested asked for permits for the protesters to be standing there.
The protesters accused the cops of “protecting and serving white supremacists” by not allowing them onto the public property outside the Democratic Governor’s office.
“It’s President’s Day, it’s Black History Month… and we’re being denied access to a public space, which is an infringement of our rights,” one protester told a cop, who responded that he has called for backup, but did not specify what kind of backup. “Sounds like a lie,” the protesters clapped back.
The protesters were still standing in front of the Capitol Square gates at the time this article was published.
I am chuckling, thinking just how different this thread would have been 5 years ago.
Where the heck is Paul C. Schulte?
George….I have no idea about Paul C,, but do hope he’s fine.
God Bless Paul C. Schulte.
NS, would you flesh that out a little?
New information, nick. New information.
Kamala Harris – Willie Brown’s “Back Street Girl.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIBOz2CIYYQ
Back Street Girl
The Rolling Stones
I don’t want you to be high
I don’t want you to be down
Don’t want to tell you no lie
Just want you to be around
Please come right up to my ears
You will be able to hear what I say
Don’t want you out in my world
Just you be my backstreet girl
Please don’t be part of my life
Please keep yourself to yourself
Please don’t you bother my wife
That way you won’t get no help
Don’t try to ride on my horse
You’re rather common and coarse anyway
Don’t want you out in my world
Just you be my backstreet girl
Please don’t you call me at home
Please don’t come knocking at night
Please never ring on the phone
Your manners are never quite right
Please take the favors I grant
Curtsy and look nonchalant, just for me
Don’t want you part of my world
Just you be my backstreet girl
Wait! I thought the African beneficiaries of “Affirmative Action Privilege” and “Generational Welfare” were physically incapable of racism.
Oh, heck yeah!
Kamala Harris had an ill-considered and purely racist reaction to a fraudulent claim:
“…AN ATTEMPTED MODERN DAY LYNCHING…”
_________________________________________________________________________________
@KamalaHarris
.@JussieSmollett
is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery.
This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.
1:30 PM · Jan 29, 2019 · Sprout Social
A black gay Trump-hating actor staged a fake hate crime to smear Trump and his supporters as racists….and now that his hoax backfired and is being exposed, he (the hoaxer) is whining that HE is the real victim who is now “being further victimized”….please.
We saw all the leading Dem politicians and 2020 candidates jump on the “it’s a modern day lynching!” bandwagon based on a flimsy and obviously unbelievable story that the media chose to run with anyway….willingly and maliciously amplifying the phony story all over the airwaves…Just as they did to the Covington Catholic school boys and Justice Kavanaugh. See a pattern?
And over in Virginia they’ve got 3 Democrat political leaders facing black face, Klan hoods, and sexual assault scandals…and the one most likely to be forced out when the dust settles, is the black man?
Black History Month is not going well for Democrats…
And yet the Democrats and their pals in the Fake Noose media keep telling us that Trump is the one having a bad week. See how it works?
“A black gay”
Blacks are now disowning him
###
“Al Sharpton: Hold Jussie Smollett accountable if he staged attack
https://pagesix.com/2019/02/18/al-sharpton-hold-jussie-smollett-accountable-if-he-staged-attack/
###
How is that Black History Month working for us, smoothing race relations and all that?
they gotta PROTECT THE FRANCHISE!
Understatement of the year 🙃
###
“Ralph Northam to Jussie Smollett: How Black History Month 2019 Has Been a Total Disaster“
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ralph-northam-to-jussie-smollett-how-black-history-month-2019-has-been-a-total-disaster
This Black History Month began with a flurry of blackface scandals: one involving Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who was reported to be photographed in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook in blackface—and Northam responded by denying it was him in the photo while admitting that on a separate occasion, he’d put on black shoe polish to look like Michael Jackson. The news was met with a flurry of calls for Northam to resign. “There is no place for racism in America,” former Vice President Joe Biden tweeted. “Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately, Justin Fairfax is the leader Virginia needs now.”
And there’s the incident involving Jussie Smollett, the embattled star of Empire who was reported as having been attacked in a vicious hate crime in Chicago on January 29. On Jan. 22, Smollett, a gay black man, reported to police that he’d received a threatening letter at the Fox studio where his show is filmed; seven days later, he told police two masked assailants attacked him, pouring “an unknown chemical substance” on him (possibly bleach), wrapping a rope around his neck, and yelling, “This is MAGA country!” Two persons of interest were arrested, but this weekend it was reported that the police have shifted their focus to Smollett, who has been suspected of orchestrating the attack. “We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation. We’ve reached out to the Empire cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview,” said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Since those reports, there have been those rushing to indict both Smollett and the communities that rallied around him. It’s a reminder that so many are looking for any reason to unleash their contempt and rage against the efforts to empower victims; there has been gleeful schadenfreude coming from those who never want to take hate crimes seriously in the first place—especially when the victims are black and/or LGBTQ.
Notice in the spin in the article above….the FACTS are that Smollett and the Democrats and the news media pushed out and gave legs to an obviously false story….perpetuating yet another HOAX…meant to malign and smear Trump and his supporters….
But now THEY are painting themselves as the VICTIMS of “those rushing to indict” or “looking for any reason to unleash their contempt and rage”…..
AS IF the media and Hollywood and the Democrat smear machine did not do EXACTLY THAT when they willingly and maliciously SMEARED Covington Catholic school boys and Justice Kavanaugh with obviously false “reporting” and baseless attacks??
Oh and now….along with the usual media spin that tells us “Republicans pounce” or “Conservatives attack” or “Republicans siezed on”…..Notice these recently added flourishes….Republicans are not just “pouncing” or “attacking”….but now they are doing it with “gleeful schadenfreude” and “with giddiness” etc…just start to notice how many times you see “giddiness” or some variation of the “gleeful” theme tossed into the mix.
Actually, the backlash is out of concern for the rise in hate crimes against conservatives. Can you imagine the outrage and riots if people wearing Obama’s Hope and Change hats were routinely assaulted or blamed for crimes they didn’t commit? The Left has called conservatives every name in the book for so long, that there are those who actually believe that half the country is racist, homophobe, etc. They go for ad hominem every single time rather than calmly discuss a problem.
It is considered justified to attack someone wearing a MAGA hat. That is deplorable.
A lot of national angst could have been avoided if people would simply wait for an investigation before judgement. It is, after all, the foundation of our justice system.
No investigation, no justice.