Stories & Opinions Worth Knowing but Maybe Not Quite Threadworthy 7/19

[SVPete]

CNN anchor claims Jack Smith visiting Subway is 'a message to Donald Trump'

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cnn-anchor-jack-smith-subway-message-donald-trump

An anchor on CNN claimed on Tuesday that special counsel Jack Smith visiting a Subway was "a message to Donald Trump."

The statement comes on the same day Trump announced he received a letter notifying that "I am a TARGET" of Smith's grand jury investigation. Footage of Smith leaving a Subway in Washington was played on the network and was discussed by network anchor John King.

"Jack Smith going to Subway today is a message to Donald Trump," said King. "Donald Trump tries to intimidate people, he tries to bully people, he tries to scare you away. That was Jack Smith with no words and a simple $5 sub in his hand saying, 'I'm here, I'm not going anywhere.'"

  The "message" Trump received from this, if any, was that Smith has such poor taste he accepts low quality mediocrity.

[SVPete]

LAPD union leader tells cops to leave city: 'Go somewhere that respects the work you do'

https://www.theblaze.com/news/lapd-union-leader-says-leave

A police union leader for Los Angeles police officers told members to leave the city for a jurisdiction that understands their value and doesn't have city council members who hate them in a now-deleted Facebook post seen by the L.A. Times.

Jerretta Sandoz, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, commented on the problems surrounding being a police officer in Los Angeles as the union struggled to reach an agreement on a new salary with the city in June 2023. The post was allegedly written a few weeks before the LAPD's contract with the city expired on June 30.

“Go somewhere that respects the work you do and you don’t have to beg for a great contract,” she wrote, according to the L.A. Times. “Go somewhere that has a city council or city manager that openly acknowledges the great work you do, go somewhere that doesn’t have Two or more City Council members who hate you (no exaggeration).”

[SVPete]

GOP Seizes on Pramila Jayapal’s Israel Misstep to Split Democrats

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-seizes-on-pramila-jayapals-israel-misstep-to-split-democrats

When Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) called Israel “a racist state,” she was quick to apologize and walk back her comment.

But Republicans weren’t going to just let a good controversy die.

Ever since Jayapal made the comment on Saturday at the liberal Netroots Nation conference, Republicans have devoted much of their attention to humiliating the congresswoman, tying the rest of the Democratic Party to Jayapal’s words, and highlighting the divisions.

A one-page resolution from Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) declared that Israel is “not a racist or apartheid state,” said the U.S. would always support Israel, and announced that Congress condemns antisemitism and xenophobia. Republicans put the legislation to a vote Tuesday night, and overwhelmingly adopted the resolution 412-9-1.

Republicans pounce!

[Eupher]

GOP Seizes on Pramila Jayapal’s Israel Misstep to Split Democrats

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-seizes-on-pramila-jayapals-israel-misstep-to-split-democrats

Republicans pounce!

OK, and the result is what exactly?

Looks to me like this is just another example of the Republicans going after a leaky garden hose when there are 4 inches of water on the floor in the 2nd floor bathroom.

When is Speaker Hairstyle (McCarthy) going to start reducing the size of government and not just slowing its expansion? When is he and his investigative committees going to stop playing tiddlywinks with writing strongly-worded letters to criminals like Wray and Garland, requesting documents?

This is just more kabuki theater by the Republicans. There's no teeth in this grab-assery and it just looks stupid -- not that Jayapal needs any help in looking stupid. She does a great job of that all by herself.

The Repubs went so far as to strip MTG of her membership with the Freedom Caucus. Are the Dems going to kick Jayapal out of the Progressive Caucus for her poor choice of words? Of course not.

Just another bright, shiny thing to focus on while the politicians continue to jack around.   

[ADsOutburst]

CNN anchor claims Jack Smith visiting Subway is 'a message to Donald Trump'

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cnn-anchor-jack-smith-subway-message-donald-trump

  The "message" Trump received from this, if any, was that Smith has such poor taste he accepts low quality mediocrity.

But how brave of the federal government to go after Trump like that!

[Ptarmigan]

Jason Aldean could see sales boost as song hits No. 1 on iTunes amid controversy
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/jason-aldean-sales-boost-song-hits-1-itunes-controversy

The attempt to "cancel" country music star Jason Aldean over the recently-released video for his song "Try That In a Small Town" appears to actually be giving him a profitable boost.

Billboard Charts reported in a tweet overnight that the song, which was released months ago, "has reached #1 on US iTunes."

The single hit the top spot after Country Music Television (CMT) announced it removed the recently-released video for the song from its rotation. The network did not explain its reasoning behind the decision, but it came following accusations on social media that song was racist due to its messaging and where the video was set.

"Jason Aldean shot this at the site where a white lynch mob strung Henry Choate up at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn., after dragging his body through the streets with a car in 1927," Mississippi Free Press editor Ashton Pittman tweeted Monday. "That's where Aldean chose to sing about murdering people who don't respect police."

Cancelling Jason Aldean's song "Try That In a Small Town" has the opposite effect.

[Drafe Hoblin]

Jason Aldean could see sales boost as song hits No. 1 on iTunes amid controversy
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/jason-aldean-sales-boost-song-hits-1-itunes-controversy

Cancelling Jason Aldean's song "Try That In a Small Town" has the opposite effect.

I know.  He's making zillions off of it.

Before the cancellation I was actually placing the song into kind of a cringy-limbo status because the melody was a little soft and the lyrics were a little squishy... when 'small towns' are looking for fire and steel to fuel a populist movement against lib-lawlessness.

But now the song is what it is and I love the nightmare it's causing for the left.