Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban announced on Thursday that dogecoin can be used to pay for tickets and merchandise online for the NBA team that he owns, the Dallas Mavericks, but not everyone is a fan of the move.
Thursday
Il Pastaio Shooting: Jeweler Offers $50,000 Reward for Stolen Watch, Beverly Hills PD Issues Statement
In the aftermath of the Thursday afternoon robbery-turned-shooting at high-end Italian restaurant Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills, jeweler Shay Belhassen is offering a $50,000 reward for his stolen watch. A rose gold Richard Mille RM 11-03 Flyback Chronograph, Belhassen estimates it’s worth as $500,000. According to the Los Angeles Times, Belhassen had just sat down […]
Key Words: YouTube won’t reinstate Trump until threat of violence has decreased, CEO says
YouTube’s chief executive said Thursday that Donald Trump’s channel will remain suspended until there’s less of a risk that he’ll use it to incite violence.
WarnerMedia CEO Says Coronavirus ‘Really Good for Ratings’
The CEO of CNN’s parent company said on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic will continue to dominate the news network’s coverage because it’s “really good for ratings.”
“It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that’s not going away anytime soon,” WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said, speaking about CNN’s coverage at a media conference. “It turns out it’s really good for ratings.” The comments drew a comparison by Wall Street Journal‘s Joe Flint to disgraced media executive Les Moonves’s remark during the 2016 election that Donald Trump’s then-candidacy “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”
“It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that’s not going away any time soon…It turns out it’s really good for ratings.” Jason Kilar on post-Trump CNN. Careful. That’s awful close to Moonves line that Trump may be bad for U.S. but he’s good for CBS.
— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) March 4, 2021
Kilar apologized shortly afterward for not being “more thoughtful about my communication” and said he was “sorry for the sentence and for uttering it.”
I agree Joe. I would like nothing more than for this pandemic to be well behind us. I mean that with every fiber in my body. I wish I could go back and be more thoughtful about my communication.
— Jason Kilar (@jasonkilar) March 4, 2021
Happy to. I am sorry for the sentence and for uttering it. My apologies. Thx for highlighting it and holding me accountable.
— Jason Kilar (@jasonkilar) March 4, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has been the source of more than a few ill-considered remarks by members of the political establishment and media. Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, said during the 2020 campaign that “COVID is the best thing to ever happen to [Biden],” according to a new book released this week on the 2020 election. Actress and Biden campaign surrogate Jane Fonda called the pandemic “God’s gift to the Left” before apologizing that it was a “terrible thing to say.”
CNN’s ratings have taken a dive since the conclusion of Trump’s second impeachment trial in mid-February.
The post WarnerMedia CEO Says Coronavirus ‘Really Good for Ratings’ appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
Market Extra: Nasdaq on the brink of a 10% correction as Powell fails to mollify Wall Street
The Nasdaq Composite Index on Thursday trades down nearly 10% from its recent peak, a move which is usually defined as market correction, reflecting a retreat from all-time highs for technology stocks as bond yields rise.
Prominent Dems break with Biden after Syria bombing, raising constitutional questions
On Thursday, President Joe Biden approved targeted airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups in Syria.
Briefing Congress days after the attack on Saturday, Biden laid out his political and legal justifications for the administration’s decision.
“I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive,” Biden wrote in a letter to the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate.
“The United States took this action pursuant to the United States’ inherent right of self-defense as reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.”
The airstrikes, which killed at least 22 people, also received support from high-ranking officials in the Department of Defense, NBC News reported.
“We’re confident in the target we went after we know what we hit. We’re confident that target was being used by the same Shia militia that conducted the strikes,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, according to Fox News.
The retaliatory airstrike followed recent attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq. One U.S. contractor had been killed in a rocket attack that hit a U.S.-led coalition base in the Iraqi city of Erbil.
The airstrikes “were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
Officials in the administration contend that the air assault was well within the bounds of the president’s constitutional powers under Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
“I would tell you that the president acted well within his constitutional authorities under Article II as commander in chief of the United States to protect American service members involved in operations. Clearly, there’s a constitutional authority here,” Kirby told NBC on Friday.
Despite the justification, the administration’s assault has made odd bedfellows in Washington, with key figures reaching across the aisle to support or oppose the move. While some have criticized Biden’s interpretation of the executive war powers, others have denounced the attacks as simply bad foreign policy.
Speaking for the libertarian anti-interventionist faction in Congress, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky denounced the strike, tweeting, “@POTUS dragging the US into Syria’s civil war is a huge mistake. I strongly condemn this foolish military adventurism.”
@POTUS dragging the US into Syria’s civil war is a huge mistake. I strongly condemn this foolish military adventurism.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 26, 2021
“I condemn meddling in Syria’s civil war. I also condemn attacking a sovereign nation without authority. What authority does @POTUS have to strike Syria?”
I condemn meddling in Syria’s civil war. I also condemn attacking a sovereign nation without authority.
What authority does @POTUS have to strike Syria?
Perhaps someone should ask his @PressSec today? https://t.co/nLxbZNLx4J
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 26, 2021
Prominent Democratic senators also questioned the administration’s decision to order the attack. Their criticism was pointed at Biden’s failure to consult Congress.
“The American people deserve to hear the Administration’s rationale for these strikes and its legal justification for acting without coming to Congress,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said in a statement.
“Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances. Congress must be fully briefed on this matter expeditiously.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut voiced similar concerns with the administration’s claim that the president had the inherent authority to issue the attack.
“Retaliatory strikes not necessary to prevent an imminent threat” must obtain congressional authorization, Murphy said, according to The Associated Press.
Despite the pushback, the recent attack has received praise from some Republican members of Congress who support the administration’s hawkish attitude toward the Iranian-backed belligerents.
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he had “called for the administration to respond to the recent attacks on U.S. and coalition targets.”
“I commend them for doing just that,” he said.
“Responses like this are a necessary deterrent and remind Iran, its proxies, and our adversaries around the world that attacks on U.S. interests will not be tolerated.”
“Responses like this are a necessary deterrent and remind #Iran, its proxies, and our adversaries around the world that attacks on U.S. interests will not be tolerated. I thank @POTUS and our service members for protecting Americans overseas.” (2/2)
— House Foreign Affairs GOP (@HouseForeignGOP) February 26, 2021
Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina applauded Biden’s decision to order the attack last week, at least indirectly accepting the administration’s self-defense argument.
“Iranian backed militias have launched three attacks against Americans in the last two weeks. The strikes ordered by @potus against these militias tonight were targeted, proportional and necessary,” Rubio wrote on Twitter.
Iranian backed militias have launched three attacks against Americans in the last two weeks.
The strikes ordered by @potus against these militias tonight were targeted, proportional and necessary.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 26, 2021
Graham offered a similar opinion in support of the retaliatory strike.
“Appreciate Biden Administration striking Iranian-backed militia groups in Syria who’ve been pushing attacks against American forces in Iraq and other locations,” Graham tweeted. “It is imperative that our enemies know that attacking Americans comes at a cost.”
Appreciate Biden Administration striking Iranian-backed militia groups in Syria who’ve been pushing attacks against American forces in Iraq and other locations. It is imperative that our enemies know that attacking Americans comes at a cost. https://t.co/praCcDIpVI
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 26, 2021
Biden is the third president to order attacks in Syria without obtaining congressional approval, according to New York magazine.
His predecessors relied heavily on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which launched the “War on Terror,” to expand the scope of presidential war powers and increase American military involvement in the Middle East.
Biden cited his authority under Article II of the U.S. Constitution and Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, which provides countries the right to “self-defence.”
The administration’s airstrikes follow a long line of past attacks ordered under former presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama. Experts in constitutional theory have debated whether such attacks are constitutional or serve any political benefit.
Constitutional law professor Garrett Epps, writing in The Atlantic after Trump ordered an airstrike on enemy combatants in Syria, claimed that these types of interventionist actions are unwise, troublesome and constitutionally invalid.
“Trump did not have the authority to order any kind of strike on Syria. Congressional authorization was needed before any use of force against Syria; Friday’s attack was unconstitutional,” Epps wrote.
“The Constitution still requires congressional authorization for an attack on another country. The requirement is not a formality. It is in the Constitution for a reason. Congress’s failure to assert its prerogatives is … a matter of life or death for a self-governing republic.”
In an interview with Vox following a series of airstrikes in 2018, Stephen Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, noted that a policy of inherent executive authority is unconstitutional but clouded by legal ambiguity.
“If we expanded Article II to allow the president to use force without Congress any time it furthered some international norm, that would open up a whole host of problems down the road,” Vladeck said.
“Congress is acquiescing because they’re satisfied with the practical results. But from a separation of powers perspective, that’s very dangerous. Congress has a vital role to play in the operation of our government, and it’s not playing it.”
“The short answer is that we really need a Congress that cares more about its institutional relationship to the president than it does about the partisan politics of the moment.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Prominent Dems break with Biden after Syria bombing, raising constitutional questions appeared first on WND.
It’s time for Biden to halt ‘what looks like a COVID-19 cover-up’
President Joe Biden walks along the Colonnade Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, to the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House photo by Adam Schultz)
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Politics.]
By Dave Seminara
Real Clear Politics
China is testing President Biden, but his party is still preoccupied with Donald Trump. Chinese authorities refused to provide World Health Organization investigators with raw data on early COVID-19 cases that could help them determine how and when the coronavirus spread in China. The stakes in learning as much as we can from this pandemic couldn’t be higher. But it’s unclear if our new leaders are ready to confront China’s increasingly intransigent leaders, who are keen to promote unlikely theories on the origins of the virus that absolve them of culpability.
The virus has killed nearly 2.5 million people worldwide and the International Monetary Fund has estimated that the global cost of the pandemic is $28 trillion. A paper published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, put the total cost in the U.S. at more than $16 trillion, or nearly $200,000 for a family of four. With case counts declining and vaccines here, we now see a light at the end of the tunnel, but this is no time for complacency. This should be a “never again” moment where we steadfastly resolve to do everything in our power to ensure that we never experience another catastrophic plague like this one again.
President Biden has yet to speak publicly about China’s refusal to hand over raw data on early cases, but Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser, issued a statement. “At this critical moment, protecting the WHO’s credibility is a paramount priority,” he said. “We have deep concerns about the way in which the early findings of the COVID-19 investigation were communicated and questions about the process used to reach them.”
The statement was better than nothing, but there was no call to action or mention of potential consequences if China fails to comply, which is exceedingly likely given Beijing’s track record on transparency and COVID-19. Sullivan merely said that “[a]ll countries, including China, should participate in a transparent and robust process for preventing and responding to health emergencies — so that the world learns as much as possible as soon as possible.”
Since the news broke on Feb. 12, other top Democrats have been silent regarding China’s failure to fully cooperate with WHO investigators. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sent multiple tweets about impeachment but none about China. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has also been silent, but has sent a half dozen tweets about the impeachment. There’s also been nary a peep on China’s attempted coverup from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has more Twitter followers than Schumer and Pelosi put together, or Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee who has sent a dozen tweets about impeachment in recent days while remaining silent on China.
Vice President Kamala Harris has made no mention of the WHO team’s China mission, but the day after the news broke, she sent a tweet warning of xenophobia. “Hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants have skyrocketed during the pandemic. That’s why our Administration has taken actions to address these xenophobic attacks.”
Combating xenophobic attacks is a laudable goal, but my fear is that the too-woke, too-cozy-to-China Democratic Party may not act forcefully for fear of stoking xenophobia. Remember, for example, how then candidate Joe Biden called Trump’s China travel ban “xenophobic,” and how Democrats like Pelosi and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged Americans to visit Chinatowns at the start of the pandemic.
For years, the Putin-obsessed Democratic Party has acted as though Russia is still our primary geopolitical adversary when China is clearly our biggest threat.
We can demand accountability from China without inflaming anti-Asian sentiment. President Biden must use forceful diplomacy to bring other world leaders around to force China’s hand. Finding consensus will be difficult, but issuing statements of concern is clearly not enough.
The Chinese government should be given a deadline to turn early COVID-19 case data over to the WHO and there must be clear consequences for failure to comply. Any number of sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans for China’s leaders, should be on the table. We should also strongly encourage the WHO to immediately send its team of investigators back to China. They should remain there until China’s leaders fully cooperate, and if they don’t, team members should hold daily press conferences to shame them.
Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a bill, the COVID-19 Accountability Act, last May calling for sanctions on China if it failed to fully cooperate with the U.S. and international organizations conducting investigations. The bill never received a vote but now is the time to reignite talks of how to respond to China’s dangerous lack of transparency.
China doves and free-trade-at-all-costs types will insist that we can’t afford to confront China, which is our third largest trading partner. But when you stack up the economic cost that may arise from rising tensions with China against the potential cost of enduring another pandemic, the choice is clear. It’s time for Joe Biden and other world leaders to send a clear, united message to China that the world will not allow them to persist in what looks like a COVID-19 coverup.
Dave Seminara is a former diplomat and author of “Footsteps of Federer: A Fan’s Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts,” forthcoming on March 2.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Politics.]
The post It’s time for Biden to halt ‘what looks like a COVID-19 cover-up’ appeared first on WND.
Paramount Plus: Everything to know about CBS All Access’ streaming revamp – CNET
CBS All Access will become Paramount Plus Thursday. Here’s everything to know about its cost, shows and movies (and what’s going on with Yellowstone).
Cuomo Champions Far-Left Bill That Attacks Religious Freedom
On Thursday, CNN’s Chris “Fredo” Cuomo spent over seven minutes of his eponymous show, Cuomo Prime Time, championing the House Democrats’ newly passed Equality Act. Cuomo invited left-wing Illinois Congresswoman Marie Newman (whose child is transgender) on to discuss the importance of the Equality Act and to delineate the recent drama-filled feud with her colleague Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
During the entire softball interview, solely predicated on emotions, Cuomo never once informed viewers of what the bill actually meant or how it would potentially affect their lives. Instead, he argued in favor of the act and contended that it’s passage is so essential that it could be effectively used to make the case for eliminating the filibuster:
“Even with the House passing the Equality Act, and, by the way, that may become one of the strongest arguments to get rid of the filibuster—for another day. The Equality Act is a landmark piece of legislation that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans. Remember, the gay marriage case was only a start. If they don’t have federal protection, like color, creed, sex, forget it. You’re going to fight this case by case. So now there’s another ugly feud brewing on Capitol Hill.”
Of course, painting Newman as the victim, Cuomo provided viewers with — substantially one-sided — background on the recent events that transpired in the hallway that the two congresswomen have to share.
Cuomo failed to note that Newman was actually the one who started the feud. Instead, Newman told Cuomo that she put the transgender-pride flag up because she was “simply expressing [her] support for [her] daughter and the greater LGBTQ community.” Newman went on to say that she “was making a statement about seeing the community, seeing LGBTQ folks, embracing them and respecting them.”
Newman’s tweet, however, was completely at odds with the illustrious farce she provided Cuomo during the interview. Tagging Greene, Newman pettily tweeted, “Thought we’d put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door.” The videographer was careful to pan wide enough to ensure that viewers could see Greene’s office diametrically across the hall.
Does that sound like expressing “support” for her child to you?
In response to Newman’s flag placement, Greene tweeted her own video of her mounting a sign — accurately — proclaiming that there are only two genders.
Neither Cuomo nor Newman mentioned any of the freedom-restricting repercussions of the Equality Act, nor did they discuss any of the actual language or content of the bill. In fact, Cuomo didn’t ask Newman to expound upon the content of the bill that her colleagues in the House recently passed at all.
Instead of asking tough, objective questions and providing his audience with facts to allow them to formulate their own opinions, Cuomo resorted to his usual demagoguery. He asked Newman “what did it mean” to her to see Greene’s sign, and he denounced those in opposition to the Equality Act as morally inferior.
According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, if the Equality Act becomes law, it will profoundly affect and limit various liberties Americans enjoy, ranging from their explicit rights to worship and speak freely to their implied right to the freedom of association.
Cuomo concluded the segment by emphatically stating that Newman is welcome back on his show anytime she wants. Indeed, he encouraged her to come back relatively soon so that she could use his show to attempt to convince members of the Senate to pass the Equality Act.
Cuomo’s inexorable championing of legislation that has the potential to circumscribe the freedoms of millions of Americans was brought to you, in part, by Keeps. Contact this advertiser and others via the Media Research Center’s Conservatives Fight Back, conveniently linked here.
Please click “expand” to view the relevant February 25 transcript:
Cuomo Prime Time
02/25/2021
9:45 PM Eastern
CHRIS CUOMO: Even with the House passing the Equality Act, and, by the way, that may become one of the strongest arguments to get rid of the filibuster—for another day. The Equality Act is a landmark piece of legislation that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans. Remember, the gay marriage case was only a start. If they don’t have federal protection, like color, creed, sex, forget it. You’re going to fight this case by case. So now there’s another ugly feud brewing on Capitol Hill. And once again, you have the ugliest member of the GOP-Q, is there at the center. It all started Wednesday. On Wednesday, the Democratic Representative, Marie Newman, she’s got a transgender daughter, okay? She posted this video of herself hanging a pink and blue transgender-pride flag outside her office door. It’s in the interest of what we used to call tolerance. Greene, right, the QAnon kook, who sits directly across from Newman, is a vocal opponent of the Equality Act. That’s okay, that’s politics, but how do you show that? In response to the flag, Greene makes her own video posting this: an antagonizing sign that completely demoralizes all people who are non-binary. There are two genders, male and female. Trust the science. Which is, of course, irony, because she doesn’t believe in any science. She’s a QAnon freak. She also aimed a tweet at Newman’s child, quote, your biological son does not belong in my daughter’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams. Now, this speaks to an ignorance of transgender people. The last thing a transgender kid wants to do is show off a difference anatomically from any other kid. This has always been a boogie man that some grown up, some man was going to come in to a girls’ bathroom. It’s always been a boogie man. The cases aren’t there, and it’s just ugly. Congresswoman Newman joins me right now. And I gotta tell you, I thought we were past this. I thought we were better than this. At least on the congressional level. I get that there are people out there, because of some faux sense of religion or some, you know, faux understanding of science, they want to judge. That’s their right. And it’s your right and job to try to persuade, but what did it mean to you to have a member of Congress act like somebody who you would have to deal with as a fringe at a town hall?
CONGRESSWOMAN MARIE NEWMAN (D-IL): Well, first, thank you for having me this evening, Chris. Uh, this is a great opportunity, and it’s a great day. We passed the Equality Act, today, which means that we will have a law on the books, uh, when it passes the Senate, and President Biden signs it, and he has agreed to that, um, that will prevent discrimination across our great land. So, across anything from, uh, housing to employment, to public spaces, to private spaces, so I’m thrilled today. Um, what put a damper on things, yesterday, was I was simply expressing my support for my daughter and the greater LGBTQ community. And Representative Greene, uh, took another path. Uh, she is in disagreement with me, shall we say, but clearly, clearly, she is angry. Uh, she’s angry at everybody and everything. So, uh, her kind of modus operandi at all times is to, in fact, bully people. Well, you can only let bullies go so long and you have to speak out. And so, I was making a statement about seeing the community, seeing LGBTQ folks, embracing them and respecting them. That’s all that was meant. I’m not surprised at her behavior. I am surprised she is a congressperson.
CUOMO: Well, good point. Let’s forget about her.
NEWMAN: Yep.
CUOMO: What do you say to the members of her party who are silent in the face of her words and deeds?
NEWMAN: Yeah, you know, here’s the good news. Is that several members of the Republican Party, uh, did reach out to me privately and expressed they were horrified by her behavior, and they were horrified by her general, uh, being in Congress [LAUGHS], to be honest with you. Um, a few actually spoke out publicly, Adam, um, Kinzinger is among them, and I really appreciated those comments. Um, that said, I think that, uh, they are in fear of the QAnon kooks, um, because they do spread lies. And they can turn on their own; they have demonstrated that. So it is unfortunate that more didn’t reach out, but some did, and I want them to have credit and want them to know I deeply appreciate them reaching out.
CUOMO: They reached out to you directly?
NEWMAN: Yes.
CUOMO: Kinzinger, I think put out something public. Um, here’s my beef. I understand human to human it’s nice for people to give consolation on something as intimate and personal as your kids. But that’s not their job—is to just talk to you personally. They’ve got to stand and be counted because that party is literally running in the wrong direction of what its own values are supposed to stand for. What affect do you think it has on safety of people in the LGBTQ and broader community when a voice and actions, like the QAnon lady’s, are allowed to go unchecked?
NEWMAN: We’re supposed to be role models in Congress, um, not just by our character but our deeds, our actions, and what we say. So, it’s very important about what we say, words matter, but actions really matter, Chris. And that’s why I actually chose to act, today. I will also say, too, that we have to be representing the American people all day long and their values. What they want right now is COVID relief. They want us to get this COVID relief package out. But the good news is Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time. We passed the Equality Act, today. We’re going to pass the American Rescue Plan and get payments directly to Americans. We’re going to fund and support cities, counties and towns and get this vaccination, uh, rolled out to everyone, um, over time. And so, I’m immensely proud of the Democratic Party, right now. I do think that there are folks inside the Republican Party who are demonstrating some level of courage. I’m encouraging more of them to come out. There are more people supporting you than you could possibly know. And my message to them is is that we need two strong parties in order to have checks and balances, and I encourage that. So whoever can take on that mantle to bring the Republican Party back to what it is, so that we can have a partner in governing, that would be great and very helpful. We must get relief. We must get a transportation and infrastructure bill out. We must build back America. We must get a green stimulus package out. So, uh, I’m looking forward to some folks getting some courage.
CUOMO: Boy, I’ll tell ya, you know, that is the kind of discussion we should be having about people who are in the LGBTQ-minority community. Uh, that, listen, you can come out; we accept it; you’re embraced. They may have to add to an R, uh, to that if Republicans keep going the way they’re going because they’re becoming a frightened minority in their own party that are going to need protection from their own. And I just want people to understand something. 90% of trans people report experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination. It is rampant. 53% of transgender people report being harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation like a bathroom, especially because of the weaponization of that issue. Look, we all know that tolerance and integration of different types of people will require finesse. You have to figure it out. You’ve got to figure out the sports thing. You’ve got to figure things out. But we’ve got to embrace it. And I’m really sorry that you had to deal with this in a place that’s supposed to be about making us better. Congresswoman Marie Newman, um, the best to your daughter and you’re here to have a platform to discuss the way forward—and I think it’s going to happen soon because I don’t know how this gets through the Senate. So, I’m here to discuss, when you want.
NEWMAN: Well, thank you so much and thank you for having me this evening.
CUOMO: Thank you for making the time.
After Warning of Coming End of the World, ABC Asks Socialist How to Fight ‘Fear’
Nightline co-host Juju Chang on Thursday worried to the United Nations Secretary General about a coming climate disaster that could possibly make it “too late” to stop the end of everything. She then, with no sense of irony, wondered how we could fight a culture of “fear” that is overtaking many.
Talking to Antonio Guterres (a longtime socialist), Chang apocalyptically fretted, “The U.N. Climate report is being described as the starkest report yet on the environment. I’m curious, the U.S. Has just this month rejoined the Paris climate accords. How do you counter this feeling among everyday people that perhaps it’s too late?”
No mention from Chang about previous comments from Guterres, such as when he hyperbolically told CBS in December, “So it’s time for the war between human kind and nature to end.” Chang also didn’t follow-up when the UN official ominously warned, “Some industries will disappear. But we need to take care of the people that are involved in those industries.”
This might have been a good time to remind viewers that the Portuguese politician is the former “secretary‑general of the Socialist party.” Destroying industries isn’t exactly a new position for a socialist.
Then, with no sense of remembering that they were just talking about the end of the world, Chang put this question to Guterres:
But as the world evolves, Guterres says an epidemic of misinformation is giving rise to fear and hate. What can be done, in your view, to fight that kind of disinformation that seems to be at the core of all of this divisiveness?
How do we fight “fear” and “divisiveness?” Perhaps not talking about intentionally destroying unfashionable industries and warning of the end of the world.
The alarmist propaganda on ABC was sponsored by Crest and Land Rover. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
A partial transcript of the segment is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Nightline
2/26/2021
tease
BYRON PITTS: Up next, one on one with the top U.N. Official. His warning, if climate change fails to be controlled.
1:01 AM ET
PITTS: Finally tonight, a global perspective on some of the biggest issues we’re facing today. Here again is my Nightline co-anchor Juju Chang.
JUJU CHANG: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spearheading the united nations response to every major global crisis since he took office this 2017. As the pandemic ravaged the globe, Guterres front and center advocating for increased testing and equal access to vaccines for nations rich or poor. You have called it the biggest moral test before the global economy. What do you think about the fact that 130 countries haven’t had a single dose?
…
CHANG: Among Guterres’ other major priorities, urgent action on climate change. A report just released by the U.N. paints a startling picture of a planet in decline, roughly nine million people die from pollution every year. The U.N. Climate report is being described as the starkest report yet on the environment. I’m curious, the U.S. Has just this month rejoined the Paris climate accords. How do you counter this feeling among everyday people that perhaps it’s too late?
GUTERRES: It’s not too late. On the contrary. We are on time. But we need to do it quickly. And some people say, look, I mean, “There is so much cold temperature in Texas, probably there is no global warming.” The worst of climate change is not only the warming, it’s that everything is becoming more extreme. The hurricanes, snowstorms, heat waves. Everything is more extreme.
CHANG: If it’s not too late, what are the most effective policies you see going forward?
GUTERRES: I see the technology on all sides. Today it’s cheaper to produce energy based on renewables than based on coal or on other fossil fuels. But of course, we need to do this transition with justice. Some industries will disappear. But we need to take care of the people that are involved in those industries. So we need — let’s promote the green economy, but let’s support those that are losing with the effect the old economy is phasing out.
CHANG: But as the world evolves, Guterres says an epidemic of misinformation is giving rise to fear and hate. What can be done, in your view, to fight that kind of disinformation that seems to be at the core of all of this divisiveness?
GURERRESS: First of all, truth. And I think the media has a key role to play. We need to re-establish our strong, global commitment to truth. To use truth as the basis for trust. And the problem of today’s world is the lack of trust. The lack of trust between people and government, the lack of trust between countries, the lack of trust between institutions. This lack of trust this undermining, is undermining our capacity to prevent conflicts, our capacity to solve conflicts, the capacity to deal with COVID or our capacity to fight climate change.
