Third Estate Sunday Review

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

If Alyssa Milano got a taste of her own medicine . . .

Former child performer and aging starlet Alyssa Milano has declared war on the NRA and, as part of that war, she's leading a campaign to get AMAZON to remove the NRA channel as a streaming option.

Grasp that.

Alyssa Milano‏Verified account @Alyssa_Milano 9 hours ago

Hi, @amazon! Pro-gun-regulation advocates are cancelling Prime & boycotting while @NRA members are pledging loyalty to you for being PRO NRA. Do you want to be known as a Pro-NRA company!? Because If you don’t cancel NRA TV, that’s exactly what you run the risk of becoming.

897 replies4,155 retweets12,028 likes

She's endorsing censorship and doing so because she doesn't agree with an organization's view.

That's appalling.

What would happen if NRA supporters did the same to Alyssa?

She tried to do a pilot for THE CW but they felt she looked "way too old" (direct quote) for their core audiences (tween to 20s) and they passed.

However, NETFLIX has picked up the program: INSATIABLE.

Should the NRA decide to make her as toxic as she's made them, she could be in a lot of trouble.

INSATIABLE's problems include its producer Ryan Seacrest. (Suzie Hardy tells her story here.)

Remember, #MeToo only matters to Alyssa when she can get publicity from it. She has no problem working with a man accused of harassment -- but then she explained away the same sort of behavior on the set of CHARMED as well, didn't she?

Alyssa doesn't figure she can win an argument on merits (she probably can't, she's not very smart) so she instead insists that free speech be terminated.

If her opponents acted the same way, she might have to actually work and not just struggle into those carefully pinned outfits to pretend she's lost weight when she does her Atkins commercials.

See also Stan's "Alyssa Milano does realize that CHARMED wasn't a law school, right?"

A little music

The latest from Dashboard Confessional (from CROOKED SHADOWS).

Read a book?

Readers have e-mailed us asking for more book coverage at community sites. We've passed this request on.

So far, the book coverage includes:

"Good for Jimmy Stewart, bad for readers" -- Stan.

"Conversations with Toni Morrison" -- Marcia.

"Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream" -- Ann.

"He Ran All The Way" -- Trina.

And we'll also note Ann's "How a book store could stay alive in today's economy" about the book business.

We'll try to update this feature regularly.

This edition's playlist

1) Alicia Keys' HERE.

2) Sam Smith's THE THRILL OF IT ALL.

3) Janet Jackson's UNBREAKABLE.

4) Aretha Franklin's ARETHA SINGS THE GREAT DIVA CLASSICS.

5) Tori Amos' NATIVE INVADERS.

6) Tracy Chapman's OUR BRIGHT FUTURE.

7) Diana Ross' DIAMOND DIANA: THE LEGACY COLLECTION.

8) Tracy Chapman's TRACY CHAPMAN.

9) Taylor Swift's REPUTATION.

10) Tracy Chapman's CROSSROADS.

Isakson Announces Hearing With Multiple Veterans Service Organizations

Senator Johnny Isakson is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. His office issued the following Tuesday:

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Contact: Amanda Maddox, 202-224-7777
Camlin Moore, 202-224-9126

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

Isakson Announces Hearing With Multiple Veterans Service Organizations

WASHINGTON – The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., along with the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, will hold a hearing with multiple Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at 2:00 p.m., to discuss their legislative priorities for this year.

The hearing will be streamed online at www.veterans.senate.gov. Media planning to attend should RSVP to Majority_Press@vetaff.senate.gov.

WHO: Senate and House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs

WHERE: G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building

WHEN: Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at 2:00 p.m.

WHAT: “Legislative Presentations of Multiple VSOs”

(American Ex-Prisoners of War, American Veterans, Association of the United States Navy, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, National Guard Association of the United States, Non Commissioned Officer Association, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Vietnam Veterans of America, Wounded Warrior Project)

###

The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 115th Congress. Isakson is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs since he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations representing each branch of the armed services as well as more than 750,000 veterans.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Truest statement of the week

Not only did the indictment clearly say that no one in the Trump campaign was wittingly or knowingly involved with the Russians, it explains how the Russians used fake names and groups to hide their real identities. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave a press conference and drove home that point, stating that there was no evidence of any knowing involvement by the Trump campaign, as well as no evidence that this effort impacted the election. Indeed, Rosenstein stated that there is “no allegation in this indictment that any American had any knowledge” of the Russian effort.

For over a year, some of us have been questioning the weekly “bombshells” announced on cable programs of criminal Russian collusion. Indeed, for months I asked for someone to point to a crime of collusion in the criminal code or the criminal evidence to support a criminal indictment if such a related charge is made. With each week, experts have given breathless accounts of the circle of collusion tightening on the Trump campaign.

Now, the special counsel and the deputy attorney general are saying that there is no evidence of knowing interaction of campaign staff with Russians interfering with the election. The paucity of such evidence follows a year of intensive investigation and the much heralded plea bargains with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and the expected plea with former campaign official Rick Gates. There is still no evidence of anyone “wittingly” or knowingly colluding with these Russians. Moreover, the indictment says that the Russian efforts began in 2014, long before the candidacy of Trump.

-- Jonathan Turley, "Russian Indictments Are Long On Chicanery and Short On Collusion" (THE HILL and JONATHANTURLEY.ORG).

Truest statement of the week II

There can be no discussion about Syria that does not put the United States at the center of the conflict. Absent American backing none of the other war makers would have ever dared to lift a finger. Barack Obama took the lead in the plot but then demurred against further escalation in the face of British faltering and perhaps his own fear of the outcome. Trump is surely the most pro-Israel in a long line of presidents. He goes along with the influential lobby with complete conviction.
Syria is not the only target in this effort. Iran is also in Trump’s crosshairs as he keeps alive the 40-year old campaign to destroy that country. Of course Israel is implicated in any anti-Iranian activity and as the only nuclear power in the region always poses great danger to the entire world.

The potential for conflict is ripe as the United States is determined to throw a wrench into any process that might lead to peace. Worse yet there is silence in the United States Congress and blatant warmonger cheerleading in the corporate media. Leftish Democrats who at one time could be counted on to at least ask questions are long gone. Supposed progressives like Bernie Sanders support war and Zionist members of the House of Representatives and Senate are happy to join Trump in supporting anything that Israel wants.

-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: U.S. Escalates Syrian War" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).

A note to our readers

Hey --

It's early Monday morning except on the West Coast where it's still Sunday.

Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's K itchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.

And what did we come up with?

Truest statement of the week

Jonathan Turley gets a truest.

Truest statement of the week II

Margaret Kimberley gets another truest.

Editorial: The War Whores face global rebuke

Oh, look what happens when a War Machine tool thinks he can play honest broker. No, it's not that easy.

TV: NBC flames out again with the Olympics

Ava and C.I. were not going to write about the Winter Olympics. They had other things to focus on. They insisted. Then we were working on a piece -- the rest of us -- about the Olympics and they'd chime in, well don't forget . . . And then they'd add . . . And finally I (Jim) convinced them to just write about it. They did. This is one of their greatest pieces -- a really high standard, I know.