[guest post by Dana]

Feel free to talk about anything you think is newsworthy or might interest readers.

I’ll start.

First news item: The staggering freedom of forgiveness:

"I was in agony. Naked. So ugly. I wish that picture wasn’t taken." Phan Thị Kim Phúc’s life changed forever when she became known as “the napalm girl” in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph.

She offers her Brief But Spectacular take on forgiveness and that girl in the picture. pic.twitter.com/H4zglrxkfk

— CBC Docs (@cbcdocs) January 16, 2020

Second news item: This isn’t hard to believe:

What exactly went down during a July 2017 meeting at the Pentagon between President Donald Trump and his military leaders has long been the subject of speculation. One of the tantalizing details that’s been previously reported is that, whatever took place, it provoked then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to call his commander in chief “a fucking moron.”

Now an excerpt of a new book published in The Washington Post demonstrates exactly what tipped Tillerson over the edge. An account of the meeting in the upcoming book A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America depicts Trump becoming increasingly angry as his generals tried to teach him the fundamental basics of American post-war history.

[…]

The book states that the meeting took place six months into Trump’s presidency after his generals became concerned about “gaping holes” in Trump’s knowledge of America’s key alliances…However, the meeting seems to have descended into chaos almost immediately….

The president reportedly called Afghanistan a “loser war,” and told his military leaders: “You’re all losers… You don’t know how to win anymore… I want to win… We don’t win any wars anymore… We spend $7 trillion, everybody else got the oil and we’re not winning anymore.” It’s reported that Trump was so angry at this point that he wasn’t breathing properly.

…Trump—a man who, remember, managed to get out of military duty in Vietnam due to a supposed bone-spur problem—is said to have told the assembled forces, “I wouldn’t go to war with you people… You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.”

The comment reportedly left the room dumbfounded. Tillerson was “visibly seething,” and decided to speak up. The secretary of state said, “No, that’s just wrong… Mr. President, you’re totally wrong. None of that is true.” When the meeting ended soon afterward, Tillerson reportedly stood with a small group of confidants and said, “He’s a fucking moron.”

Third news item: Radio Sputnik…in Kansas City:

A Kansas City area radio station can broadcast Russian state-owned media programming, the type that U.S. intelligence called a “propaganda machine,” for six hours a day through a lease agreement struck by a local radio operator.

RM Broadcasting LLC, a Florida-based company that has agreements to broadcast the Russian state media program Radio Sputnik, reached a deal on Jan. 1 to lease air time through Alpine Broadcasting Corp. in Liberty. Alpine Broadcasting Corp. broadcasts on three frequencies in the Kansas City area: KCXL 1140 AM, 102.9 FM and 104.7 FM.

… KCXL’s website… says that it’s the radio station that will “tell you the things that the liberal media wont (sic) tell you,” lists Radio Sputnik in its morning programming.

Fourth news item: Losing the championship to cheating Houston Astros isn’t sitting well with L.A. Dodgers fans:

The Dodgers are not scheduled to play the Houston Astros next season. That would seem to spare the Astros the in-person wrath of Dodgers fans.

Unless, of course, Dodgers fans bring their wrath to the Astros. And the baseball gods have teed this one up for Dodgers fans: The Astros play their first weekend road series this year at Angel Stadium.

So we checked with Pantone 294, the Dodgers fan group that has delivered as many as 2,200 diehards to a Dodgers road game. And, yeah, Pantone 294 is thinking about chartering a fleet of buses, packing them with a thousand or more Dodgers fans, and forming a caravan down Interstate 5 to greet the Astros in Anaheim.

And a class action lawsuit is being considered:

One of the many Los Angeles Dodgers fans outraged by the Houston Astros’ actions in the 2017 season, which ended in a World Series loss for the L.A. team, said he and his friends were considering filing a class-action lawsuit.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow on Monday before the team fired them over violation of rules against the use of video equipment to steal signs during matches.

“We’re looking for an attorney,” said Jose “Bluebeard” Lara of Montebello on Tuesday, citing losses that include money paid for parking, Dodger dogs and beer.

“It’s not cheap to go to a Dodger game anymore,” he added.

Lara said he’s received numerous inquiries from fellow fans who want to join the lawsuit.

Fifth news item: It’s quite possible to hold two correct thoughts in your head at the same time: a) CNN unquestionably, and loyally favors Democrats b) Elected officials on both sides of the aisle are grifters, and grifters are gonna grift:

As Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) walked through the hallways of the Senate Thursday, CNN senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju asked her if the Senate should consider “new evidence as part of the impeachment trial.” McSally shot back: “Manu, you’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you.”

“You’re not going to comment about this?” a dazed Raju asked. “You’re a liberal hack, buddy,” McSally replied as she walked away. Predictably, conservatives cheered, while mainstream media decried McSally’s move as unbecoming.

[…]

The problem isn’t that Raju asked the question — that’s his job, after all. It’s that virtually all questions posed by political reporters these days are framed to support the narratives and assumptions of one political party, the Democrats.

Fundraising follows, of course:

She’s selling tee shirts, asking for donations and making the rounds of Fox News shows touting the name calling. Some shirts bear the phrase “You’re a liberal hack, buddy.”

I’ve had enough of the media’s political smears and I’m not afraid to push back.

If you have too, help me amplify my message and hold liberal media hacks accountable –> https://t.co/Qm2uLij1C9 pic.twitter.com/WNJZgu3wlz

— McSally For Senate (@MarthaMcSally) January 17, 2020

Have a great weekend.

–Dana