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Beacon Extra 1/14/20

The 2020 Dem field gets even whiter, Hollywood disappoints the woke crowd again, and another media talking point on Iran goes kaput

January 14, 2020

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T-BONE ENDORSEMENT UP FOR GRABS … "Sen. Cory Booker exits the Democratic presidential primary, making the field less diverse," via WAPO: Booker is the latest candidate of color to leave a Democratic field that had started out as historically diverse, exiting about two weeks after former HUD secretary and San Antonio mayor Julián Castro said he was suspending his campaign …

Yet Booker, who had spent years building ties with black leaders, struggled badly with black voters. A hoped-for breakout in South Carolina never came.

KNIVES OUT … "Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren in private 2018 meeting that a woman can't win, sources say," via CNN: That evening, Sanders expressed frustration at what he saw as a growing focus among Democrats on identity politics, according to one of the people familiar with the conversation. Warren told Sanders she disagreed with his assessment that a woman could not win, three of the four sources said.

Sanders denied the characterization of the meeting in a statement to CNN.

STILL MOURNING SOLEIMANI? … "Leading 2020 Dems Ignore Iranian Protests Condemning Regime," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: As thousands of Iranians risk death to protest the regime shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane, many Democrats have focused on criticizing the Trump administration. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg, and businessmen Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer have failed to acknowledge the protests …

Despite their failure to recognize the ongoing demonstrations, both Warren and Buttigieg previously supported Iranian anti-government protests were prompted by rising gas prices.

EVERY VOTE MATTERS … "Sanders Refused to Condemn Farrakhan Official’s Anti-Semitic Screed," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: As the Nation of Islam faced public and private pressure to moderate its rhetoric in the mid-1990s, Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders voted against a congressional measure condemning a series of virulent anti-Semitic statements by a leading member of the group …

Anti-Semitism among black leaders like Khalid Abdul Muhammad is the result of joblessness and homelessness in underprivileged communities, Sanders contended.

BERNIE PIVOTS TO THE PRIMARY … "Sanders Says He Held Hawkish Immigration Views ‘250 Years Ago’ (It Was 2015)," by WFB’s Alex Griswold: New York Times editor Nick Fox asked Sanders if he still believed that foreign workers depress wages for Americans. "No," [Bernie] Sanders responded. "That's what I said on the Lou Dobbs show 250 years ago, right?"

Sanders made that argument in 2015 on at least two occasions. "What right-wing people in this country would love is an open-border policy," Sanders said in a Vox interview. "Bring in all kinds of people, work for $2 or $3 an hour, that would be great for them."

THEY ARE PRETTY GOOD AT KILLING UNARMED CIVILIANS … "Iran Warns Protesters as It Grapples With Unrest Over Plane Crash," via WSJ: The demonstrations broke out after the Iranian military on Saturday said it unintentionally shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner last week, killing all 176 people on board, after denying for days that it was responsible. The protesters denounced what they called lying and incompetence by the country’s leadership.

Tehran’s metropolitan police chief, Hossein Rahimi, on Monday warned "abusers of the situation" that the country’s security forces would zealously defend the security of the Iranian people.

NO "WORKPLACE VIOLENCE" FOR THIS GUY … "Barr says shooting at Pensacola Navy base was an ‘act of terrorism’," via AXIOS: Attorney General William Barr said Monday that the shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station that killed three service members last month was an "act of terrorism" and that the Saudi gunman was determined to have been "motivated by jihadist ideology" following a criminal investigation …

The attack, perpetrated by a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force enrolled in a training program at the base, prompted a review that led the military to expel more than a dozen Saudi trainees, per CNN. Though none were found to have aided the gunman in the Pensacola incident, some were found to have connections to extremist movements.

IS THAT A THREAT? … "Harry and Meghan don’t want to live in LA until Trump leaves office," via PAGE SIX: "It’s by no means an immediate thing but there is a long-term plan to end up back in the U.S. with a second home in Canada, where they will also spend a great deal of time," the source said.

But Markle, 38, has said she won’t move back while Trump is president, according to the Mail, citing her friends.

THAT’S HOW DETERRENCE WORKS … "NYT Reporter Applauds Iran For Showing ‘More Restraint’ Than U.S.," via NEWSBUSTERS: Moments later, [New York Times foreign correspondent Rukmini Callimachi] went further, actually arguing that Iran was acting more responsibly than the United States: "...one of the takeaways of the past week is that we actually saw, in my opinion, Iran act with perhaps more restraint than our own government."

AND NOW WITH THE NOMINEES FOR MOVIES WE WILL NEVER SEE …"Issa Rae Had the Best Response After Announcing the All-Male Oscar Noms for Best Director," via GLAMOUR: And yet again not a single woman was nominated in the Best Director category, where many thought Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Lorene Scarfaria (Hustlers), or Lulu Wang (The Farewell) deserved recognition.

And Rae had a perfect response—and facial expression—to this news. After reading the list of names, she simply said, "Congratulations to those men."

DIAGNOSIS: INSANITY … "A Nurse With Over A Million Followers On TikTok Is Facing Backlash For A Video Saying Abstinence Is The Best Way To Prevent STDs," via BUZZFEED: Holly, who did not want to disclose her full name or any personal information, told BuzzFeed News she deleted the video due to the backlash. She also apologized "for any offense that was taken" as she "only wish[es] to promote positivity and healthy lifestyles." …

Other nurses are now creating TikToks of their own in response to offer nonjudgmental perspectives and other alternatives for safe sex.

BETTER TO BE WRONG THAN FAVORABLE TO TRUMP … "Media Eager to Wrongly Say Iran 'Unified' After Soleimani's Death," by WFB’s David Rutz: CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota, who reported on anti-regime protests Monday on New Day, said last week that Soleimani's death "seems to have united" the Iranian people in favor of the regime. MSNBC's Katy Tur led a broadcast last week by saying that "it seems President Trump did what the Iranian government has been unable to do: unite the country."

"Iran is, instead of protesting against the regime, unified against America instead," said MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell.

DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,129. Come back, Joe!

"You know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden." —Former President Barack Obama

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Published under: Beacon Extra