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Beacon Extra 1/7/20

Omar gets a well-deserved award, March For Our Lives is AstroTurf, and Soleimani flies coach home

January 7, 2020

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MAZEL TOV! … "Ilhan Omar Named 2019 Anti-Semite of the Year," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: The organization StopAntiSemitism.org chose Omar, who has repeatedly spread anti-Israel and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, following a public nomination and voting period.

"Among Rep. Ilhan Omar's transgressions, she perpetuated anti-Semitic tropes on Twitter to nearly two million followers and introduced an anti-Semitic resolution in Congress that promoted boycotts of the State of Israel and likened them to boycotts of Nazi Germany," the group wrote in a press release Monday. "The public's vote highlights the growing concern among Americans about the Congresswomen's ability to use and abuse her position of power to propagate hatred in the U.S."

ASTROTURF … "March For Our Lives Raised Nearly All Funding from Secret Six-Figure Donations," by WFB’s Stephen Gutowski and Joe Schoffstall: The group reported $17,879,150 in contributions and grants over the course of 2018, its first year of operations. 95 percent of those contributions came from 36 donations between $100,000 and $3,504,717—a grand total of  $16,922,331.

The group's reliance on a small number of large donations raises questions about its ability to turn rally-goers and supporters into donors. It also provides ammunition to gun-rights activists who have long cast the gun-control movement as driven not by grassroots supporters, but by billionaire benefactors like Michael Bloomberg.

DEADBEAT DAD … "Where’s Hunter? Arkansas Mother Accuses Biden of Delaying Trial," by WFB’s Brent Scher: Lawyers for Lunden Alexis Roberts are crying foul after Biden declared himself "unable to appear" for a scheduled Tuesday hearing that Biden himself set the date for. The filing asks the court to deny Biden's motion to reschedule the hearing.

THE AVERAGE BERNIE BRO IS 27 YEARS OLD, THEY LITERALLY KNOW NOTHING … "Obamaworld Hates Bernie—and Has No Idea How to Stop Him," via DAILY BEAST: Indeed, the most striking aspect of Obamaworld’s response to Sanders on the rise—flush with cash, an uptick in the polls, and unusually frequent hat tips about the merits of his character from his rivals—is the lack of a cohesive one.

Seasoned Obama operatives who spoke to The Daily Beast concede that Sanders is likely to be a major player through the end of the primary, with several agreeing there’s little to no consolidation around one anointed candidate to blunt his momentum.

HE’S GOT NOTHING ON HUNTER … "Ilhan Omar’s ex-husband Ahmed Hirsi remarries 37 days after their divorce," via NY POST: That was quick! Rep. Ilhan Omar’s ex-husband has remarried — just 37 days after their divorce was finalized, according to a new report Monday …

Omar and her husband filed for divorce in October amid allegations she was having an affair with DC political consultant Tim Mynett.

DEM DONOR FACES LADY JUSTICE … "Harvey Weinstein Has Been Charged In Los Angeles For Rape And Sexual Assault," via BUZZFEED: Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was indicted Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in Los Angeles, the same day his sex assault trial kicked off in New York City …

Los Angeles prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $5 million. If convicted of all charges, Weinstein faces up to 28 years in state prison.

RUSSIAN INFLUENCE REVEALED … "AOC Likes Tweet From Russian State Media Claiming Iran Doesn’t Target Civilians," by WFB’s Alex Griswold: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) liked a tweet from a Russian-funded operative [Ranika Khalek] claiming that Iran, the world's most prolific state sponsor of terrorism, does not target civilians …

Khalek is a host for In the Now, a viral media company funded by the Russian government that was kicked off Facebook for its pro-Russia propaganda. She previously served as an editor for anti-Israel site The Electronic Intifada but resigned after speaking at a pro-Bashar al-Assad conference in Syria.

 

NO LEG ROOM NEEDED … "Qassem Soleimani’s dead body flies coach back to Iran," via NY POST: The remains of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian military commander killed in a US drone strike, were apparently placed in a cardboard box and flown out of Iraq across rows of passenger seats, new video shows …

Soleimani’s coffin was laid across rows of passenger seats instead of transported in the cargo hold.

TRUMP MAKES AYATOLLAH WEEP … "Iranian leader’s tears a sign of respect for slain general," via AP: In a rare display of emotion from the typically reserved and measured supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cried openly Monday at the funeral of slain Gen. Qassem Soleimani, his most important military commander with whom he shared a deep bond …

The funeral showcased the depth of the bond Khamenei had with the slain general and gave insight into how Soleimani’s death is being felt personally by the supreme leader. It could also impact how Khamenei responds to the United States.

SHOT … "U.S. Journalists Mourn Death of Iranian Terrorist," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: The U.S. media's peculiar (albeit predictable) behavior in response President Donald Trump's successful assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani continued on Monday during their coverage of the slain terrorist's funeral in Tehran …

ABC News's Martha Raddatz donned a (mandatory) headscarf and walked among the "massive and emotional" crowds of mourners. She declared that the Iranian people were "united against America."

CHASER … "NYT Reporter: Defense Department ‘Quite Tragically’ Good at Killing People," by WFB’s David Rutz: "This is something that the American Defense Department, quite tragically almost, is very good at doing. We know how to kill people," Pentagon reporter Helene Cooper said during an appearance on "The Daily" podcast. "And we had been tracking for more than a decade, almost two decades, Qassem Soleimani."

NO RESPECT … "CNBC Mistakes Andrew Yang for GOP Venture Capitalist," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: CNBC on Monday mistook Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang for Geoff Yang, a venture capitalist and Republican donor who has appeared on CNBC several times …

Though Andrew Yang's supporters quickly welcomed Geoff to the #YangGang, they should not expect an endorsement from the venture capitalist anytime soon.

CNN HARDEST HIT … "Michael Avenatti Loses Bid to Have Two Nike Extortion Charges Tossed," via BLOOMBERG: Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti lost his fight to dismiss two of the counts in the criminal case accusing him of trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike Inc. …

"The indictment adequately alleges that Avenatti engaged in ‘wrongful’ conduct, because it pleads facts demonstrating that Avenatti used threats of economic and reputational harm to demand millions of dollars from Nike, for himself, to which he had no plausible claim of right," Judge Paul Gardephe said Monday.

TOM HANKS, CALL YOUR AGENT … "The Whiteness of 'Toy Story 4'," via THR: TS4’s main family lives in a big, brightly lit house in an ivory utopia; its daughter sleeps in a plush room packed with a U.S. Treasury’s worth of gizmos; they drive around in a gas-guzzling RV, stopping for carnivals and carnies that would be right at home in the 1940s or 1950s. Problems of prejudice, money and unemployment never seem to cross anyone’s mind.

LO$T CAU$E … "Human Cash Incinerator Jon Ossoff Raises Another $1 Million in Georgia Senate Race," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: Ossoff, 32, is trying to establish himself as the frontrunner in a Democratic primary that features three other candidates vying to challenge incumbent senator David Perdue (R., Ga.) in 2020. The doe-eyed failure raised more than $800,000 in the first three weeks after launching his campaign in September but remains a long shot to win the statewide election.

The goods news for Ossoff is that he will actually be able to vote for himself this year. The candidate could not do so in 2017 because he did not live in Georgia's Sixth Congressional District.

DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,122. 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