The Strange Case of Tommy Robinson

Last week, British new media journalist Tommy Robinson (ne Stephen Lennon) was taken into custody and summarily sentenced to 13 months in prison while he was live streaming outside of the Leeds Crown Court.





There is considerable confusion about the matter.  Robinson has a history of being a soccer hooligan who became active in nationalist politics, with an animus against radical Islam. Robinson's arrest was while he covered a Muslim rape gang which groomed its child victims.

Because Tommy Robinson was weary of Islamic influence in the UK, it is easy to leap to the conclusion that a police state is trying to shut down a dissenting voice from elite internationalists.  It may well be that Robinson was taken in on suspended sentence for contempt of court regarding coverage of a gang rape case in 2017 that was escalated by being in a scuffle with police.  Robinson fears that his 13 month sentence will effectively be a death sentence due to Muslim gangs in prison.

Robinson's arrest seems kind of reminiscent of what happened to the LA videographer in the wake of the Benghazi attack in 2012.  Use trumped up charges on a small fry to politically placate.

What should be truly disturbing to all freedom lovers is the injunction that the judge, Geoffrey Mason QC, ordered an Orwellian media blackout, enjoining the British press from reporting on it until after the conclusion of the child grooming case.

[C] Judge Geoffrey Mason watching Tommy Robinson arrest, Leeds Crown Court

Several European Parliament Members have called Robinson a political prisoner and demanded his release. It is puzzling that the public can not be informed of someone who has been convicted of a crime. Are Star Chambers back in style in England again? In the past, the Star Chamber supposedly took on prominent people.  Is it now to enforce political correctness or PC dhimmitude?

Martha McSally on Courage

Today Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ 2nd) announces her candidacy for the U.S. Senate to replace Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). 

The Republican field is already populated by Dr. Kelli Ward, a candidate endorsed by Steve Bannon, and Joe Arpaio, the 85 year old long-time ex Maricopa County sheriff renowned for his tough treatment of criminal aliens who was recently pardoned by President Trump.

[L] Dr. Kelli Ward [R] Ex Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Arizona GOP candidates for US Senate

Although Democrats need to defend 25 of 33 Senate seats in the 2018 election cycle, including in 10 states in which President Trump carried in 2016, Republicans are worried about losing their slender control of the Senate.  Senator Jeff Flake's (R-AZ) decision not to stand for re-election puts another "safe" GOP seat up for grabs.

In some respects, the GOP primary might be made up of voters with trollish Trump-eteer tendencies (infamously redubbed by Hillary Clinton as the "Basket of Deplorables") who think that strong immigration stances are the way to win via Arpaio's reputation and rhetoric.  Kelli Ward had positioned herself to be a Bannon disruptor of the GOP Establishment,  but now is backing away from "Sloppy Steve" after his fall from grace in the "Fire and Fury" fiasco.  

Establishment Republicans hoping to avoid a repeat defeat akin to the Alabama special election, seem to favor McSally to keep the seat as she has legislative experience and is not an agitating lightning rod. However, when an ex fighter pilot urged her colleagues to "grow a pair of ovaries and get the job done", such a candidate might not be exactly safe for the go along to get along in the so called Senate country club in the District of Calamity (sic).

London Mayor on Life in the Big City

D-List Celebutard Tries to Get Ahead By Overstepping Comedic Line Towards Trump

Many progressives have shown difficulty in accepting Donald J. Trump as President of the United States.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 8th) can not bring herself to say "President Trump".  When former First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is not engaged in chardonnay therapy, she was attempting to front "the Resistance" as part of a inchoate attempt at remaining politically viable.

Celebrities certainly have had a tough time coping with not having their candidate win the White House in 2016.   Of late, there was Robert De Niro's rousing graduation analogy at Brown University that the newly minted Ivy League alums are now entering a world that is a "tragic dumb assed comedy."

Hyperbolic histrionics does not sate some from Hollyweird. Some celebutards feel compelled to push their consternation to the brink.  At the enormous Women who Hate Trump march the day after inauguration, Madonna intimated that she had dreams of bombing the White House after hearing of Trump's victory.  Not to be outdone, D-List comedienne Kathy Griffin posed for publicity shoots holding a bloody facsimile of America's 45th President of the United States, which she then posted on social media. Smooth move Ex-Lax.

No doubt, Griffin thought that she would be playing to her progressively oriented base and perhaps even make it off the D-List through political notoriety. After all, her bloody head pose echoed the antipathy of "The Resistance". She had the reputation of being a crass, shock type comedienne. Moreover, she could claim artistic freedom and the need to challenge boundaries in the name of comedy.  Not so much.

Consider the comedic rodeo rider who dared wear an Obama mask while maintaining the ring which caused a week's controversy and caused him to be put into diversity training. It did not help that Griffin's  graphic art echoed actual executions as infamously performed by ISIS. The country still seems to have some respect for the office of President.  One should not discount the reputation of the messenger.  Griffith is not known for taking overt political stances, and this stunt may have been seen as distasteful grandstanding by an opportunist.

Social media turned against Kathy Griffin for her ghoulish pose.  Sponsors and venues quickly started to cancel on her. Even Senator Al Franken (D-MN) was said to be backing away from a associations with with Griffin.  The Secret Service may now be quite investigating Griffin's graphic wise crack. 

What's more, is that Griffin's grotesquerie made Mr. Trump somewhat sympathetic, even to ardent opponents of the Trump Administration.   Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) could point to the gross graphic and condemn the repugnant and vile message in his quixotic hope for civic civility.  Mr. Trump tweeted in response to the controversy that his eleven year old son was having a hard time with this sick humor.

When it was clear that the public tide had turned against Griffin, she quickly posted on Instagram an apology.

Liberal leaning news organizations barely covered the controversy because one of the news most important powers is the power to ignore the inconvenient or incongruent.

It is difficult to discern the best course of action.  On the one hand, while I strive to be forgiving and let bygones to be bygones, it seems inappropriate to think "Aw shucks, it was nothing."   This is not a typo tweet like "covfefe"  or a knee jerk post which one regrets immediately after hitting the send button.  TMZ showed Griffin in a full blown photo shoot, with lighting, make-up and props. This was pre-meditated so to magnanimously dismiss it invites future pot shots from an opposition which seems intent to throw anything up on the wall to see if it sticks.

On the other hand, Mr. Trump has displayed a churlish reputation in the past and has used antagonisms with others (Rosie O'Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, et ali.) as a means to brandish himself while sullying others.  The Trump Administration needs to put some wins on the board in Washington aside from a SCOTUS pick and reversing 18 prior Administrative Actions.

May Kathy Griffin be benched on the D-List without needlessly encouraging others to go down that same repugnant road. 

Stephen King Audits Trump's Character