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Trump Declares “Mission Accomplished” With No Sense Of Irony After Syrian Missile Strikes

Donald Trump tweeted “Mission Accomplished!” Saturday morning after U.S. led military strikes in Syria in response to a suspected gas attack on the rebel-held city of Douma last weekend.

From The New York Times:

Warplanes and ships from the United States, Britain and France launched more than 100 missiles at three chemical weapons storage and research facilities near Damascus and Homs, the officials told reporters, in an operation that President Trump and Pentagon leaders hailed as a success.

“A perfectly executed strike last night,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!”

Still, even as Mr. Trump lauded “our great Military,” the reality was that, for the second time in just over a year, he had sent missiles crashing into Syrian military targets, adding American firepower to one of the most complex and multisided conflicts in a generation.

Beyond the immediate question of whether the strikes actually accomplished the stated goal of diminishing Syria’s capacity to make and use chemical weapons, the new strikes posed the risk of drawing the United States more deeply into a conflict in which Russia and Iran have more invested than ever in keeping Mr. Assad in power.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced the strikes would increase Syria’s resolve to “fight and crush terrorism in every inch” of the country.

The “Mission Accomplished” comment reminded many of President George W. Bush’s woefully tone-deaf 2003 “mission accomplished” moment.

Many hard-line Trumpers were dismayed that Trump, who promised an anti-interventionist approach during the 2016 presidential campaign, moved forward with the attack at all.

Ann Coulter spent the evening retweeting criticism of the strikes while Alex Jones had a melt-down on Info Wars:

And then there were these takes on the attack:

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GREASE 40: Billboard Magazine Remembers The Movie Musical’s Massive Music Hits

On the 40th anniversary of the massive movie musical hit, GREASE, Billboard Magazine‘s Chuck Arnold remembers the impact of the film’s music. An excerpt from Billboard:

In the past two years, soundtracks to musical films like The Greatest Showman, La La Land and Beauty and the Beast have scored big on the Billboard 200 chart. But even those success stories can’t compare to the blockbuster Grease soundtrack, which everyone was hopelessly devoted to after it was released 40 years ago on April 14, 1978. The double-LP companion to the smash movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John—which didn’t hit theaters until two months later, on June 16—was certified 8-times platinum (and has sold more than 6 million copies since the start of the Nielsen Music era in 1991), notched four top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (“Grease,” No. 1; “You’re the One That I Want,” No. 1; “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” No. 3; “Summer Nights,” No. 5), and earned an album of the year Grammy nod. Whether you’ve ever seen the screen romance of ’50s high-school sweethearts Sandy and Danny, chances are you’ve heard some of the music from one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time. “I think the songs are timeless,” Newton-John tells Billboard. “They’re fun and have great energy. The ’50s-feel music has always been popular, and it’s nostalgic for my generation, and then the young kids are rediscovering it every 10 years or so, it seems. People buying the album was a way for them to remember those feelings of watching the movie and feelings of that time period. I feel very grateful to be a part of this movie that’s still loved so much.”

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News Round-Up: April 13, 2018

Alabama Sen. Doug Jones' hottie gay son, Carson Jones
Carson Jones, son of Alabama Sen. Doug Jones

Some news items you might have missed:

• Alabama Senator Doug Jones has become the 46th co-sponsor to The Equality Act, which seeks to add ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’ protections to existing civil rights laws. Jones says his (hottie) openly gay son Carson’s coming out helped shape his political views on LGBTQ rights.

• The city of Columbus, Indiana, which just happens to be virulently anti-gay Vice President Mike Pence’s hometown, will celebrate its first-ever LGBT Pride Festival tomorrow.

• Amazon video just got that much more gay as the streaming giant has just added dozens and dozens of LGBTQ films that screened at Outfest in L.A. to Amazon Prime.

• A recent report by Goldman Sachs analysts pointed out that curing diseases doesn’t make nearly as much money for Pharma companies as creating drugs that treat (but don’t cure) chronic illnesses. The statement adds fuel to the conspiracy theory that should cures for diseases like AIDS might be discovered, they might be withheld in favor of “treatment” drugs.

• The Maine House of Representatives has approved legislation that would protect LGBTQ youth from so-called “ex-gay therapy.”

• It appears Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, liked to record conversations with associates. Folks in TrumpLand are worried some of those recordings which might have been included in the Monday raid on Cohen’s offices, contain material damaging to Trump.

• Olympian Adam Rippon opened last night’s GLAAD Media Awards by calling his bestie Gus Kenworthy onstage and explaining, “I’ve had such a big year, but my biggest achievement so far is finally getting Gus to come out of his shell. Four years ago he was afraid to kiss his boyfriend after he won silver in Sochi. Now, he’s unleashed.”

Gus agreed saying, “Literally, I’ll kiss anybody.” And with that laid a big smooch on Adam.

Watch below.

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DOJ Inspector General’s Report: McCabe Repeatedly Misled Investigators

Donald Trump

According to The New York Times, the report by the Justice Department inspector general concludes that former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe repeatedly misled investigators.

The inspector general said that when investigators asked whether he had instructed aides to provide information in October 2016 to a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. McCabe said he did not authorize the disclosure and did not know who did.

But Mr. McCabe did approve the F.B.I.’s contact with the reporter, according to the review.

The newspaper article delved into a dispute between F.B.I. and Justice Department officials over how to proceed in an investigation into the financial dealings of the Clinton family’s foundation. It revealed a sensitive meeting during which Justice Department officials declined to authorize subpoenas or grand jury activity.

The inspector general also concluded that Mr. McCabe’s disclosure of the existence of the ongoing investigation in the manner described in the report violated media policy of the F.B.I. and Justice Department and constituted misconduct.

In a statement, Mr. McCabe said that he had full authorization to share this information with the media. Mr. McCabe also said that he did not intentionally mislead investigators.

Even though McCabe stepped down from his position in January, he was officially fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions less than two days before becoming eligible for his full federal pension after spending more than 20 years in government service.

Donald Trump’s thumbs couldn’t wait to take to Twitter writing in perfectly calm, reverent tones, “He LIED! LIED! LIED!”

Seriously, folks – this reads more like a meltdown than a presidential message.

The rest of the world had a few thoughts as well:

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Mid-Day Brain Break: World’s Oldest Living Gorilla Enjoys His Birthday Cake

Ok, so a LOT of wild news happening today that needs to be covered.

But, for a minute, sit back and watch as the world’s oldest living gorilla, enjoys his birthday cake as he turns 61 at the Berlin Zoo.

Happy birthday, Fatou!

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Madonna On Ageism: “Who Made Those Rules?”

Madonna (image via Instagram)

Speaking to The Cut, Madonna addressed her frustrations with the issue of ageism and wonders aloud why dating younger people is primarily the domain of men, not women.

It’s an outdated, patriarchal idea that a woman has to stop being fun, curious, adventurous, beautiful, or sexy past the age of 40. It’s ridiculous. Why should only men be allowed to be adventurous, sexual, curious, and get to have all the fun until the day they leave this earth? Why should that only be the domain of men? How do we fight this? By standing up to men and by standing up to social mores or standards that say we cannot. The more women that do it, it will just be a matter of time.

In the beginning of my career, I got so much flak for using sexuality as part of my creativity and was called a sexual provocateur. Now, all the challenges that I had to face 20 years ago seem ludicrous. What I am going through now is ageism, with people putting me down or giving me a hard time because I date younger men or do things that are considered to be only the domain of younger women. I mean, who made those rules? Who says? I’m going to keep fighting it. Ten to 20 years from now, it’s going to be normal. People are going to shut up.

(h/t Boy Culture)

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Poll: More Americans Trust Former FBI Director James Comey Than Donald Trump

James Comey

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll indicates more Americans trust former FBI Director James Comey to tell the truth than President Trump.

The survey, conducted from April 8-11, showed that 48% of respondents find Comey “more believable” than Trump, who only garnered 32% support for truth-telling.

The poll comes as Comey’s upcoming book, A Higher Loyalty, is scheduled to hit book stores on Tuesday.

Trump famously fired Comey from the FBI after becoming frustrated over the investigation into possible collusion with Russian actors in interfering with the 2016 presidential election.

Almost half of those polled (47%) indicated disapproval of Trump’s decision to fire Comey, compared to only 33% who said they approve.

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Trump Twitter Rant: It Was A “Great Honor” To Fire “Untruthful Slime Ball” James Comey

Donald Trump

As excerpts from former FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming book A Higher Loyalty are hitting the media, the predictable Trump Twitter rant we’ve all expected has arrived.

And it’s everything you would expect from the Trumpster.

Of course, Trump labels Comey a “LEAKER & LIAR” but along the way Trump also accuses Comey of leaking classified information (not true) and that he lied to Congress (again, a big nope).

Trump really gets into the school yard dirt with a good old “untruthful slime ball” tag and proclaims it was a “great honor” to fire Comey from the FBI.

Ah, Donald, you really rose to the occasion here.

It’s worth noting that on the same day Trump issued his blistering “liar/leaker” attack on Comey, Trump actually pardoned a convicted liar/leaker, former Vice President Dick Cheney’s aide, Scooter Libby.

Of course, folks in the Twitterverse had some choice reactions:

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Diver Tom Daley Calls On Commonwealth Countries To Repeal Anti-Homosexuality Laws

UK diver Tom Daley calls for Commonwealth to repeal anti-gay laws
Tom Daley (L) with diving partner Dan Goodfellow (R)

After winning his 4th Commonwealth Games gold medal (with synchronized 10 platform diving partner Dan Goodfellow) on the Gold Coast in Australia where marriage equality recently became legal, Tom Daley called for more Commonwealth countries to repeal anti-homosexuality laws.

Of the 53 countries included in the Commonwealth, homosexuality is illegal in 70% of those nations.

From The BBC:

Homosexuality remains illegal in 70% of the 53 Commonwealth countries.

“Coming to the Gold Coast and being able to live as an openly gay man is really important,” said Daley, 23.

“You want to feel comfortable in who you are when you are standing on that diving board, and for 37 Commonwealth countries that are here participating that is not the case.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Daley added: “I feel extremely lucky to compete openly as who I am, not worry about ramifications. But for lots of people living in those countries it is not the case.

“We have to talk about these things and shine a light on them in order to get change.”

Daley is married to Academy Award-winner Dustin Lance Black and expecting their first child this summer.

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Full Cast List For “Dancing With The Stars” Announced

ABC revealed the full cast of the upcoming “all-athletes” edition of Dancing with the Stars this morning on Good Morning America.

We knew Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon was going to be part of the season (looking forward to his antics), but the surprise this morning is that woofy Chris Mazdzer of the U.S. Olympic luge team will be cha-cha-ing his way into living rooms in the next few weeks.

Please, oh please, oh please let Mazdzer dance shirtless. Oh please, oh please…

Here’s the full cast list for DWTS “All-Athletes” edition:

• Adam Rippon (Olympic figure skater) with Jenna Johnson
• Arike Ogunbowale (Women’s basketball player) with Gleb Savchenko
• Chris Mazdzer (Olympic luger) with Witney Carson
• Jamie Anderson (professional snowboarder) with Artem Chigvintsev
• Jennie Finch Daigle (Olympic softball player) with Keo Motsepe
• Johnny Damon (Former MLB star) with Emma Slater
• Josh Norman (NFL star) with Sharna Burgess
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Former NBA star) with Lindsay Arnold
• Mirai Nagasu (Olympic figure skater) with Alan Bersten
• Tonya Harding (Former Olympic figure skater) with Sasha Farber

In case you needed reminding why I’m excited about Chris Mazdzer’s participation… 🙂

A post shared by Chris Mazdzer (@mazdzer) on Mar 25, 2018 at 11:37am PDT

A post shared by Chris Mazdzer (@mazdzer) on Jun 5, 2017 at 4:37am PDT

A post shared by Chris Mazdzer (@mazdzer) on Jun 1, 2017 at 9:41am PDT