Category Archives: Liberal

NewsBusters (press release) (blog)

NYT's Ross Douthat Lays a Soft-Spoken Smackdown Upon His Liberal Media Colleagues NewsBusters (press release) (blog) New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, one of now two slightly right-leaning voices on the paper's resolutely smugly liberal opinion page, penned Notes on a Politcal Shooting in the Sunday Review on the assassination attempt on House Republican ... and more »

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NYT's Ross Douthat Lays a Soft-Spoken Smackdown Upon His Liberal Media Colleagues - NewsBusters (press release) (blog)

Since President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in last years presidential election, the overwhelming Democratic narrative has been that Trump committed some wrongdoing in his victory.

First, Democrats alleged that Trump and members of his campaign colluded with Russian operatives during the election to undermine Clintons campaign and win the White House. No concrete evidence to suggest collusion has surfaced. The FBI has only publicly confirmed an intelligence investigation into Trumps campaign.

But in recent weeks, the main narrative has been that Trump committed obstruction of justice when he exercised his constitutional right to fire FBI Director James Comey. Critics argued Comeys dismissal amounted to obstruction because the FBI was in the midst of their investigation into Trumps campaign.

And it appears that narrative is resonating with Americans.

According to a new poll from the Associated Press and the University of Chicagos NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 61 percent of Americans surveyed believe Trump has tried to impede or obstruct the FBIs investigation into his campaign, while just 37 percent said they believe Trump hasnt tried to impede or obstruct the investigation.

The poll also found there is a growing concern over the possibility that Trumps campaign colluded with Russian operatives during last years election. When asked, 48 percent said they are extremely or very concerned about the possibility, up from 44 percent in March, while just 30 percent said they arent very concerned or not concerned at all, down from 36 percent in March.

An overwhelming majority, 52 percent, also said they disapproved of Trumps decision to fire Comey, while 22 percent said they approved of the decision and 24 percent said they were indifferent.

In addition, the poll found that not many Americans believe special prosecutor Robert Mueller will carry out a fair and impartial investigation. Only 26 percent said they were extremely confident in Muellers ability, while 36 percent each said they were moderately confident or not confident at all.

The survey was conducted between June 8-11 and polled 1,068 respondents, with 46 percent being Democrats, 33 percent being Republican and 21 percent being independents. It has a margin of error of 4.1 percent.

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New poll shows the liberal Trump 'obstruction' narrative is having a shocking result on Americans - TheBlaze.com

In the very earliest days of the general election campaign, senior Lib Dem figures pushed hard enough over what would constitute a success would whisper the number 30.

That Tim Farrons sudden realisation that his lifelong political views and lifelong religious faith are perhaps not compatible should have occurred almost at the very moment that the number in question turned out to be 12,is an unfortunate coincidence.

But it means that the Lib Dem fightback really does have to start now, and it will begin with a party leadership contest that may or may not have concluded before the start of the Tory one.

Who are the contenders to replace Tim Farron as leader of the Lib Dems?

Within the party, it is widely considered to be either a one- or a three-horse race, depending on whether the one horse decides to run.

Jo Swinsonnewly returned to East Dunbartonshire after a two-year absence is the overwhelming favourite, but it is far from overwhelmingly clear whether she wants the job.

Sir Vince Cable has told The Independent he is not ruling anything out.Norman Lamb admitted on BBC Question Time that he is thinking about it.Insofar as maneouvres are possible among a 12-person parliamentary party up to a third of which are on maneouvreEd Davey is also said to be on maneouvres.

Party sources say that the nominations will formally open in a couple of weeks and will remain open for a couple of weeks.Liberal Democrat rules state that candidates require nominations from 10per cent of the parliamentary partywhich, given candidates can nominate themselves, has been rounded up from 1.2 to 2, rather than down to 1. They also require 200 nominations from party members, spread across 20constituencies. Theres no whittling down of the candidates. All go before the membership, who rank them in order to elect a winner under the Single Transferable Vote system.

If the contest makes it all the way to a real campaign, there is broad agreement within the party that the result is unpredictable.

"If Jo stands, she wins,"a senior party figure said. The appetite in the party is for a younger, fresher, female voice. Jo has charisma and energy. I think she would clean up, but Im not sure if she wants to.

She is young, 37, and she has a young family. Her majority in East Dunbartonshire is not unshakeable. If you are a Liberal Democrat, leading the party is the pinnacle of your career. She may decide she does not want to reach that pinnacle yet.

If she doesntthen stand, it becomes quite an interesting contest. It will be between Sir Vince, Ed and Norman. The party has changed phenomenally in the last two years. 70 per cent of the membership has joined since 2015. Its young, its metropolitan, its very Remainy. We have not yet taken the political temperature of this new membership. It might surprise us.

Sean Kemp, a former Lib Dem special adviserwho worked in Downing Street during the coalition, agrees that the contest is Jo Swinsons to win or lose, but the candidates will have to provide answers to difficult questions. It is not just the Lib Dem membership that has fundamentally changed since 2015;the whole political pasture has and the new Liberal Democrat leader will have to clearly articulate where the Lib Dems stand in a world in which the main parties continue their rush to the margins.

There is no great ideological gulf between any of the candidates, but they will all have to have a clear idea on how to position the party on some very big questions. How do we position ourselves on Brexit? Do we still go for this hardcore uber-Remainy approach?Mr Kemp said.

We will have to work out your attitude towards the Labour party. Should we try and work closely with Labour? Working closely with, say, Ed Milibands Labour is not the same as working closely with Corbyns Labour.

Do we need to make it plain we are anti-Tory and anti-Brexit? I just dont know. It is not going to be about policy issues. Its about, How you will keep the Lib Dems alive and relevant? How do you win seats? And what is our approach to the other two main parties when you cant see with any confidence any party winning a majority, and an election could well be imminent?.

Whoever runs, whoever wins, the central question of howthe Lib Dems start to get their votes and their seats back is not an easy one to answer.

Things have changed, but the big issue now is still the same as in 2015.Who is in the best position to help the party recover from the obliteration of 2015? What hurt us in this election just gone was not being able to get the Labour voters back who left us over [going into] coalition. It will not be easy to get them back, whoever is leader.

James Holt, who was Deputy Director of Communications for the Liberal Democrats when the party was in government, is another who really rates MsSwinson, who, he says, deserved a cabinet position back then. Despite Labours unexpected success at the election, he thinks their confusion over Brexit is an opportunity the next leader can capitalise on.

Where we failed primarily in the campaignwas with all the issues that Tim had with his faith. That supped a lot of oxygen from the campaign in the early stages, stopping us reaching out to pro-European young voters. They were in step with us with Europe, but out of step with what Tim was saying.

Labour is very muddled on Europe we have seen that clearly. They are happy to go along with Brexit plans. Because of the absence of Brexit from the General Election debate, what we need now is a good, vocal pro-European message. Its not going to lead us into Government, but a lot of the younger voters, mobilised by Corbyn,may start to realise that he doesnt have their interests at heart. That he is not going to deliver it. You need someone to create that story, and that energy.

Mr Holt clearly hopes MsSwinson will run, and moreover, he thinks she should.

You can never choose the time. These opportunities come up and youve got to take them. Just look at what has happened with the Labour leadership.

William Hague likes to say of his time as Conservative leader that "someone had to do the night shift".Evidently, this Lib Dem leadership contest will turn on whether MsSwinson decides there is another night shift to put in, or if she thinks she can switch on the lights.

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Liberal Democrats leadership contest: Jo Swinson favourite to replace Tim Farron if she joins race - The Independent

Conservative radio host Mark Levin masterfully exposed the utter ridiculousness that is the liberal narrative that President Donald Trump has somehow committed obstruction of justice by carrying out his constitutionally defined duties as president.

Trumps political opponents for weeks have alleged that Trump committed obstruction of justice by firing FBI Director James Comey last week since the FBI was in the midst of an intelligence investigation into Trumps campaign. The FBI publicly acknowledged in March they were investigating claims that Trumps presidential campaign colluded with Russian operatives to undermine last years presidential election.

So far, the investigation has yielded no concrete evidence. And despite law experts going on cable television to explain that Trump didnt commit obstruction of justice by firing Comey, Democrats and liberals have been relentless in their claims.

But Levin on his show Friday attempted to finally quell the claims.

First, Levin explained that there is simply no evidence to support the Trump-Russia conspiracy. Levin noted that there are dozens of leaks coming from the Trump administration weekly, so if there was evidence to prove any collusion, it likely would have been leaked already.

Leaks about everything else, but not [collusion], Levin said. Because it doesnt exist or it would be leaked.

Secondly, Levin said that as a constitutional matter its absolutely impossible for the president to commit obstruction of justice by firing his subordinate, which Comey was as FBI director, or by directing the FBI to stop or start investigations because the FBI isnt technically an independent government organization.

Lastly, Levin said the elements needed for obstruction of justice dont exist with Trump like Democrats claim.

The elements of obstruction are clear, Levin exclaimed.

The firebrand radio host then went on to excoriate Comey for saying Hillary Clinton needed to have shown specific intent to violate criminal statutes by retaining classified information on her private email server despite the statute in question not requiring intent. But when it comes to Trump and the allegation of obstruction of justice, Democrats are trying to rewrite statutes to pin Trump with some kind of wrongdoing.

So they change the standard for Hillary to make it harder to prosecute her, but they lower the standard for [obstruction for] Trump because they want him out, Levin added.

Listen to Levins complete breakdown below:

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Mark Levin masterfully obliterates liberal Trump 'obstruction' narrative in just 3 quick points - TheBlaze.com

Full-face veils are banned; Men and women, straight or gay, can pray together; Sunnis and Shiites, who in other parts of the world are engaged in bloody conflicts, are encouraged to sit side-by-side.

Welcome to Germanys first liberal mosque.

Dozens of people gathered for Friday prayersled by a female American imam at the opening of Ibn-Rushd-Goethe-Mosque in Berlin on Friday, the AP reported.

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The mosque was the realization of an eight-year dream of German-Turkish womens rights activist Seyran Ates, who moved to Germany from Turkey as a child and was part of a government agency assisting with the integration of Muslims in Germany.

I couldn't be more euphoric, it's a dream come true, Ates, 54, told AP this week.

The mosque is jointly named after Ibn Rushd, a 12th century Andalusian Islamic scholar also known as Averroes, and German playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It currently occupies the third floor of an old Lutheran church in Moabit, a neighborhood with a sizeable immigrant population.

German-Turkish lawyer, author and activist Seyran Ates (R) readies the prayer area prior to an inaugural friday payer at the Ibn Rushd-Goethe-mosque in Berlin on June 16. Men and women can pray together at the mosque, which is also open to LGBT Muslims. JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty

Ates said the mosque will be open to all but added that women would be proscribed from wearing the burqaa veil that completely covers the face and leaves just a mesh screen for the wearer to see throughand the niqabwhich covers the face except for a small slit for the eyes. [This is] for safety reasons and because it is our conviction that the full-face veil has nothing to do with religion, but is a political statement, Ates told German magazine Spiegel. Germanys lower house of parliament recently passed a bill banning full-face veils for people in certain professions, including judges and soldiers.

Read more: 10,000 Muslims will march in Cologne on Saturday against terrorism

More than 4 million Muslims live in Germany, with the majority coming from Turkey. Under Chancellor Angela Merkels open doors policy, Germany has taken in more than 1 million refugees since 2015, most of whom are from Muslim-majority countries Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Merkel has come under fire from conservative elements in Germany for the policy, and tensions have been further inflamed by Islamist-inspired attacks carried out in the country. In December 2016, Anis Amri, a Tunisian migrant whoseasylum request was turned down by German authorities earlier in 2016, drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack.

A police car is parked in front of the St. Johannis Protestant church which houses the Ibn Rushd-Goethe-mosque in Berlin on June 16. JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty

Germany and Turkey havebeen at loggerheads since German authorities banned Turks living in Germany from carrying out rallies in support of changes to the Turkish constitution that would give more power to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish leader accused Germanys government of fascist actions that were reminiscent of the Nazi period.

Ates said that the new mosque was designed to give modern and liberal Muslims the opportunity to show our faces in public. She said that she had received threats from people about the project, but that most of the feedback had been beautiful and positive, AP reported.

The womens rights activist was the subject of an assassination attempt in 1984 when working as a counselor for Turkish women and was previously attacked by the enraged husband of a former client. She will start Arabic and Islamic theology studies later this year and hopes to become an imam.

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Burqas Banned and LGBT Muslims Welcome at Germany's First 'Liberal' Mosque - Newsweek

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has black helicopters flying around her head, according to conservative commentator Michelle Malkin.

Speaking with Sean Hannity on Fox News Friday, Malkin said Maddow has become Reynolds Wraps number one customer over her insistence to cover the alleged Trump-Russia conspiracy night after night despite a lack of concrete evidence to prove the allegations have any weight.

I think that Rachel Maddow must be Reynolds Wraps number one customer because the tin foil hat consumption is through the roof, Malkin said.

Her number one goal is to bash and obstruct the Trump administration it has been since day one, Malkin explained. And theyre going to beat that dead horse until they cant do it anymore.

After discussing many of the times Maddow pushed the Trump-Russia conspiracy without offering real evidence, Malkin and Hannity went on to bash Rolling Stone magazine for recently naming Maddow the most trusted name in news, which the duo said proves the left lives in an echo chamber.

During the interview, Hannity also lamented over the breathless hysteria created by the mainstream media over the Trump-Russia allegations that have thus far proved to be fruitless.

It is an allusion factory, it is an echo chamber, Malkin said of the liberal media, explaining that President Donald Trump doesnt just have to address the Washington swamp but also the mainstream media swamp.

People are sick and tired of itthere is so much real news that is going on, Malkin said, calling Rolling Stones Maddow declaration a slap in the face.

Read more:

Watch: Michelle Malkin hilariously destroys Rachel Maddow for pushing liberal conspiracies about Trump - TheBlaze.com

An openly gay California man identified as Jeff LeTourneau co-chair of the Orange County Democratic Party was caught on camera lambasting fellow gay men in a political rant because they were Republican.

While petitioning to remove Sen. Josh Newman (D-CA) over a proposed gas tax bill, Carl DeMaio and his husband, Johnathan Hale, were accosted by LeTourneau outside of a local Wal-Mart and eviscerated for their disloyalty to the LGBTQ community as they dared to identify as Republican.

You belong to a f***ing party that writes our destruction into its platform! LeTourneau blasted DeMaio and Hale. Get your s**t and get out of here!

Of the couple, LeTourneau said, You are a f**king disgrace to any gay person I know, you piece of s**t.

DeMaio a conservative talk radio host, as well as a former Republican San Diego city councilman and Hale San Diego Gay and Lesbian News publisher stood their ground and refused to back down, despite LeTourneaus increasingly unhinged behavior.

You can intimidate all you want, sir, they said repeatedly. This is the democratic process.

LeTourneau became increasingly agitated as he turned on Hale who was filming as well as those signing the petition, and even on a Wal-Mart manager who came outside to diffuse the situation.

Im here as an openly gay person on Pride weekend seeing these two people disgracing my community and letting them know I dont care about them. Theyre liars! Theyre liars! LeTourneau cried. You do not belong to our community. You also do not belong to the LGBTQ community either.

In a statement to Fox News, DeMaio said:

LeTourneau clearly thinks that if you are gay, you can only be a Democrat which is both arrogant and highly offensive. The idea that Californians are sick of paying higher taxes cuts across party lines and sexual orientation.

Throughout the altercation, Republicans DeMaio and Hale remained calm and asked LeTourneau repeatedly to stay calm and to back away.

See the exchange in the video below.

Here is the original post:

Gay conservative destroys gay liberal over democracy while being ... - TheBlaze.com

On a gray day last October, teachers across Seattle wore a shirt that read BLACK LIVES MATTER.

They knew there might be criticism. John Muir Elementary in south Seattle had done this in September and received a bomb threat and hate mail from across the U.S.

But they did, and the day was, by most accounts, uneventful. Some kids got it most didnt. Just another school day.

And then, a backlash, but this time not from outsiders. White parents from the citys tonier neighborhoods wrote to their principals to say they were displeased. A Black Lives Matter day was too militant, too political and too confusing for their young kids, they said.

Some danced around their discomfort, others snarked in ALL CAPS. These parents would not talk to us, so we made a public records request for their emails.

Their names were blacked out, which is why they are not named here.

Wrote a parent at Laurelhurst Elementary: Can you please address why skin color is so important? I remember a guy that had a dream. Do you remember that too? I doubt it. Please show me the content of your character if you do.

From Eckstein Middle School in Wedgwood: What about red and black or yellow and white and black? How does supporting Black Lives Matter help that gap?

And from Bryant Elementary in Ravenna: Im writing to share what my 9-year-old daughter told me about what she learned in class regarding the Black Lives Matter discussion. She said she felt bad about being white. And that police lie and do bad things.

These three schools are in northeast Seattle, one of the whitest, most affluent corners of the city. They are also in staunchly liberal neighborhoods dotted with rainbow yard signs that say All are welcome.

This is what Ive come to call Seattles passive progressiveness, said Stephan Blanford, a Seattle school board member whose doctoral research focused on race and public education. We vote the right way on issues. We believe the right way. But the second you challenge their privilege, you see the response.

Blanford is black and represents the Central District, the historic African-American heart of the city. He wasnt surprised by the emails from parents after the Black Lives Matter day. Middle-class white parents have asked him for help getting their kids out of Madrona Elementary, which is 44 percent black.

No one will say to me, We dont want our kids to go to a black school, but I believe thats frequently the underlying reason, Blanford said.

Black Lives Matter emerged from a Twitter hashtag in 2012, after the death of Trayvon Martin, a Florida teenager whose killer was acquitted. The movement gained momentum as videos emerged of police officers killing black men, and from there became a rallying cry against racism. Those three words say that black lives havent mattered enough in this country, and they should.

Reaction to the Black Lives Matter day might have been more muted had Sarah Talbot, the principal atLaurelhurst, not sent an email afterward to parents.

I heard from a few parents concerned about what teacherswerentsaying, Talbot wrote.

They werent saying anything about lives the lives of students, parents and families who are not black. I worried about that too. Would our Native students feel left out, since they face the same (or worse) effects of systemic racism in schools and outside of schools that black students face? What about the majority of the students in our school who are white? They also live with the effects of a society that unfairly prioritizes their lives.

But then I remembered that atLaurelhurstElementary, we have a 20 percent difference in the growth of black students reading skills when compared to the average growth of all students at our school."

After school, a mom learned that her 5-year-old was asked to stand up in front of his class and talk about Black Lives Matter and his shirt. By the end of the day, he had taken it off and shoved it in his cubby.

TheLaurelhurstBlog, which doesn't name its writer, wrote to media a week later: Many parents contacted theLaurelhurstBlog and found the email disturbing, divisive and offensive, and one called it racially biased."

The blogger continued, Talbot says there is injustice and there are gaps but where are her examples? Since she didnt provide any, is it her own invented bias that she is bringing to the community, creating divisiveness?

Director Blanford urged me to interview Jill Geary, the school board director representing northeast Seattle. Geary is a white mom of five with a daughter at Laurelhurst Elementary; maybe she could explain parent thinking, he said.

Geary doesnt see herself as a total insider, however. She was once an administrative law judge who focused on special education; years ago she refused to join other parents in trying to oust a program for highly traumatized kids at Laurelhurst.

She sighed a little as she explained:

They would prefer to be all lives matter, because then their child is included in the conversation about mattering, she said. What they dont think is, would a black mother feel like her child matters, based upon the way that history, the nation, the city, the institutional structures, have treated her child? Thats not the process theyre using.

Geary shared a story from earlier in the year: A sticker that read HCC = APPartheid was placed outsideThurgood Marshall Elementary. HCC stands for Highly Capable Cohort; APPartheid is a play on what the program was called before APP, or Advanced Placement Program.

The sticker's message: The gifted program is overwhelmingly white. Last year,1 percent of the program was black, even though the district was 16 percent black.

We got very angry emails about that, as though we had sponsored it, Geary said. They were upset their kid was being shamed for being in HCC. I think thats the same instinct.

Read: Where are the black kids in Seattle's gifted program?

When Geary spoke with a parent upset about the Black Lives Matter day last fall, she said, I know your child matters. You know your child matters. But Im not sure that we as a society have made it clear that we believe black children matter in the way that white children matter.

But Geary said caring a lot is part of the culture at affluent schools like Laurelhurst, where parents have time and money to get involved.

Theres a portable on the playground, and we are arming ourselves to get rid of it, Geary said. I hate to say it, but that is privilege amplified.

I asked Jennifer Harvey, a religion professor in Des Moines, Iowa, to read these emails and share her thoughts. Harvey recently had an opinion piece in The New York Times titled, Are we raising racists?

As a white person myself, I hear and I know how white people think about race,and I wasn't surprised to see just a basic lack of understanding of how racism functions, Harvey said. This would not be unique to Seattle liberal whites, nor among liberals who didn't vote for Trump. These kind of sentiments are very deep seated.

She continued: What I see when I read these emails is this utter failure to value black life. Because if you value black life you go, Oh my god, even if I don't understand this,why is it that African-Americans need to have this movement for black lives, and what is it like to be a 10-year-old child who's black?

It's like there's this total white vortex that just screams out from these emails, whether they are being nasty intentionally or just saying,'I don't get it.'They make me really sad.

Not that all parents bristled at the Black Lives Matter day. Several cheered on the school in their emails. And when I contacted members of the Laurelhurst PTA members, two moms replied that they supported it.

But there was also a mom heartbroken by how the day had played out for her son.

I was feeling scared to drop them off at school, [my son] in particular, being at Laurelhurst as a brown student in a sea of white peers and white staff, she wrote to Principal Talbot.

That morning, the mom and her son talked about what his Black Lives Matter shirt meant. He told me he felt scared, the mom wrote.

As we parked, he said, Mom! I just got a good idea. If I get white paint and put it all over my body to cover the brown so they cant see it, then people will stop killing us black and brown people.

I cried so many tears of sadness, fear, anger and feelings of lost hope yesterday morning, she said.

After school, she learned that her 5-year-old was asked to stand up in front of his class and talk about Black Lives Matter and his shirt. By the end of the day, he had taken it off and shoved it in his cubby.

I asked him why, and he said because he was tired of people asking him about it and wanting to take his picture, the mom wrote. I was so angry all I could do was pick him up, hug him so tightly and said, I can see why you chose not to wear it. That sounds uncomfortable and unfair.

When I told Director Blanford this story, he said it made sense the boy was overwhelmed. In his day-to-day experience as a student, he's probably pretty invisible, and then all of a sudden, hes the celebrity in the classroom."

Referring back to the critical parents, he said, The intersection of class and race always has the potential to be explosive. This was a nice powder keg, and it just needed the match."

Read more here:

To understand white liberal racism, read these private emails - KUOW News and Information

Poland's Piotr Lobodzinski starts in front of the Messeturm, Fairground Tower, in Frankfurt Germany. More than 1,000 runners climbed the 1202 stairs, and 222 meters of height in the Frankfurt Messeturm skyscraper run

AP

A runner lies on the ground after arriving at the finish line in Frankfurt Germany. More than 1,000 runners climbed the 1202 stairs, and 222 meters of height in the Frankfurt Messeturm skyscraper run

AP

A troupe of Ukrainian dancers perform at Boryspil airport in Kiev, on the first day of visa-free travel for Ukrainian nationals to the European Union

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A troupe of Ukrainian dancers perform on the tarmac at Boryspil airport in Kiev, on the first day of visa-free travel for Ukrainian nationals to the European Union

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French President Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte Trogneux cast their ballot at their polling station in the first round of the French legislatives elections in Le Touquet, northern France

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A Thai worker paints on a large statue of the Goddess of Mercy, known as Guan Yin at a Chinese temple in Ratchaburi province, Thailand. Guan Yin is one of the most popular and well known Chinese Goddess in Asia and in the world. Guan Yin is the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism and also worshiped by Taoist

EPA

A Thai worker paints on a large statue of the Goddess of Mercy, known as Guan Yin at a Chinese temple in Ratchaburi province, Thailand. Guan Yin is one of the most popular and well known Chinese Goddess in Asia and in the world. Guan Yin is the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism and also worshiped by Taoists

EPA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem. An Israeli court has ordered a journalist to pay more than $25,000 in damages to Netanyahu and his wife Sara for libeling them. The magistrate court in Tel Aviv ruled Sunday that Igal Sarna libeled the couple for writing a Facebook post that claimed the prime minister's wife kicked the Israeli leader out of their car during a fight

AP

Parkour enthusiasts train on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally developed in France, the training discipline is gaining popularity in Brazil

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Volunteers spread mozzarella cheese toppings on the Guinness World Record attempt for the Longest Pizza in Fontana, California, USA. The pizza was planned to be 7000 feet (2.13 km) to break the previous record of 6082 feet (1.8 km) set in Naples, Italy in 2016

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Jamaica's Olympic champion Usain Bolt gestures after winning his final 100 metres sprint at the 2nd Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica

REUTERS/Gilbert Bellamy

Usain Bolt of Jamaica salutes the crowd after winning 100m 'Salute to a Legend' race during the Racers Grand Prix at the national stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Bolt partied with his devoted fans in an emotional farewell at the National Stadium on June 10 as he ran his final race on Jamaican soil. Bolt is retiring in August following the London World Championships

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Usain Bolt of Jamaica salutes the crowd after winning 100m 'Salute to a Legend' race during the Racers Grand Prix at the national stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Bolt partied with his devoted fans in an emotional farewell at the National Stadium on June 10 as he ran his final race on Jamaican soil. Bolt is retiring in August following the London World Championships

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Police officers investigate at the Amsterdam Centraal station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. A car ploughed into pedestrians and injured at least five people outside the station. The background of the incident was not immediately known, though police state they have 'no indication whatsoever' the incident was an attack

EPA

Police officers investigate at the Amsterdam Centraal station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. A car ploughed into pedestrians and injured at least five people outside the station. The background of the incident was not immediately known, though police state they have 'no indication whatsoever' the incident was an attack

EPA

Protesters stand off before police during a demonstration against corruption, repression and unemployment in Al Hoseima, Morocco. The neglected Rif region has been rocked by social unrest since the death in October of a fishmonger. Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed in a rubbish truck as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season and his death has sparked fury and triggered nationwide protests

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A man looks on at a migrant and refugee makeshift camp set up under the highway near Porte de la Chapelle, northern Paris

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Damaged cars are seen stacked in the middle of a road in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood during ongoing battles to try to take the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters

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Smoke billows following a reported air strike on a rebel-held area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa

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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures next to Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto during a welcome ceremony at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico

REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

Soldiers and residents carry the body of a Muslim boy who was hit by a stray bullet while praying inside a mosque, as government troops continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group, who has taken over large parts of the Marawi City, Philippines

REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Opposition demonstrators protest for the death on the eve of young activist Neomar Lander during clashes with riot police, in Caracas

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Neomar Lander, a 17-year-old boy was killed during a march in the Chacao district in eastern Caracas on Wednesday, taking the overall death toll since the beginning of April to 66, according to prosecutors

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Former FBI director James Comey is sworn in during a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

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Former FBI Director James Comey testifies during a US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

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Usain Bolt of Jamaica trains at the University of West Indies in Kingston. Bolt says he is looking forward to having a party as he launches his final season on June 10 with what will be his last race on Jamaican soil. The 30-year-old world's fasted man plans to retire from track and field after the 2017 London World Championships in August

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Acquanetta Warren, Mayor of Fontana, California, reacts after US President Donald Trump introduced himself before the Infrastructure Summit with Governors and Mayors at the White House in Washington, US

REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Frenchman Alain Castany, sentenced to 20 years on charges of drug trafficking in the 'Air Cocaine' affair, leaves the prison in Santo Domingo, on his way to France, where he is being transferred for medical reason

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A woman reacts at the place where 17-year-old demonstrator Neomar Lander died during riots at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 8, 2017. The sign reads: 'Neomar, entertainer for ever'

REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

Frenchman Alain Castany, sentenced to 20 years on charges of drug trafficking in the 'Air Cocaine' affair, leaves the prison in Santo Domingo, on his way to France, where he is being transferred for medical reasons

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Queen Maxima of The Netherlands visits Tobroco Machines in Oisterwijk, Netherlands. The company is a manufacturer of machines for use in agriculture, road construction and field maintenance. Tobroco is winner of the 2016 Koning Willem 1 Award for entrepreneurship

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi react while walking near the Constantine (Konstantinovsky) Palace during their meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia

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'Liberal' mosque where burqas are banned opens in Germany - The Independent

Attorney General Jeff Sessions displayed flashes of anger during questioning by Sen. Ron Wyden when the senator pressed him about suggestions that he had failed to provide full disclosure about his meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. USA TODAY

Each week, USA TODAY's On Politics blog will take a look at how media from the left and the right reacted to one of the week's top political news stories, giving liberals and conservatives a taste of life in the other's media bubble.

This week, we look at the articles and opinion pieces that got political junkies' attention on social media that were written about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' testimony before the Senate IntelligenceCommittee Tuesday.

Political pundit Charles Krauthammer spoke for many conservatives who thought Sessions crushed it during his Senate testimony. Krauthammer said the attorney general "exposed the absurdity of the whole exercise"about alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

"I mean this is supposed to be about Russia meddlingin our election. That wasn't even an issue,"Krauthammer said during an interview with Fox News. "Then it was supposed to be about the collusion. There's not an ounce of evidence."

The conservative commentator called the efforts to build a case of impeachment against Trump"un-American" and said that Sessions testimony was a "side show of a side show."

For many liberals, the hearing was all about Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.

"California Sen. Kamala Harris has once again shown a room of old white men how to do their damn jobs,"wroteJezebel reporter Prachi Guptain apost headlined, "Kamala Harris just handed Jeff Sessions his a--."

She tried to pin Sessions down on what notes he tookcalendar appointments, memos, emailsabout these critical conversations and meetings, and asked him to submit them to the committee. He dodged, eventually giving a wishy-washy assurance that he will give documents pending a conversation with lawyers as to what is appropriate.

Then came the moment that grabbed the most attention on left-leaning media: the exchange between Harris and Sessions over his claims he couldn't talk about his conversations with President Trump:

It was at this point, in her last question, when other Senators interrupted her to come to the defense of the poor old white guy with the bad memory. They did not, of course, so rudely cut off any of the men who spoke beyond their allotted time before her.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says Senator Kamala Harris' speedy pace of questioning "makes him nervous." USA TODAY

A post on Sean Hannity's website lauded Sessions for slamming "leakers and themedia overfalse news reports and innuendos."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions lashed out at federal leakers who spread false rumors, saying they will not intimidate him from fulfilling his responsibilities at the Department of Justice.

During the hearing, Democratic senators like Harris challenged Sessions' claims that there is a Justice Department policy which prevents him from sharing the details of his conversations with the president. And several pieces from the liberal press backed up their skeptism about Sessions' assertion.

Vox's Sean Illing said he reached out to 10 legal experts to ask if "Sessions' claim that hes protecting the president's constitutional right to executive privilege makes any sense."

All but one of the experts rejected Sessionss argument on its face, insisting that Sessions is legally permitted to discuss conversations with the president, provided the president hasnt yet invoked executive privilege (which he hasnt). One expert believes there is a precedent for Sessionss actions, but that Congress can and should compel him to answer their questions.

Not all conservatives thought Sessions' performance inthe hearing was a total success. While Sessions was effective in arguing he colluded with the Russians, he "did little todispel" the evidence that Trump "tried to interfere" in the Russia investigation," wroteThe Weekly Standard's Michael Warren.

Sessions was unable to provide any more context to this question: Did Trump fire Comey because of, or in response to, the FBI director's refusal to "let go" of the investigation into Trump's national security adviser, Mike Flynn? Because this question has gotten reasonably complicated.

Sessions' refusal to talk about his conversations with Trump may have meant there were no major revelations from the attorney general's testimony, but he did admit to a stunning lack of curiosity about Russian efforts to interfere in the election,wrote David Corn for Mother Jones.

So the person picked to be attorney generalone of the chief national security officials in the US governmenthad not bothered to educate himself about the Russian operation. He had not even read the public report issued by the intelligence community. This seemed a strong indication that the Trump camp really didnt give a damn about Putins clandestine effort to undermine American democracy.

Read more:

Sessions: Any suggestion I colluded with Russia is 'detestable lie'

Analysis: AG Jeff Sessions defends Jeff Sessions. But what about Donald Trump?

GOP: Testimony shows Sessions integrity

Jeff Sessions' testimony was unconvincing

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The Bubble: How conservative and liberal media reacted to Sessions' testimony - USA TODAY