Sean Spicer Resigns as White House Press Secretary

(ZHE) It’s official: moments ago the much anticipated departure of (now former) White House press secretary, Sean Spicer took place, when according to the NYT Spicer resigned on Friday morning, “telling President Trump he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.”

Mr. Trump offered Mr. Scaramucci the job at 10 a.m. The president requested that Mr. Spicer stay on, but Mr. Spicer told Mr. Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake, according to person with direct knowledge of the exchange.

News of Spicer’s resignation was promptly greeted with trolling by many, including Maxine Waters:

Congratulations Sean Spicer. You"ve got more guts than Jeff Sessions!

— Maxine Waters (@MaxineWaters) July 21, 2017

To all those who bought the “No” contract: congratulations: it’s payout time:

Meanwhile, as hinted above, Trump appointed former SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci as White House Communications Director.

JUST IN: President Trump has offered Anthony Scaramucci the job of White House Communications Dir.; Scaramucci has accepted. – @JTSantucci

— ABC News (@ABC) July 21, 2017

Scaramucci has been a vocal supporter of the president, having served in a top financial advisory role on Trump’s campaign. He has been an ardent defender of the president in television interviews.

.@DonaldJTrumpJr is a virtuous and honorable man. Virtue means the courage to act with integrity. Don does that everyday. #stopwitchunt

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 9, 2017

He was also the subject of the recent hit piece from CNN that the network was forced to retract and apologize to him for, a piece that inaccurately accused him of being under multiple investigations—he is not under any—for “meetings” that never happened with Russian bankers. Three senior CNN editorial officials resigned over the story, amounting to what is still developing into one of the biggest scandals in journalistic history.

While news of Scaramucci’s appointment first broke on Thursday night, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus tried to scuttle the appointment of Scaramucci due to a reported long-running feud with him, according to Breitbart, which adds that Steve Bannon, the ex-Executive Chairman of Breitbart News now the White House chief strategist, also objected to the Scaramucci appointment.

Bannon and Priebus have an alliance inside the White House where they are frequently at loggerheads with the “West Wing Democrats” like National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, Jared Kusher, Ivanka Trump, and others.

Those opposed to the Scaramucci appointment did not succeed.

Reince and Bannon fought hard to stop Scaramucci going in. But the President made up his own mind.

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 21, 2017

Scaramucci is a done deal, I"m told. Bannon lost.

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 21, 2017

By Tyler Durden / Republished with permission / ZeroHedge.com / Report a typo

This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.

While Apologizing For Hitler Fiasco, Spicer Says Trump Trying To "Destabilize" Middle East

In what may have been the worst day in Sean Spicer"s life, the White House press secretary first drew a storm of criticism and ridicule Tuesday after butchering Godwin"s law, when trying to compare Syria president Bashar al-Assad to Adolf Hitler by saying that even the Nazi leader didn’t “sink to using chemical weapons.”

“We didn’t use chemical weapons in WWII. We had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” Spicer said. Later when given the chance to elaborate he only made it worse: "I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no - he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing,” Spicer said. When reporters interrupted to note the millions of deaths in concentration camps, the response made even less sense: "there was not in the - he brought them into the Holocaust centers and I understand that," he said.

Spicer"s bizarre attempt to make Assad appear worse than Hitler promptly drew demands for Spicer"s resignation from the likes of Nancy Pelosi, the Anne Frank center and various Jewsish groups.

That in turn prompted Spicer to appear on CNN to apologize for his earlier comments, when in yet another stunning implosion, he only made things worse by saying, or rather admitting, that President Trump is trying to "destabilize" the Middle East. Specifically, when speaking to Wolf Blitzer, Spicer said that he did not want his comments on Hitler to distract from Trump"s attempts "to destabilize the region."

"I came out to make sure we stay focused on what the president is doing and his decisive action. I needed to make sure that I clarified, and not was in any shape or form any more of a distraction from the president"s decisive action in Syria and the attempts that he is making to destabilize the region and root out ISIS out of Syria," Spicer said. 

Wow: While apologizing for Hitler gaffe, Spicer literally says he doesn"t want to distract from Trump"s attempts "to destabilize the region" pic.twitter.com/jlCwC93Wn4

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) April 11, 2017

While Spicer later corrected himself for this dramatic Freudian slip, according to The Hill others reported that this was the second time Spicer has said "destabilize" in recent remarks on the region.  During Monday"s press briefing, he said one of the goals of U.S. policy there is "to make sure we destabilize Syria — destabilize the conflict there, reduce the threat of ISIS."

Wow @seanspicer said they wanted to "destabilize Syria" TWICE at yesterday"s news briefing! I posted on it but assumed it was a slip. Yikes! https://t.co/rgRZQkh4cZ

— Peter Eyre (@1stungun) April 11, 2017

This was not the first instance where Sean Spicer stated that #UnitedStates goal is to destabilize #Syria and region. First one below. pic.twitter.com/lX8CRin8MJ

— Aldin ???????? (@CT_operative) April 11, 2017

White House spokesman now repeatedly states the Trump administration"s goal is to "destabilize Syria" and "destabilize the region" https://t.co/vodKQWETEX

— Alex Leff (@alexleff) April 11, 2017

We eagerly await Spicer"s explanation for the upcoming mushroom clouds over Pyongyang.

Sean Spicer exposes Hillary Clinton for selling off one-fifth of U.S. uranium to the Russians

(INTELLIHUB) — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer took Trump administration critics to task Monday, noting that they continue to push the discredited claim that Trump worked with the Russians while totally ignoring the clear connections between Clinton and Russian based companies.

Spicer first noted that the DNC had denied FBI requests to look into the hacked emails released by Wikileaks, a fact that makes zero sense if you believe the rhetoric coming from the mainstream media that claims Democrats are truly worried about Russian involvement in the election.

“From everything that has been publicly available, on several occasions, the DNC was asked by the FBI to alleviate all their concerns about leaking yet that question still hasn’t come out,” Spicer revealed.

“Why would the DNC on multiple occasions rebuff the FBI if they were so concerned with leaks and hacking, why did they not allow the FBI to come look?” he continued.

“They’re very clear about all the concerns they have along with the leadership of the Democratic party, and yet when it came to hacks and leaks out of the DNC they’re quick to jump to the conclusion about who did it, yet they wouldn’t allow the FBI to investigate.”

Spicer then got to the real argument when it comes to the whole Russian narrative which is the documented fact that Hillary Clinton herself has a long history of involvement with the Russian government, information that has been purposefully ignored by the establishment press.

“When you look at the Obama administration and the Clintons involvement with Russia, in terms of donations they received from Russian entities yet where was the concern for that?” Spicer stated before saying, “What are we doing to look into that?”

“It was the Obama administration in 2009 that talked about a reset with Russia and a desire to reset relationships,” he continued. “It was Hillary Clinton who signed off on a deal that gave a Russian company one-fifth the U.S.’ uranium supply, where is the concern on the Hillary Clinton thing?”

Remember, the establishment press has done everything in their power to ignore clear cut Hillary Clinton Russian connections while at the same time continually publishing deep state propaganda aimed at taking out the Trump presidency.

Its about time Spicer went on the offensive.

On top of selling off one-fifth of our uranium supply to the Russians, the deal also may have included areas in and around the Hammond family ranch which became famous after patriots took over the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to protest the tyranny inflicted on the family.

Related: Clinton Foundation took massive payoffs, promised Hammond Ranch and other publicly owned lands to Russians along with one-fifth of our uranium ore

Alex Thomas is an opinion journalist and editor for Intellihub News. He was a founding member of what later became Intellihub.com and an integral part of the team that destroyed the mainstream media blockade on Bilderberg in 2012. You can contact him here.

Featured Image: Medill DC/Flickr

©2017. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

While Both Sides Point Fingers, Here Are the Facts On Trump’s 100,000 Troop Plan

An alarming report from the Associated Press — saying the “Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants” — has now been stridently denied by the White House as “false.”

With Fake News accusations so prevalent, it would be simple to chalk the plan and accusation up to the mundane — but this particular incident has several strange details making it anything but typical.

Citing an 11-page document titled “Implementing the President’s Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements Policies,” appearing to be issued by Department of Homeland Security Secretary General John Kelly and obtained by the AP, the Trump administration deliberated deploying “as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border,” and the document further “calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.”

But, despite claims the AP discussed the document in question with unnamed ‘staffers’ at the Department of Homeland Security, White House spokesman Sean Spicer balked, telling the press aboard Air Force One within minutes of the article being published,

“That is 100 percent not true. It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this.”

He added, “There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants.”

According to the original AP article,

“The memo was addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would have served as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

“Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized ‘to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States.’ It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.”

Although the AP did not originally link to or show an image of the document, it has since been published — but the status of information divulged, whether or not the plan has been considered or even brought to President Trump’s attention, remains unknown. Per the memorandum, addressed to officials in Immigration and Border Patrol, Kelly states:

“I am directing the Commissioner of CBP and the Director of ICE to immediately engage with the Governors of the States adjacent to the land border with Mexico and to those states adjoining such border States for the purpose of entering into agreements of section 287(g) of the INA to authorize qualified members of the state National Guard, while such members are not in federal service, or qualified members of a state militia or state defense force under the command of the Governor, to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the apprehension, investigation and detention of aliens in the United States.”

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Without further elaboration on context, the memorandum and the AP’s report present quite the quagmire for trying to parse who’s actually telling the truth — or determining if there might be dissension between arms of the government.

Spicer insisted, “It is not a White House document” — as it indeed appears to be from DHS — and admitted, “I don’t know what could potentially be out there, but I know that there is no effort to do what is potentially suggested.”

“A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never brought to the secretary for approval,” the AP reported originally.

Spicer also did not make clear why the White House would not be privy to a putative DHS plan this massive in scale — the operation would allegedly have involved 11 states and their respective National Guards.

“Spokespeople for the governors of nine of the states either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. Representatives for Texas and Arkansas did not immediately respond to the AP,” the outlet reports.

But where this really gets weird is that, despite Spicer’s categorical denial the memorandum came from the White House, he did not assert a similar plan hasn’t been considered. Further,

“A White House aide confirmed to DailyMail.com Friday morning that the idea ‘has been discussed,’ but wouldn’t say whether a plan has been formalized or recommended to the president.

“DailyMail.com’s White House source said the idea is to hasten the removal from the U.S. of ‘criminal aliens’ like those Trump railed against during one campaign stop after another last year.”

 Of course, without the Daily Mail naming its source, that information is also impossible to confirm with certainty.

Weirder still, DHS also disputes the contents of the memorandum and the AP’s report.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan told the media Friday — shortly before a copy of the document became public — “It’s incorrect. The Department is not considering mobilizing the National Guard for immigration enforcement.”

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Someone is lying.

If DHS isn’t considering mobilizing the National Guard to act as immigration police, then the memo might have been created and abandoned — but officials, besides the unnamed person who spoke to the AP, aren’t saying that.

Spicer said the document didn’t emanate from the White House, and flatly denied the plan to mobilize the Guard — then surreptitiously contradicted himself, intimating such a procedure had indeed been deliberated.

It’s a mess — by design.

This is how propaganda works. It deceives. Instills doubt. Creates chaos, and wreaks havoc on the dissemination of fact through a free press. Once people question information on such a wide scale — and rightly so, given deceitful reports published regularly now by the corporate press — then everything opens to interpretation, including the truth.

Trump National Guard Draft Memo by zerohedge on Scribd

U.S. Blaming Iran for Attack on American Navy That Never Actually Happened

February 3, 2017   |   Darius Shahtahmasebi

(ANTIMEDIA) At a press briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer asserted that Iran had attacked a U.S. naval vessel. This statement was taken as part and parcel of his argument defending the Trump administration’s decision to put Iran “on notice.”

However, as the Intercept confirmed directly with Pentagon spokesperson Christopher Sherwood, the attack in question actually took place on a Saudi warship, and the suspected perpetrators of the attack are the Houthi rebels currently leading an insurrection in Yemen, not Iran.

But Iran is allegedly backing the Houthi rebels in Yemen. So surely, any attack committed by those rebels against the U.S. or its allies can be deemed and Iranian assault by way of proxy, right?

Not according to the U.N. experts, who presented a report to the U.N. Security Council just this past weekend. It stated:

“The panel has not seen sufficient evidence to confirm any direct large-scale supply of arms from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, although there are indicators that anti-tank guided weapons being supplied to the Houthi or Saleh forces are of Iranian manufacture.” [emphasis added]

For those skeptical of claims made by so-called U.N. experts, perhaps one could analyze the claims made by the mainstream media regarding Iran’s role in Yemen to see if there is any substance to the narrative that Iran is backing the Houthi rebels in Yemen. As noted by a Truth-out article published in October 2015, the mainstream media struggles to produce any compelling evidence of Iranian involvement, even with the enormous resources at their disposal:

“[A] recent article published by the Guardian on October 8, 2015, again states that: ‘It is now six months since a coalition of countries, led by Saudi Arabia, took on Iran-backed Houthis who had swept through the country earlier this year.’ The words ‘Iran-backed Houthis’ are again hyperlinked. This time, the hyperlink takes you to another Guardian article, which explains that a ‘source’ has revealed that no more than 10 Gulf-trained fighters have arrived in Yemen. The article references Iran only once by again claiming that the Houthis are Iranian-backed, but this is not hyperlinked to any other source and at no point in the article does the writer even try to explain in which of the Gulf states these fighters, who number no more than 10, were trained before their deployment into Yemen.”

Still don’t believe it? This next excerpt is from the Washington Post, dated May 2016:

“Yet as [the author] argues in a recent article in the May 2016 issue of International Affairs, the Chatham House journal, Tehran’s support for the Houthis is limited, and its influence in Yemen is marginal. It is simply inaccurate to claim that the Houthis are Iranian proxies.

“Instead, the war in Yemen is driven by local grievances and competition for power among Yemeni actors. The Houthis and Saleh want to overturn the political order that emerged after the uprisings of 2011: Saleh wants to return to power, having lost the presidency in the wake of popular protests, while the Houthis want a greater say in national affairs. In other words, the Houthis want in, Saleh wants back in, and the Hadi bloc wants to keep them both out.” [emphasis added]

The best concrete evidence the media can produce regarding Tehran’s involvement is that some of the weapons the Houthis use are of Iranian origin. However, the media is well aware that the weapons come from Somalia, and outlets are unable to make any real link between Somalia and the claim that Iran is supplying the weapons directly to Yemen (as indicated by the U.N. experts last weekend).

The Houthis are Yemeni, not Iranian. Therefore, they are well within their rights to fight back against the aggressive invading force of Saudi Arabia’s brutal coalition.

The U.S. is once again playing a dangerous game in which officials spout absolute nonsense and mobilize the American citizenry in support of another disastrous war in the Middle East. As noted by the Intercept, the U.S. has used similar baseless fear tactics on multiple occasions in the past, including launching the U.S. into the Vietnam quagmire.

Iran has not attacked the United States, nor can it be said to have attacked any other country for decades, if not centuries. War should be a measure of last resort, not the first action an administration takes after a mere two weeks in office based off inaccurate and dishonest reporting.

---

This article (U.S. Blaming Iran for Attack on American Navy That Never Actually Happened) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Darius Shahtahmasebi and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.

Alex Jones’ InfoWars Offered White House Credentials

January 26, 2017   |   admintam

(ZHE) Things sure are changing in the White House press corps. According to a video posted on Wednesday, radio show host Alex Jones’s website Infowars, which has been accused of being “conspiracy theory and alt-right” by much of the established media, has been offered White House press credentials.

In the clip Jones explains:

Here’s the deal, I know I get White House credentials, we’ve already been offered them, we’re going to get them, but I’ve just got to spend the money to send somebody there. I want to make sure it’s even worth it. I don’t want to just sit there up there like ‘m in the media, look our people are there.’ People don’t understand this paradigm, we’re devolving in a good way, power from the federal government back to the people, back from the centralized MSM to the people, just like Trump said in his speech.

On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that four “Skype seats” would be made available to some journalists who are outside of a 50-mile radius of Washington, D.C.. It is not known when the Skype seats will be deployed during daily press briefings.

He contined:

“[Trump]) keeps saying CNN is fake, and I’m not going to any of your fake news. What’s CNN doing in the front row, when [White House press secretary Sean] Spicer keeps going to them? And then the reporter yesterday goes, “Oh, maybe Trump wasn’t even elected. That’s why you say there’s fraud.” So they’re like little kids up there. These aren’t real journalists. Meanwhile, it’s just crazy, you should see Breitbart and Drudge, and also just reporters that are known to tell the truth from mainstream, whatever, promoted and put up at the front of those briefings, to bring up real questions, not just a battle where they’re just attacking with fricking lies”

Jones, a supporter of President Trump, is the owner and operator of popular web sites Infowars.com and PrisonPlanet.com. He is also the author of “9-11 Descent Into Tyranny” and “The Answer to 1984 is 1776.”

The White House has not confirmed Jones’ statement.

Meanwhile, members of the press on the opposite ideological spectrum were quick to mock the announcement, starting with Salon which said “Truthers in the briefing room: Alex Jones claims Infowars has been offered White House credentials. Donald Trump has long been cozy with the notorious conspiracy theorist, and now it seems to be paying off”

Trump and Jones have a relationship going back a long time. Despite being notorious for claiming that major American tragedies were actually part of sinister government-orchestrated conspiracies — including the Oklahoma City bombings, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings and the Boston Marathon bombing — Trump has appeared on Jones’ show, even saying, “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”

Trump has also adopted many of Jones’ own beliefs when they’re politically convenient for him, such as his current claim that he would have won the popular vote had it not been for undocumented immigrants.

One thing is certain: should InfoWars have a presence during the daily boring White House pressers, it will certainly boost their Nielsen ratings overnight, something which to the ad-savvy president is surely first and foremost on his mind.

---

This article (Alex Jones’ InfoWars Offered White House Credentials) by Tyler Durden originally appeared on ZeroHedge.com and was used with permission. Tune in! Anti-Media Radio airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: edits@theantimedia.org.

Alex Jones' InfoWars Offered White House Credentials

Things sure are changing in the White House press corps. According to a video posted on Wednesday, radio show host Alex Jones’s website Infowars, which has been accused of being "conspiracy theory and alt-right" by much of the established media, has been offered White House press credentials.

In the clip Jones explains:

Here’s the deal, I know I get White House credentials, we’ve already been offered them, we’re going to get them, but I’ve just got to spend the money to send somebody there. I want to make sure it’s even worth it. I don’t want to just sit there up there like ‘m in the media, look our people are there.’ People don’t understand this paradigm, we’re devolving in a good way, power from the federal government back to the people, back from the centralized MSM to the people, just like Trump said in his speech.

On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that four "Skype seats" would be made available to some journalists who are outside of a 50-mile radius of Washington, D.C.. It is not known when the Skype seats will be deployed during daily press briefings.

He contined:

“[Trump]) keeps saying CNN is fake, and I"m not going to any of your fake news. What’s CNN doing in the front row, when [White House press secretary Sean] Spicer keeps going to them? And then the reporter yesterday goes, “Oh, maybe Trump wasn’t even elected. That’s why you say there’s fraud.” So they’re like little kids up there. These aren’t real journalists. Meanwhile, it’s just crazy, you should see Breitbart and Drudge, and also just reporters that are known to tell the truth from mainstream, whatever, promoted and put up at the front of those briefings, to bring up real questions, not just a battle where they’re just attacking with fricking lies"

Jones, a supporter of President Trump, is the owner and operator of popular web sites Infowars.com and PrisonPlanet.com. He is also the author of "9-11 Descent Into Tyranny" and "The Answer to 1984 is 1776." 

The White House has not confirmed Jones" statement.

Meanwhile, members of the press on the opposite ideological spectrum were quick to mock the announcement, starting with Salon which said "Truthers in the briefing room: Alex Jones claims Infowars has been offered White House credentials. Donald Trump has long been cozy with the notorious conspiracy theorist, and now it seems to be paying off"

Trump and Jones have a relationship going back a long time. Despite being notorious for claiming that major American tragedies were actually part of sinister government-orchestrated conspiracies — including the Oklahoma City bombings, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings and the Boston Marathon bombing — Trump has appeared on Jones’ show, even saying, “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”

Trump has also adopted many of Jones’ own beliefs when they’re politically convenient for him, such as his current claim that he would have won the popular vote had it not been for undocumented immigrants.

One thing is certain: should InfoWars have a presence during the daily boring White House pressers, it will certainly boost their Nielsen ratings overnight, something which to the ad-savvy president is surely first and foremost on his mind.

Orwell’s “1984” Now No. 1 Bestseller After Trump Team Coins Term ‘Alternative Facts’

When it comes to presidential inaugurations, size matters, particularly to the Trump administration. Obama’s was bigger than Trump’s, at least in the number of attendees who were physically present on Capitol Hill for the festivities.

The firestorm of controversy began between the administration’s press secretary Sean Spicer and members of the mainstream media as they clashed over published reports indicating Trump’s inauguration was poorly attended. But it’s how Trump’s advisor and former campaign chair Kellyanne Conway reacted to the controversy that has the news and social media abuzz today with references to George Orwell’s famous work entitled “1984.”

In an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday, Conway was asked to comment on one of Spicer’s fallacious claims, the most controversial of which was the following;

“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe.” Spicer (Jan. 21^st, 2014)

Todd asked Conway why Spicer, under orders from the president, would address the press and utter such a falsehood. Conway responded, “Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts…” Conway’s use of the term “alternative facts” seemed to perplex Todd, who immediately reacted by stating, “Alternative facts! Four of the five facts he uttered were just not true. Look, alternative facts are not facts. They’re falsehoods!”

"Alternative facts" is a phrase that could have come directly out of Orwell"s 1984. https://t.co/WVNm7xUdWk

— Byrne Harrison (@StageBuzz) January 22, 2017

The exchange was immediately noticed by fans of Orwell’s bestselling book “1984.” Although most readers of the Free Thought Project most likely already know, the novel, first published in 1949, but set in the dystopian future of ‘1984,’ is about a society in which the government lies to its citizens through ‘Newspeak,’ which was designed to limit freedom of thought of the people, and conducted surveillance on its dissenters, as RT points out.

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We’ve often made the claim that government ignores the warning made in 1984 and instead uses the book as an instruction manual. And, it appears that Spicer’s false comments about the how the crowd was “the largest audience ever” to be labeled by Conway as ‘alternative facts’ are just that — 1984 newspeak. 

WATCH: Kellyanne Conway defends WH press secretary"s "alternative facts." #MTP pic.twitter.com/q4PVzhpA1g

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 22, 2017

Conway used the confrontation with Todd to refocus attention to Trump’s other planned policy initiatives, but the “alternative facts” statement has caused quite a stir on social media, now ablaze with references and connections to Orwell’s book.

While the opposition to Trump is certainly holding no punches, even going so far as to create false news about him, this statement has made some serious waves.

When Conway uttered the combination of words “alternative facts” the self-inflicted damage was done, further delegitimizing the president’s administration. To have one of your senior advisor’s statements be compared to a phrase from a book, which has been used by conspiracy theorists for decades as a sort of litmus test against government control, is very damaging.

The exchange wouldn’t have taken place, arguably, if Spicer hadn’t come out so strongly against the mainstream media’s attempt to downplay the number of attendees to Trump’s inauguration. But an interesting phenomenon has occurred as a result of the heated exchange between Todd and Conway whereby Conway uttered the words “alternative facts”. According to Fortune, Orwell’s book “1984” is now on Amazon’s bestseller list — nearly seven decades later.

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“Readers have been buying up George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel in recent days, driving it to number two on Amazon’s best selling books list as of Tuesday night,” reported Fortune, who also claimed, “The spike in popularity seemed to come in the wake of Kellyanne Conway defending Sean Spicer’s falsehoods about Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd size as ‘alternative facts.’ Many on social media compared the phrase to the ‘NewSpeak’ employed in 1984.”

BREAKING: China Deploys Nuclear ICBM System In ‘Response to Trump’s Provocative Remarks’

Washington, D.C. – The Chinese wasted no time responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tough talk regarding the South China Sea by reportedly deploying an advanced Dongfeng-41 ICBM system in Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia.

Xi Jinping’s gave a powerful speech at Davos, in which he essentially laid Chinese claim to the mantle of global neoliberalism, and now the Chinese are moving to project their power – believing that Trump’s “America First” doctrine has created a “superpower vacuum.”

Additionally, on Monday, a senior Chinese diplomat said that Beijing is prepared to “assume a role of world leadership if others step back from that position” after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged in his inaugural address to put “America first.” Many international observers have perceived this move as signaling a U.S. retreat from leading the post-WWII neoliberal alliance.

According to China’s nationalist Global Times, “the Chinese military intentionally revealed the Dongfeng-41 and connected it with the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. They think this is Beijing’s response to Trump’s provocative remarks on China.”

Zero Hedge reports:

The Global Times added that “pictures of China’s Dongfeng-41 ballistic missile were exposed on Chinese mainland websites,” citing reports in “some Hong Kong and Taiwan media.” One of the reports was identified as the Apple Daily, another tabloid-style resource based ot of Hong Kong, according to RT. “It was revealed that the pictures were taken in Heilongjiang Province. Military analysts believe that this is perhaps the second Dongfeng-41 strategic missile brigade and it should be deployed in northeastern China,” the report in the Chinese newspaper notes.

The Dongfeng-41 is a nuclear solid-fuel road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. With a range of 15,000 kilometers and a payload of 10-12 nuclear warheads, it can target anywhere in the world and is widely considered one of the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles. China has yet to reveal the ICBM to the general public during a military parade or any similar event. Most information of the advanced weapon remains highly classified.

The Global Times reports that the images of the nuclear weapons brigade’s deployment were timed to coincide with Trump’s inauguration as a means flexing Chinese muscle in light of the harsh tone taken towards China in comments by Trump and the White House. In fact, China’s foreign ministry today urged the US to “act and speak cautiously” when it comes to the disputed South China Seas to “avoid harming the peace and stability” in the region after comments by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

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Similar Chinese displays of power are a regular occurrence, which are used to demonstrate their military prowess and send a message to large power rivals like the U.S. During a visit in December by then-Dense Secretary Ash Carter to the aircraft carrier ‘USS John C. Stennis’, deployed in the South China Sea, the Chinese tested a railcar-launched version of the DF-41.

The ICBM system was placed in the Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia. However, Russia welcomed the placement of China’s ICBM next to its border, noting that it did not take the deployment as an indication of threats toward Russia. “The deployment of the DF-41 near Russia’s border should not be read as a threat to Russia,” noted military analyst Konstantin Sivkov in comments to RIA Novosti.

“DF-41 missiles placed near Russia’s border are a smaller threat than if they were placed deeper in the Chinese territory. Such missiles usually have a very large ‘dead zone’ [area within minimal range that cannot be attacked by a weapon],” Sivkov said.

Moscow agreed with Sivkov’s assessment, stating that China is Russia’s “strategic partner in political and economic senses.”

“Certainly, the actions of the Chinese military, if the reports prove correct, the military build-up in China is not perceived as a threat to our country,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The implied threat is a clear one – China will not be bullied – and certainly aimed at the U.S. as a display of Chinese military strength, as noted by the ominous tone in the pro-government and nationalistic Global Times report – a communist party mouthpiece in China:

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“The US has the world’s most powerful military strength, including the most advanced and powerful nuclear arsenal. But Trump has called for a nuclear arms build-up many times. Even Washington feels that its naval forces and nuclear strength are lacking, so how can China be content with its current nuclear strength when it is viewed by the US as its biggest potential opponent?”

The Global Times added, “China’s nuclear capability should be so strong that no country would dare launch a military showdown with China under any circumstance, and such that China can strike back against those militarily provoking it. A military clash with the US is the last thing China wants, but China’s nuclear arsenal must be able to deter the US.”

Essentially, the message is that the US has not paid China’s military the respect it deserves and that the Chinese must now — after realizing the flippant U.S. attitude and lack of respect towards Chinese “core interests” — procure a level of strategic military strength that will force the U.S. to respect it. The Chinese intention is clearly to let the Trump administration know that they will not be pushed around in their own backyard.

The U.S. should proceed cautiously, as the Chinese hold over a trillion dollars in U.S. debt – a weapon likely much more deadly to the U.S. empire than any nuke.

White House Spokesman Slams Media Over "Crowd Size Comparisons" In Bizarre First Briefing

In a bizarre first briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Saturday unloaded a blistering attack on the media and accused it of false reporting about the otherwise irrelevant question of why Trump"s inauguration crowd was visibly smaller than that of Obama"s.

Spicer used up virtually all the time in his first official appearance in the Press Briefing Room to denounce news organizations’ focus on the inaugural crowd size, saying “these attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong."

We wouldn"t necessarily use those words: silly should suffice since if Trump really wanted to "defend" why fewer people attended his inauguration, he can simply say many more of his supporters are employed and had to be at work on Friday, than during either Obama"s 2009 or 2013 inauguration events.

However, the press secretary decided that hyperbole is the better part of valor and said "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the world”

Spicer made the allegation despite photographs of the event clearly showed that the Mall was not full in the sections Spicer described, with dwindling-to-nonexistent crowds near the Smithsonian Institution Building and west toward the Washington Monument. There was also sparse attendance along the parade route from the Capitol to the White House. He alleged that some photos of the inauguration were “intentionally framed in a way” that minimized the crowd, without providing examples or evidence.

No official agency provides estimates of the size of gatherings on the Mall. But photos taken from the same vantage point at about the same time of day show that the crowds were far smaller than for President Barack Obama’s first inauguration, which Washington city officials estimated at 1.8 million people.

CNN airs this comparison graphic after Trump @PressSec claimed “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.” pic.twitter.com/m7nJKof4CT

— Jon Passantino (@passantino) January 21, 2017

From same @PressSec stmt:

1:36 in: “No one had numbers.”

2:25 in: “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.

— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) January 21, 2017

Ultimately, the whole press briefing episode had a surreal undertone, one in which Trump, via his speaker, appears to continue to troll the press, now in the White House.

As a seemingly perturbed NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen summarized it "Wow. Sean Spicer walked to the podium. Unloaded on the media for bias. Accused reporters of dishonesty. Walked off without taking questions."

Wow. Sean Spicer walked to the podium. Unloaded on the media for bias. Accused reporters of dishonesty. Walked off without taking questions.

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) January 21, 2017

The reaction among the rest of the press was similar.

Spicer took no questions from reporters and he did not say specifically how many people the White House believes attended the inauguration. He said three large sections of the Mall that each held at least 200,000 people were “full when the president took the oath of office.”

Earlier on Saturday, in remarks at CIA headquarters in Langley, Trump said that from his vantage point at the podium, “it looked like a million, million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there, and they said Donald Trump did not draw well.” Trump also said parts of the National Mall “all the way back to the Washington Monument” were "packed."

Quoted by Bloomberg, former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Twitter after Spicer’s remarks that "This is called a statement you’re told to make by the president. And you know the president is watching."

He is indeed, and what he is seeing is that he once again is controlling the media narrative, which is focusing on a very immaterial and arbitrary issue, instead of spending time on investigative work and reporting on far more serious issues relating to Trump"s new administration.

Full clip below.

WATCH unbelievable WH briefing:@seanspicer: "We"re going to hold the press accountable."pic.twitter.com/7BeGvNIB7L

— Rob S??Silver Surfer (@RobPulseNews) January 21, 2017