Happy Thursday! Or if you prefer, Day 25 of the Democratic presidential candidate refusing to answer questions. More on that in a second.

Disney’s Woke Snow White Star Further Sabotages Movie with “Free Palestine” Post

First, the good news: A new teaser trailer for Disney’s live-action film Snow White is out, and it looks luscious. Better still, the woke circus freak show that was going to be the Seven Dwarfs (with only one dwarf being played by an actual little person) has been replaced by CGI versions of the classic characters.

WATCH:

Now the bad news.

Star Rachel Zegler has again undermined the film with her big mouth. Last year, Zegler raised a ruckus when she trashed the original Snow White movie released in 1937, calling Prince Charming a “creepy stalker.” Really?

Now, while promoting the new trailer on social media, she’s decided to mimic the pro-Hamas hordes. (She also feels compelled to list her preferred pronouns.)

and always remember, free palestine.

— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) August 12, 2024

“Free Palestine”?

Here’s where what Zegler did gets even more disturbing: As Not the Bee points out, the Evil Queen in Snow White is being played by Gal Gadot, who before becoming a Hollywood bombshell was an Israeli soldier. Gadot, at much risk to life, limb, and career, has been very vocally supportive of Israel since the October 7 attack. In fact, she arranged for a screening in L.A. of the horrific, gut-wrenching footage of those events to counter propaganda denying the atrocities happened.

Indeed, the release of Snow White trailer unleashed a new round of attacks on Gadot, so seeing Zegler feeding into the antisemitism targeting her costar is classless. (To say nothing of what bad PR is doing to a film Disney has reportedly already shelled out $209 million to make, not including marketing. To say nothing of the damage the Zegler-inspired flop would do to the Snow White brand.)

Trying to campaign on the head of your co-star, who actually lives through war, just so you'll look cooler with the kids, is really pathetic

— Maya Goldin (@maya_goldin) August 13, 2024

Snow White is supposed to be wholesome, enchanting escape. But that’s hard to pull off when Disney tries to turn the story woke and its star is fueling flames of antisemitism.

The “Strategic Ambiguity” of Kamala Harris

Democracy should be simple: You run for office. You state your policy proposals. Your opposition states their policies. Then you debate your positions on the issues. The voters listen and decide which candidate’s vision best suits their own, then vote accordingly.

But what do you call it when when a candidate suddenly puts aside the policies they have supported for years, snatches a few of their opponent’s positions, and then refuses to talk about it?

You call it the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.

Take energy, for instance. Reuters reports that the Harris campaign is deliberately “strategically ambiguous” when talking about energy policy. That is fancy talk for “hiding what you really believe.” For example, Harris has publicly stated she supports banning fracking. Yet her campaign — not her — says she no longer supports banning fracking. She was a climate change zealot when she was attorney general of California, and has been all on board as for the Green New Deal boondoggle in the stimulus bill as vice president. Now? Who knows?

Actually, we do know. If Kamala Harris was really walking away from Green New Deal radicalism, or suddenly serious about getting tough on border security, or ready to drop her Medicare-for-All dreams, wouldn’t the likes of AOC and Bernie Sanders be raising a ruckus? Wouldn’t the Left be up in arms about Harris “moving toward Trump”?

They’re not. They know this strategic ambiguity, these 180-degree policy turns, and the refusal to even be questioned about them, is only a means to an end. And as Kamala’s communist friends say, the ends justify the means.

Even CNN’s Jim Acosta is losing patience with Harris’s refusal to face questions. “Would it kill ya to do a press conference?” he asked a campaign spokesperson.

WOW!!!

CNN: Can you commit to a press conference before the end of this month?

HARRIS SPOX: No!! 👀

pic.twitter.com/fiX7v5J9mM

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) August 14, 2024

Meanwhile, Donald Trump will be holding another press conference from his Bedminster club in New Jersey today at 4:30 p.m.

Here’s an interesting little statistic: 70% of those who were able to tune in to the conversation between Trump and Elon Musk on Monday night were between the ages of 28 and 35.

Sharing audience insights from last night’s @XSpaces 👇 pic.twitter.com/NUuXbg9jeF

— Data (@XData) August 13, 2024

Britain No Longer Free

At what point do we take the “Great” out of “Great Britain”? You’ve probably heard the stories about British police now targeting citizens who make social media posts about Muslim crime rather than focusing on the Muslim criminals and hooligans. Here’s another one for you. A 61-year-old British man named David Spring has been sentenced to 18 months in the slammer for joining in a chant of “Who the **** is Allah?” at a demonstration protesting the recent murder of three little girls by a knife-wielding immigrant.

(Call me strange, but the first thing I thought was that the chant is a play on tradition that’s developed around the song “Living Next Door to Alice” by Smokie. Thanks to a DJ at a bar in Netherlands, there’s now a famous call-and-response when the song is played. When the name “Alice” is heard, the crowd shouts, “Alice? Who the **** is Alice?” Alice, Allah. Seems an easy jump for a European crowd at a demonstration, upset at the Muslim immigrants stirring up trouble while shouting “Allahu akbar.”)

Now, Spring was also cursing out the police. So boo to that. But 18 months? Even after Spring apologized to the court, admitting he was ashamed and embarrassed about cursing out the police?

Free speech is dying in Great Britain, if not already dead.

And where are the leading political figures there? Why is it left to an old clip of actor-comedian Rowan Atkinson to defend free speech? The performer best known as Mr. Bean gave an eloquent defense of free speech while addressing a Parliament reception in 2012. Atkinson’s resounding call is once again making the rounds in the wake of the British clampdown on free expression after being retweeted by Elon Musk.

pic.twitter.com/9twcXK6OuG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2024

The clear problem with the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism is easily construed as insult by certain parties. Ridicule, easily construed as insult. Sarcasm, unfavorable comparison, even stating an alternative point of view to the orthodoxy is interpreted as insult. And because so many things can be interpreted as insult, it is hardly surprising that so many things have been.

When you have Washington Post reporters practically begging the White House to block free speech and the White House not slapping the idea down, as happened Monday in regard to the Trump-Musk interview, we know we aren’t too far behind the Brits.

However, we still see victories for free speech. Even in California.

Conservative California Professor Fired Over Free Speech Wins Multimillion-Dollar Settlement

You’d think the term “conservative California professor” is an oxymoron, but such creatures do exist. One is Matthew Garrett, formerly a tenured history professor with Bakersfield College. In 2019, Garrett offered a full-throated defense of free speech and questioned the school’s use of grant money to fund social justice initiatives. This led to a multi-year battle with the administration, culminating in his firing in 2023 for “immoral and unprofessional conduct.”

Garrett sued the school in 2021 over its violation of his free speech rights and academic freedom. And now he’s won. In July, the Kern Community College District agreed to pay the professor $2.4 million. That’s $154,520 now, the rest over 20 years, and in addition, administrators will wipe out references to unprofessional conduct from his record.

Garrett had a message, delivered through College Fix: “To my colleagues at Bakersfield College and nationwide, I say: Keep the faith; we are winning the battle, one case at a time.”

Along The Stream

Check out yesterday’s serving of Al’s Afternoon Tea. It’s Called “#ProtectWomensSports from the Arrogant, Entitled Males Taking Over Female Competitions.”

Also Dr. Michael Brown is back with “Conservatives Have More Kids, Than Liberals, But … ”

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.