If there’s one thing I know about Meryl Streep, it’s that she gave a speech at last night’s Golden Globes that was all about how terrible Donald Trump is. And if there’s one thing I know about that speech, it’s that she was incredibly brave to say such things in front of a crowd of Hollywood bigshots. Just imagine the persecution she’ll suffer in the entertainment industry.
But she’ll probably stay out of jail, at least. Whew!
. @PressSec : Meryl Streep delivered „thoughtful, carefully considered message,“ a „fairly straightforward exercise“ of First Amendment rights pic.twitter.com/rXgkeVJabI
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 9, 2017
Take that, Republicans. Did you think you could throw her in a gulag for daring to dissent against your precious leader? Well… ha!
Seriously, though: Why is the White House being asked about this? They don’t need to comment on this, other than, “She gave an acceptance speech at an awards show, and we really have no opinion except that she was great in Death Becomes Her.”
She hates Trump. So what? She gets to hate anybody she wants. This will only benefit her career. I mean, she’s already being painted as a victim. By the White House. On the left, there’s no greater currency than that.
#StreepClooney2020
(Hat tip: Mark Knoller )

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© Source: http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/09/good-news-meryl-streep-probably-wont-get-arrested-for-speakingtruthtopower/
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Last Updated Jan 9, 2017 3:12 PM EST
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will named senior White House adviser by President-elect Donald Trump , CBS News confirmed Monday.
In a tweet, another top adviser to the president-elect, Kellyanne Conway, called it the “best news of the day.”
See who President-elect Donald Trump wants in his inner circle at the White House
Kushner’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, a partner at WilmerHale, said in a statement to CBS News that Kushner and his legal team are working out his compliance with ethics laws.
“Mr. Kushner is committed to complying with federal ethics laws and we have been consulting with the Office of Government Ethics regarding the steps he would take,” Gorelick, a former Clinton administration Justice Department lawyer, wrote.
Kushner plans to “resign from his position at Kushner Companies and divest substantial assets in accordance with federal guidelines,” Gorelick wrote. Kushner has been CEO of Kushner Companies since 2008.
Mr. Trump’s son-in-law would also recuse himself from matters that would have “a direct and predictable effect on his remaining financial interests.”
Axios’ Mike Allen first reported on Kushner’s West Wing job and said that he’s already seeking applicants for his staff.
Kushner, who will be 36 years old Tuesday and is married to Ivanka Trump, has emerged as one of his closest advisers and confidants both during the campaign and the transition period. Since Mr. Trump’s election, Kushner has participated with high-level meetings with the president-elect and other business and world leaders, and he accompanied Mr. Trump to the White House to meet with President Obama after the election. He also worked with tech investor Peter Thiel to set up Mr. Trump’s meeting with tech leaders in December.
The president-elect was asked by reporters Monday about his son-in-law’s role in his administration, but he declined to answer, saying only, “We’ll talk about that on Wednesday,” which is when he is scheduled to hold his first news conference as president-elect.

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Storms in California have toppled one of America’s most famous trees – the Pioneer Cabin Tree.
The giant sequoia was known for having a hole cut through its trunk – big enough for a car to drive through.
The tree, estimated to be more than 1,000-years-old, was felled by the strongest storm to have hit the area in more than a decade.
California and Nevada have been hit by unusually high rainfall levels, leading to flooding and falling trees.
The Calaveras Big Trees Association first reported that the drive-through Pioneer Cabin Tree – carved 137 years ago – was no more.
The storm was „just too much for it“, the group wrote in a Facebook post that has drawn nearly 2,000 comments.
„Many memories were created under this tree,“ one read. „They will remain good memories. “
Others pointed out that the tree might have survived for longer if a tunnel had not been carved into it.
„You can’t cut a hole in a tree like this and expect it to live,“ said one comment.
„This hole always bothered me so much. Why not just drive around it? “
Park volunteer Jim Allday said the sequoia, also known as the Tunnel Tree, shattered as it hit the ground.
„We lost an old friend today,“ he wrote in a social media post.
Giant sequoia are closely related to the redwood tree, which is considered the tallest tree species on earth , reaching 250ft (76 metres).
They only grow in the groves of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range.
The tree fell as parts of California and Nevada were drenched by a seasonal weather system known as the Pineapple Express.
Not to be confused with the Seth Rogen movie of the same name, the Pineapple Express is an „atmospheric river“ that extends across the Pacific from Hawaii to the US West Coast, meteorologists say.
„This is a serious flood situation,“ the National Weather Service said in a special flood statement late Sunday night after the Russian River in California and the Truckee River in Nevada burst their banks.
Hundreds of people have been forced to flee their homes in Northern California and Nevada as water levels rise, and avalanches and mudslides close roads.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Speaking in a hoarse voice that quivered with emotion, Meryl Streep silenced a boisterous Golden Globes crowd and sparked a clamor heard around the country, all the way to Trump Tower.
Streep’s impassioned speech against Donald Trump while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award at Sunday’s awards has been heard like a battle cry in a left-leaning Hollywood that has been trying to reconcile itself to a Trump presidency it overwhelmingly didn’t vote for. Her speech has also further intensified the divide between Hollywood and Trump supporters, who call Streep another example of media elite on a soapbox.
Though Trump is yet to take office, the arts and the President-elect are increasingly on a collision course. Trump has criticized the cast of „Hamilton,“ which voiced its concerns about inclusion to Vice President-elect Mike Pence when he went to see the show on Broadway. Seeing political parallels in its story of underdog rebellion, some Trump supporters called for a boycott of the „Star Wars“ film „Rogue One. “ And now, following Streep’s remarks, he on Monday called the most decorated actress in Hollywood „overrated. “
With such institutions as „Star Wars“ and Streep in the crosshairs, the culture wars have gone nuclear. Battle lines and boycotts are being formed ahead of the Jan. 20 Inauguration, at which most entertainers have refused to perform. Some conservatives have already vowed on social media not to watch the Feb. 26th Academy Awards, which promises to be rife with political protest.
How the growing discord will affect the tenor the next four years in the arts remains to be seen. But what was clear Monday in the wake of Streep’s galvanizing speech is that the clash is just getting started.
In a night where the song-and-dance ode to musicals „La La Land“ set a Globes record with seven wins, including best picture, musical or comedy, Streep’s speech had the largest impact.
„There has never been anyone like Meryl,“ applauded Ellen DeGeneres on Twitter. „I’ve never admired you more! “ tweeted Sally Field. „Nearly without voice, her voice has never been so strong,“ lauded Sharon Stone. „Thank you, Meryl,“ wrote director Darren Aronfsky.
Political speeches at an award show — a little-loved, often ridiculed tradition — have seldom reverberated so strongly. She largely argued for empathy, inclusivity and the arts. And she claimed Hollywood wasn’t a bastion of elites, but „a bunch of people from other places. “ Streep didn’t say Trump by name, but spoke directly about him.
„It kind of broke my heart when I saw it,“ Streep said of Trump’s mocking of a disabled reporter during the campaign. „I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie, it was real life. And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose. “
She also urged support for the Committee to Project Journalists , a media advocacy group, „because we’re gonna need them going forward and they’ll need us to safeguard the truth. “ On Monday, Joel Simon , executive director of the CPJ, said Streep’s comments inspired „a huge upsurge“ in donations and awareness.
„We received 500 donations last night and a couple hundred more this morning,“ said Simon, who said the ongoing donations totaled about $60,000 as of early Monday afternoon. „People are feeling very energized and impassioned. “
Conservative pundits, though, saw Streep’s speech as a reflection of the bicoastal liberal pomposity that Trump’s election was in part a rejection of, regardless of his own show business affiliations. „This is exactly why Hollywood is dying, what a bunch of hypocrites,“ said Fox’s Sean Hannity. „The Meryl Streep speech is why Trump won,“ said Meghan McCain , also a Fox personality. „And if people in Hollywood don’t start recognizing why and how — you will help him get re-elected. “
Early Monday morning came Trump’s tweets. He called Streep, a longtime and outspoken Democrat who stumped for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention and famously imitated Trump at a Clinton fundraiser, „a Hillary flunky who lost big. “ He called the allegation that he mocked a disabled reporter „more very dishonest media. “
The tweets provoked their own response. Soon, lists of other things that Trump finds „overrated“ were trending. Author Stephen King called his comments about Streep „childish, churlish, petulant… exactly why most Americans fear his presidency. “
At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest said that Streep had clearly delivered „a thoughtful, carefully considered message“ that reflected her deeply held beliefs.
„It seemed to me to be a fairly straightforward exercise of her First Amendment rights, as this is the United States,“ Earnest said.
The Globes telecast drew 20 million viewers on NBC, according to the Nielsen company, an 8 percent increase from last year. It’s a positive sign for the Academy Awards, which will hope political debate fuels interest in this year’s ceremony, to be hosted by ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel — rather than turns off viewers whose views don’t align with Hollywood’s.
___
Associated Press reporter Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this story.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakcoyleAP

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