News Darla in Space Darla In Space Aims to Defeat the IRS With Orgasms This is like no kombucha you’ve ever tried before By Molly Templeton | Published on September 19, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share People who love kombucha often have really strong feelings about it. But none, I’d hazard, are quite as strong as the feelings generated by a sentient kombucha scoby named Mother in the indie film Darla in Space. Mother, it turns out, grants incredible orgasms to those who come in contact with her. And Darla (Alex E. Harris) is determined to make a mint off said orgasms, because she owes $349,00.22 in back taxes and it’s all due at once. If Mother helps Darla, Darla will help Mother get to space. Darla in Space comes from first-time filmmakers Susie Moon and Eric Laplante. The film’s website explains: This project is an expression of love for a character created by Eric’s wife, Alex. Darla Peterson started life as a comedy sketch about a woman peddling her customizable cat caskets. We want to know, why doesn’t Darla believe in luck? Why does she believe in pluck? And diligence? And dedication, and persistence? And perseverance. And tenacity. And gumption, and so on. About this same time Eric was making kombucha and Susie was making bread. This shared interest in yeast led us to wonder what it would be like for a woman named Darla Peterson to find herself the object of the affections of a yeast mass who has gained the ability to think and communicate like humans. A bit like humans. Not a whole lot like humans, but definitely closer to us than a cactus or something like that. The film has screened at quite a few festivals, meaning a few reviewers have already experienced its clearly unusual blend of surrealism and fermented beverages. Film Inquiry said, “Darla in Space is a surreal comedy that defies conventions while remaining grounded. It’s a testament to the power of imagination and the enduring spirit of adventure. It’s also just damn funny.” Meet Mother and Darla when Darla in Space arrives on demand on October 25th.[end-mark] The post <i>Darla In Space</i> Aims to Defeat the IRS With Orgasms appeared first on Reactor.

Movies & TV Agatha All Along Agatha All Along Rings in Spooky Season With an Absolute Blast of a Premiere Full of magic and good mayhem, the WandaVision spinoff is a worthy heir to its predecessor By Emmet Asher-Perrin | Published on September 19, 2024 Credit: Marvel Television / Disney+ (Photo by Chuck Zlotnick) Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Marvel Television / Disney+ (Photo by Chuck Zlotnick) It’s been three entire years (how) since we’ve checked in on Agatha and the Westview crew. So how has time—and terrible magic—been treating her? Recap: “Seekest Thou the Road” Image: Marvel Television Agnes O’Connor (Kathryn Hahn) stars in the gritty detective show Agnes of Westview. She’s brought off her suspension to work on a case that only she can solve, the murder of a young woman who was crushed in mysterious circumstances. The woman had a library card on her with no name, which Agnes brings to the library, seeking help from the local librarian (Emma Caulfield), who is reticent to aid her. The library card is for one book that was stolen, and a search for the other copies at the library leads Agatha to a burned wing of the building; she can’t find a copy of the book. The case has Agatha shaken up, and she’s instructed by the Chief of Police (David Lengel) to work with “the Feds” on this case, being Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), who she can’t stand. Vidal prods at Agnes’ memories and seems strangely intimate with her, asking if this is really how she sees herself, but she leaves Agnes to solve the case herself. Later that night, Agnes is looking at the name of the mysterious library book and realizes that the first letters of each word in the title spell out DARKHOLD, but she stops herself before she can finish writing it. The Chief tells her to go home as it’s nighttime. In Agnes’ house, she wanders around moodily, lingering on a room for a child who is no longer present. There’s a knock at the door and it’s Vidal, who wants to hang out and eat pizza. As they talk, Vidal asks Agnes if she can remember why she hates her, and Agnes searches her memory and finds that she can’t. Agnes tells Vidal that there was a car wreck nearby where the body was found, and she believes the cases are connected, but she can’t figure out why. There’s a noise and Agnes runs upstairs to find a young man breaking into her house (Joe Locke). She chases him down and brings him to the station, where Vidal offers to supervise an interrogation. The kid seems starstruck to be in Agnes’ presence and tells her that he knows whose house he broke into. When she accuses him of being involved with the murder and tries to show him pictures of the crime scene, he’s confused—they’re only pictures of flowers. When she looks toward the one-way mirror, he’s confused again—it’s a painting. He begins chanting a spell and Agnes locks him up for the night, heading to the coroner’s office. Initially there’s no body, but she recalls the body, it appears, with the library card attached to the toe. A name fills in: “W. Maximoff.” Vidal is suddenly there and encouraging—if she remembers Wanda’s name, she should be able to remember her own. The card fills in the with the name “A. Harkness” and Agnes, now becoming Agatha again, begins to strip away all of her old disguises used here and throughout WandaVision. At the end she peels off the last layer of clothes and awakes naked in her house the next morning. She rushes outside to talk to Herb (David A Payton), who admits that she’s been acting weird on and off for the last three years. When Agatha brings up that Wanda did this to her, he reminds her that no one in town really says her name anymore. Agatha heads inside and puts on a robe, finding the Teen in her closet. Rio Vidal shows up and they have a drag out fight, in which Agatha insists that Vidal wait until she’s got some of her power back so Vidal can enjoy killing her. Vidal insists that she’s Agatha’s “Blackheart,” and that it doesn’t matter anyway because the Salem Seven will arrive to kill Agatha by sundown. She leaves. Recap: “Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate” Image: Marvel Television, Photo by Chuck Zlotnick The Teen tries to get free, telling Agatha that he wants to travel the Witches’ Road. Agatha begins to entertain the idea when she realizes that the Teen is the one who broke her out of Wanda’s spell, that he’s a big fan of hers, and also that some form of magic has been cast on him—no one can ever hear him when he explains who he is or gives him name, and he doesn’t know this. Agatha knows that in order to travel the Witches’ Road, they’ll need a coven, and makes the Teen drive her around. The Teen’s boyfriend calls while they’re driving, and Agatha explains to him that within any three-mile radius there is always a group magic enough to form a coven; they simply have to make sure they find the right ones. They arrive at the shopfront of a fortune teller named Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone) and Agatha tests her. Though the soon-to-be-evicted divination witch initially seems unremarkable, she reveals great power and age (she’s over 400), and also appears to be in an argument with a force no one can see. She unwittingly writes down the list of Agatha’s coven in a fugue. Lilia refuses to join the coven—despite her name being on the list—as she knows Agatha’s reputation, but Agatha tells her that the only way she can absorb power from other witches is if they attack her. The Teen gives her Agatha’s address, where they’ll be meeting tonight. Next they arrive at a wellness shop owned by Jennifer Kale (Sassier Zamata), who is being sued for her less-than-effective wares. The potions witch has lost her power, and getting it back would help her legal troubles go away. She’s also not interested in joining up with Agatha, but the Teen gives her the address. Agatha says they’ve only got one more name on the list, and when the Teen insists that there were four, Agatha eats the list so he can’t look at it. They go to the mall where Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), daughter to a very powerful music witch, is working as a security guard at Hot Topic. Agatha gets the protector witch fired by tricking her into tackling the Teen for shoplifting, but she’s also not interested in joining them and promptly leaves. The Teen and Agatha get set up for the coven’s arrival at her house, and the group arrives, wondering who their fourth earth witch will be. Lilia says that the fourth name on the list she produces was simply a black heart, which upsets Agatha. She insists that she knows who the fourth witch is and rushes down the street to find Sharon Davis (formerly known as Mrs. Hart), and asks her if she wants to come to a party. With the group assembled, Agatha tells the Teen to leave them alone while they open the way to the road using the famed song. The group begins to sing and the sun goes down. The Teen notices the appearance of the Salem Seven down the road and tries to barricade the house, but they get in. After completing the song, nothing seems to happen, and the Agatha begins to antagonize them for being weak, saying that only a real coven could have opened the portal to the road. They begin to get angry, but Lilia stops them, realizing that Agatha is just trying to get them riled enough to attack so she can steal their power. Suddenly, a door appears in the floor, and they open it to reveal a staircase. The Teen barrels into the basement and down the stairs, warning them of the Salem Seven, so the group follow quickly, Agatha closes the door just before they can reach her. The group arrives on the Witches’ Road and Agatha insists she never doubted them for a second. They all remove their shoes and continue down that path toward power and glory. Commentary Image: Marvel Television The thing is, I was skeptical going in. And I should’ve known better because Jac Schaeffer is really very good at what she does. This is exactly what I was hoping it would be? I’m not sure what to do with that. But importantly, this is what you can get when you veer away from the characters and continuity that Marvel is precious about: This show is genuinely fun on its own merits. Sure, there’s a little extra something if you’ve seen WandaVision, but you don’t need to have a good time here. After WandaVision had such fun deconstructing sitcom formats, it’s amazing to watch Agatha’s brain shove her directly into a True Detective/Fargo/Mare of Easttown style crime drama and take a few jabs. Kathryn Hahn is walking a perfect line with overacting, sometimes using it to make scenes funny, and sometimes using it to make them more upsetting because the audience becomes more cognizant that she’s trapped. You get a vibe between Agatha and Vidal instantly—if there’s one thing Aubrey Plaza knows how to do (she can do anything, this is just my favorite), it’s have immediate and visceral chemistry with her female costars. As it’s been occurring more often in her career, I imagine this must feel like an upgrade for her. There’s a lot of gay shit between Agatha and Rio, whatever their history may be, but this series offers up an entire potential history of friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-?? in a single episode and I am dizzy about it. They have a pizza date; Agatha strips out of her disguises until she’s naked in front of Rio; they have a sexually charged fight, ending with Rio licking the blood off her ex’s hand; Rio claims to be Agatha’s black heart before leaving; she’s on Agatha’s coven list despite all attempts to deny it. Sorry to Ghost Rider fans who might be mad that they’ve changed the character of Blackheart entirely for the purposes of this show: You are wrong. This is better. Go read some comics, or watch the Ghost Rider movie about it. Leave us this. Because I can’t really understate how long I’ve been waiting for that exact fight scene. The kind that is usually only given to men, and then importantly denied any actual subtext-to-text acknowledgement. They’re straddling each other and bleeding on each other and it’s very erotic on purpose, thanks. (Deadpool and Wolverine made it erotic, too, but wimped out on the subtext-to-text move.) And the cast flip is very much the same vibe. Here we have the exact layout of the Avengers, but the genders—and ages!—are swapped. Sure, the Teen is younger than Widow, but that serves to underscore the point of how absurd it was to have exactly one young woman on a crew of men who are a-little-bit-to-a-lot-bit older than her. At least the Teen has a comparative reason for his youth (being inexperience and a need for mentors), and he’s not being sexualized for it. This is a given because it’s a teenager here, but again works to underscore that the original MCU superteam breakdown was… pretty icky. And the series doesn’t have to direct our attention to this swap to make the point: Just existing does the work all by itself. The show is taking a page out of Terry Pratchett’s book, I notice, whether intentional or not—Pratchett’s witch books made a point of using all the “types” in modern witchcraft to make up his covens, parodying things like Wicca and moody black-lace-clad teens in a loving way to showcase the many paths women might take to magic. In his final book, he added a young man into that mix, pointedly the same age as the Teen. Pratchett’s Geoffrey is agender or non-binary in his leanings and the Teen has a boyfriend, so both are queer in some manner or another too, which is excellent: The idea being that witchcraft doesn’t necessarily have to be an all-female discipline, but that there is an intersection of queerness—and therefore oddity and outsider perspective—to witchcraft itself. So we’ve got the old-school fortune teller witch, the wellness guru witch, and the mall goth witch—who they literally find at Hot Topic. (I snorted loudly.) A very enjoyable coven set, along with Sharon, who isn’t exactly a witch, but is great at gardening! A form of witchcraft unto itself. It plays into that Practical Magic-esque assertion that all women are a little witchy, which can get very woo in certain circles, but is exciting when couched in terms of female power and how women find that power. Also, I really loved that song. The lyrics were lacking, but the harmonies keyed right into the brain. (And the brilliance of writing into any script on this earth that Our Mother of Musical Theater, Patti LuPone, was pitchy. Thank you for that.) Shoes off, my friends. Time to walk the road. Tarot Readings and Witchy Thoughts Image: Marvel Television, Photo by Chuck Zlotnick Lots of great little witchy pop culture asides, but Herb’s claim that the body is “really most sincerely dead” has got to be my favorite. (Being the munchkin coroner’s proclamation about the Wicked Witch of the West.) In fact there are a lot of Wizard of Oz cues in that murder case, including the fact that Wanda’s “body” has been crushed by some unknown force—dropped a house on her, perhaps? I have so many questions about Agatha accidentally creating these little microverses for herself within the confines of Wanda’s spell—how many TV show constructs has she attempted to insert herself into over the past three years? How does it actually look to the Westeview residents from the outside? Are they actually obligated to play along in some way, and do they fully understand that they’re being made to do so? The swipe at Goop and Gwenyth Paltrow’s hocking of jade eggs for vaginas was *chef’s kiss* See you next week![end-mark] The post <i>Agatha All Along</i> Rings in Spooky Season With an Absolute Blast of a Premiere appeared first on Reactor.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Bernadette Spofforth, who was previously suspected of incorrectly attributing the identity of the Southport murder suspect in England, can now breathe a sigh of relief as police authorities have ceased their inquiries into the matter. This investigation began after Spofforth was accused of hastily sharing misinformation on a social media platform, X, misidentifying the assailant from the tragic event outside a Taylor Swift dance class. Spofforth’s arrest followed Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s crackdown on online speech. Spofforth’s hastily shared post on X had originally read: “Ali Al-Shakati was the suspect. He was an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list.” This was followed by the postscript, “If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose.” Spofforth claims that she got the information from a Pakistan-based news website that has since been shut down. The police investigation into Spofforth was one of the cases that put the UK’s recent turn towards criminalizing “misinformation” on the map, spurring global condemnation from free speech advocates worldwide. The criminalization of incorrect facts posted online was at one time among the policies of authoritarian regimes but has now found itself adopted by some more dogmatic elected politicians, particularly in the UK, as part of the new Online Safety Act – one of the biggest attacks on free speech from a Western Democracy. Spofforth’s arrest sparked further controversy given that she had appended a caveat of uncertainty to her original social media post and had swiftly removed the post upon realizing its inaccuracy. Spofforth was apprehended and investigated for allegedly inciting racial hatred and spreading false news through written means. “I had just copied and pasted a name and a sentence from another post on X,” Bernie explained. “Unusually for me, I didn’t check the source.” After her 36-hour detainment, Cheshire Police previously confirmed that their actions stemmed from a contentious social media post carrying inaccurate information. During this period, Spofforth was also not permitted to respond to messages in order to avoid violating her bail conditions. The limitations were such that Spofforth couldn’t even properly defend herself to those inquiring about it. “I couldn’t tell you of the damage done to me by those reporters and activists, and it had been so complete I couldn’t leave my house,” she recounted. Yet, Spofforth confirmed through an X post released on Wednesday that the police had reached a decision to take “no further action.” In her video, she expressed her gratitude towards the public for their support as she navigated the trying period, before revealing her police-issued NFA notice on September 5th which signaled that she had not engaged in illegal activities. Bernie expressed relief and gratitude, stating, “I want to let you know that the police issued an NFA and that means no further action and no charges because I hadn’t done anything illegal.” The Cheshire Constabulary later clarified that their thorough investigation warranted no further action against her due to a lack of substantial evidence. The UK’s Free Speech Union opined that any charges levied by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) under section 179 of the recent Online Safety Act 2023, regarding false communications, would have been highly challenging. This is due to one of the legal tenets being breached only when information regarded as false by the communicator is willingly disseminated. “To those who celebrated my arrest, don’t enjoy it too much because it could easily happen to you,” Bernie warned, reaffirming her commitment to fighting for the rights of others. “And for all those who stood up for me and did fight for me, thank you. You held my line even as I couldn’t.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Bernie Spofforth Speaks Out After Arrest Over Britain’s New Chilling Misinformation Censorship Laws appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

As World Watches Explosions Elsewhere, the Boomsday Ship Gets Towed Past Norway

As Benjamin Franklin found out, rubbing is key.

Wobbewrong to not understand these beardy fish.

Two sarcophagi were found and the identity of one body, found with the skull sawn off, has remained a mystery for years.

On the Fox Business show Varney & Co. MRC founder and president Brent appeared to discuss media coverage of the campaign, including the Trump assassination attempts and Kamala Harris's aversion to interviews. Varney began: “The Media Research Center broke down the coverage of Trump's second assassination attempt. In the 72 hours following that incident, 95% of the coverage from ABC, CBS, and NBC was negative. Brent Bozell joins me now. Brent, I find that shocking. The man nearly lost his life, and they go at him.” Bozell replied: "There was only one CBS report that featured only one Trump supporter that said something nice about Donald Trump." ABC and NBC had nothing. Twenty of 21 Trump evaluations were negative. Then Bozell shared a new poll from Scott Rasmussen, that "28% of Democrats believe that the world would have been better off if Trump had been killed. 24% aren't sure. 51% don't believe he should get any more security. 49% believe Trump himself was involved in the assassination or his campaign. 21% are very likely believers in that. But here's the point: Words have consequences. The reason Democrats think this is twofold. The Democratic machine has been pushing this. The media have been pushing this narrative of hostility and hate for Donald Trump." He said the poll represented a bunch of people in the "news" media: "Don't think there weren't reporters who after Butler said, 'Darn it, he missed!'"    Varney moved on: "It's been 60 days since Harris became the nominee. Since then she and Tim Walz have only taken part in seven interviews. Trump and J.D. Vance have done more than 70. The suspicion is she's afraid. You don't break out to higher polling numbers if you're scared of facing voters directly and often. Do you agree with that?" Bozell replied yes: “When she's asked questions, she really doesn't know the answers, and that's why the word salads come out, because she's just struggling to come up with something. But this is friendly media coverage. Even then, where are the media stories on her? They don't need her to do an interview to do a story on her, and this is where I really fault the press. This is where the press are aiding and abetting in this basement strategy of hers by saying 'go ahead and stay in the basement, we're not even going to report that you're in the basement.'" He concluded that they should be investigating her alleged flip-flops to more moderate views and asking people on the left and the right if they believe she has truly shifted.

In the immediate aftermath of the second attempt on Donald Trump’s life you would think the media would show some restraint and “lower the temperature” in their attacks on him.  Nope.  An MRC study reported that in the first 72 hours after the shooting, the anti-Trump spin — on the broadcast evening news programs  — was 95% negative to just five percent positive. It wasn’t just ABC, CBS and NBC that were horrible in the first few days after the assassination attempt. CNN and MSNBC also filled their programs with criticism of Trump and Republican “rhetoric.”  The following are just some of the most heinous examples of broadcast and cable hosts, reporters and pundits actually criticizing Trump in the immediate days after the second attempt on the President’s life:   I’m Not Saying It’s Trump’s Fault…But It Is      CNN contributor and presidential historian Tim Naftali: “I remember so well July 13th. And I remember the conversations in the days that followed. I remember President Biden’s speech about toning down the rhetoric, and I saw the rhetoric toned down on both sides and then 20 minutes into his acceptance speech, Donald Trump turned up the volume. I’m not blaming him for what happened, of course.”... CNN contributor Scott Jennings: “So, you think it’s Trump’s fault that he got shot?”... Naftali: “That’s not what I said. There is no place in this country for violence. But let’s be honest about why we have so much tension in this country. When you dehumanize people, you are using the rhetoric of the ’30s…..You make it easier for disturbed minds to do the wrong thing.”— CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, September 16.    There Was Just An Attempt on Trump’s Life, Shouldn’t He Tone Down the Rhetoric? “We do not know, again, the source of any gunshot or gunshots. We don’t know who is responsible for this. The whole thing has yet to be 100 percent confirmed from start to finish, how this all played out. But do you expect to hear anything from the Trump campaign about toning down the rhetoric? Toning down the violence? Or would that be atypical of the former president?”— MSNBC anchor Alex Witt during live coverage of the second assassination attempt on Trump, September 15.   We Should All “Lower the Temperature,” Now Let Me Raise It On “Hitler” Trump      “We should all be trying to lower the temperature….but for Donald Trump and his folks to say — and J.D. Vance — to say that it’s Democrats who are causing this….He’s [Trump] called everyone who works in this building the ‘enemy of the people.’...If Donald Trump wants people, wants Kamala Harris and others to say — to stop saying that he is a threat to democracy, then he should stop threatening democracy. Perhaps he shouldn’t be overturning, trying to overturn elections, overthrow the government and inciting insurrections.”— Former CNN host Don Lemon on CNN’s Erin Burnett Outfront, September 16.   It’s Good Trump Is Safe But He’s the One That “Inspired Violence”      Co-host Willie Geist: “So thank God Donald Trump is safe. Thank God he was not assassinated in July or this week. But, my gosh, there is no comparison on the rhetoric.”MSNBC host/Politico White House bureau chief Jonathan Lemire: “Not even close. And to be clear, there’s no place in this country for any sort of political violence. There shouldn’t be any place for political threats of political violence, even. But it is rank hypocrisy and just truly rich to hear from Donald Trump, of all people, suggesting that the other side is responsible for inciting violence….We don’t know what’s in the mind of this suspected suspect who was arrested in Florida. Nor do we know what happened with the individual who….who shot at former President Trump in Pennsylvania back in July. There’s sort of incoherent ideologies for both. But what is clear, and we know this, that Trump has inspired violence.”— MSNBC’s Morning Joe, September 17.   Blaming Trump’s “Inflammatory Rhetoric”      “You’ll remember after a would-be assassin targeted him in July, Trump briefly called for unity, but after this week’s scare in a new interview overnight, Trump is blaming his political opponents, telling a Washington Post columnist, ‘I really believe that the rhetoric from the Democrats is making the bullets fly.’...Trump is not backing down from inflammatory rhetoric, telling Fox News that President Biden and Harris are ‘people that want to destroy our country. It’s called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,’ he said.”— Correspondent Peter Alexander on NBC’s Today, September 17.     “The public partisan finger-pointing exploded right out of the gate in the wake of what we saw Sunday with Donald Trump. And as you could see, J.D. Vance was going there, and saying that it’s blaming Democrats for rhetoric that he says is escalating this. But it does seem to me that it is impossible to pull apart what we have seen from Donald Trump, the level of the rhetoric that he has injected into this campaign, and the actual events we have seen in terms of how the levels of violence in our political system have risen in recent years.”— Host Kasie Hunt on CNN This Morning, September 18, 2024.   Thank You Selina For Doing My Job For Me ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang: “Donald Trump blamed President Biden and Vice President Harris for the latest assassination attempt against him. He claimed, without evidence, that their rhetoric is causing them to be quote ‘shot at.’ How is the White House responding to those comments?”White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre: “Well, I love that you added ‘without evidence.’”— White House press briefing, September 18.   Trump Is the “Inspiration” and “Target” of “Political Violence” “And so it goes in 2024. In the space of less than a week, the once and possibly future commander in chief was both a seeming inspiration and an apparent target of the political violence that has increasingly come to shape American politics in the modern era. Bomb threats and attempted assassinations now have become part of the landscape, shocking and horrific, yet not so much that they have forced any real national reckoning.”— Correspondent Peter Baker in a September 17 front page New York Times story headlined: “The Anger That Defines And Threatens Trump Outrage Dominates Political Landscape.”    The View: Trump and Vance Have Got to Watch What Comes Out of Their Mouths!     Co-host Whoopi Goldberg: “J.D., clearly you’ve not been to one of your boss’s rallies, because you believe this insanity….He has been inciting violence since 2016 telling them to beat up hecklers, threaten to shoot looters and migrants….You have to really take a look in a mirror to see the reflection….Quit blaming folks until you decide to take a look at what’s coming out of your mouth!”...Co-host Joy Behar: “The political violence is a prelude to fascism. That happens in every country….It’s time for [Ted] Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Mike Johnson, and Mitch McConnell to step up and be men. Robert de Niro was on television the other day….He said the mob has a code of ethics. These people do not even have that!...These people need to step up. They have the power to do something.”...Goldberg: “Let’s stop this both-sides stuff because it's not correct! It is not both sides! It is one clear side!...You have to pull it back! This is not us or them! This is you got to stop doing what you’re doing, J.D.! And what you’re doing Mr. T.!”— ABC’s The View, September 17.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pushing an alternative reality.On Wednesday, the former House speaker asserted that Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party's presidential nominee after she "won" an "open primary."For the party that squawks about democracy, Harris was elevated unchallenged via a closed process. There was nothing 'open' about it."We had an open primary, and she won it. Nobody else got in the race because she was politically astute, and that was the thought," Pelosi said."People could have jumped in. There were some people who were sort of preparing, but she just took off with it. And actually, it was a blessing because there wasn't that much time between then and the election, and it sort of saved time," Pelosi went on to say. "It wasn't that we didn't have an open process. It's just that nobody got in because she had a running start."Unfortunately, the journalist with whom Pelosi was speaking, Semafor's Kadia Goba, declined to push back on Pelosi's claims. Instead, the reporter followed up with a question about Jan. 6. — (@) Pelosi's account is, at best, revisionist history. At worst, it's an outright lie.Not only did the Democratic Party not hold an open primary to select President Joe Biden's successor, but Harris did not win a single vote in the Democratic presidential primary.Moreover, to describe any of this year's Democratic processes, whether the primary or replacing Joe Biden on the ballot, as "open" is perhaps a bridge too far. The Democratic Party, in fact, fought to keep Democrats not named Joe Biden off the primary ballots. In many states, for example — including North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alaska, New Hampshire, Indiana, Montana, Delaware, and Florida — Biden essentially ran uncontested. In those states, the Democratic Party used legal technicalities to prevent voters from having more options.Meanwhile, when Pelosi and other Democratic Party bosses finally apparently pushed Biden out of the race in mid-July after weeks of pressure following his disastrous debate performance, Democrats, donors, and party delegates promptly switched their allegiance to Harris, essentially blocking the possibility of an accelerated open primary. It's not clear why presumptive candidates — like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, among others — quickly fell in line behind Harris. All Americans know is that following the June 27 debate between Biden and Donald Trump, there seemed to be a strong behind-the-scenes campaign in the Democratic Party to oust Biden, followed by an intense push to solidify party support behind Harris.For the party that squawks about democracy, Harris was elevated unchallenged via a closed process. There was nothing "open" about it. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!