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JANUARY 4,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE CONSPIRACY GROWS – FROM POLITICO:    Politico chief political correspondent Tim Alberta is urging other journalists to refrain from characterizing any Republican who supports President Trump's ongoing efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election as a "conservative."  A growing number of GOP lawmakers are pledging to contest President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory ahead of Wednesday's joint session of Congress, at least until an "emergency 10-day audit" is conducted in order to look into allegations of voter fraud and irregularities.  On Sunday, Alberta stressed to his media colleagues on Twitter that just because such lawmakers would describe themselves as "conservative," that doesn't mean journalists should.   "Words matter. It's past time we reformed our political terminology. We should not—for the rest of their careers—refer to any of these Republican E.C. objectors as 'conservatives,'" Alberta began. "They are radicals. They are extremists. There is nothing conservative about subverting democracy."  Did it ever occur to this jerk that these "radicals" and "extremists" could be right?  They're not subverting democracy.  They're trying to protect it.

INCREDIBLE – FROM DAILYWIRE:  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said late on Monday night that Antifa attacked his home in Washington, D.C., and threatened his wife and newborn baby.  “Tonight while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC and threatened my wife and newborn daughter, who can’t travel,” Hawley wrote on Twitter. “They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door. Let me be clear: My family & I will not be intimidated by left-wing violence.”  Let's see how interested the Washington press will be in this story.  Let's see how interested the mayor of Washington will be. 

January 4, 2021       Permalink

GEORGIA ON MY MIND – AT 11:25 A.M. ET:  Tomorrow's runoffs in Georgia will be the most important off-year elections in modern American history.  They will decide who controls the United States Senate. 

Both President Trump and President-elect Biden will be in Georgia today.  All eyes are on Trump.  If he comes on blazing, and limits himself to passionate advocacy on behalf of the Republican candidates, he could pull them across the finish line.  But if he comes in and talks mostly about himself and his electoral problems, he can do more harm than good.  Ironically, his own legacy might well be affected by how he performs today.

Georgia has also become a testing ground for potential 2024 Republican presidential candidates.  Most active is Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.  He ran for president before, and he clearly wants to try it again.  Here is his message to Georgia, published today by Fox: 

In just one day, the fate of the Senate -- and the nation -- will be decided by Georgia voters. While the ballots and votes cast will determine if Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue deserve to be re-elected -- and it’s undeniably clear that they do -- the Georgia runoff elections have far greater implications.

In the first two years of President Barack Obama’s first term, we watched as a unified Congress controlled by Democrats rammed through ObamaCare and other liberal pieces of legislation, confirmed radical nominees to critical executive branch positions and promulgated progressive regulations that harmed our economy and our workers. 

Republicans in Congress were powerless to stop this liberal assault on our values and institutions. 
It wasn’t until the 2010 elections — when I first ran for Senate — when Americans overwhelmingly rejected Obama’s agenda and took back control of the House that Republicans in Congress could prevent further damage.

If Democratic Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are elected on January 5th, the Democrats’ impending socialist assault on our nation will make President Obama’s first two years in office look moderate by comparison.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  It's a good statement of conservative principles.  The GOP is blessed with a very deep bench, and with a new contingent of women in the House of Representatives.  The question is how much fight we have. 

January 4, 2021       Permalink 

JANUARY 3,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

SOMETHING ELSE YOU CAN'T MAKE UP – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   The 117th Congress kicked off with a fresh controversy Sunday when the Democrat delivering the opening prayer concluded by saying “amen,” and then added “a-woman.”  Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Democrat, ended his prayer “in the name of the monotheistic god,” then added what sounded like “Brahma,” before finishing with “and god known by many names by many different faiths. Amen and a-woman.”  Critics, led by Republican lawmakers, were quick to point out that “amen” means “so be it,” and does not refer to the male gender, while “a-woman” doesn’t mean anything.  “Amen is Latin for ‘so be it,’” tweeted Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, Pennsylvania Republican. “It’s not a gendered word. Unfortunately, facts are irrelevant to progressives. Unbelievable.”  The Congressman is right.  Facts are irrelevant to progressives.  Which is why their views never seem to lead to any progress.

WELCOME TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF NEW YORK – FROM FOX:    A New York Democrat's bill that would allow the governor or his surrogates to detain individuals who pose a threat to public health "by a single order ... in a medical facility or other appropriate facility" sparked fierce backlash online.  New York State Assemblyman N. Nick Perry is sponsoring Bill A416, which will be taken up by the Assembly's Health Committee on Wednesday.  "So disturbing. NY bill allows for the *removal and detention* of anyone who 'may be a danger to public health.' Yes, that’s purposely undefined," conservative podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey wrote on Twitter. "Yes, it will be used, at least one day, to forcibly remove you or your children from your home for whatever reason the state sees fit."  Many critics of the bill tied it to austere measures taken by local and state officials with regards to the coronavirus pandemic, although earlier versions of the bill were introduced as far back as the 2015-2016 legislative session.  The Democrats are absolutely obsessed with expanding the power of government. 

January 3, 2021       Permalink

MAC MAKES HIS MOVE – AT 11:30 P.M. ET:  Fresh from a vote that almost made him speaker of the House...a Democratic-majority House...Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is asserting his position as a key spokesman for the Republican Party.  This is what we like to hear.  From Fox:

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Sunday took House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her party to task for being more concerned with a far-left agenda rather than focusing on the needs of the American people.

McCarthy’s fiery speech came after Pelosi was re-elected as House speaker by Democrats, who retain the majority in the House with the slimmest margin in 20 years.

Stopping short of mentioning Democrats by name, McCarthy called out House lawmakers for neglecting their responsibilities over the last two years "during some of the most challenging times for our country."

"When the need for more pandemic relief was obvious, did we deliver a timely lifeline America needed? Or did we say nothing was better than something until politics dictated our actions?"

McCarthy said. "When unrest spilled into the cities and communities across the country, did we deliver safety that Americans wanted or did we let calls to defund the police, intimidate us from protecting life, liberty and property?"

To this, multiple House members could be heard booing, while others cheered the House minority leader on.

McCarthy then contrasted the Republican platform with the Democrat one, saying that his party has actually listened to its constituents and they have made a "commitment to America to restore our way of life, rebuild the economy and renew the American dream."

That no Republican incumbent was defeated in the November election showed that voters have "endorsed common sense, not conflict," McCarthy said. 

COMMENT:  Good for Mac!  We need fighters right now, not establishment Republicans like the kind we have here in New York, who fight only when they get off the golf course.  McCarthy is a pretty careful guy.  He didn't deliver his speech without a real purpose, and that purpose was to take his place at the head of the line, leading his troops into battle.

January 3, 2021       Permalink

NANCY SURVIVES – AT 5:50 P.M. ET:  Nancy Pelosi has been re-elected speaker of the House, but by a very narrow margin.  The new House, meeting for the first time today, has a much smaller Democratic majority than the last one.  And some moderate Democrats defected, and refused to vote for Nancy.  From Fox: 

Nancy Pelosi on Sunday clinched enough votes in the House of Representatives to secure her fourth term as House speaker. 

The California Democrat, who has led her party in the House since 2003 and is the only woman to be speaker, had been widely expected to retain her post. Pelosi received 216 votes to 209 for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who again will be the chamber's minority leader. 

Earlier, 427 members announced themselves as present -- 220 Democrats and 207 Republicans. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., needed a majority, or 214 votes, to return as speaker, meaning that she could afford to lose just six Democratic votes.

COMMENT:  So she won basically by getting two votes above the minimum needed.  Not a famous victory.  And when she gets to actual legislation, she'll be up against moderate Democrats who may not want to commit political suicide by going along with their radical comrades. 

Control of the Senate will be decided by Tuesday's runoffs in Georgia.  I've rarely seen things this close. 

January 3, 2021       Permalink