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JULY 28,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT

GETTING TRULY WOKE – FROM FOX:  Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday that she plans to add 170 police officers to the city’s force amid rising violence and several high profile shootings in the city.  "Right now, I have directed MPD to use any overtime necessary to meet our public safety demands," the Democratic mayor wrote in a statement. The statement noted that Bowser plans to hire 170 additional Metropolitan Police Department officers by 2022.  "But we know that is not a complete solution or the right long-term solution. We also know we need all of our officers to be fresh, rested, and in the best position to make good decisions – and that requires having a full force to meet all of our community’s needs."  Bowser added, "The department is in a good position to make additional hires and move swiftly to close the gap between attrition and hiring, and that’s what this plan is going to help us do."  Bowser is a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has pushed for defunding the police in favor of community policing and funding social justice organizations.  The defunders are learning their lessons, aren't they?  Defund the police and look what happens.  But the leftist hardliners have learned nothing, and don't intend to change that.  For them, the ideology beats reality every time. 

THE POOR DEARS – FROM FOX:   NBC’s primetime coverage of the Tokyo Olympics continued to spiral downward on Monday, averaging 14.7 million viewers for a 49 percent drop compared to the equivalent night from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games.  Monday’s telecast also shed 53 percent of viewers from coverage of the first weeknight primetime during the 2012 London Olympics and declines were even larger among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 18-49.  Variety senior TV editor Brian Steinberg wrote that the drop has spurred "advertiser anxiety" which hasn’t been eased by the news that legendary American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from team competition and fan favorite Naomi Osaka was eliminated from tennis medal competition.  Steinberg quoted a media buying executive who said the early viewership "clearly are not what NBC, our agency or our clients were looking for" from costly investment.  "This executive said early viewership trends were ‘disappointing,’" Steinberg wrote.  The opening ceremony, delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, drew 16.7 million viewers for NBC on Friday, the smallest audience for the network broadcast since the 1988 Seoul Games. NBC presumably hoped its multi-billion dollar investment would pick up as the games proceeded, but primetime coverage on Saturday and Sunday also was disappointing.  NBC averaged 12.6 million viewers on Saturday night, a 39 percent drop compared to the first Saturday of the 2016 Olympics and a 56 percent drop compared to the 2012 London games. Maybe more sports talk and less politics would help.  Maybe commercials that don't lecture us about who we are would also help.  Sports as a category in life is losing favor because it's losing its fun. 

July 28, 2021       Permalink

WE'RE SHOCKED, SHOCKED AT THESE ATTACKS – OVERNIGHT:  Where did these attacks in Afghanistan come from?  Who would do such a nasty thing?  Must we take note of them?  Maybe we should just move on.  That's the way the real left does it.  From Reuters: 

The United States said on Wednesday it was deeply troubled by reports of escalating attacks on civilians as the Taliban sweep across Afghanistan and Washington pulls out its last remaining troops and ends its longest war.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to India, said the only path to peace in Afghanistan was through negotiations, which all parties must take seriously

I'm sure the Taliban will be deeply impressed.

The surge has raised the prospect that the militants could return to power. Millions of people fled their extreme violence during their last period of rule from 1996-2001, when they staged public executions of their foes, banned women from work and education and hosted Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network.

The Taliban say they will treat civilians well if they return to power, and will not allow the country to be used as a base for international terrorism.

Describing reports of attacks on civilians as “deeply, deeply troubling," Blinken said: “An Afghanistan that commits atrocities against its own people would become a pariah state.
“There’s only one path, and that’s at the negotiating table, to resolve the conflict peacefully.”

The United Nations reported this week that civilian casualties had been surging in recent weeks, with as many killed in May-June as in the previous four months. The report did not cover casualties in July, when fighting has intensified further.

Afghans in government-held areas have been alarmed by domestic media reports in recent days of abductions and killings of civilians in areas where the Taliban have advanced. The Taliban deny they are carrying out revenge killings.

US President Joe Biden has ordered all US troops out of the country, fulfilling a policy pledge made by his predecessor Donald Trump, despite warnings from American generals of the potential for renewed civil war without foreign troops to protect the Kabul government.

Peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar have largely stalled, with the Taliban showing little interest in negotiating while they are gaining on the battlefield.

COMMENT:  Yeah, that's usually the way it is.  When one side is gaining on the battlefield, why sue for peace?  Only the loser sues for peace.

The fact is that we're pulling out of Afghanistan recklessly and irresponsibly.  The Taliban will probably take over, handing the United States a military defeat, and giving encouragement to terror groups throughout the region.  It will also create the image of America as a nation that cannot be relied on.  There are real consequences to having that image.  Remember well the years after we pulled out of Vietnam.

July 28, 2021       Permalink

JULY 27,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

THE TIN EAR GETS TINNIER – FROM DAILY MAIL:   Barack Obama plans to ring in his 60th birthday hosting a party at his Martha's Vineyard mansion with a star-studded guest list who've all been COVID tested.   It has been reported that big names such as Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney have already scored an invite to join the former president on his $11.75 million 30-acre oceanside getaway on the exclusive Massachusetts island as he hits the big birthday on August 4.  All guests have been asked to provide a negative COVID-19 test ahead of the bash, it has been claimed, as virus cases in the US begin to spike once again.    One source simply told The Hill, 'It's going to be big.'   Obama turns 60 on August 4 and has a reputation for large and legendary birthday bashes to maintain.   Ten years ago, when he turned 50, then-President Obama hosted a number of celebrity guests at the White House, including Oprah Winfrey, musicians Jay-Z and Stevie Wonder, actor Tom Hanks, comedian Chris Rock, and basketball legends Charles Barkley and Grant Hill, along with a mix of politicians and Chicago and law-school friends.   It was reported that the former president was set to charge up to $35,800 per couple for tickets for a separate 50th birthday party in his home city of Chicago, which doubled as a fundraising event for his re-election campaign.   No man has cashed in on the presidency more than Barack, but nobody dares ask him about it.

ANOTHER BAD PICK – FROM FOX:   President Biden's nominee to lead the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts is a soft-on-crime progressive who has declined to prosecute low-level offenses such as shoplifting, trespassing and drug possession.  Rachael Rollins, the district attorney for Suffolk County, was nominated by Biden on Monday and is likely to be confirmed by the Senate this fall, unless a Democratic senator votes against her.  After taking office in January 2019, Rollins released a policy memo identifying more than a dozen charges she said should be declined for prosecution entirely or recommended for diversion, such as mental health or substance abuse treatment.  Such low-level offenses included trespassing, shoplifting, larceny, disorderly conduct, receiving stolen property, driving with a suspended license, wanton or malicious destruction of property, threats, underage drinking, drug possession, possession with intent to distribute and resisting arrest.  Republicans are likely to protest Rollins's nomination amid rising crime rates in big cities across the country and the national debate about the impact of the "defund the police" movement.  "Biden's nominee to be a federal prosecutor effectively legalized shoplifting and possession with intent to distribute drugs," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., tweeted Tuesday. "Think crime is bad now? Just wait."  We won't have to wait long.  Liberals never learn, and liberal areas keep compensating them.  No pride, no pride.  

July 27, 2021       Permalink

AFRICAN AMERICANS BACK THE SECOND AMENDEMENT – OVERNIGHT:  The myth is that African Americans resent guns in their communities.  Illegal guns, sure.  But legal guns are more than welcome.  They save black lives.  From Daily Caller: 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claimed the Second Amendment has been included in the Constitution because of rampant “anti-Blackness” and that the foundation of the amendment is inherently racist. But two black gun owners – including one who exercised his Second Amendment right to save his life – said the ACLU is guilty of fear-mongering.

Founder of Black Guns Matter Maj Toure told the Daily Caller claims the Second Amendment is racist is a tactic to “brainwash black people into believing that having the means to defend themselves is nefarious.”

“I think gun control is racist, not the Second Amendment,” Toure said.

“I think the Second Amendment was to remind folks to keep your government in check. The lack of civic understanding is the reason why some of these attempts to distort the meaning can be made because the general public isn’t as on top of civics as they should be,” he continued.

“I think it’s a stretch to say ‘anti-blackness determined the inclusion of the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights,’ as the Second Amendment is designed to put the government on watch,” he added. “The First Amendment says you can say what you want, and the Second Amendment says you can defend what you just said. I don’t think ‘anti-blackness’ played a part in the framing. But that’s not to say there weren’t people who used guns for the wrong reasons. I think it was about checking government, not anti-blackness.”

Toure’s statement was echoed by Mychael Waller, who used his legally owned firearm to defend himself in 2019.

“I had to use a firearm to defend myself because I have seen the other side most people won’t. I don’t see the Second Amendment as racist. I was given that right by God and I exercised that right. The Second Amendment gave me that right as well. I had that right to defend myself. Without the Second Amendment, without God, my son and I would not be here today. That isn’t ‘anti-blackness’.”

COMMENT:   At least one of the great Supreme Court decisions protecting gun rights came from a case initiated by a black citizen who wanted to protect his home.  The political left wants to keep the so-called "black vote," but it's barking up the proverbial tree if it thinks it can do so by restricting gun rights.  Blacks have a right to defend their homes, and I doubt that any act of Congress will prevent them from doing so.

July 27, 2021       Permalink