Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas.  It's here.

JUNE 28,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

TRUMP SURVIVES – FROM POLITICO:   Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has indicated he does not currently plan to charge the Trump Organization with crimes related to allegations of "hush money" payments and real estate value manipulations, according to a personal lawyer for Donald Trump.  Ronald Fischetti, a New York attorney who represents the former president, said on Monday that in a meeting last week, he asked Vance’s team for details on charges they were considering.  According to Fischetti, members of Vance’s team said they were considering bringing charges against the Trump Organization and its individual employees related to alleged failures to pay taxes on corporate benefits and perks. It has been widely reported that those perks included cars and apartments, and appear to only involve a small number of executives.  “We asked, ‘Is there anything else?’” Fischetti told POLITICO. “They said ‘No.’”  “It’s crazy that that’s all they had,” he added.  Another failed investigation of Donald Trump.  Once again the Treasury has been accessed to fund a probe that, if this report is accurate, will result in only slap-on-the-wrist charges against some people, if that.  No president has been as badly abused by the investigative process than  Mr. Trump.  He is owed an apology from someone, but will never get it.

MORE INSANITY – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday defended the “peaceful protest” of Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry, who on Saturday turned away from the US flag while the national anthem played and covered her head with her T-shirt that read, “Activist Athlete.”  Berry said she was “pissed” to hear “The Star-Spangled Banner” after winning a bronze medal at the US Olympic Track & Field Team Trials.  “I haven’t spoken to the president specifically about this, but I know he’s incredibly proud to be an American and has great respect for the anthem and all that it represents, especially for our men and women serving in uniform all around the world,” Psaki said at her daily press briefing.  Psaki added: “He would also say, of course, that part of that pride in our country means recognizing there are moments where we are — as a country, haven’t lived up to our highest ideals. And it means respecting the rights of people granted to them in the Constitution to peacefully protest.”  We're all for peaceful protest, but there is a right time and a right place. Olympic athletes are seen as representing the United States.  Engaging in a protest against the American flag while on the podium is selfish, mean-spirited, and self-indulgent.  Protest on your own time. 

June 28, 2021       Permalink

IDIOT! – OVERNIGHT –   She gets worse every day, and yet some still consider her the future of the Democratic Party.  What future is that?  From Fox: 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was sharply criticized over the weekend following her claim that concern from people over the spike in crime rates across the country amounted to "hysteria."

During a conversation with Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., over Zoom, Ocasio-Cortez seemingly cast doubt over the data showing crime rates rising in cities throughout the U.S., especially in New York, where shooting incidents and murders have risen 53% and 13% since the beginning of the year.

"We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Now, I want to say that any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much, but I also want to make sure that this hysteria, you know, that this doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context."

The far-left "Squad" member was lambasted by critics on social media following the comments, with some calling them "shameful," and others mocking her for downplaying crime statistics while feeding into premonitions of the world ending due to climate change.

Fox News contributor Joe Concha suggested that people living in Ocasio-Cortez's New York City congressional district "who are afraid to even put their kids outside" didn't concur with her statements.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted "ordinary people" didn't have the luxury of having private security to protect them, and "acted to ensure $2 billion more in spending on the police that protects her" by voting "present" on providing more funds to the Capitol Police.

COMMENT:  AOC has had far more than her 15 minutes of fame.  It's time for the Democrats to send her to some obscure House committee and leave her there.  Maybe the House Committee on the Oppressed of Beverly Hills.  She'd fit right in.

June 28, 2021       Permalink

JUNE 27,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

OUR NATIONAL DISGRACE – FROM FOX:    The National Archives' task force on racism claimed in a little-noticed report to the U.S.’s top librarian that the Archives' own Rotunda – which houses the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights – is an example of "structural racism" and that the Founding Fathers and other White, historically impactful Americans are portrayed too positively.  The report was completed in April and released this month but has so far flown under the media radar. The task force claims that structural racism "unequivocally impacts" how National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) employees interact with each other, customers and the historical records themselves.
Some examples of "structural racism" were provided in the summary of the report, including "legacy descriptions that use racial slurs and harmful language to describe BIPOC communities," which includes actual racial slurs alongside terms such as "elderly," "handicapped" and "illegal alien." Additionally, the report categorized the National Archives' Rotunda as another example of "structural racism" as it "lauds wealthy White men in the nation's founding while marginalizing BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and other People of Color], women, and other communities."  Well, that's that.  I say, abolish the Constitution and turn the National Archives into a psychological welfare center for anyone who feels oppressed.  That is the right thing to say, isn't it, Comrades?

REMINDER OF A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP – FROM THE JERUSALEM POST:   US F-35B fighter jets flew combat missions over the Middle East striking ISIS targets across the region earlier this week after taking off from a British aircraft carrier, marking the first time the US military has done so since the Allies teamed up in World War II.  The stealth jets from the 617 Squadron RAF (The Dambusters) within the UK's Carrier Strike Group 21 are flying missions alongside US Marine Corps warplanes as part of the UK's Operation Shaders and US Operation Inherent Resolve - focused on targeting ISIS targets and strongholds across the Middle East.  The international duo is expected to visit at least 40 countries aboard the new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier - the Royal Navy's largest ship (65,000 tons) in its fleet, embarking on its first operational deployment - during its seven-month mission, passing through the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the waters of the Pacific Ocean surrounding Japan and South Korea...The last time US aircraft had flown combat missions from a British foreign aircraft carrier was during a campaign in the South Pacific in 1943, stationed aboard the HMS Victorious in the heat of World War II.  The U.S. Navy sometimes refers to the Royal Navy as "the senior service."  We welcome the reunion.

June 27, 2021       Permalink

SUDDEN ESCALATION – OVERNIGHT:  We are reminded that foreign policy has a nasty way of catching our attention, even when we don't welcome it.  From Fox: 

The U.S. military has conducted defensive precision airstrikes against three facilities near the Iraq-Syria border region Sunday evening.

According to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, the facilities are used by several Iran-backed militia groups engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq, including Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS).

"As demonstrated by this evening's strikes, President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect U.S. personnel. Given the ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq, the President directed further military action to disrupt and deter such attacks," Kirby added. "The United States took necessary, appropriate, and deliberate action designed to limit the risk of escalation - but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message."

A U.S. defense official with knowledge of the strikes told Fox News that US Air Force F-15 and F-16s were used in the operation. The strikes took placed at approximately 6 p.m. eastern time.
At least one facility used by Iran’s militia forces to launch and recover drones was destroyed, the official added. Recent strikes by the crude drones have targeted Americans in Baghdad and Erbil in northern Iraq.

The official said he does not expect "a lot of casualties" from the Iranian-backed forces because of the time of the strike.

All U.S. jets returned to base without a problem, the official added.

COMMENT:  On this we support the president.  It must be made clear to Iran that their behavior is unacceptable, and that we will take action to counter it.  There may well be a need for further strikes like this, and then we will see whether Mr. Biden has the support of his own party in his acts of deterrence, or whether he will have to depend on Republican support.  My bet is on the latter.

June 27, 2021       Permalink