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MARCH 19,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

BEGGING, HOW SAD – FROM FOX BUSINESS:  Sen. Chuck Schumer personally pleaded with JetBlue’s boss not to shrink the budget airline’s Big Apple workforce as it weighs shipping jobs to Florida, The Post has learned.  The senior New York senator said he made his case on a phone call with JetBlue Chief Executive Robin Hayes Wednesday evening — a day after The Post exclusively reported that the carrier was considering whether to move some jobs from its Long Island City headquarters to existing offices in the Sunshine State.  On Thursday, Schumer told The Post he wanted to remind Hayes that “JetBlue’s roots and its future are here in New York.” He also pointed out the billions of dollars in federal aid that airlines like it have received during the coronavirus crisis.  “With the critical pandemic relief dollars we just delivered on to help save airlines like JetBlue, and the thousands and thousands of New Yorkers they already employ, the airline should actually clear the runway to grow here, not recede,” the Democratic Senate majority leader told The Post in a Thursday statement.  Chucky boy better deliver.  He's up for re-election next year and there's a chance he may be primaried by AOC or another member of the woke crowd.  His argument is that, as Senate majority leader, he has clout that no new senator would have.  If he can't get corporations like Jet Blue to stay in New York, the clout argument goes out the window, and so might his job.

OUT OF HER MIND – FROM TRENDING POLITICS:   During a speech on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the illegal immigrants brought by their parents are the “true and legitimate heirs of our founders.” With that logic, you could make the argument that anyone in the world that comes to the United States with absolutely no ancestors in this country is also an heir of the founding fathers. Pelosi is basically making the case that everyone on the planet is entitled to what the ancestors of many American citizens bled and died for.  Pelosi made her claims as the Democrats prepared to vote through an amnesty for at least three million migrants. The amnesty would include many illegals who were brought into the United States as children by their parents.  “This legislation is protecting 'dreamers,' and TPS [Temporary Protected Status] and DED [Deferred Enforced Departure] recipients, honors the truth that immigrants are the constant reinvigoration of our country,” she began.  “When they come here with their hopes and dreams and aspirations, these parents bringing their children, their hopes and dreams and aspirations for a better future for their children, that courage, that determination, those aspirations, are American traits, and they all make America more American, with all of that,” Pelosi continued.  You can do all that good stuff without breaking the law, Nan.  That's the big issue here.  And leave the founders out of it.

March 19, 2021       Permalink

YOU DON'T SEE THIS TOO OFTEN, BUT I'M GLAD WE'RE SEEING IT – AT 11:45 P.M. ET:  A veteran federal judge properly whacks two powerful newspapers.  From Fox: 

A federal appeals court judge has offered a blistering dissent in an obscure libel case that takes the measure of the mainstream media's bias.

The case centers on a 2018 report from Global Witness Publishing that accused Liberian government officials Christiana Tah and Randolph McClain of accepting bribes from Exxon. Tah and McClain sued Global Witness alleging defamation and their claims were dismissed in Friday's ruling.

However, in the course of his partial dissent, D.C. Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman went on an unprecedented written tirade against the press, in which he argued that the Supreme Court should revisit the landmark 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan ruling that granted the media broad First Amendment protections from being sued by public officials.

"The increased power of the press is so dangerous today because we are very close to one-party control of these institutions," said Silberman, who was nominated to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan and has been a senior judge on the D.C. Circuit Court since 2000.

"Although the bias against the Republican Party—not just controversial individuals—is rather shocking today, this is not new; it is a long-term, secular trend going back at least to the ’70s," Silberman wrote. "Two of the three most influential papers (at least historically), The New York Times and The Washington Post, are virtually Democratic Party broadsheets. And the news section of The Wall Street Journal leans in the same direction. The orientation of these three papers is followed by The Associated Press and most large papers across the country (such as the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Boston Globe). Nearly all television—network and cable—is a Democratic Party trumpet. Even the government-supported National Public Radio follows along."

He accused Silicon Valley of filtering news "in ways favorable to the Democratic Party" and fueling censorship, citing the suppression of the New York Post's bombshell reporting on Hunter Biden in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election.

"It is well-accepted that viewpoint discrimination 'raises the specter that the Government may effectively drive certain ideas or viewpoints from the marketplace,'" Silberman said. "But ideological homogeneity in the media—or in the channels of information distribution—risks repressing certain ideas from the public consciousness just as surely as if access were restricted by the government."

Silberman also sounded the alarm about the "serious efforts to muzzle" outlets like Fox News that aren't under "Democratic Party ideological control."

"It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news. It is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy," the judge continued. "It may even give rise to countervailing extremism.

"The First Amendment guarantees a free press to foster a vibrant trade in ideas. But a biased press can distort the marketplace. And when the media has proven its willingness—if not eagerness—to so distort, it is a profound mistake to stand by unjustified legal rules that serve only to enhance the press’s power."

COMMENT:  I wonder if the judge will find tacks on his judicial chair.  I can't imagine this broadside making him popular in his federal courthouse. 

Everything he says, though, is true.  If we fail as a nation, and go into a long tunnel of darkness, historians in the future will blame the collapse of a truly free and independent press.  And what can we do about that?  I doubt if the current news organizations can be reformed.  They just keep hiring the same kind of people over and over.  Only new, well-financed news organizations can counter the influence of today's twisted press, and there is some hope that we will see at least some attempts to launch such organizations in coming years.

March 19, 2021       Permalink

MARCH 18,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

AS THEY SAY, YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS UP– FROM DAILYWIRE:    On Tuesday, the father of a biological girl who believes she is a boy turned himself in to a Canadian court and was subsequently taken to jail after the Attorney General of British Columbia issued an arrest warrant for contempt after the father had insisted on referring to his daughter as his “daughter” and used the pronouns “she” and “her.”  Robert Hoogland, from Surrey, British Columbia, has a 14-year-old daughter. In February 2019, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada ordered that the girl receive testosterone injections without obtaining parental consent. “The court also declared that if either of her parents referred to her using female pronouns or addressed her by her birth name, they would be considered guilty of family violence,” The Federalist noted.  When she was in seventh grade, the girl’s school urged the girl to see psychologist Dr. Wallace Wong, who recommended the girl should begin taking cross-sex hormones at 13. Hoogland cited his daughter’s alleged history of mental health issues, and refused to give permission. Doctors at BC Children’s Hospital decided the girl should receive testosterone injections.  Hoogland, disturbed by the possible effects of the hormone therapy, objected, but one of the doctors informed him that the girl’s consent was enough for her to begin receiving the hormones. Hoogland responded by seeking an injunction to stop the treatment, but Justice Gregory Bowdenruled in February 2019 that the girl was “exclusively entitled to consent to medical treatment for gender dysphoria,”adding, “Attempting to persuade (the girl) to abandon treatment for gender dysphoria; addressing (the girl) by his birth name; referring to (the girl) as a girl or with female pronouns whether to him directly or to third parties; shall be considered to be family violence under s. 38 of the Family Law Act.”  This is a descent into madness and legal degeneracy.  But I fear it will migrate here. 

A SIGN OF LIFE, BUT NOT TOO MUCH OF IT – FROM NEWS5 CLEVELAND:  AMC Theaters, the nation's largest movie theater chain, says 98% of its theaters will open their doors by Friday.  The company said 99% of its locations will be open by March 26.  By Monday, AMC said they are expecting to open 52 of its 54 California locations.  "The Company is preparing to resume operations at its remaining California AMC locations once the proper local approvals are in place," AMC said in a press release. "AMC will only reopen its theatres once approved to do so by state and local authorities."  AMC closed its locations last year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. I'm happy that movie theaters are reopening.  My question is, what are they going to show?  This isn't exactly the golden age of American feature films.  It's more like the rusted age.  Maybe if Hollywood would aim for greatness again, the people might start coming back. 

March 18, 2021       Permalink

NOW WE'RE TALKIN' – FIGHTING BACK – OVERNIGHT:   State attorneys general are bringing the fight against the radical left to the front door of the White House.  Root for them.  Form cheerleading squads.  From Gateway Pundit: 

Twenty-one states, with Texas and Montana leading the charge, sued Joe Biden on Wednesday over his decision to revoke the Keystone Pipeline XL permit.

Joe Biden’s first order of business was to kill tens of thousands of jobs.

On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline.

A coalition of 21 states with Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Biden and argued that revoking the cross-border permit is a “regulation of interstate and international commerce” and that only Congress can make the decision.

US Attorney General Ken Paxton spoke about the lawsuit and said Biden’s unlawful policies are detrimental to our economy and our country.

List of the states suing Biden over the Keystone XL pipeline:

• TEXAS
• MONTANA
• ALABAMA
• ARIZONA
• ARKANSAS
• GEORGIA
• KANSAS
• KENTUCKY
• INDIANA
• LOUISIANA
• MISSISSIPPI
• MISSOURI
• NEBRASKA
• NORTH DAKOTA
• OHIO
• OKLAHOMA
• SOUTH CAROLINA
• SOUTH DAKOTA
• UTAH
• WEST VIRGINIA
• WYOMING

COMMENT:  This is the first of a number of lawsuits expected to be filed by attorneys general against the extreme steps President Biden and the Democratic House and Senate are taking in the first months of the new administration.  Another case, an enormous one, will deal with a bill pending in Congress that will essentially turn presidential elections over to the federal government, even though the Constitution specifically assigns that function to the states.  But who cares about the Constitution.   After all, it was written by dead white men.  (Do I sound WOKE?  Am I making it?)

March 18, 2021       Permalink