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MARCH 24,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THIS IS TERRIFIC – FROM NATIONAL REVIEW:    More than 40 African American intellectuals are asking Smith College to end the “forced, accusatory ‘anti-bias’ training” that was mandated for campus service workers after a student falsely accused some workers of racially-profiling her.The letter, obtained by National Review, was sent on Monday to Smith College president Kathleen McCartney by Bob Woodson, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement and founder of “1776 Unites,” and 44 fellow black intellectuals. The signatories ask McCartney to “rethink how you have handled” the fallout over an alleged incident of racial profiling in the summer of 2018, and urge her to “publicly apologize” and “compensate” the school’s service workers who were caught up in the firestorm...The letter’s signatories — scholars Glenn Loury, John McWhorter, and Shelby Steele among them — express disgust at the way McCartney has handled the situation.  “Many of us participated in the Civil Rights Movement, fighting for equal treatment under the law, which included due process and the presumption of innocence,” they write. “We didn’t march so that Americans of any race could be presumed guilty and punished for false accusations while the elite institution that employed them cowered in fear of a social media mob. We certainly didn’t march so that privileged Blacks could abuse working class whites based on ‘lived experience.’”  These black intellectuals have performed a major public service, no doubt at great risk to themselves.  We are seeing signs everywhere of good people starting to fight back against reverse racism and the cancel culture.  Unfortunately, our new national administration, and a good chunk of the wayward press, are on the other side.

AWFUL – BUT WE WAIT FOR DEFINITIVE EVIDENCE – FROM FOX:    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker directed health officials to prioritize the governor's own family and figures with ties to his administration in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the Albany Times-Union reported Wednesday.  Cuomo's brother, mother and one of his sisters were among those who allegedly received priority tests in March 2020, the newspaper reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter.  The bombshell report emerged as Cuomo faces calls to resign after eight women, including current and former aides, accused him of sexual harassment or misconduct. The New York State Attorney General’s Office and the State Assembly are investigating the claims.  Separately, federal authorities opened a probe into members of the Cuomo administration over their handling of New York’s COVID-19 nursing home crisis. The governor’s office has denied claims that it significantly underreported or covered up the number of COVID-19 deaths that occurred at nursing home facilities.  If the story in the Times-Union is true, I don't know how Andrew Cuomo can face the citizens of New York.  Oh, wait, he's a liberal Democrat.  The usual rules don't apply.

March 24,  2021     Permalink

WELL NOW THEY'RE BRINGING IN THE BIG GUNS (CHOKE) –AT 6:43 P.M. ET:  The excitement builds.   Hollywood studios are ready to bid.  This is the real "High Noon."  Why?  Kamala is being sent.  Hear the people cheer!  From Fox: 

Vice President Kamala Harris, whom President Biden tapped to lead the administration's response to the border crisis, once indicated she was in favor of decriminalizing illegal border crossings and sparked backlash in 2018 when she compared ICE to the KKK.

Biden on Thursday appointed Harris to lead his administration’s efforts to address a record surge in migrants, including unaccompanied minors, that has strained capacity at immigration facilities at the southern border in recent weeks. "When she speaks, she speaks for me," Biden said Thursday.

Or, as some observers think, vice versa.

Harris will serve as the administration’s diplomatic liaison in talks with Mexico and the "Northern Triangle" nations of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador on how best to address the root causes of the migrant surge.

Harris has been accused of flip-flopping on decriminalizing illegal border crossings.

She was among the Democrats who raised their hands during a June 2019 presidential primary debate when asked if they were in favor of decriminalization. When Megan McCain asked her about it on "The View," Harris denied it, though she still said the law shouldn't be criminally enforced.
"I would not make it a crime punishable by jail. It should be a civil enforcement issue but not a criminal enforcement issue," she said.

Harris generated outrage in 2018 when she attempted to convince former Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Ronald Vitiello to compare the agency to the KKK.  "Are you aware of the perception of many about how the power and the discretion at ICE is being used to enforce the laws and do you see any parallels [with the KKK]?," she said.

"Are you aware that there is a perception that ICE is administering its power in a way that is causing fear and intimidation, particularly among immigrants and specifically among immigrants coming from Mexico and Central America?" she continued.

COMMENT:  I'm sure the federal agents at the border are thrilled that Kami is coming.  And I'd love to hear the questions she'll be asked by reporters from the woke press.  Wow, I'll bet they'll be tough.

This is a farce.  I wonder if it was even Biden's decision.  Why does the name "Barack Obama" come to mind?  Don't be shocked if you start hearing the buzz from Washington that Kami is being prepped to become president, and soon.

Put yourself in the mind of a Chinese general watching all this.  What advice would you give President Xi Jinping?  The possibilities are grim.  American weakness has its price, and we have paid it before.

March 24, 2021       Permalink

MARCH 23,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

WIDE SUPPORT FOR A CRITICAL VOTING SAFEGUARD – FROM BREITBART:   A majority of Americans, including a majority of black and Hispanic voters, overwhelmingly support voter ID, a key election integrity measure, a HEP and HEP Action survey —  which comes as Democrats continue to advance H.R. 1 — revealed.  Jason Snead, the Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project, sent a memo to members of Congress ahead of Wednesday’s Senate Rules Committee hearing on House-passed H.R. 1, or the “For the People Act,” which would essentially federalize U.S. elections, stripping states of their ability to implement basic election integrity measures, such as voter ID, by micromanaging the election process administered by each individual state.  Contrary to the Democrat Party’s narrative, Snead’s memo reveals that the majority of voters, including the majority of black and Hispanic voters, support basic election integrity measures such as voter ID, which Democrats routinely describe as a form of voter suppression.  Seventy-seven percent of Americans across the board favor requiring individuals to show an ID before casting a ballot, compared to 15 percent who oppose the idea. This is a common theme across party lines, with 92 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of Independents, and 63 percent of Democrats supporting voter ID. This includes a majority of black and Hispanic voters, who back voter ID laws 64 percent to 22 percent and 78 percent to 16 percent, respectively.  Notably, a majority of voters who supported Biden in 2020 also back election ID requirements by a 38-point margin, 62 percent to 24 percent. The results are not surprising.  Poll after poll has shown strong public support, and minority support, for voter I.D.  It may be a shock to the professional cynics of the Democratic Party that even minority voters want honest elections, but they do.  Voter I.D., used in many democracies, is the first line of defense against voter fraud.  

ANOTHER GENIUS – FROM FOX:   Vice President Kamala Harris is facing criticism for appearing to break with precedent and failing to salute the honor guard when boarding Air Force Two.  Video reviewed by Fox News showed that her predecessors, former Vice President Mike Pence and President Biden, regularly saluted the honor guard in the same situation.  Conservatives, including Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk and former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, slammed Harris after a video of her walking past the honor guard picked up steam on social media. ( "DISGRACEFUL: @VP Kamala Harris refuses to salute the honor guard at the steps of the aircraft. It is a clear demonstration of her dislike for those in uniform, both law-enforcement and military," Kerik wrote on Twitter.)  Video reviewed by Fox News showed that Harris did not salute the honor guard on Monday nor during earlier trips on March 15 and 16. She did not appear to salute when disembarking Air Force One with Biden on March 19 either.  Recent vice presidents have maintained the practice of saluting the honor guard while entering and exiting Air Force Two.  Former Vice President Mike Pence can be seen saluting the honor guard members while deplaning during stops in Utah and Georgia last year.  Some would say that this is a trivial point, but it is not.  Symbols are important, and symbolic behavior in a leader is extremely important.

March 23, 2021       Permalink

LET THE DOUBLE STANDARDS BEGIN – AT 5:50 P.M. ET:  The United States has seen two horrific mass killings in the last two weeks.  In Atlanta, on March 16th, a lone white gunman opened fire inside a "massage parlor," murdering eight people.   Of the eight, six were Asian. 

Yesterday, a lone gunman opened fire in a grocery in Boulder, Colorado, killing ten.

The press response to the two events tells us much about the current state of journalism, or what passes for journalism.   After Atlanta, some journalists went into a weird and dangerous psychiatric state, claiming that the assault was directed at Asian Americans, and that the blame lay with President Trump, who allegedly whipped up anti-Asian hatred in the United States by calling the pandemic the "China virus," much as we call a variant of influenza the "Spanish flu."  CNN, in particular, not a great sponsor of thorough and accurate journalism, exceeded even its own terrifying style, with little restraint or a waiting for facts.

We now know that the Atlanta shootings probably had nothing to do with the ethnicity of the victims.  It is reported, and we don't have a final determination on this, that the shooter has a psychiatric history, which includes loathing of establishments that deal in sexually related activity.  The case is still under intense investigation, but the association of President Trump and anti-Asian hatred was assumed right from the start, and implanted in the minds of American viewers and readers. 

Yes, there has been an increase in anti-Asian bigotry in America, and there have been assaults on Asian Americans right here on the streets of New York.  But video surveillance and witness testimony suggest that most of the assaults are committed by black men, not white supremacists.  There is substantial friction between Asian Americans and blacks, with Asian Americans claiming, with justification, that they are discriminated against in college admissions and in the treatment of their children in school, in order to favor black competitors.  Just a month ago an important Chinese American group issued a strongly worded statement denouncing critical race theory.  In fact, I haven't seen a stronger statement on that subject.  See this report.

So bigotry against Asian Americans is complex, and has nothing to do with Donald Trump.

By contrast, consider the reporting of yesterday's attack in Boulder.  At first the eager social networkers assumed the attacker was white.  White supremacist with military rifle kills ten in Boulder attack.  What a story.

But...whoops...he isn't white.  He's a Syrian American, a Muslim, and now we're being told repeatedly that we must not draw assumptions before the facts are in.  That is the correct approach, but apparently was forgotten in Atlanta. 

What do we know about the Boulder shooter?  We know he's a Muslim male, an immigrant from Syria, with no criminal record but a history of volatile behavior.  From Fox: 

On a Facebook page purported to belong to Alissa, he wrote messages that criticized former President Donald Trump's response to immigration and refugees, allegedly writing "Trump is such a d---." He also purportedly complained about not having a girlfriend and shared wrestling photos.

Speaking to the Denver Post, a former classmate, Dayton Marvel, said Alissa was "kind of scary to be around" and had once made threats against people during a wrestling match.

"His senior year, during the wrestle-offs to see who makes varsity, he actually lost his match and quit the team and yelled out in the wrestling room that he was like going to kill everybody," said Marvel, who reportedly graduated in Arvada West High School’s Class of 2018. "Nobody believed him. We were just all kind of freaked out by it, but nobody did anything about it."

Marvel also told the Post how Alissa "would talk about him being Muslim and how if anybody tried anything, he would file a hate crime and say they were making it up."

"I just know he was a pretty cool kid until something made him mad, and then whatever made him mad, he went over the edge -- way too far," Marvel continued, according to the report.

The Denver Post also cited an affidavit in describing how Alissa reportedly assaulted an Arvada West classmate in 2017, when he was 18, by punching him repeatedly, including in the head. According to the reported affidavit, the person Alissa was said to have attacked "had made fun of him and called him racial names weeks earlier."

Another former classmate and wrestling teammate, Angel Hernandez, told the outlet Alissa was often paranoid.

That's pretty much what we know.  It's been reported that he is a follower of ISIS, but that has not been confirmed.  Now let's wait for more facts.  I wish some journalists had done that in Atlanta.

March 23, 2021       Permalink