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MARCH 20-21,  2023

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE: 

THIS IS BEING TAUGHT TO OUR KIDS, from the New York Post: 

Shakespeare has long been dismissed, with others in the Western canon, as a dead white male.
Now, there’s another, worse charge against the bard — he created the concept of whiteness. 
Yes, instead of standing in the line of literary giants such as Dante, Chaucer and Goethe, Shakespeare is to be associated from now on with the likes of the 19th-century French apostle of scientific racism Arthur de Gobineau, George Wallace and — why not? — the Oath Keepers. 
If you’ve wondered if there’s anything that race-obsessed activists, bureaucrats and academics can’t ruin, the answer is “No,” as they begin get to work in earnest trying to tear down a towering genius who has had an immense — and profoundly edifying — effect on our culture.   According to a new volume, “White People in Shakespeare,” the immortal playwright was engaged in “white-people-making.”  The contributors to the book aren’t surprised by the “fact of Shakespeare’s global, representational power existing almost in tandem with a global white cultural supremacy.” Indeed, it only renders “more unremarkable or invisible a unique alliance of white people and Shakespeare.” QED.  It’s pretty much a direct line from the Globe Theatre in the 16th century to the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  Although “it’s quite likely very few if any of those assembled at the Capitol on that day thought of Shakespeare” — perhaps the most unassailable statement in the volume — it was still “white people’s Shakespearean theater on a grand scale.”  I think it's time to declare the "woke" movement guilty of child abuse, and prosecute accordingly.  In the meantime, there is a song from the musical "Kiss Me Kate" called "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."  I suggest it be sung at halftime in every college football game. 

March 21, 2023      Permalink

AND THE CHILLS CONTINUE:  Apparently not to be outdone by the war talk out of North Korea, the Russkies have now added their own touch.  What strikes me is that sabre rattling, where the sabres are nuclear, is now becoming routine.   The danger is that people will start seeing it as normal, and we then will wonder what the next step up will be.  Think about that.  From Fox:

Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, suggested on Monday that the Kremlin could fire a hypersonic missile at the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the organization issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

"I’m afraid, gentlemen, everyone is answerable to God and missiles," Medvedev, a staunch Putin loyalist who was also Russia's president from 2008 to 2012, wrote in a message on Telegram, according to Russian state media outlet Tass. 

"It’s quite possible to imagine how a hypersonic Oniks fired from a Russian warship in the North Sea strikes the court building in the Hague. It can’t be shot down, I’m afraid."

The Russians are sometimes accused of being heavy-handed.  I wonder why.

Medvedev also warned the judges to "watch the skies closely," calling the court "a pathetic international organization."

The ICC issued the arrest warrant for Putin on Friday, alleging that he is "responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation."

Another warrant also targeted Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation. 

As many as 16,226 children have been deported during the 13-month-long war, according to Ukrainian human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets.

President Biden called the warrant for Putin's arrest "justified" over the weekend, saying that he has "clearly committed war crimes." 

Other Russian officials brushed off the warrant by the ICC, which Russia does not recognize. The U.S. and China also were not signatories of the 1998 Rome Statute, which established the court's authority. 

Medvedev has a history of making profane predictions, including that civil war will break out in the U.S. in 2023 and that the defeat of Russia in a conventional war could "provoke the beginning of a nuclear war."

Earlier this month, he referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the "head Nazi," despite the fact that Zelenskyy is Jewish. On Friday, Medvedev called Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a "ba-----" after a Russian fighter jet collided with a U.S. reaper drone over the Black Sea. 

COMMENT:  Hot words are too often followed by hot action.  We should not shrug and dismiss Medvedev's remarks as simply rhetoric.  Things are getting very tense internationally, and we have not heard the latest from China and Iran, two other gems of colorful speech. 

I have to believe that some of this recent bomb-talk is a result of America's weakness.  There does not seem to be any penalty applied by President Biden, and power, as they say, abhors a vacuum.

By fall we will be seriously into the 2024 election festival.  We will watch carefully what words are used by the candidates of both parties toward our foreign enemies.  Backbone is needed.  But it can't be bought at Walmart.

March 21, 2023       Permalink

ARE THEY JUST WORDS OR...?  North Korea is beatin' the drums.  Do the Northerners mean it, or is it just tough talk?  The correct answer to that question is pretty important, don't you think?  From Daily Mail: 

Kim Jong-un has ordered his troops to prepare for an 'immediate and overwhelming' nuclear counterattack against his enemies - as he accused the US of holding aggressive military drills with South Korea.  

He warned that North Korea was ready to launch just hours after commanding his own 'guided' military exercises - which included firing a ballistic missile with a mock nuclear warhead.

Jong-un said the exercises improved the military's actual war capability and highlighted the need to ensure its readiness posture for any imminent nuclear warfare the country may need to unfurl against its enemies.

The North Korean leader was accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter Kim Ju Ae during the missile tests - continuing a trend that has led to speculation the young girl is being lined up to inherit the hereditary hermit kingdom.

State media, KCNA, said on Monday that the missile launch and accompanying military exercises on Saturday and Sunday were aimed at bolstering North Korea's 'war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability'.

He made specific reference to the 'reckless' and 'aggressive' behaviors of his enemies - in this instance, the US and South Korea.  

In the exercises, a ballistic missile equipped with a mock nuclear warhead flew 500 miles.

'The present situation, in which the enemies are getting ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression against the DPRK, urgently requires the DPRK to bolster up its nuclear war deterrence exponentially,'  KCNA quoted him as saying.

Kim was using the acronym of his country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

'The nuclear force of the DPRK will strongly deter, control and manage the enemy's reckless moves and provocations with its high war readiness, and carry out its important mission without hesitation in case of any unwanted situation,' he added.

COMMENT:  North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, starting the Korean War, in which the United States lost 37,000 men.  That was 73 years ago, but we still have troops in Korea to keep the peace. 

I would take the North Korean leader seriously.  If he senses weakness on our part, we could see another 1950.

March 20, 2023       Permalink 

MARCH 18-19,  2023

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

AMERICAN COMMON SENSE:  FROM DAILY CALLER: 

The vast majority of Americans believe U.S. companies should hire executives based solely on merit, character and quality, according to a CRC Research poll shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation.  Among respondents, 87% supported a merit-based approach, compared to 8% who supported a quota system for race and gender and 5% who were unsure or refused to answer, according to the CRC Research poll conducted for the 85 Fund. The pattern held true across political affiliations, with most Democrats, Republicans and independents favoring a merit-based hiring approach for executives.  At 93%, Republicans were only slightly more likely to oppose racial and gender quotas in corporate hiring compared to other groups: 90% of independents and 86% of Democrats supported a merit-only hiring approach, according to the poll. “Instead of simply finding the best people to serve their customers, companies utilizing these quotas admit that they are prioritizing catering to extreme Leftists over the people who actually purchase and use their products,” Will Hild, Executive Director of Consumers’ Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As we have seen with SVB, there are real-world consequences when businesses focus on identity politics over their core business.”   Well said.  The future of this country will heavily depend on whether major companies can get out from under the weight of socialist politics.  If they can, we have a chance to return to the concept of a strong, free America.  If they can't, we are reduced to a pitiful, helpless giant.

March 18, 2023       Permalink

THE VULGARITY OF IT ALL:  Former President Trump says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday. Whether you like Trump or not, there is something vulgar about the whole affair. 

We've never had a president arrested.  I think most people believe that it should be done in only the most extreme circumstances, and for the gravest of crimes.  This case doesn't come close.  The fact that the presumed arrest will come so soon after Mr. Trump announced that he was running again for the presidency suggests that justice is not the motive, but that driving the former president out of the race might be closer to the mark.  From Fox: 

Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office won't have much of a legal leg to stand on if they indict former President Donald Trump on violating campaign finance law, according to a legal expert and former member of the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
"If the state charges are based on a supposed violation of federal campaign finance law, then the Manhattan DA is way off base," Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital.
Von Spakovsky's comments came shortly after Trump said Saturday that he expects to be arrested Tuesday amid reports saying the Manhattan district attorney's office is preparing to issue an indictment for alleged hush money payments that Trump made as a presidential candidate in 2016.

"NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!, [sic]" Trump posted to his Truth Social account.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office will reportedly meet with law enforcement officials to discuss logistics for some time next week regarding a potential indictment, which stems from a years-long investigation into Trump's alleged hush money scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels.

In the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen sent $130,000 to Daniels to prevent her from disclosing her alleged 2006 affair with Trump, who has denied the affair. Trump subsequently reimbursed Cohen.

It's been widely speculated that Trump could be charged with overseeing the false recording of the reimbursements in his company's internal records as "legal expenses."

Prosecutors are also expected to charge Trump with violating campaign finance laws by arranging the payments to buy Daniels's silence weeks before the 2016 election. However, experts have questioned the legal reasoning behind such a charge.

"A settlement payment of a nuisance claim is not a federal campaign expense," said von Spakovsky, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. "The state DA has no authority to prosecute a federal campaign finance violation in any event."

Such cases, he argues, are within the province of the FEC, where he served as a commissioner, or the U.S. Justice Department, explaining that both agencies have known about the facts for years but have chosen not to prosecute Trump.

"So, the federal agencies with jurisdiction did not consider it a violation," said von Spakovsky, who's been following this case for years.

In 2018, von Spakovsky wrote that the payment to Daniels seemed to be a "nuisance settlement," which celebrities often make, especially when faced with the threat of a false or salacious claim.

"Critics of the president claim this not only was a campaign expense that should have been reported but a potentially illegal loan by Cohen. But the settlement was ultimately paid out of Trump's personal funds and had nothing to do with the campaign since their alleged one-night stand occurred 10 years before the campaign," wrote von Spakovsky. "No reasonable member of a jury would consider this to be a campaign-related expense that needed to be reported, or to which any other campaign finance rules in the Federal Election Campaign Act apply."

COMMENT:  Other legal commentators have made similar points.  And Trump's claim that the district attorney of Manhattan is highly political is underestimating the reality.  He seems at times to be all about politics.  His predecessor reportedly turned this case down cold.  But Bragg is in the Soros army, a select group of soft-on-real-crime prosecutors.  We know him well in New York.  He is protected by the hard left of the Democratic Party, which wields a mighty sword in our once-great state. 

We will always consider facts, of course, but this really does look like a political hit job.  If it is, and Trump survives, he may well come out an unstoppable hero.

March 18, 2023       Permalink 

AS WE WERE LOOKING ELSEWHERE:  One of our tasks here at Urgent Agenda is to alert readers to important events that are happening "in the background," not necessarily on the front page.  As an example, consider this chilling report about the last few days.  From Fox: 

A New York man who expressed support online for the Islamic State is charged with plotting to kill police officers and threatening to kill a mayor on the street where the local St. Patrick’s Day parade was slated to be held, federal prosecutors said Friday. 

Ridon Kola, 32, was arrested and charged with making threatening interstate communications, the Justice Department said. 

"As alleged, Ridon Kola posted threats on social media against law enforcement, stating his support for ISIS and his intention to murder numerous police officers.  Undeterred after questioning from law enforcement, Kola’s conduct escalated, as he continued to assure police his threats would be carried out," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. 

Over several months, Kola made several posts supporting the terror group and threats against the Yonkers Police Department in connection with the city's parade, which will be held Saturday. 

On March 9, Kola messaged the police department directly, saying: "First people to be crucified will be the Yonkers rats Vallahi.  Allahu Ekberr"; and "I will crucify Yonkers cops and their bosses all along McLean ave.  It will be a horror scene . . . Allahu Ekberr."  

McLean Avenue is part of the route for the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade where police officers will be posted throughout. 

In another post made days later, he took a photo of himself with an ax, authorities said. 

"Come on Judas, I’m waiting for you," the caption read in Albanian. 

COMMENT:  The fact is that the threat of terror is very much with us, and may grow in coming years if appeasement of Iran, the world's greatest sponsor of terror, continues.   Our guard is down.  Police departments, our front line of defense, are being gutted in too many "woke" places, and getting qualified officers is becoming harder and harder.

Terrorism is barely mentioned in the hard-left environment that pervades our colleges.  If it is, it is often defended as the "desperate" acts of oppressed people.  But terrorism is real, and will continue.  I fear it will take another 9-11, maybe even a nuclear 9-11, to wake us up.

March 18, 2023       Permalink