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

MAY 3,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

I HOPE THE GOP KEEPS THIS ALIVE – FROM THE HILL:   Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday requested additional information regarding potential conflicts of interests related to John Kerry, President Biden's special envoy for climate, and his previous involvement in finance and energy investing after he left his last government post as secretary of State.  In a letter to current Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Grassley wrote that it is “unclear exactly what matters Mr. Kerry has been barred from working on and whether he has received any waivers for specific matters that he would otherwise be recused from,” according to Axios, which obtained a copy of the letter.  “The operation of good government requires faithful adherence to ethical rules,” Grassley added.  The request comes after Axios reported last week that Kerry disclosed millions of dollars in income and divested assets that could pose a conflict of interest between his previous personal finances and current government business, according to his financial filing.  And this is in addition to the news story that Kerry may have disclosed classified information to a hostile country after leaving the Department of State at the end of the Obama administration.   This man's activities must be investigated.  He may consider himself above the law.

LAW AND ORDER IN A WOKE CITY – FROM FOX:    David Bouchard admitted he put a Customs and Border Protection officer in a chokehold. Charles Comfort was indicted by a grand jury of civil disorder for twice charging at Portland Police Bureau officers and hitting them with a makeshift shield then kicking a third officer while being arrested. Both men faced federal charges stemming from their actions during a summer of more than 100 straight nights of often violent protests in Portland. But Bouchard and Comfort are among dozens of Portland federal arrestees whose cases were dismissed or are being deferred without so much as a day behind bars.  Between May 25 and Oct. 7, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon filed federal charges against 97 people connected to the Portland unrest. Since then 58 of those cases have either been dismissed outright or are on track for dismissal through a deferred resolution agreement. Thirty-two cases are still pending, with many likely to also end in dismissal according to sources. Seven people have entered guilty pleas.  Why bother observing the law?

May 3, 2021       Permalink

FIGHTING BACK – OVERNIGHT:  Each day brings more examples of our side fighting back against the dictatorial mentality of the WOKE crowd.  We take special pride when students lead the way.  From College Fix: 

Two authors of “canceled” books are calling on young Americans to combat today’s hyper-politicization and intellectual censorship, suggesting the censorship trend is akin to “modern day book burning.”

Abigail Shrier, journalist and author of “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” denounced today’s cancel culture and pessimism as “not American” in a recent talk to Yale University students.

“This generation needs an injection of optimism,” she said during a webinar hosted by the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale.

“They need to know that they can confront ideas they disagree with, too. They’ll be okay. But this whole cowering … is really quite pathetic, and it’s not American,” Shrier said.

Ryan Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” echoed similar sentiments as a fellow speaker at the event, titled “Modern Day Book Burning: The New Digital Censorship.”

“Maybe we’re right, maybe we’re wrong. The only way that you’re gonna show us that we’re wrong, though, is by actually engaging the substance of the book. Not delisting us, that doesn’t persuade either of us,” Anderson said.

“If you’re gonna persuade people that we’re wrong, you actually have to make a substantive argument.”

Anderson’s and Shrier’s books were published in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Both critiqued the transgender movement and its effect on individuals, especially children.

Less than six months after publication, Target stopped selling Shrier’s book in response to two Twitter complaints. Anderson’s book was removed from Amazon two months ago.

The two authors criticized higher education in particular for its lack of intellectual diversity.
“The whole point of a liberal education is to liberate you from preconceived opinion. It would be liberating, this form of education, because you would hear lots of different viewpoints,” Anderson said.

“There’s something about the approach to modern day book burning in which it seems like, ‘Well, why would anyone wanna buy this book except for people who agree with it?’ There’s a vision of what books are all about, and what reading is about, and what education is about, that looks much more to me like indoctrination,” he said.

College campuses have been criticized in recent years for their lack of open political diversity. Conservative students in particular have complained about free speech violations and the perceived need to “self-censor” their opinions.

“The young people today need to take [this] back. They need to take back the ability to explore ideas and have friendship and conversation even with people they share nothing in common with,” Shrier said.

COMMENT:   Read the rest.  Situation critical.   The cancel culture extends down to elementary school, but the backlash is in full swing.  Local elections are toppling school board members who advance the woke philosophy, especially Critical Race Theory.  Companies that went full woke are unwoking themselves in the face of public protest.  Even a columnist at the very woke New York Times braved a column challenging critical race theory.

There is hope.

May 3 2021       Permalink 

MAY 2,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

SNOW WHITE CRISIS IN DISNEYLAND – FROM FOX BUSINESS:    The ride is enhanced with new music, LED back lighting, laser projections, an animation system, and new scenes, including Snow White dancing and the evil Queen's collection of spell books and bubbling potions.  "The Snow White attraction has such a rich history," Kim Irvine, creative executive for Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a statement. "We wanted to take into account the beautiful scenic work that has always existed and retell the story in a special way. We believe guests will enjoy this sweet storyline in a stunning experience."
However, it's the "true love's kiss" grand finale between Snow White and her prince that is drawing scrutiny from the San Francisco Gate.  "The new grand finale of Snow White's Enchanted Wish is the moment when the Prince finds Snow White asleep under the Evil Queen's spell and gives her "true love's kiss" to release her from the enchantment," the outlet writes. "A kiss he gives to her without her consent, while she's asleep, which cannot possibly be true love if only one person knows it's happening."   "Haven't we already agreed that consent in early Disney movies is a major issue? That teaching kids that kissing, when it hasn't been established if both parties are willing to engage, is not OK?," The San Francisco Gate continues. "It's hard to understand why the Disneyland of 2021 would choose to add a scene with such old fashioned ideas of what a man is allowed to do to a woman, especially given the company's current emphasis on removing problematic scenes from rides like Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain. Why not re-imagine an ending in keeping with the spirit of the movie and Snow White's place in the Disney canon, but that avoids this problem?"  I don't know how a crisis like this is ended without intervention by the UN Human Rights Council.  Don't you agree? 

RUDY WINS A ROUND – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   The New York Times, Washington Post and NBC News all issued retractions Saturday for their coverage of Rudy Giuliani following a raid on his Manhattan apartment by the FBI.  The Times appended their correction to a story about the role Giuliani may have played in the 2019 recall of ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch and whether he received a warning from the FBI about Russian disinformation.  “An earlier version of this article misstated whether Rudolph W. Giuliani received a formal warning from the F.B.I. about Russian disinformation. Mr. Giuliani did not receive such a so-called defensive briefing,” The Times wrote Saturday in a note attached to the piece.  The Washington Post’s correction, on a story about prominent Americans being targeted by Russian disinformation, was similar.  “An earlier version of this story, published Thursday, incorrectly reported that One America News was warned by the FBI that it was the target of a Russian influence operation,” the paper said.  NBC News also issued a mea culpa, claiming its reporting was based on a source but that a second source “now says the briefing was only prepared for Giuliani and not delivered to him, in part over concerns it might complicate the criminal investigation of Giuliani. As a result, the premise and headline of the article below have been changed to reflect the corrected information.”  Maybe journalism should go back to the principle of confirming the facts before the story is released.  Journalistic credibility is in the tank.

May 2, 2021       Permalink 

THE BATTLE JOINED – AT 11:18 P.M. ET:  As noted here several times, the sane American electorate is starting to push back against the crazies.  There are signs that Americans realize that much of what passes for "progressive" policies is just junk politics.   From PJ Media: 

Fox News is reporting that the Democrats’ struggle with wokeness is expanding. It started directly after the 2020 election with losses in the House that many purple district Democrats attributed to the radical proposals of the Squad, especially around policing and the summer riots. These more moderate Democrats, responsible for the bulk of the blue wave in 2018, may be in for a startling comeuppance again in 2022. The radical proposals are now coming from President Biden, and Americans are taking note.

Biden’s 100-day approval numbers showed the only majority support his policies have gained are in response to COVID-19. The administration’s scores on race relations, taxes and spending, China policy, and gun policy are all underwater with Americans. The first to put out a figurative distress signal was longtime political consultant James Carville. When Vox asked him to comment on the first 100 days of the Biden administration, he quickly turned to conversation to his concerns regarding the Democrat Party by criticizing “faculty lounge” politics:

You ever get the sense that people in faculty lounges in fancy colleges use a different language than ordinary people? They come up with a word like “Latinx” that no one else uses. Or they use a phrase like “communities of color.” I don’t know anyone who speaks like that. I don’t know anyone who lives in a “community of color.” I know lots of white and Black and brown people and they all live in … neighborhoods.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with these phrases. But this is not how people talk. This is not how voters talk. And doing it anyway is a signal that you’re talking one language and the people you want to vote for you are speaking another language. This stuff is harmless in one sense, but in another sense it’s not.

Carville said continued wokeness will prevent Democrats from building out their coalition and allow them to be typed by the Republicans as an urban, coastal, arrogant party because of how they talk. Following Carville’s comments. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison appeared on Morning Joe, and when asked, he agreed with Carville’s remarks:

Listen, I love Carville, and there’s some truth to what he says,” Harrison said. “And ultimately, working people just want somebody, and their leaders, to speak plain English, to speak to them in the way that they operate, in the space that they operate in.

COMMENT:  Much good sense here.  But remember that the Democrats have the media and universities on their side, and some misguided corporations are signing up as well.  The social networks are way left.  With all that firepower, Republicans have much to overcome, but the GOP is well organized today, with a deep bench of talent.  And the party knows how to speak to the average citizen.  We can win it all, with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work.

May 2,  2021     Permalink