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NOVEMBER 21,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

UNBELIEVABLE – FROM FOX:   Some U.S. Navy sailors have been forced to take out loans over months-long delays in pay to some service members who earned increases in their housing allowances this year due to recent marriages or moving somewhere with a higher cost of living.   "This is happening a little bit of everywhere," Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society Vice President Gillian Gonzalez said in an interview with Military.com. "It doesn't seem to hit one geographic area more than another."  Gonzalez recounted that her group has seen an uptick in loan applications from sailors who are struggling to keep up with living expenses but did not have an exact figure on the increase.  Cmdr. Matt Knight, public affairs officer at Navy Personnel Command, told the outlet that the Department of Defense requires the Navy to process Basic Allowance for Housing change requests within 30 days, but noted delays can happen.  "Navy Personnel Command and our subordinate commands take every measure to ensure the volume of transactions does not exceed our capacity, but occasionally backlogs do occur due to a variety of reasons. These backlogs are resolved as quickly as possible to limit the impacts to sailors," Knight said.  Great way to retain good people.  Maybe the Navy could get a quick loan from the illegal immigrants who'll be paid $400,000 a family, should pending legislation pass, if the U.S. violated their "rights."  Some way to run a country.

November 21, 2021       Permalink

WISCONSIN HORROR – OVERNIGHT:  The obscene attack on a Christmas parade in Wisconsin yesterday reminds us that terror – individual, foreign, domestic, state-sponsored – is still very much a threat.  At this hour we still don't know very much about it, except that approximately five were killed and 40 injured when a red car plunged through a parade in progress.  We know that authorities have the car that was involved, and we know that a person of interest is in custody.  We know nothing else.

It's these hours that worry me – the hours between an attack and the announcement of who was allegedly responsible.  It's not paranoid to wonder what calls are being made, what pressure is being applied, what interests are being protected, if any.   If the fix will be in, this is when the fix begins.  We've seen many examples around the world of attempts to underplay the involvement of certain groups because the wrong people might be embarrassed.

We hope to know more today.  This had the markings of a terrorist attack, but we cannot say that with certainty at the moment.  From Fox: 

Authorities in a Milwaukee suburb continued overnight to deal with the aftermath after a red SUV plowed into Christmas parade marchers and spectators Sunday evening, striking more than 20 adults and children.

Some fatalities occurred at the Waukesha event, police Chief Dan Thompson told reporters at an evening news conference, according to FOX 6 of Milwaukee.

Wauskesha city officials early Monday confirmed that at least five people had died and more than 40 suffered injuries. They warned that both numbers could change.

More information was expected at a news conference expected later Monday.

Chilling videos on social media showed the SUV plowing into parade participants, with loud screams audible from those who witnessed the horror. Other videos showed people running to the aid of the injured people.

"Oh my God!" a woman shouts over and over in one video, after a group of girls in Santa Claus hats and waving white pompoms is struck. Another video shows members of a marching band being hit, The Associated Press reported.

"There were pompoms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere," Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school board member and parent told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to fund my daughter. My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray."

Gunshots were heard in the area but authorities said they came from a police officer who was trying to stop the vehicle, the AP reported. No one was hurt by gunfire, authorities said.

A Roman Catholic priest, multiple parishioners and Catholic schoolchildren were among those injured at the parade, an Archdiocese of Milwaukee spokeswoman told the AP.

Parade performers the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies also were affected by the tragedy – and shared on Facebook that they were awaiting more information about their members who were injured.

"Please keep the Grannies, all those injured, and all those who witnessed this horrible event in your thoughts and prayers," the group wrote.

COMMENTS:  There was a terrorist attack in Britain a few weeks ago.  The prime minister, Boris Johnson, warned Britons that there would probably be more.  The nation's alert status was immediately raised.

We'll be watching to see whether our government responds with that kind of seriousness if this does indeed turn out to be a terrorist incident.

November 21,  2021     Permalink

NOVEMBER 20,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE WAR ON THE POLICE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   They’re New York’s Grimmest.
More than half of NYPD cops wish they'd never joined the force in the first place, according to a damning internal department survey of 6,000 uniformed officers obtained by The Post.  The survey is a sobering snapshot of how the Finest feel in an era of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter riots, the Defund the Police movement, bail-reform laws that keep violent offenders out of jail, and legislative measures that put the burden of liability on officers while emboldening criminals.  “My retirement date is next month,” said one 20-year veteran who took the survey. “I can’t wait to run out of here.”  The officer, who would only provide his first name, Dan, said the job has hit “rock bottom” — and he’s even steered his own son away from a calling that was once proudly passed down from generation to generation.  Most who took the survey think things will only get worse, with 79% of the 5,935 respondents polled in March saying they don’t think the city will be safer in two years.  “The city is absolutely not safe at all. Bail reform. Criminals being released. Everyone knows what’s going on,” the veteran cop added.  You can blame the outgoing mayor, Marxist Bill de Blasio, the left-wing media, and the woke wing of the ruling Democratic Party.  Ten years ago New York was the safest large city in America.  No more.

November 20, 2021       Permalink

THREE CHEERS FOR THE JURY – OVERNIGHT:  Law Professor Jonathan Turley reminds us that it was the jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse case that stood strong against mob rule, twisted journalism, and chilling threats.  Give them credit.  From USA Today: 

The full acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse is now in. The result was hardly a surprise to many of us who watched the trial rather than the media coverage. The jury spent days carefully considering the evidence and could not find a single count that was supported beyond a reasonable doubt.

In rendering its verdict, the jury fulfilled its core function in our legal system. The jury was designed to protect an individual from becoming the grist of a criminal justice system. As the Supreme Court noted in Duncan v. Louisiana (1968): 

"Providing an accused with the right to be tried by a jury of his peers gave him an inestimable safeguard against the corrupt or overzealous prosecutor and against the compliant, biased, or eccentric judge."

The American jury is designed to stand between the mob and a defendant; between the government and the accused. The thin line of a dozen citizens can prove the most unassailable wall for justice in our system.

There was, however, a second verdict in that courtroom for those who have been maintaining a distorted or incomplete account to this trial. From the outset, politicians and media figures insisted that this was a case of murders committed by a white supremacist. Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden labeled Rittenhouse a “white supremacist” in a tweet showing his photo and demanded to know why then-President Donald Trump did not “disavow white supremacists.” Much of the media followed suit with an echo chamber of coverage that led some people to believe that these were essentially executions on the streets of Kenosha.  Columnist Elie Mystal called the trial a sham.

The pressure clearly had an impact on the prosecution, which overcharged Rittenhouse (including with a count that was invalid). The case began to fall apart as the prosecution called its witnesses, who contradicted the core elements of these charges. 

What happened next was even more chilling. Faced with a collapsing case in court, many of the same media outlets struck out at the judge, the jury, and the legal system. MSNBC host Tiffany Cross advocated for the judge's removal. Rittenhouse was mocked for his "male, white tears" on national television. Georgetown law professor Paul Butler called the trial “white privilege on steroids.”

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  You'll get a good education in the jury system and how it saved the day in Kenosha.  And you will see demonstrated once more the danger that a reckless press poses for American society.

November 20,  2021     Permalink