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SEPTEMBER 16,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

LATEST EXCITING EDUCATIONAL THEORY – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:    A Virginia high school teacher is under fire for calling efforts to make kids behave in class “the definition of white supremacy.”  Josh Thompson, an English teacher at Blacksburg High School, posted a since-deleted TikTok video attacking Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) used in Montgomery County schools, Fox News said.  The teacher called the techniques that help reduce disruptive student behavior “white supremacy with a hug.”  “It’s things like making sure that you’re following directions, and making sure that you’re sitting quietly, and you are in your seat — and all these things that come from white culture,” he said in the video, which was saved before being deleted as is being widely shared online.  “The idea of just sitting quiet and being told stuff and taking things in in a passive stance, is not a thing that’s in many cultures,” Thompson claimed.  “So if we’re positively enforcing these behaviors, we are by extension positively enforcing elements of white culture,” he claimed with a smug smile.  I'm so glad to know this.  I feel I'm a better and more inclusive person. 

FOX CONTINUES TO DOMINATE – FROM FOX:  Fox News Channel's ratings success continued as it beat struggling CNN and MSNBC for the 30th consecutive week in both primetime and total day viewers last week.  From September 6-12, Fox News not only bested its direct cable news competition, it beat them combined in both primetime and total day in total viewers and in the coveted 25-54 age demographic. Meanwhile, the latter channels saw a number of recent lows.  Morning show "Fox & Friends" crushed CNN's "New Day," who saw just 423,000 viewers and 79,000 in the demo, and MSNBC's "Morning Joe," which averaged just 813,000 viewers and 97,000 in the demo. It marked the 25th straight week that "Fox & Friends" bested its cable news competition across the board.  The ratings woes didn't end there for CNN or MSNBC. CNN had its lowest-rated week in weekday primetime with total viewers since December 2019, averaging 743,000 total viewers. MSNBC, for the second straight week, posted its lowest-rated week in the weekday total day 25-54 demo since November 2015.  In fairness, we should point out that CNN and MSNBC split the liberal audience, whereas Fox has the conservative audience mostly to itself.  But still, the power of Fox is phenomenal.  It has beaten off all contenders.  And it is not mean-spirited.   

September 16, 2021       Permalink

THE BLACK ROBES STRIKE BACK – OVERNIGHT:  Justice Thomas becomes the latest justice of the Supreme Court to push back against attempts to make the Court a political body.  From Fox:

Justice Clarence Thomas became the latest member of the U.S. Supreme Court to take aim at the media, defending the court as nonpartisan Thursday as he warned against "destroying our institutions because they don't give us what we want, when we want it," according to reports.

"I think the media makes it sound as though you are just always going right to your personal preference," Thomas told an audience at the University of Notre Dame, the Washington Post reported.

"So if they think you are anti-abortion or something personally, they think that’s the way you always will come out. They think you’re for this or for that. They think you become like a politician."

Thomas’s words came in the wake of the high court’s controversial 5-4 decision earlier this month to allow a restrictive Texas abortion law to take effect. Critics worry it could lead to the landmark Roe v. Wade decision being overturned.

Thomas has previously called on the court to overturn the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion throughout the U.S.

Last weekend, newest Justice Amy Coney Barrett defended her colleagues, saying they were not "partisan hacks." She also blamed the media for making decisions that "seem results-oriented."

"Sometimes, I don't like the results of my decisions. But it's not my job to decide cases based on the outcome I want," she said. "Judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties."

Thomas agreed with that sentiment.

"You do your job and you go cry alone," he said. But he also warned against judges acting politically.

"The court was thought to be the least dangerous branch and we may have become the most dangerous."

Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer also recently reassured that his court colleagues weren't "junior league" politicians, according to the Post.

Following the abortion decision, Democrats have revived their call to add seats to the Supreme Court to try to shift its majority left after former President Trump added three conservative justices.

COMMENT:  Two thoughtful conservatives, Thomas and Barrett, explaining to the little children the purpose of the Judiciary.  They used to teach that stuff in school.

And yes, the Democrats dream of packing the Supreme Court, adding justices who will vote their way.  They may make an attempt to do it, although it's unlikely to pass Congress, especially the Senate, because some Democrats will almost certainly refuse to go along. 

However, if Democrats add seats next year, instead of losing them, which we anticipate, the Court-packing scheme stands a good chance of being tried.

President Roosevelt tried to pack the Court and failed.  It might be different with today's WOKE Democratic Party in control.

September 16, 2021       Permalink

SEPTEMBER 15,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

YIKES!  THE MAN MUST BE RUNNING – FROM DAILY MAIL:   Former President Donald Trump predicted that the U.S. would be over even before the next presidential election - in his latest dig at President Joe Biden.   'And our country has gone really downhill in the last eight months, like nobody's ever seen before,' Trump told his former press secretary Sean Spicer, calling into Spicer's Newsmax show Tuesday night. 'And we're not going to have a country left in three years, I'll tell you that.'   Trump continued to protest that the 2020 election was 'rigged' against him - mentioning 2022 and 2024 in the same breath.  'And you go to these elections coming up in '22 and '24 - we're not going to have a country left. The election was rigged,' he told Spicer.   The ex-president wouldn't say if he would be running in the next presidential race, but strongly hinted that was the case.   'I will probably not comment on that, but I will tell you I think you will be very happy Sean,' he told Spicer. 'I think you and a lot of other people that love our country are going to be very happy.'   'I could make it soon, but that get's complicated,' Trump remarked on timing.   He previously said he wouldn't announce until he saw how the Republicans performed in the 2022 midterms.  Trump is a shrewd fox.  The thing he probably fears the most is running and losing.  It would be complete humiliation.  I'd imagine he'll certainly wait until after the midterms to decide, and that the polls would have to lean heavily in his direction for him to run.  

A GRAVE OFFENSE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   A conservative group is asking the Office of Congressional Ethics to launch an investigation of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for accepting free tickets to Monday’s Met Gala, where she wore a custom gown that said “Tax the Rich.”  The self-declared socialist congresswoman drew broad social media scorn for partying at the elite $35,000-per-ticket event while presenting herself as their rabble-rousing foe.  Thomas Jones, founder of the American Accountability Foundation, wrote in an ethics complaint that he believes Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, broke House rules by accepting “an impermissible gift” of free tickets to attend the annual gala, which also was attended by fellow New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney.  Although House rules allow members to accept free tickets to charity events directly from event organizers, Jones argues that the Met Gala doesn’t count because the guest list is curated by a private company, media giant Condé Nast.  “[W]hile the individual’s invitations may bear the name of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum has ceded control over the invitations to a for-profit company, specifically Condé Nast, and to its Chief Content Officer, Anna Wintour,” Jones wrote.  I think it's a major offense.  I want to see the trial televised.  My belief is that a life sentence is called for.  But expect worldwide demonstrations for her among socialists and other conspirators.  She could wind up a martyr, like Evita Perón. 

September 15, 2021       Permalink

CALIFORNIA AFTERMATH – OVERNIGHT:  The wonks are already at work analyzing the California recall, won handily by incumbent incompetent Gavin Newsom.  I guess the people of California felt more comfortable with the devil they know.

Republicans are finding things to like in the voting pattern.   I hope this isn't wishful thinking.  From RedState: 

Though the effort to relieve California Dictator Gov. Gavin Newsom of his duties a little early did not go the way recall proponents wanted it to, all hope is not lost on the electoral front for Republicans because though Newsom will remain in office at least until the 2022 gubernatorial election, there are warning signs among the results from the recall (which are still coming in) that do not bode well for Democrats in the state and nationally going into the 2022 midterms.

Longtime polling analyst Dave Wasserman looked at the tea leaves among the incoming numbers for various competitive House districts in the state, and said the “Yes” numbers in some of them pointed to “an environment in which Republicans take back the House and Senate in 2022”:

Even though the recall resoundingly failed, "Yes" is on track to prevail in a handful of competitive House districts, including in Orange County.

Even a 20-25% "No" margin statewide could be consistent w/ an environment in which Republicans take back the House & Senate in 2022.

In a follow-up tweet, he emphasized putting “off-year races in context,” noting that the “same ~5 pt swing right from the 2020 Biden/Trump margin would easily win Rs the House & Senate in 2022”:

I can't overstate the need to put these off-year races in context. If Newsom survives by 25% (?) and McAuliffe were to win by 5%, they'd be spun as big Dem wins.

But that same ~5 pt swing right from the 2020 Biden/Trump margin would easily win Rs the House & Senate in 2022.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) September 15, 2021

Beyond Wasserman’s analysis was polling/election numbers cruncher Nate Cohn, who pointed to the fact that Newsom’s Latino support was nothing to write home about:

According to the California exit poll, Newsom fared better among white college graduates than nonwhite voters in the state.

Newsom isn't even faring better among Latino than non-Latino voters pic.twitter.com/5nLkMnWcvg
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) September 15, 2021

This dovetails with what we’ve seen in states like Texas, where Democrats are seeing a steady, persistent drop in support among Latino voters.

COMMENT:  Read the rest and tell me what you think.  The drop in Latino support for the Dems is a growing story, and possibly the most critical political story in the next year.  It's also been noted that Democratic support has been dropping among Asian Americans, the fastest-growing minority in the country. 

If the Dems falter among Latinos and Asian-Americans, they're in a very tough spot.  There just aren't enough modern-dance majors and social-justice minors to make up the difference. 

September 15, 2021       Permalink