President Trump got his turn as the Republicans had their convention this past week. I confess. Again, I did not watch most of this convention either. I did catch Nikki Haley's speech and thought that she would be a welcome candidate in 2024. I also saw Melania Trump's speech - good, but a little long. I did not see more than a few minutes of the President's speech, but I did read it. Here are a few highlights. "...We understand that America is not a land cloaked in darkness. America is the torch that enlightens the entire world." And: "What united generations past was an unshakeable confidence in America's destiny and an unbreakable faith in the American people." Of course, you would never know from the mainstream media that Trump's speech was in any way uplifting.
I have complained over the years about left-wing pundits and Democrats, and so-called Black leaders, who have delivered in their speeches an awful message to children. Essentially telling children that the system is rigged against them, that they'll never succeed. To discourage young children from trying to achieve their goals is evil. Therefore, my favorite line from Trump's speech was this: "I want every child in America to know that you are part of the most exciting and incredible adventure in human history. No matter where your family comes from, no matter your background in America, anyone can rise with hard work, devotion, and drive. You can reach any goal and achieve every ambition." So much better than Joe Biden's "knee on the neck."
In August of 2019, Kamala Harris reflected her party's desire to make sure that Blacks always feel victimized, when she said this: "Michael Brown's murder forever changed Ferguson and America. His tragic death sparked a desperately needed conversation and a nationwide movement." Elizabeth Warren said something similar. The problem, of course, is that Michael Brown was not murdered. Who said so? Obama's Department of Justice, which concluded there was no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting death of Michael Brown.
But Biden also had no problem in fanning the flames. Here he is on 8/9/20: "It's been six years since Michael Brown's life was taken in Ferguson - reigniting a movement. We must continue the work of tackling systemic racism and reforming policing." Except, the reigniting of a movement was based on a lie. The "hands up don't shoot" lie that suggested that Brown was murdered. Neither the state nor the Feds concluded that he was murdered. Does not matter. Just keep it going. I hope that, rather than the usual 5% of Blacks that vote Republican, that Trump is able to get 25% or more. That Blacks appreciate what Trump has done for their community - in terms of low unemployment, school choice, criminal justice reform and aid to the historically Black Colleges and Universities. And police reform? I have no problem with that - if it does not endanger the lives of the men and women who put on a uniform every day.
I'd like to end this short post with another line from President Trump's speech at the RNC. "In the left's backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just and exceptional nation on Earth. Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins." The focus in our schools should not be on the New York Times' "1619 Project," claiming that the country was born out of slavery. School age children should be taught that people came here for religious freedom. That the American Revolution was fought for political freedom. That the country has always strived to make that "more perfect union." That does not mean we do not teach about slavery - just let's not forget that America's deadliest war, the Civil War, brought an end to slavery. I find it ironic that the mainstream media always wants to paint Republicans and Trump as "dark," while the glass half-empty Democrats are seen as the bright light.
Sunday, August 30, 2020
The Coronavirus Twenty-Four Weeks Later - Media Bias, a Few Words on the Blog and the Impending Civil War
First, as the attacks on me/the blog continue, I have a few comments. A recent criticism alleges my failure to ever condemn Trump. Twice in the last post I criticized Trump. But, I was told, not harshly enough. I was very harsh on Trump when he decided to remove troops from Syria, leaving the Kurds vulnerable. But that's not the point. I have a conservative viewpoint, and I see no reason to pile on, when the mainstream media is non-stop anti-Trump. I have said that if someone wants anti-Trump news and Op-Eds they can get 5 to 10 such pieces a day just from the New York Times alone. One day last week I decided to check to see if my claim about the Times was, indeed, correct. On 8/24/20 I went online to the Times to check out their Op-Eds. Sure enough, seven out of the eleven most recent pieces were anti-Trump. The rest were not pro-Trump, but rather discussed other issues. Here are just a couple: "Trump's Campaign of Chaos," and "Trump's Reality TV Show Would Like You to Forget About Reality for a While." The 7 anti-Trump opinion pieces do not include the so-called "hard news" pieces which are also often anti-Trump.
Howard Kurtz of Fox pointed out that CNN and MSNBC carried nearly every minute of the Democratic convention (about 520 out of about 580 minutes). But for the Republican convention, they kept breaking in with "fact-checking, criticism and punditry." About one hour into the Republican convention, the New York Times told us: "GOP Pushes Falsehoods and Fear at Convention." While one CNN newscaster was standing in front of an image of Kenosha burning, the chyron (the headline at the bottom of the screen) told us "FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER POLICE SHOOTING." The irony was inescapable. As one comment said: "...Irresponsible clowns. It's not even funny. Months of enabling violence and destruction by ignoring and downplaying it, thereby eliminating any pressure on politicians to take action."
Meanwhile, at MSNBC, Rachel Maddow could not accept South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's attack on Democrat run cities. Noem: "From Seattle and Portland to Washington and New York, Democrat run cities across this country are being overrun by violent mobs." Maddow claimed that was "very wrong," and turned to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan for her take. You know, Seattle, with the "peaceful" CHOP/CHAZ. Too bad Maddow did not also have the Mayor of Portland, where they tried to burn down a police station with people locked inside, and where there have been violent "protests" for over 90 days.
Recall in the last post I mentioned the 8/21/20 front page headline in the New York Times: "BIDEN VOWS TO GUIDE THE U.S. OUT OF 'DARKNESS.'" That was the Times telling us that Trump's America is dark. Following Trump's speech, the Times' headline across the top of the front page was: "ACCEPTING BID, TRUMP PAINTS BIDEN AS UNSAFE." The subheadline was "Falsely Warning of Support for 'Anarchists' as He Shows His Grip on the G.O.P." In another story on the front page above the fold is this: "President is Unchastened by Time in Office, Even Impeachment." But the subheadline to the Biden speech was: "Accepting Nomination, He Rebukes Trump and Pledges to 'Draw on the Best of Us." Some of the language is subtle, but the bias is there. Trump "falsely" warns. Biden "rebukes," as a teacher does. And, Trump paints Biden as unsafe - as if Biden and the Dems have not constantly told us that Trump is a danger to democracy.
Here's Don Lemon of CNN, reflecting what Democrats have believed about Republicans since Hillary's "basket of deplorables." "They like what he (Trump) presents. They like the lies, one would have to. If you don't like the lies, then you're not a supporter. They like the shiny objects. They like the racism. They like the misogyny. They like all of it because if they didn't, they wouldn't support him." The Democrats who think (and I use the word loosely) like Lemon cannot conceive of any legitimate reason for preferring Trump over Biden. This helps to explain why they are perfectly at ease with shutting down opposing views - because such views cannot posibly be legitimate. If you think Lemon is alone, here is Elie Mystal writing for The Nation: "Most White Republican voters don't need permission for white supremacy. They're racist themselves and think being racist is just commonsense...The irreducible core of his base is white people who think being openly racist and violent toward Black people is an inalienable right that has been taken from them by 'cancel culture.'" And, talking about the black speakers at the RNC, Mystal said this: "What anger I have for this particular crop of Black tokens comes from the fact that so many of them volunteered..." To recap, whites who vote for Trump are evil, whites who vote for Biden (who once described the segregationist Strom Thurmond as one of his closest friends) are good. Any black who supports Trump is a token and worse I'm sure, because, as Biden told Black people: "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black." This type of "thinking," this group-think, is rampant throughout the Democratic party and mainstream media and Hollywood and academia.
Here is some of the biggest bias not even recognized by many people (Democrats). What do you know about Brandon Stanley, Daniel Shaver or James Scott? Nothing, right? Because they are three White people who were shot and killed by police. Therefore, you did not read about them day after day after day in the mainstream media. (Before anyone starts to send me a nasty email, I continue to condemn the killing of George Floyd, and, absent some unknown exculpatory evidence on behalf of the police, I am also disturbed by the shooting of Jacob Blake.) But, according to the article by John McWhorter in the 7/14/16 Time magazine, Shaver had complied with police orders and was shot anyway. Scott was told to drop his gun, which he did, but did not raise his hands. And Stanley was trying to evade a warrant. No rioting, no looting, no burning down of businesses after they were killed. An opposing viewpoint might be - maybe there should have been. No. I am at a loss to understand why business owners should lose everything because of possible misconduct by the police. That's like saying "I'm angry at Smith so I'm going to take it out on Jones." McWhorter: "...all three were killed by police under circumstances that would almost surely have elicited indignant protests nationwide if they were black."
Here is some more information the mainstream media would not want you to know. From 1/1/17 to 8/6/20, a total of 3,545 people were shot and killed by police in the US, according to Statista. I think we can all agree that we would like to see less than 1000 people a year shot and killed by police. The statistic alone, however, does not tell us whether or not any police reforms might reduce those numbers, and to what extent. Of that total, Statista reports that 40.6% of those killed were white, 21.9% were black, 15.7% were hispanic, 3.8% were "other," and 17.9% were "unknown." Brookings reported that in 2019 in the US, 60.1% of the people were white, 12.1% were black (other sites say 13.4%), 18.5% were hispanic and 6% were Asian. But we know that blacks commit crimes at a significantly higher rate than their percentage of the population might predict. As previously reported in this blog, from 1980 to 2008, blacks accounted for 52.5% of the hoicides in the US, well in excess of their percentage of the population. (According to the US Department of Justice.) The point, which apparently needs repeating, the more crimes you commit the greater the liklihood of having interactions with the police. (Please do not email me to tell me perfectly innocent people have been shot and killed by police. I know. It's awful.)
I have watched the news and have seen that many of the "protesters" are white. That does not make it any better when we see businesses being looted or torched. Here are some more disturbing statistics (from Fox): Homicides are up 24% from the beginning of the year to early August in the 50 largest cities in the US. Murders in New York City are up 35% compared to the same period last year. Shootings are up 87% in New York City. In the City of Chicago alone, 2,700 people have been shot so far this year. As of early August, the largest cities have had a total of 3,600 homicides. The Mayors of New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Washington are all Democrats. Cities that have seen major lawlessness. This year, and breaking with the usual alliance between Democrats and unions, many police unions have announced their support for Donald Trump. If the politicians do not support the police, the police will be fearful of doing their jobs. When that happens, anarchy reigns. And when anarchy reigns, many citizens - armed citizens - are going to take action. (Again, no need for nasty emails. I am not voting for vigilantism. But, let's be real, if the "authorities" will not act, people will do what they need to do to protect themselves, their homes and their businesses.)
In Washington, DC, "protesters" approached people dining at a restaurant outdoors. They demanded that the white diners show solidarity with Black Lives Matter by raising their fists. The "protesters" shouted at them "White Silence is Violence." One couple refused to raise a fist. The "protesters" screamed and swore at them, and called the man a "pasty piece of shit." One woman, a supporter of BLM, who said she had marched with them, did not raise her fist. "I felt I was under attack, and being coerced - which felt wrong." To her credit, the DC Mayor said "What I saw in those videos was highly inappropriate." She asserted that DC residents won't be "bullied out of living their everyday lives." But how would people not feel bullied? How many of us would raise our fists out of fear of being assaulted or worse? This is all reminiscent of a Democratic talking point from 2018 by Maxine Waters (Rep.-CA): "If you see anybody from that (Trump) cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd, and you push back on them, and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere." What an excellent idea, because a mob can always be counted on to do the right thing.
Meanwhile, Rand Paul, a sitting United States Senator, could not safely cross the street from the White House to his hotel after leaving the last night of the RNC. Paul said he feared that he and his wife would have been severely beaten, if not killed, but for the police officers protecting them from the mob on the street. The irony is that Paul, as a libertarian, supports many of the police reforms that these "protesters" are supposedly seeking. In a bill called the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, Paul seeks an end to the no-knock policy of allowing police to enter homes without some notice or warning. And, in Kenosha, a 17 year old is charged with the murder of two people after carrying a rifle in the streets during the riots there. The charge seems excessive, and appears to have been made without a complete investigation. But I think the message is clear - perceived vigilantes will be dealt with harshly, "protesters" not so much.
To further illustrate the utter contempt and hatred that the left carries for those who disagree, we have actress Bette Midler. After hearing the speech by First Lady Melania Trump, Middler Tweeted this: "Oh, G-d. She still can't speak English. A UGE bore. She can speak several words in a few languages. Get that illegal alien off the stage." What class. Contrast that with the words of Julia Jackson, the mother of Jacao Blake, shortly after he was shot in Kenosha: "My family and I are very hurt. And quite frankly disgusted...please don't burn up property and cause havoc and tear your own homes down in my son's name...As I was riding through here, through the city, I noticed a lot of damage. It doesn't reflect my son or my family. If Jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased." We would all do well to take a step back and honor this Mother's words.
(Note: The following is a shameless plug on behalf of a friend and reader. Evan Sayet is a well known speaker, author and comedian within conservative circles. He has a new book out called "The Woke Supremacy - An Anti-Socialist Manifesto." It is on sale at Amazon for $9.99. I have already ordered my own copy. I receive no fees or kickbacks or any other remuneration for this plug. Evan previously authored "The KinderGarden of Eden: How the Modern Liberal Thinks And Why He's Convinced That Ignorance Is Bliss." Should you buy one or both of Evan's books I hope that you find them informative.)
Howard Kurtz of Fox pointed out that CNN and MSNBC carried nearly every minute of the Democratic convention (about 520 out of about 580 minutes). But for the Republican convention, they kept breaking in with "fact-checking, criticism and punditry." About one hour into the Republican convention, the New York Times told us: "GOP Pushes Falsehoods and Fear at Convention." While one CNN newscaster was standing in front of an image of Kenosha burning, the chyron (the headline at the bottom of the screen) told us "FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER POLICE SHOOTING." The irony was inescapable. As one comment said: "...Irresponsible clowns. It's not even funny. Months of enabling violence and destruction by ignoring and downplaying it, thereby eliminating any pressure on politicians to take action."
Meanwhile, at MSNBC, Rachel Maddow could not accept South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's attack on Democrat run cities. Noem: "From Seattle and Portland to Washington and New York, Democrat run cities across this country are being overrun by violent mobs." Maddow claimed that was "very wrong," and turned to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan for her take. You know, Seattle, with the "peaceful" CHOP/CHAZ. Too bad Maddow did not also have the Mayor of Portland, where they tried to burn down a police station with people locked inside, and where there have been violent "protests" for over 90 days.
Recall in the last post I mentioned the 8/21/20 front page headline in the New York Times: "BIDEN VOWS TO GUIDE THE U.S. OUT OF 'DARKNESS.'" That was the Times telling us that Trump's America is dark. Following Trump's speech, the Times' headline across the top of the front page was: "ACCEPTING BID, TRUMP PAINTS BIDEN AS UNSAFE." The subheadline was "Falsely Warning of Support for 'Anarchists' as He Shows His Grip on the G.O.P." In another story on the front page above the fold is this: "President is Unchastened by Time in Office, Even Impeachment." But the subheadline to the Biden speech was: "Accepting Nomination, He Rebukes Trump and Pledges to 'Draw on the Best of Us." Some of the language is subtle, but the bias is there. Trump "falsely" warns. Biden "rebukes," as a teacher does. And, Trump paints Biden as unsafe - as if Biden and the Dems have not constantly told us that Trump is a danger to democracy.
Here's Don Lemon of CNN, reflecting what Democrats have believed about Republicans since Hillary's "basket of deplorables." "They like what he (Trump) presents. They like the lies, one would have to. If you don't like the lies, then you're not a supporter. They like the shiny objects. They like the racism. They like the misogyny. They like all of it because if they didn't, they wouldn't support him." The Democrats who think (and I use the word loosely) like Lemon cannot conceive of any legitimate reason for preferring Trump over Biden. This helps to explain why they are perfectly at ease with shutting down opposing views - because such views cannot posibly be legitimate. If you think Lemon is alone, here is Elie Mystal writing for The Nation: "Most White Republican voters don't need permission for white supremacy. They're racist themselves and think being racist is just commonsense...The irreducible core of his base is white people who think being openly racist and violent toward Black people is an inalienable right that has been taken from them by 'cancel culture.'" And, talking about the black speakers at the RNC, Mystal said this: "What anger I have for this particular crop of Black tokens comes from the fact that so many of them volunteered..." To recap, whites who vote for Trump are evil, whites who vote for Biden (who once described the segregationist Strom Thurmond as one of his closest friends) are good. Any black who supports Trump is a token and worse I'm sure, because, as Biden told Black people: "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black." This type of "thinking," this group-think, is rampant throughout the Democratic party and mainstream media and Hollywood and academia.
Here is some of the biggest bias not even recognized by many people (Democrats). What do you know about Brandon Stanley, Daniel Shaver or James Scott? Nothing, right? Because they are three White people who were shot and killed by police. Therefore, you did not read about them day after day after day in the mainstream media. (Before anyone starts to send me a nasty email, I continue to condemn the killing of George Floyd, and, absent some unknown exculpatory evidence on behalf of the police, I am also disturbed by the shooting of Jacob Blake.) But, according to the article by John McWhorter in the 7/14/16 Time magazine, Shaver had complied with police orders and was shot anyway. Scott was told to drop his gun, which he did, but did not raise his hands. And Stanley was trying to evade a warrant. No rioting, no looting, no burning down of businesses after they were killed. An opposing viewpoint might be - maybe there should have been. No. I am at a loss to understand why business owners should lose everything because of possible misconduct by the police. That's like saying "I'm angry at Smith so I'm going to take it out on Jones." McWhorter: "...all three were killed by police under circumstances that would almost surely have elicited indignant protests nationwide if they were black."
Here is some more information the mainstream media would not want you to know. From 1/1/17 to 8/6/20, a total of 3,545 people were shot and killed by police in the US, according to Statista. I think we can all agree that we would like to see less than 1000 people a year shot and killed by police. The statistic alone, however, does not tell us whether or not any police reforms might reduce those numbers, and to what extent. Of that total, Statista reports that 40.6% of those killed were white, 21.9% were black, 15.7% were hispanic, 3.8% were "other," and 17.9% were "unknown." Brookings reported that in 2019 in the US, 60.1% of the people were white, 12.1% were black (other sites say 13.4%), 18.5% were hispanic and 6% were Asian. But we know that blacks commit crimes at a significantly higher rate than their percentage of the population might predict. As previously reported in this blog, from 1980 to 2008, blacks accounted for 52.5% of the hoicides in the US, well in excess of their percentage of the population. (According to the US Department of Justice.) The point, which apparently needs repeating, the more crimes you commit the greater the liklihood of having interactions with the police. (Please do not email me to tell me perfectly innocent people have been shot and killed by police. I know. It's awful.)
I have watched the news and have seen that many of the "protesters" are white. That does not make it any better when we see businesses being looted or torched. Here are some more disturbing statistics (from Fox): Homicides are up 24% from the beginning of the year to early August in the 50 largest cities in the US. Murders in New York City are up 35% compared to the same period last year. Shootings are up 87% in New York City. In the City of Chicago alone, 2,700 people have been shot so far this year. As of early August, the largest cities have had a total of 3,600 homicides. The Mayors of New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Washington are all Democrats. Cities that have seen major lawlessness. This year, and breaking with the usual alliance between Democrats and unions, many police unions have announced their support for Donald Trump. If the politicians do not support the police, the police will be fearful of doing their jobs. When that happens, anarchy reigns. And when anarchy reigns, many citizens - armed citizens - are going to take action. (Again, no need for nasty emails. I am not voting for vigilantism. But, let's be real, if the "authorities" will not act, people will do what they need to do to protect themselves, their homes and their businesses.)
In Washington, DC, "protesters" approached people dining at a restaurant outdoors. They demanded that the white diners show solidarity with Black Lives Matter by raising their fists. The "protesters" shouted at them "White Silence is Violence." One couple refused to raise a fist. The "protesters" screamed and swore at them, and called the man a "pasty piece of shit." One woman, a supporter of BLM, who said she had marched with them, did not raise her fist. "I felt I was under attack, and being coerced - which felt wrong." To her credit, the DC Mayor said "What I saw in those videos was highly inappropriate." She asserted that DC residents won't be "bullied out of living their everyday lives." But how would people not feel bullied? How many of us would raise our fists out of fear of being assaulted or worse? This is all reminiscent of a Democratic talking point from 2018 by Maxine Waters (Rep.-CA): "If you see anybody from that (Trump) cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd, and you push back on them, and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere." What an excellent idea, because a mob can always be counted on to do the right thing.
Meanwhile, Rand Paul, a sitting United States Senator, could not safely cross the street from the White House to his hotel after leaving the last night of the RNC. Paul said he feared that he and his wife would have been severely beaten, if not killed, but for the police officers protecting them from the mob on the street. The irony is that Paul, as a libertarian, supports many of the police reforms that these "protesters" are supposedly seeking. In a bill called the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, Paul seeks an end to the no-knock policy of allowing police to enter homes without some notice or warning. And, in Kenosha, a 17 year old is charged with the murder of two people after carrying a rifle in the streets during the riots there. The charge seems excessive, and appears to have been made without a complete investigation. But I think the message is clear - perceived vigilantes will be dealt with harshly, "protesters" not so much.
To further illustrate the utter contempt and hatred that the left carries for those who disagree, we have actress Bette Midler. After hearing the speech by First Lady Melania Trump, Middler Tweeted this: "Oh, G-d. She still can't speak English. A UGE bore. She can speak several words in a few languages. Get that illegal alien off the stage." What class. Contrast that with the words of Julia Jackson, the mother of Jacao Blake, shortly after he was shot in Kenosha: "My family and I are very hurt. And quite frankly disgusted...please don't burn up property and cause havoc and tear your own homes down in my son's name...As I was riding through here, through the city, I noticed a lot of damage. It doesn't reflect my son or my family. If Jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased." We would all do well to take a step back and honor this Mother's words.
(Note: The following is a shameless plug on behalf of a friend and reader. Evan Sayet is a well known speaker, author and comedian within conservative circles. He has a new book out called "The Woke Supremacy - An Anti-Socialist Manifesto." It is on sale at Amazon for $9.99. I have already ordered my own copy. I receive no fees or kickbacks or any other remuneration for this plug. Evan previously authored "The KinderGarden of Eden: How the Modern Liberal Thinks And Why He's Convinced That Ignorance Is Bliss." Should you buy one or both of Evan's books I hope that you find them informative.)
Sunday, August 23, 2020
The Coronavirus Twenty-Three Weeks Later - The Democrats Have Their Virtual Convention
It was different. Admittedly, I did not watch all that much, although I read the big speeches. Just not as exciting as having all the state delegates present, and having the news people on the floor able to catch attendees on the fly for a quick interview. My guess is that this will be the last convention in which the older generation of Democrats run the show - and the party. I don't expect Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders or Nancy Pelosi to have the same influence next time around. Rather, the younger, more radical, members of the party are likely to have greater sway. I did learn a few things. Mainly, for the Democrats this election is all about President Trump's personality and character. They felt no need to delve into policy issues. I also learned that Trump is personally resonsible for the over 5 million coronavirus cases and over 170,000 deaths in the US. Lastly, and as is predictable from the Dems, they are still living from 60 to 250 years ago, with no apparent cognizance of the present, save Trump. Let's take a look at some of their words.
The Dems touted Colin Powell as a Republican against Trump. If Powell is a Republican, then I'm a 7'5" center for the Los Angeles Lakers. This "Republican" could not bring himself to vote for John McCain or Mitt Romney. So, please. Here are some choice words from Powell's speech. "With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries - never the other way around." Right, because we saw that so clearly as part of the Obama-Biden administration. Had the "reset" button with Russia, and Russia then invaded the Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Drew a "red line" for Syria, warning them about the use of chemical weapons. Syria ignored the threat, and Obama did nothing. Gave Iran, the biggest state sponsor of terror, $150 billion. Yep, that's what we call standing up to our adversaries.
What about "standing with our friends?" In 2009, Obama gave his speech to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt. Egypt, under Mubarek, was considered an ally of the US. But Obama saw fit to invite members of the terrorist Muslim Botherhood, a group that was outlawed in Egypt. Mubarek was furious and refused to attend the speech. What about our allies of the Sunni Arab Gulf states? They were furious with Obama for making the Iran deal, Iran being a threat to the rest of the Middle East. And what about our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel? Obama clearly hated Netanyahu. And in his last full month in office, Obama gave the middle finger to Israel by having our UN Ambassador failing to veto an anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council. Recall that the resolution said Israel had no right to any land beyond the 1967 borders borders (those borders simply being a cease-fire line, with no actual agreement on borders), essentially rewarding the Palestinians for their decades of killing Jews, and giving the Palestinians the holiest sites in Judaism in so-called East Jerusalem. If that is standing by allies, then as the saying goes - with friends like these, who needs enemies.
Former President Obama broke protocol and precedent in bashing the current President. Although, it is not as if Trump adheres to protocol either. But the Dems tell us that they take the high road. Obama: "For close to four years now, he's (Trump) shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground - no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends..." Put in the work? He has more energy than most 74 year olds. He has met with numerous foreign leaders. He tried to make a deal with North Korea. He successfully brokered a deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the first deal between an Arab country and Israel in 26 years. No interest in finding common ground? With the people who repeatedly called him an illegitimate president, and spent 2 1/2 years trying to oust him through impeachment. Would the "common ground" be like when Obama told the Republicans "I won" the election, in 2009? Or in 2010 when Obama said "we don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in the back." And, let's not forget Obama's "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone," explaining why he did not need to work with the Republican Congress. Trump only helped himself and his friends? Would that be like the 4% and lower unemployment rate from July, 2018 through January, 2020? The lowest unemployment rates for women and minorities in 50 years. Like that, Obama?
An aside for a moment. Recall, if you will, that in last week's post I mentioned the historic agreement between Israel and the UAE, which Trump and Kushner were instrumental in putting together. I pointed out that the New York Times did not deem it to be worthy of a full page headline. But, the Times on Friday did have an across the entire top of the front page headline. Was it a major international news story? A major national story? No, it wasn't a story at all, as in all caps they told us: "BIDEN VOWS TO GUIDE U.S. OUT OF 'DARKNESS.'" In other words, they gave us one of Biden's talking points from his speech. It wasn't a news story at all. Biden: "United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America." Of course, it matters not that for conservatives and Republicans the "season of darkness" was during the Obama presidency. But the writers at the Times could not conceive of anyone thinking that way about Obama. They are no different than the soccer player, Reggie Cannon, discussed in the last post.
Back to Biden. "Character is on the ballot." I get it. And, in earlier time, it might be an issue for me and other conservatives. But not when faced with an onslaught of left-wing ideology from the Democrats. And, while I don't agree with Trump getting involved in a squabble with anyone who insults him, I have no problem with the way he stands up to the lying mainstream media and Democrats. After all, the media goes after every Republican president and presidential candidate; it's good to have one that is willing to fight back.
Biden: "Just judge this president on the facts. 5 million Americans infected with COVID-19. More than 170,000 Americans have died. By far the worst performance of any nation on earth." Yep, Trump is a mass murderer. But on January 31, Trump declared a public health emergency, and banned incoming flights from China of anyone who had been in China during the prior two weeks. Many on the left were offended. Sanders said he wouldn't close the borders to stop the virus from spreading. Here's Biden: "You know we have right now a crisis with the coronavirus, emanating from China...This is no time for Donald Trump's record of hysterical xenophobia and fearmongering to lead the way instead of science." Here's Biden in 2009 discussing the Swine flu: "If you're out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that's one thing." But "I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now...If you're in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it's a different thing." So, the quick to panic Joe Biden would have effectively shut down the country. There were an estimated 60.8 million cases of the Swine flu from 4/12/09-4/10/10, but only 12,469 deaths - far less than the numbers of many seasonal flus. Would Biden shut down the country every flu season? And Biden says he is willing to shut the country down upon taking office in January, if he wins. That ought to put the weakened economy in the toilet. Biden says the US has the "worst" performance of any country. As of 8/5/20, and measuring the number of cases per 100,000 people, Johns Hopkins University said the US was eighth - not first - in the world, following Belgium, the UK, Peru, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Chile.
Biden, of course, also blamed Trump for the over 50 million unemployment claims during the pandemic. Again, judging this president "on the facts," Biden said: "More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment this year." Never mind that the unemployment rate was at historic lows under Trump until the pandemic. Never mind that 50 governors decided when and how much of their states should be shut down. California's governor was the first in the country to order a statewide shutdown, and did so on 3/19/20. So, does Biden hold Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom responsible for the millions of California residents who lost their jobs as a result of the state's shutdown?
Speaking of Governor Newsom, he was asked at a press conference a couple of days ago about how he's dealing with the fires throughout the state, and whether federal aid was forthcoming. After stating that he has maintained strong personal relationships with the President and Vice President, Newsom said this: "I can only say this...there's not one phone call that I have made to the President where he hasn't quickly responded and almost in every instance he's responded favorably in terms of addressing the needs - the emergency needs of this state - through COVID and over the course of the last year and a half that I've been Governor as it relates to these wildfires."
Back to Biden again. He explained what his winning the election would mean for people, and said this: "Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the 'knee on the neck.'" There it is. As I said in the first paragraph, nothing has changed for these Democrats in the last 250 years. One police officer put one knee on the neck of one black man - but no, blacks are enslaved in this country still. There was no Civil War, no 13th Amendment, no 14th Amendment, no civil rights legislation. We do not have successful blacks in all walks of American life. We do not have black millionaires, and even billionaires. Not really much different than Biden telling blacks during the 2012 campaign that Romney's policies would "put y'all back in chains." This is how the Democrats hold onto the black vote - by telling blacks how bad the country is, that they have "the knee on their neck," and that Democrats will be their salvation. It's all a lie, of course. Look what a good job Democratic mayors across the country are doing while their cities burn. Oh, that's right. There is no looting or rioting or burning going on. Hundreds and hundreds of stores are not boarded up in various cities. If any of that were happening we surely would have heard something from the Democrats when they had a nationwide audience. Nope, nothing to see here, please move along. These are today's Democrats - afraid to offend BLM or other radical groups - and so they will not even criticize the most violent among them.
On the other hand, the Dems have no issue with anti-Semites being part of their big tent. On various online meetings of different groups supporting Biden, were Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Imam Hussain, AOC, and others who have expressed anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views. But no surprise. Recall Nancy Pelosi called Ilhan Omar a "valuable member" of her caucus, and contributed $14,000 to help Omar's reelection campaign. Besides, in yet another recent poll (YouGov, as reported by the Economist) only 24% of Biden supporters view Israel as an ally. Only 24%! Here's one quote from Sarsour: "Nothing is creepier than Zionism." Yes, the Biden campaign disavowed Sarsour's comments. But so what? At this point the anti-Semites are firmly implanted within the Democratic Party. Tamika Mallory called Louis Farrakhan the G.O.A.T. - greatest of all time. He is certainly the greatest anti-Semite of our time in this country. After MoveOn.org pressured the Democratic candidates for president to not attend the annual AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington) convention, only Mike Bloomberg attended. To his credit, Biden at least attended via video. Kamala Harris refused to attend, but met with some AIPAC representatives in her office. This type of appeasement to the Israel haters got her nowhere, as she was harshly criticized for having anything to do with AIPAC. A potential vice president, and even president, who would not stand up publicly for our ally Israel is disturbing. But following the Obama-Biden mistreatment of Israel, hardly surprising.
Those who vote for Biden, who are they really voting for? According to a Rasmussen poll, 59% of likely voters think Harris will become president during Biden's first term if they win. That includes 49% of Democrats, 57% of independents and 73% of Republicans. That would certainly warrant the utmost scrutiny of Harris by the media. Just don't expect it.
The Dems touted Colin Powell as a Republican against Trump. If Powell is a Republican, then I'm a 7'5" center for the Los Angeles Lakers. This "Republican" could not bring himself to vote for John McCain or Mitt Romney. So, please. Here are some choice words from Powell's speech. "With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries - never the other way around." Right, because we saw that so clearly as part of the Obama-Biden administration. Had the "reset" button with Russia, and Russia then invaded the Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Drew a "red line" for Syria, warning them about the use of chemical weapons. Syria ignored the threat, and Obama did nothing. Gave Iran, the biggest state sponsor of terror, $150 billion. Yep, that's what we call standing up to our adversaries.
What about "standing with our friends?" In 2009, Obama gave his speech to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt. Egypt, under Mubarek, was considered an ally of the US. But Obama saw fit to invite members of the terrorist Muslim Botherhood, a group that was outlawed in Egypt. Mubarek was furious and refused to attend the speech. What about our allies of the Sunni Arab Gulf states? They were furious with Obama for making the Iran deal, Iran being a threat to the rest of the Middle East. And what about our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel? Obama clearly hated Netanyahu. And in his last full month in office, Obama gave the middle finger to Israel by having our UN Ambassador failing to veto an anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council. Recall that the resolution said Israel had no right to any land beyond the 1967 borders borders (those borders simply being a cease-fire line, with no actual agreement on borders), essentially rewarding the Palestinians for their decades of killing Jews, and giving the Palestinians the holiest sites in Judaism in so-called East Jerusalem. If that is standing by allies, then as the saying goes - with friends like these, who needs enemies.
Former President Obama broke protocol and precedent in bashing the current President. Although, it is not as if Trump adheres to protocol either. But the Dems tell us that they take the high road. Obama: "For close to four years now, he's (Trump) shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground - no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends..." Put in the work? He has more energy than most 74 year olds. He has met with numerous foreign leaders. He tried to make a deal with North Korea. He successfully brokered a deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the first deal between an Arab country and Israel in 26 years. No interest in finding common ground? With the people who repeatedly called him an illegitimate president, and spent 2 1/2 years trying to oust him through impeachment. Would the "common ground" be like when Obama told the Republicans "I won" the election, in 2009? Or in 2010 when Obama said "we don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in the back." And, let's not forget Obama's "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone," explaining why he did not need to work with the Republican Congress. Trump only helped himself and his friends? Would that be like the 4% and lower unemployment rate from July, 2018 through January, 2020? The lowest unemployment rates for women and minorities in 50 years. Like that, Obama?
An aside for a moment. Recall, if you will, that in last week's post I mentioned the historic agreement between Israel and the UAE, which Trump and Kushner were instrumental in putting together. I pointed out that the New York Times did not deem it to be worthy of a full page headline. But, the Times on Friday did have an across the entire top of the front page headline. Was it a major international news story? A major national story? No, it wasn't a story at all, as in all caps they told us: "BIDEN VOWS TO GUIDE U.S. OUT OF 'DARKNESS.'" In other words, they gave us one of Biden's talking points from his speech. It wasn't a news story at all. Biden: "United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America." Of course, it matters not that for conservatives and Republicans the "season of darkness" was during the Obama presidency. But the writers at the Times could not conceive of anyone thinking that way about Obama. They are no different than the soccer player, Reggie Cannon, discussed in the last post.
Back to Biden. "Character is on the ballot." I get it. And, in earlier time, it might be an issue for me and other conservatives. But not when faced with an onslaught of left-wing ideology from the Democrats. And, while I don't agree with Trump getting involved in a squabble with anyone who insults him, I have no problem with the way he stands up to the lying mainstream media and Democrats. After all, the media goes after every Republican president and presidential candidate; it's good to have one that is willing to fight back.
Biden: "Just judge this president on the facts. 5 million Americans infected with COVID-19. More than 170,000 Americans have died. By far the worst performance of any nation on earth." Yep, Trump is a mass murderer. But on January 31, Trump declared a public health emergency, and banned incoming flights from China of anyone who had been in China during the prior two weeks. Many on the left were offended. Sanders said he wouldn't close the borders to stop the virus from spreading. Here's Biden: "You know we have right now a crisis with the coronavirus, emanating from China...This is no time for Donald Trump's record of hysterical xenophobia and fearmongering to lead the way instead of science." Here's Biden in 2009 discussing the Swine flu: "If you're out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that's one thing." But "I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now...If you're in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it's a different thing." So, the quick to panic Joe Biden would have effectively shut down the country. There were an estimated 60.8 million cases of the Swine flu from 4/12/09-4/10/10, but only 12,469 deaths - far less than the numbers of many seasonal flus. Would Biden shut down the country every flu season? And Biden says he is willing to shut the country down upon taking office in January, if he wins. That ought to put the weakened economy in the toilet. Biden says the US has the "worst" performance of any country. As of 8/5/20, and measuring the number of cases per 100,000 people, Johns Hopkins University said the US was eighth - not first - in the world, following Belgium, the UK, Peru, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Chile.
Biden, of course, also blamed Trump for the over 50 million unemployment claims during the pandemic. Again, judging this president "on the facts," Biden said: "More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment this year." Never mind that the unemployment rate was at historic lows under Trump until the pandemic. Never mind that 50 governors decided when and how much of their states should be shut down. California's governor was the first in the country to order a statewide shutdown, and did so on 3/19/20. So, does Biden hold Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom responsible for the millions of California residents who lost their jobs as a result of the state's shutdown?
Speaking of Governor Newsom, he was asked at a press conference a couple of days ago about how he's dealing with the fires throughout the state, and whether federal aid was forthcoming. After stating that he has maintained strong personal relationships with the President and Vice President, Newsom said this: "I can only say this...there's not one phone call that I have made to the President where he hasn't quickly responded and almost in every instance he's responded favorably in terms of addressing the needs - the emergency needs of this state - through COVID and over the course of the last year and a half that I've been Governor as it relates to these wildfires."
Back to Biden again. He explained what his winning the election would mean for people, and said this: "Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the 'knee on the neck.'" There it is. As I said in the first paragraph, nothing has changed for these Democrats in the last 250 years. One police officer put one knee on the neck of one black man - but no, blacks are enslaved in this country still. There was no Civil War, no 13th Amendment, no 14th Amendment, no civil rights legislation. We do not have successful blacks in all walks of American life. We do not have black millionaires, and even billionaires. Not really much different than Biden telling blacks during the 2012 campaign that Romney's policies would "put y'all back in chains." This is how the Democrats hold onto the black vote - by telling blacks how bad the country is, that they have "the knee on their neck," and that Democrats will be their salvation. It's all a lie, of course. Look what a good job Democratic mayors across the country are doing while their cities burn. Oh, that's right. There is no looting or rioting or burning going on. Hundreds and hundreds of stores are not boarded up in various cities. If any of that were happening we surely would have heard something from the Democrats when they had a nationwide audience. Nope, nothing to see here, please move along. These are today's Democrats - afraid to offend BLM or other radical groups - and so they will not even criticize the most violent among them.
On the other hand, the Dems have no issue with anti-Semites being part of their big tent. On various online meetings of different groups supporting Biden, were Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Imam Hussain, AOC, and others who have expressed anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views. But no surprise. Recall Nancy Pelosi called Ilhan Omar a "valuable member" of her caucus, and contributed $14,000 to help Omar's reelection campaign. Besides, in yet another recent poll (YouGov, as reported by the Economist) only 24% of Biden supporters view Israel as an ally. Only 24%! Here's one quote from Sarsour: "Nothing is creepier than Zionism." Yes, the Biden campaign disavowed Sarsour's comments. But so what? At this point the anti-Semites are firmly implanted within the Democratic Party. Tamika Mallory called Louis Farrakhan the G.O.A.T. - greatest of all time. He is certainly the greatest anti-Semite of our time in this country. After MoveOn.org pressured the Democratic candidates for president to not attend the annual AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington) convention, only Mike Bloomberg attended. To his credit, Biden at least attended via video. Kamala Harris refused to attend, but met with some AIPAC representatives in her office. This type of appeasement to the Israel haters got her nowhere, as she was harshly criticized for having anything to do with AIPAC. A potential vice president, and even president, who would not stand up publicly for our ally Israel is disturbing. But following the Obama-Biden mistreatment of Israel, hardly surprising.
Those who vote for Biden, who are they really voting for? According to a Rasmussen poll, 59% of likely voters think Harris will become president during Biden's first term if they win. That includes 49% of Democrats, 57% of independents and 73% of Republicans. That would certainly warrant the utmost scrutiny of Harris by the media. Just don't expect it.
Monday, August 17, 2020
The Coronavirus Twenty-Two Weeks Later - Israel and the UAE Make Peace, BLM and Other News.
It was quite a major foreign policy breakthrough. Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to complete "normalization of relations." It is expected that each country will now open an embassy (although it is unclear if the UAE embassy will be in Jerusalem, Israel's capital, or in Tel Aviv) in the other's country. The New York Times reported that, as described by President Trump, the "deal would lead to greater cooperation on investment, tourism, security, technology, energy and other areas while the two countries move to allow regular direct passenger flights, open embassies and trade ambassadors for the first time." In 1979, Israel and Egypt entered into what can only be described as an uneasy peace agreement, which has nevertheless held. The same with Jordan in 1994.
This peace deal is truly historic. However, much of the mainstream could not see fit to give the President and his emissary, son-in-law Jared Kuschner, any credit. On the front page of the 8/14/20 New York Times in the upper right was this headline: "Israelis and U.A.E. Agree To Full Ties In Landmark Deal." No mention of Trump. Immediately below were two subheadlines leading into two stories about the deal. Neither subheadline mentioned Trump. Had this deal been brought about by Obama, I have no doubt that the headline would have been spread across the entire width of the front page with something like "Obama Succeeds In Mid-East Peace Deal That Many Thought Was Impossible." Subheadline: "Exercising Extraordinary Diplomacy, Obama Says Other Arab States Are Likely To Follow."
Joe Biden was quick to take some credit for the historic deal. "The coming together of Israel and Arab states builds on the efforts of multiple administrations to foster a broader Arab-Israeli opening, including the efforts of the Obama-Biden administration to build on the Arab Peace iniative." If you hate Trump, or just do not know better, then this whopper of a lie may sound plausible. But the Arab Peace iniative asserted that Israel had to recede to the so-called 1967 borders (of no legal significance) and recognize a Palestinian state in order for Arab countries to establish relations with Israel. But, as most Republicans and a few Democrats know, the Palestinians have regularly rejected all peace offers, and declared their desire to take over all the land of Israel. So the Arab Peace iniative was going nowhere.
Although, the Obama-Biden administration was of some help. By cozying up to the Ayatollahs in Iran, Obama and Biden made it clear to the Gulf Arab states that the United States would not be a trustworthy ally in opposing the terrorist sponsoring and aspiring nuclear power of Iran. On the other hand, Israel and the Gulf states shared a distrust of Iran. Additionally, Israel is an economic and technological powerhouse in the Middle East. No doubt that the UAE (and perhaps other Gulf states) see that it is in their interest to have normalized relations with a country like Israel. Maybe they decided it was time to stop putting Palestinian interests ahead of their own, especially given the Palestinians lack of interest in settling the long-standing dispute. Objecting to the deal were, of course, the Palestinians, and Iran and Turkey. Under Erdogan, Turkey has been moving away from being a secular country to more Islamist. Admittedly, the UAE and some other Arab countries are rated "not free" by Freedom House. But, as with all countries, Israel does not get to pick its neighbors. And this deal, and others if they happen, can not help but add stability to a region that desperately needs it. And just maybe the Palestinians will come to realize that the rest of the world is not going to wait for an end to their intransigence.
Here is an example of some classic Leftist thinking. At the start of a Major League Soccer game in Frisco, Texas between FC Dallas and Nashville SC, the players on both teams took a knee during the playing of the national anthem. The fans were not pleased, and player Reggie Cannon said this afterwards: "I think it was disgusting. I think it was absolutely disgusting. You got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in. Millions of other people support this cause and we discussed with every other team and the league what we're going to do and we've got fans booing us in our own stadium. How disgraceful is that?...it pissed me off...it's baffling to me." Maybe I can help you understand, Mr. Cannon. You see, as a man of the Left, you expect everyone to think like you do. When people have the nerve to express a contrary opinion you feel a need to retreat to your safe space. Well, maybe millions do agree with you, but millions do not. The only "disgusting" thing, Mr. Cannon, is how society allowed you to come to the belief that only those who agree with you get to publicly express their opinions. I might add, if you are shocked by your own fans booing you, you have clearly never been to Yankee stadium when the Yanks are losing badly.
Somewhat related, is the thinking of some who hate, who detest, Trump. Last time around, in 2016, I was called a "Putin lover" because I was going to vote for Trump. More recently I have been called a "hater." And, I have been accused of believing that the coronavirus is a hoax. Which is really strange, as I have been giving the weekly number of cases and deaths in various places every single week of the blog. Most recently, I have been accused of putting party ahead of country because of my expressed intention to vote for Trump again. To me, that is no different than Mr. Cannon not understanding that others may have a legitimate difference of opinion. And the fact that these ad hominem attacks occur with some frequency perhaps may explain why many Trump supporters remain silent.
A week ago, there was a substantial amount of looting in the Magnificent Mile area of downtown Chicago. Over 100 peope were arrested, and 13 police officers were injured. A day or so later, Black Lives Matter held a rally in support of those who were arrested. Prior to the looting, the police had shot a man who had fired on them, on Chicago's south side. Apparently, caravans from the south side then went to the downtown area for the purpose of looting. Said one of the organizers of BLM: "I don't care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or Macy's or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person has clothes...this is reparations...anything they wanted to take, they can take it because because these businesses have insurance." There is a clear understanding of how the world works. Putting aside for the moment the estimated $60 million dollars in damage, and the hundreds of stores now boarded up, I would ask this BLM organizer if she knows if all insurance policies cover this type of damage. I would ask if she knows about deductibles. I would ask what she thinks about all the people who are now out of work until such time as these businesses may reopen. What if some cannot reopen?
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finally spoke up, saying this was "abject criminal behavior." The Mayor: "This is not legitimate First Amendment protected speech. These were not poor people engaged in petty theft to feed themselves and their family. This was straight-up felony criminal conduct." For those inclined to support the BLM movement, here is more of what that organizer had to say: "The fact that anyone gives a shit about these businesses over what is happening in this city right now and the pain that people are in and the suffering that is taking place, I don't care." And then there is this: "The whole idea of criminality is based on racism anyway...because criminality is punishing people for things that they have needed to do to survive or just the way that society has affected them with white supremacist B.S." I think I'll let her words speak for themselves.
The New York Times reported that, after the rioting and looting in New York City, some major national chains have decided to permanently close their stores in midtown Manhattan. Those chains include JC Penney, Kate Spade, Subway, and Le Pain Quotidien. Other stores are keeping closed for the time being. But those lost jobs are of no concern to some. See above paragraph.
If you still support BLM, here is a further story out of Louisville, Kentucky, which was brought to my attention by a friend who is a retired police officer. In "The Police Tribune" was a story about a business owner who felt that the local BLM people were using Mafia-like tactics to force his agreement to certain demands they were making. This business owner was told to make 23% of his staff black and buy a minimum of 23% of his inventory from black businesses. In the alternative, he could pay a "contribution" of 1.5% of his net sales to black organizations. His last option was to face a boycott. However, the business owner claimed that he was also told that he "better put (the demands) on the door so your business is not fucked with." Having grown up in New Jersey, I am confidant in saying that this is exactly like the "protection racket" that the Mob used to extort money from legitimate business owners. The justification put forth in support of these extortionist tactics, was the fact that the area had seen significant "gentrification," including the demolition of a public housing project that resulted in many black families being displaced. If that is the case, the BLM's beef is not with legitimate business owners, but with the elected officials and government bureaucrats that made the decisions regarding the rezoning of the area.
President Trump's younger brother, Robert, just died. Trending on Twitter was "#wrongtrump." Disgusting, but not surprising given the intense hatred many on the left feel towards this President. But, in a heartwarming goodbye to his brother, the President expressed this: "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace."
This peace deal is truly historic. However, much of the mainstream could not see fit to give the President and his emissary, son-in-law Jared Kuschner, any credit. On the front page of the 8/14/20 New York Times in the upper right was this headline: "Israelis and U.A.E. Agree To Full Ties In Landmark Deal." No mention of Trump. Immediately below were two subheadlines leading into two stories about the deal. Neither subheadline mentioned Trump. Had this deal been brought about by Obama, I have no doubt that the headline would have been spread across the entire width of the front page with something like "Obama Succeeds In Mid-East Peace Deal That Many Thought Was Impossible." Subheadline: "Exercising Extraordinary Diplomacy, Obama Says Other Arab States Are Likely To Follow."
Joe Biden was quick to take some credit for the historic deal. "The coming together of Israel and Arab states builds on the efforts of multiple administrations to foster a broader Arab-Israeli opening, including the efforts of the Obama-Biden administration to build on the Arab Peace iniative." If you hate Trump, or just do not know better, then this whopper of a lie may sound plausible. But the Arab Peace iniative asserted that Israel had to recede to the so-called 1967 borders (of no legal significance) and recognize a Palestinian state in order for Arab countries to establish relations with Israel. But, as most Republicans and a few Democrats know, the Palestinians have regularly rejected all peace offers, and declared their desire to take over all the land of Israel. So the Arab Peace iniative was going nowhere.
Although, the Obama-Biden administration was of some help. By cozying up to the Ayatollahs in Iran, Obama and Biden made it clear to the Gulf Arab states that the United States would not be a trustworthy ally in opposing the terrorist sponsoring and aspiring nuclear power of Iran. On the other hand, Israel and the Gulf states shared a distrust of Iran. Additionally, Israel is an economic and technological powerhouse in the Middle East. No doubt that the UAE (and perhaps other Gulf states) see that it is in their interest to have normalized relations with a country like Israel. Maybe they decided it was time to stop putting Palestinian interests ahead of their own, especially given the Palestinians lack of interest in settling the long-standing dispute. Objecting to the deal were, of course, the Palestinians, and Iran and Turkey. Under Erdogan, Turkey has been moving away from being a secular country to more Islamist. Admittedly, the UAE and some other Arab countries are rated "not free" by Freedom House. But, as with all countries, Israel does not get to pick its neighbors. And this deal, and others if they happen, can not help but add stability to a region that desperately needs it. And just maybe the Palestinians will come to realize that the rest of the world is not going to wait for an end to their intransigence.
Here is an example of some classic Leftist thinking. At the start of a Major League Soccer game in Frisco, Texas between FC Dallas and Nashville SC, the players on both teams took a knee during the playing of the national anthem. The fans were not pleased, and player Reggie Cannon said this afterwards: "I think it was disgusting. I think it was absolutely disgusting. You got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in. Millions of other people support this cause and we discussed with every other team and the league what we're going to do and we've got fans booing us in our own stadium. How disgraceful is that?...it pissed me off...it's baffling to me." Maybe I can help you understand, Mr. Cannon. You see, as a man of the Left, you expect everyone to think like you do. When people have the nerve to express a contrary opinion you feel a need to retreat to your safe space. Well, maybe millions do agree with you, but millions do not. The only "disgusting" thing, Mr. Cannon, is how society allowed you to come to the belief that only those who agree with you get to publicly express their opinions. I might add, if you are shocked by your own fans booing you, you have clearly never been to Yankee stadium when the Yanks are losing badly.
Somewhat related, is the thinking of some who hate, who detest, Trump. Last time around, in 2016, I was called a "Putin lover" because I was going to vote for Trump. More recently I have been called a "hater." And, I have been accused of believing that the coronavirus is a hoax. Which is really strange, as I have been giving the weekly number of cases and deaths in various places every single week of the blog. Most recently, I have been accused of putting party ahead of country because of my expressed intention to vote for Trump again. To me, that is no different than Mr. Cannon not understanding that others may have a legitimate difference of opinion. And the fact that these ad hominem attacks occur with some frequency perhaps may explain why many Trump supporters remain silent.
A week ago, there was a substantial amount of looting in the Magnificent Mile area of downtown Chicago. Over 100 peope were arrested, and 13 police officers were injured. A day or so later, Black Lives Matter held a rally in support of those who were arrested. Prior to the looting, the police had shot a man who had fired on them, on Chicago's south side. Apparently, caravans from the south side then went to the downtown area for the purpose of looting. Said one of the organizers of BLM: "I don't care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or Macy's or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person has clothes...this is reparations...anything they wanted to take, they can take it because because these businesses have insurance." There is a clear understanding of how the world works. Putting aside for the moment the estimated $60 million dollars in damage, and the hundreds of stores now boarded up, I would ask this BLM organizer if she knows if all insurance policies cover this type of damage. I would ask if she knows about deductibles. I would ask what she thinks about all the people who are now out of work until such time as these businesses may reopen. What if some cannot reopen?
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finally spoke up, saying this was "abject criminal behavior." The Mayor: "This is not legitimate First Amendment protected speech. These were not poor people engaged in petty theft to feed themselves and their family. This was straight-up felony criminal conduct." For those inclined to support the BLM movement, here is more of what that organizer had to say: "The fact that anyone gives a shit about these businesses over what is happening in this city right now and the pain that people are in and the suffering that is taking place, I don't care." And then there is this: "The whole idea of criminality is based on racism anyway...because criminality is punishing people for things that they have needed to do to survive or just the way that society has affected them with white supremacist B.S." I think I'll let her words speak for themselves.
The New York Times reported that, after the rioting and looting in New York City, some major national chains have decided to permanently close their stores in midtown Manhattan. Those chains include JC Penney, Kate Spade, Subway, and Le Pain Quotidien. Other stores are keeping closed for the time being. But those lost jobs are of no concern to some. See above paragraph.
If you still support BLM, here is a further story out of Louisville, Kentucky, which was brought to my attention by a friend who is a retired police officer. In "The Police Tribune" was a story about a business owner who felt that the local BLM people were using Mafia-like tactics to force his agreement to certain demands they were making. This business owner was told to make 23% of his staff black and buy a minimum of 23% of his inventory from black businesses. In the alternative, he could pay a "contribution" of 1.5% of his net sales to black organizations. His last option was to face a boycott. However, the business owner claimed that he was also told that he "better put (the demands) on the door so your business is not fucked with." Having grown up in New Jersey, I am confidant in saying that this is exactly like the "protection racket" that the Mob used to extort money from legitimate business owners. The justification put forth in support of these extortionist tactics, was the fact that the area had seen significant "gentrification," including the demolition of a public housing project that resulted in many black families being displaced. If that is the case, the BLM's beef is not with legitimate business owners, but with the elected officials and government bureaucrats that made the decisions regarding the rezoning of the area.
President Trump's younger brother, Robert, just died. Trending on Twitter was "#wrongtrump." Disgusting, but not surprising given the intense hatred many on the left feel towards this President. But, in a heartwarming goodbye to his brother, the President expressed this: "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace."
Sunday, August 9, 2020
The Coronavirus Twenty-One Weeks Later - The Progressives Are On The March
Long serving (over 30 years) Democratic Representative Eliot Engel had already lost his primary election to Jamaal Bowman, who had the backing of Sanders, Warren and AOC. Engel had been a strong supporter of Israel. Bowman claims to also support Israel, but is opposed to the "ocupation." In other words, he does not support Israel. And, given the support of Socialist Sanders, and Warren and AOC, we can expect support for many leftist policy iniatives. Lacy Clay was a Democratic Representative in Missouri for 20 years, having won the seat his father held for 30 years. Clay, who is black, just lost his primary to Cori Bush, a black woman who has been part of the Black Lives Matter movement, and who was supported by...yep, the socialist Sanders.
Anti-America and anti-Israel Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar said this: "We can't stop at criminal justice reform or policing reform. We are not merely fighting to tear down the systems of oppression in the criminal justice system. We are fighting to tear down systems of oppression that exist in housing, in education, in health care, in employment, in the air we breathe." I've said it before, the Left is very good at propaganda with their use of carefully crafted phrases. Omar is not saying there is some unfairness - she is saying that in all aspects America is an oppressive country. Her audience understands very well what she means; if the country is oppressive, it must be torn down.
The progressives understand the need to inculcate left-wing ideology into the young. Here is a Tweet from Teen Vogue, which has over 13 million followers. "While we're working to abolish the police, we must also work to dismantle what the police were put here to protect: property." I'm a little unclear. Does this mean that I can walk into the Teen Vogue offices and walk out with any property that I choose? And police only protect property - not human life? In the 7/26/20 Sunday edition of the New York Times was one of their periodic "For Kids" sections. One article discusses a mural put up in Durango by a couple of women artists, with help from some neighborhood kids. In the center is a head of a black woman with a halo around the head. Above the head reads "Black Lives Matter." To the side we see "Enough is Enough," and "No Justice No Peace. "What messages are being conveyed? All blacks are angels? Blacks are constantly being targeted by the police? People should riot until there is justice, as the Left sees it? Virtually the entire section of the Times is encouraging kids to become left-wing activists.
Recall the scathing resignation letter by Bari Weiss, a liberal Op-Ed editor at the New York Times. And, the similar diatribe by Andrew Sullivan, after his termination by New York Magazine. Neither was sufficently "woke," "left-wing," "politically correct" for their respective publications. (See the 7/19/20 post.) Now, we have yet another employee of yet another mainstream media (i.e. left-wing, Democratic party) outlet also complaining of the left's intolerance for opposing views. This time, the offender is MSNBC. Explaining why she left, producer Ariana Pekary wrote: "I've even heard producers deny their role as journalists. A very capable senior producer once said: 'Our viewers don't really consider us the news. They come to us for comfort.'" And they say that Fox News is fake news.
Maureen Dowd is a regular Op-Ed columnist at the New York Times. In today's paper, Dowd wrote: "It's hard to fathom, but it has been 36 years since a man and a woman ran together on a Democratic party ticket. To use Geraldine Ferraro's favorite expression, 'Gimme a break!'" Ferraro was Walter Mondale's running mate in the 1984 election. I guess Dowd, along with whoever edits her columns, was not alive in 2016 - when Hillary Clinton ran with Tim Kaine. In the online version of this Op-Ed yesterday, a number of readers caught the error and commented accordingly.
Apparently, the Times then changed the online version to say "It has been that long since a man chose a woman to run as his vice president." Wrong again, as John McCain chose Sarah Palin in 2008. So what is going on here? We are talking about the New York Times, the self-described "paper of record." How do such falsehoods make it into an article like this? As I've said before, and as we have now been told by Bari Weiss, Andrew Sullivan and Ariana Pekary, when the agenda drives the story, truth and accuracy will always take a back seat.
Are "trigger warnings" the new normal? On the USA Network, I was greeted with this message: "We all love 90's buddy comedies...but this movie was created in a different time. FYI: Certain depictions, language and humor may seem outdated and at times offensive." Just what was the offending movie? "Rush Hour," with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Rush Hour? Admittedly, I cannot recall every scene from the movie, and I did not watch it again when it came on. But, really? A trigger warning for Rush Hour? How about all the snowflakes stay indoors and disconnect from the world. Problem solved.
Michigan's Democratic Governor was recently commenting on our latest health crisis. No, not the coronavirus pandemic. Silly. No, "racism" is a "public health crisis" according to the Governor. "We have a lot of work to do to eradicate the systemic racism that Black Americans have faced for generations." Maybe we need a civil war. Nope, did that. Maybe we need civil rights legislation. Nope, did that too. You have to love the Left - they talk like nothing has changed since 1619, when the first slaves were brought to the new world (according to the NY Times 1619 Project). The Governor issued an executive order establishing a "Black Leadership Advisory Council, which will be responsible for making policy recommendations.
Jerry Nadler (D-NY) is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. As he was walking to his car, he was approached by someone identified as a writer/producer, and was asked if he would disavow violence by Antifa in Portland (something that Democrats have been reluctant to do, similar to their reluctance to criticize the violent and crime-ridden Occupy Wall Street movement). Nadler: "That's a myth." A myth? No violence in Portland the last two months? What Nadler did do, along with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Dennie Thompson and House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, was sign on to a letter condemning the federal officers in Portland for their actions. It turns out that even the left-wing Mayor of Portland had enough of the violence. Here's Mayor Ted Wheeler: "When you commit arson with an accelerant in an attempt to burn down a building (it was a police precinct) that is occupied by people who you have intentionally trapped inside, you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder." I am curious about when the Democratic leadership might deem it worthwhile to criticize attempted murder.
One more piece of nonsense before we close. We know the countless lies the Dems and the mainstream media have told about Trump. He was going to start a war with Iran. He was going to start a nucear war with North Korea. Russian collusion, which they still talk about. But one of my "favorites" is the lie that Trump will not accept the results of the November election if he loses, and will have to forcibly be dragged from the White House. The hypocrisy is simply breathtaking. As I recall, the Democrats never accepted the results of the 2000 election. And, as we all know, they never accepted the results of the 2016 election - so much so, that they attempted a non-violent coup of a sitting president. Dems such as Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters and James Clyborn, the third highest ranking Democratic member of the House, have all said Trump will not leave if he loses. Not that the mainstream media parrots whatever the Dems say, but here is April Ryan of CNN: When the TV shows Biden being inaugurated, there will be "police and armed forces trying to pull Donald Trump out of the White House. I cannot wait for that split-screen." And I can't think of a more disgusting wish by a so-called journalist than to see a President of the United States being dragged out of the White House. I've spoken to a lot people who have an extreme hatred of Trump. I wonder how many would like to see him dragged out of the White House and summarily executed. Sounds extreme, I know. But so does all the frightening vitriol and venom I hear out of the mouths of Democraats.
Anti-America and anti-Israel Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar said this: "We can't stop at criminal justice reform or policing reform. We are not merely fighting to tear down the systems of oppression in the criminal justice system. We are fighting to tear down systems of oppression that exist in housing, in education, in health care, in employment, in the air we breathe." I've said it before, the Left is very good at propaganda with their use of carefully crafted phrases. Omar is not saying there is some unfairness - she is saying that in all aspects America is an oppressive country. Her audience understands very well what she means; if the country is oppressive, it must be torn down.
The progressives understand the need to inculcate left-wing ideology into the young. Here is a Tweet from Teen Vogue, which has over 13 million followers. "While we're working to abolish the police, we must also work to dismantle what the police were put here to protect: property." I'm a little unclear. Does this mean that I can walk into the Teen Vogue offices and walk out with any property that I choose? And police only protect property - not human life? In the 7/26/20 Sunday edition of the New York Times was one of their periodic "For Kids" sections. One article discusses a mural put up in Durango by a couple of women artists, with help from some neighborhood kids. In the center is a head of a black woman with a halo around the head. Above the head reads "Black Lives Matter." To the side we see "Enough is Enough," and "No Justice No Peace. "What messages are being conveyed? All blacks are angels? Blacks are constantly being targeted by the police? People should riot until there is justice, as the Left sees it? Virtually the entire section of the Times is encouraging kids to become left-wing activists.
Recall the scathing resignation letter by Bari Weiss, a liberal Op-Ed editor at the New York Times. And, the similar diatribe by Andrew Sullivan, after his termination by New York Magazine. Neither was sufficently "woke," "left-wing," "politically correct" for their respective publications. (See the 7/19/20 post.) Now, we have yet another employee of yet another mainstream media (i.e. left-wing, Democratic party) outlet also complaining of the left's intolerance for opposing views. This time, the offender is MSNBC. Explaining why she left, producer Ariana Pekary wrote: "I've even heard producers deny their role as journalists. A very capable senior producer once said: 'Our viewers don't really consider us the news. They come to us for comfort.'" And they say that Fox News is fake news.
Maureen Dowd is a regular Op-Ed columnist at the New York Times. In today's paper, Dowd wrote: "It's hard to fathom, but it has been 36 years since a man and a woman ran together on a Democratic party ticket. To use Geraldine Ferraro's favorite expression, 'Gimme a break!'" Ferraro was Walter Mondale's running mate in the 1984 election. I guess Dowd, along with whoever edits her columns, was not alive in 2016 - when Hillary Clinton ran with Tim Kaine. In the online version of this Op-Ed yesterday, a number of readers caught the error and commented accordingly.
Apparently, the Times then changed the online version to say "It has been that long since a man chose a woman to run as his vice president." Wrong again, as John McCain chose Sarah Palin in 2008. So what is going on here? We are talking about the New York Times, the self-described "paper of record." How do such falsehoods make it into an article like this? As I've said before, and as we have now been told by Bari Weiss, Andrew Sullivan and Ariana Pekary, when the agenda drives the story, truth and accuracy will always take a back seat.
Are "trigger warnings" the new normal? On the USA Network, I was greeted with this message: "We all love 90's buddy comedies...but this movie was created in a different time. FYI: Certain depictions, language and humor may seem outdated and at times offensive." Just what was the offending movie? "Rush Hour," with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Rush Hour? Admittedly, I cannot recall every scene from the movie, and I did not watch it again when it came on. But, really? A trigger warning for Rush Hour? How about all the snowflakes stay indoors and disconnect from the world. Problem solved.
Michigan's Democratic Governor was recently commenting on our latest health crisis. No, not the coronavirus pandemic. Silly. No, "racism" is a "public health crisis" according to the Governor. "We have a lot of work to do to eradicate the systemic racism that Black Americans have faced for generations." Maybe we need a civil war. Nope, did that. Maybe we need civil rights legislation. Nope, did that too. You have to love the Left - they talk like nothing has changed since 1619, when the first slaves were brought to the new world (according to the NY Times 1619 Project). The Governor issued an executive order establishing a "Black Leadership Advisory Council, which will be responsible for making policy recommendations.
Jerry Nadler (D-NY) is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. As he was walking to his car, he was approached by someone identified as a writer/producer, and was asked if he would disavow violence by Antifa in Portland (something that Democrats have been reluctant to do, similar to their reluctance to criticize the violent and crime-ridden Occupy Wall Street movement). Nadler: "That's a myth." A myth? No violence in Portland the last two months? What Nadler did do, along with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Dennie Thompson and House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, was sign on to a letter condemning the federal officers in Portland for their actions. It turns out that even the left-wing Mayor of Portland had enough of the violence. Here's Mayor Ted Wheeler: "When you commit arson with an accelerant in an attempt to burn down a building (it was a police precinct) that is occupied by people who you have intentionally trapped inside, you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder." I am curious about when the Democratic leadership might deem it worthwhile to criticize attempted murder.
One more piece of nonsense before we close. We know the countless lies the Dems and the mainstream media have told about Trump. He was going to start a war with Iran. He was going to start a nucear war with North Korea. Russian collusion, which they still talk about. But one of my "favorites" is the lie that Trump will not accept the results of the November election if he loses, and will have to forcibly be dragged from the White House. The hypocrisy is simply breathtaking. As I recall, the Democrats never accepted the results of the 2000 election. And, as we all know, they never accepted the results of the 2016 election - so much so, that they attempted a non-violent coup of a sitting president. Dems such as Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters and James Clyborn, the third highest ranking Democratic member of the House, have all said Trump will not leave if he loses. Not that the mainstream media parrots whatever the Dems say, but here is April Ryan of CNN: When the TV shows Biden being inaugurated, there will be "police and armed forces trying to pull Donald Trump out of the White House. I cannot wait for that split-screen." And I can't think of a more disgusting wish by a so-called journalist than to see a President of the United States being dragged out of the White House. I've spoken to a lot people who have an extreme hatred of Trump. I wonder how many would like to see him dragged out of the White House and summarily executed. Sounds extreme, I know. But so does all the frightening vitriol and venom I hear out of the mouths of Democraats.
Sunday, August 2, 2020
Sunday, July 26, 2020
The Coronavirus Nineteen Weeks Later - The Word(s) of the Day Are Race/Racist/Racism
(Ed.'s Note. On August 4, 2019 I wrote a post called "Racism, Racism, Everywhere is Racism." I said then: "For many on the Left, if you simply voted for Donald Trump for president you are automatically a racist." We are currently bombarded with messages from the Democrats/mainstream media about the systemic racism of the country. The economic system (capitalism) is racist. The educational system is racist. The justice system is racist. Police are definitely the most racist. And so on. So, here are a few ideas, along with some remedies, as the Left sees it.)
Actress Pauley Paulette, of NCIS fame, tweeted: "PLEASE DON'T FOLLOW ME IF YOU'RE A RACIST Meaning you support Trump..." There it is. But she is just an actress, you say. What about Joe Biden, who is the presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party for President of the United States. Biden: "We've had racists, and they've existed, they've tried to get elected president. He's (Trump) the first one that has." So, does that mean we can now keep the statues of Washington and Jefferson and other presidential slave owners? Can Princeton again name their school of public policy The Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy? Is this why his campaign does not allow Biden out of his basement? The Biden campaign had to correct him, of course, by saying that Trump stands out for his racism in modern times. Oh.
But make no mistake, America is racist. Who says so? The American people. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll of 900 registered voters, 56% of Americans say the country is racist. 66% of women agree, and 46% of men agree. Broken down by party, 82% of Democrats agree vs 30% of Republicans. And broken down by race, 78% of blacks say the country is racist, with 60% of Hispanics agreeing and 51% of whites also agreeing. Most disturbing? 78% of blacks and 82% of Democrats say the USA is a racist country. In a Washington Post/ABC poll, we are told that 63% support the Black Lives Matter movement. Which, ought to be renamed Black Lives Only Matter if Killed by the Police. The poll also shows 55% of Democrats support defunding the police compared to only 14% of Republicans.
But just to be sure that ALL Americans understand how racist the country is, the Loudoun County, Virginia school district has the solution. The plan is to teach "social justice" to elementary school kids. The idea is to "emphasize slavery as fundamental to American society," as described in the Washington Free Beacon. Why the need to teach this in grades K through 5? Because "sugarcoating or ignoring slavery until later grades makes students more upset by or even resistant to true stories about American history." I wonder if the New York Times' 1619 project (claiming that the country began when slaves were first brought over in 1619) will be used as the textbook. It's fine, the country is on the way out anyway. After all, if we instill a sense of how bad America is in young children, rather than a sense of patriotism, we can assure the rapid demise of this terrible country. Let's teach kindergarten kids all about murderers and rapists too.
For those young people who never received the proper instruction in their earlier grades, let's teach them in college. The California State University system is the largest in the country, with 430,000 undergraduates spread across 23 campuses. Beginning in the 2023 school year, students will be required to take a course in ethnic studies or social justice. The ethnic studies choices will be: Native American studies, African American studies, Asian American studies or Latina/o studies. If you do not fit into one of those categories, too bad for you.
Across the country at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, the English Department has a plan to deal with our racist language by "incorporating 'critical grammar' into our pedagogy." "This approach challenges the familiar dogma that writing instruction should limit emphasis on grammar/sentence-level issues so as to not put students from multilingual, non-standard 'academic' English backgrounds at a disadvantage. Instead, it encourages students to develop a critical awareness of the variety of choices available to them with regard to micro-level issues in order to empower them and equip them to push against biases based on 'written accents.'" So, aside from all the intellectual claptrap, English should have no standard usages. And, rather than assure that English is taught properly in earlier grades, let's tell college students not to bother. One speech pathologist asserted that the message from Rutgers is that minorities are incapable of understanding traditional English. It is "insulting, patronizing, and in itself, extremely racist." But it is typical elitist leftism - we of the left were all able to succeed in this racist country, but the rest of you rubes need us to understand, well, everything.
Fresh from their "1619 Project," the New York Times now has a podcast called "Nice White Parents." "When we look at how our schools are failing, we usually focus on who they're failing: Black and brown kids. We ask: Why aren't they performing better? Why aren't they achieving more?...Those are not the right questions...if you want to understand what's wrong with our public education system, you have to look at what is arguably the most powerful force in our schools: white parents." You didn't really think that the left-wing New York Times thought white people were nice, did you? What's wrong with public education - white parents. Got it?
Excuse me for asking, but what about the Jews? After all, Jews are still overwhelmingly the victims of religious hate crimes. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. Now, I know that left-wing Jews do not care about this issue. In their left-wing bubble they believe they are isolated and protected from hateful anti-Semitism. Another elitist attitude: "I'm on the left's side, they won't bother me." Social media has certain standards. But Jew-hatred is not one that will interfere with your posts. Here's one from Twitter: "#Jewish Privilege is running the Slave Trade, owning the Slave Ships and owning the Cotton Plantations but constantly blaming Slavery on White people with the very media that you completely control."
Obama made a habit of demonizing Israel. The mainstream media does it all the time, recently with the Op-Ed by Peter Beinart explaining why he no longer believes Israel should exist. (See the July 12, 2020 post, "The Coronavirus Seventeen Weeks Later - Maybe Its Time?") Now, a poll by Shibley Telhami, a professor at the University of Maryland, shows the waning support for Israel. According to the poll, 42% of young Americans (ages 18-34) support the destruction of Israel and its replacement with a non-Jewish state. 42% of young people would bring an end to the one Jewish state in the world. Should we be surprised? Between the eight years of Obama, and the propaganda machines of Hollywood, the mainstream media and academia, we really should not be surprised. The poll also found that 55% of Democrats think the Israeli government has too much influence on US politics and policies. That compares with only 19% of Republicans.
Recently, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, endorsed Rep. Ilhan Omar in her bid for reelection. Notwithstanding Omar's repeated anti-Semitic comments, Pelosi called her "a valued and important Member of our Caucus." More recently, Joe Biden spoke to the "Million Muslim Votes," a conference put on by Emgage Action, described as the largest Muslim PAC. Biden: "I wish we taught more in our schools about the Islamic faith. I wished we talked about all the great confessional faiths." Maybe we can get the Director of "Islamic Relief Worldwide" from the UK to speak. He recently said that Jews are the "grandchildren of monkeys and pigs." He also called Egypt's President a "Zionist pimp."
Oh, how I long for the days of the Obama-Biden White House. Obama and his reverend, Rev. Wright, who hated America and Israel. When Al Sharpton was able to visit the White House over 80 times. When Obama refused to say "Islamic terrorism" or "radical Islam." I yearn for the days when Obama refused to acknowledge Jews being the target of radical Muslims at a Parisian kosher market; instead saying that a "bunch of folks" were killed. Obama told us it was just a "random" attack. Because who cares when Jews are the targets? And I especially pine for December, 2016, when Obama sold Israel out at the UN and gave the Palestinians the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem, including the Old City which houses the most holy sites in Judaism. But we can get the Obama-Biden years back. We can get a Biden-Obama White House, because who really believes that the Democrats will let Biden run things if he wins.
Actress Pauley Paulette, of NCIS fame, tweeted: "PLEASE DON'T FOLLOW ME IF YOU'RE A RACIST Meaning you support Trump..." There it is. But she is just an actress, you say. What about Joe Biden, who is the presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party for President of the United States. Biden: "We've had racists, and they've existed, they've tried to get elected president. He's (Trump) the first one that has." So, does that mean we can now keep the statues of Washington and Jefferson and other presidential slave owners? Can Princeton again name their school of public policy The Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy? Is this why his campaign does not allow Biden out of his basement? The Biden campaign had to correct him, of course, by saying that Trump stands out for his racism in modern times. Oh.
But make no mistake, America is racist. Who says so? The American people. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll of 900 registered voters, 56% of Americans say the country is racist. 66% of women agree, and 46% of men agree. Broken down by party, 82% of Democrats agree vs 30% of Republicans. And broken down by race, 78% of blacks say the country is racist, with 60% of Hispanics agreeing and 51% of whites also agreeing. Most disturbing? 78% of blacks and 82% of Democrats say the USA is a racist country. In a Washington Post/ABC poll, we are told that 63% support the Black Lives Matter movement. Which, ought to be renamed Black Lives Only Matter if Killed by the Police. The poll also shows 55% of Democrats support defunding the police compared to only 14% of Republicans.
But just to be sure that ALL Americans understand how racist the country is, the Loudoun County, Virginia school district has the solution. The plan is to teach "social justice" to elementary school kids. The idea is to "emphasize slavery as fundamental to American society," as described in the Washington Free Beacon. Why the need to teach this in grades K through 5? Because "sugarcoating or ignoring slavery until later grades makes students more upset by or even resistant to true stories about American history." I wonder if the New York Times' 1619 project (claiming that the country began when slaves were first brought over in 1619) will be used as the textbook. It's fine, the country is on the way out anyway. After all, if we instill a sense of how bad America is in young children, rather than a sense of patriotism, we can assure the rapid demise of this terrible country. Let's teach kindergarten kids all about murderers and rapists too.
For those young people who never received the proper instruction in their earlier grades, let's teach them in college. The California State University system is the largest in the country, with 430,000 undergraduates spread across 23 campuses. Beginning in the 2023 school year, students will be required to take a course in ethnic studies or social justice. The ethnic studies choices will be: Native American studies, African American studies, Asian American studies or Latina/o studies. If you do not fit into one of those categories, too bad for you.
Across the country at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, the English Department has a plan to deal with our racist language by "incorporating 'critical grammar' into our pedagogy." "This approach challenges the familiar dogma that writing instruction should limit emphasis on grammar/sentence-level issues so as to not put students from multilingual, non-standard 'academic' English backgrounds at a disadvantage. Instead, it encourages students to develop a critical awareness of the variety of choices available to them with regard to micro-level issues in order to empower them and equip them to push against biases based on 'written accents.'" So, aside from all the intellectual claptrap, English should have no standard usages. And, rather than assure that English is taught properly in earlier grades, let's tell college students not to bother. One speech pathologist asserted that the message from Rutgers is that minorities are incapable of understanding traditional English. It is "insulting, patronizing, and in itself, extremely racist." But it is typical elitist leftism - we of the left were all able to succeed in this racist country, but the rest of you rubes need us to understand, well, everything.
Fresh from their "1619 Project," the New York Times now has a podcast called "Nice White Parents." "When we look at how our schools are failing, we usually focus on who they're failing: Black and brown kids. We ask: Why aren't they performing better? Why aren't they achieving more?...Those are not the right questions...if you want to understand what's wrong with our public education system, you have to look at what is arguably the most powerful force in our schools: white parents." You didn't really think that the left-wing New York Times thought white people were nice, did you? What's wrong with public education - white parents. Got it?
Excuse me for asking, but what about the Jews? After all, Jews are still overwhelmingly the victims of religious hate crimes. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. Now, I know that left-wing Jews do not care about this issue. In their left-wing bubble they believe they are isolated and protected from hateful anti-Semitism. Another elitist attitude: "I'm on the left's side, they won't bother me." Social media has certain standards. But Jew-hatred is not one that will interfere with your posts. Here's one from Twitter: "#Jewish Privilege is running the Slave Trade, owning the Slave Ships and owning the Cotton Plantations but constantly blaming Slavery on White people with the very media that you completely control."
Obama made a habit of demonizing Israel. The mainstream media does it all the time, recently with the Op-Ed by Peter Beinart explaining why he no longer believes Israel should exist. (See the July 12, 2020 post, "The Coronavirus Seventeen Weeks Later - Maybe Its Time?") Now, a poll by Shibley Telhami, a professor at the University of Maryland, shows the waning support for Israel. According to the poll, 42% of young Americans (ages 18-34) support the destruction of Israel and its replacement with a non-Jewish state. 42% of young people would bring an end to the one Jewish state in the world. Should we be surprised? Between the eight years of Obama, and the propaganda machines of Hollywood, the mainstream media and academia, we really should not be surprised. The poll also found that 55% of Democrats think the Israeli government has too much influence on US politics and policies. That compares with only 19% of Republicans.
Recently, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, endorsed Rep. Ilhan Omar in her bid for reelection. Notwithstanding Omar's repeated anti-Semitic comments, Pelosi called her "a valued and important Member of our Caucus." More recently, Joe Biden spoke to the "Million Muslim Votes," a conference put on by Emgage Action, described as the largest Muslim PAC. Biden: "I wish we taught more in our schools about the Islamic faith. I wished we talked about all the great confessional faiths." Maybe we can get the Director of "Islamic Relief Worldwide" from the UK to speak. He recently said that Jews are the "grandchildren of monkeys and pigs." He also called Egypt's President a "Zionist pimp."
Oh, how I long for the days of the Obama-Biden White House. Obama and his reverend, Rev. Wright, who hated America and Israel. When Al Sharpton was able to visit the White House over 80 times. When Obama refused to say "Islamic terrorism" or "radical Islam." I yearn for the days when Obama refused to acknowledge Jews being the target of radical Muslims at a Parisian kosher market; instead saying that a "bunch of folks" were killed. Obama told us it was just a "random" attack. Because who cares when Jews are the targets? And I especially pine for December, 2016, when Obama sold Israel out at the UN and gave the Palestinians the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem, including the Old City which houses the most holy sites in Judaism. But we can get the Obama-Biden years back. We can get a Biden-Obama White House, because who really believes that the Democrats will let Biden run things if he wins.
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