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JANUARY 19,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

IT'S ABOUT TIME – FROM FOX:   Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., walked back his criticism of the National Guard on Tuesday, one day after he remarked that Trump supporters within the military reservist branch "might want to do something" to endanger President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.  Critics, including former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., ripped Cohen after he suggested during a CNN appearance that the National Guard was a potential threat to the president-elect. In an attempt to clarify his remarks, the Democratic lawmaker said he was responding to reports that officials were conducting background checks on National Guard members – through efforts to vet security personnel are standard procedure.  "I commend the work of our law enforcement professionals and of the National Guard that supplements their efforts during major events," Cohen said in a statement. "I appreciate the assurance their presence provides that we will have a successful inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris."  Another progressive who got caught making a fool of himself. 

WHAT A STRANGE REQUEST – FROM AP:    TEHRAN, Iran — Iran urged the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to avoid publishing “unnecessary” details on Tehran’s nuclear program, state TV reported Sunday, a day after Germany, France and Britain said Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for its development of uranium metal.  The report quoted a statement from Iran’s nuclear department that asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid publishing details on Iran’s nuclear program that may cause confusion.  “It is expected the international atomic energy agency avoid providing unnecessary details and prevent paving ground for misunderstanding” in the international community, the statement said. It did not elaborate.  I'm sure we wouldn't want some misunderstanding to influence our opinion of the fine scholars in Tehran.  Choke.

January 19, 2021       Permalink

FIGHTING BACK – OVERNIGHT:  Even as Biden takes over as president, and Donald Trump leaves Washington, a movement is building to prevent the country's political class to move too far to the left.  It is made up of parents.  Watch this grow.  From College Fix: 

A movement among parents to fight left-leaning indoctrination in K-12 schools today boasts chapters in 18 states, an exponential growth rate that came in less than six months.

How did a group launched by one concerned mom get so big so fast?

“They have woken up the giant,” said Elana Yaron Fishbein, the organization’s founder.
Fishbein, in an interview with The College Fix, attributed the astronomical growth of her group to the fact that parents are fed up with far-left curriculum because “it’s threatening their kids.”

And not only that, she added, “it’s threatening their family. It’s threatening their way of life. It’s threatening their livelihood. So, it’s not something abstract, it’s very, very real.”

No Left Turn in Education is a grassroots movement of concerned parents, teachers, watchdogs and others. It essentially launched in Fishbein’s living room late last summer and today boasts chapters in 18 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

“We believe that K-12 education should be free from indoctrination and politicization,” the group’s website states. “Radical teachings motivated by a political agenda and deliberately spread by teachers, administrators, school board members, and even state officials have infiltrated schools across the nation.”

Fishbein, a doctor of social work, said in a telephone interview with The College Fix that her journey as leader of this movement began after she wrote to the superintendent of her school district, its principal, and the school board, voicing concerns about the elementary school’s new “cultural proficiency” curriculum.

“When they announced the change of the lesson plan a couple of days before the end of the school year, I opted my kids out of those lessons because they seemed to my husband and myself as ‘racist,’ and we did not understand what they wanted to achieve in it, and we felt they were really pandering to some political agenda and virtue signaling,” she said.

After weeks of not hearing back, Fishbein said she made her letter public by posting it to the group Facebook page of the school’s parents as a way to encourage discussion, but instead was “butchered online” by about 15 parents.

Before her post was taken down, parents she described as “woke” publicly denounced her and her letter as “racist.”

COMMENT:  I want to see this movement grow.  Parents angry at their school systems are a new and potentially powerful constituency.  It's true that many parents are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation against them or their kids,  But those who do are performing a noble and heroic service. 

January 19, 2021       Permalink

INAUGURATION EVE – AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  There have been happier ones.  We are inaugurating a new president, with almost no fanfare.  People on our side are demoralized, wondering what will come next from a Democratic Party, and its mouthpieces in the press.  We are told, after all, that we are the real problem, something next to terrorists, people who need to be deprogrammed to exorcize the evil within us.  If it sounds like the old Soviet Union, you're right.  Add in Nazi Germany, where the propaganda minister understood the power to shape public opinion. 

Sometimes we see a prize example of exactly what we're facing, a way of thought, a way of presenting a new reality that isn't real at all.  Consider this, from Fox:   

An op-ed published by The Washington Post last week has raised eyebrows over its explanation of why President Trump gained among minority voters despite his 2020 election defeat.

"To understand Trump’s support, we must think in terms of multiracial Whiteness," was the headline of the piece by New York University associate professor Cristina Beltrán, who pointed out that despite Trump's appeal to "white [sic] nationalists," she noticed quite a few "Latino or African American" faces among the FBI wanted posters of Capitol Hill rioters.

"Yes, Trump’s voters — and his mob — are disproportionately White, but one of the more unsettling exit-poll data points of the 2020 election was that a quarter to a third of Latino voters voted to reelect Trump," Beltrán wrote. "And while the vast majority of Latinos and an overwhelming majority of African American voters supported the Biden-Harris ticket and were crucial to its success, many Black and brown voters have family and friends who fervently backed the MAGA policy agenda, including its delusions and conspiracy theories."

Beltrán then asked, "what are we to make of unmistakably White mob violence that also includes non-White participants?" She answered her own question by introducing the "phenomenon" of "multiracial whiteness [sic] — the promise that they, too, can lay claim to the politics of aggression, exclusion and domination."

"Multiracial whiteness [sic] reflects an understanding of whiteness [sic] as a political color and not simply a racial identity — a discriminatory worldview in which feelings of freedom and belonging are produced through the persecution and dehumanization of others," Beltrán attempted to explain. "For voters who see the very act of acknowledging one’s racial identity as itself racist, the politics of multiracial whiteness [sic] reinforces their desired approach to colorblind individualism. In the politics of multiracial whiteness, anyone can join the MAGA movement and engage in the wild freedom of unbridled rage and conspiracy theories."

The Post op-ed was widely panned on social media.

"Fascinating attempt to reconcile the fact that so many non-whites [sic] voted for Trump (more than 2016), and that some of the key participants in the Capitol riot and related groups are non-white [sic]:

'Multiracial whiteness' [sic]: they're white [sic] even when they're not," journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote.

"The point of this racist WaPo piece attacking black [sic] Trump supporters is basically: We the media created a 'white [sic] nationalism' narrative about the Capitol Hill riot and now we need backfill & erase these minorities' existence," Grabien Media founder and news editor Tom Elliott reacted.

"To understand Trump's support, we must think in terms of hot coldness," Ben Shapiro quipped.

COMMENT:  Do you realize that trash like "multiracial whiteness" is being taught to children in American schools?  Find out if it's taught in a school near you.  Go to a School Board meeting.  Make sure parents know.  On the college level, make sure the person who writes the tuition checks knows.

January 19,  2021     Permalink

JANUARY 18,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

MIGHTY TRUMP – FROM FOX:    While Trump’s numbers among GOP voters have taken a hit, they still remain very healthy.  Trump’s approval rating among Republicans stands at a sky-high 87% in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, down just two points from October. CNN puts the outgoing president’s approval rating at 80%, down 14 points from three months ago.  Trump’s approval rating among Republicans in the ABC News/Washington Post survey remains a robust 79%, a drop of 9 points from October. And the president’s approval rating in the Pew Research poll stands at 60%, down from 77% in August of last year.  Frank Luntz noted that "Republicans have always been the 'law and order' party. Their opinions of Trump have taken a hit because of continued focus on the events of January 6th and their embarrassment about the violence and destruction. "  Trump remains popular on the right because his policies remain popular.  However, it remains an open question as to whether he can retain that popularity and attract sufficient support to lead a new movement, or even run again.  There would have to be a genuine "wanting" of Trump, but newer, fresher faces, with none of Trump's considerable baggage, will be coming along.

January 18, 2021       Permalink

ABORTION RETURNS AS AN ISSUE – OVERNIGHT:  But how will the America of 2021 respond?  From Western Journal:   

As the head of Planned Parenthood says, it is an “exciting” time to support abortion.

On Wednesday, President-elect Joe Biden takes office after winning what Planned Parenthood called a “life or death” election when it endorsed him.

Biden has said he plans to jettison the pro-life policies of President Donald Trump, some of which he can do with a pen and others that will require Congress to act.

“We have a ton of work to do to undo the harm over the last four years, but knowing we have champions there who understand what needs to happen in the first 100 days is tremendously exciting,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, according to NBC.

In one of his first acts as president, Trump reinstated what is known as the Mexico City policy, first adopted by former President Ronald Reagan. The policy bars foreign organizations funded by American dollars from providing information, referrals or services for abortions.

Biden said that he will reverse that policy, something he can do on his first days in office through executive action.

Biden had pledged on his campaign website that he would “restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood.”

“The Obama-Biden Administration fought Republican attacks on funding for Planned Parenthood again and again. As President, Biden will reissue guidance specifying that states cannot refuse Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers and reverse the Trump Administration’s rule preventing these organizations from obtaining Title X funds,” the campaign website said.

Title X program, which provides health care to the poor, does not directly fund abortions. The Trump administration blocked recipients of Title X funds from providing abortions with other funding or from referring patients to abortion providers.

COMMENT:  But times have changed.  Europe has placed new restrictions on abortions, and many in the upcoming generation are reported to be increasingly troubled by the practice.  New medical developments, such as photo-quality sonograms and pre-natal surgery have given the fetus an identity.  Democrats may be in for a surprise if they believe they can reverse Trump's policies without a fight. 

January 18,  2021     Permalink

TWO MORE DAYS – AT 7:30 P.M. ET:  Two days from now, Joe Biden will be president.  Look, you don't have to watch.

An odd inauguration.  The outgoing president is under impeachment, the pandemic will place all participants in the ceremony in masks, and six feet apart, and Mike Pence, who emerged from the recent Washington chaos as a larger political figure, will be there to measure the podium for a possible future visit. 

And there are security concerns, which are being taken seriously.  But how those concerns are described should make us uneasy.  From Fox: 

Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller said in a statement on Monday that the Department of Defense has not received any intelligence indicating a potential insider threat to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20.

However, Miller added that the department is "leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital," noting that all National Guardsmen deployed to Washington, D.C. will be vetted.

"This type of vetting often takes place by law enforcement for significant security events. However, in this case the scope of military participation is unique," Miller said. "The D.C. National Guard is also providing additional training to service members as they arrive in D.C. that if they see or hear something that is not appropriate, they should report it to their chain of command. We appreciate the support of the FBI in assisting with this task and for each of the more than 25,000 Guardsmen who answered their Nation’s call and rapidly deployed to the [North Capital Region]."

The announcement comes after defense officials expressed concerns over the potential for an insider attack, following a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 by pro-Trump protesters that left five dead and resulted in dozens of arrests.

The FBI warned in a memo earlier this month of potential plans for protests staged in all 50 state capitals which could occur before, on and after Inauguration Day.

While members from across the military were at President Trump’s rally prior to the riot, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the Associated Press it's unclear how many were there or who may have participated in the breach at the Capitol.

The U.S. Army said in a statement on Sunday that it would work with the Secret Service to determine if any service members on hand needed additional background screening. As part of the Threat Awareness and Reporting Program, military personnel are required to report "any information regarding known or suspected extremist behavior that could be a threat to the department or the U.S."

COMMENT:   Of course, one can imagine that even a member of an American military unit can have chilling ideas – the Ford Hood massacre of 2009 was carried out by an Army major – but this emphasis on vetting our own soldiers, combined with a certain indifference to the violence committed in American cities over the summer, suggests a rather strange set of priorities. But, of course, it's the Democrats in charge.

January 18,  2021     Permalink