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JANUARY 26,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

A BIT OF EMBARRASSMENT – FROM AMERICAN THINKER:   An opinion writer who frequently contributed op-eds to the New York Times has admitted to being paid well by the Iranian mission to the United Nations but insists that this did not make him an agent of the Iranian government or influence his writing. Kaveh Afrasiabi is currently under arrest, accused of violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). For its part, the New York Times, which still claims to publish “all the news that’s fit to print,” is dummying up, keeping its readers in the dark on the subject, and offering no comment.  The current Times management probably doesn't see any problem at all.  Maybe he was doing some babysitting for Iranian diplomats.  Children must be cared for.

ONCE A RADICAL, ALWAYS A RADICAL – FROM WESTERN JOURNAL:   Former Attorney General Eric Holder urged Democrats to “use the power” of their new majority to pack the Supreme Court.  In a virtual conference on judicial reform hosted by the Brookings Institution on Monday, Holder said Democrats need to act now that they have control of the White House and Congress.  “It is painfully clear, at least to me, that Democrats and progressives are, and have been, uncomfortable with the acquisition and the use of power … Republicans and conservatives never have been,” Holder said.  Holder outlined how Republicans allegedly “abused their power” by rushing through the nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to keep control of the Supreme Court.  “[Republicans] abuse their power to give themselves unfair advantage,” he said. The guy has always been on the wingnut left, and ran the most politicized Justice Department in memory.

January 26, 2021       Permalink

SOLID REPORTING – BY SALENA ZITO, ON THE INCREASING CONSERVATISM OF AMERICAN HISPANICS – AT 10:32 P.M. ET:   It is a bright spot in the Republican Party's future.  Hispanics, once considered "in the pocket" of the Democrats, are moving rightward.  From the New York Post:  

Forty-seven years ago, Maria del Carmen Guzman-Weese stood with her mother and sister to take the oath of US citizenship. Then 17, Maria suddenly turned to her mother, and said: “I love this country but I cannot be a citizen because of you. I need to want it because of me.”

Three years later, Maria finally took that oath, because it was her choice, and so she could vote for Ronald Reagan. “That time it came from my heart,” she said.

Many Hispanic immigrants like Maria feel a natural affinity for the Republican party — an allegiance that often bewilders Democrats.

Ever since Barack Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2012, Democrats have assumed this group was a monolithic voting bloc that would gravitate toward the party’s ideals, mainly because they are “a minority.”

More Hispanics voted Republican in the 2020 presidential election than in 2016, and this trend is expected to continue.

But in fact, the 32 million Hispanics living in the United States come from a variety of different countries, experiences and cultures. Factors like faith, income and country of origin frame their disparate views, and increasingly more of them are voting conservative.

While Joe Biden won 66 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2020, Donald Trump actually increased his support with the bloc by 4 percent, earning 32 percent overall.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  The key here is that Hispanics are drawn to the Republican Party by its principles.  If the GOP starts diluting those principles, the attraction will disappear.

January 26, 2021       Permalink

WHAT A COLOSSAL DISGRACE, BUT IT SOON WILL BE OVER – AT 5:31 P.M. ET:  The mighty United States Senate has voted to proceed with the Trump impeachment circus.  But the vote spells doom for those hoping for a conviction.  From CNN: 

Washington (CNN)The Senate tabled an effort by Sen. Rand Paul Tuesday to force a vote on the constitutionality of former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, but the vote offered an indicator for how Republican senators -- who overwhelmingly voted for Paul's measure -- feel about the trial.

Paul's motion was killed on a 55-45 vote, with five Republicans joining all Democrats, meaning 45 Republicans voted for Paul's effort. Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania crossed party lines to vote with Democrats.

In order to convict Trump at his trial, at least 17 Republicans will need to vote with all Democrats when the trial begins next month. Significantly, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sided with Paul in the vote -- a potential indicator that he agrees the constitutionality of impeaching a former President is in question.

Paul argued after the vote that the fact that 45 Republicans sided with him "shows that impeachment is dead on arrival."

"If you voted that it was unconstitutional then how in the world would you ever hope to convict somebody for this?" Paul asked, adding ,"45 of us, almost the entire caucus, 95% of the caucus, voted that the whole proceeding was unconstitutional. This is a big victory for us. Democrats can beat this partisan horse as long as they want -- this vote indicates it's over, the trial is all over."

Even those Republicans who voted against Paul's measure -- including Collins -- said Tuesday's vote was a sign of the eventual outcome of the trial.

COMMENT:  Of course it's unconstitutional.  The Senate has no power to try a private citizen, even a former president.  And the Constitution specifically states that an impeachment trial of a president must be presided over by the Chief Justice of the United States.  In this case, Chief Justice Roberts has declined to participate.

President Biden could have been a hero here, and reinforced his clearly phony call for unity, by asking Democrats in the Senate to drop this crazy trial.  He did not, and it will be noted.

January 26,  2021     Permalink

JANUARY 25,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

NO VOTE OF CONFIDENCE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:    Americans definitely aren’t united on this question.  Just one in five Americans have “a great deal of confidence” in President Biden’s ability to make good on his goal to unify the country, according to a new poll released Sunday.  While 22 percent said Biden will unify the country, 24 percent remained highly skeptical, saying that they have no confidence “at all” that he will be able to do so, the ABC News/Ipsos poll found.  Thirty-five percent said they have a “good amount” of confidence Biden could unite the country and 19 percent said they had “not so much” confidence.  Respondents to the survey were asked their opinion after watching a video of Biden’s inaugural address urging Americans to see “each other not as adversaries, but as neighbors.”   Let's face it.  "Unity" is kind of a myth.  This country, like most vigorous free nations, is filled with division and political conflict.  It kind of goes with the territory.  Nixon also claimed a mandate to "bring us together."  You know the result.

GOOD NEWS – FROM BREITBART:    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced Monday that a power-sharing agreement in the Senate no longer needs to stipulate that the filibuster rule remain intact after two Senate Democrats confirmed they would not support abolishing it.  “I’m glad that two Senate Democrats confirmed they will not vote to end the legislative filibuster,” McConnell stated. “They agree with President Biden and me on protecting the Senate. With this win, we can move forward with a 50-50 power-sharing agreement built on the 2001 precedent."  The two brave Democrats are Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.  Manchin is a genuine moderate Democrat.  Sinema is an eccentric who began her career as a leftist, but has since taken a steady journey to reason. 

January 25, 2021       Permalink

UM, ER, WELL HE DIDN'T QUITE MEAN IT – AT 9:47 P.M. ET:   Joe Biden made many promises, many, many, many.  And now he has a bit of a credibility problem.  From Fox: 

President Biden has drawn backlash for providing a pessimistic view of his administration's ability to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the near future.  Biden's campaign featured harsh criticisms of former President Trump's approach to COVID-19, and in his first speech as president-elect he said his administration's work "begins with getting COVID under control." On Friday, however, he indicated that the trajectory of the pandemic can't be changed in the coming months, no matter what Americans do.

"If we fail to act, there will be a wave of evictions and foreclosures in the coming months as this pandemic rages on, because there's nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months," Biden said.

The idea that nothing will change the pandemic drew confusion and ire from figures in politics and the media.

"Haven't we been told for months that restrictions and mandates were necessary to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months?" former Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, a libertarian, tweeted.

Fox News contributor and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, criticized Biden for his fatalist sentiment.

"Already giving up," Chaffetz tweeted. "Banner headlines in all major media outlets? Nope. Most will bury this but it is a stunning admission. Biden says 'nothing we can do' to change pandemic 'trajectory' in coming months."

National Review's David Harsanyi said the idea that there was nothing that could be done was "the opposite" of what Biden said during his campaign. 

COMMENT:  Oh, give Joe a break.  He's just trying to be like his mentor, Barack Obama.  Remember when Obama promised that, when he took office, the oceans would recede?  Never happened, but the press looked the other way.  Joe expects the same press.

January 25, 2021       Permalink

IT'S COME TO THIS – MALICE IN BLUNDERLAND – AT 8:45 P.M. ET:  Not only are the Kamikaze Dems plunging forward with their impeachment trial of a president who can no longer be tried because he's out of office, they're doing it in the worst possible way.  From Fox: 

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pledged Monday to remain impartial in his role presiding over former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial next month despite his past call for the Senate to convict Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Under normal conditions, the Constitution dictates that Chief Justice John Roberts would preside over an impeachment trial. However, since Trump has already left office, Roberts is not constitutionally required to fill the role and Leahy, the Senate’s president pro tempore, will take his place.

Leahy, 80, was a vocal critic of Trump after his supporters stormed the Capitol, calling for him to be convicted on impeachment charges and barred from holding office in the future. But in a statement released shortly after his key role in the trial surfaced, Leahy said his personal political views would not impact his judgment.

"When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws," Leahy said in a statement. "It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously."

"I consider holding the office of the president pro tempore and the responsibilities that come with it to be one of the highest honors and most serious responsibilities of my career," he added. "When I preside over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, I will not waver from my constitutional and sworn obligations to administer the trial with fairness, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws."

COMMENT:  Oh please.  Oh please.  The Chief Justice of the United States declined to preside because the whole thing is a farce.  And so a hyper-partisan senator gets the job.  How comforting to the American people.

And this, less than a week after the new Democratic president pledges unity.  That pledge disappeared pretty fast, didn't it?

I'm sure the editors of the Washington Post and The New York Times will now come up with reasons why this is the best path for the American people.  The 75 million people who voted for Donald Trump will not be asked to comment.

January 25, 2021       Permalink