Monday, February 28, 2022

Politics is Just One Damn Thing After Another

 A pretty big day to start the week.  Ashe Schow at Da Wire notices that Poll: Biden’s First Year In Office Was A Failure, Most Say. John Solomon at JTN, Ahead of State of Union, confidence in Biden plummets while GOP fortunes rise, "President’s approval falls to new low of 37%, poll finds." I think we're nearing a bottom; I would guess that most of those 37% can't be budged. But, as Jordan Boyd at Da Fed points out Biden’s Approval Sinks Further As Russia-Ukraine Crisis Heightens. Maybe that can do it. Breitbart has a Poll: Strong Majority Now Think Joe Biden Is Mentally Unfit to Serve, even Stuffinevelopes acknowledges it, Stephanopoulos: Majority of Americans ‘Question the President’s Mental Capacity. Greg Wilson at WaEx thinks Biden dooms Democrats as SOTU and midterm elections loom, new poll shows. At Da Blaze, Top po​llster​ for Democrats advises party to declare COVID crisis over because 'they risk paying dearly for it' in midterm elections , which is why they're running away from it. 'Pete Bog' at Aces explains Why Inflation Is Likely Here To Stay: Part 1. Thad McCotter at Am Great considers The Democratic Party: A Short-Term Prognosis "Politically, they have little choice but for their disparate factions to come together, stick with their progressive agenda, recast their communications, and hope to cut their losses." Don't get cocky, son. 

Emily Brooks at WaEx reports Donald Trump wins CPAC straw poll, with Ron DeSantis clear favorite alternative. Miranda Devine at NYPo, thinks It’s Lady and the Trump for 2024 presidential election "And, as preposterous as it sounds, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vs. Hillary Clinton is the matchup to watch, according to former Democratic strategist Dick Morris." Both engender the same revulsion among Republicans and independents as Trump does among Democrats and independents. At the Guardian, Republicans fear Michelle Obama presidential run, ex-Trump aide says. I think she's too content to be the queen in exile. The Peacock screeches There are signs Republicans want to move on from 2020. Trump may not allow it. Ed Erler at Am Great, Why They Can’t Make Trump Go Away "Post-mortem of a failed hit." It may have failed, but it wounded him.

At Mediaite, Bill Barr Reportedly Burns His Bridges in Scathing Tell All, Sounds Off on Trump’s ‘Erratic Personal Behavior’ and Blames Him for Jan. 6. Virginia Kruta at Da Wire, Bill Barr’s Book Torches Trump, Blames Him For January 6. WSJ (cited at Haut Hair), Bill Barr: The election wasn't rigged and it's time to move on from Trump. He asked the DOJ and they told him it wasn't. I don't trust them. Althouse reads the WSJ, "Former Attorney General William Barr writes in a new book that former President Donald Trump has 'shown he has neither the temperament nor persuasive powers to provide the kind of positive leadership that is needed'..."

A 600-page book called "One Damn Thing After Another"? It sounds like a caption for a New Yorker cartoon. But it's really perfect, isn't it? This isn't a book to be read — what political book is? — but a thing to wave around as the author/"author" appears on TV. Steel yourself for Barr appearances on shows advising Republics to pick someone less old and less divisive than Trump. Or just don't watch the shows. That's my approach.

Bob is an old establishment Republican, and Trump taking the party away from them was an offense. His complaint has a grain of truth, but only a grain. At News Busters, Vox Mourns 'Imperiled' New York Investigation of Trump "Vox senior politics correspondent Andrew Prokop is rather upset. Why? Because as he wrote, "Donald Trump may be about to escape legal peril yet again." Trump must be the cleanest businessman/politician in the world to have evaded the witch hunt so far. 

Front Page, Beating Republicans By Disqualifying Them, "Democrats look to Iran and Barack Obama for how to deal with their opponents." At Independence Inst, Can pro-Trump congressmen be disqualified as ‘insurrectionists?’, Renee Parsons at Am Think, Democrats are using the 14th Amendment to threaten Republican candidates. It won't pass legal muster, but it doesn't need to, it's designed as a smear campaign. Paul Bradford at Am Great  considers The Fantasy of Anti-Democratic Threats, "The elite rhetoric about “democracy” is just a ploy to dupe middle Americans into accepting permanent leftist rule."

Also at Am Great the redoubtable Julie Kelly reports on the sad case of The Suicide of a January 6 Defendant: ‘They Broke Him’ "Matthew Perna was failed by the country he loved."

Matthew Perna did nothing wrong on January 6, 2021.

The Pennsylvania man walked through an open door on the Senate side of the building shortly before 3 p.m. that afternoon. Capitol police, shown in surveillance video, stood by as hundreds of Americans entered the Capitol. Wearing a “Make America Great Again” sweatshirt, Perna, 37, left after about 20 minutes.

Less than two weeks later, Perna was ensnared in what the former top U.S. prosecutor called a “shock and awe” campaign to round up Trump supporters and deter them from demonstrating at Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021. After he discovered his image on the FBI’s most wanted list for January 6, Perna immediately contacted his local FBI office and voluntarily submitted to questioning; on January 18, six FBI agents arrested Perna at his home.

His life from that point turned into a nightmare. Perna was indicted by a grand jury in February 2021 on four counts including obstruction of an official proceeding and trespassing misdemeanors. Despite his nonviolent participation in the events of that day—he did not assault anyone, carry a weapon, or vandalize property—Biden’s Justice Department and local news media nonetheless made his life pure hell.

Whenever his hometown paper, the Sharon Herald, published an article on its social media account about Perna, the majority of replies were “horrible and brutal,” his aunt, Geri Perna, told me on the phone Sunday. After more than a year of legal and public torture, Perna saw no way out.

On Friday night, Matthew Perna hung himself in his garage.

Dustin Siggins at Haut Hair (what, a new writer?) says Youngkin put constituents ahead of politics on mask mandate policy. Phil Klein at NR, CDC Discovers New Masking Science Right in Time for Biden’s State of the Union Breaking911@Breaking911 "NEW: Congress drops mask mandate ahead of Biden’s State of The Union speech on Tuesday “Mask wear is now an individual choice option,” the Capitol Attending Physician said." At ET, CDC Drastically Alters Key Measure That Influences Mask Mandates Across US "The dramatic switch comes because the CDC switched from only using COVID-19 cases as a factor and are taking into account other metrics, including hospitalizations." Twitchy, Christina Pushaw adds ironic context to NY Gov. Kathy Hochul’s tweet about evaluating CDC’s new mask guidance "You tweeted this from Florida, where kids can breathe freely." At NYPo, Adams to scrap NYC vaccine passports, school mask rules barring spike in cases. But, keeping the crisis in Ukraine in mind, Federal Government Warns Americans to Mask, Social Distance While Sheltering From Nuclear Explosions. Stacey Lennox at PJ Media, Democrats Will Try to Retcon Their Response to COVID-19 With a New Narrative–Don't Let Them. Sundance at CTH, It Always Starts With a Cultural Shift – The Totalitarian Left Begin Backing Toward the COVID Exits, which like Andrea Widburg at Am Think, features MUST-SEE VIDEO: SNL shows the Democrats are running from COVID.


From Leslie Eastman at LI, CDC Quietly Revises Booster Recommendations for Young Men, "CDC recommends males ages 12- to 39-years-old wait eight weeks between the first and second doses of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines to “decrease the small, but potential risk of myocarditis.” Yes, the second doses should have been spaced further apart, but fear of declining immunity overcame the science. Jim Dillon at Am Think on California versus Free Speech on COVID. You can't speak freely! This is an emergency!

At  PM, a Survey: 84 percent of voters believe parents should be allowed to see children's curriculum plans, "According to the survey, 68 percent believe most public schools have lowered standards rather than demanding more from students." Michael Ginsberg at Da Caller, Texas Teachers Unions Spend Big In Republican Primaries For State Legislature, mostly to defend CRT and the gender nonsense they promulgate. Michael Cutler at Front Page, Critical Thinking Must Replace Critical Race Theory. James Macpherson at Spectator AU wonders Will ‘woke’ survive the war? Once can always hope not, but 
It’s early days, of course, but so far, the West’s mythical land of prancing unicorns looks bulletproof.

Even as rockets rained down on Ukraine, Western elites worried about how the war would affect LGBTQ people, as if Putin might have developed queer-seeking missiles.

Others voiced concern that grandparents huddled in bomb shelters beneath the pockmarked streets of Kiev might not be social distancing.

The New York Times lamented that few of the Ukrainians fleeing for their lives were wearing masks. They probably weren’t triple-boosted either. And God forbid any of them were shot dead without first using a QR-code to check out.

Meanwhile, former US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed dismay at what he called the ‘emissions consequences’ of war in Europe. He would presumably be far more comfortable with the Russian invasion had their tanks first met strict European emission standards.

Kerry said he hoped Vladimir Putin would ‘stay on track’ with fighting climate change while fighting the Ukrainians. We can only hope the Russian army will sort the plastics from the metal bomb casings when they get around to removing corpses from the battlefield.

Politico (cited at Haut Hair, because their play book isn't permanent), considers The politics of the Jackson pick. Politic? I'm shocked, shocked. KT at Haut Hair citea Clyburn: Ketanji Brown Jackson must receive bipartisan vote in pursuit of a more perfect union. I think the time for that is past. They'll be enough defectors to make it a safe vote, but no more. From Da Caller, Sen. Klobuchar Pushes Back On Claims That Biden’s SCOTUS Nominee Is ‘Far Left’ ‘I Find Those Words Offensive’. When was the last time a Democrat called a Republican nominee Far Right? Oh yeah. And RNC CHAIR MCDANIEL: Ketanji Brown Jackson Will Rubber-Stamp Biden’s Far-Left Agenda. Isn't that the point? Erin HAWLEY: Supreme Court Nominations And The Battle For Our Democracy. At NR, cited at Haut Hair, Kevin Williamson comes out Against Judge Jackson. "Judge Jackson is well qualified for the position, judged by her résumé and by the fact that she has spent eight years on the federal bench (though less than a year in her current position on the Court of Appeals) without exhibiting any obvious misbehavior — except in one thing: She does not believe in the rule of law. . . .And that should be — should be — disqualifying."  I would have more sympathy for him if he hadn't opposed Trump's re-election. Remember, elections have consequences. Jonathon Turley atop Da Hill, Wink-and-a-nod nomination: Who really is Ketanji Brown Jackson? Wow, I expected he would tow the liberal line on this one. George Neumayr at Am Spec is Reading the Tea Leaves on Ketanji Brown Jackson
Foes of religious freedom and supporters of abortion cheer her nomination. As expected for any Democrat nominee. Ian Huyett at Am Mind worries about The Court-Packing Coup. He expects the Democrats to try to pack the court. If so, they better get cracking; the midterms are coming right up, and they're unlikely to keep enough power to do so. 

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