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FEBRUARY 6,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

ALWAYS A SIGN OF DANGER – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   Authorities are investigating after 10 pounds of high-powered explosives disappeared from a Marine Corps training installation in California.  The composition C-4 plastic explosives — powerful enough to blow up 10 vehicles –vanished from Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms during an exercise last month, according to San Diego’s ABC10 News.  The manufactured plastic explosives are believed to be stolen and a reward is now being offered for their discovery, according to the report.  The unit’s commanding officer is reportedly considering extending training exercises until the missing haul is recovered.  “The ongoing investigation into this incident is being handled by NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) and the affected units,” said Capt. Zachary Colvin, with the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, according to the ABC affiliate.  I hope this doesn't show up on the streets of an American city.  But it can.

THIS IS DISTASTEFUL – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  A tearful Rep. Rashida Tlaib could not hold back her emotions during a speech on the House floor on Thursday night during a Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-organized session of lawmakers sharing their thoughts about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, some of whom told of their own experiences of that day.  "I asked to go last," Tlaib said, already choking up and unsuccessfully attempting to hold back tears, "because this is so personal."  The Michigan Democratic congresswoman said that she is the frequent subject of death threats. Tlaib said she was notified of a death threat on her first day in Congress, in January 2019, before she had even been sworn in.  "More came later, uglier, more violent. One celebrating in writing the New Zealand massacre and hoping that more would come. Another mentioning my dear son Adam," she paused, tears coming through, "mentioning him by name. Each one paralyzed me each time."  Ocasio-Cortez went up to comfort and support Tlaib and placed her hand on Tlaib's back as she continued her speech.  The firebrand New York congresswoman organized time on the House floor for members to share their thoughts and experiences about the Jan. 6 attack following her own long recollection of her experience in an Instagram livestream earlier this week. In that social media session, Ocasio-Cortez said that she thought she was going to die and revealed that she is a "survivor of sexual assault." Ocasio-Cortez later got heavy criticism and accusations that she exaggerated her experience.
Tlaib said that she was not in the Capitol on Jan 6. during the breach. "All I could do is thank Allah that I wasn't here."  Look, no decent person favors death threats against members of Congress.  But a group therapy session like this reeks of staged agitprop.  Members of Congress should show strength, not go out weepin' and 'wailin.  This isn't high school.

February 6,  2020     Permalink

ONE MORE FOR THE GOP – AT 11:37 P.M. ET:  Republicans have picked up one more seat in the House, narrowing an already thin Democratic majority.  From AP:

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York judge ruled Friday that Republican Claudia Tenney defeated U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 109 votes in the nation’s last undecided congressional race.
The ruling by Judge Scott DelConte could clear the way for Tenney to be sworn in as the representative for central New York’s 22nd Congressional District, barring emergency intervention by a state appeals court.

She previously was the district’s representative for one term, until she was defeated by Brindisi, a Democrat, in 2018.

DelConte’s ruling came after he spent three months reviewing ballot challenges and trying to fix a myriad of problems with vote tabulation. He rejected an argument by Brindisi’s lawyers that certification of the election results should be delayed until an appeals court had a chance to review the case.

DelConte’s order directed New York to certify results immediately.

The judge said even if the results end up changing after any litigation, New York could simply amend its certification. He issued his ruling hours after a last public hearing, in which he told Brindisi’s lawyers that he was disinclined to delay the results any further.

“I’ve been asked to stop this election ... and that’s a very very high burden,” he said.

Tenney has maintained a small lead even as months of litigation revealed problems with ballots that either weren’t counted properly or were improperly rejected.

“I’m honored to have won this race,” Tenney said. “It was a hard-fought campaign and I thank Anthony Brindisi for his service. Now that every legal vote has been counted, it’s time for the results to be certified. The voters need a voice in Congress, and I look forward to getting to work on behalf of New York’s 22nd Congressional District.”

COMMENT:  That makes the makeup of the House 221 Democrats and 212 Republicans, a gap of nine votes.  If Republicans play it right, and have a little bit of luck, they should be able to flip the House in 2022.

February 6, 2021       Permalink 

FEBRUARY 5,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

HOW MUCH DO WE PAY THEM EVERY YEAR? – FROM FOX:   The United Nations was roundly ridiculed on Twitter Thursday for offering a list of things that must be normalized for men, the first of which, was "crying."  The other things that must be normalized for men, according to the U.N.’s entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, included "sharing the care, showing emotions, seeking help," and "sharing feelings."  Twitter users were quick to mock the UN Women’s tweet, arguing that making these things a priority was not the best use of resources.  "1.2 billion of US taxpayer-dollars at work," quipped Twitter user Tunku Varadarajan, a British-Indian writer, and journalist.  I would put nuclear proliferation advancement of freedom somewhat higher on the list.

TYPICAL – FROM FOX:   Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., tells ‘The Faulkner Focus’ Judiciary Committee Democrats blocked his request to say the Pledge of Allegiance in hearings.  Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., slammed comments made by House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler and House Democrats on Friday, after his request to recite the Pledge of Allegiance was shut down and allegedly mocked by colleagues behind closed doors.  During an interview on "The Faulkner Focus," Gaetz stated that it was "disheartening" to hear his colleagues "mocking" him, in what he described as an attempt to unify the country and celebrate patriotism.  When asked by Gaetz for the committee to recite the pledge, in what he considered "a nice gesture," Nadler shut him down, claiming that "it’s unnecessary" since the full House begins each day with the text and that there was "no need" to do it twice.  Democrats no longer believe in nice gestures.  It's all about power, money, and socialism.

February 5, 2021       Permalink

AND THEN THERE'S CHINA – AT 1:48 P.M. ET:  While we're busy breaking the Treasury and trying to remove a president who isn't president anymore, the Chinese are hyper-active, constantly moving against us, and trying to deny us even our rights to the sea lanes.  Not a pretty picture, and we wonder if President Biden is taking it seriously enough.  From Fox: 

One day after sailing through the Taiwan Strait, the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain conducted a freedom of navigation operation near the disputed Paracel Islands while shadowed by Chinese warships.

All interactions were safe and professional, officials told Fox News. U.S. forces operate in the South China Sea on a daily basis, as they have for more than a century.

This is the first freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea since President Biden took office.

"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the sea, including freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce and freedom of economic opportunity for South China sea littoral nations," 7th Fleet spokesperson Lt. Joe Keiley said in a statement. "The United States upholds freedom of navigation as a principle."

"As long as some countries continue to assert maritime claims that are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and that purports to restrict unlawfully the rights and freedoms guaranteed to all States, the United States will continue to defend those rights and freedoms," Keiley added.

COMMENTS:  The Chinese international program is vast.  We learn that China has building projects in a number of countries, trying to influence the economies and policies of those countries.  They are even trying to lure Israel away from the United States. 

The problem is that there are powerful forces in this country who have no problem with China, and who benefit from China's economic strength – very much as some American companies benefited from their trade with Nazi Germany before World War II.  We see the impact of Chinese influence here in the constant underplaying of China's role in the worldwide pandemic,.

President Trump understood China and its ambitions.  He even referred to the Covid 19 virus as the "China virus," Of course, the fashion plates of the left lambasted him for that. 

Previous American generations were taught that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.  I wonder how much vigilance the current administration actually has.

February 5, 2021       Permalink

GOP FIGHTING BACK IN SENATE – AT 11:20 A.M. ET:  As the coronavirus relief bill makes its way through a bitterly divided Congress, the Republicans are putting up a good fight, and forcing Democrats to take votes on items that will hurt them in next year's congressional elections.  From Fox: 

The "vote-a-rama" in the Senate that started at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday concluded shortly before 6 a.m. Friday after a marathon process in which Republicans forced Democrats to take votes on tough issues for more than 15 hours.

The Senate adopted a budget resolution for coronavirus relief 51-50 with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. It's not a final bill, but allows the Senate to proceed toward a final bill under the budget reconciliation rules, which would let Democrats pass a coronavirus stimulus plan without help from Republicans if their caucus remains united.

Senate Republicans were taking advantage of a Senate procedure that allows them to propose a plethora of amendments to the budget resolution Democrats are using to advance their coronavirus stimulus plan.

Among the issues Republicans forced votes on were efforts to support the remain in Mexico policy from the Trump administration, oppose the blocking of the Keystone XL Pipeline by President Biden, oppose banning fracking, oppose the increase of the federal minimum wage during the pandemic and more.
A final Democratic amendment proposed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., undid three GOP-proposed amendments that passed with bipartisan majorities on fracking, the Keystone XL Pipeline and opposing stimulus checks for illegal immigrants.

Senate Minority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated that Republicans would drag out the process with the aim of extracting a pound of flesh from Democrats in uncomfortable votes.

"We're going to put senators on the record," he said on Thursday. "Expect votes to stop Washington from actively killing jobs during a recovery — like terminating the Keystone pipeline; that job-killing, one-size-fits-all minimum wage hike; and whether to bar tax hikes on small businesses for the duration of this emergency."

He'd also previously said Republicans would bring up amendments on stimulus checks for illegal immigrants, federal funding for schools districts that don't get children in classrooms and more.

COMMENT:  The sad fact is that many things the Dems want are being made possible by the loss of those two Senate seats in Georgia last month.  One vote in the Senate the other way, and the GOP would be able to block some of the worst ideas of the Democratic Party's salute-to-Lenin fringe. 

But the GOP is forcing the Dems to build a record that won't fly well in highly competitive states and congressional districts.  Please remember that the start of the 2022 campaigns will occur late this year.  We'll be back in combat.

February 5, 2021       Permalink