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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas last night.  It's here.

FEBRUARY 9,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

END OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER – FROM FOX:  The Dallas Mavericks have taken a stance against the playing of the national anthem.  Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confirmed to The Athletic that it was his decision to no longer play the national anthem prior to home games at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks haven’t played the national anthem prior to home games this season, and the team doesn’t plan on playing it for the foreseeable future.  The Mavericks, who have an 11-14 record, have played 12 games at their home arena this season. They haven’t played the national anthem in any of their 13 preseason games, as well as those 12 regular-season matchups, including Monday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which was the first game with a small number of fans in the stands.  What an absurd thing to do. He needs to drop his presidential ambitions.

THE MARCH OF HIGHER EDUCATION – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   The University of Leicester recently dumped English literature foundational to the English language because it got woke.  Not to be outdone, the University of Oxford renamed a physics chair founded in 1900 after a company tied to Chinese spying, because it donated nearly $1 million to the U.K. university, The Daily Mail reports, citing “Oxford sources.”  The U.S. government claims that Tencent, the owner of popular messaging app WeChat, was founded with seed money and support from China’s Ministry of State Security, its version of the CIA. It’s also closely working with Chinese security companies on artificial intelligence, according to the Pentagon.  The company was also accused of spying on Chinese citizens and censoring discussions under the direction of Chinese Communist Party, in President Trump’s executive order last year.  Oxford’s longtime chancellor Chris Patten, the U.K.’s last governor of Hong Kong, was unaware of the donation and renamed chair until the Daily Mail told him, and he wasn’t happy:  "Given that China has become a surveillance state, is probably guilty of genocide against the Uighurs in Xinjiang, and is snuffing out freedom in Hong Kong, we should be looking at these relationships..."  The suicide of the West continues, but I doubt if the Oxford faculty will mind. 

February 9, 2021       Permalink

THIS IS WHAT WE LIKE TO SEE – OVERNIGHT:  While the circus continues in Washington – the lions and tigers are  on tomorrow morning – Republican attorneys general are suiting up to do battle with the dictatorial Biden administration.  From Daily Signal: 

As President Joe Biden issued more than 40 executive actions with less than a month in office and Democrats took control of Congress, Republican attorneys general in the states appear poised to be the strongest check on overreach by the federal government.

“Everything is fair game. We are going to defend the Constitution of the United States and look out for the best interest of our states,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, told The Daily Signal.

“It’s not just lawsuits, but also working with members of Congress,” Carr said. “And we will try to work with the administration.”

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led 13 other attorneys general Tuesday in calling on Biden to reconsider his first-day revocation of a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Nebraska. Knudsen advised the president that states are reviewing legal options to “protect our residents and sovereign interests.”

“Your decision will result in devastating damage to many of our states and local communities. Even those states outside the path of the Keystone XL pipeline—indeed all Americans—will suffer serious, detrimental consequences,” Knudsen and the other attorneys general write to Biden, adding:

In Montana, for instance, killing Keystone XL will likely cost the state approximately $58 million in annual tax revenue. Montana will lose the benefits of future easements and leases, and several local counties will lose their single-biggest property taxpayer. The loss of Keystone XL’s economic activity and tax revenues are especially devastating as five of the six impacted counties are designated high-poverty areas.

Also signing the letter are the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last month scored an early win against the Biden administration by halting the 100-day “pause” in deportation of illegal immigrants. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sued last week to permanently upend Biden’s halt of deportations.

Biden also signed executive orders to change other aspects of immigration policy, including stopping construction of the border wall. An executive order itself isn’t grounds for litigation until the government implements the action.

Pressuring the federal government to enforce its own laws will be one goal for the Republican Attorneys General Association, said Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, vice chairman of the group.

“He’s not enforcing immigration laws,” Schmitt said of Biden in an interview with The Daily Signal. “Their idea is to make it easier to come here illegally. The policy of not enforcing the law, we have a hard time wrapping our minds around that.”

Attorneys general from West Virginia, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Texas already have issued a formal warning to the president, making it clear they intend to defend the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution.

“The growing and dangerous hostility to the free exercise of religion in recent years … is appalling,” says the letter to Biden from six Republican attorneys general, led by West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey. “As president and as a man of faith, we hope that you will ensure your administration accommodates and respects the free exercise of religion and complies with both the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”

COMMENT:  A good start.  The more we push back and publicize the push, the greater our chances of racing to victory in 2022.  This nation loves fighters.

February 9, 2021       Permalink

A SIGN OF ACQUITTAL – AT 7:15 P.M. ET:  On the first day of the ridiculous impeachment trial of former President Trump, the Senate voted  to declare the proceedings "constitutional."  Kind of like the votes taken in the parliaments of banana republics.  From Vox: 

Senate Republicans, in a Tuesday vote on the constitutionality of the impeachment trial, have signaled once again that they’re unlikely to convict former President Donald Trump.

Although the Senate overall voted 56-44 that the trial was constitutional, just six Republicans agreed, indicating that most of the GOP conference favored ending the proceedings. This vote followed hours of presentations by House impeachment managers and defense counsel explaining their cases for and against the Senate’s jurisdiction over Trump’s impeachment.

Ultimately, most Republicans signaled agreement with the defense’s team’s argument, leading to a vote breakdown that was similar to that of another vote that took place in late January, when senators also weighed the constitutionality of the trial. In that vote, five Republican lawmakers supported moving ahead with the trial, while 45 of their colleagues disagreed.

The Republicans who joined Democrats to vote in support of the trial both in January and on Tuesday are Sens. Mitt Romney (UT), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Ben Sasse (NE), and Pat Toomey (PA). Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) voted against the trial in January, but joined these five in voting for its constitutionality Tuesday.

Bill Cassidy told @tedbarrettcnn it was a “very good opening” by the House managers and made “very good arguments” on Constitutional question

Republicans have largely said they intend to listen to the evidence for and against impeachment before making up their minds on whether to convict Trump. However, their votes on the constitutionality of the trial effectively serve as a proxy for how they are currently leaning — suggesting that the majority of the conference will probably vote to acquit.

According to a count by the New York Times, nine other Republican lawmakers — in addition to the five who voted for the trial’s constitutionality in late January — have yet to announce their position on conviction, meaning the other 36 have already pretty much settled on acquittal.

Given this dynamic, and Tuesday’s vote, the Senate is expected to fall far short of the 67-member threshold needed to convict Trump of impeachment, since 17 Republicans would have to join Democrats to do so.

COMMENT:  He should be acquitted fairly easily, but the Democrats apparently won't stop.  Should Trump be cleared, they apparently plan to introduce a resolution to censure him, and will try to make it stick in such a way that he cannot run for office again.  I have no idea how this can be done legally in the grown-up world.

February 9, 2021       Permalink

FEBRUARY 8,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

OUTRAGEOUS DOLLY – FROM AMERICAN THINKER:  How is this for obnoxious?  Leftists, one after another, have put a target on country music legend Dolly Parton's back. Her crime against political correctness? Making a Super Bowl ad for Squarespace, an inexpensive website-creating framework for small and start-up businesses.  Here's what enraged them:  "As much as we all love Dolly Parton, it’s still disappointing to hear her literally sing the praises of “working, working, working," thundered a columnist printed at NBC News.  "One job is no longer enough to survive."  Dolly Parton’s Super Bowl ad glosses over the reality for millions of gig workers, critics say.  If Dolly isn't safe, who is?  And who's next?  Mr. Rogers?

ANOTHER RETURN TO THE LAND OF OBAMA – FROM AP:  The Biden administration is set to announce this week that it will reengage with the much-maligned UN Human Rights Council that former US president Donald Trump withdrew from almost three years ago, US officials said Sunday. The decision reverses another Trump-era move away from multilateral organizations and agreements.  US officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior US diplomat in Geneva will announce on Monday that Washington will return to the Geneva-based body as an observer with an eye toward seeking election as a full member. The decision is likely to draw criticism from conservative lawmakers and many in the pro-Israel community.  Trump pulled out of the world body’s main human rights agency in 2018 due to its disproportionate focus on Israel, which has received by far the largest number of critical council resolutions against any country, as well as the number of authoritarian countries among its members and because it failed to meet an extensive list of reforms demanded by then-US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.  The Human Rights Council is a disgrace, a friend to dictators, and President Trump was right to take us out of it. Biden is doing the Obama thing.  In what way will America benefit from rejoining that gang?  It won't.  But the Obama crowd doesn't care.  Their policy is to reward our enemies and attack our friends.

February 8, 2021       Permalink

TO ALL CIRCUS FANS – AT 11:18 P.M. ET:   Get your pop corn, ice cream, Twinkies, the circus is in town!  Donald J. Trump's second impeachment trial is about to begin!  Tickets going fast!  Suitable for children!  In fact, designed for children!

I can't wait.  Can you?  Trump's first impeachment trial just wasn't enough for me. 

But wait.  There is opposition.  Can you believe that anyone disagrees?  From Fox: 

The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump will determine the future of America, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told "Hannity" Monday.

Democrat officials have pushed to hold the trial, even though many Republicans have dubbed their efforts unconstitutional now that Trump has left office

Graham pressed his colleagues to recognize the weight of the proceedings and the historical precedent their actions will set.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: To my colleagues tomorrow – there are 100 of us – what we do today is going to make history for the rest of the time America exists. What Democrats have done is basically declare war on the presidency itself. The impeachment in the House took place without a hearing, without one witness being called, and without a lawyer for the president of the United States. You can’t get a traffic ticket based on the procedures they used to impeach President Trump.

And we’re also impeaching a man who’s out of office. When you combine a snap impeachment with an impeachment of a president who’s out of office, you’re going to destroy the presidency itself. I know you hate Trump but please pull back before we set in motion the destruction of the presidency by never-ending impeachments based on lack of due process and [with] political retribution as the motive.

You’re about to set in motion an historical precedent that will put at risk every future president. You can be impeached in the future based on hatred – 50 hours, no witness, no hearing, no lawyer. You can be impeached after you leave office. George Washington, under this theory, could be impeached for owning slaves. We’re doing a lot of damage to the country because people hate Trump. Knock it off.

COMMENT:  Well said.  This impeachment trial is an embarrassment to the nation, and sends the worst signals to our international enemies – that we are confused, immature, and weak, and served by a news media that has ceased to perform its most important functions. 

Trump will be acquitted.  Even most Democrats admit that.  But the damage to our national structure and traditions may be permanent.

February 8, 2021       Permalink

BACKLASH – AT 6:55 P.M. ET:  The light has gone on atop the heads of people who realize that Joe Biden's policies are radical, and are starting to hurt real people.  Let the backlash begin.  From Fox: 

The leader on one of the most prominent U.S. labor unions said he regretted President Biden's move to derail the Keystone XL pipeline project on his first day in office in a new interview.

"I wish he hadn't done that on the first day," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told journalist Jonathan Swan on "Axios on HBO."

Labor groups have said Biden’s day-one decision to nix the Keystone pipeline eliminated 1,000 union jobs off the bat and could kill ten times more in construction jobs than were expected to be created by the project.

"I wish he had paired that more carefully with the thing that he did second, by saying here’s where we’re creating jobs," he said.

He said Washington politicians should consider that Americans don’t want to move across the country for a new job out of the blue – something he gave Biden credit for subsequently proposing.
"We can do mine reclamation, we can fix leaks and we can fix seeps and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in doing all of that stuff," he said.

That’s an improvement over widely panned calls for energy workers to "learn to code" and job training programs that equip workers with skills sought after on the opposite side of the country.
"If you destroy 100 jobs in Greene County, Pennsylvania, where I grew up, and you create 100 jobs in California, it doesn't do those 100 families much good," he said.

Trumka’s criticism of job training programs may have been a subtle jab at Biden, whom he frequently praises. The president once told laid-off coal miners to "learn to code." (Former President Barack Obama has also made similar comments.)

"I said, 'Where are the computer programmer jobs at?'" Trumka continued. "'Uh, they're in, uh, Oklahoma, and they're in Vegas and they're here.' And I said, 'So, in other words, what we're going to be is unemployed miners and unemployed computer programmers as well.'"

COMMENT:  Trumka is a labor heavyweight, and Biden might consider taking his words seriously.  There is no guarantee that our economy will improve soon, even if the new vaccines defeat the pandemic.  Thus, risking jobs that are already there is a fool's errand.  I doubt if the Keystone Pipeline would have made any difference at all in the quality of the atmosphere.  Canceling it, however, has made a profound difference in the lives of thousands of workers, whose economic existence depended on it.

February 8,  2021     Permalink