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MARCH 3-4,  2023

CHICAGO FALLOUT:  The defeat for re-election of Chicago's monumentally incompetent Mayor Lori Lightfoot has sent shock waves through the Democratic Party.  I mean, she checks off three boxes – female, black, and lesbian – and got beaten anyway, winding up in third place.  How could this be?  It must be the racism and sexism of the voters, her mouthpieces say, the same ones who put her in office.  Uh, sorry, but no grown-up is buying that, including Mayor Eric Adams of New York, the most watched mayor in the country.  From Fox:

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday that fellow Democrat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s election defeat last week should serve as a "warning sign for the country," rejecting criticism that he is feeding into the Republican narrative on crime in addressing public safety concerns in the Big Apple.

"Public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity. Same as Chicago, like New York, and many of our big cities across America," Adams said during an appearance on CNN’s "State of the Union."

"That is why we zero focus double-digit decrease in shootings, double-digit decrease in homicides, which we have witnessed this year, particularly the month of February," he added. "All of our index crimes are low, low for the entire year. We are focused on public safety because people want to be safe. They don't feel safe. And they actually say then you're going to lose control of your city."

Lightfoot became Chicago’s first mayor in 40 years to serve just one term.

Asked if he considered what happened to Lightfoot a warning sign for him in New York, Adams countered, "To the contrary, I think is a warning sign for the country."

"Eric Adams has been talking about public safety, not only on the campaign trail, but for the first year I showed up at crime scenes," the mayor added, referring to himself in the third person. "I knew what New York was saying, and I saw it all over the country. I think if anything, it is really stating that this is what I have been talking about. America, we have to be safe."

Adams responded to criticism from Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., who argued the mayor was helping to feed the Republican narrative on crime and in turn, hurting Democrats ahead of 2024.

"You know the difference between a comment like that and what I say -- I listen to Americans in New York. The polls were clear. New Yorkers felt unsafe, and the numbers show that they were unsafe," Adams said. "Now, if we want to ignore what the everyday public stated, then that's up to them. I'm on the subways. I walk the streets. I speak to everyday, working-class people.

"And they were concerned about safety. We zeroed in on that unprecedented historic numbers of felony arrests, removal of guns on our streets, close in homicide cases. We have a recidivism problem in New York, and far too many people, about 2000 people who are repeatedly… catch, release, repeat in crimes. If we don't take them off our streets, they're going to continue to prey on innocent people."

COMMENT:  Good words from the mayor.  He's given us some good actions as well, but his hands are tied by an ultra-liberal city council and the refusal of his party in the state capitol to change laws that are putting thugs back on the streets. 

March 4, 2023      Permalink

WHAT "NEWS" MEDIA?  As more and more information comes out about the record of news organizations in the last three years, the already low approval numbers for those outlets should sink even further.  From Just the News: 

It took The Washington Post fewer than 50 words to retract its 2020 attack on Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton's credibility for speculating that the COVID-19 virus emanated from a Chinese lab leak — a theory now deemed credible by the U.S. government. The words spoke volumes more, however, about the traditional media's record of failings during the era of former President Donald Trump and the coronavirus pandemic.

"Earlier versions of this story and its headline inaccurately characterized comments by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) regarding the origins of the coronavirus," the Post declared in an undated correction to a Feb. 20, 2020 article that accused Cotton of spreading a "fringe theory" that had been debunked as a conspiracy.

"The term 'debunked' and The Post's use of 'conspiracy theory' have been removed because, then as now, there was no determination about the origins of the virus," the outlet explained.

In other words, the Post admitted it drew its conclusions in a story and headline before the facts were clear enough to do so. This pattern has repeated itself far too often since Trump walked down the escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 to launch a campaign that turned political convention, Washington elites and the news media upside down. 

Russia collusion was a Watergate-sized scandal, until it turned out to be a Democratic Party dirty trick. The Russians had bounties on the heads of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, until they didn't. Natural immunity was inferior — and masks superior — in the fight against the coronavirus, until science determined otherwise. The Hunter Biden laptop discovery was Russian interference and election disinformation, until it became a verified source of evidence in the hands of the FBI, well before the 2020 campaign.

The accelerated unraveling of such stories from the mainstream media has taken a toll on the industry's credibility — only about a third of Americans in a Gallup poll trust the media regularly in what is a near-record low. It has, moreover, exposed an unhealthy alliance between government bureaucrats and liberal operatives, pushing storylines to willing recipients despite them being less than accurate, if not entirely untrue, experts said.

"This," said investigative journalist Ashley Rindsberg, "was the media kind of proverbially gearing up for their fight where they say, 'OK, Trump is too far outside of the window of acceptable discourse, so we're gonna have to readjust the standards of journalism, recalibrate it, to meet this the threat.'"

The media "had deemed him a threat ... and that's where the journalistic standards are just tossed out," said Rindsberg, author of "The Gray Lady Winked," a book that exposed decades of failures inside The New York Times. 

There are some small signs the industry has taken stock of its loss of credibility. The Columbia Journalism Review — the industry's scholarly journal — recently published a four-part, 30,000-word series by Pulitzer-winning former New York Times reporter Jeff Gerth exposing breathtaking failures of major journalism institutions.

Even Bob Woodward, the legendary, Pulitzer-winning Watergate journalist whose former partner Carl Bernstein fanned the early flames of Russia collusion, has repudiated his colleagues for taking as gospel the unverified Steele dossier, a product he has labeled "garbage."

Woodward suggested journalism "cheated" the public out of the truth on Russia and urged newsrooms to "walk down the painful road of introspection" with regard to their failures.

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  This is the best summary of press failure that I've seen recently.  And while some journalists are finally admitting the extent of their disgrace, others go merrily along, ready to destroy Ron DeSantis if he dares run for president.

I'm afraid that, ultimately, we will need new news organizations because the current ones are beyond repair.  Their staffs are too often filled with ideologists who believe their mission in life is to save an evil, corrupt nation.  After all, look what they've too often been taught in school.

But where will we get new reporters and editors who want a corruption-free industry?  That is not an easy question.

March 4,  2023       Permalink?

MARCH 1-2,  2023

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

GREAT MOMENTS IN AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY:  From the New York Post:   Ford is attempting to patent car “repossession” technology that would allow the automaker to remotely lock down vehicles or shut off key features like air conditioning if the owner misses payments, according to newly surfaced filings.  Ford’s patent for “Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle” was filed in August 2021 and published in late February as part of the standard application process. The application has yet to receive final approval for patent protection.  According to the patent application, the technology would be used in the event that drivers ignore “notice(s) of delinquency of a vehicle-related payment” that are sent to their phones or their vehicle computer systems.
Cruise control, automated window and seat controls, air conditioning systems, remote key fobs and automated door locking systems are among the features that could be disabled through the technology, according to Ford’s filing.  “Disabling such components may cause an additional level of discomfort to a driver and occupants of the vehicle,” the filing says.  Very awkward for a teenager trying to impress his date.  An obvious attack on courtship.

March 2,  2023     Permalink

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS:  Are we committing national suicide?  From Fox: 

A Fairfax, Virginia, school board member recommended curriculum materials for teachers to use for their lesson plans which opposed using terms such as "radical Islamic terror," "Islamic terrorists" and "jihadists" when discussing the history of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Abrar Omeish is a school board member and Georgetown law student who has become marred in controversy over a series of controversial statements. In one instance, she refused to vote on a motion to commemorate 9/11 victims. 

Fox News Digital found that in 2021 Omeish recommended public school teachers use a "culturally responsive" curriculum guide for their lesson plans about 9/11 history. 

It said, "Do not frame the lessons as a chance to explore the definition of terrorism or a clash of two different societies/cultures." 

"There is much disagreement about what terrorism means, and it’s often used in a biased manner," the guide continued. 

Teachers should screen themselves for biases against Arab-Muslims using an online test before educating students on 9/11, it recommended. To create a "safe space" teachers should "wear cultural items from Muslim countries as a show of support (e.g., scarf)."

In order to be "culturally responsive," teachers should focus "on the impact of 9/11 on communities of color, including Muslim Americans," the guide said. 

Teachers should bring up "Islamophobia at the structural level (policies that were enacted at national, state, and local levels) and individual level (policies at the individual level, outside of government)."

"Muslim communities… responses of resilience but also depression and anxiety" should also be raised about the topic. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Omeish for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Omeish was accused of attacking 9/11 victims after she refused to vote on a resolution to honor the lives of 2,977 Americans killed by al-Qaida terrorists on 9/11. 

The resolution was not "anti-racist" enough and failed to address "state-sponsored traumas" experienced by Muslims, she appeared to suggest. A local Fairfax County editorial board called the rhetoric "callous."

The local GOP called for Omeish's ouster, stating, "Her cruel attacks on the memory of 9/11’s victims and heroes should be the last straw. They were not just incredibly tone deaf — they were vicious and, frankly, anti-American."

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  This woman is on a school board in Fairfax, Virginia, which is just outside Washington D.C. and contains many government workers.  There have been other examples of sick school politics in Fairfax.  It is also, fortunately, one of the centers of the parents revolt movement.

If you think the above story is outrageous, remember that it would be considered perfectly normal and correct on many college campuses.  We are in danger of losing this country to the left-wing crazies.  We're seeing some important pushback in many areas of the country, but we the people must reinforce that pushback when we go to the polls, or to local school-board meetings.

March 2, 2023       Permalink

MORE ON CHICAGO:  The Chicago mayoral race was all the rage among analysts this week, but some caution is required.  It is true that Lori Lightfoot, the worst mayor since Biblical times, is out as a result of Tuesday's vote, but the process isn't finished.  The Chicago mayor's contest is done this way:  A bunch of people who aren't in jail, or have finished their terms, run for mayor.  Whoever gets 50 percent wins.  If  no one gets 50 percent, a runoff is held between the top two finishers. 

No one got 50 percent Tuesday, something that never used to happen when they allowed the residents of the cemeteries to vote.  But those were the good old days.  So there will be a runoff in April between two very different candidates.  We aren't out of the woods yet.  The bad guy can win, and the whole process can get Chicago-ugly, which is very ugly indeed. 

Leading the field Tuesday was Paul Vallas, with 34 percent of the vote.  In second place was Brandon Johnson, at 20 percent.  Please note that Vallas is white, and Johnson black.  In Chicago, perhaps the most racialized big city in America, home to the Nation of Islam and the Jesse Jackson forces, that could mean an incendiary contest. 

Both men are Democrats, but Vallas is something of a centrist.  He promises to be a crime fighter and has the backing of the police union.  Johnson, incredibly, is to the left of Lori Lightfoot.  I'm not kidding.  He has favored defunding the police, and is owned, absolutely owned, by the teachers union.  Vallas believes in school choice, Johnson believes what he's told to believe. 

Together, the finalists had 54 percent of the vote.  Where the other 46 percent will go in the April 4th runoff cannot yet be predicted.  One fear is that the pro-Johnson faction will pull the usual Democratic stunt of scaring the daylights out of the black population, suggesting that blacks would be back in chains if Johnson loses.  Then it gets ugly.

Chicago has had similar crises before.  Crime became so bad in the 1960s that the University of Chicago seriously considered leaving the city, with some suggesting that it buy the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.  The university stayed, and launched an "urban renewal" project to improve its neighborhood.

During this current crime wave Chicago has already lost some major companies.  It cannot afford to lose more and still remain a leading city.

March 1, 2023       Permalink