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OCTOBER 7,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

NOW THIS IS THE SPIRIT – FROM FOX:   Our side is alive and pouncing.  From Fox:   A new video dropped by the Republican National Committee (RNC) highlights Democrat officials’ support for defunding the police as the Democratic Party tries to back away from the idea.  The RNC took aim at prominent Democrat lawmakers ranging from "Squad" leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., publishing 7 straight minutes of Democrats echoing talking points of the "defund the police" movement.  "Suck it up. Defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police," Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., another "Squad" member, said in the video exclusively obtained by Fox News.  "You don't have one bad apple. You don't have four bad apples. You have a system-wide problem in that police department," failed Senate and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, says in the video.  "And only by completely dismantling that system and rebuilding it intentionally with the community members at the table do you have any hope of getting it right," he continues.  The new video, entitled "7 Minutes of Democrats Saying Defund The Police," comes as the Democrats desperately try to move away from the rhetoric as crime spikes around the country.  The party’s attempts to distance themselves from the defund the police movement, however, were put in further jeopardy after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) hired new top employees with a history of pushing defund the police rhetoric.   We're moving, but take nothing for granted.  The 2022 elections will be tough, with the major media cheering on the sinking Democrats.  We have press personalities today who would have booked passage on the Titanic after she hit the iceberg. The Democrats are under radical control, and will be at their most vicious.  We have to run as if we're 20 points behind.

October 7, 2021       Permalink

THE GOP IS WAKING UP – OVERNIGHT:  The issue is growing hour by hour – a substantial backlash against the Justice Department's reckless attempt to monitor school board meetings, looking for evil "domestic terrorists," otherwise known as mom and dad.  Even the Republicans are noticing.  When that happens, it's really news.  From Fox: 

Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on him to tell Americans that the Justice Department will not and should not attempt to silence people who vocalize opposition to their state and local school board policies. The letter was a response to a memo sent to DOJ employees that sparked concern federal authorities would investigate those who do just that.

Garland’s memo discussed efforts to have federal authorities intervene in order to combat violence, threats, harassment and intimidation against school officials. Republicans have expressed concern that this is too vague and broad and that it gives the impression that parents who strongly voice their opposition to policies will find themselves facing federal investigation.

"We are concerned about the appearance of the Department of Justice policing the speech of citizens and concerned parents," the letter, sent Thursday by senators led by committee ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, stated. "We urge you to make very clear to the American public that the Department of Justice will not interfere with the rights of parents to come before school boards and speak with educators about their concerns, whether regarding coronavirus-related measures, the teaching of critical race theory in schools, sexually explicit books in schools, or any other topic. Furthermore, we urge you to instruct the FBI and the various United States Attorneys to make clear in the meetings discussed above that speech and democratic processes, like those that occur at a local school board meeting, must be respected."

The Republicans acknowledged that actual violence and clear threats of imminent violence "are not protected speech and have no place in the public discourse of a democracy," while stating that many examples that have been given were nothing more than "heated encounters."

Garland’s memo came days after the National School Boards Association sent a letter asking the Biden administration to help combat attacks, threats and intimidation against school officials. The letter called for the use of various measures including the PATRIOT Act – a tool used to combat terror – to address their concerns.

"‘True threats’ encompass those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals," the Republicans’ letter said, referencing a legal standard established in a 2003 Supreme Court decision. "Parents who are angry at school board members, and even verbally attack them on a personal level, are not necessarily making true threats, and it is not the job of law enforcement – and cannot be the job of law enforcement, especially the FBI – to make sure parents are nice to their elected officials. They are certainly not domestic terrorists who require the use of tools such as the PATRIOT Act and the expertise of the National Security Division."

The GOP committee members pointed to how the NSBA’s letter referenced a news article in which several incidents were mentioned, such as large crowds showing up at meetings to address issues that were not on the agenda, and people refusing to to wear masks at a meeting in protest of a school district’s requirement for students to wear masks.

COMMENT:  It's a good, responsible start, but what is needed now is the Republicans moving to "own" this issue, and morph it with school choice, which could turn out to be the biggest issue of the 2022 campaign.  Remember, the loony Dems are attacking parents for caring about their children.  Why do I think that's a bad idea?

Thus far, by the way, the parent organizations that have taken on school systems are standing firm, and refusing to buckle or be intimidated.  They are brave, and in the great American tradition.  Come on, GOP,  let's make a movement out of this.  Maybe even a march on Washington.  I love it.

October 7, 2021     Permalink

OCTOBER 6,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

RUBBING OUR NOSES IN IT – FROM CNN BUSINESS:   A film glorifying the heroism of Chinese soldiers fighting American troops during the Korean War smashed box office records for China's National Day holiday.  "The Battle at Lake Changjin" — commissioned by the Chinese government — has grossed an estimated 1.85 billion yuan ($287 million) since its release on Thursday, according to ticketing app Maoyan. It beat the previous record for the same Chinese holiday set by "My People, My Country," which grossed more than 1.5 billion yuan ($233 million) over five days in 2019.  "The Battle at Lake Changjin" was released at the start of the week-long holiday in China and was also timed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party.  It tells the story of the brutal 1950 Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War. The Chinese side claims it as the most critical victory of the conflict, known in China as the "War to Resist American Aggression and Aid Korea."  Co-directed by top Chinese and Hong Kong filmmakers Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, the film casts Wu Jing in a lead role. One of China's most popular actors, Wu is best known for starring in and directing action flick "Wolf Warrior" in 2015 and its even more popular sequel in 2017.  This can only whip up anti-American and martial sentiment in China, and remind the Chinese that they defeated American troops – temporarily – when the Chinese entered the Korean War.  I wonder if the film was released to coincide with a Chinese move against Taiwan.  See the post below.

October 6, 2021       Permalink

THE PROBLEM THAT WON'T GO AWAY – OVERNIGHT:  Taiwan, once again, is at the center of informed international opinion, and no one is backing down.  From Gateway Pundit:

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to ‘do whatever it takes’ to guard Taiwan against an invasion by China. She warned that if its allies allowed it to fall ‘it would signal that authoritarianism has the upper hand.’

China ramped up its threats on Taiwan following Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Communist China flew 56 warplanes into Taiwanese airspace this past week.

The Daily Mail reported – via Midnight Rider Channel:

"China has warned Taiwan against ‘playing with fire’ and said that ‘war may be triggered at any time’ after it sent dozens of warplanes into the island’s airspace.

"An article in the state-backed Global Times said that ‘collusion’ between the US and Taiwan was so ‘audacious’ that the situation ‘has almost lost any room for manoeuvre, teetering on the edge of a face-off.’

"Nearly 150 Chinese warplanes have breached Taiwan’s airspace since Friday, including 56 jets on Monday in a dramatic increase in aggression.

"Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen today vowed to ‘do whatever it takes’ to guard Taiwan against invasion as she indicated that without help from the country’s allies ‘authoritarianism has the upper hand over democracy.’

"Recent voyages through the Strait of Taiwan by the British and American navies, coupled with the new Aukus defence pact have infuriated Beijing and sparked more shows of strength in the South China Sea."

COMMENT:  Taiwan's great fear is that it will be abandoned by the United States, as was Afghanistan.  The fear is legitimate. 

Japan has announced that it is beefing up its military forces, a sign that it would be willing to get involved militarily if China tries to take Taiwan.  But would it get involved without the United States?

The Taiwan issue is not yet front and center to most Americans.  They are still getting over our humiliation in Afghanistan, and I really wonder if they have the stomach for another overseas crisis.  We have to ask whether Biden would actually give up Taiwan, let the Chinese have it, in exchange for a period of peace, knowing that such a Chamberlain-style collapse might actually be just what Americans want.  Are we replaying the late 1930s?  Do any of the adolescents in the Biden administration, including the vice president, know how that ended?

Who tells America to wake up this time?

October 6, 2021       Permalink