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FEBRUARY 16,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THEY'RE SENDING WHO? – OVERNIGHT:  PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY.  FROM THE HILL:  Vice President Harris is slated to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when she travels to the Munich Security Conference later this week, according to senior administration officials.  The meeting is one of several that Harris is expected to have with leaders at the global security conference. It will come at a pivotal time, as the Biden administration tries to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky spoke with President Biden earlier this week.  Harris will arrive at the conference in Munich on Friday and is slated to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, a senior administration official said.  Her meeting with Zelensky will take place on Saturday, according to a second administration official. She is also expected to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was recently in Washington to meet with Biden at the White House.  Harris will deliver a speech at the conference addressing Russian threats to Ukraine, the official said. The vice president is expected to use the remarks to argue that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would weaken Russia and to lay out the broader implications of the crisis for European and international order, the official said.  Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  I hope she reads the notes they give her, or at least a Little Golden Book on Europe.  I'm willing to withhold judgment, but her previous excursions haven't exactly gotten rave reviews. 

February 16, 2022       Permalink

FADING OF A NETWORK – OVERNIGHT:  CNN IS IN BAD SHAPE.  CLERGY HAS BEEN CALLED.  EULOGIES ARE BEING COMMISSIONED.  FLORISTS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED.  FROM PM: 

CNN has hit yet another low last week, seeing its worst total day viewers in nearly eight years as its conservative counterpart Fox News continues to top the charts.

According to data reported by Fox News, the left-wing cable news network averaged just 444,000 total day viewers from Feb. 7 - 13, which is CNN's worst performance in the category since November of 2015.

Fox News topped the category, bringing in 1.5 average total day viewers, and was the only basic cable news network to surpass the 1 million mark. The top five was rounded out with USA, MSNBC, HGTV, and Hallmark.

In the primetime slots, CNN didn't fare much better, averaging just 491,000 primetime viewers. Meanwhile, Fox News brought in 2.4 million viewers for the same slot, topping CNN by 385 percent.

"Tucker Carlson Tonight" finished as the most-watched cable news program of the week, bringing in an average of 3.5 million viewers.

"The Five" finished in second, followed by "Jesse Watters Primetime," "Hannity," and "Special Report with Bret Baier."

Fox News had 81 of the top 100 cable telecasts for the week.

CNN's most popular show, "The Lead with Jake Tapper," brought in an average audience of 663,000 viewers, with shows like "Ancient Aliens" on the History Channel, and Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" receiving more viewers.

As for morning shows, CNN's "New Day" brought in just 363,000 viewers, and MSNBC's "Morning Joe" saw 763,000 viewers. For comparison, "FOX & Friends" averaged 1.4 million viewers, more than doubling the other two shows combined.

CNN saw another historic low with its weekend lineup, with just 57,000 viewers in the coveted marketing demographic of 25 - 54, marking the lowest viewership in the category in 25 years, according to Fox News data.

CNN has seen its viewership tank since the last two months of 2021, and into this year, have been embroiled in a number of scandals.

COMMENT:  For some reason, the top management of CNN never seemed to care that its brand was bleeding viewers.  The network went hard left, becoming the go-to place for never Trumpers.  In the process, it gave up any credibility it had. 

CNN is now under new management, but there's no guarantee that will make a difference.  There are plenty of deep-pocketed people and corporations who kind of enjoy playing with the leftist agitators.  The viewers, though, have clearly become disenchanted.  I can only wonder what the advertisers think.  How can you sell anything to an audience of six?

February 16, 2022       Permalink

FEBRUARY 15,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

BROADENING OUR PERSPECTIVE AND MAKING US BETTER PEOPLE – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   The University of Bristol in the U.K. is offering guidance to its staff on “using pronouns at work,” which includes not only the usual “he/him,” “she/her” and “they/them,” but so-called “neopronouns” as well.  According to The Telegraph, neopronouns are defined as “third-person pronouns that are not officially recognised in the language they are used in.” Like “Ze/Zir/Zirs,” for example.  They also include “emojiself pronouns,” icons which “represent gender in written and spoken conversation.”  Then there are pronouns for what are known as “xenic” individuals, those whose gender “does not fit within ‘the Western human binary of gender alignments.'”  One of these is called “catgender,” where a person strongly identifies with cats “or other felines” or “may experience delusions relating to being a cat.”  I'm so glad I understand.  Now I can interact with the lady next door who answers every question with "meow."  I will show respect.  Cats make good neighbors.

February 15, 2022       Permalink

THE PARENTS' REVOLT SPREADS TO THE URBAN HEARTBEAT OF THE AMERICAN LEFT – SAN FRANCISCO:  NO, I MEAN IT.  I'M BEING SERIOUS – OVERNIGHT – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco residents recalled three members of the city’s school board Tuesday for what critics called misplaced priorities and putting progressive politics over the needs of children during the pandemic.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the recall in a special election, according to tallies by the San Francisco Department of Elections.

“The voters of this city have delivered a clear message that the school board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “San Francisco is a city that believes in the value of big ideas, but those ideas must be built on the foundation of a government that does the essentials well.”

Breed will now appoint board replacements to serve until another election in November.
The election was the first recall in San Francisco since 1983, since a failed attempt to remove then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein.

The school board has seven members, all Democrats, but only three were eligible to be recalled: school board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins.

Opponents called the recall a waste of time and money, as the district faces a number of challenges including a $125 million budget deficit and the need to replace retiring Superintendent Vincent Matthews.

Parents in the politically liberal city launched the recall effort in January 2021 out of frustration over the slow reopening of district schools, while the board pursued the renaming of 44 school sites and the elimination of competitive admissions at the elite Lowell High School.

The mayor, one of the most prominent endorsers of the recall, praised the parents, saying they “were fighting for what matters most -– their children.”

The three members, including Faauuga Moliga, defended their record, saying they prioritized racial equity because that was what they were elected to do.

The pressures of the pandemic and distance learning have merged with politics nationwide, making school board races a new front in a culture war as resentments over COVID-19 reach a boiling point. Republicans are increasingly looking to the education fight as a galvanizing issue that could help them sway voters.

In San Francisco, one of the nation’s most liberal cities, the recall effort split Democrats. Breed, a Democrat, had criticized the school board for being distracted by “political agendas.”

COMMENT:  This happened in San Francisco?  Yeah?  Pinch me, please pinch me.

February 15,  2022     Permalink