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FEBRUARY 28,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

SQUAD STAR BASHES OWN PARTY – FROM FOX:   "Real Time" host Bill Maher took aim at Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over her scheduled rebuttal to President Biden's State of the Union address.  It was announced that the Democratic "Squad" member will be making a speech to push the progressive agenda on behalf of the Working Families Party following Biden's speech.   This is in addition to the traditional rebuttal made by the opposing party, which this year will be made by Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.   "Now, I've always seen the opposition party give a rebuttal. This is from the same party. This is like sacking your own quarterback," Maher told the panel on Friday. "I don't know, maybe she's gonna say some nice things about Joe, but basically it's to present- … bad idea for the Democrats?"  Yeah, very bad idea.  We know the Working Families Party here in New York.  It's a remnant of the old red groups.  Maybe Tlaib can even put in a plug for defunding the police.  Very popular now, you know.

February 28, 2022       Permalink

THE COMING CRISIS – OVERNIGHT:  The buildup of Russian forces in Ukraine is frightening, a nightmare before us.  I have to wonder whether the Russians are planning to mount a major attack to coincide with President Biden's State of the Union address.  How dramatic is that?  From Fox: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bombing Sunday of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is garnering comparisons to Nazi Germany's actions at the start of World War II.

"This reminds you of something doesn’t it?" Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said at an emergency meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on Monday. "Indeed, very clear parallels could be drawn to the beginning of the Second World War."

"The most recent example," he continued, "the Russian army shelled with Grad multiple rocket launcher systems the residential area of the city of Kharkiv – the second biggest in Ukraine."

"The level of the threat to global security has been equated to that of the Second World War, or even higher, following Putin’s order to put an alert to Russian nuclear forces – what a madness," he added. "If he wants to kill himself, he doesn't need to use nuclear arsenal. He has to do what the guy in Berlin did in the bunker in May 1945."

Kharkiv came under intense rocket fire Monday as Ukrainian and Russian officials met for peace talks near Ukraine’s border with Belarus. Those talks ended Monday without a deal being reached.

Ukraine officials said dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds more injured in the Kharkiv attack after Russian forces bombed residential areas and apartment complexes.

Vladimir Dubinin, a Ukrainian man hiding in a bomb shelter in Kharkiv, phoned into Fox News’ "America’s Newsroom" on Monday following the bombing attack.

"Everything [is] not so bad as it was several hours ago when Putin's troops attacked the civilians in our city," he said. "Right now we are – it looks OK, but we are waiting [for] a new attack anyway in several hours."

COMMENT:  Meanwhile, some European nations, notably Germany, are stepping up and promising to increase their defense spending, while also sending military equipment to the Ukrainian resistance.  My question is whether they will continue to do this good stuff if the Ukrainians are finally crushed.  "How quickly they forget," Johnny Carson used to comment.  And they can forget a whole people when they are the losers in a major conflict. 

February 28,  2022    Permalink 

FEBRUARY 27,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

FUTURE LEADERS OF AMERICA? – Remember the song, "Fight Fiercely Harvard"?  I guess it's out of style.  From College Fix:   Harvard has decided to close a 17-year-old campus police station because students said it made them feel “intimidated.”  According to The Crimson, Harvard University Police made the move regarding the Mather House substation last week, which long has been the subject of student derision.  Mather resident Faith Woods said she is “well aware” police are “not there to keep [her] actively safe.” Having a cop car parked outside the residence means nothing, she added, saying it actually “implies” residents are being “watched and policed.”  Student Eleanor Taylor went further, alleging the substation is “violent”: “The real effect that the presence of the HUPD substation has […] is simply a violent, visual intimidation tactic that students are forced to see every time they enter the house.”  Gender studies and sociology major Kai DeJesus (who uses “she/they/siya” pronouns) agreed, saying “’It’s really important that we keep these violent institutions outside of residences” as the HUPD still “disproportionately targets Black and Brown people […] on campus.”   Compare please with the young people of Ukraine.  We have work to do. 

February 27, 2022       Permalink

DON'T IGNORE DOMESTIC POLITICS – OVERNIGHT:  President Biden delivers his first State of the Union address Tuesday night.  I can feel your excitement.  The president will speak in the midst of one of the greatest international crises of recent times.  I don't expect either eloquence or brilliance, but I hope his speech is not an embarrassment. 

Behind the president on the rostrum will be the vice president, Kamala Harris, assuming she shows up.  Next to her will be Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, who will be celebrating her 130th birthday in a few weeks. 

Never before have so many owed so little to so few. 

Hanging over the proceedings will be the political status of the president and his party.  The word is "grim."  From The Washington Examiner: 

President Joe Biden's handling of the economy is dragging down Democrats' hopes in the midterm elections just as he prepares to deliver his first State of the Union address and grapples with the war in Ukraine, according to a new poll.

The ABC- and Washington Post-commissioned survey gets worse for the Democrats deeper into the crosstabs. Three-fourths of Americans say the economy is in bad shape, and 6 in 10 say they are feeling the brutal boot of inflation — now at a 40-year high. A paltry 17% say they are better off under Biden. And Republicans have a staggering 20-point lead among voters asked which party can best steer the economy through the current challenges.

"Post-ABC poll finds a deeply pessimistic nation, worried about the economy and Biden’s leadership," the normally Biden-friendly Washington Post headlined its story on the poll.

As primary season ramps up, generic Republican House candidates have a 49-42% lead over Democrats among registered voters. The gap expands to 54-41% when sorted for registered voters who say they will turn out in November.

It's not just his handling of the economy that has Biden's job approval hitting a new low of just 37%, including a stunning 61% disapproval among independent voters. He is below 50% for his handling of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he has fallen on his pandemic response, and more and more voters are questioning his mental state.

Even Democrats' support for Biden is faltering. Nearly one-fourth either disapprove (19%) or are withholding judgment (4%) of his performance.

The numbers, as well as the spiraling situation in Ukraine, present a dismal backdrop to Biden's Tuesday State of the Union speech. Only former presidents Gerald Ford and Donald Trump had approval ratings as low as Biden's on the eve of their first addresses to the nation.

The party affiliation numbers have shifted rapidly and dramatically since late 2021. In four ABC/Washington Post polls conducted last year from January through September, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by an average of 7 percentage points. Since November, it's been just one percentage point.

COMMENT:  It's true that the midterm elections are eight months away, about 20 lifetimes in politics.  Yes, things can change, but it's hard to see how Biden and his party can make enough progress to make a difference.  The president is set in his ways, tied to policies that are clearly unpopular.  His party has taken a sharp left turn.  Traditional Democratic groups aren't so traditional any longer.  Hispanic voters, in particular, appear largely alienated by Democratic leftism.  There don't seem to be any good breaks on the horizon.

Read the rest of the numbers in the story.

February 27,  2022     Permalink