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JANUARY 23,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE MARCH OF HYPOCRISY – FROM FOX:  Michigan State University allowed basketball games to continue at 100% attendance capacity despite shutting down in-person learning for nearly the entire month of January.  Attendance at all of Michigan State University's home basketball games in the month of January at the Breslin Center was at 100% capacity with 14,797 fans in attendance, according to ESPN.  However, in a Dec. 31 message to the campus community, Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley Jr. said that classes would begin remotely for the spring semester due to "the state of Michigan reaching an all-time high in cases per day."  "Given this intense surge in cases, we now feel the best decision for our campus is to start classes primarily remotely on Jan. 10 and for at least the first three weeks of the semester," Stanley wrote in the announcement.  I guess basketball brings in more money than classes. 

January 23, 2022       Permalink

UKRAINE CONTINUED – OVERNIGHT:  Ukraine has now jumped to the top of the worry list.  A Russian invasion may be imminent.  This is what presidents are for.  Where do we get one?  From Fox: 

President Biden is considering sending a few thousand troops to Eastern Europe and the Baltic States as part of a broader NATO effort to bolster NATO allies that border Russia and Ukraine, given recent tensions, Fox News confirms.

Advisors presented Biden with various options to respond to Russia's aggressive stance in Eastern Europe in a Sunday briefing at Camp David. The president is considering sending 3,000-5,000 U.S. troops to Romania and to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia as part of a broader NATO effort. Other NATO countries may also contribute troops to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin not to try to move into neighboring countries.

The president is also considering deploying naval vessels to make port visits to NATO allies who may feel threatened. Some equipment and troops in these proposed actions would come from Europe and some would come from the U.S.

COMMENT:  I believe this is the first time that the sending of troops has been mentioned.  Even the words themselves represent a dramatic escalation.  Last night we called for a presidential address to the nation.  We make the same plea today.  We also ask that the president meet with Congressional leaders of both parties, a tradition when a foreign crisis erupts.

There was a time when we asserted, in this country, that politics stops at the water's edge.  The saying derived from the practice of placing members of both parties in high defense positions when the nation was in danger. We didn't have a Defense Department in World War II.  We had a War Department and a Navy Department.   Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, was in the White House, but he appointed a Republican, Frank Knox, as secretary of the Navy, and another Republican, Henry L. Stimson, as Secretary of War.  Our enemies saw a united American front.

Today, sadly, nothing stops at the water's edge.  Foreign policy ceased being bipartisan years ago.   Already our Ukrainian policy is being pulverized by politicians.  Only the president can try to establish some bipartisanship as we wade through the crisis.  I don't see any attempt in that direction.

January 23,  2022     Permalink

JANUARY 22,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

ABOUT TIME SOMEONE SAID THIS – OVERNIGHT:  Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a Republican, is a congressional treasure.  When he speaks, he makes his point quickly and clearly.  He's just said something that's needed to be said in this country for a long time.  From bizpacreview: U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) blasted President Biden’s racial demagoguery on “The Faulkner Focus” Friday while voicing “disgust” with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) who called the Senate “racist” for not passing the left’s voting rights legislation that would have federalized elections.  Kennedy proclaimed that the hateful rhetoric from Democrats calling Republicans racists needs to stop. He stated that “the American people are getting pretty tired of being called” racist.  “The Democratic congressman, he takes his cues from his leader, President Biden. I don’t hate anybody. I look for grace wherever I can find it. I have spent time with him. President Biden is a nice guy. He is. Is President Biden a perfect person? No. Does he try to do better every day? Also no. Therein lies the problem. He keeps trying to stuff more diapers down the toilet,” Kennedy colorfully asserted.  “He goes down to Georgia two weeks ago and demonstrated raw gut racial demagoguery. And that’s what the congressman is just parroting. … President Biden basically said to tens of millions of Americans who don’t want to have an election month — they want to have an Election Day — who believe that if you vote, you ought to have to prove you are who you say you are. He basically told all the tens of millions of Americans who believe that that they are Bull Connor, George Wallace racists,” he told host host Harris Faulkner.  Exactly right, but I doubt there'll be change.  The Democratic Party is stuck in the 1960s.  Everything is race, gender, and ethnicity.  They are an obsolete entity, and I wish they'd just disappear and allow others to form a new center-left party.

THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   The cartoon mascots that sell M&M’s in television commercials will now dress and act in more gender-neutral ways, the 80-year-old candymaker announced Thursday.  Jane Hwang, global vice president for M&Ms at parent company Mars, told AdWeek that it’s time to minimize traditional gender stereotypes in marketing campaigns for the chocolate candies that feature the characters.  “We took a deep look at our characters, both inside and out, and have evolved their looks, personalities and backstories to be more representative of the dynamic and progressive world we live in,” Ms. Hwang said.  To support the change, the female M&M’s characters will dress more comfortably: Green will wear sneakers rather than knee-high boots and act more confidently, and Brown will wear plainer eyeglasses and more sensible low-block heels instead of stilettos.  Ms. Hwang said Green and Brown will team up as a “force supporting women, together throwing shine and not shade.”  Is nothing sacred?  Even M&M's has now caved.  But remember, Ilsa, we'll always have Milky Way.

January 22, 2022       Permalink

GETTING MORE SERIOUS – OVERNIGHT:  The US/Russia confrontation over Ukraine is getting more serious.  Although the issue hasn't caught fire with the American people, it is bound to attract more attention as the possibility of American action grows larger.  From Fox: 

President Biden met with his national security team Saturday amid reports that Russia was planning to install a pro-Kremlin leader in Ukraine.

One U.S. official told Fox News the reports were "deeply concerning."

Late Saturday, the White House posted a photo on social media, showing Biden and advisers at Camp David, Maryland, where they gathered to discuss "continued Russian aggressive actions toward Ukraine."

The president "affirmed that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States will impose swift and severe consequences on Russia with our Allies and partners," the White House post said.

Earlier Saturday, the U.K.'s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office disclosed it had information suggesting the Russian plan was in the works.

"We have information that indicates the Russian Government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv as it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine," a spokesperson for the British agency said.

Former Ukrainian Member of Parliament Yevhen Murayev was being considered a potential candidate, the spokesperson added.

Murayev heads Nashi, a small pro-Russian political party that currently has no representation in Ukraine's parliament, The Associated Press reported.

The U.K. government said its claim was based on an intelligence assessment, but it provided no evidence to support it, according to the AP.

Britain has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine a part of efforts to help the country defend against a potential Russian attack.

A U.S. official reacted to the reports regarding Russia and Ukraine.

"This kind of plotting is deeply concerning," Emily Horne, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, told Fox News.

COMMENT:  It's time for the president to deliver an address to the nation about Ukraine, and the stakes for the United States.  Polls show that Americans are skeptical about our getting involved.  This is when presidents show what they're made of...uh, maybe we'd better not try to find out.

January 22, 2022       Permalink