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JANUARY 28,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

SICKENING – OVERNIGHT:  This is symbolic of what we are facing in the collapse of order in our large cities.  From the New York Post:   A 16-year-old, up-and-coming rapper charged with shooting an NYPD cop in the Bronx walked free on bond Thursday — and cops are fuming over it.  Camrin Williams, who is also known by the rap name C Blu, posted his $250,000 bond after being locked up at a Brooklyn juvenile facility on gun and assault charges in the shooting of a 27-year-old cop in Belmont.  “If anybody wants to know why we have a crisis of violence in this city, or why we’re about to bury two hero police officers, look no further than this disgraceful bail release,” NYPD Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said in a statement.  “This individual chose to carry illegal guns twice,” Lynch said. “He chose to fight with and shoot a New York City police officer. There’s no reason to believe he won’t do the exact same thing when he’s out on the street tonight."  This farce began with attempts to "reform" the bail process.  The result is hardened criminals who' are released without bail, running around the streets ready to strike again.  Common sense tells us that this is wrong.  But common sense means little to the proprietors of leftist thinking.  They have their own logic, and it's killing us.

January 28, 2022       Permalink

A HORRIBLE TREND – OVERNIGHT:  Attacks on police officers are escalating.  It is nationwide.  It is the culmination of two-years of anti-police hatred by the hard left, as our so-called "free press" averts its eyes.  From Fox:     

Police and law enforcement officers continue to be the victims of a violent trend, as six officers were the victims of gun violence over just the past two days.

Two police officers were shot Wednesday afternoon in St. Louis; a Milwaukee sheriff's deputy was shot several times during a traffic stop Wednesday evening; and, three more police officers were shot in Houston on Thursday, in separate instances, authorities said.

One St. Louis police officer was in "very critical, very unstable" condition after he was shot in the leg and another officer was shot in the abdomen around 1 p.m during a traffic stop, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Chief John Hayden said during a press conference on Wednesday.

"I am asking the public to pray for our officers. This is a rough time," Hayden said. "They're doing everything they can to keep people safe, and we keep having these critical incidents."

The officer who was critically injured had been serving in the force for three-and-a-half years, while the other officer has been on two-and-a-half years, according to the chief. Both are in their mid-20s.

Officers spotted the vehicle that was wanted in a homicide case from the night before and pulled it over, Hayden said. The individuals inside the vehicle shot at the officers as they approached the vehicle, striking both, before fleeing. The four individuals were all taken into custody, the chief said.

Three police officers were hospitalized during a separate shooting incident in Houston, after a suspect shot one officer in the foot, another in the leg, and a third officer in the arm, all of which were hospitalized in stable condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital, authorities said.

The officers, all of them belonging to the Northeast Patrol, were identified as N. Gadson, 35; D. Hayden, 32; and A. Alvarez, 28, by a tweet from the Houston Police Thursday evening.

After shooting the officers, the suspect fled and barricaded himself in a house, authorities said.
A short time later, police officers surrounded the building and, after a gunfight where the suspect was shot in the neck, the unidentified 31-year-old suspect surrendered.

During a third incident in Milwaukee, a sheriff's deputy shot several times in his arms and torso after he pursued a passenger who fled on foot from a traffic stop, officials said.

The unidentified deputy, 26, has been with the agency for 18 months and was hospitalized, Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell R. Lucas said during a press conference Wednesday.

COMMENT:  The impact is devastating.  People don't feel safe in their own cities, sometimes their own homes.  Police departments report difficulty recruiting new officers.  And hard-left prosecutors are refusing to prosecute many forms of criminality, which leads to more criminality.  Trust in the press is also declining.

There's no evidence that President Biden has any plan to deal with this crisis on the federal level.  Vice President Harris is asleep. 

It's hard to believe that the anti-police attacks will end.  We look with dread at our increasingly unstable future.

January 28, 2022       Permalink

JANUARY 27,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

WHAT A DISGRACE – OVERNIGHT:  Cori Bush, perhaps the most left-wing member of Congress, had a bit of bother in her home state of Missouri earlier this week, when her empty car came under fire.  Bush's response to the assault was sickening.   From Fox:  Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said Thursday that she is unharmed after her unoccupied vehicle was hit by gunfire over the weekend in the St. Louis area.  "I'm touched by everyone who has reached out," Bush tweeted. "Thankfully no one was harmed. But any act of gun violence shakes your soul. That's why our movement is working to invest in our communities, eradicate the root causes of gun violence, and keep everyone safe."  Bush’s vehicle was parked in the St. Louis area when it was hit by gunfire Saturday morning, a local NBC affiliate reported. A source told the outlet that there was evidence that someone had tampered with the door handles of other cars in the vicinity at the time of the shooting.  Notice her comment.  There was not a single word about apprehending the perpetrators.  Not one word.  And where are those perpetrators now?  They're probably in some poor neighborhood shooting at innocent black kids.  But Cori Bush cares not.  Mentioning the criminals who shot at her car would have violated one of the basic rules of the hard left:  Criminals aren't really criminals, just victims of society.  That idea is corrupt and sickening.  It has resulted in the murder of citizens in the large cities of our country.  Ms. Bush should be ashamed, but she has no shame.

January 27, 2022       Permalink

HMM, THIS COULD TURN OUT TO BE IMPORTANT – OVERNIGHT:  Wild speculation is growing as to who President Biden will nominate for the Supreme Court, now that Justice Breyer has been shoved out gracelessly.  Inevitably, the talk turns to getting that nominee confirmed.  The Senate is divided 50-50.  Well, some experts say, even if each side holds all its members, Vice President Kamala Harris would break the tie in favor of the Biden nominee. 

But wait.  It may not be so.  Laurence Tribe of the Harvard Law School, a certified and celebrated liberal, believes those experts have it wrong.  From Daily Caller:   

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law professor and legal ally of President Joe Biden’s administration, has stated that vice presidents do not have the authority to make a tie-breaking vote for a Supreme Court nominee’s approval in the Senate.

News of Justice Stephen Breyer’s intent to retire broke Wednesday. The news puts Biden in the position of having to pass a nominee through a 50-50 Senate, raising the question of whether Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote.

Tribe has previously advised the administration on at least one questionable legal move: the extension of a federal eviction moratorium in August.

Tribe previously weighed in on the issue in September of 2020, when he argued “the vice president doesn’t have the power to break a tie” on an appointment. Tribe made the statement as Republicans were gearing up to approve former President Donald Trump’s final SCOTUS nominee, then-judge Amy Coney Barrett.

“While the vice president has the power to cast a tiebreaking vote to pass a bill, the Constitution does not give him [or her] the power to break ties when it comes to the Senate’s “Advice and Consent” role in approving presidential appointments to the Supreme Court,” he wrote.

Asked about his past position on Wednesday, Tribe was regretful, but didn’t back down.

“I wrote that piece around 15 months ago and have not thought about the issue since,” he said in a statement to RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann. “I doubt that I would reach a new conclusion upon re-examining the matter even though, given the current political circumstances, I obviously wish the situation were otherwise.”

COMMENT:  Well, well, well, now ain't that grand?  If Tribe is correct, it would take 51 votes in the Senate to confirm.  That means the Dems would have to convince one Republican to vote with them, and that assumes that every Dem is kept in line.

Big trouble there.   If Biden appoints a reasonably sane person, some Republicans may be inclined to vote for her, to prevent an even greater national divide.  But Biden is under pressure to name a hard leftist, someone acceptable to the Squad.  If he does, the 50-vote Republican mass may well stay solid, and the nomination will fail. 

Real drama.  Real world.  High stakes.

January 27, 2022       Permalink