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MARCH 18, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THEY KEEP LEAVING – OVERNIGHT: It's so hard to get good help these days. Why, just ask Kamala Harris.  A lovely boss, I'm sure, but those ungrateful Washington types just keep leaving her.  How could they be so disloyal? From CNN:   Sabrina Singh, Vice President Kamala Harris' deputy press secretary, is leaving her office, according to a White House official. Singh becomes the latest high-profile departure from the vice president's office, which suffered a turbulent first year due to missteps and messaging failures. She will join the Department of Defense.
Ernesto Apreza, a senior adviser in the White House Office of Public Engagement, will become deputy press secretary and is expected to focus on engaging local and state press, as well as specific key coalition groups. Apreza previously served on the Biden-Harris campaign, as well as on the then-mayor of Seattle's staff. Last year, communications director Ashley Etienne and press secretary Symone Sanders announced they would be vacating their positions. Those departures were followed by the exits of two additional staffers in the new year. Etienne was replaced by Jamal Simmons earlier this year; Sanders' role remains vacant.  It's well known in Washington that Harris runs a terrible office. Not a recommendation for the presidency. Or for any other executive position. Maybe they can find something for her in the State Department gift shop.

March 18, 2022     Permalink

LITTLE BY LITTLE, THE TRUTH COMES OUT – OVERNIGHT: It's just so embarrassing, the way the truth catches up with some government folks. What's a body to do? Deny it, of course.  Who cares about years of disinformation and deception? From the New York Post:

They are the supposed nonpartisan group of top spies looking out for the best interest of the nation.

But the 51 former “intelligence” officials who cast doubt on The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop stories in a public letter really were just desperate to get Joe Biden elected president. And more than a year later, even after their Deep State sabotage has been shown again and again to be a lie, they refuse to own up to how they undermined an election.

The officials, including CNN pundit and professional fabricator James Clapper — a man who was nearly charged for perjury for lying to Congress — signed a letter saying that the laptop “has the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

What proof did they have? By their own admission, none. “We do not know if the emails . . . are genuine or not,” the letter said. They’re just “suspicious.” Why? Because they hurt Biden’s campaign, that’s evidence enough.

Keep in mind this was written Oct. 19, 2020, five days after The Post published its first story. Neither Joe Biden nor Hunter Biden had denied the story, they simply deflected questions. Didn’t these security experts think that if this was disinformation, the Biden campaign would have yelled to the heavens that the story was false?

Meanwhile, though the letter was advertised as being signed by people who worked “for presidents of both political parties,” a majority of the officials were Democrats.

Politico picked up the letter and ran the false headline “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” That headline is still online today, even though the letter clearly says they don’t know if it’s Russian disinformation.

That headline was tweeted out by legions of Democrats, including current White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, as proof that it was all a con. That tweet also is still up despite being proven false.

Thus pure speculation by a group of biased officials became gospel among the media. This was “fake news,” and could be safely ignored.

Keep in mind that Twitter already had banned The New York Post a few days before. The rationale was that this was “hacked materials,” even though it wasn’t — and Twitter had no evidence to think it was. A Facebook official, meanwhile, said it wasn’t going to allow the sharing of The Post’s story until it was “fact checked” by a third party — a check that never happened.

Thus, Big Tech, former government officials, and the media conspired together to bury a story.

No, not just bury — create a false narrative that flipped the script to make Joe Biden the victim of a conspiracy.

In short, they peddled online disinformation to sway an election.

No one actually proved The Post’s reporting was wrong. Media outlets showed up at the doorstep of the computer repairman who had gotten the laptop, and he confirmed it. People who exchanged e-mails with Hunter Biden attested to their accuracy in the days and weeks that followed.

Only after the election was safely over did Hunter tacitly admit the laptop was his. Last year, a Politico reporter confirmed that the laptop’s materials were real. And now, the coup de grace: The Times said it has “authenticated” material from the laptop.

There have been no consequences. Twitter and Facebook still censor information based on political bias, and Congress takes no action. Many of the letter signers continue to be used as “experts” by the media. Clapper, for instance, spent years on CNN calling Donald Trump a “Russian asset,” a lie invented and fed by political operatives of Hillary Clinton. He’s still there. Guess accuracy is not a condition of employment.

COMMENT: Bottom line, legitimate information about the Bidens' dealings, which came out before the 2020 presidential election, was disparaged and ridiculed by the establishment press, which protected Joe Biden so he could go on to defeat Donald Trump. This is press corruption, and corruption by government officials who aided in deflecting the truth. And Donald Trump lost. And maybe his claims of a dishonest election weren't as wacky as the establishment said they were.

March 18, 2022     Permalink

MARCH 17, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

GROWN-UPS AT WORK – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   The “cancelled” statue of Theodore Roosevelt that was hauled away in the dead of night from the American Museum of Natural History’s steps should be headed for the scrap heap rather than a presidential library in North Dakota, a group of woke academics and artists claims. The bronze depiction of the Rough Rider on horseback flanked by an African man and Native American, which was decried as colonialistic and racist, is slated to go to a planned Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, N.D. It was removed in January and is currently in storage in NYC.
“New Yorkers cannot simply dump their toxic cultural products in other communities,” according to an online petition by the academics started last month. “The city should reject the transfer of its undesirable waste elsewhere. In this case, the monument’s bronze content could be melted down or recycled for a better purpose or simply disposed of.” How very intellectual.  I'm so impressed.  Theodore Roosevelt is generally regarded by historians as one of our best presidents.  I guess he'll now be stricken from the list.

March 17, 2022       Permalink

JAPAN AND RUSSIA – OVERNIGHT:  Russia's Ukraine adventure is being closely watched all over the world.  Nations and political leaders understand that what Russia does today can affect them tomorrow. What is the Kremlin going to do next? What weapons will be used? Who will be bombed and destroyed?  From Fox:

Japan’s defense ministry reported it had tracked four large Russian ships transporting troops through a strait north of the country and heading west.

Officials speculated that the vessels could have charted a course for Europe based on their trajectory. Two ships passed through at around 8 p.m. Tuesday and another two at around 7 a.m. Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry published photos that depicted a vessel identified as one typically used to land expeditionary forces for amphibious assaults. One vessel appeared to have military trucks loaded onto its deck, The Mainichi reported.

A Defense Ministry spokesman said "it is possible" the four ships could be headed for Ukraine. The vessels passed from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan through the Tsuruga Strait.

The spokesman added that it is unusual for Russian ships to pass through the strait so close to Japanese territory.

Japan recently reiterated its claim over the disputed Kuril Islands, which have served as a point of contention between Japan and Russia.

Russia seized the islands, formerly part of Hokkaido Prefecture, at the end of World War II. Japan has labored in the decades since to secure them again, recently stressing that it believes the islands remain "primordially Japanese" and labeled Russia’s ownership as "occupation against international order."

Japan has supported and enacted strong sanctions against Russia in reaction to the invasion of Ukraine, most notably by joining the U.S. and European allies to remove Russian banks from the international SWIFT financial system in late February.

Japan also froze assets belonging to President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials while sending $100 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a unilateral attempt to change the status quo and the act shakes the foundation of the international order. It’s an outright violation of international law and we strongly denounce the act," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida previously said.

"Japan stands by the Ukrainian people who are fighting hard to defend their sovereignty and territory, their homeland and families."

COMMENT:  Located so close to Russia, and to Russia's ally China, Japan is taking significant risks.  I assume that our inadequate American leadership will show respect for those risks and demonstrate respect for Japan. We haven't exactly covered ourselves with glory in this Ukranian winter, hesitating at every stage to back with mighty strength the Ukranian freedom fighters.  The whole world is watching, and individual countries will decide whether America is an ally worth having.

March 17, 2022     Permalink