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MARCH 25, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

UH, MAYBE THIS IS A BIT TOO FAR – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been in talks with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to make a video appearance during Sunday’s broadcast of the Academy Awards, The Post has learned. Academy officials still are debating on whether Zelensky will indeed appear briefly on the show, sources said. It’s also not clear if he would appear live or in a taped message. Sources said the debate centers on whether the Oscars should remain apolitical as the Russian invasion of Ukraine rages on. The Academy declined to comment to The Post. ABC, which is broadcasting the show, is said to be in favor of Zelensky, a former actor, making a statement. ABC did not return requests for comment. Meanwhile, it’s believed that Ukranian-born actress Mila Kunis, who raised $35 million with her husband, Ashton Kutcher, for the Ukranian refugees, will make a statement during the awards show.  I may be wrong, but I somehow feel this might hit people the wrong way. War isn't a show.  People are dying.  We'd see President Zelensky, in his fatigues, and then they'd cut to the tuxedos and evening gowns of Oscar night. I pass.

March 22, 2022      Permalink

THE TRUTH COMES OUT – OVERNIGHT:  The crackpots known as "The Squad" in Congress just can't help revealing who they really are and what they actually believe.  I'm not surprised by what comes out.  From the New York Post:

It looks the Squad has a Putin problem — as in a reluctance to stand up to the Russian autocrat.

Two of the group’s core members, Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) were the only two House Democrats to vote against sanctioning Russia’s oil industry, while Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in the runup to the invasion argued against providing Ukraine with aid.

And, in a now-deleted tweet, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bx./Queens) argued that Washington should “avoid sanctions” against Russia as they would “hurt the Ukrainian people” — inadvertently (we hope) echoing the line pushed by RT, the Russian TV outlet, which similarly insists sanctioning Russia is a “threat to Ukraine too.”

Omar is the worst of the bunch (on this front, anyway), as The Post’s Jon Levine reports, because her of her deep family ties to Russia. Her brother-in-law, Mohamed Keynan, was the chief of staff for former Somalian Prime Minister Hassan Khaire, known for “all but giving” (per The Post’s reporting) his country’s oil reserves to the energy company Soma Oil & Gas (backed by Russian billionaire and Putin ally Alexander Djaparidze). And Omar’s father was a Soviet-educated colonel in the Somali army during the ’80s under the Russian-backed regime of Siad Barre.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez echoed Russian talking points in a since deleted tweet.

Her excuse for her pro-Putin votes? “I don’t support broad-based sanctions on any country. They are economic warfare, and we should all oppose them like we oppose military actions. Also, as humans who are interconnected to other humans globally, we will directly or indirectly be impacted by it,” Omar tweeted.

Ilhan Omar said she opposes sanctions towards Russia but supports the BDS movement against Israel.

Funny: Omar loves to sanction Israel. She, Tlaib and the rest champion the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement that targets the Jewish state — never worrying about the impact of sanctions on Palestinians as well as innocent Israelis.

That’s the cutting edge of the progressive movement and supposed future of the Democratic Party for you: obsessed with bashing Israel, but cutting a war criminal slack.

COMMENT: The Squad is a disgrace to this country.  The members never met a dictatorship they didn't like.   They think they're the voice of the future, when they're actually the voice of the past. Think fascism.  Think Soviet Communism.  They fit right in.

March 25, 2022     Permalink

MARCH 24, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE PANDEMIC AND THE KIDS – FROM DAILY MAIL: Children at every grade level are still performing worse in math and reading than they were before start of COVID, data from 7.3 million standardized tests across the US reveals.  The study, released this week by standardized test provider Renaissance Learning Inc., revealed that a return to in-person learning in the latter half of the last school year has seen standardized test scores improve across the county. However, students are still lagging well behind pre-pandemic levels. The firm analyzed reading scores for 4.4 million students from kindergarten to 12th grade in all 50 states, as well as 2.9 million students' math marks during the 2020 and 2021 school years.  It found student performance during the second year of the pandemic was markedly worse than the first year, with each state seeing marked declines in 2021, suggesting remote learning has had a lasting - and negative - impact on student achievement.  The sad fact is that most people in power don't care much about children, and the teachers' unions only care when there's something in it for them.  This country has some makeup work to do for our kids. I wonder if we'll do it.

March 24, 2022     Permalink

THE SINKING SHIP – OVERNIGHT:  President Biden, despite all his efforts and gimmicks, continues to sink in the polls. His problems include an aura of weakness, the image of an obviously impaired man, rampant inflation, and a belief by many that things are only getting worse. His sidekick, Kamala (Tonto) Harris, isn't making things easier for the president.  From Daily Caller:

The latest poll shows President Joe Biden’s approval rating dropped Tuesday as the worsening economy weighs heavy on voters.

Biden’s approval ratings fell three points, with only 34% giving him a favorable rating, and 52% of Americans disapproving of his job as president, according to the latest Grinnell College National Poll. The poll surveyed 1,002 U.S. adults ages 18 and over from Mar. 15 to Mar. 20 with a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

A majority of Democrats, 70%, still approve of Biden’s job as president, while 89% of Republicans strongly disapprove.

J. Ann Selzer of Selzer & Company said the percentage of “not sure” votes, 14%, struck her as high.

“It’s interesting to me that the “not sure” factor is as high as it is. It seems unlikely that Joe Biden isn’t well known enough to make a judgment,” said Selzer, according to Grinnell College. “I believe this is a reflection of the high level of uncertainty everywhere – war in Ukraine, inflation, Covid-19 and more.”

Grinnell College National Poll director Peter Hanson believes Biden’s low approval rating, 34%, can be explained by the voters’ frustration with America’s struggling economy.

“The collapse in economic confidence means that President Biden and congressional Democrats are facing strong headwinds as they head into the November elections,” Hanson said in the poll. “Midterm elections are frequently a referendum on the performance of the administration, and these numbers are a sign that the judgment from voters is likely to be harsh.”

He added that outside “a major change,” the Republicans are still favored to win back control of Congress in the Nov. midterms.

Almost 60% of Americans believe the economy will get worse over the next 12 months, and only 27% have faith the economy will improve, according to the poll.

COMMENT:  We always caution readers that a poll is a snapshot in time.  Although it's unlikely, the Democrats' fortunes can brighten by election day in November.  The economy could improve, gas prices could drop, or the Dems can hustle through a fast tax cut to compensate for inflation. Those steps might work, or backfire.

We'll keep following the trends, always with the thought that the only poll that counts is held on election day.

March 24, 2022     Permalink