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I look forward to welcoming you aboard.

OCTOBER 9,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

UPPER CLASS NEWS:  FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   The controversial Marxist co-founder of Black Lives Matter recently completed tens of thousands of dollars in renovations at her posh Los Angeles home, including building a new plunge pool and backyard sauna, according to a new report.  Patrisse Cullors, 39, the former leader of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, also added a children’s play area for her young son outside her 2,580-square foot three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Los Angeles’s Topanga Canyon neighborhood, photos show.  The images reveal a deep plunge pool that has yet to have water added, as well as a small shed that houses the sauna. A child’s swing set and covered slide is also visible in the photograph.  Cullors, who resigned from the national group a month after The Post revealed that she had gone on a real estate buying spree last year, paid $1.4 million for the Topanga Canyon home in March 2021, according to public records.  These Marxists really have good taste in real estate, don't they?  I understand that Patrisse is even designing her own Revolution Room, where she can spend quiet hours contemplating the plight of the oppressed.  Now that's commitment!

October 9, 2022       Permalink

THE NEW HISPANIC CONSERVATIVES:  This is one of the most important political developments in our modern history.  If the new wave continues, it could literally shape American politics.  From the Florida Capital Star: 

This week in Miami, the top Hispanic conservative leaders in America will convene for the Hispanic Leadership Conference. Hispanic voters continue to move to the political right while a new cadre of dynamic, patriotic populist candidates act as an accelerant of this emerging phenomenon. Most of these office seekers are young and new to political office, and many are women. All of them form the vanguard of a new political trend that transforms American politics in lasting ways.

This conference will culminate with a keynote address from President Trump. His headliner participation recognizes the crucial role he has played in breaking down longstanding political assumptions among the so-called “experts” that Hispanics must vote for Democrats.

President Trump proved that Hispanics rally to a muscular vision of nationalist politics, not the watered-down, milquetoast “Democrat-lite” approach that establishment Republicans previously pursued with Hispanics. Instead, the America First movement combines cultural conservatism with economic populist nationalism to form an attractive and winning formula to earn Hispanic support.

The gains already achieved have been formidable. For example, much of the attention understandably focuses on South Texas, where the gritty Hispanic citizens of the Rio Grande Valley reject the radicalism of the Democrat Party, from runaway inflation to porous-border lawlessness. These “bad hombres” and proud Latinas also reject leftist cultural pollution such as gender confusion and the establishment’s abuse of young children with sexualized indoctrination.

Accordingly, the remarkable shifts toward Donald Trump along the border made electoral history. For example, in Zapata County, Trump rallied from a 33 percent loss in 2016 to a 5 percent victory in 2020, in a county that is 95 percent Hispanic.

Extending this trend into 2022, Congresswoman Mayra Flores won a special election in a district that has elected Democrats to the U.S. House since the Civil War. Flores joins two other conservative Latinas who won GOP primaries to run for the House from South Texas in November, Monica de la Cruz and Cassy Garcia.

But this growing trend extends nationwide, far beyond Texas.

For instance, Yesli Vega is running for Congress in a winnable Virginia district, and Catalina Lauf in Illinois’ 11th district. The conditions are ripe for the success of such candidates, as generic midterm congressional polling implodes for the Democrats. Their party enjoyed a massive plus-47 percent surplus among Hispanics in 2018. But recent New York Times polling now shows the D-vs.-R generic matchup at a scant Democrat plus-3 percent among Hispanics.

COMMENT:  This is good news, and it's based on solid research.  We'll see on election day, in four weeks, how effective this new Hispanic wave is in creating conservative victories.

October 9, 2022       Permalink

OCTOBER 7-8,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

IS IT POSSIBLE?  WILL NEW YORK HAVE A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR?  From the New York Post:  Democrats in tough races across the state are steering clear of Gov. Hochul.
At least five Dems running for Congress who have been endorsed by party colleague Hochul have not only declined to effusively return the favor but even left the governor’s stamp of approval off their own campaign website’s list of endorsements.  “A lot of people have been endorsing me,” said Matt Castelli, a Democrat running in a sprawling district upstate, when asked if he supported Hochul’s endorsement. “I’m excited to have a lot of endorsements from Democrats, Republicans and independents.”  While Hochul has lauded Castelli’s “strong commitment to delivering results,” Castelli, who is fighting an uphill battle to oust GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, makes no mention of Hochul’s endorsement on his campaign website.  Castelli’s situation is far from unique. In tough races across Long Island and upstate New York, candidates are keeping their distance from Hochul — who is locked in a race with Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin that some polls now say is neck and neck.  New York severely needs a change in the governor's mansion.  Hochul became governor only because she was lieutenant governor to Andy Cuomo, who resigned in embarrassment.  Hochul automatically became governor.  She is known for...well, I'll think of something. 

October 7-8, 2022       Permalink

REPORT FROM IRAN:  Incredible, isn't it, how little attention is being paid to the anti-government disturbances in Iran?  The riots began over the death, in custody, of an Iranian woman arrested by the "modesty police."  And yet, there is not a word of support from "women's groups" in the United States.  Maybe these groups are showing us what we already knew – that many "women's" organizations have little to do with women, and much more to do with Marxist politics.  From AFP, the French news agency:

PARIS — Schoolgirls chanted slogans, workers went on strike and street clashes erupted across Iran on Saturday, as protests over the death of Mahsa Amini entered a fourth week in defiance of a bloody crackdown.

Anger flared after the 22-year-old Iranian Kurd’s death on September 16, three days after she was arrested in Tehran by the notorious morality police for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.

Iran said Friday an investigation found Amini had died of a longstanding illness rather than “blows” to the head, despite her family reportedly saying she had previously been healthy.

But the protests continued Saturday even as ultra-conservative Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi posed for a group photograph with female students at Tehran’s Al-Zahra University to mark the start of the academic year.

He called for unity and vowed that the efforts of “ill-wishers” would be thwarted.

Videos and pictures published on social media apparently showed students outside the university taking off and waving their hijabs, and denouncing Raisi and the regime.

In Amini’s hometown Saqez, in the western province of Kurdistan, schoolgirls were heard chanting “Woman, life, freedom” and seen marching down a street swinging headscarves over their heads, in videos the Hengaw rights group said were recorded on Saturday.

In another video it shared, a group of girls could be heard chanting the same phrase — the catchcry of the protests — as they entered a school in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province.

Despite internet restrictions designed to impede gatherings and prevent images of the crackdown getting out, protesters have adopted new tactics to get their message across.

“We are not afraid anymore. We will fight,” said a large banner placed on an overpass of the Modares highway that cuts through central Tehran, according to online images verified by AFP.

COMMENTS:  And still the silence in the West.  I don't know how many of our leading "journalists" can look themselves in the mirror while this is going on.  Maybe some of them believe that the only legitimate women's issue is abortion, which is certainly not true. 

The hypocrisy in journalism, and in many "human rights" organizations, is sickening.

October 7-8, 2022       Permalink

POLITICAL SIGNS.  As readers know, we read all polls and follow some.  The one we follow most is Rasmussen, because that organization polls more than any other.  It gives us a daily look at presidential approval, and a weekly picture on where we stand with the generic congressional ballot.

Something interesting happened with Rasmussen's polling this week.  The generic, answering the approximate question, "Would you rather vote for a Republican or a Democrat for Congress?" showed a three-point increase for the Republican side over the previous week's report.  Rasmussen now has the generic at 44 percent for Republicans, 41 percent for the Democrats.  

A three-point jump is substantial, especially in a disciplined poll where numbers normally don't jump back and forth.  The jump tends to confirm the general polling consensus that Republicans are gaining back the edge they held earlier this year.  It's also being widely reported that morale in the Democratic Party is slipping.

Caution:  As we always say, polls are snapshots in time.  The election is four and a half weeks away.  Things can change, even several times.  And the polls can be inaccurate.  We've never had polling following a major pandemic before.  We don't know the psychological effect of the last two years.  And an October surprise, say, a new charge against Donald Trump, or an American military action in Ukraine, can muddle the landscape.  So what we say now can turn out to be nonsense.

Another point:  We shouldn't accept the temptation to depend only on the cable news networks.  It's an easy thing to do.  They're on 24 hours a day, and you can click to them any time.  But most Americans don't realize how shockingly small their viewership is.  Even Fox News has an average audience of 2.1 million people, in a nation of 332 million.  Don't assume the whole country is seeing what you're seeing.  They are not.

As we get into the final campaign weeks, we'll have many more numbers to crunch, and many more trends to watch.  We may occasionally be right.

October 7-8, 2022       Permalink 

GEORGE ORWELL WOULD UNDERSTAND:  The Democrats, once a great political party, have descended to this.  From Daily Mail: 

A liberal political media operation being run out of Washington, D.C., and Florida is pushing left-wing stories in 51 different fake news outlets in order to influence the outcome of the November midterm elections, it is claimed. 

The allegations came in a shocking new investigation from Axios that was published on Thursday. 

The report alleges that in the past 12 months, multiple new 'news' website have appeared across the country, all run by a company named Local Report Inc. 

They do report a wide variety of stories - but sprinkled throughout are news items pushing Democrat lawmakers and policies.  

Online records show that the Local Report was founded in Tallahassee, Fla. 

Content is provided for the sites from writers who are employed by another left-wing group, the American Independent. The Independent was founded by David Brock, known for other liberal endeavors such as Fox News watchdog, Media Matters for America. 

Other employees at the American Independent include Matt Fuehrmeyer, who previously worked for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and for disgraced Sen. Al Franken, according to his LinkedIn page.

Franken's son is also employed by the organization, as is former Sen. Harry Reid's son, the Daily Caller reported.

Prior to working as the executive editor of the American Independent, Jessica McCreight was part of President Barack Obama's communications team, according to her LinkedIn page. 

When asked about the connection between the American Independent and the Local Report, McCreight told Axios that the pair had a 'co-publishing agreement,' adding that their content is 'open source' and they were a 'partner' of Local Report's.

She also said: 'It’s been widely reported that where local news outlets shut down, dis- and misinformation grows.

'To combat this challenge, the American Independent has expanded to bring readers local, fact-based news and information on topics and issues that impact their communities,' McCreight continued.

The Axios report says that the outlets are all based in states that are generally considered swing states in the November elections including Wisconsin, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan, Georgia, Colorado and Arizona. 

Among the titles that are packed with content from American Independent staff are the Milwaukee Metro Times, the Tri-City Record, the Bucks County Standard, the Mecklenburg Herald and the Northern Clark County Herald.

The investigation said the websites come equipped with a certain amount of aggregated local news and sports reporting, accompanied by political commentary and biased news. 

COMMENT:  There was a time when a newspaper was a newspaper.  It may have had a point of view, but you could tell it was a newspaper and you knew who owned it.

Sad to see what's happened to "journalism," and sadder to contemplate its impact on this country.

October 7-8, 2022       Permalink