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SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

WE SHALL COMFORT HER:   The Democratic princess, Evita of the Bronx, lives in fear.  What shall we do?  From Newsmax:   In a wide-ranging conversation with GQ magazine, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., confessed to feeling shunned by her own party and said she worries about marrying a white man and being killed by Trump supporters.  The democratic socialist and "Squad" member is featured on the cover of the magazine's most recent edition in a navy-blue suit and black turtleneck with a bold red lip. The cover advertises a discussion on "masculinity, power, and politics in a post-Roe America," while a photo spread inside shows the congresswoman posing on the Capitol steps in a black dress.  "I hold two contradictory things at the same time," Ocasio-Cortez told GQ. "One is just the relentless belief that anything is possible. But at the same time, my experience here has given me a front-row seat to how deeply and unconsciously, as well as consciously, so many people in this country hate women. And they hate women of color."  I have no idea where she gets this stuff.  It's wrong and it's offensive.  But she's taken seriously by a once-great political party.

YOU CAN'T MAKE IT UP:  The governor of California needs therapy.  From the New York Post:   Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom was slammed as a hypocrite Wednesday for wearing a fleece coat in a seemingly air-conditioned room while urging residents to “save energy” amid a historic heat wave.  “California is experiencing an unprecedented heat wave. This will be the hottest and longest on record for September,” Newsom said in a tweet Tuesday, as temperatures soared into triple digits in some parts of the state.  “Our energy grid is being pushed to its max. The risk of outages is real. We need everyone to double down to save energy after 4 p.m. today,” Newsom went on.  In an accompanying video, Newsom told Golden Staters to “pre-cool your home. Run your conditioner earlier,” while wearing a zipped-up black fleece coat and baseball cap.  But critics on social media had a chilly reception for what they considered a double standard.
“He’s sitting inside wearing a warm jacket during a heat wave, telling the rest of us not to use AC,” one observer noted on Twitter.  Another blasted the gov by asking: “Why are you wearing a jacket zipped up to your neck? Is your AC too cold?”  Others wondered if Newsom was even in California at all.  Maybe the voters of California, who have a tendency to elect flakes, will now see the damage their political choices have caused.  Please note that the greatest flake of all, Kamala Harris, is also a product of the California political factory.

September 7, 2022       Permalink

APPROVAL OF EDUCATION SYSTEM DROPPING IN U.S.:  It isn't just an impression that we get from the news.  Increasingly, American parents are fed up with their children's schools.  From Fox:

Americans are becoming less satisfied with the state of K-12 education, with curriculum and educational approach being cited as the top issue, according to a Gallup survey released last week.

Only 42 percent of Americans said they are completely or somewhat satisfied with K-12 education in the United States, compared to 51 percent in 2019. Only 9 percent said they are completely satisfied with the education students receive, while 2 percent said they have no opinion.

Of those who were dissatisfied with public education, 65 percent highlighted issues with curriculum and educational standards, while 28 percent mentioned a lack of resources and 17 percent mentioned political concerns...

...Much of the dissatisfaction with education is driven by Republicans, where satisfaction has plummeted to 30 percent, compared to 51 percent among Democrats. This trend was not represented when parents discussed their own child’s education, though. Seventy-four percent of Republican-leaning parents were satisfied with their own children’s education, and 85 percent of Democrat-leaning parents were satisfied with their children’s education.

The concern over curriculum and education was relatively similar for Republicans and Democrats, at 58 percent and 52 percent respectively. Democrats, though, were more concerned with a lack of resources, while Republicans were more concerned with political agendas being brought into the classroom.

COMMENT:  The declining American educational system is becoming a major political issue.  We hear of more and more parents taking their children out of public schools.  Glenn Youngkin, the new Republican governor of Virginia, won his election largely on the basis of a parents' revolt against the state's educational system, especially the introduction of partisan politics into the classroom. 

Republicans should place education front and center.  Virginia set the tone.

September 7, 2022       Permalink

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

A DISGRACE:  What has happened to the American soldier?  From Daily Mail:  Recruitment numbers for the Army are at historic lows as Americans are either too fat or criminal to join to defend the country, an Army general warned.  Lt. Gen Xavier Brunson, the commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, theorized as to why recruitment is so low following a July statement from the Army that it wouldn't meet its 485,000 recruitment goal for 2022, falling short by a staggering 20,000 recruits.  Officers across the country are failing to meet recruitment numbers as fewer youth are qualified to serve, which some blame on the COVID-19 pandemic.  'Some of the challenges we have are obesity, we have pre-existing medical conditions, we have behavioral health problems, we have criminality, people with felonies, and we have drug use,' Brunson told Spokesman Review.  'This is not an Army problem, this is an American Problem.'  To increase recruitment numbers, the Army plans to 'lower the gates' and find new ways to appeal to youth, according to the New York Times.  'Only 23% of the people that are of age to serve are actually qualified,' Brunson said.  'This is now a condition. So nationally what we have to look at is what's going on with our youth.'  I see no sense of urgency about this in the press, in the universities, or in the White House.

September 6, 2022       Permalink

COLORADO SURPRISE?  With all the election predictions pouring forth from the usual neurotic pundits, we return to the calm, thorough journalistic voice of Salena Zito, who actually talks to real people.  She may be on to a Colorado surprise.  From American Greatness: 

EAGLE, Colorado — There is something going on here in Colorado politics that is not much different than what happened in Virginia exactly one year ago: a shift away from the status quo and the odds-on favorite Democrat toward his Republican challenger. 

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., is seeking a second full term against Republican challenger Joe O’Dea. And the question, in a state where people tend to dislike both parties but increasingly favor Democrats, is whether O’Dea is independent enough to earn their vote.

Democrats viewed O’Dea as enough of a threat that they dropped $10 million into the Republican primary to manipulate voters into backing his “stop-the-steal” primary rival. Their advertising to Republican voters aimed to paint O’Dea as a centrist, which complicates their task now. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is rather unpopular in this state. 

For his own part, O’Dea is a really good candidate whose worldview very much reflects that of the voters here: fierce, independent thinking and owing nothing to anyone. 

Like Virginia, Colorado is a blue state that occasionally flirts with Republican candidates. And as in Virginia, the voters here are unhappy that the Democrat running to represent them has lost his independence. They are now listening to the candidate who speaks to them and not just a party line — and polling reflects that. A survey conducted for the Republican Attorney General’s Association shows Bennet up over O’Dea by just one point, 48% to 47% — that in a state Biden won handily less than two years ago.

O’Dea has spent his campaign time listening to voters here. They discuss the impact inflation has had on their personal and professional lives. Business owners in places such as Snowmass and Aspen are struggling to find workers and stay open. 

O’Dea says it is the same thing he hears over and over again as he travels across the state. “I’ve been to 60 out of 64, the counties, between the primary and then here at the general election, and the No. 1 issue I’m hearing is economy,” he said. “It’s inflation. It’s how expensive things are and how they can’t afford things that used to be staples in their lives. The price of gas, while it has come down, it is still over $1.25 a gallon more than it was a year ago. People are really, really feeling financially insecure, and they are having to make tough choices between kids being able to go on vacation, kids being able to play sports.” 

“And in lower-income areas,” he adds, “it’s a choice between filling up the car and heating the house. It’s groceries at an all-time high, really, really strapping people that just, like I said, they’re just not feeling financially secure at all.” 

The No. 2 issue, he says, is crime. “They don’t feel secure,” he said, “especially in some of the Denver areas and some of the more inner-city areas — people are really worried about crime here in Colorado.”...

...O’Dea is not your father’s Republican candidate, but he is also not former President Donald Trump’s Republican candidate. He is his own man and someone whose personal story wraps around his approach to the issues. He has been very vocal in hoping that the former president does not run again. Although that storyline fascinates Washington reporters, it is the other things he stands for that fascinate voters.

COMMENT:  I trust Salena Zito's judgment.  We have an unexpected shot in Colorado.  A Republican pick-up.  We'll watch closely.  Dreams do come true.

September 6, 2022      Permalink