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JUNE 20,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

RON ROMPS – FROM FOX:   The results of a straw poll of conservative voters this weekend is spotlighting the appeal of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.  DeSantis came out on top of a 2024 straw poll at the Western Conservative Summit, narrowly edging former President Donald Trump, according to organizers of the conference.  The straw poll at the summit, which was hosted by Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute, asked people attending the gathering both in-person and on-line to vote for all of the potential 2024 presidential contenders that they approve of – out of 31 choices of both Republicans and Democrats.  DeSantis, a first-term governor and Trump ally who’s become very popular among conservatives nationwide since the start of the coronavirus pandemic for his resistance to COVID lockdowns and other restrictions, scored a 74% approval, followed by the former president at 71%. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 43%, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 39%, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, at 36%, rounded out the top five in the straw poll.  According to organizers, roughly 500 people attended the 12th annual summit in person at a hotel in Denver, Colorado, with tens of thousands watching online. None of the potential contenders spoke at the conference.  The Florida governor came in second to Trump in late February at a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference – the biggest and oldest annual gathering of conservative activists and leaders which is better known by its acronym CPAC. And DeSantis, whom pundits consider a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender, made headlines as he easily topped a second straw poll at CPAC that didn’t include Trump.  A great governor for president.  Not a bad idea.  Of course, 2024 is a long way off, several hundred lifetimes in politics, but the GOP, led by DeSantis, has a very deep bench. 

June 20, 2021       Permalink

THE STEADY DECLINE OF OUR LEGAL SYSTEM – OVERNIGHT:  Amidst the rise of violent crime, D.A.'s in New York are more interested in prosecuting Donald Trump, guilty or not.  From Daily Mail: 

Business owners and residents in New York City are expressing fury at the revelation that prosecutors have dropped looting and rioting charges against hundreds arrested during chaos that swept the city last summer. 

After 603 were arrested in Manhattan and the Bronx during the most intense days of looting last June, 295 of the cases have been dropped completely, according to NYPD data reported by WNBC-TV on Friday. 

Now Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr and Bronx DA Darcel D. Clark are facing tough questions about why hundreds walked free after the looting rampage caused an estimated tens of millions in damages. 

Business owner Jessica Betancourt, whose Bronx eyeglasses shop was destroyed last summer, vented her outrage at the situation.

'Those numbers, to be honest with you, is disgusting,' she told the NBC affiliate. 'They could do it again because they know they won't get the right punishment.'

In Manhattan, the NYPD data shows there were 485 arrests connected to last summer's riots, which saw mobs smashing stores and holding a 'looting dance party' in SoHo.

Of those cases, 222 were later dropped and 73 saw convictions for lesser counts like trespassing, which carries no jail time. Another 40 cases involved juveniles and were sent to family court, and 128 cases remain open. 

In the Bronx, 118 arrests were made as mobs smashed shops along the borough's commercial corridors.

Since then, the NYPD says District Attorney Clark's office and the courts have dismissed 73 of those cases, well over half the total. 

Eighteen Bronx cases remain open and there have been 19 convictions for mostly lesser counts, which carry no jail time.

Vance and Clark declined interview requests from WNBC, but a source close to the DA's office said that prosecutors were too overwhelmed to carry forth the looting cases, with a backlog of cases after the pandemic shut courts.

Vance's office has been busy preparing a criminal case against Donald Trump, said to center on allegations of tax, loan and insurance fraud at the Trump Organization.

COMMENT:  I'm sure the prosecution of former President Trump will do a great deal to lower crime rates in New York City.  Why, that's so obvious.

The city will have a Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday.  Never has the choice of a mayor been so important.

June 20, 2021     Permalink

JUNE 19,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

TRANSITION – FROM MRC:  And so it ends.  On Friday, June 18, 2021 the Rush Limbaugh Show officially shut down the Golden EIB microphone.  As it happened, it fell to my local Harrisburg radio host, WHP’s Ken Matthews, to be the last “guide” host that had shepherded the show since Rush departed to give back the talent he had on loan from God.  The realization that Rush’s show - which had continued since his death with guide hosts and taped Rush playbacks on various topics - was now, in fact, irretrievably over and never to return was both poignant and a tad unnerving for his fans.  The Rush era was, in fact, truly over for once and for all and for good. What began almost a full 33 years ago and had quickly become an American institution was, as all things must, turning to memory. Whether some liked him or not, he was one of the founders of modern talk radio.  For conservatives, he was a source of comfort and common sense in an age when the media was heading left. 

IRAN'S HARD LINE GETS HARDER – FROM THE JERUSALEM POST:   Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline judge under US sanctions for human rights abuses, secured victory as expected on Saturday in Iran’s presidential election after a contest marked by voter apathy over economic hardships and political restrictions.With all 28.9 million ballots counted, Raisi was elected with a tally of 17.9 million, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said on state TV.  Turnout in Friday’s four-man race was a record low of around 48.8% and there were 3.7 million invalid ballots that were likely to have been mostly blank or protest votes.  Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Raisi the “Butcher of Tehran” and “an extremist responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iranians.”  “His election should prompt renewed determination to immediately halt Iran’s nuclear program and put an end to its destructive regional ambitions,” Lapid tweeted.  The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Raisi has “been rightly denounced by the international community for his direct role in the extrajudicial executions of over 30,000 people.  I'd like to see Joe Biden try to make a deal with this madman, and then justify it.  Maybe only Barack Obama could pull that off.

June 19, 2021      Permalink

THE MESS – OVERNIGHT:  You know we're in trouble when an all-black school council is accused of upholding white supremacy.  But, of course, it's Chicago we're talking about.  From College Fix: 

Public school officials in Chicago will let each campus decide if it will keep school resource officers for the fall.

But at least some majority black schools have indicated they want the cops in the building, with one council being accused of “upholding white supremacy.”

Ahead of the discussions and votes that will likely take place throughout the coming months, Chicago Public School students rallied to demand that the police be removed from the schools. CPS board members are appointed by the mayor, but schools have councils that can make some decisions.

One student from Kenwood Academy, on the city’s South Side, said her school council’s decision to keep SROs last year “enforces trauma on students and conditions us to be criminalized.”

“The decision was not made on any basis besides adultism and internalized racism,” Judai Smith said, according to DePaul University’s paper, The DePaulia. “The decision really emphasized for me how this current educational system does not serve the wellbeing of youth but to uphold white supremacy.”

The College Fix could not locate contact information for Smith and The DePaulia did not respond to a request for her information.

The entire council appears to be black and 83 percent of the students are “Afro-American” according to the demographics page for the school.

The College Fix reached out to council members Montel Gayles and Ramona Burress several times through email to ask about their response to the accusation and if they planned again to keep the Chicago Police Department members in the school.

COMMENT:  So, even black kids stand accused of promoting white supremacy.  That's how sick our educational system has become.   Only voters at the polls can stop this, if the election count is legitimate.

June 19, 2021      Permalink