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MARCH 31,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

LATEST CANCEL NEWS – FROM FOX:   Immigration activists are objecting to renaming a Chicago school after Barack Obama.  "I will not be part of renaming a school after someone who did not and does not represent the undocumented community," said District 60 school board member Edgar Castellanos, who says he came to the U.S. as an undocumented child, according to ABC 7 Chicago.  Waukegan's Board of Education met Tuesday evening to debate renaming Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Daniel Webster Middle School, after it was decided the historical figures either owned slaves or supported slavery.  One of the top contenders for Thomas Jefferson Middle School’s new name is that of the first Black president, Barack Obama, and former First Lady Michelle. But that name is drawing the ire of immigration activists and some in the Latino community. Activists staged a protest outside the board meeting Tuesday.  "From the time Barack Obama became President until 2017 when he left, he today is still the highest-ranking president with deportations in our nation," said Julie Contreras, who runs shelters for immigrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border. She said Obama failed to deliver on his promises on immigration.  Obama just isn't WOKE enough.  We knew it all along.

THE DEMOCRATS EAT THEIR OWN – FROM FOX:   With the early steps in determining the Democrats' next presidential nominating process now underway, there's a burgeoning intra-party battle over whether Iowa and New Hampshire should retain their positions as the first caucus state and first primary state on the party's nominating calendar.  Multiple Democratic sources confirm to Fox News that some senior party elders and leaders, as well as some Democratic National Committee (DNC) members, are quietly discussing making major changes to the party's presidential nominating calendar.  Among the ideas are pushing South Carolina and Nevada – which have much more diverse Democratic electorates than Iowa and New Hampshire – to the front of the primary and caucus calendar. Also under discussion are kicking off the process with multiple states holding contests on the same day, and phasing out the remaining caucuses in favor of primary elections.  Sources say that among those discussing such changes are former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. Both are longtime rainmakers in the Democratic Party who have close ties to President Biden, who will likely have the ultimate say in whether there are dramatic changes to the party's nominating calendar.  Iowa, whose caucuses for half a century have kicked off the nominating calendar, has long faced criticism amid party circles that its lack of diversity should disqualify it as the leadoff contest. New Hampshire, which goes second in the calendar and for a century's held the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, has faced similar critiques.  The sad fact is that "diversity" is a code word meaning groups popular on the political left.  It doesn't mean anyone else.  Yes, neither Iowa nor New Hampshire have large non-white populations, and it's legitimate to consider that.  But both states have other groups that add overall diversity, like farmers in Iowa or high-tech specialists in New Hampshire.  We have to expand our meaning of diversity.

March 31, 2021       Permalink

THE REALITY OF LIFE IN NEW YORK CITY IN THE YEAR 2021 – AT 8:55 P.M. ET:  This is a story so bad that it must be told in full.  It's the kind of thing we expected in the 1960s.  We had the audacity to believe, once Rudy Giuliani cleaned up the city, that this would never happen again.  It has happened again.  From the New York Post: 

The man busted for the hate-fueled attack on an Asian woman in Midtown was out on parole for killing his own mother back in 2002, authorities said Wednesday.

Brandon Elliot, 38, who lives in a nearby hotel that serves as a homeless shelter, was arrested early Wednesday and hit with a number of charges, including assault as a hate crime and attempted assault as a hate crime, police said.

He was caught on video mercilessly punching and kicking the 65-year-old victim in front of an apartment building at 360 West 43rd Street around 11:40 a.m. Monday, yelling “F–k you, you don’t belong here,” according to cops and police sources.

In April 2002, Elliot was charged with murder for using a kitchen knife to stab his mother, Bridget Johnson in the chest three times in their East 224th Street home in the Bronx, according to previous reports.

The deadly attack took place in front of Elliot’s 5-year-old sister, sources told The Post. It’s unclear what led to the slaying.

Johnson, 42, died a couple of days later. 

Elliot was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years-to-life in prison.

He was denied parole twice — first at a February 2017 hearing and again in December 2018, according to a state Department of Corrections official.

But the following year, he was approved for release in September and sprung on lifetime parole two months later.

We demand the names of the "public officials" who made that reckless decision.

A spokeswoman for the Bronx District Attorney’s Office said Elliot pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March 2002 but did not immediately have other details on the case.

Elliot’s rap sheet also includes an arrest for allegedly robbing his mother in July 2000, sources said. The pair had gotten into a squabble over money — when he allegedly yanked jewelry from her neck and choked her, the sources added.

The broad daylight beatdown on Monday stoked outrage after the surveillance footage showed witnesses — including building workers — doing nothing to intervene.

One of the building employees even appears to shut the door to the building as the attacker flees.

The victim, Vilma Kari, was on her way to church when, unprovoked, Elliot allegedly kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying to the ground and stomped on her head several times as she lay on the sidewalk.

He shouted anti-Asian slurs at her and sneered, “You don’t belong here” before walking away.
Staff members at 360 West 43rd Street were suspended over their apparent inaction.

Kari suffered a broken pelvis and was taken to the hospital. She was released the next day.

Kari is Filipino American, according to Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.

Elliot is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court sometime on Wednesday.

A resident at the Four Points by Sheraton — the West 40th Street homeless shelter where Elliot was staying during the alleged attack — said he knew the brute well after spending time with him at another shelter.

“He told me he was [a] diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic,” the man, who declined to give his name, told The Post. “He’s quiet. He doesn’t talk much. He is really paranoid. He has mental issues.”
Elliot’s latest bust comes in the wake of a surge of attacks against Asian victims in New York City and elsewhere.

COMMENT:  Releasing dangerous people is becoming routine in New York City, whose Marxist mayor leaves office at the end of the year.  Don't be optimistic.  The Democrats running to succeed him have to answer to the same extremist elements in their party to get the nomination.  There are some small signs of activity among the Republicans, but the party works hard here to lose, and the odds are high that the once-great city will continue its decline. 

March 31, 2021       Permalink

MARCH 30,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

OUR SIDE IS BECOMING WOKE, WOKE I TELL YOU – FROM PJ MEDIA:    Meet LEXIT — Latinos exiting the Democratic Party.  The LEXIT Strike Force, led by Texas businessman Duke Machado, is running a slate of candidates taking on the Democrats who dominate San Antonio’s city council. The LEXIT Strike Force held a press conference in San Antonio Tuesday to highlight the candidates it is supporting in the Alamo City’s upcoming elections.  Mr. Machado, the strike force’s national director, led off the press conference articulating the group’s core values.

“LEXIT USA completely opposes Joe Biden’s policy on catch and release,” Machado said. “Illegal immigrants coming across our border are just flooding into the state of Texas. These people are being released into our state and they’re hitting our neighborhoods. We don’t know who they are. We don’t know their backgrounds. We don’t know what kind of situation they have medically. They’re just being released. We oppose catch and release.” He called for Biden’s policy to “stop immediately.”

Machado was referring to numerous reports that the Biden administration is relying on local jurisdictions along the border to conduct COVID testing, without providing them any means to quarantine those who test positive. Many such illegal migrants are being released and allowed to travel away from the border.

Machado went on to list the LEXIT Strike Force’s values: a strong border with a completed wall, strong support for the Second Amendment, strong support for police, and opposition to defunding police, which Machado says puts the public in danger. LEXIT also supports pro-life and family values, Machado said.  One of the great lies circulated by the left is that Hispanics favor illegal immigration.   Actual surveys prove that wrong.  Hispanics have the same fears about illegal immigrants as other Americans.  We'll watch what happens in San Antonio.

WELCOME GEORGE ORWELL – FROM NEWSBUSTERS:   An organization backed with millions of dollars from liberal billionaires Bill Gates and George Soros has launched a commission led by radical liberals to fight “mis- and disinformation.”  The commission, dubbed the Aspen Institute Commission on Information Disorder, is co-chaired by leftist Katie Couric Media founder Katie Couric. Couric recently suggested during a segment with HBO host Bill Maher that “we” should “deprogram” people within former President Donald Trump’s “cult.” The commission is also chaired by leftist Rashad Robinson, who leads the Soros-funded and racially charged Color of Change group. Color of Change was recently behind an effort to defund police foundations. The last co-chair, former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs, had claimed that the 2020 election was “the most secure in history.” Krebs's comment earned him backlash from a senior Department of Homeland Security official, according to Fox News.  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and two organizations within Soros’s Open Society Network — Foundation to Promote Open Society ($2,594,780) and the Open Society Institute ($445,000) — have pumped Aspen Institute with at least $101,854,593 and $3,039,780 respectively between 2003 and 2020, according to Foundation Directory Online data. In addition, Aspen noted that the Commission was “fully funded” by Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the grantmaking organization of liberal billionaire Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. Last year, reporting showed that Newmark had spent $170 million to “save journalism” and “beat President Trump.”  Finally, America will have a real ministry of truth, and Katie Couric will run it.  We should all sleep better tonight knowing what good hands we'll be in.

March 30, 2021       Permalink

THE PUBLIC IS SPEAKING OUT ON CANCEL CULTURE – AT 5:46 P.M. ET:  And cancel culture is becoming the loser.  From The Hill: 

A majority of Americans say they view cancel culture as a threat to their freedom, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill on Monday. 

Sixty-four percent of respondents said that there is "a growing cancel culture" that is a threat to their freedom, while 36 percent said they did not view it as a threat to their freedom. 

Additionally, the poll found that 36 percent of Americans said cancel culture is a "big problem," while 32 percent called it a "moderate problem." Another 20 percent said it was a "small problem" and 13 percent said it is "not a problem." 

The findings come amid the growing societal debate over cancel culture, which is defined by Merriam-Webster as "the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure."

And...

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that 54 percent of respondents said they were "concerned" that if they expressed their opinions online that they would be banned or fired, while 46 percent said they were not concerned. 

"It is a chilling finding that most people in the country now are afraid they would be fired if they expressed their real views on social media," said Mark Penn, the director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey.

"The public generally gives negative ratings to social media companies and sees the movement as more about censorship rather than trying to correct wrongs. It is growing as a national issue," he added. 

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll of 1,945 registered voters was conducted from March 24 to 25. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and The Harris Poll.   Full poll results will be posted online later this week. The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval. 

COMMENT:  Democracies turn slowly, but when they turn they often turn decisively.  We hope this poll result reflects a decisive turn by the American public.  We also hope it reflects an increasing contempt for a media that has done almost nothing to fight cancel culture and has often encouraged it.

March 30, 2021       Permalink