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MAY 7,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

THE BRITS VOTE – FROM REUTERS:   Britain's ruling Conservative Party won a new seat in parliament on Friday, sweeping aside the incumbent Labour Party with a victory in the northern English town of Hartlepool that tightens its grip on traditional Labour-voting areas.  Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer beat the Labour candidate by 15,529 votes to 8,589, securing what less than a decade ago would have been seen as an impossible feat of dislodging the main opposition Labour Party from one of its heartland seats.  The overwhelming victory, which gives Prime Minister Boris Johnson an even larger majority in parliament, increases pressure on Labour leader Keir Starmer, who has faced criticism for not fulfilling his pledge to revive the party's fortunes after a 2019 election disaster.  "There's no hiding from the fact this is a shattering result for Labour, absolutely shattering," Labour lawmaker Steve Reed, a member of Starmer's top team, told the BBC.  "It tells us that the pace of change in the Labour Party has not been fast enough. We need to quicken it up."  The Conservatives described it as an historic day.  What's relevant to us here is that the American Democratic Party is following pretty much the same script that Britain's Labour Party followed on its way to oblivion.  Hard left politics, contempt for the nation's heritage, and an embrace of identity politics.  Today's conservative victory in Britain will be, we hope, an indicator of things to come on this side of the Atlantic.

LEFTISM HAS CONSEQUENCES – FROM AP:  SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's population fell by more than 182,000 people in 2020, marking the first year-over-year loss ever recorded for the nation's most populous state.  State officials announced Friday that California's population dipped 0.46% to just under 39.5 million people from January 2020 to January 2021.  The news comes one week after the U.S. Census Bureau announced a paltry population growth for California, resulting in the state losing a congressional seat for the first time because it grew more slowly than other states over the past decade.  But the census numbers reflect the state's population in April 2020. The new state numbers released Friday reflect the state's population as of January 2021.  Among California's largest cities, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Long Beach and Anaheim saw their population shrink. Meanwhile Fresno, Sacramento, Oakland and Bakersfield gained residents.   A one-party state dripping with leftism and identity politics.  Once governed by Ronald Reagan, the state is now run by Gavin Newsom, who faces a recall election and a possible ouster from power.  For the first time in a long time, some political mavens are dreaming of California going red in 2024.

May 7, 2021       Permalink

JOBS?  WHAT JOBS? – OVERNIGHT:  The White House is downplaying today's catastrophic jobs report, which reported far fewer jobs being created in the last month than had been predicted.  No problem, no problem.  Let's move on.

But what the White House cannot ignore are the storm clouds gathering over this administration.  If things don't improve, it will be heavy weather for the president and his party.  From ace political writer Michael Barone in the New York Post: 

On the surface, President Joe Biden seems to be doing pretty well. But underneath, there are signs of problems, areas where partisan overstretch threatens the underpinnings of what some are hailing as the new order of things.

Biden enjoys a 54 percent average job approval rating, a good mark for a president at midterm or facing reelection but below the 100-day numbers of every post-World War II president except Donald Trump. Biden’s 42 percent disapproval is higher than theirs and about equal to Trump’s. That may understate things if, as The Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter suggests, polls are undersampling Republican voters.

The deepening partisan divisions of the last quarter century are not over and done with.
Biden’s appeal to white non-college voters apparently remains limited. Thus the retirement of downstate Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, head of House Democrats’ campaign committee for the (disappointing) 2020 cycle. Her district voted 58 percent for Barack Obama in 2012 and voted 50 percent to 48 percent for Trump last year; she won by a margin of only 52 percent to 48 percent.
Similarly, Rep. Tim Ryan is leaving his Youngstown-Akron district for an iffy US Senate run in Ohio, and suburban Pittsburgh’s Conor Lamb may do so in Pennsylvania.

Nor are Biden Democrats doing all that well among the upscale voters repelled by Trump. The May 1 special election in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex resulted in the nomination of two Republicans in a district that Trump carried by only a margin of 51 percent to 47 percent last year. Republican candidates won 62 percent of the votes, and Democrats only 37 percent.

This may reflect liberal apathy. The audience for Biden’s April 28 speech was about 30 percent smaller than Trump’s audience for his 2020 State of the Union. Viewership of pro-Biden MSNBC and CNN is down by even larger percentages. And the never-Trump constituency seems to be fading as well.

Now that Trump is out of office and off Twitter, Trump haters are no longer watching to savor his latest outrage and schmooze over it with like-minded friends.

Meanwhile, upscale voters don’t seem enchanted with the woke Biden agenda when they see it up close. Across the metroplex, turnout was high as voters in affluent Southlake, Texas, voted 70 percent to 30 percent to oust school-board members who mandated critical race theory instruction, which the Biden Education Department wants to encourage.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Barone is one of the best political observers that we have.  A GOP victory isn't a sure thing next year, nothing ever is.  But hard work and wise policies can flip both houses of Congress, and set the party up for the ultimate prize in 2024.  The GOP has a remarkable number of solid presidential candidates. 

May 7,  2021     Permalink

MAY 6,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

ANOTHER NUT HEARD FROM – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:    Rep. Cori Bush was slammed on social media Thursday over a tweet that referred to black mothers as “black birthing people.”
“Every day, Black birthing people and our babies die because our doctors don’t believe our pain,” the Missouri Democrat tweeted Thursday. “My children almost became a statistic. I almost became a statistic. I testified about my experience @OversightDems today. Hear us. Believe us. Because for so long, nobody has.”  Critics on Twitter, especially opponents of abortion, were quick to accuse Bush of diminishing the role of motherhood.  “The words 'birthing people' are so absolutely insulting it is almost unimaginable,” Daily Wire editor Emily Zanotti tweeted. “Eff off with that nonsense.”  “'Birthing people' - you mean women or moms?” Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace tweeted. “The left is so woke they're stripping from women the one thing that only we can do. Leave it to libs to botch highlighting an important issue ppl in both parties can agree on by catering to the fringes.”  Bush is an extreme leftist and certified whack job.  But I repeat myself. 

OH PLEASE – FROM FOX:  Members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet have been told not to give in-person commencement addresses at universities this year, according to a report Thursday.  The administration enacted the ban on in-person speaking engagements due to ongoing guidance to avoid large gatherings, Axios reported. Cabinet members are still permitted to give virtual commencement addresses.  "The White House and administration remain vigilant to the public health challenges posed by the pandemic, and we’re taking every step necessary to prevent the spread of the virus and model leadership for the country," a White House official said in a statement.  Despite the ban, Biden is slated to speak at the US Coast Guard Academy’s graduation ceremony later this month. Sitting presidents speak at one of the four military academies each year. The event will proceed with COVID-19 safety protocols in place, including a reduced crowd.  Isn't this silly?  Does the Biden White House really think colleges will cancel large commencement gatherings because they can't get the secretary of commerce?  It's time for the Biden people to get around the country a bit.

May 6,   2021       Permalink

AH TRUTH, IT IS SO RARE – OVERNIGHT:  The emperor has no clothes.  We know that, and now it's confirmed.  From Fox: 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted in a CNN podcast published Thursday that President Joe Biden taking impromptu questions from reporters "is not something we recommend."

Psaki made the admission while being interviewed by CNN Senior Political Commentator David Axelrod on his podcast "The Axe Files," and claimed that she, at times, even tells Biden to not take questions from reporters.

The two began discussing the subject when Axelrod asked Psaki about a particular instance when Biden inadvertently ran into CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins at the White House, who proceeded to ask the president if a minimum wage increase to $15 would be included in the coronavirus relief package that was signed into law in March.

Axelrod stated that Biden gave the honest answer that he didn't think the increase would be included in the bill, but him telling that to the reporter must have given Psaki a lot of heartburn and made her ask herself why Biden would be allowed to roll around in the hallways doing impromptu interviews. He then asked Psaki how she managed that.

Psaki laughed off the incident, and explained that it happened after she had already left work and Biden was heading back to his residence. She then claimed that Biden takes questions "nearly every day that he's out in front of the press."

"That is not something we recommend. In fact, a lot of times we say ‘don’t take questions,'" she continued. "But he's going to do what he wants to do because he's the president of the United States."

Psaki then claimed the administration has kept from being distracted by avoiding having Biden do more consistent press conferences in which he would have to answer questions about certain topics. She gave examples of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., impeachment, and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wy. She added that they wanted to focus his time on addressing subjects that they claim the American people care more about, such as the coronavirus pandemic and the economy.

Biden held his first solo press conference on March 25, the 65th day of his term, following heavy criticism from the usually supportive media for not holding one. This marked the longest a president had gone without a news conference after taking office since former President Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s. Biden has also been known to consistently leave announcements, speeches, and other events without answering questions from reporters, according to the New York Post.

COMMENT:  So far Biden has gotten away with his strange approach to the press.  But the clouds of conflict are forming in the western Pacific, in Iran, in Ukraine, and the American people will demand detailed explanations from this or any other president if American forces become involved.

May 6, 2021       Permalink