Dems Unveil Court-Packing Plan
Democrats sure are impatient. Just last Friday, President socialist/scumbag/liar-Joe Biden signed an executive order establishing his Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. Among other “reforms,” the commission is tasked with considering the “membership and size of the Court.” Well, later today Democrats in Congress are set to unveil new legislation to add four justices to the Court. Then again, we all know that socialist/scumbag/ liar-Biden isn’t the one leading his party these days.
It’s true that the Constitution does not prescribe a number of justices, giving Congress the power to do so. It’s also true that there have been different numbers in the Court’s history — anywhere from five to 10. Still, Congress settled on nine way back in 1869. Even socialist/ scumbag/liar-Joe Biden wasn’t in the Senate yet.
After being blocked from replacing the constitutional stalwart Antonin Scalia with the leftist milquetoast Merrick Garland in 2016, Democrats have bitterly rued scumbag/liar-Hillary Clinton’s defeat because Donald Trump appointed three justices in his four years, including Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Democrats have only themselves to blame, of course. They invoked the “nuclear option,” eliminating the filibuster on judicial nominees and setting the precedent for then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to follow suit on Supreme Court nominees when Democrats tried to filibuster Neil Gorsuch.
Thus, the Supreme Court now features a 6-3 originalist majority, if anyone still counts John Roberts.
So, why four seats? That’s how many Democrats need to fully reclaim a 7-6 majority. The bill has virtually no chance of passing, but how much more blatantly political could they get?
“We need more than a commission to restore integrity to the court,” declared the bill’s Senate sponsor, Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey.
During the 2020 election campaign, Democrats from socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden to the two Georgia Democrat Senate candidates and on down the line largely avoided answering questions about packing the Court. It’s typical for Democrats to hide their real agenda because they know voters would oppose it, but packing the Court is particularly noteworthy for its destructiveness.
Even one of the Court’s three leftists, Stephen Breyer, says packing SCOTUS would erode trust in the judiciary. Before she died last year, Ginsburg warned about the same thing. Likewise, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Democrat who first nuked the filibuster and whom Republicans can thank for the slate of conservative judges confirmed in the last four years, has been overcome by a case of self-reflection. “I think that we better be very, very careful in saying that we need to expand the Supreme Court,” he now says.
Oh, and socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden once called packing the court a “bonehead idea.”
Tell that to Markey and his House pals, scumbag/liar-Jerrold Nadler and Mondaire Jones of New York and Hank Johnson of Georgia. Those four Democrats are announcing their bill today by pontificating about the need for more justices on the steps outside the Supreme Court building. ~The Patriot Post
Does Ashli Babbitt’s Death Matter?
There were significant developments this week that have interesting implications regarding the Capitol Police shooting of Ashli Babbitt.
The backdrop for these developments is the BIG “systemic racism” lie that Democrat Party leftists have used to frame the few police-involved deaths of black men since violent felony-offender George Floyd died in Minneapolis. That systemic racism lie is nothing more than a political construct to frame the identity politics of division Democrats depend on for constituency cohesion.
First, with the high-profile prosecution of the police officer involved in Floyd’s death underway, the officer involved in the shooting of a Kenosha, Wisconsin, black man last August, which resulted in immediate Demo condemnation of the officer, was resolved this week. At the time, Wisconsin Demo Governor Tony Evers tried and convicted the cop: “Jacob Blake … is not the first Black man … mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement.”
As I noted then, “The circumstances in Kenosha appear to be justifiable despite being tragic.” Indeed, the officer was rightly cleared in the case based on video evidence and testimony, because the suspect posed an imminent threat to the officers present. He has returned to his job.
Everyone knows that officer’s name and he will be forever branded by the Left as a racist and at risk of retribution.
Second, the officer involved in the shooting of a black man in a Minneapolis suburb, as that man was being arrested on a weapons warrant along with a warrant for aggravated robbery, was herself charged with manslaughter and jailed. Similar to the Kenosha case, the suspect in the latest Minneapolis case refused lawful orders, lunged back into his vehicle where he could have easily accessed a weapon, and was shot by the officer. In the fog of the moment, the officer believed she had her non-lethal taser in hand. Though rare, this is not the first incident involving such confusion. However, as with the Kenosha shooting, there is abundant video evidence and the shooting appears justifiable because the suspect posed an imminent threat to the officers present.
Leading the chorus presuming her guilt, socialist/ scumbag/liar-Joe Biden suggested the shooting may have been intentional: “You all watched … the film … which is fairly, fairly graphic. Question is, was it an accident? Was it intentional?”
But everyone knows that officer’s name, and regardless of the outcome of her case, she will be forever branded by the Left as a racist killer and at risk of retribution.
Third, regarding the Capitol Police officer who killed Ashli Babbitt, federal prosecutors announced there will be no charges filed. According to The Washington Post, “Authorities determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove Babbitt’s civil rights were violated, and that it was reasonable for the officer to believe he was firing in self-defense or in defense of [others].” And that is that…
However, unlike all other officer-involved shootings, there has been no public information released about the investigation of Babbitt’s shooting — not the name of the officer involved, no public information about the motive or competence of the officer involved, no testimony. For that reason, there is no reason to trust the decision to exonerate that officer, especially given the political influence of the socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden/ lowlife/liar-Harris regime in that investigation.
But there are graphic videos of Babbitt’s shooting here, here and here, which clearly show the circumstances from her side of the door and her death. At the time, Babbitt was among hundreds of QAnon-drinking Capitol rioters on 6 January, whose behavior was disgraceful. But that is not justification for her death.
As I wrote last month, what is clear from the videos is that within feet of Babbitt, there were four uniformed officers, at least four additional heavily armed riot police, and one or more plain-clothed officers — none of whom made an effort to prevent her from climbing through the broken window of that door.
As Tucker Carlson observed yesterday, “There are a lot of things to notice about [the videos]. But what is most striking, and never discussed, is that several Capitol Hill police officers were directly behind Ashli Babbitt when she was killed. … Explain how Ashley Babbitt posed an imminent physical threat to anyone when she was killed. She didn’t.”
As a former law enforcement officer, my best estimate is that the real threat the Capitol Police officer perceived was the surge of protesters who might follow Babbitt through that broken window. As I also noted last month, I believe the officer fired in the heat of the moment, and it was a very heated moment, but there is nothing in the videos remotely proving that Babbitt, a five-foot, two-inch, 110-pound unarmed woman, posed an imminent threat to the officer who killed her, or anyone else.
But we will never know because everything about that officer and shooting investigation has been officially suppressed — despite the fact that the videos raise far more serious questions about the justification for her shooting than either of the aforementioned Wisconsin or Minnesota cases. In both of the latter cases, the suspect clearly represented an imminent threat to the officers involved. I am deeply troubled about the suppression of all the Capitol investigation details. Those details could be released without releasing the officer’s name.
Finally and notably, as federal officials announced the exoneration of the Capitol officer, the FBI arrested the Texas man who provided the clearest video of Babbitt’s shooting for criminal trespassing. ~The Patriot Post
The Real Gambit on the Anti-Asian Hate Crime Bill
Senate Democrats recently introduced a bill to address the supposed rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. This narrative was given popularity by Democrats and the Leftmedia as they sought to pin the blame on Donald Trump, who accurately noted that the coronavirus originated in China. It has since been used as a cudgel against anyone who correctly points out that China was responsible for releasing the pandemic onto the world. To suggest such a thing is to promote anti-Asian hatred, the Left dubiously claims.
So it comes as little surprise that Democrats — keen on pushing the false narrative that America is a nation awash in white supremacy and systemic racism, and therefore must be entirely restructured from the ground up in order to bring about “justice” — aim to paint Republicans as anti-Asian if they don’t jump on board this hate crime train.
As Senate Majority Leader Chuck scumbag/liar-Schumer (D-NY) expressed, “Combating hate in the Asian American community can and should be bipartisan. Who would oppose this very simple but necessary legislation?”
But just how “necessary” is this legislation? Well, it is true that crimes against Asians have increased over the last year, but the Leftmedia only drops statistics like “150% surge in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020” in a deliberate attempt to promote a dubious narrative that simply doesn’t comport with the reality on the ground.
National Review’s Michael Brendan Dougherty notes, “When you look at the numbers, you see why the percentage is cited. In Los Angeles the number of anti-Asian hate crimes reported rose from seven to 15. In New York, from three to 28. In a city where tens of thousands died from COVID-19, made up of millions of people, the number of anti-Asian hate crimes seems relatively small. By contrast, in the previous year, 2019, over 1,000 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in New York City.”
The bill boldly asserts the supposed cause of the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes without any genuine evidence to support such assertions. Note that the legislation would have the attorney general “designate an officer or employee of the Department of Justice whose sole responsibility [for at least one year] shall be to facilitate the expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes and reports of any such crime to Federal, State, or local law enforcement agencies.” In other words, Democrats are essentially codifying their own dubious narrative that people are motivated to commit hate crimes against Asians because they associate the coronavirus with Asians.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) voiced skepticism over the legislation, observing, “My understanding is it doesn’t really do much.” He further surmised that it’s little other than a “messaging vote.”
The truth is, the bill has nothing to do with protecting Asian Americans or any Americans for that matter. It’s a political gambit as the Senate Democrats look for ways to create an excuse to justify eliminating the filibuster. If they can bait Republicans into engaging in a filibuster against a dubious anti-hate crime bill, they’ll have the talking points to paint Republicans as anti-Asian at worst or out of touch at best. Either way, they will claim Republicans are obstructing the ability to get badly needed legislation through to socialist/scumbag/liar-Joe Biden.
It doesn’t look like Republicans are falling for this particular trap, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has indicated the GOP won’t filibuster the bill. But Democrats still have their messaging for 2022 and beyond. ~The Patriot Post
Orchestrated Anarchy
“It wasn’t an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.” —Michigan Democrat Representative scumbag/worthless-Rashida Tlaib, April 12
“All employees working for the City of Brooklyn Center are entitled to due process with respect to discipline. This employee will receive due process and that’s really all that I can say today.” —Brooklyn Center City Manager Curt Boganey
Following the shooting and killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by officer Kimberly Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon — which Police Chief Tim Gannon described as “an accidental discharge” of a handgun instead of a taser — one of the above politicians still has a job.
Unfortunately it isn’t Boganey. For daring to support due process, the city council voted to give authority over the police department to the mayor’s office so Boganey could be fired. Council member Kris Lawrence-Anderson admitted the action was taken to appease rioters. “He was doing a great job. I respect him dearly,” she said. “I didn’t want repercussions at a personal level.”
Thus, Lawrence-Anderson opted for anarchy.
It is anarchy best described as formulaic. Ever since George Floyd died following his own confrontation with police — and a similar effort to resist arrest that was allegedly part of the equation here — such confrontations have not been seen as tragedies but as opportunities. Opportunities to riot and attack police, as well as loot some businesses and burn others to the ground. And over the course of a year, rioters have done so while feckless Democrat politicians either looked the other way or condoned the mayhem, even as their media allies pushed precisely the same kind of rank propaganda embraced by scumbag/worthless-Rashida Tlaib.
And it is rank propaganda. “In 2019 police officers fatally shot 1,004 people, most of whom were armed or otherwise dangerous,” columnist Heather Mac Donald reveals. “African-Americans were about a quarter of those killed by cops last year (235), a ratio that has remained stable since 2015. That share of black victims is less than what the black crime rate would predict, since police shootings are a function of how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects. In 2018, the latest year for which such data have been published, African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the U.S. and commit about 60% of robberies, though they are 13% of the population.”
Why do black Americans commit crimes at levels disproportionate to their representation in the population? Daunte Wright shouldn’t have been killed. But this latest interaction with police wasn’t anomalous. Wright was shot while attempting to drive away. He made a similar attempt last June when it was reported that he was waving a gun around. He was cited and ordered to appear in court. He didn’t. The outstanding warrant arising from that case was a factor in this confrontation.
Nonetheless, neither of those incidents or the other arrests on his record matter. For the Left, all that matters is maintaining a narrative of ongoing black victimhood and systemic racism — because it is a lucrative endeavor.
Thus, the Democrat Party has exploited those assertions to cultivate black American loyalty at the ballot box now considered so routine that socialist/scumbag/liar-Joe Biden himself stated if black Americans can’t figure out whether to support him or Donald Trump for president, “then you ain’t black.”
It is also extremely lucrative for the racial arsonists as well, with the latest example being BLM cofounder Patrisse Cullors, who, despite her self-professed allegiance to Marxism, has amassed a rather capitalistic portfolio of four houses over the past five years costing more than $3 million, including one in Los Angeles’s Topanga Canyon, where 88% of residents are white and just 1.8% are black.
Neither socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden nor Cullors nor the legions of other equally woke politicians and corporate hucksters who view mob violence as a useful tool for advancing their contemptible agenda will ever spend a nanosecond boarding up and/or defending their businesses or homes from the looters and arsonists they have enabled. Abject fear and the nightmare of losing what one has worked a lifetime to achieve is for “little people” — of all races.
How little? “Retailers urged to re-think police calls for low-level crimes after George Floyd’s death,” states a headline in Minnesota’s Star Tribune newspaper. Apparently, it is better for store owners and their employees to endure a certain level of lawlessness than be accused of “profiling” minority shoppers.
What undergirds such hucksterism? Genuine bigotry in pursuit of unassailable power. Thus, the Democrat Party and its woke corporate allies can insist that any effort made by state legislatures to maintain election integrity amounts to “Jim Crow,” using the racist rationale that black Americans are incapable of procuring the same voter ID every other race and ethnic group is capable of procuring.
That Democrats own Jim Crow? The wholesale corruption of the public schools that teach students of every race to despise their own nation — and ignore its history in the process — “solved” that problem.
That corporations have met to strategize about using their power to extort state legislatures to abandon such efforts? Such is only possible when their media collaborators ignore two blatantly inconvenient realities: First, as the leftist Brennan Center for Justice reveals, bills to further election integrity have been proposed in 47 out of 50 states — meaning some Democrat-controlled states are also concerned with voter integrity. Second, an overwhelming majority of Americans — including a majority of black Americans — support requiring an ID to vote.
Tragically, those realties are obliterated by a steady diet of race-mongering to maintain the tribalism that must be fostered, lest Americans begin to think in terms of class. If that happened, ordinary Americans of all races would discover that the wholesale sellout of their interests by corporate oligarchs continues unabated and that the shift to global governance wholly controlled by those oligarchs remains the endgame.
Rioters willing to advance anarchy are the oligarchs’ useful idiot foot soldiers, and they have been paid handsomely for their efforts: The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation revealed it received more than $90 million in donations last year. That buys a lot of mobs. Mobs that apparently believe due process, trial by jury, and the Constitution itself should be supplanted by retribution and vengeance.
And not just in this case. “In the ongoing Minneapolis trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, BLM and its allies have shown no more interest in justice than did Alice’s Queen of Hearts,” writes columnist Jack Cashill. “‘Sentence first — verdict afterwards,’ said the Queen, and when Alice protested the Queen shouted, ‘Off with her head.’ Fearing the loss of their heads, perhaps literally, too many powerful people stand by mutely as the mob begins to circle the Minneapolis Court House.”
Not just the Minneapolis Court House. The mobs are in the streets of Brooklyn Center, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, DC. At Brooklyn Center, self-identified members of antifa have joined the mix. Officer Potter and Police Chief Gannon have resigned after the city council voted to fire them. “I would hope that this would bring calm to the community,” said Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott.
Don’t bet on it. Neither calm — nor due process — serves the interests of our corporate oligarchy and a Democrat Party looking to nationalize the voting process in a quest for unassailable power.
Anarchy does. ~The Patriot Post
Oil Companies Push Carbon Tax in Lieu of socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden Climate Policy
Several oil and business CEOs plan to come together this week in a virtual meeting with the objective of pushing members of Congress to advance some form of a carbon tax. The Washington Examiner reports, “Specifically, the companies will lobby for a carbon tax proposal developed by former Republican Secretaries of State James Baker III and the late George Shultz as part of the Climate Leadership Council that would return the revenue to households through equal quarterly payments, known as ‘dividends,’ to offset higher energy prices.”
ConocoPhillips executive Matt Fox contends, “A well-designed price on carbon is the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the economy.” Really?
What these business leaders are seeking to do is fend off the cost of increased government regulation promised by socialist/scumbag/liar-Joe Biden’s agenda of tackling our climate “emergency.” As the Examiner notes, “Carbon tax advocates are holding out hope … that the policy can gain traction after the infrastructure debate as a way for the United States to stay competitive with global competitors that have adopted pricing mechanisms.”
The trouble is the cost of any new tax is always paid by the consumer, regardless of the supposed industry or institution the government targets for taxing. What this suggests is that these oil execs believe some form of government-levied climate “penalty” is inevitable. Furthermore, they see a carbon tax as a safer bet than any climate regulations the Biden administration dreams up. ~The Patriot Post
Woka-Cola: Dead Company Walking
Coca-Cola’s recent support for moving the MLB All-Star Game out of Georgia to protest the state’s improvements to voter integrity is another slap in the face to honest, hard-working Georgians. And indeed all Americans.
While trying to make a social statement, Coca-Cola has hurt the hard-working employees of this once-great company, not to mention all of the other small businesses and individuals that need the economic boost such an event brings. There is nothing like punishing the little folks to show one’s true colors. Especially when the executives who made this decision live in luxury.
But what else would we expect from a company that is literally a dead company walking? I know this is true. I have some information that I will now share.
But first some perspective.
As a child growing up in the Deep South, I was introduced to Coke at an early age. Everyone drank Coke. In our true southern drawl, we called it Co-Cola. For me, a non-coffee drinker, it became my caffeine. I also drank the company’s other products, Sprite and Fresca, but of course they were never a substitute, just some variety. I forgave it for that little foray into Tab, possibly the most awful liquid any human being ever consumed.
I have even taught my business school students that Coca-Cola’s removal of the original product from the market, replacing it with “New Coke” in 1985, was not a mistake, just a business decision that looked good given the data it had. It learned what an incredible brand it was. Other business school professors have all but labeled it the biggest business blunder in history.
I have continued to drink Coca-Cola decades later. In 1986, I invested about $4,000 in its stock. That investment is worth more than $80,000 today, a modest return of about 12%. OK, but not great. And it’s easy to see why the company isn’t doing better.
It’s more concerned with its distorted notion of social justice and less concerned about why so few are drinking its product. Maybe it’s trying to deflect criticism for being such a badly run company. But with each generation, its fate becomes more clearly sealed.
This company is a dead company walking. How do I know? I teach college students and virtually none of them are drinking this product.
I believe it would be easier to find a college student who does not drink alcohol than to find one who drinks this product. Think about that for a minute.
And mull over this fact: When these students someday become parents, you can bet that their children will drink it even less. And their grandchildren will barely drink it at all. The only thing they’ll be using Coca-Cola for is exploding Mentos.
And this company will be left selling nothing but the overpriced tap water it calls Dasani and Minute Maid Orange Juice, a pathetic substitute for Simply Orange, which actually tastes the way orange juice should taste.
And the leaders of Coca-Cola apparently have no clue.
Here is my message to Coca-Cola executives: This is your corporate equivalent of climate change. The climate for your product has changed. A long-term trend is visible to us in the ranks. I know from your yachts and your Aspen ski lodges that you cannot see this so well. Young people aren’t drinking your product. And what exactly are you doing about it? Griping about a law that attempts to ensure integrity in the voting process? If you must be obsessed with your own distorted version of social justice to the extent that you ignore the fact that the next generation of consumers isn’t using your product, I cannot stop you. But I promise you that your product is dying a slow, lingering death. History will say that Dr. John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, Asa Candler founded the company and the most remarkable and successful brand in history, and you guys sent it on a death spiral. ~The Patriot Post
CAL THOMAS
Will There Be a Penalty for Withdrawal From Afghanistan?
President socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden’s announced intention to complete the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by September 11, exactly 20 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, will complete a goal former President Trump wanted to meet, but did not, following advice from military leaders, who convinced him that a May 1 deadline was a bad idea.
The Taliban has made no withdrawal commitment and therein lies the problem with what used to be called the “war on terrorism” before, it appears, the United States decided to unilaterally surrender.
One of the principles of warfare is to know one’s enemy. The U.S., over several administrations, has failed to apply that principle.
The goals of the Taliban and international terrorism have been on display even before September 11, 2001. According to War on the Rocks, a website offering analysis, commentary, debate and multimedia content on foreign policy and national security issues, the terror group openly states that any peace negotiations with the U.S. must be based on sharia law, an extreme interpretation of the Koran that many Muslims reject.
In fact, Taliban leaders have said any peace talks must have the same goals as Jihad. Their stated objective is to “end the occupation” by American and NATO forces and re-introduce the “rule of sharia in Afghanistan.”
Have we already forgotten what that looked like? It included the repression of women and girls that begins with denying them an education or the opportunity to engage in any profession. Men are supreme. Women have virtually no rights.
Some years ago, I met in New York with a group of Afghan women who had escaped from the Taliban’s clutches. They told me stories of having to wear a burqa and blacken their house windows so no one could see in. One said if she took a public bus, a male relative had to take a coin from her hand and drop it in the coin box.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who along with President George W. Bush was in office during that awful day when 3,000 Americans were killed, responded to the president’s announcement: “By declaring that this withdrawal is not based on conditions on the ground, the socialist/ scumbag/liar-Biden administration is sending a dangerous signal that the United States fundamentally does not understand — or is willfully ignorant of — the terrorist threat.” She called socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden’s announcement a propaganda victory for the terrorists.
No one wants a “forever war” as some have referred to our presence in Afghanistan, but wars don’t end when one side quits, especially when the other side has a religious motivation for continuing to fight.
President Trump at least listened to military leaders who wanted to maintain a supportive role in Afghanistan. President socialist/scumbag/liar-Biden has either not listened or is listening to those who believe withdrawal is equivalent to victory.
In her statement, Rep. Cheney referenced President scumbag/liar-nObama’s decision to precipitously withdraw American troops from Iraq: “… retreat does not end the fight against terrorism. It merely gives our enemies more room to reconstitute and plot attacks against the homeland.”
The forces behind terrorism are patient. We are not. Guess who is most hurt by our impatience? I hope I am wrong about this, but if I am right the possibility of more attacks and more bloodshed will be on the hands of the current administration, no matter how long it takes before the Taliban regroup and Afghanistan again becomes a center for exporting terrorism to our shores and to other countries. ~The Patriot Post
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