The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Matt Taibbi vs. the Borg

Posted on | December 2, 2023 | 1 Comment

If you wish to amuse yourself sometime, go check out Matt Taibbi’s feed on The Social Media Platform Formerly Known as Twitter. In case you weren’t aware, Taibbi is a (former?) left-wing journalist once celebrated by his peers for his reporting in Rolling Stone, but who reached some kind of epiphany during the Trump years, and who has since enraged the Left by exposing the role of government agencies in censorship conducted in the guise of combating “misinformation.” Because of this, Taibbi is now seen by the Left as a traitor, leading to online exchanges like this one with Doug Henwood, a contributing editor at The Nation:

The work done by Taibbi and his “Twitter Files” colleague Michael Shellenberger in exposing the abuses of the “anti-misinformation” racket ought to be universally admired. Indeed, I would argue, it might have gotten a Pulitzer Prize were it not for the fact that the establishment media are now pro-censorship, insofar as that censorship is aimed at silencing “the far right” (i.e,, anyone who doesn’t vote Democrat) and other critics of the Biden administration. Establishment journalists generally have become “Democratic operatives with bylines,” so that questions about what is true and what is important are, in their minds, determined by the immediate interests of The Party. We see this partisan bias, for example, in discussions around Joe Biden’s fitness for office. There are lots of journalists now raising alarms about Biden’s advanced age and cognitive decline, topics they once would have dismissed as “right-wing disinformation” or “Fox New talking points.”

Why the change? Simple — polls indicate Biden would likely lose a 2024 rematch with Trump. Anything that jeopardizes Democratic Party control of the federal government is bad, according to the media hivemind, and so the idea of “pulling a Torricelli” (i.e., switching candidates to prevent a certain defeat) is now a topic the media is willing to discuss.

Permit me to relate a relevant personal anecdote. Occasionally, I’ve been asked to speak to groups on the subject of media and politics. After one such speech in North Carolina, I was talking to a nice Republican lady who, remarking on what I’d said about liberal bias in the media, asked, “What makes you different?” That is to say, why am I not part of the liberal hivemind? On the spot, the best answer I could come up with was, “Well, I was a reporter before I got into politics.” I didn’t get into journalism because I wanted to change the world. I got into journalism because I needed a job. I started out on the bottom rung of the newspaper business, as a staff writer for a local weekly, and worked my way up, spending five years as a sports editor before landing a gig as an assistant special projects editor at the daily Rome (Ga.) News-Tribune. It wasn’t until I’d been in the business about seven years that I became interested in politics, during the first term of the Clinton presidency, when I had my own road-to-Damascus epiphany and abandoned the Democratic Party, of which I had hitherto been a staunch supporter.

The point of that digression is that I cut my teeth as a reporter covering local stories that had nothing to do with politics, and thereby developed the belief that the three most important things in journalism are accuracy, accuracy and accuracy. The idea of journalism as advancing some sort of political “cause” was alien to my thinking, and after I finally arrived in Washington — at age 37, an assistant national editor at The Washington Times — I had many opportunities to witness how the world of big-time politics and journalism operates. And I suspect that, if Matt Taibbi was to reflect on his journey to becoming a pariah to his erstwhile comrades on the Left, he might be able to relate similar experiences.

Taibbi’s background causes him to notice things that other people might ignore. For example, during testimony to Congress this week, a former aide to Mike Pence named Olivia Troye accused the committee of promoting “a politically motivated fantasy detached from reality” and “continuing to spread conspiracy theories about government censorship,” before urging them to “instead focus on the very real and very dangerous threat posed by the leading Republican candidate,” i.e., Trump. Taibbi and Shellenberger were witnesses at the same committee hearing, and Taibbi has highlighted how, when Troye was asked about her “conspiracy theories” comment, denied that she had said such a thing.

 

This is the hivemind of the Borg in action. These people contradict themselves without hesitation, and the media will ignore the contradictions, because they are partisan hacks who consider it their duty — their only stock in trade as “professional journalists” — to advance the interests of the Democratic Party. Such people consider themselves qualified to determine what is “misinformation,” and will applaud the government censoring any viewpoint that displeases them.

Their attitude only serves to undermine the credibility of the media establishment, and to incite paranoia, as more and more people notice how many facts are being labeled “misinformation” and how often so-called “conspiracy theories” turn out to be true. Increasing paranoia is not a good thing, of course, but the pervasive dishonesty of the media creates another problem, that we might not be paranoid enough.

(Great minds think alike: My podcast colleague John Hoge comments on the Orwellian nature of Troye’s remark. We’ll discuss this on tonight’s episode of The Other Podcast, which goes live at 7 p.m. ET.)



 

Category: Conspiracy Theories, Journalism

In The Mailbox: 12.01.23 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | December 2, 2023 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas sunt delendam.

When the cyborg catgirl commandos are ready, they’ll be sorry…

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Another 3D Printed Gun Pops Up In Brazil
EBL: DeSantis vs. Newsom Debate, Fighting Resumes in Gaza, and 94 Year Old Korea War Veteran Frank Tammaro Kicked Out of Nursing Home To Make Room for Illegal Aliens
Twitchy: James Woods Demolishes Dems In Series Of Tweets Following Santos Expulsion, Dr. Robert Malone Claims J6 Committee Evidence Is Missing, and Miranda Devine Nukes Dem Rep Goldman’s Laptop Trutherism
Louder With Crowder: Meet the trans professor teaching a HARVARD class on Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce, Florida Enacts Law Saying Govt Funded Orgs Can’t Force Pronouns On People. Those Who Force Pronouns Are Pissed, and LOL! Gavin Newsom’s Wife Forced Him Off Debate Stage
Vox Popoli: People are Still Dying and They are Still Lying, DECEMBER: The Thousand Worlds, and Russia’s Volkskriege
According To Hoyt: Shouldering It Up, Mushy, and Working for Money
Monster Hunter Nation: The A-Z guide to anti-gun vulture talking points on Facebook
Jon Del Arroz: The Top Five Alternative Indie Comics That Destroy Mainstream Wokeness
Gab News: How To Inspire Christians To Take Action In A Distracted Society

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Tuberville Should Not Back Down, also, Instagram Is Pornifying Your Children
American Greatness: Texas AG Ken Paxton Sues Pfizer For Misrepresenting Efficacy of the Covid-19 Jabs and Conspiring to Censor Public Discourse
American Thinker: Can Tyranny Be Forgiven?
Animal Magnetism: Vacation Totty V
Babalu Blog: U.S. keeps Cuba on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, A Belarusian Christmas in communist Cuba, and Cuban dictatorship continues to harass Cuban woman who complained about lack of water
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm for December 1
Behind The Black: Russia launches Progress to ISS, Update on Blue Origin activity at Cape Canaveral, GAO says first Artemis manned landing likely delayed to 2027, Intelsat partnering with both Starlink and OneWeb, and Minnesota school brings sanity back to the classroom by banning smart phones
Cafe Hayek: Walter Williams
Da Tech Guy: December Indulgence Calendar (makes a great Liturgical New Years Resolution), also, 15 Thoughts on 15 Years of Blogging Under the Fedora. Thoughts 6 to 10…The Glory Days
Dana Loesch: DeSantis Mercilessly, Repeatedly Dunks On Gov. Hairgel In Savage Debate
Don Surber: The myth of a failed presidency
First Street Journal: When a #woke newspaper tells us only half of the story, also, Killadelphia
Gates Of Vienna: The Bankruptcy of the Constitutional State, Meanwhile, in The Netherlands, It’s the Vax, Stupid! From Brainwashing to Turbo Cancers: The Legacy of the Vax, Africa is Coming Home to Europe, Geert Wilders: A Halt to Asylum, and Prepare for a Culture-Enriching Christmas
The Geller Report: Maine City Removes Chanukah Display After Muslims Complain, also, Las Vegas Muslim Convert Arrested In Terror Bomb Plot “Against the Enemies of Allah”
Hogewash: Why Mrs. Hoge and I Left California, Tonight’s Sky: December, 2023, Number Two, and Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
Hollywood In Toto: Did Disney’s Bob Iger Just Cry Uncle? (It’s Complicated), Filmmaker Heeds Andrew Breitbart, Charges into Culture War Fight, Woo’s Silent Night Will Delight Director’s Hardcore Fans, The Shift Finds Faith in the Most Unexpected Places, Disney’s Bob Iger Throws Black Female Marvels Director Under the Bus, and Lady Ballers Must Be Seen to Be Believed
Legal Insurrection: In Latest Blow to U.S. Military Readiness, Biden Administration Set to Spend Nearly $270 Million on DEI, Ex-FBI Informant Stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 Times In Prison On “Black Friday” Because “Symbolic” With BLM, The Hamas Attack on Israel Has Exposed the Hypocrisy of Western Feminism, Like a Boss: Ron DeSantis Wipes the Floor With Gavin Newsom in Red State v. Blue State Debate, Columbia Law School Dean Resigns Amid Anti-Semitism Scandals, and Anti-Israel Student Mob Shouts Down Speech by Brown University President
Nebraska Energy Observer: Scattershot Friday
Outkick: Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones All Smiles In Photo Op With Deion Sanders, Future Dallas QB Shedeur Sanders, LSU’s Angel Reese Says ‘Mental Health’ Led To Absence, So She Wouldn’t ‘Cause Any Cancer Within The Locker Room’, Nick Saban Bluntly Reacts To The Very Real Possibility SEC Gets Left Out Of The Playoff, Von Miller’s Girlfriend Claims Assault Allegations Aren’t True, and The Shohei Ohtani Free Agency Situation Sounds Like A Bit Of A Mess, And Also May Be Wrapping Up
Power Line: Thoughts from the ammo line, Annals of strategery, Elon Isn’t Perfect, But He’s Right, and When & How Did Universities Become So Crazy Left?
Shark Tank: Webster Lands Trump Endorsement Over Sabatini
Shot In The Dark: Berg’s 7th Law Comes Screaming Back From The 1930s, also, Churchill For Our Times
The Political Hat: Firing Line Friday: Is There an Answer to Malthus?
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, “Now look, my Marine carries that, but it has the code to blow up the world” – Joe Biden, The United Nations is set to call on western countries to reduce their meat consumption, and Marine veteran held at Russian labor camp assaulted
Transterrestrial Musings: A Problematic Form Of Life Extension, also, Unshocking News Of The Day
Victory Girls: George Santos Booted Out Of Congress, Republicans Biggest Losers
Volokh Conspiracy: Sandra Day O’Connor, RIP
Watts Up With That: Natural Disasters Are Not Increasing — Really, also, No Amount Of Subsidies Will Ever Make A Wind/Solar Electricity System Economically Feasible
The Federalist: DOJ’s Disinterest In Democrats’ Classified Docs Is The Only Defense Trump Needs, George Santos’ Expulsion Is Further Proof The GOP Is A Potemkin Political Party, Schumer Tastes The Poisoned Fruit Of Democrats’ Deeply Rooted Antisemitism, Dem Witness In Weaponization Hearing Contradicted Her Own Opening Statement, Beware Of Media Sanitizing Antisemitism With Phony ‘Jewish’ Sources, Why GOP Voters Saw This Week’s Debate Differently Than DeSantis Superfans, and The Fight Against Sexualizing Kids Doesn’t Just Win Debates, It Wins Elections
Mark Steyn: Plum Duff

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 12.01.23 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | December 1, 2023 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Thanks to everyone who bought stuff through my Amazon links in November.
Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

Elon has advice for Disney, Walmart, Media Matters, & others.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: I’m Shocked – Shocked! – To Find A Politician Would Lie
EBL: Henry Kissinger RIP, No Backup “Plan B” For Biden, and MAGA Judicial Recusal?
Twitchy: U.S. Oil & Gas Association Absolutely Wrecks Gov. Hairgel, And The Oscar Goes To Pallywood For “Woman Crying Over Rubber Baby”, and Hamas Breaks Temporary Ceasefire Surprising Absolutely Nobody – Squad Hardest Hit
Louder With Crowder: Young Chiefs fan, who’s Native American, speaks out on Deadspin trying to ruin his life, Elon Musk tells woke companies blackmailing him to go f*ck themselves, but it’s what he said that media WON’T report, and UN Head Flies On Private Jet To Climate Conference…Where He Calls For TOTAL Fossil Fuel Phaseout
Vox Popoli: Bran Stark is Sauron, also, Don’t See That Often

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Butchers, Brewers, and Bakers
American Greatness: High Winds Knock Over National Christmas Tree, Trad Catholic Family Dragged Out of Home at Gunpoint, Locked in Van After FBI ‘Goaded’ Teen to Post Offensive Memes, Dad Says, and The Unhinged Among Us
American Thinker: Did Democrat ‘Bird-Doggers’ Disrupt Congress on January 6? Contrary To Leftist Revisionism, Native American Culture Was Indeed Savage, and The Odious Reasons Behind The World’s Obsession With Gaza And The West Bank
Animal Magnetism: Vacation Totty II, Vacation Totty III, and Vacation Totty IV
Babalu Blog: Reports from Cuba: The decline of Cuba’s education system and its teachers, Vatican hosts art of Fidel fan while dissident Cuban artists are persecuted and jailed, and The warehouse where the Cuban dictatorship stores all its atrocities
BattleSwarm: More Legal Trouble For Harris County Democratic Judge Lina Hidalgo, Israel Derezzes Hamas, Hezbollah Tron, and Breaking: Paxton Sues Pfizer
Behind The Black: ESA admits Ariane-6 will not fly until the summer of 2024, House committee passes its new commercial space act on partisan vote, SpaceX buys the company that makes its Dragon parachutes, SpaceX launches 25 payloads, including South Korea’s first five homebuilt surveillance satellites, Blacklisting is no longer enough, now the goal is justifying mass murder, and Real pushback: Corporate America eliminating college degree requirements for new hires
Cafe Hayek: Trade Is A Technology, also, “Theoretically Impossible” vs. “Practically Unlikely”
CDR Salamander: Front Or Flank – The Importance Of Words
Chicago Boyz: Sympathy for the Devil, Close To The Edge, and The Russo-Ukrainian War’s Electronic Warfare Front
Da Tech Guy: And just like that 10 Hour Days become 8 again, The bumpy road ahead in Israel, 15 Thoughts on 15 Years of Blogging Under the Fedora, What Kurt (and Sununu) Said, and The Biden Regime Has Gone Full Dystopian Science Fiction
Dana Loesch: Progressives Really Hate That American Indian Kid
Don Surber: All Hail Haley
First Street Journal: Run her out of town on a rail! You go, girl! Go ahead and hurt your own cause! The Journolism of The Philadelphia Inquirer, and A university professor right in theory, but wholly wrong in the real world
Gates Of Vienna: The Greens Want It All, “Bill Gates is a Problem for Democracy”, Culture Shock in Ourem, Little Girl ‘Lost’? Change Your Sex Like You Change Your Clothes, and A Room With a View
The Geller Report: Biden Regime Abandoning Israel, Report: UNRWA Teacher, Gaza Doctor Kept Israeli Child Hostages, and Genocidal Jew Haters Disrupt Annual NYC Christmas Tree Ceremony, Swastika Signs, Burning Stolen NYPD Gear
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, When Conspiracy Theories Become Spoiler Alerts, I’m Not Making This Up, You Know? Spider Pulsars, and 300 Pulsars and Counting
Hollywood In Toto: Mayim Bialik Shames Feminists for Silence on Hamas Rape, Torture, Will DailyWire+’s Lady Ballers Out Shock South Park?, Saltburn Offers More Empty Shocks from Promising Director, Whitney Cummings: ‘The Left Wants to Silence People’, and Why De Niro’s Diva Act Was Completely Out of Line
The Lid: Majority of Americans Now Live in Gun-Owning Households
Legal Insurrection: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Signs Law Essentially Banning Fossil Fuel Use by 2040, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Releases Statement After Palestinian Flag Appears on Their Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Float, ‘Irish Lives Matter’ Graffiti, Anti-Illegal Immigrant Signage Treated As ‘Hate Incidents’ in Northern Ireland, ‘Pro-Palestine’ Protesters at Oakland City Council Meeting Defended Hamas Terrorists, Denied the Holocaust, Attacked Israel, U. Michigan Cancels Anti-Israel Vote After ‘Pro-Palestinian’ Students Send Unauthorized Email Blast, and Nearly 4,000 Car Dealerships Beg Biden to Pull the Plug on ‘Unrealistic’ EV Mandates
Nebraska Energy Observer: True North, Old Friends, and I find I depend
Outkick: Tiger Woods Struggles In PGA Tour Return, Including Incredibly Relatable Shot That Landed In A Bush, Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen: First Ever Monday Night Football Flex Involves Removing Patriots Game Against Chiefs, Mike Tyson Refusing To Settle With Man He Punched After Being Harassed On Airplane, Mother Of Young Chiefs Fan Confirms Her Son Is Native American, Blasts Deadspin, Amazon’s Barry Sanders Documentary Is One Of The Best Sports Documentaries Ever Made, Arkansas Welcomes Back Bobby Petrino With Country Club Membership Along With A Hefty Contract, and Mark Cuban Shockingly Sells Dallas Mavericks Majority Stake; Is He Having A Crisis?
Power Line: Pallywood’s latest blockbuster, They’re Coming For Your Beef, Kissinger dies at 100, and Ireland Goes Fascist
Shark Tank: Rick Scott Demands Explanation For Biden “Voter Mobilization” EO
Shot In The Dark: Open Letter To MN GOP Central Delegates, Shane McGowan, The Miseducation of Miguel Cardona, What if Someone Threw A “Genocide”…, Throwback, and The Bolt From The Blue Redux
The Political Hat: Catholic School Teaching Critical Race Theory To Kindergarteners
This Ain’t Hell: Hitting what you aim at…not, Marine officer thinks mustangs dirty up the “Aristocracy” of the officer corps, Iran Upgrades Air Force, Three More Accounted For, Yet another Osprey crash, Social Grooming, who are the victims? and Henry Kissinger dies at 100
Transterrestrial Musings: Why People Think The Economy Sucks, Ruth Marcus’s Tome On Kavanaugh, Violent Left-Wing Networks, Prospects For Peace In the Middle East, and A Good Start
Victory Girls: Mayorkas Refuses To Apologize To Border Patrol Agents, also, Child Hostages Bear Witness to Hamas’ Torture
Volokh Conspiracy: Federal Agencies Neglect Anti-Asian Discrimination in Education
Watts Up With That: Bone-Chilling: Last Christmas, the U.S. narrowly averted an energy disaster that would have decimated New York City and killed thousands, Changing History to Control You, Canadian Green Electricity Push Blocked by Alberta, and Get Ready for Another Pointless United Nations Climate Conference
The Federalist: Ridley Scott Reduces Napoleon From Man Of Destiny To Man Baby, Media’s 2024 Pitch To America: Be Poor Because Democracy Depends On It, Transgender Your Businesses, Nonprofits, And Schools, Or No Federal Grants For You, Dan Goldman Is A Hunter Biden Laptop Truther, The Real Conspiracy Theorists About U.S. Elections Are Legacy Media, White House Pretending TikTok ‘Disinformation’ Stokes Price Fears Is An Insult To Americans, and All The Ways Americans Benefit From Republicans Voting To Expel George Santos
Mark Steyn: The Common Good in Uncommon Times, Morning Comes Quickly, and Diversity Rape of the Day

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 11.30.23

Posted on | November 30, 2023 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Still not feeling 100%. Full link dumps tomorrow.
Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

h/t Tom Kratman on X

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Disney Tells Investors Social Engineering Comes Before Profits
EBL: Joe Biden – “We have put together I think the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.”, Lessons in Chemistry, and I suddenly got some dust in my eyes
Twitchy: Not all Heroes Wear Capes – Rand Paul Saves Joni Ernst With Heimlich Maneuver, Cowardly Brown U. Prez Drops References To Jewish Symbols After Heckling, and Nikki Haley Gets Kiss Of Death Endorsement
Louder With Crowder: Chicago Mayor runs out of scapegoats for why his city sucks, so he blames “far-right”, Americans Need Over $11,000 More Under Joe Biden Just To Afford Bare Minimum To Survive, and Michigan Governor Signs Legislation To Eliminate Fossil Fuels. Also Jobs, Reliable Energy, & The Middle Class
Vox Popoli: Don’t Think of it as Surveillance, also, Stumbling Toward 2033
Stoic Observations: Passion Without Purpose
Gab News: FBI Raids Catholic Family After Teenager Posts “Offensive” Memes In Group Chat

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
CDR Salamander: Europe’s Entitlement Bird Looking For a Place To Roost
Don Surber: Harvard to Google – Drop dead

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Category: Linkagery

Chicago Mayor Goes Full Jussie Smollett, Blames ‘Right-Wing Extremism’ for City’s Migrant Crisis: ‘They’re Still Mad That a Black Man Is Free in This Country’

Posted on | November 30, 2023 | 2 Comments

Everybody remembers the crazy storyline from January 2019: In the wee hours of a Tuesday morning in Chicago, actor Jussie Smollett claimed he was returning from a trip to a Subway sandwich shop when he was attacked by two white men wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, who shouted racist and homophobic slurs, poured bleach on him, tied a noose around his neck and exclaimed: “This is MAGA country!” As fake hate-crime hoaxes go, this was one of the least plausible narratives ever. Republican terrorists in Chicago? At 2 a.m.? In below-zero weather? Targeting an actor who most people never heard of?

Smollett’s tale was quickly exposed as a lie, but his hoax expressed a common belief among liberals, that “hate” is a widespread menace in America, and that Republican voters are all guilty of “hate.” It was therefore not really surprising that the mayor of Chicago — Joe Biden got 74% of the vote in Cook County — would invoke this belief when discussing his city’s illegal immigrant problem:

QUESTION: Would you want some limits placed on the flow of migrants from other cities and states?
CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: It has to be better coordination. What we have seen is a raggedy form instituted by right-wing extremism. Everyone knows that the right-wing extremism in this country has targeted Democratically-ran cities and quite frankly, they’ve been very intentional about going after Democratically-ran cities that are led by people of color.
Their whole motivation is to create disruption and chaos because that’s what this particular party has been about. This is the same political party that did not want to accept that President Obama was actually an American. It’s the same Republican right-wing extremism that stormed the Capitol. It’s the same right-wing extremism that refuses to accept the results of the Civil War. It’s raggedy. It’s disrespectful. It’s mean-spirited. It’s an unclean spirit, quite frankly.
So I got you. I got you. I just want to make sure that people understand what we’re facing. That’s why it’s so important that the faith community is leaning in at this moment. And so what what I’ve said, there has to be better coordination. Look, Pastor Will Hall who’s also an Alderman of the Sixth Ward visited the border. He saw the chaos firsthand. And so part of our effort to go to the the border was to make sure that there was better coordination with the flow of migrants who are seeking asylum here but this is not unprecedented.
When the Ukrainian refugees found their way to the shores of America there were 30,000 of them right here in the city of Chicago and you don’t hear a word about it because it was coordinated. There was federal dollars that were attached to those families and so to your question, yes it has to be better coordinated. As far as limitations we have to have parameters that respect the dignity of families who want to call Chicago their home right.
It is abysmal and it’s an affront for everything that is good about this country, for the extremism in this country to use people as political tools to settle political scores for something that happened 400 years ago. They’re still mad that a black man is free in this country. This is nothing new.

Am I the only one who sees this as scapegoating, no different than Jew-haters blaming all the world’s problems on a “Zionist conspiracy”?

Instead of being distracted by the mayor’s (deliberately) divisive rhetoric, however, let’s talk about the actual policy issue involved. The subtext of the Chicago mayor’s remarks was the fact that in 2022, Texas Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott started bussing migrants to Democrat-run cities:

• Over 11,900 migrants to Washington, D.C. since April 2022
• Over 14,800 migrants to New York City since August 2022
• Over 8,700 migrants to Chicago since August 2022
• Over 3,000 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022
• Over 1,500 migrants to Denver since May 18
• Over 610 migrants to Los Angeles since June 14

Keep in mind that these numbers are the proverbial “drop in a bucket” compared to the tsunami of “asylum seekers” who have poured into Texas as a result of Joe Biden’s policies. Abbott’s bussing program — overwhelmingly popular in Texas, of course — is an expression of a common-sense reaction to Biden’s policies: Why should Texans (most of whom vote Republican) have to bear the burden of Biden’s policies, while the liberals who voted for Biden (and who live far away from the Mexican border) are exempt from the consequences of the open-borders policy they evidently prefer? All Abbott is doing is giving Democrat voters a chance to experience what it is they’re voting for.

Once we start talking about actual policy — a discussion that Democrats wish to avoid — it behooves us to speak in terms of numbers. Most people have no idea about the actual numbers behind the immigration debate. As a matter of fact, for the past two decades or so, the United States has admitted about 1 million legal immigrants annually. Many of my conservative friends believe that number is too large, and that it would be better to reduce the number of legal immigrants admitted to the U.S., especially in terms of what’s called “chain migration.” Nevertheless, when you realize we’re legally admitting a million immigrants every year, and have been doing so since the 1990s, the problem of illegal immigration comes into sharper focus. Given our generous welcome to any immigrant willing to follow the law, why should we let ourselves be bullied into tolerating the unwelcome presence of foreign lawbreakers?

Democrats (and open-borders Republicans) don’t want to discuss the actual policies and actual numbers in regard to immigration. The open-borders lobby wants to use emotional appeals and accusations of “racism” to persuade the foolish and intimidate any potential opposition. We cannot solve policy problems by such tactics, and it behooves conservatives always to avoid mirroring the name-calling and emotionalism of the open-borders lobby. Educate the public, and tell them the actual facts. This report was just issued today:

The Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) shows that the total foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) was 49.5 million in October 2023 — a 4.5 million increase since President Biden took office and a new record high. At 15 percent, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population is also the highest ever recorded in American history. As the debate rages over the ongoing border crisis, this finding is important because administrative numbers such as border encounters or even legal immigrant arrivals do not measure the actual size of the immigrant population, which is what ultimately determines immigration’s impact on the country.
Among the findings:

• In October 2023, the CPS shows that 15 percent of the U.S. population is now foreign-born — higher than any U.S. government survey or census has ever recorded.
• The 49.5 million foreign-born residents (legal and illegal) in October 2023 is also a new record high.
• Since President Biden took office in January 2021, the foreign-born population has grown by 4.5 million — larger than the individual populations of 25 U.S. states.
• Based on our prior estimates of illegal immigrants, more than half (2.5 million) of the 4.5 million increase in the foreign-born population since January 2021 is likely due to illegal immigration. If adjusted for those missed by the survey, the increase would be larger.
• The 4.5 million increase overall and the 2.5 million increase in illegal immigrants are both net figures. The number of new arrivals was significantly higher, but was offset by outmigration and natural mortality among the foreign-born already here.
• The foreign-born population has grown on average by 137,000 a month since President Biden took office, compared to 42,000 a month during Trump’s presidency before Covid-19 hit, and 68,000 a month during President Obama’s two terms.
• The scale of immigration is so high that it appears to have made the new Census Bureau population projections, published on November 9 of this year, obsolete. The bureau projected that the foreign-born share was not supposed to hit 15 percent until 2033.
• The largest percentage increases since January 2021 are for immigrants from South America (up 28 percent); Central America (up 25 percent); Sub-Saharan Africa (up 21 percent); the Caribbean (up 20 percent); and the Middle East (up 14 percent).
• Immigrants from all of Latin America increased by 2.9 million since January 2021, accounting for 63 percent of the total increase in the foreign-born.
• While a large share of the recent foreign-born growth is due to illegal immigration, legal immigrants still account for three-fourths of the total foreign-born population.

You can read the whole thing. My point is that irresponsible demagogues like the mayor of Chicago don’t care about facts, any more than Jussie Smollett cared about facts when he perpetrated his notorious hate-crime hoax in Chicago. They are two sides of the same coin.



 

Category: Chicago, Democrats, Immigration

In the Mailbox: 11.29.23

Posted on | November 29, 2023 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Sick as hell with some kind of cold, but otherwise okay…as opposed to our man Doug Hagin at the Daley Gator, who could use your help.
Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.
OVER THE TRANSOM
Average Bubba: Welcome To Biden’s Amerika
EBL: Did Netanyahu Promise Not To Go After Hamas in Qatar?
Twitchy: Mika Brzezinski Claims Everyone Knows Somebody Who’s Suffered Like Hunter Biden, SecEd Miguel Cardona Butchers Ronald Reagan Quote, and BBC Promotes New Julius Caesar Documentary, And Boy, Does It Look Terrible
Louder With Crowder: Education Secretary Lacks Education, Mangles Famous Ronald Reagan Quote Used AGAINST People Like Joe Biden, UFC’s Sean Strickland (and his gun) shows his is the WRONG house to trespass on: “I thought he was stealing my car”, and Woman Refuses To Compete In Pool Championship Against Man, Her Teammates’ Supportive Response Drives Her To Tears
Vox Popoli: The Book Sale and the Bindery, 1.1 Million Dead, Literally Fake Media, and The Internet isn’t Dead
Flappr: Wes Reviews The Fall Of The House of Usher, Episodes 5-8

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
CDR Salamander: The Naval War College After October 7
Don Surber: Democrats are splitting up

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Category: Linkagery

MSNBC Guest Noura Erakat: ‘You Can Support Israel and Hate Jewish People’

Posted on | November 29, 2023 | Comments Off on MSNBC Guest Noura Erakat: ‘You Can Support Israel and Hate Jewish People’

Let’s start by agreeing that the ability to nod along with left-wing pretzel logic is pretty much Joy Reid’s only qualification to be on national TV, but then we have to proceed to asking the question, “Who is Rutgers University Professor Noura Erakat?” From her official profile:

Noura Erakat is a human rights attorney and an Associate Professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick in the Department of Africana Studies and the Program in Criminal Justice. Her research interests include human rights law, humanitarian law, national security law, refugee law, social justice, and critical race theory. Noura is an editorial committee member of the Journal for Palestine Studies and a co-Founding Editor of Jadaliyya, an electronic magazine on the Middle East that combines scholarly expertise and local knowledge. She is the author of Justice for Some: Law and in the Question of Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2019). . . .
Noura served as Legal Counsel for the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the House of Representatives from 2007-2009. Prior to her time on Capitol Hill, Noura received a New Voices Fellowship to work as the national grassroots organizer and legal advocate at the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

So, she was a Democrat congressional aide, after having previously worked for something called the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, which has since changed its name to the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and I’ll bet most readers will have no problem guessing who one of their major donors is. Anyway, here’s some more interesting information about Professor Erakat:

In June 2020, Erakat’s cousin Ahmed’s car collided with a military checkpoint in the West Bank near Abu Dis, following which he was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.

Yes, Professor Erakat’s cousin was a Palestinian terrorist who deliberately rammed into a border checkpoint, injuring one of the guards. Do a bit of research, and you’ll find that getting rammed by Palestinian terrorists is a fairly common risk for Israeli border guards. You will probably not be surprised to learn that, despite video clearly showing that the ramming attack by Professor Erakat’s cousin was deliberate, she claims he was an innocent victim. And so this is the person whose words Joy Reid was nodding along with, and I’ll quote the whole thing, just so it can’t be claimed I’ve taken her out of context:

JOY REID: Let me show you a picture. I want to show you a picture. I’m very curious to know what you think of it. This is the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, giving a tour at one of the kibbutz that was attacked on October 7, to one Elon Musk. What is happening here? Why is Elon Musk, who has made some pretty heinous anti-Semitic statements on his version of Twitter, and has been accused of anti-Semitism, what is he doing in Israel? Why would he be received by the prime minister at this time?
NOURA ERAKAT, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL STUDIES PROFESSOR: Well, I’m not really sure why Elon Musk is there. I will say that it points out to a phenomenon we have seen, which is the conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, where we can have very explicit anti-Semites like former President Donald Trump who appointed to a room of Jewish Americans and referred to Israel as their country, highlighting this trope of dual loyalties and nationalities, who said that — refers to their wealth and their power in a way that hits on classic anti-Semitic tropes and yet is hailed as Israel’s, you know, number one ally. And this points to this phenomenon of the difference between support for Israel and support and protection for Jewish life. Those are not the same thing.
The opposition to Zionism and the idea that you oppose, you oppose an ethnonational state that is contingent on maintaining a Jewish demographic majority that requires the ongoing removal of Palestinians and the confiscation of their lands is not the same thing as bigotry towards Jewish people, and that’s precisely why you see a very robust, diverse coalition including Jewish voice for peace and other anti-Zionist Jews who are part of this movement.
When we see Elon Musk there and you’re scratching your head saying wait a minute, I thought he actually has said very anti-Semitic things, it’s precise because these are not the same thing. You can support Israel and hate Jewish people, and that’s the sad truth here, is that many of us who are fighting to free Palestine are fighting for all people’s freedom, including for Jewish liberation, which we see as part and parcel of our human emancipation, and we find our safety in solidarity.

Notice the unqualified assertion by Joy Reid that Elon Musk has made “heinous anti-Semitic statements” — heinous! — and the equally unqualified assertion that Trump is a “very explicit” anti-Semite, as if no one could argue with these crude slanders. But then consider that Professor Erakat defended her own cousin’s attempt to kill Israeli border guards, and weigh that in the balance against whatever you may think about Musk and Trump. Say what you will about Elon Musk, he never rammed into any border checkpoints, as far as I know.



 

Category: Israel, MSNBC

Suspect in Shooting of Palestinian Students ‘Struggled With Depression’

Posted on | November 28, 2023 | 2 Comments

In the immediate aftermath of the weekend shooting in Burlington, Vermont — wounding Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Aliahmad — I braced myself for an anticipated tsunami of reports about an “extremist” radicalized by Fox News and “far right” websites, because that’s obviously who must have done it, right?

Then the arrest of a suspect was announced Sunday, and I was still bracing myself for the expected media onslaught blaming a right-wing “climate of hate” for the Burlington gunman’s crime. But I waited, and waited, and waited some more, and even after the suspect was publicly identified as Jason Eaton, 48, the media horde failed to produce the “blame Republicans” headlines I had feared. This led me to wonder what the heck was going on, and then I found this story by the Daily Beast:

The suspect accused of shooting three Palestinian college students in Vermont on Saturday night has worked as a farm hand, a Harvard research assistant, and a former ski instructor, according to a resume reviewed by The Daily Beast.
Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday afternoon and charged with three counts of second-degree attempted murder in connection with the shooting. Police say the college students were walking along a Burlington street when the suspect opened fire with a handgun “without speaking.” Afterward, he fled. . . .
Eaton had previously struggled with depression and had Thanksgiving with his family just days earlier, his mother told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview. “Jason has had a lot of struggles in his life but he is such a kind and loving person,” Mary Reed, his mother, said on Monday. “I am just shocked by the whole thing.” . . .

(This phrase — “struggled with depression” — could be used to describe tens of millions of Americans who never opened fire on three strangers for no discernible reason.)

Eaton’s resume states that he went to the University of Idaho for a bachelor’s in general studies in 2001, where he focused on natural resource ecology and conservation biology but was seven credits short of graduating. He also got a graduate certification at the University of Idaho in environmental education, which is pending his undergraduate completion, as well as a pro-professional forestry degree at Paul Smith’s College, according to the document. . . .

(“Environmental education”? Hmmm.)

According to NBC, Eaton appears to have a YouTube account that has playlists with videos that include “Expose Fauci,” long COVID, economics, and how to use brain crystals for “psychic powers.” An Instagram account that appears to belong to him also shows him on a farm and cooking.
In an X account that appeared to belong to Eaton, he describes himself as a “radical citizen…patrolling demockracy and crapitalism for oathcreepers.” A 2022 archived version of that same account, which contains the same photo, has a more subdued bio that describes him as a Vermont dad and part-time farmer. The archived X account also provides a link to a Substack, with the “wandering ramblings of a reformed broker on the ADHD/ASD spectrum.” . . .

(The hints of kookiness begin to proliferate.)

Reed said Eaton had previously suffered from depression and other mental health issues but had been “in such a good mood” when she saw him on Thanksgiving.
She said her son, who has bounced around different jobs and previously was an “assistant to a financial officer.” . . .
On Thanksgiving, Reed said, Eaton was “totally normal” and the family had a great holiday together. It was not immediately clear whether Eaton owned a gun. “It was the best Thanksgiving we had in years,” Eaton’s mother said. “We were all together.”
During the family dinner, Reed said that Eaton did not mention the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. She added, however, that her son is a “very religious person” who connects with different religious figures and often reads the Bible.
“He, like all of us, thinks the world is a mess,” Reed said. “He is a spiritual person.”

Yeah, not much in the way of a specific motive there, but you get the idea that Eaton led a rather aimless and unsuccessful life — leaving college just seven credits shy of a diploma — and had some distinctly weird ideas bouncing around in his head (“other mental health issues”). As much as the media might want to depict Eaton as a “right-wing extremist,” his biography doesn’t lend itself to such a narrative. Unless and until further evidence sheds more light on Eaton’s motive, then, his crime doesn’t help the media’s pin-the-tail-on-the-Republicans game.

Have I mentioned lately that Crazy People Are Dangerous?



 

Category: Crime, Vermont
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