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MARCH 20,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE – FROM FOX:   EXCLUSIVE: Fox News has learned from a senior CBP source that a plan is under consideration for Border Patrol Agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV) to begin releasing illegal border crossers who claim asylum without issuing a Notice to Appear (NTA) - meaning they will depart custody without a court date.  Such a decision would be unprecedented if enacted and would place the responsibility of seeking an asylum hearing on the migrants through Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or legal assistance.  The source says the reasoning for the decision is that the situation has "become so dire that BP [Border Patrol] has no choice but to release people nearly immediately after apprehension because there is no space to hold people even to do necessary NTA paperwork."  The process of issuing each migrant an NTA can take hours per individual or family. This would not apply to unaccompanied minors.  The RGV is ground zero for the surge in border crossings and is more than 700% overcapacity.  When migrants are released in the RGV, Border Patrol usually coordinates it with Sister Norma Pimentel and her Catholic Humanitarian Respite Center. Pimentel tells Fox News that she is aware and is "coordinating her response."  The controversial move allegedly on the table comes as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working to open another facility for unaccompanied child migrants in Pecos,Texas, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) announced Saturday.  This administration has already become a national disgrace.  In some other countries, a prime minister would quickly lose a vote of confidence and be ejected from office.

MAJOR ANALYST ROASTS PRESS ON ATLANTA KILLINGS – FROM FOX:    Andrew Sullivan lambasted the media for their coverage of the recent deadly Atlanta-area shootings for pushing a "narrative" about the violence being driven by anti-Asian bigotry despite the lack of evidence that proves that it was a hate crime.  Much of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party have condemned racism against Asian-Americans after it was reported that six of the eight victims who died in a trio of massage parlors were of Asian descent even though an ongoing investigation has yet to determine racism as a motive.  In a piece published in his "Weekly Dish" Substack, Sullivan sounded the alarm on how "narratives" are replacing the news with the media's "grotesquely distorted" coverage of the shootings.  "This story’s coverage is proof, it seems to me, that American journalists have officially abandoned the habit of attempting any kind of 'objectivity' in reporting these stories," Sullivan wrote. "We are now in the enlightened social justice world of 'moral clarity' and 'narrative-shaping.'"  "Here’s the truth: We don’t yet know why this man did these horrible things... That’s why we have thorough investigations and trials in America," Sullivan explained. "We only have one solid piece of information as to motive, which is the confession by the mass killer to law enforcement: that he was a religious fundamentalist who was determined to live up to chastity and repeatedly failed, as is often the case. Like the 9/11 bombers or the mass murderer at the Pulse nightclub, he took out his angst on the source of what he saw as his temptation, and committed mass murder."  We write often about rushing to judgment.  This is one of the worst cases I've seen.  Some journalists went so far as to blame the killings on President Trump because he dared call the pandemic the "China virus," somewhat like the "Spanish Flu."  Surveys show that most of the public is fed up with the press, but the press, in its self-proclaimed wonderfulness, apparently doesn't care.

March 20, 2021       Permalink

A GOOD OMEN? – at 9:08 P.M. ET:  We have, as we've reported, seen some signs of a growing resistance to cancel culture, and the totalitarian mentality that goes with it.  It will be a long fight, with powerful, corrupt forces fighting against us.  But an incident in Idaho gives us some hope.  From College Fix: 

Amid rumors of a video that shows a student being targeted during a diversity lesson at Boise State University, administrators have abruptly suspended all of the school’s general education classes called “University Foundations 200: Foundations of Ethics and Diversity.”

“We have been made aware of a series of concerns, culminating in allegations that a student or students have been humiliated and degraded in class on our campus for their beliefs and values,” states a March 16 memo from President Marlene Tromp to the campus community.

“This is never acceptable; it is not what Boise State stands for; and we will not tolerate this behavior,” Tromp stated. “…Given the weight of cumulative concerns, we have determined that, effective immediately, we must suspend UF 200.”

She goes on to note that academic leadership will determine next steps “to ensure that everyone is still able to complete the course.”

Tromp’s decision came around the same time as Idaho lawmakers passed a state education budget that takes away about $409,000 from Boise State University because of its social justice curriculum, Idaho Ed News reports.

Tromp’s memo does not mention the alleged video. Boise State’s spokesperson Mike Sharp told The College Fix on Friday “we have not seen any video of the alleged incident.”

However, the Idaho Freedom Foundation has published screenshots of since-deleted tweets from a BSU assistant professor of English who stated that a “student in a university foundations class taped a zoom discussion on white privilege, in which apparently a white student was made to feel uncomfortable, and sent the video to ID state legislature, who are ‘enraged.’ BSU suspended all UF 200 classes mid semester as a result.”

COMMENT:  As the Moon guy said, one small step for a man.  A great decision by a university to pull some of these "social justice" classes for review.  Don't expect the same thing soon from the more fashionable colleges of the East Coast.  But signs of resistance are appearing.

March 20, 2021       Permalink

MARCH 19,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

BEGGING, HOW SAD – FROM FOX BUSINESS:  Sen. Chuck Schumer personally pleaded with JetBlue’s boss not to shrink the budget airline’s Big Apple workforce as it weighs shipping jobs to Florida, The Post has learned.  The senior New York senator said he made his case on a phone call with JetBlue Chief Executive Robin Hayes Wednesday evening — a day after The Post exclusively reported that the carrier was considering whether to move some jobs from its Long Island City headquarters to existing offices in the Sunshine State.  On Thursday, Schumer told The Post he wanted to remind Hayes that “JetBlue’s roots and its future are here in New York.” He also pointed out the billions of dollars in federal aid that airlines like it have received during the coronavirus crisis.  “With the critical pandemic relief dollars we just delivered on to help save airlines like JetBlue, and the thousands and thousands of New Yorkers they already employ, the airline should actually clear the runway to grow here, not recede,” the Democratic Senate majority leader told The Post in a Thursday statement.  Chucky boy better deliver.  He's up for re-election next year and there's a chance he may be primaried by AOC or another member of the woke crowd.  His argument is that, as Senate majority leader, he has clout that no new senator would have.  If he can't get corporations like Jet Blue to stay in New York, the clout argument goes out the window, and so might his job.

OUT OF HER MIND – FROM TRENDING POLITICS:   During a speech on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the illegal immigrants brought by their parents are the “true and legitimate heirs of our founders.” With that logic, you could make the argument that anyone in the world that comes to the United States with absolutely no ancestors in this country is also an heir of the founding fathers. Pelosi is basically making the case that everyone on the planet is entitled to what the ancestors of many American citizens bled and died for.  Pelosi made her claims as the Democrats prepared to vote through an amnesty for at least three million migrants. The amnesty would include many illegals who were brought into the United States as children by their parents.  “This legislation is protecting 'dreamers,' and TPS [Temporary Protected Status] and DED [Deferred Enforced Departure] recipients, honors the truth that immigrants are the constant reinvigoration of our country,” she began.  “When they come here with their hopes and dreams and aspirations, these parents bringing their children, their hopes and dreams and aspirations for a better future for their children, that courage, that determination, those aspirations, are American traits, and they all make America more American, with all of that,” Pelosi continued.  You can do all that good stuff without breaking the law, Nan.  That's the big issue here.  And leave the founders out of it.

March 19, 2021       Permalink

YOU DON'T SEE THIS TOO OFTEN, BUT I'M GLAD WE'RE SEEING IT – AT 11:45 P.M. ET:  A veteran federal judge properly whacks two powerful newspapers.  From Fox: 

A federal appeals court judge has offered a blistering dissent in an obscure libel case that takes the measure of the mainstream media's bias.

The case centers on a 2018 report from Global Witness Publishing that accused Liberian government officials Christiana Tah and Randolph McClain of accepting bribes from Exxon. Tah and McClain sued Global Witness alleging defamation and their claims were dismissed in Friday's ruling.

However, in the course of his partial dissent, D.C. Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman went on an unprecedented written tirade against the press, in which he argued that the Supreme Court should revisit the landmark 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan ruling that granted the media broad First Amendment protections from being sued by public officials.

"The increased power of the press is so dangerous today because we are very close to one-party control of these institutions," said Silberman, who was nominated to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan and has been a senior judge on the D.C. Circuit Court since 2000.

"Although the bias against the Republican Party—not just controversial individuals—is rather shocking today, this is not new; it is a long-term, secular trend going back at least to the ’70s," Silberman wrote. "Two of the three most influential papers (at least historically), The New York Times and The Washington Post, are virtually Democratic Party broadsheets. And the news section of The Wall Street Journal leans in the same direction. The orientation of these three papers is followed by The Associated Press and most large papers across the country (such as the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Boston Globe). Nearly all television—network and cable—is a Democratic Party trumpet. Even the government-supported National Public Radio follows along."

He accused Silicon Valley of filtering news "in ways favorable to the Democratic Party" and fueling censorship, citing the suppression of the New York Post's bombshell reporting on Hunter Biden in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election.

"It is well-accepted that viewpoint discrimination 'raises the specter that the Government may effectively drive certain ideas or viewpoints from the marketplace,'" Silberman said. "But ideological homogeneity in the media—or in the channels of information distribution—risks repressing certain ideas from the public consciousness just as surely as if access were restricted by the government."

Silberman also sounded the alarm about the "serious efforts to muzzle" outlets like Fox News that aren't under "Democratic Party ideological control."

"It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news. It is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy," the judge continued. "It may even give rise to countervailing extremism.

"The First Amendment guarantees a free press to foster a vibrant trade in ideas. But a biased press can distort the marketplace. And when the media has proven its willingness—if not eagerness—to so distort, it is a profound mistake to stand by unjustified legal rules that serve only to enhance the press’s power."

COMMENT:  I wonder if the judge will find tacks on his judicial chair.  I can't imagine this broadside making him popular in his federal courthouse. 

Everything he says, though, is true.  If we fail as a nation, and go into a long tunnel of darkness, historians in the future will blame the collapse of a truly free and independent press.  And what can we do about that?  I doubt if the current news organizations can be reformed.  They just keep hiring the same kind of people over and over.  Only new, well-financed news organizations can counter the influence of today's twisted press, and there is some hope that we will see at least some attempts to launch such organizations in coming years.

March 19, 2021       Permalink