It was almost 80 last night at Angel Stadium, and humid!
Here's Amber Lee with the forecast from Monday:
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Another Great Day Spoiled by Huston Street (VIDEO)
I took my family to Anaheim Stadium last night to see the Red Sox at the Angels.
It was great. Albert Pujols had the clutch home run and the Angels hung on to win 5-2.
But it wasn't so great today. I like Huston Street a lot (or I used to like him), but he's had so many blown saves this year it's just out of control. He's always been a "finger-biting" closer, but I just can't watch him anymore. The Angels were up 3-0 in the ninth and Street walked one and gave up a base hit. He struck out the next two, then Mookie Betts drove in a run on an RBI single. Then Dustin Pedroia just smashed a bomb over the center-field fence. Not to be outdone, Xander Bogaerts came up and smashed another homer to make it 5-3. It was totally demoralizing.
Can the Angels just get another closer, please?
It was great. Albert Pujols had the clutch home run and the Angels hung on to win 5-2.
But it wasn't so great today. I like Huston Street a lot (or I used to like him), but he's had so many blown saves this year it's just out of control. He's always been a "finger-biting" closer, but I just can't watch him anymore. The Angels were up 3-0 in the ninth and Street walked one and gave up a base hit. He struck out the next two, then Mookie Betts drove in a run on an RBI single. Then Dustin Pedroia just smashed a bomb over the center-field fence. Not to be outdone, Xander Bogaerts came up and smashed another homer to make it 5-3. It was totally demoralizing.
Can the Angels just get another closer, please?
.@Angels, for the trading deadline, please, please offload #HustonStreet! Take a loss on the fucker. Anything. Sheesh. #Angels #RedSox
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 31, 2016
Another great day for Tyler Skaggs is spoiled by Huston Street. Angels lose 5-3. https://t.co/bSvGXiNqdF
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) July 31, 2016
Lady Gaga Denim Ensemble
She looks great!
At London's Daily Mail, "Lady Gaga reveals her slender figure in denim two-piece ensemble as she hits the studio after split from fiancé Taylor Kinney."
At London's Daily Mail, "Lady Gaga reveals her slender figure in denim two-piece ensemble as she hits the studio after split from fiancé Taylor Kinney."
Sunday Cartoons
At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."
Also, at Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup..."
Cartoon Credit: A.F. Branco, "Hillary's Convention Speech."
Also, at Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup..."
Cartoon Credit: A.F. Branco, "Hillary's Convention Speech."
Rania Khalek Interviews Seattle Socialist Kshama Sawant (VIDEO)
Lots of thoughts watching this interview.
For one thing, both of these women talk a freakin' mile a minute! It's kind of funny, especially since speaking that fast isn't necessary at all in a 15-minute interview for alternative media. Just slow down people, heh.
More substantially, though, would this lady Sawant, who's an out-and-out Marxist (I've blogged about her here), have supported Bernie Sanders as the Democrat Party nominee had he won the primaries? She's railing and railing against the two-party corporate hegemony of the Democrats and the Republicans, who represent the "ruling class," but had Sanders become the Democrat standard-bearer would that ideological principle have gone out the window at the moment of political opportunity? I mean, as it is Hillary's practically endorsing all the things Sawant's taking about --- single-payer health care, open-borders amnesty, anti-police "brutality" legislation, and what not. Never mind that Hillary's indeed beholden to Wall Street (corporate power is more and more leftist power these days, a sort of progressive corporatism). No, I expect it's not so much an "independent party" that Sawant all about. She wants a national political party to embrace the label of socialism unapologetically. The Democrats are almost there, actually. Their only roadblock to coming out full Marxist is the American people. Leftists still have to win elections. And when you start to over to flyover country the interests of the progressive urban elites are about as far away as you can get.
It's going to be interesting going forward, that's for sure. If Hillary wins Democrats will argue that Obama's election in '08 was the beginning of a long-term realignment founded on the coalition of transformation (minorities, younger people, and coastal elites). And she'll be emboldened to shed the mask of moderation and fully embrace the Alinskyite Marxism that's her true ideological pedigree.
More on this stuff throughout the campaign. As I always say, this elections about genuinely preserving the American republic. If the Democrats win, America's really going to see that fundamental transformation Obama promised. Hillary's going to be Obama's third term.
In any case, here's the interview:
For one thing, both of these women talk a freakin' mile a minute! It's kind of funny, especially since speaking that fast isn't necessary at all in a 15-minute interview for alternative media. Just slow down people, heh.
More substantially, though, would this lady Sawant, who's an out-and-out Marxist (I've blogged about her here), have supported Bernie Sanders as the Democrat Party nominee had he won the primaries? She's railing and railing against the two-party corporate hegemony of the Democrats and the Republicans, who represent the "ruling class," but had Sanders become the Democrat standard-bearer would that ideological principle have gone out the window at the moment of political opportunity? I mean, as it is Hillary's practically endorsing all the things Sawant's taking about --- single-payer health care, open-borders amnesty, anti-police "brutality" legislation, and what not. Never mind that Hillary's indeed beholden to Wall Street (corporate power is more and more leftist power these days, a sort of progressive corporatism). No, I expect it's not so much an "independent party" that Sawant all about. She wants a national political party to embrace the label of socialism unapologetically. The Democrats are almost there, actually. Their only roadblock to coming out full Marxist is the American people. Leftists still have to win elections. And when you start to over to flyover country the interests of the progressive urban elites are about as far away as you can get.
It's going to be interesting going forward, that's for sure. If Hillary wins Democrats will argue that Obama's election in '08 was the beginning of a long-term realignment founded on the coalition of transformation (minorities, younger people, and coastal elites). And she'll be emboldened to shed the mask of moderation and fully embrace the Alinskyite Marxism that's her true ideological pedigree.
More on this stuff throughout the campaign. As I always say, this elections about genuinely preserving the American republic. If the Democrats win, America's really going to see that fundamental transformation Obama promised. Hillary's going to be Obama's third term.
In any case, here's the interview:
.@RaniaKhalek interviewed socialist @CmKshama Sawant: Voting For the Lesser Evil Is What Brought Us Trumphttps://t.co/R3uXXChDcs
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) July 31, 2016
Switzerland Sees Gun Sales Soar
This one's get a lot of retweets.
Switzerland, land of peace, sees gun sales soar. That's not the narrative! https://t.co/CeYg7h0W1t @Instapundit @DLoesch
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 30, 2016
This is the Most Beautiful Thing
That's two babies.
A fawn and a toddler.
So beautiful. I could almost cry looking at that, considering everything else going on.
A fawn and a toddler.
So beautiful. I could almost cry looking at that, considering everything else going on.
This kid saw a deer in the garden and didn't think twice to approach it.. pic.twitter.com/CdiQA2MpnT
— M Barak Cherguia (@CherguiaMbark) July 31, 2016
Now What's the Purpose for This?
Isn't there some last boundary of decency for this campaign?
Sheesh.
The New York Post goes with the full nudes of Donald Trump's wife Melania. But why? They need the clicks?
Here's the image of the cover photo on Twitter.
And at Memeorandum, "Donald Trump thinks his wife will be a model first lady — and here's the proof."
Sheesh.
The New York Post goes with the full nudes of Donald Trump's wife Melania. But why? They need the clicks?
Here's the image of the cover photo on Twitter.
And at Memeorandum, "Donald Trump thinks his wife will be a model first lady — and here's the proof."
James E. Campbell, Polarized [BUMPED]
This is a very interesting topic right now.
See James Campbell's new book, out this week, Polarized: Making Sense of a Divided America.
See James Campbell's new book, out this week, Polarized: Making Sense of a Divided America.
Democrats Look to Reclaim Patriotism
Good luck with that.
The Dems are, and will always be, the hate-America party of the hate-America left.
From Cathleen Decker, at LAT, "Here's how Democrats are trying to reclaim patriotism from Republicans — and how Trump helps":
The Dems are, and will always be, the hate-America party of the hate-America left.
From Cathleen Decker, at LAT, "Here's how Democrats are trying to reclaim patriotism from Republicans — and how Trump helps":
The liberal media hacks are going to find that middle America doesn't buy the Democrats' new/found love for the military
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) July 30, 2016
A sea of waving flags, standing ovations for generals and admirals and praise for police officers and President Reagan made last week’s nominating convention here unlike any Democratic conclave in recent memory.More.
In tone and content, whole stretches resembled a typical Republican convention — for good reason. The convention represented an effort by Hillary Clinton and fellow Democrats to reclaim ground lost as far back as the 1960s by taking advantage of Donald Trump’s idiosyncratic candidacy.
Their pitch was less issue-oriented than cultural — an attempt by Democrats to portray themselves as a haven for voters shaken by terrorism at home and abroad.
The attempt to transcend traditional differences between Republicans and Democrats has been made easier by Trump, who has scorned longtime GOP imagery and policy stances. Democrats have accused him of harboring an authoritarianism that runs counter to American values.
“The country is trying to find a balance and equilibrium,” said Democratic pollster Peter Hart. Rather than dividing along the “hawk and dove” divisions of earlier decades, he said, Democrats are hoping to cast the election as “stability versus flailing around.”
“The show that they put on said, ‘This isn’t your old Democratic Party; this is a Democratic Party you can be comfortable in in 2016,’” he said.
The message was aimed at a wide range of voters who have leaned toward or voted wholly with Republicans in recent elections: married women, white women in particular, worried about national security; and both blue-collar and college-educated men.
Some of them turned away from Democrats as far back as the protesting days of the Vietnam era; others moved right in the 1980s either due to Reagan’s mix of sunny toughness or the Democratic party’s lean to the left; still more shifted to the GOP, at least for a time, after Sept. 11, 2001.
The Philadelphia emphasis on patriotic, sometimes martial, imagery came at a cost: Some convention speakers drew vocal objections from antiwar delegates on the party’s left.
Perhaps more important, Democrats spent relatively little time talking about the economy, which is likely to be a deciding issue in the fall. Clinton began emphasizing that issue this weekend on a bus tour of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
But the absence of a full-throated economic pitch from Clinton wasn’t as harmful as it might have been, because Republicans, too, spent little time at their convention talking dollars and cents.
The GOP convention in Cleveland, one week before the Democratic gathering, focused largely on the nominee himself. To the extent there were policy messages, some were at odds with Trump’s own positions. And nearly everything was overshadowed by harshly anti-Clinton rhetoric that focused more on the past, such as the extent of her responsibility for the attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012, than on the feasibility of her plans for the economy.
The turf being played on by Democrats melds patriotism and appreciation for those in public service with regalia that wraps all of it together for television viewers...
Sabine Jemeljanova Enjoys Ice Cream
She's so beautiful.
More here.Sabine steps out in her underwear to enjoy the warm weather https://t.co/xtleT5OEx5 pic.twitter.com/MwVdihoBoM— Page 3 (@Page3) July 25, 2016
Socialism Sucks
It does.
Not Katie Pavlich though, heh.
Not Katie Pavlich though, heh.
Who will pay for all of the "free" stuff? You will, kids. #DNCinPHL pic.twitter.com/smjXsi1O9U
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 26, 2016
'Suicide Before Clinton'
Some of those Sanders supporters are pretty hardcore, heh.
"Suicide before Clinton" this protester's sign reads. #DemsInPhilly #DNCinPHL #DemConvention pic.twitter.com/yEk7oLiO4K
— Natalie DiBlasio (@ndiblasio) July 29, 2016
Bikini-Clad Policewoman in Sweden Takes Down Thief While Sunbathing in Stockholm
Heh.
That lady's buffed!
At London's Daily Mail, "Bikini-clad policewoman in Sweden takes down and arrests unlucky pickpocket."
That lady's buffed!
At London's Daily Mail, "Bikini-clad policewoman in Sweden takes down and arrests unlucky pickpocket."
Tech-Sector Titans Dominate Corporate Market Capitilization Rankings
And where are all those progs protesting against Apple, Facebook, and Google?
You know, the evil "corporations" you always hear the left railing about in their attacks on "capitalism."
At USA Today:
You know, the evil "corporations" you always hear the left railing about in their attacks on "capitalism."
At USA Today:
With moves by $AMZN and $FB, top 5 U.S. companies based on market cap are all in tech https://t.co/vTd75otLRo pic.twitter.com/r1YOOC3lkI
— USA TODAY Tech (@usatodaytech) July 29, 2016
Not Much of a Bounce for Hillary Clinton
At Instapundit, "NOT MUCH OF A BOUNCE FOR HILLARY, according to the USC Dornsife/LA Times tracking poll."
Meanwhile, lots of folks on Twitter making hash out of this, "WATCH: Bravo poll shocks Andy Cohen — Trump 65%, Clinton 35%." The only problem? It's a self-selected television poll, not a random sample or a rolling Internet panel.
Interesting, nevertheless.
Meanwhile, lots of folks on Twitter making hash out of this, "WATCH: Bravo poll shocks Andy Cohen — Trump 65%, Clinton 35%." The only problem? It's a self-selected television poll, not a random sample or a rolling Internet panel.
Interesting, nevertheless.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
America's First Major Socialist Party Debuts in Philadelphia
Heh.
At Instapundit, "FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: America’s First Major Socialist Party Debuts in Philadelphia."
And from Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine, "Welcome to the Communist Party, U.S.A.":
At Instapundit, "FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: America’s First Major Socialist Party Debuts in Philadelphia."
And from Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine, "Welcome to the Communist Party, U.S.A.":
Wearing a white pantsuit, Hillary Clinton plodded out on stage to accept the nomination that she had schemed, plotted, lied, cheated, rigged and eventually fixed a series of elections to obtain.Keep reading.
Then she claimed that she was accepting the nomination of a race she had rigged with “humility”.
Humility is not the first word that comes to mind when thinking of Hillary Clinton. It is not even the last word. It is not in the Hillary dictionary at all. But this convention was a desperate effort to humanize Hillary. Everyone, including her philandering husband and dilettante daughter, down to assorted people she had met at one point, were brought up on stage to testify that she really is a very nice person.
This wasn’t a convention. It was a series of character witnesses for a woman with no character. It was an extensive apology for the Left’s radical agenda cloaked in fake patriotism and celebrity adulation.
Sinclair Lewis famously said, "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross". More accurately, when Communism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. That’s what the Democratic National Convention was.
This night presented Hillary Clinton as all things to all people. She was a passionate fighter who found plenty of time to spend with her family. She is for cops and for cop-killers. She likes the Founding Fathers and political correctness. She wants Democrats to be the party of working people and of elitist government technocrats. And, most especially, she cares about people like you.
The convention, like everything about Hillary, was awkward and insincere.
There was Bernie glaring into the camera just as Hillary was thanking him for rallying a bunch of young voters whom she hoped to exploit. There was Chelsea Clinton reminding everyone that the Clintons are a dynasty and that everyone in it gets a job because of their last name, right before introducing her mother whose only real qualification for her belated entry into politics was her last name. And there was Jennifer Granholm who got an opportunity to have an incoherent public meltdown at the convention.
There’s the mandatory video explaining how Hillary Clinton personally hunted down Osama bin Laden while sitting in a chair. “She’s carrying the hope and the rage of an entire nation,” Morgan Freeman intones. Coming in November 2016. And Hillary Clinton will be played by Meryl Streep. Donald Trump is compared to Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s rather obvious even to the handful of Hillary supporters that their candidate fits the Ratched role much better than Trump does.
The audience was told incessantly that Hillary Clinton loves small children. Once would have been enough. Twice would have been enough. By the millionth repetition, it seems more like Hillary is the witch trying to lure children into her gingerbread house.
Helping out with that task were a continuing parade of young female celebrities. If you thought that Elizabeth Banks and Lena Dunham were awkward, just wait for Katy Perry and Chloe Moretz urging their cohort to go out there and vote for Hillary right after a bunch of ex-military people claim that the woman who helped ISIS take over two countries and the Muslim Brotherhood even more countries than that will be good for national security.
General John Allen, formerly of the Marine Corps, currently employed by Qatar’s pet Brookings think tank, insisted that only Hillary Clinton could defeat ISIS. That’s like saying that only Mrs. O’Leary’s cow could put out the Great Chicago Fire which she started. Furthermore Qatar played a major role in the expansion of Islamic terrorism that helped culminate in the current crisis.
There were treasonous Republicans, confused celebrities and a weirdly lifelike Nancy Pelosi. There was yet another New York politician likely to be indicted, Andy Cuomo, trying much too hard. But topping them all was Hillary Clinton who was in her manic mode, trying too hard to be human, and failing.
Eyes wide, looking suspiciously from side to side, shrilly barking lines into the microphone that stripped them of their emotional context, Hillary delivered both sides of her personality in one speech.
And both sides of her agenda.
The radical agenda of the Left was clumsily cloaked in references to the Founding Fathers. The same group of people whose names the Left want to see ground into the dirt. Hillary’s call for collectivism, the insistence that none of us can do anything as individuals, was dressed up in E Pluribus Unum and the Founding Fathers.
Sinclair Lewis was almost right. When Communism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag...
Deal of the Day: ZapMaster LED Lightbulb and Bug Zapper
This is great!
At Amazon, ZapMaster ZM400 2 in 1 LED Lightbulb and Bug Zapper, White (4 Pack).
Also, Save on Select Pocket and Camping Knives.
More, KIND Bars, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, Gluten Free, 1.4 Ounce Bars, 12 Count.
And, Under Armour Storm Hustle II Backpack.
Plus, School Supply Lists.
And from Fredrik Logevall, Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam.
Guenter Lewy, America in Vietnam.
Still more, from Michael Lind, Vietnam: The Necessary War: A Reinterpretation of America's Most Disastrous Military Conflict.
BONUS: Melvyn Leffler, A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War.
At Amazon, ZapMaster ZM400 2 in 1 LED Lightbulb and Bug Zapper, White (4 Pack).
Also, Save on Select Pocket and Camping Knives.
More, KIND Bars, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, Gluten Free, 1.4 Ounce Bars, 12 Count.
And, Under Armour Storm Hustle II Backpack.
Plus, School Supply Lists.
And from Fredrik Logevall, Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam.
Guenter Lewy, America in Vietnam.
Still more, from Michael Lind, Vietnam: The Necessary War: A Reinterpretation of America's Most Disastrous Military Conflict.
BONUS: Melvyn Leffler, A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War.
Polarization and Accumulated Hatreds
Just posted, at Althouse:
This election's all about accumulated hatreds. It's tribal polarization all the way, and it's just the beginning! If Trump wins it'll probably just be a finger in the dike of the coming wave of Third World brown hordes. Hunker down people. Get your survival gear. Extreme federalization of loyalties is likely, and that's the peaceful outcome. Civil war is the other extreme, and it's not too far-fetched of a possibility. Shoot, just note the Democrat convention for your narrative justification. Michelle Obama's talking about slaves building the White House. I thought O's election was supposed to transcend race. We were going to be one America, not divided by hatred or ideology. Well, not so much, it turns out.
One Way to Help Native Americans: Property Rights
From Naomi Schaefer Riley, at the Atlantic.
I'm almost done with her new book, The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians.
It's great!
I'm almost done with her new book, The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians.
It's great!
Will Democrats Welcome Less Educated White Working-Class Voters?
No.
Democrats hate the white working-class, especially white working-class men in flyover country. That demographic is literally a despised enemy fit to be shot.
I didn't blog it at the time, for some reason, but this description of leftist hatred of the white working-class is perfect, at the New Yorker, "How Donald Trump is Winning Over the White Working Class":
So, no. Democrats aren't going to win over bedrock white working-class voters. They're not even winning over white women with no college education, according to recent polls.
The question remains whether building a winning presidential coalition around this demographic will be enough to win in November. And even if Trump wins, with the coming tsunami of brown-power demographic change, to say nothing of the rising youth vote of transformation, it's doubtful Republicans would be able to hold on to power. In the back of my mind I feel we're on the verge of a long-lasting party realignment toward the Democrats, which would see far-left politics and ideology entrenched at the national level for decades. A Trump victory in November might simply postpone that inevitability. If change is too rapid, regardless of inevitability, we'll continue to have intense ideological and demographic divisions in the years ahead.
In any case, here's Ronald Brownstein, at the Atlantic, "Does the Diverse Democratic Party Have Room for the White Working-Class?":
As note above a the New Yorker piece, it's clear leftists don't care about white working-class voters, and I expect the bedrock white turnout for Trump to be even stronger than the current consensus suggests. Indeed, if that CNN poll Brownstein cites is a reliable indicator, I'd argue Trump will be the prohibitive favorite in November.
Still, some of the polls are all over the place, and it's especially important to take a look at the survey methodology. There's been way too much variability in the numbers, with Trump up by high-single digits in one poll to the exact reverse in another (see Reuters' terrible new poll, for example).
I'll have more on this, as always.
Previously, "Two Party Conventions Showcase America's Stark Political Polarization."
Democrats hate the white working-class, especially white working-class men in flyover country. That demographic is literally a despised enemy fit to be shot.
I didn't blog it at the time, for some reason, but this description of leftist hatred of the white working-class is perfect, at the New Yorker, "How Donald Trump is Winning Over the White Working Class":
Identity politics, of a different brand from Trump’s, is also gaining strength among progressives. In some cases, it comes with an aversion toward, even contempt for, their fellow-Americans who are white and sinking. Abstract sympathy with the working class as an economic entity is easy, but the feeling can vanish on contact with actual members of the group, who often arrive with disturbing beliefs and powerful resentments—who might not sound or look like people urban progressives want to know. White male privilege remains alive in America, but the phrase would seem odd, if not infuriating, to a sixty-year-old man working as a Walmart greeter in southern Ohio. The growing strain of identity politics on the left is pushing working-class whites, chastised for various types of bigotry (and sometimes justifiably), all the more decisively toward Trump.See that? Chastised for bigotry, sometimes justifiably!
So, no. Democrats aren't going to win over bedrock white working-class voters. They're not even winning over white women with no college education, according to recent polls.
The question remains whether building a winning presidential coalition around this demographic will be enough to win in November. And even if Trump wins, with the coming tsunami of brown-power demographic change, to say nothing of the rising youth vote of transformation, it's doubtful Republicans would be able to hold on to power. In the back of my mind I feel we're on the verge of a long-lasting party realignment toward the Democrats, which would see far-left politics and ideology entrenched at the national level for decades. A Trump victory in November might simply postpone that inevitability. If change is too rapid, regardless of inevitability, we'll continue to have intense ideological and demographic divisions in the years ahead.
In any case, here's Ronald Brownstein, at the Atlantic, "Does the Diverse Democratic Party Have Room for the White Working-Class?":
The evocative sound of barriers falling was the signal note during the Democratic National Convention’s first two nights.More.
First Lady Michelle Obama’s riveting Monday-night speech condensed the centuries of racial pain and progress bound up in her husband’s two victories into a single indelible phrase: “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.” One night later, Hillary Clinton shattered another ceiling when she became the first major-party female presidential nominee.
The delegates have displayed understandable pride in these twin social milestones. But there is also an undercurrent of concern that something old is being lost in this celebration of the new. The fear among some is that this polychromatic Democratic Party, open to all races, both genders, all sexual orientations, welcoming to immigrants, and championing diversity, may not have preserved enough room for the working-class white voters who anchored the party from Andrew Jackson through Lyndon Johnson.
Those voters haven’t been the party’s center for years: except for Bill Clinton in 1996, no Democrat has won more than 40 percent of white voters without a college education since 1980, according to media exit polls. On a national basis, Democrats have largely replaced them with increased support from Millennials, minorities, and college-educated whites—while running just enough above their national numbers among working-class whites in the key Midwestern battlegrounds to retain the advantage in those pivotal states.
Even so, many in the party are incredulous that so many blue-collar whites are flocking to Donald Trump, a candidate Democrats view as uniquely divisive and unqualified. The post-Republican National Convention polls released on Monday poked directly at that anxiety. Trump held big leads among non-college whites in the surveys released by both CBS (23 percentage points) and CNN/ORC (fully 39 percentage points). The CNN poll had Trump attracting not only 69 percent of non-college white men but 64 percent of white women without college degrees—and recording most of his convention gains among the latter.
Both surveys showed Clinton holding preponderant leads among minority voters and running much better than Democrats usually do among college-educated whites. Those strengths could allow her to survive a Trump majority among working-class whites. But not any majority: If Trump’s advantage among blue-collar whites grows too large, Clinton would still struggle to overcome it with other voters.
Many Democrats are also uncomfortable with the thought of becoming a party that largely concedes the white working-class to rely on white voters mostly above the median income, and non-white voters mostly below it. (If nothing else, that’s not a plausible strategy for controlling Congress, even if it works at the presidential level.) Reduced reliance on working-class whites since the 1990s has freed Democrats to pursue a more consistently liberal cultural agenda. But anyone watching this convention’s first nights might easily view social inclusion, not economic opportunity, as the party’s core priority. “One of the challenges for Democrats is talking about diversity, talking about gender in a way that doesn’t put people on the defensive, [and] make them feel like they are being … accused of being bigoted,” says Democratic pollster Margie Omero.
The convention has exposed the inconvenient truth that Democrats no longer have many voices that intrinsically resonate in white working-class communities. Monday night’s opening speeches were often eloquent and compelling. But at one point, Cory Booker (Stanford, Yale Law School) gave way to Michelle Obama (Princeton, Harvard Law School), who was followed by former Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren. Each overcame significant barriers and showed great tenacity to scale those heights; but all were winners in the information-age meritocracy...
As note above a the New Yorker piece, it's clear leftists don't care about white working-class voters, and I expect the bedrock white turnout for Trump to be even stronger than the current consensus suggests. Indeed, if that CNN poll Brownstein cites is a reliable indicator, I'd argue Trump will be the prohibitive favorite in November.
Still, some of the polls are all over the place, and it's especially important to take a look at the survey methodology. There's been way too much variability in the numbers, with Trump up by high-single digits in one poll to the exact reverse in another (see Reuters' terrible new poll, for example).
I'll have more on this, as always.
Previously, "Two Party Conventions Showcase America's Stark Political Polarization."
Yuval Levin, The Fractured Republic [BUMPED]
Commentary's got a symposium on Yuval Levin's new book, The Fractured Republic.
Without even mentioning Donald Trump, Levin's apparently nailed the angst that's driving the hardcore populist uprising in the electorate.
At Amazon, Yuval Levin, The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism.
Without even mentioning Donald Trump, Levin's apparently nailed the angst that's driving the hardcore populist uprising in the electorate.
At Amazon, Yuval Levin, The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism.
Two Party Conventions Showcase America's Stark Political Polarization
This is good.
At the Los Angeles Times, "Two conventions, one vast gulf: Republicans and Democrats appear to be speaking to different countries":
At the Los Angeles Times, "Two conventions, one vast gulf: Republicans and Democrats appear to be speaking to different countries":
One night this week, the Democratic convention featured eight black women whose children had died in shootings or at the hands of police. A week earlier, Republicans repeatedly paid tribute to law enforcement.More.
In Philadelphia, the billionaire global warming activist Tom Steyer was ubiquitous. In Cleveland, Republicans put a spotlight on the plight of out-of-work miners and pledged to increase use of coal.
A speaker needing applause at a Democratic convention can always praise teachers. Republicans can reliably criticize public employee unions.
As the themes and tableaus of the parties’ conventions illustrated, a deep political gulf separates the country’s two major parties, their elected officials and their most reliable voters. And it is getting wider. Voters not only disagree on solutions to the nation’s ills, they hold starkly different views about what the problems are.
“Rarely in American history,” as Gov. Jerry Brown said here at the DNC, “have two parties diverged so profoundly.”
Both presidential nominees now face the question of whether either can bridge that divide — or whether they even want to try. Each entered the convention weeks with a strategic choice: Does the path toward victory involve reinforcing party loyalty in hopes of driving more on your side to vote? Or does winning require reaching across the tribal lines of American politics?
In Cleveland, Donald Trump placed a clear bet on the former path. Nearly every element of the Republican convention played to the anxieties and frustrations of the older white conservative voters who form the core of the GOP coalition.
His campaign strategists believe they can do better than the last two GOP nominees in motivating those voters to the polls. They’re also counting on Hillary Clinton’s unfavorable image driving down turnout among Democratic-leaning groups, particularly young people and minorities, who may not back her as readily as they did President Obama.
Clinton confronted a more complicated calculus.
Her party has proved the strength of its electoral coalition — winning the popular vote in five of the past six presidential elections. But its voters have grown frustrated at the gridlock that has resulted from a divided political system.
Moreover, Trump’s powerful appeal to the economic unease — and the racial resentments — of blue-collar whites has accelerated the trend of such voters identifying with the GOP. To make up for potential losses among them, Democrats need to increase their vote among suburban, college-educated voters who in the past have often sided with Republicans.
“We're trying to bridge that gap, to try to make an argument that the politics of division are dangerous for our country,” Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, said at a meeting with reporters sponsored by the Wall Street Journal.
The Democratic convention, culminating in Clinton’s speech, reflected that imperative. With speakers like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and repeated descriptions of Trump as a dangerously unsteady authoritarian, they sought to make moderate, college-educated Republicans and Republican-leaning independents comfortable with the idea of crossing the line to vote for a Democrat.
Creating such inroads, however, is a tricky task...
Friday, July 29, 2016
Americans Suffering the Weakest Economic Recovery of Post-World War II Era
Heh.
Historically, the state of the economy has been the number one variable predicting the electoral success of the president's party.
And things aren't looking good.
Make America Great Again! (Or grow again, heh.)
At WSJ, "U.S. GDP Grew a Disappointing 1.2% in Second Quarter."
And, "Seven Years Later, Recovery Remains the Weakest of the Post-World War II Era":
Historically, the state of the economy has been the number one variable predicting the electoral success of the president's party.
And things aren't looking good.
Make America Great Again! (Or grow again, heh.)
At WSJ, "U.S. GDP Grew a Disappointing 1.2% in Second Quarter."
And, "Seven Years Later, Recovery Remains the Weakest of the Post-World War II Era":
The current 7-year stretch of economic gains has yielded less growth than shorter cycles https://t.co/BzXYx89o9Q pic.twitter.com/pAGGevwOHH
— Eric Morath (@EricMorath) July 29, 2016
Even seven years after the recession ended, the current stretch of economic gains has yielded less growth than much shorter business cycles.
In terms of average annual growth, the pace of this expansion has been by far the weakest of any since 1949. (And for which we have quarterly data.) The economy has grown at a 2.1% annual rate since the U.S. recovery began in mid-2009, according to gross-domestic-product data the Commerce Department released Friday.
The prior expansion, from 2001 through 2007, was the only other business cycle of the past 11 when the economy didn’t grow at least 3% a year, on average.
Total growth this expansion ranks just 8th of the past 11 cycles. The U.S. economy, at the end of June, was 15.5% larger than it was when the recession ended in 2009.
The current expansion remains smaller than the one during Richard Nixon‘s administration. And that 16% expansion lasted just three years. The economy grew 18% from 2001 through 2007. It grew 52% from 1961 through 1969...
Olympic Athletes Urged to Keep Their Mouths Shut in Rio (VIDEO)
Heh.
Watch, at Euronews:
Watch, at Euronews:
Keep your mouths shut!
That is the advice from health experts to Olympic athletes preparing to compete in the polluted waters of Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay, where drug-resistant super bacteria have been found in abundance.
The opening ceremony for the games is just a week away.
"The idea is that athletes maintain minimum contact with the water. Unfortunately that is how it is," said doctor Daniel Becker, acknowledging that it is not always easy to remember to keep your mouth and eyes closed...
Deal of the Day: Save on Select AKG Over the Ear and JBL In-Ear Headphones [BUMPED]
At Amazon, AKG K545 BLK Studio-Quality, Closed-Back, Over the Ear Headphones (Black).
Also, More Savings on AKG Headphones. And, JBL In-Ear Headphones.
Plus, KIND Bars, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, Gluten Free, 1.4 Ounce Bars, 12 Count.
And, Amazon Echo.
More, Douglas Field, All Those Strangers: The Art and Lives of James Baldwin.
And, Randall Kenan, ed., The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings.
James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time.
BONUS: James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain.
Also, More Savings on AKG Headphones. And, JBL In-Ear Headphones.
Plus, KIND Bars, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, Gluten Free, 1.4 Ounce Bars, 12 Count.
And, Amazon Echo.
More, Douglas Field, All Those Strangers: The Art and Lives of James Baldwin.
And, Randall Kenan, ed., The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings.
James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time.
BONUS: James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain.
Woman With Virtually No Accomplishments Makes History or Something
Heh.
Love the headline.
At Pirate's Cove.
Her one accomplishment is covering up for her sexual predator former-president husband.
Their plan has been to get back to the White House since January 20, 2001.
They're very close. Indeed, very close to making it happen.
But Donald Trump isn't easily rolled.
In fact, the Democrats are freakin' out at her dismal polling, including the "negative bounce" she incurred during the Philly convention.
More at the Hill, "Dem anxiety hangs over Clinton."
Love the headline.
At Pirate's Cove.
Her one accomplishment is covering up for her sexual predator former-president husband.
Their plan has been to get back to the White House since January 20, 2001.
They're very close. Indeed, very close to making it happen.
But Donald Trump isn't easily rolled.
In fact, the Democrats are freakin' out at her dismal polling, including the "negative bounce" she incurred during the Philly convention.
More at the Hill, "Dem anxiety hangs over Clinton."
Olympics Gymnast McKayla Maroney
She was the sensation of 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
And she keeps a sizzling Twitter feed.
More at Hollywood Tuna, "McKayla Maroney Does Instagram in a Bikini Good."
And she keeps a sizzling Twitter feed.
More at Hollywood Tuna, "McKayla Maroney Does Instagram in a Bikini Good."
Jessica Valenti Quits Twitter
Yes, she's getting rape threats but ridicules Dana Loesch's NRA campaign for women's self-defense.
Figures. Leftists are losing it, as they show us continually.
Via WWTDD, "Jessica Valenti Drops Out."
Figures. Leftists are losing it, as they show us continually.
Via WWTDD, "Jessica Valenti Drops Out."
This morning I woke up to a rape and death threat directed at my 5 year old daughter. That this is part of my work life is unacceptable.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
I am sick of this shit. Sick of saying over and over how scary this is, sick of being told to suck it up.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
I should not have to wade through horror to get through the day. None of should have to.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
I can deal with a lot of things, I've taken a lot of abuse over the years. But my child? No.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
Law enforcement needs to get their shit together on online threats. Social media companies need to fucking do something.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
In the meantime, I'm taking a break from social media. I don't know how long. I just know that I can't live like this. It's too much.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
The people who need to know how to reach me. Thanks for all the support. x
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
Kendall Jenner for Love Magazine
Here, "Kendall's top 10 best moments in LOVE!"
Also, "Kendall by Alasdair McLellan and @kegrand from #love16."
Hat Tip: WWTDD, "Kendall Jenner Upselling Nips."
BONUS: At London's Daily Mail, "Kendall Jenner braless again after declaring her support for Free The Nipple movement," and "'I'm cool with my breasts!' Kendall Jenner joins Free the Nipple movement, revealing she loves going braless because it allows her to show off her nipple rings."
Also, "Kendall by Alasdair McLellan and @kegrand from #love16."
Hat Tip: WWTDD, "Kendall Jenner Upselling Nips."
BONUS: At London's Daily Mail, "Kendall Jenner braless again after declaring her support for Free The Nipple movement," and "'I'm cool with my breasts!' Kendall Jenner joins Free the Nipple movement, revealing she loves going braless because it allows her to show off her nipple rings."
Donald Trump's Acceptance Speech Pulled-In Two Million More Viewers Than Hillary Clinton's
This is gonna cause some hurt on the hard-left side of things.
From Brian Stelter, at CNN:
Also, at Pamela's, "Trump TROUNCES Hillary in Viewers."
From Brian Stelter, at CNN:
Trump aide's take on Clinton speech ratings: "That's the downside in running for Obama's third term -- nobody watches repeats in the summer"
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 29, 2016
Just updated my story about last night's #DemsInPhilly ratings: https://t.co/gjvOjn5gUn Talking about it on air with @BrookeBCNN now
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 29, 2016
Also, at Pamela's, "Trump TROUNCES Hillary in Viewers."
Hillary Clinton: Australia's Gun Confiscation Program's 'an example worth looking at...' (VIDEO)
From Dana Loesch, on Twitter:
Reminder: Hillary Clinton vowed to overturn Heller and compromise individual gun rights https://t.co/wJgrHdlRPC #DemsInPhilly
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 29, 2016
ICYMI: How we know HRC wants to ban guns? She’s said so!
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 29, 2016
1) https://t.co/zb92nYyV3T
2) https://t.co/kRftbVMzkh
3) https://t.co/Cm9y8BI6UJ
LBGT Group 'First Lady Bill' Seeks Hillary's Election to Destroy the 'Gender Binary'
Here's a real LGBT group on Facebook, First Lady Bill.
Now, I get it. Homosexuals are all into gender fluidity and what not. But by grotesquely feminizing Bill Clinton into the "First Lady," that means Hillary's a man. So, homosexuals want to negate the genuinely historic achievement of the first woman nominated on a major party ticket, and of course possibly the first woman elected president.
These people aren't just bizarre, they're freakin' insane.
According to the group's website:
Folks already know the unending stream of nightmares this movement's already caused, from "gender neutral" bathrooms to "trans girls" (really boys) competing in girls' athletic competition (violating girls' and women's right to equal protection of the law). I've blogged this considerably already, but frankly the most egregious stories are still coming to light.
So if Hillary's election really is all about breaking down the "gender binary," then that's all the more reason to reject her and the Democrat Party's coalition of reprobates and sexual freaks.
Now, I get it. Homosexuals are all into gender fluidity and what not. But by grotesquely feminizing Bill Clinton into the "First Lady," that means Hillary's a man. So, homosexuals want to negate the genuinely historic achievement of the first woman nominated on a major party ticket, and of course possibly the first woman elected president.
These people aren't just bizarre, they're freakin' insane.
According to the group's website:
Join the #LGBT & #GenderEquality Campaign to put Hillary in the White House. https://t.co/GIprSKe3AE #ImWithHer pic.twitter.com/ZSmVcdL8lJ
— BillforFirstLady2016 (@Bill4FirstLady) July 20, 2016
Downtown convention center at #DemsInPhilly there's Bill for First Lady pic.twitter.com/q29qNtryua
— Kelsey DeGideo (@kelsdegid) July 26, 2016
People love 'First Lady Bill' https://t.co/lGyInHbOx9 #FirstLadyBill pic.twitter.com/qJfrI60KBr
— BillforFirstLady2016 (@Bill4FirstLady) July 27, 2016
Bill For First Lady shirts on sale pic.twitter.com/PqJdZBPINY
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 27, 2016
Hillary's campaign is all about breaking barriers...Look, this is classic hard-left boilerplate cultural Marxism. We need to tear down all differences in gender to make America truly free and equal.
Barriers that keep women stuck being paid less than men - for the exact same work. Barriers that have transgender people being targeted for discrimination in bathrooms across the country (this pisses us off). Barriers to equality that make it still legal in most states to fire people simply for being LGBT. Now, more than ever, we need a president who can break down gender discrimination barriers that hold back equality for all Americans. That's why we're with her!
Sexist, homophobic and transphobic gender "rules" are a drag. And what better way to highlight the "herstoric" importance of putting a woman in the White House than having fun with her husband in drag as "First Lady"? We're all about making voters grin and putting a little more "party" in our political party. “Bill for First Lady” is a can’t-help-but-smile way to say “Hillary for president!"
Why was the idea of a woman president once considered absurd? Why is a man in a dress now thought by many to be somehow demeaning? Rigid gender rules have shoved generations of Americans in boxes - from women being excluded from "men's" jobs (and forbidden from wearing pants), to boys being told they can't wear dresses, to a woman being denied the right to marry another woman, to transgender and intersex people being forced to conform to one side or the other of an arbitrary gender binary and punished violently by society for simply being themselves. The fight for trans, lesbian, gay, bi and women's equality is the fight against society's gender police from dictating to anybody who they can be and how they should live or dress based on other people's idea of their gender. Hillary's campaign is breaking the ultimate glass ceiling by putting a woman in the White House. The FirstLadyBill.com campaign is using this herstoric moment in history to break down other oppressive expectations about gender. A woman president? Hell yeah. A character that's a straight cisgendered former president with hairy legs in high heels? Why the hell not? If we are truly to be a "free country" that also means when it comes to gender that there are NO rules - except to let people be who they are and hold no one back. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
With a focus on creating youthful viral videos, catchy campaign memes and sharable social media content, as well as live "Bill" campaign events in cities and on college campuses across the nation, FirstLadyBill.com PAC (Political Action Committee) is a strategic effort to move, motivate and inspire younger voters to get involved. As a Federal Election Commission (FEC) officially registered independent expenditure committee, FirstLadyBill.com PAC's campaign is independent, and it does not make contributions to, or coordinate its spending with, any candidates or political parties in accordance with federal elections law.
We're using humor and heart to help make history. Join the campaign!
Folks already know the unending stream of nightmares this movement's already caused, from "gender neutral" bathrooms to "trans girls" (really boys) competing in girls' athletic competition (violating girls' and women's right to equal protection of the law). I've blogged this considerably already, but frankly the most egregious stories are still coming to light.
So if Hillary's election really is all about breaking down the "gender binary," then that's all the more reason to reject her and the Democrat Party's coalition of reprobates and sexual freaks.
What Ideological Role Reversal of the Parties?
Look, I'm not as hard on mainstream media flacks as a lot of conservatives, but this idea that the parties have switched places is just bizarre. The party in power is naturally going to argue everything's okey dokey, and the party out of power's going to argue the country's going to hell in a hand-basket.
And ideologically, David Horowitz argued that Hillary's agenda "neo-communist" on Twitter last night. Frankly, I was rolling my eyes at the big government laundry list she rolled out. And the argument for "change"? What a pathetic joke. It's more of the same. Big government and more "rights" for everyone, as if we never had the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
But see Karen Tumulty and Robert Costa, at WaPo, "We are witnessing a visceral shift in the way the parties speak to the country":
Read the whole thing at the link.
And ideologically, David Horowitz argued that Hillary's agenda "neo-communist" on Twitter last night. Frankly, I was rolling my eyes at the big government laundry list she rolled out. And the argument for "change"? What a pathetic joke. It's more of the same. Big government and more "rights" for everyone, as if we never had the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
But see Karen Tumulty and Robert Costa, at WaPo, "We are witnessing a visceral shift in the way the parties speak to the country":
Smart @ktumulty & @costareports on the political, ideological and tonal role reversal of the two parties https://t.co/uZBkv3YuyE
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) July 29, 2016
The visceral shift in the parties’ political narratives represents a profound break from the way they have often spoken about the country and themselves.That's not an ideological shift. There may be a difference in how the parties communicate their messages, but the Republican message is deeply conservative, concerned with destabilizing and damaging changes that the Democrats have wrought on our country. Combine that with the realism of Trump's appeals to law and order and national security, in contrast to the rainbows and unicorns of Obama's speech Wednesday night, and the differences could hardly be sharper. But again, it's not ideological. It's existential.
Going at least as far back as Reagan, Republicans have prided themselves as being the party of optimism and confidence, leading an exceptional country whose greatness was coded into its DNA.
Going back further, to Franklin D. Roosevelt, it has been the Democrats who have made common cause with the aggrieved and the left behind, who have been criticized for dwelling too much on the nation’s flaws and being squeamish about asserting power internationally.
For some Republicans, it is an unsettling juxtaposition.
“The Democrats used to be the party that said people are being taken advantage of and it’s time to settle the score. Now that’s the Republicans’ message,” said Stuart Stevens, who in 2012 was GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s chief strategist. “To let them become the optimistic party that wants to lift us up and unify America, it’s a disaster for Republicans.”
Or maybe it is smart positioning, given that parts of the country are in a prolonged funk, as evidenced by the fact that polls since 2009 have consistently shown more people believe it to be headed in the wrong direction than the right one.
That creates a challenge for those who have been running the country during that time to make a stay-the-course argument. It is compounded by voters’ historic reluctance to leave the White House in any party’s hands for more than two consecutive terms.
“You really can’t afford to paint an unrelentingly dark picture of the country. To do that is to say, in effect, that your predecessor has failed,” said William A. Galston, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who was a top adviser to Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.
So the themes being sounded by each party reflect the natural cycle of being in and out of power.
But there are other factors at play this year that amplify what would have been happening anyway.
The Republican Party’s once-omnipotent establishment has ceded control to a vocal faction fixated on issues such as illegal immigration and their angst over the reweaving of the social fabric.
“There have been so many changes in the culture that to many Americans, it’s an unrecognizable country,” said William J. Bennett, a prominent conservative voice going back to his time in Reagan’s Cabinet...
Read the whole thing at the link.
Bernie Sanders Supporters Chant 'No More War' at #DemConvention
I pretty amazing moment last night.
Embarrassing visual at DNC: Gen. Allen interrupted by "No more war” chants
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) July 29, 2016
Chants of "No More Wars" started by Bernie supporters are being drowned out by "USA" chants from the rest of the arena.
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) July 29, 2016
Competing chants on the #DNCinPHL convention floor now: "USA!" and "NO MORE WARS!"
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) July 29, 2016
Some of the Bernie folks in CA delegation started chanting "no more wars" and are drowned out by "USA" chants.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 29, 2016
This is what I meant by it being a strange ideological moment.... https://t.co/bhTacyd2if
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 29, 2016
GEN John Allen:"ISIS will be defeated." Shouts of "No more war" from FL delegates greeted with "USA!" #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/AcDXuqx88W
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) July 29, 2016
Boos countered by shouts of "USA!" Breaks out during entire speech by Gen John Allen #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/GlTyGJC0g4
— SalenaZito (@SalenaZitoTrib) July 29, 2016
Bernie's Thrilled With Hillary's Nomination
Heh.
He was just bowled over last night.
He was just bowled over last night.
Bernie Sanders clearly thrilled to receive the accolades from Hillary Clinton #DemConvention #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/uhlDmZaTRf
— Gregory T. Angelo (@gregorytangelo) July 29, 2016
Thursday, July 28, 2016
The Perfect Philly Cheesesteak (VIDEO)
I don't recall ever visiting Philly. I passed by on Amtrak in 2007, in route from D.C. to New York City, heh.
I do enjoy Philly cheesesteaks though, lol.
Jersey Mike's makes some great sandwiches nearby, and my youngest kid's been devouring their cheesesteaks of late.
But watch, at CBS This Morning, yum:
I do enjoy Philly cheesesteaks though, lol.
Jersey Mike's makes some great sandwiches nearby, and my youngest kid's been devouring their cheesesteaks of late.
But watch, at CBS This Morning, yum:
SJW Anti-Semites Voice Their Hatred for Israeli Actress Gal Gadot
This isn't surprising at all.
At the Astute Bloggers, "WHY WOULD THEY EVEN WANT TO BE WONDER WOMAN FANS IF THEY DON'T LIKE GAL GADOT'S POLITICS?":
Remember, these are people who would kill you given the chance.
More at the link.
Previously, "'Wonder Woman' Trailer Debuts at Comic-Con (VIDEO)."
I'll be out to see this movie as soon as it hits the screens. Screw the SJWs.
At the Astute Bloggers, "WHY WOULD THEY EVEN WANT TO BE WONDER WOMAN FANS IF THEY DON'T LIKE GAL GADOT'S POLITICS?":
Breitbart's Big Hollywood section showed how SJW anti-semites and anti-Israelists are voicing their hatred for Israeli actress Gal Gadot, star of the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, because of her pro-Israel and pro-IDF standings. The paragraph at the end is something I'd like to follow up on:Tsk-tsk, just another thing for hateful leftists to hate.
The anti-Gadot tweets are somewhat ironic considering a majority of the same people would frequently advocate for such a large movie portraying a strong female lead, however Gadot’s political views distance herself from the crowd, and she now appears to just be another target in the crosshairs of social justice.
Remember, these are people who would kill you given the chance.
More at the link.
Previously, "'Wonder Woman' Trailer Debuts at Comic-Con (VIDEO)."
I'll be out to see this movie as soon as it hits the screens. Screw the SJWs.
The Case for Paper Ballots
The voting machines in Irvine print a paper copy of your electronic ballot before you press "vote." In theory, the paper record would be used to substantiate voters' intentions in the case of fraud allegations. I like it, although who's to say those paper rolls don't get incinerated at just about the same time one of the candidates cries foul. (Around here, it'd be Republicans alleging voter fraud against the local Democrat Party machine, heh.)
But See Glenn Reynolds, at USA Today, "After DNC hack, the case for paper ballots. Are paper ballots really a superior technology to voting machines? Absolutely" (via Instapundit):
Keep reading.
But See Glenn Reynolds, at USA Today, "After DNC hack, the case for paper ballots. Are paper ballots really a superior technology to voting machines? Absolutely" (via Instapundit):
Somebody — probably, though not certainly, Vladimir Putin’s intelligence apparatus — has hacked the Democratic Committee’s email servers and released some of what it found via the Wikileaks site. As Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith notes, this is something new: Although meddling in foreign elections is old stuff for intelligence agencies (including our own), this sort of email release is unprecedented.Boy, that would be a mess. A very nasty mess.
As disruptive as the DNC email release has been, there’s room for something much worse: A foreign government could hack voting machines, shut down election computers, or delete or alter voter registration information, turning Election Day into a snarled mess and calling the results into question regardless of who wins.
Worse yet, hackers are already working on this.
Voting systems rely on trust. Voters have to trust that their own vote is recorded and counted accurately; they also have to trust that the overall count is accurate, and that only eligible voters are allowed to vote. (When an ineligible voter casts a vote, it cancels out the vote of a legitimate voter every bit as much as if his or her ballot had simply been shredded.)
The problem is that electronic systems — much less the Internet-based systems that some people are talking about moving to — can’t possibly provide that degree of reliability. They’re too easy to hack, and alterations are too easy to conceal. If the powers-that-be can’t protect confidential emails, or government employees’ security information, then they can’t guarantee the sanctity of voting systems...
Keep reading.
Israeli Flag Burners at #DemConvention (VIDEO)
Yes, but it's not just Israeli flag burners. It's leftists altogether.
Radical leftists, of all stripes, form a common enemy to the U.S., to Israel, and to our shared Western culture and humanity.
Don't ever forget it. The hatred's been on display, in the streets and in the hall, at the Democrat Convention in Philly.
From William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, "Israeli flag burners at Dem Convention are our common enemy."
And related, from earlier, "The Face of the Democrat Party #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention."
Radical leftists, of all stripes, form a common enemy to the U.S., to Israel, and to our shared Western culture and humanity.
Don't ever forget it. The hatred's been on display, in the streets and in the hall, at the Democrat Convention in Philly.
From William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, "Israeli flag burners at Dem Convention are our common enemy."
And related, from earlier, "The Face of the Democrat Party #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention."
Francesca Valle Threatens Workplace Harassment Over a Facebook Post
Here's the thread from yesterday, which prompted this private message, which I just read moments ago:
My response:
Hey Donald.*****
I wanted to reach out and share some perspective. Yesterday, after you jumped on my thread w your psudeo [sic] insults, unsolicited and unwelcomed, you were criticized by both me and some other FB members. You then proceeded to tag me in a thread you posted on your page, further belittling me and attempting to stir the pot. I didn't really bite. And apparently, no one else did either. I've looked at the results of that behavior this morning and garnered this outcome. My "blathering" picked up a decent amount of traction. My post was shared half a dozen times and I've had a couple folks direct message me w encouragement to ignore your seemingly overt and rude behavior. Your post got one like. That's it. One. No shares. No commentary. And obviously, little agreement. So, my question is why all this energy towards such a minuscule outcome? Why piss in my yard? I have done nothing but spread a message of peace and love. Would you behave that way w someone like, I don't know, Pope Francis (one of my role models)? I feel you cause more damage for your cause than good.
Furthermore, I am sure I won't be the first to take such an action, but I have screen shot this incident and am going to write LBCC asking what their policy is on public decorum for professors. I truly feel it inappropriate for you to behave in such a way, publicly, as a man who is responsible for teaching young minds appropriate and responsible discourse in politics. I assume they must be aware already of such indiscretion, but perhaps if enough people bring it to their attention, it will make a difference. You, like me, are an educator. And I would expect more maturity and thoughtfulness.
I've attempted to be friendly and work towards civil discourse. I've defended you in the past. Yesterday was disappointing, to say the least. I wish you well. And I hope you find peace sooner than later. I haven't blocked you because I don't feel that accomplishes much in the grand scheme of things. In fact, I believe your behavior yesterday worked in my favor. The age of the bully is coming to a close. Though if you are an avid watcher of fox news, I can imagine you may feel differently. I hope you find some more effective means of leading and making change. In the meantime, may you enjoy your freedoms and privileges as much as I do mine.
Good luck.
Francesca Valle
Vocalist/ Coach / Music Producer / Multi-Instrumentalist / Artist & Singer ... Musician, Teacher at California Music Studios and Owner at Bugbyte Studios
Lives in San Diego, California
www.facebook.com/francescavallemusic
My response:
You are a child, Francesca. Clearly, you measure your worth by "likes," "shares," and "friends" on social media. I feel sad for you. I will put your threats in a blog post right now, and I'll contact my attorney. You wouldn't be the first to threaten my livelihood for the HORRIBLE act of sharing my opinion. If you've followed my writing online you'd know that leftists have been trying to get me fired for years for my views, which are politically incorrect to totalitarian leftists. You're just the latest illiberal stooge, and not a very original one at that. The college won't bat an eye about my private, free-speech activities, but knock yourself out. I know you want to feel superior. Just know that you are most certainly not, since efforts to harass those of different opinions are the height of intolerance and "bullying." Oh, and "peace," since that's the uber cool progressive way to blow off bullies (like you) who ultimately aren't worth the time.
The Barbarians Must Be Stopped
From Professor Michael Curtis, at American Thinker:
Nothing's gonna change until the voters in the Western democracies decide to vote the corrupt terror-coddling leftist bastards out.
Brexit was a good start for Britain, and Americans have a chance to restore sanity in November. France goes to the presidential polls in 2017. Also in 2017 is Germany's parliamentary elections.
I'll be keeping an eye on these developments, naturally. And with luck, we'll see some real change, and people won't lose the freakin' minds, not least of whom myself, heh.
But keep reading.
Everyone admires the intriguing puzzles and solutions in the stories of Sherlock Holmes. In The Adventures of Silver Blaze, the curious incident of the dog that did nothing – did not bark – in the night was the clue toward solving the mystery. Sherlock is needed to solve the mystery of why, on July 25, 2016, at the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the 61 speeches may have been full of bite, but none uttered a whisper, let alone a bark, about the menace of ISIS and Islamist terrorism.Nothing's gonna change.
The mystery deepens with the appalling news a few hours after the end of that first day that two Islamist terrorists, armed with knives, had entered a Catholic Church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a few miles from Rouen in Normandy, France, during morning service on July 26, 2016. They forced the octogenarian priest, Father Jacques Hamel, to kneel and filmed his death as they slit his throat. They took nuns and others hostage before they were killed by French police. ISIS promptly called them "two soldiers of the Islamic State."
Another terrorist referred to in the incident by the French police is a 24-year-old Algerian computer student named Sis Ahmed Ghlam, known to the authorities since he was arrested in April 2015 after he had called for an ambulance after he shot himself in the leg. He was arrested on suspicion of planning "imminent" terror attacks. In his car, the police discovered weapons including Kalashnikovs, a police-issued pistol, and bulletproof vests. Even more important, they found plans for terrorist attacks on other churches, including the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris. This terrorist is in prison charged with the murder of a 32-year-old woman who was shot three times in the head.
The barbarity committed in the church in Normandy is now added to the list of horrors executed by Islamist terrorists and followers of ISIS. It does not take a Sherlock to remember them, in London, Toulouse, Paris, Brussels and the Maelbeek metro station, Nice, Munich, Cologne, Würzburg, and Ansbach.
The world, particularly the West, is facing a major threat to civilization and the way of life of democratic societies. British authorities have recently made it known that they disrupted seven plots to attack the U.K. in the last 18 months. French president François Hollande has again, after the murder in the church, declared that ISIS has declared war on the West and must be fought using all means possible. Indeed, ISIS is fomenting a war of religions, boldly announcing that a major target is Christians across the world and even aiming at the assassination of Pope Francis.
Presidential candidates and political party conventions in the U.S. as well as authorities in European countries must devote their attention to and prepare solutions for the continuing terrorism of contemporary barbarians who are now within our gates, not simply at them.
Western democratic systems are based on tolerance and respect for others and on honorable efforts to eliminate or at least limit prejudice in society. With societies based on free speech and expression, this has always been difficult to sustain, but it has become much more difficult with the prevalence of social media. Those defending the West recognize that new and changing technologies make it difficult for them to obtain sufficient accurate information to forestall planned terrorist attacks.
Strong, immediate action by the West is crucial. At bottom, Western leaders, especially those in the White House, must recognize the enemy, "radical Islamist terrorism," not evade the truth by euphemisms or political correctness. This means the use of forceful methods – plainly speaking, war – against the enemy so relentlessly anxious to destroy the West...
Nothing's gonna change until the voters in the Western democracies decide to vote the corrupt terror-coddling leftist bastards out.
Brexit was a good start for Britain, and Americans have a chance to restore sanity in November. France goes to the presidential polls in 2017. Also in 2017 is Germany's parliamentary elections.
I'll be keeping an eye on these developments, naturally. And with luck, we'll see some real change, and people won't lose the freakin' minds, not least of whom myself, heh.
But keep reading.
Depraved Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Goes on Warpath After Charges Dropped in Freddie Gray Case (VIDEO)
Following-up, "Charges Dropped Against Remaining Officers in Freddie Gray Case (VIDEO)."
This is one angry bitch. One depraved angry black bitch.
It's enough never to want to visit Baltimore. Sheesh.
A political prosecution, in the name of social justice and "Black Lives Matter."
It's no wonder it all went out the window, going splat on the pavement like an exploding watermelon.
At the Baltimore Sun, "State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby assails police, pledges to pursue reforms":
But keep reading, FWIW.
This is one angry bitch. One depraved angry black bitch.
It's enough never to want to visit Baltimore. Sheesh.
A political prosecution, in the name of social justice and "Black Lives Matter."
It's no wonder it all went out the window, going splat on the pavement like an exploding watermelon.
At the Baltimore Sun, "State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby assails police, pledges to pursue reforms":
Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby came out swinging Wednesday after she dropped the charges against the remaining police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray, slamming the criminal justice system and saying police were too biased to investigate themselves.Well, she's obviously not building a winning coalition for the future.
In a fiery news conference at the Gilmor Homes housing project, the prosecutor said that without sweeping reform to police and the court system, "we could try this case 100 times, and cases just like it, and we would still end up with the same result."
Mosby told The Baltimore Sun that she planned to pursue such reforms — including the ability of prosecutors to use independent investigators.
Mosby charged six officers in Gray's arrest and death last year. Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams acquitted three of them, saying prosecutors lacked the evidence to prove their cases. Mosby dropped charges Wednesday against the other three.
"I wanted to be able to expose the systemic issues," she said. "And I think that's one of the reasons why we said we should probably [drop the remaining cases]: so we can try to work toward a solution."
The Baltimore police union called Mosby's comments "outrageous, uncalled for and simply not true." Former Police Commissioner Anthony Batts called Mosby "immature, incompetent and vindictive." Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said the prosecutions were "disgraceful" and Mosby "ought to prosecute herself."
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she supported Mosby but questioned whether she had gone too far in her criticisms of the criminal justice system...
But keep reading, FWIW.
The Face of the Democrat Party #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention
Via Tania Gail:
His group? He's a classic progressive Democrat:
His group? He's a classic progressive Democrat:
Can someone identify his group? Not being facetious, simply want to place him in the correct group. #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/fDtDrfGQ4d
— Tania Gail (@TaniaGailPhotos) July 27, 2016
The ISIS Moms of the Democrat Convention
Heh.
It's Ann Coulter, as provocative as ever.
Here, "WHEN DO THE MOTHERS OF ISIS SPEAK?":
It's Ann Coulter, as provocative as ever.
Here, "WHEN DO THE MOTHERS OF ISIS SPEAK?":
Whatever questionable choices were made at the Republican National Convention last week, I didn't hear of a single speaker whose sole accomplishment was raising a delinquent who attacked a cop.Keep reading.
But as the country reels from the cold-blooded murder of five policemen in Dallas and three in Baton Rouge, Lezley McSpadden, mother of Mike Brown, America's most famous cop-assaulting criminal, appeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention.
Welcome to Hillary's convention, celebrating the anti-police group Black Lives Matter!
The whole raison d'etre of BLM is the belief that cops are wantonly killing "black bodies." But only four of the dead black kids being honored were even killed by cops. Two were murdered by black gang members.
Of the four deaths that involved the police, all the victims were fighting the cops when they died.
In this regard, I notice that six of the nine "Mothers of the Movement" have different last names from their snowflakes. The children with the same names as their mothers were the two who were gunned down by black gangs, as well as one schizophrenic, who, unfortunately, had grabbed an officer’s baton and was hitting him with it when he got himself shot.
After massive, enormously expensive investigations, only one officer in any of these four cases was convicted of any offense: involuntary manslaughter for the 2009 shooting by a BART police officer of Oscar Grant -- who was in the process of being arrested for an enormous public brawl when he was shot.
Contrast his death with the deaths of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton and 16-year-old Blair Holt. Hadiya was shot in the back by black gang members, while in a Chicago park with her friends -- who were mistaken for members of a rival gang. Blair was riding a school bus when a black gang member boarded the bus and began shooting.
The police are trying to get these criminal gangs off the street! And their job would be a lot easier without thugs like Mike Brown violently attacking them.
It would be a lot easier if they weren't being constantly harassed by BLM and their lunatic accusations of racist policing.
It would be a lot easier if they were not being targeted for assassination and mass murders by homicidal nuts ginned up by BLM. (Shooting deaths of police are up 78 percent so far this year.)
And it would be a lot easier without a group -- officially supported by the Democrats -- leading marches down city streets, chanting, "What do we want? DEAD COPS! When do we want it? NOW!”
Why does the Democratic platform endorse Black Lives Matter? And, most importantly, why was Mike Brown's mother on stage at the Democratic National Convention?
As absurd as BLM's other cases are, none have been so authoritatively disproved as the yarn about "gentle giant" Brown begging for his life from Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson before being shot in the street like a dog.
Within a few weeks of the "hands up, don't shoot" narrative being broadcast as fact from every media outlet, we saw the video of the "gentle giant" robbing a store and roughing up the clerk shortly before his encounter with Officer Wilson.
This was followed by extensive investigations by both a grand jury and a Department of Justice led by the most racist, anti-police attorney general we've ever had, Eric Holder. But even Holder's Justice Department had to concede the whole "hands up don't shoot" story was a bald-faced lie...
Lissy Cunningham Rule 5
I posted Ms. Lissy for Rule 5 back in April of last year.
BONUS: At the Sun U.K., "Lissy from Manchester is a total knockout..."
Sneak peek of last weekends shoot #silverhair #blonde #commerical pic.twitter.com/wUBNcBVyvb
— Lissy (@LissyC5) July 26, 2016
BONUS: At the Sun U.K., "Lissy from Manchester is a total knockout..."
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Charges Dropped Against Remaining Officers in Freddie Gray Case (VIDEO)
Amazing.
The whole thing is a bloody political scandal --- totally emblematic of the racialization of law and justice in the Obama era.
At the Baltimore Sun, "Prosecutors conclude Freddie Gray case with zero convictions against officers."
The whole thing is a bloody political scandal --- totally emblematic of the racialization of law and justice in the Obama era.
At the Baltimore Sun, "Prosecutors conclude Freddie Gray case with zero convictions against officers."
Syrian Migrant Denied Asylum Died When Bomb in His Backpack Exploded Mysteriously in Ansbach, Germany
That's not a parody.
This headline is still up at this Reuters piece on the Ansbach suicide jihad attack:
The BBC also had a passive headline, but changed it after some backlash.
See Blazing Cat Fur, "BBC, Reuters Paint Jihad Suicide Bomber as “Syrian Migrant Killed In German Blast”."
This headline is still up at this Reuters piece on the Ansbach suicide jihad attack:
The BBC also had a passive headline, but changed it after some backlash.
See Blazing Cat Fur, "BBC, Reuters Paint Jihad Suicide Bomber as “Syrian Migrant Killed In German Blast”."
Donald Trump Tweeted #CrookedHillary for Day 3 of the #DemConvention
Heh.
He's trolling:
He's trolling:
#CrookedHillary pic.twitter.com/lwi9gqDEHE
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2016
Hillary Clinton Getting Negative Polling Bounce During Democrat Convention?
Actually, it's too early to say whether she's getting a bounce. We'll know for sure when CNN does it's snap poll tomorrow night, after Hildebeast gives her acceptance speech.
Either way, it's no doubt true that Donald Trump got a very nice bounce coming out of Cleveland. Indeed, the L.A. Times presidential tracking had him up over Clinton this morning by almost 7 points.
See Hot Air, "LA Times tracking poll has Trump out to his biggest lead of the year."
And at Twitchy, "USC/LA Times tracking poll shows Hillary Clinton getting negative bounce during convention."
Either way, it's no doubt true that Donald Trump got a very nice bounce coming out of Cleveland. Indeed, the L.A. Times presidential tracking had him up over Clinton this morning by almost 7 points.
See Hot Air, "LA Times tracking poll has Trump out to his biggest lead of the year."
And at Twitchy, "USC/LA Times tracking poll shows Hillary Clinton getting negative bounce during convention."
A Career Sexual Predator Makes the Case for Hillary at the #DemConvention (VIDEO)
From Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine:
“Hillary Clinton took me through Hell.”Keep reading.
Those were the words of a woman who was raped and beaten into a coma when she was twelve years old. Instead of helping that twelve year old girl, Hillary Clinton aided her rapist. She falsely accused the abused child who would never be able to have a family of her own after the assault of “a tendency to seek out older men”. Then Hillary Clinton was recorded on tape laughing at how her client had failed a lie detector test while relishing describing how she had gotten him off.
Tonight’s Democratic National Convention theme was "A Lifetime of Fighting for Children and Families". But this was how Hillary Clinton’s “fight” for children and families really began. And Tuesday’s highlight was an address by a career sexual predator whom she covered up for and whose victims she smeared.
That sexual predator was her husband, Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton put even more women through hell than Hillary did. And he isn’t done just yet. Amid the freakshow of the Carter mummy phoning in, the mothers of criminals, random mildly famous celebrities, the Sandernista walkout and Howard Dean doing the scream that ended his career one more time, the other Clinton took the stage.
In an evening featuring discussions about sex trafficking, the highlight was a sexual predator. In an evening that featured 9/11 victims, the highlight was the man who left America vulnerable to 9/11 and refused to take out Osama bin Laden.
And Bill being Bill, the lying didn’t take too long to get started.
Bill Clinton told the hooting and yapping DNC audience that Hillary Clinton wanted to help child abuse victims. But a child rape victim back home knows the truth and we know the truth. He got up on stage and lied again about the Children’s Health Insurance Program, one of those things which, like bringing peace to Northern Ireland and landing under fire in Bosnia, Hillary Clinton can’t stop lying about.
In Bill Clinton’s new version, Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch didn’t exist and Hillary Clinton got it all done.
But the Clintons always have a thousand new versions of every lie that they tell. And Bill’s entire speech was one big lie. The version of Hillary Clinton that he describes, an obsessive crusader for children who is also a devoted wife and mother has only one tiny problem with it. It’s an expert work of fiction.
The real Hillary Clinton hit up the Boys and Girls Club for $200K to speak for them. The real Hillary saw every non-profit organization working for education, children and any combination of the two as a piggy bank to loot for her greedy husband and herself. The real Hillary, the one revealed by the emails, is incapable of doing basic tasks and requires a horde of assistants to do anything for her.
The image of Hillary Clinton on her “hands and knees” putting liner paper in Chelsea’s dorm drawers is as real as Bill Clinton’s family values. The real Hillary Clinton requires people to pose before she steps into the picture so they don’t waste her time. The real Hillary Clinton laughed at the thought of a rapist beating a child into a coma and then getting off. The real Hillary Clinton has never met a charity she didn’t steal from. The real Hillary Clinton dislikes people and has her assistant elbow them out of the way.
Bill Clinton claimed that they never intended for Hillary to run for office in New York until New York Democrats “urged Hillary to run”. Then they offered to sell her the Brooklyn Bridge at a discount.
The Clintons didn’t move to New York for their health. They did it as part of a long term plan to get back into the White House. Tonight was a major step in the fulfillment of that plan...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
