“LeBron James’ enthusiastic, headfirst dive into politics is at the root of my aversion to the NBA star.
Wednesday, James returned to the presidential campaign trail when a reporter asked him about President Donald Trump’s statement that he turns off his television when he sees NBA players supporting Black Lives Matter and kneeling during the national anthem.
“I really don’t think the basketball community are sad about losing viewership, him viewing the game,” James told NBA bubble reporters. “And that’s all I got to say.”
Of course, James’ grammatical and political eloquence did not stop there. The More Than An Athlete activist stumped for voters.
“I hope everyone, no matter the race, no matter the color, no matter the size, will see what leadership that we have at the top in our country and understand that November is right around the corner and it’s a big moment for us as Americans. If we continue to talk about, ‘We want better, we want change,’ we have an opportunity to do that. But the game will go on without his eyes on it. I can sit here and speak for all of us that love the game of basketball: We could care less.”
I don’t have a problem with people voting. I have a problem with the selling of politics as some sort of silver bullet to the cultural, spiritual and family- structure problems afflicting America in general and black people in particular.
Politics is the sworn enemy of truth. As a Christian and a journalist, I believe the truth is the lone ally of the righteous. I’m leery of all politicians and political people. I’m most leery of politicians and political people who use race as their primary tool to gain political power.
LeBron James is a one-trick political activist. His political magic trick is the left-wing dog whistle affectionately referred to as the race card. James doesn’t know it — he’s too young, too inexperienced and too manipulated — but his political activism mimics Republican George H. W. Bush’s 1988 political ploy.
President Bush used a black career criminal, Willie Horton, much the same way James, Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Party are using George Floyd, the career criminal who died tragically during an encounter with Minneapolis police. ”
———-
“I’m not a Trump supporter. I do, however, oppose the point of view that Trump is any more or less of a problem for black people than any of the 44 previous presidents. The framing of Trump as an anti-black lunatic is the kind of political ploy that keeps me out of the voting booth. Trump is no more black people’s problem than Willie Horton was white America’s problem.
In January of 2017, I appeared on Colin Cowherd’s radio program and articulated my concern that LeBron was in the process of jumping the shark politically. Five months later, during the NBA Finals, LeBron claimed that someone spray-painted the n-word on his Brentwood, Calif., mansion. He offered no proof. He bizarrely compared himself to the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy brutally slain in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a woman.
Spray paint on a gate that James and his family never personally saw somehow was analogous to the pain of a mother losing her child to murder?
Politics is the sworn enemy of truth.
James has far more in common with Jussie Smollett than Emmett Till’s mother.
James, Smollett and other black celebrities have replaced the black church as the principal tool used to galvanize black voters. As America has turned secular and young black people have abandoned religion, the black church has lost its ability to control black voters.
“Teachers Unions Are Attempting Political Blackmail. It’s Time To Break Them Up
In an abject show of selfishness and political bias, teachers unions are trying to hold the country hostage over baseless COVID-19 fears.”
“It’s not enough that public school teachers and the college professors who train them are increasingly prone to teaching leftist absurdities like “2+2=5” or presenting the mendacious 1619 Project as legitimate American history. Teachers unions are now trying to blackmail the entire country into meeting a set of leftist political demands for reopening the schools this fall, using COVID-19 as their excuse.
Of course, the pandemic certainly presents challenges for re-opening schools, but other sectors of society have managed to rise to the occasion over the past several months to keep the country running. Grocery stores clerks, truck drivers, warehouse workers, and of course police, firefighters, doctors, and nurses—all have kept working, sometimes under tough conditions and sometimes at great personal risk.
Then there are teachers unions. More than any other group during this pandemic, teachers unions have shown themselves to be abjectly selfish, hyper-political, and totally intransigent about teaching during the pandemic. They are willing to lie about the science behind COVID-19 transmission and shamelessly stoke fear to advance their partisan agenda. Just about the last thing these unions seem to care about is educating children or helping the country get back on its feet.
On Monday, an alliance of teachers unions and leftist groups in dozens of states staged a “National Day of Resistance,” issuing a series of demands that they say must be met before their members will return to the classroom. What do they want? Rents and mortgages canceled, a “massive infusion of federal money” from “taxing billionaires and Wall Street,” moratoriums on new charter schools and voucher programs and standardized tests, and of course “police-free schools,” among other things.
Some teachers unions have gone a step further. In New York City, one group is demanding teachers not be required to return to school until a minimum of 14 days have passed after any new COVID-19 cases, claiming their lives are at risk if schools open (despite evidence to the contrary in Europe and Asia). During protests Monday, hundreds of NYC teachers marched with handmade coffins and a guillotine, chanting wording to slogans like “children can’t learn if they’re dead.”
Elsewhere in the country, it’s more of the same. In Massachusetts, the state’s second-largest teachers union is demanding remote-only instruction. In Austin, Texas, the teachers union has issued a lengthy list of demands including no in-person instruction until mid-November at least, a guarantee of full pay with no layoffs or furloughs, and all employees having the right to refuse to return to work if they feel unsafe. Earlier this month, a large teachers union in Los Angeles demanded everything listed above as well as things the city’s school district has no power to do, like the passage of Medicare for All, a California wealth tax, a federal bailout of the school district, and defunding the local police.
Beyond these nakedly political demands, many unions want their teachers to get paid for not working. According to a report last week in The New York Times, some unions are trying to limit the amount of time teachers have to spend teaching online each day, all while getting paid in full.”
“FAKE NEWS ABOUT PORTLAND FROM THE WASHINGTON POST
Last week, the Washington Post ran an article with this headline: “Trump ordered federal forces to quell Portland protests. But the chaos ended as soon as they left.” This was a dishonest attempt to blame the rioting in Portland, including attacks aimed at federal buildings, on President Trump, rather than the Antifa/BLM rioters.
The Post’s Adam Taylor surely knew that the presence of federal forces was a response to, not the cause of, the chaos Portland was experiencing. After all, the chaos long predated federal intervention. It began on May 20. Trump did not send in federal forces until more than two months later.
But the Post, out of sympathy for the Antifa/BLM mob, and hatred for Trump, wanted to obscure this reality.
What’s the situation in Portland now that federal forces are no longer present? The Oregonian reports that yesterday, the city’s police department declared the existence of riots for the second consecutive night. Tear gas had to be used to disperse the rioters.
There is a difference between the latest riots and those that caused federal forces to enter the city. According to the Oregonian, “confrontations between police and protesters have shifted from downtown — the historic heart of the demonstrations — to police buildings across the city, where a faction of protesters now gather [sic] every night.” Apparently, the rioters don’t want to provoke President Trump into sending the feds back in, so they content themselves with attacking police buildings.
The Oregonian tries to put as good a face on the rioting as possible:
Most people chanted as a few people started taking down plywood from the building, exposing glass windows and a door. Some people pushed dumpsters to form barricades in the street. . . .
Near the entrance of the building, someone used a metal tool to repeatedly hit the glass window. Police said demonstrators cracked glass doors at the precinct. Someone soon started a fire in a trash can next to the entrance.”
“There are a few safe bets in life – the sun will rise in the East, the mainstream media will tongue-bathe the Dems, the Never Trump sissies of the Ahoy crew will die alone, forgotten, and unloved – but there is no safer bet than on Joe Biden not taking the debate stage with Donald Trump.
If he does debate Trump, Grandpa Badfinger is toast. And if he doesn’t debate Trump, Grandpa Badfinger is also toast. Either way, that post-moderate muppet is a breakfast entrée. Dodging the debate is merely his least bad choice, sort of like going with chlamydia over syphilis.
The media and the Biden campaign are doing everything they can to avoid the moment where the public consensus coalesces around Biden’s obsolescence. You know how that goes. One day, a politician is defined by his positions. The next day, there’s a moment in time when a new perception gets locked in stone, where the mere mention of his name gets people nodding and a single word seems to define him forever. With Biden, the word will be “senile,” just like with Bill Clinton the word is “humidor.”
And Trump is going to define Slow Joe mercilessly, but not quite yet. Those of us swimming in the cesspool of politics every day see Trump’s gentle pokes about Rip van Wrinkled’s manifest mental deterioration, but it’s clear that Trump is holding his big guns in reserve for the moment. Why? Well, Trump certainly wants the Democrats to go all-in and formally nominate Joethuselah before he unleashes hell like Maximus upon my uppity German tribesman ancestors. Further, you don’t want to lower expectations so much that Oldfinger gets pronounced competent simply by appearing in public without drooling all over his bib.
But mostly, Trump knows that normal people aren’t paying attention yet. In September, they will take a break from trying not to be bankrupted by stupid pols panicking over the flu and from dealing with how their kids are not going to school because teacher unions members can’t take the same minimal risk that Trader Joe’s baggers have been enduring since Day One. When people start paying attention after Labor Day, they will be expecting to see Share A Beer Joe and instead see Share An Ensure Joe.
And the Dems know that Trump will then paint Biden in all the colors of the dementia rainbow.
They can’t not know it. Even the rare clips of the nominee show him unable to form a coherent sentence and, on the even rarer occasions where Ernst Stavros Biden leaves his basement lair, needing to be led around by his attendants. The guy is a lukewarm mess, and if the people around him cared for him at all, except as a Trojan horse to slip a bunch of commies into the White House, they would give him a big chocolate chip cookie and leave him to a dignified retirement of chasing squirrels around his backyard. But they don’t care about Joe, only about their own power. That’s why, if he’s elected, he’ll be put out to pasture faster than you can say “Twenty-Fifth Amendment.””
Yes, like Pelosi, he ignores his church’s teachings for politics.
The guy denied communion at a church because of his suppport for taxpayer funded abortion on demand says faith is at the core of who he is https://t.co/utPLzHKSOL
The devout man of faith who would rescind the exemption for Little Sisters of the Poor and force US taxpayers to fund international abortion advocacy. Sure, ok.
The man of “deep faith” who apparently believed some people were somehow more redeemable in the sight of God because of their race, thus vociferously championed segregation, and even today questions the authenticity of someone’s ethnicity if they don’t vote for him.
This is funny. Dems spent months insisting Trump didn’t have the authority to do this. Biden himself said that too. Yet he’s promising to do exactly what they said Trump can’t.
They sit quietly. They keep their mouths closed, lest they anger the rioting hordes. They say nothing, knowing in today’s world your opinion could cost you your job.
But come Nov, when they’re all alone in the voting booth, they will speak, loudly, and Dems won’t like it. 🙂
“Most Americans Are Scared Stiff To Talk Politics. Why?
Causing offense isn’t the only thing people are worried about. Many are concerned about their livelihoods and ability to provide for their families.”
“Does it feel like you’re walking on eggshells lately when talking about politics? You’re not alone. A new national survey of 2,000 Americans I conducted at the Cato Institute finds that 62 percent of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying what they believe because others might find it offensive. This share is up from 58 percent in 2017.
Notably, self-censorship is not a partisan issue. Majorities of Democrats (52 percent), Independents (59 percent), and Republicans (77 percent) all agree they have political views they are afraid to share.”
“Only Far Left Feels Free to Express Political Opinions
Only staunch progressives reach a majority (58 percent) who feel free to speak their minds. But centrist liberals disagree: a slim majority (52 percent) feel they cannot say what they believe in the current environment—up from 45 percent in 2017. Yet, just a few years ago, liberals felt they could openly express themselves (54 percent). In fact, nearly all political groups are self-censoring more today.”
“Why Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe Can No Longer Buy Firearms…And Yes, The FBI Is Involved”
Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe will expose the bad behavior of the Left. From leading an investigation that gutted the left-wing ACORN organization to the liberal media knowing that the Russian collusion story was a myth, O’Keefe’s operatives will expose the truth and catalog evidence that many conservatives already know about these liberal institutions. He also did a lengthy deep-dive into the shady operations of the Hillary Clinton campaign. CNN was also a target of one of his investigations. Big Tech has also been put in the crosshairs of Mr. O’Keefe—and all for good reason. These are left-wing bastions. They’re undemocratic. And their actions must be exposed. Oh, and Jeffrey Epstein and the media providing him protection by burying his creepy deeds was also the subject of an O’Keefe combover.
So, you can expect that O’Keefe has made a lot of enemies on the Left. He’s certainly a target for legal action, but now there’s a new player targeting him. It would seem that someone at the FBI put Mr. O’Keefe on the felon list regarding the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), making him a prohibited person. He can no longer buy firearms, despite never committing a felony. Gun owners interviewed certainly see this as a legitimate legal matter, and O’ Keefe has filed a lawsuit. Is this retaliation?
I’ll bet the mortgage that something along those lines is happening here (via Project Veritas):”
BREAKING: I have been DENIED my Constitutional right to bear arms. The @FBI has erroneously put me on the NICS Background Check System as a convicted felon.
“Project Veritas Action and Project Veritas today released a video of James O’Keefe III, who has never been convicted of a felony, being denied the right to keep and bear arms. The rejection has led O’Keefe to file a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
When asked why the FBI has denied his ability to purchase a firearm, the FBI disclosed O’Keefe is falsely identified as a convicted felon on the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check) list. He has never been convicted of a felony.”
“Court Dismisses Union’s Lawsuit Over Federal Employees’ Right to Talk ‘Impeachment’ and ‘Resistance’
Last year the American Federation of Government Employees sued the Office of Special Counsel over its Hatch Act guidance.
arlier this week, a district court dismissed a federal employee union’s lawsuit that claimed the Office of Special Counsel’s guidance on using the terms “impeachment” and “resist” at work violated free speech protections and was a misinterpretation of the Hatch Act.
Last August, the American Federation of Government Employees filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland arguing that OSC does not have the authority to determine what is and isn’t a violation of the Hatch Act, which limits federal employees’ political activity while on the job. The union asked the court to seek an injunction against enforcement of OSC’s 2018 guidance. After almost a year, the court found on Monday it doesn’t have the jurisdiction to rule on the plaintiffs’ claims because they are not “ripe for judicial review.” This means they haven’t developed into a current, significant controversy that would call for judicial action.
“I am pleased the court dismissed this lawsuit,” said Special Counsel Henry Kerner, in a statement on Wednesday. “For the Hatch Act to serve the purpose of protecting the civil service system, it is incumbent on OSC’s career Hatch Act attorneys to provide timely and relevant information to federal employees about how they can stay in compliance with the law. By dismissing this lawsuit, the court preserves OSC’s important advisory role.”
AFGE National President Everett Kelley told Government Executive on Wednesday afternoon that the union is still reviewing the opinion and its options. “The decision is an obvious disappointment,” he said. “The court’s opinion does not give sufficient consideration to the profound chilling effect that OSC’s guidance has on the First Amendment rights of federal employees. We look forward to providing a more comprehensive statement once we have completed our evaluation.”
In November 2018, OSC issued guidance to federal workers that cautioned against using the terms “resistance” and “impeachment.” The guidance said, “‘Resistance,’ ‘#resist’ and similar terms have become inextricably linked with the electoral success (or failure) of the president,” so statements with those terms in relation to the president represent political activity that violates the Hatch Act. Additionally, “Assuming that disqualification from holding federal office would bar an individual from serving as president, any advocacy for or against an effort to impeach a candidate is squarely within the definition of political activity for purposes of the Hatch Act,” the guidance stated.
Following much uproar from former government officials, nonprofits and unions, OSC issued a revised version of the guidance three days later that stated none of these restrictions apply to federal employees when they are off-duty. However, the national union, which represents about 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers, still challenged the guidance because union officials believed it could be misused and wanted to protect federal employees from political retribution while at work. ”
————
Now get back to work. You’re paid to do your job, so get to it.
The Minnesota Star-Tribune endorsed one of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) primary challengers and suggested that the first-term congresswoman has failed to “unite” her district.
The Star-Tribune, the largest newspaper in the state, endorsed Democratic candidate Antone Melton-Meaux over Omar in an editorial published Wednesday. The race for Omar’s reelection has attracted millions of dollars in an effort to unseat the incumbent with a history of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic comments.
“Melton-Meaux brings a different sensibility to this race, one grounded in helping resolve disputes to move forward — a skill this country is much in need of,” the Star-Tribune says. “Whether it’s health care, criminal justice or affordable housing, Melton-Meaux appears progressive, but pragmatic. While Omar wants to lead a movement, Melton-Meaux seeks to serve the Fifth District.”
The editorial board contrasted Omar’s push to defund and abolish police departments and her embrace of a government takeover of the health insurance industry against Melton-Meaux’s more “pragmatic” approaches.
“Omar’s 2018 victory launched her into the national spotlight as the first Muslim woman and first refugee elected to Congress. But her time has been marred by missteps, including remarks on Israel widely regarded as anti-Semitic, an outsized number of missed votes, and campaign-finance issues,” the board continued, noting that “Omar has sent more than $1.6 million to her husband’s D.C. political consulting firm, E Street Group, and is herself the target of a Federal Election Commission complaint regarding travel expenses.”
“It is just these kinds of ethical distractions that the Fifth District could do without,” the board said. “In the Editorial Board interview, Omar took little responsibility for her rocky start, instead largely blaming her critics and saying her failing was perhaps in not realizing what a ‘special unicorn’ she would be in Congress.””
————–
Good. And once she’s out of office we can deport her for lying repeatedly on her immigration forms and other documents.
I think Trump is doing a good job as president.
I wish Trump would keep his mouth shut.
When I hear, “My opponent is against God”, my first thought is, “I suspect God knows how to handle that.”
Nancy doesn’t like to be reminded of the truth, that she’s the obstruction holding up aid. She keeps ranting about her “Heroes Act” which does nothing for the average Joe, or our heroes. Just more pork for her piggy friends like the teacher’s unions.
And a golf clap for Woodruff for pressing her on it and not just letting it be another soft-ball/spout your talking points while I sit quietly and nod in agreement type of interview. 🙂
And once again Andy Ngo is doing the work and providing the truth, unlike the MSM.
At a @PortlandPolice presser, Sgt. Maxey details the abuse that Portland cops, particularly female ones, face when confronted by antifa/BLM protesters and rioters. I've witnessed myself the vile verbal abuse officers face in addition to being assaulted. https://t.co/UnyV6KVuZcpic.twitter.com/04fHR0ybNU
I fail to see the George-Horton analogy. George was killed by police and as result people including LeBron are demanding change. The Horton ad was a dog whistle using racism to receive votes. Very different. And let’s face it, politics and celebrity are the same in the US after all the president is reality tv host.
Teacher’s have some serious concerns. And just because other employees are forced for one reason or other to work doesn’t mean others should be forced to give up occupational safety. I’m generally relaxed about these issues and I’m not looking forward to a crowded classroom. Much of what US teachers are asking is standard in most other OECD countries. Its not very radical.
Its weird; the right always calls liberals and the left snowflakes yet its conservatives who afraid to voice their opinion. I have no sympathy for O’keefe but in any case I’m sure he’s not the only one with that name. The “no fly” is full of these errors so its not surprising his name came up, but yeah I’m sure he’s crying political persecution now; such a snowflake.
Keep lowering the bar on Biden. Meanwhile the left is playing the Axios on HBO interview over and over again and producing more memes than I can keep track of. Not to forget, Trump is running on his record — most of the vote is anti-Trump not anti-Biden. Biden is smart — he’s limiting his appearances, he’s ahead so why chance it. Trump just can’t keep his mouth shut. Every day he makes a new mistake, today its “Thighland”
So far the left has beaten back centrist primary challengers, many of whom had the Democratic party and media support. Apparently her main rival is concealing some of his donors.
Some interesting chatter about Kodak. Apparently its CEO exercised stock options the day before Trump announced a grant to Kodak to work on something Covid related. Big Pharma is making out like bandits right now.
Biden vs Trump in terms of religious beliefs …. do Trump supporters really want to go there. Biden goes to mass almost weekly. The last time Trump was at church, they deployed tear gas so he could hold a bible upside down.
Wandering Views 
I don’t always agree with Whitlock, especially on sports. But he nails it.
“HEAR A DOG WHISTLE? IT’S LEBRON, DEMOCRATS EXPLOITING GEORGE FLOYD THE WAY REPUBLICANS EXPLOITED WILLIE HORTON”
https://www.outkick.com/hear-a-dog-whistle-its-lebron-democrats-exploiting-george-floyd-the-way-republicans-exploited-willie-horton/
“LeBron James’ enthusiastic, headfirst dive into politics is at the root of my aversion to the NBA star.
Wednesday, James returned to the presidential campaign trail when a reporter asked him about President Donald Trump’s statement that he turns off his television when he sees NBA players supporting Black Lives Matter and kneeling during the national anthem.
“I really don’t think the basketball community are sad about losing viewership, him viewing the game,” James told NBA bubble reporters. “And that’s all I got to say.”
Of course, James’ grammatical and political eloquence did not stop there. The More Than An Athlete activist stumped for voters.
“I hope everyone, no matter the race, no matter the color, no matter the size, will see what leadership that we have at the top in our country and understand that November is right around the corner and it’s a big moment for us as Americans. If we continue to talk about, ‘We want better, we want change,’ we have an opportunity to do that. But the game will go on without his eyes on it. I can sit here and speak for all of us that love the game of basketball: We could care less.”
I don’t have a problem with people voting. I have a problem with the selling of politics as some sort of silver bullet to the cultural, spiritual and family- structure problems afflicting America in general and black people in particular.
Politics is the sworn enemy of truth. As a Christian and a journalist, I believe the truth is the lone ally of the righteous. I’m leery of all politicians and political people. I’m most leery of politicians and political people who use race as their primary tool to gain political power.
LeBron James is a one-trick political activist. His political magic trick is the left-wing dog whistle affectionately referred to as the race card. James doesn’t know it — he’s too young, too inexperienced and too manipulated — but his political activism mimics Republican George H. W. Bush’s 1988 political ploy.
President Bush used a black career criminal, Willie Horton, much the same way James, Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Party are using George Floyd, the career criminal who died tragically during an encounter with Minneapolis police. ”
———-
“I’m not a Trump supporter. I do, however, oppose the point of view that Trump is any more or less of a problem for black people than any of the 44 previous presidents. The framing of Trump as an anti-black lunatic is the kind of political ploy that keeps me out of the voting booth. Trump is no more black people’s problem than Willie Horton was white America’s problem.
In January of 2017, I appeared on Colin Cowherd’s radio program and articulated my concern that LeBron was in the process of jumping the shark politically. Five months later, during the NBA Finals, LeBron claimed that someone spray-painted the n-word on his Brentwood, Calif., mansion. He offered no proof. He bizarrely compared himself to the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy brutally slain in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a woman.
Spray paint on a gate that James and his family never personally saw somehow was analogous to the pain of a mother losing her child to murder?
Politics is the sworn enemy of truth.
James has far more in common with Jussie Smollett than Emmett Till’s mother.
James, Smollett and other black celebrities have replaced the black church as the principal tool used to galvanize black voters. As America has turned secular and young black people have abandoned religion, the black church has lost its ability to control black voters.
Black Twitter is the new black church. “
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Teachers unions and political blackmail.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/05/teachers-unions-are-attempting-political-blackmail-its-time-to-break-them-up/
“Teachers Unions Are Attempting Political Blackmail. It’s Time To Break Them Up
In an abject show of selfishness and political bias, teachers unions are trying to hold the country hostage over baseless COVID-19 fears.”
“It’s not enough that public school teachers and the college professors who train them are increasingly prone to teaching leftist absurdities like “2+2=5” or presenting the mendacious 1619 Project as legitimate American history. Teachers unions are now trying to blackmail the entire country into meeting a set of leftist political demands for reopening the schools this fall, using COVID-19 as their excuse.
Of course, the pandemic certainly presents challenges for re-opening schools, but other sectors of society have managed to rise to the occasion over the past several months to keep the country running. Grocery stores clerks, truck drivers, warehouse workers, and of course police, firefighters, doctors, and nurses—all have kept working, sometimes under tough conditions and sometimes at great personal risk.
Then there are teachers unions. More than any other group during this pandemic, teachers unions have shown themselves to be abjectly selfish, hyper-political, and totally intransigent about teaching during the pandemic. They are willing to lie about the science behind COVID-19 transmission and shamelessly stoke fear to advance their partisan agenda. Just about the last thing these unions seem to care about is educating children or helping the country get back on its feet.
On Monday, an alliance of teachers unions and leftist groups in dozens of states staged a “National Day of Resistance,” issuing a series of demands that they say must be met before their members will return to the classroom. What do they want? Rents and mortgages canceled, a “massive infusion of federal money” from “taxing billionaires and Wall Street,” moratoriums on new charter schools and voucher programs and standardized tests, and of course “police-free schools,” among other things.
Some teachers unions have gone a step further. In New York City, one group is demanding teachers not be required to return to school until a minimum of 14 days have passed after any new COVID-19 cases, claiming their lives are at risk if schools open (despite evidence to the contrary in Europe and Asia). During protests Monday, hundreds of NYC teachers marched with handmade coffins and a guillotine, chanting wording to slogans like “children can’t learn if they’re dead.”
Elsewhere in the country, it’s more of the same. In Massachusetts, the state’s second-largest teachers union is demanding remote-only instruction. In Austin, Texas, the teachers union has issued a lengthy list of demands including no in-person instruction until mid-November at least, a guarantee of full pay with no layoffs or furloughs, and all employees having the right to refuse to return to work if they feel unsafe. Earlier this month, a large teachers union in Los Angeles demanded everything listed above as well as things the city’s school district has no power to do, like the passage of Medicare for All, a California wealth tax, a federal bailout of the school district, and defunding the local police.
Beyond these nakedly political demands, many unions want their teachers to get paid for not working. According to a report last week in The New York Times, some unions are trying to limit the amount of time teachers have to spend teaching online each day, all while getting paid in full.”
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More fake news from the WaPo….
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/08/fake-news-about-portland-from-the-washington-post.php
“FAKE NEWS ABOUT PORTLAND FROM THE WASHINGTON POST
Last week, the Washington Post ran an article with this headline: “Trump ordered federal forces to quell Portland protests. But the chaos ended as soon as they left.” This was a dishonest attempt to blame the rioting in Portland, including attacks aimed at federal buildings, on President Trump, rather than the Antifa/BLM rioters.
The Post’s Adam Taylor surely knew that the presence of federal forces was a response to, not the cause of, the chaos Portland was experiencing. After all, the chaos long predated federal intervention. It began on May 20. Trump did not send in federal forces until more than two months later.
But the Post, out of sympathy for the Antifa/BLM mob, and hatred for Trump, wanted to obscure this reality.
What’s the situation in Portland now that federal forces are no longer present? The Oregonian reports that yesterday, the city’s police department declared the existence of riots for the second consecutive night. Tear gas had to be used to disperse the rioters.
There is a difference between the latest riots and those that caused federal forces to enter the city. According to the Oregonian, “confrontations between police and protesters have shifted from downtown — the historic heart of the demonstrations — to police buildings across the city, where a faction of protesters now gather [sic] every night.” Apparently, the rioters don’t want to provoke President Trump into sending the feds back in, so they content themselves with attacking police buildings.
The Oregonian tries to put as good a face on the rioting as possible:
Most people chanted as a few people started taking down plywood from the building, exposing glass windows and a door. Some people pushed dumpsters to form barricades in the street. . . .
Near the entrance of the building, someone used a metal tool to repeatedly hit the glass window. Police said demonstrators cracked glass doors at the precinct. Someone soon started a fire in a trash can next to the entrance.”
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Then he should quit the race and allow someone else to fill the spot.
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2020/08/06/that-creepy-old-weirdo-in-the-basement-will-never-debate-trump-n2573797
“There are a few safe bets in life – the sun will rise in the East, the mainstream media will tongue-bathe the Dems, the Never Trump sissies of the Ahoy crew will die alone, forgotten, and unloved – but there is no safer bet than on Joe Biden not taking the debate stage with Donald Trump.
If he does debate Trump, Grandpa Badfinger is toast. And if he doesn’t debate Trump, Grandpa Badfinger is also toast. Either way, that post-moderate muppet is a breakfast entrée. Dodging the debate is merely his least bad choice, sort of like going with chlamydia over syphilis.
The media and the Biden campaign are doing everything they can to avoid the moment where the public consensus coalesces around Biden’s obsolescence. You know how that goes. One day, a politician is defined by his positions. The next day, there’s a moment in time when a new perception gets locked in stone, where the mere mention of his name gets people nodding and a single word seems to define him forever. With Biden, the word will be “senile,” just like with Bill Clinton the word is “humidor.”
And Trump is going to define Slow Joe mercilessly, but not quite yet. Those of us swimming in the cesspool of politics every day see Trump’s gentle pokes about Rip van Wrinkled’s manifest mental deterioration, but it’s clear that Trump is holding his big guns in reserve for the moment. Why? Well, Trump certainly wants the Democrats to go all-in and formally nominate Joethuselah before he unleashes hell like Maximus upon my uppity German tribesman ancestors. Further, you don’t want to lower expectations so much that Oldfinger gets pronounced competent simply by appearing in public without drooling all over his bib.
But mostly, Trump knows that normal people aren’t paying attention yet. In September, they will take a break from trying not to be bankrupted by stupid pols panicking over the flu and from dealing with how their kids are not going to school because teacher unions members can’t take the same minimal risk that Trader Joe’s baggers have been enduring since Day One. When people start paying attention after Labor Day, they will be expecting to see Share A Beer Joe and instead see Share An Ensure Joe.
And the Dems know that Trump will then paint Biden in all the colors of the dementia rainbow.
They can’t not know it. Even the rare clips of the nominee show him unable to form a coherent sentence and, on the even rarer occasions where Ernst Stavros Biden leaves his basement lair, needing to be led around by his attendants. The guy is a lukewarm mess, and if the people around him cared for him at all, except as a Trojan horse to slip a bunch of commies into the White House, they would give him a big chocolate chip cookie and leave him to a dignified retirement of chasing squirrels around his backyard. But they don’t care about Joe, only about their own power. That’s why, if he’s elected, he’ll be put out to pasture faster than you can say “Twenty-Fifth Amendment.””
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Yes, like Pelosi, he ignores his church’s teachings for politics.
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This is funny. Dems spent months insisting Trump didn’t have the authority to do this. Biden himself said that too. Yet he’s promising to do exactly what they said Trump can’t.
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Dems won’t like this. 🙂
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They sit quietly. They keep their mouths closed, lest they anger the rioting hordes. They say nothing, knowing in today’s world your opinion could cost you your job.
But come Nov, when they’re all alone in the voting booth, they will speak, loudly, and Dems won’t like it. 🙂
https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/06/most-americans-are-scared-stiff-to-talk-politics-why/
“Most Americans Are Scared Stiff To Talk Politics. Why?
Causing offense isn’t the only thing people are worried about. Many are concerned about their livelihoods and ability to provide for their families.”
“Does it feel like you’re walking on eggshells lately when talking about politics? You’re not alone. A new national survey of 2,000 Americans I conducted at the Cato Institute finds that 62 percent of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying what they believe because others might find it offensive. This share is up from 58 percent in 2017.
Notably, self-censorship is not a partisan issue. Majorities of Democrats (52 percent), Independents (59 percent), and Republicans (77 percent) all agree they have political views they are afraid to share.”
“Only Far Left Feels Free to Express Political Opinions
Only staunch progressives reach a majority (58 percent) who feel free to speak their minds. But centrist liberals disagree: a slim majority (52 percent) feel they cannot say what they believe in the current environment—up from 45 percent in 2017. Yet, just a few years ago, liberals felt they could openly express themselves (54 percent). In fact, nearly all political groups are self-censoring more today.”
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The Deep State is targeting conservatives again.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2020/08/06/james-okeefe-nics-n2573868
“Why Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe Can No Longer Buy Firearms…And Yes, The FBI Is Involved”
Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe will expose the bad behavior of the Left. From leading an investigation that gutted the left-wing ACORN organization to the liberal media knowing that the Russian collusion story was a myth, O’Keefe’s operatives will expose the truth and catalog evidence that many conservatives already know about these liberal institutions. He also did a lengthy deep-dive into the shady operations of the Hillary Clinton campaign. CNN was also a target of one of his investigations. Big Tech has also been put in the crosshairs of Mr. O’Keefe—and all for good reason. These are left-wing bastions. They’re undemocratic. And their actions must be exposed. Oh, and Jeffrey Epstein and the media providing him protection by burying his creepy deeds was also the subject of an O’Keefe combover.
So, you can expect that O’Keefe has made a lot of enemies on the Left. He’s certainly a target for legal action, but now there’s a new player targeting him. It would seem that someone at the FBI put Mr. O’Keefe on the felon list regarding the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), making him a prohibited person. He can no longer buy firearms, despite never committing a felony. Gun owners interviewed certainly see this as a legitimate legal matter, and O’ Keefe has filed a lawsuit. Is this retaliation?
I’ll bet the mortgage that something along those lines is happening here (via Project Veritas):”
“Project Veritas Action and Project Veritas today released a video of James O’Keefe III, who has never been convicted of a felony, being denied the right to keep and bear arms. The rejection has led O’Keefe to file a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
When asked why the FBI has denied his ability to purchase a firearm, the FBI disclosed O’Keefe is falsely identified as a convicted felon on the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check) list. He has never been convicted of a felony.”
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Another court loss for Deep State resisters in “The Resistance.” 🙂
https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/08/court-dismisses-unions-lawsuit-over-right-talk-impeachment-and-resistance/167483/
“Court Dismisses Union’s Lawsuit Over Federal Employees’ Right to Talk ‘Impeachment’ and ‘Resistance’
Last year the American Federation of Government Employees sued the Office of Special Counsel over its Hatch Act guidance.
arlier this week, a district court dismissed a federal employee union’s lawsuit that claimed the Office of Special Counsel’s guidance on using the terms “impeachment” and “resist” at work violated free speech protections and was a misinterpretation of the Hatch Act.
Last August, the American Federation of Government Employees filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland arguing that OSC does not have the authority to determine what is and isn’t a violation of the Hatch Act, which limits federal employees’ political activity while on the job. The union asked the court to seek an injunction against enforcement of OSC’s 2018 guidance. After almost a year, the court found on Monday it doesn’t have the jurisdiction to rule on the plaintiffs’ claims because they are not “ripe for judicial review.” This means they haven’t developed into a current, significant controversy that would call for judicial action.
“I am pleased the court dismissed this lawsuit,” said Special Counsel Henry Kerner, in a statement on Wednesday. “For the Hatch Act to serve the purpose of protecting the civil service system, it is incumbent on OSC’s career Hatch Act attorneys to provide timely and relevant information to federal employees about how they can stay in compliance with the law. By dismissing this lawsuit, the court preserves OSC’s important advisory role.”
AFGE National President Everett Kelley told Government Executive on Wednesday afternoon that the union is still reviewing the opinion and its options. “The decision is an obvious disappointment,” he said. “The court’s opinion does not give sufficient consideration to the profound chilling effect that OSC’s guidance has on the First Amendment rights of federal employees. We look forward to providing a more comprehensive statement once we have completed our evaluation.”
In November 2018, OSC issued guidance to federal workers that cautioned against using the terms “resistance” and “impeachment.” The guidance said, “‘Resistance,’ ‘#resist’ and similar terms have become inextricably linked with the electoral success (or failure) of the president,” so statements with those terms in relation to the president represent political activity that violates the Hatch Act. Additionally, “Assuming that disqualification from holding federal office would bar an individual from serving as president, any advocacy for or against an effort to impeach a candidate is squarely within the definition of political activity for purposes of the Hatch Act,” the guidance stated.
Following much uproar from former government officials, nonprofits and unions, OSC issued a revised version of the guidance three days later that stated none of these restrictions apply to federal employees when they are off-duty. However, the national union, which represents about 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers, still challenged the guidance because union officials believed it could be misused and wanted to protect federal employees from political retribution while at work. ”
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Now get back to work. You’re paid to do your job, so get to it.
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Ethical distractions = Corrupt
https://www.dailywire.com/news/minnesotas-largest-newspaper-endorses-ilhan-omar-primary-challenger-cites-omars-ethical-distractions?%3Futm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dwtwitter
“Minnesota’s Largest Newspaper Endorses Ilhan Omar Primary Challenger, Cites Omar’s ‘Ethical Distractions’”
The Minnesota Star-Tribune endorsed one of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) primary challengers and suggested that the first-term congresswoman has failed to “unite” her district.
The Star-Tribune, the largest newspaper in the state, endorsed Democratic candidate Antone Melton-Meaux over Omar in an editorial published Wednesday. The race for Omar’s reelection has attracted millions of dollars in an effort to unseat the incumbent with a history of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic comments.
“Melton-Meaux brings a different sensibility to this race, one grounded in helping resolve disputes to move forward — a skill this country is much in need of,” the Star-Tribune says. “Whether it’s health care, criminal justice or affordable housing, Melton-Meaux appears progressive, but pragmatic. While Omar wants to lead a movement, Melton-Meaux seeks to serve the Fifth District.”
The editorial board contrasted Omar’s push to defund and abolish police departments and her embrace of a government takeover of the health insurance industry against Melton-Meaux’s more “pragmatic” approaches.
“Omar’s 2018 victory launched her into the national spotlight as the first Muslim woman and first refugee elected to Congress. But her time has been marred by missteps, including remarks on Israel widely regarded as anti-Semitic, an outsized number of missed votes, and campaign-finance issues,” the board continued, noting that “Omar has sent more than $1.6 million to her husband’s D.C. political consulting firm, E Street Group, and is herself the target of a Federal Election Commission complaint regarding travel expenses.”
“It is just these kinds of ethical distractions that the Fifth District could do without,” the board said. “In the Editorial Board interview, Omar took little responsibility for her rocky start, instead largely blaming her critics and saying her failing was perhaps in not realizing what a ‘special unicorn’ she would be in Congress.””
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Good. And once she’s out of office we can deport her for lying repeatedly on her immigration forms and other documents.
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I think Trump is doing a good job as president.
I wish Trump would keep his mouth shut.
When I hear, “My opponent is against God”, my first thought is, “I suspect God knows how to handle that.”
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Yeah He does. 🙂
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Nancy doesn’t like to be reminded of the truth, that she’s the obstruction holding up aid. She keeps ranting about her “Heroes Act” which does nothing for the average Joe, or our heroes. Just more pork for her piggy friends like the teacher’s unions.
https://twitter.com/EddieZipperer/status/1291348883432407040
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And a golf clap for Woodruff for pressing her on it and not just letting it be another soft-ball/spout your talking points while I sit quietly and nod in agreement type of interview. 🙂
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Such nice people these Antifa folks are…..
And once again Andy Ngo is doing the work and providing the truth, unlike the MSM.
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I fail to see the George-Horton analogy. George was killed by police and as result people including LeBron are demanding change. The Horton ad was a dog whistle using racism to receive votes. Very different. And let’s face it, politics and celebrity are the same in the US after all the president is reality tv host.
Teacher’s have some serious concerns. And just because other employees are forced for one reason or other to work doesn’t mean others should be forced to give up occupational safety. I’m generally relaxed about these issues and I’m not looking forward to a crowded classroom. Much of what US teachers are asking is standard in most other OECD countries. Its not very radical.
Its weird; the right always calls liberals and the left snowflakes yet its conservatives who afraid to voice their opinion. I have no sympathy for O’keefe but in any case I’m sure he’s not the only one with that name. The “no fly” is full of these errors so its not surprising his name came up, but yeah I’m sure he’s crying political persecution now; such a snowflake.
Keep lowering the bar on Biden. Meanwhile the left is playing the Axios on HBO interview over and over again and producing more memes than I can keep track of. Not to forget, Trump is running on his record — most of the vote is anti-Trump not anti-Biden. Biden is smart — he’s limiting his appearances, he’s ahead so why chance it. Trump just can’t keep his mouth shut. Every day he makes a new mistake, today its “Thighland”
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So far the left has beaten back centrist primary challengers, many of whom had the Democratic party and media support. Apparently her main rival is concealing some of his donors.
Some interesting chatter about Kodak. Apparently its CEO exercised stock options the day before Trump announced a grant to Kodak to work on something Covid related. Big Pharma is making out like bandits right now.
Biden vs Trump in terms of religious beliefs …. do Trump supporters really want to go there. Biden goes to mass almost weekly. The last time Trump was at church, they deployed tear gas so he could hold a bible upside down.
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