Better not to be woke

So, coronavirus! I kid. I kid. That's not what this post is about. Everything else is these days, but I've been watching a lot of movies and slowly editing the collection of news stories below for a month rather than indulge myself with my completely prosaic experiences and free-of-actual-responsibility theories about the virus. 

I'm going to talk about a much bigger and longer-lasting problem (I think, anyway), that of wokeness, sometimes called the cancel culture, which I have been known to drone on about from time to time. 

The cancel culture should be cancelled by all of us.  Though those on the right certainly have their own craziness, but wokeness is mostly a product of the left, maybe entirely. Although both sides, when they see a tactic work, often leap upon it with both feet. What's important is not the individual crazy acts or statement I detail below. You could find examples from any political group (although, right now, I doubt as many). What's important is the bad effect it has on our culture.

There are many things wrong about the effect this is having on our country and culture. First, because of the hypersensitivity, gross exaggeration and sometimes outright lies about supposed racism, misogyny and other things most Americans generally do not like, it makes it much harder to believe genuine cases. Of course, that will not be an even-handed thing. People will naturally be more likely to believe claims against those they don't like or are otherwise neutral about than about people they like or want to succeed. E.g., Rs often aren't troubled or don't believe claims against Trump and the same is true for Ds about claims against Biden. Another problem is that it has turned general grievances into weapons. This has always been true. But, it is much better understood now. Someone troubles you, make a sexual or racial grievance against (usually) him. Many institutions now have accepted policies, at least in effect, that a complaint is as good as a conviction. Recently, for example, the NYTimes actually strayed from its usual line (I have to wonder why) and reported on a story where professors used anonymous sexual complaints to drive out other professors whose job they wanted.

The good news is that revolutionaries often eat their own. Sen. Al Franken is probably the poster boy for that concept.They are quick to attack other Ds and liberals who violate whatever crazy notions they have or simply say that they disagree. Or commit some woke-taboo. Yet, those so attacked often support the same type of vicious public shaming, if not public attacks, and irrational condemnation that the movement requires. That's why it is hard to feel sorry for people like Franken or MSNBC's Chris Matthews, supposedly fired for bad flirting, but I (and, not to sound like Trump, but . . . many others) suspect it's really because he compared Sen. Sanders to Nazis (as if he was criticizing Trump and was free to say anything he liked). Either one qualifies him as a victim of the cancel culture.  

Last year, I finally decided to be disciplined in keeping a list of crazy woke stuff that goes on, having tried and failed before. As indicated above, crazy is a big topic - unlimited, in fact. One man's normal is another man's crazy. Both political parties and advocates do crazy stuff as do the non-political. So I limited this to mostly wokeness with related anti-Trump hysteria thrown in for good measure. And I don't mean individuals doing horrible stuff, like shooting people, but acts by individuals or groups which are either part of, or generally approved of, by the cancel culture. I would have done the right too, but having lost almost every battle they've ever fought (the last one being the same-sex marriage war), they have had to shed a lot of their own craziness. Of course, many Ds do not accept the behavior I will describe here, in fact, some are shocked by it. But, they most often do nothing to counter it and support those who advocate it. They will vote for candidates who will not condemn it but accept it.    

So, without further ado, here's a collection of crazy stuff (my computer file was named "Crazy Stuff") that the woke were up to last year. 

The list is chronologically uneven, as at the end I had to be less zealous in my recording these episodes due to other obligations. By the way, virtually all of them are from the main street media or small outlets, not their hated enemy, Fox or the like. There are some things that media on the left will simply not report, but you can almost always find a middle of the road outlet, e.g., The Hill, which reports it.

I am sure the "woke" would call my efforts racist or radical or white supremacist. I think it is the opposite of racist. With apologies for the length (it is a whole year's worth), here we go with New Year's Day:

  

1/1     The NYTimes crossword editor apologized for his use of the word “beaner” in a crossword puzzle, b/c, unbeknownst to him, it was, in addition to the way he was using it, was an ethnic slur for Mexicans. The clue he actually meant involved a pitch to the head in baseball, long known as a "bean ball." It has nothing to do with ethnicity of any kind. It didn't matter. He felt he had to apologize. Once again, intent takes a beating.

1/4        Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called Trump a "motherfucker." Where was the outrage in the media that occurred when an R congressman called Obama a liar? Nowhere to be seen.

1/14   Dem. Tulsi Gabbard has to apologize for working with her father against gay marriage in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. That's almost 20 years ago and like many people, including Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton (all much more recently than Gabbard's opposition to gays), she has grown in her views. Didn't matter. One of the rules of wokeness is that no amount of time is sufficient to erase any bias against their favored groups. Unless you are in the untouchable group like Obama and the Clintons. They can be racist, homophobic, etc. and the media generally ignores it.

1/16   A CNN legal analyst, Areva Martin, called out a Fox News contributor named David Webb for his “white privilege." Little fact she missed. Webb is black. She did apologize. But, what does that mean - she apologized not because she called someone out for supposed privilege, but because she was factually wrong about his skin color.  People can be privileged, of course. And it is true that there is still prejudice against blacks that can make some things harder for some black people. They also have many advantages, not least of which is they are legal speaking, first-class citizens and whites are second class. Don't agree? Imagine if there were jobs set aside for whites or a federal law that requires laws to have the same impact on whites or they were unlawful - irrespective of the intent of the law. We do have that for blacks. You might feel it is justified to right historic wrongs that have a present economic impact. You might feel the opposite, that it is prolonging racism, what we are trying to wipe out. That is a big subject for another day.   

  

1/17    An 85 year-old praying outside of Planned Parenthood was attacked by a man who repeatedly kicked him and stole his sign in protest. That's the way some people debate, with violence. It happens on both sides, but if you note who interrupts speakers most often, who publicly shames or attacks people, etc., politically it leans hard left. Don't get me wrong - I think a crazy right-wing nut job is slightly more likely to mail bombs or shoot people than a crazed left-wing nut case (though they do too). But, the innumerable acts of the left in stopping rallies, interrupting government and political events, or beating up a Trump supporter and the like, is rarely deemed a hate crime. And, like with the violence at the inauguration a few years ago, juries in left held areas refuse to convict.

1/18   Covington students incident where young students, at a pro-life rally, were slandered and libeled by media and a congresswoman, when a full picture shows they were not in the wrong and in fact, themselves were being taunted by a group called the Black Hebrew Israelites. The kid who was being taunted has already settled one lawsuit against the media. They only would have settled if they knew he could prove truly egregious behavior by them. He still has other unresolved cases. I hope he wins them all. Not that it will change the media, which seems to have gone into a deep spiral, whereas there is no difference between partisan outlets and many news outlets.

1/25   Roger Stone (who now has been convicted in a trial which will possibly will be reversed on appeal because of a tainted jury), had known he was being investigated for a couple of years and openly expected to be arrested house, and whose attorney agreed to surrender him, was raided and arrested by a ridiculously large and powerful force (including Naval Seals and FBI agents). He was brought to court in shackles, I guess because old men with no history of violence are so dangerous, yet he was not so dangerous that he couldn't be released on a bond on his own signature. This is actually not something that only happens to Trump supporters. Stone's attorney said the FBI frequently does this when the accused doesn't agree to cooperate in their prosecution. But, this was about Trump. I had no reason to believe that the regulars in the Department of Justice would favor the Ds, until we all saw it the last few years. I know those who have the Ds for their side can't see it - and those who favor Rs, would see it no matter what the evidence. I only trust myself - and I see it.

1/27  The director of a graduate program at the Duke University School of Medicine had to step down because of a not-too well thought out email to students in the program, alerting them that two professors had complained about students speaking loudly in their own languages instead of trying to improve their English. Obviously, she wasn't thinking, given where she worked, but, the penalty these days for almost any foolish or even borderline error is dismissal or losing your position. Sometimes worse. Other students rallied for her, saying she wasn't the least bit racist. Again, doesn't matter to those who are woke. Everything is a capital crime. "Off with her head," said the Queen.

1/27   Tom Brokaw was forced to apologize for commenting that Hispanics should work harder to assimilate. On Meet the Press he said: “Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. That’s one of the things I’ve been saying for a long time. They ought not to be just codified in their communities but make sure that all of their kids are learning to speak English, and that they feel comfortable in the communities, and that’s going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.”

His tweet that night - “I feel terrible a part of my comments on Hispanic offended some members of that proud culture. I never intended to disparage any segment of our rich, diverse society which defines who we are.”

What kowtowing. Of course he didn't actually disparage anyone.  I certainly have nothing against Hispanics. I know a number of Hispanics and like them, some a lot, a couple literally among my best friends (yes, I know, you aren't supposed to say that anymore for some unfathomable reason). But Brokaw has to, in penance, call them a "proud culture" and blubbers about our "rich, diverse society" like he is banging his head on the ground to make amends.  Is it so terrible to suggest or even think that it is helpful for any person to learn English in America? Why? Is it terrible to suggest that an ethnic group should do anything different? Why? They don't have to, but it will more likely lead to success for them as it is still the dominant language here. Nor does it suggest that all Hispanics don't try hard enough (unless you are woke, and then are sure that's what he meant). At least, he wasn't fired or suspended.

2/1     Michael Moore called for a boycott of Starbucks until its founder/CEO/Chairman, Howard Schultz, would say he is not running for president. Does anyone even remember Starbucks CEO Schultz. I do, but I don't remember him dropping out. I think everyone just forgot about him. Whatever. This boycotting and disrupting stuff leaves me cold unless for something extraordinarily evil has occurred - but running for president? I'm telling you, they've gone crazy. It is a perfect example of why this nouveau culture of personal destruction must be defeated. Good God, did I say "defeated?" That's the phrase Rush Limbaugh has long used.

2/2     Governor Northram being asked to step down as governor b/c he (probably), on Halloween, was in costume in 1984 in black-face with someone dressed as a KKK member. I get that today blackface is considered incredibly offensive. Remember that Meghan Kelly basically lost her career, at least in part, for asking why is it wrong for even a child to dress-up or make-up as a black person she likes? Why is it wrong? Supposed a kid wanted to dress as Barack Obama? Do we now have a reverse apartheid society that a black kid could dress as a white or black and no one would care? We do. Of course, Northram wasn't a kid. But it was Halloween. You are supposed to do scary stuff. Another time he said he dressed as Michael Jackson in black-face.  I'm sure there are instances of black-face which are meant to be racist. It's not nice and it would be offensive to me too - because intent does matter. But, that doesn't mean all blackface is necessarily bad-intentioned. Unless you are woke. And then intent doesn't matter.

2/5  Even better, a Princeton professor and another analyst on an NBC panel blamed Pres. Trump for black-face  surfacing lately, while discussing Northram's picture - which was taken in  . . . 1984. That's over 30 years before Trump decided to run. Actually, all of the reports of black-face by politicians seem to be from a long time ago. In 2001, I dressed at Halloween as Osama bin Eisenberg. No one was offended that I heard. Everyone seemed to like it. Today, I'm sure it would be said I was mocking Semites or Muslims.

2/14  AOC and friends succeeded in driving Amazon out of Long Island City. It pissed off even other Ds who were counting on the political benefits of all those jobs. But AOC doubled down and the far-left celebrated it as a victory. This is only one of the reasons some people think AOC is an idiot. I don't think she is an idiot. I usually disagree with her, but sometimes I agree. I think she is young and not really educated about what is a good idea or not. Often it is a tough question, but that one wasn't. But, then again, she is a politician. As Mark Twain wrote - "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself."

2/15   AOC compared Trump’s wall (which, honestly, I didn't think was a great idea) to the Berlin Wall, perhaps not understanding that the Berlin Wall was meant to keep people in, not out.

2/17 Jussie Smollett. Need I say more?

2/21  -  A conservative student was punched in the face after several other students confronted his for being a political activist. I don't know if he was ever caught by the police, but he wasn't soon after it was reported and I doubt they are still looking for a puncher.

3/9 - Alyssa Milano, who has decided that here opinion should control everyone else's life, even governments, had to apologize for tweeting: "I’m a person of colour. I’m an immigrant. I’m a lesbian. I’m a gay man. I’m the disabled. I’m everything. And so are you, Kirk. Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know or understand. No one wants to hurt you. We are all just looking for our happily ever after.”

She was responding to a man named Kirk. She was obviously trying to empathize just as Gandhi did with “I’m a Muslim . . . ."

Hard to defend her, as I find her bullying loathsome (I'm sure she believes it is righteous) but why should even she apologize? Thanks to people like her, victimization is everything to some in her generation - even if they aren't victims. But she said nothing wrong. 

Did I mention that radicals eat their own?

2/22 Maryland Art College apologized for its racist past dating back to 1950s and earlier. Just to help you do the math, that is 60-70 years ago. That is likely before anyone now associated with running the college was an adult, if alive at all. Even if someone was still there who 60+ years ago, were they involved with the prejudicial acts?  If they did, did they change decades ago? This is one of the great problems with this movement. Not only doesn't intent matter, but neither does time. And neither does proportion or culpability. Only an association with anything which at anytime they feel can be described as racist, regardless of intent or personal responsibility. 

3/2  Two transgender athletes, both males, dominated Connecticut HS women’s sprinting. Connecticut, along with 16 other states, permits trans males to compete with women. Have they lost their minds? Personally, I think it violates at least the spirit of Title Seven. The poor girls who have to compete with them, particularly the ones who would have won. What will it cost them in terms of their happiness, their potential scholarships, etc.? We can have plenty of compassion for trans persons without joining in the dysmorphia or placating them at others' loss. 

3/16 Beto O'rourke joined the apology tour, apologizing for being white (read "privileged") and to his wife, supposedly for insulting her because he made a joke about his not helping enough with the kids. Another rule - no joking! It's wrong. No, I'm kidding. OMG, what did I just do? I joked. Bad blogger.

3/17  Chelsea Clinton was accused of inspiring mass NZ killing by some on left b/c she criticized anti-Semitic remarks. So, saying you shouldn't kill Jews is the same as saying you should kill Muslims? Oy vey. 

3/18 Beto said 3d term abortion is up to the mother, but sounding like he meant also after childbirth. He walked that back. Either way, yccch. You can argue with me about first term abortion. Third term, I can't hear it. I just can't.

3/19  A transgender man (some say transgender woman) demanded an apology and £2,500 in compensation after claiming she was called 'Sir' by Southern Rail staff. Good grief. Suppose she was an actual woman and was called "Sir?" Would there be good grounds for a suit? I hope not. 

3/23 AOC criticized Republican senators from bringing the Green New Deal to a vote. It's her plan, and, she didn't want anyone pointing out how ridiculous it was. Pretty much no one voted for it. 

3/24  A LI school teacher was fired after students got hold of a private text she sent to her then partner the year before showing her topless with makeup in one hand, the camera in the other. This isn't about wokeness, just unfairness. She was fired for not being a proper school “role model.” I heard from someone I know who's son was an attorney representing the school that she had a lot of problems. Not that I believe what attorneys with clients are always objective. He said she soon after left her employment. I don't know the terms. I don't know why. I just think she got screwed for being a woman. I was surprised at the lack of support she got. Apparently, our fear of women's breasts (and I'm like most everyone else) won that one.

3/25 – Many Ds were still insisting that there was Russia collusion with the Trump campaign despite the Mueller report. It's hard to take anything they say serious.

3/25 – Yale Law School announced it would no longer offer financial aid to students who work at public interest groups with a traditional Christian view of marriage. The law school announced the change in policy on March 25 by email, citing an extension in its "nondiscrimination" policy to cover summer public interest fellowships, postgraduate public interest fellowships, and loan forgiveness for public interest careers, according to The Federalist. In light of the policy extension, the law school will not pay stipends to students who work at organizations that are perceived to discriminate on the basis of “sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.” I've always been for same-sex marriage, but also always against this type of bullying.

Non-profit law schools often offer stipends to students who work at certain organizations to encourage public service. Now, I guess, the company must also adopt progressive policies. The law school initiated the policy change after demands from The Outlaws, an LBGT activist group on campus, to pull financial aid from students working at Christian public interest groups and clarify their admissions policies for students who support Christian views on sexuality and gender identity. Again, I disagree with those students and those organizations about same-sex marriage. But, that doesn't have anything to do with it. F' Yale, in my opinion.

3/26  Jussie Smollet's charges were dropped in exchange for loss of his $10000 bond and community service. Are you kidding me? Even though he's being pulled back in, I'm actually against that. But, there was deal-making here and while he should be left alone, his apparent protector, Kim Foxx, the Cook County's State Attorney, has a lot of 'splaining to do.  He is being prosecuted again anyway, which is probably wrong too. I'm not sure if it technically is, but it sounds like double jeopardy to me.

3/28 A Houston teacher gave the class an anti-Trump assignment. It was a paragraph about Trump and there were multiple choice answers about what the article meant, including “Donald Trump should not be president.” As a result, outrage, even death threats have resulted. That's worse than the proselytizing itself, but, some teacher, huh? I didn't read she was suspended, so maybe not. But, if she had said it about Obama? What do you think?

3/29   Yashar Ali, a contributer to New York Mag. and Huff Post, was a reporter wanting to go to press that the DNC didn’t have primary dates yet, bullied to drop his story. He was called by Dafna Linzer, the head of political coverage for NBC. Linzer tried, according to Ali, to kill his story -  “She asked if I could hold the story and I said I couldn’t. She was agitated, ‘why not?’ I said I’m not going to lose a scoop. Then she got angrier and said ‘Why not? It’s not a big deal, let them make a few phone calls.’ My jaw dropped. I realized that @DafnaLinzer, the head of all political coverage for NBC News and MSNBC wasn’t calling to advocate for her network, she was calling to advocate the DNC’s position. She wanted me to wait so they could call state party leaders.”

When Ali tried to end the call so he could talk to his editor, Linzer demanded his editor's name. Ali finally ended the call (hung up?).  

It's not like media figures acting as activists or partisans is new. It is just more prevalent and outrageous than in recent past.

3/30  BLM demands Jefferson statue at Hofstra be taken down. Personally, I thought Jefferson was a creep. But, so was almost everyone else in the world before modern times - employing modern standards of behavior.

4/1     From a Sen. McConnell op-ed which contained the following. I have not heard the facts refuted:

“Across the first two years of each of the six presidents preceding President Trump, the Senate only had to hold 24 total cloture votes on nominations. That’s the once-rare procedural step that unlocks an up-or-down confirmation vote even though a minority has sought to block it.

And in President Trump’s first two years? We had to hold a stunning 128 cloture votes to advance nominations. Our Democratic colleagues made the Senate jump over five times as many hurdles as in the equivalent periods in the Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations combined.”

4/2 A south Palo Alto activist, Rebecca Mankey, has been fired from her accounting job at Gryphon Stringed Instruments after chasing a man wearing a Make America Great Again cap out of Starbucks and then posting about the confrontation on Facebook. Look, you can't work somewhere and do that. I am against firing people because of their opinions or a mistake. But, for being aggressive with customers or violence, no. Mankey must go. I'd feel the same no matter who the man was advertising for.

4/3  CNBC reports that [headline] “Rising Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg said ‘all lives matter’ in 2015, putting his record on race in the spotlight.” That's where our country's at, folks. If you say all lives matter - it's news and you may be a racist. Democrat Presidential candidate Jim Webb learned that in 2016. He didn't last 24 hours after that.

4/3  News 12 reports that a Ronkonkoma 6^th grader could not do paper on Donald Trump as her hero. I bet she could have done one on Barack Obama.

4/8  No political clothing (if we don't like your politics). A girl in NH high school told to cover up a Trump t-shirt. They’ve since rescinded it, but, come on.

4/9  AOC claims immigration caused by climate change. Seriously? I think so.

4/12  High School asked to apologize for a supposedly racist musical – Thoroughly Modern Millie. School said would not be played going forward. Why is it racist? Apparently, a character, a white woman masquerading as Asian, with two Asian assistants, in order to run a slave-trading service, was considered racist? Why? Because she was pretending to be Chinese? If she was just "white" would it not be racist? I guess the rule is, no minority may be portrayed in anything but a benevolent light. Whites can be mocked though. How many tv shows have portrayals of white men as idiots or shallow? That's okay. Got it. Racist society.

4/13 Two Maryland men charged with beating up an immigrant from Togo with MAGA hat. Well, he was wearing a MAGA hat. Surprised that is still considered a crime.

4/19 The Yankees have decided to no longer run Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” during their seventh-inning stretch because of Smith’s affiliation with a song decades ago that carried racist lyrics. Huh? Oh, Smith once sang a 1931 song, “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” which opened: “Someone had to pick the cotton, Someone had to pick the corn, Someone had to slave and be able to sing, That’s why darkies were born.”

The song, which has been called a satirical take on racism, was a big hit for Smith, and also was recorded by Paul Robeson, who, of course, was black. When the Yankees last month became aware of Smith’s history, they switched to a keyboard version of God Bless America.

The Yankees have played the song in the middle of every game since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the insistence of late owner George Steinbrenner. This item is a triple threat. It demonstrates that in modern views on racism (for some, of course), not only does intent not matter, but neither does time. Last, a rational reason to "cancel" someone seems to not matter much either. All that matters is that you can use the word racism, correctly or not.

4/23   Biden’s roll out avoids Charlottesville b/c of the riot and the death of one woman. I don't understand why. Is the ground thereby tainted? Whoever did the wrong thing there, it makes no sense to blame the citizens who live there or the ground upon which the riot was fought. Moreover, of course, there is no protest that the marchers were attacked.

4/23    Bernie Sanders is for giving voting rights to prisoners while they are still serving time, including murderers such as the Boston Marathon bomber.

4/24   Bernie Sanders booed and heckled at She the People Forum asked about White Nationalism. Why? Because his answers to a group of minority women did not completely follow the narrative. He should know - everyone is a victim. Even those who aren't.

5/18   SATs now to give points for “adversity” (in other words, everyone but white males?) 

5/18 College students stage walk-out on Mike Pence commencement address. I know people don't like it when I say, kids are stupid.

4/25 Huff Post - Sexual assault survivors and student activists at George Mason University protested the school having hired Brett Kavanaugh as a visiting professor.  One of the student advocacy groups members, a sexual assault survivor, said “I feel uncomfortable going to this school, and I don’t feel like I can complete the rest of my education here.” Another (could have been the same, said “As a survivor of sexual assault, this decision has really impacted me negatively. It has affected my mental health knowing that an abuser will be part of our faculty.” I'm sure the Dean or president of the school would be fired for saying, "Okay, your choice." What was said was less sanguine. “I respect the views of people who disagreed with Justice Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation due to questions raised about his sexual conduct in high school. But he was confirmed and is now a sitting Justice. The law school has determined that the involvement of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice contributes to making our law program uniquely valuable for our students. And I accept their judgment.” Rare courage from a school.

4/29      Chris Cuomo said Antifa's cause was not equivalent to the positions espoused by neo-Nazis and white supremacists.” He later said he didn’t want to “espouse” them, but one of his guest said it sure sounded like it:

Cuomo: "You can talk about Antifa. I've watched them in streets protesting in different situations, okay? There are certainly aspects of them that are true to a cause, that is a good cause, they want social justice, they want whatever they want in that context."

Guest: "Not Antifa"

Cuomo: "You tell me when that has ever happened with neo-Nazis, where they have ever been doing the right thing."

Guest: "Chris, Antifa is not a good cause. Antifa does not have good aims. Antifa wants political power taken through force. That's what Antifa is all about. I mean, they are the inheritors of Nazis and brown shirts."

4/25      The NYTimes printed a cartoon showing Netanyahu as a guide dog leading a blind Trump. A few days later, The Times apologized in an op-ed. They also tweeted “The image was offensive, and it was an error of judgment to publish it. It was provided by The New York Times News Service and Syndicate, which has since deleted it.” It wasn't offensive. They were not saying that Jews were dogs. It is a common meme in politics to show a guide dog leading a blind person. Everyone has got to stop apologizing for people being offended when there is no need.

5/3        A Marvel comic book writer Matthew Rosenberg has apologized for some content that's been deemed insensitive and inciting transgender-panic in the latest issue of Uncanny X-Men.

Uncanny X-Men #17 revealed how Rahne Sinclair, the mutant Wolfsbane, died in a flashback that depicted her being accosted by a group of men in a park. After she rebuffed one of the men's advances, the group began aggressively harassing her. After she revealed her mutant powers by briefly shifting into her werewolf-esque form, her attacker insisted that she was trying "to trap normal guys" as they began beating her to death. He apologized. For a comic book story, because . . . ? Because you can't have a wolfman character? Because it somehow encourages violence against trans people (or wolfmen?). Come on.

5/2        Rep. Ilhan Omar blamed the US for the political turmoil in Venezuela, saying we “helped lead the devastation” through the use of sanctions: “A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela and we have sort of set the stage for where we are arriving today,” the Minnesota congresswoman said during an interview Wednesday with Democracy Now! “This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela and it certainly does not help and is not in the interest of the United States.” Not surprisingly, more recently, when asked to describe herself, American wasn't one of the words she chose.

5/3      DePaul University Prof. Jason Hill made pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian remarks. Many in the faculty and student body called for his censor. The faculty council passed a resolution condemning his remarks but upholding his right to free speech. Would they condemn a Palestinian speaker? People freely criticize Israel. Why not Palestine?

5/4      It was reported that a principal of an elementary school will stop saying God Bless America after a complaint. I guess because we can't have American kids loving America?  

5/5     President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil decided on Friday to cancel a trip to New York this month following weeks of controversy over the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce’s decision to honor the far-right leader at its gala this year. Apparently, it upset environmental groups, gay activists and New York politicians, including de Blasio, who called Bolsonar “a dangerous man” whose “overt racism, homophobia and destructive decisions will have a devastating impact on the future of our planet.” Apparently, Bolsonaro wants to make it easier for miners, loggers, etc. to use protected parts of the Amazon and thinks indigenous groups have too much land. Delta Air Lines, The Financial Times and others dropped out as sponsors. Some banks and other financial institutions remained committed as of Friday to sponsor the event. They included Bank of America, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and BNY Mellon.  A spokesman for Mr. Bolsonaro said the president decided to scrap the trip “in the face of deliberate attacks from the mayor of New York and pressure from interest groups.”

5/11  Harvard bows to pressure from students and won’t let an attorney for Weinstein or his wife return. Not Harvey Weinstein himself, mind you. His attorney. Students are often idiots.

5/25  A store clerk was fired after scaring off a hatchet bearing thief with a gun in Oregon because he violated the no-weapons policy. I guess better he was dead and not fired according to his bosses.

5/28  A biological male won the women’s 400 meter hurdles NCAA championship. He came in 5^th in 100 meter hurdles so they said, see, he doesn’t always win. I guess that makes it fair because he isn't even that fast. Which is why he runs against women.

5/28 Terry Bradshaw had to apologize to Ken Jeong for calling him Japanese b/c he is really Korean (also, he’s American - Born here). I like Ken Jeong. I hope it wasn't him who said he needed an apology. People call me Italian all the time, including this month.  

5/29 A consultant for NYC Department of Education told other administrators  that “racial equity” means favoring black children regardless of their socio-economic status.

At the same event, a Jewish superintendent shared stories about her grandmother experiencing bombs falling in Poland and running from the Nazis and her grandfather, who spent nearly six years in a labor/concentration camp, where he witnessed the murder of his mother and sister. Her point was to oppose targeted racism of any group and equity for all people. To her surprise, she was verbally attacked by a black superintendent in front of h er colleagues, who told her: "This is not about being Jewish! It’s about black and brown boys of color only. You better check yourself.”

Not surprisingly, she felt traumatized. 

6/3      Education theorists argued that dodgeball was not only problematic, “miseducative” and a tool of oppression. 

6/17    Harvard rescinded admission to Kyle Kashuv, a conservative, over private racist remarks he wrote at age 16, despite apology and growth. Oh, brother.

6/17    St. Louis Park City Council, Minn. voted to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of its city council meeting in order to serve “a more diverse community.” After an outrage, they rescinded. Not that I say the pledge – I don’t, but to take away something so popular b/c of diversity . . . ?

6/25    NBA won’t use the word “owner” anymore. They will use governor. Even though the owner is actually the owner. Isn't what they were saying was that their players weren't intelligent enough to know that it is not racist.

6/25    A waiter spit on Eric Trump. 

7/2     Nike decides to stop production of sneakers celebrating 4^th  of July with Betsey Ross flag on back b/c Colin Kapernick advised it might offend some people b/c it was from the slave days. Why are they even celebrating the 4^th then? Isn’t that from the same era? I liked Kapernick when he was a young exciting QB. Now I think he is a destructive idiot.

7/3     A man was fired as an independent contractor b/c he showed up with a confederate flag on his truck at a black customer’s house. Told why his customer was upset, he offered to remove the flag, but she was beyond upset with it (in her words – she was calm and polite, and I couldn't tell you) and said good-bye. This is a tough one.  Of course, she could fire him for any reason she wanted - even no reason. I would agree that if he did it on purpose to upset her, she had a good reason, but it seems, given his offer to remove it, it's just one more example of hysteria. I don't know how fast I would let someone with a swastika on his truck into my house, but, I know lots of people who love the confederate flag out of regional chauvinism who aren't ideological to think he meant it that way without some greater reason (some don't even know the history of it - they just are celebrating they are from the South). You could, of course, find good reason to hate the American flag for similar reasons - and some people do. 

7/3     It was determined that Jefferson’s birthday will not be celebrated in Charlottesville. Instead, celebrate of the freedom of the slaves will replace it. I don't even like Jefferson personally (I have written a few posts showing what a creep he was - even without slavery), but if you are going to cancel some historical figures for discrimination, etc., it is hard to stop. The list includes, for example, Gandhi.

7/4 For example, San Francisco will spend up to $600,000 to paint over historical artwork at a public school depicting the life of George Washington, a mural once seen as educational and innovative but now criticized as racist and degrading for its depiction of black and Native American people.

The mural was painted by Victor Arnautoff, a SF artist during the Great Depression. Some worry that this is just the beginning with attacks on art. They should. Those determined to destroy memory of the past (and how we got here) are relentless and most other people, just want to go to work and play with their kids.

7/4     In Tempe, Ariz. 6 cops asked to leave Starbucks by barista after customer said she felt unsafe. You read that right - the cops were asked to leave. Starbucks has since apologized.

7/6     Joe Biden profusely apologized for supposedly warmly reminiscing about his working relationships with Southern segregationists. Previously he had refused to apologize, but now told s past positions, told a heavily African-American audience in South Carolina, that he regretted those comments. It paid off - as SC send him (probably) on his way to the nomination.

Hysterical. First, Biden is, like most politicians, an apology machine when it is expedient. Second, there there were no warm reminisces, in reality. Biden had actually said bad things about his former racist colleagues, but pointed out that you need to be civil even with people like that to get things done for everyone. 

7/7 At what is called the "Afrofutures Fest" in Michigan, tickets went on sale charging twice as much as for whites. How could anyone think that is racist? It's not racist if you are debasing whites, correct? I mean, didn't Joe Biden say that only whites can be racist? In case you don't know, yes, he did.

7/7  A yoga instructor in Seattle, Laura Humpf, had a good idea (please, note sarcasm).  She publicized an “Undoing Whiteness” yoga class aimed at whites desiring to “unpack the harmful ways white supremacy is embedded” in their “body, mind and heart.” The class would discuss  the “pathology of whiteness” and their obliviousness to their privileges.

“I do stand behind white people needing to talk to other white people on how to undo whiteness. Can I keep refining it and doing it differently and better? Yeah, and I will forever and ever. But I believe in this space as one tool.”

7/22 Beauty Queen Kathy Zhu was stripped of her Ms. Michigan title, essentially for being a Trump supporter. She criticized and refused to don a hijab, which she believes is sexist. She considers herself a moderate. She also pointed out that most black are killed by blacks. You are not allowed to tell the truth these days, because apparently, facts that don't fit the anti-white narrative are deemed racist (while Yoga classes that demean being white, that's just nifty).

7/30   San Francisco city council declared the NRA a terrorist org.  I'm not an NRA member. I agree with some of their preferred policies and disagree with others as I do with many organizations. But terrorists? How can we take anything seriously that the council suggests. By the way, have they declared Antifa terrorist? Guess.

8/5  On MSNBC's show where Nicole Wallace is host, her guest, Raul Reyes described Trump as having declared open-season on Latinos? Wonder why it didn't actually happen. Hmmm. But, Wallace, who seems to have lost any sense of right and wrong and judgment about character (she excitely welcomed Avenatti to her show) contributed that he, Trump, had called for the extermination of Latinos. To give her some credit, she did apologize. Sort of. In a tweet, she wrote: "I misspoke about Trump calling for an extermination of Latinos night. My mistake was unintentional and I’m sorry. Trump’s constant assault on people of color and his use of the word 'invasion' to describe the flow of immigrants is intentional and constant." If that's an apology, she apologized.

8/7 Another MSNBC guest, after talking about Norweigan psychotic and mass murderer, Brevik, said that Trump supporters are: "[Trump supporters] feel that they are the foot soldiers and executors of what the disenfranchisement that the white race is feeling and Donald Trump is giving them subliminal orders in their head. They are no different than the mobilized, self-starting, self-radicalized terrorists of ISIS here in the United States and Europe, who take cars and drive down streets. It's just that they have a permissive environment in which they can get firearms and go out and attack their perceived enemies."

Of course, we do have racial and religious massacres by crazy people like Brevik. Public figures can inspire crazy people to kill. Like when three men in short order massacred cops a few years ago (previous administration) indicating they were inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. I didn't see the press making the connection then. Has Trump encouraged death to blacks or others by bragging about their record low employment, by his use of the pardon power and encouragement of criminal law reforms? If those are subliminal it is to encourage minorities. 

8/8     On NBC, MSNBC'S flagship station, national security commentator, Frank Figliuzzi, claimed Trump sent a secret Heil Hitler message. “The numbers 88 are very significant in neo-Nazi and white supremacist movement. Why? Because the letter H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and to them, the numbers 88 together stand for 'Heil Hitler.' So we’re going to be raising the flag back up at dusk on 8/8. No one is thinking about this. No one is giving him advice or he’s rejecting the advice. So, understand your adversary to counter the adversary.”

What?

8/25 On CNN, which also suffers from anti-Trump hysteria, “Reliable Sources,” guest psychiatrist Dr. Allen Frances said “Trump is as destructive a person in this century as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were in the last century. He may be responsible for many more million deaths than they were. He needs to be contained but he needs to be contained by attacking his policies, not his person. It’s crazy for us to be destroying the climate our children will live in." Isn't that nice, he said don't attack him physically. After saying that he will kill many million more than the worst people in our knowledge. This is what they call reliable sources? The host later said he was distracted or he would have challenged the remarks. Sure. 

8/26 On the Univ. of N. Carolina website, a conference was scheduled for "white consciousness." In case that sounds like KKK stuff, it's the opposite except in a way, it's the same. Basically, an anti-white conference, which teaches judgment not by the content of our character, but by the color of our skin. Isn't that what the KKK taught? Judge us by our skin color?

"WHITE CONSCIOUSNESS CONVERSATIONS FOR FACULTY AND STAFF"

. . . . "Understanding the meaning and implications of whiteness and engaging in anti-racist practice is crucial in creating racial equity. " Remarkably, the idea was supposedly "to assist in [participants] understanding of how racism is perpetuated individually, culturally, and systemically." I don't know how the two statements can co-exist. If you are not aware, to the new "anti-racist" world, anti-racist often means - not white. If you don't believe me, there's an example two days down from here.

8/27     MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell reported that a "single source close to Deutsch Bank" had told him that President Donald Trump's loans were co-signed by "Russian billionaires close to Vladimir Putin." He retracted and apologized on Thursday. I used to watch him years ago on MSNBC. Even when I liked the channel I thought he was mentally unstable and so did some of his co-workers. Was he suspended? No. Punished in any way? No. 

8/28    Biden, who will probably be the D nominee said: “Racism is a ‘White Man’s' problem. White men are responsible for it, not black men." 

8/29    In case you think it is just cable news commentators, here's D Rep. Denny Heck on CNN: “Look, I think there's some things to remind people of here. First of all, Puerto Ricans have, in disproportionate numbers, volunteered, served and died in our wars. Second, they are U.S. citizens. I can come away from this with only a couple conclusions, one of which is very painful. Namely, the presidency simply hates brown people, especially if they happen to speak another language." 

I don't disagree, of course, that DT says incredibly stupid things all the time. And, in the same way many people are bigoted, I think he is too. Not as bigoted as Joe Biden is against white people (or pretends to be). Not as bigoted as those who think all white people are racists or only whites can be racist.  

9/3  Doubling down on its terrorism pronouncement against the NRA San Francisco council said: The board said San Francisco should "take every reasonable step" to limit any vendors and contractors with which it does business from also doing business with the NRA. It also said it is "urging other cities, states, and the federal government to do the same." 

The NRA has sued them claiming discrimination against those with different viewpoints. I don't know if they were or will be successful. I am not an NRA member and have some disagreements with them. But, I'd rather have NRA members for neighbors than SF council persons. That city seems to have, like Seattle and some others on the West Coast, gone crazy.

9/7    Illinois prosletizes sexual (LGBT) politics to youngsters. Under a new Illinois law taking effect next year, by the time students finish eighth grade, public schools must teach them about contributions to Illinois and U.S. history by LGBTs. I have, nothing, of course, against teaching about important figures of those who happen to be LGBQ. And no teacher or policy should encourage any discrimination against people because of sexual preferences (I'd assume most people except anything non-consensual or violent). I do have a problem with making our schools places to proselytize for identity politics or teach history based upon it. Not only shouldn't schools be a battleground for politicians or ideologues, but it really causes more, not less, resentment and problems. Reading, writing, 'rithmetic, science and general, non-controversial history. Not controversial politics. Morals are for parents to teach, not schools. 

9/9 Oh, that Trump again. Turnberry scandal. Politico accused the Airforce or Trump or someone of the Air Force wrongly using Trump’s Turnberry Hotel. It turns out the Air Force uses it 6% of the time, and it has been since 2015 - when Obama was president.

9/15-16   Oh, that Kavanaugh again. The NY Times, which I had to cancel this year, after over 50 years of reading it because of their political bias, reported yet a new Kavanaugh accusation. The next day they had to correct themselves to admit that the supposed victim had no memory of such a thing and that there were no witnesses, just a circle of people who heard it from one another. Here's a shocker - the person who reported it was once on Clinton (Bill’s) defense team. Despite these facts, many Ds immediately called for his impeachment. Of course, judges who are slandered should be impeached. 

9/17  Remember when comedy was funny. A new SNL cast member was dropped suddenly when it came out that in the past he had tried out comedic material that was deemed racist. It probably would have been too, were it not comedy.

Comedian Rob Schneider tweeted on 9/16 to him:

“As a former SNL cast member I am sorry that you had the misfortune of being a cast member during this era of cultural unforgiveness where comedic misfires are subject to the intolerable inquisition of those who never risked bombing on stage themselves.”

9/16 They want you in chains again!  Joe Biden warned about the return of "the domestic terrorism of white supremacy," with a speech Sunday morning at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. He was analogizing to four black girls being killed in a KKK bombing 56 years earlier. Even Obama has said it is not the '60s anymore and that the best time and place for a minority to be born was right here, right now. But, he's not running for president anymore.  

9/19 Sure whites are privileged. Trudeau apologies for dressing as Aladdin in 2001, now saying he realizes it was racist. Aladdin, a fictional character long celebrated. Imagine if someone said that white kids should only learn or play as white historical or literary figures (by the way - are Persians not white? I have no idea what they are considered in today's crazy world). The reaction would be furious. Yet, that is what the woke generation wants. They just wouldn't want a white person to say it.

9/18 Evil people rejoice! A NY judge has resigned after an investigation into his 2018 Facebook post where he stated “If we want to Make America Great Again we will have to make evil people fear punishment again.” Heavens, he used Trump's MAGA phrase. He must be destroyed. What a concept too - that evil people should fear punishment. By the way, he was a registered Democrat who didn't support Trump. Didn't matter. He caught the attention of those with the fever.

9/19  At least she acknowledges her mental illness. Comedian Chelsea Handler said she had to do a lot of therapy before she interviewed right-wing Republicans for her new documentary Hello Privilege, It’s Me Chelsea, which, surprise surprise, explore's her white privilege in America and how it has benefited her own professional career and personal life. “I had to do a lot of therapy to even have these conversations with people because I have a temper and I’m reactive. When somebody’s annoying, I want to tell them that they’re annoying or that they’re stupid.” Because white people who don't agree with her are annoying and stupid, I guess.

9/19 Why aren't these people fired?  Employees at Google, Amazon and Microsoft announced they were walking off the job to participate in a global climate strike. It has become more commonplace for employees to foist their political views on their bosses. Only recently, just two publishing house employees forced their employer to give up publishing Woody Allen's Memoirs. I doubt they were aware that in a full investigation Yale-New Haven Hospital concluded that it was most likely the young girl accuser was persuaded by her mother in the midst of the tensions of a divorce. Not that she was molested. Who cares if it fits the woke narrative that anyone accused, however implausibly, should be destroyed.  

9/19 I really hate these people. Julian Castro was merely the first of a now line of D candidates for president who have called Officer Darren Wilson, who was found to have shot Michael Brown in self-defense, and George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder (the evidence for acquittal was overwhelming) - murderers. I don't have a full list, but Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg have also done so. Honestly, F' them. Zimmerman sued Warren and Buttigieg. He won't win, because they are stating their opinion. But F' them. Vicious bastards. 

9/26  First Amendment on hold. It’s now against the law in New York City to threaten someone with a call to immigration authorities or refer to them as an “illegal alien” when motivated by hate. What? So, if you say, I'm calling immigration, how much do you want to bet the hate will be implied.  One passage of the memo on the law states: “The use of certain language, including ‘illegal alien’ and ‘illegals,’ with the intent to demean, humiliate, or offend a person or persons constitutes discrimination.”

Oh, and punishable by fines of up to $250,000 per offense. In other words, if you report a crime, you will be destroyed.

By the way, has anyone heard of the First Amendment? Apparently not. 

9/30  More vicious white people. Oh, wait. Jumped the gun again. It was a story bound to unleash a storm of news coverage: A black 12-year-old girl reported that three white boys had pinned her down in a school playground and cut off her dreadlocks. Outraged followed. But in a matter of days, the story fell apart. The school announced that the girl had admitted the story was a lie, and that her family had apologized. I wonder if she was punished in any way. Experience has taught me to believe it when I see it.

People who make up these fake stories of racism just make it harder for those with genuine complaints. But, they are encouraged and defended by their leaders and the "woke."

10/1 As Joe Biden says, only whites can be racist, right? On Monday during a tour of the Detroit Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib told the African-American Detroit police chief she thinks he should only hire Black facial recognition analysts because “non African-Americans think African-Americans all look the same.”

10/2  We have to stop arresting guilty people. A Virginia officer was suspended after turning over an illegal immigrant to ICE after crash. Groups call for his being fired. The officer had to undergo remedial training. That's astonishing.

10/2 Is this real? Seattle schools to start teaching that math is oppressive. Math. MATH!

10/7 School teacher teaches class that Southeners marry their sisters. At least those who display the Confederate flag.  A Georgia teacher allegedly showed a Powerpoint image of a Confederate flag to the teacher’s classroom accompanied by a caption reading, “A sticker you put on the back of your pickup truck to announce that you intend to marry your sister. Think of it like a white trash ‘Save the Date’ card.” The teacher was been placed on administrative leave. It was deliberately provocative, but still, I'd say too harsh, unless it was a day or so. Just tell her not to be an idiot.

10/8/19   Hey, Good for Ellen DeGeneris. Social media went nuts when she was photographed at a football game with President Bush (II). "War criminal" was the complaint. But, Ellen stood tall, which is so rare and tweeted back that they were friends and that she had lots that didn't share her beliefs. Ellen has the popularity and power to disregard the woke cannibals but, I still give her points for it. Many would have crumbled. The real point is that she was attacked in the first place.

10/9   F' Antifa. I hate these guys and gals who are nothing less than brown shirts. Heroes to some on the left, the brown-shirt Antifa took a public-relations hit this week in Canada after activists blocked the path of an elderly woman using a walker as she tried to enter an Ontario college for a talk featuring a conservative politician. Partisanship blinds everyone. I know Ds who are probably typical who excuse or ignore what Antifa does. I saw one D presidential candidate almost run away (he walked fast) from a question about it. The media mostly ignores them. Thank God for the internet and the few media outlets who will cover these actual fascists or we'd never know about it.

10/9   The older I get, the more pro-life I get. When a pro-life demonstration which had bagpipes and gave out brochures, things started peaceably until a pro-choice advocates showed up.  One woman argued that it was a baby, but that it "I have every single right to f***ing decide what I do with my own f***ing body!" Others demanded that the pro-life group immediately leave, saying they had no right to be on campus.used social media to gather agitators screaming "Hail Satan!," another shouting "I eat baby lungs for breakfast!" and another spitting on a pro-lifer, disregarding the police. When finally the police escorted the pro-life group to their vehicles, the counter-demonstrators followed and screamed with joy; one even twerked.

10/11 More reasons I can't vote for any Ds right now. A mob in Minneapolis angry with Trump supporters, attacked police, blocked cars and threw things, burned MAGA gear and threw urine.  A Democrat congresswomen showed up, dressed in black. All the violence was against Trump supporters. Not surprisingly, the NYTs was silent about it the next day. Behavior like that led me to stop reading the paper I have read since childhood. 

10/11  Think like I think, or be punished.  Democratic presidential candidate and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke was criticized by political commentators and journalists, Friday, for proposing an “unconstitutional” ban on tax exemption for religious institutions that don’t support same-sex marriage.

After O’Rourke was asked during the CNN Equality Town Hall, Thursday, whether “religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities” should “lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage,” O’Rourke replied, “Yes.” I actually don't support tax breaks for religious institutions at all. 

I actually agree with him that we should not have tax breaks for religious institutions. But, it should not be based on their support or opposition to same-sex marriage. 

10/11 This is what racism has become.  It's easy to hate the Klan or out and out white supremacists. But, the answer to racism is not to base our laws on skin color. A week after a self-described supporter of President Donald Trump called the police on a black state senator in New York campaigning (she actually appeared to oppose his politics, not his skin color), he proposed a bill that would make calling 911 on an innocent black person a hate crime. Not, you note, to deliberately call 911 for racial reasons, but only if the target is black.  The State Senator said “That’s gonna be a hate crime.”  What she did, if reported correctly, was reprehensible, and it would certainly be a crime if she filed a false criminal report. And if you don't believe that some people would infer that someone calling 911 on a black person is proof enough of hate, you haven't been paying attention.

10/12 Another hysterical reaction to Trump. After Trump announced he would hold a rally in Minneapolis (a fairly woke place),  a new policy was handed down to police officers which barred off-duty officers from wearing their uniforms to political events. So, those volunteering as security for him, wore red instead. 

10/12 - But, it got worse.  Protesters in in Minneapolis where Trump gave his rally threw urine, burned MAGA hats and attacked at least one Trump supporter. 

10/15  A Christian suspended for uttering a Christian opinion at a Christian school. In London, a long-time governor of a Christian school was suspended. for saying that she would not have wanted her two sons to read books with LGBT themes, on the grounds that she had uttered homophobic statements at a public event.  I couldn't ascertain if she was fired. Certainly there's a limit to what we want school officials to be able to say. Like other employers, schools can fire someone for what they say. But, we also should have tolerance for opinions we disagree with too. Suppose she said, LGBT aren't people (or Jews or Blacks or Whites) or some other obvious discriminatory behavior that a large majority of people are disturbed by. I'd suspend and possibly fire her too. And for this statement, were it a public school, I would not disagree to a warning, at least. Here, she's working at a Christian school, which has, not surprisingly, a typical Christian position on LGBT (which I generally disagree with). Saying she wouldn't want school-age children to read books with LGBT themes doesn't make it a better world in my view, but neither does suspending her for an opinion so largely shared and in line with where she works. In Britain, there is no first amendment protecting religious views. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be. Eventually, perhaps in a generation, there will be less discrimination against LGBT as there is far less than there was ten years ago. But, this isn't the way.

10/16  Free speech, except for Trump, of course. Sen. Kamala Harris unsuccessfully tried at a Democratic presidential debate to win Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) over to her push for Twitter to ban Donald Trump, an issue that is quickly becoming a signature of Harris’ presidential bid. 

Harris told Warren that she was “surprised” the Massachusetts senator hadn’t backed her call to ban Trump from its site. In her letter to Twitter, Harris cited Trump’s attacks on the Ukraine phone call whistleblower and his tweet about “civil war” as reasons for Twitter to deplatform the president.
She's what I call an incipient fascist, who I believe, given even a little power, would abuse it tremendously. Unfortunately, she was not the only D candidate I felt that way about.

10/17  Should verything now be in the eye of the beholder?  A mail carrier refused to deliver mail to a house which bore a noose. The noose was only there after the skeleton it held (Halloween was coming) when the skeleton broke. The mail carrier came to the door and told the man that if he didn’t know it, the noose was offensive. Obviously, it makes him think of lynching. The man said he didn’t know but wasn’t taking it down. The mail carrier refuses to go back until down. His supervisor, also black, supported him. They had to put in a substitute mail-carrier. The problem with this hyper-sensitivity is that we can't all be controlled by other people's feelings, if we give in to this. Normally, I will go out of my way not to offend someone (though do accidentally all the time), but we have to have reasonable limits. And we are becoming a nation of snowflakes. 

10/22  Don't be fair. It's unfair. Activist successively demands that the The Harvard Crimson apologize for asking ICE to comment on an article.  "Getting both sides isn't always what is fair." Want to know why journalism has become so unfair?

10/22  Jury decides its okay to teach a boy he's a girl. Really?  A jury determined that a father could not stop his wife from trying to turn their boy into a girl. She, a doctor, accused her husband of child abuse for not treating their boy as a girl. Maybe I'm missing something. Please tell me there is something else to this story. But, it sounds abominable. That poor child. And, if this story is what it seems, what have we become as a country?

10/23 More free speech, except for Trump, of course. It seems that President Trump calling his impeachment a lynching was offensive to some. You know the drill, a white man can't use a word that some minority or other wants to own or  some such silliness like that. When Clinton was impeached, what did Ds call it: Biden and Reps. Jim McDermott and Gregory Meeks – a "political lynching." Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Charlie Rangel - a "lynch mob. Rep. Danny Davis - a "lynching." Etc. 

People picking words that are neutral and deciding that they are racist is a problem. The list should be small and limited to actual recognized slurs. 

10/24   Why not put them in re-education camps, Kamala? Sen. Kamala Harris says she’ll prosecute oil companies/utilities for role in climate crisis. I know it would be wrong to prosecute her for being a scary and offensive political figure, but what's the difference between what she wants and what I just suggested? Both are idiotic. There's something very wrong with that woman. And, if it is only that she thinks that it will inspire her base and help her become president, that's pretty reprehensible too. 

10/24 Is any reference to color now racist? A Fulham Football Club fan who lived in California is suing the State's motor vehicle department because they banned him from having the letters COY-W on a personalised plate, fearing the club slogan "Come on you whites" had racist connotations. I don't know, but I never heard a racist scream out "COY-W."  The 73-year-old fan, was born in New Jersey  has been a fan of the football club for decades, after seeing a match in London. I hope he wins. What if his name was "White?" Could you not put that on your plate? 

10/25  Please don't applaud - you will offend someone???? Seriously, has the whole world just gone crazy? Students at Oxford voted to ‘replace clapping’ with a silent wave because clapping ‘could trigger anxiety’. They are instead being told to use ‘jazz hands’, where they wave their hands in the air.  

10/28   I wonder how they feel about Mao. The Washington Post finally realized, after a lot of criticism, how extra-extra stupid they were and backed away from their online obituary headline for the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was called an “austere religious scholar.”  

10/31  Principals should never tell the truth. A Palm Beach principal told a parent, "Not everyone believes the Holocaust happened. And you have your thoughts, but we are a public school and not all of our parents have the same beliefs." Not surprisingly, he was fired. But, why did he makes such a statement? It was accurate.  I suspect it is because of the left's ongoing insistence that those it deems deserving minorities need to have their feelings extra protected, even if it means telling untruths. Notice, he didn't say he didn't believe it - but not everyone believes it. First, before firing him, they did send him to a modern re-education camp - off to Wash. D.C. to go to the Holocaust Museum.  Should he have been fired? I can't really say without knowing everything about his time as principal, but I am opposed to firings of teachers and principals on a one and done PC offense or for saying things that are true. I guess a political lynching requires a political hanging. 

I will add, there may be more to some of these stories and I might change my mind on some of them if I knew more. But, this is what was reported.  

11/3  No means no. And yes means no. Everything means no. McDonald's fired its CEO Steve Easterbrook for a "recent consensual relationship with an employee" that violated company policy.  Personally, I find firing people for consensual relationships ridiculous and abhorrent. Abuse? No. But there was no abuse. If I recall, he agreed he deserved it. But, that just means he'd like another job somewhere. Of course, this was company policy, and they can have these policies. I just refuse to accept that all voluntary relationships between bosses and those under them are wrong based on the fact that a few of them are.

11/3/19   Is it breaking the law if you are poor? AOC expressed support for anti-police demonstrations that have been breaking out across Brooklyn, because they arrested subway jumpers. No idea what she meant by - “Ending mass incarceration means challenging a system that jails the poor to free the rich,” but I guess it sounds slogan-like. 

There are somethings that AOC says or writes I do agree with, including on criminal law. But, most I don't. And I don't here. How does she know they can't afford the fare? How does she know they don't spend their money on other things or just want to get away with what they can? The situation in NYC is dire. I think there's a reason the crime rate is down there. In the past few years every single one of the few white cops I met told me that they will not arrest a black person if they can avoid it even for a crime right in front of them.

11/8  Apparently you can't even discuss racial slurs.  A lawyer on staff at a Texas university used a racial slur during a panel discussion about free speech — and resigned from her post the next day, according to reports. But, she was discussing the use of the word - she didn't call anyone it or shout it out spontaneously. 

“Gonna say a lot of offensive things in here, because it’s impossible to talk about the First Amendment without saying horrible things,” Sewell said during the discussion, which a student in the crowd recorded. “Um, you know, ‘You’re just a dumb n—-r and I hate you.’ That alone, that’s protected speech.” Naturally, she protected her career: “I just want to sincerely apologize. I did not mean to by any means offend anyone,” she said on a twitter video: “I wish I had censored that word, it came out without thought. I sincerely apologize.” 

Of course, I would never call someone the n-word, nor would anyone I know or have known, although some friends find it funny to call blacks that among friends. I use the n-word in public mostly because it's just considered impolite by most people to use it, but I have used the word in discussions about it and I have used it in jokes, although pretty hard to do that today because it just makes people offended, even if the point of the joke is how horrible people can be.

11/12   Bullies with good intentions are still bullies.  Singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding canceled her halftime appearance of the Cowboys-Bills game on Thanksgiving Day over her newfound concerns about the Salvation Army for supporting what she deems an anti-LGBTQ charity.  

Seriously, F' Ellie. I don't think anyone should be anti-LGBTQ (I think I know what it stands for, but not positive). I was pro-same-sex marriage before most people heard of it, was always against Don't ask, Don't tell, and the like. But that doesn't mean I agree with every pro-LGBTQ policy, some of which I find go too far. As offensive as discrimination against gays, etc., I find any attempt to force people to share an opinion or to say they do, let alone give money to it. I would have respected her decision to not participate, but not her decision to try to force her views on them.  

11/13 All testimony against Trump is valid.  During the impeachment hearings, one congressperson tried to convince everyone, but mostly the public, that hearsay evidence against Trump was fine. Of course. It's Trump. Here's how it went.

QUIGLEY: And I guess to close primer on hearsay, I think the American public needs to be reminded that countless people have been convicted on hearsay because the courts have routinely allowed and created needed exceptions to hearsay. Hearsay can be much better evidence than direct, as we have learned in painful instances and it's certainly valid in this instance.

UNKNOWN: Would the gentleman yield? Because none of those exceptions would apply to this testimony.

SCHIFF: This is not the time for colloquy. Mr.--sorry, Representative Stefanik, you are recognized.

Of course, the unknown gentleman who interrupted was (mostly) correct, although he was not right to interject the reason - either you are recognized or you wait your turn. There are some hearsay exceptions when they are deemed reliable and someone could be convicted upon it. But, hearsay raises, in criminal cases, the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, the right to confront witnesses. And what was raised against Trump seemed like complete hearsay that could not convict someone (although, you can argue - he wouldn't let some testify). What is true is that many people are convicted on circumstantial evidence, but that's completely different, and not what Rep. Quigley was trying to get away with.

11/13/19 How dare you even speak to Trump.  University of Florida Student President faced impeachment after a visit from Donald Trump Jr.  Some student senators objected to the choice of Donald Trump Jr and his supposed "white supremacist" views. I don't get the whole white supremacist thing (other than partisans don't care what they say). Not only have blacks and Hispanics done well economically as groups during his administration, but he has shown a tendency to be sympathetic to criminal law changes and has used his pardon power in a way that makes the claim of white-supremacy seem foolish.

11/20 Is there as big a villain in history as Trump for the woke? A guest on the Chris Matthews show, Malcolm Nance, said Trump supporters reminded him of ISIS. ISIS! This is why I turn the channel when Trump haters start to speak. To be fair, when he used to go on about the birther stuff, I'd turn the channel too. Some things are too stupid to listen to. 

11/21  An end to sexy. Victoria Secrets had to cancel its annual tv show. The reasons - one former "angel," Karlie Kloss, quit in the name of feminism, a former officer said there was no room for plus-sized models on the runway and they didn't want trans-sexuals, the CEO of the mother company was close friends with Epstein.  Oh, and supposedly - changing ideas of what is sexy. Mostly all nonsense. None of those is a reason why a show where models happily support themselves and some become rich, should now not be able to do so. I'm sure they are thinking thanks a lot to their rescuers. Sexy is not changing because some want it to, in order to satisfy their own needs or insecurities. Note, Miss America's ratings dropped 17% this year to an all-time low after Gretchen Carlson took over and did away with the bathing suit competition to focus on more cerebral things. She should have started her own contest. I don't think I've ever watched Miss America, but obviously it's important to some. She is destroying the institution which was watched because it bothers that people found the girls beautiful or sexy. Like that's a bad thing. People can watch Miss America one day and Jeopardy the next.

11/24 Well, these are real journalists, right? Bloomberg News announced it would not investigate Bloomberg or the other Democratic candidates. Okay, they can. But, they can't call themselves journalists anymore.   

11/25 And don't tweet the truth either. Twitter temporarily suspended Andy Ngo, a journalist known for documenting political violence, due to a tweet he sent to Chelsea Clinton. Why? Clinton retweeted a Human Rights Campaign’s tweet in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance. adding that “since 2013, more than 150 trans people have been murdered in the U.S., the majority Black transgender women,” and that we “must commit to doing all we can to end this epidemic of violence and hate.” Ngo replied “The US is one of the safest countries for trans people. The murder rate of trans victims is actually lower than that for cis population. Also, who is behind the murders? Mostly black men.” If it is true, or arguably true, why shouldn't he say it? No one argued it wasn't true - just that he couldn't say it.  Just as we shouldn't attack people based on skin color, we shouldn't protect people's feelings based on their skin color. It doesn't matter what color. 

11/26/19 The inmates really shouldn't be running the asylum. Haven't we learned from the Coronavirus crisis, at least that kids are not our leaders. Washington and Lee University students (at least, I guess, a significant number) want portraits of school's namesakes, Washington and Lee, removed from diplomas. I hope they are ignored. Yes, I know they were slaveowners. But, the school administration should control what they call the school and the students should decide where they want to go to school. If the woke have their way, pretty much all history would be wiped out. Remember, even Gandhi has been attacked by the Woke. Gandhi! I mean, really.

12/4  Let me guess - because she's black?  Sen. Cory Booker’s first reaction to Kamala Harris dropping out of the presidential race this week was “anger.” Why? Apparently it's because she is black. “I’ve seen the bile, the anger, from my family members, to people in the Congressional Black Caucus, to leaders of color across this country who just don’t understand how we’ve gotten to a point now where there’s more billionaires in the 2020 race than there are black people."  Julián Castro, who I consider even more vicious than Harris, wrote that she was held to a different standard. Here's the truth - they weren't the least bit likeable and even most Ds didn't think what they said had a lot of value.

12/4   From now on its racist to notice anything having anything to do with color. The SF 49ers suspended a radio analyst Tim Ryan because he said that Ravens super quarterback Lamar Jackson's dark skin helped him disguise a dark football when running fake handoffs. Isn't that necessarily true? "He's really good at that fake, Lamar Jackson, but when you consider his dark skin color with a dark football with a dark uniform, you could not see that thing. I mean you literally could not see when he was in and out of the mesh point."Who cares? He wasn't saying that Jackson, who may revolutionize the position, was inferior because of it, or damn him to hell. He was saying that brown on brown is harder to see than brown on white. That's racist? I'm sure the 49ers could care less. But, it's 60 something percent black in the league and the teams are afraid. 

12/5 Can we be just the least bit realistic? Rep. Al Green complained that “not one person of color” was represented among the constitutional scholars testifying at the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry hearing. They had four scholar witnesses. They were all white. Three were men, which he did not mention, I guess because he is discriminating against women (yes, I'm joking). The reason is likely because only about a quarter of law professors are women and less than 10% are black. I'm sure it will change over time. Apparently, it hurt Green's feelings he did not see people of color on the panel. That kind of makes him kind of racist to me. Had there been 25 professors and no "people of color," then yeah, maybe I'd probably see his point. Not with four.  But, what is he saying anyway - that the Ds, of which he is one, are racist? Did I mention radicals (and he is a radical) eat their own?

12/5  Actually, there is no Santa Claus. A substitute teacher who told NJ first-graders that there is no Santa Claus, no tooth fairy, is no longer working for the school district. Too much, really. I wouldn't have said it, I wouldn't have wanted my daughter's teacher to say it. But, fire her? Come on. This has nothing to do with wokeness, specifically, except that the reaction to go right from mistake to suspended or fired these days is all a part of the cancel culture. 

12/8 You are privileged whether you are privileged or not. Actress Daisy Ridley, Rey in “Star Wars,” was accused of denying her “privilege.” In an interview she said that attending a boarding school did not make her access to fame any easier. She asked twice - how did my privilege help? She said her life experiences were similar to her co-star, John Boyega (Finn), who is black, and went to a prestigious acting school as a young man on a hardship scholarship. No one is safe from the cancel culture, even Jedi warriors.  Not women, not blacks, and certainly not Asians and Jews. They will all be sacrificed if need be for the slightest violation of Woke political correctness.  

12/10  So now we are supposed to discriminate? Pete Buttigieg’s campaign pays women more than men. It turns out the difference was slight, but should the point be - we are praiseworthy because we pay either sex more than the other?  

I guess I ran out of time to record these things. I'm sure there were more. Many more. Good thing I'm not on social media and this blog no longer gets comments. Because I'm sure I'd get a lot of criticism for it.