August 26-27, 2017
Aug 26 08:08 Almanac's anti-Trump bias displayed Aug 26 10:14 Sen. Simonson's flimsy argument Aug 26 11:40 The world vs. Sheriff Joe Aug 26 15:12 The Left's latest chanting point Aug 27 03:00 McCain's holier-than-thou attitude Aug 27 09:07 Black Lives Matter's 4th birthday Aug 27 10:02 Trump, Abbott ace Harvey test
Prior Months: Jan Feb ~ May Jun Jul
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Almanac's anti-Trump bias displayed
Watching Friday night's Almanac Roundtable verified for the zillionth time that their panelists consistently have an anti-Trump bias. This week's panelists were Larry Jacobs, Kathryn Pearson and David Schultz. One of the first questions was about whether the Trump administration's response to Hurricane Harvey would sink the Trump administration. Each of the panelists approached the question from the standpoint that Trump would screw things up, thereby effectively ending his time in office.
Though I'm not totally surprised by their answers, I was astonished by the appearance that they didn't even consider the possibility that the Trump administration would get the important things right. As I wrote in this post , "states that come through hurricanes with a minimal amount of physical damage and/or casualties do so because sheriffs and governors have handled their responsibilities without incident. The federal government is there to help when called upon."
In this instance, Gov. Abbott said that his team had been interacting smoothly with the Trump administration and that he didn't expect any difficulties from a logistical standpoint. This USAToday article indicates that Gov. Abbott and President Trump have worked successfully together:
How has the federal government responded?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) granted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's request for a Presidential Disaster Declaration in response to the hurricane. In advance of the storm, Abbott declared a state of disaster for 30 counties.
Almost 233,000 homes on the Texas coast are at risk, with a potential reconstruction bill of almost $40 billion, according to CoreLogic, a company that conducts global property analysis.
Abbott warned of record-setting flooding in multiple regions of the state and urged people to get out of harm's way. 'You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you could be subject to a search and rescue.' Early Saturday morning, President Trump said on Twitter his office would "remain fully engaged w/ open lines of communication." Trump also tweeted that he was in contact with the governors of Texas and Louisiana. "I have spoken w/ @GovAbbot of Texas and @LouisianaGov Edwards. Closely monitoring #HurricaneHarvey developments & here to assist as needed," Trump's tweet read.
In other words, Professors Jacobs, Pearson and especially Schultz didn't know what they were talking about. As usual, Schultz spoke from a theoretical perspective, not a reality-based perspective. It isn't a stretch to think that that's because he was wishing President Trump would fail. It's equally fair to say that Prof. Schultz just didn't know what he was talking about. Here's a report from Gov. Abbott himself:
That isn't theoretical. That's coming from the man charged with maintaining order. It's apparent that the decisions that Gov. Abbott made have put have given Texans the information they needed to survive. It's equally apparent that the disaster declaration signed by President Trump has given FEMA permission to help Texans.
Posted Saturday, August 26, 2017 8:08 AM
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Sen. Simonson's flimsy argument
Over the years of covering PolyMet, I've heard some pretty flimsy arguments. Few, though, have been as flimsy as Sen. Erik Simonson's argument . According to the article, Sen. Simonson said "The 'company' wants the process sped up. Since when does our government work for foreign corporations?" Considering the fact that PolyMet has been engaged in this process for almost a dozen years, don't they have the right to expect the government to expedite the process while ensuring that the laws are being faithfully obeyed?
Thus far, DFL anti-mining special interest groups have done everything in their power to prevent mining. Among the tactics they've deployed in their war of attrition against PolyMet and Twin Metals, organizations like Friends of the Boundary Waters, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness, Sustainable Ely, all with direct ties to Becky Rom, requested a programmatic environmental impact statement, aka a PEIS. Conservation Minnesota have put together websites that spread misinformation about non-ferrous mining. Organizations like the Sierra Club and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, aka MCEA, have sued PolyMet as a delaying tactic. At least one Indian tribe tried getting PolyMet stopped on the grounds that their mining operations might damage wild rice growth. (This despite a University of Minnesota study showing that high concentrations of iron in the water mitigates most of the potential damage to rice.)
The number of methods and venues used by the DFL's anti-mining special interest organizations to prevent mining is frightening. I wouldn't doubt that a state senator from the Twin Cities say that PolyMet is trying to rush through the process. To hear a state senator from CD-8 essentially say that PolyMet is trying to cheat the system is disgusting. If the local DFL doesn't primary this idiot, we'll have proof positive that the DFL hates miners. Here's one of the anti-mining leaders:
Here's another:
Posted Saturday, August 26, 2017 10:14 AM
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The world vs. Sheriff Joe
Democrats are expressing their faux outrage at President Trump's pardon of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio , often in terms that would make drama queens look stoic. For instance, Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general that President Trump fired for not defending his travel ban , said "With his pardon pen, POTUS reveals his own contempt for our Constitution, our courts, and our founding principles of equality and justice."
Where was Ms. Yates when President Obama pardoned Bradley Manning? This article highlights what Manning did. According to the article, "Manning ... was convicted of multiple other counts, including violations of the Espionage Act, for copying and disseminating classified military field reports, State Department cables, and assessments of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
The article continued, saying "The message won't be lost for everyone in the military," said Steven Bucci, director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. "When you sign a security clearance and swear oaths, you actually have to abide by that. It is not optional."
Let's summarize quickly. Sally Yates was fired for refusing to do her job as acting Attorney General. Before that termination, she sat silent when President Obama pardoned Bradley Manning, who was convicted of "copying and disseminating classified military field reports, State Department cables, and assessments of detainees held" at Gitmo. Sheriff Joe didn't undermine national security like Manning did. Sheriff Joe ran afoul of a corrupt judge for enforcing laws that the Obama administration refused to enforce.
The stupidity wasn't purely partisan. Republican Sen. Jeff Flake tweeted his opinion, saying "Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course." In other words, Sen. Flake was too spineless to take a unambiguous position.
Simply put, Arpaio was targeted by the Obama administration because, unlike the Obama administration, he actually enforced immigration laws. Anyone criticizing President Trump's pardon show that they're soft on protecting Americans from south-of-the-border drug cartels and human traffickers.
Posted Saturday, August 26, 2017 11:40 AM
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The Left's latest chanting point
The Left's latest chanting point is that President Trump's pardon of Sheriff Arpaio means that he might pardon his friends facing federal investigations. That's why it isn't surprising to read Phillip Bump's article , which reads like a liberal hissy fit on the subject.
Bump writes "The broader question raised by the pardon, then, is where Trump would draw the line. If he's willing to pardon Joe Arpaio for ignoring a court order in service of a political goal Trump embraces, why wouldn't he pardon another individual he respects for similarly ignoring a demand from the court."
First, Bump's premise is beyond flimsy. Presupposing that members of President Trump's administration have committed crimes isn't supported by any investigations. Until there's more than unsubstantiated allegations of crimes being committed, I'll ignore Bump's liberal bias. The naming of a special counsel doesn't prove anything except that Democrats will do anything in their attempt to delegitimize President Trump's election. I'll categorize that as the longest case of sour grapes in political history.
If there's any doubt that this is the Democrats' latest talking point to delegitimize President Trump's election, check out this interview:
Then check out how similar this interview is to the first interview:
The clear message that I think President Trump is sending is that he isn't like President Obama because he's serious about protecting Arizona's people from drug cartels and human traffickers. If Democrats want to pick that fight, let's get it on. The Obama administration found a liberal judge to torment Sheriff Arpaio with a BS verdict.
Further, the Obama administration wasn't serious about fighting illegal immigration. That's indisputable because they frequently tied law enforcement's hands behind their backs on immigration:
A group of immigration agents filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration Thursday, saying they are sick of being told not to do their jobs, a feeling intensified by the president's new non-deportation policy and a previous memo directing them not to arrest certain illegal immigrants.
Sen. McCain, Sen. Flake, former President Obama and essentially all of the Democratic Party serving in DC have fought against enforcing the Tex-Mex border. Most importantly, they've fought against protecting law-abiding U.S. citizens.
As for the possibility of a president pardoning people whenever they want, that's always been a possibility. There's no reason to think that President Trump will pardon his political cronies, partially because his campaign staffers aren't in trouble. The other faulty part of Bump's premise is that there isn't any proof anyone's broken any laws. Why would anyone lie if they didn't need to?
Posted Saturday, August 26, 2017 3:12 PM
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McCain's holier-than-thou attitude
Anyone who's followed Sen. McCain's political career knows that he's had a holier-than-thou attitude. When he co-authored the unconstitutional McCain-Feingold legislation, his interviews on the legislation focused on perceived corruption rather than on whether the legislation violated people's civil rights. Sen. McCain insisted that ridding society of corruption, whether it was real or imagined, was more important than protecting a person's civil rights.
Later, Sen. McCain helped push through legislation that tied the hands of interrogators interrogating terrorists, supposedly because these EITs were helping terrorists recruit more terrorists and because the EITs (enhanced interrogation techniques) were hurting our standing in the world. The truth is that a handful of countries were complaining about the EITs but that the problem was more imagined than real.
Now, Sen. McCain is criticizing President Trump's pardon of Sheriff Arpaio, saying ""No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold."
It's indisputable that Sen. McCain is an American military hero. Spending years in the Hanoi Hilton bought him that honor. As a politician, though, he isn't an American hero. It's important to separate those identities. Sen. McCain isn't a team player. He's loved playing the part of a maverick essentially the last half of his political career.
I salute McCain, the war hero and POW. I'd ignore Sen. McCain, the politician, if he didn't keep jumping into the middle of controversies, then making ill-advised decisions.
Posted Sunday, August 27, 2017 3:00 AM
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Black Lives Matter's 4th birthday
Today is Black Lives Matter's 4th birthday. According to this post , BLM is needed now more than ever. It's supposedly needed now more than ever because "BLM serves as a critical channel for Black organizing today and Black liberation struggles. We are the 21st-century call for Black liberation, and while based primarily across the United States, our vision and our work's purpose has an international lens and reach."
Also, BLM is needed because "BLM continues to respond with massive mobilizations and in mainstream media to state-sanctioned violence and the current Trump administration, which is a threat to Black lives everywhere and targets our very existence."
What's interesting is that many of the shooting deaths that created the rationale for BLM happened in cities run by Democrat mayors. Despite that, BLM singled out "the current Trump administration" because it's a "threat to black lives everywhere." Nowhere in the article is it mentioned that cities like Chicago and New York City do a terrible job at protecting African-Americans. It isn't a coincidence that those cities are run by Democrats. Seattle instituted a $50 per gun tax but gun violence, which hurts minorities disproportionately, hasn't dropped. Seattle is another liberal failure.
BLM isn't getting the job done. They aren't focusing on the right priorities. That's because they're mostly a partisan political organization. Solutions aren't their specialty. Whipping up emotions is.
Posted Sunday, August 27, 2017 9:07 AM
Comment 1 by H at 22-Feb-18 05:48 PM
"many of the shooting deaths that created the rationale for BLM happened in cities run by Democrat mayors"
100% of all shooting deaths occur where there are people. There are more people in large cities than in small towns. Quoting a large number for Chicago tells us that Chicago is a big city. It doesn't tell us anything more than that. (Although it may perhaps serve to, ah, whip up emotions.)
That's why per-capita rates (of homicide, violent crime, etc.) are better metrics. Saint Louis, MO had the highest per-capita rate of violent crime last I checked.
Trump, Abbott ace Harvey test
Before Hurricane Harvey hit Houston as a Cat-4 hurricane Friday night, pundits were questioning how the federal government would handle the crisis. This morning on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Gov. Greg Abbott, (R-TX), said the federal response was strong . Specifically, Gov. Abbott said "We could not be more appreciative of what the federal government has done, from the president on down. "Because, everything we have asked for, they have given us. The most important thing was that I made a disaster declaration that the president granted very swiftly. What that does, it triggers [the Federal Emergency Management Agency's] involvement. FEMA has been actively involved and engaged in this whole process long before the hurricane even hit ground. And because of their assistance it means that Texas will be able to begin the rebuilding process very swiftly."
Further into the article, it says "President Trump indicated Sunday he wanted to visit the region as quickly as possible, and Abbott said that would likely all depend on where Trump decided to go. 'We're already, for example, involved in the cleanup process in Corpus Christi. If the president were to visit there, it wouldn't hinder any efforts,' he said."
Thus far, and there's still a long ways to go before Texas cities will be operational again, the Trump administration has earned positive grades on its response to Hurricane Harvey. Most importantly, Gov. Abbott is earning positive grades on how his administration is responding to this disaster. This interview is particularly impressive:
It's pretty clear from this interview that Gov. Abbott's team is well-prepared:
Gov. Abbott and President Trump deserve high marks for their responses thus far. Things can change in a moment's notice but, knock on wood, it sounds like they're prepared.
Posted Sunday, August 27, 2017 10:02 AM
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