Saturday, April 7, 2018

Rep. Black Returns Her NFL Season Tickets, With a Defiant Letter

Cortney O'Brien in Townhall

Rep. Black Returns Her NFL Season Tickets, With a Defiant Letter

"Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) and her husband Dave were "first in line" for season tickets when the National Football League’s Oilers moved from Houston to Nashville, she shared last week in an op-ed. That all changed when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem to protest the way minorities in America have been treated by law enforcement. Despite getting booed in subsequent games, he didn't apologize. He kept kneeling, and poured salt in the wound by wearing anti-police socks to practices.
"Several players followed suit and the Tennessee Titans were not exempt from the controversy. At a game versus the Seattle Seahawks in September 2017, both teams decided to stay in the locker room during the playing of the national anthem. They claim it was to "show unity," but that's not how some fans perceived it. As for those who were on the field like singer Meghan Linsey, she and her guitarist took a knee during her rendition of the anthem." . . .

Nick Kristof On Gun Control

Just One Minute . . . My reaction:
"Broadly, if the goal is to reduce gun suicides the talk about a ban on
Kristoff
semiautomatic rifles and large capacity magazines is irrelevant - we don't have a national epidemic of people shooting themselves fifteen times and bleeding out. I should note that Mr. Kristof himself threw in the towel on an assault weapons ban a while back, but (unlike in boxing) a towel can always be picked up again, and semiautomatic rifle bans (broader than a mere assault weapons ban) are certainly being discussed in progressive circles.

"Or if we swing the focus back to gun homicides, when the firearm is known (about 3/4 of the time), handguns are used about 90% of the time. Semiautomatic rifles aren't what the gangbangers on the mean streets of Chicago and St Louis are shooting at each other. Folks seriously concerned about homicides and suicides should be arguing about a handgun ban, and good luck with the pesky Heller decision, the politics and eventual enforcement there.

"IMHO, what remains true is that many people have examined their lives and concluded that they are:
(a) not involved with criminal activity, especially drug-related;
(b) not in an abusive domestic relationship,
(c) not suicidal, and
(d) not living in a crime-ridden neighborhood
"For those fortunate many, the most visible remaining risk of gun violence is a random shooting at a mall, theater, or (for kids and young adults) school." . . .
Tom Maguire, Blogger at Just One Minute. "I'm a former Wall Streeter with many kids, most of them younger than my blogging counterparts."
 Nicholas Donabet Kristof: A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and has written an op-ed column for The New York Times since November 2001. Kristoff is a self-described progressive. . . .

Is talk of the "Big Blue Wave" just a head game being played on us?

2018: Democrat Big Blue Wave or Big Blue Bust?

“Some of the most damaging blows to Democratic hopes this year are friendly fire”
"If you listen to the liberal media, a “Blue Wave” is coming in the 2018 midterms. Progressives across the country are just waiting to turn out by the millions and help the Democrats retake control of the House and Senate.
"But what if that’s just a narrative? What if the media just keeps saying this as a form of wish casting? No one seems to believe the Democrats could screw this up. Well, almost no one.
"Roger Kimball writes at Spectator USA:
Why the Democrats won’t win big in November
Is a big blue Democratic wave poised to sweep the Republicans out of Congress in the 2018 mid-term election? . . .

Editorial: Not much good news for DNC


. . . "The situation is so bad that DNC Chair Tom Perez went on C-SPAN last month to spin morale out of the Intensive Care Unit: “We raised more money in January, for instance, of 2018 than any January in our history,” he declared. “So if the question is, ‘Do we have enough money to implement our game plan?’ Absolutely.”
"The Washington Post quickly gave that claim Two Pinocchios and the DNC itself reeled Perez back in. The funny math is a result of the DNC tallying its own contributions with the contributions to “joint fundraising committees.” It is meant to inflate the numbers for public consumption, but it certainly does not bode well for the health of the DNC." . . .

"Chappaquiddick has the last word." Mary Jo suffocated, she didn't drown

A Final Perspective; Hollywood (and History) Catches Up to Ted Kennedy
"A telephone, not an automobile, exposed the worst parts of Ted Kennedy’s character at Chappaquiddick, a tragic episode explored on the silver screen in a new movie.
"One of the film’s producers commented on the picture three years ago, “You’ll see what he had to go through.” But most accounts (I have yet to watch) depict the final product as a more balanced account that shows what Mary Jo Kopechne “had to go through,” too.
"Kennedy’s coverup eclipsed the crime when it comes to assessing character. No amount of special effects or dramatic license can escape that truth.
"Sure, throwing a party for six, older, married male guests and six, twentysomething, unmarried women marks one as a cad. And yes, driving after downing an ocean of rum and cokes, and doing so despite the lack of a license and the presence of a chauffer, indicts the senator’s judgment. But his actions, and lack thereof, after the midnightish crash represent the worst of the senator at his worst moment.
"Ted Kennedy went to bed rather than to first responders after driving Mary Jo Kopechne to her death. Before he called the cops, he called his cronies. He called his German mistress. He called his lawyer. He even called the hotel manager to narc on party goers in another room disturbing his sleep. At ten the next morning, Ted Kennedy finally went to the police.
“ 'She didn’t drown,” the diver who retrieved Kopechne’s body noted. “She died of suffocation in her own air void. " . . .
In the comments to this article, T
A friend of mine once stopped Ted's son Patrick from entering a Providence College sporting event without a ticket. "Don't you know who I am!?" exclaimed Patrick. Nut doesn't fall far from the tree. Thing is Patrick couldn't hold it together mentally like Ted, which in the long run is a better thing for him.
 Producer Mark Ciardi: This Film Isn’t for ‘the Right or the Left, It’s for the Truth’

. . . "Ciardi described the film’s setting, which begins a day before the Chappaquiddick incident and ends six days after. “It’s amazing how compelling that narrative is when you just look at the facts,” he said, casting the film as neither politically left or right. “[The writers] used the inquest. It wasn’t off of a book. We went with the facts that we knew, and didn’t make a movie for the left or the right. It’s for the truth, and what’s great about that is how audiences on both the left and the right — and reviewers, especially — are praising the movie.”
"Mansour concurred, saying, “It’s not an ideological film but an honest film.” ' 
 Thomas Lifson: Don’t miss Chappaquiddick!  "The movie Chappaquiddick exceeded my very high expectations. Not only is it a truthful exploration of the events that led up the death of May Jo Kopechne  and the criminal cover-up of Ted Kennedy’s culpability therein, it goes deep into the character of the man, and how he got to the depraved state of indifference to the life of a young woman who had devoted herself to “the cause” of the Kennedy family.



. . . "The process of the cover-up is laid out in fascinating detail, revealing the ruthlessness of the Kennedy family coterie of high powered advisors, especially Ted Sorenson and Robert McNamara. I could not help but reflect on the resonance with the deep state issues of today  of the way that laws and procedures and professional responsibilities of the government officials dealing with the car wreck and the corpse meant nothing to them in the face of “the cause” of protecting the Kennedys. The local, state, and federal officials we see are a kind of Kennedy Deep State that had absolute control over the handling of the matter."
. . . "Do yourself a favor and see this movie as soon as you can."

‘From the NY Times: Chappaquiddick’ Distorts a Tragedy
Many scenes cross from dramatic interpretation to outright character assassination. In this version, the Kennedy character leaves Kopechne to die as she gasps for air, and then, with the aid of his brothers’ old advisers, cooks up a scheme to salvage his presidential ambitions. 
I saw no trace of refutation of the details of this movie; only pique that this image of Kennedy was presented. TD 

Ignorance: The Greatest Threat to Black Americans

My relative was also stunned to hear that black unemployment is at a historic low under Trump. She did not know black unemployment was through the roof under Obama. 
Lloyd Marcus  "Turning 65, my relative is about to retire from her job as a Baltimore City transit bus-driver. She said she is extremely tired of having to deal with black people with entitlement mindsets. Self-preservation has taught her not to argue with thugs boarding her bus, refusing to pay the fare.

"Upon asking a gentleman to pay his bus fare, he exploded in anger, ranting about how a black man can't catch a break in this f****** country. He excoriated my relative for being a black woman unwilling to give a black man a break.
"My relative wisely kept silent as not to escalate the situation. She angrily retorted in her brain, "A black man needs to work! Why do you think someone owes you something? I do not like to work. But work is what I must do to enjoy the life I live -- my home, car and etc. It is called being a responsible adult, doing what one has to do."
"A black female passenger joined the black man's attack on my bus-driver relative, "Excuse me, 'Miss Privileged', not everyone is fortunate like you to be able to afford bus fare." My frustrated relative silently kept driving.
"As the weird Republican of our family, I took the occasion to educate my relative. I explained that her passengers' entitlement mindsets are the result of decades of Democrats' convincing blacks that they are victims in eternally racist America; deceptions and lies. Blacks believe voting for Democrats will keep evil racist white America at bay.
"Democrats refuse to hold blacks accountable for anything -- black on black crime, epidemic school dropouts, out of wedlock births, and generational poverty.
"Insidiously, Democrats have totally relieved blacks of all responsibility for their lives. Democrats have tripled down on teaching black youths that everything wrong is the fault of "white privilege,"  systematic, cultural, and economic white racism in America." . . .

Edward M. Kennedy: Address to the People of Massachusetts on Chappaquiddick

See also: Juan Williams's comparison to Chappaquiddick could not have been dumber  "Williams's tasteless, stupid remark shows again that leftist commentators will say anything about Republican presidents."

American Rhetoric


[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

"My fellow citizens:
"I have requested this opportunity to talk to the people of Massachusetts about the tragedy which happened last Friday evening. This morning I entered a plea of guilty to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident. Prior to my appearance in court it would have been [im]proper for me to comment on these matters. But tonight I am free to tell you what happened and to say what it means to me.
On the weekend of July 18th, I was on Martha's Vineyard Islandparticipating with my nephew, Joe Kennedy -- as for thirty years my family has participated -- in the annual Edgartown Sailing Regatta. Only reasons of health prevented my wife from accompanying me.
"On Chappaquiddick Island, off Martha's Vineyard, I attended, on Friday evening, July 18th, a cook-out I had encouraged and helped sponsor for a devoted group of Kennedy campaign secretaries. When I left the party, around 11:15pm, I was accompanied by one of these girls, Miss Mary Jo Kopechne. Mary Jo was one of the most devoted members of the staff of Senator Robert Kennedy. She worked for him for four years and was broken up over his death. For this reason, and because she was such a gentle, kind, and idealistic person, all of us tried to help her feel that she still had a home with the Kennedy family." . . .
Full speech here...

Hat tip to Legal Insurrection which stated; "ABC obviously published this footage because the film “Chappaquiddick” is opening this weekend.
"I will write a review of the film which will be published Sunday, right here at Legal Insurrection."