Mary Poppins is branded racist by US academic over famous rooftop scene because when she gets covered in soot she 'gamely powders her nose and cheeks and gets even blacker'

I'm afraid to ask how much sillier things can get. TD

UK Daily Mail

"Dame Julie Andrews’s performance as Mary Poppins is racist, says a US academic who accuses her of ‘blacking up’ when her face is covered with soot as she dances with chimney sweeps.

"The scene in which Poppins joins Dick Van Dyke’s Bert and his fellow sweeps on a rooftop for the song Step In Time is one of the best-loved moments in the 1964 Disney classic.

"But writing in the New York Times under the headline ‘Mary Poppins, and a Nanny’s Shameful Flirting With Blackface,’ Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner attacks the scene. Not surprisingly, the film’s legions of devoted fans have reacted with disbelief.

Racist photo!

"The literature professor acknowledges that Poppins’s face is covered with soot because she has gone up the chimney with her charges, Michael and Jane Banks." . . .

. . . "Fans online have reacted with fury to the professor’s views. One derided the piece as ‘a candidate for the stupidest New York Times article for some time’.

"Another said: ‘Mary Poppins wasn’t flirting with black face! It was soot in their faces from being up a chimney!!!! Stop spreading racism claims on non-racist things like this.’ A third wrote: ‘Come on now, leave Mary Poppins out of this! Chimney sweeps in London DID have coal dust on their faces. Didn’t make them, or Mary for that matter, racist.’ " . . .

Will the racism never stop?

Yearbook outrage, infanticide yawn

Stilton's Place

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "As we argue over 35-year old yearbook photos, we forget about a larger issue.
"Let me confess that I'm willing to cut a politician a lot of slack over a 35-year-old photo.  I'm not defending the photos, but it's not fair to destroy a man's career over photos that were taken when President Reagan was in his first term.  To be fair, the governor has not dealt with the issue honestly, either.  He should have owned the photos and simply say it was a youthful mistake and to be judged by the rest of life.

"The real issue for me was the Democrats and their reaction to infanticide, as Charlie Hurt discussed:

Turns out, killing babies is not so popular.

What is truly amazing is how many Virginia Democrat politicians had to touch that hot stove before they got the message that even mainstream Democrat voters do not approve – no, they are appalled, aghast and unbelieving – at the mere notion of an elective abortion during delivery.

It's between, you know, the mother and her "doctor," Death Squad politicians tell us.

For years, we have been chided for talking openly about fearing the Obamacare "Death Panels" that would reign after the government takes over every last corner of our health care system.

Turns out that not only are the Death Panels real, they're not just for old people and expensive sick people.  Democrat politicians want them for newborns, too.

"The infant would be kept comfortable," the Grand Wizard of Death Squads, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, tells us in chillingly antiseptic tones.

"It was not popular with the people of Virginia, as the bill did not make it out of committee.  Nevertheless, the Democratic response is silence across the board.

"Why aren't the media asking Democratic politicians about later-term abortions?

"Better than that, where is the Democrat seeking national office willing to break with the left on this issue?

"It seems to me that there is an opening for such a Democrat, someone who is willing to say infanticide is reprehensible.

"As for the Virginia governor, he will probably resign, and who knows about Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, who has his own problems as well?

"In the larger picture, the Democrats' silence about late-term abortion or keeping the baby comfortable on a table is horrific."

Woman Accusing VA Lt. Gov Fairfax of Sexual Assault Retains Law Firm Who Represented Christine Blasey Ford

Legal Insurrection

"Virginia’s Governor Northam is not the only top-ranking state politician in the hot seat. Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax is facing a sexual assault allegation from 2004, one that’s been revisited publicly.

"Tuesday, Fox News reported that accuser Vanessa Tyson has retained the same firm that represented Justice Kavanaugh accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. " . . .

Remodeling America

Victor Davis Hanson

Gotta have the flag, no matter what harm they plan to inflict on this nation.

. . . "In less melodramatic terms, we are watching a rare revolutionary phase in American politics as leftists have devoured Democrats. Progressives ate liberals. And progressives are now being devoured by socialists, and soon no doubt socialists will be eaten by hard leftists, Communists, anarchists, and nihilists. In such revolutionary logic, perhaps only Antifa will emerge as pure.

"The result is that the 2020 election will offer the starkest choices in the past 50 years, far eclipsing the radical contrasts of 1972. The current parade of would-be Democratic presidential hopefuls is already apologizing for their past sins of Democratic centrism, in fear of being politically guillotined.

Green Poverty

"Senator Kamala Harris has pledged to follow the “New Green Deal” currently championed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In other words, if enacted, the Democrats, within ten years of passing the bill, would favor ending all “nonrenewable” sources of electrical generation (natural gas, oil, coal, and nuclear) — or 83 percent of all the current ways that we produce electrical energy. Would the government go after classic Corvettes, confiscate Priuses, and electrify NASCAR? Outlaw gas lawn mowers and chain saws? Confiscate leaf blowers? Would Nancy Pelosi board a private solar- or battery-powered jet? Would Silicon Valley yachts rely on wind and sail?" . . .

Awful: Senate Dems Block Anti-Infanticide Bill

Leah Barkoukis  "Sen. Ben Sasse and his Republican colleagues did not receive the unanimous consent they were looking for on legislation that would’ve outlawed infanticide. "Democratic Washington Sen. Patty Murray blocked the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” presented by Sasse, that would’ve given infants who survived abortions medical care and protections under the law.
“Frankly, this shouldn’t be hard,” he said.
 . . . 

"Murray argued the legislation is not necessary because there are already laws on the books that prohibit infanticide. 

“ 'This is a gross misinterpretation of the actual language of the bill that is being asked to be considered and, therefore, I object,” said Murray.

"After her objection, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa lamented that the Senate “can no longer unanimously condemn murder.' ” . . .

Murray

NR: Senate Democrats Block Bill Prohibiting Infanticide  . . . "Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington objected to the bill on the floor, preventing it from receiving unanimous consent. Murray claimed that the legislation is unnecessary because there are already legal prohibitions on infanticide. Murray was the only Democratic senator to come to the Senate floor this evening and left immediately after objecting.

. . . “ 'It is hard to fathom the extremism of politicians in New York and now Virginia who would deny the protections of law to the most vulnerable members of our society, the innocent unborn, even up to birth,” Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said of the recent legislation that would expand the right to post-viability abortion. “Is this really the extremism of the Democratic party?”
“Some are tempted when they see this rising tide of barbarism and cruelty to feel despair, but I am not,” Hawley said. “I think of the words of Lincoln who spoke of the unfinished work of this nation. . . . We must press forward in this generation for our revolutionary faith.' ” . . .

Update:  Lone Dem Senator Blocks Bill Banning Infanticide For Babies Who Survive Abortions   "On Monday, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), blocking a Senate bill that would require doctors to give aid to babies who survived abortions, objected to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and her one vote was enough to prevent the Senate from passing the bill in a unanimous consent vote, LifeSiteNews reports."

Messages to be sent by those attending tonight's SOTU

Scream at a senator, get invited to the State of the Union address  "Professional agitator Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the George Soros-funded Center for Popular Democracy (sic), who demonstrated her feminist credentials and logical thinking by shrieking at then-senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in an elevator to oppose the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, is receiving her...reward.  (Yeah, yeah, silly you, you probably thought she'd receive a slight punishment for such rudeness.)  Flake caved; Archila scored for women.

"And so Archila will be an honored guest at today's State of the Union address, courtesy of...aw, you know whom, none other than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). " . . . 

Democrats Hope to Make a Statement at State of the Union  "While Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson will not attend the State of the Union, others are sending a message to the president with their guests." 

Special Guests for President Trump’s Second State of the Union Address

One of Melania Trump's State of the Union guests is a 6th-grader named Joshua Trump she says gets bullied because of his name
His classmates must all watch CNN or TV talk shows.

NY Times: What to Watch For in Trump’s State of the Union Address

The Democrat response to the SOTU  Dems' State of the Union Responder: Those Covington Kids Behaved Badly, And Trump's Racism is to Blame  Abrams "lost fair and square, refused to concede, and is being rewarded with a high-profile platform. The clip above is a useful example of how knee-jerk partisans will learn the lessons they want to learn, no matter what the evidence may demonstrate. Part of the problem with the Covington affair, which feels like a distant memory already, was the eagerness of many in the press to extrapolate "larger truths" from a cultural flashpoint that they instantly decided was illustrative of something they fervently believed. As more information trickled in, the media storyline shifted from "aren't these young Trumpers awful?" to, "look at these conservatives unfairly 'pouncing' on our collective rush to judgment!" Ross Douthat noted on Twitter yesterday that journalists were happy to storm headfirst into the Covington cultural blaze, yet their treatment of Democrats' radical abortion bills has been exceptionally cautious and tepid by comparison:" . . .