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, Thomas Sharpe wrote: 

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."

NY Times Op-Ed: Chappaquiddick Film Is ‘Character Assassination’ of Ted Kennedy

You can’t assail something that he no longer has. He left any character he had in the car to slowly suffocate and die along with Mary Jo when he didn’t report the accident until after it was discovered the next morning, over nine hours later. Weasel Zippers

Free Beacon  "In a New York Times op-ed published Friday, a liberal journalist and film critic complained the new film Chappaquiddick was a "character assassination" of its central character, Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy.

" 'How ‘Chappaquiddick’ Distorts a Tragedy" wrote Neal Gabler, who is working on a biography of Kennedy.

"Gabler complained the film, released in theaters Friday, has been "heavily promoted by conservative media outlets, and reviewers across the political spectrum have praised what they deem its damning but factual approach. Damning it is; factual it is not."

"There actually was no "cover-up" of Kennedy's car accident that led to the death of an aide, he claims, adding that "no one but the most lunatic conspiracy theorists see this as anything but a tragic accident in which nothing much was covered up."

"Chappaquiddick tells the story of a car accident that occurred on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts in 1969. The accident was caused by Kennedy's negligence and resulted in the death of his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, who was trapped inside the vehicle. The screenwriters have said their efforts in making the film aren’t partisan and they aimed to tell the facts of the story. 

"Gabler doesn't actually point to any factual errors in the film (save for the fact that Joe Kennedy, confined to a wheelchair by a stroke, likely wouldn't be able to grunt one-word dialogue like he does in the film). Instead, his criticism is limited more to the depiction of Kennedy as a character." . . .

Ted Kennedy, the Borker of the Senate

To Bork someone:  "Sen.Ted Kennedy took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork declaring:

Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy ...

Well, Judge Bork did indeed have some troubling positions that needed to be discussed. 

Ted Kennedy: Lion or Jackal?  "On April 6, Chappaquiddick, a movie detailing the events involving Senator Ted Kennedy on Martha's Vineyard in July 1969, will be released.  That incident demonstrated the depths to which the Kennedys were willing to go to salvage the political career of the last of the Kennedy sons.  In subsequent years, the actions of Ted Kennedy that night were forgiven by the Democrats, as were subsequent actions as noted below.

"The movie is based on a book, Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Coverup, by Leo J. Damore, who committed suicide in 1995. 

"Well, that is the official version, at least.  The Kennedy family exerted pressure toblock the making and release of the current movie.  Similar pressure was reportedly put on Mr. Damore, which may have added to the issues that resulted in his death.

"In the history of politics in this nation, few families have equaled the Kennedys in both political power and despicability for their personal actions." . . .

Gonzo Overkill

‘Chappaquiddick’ is a long-overdue dismantling of the Kennedy myth

. . . "Ted Kennedy passed by nearby lighted homes and the local fire department as he walked back to his inn, away from the pond he’d later claim was deep and at high tide. He slept that night as Mary Jo took her last breaths.

"The next morning, Ted refused to appear at the scene when summoned, demanding that the chief of police come down to the station. There, the chief finds Kennedy behind the cop’s own desk, reading a carefully worded statement. He doesn’t mention Mary Jo by her full name because he doesn’t know how to spell “Kopechne.' ” . . .

Juan Williams's comparison to Chappaquiddick could not have been dumber . . . "Williams said he didn't know the "story" of Chappaquiddick.  You would expect that someone whose job is a paid political commentator would know the story.  Kennedy would have been the Democratic nominee for president but for Chappaquiddick.  Kennedy was lauded by the Dems and the media as the Lion of the Senate.

"It is important, therefore, to know . . .  how Kennedy acted.  It isn't that complicated.  Kennedy drove off the bridge into the pond, swam away, and left Mary Jo Kopechne in the submerged car to die.  Kennedy waited close to ten hours to report to the police.  Had he reported it immediately when he swam away to safety, Ms. Kopechne would have probably survived.  It does not take a detective to figure out that the ten-hour delay was for Kennedy to sober up and concoct a story.  The details have been known to anyone interested, at least since Leo Damore's factual, exhaustive book Senatorial Privilege, The Chappaquiddick Coverup, published in 1988.

"If not knowing about Chappaquiddick isn't bad enough for a paid political commentator, Williams then outdid himself.   He said that while the left wanted to block the Chappaquiddick movie, the "right" wanted to block the movie about President Reagan's last years while he was afflicted with Alzheimer's.  This is beyond stupidity and civility.  How could anyone compare a movie about President Reagan's Alzheimer's with Ted Kennedy leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to die in a car submerged in a pond that he put her in?" . . .  

Williams's tasteless, stupid remark shows again that leftist commentators will say anything about Republican presidents.

The #CounterResistance in California continues to grow

Legal Insurrection

"In 2015, I reported that California’s creation of new rules that permitted the issuing of driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants overwhelmed the Department of Motor Vehicles and within less than 2 months over 100,000 illegal immigrants had obtained those vital pieces of identification.

"Jumping ahead to 2018, and now over 1,000,000 “undocumented” residents now have drivers licenses…quite predictably. And equally predictable is the pride that many of our state legislators are take in this achievement.

“Immigrants are getting tested, licensed and insured and this is making our roads safer for everyone,” said [Luis] Alejo, now a Monterey County supervisor, in a prepared statement. “Today, we see the law working the way it was intended to and has dramatically improved the lives of a million immigrants and their families.”

"What has been less predictable to those outside of the Blue Zone of California is the mounting #CounterResistance to Sacramento’s illegal-immigrant-embracing policies. As I indicated last week, the City of Escondido has voted on the Sanctuary State policies, and has now formally joined the lawsuit against California." . . .

Video: California Dem Sen. Kamala Harris - Democrat from California - Jokes About Killing President Donald Trump. Did I mention she is from California?

Weasel Zippers

General Mossberg • 

This is the lefts de facto choice for 2020. Her corrupt past is being quietly swept down the memory hole and if you pay attention, watch as she gets more and more air time in the coming months. Her talking about killing Trump was deliberate designed to appeal to liberal foamers.....and done with no concern because the media is tasked with covering for her and they don’t consider it a joke, they are hoping it happens. Harris is obama on steroids, and she should re consider her position when millions of conservatives see they have nothing to lose. She is laboring under the gross misapprehension that she will be [electorially] safe. She isn’t.

LA Times political cartoonist David Horsey wrote in 2015:  Willie Brown warns Villaraigosa: 'Don't crowd Kamala!'  . . . "A week ago, Willie Brown, the former California Assembly Speaker and ex-mayor of San Francisco, suggested that former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa should sit out the race in deference to Brown’s favored candidate, state Atty. Gen. Kamala D.  Harris. This could be passed off as Willie Brown just being his old, flamboyant self, or it could be an indication that Bay Area Democratic leaders -- a group not so affectionately described by Southern Californians as “the San Francisco Mafia” -- want to hand the job to Harris right now. " . . .

Truth or Fiction somewhat denies Harris got a political advantage by sleeping with Willie Brown

But in 2012 Daily Caller claimed otherwise: At Dem convention, Kamala Harris demands ‘opportunity … open to everyone’ — but had special career help from powerful boyfriend

. . . The first big boost to her career, however, came not because of her legal prowess but because her boyfriend was California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen once called Harris “the Speaker’s new steady.” He went on to become the first black mayor of San Francisco.
As Brown’s time as speaker drew to a close in 1994, he named Harris to the California Medical Assistance Commission, a job that came with a $72,000 annual salary. Brown had previously appointed her to the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.
She “was described by several people at the Capitol as Brown’s girlfriend,” the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. . . .

You’ve Been Hoodwinked. (Perhaps.)

Sharyl Attkisson

"If you watched the mash-up of Sinclair station anchors reading their national promo and were convinced it was something evil and nefarious, you’ve been hoodwinked.

Watch the Deadspin mashup of Sinclair station promos: 

"From what I can tell, this issue breaks down along ideological lines, and minds are not likely to be swayed. My friends on the far left are convinced that Sinclair anchors reading a national promo is Hitler-esque Orwellian brainwashing. My friends on the far right are happy and hopeful that Sinclair might, indeed, be pushing conservative views. Those in the middle don’t care or seem to think it’s much ado about nothing. 

"There's legitimate debate to be heard on many topics surrounding media fairness and consolidation. It’s obviously perfectly fine for you to disagree, but I find nothing to argue with in the nonpartisan, national Sinclair promos at issue. (The text is printed at the end of this article. You can decide for yourself.) In fact, I’ve heard many conservatives and liberals alike make these same points: That we have a problem with one-sided, false and biased news; that some reporters are pushing agendas; and that untrue stories are being published without proper fact checks. These assertions are pretty indisputable, wherever you sit. 

"The promos go on to say that Sinclair stations are committed to factual reporting neither “left nor right.” The anchors were even instructed not to wear blue or red, lest the colors be incorrectly interpreted as politically-charged in today’s environment. Somehow, this was portrayed by leftists as “Turning news anchors into soldiers for Trump’s war on the media.” They’re saying that the idea of news that’s fair, accurate and neither left nor right –is a right-wing idea. It’s all the more ironic considering that it was left wing interests who invented the anti-“Fake News” campaign, as I reported in my TEDx talk and The Smear. "Yet, here, the same interests oppose the notion of a stated, corporatewide commitment to fair, accurate reporting. 

"Those who disagree with this approach appear to be indicating they prefer to receive biased news. And that may be the real issue here: Many people do. " . . .

Conan O'Brien had fun with this very topic some time back:

The Sinclair Debacle Is a Big, Juicy (here comes that word!) Nothingburger
. . . "Sure, there's something unnerving about seeing local TV anchors across the country reciting a scripted message in unison.  But that's more of a testament to the power of effective video editing than anything else.  Any group chant can be painted as creepy (like when these celebrities pledged to "be a servant to" President Obama), as can any video." . . .

Mick Mulvaney says it's Elizabeth Warren's own fault he doesn't have to answer her questions

It took a bit of doing to find this as every other link on the search page was, as expected, anti Republican. TD

Washington Examiner  "Mulvaney, a conservative who was an outspoken critic of the bureau during his time as a congressman, told Warren in a letter sent Wednesday that the structure of the agency, which she helped design, shields him from accountability.

 “ 'I encourage you to consider the possibility that the frustration you are experiencing now, and that which I had a few years back, are both inevitable consequences of the fact that the Dodd-Frank... Act insulates the Bureau from virtually any accountability to the American people through their elected representatives,” Mulvaney wrote.

" He told Warren that he wouldn’t be answering any of the 105 unanswered questions she submitted to him about his management of the CFPB and handling of cases against payday lenders and others. Instead, he said he would discuss them during congressional testimony, when Warren will likely have five or 10 minutes to question him in the Banking Committee. " . . .

Poll: Plurality Think David Hogg’s Call To Boycott Ingraham’s Show Was Inappropriate

Allahpundit

" . . ."A confession of my political naivete: I thought Hogg’s own personal favorability might be (somewhat) immune from standard left-right divisions on guns. He’s been extremely nasty to gun-rights advocates at times but he is in fact a kid and a survivor of a very recent mass shooting. Does he get an allowance from the public for that? Turns out … no, not really:"

. . . 

"If Rupert Murdoch wants Ingraham on the air next week, Ingraham will be on the air next week. In lieu of an exit question, here’s a Stoneman Douglas student whom the vast, vast majority of Americans haven’t heard of. Meet Anthony Borges, who was in class on February 14 when the shooting began and concluded that the only way to keep the shooter out was to barricade the door — with his own body. The shooter did indeed try to enter that room but couldn’t get in, thanks to Borges. Borges was shot five times and needed nine surgeries, but he survived. So did the 20 other people who were in the room with him, saved by his own bravery. Here’s the GoFundMe page for his family. Savor this clip, as you’re not apt to see much more of him on cable news unless he has some hot takes about the NRA being child-killers." . . .