Dems take a Nick in the Senate

For John, BLUF:  It is Radio Host Grace Curley's birthday, her 32.  And Senator Joe Manchin declaring he is an independent would not be news to the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Partyw.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin leaves Democratic Party, registers as independent

Here is the sub-headline:

Sen. Joe Manchin, a political moderate, has officially left the Democratic Party to become an independent

From Fox News, by Reporter Chris Pandolfo, 31 May 2024 10:35am EDT, Updated 31 May 2024 12:15pm ED.

Here is the lede plus two:

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a longtime political moderate, on Friday announced he is leaving the Democratic Party and has registered as an independent.

Manchin, who is not running for re-election, will continue to caucus with Senate Democrats until the end of his term, his office confirmed to Fox News Digital, meaning the balance of power in the upper chamber will not change significantly. He is currently chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

"From my first day in public service in 1982, I have always focused on doing what’s best for my state and my country, without regard to party or politics. Throughout my days in elected office, I have always been proud of my commitment to common sense, bipartisanship and my desire to bring people together. It’s who I am. It’s who I will always be. I have never seen America through a partisan lens," Manchin said.

I think msny would say Maverick Senator vice Moderate Senator.  However, nothing changes the balance in the Senate and I am sure Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will work to avoid driving him away.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Biden the Healer

For John, BLUF:  President Joeseph R Biden, a cranky old man, was not in a position to bind up our wounds following the election of 2020 and the demonstrations and riots that ensued.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The saddest, loneliest Althouse blog tag: "Biden the healer."

From Althouse Blog, by Professor Ann Althouse, 4 May 2024, 11:06 AM.

Here is the lede plus one:

I created this tag on November 8, 2020, and I don't create a new tag unless I think there will be a good number of other posts that will support that tag. I imagined Biden stepping up to the role of healer.  I went back today, looking for "Biden the healer" in my archive, because I've been thinking how much better Biden might be doing — and, more importantly, how much better this country might be doing — if Biden had followed the path of healing — of bringing us together.  But Biden was and is a divider.  Maybe January 6th was too much of a temptation, such great raw material for tearing us apart.  He could have said — like Lincoln — "with malice toward none, with charity for all" and forgiven everyone involved and called upon all of us — on his side and the other side — to "bind up the nation's wounds."  But he didn't do it.  And now it's too late.

Here's my November 8, 2020 post.  Read it and weep.

And weep I do.

I take the point about binding up the wounds.  However, having decided that 6 January was an insurrection, the Democrats faced a choice.  They could continue to pursue the miscreants or they could work to bind up the wounds.  After all, they won the election and were thus in charge.

Binding up the wouonds of 2020 would require forgiving those who were still crying that the election was stolen.  And, maintaining pressure would be useful in the elections of 2022 and 2024.  The die was cast.

But, even if the Democrsts had, collectively, decided to go for binding up the wounds, was President Joseph Biden the leader to do it>  It would seem to me that his temperment is such that he would find that difficult,  He does not seem to handle disagreement well.  And hasn't gotten better with age.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Kicker Butker Will Have the Last Laugh

For John, BLUF:  Yoou can laugh at mariage and children, but that is where your future caregivers are coming from.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Harrison Butker, Harbinger?

Here is the sub-headline:

Life during and after the coming Demographic Winter.

From GLENN’S SUBSTACK, by Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, 17 May 2024.

Here is the lede plus two:

There are some things you’re not supposed to say in 2024 America, and Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker said some of them.

Speaking to a graduation crowd at conservative Catholic Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, Butker took on Joe Biden’s performative faux-Catholicism, transgender ideology and – most shockingly – suggested to female graduates that they would find a better, more rewarding, and more productive life as wives and mothers than in corporate-style careers.

For this, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. (The full speech is here.) The wider world, however, was not so appreciative. Most notably, the city of Kansas City, Missouri tweeted out a repudiation and a pointed indication that he lived elsewhere, in a community the since-deleted tweet specifically named. Facing complaints of “doxing,” the tweet was removed and Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas apologized. I’m not sure that naming the general place where somebody lives truly qualifies as doxing, but I’m also unclear as to why a municipal government thinks it’s its place to weigh in on what a non-resident private citizen says in a speech delivered in another state about social issues. There were also demands from assorted leftist activists that Butker be punished.

The Professor quotes Mark Steyn:  "the future belongs to those who show up".  He then noted the groups having more children, who will have members showing up in the future, are the "traditional religious groups – trad Catholics, Evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, conservative Muslims and Hindus."  Not the offspring of The View, bless their little hearts.

Demographics is destiny.  Nations like South Korea, Japan and China are in demographic freefall.♠  .

Do you havw something worth passing on?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  In South Korea it is the four Bs.  No dating, no marriage, no sex, no children.  That seems pretty definitive.  And contrary to how we have evolved to this point.

Not So Fast

For John, BLUF:  The Democrats have a problem in the 2024 Election.  It is the pair of President Joe Biden and VEEP Kamala Harris.  Here is a way out.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Don't Laugh: Here's How Joe Could Pull Off a 'Heroic' Escape from the Brutal 2024 Campaign

From , by VICTORIA TAFT | 4:06 PM ON MAY 24, 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

It's almost time for presidential candidates to sprint to the finish line in the 2024 race for the White House. Runners-up will walk away with a t-shirt and a sippy cup. Joe Biden's already wearing the right shoes. He won't be able to sprint in his Naturalizers, but there's one way he could walk away — albeit stiffly — with a remnant of dignity and a great, though apocryphal, story for the family history books.

Now there are many ways that Joe could be tossed from the 2024 race. He could be unceremoniously blown out at his own Antifa convention in Chicago and replaced. His doctors could run out of that go-juice cocktail they fill him with before big events and he could implode more than usual in front of a huge crowd. Or he could leave like a family hero with some semblance of his dignity intact.

Yes, president Biden could retire and pardon his Son, Hunter, on the way out.  Howevewr, for Democrsats that still leaves the problem of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Fortunately, the Senate Democrats may have a way of helping.  From CBS News we have Senate Democrats seek meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts after Alito flag controversy (Reporter Melissa Quinn, 24 May 2024 / 3:15 PM EDT).♠

So, some Senate Democrsts, who can't keep their own house in order, are going to go across the street and harangue and belittle the Chief Justice for a non-issue.  I csm see the Chief Justice taking umbridge at a couple Democratic Party Grifters coming to his office to meddle, improperly, in the affairs of an independent Branch of Government.  He might well resign in protest.

There is the window of opportunity.  President Biden nominates Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Chief Justice and the Democratic Senate consents.

But, the $64 Question is, who replaces her.  Being Democrats, it has to be either a racial or ethnic minority or someone who identifies as a woman.  That precludes Califrnia Governor Gavin Newsom.  But others await.

As this evolves it would be timely for Candidate Donald J Trump to announce that lawfare is a pernicious blight upon our election process and something he wishes to stamp out.  As one of his first acts as President, in Jamuary, he will issue blanket pardons to Ms Hillary, President Joe Biden and his Son Hunder and Brother James.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The lede:  "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and subcommittee head Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse are seeking a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts to discuss ethics issues at the Supreme Court after reports of flags flown outside Justice Samuel Alito's homes sparked outrage."

Refugees from Palestine

For John, BLUF:  President Biden is floating anothe5r "feel good" move with regard to the conflict in the Middle East.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden's Plan to Resettle Thousands of Gaza Refugees Is Insane, Warns Expert

From PJ Media, by Columnist Rick Moran, 18 May 2024, 1:13 PM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Earlier this month, the Biden administration floated a trial balloon, suggesting "senior officials across several federal U.S. agencies have discussed the practicality of different options to resettle Palestinians from Gaza who have immediate family members who are American citizens or permanent residents."

No other Middle Eastern country is crazy enough to want large numbers of Gazans to enter their country.  The history of Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria suggests that the refugees would look to overthrow the government or launch terrorist attacks against Israel from within their borders.

This apparently isn't deterring Joe Biden.  Perhaps it should.

This is differentt from my proposal to brng all Israeli Citizens who are willing to the United States.  My proposal is based on the idea that Palestinian militant groups are not likely to make peace with Israel any time in the future.♠

The proposal by President Biden is not to bring random Palestinians to the United States, but rather those with ties of people already here.  This is an important distinction, if you believe in the idea of assimmilation.  If the sponsors have assimilated into the general US population then the immigrants are likely to become peaceful members of the overall population.

However, a move to bring in random Palistinians will create the situation Mr Moran describes in his article. : There is a reason neighboring nations, such as Egypt and Jordan, will not accept (more) Palistinian refugees. : Those refugees have a history of causing trouble in their new host nation.  I see not reason to think things would be different in the United State.

Finally, there is the question of what such refugee action would do to fix the problem in the Middle East.  If President Biden brings 200,000 thousand Palistinians from Gaza to the US, that will still leave 1.8 million disgruntled Gaza Citizens, prepared to conduct Urban Guerilla Warfare and supporting Hamas or like organizations

This is, at heart, a feel good move on the part of President Biden, perhaps garnering some more votes in Noivember.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  i am reminded of the story out of the Balkins where a reporter is talkng to someone at their doorfront.  The person being interviewed points up the street and says that house five up on the other side of the street used to belong to my family, four hundred years ago.  In some parts of the world memories are very long.

Costs of Columbia Discontent

For John, BLUF:  as Dr Cynthia Watson says, actions create consequences.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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13 Federal Judges Say They Will No Longer Hire Law Clerks From Columbia University, Citing ‘Virulent Spread of Antisemitism’ and ‘Explosion of Student Disruptions’

From the Washington Free Beacon, by reporter Aaron Sibarium, 6 May 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

Thirteen federal judges said Monday that they would no longer hire law clerks from Columbia College or Columbia Law School after the university allowed an encampment on its lawn to spiral into a destructive occupation of a campus building. The judges cited the "explosion of student disruptions" and the "virulent spread of antisemitism" at Columbia, which has now canceled its main graduation ceremony because of the unrest.

Led by appellate judges James Ho and Elizabeth Branch, who spearheaded a clerkship boycott of Yale Law School in 2022 and Stanford Law School in 2023, as well as by Matthew Solomson on the U.S Court of Federal Claims, the judges wrote in a letter to Columbia president Minouche Shafik that they would no longer hire "anyone who joins the Columbia University community—whether as undergraduates or as law students—beginning with the entering class of 2024."

"Freedom of speech protects protest, not trespass, and certainly not acts or threats of violence or terrorism," the judges wrote. "It has become clear that Columbia applies double standards when it comes to free speech and student misconduct."

Good.

Would that more Judges take this position, including our Justices on The Supreme Judicial Court.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Welcoming Immigrants

For John, BLUF:  The photo cut:  Lowell City Councilor Paul Ratha Yem chose items for his family’s Sunday dinner in the New Pailin Market, home to a thriving Cambodian community. The state recently announced that it is moving about 70 migrant and homeless families into the Lowell Inn and Conference Center..  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Lowell is getting dozens of migrant families. Their struggles resonate with Cambodian community.

From Boston Globe, by Correspondent Daniel Kool, 26 April 2024, 5:50 a.m..

Here is the lede plus four:

Vanna Howard watched as Khmer Rouge militants captured her father in the late 1970s during the group’s reign of terror in Cambodia.  She watched as three of her younger siblings and her grandparents were lost to sickness and starvation in a genocide that killed more than 1.7 million people.

Now Howard, a state representative, and other Cambodians in Lowell are watching with empathetic eyes as dozens of new migrant families trickle into Lowell — the latest stop on a harrowing journey that took some through multiple countries in search of opportunity.  She said she sees reflections of her experience in the newest wave of migrants arriving in Massachusetts.

When Howard fled Cambodia, making her way to a refugee camp in Thailand, she walked for “weeks and weeks, similar to the folks who have been coming to our border” in the United States.

“We need to treat this matter with empathy, with compassion,” Howard said, her voice cracking with emotion. “Nobody wants to leave their home country.  The decision to leave their home country — it has to be so bad that you are willing to risk your life to flee."

The state announced last week that it would move nearly 70 migrant and homeless families from Bedford to the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center.  Many of those being relocated are Haitian migrants who fled a country consumed by gang violence.

The lead photo shows Lowell City Councillor Paul Ratha Yem, who was on City Life Show this last Friday.  Lowell is a City of immigrants.  I came here 30 years ago. I say to Councilor Yem that while he was born in Cambodia, like me he came here from the Southland (Southern California), where he lived in San Bernidino, and did work in Long Beach, where I did High School.

I am opposed to President Biden's Open borders policy.  For one thing, I don't understand his underlying objective.  He has not been able to articulate the value.  Further, he cannot explain what historians and social scientists know about the ability of this nation to absorb new immigrants and make them successful and proud Americans.

That said, those who are here are here and we, as Lowellians and as Citizens of our Commonwealth need to make these people feel welcome and we need to provide them shelter and food and work.  Even if they eventually return to the nation from which they came, while they are here, they are fellow human beings and we need to help them to do and live their best.  Lowell is a good place for that to happen, and for immigrants to learn, from us, the importancve of human rights and respect for those rights.

Regards  —  Cliff