"Bird Dogging" the Boston Marathon

For John, BLUF:  This is about Democrat Rennaissance Woman Krysten Sinema, Senator, College Prof, Marathoner, and the shrill way the Democratic Party is going about trying to force her to conform to the desires of President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Far-left activists plan to ‘bird-dog’ Sinema during Boston Marathon over opposition to Biden spending plan

From The Washington Examiner, by Reporter Kate Scanlon, 11 October 2021, 11:07 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Completing a marathon is hard enough.  Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will also have to grapple with a group of far-left activists hounding her on Monday at the Boston Marathon.

It's not clear whether the Arizona Democrat will be competing or watching the race.  Sinema, known as a passionate athlete, qualified for the Boston Marathon but broke her foot at a different marathon earlier this year.  A spokesperson for her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the nature of her participation in Monday’s event.

Either way, activists from the Green New Deal Network plan to confront Sinema over her objections to President Joe Biden’s proposed $3.5 trillion social spending package.

According to the Boston Globe, the Green New Deal Network, a coalition of 15 national organizations, said its activists plan on “bird-dogging” Sinema, a protesting tactic in which activists confront a politician at an unexpected time or place.  They're mad at her objections to the size of the spending bill, which has yet to be written.  Activists plan to confront her with signs reading, “Senator Sinema:  Pass the Full Deal,” “Senator Sinema:  Stop Running.  Start Listening,” and “Senator Sinema:  Stop Running From Us.”

The Boston Marathon was an iconic event, but is now being reduced to another political stage.

is there no neutral ground where we can meet and enjoy ourselves?  Is there no gathering where the enjoyment of friends and family is allowed a few hours of joy?  Frankly, this seems more like driving the opposition from the field than reasoned discourse.  It is about power, as in Europe, after WWI, and we know how that turned out.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

You and Your Local School Committee

For John, BLUF:  The people involved in public education, from teachers to School Committee Members are becoming an isolated clerisy, not subject to the will of the voters.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Florida Mom Calls for ‘Mass Exodus’ from Public Schools on Heels of Merrick Garland’s Crusade Against Anti-CRT Parents

Here is the sub-headline:

A Florida mother has called for parents to lead a “mass exodus” from public schools in the wake of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement that the FBI will investigate “intimidation” and “threats of violence” at school board meetings across the country.

From Breitbart, by Reporter Nick Gilbertson, 8 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

Florida Mother Quisha King spoke during the panel “Fighting Indoctrination on a National Scale” at the Family Research Council’s “Pray Vote Stand Summit” in Virginia on October 7.

“You’re at home trying to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your kids, and the FBI could be knocking at your door because you might have said the wrong thing at a school board meeting,” King stated.

“I really think at this point the only thing to do is have a mass exodus from the public school system – that’s it,” King said.  The crowd responded to King’s suggestion with resounding applause as some audience members even stood up to cheer.

King added that a message will truly be sent when school districts lose funding once children are taken out of their schools.

To be clear, I do not favor parents doing a wholesale withdrawal of their students from public schools.  On the other hand, I fully support the right of Parents to pick the best education modality they see fit.

However, the issue isn't how you choose to educate your child.  After all, this isn't Germany.  The issue is the right of Voters (and even resident aliens) to speak before a School Committe, or a City Council.  If the Citizenry feels intimidated, then we face tyranny.  Yes, these presentations can be heated, but the presenters, if voters, have the ability to vote the rascals out.  Yes, physical threats are verboten, as is violence, but forceful argument is part of the process.  Just ask President Joseph Biden.

UPDATE:  As I went to sleep I reviewed this in my mind and decided I needed to point out that I have never thought of our Lowell School Committee as one of those closed mind clerisy types.  Mistakes?  Yes.  But, they have been an open group, by and large, and have listened to some inane questions by me and others and responded in a respectful manner.  Kudos to them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

"Whatayatalk?"

For John, BLUF:  "Ya gotta know the territory."  My thanks to Mr Robert Meredith Wilson.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Both parties' ignorance of electoral reality has led to our present political discontents

From The Washington Examiner, by Michael Barone, 5 October 2021, 09:56 AM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Here’s a jarring thought:  Most political analysts and most political strategists for our two political parties have been operating off flawed data and flawed assumptions.  The result has been one political surprise after another and the election of the two most unsatisfactory presidents, in the minds of many voters, since Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan in the 1850s.

The flawed data have been apparent for some years, since a June 9, 2016, column by the New York Times election analyst Nate Cohn.  As he recently reprised in a Twitter thread, his argument was that there are more noncollege white people in the electorate than most analysts, relying on exit polls, believed.

There are links and other data at the original aarticle.

The point is, the political experts don't know the data.  As a result, they are chasing what they think are the voters, but are n0t really the voters.  The entire short article is well worth reading.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A New Party?

For John, BLUF:  The two primary parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, are such a shambles that folks are always being tempted to form a new, clean, respectable, third party.  It workeed once, in 1854, when the Republican Party was formed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Andrew Yang says he officially left the Democratic Party

From Axios, by Reporter Oriana Gonzalez, 4 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Andrew Yang announced on Monday that he changed his voter registration from "Democrat" to "Independent," calling the move a "strangely emotional experience."

What he's saying: While Yang said he has identified as a Democrat for years and has "dozens of friends and confidantes who are entrenched in the Democratic Party," he is "confident that no longer being a Democrat is the right thing."

• "My goal is to do as much as I can to advance our society. There are phenomenal public servants doing great work every day — but our system is stuck. It is stuck in part because polarization is getting worse than ever," Yang said.
• He said he has always been at odds with the Democratic Party: "I’m not very ideological. I’m practical. Making partisan arguments — particularly expressing what I often see as performative sentiment — is sometimes uncomfortable for me."
• "I’m actually more comfortable trying to fix the system than being a part of it."

The big picture: Yang's announcement comes a day before his book, "Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy," is set to be released.

I think the odds are against a third party at this time, but Mr Yang is a surprising character and he might be able to pull this off, especially given that the Democratic Party has lurched so far to its Progressive side that it has thrown some of its active legislators off to the side.

We will see how Mr Yang does in his race for Mayor of New York City.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

Take That, Texas!

For John, BLUF:  there are positive reasons for doing things.  Doing it for spite is not a positive reason.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Pandemic-Era Voting Reforms Made Permanent In Senate Bill

From State House News Service, by Reporter Chris Lisinski, 30 September 2021, 4:38 PM.

Here is the lede:

Just more than two months before COVID-era voting provisions are set to expire, the Senate will debate an elections reform bill next week that would make mail-in voting and expanded early voting permanent options and align Massachusetts with more than 20 other states that allow same-day voter registration, a change that might meet resistance from the governor.

I found this interesting extract at MASSterList:

Senate leadership unveiled the bill last week, heralding it as a way to push back against more restrictive laws passed in other parts of the country.

"Take that, Texas!"  Massachusetts will make its voting a little less secure just to spite you.

I would be a lot more impressed with Beacon Hill if they passed an ID to Vote bill.  Yes, we should make voting easy for our Citizen, but 3we should be sure the voters are Citizens.♠ 

Hat tip to the MASSterLisgt.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  An example of what we should be doing is providing convenient polling places.  For exapple, Lowell's District 4, the Bow Tie district, because of configurtion, could use three polling locations, at least one north of the Merrimack River.

Violence Against Politicians

For John, BLUF:  Is AntiFa a global organization, like Communism, or is it a bunch of individual organiations, each doing its own thing?  In other worse, does the AntiFa in Portland pretty much agree wiht the AntiFa in Germany?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Far-Left Antifa Extremists Threaten to Kill 53 Populist German Politicians

Here is the sub-headline:

Antifa far-left extremists have called for the murder of 53 members of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), publishing their home addresses on a well-known far-left web platform.

from Breitbaart, by Reporter Chris Tomlinson, 2 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) confirmed the existence of the posts, which were made on Indymedia, the far-left web platform which has been used in the past to post credit for far-left attacks and other calls for violence against the AfD.

The BKA confirmed to German magazine Focus that several posts made on September 13th had called for violence against the populist party, with one saying: “Let’s kill the AfD pigs with explosives.”

A Google search cache seen by Breitbart London confirms the existence of the posts on Indymedia, but the articles have been either deleted or moved, as a message states “access denied” when attempting to view the page.

I know the Democrats lost the Congressional Baseball Game this year, a charity event, but this seems like a bit of an extreme reaction.

Mr James Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Illinois, the shooter on 14 June 2017, was a one off.♠  That said, it is the worst act of terrorism against Congress since the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party shot up Congress on 1 March 1954, wounding five CongressCritters.

Isn't it time for Progressives to come out and condemn this kind of AntiFa talk?  Killing Politicians is not necessarily a value free action.  Others will likely be hurt.  Are we so obsessed with the "right" that we see it as a free fire zone?  I hope not. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  It is interesting to me that the vaunted Wikipedia does not hve an entry for Mr Hodgkinson, although they do mention him in their entry for the Congressional Baseball shooting itself.  Why?  I wonder.  Is it because Mr Hodgkinson was a "Bernie Bro"?  Is it because it flows counter to the theme that the problem is terrorism on the right?

A Red Flag

For John, BLUF:  We, as a nation, are filing in our efforts to have our People vaccinated against COVID-19.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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First Workers, Now Blacks:  Democrats’ Betrayals For Big Business Are Piling Up, But Can Republicans Seize It?

Here is the sub-headline:

Now roughly 72 percent of black New York City residents aged 18-44 are banned -- banned -- from entering dining establishments.

From The Federalist, by Christopher Bedford, 1 October 2021.

Picking up on the subheadline:

At a practical level, fighting the virus, I can almost imagine the value of the mandate, except it suggests an underlying problem.  Our Federal Government is not able to sell the solution.  Over the last year and a half they have squandered their reputation.

Worse, the President is a cranky old man who will not tolerate anyone thinking differently from him.  That is not just a bad personality trait. It will work against the success of our Democracy.

And, quoting The Federalist, “Now roughly 72 percent of black New York City residents aged 18-44 are banned -- banned -- from entering dining establishments.”  That sounds like a problem unsolved.  Why are we unable to reach out to our Black Brothers and Sisters and help them see value in Vaccinations?  Or, are the Unvaccinated right and we are wrong and the Vax is bad and we are stupid.  If it was 32% it would be one thing, but it is 72% who haven’t had the jab.  This should be a big red flag and should be causing the Federal Government to rethink its approach.  Alas, ’tint happening.  I think the House Speaker is just as stubborn as the President.  Stubborn leaders are not leaders.  They are dictators..

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff