Masks off? Democrats try for a pandemic pivot
Posted By: Dreadnought, 2/10/2022 11:13:53 PM
Democrats are making a U-turn on mask mandates, just in time for the midterms. It’s happening among the party’s governors, several of whom are easing up their masking rules as Covid’s Omicron wave fades. And it’s happening on the Hill, where Democrats are suddenly lining up to call for rollbacks of the nation’s most noticeable pandemic-era rule. Their pandemic pivot comes as they brace for a brutal November election in which the virus — and the culture war that’s accompanied it — is shaping up to be Democrats’ biggest blind spot.
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There’s a vibrant, exciting music scene happening in New York City — and newly elected mayor Eric Adams isn’t happy about it.
In remarks to members of the press Friday, Adams expressed concerns about drill rap, the musical subgenre that has flourished in his home borough of Brooklyn over the past half-decade. He characterized the music as “alarming,” linking it to gun violence, and appeared to put further blame on social media companies.
“We pulled Trump off Twitter,” Adams said. “Yet we are allowing music, displaying of guns, violence.
Jack Reacher, American Archetype
19 replies
Over the years I’ve managed to read a couple of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. It’s yet another iteration of the American Story repeated endlessly in American fiction high and low, from Huckleberry Finn to Dashiell Hammett, and from John Wayne to Clint Eastwood: A stranger wanders into town, rights the wrongs, wins the girl, leaves the girl, and continues his wandering. It’s John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, but without the reception in the Celestial City. America from the outset has been caught in a recurring dream (sometimes a nightmare) of a journey that cannot end but only begin again.
Democrats are making a U-turn on mask mandates, just in time for the midterms.
It’s happening among the party’s governors, several of whom are easing up their masking rules as Covid’s Omicron wave fades. And it’s happening on the Hill, where Democrats are suddenly lining up to call for rollbacks of the nation’s most noticeable pandemic-era rule.
Their pandemic pivot comes as they brace for a brutal November election in which the virus — and the culture war that’s accompanied it — is shaping up to be Democrats’ biggest blind spot.
How the GOP got out ahead of inflation
as a potent political issue (and why Dems
are panicking) 8 replies
as a potent political issue (and why Dems
are panicking) 8 replies
The NY Times just published a story about how Republicans got out ahead of Democrats on the inflation issue. The story credits Rep. Elise Stefanik for noticing last year that prices were creeping up at the grocery store. Back when economists were still promising inflation would be transitory, Stefanik thought this could become a big issue for the GOP.
Early last year, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, who was then campaigning to become the No. 3 Republican in the House, began to notice that the prices of fruit, bacon, milk and eggs were creeping up.
Since early days, Democrats have pushed increasingly onerous regulations in response to the Wuhan coronavirus.
Lockdowns — which the World Health Organization disavows except in very narrow, short-term circumstances and which are unsupported by science — have dragged on and on. Teachers unions kept schools closed month after month in blue states, and even children as young as 2 are being forced to mask despite no scientific support for doing so. Indeed, masking has become a political statement, to the point that Democrats routinely report wearing masks outdoors
Here’s a question for alert readers: when was the last RCP-tracked poll that put Joe Biden’s job-approval deficit in single digits? Contemplate that for a moment before I answer it, especially in light of today’s numbers. Byron York noticed that Biden’s floor is now officially below 40%: That 15-point gap didn’t come out of nowhere. The last national poll tracked by RCP with a single-digit gap in Biden’s job approval came last week from the Economist/YouGov tracking poll (45/49). If that was the good news, relatively speaking, the bad news is that the same tracking poll
So, it looks like the White House is doing damage control on CrackPipeGate. After The Washington Free Beacon published a report on a grant being offered by the Department of Health and Human Services that would fund, in part, the distribution of crack pipes to “underserved” communities, the Biden administration faced outrage coming from conservatives and others. Even Snopes tried to come to the White House’s rescue.
The Free Beacon reported:
The $30 million grant program, which closed applications Monday
The freefall of President Joe Biden’s job approval rating continued this week, dropping to 38 percent over the past month.
Surveying 1,355 adults between February 2-4, the IBD/TIPP poll found the president’s job approval rating stood at 38 percent with a disapproval rating of 48 percent of adults, with another 14 percent undecided. The presidential leadership index, which tracks how the president is “viewed when it comes to leading the country,” put the president’s approval at 44.4 percent.
White House Defends Rights of Canadian
Trucker Protesters As Justin Trudeau Smears
Freedom Convoy 10 replies
Trucker Protesters As Justin Trudeau Smears
Freedom Convoy 10 replies
The White House on Tuesday backed the right of Canadian truckers to protest Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the overbearing coronavirus restrictions and vaccine mandates.
“We of course support as you know the right to freedom of speech and protest,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during the daily briefing on Tuesday. “Everyone can peacefully protest, we fully support that,” she added.
The White House response differs from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who smeared Freedom Convoy protestors as a “fringe minority” with “unacceptable views” and described them as racist.
Tow truck companies are unwilling to help police haul away the vehicles that have blocked border crossings in Coutts, Alta., and gridlocked Ottawa’s downtown core, according to officials in both jurisdictions.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki told reporters during a briefing about the blockade that had formed near the Canada-U.S. border near Coutts that the towing companies fear for their livelihood if they get involved.
As hospitalizations continue to drop, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker intends Wednesday to announce a lifting of a universal indoor masking order for most public places except for schools, a source familiar with the plan confirmed Tuesday.
His immediate focus in easing COVID-19 mitigations will be in bars, restaurants, grocery stores, museums and other common indoor areas that draw traffic, which have all been under a mask mandate since August.
Blue state governors and state health officials who most vigorously embraced pandemic restrictions are pivoting toward a new era, using Omicron’s decline to dial back precautions that have become a hallmark of the last two years.
Health departments from Oregon to Maine have over the last few weeks ended almost all of their government-run Covid-19 contact tracing operations and shifted the responsibility to the public.
At the same time, Democratic governors in the Northeast and West
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Joe Biden has tapped an LGBTQ+ activist, drag queen “pup” fetishist to be the deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
The Politico reported the news on Thursday: (snip) Sam Brinton, according to his profile on an LGBTQ website, has “a dual Master’s degree in engineering systems and nuclear science and engineering from MIT.”
In his spare time, Brinton also enjoys roleplaying as a “pup handler,” and talking about having sex with animals. His drag queen alter ego is “Sister Ray Dee O’Active,” The National Pulse reported. Brinton is reportedly the son of Southern Baptist missionaries
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that 'everything is on the table' to end the Freedom Convoy demonstrations blockading key border crossings to the US, after speaking directly with President Joe Biden. 'President Biden and I both agreed that for the security of people and the economy, these blockades cannot continue,' Trudeau said at a press briefing. 'Make no mistake, the border cannot and will not remain closed.' 'Everything is on the table because this unlawful activity has to end, and it will end,' Trudeau said, declining to offer specifics on a police action at the Ambassador Bridge, which is now widely expected after the provincial premier of Ontario
The Biden administration is putting out new details on its effort to create 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations–with new efforts to push out funds to have them line interstates at 50-mile intervals. The administration is awarding $5 billion over five years to states to have them build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations. Another $2.5 billion will go out in grants to be decided later. It all comes from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan that was enacted late last year and that the administration continues to sell, amid the collapse of Biden's Build Back Better plan. The charging stations would work with all electric vehicles
Sam Brinton (“they/them”), had some “pretty BIG news” for his friends and followers on LinkedIn recently: “I have accepted the offer to serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy for the Department of Energy. In this role I’ll be doing what I always dreamed of doing, leading the effort to solve the nation’s nuclear waste challenges.” Brinton also noted proudly that he would “even be (to my knowledge) the first gender fluid person in federal government leadership.” He is much more than that. He is, to the best of my knowledge, the first drag queen and the first person
As buzz builds about who will push for the 2024 presidency in both major parties, one of the most unlikely names continues popping up in the news.
Hillary Clinton is making headlines as she sets up speaking engagements, shows up to campaign events, and sells merchandise poking fun at onetime rival Donald Trump. The former first lady, New York senator, secretary of state, and defeated 2016 Democratic nominee is back in the spotlight as President Joe Biden stumbles.
Karl Rove Under Fire for Redistricting
Failures: He’s ‘Costing Republicans
All Over the Country’ 38 replies
Failures: He’s ‘Costing Republicans
All Over the Country’ 38 replies
Veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove is under fire hours before he is set to speak at a major gathering of Republicans in Missouri, Breitbart News has learned, all while his failures on redistricting nationwide become clearer.
Rove, who is scheduled to keynote the Missouri Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner in St. Louis on Saturday night, is a senior adviser nationally to a group called the National Republican Redistricting Trust (NRRT). The GOP redistricting group NRRT, Rove wrote in a 2021 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal announcing his appointment to it, “was formed in response to Democratic efforts organized in 2016
Atlanta—A federal cybersecurity agency is reviewing a report that alleges security vulnerabilities in voting machines used by Georgia and other states and says the document shouldn’t be made public until the agency has had time to assess and mitigate potential risks. The report has been under seal since July in federal court in Atlanta, part of a long-running lawsuit challenging Georgia’s voting machines. Its author, J. Alex Halderman, said in sworn declarations filed publicly with the court that he examined the Dominion Voting Systems machines for 12 weeks and identified “multiple severe security flaws” that would allow bad actors to install malicious software.
The U.S. Army unveiled a plan this week to tackle issues surrounding climate change, including the establishment of an electric vehicle fleet, as well as the reduction of the branch's greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan, outlined by the Army in a document titled "Climate Strategy," calls for the service to cut its emissions by 50% by 2030 from 2005 levels and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The strategy aims to establish an "all-electric light-duty non-tactical vehicle fleet by 2027" and an "all-electric non-tactical vehicle fleet by 2035."
"There are 950 renewable energy projects supplying 480 megawatts of power to the Army today … scoped and planned through 2024," the Army strategy stated.
Protesters blocking the Ambassador Bridge on Friday night decided to defy a deadline of 7pm to clear the route, setting themselves up for a showdown with police after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that 'everything is on the table' to end the Freedom Convoy demonstrations after speaking directly with President Joe Biden.
A Canadian court on Friday issued the injunction to end the blockade at the key bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario with Detroit, setting up a potential showdown between police and protesters when the 7pm deadline arrives. Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz granted the injunction on Friday evening, which will last for 10 days
CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem hastily backtracked her Thursday call for Canadian truckers participating in the protests against the Liberal government's coronavirus policies to have their tires slashed."Earlier today, I tweeted something that has been used by others to suggest I was promoting vigilantism. I was not. People have the freedom to protest. Governments have the responsibility to protect public safety. That was what I intended to say," Kayyem tweeted late Thursday evening. (Tweet) Earlier in the day, Kayyem railed against the truckers, declaring their protest an "economic and security issue," and calling for them to be stopped.
With COVID deaths now topping 910,000, the Biden administration and the rest of the Democratic left are deciding to ease up on their mandate regime. We need to learn to live with COVID, they say – repeating advice President Donald Trump issued back in October 2020.
We’re all for ditching the left’s COVID police state, even if Democrats’ reason is political, as we pointed out in this space yesterday.
But that leaves us with a question: Was any of it worth it? Did any of the guidelines, mandates, orders, shutdowns, cancelations, lockdowns do anything to alter the course of the disease, or
President Joe Biden's administration has urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to use its federal powers to end the Freedom Convoy demonstrations blockading key border crossings to protest Canada's COVID-19 restrictions.On Friday the blockade halting traffic at the Ambassador Bridge crossing connecting Windsor, Ontario to Detroit entered its fifth day, disrupting the flow products between the two countries and threatening to shut down production at several US auto plants.
The bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario with Detroit, Michigan, is North America's busiest international land border and usually carriesaccommodating 27 percent of the approximately $400 billion in annual trade