hotair--2020-11-25--Latest from the CDC: Shortening quarantine times is likely the next big announcement

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finalizing a new recommendation about the length of time for quarantines after a person is exposed to the coronavirus .
Scientists now believe that a full 14 days may not be needed after all .
This announcement will be cold comfort for all of the people who took the CDC ’ s guidelines to heart and shut themselves off from members of their household to wait out the two weeks thought to be the incubation period .
We are now being told that the CDC has been contemplating a change in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CDC is always reviewing its guidance and recommendations in the light of new understandings of the virus that causes Covid-19 , and will announce such changes when appropriate , ” a spokesperson for the agency told NBC News on Tuesday .
The updated approach will likely incorporate testing .
What the eventual recommendation will be is unknown , but CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in an October briefing that the agency was considering shortening the length of quarantine by up to a week .
At the time , Redfield said researchers were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing during the quarantine to determine if you can shorten the quarantine to seven or 10 days.
” Without testing , he said , you could miss a percentage of infectious cases .
“ Obviously we don ’ t want people to be quarantined 14 days unnecessarily , ” Redfield said .
But apparently , they aren ’ t so concerned as to get on it and make the announcement already , right ?
That means not only will families be apart due to coronavirus guidelines which recommend only members of a household @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a member of that household is self-quarantining , that person will eat alone while others in the household gather around the table .
If the self-quarantining person is over a week into it , he or she can at least share the holiday meal with the family .
It ’ s as I keep going back to – these numbers being used in order to mandate rules and restrictions on everyone just seems to be arbitrary .
Whether it ’ s a governor shutting down grocery stores or keeping schools closed though the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children are infected and spreading the virus at school .
Now the CDC , which has been proven wrong on conclusions about the virus several times , is changing course again .
It ’ s easy to see why so many people question the validity of advice from the experts .
COVID-19 fatigue is real and only getting worse as the plague drags on .
Dr. Tom Frieden , former head of the CDC , agreed that it may be necessary to make quarantines more palatable to the general public .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Frieden , who currently serves as president of the global public health initiative , Resolve to Save Lives .
“ We know that the biggest risk is from days four to seven .
After that , the risk is lower ” for transmission , he said .
The CDC gave an indication of the changing quarantine strategy on Nov. 20 with its updated international travel guidance .
The agency advised international travelers to “ get tested three to five days after travel and stay home for seven days after travel.
” If the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the full seven days.
” Without a test , travelers should stay home for 14 days .
No word yet when the official announcement will be made .
Too bad it ’ s taken so long and likely after Thanksgiving .
Let ’ s hope it comes before Christmas .
In other news from the CDC , a warning about taking cruises came out this week .
I don ’ t know who needs to hear this but all people should avoid travel on cruise ships .
When I first read that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , duh .
But I avoid cruises even in the best of times .
It ’ s not unusual to read about people getting sick during or immediately after a cruise , which makes sense given the number of people on the ships and their close proximity in such an isolated environment .
The CDC now labels cruises as “ Level 4 : Very High Level of COVID-19 ” .
At the end of October the CDC lifted its months-long ban on cruise ships operating in and out of U.S. ports .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Order which outlines the steps required to be completed before cruise lines can get permission to restart voyages .
These requirements include crew testing and successful “ simulated voyages ” designed “ to replicate real world onboard conditions of cruising.
” While the majority of major cruise companies have canceled voyages in US waters until 2021 , some voyages have recommenced elsewhere .
Cruise operations in the Mediterranean restarted over the summer , albeit with reduced passenger capacity and a more limited itinerary .
Earlier this month , SeaDream 1 , the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ port since the spring , was hit by a slew of Covid cases , despite a pre-boarding testing policy .
Seven passengers and two crew members tested positive for the virus .
The outbreak put into doubt the ability of testing alone to combat the spread of coronavirus on cruises .
As SeaDream 1 was operating outside US waters , the ship didn ’ t have to follow the CDC ’ s advice on cruising .
SeaDream Yacht Club has canceled all voyages through the end of 2020 .
The new CDC guidance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go on a cruise should get tested 3-5 days after your trip.
” If travelers test negative upon returning home , they should stay home for seven days and if they don ’ t get tested , the 14-day quarantine rule applies .
Loyal travelers are ready to go .
One cruise line reports a list of 100,000 people interested in upcoming cruises .

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finalizing a new recommendation about the length of time for quarantines after a person is exposed to the coronavirus. Scientists now believe that a full 14 days may not be needed after all.
This announcement will be cold comfort for all of the people who took the CDC’s guidelines to heart and shut themselves off from members of their household to wait out the two weeks thought to be the incubation period. We are now being told that the CDC has been contemplating a change in the guidance “for weeks”.
“CDC is always reviewing its guidance and recommendations in the light of new understandings of the virus that causes Covid-19, and will announce such changes when appropriate,” a spokesperson for the agency told NBC News on Tuesday. The updated approach will likely incorporate testing. What the eventual recommendation will be is unknown, but CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in an October briefing that the agency was considering shortening the length of quarantine by up to a week. At the time, Redfield said researchers were looking at whether “you can use testing during the quarantine to determine if you can shorten the quarantine to seven or 10 days.” Without testing, he said, you could miss a percentage of infectious cases. “Obviously we don’t want people to be quarantined 14 days unnecessarily,” Redfield said.
But apparently, they aren’t so concerned as to get on it and make the announcement already, right? That means not only will families be apart due to coronavirus guidelines which recommend only members of a household share the holiday together, but if a member of that household is self-quarantining, that person will eat alone while others in the household gather around the table. If the self-quarantining person is over a week into it, he or she can at least share the holiday meal with the family.
It’s as I keep going back to – these numbers being used in order to mandate rules and restrictions on everyone just seems to be arbitrary. Whether it’s a governor shutting down grocery stores or keeping schools closed though the numbers don’t back up fears children are infected and spreading the virus at school. Now the CDC, which has been proven wrong on conclusions about the virus several times, is changing course again. It’s easy to see why so many people question the validity of advice from the experts. COVID-19 fatigue is real and only getting worse as the plague drags on.
Dr. Tom Frieden, former head of the CDC, agreed that it may be necessary to make quarantines more palatable to the general public. “We need to optimize quarantine,” said Frieden, who currently serves as president of the global public health initiative, Resolve to Save Lives. “We know that the biggest risk is from days four to seven. After that, the risk is lower” for transmission, he said. The CDC gave an indication of the changing quarantine strategy on Nov. 20 with its updated international travel guidance. The agency advised international travelers to “get tested three to five days after travel and stay home for seven days after travel.” If the test is negative, “stay home for the full seven days.” Without a test, travelers should stay home for 14 days.
No word yet when the official announcement will be made. Too bad it’s taken so long and likely after Thanksgiving. Let’s hope it comes before Christmas.
In other news from the CDC, a warning about taking cruises came out this week. I don’t know who needs to hear this but all people should avoid travel on cruise ships. When I first read that, my initial reaction was, well, duh. But I avoid cruises even in the best of times. It’s not unusual to read about people getting sick during or immediately after a cruise, which makes sense given the number of people on the ships and their close proximity in such an isolated environment. The CDC now labels cruises as “Level 4: Very High Level of COVID-19”. At the end of October the CDC lifted its months-long ban on cruise ships operating in and out of U.S. ports. It then issued a Framework for Conditional Sailing Order which outlines the steps required to be completed before cruise lines can get permission to restart voyages. These requirements include crew testing and successful “simulated voyages” designed “to replicate real world onboard conditions of cruising.”
While the majority of major cruise companies have canceled voyages in US waters until 2021, some voyages have recommenced elsewhere. Cruise operations in the Mediterranean restarted over the summer, albeit with reduced passenger capacity and a more limited itinerary. Earlier this month, SeaDream 1, the first cruise ship to depart from a Caribbean port since the spring, was hit by a slew of Covid cases, despite a pre-boarding testing policy. Seven passengers and two crew members tested positive for the virus. The outbreak put into doubt the ability of testing alone to combat the spread of coronavirus on cruises. As SeaDream 1 was operating outside US waters, the ship didn’t have to follow the CDC’s advice on cruising.
SeaDream Yacht Club has canceled all voyages through the end of 2020.
The new CDC guidance specifies that “passengers who decide to go on a cruise should get tested 3-5 days after your trip.” If travelers test negative upon returning home, they should stay home for seven days and if they don’t get tested, the 14-day quarantine rule applies.
Loyal travelers are ready to go. One cruise line reports a list of 100,000 people interested in upcoming cruises.
But despite CDC warnings, many cruise lovers are excited to cruising again. Major cruise line Royal Caribbean said its been inundated by travelers looking to sign up for its trial cruise scheme, which is still in its planning stages. Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean, said in a Facebook post that 100,000 people had registered interest so far.


hotair--2020-11-25--Trump: General Michael Flynn 'has been granted a Full Pardon.'

As Ed pointed out this morning , this doesn ’ t come as much of a surprise to anyone at this point .
The DOJ has been trying to drop the case against Flynn for months and Judge Sullivan has been refusing to do so .
Moments ago , President Trump announced a full pardon for Gen. Flynn on Twitter : Because this just happened a few minutes ago there aren ’ t many stories up about it yet but there are already lots of reactions on Twitter .
Not surprisingly , the left is not pleased : Some variation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot of people : On the other hand , folks on the right are celebrating : Earlier today Jonathan Turley suggested that Judge Sullivan ’ s behavior in this case could be grounds for a pardon : From the outset , Sullivan ’ s handling of the case was unsettling and irregular .
This should have been a simple sentencing on a simple criminal count .
After all , Flynn cooperated with federal prosecutors and even uncooperative witnesses like Alex Van Der Zwaan received only 30 days in prison on a similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sentencing hearing , Sullivan blew up the proceedings with a bizarre diatribe .
Using the flag in court as a prop , Sullivan falsely accused Flynn of being an “ unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser ” who sold his country out .
Sullivan even suggested Flynn should have been charged with treason , then suggested he might ignore any recommendations and send Flynn to jail when he declared , “ I can not assure you that if you proceed today , you will not receive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not hiding my disgust and my disdain.
” … Sullivan ’ s conduct led a D.C. panel to order him to dismiss the case , in a scathing decision over his handling and the briefing of Gleeson .
At the time , I wrote that the panel should be reversed because Sullivan had not issued a final decision .
Later the D.C .
Circuit reached the same conclusion and , without endorsing the conduct of Sullivan , sent the case back for final decision for Sullivan to do the right thing .
Judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the case but refused and instead dragged it out , perhaps hoping a Biden win would lead to the DOJ reversing itself .
Turley , concluded “ the only basis for a pardon in this case that is stronger than the conduct of defendant is the conduct of the judge.
” After Trump ’ s announcement , Turley added that it should never have come to this : The NY Times ’ take on the whole affair is here .
Predictably , it fails to apply any real scrutiny to the claimed goals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the behest of disgraced anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok .
The fact that they did it without notifying the White House Counsel is only mentioned in passing .
There ’ s also no mention of the fact that a possible violation of the Logan Act was one of reasons floated for going after Flynn , despite the fact that the Logan Act has never been successfully used to convict anyone .
Again , here ’ s Jonathan Turley from earlier this year : When Strzok overruled the career prosecutors and investigators to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Logan Act as a possible way to charge Flynn .
We previously learned that former acting Attorney General Sally Yates also raised the Logan Act as a possible charge , and we know that McCabe pushed the Logan Act in the absence of any other crime… The new material shows that former FBI Director James Comey also raised the Logan Act , with President Obama , in discussing FBI surveillance of Flynn .
In one meeting , Justice Department officials were surprised that Obama already knew of the surveillance even though Yates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One document states , “ Yates had no idea what the president was talking about , but figured it out based on the conversation .
Yates recalled Comey mentioning the Logan Act.
” This case was a crock from the start and Flynn would never have been treated this way if not for the partisanship of the agents involved .
It ’ s a shame he had to be pardoned at all .
The case should have been dismissed months ago .
But the resistance partisanship from Judge Sullivan made this the only @ @ @

As Ed pointed out this morning, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone at this point. The DOJ has been trying to drop the case against Flynn for months and Judge Sullivan has been refusing to do so. Moments ago, President Trump announced a full pardon for Gen. Flynn on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1331706255212228608
Because this just happened a few minutes ago there aren’t many stories up about it yet but there are already lots of reactions on Twitter. Not surprisingly, the left is not pleased:
It’s a great dishonor to our country to watch traitors pardoning traitors. — Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) November 25, 2020
Some variation on this theme is being reused by a lot of people:
A crook pardoning another crook. https://t.co/8BGYDvUJnt — Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) November 25, 2020
One criminal pardoning another- what a surprise…
You are a pathetic small handed, small brained, small etc , empty soul man… https://t.co/TEkEuCSX4g — Martina Navratilova (@Martina) November 25, 2020
You both are two of the biggest traitors in US history, so this makes sense. — Scott Dworkin (@funder) November 25, 2020
Nothing great about this. Nothing honorable about this. Just the last gasp of a corrupt man on his way out. https://t.co/dpSQQsfP3s — The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) November 25, 2020
On the other hand, folks on the right are celebrating:
Happy Thanksgiving to General Flynn and the Flynn Family. The way this war hero and his family were treated by the Government of the US, the deep state, and democrats has been a repulsive injustice. After 4 years of hell, they can rebuild their lives. This can never happen again. https://t.co/xKjFLQXUr6 — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) November 25, 2020
Justice for General Flynn! https://t.co/5HMKhRjK4Y — House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) November 25, 2020
100% the right call to pardon General Michael Flynn. He shouldn’t have ever been targeted like this in the first place. One item remains…Crimes and other misconduct were committed against @GenFlynn along the way and that justice still remains absolutely necessary today. https://t.co/10nQoJH13S — Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) November 25, 2020
Earlier today Jonathan Turley suggested that Judge Sullivan’s behavior in this case could be grounds for a pardon:
From the outset, Sullivan’s handling of the case was unsettling and irregular. This should have been a simple sentencing on a simple criminal count. After all, Flynn cooperated with federal prosecutors and even uncooperative witnesses like Alex Van Der Zwaan received only 30 days in prison on a similar charge. However, in his first sentencing hearing, Sullivan blew up the proceedings with a bizarre diatribe. Using the flag in court as a prop, Sullivan falsely accused Flynn of being an “unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser” who sold his country out. Sullivan even suggested Flynn should have been charged with treason, then suggested he might ignore any recommendations and send Flynn to jail when he declared, “I cannot assure you that if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration. I am not hiding my disgust and my disdain.”… Sullivan’s conduct led a D.C. panel to order him to dismiss the case, in a scathing decision over his handling and the briefing of Gleeson. At the time, I wrote that the panel should be reversed because Sullivan had not issued a final decision. Later the D.C. Circuit reached the same conclusion and, without endorsing the conduct of Sullivan, sent the case back for final decision for Sullivan to do the right thing.
Judge Sullivan was given a chance to drop the case but refused and instead dragged it out, perhaps hoping a Biden win would lead to the DOJ reversing itself. Turley, concluded “the only basis for a pardon in this case that is stronger than the conduct of defendant is the conduct of the judge.” After Trump’s announcement, Turley added that it should never have come to this:
Trump just pardoned Flynn. This should not have been an issue since the DOJ asked many months ago for the case to be dropped. Sullivan's continued refusal to issue a final decision forced the issue. https://t.co/XQiMz3tUkq — Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 25, 2020
The NY Times’ take on the whole affair is here. Predictably, it fails to apply any real scrutiny to the claimed goals of the FBI in interviewing Flynn at the behest of disgraced anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok. The fact that they did it without notifying the White House Counsel is only mentioned in passing. There’s also no mention of the fact that a possible violation of the Logan Act was one of reasons floated for going after Flynn, despite the fact that the Logan Act has never been successfully used to convict anyone. Again, here’s Jonathan Turley from earlier this year:
When Strzok overruled the career prosecutors and investigators to keep open the investigation, he immediately raised the Logan Act as a possible way to charge Flynn. We previously learned that former acting Attorney General Sally Yates also raised the Logan Act as a possible charge, and we know that McCabe pushed the Logan Act in the absence of any other crime… The new material shows that former FBI Director James Comey also raised the Logan Act, with President Obama, in discussing FBI surveillance of Flynn. In one meeting, Justice Department officials were surprised that Obama already knew of the surveillance even though Yates was not aware of the facts. One document states, “Yates had no idea what the president was talking about, but figured it out based on the conversation. Yates recalled Comey mentioning the Logan Act.”
This case was a crock from the start and Flynn would never have been treated this way if not for the partisanship of the agents involved. It’s a shame he had to be pardoned at all. The case should have been dismissed months ago. But the resistance partisanship from Judge Sullivan made this the only possible outcome.


hotair--2020-11-25--Denver mayor asks residents to avoid travel on Thanksgiving -- before boarding plane to Houston

I repeat what I said in this post : Our leaders are toilet mold .
But if we ’ re being honest , we ’ ll admit that we get the leadership we deserve .
These stories about Cuomo and Gavin Newsom and now Denver Mayor Michael Hancock are fun in exposing the hypocrisy of our loathsome governing class , but no one ’ s pretending that Americans would have followed the rules if only these turds had too , are they ?
Just as a serious people wouldn ’ t elect Andrew Cuomo to run a pet store , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people wouldn ’ t have tens of millions citizens traveling at a moment when the pandemic in the United States is the worst it ’ s ever been .
A former White House doctor described Thanksgiving 2020 as “ potentially the mother of all superspreader events ” given the prevalence of cases right now , the close contact involved in air travel , and the extended gatherings around the dinner table to come .
Two weeks from now , the only news story in America will be hospitals and governments trying to cope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ultimately deaths seeded by the holiday .
And then , because we ’ re not a serious people , many millions of us will decide to travel for Christmas gatherings too .
Despite the fact that , because of the vaccine , we ’ re just a few months away from turning the tide against COVID .
So yeah , Michael Hancock : A bad leader but a very typical American .
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock boarded a flight to Houston ahead of Thanksgiving despite his warnings that people should stay close to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their own household if they can .
His spokeswoman confirmed that Hancock was traveling to Houston Wednesday to visit his daughter in Mississippi , and that his wife is already there .
About 30 minutes before the flight , Hancock ’ s account tweeted out to “ avoid travel , if you can ” in order to slow the spread of COVID-19… In an email to city staff on Nov. 18 , Hancock wrote , “ as the holidays approach , we all long to be with our families with person , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m urging you to refrain from travel this Thanksgiving holiday .
For my family that means cancelling our traditional gathering of our extended family.
” Here ’ s his tweet .
We can debate , I guess , whether it ’ s better to be a hypocrite by urging others not to travel while doing so yourself or to embrace the irresponsibility and encourage everyone to travel while doing so yourself , but that ’ d be a depressing debate .
Here ’ s where things stood last night , two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party for COVID : Hospitals are already dealing with an unprecedented load of patients and taking unprecedented steps to try to accommodate them all .
In two weeks it ’ ll be much , much worse .
Deaths yesterday were north of 2,000 for the first time since May 7 and actually outpaced the gloomy projection made recently by Seattle scientist Trevor Bedford .
Bedford looked at case counts in mid-November and estimated that we ’ d reach 2,000 deaths per day again by December 2 .
We arrived a week ahead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a month from now , after Thanksgiving has poured gasoline on the bonfire , God only knows .
I think sheer terror at what the post-Thanksgiving pandemic will look like is driving seemingly nonsensical decisions like this : Welch is right that closing down *outdoor* dining is an absurd overreaction but LA officials may be reasoning that they need to do everything they can short of a full lockdown to try to limit infections considering how bad things are about to get .
Restaurants are a major vector of transmission ( at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re clamping down even on the outdoor areas .
Is that sound public policy ?
No .
Is it understandable that they ’ re panicked right now ?
Yeah , unfortunately .
The Times has a color-coded map today of every county in America based on how many people say they plan to have Thanksgiving dinner with someone outside their household .
At least 10 percent say so virtually everywhere ; in some counties , more than 50 percent do .
Have a look at the state-by-state breakdown , which you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There isn ’ t a ton of difference between red states and blue states , with most in the 20-35 percent band .
Two : There *is* a difference , obviously , in which states are more likely to throw caution to the wind .
One of the mysteries of the pandemic lately is how , exactly , people are getting infected .
A theory emerged a few weeks ago that infections were happening at small private gatherings , not large public ones like bars .
Children ’ s sleepovers , dinner with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the winter wave , supposedly .
That led to bizarre rules in some states a la L.A. closing down outdoor dining in which people were still allowed to dine at restaurants indoors but couldn ’ t have friends over to dinner at their homes .
Experts have warned more recently that the data to support the “ private gathering ” theory is thin , which may sound like good news in light of the many small-ish private gatherings that ’ ll be happening tomorrow night .
But it isn ’ t really : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where people are getting infected anymore is that there are so many people out and about who are carrying the virus that one could pick it up virtually anywhere while interacting with others .
Literally anywhere that Americans are gathered is a potential hot spot .
That ’ s the epidemiological posture for Thanksgiving .
The mystery of why the midwest and the plains states have been hit harder than others is less of a mystery , though .
The WSJ analyzed mobility data and found that in rural areas Americans are now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before COVID began .
They ’ re back to their pre-pandemic normal even as the country is mired in the worst stretch of the entire ordeal .
Result : “ Infection rates for the week ended Nov. 14 were about 60 % higher in rural areas than in urban counties , according to the figures from Johns Hopkins and federal government data identifying county types.
” A decent-sized percentage of the entire U.S. population will be leaving home tomorrow , assuming it hasn ’ t done so already over the last few days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in December and January , before vaccinations really get rolling .

I repeat what I said in this post: Our leaders are toilet mold.
But if we’re being honest, we’ll admit that we get the leadership we deserve. These stories about Cuomo and Gavin Newsom and now Denver Mayor Michael Hancock are fun in exposing the hypocrisy of our loathsome governing class, but no one’s pretending that Americans would have followed the rules if only these turds had too, are they?
Just as a serious people wouldn’t elect Andrew Cuomo to run a pet store, let alone a state, a serious people wouldn’t have tens of millions citizens traveling at a moment when the pandemic in the United States is the worst it’s ever been. A former White House doctor described Thanksgiving 2020 as “potentially the mother of all superspreader events” given the prevalence of cases right now, the close contact involved in air travel, and the extended gatherings around the dinner table to come. Two weeks from now, the only news story in America will be hospitals and governments trying to cope with the crush of new infections and ultimately deaths seeded by the holiday.
And then, because we’re not a serious people, many millions of us will decide to travel for Christmas gatherings too. Despite the fact that, because of the vaccine, we’re just a few months away from turning the tide against COVID.
So yeah, Michael Hancock: A bad leader but a very typical American.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock boarded a flight to Houston ahead of Thanksgiving despite his warnings that people should stay close to home and only spend the holiday with their own household if they can. His spokeswoman confirmed that Hancock was traveling to Houston Wednesday to visit his daughter in Mississippi, and that his wife is already there. About 30 minutes before the flight, Hancock’s account tweeted out to “avoid travel, if you can” in order to slow the spread of COVID-19… In an email to city staff on Nov. 18, Hancock wrote, “as the holidays approach, we all long to be with our families with person, but with the continued rise in cases, I’m urging you to refrain from travel this Thanksgiving holiday. For my family that means cancelling our traditional gathering of our extended family.”
Here’s his tweet. We can debate, I guess, whether it’s better to be a hypocrite by urging others not to travel while doing so yourself or to embrace the irresponsibility and encourage everyone to travel while doing so yourself, but that’d be a depressing debate.
Here’s where things stood last night, two days before Americans hold a national pox party for COVID:
Our daily update is published. States reported 1.8 million tests, 167k cases, and 2,028 deaths. 88k people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, reaching a new all-time high for the 15th consecutive day. pic.twitter.com/1ZqB5A0W7L — The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) November 25, 2020
Hospitals are already dealing with an unprecedented load of patients and taking unprecedented steps to try to accommodate them all. In two weeks it’ll be much, much worse. Deaths yesterday were north of 2,000 for the first time since May 7 and actually outpaced the gloomy projection made recently by Seattle scientist Trevor Bedford. Bedford looked at case counts in mid-November and estimated that we’d reach 2,000 deaths per day again by December 2. We arrived a week ahead of schedule. What daily deaths will be a month from now, after Thanksgiving has poured gasoline on the bonfire, God only knows.
I think sheer terror at what the post-Thanksgiving pandemic will look like is driving seemingly nonsensical decisions like this:
In-person outdoor dining prohibited by one of the few large counties in the country where it is pleasant to be outdoors all year round. This ongoing science experiment on 10 million humans seems very unlikely to end well. https://t.co/cALpwdJZV2 — Matt Welch (@MattWelch) November 25, 2020
Welch is right that closing down *outdoor* dining is an absurd overreaction but LA officials may be reasoning that they need to do everything they can short of a full lockdown to try to limit infections considering how bad things are about to get. Restaurants are a major vector of transmission (at least the indoor areas are) so they’re clamping down even on the outdoor areas. Is that sound public policy? No. Is it understandable that they’re panicked right now? Yeah, unfortunately.
The Times has a color-coded map today of every county in America based on how many people say they plan to have Thanksgiving dinner with someone outside their household. At least 10 percent say so virtually everywhere; in some counties, more than 50 percent do. Have a look at the state-by-state breakdown, which you can interpret in two ways. One: There isn’t a ton of difference between red states and blue states, with most in the 20-35 percent band. Two: There *is* a difference, obviously, in which states are more likely to throw caution to the wind.
One of the mysteries of the pandemic lately is how, exactly, people are getting infected. A theory emerged a few weeks ago that infections were happening at small private gatherings, not large public ones like bars. Children’s sleepovers, dinner with friends — those were the seeds of the winter wave, supposedly. That led to bizarre rules in some states a la L.A. closing down outdoor dining in which people were still allowed to dine at restaurants indoors but couldn’t have friends over to dinner at their homes. Experts have warned more recently that the data to support the “private gathering” theory is thin, which may sound like good news in light of the many small-ish private gatherings that’ll be happening tomorrow night. But it isn’t really: The reason doctors aren’t sure where people are getting infected anymore is that there are so many people out and about who are carrying the virus that one could pick it up virtually anywhere while interacting with others. Literally anywhere that Americans are gathered is a potential hot spot. That’s the epidemiological posture for Thanksgiving.
The mystery of why the midwest and the plains states have been hit harder than others is less of a mystery, though. The WSJ analyzed mobility data and found that in rural areas Americans are now leaving home as often as they did before COVID began. They’re back to their pre-pandemic normal even as the country is mired in the worst stretch of the entire ordeal. Result: “Infection rates for the week ended Nov. 14 were about 60% higher in rural areas than in urban counties, according to the figures from Johns Hopkins and federal government data identifying county types.” A decent-sized percentage of the entire U.S. population will be leaving home tomorrow, assuming it hasn’t done so already over the last few days. We’ll pay for that in December and January, before vaccinations really get rolling.


hotair--2020-11-25--Massive fraud: California's unemployment system delivered hundreds of millions to inmates including

Massive fraud: California's unemployment system delivered hundreds of millions to inmates including 133 on death row

Last month I wrote about a rapper calling himself Nuke Bizzle who was arrested after posting a music video on YouTube in which he bragged about defrauding California ’ s Employment Development Department ( EDD ) of more than a million dollars .
It turns out Bizzle was just the tip of the iceberg .
Tuesday a group of District Attorneys in California announced what they called “ the most significant fraud on taxpayer funds in California history.
” Thousands of California inmates applied for and received unemployment benefits in the form of pre-paid EDD cards .
More than 100 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ currently on death row : In most cases , task force members said , the payments were sent in the form of prepaid debit cards to addresses designated on the applications , with the proceeds later deposited to inmate accounts in jail and prisons , but in some , the benefits were sent directly to the institutions .
Among the named beneficiaries : Cary Stayner , a serial killer who murdered four women near Yosemite National Park in 1999 ; Wayne Ford , another serial killer , who confessed to at least four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California ; Scott Peterson , convicted in 2004 of the murder of his pregnant wife , Laci ; and Isauro Aguirre , who , with his girlfriend , tortured and murdered her 8-year-old son , Gabriel Fernandez , in 2013 in Palmdale , Calif… The 35,000-plus payments sent out in the name of state prisoners alone…totaled more than $ 140 million between March and August , with nearly a half-million dollars disbursed in the names of 133 death row inmates .
Among the largest : a claim for $ 19,676 disbursed in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another for $ 48,600 in the name of another felon .
But again , those totals are just the tip of the iceberg .
The prosecutors suspect the actual amout of this fraud “ could total nearly $ 1 billion.
” How did this happen ?
Well , on the prisoner side of things it was easy .
Word spreads that the state is giving away money and someone , usually a relative on the outside , signs up for the money using the prisoner ’ s name and identity .
Then when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cut .
Word spreads quickly and soon everyone is in on the easy money fraud .
On the bureaucratic side , a couple of excuses are being offered .
First , California ’ s employment department was under intense pressure to quickly process millions of unemployment applications , meaning they had no time to check individual names .
Second , unlike most states , California had no system to crosscheck applications with the state ’ s prison population .
That left the state wide open to this type of fraud .
The prosecutors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systems used by other states that check inmate data against unemployment claims before paying them .
They asked Newsom to step in to “ turn off the spigot ” of payments to incarcerated people , contending that EDD ’ s response to their investigations has been “ slow to nonexistent , ” according to Sacramento County Dist .
Atty .
Anne Marie Schubert , who helped form and lead a task force on the issue .
“ EDD , it ’ s just a dysfunctional mess , ” said El Dorado County Dist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is also involved in the task force and is president of the California District Attorneys Assn… Kern County Dist .
Atty .
Cynthia Zimmer , whose district has five prisons , the most of any county in California , called the scope of the scams shocking .
Zimmer said her office had found about $ 16 million in allegedly fraudulent claims in her county alone .
“ I ’ ve been a prosecutor for 36 years , ” she said .
“ I have never seen fraud of this magnitude.
” So the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s criminal class has just pulled off the biggest robbery of public funds in state history thanks to an epic level of bureaucratic incompetence .
If someone had walked into a bank and demanded a billion dollars they would be quickly caught and sent to jail .
But in this case I doubt the thousands of people involved in this massive fraud will see any consequences .
After all , many of them are in jail already and the ones who aren ’ t will get a pass because Gov .
Newsom doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year focused on this massive failure on his watch .
The Democrats that run California from top to bottom have no one else to blame so expect this to be swept under the rug .
Most of the money won ’ t be recovered and no one will even get fired for this failure .
Prove me wrong California Dems .

Last month I wrote about a rapper calling himself Nuke Bizzle who was arrested after posting a music video on YouTube in which he bragged about defrauding California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) of more than a million dollars. It turns out Bizzle was just the tip of the iceberg.
Tuesday a group of District Attorneys in California announced what they called “the most significant fraud on taxpayer funds in California history.” Thousands of California inmates applied for and received unemployment benefits in the form of pre-paid EDD cards. More than 100 of the beneficiaries of this fraud are currently on death row:
In most cases, task force members said, the payments were sent in the form of prepaid debit cards to addresses designated on the applications, with the proceeds later deposited to inmate accounts in jail and prisons, but in some, the benefits were sent directly to the institutions. Among the named beneficiaries: Cary Stayner, a serial killer who murdered four women near Yosemite National Park in 1999; Wayne Ford, another serial killer, who confessed to at least four murders in 1997 and 1998 in Northern California; Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci; and Isauro Aguirre, who, with his girlfriend, tortured and murdered her 8-year-old son, Gabriel Fernandez, in 2013 in Palmdale, Calif… The 35,000-plus payments sent out in the name of state prisoners alone…totaled more than $140 million between March and August, with nearly a half-million dollars disbursed in the names of 133 death row inmates. Among the largest: a claim for $19,676 disbursed in the name of a death row inmate and another for $48,600 in the name of another felon.
But again, those totals are just the tip of the iceberg. The prosecutors suspect the actual amout of this fraud “could total nearly $1 billion.”
How did this happen? Well, on the prisoner side of things it was easy. Word spreads that the state is giving away money and someone, usually a relative on the outside, signs up for the money using the prisoner’s name and identity. Then when the card arrives the prisoner gets a cut. Word spreads quickly and soon everyone is in on the easy money fraud.
On the bureaucratic side, a couple of excuses are being offered. First, California’s employment department was under intense pressure to quickly process millions of unemployment applications, meaning they had no time to check individual names. Second, unlike most states, California had no system to crosscheck applications with the state’s prison population. That left the state wide open to this type of fraud.
The prosecutors contend that the fraud is preventable with systems used by other states that check inmate data against unemployment claims before paying them. They asked Newsom to step in to “turn off the spigot” of payments to incarcerated people, contending that EDD’s response to their investigations has been “slow to nonexistent,” according to Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, who helped form and lead a task force on the issue. “EDD, it’s just a dysfunctional mess,” said El Dorado County Dist. Atty. Vern Pierson, who is also involved in the task force and is president of the California District Attorneys Assn… Kern County Dist. Atty. Cynthia Zimmer, whose district has five prisons, the most of any county in California, called the scope of the scams shocking. Zimmer said her office had found about $16 million in allegedly fraudulent claims in her county alone. “I’ve been a prosecutor for 36 years,” she said. “I have never seen fraud of this magnitude.”
So the bottom line here is that California’s criminal class has just pulled off the biggest robbery of public funds in state history thanks to an epic level of bureaucratic incompetence. If someone had walked into a bank and demanded a billion dollars they would be quickly caught and sent to jail. But in this case I doubt the thousands of people involved in this massive fraud will see any consequences. After all, many of them are in jail already and the ones who aren’t will get a pass because Gov. Newsom doesn’t want to spend the next year focused on this massive failure on his watch. The Democrats that run California from top to bottom have no one else to blame so expect this to be swept under the rug. Most of the money won’t be recovered and no one will even get fired for this failure. Prove me wrong California Dems.


hotair--2020-11-25--Obama: What's up with Latinos voting for a guy like Trump who says racist things about them?

The best part here is when he marvels at Latinos ’ willingness to support a president who would put illegal immigrants in cages .
Does this guy not remember who built those cages ?
And who put kids in them ?
He remembers .
He ’ s just hoping you don ’ t .
This clip strikes me as a modern twist on two arguments from yesteryear , one made famous by Obama himself .
Listen for 30 seconds , then read on .
That reminds me of the old Republican line that Latinos are natural conservatives because of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know it yet .
They finally figured it out in 2020 , Obama seems to think .
But it also reminds me of his “ bitter clinger ” point from the 2008 campaign .
In that case he was speculating on why working-class voters in deindustrialized parts of the midwest vote the way they do .
They get bitter about their economic hardships , he reasoned , and so they cling to guns or religion or xenophobia towards immigrants .
What he said about Latino voters this morning echoes that : Once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a group being steered by religion towards voting for the wrong candidates .
For a Christian , he sure does seem to think Christianity is a bad influence on politics !
What ’ s different from the “ bitter clinger ” remarks this time , though , is the absence of a deeper economic motive .
In 2008 , he thought underemployed people who let religion guide their politics were channeling their frustration over their financial circumstances .
In today ’ s updated version , he seems to think Latinos come by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s led them to vote for a pernicious character like Trump just because he tells them what they want to hear on social issues like abortion and gay marriage .
Which is ironic , because the conventional wisdom since Election Day on why Trump made such impressive gains with Latinos across the map is that his working-class appeal helped win some voters over .
That is , their financial circumstances informed their vote .
So why is that motive absent in this version of the “ bitter clinger ” story ?
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Also , what makes O think that abortion and gay marriage would suddenly be hugely salient issues for Latino voters in 2020 when there ’ s little evidence that they drove votes in the last few elections ?
He himself crushed Romney among Latinos in 2012 despite being pro-choice and ( by then ) pro-SSM : Trump has never been outspoken against gay marriage , and in fact is certainly the most gay-friendly nominee in the history of the GOP .
Latinos aren ’ t strongly opposed to gay marriage , either @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 58 percent support among the group for the practice , just a few points below whites .
As for abortion , while it ’ s true that Hispanics are more likely to be pro-life than other groups , they ’ re not overwhelmingly pointed in that direction .
In 2019 PRRI found them split 45/48 overall , with 59 percent of Latinos born in the U.S. in favor of legal abortion .
If Obama wants to chalk up Latino voting patterns this year to social conservatism he needs to explain what changed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ so attuned to abortion and gay marriage as to produce shifts like this in places as disparate as New Jersey , California , Florida , and Texas ?
Lefty polling expert David Shor had an interesting theory of why Trump overperformed among Latinos .
It ’ s not a religious thing , it ’ s a class and culture thing .
I wonder why this explanation might sit uneasily with a highly educated progressive-minded figure like Obama : Toss in progressives ’ ruinous infatuation with socialism and their sloganeering about defunding the police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hypothesis to account for Latinos shifting towards Republicans .
Despite Democrats ’ best efforts to organize Hispanic voters along identity-politics lines in hopes that racial consciousness would bind them monolithically to liberals in opposition to “ the white party , ” more Latinos are voting their wallets and taking a hard look at which party is more in sync with their cultural beliefs , not just their religious beliefs .
Obama is bitterly clinging to religion as a theory instead because that lie is easier for Democratic leaders to digest than the truth @

The best part here is when he marvels at Latinos’ willingness to support a president who would put illegal immigrants in cages.
Does this guy not remember who built those cages? And who put kids in them?
He remembers. He’s just hoping you don’t.
This clip strikes me as a modern twist on two arguments from yesteryear, one made famous by Obama himself. Listen for 30 seconds, then read on.
Obama on @breakfastclubam: “… There’s a lot of evangelical Hispanics who, the fact that Trump says racist things about Mexicans, or puts undocumented workers in cages, they think that’s less important than the fact that he supports their views on gay marriage or abortion.” pic.twitter.com/8OpocwYrLV — The Recount (@therecount) November 25, 2020
That reminds me of the old Republican line that Latinos are natural conservatives because of their religious devotion, they just don’t know it yet. They finally figured it out in 2020, Obama seems to think. But it also reminds me of his “bitter clinger” point from the 2008 campaign. In that case he was speculating on why working-class voters in deindustrialized parts of the midwest vote the way they do. They get bitter about their economic hardships, he reasoned, and so they cling to guns or religion or xenophobia towards immigrants. What he said about Latino voters this morning echoes that: Once again, according to O, we have a group being steered by religion towards voting for the wrong candidates. For a Christian, he sure does seem to think Christianity is a bad influence on politics!
What’s different from the “bitter clinger” remarks this time, though, is the absence of a deeper economic motive. In 2008, he thought underemployed people who let religion guide their politics were channeling their frustration over their financial circumstances. In today’s updated version, he seems to think Latinos come by their religion honestly — but that it’s led them to vote for a pernicious character like Trump just because he tells them what they want to hear on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. Which is ironic, because the conventional wisdom since Election Day on why Trump made such impressive gains with Latinos across the map is that his working-class appeal helped win some voters over. That is, their financial circumstances informed their vote. So why is that motive absent in this version of the “bitter clinger” story?
A New York Times reporter was taken aback:
I've interviewed 100+ Hispanic evangelicals in the last year. It's true that their religious beliefs are often more important than ethnic identity. But almost none talk about gay marriage. Why would Obama make such a questionable sweeping statement that alienates so many? https://t.co/b6HtmGlzTK — Jennifer Medina (@jennymedina) November 25, 2020
Also, what makes O think that abortion and gay marriage would suddenly be hugely salient issues for Latino voters in 2020 when there’s little evidence that they drove votes in the last few elections? He himself crushed Romney among Latinos in 2012 despite being pro-choice and (by then) pro-SSM:
Obama carried Hispanic evangelicals by 11 points in 2012. Clinton carried them by 13 points in 2016. pic.twitter.com/cQnWJTnZUA — Noam Blum (@neontaster) November 25, 2020
Trump has never been outspoken against gay marriage, and in fact is certainly the most gay-friendly nominee in the history of the GOP. Latinos aren’t strongly opposed to gay marriage, either. Last year a Pew poll found 58 percent support among the group for the practice, just a few points below whites. As for abortion, while it’s true that Hispanics are more likely to be pro-life than other groups, they’re not overwhelmingly pointed in that direction. In 2019 PRRI found them split 45/48 overall, with 59 percent of Latinos born in the U.S. in favor of legal abortion.
If Obama wants to chalk up Latino voting patterns this year to social conservatism he needs to explain what changed. What changed to make Hispanic voters suddenly so attuned to abortion and gay marriage as to produce shifts like this in places as disparate as New Jersey, California, Florida, and Texas?
I picked out a few… The Hispanic swing toward Trump happened across the map… From MA to CA to TX to FL… pic.twitter.com/8DoPGic8TI — (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) November 25, 2020
Lefty polling expert David Shor had an interesting theory of why Trump overperformed among Latinos. It’s not a religious thing, it’s a class and culture thing. I wonder why this explanation might sit uneasily with a highly educated progressive-minded figure like Obama:
There is a broader trend, though, that as college-educated white people become a larger share of the Democratic coalition and a larger share of the Democratic voice, they do pull the party on cultural issues. Non-college educated white people have more culturally in common with working-class Black and working-class Hispanic voters. So, it should be unsurprising that as the cultural power of college-educated white people increases in the Democratic Party, non-white voters will move against us.
Toss in progressives’ ruinous infatuation with socialism and their sloganeering about defunding the police and you have a much more plausible hypothesis to account for Latinos shifting towards Republicans. Despite Democrats’ best efforts to organize Hispanic voters along identity-politics lines in hopes that racial consciousness would bind them monolithically to liberals in opposition to “the white party,” more Latinos are voting their wallets and taking a hard look at which party is more in sync with their cultural beliefs, not just their religious beliefs. Obama is bitterly clinging to religion as a theory instead because that lie is easier for Democratic leaders to digest than the truth.


hotair--2020-11-25--Portland's BLM activists not thrilled about the white anarchists rampaging in their name

There was another Antifa “ protest ” in Portland last night .
A few dozen people gathered outside the ICE facility that has been the focus of attention in the past and they succeeded in drawing police out of the building .
An unlawful assembly was declared and a couple of arrests were made : When confronted the small Antifa group ran away : And then they resumed doing what they do every night , vandalize things that don ’ t belong to them : Monday night a group of anarchists vandalized a car that just happened to be passing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jumped on the car and smashed the windshield and then walked away laughing .
There was a 7-year-old child in the backseat who was terrified by what happened .
What was the point of this destruction ?
There wasn ’ t one , but if you ask them why they are out on the street every night they ’ ll claim it ’ s for social justice and Black Lives Matter .
Earlier this month the LA Times published a story about the divide between BLM supporters who allegedly want to keep things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smash windows , statues and whatever else captures their very limited span of attention .
The LA Times piece was focused on the recent decision by anarchists to vandalize a Democratic Party HQ in Portland .
Suddenly it seemed that vandalism wasn ’ t quite as cool as it had been before .
Monday , Oregon Public Broadcasting ( OPB ) published a kind of follow-up piece on the divide between black BLM activists in the city and the white anarchists who gradually made themselves the face of the protests .
The piece @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t always this way .
Initially , black BLM activists were leading the nightly protests , until some of them got canceled : “ We always made sure that Black faces were in the front and … it was beautiful , ” [ Devin ] Boss said .
“ And then a lot of it slowly started seeping away .
A lot of whiteness started seeping into the forefront .
A lot of white voices started seeping into the front.
” Boss and [ Darren ] Golden would also prove to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They were among the first leaders to be toppled by a tumultuous protest movement that is defiantly leaderless and rife with subplots , cliques and personality conflicts… A little more than three weeks into the protests , an anonymous Twitter account spread old tweets of Golden being disrespectful to women .
His LinkedIn profile started making the rounds online , showing he had been in the Air Force security forces , the branch ’ s military police equivalent .
Golden guarded nuclear weapons in the Air Force , but as he became @ @ @ @ @ @ @ critics quickly accused him of being a former police officer and collaborating with law enforcement .
“ I was targeted directly , ” he said .
“ Somebody went back seven years on my Twitter account , through tens of thousands of tweets , to find something that they found incendiary .
Yes , well , that kind of purity politics and callout culture is how the left operates today .
No one is safe from being canceled for long .
But as Boss and Golden see it , the early BLM movement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police .
Now it seems that violent , mostly white anarchists have taken over : For months , an anonymous Twitter account calling itself the Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front has been a repository for organizing information , helping to spread anarchist propaganda , advocating violence and encouraging followers to “ burn down the American plantation.
” The Liberation Front account tweeted in July criticizing Rose City Justice for “ pacifying the nightly justice center action , ” and admonished its followers to “ stop blindly listening to people with megaphones.
” … @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Twitter account , long shrouded in mystery , was started and run by a white teenager who grew up in suburban Portland .
That person said they ’ ve since moved on from the group .
I wonder if the white teen who was running the Youth Liberation Front Twitter account still lives in his parent ’ s basement .
I can almost hear him now : Mom , can you get my laundry I ’ m smashing the fash !
Ultimately I don ’ t feel sorry for anyone involved in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like what Antifa is doing in their name , they could step up and say so .
But they haven ’ t and probably won ’ t because they take a no enemies on the left approach .
And for a time I ’ m sure some of them found the anarchists useful .
But their support comes at a price and this is it .
You can ’ t maintain a coherent message if you partner with people who just want to break things and curse at cops every night .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now it can lie in it .
Even progressives like Mayor Wheeler who has done all he can to coddle Antifa seem to have turned their backs on the nightly violence and extremism .
The mob is still out there shouting at cops and breaking things but no one is listening anymore .

There was another Antifa “protest” in Portland last night. A few dozen people gathered outside the ICE facility that has been the focus of attention in the past and they succeeded in drawing police out of the building. An unlawful assembly was declared and a couple of arrests were made:
Two antifa black bloc militants were arrested at the Portland ICE facility tonight. One of the arrestees (who is fully covered) shouts that the officers are anti-Semitic for arresting him. #PortlandRiots #antifa pic.twitter.com/fZ4jk5XnJp — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 25, 2020
When confronted the small Antifa group ran away:
Antifa rioters run away from federal officers outside the Portland ICE building after taunting them tonight. #PortlandRiots #antifa pic.twitter.com/lcL70sh1AA — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 25, 2020
And then they resumed doing what they do every night, vandalize things that don’t belong to them:
Antifa black bloc rioters spray something on a passing honking truck in southwest Portland. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/xvxrNIVxLo — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 25, 2020
Monday night a group of anarchists vandalized a car that just happened to be passing nearby one of their gatherings. Someone jumped on the car and smashed the windshield and then walked away laughing. There was a 7-year-old child in the backseat who was terrified by what happened. What was the point of this destruction? There wasn’t one, but if you ask them why they are out on the street every night they’ll claim it’s for social justice and Black Lives Matter.
Earlier this month the LA Times published a story about the divide between BLM supporters who allegedly want to keep things peaceful and the anarchists who want to smash windows, statues and whatever else captures their very limited span of attention. The LA Times piece was focused on the recent decision by anarchists to vandalize a Democratic Party HQ in Portland. Suddenly it seemed that vandalism wasn’t quite as cool as it had been before.
Monday, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) published a kind of follow-up piece on the divide between black BLM activists in the city and the white anarchists who gradually made themselves the face of the protests. The piece opens by pointing out that it wasn’t always this way. Initially, black BLM activists were leading the nightly protests, until some of them got canceled:
“We always made sure that Black faces were in the front and … it was beautiful,” [Devin] Boss said. “And then a lot of it slowly started seeping away. A lot of whiteness started seeping into the forefront. A lot of white voices started seeping into the front.” Boss and [Darren] Golden would also prove to be lightning rods in the local activist scene. They were among the first leaders to be toppled by a tumultuous protest movement that is defiantly leaderless and rife with subplots, cliques and personality conflicts… A little more than three weeks into the protests, an anonymous Twitter account spread old tweets of Golden being disrespectful to women. His LinkedIn profile started making the rounds online, showing he had been in the Air Force security forces, the branch’s military police equivalent. Golden guarded nuclear weapons in the Air Force, but as he became more well known as an organizer, critics quickly accused him of being a former police officer and collaborating with law enforcement. “I was targeted directly,” he said. “Somebody went back seven years on my Twitter account, through tens of thousands of tweets, to find something that they found incendiary.
Yes, well, that kind of purity politics and callout culture is how the left operates today. No one is safe from being canceled for long. But as Boss and Golden see it, the early BLM movement was accomplishing something, like defunding the police. Now it seems that violent, mostly white anarchists have taken over:
For months, an anonymous Twitter account calling itself the Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front has been a repository for organizing information, helping to spread anarchist propaganda, advocating violence and encouraging followers to “burn down the American plantation.” The Liberation Front account tweeted in July criticizing Rose City Justice for “pacifying the nightly justice center action,” and admonished its followers to “stop blindly listening to people with megaphones.”… Multiple sources confirmed to OPB that its Twitter account, long shrouded in mystery, was started and run by a white teenager who grew up in suburban Portland. That person said they’ve since moved on from the group.
I wonder if the white teen who was running the Youth Liberation Front Twitter account still lives in his parent’s basement. I can almost hear him now: Mom, can you get my laundry I’m smashing the fash!
Ultimately I don’t feel sorry for anyone involved in this mess. If BLM doesn’t like what Antifa is doing in their name, they could step up and say so. But they haven’t and probably won’t because they take a no enemies on the left approach. And for a time I’m sure some of them found the anarchists useful. But their support comes at a price and this is it. You can’t maintain a coherent message if you partner with people who just want to break things and curse at cops every night.
The left has made its radical bed, now it can lie in it. Even progressives like Mayor Wheeler who has done all he can to coddle Antifa seem to have turned their backs on the nightly violence and extremism. The mob is still out there shouting at cops and breaking things but no one is listening anymore.


hotair--2020-11-25--Yamiche Alcindor swoons: Biden's cabinet picks are "superheroes to come and save us all"

Joe Biden held a press conference yesterday to introduce his choices for some very important cabinet positions .
It is a glimpse into how Biden plans to govern and his policy priorities .
What it showed was that the careerists are back .
The Swamp will be alive and well during the Biden-Harris administration .
The press can not be happier .
Their guy won and some of their favorite people are back in power .
Joe Biden introduced Antony Blinken as the nominee for Secretary of State , Alejandro Mayorkas for DHS Secretary , Linda Thomas-Greenfield for U.N .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Intelligence , Jake Sullivan for National Security Adviser and John Kerry for Special Presidential Envoy for Climate .
There will be plenty to write about each and every one of these nominees because they are all career civil servants and in the case of Kerry , a career politician like his pal Joe Biden .
This display of nominees was perhaps the swampiest line-up I have ever seen for a proposed presidential cabinet .
What was immediately noticeable was the press reaction to Biden ’ s choices .
For instance , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a PBS White House correspondent and frequent contributor on NBC and MSNBC .
She told the show ’ s host Nicolle Wallace ( a former GOP consultant ) that she spoke with a Democrat who compared Biden ’ s announcements at the press conference as the arrival of The Avengers .
This Democrat allegedly said , “ It felt like we are being rescued from this craziness that we ’ ve all lived through in the last four years and now here are the superheroes to come and save us all.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sitting in that room in Wilmington , I was thinking about the fact that Joe Biden in some ways , for his supporters , is fulfilling the promises that he made on the campaign trail , ” Alcindor reported .
“ He said he wanted to have a cabinet that looked like America and there were people there on that stage , of course talking about all of their different accolades and their experience , but they were talking about their families who survived the Holocaust , who survived coming from Cuba and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diplomacy , cooking food , cooking southern food as the United Nations Ambassador was saying .
All of those things are what America is about , is this melting pot.
” “ The other thing I ’ ll just say is I was talking to a Democrat who said this almost felt like the Avengers , it felt like we are being rescued from this craziness that we ’ ve all lived through in the last four years and now here are the superheroes to come and save us all , ” Alcindor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made a point of saying that America is back .
This is rhetoric we ’ ve often heard from Joe Biden from his basement during his campaign and now his nominees are reciting the talking point .
The message is meant for people outside of America because it means that Biden and his top officials will take us back to the Obama administration ’ s policies and lead from behind .
This , of course , insults at least half of the country who prefer to hold America ’ s interests above those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t really think Joe Biden was serious about uniting the country , did you ?
What the Biden cabinet will do is return to a time when invitations to conferences in Davos and cocktail parties were more important than the interests of regular working Americans .
For them , it is all about being liked , not being strong .
Placating the rest of the world will take top priority .
It ’ s how The Swamp works .
Biden made certain to repeat a favorite line of Democrats – his cabinet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like America.
” That means identity politics takes precedent over anything else .
Quotas are back at the highest levels .
When Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke , she explained her idea of diplomacy was to bring people together at her home and cook dishes like gumbo .
She ’ s from Louisiana and calls it Gumbo Diplomacy .
That ’ s cute ( I ’ m from Louisiana myself ) but the warm and fuzzy approach she spoke about was contradicted by her snark to the Trump administration ’ s America First approach .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ unity memo ?
When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked about Greenfield ’ s ‘ America is back ’ riff during an interview with Bret Baier on Fox ’ s Special Report Tuesday night , Pompeo quickly listed the accomplishments of Trump ’ s foreign policy .
Off the top of his head he mentioned ISIS ( which was organized during the Obama administration ) is destroyed , Trump tore up the Iran nuclear deal and refused to appease Iran , held China accountable for the coronavirus and for bad trade deals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ East , and creating coalitions to oppose Maduro and the Castro regime in Cuba .
Of the Biden team , he said , “ They live in a bit of a fantasy world.
” John Kerry ’ s re-emergence is predictable because Biden wants to be woke about climate change .
So , he ’ s created a position for his old pal and made it a cabinet-level position .
Even the title is ridiculous but that ’ s how Kerry regains relevance with the left – Special Presidential Envoy for Climate .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ hey , Kerry gets all the trappings of the White House and a ticket to climate change conferences all around the world with celebrities and scientists with whom he agrees .
Tony Blinken ’ s confirmation hearings may be lit , y ’ all .
Jonathan Turley was quick to remind followers on Twitter that Blinken has a role in Hunter Biden ’ s influence-peddling scandals .
Catherine Herridge tied Blinken to Biden corruption , too , as well as Jake Sullivan to Hillary Clinton ’ s email scandals .
Biden ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ all .
It ’ s Obama ’ s third term .
The Swamp is alive and well .

Joe Biden held a press conference yesterday to introduce his choices for some very important cabinet positions. It is a glimpse into how Biden plans to govern and his policy priorities. What it showed was that the careerists are back. The Swamp will be alive and well during the Biden-Harris administration.
The press cannot be happier. Their guy won and some of their favorite people are back in power. Joe Biden introduced Antony Blinken as the nominee for Secretary of State, Alejandro Mayorkas for DHS Secretary, Linda Thomas-Greenfield for U.N. Ambassador, Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence, Jake Sullivan for National Security Adviser and John Kerry for Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. There will be plenty to write about each and every one of these nominees because they are all career civil servants and in the case of Kerry, a career politician like his pal Joe Biden. This display of nominees was perhaps the swampiest line-up I have ever seen for a proposed presidential cabinet.
What was immediately noticeable was the press reaction to Biden’s choices. For instance, a panel discussion on MSNBC included Yamiche Alcindor, a PBS White House correspondent and frequent contributor on NBC and MSNBC. She told the show’s host Nicolle Wallace (a former GOP consultant) that she spoke with a Democrat who compared Biden’s announcements at the press conference as the arrival of The Avengers. This Democrat allegedly said, “It felt like we are being rescued from this craziness that we’ve all lived through in the last four years and now here are the superheroes to come and save us all.”
What we saw today, I was sitting in that room in Wilmington, I was thinking about the fact that Joe Biden in some ways, for his supporters, is fulfilling the promises that he made on the campaign trail,” Alcindor reported. “He said he wanted to have a cabinet that looked like America and there were people there on that stage, of course talking about all of their different accolades and their experience, but they were talking about their families who survived the Holocaust, who survived coming from Cuba and fleeing communists, talked about having Gumbo diplomacy, cooking food, cooking southern food as the United Nations Ambassador was saying. All of those things are what America is about, is this melting pot.” “The other thing I’ll just say is I was talking to a Democrat who said this almost felt like the Avengers, it felt like we are being rescued from this craziness that we’ve all lived through in the last four years and now here are the superheroes to come and save us all,” Alcindor said.
PBS's @Yamiche: Biden's cabinet picks was like "The Avengers" — "It felt like we are being rescued from the craziness and now here are the superheroes to come and save us all." pic.twitter.com/QLKlPG6RQt — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 24, 2020
Joe Biden and Linda Thomas-Greenfield made a point of saying that America is back. This is rhetoric we’ve often heard from Joe Biden from his basement during his campaign and now his nominees are reciting the talking point. The message is meant for people outside of America because it means that Biden and his top officials will take us back to the Obama administration’s policies and lead from behind. This, of course, insults at least half of the country who prefer to hold America’s interests above those of other countries, but you didn’t really think Joe Biden was serious about uniting the country, did you? What the Biden cabinet will do is return to a time when invitations to conferences in Davos and cocktail parties were more important than the interests of regular working Americans. For them, it is all about being liked, not being strong. Placating the rest of the world will take top priority. It’s how The Swamp works.
Biden made certain to repeat a favorite line of Democrats – his cabinet will be “a cabinet that looks like America.” That means identity politics takes precedent over anything else. Quotas are back at the highest levels. When Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke, she explained her idea of diplomacy was to bring people together at her home and cook dishes like gumbo. She’s from Louisiana and calls it Gumbo Diplomacy. That’s cute (I’m from Louisiana myself) but the warm and fuzzy approach she spoke about was contradicted by her snark to the Trump administration’s America First approach. Didn’t she get the Biden unity memo? When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked about Greenfield’s ‘America is back’ riff during an interview with Bret Baier on Fox’s Special Report Tuesday night, Pompeo quickly listed the accomplishments of Trump’s foreign policy. Off the top of his head he mentioned ISIS (which was organized during the Obama administration) is destroyed, Trump tore up the Iran nuclear deal and refused to appease Iran, held China accountable for the coronavirus and for bad trade deals, the peace accords in the Middle East, and creating coalitions to oppose Maduro and the Castro regime in Cuba. Of the Biden team, he said, “They live in a bit of a fantasy world.”
John Kerry’s re-emergence is predictable because Biden wants to be woke about climate change. So, he’s created a position for his old pal and made it a cabinet-level position. Even the title is ridiculous but that’s how Kerry regains relevance with the left – Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. It’s nonsensical. But, hey, Kerry gets all the trappings of the White House and a ticket to climate change conferences all around the world with celebrities and scientists with whom he agrees.
Tony Blinken’s confirmation hearings may be lit, y’all. Jonathan Turley was quick to remind followers on Twitter that Blinken has a role in Hunter Biden’s influence-peddling scandals.
The selection of Blinken for State is notable since he features in the Hunter Biden influence peddling scandal. When Biden wanted to trade on that influence he reportedly was able to easily arrange a meeting with Blinken who was deputy secretary of state. https://t.co/rcnWWzq6j2 — Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 24, 2020
Catherine Herridge tied Blinken to Biden corruption, too, as well as Jake Sullivan to Hillary Clinton’s email scandals.
Clinton's personal email server helped kick start FBI probe into the mishandling of classified information: 18 US Code §793, the Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information @CBSNews READ https://t.co/3AHmf3ygAN + https://t.co/YmfGjGSfqe — Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) November 24, 2020
Biden’s gotten the band back together, y’all. It’s Obama’s third term. The Swamp is alive and well.


hotair--2020-11-25--Tucker Carlson: Don't sit out the Georgia runoffs even if you're mad about the election

This is a bizarro-world version of the point righties used to make about left-wing 9/11 Truth cranks during the Bush administration .
If you *really* believed that the Bush administration masterminded a terrorist plot that killed thousands of Americans , your response wouldn ’ t be limited to leaving “ Bush knew ” comments on YouTube videos like “ Loose Change.
” You ’ d be in open insurrection against the government that perpetrated the atrocity .
By the same token , if you *really* believe that Sidney Powell has uncovered a massive plot to rig the presidential election against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ role in it , you ’ d have to be an idiot to march down to the polls on January 5 and vote for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler .
Your vote wasn ’ t counted on November 3 so there ’ s no reason to believe it ’ ll be counted this time .
Whether Loeffler and Perdue “ win ” or “ lose ” should depend entirely on which side is willing to offer a juicier bribe to Georgia election officials to fix the vote for their side this time .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The idiots on Parler who are vowing to write-in Trump instead of voting for Perdue and Loeffler are at least consistent in their beliefs .
Georgia ’ s elections are either a charade or they aren ’ t .
If they aren ’ t , vote .
If they are , don ’ t .
Because the Senate will be 50/50 at worst , every policy that Carlson lists in that segment is subject to a veto by red-state Dems like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema .
That doesn ’ t mean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every case — Manchin and Sinema will need to vote with their party more often than not — but progressive excesses will be hard to get through Congress in an evenly divided Senate and a House with a narrow Democratic majority .
There ’ s also the small matter of the filibuster , with Schumer needing 60 votes , not 50 , to get most types of legislation to Biden ’ s desk .
Manchin and Sinema have already vowed that they won ’ t support ending the filibuster for legislation ; I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be run out of deep red West Virginia on a rail if he changed his mind .
I ’ ll defer to my betters on Senate procedure in terms of which types of bills might be exempt from the filibuster ( e.g.
, bills subject to budget reconciliation ) , but if I ’ m not mistaken literally everything Carlson mentions in the clip would require 60 votes to pass .
Schumer won ’ t get within a country mile of that for any of it .
Tucker even goes so far as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another move that Manchin has already ruled out and for which he ’ d be obliterated in his next election if he reversed himself .
It ’ s not until the final 30 seconds of the video that Carlson arrives at a legitimate concern , the fact that Democrats would be able to fill cabinet and judicial posts in a 50/50 Senate over Republican objections .
Although , again , only if the red-state members of their own caucus play ball with them .
If you want to worry about Democrats passing crazy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the better they do this year in the Senate , the better positioned they ’ ll be in a few years to nuke the filibuster if they manage to add to their majority in 2022 .
But even that argument is complicated : Thanks to its strong showing on election night in House races , the GOP is well positioned to take back control of the lower chamber in the midterms .
What good would it do Schumer to end the filibuster in 2023 if he ’ d still have to negotiate with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s one good near-term argument for making sure Loeffler and Perdue win in January : Appointments .
If you want to make sure Biden ’ s nominees have to earn the Mitch McConnell seal of approval then one or both of Georgia ’ s open Senate seats need to stay red .
According to a new national poll from Harris/Harvard , that ’ s what Americans want to see too : Even the threat from Biden ’ s nominations is underwhelming in the context of the Georgia runoffs , though .
Collins , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to give Schumer the votes he needs to move nominations through the Senate whether Loeffler and Perdue win or not .
And Tucker ’ s ominous warnings about Attorney General Stacey Abrams and HHS chief Andrew Cuomo just don ’ t match the reality of what Biden ’ s doing with his initial cabinet picks .
He ’ s nominating center-leftists , not progressives .
He favors low-key bureaucrats like Tony Blinken and Lisa Monaco , not loudmouths like Cuomo who are going to make trouble for him .
Again , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans need to hold on in Georgia in order to make Democrats ’ task of capturing a majority in 2022 harder , as the replacements whom Biden chooses for his initial cabinet members later in his term could be more radical .
But “ win now to make 2022 harder !
” is a much lamer rallying cry than “ win now or the country is lost !
” even if it happens to be true .
Anyway , Carlson ’ s game here is clear .
After infuriating viewers last week by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s been working to reestablish himself as a team player .
Two days ago he insisted that the election *was* rigged against Trump , albeit via legal means like media bias .
Last night he tried to be a good soldier for the party by rallying righties to turn out in Georgia even though that makes no sense in no light of their belief that an election held there just three weeks ago was a sham .
Good luck to him as he tries to navigate the post-election conservative media landscape @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Trump lost the election but also somehow didn ’ t lose .

This is a bizarro-world version of the point righties used to make about left-wing 9/11 Truth cranks during the Bush administration. If you *really* believed that the Bush administration masterminded a terrorist plot that killed thousands of Americans, your response wouldn’t be limited to leaving “Bush knew” comments on YouTube videos like “Loose Change.” You’d be in open insurrection against the government that perpetrated the atrocity.
By the same token, if you *really* believe that Sidney Powell has uncovered a massive plot to rig the presidential election against Trump and that Georgia played a key role in it, you’d have to be an idiot to march down to the polls on January 5 and vote for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Your vote wasn’t counted on November 3 so there’s no reason to believe it’ll be counted this time. Whether Loeffler and Perdue “win” or “lose” should depend entirely on which side is willing to offer a juicier bribe to Georgia election officials to fix the vote for their side this time.
So let’s stop playing games. The idiots on Parler who are vowing to write-in Trump instead of voting for Perdue and Loeffler are at least consistent in their beliefs. Georgia’s elections are either a charade or they aren’t. If they aren’t, vote. If they are, don’t.
Tucker Carlson lays out the stakes in Georgia: "If Democrats win the Senate seats in Georgia, there is no limit to what they can do. You may be angry at the Republican Party – you have every right to be – but do you want to live in that country? You should think about that." pic.twitter.com/l6hkosUQFF — Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) November 25, 2020
Because the Senate will be 50/50 at worst, every policy that Carlson lists in that segment is subject to a veto by red-state Dems like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. That doesn’t mean they’ll issue those vetoes in every case — Manchin and Sinema will need to vote with their party more often than not — but progressive excesses will be hard to get through Congress in an evenly divided Senate and a House with a narrow Democratic majority. There’s also the small matter of the filibuster, with Schumer needing 60 votes, not 50, to get most types of legislation to Biden’s desk. Manchin and Sinema have already vowed that they won’t support ending the filibuster for legislation; I believe Manchin, as he’d be run out of deep red West Virginia on a rail if he changed his mind.
I’ll defer to my betters on Senate procedure in terms of which types of bills might be exempt from the filibuster (e.g., bills subject to budget reconciliation), but if I’m not mistaken literally everything Carlson mentions in the clip would require 60 votes to pass. Schumer won’t get within a country mile of that for any of it. Tucker even goes so far as to ponder the possibility of court-packing, another move that Manchin has already ruled out and for which he’d be obliterated in his next election if he reversed himself. It’s not until the final 30 seconds of the video that Carlson arrives at a legitimate concern, the fact that Democrats would be able to fill cabinet and judicial posts in a 50/50 Senate over Republican objections. Although, again, only if the red-state members of their own caucus play ball with them.
If you want to worry about Democrats passing crazy bills, the savvier take is that the better they do this year in the Senate, the better positioned they’ll be in a few years to nuke the filibuster if they manage to add to their majority in 2022. But even that argument is complicated: Thanks to its strong showing on election night in House races, the GOP is well positioned to take back control of the lower chamber in the midterms. What good would it do Schumer to end the filibuster in 2023 if he’d still have to negotiate with Kevin McCarthy on legislation?
There’s one good near-term argument for making sure Loeffler and Perdue win in January: Appointments. If you want to make sure Biden’s nominees have to earn the Mitch McConnell seal of approval then one or both of Georgia’s open Senate seats need to stay red. According to a new national poll from Harris/Harvard, that’s what Americans want to see too:
Fifty-six percent of voters said they want a divided government with Republicans in control of the upper chamber, according to data released exclusively to The Hill. Forty-four percent of voters said they wanted Democrats to control the Senate. “As of now, the voters want divided government and their votes for the Senate and House indicate that as well,” said Harvard CAPS-Harris polling director Mark Penn. “This is a strong headwind for Democrats in the special election though [President] Trump’s continued failure to concede could muddy the waters here.”
Even the threat from Biden’s nominations is underwhelming in the context of the Georgia runoffs, though. Collins, Murkowski, and Romney will be able to give Schumer the votes he needs to move nominations through the Senate whether Loeffler and Perdue win or not. And Tucker’s ominous warnings about Attorney General Stacey Abrams and HHS chief Andrew Cuomo just don’t match the reality of what Biden’s doing with his initial cabinet picks. He’s nominating center-leftists, not progressives. He favors low-key bureaucrats like Tony Blinken and Lisa Monaco, not loudmouths like Cuomo who are going to make trouble for him. Again, it’d be more accurate to say that Republicans need to hold on in Georgia in order to make Democrats’ task of capturing a majority in 2022 harder, as the replacements whom Biden chooses for his initial cabinet members later in his term could be more radical. But “win now to make 2022 harder!” is a much lamer rallying cry than “win now or the country is lost!” even if it happens to be true.
Anyway, Carlson’s game here is clear. After infuriating viewers last week by questioning Sidney Powell’s evidence, he’s been working to reestablish himself as a team player. Two days ago he insisted that the election *was* rigged against Trump, albeit via legal means like media bias. Last night he tried to be a good soldier for the party by rallying righties to turn out in Georgia even though that makes no sense in no light of their belief that an election held there just three weeks ago was a sham. Good luck to him as he tries to navigate the post-election conservative media landscape in which people need to simultaneously believe that Trump lost the election but also somehow didn’t lose.


hotair--2020-11-25--Turley: Third Circuit decision on 2nd Amendment "perfectly tailored" for Supreme Court after Barrett

Turley: Third Circuit decision on 2nd Amendment "perfectly tailored" for Supreme Court after Barrett confirmation

The Supreme Court has become notoriously skittish about Second Amendment cases in the years after Heller .
That may change now after a Third Circuit ruling upheld a ban on firearm ownership for felons , even those convicted of non-violent crimes .
In a 2-1 decision , the court ruled that a tax-evasion conviction was sufficient for a lifetime removal of Second Amendment rights : Lying on her tax returns will cost a woman her right to own a firearm for a lifetime , the Third Circuit affirmed Tuesday .
The case , which was argued before the federal appeals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around Lisa Folajtar , who pleaded guilty in 2011 to making false statements on her tax returns .
Since lying to the government is a felony , the conviction carries additional gun restrictions beyond her sentence of probation and a $ 10,000 fine .
Divided 2-1 Tuesday , the Third Circuit found that “ those who commit serious crimes are excluded from the Second Amendment ’ s protections , ” and that reinstating Folajtar ’ s gun rights would negate the gravity of her offense .
“ Consistent with our precedents , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an offense as a felony is generally conclusive in determining whether that offense is serious , ” Justice Thomas Ambro , a Clinton appointee , wrote for the majority .
“ Because we determine the felony here is a serious crime , Folajtar is not protected by the Second Amendment , and her as-applied challenge fails.
” At issue in this case is the Second Amendment ’ s standing as an individual right , argues Jonathan Turley , the basis for the Heller decision .
Folajtar “ falls into the still grey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , especially since the court recognized the right of states to prohibit felons from owning firearms in McDonald two years later .
If the Second Amendment is a fully incorporated individual civil right , however , the law and the courts should arguably use strict scrutiny in reviewing the constitutionality of laws that infringe on it .
Broadly speaking , that requires a formula that requires states to show a valid public interest in play and the use of the narrowest policy to attain it .
The public interest in such bans on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public safety , but the application of such bans on non-violent ex-felons would not be a reasonably tailored measure to achieve it .
There is no rational basis to assume a danger from someone who filed a false tax return alone , arguably .
Turley believes that newly minted Justice Amy Coney Barrett will want to delve into that very question , and her addition might finally push the court to grant cert in this and other Second Amendment cases : It is hard to ignore the analogy to one of now Justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appellate judge in Kanter v. Barr .
Rickey Kanter was convicted of one count of felony mail fraud for defrauding Medicare in connection with therapeutic shoe inserts .
The Seventh Circuit panel split 2-1 with Barrett in dissent .
Focusing on the “ history and tradition ” of such restrictions , Barrett also took on the voting rights and jury service point with a key distinction : “ The problem with this argument is that virtue exclusions are associated with civic rights—individual rights that “ require [ ] citizens to act in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ See Saul Cornell , A New Paradigm for the Second Amendment , 22 LAW & HIST .
REV .
161 , 165 ( 2004 ) .
For example , the right to vote is held by individuals , but they do not exercise it solely for their own sake ; rather , they cast votes as part of the collective enterprise of self-governance .
Similarly , individuals do not serve on juries for their own sake , but as part of the collective enterprise of administering justice… Heller , however , expressly rejects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a purely civic right .
Moore v. Madigan , 702 F.3d 933 , 935 ( 7th Cir .
2012 ) .
It squarely holds that “ the Second Amendment confer [ s ] an individual right to keep and bear arms , ” Heller , 554 U.S. at 595 , 128 S.Ct .
2783 ( emphasis added ) , and it emphasizes that the Second Amendment is rooted in the individual ’ s right to defend himself—not in his right to serve in a well-regulated militia , id .
at 582–86 , 128 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kanter revisited , ” Turley writes .
He also links it to a Brett Kavanaugh dissent on the DC Circuit on a ban against semi-automatic weapons and limits on magazine capacities .
Both Barrett and Kavanaugh might be eager to revisit these issues in light of Heller , and it would only take two more justices to grant cert .
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would likely be slam-dunks to vote for cert , and Neil Gorsuch may as well .
If so , look out : There may not be anything John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either .
At the very least , it will make for a very interesting argument to follow .

The Supreme Court has become notoriously skittish about Second Amendment cases in the years after Heller. That may change now after a Third Circuit ruling upheld a ban on firearm ownership for felons, even those convicted of non-violent crimes. In a 2-1 decision, the court ruled that a tax-evasion conviction was sufficient for a lifetime removal of Second Amendment rights:
Lying on her tax returns will cost a woman her right to own a firearm for a lifetime, the Third Circuit affirmed Tuesday. The case, which was argued before the federal appeals court last year in Philadelphia, centers around Lisa Folajtar, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to making false statements on her tax returns. Since lying to the government is a felony, the conviction carries additional gun restrictions beyond her sentence of probation and a $10,000 fine. Divided 2-1 Tuesday, the Third Circuit found that “those who commit serious crimes are excluded from the Second Amendment’s protections,” and that reinstating Folajtar’s gun rights would negate the gravity of her offense. “Consistent with our precedents, we hold that the legislature’s designation of an offense as a felony is generally conclusive in determining whether that offense is serious,” Justice Thomas Ambro, a Clinton appointee, wrote for the majority. “Because we determine the felony here is a serious crime, Folajtar is not protected by the Second Amendment, and her as-applied challenge fails.”
At issue in this case is the Second Amendment’s standing as an individual right, argues Jonathan Turley, the basis for the Heller decision. Folajtar “falls into the still grey area” of Heller, Turley writes, especially since the court recognized the right of states to prohibit felons from owning firearms in McDonald two years later.
If the Second Amendment is a fully incorporated individual civil right, however, the law and the courts should arguably use strict scrutiny in reviewing the constitutionality of laws that infringe on it. Broadly speaking, that requires a formula that requires states to show a valid public interest in play and the use of the narrowest policy to attain it. The public interest in such bans on ex-felon gun ownership is clearly that of public safety, but the application of such bans on non-violent ex-felons would not be a reasonably tailored measure to achieve it. There is no rational basis to assume a danger from someone who filed a false tax return alone, arguably.
Turley believes that newly minted Justice Amy Coney Barrett will want to delve into that very question, and her addition might finally push the court to grant cert in this and other Second Amendment cases:
It is hard to ignore the analogy to one of now Justice Barrett’s prior decisions as an appellate judge in Kanter v. Barr. Rickey Kanter was convicted of one count of felony mail fraud for defrauding Medicare in connection with therapeutic shoe inserts. The Seventh Circuit panel split 2-1 with Barrett in dissent. Focusing on the “history and tradition” of such restrictions, Barrett also took on the voting rights and jury service point with a key distinction: “The problem with this argument is that virtue exclusions are associated with civic rights—individual rights that “require[ ] citizens to act in a collective manner for distinctly public purposes.” See Saul Cornell, A New Paradigm for the Second Amendment , 22 LAW & HIST. REV. 161, 165 (2004). For example, the right to vote is held by individuals, but they do not exercise it solely for their own sake; rather, they cast votes as part of the collective enterprise of self-governance. Similarly, individuals do not serve on juries for their own sake, but as part of the collective enterprise of administering justice… Heller , however, expressly rejects the argument that the Second Amendment protects a purely civic right. Moore v. Madigan , 702 F.3d 933, 935 (7th Cir. 2012). It squarely holds that “the Second Amendment confer[s] an individual right to keep and bear arms,” Heller , 554 U.S. at 595, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (emphasis added), and it emphasizes that the Second Amendment is rooted in the individual’s right to defend himself—not in his right to serve in a well-regulated militia, id. at 582–86, 128 S.Ct. 2783.”
Folajtar is “Kanter revisited,” Turley writes. He also links it to a Brett Kavanaugh dissent on the DC Circuit on a ban against semi-automatic weapons and limits on magazine capacities. Both Barrett and Kavanaugh might be eager to revisit these issues in light of Heller, and it would only take two more justices to grant cert. Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would likely be slam-dunks to vote for cert, and Neil Gorsuch may as well.
If so, look out:
If Barrett and Kavanaugh can get two other justices to accept certiorari, this could be a decision that approaches Heller itself in constitutional importance.
There may not be anything John Roberts can do to prevent it, either. At the very least, it will make for a very interesting argument to follow.