hotair--2020-07-16--National Association of Police Organizations rewards Trump with endorsement for support of cops

The National Association of Police Organizations ( NAPO ) announced its endorsement of President Trump Wednesday .
To paraphrase Joe Biden , this endorsement is a big deal .
It ’ s a slam against Biden , given the association endorsed the Obama-Biden ticket in 2008 , and 2012 .
NAPO didn ’ t endorse either presidential candidate in 2016 so this says that Trump has earned their support .
It also solidifies his position as the law and order candidate .
His “ steadfast and very public support ” for law enforcement was praised during the announcement .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s website .
The Trump campaign responded with a statement of its own .
“ President Trump fights every day for the cops that keep us safe .
Joe Biden has done nothing to stop his party ’ s ‘ defund the police ’ movement and remains silent as police officers across the country are being attacked by violent rioters and protesters , ” Bob Paduchik , the campaign ’ s senior advisor for law enforcement and labor unions , said in a statement .
“ This endorsement for President Trump highlights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he is defending the hardworking people who risk their own lives every day to keep our communities safe , ” he added .
The Trump campaign released an ad Wednesday which states that if Joe Biden is elected , Americans will not be safe .
Biden , while not specifically calling for defunding police as his far-left wing supporters are demanding , has called for redirecting funds and for ending sales of surplus military equipment to police departments .
With the atmosphere of civil unrest in so many of America ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with police departments that Biden sounds as though he is trying to straddle the fence by supporting both protesters who often turn violent against police , and the police themselves .
He can ’ t have it both ways yet he continues to get a pass from the media .
If Trump was behaving as Biden is by not firmly coming out in support of law enforcement , you can bet he would be questioned about it every day by the press .
Biden ’ s idea of reform includes taking money from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools and mental health programs .
Trump gave his pitch for NAPO ’ s endorsement during a White House meeting on Monday .
Just yesterday , New York ’ s highest-ranking uniformed member of the police department and other cops were attacked on the Brooklyn Bridge Wednesday during a protest .
There is a reward offered for information about the wooden stick-wielding attacker .
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Wednesday , the man allegedly swung the wooden object at a group of high-ranking NYPD members , including Chief of Department Terence Monahan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The assault was caught on video , which was later posted to the NYPD ’ s Twitter account .
A different video shows an all-out brawl between officers and protesters , which police said occurred after the initial attack .
This is where we are in 2020 .
Violent looters and thugs hijack demonstrations and try to overpower law enforcement .
It is ludicrous that the protests are labeled as peaceful because it is rare that they don ’ t become violent .
Anarchists , Antifa , and Marxists see the opportunity to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goal is to overturn the government and usher in their utopian view of Marxism .
They want to destroy the police , who they see as a barrier in their march to destroy the capitalist way of life .
Trump is the one who speaks out in support of law enforcement while Biden makes excuses .
Democrats , in general , have remained silent as the cities burn and violence is on the rise .
Americans are not feeling safe right now .
Trump ’ s message of law and order resonates with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are seeing in the news everyday , if not in their own cities .
The voters who may be leaning toward Biden in November – suburban women and older voters – will not support a candidate they don ’ t have confidence in about personal safety for themselves and their families .
They will vote against that candidate in November .

The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) announced its endorsement of President Trump Wednesday. To paraphrase Joe Biden, this endorsement is a big deal. It’s a slam against Biden, given the association endorsed the Obama-Biden ticket in 2008, and 2012.
NAPO didn’t endorse either presidential candidate in 2016 so this says that Trump has earned their support. It also solidifies his position as the law and order candidate. His “steadfast and very public support” for law enforcement was praised during the announcement. The endorsement letter was published on the organization’s website.
NAPO has endorsed President Trump in his reelection campaign. Here is our endorsement letter which was issued following today's meeting. pic.twitter.com/mf6ZUTf10l — NAPO (@NAPOpolice) July 15, 2020
The Trump campaign responded with a statement of its own.
“President Trump fights every day for the cops that keep us safe. Joe Biden has done nothing to stop his party’s ‘defund the police’ movement and remains silent as police officers across the country are being attacked by violent rioters and protesters,” Bob Paduchik, the campaign’s senior advisor for law enforcement and labor unions, said in a statement. “This endorsement for President Trump highlights that as the Law and Order President, he is defending the hardworking people who risk their own lives every day to keep our communities safe,” he added.
The Trump campaign released an ad Wednesday which states that if Joe Biden is elected, Americans will not be safe. Biden, while not specifically calling for defunding police as his far-left wing supporters are demanding, has called for redirecting funds and for ending sales of surplus military equipment to police departments. With the atmosphere of civil unrest in so many of America’s cities, it is not boding well with police departments that Biden sounds as though he is trying to straddle the fence by supporting both protesters who often turn violent against police, and the police themselves. He can’t have it both ways yet he continues to get a pass from the media. If Trump was behaving as Biden is by not firmly coming out in support of law enforcement, you can bet he would be questioned about it every day by the press. Biden’s idea of reform includes taking money from law enforcement and giving it to public schools and mental health programs.
Trump gave his pitch for NAPO’s endorsement during a White House meeting on Monday.
“Our officers have been under vicious assault,” Trump said Monday during a roundtable with people whose lives have been positively impacted by law enforcement. “Reckless politicians have defamed our heroes as the enemy…These radical politicians want to defund and abolish the police.” Trump added: “My administration is pro-safety, pro-police and anti-crime.”
Just yesterday, New York’s highest-ranking uniformed member of the police department and other cops were attacked on the Brooklyn Bridge Wednesday during a protest. There is a reward offered for information about the wooden stick-wielding attacker.
These are the injuries our officers sustained. pic.twitter.com/KI9wQKywHH — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 15, 2020
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the man allegedly swung the wooden object at a group of high-ranking NYPD members, including Chief of Department Terence Monahan, while they were making an arrest. The assault was caught on video, which was later posted to the NYPD’s Twitter account. A different video shows an all-out brawl between officers and protesters, which police said occurred after the initial attack.
This is where we are in 2020. Violent looters and thugs hijack demonstrations and try to overpower law enforcement. It is ludicrous that the protests are labeled as peaceful because it is rare that they don’t become violent. Anarchists, Antifa, and Marxists see the opportunity to create havoc and do so. Their goal is to overturn the government and usher in their utopian view of Marxism. They want to destroy the police, who they see as a barrier in their march to destroy the capitalist way of life. Trump is the one who speaks out in support of law enforcement while Biden makes excuses. Democrats, in general, have remained silent as the cities burn and violence is on the rise.
Americans are not feeling safe right now. Trump’s message of law and order resonates with voters who are worried about what they are seeing in the news everyday, if not in their own cities. The voters who may be leaning toward Biden in November – suburban women and older voters – will not support a candidate they don’t have confidence in about personal safety for themselves and their families. They will vote against that candidate in November.


hotair--2020-07-16--Southwest Airlines may begin huge layoffs despite taking federal assistance

It ’ s no secret that the airlines have been taking a beating financially during the pandemic .
As if commercial air travel wasn ’ t already miserable enough ( unless you could afford to fly first class ) in more “ normal ” times , who wants to be packed in like sardines with a bunch of people who are constantly coughing and breathing recycled air in a sardine can with the virus floating around ?
So the number of flights and total seats sold plummeted , along with the major airlines ’ profits .
And yet , through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to keep their labor force on the job as much as possible .
But now one airline in particular is warning its workers that the well is about to run dry and if they don ’ t want to take a voluntary exit plan , they may be sent packing .
Southwest Airlines informed its workforce this week that layoffs may be on the way by the end of the summer .
( NY Post ) Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told employees on Monday it needs a dramatic jump in passenger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take new steps to reduce staffing .
Employees face a Wednesday deadline whether to participate in a voluntary incentive program to leave the airline .
“ Although furloughs and layoffs remain our very last resort , we can ’ t rule them out as a possibility obviously in this very bad environment , ” Kelly said in a message to employees .
“ We need a significant recovery by the end of this year — and that ’ s roughly triple the number of passengers from where we are today.
” If we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , these decisions by Southwest wouldn ’ t be shocking at all .
When your business falls off drastically , you have to scale back to keep the operation afloat .
The only thing we might find ourselves wondering is what took them so long .
Everyone in the industry knew that the pandemic was going to destroy their business model until people felt safe to travel once again and businesses reopened to the point where they felt it practical to send their employees on trips again .
But the airlines , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ themselves .
As I discussed back in April , almost all of the airlines had their hands out when the Payroll Support Program was rolled out , securing literally billions of dollars of grants and low-interest loans in the name of keeping their workers on the payroll .
Southwest soaked up $ 3.2 billion from that program with another $ 2.7 billion federal loan being discussed and , as such , wasn ’ t supposed to be able to lay off or furlough any workers until the program expires in September .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ haven ’ t been able to engage in some arm-twisting to cut labor costs .
They ’ ve been offering some incentives for people who are willing to resign and go on unemployment , along with other “ sweeteners ” to get people to voluntarily leave .
And now they ’ re upping the pressure on their workers to take these options or they will face cuts to their pay and benefits prior to being given the boot in October .
As I wrote in April , none of this needed to happen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have done what the rest of the nation ’ s suddenly jobless individuals did and applied for federally enhanced unemployment benefits while waiting for air travel volume to return to its previous levels .
Instead , the taxpayers shelled out at least three billion dollars ( and possibly more than five billion by August ) to ostensibly pay workers in the private sector who were not needed , and now most of these workers will be out of a job anyway .
None of the airlines were going to “ go out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President , have moaned about .
They would have gone into bankruptcy protection , just as most of them did in the early 2000s , emerging yet again after demand for their services returned to normal .
And their employees would have needed to use the same support systems that everyone else has been relying on .
While the travel industry is certainly an “ essential business ” by any measure , they would have continued to operate ( just as they have been ) at reduced volume with fewer workers .
Instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through federal largesse and the taxpayers have once again been left holding the bag .

It’s no secret that the airlines have been taking a beating financially during the pandemic. As if commercial air travel wasn’t already miserable enough (unless you could afford to fly first class) in more “normal” times, who wants to be packed in like sardines with a bunch of people who are constantly coughing and breathing recycled air in a sardine can with the virus floating around? So the number of flights and total seats sold plummeted, along with the major airlines’ profits. And yet, through it all, they insisted that they wanted to keep their labor force on the job as much as possible. But now one airline in particular is warning its workers that the well is about to run dry and if they don’t want to take a voluntary exit plan, they may be sent packing. Southwest Airlines informed its workforce this week that layoffs may be on the way by the end of the summer. (NY Post)
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told employees on Monday it needs a dramatic jump in passenger demand or it will be forced to take new steps to reduce staffing. Employees face a Wednesday deadline whether to participate in a voluntary incentive program to leave the airline. “Although furloughs and layoffs remain our very last resort, we can’t rule them out as a possibility obviously in this very bad environment,” Kelly said in a message to employees. “We need a significant recovery by the end of this year — and that’s roughly triple the number of passengers from where we are today.”
If we were looking at this in a vacuum, these decisions by Southwest wouldn’t be shocking at all. When your business falls off drastically, you have to scale back to keep the operation afloat. The only thing we might find ourselves wondering is what took them so long. Everyone in the industry knew that the pandemic was going to destroy their business model until people felt safe to travel once again and businesses reopened to the point where they felt it practical to send their employees on trips again.
But the airlines, including Southwest, secured an unfair advantage for themselves. As I discussed back in April, almost all of the airlines had their hands out when the Payroll Support Program was rolled out, securing literally billions of dollars of grants and low-interest loans in the name of keeping their workers on the payroll. Southwest soaked up $3.2 billion from that program with another $2.7 billion federal loan being discussed and, as such, wasn’t supposed to be able to lay off or furlough any workers until the program expires in September.
But that doesn’t mean that they haven’t been able to engage in some arm-twisting to cut labor costs. They’ve been offering some incentives for people who are willing to resign and go on unemployment, along with other “sweeteners” to get people to voluntarily leave. And now they’re upping the pressure on their workers to take these options or they will face cuts to their pay and benefits prior to being given the boot in October.
As I wrote in April, none of this needed to happen in this fashion. The workers could have done what the rest of the nation’s suddenly jobless individuals did and applied for federally enhanced unemployment benefits while waiting for air travel volume to return to its previous levels. Instead, the taxpayers shelled out at least three billion dollars (and possibly more than five billion by August) to ostensibly pay workers in the private sector who were not needed, and now most of these workers will be out of a job anyway.
None of the airlines were going to “go out of business” as some, including the President, have moaned about. They would have gone into bankruptcy protection, just as most of them did in the early 2000s, emerging yet again after demand for their services returned to normal. And their employees would have needed to use the same support systems that everyone else has been relying on. While the travel industry is certainly an “essential business” by any measure, they would have continued to operate (just as they have been) at reduced volume with fewer workers. Instead, we managed to distort the market through federal largesse and the taxpayers have once again been left holding the bag.


hotair--2020-07-16--Breaking: US, UK, Canada accuse Russia of actively hacking COVID-19 researc

Breaking: US, UK, Canada accuse Russia of actively hacking COVID-19 research

Bad news — Cozy Bear is back , but this time the Russian intel hacking group hasn ’ t targeted the US election .
The governments of the US , United Kingdom , and Canada issued a joint statement accusing Moscow of targeting COVID-19 research , apparently attempting to steal the formula for any new vaccine under development .
Advisories have been issued to strengthen security around those efforts , and the message to Vladimir Putin seems clear — back off : Russian cyber actors are targeting organizations involved in coronavirus vaccine development , according to a new warning by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Thursday that details activity by a Russian hacking group called APT29 , which also goes by the name “ the Dukes ” or “ Cozy Bear.
” … The US , UK and Canadian authorities have issued several warnings about state-backed cyberattacks in recent month .
In May , the three countries issued an advisory warning of ongoing cyberattacks against organizations involved in the coronavirus response , including health care bodies , pharmaceutical companies , academics , medical research organizations and local government .
Hospitals , research laboratories , health care providers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , officials say , and the US Department of Health and Human Services — which oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has been struck by a surge of daily strikes , an official with direct knowledge of the attacks previously told CNN .
The NCSC , which is the UK ’ s lead technical authority on cyber security and part of the UK ’ s Government Communications Headquarters ( GCHQ ) , assessed that APT29 “ almost certainly operate as part of Russian Intelligence Services ” .
The good news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apparently hasn ’ t attempted any sabotage .
This looks like the kind of technological raid that the KGB used to do for decades during the Cold War , and which China routinely does now .
No one knows how much the Russian hackers have stolen , if anything at all yet , but they do note that the hackers haven ’ t been interested in personnel data : The persistent and ongoing attacks are seen by intelligence officials as an effort to steal intellectual property , rather than to disrupt research .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually was stolen but the National Cypersecurity Centre says individuals ’ confidential information is not believed to have been compromised .
Speaking of China , the US accused them separately last week of disruptive hacks on the same organizations : To some extent , this makes sense — perhaps a lot more sense than another Merry Prankster effort in an American election .
That ended up backfiring on Putin , forcing the US to take a very hard line against Russia for the last three years , for no particular potential benefit except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This at least relates to a real national interest for Russia , especially since it apparently doesn ’ t have the horsepower to do this work on its own .
That ’ s a pretty damning indictment of Putin ’ s leadership all on its own ; at least Russia had communism as an excuse for its need to steal technology as a consequence of their inability to produce it for themselves .
Putin ’ s version of oligarchy turns out to be almost as bad in a pinch .
It all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ especially given the stakes involved .
Canada and the UK would certainly be open for international cooperation on vaccine development , even if the US under Donald Trump would prefer a more national approach .
Working aboveboard might have gotten Putin farther than another clumsy Cozy Bear operation .
Now , however , Putin might have put up even more barriers between his country and others that would have preferred a friendlier relationship all along .
You can take the colonel out of the KGB but you can ’ t take the KGB @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Addendum : For a fascinating look at the KGB ’ s technology-theft efforts , I highly recommend Farewell : The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century by Sergei Kostin .
It tells the story of how French intelligence ran a mole at the top level of the KGB ’ s program , and how it informed Ronald Reagan ’ s Cold War strategy .
Perhaps one day Hollywood will make a major film out of it , but … I won ’ t hold my breath .

Bad news — Cozy Bear is back, but this time the Russian intel hacking group hasn’t targeted the US election. The governments of the US, United Kingdom, and Canada issued a joint statement accusing Moscow of targeting COVID-19 research, apparently attempting to steal the formula for any new vaccine under development. Advisories have been issued to strengthen security around those efforts, and the message to Vladimir Putin seems clear — back off:
Big: US, UK and Canada jointly announce that cyber actors, most likely from Russia’s intelligence services are targeting orgs with “intention of stealing info …relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines.” pic.twitter.com/D7OAPpuIxP — Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) July 16, 2020
Russian cyber actors are targeting organizations involved in coronavirus vaccine development, according to a new warning by US, UK and Canadian security officials on Thursday that details activity by a Russian hacking group called APT29, which also goes by the name “the Dukes” or “Cozy Bear.” … The US, UK and Canadian authorities have issued several warnings about state-backed cyberattacks in recent month. In May, the three countries issued an advisory warning of ongoing cyberattacks against organizations involved in the coronavirus response, including health care bodies, pharmaceutical companies, academics, medical research organizations and local government. Hospitals, research laboratories, health care providers and pharmaceutical companies have all been hit, officials say, and the US Department of Health and Human Services — which oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has been struck by a surge of daily strikes, an official with direct knowledge of the attacks previously told CNN. The NCSC, which is the UK’s lead technical authority on cyber security and part of the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), assessed that APT29 “almost certainly operate as part of Russian Intelligence Services”.
The good news, relatively speaking, is that Russia apparently hasn’t attempted any sabotage. This looks like the kind of technological raid that the KGB used to do for decades during the Cold War, and which China routinely does now. No one knows how much the Russian hackers have stolen, if anything at all yet, but they do note that the hackers haven’t been interested in personnel data:
The persistent and ongoing attacks are seen by intelligence officials as an effort to steal intellectual property, rather than to disrupt research. … It was unclear whether any information actually was stolen but the National Cypersecurity Centre says individuals’ confidential information is not believed to have been compromised.
Speaking of China, the US accused them separately last week of disruptive hacks on the same organizations:
U.S. authorities have for month leveled similar accusations against China. FBI Director Chris Wray said last week, “At this very moment, China is working to compromise American health care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and academic institutions conducting essential COVID-19 research.”
To some extent, this makes sense — perhaps a lot more sense than another Merry Prankster effort in an American election. That ended up backfiring on Putin, forcing the US to take a very hard line against Russia for the last three years, for no particular potential benefit except Putin’s ego and personal amusement. This at least relates to a real national interest for Russia, especially since it apparently doesn’t have the horsepower to do this work on its own. That’s a pretty damning indictment of Putin’s leadership all on its own; at least Russia had communism as an excuse for its need to steal technology as a consequence of their inability to produce it for themselves. Putin’s version of oligarchy turns out to be almost as bad in a pinch.
It all seems needlessly provocative, if true, especially given the stakes involved. Canada and the UK would certainly be open for international cooperation on vaccine development, even if the US under Donald Trump would prefer a more national approach. Working aboveboard might have gotten Putin farther than another clumsy Cozy Bear operation. Now, however, Putin might have put up even more barriers between his country and others that would have preferred a friendlier relationship all along. You can take the colonel out of the KGB but you can’t take the KGB out of the colonel, it seems.
Addendum: For a fascinating look at the KGB’s technology-theft efforts, I highly recommend Farewell: The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century by Sergei Kostin. It tells the story of how French intelligence ran a mole at the top level of the KGB’s program, and how it informed Ronald Reagan’s Cold War strategy. Perhaps one day Hollywood will make a major film out of it, but … I won’t hold my breath.


hotair--2020-07-16--Seattle reconfiguring hiring to favor "social justice advocates"

Despite all of the damage and unrest , Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is still refusing any federal help in restoring the rule of law to her city .
If they ’ re going to handle the problem themselves , so be it , I suppose .
But what does she plan to do ?
In yet another instance of bowing to mob rule , Durkan and the City Council have decided that the way to calm the masses is to change the way they hire municipal government workers .
What that has to do with the death of George Floyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the new plan certainly sounds woke enough to fit the 2020 narrative .
Going forward , if you want a job with the city , you ’ ll need to prove your social justice credentials before anyone worries about whether or not you ’ re actually qualified for the job you ’ re seeking .
( Free Beacon ) The city of Seattle is hiring “ social justice ” advocates to staff its administrative offices—and unlike private sector jobs , these positions aren ’ t subject to the city ’ s new tax @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public utilities employees , and city auditors are just some of the positions Seattle is hiring for that have prerequisites of advancing “ racial and social justice equality , ” according to city job postings .
The job postings illustrate how left-leaning cities like Seattle are adapting to cultural shifts and allegations of systemic racism that have shaken local governments , newsrooms , and businesses across the country in the wake of the George Floyd protests .
The linked report offers a few examples of these posh public sector jobs and the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example given is for the position of Director of Administrative Services for the Seattle Public Library system .
That ’ s the person responsible for all of the financial activities of the organization .
Keep in mind that the current budget for the Seattle Public Library system is $ 81 million , and that ’ s after they recently took a cut of nearly $ 3 million because of being shut down by the pandemic .
Seems like you ’ d want someone experienced , capable and trustworthy to handle that amount of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first requirement for the job will now be someone who is “ knowledgeable in the area of race and social justice , and developing policies with stakeholder involvement for better community and staff equity.
” Perhaps math is optional now .
( I was told there would be no math . )
The city ’ s Public Utilities service is looking for a “ Deputy Director of People , Culture and Community ” who will pull down a whopping salary of up to $ 215,000 .
They don ’ t have to know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or other public utility services .
They just need to be qualified to “ embed race and social justice and service equity policies and practices across the utility.
” They may not be able to keep the lights on but they ’ ll fail to do it in a racially equitable fashion , by golly .
Oh , one other item of note involves the tax scheme mentioned above .
The city recently passed a steep , new payroll tax on “ high earners ” ( read : “ people who make too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in more than 100K annually .
But guess what ?
These lucrative new social justice jobs offered by the city aren ’ t affected by the tax .
How nice for them .
Seattle is steadily descending into madness and probably isn ’ t all that far from Mad Max territory at this point .
There was a time when I ’ d have expressed my sympathies for them , but not so much these days .
You keep electing the same clown car full of loons over and over again and this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this , so nobody should be shedding too many tears for you .

Despite all of the damage and unrest, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is still refusing any federal help in restoring the rule of law to her city. If they’re going to handle the problem themselves, so be it, I suppose. But what does she plan to do? In yet another instance of bowing to mob rule, Durkan and the City Council have decided that the way to calm the masses is to change the way they hire municipal government workers. What that has to do with the death of George Floyd is anyone’s guess, but the new plan certainly sounds woke enough to fit the 2020 narrative. Going forward, if you want a job with the city, you’ll need to prove your social justice credentials before anyone worries about whether or not you’re actually qualified for the job you’re seeking. (Free Beacon)
The city of Seattle is hiring “social justice” advocates to staff its administrative offices—and unlike private sector jobs, these positions aren’t subject to the city’s new tax on six-figure salaries. Library administrators, public utilities employees, and city auditors are just some of the positions Seattle is hiring for that have prerequisites of advancing “racial and social justice equality,” according to city job postings. The job postings illustrate how left-leaning cities like Seattle are adapting to cultural shifts and allegations of systemic racism that have shaken local governments, newsrooms, and businesses across the country in the wake of the George Floyd protests.
The linked report offers a few examples of these posh public sector jobs and the new requirements to obtain one. The first example given is for the position of Director of Administrative Services for the Seattle Public Library system. That’s the person responsible for all of the financial activities of the organization. Keep in mind that the current budget for the Seattle Public Library system is $81 million, and that’s after they recently took a cut of nearly $3 million because of being shut down by the pandemic.
Seems like you’d want someone experienced, capable and trustworthy to handle that amount of taxpayer money, eh? But the first requirement for the job will now be someone who is “knowledgeable in the area of race and social justice, and developing policies with stakeholder involvement for better community and staff equity.” Perhaps math is optional now. (I was told there would be no math.)
The city’s Public Utilities service is looking for a “Deputy Director of People, Culture and Community” who will pull down a whopping salary of up to $215,000. They don’t have to know much about electricity generation, natural gas or other public utility services. They just need to be qualified to “embed race and social justice and service equity policies and practices across the utility.” They may not be able to keep the lights on but they’ll fail to do it in a racially equitable fashion, by golly.
Oh, one other item of note involves the tax scheme mentioned above. The city recently passed a steep, new payroll tax on “high earners” (read: “people who make too much money”) for those bringing in more than 100K annually. But guess what? These lucrative new social justice jobs offered by the city aren’t affected by the tax. How nice for them.
Seattle is steadily descending into madness and probably isn’t all that far from Mad Max territory at this point. There was a time when I’d have expressed my sympathies for them, but not so much these days. You keep electing the same clown car full of loons over and over again and this is what you get. You asked for this, so nobody should be shedding too many tears for you.


hotair--2020-07-16--Berkeley to have unarmed civilians perform traffic stops

We ’ ve long since reached the stage where pointing out something totally insane going on in Berkeley , California is generally received with a combination of yawns and sad , knowing nods of the head .
But even with that sort of a track record , the liberal enclave has announced plans for a new “ law enforcement ” initiative that should still give everyone pause .
Having already determined that they need to slash their police budget by a full 50 % ( because starving the evil cops of funding will clearly cure all of society ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pull actual police officers almost entirely out of the loop from one of their most common and important roles .
Instead of having trained , uniformed officers conducting traffic stops , they will be dispatching “ unarmed civilian city workers ” to handle these chores .
And yes , I ’ ll once again invoke the tired old phrase we ’ ve all become accustomed to .
What could possibly go wrong ?
( Fox News ) Berkeley , Calif. , moved forward with a proposal Wednesday to eliminate police from conducting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city workers .
The proposal is part of a broad overhaul of law enforcement – the City Council has set a goal of cutting the police budget by 50 percent .
The council approved the measure , proposed by Mayor Jesse Arreguin , in a nine-hour virtual meeting ending at 3 a.m. “ For far too long public safety has been equated with more police , ” Arreguin said .
The fact that Mayor Jesse Arreguin could , with a straight face , complain about the idea of “ public safety being equated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all we need to know .
At the moment , Berkeley is having decisions about law enforcement operations made by people who have no idea of how policing actually works in the real world .
And the people who will pay for this foolishness are not generally the ones sitting in City Council meetings .
While the vast majority of traffic stops thankfully unfold without incident , there are some that clearly don ’ t .
I suppose it ’ s not hard to imagine that the Mayor and the City Council members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rare occasions that they ’ ve been stopped by the cops .
These generally involve some of the following phrases .
Why yes , officer , I have my license and registration right here .
Was I doing something wrong ?
No , I wasn ’ t aware of that .
I must have been distracted .
Yes , thank you .
I ’ ll certainly be more careful in the future .
It ’ s certainly possible that an “ unarmed civilian city worker ” could handle such an encounter with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s not how all traffic stops work .
That city worker is going to run into a very different situation when he unwittingly pulls over Dwayne “ Double Tap ” Wheeler , who already missed three meetings with his parole officer , has a kilo of cocaine under the passenger seat , is packing a Glock 17 and knows that if he gets picked up again he ’ s not going to get out of prison this time until he ’ s eligible for Social Security .
At that point , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rapidly .
If the Mayor doesn ’ t believe me , he could just ask Washington state police officer Jonathan Shoop .
Oh , that ’ s right… you can ’ t ask him .
Because he ’ s dead .
On Monday of this week , Officer Jonathan Shoop ’ s day started like any other .
He wound up attempting to pull over a vehicle for a routine traffic offense .
Moments later he had been gunned down and perished from his wounds .
And he was a trained police officer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unarmed civilian city worker would have held up under the circumstances ?
Traffic stops tend to involve a lot more than just the simple issuance of tickets for drunks and speeders .
Police frequently find evidence of other , more serious crimes when pulling someone over .
It ’ s also a convenient way to identify and bring in people with outstanding warrants .
It ’ s an important part of police work , but none of that comes without risk .
This new plan in Berkely is probably going to last until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” is laid out on the pavement in a growing pool of blood .
And then everyone else tasked with that job is going to tell the Mayor and the City Council to go pound sand .
At that point , they ’ ll need to summon the police back to do the job they were trained for .
But will there be any cops left to answer the call ?

We’ve long since reached the stage where pointing out something totally insane going on in Berkeley, California is generally received with a combination of yawns and sad, knowing nods of the head. But even with that sort of a track record, the liberal enclave has announced plans for a new “law enforcement” initiative that should still give everyone pause. Having already determined that they need to slash their police budget by a full 50% (because starving the evil cops of funding will clearly cure all of society’s ills), the city is planning to pull actual police officers almost entirely out of the loop from one of their most common and important roles. Instead of having trained, uniformed officers conducting traffic stops, they will be dispatching “unarmed civilian city workers” to handle these chores. And yes, I’ll once again invoke the tired old phrase we’ve all become accustomed to. What could possibly go wrong? (Fox News)
Berkeley, Calif., moved forward with a proposal Wednesday to eliminate police from conducting traffic stops and instead send unarmed civilian city workers. The proposal is part of a broad overhaul of law enforcement – the City Council has set a goal of cutting the police budget by 50 percent. The council approved the measure, proposed by Mayor Jesse Arreguin, in a nine-hour virtual meeting ending at 3 a.m. “For far too long public safety has been equated with more police,” Arreguin said.
The fact that Mayor Jesse Arreguin could, with a straight face, complain about the idea of “public safety being equated with more police” should tell us all we need to know. At the moment, Berkeley is having decisions about law enforcement operations made by people who have no idea of how policing actually works in the real world. And the people who will pay for this foolishness are not generally the ones sitting in City Council meetings.
While the vast majority of traffic stops thankfully unfold without incident, there are some that clearly don’t. I suppose it’s not hard to imagine that the Mayor and the City Council members have all had fairly typical experiences on the rare occasions that they’ve been stopped by the cops. These generally involve some of the following phrases.
Why yes, officer, I have my license and registration right here. Was I doing something wrong?
No, I wasn’t aware of that. I must have been distracted.
Yes, thank you. I’ll certainly be more careful in the future.
It’s certainly possible that an “unarmed civilian city worker” could handle such an encounter with a bit of training. Unfortunately, that’s not how all traffic stops work. That city worker is going to run into a very different situation when he unwittingly pulls over Dwayne “Double Tap” Wheeler, who already missed three meetings with his parole officer, has a kilo of cocaine under the passenger seat, is packing a Glock 17 and knows that if he gets picked up again he’s not going to get out of prison this time until he’s eligible for Social Security. At that point, things tend to go dramatically downhill very rapidly.
If the Mayor doesn’t believe me, he could just ask Washington state police officer Jonathan Shoop. Oh, that’s right… you can’t ask him. Because he’s dead.
The Washington state police officer who was shot and killed following a traffic stop Monday night had long aspired to serve in law enforcement — and just fulfilled that goal last year, his family said. Jonathan Shoop, a 32-year-old hired by the Bothell Police Department in June 2019, has been identified as the officer who died in the incident that unfolded outside of Seattle.
On Monday of this week, Officer Jonathan Shoop’s day started like any other. He wound up attempting to pull over a vehicle for a routine traffic offense. Moments later he had been gunned down and perished from his wounds. And he was a trained police officer. How well do you think your unarmed civilian city worker would have held up under the circumstances?
Traffic stops tend to involve a lot more than just the simple issuance of tickets for drunks and speeders. Police frequently find evidence of other, more serious crimes when pulling someone over. It’s also a convenient way to identify and bring in people with outstanding warrants. It’s an important part of police work, but none of that comes without risk.
This new plan in Berkely is probably going to last until the first “unarmed civilian city worker” is laid out on the pavement in a growing pool of blood. And then everyone else tasked with that job is going to tell the Mayor and the City Council to go pound sand. At that point, they’ll need to summon the police back to do the job they were trained for. But will there be any cops left to answer the call?


hotair--2020-07-15--Queen Elizabeth to knight 100-year old veteran fundraiser for NHS during the pandemic

There is a 100-year old British veteran who is looking forward to being honored Friday by the Queen of England .
Captain Sir Thomas Moore will receive a knighthood for his fundraising efforts during the coronavirus pandemic for the British National Health Service ( NHS ) .
Queen Elizabeth II will present the honor during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle .
Moore ’ s story is just what we all need during this worldwide plague , whether we know it or not .
If his story doesn ’ t bring a smile to your face or a silent “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t know what will .
Captain Tom , as he is known , decided to raise money for the NHS , the taxpayer-funded national health care system .
Moore decided to grab his walker and walk laps in his garden .
His goal was to walk 100 laps before his 100th birthday on April 30 .
He finished ahead of time .
His online campaign ’ s original goal was to raise $ 1,000 dollars .
Captain Tom ended up raising over $ 37M .
His effort was seen as inspirational .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ he is the oldest artist to reach number one on the UK singles chart as his rendition of “ You ’ ll Never Walk Alone ” landed in the top spot in time for his 100th birthday .
He performed the song with singer Michael Ball and The NHS Voices Of Care Choir .
He served in the infantry , then became an officer , and later worked as an instructor when he returned from war .
Sir Tom enlisted into the eighth battalion of the Duke of Wellington ’ s Regiment ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that was converted to operate Churchill tanks as part of the Royal Armoured Corps ( RAC ) .
Ca In 1940 he was selected for officer training and rose to the rank of captain , later being posted to 9 DWR in India .
He served and fought in the Arakan in western Burma , since renamed Rakhine State , and went with his regiment to Sumatra after the Japanese surrender .
After the war he returned to the UK and worked as an instructor at the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in Bovington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than the Queen and the NHS , too .
He frequently ends his tweets with a hashtag – Tomorrow Will Be a Good Day .
He was appointed an honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College in Harrogate to mark his 100th birthday , approved by the Queen .
He also received a special flyover to commemorate his achievements Boris Johnson recommended to the Queen that Captain Tom be knighted .
Royal investitures have been put on hold during the pandemic , with the Queen quarantined in Windsor Castle .
This will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Captain Tom ’ s family will travel with him for the ceremony but the general public is advised to not travel to Windsor Castle .
There will not be the usual public viewpoint available to watch the investiture .
The Queen will use the sword that belonged to her father , George VI , and will present him with the insignia of Knight Bachelor .
The Queen is in the gin making business now so she could offer a toast to Captain Tom if she wanted to do so .
The Royal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dry gin for gin lovers and royal family aficionados to enjoy .
The gin is available for purchase at any Royal Collection Trust shop and will also be served at all future official events at the palace .
The gin is derived from 12 botanicals and infused with citrus and herbal notes .
Many of the botanicals highlighted in the gin have been picked from the Buckingham palace garden .
Lemon verbena , hawthorn berries , bay leaves and mulberry leaves are some of the specific botanicals picked directly from Buckingham Palace .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ turquoise glass with a gold stopper and also features a coronet and a ring of flowers entwined in an elaborate gold decorative circle .
So , there you go .
There will be a well-earned knighthood bestowed on Captain Tom and the Queen has her own gin now .
I ’ ll end with this little nugget – actor and owner of Aviation Gin , Ryan Reynolds pranked the Queen and trolled Sir Paul McCartney about her gin .
Reynolds , who is proud owner of Aviation Gin , used the occasion to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trolling Paul McCartney .
On Tuesday , the Deadpool star shared a fake receipt for a bottle of the monarch ’ s gin , which he jokingly sent to McCartney .
“ Pre-ordered , ” the 43-year-old captioned the photo of the fake order confirmation .
While at first glance the receipt looks pretty real , fans were quick to notice that several details of the order , which were clearly made up .
For example , Reynolds listed the Beatles musician ’ s home address as “ 221b Baker Street , Downton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his own address , he wrote , “ 1 Upmanship Dr. , Notcoolington , WTF FML.
” How clever .

There is a 100-year old British veteran who is looking forward to being honored Friday by the Queen of England. Captain Sir Thomas Moore will receive a knighthood for his fundraising efforts during the coronavirus pandemic for the British National Health Service (NHS). Queen Elizabeth II will present the honor during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.
Moore’s story is just what we all need during this worldwide plague, whether we know it or not. If his story doesn’t bring a smile to your face or a silent “attaboy” to yourself, I don’t know what will. Captain Tom, as he is known, decided to raise money for the NHS, the taxpayer-funded national health care system. Moore decided to grab his walker and walk laps in his garden. His goal was to walk 100 laps before his 100th birthday on April 30. He finished ahead of time. His online campaign’s original goal was to raise $1,000 dollars. Captain Tom ended up raising over $37M. His effort was seen as inspirational. To top all of that off, he is the oldest artist to reach number one on the UK singles chart as his rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” landed in the top spot in time for his 100th birthday. He performed the song with singer Michael Ball and The NHS Voices Of Care Choir.
Lovely day for a walk, don't you think?
360 laps done and still going #walkwithtom #TomorrowWillBeAGoodDay pic.twitter.com/iFiwXYDUZl — Captain Tom Moore (@captaintommoore) May 31, 2020
He served in the infantry, then became an officer, and later worked as an instructor when he returned from war.
Sir Tom enlisted into the eighth battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (8 DWR), an infantry unit that was converted to operate Churchill tanks as part of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC).
Ca
In 1940 he was selected for officer training and rose to the rank of captain, later being posted to 9 DWR in India. He served and fought in the Arakan in western Burma, since renamed Rakhine State, and went with his regiment to Sumatra after the Japanese surrender. After the war he returned to the UK and worked as an instructor at the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in Bovington, Dorset.
Captain Tom is older than the Queen and the NHS, too. He frequently ends his tweets with a hashtag – Tomorrow Will Be a Good Day.
He was appointed an honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College in Harrogate to mark his 100th birthday, approved by the Queen. He also received a special flyover to commemorate his achievements
Just received a rather special birthday card from Her Majesty The Queen @RoyalFamily pic.twitter.com/jqIxpVFBRH — Captain Tom Moore (@captaintommoore) April 30, 2020
Boris Johnson recommended to the Queen that Captain Tom be knighted. Royal investitures have been put on hold during the pandemic, with the Queen quarantined in Windsor Castle. This will be her first official duty since her quarantine. Captain Tom’s family will travel with him for the ceremony but the general public is advised to not travel to Windsor Castle. There will not be the usual public viewpoint available to watch the investiture. The Queen will use the sword that belonged to her father, George VI, and will present him with the insignia of Knight Bachelor.
The Queen is in the gin making business now so she could offer a toast to Captain Tom if she wanted to do so.
The Royal Collection Trust has launched a small-batch London dry gin for gin lovers and royal family aficionados to enjoy. The gin is available for purchase at any Royal Collection Trust shop and will also be served at all future official events at the palace. The gin is derived from 12 botanicals and infused with citrus and herbal notes. Many of the botanicals highlighted in the gin have been picked from the Buckingham palace garden. Lemon verbena, hawthorn berries, bay leaves and mulberry leaves are some of the specific botanicals picked directly from Buckingham Palace. The bottle is made of clear and turquoise glass with a gold stopper and also features a coronet and a ring of flowers entwined in an elaborate gold decorative circle.
So, there you go. There will be a well-earned knighthood bestowed on Captain Tom and the Queen has her own gin now.
I’ll end with this little nugget – actor and owner of Aviation Gin, Ryan Reynolds pranked the Queen and trolled Sir Paul McCartney about her gin.
Reynolds, who is proud owner of Aviation Gin, used the occasion to poke fun at Her Majesty while simultaneously trolling Paul McCartney. On Tuesday, the Deadpool star shared a fake receipt for a bottle of the monarch’s gin, which he jokingly sent to McCartney. “Pre-ordered,” the 43-year-old captioned the photo of the fake order confirmation. While at first glance the receipt looks pretty real, fans were quick to notice that several details of the order, which were clearly made up. For example, Reynolds listed the Beatles musician’s home address as “221b Baker Street, Downton Abbey Rd, 1D4 LYF.” As for his own address, he wrote, “1 Upmanship Dr., Notcoolington, WTF FML.” How clever.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCpJMzLJfvr/?utm_source=ig_embed


hotair--2020-07-15--Trump rises seven points in a week against Biden in new Rasmussen poll, but...

Last week it was Biden 50 , Trump 40 , a shocking result given Rasmussen ’ s usual Trump-friendly lean .
A week later it ’ s Biden 47 , Trump 44 .
Has the race begun to tighten already ?
It ’ s going to tighten eventually , once Biden is forced to finally drag himself out of the basement .
But my guess is that this is more a case of Rasmussen reverting to form than it is evidence of a hidden Trump surge , which would be hard to explain on the merits over the past week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race from standard Rasmussen polling .
Last week may simply have been an outlier for the company .
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds the likely Democratic presidential nominee earning 47 % support among Likely U.S .
Voters to Trump ’ s 44 % .
Five percent ( 5 % ) prefer some other candidate .
Four percent ( 4 % ) are undecided… The new survey finds Trump with 79 % of the Republican vote .
Biden has the support of 76 % of Democrats .
Among voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s Biden 44 % , Trump 38 % .
A week ago , Biden had a 12-point lead among independents .
Biden ’ s lead has been cut in half among indies in a week — and he ’ s suffering softer support within his own party than Trump is ?
Hard to square with pretty much any other poll out there .
That doesn ’ t mean Rasmussen ’ s wrong and everyone else is right , as they nailed the popular vote result in 2016 ( but missed badly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
But it ’ s hard to reconcile with , for instance , the RCP average of Trump ’ s job disapproval , which reached its highest point since December 2017 two days ago : Gaining seven points head-to-head during a week when you pass 56 percent disapproval would be an amazing political feat even by Trump standards .
There ’ s another reason to doubt the Rasmussen numbers .
Earlier this afternoon , Quinnipiac dropped the single worst national poll for POTUS of the entire campaign to date .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rasmussen ’ s is a poll of likely voters , but even so , there ’ s no way to square the two results .
Biden 52 , Trump 37 , says Quinnipiac : Independents are a key factor behind Biden ’ s widening lead as they now back him 51 – 34 percent , while in June , independents were split with 43 percent for Biden and 40 percent for Trump .
There is also some movement among Republicans as they back Trump 84 – 9 percent , compared to 92 – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Biden 91 – 5 percent , little changed from 93 – 4 percent in June… Voters now give Biden a slight lead over Trump in a direct match up when it comes to handling the economy .
Voters say 50 – 45 percent that Biden would do a better job handling the economy , a reversal from June when Trump held a slight lead 51 – 46 percent… Voters say 54 – 40 percent they support removing Confederate statues from public spaces around the country .
I wouldn ’ t get too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The sample here was 34D versus 24R , and although I ’ m not an “ unskewer ” by nature , it ’ s hard to take that seriously even at a moment when Trump and the GOP are struggling mightily .
( Four years ago on Election Day , it was 36D versus 33R . )
Still , the numbers here are so bad that Biden would still be up big with a more plausible sample .
Go top to bottom with the data and you ’ ll find that every single @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a result that ’ s best described as alarming , especially the shift towards Biden on the economy .
Either that ’ s an artifact of the dubious sample or the bottom is falling out for Trump , with a cave-in happening on everything from his economic rating to Confederate statues as swing voters lose confidence in him generally .
That ’ s a November bloodbath in the making .
I won ’ t go point by point through all of it but look at the numbers on the pandemic , which is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ignore the topline .
Just check out the splits within specific demographic groups .
He ’ s lost about 20 percent of his own party on his handling of the virus and he ’ s getting creamed among independents .
( When asked if they trust Fauci , the public splits 65/26 , with Republicans at 39/52 and indies at 67/25 . )
I don ’ t think much else needs to be said about the state of the race beyond that .
But here ’ s one more related data point : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ average Americans , independents split 34/64 ; asked if Biden does , they break 56/35 .
There ’ s more involved in those respective assessments than how each man has responded to the COVID crisis , but the crisis makes the empathy contrast between them unusually stark .
It ’ s probably helping Biden a lot on basic popularity measures .
He ’ s not viewed super-favorably ( just 39/46 among independents ) but the perception of empathy helps drain the acidity from some who dislike him , I suspect .
Which may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poll of its own as I was finishing up this post but I ’ m too tired to tackle it .
Here ’ s the topline .
Judge for yourself whether Rasmussen or Quinnipiac is more likely to be closer to the true state of the race .

Last week it was Biden 50, Trump 40, a shocking result given Rasmussen’s usual Trump-friendly lean. A week later it’s Biden 47, Trump 44.
Has the race begun to tighten already?
It’s going to tighten eventually, once Biden is forced to finally drag himself out of the basement. But my guess is that this is more a case of Rasmussen reverting to form than it is evidence of a hidden Trump surge, which would be hard to explain on the merits over the past week. We’d expect a close-ish race from standard Rasmussen polling. Last week may simply have been an outlier for the company.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds the likely Democratic presidential nominee earning 47% support among Likely U.S. Voters to Trump’s 44%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate. Four percent (4%) are undecided… The new survey finds Trump with 79% of the Republican vote. Biden has the support of 76% of Democrats. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, it’s Biden 44%, Trump 38%. A week ago, Biden had a 12-point lead among independents.
Biden’s lead has been cut in half among indies in a week — and he’s suffering softer support within his own party than Trump is? Hard to square with pretty much any other poll out there. That doesn’t mean Rasmussen’s wrong and everyone else is right, as they nailed the popular vote result in 2016 (but missed badly in the 2018 midterms, notes Mediaite). But it’s hard to reconcile with, for instance, the RCP average of Trump’s job disapproval, which reached its highest point since December 2017 two days ago:
Gaining seven points head-to-head during a week when you pass 56 percent disapproval would be an amazing political feat even by Trump standards.
There’s another reason to doubt the Rasmussen numbers. Earlier this afternoon, Quinnipiac dropped the single worst national poll for POTUS of the entire campaign to date. It’s a poll of registered voters whereas Rasmussen’s is a poll of likely voters, but even so, there’s no way to square the two results. Biden 52, Trump 37, says Quinnipiac:
Independents are a key factor behind Biden’s widening lead as they now back him 51 – 34 percent, while in June, independents were split with 43 percent for Biden and 40 percent for Trump. There is also some movement among Republicans as they back Trump 84 – 9 percent, compared to 92 – 7 percent in June. Democrats go to Biden 91 – 5 percent, little changed from 93 – 4 percent in June… Voters now give Biden a slight lead over Trump in a direct match up when it comes to handling the economy. Voters say 50 – 45 percent that Biden would do a better job handling the economy, a reversal from June when Trump held a slight lead 51 – 46 percent… Voters say 54 – 40 percent they support removing Confederate statues from public spaces around the country. Voters support 51 – 42 percent renaming military bases named after Confederate generals.
I wouldn’t get too hung up on the topline numbers. The sample here was 34D versus 24R, and although I’m not an “unskewer” by nature, it’s hard to take that seriously even at a moment when Trump and the GOP are struggling mightily. (Four years ago on Election Day, it was 36D versus 33R.) Still, the numbers here are so bad that Biden would still be up big with a more plausible sample. Go top to bottom with the data and you’ll find that every single question of the dozens Quinnipiac asked produced a result that’s best described as alarming, especially the shift towards Biden on the economy. Either that’s an artifact of the dubious sample or the bottom is falling out for Trump, with a cave-in happening on everything from his economic rating to Confederate statues as swing voters lose confidence in him generally. That’s a November bloodbath in the making.
I won’t go point by point through all of it but look at the numbers on the pandemic, which is the key to everything right now. Ignore the topline. Just check out the splits within specific demographic groups.
He’s lost about 20 percent of his own party on his handling of the virus and he’s getting creamed among independents. (When asked if they trust Fauci, the public splits 65/26, with Republicans at 39/52 and indies at 67/25.) I don’t think much else needs to be said about the state of the race beyond that. But here’s one more related data point: Empathy. Asked if Trump cares about average Americans, independents split 34/64; asked if Biden does, they break 56/35. There’s more involved in those respective assessments than how each man has responded to the COVID crisis, but the crisis makes the empathy contrast between them unusually stark. It’s probably helping Biden a lot on basic popularity measures. He’s not viewed super-favorably (just 39/46 among independents) but the perception of empathy helps drain the acidity from some who dislike him, I suspect. Which may be important.
NBC just dropped a poll of its own as I was finishing up this post but I’m too tired to tackle it. Here’s the topline. Judge for yourself whether Rasmussen or Quinnipiac is more likely to be closer to the true state of the race.


hotair--2020-07-15--The effort to cancel academic Steven Pinker isn't going well

A group of 620 academics signed an open letter to the Linguistic Society of America arguing that the group should distance itself from academic and author Steven Pinker .
The reasons ?
Most of the offenses listed are rather vague references to tweets from as far back as 2014 , but the gist of the letter is that Pinker isn ’ t sufficiently supportive of Black Lives Matter .
The letter claims the signatories don ’ t want to “ cancel ” Dr. Pinker but then immediately admits that , actually , many of the signatories may believe that : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have no desire to judge Dr. Pinker ’ s actions in moral terms , or claim to know what his aims are .
Nor do we seek to “ cancel ” Dr. Pinker , or to bar him from participating in the linguistics and LSA communities ( though many of our signatories may well believe that doing so would be the right course of action ) .
We do , however , believe that the examples introduced above establish that Dr. Pinker ’ s public actions constitute a pattern of downplaying the very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and , moreover , a pattern that is not above deceitfulness , misrepresentation , or the employment of dogwhistles .
The good news is that the LSA has already rejected this effort to punish Pinker saying , “ It is not the mission of the society to control the opinions of its members , nor their expression.
” Good for them .
Today the New York Times took a look at the controversy and , while the piece studiously avoids the phrase “ cancel culture , ” it was not very sympathetic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perhaps in part because one of the things Pinker is faulted for doing is tweeting a link to an article published by the NY Times : Reached at his home on Cape Cod , Professor Pinker , 65 , noted that as a tenured faculty member and established author , he could weather the campaign against him .
But he said it could chill junior faculty who hold views counter to prevailing intellectual currents… He described his critics as “ speech police ” who “ have trolled through my writings to find offensive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him focuses mainly on his activity on Twitter , where he has some 600,000 followers .
It points to his 2015 tweet of an article from The Upshot , the data and analysis-focused team at The New York Times , which suggested that the high number of police shootings of Black people may not have been caused by racial bias of individual police officers , but rather by the larger structural and economic realities that result in the police having disproportionately high numbers of encounters with Black residents… The linguists ’ letter noted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killings are a racial problem , and accused Professor Pinker of making “ dishonest claims in order to obfuscate the role of systemic racism in police violence.
” But the article also suggested that , because every encounter with the police carries danger of escalation , any racial group interacting with the police frequently risked becoming victims of police violence , due to poorly trained officers , armed suspects or overreaction .
That appeared to be the point of Professor Pinker ’ s tweet .
In short , the linguists who wrote the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make him look as bad as possible .
So who did write the letter ?
When the Times contacted various signatories of the letter , no one seemed willing to identify the author : The origin of the letter remains a mystery .
Of 10 signers contacted by The Times , only one hinted that she knew the identity of the authors .
Many of the linguists proved shy about talking , and since the letter first surfaced on Twitter on July 3 , several prominent linguists have said their names had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this comes directly from the cancel culture stylebook .
Dig up a few old tweets or statements , put them in the worst possible light .
Publicize them and demand the author be publicly scolded and shunned .
Academic John McWhorter , who is no fan of identity politics or cancel culture , told the Times , “ We ’ re in this moment that ’ s like a collective mic drop , and civility and common sense go out the window .
It ’ s enough to cry racism or sexism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He ’ s exactly right .
The unnamed authors of the open letter might as well have just called Pinker an enemy of the people .
That ’ s all the letter amounts to anyway .
Writing about the same controversy at City Journal , Aaron Brown said the open letter reminded him of his father ’ s brush with McCarthyism many decades ago : The 536 signatories to the Pinker letter are public .
I have little doubt that Pinker will survive this episode , and in any event he doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is for the letter ’ s authors .
Like my father ’ s witnesses , they will have to live with their words ; but unlike my father ’ s witnesses , the world will know them .
When respect for due process and rational discussion return to the public sphere , and this letter is universally seen as a resurrection of McCarthy ’ s tactics , the authors will be indelibly marked by it .
It could cause a schism in the field of linguistics , just as Hollywood was divided for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who had been blacklisted .
I wish I was as confident as Brown is that one day soon we ’ ll look back on left-wing cancel culture as another failed McCarthyism , but the unpleasant fact remains that in some places around the world the cultural revolutionaries win .
At the moment , they seem to be winning a lot of battles here even if Pinker isn ’ t one of them .
And because the cancel culture left lost this round , Pinker will cited as another example that cancel culture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s a dodge and a lie .
Like Dave Chappelle and J.K. Rowling , Pinker is too well known and liked to be brought down by this kind of attack .
But as I ’ ve argued before , that shouldn ’ t matter .
The will to cancel him is there .
The fact that the mob isn ’ t yet big enough to pull it off in this case shouldn ’ t be to their credit but to the credit of those of us who still dare to oppose @ @

A group of 620 academics signed an open letter to the Linguistic Society of America arguing that the group should distance itself from academic and author Steven Pinker. The reasons? Most of the offenses listed are rather vague references to tweets from as far back as 2014, but the gist of the letter is that Pinker isn’t sufficiently supportive of Black Lives Matter. The letter claims the signatories don’t want to “cancel” Dr. Pinker but then immediately admits that, actually, many of the signatories may believe that:
We want to note here that we have no desire to judge Dr. Pinker’s actions in moral terms, or claim to know what his aims are. Nor do we seek to “cancel” Dr. Pinker, or to bar him from participating in the linguistics and LSA communities (though many of our signatories may well believe that doing so would be the right course of action). We do, however, believe that the examples introduced above establish that Dr. Pinker’s public actions constitute a pattern of downplaying the very real violence of systemic racism and sexism, and, moreover, a pattern that is not above deceitfulness, misrepresentation, or the employment of dogwhistles.
The good news is that the LSA has already rejected this effort to punish Pinker saying, “It is not the mission of the society to control the opinions of its members, nor their expression.” Good for them.
Today the New York Times took a look at the controversy and, while the piece studiously avoids the phrase “cancel culture,” it was not very sympathetic to the signatories or their goals, perhaps in part because one of the things Pinker is faulted for doing is tweeting a link to an article published by the NY Times:
Reached at his home on Cape Cod, Professor Pinker, 65, noted that as a tenured faculty member and established author, he could weather the campaign against him. But he said it could chill junior faculty who hold views counter to prevailing intellectual currents… He described his critics as “speech police” who “have trolled through my writings to find offensive lines and adjectives.” The letter against him focuses mainly on his activity on Twitter, where he has some 600,000 followers. It points to his 2015 tweet of an article from The Upshot, the data and analysis-focused team at The New York Times, which suggested that the high number of police shootings of Black people may not have been caused by racial bias of individual police officers, but rather by the larger structural and economic realities that result in the police having disproportionately high numbers of encounters with Black residents… The linguists’ letter noted that the article made plain that police killings are a racial problem, and accused Professor Pinker of making “dishonest claims in order to obfuscate the role of systemic racism in police violence.” But the article also suggested that, because every encounter with the police carries danger of escalation, any racial group interacting with the police frequently risked becoming victims of police violence, due to poorly trained officers, armed suspects or overreaction. That appeared to be the point of Professor Pinker’s tweet.


hotair--2020-07-15--Hoo boy: Biden, Obama, various other big names hacked in Twitter bitcoin scam

As I write this at 5:50 ET , they ’ ve nicked a former president and current Democratic presidential nominee along with tech titans like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk , mega-billionaires like Bill Gates , Mike Bloomberg , and Warren Buffett , and the mega-famous like Kanye West .
Corporate accounts like Apple and Uber were hit too .
Mercifully , they haven ’ t gotten to you-know-who , Twitter ’ s most famous and passionate user .
Which is good , because the idea of hackers commandeering the White House ’ s semi-official messaging platform for an hour @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tank the stock market , if not start a war .
The ominous question raised by the hacks is : How ?
It ’ s hard to believe that all of these very rich and famous people had security on their accounts so lax that they could be accessed via a simple password hack , or with a technique as crude as spearfishing .
The fear is that hackers got in through the back end , via Twitter HQ , which is terrifying since — one would think — even Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way .
The fact that it hasn ’ t been implies that the White House and/or Twitter are doing something special to protect access to it .
Although part of me thinks we ’ re all so inured to Trump ’ s antics by now that a hacker could get in and post “ We have received a message from an alien ambassador orbiting Earth ” from his account and everyone would be like , “ What ’ s he watching on Fox & Friends now ?
” Twitter ’ s working on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calling on them to shut down the platform altogether until this is worked out for fear that the hackers might do more damaging mischief : “ I ’ m surprised Twitter hasn ’ t gone completely dark to prevent misinformation campaigns and political upheaval , ” the CEO of a cybersecurity firm told NBC .
“ We are lucky the attackers are going after bitcoin ( money motivated ) and not motivated by chaos and destruction.
” My favorite jokey theory about what happened is that only one A-lister was actually hacked before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bitcoin message voluntarily to show that they were important enough to hack too .
Here ’ s an early clue about what happened .
Are all of these accounts really being hacked individually ?
As of 6:15 ET , Twitter appears to have locked down all verified accounts temporarily , which is the next best thing to turning off the entire platform .
Stay tuned .

Not great.
It looks like @JoeBiden & @BarackObama Twitter accounts have been compromised in what appears to be an ongoing hack asking for Bitcoin donations. More on the lengthy list of people targeted today here: https://t.co/AfXfV0dvSQ pic.twitter.com/Vk47Iw7WW0 — Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaReports) July 15, 2020
As I write this at 5:50 ET, they’ve nicked a former president and current Democratic presidential nominee along with tech titans like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, mega-billionaires like Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, and Warren Buffett, and the mega-famous like Kanye West. Corporate accounts like Apple and Uber were hit too.
Mercifully, they haven’t gotten to you-know-who, Twitter’s most famous and passionate user. Which is good, because the idea of hackers commandeering the White House’s semi-official messaging platform for an hour or two would give them the ability to tank the stock market, if not start a war.
I mean with Trump there is literally nothing you could say that people would immediately disbelieve. You could start a war this way. Horrifying. https://t.co/UQUaY0wr1H — Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) July 15, 2020
The ominous question raised by the hacks is: How? It’s hard to believe that all of these very rich and famous people had security on their accounts so lax that they could be accessed via a simple password hack, or with a technique as crude as spearfishing. The fear is that hackers got in through the back end, via Twitter HQ, which is terrifying since — one would think — even Trump’s account might potentially be accessed that way. The fact that it hasn’t been implies that the White House and/or Twitter are doing something special to protect access to it.
Although part of me thinks we’re all so inured to Trump’s antics by now that a hacker could get in and post “We have received a message from an alien ambassador orbiting Earth” from his account and everyone would be like, “What’s he watching on Fox & Friends now?”
Twitter’s working on the problem, although some users are calling on them to shut down the platform altogether until this is worked out for fear that the hackers might do more damaging mischief:
We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020
“I’m surprised Twitter hasn’t gone completely dark to prevent misinformation campaigns and political upheaval,” the CEO of a cybersecurity firm told NBC. “We are lucky the attackers are going after bitcoin (money motivated) and not motivated by chaos and destruction.” My favorite jokey theory about what happened is that only one A-lister was actually hacked before other A-listers started secretly tweeting out the bitcoin message voluntarily to show that they were important enough to hack too.
Here’s an early clue about what happened. Are all of these accounts really being hacked individually?
Okay since I control @6's account, which got hit in this massive twitter account BTC scam I can give some insight, they're either intercepting SMS on password reset or they're bypassing it somehow. Got this Google Voice SMS code when the account was hacked which had OTP 2FA pic.twitter.com/yQflAUQL6x — Lucky225🍀 2⃣ 2⃣ 5⃣🍥 (@lucky225) July 15, 2020
As of 6:15 ET, Twitter appears to have locked down all verified accounts temporarily, which is the next best thing to turning off the entire platform. Stay tuned.


hotair--2020-07-15--Fauci hits back: This "bizarre" behavior in attacking me is only hurting the president

My new hot take about Fauci is that he ’ s made peace with the fact that our stupid country lacks the self-discipline to bring the virus under control and so he ’ s just hanging around at this point to make trouble for Trump .
It doesn ’ t matter what health advice he gives to the public .
Some critical mass of Americans will continue to take needless risks , perpetuating community spread at orders of magnitude beyond what Europe is experiencing , regardless of what he says .
Nearly 140,000 people are dead and we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into this .
The federal response has already failed beyond our worst nightmares .
It doesn ’ t matter what advice he gives to Trump either .
He doesn ’ t actually give advice to the president anymore , in fact ; reports lately have claimed that he hasn ’ t met with Trump in weeks .
Even if he did meet with him , it ’ s clear by now that the president ’ s going to do what he wants to do regardless of what his experts think .
Federal guidelines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , says POTUS — reopen ASAP .
Universal mask-wearing to try to limit transmissions ?
Nah , says Trump .
I ’ ll wear the mask when I visit Walter Reed but otherwise you ’ ll never catch me in one .
Staying on the job means Fauci will still get to help supervise the vaccine effort , which must be gratifying for him .
But other people can do that .
The data will either be there or it won ’ t once the clinical trials are done .
He doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And to the extent that he might have influence in convincing the many , many , many vaccine skeptics here in The Greatest Country In The World to actually get the shot once it ’ s available , he could do that just as easily as a private citizen than as the head of the NIAID .
They ’ ll still put him on TV .
If he needs a job , he could go work for Bill Gates instead .
No , I think he ’ s hanging around because probably his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watching his enemies inside the administration throw roundhouses at him and land them on the president instead .
Maybe there ’ s a strategic angle to that beyond the pure schadenfreude .
Maybe Fauci ’ s concluded that the only way to develop a more competent federal response to the crisis is with a change at the top in November .
If having the White House beat up on him plays as bad politically as it seems likely to , then offering himself as a target is probably the most useful thing he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Atlantic : You are the government ’ s top health adviser , and the government you ’ re trying to advise is actively trying to discredit you .
How do you work like that ?
Fauci : Well , that is a bit bizarre .
I sit here and just shrug my shoulders and say , “ Well , you know , that ’ s life in the fast lane.
” I think if you sit down and talk to the people who are involved in that list that came out , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken aback by what a big mistake that was .
I think if you talk to reasonable people in the White House , they realize that was a major mistake on their part , because it doesn ’ t do anything but reflect poorly on them .
And I don ’ t think that that was their intention .
I can not figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that .
I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do , because it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I can ’ t explain Peter Navarro .
He ’ s in a world by himself .
So I don ’ t even want to go there .
Asked if he ’ d confronted Mark Meadows about the bizarre White House effort to discredit him , which started with sources leaking a list of Fauci ’ s mistakes to reporters this weekend and continued with Navarro ’ s op-ed last night , he said yes : He ’ s right that it hurts Trump .
That continues to be the big mystery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the White House would seek to put distance between the president and one of the few people who works for him who enjoys meaningful influence over swing voters : Trump ’ s big pitch right now is that we need to reopen schools this fall .
That ’ s key to his election strategy : We need as many kids in class as possible so that as many parents as possible can get back to work and make this economy roar .
Well , Fauci largely agrees with him on that .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools since early June , in fact .
He ’ d be a perfect PR man for Trump to try to reassure a nervous public that it ’ s safe to send kids back to school , at least in communities where the spread is low .
Why Trump hasn ’ t put him to work in that role is another mystery .
Possibly he disagrees with Fauci ’ s community-based approach , since that would require keeping schools closed in hot spots for safety reasons and the president simply doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to work .
( Reopening schools rashly in hard-hit states , only to seed an outbreak that will force them shut again , is completely self-sabotaging . )
Or maybe Trump ’ s at the stage of his presidency where he intends to be his own messenger on everything , including best practices on handling a pandemic .
Either way , his decision to take the lead on reopening schools has had the predictable effect on public opinion : Note the numbers among independents .
On the more basic question of whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ summer , the public splits 39/51 ( among parents it ’ s 45/51 ) , with just 20 percent endorsing the idea of a full reopening in which kids attend class five days a week .
Asked whether they trust Democrats in Congress or Trump more on when to reopen schools , the split is 50/32 .
You know who could have helped ?
So why attack Fauci ?
Either the White House doesn ’ t care about basic politics anymore and has taken to simply lashing out at its enemies at whatever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ themselves that the Republican base is large enough to singlehandedly deliver a second victory to POTUS this fall .
Not all Republicans dislike Fauci — 46 percent of GOPers said they trust him to make good decisions on reopening schools in that last graph — but MAGA Nation does .
Maybe the White House is once again going all-in on pandering to people whose votes are already completely assured in November .
One former White House official was deeply critical of Navarro ’ s decision to speak out against Fauci in the op-ed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respect for the chain of command ” and as “ one of the worst leakers in the administration.
” The person also said Navarro believes “ he is always the smartest person in the room even on issues far removed from his expertise such as medicine and infectious disease.
” “ This is the sort of thing that would get you fired in any other White House .
And the White House and people in the president ’ s orbit should be training their fire on one thing and one thing only : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” the former official said .
That ’ s one very basic sensible reaction to the attacks on Fauci .
Every minute wasted fragging your own guys is a minute not spent attacking Biden .
But here ’ s another : If the pandemic is the gravest threat to Trump ’ s presidency , the most elementary thing he can do to improve his electoral chances is not gratuitously pit himself against a public figure whom voters trust uniquely to handle that issue .
I think the president understands that on some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t taken any hard shots at Fauci himself , but it ’ s impossible to believe that Navarro , Scavino , and the other leakers circulating oppo on Fauci are acting completely autonomously and against Trump ’ s will .
If he were sincerely annoyed at this , there ’ d be consequences for them .
If there aren ’ t any , draw your own conclusions .

My new hot take about Fauci is that he’s made peace with the fact that our stupid country lacks the self-discipline to bring the virus under control and so he’s just hanging around at this point to make trouble for Trump. It doesn’t matter what health advice he gives to the public. Some critical mass of Americans will continue to take needless risks, perpetuating community spread at orders of magnitude beyond what Europe is experiencing, regardless of what he says. Nearly 140,000 people are dead and we’re still managing a major outbreak four months into this. The federal response has already failed beyond our worst nightmares.
It doesn’t matter what advice he gives to Trump either. He doesn’t actually give advice to the president anymore, in fact; reports lately have claimed that he hasn’t met with Trump in weeks. Even if he did meet with him, it’s clear by now that the president’s going to do what he wants to do regardless of what his experts think. Federal guidelines on how to reopen safely? Screw that, says POTUS — reopen ASAP. Universal mask-wearing to try to limit transmissions? Nah, says Trump. I’ll wear the mask when I visit Walter Reed but otherwise you’ll never catch me in one.
Staying on the job means Fauci will still get to help supervise the vaccine effort, which must be gratifying for him. But other people can do that. The data will either be there or it won’t once the clinical trials are done. He doesn’t need to rubber-stamp it. And to the extent that he might have influence in convincing the many, many, many vaccine skeptics here in The Greatest Country In The World to actually get the shot once it’s available, he could do that just as easily as a private citizen than as the head of the NIAID. They’ll still put him on TV. If he needs a job, he could go work for Bill Gates instead.
No, I think he’s hanging around because probably his only pleasure in life right now is watching his enemies inside the administration throw roundhouses at him and land them on the president instead. Maybe there’s a strategic angle to that beyond the pure schadenfreude. Maybe Fauci’s concluded that the only way to develop a more competent federal response to the crisis is with a change at the top in November. If having the White House beat up on him plays as bad politically as it seems likely to, then offering himself as a target is probably the most useful thing he can do to serve his cause.
The Atlantic: You are the government’s top health adviser, and the government you’re trying to advise is actively trying to discredit you. How do you work like that? Fauci: Well, that is a bit bizarre. I sit here and just shrug my shoulders and say, “Well, you know, that’s life in the fast lane.” I think if you sit down and talk to the people who are involved in that list that came out, they are really, I think, taken aback by what a big mistake that was. I think if you talk to reasonable people in the White House, they realize that was a major mistake on their part, because it doesn’t do anything but reflect poorly on them. And I don’t think that that was their intention. I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that. I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it’s only reflecting negatively on them. I can’t explain Peter Navarro. He’s in a world by himself. So I don’t even want to go there.
Asked if he’d confronted Mark Meadows about the bizarre White House effort to discredit him, which started with sources leaking a list of Fauci’s mistakes to reporters this weekend and continued with Navarro’s op-ed last night, he said yes:
Fauci: I said that that was not particularly a good thing to do. Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that. When the staff lets out something like that and the entire scientific and press community push back on it, it ultimately hurts the president. And I don’t really want to hurt the president. But that’s what’s happening. I told him I thought it was a big mistake. That doesn’t serve any good purpose for what we’re trying to do.
He’s right that it hurts Trump. That continues to be the big mystery at the heart of this, why the White House would seek to put distance between the president and one of the few people who works for him who enjoys meaningful influence over swing voters:
Trump’s big pitch right now is that we need to reopen schools this fall. That’s key to his election strategy: We need as many kids in class as possible so that as many parents as possible can get back to work and make this economy roar. Well, Fauci largely agrees with him on that. He’s been nudging governors about reopening schools since early June, in fact. He’d be a perfect PR man for Trump to try to reassure a nervous public that it’s safe to send kids back to school, at least in communities where the spread is low. Why Trump hasn’t put him to work in that role is another mystery. Possibly he disagrees with Fauci’s community-based approach, since that would require keeping schools closed in hot spots for safety reasons and the president simply doesn’t care about that relative to getting people back to work. (Reopening schools rashly in hard-hit states, only to seed an outbreak that will force them shut again, is completely self-sabotaging.) Or maybe Trump’s at the stage of his presidency where he intends to be his own messenger on everything, including best practices on handling a pandemic.
Either way, his decision to take the lead on reopening schools has had the predictable effect on public opinion:
Note the numbers among independents. On the more basic question of whether schools should reopen at the end of summer, the public splits 39/51 (among parents it’s 45/51), with just 20 percent endorsing the idea of a full reopening in which kids attend class five days a week. Asked whether they trust Democrats in Congress or Trump more on when to reopen schools, the split is 50/32.
You know who could have helped?
So why attack Fauci? Either the White House doesn’t care about basic politics anymore and has taken to simply lashing out at its enemies at whatever political cost or they’ve convinced themselves that the Republican base is large enough to singlehandedly deliver a second victory to POTUS this fall. Not all Republicans dislike Fauci — 46 percent of GOPers said they trust him to make good decisions on reopening schools in that last graph — but MAGA Nation does. Maybe the White House is once again going all-in on pandering to people whose votes are already completely assured in November.
As for Navarro:
One former White House official was deeply critical of Navarro’s decision to speak out against Fauci in the op-ed, describing him as having “no respect for the chain of command” and as “one of the worst leakers in the administration.” The person also said Navarro believes “he is always the smartest person in the room even on issues far removed from his expertise such as medicine and infectious disease.” “This is the sort of thing that would get you fired in any other White House. And the White House and people in the president’s orbit should be training their fire on one thing and one thing only: Joe Biden. It’s asinine,” the former official said.
That’s one very basic sensible reaction to the attacks on Fauci. Every minute wasted fragging your own guys is a minute not spent attacking Biden. But here’s another: If the pandemic is the gravest threat to Trump’s presidency, the most elementary thing he can do to improve his electoral chances is not gratuitously pit himself against a public figure whom voters trust uniquely to handle that issue. I think the president understands that on some level, which is why he hasn’t taken any hard shots at Fauci himself, but it’s impossible to believe that Navarro, Scavino, and the other leakers circulating oppo on Fauci are acting completely autonomously and against Trump’s will. If he were sincerely annoyed at this, there’d be consequences for them. If there aren’t any, draw your own conclusions.