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Friday, January 28, 2022

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Russian Diplomats Told to Leave U.S.

As tension mounts over Ukraine (NY Post). From another story: This afternoon a CNN national security correspondent claimed on Twitter that a fellow CNN correspondent had been given an account of President Biden’s recent conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to an unnamed source, Biden had said a Russian invasion was virtually certain and that Kyiv could be ‘sacked.”… But the official White House account of the call was very different and the White House specifically pushed back on the CNN report (Hot Air). From Peggy Noonan: the stakes feel high, but there seems a paucity of new thinking. I find myself impatient with confidently expressed declarations that we have no interest in a faraway border dispute, that Russia and Ukraine have a long and complicated history, and in any case the story of man is a tale of organized brutality, so get a grip. That’s not . . . right. A major land war in Europe? The first since World War II? We have no interest in what might be the beginning of a new era of brute-force violations of sovereignty? One involving our allies, with which we have treaties? (WSJ).

Strassel: Supreme Court Nomination Will Not Save Democrats

From the story: No doubt the Biden base is eager for a political win after the demoralizing defeats of their multitrillion-dollar spending bill and voting takeover. And no doubt Mr. Biden will get credit among progressives for fulfilling his campaign pledge and making his “historic” mark on the court. Yet this nomination lacks the drama that animated other Supreme Court fights of recent years. Mr. Biden’s pick will make no difference to the ideological makeup of the court. He’s replacing one liberal with one liberal, while six conservative justices rule on. The nominee is also unlikely to be a surprise—or to produce surprises. Mr. Biden’s short list is necessarily very short, and one of the candidates (Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia) weathered Senate confirmation only last year (WSJ). From Marc Thiessen: For Democrats consumed with identity politics, the silver lining is Biden’s pledge to appoint a Black woman to replace Breyer. Biden has dispensed with the standard of nominating the best-qualified person, and effectively embraced affirmative action. As George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley has pointed out, in so doing, Biden has set race and gender conditions for his appointment that the Supreme Court has declared are strictly unconstitutional for admission to public colleges. Ironically, Biden’s appointee will likely hear a case next term deciding whether race-based admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are lawful (Washington Post). From Abigail Shrier: While millions of black women have character, intelligence, and integrity, there are only approximately *4 judges* that have anything close to the experience necessary to be a SCOTUS judge. That’s a tiny pool for Biden to restrict his search to (Twitter). From Dr. Albert Mohler: I think future generations and observers of the court will look back and see that Stephen Breyer was one of the last of his kind, one of the last liberal, with a capital “L,” democratically-appointed justices of the United States Supreme Court. Why do I say that? It is because I think we can fully expect now that far radical and even more activists, even more progressivist judges are likely to be appointed by Democratic presidents. I’m not saying that just as a matter of inference. I’m saying that because they basically have told us so and their base makes it necessarily so (Briefing).

Biden Trumpets “Fasted Economic Growth Since 1984”

And he posted a 9 second clip bragging about the feat (Twitter). From the Wall Street Journal: …by far the biggest contributor to GDP (4.9 percentage points) was a buildup of inventories. This means retailers and other businesses were restocking empty shelves, not making sales. There’s probably more inventory buildup to come due to shortages across the economy, but the fourth-quarter increase is unsustainable. Consumer spending contributed 2.25 percentage points, but much of that came from spending down accumulated savings from all that government largesse. The personal saving rate fell to 7.4% from 9.5% in the third quarter. Real disposable income, after inflation, fell 5.8% in the fourth quarter after falling 4.3% in the third. The consumer sugar high from government transfer payments is wearing off as 2022 begins (WSJ). From Hugh Hewitt: “The economy grew at the fastest pace since 1984 last year, but voters are downright pessimistic about economic conditions and their own financial prospects.” @nytimes B/c inflation is growing faster than income after taxes. Doh (Twitter).

Poll: Republicans Lead Democrats in 13 Key States

The poll covered Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin and found Republicans with a 6-point lead. One big shock, Democrats have lost their once substantial lead when it comes to who can best handle education (Washington Times). The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added seven names to their already large number of Democrats in trouble come November (Hot Air). Democrats are preparing to delegitimize the elections after they lose (Washington Examiner).

Gallup: Biden Slips Further in Key Character Traits

Every key trait, from likable to honest, dropped at least 6 points. His two lowest: “Can manage the government effectively” is at 38 percent and “Is a strong and decisive leader” is down to 37.

Gallup

Male UPenn Swimmer Regularly Exposes Himself in Women’s Locker Room

In a normal world, that’s a crime. But when you are a man who says he’s a woman, it’s protected by the mob. The female swimmers are complaining of being “uncomfortable in our own locker room.” And it’s no secret the male swimmer is attracted to women, and here he is sharing a locker room (Daily Mail). From Katie Pavlich: How is this not a complete violation of women’s rights? Men who pee in public are put on sex offender lists and yet female athletes are being subjected to male genitals in their own locker room. It is outrageous and completely unacceptable (Twitter).

Small Town Police Chief Resigns After Report Finds Half of Budget Covered by Traffic Tickets

Many have suspected other towns of similar efforts.

Newsweek

Biden Poll Numbers Take Harsh Dive in State of Georgia

His job approval in the state is down to 34 percent. More than half say they “strongly disapprove.” Which helps explain why gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams avoided Biden while he was in the state recently. Also from the story: In May, only about 8% of Black voters disapproved of Biden’s performance. That number had more than quadrupled in the AJC’s latest poll, which found disapproval among Black Georgians at 36%. That’s a distressing sign for Democrats, whose struggles go beyond Biden (AJC). From the Wall Street Journal: If Mr. Biden’s demagoguery about “Jim Crow 2.0” didn’t take hold, that’s probably because it flies in the face of what Georgians have experienced. The chart nearby shows the state’s voter turnout by race/ethnicity since 2006, according to Census Bureau data. Can you spot the voter suppression? We see something else (WSJ).

Chicago Public Schools Declare Sex a Social Construct

A mandated teacher training program also threatens to punish faculty if they don’t use a student’s preferred pronoun, which they are to hide from parents.

Fox News

10.

Atlanta Neighborhood Seeks to Secede from City

20 percent of Atlanta is in Buckhead, a wealthy area tired of the unchecked crime from the rest of Atlanta.

ABC News