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Ruth King

David Mamet Is a Defiant Scribe in the Age of Conformity The playwright won’t play along with woke signaling, talismanic masking or deference to petty tyrants. Barton Swaim

https://www.wsj.com/articles/david-mamet-book-recessional-free-speech-covid-mask-vaccine-mandates-lockdown-transgender-lgbtqia-sogie-woke-crt-critical-race-theory-blm-hollywood-theater-11649424996?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

“Woke signaling, blind compliance with public-health authoritarianism, deference to theater critics and tyrannical city officials—Mr. Mamet doesn’t play along.”

Back in the 1980s and ’90s, innumerable films, TV documentaries and history textbooks instructed us that the 1950s were years of conformity and conventionalism: “The Donna Reed Show,” McCarthyism, “The Organization Man,” TV dinners. In fact, the ’50s were a time of extraordinary artistic creativity, boundless technological innovation, original thinking in politics, intellectual diversity in journalism and higher education, new energy in religion, and enormous progress in race relations. What the ’80s and ’90s mistook for conformity was a naturally evolved cultural solidarity—something nearly everybody, on the left and the right, longs for now.

An informed observer of present-day America might reasonably conclude that our own decade—at least among the educated and advantaged classes—is far more imbued with the spirit of conformism than the ’50s were. Corporate managers and military leaders parrot nostrums about diversity, inclusion and sustainability that few of them believe. Museums and orchestras studiously avoid programming that might offend ideologues. Reporters and producers in the mainstream press seize on stories—or ignore them—solely because that’s what everybody else in the press is doing. Large majorities in wealthy cities dutifully comply with public-health restrictions they know to be largely ineffective, mainly because refusing to do so would invite the ire of friends and neighbors complying with those restrictions for the same reason.

Maybe America’s deciders and describers (to use Nicholas Eberstadt’s phrase) aren’t the independent-minded lot they think themselves to be.

Barack Obama Rewrites His Russia History His claim that he was tough on Putin is contradicted by his eight-year record.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/barack-obama-rewrites-his-russia-history-vladimir-putin-ukraine-11649450309?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine has sparked an Olympic sprint of sorts as politicians run away from their abysmal records regarding Vladimir Putin. Few are running faster than former President Barack Obama, who this week tried to rewrite the history of his own Russia policies.

“As somebody who grappled with the incursion into Crimea and the eastern portions of Ukraine, I have been encouraged by the European reaction [this time],” Mr. Obama said at an event in Chicago. “Because in 2014, I often had to drag them kicking and screaming to respond in ways that we would have wanted to see from those of us who describe ourselves as Western democracies.”

As for Mr. Putin, the former U.S. President purports to be surprised by the Russian leader’s brutality. “I don’t know that the person I knew is the same as the person who is now leading this charge. He was always ruthless. You witnessed what he did in Chechnya, he had no qualms about crushing those whom he considered a threat. That’s not new. For him to bet the farm in this way—I would not have necessarily predicted from him five years ago.”

Mr. Obama managed to say all this with a straight face while speaking at an event about “disinformation” in politics.

The Media Are Silent Over One Particular Story Relating to Kamala Harris Matt Vespa

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2022/04/08/the-media-is-silent-over-one-particular-story-relating-to-kamala-harris-n2605643

When you can’t say anything good, you might as well not say anything at all, right? Vice President Kamala Harris is a trainwreck. She’s been a nightmare on television. She’s failed at every task handed down to her by Joe Biden. She’s a master chef when it comes to word salad. Regarding Ukraine, her analysis could have been drafted by a first grader. She botched the talking points on the sanctions against Russia. It all ties into the many, many stories about how she doesn’t do the work. She often ignores the briefs her staff prepare for her in a futile attempt to not make her look like an idiot. 

We all know she creates a toxic work environment. We all know she bleeds staff. All her top people have left, and the media is doing their part in not letting everyone know that by completely ignoring the story. Scott Whitlock at Newsbusters noted the media’s silence about the virtual disintegration of Harris’ office (via Newsbusters):

Well, that makes an even dozen. Not that you would know it, but Kamala Harris has lost her 12th major staffer since last June. As each one departed, the network newscasts avoided saying any of their names, saving the Vice President from embarrassment.

Democrats Are Getting Called Out for Creating the Energy Crisis Katie Pavlich

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2022/04/06/democrat-gets-called-out-for-voting-to-end-fracking-n2605554

For weeks the Biden administration and their Democratic allies on Capitol Hill have attempted to pin out of control energy prices on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The White House communications team even dubbed price increases on oil and gas the “Putin price hike,” while also downplaying the amount of oil the U.S. previously imported from Russia. 

But as Democrats — who have been waging a war on the oil and gas industry — continue to blame Putin, Americans and some in the media aren’t buying it. In fact, the anti-fracking records of congressional climate activists are being scrutinized. 

During an interview with CNBC Wednesday morning, Democrat Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky doubled down on the need to ban fracking — which she voted for — and falsely claimed oil companies are price gouging customers. 

Reuters Whitewashes Terrorism — Again How they Report Terrorism in Israel

Those incorrigible Israelis and Palestinian are at it again — “cycle of violence” and all that. Those who did not read past the headline may never find out that the dead Palestinian, one of two, had walked down Dizengoff Street, the city’s most crowded commercial district, indiscriminately shooting people. Two Israelis were murdered, and many others are in serious condition. The attack in Tel Aviv is part of string of deadly attacks, perhaps the beginning of a third Intifada, that includes the recent murder of five people in nearby Bnei Brak.

Reuters has a long history of anti-Israel activism. I can remember writing about an incident more than a decade ago in which a Palestinian terrorist planted a bomb near a bus stop in Jerusalem — or, as Reuters might say, the “Jewish district of Jerusalem.” The explosion killed a British woman and injured 30 others. The piece explained: “Police described the explosion as a ‘terrorist attack’ — Israel’s term for a Palestinian strike.”

On the bright side, at least Reuters, unlike our Secretary of State Antony Blinken — who has no problem decrying so-called “settler violence” — can identify the nationality of the attackers. Which seems noteworthy considering that the families of both dead terrorists are likely to be paid bounties by the Palestinian National Authority, which is, in turn, generously funded by U.S. taxpayers.

DEMOCRATS ARE TERRIBLE INVESTORS OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/04/08/democrats-are-terrible-investors-of-your-tax-dollars-report/

Democrats love to say that when they forcibly extract taxpayers’ money and spend it on their pet projects that they are actually making “investments.” Yet Democrats, it turns out, are terrible investors. That’s what a report from WalletHub shows, in any case. Everyone should keep this in mind as they struggle to file their taxes this month.

When California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his new budget plan, he bragged about how the $213 billion spending plan would “make history investments in California’s future.” This type of language is now typical of how the left talks about government spending – because “investment” sounds a lot better than “wasteful, duplicative, fraud-riddled government program.”

The problem is that no one is held to account for the lousy “returns” on their “investments.” If they were, they’d be fired immediately.

California’s investing acumen, for example, has resulted in a “bullet” train that will likely never be finished, a massive homeless population, rising crime, and fleeing residents. So why are taxpayers in the state willing to hand still more of their hard-earned money over to these people?

WalletHub took it upon itself to determine the “return on investment” on taxpayer money each of the 50 states. The result: States controlled by Democrats do worse on this score than those controlled by Republicans.

Not a ‘Kitchen Table Issue,’ Jen Psaki? Actually, Our Kids Are All We’re Thinking About Abigail Shrier

https://abigailshrier.substack.com/p/not-a-kitchen-table-issue-jen-psaki?s=r

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki accused Republican lawmakers of “engaging in a disturbing, cynical trend of attacking vulnerable transgender kids,” and exploiting them. “Instead of focusing on critical kitchen table issues like the economy, COVID, or addressing the country’s mental health crisis,” she said, “Republican lawmakers are currently debating legislation that, among many things, would target transgender youth with tactics that threaten to put pediatricians in prison if they provide medically necessary, life-saving care for the kids they serve.”

Life-saving care? Surely she must mean insulin or antibiotics?

No, she means “gender affirming care” that devilish euphemism for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and experimental surgeries whose benefits are unproven, but whose risks—permanent sexual dysfunction, infertility, cardiac event and endometrial cancer are a few—ought to nudge any doctor toward soul searching. As I’ve written many times, these treatments are often recklessly administered, of questionable benefit to children, and attended by forbidding risks.

For these reasons, in the last two years, national gender clinics in France, the UK, Sweden and Finland have all reevaluated or curtailed their use. But as Psaki made clear, any legislator who tries to follow suit will face double-barreled legal opposition from the current Administration.

Leftist Judge Kills Election Integrity Laws Jeremiah Wright-wannabe likened Trump to Hitler. Matthew Vadum

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/04/leftist-judge-kills-election-integrity-laws-matthew-vadum/

A radical Arkansas judge in the mold of Jeremiah Wright struck down four new common-sense election integrity laws approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature, declaring the statutes unconstitutional last month. The state is appealing the ruling.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen is, like Wright, also a critical race theory-friendly, black nationalist, African dashiki-wearing preacher. He is also a diversity consultant, profiting from race-mongering and dividing people. He founded his firm Griffen Strategic Consulting PLLC, in Little Rock in 2008.

Griffen is controversial in his home state, known for his strident left-wing activism. He delights in sticking his thumb in the eyes of Republican state lawmakers — they have tried to impeach and remove him as a judge. Griffen was barred from hearing cases on a death penalty track after he went to a protest outside the governor’s mansion in 2017 strapped down to a gurney, as if he were a condemned man about to be executed by lethal injection. The protest took place the same day as Griffen issued an order blocking the state’s execution schedule.

Griffen bitterly denounced then-President-elect Donald Trump days after his election in November 2016, spewing paranoid leftist conspiracy theories and racist, white-hating nonsense.

Suppressing Pro-Israel Views at the University of Chicago The University’s newspaper removes an op-ed challenging a noxious boycott request by anti-Israel radicals.Richard L. Cravatts

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/04/suppressing-pro-israel-views-university-chicago-richard-l-cravatts/

The suppression of pro-Israel views on campus has been a troubling development in the ongoing cognitive war against Israel. Now, the silencing of pro-Israel voices even appears in college newspapers. The McGill Daily, as one troubling example, has a long-standing, publicly announced policy of never publishing pro-Israel content in its pages, deeming it to be racist or oppressive in its support of the Jewish state. 

This week, the University of Chicago’s student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon, followed that same ignoble path by violating journalistic and free speech ideals in retracting an op-ed written by two students, “We Must Condemn the SJP’s Online Anti-Semitism,” who questioned the tactics and ideology of members of the University’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine(SJP), a perennially toxic and corrosive anti-Israel group of radicals. 

On January 26th, as the op-ed by Melody Dias and Benjamin ZeBrack noted, SJP had posted on its Instagram page the shocking admonition, “DON’T TAKE SH*TTY ZIONIST CLASSES.” Students were asked to “Support the Palestinian movement for liberation by boycotting classes on Israel or those taught by Israeli fellows.” According to the SJP post, any students who enrolled in these classes would be “participating in a propaganda campaign that creates complicity in the continuation of Israel’s occupation of Palestine” and that, in its view, “Israeli-centered classes are designed to obscure Palestinian perspectives.”

Terror in Tel Aviv – 2 dead, several critically wounded; terrorist on the loose

Several people were injured, some critically, in a shooting attack on a crowded street. Two died in hospital.

By World Israel News Staff

Several victims were wounded, some critically, in a shooting spree in Tel Aviv Thursday evening.

“Unfortunately, the deaths of two were determined upon their arrival here. Four more are in very serious condition, two more are in moderate condition, and one in light condition,” Ichilov hospital said in a statement.

At about 9 p.m., gunfire erupted on the lively Dizengoff Street.

In an update later in the evening, MDA medics and paramedics said they provided medical treatment and evacuated nine wounded to the Ichilov Hospital, Sheba in Tel Hashomer, and Wolfson.

“Two men in their 30s were evacuated to Ichilov Hospital during resuscitation operations, and after the doctors’ efforts, their deaths were determined,” the update said.

“Three were seriously injured, including a 38-year-old man, a 28-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were evacuated to Ichilov Hospital with gunshot wounds.

“Four lightly wounded were evacuated to hospitals, including a 30-year-old man with a gunshot wound to Sheba.”

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Akiva Kauffman, who was one of the first responders at the scene at Dizengoff Street, reported, “There were a number of very serious scenes in which attacks took place. I treated and transported one person who was in serious condition in one of United Hatzalah’s ambulances to the hospital. Additional injured people were transported in other ambulances both from United Hatzalah and other ambulance companies.

”Additionally, the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit responded to the incident and treated numerous people who suffered emotional shock and trauma due to having witnessed the shootings.”

Beyond the police counter-terrorism units, the IDF has deployed its Special Forces in the heart of Tel Aviv.

Police are telling residents to stay indoors, as the terrorist is still on the loose. A manhunt is underway.