RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://amgreatness.com/2022/09/21/marthas-meltdown-model/

Martha’s Vineyard has been all over the news. 

The tony resort community so loves aiding and comforting the undocumented immigrants who were flown in from Florida that it hugged them—for barely 48 hours. 

Oddly, the Left became unhinged when red-state governors—whose states the last two years were flooded with some 3 million illegal aliens—finally decided to spread welcoming chores among affluent blue-state communities. 

It was a natural fit. 

Most, like Washington, D.C., and New York, were on record as sanctuary city jurisdictions. In the abstract, they endorse open borders and celebrate diversity—from the serenity of thousands of miles away. 

The uproar at Martha’s Vineyard prompted the Democratic hierarchy to do some explaining. Why had it not earlier objected to the federal government night flights of tens of thousands of border crossers to red-state communities that had opposed illegal immigration? 

And why be angry with governors who were only emulating that policy by flying in a mere 50 newcomers—in the light of day—to a far wealthier and liberal-minded sanctuary resort?

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/09/22/the-medias-desantis-is-worse-than-trump-campaign-begins/

When New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote a love letter of sorts to Donald Trump and his “soft edges and eccentricity,” it didn’t take long for people to see this for what it is: an opening salvo by the press to start demonizing the next Republican.

In his column, Bouie coos about how Trump is “funny, he has stage presence, and he has a kind of natural charisma. He can be a bully in part because he can temper his cruelty and egoism with the performance of a clown or a showman. He can persuade an audience that he’s just kidding — that he doesn’t actually mean it.”

Anyone not blinded by Trump hatred would probably agree with this description. But it is Bouie who doesn’t actually mean what he’s saying.

Bouie is a guy who, when Trump first ran for president, declared definitively that “Trump is a fascist,” and that this was “the political label that best describes what the GOP front-runner has become.” Then he spent four years recoiling at the horror of the Trump presidency.

Bouie’s new-found love of Trump has nothing to do with a change of heart and everything to do with portraying the other leading presidential contender — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — as far worse than Trump.

And the only reason to do so now is because of the fact that DeSantis’ recent actions have raised his profile nationally and increasingly endeared him to conservatives.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/3-ways-biden-makes-inflation-worse

The recent rail worker settlement reminds us that Joe Biden, far from fighting inflation, is actually enabling price increases, in three important ways. 

First, he will not stop spending. After crowing about the dubious deficit cuts contained in his Inflation Reduction Act, the president decided to cancel student debt to the tune of as much as another trillion dollars.  

According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, in less than two years Biden has added $4.8 trillion to our long-term debt. That tsunami of government (taxpayer) spending is spurring the highest inflation in 40 years, crushing the well-being of average Americans.

Second, all the benefits being provided by an unpopular president hoping to buy higher approval ratings, like a 21% increase in food stamp outlays and canceling of student debts, are combining to keep people from having to go back to work. 

The single worst impact of the federal gusher of spending has been sidelining workers, driving up the cost of labor. The Atlanta Fed reported that wages rose 6.7% in August, a multi-decade high. The wage-price spiral is now a reality; the rail agreement, which sets a new bar for labor negotiations, just made it worse. 

https://thefederalist.com/2022/09/20/the-day-democrats-felt-personally-attacked-by-having-to-care-for-illegal-immigrants/

Probably the most fascinating part of the “illegal immigrants visit Martha’s Vineyard” saga from last week is how readily white Democrats revealed themselves as viscerally averse to coming in contact with poor brown people. They are in fact deeply put out by the very idea.

A video clip of documentary-maker Ken Burns went semi-viral Thursday showing Burns on CNN expressing that exact sentiment.

“This is coming straight out of the authoritarian playbook,” he said, referring to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis having sent about 50 illegal border-crossers to the pristine town of Martha’s Vineyard. “This is what’s so disturbing about DeSantis … to weaponize human beings for a political purpose. It’s like when somebody disagrees with him in Florida … he punishes them.”

Burns reemphasized that point, saying, “This is about punishing political enemies.”

It’s a shocking admission considering that up until then, leftists had proudly worn their bleeding hearts on their sleeves, typically accompanied by those obnoxious “In this house, we believe…” yard signs.

What changed? Nothing in terms of the actual problem. There are still hundreds of thousands of migrants dumping themselves into the care of American taxpayers every month. Over the past year, there have been upwards of 2 million aliens arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Other than July, every month of 2022 has seen tens of thousands more migrants than last year.

This is the case even though Kamala Harris — yes, the Kamala Harris — told migrants venturing to the U.S., “Don’t come.”

Well, they came. And despite pleas from Democrats in southern border districts pleading for the Biden administration to do something to stop or even just slow the chaos, leftists everywhere else told them to shut up and show some compassion. After all, Latin America’s destitute were only coming here for a better life. Is it too much to ask that the taxpayers of Texas, Arizona, and Florida provide that for them?

Of course not! But remember: We’re all in this together!

There’s no reason places like Martha’s Vineyard — described by CNN as “a summer playground for former US presidents, celebrities and billionaires” — can’t share the burden. It was only 50 migrants.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-moral-case-for-ron-desantis-migrant-transports/

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Wednesday, September 14, facilitated two flights of approximately 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. This is part of DeSantis’ push to draw attention to the border policies of President Biden.

The commentariat from several sides of the political spectrum have questioned the governor’s motives. Many described it as inhumane and cruel – a form of human trafficking, even.

The moral opprobrium visited upon the governor is fatuous. There is a moral upshot to his actions that few, in their sentimental reaction to the plight of displaced peoples, will bear witness to.

And it is this: the plight in Venezuela is not accidental. It was deliberate, planned and orchestrated by the people of Venezuela. As several economists and political theorists including James Piereson have pointed out, for the majority of the twentieth century Venezuela was one of the most prosperous South American countries. It had a very diversified economy replete with plenty oil reserves that permitted the country to acquire export surpluses. As a result, people there enjoyed a higher standard of living. However, the people of Venezuela elected an authoritarian socialist thug, Hugo Chavez, who ran on a socialist platform. When he won the presidency in 1998, he—like all socialist leaders who rush to nationalize industry—nationalized the oil industry. He levied huge taxes on corporations, and he redistributed land and income across the population. Venezuelans allowed him to revise their Constitution which granted him a longer term as president, and which also gave him more power and gifted what they believed were more positive and social rights to the people.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/09/20/whistleblower-fbi-manipulating-j6-cases-to-support-biden-narrative-of-a-national-crisis-of-extremism-n1630716

According to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, an FBI whistleblower has come forward with information about how the FBI is manipulating cases related to the Capitol riot to create “the illusion” that domestic violent extremism is a pervasive problem in the United States.

Just The News reports that Jordan wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray stating that “the ‘manipulative case-file practice’ was being conducted by the bureau’s Washington field office, which was instructing local FBI offices to open up cases on their books that were in fact simply related to the Capitol breach.”

Jordan wrote, “The FBI’s case categorization creates the illusion that threats from [domestic violent extremism] are present in jurisdictions across the nation, when in reality they all stem from the same related investigation concerning the actions at the Capitol on January 6.”

“Such an artificial case categorization scheme allows FBI leadership to misleadingly point to ‘significant’ increases in DVE threats nationwide,” Jordan added.

https://www.aol.com/news/californias-dead-burial-option-human-033705405.html

California will begin allowing an alternative burial method known as human composting in 2027, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday.

Assembly Bill 351 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) will create a state regulatory process for natural organic reduction, a method in which human remains naturally decompose over a 30-to-45-day period after being placed in a steel vessel and buried in wood chips, alfalfa and other biodegradable materials. The nutrient-dense soil created by the process can then be returned to families or donated to conservation land.

Supporters say it’s an eco-friendly alternative to traditional end-of-life options. Cremation, for example, is an energy-intense process that produces carbon dioxide emissions, while traditional burial uses chemicals to embalm bodies and a nonbiodegradable coffin to store them.

California will join Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Vermont in allowing human composting.

“With climate change and sea-level rise as very real threats to our environment, this is an alternative method of final disposition that won’t contribute emissions into our atmosphere,” Garcia said in a statement.

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/09/21/biden-student-loan-plan-backfire-most-call-it-a-political-move-and-unfair-ii-tipp-poll/

No doubt, President Joe Biden and his advisers believed student-loan forgiveness would be a big winner in the upcoming midterm elections. If so, it was a political miscalculation, with most Americans rejecting the idea as unfair and a political stunt, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.

Under Biden’s plan, unveiled in late August, he will cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for those who had have Pell Grants and up to $10,000 in debt for those earn less than $125,000 per year, $250,000 for married couples.

By a margin of 59% to 32%, Americans agreed that Biden’s student-loan forgiveness plan “is unfair to those whose children are not in college or who have already paid for their kid’s education to have to pay for other people’s education.” Another 8% called themselves “unsure.”

Perhaps surprising is that the rejection of the idea is multi-partisan in nature. While Republicans, as might be expected, agreed that it is unfair at the highest rate (67%), Democrats (55%) and independents (56%) weren’t that far behind.

Among all respondents, only one group was below 50%: Those who self-identified as “liberals.” Just 42% of that group agreed student-loan forgiveness was unfair. Among “moderates,” the level of agreement was 60%; for “conservatives,” it was 72%, tied for the highest for any of the other major demographic and political groups that I&I/TIPP polls routinely measure.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-migrant-busing-to-climate-change-were-awash-in-fake-virtue-esg-carbon-capitalism-moral-imperative-

“American-led capitalism—unencumbered by the modern mandates of ESG, impact investing and the rest—has done an astonishing job of creating wealth for all, lifting more people out of poverty than any economic system ever devised. The morally righteous urge to rein it in has always led to greater poverty, and the current prevailing ideology will be no different.”

With the labor market tight, you would think that the transfer of buses and planes of migrants to Democratic strongholds would be considered an economic opportunity for struggling liberal plutocrats.

If you were a leading progressive warrior for diversity, equity and inclusion battling it out in the trenches of Martha’s Vineyard, wouldn’t you be delighted at the sudden arrival of a little extra (minimum-wage) help from down south to assist in the final push toward social justice?

What self-respecting ESG fund manager wouldn’t welcome some additional (low-cost) labor to lower the Pride flag over her perfectly whitewashed clapboard colonial every evening or iron her copy of the New York Times in the morning?

But the layers of hypocrisy in our immigration debate are so thick you could wear them to shield yourself from the stiff breeze that can ruin your T-shot to the short 16th at the Edgartown Golf Club.

The White House calls the transfers “shameful.” New York Mayor Eric Adams describes them as “horrific.” Leading Democrats condemn them as “literally human trafficking” and “crimes against humanity.”

Somehow the Biden administration’s own shipping of thousands of migrants to New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere isn’t judged by the same standards. Homeland Security Department officials reportedly dubbed the moves the “Abbott plan,” in jocular homage to the earlier transfers organized by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose actions progressives put on a moral par with those of the greatest despots in history.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/09/20/a-requiem-for-black-lives-matter/

Black Lives Matter has yet to receive a requiem, a summation in print. More than seven years into the globally unavoidable anti-police movement, there certainly exists a sizable BLM academic literature, dealing – as my political science colleague Bob Maranto has pointed out – with questions ranging from how the movement impacted on youth-voter turnout to the social impact of Ben & Jerry’s selling politically themed flavours of ice-cream.

However, almost no one has examined how well Black Lives Matter met its initial goals: reducing the police violence that was invariably presented as ‘epidemic’ or ‘genocidal’ and reducing crime more broadly, as brothers and others came to trust a fairer criminal justice system. For that matter, whatever happened to the literally billions of dollars donated, in good faith, to national and local BLM chapters?

This article takes a shot at those tough questions. In most cases, unfortunately, the blunt but real answer seems to be: Black Lives Matter had few, if any, positive impacts. Police violence is down slightly, if at all, while overall crime in BLM-affected areas has sky-rocketed back to 1990s levels. As Dr Maranto and I recently noted for Commentary magazine, rates of fatal shootings of civilians by US police – per an authoritative database from the Washington Post – appear to have hardly budged during the post-2014 BLM era. There were 994 fatal police shootings in toto in 2015, 958 in 2016, 981 in 2017, 993 in 2018, 999 in 2019, and 1,020 in 2020.

Not only was this change in rate clearly not significant in statistical terms, police shootings of citizens actually increased almost three per cent during the period under review. Fatal police shootings specifically of black Americans followed a very similar pattern year-on-year, with 258 black men and women shot in 2015, 236 shot in 2016, 222 in 2017, 228 in 2018, 251 in 2019, and 243 in 2020. The same was true for killings of unarmed persons: 95 ‘fatal shootings of an unarmed individual’ did take place in the outlier year of 2015, but we then saw 64 in 2016, 71 in 2017, 58 in 2018, 54 in 2019, and 60 in 2020 – a variance of less than seven per cent between the first typical year given here and the last.