RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/joe-biden-campaign-vice-presidential-pick-which-woman-will-he-choose/

Which woman will he select as his running mate? And why?

 T here’s a scene in Shrek in which the incompetent, ambitious Lord Farquaad is advised that he will need a princess in order to secure his legitimacy as king. Any will do. The magic mirror narrows it down to a choice of three: Cinderella, “a mentally abused shut-in from a kingdom far, far away”; Snow White, a “cape-wearing girl from the land of fancy”; or Princess Fiona, a “loaded pistol who likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain.” Indifferent (this is, after all, a means to an end), Farquaad picks the third at random.

There’s a similar scene playing out just now in the Democratic Party, in which the incompetent, ambitious Joe Biden has been told he needs “a woman.” He promised voters there’d be one at the debate with Bernie. He recently told The Late Late Show with James Corden that he would have a short list of up to three by “sometime in July.” Little mention has been made of the specific qualities, talents, or experience that this running mate will have. But she will be A Woman. And she will be “simpatico.”

One pressing reason that Biden feels that he needs A Woman is that he doesn’t have the most spotless progressive record on “women’s issues.” As The Cut’s Rebecca Traister complained, by feminist standards, Biden has a history of “bad stances on abortion,” he “permitted the ill treatment of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings,” and he’s haunted by “allegations that he has spent a career touching women in ways that have made them feel uncomfortable.” This last point is the most pertinent in light of allegations by Tara Reade, who has accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, when she worked for him.

Biden needs not just A Woman, then, but a whole bunch of women who will abandon yesterday’s principles for today’s political convenience. Fortunately, the Democratic Party is full of such people. In a tweet, Reade wrote that “those who remain silent are complicit to rape” and tagged Ocasio-Cortez, Stacey Abrams, Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Michelle Obama. Perhaps one of them will be Biden’s vice president.

This strategy might be received differently if Joe Biden were a Republican. Readers of National Review will remember that moment when Mitt Romney, during a 2012 presidential debate, was asked by questioner in the audience how he planned to “rectify the inequalities in the workplace.” He answered that, as governor of Massachusetts, when he was looking to fill his cabinet, he made a concerted effort to find female applicants.

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/05/04/cuomo-plays-on-fears-and-ignorance-about-reopening-the-economy/

Why Are We Still Trying to ‘Flatten the Curve’?

Now that roughly half the states in the country are starting to reopen their economies, expect a rash of stories about how they opened “too soon” and that COVID-19 cases are climbing as a result. 

A headline on Friday, for example, was about how Georgia reported more than 1,000 new cases of the virus “the same day its governor lifted the stay-at-home order.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Saturday about “blindly” lifting lockdowns and reopening the economy. “Use information to determine action – not emotions, not politics, not what people think or feel,” he said.

It’s Cuomo himself who is playing politics, acting on emotions, and ignoring information.

The fact is that the lockdowns weren’t about stopping the spread of the disease. Their justification was to “flatten the curve,” — that is, slow the spread so our health care system wasn’t overwhelmed. Cuomo should know that even in his home state there’s little evidence that the health care system was even close to being engulfed.

Remember, the impetus for the lockdowns was based on dire forecasts that COVID-19 would kill more than a million people – even with draconian measures in place – and that its death rate was on the order of 30 times greater than the flu. Now that we’re getting antibody test results – which are showing magnitudes more had been infected than showed symptoms – the death rate is more like 0.3%.  

Yes, that’s worse than the flu and enough to cause temporary, local shortages of health care, but not anywhere near enough to cause a nationwide breakdown of the system. 

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/05/voter-fraud-goes-viral-lloyd-billingsley/

Last month, California governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order for “all-mail” ballots for elections in May and June. In similar style, Democrats in Congress have been pushing for ballots to be mailed to every registered voter for the November election. What could possibly go wrong? Consider the California experience, starting back in 2004.

Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative featured Christopher Reeve, Brad Pitt, and Michael J. Fox touting life-saving cures for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases. The $3 billion proposition, backed by Democrat tycoon Robert Klein,  created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The new state agency promptly hired former state senator and Democrat Party boss Art Torres, and at one point handed out more than 90 percent of its grants to institutions with representatives on its governing board.

By 2020, CIRM had blown through the $3 billion but a ballpark figure for the number of cures and therapies was zero, perhaps the biggest bust in state history. Even so, CIRM is going back to the voters with the $5.5 billion California Stem Cell Research, Treatments, and Cures Initiative of 2020. To get the measure on the ballot, Klein’s Americans for Cures needed 950,000 signatures by April 18, and backers opted to push the envelope.

Signature gatherers have been telling voters the measure was seeking only $1.5 billion, a blatant falsehood. As the deadline approached, Don Reed, Americans for Cures vice president of public policy, began pushing for mail-in signatures. “Your signatures might literally save CIRM, helping us put a  $5.5 billion renewal bill on the ballot,” Reed wrote. “Its purpose is to fight chronic diseases, like COVID-19, the dread coronavirus—and so much more!!”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/stacey-abramss-embarrassing-campaign-for-the-vice-presidency

No one has ever wanted to be vice president as much as Stacey Abrams.

The Georgia Democrat, best known for her failed gubernatorial candidacy in 2018, has launched a full-fledged campaign for the vice presidency in recent weeks, telling every news channel that will book her why she thinks she’s cut out for the job. And in doing so, Abrams has proved why she’s not.

Abrams’s media tour began back in February when Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, first mentioned his campaign was looking at Abrams. When asked if she’d want the job, Abrams didn’t shy away. “Of course, I want it,” she said at the time. And then, she left it at that.

But over the past month, Abrams’s attempts to get Biden’s attention have become more and more aggressive. When she realized Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were serious contenders, Abrams not-so-subtly suggested that choosing anyone but a woman of color would be a disservice to the African American community — a community that helped propel Biden to victory in South Carolina and several other states. The only other women of color rumored to be on Biden’s list are California Sen. Kamala Harris and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Abrams’s veiled threat earned a reprimand from South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, a well-respected leader in the African American community whose endorsement reinforced Biden’s candidacy when Biden needed it the most.

“I think having a woman on the ticket is a must,” Clyburn told NBC News this week. “I’m among those who feel that it would be great for him to select a woman of color. But that is not a must.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pelosis-coronavirus-power-grab-11588526451?cx_testId=3&cx_testVariant=cx_4&cx_artPos=6#cxrecs_s

“The coronavirus has given Mrs. Pelosi the greatest control over the House of Representatives of any speaker in U.S. history. Fear of the virus has given her an excuse to send 434 of us home and essentially say, “See you when I need you.” Before Republicans objected two weeks ago, she even sought an amendment to House rules to allow for proxy voting. Under this plan, representatives wouldn’t even need to return to Washington to vote and pass legislation. They could simply hand over their voting cards to Mrs. Pelosi or one of her lieutenants.”

For nearly two months, my staff and I have been fielding calls from the people of southwest Alabama—small-business owners, bankers, seniors and many others. The government’s response to coronavirus is affecting their livelihoods, and their congressman may be the only voice they have in Washington. But when the lights are turned off in the committee rooms and on the floor of the House, who’s watching out for them? Who’s holding Washington accountable?

More important than the flawed message Congress’s absence sends to the American people—that their representatives value personal protection over their constituents’ interests—is the reality. When nobody is around, it is easier to make backroom deals, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi is taking advantage. She has consolidated the power of the institution in her person. Without lawmakers there to speak up for their districts and influence the legislative process, Mrs. Pelosi has made herself the sole voice and negotiator for the House, as it passes massive funding and regulatory bills.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/a_new_york_times_opinion_writer_says_its_time_to_dump_biden.html

On Sunday, I wrote that it’s been fun watching Democrats struggle with the Biden conundrum: Do they rally around him or, because he’s obviously mentally diminished and has significant corruption problems, do they use Tara Reade’s accusation against him as an excuse to boot him out? By Sunday night, Elizabeth Bruenig, a New York Times opinion writer, had her verdict: It’s time for Biden to go.

Bruenig is surprisingly sympathetic to Reade. She acknowledges that Reade’s story has been inconsistent and that she’s a somewhat eccentric character. However, unlike other Democrat journalists, she extends to Reade the same benefit of the doubt that Democrats routinely extend to politically correct victims:

Ms. Reade’s account is not nearly as incredible as some have argued. In the course of my reporting, I have worked closely with many survivors of sexual assault. It isn’t unusual, in my experience, for survivors to exhibit behavior that seems unstable or erratic to others. They may initially disclose to investigators or journalists only a fragment of what happened, and then reveal more over time — some even falsely recant, either because they sense the police don’t believe them, or because they fear the consequences of pressing their claims. And victims often maintain relationships with their attackers or harbor mixed feelings about them.

“It’s not at all uncommon for someone to still have positive feelings about aspects of the person who assaulted them, or to admire or respect them,” Scott Berkowitz, the founder and president of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) told me. “With people who work for politicians, there’s usually a strong measure of loyalty or respect in that relationship. So it’s not indicative that someone wasn’t telling the truth.”

https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/01/potential-vp-picks-thirsty-for-higher-office-overlook-biden-sexual-assault-allegations/

EXCERPTS:

Democrats are descending into disarray as their presumptive presidential nominee battles allegations of sexual assault far more credible than anything ever thrown at Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose unsubstantiated allegations prompted calls for the Justice’s nomination to be withdrawn and subsequent pleas for impeachment.

As Biden searches for a running mate amid the accusations, here’s what the same people who praised Ford’s testimony are saying about Reade so not to spoil their chances in the veepstakes:

Stacey Abrams

Abrams is taking a break from her imaginary duties as governor of Georgia to break from tradition by publicly campaigning for the number two spot.

After Biden finally addressed the allegations head on, Abrams came out with a lackluster statement paling in comparison to what she said about Ford.

“I am pleased that the Vice President directly addressed these allegations and by how he addressed them. Women and all people should be heard, and they deserve a safe space and process through which they can come forward,” Abrams said.

On Tuesday, Abrams offered a more passionate defense on CNN.

“I believe Joe Biden,” Abrams said. “I believe that he is a person who has demonstrated his love of family, of our community, has been made perfectly clear through his work as a congressional leader and as an American leader. I know Joe Biden and I think he’s telling the truth and this did not happen.”

That’s a sharp turnaround from when Abrams said “I believe women,” in 2018.

Kamala Harris

California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris fared no better in the sweepstakes of Me Too hypocrisy to land a top spot on the Democratic ticket.

“I believe her,” Harris said of Ford’s allegations in 2018. “Anybody who comes forward at this point to be prepared to testify in the United States Senate against someone who’s being nominated to one of the most powerful positions in the United States government, that takes an extraordinary amount of courage.”

According to Harris, simply testifying before Congress should make any allegations inherently truthful, no matter the evidence. Let’s not forget that Harris used to be the attorney general of California.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/joe_bidens_running_mate_will

Once Joe Biden emerges from his basement bunker as the presumptive Democrat party presidential nominee by default, he’s expected to name his vice presidential running mate.  He’s promised to choose a woman but has provided no clue as to whom he will tap to carry his water for the next six months.  One thing is for certain: she will be tasked to defend and run interference for a man exhibiting serious mental decline issues, a man who has been accused of sexual impropriety by a former female Senate staffer, and a man whose checkered career in politics is guaranteed to be fodder for President Trump.

Prior to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown and before sequestering himself in his Delaware home, Joe Biden’s questionable behavior in public was already raising eyebrows.  Multiple incidents plagued his performance on the campaign trail, ranging from sudden bouts of anger and insulting audience members at campaign rallies to licking his wife’s fingers while she spoke at a campaign event.  His oftentimes awkward television interviews, coupled with an obvious inability to string together a coherent sentence, has left even the most casual observer wondering what’s wrong with Joe.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/washington-police-say-tara-reade-sexual-assault-complaint-against-biden-is-now-inactive_3333048.html#

The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) are no longer investigating Tara Reade’s sexual assault complaint against Joe Biden, a spokesman for the agency told the Washington Examiner.

“This is an inactive case, and there are no additional details to provide,” a police spokesman said April 29, providing no further comment.

Reade, a former Biden staffer, filed a report on April 9, 2020 with police in which she said she was a victim of sexual assault but did not name Biden. The court filing stated, “Subject-1 disclosed that she was the victim of a sexual assault which was committed by Subject-2 in 1993.”