Here are my latest observations and opinions on my selected news of the day.
THE LEFT-LEANING ARIZONA REPUBLIC’S lead story headline Wednesday proclaimed, “Mark Kelly to run for Senate,” and was supported by a half-page of background on the former astronaut husband of former Democrat Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
The Republic, clearly not happy with the Gov. Doug Ducey’s appointment of Martha McSally to fill the senate seat of the late John McCain, the paper cautioned her last December on how she needed to think before supporting the president if she planned to seek reelection. Kelly’s announcement was just what they were looking for as they build their case against McSally.
The lead story wasn’t enough. The paper’s liberal columnist Laurie Roberts, who normally has a single-column on the local page, was given a page-dominating three-column space, accompanied by a color photo to support the headline, “Kelly candidacy brings headache for McSally.”
Obviously overjoyed with Kelly’s announcement, Roberts opens with “Martha McSally might want to hold off on her happy dance,” she wrote after viewing Kelly’s four-minute video announcement, “McSally could be in big trouble.”
Roberts did note that any reference to guns was conspicuously absent in his video. Kelly has been an advocate of gun control, frequently appearing with his wife, whose congressional career was cut short by a gunman while campaigning in Tucson. Roberts predicts that the right will not let voters forget his activism.
Roberts couldn’t resist a parting shot at McSally’s combat pilot background, by saying it will be fighter pilot vs fighter pilot/astronaut, conveniently ignoring that she was the first female combat pilot.
(Courtesy AF Branco)
“ASPIRATIONAL” – That’s how Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-[MN) described the Green New Deal during an interview with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel. How shallow minded can she be?
She says she plans to do a lot of campaigning in the Midwest. I wonder how she will explain why she aspires to do the impossible … stopping cows from farting.
TALK ABOUT POOR TIMING – Democrat Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s wacko dream of “new high-speed rail lines to crisscross the Plains” as part of her Green New Deal, got a bit of a wake-up call on Wednesday.
California’s Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom pulled the plug on his state’s high-speed rail project after spending $77 billion in taxpayer funding. And that was only to carry commuters between San Francisco and Los Angeles, not across the plains.
You may recall that former President Obama provided an economic stimulus for the project as part of his 2011 State of the Union vision for “winning the future,” part of his plan for linking 80 percent of the country by high speed rail within 25 years.
“IT GIVES A LOT OF PEOPLE JOY” – That’s how Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) described smoking pot during her fun-filled appearance with the hosts of The Breakfast Club, a New York radio show.
“I have. And I did inhale,” she said laughingly in response to the inquiry of her use of smoking pot during college. “I think it gives a lot of people joy, and we need more joy.”
But that wasn’t enough to prove her coolness with the jive hosts. “Oh yeah, definitely Snoop. Tupac for sure,” she said when asked about the music she was listening to then. One problem … Tupac’s first album was released in 1991 … Snoop’s first came out in 1993, and Harris graduated from college in 1986. Oops.
You should be aware that Harris, who talks about “speaking truth,” sent hundreds of Californians to jail on marijuana charges as the state’s attorney general.
A POT-SMOKING SITTING PRESIDENT doesn’t matter to Alexandra Ocasio Cortez. Not to worry, there’s no chance Harris will be elected president.
(fabiousmaximus.com)
WHY WORRY? – “Because of global warming, hundreds of millions of Americans will have to adapt to dramatically new climates by 2080,” according to a study authored by Matt Fitzpatrick of the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science. Not to worry, folks. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has already informed us that the world will end in 10 years.
“Folks who live in New York City will see a climate similar to that of northern Arkansas today, and people in Minneapolis will live in a climate that’s equivalent to that of southern Kansas today,” according to the report.
FINALLY! – We have the right man to serve as the U.S. Attorney General, William Barr, who was confirmed by the Senate 54-45. I appreciated President Trump’s appointment of Jeff Sessions, the first Republican senator to support his candidacy and a loyal supporter, but, clearly, he was not up for that position.
I firmly believe that we will soon see the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and DOJ IG Michael Horowitz’s internal review, and we will see his actions to restore our faith in the justice department.
Democrats Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Doug Jones of Alabama and Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted to confirm, while Republican Sen. Rand Paul voted “no.”
FURTHER EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE HOUSE, unfortunately, means nothing to the newly elected Muslim Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. With her anti-Semitic comments still in the news, she chose her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (a travesty) to attack longtime public servant Elliott Abrams, our Special Envoy for Venezuela, over his role during the Iran-Contra Affair 33 years ago.
It should have been embarrassing to fellow Democrats on the committee as she was barely able to read the questions prepared for her by staff.
IF YOU’VE BEEN WONDERING as I have about the status of the return of Korean War remains, the work continues according to an extensive report in the Wall Street Journal. The president frequently reminds us of the remains we received in some 50 boxes last year, but there has been nothing said about a continuing effort.
The laborious task of gathering bones and battlefield evidence using bare hands, and releasing them to laboratories for DNA samples is expected to take years to complete. It will continue as long as our relations with North Korea stay calm.
PRESIDENTIAL APROVAL – Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracker reveals that 50 percent of voters approve of President Trump’s performance.
Meanwhile, The Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard suggests that a Gallup poll has proven pundits were wrong when they said the president lost the shutdown fight with Congress. Rather, he was on the receiving end of his biggest shift from low to high after he reopened the government and gave his State of the Union address – a 44 percent approval rating, one point short of his personal best.
May God bless the United States of America.
