I can’t imagine what the left was thinking when they decided to hand this issue and police unions endorsements to the president, unless they are just afraid of their own base.
It would be bold to predict this will elect O’Conner to the US senate, particularly since MA has been spared BLM violence (Well done Gov Baker) but given Ed Markey link to the Democrats AOC wing it certainly can’t hurt his chances.
And then Ed Markey said this:
Portland police routinely attack peaceful protestors with brute force. We must disarm these officers, and every other police department in America, of weapons of war, and enact a nationwide ban on tear gas, rubber and plastic bullets, and bean bag rounds. https://t.co/PDZcjhmSLB
I don’t know whose running the Kevin O’Connor for Senate Campaign but if it was me I’d be in front of the cameras today, pointing to the timing of his hit on police:
Markey’s picking a very good moment to make this pitch, although some of his fellow Democrats might disagree. They’re choosing the rioters just before Americans choose their next set of elected representatives. Forbes’ Seth Cohen warns Black Lives Matter organizers today that rioting in Lancaster over a completely justified shooting might cost Joe Biden Pennsylvania and the election:
and I’d be pushing two themes
If this happened in Lancaster PA it can happen anywhere.
You are either with the police or the Rioters and Markey has chosen his side
If I was Kevin O’Connor I would talk about nothing else till election day.
No charge (but tip jar hits always welcome)
Closing thought: While Ed Markey is particularly vulnerable to this because of his public statements, if I’m a Massachusetts Republican running for any office, I’m doing the exact same thing.
SHREVEPORT – Governor John Bel Edwards moved Louisiana into Phase 3 last week, but not everyone is happy about that, and with good reason.
In some ways, Phase 3 is stricter than Phase 2. For example, in Phase 2, bars are closed to on-site consumption, unless they are also serving food. Restaurants were able to open and serve alcohol at 50% capacity.
Under Phase 3, the capacity for restaurants moves up to 75%, however now all alcohol must be served only at tables; so, if you’re a restaurant with a bar area where people eat at the bar, nope. You have to sit at a table.
And under Phase 3, bars can now open to 25% capacity or 50 people, whichever is smaller, but no alcohol can be sold in either bars or restaurants after 10 p.m., and all establishments must be clear of patrons by 11 p.m.
Live music and dancing are forbidden.
Now, local mayors can go back to a previous phase if it is stricter than the one currently in place, so perhaps local mayors should consider going back to Phase 2 where bars and restaurants could serve alcohol after ten.
High Schools are going ahead with football games beginning in a couple of weeks with “social distancing encouraged” in the stands. In New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell is keeping her city in Phase 2, and has disallowed all alcohol consumption in bars. There will also be no prep football in New Orleans in Phase 2.
New Orleans is keeping the status quo of Phase 2 which means “bars will continue to be shuttered throughout the city and that restaurants, stores, gyms and other businesses are limited to 50% of their pre-coronavirus capacity.”
The rules in NOLA have been tougher than the rest of the state because their numbers were so high compared to other places.
At any rate, here in Shreveport anyway, bar owners are frustrated by the continued restraints on their business, and now those seem even tougher.
In Bossier Parish, where I teach, we are going back to 100% face to face instruction next week. No more A/B hybrid days. This has me concerned because this means my small classroom will again be filled to capacity with students. There are pros and cons to this: from an educational standpoint, of course it’s better because face it, the virtual model is not working well for many kids. But from a health standpoint, I’m nervous again.
There will be literally nothing I can do in my classroom as far as social distancing goes. We won’t be able to spread even three feet apart.
I don’t have the answers, but I don’t think anyone does. It’s like at this point, with restrictions easing on one end and tightening up on another, we are nowhere close to being on the same page with this virus. All I can do will be the best I can, and try to protect myself.
Posted: September 14, 2020 by datechguy in Uncategorized
Congratulations NFL you’ve positioned yourself in such a way that your league is on the side of people ambushing Deputies and cheering for them to die.
All you need to know is: There’s a 6-year-old boy right now praying for his sheriff deputy mom to survive an ambush shooting while BLM demonstrators blocked the entrance to the ER hoping to treat her & her partner & chanting “we hope you die!” Yet today, the NFL will honor BLM
Congratulations NFL you have reached a point where on the opening weekend of what was the most popular sport in the nation nobody is talking about the games themselves.
Congratulations NBA In a year when you have a captive audience at home you’ve managed to see your rating drop and provided a visual of your players kneeling during the national anthem on the Anniversary of Sept 11th.
Congratulation MLB in a sport with an aging but loyal demographic you managed to push fans away directly against the advice of your own surveys.
Congratulations NHL You managed to insert yourself into a situation that you could have pretty much avoided and allowed yourself a share in the backlash.
The bottom line: As of last week Major sports have gone from a net +20 positive rating among the public to a -10 rating in just one year. As Ed Morrissey noted:
the decline is as broad as it gets. The sports industry’s positive rating fell in every demo, and by double digits in all except Democrats (-5). The rating among non-white Americans might be higher than among white Americans, but it also fell farther among non-white Americans (-35, as opposed to -26 among whites). The collapse is almost total, in other words, and even in the few demos that remain positive, enthusiasm has almost entirely evaporated.
Congratulations major sports you played Biden Ball and managed to cancel yourselves.
I’ve been writing here about the Illinois Exodus for several years. The COVID-19 outbreak, as it has many other societal trends, is accelerating the people drain. But two rounds of riots and looting, one after the homicide of George Floyd, and the second last month, after false rumors that Chicago Police had killed a man now charged with murder, are gut punches that the city will not quickly recover from.
In my DTG post-second riot post about the decline and fall of the city, Welcome to Detroit, Chicago, I wrote, “But when Chicago’s downtown area is dominated by boarded up store-fronts with signs declaring ‘Move in now–lease rates reduced again–first month free!’ you’ll know the downtown descent is well under way.” The vacancy rate for luxury units in downtown Chicago are at their highest level ever recorded according to Mike Flannery (more on him in a bit).
I haven’t been downtown since that “Detroit” entry, but on my own blog, Marathon Pundit, an automated Google Ads banner from a downtown Chicago apartment building offered this promo, “First two months rent free.”
Decline and fall.
And keep in mind that over seventy percent of Chicago’s economic activity comes from the downtown area. And Chicago is of course Illinois’ largest and most important city.
Downstate things aren’t much better. AP is reporting on three towns in St. Clair County, which is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, that are considering merging because of “severe population decline.” St. Clair County, like Chicago and Cook County, are Democratic strongholds where corruption is widespread.
The Prairie State has lost population for six straight years. It’s a safe bet that when the counting is over for 2020 it will be seven.
On the usually-worth watching–Fox Chicago’s Flannery Fired Up, three cheerleaders for the city and one moderate skeptic talked about its descent and for the most part, it’s quick bounce back. But this weekend’s episode was an aberration. The show sucked. It was up to the host, Mike Flannery, to bring up the two 800-pound gorillas in Chicago’s otherwise looted basement: rampant corruption and the worst-funded municipal pensions in the nation.
Since 1973 over thirty members of Chicago City Council have been sentenced to prison. At one time he was the city’s most powerful alderman, but now Ed Burke is under indictment for allegedly shaking down a fast food franchisee. Do you want to bring your business to Chicago? You may have to endure having your pockets picked by a pol. Or by several of them.
Where do I sign up?
Burke has been an alderman since 1969. Chicago needs term limits. And so does Illinois. Boss Michael Madigan, who is from the same part of the city as Burke, has been speaker of the state House since 1983 except for two years in the 1990s when the Republicans had a majority in the lower chamber. Madigan is also a Chicago ward committeeman. He’s been chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party since 1997. Illinois’ most powerful Dem is also currently under investigation as part of an evolving federal corruption probe that has already ended the careers of several Chicago and suburban politicians.
There is no way out of Chicago’s pension bomb other than a municipal bankruptcy, one that may also force many city vendors to go under, or a federal bailout. Even if the the Democrats capture the Senate and the White House in November, such a rescue for irresponsible spending, a backhanded reward really, faces tall odds in Washington. But under current Illinois law, government bodies are prevented from declaring bankruptcy.
The “moderate skeptic” on Flannery Fired Up mentioned transportation as a city selling point. While O’Hare is one of the world’s busiest airports–it used to be ranked first in traffic–and Chicago is a rail hub and it has many miles of interstate highways, that “expert” needs to drive on Chicago’s streets. They are falling apart.
And if you don’t own a car and you use your feet to get around? Watch out, walking on crumbling sidewalks often requires strong ankles and a steady balance.
Violence in Chicago was declining over the last few years but shootings are way up since the pandemic was declared.
As I’ve mentioned before, like an alcoholic, Chicago’s cure won’t begin until it admits complete and utter defeat.
That point has not been reached. But it’s probably coming soon.
As it is for the rest of Illinois. The state’s pension programs are almost as poorly funded as Chicago’s.
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