Archive for the ‘election 2024’ Category

Presidential election warning from Chicago: Media malpractice gave the city its failed leftist mayor, Brandon Johnson

Posted: September 15, 2024 by John Ruberry in crime, election 2024, elections, media, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

Last year’s mayoral election in Chicago presents a media deja vu moment with national implications.

Yes, I’m talking about Kamala Harris.

Brandon Johnson, an organizer for the far-left Chicago Teachers Union while serving as member of the Cook County commissioner–a rubber stamp body controlled by board president, Toni Preckwinkle, a leftist like Johnson.

Paul Vallas, a centrist Democrat, ran a wonky white-paper dominated campaign that was centered on hiring more police officers and prosecuting more misdemeanors. He lost. 

Johnson campaigned largely on platitudes. His political career is a creation of the Chicago Teachers Union, and aggressive campaigning by the CTU, including door to door work, identifying Johnson’s supporters, and getting them to the polls, pushed “Branjo” over the top. 

Republicans? Are we doing that? 

Back to my point.

As a commissioner, Johnson could only point one accomplishment in office, the non-binding “Justice for Black Lives” resolution that passed in 2020, which called for diverting funds from law enforcement to social services.

The extreme left loves symbolism. It also hates the police.

Also in 2020, Johnson said of the Defund the Police movement that it was “not a slogan, it’s an actual real political goal.”

Chicago’s mainstream media, Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times is a notable exception, are compliant lapdogs for the left. If at all, they barely challenged Branjo on his thin resume and his far-left beliefs.

Before the first round of voting for mayor, Johnson was asked about his support of Defund the Police and cutting law enforcement, Johnson flippantly replied, “Ask better questions.”

Finally, at a law enforcement forum before the second round of balloting, Johnson was asked about his backing of the Defund movement. “I said it was a political goal,” Johnson replied, “I never said it was mine.”

So the media, even though crime was the biggest issue of the 2023 Chicago mayoral campaign, dropped the Defund issue. 

The Chicago media barely vetted Johnson. Just as the national media didn’t do so on Joe Biden’s senility in 2020–and it all but ignored Hunter Biden laptop story. A year later, the national media elite is ignoring or minimizing the far-left political position of Kamala Harris, and her politically convenient flip-flops on them.

Last week, in her weekly podcast, the aforementioned Spielman interviewed centrist Chicago alderman Brendan Reilly, who supported Vallas in last year’s election.

Reilly, who may be candidate for mayor in 2027, said that Johnson was en route to becoming a “one-termer” who was “woefully unprepared” to lead America’s third-largest city, and a mayor who is a beholden to the “radical left.”

Johnson, who has blamed Richard M. Nixon for Chicago’s violence epidemic, is rumored to have suffered from panic attacks. The mayor regularly points his finger at white supremacy when his discussing city’s many ills.

The warning signs were there on Johnson for anyone who did some digging. But the Chicago media barely reported on them. Last week, a Fox Chicago reporter revealed that his City Hall staffer in charge of working with City Council and state legislators to advance the mayor’s agenda, Kennedy Bartley, made vile anti-police comments in a 2021 podcast, including calling law enforcement officers “f*cking pigs.”

This is Johnson’s inner circle. The mayor has resisted calls to fire Bartley.

As for crime, while Johnson has not defunded the police, his choice as police superintendant, Larry Snelling, says the CPD is short nearly 2,000 officers. 

Chicago faces a $220 million budget deficit for this year and a nearly $1 billion for 2025. In response, Branjo announced a hiring freeze, but two days later, he exempted the fire and police departments from that freeze. 

Crime is still sky high since Johnson took over. Murders are down, but only a little bit.

Johnson has driven the Chicago train off the rails. Ironically–and the Chicago media ignores this other story–the mayor has a massive polite detail, said to number anywhere from 125-150 cops. Johnson clearly doesn’t want to defund his police protection.

Back to Harris. 

Will the mainstream media drop its biases and finally vet the vice president?

Or will they wait, until a year or so after she’s sworn in, when another “woefully unprepared” office holder, one who is beholden to “the radical left,” fails again, for so-called journalists to finally sound the alarm about Harris? Maybe not. The media was all-in on Biden until his cognitive decline couldn’t be explained away after his June debate with Donald Trump.

Biden, whose mind was clearly slipping in 2020, is arguably a tool of the far-left. 

Will Harris, arguably an intellectual lightweight, end up in the same position if she wins the presidency?

John Ruberry regularly blogs from just north of Chicago at Marathon Pundit.

Springfield: Another Game of 4D Chess Won By Trump vs the MSM

Posted: September 15, 2024 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, election 2024, elections, politics
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Do remember you are there to fuddle him. From the way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would suppose it was our job to teach!

C. S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters Letter #1

In the days when I was doing Computer Technical Support (which is why this blog is DaTechGuy blog and why I’m DaTechGuy online) one of the things I ran into a lot were people who focused on a particular problem while losing sight of what their actual goal was. You could fix a bug but if you aren’t addressing what the actual goal was you weren’t doing the customer much good. I always established what they were trying to do and if there was a better way of doing it suggest it as I fixed the bug so that the underlying problem, the goal, could be achieved.

Even at my current location which is as far as you can get from tech support when I was occasionally given a new person to train on a simple process like picking items ordered, I never started there. I took them to every part of the warehouse from the receiving docks where the product came in, to the receivers to processed and recorded it, to the group putting to the stations where they were being shipped to the lines where the shipped items were put in their respective bins and back to the docks. The idea was to make people understand that while the task seemed mundane it was a vital cog that worked with all the others to the ultimate goal of getting a product ordered by a customer to their door.

One of the best attributes of Donald Trump is one he shares with both Ron DeSantis who I supported in the primaries, is that the sees things in this way and the entire Springfield business is an excellent example of how this works.

The media/left reacted with glee at Trump bringing up the of pets in Springfield and spent days bashing him over it.

This put the entire countries’ focus on Springfield and while the left was decrying memes showing Trump protecting cats and dogs and stuff like this hilarious image:

The reality was that it became excellent fodder for doing two things, first showing the left for what is it to wit:

And this is classic:

All that is fun but is misses the bottom line which is that now everybody is talking about how the Biden Administration dumped tens of thousand of foreign nationals on a small town doubling it’s population with no support for the town in coping with it.

That’s a subject the left doesn’t want to discuss but it’s the cat and dog business that gave the opening to J.D. Vance when the media tried to play “Gotcha” with him on it:

Or as Ace of Spade put it after posting a NY Times story which included (emphasis Ace):

Mr. Trump’s debate remarks have themselves become a meme on the left since Tuesday, as musical remixes of his comments have ping-ponged around Instagram, TikTok and other social platforms, mocking the pet-eating claims while also prolonging their stay in the news cycle.

The attention has been unwelcome in Springfield, where tensions over immigration have flared since an 11-year-old boy was killed last year when a Haitian immigrant driving without a valid license crashed his minivan into a school bus.

Which caused him to quip

“They’re killing 11-year-old boys, not cats” is not the winning message you think it is, New York Times.

Kurt Schlichter nailed it:

And if Trump ends up going to Springfield and highlights the issue it will be spiking the ball.

Update: JD Vance again:

and again

Swing state voters, what to say when an Illinois leftist is at your door telling you to vote for Kamala Harris

Posted: September 8, 2024 by John Ruberry in crime, election 2024, elections, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

If you live in a swing state, a pestilence is headed your way this autumn.

Leftists from Illinois–and other liberal states–are on their way to tell you who to vote for in the 2024 presidential election. 

Some of them might show up at your front door. 

Politico’s Illinois Playbook, a gossipy left-wing email newsletter, asked its vainglorious readers, “We asked how you’ll be hitting the campaign.”

Nearly all of the respondents replied that they’re heading to Wisconsin or Michigan. Longtime leftist gadfly Terry Cosgrove said his presidential campaign goal is to be “up to Wisconsin as often as possible knocking on doors with Operation Swing State to help Kamala Harris win.”

Last weekend, Illinois’ Democrat governor, J.B. Pritzker, was in New Hampshire campaigning, throwing his weight around. Besides the states I just mentioned, if you live in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, or North Carolina, expect an onslaught of haughty know-it-alls from Illinois and other failed blue states, including California, calling you on the telephone while you’re sleeping or having dinner.

And yes, they might show up at your front door.

The horror, the horror!

Cosgrove, with his arrogance and his Harvey Fierstein-like gravelly voice, might actually help the conservative cause in Wisconsin. 

But others might be more persuasive with low-information voters.

Just today, Matt Martin, a Chicago alderman, boasted on X that liberals in his ward were headed to Wisconsin. There are 49 other wards in Chicago.

If you are reading Da Tech Guy blog, you are well-versed in following the campaign. You won’t fall for the fatuous “joy” campaign platitudes of the Kamala Harris campaign. But you can break the opposition. 

Being friendly is no longer an option. Our country is at stake. 

These blue state invaders need to be demoralized.

Because I live in Illinois–someone has to document its decline-and-fall–I’m going to focus on what to say when that Prairie State progressive shows up at your front door. If you get a call and the accent isn’t quite right, or they mispronounce your hometown, assume it’s a blue state liberal ruining your day. Your task is to respond as I recommend.

First, a little background on Illinois:

The Democrats have controlled both chambers of Illinois’ state legislature–often with supermajorities–since 2003, thanks to egregious gerrymandering. During that time span, there has been a Republican governor for only four years. 

Illinois’ largest city, Chicago, hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1931. 

The many problems of Illinois are the creation of Democrats. Remember that.

I don’t expect you to remember everything listed here. If you can, then great

So, your doorbell rings, and it’s, let’s say, it is Terry Cosgrove from Illinois and Operation Swing State who bellows, “I’m Terry, and you must vote for Kamala.” 

Now comes the fun–but important part.

Your best reply is, “Why should I vote for the Democratic candidate for president when you leftists destroyed Illinois?”

You’ll hear some lies about how Illinois is the closest thing to heaven on this planet, but then you need pounce back. 

Remember. we want to break these leftists. Think of Emperor Palpatine using the Force to destroy Luke Skywalker. 

So you answer back:

  • If Ilinois is as great as you say it is, then why has the state been losing population annually for ten years and counting?

As longtime Chicago White Sox broadcaster, Hawk Harrelson, used to say after the South Siders scored a run, “Don’t stop there!”

More replies for that leftist:

  • Illinois has the nation’s second-highest gasoline taxes. Where does that money go?  Illinois’ roads suck. Oh, you intrusive leftists: make sure you fill up your gas tanks before you head home.
  • Four of the last ten elected governors in Illinois have served time in federal prison, Illinois is corrupt. Keep political graft inside your hell hole.
  • Chicago is corrupt too. Every sixteen months or so a Chicago City Council member is sentenced to prison.
  • Crime is out of control in Chicago. For the last eight years, a George Soros-funded prosecutor, Kim Foxx, has coddled criminals. We don’t need Chicago-style mayhem here.
  • Illinois cares more about criminals than crime victims. Illinois is the only state that bans cash bail. For the last 12 years, more people were murdered Chicago than any other city–and New York and Los Angeles have many more residents.
  • The public pension plans in Illinois–and Chicago–are among the worst funded in the country. Clearly, Democrats can’t manage money. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have driven this point home.
  • Chicago faces a nearly $1 billion deficit for 2025.
  • Will a Harris-Walz administration propose Illinois and Chicago bailouts?
  • Illinois has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation. I like earning paychecks.
  • Illinois is failed state, the Venezuela of the Midwest.
  • Go back to Illinois and stay there.

If the commie at your door brings up reproductive rights, meaning of course abortion on demand, reply that Donald Trump has repeatedly promised not to implement a federal abortion ban. Unlike most politicians, Trump generally keeps his word. For instance, every major presidential candidate for decades promised to move our embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Only Trump followed through.

The usual retort used by leftists to explain the Illinois Exodus is one word, “weather.” If that’s true, then why is every state that borders Illinois–and Michigan–gaining population?

For you swing state voters, remember. No more Mister Nice Guy. Save America and protect yourself from blue state failure.

Break them.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Kamala: Moriarty or Zack Johnson?

Posted: August 30, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024, elections
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Youtube Capture Season 2 Episode 3 The Reichenbach Fall

Judge: Mr. Crayhill, can we have your first witness?

Moriarty’s Defending Barrister: Your Honour, we’re not calling any witnesses.

Judge: I don’t follow. You’ve entered a plea of Not Guilty.

Moriarty’s Defending Barrister: Nevertheless, my client is offering no evidence. The defense rests.

Judge: [with Sherlock at home miming his words at home] Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. James Moriarty stands accused of several counts of attempted burglary, crimes which – if he’s found guilty – will elicit a very long custodial sentence; and yet his legal team has chosen to offer no evidence whatsoever to support their plea. I find myself in the unusual position of recommending a verdict wholeheartedly. You must find him guilty.

Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall 2012

I’ve been re-watching the excellent series Sherlock staring Benedict Cumberbatch in the role that made him an international star as Sherlock Holmes, the excellent Martin Freeman as Watson and Andrew Scott as his arch enemy James Moriarty.

One of the interestingly odd things about the series is how Scott plays Moriarty as a boarded genius with a death wish who occasionally takes the time to demonstrate to others that anything and everything in the world is his at any time he wants it. Which is why he’s so board.

The image above is from Season two when Moriarty is arrested after he breaks into Bank of England, Pentonville prison and Tower of London where he is arrested with the Crown on his head and the scepter in his hands.

At his trial he makes no defense and the judge directs the jury to find him guilty. And they to the surprise of everyone but Sherlock and Moriarty, acquit him in minutes because both knew the fix was in, Moriarty because he fixed it at Sherlock because he’s smart.

And that’s what came to mind as I read the liveblog of the Kamala interview with reactions like this:


Aug 29, 2024 9:54 PM ET Ed Morrissey

Okay, a few thoughts. Bash failed to press Harris on the Biden cover-up, but she did at least kinda-sorta bring it up. Walz may have just as well stayed home, frankly. Harris’ answers on policy flip-flops and Day One agenda were complete dodges. She doesn’t have any substance.

I may write more tomorrow. I’m not sure this really gave us much to work with, which is probably what Team Kamala wanted.

and clips like this:

and this:

and this

and reactions like this:

and this:

Here is a situation where she had every advantage, every prop possible and he has completely tanked. This leads to the obvious question

Why is the left not panicked? Why are they as cool as Moriarty when he rested his case?

Could it be that they do this because they believe they can? Because the fix is in, because there is nothing that can be done to stop them and they want us to know it?

Or could it be that they are not Moriarty, but are in fact Zack Johnson from the Big Bang Theory

Howard: Preparing to fire laser at the moon.

Sheldon: Make it so.

Howard: There it is. There’s the spike!

Leonard: 2.5 seconds for the light to return. That’s the moon! We hit the moon!

Zack: That’s your big experiment? All that for a line on the screen?

Leonard: Yeah, but, uh, think about what this represents. The fact that we can do this is the only way of definitively proving that there are man-made objects on the moon, put there by a member of a species that only 60 years before had just invented the airplane.

Zack: What species is that?

Sheldon: I was wrong. Penny can do better.

I must confess I’m not yet sure if it’s the former or the latter but we will find out in 70 days.

Update: Townhall has issues too, the best line:

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