Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

The longer the delay in Israel’s invasion of Gaza, the more likely the Democrat Party will lose Jewish members

Posted: October 29, 2023 by John Ruberry in Israel, Israel vs Hamas, middle east, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

Although the White House denies it, there have been reports that Joe Biden has told Israel to delay its expected invasion of Gaza.

The speculation is that Biden wants the Hamas terrorists to release the estimated 200 hostages, some of whom are Americans, beforehand.

My belief is that Biden is instead trying to placate the old school, pro-Israel wing of the Democrat Party, which can trace its founding to 1948, the year of Israel’s founding, and the woke, pro-Palestianian, and yes, pro-Hamas wing of the Democrats. Think of Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as the face of the old guard and think of US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), of the Squad, as the face of the new wing.

Can Biden–or more accurately, his handlers–pull it off?

For now, yes.

But the longer what I’m calling a “warm war” between Israel and Hamas continues, the more likely Jews will question why they support the Democrats. Oh, before October 7, there was cold war between Israel and Hamas, once the invasion of Gaza starts, then that will be a hot war.

The daily protests in support of Palestine/Hamas, populated by wokesters and Palestianian-Americans who equate Israel with Nazis, must eat at the heart of most Jewish people.

Most American Jews of course are Democrats, for a lot of reasons, but the primary one, in my opinion, is that as a discriminated people, Jews feel they should stand up for other marginalized groups. Party affiliation for the politically engaged–and Jewish people usually are–is not something that is easily shed. Much like religion.

For instance, my parents, Irish Catholic Democrats, despite their disgust with what was called “the New Left” in the 1960s–I now call that movement the proto-woke–took a decade to switch their political affiliation. Jimmy Carter of course hastened their transition, as it did for so many other Dems.

The false Zionists-are-Nazis drumbeat is a daily rhythm. Ten more weeks–well short of a decade–of this hatred might be too much to bear for many Jews.

Jewish people are generous donors to the Democrats and other liberal groups. At roughly 2.5 percent of the US population–which is concentrated mostly in Blue States–we are not about to see a lasting Republican majority if there is a rightward shift among Jews. But some reliably-Democrat House seats in states like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and even California might become swing districts.

A few years ago, Little Marathon Pundit had a Jewish boyfriend. You name the woke cause, and he supported it. I asked her to see how “Sam” felt about the growing anti-Semitism within the Democratic Party. Sam told her it was “troubling.” Jewish Democrats I know have had similar trepidations for years.

But now there is a daily two-hour-hate parade in many large American cities against Israel, and yes, Jews. As well as daily anti-Jewish memes poisoning social media, many from celebrities.

The parades and the meme frenzy will wind down once the Israel-Hamas war is over; hopefully that conflict will end with a resounding victory for the IDF.

Afterwards, we may see a different Jewish electorate.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

The GOP and moderate Dems should be paying attention to Chicago’s anti-migrant protests

Posted: October 25, 2023 by John Ruberry in crime, election 2024, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

If Republicans–or even those few moderate Democrats–want to advance their political career, a good place to start is Chicago’s Southwest Side.

There have a been a series of protests in the mostly Hispanic Brighton Park neighborhood, which has a sizable Asian minority, over the migrant crisis created by Joe Biden and the Democrat Party.

Residents found out through the rumor mill that the administration Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s far-left mayor who was elected six months ago, has his haughty eyes on Brighton Park. 

And rumors are true sometimes, and they were confirmed when residents noticed bulldozing on property that has been vacant for a while. Chicago’s 12th Ward, which has slightly less than 60,000 residents, will have a population bump soon. However, many of them will be living in tents, although a contractor is calling them “yurts.”

Environmental testing is still being performed, but it appears, like it or not, that the nascent yurt community, which Chicago officials are calling a 10-acre “winterized base camp,” at 38th and California, is a done deal. And plenty of residents don’t like it.

There have been 24-hour protests at the future migrant camp for over a week now.

Most of these residents are minorities. Looking at local media video reports, the ethnic makeup of the protesters appears to be roughly half Hispanic and half Asian. That was the impression Mrs. Marathon Pundit got when she drove past the anti-camp protests last Friday.

And last Thursday, the 12th Ward alderperson, Julia Ramirez, got “roughed up” by the crowd at the protest, but it appears she was only shoved around a bit. 

Apparently, Ramirez wasn’t told about Yurtville ahead of time. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Leftists like Johnson are always right, or at least they believe themselves to be. And when you question leftists, you are called said to be “uninformed” or “racist,” or someone who is “oversimplifying a nuanced issue.” I know, I live among leftists just north of the Chicago. 

Last night there was a public hearing at a Southwest Side high school about the construction of the migrant camp. Block Club Chicago reports that 500 residents showed up. While there was some support expressed for the migrants, some chants broke out, including, “Send them back” and “No queremos venezolanos,” which is Spanish for, “We don’t want Venezuelans.”

What about Asians? Specifically East Asians.

East Asians feel threatened in woke era Chicago. A friend of the Marathon Pundit family–an immigrant from Hong Kong who lives in McKinley Park, which is next to Brighton Park–told me a while back, “The criminals see us as ripe prey,” adding, “they believe that all of us all own convenience and liquor stores and that we always carry wads of cash on us.”  His garage was broken into earlier this month. There was no cash stolen, other than some loose change, but the thieves made off with a pair of boots. He didn’t even bother calling the Chicago Police, knowing that even if the culprits are caught, they’ll walk. And of course, that crime won’t figure into Chicago crime statistics.

Block Club Chicago reported last month that, “Precincts with a high Asian-American population cast 77.8 percent of their votes for [Paul] Vallas,” a moderate Democrat who Johnson defeated in the April runoff. Vallas ran on a strong law-and-order platform.

Chicagoans, you elected Johnson. As the old expression goes, “You made your bed, now sleep in it.” Although to be fair, Vallas carried the 12th Ward. 

One lesson from the midterms is that Hispanics are trending toward the GOP. Illinois’ moribund Republican Party should be reaching out to them, but probably aren’t. Because they’re morons. And the Asian population, particularly East Asians, might be looking for a political home.

GOP, get moving. And not just for votes. Siding with these protesters is the right thing to do.

And those few moderate Democrats left, it’s time to confront the woke wing of your party.

Here’s my non-nuanced message I recommend for the GOP and moderate Dems: Secure the border, build the wall, protect America.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Today’s elitist college students are good at standardized tests, but they can’t figure out good and evil

Posted: October 15, 2023 by John Ruberry in education, Israel, Israel vs Hamas, middle east, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics, war
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By John Ruberry

Sherman McCoy, the Yale-educated lead character of Tom Wolfe’s novel The Bonfire of the Vanities–and an old money WASP–saw himself as a “Master of the Universe.”

But as the Book of Proverbs says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

At America’s elite universities, such as Yale and the rest of the Ivy League, as well as NYU, Stanford, and some others, there are thousands of students who see themselves as Masters of the Universe. In reality, they have the right family connections, and they are very good at taking standardized tests, such as the SAT. Or, instead of being old money types like McCoy, they check the right woke boxes. 

Ryna Workman, who is non-binary (box one), Black (box two), and a leftist (box three), in her (Workman prefers they/them pronouns) role as president of the NYU Student Bar Association president, wrote a hateful anti-Israeli statement about the October 7 attacks that, among other things, said that the Jewish state “bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.” Among those murdered were babies. The Nazi’s Einsatzgruppen also indiscriminately killed babies–and many others–during the Holocaust.

People calling their political enemies Nazis is as old as the Nazi movement and almost always it’s an overstated charge–but calling Hamas members Nazis is accurate. 

Fortunately, there has been some pushback. Winston and Strawn, an elite Chicago law firm where Jim Thompson, Illinois’ longest-serving governor–and a Republican–once served as CEO, repealed its job offer to Workman. 

Good.

After former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, who had previously served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, decried the dozens of Harvard student groups siding with Hamas over Israel in a statement, some of those organizations retracted their support. 

Summers, on X, said, “In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today.” 

These so-called Masters of the Universe are playing with half a deck of cards, one filled with jokers, not the harmless harlequin types, but evil clowns of the Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix ilk. 

In the words that Dan Bongino uses so often, “They are stupid smart people.” These young elitists don’t know the difference between good and evil.

So many of them are the evil Jokers of the Universe.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Five Completely Non Israel Things Under the Fedora: How Cool is that? House Keeping, Slightly Premature, The (Now) Under the Radar Synod and a Mathematical Patriots Update

Posted: October 10, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, catholic, fun, nfl, politics, Sports
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I know there is a lot of serious stuff on Israel to write about but for one day we’re going to almost completely ignore it:

As a python fan and a bit of a geek I don’t think it gets any cooler than this:

It’s easy to make him laugh; he’s that sort of fellow. But I have to tell you that when I made him laugh, when he actually laughed, complete with head tossed back, it was one of those moments in life you just encase in Lucite and put on the shelf. Put that on my tombstone: “Made Michael Palin Laugh, and Did Not Otherwise Embarrass Himself. Much. Well, a Bit. Alright, Somewhat. Honestly, Loads” or something.

With all the horror I’ve been reading about the last few days to be able to read that and imagine the joy of that moment, that was special.

Today there should be a vote on a new speaker for the house. Jim Jordan is considered a favorite although there is at least one report that Speaker McCarthy might be nominated by some allies and of course Steve Scalise who was Majority Leader is in the running.

Whoever wins will have a lot on their plate to deal with but that it’s been reduced to a second or third string story gives the GOP some flexibility in how they deal with it.

When I heard on my way home that the highly favored Dodgers had lost their 2nd straight against the Arizona Diamondbacks in their best of five series to go to the National League Pennant Series against either Philly or Atlanta all I could think of was their welcoming the anti Catholic Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to their Stadium and found myself spontaneously making up and singing a parody song titled: “Don’t Piss off God” (sung to the tune of “Don’t bring me Down”).

Baseball being baseball it might be premature for such a song but if the Diamondbacks complete the sweep or even win the series I just might write out the lyrics and post them.

Never thought I’d be cheering against a Dave Roberts team but hey the Dodgers made their bed.

Speaking of both God and the practical news blackout on stories not involving Israel and Hamas the Synod is still going on in the Catholic church and one of my big worries is that the folks hoping to push though their whole “Mortal Sin is OK” platform.

It’s moments like this when I’m not surprised that there were at one time up to three popes each claiming to be the legit one and the church highly divided.

Of course the last time this type of thing came up Saint Pope Paul VI surprised everyone by his issuance of Humanae Vite which, to the shock of the left, not only affirmed the church’s position on life and contraception but urged governments to do the same.

I would be both shocked and not shocked if Francis ended up doing the same. I would be shocked because that would be completely out of Character of for this pope but I would also not be shocked because over history that’s how God rolls.

Faith is not just believing in God, but believing he knows what he’s doing. That’s how I’m handling it.

A week or so ago I noted that the 2023 New England Patriots after four week2 had averaged 13 1/4 points offensive per games with Bill (the savior) O’Brian as the offensive coordinator as opposed to Matt (The Evil One) Patricia’s 16 3/4 offensive points per game.

We’ve now finished week five.

In week five last year Patricia’s offense scored 22 of the patriots 29 points in a win vs the Lions bringing their record to 2-3 and their avg points on offense per game to 17.8

Meanwhile Bill O’Brian’s team was shut out in a 34-0 rout vs the Saints putting their record at 1-4 and putting their avg points per game at an even 11.

That is better than a touchdown per game worse that an offense that was constantly under attack by local media

Maybe if they ask really nice Patricia might come back.

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