LEAVWORLD: GRAFFITI POLITTI

   Progressives, in general, seem to think that government policies can address societal problems that are beyond it's scope or capacity to affect. You can't legislate away racism or bigotry, because they exist in people's minds. Greed, and many other basic human thoughts and feelings are also beyond the scope of any law. The fact is that the people that comprise the government are as likely as anyone else to have these human flaws, so they are ill-suited to be "thought police."    The progressive tendency is to expect government to guarantee beneficial outcomes for an ever-growing number of citizens, citing various "historical disadvantages." This has led people to strive for an ever-expanding definition of "victimhood." It's gotten ridiculous, culturally. From hardship-proclaiming college application essays, to Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who claimed to be black, everyone is trying to cash in on the progressive gravy train.     Progre

   While I didn't read his tweets, I remember cringing at some of Pres. Trump's public statements, and cringing again when he either doubled down or contradicted them, later. The man's mouth was his greatest liability, because of his need to exaggerate, occasionally to the point of lying. Of course, all Presidents have lied to the American people, as in "you can keep your insurance," just to reference his immediate predecessor. In a strange way, his mouth was also his greatest strength, because he said what he meant, when it came to policies and his agenda. Many of his supposed "lies" ended up being true, after lengthy inquiries. He wasn't wrong about the "deep state" bureaucracy, and he was honest in his attempts to circumvent, or disable it, for the most part. I could spend an entire column looking at the political/bureaucratic plots against him in both 2016 and 2020, but suffice to say their success was limited. Democrats and bureaucrats

     This week brought some interesting political developments. President Biden gave a speech in Georgia that was roundly ill-received, comparing opponents of the Democrats' "voting rights" bills to George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Jefferson Davis. I posted Sen. McConnell's response to that speech, but I have a few more thoughts to add here. There is also a big change in the political perception of COVID underway, which is probably the biggest story of the week, although it may not be reported on by the "usual suspects" in the MSM, because they are the ones who are changing their perception. Also on COVID, the SCOTUS shot down the Biden administration's OSHA vaccine mandate, while leaving the mandate on health care workers.     Outside of Washington, NYC is entering the post-de Blasio era with mixed messages, as the new Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg seems intent on ending "carceral" prosecutions (that means keeping criminals out of jail), just as th

  WASHINGTON, D.C.  –  U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding President Biden’s speech in Georgia yesterday: “Twelve months ago, a newly-inaugurated President Biden stood on the West Front of the Capitol and said this: ‘My whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, and uniting our nation.’ Yesterday, the same man delivered a deliberately divisive speech that was designed to pull our country farther apart. “Twelve months ago, this President said we should ‘see each other not as adversaries, but as neighbors.’ Yesterday, he called millions of Americans his domestic ‘enemies.’ “Twelve months ago, this President called on Americans to ‘join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.’ Yesterday, he shouted that if you disagree with him, you’re George Wallace. If you don’t pass the laws he wants, you’re Bull Connor. And if you oppose giving Democrats untrammeled one-party

      The new year is just a week old, and it looks as if 2022 is kicking off with an abundance of outrageously idiotic statements and actions. I may have to make this a regular feature on this blog, if I can keep up with all the idiocy. Of course, this week included Jan. 6th, so maybe that ran up the numbers, but here we go:    Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided that the "solemn anniversary of the worst attack on democracy ever" was an occasion to bring in the cast of the Broadway musical Hamilton to virtually perform the song "Theodosia" on Zoom, which even the left wing Daily Beast called "inexplicable ." I'm reminded of the time that the French-looking John Kerry, who served in Vietnam , brought James Taylor to France after the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack to sing "You've Got a Friend ." What is it with Democrats using music in a cringeworthy manner?    Vice President Kamala Harris is just continuing her normal pattern of saying idiotic t

   If we are to take the reporting seriously, Mercedes Benz and other western companies have offended the Chinese people, causing a huge outburst on the social media network Weibo. How did this happen? They used makeup on a Chinese model "to give her exaggerated sloping eyes," according to the NY Post .    This is laughable on it's face, considering the regulation of private opinions that are allowed to be shared in public. However, the Post article also mentions this: It’s not just the upmarket brands who are said to be out of touch. Last week, a model for Chinese snack brand Three Squirrels stood up against the brand’s detractors, asking, “Am I not Chinese?” Consumers had bristled over an unearthed ad campaign from 2019 featuring model Cai Niang Niang, who some said was played up in the ad for her “overly slanted eyes” and posed with her hair in braids, all of which plays into 19th-century Western stereotypes of Chinese people. She wrote on Weibo on Sunday,  according t