Daily Digest |  |
- Asking For ID Violates the Constitution?
- Down with Major League Baseball!
- Down With Delta!
- Chauvin trial day 4
- Thoughts from the ammo line
| Asking For ID Violates the Constitution? Posted: 02 Apr 2021 04:36 PM PDT (John Hinderaker) America’s institutions have gone mad, with organizations like Delta and Major League Baseball lining up to oppose sensible election integrity measures, in particular identification requirements that can help prevent voter fraud. Of course, if you pick up tickets at a major league will-call window, you will have to present identification. And no one can board a Delta flight without a driver’s license, passport or other ID. But no one has ever accused liberals of being consistent. The Babylon Bee is, as InstaPundit puts it, America’s Paper of Record. The Bee takes seriously liberals’ claim that requiring identification is a civil rights violation: “Gun Shop Asks For ID In Clear Case Of 2nd Amendment Suppression.”
That argument is at least as good as the ones Delta, MLB and others have made against the Georgia election integrity law. But gun buyers, unlike lefties, are generally sane. Thus:
But leftists have never said “OK, fine” to anything.     |
| Down with Major League Baseball! Posted: 02 Apr 2021 12:58 PM PDT (Paul Mirengoff) Major League Baseball has decided to punish Georgia for its new voting law by moving the 2021 all-star game from Atlanta. As John explained here, the new law isn’t racist, as critics complain. In fact, it actually increases access to the polls. But that’s not really the point. The point is that Major League Baseball’s executives should worry about fixing their broken game and leave decisions about voting and other political matters to voters and their elected representatives. I certainly won’t watch the all-star game this year. I’m considering whether, after 65 years as a fan, to kiss major baseball good-bye. At a minimum, I don’t expect ever again to pay for a ticket to a major league game. Perhaps many other conservatives will behave similarly. The ironic point is that Stacey Abrams, Ms. “voting rights” herself, opposed punishing Georgia for its new voting law. There isn’t anything principled about her stance. It’s just that, having finally seen Georgia become a 50-50 state, she wants to avoid the setback that harming the state in the name of wokeism might cause. Let’s hope that Georgia’s voters, who choked in 2020-21, deal that setback in 2022.   |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2021 09:25 AM PDT (John Hinderaker) Yesterday we linked to Byron York’s account of Delta’s foray into left-wing politics. Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, issued a foolish statement denouncing Georgia’s election reform legislation. Bastien’s statement parroted false left-wing narratives:
This is false. What the law does is make it harder for non-existent people, people who are not qualified voters, and people who have already cast ballots to vote.
Again, this is sheer fabrication, and racist fabrication at that. The idea that “Black voters” are somehow unable to participate in an elementary process like voting is insulting to them.
There is substantial voter fraud in every election, including the 2020 election. Voter fraud denial is epidemic on the left, in defiance of common sense, frequent observation and records of criminal prosecutions. It is outrageous for a major corporation to endorse such denialism. In no state is there actual or proposed legislation “to restrict voting rights.” Rather, in Georgia and other states there is legislation to protect the integrity of our elections. Americans want honest elections, which is why polls show that 75% favor voter ID legislation. In denouncing Georgia’s reform act, Delta has associated itself with fringe left-wing activists, in opposition to the views and interests of the vast majority of Americans. I am one of Delta’s best customers, with well over one million miles flown on that airline. Living in Minnesota, I often have little or no choice; but going forward, I will fly on airlines other than Delta whenever I have the opportunity. Now I have to figure out how to get that message to Mr. Bastien.   |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2021 03:38 AM PDT (Scott Johnson) The State opened the day with the testimony of George Floyd girl friend Courteney Ross. She discussed her relationship with Floyd dating to the day in August 2017 that he asked asked her how she was doing when she was waiting in the lobby of Harbor Lights to visit her son’s father. She recalled Floyd asking her, “Sis, you okay, Sis?” She said she wasn’t and he asked if he could pray with her. Floyd was working at Harbor Lights as a security guard. Ross was called to provide so-called “spark of life” evidence regarding Floyd. Such evidence is admissible in a murder case to provide a human portrait of the victim. In this case it presents one more factor contributing to the prejudice Chauvin must overcome to have his case determined on the facts. The State also used Ross’s testimony to raise the issue of Floyd’s drug use in sympathetic form. Both Ross and Floyd struggled with opiate addictions in the course of their relationship. She said that they both suffered from chronic pain and started with prescription opiates. They consumed illegally obtained oxycontin and oxycodone together off and on throughout their relationship. On his fateful trip to Cup Foods Floyd was accompanied by Morries Hall (the man in red) and Shawanda Hall (the woman in the back seat). I take it from Ross’s testimony that they were Floyd’s suppliers. Earlier this week Morries Hall filed a notice that, if called as a witness, he would assert the Fifth Amendment. In March 2020 Ross saw Floyd’s behavior change to reflect current drug use use. They took bigger pills that month that had a stimulative effect on her. In early March she found him doubled over in pain, complaining that his stomach hurt. He was suffering an overdose — she apparently told the FBI it was a heroin overdose — requiring some five days in the hospital. Ross noticed foam around his mouth as she drove him to the hospital. Floyd was using again in May 2020. The May pills had the same effect on her as the big pills they had previously consumed. Ross was followed by three witnesses who provided emergency medical services to Floyd on May 25: Seth Bravinder, Derek Smith, and Jeremy Norton. What I got out of these witnesses in excruciating detail is that Floyd was dead when he was picked up at the scene and that efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. He had no pulse from the first time he was checked at the scene. The State closed the day with retired Minneapolis police sergeant David Pleoger. I take it that Pleoger is one of the many Minneapolis officers who retired in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. Pleoger is an important witness. He was the shift leader when Floyd died and took the call from Jenna Scurry asking about the use of force she observed on her monitor in the dispatch center. Pleoger evaluated use of force under department policy as a routine part of his job. He went to the scene and interacted with the officers both at the scene and at Hennepin County Medical Center, where Floyd had been taken. Floyd’s death, however, elevated the case to superior authorities. On Pleoger’s bodycam Chauvin is heard speaking with Pleoger about the incident at the scene: “Not really, but had to hold the guy down, he was going crazy. Wouldn’t go in the back of the squad.” Chauvin did not immediately disclose that he placed his knee on Floyd’s neck. Schleicher elicited Pleoger’s opinion concerning the moment when the use of force against Floyd should have ended. He replied: “When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint.” Pleoger agreed with Schleicer that it should have ended when Floyd was handcuffed and on the ground. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher got the answers he wanted from Pleoger, but I thought his testimony was hedged in tone and unenthusiastic. The words came out right, but something was off. I have posted the full video of Pleoger’s testimony below. The testimony begins at about 15:00. The testimony referred to immediately above comes at about about 01:21:00.   |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2021 02:14 AM PDT (Scott Johnson) Ammo Grrrll celebrates as THE COLUMN TURNS 7. She writes: Well, here we are again, friends. I cannot believe that I just completed my SEVENTH year visiting with you all every Friday. Seven is quite a significant number, alleged to be lucky in a casino's slot machine (more anon). It is an important number Biblically. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh; Jacob served Laban seven years to earn his beloved bride, Rachel, and found that his father-in-law had subbed in Rachel's sister, Leah, a fact that might have flattened a lesser man's ardor, but Jacob served for another seven years. It's an odd story and I always felt sorry for everybody involved, perhaps most for Leah who must have had "self-esteem issues," if not PTSD at being a stopgap measure until her husband got the wife he really wanted. Of course, the rabbis, scholars and sages have a much more positive spin on it, being God's will and all, and Leah birthing fully HALF of the sons who would form the Twelve Tribes of Israel. I still would have hated to have my husband lift the veil and see that disappointed look on his face when I'd say, "SURPRISE! Guess who this ISN'T?" On the downside of the Number Seven, supposedly that is a marriage milestone when couples get an "itch" to stray, the famous Seven Year Itch, promoted in a movie of the same name, starring Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell. And what woman would not want to be off on a little breather to escape the heat of the city and have a 22-year-old Marilyn Monroe move into the apartment upstairs from your 46-year-old husband who is temporarily "batching it"? (In truth, the character she played was supposed to be 22; the real-life Marilyn was an "old hag" of 29, which I'm sure would have made a substantial difference. Not.) Most of us not only trust our beloved husbands implicitly, but probably feel we could compete with most run-of-the-mill other ladies. But Marilyn Monroe in her prime? The Marilyn Monroe with her skirt aflutter over the air vent in the money shot for the movie? Goodness gracious, it would be like leaving me in a room with a box of a dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts after a month on KETO. Oh, the humanity! Let me tell you about my slot machine experience. I had been booked for two different shows for the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep – seriously – at their annual convention in Reno. And, no, none of my punchlines were along the lines of "That's Black Bart's girl…", funny though that genre of jokes is. These were serious hunters who paid thousands of dollars to be in a lottery to have the CHANCE to shoot at those curly-horned wild sheep. One fella had spent $100,000 to hunt with guides in the Former Soviet Union. At the time, that was roughly twice what I had spent on the house I lived in for 30 years. I was going to be spending three whole days in the casino hotel and had budgeted the modest sum of $40.00 a day (in late ’80s dollars) to put into the slot machines in lieu of simply throwing it down a sewer grate. And I bet the slot devotees can guess right now how it's going to go. So, the first day, my $40.00 disappeared in the quarter slots in less than an hour. Quelle disappointing! That would have left an awful lot of time in the day before the breakfast show the next morning to find something else to do. And so, I reasoned, why not spend $80.00 the first day and then skip a day? (Ah, the "Bargaining" phase of the addict begins.) The second $40.00 took quite a lot longer to evaporate and was kind of fun – win some, lose a little, win some more. I think I was actually "up" at least $70.00, almost back to "break even." So, of course, I was "hot" and couldn't quit right then. No. I waited until I had dribbled away all of my winnings. Now, I was so depressed I reasoned that I may as well use the last $40.00 and then just sit in my room and read for 3 days. I mean, that machine HAD to have a big payoff soon, right? Eventually I was down to my last 5 quarters. All in. The drum spun and up came one, two, three sevens! The pay-off was $125 — 500 quarters — making quite a jolly clatter. Now the real true gambler would at that point tell his friends that he had "won" $125. But, unfortunately, I can do Math. So I knew that I had played for the better part of an entire day and had spent $120 to get $125. In other words, I had won $5.00. I would have been richer working a shift at McDonald's, with some free fries thrown in. I cashed in my chips, pocketed my $5.00, plus my original $120 and got out of there as fast as my short little legs could carry me. Once, in Tahoe, I watched a curvaceous young lady win a Large-sized movie popcorn bucket full of $5.00 tokens. She was playing on money her sugar daddy had given her so she acted much more nonchalant than I would have. It broke my heart to watch her throw it all back in the machine until her great big bucket was empty. I wanted to shake her and scream, "You had won! This was full to the brim. That's called 'winning.’ How much more did you even THINK you were going to win under the best of circumstances?!" Which is probably just one of many reasons why I don't work in a casino, another being that I cannot walk in high heels. But what is mere filthy lucre compared to the jackpot I landed with the gift of a platform once a week to entertain, buck up, reminisce with, and rant at my fellow Americans? The famous novelist Max Cossack knows better than to expect much in the way of housework or errands because "Friday is MY day" to engage with my commenters, to learn, laugh and share. I do, naturally, make challah for Sabbath and prepare a nice dinner but that's about it. You, the readers, bring me more joy than you will ever know. Additionally, I have gotten to meet and know, either in person or on-line, a variety of impressive human beings. You know who you are. Our four hard-working hosts here, without whom none of this would be possible, are smart and know a great deal about a wide variety of things. But it never ceases to amaze me how the collective commentariat gathered here can weigh in on virtually any subject and deepen and broaden the discussion. Lawyers, doctors, lawyering truck-drivers, military folks, astronauts, teachers, EMTs, law enforcement, writers, seamstresses, veterinarians, and a whole bunch of people who really did Learn to Code. Pick a subject, and somebody will know a ton about it, no matter how arcane or specialized. What a country! This last year has been so depressing and stressful that I never did release the compilation book for year 6. But it's done now, as well as year seven! We will be releasing the year 6 book (Ammo Grrrll Reloads) in early June, after we return from a long road trip, and year 7 (Ammo Grrrll Gets Shot) in mid-September in time for holiday gift-giving. Both will include attractive discounts! So thanks for all the gracious, hilarious and generous comments and stay tuned for the upcoming book releases. May you all stay healthy and go from strength to strength. Onward to Year Eight! Onward to Herd Immunity!   |
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