Quotes and Links
A week in review.
“The worst part’s at night. The noise. It starts at about 10 o’clock, and it’ll go until 4 in the morning. Playing music and racing their motocross and motorbikes up and down the streets.” — Joe Germanotta, the father of pop singer Lady Gaga, on the illegal migrants who have inundated New York City with trash, drugs, and public disturbances. One migrant woman was recently arrested for slapping a police officer as he was attempting to confiscate her unregistered motorbike. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, the National Guard was mobilized to help deal with migrants. Many people dismissed Greg Abbott’s decision to ship illegals to Blue states and cities as a useless and cruel PR stunt, but it has turned out to be a masterstroke in political strategy. Now, in dealing with a small measure of what border states have to go through, Democratic officials are making the GOP’s arguments for them.
“I’m gonna tell you something New Yorkers, never in my life have I had a problem that I didn’t see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City.”— New York City Mayor Eric Adams, on the influx of illegal migrants to his city. Adams is apoplectic over the “madman down in Texas who decided he wanted to bus people up to New York City.” Why are New Yorkers surprised that a non-sanctuary jurisdiction such as Texas would “bus” illegal immigrants “up” to a sanctuary jurisdiction such as their own? After all, Adams said:
“We should protect our immigrants. Period. Yes, New York City will remain a sanctuary city under an Adams administration.” — Eric Adams in October 2021.
“My response is that kids know their genders. Unequivocally. Cisgender kids know their genders. And transgender kids know their genders.” — Dr. Meredithe McNamara, Pediatrics professor at Yale, who argues that there shouldn’t be any “gender-affirming care” safeguards in place for children. A few months back, when McNamara was asked by Rep. Dan Crenshaw to provide a single study showing that transgender procedures are beneficial for children, she couldn’t do so.
“Thank you, Secretary Booty Juice.” — President Joe Biden addressing Pete Buttigieg.
“It’s been more than two and a half years, and they’re still hunting down brand new Jan 6 defendants for the crime of unlawfully ‘parading’ in the Capitol building. Two and a half years after the Civil War, sweeping amnesties had already been issued.” — Independent journalist Michael Tracey.
“Proud Boys Leader Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison on Seditious Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to January 6 U.S. Capitol Breach: Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio's sentence is the longest sentence to date related to the breach.” — A tweet from the FBI, bragging about putting a man behind bars for two decades despite the fact that Tarrio wasn’t even present on Jan. 6. It’s worth noting that Tarrio was a “prolific” FBI collaborator and “key” undercover asset in numerous investigations who “risked his life to assist law enforcement officers on many occasions.” But the FBI went and turned him into public enemy #1 for “seditious conspiracy,” an ancient statute from 1861. Tarrio’s sentence is longer than the median time served in state prison for murder, rape, and other violent offenses.
“Students in Michigan Housing need to leave their residence halls during isolation, even if they are in a single room.” — Guidance from a new policy at the University of Michigan, which is forcing students who test positive for covid to leave their dorms for five days and live in the community.
“Might a better approach say ‘Let’s protect the most vulnerable and allow others to lead their normal lives?’” — CNN’s Michael Smerconish, who posed the question to Anthony Fauci this week during an interview in which the latter feebly defended masks after being presented with the findings of the Cochrane study showing that they’re pointless. What Smerconish is describing is the “focused protection” strategy recommended at the beginning of the pandemic by Great Barrington Declaration epidemiologists like Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who were censored and demonized at the behest of Fauci.
“Mask mandates were instrumental in controlling the spread of coronavirus.” — The Washington Post, which does not link to or cite any evidence to justify this claim.
“The core cursed dynamic of 2024 is that Biden’s age wouldn’t be as big of a problem if his VP were popular, but if his VP were popular there’d be tremendous pressure on him to step aside so in a perverse way he benefits from a poor selection.” — Independent journalist Matthew Yglesias. I’ve previously written that the real reason Biden is running again is because Kamala Harris has been an abject disaster as VP and would likely lose to Trump. And to those who ask, “Well, if Biden steps down, why can’t another Democrat run instead of Harris,” my response is that the Left would lose its mind if a black female vice president were passed up for the nomination. It would cause a rift in the Democratic Party and probably lead considerably more people to vote for Cornell West, all but ensuring a Trump victory.
“It’s a weakness that could manifest itself as low Democratic turnout even if Trump and Republicans don’t gain among those groups.” — Nate Cohn in the New York Times, on the steady erosion of black and Hispanic support for Biden. If Biden is unable to revitalize this support by next November, “it will continue a decade-long trend of declining Democratic strength among voters considered to be the foundation of the party.”
"It’s very strange when the left is pro-war. It’s almost like this political shift of the poles where it doesn’t matter what the actual facts of what you are supporting are as long as what you are supporting is endorsed by the ideology. This leftist ideology that you have to have a Ukrainian flag in your Twitter bio, and you aren’t even looking at the objective data of what happened here and why this got started.” — Joe Rogan.
“Racists tried to vilify an Oakland elementary school for organizing a playdate specifically for Black, Latino and AAPI families. Their hate reinforced the importance of these safe spaces.” — The San Francisco Chronicle. Decades from now psychology texts will delve into the elaborate mental twists and turns required to arrive at the “anti-racist” conclusion that segregation is actually a good thing.
“Hate body odour? You’re more likely to have rightwing views.” — Headline from the Guardian.
“Do you doubt the evidence that vaccines reduce transmission?” — The New York Times’ David Leonhardt.
“Vaccinating kids reduces COVID transmission the way pouring your water bottle on your lawn slows forest fires. Absolutely futile in any sense, and not the justification for mass vaccination campaign.” — UCSF professor Vinay Prasad.
“The woke believe race is first and foremost the thing you should always see everywhere, which I find interesting because that used to be the position of the Ku Klux Klan.” — Bill Maher.
“The DNC will not let #BidenDebateKennedy because whatever credibility is lost by Biden ducking a debate is a fraction of what would be lost by Biden in a debate.” — Evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein.
“If you do a questionnaire, please make it a paper and pencil activity - any digital records are more permanent and may be requested under federal law.” — An email from Jefferson County (Colorado) Education Association to teachers. The Jefferson County school district told teachers not to give out pronoun questionnaires or promise students that information would be kept from parents; the teachers union said just do it in paper and pencil and destroy the documents after.
“The easiest and most effective way to breed conformity and stigmatize dissent is telling people that the moment is too scary — one’s opponents are too dangerous — to permit anything but lockstep unity. It’s such a primitive tactic but, by all appearances, it still works.” — Glenn Greenwald
“2024 isn’t a presidential election. It’s a pardon hearing for J6. Treat it that way.” — Author Scott Adams.
“We are in a crisis time right now. Many, many people are being threatened with — and actually put through — disciplinary processes for their exercise of free speech and academic freedom.” — Harvard Law School professor Janet Halley. Harvard was recently declared the worst school for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). It received a 0.00-point free speech ranking on a 100-point scale—a full 11 points behind the next worst school. FIRE said that the zero score was “generous”; the school actually scored a -10.69, according to their calculations.
“The Misogyny Myth,” from City Journal.
N.S. Lyons reviews Neil Howe’s The Fourth Turning is Here.
The New York Times acknowledges the learning loss crisis caused by pandemic policies.
Explosive piece in the Washington Post on how the budget deficit is set to double to $2 trillion this year, which is basically unprecedented in U.S. history during relative peace and prosperity.
Simulation Commander: “Now Is the Time to Not Do What You're Told.”
Excerpt from an upcoming Elon Musk biography on “The Real Story of Musk’s Twitter Takeover,” featured in the Wall Street Journal.
“Inside Elon Musk’s Struggle for the Future of AI,” from Time.
An article in Quillette on how “unconscious bias” in medicine is a canard.
The New York Times: “Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault Is That?”
A Tablet article on how woke Bolsheviks are destroying the American theater from within.
At least Biden didn't say "Booty Juice" three times. Heaven knows what might have happened, although it's fun to speculate.
“The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.”
Salman Rushdie