Tuesday, June 9, 2020
The Kente Cloth Crisis
I suspect that quite a few progressive congressional leaders are nursing sore knees this morning!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other assorted arthritic liberals knelt for nine minutes in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall in a symbolic show of support for George Floyd. But I also suspect they were imitating Colin Kaepernick. [See next item.]
But here's the kicker: They adorned themselves in Kente cloth, which is associated with a tribe in the west African nation of Ghana. In recent years, it has become associated with the worldwide African diaspora.
I'm assuming that Pelosi and Schumer didn't have Kente cloth hanging in their closets. So kudos to Jeff Bezos and Amazon for pulling off a rush shipment to Capitol Hill for yesterday's display.
This is tokenism and virtue signaling at its worst, and what the left usually condemns as cultural appropriation, a huge offense in the bizarre culture the left is creating.
Social media lit on fire. Conservatives mercilessly mocked this pitiful attempt at identity politics. But progressives weren't happy either. Even CNN and the Washington Post had to admit that the PR stunt backfired.
I don't know for sure, but I suspect some progressive staffer has joined the ranks of the unemployed today. Unless, and this is a real possibility it wasn't a staffer's idea, but a left-wing member of Congress who thought this was a really good idea.
A Reminder
Colin Kaepernick is back in the news, especially since New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was forced to apologize for his own patriotism and opposition to disrespecting our flag and national anthem.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also apologized, and some now expect him to take a knee too. Others are insisting that the only way Goodell can demonstrate his sincerity is by forcing an NFL team to hire Colin Kaepernick. Well, let me remind you what Kaepernick is all about.
He's anti-American to his core. He defended Fidel Castro. He denounced the Betsy Ross flag that flew at Barack Obama's inauguration.
Some have defended Kaepernick by insisting that his kneeling has nothing to do the flag, the anthem or disrespect for our troops or country. That's false. Kaepernick was very clear when he said:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. . . There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
For Kaepernick, one of the most prominent voices of the progressive movement, it has everything to do with the flag and the country.
About That Science. . .
A top researcher at the World Health Organization said yesterday that it is "very rare" for an asymptomatic individual, someone who is infected but appears to have no symptoms, to transmit Covid-19. (They are now trying to walk back this statement based on "models.") But add this to the long list of things the experts have gotten wrong.
Remember all the hype about asymptomatic spreaders? (Here and here.) The idea that asymptomatic patients were efficient spreaders was one of the primary arguments behind Dr. Fauci and others telling the president that if he didn't shutdown the economy, we could lose 2 million people.
And the left's hypocrisy on the shutdown has been completely exposed by the recent protests and riots. People desperate to open their businesses and attend church were roundly condemned as threats to public health, while the protesters are cheered on.
As Attorney General William Barr put it: "Why should some people who are enjoying their First Amendment rights by . . . protesting have broader rights than other people who may want to exercise their . . . religious First Amendment rights [to] go to church?"
Or as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "Politicians do not get to play red-light, green-light within the First Amendment."
Meanwhile, we are just coming to grips with the damage the lockdown has done to our children. Vaccinations are being missed. Children with special needs have lost out on important therapy sessions. Many children have been kept indoors and are spending even more time with electronic devices. A significant percentage is struggling with anxiety and depression.
The experts kept telling us, "We have to follow the science." But we're not even close to following the science.
The science says children are not at significant risk from this disease. The science says when they get the disease, they often have no symptoms. The science now says when they get the disease and have no symptoms, they do not easily spread it to elderly people.
The science says it is healthier to be outside, and that chlorine kills the virus. But the swimming pools are closed. The science says you can't get it from surfaces, but the schools and playgrounds are closed.
It is understandable when confronted with a new virus that the initial conclusion could end up being wrong. But now that we know the experts were so wrong, where are the public service ads admitting it and giving us new, better advice?
Children's lives matter!
About That March. . .
For days last week, Washington, D.C., was on edge, bracing itself for what was expected to be a massive march through the city this past Saturday. Police Chief Peter Newsham said: "We have a lot of . . . information to suggest that the event on this upcoming Saturday may be one of the largest that we've had in the city."
I have been in Washington, D.C., a long time and I have seen a lot of big events. What took place this past Saturday wasn't that big at all. You know that because the media haven't been flooding the airwaves with pictures of the massive crowds.
According to the Washington Post, perhaps a little more than 10,000 people turned out. That's in a city where half the population is black. A city that voted 93% for Hillary Clinton. A city that is made up of woke government employees. And only 10,000 show up?