To: Senator Klobuchar
From: Mitch Berg, Irascible Peasant
Re: Whoah, There…

Senator Klobuchar,

Thanks for taking a clear, principled stance on controversial issues like…

(checks notes)

…repealing Daylight Savings Time.

It’s a time for leaders to lead. But don’t fly too close to the sun.

That is all.

Did the Boston Celtics bench Enes Kanter for dunking on the Chicoms?

What a difference a year and a few tweets slamming China for slave labor make. Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter has seen his playing time severely diminished after posting a series of social media messages attacking NBA partner China for oppressing its peoples, leaving some wondering if Kanter is being punished for his advocacy of freedom.

The Celtics are denying it.

The correct answer is “of course they are””.

I mean, isn’t that what Kaepernick saga taught us? Allegation = guilt?

(Note: I apologize to those of you who had “never, ever” in the “when will Mitch write anything at all about the NBA?“ pool.)

I was told that if I voted for Donald Trump, school boards would be overrun with domestic terrorists.

And they were right.

“For those who got an issue with this critical race theory equity, this is something I fight for, for my children,” Austin reportedly said during the school board meeting . “How dare you come out here and talk about the things that my daddy and my grandparents went through,” listing things such as Jim Crow, lynchings, and the oppression…

“I’ll bring my soldiers with me next time … locked and loaded,” Austin stated as he was being escorted out of the meeting by officers. Plemmons reportedly questioned whether he had been addressing her, to which he replied, “locked and loaded.”

That’s “1,000 soldiers, locked and loaded”, coming out to defend Critical Race Theory…

…which does not exist.

Author Thomas Ricks on Twitter:

Three blocks from my house, August 26,2020.

Well, there is a dumbass dupe in the conversation.

NOTE: This blog’s editing tool, “Word Press”, just keeps getting worse and worse. It ate the lede, literally, for this piece. We’ll try again.

I’ll cop to a certain amount of Schedenfreud, watching the array of reliably “progressive” and utterly un-funny late-night talk shows sinking beneath Greg Gutfeld.

Four years of Donald Trump made conventional late-night “comedy” indolent and lazy. Writers – many of them not very funny to begin with – seemed to think anything with Trump in the punch line would earn ’em a laugh. The “A-list” “talent” hosting these affairs – dismal talking heads like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, whose careers peaked at parodying “Red” media and watching women jumping on trampolines, respectively – aren’t helping much.

And few stories of of this decline make me happier than Trevor Noah’s Daily Show, which traded the (relative) wit and charm of Jon Stewart for…

…well, Trevor Noah. I’d normally tell a joke at this point at Noah’s expense, but it seems fitting to remain un-funny.

And between a lame host and “writing” that can’t quite find, well, any traction in any way, the Daily Show is sinking fast.

The “Daily Show” host is as reliably progressive as his peers, although he occasionally will smite his own side (at least far more than Colbert or Jimmy Kimmel). Still, his show’s most recent ratings snapshot isn’t bad

It’s abysmal

“Abysmal” may be charitable:

#Shrug.

How bad has it gotten?

Noah has sunk below the unctuous, priggish John Oliver. Below the hapless and abysmal Samantha Bee. Ahead of the pointless, Colbert-produced “Charlemagne Tha God”, and nothing more.

Will Hollywood learn?

It’s been 30 years, and newspapers still haven’t.

Self-defense is bad, unless you’re a rioter. Brawling is good.

No, really.

This NPR story – about a group of black families buying property in Georgia to try to create a black, utopian city – is full of unspoken, and semi-spoken, assumptions that Honky is going to mess the whole thing up.

Speaking as a person of honk, I wish them all well in their oddly segregationist but utterly legal effort.

Indeed, there are notes of free-marketeering to be found in between the lines in the story.

Which brings me to my actual response..

“Go with God, Freedom, Georgia. Hold that free-market thought, and you have every chance of doing very well. But if you wind up going with the soft-socialism that much of the Black Democrat political mainstream pushes, you might – will – have problems. Try to avoid that”.

Which is better advice than NPR or most of its listeners are going to give.

…that Duke Ellington HIgh School in Georgetown, DC is going to regard this as a, er, tactical error; they’ve canceled a fundraiser involving one of their alums, Dave…

…er, let me try that again…

DAVE FREAKING CHAPPELLE

… because transgender::

The students said they were uncomfortable supporting Chappelle because many of their classmates identify as LGBTQ+. In his new Netflix special, The Closer, the comedian compares being transgender to wearing blackface, says “gender is a fact” and says that he’s a member of “team TERF,” meaning “trans-exclusionary radical feminists.”

I’m hoping I’m around in 30 years to see what comedians say about this era.

This story came out last week.

On one hand, a round of applause for the locals who grabbed the guy.

The good news: People are getting sick of criminals.

The bad news: Perhaps they’re also getting sick of a system that coddles criminals, and are ready to start doing order (if not justice, in the sense we’ve come to expect) themselves.

But there’s more.

As of when this post was written (Saturday morning), Minnesota had 84 homicides – two more than for all of 2020.

Let’s put that in context. In 2016, there were 82 unjustified homicides.

In the entire state of Minnesota. Minneapolis had 30-.

Thjis is what civic collapse looks like.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals says — no mandate for you:

A federal appeals court has upheld its stay on President Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandate for companies with at least 100 employees.

In a 22-page ruling on Friday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the mandate was “fatally flawed,” and barred the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from enforcing the mandate “pending adequate judicial review” of a motion for permanent injunction.

OSHA shall “take no steps to implement or enforce the mandate until further court order,” the ruling stated.

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The mandate, which was supposed to take effect Jan. 4, requires business with at least 100 employees to mandate their workers get vaccinated or undergo frequent testing.

Two predictions:

• Biden and co. will ignore the court ruling; and
• The chorus of MSM scolds will try to justify whatever Biden does. Constitutional crises are so 2020, doncha know.

And to think some say the “elite” media is utterly delusional:

I mean, I get the theory – it’s not quite the puffery it appears to be at first glance. A media that conscientiously checks and balances government is, in fact, vital – not only to democracy, but to the functioning of a free society.

Quick example: In the history of the world, there has never been a famine in a place with both a relatively free economy and a relatively free press; the market evens out the economic distortion, and a free-ish media allays the panic-hoarding and the corruption, that are behind most modern famines.

Now – looking at the shortages creeping up around us today, do you think our media could be doing a better job of reporting on the causes?

As opposed to puffing up the Administration -and themselves?

The Kyle Rittenhouse case – involved in jury instrucitons today, and going to final attorney summations today – is plenty complicated, but about some fairly simple questions:

• Did Rittenhouse instigate or participate in instigating two different deadly-force incidents in which he used lethal force on four people, with two dead, one seriously injured, and one missed (who has disappeared from public view)?
• Was his fear of death or great bodily harm reasonable?
• Was the threat to his life immediate?
• Was his response reasonable – enough to end the attack on him?
• DId he make a reasonable effort under the circumstances to disengage?

Proving or disproving those five points for two incidents and four shootings has taken eight days of testimony and over a year of pre-trial wrangling – all very complicated – but the questions themselves are fairly simple.

But as far as the media and the large culture are concerned, this trial isn’t really about the facts of the case.

This case is about America’s tribes – the “four Americas” that George Packer talked about last summer – projecting their views of each other onto each other via a teenager who jumped into the deep end of the pool head-first.

“Smart” America, the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton crowd, see in Rittenhouse the bitter gun-clinging Jeezuz freak they picture that other tribe of Americans being; they earnestly exclaim “Nobody needs a gun like that” (ignoring the fact that four people tried to kill him). They think Rittenhoue is an intellectual symbol of all they detest about that other America. This includes most, but not all, media coverage; Big Media has cast its lot with “Just America”, and it shows in much of the coverage.

“Real” America seems. him as a lone sentinel of freedom, fighting back against the (politically favored, socially immunized) mob that is ravaging our centers of thought and commerce (and Kenosha). A kid from bedrock America, good and true, a bone to be chewed by a “blue” culture and media (ptr) who are siding with the rioters

“Free” America sees this as another show trial, like Bernard Goetz, a symbol of a state run amok that is actively crushing liberty.

“Just” America, naturally, sees Rittenhouse, the person and the case, as a symptom of “white supremacy” and the base, violent nature of the army of straw cis-men they face.

Indeed, with few exceptions, the higher the social status of the person commenting on Rittenhouse, the less their commentary actually has to do with the shootings in Kenosha or the facts at trial.

Everyone and everything in our society today is a metaphor, it seems.

…is that as the things considered “Virtues” change, so do the signals.

Incenting people to snitch on each other over personal and business decisions is one of them.

“But wait, Mitch – the fact that you didn’t say anything against the Texas abortion law’s incentives for filing actions against abortion providers or customers speaks volumes“.

It sure does. I’m not necessarily wild about that part of the Texas law – although the decision to abort affects more than just the mother; in many cases, more than just the mother and child, as well.

But in this case? If you loved East Germany under the Stasi, you’ll love a second Biden term.

People filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Data Practices Act (DPA) requests over the past few years have wondered how it is that Governor Walz leaves such a light state-documented electronic trail.

Could he just be old fashioned? Or, like Paulie Cicero in Goodfellas, maybe he just never does business electronically?

Well, no:

Because information is privilege. And privilege is power.

I’ve said it in the past; I’ve always found the practice of thanking veterans for their service to be a little…off.

Nothing against those that do say it – but it’s always felt a little strange to me.

“Thanks for taking a couple years out of your life, in many cases going around the world and undergoing a lot of unimaginable stress, danger and horror. Thanks so much!”.

So for my part – to all you veterans out there: I’m glad you made it home.

Let’s make this nation worth your time, and the sacrifice of those who didn’t come back.

…that if I voted for Donald Trump, it would usher in a post rule-of-law society.

And they were right!

I’m encouraged by the fact that young people of all political stripes are more pro-Second Amendment than the rest of society.

This is one of ’em.

More, faster.

More, faster. 

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

We don’t have a national firearms registry.  That would be illegal.

We just keep the sales records of every firearms dealer who went out of business.  Ever.

So that’s okay, then.

Joe Doakes

It most certainly is not – but that’s what happens when you start putting loopholes in civil rights.

This blog was founded primarily to lend my small, relatively insignificant voice to pointing out the growing bias and ethical turpitude the mainstream media.

That was in 2002 – a much more innocent time, relatively speaking.

As we’ve documented the proceedings in the Rittenhouse trial, I’ve noted the scabrous, depraved slant in the coverage.

Someone actually put ’em in the same place:

Local media is no better; most ran headlines similar to the above during Monday’s proceedings – only Channel 11 made a quick headline reference to the fact that Grosskreutz incriminated himself and upheld Rittenhouses self-defense claim against him (without saying it in as many words, naturallly).

Public media? NPR and MPR this morning ran a report from Wisconsin Public Radio about yesterday’s proceedings that focused on a dispute over whether the owner of the used car lot where the incident started did or did not pay, or even ask, civilians to provide security – which will have no impact on the verdict, other than perhaps gulling any potentially dim jurors…

…and ignored the county Medical Examiner and photographer Nathan DeBruin, who largely upheld Rittenhouse’s self-defense claim.

I tend to give people the benefit of a doubt. Reporters aren’t largely lawyers. Many of them aren’t curious enough to go much past the press releases that seem to make up so much of one’s morning newscast.

But this goes way past ignorance, and given the amount of reliable information that is available, incompetence as well.

They are pushing a narrative; protesters good, protests mostly peaceful, resistance entirely depraved and motivated by white supremacy.

To the narrative, the battle is a reductionist cartoon with white hats on one side and MAGA caps on the other, counting on news consumers to be too dim to know the difference.

As the 2020 elections, the California recount, and the recent election in Austin Texas show, its not wrong.

“…Mitch, why do you keep saying that media attention to ‘white supremacy’ is just a diversion tactic, a political cudgel with which to beat down, bully and shame dissent, with otherwise no substance whatsoever?”, I respond “because that’s exactly how your side treats it“.

There are so many reasons to flush the Biden administration like a bad tequila and gas station burrito bender the next morning.

This story is merely one of them. But it’s a big one:

Veterans that chose not to get a COVID-19 vaccine and are dismissed from their posts will not receive any special protections or preferential evaluations for veterans’ benefits eligibility, with the decision being ultimately determined by their discharge status.

The decision of whether to give these veterans other-than-honorable discharges will be left to their local commanders.

I don’t care what Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar have to say about this – it’s perfectly predictable.

Now Dean Phillips and Angie Craig? That’s an opinion I’d like to get.

During testimony yesterday in the Kyle Rittenhoue trial, Gaige Grosskreuz – the “medic” with the illegally-concealed who was shot while chasing Rittenhouse with an illegally-concealed Glock – this happened:

In this, Grosskreutz admits – after a half-hour of cross-examination by defense attorney Chirifisi – that his actions justified Rittenhouse’s claim of self-defense against him, and likely Huber as well. The admission above takes place at 3:23 of the video below; the preceding several minutes of the defense cross-examination is fascinating….

…as Chirifisi slowly backs Grosskreutz into telling the truth, is fascinating to watch.

As was the prosecutor’s classic facepalm.

Defense attorney Andrew Branca blogged about the day’s events. He’s scathing to ADA Binger.

As I stepped through the cross-examination of Grosskreutz today, I identified no fewer than 19 substantive portions, nearly 50% of the total time spent on cross by Attorney Chirafisi, that were substantively destructive to the State’s narrative of guilt, and helpful to the defense narrative of self-defense.   It was harder to identify the parts to leave out of today’s end-of-day post than it was to select the parts to keep in.

“Directed verdict” – a judge telling a jury that the facts leave only one possible choice – is what the lawyers in the windows on the left of the screen start yelling. I suspect that’s unlikely, although less so than the belief in some quarters that the judge should toss the whole trial, which just isn’t going to happen; someone would gin that into grounds for an appeal, and then you’re one judge away from having to go through the whole thing again.

In the course of this trial, I’ve learned one important thing; the big lesson I took away from carry permit class 16 years ago has changed. The defense no longer has to prove the major elements of their case; they have the burden of providing evidence of self-defense; the prosecution then has to prove that any one of the following five standards for self-defense wasn’t met:

1. Innocence – the defendant didn’t start the altercation

2. Proportionality – they used only the force necessary to stop the threat

3. Imminence – the lethal force was used in response to something going on at that moment; not the day before, not some future threat.

4. Reasonableness – the defendant reasonably believed they were going to die.

5. Avoidance – the defendant tried to avoid the episode. Note – even in a Stand your Ground or Castle situation, judges will often advise juries it’s best to try to avoid the use of lethal force.

It seems obvious that the prosecution’s case in the Huber and Grosskreutz shootings fell apart yesterday. The Rosenbaum shooting may be a little closer fought, but I think there’s at least reasonable doubt so far…

…and the defense still hasn’t presented its case.

Just to be clear – killing is a tragedy, and it’s best not to be where one expects violence to happen. The law – and, in places like Minneapolis and Kenosha, politics – aren’t fond of citizens defending their property. Be aware of this.

But hopefully this past two years, and a good mid-term at the state and federal level, start changing that.

Who might have warned you about this?

No idea. Seriously.

…when I would have looked at an event like today’s 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht and nodded and thought “good thing our society is smarter than that these days”.

Because November 9 is the anniversary of the largest pogrom in ihistory:

In a statement to representatives of the foreign press, Goebbels responded to the outrage at Germany’ assault on its half-million Jewish citizens by challenging the Western democracies: “If there is any country that believes it has not enough Jews, I shall gladly turn over to it all our Jews.” But not one country said they would take the Jews of Germany.

After this last couple of years, I’m really not so sure.

Antisemitism is back on the rise…:

It’s incredible how little has changed in eighty-three years. Children’s textbooks are filled with anti-Jewish hatred in the Palestinian territories while others call Abbas and his underlings “moderates. “Islamic Clerics throughout the world call for the death of Jews, and a recent AJC study reported that Antisemitism runs rampant in France.

And given our crippling tribalism, and the dehumanization of other ‘tribes” that runs rampant in tribalist societies (Rwanda, Bosnia, Burma and India for some modern examples), I’m not exactly sanguine about everyone else either.