RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/04/24/biden_urges_more_mail-in_voting_blasts_trump_as_un-american_143034.html

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is calling on Congress to provide enough money for every state to allow voters to cast a ballot by mail this November amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In making that pitch during an online fundraiser Thursday night, Biden blasted President Donald Trump for working to block emergency funding for the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service, which would handle tens of millions of ballots this fall. Biden said it’s evidence that Trump already is trying to “undermine” the election and make it more difficult for Americans to vote.

“We have to make it easier for everybody to be able to vote, particularly if we are still basically in the kind of lockdown circumstances we are in now,” Biden told about 650 donors. “But that takes a lot of money, and it’s going to require us to provide money for states and insist they provide mail-in ballots.”

It’s perhaps Biden’s most explicit call for a national mail election since COVID-19 upended the 2020 campaign and every aspect of American life. The former vice president doesn’t propose eliminating in-person voting. But he said state and local officials must do more to make polling locations conform to public health protocols, while steering voters toward other options.

https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2020/04/23/the-democrats-totally-want-a-depression-n2567395

If the Malevolent Donkey Party was actively seeking to plunge the country into an economic tailspin, while still maintaining some level of deniability to the credulous suckers out there, exactly what would it be doing differently? It would be pretty much doing exactly what it is doing right now – shilling for the bat-gobbling ChiComs, delaying needed assistance to keep America working, and generally trying to keep us all locked in the dark in perpetuity.

It’s fair to assume that you intend the expected consequences of the actions you take, and the consequence of the actions the Democrats are taking is economic ruin. The indisputable fact is that they’re totally cool with that if that is what gets them back into power.

Democrats are never ones to let a good crisis go to waste, and this Wuhan Flu is a very good crisis indeed if your goal is leftist hegemony. The Trump economy was booming after the near-decade of the Obama doldrums, and people were getting a taste of prosperity. But a happy, prosperous America is something the Democrat dudes can’t abide. All the Democrats had to sell were recycled cries of “RACISM!” and “RUSSIA!” and their standard-bearer was that sinewy weirdo Grandpa Badfinger, who was promising to drag us all back into the nightmare of globalist failure. The future looked grim, which means it actually looked bright for the rest of us.

So, the Chinese coronavirus was a dream come true, a deus ex pangolin that finally, after an endless series of leaks, impeachments, investigations, and media meltdowns, might be the magic bullet that actually takes Trump down.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/a-joe-biden-scotus-list-would-be-good-news/

. . . for conservatives.

CBS News is reporting that liberal groups are calling on Joe Biden to release a list of potential Supreme Court nominees and “copy the playbook” of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

At first glance, this seems like a useful idea. Trump’s SCOTUS list was a highly effective campaign maneuver, shoring up wobbly support from originalists and social conservatives. Before the election, I was highly skeptical that Trump would adhere to his promises on judges, but he has, and for many of us, these picks are the most important legacy of his first term.

But what does Biden gain from assembling such a list? Probably not much. In fact, it could hurt him.

While it’s true that the liberal base is animated by resisting conservative justices, contemporary Democrats have never been exceptionally troubled by the philosophical disposition of their judges, mostly because their presidents never make mistakes.

Of course, it’s easy to make the right call when you’re picking from a group whose only unifying ideology of jurisprudence is malleably partisan. There is no Federalist Society laying down intellectually consistent cases on the left, because there can’t be any consistency. There is virtually no space between the Left’s conception of Constitution and the Left’s constantly evolving views and policy goals. And those goals increasingly lay outside the limits of traditional constitutional governance. Liberal judges exist to justify, literally, those policy goals, and in the vast majority of cases, they do.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/04/a_black_georgia_democrat_who_endorsed_trump_is_driven_out_office.html

“Rep. Vernon Jones has been subjected to unrelenting harassment from black Democrats furious with him for saying Trump has done more for blacks than Biden ever did.”

Happily, Democrats in Georgia don’t have the option of executing politically disfavored people, but they’ll certainly do their best to erase them from history. Former state representative Vernon Jones, a black Democrat who supports Trump, has discovered that, if you’re an apostate from the Democrat party, you will be driven from the fold.

Last week, Jones endorsed President Donald Trump for a second term. His reasoning was straightforward:

“It’s very simple to me. President Trump’s handling of the economy, his support for historically black colleges and his criminal justice initiatives drew me to endorse his campaign,” said Jones, who added that he had no immediate plans to switch parties.

“There are a lot of African Americans who clearly see and appreciate he’s doing something that’s never been done before,” Jones said. “When you look at the unemployment rates among black Americans before the pandemic, they were at historic lows. That’s just a fact.”

Georgia Democrats responded swiftly and brutally. Not only did they repeat the usual baseless canards about Trump’s racism, they instantly tried to un-person Jones:

State Democratic officials tried Tuesday to disown Jones, a former chief executive of DeKalb County, Georgia’s biggest Democratic stronghold. State Sen. Nikema Williams, the chairwoman of the state party, called him an “embarrassment” who doesn’t reflect Georgia values.

https://amgreatness.com/2020/04/18/rally-round-the-flag-but-not-around-cuomo/

An apolitical friend reached out to me the other day with an honest question: Is Andrew Cuomo the best governor in the United States?

The answer to that question is a hard “no,” but my friend is not the only one thinking that way, especially among New Yorkers.

A new poll, under the headline “Cuomo Threatens Trump” shows Cuomo’s numbers skyrocketing during his handling of the coronavirus crisis and has him challenging Trump seriously in a head-to-head matchup. Polls show the president’s approval ratings moving upward during the crisis, too. Both of these politicians seem to be leveraging their nationally televised Corona briefings toward general approval of their handling of the situation.

The truth is both of these politicians seem to be benefiting from the “rally ’round the flag effect.” Seen most spectacularly during 9/11, the “rally ’round the flag effect” is a term coined by political scientists to describe how Americans tend to favor their leaders during times of national distress. During “the most spectacular of international crises,” government officials can expect “a public rally.” This is how we can understand President George Bush’s astounding approval rating of 90 percent during the intial outbreak of “the war on terrorism.” Or FDR’s 84 percent approval rating during the Great Depression, even though some economists have questioned if his actions actually prolonged our economic burdens, and didn’t help alleviate them.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/04/funny_how_michelle_obamas_endorsement_of_joe_biden_is_something_that_requires_talks.html

If Joe Biden were a good candidate, doesn’t it seem as though it would be a breeze for any Democrat to endorse him?

He’s not a normal candidate, at least when it comes to the Obamas.

Michelle Obama is in “talks” with the Biden team on all the conditions necessary to obtain her endorsement.

According to Fox News:

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s team is speaking with former first lady Michelle Obama about winning her endorsement and having her play a role in his campaign, according to a report.

Former President Obama endorsed Biden last week soon after Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race and Biden emerged as the apparent Democratic nominee.

“We know what pretty much everyone in America does: Michelle Obama is probably the most beloved member of the Democratic Party and her support is a big deal,” a Biden aide told The Hill. “Any future announcement would reflect the incredible impact her voice has.”

Hear that? Talks.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/pelosi-satisfied-with-biden-campaigns-reponse-to-sexual-assault-allegation_3317170.html#

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), one of the top Democrats in Congress, said she accepted a statement from presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign in response to a sexual assault allegation made by a former Biden staffer.

Tara Reade, 56, filed a lawsuit against Biden, 77, last week accusing him of sexually assaulting her at the U.S. Capitol in 1993. Reade said her impetus for filing the suit was the harassment she received since coming forward in April 2019 with allegations against her former boss.

In a statement sent to news outlets, Biden campaign spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said: “Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false.” Biden himself has not addressed the matter and has not been asked about it by reporters yet.

During an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Beat” on Friday night, host Ari Melber asked Pelosi about the “accusation of misconduct.” Was she satisfied with the response?

“Yes, I am,” Pelosi said.

https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a32132819/stacey-abrams-on-voting-rights-covid-19-and-being-vice-president/

Experienced politicians know there is a right way to answer questions about pursuing higher office. Be demure. Redirect. Convey vague interest while insisting never to have given it serious consideration. But Stacey Abrams does not give the expected answer when I ask if she would accept an offer from former vice president Joe Biden to serve as his 2020 running mate. “Yes. I would be honored,” Abrams says. “I would be an excellent running mate. I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities. I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I’ve spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy. I am ready to help advance an agenda of restoring America’s place in the world. If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve.”

Abrams’s direct response betrays ambition, makes verifiable claims, and establishes outcomes to which she could later be held accountable. By normal political rules, it is the wrong answer. But as Abrams and I talk in March in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, it is clear that normal political rules no longer apply. I’m asking her about an unknown political future even as the future itself is frighteningly unknowable: schools closing, businesses shuttering, and Americans sheltering against a raging virus we can barely fathom. Amid this chaotic unpredictability, Abrams’s candor is disarming and comforting.

Into the Unknown

In the March 15 televised debate, Biden committed to choosing a woman as his running mate. Less than a week later, the progressive strategy network Way to Win released survey data indicating Stacey Abrams was Biden’s strongest potential lieutenant. A graduate of Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin, and Yale Law School, Abrams made history as the first woman to lead a political party in Georgia’s General Assembly and the first African American to lead the Georgia House of Representatives. In 2018, she pursued history again, mounting an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to become America’s first black woman governor. Her defeat came amid election irregularities and allegations of voter suppression. Abrams refused to concede the close race to her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp. “I’m supposed to say nice things and accept my fate,” Abrams writes in the preface to her New York Times best-seller, Lead From the Outside. “I refused to be gaslighted into throwing away my power, diminishing my voice.”