Around the Block with CenterlineRight

First stop is the coronavirus on the corner.  I look around and everyone is wearing a mask, businesses are closed down, and people are keeping their distance from each other.  We are living in such a cold and impersonal time, aren’t we?  Here is a recent news item that hopefully reflects the trend that just might be putting this pandemic in the rear view mirror: https://www.cnsnews.com/article/national/susan-jones/cdc-covid-involved-deaths-mid-august-down-63-april-peak .  And looking ahead to life after the pandemic, here is a really good assessment of where the planet stands on a virus vaccine: https://www.aei.org/articles/the-latest-in-the-global-race-for-a-covid-vaccine/ . 

And lest we get distracted by what Joe Biden says about how President Trump has reacted to the pandemic, let us look carefully at exactly how Joe Biden himself has reacted to the pandemic: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/08/clueless-joe-biden-wrong-on-the-coronavirus-as-usual.php .  This was clearly Trump’s first skirmish with a pandemic, but the record shows that Joe Biden has battled this opponent before.  How do you think that went down: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/08/bidens-weak-record-in-responding-to-pandemics.php .

I believe the lesson here is that all of us, regardless of political affiliation and agenda, need to back off of the critical analysis of how our civic leaders have dealt with the coronovirus in America.  Whether you are a Democratic Governor of New York or President of the United States, you did what you thought was best at the time you had to do it.  Mistakes were made and hopefully lessons will be learned.  Once we are past this deal, there will be ample time to look back and rethink our actions.   Our energies and resources should now be focused on reviving our economy, getting our kids back in school, and returning ourselves to life without face masks.

Walking on down the street just a bit, we look up and there is the local Post Office.  After reading this news item, one would think that our Congress would demand some management reforms before pouring more federal dollars down that postal hole: https://justthenews.com/accountability/watchdogs/audit-exposes-postal-services-overtime-racket-democrats-seek-bailout .

I turn the corner at the end of the street and see the broken windows and smoke-stained walls from recent riots.  If you have not yet heard about this Osterweil book entitled “In Defense of Looting”, you have got to read this article and follow the links:  https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/08/looting-goes-mainstream-on-npr.php .  In today’s America, there is absolutely no doubt that the truth is stranger than fiction; at least fiction as we once imagined it.  The fact that National Public Radio (NPR) has allowed itself to slouch into liberal bias with the majority of the mainstream media is a great, national tragedy. 

Even though federal sources account for about 2 percent of its total revenues and NPR clearly has the liberty to slant its reporting in any direction it chooses, I regret having witnessed its journalistic ethical decline during my lifetime.  I can recall a time in days past when I thought that NPR was the great arbiter between the Right and Left.  I assumed their reporting to be accurate and objective.  Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.  For them to give a platform and megaphone to a writer of foolishness like this exposes them for the hacks they have become.

Don’t miss the next post….Just Google centerlineright

Moving on to the next corner, there in a store window is a Biden/Harris campaign poster.  Here is a professional version of what I attempted to address in my immediately previous post.  Hanson is truly a national treasure and a gifted journalist and he does a great job of exposing the Democratic attempt at misdirection (i.e. hypocrisy) in the upcoming 2020 elections:   https://amgreatness.com/2020/08/23/from-dnc-irony-to-parody/ . 

The Democrats have their polls and the Republicans have their polls.  If you ask the right questions in the right fashion, the pollsters can pretty much get any response they desire.  These pollsters are clever people and very few consumers of their products trouble themselves to examine the metrics behind the polling.  Based on the majority of national polling being reported by the mainstream media, you might think this election is over and Biden is measuring curtains in the White House (where have we heard that before?); but the fact is that there are several pollsters who see this upcoming presidential election as being wide open.  Here is an article on one such source: https://news.stonybrook.edu/facultystaff/maverick-modeller-helmut-norpoth-predicts-another-win-for-trump/ . 

The Emerson Poll also shows a very tight race for the White House: https://emersonpolling.reportablenews.com/pr/august-2020-presidential-race-tightens-after-party-conventions .  Here is a great article by Sean Trende discussing how the ongoing riots and looting episodes might impact this election: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/09/01/will_rioting_sway_the_election_picture_144108.html .  There is also the proven-accurate Trafalger Poll: https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/ .

And never forget the elephant in the room; the President is chosen by the Electoral College, not the Popular Vote.  If Biden runs up the popular vote tallies in New York and California, that will not matter much if Trump sweeps mid-western states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  Prepare for election chaos, for it is surely coming.

I turn my last corner and head back to where I started; forgive me if I step off the sidewalk and into the gutter.  That, my friends, is where our national politics reside these days.  With Democrats and Republicans agreeing that more federal stimulus is necessary to provide relief to those most affected by the pandemic and to keep our economy moving in an upward trajectory, it is woefully disappointing to see our Senate and our House unable to agree on a stimulus package.  Without going into the merits of each party’s plans, the simple truth is that House/Pelosi wants $3 trillion +/- worth of aid in the legislation and the Senate/McConnell wants $1 trillion +/- in it.  Pelosi has publicly indicated that she would be happy to meet in the middle around $2 trillion +/-, but the Senate Republicans are not willing to go that high. 

The end result is that we are at an impasse and nothing is done.  The President has executed an Executive Order regarding payroll tax relief and additional federal dollars for unemployment; but Executive Orders can only go so far and are poor substitutes for properly-passed legislation.  Here is what turns my stomach about Pelosi and the Democratic Anti-Anything-Trump attitude.  The nominee of her own party is publicly indicating a relief package of $1 trillion +/- might be in the works if he is elected.  Explain to me why the $1 trillion +/- price tag works for Democrats with Biden in the White House; but is a non-starter when Trump is in the White House? 

It is this type of asinine obstinance that drives regular people nuts.  Why can’t the Republicans and the Democrats put aside their petty political peeves and compromise on legislation that is badly needed by the American public?  The Republicans played this resistance game with Obama and now the Democrats are doing it with Trump.  It was an ill-advised and dishonorable approach both times and somehow, some way, sometime soon….it has to stop.  It is hard to see that happening with either candidate currently running for President.  Looking around, we appear to be right back where we started.