More Evidence It is About "Get Cuomo"

Andrew Cuomo does a wedding.

I continue to receive emails speculating that the sexual harassment charges against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are an attempt to distract from Cuomo's role in COVID-related nursing home deaths.

The problem with this is, as I have previously pointed out, New York Attorney General Letitia James was the one who put out the report on the nursing homes that damaged Cuomo. She is a serious lefty and would have never put it out if she didn't get approval, if not encouragement, from the people behind the curtain.

Now, we have further evidence the sexual harassment charges are about simply piling on the "Get Cuomo" program and not a diversion.

The lefty New York Times has just put out another hit piece on Cuomo surrounding the nursing home scandal. This would never occur if the idea was to distract from the scandal.

From the piece:

Top aides to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo were alarmed: A report written by state health officials had just landed, and it included a count of how many nursing home residents in New York had died in the pandemic.

The number — more than 9,000 by that point in June — was not public, and the governor’s most senior aides wanted to keep it that way. They rewrote the report to take it out, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.

The extraordinary intervention, which came just as Mr. Cuomo was starting to write a book on his pandemic achievements, was the earliest act yet known in what critics have called a monthslong effort by the governor and his aides to obscure the full scope of nursing home deaths... Mr. Cuomo and his aides actually began concealing the numbers months earlier, as his aides were battling their own top health officials, and well before requests for data arrived from federal authorities, according to documents and interviews with six people with direct knowledge of the discussions, who requested anonymity to describe the closed-door debates.

The central role played by the governor’s top aides reflected the lengths to which Mr. Cuomo has gone in the middle of a deadly pandemic to control data, brush aside public health expertise and bolster his position as a national leader in the fight against the coronavirus.

It is all about using everything they have to get Cuomo. He has out-served his usefulness now that Trump is out of the White House.

 -RW

Cancel Culture Takes Aim at Thomas Sowell: Amazon Halts Sale of Kindle Version of Sowell Book

Thomas Sowell

The cancel culture is apparently flirting with canceling a Thomas Sowell book.

If you go to Amazon right now and try to buy Thomas Sowell's "The Vision of the Anointed" on Kindle you will find that you cannot do so. "The item is under review." https://t.co/ulinhh5yLL

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) March 5, 2021

Get the paperback copy while you still can here:

-RW

CEO of CNN's Parent Admits That it is Worse Than a Tabloid Newspaper

The CEO of CNN's parent company said on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic will continue to dominate the news network's coverage because it's "really good for ratings."

"It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that's not going away anytime soon," WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said, speaking about CNN's coverage at a media conference. "It turns out it's really good for ratings." 

And that tells you right there where truth and balance rank at Warner.

Kilar apologized shortly afterward for not being "more thoughtful about my communication" and said he was "sorry for the sentence and for uttering it."

It is all about the hype and stoking dread risk fear.

How can anyone take the "reporting" of CNN seriously anymore. For many of us, it was obvious that CNN was in the tank with government for COVID-19 fearmongering. Now, there is no excuse for even the dimwitted to take CNN seriously.

-RW

Look What Cancel Culture Did to Sales of Dr. Seuss Books

 Below is a snapshot of the current bestseller list at Amazon. Nine out of ten of the top Amazon bestsellers are Dr. Seuss books:

The full list of Dr. Seuss books is here.

-RW

Why a Taiwan Conflict Could Go Nuclear

 

Here are key points from Defense Priorities fellow Mike Sweeney:

As discussion intensifies over U.S. policy toward Taiwan under the new Biden administration, nuclear issues should be at the core of that debate. Various proposals have been put forth for and against abandoning the concept of strategic ambiguity, and it is an important discussion to have. But unless nuclear stability between China and the United States is at the forefront of that discourse, it misses the central question regarding how and whether the United States should defend Taiwan.

1. Questions about nuclear use should be foremost in U.S. defense planning debates over Taiwan and policy discussions on maintaining strategic ambiguity.
2. If China moves against Taiwan, the stakes will be life-and-death for China’s leadership, given the potential political and personal consequences should an invasion fail.
3. In the face of battlefield defeats or setbacks, China could find itself more willing to use nuclear weapons, even if it had not intended to do so before the conflict.
4. China’s nuclear arsenal is significantly outnumbered by that of the United States, but China maintains sufficient strategic forces that it could still inflict unacceptable damage on some U.S. cities.
5. 
   

   

   China currently has two types of land-based ICBMs, the DF-5 and DF-31 variants, capable of striking the contiguous United States, with a third, the DF-41, developed but not yet operational.

   
   
6. The U.S. style of warfare, coupled with China’s co-mingling of its conventional and nuclear missile forces, creates the opportunity for inadvertent escalation if U.S. forces were to unintentionally strike Chinese strategic assets.

Entanglement issues are far from the whole of the problem. There is still a fundamental misreading—perhaps on both sides—of the ability to manage escalation in Taiwan contingencies for reasons beyond strict operational matters. The very fact of China attempting something as complex and challenging as an amphibious invasion of an island of 24 million people would show an unwelcome tolerance for risk. For that matter, U.S. efforts to defend said island—halfway around the world on another nuclear power’s doorstep—also shows a fair amount of audacity. Put differently, the act of aggression against Taiwan and the effort to repel such an attack both demonstrate that each side is willing to take actions which could be viewed as inherently risky.

Through that lens, the additional step to unwanted nuclear escalation is not a great leap. States act rationally, right up until they do not. In considering how a Taiwan contingency would play out, it would therefore be prudent to assume that nuclear use is more viable than cold assessments of each side’s pre-conflict intentions suggest. If academic surveys of Chinese strategic literature are correct, overoptimism on the ability to manage escalation once hostilities commence is not confined to the U.S. side.

The summation to the issues...is thus not a traditional list of hard policy recommendations but more the urging of a specific mindset moving forward. While all those attempting to think through U.S. policy on Taiwan should be commended for contributing to the debate, the starting and end point for such discussions must be strategic stability between the United States and China. Nuclear issues—more than any other aspect—have to be foremost as the United States reexamines strategic ambiguity and debates defense planning options for Taiwan. To do otherwise is ultimately faulty policymaking.

-RW

Man Who Rammed His Car Through a Koch Family Gate Is Given Probation

Aron James White, 42, who injured a police officer after intentionally ramming through a security gate at a Koch family home in Wichita has been sentenced to three years of probation, reports AP.

The Koch family did not pursue charges after the January 2019 incident, which caused $20,000 damage to the gate and $10,000 in damaged landscape, The Wichita Eagle reports.

Court records say White rammed the gate after a security guard refused to let him enter. He then hit a patrol car used by officer Atlee Vogt, who suffered bruising and minor burns when the airbag deployed.

Investigators said at the time that White may have been under the influence of drugs. He had no known connection to the Koch property and didn't live in the area.

Records show Chase Koch, the son of multi-billionaire Charles Koch, lived at the property at the time of the incident.

-RW

Dr. Seuss On How To Fight Back Against the Cancel Culture

 As the Cancel Culture continues its attack on Western Civilization, it has launched an attack on of all things, the writings of Dr. Seuss.

This provides a good reason to take a look at his writings and see what he would suggest about dealing with the Cancel Culture. It turns out he wrote a lot which has application to dealing with the woke crowd, a lot is about having courage against the mad crowd

From his writings: 

On censorship:

“There are so many things you can learn about, but
You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.”

On courage:

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.”

---

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

----

“Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think and twice as beautiful as you’ve ever imagined.”

---

 “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

---

“Nothing is going to change, unless someone does something soon.”

---

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

On the insanity of trying to destroy Western Civilization:

“You oughta be thankful
A whole heaping lot
For the people and places
You’re lucky you’re not.”

---

“Be grateful you’re not in the forest in France

Where the average young person just hasn’t a chance

To escape from the perilous pants eating plants

But your pants are safe, you’re a fortunate guy

You ought to be shouting how lucky am I”

On the central planning view of the Cancel Culture:

“It’s high time you were shown

That you really don’t know

All there is to be known.”

-RW

What Continued Support for Donald Trump Really Means

By David Stockman

 If CPAC’s uproarious welcome of Donald Trump on Sunday is any indicator, then the cause of liberty, peace, free market capitalism and small government is at an all-time  nadir.  

The Donald stands for none of these core values, yet the largest and most important annual gathering of purported conservative activists greeted him yesterday like he was the second coming of, if not Jesus Christ, than at least Grover Cleveland.  

That’s right. These badly deluded people apparently want another Trump candidacy and  presidency in 2024, thereby helping the Donald to match President Grover Cleveland’s  lone case of winning in 1884, losing in 1888 and winning again in 1892.  

But here’s the thing. Grover Cleveland stood for something worth winning the White  House to advance. That is, staunch adherence to the gold standard, free trade, fiscal  rectitude, non-intervention abroad and a small Federal government at home.  

Indeed, without welfare domestically and foreign wars abroad, Cleveland was able to  leave the $1.62 billion public debt he inherited 25% lower at $1.22 billion when he left  office. That is, classic liberalism was then in its heyday and Grover Cleveland was the  closest thing to its living, breathing embodiment to ever occupy the Oval Office.  

Needless to say, the Democrats gave up half of Cleveland’s classic liberal legacy under  Woodrow Wilson and his foolish war to make the world safe for democracy aboard and  government hospitable to interventionist progressivism at home. And the rest of it  disappeared entirely when the greatest egomaniac to occupy the Oval Office prior to the  Donald—Franklin Roosevelt–installed the permanent Welfare State and Warfare State  on the banks of the Potomac during 1933-1945. 

As it happened, the GOP of Congressman Howard Buffett (Warren’s father), Senator  Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan made worthy efforts to  reclaim the mantle of Grover Cleveland during their time on the stage of American  politics. But Cleveland’s only true heir in modern times was former congressman and  presidential candidate, Ron Paul.  

And that crystalizes the irony and tragedy of yesterday’s insipid display of hero worship  of a man who is no hero whatsoever when it comes to the true conservative gospel  articulated by Grover Cleveland.  

Back in the day (circa 2008) Ron Paul was the toast of the CPAC town. Now it has  backslid so far as to embrace the very opposite: Namely, an egomaniacal big government  Ceasarist who peddles a dog’s breakfast of protectionism, nativism, law and order  demagoguery, monetary crankery worthy of William Jennings Bryan and fiscal  profligacy that puts FDR, LBJ and Barrack Obama to shame.  

Read the rest here.

NY Public Library Keeping Dr. Seuss Books in Circulation

 “Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think and twice as beautiful as you’ve ever imagined.” -Dr. Seuss

 The New York Public Library will keep six controversial Dr. Seuss books on the shelves despite this week’s decision to cease their publication due to cancel culture warriors yelling and running in a circle.

The library, which serves Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, said it does not censor books and will keep the titles in circulation until they are no longer in suitable shape to lend out, a spokeswoman said, according to The New York Post.

“As with all public libraries the New York Public Library does not censor books,” library spokeswoman Angela Montefinise said.

“In this case, the six titles in question are being pulled out of print by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, so the very few copies we have of these titles will continue to circulate until they are no longer in acceptable condition,” Montefinise said.

As Dr. Seuss might put it, "The swarming bees tried to sting me dead but it only resulted in filling the stands of those who like to bug out their eyes and have a look for themselves."

-RW

Dolly Parton: From Vancouver Penny Stocks to COVID-19 Shots

 Dolly Parton in the past was known in certain circles as quite the Vancouver penny stock plunger. 

It appears she has moved on and is now promoting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dolly gets a dose of her own medicine. @VUMChealth pic.twitter.com/38kJrDzLqC

— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) March 2, 2021

Who you gonna believe RFK Jr. or a high singing penny stock plunger?

-RW

LOCKDOWN CONSEQUENCES: Self-harm claims rise by 333% and overdoses are up 120% among 13 to 18-year-olds

Public schools are far from the best place for a child to get a decent education but, in this period of COVID-19 dread risk fear, it is the equivalent of being allowed in the general population of a prison versus being in solitary confinement.

I am told by some parents that many other parents won't let their children intermingle with other children for fear of the child becoming infected with COVID-19 (a virus that has no serious consequences for 99.9% of the population).

It is no wonder that under these conditions we are seeing an explosion in mental health problems among youth.

FAIR, a nonprofit organization which describes itself as being 'dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information', released the findings of a new report. 

They studied 32 billion private healthcare claim records, looking at the 13-18 age range and 19-22, and tracking month-by-month changes from January to November 2020, compared to the same months in 2019.

They found startling results.

In March and April 2020, the number of insurance claims for mental health issues among young people aged 13-18, as a percentage of all medical claim lines, approximately doubled compared to the previous year.

In the same age range, claims related to overdoses increased 119.31 per cent in April 2020, versus April 2019.

"Infection-related fears, bereavement, economic instability and social isolation have triggered and exacerbated mental health issues," they wrote in their white paper.

'Young people have proven especially vulnerable to mental health issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"School closures, having to learn remotely and isolating from friends due to social distancing have been sources of stress and loneliness.

"A review of the international literature identified high rates of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic symptoms among children during the pandemic."

The researchers found that April 2020 was overwhelmingly the worst month for mental health problems, across the board and across the country.

Generalized anxiety disorder - the most commonly found condition - increased 93.6 per cent over April 2019, while major depressive disorder increased 83.9 per cent and adjustment disorders 89.7 per cent.

April was the peak month for overdoses, but overdose claim lines continued above 2019 levels throughout the remaining months to November.

They found that, while the number of ER visits for conditions such as broken bones, abdominal pains and respiratory issues went down, the number of people being admitted for mental health conditions increased.

Schizophrenia, in particular, increased markedly from 2019 levels for the older youngsters studied, ranging in age from 19-22. From April 2019 to April 2020, schizophrenia claim lines increased 61.29 per cent as a percentage of all ER claim lines. Afterward, schizophrenia had a lower but sustained increase over 2019 levels.

Government officials aren't kidding when they call it a lockdown. 

-RW

The Golden Globe Ratings Crash

The world hates virtual.

Ratings for Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards show on NBC dropped more than 62% to 6.9 million from last year’s roughly 18.3 million, according to Nielsen data. 

This year’s show was largely a live virtual telecast. Stars appeared via remote feeds, but only from the waist up, according to The Wall Street Journal. .The hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, were on different stages one in New York and the other in Beverly Hills.

The ratings were the lowest since the event went to NBC in 1996 (excluding the year of the screenwriters' strike). 

In other words, the Hollywood left is destroying itself by supporting the lockdowns and the COVID panic.

BTW, I didn't watch so I have no idea who won anything. I am not sure I would have recognized any of the names of the winners anyway.

-RW

The Arizona Dept. of Education Has Created an "Equity" Toolkit That Says Babies Show Racism at Three Months Old

 Christopher Rufo reports:

SCOOP: The Arizona Department of Education has created an "equity" toolkit claiming that babies show the first signs of racism at three months old and that white children "remain strongly biased in favor of whiteness" by age five.

Let's review the resources in the toolkit. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/g4Sk6X0VuO

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 2, 2021

Another recommended reading claims that "all white people are white in the context of a society that continues to disadvantage people of color based on race." The document teaches schools how to "change what it means to be white" and inculcate an "antiracist white identity." pic.twitter.com/7Whc717K5q

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 2, 2021

The world has really gone mad. Government-sponsored "research" has played a major role.

-RW

What and Who is Behind the Andrew Cuomo Takedown Operation?

Target Liberty reader Kevin asks in an email:

Do you think there's any chance Andrew Cuomo is being intentionally brought down because of the nursing home deaths he caused, but the media is trying to distract from that by giving the overwhelming majority of the coverage to the #MeToo allegations?  

-RW response:

It appears that Cuomo has just run out his usefulness for the left-wing of the New York inner power circle.

He was useful to them to help counter Trump but now that Trump is no longer in power, Cuomo is of no use to them. It is a typical lefty maneuver.

They are all about power and they will remove anyone that might threaten that power. And Cuomo was getting too high profile. I mean, come on, he won a damn Emmy for his COIVD routine. What is surprising is that Cuomo really didn't see the takedown play coming. 

It is not because of nursing home deaths that the left is trying to use sexual harassment to try to divert attention. Remember, it was the extreme lefty New York state attorney Letitia James who dropped the scathing nursing home deaths report. If they were concerned about the report, it would have been buried.

This is just about using everything they have against Cuomo.

The nursing home death scandal was the first step in the developing takedown. The sexual harassment complaints are phase 2. In this age of #MeToism, the sexual harassment charges just have more staying power, though to any rational person the piggish Cuomo-style, harassment-lite charges against Cuomo are nothing compared to the nursing home authoritarianism that led to thousands of deaths.But the left will use anything that will stick

To take a guess, I would say Hillary Clinton is behind it all.

She may already have in mind a replacement for Cuomo. 

Ed Snowden On The Power That Institutions Are Wielding Over Our Lives And What You Need To Do About It

 Ed Snowden warns about institutional powers and their uncaring about the masses.

This is important, wise and extremely insightful.

 

 .-RW

Christine Blasey Ford’s Lawyer Debra Katz Has Been Hired by Cuomo Accuser

Debra Katz

That's it. The signal for the radical left to destroy New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is out.

Charlotte Bennett, who has accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, has hired  Debra S. Katz to represent her.

During the Brett Kavanaugh Senate Supreme Court nomination hearing, Katz represented the sexual harassment accuser of Kavanaugh, the shaky Christine Blasey Ford.

At the time The Washington Post labeled her, "The feared attorney of the #MeToo moment."

Katz is wasting no time going into attack mode against Cuomo.

Since her hire, Bennett has already released a new statement that said in part:

As we know, abusers — particularly those with tremendous amounts of power — are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulative tactics to diminish allegations, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape consequences. It took the governor 24 hours and significant backlash to allow for a truly independent investigation. These are not the actions of someone who simply feels misunderstood; they are the actions of an individual who wields his power to avoid justice.

Of course, Cuomo is an authoritarian creep so I don't have any sympathy for him but this should be a lesson to politicians flirting with the wackjob left. You are never safe when they are roaming.

Politicians shouldn't pander to them or use government funding to support them. Any politician who thinks he can buy his way to non-harassment from the radical left is super naive.

Unless you part of the inner woke crowd or an approved fellow traveler (emphasis on approved) you always have the potential to become a target.

-RW

UPDATE

Hillary Clinton releases statement on sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo:

These stories are difficult to read, and the allegations brought forth raise serious questions that the women who have come forward and all New Yorkers deserve answers to.

I’m glad to see that there will be a full, independent, and thorough investigation.

The crazed left detects blood.

Cuomo Administration Hires Criminal Defense Attorney

Andrew Cuomo

Down goes Cuomo!

The administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has retained a prominent white-collar defense attorney, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Elkan Abramowitz, a one-time federal prosecutor, confirmed to the Journal that he was representing the Executive Chamber—which comprises the governor and his closest aides—in both the sexual harassment and nursing-home matters

Brooklyn federal prosecutors requested data on the number of people who died in New York’s long-term-care facilities as a result of the coronavirus, the Journal has previously reported.

And an investigation is being conducted by State Attorney General Letitia James into whether Cuomo sexually harassed women who previously worked in his administration. 

-RW