Occupation by Remote Control

Details of the People’s Republic of China’s overt takeover of Hong Kong via its new “security” law have been released by the government organ Xinhua News Agency. The high points, summarized by OANN, are these:

  • Hong Kong must establish a “local” national security council to enforce legislation, headed by the city’s Chief Executive, Carrie Lam
    • to be supervised and guided by a new PRC commission specially created for the purpose
    • a PRC “adviser” will be a member of the council
  • New local police and prosecution units to be set up to investigate, enforce the new law
    • backed by PRC security and intelligence officers deployed to the new commission
  • Lam will have power to appoint judges to hear cases related to national security
    • bypasses existing judicial appointment procedures

Notice the supremacy of the PRC law over Hong Kong domestic law.

Notice, too, that those entities each have a Communist Party of China apparatchik embedded.

Misapprehensions

Here is one. In an editorial in Friday’s Wall Street Journal concerning the ripened crop of charges brought by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard Jr against a cop in the Rayshard Brooks shooting, the Editorial Board hazarded this bit:

Yet amid protests and riots over police brutality—arsonists burned down the Wendy’s where the Brooks shooting took place—prosecutors are under pressure to pursue maximum charges against officers.

No. Prosecutors aren’t under any pressure at all beyond what they inflict on themselves in their fetid timidity. The howling mob cannot threaten their jobs. Only their bosses can and then only through specified procedure—which in the Georgia county prosecutor’s case is the next election—and his bosses haven’t spoken yet.

Even at that, though, if this prosecutor feels pressure now from his bosses, it’s only because he favors his job over his honor.

Howard’s surrender to any (self-inflicted) “pressure” simply amplifies the…foolishness…of his stampede to virtue signal; it simply increases the risk to confidence in the legal system should Rolfe be acquitted on the overcharged, hastily done batch.

In the event, Rolfe’s legal team should push hard for his Constitutional right to a speedy and public trial, since of course Howard is ready to go to trial, else he would not have filed the charges.

Manipulated Media

It seems that Carpe Donktum, a President Donald Trump supporter, put together a satirical video.

The video…begins with dramatic music showing a black toddler running away from a white toddler with a “breaking news” graphic that reads “Terrified toddler runs away from racist baby” with the CNN logo next to it. That headline then changed to “Racist baby probably a Trump supporter.”
Then, a graphic that shows “what actually happened” shows the two toddlers running towards each other and hugging with excitement to the tune the “Close to You” cover by Harry Connick Jr.
“America is not the problem… fake news is,” the video tells viewers. “If you see something, say something. Only you can prevent fake news dumpster fires.”

Never mind that

The footage came from a viral Facebook video shared in 2019 featuring real-life New York pals Maxwell and Finnegan, who were 26 and 27 months old respectively at the time.

Never mind that Jack Dorsey and his censoring Twitter twitterers know this full well.

Never mind that anyone with two neurons to bump together into a ganglion could recognize the video as satire. However, @Jack and his Twitter censors insist on insulting tens of millions of Americans by slapping their “Manipulated Media” flag on it after Trump pinned it in his Twitter feed.

Satire isn’t manipulated media. @jack, with his decision to censor a satirical posting, is manipulating media.

Amy Klobuchar Withdraws

…because sexist racism!?

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D, MN) has taken herself out of consideration for the Progressive-Democratic Party’s nomination for Vice President alongside Joe Biden.

Klobuchar told MSNBC‘s Lawrence O’Donnell she called Biden Wednesday evening with her decision, saying she believes “this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket.”

First, Biden showed appalling sexism with his insistence that he’ll have a woman Vice President candidate because she’s a woman, not because the most meritorious candidate happens to be a woman.

Now Klobuchar is showing appalling racism by saying Biden’s Vice President woman candidate should be a “woman of color” because she’d be a woman of color, not the most meritorious candidate happens to be a woman and a person of color.

It’s getting disgusting in the Progressive-Democratic Party.