{"id":107642,"date":"2023-02-28T19:29:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T00:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=107642"},"modified":"2023-02-28T19:29:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T00:29:26","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-monday-february-27th-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=107642","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Monday, February 27th, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>It&#8217;s Monday, February 27th, 2023&#8230;but before beginning, in honor of the great Thomas Sowell, we offer a brief random thought on the passing scene, inspired by our recent viewing of <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0113421\/\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Indictment: The McMartin Trial<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/span>, a recounting of one horrific instance of the mass hysteria which gripped so much of the country in the late 80&#8217;s to mid 90&#8217;s, as law enforcement, parents and so-called child abuse experts concocted cases against day care center operators across the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Watching as adults cajoled and coerced unbelievably bizarre stories of secret rooms, tunnels, animal sacrifice, flights to Mexico and even flying witches out of children only too willing to tell whatever tale their parents and other questioners wanted, we were struck by the similarity to today&#8217;s dramatic rise in children identifying as transgender.\u00a0 There&#8217;s no doubt in our military mind the vast majority of these kids have been convinced by parents, teachers or other adults, to question their gender just as certainly as the McMartin accusers were brainwashed into believing they&#8217;d been abused.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Meanwhile, those with genuine gender dysphoria are celebrated rather than provided the psychological treatment they so desperately need, which in turn results in their increased rate of suicide.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And when irresponsible adults aren&#8217;t convincing children God mistakenly made them, they&#8217;re abrogating their responsibilities as disciplinarians, as in the case of the 17-year-old &#8220;special needs&#8221; student who used his 6&#8217;7&#8243; frame and 270 lbs. to almost kill a student teacher who&#8217;d taken away his Nintendo game: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lUmFc_Hly1w?start=15&amp;end=42&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>He also spit on her and threatened to kill her if she returned.\u00a0 He&#8217;s &#8220;special needs&#8221;, alright; In special need of a good a*s whuppin&#8217;!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Then there&#8217;s adults who fill impressionable minds with DEI and CRT claptrap, like the&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><a style=\"color: #800080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/florida-teacher-leave-after-accusation-white-students-bow-black-students-classroom?dicbo=v2-bozqv33\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Florida teacher on leave after accusation he had White students bow to Black students in his classroom<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"sub-headline speakable\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">&#8216;<a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/florida-teacher-leave-after-accusation-white-students-bow-black-students-classroom?dicbo=v2-bozqv33\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">It was in good fun. There was no political agenda behind it,&#8217; the teacher said<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xjiCUDxHzcc?start=500&amp;end=514&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;&#8230;<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Some students and parents spoke out in favor of Hooper, saying that they wanted to participate in the video.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">&#8220;We all agreed to it,&#8221; said a student in Hooper&#8217;s class. <\/span>&#8220;He didn\u2019t really do anything wrong.&#8221;<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"> &#8220;The fact that the students really devised the content specifically means that it\u2019s something that matters to them.<\/span> And to say that they were used as pawns is false,&#8221; a mom in the district said<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8230;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">She continued, &#8220;The other example my daughter showed me was for Black History Month.<\/span>They put some Black students on the chairs, and then the White students were fanning them and making them comfortable. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">You know, it\u2019s awesome, it\u2019s <em>beautiful<\/em>, it\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>celebratory<\/em><\/span>, and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>I loved it<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Fortunately, at least thus far, the school administrators don&#8217;t share this mother&#8217;s enthusiasm for Hooper&#8217;s style of instruction.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Here&#8217;s the juice: Something tells us had the roles of the races in this good-time-was-had-by-all event been reversed, the mother quoted above wouldn&#8217;t found it <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>at all<\/em><\/span> awesome, beautiful <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>or<\/em><\/span> celebratory; Rather she&#8217;d have been screaming &#8220;racism&#8221; from the rafters.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Never have generations of children been so ill-served by those tasked with raising and molding them for the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Now, here&#8217;s <em>The Gouge<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>First up, meet the poster child for a nationwide imposition of the death penalty:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/florida-cop-killer-death-row-eats-last-meal-execution\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Florida cop killer on death row eats last meal before execution<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"sub-headline speakable\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/florida-cop-killer-death-row-eats-last-meal-execution\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Florida death row inmate Donald Dillbeck fatally stabbed a woman after escaping from police custody while serving time for another killing<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/7c9qz2-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107646\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/7c9qz2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/7c9qz2-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/7c9qz2-1-288x300.jpg 288w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;&#8230;<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Dillbeck, 59, is slated to be put to death at 6 p.m. local time at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">He was convicted of\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/crime\/homicide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"broken_link\">fatally stabbing a woman<\/a><\/em><\/span><em>\u00a0<\/em>during a carjacking at a mall in Tallahassee in\u00a01990.<\/span>\u00a0The stabbing came <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>two days after he escaped<\/em><\/span> from custody <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>while serving a life sentence <\/em><em>for killing a sheriff&#8217;s deputy in 1979<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230;<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Though Dillbeck used his last words to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #ff6600;\"><em><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" style=\"color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2023\/02\/23\/donald-dillbeck-florida-execution-ron-desantis-insulted-last-words\/69938321007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|spike click:8|${u}\">to criticize and insult Ron DeSantis<\/a><\/em><\/span>, two of the children of his second victim, Faye Vann, expressed gratitude\u00a0<\/strong><strong>to DeSantis for carrying out the sentence.\u00a0<\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">It had been <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>32 years<\/em><\/span> since Dillbeck was sentenced to death, and Lamb wasn\u2019t his only victim.<\/span> At the time of her murder, Dillbeck had escaped from a work-release catering job in Gadsden County, where he was serving <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>a life sentence for killing Lee County Deputy Dwight Lynn Hall, 31<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Dillbeck trudged in the woods along Highway 90 to Tallahassee and tried to carjack a vehicle, according to court documents.<\/span> Vann, who was sitting in the car while her sons and grandchild returned clothing inside, resisted. <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Dillbeck stabbed her to death and slit her throat with a paring knife<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Dillbeck was 15 years old when he shot and killed Dwight Hall with his own revolver back in 1979, and 27 when he brutally murdered Faye Vann.\u00a0 While we understand the unwillingness of a judge and jury to condemn a 15-year-old to death, and that capital punishment doesn&#8217;t always serve as a deterrent, particularly in crimes of passion, one thing&#8217;s for certain: Had it been imposed on Dillbeck after he killed Deputy Hall, it would certainly have deterred him from committing a second murder&#8230;and Faye Vann would have lived to see her grandchildren grow up.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Next, writing at&#8230;GASP!!!&#8230;the\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em>, Bret Stephens writes&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.keysnews.com\/the-mask-mandates-did-nothing-will-any-lessons-be-learned\/article_b119f8e6-b2d6-11ed-8e05-73e392d987ca.html\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned<\/span><\/a>?<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107598\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image001.jpg 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image001-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>&#8220;<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #ff0000;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cochranelibrary.com\/cdsr\/doi\/10.1002\/14651858.CD006207.pub6\/full\" class=\"broken_link\">most rigorous and comprehensive analysis<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0of scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses \u2014 including Covid-19 \u2014 was published late last month. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Its conclusions, said Tom Jefferson, the Oxford epidemiologist who is its lead author, were <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>unambiguous<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u201cThere is just <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>no evidence<\/em><\/span> that they\u201d \u2014 masks \u2014 \u201cmake <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>any<\/em><\/span> difference,\u201d\u00a0<em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/maryannedemasi.substack.com\/p\/exclusive-lead-author-of-new-cochrane\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">he told the journalist Maryanne Demas<\/span>i<\/a><\/span><\/em>.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Full stop<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>But, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>wait<\/em><\/span>, hold on. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">What about <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>N-95 masks<\/em><\/span>, as opposed to lower-quality surgical or cloth masks?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>\u201cMakes <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>no<\/em><\/span> difference \u2014 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>none of it<\/em><\/span>,\u201d said Jefferson.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>What about the studies that initially persuaded policymakers to impose mask mandates?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>\u201cThey were convinced by <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>non-randomized studies, flawed observational studies<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<span style=\"color: #008000;\"> (<em>We&#8217;re of a mind they needed little convincing!<\/em>)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>What about the utility of masks in conjunction with <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>other<\/em><\/span> preventive measures, such as hand hygiene, physical distancing or air filtration?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>\u201cThere\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>no evidence<\/em><\/span> that many of these things make <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>any difference<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">These observations don\u2019t come from just anywhere.<\/span> Jefferson and 11 colleagues conducted the study for\u00a0Cochrane, a British nonprofit that is widely considered the gold standard for its reviews of health care data. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">The conclusions were based on <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>78 randomized controlled trials<\/em><\/span>, six of them during the Covid pandemic, with a total of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>610,872 participants in multiple countries<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> And they track what has been widely observed in the United States: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>States with mask mandates fared no better against Covid than those without<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">No study \u2014 or study of studies \u2014 is ever perfect.<\/span> Science is never absolutely settled. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">What\u2019s more, the analysis does\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>not<\/em><\/span>\u00a0prove that proper masks, properly worn, had no benefit <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>at an individual level<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> People may have good personal reasons to wear masks, and they may have the discipline to wear them consistently. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Their choices are their own<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>But when it comes to the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>population<\/em><\/span>-level benefits of masking, the verdict is in: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Mask mandates were a bust<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Those skeptics who were furiously mocked as cranks and occasionally censored as \u201cmisinformers\u201d for opposing mandates <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>were right<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> The mainstream experts and pundits who supported mandates <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>were wrong<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">In a better world, it would behoove the latter group to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>acknowledge their error<\/em><\/span>, along with its considerable\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC9638642\/\">physical<\/a><\/em><\/span>,\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/uwaterloo.ca\/news\/media\/research-suggests-mask-wearing-can-increase-struggles-social\">psychological<\/a><\/em><\/span>,\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/01\/28\/1075842341\/growing-calls-to-take-masks-off-children-in-school\">pedagogical<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8866197\/\">political<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0costs.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Don\u2019t count on it<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">In\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0y2XV1qox0c&amp;t=4497s\">congressional testimony this month<\/a><\/em><\/span>, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called into question the Cochrane analysis\u2019s reliance on a small number of Covid-specific randomized controlled trials and insisted that her agency\u2019s guidance on masking in schools\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/us-cdc-stands-by-k-12-school-masking-guidance-states-relax-rules-walensky-2022-02-08\/\">wouldn\u2019t change<\/a><\/em><\/span>.<\/span> If she ever wonders why respect for the C.D.C. keeps falling, she could <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>look to herself<\/em><\/span>, and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>resign<\/em><\/span>, and leave it to someone else\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #ff0000;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/ncmedsoc.org\/cdc-announces-sweeping-changes-to-restore-public-trust\/\" class=\"broken_link\">to reorganize her agency<\/a><\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>That, too, probably won\u2019t happen: We no longer live in a culture in which resignation is seen as the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>honorable course<\/em><\/span> for public officials who fail in their jobs.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">But the costs go deeper.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">When people say they \u201ctrust the science,\u201d what they presumably mean is that science is rational, empirical, rigorous, receptive to new information, sensitive to competing concerns and risks.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Also: humble, transparent, open to criticism, honest about what it doesn\u2019t know, willing to admit error.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">The C.D.C.\u2019s <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prevent-getting-sick\/about-face-coverings.html#:~:text=At%20All%20COVID%2D19%20Community,by%20local%20or%20state%20authorities.\" class=\"broken_link\">increasingly mindless adherence to its masking guidance<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00a0is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>none<\/em><\/span> of those things.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">It isn\u2019t merely <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>undermining the trust it requires to operate as an effective public institution<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">It is turning itself into an <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>unwitting accomplice to the genuine enemies of reason and science<\/em><\/span> \u2014 conspiracy theorists and quack-cure peddlers \u2014 by so <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>badly representing<\/em><\/span> the values and practices that science is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>supposed to exemplify<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">It also betrays t<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>he technocratic mind-set that has the unpleasant habit of assuming that nothing is ever wrong with the bureaucracy\u2019s well-laid plans<\/em><\/span> \u2014 provided <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>nobody<\/em><\/span> gets in its way, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>nobody<\/em><\/span> has a dissenting point of view, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>everyone<\/em><\/span> does exactly what it asks, and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>for as long as officialdom demands<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>This<\/em><\/span> is the mentality that once believed that China provided a highly successful model for pandemic response<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Guess, like love, being a public health bureaucrat means never having to say you&#8217;re sorry, let alone completely and utterly wrong!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Since we&#8217;re on the subject of those who&#8217;ll never admit they&#8217;re wrong, <em>NRO<\/em>&#8216;s Nate Hochman relates&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<header class=\"article-header article-header--full\">\n<div class=\"article-header__inner\">\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/02\/the-left-already-knows-that-dei-is-a-lie\/?utm_source=recirc-&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=right-rail&amp;utm_content=top-stories&amp;utm_term=second\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">The Left Already Knows That DEI Is a Lie<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section class=\"section-content--article-content\">\n<h3 class=\"article-header__subtitle\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><a style=\"color: #333399;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/02\/the-left-already-knows-that-dei-is-a-lie\/?utm_source=recirc-&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=right-rail&amp;utm_content=top-stories&amp;utm_term=second\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Conservatives should understand that they won\u2019t be able to shame progressives by pointing out DEI\u2019s inherent hypocrisy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/section>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107610\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-5.png 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-5-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>As\u00a0\u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion\u201d (DEI) spills out of the faculty lounge and euphemizes its way into the nation\u2019s elite institutions, conservatives have begun to notice something\u2019s amiss. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">\u201c<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/carrielukas\/2019\/07\/23\/one-type-of-diversity-never-seems-to-matter\/?sh=74fb0b454da6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">One Type of Diversity Never Seems to Matter<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>,\u201d Carrie Lukas declared in\u00a0<em>Forbes<\/em>, pointing out that DEI doesn\u2019t give a fig for \u201cpolitical or ideological diversity.\u201d<\/span> \u201c\u2018<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/1819news.com\/news\/item\/matt-clark-equity-doesnt-mean-what-the-left-says-it-means\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">Equity\u2019 doesn\u2019t mean what the left says it means<\/a><\/em><\/span>,\u201d a headline from Matt Clark, the president of the Alabama Center for Law and Liberty, argued. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">In the\u00a0<em>Washington Times,\u00a0<\/em>Everett Piper\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2018\/aug\/19\/progressives-are-hypocrites-and-they-dont-care-if-\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">polemicized<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0against left-wing \u201chypocrites\u201d who supported censorship and illiberalism while invoking \u201cinclusion,\u201d \u201cdiversity,\u201d and \u201ctolerance.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Allegations of hypocrisy, of course, are merited. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">Scott Yenor\u2019s\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/dc.claremont.org\/content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/How-Texas-AM-Went-Woke-Single-Page-Format.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">recent report<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0on the rise of the equity regime at Texas A&amp;M (TAMU) provides a glimpse into the gap between DEI\u2019s public claims and its real, material meaning.<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Formally<\/em><\/span>, Yenor notes, \u201cdiversity\u201d is portrayed as the principle that \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>everyone and every group<\/em> <\/span>should be valued\u201d by \u201cembracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of difference\u201d; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>in practice<\/em><\/span>, it represents \u201can identity-based approach to society,\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>intended to box out<\/em><\/span> \u201cnow-disfavored groups <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>like whites and males<\/em><\/span> through \u2018political quotas.\u2019\u201d <span style=\"color: #333399;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Formally<\/span><\/em>, \u201cequity\u201d is allegedly aimed at \u201covercoming challenges and bias to achieve <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>equal opportunity<\/em><\/span>\u201d; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>in practice<\/em><\/span>, it redounds to \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>equality of outcomes plus reparations<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Formally<\/em><\/span>, \u201cinclusion\u201d means \u201cbringing the formerly excluded into activities and decision-making <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>so as to share power<\/em><\/span>\u201d; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>in practice<\/em><\/span>, it\u2019s \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>enforced segregation<\/em><\/span> of people by race\u201d and \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>restrictions on speech<\/em><\/span>\u201d for disfavored groups. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">Yenor substantiates those claims with a startling statistic: As the DEI regime advanced through TAMU \u2014 to the tune of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>well over $11 million<\/em><\/span>, and an array of new programs, departments and salaried sinecures for diversity czars \u2014 white, black, and Hispanic students <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>all<\/em><\/span> began to feel\u00a0<em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">more<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>alienated from the university.<\/span> From 2015 to 2020, the percentage of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>white students<\/em><\/span> \u201cwho agreed or strongly agreed that they belonged at A&amp;M\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>declined by 10 points<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">Over the same period, the percentage of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Hispanic<\/em><\/span> students who said they belonged <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>declined by 12 points<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">For <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>black<\/em><\/span> students, the percentage <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>declined by a whopping 27 points<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">It should come as no surprise that the stated intention of DEI is at odds with its material effects.<\/span> But that dissonance has been evident from the start. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">In reality, DEI is only a more blatant iteration of a project that predates the newest round of buzzwords, and arrived under the guise of other catchphrases \u2014 few, if any, of which actually meant what progressives claimed<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230;<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Just as the formal claims of DEI are very different from the true nature of the ideology, the Left\u2019s invocation of \u201cacademic freedom\u201d was never really about a pluralistic attitude toward the expression of different views on campus. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">It was a convenient argument to make, for a time, to demand a tolerance of progressive values in previously conservative institutions.<\/span> Once those institutions complied, progressives were all too happy to leave \u201cacademic freedom\u201d by the wayside, and quickly set about establishing <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>new<\/em><\/span> orthodoxies and dogmas that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>brooked no dissent<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">In the same way, DEI isn\u2019t about authentic \u201cdiversity\u201d or \u201cinclusion.\u201d<\/span> Nor is \u201cequity\u201d really about equal opportunity or treatment, at least as conservatives \u2014 and probably most Americans \u2014\u00a0understand those terms. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">Last year, two education writers \u201cwatched nearly 100 hours of leaked videos from 108 workshops held virtually\u201d in 2021 by a flagship equity conference that \u201csets standards for more than 1,600 independent schools in the U.S., driving their missions and influencing many school policies,\u201d and reported on their findings in\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/inside-the-woke-indoctrination-machine-diversity-equity-inclusion-bipoc-schools-conference-11644613908\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">a\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0essay<\/a><\/em><\/span>: \u201cEquity requires dismantling all systems that Bipoc members of the community believe to cause harm,\u201d they concluded.<\/span> \u201cJustice is the final stage of social transformation to \u2018collective liberation.\u2019\u201d <span style=\"color: #333399;\">One quote they captured from a \u201cDEI practitioner\u201d\u00a0at one of the sessions summarized the real purpose of DEI \u2014 a stark contrast with its friendlier, corporate-buzzword iterations: \u201cThe ongoing act of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>deconstructing, dismantling, disrupting<\/em><\/span> . . . <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>colonial ideologies and the superiority of Western thought<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>The allegation that DEI is hypocritical is true, of course. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">But it also misses the point. <\/span>By focusing on the ideology\u2019s failure to achieve its stated intentions, or defending a more \u201cauthentic\u201d version of its goals (\u201cdiversity, equity and inclusion are all fine things, but DEI officialdom is typically about a very different agenda,\u201d the\u00a0<em>New York Post\u00a0<\/em>editorial board\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/26\/dei-boils-down-to-leftist-dogma-including-hatred-of-israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">argued in 2021<\/a><\/em><\/span>), conservatives fail to recognize that intellectual consistency was never the intention to begin with. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">For the Left, diversity, equity, and inclusion have very little to do with their formal public meanings.<\/span> They are about a concerted assault on <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>one<\/em><\/span> set of values, and the assertion of another, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>radically different one<\/em><\/span> in its stead.<\/strong><\/span>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p><strong>In related item also courtesy of <em>NRO<\/em>, Caroline Downey records how&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/doctors-nurses-say-they-risk-career-ruin-if-they-challenge-healthcares-dei-obsession\/?bypass_key=NHljcmpacWJrUjQ1dGNxSnZOaktEUT09OjpNRTV3ZEVwbE9FaGlNelo1ZVUxeFEzZE1URTlTVVQwOQ%3D%3D?utm_source%3Demail&amp;utm_medium=breaking&amp;utm_campaign=newstrack&amp;utm_term=30655347&amp;utm_source=Sailthru\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #333399;\">Doctors, Nurses Say They Risk Career Ruin If They Challenge Health Care\u2019s DEI Obsession<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-1-700x420-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107609\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-1-700x420-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-1-700x420-1.png 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-1-700x420-1-300x180.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Across the country, doctors and nurses have been bullied into demonstrating their loyalty to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #333399;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2022\/12\/dei-shatters-university-science-technology-engineering-and-math\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">diversity, equity, and inclusion<\/a>\u00a0to preserve their careers and reputations \u2014 and have been punished when they refused to do so.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Laura Morgan, a registered nurse with 40 years of experience, faced a dilemma between protecting her job and challenging the narrative that she is inherently biased against patients of other races.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>In September 2021, Morgan\u2019s employer, the Dallas-based Baylor Scott &amp; White Health health care system, assigned its staff a mandatory training that included a module on \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>overcoming unconscious bias<\/em><\/span>.\u201d <span style=\"color: #800080;\">After raising concerns about the training with superiors, Morgan was told there\u2019d be no exceptions to the requirement.<\/span> She received notice that failure to complete the course could result in disciplinary action including termination.<span style=\"color: #800080;\">The module ended with five ideologically charged questions, which \u201cyou <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>had to answer in an affirmative way<\/em><\/span>,\u201d Morgan told\u00a0<span class=\"small_caps\">National Review<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>The last read: \u201cAre you willing to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>challenge your biases<\/em><\/span> in the moment of decision making so you don\u2019t <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>unintentionally treat someone unfairly<\/em><\/span>?\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Morgan said the training materials <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>assumed<\/em><\/span> that doctors and nurses harbored biases based on their patients\u2019 race, gender, weight, religion, and age, citing dubious studies from left-leaning sources like the American Academy of Medical Colleges and\u00a0<em>Harvard Business Review\u00a0<\/em>to substantiate the charge.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>\u201cPatients don\u2019t want you to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>address <\/em><em>your biases<\/em> <\/span>in the moment of decision making. <span style=\"color: #800080;\">They want you to<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em> address <\/em><em>their<\/em> <em>medical problems<\/em><\/span>,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>On the day of the deadline for the course, Morgan was released for the weekend and given one last chance to complete it by Monday. <span style=\"color: #800080;\">After she refused, she\u00a0was subsequently fired by her hospital.<\/span> Morgan has since joined forces with the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/pfizer-quietly-changes-requirements-for-fellowship-applicants-after-discrimination-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">nonprofit Do No Harm<\/a><\/em><\/span>, which fights against the progressive capture of the medical field<\/strong>.<\/span>..&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here&#8217;s a second shot of the juice: When it comes to our healthcare, we don&#8217;t care if our doctor or nurse is the living embodiment of Inspector Callahan&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RitnM9n0jTY?start=102&amp;end=127&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;just as long as they&#8217;re as good at their job and operate with the same equanimity as Harry.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Turning now to <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>International News of Note<\/em><\/span>, Andy McCarthy sagely suggests&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><a style=\"color: #800080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/02\/americas-interests-are-not-necessarily-the-same-as-ukraines\/?bypass_key=TGR5Q3hXT1RQNHVmYTRUV0lJUkxOZz09OjpVMVJDVTNZNGVsazBVbGxIVlRCRmVWRjVMMWhtZHowOQ%3D%3D&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%202023-02-25&amp;utm_term=NRDaily-Smart\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">America\u2019s Interests Are Not Necessarily the Same as Ukraine\u2019s<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-10-16T000000Z_1753401684_MT1NURPHO000DN9QA3_RTRMADP_3_SOLIDARITY-WITH-UKRAINE-PROTEST-IN-CHICAGO.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107635\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-10-16T000000Z_1753401684_MT1NURPHO000DN9QA3_RTRMADP_3_SOLIDARITY-WITH-UKRAINE-PROTEST-IN-CHICAGO.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-10-16T000000Z_1753401684_MT1NURPHO000DN9QA3_RTRMADP_3_SOLIDARITY-WITH-UKRAINE-PROTEST-IN-CHICAGO.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-10-16T000000Z_1753401684_MT1NURPHO000DN9QA3_RTRMADP_3_SOLIDARITY-WITH-UKRAINE-PROTEST-IN-CHICAGO-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"drop\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span class=\"small_caps\">riday<\/span>\u00a0marked the one-year anniversary of Russia\u2019s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">A two-year anniversary is highly likely, and a stalemate much longer than that is entirely foreseeable.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Russia\u2019s way of war is, as ever, barbaric: Its supply of missiles to bombard civilians and civil infrastructure is bottomless, but its third-rate armed forces, which have never traveled well, spend much of their time in retreat, and have \u2014 according to U.S. intelligence estimates \u2014 sustained a mind-boggling 100,000 casualties (killed and wounded). <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">The Ukrainians have fought with valor befitting people defending their homeland against a ruthless aggressor.<\/span> It is their misfortune, however, that this aggressor is their covetous neighbor, whom they may be able to frustrate and bleed, but whom they can neither decisively defeat nor dissuade from a revanchist sense of entitlement to territory that is rightfully Ukraine\u2019s.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">The war has become as existential for Putin as it is for Ukraine.<\/span> That complicates ending it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">So here is a question for you: Are you in for somewhere between $100 billion and $200 billion a year, for however long it takes?<\/span> According to U.S. estimates, the tab for Ukraine aid so far is $113 billion; the Zelensky regime, factoring in assurances it says it have been given,\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/us-leads-rest-world-196-075511036.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">says the total is more like $196 billion<\/a><\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">Are we willing to pay that much <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>annually<\/em><\/span> for <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>another two or five or eight years<\/em><\/span>?<\/span> If so, what are we prepared to cut to persist in that level of aid? If we\u2019re not prepared to cut anything, is the plan to have our children and grandchildren pay the freight?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230;<span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>We should support Ukraine because Russia is our enemy, and because we owe that much to Ukraine, having in\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/policymemos.hks.harvard.edu\/files\/policymemos\/files\/2-23-22_ukraine-the_budapest_memo.pdf?m=1645824948\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">1994<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/when-obama-left-ukraine-defenseless\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">2006<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0persuaded Kyiv to divest itself of its nuclear and conventional weapons on the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">fantasy<\/span> that Russia was no longer a threat.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>That support, however, is not without limits. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">As long as Ukrainians are willing to fight, we should provide them with a level of mat\u00e9riel support that enables them to punish and deplete Russia without drawing us into combat.<\/span> But we ought to stop the hyperbole about \u201cRussian victory\u201d and \u201cletting Putin win.\u201d <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">Putin is not winning, and a Ukraine skeptic does not become a clandestine agent of the Kremlin merely by voicing what should be the incontestable point that Ukraine cannot be given a blank check \u2014 because we must reserve such checks for American national security, and nothing else.<\/span> A disastrously punishing war in which Putin, after trying to take the whole country, is ultimately forced to settle for additional slices of Ukraine \u2014 slices where insurgencies will continue to drain him for the foreseeable future \u2014 is an acceptable outcome for the United States. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">And the sooner that happens the better, even if Putin tries to spin a paltry, uncertain annexation as a win.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>The suggestion that this would only encourage China to seize Taiwan is mistaken.<span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"> U.S. and allied support for Ukraine has been surprisingly strong, even if it does not satisfy zealous Ukraine hawks.<\/span> Beijing can\u2019t be encouraged by that.<span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"> What it might well find enticing, though, is the alarming depletion of U.S. defense stocks, our\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/budget\/2022\/12\/21\/congress-forgoes-2-billion-taiwan-security-grants-in-favor-of-loans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">reluctance to arm Taiwan to the teeth<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0due to our other priorities, and our armed-forces-recruitment crisis.<\/span> These are direct results of our <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>unwillingness to make adult fiscal choices<\/em><\/span> between national defense and other spending, and of the perception that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>progressive governance has turned our military into a woke seminar that many would-be warriors would find unappealing<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">If Xi Jinping decides the time is ripe to make a move on Taiwan, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>these<\/em><\/span> will be the reasons \u2014 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>not<\/em><\/span> Ukraine.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>In Ukraine, where Kyiv needs our support to continue fighting, our objective should be an end of the war as soon as practicable on terms favorable to the United States. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">As our editorial concedes, that won\u2019t be total victory for Ukraine.<\/span> Necessarily, that means total defeat for Russia is not in the cards, either. <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">Let\u2019s not confuse that with \u201cPutin wins.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p><strong>In a related item, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/02\/does-being-christian-disqualify-politicians-from-leadership-now\/?utm_source=recirc-&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=river&amp;utm_content=top-bar-latest&amp;utm_term=first\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">NRO&#8217;s Andrew Stuttaford echoes McCarthy&#8217;s harsh dose of reality<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Moving on, here&#8217;s a septet of special selections certain to pique the interest of inquiring Conservative minds:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(1). The Journal is reporting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a?mod=djemalertNEWS\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>the &#8220;experts&#8221; at the Department of Energy have belatedly recognized the obvious link<\/em><\/span><\/a> between the WuFlu virus originating in one of three places on the planet (the other two being in the United States) where gain-of-function research was being conducted, namely the Wuhan Institute of Virology.\u00a0 In Wuhan, China.\u00a0 The one facility of the three with grossly substandard safeguards and protocols.\u00a0 The one where three researchers became sick enough in November of 2019 to require hospitalization.\u00a0 In a country whose leaders obfuscated the nature of the pandemic while refusing to cooperate with international efforts to uncover the truth.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>What concerns us is not the DoE&#8217;s delayed denouement, but rather the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>motivation<\/em><\/span> behind other intelligence organizations clinging to the conclusion the virus jumped from some still unknown animal directly to humans, absent any facts to support their position, all the while ignoring the glaring truths to the contrary.\u00a0 As always, we suggest following the money, particularly the taxpayer dollars Dr. Faux Chi and other public health bureaucrats provided the ChiComs to fund the research which birthed COVID-19, and which explains why most of The Swamp continues to doggedly defend the fantastical.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(2). Proving Progressives aren&#8217;t the only ones who can exert pressure,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/roald-dahl-publisher-relents-after-backlash-over-censorship-readers-will-be-free-to-choose\/?utm_source=email&amp;utm_medium=breaking&amp;utm_campaign=newstrack&amp;utm_term=30649505\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>a world-wide outcry has forced the publisher of Roald Dahl&#8217;s children&#8217;s classics to agree to keep the author&#8217;s original texts<\/em><\/span><\/a>, though the woke version, incorporating P.C. terminology intended to spare the over-sensitized feelings of the Perpetually Offended Class, will also be available.\u00a0 We&#8217;ll be curious to see which edition flies off the shelves faster.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(3). <em>AEI<\/em> nonresident fellow Andrew Ferguson offers his thoughts on <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/media\/a-great-great-great-man-the-cringey-gushing-over-jimmy-carter\/?utm_source=actengage&amp;utm_campaign=FreedomMail&amp;utm_medium=email\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>the rewriting of history which has accompanied the MSM&#8217;s rather ghoulish glorification of a dying Jimmy Carter<\/em><\/span><\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">&#8220;&#8230;<em><strong>Inevitably a kind of one-upmanship set in. Public commentators are so competitive. Mia Farrow went on Twitter\u2014it&#8217;s not clear she ever gets off\u2014and called Carter a &#8220;great, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">great<\/span> man.&#8221; &#8220;Hold my beer,&#8221; said the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0columnist Nicholas Kristof, metaphorically. (He doesn\u2019t strike me as a big drinker.) Carter, Kristof tweeted, was &#8220;a great, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">great<\/span>, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">GREAT<\/span> man,&#8221; thus beating Mia Farrow&#8217;s two greats with a third. Maybe Twitter pays him by the word. (Thanks, Elon.) Kristof also tweeted that Carter &#8220;leaves this planet so much better than he found it,&#8221; presumably by moving humanity forward every single day. It&#8217;s helpful, too, that Kristof specified Carter was from\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">this<\/span>\u00a0planet. There were moments back in the &#8217;70s when a lot of Americans <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">were unsure<\/span>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em>&#8230;<strong>How pleasing it would be if we had a media culture that knew how to handle such a legacy, if we had a public square where balance, self-restraint, and tasteful candor were valued over the unctuous seductions of graveyard prose and partisan water-carrying.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><strong>But we don&#8217;t, so we can&#8217;t. We&#8217;re left to blather.<\/strong><\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Here&#8217;s a third shot of the juice: Only Joe Biden and Barack Obama have been worse for America as President than Jimmy Carter, from his hopelessly inept foreign policy to establishing the utterly useless Department of Energy&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i1BFftwInAg?start=75&amp;end=&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>&#8230;Jimmy was as over his head in the White House as Mayor Pete in East Palestine.\u00a0 And no amount of concocted accolades will change that.\u00a0 What we&#8217;ll say about Jimmy, a term we&#8217;d never use when describing the other two, is he was apparently a good man.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(4). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/chicago-the-model-of-gun-crime-prevention\/?utm_source=recirc-&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=river&amp;utm_content=next-article&amp;utm_term=first\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">NRO&#8217;s Noah Rothmann records how, in response to the Dims finalizing Atlanta and Chicago for their 2024 convention<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>, &#8220;w<\/strong><strong>ithout the slightest hint of irony, this <em>New York<\/em>\u00a0<em>Times<\/em>\u00a0dispatch alleges that Georgia\u2019s gun laws \u2014 specifically, its concealed-carry statutes \u2014 render <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Atlanta<\/em><\/span> an unsafe environment\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>in contrast with Chicago<\/em><\/span>.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(5). Speaking of unsafe, having declined to down the Chinese spy balloon only until <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>after<\/em><\/span> it completed its intelligence-gathering mission over a multitude of sensitive military installations (so as to not annoy his family&#8217;s primary source of funding), Biden&#8217;s weak-kneed bootlicking has been met with a predictable response, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/chinese-military-orders-us-plane-airspace-flies-fighter-jet-500-feet-wing\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Beijing intercepted a Navy P-8 over international waters<\/em><\/span><\/a>, radioing the threat, &#8220;No approaching any more or you will pay full responsibility.&#8221;\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(6). Madeleine Kearns examines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/02\/does-being-christian-disqualify-politicians-from-leadership-now\/?utm_source=recirc-&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=river&amp;utm_content=top-bar-latest&amp;utm_term=first\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>whether being a Christian now disqualifies politicians from positions of leadership<\/em><\/span><\/a>, as &#8220;a<\/strong><strong>\u00a0ridiculous uproar in Scotland shows how secular public life in Britain has become.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(7). A Californian confirms why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/lifestyle\/california-man-visits-disneyland-2995-times-breaks-guinness-world-record\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>the once-Golden State is now The Land of Fruits &amp; Nuts<\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Which brings us, appropriately enough, to <em>The Lighter Side<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107626\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-7.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-7.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-7-300x195.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/a-15.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107617\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/a-15.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/a-15.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/a-15-300x195.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aa-9.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107618\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aa-9.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aa-9.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aa-9-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MC_PeteFoot_web-800x0.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107619\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MC_PeteFoot_web-800x0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MC_PeteFoot_web-800x0.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MC_PeteFoot_web-800x0-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sk022523dAPR-800x0.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107621\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sk022523dAPR-800x0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sk022523dAPR-800x0.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sk022523dAPR-800x0-300x242.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-6.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107620\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-6.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/aaa-6-300x195.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Image-2-24-23-at-10.35-AM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107593\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Image-2-24-23-at-10.35-AM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Image-2-24-23-at-10.35-AM.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Image-2-24-23-at-10.35-AM-300x229.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Then there&#8217;s these from Balls Cotton&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls5-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107612\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls5-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls5-2.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls5-2-300x216.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls1-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107613\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls1-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls1-3.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls1-3-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls4-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107614\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls4-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls4-1.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls4-1-300x293.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls3-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107615\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls3-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls3-2.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls3-2-300x278.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107631\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls-1.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls-1-300x253.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls2-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107632\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls2-1.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Balls2-1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;the lovely Shannon&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Shannon.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107611\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Shannon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"827\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Shannon.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Shannon-168x300.png 168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;and Speed:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Speed-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107630\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Speed-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Speed-2.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Speed-2-260x300.jpg 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, we&#8217;ll call it a wrap with two titillating tales torn from the pages of <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>The Crime Blotter<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 First, a&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/georgia-woman-intentionally-crashes-vehicle-popeyes-missing-biscuits\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #800000;\">Georgia woman intentionally crashes vehicle into Popeyes over missing biscuits<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pkY-fkEeJ7o\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>A\u00a0Georgia woman\u00a0allegedly drove her vehicle into a Popeyes restaurant on purpose after biscuits were mistakenly left out of her order, according to officials.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\">The store&#8217;s manager told police Miller became angry when she discovered <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>no biscuits<\/em><\/span> with her order and that she then drove her SUV into a restaurant entrance.\u00a0<\/span>The manager said the restaurant <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>corrected the mistake<\/em><\/span> and gave her the biscuits <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>prior to the crash<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #008080;\">The manager also said the woman threatened staff before the incident, including calling the store and threatening to drive her car into the building<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hope she had time to finish her biscuits!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Then there&#8217;s the case of a&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/texas-man-released-bond-murder-case-hit-new-weapons-charge-released-bond-again?dicbo=v2-6iblnyw\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #008080;\">Texas man released on bond in murder case, hit with new weapons charge and released on bond again<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dickhead.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107624\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dickhead.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dickhead.png 300w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dickhead-277x300.png 277w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>A Texas man accused of\u00a0murdering his friend\u00a0in Harris County in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>March 2021<\/em><\/span> was released on a $100,000 bond, then picked up a charge for unlawfully carrying a weapon in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>November 2022<\/em><\/span> and was released on bond <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>again<\/em><\/span>, this time for $10,000, according to court records.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8230;<\/span><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>The Harris County District Attorney&#8217;s Office requested a $150,000 bond in the murder case, but Judge Josh Hill (D) allowed him to post a $100,000 bond.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>Over a year later in November 2022,\u00a0Sotelo was charged\u00a0with unlawful carrying of a weapon in Montgomery County, which neighbors Harris County to the north. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">He was released on a $10,000 bond in that case, according to court records.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>Days after that incident, the Harris County District Attorney filed to revoke his bond in the murder case, but Sotelo was <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>instead<\/em><\/span> ordered to go on 24\/7 house arrest.\u00a0<u><\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8230;<\/span><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Andy Kahan, the director of victim services for Crime Stoppers Houston, expressed frustration about the way the criminal justice system handles suspected violent offenders.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>&#8220;If you&#8217;re on bond for murder and charged with having a firearm a gun that should be an automatic you go back to jail to see what happens with those cases, but that&#8217;s not happened,&#8221; Kahan told Fox 26 Houston. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">&#8220;So now he&#8217;s on bond in 2 different counties, for me it&#8217;s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>a disaster waiting to happen<\/em><\/span>.&#8221;<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Yeah,&#8230;somewhat like placing a convicted cop-killer serving a life sentence like Donald Dillback in a work-release program and allowing him to walk away and immediately kill again.\u00a0 Or, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/missouri-ag-demands-st-louis-prosecutor-resign-or-face-removal\/?utm_source=email&amp;utm_medium=breaking&amp;utm_campaign=newstrack&amp;utm_term=30637405\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>recounted in our last edition<\/em><\/span><\/a>, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner failing to file a motion to revoke the bond of 21-year-old armed robber who had violated the conditions of his house arrest on <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>104 separate occasions<\/em><\/span>, though Gardner&#8217;s refusal to enforce the law only cost a teenage girl both her legs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Magoo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>P.S. We&#8217;re scheduled for a procedure late Monday afternoon to remove an infection in our right elbow, and we&#8217;re not certain whether the incision will make typing problematic the next day.\u00a0 So you&#8217;ll understand if we&#8217;re radio silent Wednesday.\u00a0 If so, &#8217;til Friday&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GLUNypEfrFQ?start=86&amp;end=88&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>Video of the Day<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>No,&#8230;no cognitive decline HERE, America. Nothing to see here, racists&#8230;please move along.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WxXepkdJHko?start=72\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>Tales of The Darkside<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>This guy isn&#8217;t the most eloquent messenger, but the witness offers absolutely NOTHING in response to his legitimate question. His GOD?!? As if she believes in ANY god other than Progressivism?!? Wow!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jlM7y6tNhS4\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>On the Lighter Side<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Joe and the Hoe: Story telling obviously ain&#8217;t their strong suit. Likewise they are total strangers to both the truth and reality.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J83RAYL_N8k\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Monday, February 27th, 2023&#8230;but before beginning, in honor of the great Thomas Sowell, we offer a brief random thought on the passing scene, inspired by our recent viewing of Indictment: The McMartin Trial, a recounting of one horrific instance of the mass hysteria which gripped so much of the country in the late 80&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1988,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107642"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107704,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642\/revisions\/107704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}