While we await the vote count to come in from New Hampshire this evening (if it comes in—what are the odds of another vote count mystery?), a few items to keep you busy and out of trouble.
• I’ve seen a report on Twitter this morning that Joe Biden has left New Hampshire for South Carolina, which means that he knows he is going to do so poorly that he doesn’t even want to stick around for an election night appearance. Call him a Jello Man for the Granite State.
Chaser, from Esquire magazine:
He never was as strong as people said he was. He never was going to clear the field, the way Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to in 2016. Joe Biden never was going to scare anyone out of running for president, as should be obvious by now. He never was going to soak up the money and the attention, which a frontrunner needs to do. Now, for example, even in New Hampshire, he is being swamped by Mike Bloomberg, who isn’t even running here, but who is cutting into Biden’s supposed firewall with African-American voters before this campaign even gets to South Carolina. Joe Biden is never going to intimidate anyone. He never has.
• About those curious poll numbers showing Bloomberg doing decently with the black vote: this is no doubt making heads explode among the wokerati, which is why the left today is going bonkers over a recording of Bloomberg defending not only “stop and frisk,” but arresting more people in minority neighborhoods:
“So one of the unintended consequences is people say, ‘Oh my God, you are arresting kids for marijuana that are all minorities.’ Yes, that’s true. Why? Because we put all the cops in minority neighborhoods,” Bloomberg is heard saying on the recording. “Yes, that’s true. Why do we do it? Because that’s where all the crime is. And the way you get the guns out of the kids’ hands is to throw them up against the wall and frisk them…
It is going to be fun to watch the pile-on when Bloomberg finally shows up for a debate, but here’s the thing: who has the most interest in reducing crime? Minorities who live in high crime neighborhoods. The left airbrushes from history that it was often local black moms who had lost their kids to gangs and black church clergy who were pleading for stepped-up police enforcement back in the late 1980s and 1990s.
• I’m sure you’ve heard that St. Greta of Thunberg has been nominated again for the Nobel Peace Prize, because of course she has, and I expect she’s the odds-on favorite to win it this year, since last year there was so much outcry that she was snubbed in favor of someone who had actually succeeded in bringing peace to a war zone. Imagine that!
And now comes the news that the BBC is going to make a documentary series—not just one film, but a whole series!—about her saintly undertakings to save the planet. Al Gore must be kicking himself for just doing a one-off film and not a series! Well, a series is one way to get more days off from school I guess. Can’t wait to see the ratings.
Chaser, from The Guardian:
The announcement of the BBC series follows news that the US broadcaster Hulu is making a documentary about Thunberg with the working title Greta.
Doesn’t Hulu know that streaming services are killing the planet? How dare they!
• Finally: Move over Tom Friedman op-ed generator! Make way for the indispensable Mayor Pete Platitude Generator.
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