Packing it in?

I remember writing extensively in 2008 about the messy Green Bay Packers-Brett Favre divorce. In light of Thursday's news, that saga leapt to my mind. 

Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers is so disgruntled with the Green Bay Packers that he has told some within the organization that he does not want to return to the team, league and team sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The Packers are aware of his feelings, concerned about them and have had team president Mark Murphy, general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur each fly out on separate trips to meet with Rodgers at various points this offseason, sources told ESPN.

"As we've stated since the season ended, we are committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond," Gutekunst told ESPN. "Aaron has been a vital part of our success and we look forward to competing for another championship with him leading our team."

Rodgers, 37, has not budged this offseason, but neither have the Packers, who have made it known they are not interested in trading Rodgers anywhere.

There are plenty of good reasons to balk at trading Rodgers, not the least of which is he's the reigning NFL MVP who guided his team to the NFC Championship Game each of the past two seasons (and the team is still loaded with talent elsewhere). Another aspect is the financial ramifications.  

Packers continue to insist they will not trade QB Aaron Rodgers.

Here’s the math if they do:

🏈 Rodgers currently counts $37.2 million against cap.
🏈 If traded today, he counts $38.35M against cap.
🏈 If traded after June 1, he’s $21.15M against cap this year, $17.2M next year https://t.co/nllVKk6it2

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 30, 2021

All signs point to the Packers brass holding out as long as humanly possible. Short of being offered Patrick Mahomes straight up, Green Bay will never be able to swing a trade of Rodgers which would bring them at least equal value. However, it will have to be quite the balancing act. The longer the Packers wait to make a deal, the more teams will sense desperation and thus try to acquire Rodgers on the cheap. Or it could simply be the Packers organization drawing the proverbial line in the sand by saying Rodgers plays for them or no one, essentially daring him to retire.

If history truly does repeat itself concerning Packers' Hall of Fame QBs, then Rodgers has already taken his final snap in Green Bay. 

No Packers QB has played 17 seasons with the team

Aaron Rodgers has played 16 seasons
Brett Favre played 16 seasons
Bart Starr played 16 seasons pic.twitter.com/YGvdS1NorK

— Matt Pomeroy (@MattPomPom) April 29, 2021

If you would have asked me at the end of last season to name just one NFC North starting quarterback who is a shoe-in to return to his same team in 2021, I would have never said "Kirk Cousins." Alas, that's where we stand today. 

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Need to keep the narrative alive

The official Black Lives Matter website recently compiled a section for Ma'Khia Bryant, the knife-wielding 16-year old girl who was shot last week by a Columbus, OH police officer. 

Read for yourself and then venture a guess as to what's missing. 

At the exact same time the verdict of Derek Chauvin was being read for murdering George Floyd, police wasted no time in senselessly taking another Black child.

Ma’Khia Bryant. We say her name.

Ma’Khia Bryant called the police for help.

Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon showed up and shot this 16-year-old child point blank within a matter of seconds.

Another Black life stolen with no regard.

Together, we’re going to uplift, center, and honor this Black child for what she loved — doing her hair, making TikToks, and being a teenager. Her account is currently deactivated, but we’ve compiled a few of her TikToks on social media so we can all remember her joy.

Ma’Khia Bryant’s life mattered.

If you were to read this without knowing any of the basic facts of that awful incident in Columbus, you would gather that a cop just rolled up and opened fire on a girl as she awaited police to help with her plight. 

BLM has so beclowned itself over the past couple of years that one could easily ascertain that black lives are not being improved one iota by this organization (well.....we know of at least one black life livin' good because of BLM). If only there was a collective in America committed to presenting unvarnished reporting of facts in response to dubious statements emitted by a major social justice organization. 

Hey, speaking of inconvenient narratives, did ya see the response of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison when asked if Derek Chauvin's killing of George Floyd was a hate crime? 

“I wouldn't call it that because hate crimes are crimes where there's an explicit motive, and of bias,” Ellison said. “We don't have any evidence that Derek Chauvin factored in George Floyd's race as he did what he did.”

True, yet it didn't stop President Joe Biden from implying that "systemic racism" was the catalyst for Chauvin's actions. 

Andrew McCarthy at National Review suggests that the Chauvin-Floyd saga flies in the face of a such contrived narratives. 

George Floyd should not have died. The jury was fully justified in determining, as prosecutors forcefully argued, that in that encounter with police on May 25, he would not have died if it were not for the restraint tactics used by Chauvin, and that those tactics constituted excessive force.

Nevertheless, the case does not stand as a totem of systemic racism. To the contrary, the evidence proves that Chauvin was individually culpable. Far from being emblematic of an inherently racist law-enforcement agency, Chauvin’s actions grossly violated the standards of a police department that is committed to even-handed enforcement of the law and, from the top down, to diversity and amicable relations with the community.

The Biden administration and congressional Democrats are using the Chauvin murder conviction as the premise for claiming that policing in America must be transformed — by legislation and Justice Department monitoring — because it smacks of white racism against black people. This transformation, we are told, must begin with such steps as an official government assumption that racism explains why blacks are arrested at a disproportionately high rate (compared with their share of the overall population), and a categorical ban on choke holds.

And yet these are the facts: George Floyd was arrested not based on a police assumption but in response to a credible citizen complaint that he committed a crime, coupled with obvious evidence that he was high on drugs while operating a car. The police never choked him. And there is no evidence that racism motivated the police to mistreat him.

This isn't to suggest that there are not some proverbial "bad apples" (a description which causes anti-police progs to froth) within U.S. police departments. Of course there are. But to concede that not even close to a majority are infected with systemic racism would puncture the prog chanting points of de-funding and/or abolishing police. Yeah, there are way too many people getting rich (or being re-elected) to allow that stance to go gently into that good night.

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Quick Hits: Volume CCXLVI

 - Many Minnesotans suspected for the past year that the Gov. Tim Walz administration was not making decisions based in science when handing down COVID-19 mandates. On Monday, a potential bombshell was dropped. 

The Let Them Play MN group that opposed many sports-related pandemic restrictions obtained thousands of pages of internal state e-mails (one in particular was pretty damning - ed.) from last fall and raised concern about one in which a spokesperson advised promoting the pause by connecting youth sports infections to severe COVID-19 cases in long-term care.

"As [people] push back on youth sports and whether they really need to be ended ... we need to more explicitly tie youth sports to LTC. People are going to youth sports, sitting in bleachers, eating popcorn and talking with people around them, cheering, then maybe stopping at a restaurant or bar on the way home, then going to jobs in LTC the following day," said the e-mail by Kate Brickman, a contractor hired to help with state COVID-19 communications to other spokespeople.

This proposal to promote last fall's sports pause became a central point of a state Senate Education Committee hearing Monday, when state Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, said she was "embarrassed" that the Minnesota Department of Health considered such a backward strategy.

"Here's the way it should work: There is data, then there is a decision, then there is communication," she said. "It's not, 'We need a message. Go find me the data that matches it.' "

Even though things are improving significantly on the COVID front here in Minnesota, how much damage was done in halting activities like sports for the sake of covering up the ineptitude in protecting our most vulnerable citizens? FYI, Sen. Benson will be on my radio show this Sunday in the 1:00 hour. If her quotes in this Strib piece are any indication, she'll no doubt have plenty more to say on this weekend's broadcast. 

- Longtime Democrat strategist James "Serpent head" Carville recently railed against "wokeness." Said quotes were published by Vox, which is a far left site. 

Many Republicans often lament the divisive factions in their party, but it's bean bag compared to the divide between Carville-like moderates and far left progs in the motif of "The Squad." And I am here for it!

- After much speculation that Minnesota would lose a Congressional seat given the most recent census, it appears we have dodged that bullet. 

The state held on by the narrowest of margins, Census Acting Director Ron Jarmin said during an online presentation. If the state of New York had counted just 89 more people in the census, he said, it would have vaulted over Minnesota to get the 435th of 435 House seats allotted.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, literally hundreds of elderly people died in New York long-term care facilities due to the incompetence of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In a sense, you could say New York lost a U.S. House seat in no small part because of the actions of its governor. 

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Box Score of the Week

 Another Padres-Dodgers game? Yep! 

Let's go back to this past Friday's matchup. 

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The Padres' Fernando Tatis, Jr. hit two home runs this game. Big deal, right? I mean, this certainly isn't unprecedented. But what makes this feat unique is Tatis, Jr. accomplished this on the 22nd anniversary of this father becoming the first (and still only) player to hit two grand slam home runs in one inning.....also against the Dodgers in Dodger Stadium. 

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I hear the voice of rage and ruin......

This is one of those Sundays where I could use a third hour of my radio show The Closer. Alas, I'll have to squeeze in everything from 1:00 until 3:00 PM Central Time.

Much of the first hour will focus on the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Given that he was found guilty on all three charges in the killing of George Floyd, what can we expect when his sentence is handed down in a couple of months? Also, some of the reactions to the verdict from leftist politicians was......odd.

In the second hour I will weigh in on the police shooting of a 16-year old Columbus, OH girl. While the multiple video angles would suggest it was justified, many people are unable to shed their steep anti-police bias when opining. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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Trans women are women*

 Progs: "We need more women running for elected office. And yes, trans women are women."

**Caitlyn Jenner announces her candidacy for California governor in the likely recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom.**

Progs: "No, no. Not that woman." 

Just look at the replies to the tweet where Jenner announces her candidacy. 

It bears repeating: far left proggies will openly support your desire to be LGBTQ+ if and only if you toe the leftist political line. So much for tolerance and inclusion, eh?

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Demagogue first, sort through facts never

When news breaks of a tragic event in the U.S., we're usually awash in a monsoon of reckless speculation. It's apparently an unbearable burden to wait mere hours for initial facts to be released. 

Here was National Public Radio's initial story on a police shooting that occurred Tuesday evening. 

A 16-year-old Black girl was fatally shot by an officer outside her home after she called the police for help on Tuesday afternoon, according to her family.

The girl has been identified as Ma'Khia Bryant by her aunt, Hazel Bryant.

Bryant allegedly called officers at about 4:30 p.m. local time when a group of "older kids" threatened her with assault, her aunt told Ohio Statehouse News Bureau reporter Andy Chow. She did not elaborate on the nature of the threat.

The Columbus Police Department could not say on Tuesday whether Bryant was the one to call for assistance before she was shot.

Bryant was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where she later died.

Later in the story, some clarity is provided as to why the officer shot Ms. Bryant.

Columbus Police showed (body cam footage) a second time in slow motion during Tuesday night's news conference. (Interim Chief of Police Michael) Woods said the video shows Bryant holding a knife as she pushes two girls. He said police believe she is attempting to stab both girls during the fight.

This was a clean shoot. There’s no accountability necessary. pic.twitter.com/yKe45NHctC

— Tsukkomi (@ljenkins314) April 22, 2021

The body came footage shows pretty clearly that Ms. Bryant was about to plunge a knife into another girl when police fired upon her. 

Video from a neighbor's security camera was even more definitive. This includes audio of the assailant declaring "I'm gonna stab the f--k outta you."

WARNING GRAPHIC

New video from a different angle shows the moments leading to the fatal shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant when she was lunging at another woman with a knife
pic.twitter.com/h6kqFntb5Z

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 22, 2021

Unfortunately, this didn't placate the proverbial mob on social media. 

Sure, you had the obligatory garbage takes from Twitter users who have no avatar and/or less than double digit followers. But it was the verified users (aka "blue checkmarks") who put forth some of the most stupefying reactions (Allahpundit at Hot Air complied a few). Hell, National Review's Philip Klein even compiled evidence of a new political movement - The Let-Teenagers-Knife-Fight Caucus. Some would seem to imply that this is commonplace among kids much like good ol' fashioned "rasslin', " hence cops oughta just let kids be kids.

Unfortunately some of the rhetoric can devolve from bizarre to downright dangerous. Here is the initial reaction from NBA superstar LeBron James' Twitter feed. 

The tweet (now deleted) contained a picture of the officer who shot Bryant (I deliberately cropped it out here). 

With anti-police sentiment at a boiling point, especially in light of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin recently being convicted of second degree murder, this was incitement by James. Pure and simple. As such, LeBron's advisors likely got ahold of him posthaste to explain the ramifications, thus resulting in his deleting the tweet. 

LeBron again took to Twitter in an to attempt to explain his outrage. 

I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY

— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 21, 2021

Soooo....was it Bronny's preference to see a black person killed by a knife-wielding black person? I'm not really certain that's the game-changing moral distinction everyone thinks it is. However, it would have ensured that breathless media coverage would've ceased to exist. 

In the end, Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire reminds us where the priorities should be. 

That would require significant introspection, a trait which would fly in the face of our victimization culture. Not many folks seem to eager to upset that applecart. 

------------------------------------------------

ICYMI....

Drowned out by the impending verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial as well as the fallout from Brooklyn Center police shooting of Daunte Wright was a tense saga in Burnsville this past Sunday.

An armed suspect jumped out of a moving vehicle he had stolen and ran onto a busy Burnsville highway, where he tried to steal another vehicle before police fatally shot him Sunday afternoon.

The man ran in front of a moving SUV on Hwy. 13 near Interstate 35W, waving what appeared to be a gun at the driver, who drove across the median and onto the oncoming traffic lane to escape. No one was hurt.

In a statement, Burnsville police said the suspect, believed to be a white male in his 20s, was taken to HCMC, where he was pronounced dead.

Here is video footage of the incident just before the suspect was shot.

And were it not for the bizarre statements from House Speaker Marie Antoinette Nancy Pelosi and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey when responding to the Chauvin verdict, the three state legislators (all far left proggies) representing the Burnsville area would have been the frontrunners for most moronic response to a public incident. 

If there was a political version of "Mad Libs" for progs, they certainly succeeded in implementing their favorite buzzwords with this one. I really need to cease underestimating their ability to politicize literally anything. 

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Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

When it was announced that the jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial reached a verdict within 24 hours of Monday's closing arguments, I had a hunch that he'd be guilty on all three counts. 

Sure enough....

Jurors convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Tuesday of all the counts filed against him — second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — in the death of George Floyd, who died after being pinned under his knee for more than nine minutes last May.

Chauvin looked stern and glanced around the courtroom as the paper with the verdicts were removed from an envelope and read by Judge Peter Cahill.

The fired police officer had on a paper mask and showed no significant reaction to the results. When his bail was revoked, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, was handcuffed and gave a nod to defense attorney Eric Nelson as he was led out the back door of the courtroom by a Hennepin County sheriff's deputy.

The Sheriff's Office said Chauvin was transferred to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The agency said Chauvin was booked into the state prison at Oak Park Heights, at 4:55 p.m. CDT, 48 minutes after the verdicts were read. Chauvin was transferred to the same prison for safety reasons after his initial arrest in the case last year.

Cahill thanked the jurors, who each confirmed their votes as correctly read. ""I have to thank you on behalf of the people of the State of Minnesota not only for jury service, but heavy duty jury service," he said.

A fair number  of legal analysts I heard/read before the trial indicated that the 2nd degree murder charge was a stretch since the high threshold of "beyond a reasonable doubt" had to be met. But as the trial progressed, there was some pretty damning testimony from law enforcement, including Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo.

"Once Mr. Floyd had stopped resisting — and certainly once he was in distress and trying to verbalize that — that should have stopped," the chief said after spelling out department policy on when to use force compared to using de-escalation tactics.

Then there was this bit from Lt. Richard Zimmerman. 

 

Prosecutor Matthew Frank asked Zimmerman about the "prone position," which Chauvin used on Floyd.

"Once you handcuff a person you need to get them out of the prone position as quickly as possible, because it restricts their breathing," Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman added that being handcuffed "stretches the muscles back through your chest and it makes it more difficult to breathe."

According to Zimmerman's account of his police training, officers are taught to turn the person put into the prone position on their side and get them off their chest. "If you're laying on your chest, that's constricting your breathing even more," he said.

He told the jury that he has been trained in the dangers of the prone position since 1985. But Zimmerman said he has never been trained to put his knee on someone's neck while they are in that position.

"That would be the top tier, the deadly force," he said. "Because if your knee is on someone's neck, that can kill them."

Perhaps what really sealed Chauvin's fate was, in the opinion of National Review's Andy McCarthy, the ineptitude of his defense. Definitely read McCarthy's entire account here. 

While it's certainly possible that the jury was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin committed murder, I can't help but think they were swayed by the repercussions of anything less than guilty of all charges. Certainly they had to be wary that a "not guilty" verdict on second degree murder alone would have resulted in more destruction of a city that is still reeling from rioting, looting and fires a mere 10-1/2 months ago. And in this era of leaking people's personal information on the internet, I'm sure there was a sense of dread among jurors that their identities would be learned and thus be in constant fear of their personal well being. 

So what's next? Well sentencing will commence in about two months, at which point we can anticipate an appeal. Heck, Judge Cahill pretty much laid the groundwork for it. 

Watch at about the :19 mark: pic.twitter.com/bbmgQF3ePp

— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) April 19, 2021

Add to that President Joe Biden throwing in his two cents just hours before the verdict, you can bet that Chauvin's team will argue vehemently that a fair trial was downright impossible.  

I'm guessing we haven't heard the last of this saga. 

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No further insight necessary

 Just gonna leave this here: 

JUST IN: All adults in US now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine https://t.co/YBPAxG2Q8g pic.twitter.com/TI5uJTdCnx

— The Hill (@thehill) April 19, 2021

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Box Score of the Week

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres renewed their rivalry over the weekend. Let's check out one of their matchups from late in the 2008 season. 

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Sean Kazmar, Jr. was called up by the Atlanta Braves last week and made an appearance in their game against the Chicago Cubs last Saturday. It was Kazmar's first MLB game since that September 2008 contest when he played for the Padres. That means he went a span of 12 years, 6 months and 25 days between big league games. 

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On the ice-blue line of insanity.....

I'll be back in the Patriot bunker this afternoon, 1-3 PM Central Time for this week's edition of my radio show The Closer. 

Much, if not all, of the first hour will be devoted to the shooting death of Daunte Wright by a Brooklyn Center, MN police officer and the fallout from that. At 1:15, crisis management expert/law enforcement trainer Peter Johnson will join the broadcast to discuss the protocols of law enforcement in that incident and how it went so wrong. 

At 2:30 I will be joined by Phil Kerpen, who is the President of American Commitment. Phil's organization is dedicated to restoring and protecting the American Commitment to free markets, economic growth, Constitutionally-limited government, property rights, and individual freedom. Phil will be on specifically to discuss why COVID lockdowns are ineffective and destructive.

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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Enemy of the people

It shouldn't have taken this long, but this week I've finally reached the end of my objections to those (especially former President Donald Trump) who referred to the media as the "enemy of the people."

What am I talking about? Well, do you recall last summer's bombshell story from the New York Times about Russian officials paying bounties to the Taliban in exchange for the killing of American troops in Afghanistan (a story corroborated by several other media outlets)? Yep. It was bull pucky. 

It was a blockbuster story about Russia’s return to the imperial “Great Game” in Afghanistan. The Kremlin had spread money around the longtime central Asian battlefield for militants to kill remaining U.S. forces. It sparked a massive outcry from Democrats and their #resistance amplifiers about the treasonous Russian puppet in the White House whose admiration for Vladimir Putin had endangered American troops.

But on Thursday, the Biden administration announced that U.S. intelligence only had “low to moderate” confidence in the story after all. Translated from the jargon of spyworld, that means the intelligence agencies have found the story is, at best, unproven—and possibly untrue.

Of course the usual anti-Trump suspects were insufferably indignant when this story first broke. 

SUPERCUT:

A look back on how cable news went all in on the discredited Russian bounties story. pic.twitter.com/QaG9xAqiuR

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 15, 2021

Of course this isn't the sole example of media dishonesty/hackery/incompetence. Hell, in the past 12 months alone the media has breathlessly reported on news items with little to no disregard for veracity. 

Erick Erickson compiled a list. 

• The New York Post was punished by social media giants, particularly Twitter, for its expose of Hunter Biden, his laptop, and other lurid details. Access to the New York Post’s account was restricted. The story turned out to be true.
• Social media routinely allows pictures of celebrity homes to be posted and details about the neighborhoods in which they live. When conservatives exposed the Marxist BLM co-founder buying a million dollar house in Los Angeles, that was a bridge too far. The address was not listed, but using “privacy rules,” social media giants restricted shares of any story about the purchase. They even restricted stories about her other multi-million dollar property purchases.
• This morning Latham Saddler launched his campaign for the Senate against Raphael Warnock. He is a former Navy SEAL and Trump Administration staffer who is running in Georgia. As of this writing, Twitter has restricted his account for…ummm…tweeting.
• The media pushed out a number of falsehoods about Georgia’s new voting law and, only now, are walking back the wild claims about restrictions on early voting, restrictions on absentee balloting, etc.
• The media ridiculed Donald Trump as a liar when he called the Russian bounty story a hoax. The Washington Post gave him four “Pinocchios.” It turns out he was right. Now that he is out of office, the media will tell the truth. The story is not believed by the Biden White House or the intel community.
• Sixty Minutes continues to stand by its widely discredited story on Ron DeSantis. A social media that blocked the New York Post for its truthful story on Hunter Biden is unwilling to block CBS News.
• Ron DeSantis had a discussion with doctors and experts who noted what European scientists were saying and advising European nations about COVID. YouTube took it down because it disputed what the Biden Administration claims, even though the scientific community actually has no settled consensus and European scientific advisors are advising their nations differently from the American health care officials.

The media's sole purpose is to report facts. Not truth, which people these days seem to think is in the eye of the beholder and thus subject to bias. But facts, which are indisputable. From there, the American people take in the information and react accordingly. But when reporters utilize narrative journalism, the trust in their industry craters when their stories are determined to be at best deficient of context and at worst emphatically false. 

Bottom line: if you're allowing your bias to cloud your reporting of facts in a news story, you have zero disregard for your consumers. And since that sure as hell doesn't make you their ally, you become (by default) their enemy. Sorry. 

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Seems about right

 Charges have been handed down in the Brooklyn Center shooting. 

The Washington County Attorney's Office will charge former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly A. Potter with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death on Sunday of Daunte Wright, according to County Attorney Pete Orput.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

You can read the MN statute for 2nd degree manslaughter here ==> (link)  

Apparently officers being charged for this "mistake" is not unprecedented. 

It's at least the third time that a U.S. law enforcement officer will face criminal charges for killing someone in what they claim or what appears to be a mix-up between a gun and a Taser.

A 73-year-old volunteer reserve deputy in Oklahoma was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the 2015 death of Eric Harris. Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a jury trial and sentenced to two years in prison for the 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant III.

At the end of the day I believe this was an unfortunate accident (albeit a fatal one), so I'm certain Ms. Potter's defense attorney will argue that point vehemently. 

Even if Potter gets the maximum sentence of ten years, it certainly won't be enough in the minds of Wight's loved ones who are mourning this loss or those who simply lump this into the category of white cop=dead black man. However, each situation has its own set of variables so we need to look at this specific case independent of all other high profile black deaths at the hands of police. Sadly that's easier said than done for those whose community has the impression of being disproportionately impacted. 

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Twin Cities in the proverbial crosshairs again

It would have been hard to fathom what event in the Twin Cities could distract from the high profile trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is on trial for the death of George Floyd. An incident in a northern Minneapolis suburb managed to do it. 

The traffic stop that would end Daunte Wright's life played out on a Brooklyn Center police officer's body camera. Officers appeared to try to handcuff him, then he slipped back into the driver's seat.

A female officer yelled "Taser, Taser," and then fired her weapon. "Holy shit, I just shot him," she said.

Once again, a Black man died during a police encounter. In an instant, the world's focus on Minnesota shifted from the trial of Derek Chauvin to a new outrage that brought street protests, promises of reform and anguish over a relentless pattern of deadly police misconduct.

Ah, but even before police body cam footage was released Monday afternoon, Democrat elected officials from Minnesota had already coordinated their chanting points. 

The fact this is being lumped in with the category of "just another white cop killing an unarmed black man" is far too simplistic. That said, the body cam footage revealed lackluster procedural tactics by the officers which allowed Wright an opportunity to break free and attempt to drive away. And the idea the shooter mistook her pistol for a taser is also a bit concerning given she was a 26-year police veteran. I'll concede that I will never understand the level adrenaline that is pumping in such a situation, but that kind of fatal mistake is going to be difficult to explain away. 

With the Twin Cities still on edge since Floyd's death nearly 11 months ago, I guess it wasn't surprising to see the streets appear as though we're living in some apocalyptic society. 

Military vehicles rumbled down city streets as businesses hastily closed to comply with a four-county 7 p.m. curfew Monday ordered by Gov. Tim Walz. While a massive police presence mobilized to prevent any repeat of the riots after the death of George Floyd, President Joe Biden called for "peace and calm."

I'm sorry to say that we're past the point of no return in remaining a united country. I guess deep down I've known it for a while but perhaps was in denial. Maybe I should start learning Mandarin. 

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Box Score of the Week

 New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians - April 8, 1993.

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Indians' second baseman Carlos Baerga, a switch hitter, hit a homerun from both sides of the plate in the seventh inning, thus becoming the first in MLB history to homer from both sides in the same inning. 

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I've never seen you look like this without a reason....

Another Sunday, yet another edition of the Northern Alliance Radio Network program The Closer. The 2-hour festivities begin at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour I will talk about some key testimony from the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, specifically from the M.E. who performed the autopsy on George Floyd. 

At 1:15, I will be joined by Bert Eyler, who is Vice President of the National Center for Police Defense, Inc. Mr. Eyler's organization is a nonprofit "dedicated to helping law enforcement officers in their time of need after an on-duty catastrophe, either through providing support and resources during a legal process or during sick leave due to a severe injury."

Then at 2:00, Ricochet.com Editor in Chief Jon Gabriel will check in. We will discuss the MLB choosing to pull its 2021 All Star Game from Atlanta, the continued crisis at the southern border, etc. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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Quintessential Minnesota

 If asked to sum up your home state in one tweet, I'd choose this one for mine. 

A thing that I love is Minnesotans being incensed that I mentioned Colorado's very high turnout (tied for No. 2 in 2020), without citing Minnesota, which is very often No. 1.

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) April 7, 2021

This is indicative of a collective whose media bends over backwards to find a "local angle" in any national news story, regardless of how inconsequential (Remember how the word "Minnesota" showed up once in the Mueller Report??). So if we actually lead the nation in something, we demand our kudos, dammit!!

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Quick Hits: Volume CCXLV

 - It appears longtime news program 60 Minutes is back in the "selectively editing" business. 

WATCH: CBS and @60Minutes excluded context from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in which he explains the steps his government took to make the decision to partner with Publix on vaccine distribution.

The 60 Minutes version is first, followed by the full answer from DeSantis. pic.twitter.com/2KRQKPLOe7

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 5, 2021

If 60 Minutes *really* wanted to track a potential "pay-to-play" scandal, they might wanna look toward the left coast. 

 

The 60 Minutes story might have benefitted from a more broad lens on vaccine contracts. Publix gave $100k+ to Gov. DeSantis. It's also worth noting Gov. Newsom has received $23 million in campaign & cause support from Blue Shield of CA, which he gave exclusive vaccine contracts.

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) April 5, 2021

Big Media really is becoming the caricature many conservatives have painted it as for the past few decades.  

- It was 27 years ago today when then L.A. Rams quarterback Jim Everett got into a dustup with sports guy Jim Rome on the latter's short lived ESPN2 TV show. 

From 27 years ago- the rare in studio moment we'd include on our Mount Rushmore of classic sports media moments.pic.twitter.com/gaqh8n3D7o

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 6, 2021

The insinuation Rome made was Everett was tantamount to a woman (Chris Evert was the superstar female tennis player) playing in the NFL given how "soft" Rome perceived him to be.

If Rome made such remarks today, he would be effectively "canceled" for being a misogynist and/or "mis-gendering" a person.

-  The new site for the 2021 MLB All-Star Game has been revealed. 

Coors Field in Denver will hold the All-Star Game and its surrounding events, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday.

MLB opted to move the game out of Atlanta due to voting laws passed in Georgia last month.

I won't rehash how Commissioner Rob Manfred made this decision out of cowardice and ignorance. However, it doesn't appear Colorado's voting laws are dramatically different from Georgia's. 

Georgia: Voter ID, 17 days of early voting.
Colorado: Voter ID, 15 days of early voting.

Atlanta is 51% Black.
Denver is 9.2% Black.

The @MLB is moving the #MLBAllStarGame out of ATL which has more day-of voting rights than CO?

The Wokes are at it again, folks.

— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 6, 2021

And isn't amazing that the "Wokes'" actions always end up benefitting whitey???

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Box Score of the Week

 I believe this is the oldest MLB game I've ever cited on this weekly feature. 

Let's go back to September 7, 1903 - St Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds.

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This past Sunday, L.A. Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani batted second in the lineup. The last time a starting pitcher batted second was in that 1903 game I referenced. Cards pitcher Jack Dunleavy, whose normal field position was pitcher, played right field in that 1903 contest. 

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I had a vision I could turn you right.....

It may be Easter Sunday but the Northern Alliance Radio Network rolls on this weekend. Today's edition of my program The Closer will be on the air 1-3 PM Central Time.

It was the first week of witness testimony in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of multiple counts of murder in the killing George Floyd. We'll discuss. 

A lot of misinformation by leftist politicos (including President Biden) and their media lapdogs in regard to the new Georgia election law. It's gotten so bad that even the Washington Post is calling them out. 

Finally at 2:30 I will be joined by economics guru/NARN colleague King Banaian to discuss how the economy is starting to recover one year into a global pandemic. 

You can listen via AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page.

Until then.....

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MLB caves

The 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will no longer take place in Atlanta, GA as previously planned. And the reason for that is predicated on lies and misrepresentations. 

Major League Baseball announced Friday that it is moving the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to a new Georgia law that has civil rights groups concerned about its potential to restrict voting access for people of color.

NO ONE has made a coherent case about how anybody's rights will be restricted under this new law. Literally no one. The prevailing sentiment from progs is that this new law is "Jim Crow 2.0" without providing any concrete evidence supporting that claim. Heck, I'll bet a good number of people parroting those moronic chanting point have little clue as to what Jim Crow laws entail. 

In a statement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league is "finalizing a new host city and details about these events will be announced shortly." A source told ESPN that the 2022 All-Star Game is still planned for Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and that that site won't be moved up to fill the void this summer.

"Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views," Manfred said in his statement. "I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB Draft.

"Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box (As does the new Georgia law. It's almost as if Manfred is woefully ignorant of its contents. - ed.). In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States. We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process. Fair access to voting continues to have our game's unwavering support (Well then you'd *love* the new Georgia law. Why don't ya read it sometime? - ed.)."

I don't know what the goal of this boycott is, particularly in light of the Georgia Republicans actually having the ability to put forth a cogent defense of this new legislation. As such, there is no shot that it will be overturned. The ones who will greatly suffer are the residents and workers of the Fulton County area who will now lose out on the economic boon that the ASG was sure to deliver. If MLB was genuinely concerned about the plight of black people, why are they making a move which will have an adverse affect on an area where nearly half the population is African-American?

NFL Commissioner Roger Godell can now take heart in that he is no longer the most inept pro sports leader among the four major sports leagues.

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Disingenuous straw men

NBC News anchor Lester Holt was recently honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award, an award honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism. Here is what Holt conveyed upon his acceptance. 

Nightly News anchor @LesterHoltNBC accepts Edward R. Murrow Award and proclaims "fairness is overrated," insists it's not necessary to "always give two sides equal weight and merit" pic.twitter.com/IwI6yA7DAF

— Kyle Drennen (@kjdrennen) March 31, 2021

I will definitely concede that there has been a disturbing trend of disinformation, particularly in the aftermath of the presidential election. As such, there were several outlandish claims from non-credible individuals which were summarily dismissed. And rightly so. 

That said, Holt is incredibly disingenuous with the line "...that the sun sets in the west is a fact, and a contrary view does not deserve our time or attention." This is a lofty standard that too many media members themselves don't live up to. The obvious example is individuals with a cervix are, in fact, women. However, the self-proclaimed "Most trusted name in news" doesn't even use the empirically factual term "women." I would venture a guess that the three major new networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) and other cable outlets also use similar vague terminology when discussing gender.

Sorry Les, but there absolutely are issues which require two sides being granted equal weight. This has never been more true than in this era of COVID-19. How many times in the past year have you heard from our betters to "Trust the experts!," to which I (and many others) would reply "Which experts?" The media often propped up the scientific talking heads which recommended the harshest mitigation strategies when it came to combatting the virus. But dissenting viewpoints indicating that less stringent lockdowns would be helpful in alleviating adverse mental health issues as well as ensuring kids were in the best educational environment possible were rarely (if ever) heard. Hell, even an epidemiologist from Harvard University was cited by Twitter as posting something "misleading" when he dared went against the "Vaccines for all" narrative by suggesting that not every single solitary adult is required to have a COVID-19 vaccine in order to reach herd immunity. 

Yeah, I get that Twitter is not the same as mainstream journalism. However, the media would be doing a great service to its consumers if they brought on someone with the credentials of a Dr. Kulldorff. But they won't. Why, it almost seems as though Holt and his ilk are only interested in one particular narrative. Sadly life is not at all that simple. 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Les's "Fairness is overrated" lecture did little to stem the tide of what is already an eroding trust in media. 

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