LAW ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES IN 2020: California police seeking white man and woman who defaced Black Lives Matter mural.

OUT NEXT WEEK FROM JIM BUTCHER: Peace Talks (Dresden Files).

THE AMERICAN PRAVDA: I had to go to an Australian news source to discover that the driver of the vehicle that sped into BLM protesters in Seattle is an African American. (Apologies if one of my colleagues at Instapundit covered this, I have been away for the holiday weekend.) I have to assume that American media outlets know this, and decided intentionally not to mention it to create the implication that this was a racist murder, rather than a guy driving recklessly on what he thought was an abandoned highway. I increasingly feel like I’m living somewhere akin to the former USSR, in terms of the way the media are dedicated to a particular narrative regardless of the facts. At least unlike in the USSR I can access alternative sources to our equivalent of Pravda.

THE CALLS ARE COMING FROM WITHIN THE HOUSE! Planned Parenthood ‘steeped in white supremacy,’ employees, supporters charge.

Gosh, who knew?

HARSH BUT FAIR:

OPEN THREAD: There’s a million ways, to make things work out.

REPORT: Protest mob shoots eight year old girl in Atlanta:

According to police, the child was riding in a car with her mom and an adult friend when car exited the interstate near the intersection of University Avenue and Pryor Road. Police said the driver was attempting to enter the parking lot on the 1200 block of Pryor Road when they were confronted by a group of armed individuals who were blocking the entrance.

Someone in the group began shooting at the car, hitting it multiple times including the shot that hit the child.

Related: “The Georgia Department of Public Safety Headquarters on United Avenue [in Atlanta] was vandalized early Sunday morning when a large group descended on the building armed with rocks, spray paint, fireworks, and other materials.”

UPDATE: “Secoriya Williamson, Secoriea’s father, also spoke out. ‘They say black lives matter,’ Williamson said. ‘You killed your own this time. You killed a child. She didn’t do nothing to nobody.’”

UPDATE (9:09 PM EDT): Police responding to 2nd deadly shooting in 24 hours at burned Wendy’s. “On Sunday night, officers responded to 1192 Pryor Street, next door to the Wendy’s, and found two people who appeared to have been shot. A third victim arrived at Grady hospital a short time later.”

(Updated and bumped.)

NOBODY’S PERFECT: Rocket Lab Electron launch fails to reach orbit, 7 satellites lost.

THE ALL-AMERICAN GLORY OF YACHT ROCK:

America’s truly sublime musical innovation is Yacht Rock. Savor the wit of that oxymoron: How hard can you rock if you’re on a yacht? The boat itself rocks like a baby, not like Led Zeppelin. So Yacht Rock is gentle, but it can’t be sad. There is no moping on a yacht. If you want to be glum and wear black, get off the boat and go find a jazz club. Not that anyone would ever invite you on their yacht in the first place.

The essence of a Yacht Rock song (my Spotify playlist is here) is that you can picture it being blasted on the deck of a yar and saucy watercraft circa 1981. Girls in cut-off shorts and bikini tops toss their arms in the air and say, “Whoo!” while the owner and host — a guy named Brad or Chad or Gary, who struck it rich with, say, a string of Camaro dealerships and is himself a sort of Camaro in human form — high-fives the guests, bites his lower lip, and moves a little off the beat, occasionally interjecting, “Awesome, man!” Brad or Chad or Gary drinks only the classy beers such as Lowenbrau or Michelob and has a cooler stocked with colorful wine coolers for the girls. Only his one very special lady will be present later when he opens up a perfectly chilled bottle of Aste Spumante. His captain’s chair is made of rich Corinthian leather.

Splash on some Paco Rabanne, pop the collar on your Vinyard Vines polo shirt, and read the whole thing.

ICYMI: CNN’s Van Jones reportedly helped craft Trump police reform order in secret.

2020: Suspected Bubonic Plague Case Reported in China’s Inner Mongolia.

WHY IS ACADEMIA SUCH A CESSPIT OF HATRED AND RACISM? “White Lives Don’t Matter” Academic: “I Resist Urges to Kneecap White Men.”

IT’S COME TO THIS:

BETTER CALL IT FOR BIDEN — TRUMP JUST LOST SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN: European Mainstream Media Outraged by Trump’s Mount Rushmore Speech.

HARSH, BUT LARGELY FAIR: “The abolitionists wrestled against slavery. The civil rights movement wrestled against segregation. But Black Lives Matter is wrestling against statues.”

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IT’S COME TO THIS: Frederick Douglass statue vandalized on anniversary of his famous Rochester, NY speech. “Located in Maplewood Park, the statue ‘had been placed over the fence to the gorge and was leaning against the fence’ on the river side, according to a statement from Rochester police. The statue was left about 50 feet from its pedestal. The base and lower part of the statue was damaged, as was a finger on the statue’s left hand. ‘It’s particularly painful that it happened at this time,’ said Carvin Eison, a leader of the project that brought the statues to the city. Eison said the damage to the statue is too significant for it to be repaired, but another will take its place.”

HMM: Health officials: Quick work for COVID-19 vaccine a ‘risk we have to take.’

COPS RE-THINKING PROTEST RULES AFTER CAR DRIVEN BY BLACK MAN KILLS WHITE SEATTLE BLM FREEWAY BLOCKER: “No, you read that right. The Washington State Patrol (WSP) set up barricades allowing the protesters to flood the freeways.”

It was all part of Mayor Durkan’s Summer of Love, man. Like the original, you had to have been there to understand.

HOW THE LEFT VIEWS THINGS: In 2020, Words Are ‘Violence,’ Arson Is Not. Or to be more precise, your free speech is violence, but their violence is just free speech.

SNOWFALLS ARE NOW JUST A THING OF THE PAST: “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: ‘World has six months to avert climate crisis, says energy expert.'”

Why, yes I have, many, many times, including this classic:

Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama’s first administration, he added.

—The Grauniad, January 17th, 2009.

Oh, and the classical reference in the headline, of course.

NIKE REMAINS QUIET AFTER KAEPERNICK CALLS INDEPENDENCE DAY A ‘CELEBRATION OF WHITE SUPREMACY.’

Curiously, Kap had a much more benign take on Independence Day before the Great Awoking:

As one wag joked on Twitter, “Amazing what happens to one’s mind after being benched for Blaine Gabbert.”

Earlier: The neoliberal counter-revolution. “Does anyone seriously believe the American establishment — Walmart, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, the trustees of Ivy League universities, the major sports leagues, even Brooks Brothers, for God’s sake — would sign on to a movement that genuinely threatened its material interests?”

“LISTEN WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHO THEY ARE:” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) refuses to rule out tearing down statues of George Washington.

As Jonah Goldberg tweeted yesterday, “People dunking on the founding should appreciate that they’re taking a sledgehammer to the very soapbox they’re standing on. No founding, no free speech, no right to assemble, no due process. If you think that’s all just ‘white supremacy,’ try protesting and carping without it.”

Presumably, Duckworth believes come the revolution, she’ll be devoured last. But then, so did Robespierre.

GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE: The Latest Catastrophe at the VA: The VA’s federal watchdog has uncovered filthy conditions at facilities across the country. Yet some 40 percent of all VA hospitals recently suffered from severe shortages of housekeeping staff.