NOT SO FAST, NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES:

It seems to me that this is the second win this week from the Trump administration, by taking the left’s racial rhetoric at its own word, and proceeding as if these leftists mean what they say. Princeton president Eisgruber says this university is shot through with racism? Oh dear, then the Education Department better investigate, because it is illegal for federal funding to go to a racist institution. And now that Trump has announced an initiative that stands to reveal the ideologically-driven falsehoods of The 1619 Project, and fight back against them being mainstreamed into US classrooms, Nikole Hannah-Jones is caught lying about what her own project actually says — and smearing people who engaged her in good faith.

Jones tweeted, and then apparently deleted the following:

One thing in which the right has been tremendously successful is getting media to frame stories in their language and through their lens. The #1619Project does not argue that 1619 is our true founding. We know this nation marks its founding at 1776. https://t.co/Af8sqr9YO7

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) September 18, 2020

And that’s exactly what her “1619 Project” stated, at least until recently:

More here: Bam: Trump Eviscerates the Noxious Marxism Behind the Riots and the 1619 Project.

SCIENCE UNSETTLED: CDC walks back COVID-19 guidelines, now urges tests for asymptomatic.

BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Jennifer Rubin Removes ‘Conservative’ Label from Her Twitter Profile.

THREE REASONS MITCH MCCONNELL IS NOT A HYPOCRITE FOR CONSIDERING TRUMP’S POTENTIAL RBG REPLACEMENT.

GET WOKE, GO BROKE: The NFL’s Ratings Are Falling Even As They Are Renegotiating Their TV Deals.

WAIT, I THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS GREAT EVERYWHERE ELSE AND AWFUL HERE BECAUSE #ORANGEMANBAD. Pandemic tops 30M cases; WHO warns of ‘serious situation’ in Europe.

IF IT’S WRONG TO FILL RBG’S SEAT, IT WAS WRONG TO NOMINATE MERRICK GARLAND: Ann Althouse slams Joe Biden and Barack Obama for hypocrisy: “But also be clear about this: Was Barack Obama wrong to nominate Merrick Garland? You must clearly say that he was or I won’t ‘let you’ be clear.”

MICHAEL MALONE: Stanley Crouch, RIP.

Due to an unlikely circumstance (I was editor of Forbes ASAP, which had just published it annual Big Issue and I wanted to celebrate with some of its contributors), I traveled East from Silicon Valley and hosted a dinner one night at Elaine’s, the legendary New York City watering hole for writers.

I ended up having Tom Wolfe sitting on one side of me and Stanley Crouch on the other (and George Plimpton stopped by the say hello). Sounds like one of those mythical Gotham literary scene stories, doesn’t it? Well, not quite. Wolfe nudged me and said, “I’ve always hated this place. And the food is horrible.” He stuck around for about an hour, then politely excused himself.

On the other hand, Stanley Crouch looked to be at home — and we spent most of the evening talking. He was short, stocky guy, with a head like a cannonball, bulging eyes behind glasses, and the swaggering manner of a prizefighter. And he was very, very bright. He was also very opinionated on everything — as one would expect from one of our greatest critics. And funny, punctuating his often savage remarks with a low chuckle.

Speaking of Crouch’s opinions: Stanley Crouch Told It Like It Is. Exit quote from the latter post: “I’ve been applauded by black bus drivers, subway drivers, mechanics, various people who have come up to me and said, ‘I’m sure glad somebody is saying it.’ That’s enough for me. I don’t care what some trickle-down Negro Marxist says.“

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? L.A. Unified school police role dramatically diminished under proposed cuts.

THE POWER LINE WEEK IN PICTURES: Desperate Despacito Edition.

AHOY — HAPPY TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY, MATEYS! 14 Facts About International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: University suspended black student for a year because drunk white girl kissed him: lawsuit.

HARDBALL: Ted Cruz Explains Perfectly Why RBG’s Seat Must Be Filled Before the Election.

SAYING THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD: The Lincoln Project claims that COVID will end when Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump (video).

STEP ONE: TREAT POLITICS AS TOTAL WAR. STEP TWO: ACT SHOCKED WHEN OPPONENTS RESPOND IN KIND.

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HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Prof on leave after saying in class she hopes Trump supporters ‘die before the election.’

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GOODFELLAS AT 30:

While he had been making The Color of Money a few years previously, Scorsese took time away from Tom Cruise’s increasingly dazzling smile to read a non-fiction book by Nicholas Pileggi, Wiseguy. Pileggi’s beguiling and revelatory account of the everyday life of the New York Mafia appealed to Scorsese for its procedural aspects as much as the opportunity to make a gripping and visceral piece of cinema, and so he telephoned the writer in an attempt to purchase the rights. In the retelling, their conversation has something of the mythical nature of Stanley meeting Livingstone: Scorsese told Pileggi, “I’ve been waiting for this book my entire life”, to which the understandably overwhelmed writer replied, “I’ve been waiting for this phone call my entire life.”

Read the whole thing.

FLASHBACK:

CHANGE: Trump approval continues surge, hits 53%, highest in year.

GREAT MOMENTS IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS: Steelers’ star: I should have done more research before honoring drive-by shooter.