NEWS AND OPINION:
Who won, who lost? Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs has assembled the “2020 Winners and Losers List” — a refreshing roster of those who triumphed and those who tumbled in 2020. Some canny political and media strategists at the Virginia-based group determined these winners and losers — and they made their judgments from a conservative perspective.
The winners include the new social media platform Parler, cited as “an alternative to the lying Orwellian dictates of Facebook and Twitter,” the judges noted in their rationale.
They also named The Washington Times, the Epoch Times, The Washington Examiner and The New York Post as “worthy publications asking the hard questions conservatives want answered.”
On the broadcast side, One America News and Newsmax won similar accolades because they managed “to keep their souls and not alienate loyal, conservative viewers.”
Winners also included Hispanic voters who supported conservative causes and candidates. In doing so, these voters reflected the failure of Democratic identity politics — and assert their own independence. The National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee also won praise for their aggressive campaigns to temper the power of Democrats on Capitol Hill. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was also declared a winner.
And the losers?
The judges were not keen on Black Lives Matter, describing the activist movement as a “new Trojan horse for the timeless evil that is Marxism.” Court packing and “big government” landed in the loser column — as did the mainstream media.
“CNN, MSNBC, and others descended into full blown lunacy and cemented themselves as PR wings for the Democrats,” the judges said.
“The Washington Post deserves its own mention on this list. A pathetic gulag of failed liberalism read by failed liberals, for failed liberals,” the judges added.
“The Lincoln Project wins the award for the most vicious, ineffective anti-conservative group of so-called conservatives,” they noted, also citing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer.
“She loves ice cream, he loves court packing, and together they know how to make majorities slimmer,” the judges advised, referring to Mrs. Pelosi’s broadcast appearance with a fancy refrigerator full of luxury ice cream, and Mr. Schumer’s fondness for expanding the Supreme Court.
The “polling industry” was faulted for political predictions which fell short.
“After 2016, they told us they would get it right. Shocker, they didn’t. They’re jokes,” judges said, also pointing the finger at online giants.
“Twitter, Facebook, and Google — the big tech Axis of Evil — making 1984 a reality one censorship at a time. They wouldn’t let you read a blockbuster story about Chinese agent Hunter Biden,” the judges noted.
THE GEORGIA MEDIA
The Georgia Senate runoff election has given the news media an excuse to offer continued negative coverage of President Trump. A few headlines from the past 24 hours:
“Trump fumes at Georgia Republicans ahead of his runoff rally” (Atlanta Journal Constitution); “Democrats may make history in Georgia Senate runoffs” (CNN); “Trump calls Georgia Senate runoff ’illegal and invalid’” (The New York Times); “Socialism will be the big winner in Georgia Senate elections” (Newsweek); “Hollywood steps up its role in Georgia Senate races” (The Los Angeles Times); “Republicans believe Trump is sabotaging the Georgia Senate” (CNBC); “Senate on a knife-edge as Georgia runoffs loom” (The Guardian); and “Senate race thrusts ’Black America’s church’ into spotlight” (The Associated Press).
MADAME CHAIR
He, she, father and mother — such terms may no longer be welcome in the upcoming 117th Congress if new changes to House rules are approved.
The House Committee on Rules provides for a new Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth which “will address issues of inequities on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or national origin,” according to an advisory issued Friday.
The office will also “honor all gender identities by changing pronouns and familial relationships in the House rules to be gender neutral,” the advisory said.
The House resolution is clear about what specific designations and pronouns are not welcome. The naval term “seamen,” for example, will be replaced by “seafarers.” In addition, “chairman” becomes “chair” in the new directive.
Things could get pretty murky, though — and possibly defeat repeated calls for use of “plain language” in federal agencies and offices.
“In clause 8(c)(3) of rule XXIII, strike ’father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in- law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, grandson, or granddaughter’ and insert ’parent, child, sibling, parent’s sibling, first cousin, sibling’s child, spouse, parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, half-sibling, or grandchild’,” the resolution stated.
Other language replacement directives also do away with the phrase “submit his or her resignation” and replace it with “resign.”
These measures, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rules Committee chairman James P. McGovern will make the House of Representatives “the most inclusive in history.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 13% of U.S. voters expect President-elect Joseph R. Biden to be one of the country’s “greatest” presidents; 4% of Republicans, 4% of independents and 22% of Democrats agree.
• 26% of voters overall say Mr. Biden will be an “above average” president; 6% of Republicans, 19% of independents and 46% of Democrats agree.
• 21% overall think he will be an “average” president; 14% of Republicans, 33% of independents and 25% of Democrats agree.
• 12% overall say he will be a ” below average” president; 22% of Republicans, 14% of independents and 3% of Democrats agree.
• 20% overall expect him to be “one of the worst” presidents; 42% of Republicans, 19% of independents and 1% of Democrats agree.
• 5% overall say he won’t be president; 10% of Republicans, 2% of independents and 1% of Democrats agree.
Source: A Fox News poll of 1,007 registered U.S. voters conducted Dec. 6-9 and released Dec. 30.
• Helpful information to jharper@washingtontimes.com
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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