Author Archives: Dana Pico

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Will Bunch blows his top again!

I predicted, just two days ago, that the Philadelphia Inquirer’s liberal columnists would be “outraged” by Radnor High School’s decision to remove three “graphic novels” — a fancy term for comic books — dealing with homosexuality and transgenderism from the school library as “age inappropriate” for high schoolers. I have previously said:

Somehow, the hard left have persuaded themselves that they must take the furthest left position possible on anything even remotely regarding to sex, or they’d be enabling us evil reich-wing conservatives and Donald Trump supporters.

Thus far, I haven’t found any OpEd pieces of columns condemning Radnor High School’s action, but it’s no surprise to me that the furthest left columnist, Will Bunch, is absolutely apoplectic that Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is expressing a sensible position on ‘transgenderism’. Mr Bunch skeeted — a skeet is the slang word for a tweet on Bluesky — this morning:

I always thought Newsom would be a terrible 2028 candidate for the Dems but this clinches it — he is utterly dead to me.

I’m hardly the first person to point this out, but my entire adult life (I was a college senior when Reagan was elected in ’80, now I get senior discounts) the Dems have cowered in fear and tried to be what they think the public wants, instead of offering moral leadership. GN is just the worst case

What piqued Mr Bunch’s ire?

Gavin Newsom breaks with Democrats on trans athletes in sports

The Democratic California governor made the stunning remarks in his debut podcast with conservative guest Charlie Kirk.

by Christopher Cadelago | Thursday, March 6, 2025 | 7:53 AM EST

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a pioneer for LGBTQ+ rights who decades ago upset leaders in his own party when he defied state law and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples, suggested Democrats were in the wrong in allowing transgender athletes to participate in female college and youth sports.

“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said in his debut podcast episode of “This is Gavin Newsom.” “I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”

Newsom’s comments on the issue roiling political debates nationwide came in a conversation with influential MAGA-world figure Charlie Kirk, the campus culture warrior who leads the organization Turning Point USA and is a close ally of President Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr.

Hyperlink to Turning Point USA added by me; it was not in the Politico original.

The distinguished Mr Bunch is probably just as outraged that Mr Newsom even spoke with Charlie Kirk as he is over the Governor’s statements. He was, after all, just as outraged that MSNBC Morning Joe hosts Joe and Mika Scarborough went to Mar-a-Lago to interview Mr Trump after the election.

Newsom also agreed that the most politically destructive attack ads from Trump’s campaign featured Kamala Harris’ support for providing taxpayer-funded gender transition-related medical care for detained immigrants and federal prisoners.

“She didn’t even react to it, which was even more devastating,” Newsom said, suggesting upward of 90 percent of Americans disagreed with Harris’ position. “Then you had the video [of Harris] as a validator. Brutal,” Newsom added. “It was a great ad.”

In other words, Mr Newsom told the truth; no wonder Mr Bunch was upset!

Kirk challenged Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential hopeful, to speak out against AB Hernandez, a transgender high school track star from California whose triple jump event in the women’s competition is drawing fierce backlash from the right. Newsom said he has four children of his own — including two daughters — and noted that both he and his wife participated in college-level sports, she in soccer and he in baseball.

You can follow the link to the original; there is more there.

It’s not just A B Hernandez. This site has previously covered the case of Brayden Fleming, the male volleyball player calling himself “Blaire” and leading San José State University’s women’s volleyball team; San José is in the Pyrite State, so the Governor is almost certainly aware of it.

Mr Newsom is almost certainly running for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, and I have previously referred to him as the “2028 Democratic presidential nominee.” Why would he have started his own podcast if he weren’t trying to position himself for that campaign?

“Traci with an i” responded to Mr Bunch:

Wait. Don’t we want politicians to do what public wants? WE are the public. They work for us.

Well, no, Mr Bunch does not want politicians to do what the public want. He had already stated:

the Dems have cowered in fear and tried to be what they think the public wants, instead of offering moral leadership.

Which begs the question: is it truly “moral leadership” to want Will Thomas to beating up on women in the swimming pool? Mr Bunch is almost certainly aware of that idiocy, in that it was covered by how own newspaper, and was a major story about the University of Pennsylvania, in his home area. He might not be aware of Mr Thomas’ real name, since the Inky always referred to him by his faux name of “Lia.”

The columnist spent all of 2024, and earlier, telling us how it was absolutely vital to defeat Mr Trump in the election, to save democracy. Yet here he is, telling us that what the public want isn’t what running for election is all about. Mr Bunch wants to impose on Americans the ideology of the left, and he always will, even though the United States is not a leftist nation.

This is a strange hill on which to die, but if that’s what Mr Bunch wants to do, hey, let him!

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A win for normality and common sense at Radnor High School

Radnor is a suburb of foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadelphia, straddling Delaware and Montgomery Counties, about 13 miles west of the city and part of the “Main Line” suburbs. Both were carried by then Vice President Kamala Harris Emhoff, by slightly over 60% of the vote, but slightly lower margins than the Democrats won in 2020. I expect the opinion columnists at The Philadelphia Inquirer to be outraged by this:

Radnor bans three books in response to a parent’s challenge, including ‘Gender Queer’

An ad hoc committee convened by Radnor’s superintendent reviewed three books, and determined by a 5-1 vote that the challenged books “are not age-appropriate for students.”

by Maddie Hanna | Tuesday, March 4, 2025 | 2:01 PM EST

Radnor High School has removed three books from its library, including Gender Queer and another LGBTQ-themed book, after a parent alleged they contained child pornography.

An ad hoc committee convened by Radnor’s superintendent reviewed three books, which also included Fun Home and Blankets, and determined by a 5-1 vote that the challenged books “are not age-appropriate for our students,” said Radnor spokesperson Theji Brennan. The books — all autobiographical graphic novels — were removed Friday, she said.

Brennan did not name the members of the committee, but said they included an administrator, a principal, a librarian, a school board member, a classroom teacher in the subject area, and a parent, as specified by Radnor’s library policy.

The committee members “were asked to sign confidentiality agreements to safeguard their anonymity, ensuring they could speak openly and candidly about the challenged books without fear of retribution or external criticism,” Brennan said, adding that members “may share their participation on the committee if they so choose.”

So, what are these books? Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe is a “graphic novel” — meaning: a comic book — telling readers about her journey to becoming “non-binary.” Anyone who uses “e/em/eir pronouns” is an idiot who should not be taken seriously, and Miss Kobabe is pushing a harmful ideology on readers. Interestingly enough, reporter Maddie Hanna told us, in her final paragraph, that:

the committee noted that Gender Queer had been in the library for six years and had never been checked out by a student, “except for the time it was checked out to be challenged.” Blankets, meanwhile, has not been checked out by a student since 2022

I looked at the Amazon descriptions of the three books named, and they are all “graphic novels” about sexual themes, albeit Blankets was normal rather than homosexual in nature. But the fact that I could find them on Amazon tells us the truth: even once removed from the high school library, anyone who wants to read the silly things can purchase them from Jeff Bezos! The public school library doesn’t have to provide them.

School libraries, all libraries, have to take decisions on what materials to buy and carry; none have unlimited budgets and space. We’ll have some people combitching[1]“Combitch” and its other forms are Picoisms, the etymology of which should be obvious, and I absolutely encourage other people to use them. about censorship and banning books, but the removal of these materials from a public school library neither censors nor bans them; it simply states that the public school, an institution which has a legally captive audience, will not continue to provide them.

In related news, 21-year-old Camden Schriner, a male who claims to be a girl and calling himself “Sadie”, won two USA Track and Field (USTFA) Open Masters Championships on Saturday:

Schriener was scheduled to race against 17-year-old Anna Vidolova and 16-year-old Amaris Hiatt in the 400-meter dash (the event was held in New York). However, both of these girls courageously decided to not race against the transgender athlete, and they forfeited the race.

Schreiner didn’t stop there. Schreiner also raced 200-meter dash, winning first place over four teenagers:

  • 14-year-old runner-up Zwange Edwards
  • 16-year-old third-place finisher Zariah Hargrove
  • 15-year-old Leah Walker
  • 18-year-old Ainsley Rausch

A sensible person would think that a ‘transgender’ individual, one who really wants to be accepted as a member of the sex he claims to be, wouldn’t be participating in events which demonstrate the differences between ‘transgender girls’ and real girls, but Mr Schreiner isn’t exactly the most sensible person around.

It gets worse. A sensible person would think that someone in Mr Schreiner’s position would have declined to run alone in the 400-meter dash, out of a sense of shame, but let’s face it: the ‘transgendered’ are essentially shameless.

References

References
↑1 “Combitch” and its other forms are Picoisms, the etymology of which should be obvious, and I absolutely encourage other people to use them.
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World War III Watch: Comment rescue: Patterico’s Pontifications

The tactic was well used by the late Senator Joe McCarthy, to let everyone know that if you disagreed with him, you were a Communist.

I participated in the Weekend Open Thread on Patterico’s Pontifications, knowing in advance that if my comments were published, I’d be running into a buzz saw of opposition. The host, Los Angeles County prosecutor Patrick Frey, a conservative who has mostly withdrawn from the blog, leaving it up to a much nicer and better-looking Dana than me, is nevertheless a dedicated #NeverTrumper, as are the majority of commenters, a majority of whom also wholeheartedly support helping Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders. The commenters there are mostly well-educated, and many are lawyers, but it’s clear that many — certainly not all — view opposition to the kind of aid provided by former President Joe Biden is wholly unappreciated.

I posted this comment on Monday evening:

Whembly asked:

I feel bad for Trump and Vance choosing to side with Putin. That is a terrible legacy to live with.

DRJ (a84ee2) — 3/3/2025 @ 9:53 am

…because they want the war to stop? That’s choosing side with Putin?

It seems that a majority of commenters here, and the more vocal voices of Democrats in Washington, see it exactly that way.

There is very much a two-choice concept going on: either you support freedom — and think of Mel Gibson screaming “Freedom!” in Braveheart here — or you are a disgusting and vile Russian sympathizer and Vladimir Putin toady who supports authoritarianism and dictatorial rule. There seems little room for those of us who recognize that President Putin is a very bad guy, but who are not willing to expend American blood and treasure to keep him from conquering all of Europe.

Of course, Vladimir Vladimirovich has proven, with his three-year stalemate in Ukraine, that Russia cannot conquer all of Europe!

I was just a hair too young for Vietnam, but I paid a lot of attention to the news even as a teenager, and all I saw was the squandering of 58,000 American lives, with hundreds of thousands more wounded, all to fight a war in which we eventually cut and ran, and all of Vietnam fell to the Communists. I saw Iraq 2.0, and thousands of lives and a couple trillion dollars in treasure were wasted in getting rid of Saddam Hussein, but Iraq was never the peaceful, Western civilization-adjacent nation that the younger President Bush hoped to create. I saw Afghanistan, in which we had to fight after we were attacked, turn into a fools’ mission of trying to civilize the barbarians, and the same Taliban we kicked out of power in 2001 are right back in power.

SSG Pico served briefly in Afghanistan, though she was never in a position of serious danger.

And now the fight is against a nation with a strategic nuclear arsenal, an unstable — at least by Western definitions — leadership, and people advocating a conventional war to actually defeat Russia, yet according to some, my thinking that this war is not a wise thing for us to join is tantamount to wanting to fellate Vladimir Putin.

Also see: William Teach, “Not WWIII Watch: Trump Pauses Aid To Ukraine“

That has been my position from Day One of this insane war. I like most people, expected Russia to roll over the Ukrainians in short order, and yes, I was surprised that that didn’t happen. Instead, Ukraine stiffened, and Russia made some strategic mistakes — attacking just before the spring ‘mud time’ being the most obvious — and the war devolved into a three-year-long stalemate, and a war of attrition. For that, Russia is poorly situated, but Ukraine is an even worse position, having just a third of Russia’s population.

I have been asking all along: as much as we’d like for Ukraine to win, no one seems to be presenting a plan as to how Ukraine could win. Thomas Meaney wrote, two years ago:

The trouble is that Ukraine has only one surefire way of accomplishing this feat in the near term: direct NATO involvement in the war. Only the full, Desert Storm style of deployment of NATO and U.S. troops and weaponry could bring about a comprehensive Ukrainian victory in a short period of time. (Never mind that such a deployment would most likely shorten the odds of one of the grimmer prospects of the war: The more Russia loses, the more it is likely to resort to nuclear weapons.)

Well, I am certainly unwilling to support direct NATO involvement in this war. Trudy Rubin, the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and Ukraine supporter, said:

We do. Constantly. Give Ukraine the air cover, planes, missiles, ammo it needs, help Ukraine build up the domestic arms industry it does better, cheaper than US does, stand up to Putin and recognize that Kyiv is fighting for U.S. against dog-eat-dog world Putin and Trump want.

I’m pretty sure that giving Ukraine the air cover it needs means American pilots in American planes, directly fighting Russians.

As long as President Trump is in office, and J D Vance if the elderly Mr Trump cannot complete his four-year term, we will not be sending Americans to directly fight the Russians, not unless Russia invades Alaska! If the European NATO nations choose to send troops, that’s something which would be their decision, though I would see it as boneheadedly stupid, and I have serious doubts about just how much their populations would support such.

It would be nice if this war didn’t last for another four years! President Trump proposed a plan to end it, one which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy absolutely hated, and I can’t say that I blame him for hating it, because it concedes to Russia the land they’ve seized. But unless there’s a reasonable plan for and prospect of Ukraine gaining an advantage and winning the war, some sort of deal has to be reached.

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The Washington Post conflates current house painting fashion with race

The Washington Post published an article on neighborhood gentrification on Sunday, and a lot of readers, to judge by the comments, saw it as completely racist. Perhaps, just perhaps, not everything is about race.

The house color that tells you when a neighborhood is gentrifying

A Washington Post color analysis of D.C. found shades of gray permeate neighborhoods where the White population has increased and the Black population has decreased.

By Marissa J. Lang and John D. Harden | Sunday, March 2, 2025 | 6:00 AM EST

If you live in an American city, chances are you have seen this house: Its exterior is gray with monochromatic accents. Maybe there’s a pop of color — a red, blue or yellow door. The landscaping is restrained, all clean lines and neat minimalism. Sleek metal address numbers appear crisp in a modern sans-serif font. Continue reading →

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The New York Times and the control of language

I wonder if it will be approved.

At 10:56 AM EST I submitted a comment on The New York Times main editorial, “The MAGA WAR on Speech.” The Editorial Board is aghast that the Trump Administration has done radical things such as “The National Park Service (having) erased the letters T and Q: from L.G.B.T.Q. references on its website describing the Stonewall National Monument in New York City.” I responded:

On November 29, 2018, the Times gave OpEd space to Chad Malloy[1]Chad Malloy is a man male who claims to be a woman who goes by the faux name “Parker” Malloy. to write, “How Twitter’s Ban on ‘Deadnaming’ Promotes Free Speech.” On October 4, 2019, the Times gave OpEd space to Andrew Marantz to claim that “Free Speech Is Killing Us.” When Elon Musk bought Twitter, promising to promote greater free speech, Times Editorial Board member Greg Bensinger told readers that “Twitter Under Elon Musk Will Be a Scary Place.”

The Associated Press’ Stylebook mandates that ‘black’ be capitalized when referring to race, but not ‘brown’ or ‘white.’ More, the AP Stylebook has media all across the country referring to the transgendered by their preferred, fake names and the pronouns of what they claim to be, rather than what they actually are.

The left have been attempting to control the debate by controlling the use of language for as long as I’ve been aware of it.

Continue reading →

References

References
↑1 Chad Malloy is a man male who claims to be a woman who goes by the faux name “Parker” Malloy.
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Joy Reid and DEI: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

With the news that MSNBC has cancelled Joy Reid’s prime time show, my Twitter feed filled up with the laments of the left over that, and the inevitable complaints that she was fired because of raaaaacism the network hates black women. Former Representative Jamaal Brown (D-NY) tweeted:

Joy Reid educated a nation every single night. She is a beacon on MSNBC and all of media! Shame on MSNBC for this. SHAME SHAME SHAME! We have to build our own multimedia empire. Anchored in truth, and justice and humanity. We stand up for Black people, and GAZA and the LGBTQ, and oppressed people and vulnerable people everywhere! And we will never stop!

I absolutely support the right of Dr Brown — he tells us that he’s an “Ed.D.” in his Twitter handle — to build his own multimedia empire! We have freedom of speech and of the press in this country, and anyone can say anything he wishes, can start and try to build a show, at network, a publishing empire, whatever.

Elie Mystal, whom Dr Brown included in his tweet, is the “Justice Correspondent and Columnist” for The Nation, the socialist-left opinion journal, so he had plenty of space to express his opinion.

The Value of Joy

By canceling Joy Reid’s cable news show, MSNBC has not only silenced a brilliant host: It’s silenced the next Black voice you haven’t yet heard.

Continue reading →

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World War III Watch: Why can’t those who want to continue the war in Ukraine ever propose a way for Ukraine to actually win?

There are times I worry that I am sounding like a broken record on the subject of Ukraine, but, checking Bluesky Monday morning — I check Bluesky so you don’t have to — I saw this skeet from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s furthest leftward columnist, Will Bunch, promoting neoconservative columnist Trudy Rubin’s latest:

After three years of war in Ukraine, a Trump-backed ‘Russian peace’ would spell disaster

Leaders who still believe in democracy — not only Europeans, but also Japan and South Korea — must ensure that Putin cannot destroy Ukraine.

by Trudy Rubin | Monday, February 24, 2025 | 6:00 AM EST

BERLIN — Today, on the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, it is clear who should win the 2025 Nobel Peace prize.

I do not know if Mrs Rubin or an editor wrote that headline, but the war in Ukraine is already a disaster. Continue reading →

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Hold them accountable! When will we hold those who have enabled illegal immigration accountable for the violent crimes some illegals have committed?

Joel Quintana-Dominguez

That thing that never happens happened again! Another poor, hard-working, only-wanted-to-better-himself-and-his-family, illegal immigrant has been charged with serious crimes.

‘Disgusted and sickened’: Man accused of trying to flee country after sexually assaulting child in Shelby Twp.

By Jessica Dupnack | July 30, 2024 | 9:26 AM EDT

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) – After allegedly sexually assaulting a family member numerous times, Shelby Township police say the suspect started packing up to flee the country.

Officers began investigating 32-year-old Joel Quintana-Dominguez on July 15 after learning that he may have sexually assaulted a minor who was not even a teenager yet. Continue reading →

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Will any of the pro-#Hamas demonstrators rethink their positions following the brutal murders of Kfir and Ariel Bibas? My guess is that few will. We told them what the 'Palestinians' were like, but they wouldn't believe us

The Islamists know that hostages have value. From President Reagan trading arms for hostages held by Hezbollah in Lebanon, to the exchange of 1,027 ‘Palestinian’ terrorists — including Yahya Sinwar — for one captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit in October of 2011, the Islamic militants have realized that a few civilized Westerners have an outsized value to Western civilization and the democracies. On October 7, 2023, Hamas and their fellow travelers killed 1199 innocent Israelis, raping many of the women before killing them, and burned some of the victims alive. They seized 251 people to be held as hostages, including some children.

One would think that, if the ‘Palestinians’ had any brains, they’d have realized that live hostages should carry more value than dead ones, but realistically, no one ever accused the ‘Palestinians’ of being smart.

‘Unspeakably evil’: Kfir, Ariel Bibas were brutally murdered in Gaza captivity, not by IAF strike

Continue reading →