Some of the few truly entertaining moments you&#8217;ll find in politics are the times when activists who are extremely ideological — the total fanatics — suddenly have to confront the reality that they&#8217;re losing. 
You&#8217;ll remember that when Donald Trump won in 2016, we saw a lot of that. HBO captured <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRFmtGwLnP4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">footage</a> of Ben Rhodes, the Obama adviser, sitting shell-shocked on a bench for several minutes when he realized that Hillary Clinton wasn&#8217;t going to be president. There was also the famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDYNVH0U3cs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">woman</a> screaming and howling as Trump was inaugurated, who became an instant meme. These kinds of moments are great because if you&#8217;re a sane person, it&#8217;s a win-win. Your enemies aren&#8217;t just being defeated; they&#8217;re also providing some unintended humor on the way out.
Yesterday in the state of Utah we were treated to another one of these moments. The state senate overwhelmingly <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2024/01/25/utahs-anti-dei-bill-passes-senate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a bill that will dismantle all &#8220;diversity, equity and inclusion&#8221; programs in the government as well as the public education system. As the Salt Lake Tribune reports:
<blockquote>The wide-sweeping proposal requires that diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, offices at the state’s eight public colleges and universities, specifically, be reframed. They can no longer be race- or gender-based, but instead must cater to all students as generalized student success and support centers. .. [The bill] additionally bans schools and government employers from asking job applicants for a statement about their beliefs on diversity or inclusion, and [schools and employers] could lose state funding for violating that. And all entities would be required to eliminate any training on &#8216;discriminatory practices&#8217; while replacing that with instruction on free speech from all viewpoints.</blockquote>
This is, by far, the most sweeping anti-DEI bill that&#8217;s ever been proposed in this country. And just for good measure, the Utah Senate also <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2024/01/25/ban-transgender-people-utahs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a separate bill banning men from entering women&#8217;s restrooms. The governor has indicated he&#8217;s going to sign both of these bills, so in all likelihood, very soon they&#8217;ll become law.
For DEI race hustlers, this is their Ben Rhodes, “crazy-lady-screeching-at-the-inauguration” moment. This doesn&#8217;t just mark the rollback of their ideology in Utah, it&#8217;s also virtually certain to inspire similar bills all over the country and create a kind of domino effect. Already, states like Oklahoma, Florida and Texas have taken their own <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-an-order-from-oklahomas-governor-seeks-to-defund-dei-in-state-offices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">steps</a> to end DEI. And now the process looks like it&#8217;s going to accelerate.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1302-democrats-hold-a-funeral-for-dei-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
Here&#8217;s the fun part. Democrats in Utah, as you might imagine, didn&#8217;t take this news very well. So they did what any mentally unbalanced, crazy person would do in this circumstance. They all dressed in black and solemnly held a funeral for DEI, because in their words, &#8220;they are hurting.&#8221; There was no casket as far as I can tell, but they did have a eulogy and a strict dress code for the occasion. Watch:
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HAPPENING NOW: Utah&#39;s Democrats are wearing all black, asking <a href="https://twitter.com/GovCox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovCox</a> to veto two controversial bills dealing with DEI and bathroom access. 
They say they&#39;re in black because they are &quot;hurting&quot; that these bills are likely to pass. <a href="https://twitter.com/KSL5TV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KSL5TV</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/utpol?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#utpol</a> <a href="https://t.co/FzVJqjVQeT">pic.twitter.com/FzVJqjVQeT</a>
&mdash; Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) <a href="https://twitter.com/LindsayOnAir/status/1750615549829071247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Imagine the process of arranging something like this. Did they all get on a conference call and say, &#8220;Hey everyone, it looks like that bill that bans racial discrimination is going to pass, so we&#8217;re going to hold a funeral for DEI. Be sure to wear all black.&#8221; And then no one thought that was remotely unusual or weird in any way. All of them apparently thought that, by color coordinating, they&#8217;d lend some gravity and seriousness to the situation. But of course, they did the opposite. There is not a single living creature who saw this press conference in Utah and felt anything other than amusement and second-hand-embarrassment for everyone involved.
Actually, the more you watch this DEI funeral, the more humiliating it gets. You may have noticed that the Democrats didn&#8217;t simply coordinate their clothing. They also coordinated their positions at the press conference. All of the white guys are conspicuously located in the back. You can barely see them. The women are up front. The Utah Democrats didn&#8217;t specifically call attention to this staging, like they did with the clothing, but it&#8217;s not hard to figure out the message. They&#8217;re once again highlighting the fact that DEI means that white guys go to the back of the bus. Even the white guys who are on board with DEI are subjected to this humiliation because they&#8217;re inferior, solely by virtue of their skin color. This is a fundamental principle of DEI, and they will continue to embrace it even as the DEI scam collapses around them.
At the same time, there was one candid, slightly less choreographed moment from the Utah capitol the other day. The Salt Lake Tribune captured this image of trans activists storming the capitol, presumably because they&#8217;re upset about the other bill (the one that keeps men out of women&#8217;s bathrooms):
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Ban of transgender people from Utah’s public bathrooms passes Senate <a href="https://t.co/lOELr3cNzs">https://t.co/lOELr3cNzs</a> <a href="https://t.co/H1zXWN8way">pic.twitter.com/H1zXWN8way</a>
&mdash; Salt Lake Tribune politics (@SLTribPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/SLTribPolitics/status/1750605769928474643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
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It&#8217;s a shot of two very angry individuals — one of them wearing a mask for some reason — holding signs that read, &#8220;Trans Joy is Power.&#8221; But if you look closely at their faces, you can&#8217;t help but notice that &#8220;trans joy&#8221; looks a lot like blind, homicidal rage. This is always the case with “trans joy.” We hear a lot about it, but nobody has ever seen anything resembling joy from any trans activist. This photo went viral for obvious reasons. For one thing, it&#8217;s like a Babylon Bee photo, except in real life. But the photo also does a great job of capturing the anger and bitterness of deranged activists who know they&#8217;re losing. They don&#8217;t have time for debates or logic or anything like that. All they can do is rage, and they know it.
We&#8217;re seeing a similar phenomenon play out in the journalism industry, or what&#8217;s left of it anyway. Faced with a very public and overwhelming rejection of everything they stand for, journalists are not pondering their failures. They aren&#8217;t wondering why everyone hates them. Instead, they&#8217;re wallowing in self-pity and frustration, just like the trans activists. 
This week, for example, the Los Angeles Times laid off more than 20% of its newsroom. This is the paper that, in just the past couple of years, has run headlines like <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-20/recall-candidate-larry-elder-is-a-threat-to-black-californians" target="_blank" rel="noopener">these</a>: 
<ul>
<li>&#8220;Larry Elder is the Black Face of White Supremacy. You&#8217;ve Been Warned&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Mocking anti-vaxxers&#8217; COVID deaths is ghoulish, yes — but may be necessary&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;White drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of color&#8221; 
</li>
</ul>
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White drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of color<a href="https://t.co/1cBp2TTay6">https://t.co/1cBp2TTay6</a>
&mdash; Los Angeles Times (@latimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1633840062160072707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Apparently, we&#8217;re not talking about principled journalists holding the powerful to account. These are ghoulish activists who want to cause a race war and dance on the graves of their political enemies. And you can say — well, not everyone in the newsroom may have agreed with those headlines. But the fact is, none of them condemned any of this. None of them spoke out, or reconsidered the wisdom of working for an organization that would publish garbage like this. And we all know why that is: The staff of the LA Times was openly racist and overtly hostile to anyone they disagreed with. That showed in their &#8220;journalism,&#8221; and most of the public found it to be completely repulsive. So the paper started losing something like $40 million a year. And now the newsroom has been gutted as a result.
But in the wake of these cuts, there has not been a single LA Times employee — current or former — who has said, &#8220;Hey, maybe we shouldn&#8217;t have wished for the death of our enemies.&#8221; Not a single one, as far as I can tell, has said that it was a bad idea to publish an article accusing white people of poisoning the &#8220;people of color&#8221; in Los Angeles. In fact, the opposite has been happening. LA Times employees have been defending their coverage. 
One LA Times reporter, Sarah D. Wire, insisted the other day that the article about white drivers &#8220;polluting the air&#8221; was <a href="https://x.com/sarahdwire/status/1750241416771494153?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">great journalism.</a> She wrote, &#8220;Ah yes, how dare we inform people about a USC study that found pollution in Los Angeles disproportionally impacts the communities that highways run through&#8230;&#8221; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ah yes, how dare we inform people about a USC study that found pollution in Los Angeles disproportionally impacts the communities that highways run through&#8230;
Journalists&#39; job is to inform their community <a href="https://t.co/LPPVMedmZd">https://t.co/LPPVMedmZd</a>
&mdash; Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahdwire/status/1750241416771494153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
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So she still doesn&#8217;t get it. She&#8217;s not even trying to get it. Even now, after everyone has pointed out to her that &#8220;white drivers&#8221; aren&#8217;t the only ones driving on Los Angeles&#8217; highways, Sarah D. Wire at the Los Angeles Times doesn&#8217;t see the problem with the headline. And keep in mind, this is one of the few people who wasn&#8217;t fired this week at the LA Times. This is supposedly the cream of the crop. That&#8217;s how committed this organization is to fomenting race hatred by lying to the public.
Just to be sure I wasn&#8217;t missing anything, I spent some time looking through the Twitter/X feeds of current and former LA Times employees. I wanted to see if any of them were showing any introspection whatsoever. I wanted to see, for example, if any LA Times reporters expressed regret for predicting a year ago that Twitter would implode — because you have to admit, it&#8217;s pretty ironic that the LA Times imploded, and Twitter/X is still around. But I didn&#8217;t find anything like that. Instead, the more I looked, the worse it got.
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As Chris Rufo noted, the post-layoffs <a href="https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1750208797564657820" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the LA Times&#8217; various &#8220;diversity caucuses&#8221; didn&#8217;t even attempt to defend their work on the basis of quality or merit or profitability. Instead, they all invoked various racial grievances: 
<blockquote>The announcement today. .. has devastating implications for Black, Latino, AAPI and other journalists of color. &#8230; If these layoffs are allowed to go through, &#8230; the Latino Caucus will lose 38 percent of its members. The Black Caucus will lose 36 percent of its members. The [AAPI] and Middle East, North Africa and South Asia caucuses will lose 34 percent of their combined membership.</blockquote>
So it&#8217;s all racial bean counting, to the very end. And no one at the LA Times seems to realize how normal people are perceiving all of this. 
Yesterday, the LA Times&#8217; Noah Goldberg tweeted out this photo of an empty LA Times newsroom, apparently to garner sympathy:
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The LATimes newsroom today. What’s missing <a href="https://t.co/p85IJbeltU">pic.twitter.com/p85IJbeltU</a>
&mdash; Noah Goldberg (@Noah__Goldberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/Noah__Goldberg/status/1750288689564107210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Literally no one reacted with sympathy to that photo. Tim Pool had maybe the <a href="https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1750562538356441167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best response</a>: 
<blockquote>This is like taking a picture of a kitchen and lamenting there are no roaches running around.</blockquote>
Then, after the post was completely dogpiled by thousands of people, Goldberg <a href="https://twitter.com/Noah__Goldberg/status/1750551574999609778" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted:</a>
<blockquote>Well I’ve gone viral apparently among people who think the LA Times is staffed by journalists who advocate for white genocide and are propagandists. They all believe that the layoffs were good.</blockquote>
Well, that constitutes some accurate reporting from the LA Times, at least, but no one was allowed to celebrate it. Goldberg very quickly locked the replies to that tweet. This is what journalists have to do now —They&#8217;re hiding from the customers they&#8217;re supposedly serving. And yet, somehow, they&#8217;re still in denial about why everyone has so much disdain for them. Even after so many publications have been conducting layoffs this year — including Sports Illustrated, the LA Times, TIME, Business Insider, Forbes, Conde Nast and the New York Daily News — these hacks are still convinced that they&#8217;re irreplaceable. The remaining workers are even going on strike in many cases, as if that&#8217;s magically going to generate the money that these businesses need in order to pay them. But it didn&#8217;t work for the LA Times, and it won&#8217;t work for the New York Daily News or Forbes either.
That&#8217;s because, in the end, reality is non-negotiable. That&#8217;s true for every industry, whether it&#8217;s DEI or journalism. You can only sustain a fantasy for so long. And as journalists and DEI bureaucrats are discovering, sooner or later, whether you hold a funeral for it or not, the fantasy has to end.

Funeral Concepts: Hearse and Flowers

Democrats Hold A Funeral For DEI

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Los Angeles Times

Matt Walsh

Newspaper

Opinion

Readers Pass

Transgender

Utah

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, is not OK. The California Democrat missed weeks of Senate votes after contracting shingles, and that led to Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which can cause facial paralysis and hearing loss. She also suffered encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain.
When she finally returned to work two months after holing up in her California mansion, Feinstein was in a wheelchair. But she and her staff claim she&#8217;s just fine — and they&#8217;re going to great lengths to mask her real state of health.
On Wednesday, a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2023-05-24/as-staff-shield-feinstein-from-the-press-a-picture-really-is-worth-a-thousand-words-essential-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> that he was &#8220;shouted at&#8221; when he tried to photograph Feinstein.
&#8220;I photographed the senator as a staff member tried to hide her wheelchair behind a pillar at a low-profile exit last week. A Capitol Police officer shouted at me to move back — despite already being 30 feet away from the senator. Feinstein waved as she was escorted to a waiting vehicle,&#8221; photographer Kent Nishimura wrote.
The photographer also claimed Senate security is going to great lengths to protect Feinstein from the press.
&#8220;For two days in a row last week, the Senate sergeant-at-arms office has said her arrival at the Capitol ‘is closed press,’ shutting doors and using the Capitol police to chase journalists out of hallways and public spaces. This unprecedented act of restricting press freedom only raises more questions,&#8221; he said.
Nishimura wrote that since her return, Feinstein’s &#8220;staff’s efforts to protect&#8221; her from the media have &#8220;ratcheted up.&#8221;
&#8220;(H)er staff have used every trick in the book to stay out of sight and at a distance from the press,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;In committee meetings, her public remarks have been limited and she is always surrounded by staff. They also often form a human barrier between her and the press corps, with one staffer pushing her wheelchair while others shout at photographers to move out of the way.&#8221;
One member of her protective bubble is Nancy Corinne Prowda, the eldest daughter of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). &#8220;Since Feinstein returned to Washington, I’ve found myself regularly watching as Prowda runs interference and shields the senator from reporters, sometimes placing herself between them,&#8221; Nishimura wrote.
And her staff has figured out a way to keep the press from Feinstein. &#8220;These days, the senator is escorted on paths to and from the Senate chamber, where cameras aren’t allowed. POLITICO reported that her office requested that the Capitol Hill security apparatus keep the press as far from her as possible,&#8221; the Times photographer wrote.
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Feinstein’s office denied that it is shielding the senator from the media.
“Our office has not asked photographers to not take pictures of her in her wheelchair,” Feinstein spokesman Adam Russell said in a statement to The Times. “We did ask, and continue to ask for safety reasons, that photographers and reporters give her space, particularly when entering and exiting her vehicle.”
Feinstein&#8217;s mental acuity has been in question since she returned to the Senate. She gave a bizarre answer when asked by reporters about her lengthy absence and how her colleagues reacted upon her return.
&#8220;No, I haven&#8217;t been gone,&#8221; she said, Slate <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/dianne-feinstein-health-return-to-senate.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. &#8220;You should follow the — I haven&#8217;t been gone, I&#8217;ve been working.&#8221;
One reporter asked whether she had been working from home. &#8220;No, I&#8217;ve been here. I&#8217;ve been voting,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Please, you either know or don&#8217;t know.&#8221;
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Senator Feinstein Returns To Capitol Hill After Months-Long Absence

Feinstein’s Staff ‘Tried To Hide Her Wheelchair,’ Form ‘Human Barrier’ To Shield Her From Media: Report

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Staff 'Tried To Hide Her Wheelchair,' Form 'Human Barrier’ To Shield Her From Media: Report

Congress

Dianne Feinstein

Health

Politics

The Los Angeles Times, citing a study from researchers at the University of Southern California, claimed that people of color in the city had been damaged by white people because white people drove more.
The USC study, titled, “<a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/wd92j/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Local Inequities in the Relative Production of and Exposure to Vehicular Air Pollution in Los Angeles</a>,” stated in its abstract that a “growing knowledge of racial injustice in exposure levels” existed in Los Angeles County, and that “tracts whose residents drive less are exposed to more air pollution, as are tracts with a less-White population.” The study blamed “decades of racially-motivated freeway infrastructure planning and residential segregation.”
“White drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of color,” The LA Times trumpeted.
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White drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of color<a href="https://t.co/1cBp2TTay6">https://t.co/1cBp2TTay6</a>
&mdash; Los Angeles Times (@latimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1633840062160072707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The study invoked “environmental justice,” writing, “The political and planning decisions behind transport infrastructure placement impact environmental justice today through vehicular air pollution,” “Decades of racist planning decisions in Los Angeles have contributed to today’s injustices in transport, health, and environmental quality,” and “non-White and poor communities are disproportionately burdened with excess pollution.”
One of the solutions proposed by the authors of the study suggested invasive measures toward presumably white, wealthier neighborhoods, as they wrote, “legalizing the construction of denser and more affordable housing in less-polluted, exclusive neighborhoods could reduce exposure disparities.”
The Los Angeles Times contributor <a href="//DA4BD556-A640-40F2-8BBD-1CAC6CD53DCD/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> guiltily, “I couldn’t help but consider my own complicity” after reading the study, then saluted the study’s perspective, adding, “It may sound like a paradox, but it’s not. It’s a function of the racism that shaped this city and its suburbs, and continues to influence our daily lives — and a stark reminder of the need for climate solutions that benefit everyone.”
“I’ve benefited from the region’s sordid history as well,” he opined.
Many of the wealthier white residents of Los Angeles live near the coast, where the air is cleaner, rather than inland, where the smog is trapped in the Los Angeles area.
Twitter ‘s “Community Notes” initially was seen rating the Times’ claim as false, writing, “This claim is false. This assumption is based on research that those who drive more tend to be exposed to less air pollution while those who drive less tend to be exposed to more pollution. L.A. population is 48.4% Hispanic/Latino, 28.1% White only (not Hispanic).”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Twitter is calling you “fake news,” <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@latimes</a> <a href="https://t.co/HXLoS0bd3V">pic.twitter.com/HXLoS0bd3V</a>
&mdash; Beatrice Cardenas (@RealBetyCardens) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealBetyCardens/status/1633982261271085056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The Times was bashed for their tweet:
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This has become like old timey, nonsensical racism at this point&#8230;
&mdash; Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/1633886264700092432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Just here for the ratio, you race baiting simpletons.
&mdash; Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) <a href="https://twitter.com/RitaPanahi/status/1633943575456264194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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If *Finding Racism Everywhere* was an Olympic sport, this LA Times article would be heavily favored to win the gold medal 🏅 <a href="https://t.co/bqIsuB70WE">pic.twitter.com/bqIsuB70WE</a>
&mdash; Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joelmpetlin/status/1633946354287362048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Congratulations to the author of this piece <a href="https://twitter.com/Sammy_Roth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sammy_Roth</a>. You have managed to write not only the most idiotic but racist piece of 2023!
&mdash; Nick Short ‎‎ (@PoliticalShort) <a href="https://twitter.com/PoliticalShort/status/1633953160342523904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Traffic jam on southbound Harbor (110) Freeway that was closed near the Santa Monica (10) Freeway,

‘Finding Racism Everywhere’: LA Times Bashed For Claiming ‘White Drivers’ Polluting Air Of ‘People of Color’

LA Times Bashed For Claiming ‘White Drivers’ Polluting Air Of ‘People of Color’

Automobiles

Environmentalism

Los Angeles

Pollution

Racism

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Skittles</a> is urging fans to stop throwing candy at musicians, and the company has even taken out a full-page ad to spread the message.
The candy brand’s new campaign appears to be a direct response to an incident involving <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/harry-styles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harry Styles</a>. Apparently, a concertgoer kept throwing Skittles at the “Watermelon Sugar” composer while he was onstage at a recent event. TikTok videos show Styles keeping his cool but shielding his eyes from the rainbow-colored candies flying toward him.
The official Skittles account addressed the matter first on Twitter, sharing on November 15, &#8220;Didn’t think I needed to say this: Please don’t throw Skittles.&#8221;
But that wasn’t all. A recent edition of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/los-angeles-times" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles Times</a> featured a full-page ad intended to spread the message even further. 
“Protect the rainbow. Taste the rainbow. But please, don’t throw the rainbow,” the text said over a graphic of heart-shaped sunglasses with a green Skittle being thrown toward them. The bottom of the image included a public service announcement for fans. “PSA: Protect your eyes from Skittles (by eating them, not throwing them),&#8221; it said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
PSA: Protect your eyes from Skittles (by eating them, not throwing them) <a href="https://t.co/1qy1bOYeSt">pic.twitter.com/1qy1bOYeSt</a>
&mdash; SKITTLES (@Skittles) <a href="https://twitter.com/Skittles/status/1594048049042554887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Styles’ bandmate Pauli the PSM held an Instagram Live session following the Skittles incident and told fans the musician was fine, but that they should stop throwing things at him. “But do me a favor, don’t throw no more Skittles on stage,” he said, per <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/harry-styles-eye-skittles-los-angeles-concert-watch-1235172074/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Billboard</a>. 
For some reason, Styles’ fans have a penchant for throwing food items at him while he’s performing. Over the summer, the “Night Changes” singer got pelted with a chicken nugget as he was singing.
&#8220;Who threw the chicken nugget?&#8221; he said, as the fans in the crowd chanted, &#8220;Eat it!&#8221;
Styles replied, &#8220;I don&#8217;t eat chicken, sorry. I don&#8217;t eat meat.&#8221;
The Skittles brand is owned by Mars, Incorporated, a multi-billion dollar, privately-owned confectionery company based in McLean, Virginia. Earlier this summer, the brand also faced backlash for refusing to remove an allegedly toxic ingredient from Skittles candies.
Per a lawsuit filed at the time, Mars had pledged to remove the colorant titanium dioxide (TiO2) from its ingredients list back in 2016 but had failed to do so. The food additive is banned in the European Union due to potentially harmful side effects. TiO2 is often found in paint, adhesives, plastics, and some roofing materials.
&nbsp;

2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival – Weekend 2 – Day 1

Skittles Takes Out Full Page Ad Urging Fans Not To Throw Candy After Harry Styles Incident

Food

Harry Styles

Music

Several leaked audio clips posted by an anonymous Reddit account have put three <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/los-angeles">Los Angeles</a> City Council members and a top county labor official under fire over a conversation last October, where the individuals could be heard using offensive and racist language.
The conversation included Council President Nury Martinez with fellow Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. The meeting was largely focused on redistricting the city, which happens once a decade.
During the conversation, Martinez remarked about Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón after his name was mentioned.
“F*** that guy,” Martinez said. “He’s with the blacks.”
Another part of the audio clip, which can be heard across social media platforms and in a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-09/city-council-leaked-audio-nury-martinez-kevin-de-leon-gil-cedillo">report</a> by The Los Angeles Times, exposes comments made by Martinez about Councilmember Mike Bonin, a white man, and his adopted black son.
While discussing Bonin, Martinez called his son “Parece changuito,” or “He’s like a monkey,” soon afterward. She later referred to Bonin as a “little bitch” and said he is raising his child like a “little white kid.”
The Los Angeles Times reports Councilmember de León compared Bonin’s handling of his child to Martinez carrying her Louis Vuitton handbag. He would later refer to Bonin as the council’s “fourth black member.”
“Mike Bonin won’t f***ing ever say peep about Latinos,” de León said. “He’ll never say a f***ing word about us.”
KTLA <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/l-a-city-councilmembers-apologize-for-offensive-remarks-heard-in-leaked-audio/">reports</a> Martinez released an apology statement.
“In a moment of intense frustration and anger, I let the situation get the best of me, and I hold myself accountable for these comments,” Martinez said. “For that, I am sorry.”
“The context of this conversation was concern over the redistricting process and concern about the potential negative impact it might have on communities of color,” she added. “My work speaks for itself. I’ve worked hard to lead this city through its most difficult time.”
De León released a statement following the report, according to KTLA.
“There were comments made in the context of this meeting that are wholly inappropriate; and I regret appearing to condone and even contribute to certain insensitive comments made about a colleague and his family in private,” de León said. “I’ve reached out to that colleague personally. On that day, I fell short of the expectations we set for our leaders — and I will hold myself to a higher standard.”
Cedillo told The Los Angeles Times that he does not “have a recollection of this conversation.”
A lawyer representing the L.A. County Federation of Labor sent a letter to The Los Angeles Times condemning the publication for highlighting the transcripts while accusing it of “condoning illegal conduct.”
Jeffrey Glasser, general counsel of The Los Angeles Times, defended the newspaper’s right to publish the material in a response letter to the lawyer.
“It is a fundamental principle in the United States that we do not prohibit or punish the receipt and publication of newsworthy information,” Glasser said.
Councilmember Bonin released a statement Sunday afternoon, saying he and his husband were “appalled, angry and absolutely disgusted” about the comments made about his son, according to KTLA.
“We love our son, a beautiful, joyful child, and our family is hurting today,” Bonin’s statement reads.”No child should ever be subjected to such racist, mean and dehumanizing comments, especially from a public official.”
“It hurts that one of our son’s earliest encounters with overt racism comes from some of the most powerful public officials in Los Angeles,” he added.
Bonin called on Martinez, de León, and Cedillo to resign from the City Council.

Los Angeles City Council has voted to end long-standing renter eviction protections due to COVID-19 hardship on Jan. 31, 2023.

‘F*** That Guy, He’s With The Blacks:’ Leaked Audio Throws L.A. City Officials Under Fire Over Racist Remarks

Leaked Audio Throws L.A. City Officials Under Fire Over Racist Remarks

Los Angeles City Council

A Los Angeles Times columnist mocked politicians who have suggested a return to religious faith is a possible solution for gun violence.
LZ Granderson’s LA Times bio states that he “was named Journalist of the Year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Assn. &#8230; His TED Talk on LGBTQ equality has more than 1.6 million views.”
Granderson began his <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-06-01/republicans-uvalde-shooting-religion">opinion column</a>, “A number of so-called religious conservatives like to explain away national tragedies — be they natural or man-made — through the lens of God’s wrath, or at least indirect punishment for ‘sins.’”
Noting some prominent Christian politicians, Granderson opined, “They clearly have a period in mind in which they believe God was happier with the direction of the country, but our history makes it impossible to pinpoint a date without looking racist. So they tend to talk in nostalgic Judeo-Christian generalities.”
He quoted Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson, who stated that the “solution is renewed faith.” Then Granderson contended “as if there’s an agreed-upon faith or showing of that faith that we all should agree to return to.”
“The adherents of this thinking say after any horror: We have to fight evil,” Granderson theorized, then shifted to an attack on America: “My question is how a nation that romanticizes, even monetizes, its own evil beginnings can even start to fight the kind of evil some of these politicos speak of.”
Granderson, who told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/lz-granderson-living-straight-man-felt-drowning/story?id=48191037">ABC News</a> in 2017, “I don’t feel comfortable telling people what they should do with their lives,” accused Johnson and like-minded politicians of “pandering”:
<blockquote>The needle of our moral compass is susceptible to political spin. The kind of spin elected officials like Johnson deploy because it panders to our desire to see ourselves as good people. That’s much more pleasant for us than acknowledging we were never as holy as we like to tell ourselves.</blockquote>
Noting Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick argued after the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, “You just cannot change character without changing a heart, and you can’t do that without turning to God,” Granderson snapped, “I would ask Patrick: When exactly did a nation built on stolen land, kidnapping and enslavement turn away from God?”
He pointed out Fox News’ Rachel Campos-Duffy stated, “We took God out of schools and we wonder how this evil comes in.”
He concluded, “Many of us don’t wonder how this evil came in. We wonder why people like you won’t admit it’s been here since the beginning.”

A Night Of Pride With GLAAD And NFL

LA Times Columnist Mocks Politicians Calling For A Return To God

Guns

Religion

A Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Los Angeles Times has suggested that some people who refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and subsequently died of the disease got their “just desserts.”
In a column titled, “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-01-10/why-shouldnt-we-dance-on-the-graves-of-anti-vaxxers">Mocking anti-vaxxers’ COVID deaths is ghoulish, yes — but may be necessary</a>,” Michael Hiltzik, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999, asked rhetorically, “How should we react to the deaths of the unvaccinated?”
He answered himself:
<blockquote>On the one hand, a hallmark of civilized thought is the sense that every life is precious. On the other, those who have deliberately flouted sober medical advice by refusing a vaccine known to reduce the risk of serious disease from the virus, including the risk to others, and end up in the hospital or the grave can be viewed as receiving their just deserts (sic).</blockquote>
Hiltzik noted, “It has become common online and in social media for vaccine refusers and anti-vaccine advocates to become the target of ridicule after they come down with COVID-19 and especially if they die from it,” then listed some venues that had done just that.
Hiltzik wrote that he differed from a colleague who lamented the vicious attacks on anti-vaxxers who had died, offering, “I have a slightly different take.” He agreed that the deaths of those who had “legitimate medical reasons” for remaining unvaccinated, had to overcome obstacles getting to a vaccination site, or had been “deceived by the misinformation and disinformation spread by the anti-vaccine crowd such as anchors on Fox News,” were “truly lamentable.”
“Some of those who object to the tone of the commentary are merely voicing a variation on the ‘civility’ argument that was commonly raised against critics of the intemperate and inhumane policies of the Trump administration,” Hiltzik contended, adding, “As I observed then, ‘pleas for civility’ are a fraud. Their goal is to blunt and enfeeble criticism and distract from their truthfulness. Typically, they’re the work of hypocrites.”
“So what, then, is the proper response to the deaths of anti-vaxxers or other determined foes of public health?” he continued. “First, we must acknowledge that the enemies needing to be stamped out are the misinformation, lies and stupidity being injected into the fight against COVID.  Second, we must view every one of these deaths as a teachable moment. They demonstrate in the most vivid way imaginable the folly of vaccine refusal and of flouting responsible public health measures. They underscore the dire consequences of turning public health into a partisan football.”
He concluded:
<blockquote>It may be not a little ghoulish to celebrate or exult in the deaths of vaccine opponents. And it may be proper to express sympathy and solicitude to those they leave behind. But mockery is not necessarily the wrong reaction to those who publicly mocked anti-COVID measures and encouraged others to follow suit, before they perished of the disease the dangers of which they belittled. Nor is it wrong to deny them our sympathy and solicitude, or to make sure it’s known when their deaths are marked that they had stood fast against measures that might have protected themselves and others from the fate they succumbed to. There may be no other way to make sure that the lessons of these teachable moments are heard.</blockquote>

Forensic Doctors Are Struggling to Handle Influx of Bodies In Thailand

Pulitzer-Winning Columnist: Some Unvaxxed Who Died Got Their ‘Just Desserts’

Unvaccinated

On Tuesday, an opinion columnist for The Los Angeles Times who seems to have hostility toward guns and a contempt for Trump voters offered a novel suggestion for people wishing to buy or rent a place to live: make real-estate listings delineate the “prevalence of gun-ownership in a 50-mile radius” around the listed home.
Virginia Heffernan tweeted, “Real-estate listings should include prevalence of gun-ownership in a 50-mile radius and number of annual mass shootings in the region. Time to change what a ‘bad neighborhood’ is.”
“[A]nd introduce a meaningful tax on guns and gun violence,” she continued. “No one should say ‘this is a great place to raise kids’ about neighborhoods where even one person has an assault rifle.”
“The metric would be simple,” she posited. “Example: Staten Island (pop 474k) has 4x the gun ownership per capita of the Bronx (pop 1.4m). If that reads as safer or more frer (sic) to some people, Staten Island is for them. If not, maybe time for the Bronx. Take race, class, politics out of the real-estate equation.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
…and introduce a meaningful tax on guns and gun violence. 
No one should say “this is a great place to raise kids” about neighborhoods where even one person has an assault rifle.
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1402241605420163076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If that reads as safer or more frer to some people, Staten Island is for them. If not, maybe time for the Bronx. Take race, class, politics out of the real-estate equation.
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1402248703780569095?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
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When someone brought up the infamous interactive map of local gun owners published by the Journal-News of the Westchester and Rockland counties of New York in 2012, Heffernan replied, “Not doxing. Just available data on gun ownership per capita.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Not doxing. Just available data on gun ownership per capita.
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1402298780591009795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Heffernan, who has referred to former President Trump as “brain-addled,” wrote in July 2020:
<blockquote>The pandemic kicked off a rush on, of all things, guns. In locked-down states, gun stores were declared as essential as groceries. Widespread unemployment and then the George Floyd protests may have added to the rush to arms. In any case, according to the Wall Street Journal, unprecedented numbers of Americans purchased guns between March and June, and the FBI processed a record number of firearm background checks: 7.8 million. It’s not clear what guns might do against microbes or joblessness, but maybe it’s axiomatic in America: When afraid, buy guns.</blockquote>
In February, Heffernan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-supporters-plow-neighbors-driveway-for-her-she-likens-them-to-nazis-terrorists-megyn-kelly-tells-neighbors-what-to-do">noted</a> that her Trump-loving neighbors had done her a favor and “plowed our driveway without being asked and did a great job,” but then likened them to Nazi supporters and Hezbollah terrorists, snapping, “My neighbors supported a man who showed near-murderous contempt for the majority of Americans. They kept him in business with their support,” before pontificating, “I also can’t give my neighbors absolution; it’s not mine to give.”
Former Fox News anchor and current podcast host Megyn Kelly fired back with some advice for the kindly neighbors: “This woman compares her Trump-supporting neighbors, who plowed her driveway, to Nazi sympathizers &amp; Hezbollah &amp; wrestles w/whether to show them any kindness since she ‘can’t give them absolution.’ Note to Virginia Heffernen’s neighbors: don’t plow again.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This woman compares her Trump-supporting neighbors, who plowed her driveway, to Nazi sympathizers &amp; Hezbollah &amp; wrestles w/whether to show them any kindness since she “can’t give them absolution.” Note to Virginia Heffernen’s neighbors: don’t plow again. <a href="https://t.co/ZZCnPfI46S">https://t.co/ZZCnPfI46S</a>
&mdash; Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/1358506645974835205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Heffernan began her diatribe by explaining, “Oh, heck no. The Trumpites next door to our pandemic getaway, who seem as devoted to the ex-president as you can get without being Q fans, just plowed our driveway without being asked and did a great job. How am I going to resist demands for unity in the face of this act of aggressive niceness?”
She even acknowledged this was no ordinary snow-shoveling: “Of course, on some level, I realize I owe them thanks — and, man, it really looks like the guy back-dragged the driveway like a pro — but how much thanks?”
After quoting actor Eddie Murphy from an old “Saturday Night Live” saying, “Slowly I began to realize that when white people are alone, they give things to each other. For free,” Heffernan segued to likening the neighbors to the terrorist group Hezbollah: “Hezbollah, the Shiite Islamist political party in Lebanon, also gives things away for free.  … like other mafias, Hezbollah tends to its own — the Shiite sick, elderly and hungry. They offer protection and hospitality and win loyalty that way. And they also demand devotion to their brutal, us-versus-them anti-Sunni cause. Some of us are family, the favors say; the rest are infidels.”

Virginia Heffernan

L.A. Times Columnist Who Likened Trump Supporters To Terrorists Wants Real Estate Listings To Show Gun Ownership In Area

Gun Control

Real estate

Democrats have long touted California&#8217;s high-speed rail as an example of an alternative form of transportation, while reducing greenhouse gases and revitalizing the struggling Central Valley. As an added bonus, the state has repeatedly said the rail&#8217;s construction would bring decent construction jobs to the Golden State. But now it&#8217;s looking as though the state padded the rail&#8217;s jobs numbers.
According to a report from the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-06/california-bullet-train-is-not-jobs-creator-some-claim">Los Angeles Times</a>, banners in the San Joaquin Valley previously touted &#8220;5,000 workers and counting&#8221; near the rail&#8217;s construction site. The problem, however, is the state &#8220;has never had anywhere near 5,000 construction workers on the high-speed rail project at any one time,&#8221; the Times concluded.
While the state boasts 5,000 workers, it turns out the rail authority is counting the same employee multiple times.
&#8220;The boast of 5,000 jobs refers to the number of workers dispatched from union halls,&#8221; the newspaper stated. &#8220;Each time a worker is sent to a job site, whether for one day or hundreds of days, it counts as a job for the purpose of the banners.&#8221;
But this isn&#8217;t a new phenomenon. Rail authority Chief Executive Brian Kelly told the Times the count is &#8220;a valid measure of progress&#8221; because the agency has done it that way &#8220;for years.&#8221;
Even though the high-speed rail is supposed to have &#8220;good-paying jobs,&#8221; a majority of the money is going to consulting firms, not construction workers, the paper discovered.
<blockquote>An internal report, which was obtained by The Times, noted that the construction program has generated a total of 3.9 million hours of craft labor between 2015, when construction began, and the end of February. The average direct pay, health coverage, pension contributions and other benefits to union labor run about $66 per hour, based on interviews with union officials and on the master labor agreement for Southern California.
It means that hourly workers have received about $265 million of the $6.1 billion that has been spent on construction, representing just 4%. Of the total $8.1 billion spent on the project, the labor portion is even smaller, 3%. The $265 million is less than what the rail authority spends every three months.</blockquote>
On top of those inflated numbers, the agency currently sits at roughly 1,000 jobs, after recently laying off roughly 200 people earlier in the year. The promise, however, is that those numbers will be doubled to almost 2,000 jobs in the next few years, Kelly said.
This is only one of the major issues facing the infrastructure project. Not only does the state lack adequate land to build on, but it&#8217;s hemorrhaging money left and right. The largest major highway construction project in the state, the expansion of the 405 freeway in Southern California, cost $2.1 billion. The state spent roughly $1 million per day, with more than 1,000 workers on the site. The high-speed rail, in comparison, costs the state three-and-a-half times that amount per day and has roughly the same number of jobs.
The bullet train was doomed since the state started building it in 2012. Not only are there physical barriers for the state to overcome, but there are billions – potentially trillions – being poured into a project that could easily come to a halt, either through geographic challenges or financial constraints.
The views expressed in this piece are the author&#8217;s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

COVID-19 Pandemic – Boston

California’s High-Speed Rail Is A Boondoggle With Inflated Jobs Numbers, Regional Paper Says

California

Jobs

As coronavirus cases drop around the country, there is a new sense of optimism coming out of Los Angeles county. According to reporting by the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-20/covid-19-pandemic-herd-immunity-vaccinations-plummeting-cases">L.A. Times</a> on Saturday, &#8220;Many epidemiologists and other scientists, while still cautious, say they feel increasingly hopeful that the rest of 2021 will not replay the nightmare of last year.&#8221;
Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said, “I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’re going to see a big fourth surge. &#8230; I think we’ve seen the worst of it.”
Experts say that the coming of the spring season will also allow for people to be outside and make it less likely for the virus to spread.
12% of Americans have <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-20/covid-19-pandemic-herd-immunity-vaccinations-plummeting-cases">reportedly</a> received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but Offit estimated that approximately 35% of the United States&#8217; population has been previously infected.
<div class="enhancement" data-align-center="">UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford said that one of the factors as to why cases are dropping so rapidly in California &#8220;is because of naturally acquired immunity, mostly in Southern California.&#8221; He <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-20/covid-19-pandemic-herd-immunity-vaccinations-plummeting-cases">reportedly</a> estimated that 50% of Los Angeles County residents have been infected with the virus at some point.</div>
<div>
“We’re really talking something starting to sound and look like herd immunity — although that true herd immunity is a ways off in the future,” Rutherford said.
</div>
Herd immunity is something that is achieved when a certain amount of people have immunity to a virus, making the virus unable to find new hosts and spread. This results in a community-wide level of protection.
According to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-20/covid-19-pandemic-herd-immunity-vaccinations-plummeting-cases">L.A. Times,</a> scientists believe that the threshold for herd immunity could be 90% with this coronavirus. The U.S. has not met this yet, but experts say that each step toward it slows down the transmission of the virus.
The L.A. Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-20/covid-19-pandemic-herd-immunity-vaccinations-plummeting-cases">reports</a>:
<blockquote>The effects may be greatest in places that endured the worst COVID-19 surges, including Los Angeles. After a horrific autumn and winter wave that has killed more than 12,000 people, an estimated 33% to 55% of county residents have already been infected with the coronavirus, according to USC researchers.</blockquote>
New daily cases in L.A. County have been falling for five weeks, and previous infections have helped this occur, providing enough of an effect to blunt the spread of the virus, according to Dr. Roger Lewis, director of COVID-19 hospital demand modeling for the L.A. County Department of Health Services.
“If you had the exact same behavior and type of virus circulating that we have right now, but we were at the beginning of the pandemic and no one was immune yet &#8230; we’d be in the midst of an ongoing surge,” he said. “The fact that cases are going down right now, as opposed to going up, is because approximately a third of everybody in Los Angeles County is immune to COVID.”
The L.A. Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-20/covid-19-pandemic-herd-immunity-vaccinations-plummeting-cases">reporting</a> adds that new variants of the virus could undermine the positive projections, &#8220;either by proving more resistant to existing vaccines or by finding a way to spread more easily. Shifts in behavior could also render this good news moot, as it holds only if people stick to the precautions they have been taking thus far, experts say.&#8221;
L.A. County chief science officer Dr. Paul Simon made the point that 60% of Angelenos would remain susceptible even if more than a third have already been infected with the virus.
“I don’t want to provide a false sense of assurance here,” said Simon. &#8220;Unless they’ve had vaccination, they continue to be susceptible. I think we need to continue to be vigilant.”

BE57A9F5-83E7-4AF6-9315-472741CC1F7A_1_201_a

As L.A. Appears To Gain Some Herd Immunity, Experts Seem Optimistic

COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine

Los Angeles Times writer Virginia Heffernan is facing both criticism and questions in response to her column published late last week headlined, “What can you do about the Trumpites next door?”
In a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-02-05/trumpite-neighbor-unity-capitol-attack">column</a> published by The Times on Friday, Heffernan tells the story of how “staunch partisans of blue lives” plowed the driveway of her “pandemic getaway” after a recent snowstorm without being asked to do so.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Oh god the Trumpites next door, who are as rabid as you can get without being Q or believing Trump actually won, just PLOWED OUR DRIVEWAY WITHOUT BEING ASKED AND DID A GREAT JOB sos
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1357325917538967555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Though Ms. Heffernan has posted images of her getaway online multiple times, The Times used a stock photo to accompany the story.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What to do when the Trumpites next door sudden plow your driveway FOR FREE?!?
Here’s my torment: <a href="https://t.co/0cddBb8dfH">https://t.co/0cddBb8dfH</a>
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1357689970354515969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
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In her column, Heffernan struggles to accept what she described as an “act of aggressive niceness” at face value because it came from people who backed Donald Trump. &#8220;Trying to decide what it means to take a gift from someone, how much debt it does or doesn&#8217;t land you in, how favorably inclined you have to be to the giver &amp; perhaps his worldview, is a legit inquiry,&#8221; Heffernan <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1358903099239333895">tweeted</a> after publication.
Her comparison in the piece of her driveway-plowing neighbors to Nazi sympathizers who were unconcerned about atrocities affecting others during the Third Reich and modern-day terrorists who “offer protection and hospitality to win loyalty” has sparked widespread <a href="https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/1358506645974835205">criticism</a> against Heffernan, particularly from conservatives.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This woman compares her Trump-supporting neighbors, who plowed her driveway, to Nazi sympathizers &amp; Hezbollah &amp; wrestles w/whether to show them any kindness since she “can’t give them absolution.” Note to Virginia Heffernen’s neighbors: don’t plow again. <a href="https://t.co/ZZCnPfI46S">https://t.co/ZZCnPfI46S</a>
&mdash; Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/1358506645974835205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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In a <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1359536618961575937">series of tweets</a> posted on Wednesday, Heffernan brought attention to the ongoing blowback she has received. In one of the posts, Heffernan <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1359546851997995011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/page88/status/1359546851997995011&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1613146286776000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF2ByWpVWeRKteeucXVHYm7AmJZYw">falsely suggested</a> Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro generated a &#8220;meme&#8221; that inflamed opinion against her. For the record, Shapiro never circulated a meme; instead, he <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1358793491908804608" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1358793491908804608&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1613146286776000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG3CVIdao4cmJWMNnY0q8v-VrhUvQ">tweeted</a> about how Heffernan&#8217;s column is &#8220;emblematic&#8221; of the Left&#8217;s intolerance.
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Liberals, you can either side with woke Leftists with whom you share many political priorities, but abandon commitment to a culture of rights; or you can side with people with whom you disagree on many political priorities, making your job a bit tougher, but preserve rights.
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1358793491908804608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
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While some have questioned the existence of her Trump-loving neighbors, a quick sift through Heffernan’s Twitter feed shows that she has been <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1326921384212246528">referencing</a> the mysterious couple for months. She has created a social media narrative packed with alleged details about their personal lives that presumably would not have made it past the gatekeepers at the L.A. Times.
According to Heffernan’s Twitter posts, her main beef is with the wife of the good Samaritan she credits for plowing the snow. Heffernan describes the woman as a law enforcement officer.
“My neighbor is a white cop who flies Trump flags &amp; describes herself as ‘tired of Black Lives Matter,’” Heffernan tweeted in late December. “She has guns, ATVs &amp; CPS (Child Protective Services) issues with her teen daughter, whom she hit, but also has two cute toddlers &amp; a cute dog. When I run into her on the street, she is very ‘nice.’”
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My neighbor is a white cop who flies Trump flags &amp; describes herself as “tired of Black Lives Matter.” 
She has guns, ATVs &amp; CPS issues with her teen daughter, whom she hit, but also has two cute toddlers &amp; a cute dog. 
When I run into her on the street, she is very “nice.”
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1343604067088687109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The post was part of a longer thread Heffernan had written that began with, “Ideas for profiling a white-nationalist terrorist.”
“Words like ‘nice,’ ‘from a nice family’ &amp; ‘quiet’ add nothing, as they’re proxy words for white,” she wrote at the time.
Heffernan, 51, has previously <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/quarantine-anxiety-control-ends-bliss-begins">acknowledged</a> that both she and her partner have anxiety about law enforcement.
She <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1358901326281900033">claims</a> her Trump-supporting neighbors are “known for their arsenal” and says she’s heard them shooting target practice.
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I’m surprised at the torque on this from you, WK. But I’ll assume good faith. The neighbors are cops who fly Trump flags &amp; banners &amp; openly disdain BLM. We know them. We hear their target practice; they’re known for their arsenal. We compare notes on mulch. We have mutual friends
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1358901326281900033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Heffernan has also said her next-door neighbor’s persona reinforces negative stereotypes often associated with law enforcement while expressing concern for the officer’s husband.
“It’s the plowman’s wife who’s the cop,” Heffernan recently <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1357333258351042560">tweeted</a>. “She seems standard issue cop racist w/CPS issues, as she puts it, b/c she hit one of *his* kids &amp; they lost custody. He’s said to be apolitical, but flew flags &amp; banners. I worry he’s in an abusive situation but clearly I shd stay in my lane.”
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It&#39;s the plowman&#39;s wife who&#39;s the cop. She seems standard issue cop racist w/CPS issues, as she puts it, b/c she hit one of *his* kids &amp; they lost custody. He&#39;s said to be apolitical, but flew flags &amp; banners. I worry he&#39;s in an abusive situation but clearly I shd stay in my lane
&mdash; Virginia Heffernan (@page88) <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1357333258351042560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Heffernan <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/quarantine-anxiety-control-ends-bliss-begins">said</a> she left New York City with her family last May as coronavirus was rapidly spreading across the region. She has not revealed her family’s current location, <a href="https://twitter.com/page88/status/1358905221674651652">claiming</a> she “went far to give” the Trump-supporting “pandemic neighbors” she wrote about “anonymity.”
Still, Heffernan’s one-sided account has left many readers suspicious and curious to hear from the unknown Trump enthusiasts.
FOX News host Greg Gutfeld recently discussed Heffernan’s column on “The Five,” where he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gutfeld-author-pro-trump-neighbors-shoveled-snow">pondered</a> the veracity of her account:
<blockquote>Really, what writer takes that chance, to attack a next-door neighbor — knowing they’re vile Trump supporters? And knowing they could find out!
The L.A. Times should&#8217;ve sent someone to her pandemic getaway to see if the driveway was cleared — and to get the neighbor’s side of the story. So it’s not just some rant that exudes superiority over a fantasy enemy.  
The editors should give this snow plower a chance to respond, or admit they blew it — and let a tall tale get by them because they wanted it to be true.
So, in sum: a person who makes up this story is bad. But if the story is true, it kinda makes her worse. Either way, hand her the shovel and let her dig out of this — on her own.</blockquote>
Ms. Heffernan did not respond to an inquiry from The Daily Wire seeking more information.

L.A. Times Columnist Faces Blowback After Posting Claims About ‘Trumpites Next Door’

Ben Shapiro

Donald Trump

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) slammed the Los Angeles Times on Monday morning after the newspaper ran a hit piece attacking him for attending his son&#8217;s wedding in California during the pandemic, a wedding where McCarthy says plenty of precautions were taken.
&#8220;Early in the morning on Dec. 5, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy mockingly alluded on Facebook to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s widely criticized attendance at a party the month before at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant, a maskless gathering that drew accusations of hypocrisy and elitism,&#8221; the Los Angeles Times reported. &#8220;But hours after publishing his post, McCarthy attended his own maskless gathering — a wedding for his son, Connor, who got married that afternoon at a venue in San Luis Obispo County, The Times has learned. The event appeared to flout longstanding state COVID-19 rules that prohibit wedding receptions and require that masks be worn during wedding ceremonies.&#8221;
The Los Angeles Times&#8217; story comes after McCarthy posted a video of the wedding several days ago on his Instagram account.
&#8220;My son married the love of his life in December—and though the wedding was small, the love we have for them could not be bigger,&#8221; McCarthy wrote. &#8220;❤️ I’m a very proud dad!&#8221;
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McCarthy responded to the Los Angeles Times&#8217; hit piece with a lengthy statement slamming the newspaper for its coverage of the wedding and noting the numerous precautions that his family took to make the event as safe.
&#8220;Dec. 5th, 2020 was originally going to be a day our son married the love of his life before 300 or so family and friends. And, as anyone who has been through the trimming of the list knows, it was hard to get to that number,&#8221; McCarthy began. &#8220;Unfortunately, the pandemic caused the day to be shared only with parents, grandparents, and sisters. No uncles, no aunts, no cousins, and no friends. Making the decision to go forward with only this small group of family was a decision made by the bride and groom. They love their grandparents and wanted them above all others to be there to witness their ceremony. We are thankful for the venue and everyone who helped make this special day happen safely.&#8221;
&#8220;As a proud father and father-in-law, I wanted to share their special day with everyone who was not there. As soon as the wedding video was done, I did just that. I even thought it might be a nice respite to the typically toxic content that floods our social media,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;The LA Times decided sleuthing micro-weddings (commonly 20 or less invited guests and promoted by the LA Times themselves in November &#8211; what an irony) of private citizens was an opportunity to try to disparage a Republican. This gets pretty close to the bottom of the barrel for most &#8216;news&#8217; organizations. But then again, the LA Times thinks shoveling your neighbor’s driveway is a forbidden activity.&#8221;
McCarthy&#8217;s remark about &#8220;the LA Times thinks shoveling your neighbor’s driveway is a forbidden activity&#8221; is a reference to an op-ed that the newspaper published a few days ago that <a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2021/02/08/thank-you-for-shoveling-my-driveway-you-nazi-la-times-runs-bizarre-column-revealing-liberal-angst-and-anger/">essentially demonized</a> Trump supporters who had shoveled their neighbor&#8217;s driveway.
&#8220;As everyone knows, navigating our lives during this time is challenging. Events that were tedious to plan to begin with, have become even more so. But I’ve always fought for people &#8212; not the government &#8212; to make the decisions that are right for them and their loved ones. Taking personal measures to protect yourself and your family are far more effective than any government mandate,&#8221; McCarthy said. &#8220;The arbitrary lockdown orders have been devastating to families, small businesses, and communities. What’s worse is that Democrat politicians promulgating or advocating for lockdown policies have often ignored these very mandates they are imposing on everyone else.&#8221;
&#8220;For months, I have joined my constituents in calling to end the dangerous and arbitrary lockdown orders from Sacramento. It was fortunate their wedding was on December 5th, one day before the state’s most recent aggressive lockdown was set to begin with no rules coming forward,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;After returning to Bakersfield from Washington I worked in the district and then drove to San Luis Obispo. All expenses related to the wedding were paid for personally, and not by any campaign committees.&#8221;
&#8220;We took every precaution to ensure a safe celebration — starting with just 13 family members. We spent the majority of the time outside with the dinner following the ceremony in an almost completely open area. We wore masks indoors that day, except in those instances where some had to let makeup dry or when we were eating. We were respectful of the event staff and each other &#8211; on the day of the event and the lead-up as well,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Did our families get close to one another? Of course. Did we feel safe? Of course. Would I celebrate this beautiful day on December 5, 2020 again. You better believe it.&#8221;
&#8220;The wedding of our first child is something Judy and I have only been able to dream about for years, and I am blessed that my son found the love of his life and we celebrated the day safely together,&#8221; the statement concluded. &#8220;This isn’t the first time the LA Times has targeted my family and it likely won’t be the last. But I won’t let the LA Times intimidate me, my family, or any Californian who works hard and lives their life as they think is best. Unfortunately, the media we are supposed to trust continue to discredit themselves by obsessing over things like this. And, I might add, they usually obsess based on your party registration.&#8221;

Kevin McCarthy

Kevin McCarthy Shreds The Los Angeles Times Over Hit Piece Attacking Him For Attending Son’s Wedding With Family

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