How’s everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Six.
Heard anything about the migrants lately? I’m being facetious, of course.
Immigration/migration, however phrased, dominates the news cycle ending this week. The pictures and images of the nationwide crisis are stunning, and not unsurprising, the various viewpoints severed by context.
We have Chicago, run by identitarian idealist imbeciles, spending tens of millions to set up base camps, with Katniss Everdeen soon to appointed Cantonment Chair. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker this week spoke at a weed conference (of course he did…if it ain’t about weed, abortion, gambling or aiding the Chinese, J.B. don’t have the time) and said the reason illegals are transported to Illinois is because “they know the people in Illinois will take care of them and allocate resources.”
Added Pritzker, via the Suntimes:
“But the reality is that states that are controlled by Republicans ought to be offering the same services. We all are immigrants; virtually everybody in the United States is an immigrant. And many people, including my relatives who arrived here 150 years ago, got very little help, but a little bit of help from local social service agencies, like we’re helping to provide for them here in Chicago now.”
To politicians like Pritzker, migration policy is another vehicle for the progressive movement of our times: reparations.
(What the fuck does the “immigrant” experience of 1885 have to do with paying to house illegals in 2023? If offering up our shores, why not the key to the executive’s mansion? Or the dozens of Hyatt Hotels sprinkled all over Chicagoland? Pritzker is such a disingenuous, fantasist saphead.)
In contrast to Chicago and Illinois, with its lethargic citizenry allowing the ruling class to do as they please, in New York and NYC, the locals are fed up.
Mayor Eric Adams set the tone with recent comments on how the migrant issue “will destroy New York City” and how he did not “see an end” to the situation.
Soon after, a bus rolling into Staten Island filled with illegals was met by a throng of angry protesters attempting to block the vehicle and yelling to passengers “you’re not welcome.” Adams condemned the speech and pockets of violence that broke out saying, “we’ll manage this crisis, but we’re not going to do it with violence.”
Adams, another blue state autocrat, has broke ranks from the sanctuary socialist coalition, lobbying for tighter restrictions to stem the flow of illegals. That’s a politician acting in the best interests of his constituents, not the bending the knee to the White House.
Just a few days ago, we had a report on the migration beat from no one other than Elon Musk.
The Billionaire Citizen Journalist.
Musk interviewed a group of authorities on the front lines and gave the most wide-eyed, unfiltered view of what’s truly happening at our borders.
It’s a shit show.
One of the interviewees, Tony Gonzalez, an area congressman said this about the Biden Administration border policy:
“Whether it was Trump, whether it was Obama, whether it was Clinton or Bush, every single white house has had a border issue. Every single one has handled it the same way by essentially saying ‘we can’t let everybody in because it’s going to overwhelm us. You’re going to abide by the laws and if you don’t qualify for asylum, we’re going to send you back.’ As soon as you start doing that, it alleviates the stress. This administration hasn’t done that yet.”
That’s indiscriminating analysis from an individual living the crisis every day.
No can argue the facts––thousands and thousands of illegal immigrants are flowing into our country every day.
But how one views the situation––as catastrophe, dilemma or opportunity––all depends on context.
And there’s plenty of contextual variance all across our country.
Let’s proceed with the Six
1. Why States Like Illinois and New Jersey Foster Corruption.
Whenever a story breaks about the criminal indictment of a state politician, odds are that individual represents one of two states, Illinois or New Jersey. The hit HBO show “The Sopranos”, set in New Jersey, encapsulated corruption in the Garden State. Another “Sopranos” like show could easily be developed based on events in Illinois and Chicago dating as far back as 100 years or as recent as, say this weekend. Politico interviews a Illinois-based corruption expert (in high demand I presume) who says in the article about crooked states, “It’s a long-term process…places don’t become corrupt overnight, but once they become corrupt, it is a lot more difficult to clean them up.”
2. Second GOP Debate: Did It Really Matter?
They threw verbal jabs at the Elephant-Not-In-The-Room. Ron DeSantis showed his aggressive, assertive side. Nikki Haley sparred with DeSantis and Tim Scott, possibly generating more donor interest. Vivek Ramaswamy revealed a softer, more human side. Those are a few of the general “hot takes” from the most recent GOP Presidential Primary debate. But other than it being entertaining television, what’s the point? That’s what this piece from The Hill argues as the whole charade likely won’t make much of a dent in Trump’s polling lead: “A recent NBC News poll found the former president leading his rivals by more than 40 points, with DeSantis as his closest challenger — polling at 16 percent to Trump’s 59 percent.”
3. Florida Has Become A Zoo. A Literal Zoo.
Part of larger project from Vox on the state of Florida, this fascinating story describes the absolutely insane number of nonnative species roaming the wilds of the Sunshine State. This is due in part to the exotic pet industry, which is massive. As much like the human migrant invasion over our borders, the conundrum facing those impacted by all of these reptiles, birds and monkeys is what, exactly, to do with all of them.
4. Rupert Murdoch Was My Fiercest Competitor.
Lost a bit in the most recent berserk news cycle is the retirement of legendary media figure Rupert Murdoch. We simply aren’t going to see patriarchs with a career arch like Murdoch again in our lifetimes or anyone else’s. This essay via Unherd is penned by another media mogul reflecting on the career of another. Conrad Black, former proprietor of the Daily Telegraph and the Chicago Sun-Times, served prison time for fraud before receiving a presidential pardon in 2019. He approves of Murdoch, who he says is neither eccentric nor pretentious. Can we judge a man by the gabbiness of his ex-wives? Murdoch has four, but they don't talk to the press. Air-tight NDA’s.
5. Mic Drop For Netflix Air-Mailed DVD’s.
Friday, Netflix’s DVD service will mail out its final discs, with the original business model being shut down in favor of the streaming service. How’s this for an AOL-dial-up-still-makes-money factoid via AP: The DVD-by-mail service still claimed 1 million subscribers and generated $146 million in revenue last year. At its peak, Netflix’s DVD business had over 20 million subscribers, and once stood as the fifth-largest customer of the United States Postal Service, with almost 60 distribution centers. Now that’s dwindled to five, and by this weekend, zero. If I still owned a DVD player, I’d have to choose “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” as my final physical film screening, with “Rocky IV” being a close second.
6. How Insane Is Migrant Situation? Absolutely Bananas.
Just watch this. Farcical yet real.
Thanks for reading everybody and have a great rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.