🇺🇸 Trum-PAC

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Good morning, and happy Thursday! A high school senior working toward obtaining Eagle Scout rank finished his project by devising a convenient way to dispose of torn, tattered, and faded American flags.

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FLAG POLLS

🟰 Monday, March 6, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 45, Disapprove 45 (IBD/TIPP)

📉 Wednesday, March 8, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 48, Disapprove 50 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 Monday, March 6, Direction of Country: Approve 38, Disapprove 55 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 Tuesday, March 7, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 48, Disapprove 50 (Rasmussen Reports)

TRENDING

Left: What Does DeSantis Have That Trump Doesn’t? Jack Shafer, Politico

Left: How Democrats Botched the Ohio Train Disaster Michael Massing, The Guardian

Left: Here's the Way George Santos' Career in Congress Could End Eisen & Galliher, CNN

Right: The Ukraine Weapons Drain Bradley Devlin, The American Conservative

Right: Biden, Schumer Come After Your Retirement Savings Andy Puzder, Fox Business

Right: The Top 10 Florida Policies Other States Should Emulate Tarren Bragdon, Newsweek

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QUICK CLICKS

Fauci in Focus on Capitol Hill, Medical Tourism in Mexico, Boat from the Bahamas

US: Trump's CDC director says Fauci shut down debate on Covid's origin (Politico) + Covid-19 origin debate 'squashed', ex-CDC chief Dr Robert Redfield claims (BBC)

World: NATO chief warns Bakhmut may fall 'in coming days' (France 24)

World: Medical tourism in Mexico is rising among Americans (NPR) + Inside frantic search for 4 Americans kidnapped in Mexico after deadly cartel shootout (NY Post)

US: Tucker Carlson talks exclusively with key Capitol Police officer ignored by Jan. 6 panel amid footage release (Fox News) + White House calls Tucker Carlson ‘shameful’ for misrepresenting January 6 footage (The Guardian)

Sports: Ron DeSantis would 'run a boat from the Bahamas' to allow Novak Djokovic into the US to play at Miami Open (CNN)

POLITICS

Trum-PAC

Last Saturday, former President Trump delivered the keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He blasted President Biden’s track record, as well as the Republican establishment, and vowed the party’s globalist days are finished.

Reporting from the Right: Trump CPAC Speech: More MAGA Than Ever (National Review)

Reporting from the Left: Fact check: Trump delivers wildly dishonest speech at CPAC (CNN)

From the Flag: The convention highlighted the ongoing rift between the so-called MAGA wing of the GOP, and others who prefer a candidate who isn’t Trump. Here’s more from both sides as Trump continues his campaign.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

GOP Faction Can’t Divorce Itself From Trump’s Bombastic Lies

• Trump’s CPAC speech was bizarre and troubling, yet the media shows it’s learned nothing by refusing to plainly state that.

• CPAC reinforced the notion that, for a certain group of conservatives, only Trump can provide excitement or political enthusiasm.

• Trump’s address had a pathetic, self-pitying tone, as he seeks to paint himself as a comeback story.

“Timid media and GOP figures are again, dangerously, normalizing Trump” Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post Opinion: “We saw throughout Donald Trump’s two presidential campaigns and four years in the White House a symbiotic relationship between mainstream media outlets and Republicans, in which both made Trump out to be a far more normal politician than he was. … Apparently, neither the media nor supposedly sober Republicans have learned anything from the past. Trump gave a bonkers speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, musing about Russia blowing up NATO headquarters, claiming President Biden had taken the border wall and ‘put it in a hiding area,’ and telling the crowd, ‘I am your warrior. I am your justice… I am your retribution.’ … We do not get headlines acknowledging this is unhinged. … From the coverage, you would never understand how incoherent he sounds, how far divorced his statements are from reality, and how entirely abnormal this all is.”

“It Was Donald Trump's CPAC. (No One Else Came.)” Winter & Coaston, New York Times Opinion: “The Conservative Political Action Conference is a festival disguised as a political meeting, a sales convention doubling as a revival, an annual celebration of a particular kind of conservatism and its red-hat-wearing, pin-collecting enthusiasts. … But this year, the enthusiasts didn’t seem as enthusiastic as usual. Maybe it was the lackluster 2022 midterm results for Republicans. … Maybe it was the gray weather. … But the biggest name in Republican politics remains Donald Trump, who spoke on Saturday night and provided perhaps the only real jolt of excitement of the weekend. … At CPAC, everything is possible, and everyone is a happy warrior. … But in 2023, with empty tables and expanses of the convention center left unoccupied, you couldn’t help but feel that the magic of CPAC was running out. And only the restoration of Mr. Trump to the White House could Make CPAC Great Again.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: The Martyr at CPAC John Hendrickson, The Atlantic

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Trump’s Hot Streak Punctuated by Speech at CPAC

• Trump’s speech was on point and suggests he’s getting good messaging behind the scenes in the run-up to 2024.

• The past few weeks have been good for Trump, and it’s becoming increasingly clear it’s him vs. DeSantis.

• Trump delivered a strong reminder: "nobody can articulate MAGA’s starkly nationalist vision more convincingly than the man himself."

“Finally—Trump Is Hitting the Right Notes Again” Stephen Kruiser, PJ Media: “Donald Trump was, of course, the hit of the show. Much has been made of the fact that Ron DeSantis didn’t show up but… I don’t think it’s a big deal that the looming battle between the two didn’t begin right away. We’ve got plenty of time for that. From what I’ve read of Trump’s speech, it was good that he didn’t have the DeSantis distraction. … I really did like a lot of what Trump said. For example: ‘I am your warrior, I am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,’ Trump said. ‘I will totally obliterate the deep state.’ That’s not just what the base needs to hear; that’s what the country needs. I wonder if he’s gotten a new speechwriter in the last month because that kind of stuff is gold.”

“Trump’s Good Couple Weeks” Kurt Schlichter, Townhall Opinion: “If CPAC 2023 proved anything, it was that Donald Trump still has his dedicated fans… They lined up and waited for hours to see him speak again, and he delivered again – his never-ending speech (heavy on policy but DeSantis-free) was generally well-received. Even the DeSantis-curious qualified their moving-on with respect for the accomplishments of Trump’s first three years and agreed that the Florida governor should have shown up and thrown down. Combine all that with a triumphant spin through East Palestine (the best day of Donald Trump’s ex-presidency) and at least some surging poll numbers, and it's been a pretty good couple weeks for the Bad Orange Man. … His support is strong, and even the people who back someone else… respect much of what Trump did while pointing out some of the bonehead maneuvers he made. … Whether he will win the nomination is an open question, and people are looking forward to the primary.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Trump Throws Down the Gauntlet at CPAC Matthew Boose, American Greatness

FLAG THIS

Trump Takes the Straw Poll, Numbers Improving Elsewhere

A straw poll conducted at CPAC asked attendees who they would support in the Republican primary ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Trump won handily over his nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, by a 62% to 20% margin.

That’s up from CPAC 2022, when Trump held a 59% to 28% lead over DeSantis, who has yet to declare himself as a candidate for president.

A separate poll shows Trump leading DeSantis among Republican voters, after trailing the governor for three months (Yahoo News/YouGov).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Barbie Goes Live, 85% Rule, Dishwasher Inventor

On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll goes on display at the American Toy Fair in New York City.

Scott H Young: The 85% rule for learning

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Today I Learned about Josephine Cochrane, who invented the dishwasher because she was fed up of her fine china breaking while being hand washed.