Top O' the Briefing
Happy Thursday, y'all! The weekend inches ever closer, and we have a beautiful spring weekend on tap here in Georgia.
As you probably already know, Kruiser is hanging out with Mr. & Mrs. VodkaPundit — we'll see some video content and a special edition of "Five O'Clock Somewhere" on Friday. After my recent trip to Kentucky to immerse myself in bourbon culture, I'm excited to see and hear about their adventures. So, for today and tomorrow, you're stuck with me.
I'm going to give you a little peek behind the curtain of the Morning Briefing. I can't speak for Kruiser (although I imagine his process is similar), but when I write the Briefing, I start compiling links early in the day and see what major news story emerges for the headline. That generally happens by late afternoon, but today's big story jumped out at me before lunchtime.
One of the biggest stories that has emerged in recent days is the growing protests against Israel — and in favor of Hamas — on elite college campuses. The epicenter of all this hateful demonstration is Columbia University, where students, faculty, and probably professional agitators are camped out expressing their support of terrorism and their hatred of the only bastion of freedom in the Middle East.
The adage about history rhyming often comes to mind, and we're seeing it here. These protests are the descendants of Occupy, Antifa, BLM, CHAZ/CHOP, and Stop Cop City. The violence may not be the same (yet), but the pattern is the same. Radical leftists think that squatting in some sort of annoying version of a campout helps them get their way, and it doesn't help when authorities give in.
Rick wrote about how the leadership at Columbia is surrendering in some ways:
Protests are continuing at Columbia University on Wednesday as school officials are at a loss about what to do. Another tent city has arisen after cops tore down the first one on Monday.
Columbia's President Minouche Shafik made the tactical blunder of agreeing to negotiate with the troublemakers. By doing this, she's already lost. Her surrender is imminent.
Later, he added:
"Negotiations" are useless because you're not dealing with grown-up, rational minds. These are children, if not in age then in emotional maturity. Treating them like adults delights them and emboldens them to keep moving the goalposts so that agreement becomes harder and harder.
They don't want a settlement. They want confrontation.
He also posed a fascinating question: "Where's the paddle when you need it?" Daaaaang, Rick, that's harsh — but it might be necessary.
After all, and I realize I risk sounding like a grumpy old man when I say this, we're seeing the consequences of coddling children and not holding them accountable for what they say and do. If these students had learned earlier in their lives how their words and deeds have consequences, they might not be acting out in this way, even if they still believed in the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas cause.
However, cooler heads have prevailed in some quarters, as Bryan (the latest addition to our PJ Media family) wrote:
On April 22, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a graduate and long-time top donor to Columbia University, declared that he would no longer support his alma mater until campus authorities took proper action to safeguard Jewish students and staff from antisemitic activity.
Kraft made his warning through his organization "Foundation to Combat Antisemitism" and its #StandUpToJewishHate campaign.
The 82-year-old billionaire committed $200 million of his own fortune to fund the foundation, which he set up in 2019.
He has since stated his disappointment over Columbia University's handling of reported antisemitic activities and incidents on campus, which have surged since the bloody massacre by Hamas militants on October 7 and the Israeli military response, which has left thousands dead and displaced in Gaza.
Bravo, Mr. Kraft. The Patriots aren't among my favorite NFL teams, but I'll tip my hat to a team owner who is committed to doing the right thing.
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Everything Isn't Awful
Woman reunites with her best friend from 80 years ago. More than 30 years without being able to see each other. "Friends from school, from daily walks, from games and all the amazing experiences from over the years..."
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Smells Like Onion
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The (Guest-Curated) Kruiser Kabana
Kabana Gallery
A miraculous moment ✨
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Kabana Tunes
Here's a lovely new tribute to Jimmy Buffett from Zac Brown Band (co-written by my friend Drew Parker):
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