Russian Troops Weren't Told They Were Headed into Combat? MI District Got Parent Fired for Wanting In-Person Education? Two Different Dems to Give "Rebuttal" to Biden SOTU. (The Five for 03/01/22)
Hey, welcome to The Five.
This publication was founded on the idea of highlighting the important, rather than the loudest and most click-bait-y stories that often circulate on social media.
Because this content is written 1-3 days ahead of publication…there’s no attempt to provide a an “up-to-the-minute” snapshot of what’s happening in the Russia/Ukraine war.
I normally finish writing around 7:00 am, and The Five publishes at noon…which is an eternity in a warzone.
With that being said, let’s get into the news…
[one]
Russian soldiers captured by Ukranian forces claim they had no prior knowledge of the invasion until they were pushed to the front lines and forced into combat.
After being asked what military unit they belonged to by the person behind the camera, the Russian soldiers each replied with the numbers of their military unit.
When asked what purpose they came to Ukraine, the soldiers gave varying responses while suggesting they had been lied to and tricked into it.
The first Russian soldier said: "[We came here] for training. We were cheated a little, so that's how I am here."
The second Russian soldier replied: "For training. I was sent here by commanders."
The third soldier said: "We were told we were being sent for training at first, but we were put on the frontline. People were demoralized and didn't want to go, but they said you will become public enemies. We do not want this war. We just want to go home and we want peace."
The fourth soldier echoed these sentiments, saying: "They told us that everything would be fine. We knew nothing. We were deceived and abandoned."
According to Reuters, over 3,500 Russian troops have been injured or killed as of Sunday.
If current numbers on the ground are accurate (always a big question mark in active combat zones), Russia’s losses of their fighting force add up to 6% of all Americans killed in Vietnam (58,200) in just a few days.
It’s not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, as we don’t know how many killed vs. wounded combatants there are, or how many of those wounded will still die of their injuries.
However, that’s a massive loss of troops in just a handful of days.
[two]
With a couple of notable exceptions, mask mandates have come to and end.
California, Oregon and Washington state will shift from mask requirements to mask recommendations in schools starting at 11:59 p.m. March 11, according to a statement from the governors Monday.
California is also dropping its requirement for unvaccinated people to wear masks in most indoor settings starting Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said. But masks will still be strongly recommended for everyone in most indoor settings.
And face masks will still be required for everyone in high transmission settings such as public transit, emergency shelters, health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care facilities in California, the statement said.
According to California's top health official, the state's case rate has dropped 66%. Dr. Mark Ghaly, state Health and Human Services Agency secretary, said he's "pleased with how the data has come down."
Los Angeles County is aligning itself with California's new masking guidance by no longer requiring masks in schools starting March 12, officials announced Monday.
Up north, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) announced it will be keeping its mask mandate.
"Universal indoor masking will continue to be in effect at SFUSD as part of our layered approach to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our schools. Face masks are not required outdoors."
Illinois lifted its mask mandate for restaurants, bars, gyms and stores on Monday. And Chicago ended its proof-of-vaccination requirement.
San Francisco bucking the trend and keeping a mask mandate in place will likely speed up trends already happening.
In the last census, Illinois, New York and California all lost seats in the House of Representatives due to shrinking state populations.
San Francisco is experiencing a micro version of this trend…with residents of San Francisco moving into the surrounding areas and out of the city, according to the local ABC affiliate.
So, even people who want to stay in California don’t want to be in San Francisco. The exodus may have more to do with the multi-year crime wave, including an epidemic of shoplifting and reports police are no longer intervening in active crimes, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle.
[three]
A group of parents in Rochester, Michigan have filed a lawsuit claiming teachers and the school board contacted the employers of the parents who pushed back against remote learning, resulting in at least one questionable firing.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Elena Dinverno, in the official paperwork.
According to the lawsuit, after the school board and teachers were reporting the comments of parents in Facebook groups to the parents’ respective employers, Dinverno submitted the following to the Board of Education (BOE) in December 2020.
It has come to my attention that certain board members are contacting parents places of work to notify them that their behavior on the social channels they participate in is undesirable. May I remind you that we pay for your salaries with our tax dollars? And that what you are doing is against the by laws of the BOE? Every parents has the right to express their sadness, frustration, anger, as a right to freedom of speech.
They have no one to speak with because the nothing is changing! If you have a problem with a particular parent please do what you tell our kids to do— go to the course. Let them tell you how they feel.
By reporting parents you are risking their livelihood. Their employment. That is all they have right now.
Dinvero, the marketing director for Blakes Hard Cider, was called in by her boss days later, and told her “position was no longer necessary,” and dismissed.
Within a week, Blakes Hard Cider posted a job listing for the same position. The company’s owner, Andrew Blake, has close ties to the Board of Education.
After learning several other parents who were harassed or intimidated at work, Dinvero filed a lawsuit over her loss of employment.
According to the Michigan Center Square, district Superintendent Robert Shaner “admitted he called the parent’s employer over a parent’s social media post encouraging protesting private homes over virtual learning because he was ‘scared.’”
If Shaner did indeed fear for his life or safety, it’s certainly odd that the Superintendent would call someone’s boss…rather than the police.
According to Deborah Gordon, Dinvero’s attorney, the district kept extensive files from spying on parents.
Gordon told the News that the school spent taxpayer money to surveil parent’s social media posts and gather personal information, including place of employment, names of children, and the schools they attend.
"I have found at taxpayer expense they had high-level people spending hours monitoring parents' social posts," Gordon told The News. "I was stunned. I have a stack that is like a phone book. This was an active group that wanted their kids back in school."
The Rochester Community School District appears to have settled the case out of court…in other words, utilizing even more taxpayer dollars to fix the mistake they made by allegedly causing Dinvero’s termination.
UPDATE: Heck of a week for school districts around Detroit, with a 46-year-old Assistant Principal has been arrested for molesting a 10-year-old relative. Originally, the public educator was allowed to return to work pending trial after posting an unusually low bond ($7,500), but has since been suspended with pay, likely due to public outcry, according to the local Fox affiliate.
[four]
Several stories in The Five have highlighted the “quiet Civil War” within the Democratic party since Biden’s election, with increased harassment of moderate Dems Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin…coming from Democrats, not Republicans.
Now, the conflict within the left side of the aisle is intensifying with a “rebuttal” to President Biden’s State of the Union coming from Michigan Congressional Rep Rashida Talib, a member of the far left “Squad” headed up by AOC.
In the speech, given on behalf of the left-wing group Working Families Party, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is expected to hammer moderate Democrats who have stymied Biden’s social spending and climate change package.
Tlaib will praise Biden’s stimulus bill and make the case that liberals have pushed aggressively for his agenda, according to a summary of her remarks shared exclusively with POLITICO. She is also planning to argue that Republicans and a handful of intransigent Democrats have blocked progress on lowering the cost of housing, health care and prescription drugs.
The speech will put on display the deep rifts within the Democratic Party that have marked Biden’s presidency. Months ahead of the daunting midterm election, many Democrats are looking to put aside those differences in order to present a united front against Republicans. But the left sees an opportunity in this year’s primaries to elect a more liberal Democratic majority to Congress.
I could be wrong here…but I couldn’t find another example of the party in the White House bashing itself after a State of the Union address.
UPDATE: Make that TWO attacks from Democrats via rebuttal to the Biden’s State of the Union address, according to Chad Pergam, who covers Congress for Fox News.
[five]
Finally, a look at the speech itself.
President Biden heads into tonight’s State of the Union with just 30-35% of Americans approving of his job performance.
The Hill reports:
The address also comes against the backdrop of freshly issued U.S. sanctions that aim to punish Russia in response to aggression by the Kremlin toward Ukraine.
“Biden needs to give the best speech of his life,” said Hunter Bates, partner at Akin Gump and a former chief of staff to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“He has to walk along a very thin precipice balancing his accomplishments on infrastructure and economic growth with the pain of inflation, rising crime and global instability,” Bates added.
The speech comes as inflation has left Americans facing rising prices on food, gas, and goods. The consumer price index rose 7.5 percent annually by the end of January, the fastest rise since 1982.
Biden also goes into the address with approval ratings hovering in the 30-percent range for the last few months. Just 35 percent approved of Biden’s job as president as of a Feb. 16 Quinnipiac University poll.
The address to Congress may leave little room for Biden to call on lawmakers to advance some of his key legislative agenda items but strategists say he could also use the opportunity to tout the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, some components of which are currently being implemented.
According to USA Today, Biden’s approval rating has dipped below Trump’s in individual polls, but still remains higher on the average.
In a very odd move last week, the President announced his pick for the vacant Supreme Court on Friday while all eyes were on Ukraine, potentially taking the wind out of the administration’s sails on what could have been claimed as a major political victory.
It’s unclear how Biden will handle the Russian invasion of Ukraine in tonight’s address, as the President took no questions from reporters when returning to the White House yesterday after a week in Delaware.
Until the next one,
-sth