30 January, 2021

It’s Bad Enough that You Illegally Bought Votes, but You Lied When You Did It

Ok, that’s vote buying and it’s breaking several election laws.

And it’s a lie. Checks have not gone out “immediately”, and you’ve now changed your tune, to boot.

Now, it’s $1400.

Look, personally I don’t need the “stimulus”. Not that I’m going to turn down $2,000 either. But vote buying is horrendous. Lying about it is worse, and then compounding the lie is just revolting.

This is what 80 million of you voted for. #IToldYouSo

All it Took to Defeat the China Virus was the Removal of Trump

All Hail The Reopening! | ZeroHedge

    • Washington, D.C. will resume indoor dining.

    • Maryland’s governor has decided that the state needs to reopen schools now and no later than March 1.

    • Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan says Michigan restaurants can reopen for indoor dining on February 1. Her health adviser decided to resign. Let us hope it is the beginning of many.

    • Chicago’s mayor is now demanding an immediate opening of restaurants and bars. Chicago is also threatening teachers unions that they must return to work.

    • New York Governor Cuomo has dramatically reversed his rhetorical course and demanded a reopening of the city. More announcements are expected in the coming days.

    • California Governor Gavin Newsom, incredibly, has lifted all stay-at-home orders across the state and is permitting dining to open up. Many restaurants have defied orders for months now, and good for them. This new announcement shows that their defiance had an influence.

    • Montana’s new governor has lifted some Covid restrictions.

And, shocker of shockers, hydroxychloroquine actually works!

New study shows hydroxychloroquine 'may be a benefit' in treating the coronavirus after all (washingtonexaminer.com)

Oh, and let’s not forget this: TOTAL COINCIDENCE ALERT: C19 Diagnostic Criteria Tightened by WHO on Biden Inauguration Day! (redstate.com)

Hmmm…this is surprising (not):

So, as a result of this, the case counts and the fatality counts will drop dramatically. Funny how they waited until after President Donald Trump (R-USA) was out of office before they did this. It’s almost as if they were altering the facts to make Trump look bad,

Naaah.

From Twitter, the Hits Just Keep on Coming

Twitter Suspends China Critic and Trump Administration Official Peter Navarro - The Last RefugeThe Last Refuge (theconservativetreehouse.com)

Former White House Trade and Economic Advisor Peter Navarro was the tip-of-the-spear outlining election fraud, via impossible statistics, from the White House.   Navarro is also a well known China critic, which positions him against the objectives of the JoeBama administration.

In a blatant move to protect the interests of a corrupt state, Big Tech continues to shut-down the accounts of voices adverse to their ideological position.

It’s important that the people only hear the right kind of messaging. Soon, we’ll just have two legal sources of news: Pravda and Izvestia.

В "Правде" нет ни новостей, ни правды в газете "Известия".

Guessing that Occupy Wall Street not Happy with Elizabeth Warren Anymore

'Deeply Concerned' [Senator] Elizabeth Warren [(D-MA)] Begs SEC To Punish Reddit Investors Who 'Inflict Financial Damage' On Hedge Funds - National File

Elizabeth Warren, who failed to convince voters that she was an opponent of Big Business after her numerous big money donors were revealed during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, seemed to strike a tone of desperation in Friday’s letter, which demanded an explanation for why the SEC had not cracked down sufficiently on supposed “market manipulation” by small-time investors.

The Democrats are no longer the “Party of the People”. Not even socialist Elizabeth Warren.

I’m of Several Opinions on This

Acting DC Chief of Police Wants Permanent Fencing Around Capitol - The Last RefugeThe Last Refuge (theconservativetreehouse.com)

  • My first thought is, as long as the locks are on the outside, this might be a good idea.
  • My second thought is this:
  • My third thought is that this is horrible imagery. You’re preventing citizens from easy access to the nation’s capital. Is this the government of the people or not? Just how clueless ARE the Democrats, really?

Every Democrat that’s in favor of this needs to resign. Immediately. They are not capable of performing their elected duties.

The Week in Pictures

via Power Line Blog:

 

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Dem lawmakers introduce bill that would send all registered voters ballots before Election Day | Just The News

There are days where it’s difficult to conclude anything other than the Democrats are deliberately trying to divide this country. Mass mail-in ballots are vehicles for voter fraud. People that realize this will never trust an election with widespread mail-in voting.

And you’ll get a repeat of what we’ve gone through the last few months.

"The Vote at Home Act updates Wyden and Blumenauer's Vote by Mail legislation, first introduced in 2017, to build on innovative electoral reforms around the country," according to the press release.

This is not an electoral reform. This is the complete opposite of an electoral reform. Electoral reform would involve making sure that voter fraud is as small of a problem as we can possibly make it. This is criminal.

January 30, 1975

Ernő Rubik applies for a patent for his "Magic Cube" invention, later to be known as a Rubik's cube.

28 January, 2021

Candidate Biden vs. President Biden

President Dictator Joe Biden (D-USA) has signed 42 executive orders in his first 8 days in office.

But remember, he’s saving us from Trump the authoritarian.

#IToldYouSo

 

January 28, 1986

The Challenger Disaster.

From Wikipedia, and forgive me, I don’t usually quote quite so extensively:

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was a fatal incident in the United States' space program that occurred on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The crew consisted of five NASA astronauts, and two payload specialists. The mission carried the designation STS-51-L and was the tenth flight for the Challenger orbiter.

The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). The disintegration of the vehicle began after a joint in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The failure was caused by the failure of O-ring seals used in the joint that were not designed to handle the unusually cold conditions that existed at this launch. The seals' failure caused a breach in the SRB joint, allowing pressurized burning gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB aft field joint attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft field joint attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces broke up the orbiter.

The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. The exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown; several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. The shuttle had no escape system,[a][1] and the impact of the crew compartment at terminal velocity with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable.[2]

The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the Space Shuttle program and the formation of the Rogers Commission, a special commission appointed by United States President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident. The Rogers Commission found that NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes had been key contributing factors to the accident,[3] with the agency violating its own safety rules. NASA managers had known since 1977 that contractor Morton-Thiokol's design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings, but they had failed to address this problem properly. NASA managers also disregarded warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching posed by the low temperatures of that morning, and failed to adequately report these technical concerns to their superiors.

Approximately 17 percent of the US population witnessed the launch on live television broadcast because of the presence of high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space. Media coverage of the accident was extensive; one study reported that 85 percent of Americans surveyed had heard the news within an hour of the accident.[4] The Challenger disaster has been used as a case study in many discussions of engineering safety and workplace ethics.

This is one of those “where were you?” moments for my generation. 35 years ago today. I remember this as if it happened yesterday. I watched it live on TV in a friend’s room on campus with his roommate. I can remember exactly where all three of us were standing. I remember the explosion and all three of us looking at each other like “did we just see what we thought we saw?”

I wasn’t born when the Apollo fire occurred. And, whether it makes a difference or not, that occurred on the launch pad, in a test scenario. This was an actual mission to space. It was the first time we’d lost Americans in space, and while everyone knew that a perfect record wouldn’t last forever, it was still gut wrenching to see and to go through.

35 years ago today.

The Sloth Chicken Rat Snake Pigs at PETA are at it Again

Umm…how about “no”?

“The myth that humans are superior to other animals”

Umm…seriously, no.

Unity, My A**

Biden and the Liberals keep calling for “Unity”.

Then they say this: [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [(D-CA-12)] Calls Armed Republicans the 'Enemy' Within (pjmedia.com)

“We will probably need a supplemental [budget] for more security for members when the enemy is within the House of Representatives — a threat that members are concerned about in addition to what is happening outside,” Pelosi said during her weekly news conference Thursday at the Capitol.

She is just a horrible, horrible person.

And then there’s this from the Meathead: Rob Reiner Calls Trump ‘New Leader Of The Confederacy’ Who Must Be Convicted (lifezette.com)

Yeah, that’s a good way to bring about “unity”.

Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) thinks we can get unity by groveling to our masters: Romney Says Republicans Must Admit Biden Won Legitimately For 'National Unity' (lifezette.com)

“There is no question that the nation is divided now, and there is a lot of anger,” Romney said during an online forum presented by the Economic Club of Chicago. “To the people on my side who say an impeachment trial is going to inflame passions more. I say, first of all, have you gone out publicly and said that there was not widespread voter fraud and that Joe Biden is the legitimate president of the United States? If you said that, then I’m happy to listen to you talk about other things that might inflame anger and divisiveness.”

‘But if you haven’t said that, that’s really what’s at the source of the anger right now,” he added. “There are many, many Republicans, almost three-quarters, who believe democracy itself has been stolen. That a very passioned perspective. You’ve got to have that get to the rearview mirror before you talk about the next stage.”

How could you possibly be so wrong-headed?

I don’t have to let anything to the rearview mirror, and you know what? Until we have election reform, and know that we can trust our elections, I’m not going to. So, if your idea of how to achieve “unity” is begging forgiveness from the people who unconstitutionally re-wrote election laws in ways that encouraged widespread voter fraud, then count me out. The left clearly doesn’t want unity, and neither do I.

Take your unity and shove it. For the last four years, you’ve done everything you could to divide this country. Well, guess what? It worked.

 

 

Since its Failure was a Good Thing, I’m not Sure Why you Would Do This

Secy. of State Blinken says Biden wants to restore failed Iran Nuclear Deal | One America News Network (oann.com)

[T]he secretary told reporters he believes the nuclear deal with Iran can be restored despite Tehran’s latest efforts to enrich and stockpile radioactive material. He suggested the U.S. could make new concessions to the Iranian demands.

I’m sure we could make new concessions. I can’t honestly think of a reason we would even be tempted to do so, however.

Also, remember that this, and the Paris Climate Agreement are unconstitutional treaties. Neither has been approved by 2/3 of the Senate, and neither ever will be.

27 January, 2021

In a Sane World, this Would be News

CDC Scientist: ‘We scheduled meeting to destroy vaccine-autism study documents’ | Sharyl Attkisson

A former boss of mine has an autistic child. She has always been convinced it was a vaccination that caused it. I don’t claim to be knowledgeable enough about such things to have an opinion. I have therefore relied upon experts.

But if the experts are lying, well, that would be news, wouldn’t it?

Note that the linked article is from 2015.

A current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) senior scientist has made an unprecedented admission: he and his colleagues--he says-- committed scientific misconduct to cover up a meaningful link between vaccines and autism in black boys.

Just as startling, the CDC scientist, Dr. William Thompson, says the study co-authors "scheduled a meeting to destroy documents related to the study. The remaining four co-authors all met and brought a big garbage can into the meeting room, and reviewed and went through all the hardcopy documents that we had thought we should discard, and put them into a huge garbage can."

I’m not an anti-vaxxer. In fact, I am probably close to the opposite. However, that doesn’t mean that I am unwilling to be educated. There was a time when science told use that saccharine was a cancer causing substance. It is no longer on the list. Science is all about observation and discovery. If you observe something that doesn’t fit established ideas, then it’s your duty to question the established ideas and form a new hypothesis and study that.

Perhaps the anti-vaxxers are correct. Perhaps they’re lunatics. Perhaps they’re just scared moms who feel their children have been harmed and just want answers.

We should find out.

Don’t Be Evil—But do be Lying Two-Faced Hypocrites

Google Announces It Will Stop Donating To Republicans Who Objected To 2020 Election Results (lifezette.com)

Unless they are halting donations to Democrats who objected to the 2000, 2004, and 2016 election results, they’re lying two-faced hypocrites.

Oh, well, would you look at that.

In the 2020 election cycle, Google donated to five Democrats who objected to the 2016 results.

Lying two-faced hypocrites it is then. Good to know.

I was Right to Use the Word Gestapo

Biden DHS Issues Domestic Terror Alert (pjmedia.com)

“The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin due to a heightened threat environment across the United States, which DHS believes will persist in the weeks following the successful Presidential Inauguration,” reads the bulletin, issued at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. “Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.”

I have a lot of “objections to the exercise of governmental authority”, and many grievances, one being the continued equating of “speech with which I disagree” to “false narratives”.

This is very chilling. They are going to make it illegal to speak out against this government.

But Trump was the authoritarian.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

#IToldYouSo

Not Cool, Gaetz. Not Cool.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) has a beef with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY-AL), over her support of President Donald Trump’s (R-USA) impeachment.

Well, so do I.

And if he wants to try to convince the Republican caucus that she should be ousted from her leadership position, I have no problem with that. If he wants to make a speech on the House floor demanding she resign or step down, I don’t have a problem with that either.

But there are lines that should not be crossed.

This is one: Rep. Gaetz to hold rally in Wyo. to call for ousting of Rep. Cheney | One America News Network (oann.com)

What the heck is a Florida Congressman doing in Wyoming holding a rally against a person in his own party?

This is the sort of thing that helped get Cheney in trouble last year.

A few months ago Cheney faced a mini-rebellion over her decision to fund Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s primary opponent — a huge no-no for leadership and one that proved even more embarrassing when the primary opponent turned out to be racist.

At the first in-person conference meeting following the outbreak of COVID, members erupted over Cheney breaking the rule about leadership not trying to oust members of her conference. She handled the criticism poorly, saying that Massie — from the more libertarian and anti-war side of the Republican Party — was a “special case.” That alarmed members who share his views, but it also alarmed the liberal members who wondered if they, too, could be viewed as “special cases” for failing to share Cheney’s views.

I understand Gaetz’s frustration with Cheney. But don’t make the same mistakes she did. Criticize her all you want, even publicly, in the House chambers. But stay out of her back yard.

As Professor Reynolds Would Say: “Heh.”

Twitter Releases New Community-Based Tool To Find Witches | The Babylon Bee

But I’m sure The New York Times is Completely Objective

Instapundit » Blog Archive » NEW YORK TIMES WRITER ARRESTED AS SECRET IRAN AGENT ACKNOWLEDGES HE WAS PAID BY IRANIAN GOVERNMENT. … (pjmedia.com)

A New York Times spokesperson did not respond to a query about whether the newspaper, which according to a search on its website Monday morning had not yet covered the federal criminal complaint against [Kaveh] Afrasiabi, plans to tell its readers about the situation. The spokesperson also did not respond to a question about whether the newspaper plans to publish an editor’s note indicating that the opinion pieces came from someone who was getting paid by the Iranian government.

Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get another article soon about how right-wing misinformation is the real problem.

The Democrats Legal Losing Streak Against Donald Trump Continues

Supreme Court Dismisses 2 Emoluments Lawsuits Against Trump (lifezette.com)

I can’t repeat this often enough. If the Democrats really wanted unity, they’d stop all of this. The fact that they haven’t shows clearly that they don’t.

Fine with me. I’d rather not pretend anyway. I have no intention of “uniting” with any Democrat policies or any policies from President Joe Biden’s (D-USA) administration.

If this is True, They’re Failing Miserably

The Occupation Of Washington Is Pure Panic Porn. You Are The Target (thefederalist.com)

If this seems theatrical and excessive, it’s because it is. Worse yet, it’s about politics, not security, with the same politicians who claimed Antifa violence against their voters was a “myth” now insisting they need a full division of troops to defend them from a rebel army that doesn’t exist.

From my standpoint, this isn’t theatrical, but it is horrible optics. When I think of troops patrolling our capitol, an entirely different image comes to mind.

And they aren’t going away soon.

When asked, police and Guardsmen on the ground privately shared the belief they were here to stay. Soon, reports began to leak that indeed they would — through President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Just this week, we learned that thousands of Guardsmen could remain “indefinitely.”

This stinks to high Heaven.

I’ll Save you the Trouble of Wondering. It’ll Never Happen

Senators mull censuring Trump as an alternative to impeachment trial | Fox News

[Senator Tim] Kaine [(D-VA)] told reporters on Wednesday that censure could be an alternative to holding a trial that would divert precious Senate time from confirming President Biden’s Cabinet nominees and passing coronavirus pandemic vaccination funding and relief aid.

The problem is that this won’t appease the Democrats rabid base. And appeasing them is the only reason for the trial.  A failed trial will keep the base happy with the Democrats and angry at Republicans. A censure will make the base mad at the Democrats too.

So, don’t hold your breath. This has as much chance of success as I do of being the starting QB in a Super Bowl.

Now you can be Fired for Merely Posting on Parler

This is just beyond disturbing. I hope that Colleen Oefelein sues The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency out of business.

Literary agent fired for merely having an account on Parler. | Not the Bee

She was fired for merely having an account on Parler and Gab, not because of anything she said there.

If you don’t think that Freedom of Speech in America is under assault, you’re not paying attention.

Strangely, this didn’t happen until after the alleged fascist was defeated in November.

It’s almost like the wrong side has been accused of being fascist.

 

Concerning the Drudge Report

This is part two on my thoughts on FNC and Drudge. You can find part one on FNC here: Chris of Rights: Concerning Fox News

Quoting myself:

There has been much talk about Drudge turning away from the right and Trump in particular in the last year or so. FNC has been the subject of similar criticisms recently, particularly since Election Night 2020.

I’m curious to see what these two will do now that Trump is out of office.

Drudge is a different case than Fox. I have made the case often over the last year that Matt Drudge is not a conservative and never has been one.

Two things drove what appeared on Drudge, and neither have anything to do with conservatism:

  1. Drudge considers himself an old-style muckraker. He looks for the juicy political stories and he goes for splash and sizzle. So, he’s likely to do this no matter who’s in office.
  2. It’s always personal with Drudge, not political. He hates, I mean truly loathes, the Clintons. And he thought the Obamas were arrogant fools.

So, initially Trump was useful to Drudge. He opposed the hated Clinton machine.

If Hillary had won in 2016, I’m certain that the Drudge Report would have attacked her mercilessly for four years.

But she didn’t.

If Hillary had run again in 2020 and gotten the Democratic nomination, I am just as certain that Drudge would once again have been on the Trump train.

But she didn’t.

And it was apparent that she wasn’t likely to do so by 2018. So, once Trump had defeated Clintonism, his usefulness to Drudge ended.

Also, Trump definitely gave Drudge plenty of opportunity to be a muckraker. He was able to link to personal scandal after personal scandal and to articles showing dissent in the Trump administration. Trump himself helped with that with tweets attacking members of his own Cabinet.

Of course, this had the effect of souring Trump on Drudge. And thus began the battle between them. A battle Drudge was determined to win, no matter what the cost to his media empire.

So, that’s how we got here. But what does it mean going forward? It’s hard to say. I don’t think Drudge dislikes President Joe Biden (D-USA) in the same way that he hates the Clintons and the Obamas, or in the way that he grew to hate Trump. But he still has that muckraking instinct, and you see that already a little bit. Going to the page, you’re already starting to see some negative articles regarding the Biden administration. Soft ones so far, but the tone change is apparent.

Of course, there’s still far too many articles attacking Trump. But it’s only been 7 days since he left office. Once this latest impeachment farce is over, perhaps he will leave Trump alone. That might depend upon what Trump does.

I think that you will see the Drudge Report appear to start slowly drifting to the right again. But if Biden can remain somewhat scandal free, the drift might be a slow one.

Concerning Fox News

There has been much talk about Drudge turning away from the right and Trump in particular in the last year or so. FNC has been the subject of similar criticisms recently, particularly since Election Night 2020.

I’m curious to see what these two will do now that Trump is out of office.  I’m going to look at Fox in this post, and the next post will be about Drudge.

I don’t feel that FNC ever went full NeverTrump. Some of their personalities may have done so, and it’s clear that some on the board feel that way also. But, it’s also clear that many are still stalwart fans of Trump and defenders of conservatism (you can argue that the two are not the same, and you’re perhaps correct, but that’s a topic for another post).

However, they have clearly suffered and lost a significant part of their viewership. They’re coming in third in the ratings war behind CNN and MSNBC. In response, they have just as clearly made a concerted move to appeal to conservative viewers once more.

You can see that here: Fox News' Peter Doocy Pins Down Jen Psaki, She Doesn't Respond Well (redstate.com)

Matt Yglesias thinks so, too:

Ann Althouse points out that Matt is assuming that they’ve not asked Trump to appear. It is very possible that they have asked and Trump has declined.

Missing piece of info: How do you know the Fox hasn't tried to book him? Since Trump hasn't done any interviews since leaving office — correct me if I'm wrong — the most rational inference is that Trump is declining to do interviews.

I don’t know if that’s the most rational inference, but it is definitely a possibility.

I understand that Fox News did not want to get involved in the conspiracy theories involving election fraud. They still want to appear as an objective news organization, and not the TV version of Alex Jones’ Infowars. Honestly, I don’t blame them for that. But they could have threaded the needle better. They lost it before then, though. Their election night coverage gave the impression of being entirely left-leaning. And I don’t believe that the math supported the timeline of their calls.

It’s going to take time to recover from that and to woo back viewers. I think it’s doable. It remains to see if they really want to do so. From a purely business sense, they really screwed up and need to fix it. The reason they dominated in viewership for so long is that they offered something no one else did, and their objective news segments really were fairly objective. Marching to the left just makes them one of a crowd.

 

 

The Un-Personing of Ric Grinnell

Despite numerous corrections from the right, the left media continues to report that Pete Buttigieg will be the first openly gay cabinet member.

Pete even commented on it himself just yesterday on Facebook:

Having my husband Chasten by my side yesterday in a hearing room is something not seen before for a Cabinet nominee. And our hope is that it makes it easier for the next person to come along.

Posted by Pete Buttigieg on Friday, January 22, 2021

It’s just not true, though. And while I can believe our media is stupid enough and forgetful enough to believe that it is, I don’t believe that of Pete. He’s just lying.

That honor belongs to Richard Grinnell, Director of National Intelligence under President Donald Trump (R-USA).

I predict that in the not-to-distant future, Pete’s Wikipedia page will be edited to say that he is in fact, the first. And if you try to edit it and correct that error, you will be informed that since the page is about an active political figure, it can’t be modified without the approval of an editor. And you will never get that approval.

George Orwell is not surprised.

January 27, 1926

And you thought he was only known for his cat.

Physicist Erwin Schrödinger publishes his theory of wave mechanics and presents what becomes known as the Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics

Pretty Sure this Fits the Definition of “Orwellian”

This matches Winston’s job in 1984 exactly. He went back and edited past stories to match the current version of “the truth”.

How does it feel to be living in Orwell’s fantasy world?

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

The One Saving Grace About Leftists is that They Aren’t Very Bright

Union leader who endorsed Biden turns against him (wnd.com)

The boss of a major union has complained that Joe Biden gave in to the "voices of fringe activists" when the president killed the Keystone XL pipeline, but it shouldn't have been a surprise, because the union endorsed the Democrat after he announced he would make the move.

Biden revoked the permit on his first day in office, drawing condemnation by the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters, known as the UA.

"In revoking this permit, the Biden Administration has chosen to listen to the voices of fringe activists instead of union members and the American consumer on Day 1," said UA President Mark McManus."

McManus argued that there's no issue with the environment, insisting that when "built with union labor by the men and women of the United Association, pipelines like Keystone XL remain the safest and most efficient modes of energy transportation in the world." Without the pipeline, the oil must be transported with trains that are subject to derailing.

Well, maybe you should have paid more attention to what he was saying before you endorsed him.

I bet you’re wishing that you’d stuck with Trump now. Too late.

Ummm…No, He Can’t. And You’re an Idiot If You Think Otherwise.

Jen Psaki: Biden Can Reach 'Unity' with Trump Supporters Even with Impeachment Trial (breitbart.com)

I am pretty sure I can speak for most Trump supporters here. The idea of an impeachment trial after he leaves office is insulting, divisive, and stupid. And most likely unconstitutional, which makes it even more insulting, divisive, and stupid.

The only unity President Joe Biden (D-USA) is creating here is that Trump supporters are even more united against him.

Good job, Joe.

Idiot.

This is what you voted for. #IToldYouSo

China Coronavirus

Interesting timing here. I was just reading this at Power Line Blog the other day and speculating on it.

Variants and variations | Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

We daren’t call COVID-19, the China Coronavirus, but we do call the latest highly communicable variant the “British variant.” Something is wrong here.

Ari Fleischer calls out the Washington Post on this:

Wait a minute…After months of being told it was racist to refer to COVID as a ‘Chinese virus’ the WP refers to its new strains as ‘British and South African variants.’ So you can use the name of the nation where it comes from, so long as that nation is not China. Got it.

The Post’s line has been that calling this virus the “China virus” represents a “dangerous attitude.” The paper quoted an alleged expert — a lecturer in Asian American and Asian diaspora studies — who called it “racist” to say “China virus.”

But it is no more racist to say “China virus” than it is to say “British variant.” In both cases, the idea is to identify the origin of the virus, not to disparage a racial group.

This actually makes sense to me, and had been wondering if I might should start being fair and calling it the China Coronavirus.

And then I read this:

INSANE: Joe Biden Signs Executive Order Banning the Term "China Virus" (thegatewaypundit.com)

Joe Biden signed an executive order today that banned the term “China virus.”
It’s not clear how this will help with the pandemic.

Ok, that clears things up nicely for me. Henceforth, I will only refer to the virus as the China Virus on this blog.

26 January, 2021

Peace Breaks out in the Middle East

The Abraham Accords may be Donald Trump’s biggest success. He deserves a Nobel for it, probably more than anyone else in the last 20-30 years.

Emirati builds bridges of peace through business - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

Al-Shirawi spoke to the importance of being a propagator of peace. He believes that the signing of the Abraham Accords is just the first step, and now it is the people’s turn to build the relationships and create a “new band of brothers.” He wants to turn talk into action through successful business partnerships, and he believes that others will follow suit.

When asked about specific areas of cooperation, Al-Sharawi said he is looking forward to the environmental sphere and exploring Israel’s success in water filtration technology. Both the UAE and Israel face the problem of water scarcity and filtration, and while the technology is emerging in Dubai and other parts of the UAE, businesses and industry can benefit from the Israeli mastery of this technology.

Surprising that you didn’t hear much about it in the press.

Well, not so surprising, really, I guess.

This is What you Get When you Shut Down the Economy

Nearly 20% of renters in America are behind on their payments (cnbc.com)

  • The typical delinquent renter now owes $5,600, being nearly four months behind on their monthly payment, according to a new analysis. This also includes utilities and late fees.
  • In total, an astounding $57.3 billion is owed by just more than 10 million renters.

It gets worse:

About 18% renters in America, or around 10 million people, were behind in their rent payments as of the beginning of the month.

It is far more than the approximately 7 million homeowners who lost their properties to foreclosure during the subprime mortgage crisis and the ensuing Great Recession. And that happened over a five-year period.

I’ve been saying this for 8 months. We have to get the economy going again, even if it increases risk of exposure to COVID-19. The collateral damage here is mind-boggling. Not just evictions, but death, murder, depression, drug addiction, domestic abuse, the list goes on and on.

I believe our lockdowns will eventually end up costing us trillions of dollars in economic shortfalls and spiraling healthcare costs. And probably tens of millions of deaths.

It’s not worth it.

January 26, 1788

The founding of Australia (then New South Wales—a penal colony) by Arthur Phillips

pshzdmkdj1d41

25 January, 2021

25 Top Accomplishments of President Donald J. Trump

via Sharyl Attkisson.

I have my own list, but this is a good one also.

  1. Executive order enacted Jan. 1, 2021 requiring hospitals to provide medical prices to patients upfront so they can shop around.
  2. Reversing the ascent of the Islamic extremist terrorist group ISIS.
  3. “Most Favored Nation” executive order so that the U.S. (through Medicare) would pay no more for a drug than what’s offered to foreign countries, saving the U.S. an estimated “$85 billion in savings over seven years and $30 billion in out-of-pocket costs.”
  4. Moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to the capital of Jerusalem.
  5. Building more than 450 miles of new and replacement border wall.
  6. Leading U.S. to a level of energy independence (exporting more oil than importing for the first time in 70 years), allowing international policy decisions to be made with less regard to how an oil nation we once relied on would respond.
  7. No new wars.
  8. Drastic reduction in regulations, opening the door for entrepreneurs and businesses to succeed, expand, and hire more people. According to the Trump administration, they promised to eliminate two regulations for every new one, but actually wound up eliminating 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted, equating into an extra $3,100 a year for the average American household.
  9. Expanding Republican reach among African Americans and other constituents who traditionally lean Democrat. 
  10. Cutting taxes in an initiative that benefitted every tax bracket.
  11. Doubled the child tax credit.
  12. Operation Warp Speed: accelerated development of coronavirus vaccines.
  13. Eliminated the Obamacare penalty.
  14. A series of trade agreements and changes seen as beneficial to Americans, including replacing NAFTA with USMCA.
  15. Instead of 2-for-1, we eliminated 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted.
  16. Provided the average American household an extra $3,100 every year.
  17. Started the Space Force.
  18. Instituted “Right to Try,” allowing terminally ill patients to use potentially lifesaving, unproven treatments.
  19. Prioritized and made permanent funding for historically black colleges.
  20. Brokered peace deals or normalization agreements between Israel and five Muslim and Arab-Muslim countries.
  21. Banned the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” in the federal government.
  22. Withdrew from Iran nuclear deal.
  23. Withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord.
  24. Instituted a Buy American policy within federal agencies.
  25. Achieved a $400 billion increase in contributions by NATO allies by 2024 with the number of members meeting their minimum obligations doubling.

Instapundit’s Take on the Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump

The thing is, if you’re not impeaching Trump as President, then you’re impeaching a private citizen. And you can’t impeach a private citizen. If you’re impeaching Trump as President, then the Chief Justice must preside. And since he isn’t . . .

I don’t know that I can argue with that statement.

I’d also like to point out a lie that is continuously being exhibited as fact. I don’t know how many times I've read that the Senate Democrats intend to convict Trump, and then hold a second vote that would bar him from holding public office again.

There is nothing in the Constitution that says they have this power. I’m not even sure they have that power over the Legislative branch. They certainly don’t have that power over the Executive. There is nothing that the Senate can do that would make Donald Trump ineligible to run for President in 2024, if he so chooses.

For the record, I don’t think he will choose to do so. I never have. I've thought that long before this latest farce of an impeachment materialized. However, I may be wrong. If I am, it’s probably because this impeachment has made it more likely that he will run, not less.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution–Part I

This is a great book. Glad to see they’re turning it into a video series.

Part I explores whether or not the Constitution is a living document, the General Welfare clause, and the Electoral College. Can’t wait to see what else is coming.

Not all of the “Politically Incorrect” series are great. I find them hit and miss. Some are just weak excuses to bash liberals and liberal policies. This one doesn’t do that. It simply explains what the Constitution says, and why our Founders wanted it to say the things that it does.

January 25, 1964

The Beatles “I Want to Hold your Hand” goes #1 on the Cash Box charts.

Their first #1 single in the U.S.

24 January, 2021

The Week in Pictures

Via Power Line Blog:

 

January 24, 1848

There’s gold in them thar hills!

James Wilson Marshall checked on this day that the watercourse of the mill he was in charge of was clear of silt and debris. He peered through the clear water, saw something shining up at him, and later recalled: “It made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold.”

It was. And Marshall’s discovery led to the famous frantic California Gold Rush when thousands of get-rich-quick hopeful prospectors from all over the world engulfed the area.

Meghan McCain Says She was Lied to—I Disagree

Meghan McCain Unleashes On Biden, Fauci, And Amazon Over Hypocrisy - 'I Was Lied To' (lifezette.com)

McCain kicked off her rant by blasting Fauci for previously telling Americans that masks “didn’t work” in an effort to preserve them for first responders during a time when they were in short supply.

“Look, I think the great horror of living in America right now is the absolute, complete and total breakdown of trust in our institutions,” McCain said, adding that she had been pregnant when Fauci said this and gave her masks away because of him.

Not stopping there, McCain went after Amazon for suddenly volunteering to help with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout after Donald Trump left office.

“That seems political as well,” she said. “So why does Jeff Bezos all of a sudden want to help with vaccine distribution, but he didn’t during the Trump Administration?”

You willingly allowed yourself to be deceived. You knew the people telling you things were untrustworthy, but you accepted what they told you anyway.

That’s on you, Meghan, not on them.

Mileage Tax, Revisited

New tax on number of miles you drive? Incoming Transportation Secretary Buttigieg likes the idea | Just The News

Incoming Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has suggested taxing Americans for the number of miles they drive, a policy he endorsed as a Democratic presidential candidate.

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., acknowledged "privacy concerns" related to implementing a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) system but said it should be considered as a potential replacement for the gas tax.

I can’t disagree with any of that. I have the same privacy concerns. And I know most conservatives have been in a tizzy ever since the Democrats first proposed a mileage based tax.

But in the words of our current President, “c’mon, man”.

A mileage based tax became inevitable when the first electric car rolled off the assembly line.

I don’t like it any more than you do. But not liking something is different from not accepting reality. Or at least it used to be.

The government gets quite a bit of money from our gasoline taxes. And that money is used to build roads, among other things. Now, if people stop using gasoline, but are still using the roads, that puts the government in a little bit of a jam. They still want a “road use tax”, which is essentially what the gasoline tax was, but now they don’t have a way of determining who is using the roads. Unless they have a mileage tax.

It’s coming.

Yes, it sucks.

But it’s coming.

Deal with it.

Democrats, Party of the People

#IToldYouSo