Rex-it

Me, in August: "I never thought Rex Tillerson would last very long...."

Fox News: "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to leave his post in January, sources told Fox News, with CIA Director Mike Pompeo being eyed to take his place."

The mask drops completely

Federalist: "The New York Times Finally Admits It’s Just A Democrat Super PAC."

We pretty much knew.

It's funny but not "ha-ha" funny

Hot Air: "Lauer Locked Women In Office — And Management Covered For Him."

I recently mused to my wife: "Wow, have you ever seen a career implode like Kevin Spacey's?"  That was then.

New sheriff in town

The Hill: "Court sides with Trump in consumer agency fight."  I know this was a decision by a Trump judge but the other side of the argument was that Leandra English deserved her seat at the CFPB because of the "absence and unavailability" clause, the kind of language used for a guy on vacation.

Extra - Legal Insurrection: "This is yet another sad failure in the Democrats string of attempts to circumvent the power of the executive. Executive power is only desirable with it’s ideologically agreeable, you see."  I think I said that yesterday.

The exception to the law

Powerline: "The Left clings to power at the CFPB."  I get the impression that this is another one of those things where the law is very clear, unless you're Trump.

Sounds like I missed a bravura performance from Pelosi

I was on the road this morning so I missed "Meet the Press" but it sounds like Nancy Pelosi made a complete mess of her excuse-fest for John Conyers.  Hot Air: "Pelosi Chokes, Won’t Say That “Icon” Conyers Should Resign Over Settlement Of Harassment Allegations."

Allow me to focus just on this one evasion, via Patterico:

CHUCK TODD: Do you believe John Conyers’ accusers?
REP. NANCY PELOSI: I don’t know who they are. Do you? They have not really come forward. And that gets to —
CHUCK TODD: So you don’t know if you believe the accusations?
REP. NANCY PELOSI:  Well, that’s for the Ethics Committee to review. But I believe he understands what is at stake here and he will do the right thing.

But, wait, I've been told that women never lie about stuff like this.  Also: due process?  Conyers entered a settlement with one of his accusers, as Chuck Todd pointed out.  Nancy Pelosi is the first female Speaker of the House and her legacy will be using the "icon" proviso for John Conyers in exactly the same way Gloria Steinham advanced the "one free grope" rule for Bill Clinton:

The notorious 1998 New York Times op-ed by Gloria Steinem must surely stand as one of the most regretted public actions of her life. It slut-shamed, victim-blamed, and age-shamed; it urged compassion for and gratitude to the man the women accused. Moreover (never write an op-ed in a hurry; you’ll accidentally say what you really believe), it characterized contemporary feminism as a weaponized auxiliary of the Democratic Party.

Protect and - if necessary - service the right "icons."

Update - OMG, it's as bad as everybody characterized:

Media bias in the age of Trump

Politico magazine: "Want to Know Why Roy Moore Might Win? Blame the Media."

Remember all of the hostile press conferences and exchanges that Washington reporters routinely had with the Obama White House, or when Obama’s daily utterances were challenged every day on CNN? Conservatives don’t. Although Obama veterans surely see it differently, the press corps offered largely favorable coverage of the Obama years—at least when compared to Republican administrations. Plenty of surveys bare that out. Such as this one. And this one. And articles such as this one. And this one—this one, too. Conservatives do remember, however, the endless attacks on Reagan’s mental abilities, on George H. W. Bush’s alleged out-of-touch elitism, and on his son’s various verbal miscues and alleged racial insensitivity.

Remember: "Maybe we should ask Barack if he’s comfortable and needs another pillow."?  Nothing has changed at all.

Going the Mizzou route

Taki's Magazine: "Let the colleges die."  "American colleges are no longer institutions of higher learning. It would be more apt to refer to them as state-sanctioned seminaries for the secular religion of Cultural Marxism. Instead of strolling out of college with nimbler minds, students now stumble out into the real world with their brains scrubbed clean of the ability to hatch a single independent thought."  (Hat tip: Maggie's Farm.)

So this guy's pretty much given up on getting back into the NFL

San Francisco Gate: "Colin Kaepernick makes surprise appearance at 'Unthanksgiving Day' on Alcatraz."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, have a good day, America.

The loyal opposition

The line between the mainstream media and the political Left is blurred once again:

Washington Post reporter Janell Ross gave a presentation at a secretive California gathering where Democratic politicians, liberal activists, and their biggest donors plotted the future of the progressive movement without notifying her superiors that she would be attending, according to a Post spokesman.

Don't worry: these professionally-trained reporters can turn on the objectivity just like that.

Awww...David Cassidy

She's a dummy but at least she has no principles

Minuteman: "How great is it to watch Lena Dunham spend a few moments on the sexual harassment dunk tank? Here is a woman of no conviction and no evident ability to anticipate the most obvious of points and counterpoints and she is simply flailing."

Lena Dunham is the "Mattress Girl" of Hollywood.  She desperately wants attention and victimhood and isn't above accusing a former college classmate of rape to achieve this status (and sell books):

Humiliated and facing a litigation nightmare, Random House paid the falsely accused College Republican’s legal fees after his lawyer complained. Stung and exposed, Dunham carped about conservative journalists who refused to cover up the real truth. She nursed her self-inflicted wounds by publishing a self-pitying diatribe on the liberal website Buzzfeed and posted a prominent Twitter selfie with runny mascara mimicking two black eyes.

Does Dunham think she can write "women don't lie about rape" and then do a 180-degree pivot without inviting ridicule?  I don't believe she thinks that far ahead; it's all about the buzz, that sweet, sweet "look at me" buzz.  And if crying wolf means that some women are not believed when they claim Charlie Rose grabbed some thigh, well, that's a sacrifice she's willing to make.

Whoever paid $1 for Newsweek got robbed

What an embarrassment.  Twitchy: "Journalism: Newsweek finds the hidden connection between Trump and Charles Manson." 

She didn't do nothin'

Old Lois Lerner: I didn't block Tea Party applications.

New Lois Lerner: You better seal my testimony or people will kill me.

Martin Truex Jr. wins NASCAR championship

I realize that stock car racing isn't everyone's cup of tea but today's championship race was one for the ages, especially if you love rooting for the underdog.

In previous seasons, races have been dominated by teams that could pool resources and throw a lot of money behind car development and personnel.  In 2010, for example, Jimmie Johnson's pit crew chief replaced the entire crew with another Hendricks Motorsports team.  This imbalance between the high-money teams and the single-car teams was all-too-evident during the years when the Hendrick, Childress, and Gibbs teams rolled to victory lane nearly every week.

So, brother, you just had to root for the single-car Furniture Row team and their New Jersey (!) driver Martin Truex Jr.  Truex was having a dream season with the most wins and top 10 finishes and all the pieces came together for him in the premiere race, holding off a determined run from Kyle Busch.  After the win, Truex was drenched with sweat and tears and I'm sure he kept his helmet on until he could compose himself.

Fish gotta swim

Power Line: "Democrats revive the 'trickle down' smear."

Man's best friend

Time: "It’s Official: Dog Owners Live Longer, Healthier Lives."

I didn't want another dog after we had to put our last one down but one day I came home and - surprise! - my wife got another dog.  She's lying against me right now.  I'm too proud to admit that I wanted another dog, so let's leave it at that.

We've reached peak grope

Between Franken, Moore, and the scattered Bill Clinton reference, I think Memeorandum is 80% sexual assault right now.

Bad history

The Corner: "Democracy in Chains and the Scandal of Tonight’s National Book Awards." 

Finally

Fox News: "Zimbabwe army takes control, Mugabe and wife in custody."

It's been a while since I wrote about the monster Robert Mugabe who turned the bread basket of Africa into a wasteland.  As a refresher, here's an excellent article: "How to kill a country."

Supreme Court: It's a tax

Twitchy: "Sen. John Thune drops the mic on Dems objecting to adding individual mandate repeal to tax bill."  That means it can be repealed via budget reconciliation with only 50 votes in the Senate.

Don't screw this up, Republicans or it's Virginias for the near future.

2018 is almost here, New Yorkers!

Deplorable Climate Science Blog: "NASA’s top climate expert, James Hansen, predicted that by 2018 the Arctic would be ice-free, and Lower Manhattan would be underwater. Democrats call him a “climate prophet.” Only six weeks left to go!"

Teach your children well

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, this article in the NY Times is so morose that it would take a heart of stone not to laugh.  Behold: "Can my child be friends with white people?"  Here's the moment I LOL'd.

I do not write this with liberal condescension or glee. My heart is unbearably heavy when I assure you we cannot be friends.

Oh, heavens no, it's not liberal condescension at all defining every Trump voter as a racist.  I feel bad for this person's kids.

Extra - Red State: "Objective Racism In A New York Times Op-Ed."  And Twitchy suggests that re-segregation must be the only solution.

More - Michael Walsh: "Before the liberal revolution is over, we'll be back to segregating the sexes -- in the name of "safety" -- and the races -- in the name of "empowerment."

You better sit down, kids

National Review: "Social Security Makes Millennials Less Financially Responsible." And, in the long run, broker than if they just put the money in a savings account.

Social Security was intended to help Americans finance their retirements, but the data suggest that young workers would be better off doing almost anything else with that money. A report by the Urban Institute, a liberal think tank, found that workers earn a paltry rate of return on their Social Security investment. A young woman born in 1995 who starts working at 22, making $47,800 per year, will pay $466,000 into the program by the time she retires (the Urban Institute, like the Brookings Institute, assumes that the employee will pay both her share and her employer’s share). She’ll only receive $569,000 in current dollars — which means a 22.1 percent increase over 43 years. And that’s assuming that Social Security benefits don’t fall, even though funding shortages make that a real possibility.

"Real possibility?"  The Social Security Trustees themselves say the Trust Fund will be depleted in 2035, whereupon benefits will be reduced by 20-25%.

Uninterrupted

I know there were little jump-cuts here and there but "Mr. Robot" just ran essentially 45 minutes of a single-shot scene.  It was incredible.

Of course they do

The Left hates free speech, forever.  Reason Online: "Columbia Student Group Thinks Student Groups It Disagrees With Should Be Defunded - The Black Students' Organization thinks the College Republicans are peddling violent speech."

The latest resident in Hell

Heard this on NPR driving home: "The Texas Church Shooter Should Have Been Legally Barred From Owning Guns."  Not notionally as in "he's crazy," mind you.  Legally he did not have the right to own firearms due to a vicious domestic violence conviction by the Air Force.

Free speech on campus

Inside Higher Ed: "Presidents and Provosts Gather to Consider Free Speech Issues."  HT: Maggie's Farm.

The good news appears to be that most agree that free speech should be defended: "Diermeier and other participants said the presidents were in strong agreement with principles of free speech, without exceptions. "Those principles apply irrespective of the ideological perspective of the speakers," he said."

The best and brightest

AP: "Inside story: How Russians hacked the Democrats' emails"

A malicious link was generated for Podesta at 11:28 a.m. Moscow time, the AP found. Documents subsequently published by WikiLeaks show that the rogue email arrived in his inbox six minutes later. The link was clicked twice.

Podesta’s messages — at least 50,000 of them — were in the hackers’ hands.

As somebody once asked: is it really "hacking" when all you need to do is find somebody dumb enough to click on such an obvious phishing scam?

F. Lee Barkley was not available

Not the Onion.  Washington Post: "The suspect told police ‘give me a lawyer dog.’ The court says he wasn’t asking for a lawyer."

When a friend says, “I’ll hit you up later dog,” he is stating that he will call again sometime. He is not calling the person a “later dog.”

But that’s not how the courts in Louisiana see it. And when a suspect in an interrogation told detectives to “just give me a lawyer dog,” the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that the suspect was, in fact, asking for a “lawyer dog,” and not invoking his constitutional right to counsel. It’s not clear how many lawyer dogs there are in Louisiana, and whether any would have been available to represent the human suspect in this case, other than to give the standard admonition in such circumstances to simply stop talking.

C'mon man.

Some of these...well, they're something

Hit and Run: "Behold the Work of Russia's Evil Advertising Geniuses - Satan is on Clinton's side, and check out this coloring book featuring a buff Bernie Sanders!"