Maybe the funniest thing I've seen in a NASCAR race

In today's race, a car crashed into a sidewall and one of the panels stuck to the back of the car, which then drove around the track like one of those banner planes you see at the beach.

The new standard

Red State: "It Looks Like Maxine Waters’s Staff Doxxed Several GOP Senators During The Kavanaugh Hearing." 

She needs help to pay for her pro bono lawyers

Turtleboy: "Christine Blasey-Ford Has Raised Over $500K With GoFundMe Scam And She’s Obviously Lying About Not Remembering Who Drove Her Home That Night."

Time to move the goalposts again

The Democrats have been unified in their call for an FBI investigation (the 7th, I guess) for Brett Kavanaugh and today they got it.  It won't last more than a week because as they told us, ad nauseum, the Clarence Thomas investigation only took three days.  So a week should be plenty of time for the FBI to investigate a party, somewhere in Maryland, maybe in 1982 that nobody except Chrissy Ford remembers.

With this hard-won victory in hand, it's time to shift those goalposts.  First, a week isn't long enough:

Gosh, nobody could see that coming. https://t.co/gGrEmHrV1R

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 28, 2018

Second, even if the FBI clears Kavanaugh, he's still just the worst:

After spending two weeks demanding an FBI investigation in the hope/belief that the GOP would never allow one, only to have Jeff Flake force the issue at the last moment, the minority party suddenly shifts to Plan B. Time now to start downplaying the value of the forthcoming FBI investigation that’s likely to find nothing incriminating against Kavanaugh.

Like Ace, I totally want a portion of this investigation to look into GoFundMe princess Chrissy Ford who can't fly (unless it's on a vacation) and has no idea who is paying for all these polygraphs and trips to Washington.

This is news

Red State: "BREAKING. Collins, Murkowski, And Donnelly Make Their Decision."  For Kavanaugh.

Catching up

I'm totally getting caught up on the Kavanaugh hearings after a long day of end-of-fiscal-year madness at work.  Seen at Ace:

Congrats, Democrats. This is the world you wanted. An innocent man's wife and daughters are being violently threatened, and lawmakers are being doxxed, barely a year after a horrific mass assassination attempt against Republican congressmen. https://t.co/ZPk2daCPiZ

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 27, 2018

I'm so old, I remember when Democrats were telling us about the dignity of John McCain's example. 

A decree from the Mayor

CNBC: "Dunkin' makes it official: It's dropping 'Donuts' from its logo."  For those of you outside of the New England area, Dunkin' Donuts is a coffee chain separated by 300 yards in every direction.

Ford Escape

As I predicted.  Twitchy: "Now Christine Blasey Ford’s legal team is pushing back on hiring of “experienced sex crimes prosecutor”.

She won't testify under oath.  Not going to happen.

Meh, we'll run a correction later

National Review: "Jane Mayer: Accuser Told Ronan Farrow She Wasn’t Sure of Story."

Strangely, the first thing I thought of was this piece of trivia from the movie "Bright Lights, Big City":

"Gotham", the fictitious New York magazine for which Jamie Conway works as a fact-checker, is clearly an unflattering caricature of "The New Yorker", where author/screenwriter Jay McInerney had also worked as a fact-checker.

Perhaps the New Yorker should have hired a coked-out fact-checker for this dumpster fire story.

This will be the pretense for Ford to back out

Breaking news from the Judiciary Committee:

Judiciary Cmte to Ford team: The Committee determines which witnesses to call, how many witnesses to call, in what order to call them, and who will question them. These are non-negotiable.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 23, 2018

Judge, have you ever done a keg stand?

Washington Examiner: "Democrats poised to grill Brett Kavanaugh on drinking, partying in high school."  It's pretty much all they got.

All over but the shouting

Erick Erickson: "BREAKING: Christine Blasey Ford's Female Witness Doesn't Remember Anything."

So Ford has identified three eyewitnesses at this party (not counting Kavanaugh) and all of them have now provided sworn statements to the Judiciary committee saying this never happened.  Are we done here yet?

Extra - Reaction from Twitchy.

Spoiler alert: Godot didn't show up either

Hot Air: "Christine Ford Meets Deadline By Not Agreeing To Terms."

The "acceptance" is just another delaying tactic.
The "negotiation" is just a means to eventually decline to testify.

She cray-cray

New Neo: "It’s like having an argument with your crazy girlfriend: the latest from Ford."

Most of us have had the experience of arguing with a person like this. Give an inch? They take a mile. Make concessions? They want more. They are the poor suffering victims. They don’t like your tone of voice. They don’t like the expression on your face. If you try to be calm, you’re cold. If you try to be sympathetic, you’re condescending. Nothing you do is okay, and everything they do is okay.

Meanwhile, Dianne Feinstein (among others) is complaining that the Republicans are being stubborn and uncooperative what with their requests and extended deadlines.

McCarthyism 2018

Wall Street Journal: "The Presumption of Guilt - The new liberal standard turns American due process upside down."

Do you remember the 21st night of September?

NPR: "The Song That Never Ends: Why Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' Sustains."

"The, kind of, go-to phrase that Maurice used in every song he wrote was 'ba-dee-ya,' " she says. "So right from the beginning he was singing, 'Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember / Ba-dee-ya, dancing in September.' And I said, 'We are going to change 'ba-dee-ya' to real words, right?' "

Wrong. 

I've always kinda liked this version from "Get Over It":

Tick tock

Grassley says: tell us if you're testifying by 10pm or we're voting Monday.

Good.

Extra - Powerline has Grassley's statement which includes the (obvious) observation that, here in America, there's the accusation and then the defense - not the other way around.

I have a regret

When I was making my prediction last night, I toyed with the idea of making another prediction: that the Kavanaugh accuser would claim she's afraid to fly and, darn it, I just can't make it from California to Washington D.C. in time.

But then I said: "nah, that is too crazy and desperate a dilatory move."  I was a fool!  Ace: "Literally Un-believable: "Dr. Ford" Doesn't Want to Come to DC to Testify, Because She Doesn't Want to Fly, Now."  As Ace notes, Ford should get some of the Pussyhat Resisters! to pile in an RV and drive day and night to protect birth control, or something.

Oh, that's different

Hot Air: "Hmmm: Only 5% Of MN Democrats “Believe The Woman” When It Comes To Ellison."

Avoiding the perjury charge

David French: "Do Democrats Really Believe Christine Blasey Ford Doesn’t Have to Prove Her Claims?"  Nope.  They just want them out there:

As of this moment, they are actually seeking to derail a Supreme Court nomination and impugn the nominee’s character without a single piece of sworn evidence. Indeed, all the legally binding statements on the matter contradict the accuser.

This cannot stand. Ford’s team has to either reverse course or drop its complaint. Yes, of course, testifying before the committee would be “partisan.” No, the members of the committee are not “neutral.” But that’s not just the reality of the Senate, it’s the fundamental reality of the justice system itself. It is an adversarial system. If you seek to prove your claim under any standard, you have to expose yourself to the most partisan possible scrutiny — cross-examination by a lawyer trained to find flaws in your testimony and paid to work relentlessly until he discredits your case.

It's notable that even the letter sent to Dianne Feinstein hasn't been entered into evidence.  The Democrats desperately want the Republicans to overreact to this nothingburger, but they refuse to take the bait.  It must be infuriating. 

Prediction: Ford will never testify under oath. 

Hmmmm....

Hot Air: "NRO’s Ed Whelan: “Much More” Is Coming To Show That Kavanaugh Is Innocent."

For the record, I predicted this debacle would "seal the deal" for Kavanaugh.  It's all over but the shouting and the inevitable cries of "sexism!"

Extra - Federalist: "The Kavanaugh Allegation Process Is A Miscarriage Of Justice For Everyone."  Certain members of the media have declared the nomination "donezo" for...reasons.  Probably #MeToo.

Matthew Rhys wins for "The Americans"

I was flipping back and forth from the Emmys and "Monday Night Football," only to see if my favorite show - "The Americans" - would finally win something.  The Emmys were just awful and I muted every stilted speech before the awards were announced.  But Matthew Rhys won for Best Actor in a Drama and his speech was adorbs:

Well, that souffle collapsed

Fox News: "Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford demands 'full investigation' by FBI before testifying, in letter from her lawyers."

I've seen this movie before: make outrageous demands in the interest of "justice" that you know will never be accepted then run away.  Just call the vote already.

Extra - Ace: "Breaking: Kavanaugh's Accuser Says She Won't Testify Until The FBI, Which Has Already Declined to Investigate Her Non-Federal-Jurisdiction 37 Year Old Allegations, Completes Its Investigation, Sometime After a Democrat is President."

Talk it out

Powerline: "Senator Collins's good idea."  She proposes that counsel for Kavanaugh and Hope question each other's clients.  "But I have a hunch that if Sen. Collins’s proposal is embraced, Prof. Ford will withdraw from the hearing."

Related - Minuteman: "Disingenuous Level Max."

Turn off the cameras

Hot Air: "Senate Judiciary Committee To Hold Public Hearing Monday With Kavanaugh And Accuser."  They'll be televised:

If you thought the grandstanding from 2020 contenders like Cory Booker and Kamala Harris was overbearing the first time around, it’s almost unfathomable how obnoxious it’ll be this time. Booker will cry. A lot.

OMG, why does this need to be a public hearing?  Spartacus will be insufferable.

I'm convinced that this eleventh-hour stunt will seal the deal for Kavanaugh.  What kind of message would the Republicans be sending if they allowed this uncorroborated to derail a nominee?  Even Susan Collins came out and called it unfair.  Nobody's changing their vote at this point.

Extra - Well: "Kavanaugh's accuser's lawyer: It's not her job to corroborate her story."  Oh.  I guess she's just here to make allegations.

Segregation now, segregation forever!

A couple months ago, a black female working the summer at Smith College was either eating her lunch or sleeping in a closed building.  A Smith employee, following college policy, saw her and notified campus police who did a check.  And there it would have ended except for all the racism.

You would have thought Smith would have learned the lessons of Mizzou or Evergreen College, but no.  They suspended the reporting employee pending an investigation and generally did everything you'd expect from a liberal, Western Massachusetts, Northampton-based college.  Still - unbelievably! - it just wasn't enough.  Here come the demands: "Woman at center of controversial Smith College incident pens letter on ACLU website calling for 'affinity housing' for students of color."

In Kanoute's letter, she makes several "demands" for reform at the school -- including a call for a controversial practice called "affinity housing" for students of color.

That's right: it's come to this.

"The supposed 'integrated housing' system currently on campus forces (people of color) into unsafe spaces," alleges one post on the group's Facebook page. "It does nothing to uphold principles of equity or justice. While affinity housing is not a perfect solution, students of color have expressed their need for a house that truly values their labor."

It's going to be a tough world for these womyn after graduation.

Fake news

Tell me again how media bias is all in my head.  Ace: "NYT: Whoopsie! I Guess We Shouldn't Have Suggested That Nikki Haley Was Responsible for a $50,000 Expenditure for Curtains That Was Actually Made During the Obama Administration." 

The Paper of Record, ladies and gentlemen. 

The Kavanaugh circus

Hot Air: "Report: Feinstein Forwarded Letter About Kavanaugh To The FBI — With The Accuser’s Name Redacted."

For the record, I believe the "virtuous" version of Feinstein in this article.  I think Democrat Senators such as Feinstein and Leahy believe in the Senate as an institution, unlike crazy Kamala and Spartacus, who view it as a platform for grandstanding.

Evidence not needed

Since Adam Schiff hasn't found any evidence in the phony-baloney Russian collusion charge against Trump, he swears the Democrats will move on to the phony-baloney money laundering charge.

This is their entire agenda.

By golly, this fellow tells some untruths!

Now safely out of office, the Associated Press re-discovers the fact check for Obama: "AP Fact Check: Obama doesn’t always tell the straight story."

Remember when Politifact rated Obama's claim about keeping your health plan as "half-true" only to name it "Lie of the Year" in 2013?  Then the media wonders why Americans think they're biased:

"Without evidence."  Except, you know, for the texts.  This is lame even for @cnnpolitics. https://t.co/RZbMxi030d

— Instapundit.com (@instapundit) September 12, 2018

Steele trap

Conrad Black: "The Mueller Charade"

When the Mueller charade is finally out of the way, everyone involved in the false applications for a FISA surveillance warrant against junior Trump campaign helper Carter Page will face the music, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and very prominent members of the Obama administration. Whatever happens in November, all this will unravel. The combination of the jungle ruthlessness of high American politics with the idealism of the Constitution occasionally creates bizarre and sordid dramas. Eventually, just when the pious claptrap about no one being above the law becomes almost insufferable, the puritanical conscience of America rises like a cobra and strikes the wrongdoers. The twist here is that the hunted president, who has broken no laws, will make the kill. It’s reality politics, wending toward a surprising climax.

Somebody wrote the other day that Americans "don't like to be pushed around."  And this is what motivates my defense of Trump: here's a guy whose entire Presidency so far has been under a cloud because of this phony Steele dossier paid for by Hillary's campaign and the DNC.  Trump committed the unpardonable sin of beating Hillary and for this he must suffer a thousand cuts from CNN and Stephen Colbert.  Why?  Because he's intemperate and not particularly articulate.

But there's no crime.  It's bizarre that whenever I bring this up the standard response is "you don't know what Mueller knows!"  Yeah, that's right, the critical, earth-shattering, Presidency-ending information is just lying dormant, waiting for its moment to appear.  Won't we be surprised?

It's much more likely we'll see Hillary go to prison.  After all, she's the one who actually hired Russian agents to create the Steele dossier to sway the election.

Never go full Mizzou

You don't want to go full Mizzou, Evergreen.  Hot Air: "Evergreen State College Professor: Freshmen Enrollment Down To 300 Students."

Avoiding the title of "Mayor Bankruptcy"

Zero Hedge: "A More Likely Reason Rahm Emanuel Dropped Out: The Chicago Time Bomb."

Rahm knows the risks of collapse are rising. He’s passed property tax hikes, emptied the reserves and employed every budget trick he can to make the numbers “better.” He’s even sold off public assets – the city’s future sales tax revenues – to “shore up” the city’s finances, and yet Chicago is still junk rated by Moody’s.

Chicago's pension obligations are staggering and, by far, the worst among major cities.  Rahm knows there are no more levers to pull; he's out of options so it's better to leave the mess to the next guy.

Even Paul Krugman?

The Hill: "Economists agree: Trump, not Obama, gets credit for economy."

Awww...don't be sad, "new normal" Obama.  Trump found that magic wand.

Fishing expedition

Andrew McCarthy: "Mr. Rosenstein, What Is the Crime?"  "For precisely what federal crimes is the president of the United States under investigation by a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department?  It is intolerable that, after more than two years of digging — the 16-month Mueller probe having been preceded by the blatantly suspect labors of the Obama Justice Department and FBI — we still do not have an answer to that simple question."

Tweet of the day

Kiki Papadopoulos, George’s mother, says she was there when FBI agents showed up and requested interview and advised her son to decline and get a lawyer. The lesson, she said: “if you only listened to your mother none of this would have happened.”

— Rosalind Helderman (@PostRoz) September 7, 2018

NFL down

Hot Air: "Ratings For NFL Season Opener Down Double Digits From Last Year."

I don't think this one game is a good indicator for one reason: they were supposed to start at 8:20pm but postponed due to lightning in the area.  So I imagine a lot of people turned the channel and never went back.

Cory Booker is a clown

Hot Air: "Please, For The Love Of God, Let This Be The Last Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing."

This response follows in the wake of New Jersey senator Cory Booker's hysterical grandstanding and deep desire to make himself a martyr to the TRUTH!  First he bravely - bravely! - announced he would reveal confidential documents on Kavanaugh that, um, weren't confidential and contained no bombshells.

I heard Booker explain himself on NPR this afternoon and I wish I had a transcript.  The man is absolutely zonked out on his own sense of self-importance.

What's all this then?

NPR: "Grand Jury Looking Into Case Of Ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe."

Resist

David French: "The Democrats’ No Good, Frivolous, Ridiculous Day."

I'm so old, I remember Democrats at John McCain's funeral urging civil debate and dignity.

The deep state strikes back

Hit and Run: "Anonymous Tell-Alls in The New York Times Are More a Threat To the Republic than Trump - The president may well be unprincipled, ignorant, and awful, but he was, well, elected fair and square."

Extra - Roger Simon: "New York Times' 'Inside' Attack on Trump Unbelievably Cowardly."

What media bias?

Hot Air: "Chuck Todd Declares War On The Idea That ‘Media Bias’ Exists."  Why are we listening to this high-school graduate?  These guys always think only Fox News is guilty of bias.

Murders and debt

Yeah, I'd run away from this job too.  Hit and Run: "Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Won't Run for Re-Election - The Windy City will be left drowning in debt, despite the high taxes and vicious money-grubbing fines."

Cruz hits a home run

Hot Air: "Ted Cruz: Confirmation Theatrics Are An Attempt To Relitigate The 2016 Election."  I was particularly impressed when he noted that Democrats were seeking documents that had nothing to do with Kavanaugh and were only being sought because the Democrats know they are protected by executive privilege.  Let's get this "Resist!" charade over with already.

Willingly, the Boston Globe played along

Washington Times: "Warren mounts PR blitz insisting Cherokee claims never helped her career."

Twitchy: "Boston Globe changes its headline, erasing Elizabeth Warren’s claim of Native American ancestry."

The headline in question originally noted that it was "complicated" whether Warren used a claim of Native American heritage to advance her career.  Then, as Instapundit speculates, the Boston Globe "got a call" and fixed the headline.  Now the new narrative is Warren lied about her heritage but Harvard didn't believe her anyway, so it's kosher.

Not Saint Obama

Washington Examiner: "Washington Post columnist calls Trump racist for doing something Obama and Bush did."

It's almost like they have a narrative and the facts don't really matter.

Bacon is a right

Hey, it's easy.  Twitchy: "Fla. Dem gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Gillum wastes NO time spouting leftist B.S."