He loves the camera

Fox News: "Nadler: There ‘certainly’ is justification to impeach Trump."

via GIPHY

Orange man bad

Issues and Insights: "Mueller’s Final Statement Turns Jurisprudence On Its Head."

How would the average American citizen like this said of him or her after a couple of years of 18 prosecutors scrutinizing his or her affairs? After reviewing all the evidence, we don’t have enough evidence to say that John Doe robbed that store. But we can’t say definitively that he didn’t rob that store, so here’s a bunch of embarrassing revelations about him that we uncovered along the way. Have fun.

Whatever.  There is not going to be impeachment proceedings in the House so this is all theater for the AOC thralls.

The end of women's sports

As somebody said: in the future there will be men's sports and co-ed sports.  Trib Live: "Transgender woman who last year competed as a man wins NCAA track championship."  I love this comment:

"Was applause mandatory? Because that's the next step in this progression."

You will be made to care.

Western Massachusetts update

Way up in the northwest corner.  Hot Air: "Williams College Professor: For Some Of My Students, Social Justice Ideology Trumps Science."  "It’s difficult to imagine the arrogance of an 18 or 19-year-old student telling their professor she ought not to be teaching. But that sort of arrogance seems par for the course when it comes to campus Social Justice Warriors."

Gentleman's B

Reason Online: "Make School Hard Again."  "The corrupt undergraduate admissions process at most schools today can flourish because the higher branches of the American academic tree are so good. But the lower branches are rotten with grade inflation and social promotion. The move away from an emphasis on genuine academic achievement and meritocratic promotion has done a disservice to the least well-off while offering more opportunities for the rich and connected to buy the trappings of success for their offspring."

Memorial Day

U.S. Code 284

I had not heard about this before.  Lawfare: "How Congress and President Obama Made Trump’s Wall Possible."

The author hits upon a popular theme in the libertarian side of politics in that Congress has been handing more power over the the Executive branch and then we're all shocked when the President uses that power.

Elvis Presley's remote control

Elvis Presley famously shot his television after watching Robert Goulet.  I understand Elvis's pain every time I see that "huff and puff, I got COPD" commercial with the guy wearing the light-green shirt.

"Like you do, Grandpa?"

"Yes, grandchild, let me explain to you the symptoms of this disease and the potential side-effects of this drug I'm taking.  They include diarrhea and vomiting." 

After all they did for him

Issues and Insights: "Report: Obama’s Spying On The Press Was Far More Extensive Than Previously Thought."

Yeah, but he's no rocket scientist

Just a brain surgeon.  Twitchy: "Official DNC War Room account calls black neurosurgeon a ‘moron’." 

They gain absolution by voting for Bernie

Hot Air: "NY Times Opinion: Progressives Are Complete Hypocrites When It Comes To Housing Policy."  In which he takes apart the San Francisco NIMBYs.

This is a critique conservatives have long made about open-border progressives. If you want people crossing the border to be released on our streets, let’s release them in your neighborhood! It’s probably what motivated President Trump to suggest that the crush of Central Americans arriving at the border now should be directed toward sanctuary cities. If you want us to do this, how about you directly shoulder some of it.

Last summer, I saw a taping of the NPR show "Live from Here" at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  (Truth be told, I was there to see the excellent Lake Street Dive.)  The show had to close with a monologue from the host about immigration with a pointed jab at Donald Trump that elicited a broad cheer from the Massachusetts audience.

If there is a section of the country minimally affected by the unpleasant side-effects of unfettered immigration, it may be the aging hippie population of mountainous and remote Berkshire County.  What a brave position to take in front of this Western Massachusetts crowd, NPR.

He did the math

My son turned me on to a documentary called "Perfect Bid: The Contestant who knew too much."  It's about a math teacher who obsessively tracked the price of prizes on "The Price is Right" and his potential influence on the most controversial Showcase Showdown ever.

Good enough for the firefighters!

Here's a fun tidbit from the Hill: "Christopher Steele's nugget of fool's gold was easily disproven — but FBI didn't blink an eye."

The theory — worthy of a spy novel — was that a series of data pings between a computer in Trump Tower and Alfa Bank in Moscow actually was a secret beacon alerting the Putin and Trump teams that it was time to talk about colluding on hijacking the American presidential election.

The story eventually made its way to mainstream media such as The New York Times, Slate, CNN and, just last fall, The New Yorker. It has been debunked by the FBI, and it was not mentioned as a reliable allegation in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The New York Times and CNN you say?  I'm surprised these beacons of light and freedom fell for such an obvious hoax.  /sarc 

The Left hates free speech, continued

Hot Air: "Predictably, People On The Left Are Defending ‘Milkshaking’."  Because literally Hitler.

Saw that coming

Hot Air: "Philadelphia’s Soda Tax Bombed As Predicted."  People just purchased their soda outside of Philly, which then proceeded to lose any tax revenue.

Upset Down Under

The polls were wrong again.  Hot Air: "A Trump-Supporting Conservative Prime Minister Pulled Off A Surprise Win In Australia." 

In essence, the left-leaning party was running on the Green New Deal and Morrison won by pointing out that could damage the economy. It remains to be seen whether those results are transferable to the United States, but you do have some of the same elements in play.

And as Twitchy notes, the NY Times can't believe Australians would vote for economic stability and against Mother Earth: "NYT perplexed because Australians didn’t vote for climate change hoax."  The Left has two reactions to every election: 1) the people have spoken! and 2) stupid people.

Extra - Belmont Club: "Pollsters Blindsided Again: Australian Labor Party's Surprise Defeat Echoes Hillary, Brexit." 

Strict parents won't let girl get an Iphone

Sounds perfectly reasonable....WTF?  Page Six: "Britney Spears conservatorship is going smoothly, but she’s desperate for iPhone."

I had to look it up: Britney Spears is 37 years old and, somehow, her parents control every aspect of her life.  That's just wrong.

"Government power was used to spy on American citizens"

WSJ: "Barr Says Review of Origins of Russia Probe Could Lead to Rule Changes."

This article seems to have escaped the WSJ paywall.  Thanks, Minuteman!

Fun with idioms

Maggie's Farm: "Fun origins of a few expressions."  I have to wonder if these are all on the level.

Western Massachusetts update

So it looks like there's an opening for a teacher in Southbridge.  Turtleboy: "Southbridge Teacher Known As Yoooo Mistah Plants Live Ammo In School, Doesn’t Know About Surveillance Cameras, Puts School In Lockdown, Gets Arrested."

Fool didn't even know there was a security camera watching him the whole time. 

Extra - From Instapundit.

Who would be dumb enough to buy Salon?

NY Post: "Salon Media in talks for $5M fire sale in last-ditch effort."  Buh-bye.

De Blasio enters Presidential race!

Meh...nobody cares.  Seems like a slow news day.  Here's the bass line from "Sir Duke"

Legendary bluff call

Fox News: "Barr teases Pelosi, asks if she brought her handcuffs on sidelines of DC event."

It's all coming out now

The Hill: "State Department's red flag on Steele went to a senior FBI man well before FISA warrant."

Quid pro quo Joe

I did a spit take at this one:

He [Joe Biden] also said that “China’s greatest violation is the way in which they steal our intellectual property. We should make it quid pro quo.”

Oh, Joe knows a thing or two about squeezing some "concessions" out of Red China:

In 2013, then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden flew aboard Air Force Two to China. Less than two weeks later, Hunter Biden’s firm inked a $1 billion private equity deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China. The deal was later expanded to $1.5 billion. In short, the Chinese government funded a business that it co-owned along with the son of a sitting vice president.

Hunter Biden had no previous experience in either private equity or China yet - somehow - his little Rosemont Seneca Partners pulled in an international billion-dollar deal.  Amazing, that.

Pay no attention to that job and wage growth!

Orange Man Bad.  Issues and Insights: "The Blue-Collar Jobs Boom Nobody Seems To Notice (Because It’s Happening Under Trump)."

We need Joe to bring us back to the "new normal" of 2% GDP growth.

Where'd all the apartments go?

Reason: "California's Rent Control Advocates Are About To Get What They Want, Good and Hard - "Everywhere rent control is tried, the same things happen. Landlords exit the market. Developers stop building apartments. Supply drops significantly."

I don't talk about my work situation but a couple years I was offered a job in the Silicon Valley area with a significant salary increase...which would have been completely swallowed up by housing costs.  It was a net loss even before factoring in California's $4 gas.

Somebody is cutting onions in here

They found the "wow" kid.  WGBH: "The Kid Who 'Put Everybody In Stitches' At Boston Symphony Hall Has Been Found."

Ronan didn't mean to be disruptive, said his grandfather, Stephen Mattin, who took Ronan to the concert. His grandson, Mattin explained, is on the autism spectrum, and often expresses himself differently than other people.

"I can count on one hand the number of times that [he's] spontaneously ever come out with some expression of how he's feeling," Mattin said.

Overcome by Mozart.  What a story.

The tragic theater

Issues and Insights: "This ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Has Been Completely Contrived By #Resistance Democrats."

The FBI lied to the FISA Court

Saint Comey of the Forest Walk hardest hit.  The Hill: "FBI's Steele story falls apart: False intel and media contacts were flagged before FISA."

It is important to note that the FBI swore on Oct. 21, 2016, to the FISA judges that Steele’s “reporting has been corroborated and used in criminal proceedings” and the FBI has determined him to be “reliable” and was “unaware of any derogatory information pertaining” to their informant, who simultaneously worked for Fusion GPS, the firm paid by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Clinton campaign to find Russian dirt on Trump.

That’s a pretty remarkable declaration in Footnote 5 on Page 15 of the FISA application, since Kavalec apparently needed just a single encounter with Steele at State to find one of his key claims about Trump-Russia collusion was blatantly false.

The mainstream media warned me that high-level officials were going to jail and they were right!

Extra - From American Greatness.

More - Zero Hedge: "There is no Russian consulate in Miami."

In search of the "wow" kid

This story is absolutely adorbs.  Boston Globe: "Handel & Haydn Society wants to find child who charmed crowd with a big ‘wow!’"  Video is below - turn your sound on.

Help @handelandhaydn find this "wow" child! Find out more: https://t.co/TsjEQmeSYX pic.twitter.com/CeZcciRM2G

— 99.5 WCRB, Classical Radio Boston (@995WCRB) May 7, 2019

The show must go on

Hot Air: "Judiciary Committee Votes To Hold Barr In Contempt, Nadler Declares “Constitutional Crisis”

Note that Nadler was asked point blank here why, if this is an, ahem, “constitutional crisis,” he won’t immediately proceed to take up impeachment of Trump for thwarting congressional oversight on various matters. All he can say is that sometimes impeachment isn’t the answer. Not the answer … to a constitutional crisis? If you needed further evidence that them making an example of Barr is just a way to placate the left amid their refusal to impeach, there you are. Exit quotation from Stephen “redsteeze” Miller: “We’re in the middle of a constitutional crisis which we’re going to allow to continue for more Sunday morning slots on CNN.”

CNN?  What's that?

Extra - Powerline: "Barr says that because it is illegal to disseminate grand jury testimony without the consent of the witnesses, he cannot legally comply with the Democrats’ demands. This position appears to be correct. In any event, I have not seen any attempt at a coherent response to it."

What media bias?

I listen to NPR on my morning commute and most of the time I find it quite even-handed.  Then there was this morning with "House Panel Plans Contempt Vote For Barr Over Mueller Report" in which NPR reporter David Greene interviewed Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, who was oh-so-reasonable in his humble requests:

"And we know that there is information that we need in order to fully investigate all of the redactions."
"Well, actually, this vote is necessary in order for us to get the full, unredacted Mueller report."
"We've tried from the moment the report came out to - since before it came out - to make clear that we deserve the full, unredacted report in order for us to do our job."
"What we do is - what we want is for the full report to be delivered."

Never - not once - during this long regurgitation of Democrat talking points did Greene ever challenge Deutch on the fact that he's asking AG Barr to break the law by revealing grand jury testimony.  Only later in the interview when NPR's Congressional reporter Kelsey Snell was brought in for color commentary was this mentioned:

SNELL: Well, we've already heard from the Justice Department that they believe that it isn't legal for Barr to comply with the request. They're saying that he has given them all that they can give them and that if they want more information, they - the Justice Department has offered a closed-door opportunity for Democrats to go and look at the unredacted portions. But, you know, Democrats say that's not enough. They want everything that they see to also be seen by the public.

This isn't even up for debate as 1998 Jerrod Nadler knows but Deutch wasn't challenged on the law or Barr's offer to show a minimally-redacted version, with only the grand jury testimony blacked-out as required by law.

Biased or incompetent?  You make the call.

Confirming what we all suspected

The Flint water crisis turned into a shakedown.  Ace: "Flint, Michigan Democrats Authorize Politically-Connected Firms to Waste Millions of Dollars Digging Up Non-Existent Pipes Instead of Going by the Map That Shows Exactly Where They Are; Left-Wing Media, For Some Reason, Completely Uninterested in This." 

Taxpayer $ and that coveted victim status?  What's not to love?

You guys can pound sand, too

Fox News: "Treasury Secretary Mnuchin denies House Dem's request for Trump's tax returns."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in a letter Monday, denied House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal's request for President Trump's tax returns, saying the request lacked a “legitimate legislative purpose.”

“As you have recognized, the Committee’s request is unprecedented, and it presents serious constitutional questions, the resolution of which may have lasting consequences for all taxpayers,” the letter read.

Mnuchin told the Massachusetts Democrat he'd relied on the advice of the Justice Department. He concluded that the department was “not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information.

This is the correct decision given that Richie Neal's request was based on the ridiculous premise that he just wanted to make sure the IRS was doing a good job auditing.  This may be a surprise to the "Resist!" crowd, but Congress can't root around in your private files just because. 

Joe Biden's web site

...is interesting. 

CNBC: "A parody website with embarrassing photos of Joe Biden is outranking his official campaign page on Google."

Make sure you scroll down to find information on Biden's positions on gay marriage, mass incarceration and the Iraq war.

Oh that's not news

Daily Caller: "CNN wrote over 20 articles on Covington Catholic students, ignores Philly Muslim children chanting about chopping off heads."

Investigating but in a clandestine manner

Democracy dies in dumbness.  Twitchy: "NY Times headline that bent over backwards to avoid saying ‘spy’ gets the mocking it so richly deserves."

Good

Ace: "Washington Post: The President Might, Get This, Use Justice Department Resources to Harass and Investigate His Rival!!!!"

Glad to see that you monsters are worried about this now.

And you should be worried -- because I'll support Trump every step of the way when he weaponizes the government against you, the same as you did to him (and us).

You wanted Thunderdome for your enemies?

Get ready for Thunderdome for yourselves.

Trump should start off with some of that sweet Lois Lerner action and review all these "non-partisan" groups that are anything but.  Then we'll have the FBI start a "counterintelligence" investigation (since there isn't probable cause for a criminal probe) and assemble - oh let's call it the "Iron + Carbon Dossier."  The veracity of this dossier won't matter at all because the real game will be the investigation and the Democrats' nominee's reaction to it.  If he/she raises a fuss, we can charge with obstruction and then openly question the nominee's temperament to lead the country.

A literal giant of film

Fox News: "Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in ‘Star Wars,’ has died, his family says." 

Just the FBI watching a Presidential candidate

Minuteman: "Just Don't Call It "Spying" - "The NY Times learns more about Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI effort to totally not spy on the Trump campaign."

Pound sand

Ace: "AG Barr to Nadler: Have Fun Interviewing Each Other, A--holes."  "Barr is a cabinet-level official, and there are protocols here: While they will consent to be interrogated by someone who's a rough constitutional peer (like a member of Congress), that doesn't mean they'll consent to be insulted and slandered by flunkies."

Extra - National Review: "Barr Won’t Testify Before House Judiciary Due to Dems’ ‘Unprecedented and Unnecessary’ Conditions."

I get that Congress is a co-equal branch of government but this switcheroo stunt by Nadler suggests he's not operating in good faith.  Why should Barr subject himself to a hostile interrogation without any ground rules?  Subpoena away, Nadler.

More - Power Line: "It’s not “complete stonewalling” when Barr agrees to be questioned for hours by Senate Judiciary Committee members on Wednesday and by House Judiciary Committee members for hours the following day, as Barr was willing to do. It’s not stonewalling at all. Nor is it stonewalling to insist on procedures that have been used, apparently without exception, for more than 30 years when Cabinet members testify publicly before Congress."