DNC plots to kneecap Bernie...again

Politico: "DNC members discuss rules change to stop Sanders at convention." 

The hero we need

Regrettably he's over in England.  Hot Air: "Students Demanded Divestment From Fossil Fuels, A Professor Offered To Turn Off The Gas Heating."

Two students at St John’s College wrote to Andrew Parker, the principal bursar, this week requesting a meeting to discuss the protesters’ demands, which are that the college “declares a climate emergency and immediately divests from fossil fuels”. They say that the college, the richest in Oxford, has £8 million of its £551 million endowment fund invested in BP and Shell.

Professor Parker responded with a provocative offer. “I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,” he wrote. “But I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.”

Unsurprisingly, the students at Oxford failed to see the irony and instead were indignant that they weren't being taken seriously.  Don't worry: it's not just you.  We have Hollywood phonies on this side of the pond.

Don Lemon hardest hit

Volokh Conspiracy: "Trump Supporters Score Higher on Verbal Ability Tests - And they do better on most science knowledge questions, too."

Looks like a full exoneration on Friday

The Hill: "GOP senators believe they have the votes to block witnesses."

Hot Air: "Schumer: It Looks Unlikely That We’ll Have Enough Republican Votes To Call Witnesses."

The other day I wasn't sure if there would be witnesses but I was quite sure that - if there were - the Republicans would insist on their own list.  That might have been enough to torpedo Democrats' enthusiasm.

On the other side, the Republicans surely realize that it would never be enough.  There was always going to be another shoe to drop or new outrage or whining about a "fair trial" after the House ran that sham kangaroo court.  This was shaping up to be Kavanaugh 2.0 but the Republicans are wise to that ploy now.

The laughter at the end

Pat Cipollone plays videos of Democrats warning of partisan, weak impeachment: “you were right” pic.twitter.com/YzgEq0xqLP

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 28, 2020

Hawaiian judge syndrome slammed

Ace: "Supreme Court Knocks Down Hawaiian Judge's Injunction Against Trump's "Public Charge" Rule Change; Neil Gorsuch Slams Penny-Ante District Judges for Issuing Nationwide Injunctions, Legislating from the Bench."

Extra - From Powerline.

Warren? Never heard of her

The Lowell Sun (Massachusetts): "Editorial Endorsement: Andrew Yang the best choice for Democrats" - "A uniter is needed in 2020."

I live in Western Mass and have a lengthy daily commute.  Over the past couple months, the one bumper sticker I've seen more than others is...Andrew Yang.

Joe and Hunter Biden starring in the Ukraine shakdown

Uh-oh, Jeff Toobin is going to be standing before the Man tomorrow:

CNN’s Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin: Pam Bondi “did an effective job of showing how sleazy the hiring of Hunter Biden was.”

“The only reason he got” the job “is because he was the Vice President’s son”

pic.twitter.com/YgFSJYaWrX

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 28, 2020

ICYMI, here is Pam Bondi laying out the corruption:

As it was predicted

Red State: "The Democrats Are Trying to Run a Kavanaugh Strategy at President Trump’s Impeachment Trial."  As it was foreseen.

It's anybody's guess where we go from here: it looks like Romney and Collins are prepared to vote for witnesses but Murkowski is not committing one way or the other.  It's a near-certainty that if the Senate does extend this farce with witnesses, that Hunter and Joe Biden will be on the list.

Ladies choice

A week after the NY Times picked both Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar for their endorsement, Iowa's largest newspaper has endorsed Warren and New Hampshire's has picked Klobuchar. 

You had one job

Schiff and Nadler's immediate goal in their presentation to the Senate was to peel off enough moderate Republicans to call witnesses.  Instead: "Schiff Blows Up GOP Support With “Head On A Pike” Reference." 

Matthew Continetti has it right: "Impeachment's target audience isn't moderate Republicans. It's left-wing Democrats." 

Even (checks notes) Chicago Democrats don't care

Seen at Twitchy:

If I heard correctly, David Axelrod just said on CNN that he was at a focus group this morning that went for 80 minutes before anyone mentioned impeachment—in the midst of the trial

— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) January 25, 2020

Here it comes

Shot: "On the Bidens, Schiff Opened the Door."  Thanks, Adam!

Chaser: "Trump’s legal team says it will target Biden family in impeach defense."

It was precisely for this moment that I never thought the Democrats would actually go through with passing the articles of impeachment to the Senate.  Now it's out of their hands and now the spotlight will shift to the Bidens and a scandal that Sundown Joe has never been able to explain. 

Wow, original stuff

This isn't hyperbolic crap at all.  Fox News: "Nadler calls Trump a 'dictator' as Dems wrap opening arguments in Senate impeachment trial." 

Nadal kiss

This is a cute story: a ball girl at the Australian Open took a shot to the cheek and Rafael Nadal stopped to give her a peck on the cheek.  At the end of the match, he gave her his headband as a souvenir.

Legal analysis of the clown show

Here's an extended Washington Post excerpt on Hot Air: "WaPo Columnist: Who Does Schiff Think He’s Kidding On Trial Analogies?"

The House’s articles have been analogized to an indictment, but indictments can only be brought if they are sanctioned by a neutral, disinterested party. A prosecutor must persuade either a judge or a grand jury that there is probable cause a defendant committed a crime to initiate a case. No serious person can call the House Democratic caucus a neutral, disinterested party.

Nor can a prosecutor obtain evidence under subpoena on their whim. Anyone with a subpoena to provide testimony or written evidence can challenge that in court, as many recipients of such subpoenas in investigations supervised by the office of former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III did. That is exactly what the president has tried to do in many instances with respect to subpoenas issued by committees controlled by House Democrats. But Schiff and his colleagues not only chose not to permit the judicial process to play out with respect to those subpoenas; they chose to call the president’s attempt to avail himself of his rights “obstruction of Congress” and an impeachable offense itself. How Orwellian.

There's a lot here including how the GAO's dramatic announcement that Trump's action on Ukrainian aid was "illegal" is a non-expert opinion that is ultimately a civil action, not a criminal one.  The brave firefighters in the media failed to report that non-trivial distinction but why should we expect anything different at this point.

How's the clown show?

Hot Air: "Dems Must End This Sham Impeachment, Says … Former Clinton Adviser?"

Count Mark Penn among those unimpressed by the House Democrats’ impeachment of Donald Trump. Penn, who worked as Bill Clinton’s pollster during the 1998-9 impeachment and later on Hillary Clinton’s Senate and 2008 presidential campaigns, blasts Adam Schiff as a political hitman for Democrats angry over Donald Trump’s win in 2016. Americans may not like Trump or even the phone call to Volodymyr Zelensky, but Penn argues that it doesn’t come close to a reason to reverse an election and remove a president.

I'm convinced the Democrats forced this double-quick through the House at the tail end of 2019 because once the calendar hit 2020, Americans would ask "can't we just vote him out in the election this year?"  Can't let that happen.

Another focus group-tested talking point, no doubt

Byron York: "Impeachment, Democrats, and those 90,000 documents." 

No, Chuck, no

Yahoo News: "Senate Republicans Block Schumer’s Attempt to Subpoena White House Witnesses, Docs."  Sucks to be in the minority, huh?  We remember.

Playing catch-up

I've literally been incommunicado (as in my cell phone was confiscated) all day.  So I'm getting caught up on the impeachment drama today.

All I know so far is that Chuck Schumer was on NPR Morning Edition this morning and he seemed taken aback when host Rachel Martin told him that Mitt Romney was backing Cocaine Mitch on the rules package.  Surprised by this revelation, Schumer accused Romney of either being ignorant or complicit in a coverup:

SCHUMER: Well, he either hasn't read it or he's gone along with this cover up, which I hope that isn't true.

Awww...sad trombone.

One of these is real news

PJ Media: "NYT Endorses Both 'Gifted Storyteller' Warren and 'Realist' Klobuchar for Dem Nomination."

Babylon Bee: "The Babylon Bee Editorial Board Endorses That Lady Who Screamed At The Sky During Trump's Inauguration." 

One of these news sources is run by clowns and the other is the Babylon Bee.

We really don't expect anything different at this point

Red State: "Nadler Out-And-Out Lies on ‘Face the Nation’: Trump ‘Worked With Russians to Rig 2016 Election’" - "How far have Democrats fallen? Reality and truth don’t matter to them at all."

Gosh, it's like we never had a multi-year, multi-million-dollar investigation into this very claim: "The special counsel found that Russia did interfere with the election, but “did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple efforts from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.”

That seems kinda important

Andrew McCarthy: "The Hole in the Impeachment Case."  "Something is missing from the charges against Trump: An impeachable offense."

Grandpa Joe wants to take your Social Security

Politico: "Biden charges Sanders camp ‘doctored video’ to attack him."  "But the video in question — of Biden’s 2018 remarks to the Brookings Institution think tank — was not doctored by Sanders, whose campaign this month stepped up criticisms of Biden’s record on Social Security."

Extra - Twitchy: "Joe Biden accuses Sanders campaign of putting out ‘doctored video’ of him regarding Social Security."

And this - Fox News: "Biden, Sanders trade fire over Social Security." 

Liberal hacks

Federalist: "If CNN Can’t Take Punches, They Shouldn’t Be Throwing Them."

Journos: *Copy and paste DNC talking points all day, act like Liberal Hacks*

McSally: "You're a Liberal hack"

Journos: pic.twitter.com/JI1kN83NvK

— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) January 17, 2020

Their appeal is becoming more selective

Victory Girls: "Women’s March 2020 – The Retreat of the Pussyhats."

It's possible there were fewer women at the march this year because they're all working. 

Dragging out the Kavanaugh playbook

Byron York: "Can Democrats produce a daily impeachment show?"

From now until the trial is over, and perhaps beyond, Republicans expect Democrats to come up with some new something on a regular, if not daily, basis. GOP defenders are beginning to see the next month in the Senate not so much as an impeachment trial but as a replay of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings: a fait accompli that becomes a cliffhanger with new and progressively more spectacular allegations. None of them were true, but they threw Republicans on the defensive and plunged the confirmation into chaos for a while.

For Democrats facing an uphill climb in a Republican-controlled Senate, why not try the same thing at the very highest level, an effort to remove the president?

Save us Lev!  You're our only hope.

Is that the media stirring from its torpor?

Hot Air: "ABC: Isn’t It Curious How Frank Biden Got Rich?"

Related - The Corner: "Rand Paul Slams the Bidens over Alleged Corruption: ‘It Smells to High Heaven’."

Welcome to the party, pal!

American Spectator: "Sanders Supporters Shocked to Find Bias at CNN" - "Did these people actually believe the cable network was in the news business?"

The blackout effect

Macworld: "Tech lessons from 72 hours without electricity" - "Backup batteries, solar charges, and UPS boxes kept me afloat during three days mostly cut off from the world."

Yes, it's awful to be off the internet for a couple hours.  As somebody who has lived through several New England snowpocalypses, I would also recommend appliances that run off of camp propane canisters like a camp light, camp heater, and a camp stove.  Personally, I also have a cord of hardwood to burn if things get a little rough.  Think Frontierland.

Flynn thinks twice

Washington Examiner: "Michael Flynn files to withdraw guilty plea."  "The motion, which cites "the government’s bad faith, vindictiveness, and breach of the plea agreement," comes one week after the Justice Department asked a federal judge to sentence President Trump's former national security adviser to up to six months in prison."

Rough day for Boston sports

ESPN: "Alex Cora out as Red Sox manager following sign-stealing scandals."

Fox News: "Patriots star Tom Brady's Gillette Stadium suite 'cleaned out'."

In a just world, this should be the end of Warren

Twitchy: "‘I thought a woman could win; he disagreed’: Elizabeth Warren issues a statement about her meeting with Bernie Sanders."

Long story short: the Warren campaign leaked that Bernie Sanders said the he didn't think a woman could win the Presidency.  Warren - a thoroughly known liar - confirmed it in a statement but then tried to wrap the whole mess in one of her campaign speeches.  I completely agree with Matt Walsh: I have "no dog in this fight between kooky socialists" but Warren handled this in the worst way possible by floating out the allegation and then claiming she's really focusing on bigger issues.  It's a slimy example of character assassination by innuendo.

Now I am going to watch tomorrow's debate for the fireworks.

Update: "Obama alumnus says Elizabeth Warren’s statement on Bernie Sanders was ‘essentially a suicide bomb’"

It's satire, I think

Babylon Bee: "CNN Reporter Informs Iranian Protesters They're Supposed To Be Shouting 'Death To America'"

Joe Biden wants to cut your Social Security

The Intercept: "Fact check: Joe Biden has advocated cutting Social Security for 40 years."

"He does know there are cameras, right?"

Washington Examiner: "Stop gaslighting us: Yes, Joe Biden voted for the Iraq War."

At a recent campaign stop, Grandpa Joe was asked about his opposition to the Bin Laden raid and he claimed that - oh heavens no - he advised Obama to "go" with the mission in private.  I pray that he repeats this explanation in a debate sometime soon.

DNC conspires to kneecap Bernie again

Since nobody can figure out what Pelosi's goal was in holding back the articles of impeachment, this theory is as good as any.  Fox News: "McCarthy says Pelosi holding articles of impeachment to hurt Sanders' Iowa chances."

Flashback - to 2016: "Leaked Emails Suggest DNC Was Conspiring Against Bernie Sanders."

Analysis: true

Trump had a terrorist killed and every Democrat was screaming nonstop he was an unhinged monster starting WWIII.

The Iranian people are celebrating, protesting the regime, and every Democrat is utterly silent.

They wanted war as a campaign issue.

They’re that desperate.

— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) January 12, 2020

Hmmmmm....

This is interesting.  PJ Media: "Iran Protesters Curse Soleimani, Chant 'Death to Khamenei!'"

Funny, I've been reliably told that Trump's action against Soleimani have united Iran against America.

Overwhelming evidence will do that

Twitchy: "Iran admits accidentally shooting down Flight 752."

Johnny Atkins is going to be devastated

Fox News: "Rush drummer Neil Peart dead at 67: 'Rest in peace brother'."

Incredible drummer.

This week in gaffes with Sundown Joe

I laughed at this excerpt from a Matt Taibbi story in Rolling Stone: "Campaign Diary: Notes from the Most Unpredictable Primary Race Ever."

In the days after the New Year, Biden announced he’d be willing to pick a Republican running mate and also said coal miners should “learn to program.” He will go on to say “no one understood Obamacare” in Iowa. Reporters almost universally think he’d be a s**t candidate against Trump, but voters haven’t agreed: he’s still at or near the top of polls.

Believe me, I'm baffled as well, and I think it just comes back to name recognition and Obama nostalgia in the Democrat party.  Kurt Schlichter is likewise confused:

Right now, he’s [Biden] the leader in the polls and he’s the most likely to be nominated. There are two reasons. The first is that he has legacy black Democrat support. He’s the closest to a traditional Democrat, as opposed to one of the faculty lounge snobs that makes up most of the rest of the race. The second is that he has been designated The Democrat Most Likely To Succeed in beating The Donald. It’s unclear why. Sure, some polls say it (though they are shifting in Trump’s direction), but the problem for Joe is that so many liberal media types are wishcasting his victory that they never hit him hard. He’s soft and open to attack.

This is a point I recently made: the media tosses grapefruit questions to Biden with the exception of Peter Doocy who cornered Grandpa Joe on his opposition to the Bin Laden raid followed quickly by Grandpa Joe's inability to face up to his poor decision.  The rest of the media is letting Joe skate by with no hard questions, fat and happy until Donald Trump asks him about Hunter Biden about five seconds into their first debate.

Cash for mullahs

The Corner: "Yes, Obama Helped Fund the Iranian Regime."

And, no, we did not owe Iran a single penny.  Obama just made that up to salvage his phony nuclear deal.

Trolling level: 1000

Fox News: "Trump: Iran missiles fired at US were paid for with money released by Obama administration."  Yup.

Iran lobs some bombs

To no effect?  Hot Air is doing regular updates and at this writing there are no reported casualties.  It's now looking (this is speculative) that Iran threw some token missiles into the desert to say they've done something and now they're giving President Trump an "out" or an "exit ramp."

Richard Engel is reporting that Iran is indicating they'll invoking the rule of "Even Steven."  You hit us, we hit you, let's call the whole thing off.  If true, I really hope Trump pumps the brakes here.

Rally 'round the mullahs

Twitchy: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the ‘needless provocations’ are coming from the Trump administration, not Iran." 

This has been the status quo

This is retaliatory, asymmetric, and destabilizing. It is a response to Solemani. But it’s also not new. As of late Dec, there had been 11 Iran-linked rocket attacks on US positions in Iraq, including green zone, over 2 months producing American casualties https://t.co/9N1HPJO8Y8 https://t.co/3c0AaiFwcB

— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) January 7, 2020

So do the Iranians

Jerusalem Post: "Missile attack on US base in Iraq is revenge for Soleimani killing."

This is a very early breaking news story.  Reports are that the Iranians are firing missiles from within Iranian territory into Iraq.

Cocaine Mitch strikes

Politico: "McConnell ready to start impeachment trial with partisan power play" - "GOP leaders have enough votes to ignore Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s demands for witnesses and new evidence."

C'mon man!

Hot Air: "Biden: Come On Man, “No One Did Understand ObamaCare”  Sorry not sorry your dad lost his health insurance but c'mon man.

Real Clear Politics: "Are Dems Crazy?  How can Biden still be their #1 choice?"

Media elite doing journalisming

Ace: "Your Cognitive-Elite Totally-Not-Racist Ruling Class In Action."  Long story short: our brave media firefighters on CNBC showed the Q4 hauls for the Democrat candidates and, instead of putting up a picture of Andrew Yang, decided to put up a picture of the guy who takes your dry cleaning.

Extra - PJ Media: "Washington Post 'Reporter' Has No Idea How Many Americans Died in Benghazi."  Oh that's not news.

Good review on Iran's precarious state

The Corner: "Iran Crosses the Red Line." 

Can't give the guy a win

Joe Lieberman in the Wall Street Journal: "The Democrats and Iran - Why can't the party’s candidates simply admit Qasem Soleimani’s death makes Americans safer?"  -  "President Trump’s order to take out Qasem Soleimani was morally, constitutionally and strategically correct. It deserves more bipartisan support than the begrudging or negative reactions it has received thus far from my fellow Democrats."

I don't understand myself why they can't give Trump a morsel of credit for neutralizing one of the worst men in the terrorism network.  Maybe it's because it's an election year.

Patriots heading home

I guess we can't go to the Super Bowl every year.  The top comment on the Patriots subreddit is "First and goal from the f****** 1."  (I cleaned it up).  Yes, that was supremely frustrating, especially since the Titans knew it was going to be a handoff to Sony Michel every time.

Oh well.  The Ravens were going to win the AFC anyway.

Total recall for Biden in 2020

Real Clear Politics: "What to expect in 2020: Five predictions"

Every politician with a long career must confront the evolution of their political views, and Joe Biden is no different, especially since he’s been on the national stage longer than most. He's already apologized for a long-ago reference to a "partisan lynching," past collaboration with segregationist senators, and an angry confrontation with an 83-year-old Iowa farmer. Watch for the phrase "Biden apologizes" to explode in 2020.

On race, LGBT issues, women's rights and a host of other issues, the Joe Biden of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s is out of step with today's Democratic Party, as are many  Democrats his age. But Biden’s bind is unique. His propensity for embarrassing gaffes, misstatements, and offensive comments makes him an opposition researcher's dream.

Here's where the compliant and biased mainstream media plays into Donald Trump's hands.  Since only Fox News is willing to ask Biden uncomfortable questions, Grandpa Joe is able to skate through these sparsely-attended Iowa meetings without any real challenge (with one notable exception.)

Now imagine the general election fight with Trump.  The first word out of Donald's mouth at the first debate will be "Hunter Biden" followed by a long, unexplored review of Joe Biden's many "legislative achievements" such as they are, from social issues to foreign policy where Joe is always wrong.  The media doesn't want to explore these issues but, brother, Donald Trump will.

Extra - This guys get it.  The Guardian: "Stop saying Biden is the 'most electable'. Trump will run rings round him."  "Did we learn nothing from 2016? Trump is savagely effective at destroying establishment politicians – and Biden would lose."

Expectedly

Ace: "More Completely Unpredictable Reactions from Our Seditious Ex-American Democrats and Marxist Media."

Extra - Federalist: "Democrats Hate Trump More Than They Hate Terrorists Who Kill Americans."

Sundown Joe strikes again

Ye Gods, what it must be like to work on his staff.  Here's Joe insisting that he was all for the attack on Osama Bin Laden side-by-side with Joe saying he was against it.

Soleimani killed

The Atlantic: "Iran Loses Its Indispensable Man" - "The killing of Qassem Soleimani robs the regime of the central figure for its ambitions in the Middle East."

This morning, everybody is holding their breath to see how Iran responds.  Mike Pompeo is making the rounds saying there was an "imminent threat" from Soleimani operatives. 

Looking back with laughter

Coyote Blog: "Great Moments in Climate Prediction: 2020 Disaster Predicted in 2004."  The short review is that European cities were supposed to be underwater by now and England would be facing a "Siberian" climate.

Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad

God almighty. What a clown. https://t.co/Got4RNnm2k

— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) January 1, 2020

The year in "journalism"

Breitbart: "Top 10 most bizarre viral hoaxes in 2019."

In my opinion, the most shameful media moment was the disgusting and completely baseless campaign against Justice Kavanaugh.  That cemented the fact that the mainstream media is the enemy.

Wine caves really paying off

Politico: "Buttigieg finishes year with $24.7 million haul in final quarter."  Buttigieg is currently sitting on top of the polls in Iowa which means he has money and momentum going for him.

Jobs Americans will do

Issues and Insights: "Turns Out, Trump’s ‘Evil’ ICE Raids Benefited American Workers."

Happy New Year!

Let's stay safe out there.