Oh, that's (D)ifferent

Look who's obstructing an official proceeding in Congress now.  Twitchy: "Rep. Jamaal Bowman's 'no one in this country is above the law' tweet is aging wonderfully." 

Move those goalposts

NY Post: "The ‘no evidence’ claim about Biden corruption is looking increasingly ridiculous"

Joe Biden’s defenders have been on a wild ride this past year.

It began with them arguing that the president knew absolutely nothing about his family’s influence-peddling business to arguing that it’s no big deal that ChiCom wire payoffs happen to have Biden’s home address listed on them.

The quality of the excuses, unsurprisingly, has been deteriorating rapidly.

They largely entail repeating the words “no” and “evidence” in a perpetual loop.

As I noted, there are multiple polls out there indicating the American people aren't so easily fooled despite the willful blindness of the likes of Philip Bump.

Extra - Twitchy: "Here's where the media spin on Biden allegations stands (for now)." 

Whoops

Red State: "Biden Thinks He's Going to Tag the GOP for Gov't Shutdown, but CNN Has a Big Surprise for Him." 

The "no evidence" jive talk

Federalist: "Yes, The Biden Impeachment Hearing Presented Evidence Of Corruption — Lots Of It" - "On the first day of Biden’s impeachment inquiry, Republicans brought mountains of evidence of corruption. Democrats and the media shrugged."

But he repeats himself.  The American people are more sophisticated.  

Rest in peace

Legal Insurrection: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein has Died at the Age of 90 - Feinstein was the oldest member of the Senate." 

Why do oil refiners only gouge California?

It's a mystery.  Twitchy: "Gov. Gavin Newsom floats the idea of a 'price gouging penalty' for gasoline."

This idea has the same energy as Chicago's government-owned supermarkets.  

You have one job

I feel like I write this every year but Congress should pass a budget.  It's the core responsibility of Congress and every year we have this useless brinksmanship.  Yes, we should cut spending as the national debt tops $33 trillion but those kind of arguments should be done months before zero hour.  Reason: "Shut Up Already About John Fetterman's Slob Chic - The Senate is an incompetent laughingstock regardless of what its members wear."

As the Pew Research Center notes, since fiscal 1997, "Congress has never passed more than five of its 12 regular appropriations bills on time. Usually, it's done considerably less than that: In 11 of the past 13 fiscal years, for instance, lawmakers have not passed a single spending bill by Oct. 1″ (emphasis in original). That will almost certainly hold true for this fiscal 2024, alas.

The inability to get anything done helps to explain the history of government shutdowns, including the most recent—and longest—one, which started in December 2018 and carried over into the next year. Absent some probable last-minute deal making, the next one is due to start on Sunday.

--------

Judging by their record when it comes to the budget process, it's too much to expect that members of the "world's greatest deliberative body" will do their jobs, much less actually cut spending, reduce the size and scope of government, or even forego alleged bribes. But at least there is one less distraction when it comes to holding them accountable for record-high levels of debt.

Here we go: National Debt Clock.  Debt per American is closing in on six figures. 

Modern problems require modern solutions

Ace: "Supermarkets Are Closing in Chicago Due to Mass Looting, So the Woke Mayor Proposes... the State Opening Its Own Supermarkets So That Thieves Still Have Stores to Loot From." 

I would actually love to see a government-run supermarket.  Chicago has the best ideas. 

The unbelievable predictive powers of the Bee

Babylon Bee, September 14: "Jets File Restraining Order Against Colin Kaepernick."

Today: "Colin Kaepernick petitions New York Jets to let him join their practice squad."

Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL in seven years and hasn’t played decent in the NFL in 10 years. He knows they’re not going to sign him. But, the denial is important to his “brand.” https://t.co/IfA4kBWVPj

— Dan Zaksheske (@RealDanZak) September 12, 2023

Let's play: "Guess the cities"

CNBC: "Target says it will close nine stores in major cities, citing violence and theft." 

Another directional poll

Hot Air: "NBC poll, too: 59% of voters have "major concerns" about Biden's mental competency."  There's that and another new low in approval numbers:

Meanwhile, Biden’s job rating among registered voters stands at 41% approve and 56% disapprove — the highest disapproval rating of his presidency.

Deeper inside those numbers, Biden is underwater among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 (46% of them approve of his job performance), all women (46%), Latinos (43%) and independents (36%).

What’s more, the NBC News poll finds 37% of voters approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, and 41% approve of his handling of foreign policy.

Biden has been pushing "Bidenomics" for months now and his numbers on the economy keep going down.  Can he stick with this message when it obviously has no effect?  At this point, he's just insulting the intelligence of the American people with his proposition that they should be happy with $35 insulin.

Extra - Red State: "'Bidenomics' Shaping up to be Joe Biden's 'Chicken in Every Pot' Moment." 

This ABC News/Wash Post poll is straight fire

Wild stuff this morning: "Trump edges out Biden 51-42 in head-to-head matchup - The president's job approval rating is 19 points underwater."

President Joe Biden's job approval rating is 19 points underwater, his ratings for handling the economy and immigration are at career lows. A record number of Americans say they've become worse off under his presidency, three-quarters say he's too old for another term and Donald Trump is looking better in retrospect -- all severe challenges for Biden in his reelection campaign ahead.

Forty-four percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they've gotten worse off financially under Biden's presidency, the most for any president in ABC/Post polls since 1986. Just 37% approve of his job performance, while 56% disapprove. Still fewer approve of Biden's performance on the economy, 30%.

These numbers are terrible.  After months of gaslighting on Bidenomics, the poll on the economy is the worst of Biden's presidency.  The Washington Post wants you to know it's probably an outlier: "Washington Post rejects latest poll from Washington Post." 

Maybe it is but maybe it's what Charles C.W. Cooke calls a directional poll:

Thus far, our press has responded to the vast majority of the public’s criticisms of Biden by insisting that voters have been hoodwinked into a temporary form of false consciousness. At some point, one assumes, that will change.

This poll will send some members of the Left into full-blown panic.  

I did not see this coming

Twitchy: "SHOCKER! Ibram X. Kendi blames RACISM for his antiracism center falling apart and it does NOT go well." 

Extra - Unherd: "Ibram X. Kendi’s race hustle deserves to fail." 

Load up the buses to NYC

Washington Examiner: "Biden makes border history with most immigrant encounters in August ever recorded." 

Update - Request granted!  "No surrender: More migrant buses sent by Governor Abbott are New York City bound." 

How does this keep happening?

NY Post: "CNN posts lowest weekend ratings in key demo in its recorded history." 

This is how it's done

Federalist: "Slimy WaPo Reporters Cower From Interviewing Dave Portnoy After He Exposed Their Backhanded Journalism." 

Time for the 25th Amendment

A couple days ago, Maureen Dowd of the New York Times pretty much confirmed what we all suspected about Dementia Joe Biden getting press questions in advance:

Since he became president, Biden has sharply curbed how much he talks to the press, rarely giving interviews. He limits his press conferences mostly to duets with foreign leaders, where he can put his foreign policy relationships and experience on display. Even then, White House officials preselect questioners and aggressively approach reporters to ferret out what topics they would focus on if they were picked. On Friday at the White House, after backing the autoworkers in their strike, he didn’t take questions.

Do tell: it's pretty obvious that Biden can no longer answer extemporaneous questions and relies heavily on notecards and teleprompters in any public setting.  Presidents usually have joint press conferences when foreign guests visit the White House but Biden's staff just makes up ridiculous excuses why these never occur. 

Now we have this story: "Biden repeats same story word-for-word just minutes apart, raising fresh concerns about age, fitness for office."

This is only going to get worse.  But...Kamala?  Oh, no, no.

Wassup?

Tonight my dog did a quick head bob as she was (likely) sniffing something in the air but it had all the qualities of a high-school "sup" move.

I dunno - that's all I have right now.

That's Bidenomics, baby!

ABC News: "US poverty rate jumped in 2022, child poverty more than doubled: Census."

The poverty rate in the United States increased last year, the first increase in 13 years, according to the Census Bureau.

In 2022, the poverty rate was 12.4%, up 4.6% from 2021, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which looks at government programs and tax credits designed to help low-income families, according to the census.

Because nothing bad is ever Joe Biden's fault, he blamed the expiration of the child tax credit expansion on December 31, 2021 for the spike in the poverty rate.  The tax credit allowed for an extra $300/month while inflation is costing Americans $709/month.  

All the media is Philip Bump

Reason: "There's Plenty of Evidence of Corruption Around Biden."

"Mr. Biden repeatedly said he had 'never discussed' and had 'never spoken to' Hunter about his business dealings, and Republicans have produced no evidence that he was ever briefed on specific transactions or deals," according to Luke Broadwater of The New York Times.

You'll note how "no evidence" morphs into "no clear evidence" about "specific transactions"—those goal posts must be mounted on wheels. But a lot of the same outlets saying there's no evidence spend a lot of ink disputing the persuasiveness of evidence they tell us doesn't exist.

Here's the reference in the title, ICYMI.  I'd sure like to see the mainstream media attack this story with the same level of evidence scrutiny they afforded the Brett Kavanaugh allegations.

The Greens vs. Blue collar workers

Really good review of the class issues bubbling under the surface of the UAW strike: "The Electric Vehicle ‘Transition’: Just One Battle in Net Zero’s Class Conflict." 

The gaslighting isn't working

Breitbart: "Bidenomics bust: Consumer sentiment falls for second straight month." 

USA Today: "From food costs to holiday spending: Americans say they're being pummeled by the economy in dire new poll."

I can't imagine why:

It's Friday: Camp David or Delaware?

It's Delaware.

NY Post: "Slacker-in-chief Biden keeps up record 40% ‘vacation’ pace despite disasters." 

Republicans pounce

Slate: "Eric Adams Is Handing Republicans a Flamethrower for 2024. Again."

Yes, that's the real problem.  

The long knives are out for Kamala

We now have the bizarre scene of prominent Democrats openly wondering if Kamala Harris is even Joe Biden's running mate.  As Stephen Miller notes, if this is public "damning with faint praise" just imagine what they're saying behind closed doors.

Extra - Red State: "Democrats Are Begging Joe Biden to Dump Kamala Harris as His Running Mate. Should He Listen?"  I don't think it will happen because - at its heart - it would mean Joe Biden admitting that he made a mistake.  If there's one thing that Joe "Afghanistan went great!" Biden hates to do, it's admitting he was wrong.  

More of this, please

PJ Media: "McCarthy Makes AP Reporter Eat Her Phony Narrative Words." 

The NY Times is gonna NY Times, part infinity

Check out this unbelievable horses**t:

It's a conservative meme come to life, the endless simping for the Democrats.  Doesn't anybody over there at the Gray Lady have an ounce of shame?  Here's Charles C.W. Cooke: "Actually, NYT, the Problem with High Gas Prices Is That Gas Prices Are High."

I know, I know — I should expect it by now. When the president is a Democrat and something bad happens, everything is invariably covered within the frame of Republican “pouncing.” But this one is particularly egregious. The idea that the key problem with “higher gas prices” is that it might lead people to criticize President Biden is just insane. I honestly cannot imagine being so detached, so monomaniacal, so utterly privileged in my position in society that I could no longer grasp that “provide fodder for Republican criticism of Biden” is about number 437,295 in the list of sentences that ought to follow a headline that starts with “Higher gas prices . . . ”

And, in case you missed it, here's the NY Times not even capable of reading the NY Times:

Pretty amazing error by @NYTimes on a key point. https://t.co/ZXEwxWeQ91

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) September 12, 2023

Clown show, man.  Utter clown show. 

The NY Times is gonna NY Times

National Review: "Great Feats of Stenography." - "Between the Republican pouncing, the excuse-making, and the non-sequiturs designed to draw Donald Trump into a conversation in which he has no justifiable purpose other than to create the only favorable contrast from which Joe Biden can benefit, this Times report is an exquisite specimen. Even the headline — “Biden’s News Conference in Vietnam Ignites His Opponents” — is pitch-perfect. It belongs in a museum." 

That was a wild game

This is hilarious: "Milwaukee pub patrons shocked they must pay bar tabs after Jets stun Bills without Aaron Rodgers."

So, when Rodgers went down after just four plays with what turned out to be a torn Achilles, ending his season abruptly, bar patrons started to run up their tabs. Facing a tough Buffalo Bills team with Zach Wilson now at quarterback, everyone believed the Jets were going to lose. 

Whoops.  I've always been a football fan but some guys at work asked me to join their fantasy football league so my interest has intensified.  I chose Josh Allen as my quarterback and he threw three interceptions in that game.  Get it together, Josh! You're throwing off my algorithms. 

Nice timing

On the anniversary of 9/11: "Biden admin strikes deal with Iran to swap prisoners, release $6 billion in frozen funds."

This, after we already supplied all these countries with our military hardware.  

Good riddance, high-school graduate Chuck Todd

Chuck Todd's last "Meet the Press" was today.  His legacy will be taking the longest-running show on television and the former flagship of Sunday morning shows and running it into the ground.

I stopped watching "Meet the Press" a long time ago but sometimes - when I wasn't fast enough to change the channel - I would catch a couple seconds where Todd would inevitably focus on Trump.  This was his white whale for nine years and the show settled into the same tedious pattern of Saturday Night Live when Alec Baldwin would appear.  Todd ruined MTP with his obvious bias, routinely interrupting right-leaning guests while vigorously defending his favored political party.  

Todd took a once-venerable and balanced political show and turned it into MSNBC.  Don't let the door hit you in the ass, Chuckie. 

A stupid and futile gesture

The Corner: "The New Mexico Governor’s ‘Suspension’ of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Is Both Illegal and Stupid." - "What a mountain of tyrannical stupidity she has built." 

A win for free speech

Fox News: "Biden administration violated First Amendment over COVID-19 content on social media, court of appeals rules - Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry called the ruling a 'major win against censorship'." 

Related: "Harvard University Awarded ‘Abysmal’ Speech-Climate Rating." 

Schadenfreude overload

The Corner: "On Illegal Immigration, Mayor Eric Adams Is an Incoherent Mess"

Why should illegal immigrants be in Texas and not New York? New York City is a self-designated “sanctuary”; Texas is not. What did New Yorkers think that meant? Why are they surprised that a non-sanctuary jurisdiction such as Texas would “bus” illegal immigrants “up” to a sanctuary jurisdiction such as their own? Do they not own a dictionary? Did they think it was a joke? Was their willingness to serve as a “sanctuary” only operative when they believed that nobody would show up?

Ding ding ding!  We have a winner.

What about the Statue of Liberty, Mayor?  What about that poem?

John Hayward has a long thread excoriating Eric Adams on the emptiness of his complaints now.  You voted for this, New York, and now you can take it good and hard.

Accurate:

It's an absolute disgrace that it took this brute-force tactic to get lefties to pay the slightest bit of attention to border security. As long as OTHER Americans were suffering, they couldn't give less of a damn. It was all just a big virtue-signaling propaganda game.

— John Hayward (@Doc_0) September 7, 2023

How's the Bidenomics Tour going?

Hot Air: "New CNN poll: Dem buyers' remorse on Biden is real -- and spectacular."

Sad

Reason: "Two-Thirds of College Students Think Shouting Down A Public Speaker Can Be Acceptable" - "Even at schools with solid speech policies, many students show little tolerance for opposing political beliefs."

Weep for the future of America where college students believe they should not be exposed to uncomfortable thoughts. 

TIL Amherst and Northampton are sanctuary cities

These are the main hippie havens of Western Mass: "Massachusetts has eight sanctuary cities: Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton, Northampton, and Somerville."

Amherst is a little too close to me but feel free to send migrants to Northampton.  Let's see how these communities feel when the expense outpaces their virtue signaling: "Abbott and DeSantis are right - transporting illegal aliens to sanctuary cities works."

Governor Abbott and former Arizona Governor Ducey were right to begin the migrant buses going to sanctuary cities. Governor DeSantis has joined in the operation. It’s working. Sanctuary cities virtue-signal that they welcome everyone, regardless of legal status. That is, until buses arrive and the mayors have to walk the walk. Suddenly there is not room in these big cities for forty or so illegal aliens every so often. There are cries for federal funding. There are calls for meetings with Biden and DHS. Welcome to the party, pals.

Extra - Commentary: "Sorry, Busing Illegal Migrants Is a Political Coup"

Zombie supermarket

Last month, I said "Keep an eye on the Giant Supermarket in Ward 8 of Washington D.C."

Today, the Washington Post has an update, linked at Hot Air: "Giant Food makes a last ditch effort to stop retail theft."  The main thrust is pulling the most stolen items off the shelves such as Tide detergent. 

Meanwhile, here in the People's Republic

Red State: "National Guard Activated in Massachusetts as the Left-Wing Chickens Come Home to Roost."

Out here in Western Mass, the governor is forcing Westfield State University to take migrants after it turned down an initial request.  

Words: what do they mean?

This exchange between Washington Post reporter Philip Bump and podcaster Noam Dworman perfectly encapsulates both the bias of the mainstream media and the absolute contempt for everybody who disagrees with their reporting.

Imagine being this obtuse:

Dworman asked, "What do you take from the text message to his adult daughter – Hunter’s text message – ‘I have to give 50% of my income to pop." Bump declared, "I have no idea what that means. I don’t. I have no idea what that means."

The host stammered in disagreement to which the reporter replied, "I know, it’s circumstantial evidence and you prefer that to direct evidence." 

"No, what, what could it mean?" Dworman asked. Bump again passed on it, saying, "I have no idea. I don’t know."

Yeah, would could that possibly mean?  It's a mystery. 

Extra - From Jonathan Turley: "It appears that, if “Democracy dies in darkness,” journalism more often dies in the light of day."

Related - Federalist: "Study Shows Journalism Is ‘Most Regretted’ College Major As Trust In Corporate Media Sinks" 

Our dumbest American president said this

Twitchy: "Biden blasted for saying 'Nobody intelligent can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore'."  

Reminder: "A 1987 clip of Joe Biden has resurfaced, showing him exaggerating his academic record, boasting that he graduated “in the top half of my class” - before he later admitted that he graduated 76th in a class of 85." 

WTF was that?

I just found out that the post directly below was put behind a "content warning" wall for objectionable content.  The only reason I can figure out is that it references the Woodward & Bernstein undercover source from Watergate.  Ya know, from the adult movie.

Anyway, here's the Twitchy ref.

Democracy dies in darkness

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

A runaway win!

Hot Air: "Karine Jean-Pierre wins the 'Gaslight Award of 2023'."

It's a good thing the White House press corps is too polite to call her out.

Threats to the hegemony

City Journal: "MSNBC’s War on Truth - The left-wing news network releases a deeply misleading documentary about the reforms at New College of Florida."

Historically awful

TIPP Insights: "KJP's Daily Falsehoods Disrespect The WH Press Office"

National Review: "KJP’s Description of Joe Biden Is Preposterous and Disrespectful." 

Of course

Federalist: "NPR Moves Its Goal Posts On Senility From Trashing Trump’s Age To Defending Biden’s Decline." 

When virtue signalling starts to cost money

Newsweek: "Sanctuary Cities Seethe as Illegal Immigrants Actually Arrive"

The surest sign that public policies are simply virtue signals is when the messages don't cost anything. The easiest way to tell when that signal starts to fail is to watch politicians flounder as the costs start to rise and voters demand relief.

It was free—and meaningless—for progressive churches to post banners calling themselves "nuclear free zones" during the Reagan era. Their dwindling congregations loved it. It was free, after George Floyd's murder, to post woke catechism signs on your front lawn, proclaiming "In this house, we believe: Black Lives Matter, women's rights are human rights, no human is illegal" and so on. Maybe the neighbors gave you high-fives. And for years it has been free for deep-blue cities to proclaim themselves "sanctuaries" for illegal immigrants. That's changing now that voters want some sanctuary for themselves.

Changes like this happen when voters realize the old virtue signals actually entail serious costs—and that they will have to pay them. That is exactly what's happening in New York City and Washington D.C. now that Texas governor Greg Abbott is sending those cities a few busloads of illegal immigrants from his state.

This is how I feel about the environmental crisis clowns: exactly none of them are going to give up their IPhones, cars, and winter heating.  Charlie Kirk always asks "why don't you join the Amish?" when they start talking about living a sustainable life.  

Oh, no, no.  Too much sacrifice.  But here's a banner.