Happy New Year, everyone

Thanks for reading my pithy thoughts.

"Inflation is transitory"

Nicole Russell in USA Today: "Democrats lied repeatedly in 2024. Don't let them gaslight us again in 2025. - "From inflation to President Joe Biden's health and Vice President Kamala Harris' competence as a presidential candidate, Democrats tried to lie their way to the White House." 

Another commentary on the media

Reason: "The 2024 Campaign Was an Embarrassment for Elite Media - Journalists increasingly see their job as protecting their preferred candidates, not asking tough questions."

In my opinion, this effort to protect the preferred candidates started in earnest with Obama and only accelerated with Trump.  Even Hillary was complaining about it back in 2008:

The echo chamber collapses

Red State: "This May Be the Best Summation of the Complete Failure of the Anti-Trump 'Resistance'."

Best line: "The smug never inherit the Earth."

I saw a similar post-mortem yesterday from a Democrat Senator and it seems like there has been a breakthrough from the left-wing psychosis:

So, when inflation was pissing people off, you could scarcely find a person in mainstream, left-wing circles, who would even talk about it. Except to explain that the Biden economy was better than other countries. And that the Biden stewardship was better than other industrialized nations. And by the way, I continue to think that’s true and totally irrelevant — If you’re talking about the question of are people pissed about the price of eggs, the answer is flatly yes they are. Not, ‘Don’t you know people are paying more in Paris and shouldn’t you be happy about that.’

Man, I never understood that angle that "inflation is higher in Europe."  Americans don't live in Europe and the price of peas in Paris means less than nothing to them.

A bloodbath of hoaxes

Federalist: "The Top 10 Hoaxes The Propaganda Press Peddled In 2024." 

No kidding

NY Post: "CBS News journalist says most underreported 2024 story was Biden’s ‘obvious cognitive decline’." 

Rest in peace, Jimmy Carter

He had a remarkable post-Presidency.

Football, man

This Bengals-Broncos game went from boring AF in the first half to the best regular season game of the year.  I wish both teams could win!

Update - Bengals win in OT.  Amazing.  Joe Burrow was cool as can be.

Hochul begging for a FAFO moment

In the latest installment of "other people's money": "NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Signs Law Forcing Energy Companies to Fund “Climate Change Superfund”."

I suspect this effort is illegal and just another example of political virtue-signalling and class warfare.  Conservatives are begging the oil companies to cease shipments to New York.

About 3 weeks early, guys

Just in time for Trump's term, the issue of homelessness reappears.  It's magic.

ahhhhh right on time, the media rediscovers these strange GOP cicadas emerging from hibernation https://t.co/eDuujnSXKh

— NeverTweet (@LOLNeverTweet) December 27, 2024

The gaslighting was exposed on June 27th

NY Post: "2024 was a year of gaslighting — here are the worst media lies."

Let’s be blunt: 2024 was the worst year ever for legacy media, and it ain’t even close.

Journalism morphed into blatant activism before our eyes.

We were told things we all witnessed or heard didn’t actually happen.

But Americans knew better, and the gaslighting got increasingly hysterical as the year went on.

Sharp as a tack, man!

Do it. It'll be funny.

The Hill: "Congress has the power to block Trump from taking office, but lawmakers must act now."

The same old story

Powerline: "Cuba runs out of sugar."

I think it was William F. Buckley who said that if you put Communists in charge of the Sahara desert they'd eventually run out of sand. 

Quiet quitting: White House edition

Twitchy: "'Couldn't Even Wait 26 Days'! Biden Fam Squeezing in 1 Last Tropical Vacay Before Leaving Office."

After this he's taking the family to Italy on the taxpayer dime.  KJP has been asked multiple times if Biden is going to do a traditional end-of-term press conference.  The answer is no.

Merry Christmas!

Talking with the enemy

Hot Air: "Dems Wonder: Should We Actually Talk to Conservatives?"

This goes beyond engagement, though, a point that Crockett and even Axios miss. It's not just that Democrats won't engage voters other than fellow true believers, limiting themselves to MSNBC, CNN, The View, and other progressive bubbles. (Bluesky would be another great example, where many of them fled to escape Elon Musk and the evenly balanced membership of Twitter/X.) It's that they argue either tacitly or explicitly that opposing viewpoints are entirely illegitimate and even part of foreign intelligence operations, alienating tens of millions of voters by attempting to suppress their points of view.

This is precisely why the mainstream media has failed so spectacularly.  It was warned about its bias and failure to be an honest broker so Republicans went to Fox News and Joe Rogan and America followed.

Why do I bother reading this dreck?

Boston Globe: "Biden’s tarnished legacy and the problem of moral luck."

You'll be unsurprised to learn that - gosh darn it - Biden was forced into all these bad decisions because of Trump.  Trump is the answer to every question and the excuse to every failing. 

A critic might argue that Biden chose to serve as president and that these are the circumstances in which presidents might find themselves. But that is not true. The circumstances created by Trump’s rise are sui generis. One’s successor going after one’s family is not baked into the transfer of power in a democracy.

Orange Man Bad therefore Hunter must go free.  Every time.

The mainstream media committed suicide

Twitchy: "‘Fake News’ Death Rattle: CNN Posts Lowest Year-Long Audience Averages in Its History."

CNN cannot survive their current downward spiral without major surgery.  Start with firing everyone.

Just stop, Boston Globe

Boston Globe: "As Trump causes drama in Congress, Biden stays silent and on the sidelines - Strategic or not, Biden’s public absence from a chaotic spending fight underscored a quiet final chapter of his presidency."

It's not 4-D chess strategy.  C'mon with this already.  

Written one month before the Trump-Biden debate

CNN's Oliver Darcy was very upset with the Wall Street Journal in early June 2024: "The Wall Street Journal’s story about Biden’s mental acuity suffers from glaring problems."

Never forget that the mainstream media actively engaged in this coverup:

“So it is here,” Cooke said. “All of the defenses that we hear from the press about how journalism works are fine on their own. It’s just that it’s not how journalism works when the subject is a Republican, and especially when the subject is Donald Trump.”

Exactly. 

Extra - NY Post: "Dems and their media lapdogs hid Biden’s senility for years, and the public must never forget it." 

Hindsight

Politico: "The Outright Worst Political Predictions of 2024." 

Tis the season

You don’t hate the lying legacy media enough https://t.co/gMtjbp2EMG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024

And now the WSJ tells us what we already knew

Ace: "WSJ, NYT Agree: Biden Was In Obvious Cognitive Decline Not Just at the End But For His Entire Term as Fake President."  

Remember this classic moment?  "Staffer dressed as Easter Bunny stops Biden from answering reporter’s question."  This is what the White House staff had to do for four years.

Now the truth can be told

Wall Street Journal: "All the News That’s Suddenly Fit to Print After the Election - New York Times readers finally learn that Biden policies spurred a wave of illegal immigration." 

Also, ICYMI, sheesh, who ever believed Joe Biden could serve four more years?  Crazy talk, that.

Follow this social experiment

Twitchy: "Wealth Tax: Governor Jay Inslee Just Guaranteed EVERY Rich Washingtonian Will FLEE His Tax-Happy State."

This class warfare was tried in Europe and it was a flop.  So let's very carefully set the rules and track the results of Washington's wealth tax.  Bezos already left but there are plenty of U-Hauls to go around. 

Our national Ponzi scheme

Reason: "Social Security Is Deeply Unfair. The Social Security Fairness Act Won't Fix That. - What is paid out to Social Security beneficiaries is not a return on workers' investments. It's just a government expenditure, like any other." 

Good. Do this.

New York Times: "Trump and His Picks Threaten More Lawsuits Over Critical Coverage."

Maybe - and I'm just spitballin' here - stop lying and you won't face a lawsuit.  You can start by giving back your Pulitzer for the Russia Russia Russia hoax.  

"Let me pay your student loans, boss!"

City Journal: "Why the Working Class Rejected Bidenomics - Blue-collar and nonprofessional voters understood that Democratic economics supported college-educated elites." 

You don't hate the media enough

Twitchy: "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Pressuring Biden to Put the Equal Rights Amendment Into Law."

What's worse is that the politics reporter for the New Yorker thinks the President can unilaterally amend the U.S. Constitution.  These people really live in a different world.

ABC News to make $15 million "donation" to Trump Library

Fox News: "George Stephanopoulos and ABC apologize to Trump, are forced to pay $15 million to settle defamation suit" - "As part of the agreement, Stephanopoulos and the network issued statements of 'regret' for comments that prompted the lawsuit."

This is the way.  ABC News will issue a statement of "regret" but what really should happen is an on-air apology from Stephanopoulos.

You're next CNN.  

Galaxy brain thinking

RFK Jr - not in power.
Gretchen Whitmer - current governor of Michicgan.
“Rachel” Levine - current head of HHS

Axelrod take - https://t.co/LmHklwPeev

— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) December 14, 2024

DOGE the USPS

Washington Post: "Trump eyes privatizing U.S. Postal Service, citing financial losses."

Even though it's a "stand-alone" entity, the USPS still siphons off billions of tax dollars every year.  I have no idea why it can't limit deliveries to three times a week.  Personally, I can wait an extra day for the junk mail I receive, almost exclusively. 

Please just go

Try to do minimal damage on the way out: "Sorry, team Biden — Americans don’t trust you on the drones or anything else." 

This wasn't 4-D chess

Daily Caller: "‘Smartest Thing They Ever Did’: Katie Couric, Jessica Tarlov Admit GOP Leaders Sending Migrants North Was Game Changer."

“On the immigration front, there was a tendency amongst Democrats, and especially Democrats who were discussing the issue, so people who do interviews or are part of the media, to minimize it over the first two and a half years when there were a lot of people coming in here,” Tarlov said. “And I thought that it was a stunt when they started busing migrants … to Martha’s Vineyard. It was the smartest thing they ever did.”

“Well, it’s interesting ’cause I have a friend who lives in Florida, and I said, ‘What did you think of Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott taking some of these immigrants and moving them to northern states?’ And she said, ‘I thought it was great because nobody really was paying attention before that.’ And I do think that this untold story was the strain on social services and communities, particularly along the border, this huge influx of immigrants was having,” Couric responded. “And I think the mainstream media, however you define that these days, kind of ignored that story to its peril.”

They realize this way too late.  I think a lot of people took notice of Martha's Vineyard's hypocritical reaction to a handful of illegals landing on their hallowed ground.  

Everybody's the hero in their own narrative

Julie Kelly: "The Wray Slayer - With Donald Trump's nomination of Kash Patel, the FBI appears to be in panic mode. Chris Wray is the first to fall but not before giving a fantastical account of his seven-year stint as FBI director."  

Where can I donate?

Twitchy: "Daniel Penny Considers Suing Alvin Bragg for Malicious Prosecution." 

Bizarro world where John Fetterman is the voice of reason

National Review: "Elizabeth Warren Is a Disaster for the Democrats" - "Her revolting statement on the assassination of Brian Thompson is a reminder of why Democrats should abandon her, and look more to the example of John Fetterman."

Vacant seat for an empty suit

Ace: "White House Officials: Trump Has Cucked Joe Biden So Completely He's Now the Currently Serving President." 

Accurate

Dude we ALL know they sent Jill Biden solo to the cathedral of Notre Dame because the last thing on earth they needed was Joe asking how the football team was doing.

— Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) December 7, 2024

Froot loops

Hot Air: "Is It Any Wonder That No Sane Person Takes Fact Checks Seriously?"  

Power vacuum in Syria

Wall Street Journal: "Assad’s Rule Collapses in Syria, Raising Concerns of a Vacuum - Outside powers maneuver for influence as a regime that controlled the divided country for half a century melts away."

I was listening to an interview with a professor knowledgeable with Syria and the interviewer asked about Syria falling "in a couple of days."  The professor corrected him and said "it will be a couple of hours."  Good call!

Syria is at the nexus of the Russian & Iranian influence in the Middle East so who knows what's going to happen.  I'd like to say it's good to reduce Putin's reach but, well, we'll see.

Jackie Calmes might as well resign right now

Independent: "LA Times staff outraged and columnist quits over owner's plan to add ‘bias meter’ to coverage."

Jackie Calmes is an LA Times columnist who writes exactly one column: Orange Man Bad.  Over and over and over.  You'll be unsurprised to learn in her latest column that Joe Biden's pardon of Hunter is OK because Trump.

She is just the worst

Red State: "Karine Jean-Pierre May Have Just Given the Most Shameless Press Conference Ever."

At one point, KJP said that 64% of Americans supported the Hunter Biden pardon and I thought "that can't possibly be true."

It wasn't.  Just a flat-out lie.

Update - "Jean-Pierre shredded for wrongly claiming 64% of Americans support pardon: 'Literally got a poll backwards'." 

The unanswerable question

The Corner: "What Is a ‘Fair Share’ in Taxes?" - "In absolute terms, the top 1 percent paid $864 billion in federal individual income taxes in 2022, and the bottom 90 percent paid $599 billion." 

Financing meatballs

Now I've seen it all.  You can have Martha Stewart's meatballs with 5 easy payments:

$90 for FOUR pounds of turkey meatballs. Martha Stewart is out of her damn mind. pic.twitter.com/PcahnLg66U

— Joe Kinsey (@JoeKinseyexp) December 4, 2024

It's obvious

Red State: "Let's Face It, Donald Trump Is Already President."

I've seen the acronym "PINO" being used for Biden: President in name only.

Keep it up, guys, you're doing great

Shot: "‘Morning Joe’ hosts tear into NYT, other liberal media for caring about Hunter Biden pardon: ‘Hysterically imbalanced’."

Chaser: "MSNBC posts another critical ratings low among critical demo." 

Can't have that

Boston Globe editorial: "A father’s love for his son doesn’t require dissing the Justice Department - The accusations in Biden’s presidential pardon play right into Trump’s political narrative."

At a time when President-elect Donald Trump has done everything in his power to undermine the nation’s criminal justice system — to cast it as overly politicized, in large part because he too was the subject of a federal prosecution — did Joe Biden have to second that notion?

Yes, that's the real crime here: Biden playing into the idea the Department of Justice is politicized and engaging in lawfare for political gain.  Or - hear me out here - maybe there's some truth to it as evidenced by a former President having his underwear drawer raided at Mar-a-Lago?

Trust in the FBI is at a century-low level.  Joe Biden's statement didn't do that; his DOJ did.

Biden was always going to pardon Hunter

Charles C.W. Cooke points out this paragraph in the NBC news story about Biden's intention to pardon Hunter: "Biden’s Lying about Pardoning Hunter Was Part of the Plan."

In case you missed the key line, I’ll print it again:

They said it was decided at the time that he would publicly say he would not pardon his son even though doing so remained on the table.

Astonishing.

To his credit, Andrew C. McCarthy called it months ago:

There was never a scintilla of doubt that Biden would break his vow not to pardon Hunter once the election was over — as I said back in June when he made the vow. Then, in September, when Hunter suddenly pled guilty to all the charges right as his tax trial was about to start, I explained that this strategy made sense only if he knew he was getting a pardon and therefore had no incentive to negotiate a better plea deal — and I elaborated that the pardon would come after the election but before the sentencing dates so that, as a technical legal matter, Hunter would never be a convicted felon.

Totally spot on and in fact I remember his article about Hunter suddenly pleading guilty so he could get it over while Papa was still in the White House.

All that moral preening over the "rule of law" went down the drain:

Look, we don’t have to be heartless bastards about it. Many among us would opt to save a child from jail, even if it meant backtracking on all our fine moral grandstanding. But the problem is the Dems tied their political rectitude to Biden’s acceptance of the jury’s democratic deliberations. They used the Hunter case to morally distinguish themselves from the allegedly lawless bruisers of the Trump set. They swore, endlessly, that they would abide by the rules and restore normalcy to the Trump-rattled republic. And they didn’t. They ended up exploiting presidential power for personal favour to a degree Trump never did. Their claims to moral distinction lie in tatters. Their delusion of righteousness stands exposed as just that: a delusion. This is why this pardon matters.

As I've noted before, every speech and public utterance by Joe Biden is really just a testament to his superiority.  That's why he sprinkles speeches with lines like "I'm the guy who [fill in the boast.] before waxing on about his father and growing up in Scranton.  But I suspect even Dementia Joe realized the enormity of this move which is why he dumped it on a Sunday night and promptly flew to another continent. 

The least-surprising headline ever written

NBC News: "President Biden set to issue a pardon of his son Hunter Biden."

C'mon, nobody ever believed his original promise.

No one is above the law.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 31, 2024

The Left hates free speech, continued

Quick!  To the echo chamber!  Twitchy: "Flee Speech: Is Dem Party’s Solution to Debate and Dissension a Big Blue Bubble?"