YGTBKM

Fox News: "DOJ seizes more classified docs from Biden's Wilmington home after 12-hour search." 

BREAKING: President Biden’s personal attorney says DOJ searched Biden’s Wilmington home on Friday and discovered 6 more classified documents, which they took possession of. Some of the documents were from Biden’s time in the Senate, others from his time as VP. @FoxNews

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) January 22, 2023

The mainstream media commits suicide

Red State: "When It Comes to Trusting the Media, We're Past the Point of No Return."

It’s very hard to argue with the idea that we’re now past the point of no return when it comes to whether or not to trust the mainstream media. Even with Donald Trump out of office, the media hasn’t stopped. They’re only getting worse in their partisan attacks and it’s getting to a point where conservatives really have no recourse other than to not engage anymore.

Here in Western Massachusetts, the Springfield paper has been in a slow decline, filling in the spaces with syndicated stories and advice columnists.  In my opinion, the editorial direction has been so completely lopsided that the once-vibrant letters page used to invite viewpoints from all over the political spectrum.  Now the same four or five kooks write every letter to the paper, always adhering to the far-left viewpoint.  It's one big bubble and anybody to the right of a typical Northampton reader has given up on dialogue...and subscriptions.  

Friday night news dump

Fox News: "Over quarter of a million migrant encounters in December alone, CBP confirms." - "The number of migrant encounters in December surpassed 250,000, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed on Friday -- marking a new high for the Biden-era border crisis as it enters its third year."

Make sure to bury that news in the Saturday paper, amirite?

Update (1/21) - Hot Air stole my headline: "Friday night news dump: Highest ever number of illegal migrant encounters recorded in December."

Furthermore, the story notes that burying this update is a pattern with the Biden administration:

It’s almost a running joke for those who keep an eye on when these numbers are released each month. Typically, the numbers are released sometime within the first ten days or so of a month. That changed as the Biden border crisis continued to grow worse. Each month, the release of the numbers happened a little later in the month. Now DHS releases the numbers during the late middle to end of the month, and always in a Friday evening news dump. This month was no different.

Yup.

Drip drip drip

Legal Insurrection: "Secret Service has a List of Regular Visitors to Biden’s Delaware Home That Stored Classified Documents - Now we learn the Secret Service collects “information on guests with regular access to the home.”

Twitchy: "WaPo: DOJ didn’t want to complicate classified docs investigation with ‘media feeding frenzy’."

Andrew McCarthy: "Biden's DoJ is grossly negligent in classified-doc search."

Jonathan Turley: "DOJ boosts Biden — but tarnishes itself — by letting his own lawyers search for classified docs."

Wasn't that nice of the Justice Department?  So much (D)eference. 

More timely stories surfacing!

Red State: "CNN Finally Reports on Biden Family Corruption, and Everyone Should Be Asking Why." - "The mainstream media has devolved into a bloated enterprise that simply copies the work of conservative outlets and publishes it two years later." 

What a timely resurfacing

NPR: "Biden's mishandling of documents is resurfacing the problem of 'overclassification'."

Siri, how do I know a Democrat is in the White House?

Very on-brand

Power Line: "Democrats try to criminalize free speech."  Because they hate it.

Geoengineering fiction becomes fact

Here's the plot of Neal Stephenson's 2021 novel "Termination Shock":

The book is about a solar geoengineering project conceived by a Texas oil-industry billionaire named T.R. Schmidt. Schmidt builds a launcher on the Texas-Mexico border to fire sulfur into the air, a form of stratospheric aerosol injection intended to cool the planet by reflecting sunlight into space. This technique replicates the effects of volcanic eruptions that inject sulfates into the atmosphere and produce global cooling, such as the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption.

Somebody is doing this now and nobody's quite sure what impact it will make:

An American startup firm has admitted to releasing reactive particles into the atmosphere in an attempt to alter the climate. The move has attracted widespread criticism, and marks a potentially dangerous new stage in the intensifying response to Earth’s “climate crisis”.

Just before Christmas 2022, the firm ‘Make Sunsets’ acknowledged it had launched weather balloons containing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. The launches took place in April 2022, in Baja California, Mexico, months before the company was even incorporated.

When quizzed about it, the company’s CEO, Luke Iseman, was unrepentant. “It’s morally wrong, in my opinion, for us not to be doing this”, he said, adding that it’s important “to do this as quickly and safely as we can,” because of the threat of man-made climate change.

In the book, the Indian government sends a military squad to destroy the sulfur launching site because the monsoon period was delayed. 

Oh isn't that nice of them?

Wall Street Journal: "Justice Department Considered but Rejected Role in Biden Documents Search - Officials opted for hands-off approach to leave special counsel’s probe uncompromised"

The Justice Department considered having FBI agents monitor a search by President Biden’s lawyers for classified documents at his homes but decided against it, both to avoid complicating later stages of the investigation and because Mr. Biden’s attorneys had quickly turned over a first batch and were cooperating, according to people familiar with the matter.

After Mr. Biden’s lawyers discovered documents marked as classified dating from his term as vice president at an office he used at a Washington-based think tank on Nov. 2, the Justice Department opened an inquiry into why and how they got there. Mr. Biden’s legal team prepared to search his other properties for any similar documents, and discussed with the Justice Department the prospect of having FBI agents present while Mr. Biden’s lawyers conducted the additional searches.

A White House correspondent today, suddenly discovering journalism, asked KJP why White House lawyers contacted the West Wing upon discovering classified documents instead of the Department of Justice.  Of course, she didn't answer.

Extra - Twitchy: "Karine Jean-Pierre breaks under the weight of more questions about Biden mishandling classified docs." 

Chuck Todd is the worst

Hot Air: "Chuck Todd isn't even trying to look like a journalist anymore." 

So begins the cover-up

Byron York: "The big problem with the Joe Biden documents story."

The biggest problem with the Joe Biden documents story is this: We know only what Joe Biden's lawyers have told us. And the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the case will make the problem worse.

No kidding: now every time Biden is asked about his Corvette storage issues, he can just say: "Oh, the Justice Department is looking into it."

Whoopsie! More documents

Twitchy: "Stephen L. Miller wonders why Team Biden’s classified doc search is still on the honor system." 

Of course

CNBC: "More classified documents found at Biden’s Delaware home, White House counsel says."

When's the FBI raid?  There are classified documents stuffed everywhere.

I'll believe it when I see it

This will be a short-lived feint towards credibility.  Hot Air: "Dem disaster: Media bailing on Biden in new scandal?"

The press agrees on one thing: Karine Jean-Pierre is a clown.

I dont care if you love or hate President Biden. . but Karine Jean-Pierre is a terrible press secretary. .

— Dan Abrams (@danabrams) January 12, 2023

Who are these "people," Joe?

Here's Biden on Tuesday:

Well, let me get rid of the easy one first. People know I take classified documents and classified information seriously.

And today, citing the "Corvette standard" of security:

Q  So the material was in a locked garage?

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, as well as my Corvette.

 

But as I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously.

Who are these "people" that believes Biden takes top secret material seriously?  Unsurprisingly, this is another false conceit that Biden arrogates upon himself.

You have to wonder if the Secret Service has been instructed to take a bullet for Joe Biden's ego.

Here's Andrew McCarthy: "As a New Batch of Classified Documents Emerges, Assessing Biden’s Statements about the First Batch."

Biden first did what he habitually does, which is to assert that “people know” some supposed attribute of his that, in fact, is neither an attribute of his nor believed by “people” to be one. In this instance, he said, “People know I take classified documents and classified information seriously.” We don’t know any such thing. The most sensitive thing Biden is known to have handled in his long political career is the pullout from Afghanistan, an utter catastrophe of his own making. He is a notorious plagiarist and résumé inflater whose best-known trait is to say with brimming confidence things that are not only untrue but easily demonstrated to be untrue. Everything about him screams sloppy and erratic, which is why White House aides charged with damage control hold their breath every time he speaks. There is absolutely no reason to believe he is any more careful in his handling of classified intelligence than in his handling of anything else.

"How could anybody be so irresponsible?"  

What? Who saw this coming?

Breitbart: "Early Numbers Show Golden Globe Ratings Hit All-Time Low." 

Things suddenly coming to light

NBC News: "Biden aides find second batch of classified documents at new location."

Prediction: Biden won't have a solo press conference this year.

Nuclear launch codes

That's how this works, right?  We just assume they're nuclear launch codes until the truth can be quietly reported several months later.

Fox News: "Biden 'surprised' to learn of classified docs at Penn think tank: 'I don't know' what's in them."

They're classified nuclear launch codes, Joe, and kickback receipts from Ukraine for Hunter's phony-baloney sinecure.  

CNN gonna CNN

Twitchy: "CNN: Biden’s classified documents are ‘a new line of attack’ that fell into Republicans’ laps."

The predictable "Republicans pounce." 

Enjoy your new precedent

Don Surber: "McCarthy cleans House."

Kevin McCarthy kicked Ilhan Omar, Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off powerful committees, just as he said he would do in November. The move comes two years after Pelosi banned Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from all committees.

Paybacks aren't a bitch. Pelosi is.

He bounced Swalwell and Schiff from the intelligence committee and barred Omar from the foreign affairs committee. Swalwell slept with Fang Fang, a spy for Red China.

It used to be up to the minority leader to bounce his/her own members but Nancy Pelosi broke that standard.  Ed Driscoll notes: "As with Harry Reid and the filibuster, why do Democrats think the rules they change won’t apply to them when they’re the party out of power?"

Justice Gorsuch says "hi" from the Supreme Court.

Fake news

CBS News: "U.S. attorney reviewing documents marked classified from Joe Biden's vice presidency found at Biden think tank."

You know this is phony because the words "Biden" and "think" are next to each other. 

Man gives hundredth interview whining about loss of privacy

Ace: "Harry Markle Will Be Excluded from Charles' Coronation After Continuing Attacks on Royal Family Made in Quickie Cash-In Book, Spare."

It's been said that a true friend will tell you what you don't want to hear.  I don't think Prince Harry has a single friend to pull him aside and tell him how self-destructive his behavior is in the eyes of the world.

Save your money, Harry.  This book deal will be your last cash cow.

The Left hates free speech - Schiff edition

Jonathan Turley: "“We Don’t Do This”: Adam Schiff and the Underbelly of American Censorship." - "Rather than simply refute the allegation, Schiff wanted Sperry and other critics silenced. His office reportedly laid out steps to cleanse Twitter of their criticism, including an instruction to “remove any and all content about Mr. Misko and other Committee staff from its service — to include quotes, retweets, and reactions to that content." 

Kabuki theater

Washington Examiner: "Biden’s Potemkin trip to the southern border"

Days before President Joe Biden visited El Paso, Texas, this afternoon, local and federal authorities began clearing out migrant encampments. Federal agents said this was a response to community complaints of rising crime, but it is more likely that the president's impending visit and the need to avoid embarrassing photos was decisive.

Biden will learn nothing from his trip because he doesn’t want to learn anything.

As I've noted before, Biden doesn't take any responsibility for the border crisis.  As long as he can continue to blame Republicans, Biden can absolve himself of all transgressions.  It's his go-to move.

Evergreen:

The hardest working man in Washington

After a week's vacation in St. Croix, Joe Biden held exactly two public events this past week, before heading back to Delaware today. 

Flashback: "KJP: I can't even keep up with that ageless dynamo in the Oval Office, or something."

McCarthy elected Speaker of the House

PJ Media: "Kevin McCarthy Elected 55th Speaker of the House. Here's How It Went Down."

I like all the concessions he agreed to including spending caps and hard line on the debt ceiling.  Our national debt is utterly out of control in the wake of covid.

He looks terrible

I don't know if Joe Biden is getting over a cold or something but he looked like death warmed over during his speech on border security today.  Legal Insurrection: "Biden Proves He Knows Nothing About the Border or Immigration in a Rambling Speech - He doesn’t know what CBP stands for, called Vice President Kamala Harris “President Harris,” thought you could replace Title 42 with Title 8, and said 20,000lbs of fentanyl could only kill 1,000 people." 

Every speech that Brandon gives is a self-indulgent ego stroke.  Yesterday he gave a speech on infrastructure which was a non-stop "I am a generous God!" farrago.  Today he needed to address the worst border crisis in America's history and, dontcha know, it's all the Republicans' fault.  When Joey can't blame somebody else for a disaster - like Afghanistan - he just pretends it went great.

Desperate Afghans falling from U.S. Military planes?  Gosh, that was four or five days ago!  Sheesh.

Good

Wall Street Journal: "Public Schools Lost More Than One Million Students During Pandemic."

Declining birthrates, a rise in home schooling and growing competition from private and charter schools are contributing to the decline in traditional public-school enrollment, according to school officials.

Huh, it's almost like - when given the opportunity - Americans are choosing schools they think will provide better outcomes for their children.

Joey's first day back at work in 2023

Biden: "I’ll paraphrase the phrase of my old neighborhood: The rest of the countries, the world is not a patch in our jeans, if we do what we wanna do, we need to do." pic.twitter.com/s9XccTkQpw

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 4, 2023

Yeah, it's a mystery

Twitchy: "President Biden lets us know why the economy ‘got so bad 2 years ago’." 

The man who's always wrong

Legal Insurrection: "CBS Lets Humanity-Hating Curmudgeon Paul Ehrlich Spew More Climate Panic Inanity."

See: the Simon-Ehrlich wager. 

NPR is a left-wing outfit

Looking for even-handed commentary on National Public Radio?  Well, they run the full gamut of opinion from liberal to Communist.  Washington Examiner: "National Progressive Radio strikes again."

NPR’s Morning Edition ran a segment on Monday that perfectly encapsulated the broadcaster’s left-wing assumptions, its determination to spread them, the contemptuous betrayal of its mission to represent varied views, and its modus operandi camouflaging propaganda as news.

It’s worth documenting periodically lest we forget that this bias and lack of intellectual curiosity offers a skewed view of important issues and derogates what the national broadcaster is for. We should not sink into oblivious resignation. The segment, from national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, concerned President Joe Biden outpacing his predecessors in appointing judges and, in doing so, reshaping the federal bench. It’s a vital subject on which a news organization with pretensions to public service (using taxpayer money it describes as "essential" to operations) has a duty to be balanced. Instead, all four people quoted in the piece were from the Left and pursued the same narrative. Two were Biden employees.

You would expect nothing less than the crew that found racism in the Beatles.

Scratch a liberal, find a tyrant

Red State: "Amy Klobuchar Doubling Down on Dems' Scary Efforts to Suppress Your Speech."

Very on-brand.

Shut up, they explained - college edition

Daily Caller: "Colleges — And Students — Took An Axe To Free Speech In 2022. Here Are Some Of The Worst Examples." 

The Year 2022 in Review

From arguably the best channel on all of Youtube: Ordinary Things.  Let's all look back on a year of uprisings from Sri Lanka to China to Iran.  Also, I finally learned who Andrew Tate is.

Have a safe and Happy New Year everyone and see you in 2023!

Um, yeah, don't be a Viking

I'm just finishing up "Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings," an excellent book about the rise and fall of the Vikings.

So imagine my surprise to see this opinion piece: "Viking virtues can help defeat woke enemies of America."

Uh, yeah, so about that.  There's been a fair amount of favorable fictionalization of the Vikings both in television and in professional sports.  And, yes, they were ahead of their time in naval technology and exploration.  But they were bad.  Any kind of atrocity you could assign to an invading military force was committed by the Vikings including - ahem - "contributing to the DNA" of England and Ireland.  For hundreds of years, they either pillaged and killed or took a sizable ransom to go away.

Fun fact to balance off this heavy post: Viking helmets did not have horns.  Just a complete myth.

Oh, we know the (D)ifference

NY Post: "George Santos takes the cake, but why does Joe Biden get a pass for his lies?"

Related - American Spectator: "Release Pelosi’s Tax Returns."  

Today's top headline

NY Post: "Biden signs $1.7T spending bill after it’s flown 1,500 miles to St. Croix." 

This should buy us a day without climate change sermonizing. 

Electric slide

Reason: "Free Market Think Tank Names Georgia Electric Vehicle Plant the 'Worst Economic Development Deal of 2022' - Rivian, an electric truck manufacturer that hopes to compete with Tesla, received a lucrative deal to build a new factory in Georgia despite concerns about its finances."

Check out the hysterical xenophobe

Red State: "Joe Biden's Words Come Back to Bite Him as U.S. Ramps up Travel Restrictions on China."

Fix the border

Hot Air: "Supreme Court leaves Title 42 in place for now and Gorsuch is right."

Gorsuch is the ghost of Antonin Scalia here, who firmly believed that the Supreme Court was not some kind of "super-legislative" branch when Congress wouldn't do its job.  Better to keep shipping illegals to Democrat cities until they care about the border. 

Extra - The Corner: "Neil Gorsuch Gets It Right on Title 42." - "Those who argue that the Supreme Court should serve as a policy-making arm of the Right are adopting the same philosophy that they decried when liberals were doing it."  Yup.

Back to the bunker

Fox News: "Biden has granted only seven formal sit-down interviews with journalists in 2022 - Joe and Jill Biden's most recent interview was with Drew Barrymore."

Yes, that was a hard-hitting interview, complete with a round of "The Newlywed Game."

Over the past five days, Biden has spent 40 minutes at a children's hospital and now he's on vacation again. 

The minimum wage is zero

Fox Business: "McDonald's unveils first automated location, social media worried it will cut 'millions' of jobs."

Covid had a role in this.  The other day, I ordered from Dunkin' Donuts on my phone and picked it up on the way to work.  Human interaction was nil. 

Maybe try a pro-American movie with a strong male lead

Just spitballing here, Hollywood.  Breitbart: "Hollywood Lost More Than $500 Billion in Market Value in 2022." 

Merry Christmas, everyone

Shut up, they explained

Reason: "5 Infuriating Ways People Got the First Amendment Wrong in 2022 - As free speech becomes an increasingly important part of the culture war, people won't stop misinterpreting—and outright violating—the First Amendment."

Joe doesn't remember what he said yesterday

Not the Bee: "President Biden laments our politics have "gotten so angry, so mean" and I'm sure it's because of all you semi-fascist domestic extremists." 

Well, that's good news

THE HOES ARE STILL ALIVE pic.twitter.com/EN5I88wOwt

— erin alyce (@herooine) December 20, 2022

Gulp

Marketwatch: "FTX co-founder Gary Wang, ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison plead guilty to federal charges." 

Can't believe "do not come" didn't work

Hot Air: "Kamala jumps on the bandwagon as she blames Republicans for the Biden border crisis."

Honestly, though, what else is she going to say?  The only solution is to keep sending busloads of illegals to New York City and Washington D.C.

Extra - NY Post editorial: "Mayor Eric Adams is 100% correct: New York’s migrant nightmare CAN’T continue." 

Plausible!

Babylon Bee: "Musk Hides 5 Golden Tickets In Teslas To Find One Worthy Of Taking Over Twitter." 

Mystery in Amherst remains unsolved

College Fix: "Here are 14 times campus hate crimes turned out to be hoaxes in 2022."

This gives me the opportunity to remind everybody about the terrible hate crime that occurred at the University of Massachusetts in September 2021, a crime that remains unsolved to this day.

At the time, it made national news: "UMass Investigating 'Blatantly Racist' Emails Sent To Black Student Organizations" and Umass officials sprang into action:

Dear Campus Community,

The anti-Black racist incidents that have occurred on our campus this semester, described in an email from Vice Chancellor Nefertiti Walker last week, are contemptible and cowardly. We will not be intimidated by the hateful acts of craven individuals who hide in anonymity. We stand with our students who have been victimized, and we will continually strive for a more equitable community grounded in the principles of dignity and respect.

I want to share with you today that we have secured the services of Stroz Friedberg Digital Forensics, a leading national firm in cyber security, to assist us in our investigation of the source of the racist emails that were sent to members of Black student organizations.

Emphasis in original.  Unfortunately, after spending what I assume was thousands of taxpayer funds to track down the perpetrators of this hate crime that definitely happened, nobody has ever been caught.  And if memory serves, Umass hired a different forensic group to find the perpetrators but no dice.

This leads to three potential conclusions: 1) the hate mail senders effectively hid their identity by using VPNs and spoofing Eastern European servers or something, 2) the investigators never found any evidence that the emails were sent at all or 3) they found the emails were sent by somebody in the Umass community.

The fact that this once-national story has been allowed to quietly fade away without any follow-up from the Umass front office says a lot.

The green scam

American Institute for Economic Research: "Green Energy is the Modern “Broken Window”."

Oh, now it's a problem

Fox News: "Eric Adams warns of NYC service cuts to prioritize migrants as Title 42 expires: 'This can't continue'."

Adams asserted that "New York City has managed this crisis entirely on its own," and the city's requests from the state and federal government for funding and other assistance "have been mostly ignored." 

I forget: who are the state and federal authorities that can provide funding to New York?  You should name and shame them, Mayor Adams.

Extra - Legal Insurrection: "El Paso Border Patrol Facility Over Capacity as Agents Feel ‘Completely Defeated’ Days Before Title 42 Expires." 

Reminder: Joe Biden has never visited the southern border.

The Left hates free speech, continued

Daily Caller: "‘Take Aim’: Adam Schiff Threatens Big Tech Unless They Censor More Content." 

I'm not even mad, that was amazing

The Other McCain: "The dumbest play in NFL history." 

I thought I'd seen in all in the NFL. 

Makin' stuff up...again

Red State: "Biden Makes up a Story About Awarding a Purple Heart, and It Gets Much Worse From There."

If we had a real press, he’d be lambasted for it, but we don’t so we get shrugs at what has become a continual stream of blatant lies. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a president (certainly not in my lifetime) who makes up so many personal stories, and you’d never know it without following conservative accounts on social media because none of the legacy outlets are going to tell you. They’re too busy quizzing Biden on what his favorite flavor of ice cream is.

This is entirely true: Biden has to work in a family story into every speech.  Half the time it's some made-up story and 100% of the time, it's a tiresome trope to feign relatability. 

Tell us again about how you had a discussion around the kitchen table every time the price of gas went up a nickel, Joey.

This is genius

Hey big spender

Reason: "November's $249 Billion Federal Budget Deficit Set a Record. Now, Congress Is Preparing To Spend Even More."  

Go build your own Twitter

Federalist: "The Left-Wing Journalists Elon Musk Suspended From Twitter Got What They Deserved." - "Hypocritical reporters who long thought of Twitter as their own personal fiefdom are getting a little comeuppance. Good."  

By all accounts, Musk is only imposing a temporary ban because these "journalists" doxxed his family.  This is somehow less of a threat than using the wrong pronouns. 

Update - Just like that: "Musk lifts Twitter suspensions of journalists: ‘People have spoken’."

The (Leftist) colleges hate free speech

NY Post: "After a 15-year decline, more colleges have become hostile to free speech." - "While it may come as no surprise at this point, a new analysis spotlights just how hostile to free speech our system of higher education has become — and it’s getting worse." 

Fulfill your obligations, California

Hot Air: "California "reparations" hearings go as you would expect."

Pay up, California.  Live up to your own standards.

Democracy dying in pinkslips

Shot: "WaPo busted for stealth-editing article after getting busted for lying about Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss."

Chaser: "Washington Post Announces Layoffs, and Coddled Socialist Staffers Do Not React Well."

Hangover: "WaPo Town Hall Goes Off the Rails As Publisher Refuses to Take Questions."

Learn to code.  

I don't mean to celebrate the loss of anybody's job but the modern American journalist is an amalgam of liberal insularity, smug self-importance, and marginal talent.  Not one of them blinked twice when they advocated for policies that affected the livelihood of the hardhat set.

The #1 streaming movie in America now

It's "Home Alone."  This always makes me laugh:

Guess who's coming home for Christmas!

Red State: "Crypto Fraud and Democrat Megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried Has Been Arrested in the Bahamas." 

"Bake me a cake" part 2

Reason: "A Likely Win for Free Speech."

Last week, the Supreme Court heard argument in 303 Creative v. Elenis, the latest wedding vendor case–this time concerning a web designer who does not wish to design sites for same-sex weddings. The wedding vendor cases typically present a conflict between free speech, including religiously-motivated speech, and equality in the marketplace for goods and services. Based on last week's argument, it seems the Court is ready to rule in favor of free speech this time...

The Masterpiece Cakeshop case was ruled on more narrow technical grounds than this case and the author notes: "The Court will have a hard time avoiding a broader ruling in 303 Creative—though some of the justices may try."  Sonia Sotomayor in particular will employ her usual practice of twisting the law to meet her personal beliefs.  Otherwise, from what I've read from the court transcripts, it seems like it's heading towards a solid victory for the First Amendment.

Good.

"It's OK because they're insured"

Moonbattery: "Shoplifting Drives Up Prices at Walmart"

This is insanity:

Just one month ago, the chief financial officer at Walmart’s biggest rival, Target, also revealed that shoplifting at its stores had jumped more than 50 percent year on year, leading to more than $400 million in losses in 2022 alone.

It's my belief that the future of retail is Amazon delivering everything to Amazon lockers.  Until then: "New York City store locks up Spam in plastic case amid crime spike."

The thoroughly revamped loss-prevention regime at the Port Authority Duane Reade has finally created something of beauty, a sort of Jeff Koons homage. pic.twitter.com/gtlpzY2l9G

— willy 🌜💧 (@willystaley) July 28, 2022

Somehow we survived the death of democracy in darkness

NY Magazine: "Just What Did the Times Walkout Change?"

Nothing and nobody cared.

They allow cellphones in classrooms?

NY Post: "50 shell-shocked teachers, staff flee chaotic Florida school district."

I read this article and couldn't believe they allow cellphones in classrooms.

The Left hates free speech, Twitter edition

Real Clear Politics: "Dem Attacks on Musk Prove Their Support for Free Speech Is Dead." - "When Elon Musk reached an agreement to acquire Twitter for $44 billion in October, the deal was met with a wave of outrage from the left. Democrats spanning the nation condemned the acquisition, claiming that it was “dangerous” for America. Now, we’re starting to figure out why."

The debate shifted from "it's a private company, they can do what they want!" to "we need to investigate Elon Musk and regulate Twitter" so fast, I got whiplash. 

Extra - Neo: "The Twitter files: leftism requires censorship." 

In the title of this post I wrote that leftism requires censorship. It cannot stand on its own and must stifle criticism or having its failures pointed out.

Censorship is the Left's go-to move. 

Accurate, so very accurate

Babylon Bee: "Disinformation Down 92% As NYT Writers Go On Strike." 

The Committee just wants to date her

Hot Air: "AOC under investigation by House Ethics Committee."  There will be no charges because you can't prove that America's dumbest Congressperson had criminal intent.  That would require brains. 

Kids in cages? What kids in cages?

Breitbart: "Joe Biden Can’t Find Time to Inspect Border After Vacationing 271 Days in 2 Years: ‘There Are More Important Things’."

It's true.  Joe Biden was very busy today doing...nothing:

Don't worry: he'll be heading off to Delaware tomorrow to rest up from a hard week of exactly one public event.

Democracy dies with white male shark experts

Fox News: "‘Shark Week’ blasted for ‘overwhelmingly’ featuring ‘White men' as shark experts in Washington Post report."

I was worried the mainstream media would beclown themselves again but they've earned a Pulitzer with this groundbreaking expose.

Trust in media running on empty

Shot: "How Corrupt is a Corrupt Media? - The media has ceased to exist, and the public plods on by assuming as true whatever the media suppresses and as false whatever the media covers."

Chaser: "Media Tailspin Continues As Trust Hits Record Lows: I&I/TIPP Poll."

We're merely three days away from the New York Times strike.  Will Joe Biden ask Congress to intervene to avoid this national disaster?  Democracy is dying in darkness!

Oh no

Don Surber: "Bidenomics leads to NYT strike." - "Barring some miracle, the staff of the New York Times will go on strike for 24 hours on Thursday. Its elitist readers may be denied their sanitized version of the world."

It's hard to believe that, when I was younger, I subscribed to the NY Times and Rolling Stone and the Atlantic.

These people are certifiably crazy

Fox News: "Mother frets her own daughter is 'bad for the earth' in Washington Post analysis piece - Environmentalist claimed having 'a single child' was right decision because of climate change." 

Confirming what we knew

NY Post: "Hunter Biden laptop bombshell: Twitter invented reason to censor Post’s reporting."

Once you adopt the position that censorship is justified against a political opponent, where does it stop?  Is it kosher for mail carriers to destroy mail-in ballots if they know the political leaning of the voter?  How about shutting down Fox News?

Scratch a liberal and find a tyrant.

Shockingly accurate

Babylon Bee: "Man Reads Tweet He Disagrees With, Dies." 

Oh that's (D)ifferent

Hot Air: "Time: Denying election results legit is not election denying."

Red State: "Media Pounces on GOP After Inconvenient Truths About Hakeem Jeffries Are Pointed Out."

The media doesn't even try to hide its bias anymore.  Noted fascist Jamie Raskin will testify. 

What happens when you graduate at the bottom of your law school class

The Corner: "Thus Far, the Constitution Has Held Up Against President Biden’s Executive Despotism."

Since August, President Joe Biden, that ertswhile restorer of our norms, has: (1) issued an executive order that he knew full well was illegal; (2) altered that illegal executive order in an attempt to avoid judicial review; and (3) asked the courts to allow him to proceed with his illegal executive order, so that, by the time it is inevitably struck down, the case has been rendered moot.

"YOLO, let's see what unconstitutional overreach I can do before someone stops me" isn't much of a governing style.

Unbelievable self-own

Twitchy: "Sen. Warren says Elon Musk shouldn’t be able to decide who gets to be heard from and who doesn’t."

Extra - Red State: "Elizabeth Warren Accidentally Explains the Problem With Twitter Before Elon"

The hypocrisy is astounding. https://t.co/T6cPrAxHbf

— Lisa Christine •.•.•.•.•.• (@lisachristinect) November 30, 2022

Best and brightest, y'all

Hot Air: "Why can't Karine Jean-Pierre pronounce Nobel Prize?" - "KJP is a perfect example of someone who has a prestigious job simply because she checks off several identity boxes in a Democrat administration."

Stop. Do not pass Go.

Do not spend $200 billion.

Reason: "With Congressional Gridlock, Americans Get a National Breather." - "That's good news for Americans baffled by Democrats' insistence on treating the U.S. economy as something between a laboratory experiment and a toy train set, with lawmakers indulging their whims through serial rounds of life-altering policy moves." 

This guy has always been a clown

Red State: "Adam Schiff Has an Incredible Change of Heart on Congressional Investigations." 

Here come the pre-nups

I found this to be an interesting statistic from "‘Financial infidelity’ has money-conscious Gen Zers and Millennials saying ‘I don’t’."

The Knot’s Financial Study 2022 found that 43% of those surveyed were most likely to consider it a deal breaker if their partner was secretive about finances or dishonest about money being spent.

Research has also found that more couples are signing prenups regardless of their financial status — they’re not just for Gisele and Tom Brady. A new report from the Harris Poll found that 15% of U.S. adults surveyed signed a prenup, which is up from just 3% in 2010. It also found that 35% of unmarried people say they’re likely to sign a prenup in the future.

Also:

This aligns with other data. A new survey from buy-now, pay-later company Affirm found that millennials see the ability to manage money as the most attractive trait in a partner.

That's not a bad thing.

Spot the fake news story

The Bee: "Karine Jean-Pierre Insists It’s Not Her Job To Answer Questions Like Some Sort Of Press Secretary."

Not the Bee: "This man threw bricks at a NYC gay bar and liberals blamed it on right-wing bigotry. Turns out the guy is... well, you know." 

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody

Go Patriots!

Nice work if you can get it

Just a reminder to consider as you're paying 20% more for Thanksgiving, here's Joe Biden's public schedule since returning from the G20 summit:

Thursday: nothing

Friday: meeting with business and labor leaders

Saturday: wedding

Sunday: birthday party

Monday: pardoned the Thanksgiving turkey

Tuesday: travel to Nantucket

Wednesday (today): nothing

The paper of record

Babylon Bee: "CBS News Officially Confirms That Lincoln Has Been Shot." 

So...just like Reddit

Ace: "Leftist Totalitarians -- Or, as They Call Themselves, "Journalists" -- Flee the Hell of Free Speech That Is Twitter for the Leftwing Site Mastodon, and Make It Into What They Wish Twitter Always Had Been: A Site Where You Ban Anyone Who Disagrees."

I love this headline so much.  The story confirms all the stereotypes about journalists: they're a clubby, thin-skinned group of faux intellectuals who can't stand up to the wispiest breeze of dissent.

Of course

Fox News: "USDA blames Russia for rising price of Thanksgiving dinner."

USDA did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital about how Russia’s war against Ukraine is affecting turkey prices.

There's that "taking responsibility" White House in action again.

Debt forgiveness is unconstitutional

Let them eat solar panels

Time: "Here's How Much More Expensive Your Thanksgiving Dinner Will Be This Year"

The average American’s Thanksgiving dinner is likely to increase by about 20%, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual survey—by far the biggest jump recorded in the 37-year history of the report.

The cost for a holiday feast rose to $64.05 for 10 people, up from $53.31 from last year’s average, and a nearly 37% increase in cost from two years ago. The massive jump is perhaps not surprising, given that food inflation is at a four-decade high—but it demonstrates the increasing pressure on Americans’ finances.

In case you missed it, here's Joe lying yesterday:

Inflation at the grocery store is coming down slightly.

As far as I can tell from reviewing his speeches, this is the only time he's ever addressed food inflation.  People need to eat, Joe.

Also: get diabetes and then save on insulin!

Biden tells people concerned about heating their homes this winter that they can get a tax credit to install solar panels on their roofs. pic.twitter.com/MRVPmZTD0N

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 18, 2022

Stop standing

Volokh Conspiracy: "Biden Administration Asks Supreme Court to Lift Injunction Blocking their Massive Loan Forgiveness Program."

Most experts believe the Administration has a much better chance of prevailing on standing than on the merits. That may be why the administration itself has significantly reduced the scope of the program in order to eliminate some potential plaintiffs who might be able to get standing.

The White House is putting all their effort into preventing standing in this case because they know they will fail on the law itself.  

Loser

The Corner: "Pelosi failed."

Nancy Pelosi is not an especially impressive figure. She was elected to Congress in 1986, and she spent her first six years in Washington, D.C., as a rank-and-file member of Congress who did nothing of any great interest. That changed after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, but the immediate overreach resulted in Pelosi and her colleagues annoying the public so profoundly that the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, and then stayed in the minority for the following twelve.

As noted here, her final act was to undermine the very institution she occasionally led.

I can name that tune in one note

Twitchy: "High school cross-country runner goes from 72nd to first place; What’s her secret?" 

Never change, NY Post

The front page of today's New York Post: "Florida man makes announcement."

Story on page 26. 

That's nice, I guess

Red State: "BREAKING: Republicans Win the House of Representatives."

The way things are going, I expect this will be reversed by morning.