To vote or not to vote

Tomorrow is primary day in Massachusetts and I don't know what to do.  The Washington Post has an article on Bay State Republicans (there are a few of us) and how Donald Trump has won their hearts and minds.  I'm mortified by the thought.  This is our nominee?

I fear that Trump has entered the same Zone reserved for Barack Obama back in 2008 where almost nothing he says or does will be counted as a strike against him.  Supporters don't care: he's their guy.  Trump is aided by a weak field of undistinguished senators and a general backlash against all establishment candidates, the same phenomenon that is elevating Bernie Sanders.

Geez, do I have to vote for Rubio?  Is he our only hope?  Can I write in "NOT TRUMP" and erase a pro-combover vote; does it work that way?  It should.

Since my vote usually doesn't count for squat in Massachusetts, I'll probably get a six of IPA and watch Netflix.

Extra - Nate Silver: "And if you are a movement conservative, Trump is arguably a pretty terrible choice, taking your conservative party and remaking it in his unpredictable medley of nationalism, populism and big-government Trumpism."  Yep.

No Obama nominee

Via Instapundit, the news is that Senate leaders will sit down with Obama and tell him to pound sand on a Supreme Court replacement for Scalia.  I would hope that they use Obama's, Biden's, and Schumer's own words in their case.

Beyond that, can we dispense with the "Do Your Job" nonsense?  The Senate failed to do their job - and violated the law - for six years when Harry Reid refused to pass a budget.  It's a little late for that tagline.

"We came, we saw, he died!"

Hit and Run: "The New York Times Accurately Portrays Hillary Clinton as an Unrepentant Warmonger - Who will call her on it?"

Buffett: Climate change hysteria is a loser

Marginal Revolution: "How Berkshire Hathaway thinks about climate change."  From the report: "As a citizen, you may understandably find climate change keeping you up nights. As a homeowner in a low-lying area, you may wish to consider moving. But when you are thinking only as a shareholder of a major insurer, climate change should not be on your list of worries."

And in case you missed it: "New paper shows global warming hiatus real after all."  Even with all that extra greenhouse gas.

Silicon Valley, yo

This past week, I took my first-ever trip to San Jose, Milpitas, and Santa Clara.  Companies like Cisco, Samsung, SanDisk, and Intel were side-by-side.

Stuff I saw:

• A power couple had converted their restaurant table to a mini-office with Macbooks and Iphones plugged into multiple power strips.
• The Valley has its own light rail to move workers from their $4000/month apartments to their workstations.
• Also saw a large luxury bus leaving the Cisco campus; clearly not a class trip.
• There was a highway leading west to San Francisco: every morning it was a complete parking lot.  At 7am, it was moving at 10mph tops.
• Lots of luxury cars and electrics.
• Had my first In-and-Out cheeseburger - twas good.
• At breakfast in the hotel lobby, there were times when I was the only Caucasian in sight.
• My two-year-old HTC One was almost certainly the oldest cellphone within a ten-mile radius.

Behind closed doors

Hot Air: "NYT to Hillary: Release the transcripts."

Can't the GOP find a mole like the one that destroyed Mitt Romney's chances?

Extra - Reuters: "Clinton deflects calls to release Wall Street speech transcripts."

Wow, this really is a thorough "security review"

Fox News: "Lynch confirms career Justice Department attorneys involved in Clinton email probe."  Everybody is helping.

Drip drip drip - Reuters: "Spy agencies say Clinton emails closely matched top secret documents."

Poor Barry

Candidate Obama made a promise and all the kids clapped.  But now President Obama has a problem: "Reminder: Bringing GITMO Detainees to The U.S. is Banned Under Federal Law."

There's just one major problem: bringing GITMO detainees to the United States is banned under federal law. In fact, just two months ago Democrats and Republicans in Congress bolstered the law.

By a wide margin, Americans don't want Gitmo detainees on U.S. soil.  But here's the problem: Barry is addicted to the kneejerk adulation of his left-wing base.  As he moves into lame-duckery, he needs some applause lines for the college crybullies, especially if he can rant about the do-nothing Congress.

Oh, it's against the law?  Barry don't care.  Greater good.  And campaigning.

Down and out in San Francisco

PJ Media: "Epic Whine by Clueless Millennial Gets Her Fired."

Her first huge mistake was moving to San Francisco. It might be nice to live in your dream city where the weather is nice and you're close to your dad, but seriously, how could anyone expect to work a minimum wage job in one of the most expensive cities in the world? It's incomprehensible and shows a critical lack of understanding of the outside world.

Magical thinking is a requirement for Left Coast cities like Seattle where the "radical experiment" into a $15 minimum wage has - surprise! - led to a spike in the unemployment rate.

Why you have to put a horse down

Sometimes the subreddit "Explain it like I'm 5" has a really interesting question like: "Why do horses need to be put down when they break a leg while most other animals don't?"  There's a lot here but, in a nutshell, it comes down the fact that horses bones are very dense and do not heal well.  Also, horses do not respond well to palliative measures and if they're not standing up, there's all sorts of bad ancillary effects.

What is wrong with you people?

Precious snowflakes or crybullies: you make the call.  Breitbart: "Rutgers students hold group therapy session after Milo Yiannopoulos visit."

All the world a victim.

Extra - The Corner: "Study: Student Support for Censorship Reaches All-Time High."

She'll *never* release those transcripts

Bernie strikes back!  WashPost: "On the eve of Nevada caucuses, Sanders takes a jab at Clinton on paid speeches."

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders on Friday pledged to release all the transcripts of speeches he has given to Wall Street firms — there are none — in a not-so-subtle poke at his rival Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, the former secretary of state, said during a forum broadcast Thursday night by MSNBC and Telemundo that she would release transcripts of her paid, closed-door speeches to Wall Street firms “when everyone else does.”

What does "everyone" mean?  Does Hillary mean her primary opponent Bernie Sanders or is she also asking to see transcripts from Republican opponents?



OK, OK!  Geez....

Extra - Reuters: "Pressure grows on Hillary Clinton to release Goldman Sachs speeches."  Forget it.

Turning to vinegar

George Will, last month: "As you said, this is going to be a long slog. And what we know already is that Hillary Clinton is not a wine that travels well. She does not benefit from lots of exposure. The more people see her, the more they seemed to recoil from this."

Today: "Poll: Bernie Sanders burns Hillary Clinton with first-ever national lead."

Drama at UMass

Something going on here in Western Massachusetts.  Fox News: "UMASS Amherst ends shelter in place order issued over report of armed people."  The commentators at MassLive seem to believe this was a case of a drug debt.

Regrets, he has a few...

...especially when they expose him as a complete hypocrite.  Here's White House press flunky Josh Earnest explaining that Obama totes regrets voting to filibuster Samuel Alito's nomination:

Do as I say, not as I do

Patterico: "President Obama on filibustering Alito: That was different!"  Back in 2006, Senator Obama wanted to prevent a judicial nominee from getting an up-or-down confirmation vote in the Senate.  But things are different now because...shut up.

Related - Legal Insurrection: "Schumer tries to explain away his 2007 SCOTUS vote speech … fails."

No. No, it isn't.

Hot Air: "Is Washington on the verge of finally having a real discussion about entitlement programs?"

I've seen this show before.  Republicans and those who can do math will note that mandatory spending is going to crowd out all discretionary spending.  Democrats will counter with commercials showing Grandma being pushed over a cliff.  There is no entitlement reform.

Venezuela runs out of other people's money

Breitbart: "Venezuela declares another emergency: It has run out of food."  "Venezuela’s opposition legislature has declared a “nutritional emergency,” proclaiming that the country simply does not have enough food to feed its population. The move comes after years of socialist rationing and shortages that forced millions to wait on lines lasting as long as six hours for a pint of milk, a bag of flour, or carton of cooking oil."

Going nowhere fast

Victor Davis Hanson: "Hillary Clinton's dead-end campaign":

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is headed down a dead-end street. There are no way-outs through decrying the treatment of women and the baleful influence of Wall Street, calling for fair enforcement of laws, referring to either the sad or great state of Obama’s economy and foreign policy, or voicing the populist concern for indebted students and losers in today’s calcified economy.

Bernie Sanders has so far mostly avoided direct attacks on Hillary (except for mentioning her Wall Street speaking fees) and the press has been compliant.  But The Republican nominee won't be so polite.

Because it's different

Breitbart: "Chuck Schumer in 2007: Senate should block Supreme Court nominees for 18 months."  All the consistency of the New York Times editorial page.

Scalia passes

SCOTUSblog: "First reactions on the passing of Justice Scalia."

The rise of Trumpism

Charles Murray has an excellent article about how the rise of Donald Trump is a reaction to the country's drift away from the American Creed:

Still, even that character is ultimately rooted in the American creed. When faith in that secular religion is held only by fragments of the American people, we will soon be just another nation—a very powerful one, a very rich one, still called the United States of America. But we will have detached ourselves from the bedrock that has made us unique in the history of the world.

He suggests there's been an anti-establishment backlash that has helped both Trump and Sanders:

There is nothing conservative about how they want to fix things. They want a now indifferent government to act on their behalf, big time. If Bernie Sanders were passionate about immigration, the rest of his ideology would have a lot more in common with Trumpism than conservatism does.

And this reminds me of an eye-opening statement from a Sanders supporter, heard on NPR's Morning Edition:

FOLKENFLIK: Drejza supports Sanders. But he has a backup.
DREJZA: If he doesn't get it, I might just want to blow up D.C. and vote for Trump – totally just vote for that fool Trump and just see if he could blow up D.C.

There are many facets to the anger in the electorate, but despair over the future is bubbling over.

Protect the Queen!

Here's the WashPost commentator Chris Cillizza before last night's Democratic debate:

Clinton will almost certainly be asked about the latest State investigation in the debate tonight. How she responds — and whether Sanders or the debate moderators push her on that response — could be a pivot point not just tonight but in the race more generally.

"Almost certainly?"  Oh, Chris.  Ye of great faith in the unbiased media.  Fox News: "FBI, foundation controversies missing from Clinton questioning at debate."

Gee, I wonder why this didn't come up last night?

The PBS moderators at Thursday night’s Democratic debate failed to ask former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton any questions about the Clinton Foundation, despite news earlier in the day that the State Department had sent it a subpoena for documents about its activities during her tenure in office.

Co-moderator Judy Woodruff happens to be a donor to the Clinton Foundation, and faced criticism from the PBS ombudsman in 2015 for giving to the Clintons.

When the Presidential debates start in earnest, I would hope the Republican candidate would start his opening remark by pointing out the inevitable conflict of interest(s) among the moderators.

No more Candy Crowleys.

Another "security review"

It's not an investigation that may lead to criminal charges - bite your tongue!

Hot Air: "Oh my: State Department IG subpoenaed the Clinton Foundation last fall."

There are now 3 investigations with ties to Hillary.

1.Clinton emails by State
2. Clinton emails by FBI
3. Clinton Foundation by State

— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) February 11, 2016

Debt forever

Hit and Run: "Obama's Budget Promises an Olympian Mountain of Debt For Our Kids to Pay Off."

The worst part of Obama's budget—and the ways in which Republicans have conspired to increase spending just late last year—is that it attempts to normalize substantially increased spending levels as a percentage of GDP. Why exactly the government needs to be spending a higher percentage of GDP is not clear and I'm doubtful any member of either the GOP or the Democratic Party will ever bother clarifying the matter.

What I think is ironic about the effort to double the national debt again is that an ever-expanding portion of the federal budget will go towards interest payments on the national debt, feeding the coffers of those bad-old "big banks."  I've said this before but it bears repeating: between inviolate interest payments and untouchable entitlement spending, there's not going to be anything left for what we call the "government."

Elizabeth Warren is right: the game is rigged

The Hill: "Clinton likely to leave NH with same number of delegates as Sanders."

Extra - From Legal Insurrection.

How I hate the mainstream media

Ace: "In 2009, Hillary Clinton's Press Handler Philip Reines Demanded that Marc Ambinder Describe One of Her Speeches as "Muscular" In Exchange For an Early Transcript Of It."

This goes on with such predictable regularity but heaven forfend if we allow "Citizens United"-type of free speech.  Golly, I wonder who the New York Times will endorse this year.

I was told it was a "security review"

You know, like the Geek Squad running McAfee.  Guess not: "FBI Makes It Official: Hillary Rodham Clinton Is Under Investigation."

Feedback loop Rubio

WashPost: "Debate slip-up seems to halt Rubio’s momentum."

I didn't see the debate but I caught the cringeworthy "dispel the notion" performance and it just brought back all the concerns I have that Rubio is a lightweight.  Gee, maybe I need to give Christie a second look.

The only thing I know for sure is that I do not want Trump, mostly because I think he's completely flippant about a lot of important issues.  Oh, things are going to be "great" and "don't worry about it?"  No dice.  He'll get into a debate with Clinton, take a couple sharp jabs, then decide he doesn't want to run anymore.  That's how capricious he can be.

Gee, you girls are superficial

Says Gloria Steinem.  But at least she's sorry...sorry you misinterpreted her.

Day 4: Yeah, we ain't lookin'

Twitchy: "‘So bad at this’: Hillary’s defense of not releasing speech transcripts is predictable and ‘terrible’."

Yeah, Hillary isn't going to release the transcripts of her lucrative Goldman-Sachs speeches, just as certain people predicted.  The reason she's giving (now) is that she wants other people who gave private speeches to release their transcripts also.  Of course, there is no depth to how many such speeches would qualify, so therefore there will be no release.  Classic Clintonian.

Extra - Minuteman: "Another 'own goal' for Hillary."

It's football day!

Hit and Run: "Rams Stiff St. Louis, Leave City with $144 Million Bill - Even though the NFL team has left, taxpayers are still on the hook for stadium debt payments."

Day 3: Looking and looking

Bloomberg: "Clinton Campaign Has No Answer Yet on Releasing Speeches to Goldman - A spokesman says the campaign is still looking into release as Clinton comes under attack for her Wall Street ties."

They're, like, in this filing cabinet and we think Scruffy has the key but he's out on his fishing boat right now.  We'll have to see when he gets back.

Day 2: The great looking-in continues

Hot Air: "Why won’t Hillary release the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches?"

Hillary will never release these transcripts and she fervently hopes that the question never comes up again.  Do the American people deserve a "yes" or a "no"?  Well, forget it.

Update - NYT: "Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Resists Releasing Transcripts From Goldman Speeches"

In response to a question at Thursday night’s debate, Hillary Clinton said she would “look into” the possibility of releasing transcripts of her paid remarks to banking, corporate and financial services companies like Goldman Sachs.

But by Friday morning, it did not appear that much looking was underway.

Nope.

"I will look into it"

If you're a toddler, you know that "we'll see" really means "no."  My favorite question at the Sanders-Clinton debate in New Hampshire tonight was when Hillary was asked if she'll release the transcripts of all the speeches she's given, for huge bucks, to Goldman Sachs.

Basically, she said "no."  No you can't see them, America.

An American legend

Fox News: "Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White dead at 74."

The very first album (not CD, but the black, round waxy kind) I ever purchased was "All n' All" by Earth, Wind & Fire.  I was absolutely blown away by the horn-heavy sound.

Another story: my Led Zeppelin-lovin' classmate once derisively said to me: "Who do you like, Earth Wind & Fire?"  And I incredulously responded: Yes.  Yes I do.

RIP Maurice.  You were the best.

I've underestimated this trend

Denver Post: "Americans spent more on legal pot last year than on Cheetos, Doritos."  Suddenly, the trend for state governments to legalize and tax pot makes so much sense.

Can't we just let it rest for a day?

That day being Super Bowl Sunday?  American Spectator: "No Justice, No Football - Here come the shutdown demonstrators to this Sunday’s Super Bowl."

It gets worse, Iowa

This just in.  Observer: "BREAKING: Hillary Clinton Put Spies’ Lives at Risk."

I can confirm that the FoxNews report, which lacks any specifics about exactly what was compromised, is accurate. And what was actually in those Top Secret emails found on Hillary’s “unclassified” personal bathroom server was colossally damaging to our national security and has put lives at risk.

Discussions with Intelligence Community officials have revealed that Ms. Clinton’s “unclassified” emails included Holy Grail items of American espionage such as the true names of Central Intelligence Agency intelligence officers serving overseas under cover. Worse, some of those exposed are serving under non-official cover. 

But...but...markings!

Something to think about, Iowa

Hugh Hewitt: "Hillary's emails disqualify her from the Presidency"

Just ask yourself what we would give to know what the Russian or Chinese foreign secretary was reading and sending every day in real time. That's what our enemies had for four years. Thanks, Hillary. Even the president was sending her emails the enemies of the United States were reading.

So she deleted 30,000 emails without anyone reviewing them. Now we have absolute confirmation that among those her clean up squad missed are documents of such sensitivity that the government can't release a word of them.

Keep in mind that it is the State Department that has classified these emails as "Top Secret" and this morning it was reported that the nature of the top secret classification is operational intelligence that put lives at risk.  Yet Hillary keeps repeating the mantra that this is an "interagency" dispute.  The State Department disagrees with the State Department?

Oh but the "markings."  Grandma can't figure out anything without the markings.

Extra - From Instapundit.