Friday, September 30, 2016

Undisciplined

The "WTF" moment for me in the first Presidential debate was when Trump went on (and on) about how he was "extremely underleveraged."  He had already made it obvious that he had done virtually no preparation for the debate and, at this nadir, he was going to wing it through any and all topics and fall into Clinton's traps over and over.  I cannot agree with this commentary from Jim Geraghty more: "You can't save the candidate from himself"
Why should anyone be emotionally invested in this man’s victory, if he refuses to learn, refuses to improve, and refuses to avoid making the same mistakes, over and over and over and over again? I’d love to see Hillary Clinton defeated. I just have no faith that Donald Trump is capable of doing that. Every now and then, he gains some traction, the polls get closer… and then he goes and does something stupid. And all of his supporters insist it doesn’t matter, and that we should all avert our eyes, and that we’re betraying something good and righteous by noticing what just happened right in front of us. And then they insist it’s not stupid, that there’s some brilliant nine-level chess going on that we can’t possibly understand from the outside, and if we just wait and see, Donald Trump will win in the end. Unless he doesn’t, because the election is rigged.
That’s not a campaign; that’s a cult.
Thanks a bunch, Republican primary voters.  Before the debate, I spoke to a friend and said that Trump had two things he needed to do: 1) focus on the economy and 2) not look nuts.  Instead, he threw up one word salad after another culminating in Miss Universe.  The audience made a gasp/laugh when he said he had a "great temperament" and with good reason.

Related - Powerline: "Does Trump really want to win?"  "Because once again the Trump presidential campaign is looking more like a college frat prank that got out of hand."

Extra - Debate prep is for chumps.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The bestest President evah

Here's Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe: "Obama has shed his vanity. Just ask him."
Nothing oozes hubris like Barack Obama putting on a humble act.

“There’s a point where the vanity burns away and you’ve had your fill of your name in the papers, or big adoring crowds, or the exercise of power,” the president tells historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in an “exit interview” published by Vanity Fair. “And for me that happened fairly quickly.” Since he no longer revels in his own grandeur, he explains, he won’t fall into the trap of making decisions out of ambition or “thirsty” attachment to the prerogatives of high office.

Do tell.
Jacoby then details how a guy who put himself in the same class as FDR, LBJ and Lincoln has left a trail of wreckage around the world from Syria (he's "haunted") to the security vacuum filled by ISIS.  The Globe's token conservative doesn't even get into Obama's domestic record of low growth, Obamacare and national debt.  You're welcome, America.  You've been blessed.

After Arnold Palmer died, a lot of wags on the Right were wondering how long it would take for "the bride at every wedding" to post a selfie with Arnie.  They were not disappointed.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

We are deep in debt

Here's a favorite of mine, Veronique De Rugy on last night's debate and the rest of the election season:
I think, in the end, what is so depressing is how substance free this debate was. No mention of Obamacare, no mention of reforming entitlements, no mention of cutting government spending, or no mention of how Clinton’s minimum wage and paid family leaves would make the labor market even more rigid than it already is. The truth unfortunately is that neither candidates want to reform entitlements. Even though Trump talked about our huge debt, he won’t touch the driver of our future debt, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare subsidies. Both of them have talked about raising the minimum wage, and we know that neither of them have a good solution for Obamacare. And both of them are awful on trade.

Overall, this election continues to be substance free. It continues to be a choice between two very unpopular candidates. It continues to be a choice between big and bigger government. 
Emphasis added.  Trump had his soundbite about doubling the national debt but both candidates are talking about record levels of spending on top of soaring mandatory spending on entitlements and debt service.

The smart set

Hit and Run: "Why Obamacare exchanges are collapsing"
The architects of Obamacare could have foreseen today's crisis, says NYU Law Professor Richard Epstein, except they were intellectual "super jocks" with a "superior Ivy-League sneer," who knew so much better than anyone else "how to run this Rube Goldberg contraption" designed to "defeat the law of gravity."
Sounds about right.  It's just Jonathan Gruber, top to bottom.

Update - There goes Tennessee.

Monday, September 26, 2016

After the debate

Who dug up a sacred graveyard and/or pissed off a dark wizard to curse America with these two candidates?  Good gravy, that was awful.


The first debate

Good background review by James Fallows in the Atlantic: "When Donald meets Hillary."  "The most accurate way to predict reaction to a debate is to watch it with the sound turned off."  Optics.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Immunity for everyone!

NY Observer: "The FBI Investigation of EmailGate Was a Sham - NSA Analyst: We now have incontrovertible proof the Bureau never had any intention of prosecuting Hillary Clinton."

Friday, September 23, 2016

Good question, Huma

Politico: "Obama used a pseudonym in emails with Clinton, FBI documents reveal"
"Once informed that the sender's name is believed to be pseudonym used by the president, Abedin exclaimed: 'How is this not classified?'" the report says. "Abedin then expressed her amazement at the president's use of a pseudonym and asked if she could have a copy of the email."
Well, it wasn't marked classified so of course Hillary wouldn't know if communication from the President of the United States to the Secretary of State would be classified.  Who could determine such a thing without a big red C on the page, which is probably just a paragraph identifier anyway.

Obamacare fades

Hot Air: "Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska drops out of Obamacare exchange."

Obamacare reminds me of the Sorites paradox: how many exchanges have to collapse before we can declare the whole program a failure?  At this stage, it's just Medicaid with higher premiums.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

My favorite things

On tonight's season finale of "Mr. Robot", there was a song playing in the background as Darlene was led through the FBI headquarters.  It was a cover of Aimee Mann's "The Moth" from her excellent album "Lost in Space."

Monday, September 19, 2016

BleachBit Bingo

This timeline on Reddit reveals how the computer tech tasked with erasing Hillary's emails went ahead and deleted emails even though there was a Congressional subpoena...and then deletes his entire Reddit history when the Internet detectives started to close in.

Extra - How about this:
It should also be noted, that the House select committee on Benghazi reached an agreement with the State Department on the 23rd to produce records.
And the next day the Server tech was asking questions about how to alter/remove header information.
I question the timing.

Follow-up hypothetical - If this Reddit "Stonetear" account can be definitively linked to Paul Combetta, who was deleting emails for a VERY VIP, doesn't this resurrect the issue of intent?  After all, cui bono?

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim

The Corner: "Clinton's pointless lies."  "But she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t level with the public — even when it would have helped. She seems to have a pathological determination to mislead."

This guy is on to something

Scott Adams of "Dilbert" fame has been writing for months that Donald Trump will win by a landslide and I dismissed him as an entertaining, contrary crackpot (Adams, not Trump).  But as reality has turned inside-out, I'm starting to believe Adams has the long vision.

The Clinton slush fund

Daily Caller: "Just 5.7 Percent Of Clinton Foundation Budget Actually Went To Charitable Grants."

Trump wins again

Yesterday, Trump held a press conference where he said the following: "Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy."  The media predictably revealed their bias and rushed into the fold to declare this statement false.

But, oh-ho, what's all this?  McClatchy: "2 Clinton supporters in ’08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story."
Two supporters of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign reportedly shared the claim that then-rival Barack Obama was not born in the United States and thus was not eligible to be president.

One was a volunteer in Iowa, who was fired, Clinton’s former campaign manager said Friday. The other was Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal, according to a former McClatchy Washington Bureau chief.

In fact, there were several people publicly pushing the theory, which was repeated extensively on conservative news outlets. There were the two Clinton supporters, but there is no evidence that Clinton herself or her campaign spread the story.
Yeah, that's what a hatchet-man like Sid "The Shiv" Blumenthal is for, to keep Hillary's hands nice and clean.  Here's a guy so toxic that the Obama White House banned him from contact with the Clinton State Department...so Hillary set up her private email server to keep up communications.  He's denied the story, so of course it's the word of a known Clinton partisan versus a veteran journalist with nothing to gain.

Extra - Also, don't forget that a Clinton campaign staffer spread the birther conspiracy in 2008 but it's OK because he/she was fired really quick.

More - There's this 2011 Politico piece:
Then, as Obama marched toward the presidency, a new suggestion emerged: That he was not eligible to serve.
That theory first emerged in the spring of 2008, as Clinton supporters circulated an anonymous email questioning Obama’s citizenship.
"First emerged."

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Feelin' alright!

MassLive: "San Diego 'hid players' medical information'."
The San Diego Padres hid medical information of their players from the Major League Baseball database, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.
The Padres could face discipline after team officials "instructed their organization's athletic trainers to maintain two distinct files of medical information on their players — one for industry consumption and the other for the team's internal use," Olney reported.
The different medical files were a way for the Padres to hide information about players' health from potential trade partners.
Can you believe that somebody would conceal health information for personal gain?  It's unseemly.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Protect the Queen

Hot Air: "CBS News edits out Bill Clinton’s ‘frequently’ remark about Hillary’s fainting episodes."


Monday, September 12, 2016

Hillary's M.O.: Always conceal the truth

NY Post: "Clinton team avoided ER to conceal details of her medical treatment."  "Hillary Clinton was headed to an emergency room following her sudden collapse during the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony — but ditched her NYPD escort and detoured to daughter Chelsea Clinton’s apartment to keep details of her medical treatment under wraps, The Post has learned."

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Nyet

Federalist: "The Media’s Russia Policy In 8 Words: If A Republican’s For It, We Hate It - The New York Times is alarmed by Trump's friendliness with Russia. It's weird, considering their freakout when Mitt Romney called Russia a geopolitical foe."

We're supposed to stop calling it Obamacare

Chicago Tribune: "Why Obamacare failed."  Commentary from Hot Air: "Remember, the original idea was that Obamacare was going to be a new kind of portable insurance that might even lure people away from their employer-based plans over time. The reality, as the NY Times pointed out last month, is closer to “Medicaid, only with a high deductible.”."

Friday, September 09, 2016

Hillary can't keep her own lies straight

If you're wondering why Hillary's email saga never goes away, it's because - as a rule - people don't like to be lied to.  And Hillary just insists on insulting your intelligence over and over.  To wit:

There is no classified information.
OK, there's classified information but it was not classified at the time.
OK, it was classified at the time, but there were no markings.
OK, there were markings but there were no classification headings.

But wait a minute: back a couple months ago, Hillary said "headings are not classification notices."

The whole "markings" excuse is a complete red herring anyway since (as only George Stephanopoulos has the temerity to notice) it was Hillary's duty to protect classified information whether marked or unmarked.  Is Hillary really so dim that she couldn't recognize that emails about pending drone strikes may rise to the level of classified information?  Is that really her go-to excuse: I was too dumb to know and depending on State Department flunkies to tell me?  Well, give that woman Air Force One.

C'mon American media: do your job.

Thursday, September 08, 2016

What is with these Americans, amirite?

Federalist: "In Laos, Obama Repeatedly Calls Americans ‘Lazy’."

As always, this is about Obama's ego.  By calling Americans "lazy" he testifies to his own terrificness.

Sunday, September 04, 2016

Hammering Blackberries

Sounds like the good name for a metal band.  That appeared to be Hillary's preferred method for safekeeping national secrets.  Federalist: "FBI Interview Catches Hillary Clinton In Multiple Lies."

I raise a practical - if futile - question.  Can the FBI change its mind about a recommendation for indictment?  Couldn't James Comey say something like: "In light of recent information, we are reversing our decision?"  Hillary and her minions engaged in a massive and illegal effort to delete thousands of emails three weeks after the illegal server was discovered.  Included among these emails were (at least) 30 emails related to the Benghazi investigation, emails that were specifically requested by a Congressional review committee.  How is this not contempt of Congress?

As somebody noted, the only secrets that Hillary strained to keep private were her own.

Thursday, September 01, 2016