Mysterious!

Twitchy: "Tweets from CNN’s Chris Cillizza praising Gov. Cuomo & slamming Gov. DeSantis among those that have disappeared."  

In his defense, Joe had no idea what he was signing

Manhattan Contrarian: "Biden presidency: The dopes have taken full control."  (Hat tip: Maggie's Farm)

There are multiple EOs on this subject of energy policy, but this one , issued yesterday, is the big one, going on and on for what would be the equivalent of maybe 40 pages if it were typed out on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets.  The provisions run into the dozens and dozens.  It’s all entirely fantasies and fairytales, with no attempt to estimate or even mention costs of anything, even though it’s clear that the costs will be enormous and destructive, and that it’s all going to get charged to you, and that the costs will fall disproportionately on the relatively low of income. 

Just learn how to make solar panels, peasants. 

It will remain an unresolved mystery how a populist anti-establishment candidate could ever win the presidency. https://t.co/td0gIHysBF

— Andreas Backhaus (@AndreasShrugged) January 27, 2021

Lesson #1: Cover up Grandma's death

NY Post: "COVID-19 deaths in NY nursing homes were 50 percent higher than claimed: probe."

Six months ago there was this curious statistic:

As far back as May 5, we were writing about curious undercounts in New York’s tally of nursing-home deaths. In the August story, the AP noted the bizarre fact that New York’s “official” percentage of COVID deaths attributable to nursing-home residents was freakishly lower than in other neighboring states. In New Jersey it was 44 percent, in Massachusetts 64 percent, and in Pennsylvania 68 percent. In New York it was … 20 percent. “Whatever the cause, there is no way New York could be truly at 20%,” said one geriatric expert about the figure.

Far from putting the heat on Cuomo, he was being lauded for his handling of the virus.  Now Janice Dean has some thoughts.  

Reddit pranks the hedge funds

This post explains how the lack of Gamestop stock to cover shorts only drove the price of the stock even higher:

The most important thing is that there were so many shorts that there weren't even enough stocks being traded to cover them. It was such a sure thing that the price would go down, nobody was paying attention.

All those institutions aren't just desperate to cut their losses, they actually HAVE to come up with stocks and their aren't enough for sale. 

This is like when oil futures went negative in June 2020, except with a twist.  Back then, oil prices plunged because winning the future contract meant taking physical delivery of thousands of barrels of oil.  The GameStop flip drives the price up to cover the promise to cover the stock short.

Extra - WSJ: "GameStop Mania Reveals Power Shift on Wall Street—and the Pros Are Reeling." 

Journalists in action

Twitchy: "‘Who’s going to tell her?’ CNN commentator Hilary Rosen is certain that ‘if [Mitch] McConnell was in charge, he’d kill the filibuster in a heartbeat’." 

Professor Jacobson called it

Legal Insurrection: "Reports: Chief Justice John Roberts Will Not Preside At Upcoming Trump Senate Trial."

Prof. J predicted this a week ago.  

Another story for the memory hole

Twitchy: "Wow: Newsweek goes back and stealth-edits piece on female Rangers to line up with Salon’s smear of Tom Cotton."  

George Orwell's 1984 wasn't supposed to be an instruction manual.  

The absolute GOAT

Man, can we talk about the fact that 43-year-old Tom Brady just won the NFC championship and will be heading to his tenth Superbowl?   Just saw this bit of trivia on Reddit: "Tom Brady is the first QB in NFL history to win both the AFC Championship and NFC Championship, and with his tenth Super Bowl appearance, will now have twice as many as any other QB."  That's crazy.

ACAB except for the ones protecting me

Turtleboy: "Boston Police Are Sitting Outside Of Ayanna Pressley’s House In Hyde Park After She Requested Full Time Detail Despite Calling For Defunding The Police."  

All along, the "plan" was to wave a white flag

Red State: "In a Completely Unexpected Development, Biden Admits His Biggest Campaign Promise Was a Lie." - "But now that Biden has taken office, he is shrugging and saying there’s nothing he can do. It’s absolutely amazing, and infuriating to witness. What’s even dumber is that Biden is, at the same time, claiming that his “100 day challenge” to wear masks will somehow save 50,000 lives. So can we change the trajectory of the virus or not? Make up your mind."  

ICYMI, Joe Biden and his family violated his own mask mandate but Jen Psaki said it's totally OK thanks to the "celebration" loophole.

Today's media roundup

Reason: "The Washington Post Tried To Memory-Hole Kamala Harris' Bad Joke About Inmates Begging for Food and Water - "At a time when legacy publications are increasingly seen as playing for one political "team" or the other, this type of editorial decision will not do anything to fix that perception."

Daily Caller: "WaPo Fact Checkers End Trump ‘False Claims Project,’ No ‘Plans’ To Start One For Biden."

City Journal: "Slouching Toward Post-Journalism" - "The New York Times and other elite media outlets have openly embraced advocacy over reporting."

Axios: "Media trust hits new low."

Imagine being a contemporary journalist, and instead of breaking news - let alone holding people in power - your job is to clean up after Dem politicians with whom you ideologically align.

"Here's why that's false."

"Biden... created confusion by misstating his position." pic.twitter.com/hinkhjOBAh

— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) January 22, 2021

"Listen, baby, I know I said I wouldn't cheat on you but were confused by my misstatement."  

Ya know, the systemic racism (waves hands) all around

The idea of "systemic racism" depends on the idea that racism is both everywhere and yet nobody can identify what system needs fixing and what steps could be taken to address the so-called problem.  So I had a hearty laugh at this excerpt from an NPR interview this morning with a Democratic representative from Delaware:

KING: OK. The president signed an executive order yesterday to combat racial inequity, to advance equity in federal policymaking, to root out systemic racism in programs and institutions. In his inaugural address, he mentioned systemic racism, which may, I think, be the first time for a U.S. president in that type of speech. What are the specifics of this executive order?

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Well, you know, actually, the focus of this entire campaign, as well as his focus, will be to look at the structural and systemic challenges that we face. And so, you know, one of the things that even COVID-19 has done is shown us that within agencies, within policies, we have institutional and structural racism. And so doing that deeper dive into the structures, the policies, the things that - for example, the collection of data...

You know, the structures and stuff!  Noel King bravely tries again:

KING: But again, if I - yeah, I'd love to ask about specifics. Yes, exactly. It sounds as though President Biden admits that systemic racism is a problem. So that's a step forward. But this executive order is saying, I want to do something about it. How does he want to do something about it?

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Well, you will - and I have to be, you know, clear, we as the - and I'm in the Congress, not in his office.

KING: Sure.

BLUNT ROCHESTER: But we're still actually getting a lot of the language for both the executive orders. And we will be working with him on the legislative side as members of Congress. But I can tell you, his intentions are based on, again, the things that he has seen, the things that he has experienced and his desire to move this country forward and recognizes that when we look at everything from how people are trained, you know, to how we collect data, if we don't know the information, then we're - and we're not measuring - then we won't be able to really make the changes that we want to see. And so it is his intention that we look at it through a lens. We're doing the same thing in Congress today.

What a word salad that says exactly nothing.  But then it's not a problem to be solved.

The media starts their 4-year nap

Ben Shapiro: "Get Ready for 4 Years of Media Sycophancy."

This is a @CNN Whitehouse correspondent.

Journalism is dead.

Be prepared for 4 years of bootlicking. https://t.co/5hInsFWpjz

— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) January 20, 2021

Crossfire Hurricane

Babylon Bee: "Trump Criticized For Loudly Denouncing Incoming Administration And Not Just Spying On Them Like A Normal President."  

Ref leaves Touchdown Tom hanging

 

Bold to leave Tom Brady hanging 😅 pic.twitter.com/WrgA6nTfaq

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 18, 2021

After the game, Tom Brady came out of the locker room to hang with Drew Brees in a really nice moment. 

Science fiction take another step towards reality

Shot:

THE YEAR WAS 2081 2021, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Some things about living still weren't quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.

It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.

Chaser:

Hot Air: "Testing For NYC’s “Gifted And Talented” Student Program Is Deemed Unfair, Will Be Eliminated."  

A dangerously expanding definition

Of course

Red State: "Apple's Tim Cook Just Comes Right Out and Says It About Canceling Parler: 'We Don't Consider That Free Speech'."  

The Left hates free speech...

...and doesn't understand the First Amendment.  At all.  Big Government: "PA Lt. Governor Fetterman: 'You do not have the right' to spread lies that are 'yelling fire in a crowded theater."

Their violence is speech but your speech is violence.

Election's over: back to the bars, everyone

Ace: "Surprise! Leftwing Cities, Which Kept Their Populations Hostage During the Election Year, Suddenly Press for Speedy Reopening Now That Political Goal Has Been Achieved."

So we’re all just going to pretend this narrative happened magically & organically? pic.twitter.com/bfz95e9T8Y

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 15, 2021

Empirical evidence will do that to ya

Reason: "Closing Bars and Restaurants Didn't Stop People From Gathering" - "Now officials in Chicago and New York are reconsidering their rules."

All Trump, all the time, forever

The Hill: "Biden's new challenge: Holding Trump accountable."

Is this really what Sleepy Joe wants?  The first months - if not years - of his long-awaited administration will be consumed with the legally dubious charges against Trump, sucking up all the oxygen in the room.  He was always going to live in the shadow of Obama and now he'll have to grapple with Trump in real time.

Woof

Hot Air: "Endgame: McConnell Reportedly Believes Trump Committed Impeachable Offenses, “Pleased” That He’s Being Impeached."  

To be a fly on the wall for this conversation

CONFIRMED: President Trump and VP Pence spoke in Oval Office today a Senior Admin Official tells me. @CBSNews

— Fin Gomez (@finnygo) January 11, 2021

The Left hates free speech, a continuing series

Legal Insurrection: "Germany’s Merkel Slams Twitter for Trump Ban."

Fox Business:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk weighed in Monday on Big Tech's recent move to censor President Trump in response to the Capitol riot by pro-Trump supporters last week.

"A lot of people are going to be super unhappy with West Coast high tech as the de facto arbiter of free speech," Musk replied to a tweet of a satirical article entitled "Evil Fascist Dictator Censored and Voted Out Of Office."

Newsweek: "ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook After Trump Suspension."

Not the Bee: "Instagram just pulled one of our posts for "violence and incitement" ... It was a screenshot of Twitter's trending topics. The irony is beautiful."  

You can go now

Heather MacDonald: "Trump’s Exit" - "Encouraging a mob to target his own allies and disrupt the rule of law, the president has ended his tenure disgracefully—and emboldened the Left."  (HT: Maggie's Farm).

I thought maybe there was a chance that Trump would resign, in the spirit of "you can't fire me, I quit."  Instead it looks like we have to endure ten more days.

Another view

Andrew McCarthy: "Trump has committed an impeachable offense" - "Trump made a reckless speech that incited a throng on the mall, which foreseeably included an insurrectionist mob."

Chaos and madness

The Corner: "A Video That Captures Just How Dangerous and Out-of-Control the Rampage in the Capitol Was."

I heard former Clinton administration official Leon Panetta on NPR Thursday and, while he condemned Trump and the protesters, he was in disbelief at the complete lack of security in the Capitol.  

This must mean the DOJ are lackeys again

Legal Insurrection: "DOJ Won’t Charge Trump, Speakers at Save America Rally for ‘Inciting a Riot at Capitol Hill’." - "I’m reading Trump’s speech at the rally and it’s the same old, same old that he has said at every rally since November 3rd." 

Extra - Reason: "Did Trump Commit a Crime When He Riled Up His Supporters Before They Rioted" - "Under federal law, incitement to riot does not include "advocacy of ideas" or "expression of belief" unless it endorses violence, which Trump did not do."

Heading for the exits

CNBC: "‘I can’t stay here’ — Mick Mulvaney resigns from Trump administration, expects others to follow." and "Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is first Trump Cabinet member to quit after riot."

Breitbart: "VP Chief of Staff Marc Short barred from White House grounds."

Fox News: "Pence 'angry' after Trump says he 'didn't have the courage' to overturn election, Inhofe says - Pence reportedly told Inhofe 'after all the things I've done for (Trump)'"

The Hill: "Betsy DeVos resigns as Education Secretary."

It won't be long until Trump is sitting alone in the dark, muttering "Rosebud."  

Absolutely disgraceful

I'm just getting caught up with the events of today but there's no proper response except disgust and revulsion at this third-world behavior in the world's oldest democracy.  Apparently Trump incited the crowd to march on Congress and the blame largely lies with him.  The Washington Examiner is correct here: "Trump and his mob have dishonored America."

The mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was engaged in nothing less than a seditious insurrection. Everyone who participated in the violence and lawlessness acted disgracefully. Officials who set the tone for the sedition, especially President Trump, acted even more disgracefully, as they are expected to know better, indeed to lead.

And Senator Ben Sasse:

"Today, the United States Capitol — the world’s greatest symbol of self-government — was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard — tweeting against his Vice President for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the Constitution," Sasse, who has been a critic of Trump's in the past, said in a statement. 

"Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division," he continued. 

I'm not going to engage in equivocation like some others.  And, yes, I thought Trump's bluster after losing the election - which I acknowledged on election day - was mostly empty sore-loser hot air.  I figured we would just have to listen to these hallow complaints for a month and then he'd be gone.  But, instead, Trump confirmed all the dictatorial and anti-democratic criticisms aimed against him and then distanced himself when it all went sideways.  Inauguration Day can't come soon enough.

Update - I just saw the Senate reconvene; Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell gave good speeches defending American traditions and norms.

Update2 - Washington Post editorial: "Trump caused the assault on the Capitol. He must be removed." 

Update3 - Scott Johnson at Powerline: "A shameful day" - "President Trump seems determined to leave office in a manner that vindicates the vile accusations hurled at him by his opponents over the past four years. After a speech rehearsing his electoral grievances and calling on his vice president to abrogate his ministerial duty today, some of the assembled multitude followed the logic of Trump’s grievances and stormed the Capitol." 

Update4 - Seen on Reddit: "I used to say that conservatives wouldn't act the way liberals did 4 years ago... I stand corrected. Consider this my resignation from caring about either side. Good luck, Biden. I don't give a f--- anymore."  

Update5 - Michael Goodwin at the NY Post: "Trump is responsible for this day of infamy in America."

Fweedom!

Babylon Bee: "Kamala Harris Recalls How As A Little Girl She Helped Slaves Escape On The Undewgwound Wailwoad."

Background here.  

Your non-Georgia update

Federalist: "Radical Democrats Are Turning Minneapolis Into A Violent Wasteland" - "If you want to know what the real-time self-destruction of a city looks like under Democrats’ dangerous ideology, Minneapolis offers the perfect model." 

This sounds like Russian propaganda

Washington Examiner: "2020 was the point of no return for establishment media." - "After 2020, it will be hard to see corporate media as anything but a public relations arm of the Democratic Party following the former’s attempts to bury not one, not two, but three major allegations leveled against left-wing politicians."  Here's the third one.  

Ironic headline

Fox News: "Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pledges to 'push back harder' against Antifa after New Year's Eve riot."