And she registered as a foreign lobbyist, right?

I hear that FARA violations are serious.  Washington Examiner: "Joe Biden's granddaughter worked on behalf of Peru and lived at White House: Report." 

Oh, that's (D)ifferent

Look who's obstructing an official proceeding in Congress now.  Twitchy: "Rep. Jamaal Bowman's 'no one in this country is above the law' tweet is aging wonderfully." 

Move those goalposts

NY Post: "The ‘no evidence’ claim about Biden corruption is looking increasingly ridiculous"

Joe Biden’s defenders have been on a wild ride this past year.

It began with them arguing that the president knew absolutely nothing about his family’s influence-peddling business to arguing that it’s no big deal that ChiCom wire payoffs happen to have Biden’s home address listed on them.

The quality of the excuses, unsurprisingly, has been deteriorating rapidly.

They largely entail repeating the words “no” and “evidence” in a perpetual loop.

As I noted, there are multiple polls out there indicating the American people aren't so easily fooled despite the willful blindness of the likes of Philip Bump.

Extra - Twitchy: "Here's where the media spin on Biden allegations stands (for now)." 

Whoops

Red State: "Biden Thinks He's Going to Tag the GOP for Gov't Shutdown, but CNN Has a Big Surprise for Him." 

The "no evidence" jive talk

Federalist: "Yes, The Biden Impeachment Hearing Presented Evidence Of Corruption — Lots Of It" - "On the first day of Biden’s impeachment inquiry, Republicans brought mountains of evidence of corruption. Democrats and the media shrugged."

But he repeats himself.  The American people are more sophisticated.  

Rest in peace

Legal Insurrection: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein has Died at the Age of 90 - Feinstein was the oldest member of the Senate." 

Why do oil refiners only gouge California?

It's a mystery.  Twitchy: "Gov. Gavin Newsom floats the idea of a 'price gouging penalty' for gasoline."

This idea has the same energy as Chicago's government-owned supermarkets.  

You have one job

I feel like I write this every year but Congress should pass a budget.  It's the core responsibility of Congress and every year we have this useless brinksmanship.  Yes, we should cut spending as the national debt tops $33 trillion but those kind of arguments should be done months before zero hour.  Reason: "Shut Up Already About John Fetterman's Slob Chic - The Senate is an incompetent laughingstock regardless of what its members wear."

As the Pew Research Center notes, since fiscal 1997, "Congress has never passed more than five of its 12 regular appropriations bills on time. Usually, it's done considerably less than that: In 11 of the past 13 fiscal years, for instance, lawmakers have not passed a single spending bill by Oct. 1″ (emphasis in original). That will almost certainly hold true for this fiscal 2024, alas.

The inability to get anything done helps to explain the history of government shutdowns, including the most recent—and longest—one, which started in December 2018 and carried over into the next year. Absent some probable last-minute deal making, the next one is due to start on Sunday.

--------

Judging by their record when it comes to the budget process, it's too much to expect that members of the "world's greatest deliberative body" will do their jobs, much less actually cut spending, reduce the size and scope of government, or even forego alleged bribes. But at least there is one less distraction when it comes to holding them accountable for record-high levels of debt.

Here we go: National Debt Clock.  Debt per American is closing in on six figures. 

Modern problems require modern solutions

Ace: "Supermarkets Are Closing in Chicago Due to Mass Looting, So the Woke Mayor Proposes... the State Opening Its Own Supermarkets So That Thieves Still Have Stores to Loot From." 

I would actually love to see a government-run supermarket.  Chicago has the best ideas. 

The unbelievable predictive powers of the Bee

Babylon Bee, September 14: "Jets File Restraining Order Against Colin Kaepernick."

Today: "Colin Kaepernick petitions New York Jets to let him join their practice squad."

Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL in seven years and hasn’t played decent in the NFL in 10 years. He knows they’re not going to sign him. But, the denial is important to his “brand.” https://t.co/IfA4kBWVPj

— Dan Zaksheske (@RealDanZak) September 12, 2023

Let's play: "Guess the cities"

CNBC: "Target says it will close nine stores in major cities, citing violence and theft." 

Another directional poll

Hot Air: "NBC poll, too: 59% of voters have "major concerns" about Biden's mental competency."  There's that and another new low in approval numbers:

Meanwhile, Biden’s job rating among registered voters stands at 41% approve and 56% disapprove — the highest disapproval rating of his presidency.

Deeper inside those numbers, Biden is underwater among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 (46% of them approve of his job performance), all women (46%), Latinos (43%) and independents (36%).

What’s more, the NBC News poll finds 37% of voters approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, and 41% approve of his handling of foreign policy.

Biden has been pushing "Bidenomics" for months now and his numbers on the economy keep going down.  Can he stick with this message when it obviously has no effect?  At this point, he's just insulting the intelligence of the American people with his proposition that they should be happy with $35 insulin.

Extra - Red State: "'Bidenomics' Shaping up to be Joe Biden's 'Chicken in Every Pot' Moment." 

This ABC News/Wash Post poll is straight fire

Wild stuff this morning: "Trump edges out Biden 51-42 in head-to-head matchup - The president's job approval rating is 19 points underwater."

President Joe Biden's job approval rating is 19 points underwater, his ratings for handling the economy and immigration are at career lows. A record number of Americans say they've become worse off under his presidency, three-quarters say he's too old for another term and Donald Trump is looking better in retrospect -- all severe challenges for Biden in his reelection campaign ahead.

Forty-four percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they've gotten worse off financially under Biden's presidency, the most for any president in ABC/Post polls since 1986. Just 37% approve of his job performance, while 56% disapprove. Still fewer approve of Biden's performance on the economy, 30%.

These numbers are terrible.  After months of gaslighting on Bidenomics, the poll on the economy is the worst of Biden's presidency.  The Washington Post wants you to know it's probably an outlier: "Washington Post rejects latest poll from Washington Post." 

Maybe it is but maybe it's what Charles C.W. Cooke calls a directional poll:

Thus far, our press has responded to the vast majority of the public’s criticisms of Biden by insisting that voters have been hoodwinked into a temporary form of false consciousness. At some point, one assumes, that will change.

This poll will send some members of the Left into full-blown panic.  

I did not see this coming

Twitchy: "SHOCKER! Ibram X. Kendi blames RACISM for his antiracism center falling apart and it does NOT go well." 

Extra - Unherd: "Ibram X. Kendi’s race hustle deserves to fail." 

Load up the buses to NYC

Washington Examiner: "Biden makes border history with most immigrant encounters in August ever recorded." 

Update - Request granted!  "No surrender: More migrant buses sent by Governor Abbott are New York City bound." 

How does this keep happening?

NY Post: "CNN posts lowest weekend ratings in key demo in its recorded history." 

This is how it's done

Federalist: "Slimy WaPo Reporters Cower From Interviewing Dave Portnoy After He Exposed Their Backhanded Journalism." 

Time for the 25th Amendment

A couple days ago, Maureen Dowd of the New York Times pretty much confirmed what we all suspected about Dementia Joe Biden getting press questions in advance:

Since he became president, Biden has sharply curbed how much he talks to the press, rarely giving interviews. He limits his press conferences mostly to duets with foreign leaders, where he can put his foreign policy relationships and experience on display. Even then, White House officials preselect questioners and aggressively approach reporters to ferret out what topics they would focus on if they were picked. On Friday at the White House, after backing the autoworkers in their strike, he didn’t take questions.

Do tell: it's pretty obvious that Biden can no longer answer extemporaneous questions and relies heavily on notecards and teleprompters in any public setting.  Presidents usually have joint press conferences when foreign guests visit the White House but Biden's staff just makes up ridiculous excuses why these never occur. 

Now we have this story: "Biden repeats same story word-for-word just minutes apart, raising fresh concerns about age, fitness for office."

This is only going to get worse.  But...Kamala?  Oh, no, no.

Wassup?

Tonight my dog did a quick head bob as she was (likely) sniffing something in the air but it had all the qualities of a high-school "sup" move.

I dunno - that's all I have right now.

That's Bidenomics, baby!

ABC News: "US poverty rate jumped in 2022, child poverty more than doubled: Census."

The poverty rate in the United States increased last year, the first increase in 13 years, according to the Census Bureau.

In 2022, the poverty rate was 12.4%, up 4.6% from 2021, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which looks at government programs and tax credits designed to help low-income families, according to the census.

Because nothing bad is ever Joe Biden's fault, he blamed the expiration of the child tax credit expansion on December 31, 2021 for the spike in the poverty rate.  The tax credit allowed for an extra $300/month while inflation is costing Americans $709/month.  

All the media is Philip Bump

Reason: "There's Plenty of Evidence of Corruption Around Biden."

"Mr. Biden repeatedly said he had 'never discussed' and had 'never spoken to' Hunter about his business dealings, and Republicans have produced no evidence that he was ever briefed on specific transactions or deals," according to Luke Broadwater of The New York Times.

You'll note how "no evidence" morphs into "no clear evidence" about "specific transactions"—those goal posts must be mounted on wheels. But a lot of the same outlets saying there's no evidence spend a lot of ink disputing the persuasiveness of evidence they tell us doesn't exist.

Here's the reference in the title, ICYMI.  I'd sure like to see the mainstream media attack this story with the same level of evidence scrutiny they afforded the Brett Kavanaugh allegations.

The Greens vs. Blue collar workers

Really good review of the class issues bubbling under the surface of the UAW strike: "The Electric Vehicle ‘Transition’: Just One Battle in Net Zero’s Class Conflict." 

The gaslighting isn't working

Breitbart: "Bidenomics bust: Consumer sentiment falls for second straight month." 

USA Today: "From food costs to holiday spending: Americans say they're being pummeled by the economy in dire new poll."

I can't imagine why:

It's Friday: Camp David or Delaware?

It's Delaware.

NY Post: "Slacker-in-chief Biden keeps up record 40% ‘vacation’ pace despite disasters." 

Republicans pounce

Slate: "Eric Adams Is Handing Republicans a Flamethrower for 2024. Again."

Yes, that's the real problem.  

The long knives are out for Kamala

We now have the bizarre scene of prominent Democrats openly wondering if Kamala Harris is even Joe Biden's running mate.  As Stephen Miller notes, if this is public "damning with faint praise" just imagine what they're saying behind closed doors.

Extra - Red State: "Democrats Are Begging Joe Biden to Dump Kamala Harris as His Running Mate. Should He Listen?"  I don't think it will happen because - at its heart - it would mean Joe Biden admitting that he made a mistake.  If there's one thing that Joe "Afghanistan went great!" Biden hates to do, it's admitting he was wrong.  

More of this, please

PJ Media: "McCarthy Makes AP Reporter Eat Her Phony Narrative Words." 

The NY Times is gonna NY Times, part infinity

Check out this unbelievable horses**t:

It's a conservative meme come to life, the endless simping for the Democrats.  Doesn't anybody over there at the Gray Lady have an ounce of shame?  Here's Charles C.W. Cooke: "Actually, NYT, the Problem with High Gas Prices Is That Gas Prices Are High."

I know, I know — I should expect it by now. When the president is a Democrat and something bad happens, everything is invariably covered within the frame of Republican “pouncing.” But this one is particularly egregious. The idea that the key problem with “higher gas prices” is that it might lead people to criticize President Biden is just insane. I honestly cannot imagine being so detached, so monomaniacal, so utterly privileged in my position in society that I could no longer grasp that “provide fodder for Republican criticism of Biden” is about number 437,295 in the list of sentences that ought to follow a headline that starts with “Higher gas prices . . . ”

And, in case you missed it, here's the NY Times not even capable of reading the NY Times:

Pretty amazing error by @NYTimes on a key point. https://t.co/ZXEwxWeQ91

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) September 12, 2023

Clown show, man.  Utter clown show. 

The NY Times is gonna NY Times

National Review: "Great Feats of Stenography." - "Between the Republican pouncing, the excuse-making, and the non-sequiturs designed to draw Donald Trump into a conversation in which he has no justifiable purpose other than to create the only favorable contrast from which Joe Biden can benefit, this Times report is an exquisite specimen. Even the headline — “Biden’s News Conference in Vietnam Ignites His Opponents” — is pitch-perfect. It belongs in a museum." 

That was a wild game

This is hilarious: "Milwaukee pub patrons shocked they must pay bar tabs after Jets stun Bills without Aaron Rodgers."

So, when Rodgers went down after just four plays with what turned out to be a torn Achilles, ending his season abruptly, bar patrons started to run up their tabs. Facing a tough Buffalo Bills team with Zach Wilson now at quarterback, everyone believed the Jets were going to lose. 

Whoops.  I've always been a football fan but some guys at work asked me to join their fantasy football league so my interest has intensified.  I chose Josh Allen as my quarterback and he threw three interceptions in that game.  Get it together, Josh! You're throwing off my algorithms. 

Nice timing

On the anniversary of 9/11: "Biden admin strikes deal with Iran to swap prisoners, release $6 billion in frozen funds."

This, after we already supplied all these countries with our military hardware.  

Good riddance, high-school graduate Chuck Todd

Chuck Todd's last "Meet the Press" was today.  His legacy will be taking the longest-running show on television and the former flagship of Sunday morning shows and running it into the ground.

I stopped watching "Meet the Press" a long time ago but sometimes - when I wasn't fast enough to change the channel - I would catch a couple seconds where Todd would inevitably focus on Trump.  This was his white whale for nine years and the show settled into the same tedious pattern of Saturday Night Live when Alec Baldwin would appear.  Todd ruined MTP with his obvious bias, routinely interrupting right-leaning guests while vigorously defending his favored political party.  

Todd took a once-venerable and balanced political show and turned it into MSNBC.  Don't let the door hit you in the ass, Chuckie. 

A stupid and futile gesture

The Corner: "The New Mexico Governor’s ‘Suspension’ of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Is Both Illegal and Stupid." - "What a mountain of tyrannical stupidity she has built." 

A win for free speech

Fox News: "Biden administration violated First Amendment over COVID-19 content on social media, court of appeals rules - Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry called the ruling a 'major win against censorship'." 

Related: "Harvard University Awarded ‘Abysmal’ Speech-Climate Rating." 

Schadenfreude overload

The Corner: "On Illegal Immigration, Mayor Eric Adams Is an Incoherent Mess"

Why should illegal immigrants be in Texas and not New York? New York City is a self-designated “sanctuary”; Texas is not. What did New Yorkers think that meant? Why are they surprised that a non-sanctuary jurisdiction such as Texas would “bus” illegal immigrants “up” to a sanctuary jurisdiction such as their own? Do they not own a dictionary? Did they think it was a joke? Was their willingness to serve as a “sanctuary” only operative when they believed that nobody would show up?

Ding ding ding!  We have a winner.

What about the Statue of Liberty, Mayor?  What about that poem?

John Hayward has a long thread excoriating Eric Adams on the emptiness of his complaints now.  You voted for this, New York, and now you can take it good and hard.

Accurate:

It's an absolute disgrace that it took this brute-force tactic to get lefties to pay the slightest bit of attention to border security. As long as OTHER Americans were suffering, they couldn't give less of a damn. It was all just a big virtue-signaling propaganda game.

— John Hayward (@Doc_0) September 7, 2023

How's the Bidenomics Tour going?

Hot Air: "New CNN poll: Dem buyers' remorse on Biden is real -- and spectacular."

Sad

Reason: "Two-Thirds of College Students Think Shouting Down A Public Speaker Can Be Acceptable" - "Even at schools with solid speech policies, many students show little tolerance for opposing political beliefs."

Weep for the future of America where college students believe they should not be exposed to uncomfortable thoughts. 

TIL Amherst and Northampton are sanctuary cities

These are the main hippie havens of Western Mass: "Massachusetts has eight sanctuary cities: Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton, Northampton, and Somerville."

Amherst is a little too close to me but feel free to send migrants to Northampton.  Let's see how these communities feel when the expense outpaces their virtue signaling: "Abbott and DeSantis are right - transporting illegal aliens to sanctuary cities works."

Governor Abbott and former Arizona Governor Ducey were right to begin the migrant buses going to sanctuary cities. Governor DeSantis has joined in the operation. It’s working. Sanctuary cities virtue-signal that they welcome everyone, regardless of legal status. That is, until buses arrive and the mayors have to walk the walk. Suddenly there is not room in these big cities for forty or so illegal aliens every so often. There are cries for federal funding. There are calls for meetings with Biden and DHS. Welcome to the party, pals.

Extra - Commentary: "Sorry, Busing Illegal Migrants Is a Political Coup"

Zombie supermarket

Last month, I said "Keep an eye on the Giant Supermarket in Ward 8 of Washington D.C."

Today, the Washington Post has an update, linked at Hot Air: "Giant Food makes a last ditch effort to stop retail theft."  The main thrust is pulling the most stolen items off the shelves such as Tide detergent. 

Meanwhile, here in the People's Republic

Red State: "National Guard Activated in Massachusetts as the Left-Wing Chickens Come Home to Roost."

Out here in Western Mass, the governor is forcing Westfield State University to take migrants after it turned down an initial request.  

Words: what do they mean?

This exchange between Washington Post reporter Philip Bump and podcaster Noam Dworman perfectly encapsulates both the bias of the mainstream media and the absolute contempt for everybody who disagrees with their reporting.

Imagine being this obtuse:

Dworman asked, "What do you take from the text message to his adult daughter – Hunter’s text message – ‘I have to give 50% of my income to pop." Bump declared, "I have no idea what that means. I don’t. I have no idea what that means."

The host stammered in disagreement to which the reporter replied, "I know, it’s circumstantial evidence and you prefer that to direct evidence." 

"No, what, what could it mean?" Dworman asked. Bump again passed on it, saying, "I have no idea. I don’t know."

Yeah, would could that possibly mean?  It's a mystery. 

Extra - From Jonathan Turley: "It appears that, if “Democracy dies in darkness,” journalism more often dies in the light of day."

Related - Federalist: "Study Shows Journalism Is ‘Most Regretted’ College Major As Trust In Corporate Media Sinks" 

Our dumbest American president said this

Twitchy: "Biden blasted for saying 'Nobody intelligent can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore'."  

Reminder: "A 1987 clip of Joe Biden has resurfaced, showing him exaggerating his academic record, boasting that he graduated “in the top half of my class” - before he later admitted that he graduated 76th in a class of 85." 

WTF was that?

I just found out that the post directly below was put behind a "content warning" wall for objectionable content.  The only reason I can figure out is that it references the Woodward & Bernstein undercover source from Watergate.  Ya know, from the adult movie.

Anyway, here's the Twitchy ref.

Democracy dies in darkness

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

A runaway win!

Hot Air: "Karine Jean-Pierre wins the 'Gaslight Award of 2023'."

It's a good thing the White House press corps is too polite to call her out.

Threats to the hegemony

City Journal: "MSNBC’s War on Truth - The left-wing news network releases a deeply misleading documentary about the reforms at New College of Florida."

Historically awful

TIPP Insights: "KJP's Daily Falsehoods Disrespect The WH Press Office"

National Review: "KJP’s Description of Joe Biden Is Preposterous and Disrespectful." 

Of course

Federalist: "NPR Moves Its Goal Posts On Senility From Trashing Trump’s Age To Defending Biden’s Decline." 

When virtue signalling starts to cost money

Newsweek: "Sanctuary Cities Seethe as Illegal Immigrants Actually Arrive"

The surest sign that public policies are simply virtue signals is when the messages don't cost anything. The easiest way to tell when that signal starts to fail is to watch politicians flounder as the costs start to rise and voters demand relief.

It was free—and meaningless—for progressive churches to post banners calling themselves "nuclear free zones" during the Reagan era. Their dwindling congregations loved it. It was free, after George Floyd's murder, to post woke catechism signs on your front lawn, proclaiming "In this house, we believe: Black Lives Matter, women's rights are human rights, no human is illegal" and so on. Maybe the neighbors gave you high-fives. And for years it has been free for deep-blue cities to proclaim themselves "sanctuaries" for illegal immigrants. That's changing now that voters want some sanctuary for themselves.

Changes like this happen when voters realize the old virtue signals actually entail serious costs—and that they will have to pay them. That is exactly what's happening in New York City and Washington D.C. now that Texas governor Greg Abbott is sending those cities a few busloads of illegal immigrants from his state.

This is how I feel about the environmental crisis clowns: exactly none of them are going to give up their IPhones, cars, and winter heating.  Charlie Kirk always asks "why don't you join the Amish?" when they start talking about living a sustainable life.  

Oh, no, no.  Too much sacrifice.  But here's a banner.

The Left hates free speech, continued

Spectator: "Disinfo-nation: the new censorship is here to stay - The list of topics on which the government and mass media feel called to protect us from ‘disinformation’ is very long." 

Bidenomics is working!

Hot Air: "Gulp: Delinquencies on credit cards, auto loans highest in a decade."

Nothing says prosperity like crushing debt to pay for eggs. 

This is scary

National Review: "Mitch McConnell’s Second ‘Freeze’ Moment Will Be Hard to Ignore."

Sheesh, there's no shame in retiring Mitch.  

The hero in every story

Joe Biden is the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral, and the hero we need: "Biden Lies Again, Says He ‘Literally’ Convinced Segregationist Strom Thurmond to Vote for Civil Rights Act."

Even among Biden’s innumerable lies, this one sets a new standard for mendacity, as every detail of it is false: the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, eight and a half years before Biden entered the Senate, Thurmond voted against it, and the segregationist senator didn’t die until nearly forty years later. Is it the dementia? Or is it just Joe being Joe? It’s increasingly hard to tell the difference.

Everything Joe touches is pure gold, even that great withdrawal from Afghanistan.  Huge success, c'mon man! 

Everything's great!

Dementia Joe gave the same tired speech he gives twice a week about how "Bidenomics is working."  I'm surprised he still needs a teleprompter.

WSJ: "Americans Are Bailing on Their Home Insurance - Some homeowners who are skipping coverage say they can no longer afford rising premiums"

CNN: "Americans’ credit card debt hits a record $1 trillion"

NY Times: "It’s ‘More Expensive to Live,’ and Workers Are Tapping 401(k)s for Help." 

This ain't Europe, hippies

What makes this extra amusing is that the "Rangers" are Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police, and the backed up traffic is for Burning Man. Native American cops busting up a standoff between two tribes of white progressives is straight up comedy gold https://t.co/YQzvVmTuo2

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 28, 2023

A contradiction of American policy

Manhattan Contrarian: "The Bidens: "Stone Cold Crooked" - This Is Getting Ridiculous"

At this point this is getting ridiculous.  The firing of Shokin was not official U.S. policy at all (other than as dictated by Biden himself), and was in immediate response to a specific demand from Hunter’s paymasters at Burisma.

There has never been a U.S. President so obviously and thoroughly corrupt.  It is shameful. 

Don't worry: the mainstream media will be all over this story...in 2025.  Just like before. 

No-talent hack

Federalist: "Jon Stewart’s Real Legacy Is A Generation Of Smug, Lazy, Dishonest News Consumers"

This older, more tired Jon Stewart is like a sad tribute act to his younger self. He falls back on a trusted method to sell his political messaging: the gags, the mugging to the camera, the slick video montages, and the mild rebuke of adoring news media hosts before unloading on the nearest Republican he can blame the issue of the day on. It is a threadbare routine. 

I saw an interview Stewart did with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and even she seemed taken aback by his tendentious hackery, as she tried to explain why Walmart tries to make a profit for its shareholders while keeping prices low for Americans.  Stewart instead just wanted to focus on the crime of profit, as if he'd never tried to maximize his own profit margins.

Flashback - Let's not forget the Andrew Sullivan ambush: "The sad demise of Jon Stewart - This once agreeable, sceptical liberal has become a tiresome, hectoring woke scold." 

That's why nobody's watching. 

Hey, I've seen this movie before

Not the Bee: "Zillow is now offering 1% down-payment home loans and I don't think it's hard to figure out where we are headed." 

Collusion

NY Post: "Biden staffers met with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s aides before Trump indictment"

The White House counsel’s office met with a top aide to Special Counsel Jack Smith just weeks before he brought charges against former President Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents — raising serious concerns about coordinated legal efforts aimed at President Biden’s likely opponent in 2024.

Looks like that absolute wall between the Biden White House and the Department of Justice is as porous as that absolute wall between Biden and Hunter, or the Southern border.

Sounds like a fun time

Washington Free Beacon: "This Portland Woman Won't Date You Unless You Suffer From Crippling Climate Anxiety" - "New York Times guest columnist explains 'why I bring up climate change on first dates'." 

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: you'd need to have a heart of stone not to laugh at this nutcase.

Maui strong

At first I thought this must be an internet fake, but it's a real sign. 

Oops - "accident" in Russia

National Review: "When Falling out of a Window Is Just Too Subtle." 

The only supermarket in Ward 8

Keep an eye on the Giant Supermarket in Ward 8 of Washington D.C.  It is currently losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every month due to theft, while local politicians excuse the behavior that will lead to only one conclusion.  

Biden yuks it up in Maui

WTF is wrong with this guy?: "Biden Jokes About "Hot Ground" In Maui and Once Again Lies About Having Survived a Serious Fire."

[Seinfeld voice] "I mean what's the deal with these cadaver canines?  Talk about hot dogs!"

Then - after claiming he didn't want to "compare difficulties" - he did just that by bringing up the fake story about a kitchen fire in his home: "Biden Claims He Knows How Maui Fire Victims Feel by Talking About a Minor Fire at His House."

Read the room, Grandpa.  Nobody gives a s**t you almost lost your Corvette.

Aside from his tone-deaf remarks, I thought it was interesting that Captain Empathy couldn't wait to get out of Hawaii:

Joe Biden's trip to Maui was a bit of a disaster on multiple fronts. The president and his wife landed on Monday, spending just a few confusing hours on the ground before returning to billionaire Tom Steyer's home in Lake Tahoe. 

No kidding.  Rather than spend a single night in Hawaii, Dementia Joe hightailed it back to his vacation at Lake Tahoe, arriving 1:15 in the morning local time.  

A disaster of incompetence in Hawaii

This is a long and detailed review on Hot Air; "Maui response is a disaster."

Almost two weeks after the fire in Maui ripped through Lahaina far too little is still known, far too little has been done to help the victims, and not enough attention has been paid to the series of government failures that led to the worst wildfire losses in American history.

It turns out that fire officials in Hawaii have been sounding the alarm for wildfire prevention for at least 16 years, including a public hearing in 2018 attended by zero state senators.  The guy in charge of emergency operations had no background in disaster response.  The warning sirens weren't used and water was held back for five hours while first responders were put on hold.  It's a stunning display of incompetence, top to bottom, building up for years.

What happened to Lahaina is a tragedy. Thousands still missing, including children.

Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong. Sirens didn’t go off, water that could’ve been used to put out the flames was restricted, and power lines kept operating despite the danger posed… pic.twitter.com/LHAtKUEnxq

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 21, 2023

The gaslighting will continue until morale improves

Reason: "Americans Aren't Buying 'Bidenomics'."

President Joe Biden's approval ratings are especially low when it comes to the economy, according to the latest Associated Press/NORC poll. Just 36 percent of those surveyed said Biden is doing a good job handling the economy.

The Biden administration pushed hard this month to convince voters that his initiatives—termed "Bidenomics"—have positively impacted the economy. Americans aren't buying it.

Biden gives the same tired, lie-packed speech two or three times a week to unenthusiastic crowds.  Nobody is buying what he's selling. 

Life comes at you fast

 

A single question

Except for Peter Doocy's shouted question, I think this is the only question Dementia Joe has answered in a month:

And with regard to the second question, I make — I have no comment on any investigation that’s going on.  That’s up to the Justice Department, and that’s all I have to say. 

Thanks, Joe!  Now it's vacation time at Lake Tahoe.

Extra - Red State: "Biden's Trilateral Summit Press Conference Is a Mess" 

Biden talks to the press!

It went like this:

THE PRESIDENT:  I’ll speak about one thing: Mrs. Casey.  Nothing else.

 

Q    Okay.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Do you have a question about Casey?

So, yeah, there you go.

Have you considered getting diabetes?

Newsweek: "One Year Later, President Biden's 'Inflation Reduction Act' Is a Total Flop."

Just think how much you could save if you needed insulin!  Otherwise, that's it.

Your enormous binder can't save you now

Red State: "Karine Jean-Pierre's Incompetence Just Completely Exposed Joe Biden's X Account." 

It's come to this

Newsmax: "Report: Biden Campaign Nixes MSNBC Talk Over Hunter." - "President Joe Biden's reelection campaign canceled an appearance on MSNBC to avoid questions about his son, Hunter Biden, The New York Times reported Saturday."

MSNBC.  

Dementia Joe came back from his long weekend in Delaware today, avoided the press, and then got down to the nation's business of... [checks notes]...eating lunch with Kamala.

If you can't handle softball questions from MSNBC, there's always the Weather Channnel:

Why can't *she* avoid the press like her boss?

Red State: "Karine Jean-Pierre's Maui Fire Comments Devolve Into an Embarrassing Mess of Incompetence."

Her conspicuous dependence upon her huge brown binder to answer questions is embarrassing. 

Whelp, there goes $1609

Breitbart: "Heritage Foundation: American aid to Ukraine costs $900 per household."

CNN: "US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago." 

The DOJ is a clown show

Jonathan Turley: "‘Shoeless Joe’ Weiss and the fixing of the Hunter Biden game."

It was also the same Weiss who reportedly allowed the statute of limitations to run out on Hunter’s major tax offenses, even though he had the option to extend it.

It was the same Weiss who did not indict on major tax felonies and cut a plea deal that brushed aside a felony gun charge.

It was the same Weiss who inked a widely panned “sweetheart” deal that caused a federal judge to balk and trash a sweeping immunity grant — language that even the prosecutor admitted he had never previously seen in a plea deal.

That is why many asked Garland to “say it ain’t so.”

The Weiss appointment definitively established Garland as a failure as attorney general. As someone who initially praised Garland’s appointment, I now see that he has repeatedly shown he lacks the strength and leadership to rise to these moments.

Interesting tidbit from this article: the appointment of Special Counsel to Weiss is also illegal, since the SC is supposed to be "selected from outside the U.S. government."  Great job, Merrick.

If only there were a different option

Twitchy: "Councilman fears DC ward's last grocery store may close due to shoplifting."

The next stage of the coverup

Wall Street Journal: "A Not-So-Special Counsel for Hunter Biden"

This is another example of the way that Mr. Garland, supposedly a man of sound judgment, has belly flopped his department into the 2024 presidential campaign.

He unleashed special counsel Jack Smith to pursue Donald Trump, and Mr. Smith has obliged with two prosecutions. He named a special counsel to investigate Joe Biden’s mishandling of secret documents, but no one expects anything beyond a stern rebuke to come out of that. Now he’s doing the same with the Hunter prosecution to uncertain result.

Mr. Garland claims he has done all this to remove any political taint from the investigations, but this is having the opposite effect. We are now going to have a presidential election debate adjudicated in effect by special counsels. Don’t expect any of this to calm our partisan furies or restore faith in nonpartisan justice.

Good thing he was kept off the Supreme Court, the dancing monkey. 

Maybe that cocaine was hers

Twitchy: "'It's like she speaks in gypsy curses' ... Kamala Harris tried to speak again and it was so bad."

I watched part of this discussion and it's impossible to put aside her inappropriate laughter throughout a talk about gun violence.  What is wrong with her?  

It's Friday so time to play: Camp David or Delaware?

Where will Dementia Joe go this weekend for his never-ending vacation?

It's Delaware.  

Put it on the credit card

Reason: "The U.S. Credit Rating Just Dropped. It's Time for Radical Budget Reform."

CNN: "Americans’ credit card debt hits a record $1 trillion." 

Then there's this development: "Americans Are Pulling From Their 401(k) at Dramatic Rate."

That's Bidenomics!

Gold is soaring...

...which means faith in the government is dropping.  Good video below.  Depressing but good.

Perish the thought!

NY Post: "AG Merrick Garland denies the DOJ is corrupt: ‘Nothing could be further from the truth’."

Star Chamber

Not suspicious at all: "J6 Committee failed to preserve records, has no data on Capitol Hill security failures, GOP charges." 

Dementia Joe's first contact with the press in 2 weeks went about as well as you'd expect

Red State: "Joe Biden Loses It on Peter Doocy After Being Questioned About Infamous Phone Calls."

Angry Joe gets angry when confronted on his lies.

"Your son's former business associates is claiming that you were on speakerphone a lot with them talking business?"

BIDEN: "I never talked business with anybody! I knew you'd have a lousy question."

"Why is that a lousy question?"

BIDEN: "Because it's not true!" pic.twitter.com/R4OYvbc12N

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 9, 2023

Biden held a press conference in East Palestine, OH today

Just kidding: he stared at the Grand Canyon for 45 minutes.

Speaking of things that never happened:

"By the way, I’ll never forget: I was standing in Washington, and a little girl walked up. And I could see her daddy say, “Go up and say something to the President.” She walked up and she said, “Mr. President, would you take care of Bears Ears for me?” And I didn’t know what she meant when she said it: “Would you take care of Bears Ears for me?” Well, we took of her, and we gave her the signing pen."

Sure, Joey baby.

Extra - Federalist: "‘Bidenomics’ Has Been A Disaster." 

After 11 days of vacation, Joe Biden got right back to work...

...meeting with the Houston Astros before flying off to the Grand Canyon.

No questions!  

Now the truth can be told

Jonathan Turley: "Remember that Biden Dinner That Joe Biden Never Attended? Well, he did."

It was the same pattern that we saw with the laptop. The claims of Russian disinformation. The lack of media curiosity. The lack of coverage of the later disclosures. It is the hallmark of a state media, by consent rather than coercion. There are the denials of the incident, the dismissal of the story, and then the downplaying of the countervailing facts.

It would be nice if the mainstream media stopped pretending it was objective and just admitted they're partisans for the Democrats.  They have no interest and display no inclination towards equal treatment.

Last week, the Washington Post 'fact checker" finally - after three years - declared that Joe Biden gets four Pinocchios for claiming that Hunter never made any money in China.  Do you know when it would have been a good time to confirm this allegation?  Back in 2020.  But that would have required asking questions and doing journalism. 

Another view on the indictment

Cato at Liberty: "Seven Questions about the Trump Indictment."  

Kamala bravely runs away

Washington Examiner: "When challenged on her lies, Kamala Harris slinks away."

I call this "lecturing Pence from the Hamilton stage" syndrome.  The Left hates debate and free speech, but they love unchallenged diatribes. 

Thank you Sweden!

Remember this commercial asking "what will it take to beat the US Woman's Team?"  Good times.

Fox News: "Sweden stuns USWNT in penalties; defending Women's World Cup champs eliminated."

Buh-bye, you insufferable brats.  The Meghan Markle's of the entire sports world.

All identity politics, all the time

Federalist: "Is NPR Trying To Start A Race War?"

NPR is just completely unlistenable nowadays.  There's not a single story they run that isn't linked to racial politics or climate panic.

News blackout

NY Post: "Liberal media bends over backward to dismiss new Joe Biden revelations."

No kidding.  I do not exaggerate at all when I state that the main newspaper in Western Massachusetts has not had a single story about Joe Biden in a solid month.  A news search on "Biden" reveals a story from almost a month ago about Governor Martha Healey calling out the Biden administration on immigration policy. 

Nothing about Biden going ass-over-teakettle at the Air Force graduation.  Nothing about the White House evacuation over a suspicious white powder.  Nothing about revelations of influence peddling and kickbacks from China.  Nothing.

We're gonna need a lot more prisons

Kim Strassel: "The Unprecedented Jack Smith - If lying politicians can be prosecuted for ‘fraud,’ as he proposes in the Trump indictment, we’ll need a lot of new prisons."

Take Mr. Trump out of the equation and consider more broadly what even the New York Times calls Mr. Smith’s “novel approach.” A politician can lie to the public, Mr. Smith concedes. Yet if that politician is advised by others that his comments are untruthful and nonetheless uses them to justify acts that undermine government “function,” he is guilty of a conspiracy to defraud the country. Dishonest politicians who act on dubious legal claims? There aren’t enough prisons to hold them all.

Here's a perfect example:

What’s the betting someone told President Biden he didn’t have the power to erase $430 billion in student loan debt. Oh, wait! That’s right. He told himself. “I don’t think I have the authority to do it by signing with a pen,” he said in 2021. The House speaker advised him it was illegal: “People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not,” Nancy Pelosi said. Yet Mr. Biden later adopted the lie that he did, and took action to defraud taxpayers by obstructing the federal function of loan processing—until the Supreme Court made him stop.

I guess that's (D)ifferent.

A show trial for our banana republic

I've been perusing some legal analyses on the Trump indictment and they all have a common theme: this is a criminalization of political speech and it pivots on (somehow) proving what was in Trump's mind.   Here's a good section from "Show Trial, American Style":

But there’s a larger reason why the election fraud case is a sham. From election day through January 20 (and even now), millions believed there was election fraud. This was a grievance held by American citizens, Donald Trump among them. They had the right to assemble and to petition their government to redress their grievances. The First Amendment doesn’t qualify this right by inquiring whether the grievances are sincerely held, or if the grievances are backstopped by evidence, or if the petitioners are being deceitful. It’s political speech. In this respect, the indictment’s extensively documented examples of Trump’s badgering and misrepresentations are irrelevant. He had a grievance, and his actions from November 14 through January 20 must fall within the First Amendment’s meaning of “petition the government.” If it doesn’t, then neither does shouting at your congressman about election fraud. Smith knew all of this. The indictment says as much: “[Trump] had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that [it was fraudulent.]” That he indicted Trump anyway indicates this will be a show trial. Its purpose is not to find out if Trump lied or even if there was election fraud. Its purpose is to demonstrate publicly that questioning the regime narrative will not be protected by the First Amendment.

George Washington professor Jonathan Turley is not impressed: 

And I have to tell you, this indictment is really sad moment for me. I hoped that Smith is going to indict on January 6th, that he would find unassailable evidence and unquestioned legal authority. He has neither in this indictment...

This is a speaking indictment but it doesn't say very much. It basically just says that we think Trump is lying that he actually didn't believe this. I can't tell you how facially ridiculous this claim is. It starts up by saying, of course, you can say false things in the campaign, but then says that Trump knew they were false. Is that the test going forward in terms of criminalizing political speech?

Smith is just not only going to have to just bulldoze through the First Amendment, he's going to have to bulldoze through a line of cases by the Supreme Court.

They hate Trump at the National Review and they think this indictment stinks:

Whether misconduct rises to the level of an impeachable offense is indefinite, left to the people’s representatives to assess based on what the facts and circumstances say about a public official’s fitness for duty. Criminal offenses are the antithesis of that. They must be defined by statute with sufficient clarity so that the average person knows what is forbidden, and a defendant is presumed innocent. A guilty verdict must be supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt — proof not only that the person performed the statutorily prohibited acts, but also did so knowing that his conduct was illegal.

Here, it is not even clear that Smith has alleged anything that the law forbids. The indictment relates in detail Trump’s deceptions, but that doesn’t mean they constitute criminal fraud. As the Supreme Court reaffirmed just a few weeks ago, fraud in federal criminal law is a scheme to swindle victims out of money or tangible property. Mendacious rhetoric in seeking to retain political office is damnable — and, again, impeachable — but it’s not criminal fraud, although that is what Smith has charged. Indeed, assuming a prosecutor could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump hadn’t actually convinced himself that the election was stolen from him (good luck with that), hyperbole and even worse are protected political speech.

These are just a handful of the legal opinions I've read.  The other side doesn't even attempt to make a legal argument; it's just the usual Orange Man Bad bleating.  As I noted last night (and stolen by Twitchy today!), if lying about elections is now going to be a crime, the DOJ is going to be busy indicting Martin Sheen and Stacey Abrams.

Remember when Hollywood flunkies tried to overturn an election?

I do.  It seems that the legality of urging electors to ignore their duty shifts (D)epending on who is making the request.  By the way, it looks like the original "Unite for America" video has been pulled down from YouTube so I'll have to depend on this Mark Dice clip:

That's Bidenomics!

Reason: "U.S. Credit Rating Downgrade Is a Sign of Government Dysfunction - The national debt has ballooned from $14 trillion to $32 trillion in a little over a decade."

The rating service also pointed to the widening gap between the federal government's tax revenue and its spending, as well as the "limited progress" being made toward solving looming issues like the projected insolvency of Social Security in the early 2030s.

While the AA+ rating reflects that U.S. debt remains a trustworthy investment, Fitch's downgrade is a warning signal about the federal government's fiscal trajectory.

In my opinion, this downgrade is both appropriate and long-overdue.  We should have pulled back from historic spending after the Covid spree.  Instead, the overweight government spending flooded the economy with money that triggered inflation.  Meanwhile, neither side of the aisle is willing to take even incremental steps towards addressing entitlement spending which is going to auto-pilot the economy over a cliff.

The media circles the wagons

Wall Street Journal: "Devon Archer Throws a Curve - Joe Biden’s denials about Hunter and his laptop are now disproven." 

Altogether Mr. Biden declared “that is not true” or words to that effect eight times. He said seven times that Mr. Trump’s assertions were “discredited,” sometimes “totally discredited.” Near the end he added, “My son did nothing wrong at Burisma.”

Mr. Trump wouldn’t let it rest: Hunter “made a fortune in Ukraine, in China, in Moscow and various other places.” Mr. Biden again denied it: “That is simply not true.”

Mr. Biden counted on a compliant press to move on, and it largely did. But then the Bidens came up against Judge Maryellen Noreika. She confirmed with Hunter Biden himself that, contrary to his father’s assertions, he did receive a small fortune from Ukrainian and Chinese firms.

It sure did, helped along by those 50 former Intelligence officials who said the Hunter Biden laptop was a Russian plant.  Now the media is going to invent a new standard for Biden: "Media Invent New Biden Standard: ‘Proof’ And A ‘Smoking Gun’ Of Bribery Scheme Or It’s Not A Scandal At All."

I expected no less from the thoroughly-corrupt media.

Extra - Red State: "Struggle Session on MSNBC to Defend Joe Biden Is Comedy Gold." 

More - Federalist: "Defenders Of Joe Biden’s Corrupt Phone Calls Sound Ridiculous"

“We know how important family is to the president,” added the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson, the same week Joe recognized the existence of his four-year-old grandchild for the first time. “So, do you hang up on your son?”

These people think you’re a bunch of gullible nitwits.

Remember: the Bidens were selling just the illusion of access.  [throws smoke bomb]

We've entered the Beau Biden stage of this scandal

Twitchy: "New spin: It was Beau Biden's death that led to those close conversations."

They're really going to try out their go-to maneuver of dragging Beau's corpse out.  Just shameless.

Also, they really think you're this stupid: "Rep. Dan Goldman mocked for claim Joe Biden ‘talked about the weather’ with Hunter’s business partners." 

Priorities

Seen online with the title "most Massachusetts picture ever":

Good thread

Twitchy: "Historian says Florida's African American history curriculum is a model for other states."

IMO, the Left is so invested in victimology, there is no room for anything deviating from this polemic.  They teach learned helplessness and then complain about the results, rinse and repeat.

That's one way to avoid the press

Go on vacation!  Again.  Red State: "Biden Ducks and Covers on Another Vacation Amidst the Spiraling Scandal." 

This clown has spent nearly 40% of his Presidency on vacation.  

Obvious headline is obvious

NY Post: "Hunter Biden plea deal wording proves it: DOJ sought to protect JOE." 

Dementia Joe spent the entire week assiduously avoiding the press at all costs before retreating to his Delaware beach home for the weekend.  

Uh-oh, polling's in

Fox News: "Biden finally speaks out on granddaughter he refused to acknowledge for years."

Navy must be primed for a position at a foreign energy company. 

Update: Another Friday night news dump before fleeing to Delaware: "Biden panned for 'Friday night news dump' acknowledging 7th grandchild to People mag: 'Absolutely disgusting'." 

The Left hates free speech: the numbers

Hot Air: "Pew Research: Democrats Value Free Speech Far Less than Republicans." 

Hidden in Paragraph 15

Legal Insurrection: "Hunter Biden’s Hearing Transcript Shows How Defense, Prosecution Tried to Slip In ‘Blanket Immunity’."

By various accounts, the corrupt DOJ tried to hide the immunity in Paragraph 15 of the Diversion agreement instead of the plea agreement.  Then the judge asked why this gift wasn't listed as part of the Plea Agreement and Hunter's lawyer responded: well, it's in the Diversion agreement.

Every time I kinda miss my former career as a court reporter, I read exchanges like this and my BP spikes and... I suppose investigative journalism is better 😂

(The judge is referring to the Diversion Agreement) pic.twitter.com/uhddtZrT5v

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) July 27, 2023

It's good to be the Prince

So-called "private citizen" takes taxpayer-funded motorcade to court: "Something Curious Is Noted About Hunter Biden’s Arrival to Delaware Courthouse."

Meanwhile, the Paper of Record reports: "Secret Service Says Eight-Ball Of Cocaine Found In Courtroom Chair Hunter Was Sitting In Probably Left By Tour Group." 

"Joe and Hunter never owned a pizza shop"

Fox News: "Karine Jean-Pierre claims Biden 'was never in business' with Hunter: 'Goalposts shifted'." 

KJP has a press briefing this afternoon.  We'll see if there's an appropriate follow-up here.

Extra - Jonathan Turley: "Media beg Republicans to ‘move on’ from Hunter Biden – because they know scandal is serious." 

The Biden shakedown - part 1

This is just Romania and Kazakhstan:

 

Games liberals play

Or: how to lie with statistics.  From "Why is Joe Biden so unpopular?"  See if you can spot the trick:

In contrast, a gallon of gas today costs roughly 30% less than it did 12 months ago. At 3.6%, unemployment is on par with 50-year lows — and down by almost half since Biden took office. The U.S. economy added 4 million jobs over the past year. Inflation has cooled to 3% after peaking last summer at triple that rate. And America’s so-called misery index — a combination of unemployment and inflation — is lower now than it has been during 83% of all months since 1978.

In other news, Joe Biden bought the polio rate down 99.9% since 1952!  You can make any statistic look favorable once you adjust the time scale.  Gas is down from a year ago?  What was it when Dementia Joe took office?  (It was $2.39/gallon).  Similarly, how was that misery index before Joe took over?

It seems like only the more conservative media wants to address these constant falsehoods: "The continuing unreality of Bidenomics"

A distinctive feature of Joe Biden’s presidency is the frequency with which his economic claims are rebutted by the government’s own statistics. One can find this disturbing or amusing—or perhaps both if one is determined to carry a good mood into the weekend while remaining clear-eyed about the country’s challenges.

Today in a Journal op-ed President Joe Biden follows up on a piece from last year in which he pretended to be the author of an economic rebound who took office amid a “stalled” recovery. Yet Mr. Biden’s own Commerce Department affirms that the U.S. economy was growing faster during the quarter he took office than it has in the two years since.

It's a mystery why Joe Biden is so unpopular.  Assemble the Scooby Doo gang.

Don't worry: the mainstream media *loves* to correct lies

Charles C.W. Cooke: "Kamala Harris Is Brazenly Lying about Florida’s Slavery Curriculum."

This is a brazen lie. It’s an astonishing lie. It’s an evil lie. It is so untrue — so deliberately and cynically misleading — that, in a sensible political culture, Harris would be obligated to issue an apology.

I guess it's up to Community Notes nowadays. 

Extra - Looks like the talking points were emailed out to everybody.

Well-deserved

Red State: "The Washington Post Is Facing a Financial Buzzsaw."

I would suggest to Jeff Bezos that the $100 million loss in 2023 is due to the retirement of the "Presidential Lie Counter."

Our corrupt media

Jonathan Turley: "“So Called” Journalism: NBC Calls the Two Respected IRS Veterans “So Called Whistleblowers”

I wrote years ago that the media had bought into the Biden spin of the corruption story to the point that they would have a difficult time acknowledging the growing evidence of influence peddling and special dealing. Even after Joe Biden’s discussions of Hunter’s deals were revealed, the media continued to deny it.

Dementia Joe's schedule has been set up to avoid shouted questions that might reveal anything.  Forget about ever seeing a wide-ranging press conference again.

Democracy is threatened by...democracy

Reason: "The Real Worry Behind the Unhinged Freakout Over No Labels - No amount of third-party/RFK Jr. shaming can erase the fact that Joe Biden is a weak and unpopular incumbent." 

Stuff I don't like = "illegal"

It's a variation of the "everyone I don't like is Hitler" meme except it's being promoted by a Harvard professor: "Harvard’s Mark Tushnet Wants Joe Biden to Become a Dictator."

Remind me again who the fascists are.

The paper of record

Babylon Bee: "Mass Panic As Jim Cramer Predicts Giant Bug Mutants Will Not Attack Earth Next Tuesday At 2:17 PM."

That's some inside baseball there.  In case you don't get the joke: "‘Inverse’ Jim Cramer ETF lets investors bet against CNBC anchor’s stock picks."

The fund isn't doing so great in a (relative) bull market.  

Raiding the petroleum piggy bank

Vodkapundit: "Well, Biden Screwed Us Forever on Another Damn Thing."

The SPR was created under President Gerald Ford in 1975 following the 1973–1974 Arab oil embargo, which turned out to be just the first of that decade’s two major oil shocks. Set in massive salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas, the SPR was supposed to hold enough crude oil—714 million barrels— to help us weather any future embargo. While it was never large enough to do that for any significant time, the SPR’s very existence strengthened our geopolitical position versus some very nasty oil producers in places like Iran and Russia.

It took until about 2010—35 years!—to fill those reservoirs all the way up. It took Dementia Joe just two years to cut our reserves in half, down to levels not seen since 1983.

Check out this graph:

It's a good thing we're not going to war with Russia anytime soon.

Twenty times a day?

Fox News: "Video shows San Francisco Walgreens chain freezers shut after shoplifters rob store 20 times a day." - "Workers told the local media that shoplifters clean out all the pizza and ice cream from their inventory every night. They also say thieves hit the store and fill their bags with stolen goods 20 times a day." 

Oh no

Fox News: "Actor, writer strikes could lead to Hollywood's 'absolute collapse' if not resolved soon: Former Paramount CEO."

Hollywood isn't dying because of a lack of writers; Hollywood is dying because of writers who produce dreck like this:

Clown show at the Washington Post, part 2

Hollywood in Toto: "WaPo Blistered Over Woke ‘Fast Car’ Spin - Biased paper whines as Tracy Chapman's single is reborn as country smash." 

Clown show at the Washington Post

Democracy dies in darkness, you know.  Twitchy: "Charles C.W. Cooke UNLEASHES on Jen Rubin and 'The Washington Post' for fake news." 

These mistakes only go in one direction. 

Covid exposed the fragility of American education

City Journal: "Our Failing Schools Are a National Crisis - Recent test scores show a 50-year downward trend for American students. We need to change course immediately."

Most analysts blame students’ dismal showing on the Covid-induced shutdowns that gripped public education in 2020 and 2021. The hysterical response to the pandemic certainly did damage. But, as Kevin Mahnken notes for The 74, the latest scores, which highlight long-term trends that extend back to the 1970s, “widen the aperture on the nation’s profound academic slump.” In doing so, the latest test serves “as a complement to the 2020 iteration of the same test, which showed that the math and English skills of 13-year-olds had noticeably eroded even before the emergence of COVID-19.”

If I were President-for-a-day, I would disassemble the Department of Education and salt the earth.  There is absolutely no evidence that there is a national policy for incremental progress in education.  We'd be better off just dispersing all that federal waste to charter schools. 

Accept your fate, peasants

The Paper of Record: "D.C. Residents Concerned Crack House On Pennsylvania Avenue Will Drag Down Housing Market." 

I believe the Secret Service

Ace: "Secret Service Ends Investigation Into White House Cocaine, Claims All the Cameras in the Most Secure Place on Earth Can't Point Them Towards Any Suspect."

Was Hunter Biden in the area of the cubbies on Thursday and Friday?

Note that they do not say he wasn't.

Because he was.

Maybe.  Or maybe Hanlon's Razor applies here: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Hanlon's Razor is also what Hunter uses to cut his coke lines.

It's a mystery

Hot Air: "Washington Post: Why are parents objecting to books on race and gender for five year olds?"

Let me know when the "book banning!" people come for "Johnny the Walrus." 

Headline of the year

Charles C.W. Cooke: "Joe Biden is an a**hole"

Character matters. Biden has none. As president, the man spends his days considering how he can mislead voters about his record, how he can get around the Constitution, and how he can demagogue the other branches. All that talk in 2020 about “the soul of America”? That was guff. Flotsam. Malarkey. There is nothing the man won’t lie about. He lies about inflation. He lies about gas prices. He lies about the deficit. He lies about the border. He lies about having been arrested for his civil-rights activism, and about having been raised by Puerto Ricans and Greeks and Jews, and about having traveled to Afghanistan to pin a Silver Star on a Navy hero, and about his son’s death, and about the crash that killed his first wife and baby daughter, and about the small kitchen fire that he had 15 years ago, which, in his inimitable style, he has managed to transmute into “having had a house burn down with my wife in it.”

A legend in his own mind.

Extra - From Instapundit.  

The knives are out for Old Yeller

Red State: "Media's New Nickname for Angry Biden Is Going to Make Him Melt Down."

Looks like the talking points went out:

All from this weekend.

They've activated the hive mind to finally take out this bumbling fool. pic.twitter.com/rr2H79ycV9

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 10, 2023

The crimson tide

Federalist: "CBO Report Illustrates The Cause Of Our Debt Problem: It’s The Spending, Stupid! - The combination of rising debt and rising interest payments creates a ‘doom loop,’ where interest accumulates faster than the interest gets paid down."