Savage

Fox News: "Justice Roberts uses Pelosi's words against Biden in smackdown of student loan handout."

Roberts also noted that Dementia Joe said "the pandemic is over" thereby removing the very "emergency" that predicated the loan forgiveness scheme under the HEROES act.

These are not serious people

Some of the claims in the liberal Justices' dissents were either crazy or outright wrong.  Red State: "Justice Kagan Challenges Sonia Sotomayor for Wildest Dissent of the Day" and "'Ted Talk' Given After Ketanji Brown Jackson's Disputed Claim About Black Babies in AA Case."

Keep in mind that these Justices have whole staffs of law students reporting to them and their only job (probably) is to check the facts on their decisions.  Looks like they outsourced it to AI.  

Nailed it

PJ Media: "Clarence Thomas Throws Shade at Ketanji Brown Jackson in Concurring Opinion."

Though JUSTICE JACKSON seems to think that her race- based theory can somehow benefit everyone, it is an immutable fact that “every time the government uses racial criteria to ‘bring the races together,’ someone gets excluded, and the person excluded suffers an injury solely because of his or her race.” […] Indeed, JUSTICE JACKSON seems to have no response—no explanation at all—for the people who will shoulder that burden. How, for example, would JUSTICE JACKSON explain the need for race-based preferences to the Chinese student who has worked hard his whole life, only to be denied college admission in part because of his skin color? If such a burden would seem difficult to impose on a bright-eyed young person, that’s because it should be. History has taught us to abhor theories that call for elites to pick racial winners and losers in the name of sociological experimentation.

I read a portion of Jackson's dissent and it was a non-stop appeal to emotion and racial drivel.  Just like a typical Sotomayor dissent, the Constitution is an afterthought. 

Extra - Federalist: "Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Dissent Is An Argument For Institutional Racism." - "Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson hardly feigned interest in adjudicating the constitutionality of affirmative action in her dissent today." 

Does anybody in the media care that Biden never stops lying?

Joe Biden tells the same lies, exaggerations and outright falsehoods over and over and it seems that nobody in his administration bothers to correct him.  Does the media care or are "Presidential Lie Counters" only something reserved for Republicans?  Here is a small sampling from a campaign speech he gave just last night:

I was — I’ve met with — with Xi Jinping face to face more than any other world leader has.  I’ve spent over 85 hours with him alone, 68 of which are in person.  Back when I was vi- — when I was vice president, it was clear he was going to become the president.  Barack could not spend the time with him.  And so, I was the — I traveled 17,000 miles with him all across the world, including in — in China. 

This 17,000 miles story has been debunked multiple times.  Joe keeps repeating it.

I was a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

False.

The idea we were able to put together a thing called the Quad...

Another lie.

So, my point is: The world is changing.  And if you take a look at Africa and South America — and Africa is going to have a billion people — one billion people by 2033.

This is at least the third time Biden has falsely claimed that Africa is approaching a billion people.  Africa surpassed a billion in 2009. 

We have — we’ve created 13.6 million new jobs, 800,000 manufacturing jobs — 800,000 manufacturing jobs. 

He's done nothing of the kind.  

They wanted to make sure they made fundamental changes in Social Security and Medicare — eliminate a lot of it. 

Absolute lie.

And I get in the train, and the guy — I won’t mention his name because I mentioned it last time, and he was so proud I — but I didn’t mention others, so I won’t mention this time.  And this guy walks up to me — I’ve known from a time I was — started riding the train.  He goes, “Joey, baby!”  And grabs my cheek.  And I thought Secret Service was going to shoot him.

This nonsense again.  So I guess this is at least the eighth time Biden has told this tall tale.

So the only point I’m making is there is a lot we’re doing.  And we still cut the deficit by $1.7 billion, doing every one of these things.

Bottomless Pinocchio.

And there’s a guy named Seamus Heaney.  I’ve become friends with his wife.  He — I just knew him vaguely.  And he wrote a poem called “The Cure at Troy.”  And the line in the poem goes — he said, “All is changed, changed utterly.  A terrible beauty has been born.”

Even this, Biden can't get his facts straight for at least the third time. The "all is changed" line is the conclusion of "Easter 1916" by W.B. Yeats.

21 paragraphs later

Hot Air: "NYT quietly confirms the allegation that Merrick Garland lied to Congress about Hunter."

It took 21 paragraphs to reveal the most explosive fact in its story, but while the fact is buried, the New York Times did publish that it had confirmed one of the most explosive revelations by the IRS whistleblowers who are challenging the Narrative in the Hunter Biden investigation.

I like how, after 20 paragraphs, the hacks at the NY Times asked themselves: "Should we mention that the Attorney General obstructed an investigation and committed perjury before Congress?  Is that relevant?"

Never change, you tendentious jerks.  

Extra - Ace: "The New York Times Confirms That David Weiss Said He Was Being Blocked From Pursuing Charges Against Hunter Biden By the DOJ; CBS Actually Reports on BagmanGate."

CBS too?!?  The walls are closing in!

SCOTUS decision later this week

Reason: "Biden's Student Loan Pause Overwhelmingly Benefited Wealthier Americans - Is this what equity looks like?" 

Here come the white knight librarians

City Journal: "The Left Twists the Meaning of “Book Ban” - What’s being removed from school libraries is material entirely inappropriate for students. Don’t believe me? Pornographic examples below."

Just as conservatives have gained traction on gender identity by asking leftists to define the word “woman,” they could also reframe the book debate by asking them to define the word “ban.” They shouldn’t let the Left avoid acknowledging the explicit or graphic content of many of these books, and they should ask defenders of these titles whether they want their own children reading them. When movies and television programs are rated PG–13, R, or X—and consequently restricted for younger viewers—that doesn’t mean that they’re banned. The same principle goes for books.

Surely any person can make a judgement about what kind of material is reasonable to expose to kids.  There are all kinds of material, political and pornographic, that people would not want in a school library and removing them is not a "ban."  

Well, that's *a* defense

Ace: "Hunter Biden's Lawyer: Ignore The Fact that Hunter Invoked Joe Biden's Name as He Threatened a ChiCom Agent into Giving the Bidens Money. Hunter Was So High on Crack He Didn't Know What He Was Saying." 

Musical interlude

The song "Cupid" by the Kpop group Fifty Fifty is in the top 10 of global hits but this cover version is the absolute tops:

Spoiler alert: it's Garland

Jonathan Turley: "Who is lying? Merrick Garland or the whistleblowers?" 

Extra - "IRS Whistleblower Calls Merrick Garland's Bluff, Starts Naming Names." 

It's all coming out now

No thanks to the mainstream media.  Federalist: "The Corporate Media Can’t Come Back After Playing A Key Role In Running Cover-Up For Biden Family Corruption." 

Joe will dispel this at his next press conference

Haha - I crack myself up.  PJ Media: "Joe Biden Is Not Ok." - "There is no need for insinuation. Biden’s mental acuity, never impressive, has considerably deteriorated." 

How bad is the Russian army?

Things are weird and fluid in Russia where - apparently - a Russian mercenary group has turned against the army and is marching on Moscow.  What?  This is a pretty good rundown:  "The rebellion in Russia is really happening (Update: Putin calls it treason)."  

An act of journalism

From (checks notes) the New York Times?  Twitchy: "NYT journo noticed what happened 'within 10 days of Hunter's WhatsApp message to Chinese official'." 

Shakedown

PJ Media: "IRS Whistleblower Says Justice Department Slowed and Stymied the Hunter Biden Tax Investigation."

You have to laugh at this text that Hunter sent to his Chinese shakedown victim.  It seems like he wanted to get one piece of information across:

Hunter Biden: "I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father."

Did I mention I'm sitting here with my father, Joe Biden?  Because Joe Biden is right here.

And then what happened?  "Bank Records Show Bidens Received Huge Payment After Chinese Shakedown, Leave One Gaping Question."

The question is what quo was offered for all that quid.

Look what you did to Godzilla, Joe

In case you missed it, the Master of Foreign Policy and Duke of Diplomacy Joe Biden recently called China's President a "dictator".  NBC News: "U.S. senior officials caught off-guard by Biden's calling Xi a 'dictator'."

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. officials said Wednesday that they were caught off guard when President Joe Biden described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator” — just 24 hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing and appeared to reach a breakthrough in tense relations between the countries.

Today, Dementia Joe was asked about it:

Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  I have a question for the Prime Minister.  But first, a two-part question for you: Your comments at a fundraiser this week appear to be the first time in recent memory that a sitting U.S. president has called a Chinese leader a dictator.  Did those comments about President Xi undermine or complicate the progress your administration has made in maintaining a relationship with China?

Check out this...response:

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  The answer to your first question is: No.  You know, what — when we’re talking to our allies and partners around the world, including India, we let the — the idea of my choosing and avoiding saying what I think is the facts with regard to the relationship with India — with China is — is just not something I’m going to change very much. 

I think we — I believe that — and I’ve said this for some time — that the hysteria about the relationship with China is collapsing and moving, et cetera, et cetera — we had an incident that caused some — some confusion, you might say.  But President — but Secretary Blinken had a great trip to China.  I expect to be meeting with President Xi sometime in the future, in the near term.  And I don’t think it’s had any real consequence.

It would take you weeks to diagram a typical Joe Biden sentence.

Stumped

Outkick: "Witness refuses to answer if there's a difference between men and women."

Ted Cruz should have asked the head of the Human Rights Campaign if she could define a "human."  The entirety of her testimony was pure filibustering to protect the grift. 

He deserves it

Twitchy: "House censures Rep. Adam Schiff, Dems throw a tantrum."

I don't even blame congenital liars like Schiff anymore.  I blame the mainstream media who allows people like Schiff to spread falsehoods without the slightest pushback.  This guy went on for years about all this evidence he had and it turns out he had nothing.  

C'mon we all saw this coming

Hot Air: "DoJ deals Hunter tax case down to misdemeanors; diversion on felony gun charge."

Unsurprising.  I did, however, get a chuckle from this detail via Charles C.W. Cooke: "Avoiding Biden v. Biden.":

Joe Biden is famous for his support for stricter gun-control laws, stricter drug-control laws, and stricter laws in the areas where guns and drugs intersect. Obviously, Joe did not want to see Hunter’s lawyers arguing that, under the recent Bruen decision that Joe vocally opposes, all of those laws are unconstitutional.

Which may well be the reason that Hunter’s lawyers “told Justice Department officials that, if their client is charged with the gun crime, they will challenge the law under the Second Amendment.” As a threat, this was extremely potent. Under the American system of government, the Hunter Biden case has ultimately been brought not by the DOJ, but by the authority vested in the president of the United States. Per Article II, the prosecution would be most literally rendered as Biden v. Biden. How excruciating it would have been for Joe to have a case such as this roiling in the background while he insisted cloyingly from his podium that, unlike all the Bad People out there who disagree with him, all he wants for America is a return to “common sense.”

Can't have that now.

Simpin' ain't easy

Hot Air: "Politifact's efforts to bail out Biden reach a (hilarious) new low."

Ace: "Nearly 100% of "Fact"-Checkers' Political Donations Went to the Political Party They Always Claim Is Honest and Accurate."

Bend that knee, Tony

Legal Insurrection: "Blinken in China: America Does ‘Not Support Taiwan Independence’ - Maybe stop relying on China: “…were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that could produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world.”

It looks like Tom Cruise has more backbone than Joe Biden standing up to the Chinese.

So much for zero tolerance

PJ Media: "Biden Campaign Hires Embattled Former White House Aide."

Dementia Joe said he would fire anybody who treated other with disrespect.  What he didn't add was that he'll just hire you back later. 

Happy Father's Day

The Red Sox game got rained out last night so I'm going to watch a double-header and relax.  Hope your day is similar, Dads out there.

What a surprise

Reuters: "Analysis: Biden's IRA climate bill won't cut deficit as expected."

The climate bill at issue is the Inflation Reduction Act which has done virtually nothing to reduce inflation.  If only I had diabetes! 

Just Joe makin' stuff up again

 

Biden huffs oxygen before every public appearance

Hot Air: "Biden is too old and feeble for the job and swing voters are noticing."

Dementia Joe had a busy day at the White House today: a ten-minute speech on airline luggage fees followed by a fake movie about Cheetos.

I am not making that up.

Always wait to get stabbed first

Fox News: "Marine veteran Daniel Penny indicted for subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely: sources."

Ham sandwich in Manhattan time.

Extra - Ace: "Daniel Perry Indicted for Protecting Women and Children from Violent Lunatic That Alvin Bragg Left Free to Threaten Civilians." 

Keep it up, you're doing great

Red State: "The Self-Immolation of the Fourth Estate Continues as the National Press Club Awards Ben Collins." - "NBC News punchline Ben Collins was given a Cronkite Award this weekend for his “honesty” and reporting, a true sign journalism is dying."

Hot Air: "Time Magazine doesn't know Chernobyl is in Ukraine."

Who needs copy editors and fact checkers?

KJP: already dumb and now illegal

Twitchy: "Special counsel says Karine Jean-Pierre violated the Hatch Act."

She just reads the words in her enormous binder. 

Say goodbye to Hollywood

Covid policy and taxes drove businesses to greener pastures.  WSJ: "The Great Covid Business Migration - States with onerous lockdowns lost employers as well as workers."

BLS counted 6,384 businesses in 2021 that had moved across state lines during the prior year, up from 5,524 in 2020 and 3,677 in 2010. Net migration to the South and from the Northeast doubled between 2020 and 2021. After gaining businesses from other states for most of the last three decades, the West lost a net 175 in 2021—mostly from California.

New York led in net business out-migration (487), followed by California (456), Illinois (208), Maryland (50) and Pennsylvania (33). Florida (399), North Carolina (148), Nevada (103), Texas (103) and Tennessee (92) drew the most businesses from other states. All besides North Carolina have no income tax.

See if you can spot the theme here:

I've highlighted this story before but this is what happens when states lean on a very small sliver of high-earners to fill their state coffers:

Our top-heavy economy has come to this: One man can move out of New Jersey and put the entire state budget at risk. Other states are facing similar situations as a greater share of income — and tax revenue — becomes concentrated in the hands of a few.

Last month, during a routine review of New Jersey's finances, one could sense the alarm. The state's wealthiest resident had reportedly "shifted his personal and business domicile to another state," Frank W. Haines III, New Jersey's legislative budget and finance officer, told a state Senate committee. If the news were true, New Jersey would lose so much in tax revenue that "we may be facing an unusual degree of income tax forecast risk," Haines said.

You can only hit up the "rich" so much before they pull up stakes and take their business with them.

"I guess you're not joining his legal team"

Former Attorney General Bill Barr is absolutely lacing into Trump on Fox News Sunday.  And it's absolutely true that Barr defended Trump during the Russian collusion hoax and against Alvin Bragg's ridiculous charges, as well as his consistent stand on prosecutorial restraint.  

At one point, Barr said: "If half of what's in this indictment is true, he's toast."

Jonathan Turley also appeared and said this absolutely true statement: "Yes, maybe the Department of Justice was 'out to get him' but he made it easy for them."  

Props on the Seinfeld reference

Trust the inflation experts, guys. This is absolutely devastating for the clueless Biden administration. Biden’s presidency would have been far better if he’d pulled a Costanza and just done the exact opposite of everything he thought he should do: pic.twitter.com/m0a01kSvDh

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 13, 2022

Restoring the soul of America, yo

Gallup: "Views of State of Moral Values in U.S. at New Low." 

This might be the beginning of the end

For over two years, I've been assiduously trying to avoid Trump on this blog.  I don't want him to be the nominee in 2024 and now it looks like I'll get my wish.  There are a number of legal analysts I trust and chief among them is Jonathan Turley.  He thinks Trump is in trouble:

Yet, for roughly two years, I have said that there was one torpedo in the water that was a serious threat: an obstruction charge out of Mar-a-Lago.

That torpedo just hit.

Boy, did it ever, and it was an entirely self-inflicted wound. 

Extra - Red State: "Donald Trump Brought This on Himself." 

Grandpa reads off his notes

Twitchy: "Cringe-worthy moments spotted as Biden flips through 3×5 cards to make small talk with UK PM."

The video is pretty sad.  Biden can't even make common conversational banter without looking down at his cheat sheets.  I think we've seen the last press conference with Dementia Joe, at least a press conference where he doesn't get the questions in advance. 

Hey, that's Adam Schiff's job

Federalist: "EXCLUSIVE: Bill Barr Confirms Rep. Jamie Raskin Lied About Biden Family Corruption Investigation."  

"It’s not true. It wasn’t closed down,” William Barr told The Federalist on Tuesday in response to Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin’s claim that the former attorney general and his “handpicked prosecutor” had ended an investigation into a confidential human source’s allegation that Joe Biden had agreed to a $5 million bribe. “On the contrary,” Barr stressed, “it was sent to Delaware for further investigation.”

This led to Raskin's ridiculous backpedaling when confronted with the truth.

Charter schools rise above

Education Week: "Charter Schools Are Outperforming Traditional Public Schools: 6 Takeaways From a New Study."

A new study shows that charter school students are now outpacing their peers in traditional public schools in math and reading achievement, cementing a long-term trend of positive charter school outcomes.

The study is the third in a series conducted by the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University, which has researched charter school performance since 2000. The third study, released June 6, is notable because it shows superior outcomes among charter school students while the center’s earlier studies showed charter school students performed either worse than or about the same as their peers in traditional public schools.

I've never understood the opposition to charter schools.  If you think (well-funded) public schools are superior, why not allow the competition of charter schools.

We know why:

Two public schools in Manhattan illustrate the high stakes of a political choice that the nation, and many states and municipalities, must reconsider.

In 2019, Success Academy Harlem 2 charter school ranked 37th among New York state’s 2,413 public elementary schools, one of which, PS 30, had only about a third as many pupils as Harlem 2, spent twice as much per pupil and ranked 1,694th. PS 30 and Harlem 2 operate in the same building.

The contract for PS 30’s unionized teachers is 167 pages long, mostly detailing job protections, and what teachers can and cannot be required to do.

The contract for Harlem 2’s nonunion teachers is one page long. Those teachers can be fired at will, and are paid 5 to 10 percent more than PS 30 teachers on the other side of the building.

"Accountability is for suckers" - Randi Weingarten, probably.

Traitor

Fox News: "Robert Hanssen, ex-FBI agent who spied for Soviet Union, Russia, found dead in prison cell."

You know, back in high school I read "The Falcon and the Snowman" which was made into a movie starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn, about a guy who stole national secrets and passed them on to the (then) Soviet Union.  Hutton played the real life Christopher Boyce who - at least according to the book and movie - was motivated by ideological reasons.  

I mention this not to excuse Boyce but there's at least something understandable in his motives.  Hanssen (and future member of Hell Aldrich Ames) betrayed their country for nothing more than money.  They both got their 30 pieces of silver and now they'll be remembered for the treasonous bastards they are and were.

Today's feel-good story

Politico: "Chuck Todd to leave ‘Meet the Press’."

Todd has been an awful host of what used to be a flagship Sunday morning news show.  His bias and bombast sullied the show's reputation for even-handed and stoic analysis.  He's been the host for nine years and he's easily spent eight of them talking - obsessively and relentlessly - about Trump.  Even this morning's show (which I was forced to watch because it was on at the gym), he spent maybe 20 seconds on the debt ceiling showdown and the rest of the time on a political event in Iowa that Trump didn't even attend.  Todd is a boring and predictable mouthpiece for the DNC and good riddance. 

Flashback, July 2022: "Ratings hit rock bottom for Chuck Todd's 'Meet the Press'."

Flashback, August 2022: "Chuck Todd faces boot as ‘Meet the Press’ host over low ratings: report." 

I laughed

 

The Friendliest Out. pic.twitter.com/SFzkrTq1dY

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 3, 2023

You'll always have the airport, CNN

NY Post: "CNN loses primetime ratings battle to Newsmax show guest-hosted by Matt Gaetz." 

The media springs to action!

Federalist: "Joe Biden, The Jock."

That’s pretty alarming [Biden's fall]. But because the media got Biden elected and are therefore invested in keeping up the illusion that he’s not a barely breathing prune of a person, the reality needed some finessing.

The New York Times dutifully noted in an article that the collapse came after an “energetic” speech — he’s youthful, people! — and that it was merely one of those “embarrassing moments” that are “not uncommon for presidents.”

Biden needed the help of two men to get back on his feet. But, folks! He’s fit as a fiddle!

I expected no less.