Rube Goldberg lawfare

This article from Jonathan Turley does an excellent job explaining the sheer absurdity of the New York legal case against Trump: "On Alvin Bragg and the art of not taking the law too seriously." 

China to U.S.: GTFO

The adults are back in charge, yo.  Great look here:

Humiliation: Blinken departed #China and only the US ambassador said farewell at the airport.

Not a single Chinese official came.

The lowest of the low in international diplomacy etiquette, reflecting the condition of US China relations.

Even when he arrived to Beijing, he… pic.twitter.com/5bN4oGJ5zK

— Indo-Pacific News - Geo-Politics & Defense (@IndoPac_Info) April 27, 2024

Biden won't debate

Wall Street Journal: "Biden Says He’ll Debate Trump. When? - Trump claims the President isn’t up to the job. If Biden shuns debates, voters might conclude Trump is right."

Since Mr. Biden took office, according to Politico, he has given interviews to only two print reporters. He speaks only to friendly venues like Mr. Stern’s radio show. (We’re available for an interview on foreign or economic policy, sir.) Meanwhile, Axios reported Friday that Mr. Biden no longer walks solo to Marine One on the White House lawn. Instead he’s surrounded by a phalanx of aides because advisers worry that “videos of Biden walking and shuffling alone—especially across the grass—have highlighted his age.”

Dementia Joe has created a huge problem for his campaign because most Americans expect Presidential debates and pulling out after committing to a debate would look weak.  But the alternative is a forum where Biden can't use notecards or depend on a teleprompter, so that's definitely not an option.

The question isn't when Biden will debate.  It's when will one of his campaign flunkies release a statement with the excuse.

Clown show update

PJ Media: "This New York City Prosecution of Trump Is a Dangerous Legal Jenga Game for Democrats." - "The New York City trial of former President Donald Trump has ended its second week in a heap of confusion.  The question is the same now as when the charges were announced years after the alleged "criminal" bookkeeping acts occurred: Dude, where's the case?" 

This won't happen

Townhall: "Biden Responds to Trump's Challenge to Debate Before November."

I'll tell you exactly what this is: Biden's ego getting ahead of his sense.  He has much too high of an opinion of himself to ever think he couldn't go toe-to-toe with Trump.  His campaign will walk this back on some flimsy pretense when crunch time comes.

Biden won't debate.

Why did it have to fail?

NY Post: "Inside the failed White House coup to oust Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre." 

The New York Times eviscerates Dementia Joe

Hey, maybe they are the enemy of this White House!  "Shocker: NY Times Absolutely Shreds Joe Biden for Hiding From the Media."

This is obviously the NYT trying to get ahead of the Politico story.  Here's the statement: "For anyone who understands the role of the free press in a democracy, it should be troubling that President Biden has so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term."

He can't do it.

Also: Biden won't debate. 

Imagine thinking the NY Times is the enemy

Politico: "The Petty Feud Between the NYT and the White House."

My favorite part of this article is how the NY Times wants a sit-down interview with the President, a tradition that dates back to FDR, and the White House response is: "hey, we've done two sit-down interviews in three years!"  

Absolutely brilliant

There are a lot of inside jokes here and you need an above-average knowledge of recent NFL history but - damn - this is funny:

NFL draft meeting pic.twitter.com/1adH1C5Hny

— Annie Agar (@AnnieAgar) April 24, 2024

New York lawfare

Jonathan Turley: "Alvin Bragg has his Trump trial, All he Needs Now is a Crime." 

Biden won't debate

Dementia Joe had another Ron Burgundy moment today: "Biden appears to read script instructions out loud in latest teleprompter gaffe: 'Four more years, pause'."

No worries!  The "Oceania has always been at war with East Asia" crew is on the job: "'Redacting Reality': WH Transcript Runs Cover After Joe 'Ron Burgundy' Biden's Teleprompter Struggle."

Every Biden appearance is choreographed, scripted and staged down to every notecard and teleprompter prompt and still he can't get through a single event without a gaffe.  Standing on a stage without a binder full of laminated pages?  It will never happen.

Biden won't debate.

The secret echo chamber

Ace: "Journ-O-List 2.0: Fake Reporters "Covering" the Trump Trials Get Together on Weekly Zoom Calls to Coordinate Their Biased Stories."

It is totally unsurprising that always-wrong Harvard professor Laurence Tribe is at the center of this circle jerk.  He's been pretty quiet since his stance of "of course Colorado can throw Trump off the ballot!" was smacked down by a unanimous Supreme Court.

The revenge of Tulsi Gabbard

Community Notes for the win 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Kdot46Uv2W

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 21, 2024

Banana republic clown show

Ringside at the Reckoning: "How bad is Alvin Bragg's Manhattan prosecution? - Worse than you thought, because it will do more long-term damage than you thought."

In case you missed it, these charges are based on Trump lying to his own account register to commit a "crime" in 2017 to interfere in the 2016 election.

It’s worth noting that federal Special Counsel Jack Smith, no one’s version of a wallflower, chose not to go after Trump for the supposed federal campaign finance violation.

If this matter did not so seriously threaten our faith in law, I’d have to laugh, honestly. This really is like putting someone on trial for lying to his diary.

And, by the way, it's interesting that this prosecution for something that happened seven years ago is just now making its way to a courtroom, right in the middle of the Presidential campaign season.

Must be a coincidence. 

Cannibals ate my uncle

Federalist: "We’re So Sorry, Uncle Bosie: Biden’s Latest Trip Down Dementia Lane Is A Doozy." - "Biden’s whopper about his war hero uncle eaten by cannibals exposes bigger problems than his longtime trouble with the truth." 

Columbia surrenders to Hamas sympathizers

Hot Air: "Columbia Switches to Fully Remote Classes; UPDATE: Faculty Walkout in Support of Protesters."

As somebody quipped: do they get their student loans forgiven before or after the "Death to America" chants?

For a second, imagine that black students at Columbia were taunted with chants of "Go back to Africa."

Or imagine that a gay student at Yale was surrounded by homophobic protesters and hit in the eye with a flagpole.

Or imagine if a campus imam told Muslim students that they…

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) April 22, 2024

Always wrong, never in doubt

Legal Insurrection: "LA Mayor Begs the Wealthy to Help Buy Housing for the Homeless - Karen Bass now frames socialism as an “unprecedented partnership”."

Los Angeles had passed a "mansion tax" back in 2022 to stick it to Richie Rich and help pay for homeless programs.  To the surprise of absolutely nobody, real estate transactions plummeted and the tax only raised 22% of its original projection.

These people never learn.  

Trump knows how to work a crowd

Daily Beast: "Trump’s Bodega Visit Should Scare the Heck Out of Democrats."

On the other hand, Biden never has to worry about a crowd being around.

Haphazardly and irresponsibly

Boston Globe: "How Massachusetts spent nearly $1 billion sheltering homeless families and migrants."

In the scramble to accommodate thousands of migrant families, the Healey administration has approved scores of hastily arranged contracts with little transparency, sometimes handing out multimillion-dollar deals without competitive bids, a Globe review of contracts found.

Hey, Massachusetts has plenty of money for non-citizens.

Democracy is at stake!

Dementia Joe: "Trump will end democracy."

Also Dementia Joe: "I'm going to ignore the Supreme Court and try to jail my opponent." 

Democrats lie - repeatedly - about inflation

Defund NPR

USA Today: "NPR editor quit after telling the truth about liberal bias in media. It's time to defund them. - NPR in recent years has gone from being something I enjoy to something that more often than not leaves me shaking my head." 

This NY Times editorial is something else

And yet oh-so typical for the Times: "Donald Trump and American justice."

The former and possibly future president of the United States is now on trial in Lower Manhattan, the first criminal prosecution of an American elected to the nation’s highest office. Donald Trump, who relentlessly undermined the justice system while in office and since, is enjoying the same protections and guarantees of fairness and due process before the law that he sought to deny to others during his term.

How did Trump undermine justice as President?  The editorial never deigns to explain or offer any examples.  It's just taken as a given.

This is what it's like in the groupthink bubble where a dissenting viewpoint is not allowed.

Clown show PolitiFact doing what they do

Newsbusters: "PolitiFact Refuses To Give Rubio 'True' Rating For True Statement."

PolitiFact resorts to the classic "acksually" tactic whenever a Republican says something that is 100% true.

Biden won't debate

The talking points are out and the trial balloons have been launched!

Boston Globe: "Have presidential debates outlived their usefulness? - There are better ways for the public to hear from presidential candidates. I say good riddance to the televised presidential debate."

The Atlantic: "Why Biden Should Not Debate Trump - The networks want their show, but to give the challenger equal status on a TV stage would be a dire normalization of his attempted coup."

And here's Jim Geraghty in response: "The Justifications and Excuses for Biden Skipping Debates Start to Pile Up"

Biden is free to make any decision he likes, but those who oppose Trump shouldn’t fool themselves about the way many voters will interpret a decision like that. If the 81-year-old Biden refuses to participate in debates later this year, many Americans will conclude that it’s because he’s too old and that either he or his staff fears what Biden would say, or how he would appear, over the course of three 90-minute presidential debates. Yes, Biden looked fired up in his most recent State of the Union address, but in the end, all Biden had to do was read off a teleprompter and pause for applause. Debates are much tougher, and the opportunities for gaffes and unflattering moments are plentiful.

My feeling is that the Biden camp has already made the decision not to debate based on the fact that they skipped the traditional Super Bowl interview and generally keeps Dementia Joe away from any unscripted moments.

Biden won't debate.

Extra - Althouse: "We're not supposed to read Biden's refusal to debate to mean that he lacks the mental capacity to debate. Frum and others will instruct us, repeatedly, in articles repeating the talking point."

You can dress it up into a principled stance, but we all know it's because he's old and can't do it.

— Holden (@Holden114) April 16, 2024

Red-pilled Bill Maher

Fox News: "Bill Maher rips sanctuary city 'hypocrites' turning away migrants: Abbott, DeSantis 'called their bluff' - 'The things that came out of the mouths of the leaders of New York and Chicago and even San Francisco, were pretty astounding,' Maher remarked." 

Biden won't debate

NY Post: "Biden cheat sheet for Iraq PM meeting caught on camera — including instructions to ‘pause’."

Last week, Dementia Joe held an event with the Prime Minister of Japan and Joe's podium had a teleprompter set up (the PM did not).  Biden spoke from the teleprompter and then fell back on a binder to answer two questions that he got in advance.  Last night, he congratulated members of the U.S. military for actions in Israel and he couldn't get through this simple exchange without notes which he conspicuously reads as he's mumbling:

There are six jump cuts in this video that lasts less than a minute! This is the BEST that the White House could do? They couldn’t get the meds in time to jack up old Joe to give an address to camera, so we’ll just hand Grandpa some cue cards to read and try to pass it off as him just being “overwhelmed” with the sheer awesomeness of our military.

At every public event, Joey needs notecards, giant television screens, laminated binders and teleprompters.  When he strays from his crutches, Dementia Joe starts talking about meetings he had with dead Europeans.

Debate?  He won't debate.  Prove me wrong, Joe!

Day 1 in Trump's banana-republic show trial

Is anybody honest taking this travesty seriously?

Not the L.A. Times: "Why it’s hard to muster even a ‘meh’ over Trump’s New York criminal trial" - "But any voters who look beneath the surface are sure to be underwhelmed. Calling it election interference actually cheapens the term and undermines the deadly serious charges in the real election interference cases."

Not CNN's legal analyst: "Even CNN Legal Analyst Incredulously Wrecks 'Weakness' of Unprecedented Criminal Case Against Trump"

Reason: "Alvin Bragg Says Trump Tried To Conceal 'Another Crime.' What Crime? - The leading possibilities are all problematic in one way or another."

And Jonathan Turley says it's actually New York's legal system on trial:

Lawyers have been scouring the civil and criminal codes for any basis to sue or prosecute Trump before the upcoming 2024 election. This week will highlight the damage done to New York’s legal system because of this unhinged crusade. They’ve charged him with everything short of ripping a label off a mattress.

Just a few weeks ago, another judge imposed a roughly half billion dollar penalty in a case without a single victim who lost a single cent on loans with Trump. (Indeed, bank officials testified they wanted more business with the Trump organization).

Now Bragg is bringing a case that has taken years to develop and millions of dollars in litigation costs for all parties. That is all over a crime from before the 2016 election that is a misdemeanor under state law that had already expired under the statute of limitations.

Other than an expired statute of limitations and the lack of definition of an actual crime, it's an airtight case.  It's obvious there's one law for Trump and another for everybody else.

Biden won't debate

Hot Air: "News Organizations Push for Biden and Trump to Debate"

There isn't a lot of confidence in Joe Biden agreeing to debate Donald Trump at this point. Joe Biden can't get through a speech or press conference anymore. He has notecards from staff to remind him what he is doing and the names of the people he is dealing with. The notecards for a press conference include a list of reporters with whom to call on and their photos so Biden can recognize them. Often there are reports that the reporters submitted their questions in advance. That allows the staff to provide answers that allow Biden to just read the answers.

Dementia Joe hasn't had an official press conference since 2022 and it's been almost 300 days since he's sat down for an interview with a reputable news source.  (Well, it was MSNBC, but close enough).

Iran fails

Fox News: "US military shoots down 'dozens' of Iranian drones fired at Israel, as Jewish state air defense system excels - The interceptions occurred hours after Iran launched drones and ballistic missiles."

Either this was a performative show from Iran or Israel's Iron Dome defense is really that good.  Iran gets nothing from this attack and now opens the door for retaliation from Israel.

But did you get your $35 insulin?

Wall Street Journal: "Biden’s Green-Energy Price Shock - The cost of electricity has climbed by 29.4% since January 2021."

Do White House officials pay electric bills? They strangely keep saying the President’s climate agenda is reducing electric-power rates even as the cost of running your dishwasher is sky-rocketing, as illuminated by the Labor Department’s consumer-price index.

The nearby chart shows the average change in electricity prices over the last decade. Electric rates remained relatively flat in the seven years before President Biden took office, rising 5%. Thank cheap natural gas. Yet since January 2021 electricity prices have soared 29.4%—about 50% more than overall inflation.

Americans don't need luxuries like food and electricity.

Suspicions confirmed

The Hill: "NPR editor’s tell-all confirms what we already knew about the media." 

That's Bidenflation, baby!

Inflation never went away:

The 3.5 percent year-over-year increase in the Consumer Price Index — announced on Wednesday — is a reminder that President Biden’s most conspicuous failure has been that he broke the 2 percent ceiling on inflation that had been kept in place for the last 30 years.

I've never heard of "supercore inflation" before but, like everything else under Biden, it's worse than ever:

A hotter-than-expected consumer price index report rattled Wall Street Wednesday, but markets are buzzing about an even more specific prices gauge contained within the data — the so-called supercore inflation reading.

Along with the overall inflation measure, economists also look at the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, to find the true trend. The supercore gauge, which also excludes shelter and rent costs from its services reading, takes it even a step further. Fed officials say it is useful in the current climate as they see elevated housing inflation as a temporary problem and not as good a measure of underlying prices.

Supercore accelerated to a 4.8% pace year over year in March, the highest in 11 months.

How about another record?  "Credit-Card Delinquency Rates Were Worst on Record in Fed Study"

But, ya know, $35 insulin.

🚨SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE:

Gasoline: 47.8%
Groceries: +21.1%
Eating out: +21.4%
Baby food: +30.5%
Pet food: +23.7%
Rent: +20.9%
Electricity: +28.3%
Natural gas: +26.9%
Used cars: +20.9%
Air fare: +32.7%
Public transportation: +22.2%
Real average weekly earnings: -3.9%

— Jacki Kotkiewicz (@jackikotkiewicz) April 10, 2024

True dat

The Corner: "Elizabeth Warren Isn’t Actually Very Smart." 

Aside from shooting at police, it's a mystery

Twitchy: "CNN Correspondent Asks How a Traffic Stop Ended With a Dead 26-Year-Old Black Man."

However much you hate the mainstream media, it's not enough. 

The Left hates free speech says [checks notes] Jonathan Chait

NY Magazine: "The Left-Wing Authoritarians Shutting Down the Democratic Party - Liberals would justifiably freak out if the right was doing this to Biden."

It would have been nice to see Chait come to this epiphany of liberal concern about the squelching of debate and censorship of free speech in a general sense, for all speakers.  But, as usual, the shoutdowns were just fine until they started to come for Dementia Joe.

Baby steps, I guess.

Straight into my veins

A veteran of National Public Radio pulls back the curtain and confirms every conservative's suspicion about the deep-seated bias there: "I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust."

Some excerpts:

Back in 2011, although NPR’s audience tilted a bit to the left, it still bore a resemblance to America at large. Twenty-six percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, 23 percent as middle of the road, and 37 percent as liberal.

By 2023, the picture was completely different: only 11 percent described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, 21 percent as middle of the road, and 67 percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal. We weren’t just losing conservatives; we were also losing moderates and traditional liberals. 

No kidding.

Concerned by the lack of viewpoint diversity, I looked at voter registration for our newsroom. In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans. None. 

Uh-huh.  Go on.

The laptop was newsworthy. But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR’s best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump. 

Not only do I totally believe this story, I believe it's being replayed and replicated in newsrooms - large and small - all across this country.  Furthermore, like this "fair-minded" NPR journalist, I believe these people are willing parties to the fraud with a clear conscious because Trump.  Once you've convinced yourself that you're saving democracy, all journalistic standards fly out the window.

Extra - Red State: "NPR Exposed: Insider Tells All About 'News' Outlet's Incredible Bias, Various Story Cover-Ups"

More - Twitchy: "NPR Veteran Says They Lost Their Way After Trump’s Election"

And this - Roundup from Instapundit.

Face off

The Corner: "TV Networks to Biden and Trump: Please Don’t Bail on the Presidential Debates in Autumn." 

No ceasefire

Stephen Green: "Hamas Just Begged Israel to Finish It Off"

Two weeks ago I had the sad duty to inform you that most, if not all, of the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 were probably dead. Now, Hamas has confirmed it.

There are five American hostages still unaccounted for.

"Are you kidding me?"

Here's Jonathan Turley in the NY Post: "Judge calls out blatant double standard when it comes to Biden’s Justice Department and Hunter"

US District Judge Ana Reyes slammed the DOJ for stonewalling Congress on the subpoenas while imprisoning figures like former Trump adviser Peter Navarro for doing the same thing.

The Biden administration has blocked the testimony of prosecutors Mark Daly and Jack Morgan, who were involved in an inexplicable decision of the Justice Department to allow major felonies against Hunter Biden to lapse.

In prior hearings, IRS whistleblowers testified that they had an agreement on the table to extend the statute of limitations on the crimes, but special counsel David Weiss allowed the period to lapse without any explanation. Since the DOJ was in the midst of plea negotiations, it made no sense that the DOJ would simply kill potential charges.

Remember that the Biden DOJ tried to sweep this whole thing under the rug with a sweetheart plea deal that was squashed by a judge who was paying attention.  

Bringing on WWIII

CNN: "US preparing for significant Iran attack on US or Israeli assets in the region as soon as next week."

Conflict in the Mideast always leads to supply chain disruptions in the oil industry, so it's a good thing we refilled the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after draining it in 2022 for the midterms.

Down down down

Issues & Insights: "Media Tailspin Continues As Public Trust In News Outlets Crumbles: I&I/TIPP Poll."

Overrun and overwhelmed

Wall Street Journal: "Why Immigration Is Now the No. 1 Issue for Voters - The topic—a weak spot for Biden—ranks as more important than inflation and the economy, polls show."

Heck of a job, Joey:

Foreign-born population growth:

Barack Obama: 68,000 per month
Donald Trump: 42,000 per month
Joe Biden: 172,000 per month pic.twitter.com/dugg87pT2Z

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 4, 2024

WTF is she talking about?

Outkick: "Big-Time Sports Fan Kamala Harris Says NCAA Women's Tournament Wasn't 'Allowed' To Have Brackets Until 2022."

Not only is this laughably false, it reveals Kamala's penchant for making sure every story she tells has a victim. 

Extra - PJ Media: "Kamala Lies About NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament to Stoke More Division."

Sacrifices had to be made

Ace: "Biden, Having Drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Boost Democrats' Chances for the 2022 Midterms, Now Breaks a Promise and Says He's Not Going to Re-Fill It."

It's a good thing we're not heading for World War 3.

Harrison Bergeron IRL

Reason: "Seattle Is Getting Rid of Gifted Schools in a Bid To Increase Equity - When schools get rid of advanced offerings, they hurt smart, underprivileged students."

America is heading towards an equity utopia where anybody can do any job.  Hooray!

How could Hamas do this to us?

The Hill: "Democrats fear Israel-Hamas war could cost them in November."

The Democrats have discovered the real victims in this war.

Biden ducks again

Hot Air: "'I Didn't Do That': Biden Gaslights America On 'Trans Day of Visibility'."

Daily Signal: "Joe Biden’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Transgender Easter Fiasco."

I considered this whole issue a tempest in a teapot and just an unfortunate coincidence.  But, as he is prone to do, Dementia Joe just simply declares that "I didn't do that."  Whether it's Afghanistan or inflation or speaking to dead foreign leaders or leaving classified documents lying around his garage, Biden will accept no criticism and evince no remorse.

Gas prices are heading north again.  Who will Biden blame this time?

Yeah, they hate open debate

The Corner: "Campus Protesters Tell Us a Lot about Themselves." - "When our campus protesters take action, they unwittingly reveal a great deal about themselves, particularly how poorly they’ve been educated." 

News from the People's Republic of MA

Hot Air: "Massachusetts Looks to Ban School Suspensions."

I suspect that saner heads will prevail and the Bay State will not ban suspensions.  If there is no recourse for disruptive behavior in the classroom, it's going to degrade the education experience for every other student, and parents will start pulling their kids from public schools for charters or homeschooling.