What it feels like to be a Republican in Provincetown, MA

 

The whale watch was fun, though.

CNN and NYT white-knighting for their guy

Biden didn't say that thing he said.  Twitchy: "Drew Holden fact-checks the fact-checkers after Tuesday night’s debate."  

Regrettably, I mostly agree with this

Power Line: "A long night":

If President Trump entered the debate trailing in most battleground states, as I believe he did, his performance served him poorly. I can’t believe he won over a single persuadable voter.

Trump’s performance must also have cemented the negative perceptions held by voters who have turned against him. He carried his do not go gentle into that good night mode to wild excess. Perhaps it was President Trump who needed pharmaceutical assistance to dial it back. As it happened, I thought Trump interrupted Biden on a few occasions when a Biden brain freeze was in progress.

It's fair to say that what appeals to a lot of conservatives like me is that Trump is not a wishy-washy McCain or a milquetoast Romney; he gets out there and fights.  But four years of this is exhausting and I can see how the persona that worked so well as an outsider can turn against him as President.  Trump didn't do himself a lot of favors, including interrupting Biden when he was in the midst of bad response.

Also: you'd think by now Trump would amply understand that the press is solidly aligned against him.  This was his opportunity to cut through the bias and directly contradict Biden's many lies.  But he didn't counter the phony Atlantic story until a couple minutes later when he raised Biden's "stupid bastards" comment.  He failed to push back at the moment and gave repetitive replies when he would have been better served by strategic jabs. 

Make no mistake, I thought Biden was terrible as Andrew Sullivan noted: "I’ve never seen Biden seem so old or so weak. He can’t land a strong blow. He’s being successfully heckled."  But if you're a voter looking to move past the high drama and return to some normality, Trump added fuel to your fatigue.

Well, that was fun

That was not a debate, but I think it was what we expected at least from Trump.  Biden gave as good as he got but, once again, he lied repeatedly and was allowed to get away with it since we know the fact checkers will ignore them. 

Prove me wrong, mainstream media.  I didn't keep a running list but - off the top of my head - Biden lied about "very fine people", about the unproven Russian bounty story, the uncorroborated Atlantic story, about Hunter Biden's grift, his adherence to the Green New Deal, Kamala Harris badmouthing science, and his opposition to the travel ban.

On other issues, he refused to state his position on court packing in a Presidential debate, claimed Antifa was just an abstraction, and flip-flopped on election-year nominations to the Supreme Court.

Funniest quote tonight: "God save the transcribers."  

Update - Hot Air: "Biden Told So Many Whoppers Last Night, Burger King May Sue Him." 

Debate night!

I'm on semi-vacation so this is the first time I'm checking the news today.  It looks like the candidate who has been spending half his campaign under the "lid" wants periodic breaks in a 90-minute debate.

The media is garbage, a continuing series

I didn't believe this one until I saw it with my own eyes.  Not the Bee: "Incredible: USA Today fact checks The Babylon Bee's "claim" that Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death was overturned by 9th circuit court."  

Thanks Harry Reid

Washington Examiner: "Thank God and Chuck Schumer for Amy Coney Barrett: The four Democratic overreaches that got us here."  

Joe Biden's appeal is becoming more selective

Twitchy: "Biden campaign officials brag about limiting crowds, like the spouses of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did."  Nine people at a Biden event.  Nine.  Of course, this is nine more than Sleepy Joe met with after putting a lid on his campaign yesterday.

Relevant clip with a bonus thanks to Rob Reiner:

It's nomination day!

Hot Air: "NYT: The Upcoming SCOTUS Confirmation Hearing Could Be A Real Game-Changer — For Trump And The GOP."

And that’s why the assumption that a Kavanaugh-esque spectacle won’t galvanize voters to back Trump is no small wager. Trump’s nomination of Barrett (or Lagoa, or another woman) isn’t going to change many minds about Trump among voters already inclined to oppose him either, but a failure to go all-out in smearing the nominee may well disenchant and disincentivize them to turn out at all. The upcoming confirmation hearing may not be entirely a win-win for the GOP, but it’s very clearly a lose-lose proposition for Democrats — which is why Republicans want to hold the hearing.

Will Democrats be able to curb their worst instincts, or will we see more "Handmaid Tale" costumes shuffling around Capitol Hill?  Probably the latter and they're treading into dangerous ground of religious tests for a nominee considering that the Jewish woman she's replacing was confirmed on a 96-3 vote.

What a novel concept

Glorious American: "ESPN Launches ‘ESPN Sports,’ A Division Dedicated To Covering Sports." 

It's Amy

Power Line: "Report: it will be Judge Barrett."

Good choice.

Is Joe Biden dying?

Is this such an extreme question?  In case you missed it, Biden's campaign called their ninth "lid" on the day this month, so Sleepy Joe could rest.  When Biden does appear in public, it's in tightly controlled scenarios to minimal crowds, that are not advertised ahead of time in case they need a quick retreat:

There is scant physical evidence that the former vice president and Democratic nominee is in town. His visits are scarcely publicized beforehand, logistical details are closely held and his event venues serve as much as video studios as places of gathering. Barely anyone is allowed near the candidate.

The most significant recent high-wire act for Biden was the CNN town hall where he was served up countless softballs in a forum that even Politico called a "kid-gloves" treatment.  On the few times he was challenged, he either ignored the questions or went into a weird jag about chicken manure. 

Michael Dougherty asks "Seriously, Can We Talk about Joe Biden Now?"

Usually, a party tries to avoid making the same mistakes that recent losing campaigns made. But Biden’s operation seems to be leaning into dangers that should be obvious. Hillary Clinton’s campaign was dogged by conspiracy theories about her health, ones that were dismissed by her cheerleading journalists until the very moment she seemed to collapse at a public event, and was thrown into the side of a van by her handlers.

Joe Biden has had two aneurysms, he lashes out when he gets the slightest bit of pushback ("Listen, fat"), and now he's spending a third of his time in hiding and the rest of the time led around by his puppeteers.  What, indeed, is going on with this guy?

Two other clues: the Democrats are pivoting away from mail-in voting, perhaps because of the high disqualification factor, but maybe because it locks voters into candidate who may not make it to election day.  Second, Kamala Harris is incommunicado:

“A reminder that it has been 42 days since Harris was tapped as the VP pick. There are 42 days until election day,” NBC News reporter Deepa Shivaram tweeted. “The senator has not once formally taken questions from the press.”

Isn't this weird?  Why isn't she out there promoting Joe Biden?  Maybe it's because she knows Joe is in a downward spiral and it's only a matter of time before she'll be forced to step in.  Until then, the campaign has one goal: hide the decline.

Today's least-surprising news

Daily Wire: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg Didn’t Retire Because She Wanted Hillary Clinton To ‘Name Her Successor,’ Daughter Says."

Please oh please oh please let it be Amy: "Trump Supreme Court favorite Amy Coney Barrett would be the ultimate insult to RBG."

Coolio.

Hunter loves coke and hookers

If you're hankering for another weaselly non-denial after Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo's epic performance, you're in luck: "Biden campaign spokesman addresses report on Hunter Biden by pivoting to coronavirus, denies nothing."  

Hygiene theater

Reason: "Can the CDC Get Anything Right?"  "As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can't stop proving itself useless and incompetent."  

You know, I thought traffic was light today

Ace: "Sundown Joe Biden: Covid Has Killed Two Hundred Million Americans."

Relevant source: Did Joe Biden kill me?  

Ready for the battle

Bring it on.  Red State: "Lindsey Graham 2.0 Returns, Flames the Dems on SCOTUS in Brand New Statement."  Here's the key part:

“After the treatment of Justice Kavanaugh I now have a different view of the judicial-confirmation process,” Graham said. “Compare the treatment of Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh to that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, and it’s clear that there is already one set of rules for a Republican president and one set of rules for a Democrat president. I therefor think it is important that we proceed expeditiously to process any nomination made by President Trump to fill this vacancy. I am certain if the shoe was on the other foot, you would do the same.”

Speaking of Elena Kagan, I remember the vicious grilling Lindsey Graham gave Kagan after she was nominated by Obama in 2010.  Avert your eyes from this partisan cruelty:

Extra - PJ Media: "Dems Are About to Learn How Much Republicans Are Still Seething 2 Years After Kavanaugh Hearings." 

Because of course

 

Washington Post headlines on Scalia's passing and Ginsburg's passing pic.twitter.com/VQlWwphlXa

— Joe Bishop-Henchman (@jbhenchman) September 19, 2020

Why is the steering wheel on the right?

Gateway Pundit: "Liberal Woman Posts Selfie Video of Hysterical Meltdown Over Death of Justice Ginsburg."  When politics is your religion.  

RBG's activism engendered the current mood

Bookworm Room has a detailed review on Ruth Bader Ginsberg and I could not agree more with point #7:

7. Ginsburg’s politicizing the Court is part of why we’re at the situation we are today, where a Justice’s death can throw an upcoming election into an uproar. When judges legislate, as she and her fellow leftists on the Court have been doing, the Court takes on oversized importance. For decades, leftists who couldn’t get their fellow citizens to vote on their policies were able to use the Court as a super-legislative body. This is not what the Constitution intended, and it means that we Americans are being ruled by a cabal of 9 people who hold their positions for life. They are, in essence, a form of non-democratic absolute monarchy.

To this I would point to her dissent in the 7-2 decision for Masterpiece Cakeshop, a.k.a. the "bake me a cake, hater" case (joined by the worst justice on the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor).  As Bookworm notes, Ginsberg was always portrayed as a "fighter" which means she was a politician and not a jurist sworn to uphold the Constitution.  I'll go a step further: I think RBG got caught up in the hagiography around her and simply tailored legal decisions to burnish her leftist bona fides.  The result was judicial activism that led to decisions away from freedom and towards compulsion.  This is why everybody is up in arms about the Supreme Court and now the election is going to be super-mega-insane.

For contrast, look at the legal reasoning of the late Antonin Scalia who leaned towards individual rights ("go ahead and burn that flag!") and often wondered why the Supreme Court was ruling on issues that should be decided by the people:

The States may, if they wish, permit abortion on demand, but the Constitution does not require them to do so. The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.

People voting?  Like in a democracy?  Scalia and Ginsberg were friends, it's said, but I wonder what Nino would have thought about his good friend forcing a baker to create a cake at the barrel of a gun.