Restricting Space Travel

For John, BLUF:  This is over a month old, but the story has not gotten better with time and now SpaceX has sued the California Coastal Commission over obstruction based on Mr Musk's political views.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden Admin to SpaceX:  Drop Dead!

From Vodka Pundit, by Stephen Green, September 11, 2024, 10:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

It isn't a joke whenever I say that the new space race is Elon Musk versus the rest of the world, and I'm not joking now when I tell you that his company's biggest competitor isn't China — and it certainly isn't Russia — but the Biden-Harris FAA.

SpaceX's Starship promises to revolutionize spaceflight by reducing launch costs by two orders of magnitude — that's a 99% savings — and vastly expanding current limits on the size and mass of what can be lifted into orbit and deep space.

If SpaceX can get permission to perform the necessary flight tests, that is — and the FAA is dragging its feet.

"Starships are meant to fly," the company reminded the Biden administration in a lengthy statement released on Tuesday. "We recently received a launch license date estimate of late November from the FAA, the government agency responsible for licensing Starship flight tests. This is a more than two-month delay to the previously communicated date of mid-September. This delay was not based on a new safety concern, but instead driven by superfluous environmental analysis."

"Starships are meant to fly."  That is correct.  There is, however, an apparent tension between our free enterpise approach of exploring space and the desire of progressives to protect the environment by constraining free lance exploration that damages our enviroment and could damage enviornments on other worlds.

My sense is that a cheap trick now will cost us later.  We need to let ingenuity roam free and count on self interest to ensure we do not act, in the long run, in stupid ways.  Early constraints on such exploration is reminiscent of China in 1405 to 1433, which had conducted seven voages by its treasure fleet, only to back away from it all and eventually fall into a period of decline, finally pulling out recently.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Reason for Large Illegal Immigration

For John, BLUF:  The Department of Homeland Security has a problem with putting out a coherent story that sells across the fruited plain.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trust Me, We Would NEVER Do That, Says Mayorkas to Disbelieving Americans

From PJ Media, by Reporter Victoria Taft, 14 October 2024, 9:18 AM.

Here is the lede plus six:

Alejandro Mayorkas, the impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary, wants you to know that he's vewy, vewy angwy that people would dare say that the reason he, Border Czar Kamala Harris, and President Joe Biden, have opened the borders to a marauding horde of millions of illegal aliens is to import new Democrat voters.

That's just "disinformation," he said on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday morning, with just a tad too much-feigned disbelief in his voice.

Mayorkas told Margaret Brennan that these kinds of stories combined with the concerns over helping North Carolina hurricane victims vote this election have caused Americans to "lose confidence in the integrity of the election system, and we need people in positions of authority to actually communicate accurate information to the voting public."

Getting "accurate information" would be a refreshing change, wouldn't it?

But this was my favorite line from Mayorkas. Make sure you're not eating or drinking anything while you read on.

"The notion that we in law enforcement have sought to intentionally allow individuals to cross the border illegally for the purpose of voting is preposterous, and everyone should condemn that rhetoric," he solemnly told Brennan. "Everyone, regardless of party affiliation."

That's right. It's not his contemptible behavior that begs explanation, it's our daring to ask the question that's the problem.

So, can we say that the flood of illegal immigrants is due to incompetence on the part of the Bush Administration?  Or, are they tryihng to compensate for all those childless cat ladies?  Maybe it has to do with fertility collapse.

Fertility has collapsed worldwide owing to female empowerment, urbanization, economic insecurity and climate concerns. "Peak humanity" is upon us – and that's before we factor in another pandemic or accelerating climate disasters.

Yes, we need more immigration in the United States.♠  However, we need to do it the right way.  The Senator Schumer supported Immigration Reform Bill is not the right way.  For one thing, it allows for 1.82 milllion illegal immigrants a year before actions kick in, if they are not waived by the Administration.  Really?  Just go with the House Bill they have been suppressing.  Hypocrits all the way down.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠ 

Check the Data

For John, BLUF:  The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a difficult job and finds itself always having to update their data,  One would expect the Secretary of Labor to keep up on this.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden's commerce secretary ridiculed for saying she's not 'familiar' with damaging jobs report, blames Trump instead

Here is the sub-headline:

Many wondered why the commerce secretary was unaware of the newest jobs report.

From Blaze News, by an unkown reporter, 22 August 2024.

Here is the lede plus five:

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was mocked and ridiculed over her response to a blistering jobs report on Wednesday.

Raimondo was being interviewed on ABC News from the Democratic National Convention when she was questioned about a revision showing that the number of jobs in the U.S. had been overestimated by nearly a million over the last year. Instead, she accused former President Donald Trump of being a liar.

'We’re in the best of hands.'

“I don’t believe it because I’ve never heard Trump say anything truthful,” responded Raimondo.

"It is from the Bureau of Labor," replied the reporter.

"I'm not familiar with that," Raimondo said.

I have a friend who thinks the problem here is Fedeeral Bureaucrats who can't do the statistics well.  His solution is to fire people.

I expecct those bureaucrats are trying to do the job as best they can.  On the other hand, this response suggests that there might be an advantage to the Voters to fire the Cabinet Secretary.  How can she lead the Department of Labor if she doesn't know what is going on in the Department.  How can she emphathise with the workers if she doesn't understand the water within which they swim.

If the Cabinet Secretary doesn't understand the numbers, what is the chance the President, and the White House understands the numbers?

Regards  —  Cliff

Crashing the System

For John, BLUF:  We face continuing problems with illegal immigration, which is not being fixed by small moves from the Biden Administration.  It will soon become overwhelming.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

In a recent post (3 July 2024) (Stop Asking For Uncle Sam to Pay Your Bills) I talked about the costs of illegal immigration to the individual States♠  and how even the Federal Government can not fund this problem.

This is not a good situation.  It is only adding to the inflation problem we are alredy facing.  The TV Network CNBC said, in March of this year, "The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days".  In February of this year Forbes reported that the Congressional Budget Office now says tht the interest on the US Federeal debt now exceeds the Defense Budget.

This growing debt will eat our budget.  Not just Defense, but also things like Social Security and Medicare.  It will damage, and then destroy the US Dollar as the world reserve currency.  As US News and World Report told us in February of this year, "For the U.S., it would likely mean less access to capital, higher borrowing costs and lower stock market values."  That is bad news for all families as they try to live from paycheck to paycheck.  It also means, in the end, less support for those who need Government support.

We need to wake up and realize that we can not do everything.  We need to prioritize and look for cheaper solutions.  We need to start paying down our national debt before it eats the budget.

And, perhaps we should turn off the flow of illegal immigrants, who are costing us a lot of money, and interest payments.

As I thought about this problem I was reminded of a course in American History I took at UMass Lowell Continuing Education.  The authors of the textbook we used were Profesors Richard Cloward and Francis Fox Piven, of Columbia Univerity.

The Cloward–Piven strategy is a political strategy outlined in 1966 by American sociologists and political activists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven.  The strategy aims to utilize "militant anti poverty groups" to facilitate a "political crisis" by overloading the welfare system via an increase in welfare claims, forcing the creation of a system of guaranteed minimum income and "redistributing income through the federal government".

Do you think it is possible that someone on that behind the scenes team running the Biden Administraion has hit on the idea of fundamentally changing our welfare system by crashing it with illegal immigrants?  Fixing such a crash could involve reallocating resources within the Federal Budget or it could involve changing tax types and rates, or both.  As we mix poverty, unemployment, homelessness illegal immigration and medical coverage we could see radical shifts not seen since the 1930s.

This is one of those things which will appear all of a sudden and overwhelm the Administration and Congress.  If someone is prepared with a solution, no matter how foreign to our culture, they will have an edge in presenting that solution and getting it approved.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  According to Brilliant Maps, as of 4 June 2024, only 7 states have 5,000 or fewer illegal immigrants:  Alaska, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming.  Two more had 5,000 to 15,000 illegal immmigrants, New Hampshire, South Dakota.  The rest had more, some up over a million.  Is the Federal Government trying to break the Republican Government of Texas?

Reading the Room

For John, BLUF:  If you didn't think this Bill was DOA, you didn't realize President Biden wants his cake and to eat it too.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here’s Why the Senate Border Security Bill Was ‘Dead on Arrival’

Here is the sub-headline:

Illegal immigrants by the millions are entering the United States, as Congress is unable to fix loopholes, and President Joe Biden refuses to do so.

From The Epoch Times, by Investigative Reporter Mark Tapscott, 8 February 2024, Updated 9 February 2024.

Here is the lede plus four:

On Feb. 6, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that a border security bill created by a bipartisan group of senators was “dead on arrival.”

When Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) announced on Feb. 4 that he and two colleagues had agreed on a comprehensive border security bill, he lauded it as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to stop the flood of illegal immigrants entering the United States that began in 2021 at the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term.

Mr. Lankford said he thought that he, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.)—after four months of arduous closed-door negotiations—had done something that recalled the great compromises that once defined the Senate, pleasing conservatives and liberals alike.

But two days later, Mr. Johnson said the bill was even “worse than expected.”

Going by their comments, it was as if the Sooner State’s senior senator and Mr. Johnson were reading two entirely different bills.

The US Southern Border is like a seive, and has been since January 2020.  In Fiscal Year 2023♠ we had 2.8 million illegal immigrants.  In December of 2023 it was 302,392 illegal immigrants (or 3,628704 over a year, not counting the "got aways").

The reform bill has issues.  Here is a list, from Senator Mike Lee of Utah.  Taking an example, the proposed bill would provide emergency action if we logged 5,000 illegal immigrants for seven days in a row.  One person short of 5,000 would provide 1,824,635 illegal immigrants a year.  That is almost 2 million that we don't have a plan to house, education, and assimilate.  We can tell there is pain by listening to the Mayors and Citizens of major Cities in the Northern part of the nation.

Regarding the building of a wall, this proposed bill would put that building off until 2028.  Why?  We need a wall now, not in four years.

President Biden and the Democrats on Capitol Hill do not want to fix the illegal immigrant problem.  They want a cloak to hide their goal of free and open immigration for all.  It is a sad commentary that they think this cloak will hide their abandonment of our national borders.

Some, like our Senior Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, claim opposition to the Bill is just President Trump playing politics.  She must not be reading the polls.  The American Voters are not happy with the nation's immigration policies.  President Trump is just doing a better job of reading the room.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  A Fiscal Year runs from 1 October to 30 September.

He's Back

For John, BLUF:  Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned over allegations of sexual abuse.  But, at 66, he has time for one more term in public office.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Andrew Cuomo plots comeback with border attacks on Biden

From The New York Post, by Columnist Bob McManus, 26 January 2024, 5:17 p.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

Here he comes.  To save the day?

Andrew Cuomo, always intrusive and never in doubt, just tucked into Joe Biden and the Democratic Party on America’s self-inflicted border-hopper crisis.

“The migrant issue is creating mayhem across the country and showing the ineffectiveness and schisms in the Democratic Party,” writes ex-Gov. Bigfoot for The Hill — a policy-wonk-centric, Washington-based venue.

That is to say, a site watched closely by political pros from sea to shining sea: Cuomo sent a message not likely to be missed — on two levels.

“President Biden’s administration has not been able to solve the migrant problem,” he continued, “primarily because of the divided opinion within our own party.”

This is an opinion piece and as such, it is a little tart about former Governor Cuomo.  Plus, the Newspaper itself is not in the Progressive Camp.

The above notwithstanding, I am not surprised that Governor Cuomo is making a bid to come back.  And, he couldn't have picked a better topic.  Given the apparent lack of depth on the Democratic Bench, he is, in my mind, a possible replacement for President Biden some time before the November Election.

For sure illegal immigration is a major issue at this time.  Further, the Administration is not using the authority available to it to solve the problem.  I am very doubtful that the mystery bill♠ being developed on Capitol Hill will provide the relief teh American People are looking for.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Here is a take by NPR.  However NPR does not present up front the concerns about rumored high number of illegal immigrants required to trigger action.

The Emperor Has No Cloths

For John, BLUF:  The people inside the Biden Administration, and its supporters, remind one of New Yorker Writer Pauline Kael, who said, in December 1972, "I only know one person who voted for Nixon.  Where they are I don’t know.".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The suffering public aren't imagining things. -- Larry Summers

From X, by wretchardthecat, 3O December 2023, 3:15 PM.

Here is the X Post:

Lawrence H. Summers

@LHSummers
No question, things are more symmetric now than they were a year or a year and a half ago.  Whatever economy patricians may think, the American people are very unhappy with the state of the economy.  That's manifest in how they see confidence in institutions.  Confidence in our political leaders and their own reporting on consumer sentiment.  And I think that anyone looking at the situation has to say that while some of that may have to do with a lot of cultural issues, at least some of it has to do with the inflation we've been through, with the increase in interest rates that's been necessary.  And so I think we need to be very careful about giving policy any kind of buy given how the American people are expressing their own sentiments.
https://bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-12-30/summers-responds-to-krugman-on-recession-risk… 7:48 AM · Dec 30, 2023

We all remember Larry Summers, don't we?  He was the President of then Harvard University, fired for having the temerity to challenge then (and now) acceted progressive wisdom,  It was a candid moment, for which he had to pay.  Not like today, where plagerism and anti-semitism are acceptable activities at Hamas University.

But, Seccretary Summers is again bucking the Progressive Party Line, noting the Emporer has no cloths.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A River of Power

For John, BLUF:  The author wonders if we know who is really running the Country and suggests it is a collection of Ivy League graduates.  That doesn't give me much confidencde.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Who Are the Commissioners?

From Chicago Boyz, by Blogger David Foster, 13 November 2023.

Here is the lede:

If you read English naval history, you are sure to run into a reference to The Commissioners for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral.  Your first reaction is likely to be something like, “Huh?  WTF?  Why couldn’t the Lord High Admiral execute the duties of his own office?  Lazy, much?”

The Lord High Commiioners of the Admiralty were the officials who managed the affairs of the Royal Navy.  I would say, over the centuries they did a pretty good job, except maybe for the Dardanelles (The Gallipoli Campaign).

The discussion of the Lord High Commissioners leads to a discussion of the backstage managers of the Biden Administration.  [You didn't think President Biden was running things on his own, did you.]  The term "river of power" comes from President Biden and refers to the Ivy League.♠

The Blogger ends with:

In less than two years, Biden and his ‘Commissioners’ have done tremendous damage to the United States and the world.  It is hard to imagine that any future Democratic administration would not also be heavily subject to the influence of Obama and the other ‘commissioners’ I mentioned above, leaving aside only Doctor Jill Biden.  The best hope of minimizing this damage lies in the potential for a Republican House and and Republican Senate.  True, many of the candidates are not what we would wish.  But ‘the best is the enemy of the good’, and the issue of the moment is not establishing ideal policies but rather avoiding multiple catastrophes.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff
♠  Just as a reminder, the Ivy League is that collection of Universities where over the last few weeks the students have been marching for Hamas and the chant, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine must be free."  Heaven help us.

Not Unified

For John, BLUF:  The Biden Administration is not united on Israel vs Hamas, and neither is the nation.  It is not like the situation in the wake of 911.  And this is not good.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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400 Government Officals Sign a Letter Objecting to Biden's Israel Stance

From PJ Media, by Columnist Lincoln Brown, 14 November 2023, 12:46 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Many years ago, after a hard day of radio journalism and program directing, I stopped at my favorite brewpub for an IPA and some chicken wings.  I noticed a few friends who worked for a government agency and struck up a conversation.  I mentioned having seen a story on TV at the gym about the federal government offering free health care to illegal immigrants.  I opined that there were plenty of Americans who should receive that consideration before it was extended to people who entered the country unlawfully.  One of the women looked at me, blinked, and said, "Well f**k you!"

Alright, then.  Good talk.  It wasn't the response I expected but considering the fact that people in the federal ecosystem function in an echo chamber, I guess I should not have been surprised.  Mike Lee once told me that the people inside the Beltway are essentially unaware of the America or the world outside the Beltway.  And with the advent of curated media, it should not be an eye-opener that the same mentality extends to many federal employees.  That may go some ways to explaining the letter sent Tuesday to President Joe Biden that was signed by over 400 government officials.

The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter, signed by appointees and staffers across 40 agencies.  It began by denouncing the Hamas attack on Israel but also stated:

We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity, and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

As an aside, that extract is 53 words in a single sentence.  One should avoid sentences over 20 words! or so I was taught.

The thing that fascinates me is the people calling for a cease fire with no idea of what comes next.  Nor any indication of how Hamas would respond.  My understanding has always been that staff are not supposed to bring problems, except with propsed solutions.  A ceasefire is not a solution.  A plan for getting Palestine (with or without Hamas) is a solution.  I am not seeing such a thing.

The author may be close to the mark with his remark about those inside the Beltway not having a feel for the rest of the nation.  Not all of them, but a significant portion of them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Stopping Internal Migration

For John, BLUF:  It seems President Biden is looking to fix the illegal immigration problem by allowing them in. but restricting them to the border states.  This is a bad idea.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden Move to Keep Illegals in Texas Is Part of the Democrat Long Game

From PJ Media, by reporter Matt Margolis. 9 September 2023, 11:42 AM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Remember when Democrat officials nationwide virtue-signaled their support of illegal immigration by declaring themselves sanctuary cities and states?  That was amusing.  But then, when red states starting shipping their illegal immigrants to these illegal-immigration-loving locations, suddenly, they weren’t so keen about it?  That was even more amusing.  Just as quickly as these illegal immigrants started showing up in liberal enclaves the local population and leaders figured out they didn’t actually want them there—and they’re complaining endlessly about the drain on resources and increase in crime.

In comes Joe Biden, the architect of the ongoing border crisis, who is now considering forcing illegal immigrants to stay in Texas as they await screening for asylum.  This would severely limit their ability to travel in a country they don’t belong in in the first place.

“Administration officials have been considering the idea as a way to stem recent increases in the numbers of migrant families crossing the southern border, which reportedly reached an all-time high last month,” the Los Angeles Times reports.  “Supporters of the remain-in-Texas idea, which has yet to be finalized, hope that it would help the administration advance its goals of quickly deporting families who fail initial asylum screenings and deterring other families from crossing in the first place.”

The first question is why, if the US border is not sacred to the immigrant, why would the border between Texas and Louisiana or Arkansas or Oklahoma be sacred:  The second question is if the Biden Administration will tax the rest of the nation to help fund the "remain in Texas" consequences.  As New York City Mayor eric Adams points out, providing for illegal immigrants is not cheap.

This is a national problem, but without national solutions.  I would like to see politician of both major parties coming together, with experts from relevant institutions, such as the Congressional Research Service, to inform the People and to craft laws to allow for orderly absorption of immigrants in a manner that allows orderly absorption.

There is the question as to if the President can stop interstate migration of immigrants will he try to stop other migration between states.

We should all be communicating with our Representatives in Congress to encourage them to fix this, and if they don't we should vote them out.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Cars Are Evil School

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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'ALL CARS ARE BAD':  Pete Buttigieg's Equity Advisers Want You To Stop Driving

Here is the sub-headline:

Transportation secretary's equity committee aims to bring 'diversity' and 'inclusion' to America's infrastructure

From The Washington Free Beacon, by Reporter Charles Hilu, 1 September 2023.

Here is the lede plus three:

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is appointing a group of "leading experts" to advise him on "transportation equity," including several who argue that cars cause climate change and promote racism and therefore should be phased out.

Buttigieg earlier this month appointed 24 new members to his Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity, an Obama-era body that Buttigieg is reviving after the Trump administration scrapped it.  Included on the committee is Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, a "spatial policy scholar" who says "ALL CARS ARE BAD" given that they cause "a myriad of environmental issues and conditions."  Another Buttigieg appointee, self-described "transportation nerd" Veronica Davis, argued in an August essay that cars perpetuate "systemic racism" and are therefore "the problem" in America's transportation system.

Buttigieg's appointments—and his decision to revive the equity advisory committee—reflect the Biden administration's whole-of-government emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion.  President Joe Biden shortly after taking office in 2021 issued an executive order that called on federal agencies to "pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all."  Under the order, agency heads must conduct an "equity assessment" to identify policies that create "systemic barriers" in minority communities.

The committee will advise Buttigieg on "promising practices to institutionalize equity into agency programs, policies, regulations, and activities" and plans to meet for the first time this fall, according to Buttigieg's August announcement.  Marpillero-Colomina told the Washington Free Beacon that she is not "advocating for a complete erasure" of cars but intends to push Buttigieg to move America away from its reliance on private motor vehicles.

Regarding equity, we should all be in favor.  However, we should all have a sensae of the future we are lookoing for.  Is it one where we roll back the advantages of some to gain equity. or is it one where we advance some so they have equity with others?  The folks at this Equity Advisory Committee of the Department of Transportation sound like they are the "roll back" kind.

Free Enterprise, and oother freedoms, have allowed hundreds of millions to lead a better life.  I would hate to see that global progress come to a halt, so we can have equity at a lower level of prosperty.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Dark Times

For John, BLUF:  The Press has always been partisan, but now it seems to be involved with Government Agencies to suppress free speech.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Washington Post Says Democracy Demands Less Freedom of Speech

Here is the sub-headline:

The paper worries that "social media companies are receding from their role as watchdogs against political misinformation."

From Reason, by Editor Jacob Sullum, 25 August 2023, 4:20 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Donald Trump was back on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, last night for the first time since he got the boot in 2021 following the riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol. Trump posted the mug shot of him that was taken at Atlanta's jail this week when he was booked on the charges laid out in his Georgia indictment, which stem from his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in that state. He included a caption that described the indictment as "ELECTION INTERFERENCE" and urged his followers to "NEVER SURRENDER!"

After taking over the platform that was then known as Twitter last year, Elon Musk, an avowed "free speech absolutist," reinstated Trump's account. But this is the first time that Trump, who started a competing platform that is still known as Truth Social, has made use of Musk's permission. The Washington Post, in a news story published this morning, portrays Musk's decision and the attitude underlying it as part of a worrisome trend that threatens "democracy" by allowing "political misinformation" to proliferate on social media. The piece nicely illustrates the confusion, obfuscation, and hypocrisy that characterize mainstream press coverage of that subject.

As is typical of this journalistic genre, Post reporters Naomi Nix and Sarah Ellison never address the question of what counts as "misinformation," a highly contested category. Nor do they grapple with the content moderation problem of how to deal with politicians who say things of public interest that are arguably or demonstrably untrue. And although they allude to a constitutional challenge provoked by the federal government's efforts to restrict speech on social media platforms, they never mention the First Amendment. That is a pretty striking omission by people whose profession relies on that amendment's protections and who claim to be worried about the health of our democracy.

If our speech is moderated by the Government then how we vote will be influenced by the Gvernment, or the Deep State.  That there isn't absolute outrage over actions to suppress the Hunter Biden Laptop story is a major disappintment to me.  I understand that such suppression helped Candidate Joe Biden win election in 2020, but the ends don't justify the means.

There should be no doubt in peoples' minds that The Washington Post is helping to subvert the principles of The Declaration of Independece and The Constitution.  It is sad.  Very sad.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

First Amendment Protected

For John, BLUF:  On the 4th of July a Federal Jusge told the Biden Administrstion to stip colluding with social media companies to suppress free speech.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Poetic Justice for the Biden ‘Ministry of Truth’

From American Greatness, by Opinionator Roger Kimball, 9 July 2023.

Here is the lede plus fourteen:

At some point in this column, I have probably had occasion to quote these famous lines from Walter Scott’s poem “Marmion”:

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave

When first we practice to deceive.”

In another, better world, I like to think, the Bidens and their protectors and puppet masters would ruefully be contemplating Scott’s admonitory observation.

In this world, however, I suspect that—until quite recently, anyway—they had smugly sided with J.R. Pope’s sly amendment to Scott’s moralizing couplet:

“But when we’ve practiced for a while

How vastly we improve our style.”

I note that Pope’s amusing title for his observation is “A Word of Encouragement.”

Many of us feel a great contradiction at the heart of the Biden phenomenon.

On the one hand, he—“Big Guy” Joe—and his entire Snopes-like family—coke-head Hunter, “Dr.” Jill, the litter of grasping, on-the-make siblings—all seem like ciphers, the veritable incarnation of Gertrude Stein’s description of Oakland, CA: “there’s no there there.”

Indeed, from this point of view, Joe’s painful mental and, increasingly, physical vacancy seems to be the objective correlative for the entire Biden enterprise. It’s as if the nasty brother of the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz suddenly came to life and occupied the White House. “If I only had a brain,” he snarls softly to himself, frightening everyone around him.

And that “as if” brings me to the extraordinary “other hand.” Joe Biden is President of the United States, still, if just barely, the most important political office in the world. Amazing. How could that be? Talk about going from zero to one!

Of course, history is littered with the spectacle of destructive lunatics and incompetents in high office, as such names as Caligula, Nero, Commodus, and Elagabalus remind us. (As an aside, I hereby note that Elagabalus is poised for a rerun, so perfectly does that epicene, “gender fluid” freak epitomize some of the central pathologies of our time).

The Bidens have yet to achieve the notoriety of such grimly illustrious predecessors. Nevertheless, these past months have not been kind to the Biden conglomerate.

And here is a seven page summary of the Court Order:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
MONROE DIVISION

STATE OF MISSOURI, ET AL.		CASE NO. 3:22-CV-01213
VERSUS		JUDGE TERRY A. DOUGHTY
JOSEPH R BIDEN JR., ET AL.		MAG. JUDGE KAYLA D. MCCLUSKY

This is important work.  Important in terms of our right to free speech and important in terms of having a fair and open debate on things that matter to us as Citizens.  Think of the suppressing of the Great Barrington Declaration,  Wikipedia notwithstanding, the Great Barrington Declaration, shunned by the Bureaucracy, turned out to have important points.

If we can't handle free and open debate then we can't claim to have a democracy.  We will have lost our Republic.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Howie Nails It

For John, BLUF:  Commenting on the Administration's response (and the responses from Democrats in Congress) to a number of Supreme Court rulings this last week.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"The Democrats haven't been this mad since the Republicans took away their slaves in the 1860s"

From The Howie Carr Show, by Host Howie Carr, 30 June 2023.

A good summation of the situation in That City.

Regards  —  Cliff

FISA to be Reformed by House

For John, BLUF:  We have good news, a bipartisan move to reform the operation of the FISA Court.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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GOP won't reauthorize FISA without FBI reforms following Durham report: 'Stop the abuses'

From The Washington Examiner, by Justice Department Reporter Jerry Dunleavy, 2 June 2023, 07:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Leading House Republicans won't back the reauthorization of powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without major reforms in the wake of the FBI’s FISA abuses and special counsel John Durham’s report.

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), the Turner-designated leader of the committee’s FISA Working Group, and Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), another key committee member, all spoke with the Washington Examiner about the need for guardrails before FISA powers are reauthorized.

The trio of lawmakers want reforms at the FBI and at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approves the secret warrants.  Their demands are at odds with the Biden administration, which wants to reauthorize FISA Section 702 powers without changes before it expires at the end of 2023.

“We have been very clear on a bipartisan basis with the intelligence community and the FBI that there is no support in Congress for a clean reauthorization of 702,” Turner told the Washington Examiner.  “Reforms are necessary. We will be taking up the issue of reforms, and they will not be limited to 702 itself.  It will encompass both abuses that we are aware of and abuses that are now in the public domain as a result of disclosure and Durham.”

The use of a "Sunset Clause" in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was a good idea.  It forces Congress to review the operation of the Act and allows space for modifications in the reenactment.  The Durham Report cries for such a review.

Well intentioned Federal Bureaucrats, thinking they are doing good, can undermine our form of government, and our Freedoms.  I am glad to see House Members, on a bipartisan basis, reviewing the situation and updating our laws.

The Biden Administration is wrong to ask for a clean renewal.  It makes one wonder if they are paying attention, and if they are protective of our Civil Rights.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Debt Default

For John, BLUF:  This historic information notwithstanding, a default on our debt would be a bad idea, causing problems in the financial realm and in the international (informational) realm.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The US has never defaulted on its debt — except the four times it did

From The Hill, by Opinion Contributor Alex J Pollock, 10/07/21 12:01 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

Every time the U.S. government’s debt gets close to the debt ceiling, and people start worrying about a possible default, the Treasury Department, under either party, says the same thing: “The U.S. government has never defaulted on its debt!” Every time, this claim is false.

Now Treasury Secretary Yellen has joined the unfailing chorus, writing that “The U.S. has always paid its bills on time” and “The U.S. has never defaulted. Not once,” and telling the Senate Banking Committee that if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, “America would default for the first time in history.”

This is all simply wrong. If the United States government did default now, it would be the fifth time, not the first. There have been four explicit defaults on its debt before. These were:

1. The default on the U.S. government’s demand notes in early 1862, caused by the Treasury’s financial difficulties trying to pay for the Civil War.
2. The overt default by the U.S. government on its gold bonds in 1933.
3. The U.S. government default in 1968 by refusing to honor its explicit promise to redeem its silver certificate paper dollars for silver dollars.
4. The 1971 breaking of the U.S. government’s commitment to redeem dollars held by foreign governments for gold under the Bretton Woods Agreement.

This is pretty straight forward, although the "types" of defaults are different to some degree.  However, a default is a default, a broken promise.

If you thought the dateline was odd, I agree.  My assumption is that this is an update of an older article, not properly reviewed by the editors.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Investigating the Federal Government v the Citizens

For John, BLUF:  One's view on this is probably influenced by the degree to which one believes the federal Government is being "weaponized" agaist the Citizenry.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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McCarthy Reveals Who Will Be Investigating Biden's Weaponization of the Federal Government

From PJ Media, by Reporter Stephen Kruier, 25 January 2023, 10:56 PM.

Here is the lede plus four:

Part of the package of “concessions” made by Kevin McCarthy in his bid to become speaker of the House of Representatives was that he promised to launch a formal investigation into Joe Biden’s egregious weaponization of federal law enforcement for his own political gains.  He wasted little time in fulfilling that promise, announcing on Tuesday which Republicans would be involved.

The Hill:

McCarthy said in a letter to his Republican colleagues that the subcommittee will expose the “weaponization of government against our citizenry, writ large.”

The subcommittee will be led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who was a close supporter of McCarthy during his Speaker bid and who serves as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. McCarthy said earlier this month that Jordan would chair the subcommittee.

The other GOP members of the committee will be Reps. Darrell Issa (Calif.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Chris Stewart (Utah), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Mike Johnson (La.), Chip Roy (Texas), Kelly Armstrong (N.D.), Greg Steube (Fla.), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Kat Cammack (Fla.) and Harriet Hageman (Wyo.).

Yes, Rep Jim Jordan is a good choice for Chairman.

I am interested in seeing the outcome of these committee hearings.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

World Bank Forecast for 2023

For John, BLUF:  It may only be fiat money, but its printing must be managed, to avoid issues.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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World Bank to Warn of Global Recession Risk in Economic Outlook

From Yahoo Finance, by Ros Krasny, 7 January 2023, 7:34 AM EST.

Here is the lede plus two:

(Bloomberg) -- The World Bank is concerned that “further adverse shocks” could push the global economy into recession in 2023, with small states especially vulnerable.

The warning is contained in an abstract for the bi-annual “Global Economic Prospects” report due for release on Tuesday and visible on the group’s Open Knowledge Repository website.

Even without another crisis, global growth this year “is expected to decelerate sharply, reflecting synchronous policy tightening aimed at containing very high inflation, worsening financial conditions, and continued disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the World Bank said.

Yes, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre keeps telling me things are fine, but I am not so sure.  We have pumped a lot of dollars into the economy, through Federal spending, but we have not had a comensurate amount of economic output.  And people are avoiding employment.  While we have climbed out of the April 2020 hole (60.1%), our December 2022 number of 62.3% is still low compared to the 66% of the Bush years before the Recession.  Even then the low was 62.4% (Sept 2015).

These kinds of thoughts are part of what drove those 20 holdouts in the House Speaker election over the last few days.  The Federal Government needs to get its financial house in order.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

House GOP Struggles

For John, BLUF:  When one has a slim majority in an elected body the power of the individual goes up substantially, as one or two votes become very important.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Republicans debate. Democrats obey.

From an EMsail, by Reporter Glenn Greenwald, 3 January 2023.

Here is the lede plus two:

It is an article of faith in liberal Democratic circles that the Republican Party and the American right is a cult, a cult of personality, in which reverence for Donald Trump is required, no dissent from party orthodoxy is permitted, and everyone mindlessly and obediently falls into line behind their leaders whenever they're told, doing whatever they're told, without questioning any of it.

That's because American liberals are sophisticated.  They're well-educated and erudite, very rational, so, they know how to think for themselves.  They love to flatter themselves by reciting the 1930’s Will Rogers’ quote:  “I don't belong to any organized political party.  I'm a Democrat”.  They're just too thoughtful, too intellectually feisty to be controlled.  They're guided by science and the values of the Enlightenment.  They're profoundly individualistic and can't be herded or controlled.

The Conservatives, they're primitive.  They barely have functioning brains. That's why they go to two-year community college programs and learn how to fix cars, and are plumbers, or sell boats.  They're simple-minded, even religious.  They love and worship authority, so they just do whatever they're told.  That's why they all think and act alike.

This battle for the Speakership is another sign of the fact that the Republican Party is split between a moderate block (think Governor Chsrlie Bsker) and a more rigid right block (think Donald J Trump)  In some ways it is two partie, united in their oppodition to the progressive ideas of the most outspoken of the Democrats (think AOC or Ayanna Pressley).

At this point the prospects of the Republican Leader, Rep Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to assume the gavel seem to be receding.  However, there does not seem to be a groundswell for anyone else.

I don't think it is likely that the Minority Leader, Mr Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will get elected as Speaker, slthough there is presedent.  A ways back Mr Willie Brown, the Democratic Leader of the California Assembly, was elected Speaker, even thouogh the Republicans held a slim majority.  However, that was Willie Brown,.

I am sure someonoe has figured out the path this will take, but it isn't anyone I sm currently reading.  Whatever the outcome, it is likely to do damage to the goals many of us have set for the Republicsn House.  This, in turn, will help the Biden Administrstion achieve its goals and avoid the kinds of Committee investigation that are likely to expose suspected corruption in our Governmental Institutions and within the Biden Family.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Secret Insight

For John, BLUF:  The Biden Administration has been dooing almost everything in its power to weaken US Oil Production.  Why?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Did Biden Seal a 'Clandestine' Saudi Oil Deal to Manipulate Prices Ahead of the Midterms?

From PJ Media, by Reporter Ryan Ledendecker, 5 December 2022, 10:30 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Back in July, a seemingly desperate President Joe Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia on a high-stakes trip where he met the Saudi Royal family, including the controversial Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The president took a lot of heat for the trip for several reasons, including his scheduled meetup with the crown prince, who had previously signed off on the murder of WaPo journalist Jamal Khashoggi.  Biden was also criticized for appearing to use the trip to request help from a foreign nation on the oil production front, though the White House denied that was the case.

However, in a bombshell revelation this week, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who will soon lead the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, announced that his committee will investigate what he believes to be a “secret deal” with Saudi Arabia regarding increasing OPEC+ oil production to manipulate the U.S. energy market ahead of the 2022 midterms.

I find it fairly cynical to think that the Biden Administration would manipulate world oil markets for the purpose of winning Congressional races in a mid-term election  That would have been a very cynical move, one disrespectful of petroleum woorkers across the nation.

Calling for increased oil production around the world, in the face of perceived climate change makes no swnse, unless there are other humanitarian factors in plan.

I think the Biden Administration has stumbled onto a problem in the mid- to long-term.  I don't knoow what it is, but I would look at the coming winter and Europe's shortage of energy, given the War in Ukraine and the various embargoes ongoing around the world.  What if President Biden is trying to increase oil production around the world, with the US as the hidden backup, when all else fails?  That makes much more sense.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff