His Last chance to Make Everyone Happy

For John, BLUF:  As the Biden Administratino winds down there is a question some minds as to how it will end.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?

Here is the song:

Dan Hicks Sings It

President Joseph Robinette Biden has been in politics since 1970, and in Federal Office since 1973.  He did have a four year hiatus while Donald J Trump served his first term.

Some wondered if Cabndidate Biden running his 2020 Campaign out of his Basement was a sign that he was being hidden away.  That was viguriously denied by one and all, including by Presidential Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, including, recently, with her classic line regarding "'Cheap Fake' Videos".

REPORTER:  There seems to be a sort of a rash of videos that have been exited to make the president appear officially frail or mentally confused. I'm wondering if the White House is especially worried about the fact that this appears to be a pattern.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, and I think you all have called this the cheap fakes video and that's exactly what they are. They are cheap fakes video, they are done in bad faith and, and some of your news organizations have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing, the right-wing critics of the president have a credibility problem because of the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation.

And so we see this and this is something coming from your part of the world, calling them cheap fakes and misinformation. And I'll quote the Washington Post where they wrote, they wrote about this and they said how "Republican used misleading videos to attack Biden in a 24 hour period" and to their credit, we have a conservative Washington Examiner did call them out as well, calling out the New York Post.

Ironically several recent cheap fakes actually attack the president for thanking troops -- for thanking troops. That is what they're attacking the president for, both in Normandy this happened and again in Italy, and I think that it tells you everything that we need to know about how, how desperate, how desperate Republicans are here. And instead of talking about the president's performance in office, and what I mean by that is his legislative wins, what he's been able to do for the American people across the country, we're seeing these deep fakes, these manipulated videos. And it is again done in bad faith.

This all came up for review two days ago in an article in The Wall Street Journal.  .

I believe some are asking themselves if President Biden will make it to 20 January.  His deteriorization has been slow.  Is it to a point when it could pick up speed and he could find himself undeniably incapable of czrrying on as President.  None of us should wish that on him, but it is possible.  It could happen to any of us who have reached the 82 age mark.

There is, however, another possible branch for this story.  It is possible that President Biden could step aside and allow his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to become President for the last month of this Administration.♠  I, for one, think this is a distinct possibility.  I would give it a one in three chance.  If President Biden ressigned, it would make Vice President Kamala Harris the first female President, even if it were just for a month.  It might also set a precedent as to the idea of Presidents stepping down when they find that physically or mentally they can't keep up.  A previous example could have been President Woodrow Wilson, who sufferred a stroke in October 1919, with his Wife, Edith Wilson, basically assuming the office.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  While President Biden appears to be angry with the leadership of the Democratic Party, and thus is unlikely to take actions to help out the party, his Wife, Dr Jill Biden, may well be thinking that such a move would enhance his place in history, and thus be an good thing.

How You Score DJT

For John, BLUF:  Is this the "October Surprise" of the 2024 Election Season?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump's former chief of staff called him a 'fascist.' Harris is campaigning on that

From NPR, by Reporter Ximena Bustillo, 23 October 2024, 1:53 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, who was former President Donald Trump‘s longest-serving chief of staff, called Trump’s leadership style “dictatorial,” “fascist” and lacking empathy in new interviews this week.

Now Vice President Harris — who is trying to peel off moderate Republican voters and independents in key swing states — is seizing on those warnings to bolster her argument that her opponent is a threat to democracy and too dangerous to hold the office.

Trump has made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punish perceived enemies "So the bottom line is this, we know what Donald Trump wants — he wants unchecked power. The question, in 13 days, will be what do the American people want?" Harris said, referring to Election Day on Nov. 5.

I want to switch this up because I am not sure I understand how Progressives view “fascism”. I distinctly remember some woman being interviewed on NPR saying, about Mao, and the Great Leap Forward, that to "Make an Omlet you have to break some eggs."  Really?

Anyway, I ask each of you to tell me where, on this spectrum, you put Candidate Donald J Trump in terms of his fascism.

1. Woodrow Wilson (New Jersey)
2. António Salazar (Portugal)
3. Francisco Franco (Spain)
4. Benito Mussolini (Italy)
5. Adolf Hitler (Germany)
6. Joseph Stalin (Russia)
7. Mao Zedung (China)
8. Pol Pot (Cambodia)

In thinking about this, keep in mind that in Italy Carlo Levi survived WWII to write a book, but, in the Netherlands Anne Frank did not survive WWII, to allow her to edit her diaries.  The Ukrainians probably have yet to forgive Russia for the Holodomor.  While I have forgiven The Old Gray Lady and Walter Duranty and the Pulitzer Panel for lying about it, I haven't forgotten their failures.

Anyway, give DJT a score.  A score with a decimal fraction is fine.  For instances, my score for Candidate Trump is 0.8.

Then ask yourself where you would put Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz.  Think especially about their views on freedom of speech (First Amendment) and the right of People to be wrong.

Exit Question:  If, as I would assert, Joseph Stalin was worse than Adolf Hitler, does that make his Left Wing Government more right wing than Nazism?

Regards  —  Cliff

Dems Call DJT a Fascist

For John, BLUF:  I am going to blame high school history teachiing for the false belief that Donald Trump is a Fascist.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My Middle Brother, who is a Progressive, sent me this article

Harris and Democrats Lose Their Reluctance to Call Trump a Fascist

Here is the sub-headline:

Since Gen. Mark Milley was quoted as saying Donald Trump is “fascist to the core,” a term avoided by top members of the Democratic Party is suddenly everywhere.

From The Old Gray Lady, by Jonathan Weisman, 17 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus six:

The word “fascist” has hovered around former President Donald J. Trump from the moment he rode down his golden escalator in 2015 to warn of Mexican rapists and drug dealers in the memorable opening of his bid for president. But for most top Democrats, it was a provocative term loaded with dread, historical import and potential incitement — best left unsaid.

Until Vice President Kamala Harris this week made clear — again and again — that it would be just fine with her to use the word.

On Tuesday, as the radio host Charlamagne Tha God interviewed Ms. Harris, he interjected as the vice president contrasted her vision with her rival’s. “The other is about fascism,” he said of Mr. Trump’s vision. “Why can’t we just say it?”

Ms. Harris’s response: “Yes, we can say that.”

On Wednesday, speaking in Washington Crossing, Pa., Ms. Harris quoted Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Mr. Trump, describing his former boss as “fascist to the core,” as detailed in a new book from the journalist Bob Woodward.

“America,” she said, “must heed this warning.”

The quotation of Mr. Milley may have opened the floodgates for Democrats, granting new permission with the authority of his uniform and his unique closeness to the inner workings of Mr. Trump’s administration. But an element of political risk remains, even as Mr. Trump freely uses the word himself against Ms. Harris.

As an aside, one wonders if General Milley is sort of a Paronist.

But, since we are crediting General Milley with opening up the use of the word fascist, via Reporter Bob Woodward's book, War, we need to ask what it means.  I expect that to most Americans the term fascist conjurs up the image of German Fuehrer Adoph Hitler.  I think that is wrong.  Fascist comes from Italian leader Benito Musolinni, Il Duce.  He was a former Communist, looking for a new system.  This was parallel to Adolph Hitler creating a new approach for Germany, National Socialism.  While Wikipedia says "Nazism is a form of fascism", I am doubtful that Adolph Hitler was modeling his party on what was happening in Italy at the same time.  I doubt that Hitler saw Musolinni as an influencer.

It would seem that those who followed in the fascist path are Spain (Francisco Franco) and Portugal (António de Oliveira Salazar).

Yes, Benito Musolinni was a bad guy, but he was no Hitler.  Remember that Carlo Levi, a Jewish Italian Physician and Painter, lived through the war to write Christ Stopped at Eboli.  We know that Anne Frank, a Jewish teen in German occupied Holland, did not live to edit her diaries.

So, does General Milley think that Trump models himself after Musollini or after Hitler?

Yet, there are others in the Twentieth Century who might have been worse than Hitler.  I am thinking of Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union), Mao Zedung (China), Pol Pot (Cambodia) and the Kim Family (North Korea).  Each has been ruthless and each has killed a higher percentage of its Citizens.  And yet we tend to shy away from examining the evil in those four leaders and from using them as standards of evil by comparison.  A prime example is Reporter Walter Duranty, who won a Pulitzer Prize while reporting for The New York Times on the Soviet Union and the Holodomor.

In fact, it appears sometimes that Progresssives make space for such evil.  I remember, about a decade or so ago, sitting in the parking lot of the Raytheon Facility in Sudbury, Massachusetts and listening to a woman on NPR talking about Mao's Great Leap Forward, "That to make an omlet you had to break some eggs."  wikipedia has a low estimate of 15 million dead, with a high of 55 million.  Elsewhere I have heard the number 100 milliion dead.

When someone claims Candidate Donald Trump is a fascist it tells me more about the speaker than it does about Donald J Trump.

Regards  —  Cliff

Is Equity Good For All?

Do we make more progress under equality or under equity?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Normies and Equity

From The Anchoress, by Ms Elizabeth Scalia, 7 August 2024, 11:37 AM.

Here is the 𝕏 post:

The video of Kamala talking equitable outcomes wld play much better if the outcomes of the so-called “public servant” classes were included in all that equity.  Somehow living in middle class nabes w/reduced health insurances & police & speech protections is never their outcome.

In my mind equality means we all get a fair shot.  This is, I believe, the traditional American ethos, even if not achieved at 100% in practice.  Equity is more a "from each according to his ability; to each according to his need.  To me equity is helping everyone be as fast as Roger Bannister.

As Ms Scalia states, there is doubt as to if we ever see universal equity.  What are Candidates Harris and Walz selling us, and how will they achieve it, and at what cost?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Leak

For John, BLUF:  My question is, was the lead deliberate, and if so why, or was it just an accident?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Philly Mayor Leaks Dem VP Choice

Here is the sub-headline:

Accidentally

From 𝕏, by Ian Miles Cheong, 2 August 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker accidentally published this video ahead of schedule. She leaked Kamala Harris’ pick for Vice President as Josh Shapiro.

I think it is a solid choice.

However, I wonder about the impact on certain corners of the Democratic Party, and the knock on effect when the Democratic National Convention convenes.  Will there be riots, as in 1968?

Regards  —  Cliff

Running Against Ms Harris, Alternative View

Mr Trump's private life has not been off limits in 2016, 2020 or today.  An important question for Republicans in the 2024 Presidential Race is if Democratic Nominee Harris' personal life should be off limits.  Will the Republicans gain more votes by scuffing her up or by walking past the issue in a dignified manner.  The answer turns on how we view the female voting block.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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YOU DON’T HIT A GIRL

From According to Hoyt, by Author Sarah Hoyt, 25 July 2024.

Here is the lede plus seven:

I’m tired. Maybe the fact that Canada is burning and in the air again has to do with this, or maybe it is the eternal wishful stupidity of the right.  Could be either or.

Unfortunately this means I have a fever, which lately happens when I’m having an auto-immune outbreak.

For those of you who are new here, when I get a fever it’s like when other people are on prednisone.  I lose what little governor I have. , Also, because my head hurts, I become very short on patience.

What does this mean?  Well– The old hands will tell you.

It means I roll up my sleeves, turn the Heinlein picture to the wall and speak without prettifying it for the sensitive souls.  I’m sorry.  But in case I haven’t mentioned it, I’m tired.

On facebook, someone took offense at my “Getting it out of the way” post.  First at my saying that Kamala probably has less recent African ancestry than I do — and mine isn’t that recent.  It’s someone who comments here, but he primly informed me that a little research would have prevented my embarrassing faux pas, since her father is of Jamaican ancestry so, obviously she has recent African ancestry.

Head>desk, repeat with gusto.  He then insisted the “cast of her father’s features” meant he was black.  I know that what y’all are conditioned to think of as “black” reads as “What?” to me, but seriously, the man looks Mediterranean with some English and I checked with people born here.  Also, I’m not going to post my own family photos, but the side that so far as we know (unless that’s the tiny amount of Nigerian in my 23 and me.  Yes, that’s right.  I’m a princess!) has no African blood looks more African than Kamala’s father.  Because, well… Portugal is a very mixed place, but also because what American’s consider “black” is not.

But even so, my contention in making that statement was not to dispute one-drop rules, because frankly who cares, but to argue that Kamala is no more black than I am:  She’s not black American by culture or ancestry.  Meaning that as far as there is a common (and there is) experience among Americans of (some) African ancestry whose ancestors were brought here as slaves, she ain’t got it.  She got made “black” because Joe wanted a “black woman” vice president and it was her or the “real governor of Georgia.”  That was it.  Which is disingenuous.

For those who don't follow Sarah, she is an immigrant from Portugal, having come here initially as a high school exchange student.  There is much more to the blog post.  Read the whole thing.

I take Ms Hoyt's point about is Vice President Harris Black.  When I look at her, or listen to her, I do not think Black.  I think Indian Subcontinent.  I am sure some would suggest I am in some form of denial.  Perhaps I am.  However, in my dillusion I am not denigrating her.  I liked Governoors Bobby Jindal and Nicky Haley and I liked Vivek Ramaswamy.

And, Vice President Harris was mentored, may still be being mentored, by the smartest politician in California, and perhaps in the US, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

Besides the issue of is Ms Harris a Black candidate or a Middle Class "White Adjacent" candidate is the question of if her previous sex life is fair game for criticism.  I think it is disrespectful of her Husband. : Blogger Hoyt thinks we should not be delicate about this, just as Democrats and the Media (and the courts) have not held back in going after Mr Trump's private life.  We are in the big leagues now.

I still wish to focus on policy and Ms Harris' policy record as VEEP, Senator and California Attorney General. : For others, your milage may differ.  The question is, will US female voters clutch their pearls or will they be willing to take a hard 360 degree look at Ms Harris?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Be Careful How You Fight Ms Kamala Harris

For John, BLUF:  Don't fight the new Democratic Candidate, Ms Harris, by bringing up her past life.  Stick to the policy issues.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Men, This Is the Best Campaign Advice You'll Get  (Ladies, Tell Them I'm Right)

From PJ Media, by Opinion Writer Stephen Green, 23 Jult 2023, 1:00 PM.

Here is the lede plus five:

"No, we’re not winning.  We’re 10 points behind," my friend and Townhall colleague Kurt Schlichter advised on Sunday when Vice President Harris became the de facto Democrat presidential nominee.  "GET TO WORK!"

Fight like you're 10 points down, even when you aren't, is always good election advice.  It is not, however, the best advice you'll get during this campaign season.  Because there's fighting just to throw some punches, even if some of them miss or end up hitting yourself or your friends.  And then there's fighting smart.

On Sunday, Collin Rugg made a perfectly fair comment about Harris.  "Kamala Harris is proof that women can sleep their way to the top," he posted.  "How inspiring."

It's fair.  It's true.  But was it smart?  "You cannot build a successful political movement by a process of subtraction," Stacy McCain warned during the 2008 presidential race, and I took those words to heart.

Film Ladd is one of my two favorite conservative movie critics (the other is Christian Toto, naturally), and he had a gentle correction for Rugg that stuck with me until the issue cropped up again on Tuesday morning.  Ladd posted on Sunday that "From a tactical standpoint men on the right need to stay out of mentioning Kamala's raunchy past" because "women in the know will be more than happy to tell low-information women voters all about it."

"Men watch team sports where valiant men band together to confront the opposition head-on," he added.  "Women love to watch other women tear each other apart.  Just stay out of it."

The Republican Campaign Team, and its supporters, need to act like gentlemen.  They need to be polite toward the opposition.  They need to focus on the policy facts.

Otherwise they will look small and Ms Harris will benefit as a result.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Distopian View

For John, BLUF:  Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard takes a look at VEEP Kamala Harris as 2024 Presidential Candidate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Tulsi on Kamala

From 𝕏, by Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

Here is the post:

Tulsi Gabbard 🌺
@TulsiGabbard

Biden’s out, Kamala is in.  Don’t be fooled: policies won’t change.  Just like Biden wasn’t the one calling the shots, Kamala Harris won’t be either.  She is the new figurehead for the deep state and the maidservant of Hillary Clinton, queen of the cabal of warmongers.  They will continue their efforts to engulf the world in war and taking away our liberty.

Not an optomisatic view, but not incorrect either.

The Republican Ticket is going to need a new playbook against Ms Harris

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not So Fast

For John, BLUF:  The Democrats have a problem in the 2024 Election.  It is the pair of President Joe Biden and VEEP Kamala Harris.  Here is a way out.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Don't Laugh: Here's How Joe Could Pull Off a 'Heroic' Escape from the Brutal 2024 Campaign

From , by VICTORIA TAFT | 4:06 PM ON MAY 24, 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

It's almost time for presidential candidates to sprint to the finish line in the 2024 race for the White House. Runners-up will walk away with a t-shirt and a sippy cup. Joe Biden's already wearing the right shoes. He won't be able to sprint in his Naturalizers, but there's one way he could walk away — albeit stiffly — with a remnant of dignity and a great, though apocryphal, story for the family history books.

Now there are many ways that Joe could be tossed from the 2024 race. He could be unceremoniously blown out at his own Antifa convention in Chicago and replaced. His doctors could run out of that go-juice cocktail they fill him with before big events and he could implode more than usual in front of a huge crowd. Or he could leave like a family hero with some semblance of his dignity intact.

Yes, president Biden could retire and pardon his Son, Hunter, on the way out.  Howevewr, for Democrsats that still leaves the problem of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Fortunately, the Senate Democrats may have a way of helping.  From CBS News we have Senate Democrats seek meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts after Alito flag controversy (Reporter Melissa Quinn, 24 May 2024 / 3:15 PM EDT).♠

So, some Senate Democrsts, who can't keep their own house in order, are going to go across the street and harangue and belittle the Chief Justice for a non-issue.  I csm see the Chief Justice taking umbridge at a couple Democratic Party Grifters coming to his office to meddle, improperly, in the affairs of an independent Branch of Government.  He might well resign in protest.

There is the window of opportunity.  President Biden nominates Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Chief Justice and the Democratic Senate consents.

But, the $64 Question is, who replaces her.  Being Democrats, it has to be either a racial or ethnic minority or someone who identifies as a woman.  That precludes Califrnia Governor Gavin Newsom.  But others await.

As this evolves it would be timely for Candidate Donald J Trump to announce that lawfare is a pernicious blight upon our election process and something he wishes to stamp out.  As one of his first acts as President, in Jamuary, he will issue blanket pardons to Ms Hillary, President Joe Biden and his Son Hunder and Brother James.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The lede:  "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and subcommittee head Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse are seeking a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts to discuss ethics issues at the Supreme Court after reports of flags flown outside Justice Samuel Alito's homes sparked outrage."

Whither the VEEP

For John, BLUF:  Life is not fair, especially in politics.  Otherwise. I would be a State Rep here in Massachusetts.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Kamala… They Are Coming for You

Here is the sub-headline:

The Cackling Vice President, Kamala Harris, is the domino that will fall first.

From American Spectator, by Political Strategist Arnold Steinberg, 2 July 2023, 11:08 PM.

Here is the lede plus six:

oe Biden is Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

We don’t know whether to laugh (Clouseau) or cry (Biden).  In fantasy, Clouseau bumbled his way to success.  In reality, Biden is a failure; worse, a danger to himself and to others.  He is America’s nightmare, more hazardous to the world than climate change.

The dark comedy of Biden’s mental decay/physical decline is evidenced daily when his caretakers let him out, after dosing his secret, volatile medication.  Sleep apnea, previously undisclosed, is the latest alibi for his dysfunction. His medical records are no more transparent than Hunter Biden’s tax returns, and the president’s doctor won’t come clean.

Biden was elected because complicit media enabled his cynical handlers in 2020 to keep him under wraps.  But the luster of the perpetual coverup has faded.  Just as the media can no longer ignore inflation — because people feel it, the media now highlight Biden’s cognitive debilitation, because it’s in plain view.  And two more reasons:  (a) the discredited and biased legacy media are desperate for recovering credibility and (b) the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, et al. see Biden as a loser and want him out.

The once servile White House press corps has ramped up the age issue, thus intentionally priming voters to look for Biden’s senior moments.  Party bosses talk up Biden, but privately fret about his decay.  The recent coverage of the DOJ/FBI/IRS whistleblowers insures a slow water torture, the drip-drip revelations of what the president’s detractors call “the Biden crime family.”

Not exactly waterboarding, but Joe Biden is in no shape to withstand “water dripping on the forehead for a very long time… the stress to drive its victim insane.” How much can Biden take?  Biden — like Putin — already is delusional and confused.  While Putin believes he’s CEO not of an emasculated Russia but of the formidable USSR, Biden believes that he is in charge, not his ideologue-puppeteers.

In Biden worship, the media parroted the Democratic party line, just as Pravda in the former Soviet Union spoke for the Communist party.  Power brokers in the Democratic Party and dominant media remain synergistic — thus, the “new journalism” is a precursor for where the Democrats go next: inevitably, Joe Biden is on the way out, and how plausible for him to claim health as the reason for not running, but how implausible for Kamala Harris to be president!

The way I see it.

And before the Primaries begin.

But, it seems a bit unfair.  There is something going on here.  Vice President Harris didn't get to her current poosition by being stupid.  She is a law school graduate and passed the California Bar (Second try, but former California Governors Jerry Brown and Pete Wilson both failed the first time, as did Senstor Hillary Clinton in DC).  She was elected as California Attorney Generl and US Senator.  There is something of substance there.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Presidential Polling Numbers Slipping

For John, BLUF:  The half-life of a memory in US politics is 90 days.  How long will the stink last?  It depends on Afghanistan.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden Polls Crater:  Most Want Him to Resign, Shocking Number Is on Impeachment

From Red State, by Reporter Nick Arama, 1 September 2021, 8:30 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus one:

Joe Biden’s ship has finally run aground on the polls.

They began to nosedive at the beginning of the Afghanistan debacle in the middle of last month.  For example, his polling average went under 50 by August 16.

But now, Biden’s numbers have absolutely cratered in all respects.

Both the Real Clear Politics average and the FiveThirtyEight average were underwater.

FiveThiryEight had 47.2 disapproving and 46.7 approving.

The problem isn't just the President.  The polling regarding the Vice President isn't good either:

Just 38% say Harris is qualified to assume the duties of being president.

I thing "run aground" may be an overstatement.  If Jahadi Terrorists hold off, if the Taliban plays nice with the West and holds off cracking down on women, the COVID-19 will soon push to the front and take center stage.  That gives the President another shot.

Or, an incoherent plan with regard to COVID-19, and the economy, could keep the numbers depressed.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Top Ten Summer Concerns

For John, BLUF:  It promises to be a long, hot Summer, and interesting.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Top Ten Pending Eruptions

Here is the sub-headline:

From American Thinker, by Deanna Chadwell, 30 June 2021.

Here is the lede:

It’s shaping up to be a long, hot summer, one filled -- like Yellowstone Park -- with geysers and hot springs ready to blow at any moment.  But these are political eruptions, not nature's fury.  If I didn’t know that God has things under control I’d be terrified, but in the interest of keeping track of the truth let’s list the top 10 political eruptions we can expect to blow sometime soon.

The List:

1. Hunter Biden.
2. Joe’s mental state, but complicated by Kamala’s mental acuity.
3. Critical Race Theory and the communist infiltration in our schools.
4. Our 1st Amendment being challenged, and so is the 2nd Amendment.
5. Inner city violence.
6. Government spending and the national debt, resulting in inflation.
7. The border crises/invasion.
8. The whole mess with COVID-19 origins, treatment suppression, Fauci/Wuhan/Google/Gates and the vaccine side effects.
9. The election audit efforts.
10. China.

My top concern is number 3, COVID-19, complicated by items 9 and 1.

With regard to election audits, I believe that President Biden was elected by the Electoral College, and that is final.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Free To Be Different

For John, BLUF:  The Supreme Court is considering if State Government my demand the donor list of a private advocacy group.  Secret Answer—Should not be allowed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Supreme Court Seems Primed to Reverse Kamala Harris's Attack on Free Speech

Frim Pajama Media, by Reporter Tyler O'Neil, 26 April 2021, 1:30 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the key First Amendment case Americans for Prosperity v. Rodriguez, which centers on the State of California’s requirement that nonprofit organizations disclose their donor information to the state.  Back in 2015, then-Attorney General Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) demanded that two conservative nonprofits, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), hand over their donor lists.  This demand threatened to reveal the identities of donors, potentially subjecting them to threats and harassment.

Legal representatives for AFP and TMLC said the Supreme Court justices’ questions and remarks suggested they are likely to strike down California’s requirement as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.

“The justices appreciated very well that membership and donations to an organization are protected by a right to privacy in association, not just a right to associate,” Kathleen Sullivan, legal counsel for Americans for Prosperity Foundation, said on a press call after the oral arguments on Monday.

She noted that the justices cited many friend-of-the-court briefs written by ideological opponents of AFP and TMLC that nonetheless support these conservative organizations’ rights to donor anonymity.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) proved particularly noteworthy in this regard.

A longish article, but it is an important Free Speech issue.  Remember, Free Speech, once lost, is hard to get back, and may lead to the loss of more Free Speech tights.

Free Speech, important for floating new ideas, means society being willing to tolerate speech that is distasteful.  If the speech is accepted by society as a whole, then there is no Free Speech issue.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Should the Senate Have a Trial?

For John, BLUF:  We can't put the Trump Administration behind us if we don't put the Trump Administration behind us.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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RAND PAUL:  If Mitch McConnell Impeaches Trump, One Third Of Republicans Will Leave The Party

Here is the sub-headline:

"If you're going to ostracize and excommunicate President Trump from the party, then guess what, millions of his fans will leave as well."

From National File, by Reporter Tom Pappert, 17 January 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

Speaking on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle on Friday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said he believes that if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans join the Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump, a third of Republican voters will permanently abandon the party as a result.

Speaking first about the Democrats’ aims for impeachment, Paul expressed incredulity.  “I don’t understand how they can be moving forward with this,” he said, before adding “The thing they’re doing now is an overreaction, and if they think they’re going to have a positive feeling from the public, when they’re going to go through a partisan impeachment again, I think that’s absolutely insane and wrong headed.”

Ingraham then asked Paul if he was surprised that McConnell is reportedly planning to instruct Republicans to vote to convict President Trump after he leaves the presidency, in a move that could strip him of his security and prevent him from running for office in 2024.

“I don’t often get asked my advice from leadership on how they should react, but my unsolicited suggestion would be this:  They will destroy the Republican Party if leadership is complicit in impeachment, or if leadership votes for impeachment, they will destroy the party.”

That seems pretty clear.  And i think it is pretty insightful.  Could it be that Senator Mitch McConnell is not a long game player?  A Senate trial, and especially a Senate Conviction, would have a major impact on the Republican Party and it could lead to President Trump forming his own party, which would attract millions of followers.

Perhaps SpeaKer Nancy "Ahab" Pelosi will spare the leader of the Republican Senatorial Caucus by not forwarding the article, being satisfied with having stained the President a second time with Impeachment.

Me neither.

However, on Thursday it will really be up to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the Vice President, Kamala Harris.  Which way will they lead?  To a trial or to reconciliation?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Introducing Our Next President

For John, BLUF:  This post is designed to explore the out edges of what is possible in the next two months.  It is not a prediction, but rather a scenario for exploring possibilities.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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After Peru’s New President Resigns, Lawmakers Search for New Leader

Here is the sub-headline:

Sunday resignation adds fuel to a political crisis that started with a surprise impeachment of previous president

From The Wall Street Journal, by Reporters Ryan Dube and Juan Forero, 15 November 2020.

Here is the lede plus two:

Peru was without a president Sunday night, after its latest leader resigned just six days after taking power and lawmakers were unable to agree on a new head of state to end a constitutional crisis that exposed deep popular anger over corruption in the country’s political class.

A country that before the coronavirus pandemic was considered a shining economic star, Peru is now flailing in uncharted waters.  There is no president at the helm, and a fractured and deeply unpopular congress is trying to decide who should lead the country while people protest in the streets.  With two presidents gone in less than a week—Martín Vizcarra was impeached Monday and then Manuel Merino, who engineered his predecessor’s ouster, resigned Sunday—Peru has been teetering with anarchy.

On Sunday night, the same lawmakers whose impeachment of Mr. Vizcarra touched off six days of protests were debating who among them would be chosen to replace Mr. Merino, who had no vice president.  They had at one point been considering a left-wing lawmaker, Rocio Silva, who had broken with most lawmakers to vote against impeachment.  Media reports said the lawmakers also were considering members of the centrist Purple Party, which overwhelmingly opposed removing Mr. Vizcarra.

Yes, this is so last month.  Also, Pewru doesn't have the Constitutionally mandated path of Preasidential success we have.  But, yet, we seem to be slipping into a bit of a succession crisis.

Look at what is happening.  The media, from NPR to Twitter suppressed the Hunter Biden story.  Now it is out in the open.

Why?

My guess is they♠ no longer need Mr Biden, and like Vice President Spiro T Agnew, he will be given a chance to go quietly, clearing the way for Sen Kamala Harris.♥

And, did anyone catch Michael Savage saying, on NewsMax that it is over?  (My Wife has abandoned Fox and moved to NewsMax.  I still try †o catch Tucker.)

It is, after all, 2020, and all things are possible.  Here is hoping she learned some things from Willie Brown, a very smart Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor.

Hat tip to Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Who are they?  Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Tom Perez.  Besides, while Joe Biden is a China fan, Nancy Pelosi is for Taiwan.
♥  If Senator President Harris should Not make it until we have a new Vice President, then Speaker Pelosi is ready to step up.

Choosing the Future

For John, BLUF:  Tomorrow we decide our fate.  We seem to have divided into two opposing camps, one that accepts the injustice of differences in people and one that wishes for everyone to be the same in ability and outcome  Choose wisely.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Kamala Harris vs James Madison

Here is the sub-headline:

She wants to replace the free market engine of prosperity with a top-down leveling of aspiration and achievement

From The American Spectator, by Mr Roger Kimball, 2 November 2020.

Here is a three para extract (at the link is the accompanying video):

The third culprit in Joe’s loss tomorrow is his running mate, Kamala Harris.  I believe that we do not yet know the full story of how Harris, the spectacularly unpopular senator from California, was tapped to be Biden’s VP.  Perhaps we never will.  The whole process by which Biden emerged as his party’s front man is shrouded in mystery, and the mystery includes the behind-the-scenes machinations that resulted in Harris’s elevation.  I believe, though I have no proof, that the ticket resulted from the ascension of the hectoring, radical-left flank of the party.  They chose Biden as a convenient empty vessel into which they planned to instill the angry socialist agenda of Bernie Sanders, AOC, and others via the instrumentality of Harris.

Be that as it may, I cite Harris as the third culprit in Biden’s loss because she has impatiently let her mask slip. The Biden-Harris ticket was sold under the banner of ‘moderation’.  It was always a lie.  There is nothing moderate about either one of them, but the word contrasted nicely with Trump’s supposed ‘extremism’, a media confection, to be sure, but one that has been so assiduously repeated and amplified by a compliant press that it has become one of those undislodgeable bits of folklore, untrue but somehow ‘known’ by everyone.

But yesterday, Harris shattered what remained of the meme of moderation with a video posted to her Twitter feed explicitly promoting socialism and explaining that true equality means that ‘we all end up in the same place’.  Equality of outcome, that is to say, not just equal opportunity. Karl Marx couldn’t have put it more succinctly.

But you and I know that there never will be true equity, because "Bob's your uncle".

That, and the fact that we know that equality of outcome is not the same as a level playing field on which all can compete.  When we get to High School (if not before) we want our team to win.  That means we move beyond equity to measuring talent and equality to compete.

Senator Harris is cute and perky, but she comes across as a socialistMarxist.  That is a look that signals both bad economic theory, but also a willingness to hold back the overall good of society so no one suffers the ignorminity of coming in second.

Regards  —  Cliff

The VEEP Debate—Justice

For John, BLUF:  The Blog Author is a former law professor.  She is level headed and middle of the road.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Was there any discussion of "systemic racism" during the debate?

From Althouse, Professor Ann Althouse, 8 October 2020.

This is a longish analysis of one part of the Wednesday Vice Presidential Debate.  Senator Kamala Harris is first up with a question on if the late Breonna Taylor, a 26 year old emergency room technician in Louisville:  "was justice done?"  In this exchange Vice President Mike Pence did the response.

I will not draw conclusions for you, but it is an interesting analysis.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Sunday Dem Debate

For John, BLUF:  I admit I had forgotten about the debate and was watching a Hallmark mystery movie.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Live-blogging the Democratic debate:  coronavirus edition

The JALTCOH Blog, by Blogger John Althouse Cohen, 15 March 2020.

Here is the conclusion:

My verdict:  Biden won. Sanders is so far behind that in order to make any real progress in turning things around, he would have needed to have a fantastic performance while Biden stumbled badly.  That didn't happen.

We are still a ways from the Democratic National Convention, 13-16 July 2020, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The other thing of interest is that Former Vice President Joe Biden committed to putting a woman on the Ticket, as the Vice Presidential nominee.  Who was not revealed.  Possibilities include Senator Klobachur, Senator Warren, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Gillibrand, former DNC Chairman Donna Brazille and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Given the terrible way the Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez has treated Representative Tulsi Gabbard I double she is in the running.  I am guessing the call will go to .

As a side note, a guest on Fox and Friends Mr Tony Katz, just made the point that the lack of an audience seemed to hurt Senator Sanders, who feeds off the crowd.  He also made the point that to know what is happening in the hinterland, follow the reporting of Reporter Salena Zito.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Kamala Departs

For John, BLUF:  Even though I am a registered Republican, and a Trump supporter, I thought Senator Kamala Harris might be an interesting contender.  But, she went left and ugly and did not gain traction.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Kamala Harris drops out of 2020 presidential race

From The Boston Globe, by New York Times Reporters Astead W. Herndon, Shane Goldmacher and Jonathan Martin, 3 December 2019.

Here is the lede plus two:

Senator Kamala Harris of California dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday after months of low poll numbers and a series of missteps that crippled her campaign, a deflating comedown for a barrier-breaking candidate who was seeking to become the first black woman to win the presidency.

The decision came after weeks of upheaval among Harris’ staff, including layoffs in New Hampshire and at her headquarters in Baltimore, and disarray among her allies.  She told supporters in an email on Tuesday that she lacked the money needed to fully finance a competitive campaign.

“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue,” Harris wrote.

From The Washington Times we have this 3 December headline:  "Tulsi Gabbard knifed Kamala Harris in July; four months later, she has died from the wounds", by Reporter David Freddoso.

I thought that with her background Senator Harris had the possibility of walking a line that appealed in several directions, but she passed up the opportunity.  For example, she ran as a Black candidate, but her Father is an immigrant from Jamaica and her Mother is an immigrant from India.  Why didn't she play the "immigrant" card, casting herself as the child of immigrants who fell in love with America?  She could have gone with the late Senator Carl Schurz:

In one sense I say so too. My country; and my country is the great American Republic.  My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.

Room for traditional American values and for Progressive values.  But, alas, she did not go the middle way and thus didn't break through.  Maybe in 2024.

Rega; —  Cliff

Is Senator Harris Presidential Timber?

For John, BLUF:  I think the American voting population is not hesitant about a woman President, or a Black President (although I think of Senator as being Indian, as in Sub-Continent), but they are not interested in novelty for novelty's sake.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Kamala Harris’ Campaign In Free Fall, ABC Blames ‘America’

From The Daily Wire, by Mr Ashe Schow, 16 November 2019.

Here is the lede plus three:

As Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D-CA) campaign for her party’s presidential nomination continues to implode, some in the media are looking for answers.

ABC News shot first, asking if Harris “proof that America isn’t ready for a woman of color as president?"  The article began with quotes from Harris making the argument herself.

She had previously spoken about her “electability” several times, and in May she went ahead and wondered whether “America was ready for a woman and a woman of color to be president of the United State of America.”   She made the claim on “The View.”  This statement set her mmmmup with the tired and ready-made excuse in case she lost the primary:  It’s because America is racist and misogynist.

Of course, that ignores the two elections of former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 nomination.  It also ignores the fact that she is currently in a Democratic primary, meaning the people she is calling racist and sexist are her fellow Democrats.  The point seemed lost on ABC as well, since it asked if “America” was ready for a black woman of president, when they were really asking if Democrats were ready for a black woman nominee.

And there you are.  If Senator Harris can,t be nominated, it is on the Democrats, not on America as a whole.

We should acknowledge that what most recommends Senator Harris is the fact that Willie Brown likes her, or at least used to.

NB:  Democratic Presidential Debate tonight.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff