The Privilege of Being Beto
Posted By: Pluperfect, 3/12/2019 5:29:26 AM
As Beto O’Rourke moves closer to a presidential run, the unconventional way he’s spent the four months since losing his Senate bid (Metallica concerts! Road trips! Viral Instagrams!) is raising some concerns in the Democratic Party, as I wrote about today with my colleague Matt Flegenheimer. But there’s another, perhaps slightly less-covered piece of Mr. O’Rourke’s rollout story: Female Democratic strategists have grown increasingly frustrated as they’ve watched Mr. O’Rourke jump on his single-speed bike, read his emotional posts from his road trip and seen him slip into the premiere of a documentary about his Senate campaign.
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Paris climate treaty
puts America last 9 replies
puts America last 9 replies
Here we are in the midst of a once-in-a-half-century pandemic, with the economy flattened, millions of people unemployed, and unrest on the streets of our cities. And President-elect Joe Biden says that one of his highest priorities as president will be to reenter the Paris climate accord.
President Trump kept his "put America first" promise and pulled the United States out of this Obama-era treaty. Biden wants us back in.
Why? Paris is an unmitigated failure. You don't have to take my word for it. National Geographic, a supporter of climate change action, recently ran the numbers and admitted in its recent headline: "Most countries aren't hitting 2030 climate goals."
Teachers unions have been instrumental in keeping American schools online during the pandemic. But some have escalated their positions on reopening to include an array of social justice demands.
A set of demands from teachers unions in July, which addressed how to safely reopen schools amid a pandemic, was criticized by The Wall Street Journal editorial board as “political extortion.” The board argued that unions were taking advantage of a health crisis to advance their own ideological agendas and to eliminate competition from charter schools.
Black Friday is my favorite day of the year and my favorite extreme sport, but when events and gatherings began disappearing from the calendar back in March, I thought surely Black Friday would be safe. Now here we are, more than eight months later. The mask Karens are still breathing down our necks, governors are trying to kill Thanksgiving, and Black Friday is canceled.
The fliers are still arriving in the mail and the festive doorbuster commercials are rolling, but Black Friday this year just isn’t the same. A Black Friday that takes place mostly online, the whole week of Thanksgiving or the entire month of November,
Joe Biden and the 'Strolling Bones'
7 replies
They’re the Rolling Stones without the roadies. Or the great music. Or any music, actually.
The Strolling Bones reunion tour.
John Kerry and Joe Biden are getting the band back together again.
Collectively, they have been getting things wrong in Washington for nearly 100 years. Literally, two of the dumbest people on earth … but they do love to hear themselves speak!
Droning on and on and on.
Why do we do this to ourselves every four years? We talk incessantly about the latest poll in Florida and Michigan and Pennsylvania and Arizona until we are blue in the face. Then they turn out to be wildly wrong.
When will we ever learn? It reminds me of that old saying which I think was from Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
Polling, at least the old-school style, is over. Done.
I don’t need to go through a long list of reasons why nobody should take pollsters seriously anymore, but a few data points are instructive.
Implications of the Flynn Pardon
11 replies
President Trump granted a pardon to Michael Flynn, his former national-security adviser, today. Flynn had pled guilty to lying to FBI agents about conversations, during the 2016 transition, with the Russian ambassador about sanctions. Flynn’s pardon should bring to an end one gross violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers, even as it gives rise to groundless accusations of another.
Although Flynn had pled guilty, the circumstances of the case had raised serious concerns about whether the government had proceeded properly. The FBI, for example, questioned Flynn even though it did not appear he had violated any law. In May, Attorney General William Barr ordered the case dropped.
The first Thanksgiving in the New World was celebrated in 1621, nearly a year after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. In 1789, George Washington became the first of many US presidents to formally proclaim a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer”:
I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him
Go Ahead and Celebrate Thanksgiving
7 replies
Minnesota is one of a number of states that are living under what amounts to martial law. Our proto-fascist dictator Tim Walz, in his latest edict, purports to ban traditional Thanksgiving get-togethers:
Saturday, Nov. 21 through Friday, Dec. 18, Executive Order 20-99 requires all Minnesotans to:
* Limit social gatherings to one household.
* Not gather outside of your household.
* Postpone all celebrations, events, receptions, and parties, including any social gatherings for weddings and funerals.
So it is “illegal” for me to invite any of my four kids to Thanksgiving dinner.
Obama defends Rev. Wright as 'supremely gifted
preacher,' hits Loeffler's 'crazy' attacks on Warnock 15 replies
preacher,' hits Loeffler's 'crazy' attacks on Warnock 15 replies
Former President Barack Obama in an appearance on "The Breakfast Club" radio show on Wednesday said that attacks by Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler against her runoff opponent Raphael Warnock over his connection with Rev. Jeremiah Wright are "crazy stuff" as he defended Wright as a "supremely gifted preacher."
Obama appeared on the popular radio show and podcast to promote his book "A Promised Land," which details much of his presidency, including his 2008 presidential campaign during which his connection to Wright became an issue. Wright has a history of controversial comments, including a sermon in which he said "God damn America" when referencing racial injustice.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday night blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from reimposing strict attendance caps at worship services in areas hit hard by the novel coronavirus.
The court ruled 5-4 to bar Cuomo from enforcing his Oct. 6 “Cluster Initiative” against houses of worship that sued to challenge the restrictions.
The order was also the first in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett played a decisive role. Barrett, who was President Trump's third Supreme Court nominee, joined the court Oct. 27, after winning Senate confirmation following the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Stupidity Is A Comorbidity
9 replies
So, I had COVID, and that was interesting. I’m not interested in obeying all the fascist decrees of Governor Hairstyle here in California, so I won’t. And here’s some inside scoop on my new book Crisis, which at this moment is #31 out of all books on Amazon, so I’m outselling Fifty Shades of Grey. I’m not sure how to feel.
Kurt Contracts COVID And Antics Ensue
I’m fine. Irina’s fine, though she had it worse than me. How would I describe it? Well, like a middling head cold. I felt sniffley and was coughing one day, so I called a doctor client and got a 30-minute test.
Joe Biden's Obama retreads
3 replies
Are furbished product is seldom as desirable as a brand-new one. Joe Biden must be assuming Americans can’t tell the difference. Even as President Trump battles uphill to overturn the results of the recent presidential election, faces familiar during the earlier Age of Obama are reappearing in President-elect-apparent Biden’s pantheon of power.
The looming Biden era promises to be Obama 3.0 — Hillary Clinton in 2016 was to be Obama 2.0, but new models don’t always live up to the original (see Windows Vista). Jen Psaki, communications director for the Obama White House and now filling a similar role during the nomination process, describes the emerging Biden brand:
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
With the price of gas rising across the U.S., lawmakers are developing a string of proposals to help motorists - from $400 rebates for all taxpayers in California to imposing windfall taxes on oil companies or a sliding scale of payments that could net families as much as $300 every month.The average cost of a gallon has raced past $4 a gallon amid domestic inflation and the impact of Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.This week, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in Los Angeles hit a record $6.011,
Yesterday’s drama between the Mo Brooks campaign in Alabama and Donald Trump is an interesting one, which sees some of what we’ve been hearing behind the scenes spilling out into the open.
Yesterday, Trump rescinded his endorsement of Brooks, who is currently running for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Trump took aim at Brooks urging Republicans to move on from the 2020 stolen election and focus on winning future elections. Trump also accused Brooks of hiring NeverTrump consultants and changing his messaging in a way that made him plummet in the polls.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday he will oppose Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Watch:(Video) McConnell made the announcement despite going into the confirmation process with an “open mind.”“After studying the nominee’s record and watching her performance this week, I cannot and will not support Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court,” McConnell said.The notoriously calculating McConnell has apparently read the tea leaves and decided that the Republican Party would be ill-served to strike a conciliatory tone
The US Marine Corps will allow service members to wear longer hair, two-tone nail polish and black socks with their combat utility uniform as part of a push for more 'diversity' and 'inclusion.' The military branch unveiled the changes on Wednesday, after they were approved by a Marine Corps uniform board last month. As part of the update, Marines will be permitted to grow the 'bulk of their hair' up to three inches - an increase from the current two inches - meaning that they could have thicker hair.
A Michigan city school board president was removed from her post after brutally attacking the board's Treasurer by slamming her head on a table and choking her at a meeting. Flint Community School Board President Danielle Green was relieved of her duties after she allegedly attacked Treasurer Laura McIntyre at the Finance Committee meeting at 10am Wednesday. Superintendent Kevelin Jones told M Live that the pair got into a disagreement over building new schools.
At an emergency meeting later that day where Green was removed, McIntyre, sporting two black eyes, said there was 'no fight' leading up to the attack and the 'only person fighting' was Green.
President Joe Biden said Thursday that NATO would respond "in kind" if Russia uses weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine.
"We will respond if he uses it," Biden said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The nature of the response depends on the nature of the use." The president spoke after a marathon of summit meetings with the European Union, G-7 partners and NATO allies.
Biden also said he would support an effort to expel Russia from the G-20 group of economies.
The president declined to say whether the United States has evidence that China has helped Russia evade sanctions or sold American high tech equipment to Russia
A Big ‘No’ On Ketanji Brown Jackson
24 replies
We’ve now listened to three days of a scheduled full week of testimony by Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. And to be honest, we’ve heard enough. Anyone who truly cares about the Constitution and the rule of law should reject Jackson.
Jackson has a winning smile and pleasant demeanor. Those are nice personal traits, but not ones that necessarily elevate you to the Supreme Court.
Still, she’s also a Harvard Law grad, clerked for Justice Steven Breyer, worked as a public defender, served on the U.S. District Court
Chairman Dick Durbin Claims Republican
Members Asking for Reports Amounts to
a 'Fishing Expedition' 23 replies
Members Asking for Reports Amounts to
a 'Fishing Expedition' 23 replies
These Democrat-run hearings to potentially send Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court are something else. It's not just that Democrats have forgotten how they've treated now Justice Brett Kavanaugh while they go after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) for daring to address Judge Jackson's record on sentencing sex offenders who prey on children, though that's certainly continued to be an issue. Concerningly, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who is chairing these hearings, has not been forthcoming about handing over the records to Republican members. (Tweet/Video)
The United States will accept up 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in the Ukraine, the Biden administration announced on Thursday.
The announcement came during President Joe Biden's trip to Europe where he's meeting with leaders of NATO, the G7 and the European Union in three back-to-back emergency sessions to deal with Russia's invasion of the Ukraine. It's meant to help ease the humantarian criss taking place in Eastern Europe, where nearly 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled their bombarded country in one of the biggest refugee crisises since World War II.(Snip)In addition to welcoming more of the displaced, the Biden administration also announced more than $1 billion
AG Barr Zeroes in on the Real Interference
That Occurred in the Last Presidential Election 21 replies
That Occurred in the Last Presidential Election 21 replies
Former Attorney General William Barr has a new book out, so he’s making the rounds. He’s rehashing some of the controversies of the 2020 election. Specifically, he’s commenting on the Hunter Biden laptop story that has finally been realized as authentic by the liberal media. Now, we knew this already back when it was originally reported by The New York Post in October of 2020. The Post was censored by big tech over this piece of journalism that made Joe Biden look awful. It wasn’t Russian disinformation, though every intelligence official came out of the woodwork to say so without evidence. They signed a letter. Joe even lied about
According to a report, “multiple” NFL teams have recently shown interest in giving former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick a shot at returning to the league.
Kaepernick’s trainer, David Robinson, told TMZ that five NFL teams have reached out to the national anthem protester to gauge his interest in being offered a workout.
“A few teams have reached out to me and asked how his arm looked,” Robinson reportedly said. “They have reached out and asked about him.”
The Real ‘Reset’ Is Coming
20 replies
President Joe Biden believes the Ukraine war will mark the start of a “new world order.” In the middle of the COVID global pandemic, Klaus Schwab and global elites likewise announced a “great reset.”Accordingly, the nations of the world would have to surrender their sovereignty to an international body of experts. They would enlighten us on taxes, diversity and green policies.When former President Donald Trump got elected in 2016, marquee journalists announced partisan reporting would have to displace the old, supposedly disinterested approach to the news.There is a common theme here.