Vaunce News

🔒
❌ About FreshRSS
There are new available articles, click to refresh the page.
☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Hamas way

By: Scott Johnson — February 23rd 2024 at 07:28
(Scott Johnson)

Dan Senor’s most recent Call Me Back podcast features Matti Friedman. Among many other things, Friedman is a former AP Jerusalem bureau staffer. It is his AP experience that prompted him to think through the wide world of sickness that we see in the reaction of the outside world to Israel’s current life-and-death struggle with Hamas. Senor asks good questions and lets the incredibly articulate Friedman speak.

Senor has posted the podcast with this introduction:

Every day we see news accounts “reported” by reputable journalists. There is typically one frame in the post-10/07 War: “Gazan Palestinians are the victims of Israel.” How does this happen? How do journalists actually operate in Gaza and around the world? And is this a window into what had Hamas figured out long before 10/07 — that the forces of barbarism could manipulate the intentional press reaction to their massacre of 10/07? That is why we wanted to sit down with Matti Friedman, who is one of the most thoughtful writers when it comes to all matters related to Israel, the broader Middle East, and also trends in the world of journalism.

He writes regularly for The Free Press and is a regular contributor to The Atlantic. His newest book is called Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai. Before that he published Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel, and before that Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story of a Forgotten War.

Matti’s army service included tours in Lebanon. His work as a reporter has taken him from Israel to Lebanon, Morocco, Moscow, the Caucasus, and Washington, DC. He is a former Associated Press correspondent and essayist for the New York Times opinion section. But it was his time covering Hamas’s takeover of Gaza that led him to study with great detail how Hamas manipulates the media, NGOs and the international community, and how they are working from the same playbook right now, perhaps quite masterfully.

I urge interested readers to check out the podcast below.

Here are the show notes citing Friedman’s work discussed in the podcast (I especially commend Friedman’s 2014 Tablet column linked below):

“The Wisdom of Hamas” — The Free Press.

“What if the Real War in Israel Hasn’t Even Started?” — The Free Press.

“There Is No ‘Israeli-Palestinian Conflict'” — The New York Times.

“An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth” — Tablet Magazine.

“What The Media Gets Wrong About Israel” — The Atlantic.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Can we be saved from SAVE?

By: Scott Johnson — February 23rd 2024 at 09:03
(Scott Johnson)

The Biden administration has fashioned another program of student debt relief forgiveness. The so-called SAVE plan was promulgated by regulation last year. It takes the load off the fanny of beneficiaries of certain federal college loan programs and puts it right on the back of taxpayers. Politico reports that Biden is emailing 153,000 student loan borrowers that he’s canceling their debt. “I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room,” the message says.

Those of us who actually pay taxes could use a little breathing room, but there is no breathing room to be found. Suffocation is the order of the day.

President Biden is himself a suffocating demagogue, as in his victory lap in the video below (White House transcript here). We thought the Supreme Court had spared us this particular outrage by its decision last year in Biden v. Nebraska. Apparently the justices needn’t have bothered themselves.

Biden declares that he has discovered a workaround. To the extent that one can understand what he’s saying in the clip below, he strikes a defiant note. He’s unafraid of consequences. He’s daring someone to stop him.

Biden on student loan cancellation: “The Supreme Court blocked it. But that didn't stop me." pic.twitter.com/ZomPnhTU1k

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) February 22, 2024

NRO’s James Lynch has a good story on Biden’s announcement in “Biden Administration Wiping Out another $1.2 Billion in Student-Loan Debt.” Matt Continetti adds up the damage:

On February 21, Biden announced that he was canceling $1.2 billion in federal student loans for 153,000 borrowers. That’s on top of more than $130 billion in student debt that he has canceled to date. The Penn Wharton school says that Biden’s efforts will cost a total of $475 billion over 10 years.

NRO’s Charlie Cooke has posted a cry from the heart expressing his indignation over the unfairness of Biden’s action. In his concluding paragraph, he seems unfairly to blame House Republicans. According to Politico, however, the House actually voted to kill SAVE this past December, but the Senate saved it. Now what?

The regulatory background to the current monstrosity is set forth by Jill Desjean in “ED Releases Final Rule on Latest Income-Driven Repayment Plan.” The final regulation was announced in the Federal Register here last year.

In light of the Supreme Court decision in Biden v. Nebraska, the regulation purports to find authority for the regulation under section 455 of the Higher Education Act than under the HEROES Act. See the “Legal Authority” section of the Federal Register announcement linked above.

What we have here is a monstrosity. James Bovard has an entertaining New York Post column satirizing it, but Bovard has no proposal to kill it. The current monstrosity comes to life this coming July 1. What we need to kill it is a new president to rein in the Education Department, or Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate, or some serious legal analysis on which to premise a challenge to the madness of King Joe.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

When Ronnie Met Jeane

By: Lloyd Billingsley — February 23rd 2024 at 12:10
(Lloyd Billingsley)

Lifelong Democrat Jeane J. Kirkpatrick came to the attention of former Democrat Ronald Reagan though her 1979 Commentary essay “Dictatorships and Double Standards.” As America’s future UN ambassador contended:

The failure of the Carter administration’s foreign policy is now clear to everyone except its architects.

The pattern is familiar enough: an established autocracy with a record of friendship with the U.S. is attacked by insurgents, some of whose leaders have long ties to the Communist movement, and most of whose arms are of Soviet, Chinese, or Czechoslovak origin. The “Marxist” presence is ignored and/or minimized by American officials and by the elite media on the ground that U.S. sup- port for the dictator gives the rebels little choice but to seek aid “elsewhere.”

Our “commitment to the promotion of constructive change worldwide” (Brzezinski’s words) has been vouchsafed in every conceivable context. But there is a problem. The conceivable contexts turn out to be mainly those in which non-Communist autocracies are under pressure from revolutionary guerrillas. Since Moscow is the aggressive, expansionist power today, it is more often than not insurgents, encouraged and armed by the Soviet Union, who challenge the status quo. The American commitment to “change” in the abstract ends up by aligning us tacitly with Soviet clients and irresponsible extremists like the Ayatollah Khomeini or, in the end, Yasir Arafat.

So far, assisting “change” has not led the Carter administration to undertake the destabilization of a Communist country. The principles of self-determination and nonintervention are thus both selectively applied.

 Carter’s doctrine of national interest and modernization encourages support for all change that takes place in the name of “the people,” regardless of its “superficial” Marxist or anti-American content.

Surely it is now beyond reasonable doubt that the present governments of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos are much more repressive than those of the despised previous rulers; that the government of the People’s Republic of China is more repressive than that of Taiwan, that North Korea is more repressive than South Korea, and so forth.

Groups which define themselves as enemies should be treated as enemies. The United States is not in fact a racist, colonial power, it does not practice genocide, it does not threaten world peace with expansionist activities. . . . We have also moved further, faster, in eliminating domestic racism than any multiracial society in the world or in history.

No more is it necessary or appropriate to support vocal enemies of the United States because they invoke the rhetoric of popular liberation. It is not even necessary or appropriate for our leaders to forswear unilaterally the use of military force to counter military force. Liberal idealism need not be identical with masochism, and need not be incompatible with the defense of freedom and the national interest.

That probably got by Sen. Joe Biden. As Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) noted in 2010, the Delaware Democrat “makes few references to books and learned influences.” In 2024, to paraphrase ambassador Kirkpatrick, the failure of the Biden administration is now clear even to its architects.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

How Dumb Are These People?

By: John Hinderaker — February 23rd 2024 at 13:07
(John Hinderaker)

I wrote here about the Left’s current bugbear, “Christian nationalism.” Despite being a Christian and a nationalist, I have no idea what that phrase means, and have never met anyone who describes himself in those terms.

On MSNBC, a Politico reporter explained the meaning of “Christian nationalism.” You have to hear it to believe it:

Oh, my. 'They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…' https://t.co/R4L8HzKriJ

— Byron York (@ByronYork) February 23, 2024


These liberals are living in a state of utter ignorance. They literally know nothing. What I can’t figure out is, how can we be losing to people who are so unutterably stupid?

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Lessons from the Coming Tory Wipeout

By: Steven Hayward — February 23rd 2024 at 13:55
(Steven Hayward)

According to the polls, the Tory Party over in Britain s heading for a wipeout at the hands of the Labour Party later this year, thereby squandering Boris Johnson’s record Tory landslide of 2019. Has there ever been a greater example of political malpractice in recent decades? There are lots of reasons for this dreadful scene (starting with Johnson’s own terrible handling of COVID and other unforced errors) which can be treated more fully on another occasion. Conservatives in America ought to pay close attention, however, and take some lessons perhaps.

For the moment, it is worth noting is that the Tory Party has especially lost ground among younger voters. Sound familiar? Actually, the Financial Times looked at cross-national survey data, and concludes that Britain’s Tories are an outlier (click to embiggen):

Affordable housing may have something to do with this:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Get a Load of Fani

By: John Hinderaker — February 23rd 2024 at 16:42
(John Hinderaker)

Fani Willis’s prosecution of Donald Trump has descended into comedy, currently of the bedroom farce variety. As all the world now knows, Willis carried on a torrid affair with Nathan Wade, whom she hired to lead the Trump prosecution and to whom she paid an extraordinary amount of taxpayer money, and then helped him spend it. That is corruption of the most old-fashioned sort. Willis and Wade have claimed that their affair did not begin until 2022, some time after she hired him to prosecute Trump.

Which turns out to be a lie:

Phone records, recently unveiled in new court documents obtained by The Post, indicate a pattern of late-night visits by Wade to Willis’s apartment, raising questions about the timeline of their relationship.

According to the cellphone data presented in court, Wade frequented the vicinity of Fulton County District Attorney Willis’s condo in Hapeville at least 35 times before their confessed affair.
***
[Investigator Charles] Mittelstadt highlighted times that refuted both Wade’s and Willis’s testimony that they had not begun a relationship prior to November 2021, and that he had only visited the apartment on occasion to discuss business.

“I was directed into a deeper analysis on two specific dates: September 11-12, 2021 (before I understand Mr Wade was hired) and November 29-30 (prior to what I understand was the in-court testimony that the romantic relationship began in 2022).

“Specifically, on September 11, 2021, Mr Wade’s phone left the Doraville area and arrived within the geoface located on the Dogwood address [Willis’s condominium] at 10.45pm,” Mittelstadt said.

“The phone remained there until September 12 at 3.28am at which time the phone traveled directly to towers located in East Cobb consistent with his routine pinging at his residence in the area. The phone arrived in East Cobb at approximately 4.05am, and records demonstrate he sent a text at 4.20am to Ms Willis.

“Additionally, on November 29, 2021, Mr Wade’s phone was pinging on the East Cobb towers near his residence and, following a call from Ms Willis at 11.32pm, while the call continued, his phone left the East Cobb area just after midnight and arrived within the geofence located on the Dogwood address at 12.43am on November 30, 2021. The phone remained there until 4.55am,” he added.

Willis and Wade are the most famous illicit couple since Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. Like Strzok and Page, Willis and Wade appear to have made texting and phoning one another a full-time job:

Mittelstadt’s report also showed Wade and Willis had made more than 2,000 voice calls to each other and exchanged just less than 12,000 text messages over an 11-month period in 2021.

It makes you wonder when Wade found time to rack up all those billable hours.

I don’t know what the future holds for Donald Trump, but I think we can confidently predict that the Sun soon will set on Fani Willis’s political career.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Red States Getting Redder

By: John Hinderaker — February 23rd 2024 at 19:29
(John Hinderaker)

The Great Sort is under way, as normal people move to red states and liberals move to blue states. (That last is hypothetical and hasn’t actually been observed.) When massive numbers began leaving blue states like California and New York for red states like Texas and Florida, many conservatives worried that those blue staters might bring their bad voting habits with them. Happily, that doesn’t seem to have happened.

This Wall Street Journal story is headlined: “Blue-State Residents Streamed Into South Carolina. Here’s Why It Stayed Ruby Red.” But it deals with more than one state:

A Wall Street Journal analysis of census data found that a third of [South Carolina’s] new residents between 2017 and 2021 hailed from blue states and a quarter from red ones, according to census data. …

Yet the new arrivals are disproportionately Republican. Estimates from the nonpartisan voter file vendor L2 suggest about 57% of voters who moved to South Carolina during that time are Republicans, while about 36% are Democrats and 7% are independents. That places them roughly in line with recent statewide votes in South Carolina.

It shouldn’t be surprising that when conservatives leave liberal states, they likely will move to conservative ones. The same thing is happening in states other than South Carolina:

The Palmetto State is a prime example of why a yearslong wave of migration to the South has largely failed to change its partisan tint. Many people who leave blue states are Republicans gravitating toward a more politically favorable new home.

In Florida, for instance, 48% of people who moved there between 2017 and 2021 came from blue states while 29% came from red states, Census figures show. Among those who registered to vote, 44% are Republicans, 25% are Democrats and 28% are nonpartisan, according to L2 data. Texas also has a heavier flow of newcomers from blue states but a greater share who L2 data estimates are Republican.

There is much more at the link; it is fun to see Democrats try to spin the numbers:

McDougald Scott and other South Carolina Democratic officials are working to target these new voters and persuade them to vote Democratic by focusing on issues like education…

I live in a blue state (for the time being, anyway) where the public schools are almost unbelievably bad. To be fair, though, the schools in New York and California are likely worse.

…infrastructure…

Have these people never driven on a highway in California?

and healthcare…

What about healthcare? Most people get health insurance through their jobs, and jobs are much more plentiful in red states. Blue states spend incomprehensible amounts of money on Medicaid, but that isn’t exactly a magnet for desirable new inhabitants.

…which she believes the Republicans are neglecting.

Apparently millions of Americans who are moving from blue to red states do not agree. Perhaps this is what it comes down to:

She said South Carolina’s limited access to abortion—which is banned at six weeks of pregnancy—is also something that crosses party lines.

Right. Hey, blue state economies may suck, crime may be rampant, taxes may be too high, government may be corrupt–but if the occasion arises, you can always kill your baby. This is the sales pitch my state’s liberal government is actually trying to implement: come here to get an abortion or a sex change operation, especially if you are a kid! Somehow, it doesn’t seem to be working.

The bottom line is that the Great Sort continues to benefit Red America. The question is, to what extent is the out-migration of normals locking liberalism into the blue states?

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Loose Ends (245)

By: Steven Hayward — February 23rd 2024 at 19:35
(Steven Hayward)

Behold the newest frontier in “equity”—”vaccine equity.” Which is needed to counter “vaccine nationalism.” (And you thought “Christian nationalism” was the worst threat out there.)

You think I am making this up? From Nature magazine today:

Today, nearly one-third of the world’s population has still not received a single dose [of COVID vaccine], and the death toll resulting from vaccine nationalism continues to grow. . . As time runs out, we urge WHO member states to agree on a ‘science-for-science’ mechanism that ensures vaccine equity in the next pandemic.

Sen. John Kennedy (the good one), speaking at CPAC (only a minute long, but with an epic editorial flourish at the end):

I wish he would run for president someday.

Some of the best reporting about the rot at the top at Harvard has been done by the student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson. The Crimson is out today with a long piece exposing the fact that the Harvard Corporation “chose Claudine Gay as Harvard’s 30th president without conducting a scholarly review of her work, according to a person familiar with the process.”

More embarrassing is that the Harvard Corporation chose Gay “over two internal candidates who boasted both administrative experience and far more extensive scholarship credentials: Tomiko Brown-Nagin and John F. Manning ’82. Brown-Nagin, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, published two books and won the highest award in American History writing, while Manning, dean of Harvard Law School, argued nine cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and wrote more than 40 legal articles.”

Pretty much confirms what we’ve known all along about why Gay was selected. And raises the obvious follow up question: what are the clearly inept members of the Harvard Corporation going to resign?

“You’ve lost another spy balloon, Xi?”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Week in Pictures: Dog Bites Man Edition

By: Steven Hayward — February 24th 2024 at 05:08
(Steven Hayward)

This is the week we got confirmation that Joe Biden is not merely a doddering, senile fool, but a bad dog owner, which is cosmically worse. Meanwhile, the FBI continues its string of comic incompetence, arresting an informant it has had on its payroll for more than a decade (paging Inspector Clouseau!), but only when it became useful to embarrass Republicans. It’s enough to make you want to put a gold-gilted Trump high-top sneaker up something.

 

Headlines of the week:

 

Totally want. . .

And finally. . .

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Smirnov turnoff

By: Scott Johnson — February 24th 2024 at 07:31
(Scott Johnson)

We are apparently meant to take last week’s indictment of long-time FBI confidential human source Alexander Smirnov as a repudiation of what we have learned about the Biden family business. Smirnov’s indictment was sought by Biden-friendly United States Attorney David Weiss. It is linked in the related Department of Justice press release.

Kim Strassel observes in her weekly Wall Street Journal column: “If th[e allegations are] true, it ought to be massive story that the FBI for 13 years relied on a man who prosecutors now worry has troubling and ‘extensive’ ties to Russian intelligence. Instead, the media in its desire to embarrass Republicans is working to absolve the FBI, with the New York Times explaining the bureau never did ‘think much’ of the Smirnov claims and concluded in 2020 that they ‘did not merit continued investigation.’”

This particular episode of the Biden saga reminds me of the phonetically linked Yakov Smirnoff. Smirnoff is the immigrant comedian who wielded his catchphrase to great effect: What a country! Smirnoff’s catchphrase might qualify as the motto of the entire saga of the Biden family business. Looking around for a photo of Yakov Smirnoff I discovered that Jonathan Turley also drew on Smirnoff’s work in his New York Post column on the indictment.

Peter Schweizer first outlined the Biden family saga based entirely on publicly available documents in Profiles in Corruption (2020). In one of the interviews about the book, Peter observed: “We’re not talking about a congressman who’s trying to get a road paving for his nephew from the federal highway funds…We’re talking about globalized graft and corruption involving actors around the world who don’t particularly have the interests of the United States at heart.”

Yesterday Andrew McCarthy elaborated on “David Weiss’s Very Peculiar Smirnov Indictment in the Biden Case.” He commented: “[N]one of the most critical evidence of Biden-family influence-peddling comes from Smirnov or Russians.”

I sat down intending to demonstrate the irrelevance of the Smirnov indictment in light of the evidence accumulated to date, but Andy has done my job for me this morning in today’s NRO column “The Smirnov Indictment Does Not Vindicate the Bidens.” Subhead: “There is already extensive evidence, having nothing to do with Smirnov, of corrupt Biden-family influence-peddling.” If you can’t see the corruption, you’re not paying attention or you’re not looking. It’s in plain view. Miranda Devine also makes this point in her accessible New York Post column “Despite media spin, there’s still overwhelming evidence Joe Biden knew of family’s business dealings.”

I’m sorry McCarthy’s columns are posted behind NRO’s paywall. I wish some public-spirited benefactor would make a deal with NR’s publisher to extract McCarthy from NRO’s paywall prison. He brings his long experience as a federal prosecutor to bear and is the best columnist out there on matters at the intersection of law and politics.

The Wall Street Journal has posted Mark Kelly’s accessible video below in connection with the appearance of James Biden for deposition by the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees behind closed doors this week (Fox News story here). The caption on the video reads: “The latest revelations in the House Oversight Committee investigation into Biden family business dealings surrounds two checks that landed in Joe Biden’s personal bank account, one for $40,000, the other for $200,000.” As I say, if you can’t see it you’re not looking.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Podcast: The 3WHH, Eye-Bleach Edition

By: Steven Hayward — February 24th 2024 at 10:33
(Steven Hayward)

This episode has everything: a how-to guerilla guide to improving your McDonald’s hamburger experience; a spirited discussion of the Alabama Supreme Court decision that defines frozen embryos as persons (I think the media is willfully misreporting the decision—John is not so sure); those crazy new presidential rankings from political scientists—and even some soft-core porn!

Say what?

Well, it turns out that that Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw Trump’s alleged fraud trial in New York City, apparently has a case of Anthony Weiner envy, and posted some rather racy locker room pics of himself some years back. And right in the middle of our discussion Lucretia flashed the pictures up on the Zoom screen, sending John and me rushing for some eye-bleach. There must be something in the bottled water Manhattan Democrats drink. (And doesn’t Engoron sound like the name of a dwarve or elve who goes bad in Lord of the Rings?)

In any case, we do finally get around to a new segment of the 3WHH, where we note three articles from the last week for what they can tell us about something. John chose those stupid presidential rankings; Lucretia chose an MSNBC articlefrom leftist columnist Paul Waldman that unwittingly admits that everything conservatives say about the administrative state is completely true; and I picked Karol Markowitz’s NY Post column reflecting on how recent social science that ratifies the conservative view that two-parent families are the best way to raise children is so controversial with the left, which is no surprise. (Honorable mention to a parallel column on the same subject by Mark Judge in the Washington Examiner.)

So listen here or from our hosts at Ricochet. But have your eye-bleach for your mind’s eye at the ready.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Joe Biden—Christian Nationalist?!?!

By: Steven Hayward — February 24th 2024 at 11:59
(Steven Hayward)

Like John, it would be hilarious to observe the left’s sudden obsession with “Christian nationalism” if it weren’t based on an abysmal ignorance that is itself a grim threat to the continuation of our republic. I guess Thomas Jefferson was a Christian nationalist for the first sentence of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, although in fairness to stupid leftists, they don’t believe in “self-evident truth” either, because they are unable to grasp the meaning of “self-evident” as Thomas Aquinas, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Lincoln learned from Euclid. (One of my core lessons in the classroom is the continuity of thought between the “Two Tommys”—Tommy Aquinas and Tommy Jefferson. Hardly anyone ever notices this.)

Or how about John Adams: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

But you know who else turns out to be a “Christian nationalist”?

Joe Biden, Christian Nationalist:

"My rights are not derived from any government…they're given to me and each of my fellow citizens by our Creator."

pic.twitter.com/fyswMmIzWd

— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) February 23, 2024

Gosh—I wonder whatever became of that guy?

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Democrat Denialists

By: John Hinderaker — February 24th 2024 at 12:47
(John Hinderaker)

In 2001, 2005 and 2017, some Democrat House members objected to the certification of electoral votes for the winning Republican presidential candidate. Those objections, while “denialist,” were only symbolic. But Democrat leaders in the House are now suggesting that if they control that body following November’s election–as they well might–they may refuse to allow a victorious Donald Trump to take office.

The Atlantic did the original reporting, behind a paywall. This is from the Election Law Blog:

Murray and other legal scholars say that, absent clear guidance from the Supreme Court, a Trump win could lead to a constitutional crisis in Congress. Democrats would have to choose between confirming a winner many of them believe is ineligible and defying the will of voters who elected him. …

In interviews, senior House Democrats would not commit to certifying a Trump win, saying they would do so only if the Supreme Court affirms his eligibility. But during oral arguments, liberal and conservative justices alike seemed inclined to dodge the question of his eligibility altogether and throw the decision to Congress.

“That would be a colossal disaster,” Representative Adam Schiff of California told me. “We already had one horrendous January 6. We don’t need another.” …

The choice that Democrats would face if Trump won without a definitive ruling on his eligibility was almost too fraught for Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland to contemplate. He told me he didn’t know how he’d vote in that scenario. As we spoke about what might happen, he recalled the brutality of January 6. “There was blood all over the Capitol in the hypothetical you posit,” Raskin, who served on the January 6 committee with Schiff, told me….

The Democrats have become so insane on the subject of Donald Trump that it is hard to know which of their mutterings to take seriously. But if Trump wins the election and a Democrat-controlled House refuses to certify his election on the ground that he is an “insurrectionist” under the 14th Amendment, we will be past the point of a constitutional crisis. If that happens, the only realistic path forward will be disunion, possibly accompanied by civil war, but preferably not.

This is one reason why the Supreme Court should put the 14th Amendment theory out of its misery, once and for all. It is obvious that the drafters of that amendment meant the just-concluded Civil War, in which 600,000 Americans lost their lives, when they referred to “insurrection or rebellion” against the United States. In contrast, the January 6 protest was not one of the 50 most destructive riots of the last few years, and the only person killed was Ashli Babbitt. Not a single participant in the protest was arrested in possession of a firearm. Some insurrection!

In the interest of preserving the Republic, the Supreme Court should rule definitively that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment does not apply to Donald Trump.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Yulia, we hardly knew ya

By: Scott Johnson — February 24th 2024 at 15:45
(Scott Johnson)

Yesterday in San Francisco President Biden held what the White House termed a press gaggle. In the event it seemed more of a gag than a gaggle. This is the White House transcript of his remarks:

Hello, folks. This morning, I had the honor of meeting with Aleksey Navalny’s wife and daughter.

As to state the obvious, he was a man of incredible courage. And it’s amazing how his wife and daughter are — are emulating that. And we’re going to be announcing the sanctions against Putin, who is responsible for his death, tomorrow.

And — but the one thing I’ve made — that was made clear to me is that Yulanda [Yulia] is going to — she’s going to continue to fight (inaudible) the way. So, we’re not letting up.

You say Yulanda, I say Yolanda. Let’s call the whole thing off.

Today, Biden said he "had the honor of meeting with" Alexei Navalny's widow, who he called "Yolanda."

Her name is Yulia. pic.twitter.com/ecBgLtZdn0

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 23, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Killer Trifecta

By: Lloyd Billingsley — February 24th 2024 at 18:22
(Lloyd Billingsley)

As mentioned in a previous item, Philip Haney, author of See Something Say Nothing: A Homeland Security Officer Exposes the Government’s Submission to Jihad, had a sequel in the works, but turned up dead by gunshot in Amador County, California, in early 2020. Dr. Katherine Raven, who has performed more than 5000 forensic autopsies, signed off on a “homicide autopsy.”

Two years later, under a sheriff who graduated from the FBI academy, a deputy with no apparent medical training listed “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound” as the cause of death.

The FBI held on to Haney’s computer, thumb drives, and “whistleblower documents.” The DHS accused Haney of harboring “contraband” and violating five federal laws. The signs point to a faked suicide, hardly a new tactic. As Sidney Hook recalled in Out of Step, Soviet defector Gen. Walter Krivitsky was “suicided” in a Washington hotel room by Stalin’s NKVD, forerunner to the KGB.

Danish diplomat Povl Bang-Jensen refused to reveal names of Hungarian patriots who testified to the UN about Soviet atrocities during the 1956 invasion. In 1959, after going missing for two days, Bang-Jensen was found dead in a New York park, shot through the right temple. The scene looked staged but the case was officially declared a suicide. See Betrayal at the UN, by DeWitt Copp and Marshal Peck.

In 1993, White House official Vincent Foster turned up dead in Fort Marcy Park. The death was ruled a suicide but the scene left plenty to ponder, especially as the Clinton White House senior staff behaved in highly suspicious ways after Foster’s death (removing—and likely destroying—files from his office, etc.) See The Strange Death of Vincent Foster, by Christopher Ruddy.

Communist assassins also killed by staging fake car accidents. That was the fate of Soviet actor Solomon Mikhoels, artistic director of the Moscow State Jewish Theater and chairman of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee during World War II. By this time, Stalin had revived traditional Russian anti-Semitism, branding Jews “rootless cosmpolitans.”

Nobel laureate Albert Camus, author of The Plague and other books, opposed the Soviet invasion of Hungary and was on record that Communism equals murder. In The Death of Camus, Giovanni Catelli compiles evidence that Camus was the victim of a fake car accident set up by the KGB. The ultimate trick, as Whittaker Chambers explained in Witness, was to make the assassination look like a natural death. That is a distinct possibility in several cases, to be explored at length in future.

The death of Philip Haney, meanwhile, shows what can happen to those who expose Islamic terrorists and their enablers in the US government. That raises issues for those who expose the FBI as the government’s secret police and KGB. When booting up a computer or tablet, see if “FBI Van,” or “FBI Surveillance Van,” show up in other networks in your neighborhood, then suddenly disappear.

Watch for persons unknown offering to send materials to your residence. Take note of strangers who suddenly engage you in conversation and just before leaving ask where you live. Apprise colleagues, friends and loved ones of these realities. Most important, never stop calling out those who attack the God-given freedoms of the people.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Price of Illegal Immigration [Updated]

By: John Hinderaker — February 24th 2024 at 18:39
(John Hinderaker)

Laken Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student in Athens, Georgia. Thursday morning, she went for a run and didn’t return. Her body was found on the campus of the University of Georgia. Riley was murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela:

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, who was arrested Friday in connection to the murder of the 22-year-old Augusta University student, crossed into El Paso, Texas, from Venezuela in September 2022, NewsNation reported Saturday, citing Department of Homeland Security sources.

He had been released due to a lack of detention space, the sources added.

Laken Riley

Ibarra is one of millions of illegals whom Joe Biden has deliberately welcomed into the United States, in violation of federal law, the Constitution, and Biden’s oath of office. Biden’s motives are hard to understand. But in the law, one is held to have intended the natural and inevitable consequences of one’s actions. Occam’s Razor, like the common law, implies that Biden is trying to bring chaos and destruction to the United States.

Having entered America with no problem, Ibarra set out for New York. I don’t believe it has been reported how he got there, but he spent a year or so in New York City before relocating to Georgia. His social media accounts suggest that he was living it up:

In September 2022, however, the Venezuelan native looked carefree, smiling in Times Square and Rockefeller Center in New York City, posts on a Facebook account linked to his name showed.

Of course, he got into trouble in New York, too:

Police sources in New York confirmed to NewsNation that a suspect matching Ibarra’s name and age was arrested in the Big Apple for endangering a 5-year-old child last year.

But illegals who commit crimes are rarely punished. Ibarra eventually joined his older brother Diego, who I assume is also an illegal although I haven’t seen this reported, in Athens. The older brother is a criminal, too; he was arrested three times between September and December 2023. Ho hum. Liberals refuse to enforce our laws, until a known criminal commits a crime so heinous that it attracts national attention. Like this one.

So, because Joe Biden opened our southern border, Jose Ibarra waltzed in from Venezuela, spent a year or so hanging out in New York, where any crimes he committed went unpunished, then joined his brother in Georgia. Where, day before yesterday, he saw Laken Riley jogging on the University of Georgia campus and decided it would be fun to kill her. Congratulations, Joe. This one’s on you.

A postscript: the U.S. isn’t the only country dumb enough to admit large numbers of illegal aliens, often referred to in the press as “asylum seekers.” Western Europe has problems even worse than ours, as exemplified by this case:

Police in Vienna launched a criminal investigation after three women were found dead in a brothel, authorities said Saturday.

A witness discovered traces of blood outside the building, located near the Danube River, and alerted police on Friday evening. The bodies of the three victims had “cuts and stab wounds,” police spokesperson Philipp Hasslinger told The Associated Press.

A 27-year-old man was soon arrested in the vicinity of the brothel while carrying a knife, the supposed weapon. Police said the suspect is an asylum-seeker from Afghanistan and will be questioned by police later on Saturday.

The Vienna brothel was legal, but apparently the “asylum seeker” disapproved of it. Hey, some of us may disapprove of it, too. But we wouldn’t murder the women who work there. Open-borders immigration policies have been a disaster wherever they have been implemented.

UPDATE: It turns out that Jose Ibarra had a “wife.” Sort of:

“We got married so we could join our asylum cases,” she told The Post. “He was the person I thought I could see through. We’ve known each other our entire lives.”

So, just another species of immigration fraud. Honestly, though, Ibarra and his “wife” needn’t have bothered. Joe Biden’s welcome mat is out, and everyone is here to stay–especially those who will degrade our country.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Blunt Force Border Policy

By: Lloyd Billingsley — February 24th 2024 at 20:42
(Lloyd Billingsley)

As John notes just below, police in Georgia have arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, “not a U.S. citizen” and not a student at the University of Georgia, where nursing student Laken Riley, 22, was found dead from “blunt force trauma.”

This is not an isolated incident. Consider California, the “sanctuary state” that protects criminal illegals from deportation.

In 2019, a false-documented illegal from Mexico murdered El Dorado County deputy Brian Ishmael, who left behind a wife and three daughters. In 2018, illegal immigrant Gustavo Perez Arriaga, also known as Paulo Virgen Mendoza, murdered Newman, California police officer Ronil “Ron” Singh, a legal immigrant from Fiji who came the America to work in law enforcement.

In 2014, previously deported Luis Bracamontes gunned down Sacramento County police officers Danny Oliver and Michael Davis. In court, the Mexican national said he wished he had killed more cops. Sometimes the victims are innocent children.

In Waseca, Minnesota, Lorenzo Sanchez raped 12-year-old Cally Jo Larson, stabbed her to death, then hung her body from a cord in the stairway. See the Forensic Files episode “The Music Case.” And now nursing student Laken Riley is found dead from blunt force trauma.

If a firearm had been in play, and the suspect a U.S. citizen, Joe Biden might have issued a statement on “gun violence.” At this writing, nothing from the White House on the case, and that comes as no surprise.

“You know, 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they’re already American citizens,” said vice president Biden in 2014. All the 11 million wanted was a chance to contribute, Biden said, so “let people vote.” Since 2020, Biden has bulked up the imported electorate by some eight million, possibly more, so when illegals commit crimes the Delaware Democrat looks the other way.

This year, millions of illegals will be voting, as they already do in California, with squads of politiqueros bribing or threatening them to vote “a certain way,” code for Democrats. That’s what the Biden Junta wants in November.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Sunday morning coming down

By: Scott Johnson — February 25th 2024 at 07:15
(Scott Johnson)

George Harrison was born in Liverpool on this date in 1943. He died on November 29, 2001, in Los Angeles. He added to the beauty of the world as a member of the Beatles and in his subsequent solo career. He also founded HandMade Films to produce Monty Python’s Life of Brian, still funny after all these years. I want to celebrate the anniversary of his birth this morning.

In an interview on the Dick Cavett Show way back when, Harrison was asked about his favorite Beatles songs. As I recall, he said he most enjoyed the Beatles songs with three-part harmonies. He would have contributed the third part on those songs. By my lights he was a talented and ingenious harmony singer. Among the songs he must have been thinking of would be “This Boy,” “Yes It Is,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” and “Because.” Check out the Galeazzo Frudua videos that break down the harmony parts on those songs. George’s contributions are something else.

I thought it might be fun to look back on George’s solo career through lesser known songs on his solo albums over the years 1970-2002. I may have let a hit or two sneak in, but I went in search of deep tracks. If you have a favorite Harrison hit, it won’t be here. My goal is to avoid the hits and see if we can enhance our enjoyment of his legacy along the way. Please accept my apologies in advance for any mistakes in my notes and for ads that may preface the videos. Keep your cursor poised to cut them off.

George’s All Things Must Pass made a huge impact when the Beatles broke up in 1970. You had to make your way over to side three to find “Apple Scruffs.” You can hear the influence of Bob Dylan wedded to the Beatles-style vocal backing that George supplied entirely by himself. This was my favorite track on the album.

George produced the Concert for Bangladesh and the released the related live album in 1971. He didn’t get around to making another solo album until Living in the Material World in 1973. Contrary to the urging of “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long,” he might have let us wait too long. For some reason or other this track wasn’t released as a single.

George always called on gifted musicians for instrumental backing on his albums. Dark Horse (1974) included work by Nicky Hopkins on piano, Willie Weeks on bass, and a guy named Ringo Starr on drums. They all back George on “So Sad.”

George wrote “Far East Man” with Ronnie Wood. “While the world wages war / It gets harder to see / Who your friends really are.” Tom Scott is on the saxophones, Billy Preston on piano, Willie Weeks on bass, and Andy Newmark on drums.

George kept the albums coming. He released Extra Texture the following year. “You” led off the album and turned into a hit single with sax solos by Jim Horn and Leon Russell on piano. However, we are avoiding the hits in search of buried treasure. “Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You)” is one of George’s tributes to Smokey Robinson.

In addition to George’s work on guitar, “Tired of Midnight Blue” has Leon Russell on piano and Jim Keltner on drums. This is a most engaging restatement of George’s warning to “beware of Maya.”

George followed up Extra Texture with Thirty Three & 1/3 Third (1975) and included a second tribute to Smokey Robinson (“Pure Smokey”). Listening to the track, I think it’s fair to say once is not enough. George’s solos make the second time around even better. Tom Scott is on the saxes again, Richard Tee on piano, and Willie Weeks on bass.

“Learning How To Love You” closed the album. That’s Richard Tee on keyboards and Willie Weeks on bass. The track was released as the b-side to “This Song.” I think this one belongs in the department of buried treasure.

The self-titled George Harrison was released in 1979. He had originally recorded “Not Guilty” during the Beatles’ sessions for the White Album, but that track remained in the can until it was released on Anthology 3 in 1996. George retrieved the song and rerecorded it for his his self-titled album. Stevie Winwood is on keyboards, Willie Weeks on bass, and Andy Newmark on drums. It’s a beguilingly bitter song.

“Here Comes the Moon” is not to be confused with “Here Comes the Sun.” I think you will enjoy it if you haven’t heard it before. George is on the guitar parts, Stevie Winwood on harmonium and backing vocals, Willie Weeks on bass, and Andy Newmark on drums.

Next came Somewhere In England (1981). George covered Hoagy Carmichael’s “Hong Kong Blues.” You won’t hear it performed by anyone else any time soon.

“Lay His Head” is something of a literal buried treasure. It was one of four songs Warner Bros. rejected for the album, although it was the b-side of “Got My Mind Set On You.” The four songs were deemed insufficiently commercial.

I’m skipping over George’s uninspired Gone Troppo (1982). After a five-year break, George’s Cloud Nine (1987) represented a return to form, as in “That’s What It Takes” (written with Jeff Lynne and Gary Wright). I think that’s Eric Clapton on the guitar solo.

I love the playing on “Fish on the Sand.” That’s George on guitar, Jeff Lynne on bass, and Ringo on drums.

George was working on Brainwashed when he died in 2001. It was posthumously released in 2002. As far as his recordings were concerned, he went out on a high note. “Stuck Inside a Cloud” was released as a promotional single only. If you like George, you’ll love this.

George lovingly covered the Ted Koehler/Harold Arlen classic “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.” That’s George on the uke. What a way to go.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Sweden Seeing the Reality of “Diversity”

By: Steven Hayward — February 25th 2024 at 11:13
(Steven Hayward)

This morning I stumbled across a Tweet linking to an Australian “60 Minutes” segment about the unassimilable migrants that are causing the crime rate and other social dysfunctions to soar in Sweden. Turns out the episode is seven years old, but since we don’t see Australia’s “60 Minutes” here (and our CBS “60 Minutes” won’t touch this subject with a ten meter pole), I doubt little has changed in the last seven years, so here’s the complete seven minute segment—watch to the very end:

I still contend that sooner or later, European nations are going to institute mass deportations of migrants. (If it wants to survive, anyway. It may not have the will to do so any more.) Germany has already said it is going to step up deportation proceedings against recent migrants whose asylum claims are unfounded, but look for other countries to ratchet up from there.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Bibi faces the talking points

By: Scott Johnson — February 25th 2024 at 13:31
(Scott Johnson)

Caroline Glick recommends Margaret Brennan’s interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning on Face the Nation as “very important.” In it he faces the Biden administration talking points argued by Sullivan. She does not ask a single question that reflects sympathy with Israel’s ordeal, yet the Jew haters are having their say in the comments at YouTube. I infer that Netanyahu was able to make his own points effectively. CBS has posted the transcript of the interview here.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Clarence Thomas, Racist?

By: John Hinderaker — February 25th 2024 at 16:28
(John Hinderaker)

One of the big stories in the New York Times today is another Clarence Thomas smear, but with a twist: “Justice Thomas Hires Law Clerk Accused of Sending Racist Text Messages.”

The story is about Crystal Clanton, who graduated from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University in 2022. She is coming off a clerkship with Judge William Pryor of the 11th Circuit, who calls her “an outstanding law clerk.” Justice Thomas has now hired her to clerk on the Supreme Court.

For the last seven years, Crystal Clanton has been dogged by reports of an email that she allegedly wrote, in which she supposedly said, “I hate black people.” The Times story admits that they have not seen any such message, and are relying on reporting by the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, perhaps the least trustworthy source in America.

In 2017, Clanton was running field operations for Turning Point USA. Mayer did a hit piece on Turning Point that included a variety of allegations, including the one against Clanton. Mayer claimed to have seen a screen shot of the text. The story has dogged Clanton ever since. When she was offered a clerkship on the 11th Circuit by Judge Pryor, seven left-wing members of Congress lodged an ethics complaint against Pryor, based on Clanton’s alleged text. That complaint was investigated by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which found the complaint to be without merit and dismissed it.

This January 2022 story has the details. Clanton left Turning Point after the claim against her was first made, but the Second Circuit found it to be false:

The Turning Point executive “had determined that the source of the allegations against (Clanton) was a group of former employees,” [Second Circuit Chief Judge Debra] Livingston wrote. “One of these employees was fired after the organization learned that this person had created fake text messages to be used against co-workers, to make it appear that those co-workers had engaged in misconduct when they had not.”

Pryor and Maze knew about the allegations against Clanton when they interviewed and hired her. And both determined the allegations of racist behavior by Clanton were untrue and found she was highly qualified to serve as a clerk for them, Livingston wrote.

“There is nothing in the record to dispute any of this,” she noted.

Charlie Kirk is also quoted in that story:

“The media has alleged that Crystal said and did things that are simply untrue,” Kirk wrote. “I have first-hand knowledge of the situations reported on and I can assure that the media has made serious errors and omissions. The sources of these reports are a group of former employees that have a well-documented desire to malign Crystal’s reputation.”

The employee who was fired had “created fake text messages to be used against other employees,” Kirk wrote.

Crystal Clanton got to know Ginny Thomas when she worked at Turning Point, and she was evidently so distraught about her departure from that group that she lived with the Thomases for nearly a year. So Thomas knows her well. He wrote a letter in connection with the Second Circuit investigation:

“I know Crystal Clanton and I know bigotry,” Thomas wrote. “Bigotry is antithetical to her nature and character.”

Clanton didn’t respond to the Times’s request for comment in the story they published today, but back in 2017 she told The New Yorker that “I have no recollection of these messages and they do not reflect what I believe or who I am, and the same was true when I was a teenager.”

So there the matter rests. The moral of the story, I suppose, is that the Left never forgets. No matter that she was cleared by an investigation by one of the nation’s courts of appeals; once the Left gets its hands on a smear it never lets go. It will never stop trying to destroy your life. And of course, The New Yorker and the New York Times are two of the worst offenders.

Also, what makes this old story worthy of the Times’s A section? Only the fact that Justice Thomas is involved. The Times doesn’t care about a law clerk of whom few people have heard, but it cares deeply about smearing the country’s top conservative African-American. But what, exactly, are we supposed to infer from the Times story? That Clarence Thomas is weirdly favorable to those who hate black people?

A final irony: Supreme Court justices have no doubt hired any number of clerks who have written and spoken favorably about DEI, which actually is racist. But there is no controversy there: on the contrary, endorsing that form of racism is a badge of honor.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Blackouts, Here We Come

By: John Hinderaker — February 25th 2024 at 19:00
(John Hinderaker)

People around the world are increasingly realizing that “green” energy is actually black–as in blackouts. Thus, in today’s Telegraph: “The UK is much closer to blackouts than anyone dares to admit.”

We are heading for a big electricity crunch as it is. Whoever wins the general election, the next government will be committed to decarbonising the National Grid – by 2035 in the case of the Conservatives and by 2030 in the case of Labour. That means either closing all the gas power stations or fitting them with carbon capture and storage technology – which does not yet exist on scale in Britain and whose costs are likely to be massive. At the same time every single one of our existing nuclear power stations is currently due to reach the end of its life by 2035. If Hinkley C is delayed much beyond its latest estimated completion, we could end up with no nuclear at all.

That could leave us trying to power the country pretty much with intermittent wind and solar energy alone – and this at a time when politicians want millions more of us to be driving electric cars and heating our homes with heat pumps, thus substantially increasing demand. How will we keep the lights on? One struggles to find satisfactory explanation from the National Grid ESO, which is trusted with this task.

Britain is not alone in that regard. It is extraordinary that no one in any country has actually tried, seriously, to figure out how to power a modern economy with intermittent and absurdly expensive wind and solar power. We are simply cruising toward disaster with inept and even senile politicians at the helm.

It has produced a vision for a winter’s day in 2035 which foresees massive amounts of energy being stored in the form of green hydrogen produced via the electrolysis of water – a technology which may not be ready by then.

Or may not be ready, ever. I’ve been hearing about miraculous hydrogen energy for decades.

It also sees Britain importing around a quarter of its electricity. What happens if the countries we import it from are also short of renewable energy, it doesn’t say.

That is what happened a year or so ago when Duke Energy’s customers suffered a blackout. Duke’s plan included importing electricity from other states when the wind didn’t blow and it was dark out. But–surprise!–the wind wasn’t blowing in nearby states, either.

But now we get to the real plan, to the extent there is one:

But another large part of the picture seems to be “demand flexibility” – a polite term for rationing energy through smart meters, jacking up the price whenever supply is short. No wonder the Government seems keener than ever to force smart meters on us.

A “smart meter” is one that will adjust the temperature in your house, or otherwise reduce your use of electricity, when the utility can’t produce enough electricity to meet demand. In other words, the plan is for us to get poorer through electricity rationing.

This is Great Britain, but you could say the exact same thing about the U.S. or most other Western countries.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

What’s wrong with this picture?

By: Scott Johnson — February 26th 2024 at 05:49
(Scott Johnson)

President Biden spoke at the Governors Ball Dinner in the State Dining Room at the White House on Saturday evening (video excerpt below). The White House has posted the transcript of his brief remarks here.

After the introductory blather, Biden referred to the portrait of Abraham Lincoln behind him — you can see it here — as he attempted to follow his text. This is how the White House transcript of the fourth paragraph reads:

And, you know, standing here in front of this portrait of the man behind me here, he — he said — and I want to make sure I get the quote exactly right. He said, “We — the better angels” — he said, “We must address the counsel — and adjust the better angels of our nature.” And we do the — and we do well to remember what else he said. He said, “We’re not enemies, but [we’re] friends.” This is in the middle of — this is in the — in the part of the Civil War. He said, “We’re not enemies, but [we’re] friends. We must not be enemies.”

“The [unnamed] man behind [him}” was Lincoln. Remember him? The attempted quotation comes from the famous passage that concludes Lincoln’s first inaugural address:

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

The Daily Mail reports on Biden’s senescent ramble in “Biden completely butchering lines from Lincoln’s inaugural address – and then gets laughs when he jokes about his age after telling audience: ‘I wanna get this quote exactly right.'” However, I’m not sure that this was the worst of Biden’s brief remarks. He also took an incoherent stab at his phony remembrance of things past:

And, you know, it seems to me that — I’ll conclude by saying, I — I’ve spent a lot of time with Xi Jinping — someone whom I have a great deal of difference with. And I was — when I was vice president, President — my — my president was — told me that he wanted me to get to know Xi Jinping because it was clear he was going to be the head of Russia — of — of China and that he — we had a — we were having problems with Russia at the time and other countries as well. And so, what he said was, “Get to know him. He’s going to be there.” I — and he couldn’t because he was the president, and he couldn’t travel. So, I traveled 17,000 miles with him throughout the country — our country and — and in — in China, as well.

We were in the Tibetan Plateau. And he turned to me, and he said, “Can you define America for me?” And I — given this has been documented, and it’s real — I looked at him, and I said, “Yes, I can. In one word.” And he looked at me. And he said, “What’s that?” And I said, “Possibilities.” Possibilities.

You say president, you say vice president. You say Russia, you say China. Let’s call the whole thing off.

Biden has reached the stage of life described by Mark Twain. His faculties have decayed to such an extent that he cannot remember any but the things that never happened. This 17,000-mile shtick has been debunked many times. Glenn Kessler devoted one of his Washington Post Fact Checker columns — this one — to it in February 2021. He awarded it 3 Pinocchios.

However, it’s the substance of the story that is most absurd. Biden says it has been “documented.” That means he has told the story many, many times. According to Matt Viser’s 2022 Washington Post story, aides who were with Biden say that they do not recall that exchange. It has been “documented” by his repetition of it.

We can go this far with the story. When Xi observes an Obama or a Biden, he wonders how he can exploit the “possibilities.”

The White House transcript specifies the time of Biden’s remarks at 7:40 P.M. EST. He wound up at 7:44. It was past the guy’s bedtime. Fortunately, the State Dining Room is located in the Executive Residence of the White House. He only had a few pitty-pat steps to go before his head hit the pillow for the evening.

Biden completely malfunctions as he tries — and fails miserably — to read a quote from "the man behind me here" pic.twitter.com/anLx6NEAPx

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 25, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Smirnov turnoff, Devine ed.

By: Scott Johnson — February 26th 2024 at 10:17
(Scott Johnson)

Miranda Devine addresses “The Smirnov turnoff” in today’s New York Post column “New election year means another Russiagate as Biden, Dems try to smear impeachment probe.” Devine is of course the invaluable historian of The Laptop From Hell and the Biden family business. Here is the opening of her column:

For the 2016 election, Democrats launched Russiagate 1.0: the Trump-Russia collusion hoax proven groundless by the Mueller investigation.

For the 2020 election, it was Russiagate 2.0. Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken prompted former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell to concoct the “Dirty 51” letter falsely claiming that Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop was Russian disinformation.

That lie justified censorship of The Post’s accurate stories from the laptop of Joe Biden’s involvement in his son’s international influence peddling schemes.

Now that we’re heading into the 2024 election, we have Russiagate 3.0. Democrats pretend the impeachment inquiry has “utterly collapsed” because of the curious indictment last week of trusted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov on false statement charges after he allegedly told his FBI handler that Hunter and Joe each had received a $5 million bribe from the Ukrainians.

In a frantic effort to keep Smirnov in jail pre-trial, prosecutors for notorious Biden protector David Weiss, the Delaware US attorney, used language ripped straight out of the Russiagate textbook: “Smirnov’s efforts to spread misinformation about a candidate of one of the two major parties [Joe] continues.”

Now Smirnov is being used as make-believe vindication of the 51 former intelligence officials who signed the fake laptop letter to help Biden win the 2020 election.

Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA operations officer who claims to be a victim of the dubious “Havana syndrome,” pounced on the Smirnov story.

“It validates exactly what we were warning about,” he told NBC News. “The Russians were going to push this narrative of Hunter Biden and corruption, to hurt Joe Biden.”

No. Hunter’s “laptop from hell” was not Russian disinformation. It still isn’t. The FBI has had it in its possession since December 2019 and has authenticated it as real and valid for use in court.

The Dirty 51 are grasping at straws to try to justify their interference in the 2020 election. It wasn’t the Russians. It was Trump-deranged former CIA management who felt any means justified the ends if they could stop Trump winning a second term.

But now, as the laptop is augmented by whistleblower receipts and witness testimony, and as House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer unravels the complex web of corrupt foreign payments to the Biden family, the president’s praetorian guard is desperate. They are drowning in evidence of corruption while burbling, “There is no evidence!” Russia is all they have.

The joke is on Biden’s media handmaidens still pushing Joe Biden’s absurd lies.

No, the laptop is not a “Russian plant,” as he claimed. And, yes, Joe did talk to Hunter about his “overseas business dealings.”

Heck, he did a lot more than talk.

He made himself available for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, coffees, and pleasant chit chat on the speakerphone with Hunter’s foreign benefactors, all to oil the wheels of the family business — which was selling access to him, as he well knew.

“Look after my boy,” he told Kremlin-backed oligarch Elena Baturina and her husband, Yuri Luzhkov, the corrupt former mayor of Moscow, when Hunter activated the speakerphone at a Russian restaurant in Brooklyn called Romanoff on May 4, 2014.

They sure did. Just three months earlier, Baturina had wired $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC, the firm cofounded by Hunter, his “best friend in business” Devon Archer, John Kerry’s stepson Chris Heinz, and Jimmy Bulger, nephew of mobster “Whitey” Bulger.

Devine has much more here.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Housing Bubble 2.0?

By: Steven Hayward — February 26th 2024 at 13:00
(Steven Hayward)

Right now the unaffordability of housing has become a national issue, and not just one for the two coasts. The fundamental reason for this is the spread of coastal-style over-regulation of housing to the interior states of “flyover country,” which had for decades mostly resisted the over-regulation of housing. Rising interest rates have something to do with this too. In any case, maybe another housing crash is in the works?

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Californiachukuo

By: Lloyd Billingsley — February 26th 2024 at 16:51
(Lloyd Billingsley)

By a unanimous vote, the San Francisco supervisors have made Kelly Wong a member of the San Francisco Elections Commission. The Chinese national is the first non- U.S. citizen to hold the post, and under U.S. law she is not allowed to vote. Wong’s priority is to ensure that voter materials are translated in a way that people can understand, work she already performs as an “immigrant rights advocate” at Chinese for Affirmative Action.

According to CAA, last year “more than 24,000 Chinese migrants have made a treacherous 60-mile trek through the Darien Gap risking death and disease to eventually cross from Mexico into the U.S.” The “numbers are unprecedented,” and the San Diego Migrant Welcome Center “asked CAA to assist with the influx of arrivals.” For many, “the number one priority was to arrange transit to U.S.-based family and friends.” While this was going on, another People’s Republic of China (PRC) development escaped notice.

In January, a team from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleaned up the site of an illegal biolab run by Chinese nationals in Reedley, California, near Fresno. The site jostled with dangerous pathogens, and viral agents, some untested by the federal Centers for Disease Control. That is no surprise since the CDC cooperates closely with the PRC, and the CDC’s vaunted Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), which failed to stop Covid from arriving stateside, includes Chinese nationals.

According to The Black Book of Communism, the PRC is the most lethal regime in history, with more than 60 million victims. If the PRC ever did anything with which the CDC disagreed, it’s hard to know what it might be. The same goes for California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who passed away last September. Feinstein maintained a Chinese spy on her staff for 20 years. Gov. Gavin Newsom also has a soft spot for the one-party Communist regime.

San Francisco has become the world’s largest latrine, homeless camp and junkyard, but former mayor Newsom cleaned it all up when Xi Jinping came to town. That was hardly Newsom’s only service for the PRC.

In April 2020, Gov. Newsom announced a $1 billion deal for masks with the Chinese company BYD, which had no experience making protective equipment. Newsom hid the details, even from fellow Democrats and what became of the $1 billion remained something of a mystery. Other massive favors for the PRC stand in plain sight.

For the new span of the Bay Bridge, California rejected federal money and hired a Chinese company which, at the time, had no experience building bridges. The structure came in 10 years late, $5 billion over budget, and riddled with cracked bolts, corrosion and such.

All told, the Golden State is shaping up as Californiachukuo, a development and settlement zone for the PRC. Newsom is the colonial official, and a PRC national now serves on the San Francisco Election Commission, eager to ensure accurate translation of election documents.

As Commissioner Wong should know, back in 1986 a full 73 percent of California voters passed Proposition 63, the Official Language of California Amendment, designed to “preserve the role of English as the state’s common language.” According to this law, the voter guides should be only in English, with good reason. As legal immigrants know, some proficiency in English is a requirement for U.S. citizenship, in turn, a requirement for voting in U.S. elections.

By contrast, Joe Biden believes that illegals are “already American citizens” and should be able to vote. That’s why he brought in some eight million foreign nationals with no English ability, no background checks, and no health requirements. According to Chinese for Affirmative Action, “unprecedented numbers” of them are Chinese nationals, eager to link up with those already here.

All told, Californiachukuo is shaping up as the model for the nation. To paraphrase Walter Sobchak, this is what happens when a constitutional democracy collaborates with a genocidal Communist dictatorship.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

It’s Dangerous To Be an Athlete

By: John Hinderaker — February 26th 2024 at 17:12
(John Hinderaker)

I wrote here about the murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley by, allegedly, illegal alien Jose Ibarra of Venezuela. The case has spurred outrage across the United States. Which, I suppose, is why the Associated Press felt the need to spin the story in another–bizarre–direction: “The killing of a nursing student out for a run highlights the fears of solo female athletes.”

If only Ms. Riley had been walking across the University of Georgia campus instead of running, the AP wants us to believe, she would have been safe! It was being an “athlete” that did her in. Ibarra, meanwhile, is described discreetly as an “Athens resident.”

The AP compounds the absurdity of its reporting with this:

Riley’s death has once again put the spotlight on the dangers female runners face. Previously, the 2018 death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts while out jogging prompted an outpouring from other women who shared their tales of being harassed and followed.

Mollie Tibbetts, like Laken Riley, was murdered by an illegal alien. What a coincidence! But to the AP, the lesson is that women should avoid running. How about if we close the border instead?

STEVE adds: Isn’t this pathetic excuse pretty close to saying, “She was wearing an awfully short skirt. . .”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

How Poor Can Venezuela Get?

By: John Hinderaker — February 26th 2024 at 18:20
(John Hinderaker)

We haven’t checked in on Venezuela for a while. Formerly one of the world’s richest countries, Venezuela has become destitute since it was taken over by socialists Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. The country has gone downhill in an ever-worsening spiral of poverty and dysfunction. Things have gotten so bad that American liberals no longer hold up Venezuela as an example of “real socialism.”

The London Times reports:

[T]his is a country still suffering the trauma of the most spectacular currency collapse of our times. The Venezuelan bolivar, which in the 1960s was considered as solid a store of value as the Swiss franc, is now worth less than the paper it is printed on. If you converted a million dollars into bolivars in 2013 — when Nicolás Maduro first came to power — and left it in an interest-accruing Venezuelan bank for the past decade, your current balance would be about 3 cents.

Let’s hear it for socialism! And also for money-printing. Venezuela kept printing currency until it could no longer afford the paper and ink, but how different is that from the path our own government is currently on?

All this became glaringly apparent during an especially precipitous period of the downward spiral, during 2018 and 2019. With annual inflation touching two million per cent, a brick of notes was needed to buy a sandwich. The government ran out of the ink and paper physically needed to print more money.

Debit cards, along with bartering, became essential; with everyone from coconut sellers in the Caribbean to barbers in Caracas using cheap card readers to make transactions. But banks were slow to keep up with the devaluation, failing to raise their limits per transaction. Buying just a few items in a supermarket could therefore require three or four bank cards.

Life under socialism isn’t just poor and violent, it is crazy, too.

In mid-2019, the Maduro government quietly threw in the towel and allowed people to officially use US dollars. It turned out to be a transformational moment, taming price rises and bringing in some stability.

At least 60 per cent of retail transactions in Venezuela are believed to be in dollars, either in cash or with cards.

So the viciously anti-American kleptocrats are rescued, sort of, by the American dollar. But the damage is done, as Venezuela’s economy has shrunk by 75%. The last word:

[One Venezuelan] lamented, “Nobody’s got any money. There’s nothing much left to steal.”

I suppose the kleptocrats long for the good old days, when there was still something in Venezuela worth stealing. Chavez’s daughter Maria Gabriela, a perfect exemplar of leftism who represented Venezuela in the United Nations, made off with a cool $4.2 billion. But she was a piker compared to her father’s Treasury Minister, Alejandro Andrade, who slipped away from Venezuela with $11.2 billion in Swiss banks. As I wrote back in 2015:

If you want a world in which a few obscenely rich jet-setters lord it over a sea of poor people, socialism is the ideology for you.

But even those halcyon days have come to an end, as “[t]here’s nothing much left to steal.” It is as Margaret Thatcher memorably said: the problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people’s money.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Tucker Does Middle Earth

By: Steven Hayward — February 27th 2024 at 05:08
(Steven Hayward)

Okay, this is officially the funniest thing on the internet right now: “Tucker Carlson” explaining the real story of Lord of the Rings. (There are a bunch more of these on YouTube, like this one. YMMV.)

As promised,

Here’s an AI Tucker Carlson narrating The Lord of the Rings@MiddleearthMixr @TuckerCarlson pic.twitter.com/eiXtR0m2qz

— Dr. Maverick Alexander (@MaverickDarby) February 25, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Meet Victoria Victoria

By: Scott Johnson — February 27th 2024 at 07:16
(Scott Johnson)

Star Tribune music reviewer Jon Bream put in a good word for Victoria Victoria last week and prompted me to buy tickets for the show this past Sunday at the Dakota. Victoria Victoria is the name of the band — Victoria Elliott on lead vocal, Charlie Hunter on guitar, Noah Elliott on electric piano and backing vocals, Carter McClean on drums, and Maia Kamil on backing vocals.

Jon tagged Victoria — she goes by “Tory” — as “a beguilingly jazzy alt-folk singer, pair[ed] with adventurous guitarist Charlie Hunter.” I can hear the influence of Norah Jones in her singing, but she has a wider dynamic range. She can belt it out.

Charlie Hunter is beyond “adventurous.” He is a phenomenal guitarist. He plays a hybrid electric guitar that lets him thump out a bass line while playing lead. I have never seen that before. I think he was playing one of his own Hybrid Six guitar models — smiling all the while. (I wrote his agent yesterday to ask but haven’t heard back.)

Carter McLean rounds out the rhythm section on drums. Victoria’s brother, Noah Elliott, plays piano and acoustic guitar and sings harmony. Maia Kamil is a singer-songwriter who supports Victoria on the vocals.

Elliott writes or collaborates on her own songs. She could use some help with the lyrics, but she has created a beautiful sound. The video below provides an acoustic take on her song “Over My Shoulder” (written with Hunter and Stephen Lee Price) with both brother Noah and sister Halle joining on the vocals along with Kamil. She winds up her current tour in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

You can catch a glimpse of Hunter playing the Hybrid in the video of Elliott’s “Sanctuary” below.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Crazy for “Palestine”

By: Scott Johnson — February 27th 2024 at 08:19
(Scott Johnson)

Thich Quang Duc was the Buddhist monk who self-immolated to protest the Diem regime during South Vietnam’s so-called Buddhist crisis of 1963. The AP’s Malcolm Browne won the World Press Photo of the Year in 1963 with the famous photograph of Duc on fire. Ray Boomhower’s forthcoming book about it is titled The Ultimate Protest.

Air Force senior airman Aaron Bushnell replayed the scene outside the Israeli embassy in Washington this past Sunday afternoon. He called it “an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.” He posted a video online saying he did not want to be “complicit in genocide.” He repeatedly shouted “Free Palestine” as he burned. He died later that night, apparently of the injuries he sustained lighting himself up.

It’s a bizarre story. The New York Post reported on it here and here, the Washington Post here, and the Daily Mail here (with video before Bushnell doused himself).

The Washington Post reports that Bushnell’s “suicidal protest instantly won him praise among some antiwar and pro-Palestinian activists…” If you get your news from the Washington Post, support for Hamas is now “antiwar” and “pro-Palestinian” means pro-Hamas.

The New York Post unsuccessfully sought comment from the Israeli embassy. However, Brendan O’Neill is not so discreet. He comments in his Spiked column here.

Anyone contemplating self-harm or suicide should get help. Bushnell needed a friend to urge him to reconsider or to give himself time to reconsider. Mental illness runs deep.

Bushnell might have helped himself by applying critical thought to what he reads in newspapers like the Washington Post and figuring out who’s zoomin’ who in “Palestine.” Israel is not committing “genocide.” It is the victim of those who expressly seek to commit “genocide,” but I’m sure Hamas is grateful for Bushnell’s support.

And Bushnell wasn’t “complicit” in Israel’s effort to defend itself against genocide. A combination of political witlessness and mental illness appears to have rendered Bushnell impervious to the reality principle.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Trump Gaining Strength?

By: Steven Hayward — February 27th 2024 at 13:53
(Steven Hayward)

My pal Henry Olsen explains in his recent Telegraph column that Trump is underperforming his polls in recent contests, and appears to be stuck between a very solid floor and a rigid ceiling. Perhaps, but the Telegraph included this graphic, taken from recent Pew polls, that suggests a different picture:

To be fair, a generic Republican ought to be polling about 60 percent of the white vote, and that’s just where Trump is stuck. It would be a delicious irony if Trump wins in November through an increased share of minority votes. It will plunge Democrats into a crisis.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

What’s wrong with this picture?

By: Scott Johnson — February 27th 2024 at 14:26
(Scott Johnson)

Cornel West is the Princeton University Class of 1943 University Professor emeritus. He is running as an independent candidate for president. He fancies himself “one of America’s most provocative public intellectuals; a champion for Truth, Justice & Love.” That’s what the man said. In the tweet below, he celebrates the suicide of Aaron Bushnell in the service of “free Palestine” — free, Hamas style. If he gets on the ballot in Michigan, he poses a certain kind of danger to the reelection of Joe Biden.

Let us never forget the extraordinary courage and commitment of brother Aaron Bushnell who died for truth and justice! I pray for his precious loved ones! Let us rededicate ourselves to genuine solidarity with Palestinians undergoing genocidal attacks in real time!… pic.twitter.com/9F7dXOAYJt

— Cornel West (@CornelWest) February 26, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

How Wimpy Are Our Kids?

By: John Hinderaker — February 27th 2024 at 17:54
(John Hinderaker)

This picture of kids on a playground in 1912 popped up on my Instagram feed:

It got me thinking: if you encouraged that sort of activity today, someone would call the police. No one would consider it safe for kids to play that way, and when it comes to children, safety–or “safety”–is the supreme value.

I have been working, on and off, on a memoir about what it was like to grow up in a small town in South Dakota in the 1950s and early 60s. Looking back, kids in that time and place enjoyed an astonishing degree of freedom. Kids played, almost always without parents having anything to do with it. In some ways, you could say our parents were strict. On the other hand, they rarely had any idea what we were doing. As long as we were home for dinner at six, we were good.

Those days are gone. And yet, despite the hothouse environments in which children are raised nowadays, they aren’t safe at all. On the contrary: a great many of them can’t cope. I ran across this podcast by Bari Weiss: “Why the Kids Aren’t Alright.”

American kids are the freest, most privileged kids in all of history. They are also the saddest, most anxious, depressed, and medicated generation on record. Nearly a third of teen girls say they have seriously considered suicide. For boys, that number is an alarming 14 percent.

What’s even stranger is that all of these worsening mental health outcomes for kids have coincided with a generation of parents hyper-fixated on the mental health and well-being of their children.

Take, for example, the biggest parenting trend today: “gentle parenting.” Parents today are told to understand their kids’ feelings instead of punishing them when they act out. This emphasis on the importance of feelings is not just a parenting trend—it’s become an educational tool as well. “Social-emotional learning” has become a pillar in public schools across America, from kindergarten to high school. And maybe most significantly, therapy for children has been normalized. In fact, there are more kids in therapy today than ever before.

On the surface, all of these parenting and educational developments seem positive. We are told that parents and educators today are more understanding, more accepting, more empathetic, and more compassionate than ever before—which, in turn, makes wonderful children.

But is that really the case? Are all of these changes—the cultural rethink, the advent of therapy culture, of gentle parenting, of teaching kids about social-emotional learning—actually making our kids better?

Best-selling author Abigail Shrier says no.

In her new book, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up, Shrier argues that these changes are directly contributing to kids’ mental health decline. In other words: all of this shiny new stuff is actually making our kids worse.

Today: What’s gone wrong with American youth? What really happens to kids who get therapy but don’t actually need it? In our attempt to keep kids safe, are we failing the next generation of adults? And, if yes, how do we reverse it before it’s too late?

That conversation is a little different from the kids playing on 20 foot high jungle gyms, but clearly related. It is a big topic, and that is enough for the moment.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement, 1964-2024. RIP

By: Steven Hayward — February 27th 2024 at 22:33
(Steven Hayward)

This fall will mark the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the famous “free speech” movement at UC Berkeley. You can find my account of it, written in the aftermath of the Milo Yiannopoulos riot of February, 2017, which I was present for, at this link.

The Yiannopoulos riot was bad enough, but last night there was a sequel at Berkeley. As loyal readers may know, I am not around campus much this semester, as I’m temporarily filling in for a recently deceased professor at Pepperdine’s graduate school. So I missed a mob that prevented Ran Bar-Yoshafat, a reserve combat officer in the Israel Defense Forces who has been deployed in Gaza, from giving a presentation on campus at the invitation of several student groups.

The mob was not peacefully protesting. As has happened to Jewish students at many campuses, the mob was banging on doors and threatening violence. The Jewish News of Northern California offers an account—some excerpts:

Jewish students at UC Berkeley evacuated from a campus theater Monday night after a mass of protesters, chanting “Intifada! Intifada!” and other slogans, shattered a glass door at the venue and shut down a scheduled lecture by an Israeli attorney and IDF reservist.

Several students who were attending or working the event at Zellerbach Playhouse were injured, including two young women, one of whom sprained a thumb wrestling to keep a door shut as protesters tried to muscle it open. Another female student reportedly was handled around her neck, leaving marks. A third student was spit on, he told J.

The lecture was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Ran Bar-Yoshafat, who is a reserve combat officer in the Israel Defense Forces and was deployed in Gaza, planned to discuss international law as it pertains to Israel. “He’ll explore whether Israel violates international law, the rules of wartime conduct, and how the IDF can better protect civilians,” a social media post publicizing the event said.

The talk was conceived of as a small lecture in a classroom at Wheeler Hall, but organizers moved it at the direction of campus police for safety reasons after the anti-Zionist group Bears for Palestine, the Cal affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine, called for a protest to “shut it down,” according to Joseph Karlan, a student leader of campus pro-Israel group Tikvah and one of the event organizers.

There’s more at the link.

Separately in the Jewish News, Daniel Solomon, a graduate student acquaintance of mine who was present, reports:

The people who were forced to flee apparently forfeited their right to security after committing the unpardonable sin of coming to hear an Israeli speak on campus. The university, which has touted its commitment to free speech while actually condoning a climate of antisemitic intimidation, did little to protect the safety of the speaker and audience — and even less to protect their free speech rights.

Parading through the campus in a fashion worthy of the finest paramilitary, the pro-Palestinian rioters exulted in their victory.

This latest episode at UC Berkeley caps months of harassment — and on occasion, violent outbursts— from wannabe Hamasniks. On Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas pogrom, Bears for Palestine released a statement praising its “comrades in blood and arms” for their operations “in the so-called ‘Gaza envelope.’” The same organization then mounted demonstrations at which participants clamored to “globalize the intifada” and “free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

Again, more at the link above, and do read the whole thing if you have time.

If there are no consequences for this latest act, which is worse in many ways than the Yiannopoulos affair if you think about it for a few minutes, then it can truly be said that free speech is dead at UC Berkeley.

Here are some related videos and collateral material:

I didn’t know this but apparently students were spat on, called antisemitic insults, and even assaulted at last’s night event @UCBerkeley . Shame on this institution, which still has nothing to say.
https://t.co/AQO7Yu35yw

— Daniel Solomon (@DanielJSolomon) February 27, 2024

Last night at @UCBerkeley, Jewish students were threatened, assaulted, and prevented from attending a speech by a Jewish speaker on campus. Campus police shut down this private event when it became clear that they could not protect the students. Multiple students reported being… pic.twitter.com/FKidts1FvZ

— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) February 27, 2024

I’ve reached the point where I hope a second Trump Administration will propose Nuremberg Trials for campus anti-Semites, on whom who foolish college administrations bestowed tenured faculty positions.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Remembering Sir Roger

By: Steven Hayward — February 27th 2024 at 23:23
(Steven Hayward)

Social media alerts me to the fact that today would be Sir Roger Scruton’s 80th birthday. Sadly, Sir Roger passed away from cancer in 2020. I got to know Sir Roger fairly well in his last decade, and had several splendid exhilarating dinners with him and his lovely wife Sophie over very expensive bottles of fine Bordeaux (among his 50-plus superb books was, after all, I Drink, Therefore I Am—highly recommended), conversing and sometimes having extensive but very friendly arguments. Roger didn’t like Leo Strauss, for example, and I cross-examined him closely on this subject one leisurely evening. Wish I had run a tape. Anyway, nearby is the last time I got to see Roger in person.

As it happened, I had been working on a long essay “The Greatest Living Conservative” at the time of his death. I lost heart after the premise became obsolete, and I shall someday try to revise and complete it. But here are a couple excerpts from the draft:

In the introduction to The Meaning of Conservatism, Scruton writes that “Conservatism may rarely announce itself in maxims, formulae, or aims. Its essence is inarticulate, and its expression, when compelled, skeptical.”

Why “inarticulate”?  Because, has he explains elsewhere, the liberal has the easy job in the modern world. The liberal points at the imperfections and defects of existing institutions or the existing social order, strikes a pose of indignation, and huffs that surely something better is required, usually with the attitude that the something better is simply a matter of will. The conservative faces the tougher challenge of understanding and explaining the often subtle reasons why existing institutions, no matter how imperfect, work better than speculative alternatives.

This kind of conservatism is criticized, sometimes with good reason, as being stand-patism.

I’m reminded of what might be called Hallmark Greeting Card conservatism, though it traces back to Pascal: “The heart has its reasons, which reason cannot know.” The more modern version was offered by Wittgenstein: “There are things that can be known, but not said.”

Or, as Roger put it more succinctly elsewhere in his reflections on the profundity of the common law: “English law, I discovered, is the answer to Foucault.”

From that one sentence entire dissertations could follow.

Postscript—another fragment from my unfinished essay:

Roger Scruton has written more books than I have read, including, beyond philosophy, books on food and wine, art, beauty, sport, architecture, music, and sex; environmentalism, theology, a novel, and a memoir, and, very recently, even a self-help book, How to Be a Conservative. Although I’m tempted to say that if I haven’t figured out how to be a conservative by now, it’s probably too late for a book to help me. To paraphrase an old Woody Allen joke, if Roger was American instead of British, I fear he might have written The Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Conservative. (The original joke: Kant: The Categorical Imperative, and Six Ways to Make It Work for You!)  (Though I did notice on Amazon that you can get a Roger Scruton iPhone case.)

Though if asked where to start with Roger’s body of work, I typically recommend his memoir Gentle Regrets: Thoughts from a Life. Having myself reached the galloping years of middle age, I can say that if your regrets are only gentle, you’re doing pretty well. But his chapter “How I Became a Conservative” is a good introduction to the four-way intersection of Roger’s philosophical, political, cultural, and aesthetic  thought.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

After last night

By: Scott Johnson — February 28th 2024 at 06:12
(Scott Johnson)

The Michigan primary was held yesterday. President Biden defeated Uncommitted, Marianne Willison, and my cousin Dean Phillips on the Democrat side. Dean commented on Twitter for the benefit of his former friends in the party: “If you resent me for the audacity to challenge Joe Biden, at least you’ll appreciate how relatively strong I’m making him look among primary voters!”

President Trump handily defeated Nikki Haley on the Republican side. Here are the current results posted by RealClearPolitics. Note the differential in turnout.

One can infer that Biden and Trump will be their respective party’s presidential nominees, but the results seem slightly more surprising than expected. Axios managing editor/politics David Lindsey offers a brief take on the results that I found helpful:

There wasn’t much doubt that President Biden and former President Trump would romp to victories in the Michigan primaries Tuesday. But Biden’s win in particular revealed his vulnerability in a crucial swing state that could decide the presidency in November….Arab American and young voters — key to Biden winning Michigan in 2020 — turned out by the tens of thousands on Tuesday to vote … not for Biden, but for “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary.

• The protest vote, driven by anger over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, had drawn more than 77,000 supporters with 70% of the ballots counted — several times more than organizers expected.

• That took some of the glow from a victory in which Biden got more than 80% of the vote, and confirmed that Biden has some serious persuading to do between now and November.

• “We need more than just nice words and hope. We need a permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan, told CNN. The group was behind the “uncommitted” vote effort.

Other takeaways from Michigan:

1, Biden has other problems, too.

• Another jolt for the president’s campaign Tuesday: A jarring enthusiasm gap between the Democratic and Republican primaries.

• Nearly 40% more people voted in the Republican primary than in the Democratic contest — despite the protest campaign that aided turnout on the Democratic side.

• Trump, who once again defeated former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, got more votes on the GOP side than the total number of votes cast in the Democratic primary between Biden, “uncommitted” and two other candidates.

2. It wasn’t all good news for Trump.

• That surge in GOP voters was driven in part by about 27% of Republicans voting for Haley, whose support continues to be not nearly enough to win the Republican nomination — but enough to show that a sizable chunk of the GOP may never be on board with Trump.

• Haley’s campaign might not last beyond Super Tuesday next week, when Trump is expected to score hundreds of delegates and put a virtual lock on the GOP nomination as 16 states hold contests.

• But Haley’s level of support suggests that many of her backers may stay home in November — or even vote for Biden, if Trump is on the ballot.

Whole thing here.

We seek to read the tea leaves in the results. As some sage has famously observed, “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” George Eliot’s narrator in Middlemarch puts it this way: “Among all forms of mistake, prophecy is the most gratuitous.” To read the tea leaves we have to project ahead to next November. How will the candidates look at that time? Our crystal ball is cloudy. Both Biden and Trump are hobbled by weaknesses that will be magnified over the next eight months.

For Democrats this is the Weekend At Bernie’s election. It has become increasingly difficult to keep Biden upright during business hours. His brain is fried. His managers have to keep him under wraps. He is an embarrassment. Playing to his party’s activist base, he has left undone what should have been done and he has done that which should not have been done.

For Republicans this is the “In the Jailhouse Now” election. The electoral impact of the Democrat lawfare on Trump are particularly difficult to predict, but they can’t be good for him. They impose their own limitations on Trump in terms of time, money, and who knows what else. That’s what it’s all about. Anyone can see storm clouds ahead.

I absolutely hate the clichéd last resort of scoundrel pundits as the election approaches. You know, “it depends on turnout.” With respect to what should be the insuperable problems each candidate confronts, let’s just say “it depends on how it turns out.” They can’t both lose. One of them is going to prevail.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Whole lotta lyin’ goin’ on

By: Scott Johnson — February 28th 2024 at 07:47
(Scott Johnson)

Attorney Terrence Bradley testified yesterday in the hearing on the possible disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Special Counsel Nathan Wade in the “conspiracy so immense” charges against President Trump et al. pending in Georgia state court. Bradley is Wade’s former law partner and lawyer in his divorce proceeding. He knows when the Willis/Wade romance began because Wade told him.

Indeed, as Techno Fog notes, Bradley has previously stated in text messages to Ashleigh Merchant (attorney for defendant Michael Roman) that: (1) the relationship between Willis and Wade started before he was appointed special prosecutor, (2) the relationship started while they were both magistrate judges, and (3) the motion to disqualify Willis, which alleged the start date of the relationship, was accurate.

However, that’s not the way it turned out on the witness stand. After long pauses, Bradley disavowed his previous statements. He couldn’t recall. He was speculating. As in the old Jack Benny joke, he was thinking about it. He knew nothing.

Mr. Fog offers pierces the fog with this clear summary of Bradley’s testimony: “[Bradley] speculated about the start of the relationship, only had one meeting with Wade about the relationship, and has no personal knowledge as to when the relationship started. All of that, of course, was contradicted by his prior representations to Ms. Merchant.”

It made for painful viewing. Everyone in the room knew that Bradley was lying. Which means that Willis and Wade had lied in their testimony, which was almost as obvious. Below is an excerpt of Bradley’s testimony that ran in full over two hours. As I say, it makes for painful viewing.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

CBS.GOV.CON

By: Lloyd Billingsley — February 28th 2024 at 09:51
(Lloyd Billingsley)

CBS has fired Catherine Herridge, an investigative reporter who was “pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur report on Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal, and the Hunter Biden laptop.” After dumping Herridge, “CBS officials took the unusual step of seizing her files, computers and records, including information on privileged sources.” These files, “likely contain confidential material from both her stints at Fox and CBS” and are now  “presumptively the property of CBS News.”

Joseph Klein traces these issues to Dan Rather, but they really go back to CBS “anchorman” Walter Cronkite, once billed as the most trusted man in America. As Douglas Brinkley showed in Cronkite, many of Cronkite’s dispatches during WWII “were propagandistic.” Cronkite coached John F. Kennedy about “getting across” on television, and long before Watergate, Cronkite “orchestrated the secret tape recording of the Republicans’ credentials committee meeting.” This was conducted,  “under the shady rationale that the covert act was good for democracy.” According to Brinkley, “it was a real black eye to Cronkite,” who said of Jimmy Carter, “He’s got one of the best brains of anybody I’ve known.”

Cronkite wrapped his regular broadcast with “that’s the way it is,” but as one wag put it, when you watched Walter Cronkite you not only saw CBS, you heard it too. That was also true of Dan Rather, who in 1986 made news his own self. A man confronted Rather demanding “Kenneth what’s the frequency?” and duly beat the fertilizer out of the CBS anchorman. The network put it off to mistaken identity, which could be true in one sense.

Government and establishment media are Siamese twins, joined at the mouth. As Catherine Herridge confirms, cross the government and you’re a goner, with your documents confiscated. Consider also former CBS investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson, author of Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama’s Washington, published in 2014.

Readers learn that CBS News president David Rhodes is the brother of Ben Rhodes, advisor to Obama and up to his eyeballs in the Benghazi scandal. Joel Molinoff came to CBS after serving the Obama White House as director of the Intelligence Advisory Board, and before that worked for the NSA. CBS also hired Mike Morell, formerly a deputy director of the CIA. So as Attkisson explained, CBS stories on Benghazi, Obamacare and so forth might as well have been written by the White House.

Attkisson’s computer was infiltrated with spyware proprietary to government agencies such as the CIA, FBI, and NSA. The intruders planted classified information, adding “the possible threat of criminal prosecution.” Ten years later, those who expose the scandals of the Biden Junta can be sure that Big Brother is watching.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Artists Try to Ban Israelis

By: John Hinderaker — February 28th 2024 at 12:29
(John Hinderaker)

The Venice Biennale is one of the world’s biggest art shows. The show has a national focus:

Held since 1895 and considered the world’s top art event, the Venice Biennale, which starts in April, gives nations the chance to show off their best artists at national pavilions.

That is the hook for pro-mass muder artists to try to boot Israel out:

A petition to kick Israel out of the Venice Biennale art show because of the war in Gaza signed by more than 16,000 artists, curators and academics has been angrily dismissed as “shameful” by Italy’s arts minister.

More to come from the culture minister, a Giorgia Meloni appointee.

Signed by art world luminaries including Jesse Darling, the British Turner prize winner, the petition claims: “The Biennale is platforming a genocidal apartheid state. No death in Venice. No business as usual.”

“Platforming” is a sinister term that generally means failing to discriminate against. Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano pushed back:

The petition drew a furious response from Gennaro Sangiuliano, the Italian culture minister, who lambasted what he described as “a diktat from those who think they are the custodians of the truth, and who with anger and hatred try to threaten the freedom of thought and creative expression in a democratic nation like Italy”. He added: “The Biennale will always be a space of freedom, meeting and dialogue rather than censorship and intolerance. Culture is a bridge between people and nations, not a wall of division.”

Israel is to be represented at the Biennale by Ruth Patir, who is plenty far left by any normal standard. But that doesn’t cut any ice with anti-Semites.

This flap is a reminder that art isn’t what it used to be. As noted above, Britain’s Jesse Darling is apparently the most notable of the artists trying to ban Israel. Here he is with some of his art works:

Which prompts the question: is there a connection between bad art and bad politics? Mr. Darling is, on this question, a data point.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Don’t Buy the Never-Trump Comfort Blanket

By: Steven Hayward — February 28th 2024 at 13:48
(Steven Hayward)

I keep seeing Trump skeptics and their media svengalis say that while Nikki Haley is not coming close to beating Trump in any primary battle, she is getting sufficient support to conclude that there is a critical mass of Republicans who don’t like Trump and may not turn out for him in November, and boy is he in big trouble because of this.

Don’t buy it.

I note that back in 1980, the Michigan primary was held May 20, and even though Ronald Reagan was well on his way to securing the Republican nomination, George H.W. Bush still pulled off an upset in that primary, beating Reagan by 150,000 votes. (Bush also beat Reagan in the Pennsylvania primary in April.) Michigan looks to be the kind of state that favors moderate Republicans.

When all the primaries were over, Reagan had received a cumulative 7.6 million votes, while Bush had received 3.1 million, with John Anderson a distant third with 1.5 million. But add Bush and Anderson’s totals together with the also-rans (Dole, Baker, Connally, Phil Crane, etc) and you conclude that Reagan’s majority was less than a landslide (7.6 million to 4.6 million for the rest of the field—certainly a much smaller margin than Trump’s margin in the current contest. Despite the massive doubts about Reagan—his age, his “controversial” opinions, etc—he walked away with a landslide.

But, you hear, Trump is essentially running as an incumbent, and should have incumbent-level margins. This is an unimpressive argument, especially when you allow for the circumstance, not seen since 1912, of a former president coming back to challenge for the nomination. To the contrary, Trump is running far ahead of his totals from the 2016 contest. He’s gotten stronger, not weaker, since 2016.

P.S. For trivia buffs, Harold Stassen got 25,000 votes in the 1980 GOP primaries.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Forget Red v. Blue

By: Steven Hayward — February 28th 2024 at 14:03
(Steven Hayward)

Yesterday we noted Trump’s rising strength among certain voting groups. How about by profession instead of ethnicity, gender, and the other usual things? Like professions perhaps? Everyone likes to say the political divide in America is between red states and blue states. But it looks like the division is more white versus blue when it comes to who is supporting Trump’s campaign—that is, white collar professionals against blue collar workers.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Mitch, We Knew Ye Really, Really Well

By: John Hinderaker — February 28th 2024 at 16:13
(John Hinderaker)

Mitch McConnell announced today that he will resign his Senate leadership position in November, while remaining in office through his current term. I have generally thought well of McConnell and believe that on the whole, he has done a good job of leading his caucus. But it is notable that, as far as I know, not a single Republican has expressed regret at his decision.

It was time to go, if only because the geriatric era in Washington needs to end. While nowhere near as debilitated as Joe Biden, McConnell’s health issues in recent years have been visible. It is highly desirable for Republicans not to be seen, like the Democrats, as a party of octogenarians.

What comes next? The Wall Street Journal speculates:

Potential successors, including Sens. John Thune (R., S.D.), John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) and John Cornyn (R., Texas), have been quietly positioning themselves for the day McConnell steps down. Other possible candidates include GOP Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Rick Scott of Florida and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

Most of those senators are perceived as more conservative than McConnell, although that may be largely because McConnell has been in a leadership position for so long. As the leader of a caucus, responsible for negotiating agreements that can actually pass, you can’t be a firebrand backbencher–although, to their credit, that description doesn’t fit those the Journal identifies as candidates, either.

Finally, let’s hope Republicans do it the old-fashioned way by agreeing on a new leader behind closed doors, and then anointing him with a show of unanimity. A fiasco like the one we endured in the House of Representatives is to be avoided.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Pompadour and Circumstance

By: Lloyd Billingsley — February 28th 2024 at 21:40
(Lloyd Billingsley)

Californians are ramping up another recall for Gov. Gavin Newsom, a good thing for America even if it fails, as in 2021. A new recall in California will divert attention from races across the country, force Democrats to spend millions. The best outcome would be a successful recall of Newsom his own self.

The coiffed Democrat is a construct of the Brown, Newsom, Pelosi and Getty families, a belch from old money San Francisco. Like Joe Biden, whose administration he admires, Newsom is a semi-literate who shows little evidence of reading books. To be fair, the San Francisco Democrat probably outdoes Biden in his affection for China’s one-party Communist dictatorship, and current PRC boss Xi Jinping. For his recent visit, Newsom even cleaned up filthy San Francisco.

Like recurring governor Jerry Brown, who appointed Newsom’s father to judgeships, Gavin Newsom has never said anything that would make a sub-moron’s mouth twitch. He walks around posing, as he intones party platitudes in a scratchy pirate voice. Gov. Newsom inflicted a draconian Covid regime but now wants the people to worship him. This was evident in 2021 but Gavin Newsom prevailed.

The current recall might prompt an independent audit to see how many votes came from false-documented illegals registered to vote when they got their driver’s license. Squads of politiqueros coerce the illegals to vote “a certain way,” code for Democrats. With promises of “free” health care, welfare benefits, protection from deportation and so forth, Newsom shapes up as the politiquero-in-chief.

The new recall provides an opportunity to expose this massive fraud, which could inspire other states to true the vote. If only legitimate citizens and legal immigrants voted, as the law requires, the result could be quite different from 2020 and 2021.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Richard Lewis, RIP

By: Scott Johnson — February 29th 2024 at 06:03
(Scott Johnson)

The comedian Richard Lewis died this past Tuesday evening of a heart attack at the age of 76. The New York Times has posted a good obituary by Clay Risen here. Variety’s obituary is posted here. Richard told the story of his personal struggles in The Other Great Depression: How I’m overcoming, on a daily basis, at least a million addictions and dysfunctions and finding a spiritual (sometimes) life.

Lewis had the gift of making people laugh. I thought he was incredibly funny. You may have seen him over the past 20-plus years on any of the 41 episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which he appeared. A fan has posted a 90-minute YouTube video of A Complete Timeline of Richard Lewis and Larry David Banter & Arguments (seasons 1-11).

Curb creator Larry David provided a statement to Variety on Richard’s death: “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me. He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”

I met Richard when he performed at the 2015 Temple of Aaron fundraiser in St. Paul. The professional photographer Matthew Witchell was on hand. Richard greeted us warmly and posed for photographs with those of us lucky enough to attend. At the right is the photo of my wife and me with Richard. You may deduce from the photo that we were happy to meet him.

No one enjoyed the show that night more than I did. Richard performed his routine on the pulpit. Whenever he made an irreverent joke or observation, he would turn around and face the ark. Raising his hands and looking upward, he sought forgiveness and amplified the humor of his jokes.

Richard found love relatively late in life. He fell in love with Joyce Lapinsky of St. Paul’s Highland Park Senior High School, class of ’69. I thought Joyce was the most beautiful girl in a class that was full of beautiful women (and I only knew the ones who were friends of my guy friends).

After seven years of dating, Richard took Joyce to meet his therapist. He recounted his lack of confidence in his ability to select a mate. He also recalled complaining about having “some minor communication” problems with Joyce and that that was the reason why they couldn’t move forward in the relationship.

The therapist rendered judgment. “In a voice that was almost satanic — it was so dark and loud that it seemed to echo through the neighborhood — my therapist screamed at me, ‘This is as good as it gets!,'” Lewis said. “It shook me to my core.” I take that from ET’s account of Richard and Joyce’s relationship yesterday in connection with Richard’s death.

For his performance at Temple of Aaron Richard worked in a variety of funny observations about his father-in-law, Chuck Lapinsky, of blessed memory. The material sounded like it could have been part of his regular stand-up act, but it must have been good for that one night only.

JTA has posted an obituary here. JNS recounts his devotion to Jewish causes and quotes Richard talking about his father, William Lewis. He called his father a “god of kosher catering” in New York and New Jersey. “My father was so well known as a caterer and so booked up that he was actually booked on the weekend of my bar mitzvah so I had to have my party on the Tuesday,” he told JTA.

Last night I met two friends for dinner at the French Meadow restaurant in St. Paul to discuss Book III of Plato’s Republic. When we sat down I mentioned Richard’s death and pulled up the photo of Sally and me at Temple of Aaron to show them on my phone. When the owner later came over to our table to say hello, the first thing she said was that she had sad news — Richard Lewis had died. She looked and sounded deeply grieved as she talked about her friendship with Richard through Joyce. As far as I can tell, everyone who knew him liked him. RIP.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Liberal Fragility

By: Steven Hayward — February 29th 2024 at 06:09
(Steven Hayward)

Liberals really are extremely fragile people. This helps explain why they need “safe spaces” with cuddly stuffed animals, grief counselors, and warning labels against “microaggressions.”

The latest evidence is a completely unironic and totally un-self-aware piece in the New York Times about the anguish of liberal law professors having to teach constitutional law at a time when the Supreme Court leans right. It’s so upsetting that some professors are moved to tears and can’t conceive of continuing. The New York Times thinks this is actually “a crisis.”

Seriously, you can’t make this up:

Rebecca Brown, at the University of Southern California, has been teaching constitutional law for 35 years. “While I was working on my syllabus for this course, I literally burst into tears,” she told me. “I couldn’t figure out how any of this makes sense. Why do we respect it? Why do we do any of it? I’m feeling very depleted by having to teach it.”

I’m skeptical that she “literally” burst into tears, though I expect she literally misused the word “literally” here. In any case, shouldn’t the phrase, “I couldn’t figure out how any of this makes sense?” have been applied to Wickard v. Filburn ever since it was put to paper in 1942? And yet somehow the few conservative law professors that existed behind enemy lines in law schools managed for 80 years now to explain Wickard (and dozens of other ridiculous liberal Court rulings) with a straight face and without bursting into tears, or having anxiety attacks.

The Times inadvertently gives away what’s really going on here (beyond general liberal fragility):

“The people who taught us were all Warren court people,” said Pam Karlan, a constitutional and voting-rights expert at Stanford law school, referring to Chief Justice Earl Warren, who through the 1950s and 1960s led a court of both Democratic and Republican appointees to expand civil rights, equalize political representation and liberalize the criminal justice system. “They’d clerked on that court. They valorized it. There was this notion that judges were these heroes who would save us all. Our students do not have that view.”

Ah yes, the glory days of the Warren Court, which invented new “rights” left and right (actually just “left”). There’s never been an era with more result-oriented jurisprudence that the Warren Court, but it delivered results liberals liked. But now that the Court is delivering rulings liberals don’t like, it’s the end of the world. Or at least their world.

It gets worse:

“We’re witnessing a transformation in the New Deal consensus,” said Mark Graber, a leading constitutional scholar and Regents professor at the University of Maryland.

Oh please, don’t get my hopes up like this!

There’s a serious irony here. Back in the late 1990s, after the Supreme Court had once again botched a significant case in Romer v. Evans, overruling a precedent on sodomy laws from just 1986, the conservative journal First Things published as symposium on “The End of Democracy” that called into question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court in the wake of its serially bad decisions in Casey v. Planned Parenthood and Romer v. Evans, among others. It caused a huge ruckus on the right, and several leading conservatives attacked First Things and resigned from its editorial board, including Gertrude Himmelfarb, Peter Berger, and Walter Berns. This “smash the Court” enthusiasm didn’t gain much acceptance, and quickly passed from the scene.

I see no such intramural argument on the left about the Supreme Court. Now it is the left that is bent on delegitimizing the Supreme Court. It is all toddler temper tantrums and hair-on-fire freakouts that some jurists, many with Ivy League law degrees, have a different opinion from theirs.

Prediction: I know that a lot of liberal law professors can’t stand it that Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and J.D. Vance all went to Harvard or Yale for law school. There is likely before long to be an effort to screen out conservative applicants to elite laws schools so that they don’t have an Ivy League credential.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Almost vacant

By: Scott Johnson — February 29th 2024 at 10:08
(Scott Johnson)

AEI’s Danielle Pletka is not a fan of President Trump, so I take her pulling on the fire alarm about President Biden at face value:

What we hear from members of congress is … terrible. Democrats too. Those who talk the president tell of a man who can’t go beyond the words on the page in front of him. He can’t converse on matters of substance. He can deliver talking points, but can’t negotiate with any seriousness. That’s one of the reasons — though far from the only one — why Congress can’t move forward on an emergency supplemental. Republicans are in complete turmoil, but talks with the White House are not helping.

Then there are the foreign leaders. Among themselves — and an open secret in DC’s embassies — they talk about a president who is confused, unsure of the subject matter under discussion, distant, disconnected, and all too often incomprehensible.

This is the man with the nuclear football. The man who commands our armed forces. It doesn’t matter whether you like the Democrats or hate them. The office is critically important, and it is almost vacant.

See Pletka’s What the Hell Is Going On? post “What we hear about Biden’s decline.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Another Red/Blue Dividing Line

By: Steven Hayward — February 29th 2024 at 12:11
(Steven Hayward)

As we have noted repeatedly here, people are voting with the feet and moving from high crime/high tax blue states to low tax/low crime red states in increasing numbers. Alongside tax rates as a factor in higher economic growth in red states is that red states are more likely to be right-to-work states than blue states. This is not universally true; heavily unionized Michigan was a right-to-work for a decade, though that ended last week, thanks to Governor Wretched Whitmer’s fealty to unions. Anyway, here’s the data on the rates of job growth in right-to-work versus compulsory union states:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Faucism in one country

By: Scott Johnson — February 29th 2024 at 13:32
(Scott Johnson)

The Claremont Review of Books has published Jeffrey Anderson’s terrific review/essay “Covid catastrophes.” I think “Faucism in one county” might capture the spirit of Anderson’s take on the tyranny imposed on us by the authorities under the Covid regime. Anderson’s essay makes me angry about it all over again, but the point is to prevent a recurrence.

While we’re angry all over again, we should check out former New York Times science editor Nicholas Wade’s update of the investigation of Covid’s origin. The virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, of course, but Wade has the latest on the so-called DEFUSE protocol that seems to have led to the work in Wuhan:

[W]hereas most viruses require repeated tries to switch from an animal host to people, SARS-CoV-2 infected humans out of the box, as if it had been preadapted while growing in the humanized mice called for in the DEFUSE protocol.

The authors of the proposal were a team led by Peter Daszak of the EcoHealth Alliance of New York, Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina. Although Mr. Baric is the leading expert on the technology, Mr. Daszak intended for much or most of the work to be done in Ms. Shi’s laboratory, despite giving a different impression to Darpa. He writes in the recently discovered documents that “I do want to stress the US side of this proposal so that DARPA are comfortable with our team. Once we get the funds, we can then allocate who does what exact work, and I believe that a lot of these assays can be done in Wuhan.”

Ms. Shi did most of her work with SARS-type viruses in the minimal-containment condition known as BSL2, whereas Mr. Baric, who regarded the viruses as seriously dangerous, worked in a more secure lab known as BSL3. Mr. Daszak noted that the lower-security labs would save money: “The BSL-2 nature of work on SARSr-CoVs makes our system highly cost-effective relative to other bat-virus systems.” Mr. Baric replied to this comment that the viruses might be grown under BSL2 safety conditions in China, but “US researchers will likely freak out.”

Mr. Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance last year asserted that the DEFUSE project was never implemented: “The proposal was not funded and the work was never done, therefore it cannot have played a role in the origin of COVID-19.” But science is a competitive business. After Darpa turned down the DEFUSE proposal in February 2019, the researchers in Wuhan might have secured Chinese government funding and gone ahead by themselves. Viruses made according to the DEFUSE protocol could have been available by the time Covid-19 broke out, sometime between August and November 2019. This would account for the otherwise unexplained timing of the pandemic along with its place of origin.

Here Wade inserts parenthetically: “Mr. Daszak, Mr. Baric and Ms. Shi didn’t respond to emails seeking comment. Chinese officials have demanded that the U.S. ‘stop defaming China’ by raising the possibility of a lab leak.” Wade then concludes:

One piece is missing from the puzzle—the identity of the parent viruses from which SARS-CoV-2 was derived. The Chinese authorities have rigorously suppressed all information about the viruses being kept in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But the documentary and scientific evidence already assembled seems sufficient to understand the genesis of the pandemic that killed millions.

The refusal of the Chinese authorities to cooperate in the relevant investigation has seemed to me a most potent piece of circumstantial evidence from the get-go.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Thoughts from the ammo line

By: Scott Johnson — March 1st 2024 at 04:38
(Scott Johnson)

Ammo Grrrll is not CLOTHING THE EMPEROR. She writes:

In the middle of an unhinged hateful rant about Donald J. Trump AND especially about us, his “cult-like” wretched, stupid followers, Bob Costas let slip on the CNN ‘s Smerconish show that Biden is too old and needs to step aside to avoid losing to President Trump. He actually invoked the Emperor and His New Clothes image in reference to Biden. He seems to feel pretty strongly that President Trump is going to beat the Depends off Biden in November and that is unthinkable enough for Costas to advise Biden to step aside.

The dam has broken. For a long time that dam had many fingers plugging up all obvious holes and calling them “misinformation.” Conservatives who believe “misinformation” are only a stone’s throw from “Deplorability” on their inevitable path to “Insurrection!” There was a solid phalanx of deniers shrieking daily that Biden was fit as a fiddle.

Joe, they swore, was a fine speaker, but sadly cursed with a whimsical stutter that only appeared at certain times. That this was a lie was obvious to all but the lying liars who lie day in and day out for a very lucrative living. Good grief, NO, Joe Biden does not have a “stutter.” I have known several people with stutters and that is not how stuttering manifests itself.

The problem is that Biden’s brain doesn’t work anymore and he cannot reliably finish slurring all the way to the end of a WORD, let alone express a coherent thought. Heck, he cannot even READ a thought. He stops. He freezes. He looks like his last working synapse just burned out in his head. And then he mumbles, “Well, never mind.” Or, “You know the thing.” On at least two occasions that I am aware of, he could not remember Obama’s name and just called him “my boss.” He yells; he whispers; he sees dead people in the audience. He cannot get a quote right that is WRITTEN OUT in front of him.

His advanced dementia is glaringly, nakedly, apparent. But he comes out, shot up with who knows what, and APPEARS to be clothed. And quite nicely at that. Fig leaves have not been in fashion as strategically-placed nudity covers since The Garden of Eden. And so when he’s not skinny dipping in front of the female Secret Service agents, Joe wears fine suits of superior cut. But in reality he is a shambling updated version of a Greek Minotaur with the clothes of a sentient being and the head of a lost, vacant, angry old gasbag. The world knows it and has acted accordingly.

The lying liars who lie rally round and you can almost hear the strategy meetings: “Okay, the public isn’t buying the stutter deal, guys – and I’m sorry if I misgendered anybody – but, if we allow any criticism through our algorithms, let’s just say it’s his age. You know Trump/Hitler is no spring chicken, either. Yeah, AGE is the word to repeat, not, God forbid, SENILITY.”

And, just like that, every media outlet even slightly left of center starts repeating “age” like an old 33 vinyl record with a bad needle. The late and much-lamented Rush Limbaugh used to play mash-ups of the news-heads all repeating verbatim whatever the powers-that-be had told them to say. Because most of the left is childish, irresponsible, and stupid, it believes that since children like to hear “Good Night, Moon” every night, grown adults will also enjoy hearing the same word repeated until they mute the television, or, alternatively, shoot it.

But, see, AGE isn’t entirely accurate either! It’s NOT his damn age! Sure, he can’t ride a bike, negotiate a stairway, or find his way off any stage. Sure, he “trips” over a sandbag that some Christian Nationalist probably put in his way. So age has SOMETHING to do with it, but it’s not the whole story. He’s not just old; he’s corrupt, mean, creepy, and demented.

Novelist Herman Wouk was still turning out novels when he was past 100. My mother was cogent and still witty at 94. although I would have recommended her for no higher an office than Vice President. As Border Czar she would have kicked butt and taken names. And I might have been tapped to be the shortest high-fashion runway model in history. Alas, this was not to be.

Somebody old who was still productive? Does the name Benjamin Franklin ring a bell? Born in 1706, Ben held numerous posts such as College President of what eventually became the University of Pennsylvania; also, Deputy Postmaster in 1753. But he was a relatively young man then. His inventions are important and numerous.

What stands out is his stint as Ambassador to France, of great importance during the Revolutionary War, which term ended in 1785 when he was 79 years old. When French Foreign Minister Vergennes said to Thomas Jefferson, “It is you who replace Dr. Franklin?,” Jefferson replied, “No one can replace him, Sir; I am only his successor.”

See, here’s the thing about OUR guy. You know the one. We KNOW he isn’t perfect and we don’t pretend that he is. We aren’t planning to marry him. Over half a century ago at a family dinner at my late in-laws’ home, my mother-in-law opined that she would not vote for a man who had divorced his wife. And my father-in-law said: “You recently returned from Israel. Did you check to make sure your pilot and co-pilot were not divorced?!” And, good-natured little lady that she was, Minna laughed at herself and said, “Oh, Lyosh, you are right.”

Right now the Ship of State is racing headlong for an iceberg and is most of the way there. Our fellow citizens can see that we desperately need a new pilot, or captain, and it’s so bad that it’s beginning to dawn even on a few brave African-Americans and Jewish Democrats – as well as the traditional conservatives — that some bold new thing needs to be done. And urgently.

Perhaps I can contribute a marching song for our epic battle ahead. A songwriter named George F. Root wrote around 35 Civil War songs (per research on the Office of the Historian Website) which were hugely popular. I was shocked to learn this. My own dear departed mother taught me the following song before I was school-age, probably around 1950. That’s a fur piece from the Civil War, so Mr. Root’s work definitely resonated through the ages.

One of his most famous songs was for the Union prisoners held in unspeakable conditions. I’m sure that the prisons for the Confederate POWs were bad too, but Andersonville was notorious. And he wrote a song of inspiration to keep the Union POWs’ spirits up.

When I became aware there even was such a horrible thing called war, I thought only of World War I. I had seen pictures of my Grandpa in his uniform. And I was raised knowing that a Marine uncle I had never met had been killed in World War II. But the Civil War was not on my radar except for that time when I was in my stroller and I told Mama I wanted “fweedom.” No, wait, that was somebody else. I probably said I wanted a cookie. Anyway, I knew this Root song and sang it walking home from school. It had a great cadence.

Tramp, tramp, tramp
The boys are marching.
Cheer up, comrades, they will come.
And beneath the starry flag,
We shall breathe the air again
Of the free land in our own
Beloved homes.

In homage to Mr. Root let me offer this song to inspire not only the political prisoners from January 6, who have been held without trial for years, but also for all our suffering citizens imprisoned by the Orwellian cultural and political horrors we see every day:

Trump, Trump Trump
We will be voting!
Cheer up, comrades, we will win!
At our peril we bestow
A fourth term on Barry O.
If we ever want our country free again.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Richard Lewis’s gift

By: Scott Johnson — March 1st 2024 at 06:37
(Scott Johnson)

Richard Lewis had the gift of making people laugh. It is a gift that gives physical pleasure. It resides in the realm of the id. You can see his gift on display in the brief exchange with Bob Costas on Costas’s old late-night show Later. By internal evidence, this clip must go back some 36 years, to 1988 or so. It’s not canned material. It wasn’t a routine. Lewis was just naturally funny and here he was on a roll with his audience of one.

RICHARD LEWIS: "I made Bob Costas laugh so hard, NBC refused to air it thinking it made him look silly. I went crazy and bugged the network so much they thankfully caved."

Rest in peace to a man who was literally too funny pic.twitter.com/9P4iYvewmj

— HarryHew (@harryhew) February 29, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

What’s wrong with this picture?

By: Scott Johnson — March 1st 2024 at 07:42
(Scott Johnson)

I understood from the Star Tribune headline over the AP story yesterday that the IDF had massacred some 100 Gazans seeking food and water. As of this morning, the AP is sticking with the story with a Rafah dateline. It leads with this observation: “Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said.”

I’m not sure about the massacre. Deep into the story we hear from the ever reliable “Gaza Health Ministry.” The AP reports: “At least 112 people were killed, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. The ministry described it as a ‘massacre’ and said more than 700 others were injured.” The AP raises no warning about the record of the “Gaza Health Ministry” on such matters.

The IDF spokesmen have a better record than the AP on these IDF alleged massacres. I take it that the IDF denies that’s what happened, although it is investigating. [See update below.] The Times of Israel reports, per the IDF, that troops opened fire on several Gazans who moved toward soldiers and a tank at an IDF checkpoint, endangering soldiers, after they had rushed the last truck in the convoy further south. The Times of Israel story quotes IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari:

This morning, the IDF coordinated a convoy of 38 trucks to provide additional humanitarian assistance to the residents of northern Gaza. This humanitarian aid came from Egypt, went through a security screening at the Kerem Shalom humanitarian crossing in Israel, and then entered Gaza, for distribution by private contractors. As these vital humanitarian supplies made their way toward Gazans in need, thousands of Gazans [rushed] the trucks, some began violently pushing and trampling other Gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies.

Here are the facts: At 4:40 a.m., the first aid truck in the humanitarian convoy started making its way through the humanitarian corridor that we were securing. Our tanks were there to secure the humanitarian corridor for the aid convoy. Our UAVs were there in the air to give our forces a clear picture from above. At 4:45 a.m., a mob ambushed the aid trucks, bringing the convoy to a halt.

Hagari also showed a new video of the incident that is included in the Times of Israel story. Hagari’s statement continues:

In this video, the tanks that were there to secure the convoy saw the Gazans being trampled and cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots. When the hundreds became thousands and things got out of hand, the tank commander decided to retreat to avoid harm to the thousands of Gazans that were there.

You can see how cautious they were when they were backing up. They were backing up securely, risking their own lives, not shooting at the mob.” he continued…No IDF strike was conducted toward the aid convoy. On the contrary, the IDF was there carrying out a humanitarian aid operation, to secure the humanitarian corridor, and allow the aid convoy to reach its distribution point, so that the humanitarian aid could reach Gazan civilians in the north who are in need.

The IDF posted Hagari’s statement below on X. Video is included with his statement.

“We recognize the suffering of the innocent people of Gaza. This is why we are seeking ways to expand our humanitarian efforts.”

Watch the full statement by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari on the incident regarding the humanitarian aid convoy the IDF facilitated. pic.twitter.com/m6Pve3Odqw

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 29, 2024

“And yet the lie will be repeated as fact over and over and over by those who are ignorant, and those who are not ignorant but are evil, and those who are Susan Sarandon,” comments Cliff Asness. Add the detestable Senator Elizabeth Warren to the list. Query into which category the AP falls.

Netanyahu & his right-wing government have created a catastrophe in Gaza. Today Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians desperate for aid.

The U.S. must push for a cease-fire, hostage releases, & condition military support on pursuing a two-state solution for a lasting peace. pic.twitter.com/igeEpeFRC8

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 29, 2024

I can’t wait for the United States Air Force to show us how it’s to be done. If this goes down as advertised, we can resupply Hamas directly.

The U.S. Air Force is reportedly preparing for an Operation beginning next week that will see the Mass Airdropping of Humanitarian Aid including Food, Water, and Medicine into the Gaza Strip, with Flights utilizing C-130 and C-17 Transport Aircraft being launched from Airbases in… pic.twitter.com/ZH7Es0vvoj

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 1, 2024

UPDATE: The Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff includes this account in today’s edition.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

A “massacre” update

By: Scott Johnson — March 1st 2024 at 08:40
(Scott Johnson)

After posting the adjacent item on the alleged IDF “massacre” of more than 100 Gazans yesterday, I received the Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff newsletter with this account of the events:

More than 100 people were killed when a crowd converged on an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and in a nearby confrontation between IDF soldiers and Palestinian men, in what an Israeli official with knowledge of the incidents described as a “completely unprecedented” set of events. “We’ve seen big groups of people running toward aid convoys, but nothing on this scale,” the official told Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss.

The convoy that came under the swarm of people was, the official described, “a very properly coordinated aid convoy with local contacts.” As the convoy passed through Gaza City early Thursday morning, thousands of people began to converge on the convoy.

“They literally physically trampled each other and ran over each other and beat each other,” the official continued. “And then Hamas started shooting at them.” The terror group aims to resell some of the convoy’s goods at a high markup, the official said.

“We did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, we secured it,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari emphasized in a briefing yesterday evening. “The tanks that were there to secure the convoy saw the Gazans being trampled and cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots,” Hagari said. “You can see [in a video released by the IDF] how cautious they were when they were backing up. They were backing up securely, risking their own lives, not shooting at the mob.”

Nearby, a group of IDF soldiers guarding the convoy opened fire on a group of men approaching the battalion. First, the official said, the IDF troops fired in the air to warn the men off, but the men continued running toward the battalion.

An estimated 10 Palestinians were killed in the confrontation with Israeli troops, according to the IDF, and the rest of the casualties were caused by the stampede and confrontation near the convoy.

JI’s Daily Kickoff site is here. This account is included in this morning’s edition (with links).

UPDATE: Times of Israel editor David Horovitz considers the ensuing complications in this column.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

When George Met Joey

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 1st 2024 at 10:21
(Lloyd Billingsley)

“Centuries of capitalism were held to have produced nothing of value,” Winston Smith discovers in George Orwell’s 1984. “One could not learn history from architecture any more than one could learn it from books. Streets, inscriptions memorial stones, the names of streets – anything that might throw light on the past had been systematically altered.” In other words, “history has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” For all but the willfully blind, the parallels are apparent on every hand.

For the Biden Junta, America is nothing more than a bastion of racist oppression, and the American Declaration of Independence, as Orwell noted, is pure thoughtcrime. The unelected ranks of the deep state constitute the “Inner Party,” deploying the FBI against the people. Under the Delaware Democrat, pretty much every week is hate week. Should that be doubted, recall Biden’s September 1, 2022 speech. Also relevant for current conditions is Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which the place of wild, non-domesticated creatures must be decided.

The revolutionary animals rule that rats are comrades, a view now institutionalized in America. Witness the rise of pro-crime district attorneys such as Chesa Boudin and George Gascon. Criminals also do the heavy lifting that woke politicians won’t perform, such as torching businesses and assaulting people at random, all passed off as “peaceful protest.”

Joe Biden brings in some eight million illegals with no criminal background checks. A criminal illegal is charged with murdering University of Georgia Biden student Laken Riley on February 22. In his February 28 speech on crime, Biden failed to name the victim or mention the case, and made no reference to illegal immigration.

In 1984, Winston Smith came to love Big Brother but it’s hard to believe that people approve Joe Biden’s steady demolition of America. It’s even harder to believe that this is what the American people were panting for in 2020. As Trump likes to say, we’ll have to see what happens in 2024.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Heavy Metal Madness

By: Steven Hayward — March 1st 2024 at 12:14
(Steven Hayward)

One fine sunny Sunday several years ago found me in Helsinki, Finland, where I spotted a rock bacd setting up in a square by a park, and I decided to linger for some free live music. Who knows—I could be catching the next Abba, or Eurovision Song Contest contestant. Well, it wasn’t any of those. What it was is kinda hard to describe. Best I could do at the time was a heavy metal version of a whale being tortured. And thus this chart makes some sense:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

This Is CNN

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 1st 2024 at 13:58
(Lloyd Billingsley)

As in Christian Nationalism Nonsense, and the always insightful Mark Tapson explains it for you:

The label “Christian nationalism” is the new Progressive dog-whistle for “scary American patriots.” It signals to Progressives that Americans who love God and country – which used to be the norm before our descent into a post-Christian, post-patriotism culture – are a subversive danger to democracy. Christianity, after all, imposes a moral code that chafes Progressive libertines, and nationalism, with its emphasis on state sovereignty and secure borders, frustrates their globalist ambitions.

Whenever Christians wave the Stars and Stripes, wear a MAGA hat, or pray that God blesses our country, the Left hyperventilates over the specter of a fundamentalist theocracy on the rise. They envision America becoming a Handmaid’s Tale dystopia in which white male Christian mullahs hang homosexuals and imprison women for seeking abortions. The Left’s vision of the separation of church and state, therefore, is one in which Christian patriots and their values are best excluded from the halls of government power entirely.

And so on, with Heidi Przybyla of Politico terrified that these Christian nationalists, “believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority. They don’t come from Congress, they don’t come from the Supreme Court. They come from God.” So much for the self-evident truth that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” from the Declaration of Independence. The woke leftists, in effect, now issue a declaration of war.

Add Christian nationalist to “white supremacists,” “MAGA Republicans,” “semi-fascists,” and those 2016 loser Hillary Clinton smeared as “deplorables.” These all signify that the speaker doesn’t like you, but there’s more to it. Pronouncing people enemies of the state is to justify violence against them. This comes at a time when the Biden Junta (“Our Democracy”) has a domestic Nazi-Soviet Pact working, and sees the greatest threat from those citizens who want the nation to be great. So all those deplorable Christian nationalist and MAGA types could wind up excluded from more than the halls of government. Don’t say it can’t happen here.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

40 For the Big Guy

By: John Hinderaker — March 1st 2024 at 14:37
(John Hinderaker)

James Biden has now admitted that he paid his brother Joe $40,000 out of funds he received from CEFC China Energy, which is generally regarded as a front for the Chinese government.

“Where did you believe the source of the money that was going into [Hunter Biden’s company] Owasco, prior to being sent to you, was coming from?” an investigator asked James during the Feb. 21 interview.

“CEFC,” James conceded — following an extended back-and-forth in which the first brother’s attorney Paul Fishman tried to argue that “money’s fungible” before being reminded by a House staffer that James “did not have sufficient funds” to make the $40,000 alleged loan repayment on his own, “so it is traceable.”

Of course, the goalposts in the Joe Biden bribery scandal have repeatedly been moved:

Democrats have defended the alleged loan repayments as evidence of nothing more than Joe Biden being a supportive brother. But Republicans say it makes clear that the president benefited from his relatives’ dealings as he repeatedly interacted with their business associates, including in the CEFC venture.

I think Republicans have made a mistake in seeming to go along with the Democrats’ theme that money has to be traced to Joe’s bank accounts in order to count. Under federal bribery law, Biden is guilty if he “demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value” not just for himself, but for “any other person or entity” in return for “being influenced in the performance of any official act.” People who bribe politicians are rarely dumb enough to make checks payable to the politicians themselves. Most often, they go to family members.

Republicans also shouldn’t fall for the Democrats’ spin about Joe not being involved in “his son’s overseas business dealings.” So, what business was Hunter in? Did he own or run a company that produced any products or provided any services? No. Hunter’s only business was peddling Joe’s influence. And for that to work, it had to be plausible that Joe was in on the deal, and would use his influence to benefit CEFC, or whoever. This is why Hunter would bring his father in on the telephone when he was meeting with Joe’s customers.

Notwithstanding the ever-moving goalposts, I think this is an instance where the Democrats’ control over the news media actually works to their disadvantage. They have been lulled into thinking that they can get away with their candidate’s having turned his power as vice president into tens of millions of dollars in illicit gains for his family and himself, because the New York Times, the Associated Press, and the usual gang of suspects try to run interference.

But in their blundering way, Republicans have managed to convey to a large majority of voters that Joe Biden is a corrupt pol. It is one of several reasons why, in spite of Donald Trump’s grave defects as a candidate, I don’t think Joe Biden can be re-elected.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden to resupply Hamas

By: Scott Johnson — March 1st 2024 at 14:39
(Scott Johnson)

President Biden announced today that the United States will airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza in the coming days. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to those of us who have been following the line traced by the Biden administration, but this may strike some as a bridge too far. The mission will purportedly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but all sentient observers understand that the it will necessarily make the “assistance” available to Hamas.

Politico reports Biden’s remarks here. The White House has not yet posted a transcript. To add insult to injury, even though he was reading off note cards, Biden confused “Ukraine” with “Gaza.” The guy’s brain is fried in more ways than one.

Biden announces the U.S. is “providing air drops of additional food and supplies” into Ukraine pic.twitter.com/ZZt7LV1EMg

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 1, 2024

STEVE adds: Curious thing, though. A spokesman for Oxfam America has issued a Twitter statement opposing the relief air drop, because the narrative needs to be preserved. At least that’s how I read this:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Death to DEI

By: Steven Hayward — March 1st 2024 at 22:30
(Steven Hayward)

Bryan Caplan, professor of economics in George Mason University’s excellent economics department, has a long article out today with the James Martin Center about the attempt to impose a mandatory “Just Societies” course for all students at George Mason starting next fall, and the course is a total ideological DEI wokefest. He also has a separate Substack article that goes into lengthy detail.

Partly because Caplan blew the whistle on this Orwellian outrage, the course requirement is on hold for the moment, pending “review” by the administration. And naturally the DEI campus Stasi is threatening to “review” Prof. Caplan for this offense.

One passage from his Martin Center article deserves special highlight:

This is quixotic, I know, but let me try to break through the woke academic echo chamber with some harsh truths. If you promote DEI for a living, the reality is that normal, apolitical people see you as a racist, sexist, censorious fanatic. They don’t say so publicly … because they are afraid of you. They don’t tell you privately … because they are afraid of you. But when they’re speaking to people they trust, they vehemently disagree with you—and yearn to see you all fired.

Well, it appears that the University of Florida has figured this out. Today the University (where Ben Sasse is now president) summarily closed down the entire DEI apparatus, and is summarily dismissing, rather than “reassigning” DEI staff to other offices. It has also canceled all outside contracts for DEI consultants. It will save $5 million right away, which Sasse says will be diverted to new faculty recruitment.

Here’s the note that went out:

More of this please. Burn them all down.

Related: Harvard announced today that it is appointing . . . a white male as interim provost. I didn’t think that was allowed any more at Harvard. But not just a white male, but a somewhat conservative white male—John Manning of Harvard Law School. Manning clerked for both Robert Bork on the DC Circuit and Nino Scalia at the Supreme Court. How he snuck onto Harvard Law’s faculty is something to ponder.

Harvard must really be badly rattled if it is willing to violate current progressive dogma and appoint a white male to such a senior position.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Week in Pictures: Gemini AI Edition

By: Steven Hayward — March 2nd 2024 at 05:29
(Steven Hayward)

Don’t believe the headlines that Mitch McConnell is really stepping down. He’s going to replicate himself as an AI robot. Just keep in mind the lifespan of turtles, and you’ll know I’m right. And the crash of Google’s Gemini AI is a distraction—it’s just another CIA-Taylor Swift psy-op.

 

Want:

Headlines of the week:

A rather unexpected combination.

I really thought this is how the computer age would unfold.

I think I’ll pass on this ski resort. . .

Captain Kirk at the DEI review board.

 

And finally. . . Tulsi Gabbard:

 

 

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

“A global laughingstock”

By: Scott Johnson — March 2nd 2024 at 06:03
(Scott Johnson)

Atlanta attorney Harry MacDougald is our old Rathergate friend. He helped us get the ball rolling in “The 61st minute” on the morning of September 9, 2004. Writing under the screen name Buckhead, Harry observed in comment number 47 of Free Republic’s Rathergate thread: “I am saying these documents are forgeries, run through a copier for 15 generations to make them look old. This should be pursued aggressively.” Life has never been quite the same since we took his cue and followed up.

Harry is the managing partner of Atlanta’s Caldwell, Carlson, Elliott & DeLoach law firm. He represents defendant Jeffrey Clark in the “conspiracy so immense” case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. We have followed defendants’ motion to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the case. It turns out that Willis appointed her boyfriend Nathan Wade as special prosecutor in the case. Willis, Wade, and others have testified under oath on the facts underlying the conflict issues raised by defendants. I commented, most recently, in “Whole lotta lyin’ goin’ on.”

Yesterday Judge Scott McAfee held a three-hour hearing for oral argument by the attorneys on the disqualification motion. Harry was the star of the show. His thirteen-minute argument begins at 01:12:40 of the video of the hearing at the bottom. Students of ancient history may recall the role of CBS News in Rathergate. It has posted a decent account of the hearing.

I have my doubts that Judge McAfee will grant the disqualification motion, but I have no doubt that he should or that Harry accurately captured the essence of the evidence before the court. Referring to the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney and the Willis/Wade matter, Harry concluded: “This office is a global laughingstock because of their conduct.”

I reached out to Harry for a comment after the hearing yesterday. He declined to comment one way or the other on the hearing, although he did comment favorably on Power Line. My comment is that Harry was right about Rathergate and he is right about the disgrace to be resolved by the court on the pending motion.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Podcast Switcheroo

By: Steven Hayward — March 2nd 2024 at 09:51
(Steven Hayward)

There is no Three Whisky Happy Hour podcast this week, because we practiced a bit of “settler colonialism” by occupying the flagship Ricochet podcast yesterday and expelling the pervious residents.

Well not literally. Rob Long and Peter Robinson were both away, so the producers asked the 3WHH crew to fill in for the whole hour. And hoo-boy, with James Lileks in charge of the discussion, the sparks flew on immigration, as we successfully flushed out and scolded John “Open Borders” Yoo. The comment thread there is taking off like a Starlink rocket launch, but if you’re not a Ricochet member, you can use the comment thread here as usual.

Ricochet calls the episode “Drunken Monkey Business” on account of the whisky reviews we offer at the end, and you’ll definitely want to listen all the way to the very end to take in the daring high seas tale of Lileks “urinating” on a certain former National Review writer. (We also covered some of the latest Trump legal news, the Gaza War, and the hysteria over “Christian nationalism.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Drop this

By: Scott Johnson — March 2nd 2024 at 10:51
(Scott Johnson)

Yesterday President Biden announced the imminent airdrop of humanitarian assistance into Gaza (Biden to the contrary notwithstanding, not Ukraine). The Times of Israel covers the announcement here.

White House National Security Advisor John Kirby was asked a good question about it at a press briefing that followed the announcement. He was asked how the administration will prevent Hamas from seizing the supplies that it intends to airdrop into Gaza.

Kirby expressed joy to be asked the question, yet for some reason he did not answer it directly. See if you can deduce the answer from his response (video below). These airdrops are complicated. They’re difficult. We’re going to keep at it and we’re going to get better. Hamas, by the way, is a designated foreign terrorist organization and therefore one to which it is illegal for American citizens to render assistance.

John Kirby effectively admits that the White House knows Hamas will steal aid air-dropped into Gaza pic.twitter.com/gzxHnBUpCp

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 2, 2024

The airdrop has begun. The Times of Israel reports that US military officials say the initial airdrop was carried out using three C-130 planes. One of the officials says more than 35,000 meals were airdropped. The video below shows the current airdrop to Hamas’s last stronghold in Rafah. According to Barak Ravid, the Rafah airdrop “included thousands of U.S. military ‘meals ready to eat’ (Halal).” The genocidaires of Hamas must be grateful in their own special way.

Update: #IsraelHamasWar #US #Rafah

According to U.S. and Israeli officials, 3 C-130s airdropped aid over the city of Rafah.

In the video that reportedly shows the airdrop, 2 C-130s can be seen with the payload of the third visible in the video. pic.twitter.com/OhyUMWd9z4

— John M. Larrier (@DefenseBulletin) March 2, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Burn Those Trees!

By: John Hinderaker — March 2nd 2024 at 13:49
(John Hinderaker)

We have written a couple of times about biomass, which is a fancy term for burning wood. If you thought using wood fires for energy was out of date–it has been, actually, for a century and a half–you are behind the times. Wood burning is considered “green,” a wholly political concept, and therefore is heavily subsidized in Europe. Millions of trees in the U.S. and Canada suffer the consequences.

The latest from the United Kingdom:

Wood, the fuel that British industry thought it had left behind more than a century ago, is staging a comeback.

Powering the resurgence is Drax Group, owner of the controversial Drax power station that recently posted a 10-fold increase in its latest yearly profits.

Its plant in Yorkshire, Britain’s largest and most controversial power station, generated around 6pc of the country’s electricity in 2023 by burning 6.4 million tonnes of wood. In context, it is the equivalent of 27 million trees.

27 million trees! The same Telegraph article points out that the New Forest only has 46 million trees, less than two years’ worth. So where does the wood come from?

Last year alone Drax imported 4.6 million tonnes of wood from the US and another 760,000 tonnes from Canada, with further deliveries coming from Brazil, Latvia and Russia.

You might think that cutting down trees in the southern U.S., thus preventing them from absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere–do they still teach junior high kids about photosynthesis?–shipping them to Europe on diesel-powered ships, and then burning them, releasing carbon into the atmosphere in the form of CO2, must be the dumbest possible way of generating electricity. And, while it is appallingly stupid, and not “green” in any coherent sense, it is arguably not as dumb as wind and solar:

[Drax chief executive Will Gardiner says], “We have created a business which plays an essential role in supporting energy security, providing dispatchable, renewable power for millions of homes and businesses, particularly during periods of peak demand when there is low wind and solar power.”

Yes: burning wood on an industrial scale is idiotic, but at least it works in the dark and when the wind isn’t blowing.

Finally, why does such a foolish way of generating electricity exist? Mandates and subsidies, of course:

Sir Peter’s reference to cost relates to the taxpayer subsidies that Drax receives for producing green energy, which amounted to £617m in 2022 and £587m in 2023.

Meanwhile, China is humming along with more than 1,000 coal-fired power plants, and more coming on line constantly.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Another Disastrous Poll for Biden

By: Steven Hayward — March 2nd 2024 at 14:30
(Steven Hayward)

The New York Times is out with its latest poll today, and they can’t sugar coat the bad news for Biden (and good news for Trump) that it contains. The headline says it all:

The poll has Trump with a five-point lead.

Some internals from the article are even more devastating than these headline numbers:

The poll offers an array of warning signs for the president about weaknesses within the Democratic coalition, including among women, Black and Latino voters. So far, it is Mr. Trump who has better unified his party, even amid an ongoing primary contest. . .

Mr. Trump is winning 97 percent of those who say they voted for him four years ago, and virtually none of his past supporters said they are casting a ballot for Mr. Biden. In contrast, Mr. Biden is winning only 83 percent of his 2020 voters, with 10 percent saying they now back Mr. Trump. . .

One of the more ominous findings for Mr. Biden in the new poll is that the historical edge Democrats have held with working-class voters of color who did not attend college continues to erode.

Mr. Biden won 72 percent of those voters in 2020, according to exit polling, providing him with a nearly 50-point edge over Mr. Trump. Today, the Times/Siena poll showed Mr. Biden only narrowly leading among nonwhite voters who did not graduate from college: 47 percent to 41 percent. . .

Mr. Trump’s policies were generally viewed far more favorably by voters than Mr. Biden’s. A full 40 percent of voters said Mr. Trump’s policies had helped them personally, compared to only 18 percent who said the same of Mr. Biden’s.

The gender gap, for instance, is no longer benefiting Democrats. Women, who strongly favored Mr. Biden four years ago, are now equally split, while men gave Mr. Trump a nine-point edge. The poll showed Mr. Trump edging out Mr. Biden among Latinos, and Mr. Biden’s share of the Black vote is shrinking, too.

Memo to Trump: Don’t blow it.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Squad Sneaks Off to Cuba

By: John Hinderaker — March 2nd 2024 at 14:37
(John Hinderaker)

There was a time when, if you said that liberals suffer from Communism envy, they would deny it. Is that still true? Perhaps not, as to the Squad, two members of which were among a delegation that made a more or less secret trip to Cuba:

A delegation of the U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus traveled to Cuba last week in a trip that has not previously been disclosed by the legislators nor reported in Cuban state media.

The group of about a dozen people was led by Democratic U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal of the state of Washington and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. It included a congressional staffer from the office of California Rep. Barbara Lee’s office, sources with knowledge of the trip told the Miami Herald.

Jayapal and Omar, members of the informal left-wing group of lawmakers known as “the squad,” did not reply to emails and messages seeking comment. Lee’s office also did not reply to a request for comment.

After the Herald published this story, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, comprising more than 100 lawmakers and chaired by Jayapal, confirmed the trip.

Odd. No press releases, no Cuban state media trumpeting the support it is getting from American liberals. So what was up with the visit?

“Representatives Jayapal and Omar traveled to Cuba last week, where they met with people from across Cuban civil society and government officials to discuss human rights and the U.S.-Cuba bilateral relationship,” said a Caucus spokesperson.

Oh. Okay. But the Squad is not in favor of human rights, so it would be interesting to know what the discussion was about:

Jayapal and Omar have been vocal critics of the U.S. embargo against Cuba and have supported bills to normalize relations with the island’s communist government. They were among the 40 Democrats who voted against a symbolic resolution supporting peaceful demonstrators who protested against the Cuban government in July 2021 and “calling for the immediate release of arbitrarily detained Cuban citizens.”

Well, they don’t want arbitrarily detained American citizens released either, so I guess that is consistent. All in all, the story is a valuable reminder that, while the rest of the world has given up on Communism, it still has a certain cachet with American liberals.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden Now Defeated by Cue Cards

By: Steven Hayward — March 2nd 2024 at 16:41
(Steven Hayward)

As is now more widely reported, President Biden relies on cue cards for just about everything, but it looks like even this extreme measure is failing. Here in reading from a prepared statement on a notecard about getting food to Gaza, at the 30-second mark Biden twice says we’ll be opening up more corridors to “Ukraine.” Italian PM Meloni looks around the room wondering if someone is going to help this poor doddering old man.

Biden: “We are concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza 🇵🇸 We will join Jordan and our other partners to airdrop food on Ukraine 🇺🇦

Look at Italian PM trying hard not to laugh 🤣
pic.twitter.com/FJFFusvYWM

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) March 2, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Cronkite Network

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 3rd 2024 at 07:25
(Lloyd Billingsley)

When you watch Walter Cronkite, my recent piece should have read, “you not only CBS but hear it too.” That was certainly true, particularly of Cronkite’s Vietnam coverage, but as Douglas Brinkley explained in the 819-page Cronkite, there’s more that people should know.

Cronkite had worked with Sidney Lumet to adapt the radio show “You Are There” for television. Lumet directed Network, which Cronkite saw in a private screening. As Brinkley notes, the film “hit close to home,” as “much about TV newsgathering was a sham.” As anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) explained:

Television is not the truth! Television is a God-damned amusement park! Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, side-show freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing business! So if you want the truth. Go to God! Go to your gurus! Go to yourselves! Because that’s the only place you’re ever going to find any real truth.

But, man, you’re never going to get any truth from us. We’ll tell you anything you want to hear; we lie like hell. We’ll tell you that Kojak always gets the killer, or that nobody ever gets cancer at Archie Bunker’s house, and no matter how much trouble the hero is in, don’t worry, just look at your watch; at the end of the hour he’s going to win. We’ll tell you any shit you want to hear. We deal in illusions, man! None of it is true! But you people sit there, day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds. We’re all you know. You’re beginning to believe the illusions we’re spinning here. You’re beginning to think that the tube is reality, and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you! You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even think like the tube! This is mass madness, you maniacs! In God’s name, you people are the real thing! We are the illusion! So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off! Turn them off right in the middle of the sentence I’m speaking to you now! TURN THEM OFF!

Network also cast Walter Cronkite’s daughter Cathy as Mary Ann Gifford, an heiress kidnapped by the Ecumenical Liberation Army. In the style of Patricia Hearst, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, Gifford joins the Ecumenicals in bank robberies, which they record on film. When the Communist Laureen Hobbs (Marlene Warfield) uses the footage in her “Mao Tse-Tung Hour” show, Gifford calls her out.

“You f—— fascist! Did you see the film we made of the San Marino jail breakout, demonstrating the rising up of the seminal prisoner class infrastructure?” Hobbs tells Gifford to “blow the seminal prisoner class infrastructure out your ass!”

Network bagged four Oscars, and for cinéma vérité about television it’s hard to beat. On March 10, if anybody watched Network instead of the Academy Awards it would be hard to blame them.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

After the treason of the intellectuals

By: Scott Johnson — March 3rd 2024 at 07:55
(Scott Johnson)

Niall Ferguson must be one of the three most prominent historians writing in English today. He is the author of 16 books. Late last year he wrote the timely and trenchant essay “Treason of the Intellectuals.” Now he follows up that essay with the lecture “After the Treason of the Intellectuals” at the University of Austin, where he is Founding Trustee. With Ferguson’s invocation of Max Weber, the lecture put me in mind of Steve Hayward’s address to incoming graduate students at Pepperdine’s school of public policy at the beginning of this academic year.

This is the talk Ferguson gave at the University of Austin’s Founding Class of 2028 reception. It is in part a description of the state of higher education and in part a motivational talk for incoming students. He speaks from notes in front of a fiery backdrop that seems to serve as a metaphor — he calls it “a simulated apocalyptic landscape” –for the spirit of his remarks. The nascent University of Austin bids to join Hillsdale College as one of our essential educational institutions.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The takeover

By: Scott Johnson — March 3rd 2024 at 08:50
(Scott Johnson)

In her February 26 Tablet column “The takeover,” Neetu Arnold traces the relationship among international student recruitment, DEI policies, and left-wing activism on American campuses. It is a long column that is full of information and data. This is how it opens:

Something new and peculiar stands out about the wave of anti-Israel student activism that has rocked American university campuses since October: There is a visibly more radical element to these protests. Student activists almost seemed to take glee in Hamas’ massacre of innocent civilians—when they weren’t denying that it happened at all. The antisemitic rage struck a different tone than the typical anti-Israel fare that has become a central part of American student activism since Students for a Democratic Society formed in the 1960s.

So what changed? The answer is clear to anyone who watched the videos: these student protests are no longer composed solely of left-wing American students steeped in critical theory and post-colonial ideology. The protests are now havens for foreign students, especially those from Arab and Muslim countries, with their own set of nationalist and tribal grievances against Israel and the United States. In some cases, such foreign students appear to lead the protests in their pro-terrorism chants—some of which are in Arabic, or translations of Arabic slogans.

What we are witnessing is the latest consequence of a quiet revolution in higher education: the internationalization of the American university. Today, there are more than one million foreign students enrolled at American universities, making up more than 5% of the total student population. At elite universities, the situation is much more extreme: international students make up almost 25% of the student population.

I would add that Arnold’s introductory paragraph seems to me to apply not only to pro-Hamas “activism” on campus, but also to pro-Hamas “activism” on the streets of our major cities and inside the Democratic Party’s left-wing base. Someone needs to undertake the same kind of analysis to the off-campus phenomenon that Arnold does to the on-campus phenomenon. It isn’t pretty and it’s not going away.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Today’s “Dump Biden” Installment

By: Steven Hayward — March 3rd 2024 at 10:21
(Steven Hayward)

Just a guess, but I think the word has gone out from the Obama redoubt in Martha’s Vineyard and/or his shadow White House in Kalorama that the New York Times needs to lead the push this week to force Biden out of the race. The Times is doom-scrolling its latest poll showing Biden on his way to certain defeat to Trump. Yesterday’s installment gave the raw numbers—Biden is eroding across the board.

Today the Times is out with another headline of doom, whose contents could have been part of yesterday’s story, except the Times wants to mile their poll for maximum effect. Biden’s own voters think he is too old:

Widespread concerns about President Biden’s age pose a deepening threat to his re-election bid, with a majority of voters who supported him in 2020 now saying he is too old to lead the country effectively, according to a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College.

The survey pointed to a fundamental shift in how voters who backed Mr. Biden four years ago have come to see him. A striking 61 percent said they thought he was “just too old” to be an effective president. . . Seventy-three percent of all registered voters said he was too old to be effective, and 45 percent expressed a belief that he could not do the job. . .

This unease, which has long surfaced in polls and in quiet conversations with Democratic officials, appears to be growing as Mr. Biden moves toward formally capturing his party’s nomination.

I’m guessing those “quiet conversations” will start to be less quiet fairly soon. Gavin Newsom has his phone programmed on speed dial.

Here’s one of the graphics:

In case Democratic elites aren’t getting the message, the Times director of polling Nate Cohn offers his own separate “analysis” of the matter:

The Big Change Between the 2020 and 2024 Races: Biden Is Unpopular

Why is President Biden losing? There are many possible reasons, including his age, the war in Gaza, the border and lingering concerns over inflation. But ultimately, they add up to something very simple: Mr. Biden is very unpopular. He’s so unpopular that he’s now even less popular than Mr. Trump, who remains every bit as unpopular as he was four years ago.

President Biden’s unpopularity has flipped the expected dynamic of this election. It has turned what looked like a seemingly predictable rematch into a race with no resemblance to the 2020 election, when Mr. Biden was a broadly appealing candidate who was acceptable to the ideologically diverse group of voters who disapproved of Mr. Trump. . .

That’s gotta hurt. Then there’s this:

We didn’t ask whether Mr. Biden should drop out of the race. We considered it — in fact, we discussed it for days — but many respondents may not know the complications involved in a contested convention.

Subtext: “Doctor” Jill: Get your husband to do the right thing for the interest of the Party. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s installment.

P.S. It was the suddenly plummeting polls that prompted LBJ to drop out of the 1968 race at the end of March.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Just Another Day at the (Poison) Ivy leagues

By: Steven Hayward — March 3rd 2024 at 12:19
(Steven Hayward)

I’ve been quipping for a while that it must be awfully depressing these days for the climate cultists heading out to block a road or yell at some politician, only to find the pro-Hamas anti-Semites got up earlier than they did and beat them to it. But some climatistas are not taking this lying down—that is until someone makes them lie down, as in this clip from Harvard:

BREAKING: we just called Joe Manchin a sick fuck. We humiliated him in front of a herd of Harvard elites. He squared up. We held firm. Barbaric murderer, hideous fiend, he torches humanity and laughs. pic.twitter.com/1ajrQsKnbJ

— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) March 1, 2024

The Harvard Crimson headline is heart-warming:

Climate Protester Thrown to the Ground After Interrupting Joe Manchin’s Harvard IOP Talk

An aide to U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) threw a climate action protester to the ground following a confrontation at a Harvard Institute of Politics event Friday morning.

The incident came just minutes after at least six protesters from Climate Defiance — a climate advocacy group — interrupted a talk Manchin was delivering at the Harvard Kennedy School. The protesters criticized Manchin’s support of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a controversial 300-mile natural gas pipeline in West Virginia that has been condemned by environmentalists.

“You sold our futures and got rich doing it, you sick fuck,” one person shouted, prompting Manchin to stand up from his chair to face the protester.

Meanwhile, across campus at Harvard Law School, this happened:

Skadden is one of the firms that signed a letter to Harvard last fall expressing concern about antisemitism on its campus.

When lawyers from the firm visited Harvard Law today, students accused them of supporting apartheid and being complicit in genocide. pic.twitter.com/4riq3gT9sY

— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) March 1, 2024

Down at Penn, a similar story:

Pro-Palestinian protestors interrupt Jameson at Board of Trustees meeting, forcing adjournment

Interim President Larry Jameson’s first University Board of Trustees meeting as president adjourned within minutes on Friday after protestors disrupted the meeting.

The Board of Trustees meeting was scheduled to take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Inn at Penn. At 11:33 a.m., a group of 12 pro-Palestinian protestors affiliated with the Freedom School for Palestine started calling for “endowment transparency.” Their chants went on for four minutes, until the Board of Trustees meeting was adjourned at 11:37 a.m, having quickly passed its agenda items.

Meanwhile, down the road at Yale, a Communist group (seriously?) disrupted a lecture by historian Timothy Snyder, who is a left-leaning and rabid anti-Trumper, but apparently that’s not enough for self-styled Communists:

Timothy Snyder evacuated his “Hitler, Stalin, and Us” lecture on Thursday afternoon after a Communist activist group entered the classroom and would not leave.

Around 10 demonstrators affiliated with the Revolutionary Communist Party showed up at the classroom in William Harkness Hall five minutes after the start of class and began shouting at Snyder while holding up signs and recording students. . .

The demonstrators walked into the back of class and held up signs while Raymond Lotta, the group’s leader, declared, “No class as usual today!” Lotta called on Snyder to condemn the United States for its support of Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza and accused him of “brainwashing” students with “anti-communism.”

Chaser:

“To call DEI useless would be an understatement,” Kestenbaum said. pic.twitter.com/09oLSQx4Du

— David Bernstein (@ProfDBernstein) March 3, 2024

 

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Loose Ends (246)

By: Steven Hayward — March 3rd 2024 at 14:38
(Steven Hayward)

Reminder that once upon a time leading Democrats opposed illegal immigration and called for stronger border enforcement:

Chaser—Once upon a time Democrats also understood that a surge of illegal immigrant depressed wages for unskilled labor. A reminder from Democrat economist and Obama alum Jared Bernstein:

One thing we learned in the 1990s was that a surefire way to reconnect the fortunes of working people at all skill levels, immigrant and native-born alike, to the growing economy is to let the job market tighten up. A tight job market pressures employers to boost wage offers to get and keep the workers they need. One equally surefire way to sort-circuit this useful dynamic is to turn on the immigrant spigot every time some group’s wages go up.

I’ve finally figured out why Democrats are indifferent to rising crime and especially massive retail theft—it’s a clandestine tax increase! No, seriously:

• Be careful what you wish for? You may recall a couple weeks ago a short note here about how the repulsive Adam Schiff, now running for the Senate in California, was cleverly trying to eliminate his Democratic Party rivals by boosting Republican Steve Garvey with “attack” ads claiming that Garvey is “too conservative for California” and “voted for Trump twice” (wink, wink) in the state’s perverse top-two jungle primary system. Well guess what:

Ex-MLB great Steve Garvey leads Adam Schiff in California Senate race: poll 

Former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres star Steve Garvey is ahead of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in California’s nonpartisan Senate primary, a new poll shows. Garvey, a Republican and 10-time MLB All-Star, snagged 27% support in the Los Angeles Times/Berkeley IGS poll released Friday. Support for Schiff in the hotly-contested race for the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was measured at 25% by the pollster.

Still very much an uphill race for Garvey in November if this poll holds up in the primary this week. But still, it would be a matter of cosmic justice if Garvey pulled off an upset, and was able to thank Schiff for all his help. Stay tuned. . .

Feel Good Story of the Day:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

“Get Me a Deal!”

By: John Hinderaker — March 3rd 2024 at 15:41
(John Hinderaker)

That is what Joe Biden demanded of the Israelis, Hamas and representatives of Qatar and Egypt who are trying to broker a cease-fire agreement. As though he were the party in interest. The Telegraph interprets Biden’s motives:

Mr Biden is under major pressure from voters over the US alliance with Israel, and the president was punished at the ballot box by protesting young Democrats in the primaries last week.

So what would a proposed deal look like?

A potential deal could include a six-week pause in fighting, the release of approximately 400 Palestinian prisoners in return for the freeing of 40 Israeli hostages, as well as preparation for a gradual return of Palestinian citizens to the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Why 40 hostages? Why not all of them? Why should Israel even discuss a proposal that does not include a total release of kidnap victims? And how about a Hamas surrender? Normally, when a country starts a war and then loses it, if it wants the fighting to stop it has to surrender. It is bizarre that some people take seriously the idea that Hamas should survive the war it foolishly started.

Happily, Israel has decided not to attend the cease-fire negotiations in Cairo:

Israel will not be sending a negotiating team to Cairo, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Sunday, after receiving an unsatisfactory response from Hamas on the latest framework for a hostage deal hammered out in Paris last weekend.

The Gaza-based terror organization refused to address Jerusalem’s demand to provide a list of living hostages and to lock down how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every hostage freed, added the official.

My guess is that Gaza doesn’t want to provide a list of living kidnap victims because a shocking number have been murdered. In any event, Israel shouldn’t allow Hamas’s transparent diplomatic maneuvering, or hysterical reactions from the Biden administration, to distract It from the total victory it needs to achieve over Gaza.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Notable and quotable

By: Scott Johnson — March 4th 2024 at 06:22
(Scott Johnson)

In the latest episode of the Hoover Institution’s GoodFellows podcast (with Dan Senor sitting in for H.R. McMaster), Niall Ferguson joined from Jerusalem. He had some advice for Tucker Carlson regarding his misadventures in Putin’s Russia buried at about 43:00 of the video (below). Asked to assess Carlson’s interview with Putin, Ferguson responded:

I am beyond disappointed in what Tucker Carlson has become because four years ago he was an impressive and effective broadcaster whose monologues I used to enjoy. I mean Tucker — I don’t know if you listen to this — but you have a chance to admit that you made a terrible mistake by going to Moscow, that you were made use of by a fascist dictator. You don’t want to be the Walter Duranty of this story. You don’t want to be the useful idiot of American journalism who fell for a dictatorship.

So my advice is own it. You made a huge blunder and you need to admit it and recognize that you have been used by a fascist regime. The fact that Navalny was killed just after you had been made a fool of in that interview where Putin filibustered, made stuff up that you didn’t know enough Russian history to correct — all of this has all but destroyed your reputation and the only possible solution is a full and frank apology and an admission that you screwed up.

See my own “Political pilgrimage revisited,” “From glib to stupid,” and “The lonesome death of Alexei Navalny.”

Tucker Carlson has worked himself into a dark corner of which his Russian misadventures constitute only one component. He seeks to fill the niche formerly occupied by Charles Lindbergh on the isolationist wing of the populist right and has become a fool for Putin in the process. The odds of Carlson taking Ferguson’s advice asymptotically approach zero, but not because he shouldn’t take it.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Sticking points

By: Scott Johnson — March 4th 2024 at 08:13
(Scott Johnson)

Reading about the ceasefire negotiations that the ceasefire negotiations with which the Biden administation hopes to engineer a Hamas victory requires a certain kind of immunity to savagery. Hamas seeks to trade kidnapped Israelis for terrorists who can help Hamas finish the task it undertook on October 7. The Hamas terrorists are murderers and genocidaires. The Israelis are, well, you know, Jewish. Hamas seeks ten terrorists in exchange for every kidnapped Israeli and Israel seems okay with the proposition and the ratio.

However, the Israelis declined to show up in Cairo for further negotiations so long as Hamas refuses to provide a list of living kidnap victims. The Israelis assess that 31 of the kidnap victims taken by Hamas on October 7 are now dead. This is either elided in mainstream news accounts or referred to euphemistically as one of the “sticking points.” The Times of Israel summed up the status of negotiations yesterday:

Israel has said that 31 of the 130 hostages held since October 7 are dead. The first phase of the mooted deal is reported to provide for the release of 40 of the living hostages, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, in the course of a six-week truce, and in exchange for some 400 Palestinian security prisoners. The outline reportedly provides for negotiations on the further phased release of the remaining hostages, living and dead, in return for longer pauses in the fighting and many more Palestinian prisoner releases.

On Sunday afternoon, a Hamas official told CNN that the group will not agree to a deal without Israel consenting to an end to the war in Gaza, a non-starter for Israel.

Citing “a highly placed source” in the terror group, CNN reported that the two other areas of disagreement holding up a deal are the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, and Gazan civilians being allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip.

Vice President Harris found this a good time to hammer Israel yesterday in Selma, Alabama (White House transcript here). Israel is apparently responsible for “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” Why, “just a few days ago, we saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for their families after weeks of nearly no aid reaching Northern Gaza. And they were met with gunfire and chaos.” The savages of Hamas have their allies among the idiots, useful or otherwise, of the Biden administration.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Pope Francis Is a Fool

By: John Hinderaker — March 4th 2024 at 08:56
(John Hinderaker)

Pope Francis says that all nations have a moral duty to disarm:

Pope Francis said Sunday that military disarmament is not optional but constitutes a “moral obligation” for all nations.
***
“How many resources are wasted on military expenditure, which, because of the current situation, sadly continues to increase!” he told the estimated 20,000 tourists and pilgrims gathered in the square.

Actually, I think it is a fact that a smaller proportion of resources is going to military spending, in almost all countries, than at any time in history.

He went on to express his hope that “the international community will understand that disarmament is first and foremost a duty, and that disarmament is a moral obligation.”

“Let’s get this into our heads,” he added. “And this requires the courage of all members of the great family of nations to move from a balance of fear to a balance of trust.”

But some leaders, and some nations, can’t be, and shouldn’t be, trusted. Francis’s foolish advice is reminiscent of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most overrated men ever, who urged Jews not to resist the Nazis. Wouldn’t want to dirty your hands with weapons. Back to Francis:

In the past, the pope has suggested that if people are really serious about world peace, the solution is to “ban all weapons.”

This is gun control writ large: blame the inanimate weapon, which can be used either for good or for ill, rather than the evil regime of Hamas, Putin, or the Chinese Communist Party.

For decades, the Catholic church has criticized the arms race and consequent build-up of nuclear arsenals, but Francis is the pope to call for the banning of all weapons. If he were to be taken at his word, this would imply outlawing everything from rifles to hand grenades to the halberds carried by the Pontifical Swiss Guards in the Vatican.

Good point! People used to go to war with spears and swords, tools which were sufficient to kill vast numbers.

The existence of weapons leads humanity to live “in fear of war,” the pope declared, and the only way to remove this fear is to eliminate all weapons.

People live in fear of war for excellent reasons. They lived in fear of war two thousand year ago, too, when weapons were much more primitive. The way to remove fear of war is to be more powerful than one’s potential adversaries.

I suppose Francis’s defenders would say that his call to disarm is aspirational, and that he doesn’t really want countries like the United States and Italy to turn their swords into ploughshares tomorrow. But when you tell people they have a moral duty to do something that it would be stupid and even fatal for them to do, you forfeit any claim to moral leadership.

Francis is a fool. Happily, there is no chance that anyone will listen to his bad advice.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Supreme Court: Trump on ballot

By: Scott Johnson — March 4th 2024 at 09:49
(Scott Johnson)

The Supreme Court has held 9-0 that the Colorado Supreme Court erred in blessing the disqualification of Donald Trump from the state’s primary election ballot under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court’s opinion is per curiam. Justice Barrett concurs in part and concurs in the judgment. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson concur in the judgment (i.e., the result). The Court’s opinions are posted online here.

The Court’s per curiam opinion commanded a majority and its reasoning represents the law. It rests substantially on the exclusive power of Congress to enforce section 3 against candidates for federal office, “especially the presidency.”

Does the opinion leave open the possibility that Congress might refuse to certify Trump as president if he were to be elected president on the ground that he is guilty of insurrection? If Congress has not prescribed any means other than conviction of the crime of insurrection to make the determination underlying application of section 3, I doubt it. See opinion at 10. However, I may be mistaken. Perhaps the opinion cannot be read that broadly.

The opinion concludes (emphasis in original, citations omitted):

All nine Members of the Court agree with that result. Our colleagues writing separately further agree with many of the reasons this opinion provides for reaching it. So far as we can tell, they object only to our taking into account the distinctive way Section 3 works and the fact that Section 5 vests in Congress the power to enforce it. These are not the only reasons the States lack power to enforce this particular constitutional provision with respect to federal offices. But they are important ones, and it is the combination of all the reasons set forth in this opinion—not, as some of our colleagues would have it, just one particular rationale—that resolves this case. In our view, each of these reasons is necessary to provide a complete explanation for the judgment the Court unanimously reaches.

Read the whole thing here.

UPDATE: Although he characterizes it as a 5-4 decision, Andrew McCarthy supports my reading of the per curiam opinion: “What that means is that if Donald Trump were to win the presidential election, congressional Democrats would not be able — in the next January 6 joint session of Congress — to refuse to ratify his victory on the grounds that he is an insurrectionist. Under the Court’s holding, it is now a prerequisite to enforcement of the Section 3 disqualification that a person must have been convicted under the insurrection statute.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Today in NY Times Biden Doom-polling

By: Steven Hayward — March 4th 2024 at 13:01
(Steven Hayward)

Today’s third NY Times installment about their most recent poll piles on the bad news for Biden: not only are you losing to Trump head-to-head, and are unpopular, but today we learn that more voters like Trump’s policies and record better than Biden’s.

Here’s the graphic depiction:

Some excerpts from the Times:

And despite holding intensely and similarly critical opinions both of President Biden and of his predecessor, Americans have much more positive views of Donald J. Trump’s policies than they do of Mr. Biden’s, according to New York Times/Siena College polls.

Overall, 40 percent of voters said Mr. Trump’s policies had helped them personally, compared with just 18 percent who say the same about Mr. Biden’s policies. . .

Women are 20 percentage points more likely to say that Mr. Trump’s policies have helped them than Mr. Biden’s have, despite the fact that Mr. Trump installed Supreme Court justices who ultimately overturned the right to an abortion and that about two-thirds of women in America think that abortion should be legal in all or most instances.

In a separate Times story, the Biden message to doubting Democrats is—drop dead. Well that’s the headline the NY Daily News would have used. Instead the Times headline is:

For Democrats Pining for an Alternative, Biden Team Has a Message: Get Over It.”

. . . The Biden team views the very question as absurd. The president in their view has an impressive record of accomplishment to run on. There is no obvious alternative. It is far too late in the cycle to bow out without considerable disruption. . . Members of Mr. Biden’s team insist they feel little sense of concern.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Fake Green

By: Steven Hayward — March 4th 2024 at 13:20
(Steven Hayward)

Churchill remarked that “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” A similar thing can be said, apparently, for green energy—you can’t subsidize or tax-break yourself to a truly profitable business.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

California Is About to Get Even Worse

By: John Hinderaker — March 4th 2024 at 16:04
(John Hinderaker)

You might think that the leftists who run California would be worried about the rapid decline of that state, but no: they are doing all they can to accelerate it. In the Wall Street Journal, Heather Mac Donald outlines California’s latest descent into racialist madness:

What would happen if lawmakers reinvented the criminal-justice system to target “systemic racism” instead of crime? California is about to find out. Thanks to a 2020 law called the California Racial Justice Act, every felon serving time in the state’s prisons and jails can now retroactively challenge his conviction and sentencing on the ground of systemic bias.

To prevail, the incarcerated prisoner need not show that the police officers, prosecutors, judge or jurors in his case were motivated by racism or that his proceedings were unfair. If he can demonstrate that in the past, criminal suspects of his race were arrested, prosecuted or sentenced more often or more severely than members of other racial groups, he will be entitled to a new trial or sentence.

We all know what this is about. Blacks are arrested, prosecuted and convicted more often than members of other races because they commit more crimes. Heather has some of the numbers for California:

In Los Angeles, blacks are 21 times as likely as whites to commit a violent crime, 36 times as likely to commit a robbery, and 57 times as likely to commit a homicide, according to police department data. Those data come from reports filed by victims and witnesses, who are themselves disproportionately black.

Blacks over-offend to an appalling degree in other states, too. But liberals cling to the hoary myth that “disparities” in law enforcement can only be due to racial bias in criminal jutice.

The Racial Justice Act is turning California’ criminal justice system into a farce:

When a felon in San Francisco contested his arrest and prosecution for having a loaded handgun in his car, a “race expert” testified that the arresting officer’s use of the phrase “high crime area” demonstrated “bias against people of color.” The trial judge disagreed, but an appeals court reversed and allowed the felon’s claim to proceed. (Speaking of bias, that same expert, Dante King, asserted at the University of California, San Francisco, on Feb. 8 that “whites are psychopaths” whose “behavior represents an underlying, biologically transmitted proclivity.”)
***
A case from Contra Costa County last year shows the snowballing potential of the Racial Justice Act. A judge found that four black gang members who had committed murder as part of a bloody feud between two Oakland gangs had been improperly sentenced to life in prison without parole. That conclusion wasn’t based on flaws in the four defendants’ trials, but simply on an alleged historical pattern of sentencing bias toward black gang murderers. The black comparison group in the case was made up of 30 black defendants who had also committed gang murder in Contra Costa County from 2015 to 2022 and who had also received life without parole. All 30 can now sue to erase those sentences.

It is hard to understand how there can be a political movement in favor of more crime, but there you have it. In California, that movement evidently represents the majority. If, for some reason, you still live in California, you should get out while you can.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Longing for Auschwitz

By: Scott Johnson — March 5th 2024 at 06:24
(Scott Johnson)

As a guest of the Jewish Community Relations Council I attended a private showing of the atrocity video compiled by the IDF in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre this past December. Several of the clips compiled in the video had previously been posted to social media. The sadistic glee of the Hamas savages is apparent throughout the 45-minute video. They shriek in ecstasy as they perform their barbaric deeds. They take sensual pleasure in committing acts from which we recoil in disgust and horror.

Now Professor Alvin Rosenfeld seeks to capture the Hamas spirit in the Tablet column “Longing for Auschwitz.” What’s it all about? Professor Rosenfeld seems to me to get at the mania that is otherwise beyond our verbal grasp if not our human understanding. This is just the opening slice of his column:

Hamas’s assault on Israelis on October 7th was not an act of war as we normally think of it but something far worse. We don’t have an adequate term for what occurred on that day, so people use words like “terrorism,” “barbarism,” “atrocity,” “depravity,” “massacre,” and so on. All are correct, and yet all fall short of capturing the annihilationist fury set loose at the Nova music festival and in the kibbutzim and small towns of southern Israel. The people attacked in those places were not only to die, but to die in torment. In addition to the merciless torture, killings, slashings, burnings, beheadings, mutilations, dismemberments, and kidnappings, there were gang-rapes and other forms of sadistic sexual assault, including, according to some reports, the cutting off of women’s breasts, nails driven into women’s thighs and groins, bullets fired into their vaginas, and even intercourse with female corpses. Unimaginable? For most normal people, yes. But before going into Israel, the Hamas assassins were instructed to “dirty them” and “whore them.” And that’s precisely what many of them faithfully did.

If it were possible to encapsulate all the evil of that day in a single image, it would be that of the violent seizure of a young Israeli woman, Naama Levy, 19, barefoot, beaten, and bloodied, her hands tied behind her back, the crotch of her sweatpants heavily soiled, possibly from being raped, dragged by her hair at gunpoint into a Hamas car, and driven off to Gaza to suffer an unspeakable fate among her captors there.Her assailants filmed every second of her ordeal; and as one watches the clips of her being taken away, one sees crowds nearby loudly shouting “Allah-hu Akbar” – “Allah is the greatest”—a victory cry that offers religious sanction to the malign treatment of Naama Levy and countless others seized, slaughtered, and abducted on that horrific day.

All wars cause human suffering, but the cruelties visited upon Israelis on October 7th far surpasses what normally happens when armies go to war. Hamas’s actions had a different aim: not conquest but the purposeful humiliation of Jews by people who detest them and were sworn to degrade and dehumanize them before murdering them. For those familiar with Jewish history, the mass violence enacted against Jews in Kishinev in 1903 came instantly to mind, as did the Farhoud in Iraq in 1941 and Chmielnicki’s savage decimation of Ukrainian Jewish communities in the mid-17th century. With memories of those earlier massacres newly revived, October 7th instantly evoked the word “pogrom.” With cause. But how could such a catastrophe occur in today’s Israel? The country’s military has been hailed as one of the strongest in the world and was regarded as invincible. And yet on October 7th, it failed to protect its southern border and prevent the ruthless assault on Jews in the Gaza envelope. Responding to Hamas’s bloody deeds, one Israeli woman summed up the reactions of virtually every Jew in the country and millions of others abroad when she said, simply and incontrovertibly, “Every Israeli’s worst nightmares have come true.”

October 7th, 2023 was the most destructive day of mass violence against Jews since the end of the Holocaust. The carnage carried out on that day, far from being a by-product of war, was a religiously sanctioned, orgiastic display of unrestrained Jew-hatred. One cannot begin to understand it if one ignores the Hamas Charter and other Islamist teachings that make Hamas the organization it is and inspires it to do what it does.

Hamas originates as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is and always has been a jihadist organization, which sees the existence of the State of Israel as an intolerable intrusion into the Domain of Islam (“dar al-islam”) and is committed to removing Israel by whatever means necessary. The preamble to the Hamas Charter declares that “Israel exists and will continue to exist until Islam obliterates it, just as it obliterated others before it.” The “Palestinian problem,” it affirms, “is a religious problem” and is not amenable to a negotiated political settlement. The only way to “raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine” is through “jihad,” a holy war that is a “duty for every Muslim wherever he may be.”

After watching the atrocity video, I wondered: Has Dementia Joe or blind Tony Blinken seen this? (Kelly Jane Torrance reported in her New York Post column on it that Biden has seen it.) If so, what are they doing hectoring Israel, yammering about a two-state solution, and disparaging a country acting in self-defense while in the throes of a crisis that goes to its reason for being? If that’s the best they can do, why won’t they shut up?

The “solution” is part of the problem. A people must have civilized norms and civil institutions on which to predicate a state. It can’t be created ex nihilo or ex worse than nothing.

Israel exists as a homeland and refuge for the Jewish people. The events of October 7 belie its reason for being. In other words, it won’t remain a refuge if Israelis aren’t safe from such atrocities in their homeland. Thus the war on Hamas in which it is currently engaged. Israel, by the way, also has to contend with Iranian proxies including Hezbollah and the Houthis as well as Iran itself. The day of reckoning is coming.

No government freely elected by the people of Israel can tolerate what Israel withstood on October 7. There can be no return to the status quo ante or its functional equivalent under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority, whose president for life himself supports terrorism with funds generously provided by his supporters among the Biden administration and elsewhere.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Whole lotta lyin’ goin’ on, cont’d

By: Scott Johnson — March 5th 2024 at 07:11
(Scott Johnson)

Attorney Terrence Bradley testified last week in the hearing on the possible disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Special Counsel Nathan Wade in the “conspiracy so immense” charges against President Trump et al. pending in Georgia state court. Bradley is Wade’s former law partner and lawyer in his divorce proceeding. He knows when the Willis/Wade romance began because Wade told him.

Indeed, Bradley had previously stated in text messages to Ashleigh Merchant (attorney for defendant Michael Roman) that: (1) the relationship between Willis and Wade started before he was appointed special prosecutor, (2) the relationship started while they were both magistrate judges, and (3) the motion to disqualify Willis, which alleged the start date of the relationship, was accurate.

However, that’s not the way it turned out on the witness stand. After long pauses, Bradley disavowed his previous statements. He couldn’t recall. He was speculating. As in the old Jack Benny joke, he was thinking about it. He knew nothing. It made for painful viewing. Everyone in the room knew that Bradley was lying. Which means that Willis and Wade had lied in their testimony, which was almost as obvious.

Judge Scott McAfee heard oral argument on the disqualification motion this past Friday. He announced that he would render a decision within two weeks. I think he left the bench knowing what he would do.

Now comes counsel for defendant David J. Shafer to add to the lyin’ record on the matter of disqualification. According to counsel in a three-page filing setting forth Notice of Proposed Testimony, Cobb County prosecutor Cindi Lee Yeager had “numerous, in-person and other conversations” with Bradley in which they discussed information about Willis and Wade. Bradley told Yeager that the two met during a 2019 judicial conference and that Wade “began his romantic relationship” with the future DA “at or around this time.”

The filing also describes a meeting around September 2023 when Bradley was visiting Yeager in her office and got a phone call. “Ms. Yeager could hear that the caller was District Attorney Willis. District Attorney Willis was calling Mr. Bradley in response to an article that was published about how much money Mr. Wade and his law partners had been paid in this case,” according to the filing. “Ms. Yeager heard District Attorney Willis tell Mr. Bradley: “They are coming after us. You don’t need to talk to them about anything about us.”

The Daily Mail runs it all down along with exhibits and videos in “Fani Willis warned Nathan Wade’s divorce lawyer to stay quiet about their affair, bombshell new court filing claims: Trump prosecutor case gets another twist with NEW witness that could deliver devastating testimony.” Jonathan Turley provides a link to the new filing in the tweet below.

My guess is that Judge McAfee has heard enough. He knows how he wants to decide the disqualification motion. Anyone with half a brain could see that Bradley was lying. Bradley could not have made it more obvious if he had wanted to, although (with apologies to the great Jeremiah Denton) he might have blinked out “I-M-L-Y-I-N-G” in Morse Code if he knew it.

There is a new filing in the Fani Willis case that contradicts the much maligned testimony of Nathan Wade’s former partner Terrence Bradley. A prosecutor has come forward to say that Bradley told him with clarity of the personal relationship began earlier. https://t.co/HWtlWhdmyK

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 4, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Liberal Freakout Sweepstakes

By: Steven Hayward — March 5th 2024 at 08:54
(Steven Hayward)

Last week I observed in “Liberal Fragility” how liberal law professors supposedly break down in tears they are so depressed that the Supreme Court has taken a turn away from the palmy days of their beloved Warren Court (which, recall, Barack Obama once said did not go far enough in the direction of true “equality”). Just imagine how much Xanax is being ingested after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that leaves Trump on the ballot.

I expected something like this from Keith Olbermann:

Dissolve the Court! Remind me again who is the threat to democracy and trasher of “democratic norms”? Almost makes you long for the good old days of court-packing.

But I hadn’t expected that a supposed conservative could be equally idiotic, but then the side-effects of Trump Derangement Syndrome, for which there is no vaccine, appear to be even worse that I thought:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: White House Hypocrisy by the Numbers

By: Steven Hayward — March 5th 2024 at 12:21
(Steven Hayward)

One of the central totems of the modern left and its women’s auxiliary (the feminist movement) is the alleged “wage gap” between men and women. You know the cliche—women only earn 80 cents for every dollar a man earns. This cliche has been exploded countless times, but it refuses to die because it retains endless utility for grievance-junkies who run the Democratic Party. You know the Biden White House will continue to deploy it.

Which makes Mark Perry’s annual analysis of White House salaries under Democrats so much fun:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Getting to know UNRWA

By: Scott Johnson — March 5th 2024 at 14:34
(Scott Johnson)

Israel’s war on Hamas has had several side effects. One such is the exposure of UNRWA a functional arm of Hamas. As Michael Rubin puts it:

The rot surrounding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East keeps accumulating. Not only did the UNRWA allow Hamas command posts under local hospitals and the UNRWA’s own headquarters, but UNRWA employees hid weaponry in their homes and then reportedly participated in the Oct. 7 kidnappings in Israel. Some employees held Israeli civilians hostage in the aftermath of the mass kidnapping. Israel alleges that 10% of UNRWA employees are Hamas members, a figure that, if anything, seems low.

Yesterday the IDF played a recording of an UNRWA employee boasting about kidnapping an Israeli woman on October 7. The UNRWA employee is only one of several hundred UNRWA employees in Gaza who are operatives in Gaza terrorist groups. Yesterday IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari held a press briefing to play the recording. Here is his introduction to it:

The information that I am about to share is distressing and some people may find it triggering, but we have an obligation to share the truth about what happened on October 7th, 150 days ago. We have a duty to expose the truth about those who took part in this brutal massacre.

Today, we are declassifying a call that we intercepted, made by Yusef Zidan Salimam Al-Khuairl, a Hamas terrorist who took part in the massacre of October 7th.

But he is not just a Hamas terrorist, he is also an UNRWA employee working as a teacher in a UN elementary school in Gaza.

The terrorist is heard speaking on the phone roughly 7 hours after Hamas began invading Israel:
Murdering; mutilating; massacring; kidnapping; raping; and burning entire families alive.

On the call, you can hear him bragging about the Sabaya is a female captive that he got his hands on.

He’s talking about one of our girls. He is talking about one of the women. The term “SABAYA” used by this UNRWA worker is an Arabic term, meaning ‘female captive’ with a possession, a possession of a captor.

“Sabaya” is exactly the same word used by ISIS to describe the Yazidi women they captured,
and did horrific things to.

I want you to listen to the conversation, I want you to hear the tone… how they brag…how they laugh…how they talk about women…How they call her a 
“noble horse”…

Listen.

The IDF has posted text and video of the briefing here. Below is the video.

Below is the recording of the call Hagari plays in the briefing. “Listen.”

This is an @UNRWA teacher.
This is a proud @UN employee.
This man's paycheque is paid by YOUR taxes.
This is a man sharing his successes.
This is a man who sees women as #sabaya, the term ISIS used for slaves.
This is the terrorism of #October7massacre
This is UNRWA… pic.twitter.com/VcPOkz49Yf

— Lt. Col. (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) March 4, 2024

Via Richard Kemp/X.

JOHN adds: the UN is a hopelessly corrupt and immoral organization. We should get out.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Sinema Is Out

By: John Hinderaker — March 5th 2024 at 21:08
(John Hinderaker)

Kyrsten Sinema announced today that she will not seek reelection to her Arizona Senate seat:

Sinema’s move is significant but not unexpected. She raised only $595,000 in the final quarter of 2023, a fraction of the totals that Lake and Gallego each raised — although Sinema maintains nearly $11 million in her campaign account.

So it sounds like her mind was made up a while ago. Sinema’s withdrawal means the race will be between Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Representative Ruben Gallego. Gallego is a far leftist; this is how Lake describes him:

He votes with Joe Biden 100% of the time, supported the Iran Deal, sanctuary cities, defunding the police, and voting rights for everyone pouring across the border. He even called the border wall “stupid.”

Lake will now be a heavy favorite to flip the Senate seat, obviously a desirable outcome. But I am a little sorry to see Sinema go. She was an old-fashioned–i.e, sane–Democrat. A dinosaur, in other words. While she no doubt voted with the Dems most of the time, there were important instances, as for example the original “Build Back Better” disaster, when she stood in the breach on behalf of the Republic. And I have it on good authority that she couldn’t stand her Democratic colleagues, which perhaps contributed to her decision to walk away.

In any event, while Kari Lake will likely mark an important step toward restoring Republican control of the Senate, we owe Kyrsten Sinema a debt of gratitude.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Happy Death Day, You Miserable Son of a Bitch

By: John Hinderaker — March 5th 2024 at 21:32
(John Hinderaker)

Josef Stalin died on this day in 1953. In his sleep; so, like Lenin, Mao and Castro, and unlike Hitler, Mussolini and Ceausescu, he never paid a price for his crimes. The Victims of Communism remember:

Stalin died on this day in 1953.

He left behind a legacy of terror, famine, and mass murder.

Remember the victims. pic.twitter.com/HUBBYUZMwh

— Victims of Communism (@VoCommunism) March 5, 2024


Stalin ranks second only to Mao among history’s worst mass murderers. Those who knew him best understood how evil he was: his wife committed suicide and his daughter defected to America. Stalin’s malignant legacy lives on, as Russia has never fully emerged from his dark shadow. It is unfortunate that he wasn’t strung up like Mussolini or shot like Ceausescu. At this point, all we can do is revile him.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Feel Good Story of the Day

By: Steven Hayward — March 5th 2024 at 21:33
(Steven Hayward)

Some things even the Babylon Bee can’t make up:

MSNBC staffers scatter after bed bugs found at Manhattan HQ ahead of Super Tuesday coverage: ‘They’re scrambling

Bed bugs found at MSNBC’s Manhattan headquarters caused staffers to scatter ahead of the left-leaning network’s Super Tuesday coverage, The Post has learned.

According to a memo obtained by The Post, an “unidentified insect” was spotted Sunday in the recently revamped studio 3A — home to special election coverage and “The Rachel Maddow Show” — at 30 Rock in Midtown.

Additional studios on the third floor were also shuttered “out of an abundance of caution.”

Now I know what you’re thinking. How can you tell the difference between a bed bug and an MSNBC news person? They are both repellant parasites. You’d think professional courtesy would make MSNBC welcome bed bugs.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

2024 plus 1972 Equals?

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 5th 2024 at 22:32
(Lloyd Billingsley)

As Steve notes, Joe Biden can’t even handle his cue cards and calls to dump the Delaware Democrat are surging by the day. That recalls events from the summer of 1972, another crucial election year.

The incumbent president was Richard Nixon, hated by the left for his role in exposing Stalinist spy Alger Hiss (see Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case). In 1972, the Soviet Union still controlled Eastern Europe under the Brezhnev Doctrine. For the American left, defense of the USSR was the primary task and in 1972 they had the candidate they wanted.

After WWII, George McGovern opposed President Truman’s “aggressive anti-Soviet policy,” which he considered “dangerous.” In 1948 McGovern supported Henry Wallace and the Progressive Party, a front for the Communist Party. In 1972, McGovern’s position on “arms control” was essentially the same as the Soviets. America is to blame for the Cold War, McGovern believed, so the Soviets must arm and America must limit.

Nixon retained vice president Spiro Agnew, former governor of Maryland. McGovern picked Sen. Thomas Eagleton, a Harvard law grad and devout Catholic who opposed abortion and the war in Vietnam. McGovern backed Eagleton “1000 percent,” but then came an anonymous call.

On three occasions during the 1960s, Eagleton had been hospitalized for depression and undergone electroshock treatment. After only 18 days, McGovern dumped Eagleton for Eunice Kennedy’s husband Sargent Shriver, who had never run for office. Nixon bagged 60.7 percent of the popular vote to McGovern’s 37.5 and in the electoral college Nixon topped McGovern 520-17. The South Dakota Democrat carried only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

“McGovern would have lost anyway to an incumbent Nixon,” notes Victor Davis Hanson, “but the margin of defeat in one of the greatest landslides in presidential history was often attributable to the sheer chaos of changing a vice presidential candidate so late in the campaign.”

In 2024, with chaos on every hand, Democrats seek to dump the addled Biden. As this plays out, Kamala Harris proves capable of rivaling Biden in sheer incoherence. As Trump likes to say, we’ll have to see what happens.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

After last night

By: Scott Johnson — March 6th 2024 at 06:31
(Scott Johnson)

Digging deep into the Super Tuesday primary results, I foresee President Biden facing off for a rematch against President Trump. Can you feel the excitement? The two candidates represent juggernauts within their respective parties.

Let’s take the Democrats first, courtesy of RealClearPolitics. What we have here is one full boatload of results. They raise the question: who is Marianne Williamson and what is she doing here? She is the best-selling author of a variety of books including A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course In Miracles, A Woman’s Worth, Illuminata, The Healing of America, and Illuminated Prayers. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Williamson continues to inspire audiences on a global scale as she lectures internationally in the fields of spirituality and new thought.

I infer from the results that Democrats resist the light. They resist new thought. Also, we don’t have a prayer. We need a miracle.

Biden’s presents himself as a throwback to the old-fashioned Democratic Party, yet he has adopted the policies of party’s far left. Most prominent among these policies is the opening of our borders and the implicit rejection of the sovereignty of the United States. Over the past three-plus years these policies have wrought great damage. Biden wants to test the outer limits of Adam Smith’s proposition that “There is a great deal of ruin in a nation.” One can’t help but wonder if we can put ourselves back on track.

It’s not Joe Biden’s Democratic Party. It’s the woke left’s Democratic Party. It’s the party of those who say the things which are not.

Biden made an appearance during the narrow window of his waking hours yesterday. He appeared to have dropped in from outer space. He sounded like he had not been briefed since he blasted off from his homeworld. J.B., phone home.

FULL VIDEO:

REPORTER: "What's your message to Democrats who are concerned about your poll numbers?"

BIDEN: "My poll numbers? The last five polls you guys don't report. I'm winning — five! Five in a row!" pic.twitter.com/Mz5gWQMRSA

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 5, 2024

On the Republican side of Super Tuesday (also courtesy of RCP), President Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination. Nikki Haley will suspend her campaign later this morning.

This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party. If President Trump were to keel over and leave us with an open convention in Milwaukee next July, I assess the odds that the delegates would turn to Haley at zero. It would be a politician in the mold of Trump — probably Ron DeSantis, or perhaps J.D. Vance or Vivek the Mistake. Trump has transformed the Republican Party. By contrast with Biden and the Democrats, he has stamped the party in his image.

I am surprised by the not insubstantial fraction of votes that Haley pulled yesterday. Some portion of the Haley represents Democrats voting in open primaries. Haley won Vermont, but even if she were the nominee she would lose it in November. Vermont is a socialist state. I’m not talking about Vermont. Assuming Trump can survive the Democrats’ lawfare, he cannot win without a united Republican Party. He has some work to do to put the Republican house together. His choice for vice president could help.

It is difficult to project the state of play in the coming months. My crystal ball is cloudy. Much depends on the course of the Democrats’ lawfare against Trump and, to a lesser extent, the nature of the campaign Trump runs. I think he best serves his own interests at this point when he is out of the news and provides the alternative to Biden. If the election can be reduced to a binary choice, Biden should lose. The Democrats’ lawfare means to preclude that.

Yesterday brought more news of the illegal immigration that Biden has invited, inflicted, facilitated, fostered. Biden’s derelictions in office are historic in nature. The Daily Mail reports, for example, “Biden administration ADMITS flying 320,000 migrants secretly into the U.S. to reduce the number of crossings at the border has national security ‘vulnerabilities.'” The New York Post reports “Elon Musk says Biden flying 320K ‘unvetted’ migrants into the US sets stage ‘for something far worse than 9/11.’” Elon Musk — he’s no dummy.

The true numbers involved in the invasion that Biden invited are staggering, whatever they are, as are the secondary effects. As I say, we need a miracle, or something like it.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

When Oscar Met Monty

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 6th 2024 at 07:39
(Lloyd Billingsley)

The annual Academy Awards show, coming up on March 10, has defied satire for decades. Back in 1973, the Monty Python players had a go with “The British Showbiz Awards,” hosted by “Dickie” Attenborough, wonderfully played by Eric Idle:

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Chairman, friends of the society, your dummy Royal Highness. Once again, the year has come full circle, and for me there can be no greater privilege, and honor, than to that to which it is my lot to have befallen this evening. There can be no finer honor than to welcome into our midst tonight a guest who has not only done only more than not anyone for our Society, but nonetheless has only done more.

Ladies and gentlemen, seldom can it have been a greater pleasure and privilege than it is for me now to announce that the next award gave me the great pleasure and privilege of asking a man without whose ceaseless energy and tireless skill the British Film Industry would be today. I refer of course to my friend and colleague, Mr. David Niven. Sadly, David Niven cannot be with us tonight, but he has sent his fridge. This is the fridge in which David keeps most of his milk, butter and eggs. What a typically selfless gesture, that he should send this fridge, of all his fridges, to be with us tonight.

David Niven’s fridge then proclaims the nominees for best foreign film, including Pasolini’s “The Third Test Match,” which came in sixth. Contenders for the big prize include the Oscar Wilde sketch but the winner must wait until the end. Dickie brings it on in fine style:

That moment is coming in a moment. The moment I’m talking about is the moment when we present the award for the cast with the most awards award, and this year is no exception. Ladies and gentlemen will you join me and welcome please, the winners of this year’s Mountbatten trophy, showbusiness’s highest accolade, the cast of the Dirty Vicar Sketch.

Dickie greets the cast, including Ronald Simms, the Dirty Vicar of St. Michaels, played by Terry Jones.

Well now, let us see the performances which brought them this award. Let us see The Dirty Vicar sketch.

Monty Python gets the nomination for best satire of the Oscars, but don’t forget Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Hear the peasant Dennis (Michael Palin) tell King Arthur (Graham Chapman) that “supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses.” There’s a lesson for America in 2024.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Deaths of Despair

By: Steven Hayward — March 6th 2024 at 12:37
(Steven Hayward)

The term “deaths of despair” has caught on in recent years, brought out into the mainstream from academic and specialized literature such as Anne Case and Angus Deaton’s Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism. And the problem of drug overdose deaths was already becoming an issue on the campaign trail as far back as the Obama years. And yet the problem has only gotten worse:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Arizona Cranks Up More Criminal Charges

By: John Hinderaker — March 6th 2024 at 15:57
(John Hinderaker)

Politico reports that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (a Democrat, of course) is accelerating an investigation that may lead to prosecutions of people close to President Trump’s 2020 campaign. Which is odd on its face, since the events that are the basis for the investigation happened more than three years ago. Why the sudden hurry? Obviously, Democrats see that Joe Biden is losing, and are throwing the kitchen sink at Trump:

Arizona prosecutors in recent weeks issued grand jury subpoenas to multiple people linked to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, a sharp acceleration of their criminal investigation into efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

The new steps, first reported here, are a sign that Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, is nearing a decision on whether to charge Trump’s allies in the state, including GOP activists who falsely posed as presidential electors in December 2020.

“Falsely posed as electors.” What an absurd characterization! In a number of states, Trump’s campaign had people lined up to be electors on his behalf in the event that his various legal challenges might succeed before the Electoral College met. There is nothing wrong with this, let alone illegal. The same thing happened in Hawaii in 1960, and would have happened in Florida in 2000 if the Supreme Court hadn’t first put the matter to rest.

The “fake elector” theory is one of several ways in which the Democrats have tried to criminalize making claims of voter fraud. In the wake of the 2020 election, Donald Trump and many others believed that the election had been stolen by the Biden campaign. Were they right? I doubt it, but we will never know for sure. There wasn’t enough time between the election and Biden’s inauguration for claims of voter fraud to be litigated on the merits, and in no case did any court ever permit the necessary discovery, conduct a trial and make findings on the extent of voter fraud by the Democrats.

In multiple criminal proceedings, Trump is accused of “trying to overturn” — or “plotting to overturn” — the result of the 2020 election. Again, there is nothing wrong with this. Al Gore tried to overturn the result of the 2000 election, and Al Franken got into the U.S. Senate by overturning the result of an election. There is nothing wrong with pursuing legal election remedies. And where extensive voter fraud is suspected, an attempt to investigate, litigate and overturn a fraudulent result is commendable, not criminal. But the reality is that voter fraud can only be prevented; it can’t be litigated and corrected after the fact. The Democrats have blocked common-sense ballot security measures at every opportunity, and they have no one but themselves to blame if the public widely suspects that our elections are rigged.

Sadly, it appears that some Trump associates have been bullied into guilty pleas in shameful criminal proceedings alleging that they were “fake electors.” This reflects the reality that government at either the federal or the state level can destroy your life at will. At some point, nearly everyone will surrender rather than go through bankruptcy and see his or her life destroyed.

The misuse of criminal proceedings by the Democratic Party to punish its political opponents is the most vicious legacy of our current political crisis.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

New Frontier In Woke Capitalism

By: John Hinderaker — March 6th 2024 at 19:11
(John Hinderaker)

North Face is a left-wing clothing company that is breaking new ground in wokeness. It now has a program, where anyone who completes its “allyship” training module can get a 20% discount on North Face products. This is truly a new frontier: a company is actually engaging in price discrimination, offering lower prices to people who share (or pretend to share) its political views.

Intrigued by news stories about North Face’s left-wing discount, I signed up to take the “Allyship in the Outdoors” course. For reasons stated below, I didn’t complete it. But this is what I saw, starting with how North Face introduces its course:

It is all about race. There is, you see, a problem. Not enough POCs are venturing into the outdoors:

The statistics are grim, especially in England. Hey, North Face is international:

But let’s pause here for a moment. There is not a single human activity that is engaged in by equal proportions of members of different ethnic groups. Not one. In the U.S., blacks live mostly in cities. Urban populations do not hike and camp as often as rural populations. So what? Rural populations do not play basketball as much as urban populations. Should North Face offer discounts to rural whites for that reason?

Of course, North Face is on board with the Black Lives Matter Movement, even though the Black Lives Matter organization turned out to be a criminal fraud. Should someone tell them?

North Face thinks it is really important that women in full head coverings participate equally in the great outdoors:

Here’s the thing: I haven’t done so much hiking and camping in recent years, but I did quite a bit when I was younger, as well as skiing, fishing and other outdoor activities. There is no “barrier” to anyone doing any of these things. The national and state parks are open to all. Anyone can hunt or fish. Just buy a shotgun or a fishing rod. You don’t have to be a left-wing “ally” to encourage anyone who feels the urge to get outdoors. Maybe by joining the Boy Scouts, although I don’t suppose North Face would approve of that.

One thing about a far-left outfit like North Face, they lay it on the line. “Equity” means equal outcomes, i.e., exactly equal percentages of all ethnic groups engaging in all outdoor activities:

Let me know when all ethnic groups are equally represented in the NFL, and then I will get back to you.

Before getting too far into the “allyship” lesson, I had to take a quiz:

I clicked on f), but that turned out to be a thought crime:

So that was the end of the road for me. I had to either sign on with North Face’s rightthink, or forgo my opportunity for a 20% discount. Since I would not, under any circumstances, consider buying a product from North Face, it was an easy decision.

What to make of this? North Face has ventured beyond any other “woke” company, to my knowledge, in offering discounts to people with stupid political beliefs. Can that possibly work? I don’t know. The adage “Get woke, go broke” sometimes holds with regard to companies that rely on American sales, like Bud Light, but it generally doesn’t with regard to companies whose sales are mostly international, like Nike. I am not sure where North Face falls on that continuum.

I do suspect that North Face, which pretends to be “green,” is embarrassed by the fact that its products are made mostly from petroleum, and that may partly account for its insistent leftism.

So, is there an opportunity here for conservative companies? Should conservative companies (assuming there are some) offer discounts to customers who assert belief in values like patriotism and free speech?

It isn’t going to happen. Why? Because conservatives believe in inclusion and equality.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Woeful Wokery Whacked Again

By: Steven Hayward — March 6th 2024 at 21:25
(Steven Hayward)

You may recall a few weeks ago the Biden Administration backed down in the face of public outrage when it emerged that one of its wokesters in the Department of the Interior proposed to remove a statue of William Penn from federal property in Philadelphia in favor of some kind of statue or public art that would be more “welcoming.”

Well, they done it again. A wokester in the Veterans Administration proposed in a memo to remove and ban any display of the famous Alfred Eisenstaedt photo of the jubilant sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J day in 1945. Because this photo depicts “a non-consensual act,” it has to be banned because it might constitute a hostile environment or cause snowflakes to melt or something. Some people thought the memo must be parody, but it was real:

The head of the VA has reversed this stupidity. However, I propose that if Trump is indeed elected again and allowed to take office next January 20, one of his first executive orders should be to require that “Baby It’s Cold Outside” be played at least once every day, or perhaps at shift change, in every VA hospital.

P.S. Now, if someone proposes expunging every picture of Joe Biden creeping on a child or grown woman, I’d be down for that.

Chaser:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The price of inflation

By: Scott Johnson — March 7th 2024 at 05:55
(Scott Johnson)

Jeffrey Anderson presents a comparative analysis of presidents and inflation. The mainstream press to the contrary notwithstanding, he explains what Biden has done to make us feel so black and blue. It’s not our imagination. It’s the inflation, stupid! See his City Journal column “No great mystery.” Anderson manages to review the data and perform the analysis with a sense of humor.

The daycare minders at the White House have persuaded Biden to single out “shrinkflation” as the villain. However, “shrinkflation” reflects “inflation.” It is a manifestation of rising prices. Sentient observers understand that Biden economic policies have triggered the inflation that we have suffered, just as they understand that Biden’s senescence has slowed the windmills of his mind. Biden trusts we won’t notice he indicts himself when he decries “shrinkflation.”

Biden’s daycare minders take us for fools. Thus the administration’s critique of Republicans for causing the invasion of illegals that Biden invited, facilitated, and denied. They think we are stupid.

We hear that Biden threatens to point the finger at alleged corporate wrongdoing as the source of our pain in tonight’s State of the Union address. For some reason or other this wave of alleged wrongdoing has run riot under the regime of…Joe Biden. It was somehow held in check under the regime of…Donald Trump. James Bovard seeks to immunize us against the foolishness of the Biden party line in his New York Post column “Joe Biden’s State of the Union ‘shrinkflation’ swindle.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Life of Loretta

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 7th 2024 at 07:56
(Lloyd Billingsley)

Monty Python veteran John Cleese has been planning a stage production of Life of Brian, and several American actors advised him to cut the “Loretta scene.” Cleese said he had “no intention” of cutting the scene, which involves the Grumpy People’s Front of Judea:

JUDITH: (Sue Jones-Davies): I do feel, Reg (John Cleese) that any anti-imperialist group like ours must reflect such a divergence of interests within its power-base.

REG: Agreed. Francis? (Michael Palin)

FRANCIS: Yeah. I think Judith’s point of view is very valid, Reg, provided the movement never forgets that it is the inalienable right of every man . . .

STAN (Eric Idle): Or woman. . .

FRANCIS: Or woman . . . to rid himself. .  .

STAN: Or herself.

FRANCIS: Or herself.

REG: Agreed.

FRANCIS: Thank you, brother.

STAN: Or sister.

FRANCIS: Or sister. Where was I?

REG: I think you’d finished.

FRANCIS: Oh right.

REG: Furthermore, it is the birthright of every man . . .

STAN: Or woman.

REG: Why don’t you shut up about women, Stan. You’re putting us off.

STAN: Women have a perfect right to play a part in our movement, Reg.

FRANCIS: Why are you always on about women, Stan?

STAN: I want to be one.

REG: What?

STAN: I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me “Loretta.”

REG: What?

STAN: It’s my right as a man.

JUDITH: Well, why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?

STAN:  I want to have babies.

REG: You want to have babies?!

STAN: It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.

REG: But. . . you can’t have babies.

STAN: Don’t you oppress me.

REG: I’m not oppressing you, Stan. You haven’t got a womb! Where’s the fetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!

JUDITH: Here! I’ve got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can’t actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody’s fault, not even the Romans, but that he can have the right to have babies.

FRANCIS: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister. Sorry.

REG: What’s the point?

FRANCIS: What?

REG: What’s the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can’t have babies?!

FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.

REG: Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

As Bruce Bawer explains, the current trans movement is a “revolution against reality itself.” Hats off to John Cleese for resisting the Grumpy Woke Front of America.

STEVE adds: Add this scene to Blazing Saddles as something you can’t show on a college campus without risking expulsion.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

John Kerry—GOP Double Agent?

By: Steven Hayward — March 7th 2024 at 08:46
(Steven Hayward)

I think it was Glenn Reynolds who posited that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is actually a Karl Rove plant inside the Democratic Party, but it seems equally plausible that this is the case for John Kerry. He has always been so pompously preposterous that you can’t take him seriously. And now he says we might “feel better” about Russia and the Ukrainian situation if only Russia would get on board with cutting emissions.

UNREAL: John Kerry says people would 'feel better' about the war in Ukraine if Russia would 'make a greater effort to reduce emissions' pic.twitter.com/lm2Vq2uBfS

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 6, 2024

Please, Democrats—if you manage to sideline Slow Joe, can you nominate this man again? Pretty please?

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden Plays to His Base

By: Steven Hayward — March 7th 2024 at 10:46
(Steven Hayward)

Tonight is the State of the Union speech. I know it’s hard to contain your excitement. Many Bingo and drinking games suggest themselves.

We all know that Joe Biden is a pretend president, so just who in the White House thought it was a good idea to have him have a Zoom call with actual pretend presidents—Hollywood actors who have played the president, soliciting their advice on how to approach his speech tonight. And what we get it this:

You may’ve heard I’ve got a big speech coming up.

So, I thought I would hear from some folks who have done the job before – sort of. pic.twitter.com/7wFYVQm7Xm

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 7, 2024

Maybe Biden’s staff came up with this exercise just to distract him from doing anything today. Or to make him feel good about himself. If all these Hollywood pretenders say he’s doing a great job, it must be true.

Missing from this roster: Dave. Kevin Kline, that is. Maybe they didn’t want the subtle reminder of an imposter in the Oval Office. Too close to the current truth.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Life of Brian

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 7th 2024 at 11:17
(Lloyd Billingsley)

Brian Deese is “an MIT Innovation Fellow, focusing on the impact of economic policies that strengthen the United States’ industrial capacity and on accelerating climate investment and innovation.” Before that, Deese assisted Joe Biden as Director of the National Economic Council. Asked in 2022 how American families could cope with surging gasoline prices, the NEC boss said, “this is about the future of the liberal world order, and we have to stand firm.” As Sir Bedevere(Terry Jones) might say, who is this who is so wise in the ways of economics?

Deese is the son of Boston College political science professor David Deese, who “researches the international and comparative politics of energy and climate policies worldwide.” Brian’s mother, Patricia Stanton, served as deputy commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and assistant commissioner of waste prevention at the state Department of Environmental Protection.

At Middlebury College Deese earned an undergraduate degree in international politics and economics. He got into Yale Law School but left a few credits short of graduation to work for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Composite character president Obama tapped him to help out with climate change.

In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Obama touted the “amazing” Brian Deese, who “engineered the Paris Agreement,  the Aviation Agreement,” and “may have helped save the planet.” The auto industry was also in trouble.

“The wunderkind in charge of saving our auto industry is a 31-year-old with about as much experience as a summer intern,” noted Glenn Beck. “Despite having no formal business education, no business experience and no auto industry experience, 31-year-old Brian Deese is now in charge of dismantling General Motors.” David Sanger of the New York Times also weighed in with, “Meet the 31-Year Old in Charge of Dismantling GM.”

In 2017, Deese became a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. From there it was on to BlackRock, where Deese headed the sustainable investing division, advising clients on meeting environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Deese was reportedly bagging some $2.8 million a year, and building a net worth of $4 million.

In June of 2021, the amazing Deese outline his vision for a “new industrial strategy,” an “activist government,” approach including “targeted public investment, public procurement, climate resilience and equity.”  As Deese contends, “markets on their own will not make investments in technologies and in infrastructure that benefit an entire industry.”

And so on, in what Olson Johnson of Blazing Saddles might call “authentic statist gibberish.” Or, in the style of Monty Python, the wealthy MIT Innovation Fellow could qualify for “upper class twit of the year.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: SF Voters Say Poop to This

By: Steven Hayward — March 7th 2024 at 11:18
(Steven Hayward)

As you may have heard, San Francisco voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed initiative measures to make policing easier and require drug testing for welfare. The horrors! Too bad they didn’t put reparations in the ballot, as I have a hunch how the vote would have turned out. In any case, even progressives, naturally slow learners, are finally figuring it out.

And I know everyone has seen San Francisco’s famous “poop map.” Equally important is the map of the number of businesses in the central core of the city that had enough of the madness. These are all the businesses and retail outlets that closed up and left downtown near Union Square the last three years. Most of the spaces they vacated are still empty.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden to open Gaza port

By: Scott Johnson — March 7th 2024 at 11:43
(Scott Johnson)

Politico reports that President Biden has a big announcement to make tonight. During his State of the Union address, he will order the military to establish a temporary port in Gaza so more humanitarian aid can get to Palestinians in need. Enough with the airdrops, or to supplement the airdrops. We’re going in big time to keep Hamas in business.

It’s not clear to me if this slam comes from the administration sources briefing Politico, but it sounds like it: “The U.S. is resorting to this military mission because Israel isn’t letting in enough aid to alleviate the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war plaguing 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.”

And then we have this: “Planning for the maritime corridor [to supply the port] still faces many execution challenges, namely how to offload, secure and distribute the aid.” Hamas will lend a hand. Of that we can be sure.

They are still working out the details, but you can’t be too cynical: “Arguably the hardest part is dispersing the aid throughout the whole of Gaza. The multinational coalition will rely on the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and other groups to ensure the assistance gets to the right places.” It’s good to know they will have the friends of Hamas within the UN on board with the plan. It only makes sense.

How do you say gag me with a spoon in Arabic?

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Oh, yeah: The Samizdat Prize

By: Scott Johnson — March 7th 2024 at 18:19
(Scott Johnson)

RealClearFoundation president David DesRosiers has announced the inaugural winners of of its Samizdat Prize. Tonight’s the night. The Samizdat Prize is intended to honor the most important users of the First Amendment in the United States. The prize aspires to confer the honor that various of the Pulitzer Prizes bestow and should replace them in the mind of right-thinking men and women. In the words of DesRosiers, the award that is given by Real Clear to journalists, scholars, and public figures who have fought censorship and stood for truth, whatever the cost.

The first three recipients of the Samizdat Prize could not be more worthy: Miranda Devine (for her work on the Biden family business), Jay Bhattacharya (the anti-Fauci), and Matt Taibbi (for his work on the Twitter Files). I have written about all three many times on Power Line. DesRosiers talked about the prize with Buck Sexton here in a discussion posted at RCP.

Dr. Bhattacharya received the prize this past September. His remarks are posted here at RCP. Matt Taibbi has just posted “America enters the samizadat era” at his Racket News site. He looks back on his career in acknowledging the honor he receives tonight. Thanks to John Hinderaker, I met Matt last year. Politics aside, we have cheered him on and sought to follow his path in our own way.

Miranda Devine wrote in her New York Post Devine Online newsletter this morning:

I am thrilled to be in Palm Beach tonight to receive the inaugural Samizdat award from RealClearPolitics, alongside pandemic refusenik Dr Jay Battacharya and Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi.

It’s an honor to be part of this grassroots movement to reclaim honest journalism in an era of lies.

“Samizdat” was the name of the underground press resisting the tyranny of the former Soviet Union.

It means ‘We publish ourselves” and was the inspiration for David DesRosiers, publisher and president of RealClear Foundation, to set up a rival journalism award to the Pulitzers.

Bravo to RealClear for bucking the establishment.

I couldn’t agree more. I would only add our congratulations to the inaugural recipients of the Samizdat Prize.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Mean-Spirited Joe

By: John Hinderaker — March 7th 2024 at 20:47
(John Hinderaker)

Joe Biden is delivering his State of the Union speech tonight. Apparently he will chide Americans for not appreciating his wonderful economy; declining real wages will not be mentioned. He will denounce “shrinkflation,” as though people are too stupid to know inflation when they see it. Nor will Biden mention the eight million or so illegals who have streamed across the border, wreaking havoc, since he opened it.

Biden has always been mean-spirited. He is a nasty person, and always has been. Take, for example, his recent interview in the New Yorker. The interview is replete with Biden’s trademark classlessness, but take just one example: his smearing of Justice Thomas:

In a concurring opinion on Dobbs, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the legal rationale for overturning Roe could be applied to “correct the error” in cases on same-sex marriage, the decriminalization of homosexuality, and access to contraception. I asked Biden if he thought that the Justices would undo those protections. “I don’t think there’s a majority to go there,” he said, but added, “I think that a couple on the Court would go considerably further”—specifically “the guy who likes to spend a lot of time on yachts.”

“Thomas?” I asked.

Biden grinned.

Those familiar with Thomas’s history will appreciate the absurdity of describing him as a yachtsman. He is better known for driving around America in an RV. But in any event, it is Biden–not Thomas–who has enriched himself and his family to the tune of many millions of dollars through influence peddling. Worst of all, he peddled his influence to powers hostile to America. It takes a lot of nerve for Joe Biden to sneer at the Court’s foremost intellectual for accepting a ride on a boat.

But that is Joe Biden: mean-spirited, through and through.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The SOTU from hell

By: Scott Johnson — March 8th 2024 at 05:18
(Scott Johnson)

The comedian Richard Lewis, of blessed memory, is credited with the formulation “the x from hell.” Having watched President Biden’s State of the Union Address last night in order to comment on it this morning, I found it to be the SOTU from hell. Thank you, Mr. Lewis.

The White House has posted the text of the speech “as prepared for delivery.” That isn’t exactly how he gave it. You have to see it to get the full flavor. I have posted the White House video at the bottom.

Herewith are my impressions of Biden’s delivery and my observations on the speech in the form of bullet points:

• The Democrats in the audience broke out in cheers of “Four more years.” You have got to be kidding. Let me begin with a prediction. Even if Biden wins reelection to another term this coming November, he will not be giving four more State of the Union addresses. No way no how.

• Esquire used to pose a rhetorical question as a caption on a photograph of Richard Nixon that it published in its annual Dubious Achievement Awards edition: Why is this man laughing? The question to be posed for this speech is Why is this man shouting? He is an angry old man.

• This was a terrible speech terribly delivered. It’s a good thing no drug test was required before the address. Biden sounded hopped up. He spoke too fast. He slurred his words. He was frequently difficult to understand. He shouted a variety of clichés and shibboleths as though we might otherwise miss their depth and meaning. The disparity between the shibboleths and the shouting was almost funny.

• Biden sounded like a 45 rpm record playing at 78. It was an old record — it had scratches at several places that caused it to skip the groove.

• To whom was this speech addressed? The opening reflected the poor judgment of Biden’s daycare minders in the White House. As I heard it, the country needs to be protected from two threats: Russia and Donald Trump (“my predecessor”).

• This SOTU was a nakedly partisan campaign speech. I have to think that viewers lacking the persuasion of Democratic partisans were quickly turned off. In any event, the speech was a disgrace.

• And that’s not all. The speech was also disjointed and telegraphic. It covered everything from potato chips to computer chips. If it conformed to the laundry list mode of bad State of the Union addresses, this was a laundry list in Morse Code. You had to know the lingo of the proposed laws on Biden’s list. I had no idea what he was talking about when he got to his list.

• TCM counterprogrammed last night’s SOTU in part with Casablanca. You may recall that Humphrey Bogart responds to a comment with one of the movie’s many great lines: “I was misinformed.” Despite its thematic incoherence, anyone who took Biden’s speech at face value last night was misinformed. The misinformation gave it the thematic unity it otherwise lacked. A serious student of politics and the economy could write a dissertation exposing the misinformation conveyed in the speech.

• In his Russia/Ukraine remarks at the top of his speech Biden vowed, “We will not walk away.” Trisha Yearwood, call your office. Walk away, Joe — please. (I’m referring to Biden himself, not Ukraine.)

• The justices of the Supreme Court who chose to attend must have been thrilled to find themselves the villain of Biden’s condemnation of the Dobbs decision. The Supreme Court has returned the legality of abortion to the states. Biden both condemned the decision and celebrated its electoral impact. Abortion is not only a positive good on its own terms, it’s good for Democrats on the hustings. Wrapping it in the mantle of IVF, as he did last night, seemed to me a cruel joke.

• Biden wants to raise taxes on those not paying paying their “fair share.” Who isn’t paying his “fair share”? Billionaires aren’t. Corporations aren’t. That’s the bad news. We must be paying our “fair share.” That’s the good news, assuming we can draw that inference. Maybe someone can ask Karine Jean-Pierre about it at the next White House press conference.

• Biden wants more price controls on pharmaceutical products. When the AMA opposed the dangers of socialized medicine in days of yore, they were on to something.

• “Trickle down economics” came in for a beating. Does anyone who didn’t live through the Age of Reagan know what he was talking about? It was what Democrats condemned as “trickle down economics” that gave us the seven fat years of the Reagan boom. It was “trickle down economics’ that gave us the Trump boom — the boom for which so many voters are nostalgic today.

• Biden actually decried “shrinkflation” in the potato chips portion of his remarks. Some translation is required. “Shrinkflation” = inflation = Bidenomics.

• Biden implied that corporate shenanigans account for “shrinkflation.” Does anyone not understand why “shrinkflation” has broken out under the Biden administration?

• Biden decried “junk fees” and proclaimed his good works in saving us from them. This is “junk politics.”

• Biden reiterated his claims to have “cut the deficit.” He failed to mention that the decline occurred because pandemic spending from President Donald Trump’s tenure expired as scheduled. Biden didn’t do a damn thing. As CNN puts it, “Biden’s own actions, including laws he has signed and executive orders he has issued, have had the overall effect of worsening annual deficits, not reducing them.”

• By the way, in fiscal year 2023 total government spending amounted to $6.13 trillion and total revenue to $4.44 trillion. The resulting deficit amounts to $1.70 trillion, an increase of $320 billion from the previous fiscal year.

• Biden promoted many more federal spending programs I had never heard of. He apparently means to “cut the deficit” even faster and deeper.

• Biden bragged about his continuing student loan giveaways in the face of the Supreme Court ruling that found him to have exceeded his authority (in Biden v. Nebraska). One would like to see the thought bubbles over the heads of the Supreme Court justices.

• Biden talked about illegal immigration. He campaigned in support of it last time around. He invited it during the 2020 campaign. He facilitated it from his first day in office. Yet it’s not his fault. When it comes to the flood of illegal immigrants and related burdens, his theme song is Bob Dylan’s “It ain’t me, babe.”

• Biden saved his remarks on Israel and Hamas for the end of his speech. He won’t walk away from Ukraine, but he will walk away from Israel. He announced his Gaza rescue plan as advertised. It’s his plan to rescue himself in Michigan and rescue himself from his party’s pro-Hamas wing.

• Biden acknowledged: “Israel has a right to go after Hamas.” Thanks, big guy.

• Biden also toed the Hamas line in implicitly attributing responsibility to Israel and omitting the relevant facts: “More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. Most of whom are not Hamas. Thousands and thousands are innocent women and children. Girls and boys also orphaned.” See Abraham Wyner’s Tablet column “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers.”

• Biden peddled “the two-state solution.” What’s wrong with this picture? As Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer puts it: “Anybody talking about Palestinian state right now is living on another planet.”

• I enjoyed and appreciated Speaker Mike Johnson’s slight shakes of his head to express his disagreement with Biden’s misinformation. He did it just right.

• Although I could say more, these observations are already too long. I will conclude here. The competition is stiff, but this must have been the worst SOTU of all time.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Thoughts from the ammo line

By: Scott Johnson — March 8th 2024 at 05:18
(Scott Johnson)

Nietzsche may have been on to something with THE WILL TO POWER! Thus spake Ammo Grrrll:

This may come as a shock to my faithful readers, but I am no student of Philosophy. For some survey course, I was forced to read Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. I went to the used bookstore on campus and found a copy. When I got back to the dorm, I found that the previous owner of the volume – a girl named Kathy, the flyleaf said — had used a pink marker to highlight the parts that she didn’t understand. Initially, I thought that this could come in handy for me if she had already sussed out the salient points.

Sadly, however, it soon became clear that every single page was solid pink. Not that I disagreed with Kathy. It could not have been less clear to me or any less useful had it been written in Sanskrit. I also noticed that in the final third of the book there was no more highlighter – Kathy had clearly just given up. Krikey, not a single picture or even a whimsical little joke illustrating a point, as Einstein allegedly did with his definition of “relativity.”

“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.” Sometimes the putative quote says “pretty girl” and sometimes it’s attributed to something he said to his secretary, but in any event, it’s clear and mildly humorous, when ol’ Immanuel was neither. Being of a logical and practical bent, I questioned whether anyone could sit on a hot stove for even a SECOND, let alone a whole minute without a trip to the ER, but I took his point.

I believe I also signed up for some course that covered Friedrich Nietzsche’s “will to power” vs. Sigmund Freud’s “pleasure principle” vs. Viktor Frankl’s “will to (or search for) meaning.” But, if that was after I met my beshert – my fated lifetime love – a future novelist named Joe/Max who was not an enthusiastic or even frequent class-attender, I may not have gone to the class very often.

Joe/Max and I knew a couple of Philosophy majors in college and kidded those friends about looking in the newspaper near graduation for Help Wanted ads down at the Philosophy Factory. Well, the joke might have been on us because both Jerry Seinfeld and Steve Martin were Philosophy majors and look where it took THEM!

Anyway, though I thought a lot of Freud’s insights were poppycock, I was more attracted to his “pleasure principle” than to the “will to power” or “the search for meaning.” Almost all the men I knew growing up – hard-working farmers or small businessmen who put in 90-hour weeks lacked the luxury of free time for philosophizing.

And then there were the ladies. Heavens to Betsy, the mother of my sister’s boyfriend had EIGHT kids, all of whom were boys. Early on, the neighbors across the street in South Dakota had nine kids and both parents worked! My experience with housewives and mothers was they literally NEVER stopped working. So for both men and women, “meaning” came from doing their jobs. Almost everybody went to church, so we also learned that “meaning” came from serving God and being kind and helpful to our Fellow Man. Works for me.

Now, in my dotage, the more I observe the behavior of Leftists and bureaucrats of any stripe, the more I think that Nietzsche and his “will to power” may have been on to something. Lordy, how Leftists LOVE to control others!

I can understand how attractive “power” is when we all start out with absolutely no power at all. None. Nada. Bupkiss. In fact, so little power that two yuge giants (and any of their friends and relatives) can pick us up and just PUT us anywhere they want us to be! In a little bathtub, in a crib when we aren’t even sleepy, in an alleged “playpen” with boring toys when we would prefer to be carried around like a pasha instead.

Plus, if you had siblings – and in the ’50s almost EVERYBODY did! – you were a prisoner to some extent of the birth order. As a First-Born, I was definitely in charge. Poor Joe/Max had four older brothers and had to form shifting alliances with some to protect himself from others.

And it only gets marginally better for YEARS. Once we get to a size where the giants no longer pick us up, or the siblings no longer immiserate us, we still have no money, no jobs, no prospects, little knowledge, no transportation, and no ability to live independently. If the slightly less scary giant tells us that we are eating Liver and Lima Beans for supper, it’s not like we can just go down to the Automat and get a burger instead. Not that Alexandria, MN or any previous even smaller towns I lived in had an Automat. Heck, we didn’t even get a fast-food hamburger joint until I was in high school.

I have known many persons of the male persuasion who so deeply resented that lack of independence that they were looking for jobs (shoveling, raking, sweeping out stores, paper boy) at a very young age. They figured out that money was a kind of power and especially if you could accumulate enough to get that Grand Prize of Independence – a vehicle!! A bicycle was a welcome miracle that allowed you to get quite far, but a car was the pinnacle, not only because it could go REALLY far (especially at nineteen cents a gallon), but it allowed you to have a female passenger.

Being a girl person, I did not covet a car so much, but I did have a pretty strong “will to autonomy.” I have never wanted to boss around another human being – and resisted all managerial jobs my whole life – but I really really really didn’t want to be bossed around myself. There were times in my working life when employers made a whole separate shift just for me so I didn’t have any supervisory responsibility. That is the truth, my hand to God.

After feminism reared its ugly Betty Friedan-like head, I noticed that a great many women LOVED to boss people around. They were devoted to status and lording any small area of power over others. Any encroachment on what they perceived as their turf worked out as well as a Crip trying to take over a busy corner of a Blood’s drug trade.

As it happened, when I was an antiwar activist, the real actual Lieutenant Governor of the State of Minnesota was a very nice Democrat named Rudy Perpich (PBUH). He and I were on a radio show about the war once, we hit it off, and when we both left ‘CCO Radio Station at the same time, he gave me a card with his personal number on it and said to call him if I ever needed help with something. He even joked that his job as Lieutenant Governor wasn’t very taxing and he could stuff envelopes.

A few months later, when our group needed a permit for a (genuinely) peaceful demonstration, and also his endorsement, I sauntered on into the Lieutenant Governor’s Office where I was met by an arrogant gaggle of gatekeepers – all women – who tried to insist that I go, one by one, THROUGH them in order to gain access to Mr. Perpich. This really mattered to them, because if a nobody like me could just waltz right in, then, what was the use of THEM?

The women pointed me from one gauntlet to another that I was going to have to run. When Rudy himself came out of his office, he saw me and said, “Well, hi, Susan,” and to the chagrin of the gatekeepers he ushered me right into his office. He signed the Permit, said sure, use his name on the list of endorsers, and bid me adieu. He was like that. If looks could have killed when I came back out, it would have been another Jonestown in there.

I miss approachable leaders like that. His father was a Croatian immigrant and miner in northern Minnesota. He himself was a dentist before he got into politics. Later he served two non-consecutive terms as governor and dedicated one entire $25,000 pay raise to the promotion of – wait for it — bocce ball. You had to love a guy like that.

The women gatekeepers who were so jealously guarding their little fiefdoms seemed addicted to power. I would imagine that it is only about fifty times worse today. People prize their spot on the Organizational Chart, commensurate with money and the ability to boss underlings around. Plus, now, you have to be mindful of Diversity, Incompetence, and Entropy – or whatever those DEI letters stand for.

And so we find ourselves in an era when legions, hordes, whole divisions of Entitled Groups and a few regular old Lazy Incompetent White Male Guys simply LIVE to tell the rest of us what to eat, what to drink, what to drive, when to get inoculated, where to live and, worst of all, what to think. Soon with the brilliance of Google Gemini we will not even be able to research something to think for ourselves. We will only be spoon-fed the thin DEI gruel that Big Brother or Obese Sister want us to ingest.

I do think “The Will to Power” (“der Wille zur Macht” in German) debate is over and it has won the day. But, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We will combine the other two motor forces in human behavior and find “meaning” in having “pleasure”: through love, beautiful friends, music, comedy, art, babies, obliterating the bulls-eye, a peaceful Shabbat, and a medium-rare steak.

The Coffeehouse in which Max Cossack works most days on his ninth novel has a new treat – a combination Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Brownie. A delight I call a Brookie. Always inspired by Theodor Herzl’s motto in the face of the difficulties of finding a safe Jewish homeland – “If you will it, it is no dream” — yesterday, I “willed” Max to bring a Brookie home to me. And he did.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

A Best-Case SOTU

By: John Hinderaker — March 8th 2024 at 07:57
(John Hinderaker)

Whatever Doctor Feelgood is operating in the White House these days injected Joe Biden with whatever cocktail that enabled him to yell nonstop for over an hour last night. And that is a good thing.

Before the speech, my wife, with her usual knack for getting at the heart of things, said that we should be rooting for Biden to get through the speech. Because if he collapsed midway in, the Democrats would be able to replace him on the ticket. And in truth, the only question last night was not whether Biden would give a good speech, or whether he would convince anyone not already committed to voting against Donald Trump, but whether he would remain upright.

We conservatives should be glad that he did, as he now continues his march toward the nomination as one of the very few Democrats Donald Trump might actually beat. So thanks, Doc.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Republican Rejoinder

By: John Hinderaker — March 8th 2024 at 13:46
(John Hinderaker)

Senator Katie Britt of Alabama delivered the Republican response to Joe Biden’s SOTU speech. Not many people watch these rejoinders–for that matter, not too many watch the SOTU–but Britt’s response is getting a fair amount of buzz. She likely was chosen to contrast with Biden’s angry, more or less demented persona; if so, she played that contrast to the hilt.

Her speech was really a thespian performance, and not my style at all. But she prioritized illegal immigration, and was highly effective on that issue. Her appeal was directed to swing voters, especially women. And as performances go, it was very skillful. Check it out:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Sick Transit Gloria Mundi?

By: Steven Hayward — March 8th 2024 at 13:55
(Steven Hayward)

I am sure many readers have noticed how bike lanes are taking over American urban roadways, especially downtowns, often killing a lane for cars, and reducing streetside parking. And I almost never see anyone biking in the lanes. How did this come about? Has there been a massive populist campaign for bike lanes? Has “we need more bike lanes everywhere” been popping up in public opinion polls of top issues and citizen concern?

Of course not. It is an elite preoccupation, crammed down our throat by what I am calling Bike Lane Tyranny. At some point, many cities will reverse course and restore old car lanes. Though it may take a while.

It is the same mentality that has been certain that what America’s cities and suburbs need is more mass transit. Billions have been spent especially on rail lines (when busses would actually be more effective) that are lightly used. And here is the result:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Casabiden

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 8th 2024 at 15:21
(Lloyd Billingsley)

As Scott notes, while Biden delivered the “SOTU from Hell,” Turner Classic Movies ran Casablanca. Those who tuned in witnessed fearful symmetry on the current state of America, with Joe Biden starring in the role of Philippe Pétain.

Back in 1940, the French WWI veteran, already in his 80s, struck an armistice with the German National Socialist invaders, then in alliance with Stalin’s Soviet Union. The Nazis made Pétain head of their puppet government in Vichy, allowing him to govern parts of France under their supervision. Casablanca shows a mural of Pétain, with his famous slogan, “Je tiens mes promesses, meme celles des autres,” – “I keep my promises, even those of others.” That’s Joe Biden all over.

The Delaware Democrat is the puppet of a globalist-leftist-woke axis, and their every wish is Biden’s command. As he showed in his September 1, 2022 speech, like something staged by Leni Riefenstahl, Biden regards those who want the nation to be great as the enemy. In the openly partisan FBI, Biden deploys his own Gestapo.

In Casablanca, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) asks Louis Renault (Claude Rains) if he’s pro-Vichy or Free French. In similar style, Americans must decide if they support the constitutional republic they have known or its steady demolition by the Biden Junta. In Casablanca, Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) welcomes Rick back to the fight, and Laszlo is sure “our side will win.” In America, things aren’t so clear.

“We have put together, I think, the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics,” said Joe Biden in 2020. That includes mail ballots, election laws changed by judges instead of legislators, elimination of ID requirements, ballot harvesting,  massive voting by illegals, and so forth. That extensive organization remains in place for access by the eight million settlers Biden has brought into the country, with no criminal background checks, health records or job skills.  In 2014, vice president Biden said those who enter the country illegally are “already American citizens.” All they want is a chance to contribute so “let people vote.”

As David Horowitz (Radical Son) has often noted, Democrats are good at voter fraud and Republicans are poor at preventing it. If that doesn’t change, as Rick told Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), “you’ll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

How to Beat Biden

By: John Hinderaker — March 8th 2024 at 16:15
(John Hinderaker)

Joe Biden is a pitifully weak presidential candidate, but elections don’t win themselves. Economic malaise ought to make any Republican challenger the favorite, but the issue that will clinch the election is illegal immigration. And the gloves need to come off. Like this:

I am told that CNN is refusing to air this. They ran out the clock on a pre-SOTU ad buy — then rejected it, calling several of its claims unsubstantiated. Fox and MNSBC aired it. In case you missed it: https://t.co/4osMsLypnf

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 8, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

SOTU Response, By the Numbers

By: John Hinderaker — March 8th 2024 at 18:37
(John Hinderaker)

Earlier today, I posted the official GOP response to Joe Biden’s SOTU hate-fest, by Senator Katie Britt. Britt’s speech was an impressive performance in its own way; if I were a Democrat, I think she would scare me.

But for us data guys, Stephen Moore’s Unleash Prosperity Hotline has the numbers:

A lot of tall tales and a few outright fabrications in the Biden speech last night – and far too many to enumerate here. But we will revisit three here.

“My administration cut the deficit by $1.7 trillion.”

This isn’t just a little bit false, it’s an extraordinary and audacious misstatement of fact. The baseline deficit over 10 years, as measured when Biden came into office versus the latest forecast, shows nearly $6 trillion added to the debt since Biden arrived on the scene.

So how does a $6 trillion addition of red ink possibly equate to a $1.7 trillion reduction in the deficit. Someone didn’t pass his basic math exam in high school.

“We will make the rich pay their fair share.”

The top 1% of American tax filers now pay an all-time record high 46% of taxes. This is according to Biden’s own IRS. Does he think the rich should pay ALL the taxes?

That is actually a good question. I think that for many Democrats, the answer may be Yes. But within reason, experience shows that lower rates mean higher collections, especially from high earners.

“I inherited an economy [from Trump] that was on the brink…”

Actually, the economy grew by – ready for this? 33% in the third quarter of 2020 and 4.1% in the 4th quarter of 2020. The economy was in a full-scale COVID recovery when Biden came into office.

Oh, and Inflation was 1.4%.

Gas prices were $2.39 per gallon.

If you think of it as a relay race, Trump handed the baton to Biden in first place, with a rapidly growing lead. But Biden tripped over his own feet–both literally and figuratively–and turned the strong position that he inherited (and not only economically) into a fiasco. That I why I don’t see how he can be re-elected, despite Trump’s manifest flaws.

If you don’t get the Unleash Prosperity Hotline, you should. You can sign up for its frequent and always informative emails here.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

How Illegal Can You Get?

By: John Hinderaker — March 8th 2024 at 19:21
(John Hinderaker)

Joe Biden can’t get far enough left to satisfy his base. In last night’s SOTU, he referred to Jose Ibarra, the career criminal who *allegedly* beat Laken Riley to death, as an illegal immigrant. Which is exactly what he is, although the correct legal term is “illegal alien.” Bizarrely, liberals were outraged, not that Biden referred to Ibarra as a murderer, but that he called him an illegal immigrant. This roundup is from Alpha News:

Democrats in Minnesota and across the country are infuriated that President Joe Biden referred to a criminal, illegal alien as an “illegal” during the president’s State of the Union address on Thursday. Specifically, President Biden was referring to the illegal immigrant who has been charged with murder in the killing of Laken Riley.
***
In response, left-wing Democrats have expressed outrage that President Biden referred to this criminal, illegal alien as an “illegal.” Just after President Biden’s speech concluded, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota put out a social media post on X saying, “Let me be clear: No human being is illegal.”

This message was parroted by Democrats all over the country. In Minnesota, state Rep. Maria Isa Perez-Vega, D-St. Paul, re-posted Congresswoman Omar’s message. Jason Chavez, a member of the Minneapolis City Council, also put out a statement saying, “No human is illegal.”

A myriad of other Democrats, including Congresswomen Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, and Delia Ramirez, put out social media posts with the exact same message. Last night, Nancy Pelosi went on CNN and said President Biden should have used the word “undocumented” when referring to the illegal alien.

Congressman Chuy Garcia, D-Illinois, put out a statement saying, “As a proud immigrant, I’m extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the world ‘illegal.’”

Breaking the law is illegal. Is that really so hard to understand? And, oh–by the way–murder is illegal, too. Although liberals seem to care a lot less about a young woman who was beaten to death than they do about policing their wacko speech code. But I suppose there is nothing surprising about that.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Week in Pictures: Bang-Pop Edition

By: Steven Hayward — March 9th 2024 at 05:25
(Steven Hayward)

The week began with a big bang—the Supreme Court ruling 9 – 0 that Trump had to stay on the ballot, which caused liberal heads to explode and enough tears to irrigate California for a month. One of the heads (or what’s left of it) that exploded was Joe Biden’s, who popped off in a speech that left the impression he must have dipped deeply into Hunter’s stash.

Headlines of the week:

It’s a total mystery. . .

The only kind of worthy crab meat.

This seems like overkill.

And finally. . .

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

What’s wrong with this picture?

By: Scott Johnson — March 9th 2024 at 06:59
(Scott Johnson)

President Biden displayed a monumentally misguided animus against Israel in his State of the Union address this past Thursday evening. (The White House has posted its transcript of the speech as given here.) In a column behind NRO’s paywall Philip Klein characterized the address as “the most anti-Israel presidential speech in history.” I’d have to compare and contrast it with the presidential speeches of Barack Obama to be sure, but Biden’s hostility was patent.

Following the speech Biden had the opportunity to fraternize with the guys. He seized the opportunity to yuk it up outside the control of his daycare handlers in the White House. This is how it went down.

BIDEN: "I told him, Bibi — don't repeat this — you and I are going to have a come to Jesus meeting."

HANDLER: Sir, you're on a hot mic pic.twitter.com/slevQZPDap

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 8, 2024

What if Biden is senile like a fox? The senility came in especially handy in his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. It gave Hur a rationale to recommend non-prosecution of Biden’s offenses in the mishandling of classified documents.

Miranda Devine comments on the video below: “Not ‘confused,’ slyly denying. If Republicans keep underestimating Biden they will lose again.” I anticipate that they’re going to lose again regardless, but point taken.

Q: “Why does Mr. Netanyahu need a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting?”

BIDEN (confused): “I didn’t say that in the speech.”

Q: “What about after?”

BIDEN: “You guys eavesdropping on things!” pic.twitter.com/804aXMmBmQ

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 8, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Mr. X

By: Scott Johnson — March 9th 2024 at 08:44
(Scott Johnson)

The current issue of the Claremont Review of Books carries the informative review of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk by Helen Andrews. The Andrews review is relatively brief and extremely interesting. I want to single out the penultimate paragraph:

Conservatives ought to support Musk because he will need all the help he can get. The deep state has him in its crosshairs and will not stop until he is neutralized, using all the tools at its disposal. Musk is already being targeted with investigations and lawsuits, including a truly bizarre suit against SpaceX for discriminating against non-citizens in hiring. (Like all aerospace companies, SpaceX tries not to let its sensitive technologies fall into the hands of foreign governments.) Left-wing nonprofits have deliberately fomented, and in some cases fabricated, racist content on X in order to make Musk’s version of the app seem like a haven for hate speech. Preserving free speech in the run-up to the next election should be every conservative’s priority. In this fight, Elon Musk is an unexpected but entirely worthy champion.

I would amend that last sentence to read “in the run-up to the next election and beyond.” Whole thing here.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

An SOTU Postscript

By: John Hinderaker — March 9th 2024 at 11:25
(John Hinderaker)

Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech began almost a half hour behind schedule. The reason apparently was that his route to the Capitol was blocked by an illegal “kill the Jews” protest. So an official government proceeding was delayed by protesters who were violating the law. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Blocking an official proceeding. I think we have recent precedent on this. https://t.co/fxOZ9vxc74

— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) March 8, 2024


Don’t hold your breath waiting for the “kill the Jews” gang to be arrested and held for a year or two in solitary confinement.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Podcast: The 3WHH, Normalizing Dishonesty Edition

By: Steven Hayward — March 9th 2024 at 12:51
(Steven Hayward)

Lucretia hosts this week’s episode, which we recorded in the morning over coffee instead of whisky because travel schedules prevented the normal and proper Friday evening happy hour, and guess what? We’re even worse without whisky!

Among the news and issues treated this week: Why Biden isn’t FDR (he’s not even Harry Truman); why this was the worst SOTU (Lucretia offers a different acronym) speech ever; whether there are signs of life for the GOP in California after all; how immigration and abortion are playing out in the campaign cycle so far; how to think about the Supreme Court decision in the Colorado case dealing with Trump’s eligibility for the ballot (hint—it ain’t over till it’s over); and finally, can Harvard be serious in asking for a government bailout? The unifying theme here is galloping dishonesty, which is being normalized more and more every day.

Our articles of the week are (from me): Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s classic essay “Defining Deviancy Down,” newly salient in an age of truth-denying euphemisms like “justice-involved youth” and “newcomers” instead of “migrants” (which was a substitute for “illegal alien”); Lucretia ponders the challenges of Alex Berenson’s Substack article on new threats to free speech; and John draws our attention to the original 14th Amendment article from Baude and Paulson that brought us to the Supreme Court steps earlier this week, plus responses (also here) that got overlooked at the time, now largely vindicated. (I wondered whether Baude and Paulson were a rope-a-dope set up to make liberals look stupid and induce still more MSNBC primal screams.)

As always, listen here, or from our hosts at Ricochet.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden Recants

By: John Hinderaker — March 9th 2024 at 17:29
(John Hinderaker)

In his State of the Union speech, Joe Biden correctly referred to Jose Ibarra, the alleged murderer of Laken Riley, as an illegal alien. Democrats aren’t at all concerned about the murder of a 22-year-old girl, but they were horrified that Biden didn’t use their preferred term, “undocumented.” Which implies, I guess, that the guy was perfectly legal but maybe misplaced his driver’s license.

Biden has now apologized for telling the truth–perhaps the only time he did so in the SOTU. He chose MSNBC to recant:

President Biden apologized Saturday for using the word “illegal” during his State of the Union address to describe the Venezuelan migrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

“An undocumented person. I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” Biden told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart in an excerpt from an interview airing Saturday — which did not show him addressing or acknowledging that he referred to Riley as “Lincoln Riley” during the same speech.

Lincoln Riley is the head coach of the Southern Cal football team.

“And look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about in the border was his, the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood. I talked about what I’m not going to do. What I won’t do.

So the simple factual characterization as “illegal” is in the same category as “vermin” and “polluting the blood.” And what Biden is most concerned about here is not being like Trump, which is why he reversed all of Trump’s successful border policies.

“I’m not going to treat any, any, any of these people with disrespect. Look, they built the country.

Illegal immigrants built the country? What the hell is he talking about?

The reason our economy is growing.

Illegal immigrants are responsible for a tepidly growing economy? Why?

We have to control the border and more orderly flow, but I don’t share his view at all,” continued Biden.

“So, you regret using that word?” Capehart asked.

“Yes,” Biden responded.

What a sad performance. And, by the way, what was the point of Biden’s throwing in “[w]e have to control the border”? The border was mostly under control until he took office and deliberately opened it so as to allow millions of illegals to flood into the country. He did it on purpose. It is you, Joe Biden, who have to control the border. Only there is zero chance that you are going to do so.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Transition? What Transition?

By: John Hinderaker — March 9th 2024 at 18:31
(John Hinderaker)

Robert Bryce is one of America’s foremost energy experts. At his Substack site, he describes his recent appearance before the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The commissioners were glad to hear from Robert:

After I finished, about two dozen people (most of them were state regulators) came forward to say they appreciated my talk and that they’d never heard many of the points I’d made. One utility commissioner told me that the regulators who attend NARUC’s meetings are “not used to having anybody tell the whole story.” I also received several dozen emails from people who said NARUC had never had anyone like me give a speech.

Which is a truly scary reality. From whom are the commissioners accustomed to hearing? Financially self-interested left-wingers:

[A] few conference attendees took to Twitter to complain that I’d been allowed to speak at NARUC. One person in particular, a lawyer who works for Earthjustice, the San Francisco-based NGO that is funded by dark money, had a sphincter-puckered snit on Twitter, saying that I presented “nonsense.” Earthjustice had $151 million in revenue in 2023 and employs more than 200 lawyers in 15 U.S. cities. Another attendee, who works for San Francisco-based Energy Innovation LLC, which doesn’t reveal its donors, got his NARUC knickers in a twist. On Twitter, he claimed I provided so many “falsehoods” that he “couldn’t keep up.” It’s funny, though, that he didn’t name a single falsehood or refute even one of my points.

Typical. Leftists don’t argue, they censor.

What did Robert say that so frightened greenies? Follow the link above for the whole story, but I would highlight two points. First, increasing government-mandated reliance on expensive and ineffective wind and solar power is threatening the reliability of the electric grid:

On February 22, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) issued a report that put the danger facing America’s electric grid in stark terms. In an introduction, MISO’s CEO, John Bear, said, “There are immediate and serious challenges to the reliability of our region’s electric grid.” His remarks must be quoted at length:

The transition that is underway to get to a decarbonized end state is posing material, adverse challenges to electric reliability. A key risk is that many existing “dispatchable” resources that can be turned on and off and adjusted as needed are being replaced with weather-dependent resources such as wind and solar that have materially different characteristics and capabilities. While wind and solar produce needed clean energy, they lack certain key reliability attributes that are needed to keep the grid reliable every hour of the year. Although several emerging technologies may someday change that calculus, they are not yet proven at grid scale. Meanwhile, efforts to build new dispatchable resources face headwinds from government regulations and policies, as well as prevailing investment criteria for financing new energy projects. Until new technologies become viable, we will continue to need dispatchable resources for reliability purposes.

Second, perhaps the most extraordinary fact about energy is that the much-ballyhooed “transition” from fossil fuels to wind and solar simply isn’t happening, despite government mandates and massive subsidies. In fact, it is rapid growth in use of fossil fuels that powers the world’s economy:

There is much more at the link. The bottom line is that a transition from reliable and affordable fossil fuels to unreliable and prohibitively expensive weather-dependent sources of energy would be a human disaster, and therefore, it isn’t going to happen. Ever. Leftists may whine and gnash their teeth, and for now they may reap enormous amounts of ill-gotten money from “green” interests. But what they want, or more likely pretend to want, isn’t possible, and it won’t happen.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Sunday morning coming down

By: Scott Johnson — March 10th 2024 at 06:28
(Scott Johnson)

Listening to a show on the SiriusXM Grateful Dead channel a few years ago I heard one of the announcers mention that Nicky Hopkins played with the Jerry Garcia Band. I hadn’t known that. Hopkins was a fantastic English pianist whose session work is virtually ubiquitous on great rock recordings of the ’60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Take a look, for example, at this Nicky Hopkins discography. I have been a big fan since I saw him named and heard his work as a member of the band on the Jeff Beck Group’s album Truth.

If he wasn’t quite everywhere, everyone wanted his services. His contributions to Rolling Stones recordings are notable. I have included a couple below. I loved his work with the Jeff Beck Group on their first two albums and with Quicksilver Messenger Service on a few of theirs when he was a named member of those bands.

So why is he relatively unknown? He battled Crohn’s Disease his entire life and died in 1994 of complications from intestinal surgery at the age of 50. I don’t think he ever toured with the bands of which he was a named member, let alone those to which he made such valuable contributions.

After I mentioned Hopkins in my post on Harrison’s birthday, the gentleman who runs the the Nicky Hopkins feed on X tweeted it out because of a bare mention of Hopkins’s contribution to one of the tracks I included. Checking out the Nicky Hopkins feed this morning, I see that it flags the forthcoming documentary on Hopkins.

US Premiere of The Session Man (Nicky Hopkins documentary) – closing film of LA Indie Film Fest! 7.30pm Sat 16th March in West Hollywood.@lafilmfestivals @SessionManFilm #lafilmfestivals #LAFilmFest #rockdoc #rockhistory #LAIndieFilmFest #NickyHopkins #TheSessionManpic.twitter.com/YtbNPcAcMJ

— Nicky Hopkins 🎹 (@TheNickyHopkins) March 8, 2024

One more prefatory note. It was the anniversary of Hopkins’s birth on February 24. Having written about him once before, I chose to remember George Harrison that weekend. However, I thought I would ask readers to indulge a second go-round of my tribute to Hopkins. It won’t be for everyone, but there is some good stuff and some rare stuff here and elsewhere that you can find on your own if so inclined. As I like to say in these tributes, he added to the beauty of the world. YouTube offers a treasure trove of his work. I enjoyed hunting these samples down and offer them up in the hope that one or two of them may strike your fancy or wake you up with a smile this morning. I certainly hope this tiny sliver of his vast body of work leaves you wanting more.

Hopkins was a regular contributor to the Kinks up through their classic Village Green Preservation Society album. “Sunny Afternoon” is a beautiful track. Looking around online, I found Hopkins was “responsible for both the melodica solo and the chromatic piano line that undersold his acrobatic abilities on the keyboard.” According to Ray Davies, “When we recorded ‘Sunny Afternoon,’ [producer] Shel [Talmy] insisted that Nicky copy my plodding piano style. Other musicians would have been insulted but Nicky seemed to get inside my style, and he played exactly as I would have. No ego. Perhaps that was his secret.”

And then we have his work with the Rolling Stones over several years. Hopkins’s work on the piano makes “She’s a Rainbow.”

The Jeff Beck Group’s cover of “Jailhouse Rock” may be my favorite rock recording of all time. That’s Rod Stewart on the vocal. Everyone is great on this track, including the gifted Mr. Hopkins.

Back to the Stones, we can hear what Hopkins contributed on a song like “Monkey Man,” off Let It Bleed. The album was produced by the late Jimmy Miller, the older brother of former New York Times reporter Judy Miller. My friend Judy paid tribute to him in her column “Mr. Jimmy” as well as in her great memoir The Story. You can hear why Mr. Jimmy appreciated Hopkins’s work.

I can’t leave his work with the Stones before noting his contribution to “Waiting On a Friend.” That’s Sonny Rollins on the tenor sax. That’s Mr. Jimmy on percussion. That’s Mr. Hopkins on the piano. What a track.

Who’s Next is the Who’s best album and “Getting in Tune” is one of its best tracks. “I’m just banging on my old piano” — I think that would be Pete Townsend’s tribute to you know who.

Hopkins was a named member of Quicksilver Messenger Service for a few years. Here he is with Quicksilver on the instrumental “Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder,” one of Hopkins’s own compositions. I think he added the organ part on top of his piano. This track is a blast.

Who is this Edward fellow? I have a sneaking suspicion it was Hopkins. The name of this rare album is Jamming with Edward. “Highland Fling” is from the album. This is a wild track. Hopkins wails away.

Hopkins recorded two albums in his own name. “Pig’s Boogie” is from The Tin Man Was a Dreamer. I think Hopkins was the Tin Man too.

John Lennon loved Hopkins’s work. He played on the Beatles’ “Revolution” and on many of Lennon’s solo album tracks. His beautiful contribution to “Jealous Guy” is a good example. In the video below you can see Lennon, Hopkins (electric piano), Harrison (slide guitar), Klaus Voorman (bass), and Alan White (drums) at work in the studio on “How Do You Sleep?” (1971).

I can’t leave before we sample his work with the Jerry Garcia Band. The reference to it is what set me off on my chase. Stick around for the instrumental break on this live recording of the Garcia/Dawson/Hunter composition “Friend of the Devil.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Illegal or undocumented?

By: Scott Johnson — March 10th 2024 at 08:11
(Scott Johnson)

Referring to an illegal alien as “illegal” in unscripted remarks during his State of the Union Address this past Thursday, President Biden inadvertently offended a core Democratic constituency (i.e., illegal aliens). That could not stand and it didn’t. As John notes nearby, Biden recanted and apologized within 48 hours.

Illegal or undocumented — which is the correct term. As a matter of fact, “Illegal alien” is the correct term.

When we got married, my wife was an illegal alien. Having graduated from law school and been hired by Hennepin County District Judge Robert Bowen as a law clerk, she applied for a work visa. In response she received a letter from the INS apprising her that her student visa had expired and that she was out of status. She applied for legal residency.

We went down to the local INS office for an interview. We had been advised that we would be asked a few questions to establish that our marriage was bona fide — not a fraudulent exercise undertaken solely to allow an illegal immigrant to escape deportation. As it turned out, we appeared to be the only bona fide couple of the four or five with us in the waiting room. And this was early in the Reagan years.

In the course of the interview, the INS officer asked me what toothpaste “the alien” used. It seemed funny because “the alien” was sitting next to me at the time, but we took no offense. We thought it was funny and I was happy to ace the quiz.

Today a question in that form would probably get the guy fired. Today the prescribed term is “undocumented.” Today that is the term on which the Democrats insist. Today it is the term that every mainstream media outlet (including Fox News) uses. What’s happening here?

What’s happening is the blessing of illegal immigration and the destruction of citizenship. The left seeks to break down our resistance to illegal immigration by means of a mandated euphemism. It’s an Orwellian device. The phenomenon of illegal immigration is not even to be described with tolerable accuracy. The underlying distinction is to be rendered meaningless.

As I say, illegal aliens have become a core constituency of the Democrats. To illegal aliens the left requires that the knee must be bent. I’m not sure why Fox News is compliant. It is frankly disgusting.

Here I speak for my wife and me. We support enforcement of the law. We oppose illegal immigration. We do not seek to accommodate it. We do not respect it. We desire the return of illegal immigrants to their home country or deportation to some other place. We do not want to support them with our tax dollars. We are sickened by the invasion of illegal aliens promoted by Biden and the Biden administration. The abuse of the English language that accompanies it is the least of it, but it deserves at least to be noted.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden explains

By: Scott Johnson — March 10th 2024 at 09:05
(Scott Johnson)

In the video clip from his interview with Jonathan Capehart below, President Biden explains why Hamas wants a ceasefire. He forgets that he’s not supposed to explain how it promotes their goals. He seeks to backtrack but can’t figure out how, except by falsely implying that Israel is violating the laws of war. What a disgrace.

Watch Biden say the quiet part out loud. This is actually kind of amazing. Perhaps Prime Minister Netanyahu will find it of use in the “come to Jesus” meeting with which Biden is threatening him.

Biden makes the blunder of answering whether and why Hamas would want a ceasefire.

He then notices his terrible blunder in saying the truth, and goes off on a tangent. pic.twitter.com/ypqX7H8D6o

— David Shor (@DYShor) March 10, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden’s red line

By: Scott Johnson — March 10th 2024 at 14:01
(Scott Johnson)

It turns out that President Biden has a red line. It applies to Israel. In an unlocked story, the Wall Street Journal reports that “Biden Warns Netanyahu an Assault on Rafah Would Cross ‘Red Line.’”

Biden apparently seeks to depose the Netanyahu government. He thinks that Netanyahu is the problem. He also seeks to preserve Hamas. He finds them easier to deal with than Netanyahu. Biden’s daycare minders in the White House may indeed be malevolent or stupid enough to believe these propositions. They certainly explain a lot. They explain what Biden meant about having a “come to Jesus” meeting with Netanyahu. The animus behind that statement is patent. Now we see what Biden had in “mind,” so to speak. Israel does not fit comfortably inside what the Democrats are pleased to refer to as “our democracy™.”

Biden and his minders purport to understand Israel’s national security interests better than the Israelis. The Daily Mail reports “Biden Administration consulted Israel expert on how to ‘force the Netanyahu coalition to collapse’ as president accuses the prime minster of ‘hurting Israel more than helping’ and insists Rafah invasion is ‘red line’ that must not be crossed.” The headline says it all.

Politico reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu sees things slightly differently. When asked whether Israeli forces would move into Rafah in an interview on Sunday, Netanyahu replied: “We’ll go there. We’re not going to leave. You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again.”

It may be time to revisit Robert Gates’s assessment of Biden’s foreign policy chops: “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” Gates made that assessment in 2014. It therefore predates Biden’s Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran and other debacles. We can now revise Gates’s assessment to the past five decades.

The Biden administration now distinguishes between Israel’s democracy and the people who elected it. While I cannot defend all of our government’s policies, I will absolutely defend the democracy that elected it. Our democratic ally must respect that. https://t.co/8z5MJQgqIz

— Michael Oren (@DrMichaelOren) March 10, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

DEI Destroys CHIPS

By: John Hinderaker — March 10th 2024 at 16:11
(John Hinderaker)

DEI (racial and other quotas) is intrinsically evil. At The Hill, Matt Cole and Chris Nicholson reveal a shocking, practical downside to DEI hysteria: “DEI killed the CHIPS Act.”

The issue is critical because Taiwan now produces 90% of the world’s advanced microchips, and China has indicated its intention to annex Taiwan in the near future. So the CHIPS Act sought to incentivize chip production in the U.S. Unfortunately, that isn’t what is happening.

Handouts abound. There’s plenty for the left—requirements that chipmakers submit detailed plans to educate, employ, and train lots of women and people of color, as well as “justice-involved individuals,” more commonly known as ex-cons. There’s plenty for the right—veterans and members of rural communities find their way into the typical DEI definition of minorities. …
***
Because equity is so critical, the makers of humanity’s most complex technology must rely on local labor and apprentices from all those underrepresented groups, as [the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] discovered to its dismay.

Tired of delays at its first fab, the company flew in 500 employees from Taiwan. This angered local workers, since the implication was that they weren’t skilled enough. With CHIPS grants at risk, TSMC caved in December, agreeing to rely on those workers and invest more in training them. A month later, it postponed its second Arizona fab.

Now TSMC has revealed plans to build a second fab in Japan. Its first, which broke ground in 2021, is about to begin production. TSMC has learned that when the Japanese promise money, they actually give it, and they allow it to use competent workers. TSMC is also sampling Germany’s chip subsidies, as is Intel.

It isn’t only TSMC that is being stymied by DEI:

Intel is also building fabs in Poland and Israel, which means it would rather risk Russian aggression and Hamas rockets over dealing with America’s DEI regime. Samsung is pivoting toward making its South Korean homeland the semiconductor superpower after Taiwan falls.

In short, the world’s best chipmakers are tired of being pawns in the CHIPS Act’s political games. They’ve quietly given up on America. …

[C]hipmakers have to make sure they hire plenty of female construction workers, even though less than 10 percent of U.S. construction workers are women. They also have to ensure childcare for the female construction workers and engineers who don’t exist yet. They have to remove degree requirements and set “diverse hiring slate policies,” which sounds like code for quotas. They must create plans to do all this with “close and ongoing coordination with on-the-ground stakeholders.”

No wonder Intel politely postponed its Columbus fab and started planning one in Ireland.

Access to microchips is a national security issue, as well as being fundamental to a modern economy. And yet Congressional majorities care more about DEI shibboleths and feeding pork to their constituencies than about American security and prosperity. Of course, that isn’t really an irony. The whole point of DEI is hating America, and if it imperils our security and our prosperity, so much the better.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Murder In Progress [Updated]

By: John Hinderaker — March 10th 2024 at 17:01
(John Hinderaker)

The people you see in this video are not fit to live in a civilized society. Problem is, I’m not sure we have a civilized society.

The white girl died.

Nothing is going to happen to the black girl who did this with the St Louis prosecutor, who is a Soros DA. https://t.co/pHcS493mCu

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) March 10, 2024

UPDATE: At last word, the victim of this incredibly vicious assault is alive but in critical condition. She was having a seizure on the street and apparently has sustained brain damage. But, at last word, she had not yet died.

FURTHER UPDATE: Per a PL commenter, the school district has released a mealy-mouthed statement that equates perpetrator and victim. But what else would you expect from DEI liberals?

“It is a tragedy anytime children are hurt. Bullying and fighting in the community is an issue for which we all need to take ownership and work towards a resolution for the sake of our children. The Hazelwood School District offers our sincerest condolences to everyone involved, and will offer additional emotional support from our support and crisis team to those in need. We look forward to continuing to partner with our community for the sake of our children. Please be kind and respectful of the families involved during this difficult time and pledge to help work toward the betterment of our entire community.”

The black girl apparently has Hamas status. She’s a victim deserving kindness and respect, just like the girl she put in critical condition.

Condolences to “everyone involved.” Bullshit. One girl beat another girl to within an inch of her life. She may yet die, and she likely will be brain-damaged. The only condolences are due to the victim and her family. As for the rest, the girl who assaulted her should be prosecuted for, at a minimum, attempted murder, and sent to prison for decades. Those who stood by and did nothing can’t, legally, be prosecuted, but they should be shamed and ostracized for the rest of their lives. They don’t need “emotional support” from a “crisis team.” They need to be taught what it means to be a human being. But that obviously won’t happen in the St. Louis public school system or, evidently, in their homes.

ONE MORE: A reader emails to say that the Soros prosecutor in St. Louis has resigned. I don’t know whether that is correct, or whether his or her successor is another pro-crime prosecutor. There are a lot of them around, these days. But I pass his message on for what it is worth.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Are All DEI Officers Bigots?

By: John Hinderaker — March 10th 2024 at 21:31
(John Hinderaker)

I think the answer to that question is Yes. In reality, the whole point of DEI is bigotry, so the fact that its exponents keep getting outed as haters is not at all coincidental. The latest case comes from Johns Hopkins, where the Chief Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine has resigned following a hateful outburst:

The Chief Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine resigned on Tuesday after criticism stemming from her distribution of a list of groups she believes have “privilege.”

As Campus Reform reported, Dr. Sherita Golden sent the list of groups in a January email sent to staff members, which defined “privilege” as “a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group.”

Of course she wasn’t referring to welfare recipients, public employees or beneficiaries of political influence like “greens” or DEI officers.

Golden went on to name nine groups in the country that have been “granted” privilege “at the expense of members of other groups.”

According to Golden, these “privileged” groups are: “White people,” “Able-bodied people,” “Heterosexuals,” “Cisgender people,” “Males,” “Christians,” “Middle or owning class people,” “Middle-aged people,” and “English-speaking people.”

Doesn’t that cover almost everyone in the United States? The only “non-privileged,” apparently, are crippled, gay, female, Muslim illegal immigrants below the age of 40 who just arrived and haven’t yet learned English. That is a niche constituency, to say the least. It includes maybe three people.

“Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it. People in dominant groups often believe they have earned the privileges they enjoy or that everyone could have access to these privileges if only they worked to earn them. In fact, privileges are unearned and are granted to people in the dominant groups whether they want those privileges or not, and regardless of their stated intent,” she claimed.

The privilege fairy just hands them out. Work is superfluous.

Golden resigned as Chief Diversity Officer on Tuesday, but remains on the faculty at Johns Hopkins. After her email caused controversy, she apologized:

The “privilege” list was retracted shortly after it was sent out, and Golden said she “deeply” regretted her definition of privilege, adding it “did not meet [the] goal” to “inform and support an inclusive community at Hopkins. . . . In fact, because it was overly simplistic and poorly worded, it had the opposite effect of being exclusionary and hurtful to members of our community.”

Her email wasn’t “poorly worded,” but it certainly was “exclusionary.” Actually, it set out the DEI ideology very clearly, and exclusion of politically disfavored people is the whole point of DEI. But sometimes people notice, and a liberal needs to be sacrificed. So our condolences go out to Sherita Golden: she said what the Democratic Party believes, not poorly but too well.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden Waxes On

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 10th 2024 at 23:11
(Lloyd Billingsley)

In his SOTU Thursday, Joe Biden used the term “illegal” but failed to mention or condemn Antonio Ibarra, the Venezuelan national charged with murdering University of Georgia student Laken Riley, whom Biden twice misnamed as “Lincoln Riley.”  On Saturday, Biden apologized for using the term “illegal,” and took it to another level.

“I’m not going to treat any, any, any of these people with disrespect,” Biden told MSNBC.  “Look, they built the country. The reason our economy is growing.” Such nonsense is nothing new for Joe Biden.

“You know, 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they’re already American citizens,” said Vice President Biden in 2014. According to Delaware Democrat, all the 11 million wanted was a chance to contribute, so “let people vote.” Biden is not going to disrespect “any, any, any” of those he has brought in, even the criminals, because they add to his imported electorate. When criminal illegals murder Americans, Biden isn’t going to “disrespect” the murderer.

In 2014, false-documented Mexican national Luis Bracamontes gunned down Sacramento deputies officers Danny Oliver and Michael Davis. During his trial, Bracamontes said he wished he killed more cops, and yelled “black lives don’t matter” at Danny Oliver’s wife, Anthony Holmes, whom he shot five times, and members of the jury. Vice President Biden never mentioned the case, not even to denounce “gun violence.”

In late 2018, a gang-affiliated criminal illegal calling himself Paulo Virgen Mendoza shot dead Newman, California, police officer Ronil “Ron” Singh, a legal immigrant who came to the United States to work in law enforcement. Seven other illegals aided the killer’s flight before the fugitive murderer was apprehended. Joe Biden ignored the case. He is not going to disrespect “any any, any” member of his imported electorate, not even the criminals who murder innocent Americans.

By shunning the term “illegal,” Biden effectively cancels immigration law. The Delaware Democrat also renders meaningless all the procedures people such as Scott Johnson’s wife go through to become American citizens. For Joe Biden, legal immigrants and legitimate citizens are non-persons, and it was the “undocumented” who actually “built the country,” and are now the reason “the economy is growing.”

Conrad Black has called Joe Biden “a pallid effigy unable to utter complete sentences without requesting the approach of the teleprompter,” and a “wax-works effigy of a president.” Legal immigrants, legitimate citizens, and parents of those slain by illegals can be forgiven for regarding Joe Biden as a wax-works effigy of a human being.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden’s animus [With Comment by John]

By: Scott Johnson — March 11th 2024 at 06:45
(Scott Johnson)

President Biden’s animus against Israel was patent in his State of the Union Address this past Thursday evening. The White House has posted the text of his remarks as given here.

JNS editor Jonathan Tobin sets forth a rounded view of “the moral failure” of Biden’s remarks on Israel. Tobin separately addresses and elaborates on Biden’s demands on Israel, the floating harbor for Hamas, the two-state final solution, the lack of any statement on the explosion of anti-Semitism in the United States, and the appeasement of Israel haters. We have noted these deficiencies in our own way, but nothing said here does justice to the points that Tobin makes.

NRO’s Philip Klein characterized the SOTU as “the most anti-Israel presidential speech in history.” Klein posted his comments in a hot take on the evening of Biden’s speech. Among other things, he notes that “[a]fter a perfunctory mention of October 7 and the hostages, Biden then launched an extended attack on Israel’s response to the war and the conditions in Gaza that accepted, whole cloth, Hamas casualty figures that his own administration had previously questioned as unreliable.”

We have noted this point as well. Biden and others in the administration have adopted the numbers retailed by the Gaza Ministry of Health — i.e., Hamas. It represents their adoption of the Hamas point of view.

What’s wrong with this picture? Hamas is not known for the accuracy of its statements of fact. Hamas, for example, does not distinguish between the deaths of civilians and Hamas genocidaires. The Gaza Ministry of Health promotes a line that supports Hamas’s war aims.

Biden hectors Israel. He repeatedly implies that Israel violates the laws of war. This is another lie that promotes Hamas’s war aims. As Israel sacrifices the safety of its soldiers to protect civilians intentionally placed in harm’s way by Hamas, it is perversely false.

In the State of the Union Biden asserted: “More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed — [AUDIENCE MEMBER: Says who?] — most of whom are not Hamas. Thousands and thousands of innocents — women and children. Girls and boys also orphaned.”

Abraham Wyner homes in on the casualty numbers in the Tablet column “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers.” Subhead: “The evidence is in their own poorly fabricated figures.”

Wyner, by the way, is Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty Co-Director of the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative. He knows what he is talking about. His column is worth your time, but Biden et al. don’t need his analysis. As Klein implies, they know it’s true. They lie without a conscience.

Wyner introduces his analysis this way (emphasis in original):

The number of civilian casualties in Gaza has been at the center of international attention since the start of the war. The main source for the data has been the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which now claims more than 30,000 dead, the majority of which it says are children and women. Recently, the Biden administration lent legitimacy to Hamas’ figure. When asked at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week how many Palestinian women and children have been killed since Oct. 7, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the number was “over 25,000.” The Pentagon quickly clarified that the secretary “was citing an estimate from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.” President Biden himself had earlier cited this figure, asserting that “too many, too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children.” The White House also explained that the president “was referring to publicly available data about the total number of casualties.”

Here’s the problem with this data: The numbers are not real. That much is obvious to anyone who understands how naturally occurring numbers work. The casualties are not overwhelmingly women and children, and the majority may be Hamas fighters.

If Hamas’ numbers are faked or fraudulent in some way, there may be evidence in the numbers themselves that can demonstrate it. While there is not much data available, there is a little, and it is enough: From Oct. 26 until Nov. 10, 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry released daily casualty figures that include both a total number and a specific number of women and children.

The first place to look is the reported “total” number of deaths. The graph of total deaths by date is increasing with almost metronomical linearity, as the graph in Figure 1 reveals….

Wyner persuasively establishes that “the Hamas ministry settled on a daily total arbitrarily.” See Figure 1 and other graphs along with the rest of the column here (data posted here).

JOHN adds: Abraham Wyner testified as an expert witness on behalf of the defendants in the Michael Mann v. Mark Steyn case. We saw his testimony when we were in D.C. for the trial. Wyner presented a statistical analysis that showed that Mann’s famous hockey stick graph was, in fact, fraudulent. His analysis was persuasive and Wyner was a great witness, but unfortunately neither his testimony nor the other evidence presented by defendants was enough to overcome the decades of propaganda that underlie climate hysteria. At least, not with a D.C. jury.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Why We Have a Border Problem

By: Steven Hayward — March 11th 2024 at 12:22
(Steven Hayward)

As mentioned here before, Democrats used to be fairly robust in their opposition to open borders and unchecked illegal immigration, as recently as the Clinton years. But then someone got the bright idea that since immigration had helped to flip California from a red state in presidential elections to a blue state across the board, imagine how much power Democrats could grasp if the California story was repeated across the entire country! (But don’t dare say “Replacement Theory,” because that’s raaaccisttt. Besides, it is a misnomer: it should be called “Replacement Fact.”)

Here’s what the shift in opinion looks like:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

America’s Most Important Political Trend

By: John Hinderaker — March 11th 2024 at 14:22
(John Hinderaker)

This is a good complement to Steve’s post immediately below. Why did Democrats decide, seemingly in unison, that it would be a good idea to enable millions of illegal immigrants? Because they (or, in any event, their children) will be voters, and the Democrats assumed they could count on minority votes for many years to come.

But that may have been a miscalculation:

NEW 🧵:

American politics is in the midst of a racial realignment.

I think this is simultaneously one of the most important social trends in the US today, and one of the most poorly understood. pic.twitter.com/QeRsuMSKaL

— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) March 11, 2024


This is part of the broader realignment of the parties. The left’s current obsessions–the “trans” movement, global warming, the war on food and gasoline, and so on–are of no good whatsoever to working people. They are of interest primarily to wealthy whites, especially wealthy white women. Blue collar minorities, like other working people, are not stupid. They can see that it is the Republicans whose policies actually help them, and they are starting to vote accordingly.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden Waffles on Apology

By: John Hinderaker — March 11th 2024 at 18:07
(John Hinderaker)

A final (I hope) footnote to Joe Biden’s disgraceful SOTU performance: he referred to Jose Ibarra as an illegal, which was, as I said here, perhaps the only true statement in the entire speech. But Biden met with blowback from Democrats who don’t seem to mind that Ibarra is an (alleged) murderer, but were horrified by Biden’s admission that his presence here is illegal.

So, as recorded at the link above, Biden apologized on MSNBC for using the word “illegal.” (The correct legal term is “illegal alien.”):

President Biden apologized Saturday for using the word “illegal” during his State of the Union address to describe the Venezuelan migrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

“An undocumented person. I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” Biden told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart in an excerpt from an interview airing Saturday….
***
“So, you regret using that word?” Capehart asked.

“Yes,” Biden responded.

I, and everyone else, called that an apology. But the White House is now backtracking on its backtrack:

The White House on Monday pushed back against claims President Biden apologized for using the term “illegal” to describe the migrant accused of killing Laken Riley — just days after the president said he had “regret” for using the loaded term.
***
White House deputy spokesperson Olivia Dalton attempted to clarify on Monday, telling a reporter that “the president absolutely did not apologize” despite his expression of regret.

“There was no apology anywhere in that conversation,” Dalton told reporters on Air Force One. “He did not apologize. He used a different word. I think what we should be really clear about is the facts.”

“He used a different word.” All right, then! Biden said that he “shouldn’t have used” the word illegal, and he “regrets” doing so. Talk about a fine distinction. So, why did the White House bother to walk back, at least partially, Biden’s MSNBC comments? I suppose because if you apologize, you have to apologize to someone. In this case, who is that someone? The (alleged) murderer, Jose Ibarra. Many have criticized Biden for apologizing to a murderer for calling him an illegal. Hence his handlers’ most recent spin: it wasn’t an apology, it was only an expression of regret for something he shouldn’t have done.

Got it, Joe.

And, finally, for a spokesman for the Biden White House to say that “what we should be really clear about is the facts” is, in its own way, a classic of dark comedy.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Biden’s DOA Budget

By: John Hinderaker — March 11th 2024 at 19:05
(John Hinderaker)

Joe Biden unveiled his 2025 budget proposal earlier today. In general, presidents’ budgets are hardly worth discussing. They project revenue and spending over the next ten years, and if you go back and look at them a few years later, they usually bear no relation to reality. And, in this instance, there is zero chance that Congress will pass anything resembling Biden’s budget, which can best be seen as a campaign document.

But, for what it is worth, this is what the Wall Street Journal had to say about it:

President Biden proposed Monday a $7.3 trillion budget for the next fiscal year that would raise taxes on wealthy people and large corporations, trim the deficit and lower the costs of prescription drugs, child care and housing.

Other than spending $7.3 trillion and raising taxes, it wouldn’t do any of those things. For purposes of comparison, federal spending in 2000, the last year of the Clinton administration, was $1.79 trillion. So Biden wants to spend almost exactly four times that much.

The fiscal 2025 budget would cut the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade, and it would raise taxes by a net total of $4.9 trillion, or more than 7% above what the U.S. would collect without any policy changes.

Those hypothetical deficit cuts depend on economic forecasts in the out-years that won’t come true. The only meaningful fact is that Biden wants to raise taxes by nearly $5 trillion.

Biden’s purported budget is largely an exercise in fantasy:

The budget leaves some blank spaces. It lists principles for shoring up Social Security, without specifying a plan. It calls for paying for extensions of tax cuts for most households after 2025 but doesn’t detail how that would be paid for. And it calls for restoring the expanded child tax credit, but only temporarily, lumping that into the broader 2025 tax debate.

Biden’s budget proposes absurd taxes on corporations and “the rich”:

The budget repeats many past Biden tax-increase proposals, including higher tax rates on corporations and high-income individuals along with minimum taxes on the wealthiest Americans’ unrealized capital gains.

Which is insane. If the government taxes unrealized gains on unsold securities when the market goes up, will it write checks to investors when the market is down? Logically, it would have to, but of course that is not part of Biden’s proposal.

Biden rolled out several new tax increases last week, such as raising his new corporate alternative-minimum-tax rate to 21% from 15% and denying deductions when corporations pay any workers, not just top executives, more than $1 million.

The net effect of Biden’s proposals would be to give the United States one of the heaviest tax burdens in our history, equaled only once since World War II.

Is that because people are dying to give the federal government more money to waste? No, it is because many people are too naive to understand that, as has been said a million times, corporations don’t pay taxes, they collect them. Those taxes are actually paid mostly by customers (i.e., all of us) and secondarily by employees (i.e., most of us). But Biden’s budget is not about economics or, for that matter, mathematics, as the numbers will never add up. Rather, it is about politics:

Biden’s advisers are betting that a focus on lowering costs for families will help push the president to re-election.

Needless to say, Biden’s budget, if actually enacted, would raise costs for families, not lower them. Fortunately, there is zero chance of that happening.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Cuba’s New Cheering Section

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 11th 2024 at 22:43
(Lloyd Billingsley)

As John noted recently, members of “The Squad” recently snuck off to Cuba, a one-party Communist dictatorship and massive violator of human rights. The woke Democrats seem unaware of films and books that document the repressions of the Stalinist regime. Consider, for example, Improper Conduct, by Cuban cinematographer Nestor Almendros, who in 1979 won an Oscar for Days of Heaven.

Improper Conduct shows how Fidel Castro tossed homosexuals into forced labor camps, which were rather inclusive. As New York Times film critic Vincent Canby noted, “Playwrights, doctors, poets and painters as well as more ordinary folk such as tour guides and hairdressers, spent time in one or more of the country’s forced-labor camps.” Consider also 8-A, a documentary by Cuban exile Orlando Jimenez Leal.

When Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa returned from Africa, Castro spotted a potential rival and staged a show trial for Ochoa and fellow officers. 8-A showcases the actual trial, in which Castro appears, and adds a dramatization of the executions.

In Heroes are Grazing In My Garden, Cuban poet Heberto Padilla exposes the repression of writers and intellectuals, along with the general privations of the people. For example, diabetics sell samples of their urine, so others can get extra rations of milk and meat. In Against All Hope, Armando Valladares documents Castro’s torture of political prisoners. Consider also Paul Hollander’s Political Pilgrims, which recalls glowing accounts of the Cuban regime by foreigners.

“Fidel sits on the side of a tank rumbling into Havana on New Year’s day,” wrote New Left icon Abbie Hoffman (Steal this Book). “He laughs joyously and pinches a few rumps… Fidel lets the gun drop to the ground, slaps his thigh and stands erect. He is like a mighty penis coming to life, and when he is tall and straight, the crowd immediately is transformed.”

For novelist Norman Mailer, Castro was “the first and greatest hero to appear in the world since the Second World War.” For Angela Davis, Communist Party USA candidate for vice-president in 1980 and 1984, “Fidel was their leader, but most of all he was also their brother in the largest sense of the word.” In reality, the white Stalinist plunged the nation into sub-Haiti levels of poverty, and thousands fled on anything that would float.

As Saul Bellow explained, a great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. The Squad is either ignorant of the record or, like Angela Davis, fully approves of the Cuba’s Stalinist regime. As Cubans might note, in 2021, Squad members Pramila Jayapal and Ilhan Omar were among 40 Democrats who voted against a resolution supporting peaceful demonstrators protesting against the Cuban government.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Loose Ends (247)

By: Steven Hayward — March 11th 2024 at 23:14
(Steven Hayward)

I don’t get it. I thought the Clinton Foundation had fixed all of the problems in Haiti. Maybe they should just bring back Voodoo economics.

I did not have John Fetterman as a robust champion for Israel on my Bingo card:

I’m starting to believe that on this issue at least, Fetterman is a better Senator than Oz would have been.

Apparently Middlebury, the college that allowed the assault on Charles Murray and a faculty member back in 2017, is feeling left out of the elite university anti-Semitism sweepstakes:

Middlebury Administrators Ordered Students to Remove ‘Jewish’ from Oct. 7 Attack Victims’ Vigil

By Aaron Sibarium, Washington Free Beacon

It was October 10, three days after Hamas had murdered 1,200 Israelis and abducted hundreds more, and Jewish students at Middlebury College were trying to organize a vigil for the victims. They reached out to Middlebury’s dean of students, Derek Doucet, with a draft poster promoting the event, which they invited administrators at the elite liberal arts school to attend.

“Stand in Solidarity With the Jewish People,” the poster read. “This will be an opportunity to honor the innocent lives lost in the tragic events that have struck Israel in the past days.”

It didn’t go over well.

In an email to students reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, Doucet, who has oversight of student activities, pushed to rename the vigil and strip it of references to Judaism so as to make it “as inclusive as possible.”

“Some suggestions that might help are stating that this gathering is to honor ‘all the innocent lives lost,’” Doucet wrote, and including a reference to the “tragedies that have struck Israel and Gaza.” He added that calls for solidarity with Jews could trigger “unhelpful reactions.”

To adapt a new saying about the media—you may think you hate college administrators, but you don’t hate them enough.

Nothing to see here, I’m sure:

Environmentalists Blast Offshore Wind as 69th Dead Whale in Less than Year Found Dead on Atlantic Coast

In a less than 24-hour span this weekend, two more dead whales have been discovered off the northern Atlantic coast of the U.S., and pro-cetacean activists are blaming President Joe Biden’s offshore wind initiative.

I’m so old I can remember when “Save the Whales!” was a popular bumper sticker on VW Bugs, Volvos, and early-adopter Subaru drivers.

Another reminder that even Barack Obama was better on border security and uncontrolled immigration than Biden is:

This wasn't 30 years ago. This was President Obama in 2009 on immigration.

"We can't have half a million people pouring over the border…"

About 7 years later these same positions were considered racist and xenophobic by Democrats. pic.twitter.com/X41Qk0Qe2x

— MAZE (@mazemoore) March 11, 2024

Chaser:

It would be a real shame if everybody watched and shared this right now.

A REAL shame… pic.twitter.com/bYKhb5QvlN

— Gain of Fauci (@DschlopesIsBack) March 9, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The ordeal of Martin Kulldorff

By: Scott Johnson — March 12th 2024 at 05:35
(Scott Johnson)

According to his Martin Kulldorff bio, Ph.D., Dr.h.c., is an epidemiologist, a biostatistician, and a founding fellow at Hillsdale College’s Academy for Science and Freedom. He was a Professor of Medicine at Harvard University for thirteen years. Dr. Kulldorff’s research centers on developing and applying new disease surveillance methods for post-market drug and vaccine safety surveillance and for the early detection and monitoring of infectious disease outbreaks. In October 2020, he co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, advocating for a pandemic strategy of focused protection instead of lockdowns.

City Journal has just published Professor Kulldorff’s account of the censorship of his work and his involuntary departure from Harvard. It was something (many things) he thought and said — crimes against the groupthink of the Covid regime. His account runs to 2,500 words and is titled “Harvard tramples the truth.” It’s straight outta Cambridge. It’s straight outta D.C. It’s straight outta Orwell.

It opens: “I am no longer a professor of medicine at Harvard. The Harvard motto is Veritas, Latin for truth. But, as I discovered, truth can get you fired. This is my story—a story of a Harvard biostatistician and infectious-disease epidemiologist, clinging to the truth as the world lost its way during the Covid pandemic.” Read every word here.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Hamas’s “Operation Ramadan”–and ours

By: Scott Johnson — March 12th 2024 at 06:19
(Scott Johnson)

President Biden apparently thinks the IDF should observe Ramadan as it seeks to eliminate the genocidaires of Hamas. By contrast, the genocidaires of Hamas find Jewish holidays the right time to do their thing. It’s enough to make a sane man vomit.

Wall Street Journal letters editor Elliot Kaufman is not too choked up about Biden’s Ramadan recess. His column on the subject is datelined Tel Aviv and runs with the headline “Hamas’s ‘Operation Ramadan’—and Ours.”

The headline works a witty variation on the title of Norman Podhoretz’s classic Commentary essay “My Negro Problem–and Ours.” By the same token, it could have been headlined “My Biden Problem–and Ours.” However, it would require more than 800 words to lay it out. It would take a book.

Elliot’s column is behind the Journal’s paywall. Here is the heart of it:

There is an idea that it is wrong to fight an Islamic country during the holy month of Ramadan, which this year starts Sunday night. It’s nonsense: Look at Egypt and Syria’s 1973 Ramadan War against Israel or Iran’s 1982 Operation Ramadan against Iraq. Conversations with senior Israeli political, military and legal officials, however, suggest that the taboo is a weapon—and every player in the Gaza war has an Operation Ramadan of its own.

For more than a month, the Biden administration has set the start of Ramadan as the deadline for a deal to release Israeli hostages and stop the war. “There’s got to be a cease-fire because Ramadan,” the president said Tuesday. “If we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.” The danger, in his formulation, is all on the Israeli side, so Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had better cut a deal.

Israel’s leaders lamented privately that every day in February and early March seemed to bring a new U.S. shot across Israel’s bow—an unprecedented sanctions regime; new strings attached to weapons transfers; Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call for a “timebound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state”; a turn against the war effort, which Mr. Biden called “over the top”; loud opposition to an offensive in Rafah, now termed a “red line”; a new policy deeming all settlements illegal; blame pinned on Israel for humanitarian aid problems; calls for an “immediate cease-fire”; and leaks that the U.S. could demand its weapons not be used in Rafah.

Meanwhile, the president no longer speaks about defeating Hamas, let alone destroying it. Victory is off his list of priorities—and Israelis worry that Mr. Biden is the most pro-Israel member of his administration. Where American words gave Israelis succor after Oct. 7, they now confound and demoralize the country. According to a senior Israeli official, Mr. Blinken “says it right in your face: ‘You can’t win.’ ”

This was America’s Operation Ramadan: Spook and threaten Israel into accepting a hostage deal that would end the war much sooner than Mr. Netanyahu wants, because victory is unattainable anyway.

The administration misread Israel. Its pressure tactics have allowed Mr. Netanyahu to rally even his rivals around his positions on Rafah and against unilateral U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, an idea Israelis find criminally insane right now. The prime minister’s chief opponent, Benny Gantz, has publicly agreed with him on both, and reportedly told U.S. officials that “finishing the war without demilitarizing Rafah is like sending in firefighters to put out 80% of a fire.” As retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, head of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, tells me, “All the Hamas leaders are there. All the hostages are there. The fighters, the munitions—they’re in Rafah.”

It may not exactly fit the IDF’s timetable, but taking Rafah for Ramadan would be the right way to observe the holiday this year.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Dressed to kill

By: Scott Johnson — March 12th 2024 at 06:34
(Scott Johnson)

The New York Post devotes its cover story to President Biden’s election-year budget. By Josh Christenson, the story is headlined “Biden unveils massive $7.3T budget with $5.5T in tax hikes, plans for ‘highest burden’ in US history.” The Post has created a classic cover to flag the story (below). It should probably come with some kind of a warning: “Viewing may induce nausea.” I’m filing this under Laughter Is the Best Medicine.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Him or Hur?

By: Scott Johnson — March 12th 2024 at 07:03
(Scott Johnson)

Politico Playbook previews the testimony later this morning of Special Counsel Robert Hur before the House Judiciary Committee. Hur is to testify on the report of his investigation of Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents (i.e., the report submitted to Attorney General Merrick Garland). The Playbookers have obtained and posted Hur’s opening statement here. These are the operative paragraphs:

My report reflects my best effort to explain why I declined to recommend charging President Biden. I analyzed the evidence as prosecutors routinely do: by assessing its strengths and weaknesses, including by anticipating the ways in which the President’s defense lawyers might poke holes in the government’s case if there were a trial and seek to persuade jurors that the government could not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

There has been a lot of attention paid to language in the report about the President’s memory, so let me say a few words about that. My task was to determine whether the President retained or disclosed national defense information “willfully”—meaning, knowingly and with the intent to do something the law forbids.

I could not make that determination without assessing the President’s state of mind. For that reason, I had to consider the President’s memory and overall mental state, and how a jury likely would perceive his memory and mental state in a criminal trial. These are the types of issues prosecutors analyze every day. And because these issues were important to my ultimate decision, I had to include a discussion of them in my report to the Attorney General.

The evidence and the President himself put his memory squarely at issue. We interviewed the President and asked him about his recorded statement, “I just found all the classified stuff downstairs.” He told us that he didn’t remember saying that to his ghostwriter. He also said he didn’t remember finding any classified material in his home after his vice presidency. And he didn’t remember anything about how classified documents about Afghanistan made their way into his garage.

My assessment in the report about the relevance of the President’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair. Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe. I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the President unfairly. I explained to the Attorney General my decision and the reasons for it. That’s what I was required to do.

This is confused and confusing. Did Hur base his non-prosecution decision on his putative inability to prove the mental element of the possible offenses? Hur implies it is “willfulness,” although “gross negligence” would have sufficed to prove the offense under 28 U.S.C § 793. Or did he base his non-prosecution decision on a jury’s anticipated pity for a senile dolt? I trust that some members of the committee will home in on this issue this morning.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: A Different Kind of Femme Fatale

By: Steven Hayward — March 12th 2024 at 13:07
(Steven Hayward)

Our pal Mark Perry reminds is that today, March 12, is “Equal Pay Day” that falsely assumes how far into 2024 the typical woman has to work to earn what her alleged male counterpart earned in 2023. Funny how feminists never consider something like “Equal Job Safety” or “Job Risk” day (Mark proposes “Occupational Fatality Day”), because the data looks like this and the “gap” would take years, not months, to close:

Men are 11 times more likely to die on the job than women. A rather different kind of femme fatale.

Chaser, FWIW (also from Mark):

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

He won’t back down

By: Scott Johnson — March 12th 2024 at 15:12
(Scott Johnson)

President Biden is reportedly “thinking” about imposing conditions on military aid to Israel if the IDF assault on Hamas’s redoubt in Rafah proceeds as planned. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke by video to AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington. Netanyahu’s office has posted the video clip below on X and a six-minute video here on YouTube (with an echo for the first minute).

The Prime Minister’s Office has posted Netanyahu’s text here along with these further remarks in a Churchillian vein:

Some people would make you believe that the people of Israel are disunited. In fact, some people would have you believe there is the prime minister and then there is the people of Israel.

The truth of the matter is that the people of Israel overwhelmingly support the policies set forth by myself and my government. They overwhelmingly support the need for total victory. Overwhelmingly. They overwhelmingly oppose the idea of having a Palestinian state rammed down our throat.

We just had a vote in the Knesset, to illustrate the point I just made, 99 to 9 supporting this position. And you know what? It’s not irrational. It’s because they think that giving now a Palestinian state after the October 7th massacre will be the greatest reward for terrorism in modern times.

They overwhelmingly reject the idea that we should implant, after we’ve destroyed Hamas in Gaza, the PA that still inculcates its children towards terrorism and the annihilation of Israel. They want a future of peace, a future of security that is purchased by a resounding victory.

And as I say, the possibilities for this victory, the possibilities that are opened up are immense but they require that one word: victory. And I will repeat it again, victory, victory, victory. No substitute for that and we will achieve it together.

Netanyahu knows he represents the consensus of Israeli popular opinion on this point and he gives no sign of backing down.

We will finish the job. Watch my speech at the AIPAC policy conference >> pic.twitter.com/QvPEyzfQvc

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 12, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Who Needs DEI?

By: John Hinderaker — March 12th 2024 at 18:35
(John Hinderaker)

Black college athletes do, according to the NAACP. The NAACP is urging black athletes not to go to college in Florida:

The NAACP asked Black student-athletes to reconsider their decisions to attend public colleges and universities in the state of Florida, in response to the University of Florida and other state schools recently eliminating their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

In a letter sent to NCAA president Charlie Baker and addressed to current and prospective student-athletes Monday, NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson wrote, “This is not about politics. It’s about the protection of our community, the progression of our culture, and most of all, it’s about your education, and your future.”

The idea that black athletes at major sports schools like Florida and Florida State need DEI departments to…what? Prevent them from being discriminated against? The idea is laughable, as is the NCAAP’s apparent suggestion that DEI bureaucrats are somehow helpful to a student’s education.

My guess is that not a single black athlete who otherwise wants to play for Florida, Florida State or any other public Florida college will be deterred by the NCAAP’s advice. What this episode really shows is how useless the once-relevant NCAAP has become. And also, how Florida has taken the lead in adopting common-sense policies that have put the state in the Left’s cross-hairs.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

British Muslims Seek to Ban Blasphemy

By: John Hinderaker — March 12th 2024 at 20:42
(John Hinderaker)

This long piece in the London Times describes the efforts of some British Muslims to prohibit blasphemy, either through legal action or through mob violence:

Britain faces an alarming rise in intimidation and threats of violence against those perceived to have insulted Islam, a new report will warn.

Protests condemning acts of apparent blasphemy have become more frequent and radicalised, according to independent research commissioned by the government’s counterextremism chief.

The report, seen by The Times, exposes links between activists at the forefront of recent protests in the UK and an extremist Islamist political party in Pakistan whose members have regularly called for blasphemers to be beheaded.

It has been a long time since anyone was beheaded in Britain on religious grounds.

Robin Simcox, the government’s counterextremism tsar, commissioned the research after three blasphemy flashpoints in the UK: the 2021 protests against a teacher in Batley, West Yorkshire, who received death threats and is still in hiding…

Still in hiding, three years later–a teacher in West Yorkshire.

…after showing pupils a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed; Birmingham protests the following year over the screening of the film The Lady in Heaven, which depicted Mohammed’s daughter; and last year’s controversy in Wakefield, also in West Yorkshire, after a copy of the Quran was slightly damaged at a high school.

Some of the anti-blasphemy initiative is coming from Pakistan:

It described as “most alarming” the emergence of a UK wing of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a political party that was temporarily banned there because of violent rallies and its support for mob executions of perceived blasphemers. British mosques have hosted speakers who are supportive of TLP and each of the protests in Batley, Wakefield and Birmingham involved activists with links.

The report warned that such rhetoric “has the potential to radicalise their audience around the issue of blasphemy” and that this in turn “may increase the likelihood of sectarian violence and terrorism in the UK”.

The report stresses that most UK-based blasphemy activists have rejected violence and condemn terrorist acts such as the 2015 shooting attack in Paris on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical magazine, in which 17 people died.

However, it says many are calling for stricter laws in the UK against blasphemy and seek to criminalise insults against Islam, which they present as part of a wider war on the faith by so-called enemies of Islam in the West.

Britain has admitted large numbers of Muslims from Commonwealth countries, and they now constitute a substantial political bloc. In recent months, they have repeatedly taken over large swaths of the city of London with kill-the-Jews rallies. While British authorities deplore these demonstrations, they seem to have been cowed by the implicit threat of violence that they manifest.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Hymn to Hur

By: Scott Johnson — March 13th 2024 at 06:03
(Scott Johnson)

Special Counsel Robert Hur testified for some five hours before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday on his investigation into President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents over his too long career in public life. I have posted the Washington Post’s YouTube video of the hearing at the bottom. At the same time, transcripts of Hur’s interview of Biden in the investigation were released: October 8 (99 pages) and October 9 (157 pages).

Mr. Techno Fog provided his hot take on the transcripts here (“confusion, evasion, and outright lies”). David Harsanyi cut to the chase in the Federalist column “Turns out Biden lied.” The Free Beacon’s Andrew Kerr reviews both Hur’s testimony and the Biden transcripts in “Interview Transcript, Congressional Testimony Shed Light on Biden’s Memory Lapses During Classified Doc Investigation.”

Hur confined his testimony to the four corners of the lengthy report he submitted to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Whenever he was asked about the facts of the case, he referred to the report’s findings. He demonstrated perfect poise and complete mastery of the case as set forth in his report.

It should go without saying that Hur knew his case, but contrast Hur’s grasp of the case with Robert Mueller’s failure to launch at the comparable hearing held following his Russiagate investigation. To put it charitably, Mueller appeared to be a figurehead who performed at best as an innocent bystander to an investigation run and conducted by others (e.g., Andrew Weissmann). Trump fans who harbor lingering animosity against Attorney General William Barr don’t understand that Mueller’s investigation would still be alive if it weren’t for Barr.

The House Democrats sought to impute a finding of “complete exoneration” of Biden to Hur. Hur begged to disagree. Hur was admirably noncompliant in the face of the Democrats’ efforts to put words in his mouth. The Free Beacon’s video of highlights (below) shows that “complete exoneration” misses the mark. As Hur put it in his opening statement, Hur “identified evidence that the President willfully retained classified materials after the end of his vice presidency, when he was a private citizen.” This evidence contradicted everything Biden himself has said in public about the case, although lying to the public is not a crime. It is standard operating procedure.

Hur was criticized for resting his recommendation of non-prosecution on Biden’s senility. Hur explained that he was required to “show [his] work” supporting his recommendation of non-prosecution. Hur reminded me of how I showed my work in solving high school physics problems. I began with the answer and worked back from there.

In Hur’s case, the answer was non-prosecution. A voice in his head from the film Network must have counseled caution: “Don’t do it, buddy! You’re a young man! You got your whole life ahead of you!” Hur’s explanation of the difficulty of obtaining a guilty verdict in the case was little more than absurd (as was his distinction of the Biden case from the Trump case).

In the course of his overlong political career, Biden has been a serial violator of the national security law. He is heedless to it. His misconduct is egregious. And he is a senescent dolt with the possible reservation that in some instances he may be senile like a fox. I don’t recall when “I don’t recall” was ever so plausible.

I would like to include one positive observation in these remarks. I was impressed by the demeanor of two congressmen whose names I had not even heard before. I don’t know anything else about them except what I saw yesterday. I am referring to Republican Ben Cline of Virginia and Democrat Glenn Ivey of Maryland.

However, yesterday’s hearing was incredibly depressing. It represents the dire condition of our politics. We have clownish Democrats volubly insisting on the things which are not. We have the exhibition of the two-tiered system of justice that Democrats have fashioned to resolve the problem of Donald Trump and other annoyances. We have the continuing exposure of the mental incompetence of the president of the United States. We have the mainstream press acting as the Democrats’ public relations arm.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Netanyahu’s negation

By: Scott Johnson — March 13th 2024 at 10:27
(Scott Johnson)

The Biden administration obviously seeks to depose the government of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The administration has released our intelligence community’s assessment that Netanyahu’s “viability as a leader” is “in jeopardy,” according to the annual report on the national security threats facing the United States that was presented to Congress on Monday. I assess that the wish is father to the thought.

The assessment provides: “Distrust of Netanyahu’s ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections,” according to the report. “A different, more moderate government is a possibility.” I assess that the wish is father to the thought and that the assessment bears the trademark of “Our Democracy™.”

Netanyahyu’s voice can be heard in the response attributed to a “very senior” Israeli official in a statement issued to the media: “Those who elect the prime minister of Israel are the citizens of Israel and no one else. Israel is not a protectorate of the US but an independent and democratic country whose citizens are the ones who elect the government. We expect our friends to act to overthrow the terror regime of Hamas and not the elected government in Israel.”

The intelligence community could not be reached for comment.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Haiti—Less Violent Than Chicago?

By: Steven Hayward — March 13th 2024 at 13:00
(Steven Hayward)

So Haiti is back in the news. As I mentioned yesterday, I thought the Clinton Foundation had fixed the place! Or Colin Powell in the 1990s. Or something. How soon until Biden sends in American troops? Or lets 500,000 Haitians come to America?

Anyway, Haiti is in the state of nature right now, with gangs and mobs rampaging. And yet, as a smart left-leaning friend of mine (I do have a few of those—opposition research) points out, the murder rate in Haiti is lower than many American cities:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Why he was fired from Harvard

By: Scott Johnson — March 13th 2024 at 15:45
(Scott Johnson)

The great Dr. Jay Bhattacharya hosts the Illusion of Consensus podcast. I have embedded his most recent episode below via X. In this episode he speaks with Martin Kulldorff. Please check it out in its native habitat here and help Dr. Bhattacharya extend his reach to other platforms.

Dr. Bhattacharya’s introduction to the podcast notes that “in this critical conversation we discuss a number of hot topics, most crucially Martin’s firing from Harvard for his opposition to vaccine mandates. He has broken the silence on this tragic issue and we are happy to host his first public conversation on the matter. We also discuss Martin’s firing from the CDC over the J&J vaccine and Harvard’s generally unscientific response to the pandemic. The conversation concludes with a discussion on decentralizing and reforming the scientific community.”

Drs. Bhattacharya and Kulldorff are are two-thirds of the team that hatched the Great Barrington Declaration. With any luck, they will be recognized in next year’s Samizadat Prize.

New Illusion of Consensus podcast with @martinkulldorff. Martin tells the story of his career in public health, his advocacy for the basic principles of public health in the covid era, and his departure from Harvard.

(The link to the podcast is in my bio. Please subscribe!) pic.twitter.com/K3GOZupBlQ

— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) March 12, 2024

The required reading for the Illusion of Consensus podcast is of course Martin Kulldorff’s March 11 City Journal column “Harvard tramples the truth.” Dr. Kulldorff also discusses his experience in the excellent City Journal podcast with John Tierney below (City Journal transcript here).

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Exploding the Myths of “Green” Energy

By: John Hinderaker — March 13th 2024 at 18:29
(John Hinderaker)

American Experiment’s Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling tell you what you need to know to respond to ill-informed advocates for “green” energy. There is much more at the link, but here is an overview:

1. Renewables can’t survive on their own

The renewable energy industry is a subsidy-based industry, as wind and solar are largely dependent on lucrative state and federal subsidies. However, renewable advocates justify these perpetual subsidies by claiming thermal generators receive more subsidies than wind and solar. This assertion is not based on reality….
***
In 2022, wind and solar generators received three and eighteen times more subsidies per MWh, respectively, than natural gas, coal, and nuclear generators combined. Solar is the clear leader, receiving anywhere from $50 to $80 per MWh over the last five years, whereas wind is a distant second at $8 to $10 per MWh.

Poor solar energy! No matter how many billions the government pours down the solar rathole, no one has figured out a way to generate solar power after the sun goes down.

2. Renewables increase the cost of electricity

Renewable advocates often claim that the adoption of more wind and solar will lead to lower electricity costs, but the opposite is true. In a previous Substack, we wrote in detail about how utility companies with the largest rate increase requests in the country admit the energy transition is a major reason behind increasing electricity prices for families and businesses.

“Green” advocates fake the numbers for wind and solar by the simple expedient of only counting a fraction of their costs. This chart shows the actual cost of the various energy systems if all costs are included:

3. More wind and solar means more blackouts

Advocates of renewable energy also don’t want to account for one of the most damning facts about policies that favor wind and solar energy at the expense of dispatchable generators: that they have led to electricity blackouts in more than one region.

Greenies are full of bogus reasons why increased use of wind and solar are not to blame for blackouts, but they can’t answer the simple question: why is that we didn’t have blackouts before spending hundreds of billions on wind and solar, but now we do have blackouts?

Isaac and Mitch conclude:

Despite claiming to be ardent followers of “tHe ScIEncE,” wind and solar advocates live in their own universe of alternative facts that deny the basic physics and economics of the electric grid. Hopefully, this piece is useful for you the next time a wind or solar stan is arguing with you in the comments section.

One more “green” myth remains to be exploded: the claim that wind and solar are better for the environment than natural gas, nuclear and coal-fired electricity. That myth will be addressed in an upcoming report.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Important Voting Problems

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 14th 2024 at 00:41
(Lloyd Billingsley)

As John notes, blue collar workers or minorities voting for policies that actually help them is an important trend, and a complement to Steve’s post about the border problem. As he showed, “immigration” helped to flip California from red to blue in presidential elections, so Democrats seek to repeat that trend “across the entire country.” That’s why Biden has brought in millions, and that’s a problem.

The possibility of becoming a public charge can cancel the prospect of legal immigrants becoming legitimate American citizens. On the other hand, for many illegals becoming a public charge is the goal. The ideal set-up is to get on welfare and work under the table for cash. That’s what enables the transfer of  more than $63 billion to Mexico in 2023, a seven-percent hike from the previous year. In effect, the USA subsidizes the Mexican government.

Those on welfare have a problem becoming U.S. citizens and that’s what California attorney general Xavier Becerra was on about when he cited 10 million “immigrants” in California alone. It is illegal for foreign nationals and even registered aliens to vote, but California’s “motor voter” program registers false-documented illegals to vote when they get their driver’s license. Squads of politiqueros  bribe, coerce and threaten the illegals to vote “a certain way,” code for Democrats.

Absent an independent investigation, citizens can have more than a reasonable doubt on ballot propositions to legitimize crime (Proposition 47), the recall vote for Newsom, and his reelection in 2022. Citizens may also have reasonable doubt on the 2020 presidential vote.

Stumbling Joe Biden, who campaigned from his basement, is a wax-works effigy of a president. On the other hand, with an eye on California, he has imported an electorate by the millions. As David Horowitz has often noted, Democrats are good at voter fraud and Republicans are poor at preventing it. So the nation could get four more years of Joe Biden, or someone even worse. All things have limits, except human stupidity and malevolence.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Willfully yours

By: Scott Johnson — March 14th 2024 at 06:53
(Scott Johnson)

Special Counsel Robert Hur found that President Biden willfully mishandled documents subject to the Espionage Act provision set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 793(e). However, Hur clouded the “willfulness” element of the offense by resting his non-prosecution recommendation in part on Biden’s present senility. Hur presents his analysis of the element of “willfulness” under section 793 in Chapter Nine of his report.

The relevant question is whether Biden committed the acts “willfully” at the relevant time. Hur had a smoking gun or two to prove the “willfulness” element of the offense. Among other things, however, he suggested that a jury would be reluctant to convict someone as out of it as Biden is and imputed the jury’s likely reluctance to Biden’s present inability to act “willfully” beyond a reasonable doubt. See, for example, Chapters Eleven and Twelve of the report.

Just to give an idea of the evidence Hur compiled, the Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman highlights a few passages from Hur’s report. Freeman quotes this from Chapter Twelve:

As with the classified Afghanistan documents [discussed in Chapter Eleven], there is evidence that Mr. Biden kept his notebooks after his vice presidency knowing they were classified and he was not allowed to have them.

The evidence shows convincingly that Mr. Biden knew the notebooks, as a whole, contained classified information. For eight years, he wrote in his notebooks about classified information during classified meetings in the White House Situation Room and elsewhere. He was familiar with the notebooks’ contents, which included obviously classified information. When reviewing the notebooks with [Biden ghostwriter Mark] Zwonitzer, Mr. Biden sometimes read aloud classified notes verbatim, but he also sometimes appeared to skip over classified information, and he warned Zwonitzer that the material in the notebooks could be classified. Mr. Biden also stored the notebooks in a classified safe in the White House for a time as vice president because the notebooks were classified.

In Mr. Biden’s written answers to questions from our office, he called into question whether he knew the information in his notebooks was classified. In those answers, Mr. Biden explained that when he described material in his notebooks to Zwonitzer as “classified’’ he did not actually mean “classified.” According to Mr. Biden, “I may have used the word ‘classified’ with Mr. Zwonitzer in a generic sense, to refer not to the formal classification of national security information, but to sensitive or private topics to ensure that Mr. Zwonitzer would not write about them.” Mr. Biden qualified this answer by explaining, “I do not recall the specific conversations you reference with Mr. Zwonitzer, which took place more than six years ago.”

This explanation-that “classified” does not mean “classified”-is not credible. At the time Mr. Biden met with Zwonitzer, Mr. Biden had nearly fifty years of experience dealing with classified information, including as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a member and Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, a member and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Vice President of the United States. It is not plausible that a person of his knowledge and experience used the term “classified” in this context as a euphemism for “private.”

Hur discusses the existence of grounds for reasonable doubt regarding Biden’s willfulness at the time of the acts (i.e., evidence that Biden thought the notebooks were his personal property), but falls back on Biden’s subsequent incompetence (my word, not Hur’s). If Biden thought they were his personal property, why did he lie about the meaning of “classified”? As I wrote yesterday, Hur’s analysis has the quality of a student working backward from the known answer to a question. Hur thus concludes Chapter Twelve:

Given the intelligence and military officials present and the topics discussed at the meetings Mr. Biden recounted for Zwonitzer, Mr. Biden should have realized that his notes did or were likely to contain classified information. But taken as a whole, the evidence will likely leave jurors with reasonable doubts about whether Mr. Biden knew he was sharing classified information with Zwonitzer and intended to do so. For these jurors, Mr. Biden’s apparent lapses and failures in February and April 2017 will likely appear consistent with the diminished faculties and faulty memory he showed in Zwonitzer’s interview recordings and in our interview of him. Therefore, we conclude that the evidence does not establish that Mr. Biden willfully disclosed national defense information to Zwonitzer.

I thought someone would press Hur on the “willfulness” issue at the hearing. Rep. Ken Buck, who declared he’s outta here next week, came the closest to getting at it toward the tail end of the five-hour hearing (video below). Even within the five-minutes limiting each round of questions — Buck could have omitted his introductory remarks and gotten to the point — Buck almost got there, but this ain’t horseshoes.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The trouble with Dennis Ross

By: Scott Johnson — March 14th 2024 at 07:47
(Scott Johnson)

Dennis Ross is a scholar and diplomat of unmatched experience in the vagaries of “the peace process.” His 2005 memoir The Missing Peace: Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace runs to 880 closely printed pages. He served in both the Bush (41) and Clinton administrations. He also served as special assistant to President Obama and worked on National Security Council in both the Reagan and Obama administrations. He currently serves as a distinguished fellow on the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His impressive Washington Institute profile is posted here.

On a personal note, I would like to add this. When I was working on the 2007 Weekly Standard article “How Arafat got away with murder,” I caught Ambassador Ross by telephone in his office late on a Friday afternoon. He was on his way out the door and didn’t know me from Adam, yet he took my question and responded as quoted in the article. He seemed to me a straightforward and decent gentleman.

Ross was invited by the MIT Jewish Alumni Alliance to speak at MIT’s “Standing Together Against Hate” program launched in the aftermath of the the October 7 massacre. MIT president Sally Kornbluth trumpeted the program as an effort aimed at “community building.” She put MIT chancellor Melissa Nobles in charge.

A Hamas apologist is scheduled to speak at MIT as part of the program on March 18. Jewish alumni reached out to Ross and confirmed his willingness to participate in the program’s speaker series. When attempts were made to move forward, however, program planners informed the alumni that Ross is not an appropriate speaker because they deem him “a politician.” The alumni group has posted its March 12 open letter to Kornbluth here.

The Washington Free Beacon’s Jessica Costescu now takes a deep dive into the story under the headline “MIT Refused To Host Dennis Ross. It Invited a Hamas Apologist Instead.” Subhead: “Dalia Mogahed, who described Hamas terrorism as legal ‘resistance,’ slated to speak as a part of MIT’s ‘Standing Against Hate’ Initiative.”

What’s the trouble with Dennis Ross? It’s not that he is a politician. He has never run for office:

Like Ross, Mogahed has served as a presidential adviser, albeit to fewer presidents and in more junior roles. She served as an adviser to former president Barack Obama in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

For Matthew Handel and Lori Ullman, two Jewish Alumni Alliance members, MIT’s refusal to host Ross—and its excuse for excluding him—are insulting.

“It’s already patronizing for anyone to say we’re at MIT, so we think we’re smarter than you,” Handel, who co-founded the group, told the Free Beacon. “It’s beyond arrogant that they would say, ‘We work at MIT, so as MIT alums, we’re smarter than you; MIT students, we’re smarter than you; Congress, we’re smarter than you.'”

Costescu gives the reader everything he might need to understand the story and the actual trouble with Ross, including this valuable note: “MIT did not return a request for comment.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Ms. Yellen regrets

By: Scott Johnson — March 14th 2024 at 08:47
(Scott Johnson)

In Cole Porter’s “Miss Otis Regrets,” the heroine announces that she’s unable to lunch today. Why? She has a good excuse — because she was strung up by a mob for killing “the man who had led her so far astray.”

Now Ms. Yellen regrets. Janet Yellen holds the venerable office of Secretary of the Treasury. Former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Yellen is well qualified for the job and an ostensibly serious person. Yet she has proved unfit for the office, regurgitating administration talking points with an utter lack of seriousness. Inflation — she declared in 2021 that it was “transitory.” Abortion — restricting it would be “very damaging” to the economy. By contrast, she supports the administration’s gusher of “green” spending as constructive. ‘S wonderful.

Ms. Yellen regrets she has revealed herself to be a political hack. “I regret saying [inflation] was transitory,” Yellen said in a March 13 interview on Fox News. “It has come down. But I think transitory means a few weeks or months to most people.” Three years later, it might be worth asking what “transitory” means to her and who suggested she use the term in coordination with the other occupants of the Biden administration clown car.

When Yellen adopted the administration line on inflation being “transitory,” nobody had led Yellen astray. She killed her own reputation. However, she is also able to lunch today. Why anyone should even believe anything she says is not exactly a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. No one should.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

After last week

By: Scott Johnson — March 14th 2024 at 09:41
(Scott Johnson)

Last week the mainstream press ranked President Biden’s State of the Union address up there with the Sermon on the Mount. I reviewed it in detail and found it to be “The SOTU from hell,” but then I wasn’t the target audience. My assessment might have been unreliable.

In my comments I asked to whom the speech was addressed. That wasn’t clear to me. I guess it was addressed to all the Democrats who’d loved him before. He didn’t want them to walk out on him.

Taking a look at the polls after one week, the Hill reports that, ahead of the State of the Union, Biden’s approval rating in a Yahoo News/YouGov poll was 40 percent. In a new survey released on Tuesday by the same team Biden’s approval rating had fallen to 39 percent.

That does not appear to be an outlier: “Other polls also show the president failed to moved the needle following his address to Congress. FiveThirtyEight’s calculation of Biden’s approval rating showed him with just more than 37 percent Tuesday. On March 6, the day before the State of the Union, he had just under a 38 percent approval rating from the ABC News pollster.”

Trump and Biden have each secured his party’s respective nomination and are running neck and neck. The lack of excitement is almost palpable. It is same as it ever was before Joe got hopped up last week to shout into the void.

Via Rich Lowry/NRO.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

A Hundred Billion Here . . .

By: Steven Hayward — March 14th 2024 at 12:25
(Steven Hayward)

Everett Dirksen, the Republican Senate leader back in the 1960s, is famous for saying, “A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. . .”

That was in the days before multi-trillion dollar deficits. A billion dollars is hardly a rounding error in a federal program these days, and $1 billion is usually considered the entry fee for any proposed new program. A program that only costs $750 million is almost an insult at this point.

And Dirksen also never could have anticipated the utility of high speed-rail spending. If he was alive today, he’d likely modify his statement as follows: “A hundred billion here, a hundred billion there, and maybe someday you’ll have a high-speed rail line in California.”

To no one’s surprise, this is in the “news” this week:

California bullet train project needs another $100 billion to complete route from San Francisco to Los Angeles

As the state faces economic headwinds, California’s mega high-speed rail project between San Francisco to Los Angeles also faces major funding hurdles, the project’s CEO Brian Kelly told state lawmakers Tuesday.

Kelly testified in front of the State Senate’s Transportation Committee on the High-Speed Rail Authority’s updated draft business plan. In Tuesday’s hearing, Kelly told lawmakers the project has $28 billion dollars on hand, but noted it was still a few billion dollars short to complete the Central Valley segment between Merced and Bakersfield. Depending on how long the segment takes to finish, it could cost between $32 Billion to $35 Billion. Kelly said the project is hoping to fill the gap with federal funds. That segment of the project is expected to be fully operational between 2030 and 2033, Kelly said.

Project leaders estimate it will still need an additional $100 billion to finish what voters were originally pitched in 2008: a bullet train that runs between San Francisco and Los Angeles. A timeline on its completion has not been set as the authority waits for environmental clearances for those segments.

Bold emphasis added. Because everyone knows federal money is free, or grows on trees or something. But with a state deficit now likely to be over $70 billion this year, there’s little chance California can pay for the completion of the rail line itself. And there’s no timeline set because everyone with a brain understand the high speed rail line will never be fully completed. The “environmental clearances” make that certain.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Framing Air Frames

By: Steven Hayward — March 14th 2024 at 13:14
(Steven Hayward)

Right now it seems the airlines (and especially Boeing aircraft) are suffering an epidemic of equipment failures and mishaps. Count me somewhat skeptical. I suspect the Alaska Air door frame blow out a few weeks ago, along with the tire falling off a United 777 the other day, has put the media on high alert, and now many episodes of mishaps and irregularities that might have gone unnoticed or unreported in the general media (the specialty aerospace press is a different matter—Aviation Week and Space Technology was a staple of my household’s magazine subscription pile when I was growing up, and it had lots of neat stories about aircraft problems) and are a source of headlines. (There is a second possibility: that standards for maintenance and manufacturing crews have been eroded on account of diversity mandates. . .)

Here’s the long-term data for mortality from airplane airframe-related accidents:

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Election Interference

By: John Hinderaker — March 14th 2024 at 14:17
(John Hinderaker)

For years, the Democrats have been yammering about “election interference” by Russia that turned out to be either de minimis or entirely fabricated. Now, in a stunning display of hypocrisy, they are aggressively interfering in Israel’s internal politics.

Scott wrote here about the fact that the Biden Administration “obviously seeks to depose the government of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.” The administration has gone so far as to make public an alleged intelligence community assessment to the effect that Netanyahu is unpopular and his government is likely to fall.

Today, Chuck Schumer got into the act:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is absolutely stunning. Since when is it the role of the Senate Majority Leader to tell another country–an ally–that they need to replace their government?

Netanyahu has “lost his way,” Schumer continued, “by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel” and by indicating he isn’t interested in the formation of an independent Palestinian state, which has been a U.S. goal for decades.

But it is not a goal of Israel, not if it can’t be done without threatening Israeli security, which is certainly the case today. One might think that the Israeli people are the best judges of their security needs, not an American senator.

Schumer said that Netanyahu has aligned himself with “far-right extremists” like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who he said are “pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”

There is some truth in that last comment, as anti-Semitism, in the transparent guise of anti-Zionism, has erupted across the Western world. One might therefore think that this is a good time for American leaders to express support for Israel, not try to bring about the overthrow of its government.

But we are not living in normal times.

The Israeli response has been restrained, no doubt in the interest of trying to hold the alliance together:

Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.

— Ambassador Michael Herzog (@AmbHerzog) March 14, 2024


Let’s hope we have a more sensible administration in place as of January 2025.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Living the Luxe Life

By: John Hinderaker — March 14th 2024 at 17:32
(John Hinderaker)

I am so old, I can remember when “public servants” used to earn less money than they could have expected in the private sector. But those days are long gone. Now, government employees have the rest of us by the throat. Our tax dollars are enriching them, on the average, far beyond what they could earn anywhere else.

This is from Stephen Moore’s Committee to Unleash Prosperity:

The average cost for a government employee in December was $60 per hour, or 40.5% more than his or her private sector counterpart.

Benefits to government employees cost 80.3% more.

This chart shows the numbers:

I would think that if we looked at federal employees, the discrepancy would be even greater. And government employees pretty much can’t be fired, either, so they have these sweet gigs forever.

One interpretation of these numbers is that the rest of us are just serfs on the government’s plantation.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Don’t RIP, Karl

By: John Hinderaker — March 14th 2024 at 20:04
(John Hinderaker)

Via InstaPundit, I learn that Karl Marx died on this day in 1883. I concur with Glenn Reynolds’ suggestion that March 14 should therefore be a holiday:

Marx performed the difficult feat of being wrong about everything. Most people are right about some things and wrong about others; the law of averages sets in. But if you are an ideologue, like Marx, and if your ideology is stupid, you can be wrong across the board. Marx’s historical analyses were either recycled conventional wisdom or wildly off the mark. He knew nothing about economics, which is why his labor theory of value–the lynchpin of his entire philosophy–is absurd. (Even Marx recognized that; he never finished the key section of Capital, leaving that inglorious task to Engels.) And he pontificated endlessly about workers and the means of production, without even once, as far as is known, setting foot in a factory.

Marx survives in historical memory for two reasons. First, hardly anyone has actually read Capital or his lesser works. Even a person of moderate intelligence could hardly do so without recognizing their foolishness. Second, Marx’s philosophy has served as a pretext for sadists to seize control of governments around the globe. Which is exactly what Marx intended.

Marx was a bad man, equally so in his private and public lives. He should be remembered only as an exemplar of how much damage a single-minded and hate-filled man can do.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

A New Plan for Voter Fraud

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 15th 2024 at 04:16
(Lloyd Billingsley)

Sen. Alex Padilla, the California Democrat appointed to fill Kamala Harris’s Senate seat after she became vice president, wants Americans to be more certain to register to vote by linking it with free tax preparation. Padilla is leading a push for the U.S. Treasury Department to provide voter registration services at federally funded centers that prepare taxes for low- to moderate-income people, disabled people and people with limited English at no cost to them.

“Limited English,” like “undocumented” or “migrant,” is code for those illegally present in the United States. Federal law bars illegals from voting but Sen. Padilla helps them violate the law. As California’s secretary of state he deployed the “motor voter” plan that registers illegals to vote when they get their driver’s license.

After the 2016 election, Padilla refused to cooperate with a federal probe of voter fraud, and he wouldn’t say how many illegals voted in 2018 or 2020. That year Gov. Gavin Newsom tapped “election chief” Padilla for the U.S. Senate. The senator nobody voted for wants false-documented illegals registered to vote when the government does their taxes “at no cost to them.” It’s motor voter at a whole new level.

Biden has brought in more than seven million illegals, with no background checks, health records, English skills and so forth. Add Padilla’s plan to Biden’s “most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.” The mail ballots, the 2000 Mules, the squads of politiqueros, and so forth, all remain in place.

By these means, the citizens of a constitutional republic become fundamentally transformed into subjects of a woke junta, headed by a wax-works effigy of a president. Ask yourself how you like it so far.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Thoughts from the ammo line

By: Scott Johnson — March 15th 2024 at 05:01
(Scott Johnson)

Ammo Grrrll has seasonal thoughts on WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM PROFESSIONAL SPORTS – especially BASEBALL. She wants commenters to know that she “will be slightly less interactive today as her son is here and we will be at a Spring Training game. It is just a coincidence (honest!) that this column was next up in the pipeline.” She writes:

Unless you are very lucky, the first thing you learn about professional sports is that their sole purpose is to break your heart. Your team is not going to make the playoffs. And if it does, it will be annihilated by the New York Yankees in the first round. Your football team is never going to win the Super Bowl, even with four bites at the apple. But at least you won’t have to sit through the Satanic Half-time Ritual with the Mandatory Wardrobe Malfunction because, with your team, the game has traditionally been over before half-time.

So, yeah, bitter disappointment is the norm no matter how hard you root for your team. How loyal a Vikings fan was I back in the day when all the players stood for the National Anthem because Bud Grant never would have allowed them to kneel?

Well, once I was approached by a New York ad agency to star in a commercial in which I would have to pretend to be a Packers fan – and I TURNED IT DOWN. Now, that’s commitment. Or economic insanity. Potato, Potahto.

It is an altogether good thing to learn early on that MUCH of life is going to be a vast surging disappointment. And still you will survive and even thrive!

You are probably not going to make the Cheerleading Squad. (I didn’t, and it broke my heart). You are probably not going to be a Homecoming Queen. (I wasn’t, but I knew THAT wasn’t in the cards!) You may not get into the college of your choice. (I did because back in the Pleistocene Age, you got into college with good grades and excellent test scores – isn’t that a quaint and backward notion?) You are probably not going to think up something like Amazon, Space X, or TurboTax. (I didn’t.) You are more likely to spend your time thinking up funny names for the harridans on The View and it doesn’t pay nearly as well.

In other words, the chances are excellent that you are going to be an Ordinary Person who works hard at an unexciting job for 55 years, lives and loves and procreates and enjoys grandchildren, Sudoku, and Pickleball. And you will realize at the end that that was much more important than being a cheerleader. Though I sure wish I would have thought up Amazon.

But, but, but, once in a great while, when the stars align, a miracle can happen. Always be on the lookout for miracles.

Else, what can we say about the 1987 and 1991 World Series wins for the Minnesota Twins? Or one of the greatest sports feats of all time, the 2004 ALCS series against the Yankees with the Red Sawx down 3 games to naught and behind in the 9th inning of Game Four to boot.

And God, who had been wearing his noise-cancelling headphones because he was so tired of listening to Bostonians whine in that particularly annoying accent, suddenly heard their prayers and declared: “Okay, Okay. It’s possible I have punished Boston enough.” And He smiled on Big Papi and decreed that a miracle would occur. And He saw that it was good.

The scruffy, scrappy Red Sox came back and won Game Four and the next seven straight games to make the World Series an anti-climactic bore, mostly because the usually excellent Cardinals decided not show up for some reason. I have long advocated that that ALCS Series be shown to cancer patients for never-give-up inspiration.

Today, with the emphasis on year-round fitness, and especially weight-training, baseball players look more like every other professional athlete than they used to. Time was a young fella could hope to be a baseball player even if he wasn’t 6’10” or didn’t weigh 300 lbs.

If a kid was gifted with some sort of bizarre, one-in-a-million people coordination, or the eyesight of Ted Williams, and was willing to practice, practice, practice, he had at least a prayer of making the majors. There was “Little” Freddy Patek, who must have got darn tired of hearing announcers call him that. There were a whole bunch of slender, muscular, HUNGRY players from the Dominican Republic. And, of course, Babe Ruth himself, who nobody would have guessed was a professional athlete if he had been a contestant on “What’s My Line?”

In professional football and basketball, because players are usually only seen with other enormous teammates and ex-player interviewers, it’s not always clear just how DIFFERENT they are from ordinary male mortals.

I was once in an elevator in a hotel in Atlanta when the Celtics were in town to play the Hawks and who should walk into my elevator but Kevin McHale and two teammates. I had always been a Celtics fan and blurted out to Mr. McHale that I was a Minnesotan and had been following his career from high school on. They were all polite and friendly. But, Good Golly Miss Molly, they were YUGE! I felt like a little Arizona barrel cactus amongst the California Redwoods.

We had a similar experience when Joe did some minor legal favor for Joey Browner of the Vikings and he invited us to a little party with a few other Vikings and their lovely ladies. Mr. Browner is a soft-spoken and classy man who often helped opponents he had just flattened to get up when they probably would have preferred to remain on the ground to take a short nap. He was only an inch taller than our Joe/Max, but outweighed him by 50 lbs. of solid muscle. Looking at Joe and Joey side by side a person would say, “One of these guys is a slender, fit, nice-looking attorney. And one of these guys is a safety on the Vikings who has been selected for four Pro Bowls.” And everybody would get it right in one.

One of the greatest things we learn from baseball, perhaps more than any other sport, is that as a batter if you succeed in getting a hit one out of three times, you are a virtual superstar! For Ted Williams and (oh so close .388) our beloved Minnesota Twin Rod Carew, they pushed that to 4/10 and it has never been equaled in 75 years!

Now that’s not a good lesson for a surgeon, an airline pilot, or even a programmer, as they have to get as close to 100 percent success as is humanly possible. But for non-life-threatening human endeavors, it is good to know that you don’t have to be perfect to be a success.

In one interview after his retirement — I am quoting from memory here, so give me a break… — the sportscaster asked Williams what he thought his batting average would be in the current era. Williams said, “I don’t know, probably about .220.” The sportscaster was incredulous. “You had a lifetime average of .344, and you think you would only hit .220 today? Why? Because of the way managers use several pitchers a game?”

“No,” replied Williams. “Because I am 70 years old.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

A personal note on the Ides of March

By: Scott Johnson — March 15th 2024 at 06:02
(Scott Johnson)

I ask readers to forgive me for repeating this personal note from last year. It is meant to pay tribute to my high school, my high school teachers — Latin teachers Lyman Hawbaker (who also taught ancient history) and Dave Sims in particular — and to my classmates. In the course of our high school years we were required to study Latin and dip our toes into Caesars’s Gallic Wars, among other things. We learned something about grammar, rhetoric, Rome, and English in the process. In English we read Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and (I think) Thornton Wilder’s The Ides of March.

I was a member of the St. Paul Academy High School Bowl team during my junior and senior years. By unanimous consent Chuck Berde was captain of the team. Chuck went on to get M.D./Ph.D. degrees from Stanford and more or less invent the medical specialty of pediatric pain relief. Chuck is Senior Associate in Perioperative Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Boston Children’s and Professor of Anesthesia (Pediatrics) at Harvard Medical School. In high school Chuck was also a good athlete and musician who somehow found time to play in a rock band with Steve Greenberg. Steve went on to write and produce “Funkytown,” the record that reached number 1 on charts around the world in 1980.

John Fitzpatrick and Jim Vose were the other members of the team. John is the Director Emeritus of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Jim is a retired Minneapolis attorney. We were all friends. Below is a photo of us in our final appearance on the High School Bowl program. University of Minnesota Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies Robert Sonkowsky was the High School Bowl referee. He had to cool things down in case fights broke out. That is Professor Sonkowsky with his hand on my shoulder. I would like to say I was so much older then, but will leave it to Bob Dylan at this point.

In our last go-round during our senior year we won three weeks in a row and retired undefeated. In the third week we faced off against Hopkins High School. Chuck was good at everything, but he excelled in math and science. One of the questions our last week required knowledge of several scientific numbers and the performance of arithmetic operations on them to produce another number. What famous event occurred in that year? Without missing a beat, and I mean instantly, Chuck answered: “The assassination of Julius Caesar.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Doesn’t know Schumer from Shinola

By: Scott Johnson — March 15th 2024 at 07:01
(Scott Johnson)

In a long speech on the floor yesterday Senate Majority Chuck Schumer called for the replacement of the current Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Times of Israel has posted the full text of Schumer’s remarks here. According to Schumer, Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace, the two-state final solution, and the Big Rock Candy Mountain. We must popularize the phrase “He doesn’t know Schumer from Shinola.”

Jonathan Tobin places Schumer in the context of his career to date: “He’s been in public office continuously since the age of 25, and the 73-year-old Senate Majority Leader has spent his adult life grandstanding for the cameras and the press while always seeking some momentary political advantage as he schemed, back-stabbed and bloviated his way to the top of his profession.”

We can infer that Schumer now approves of foreign interference in another country’s elections. Only yesterday that was a big no-no for purported thought leaders toeing the Democrat Party line.

In this case the government Schumer seeks the replacement of a government that was democratically elected and formed by a close American ally fighting for its life under extremely difficult circumstances. That’s no way to treat a friend.

Schumer pretends that the relevant policies of the Netanyahu government are peculiar to Netanyahu and his coalition. That does not seem to be the case.

Schumer gives aid and comfort to Hamas and its friends in the Democratic Party. We can infer that the obstacle posed by Netanyahu is to the political objectives of the Democratic Party as conceived by President Biden.

Biden has just renewed his sanctions waiver on $10 billion held for the genocidaires of Iran. See Richard Goldberg’s New York Post column “Biden continues Iran’s access to $10 billion just weeks after its proxy killed three American soldiers.” Biden — he doesn’t know Schumer from Shinola.

One has to wonder about the impact of Schumer’s speech in Israel. It can’t help but demoralize Israelis fighting for their lives. However, they are unlikely to think they need Schumer’s help to assess their own best interests. In articulating and pursuing Israel’s war aims, Netanyahu speaks for the people of Israel. They do not support surrender to Hamas or adoption of the two-state final solution.

Senator Tom Cotton has posted a statement responding to Schumer. Senator Cotton sees the unstated obstacle Schumer is addressing: “[T]he main elections that worry Chuck Schumer aren’t Israel’s but our elections because the rampant antisemitism that the Democratic Party has allowed to fester in its ranks is massively unpopular with the pro-Israel American public.” Senator Cotton adds this “come to Jesus” element to his statement for Schumer’s benefit: “Chuck Schumer should remove the log in his own party’s eye before he whines about the speck in Israel’s eye.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

“Migrants” on parade

By: Scott Johnson — March 21st 2024 at 18:34
(Scott Johnson)

Here we have the video of the day. It depicts a horde of illegal aliens breaking through the razor wire (mounted, I assume, by Texas authorities) and overrunning Texas National Guard soldiers seeking to resist them in El Paso. The video raises many questions, among them how many many “migrants” does it take to mount used to be known as an “invasion”?

We have now entered year four President Biden’s open borders program. Why does Biden refuse to see that the law is faithfully executed? Why does he support the invasion of the United States? When do we get to defend ourselves? How long can this go on?

This is the moment when TX National Guard became overrun by migrants rioting to get across the border here in El Paso today

We were there and saw it all happen. Absolute chaos here. pic.twitter.com/VN6Kf663ie

— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) March 21, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Thoughts from the ammo line

By: Scott Johnson — March 22nd 2024 at 06:30
(Scott Johnson)

Ammo Grrrll looks into the future: I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE…quite a few things!

Joyce Kilmer, author of the beloved and universally known American poem “Trees,” declared that he thought that he would “never see / A poem as lovely as a tree.”

Soon I shall list some things that we cannot BELIEVE we HAVE seen. And then several things that, like Mr. Kilmer, we will never see. No, not ever. But first an important word about Mr. Kilmer.

“Trees” is a short, sweet, simple religious poem and Kilmer was a devout Catholic. So, of course, the work has been much mocked and parodied by what passes for the intelligentsia in this great land. I feel duty-bound to mention that Alfred Joyce Kilmer was a poet, yes, but he was also a soldier. As a wealthy married man with five children, he surely could have avoided service in the meat grinder that was World War I, but he enlisted in 1917 and was tragically killed in 1918 by a sniper while scouting for a German machine-gun nest in the company of Wild Bill Donovan in the Second Battle of the Marne. He was 31.

So put THAT in your pipes and smoke it, arrogant, ignorant modern critics! I’m sure the obscene bleatings of a junkie are much to be prized over a dead soldier who liked trees.

Anyway, here are a few things that we HAVE seen that I never would have believed even 10 years ago, to say nothing of when I was young.

I’m sure students of history know that in the battle for women’s suffrage, one of the arguments in FAVOR of it was that women were the kinder, gentler, more nurturing sex and would bring those sensibilities to the body politic.

So imagine my shock and awe when for thousands of women, the main issue – and one which will be harped upon in ads running every 10 minutes until the merciful Chinese EMP attack – is the right to kill their babies up to the moment of birth. My former state, Minnesota, is a “Multi-Sanctuary” state where you can travel to kill your baby when the labor pains are three minutes apart — OR wait just a few years until a three-year-old plays dress-up with a dress and then declare that the little boy is actually a girl and have him castrated. Your choice. Because it’s a “woman’s right to choose.”

What else? We have seen a mostly-peaceful, interracial mob of thugs come together in Minneapolis to burn a police station to the ground while everyone in authority just let it happen. The daughter of the wretched Governor (Polka? Waltz? Chaha? Something…) even informed those thugs that the National Guard would not be on hand. That was a first for me.

Here’s another: A pathological liar in a TV series who met the police at his door with a “noose” around his neck went on television while an otherwise intelligent person like Robin Roberts watched Jussie, an ACTOR, cry on cue. He choked back tears as he spoke about the Bad MAGA Men who had been out shlepping around rope and bleach on spec in below zero weather – just IN CASE they ran across a gay black man. Did anyone else call “Poppycock” (or words to that effect) the MINUTE they heard that preposterous tale?

Nobody asked why the MAGA dudes didn’t actually hang him. Nobody asked why they let him keep his cellphone and even call people on it during the “assault.” Nobody asked what HE was doing out and about in frigid weather. Nobody asked why he had not a scratch on him from slapping at the potential lynchers, one-handed, while his sammich never left his other hand. Not one word of his pasture patty story made any sense. And that was BEFORE the authorities found the store cam stuff the paid black “assassins” bought. With a check.

He is not serving his sentence, and to my knowledge, has never repaid the poor Chicago Police Department for the hours of overtime they spent chasing phantom MAGA guys. Also, if Robin Roberts, or Kamala, or Spartacus has ever said publicly, “Boy, that’s one on us – we made some unwarranted racist assumptions and some hysterical statements, and we’re kinda sorta sorry,” I haven’t heard about that either.

There was a months-long crisis in the shipping pipeline while the Secretary of Transportation, a Howdy Doody clone who had once been a boy mayor of a potholed municipality, but mostly was just GAY as a criterion for his high-paying job, declared he was taking maternity time off. He sat in a bed with his husband pretending that the two of them had actually birthed the babies they held. I never saw that coming. It made my skin crawl. Not that two gay guys had “acquired” babies – whatever — but that they were pretending to chest feed and lying in bed as though they had just been through the 18 hours of labor (to pick a random number) that women (okay, I) had been through. Talk about stolen valor!

Truth to tell, I have rarely been very impressed with the miscreants who inhabit Congress. But even someone as cynical as I am could never have anticipated several brain-dead losers of various colors in Congress billing themselves as The Squad being unable to say a mumblin’ word against rape, baby-beheading, immolation of children, or taking civilian hostages. Oh, I’m sorry – they DID say a word – they said it was “justified.”

So these are things we HAVE seen. Is there ANYTHING that we will NEVER see? Like in the late Mr. Kilmer’s poem? Why yes, yes, there is! A Partial List:

*Obama’s Passport history. Ditto, Obama’s Academic Coursework and Grades

*Ghislaine Maxwell’s little black book of clients (that’s how we know that DJT is not in it.)

*A non-white mother of a criminal being held legally responsible for his or her criminality.

*The murderous trans girl’s manifesto

*A forensic audit of BLM

*A transcript of what the pukes in the Biden Administration have told Israel – apart from these few words we know were said: “Die, Jews! Just Lose! We’ve got the Michigan blues!”

*An audit of any city run by a black woman mayor. Heck, ANY big city mayor.

*The complete security tapes from the January 6th walkabout in the Capitol.

*A complete list of the payouts to victims of sexual harassment by members of Congress

*How many FBI agents attended the January 6th “insurrection” as provocateurs.

*What red states and towns the illegal alien criminal invaders have been sent to.

*A non-racist and logical explanation of why black people cannot find a picture I.D.

*An abject apology from the 51 “agents” who certified that the Hunter Laptop was just Russian disinformation. And the subsequent firing of those liars and election inteferers.

I’m waiting…how ‘bout you?

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Return to Shifa

By: Scott Johnson — March 22nd 2024 at 07:00
(Scott Johnson)

President Biden has turned on Israel. He and his brain trust support the survival of Hamas. It’s a big-time sell-out. The cover of the current issue of England’s Economist depicts Israel Alone (cover story here behind the Economist paywall). It reminded me of the time when England stood alone against a genocidal maniac — alone against “the insane tyrant,” as Leo Strauss referred to Hitler in his tribute to Churchill — though the thought appears not to have crossed the mind of the Economist.

The IDF has yet to complete its mission in Gaza. Yesterday IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari conducted a briefing on the IDF’s return to Shifa Hospital to root out a large band of terrorists that had come to think of the place as home. Hagari conducted the briefing in Hebrew, but the video below superimposes the English translation, which the IDF has also posted here. This is the text per the IDF:

Good evening.

The operation at the Shifa Hospital continues. This is the operation with the largest aggregation of terrorists we have apprehended since the beginning of the war. So far, we have apprehended over 500 suspects, 358 of which are Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
They are surrendering, we are interrogating them, and they are providing us with very valuable and important intelligence.

We apprehended the chain of command of the Islamic Jihad, including:
1. Muhammad Jundia – Commander of the Shejaiya Battalion of the Islamic Jihad and the Deputy Commander of the terrorist organization’s Northern Brigade
2. Samir Ziad Abd Abu Odeh – Commander of the Al-Shati sector in the rocket unit of the Islamic Jihad.
3. Ahmad Samara – responsible for tunnels and underground terror infrastructure of the Islamic Jihad in the Northern Gaza Strip.

We apprehended senior Hamas figures, including:
1. Hamdallah Ali and Omar Azida– Azida, a senior official in the West Bank Headquarters, responsible for directing Hamas terrorist activity in the area of Nablus. Ali, who advanced Hamas activity in the Qalqilya area. The two are senior officials in the West Bank Headquarters of Hamas, they acted within their roles to advance terrorist attacks from Judea and Samaria, directed the transfer of weapons and funds to terrorists. This group operated under Saleh al-Arouri.
2. Mahmoud Kwasma – an operative in the Hamas West Bank Headquarters, planned and financed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in 2014, Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach, may their memory be a blessing.

In addition, we apprehended additional senior officials in Hamas’ Internal Security forces. Many terrorists in Shifa, especially from the Islamic Jihad, surrendered to our forces. This is a very hard blow to the Islamic Jihad – many of its operatives in the north, who are the majority of its significant operatives, either surrendered or were eliminated in the operation so far. With a number of them, we exchanged fire until they surrender or are eliminated.

During the last 24 hours, we entered the Qatari Building [in the Shifa compound]. This is a building that we also operated in during the previous operation in Shifa. This time, terrorists were hiding there. Shayetet 13 searched the building. During the scans on the basement floor, they encountered a terrorist cell. Our soldiers eliminated the terrorists without our forces being harmed. In another battle, another terrorist surrendered; after these battles, several terrorists surrendered. Among them are very senior officials – I still cannot publish their identities because they hold significant intelligence – after we finish interrogating them and find the intelligence with them, we will publish the identities of these terrorists. Senior Hamas officials understand well the significance of the operation and as the picture of the apprehended and of the eliminated terrorists becomes clearer – the pressure on them will increase.

At the beginning of the war, we destroyed the underground infrastructure dug under the hospital, and we confiscated military equipment and weapons hidden in it. The terrorists’ command center at the Shifa Hospital was dealt with then. The terrorists fled in the previous operation when we called to evacuate the compound.

This time we operated differently. This time we operated by surprise. We raided the compound by surprise. The operation, led by the 162nd Division and carried out by special forces units led by Shayetet 13, in full cooperation on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with the ISA and Unit 504 for intelligence extraction in the field. We used deception tactics in this operation, and it was this that led to the success and apprehension of all 358 terrorists and there are more still inside this compound who haven’t managed to escape. This led to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad being severely damaged as a result of the operation. Those who did not surrender to our forces fought against our forces and were eliminated. Among them also the head of the Special Operations Directorate of Hamas’ General Security – who chose to fight against our forces openly and our forces eliminated him.

The fighting continues inside the hospital buildings – inside the buildings at the hospital. There are Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who decided to barricade themselves – they are currently barricading themselves in the area of the emergency room. At this stage, we are evacuating the patients – there are about 220 patients there – to another building. We are creating infrastructure for them, with appropriate medical equipment so that all the patients and doctors can be safe. For the past 24 hours, we continue to call upon the terrorists in the building to surrender, those who surrender will stay alive, those who do not we will fight against until we eliminate them.

Even at these hours, our soldiers are scanning the buildings, evacuating the wounded, and continuing to operate in the compound. There will be more ongoing combat here – there will be several more days to this operation.

Last night, when we visited the soldiers in the field during the operation, from all the special units – as I said, the Commander of Shayetet 13 briefed us, but there was also the ISA, also Unit 504 and also the senior command that came with us to the field. They told us something very very important – they emphasized to us, the soldiers and the commanders, that they will do everything necessary in this operation or another in order to bring about the release of the hostages. They emphasized – this is the most important thing to us.

We do not forget that in Gaza there are 134 hostages. It is our duty to continue and make every operational and intelligence effort, and also in negotiations, in order to bring them back home. This is what we are doing, and this is what we will continue to do. This is our responsibility.

I want to also send encouragement this evening to the families of the hostages. You and your loved ones are with us all the time.

Hagari’s remarks convey a seriousness and dignity in the face of a barbarous enemy. It is a seriousness and dignity that is conspicuous by its absence in the Biden administration.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari delivered a speech in which he confirmed 600 arrested and over 140 terrorists killed in the Al-Shifa operation pic.twitter.com/g2RDbl8qcH

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) March 21, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Ramirez speaks

By: Scott Johnson — March 22nd 2024 at 07:24
(Scott Johnson)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez posts his daily cartoons on Substack at the Michael Ramirez Newsletter. He is a conservative whose genius cannot be denied. Thus the Pulitzer. Readers can subscribe here.

Michael has also been writing weekly essays for his newsletter that I have posted in our Picks as each one was made freely accessible. Today Michael has posted an 18-minute video essay that is keyed to his recent cartoons on the Academy Awards. I found his remarks entertaining, interesting, and inspiring. He tells some inside stories and he talks about joining the protest at Columbia when he received his Pulitzer. He wraps up with a statement of his his core beliefs.

His is the voice of a free mind and a free man. I thought some readers might want to listen up.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Bobbing along

By: Scott Johnson — March 22nd 2024 at 08:43
(Scott Johnson)

In his opening statement to the House Oversight Committee earlier this week, the glorious Mr. Tony Bobulinski torched Reps. Dan Goldman and Jamie Raskin:

We keep hearing from certain corners that our “democracy is at risk” and that “democracy is on the ballot in 2024,” yet the same people preaching this mantra, who know better, continue to lie directly to the American people without hesitation or remorse. Representatives Dan Goldman and Jamie Raskin, both lawyers, and Mr. Goldman a former prosecutor with the Southern District of New York, will continue to lie today in this hearing and then go straight to the media to tell more lies.

Mr. B., long may you run.

Professor Jonathan Turley takes it from there in the (highly recommended) Fox News column that he has now posted at his personal site: “The Dripping Away of the Democratic Party: Sir Thomas More and the Biden Corruption Scandal.” In the introduction to the column posted on his site, Professor Turley writes (links omitted): “Various members misrepresented my earlier testimony during the hearing on the basis for the impeachment inquiry. Members like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.) stated that I joined other witnesses in saying that there was nothing that could remotely be impeachable in these allegations. That is demonstrably untrue. My testimony stated the opposite.”

What about Goldman? You can’t leave him out:

Rep. Dan Goldman, D., N.Y., captured the problem for Democrats in even addressing any of the mounting evidence contradicting the president. Yet, Goldman has long shown a willingness to rush in where angels fear to tread.

In previous attacks, Goldman repeatedly hit the Bidens with friendly fire when eliciting damaging answers from witnesses. Goldman has a habit of raising the worst evidence that his colleagues have avoided. In one hearing, he stumbled badly in raising the WhatsApp message where Hunter told a Chinese businessman that his father was sitting next to him and would not be pleased unless he sent him money. On another occasion, he prompted an IRS whistleblower to note that an email Goldman read into the record was actually a direct contradiction of the denials of the president.

In the latest misstep, Goldman pressed former Biden partner Tony Bobulinski on a proposal shared with Hunter and others to reserve 10% for “the Big Guy.” In other emails, Bobulinski was told to use such codes to avoid mentioning Joe Biden’s name. He was expressly identified as “the Big Guy.” Video

Goldman snapped at Bobulinski, “Did anyone ever respond to that email?”

Bobulinski responded “Yes, they did numerous times. Hunter himself did.”

Goldman blurted out “you’re right” before angrily reclaiming his time to cut him off.

The video below excerpts Bobulinski’s anticipation of the Raskin/Goldman defense of the Biden family business.

House Oversight Committee hearing goes off the rails when Hunter Biden's former business partner Tony Bobulinski calls out Reps. Jamie Raskin and Dan Goldman for lying on behalf of the Biden Crime Family. pic.twitter.com/Xny4VTbhVc

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 20, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

From Gaza to California

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 22nd 2024 at 12:26
(Lloyd Billingsley)

On March 20, the Sacramento City Council passed Resolution 2024, which:

Calls for an immediate and permanent bilateral ceasefire to urgently end the current violence; a true and effective bilateral ceasefire must include four key simultaneous elements. (1) Hamas must cease all military operations directed against Israel, (2) the immediate unconditional release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, (3) Israel must stop the bombing and military action inside the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and (4) the elimination of all offensive weapons by Israel and Hamas directed at one another.

The Muslim and Arab-American communities are experiencing the terrible rise in Islamophobia and anti-Arab rhetoric, the acceptance of hate speech on college campuses and elsewhere against Muslims and Arabs, and the refusal of some to condemn Islamophobia and anti-Arab prejudice without qualifications as a shocking reminder of historic reality. Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate are centuries old prejudices that never go away. An independent Palestinian state remains the hope that Palestinians can live safely and freely and never again face threats to their very existence;

And so on, all backed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). True to form, “Islamophobia” appears four times and anti-Semitism three times. Resolution 2024 was the project of Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg. As Sir Bedevire (Terry Jones) might say, who is this who is so wise in the ways of diplomacy?

Steinberg served as an attorney for the California State Employees Association, which gained a faithful friend in the state Senate. In 2004, the Sacramento Democrat sponsored Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act, which backers claimed would get the homeless off  the street and keep people out of prison.

Promises Still to Keep: A Decade of the Mental Health Services Act, from California’s Little Hoover Commission, was unable to determine whether the money fulfilled any of the Act’s proclaimed intentions. The Sacramento Bee wondered if the money had been “shoved down a rat hole” with questionable uses “such as yoga, horseback riding, gardening, the purchase of iPads,” and so forth. On the other hand, the measure did give $7.5 million to the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, where Steinberg became director of policy and advocacy.

In 2012, voters faced four measures on taxes and spending. The Senate Governance and Finance Committee held hearings but Steinberg blocked citizens’ access by killing the live broadcast on the California Channel. When this came to light, Steinberg proclaimed, “I pride myself on being open and transparent.”  Steinberg now backs Resolution 2024 which claims, “Sacramento is such a special place to live for many reasons.” That is true, but not the way Steinberg spins it.

Twenty years after Proposition 63, the homeless problem is worse than ever. As in San Francisco, dogs run the risk of stepping in human waste. Sacramento has been dubbed “Excremento,” and Steinberg’s Resolution 2024 piles it higher and deeper. As Katy Grimes of the California Globe explains, “it was likely a move to cover and distract from his $66 million budget deficit – and would serve to elevate his political image as Steinberg has his hopes set on a move up to the California Attorney General’s office.”

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

World’s Dumbest NCAA Bracket

By: John Hinderaker — March 22nd 2024 at 13:09
(John Hinderaker)

It was Scott who first referred to the sacramental view of abortion, some years ago now. Abortion (much like slavery over the course of the 19th century) went from being a regrettable but sometimes unavoidable evil to being a positive good–indeed, these days, the noblest good to which political life can aspire.

To see this perverse attitude in full flower, you almost have to live in Minnesota. Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, is a far-left Indian activist despite being, to all appearances, Irish-American. (To be fair, she has much more Indian heritage than, say, Elizabeth Warren.) Flanagan actually tweeted this:

I filled out my brackets based on whether those schools are located in a state that protects access to abortion care.

By this measurement, it’s only fair that Minnesota didn’t make the tournament because they’d have been a favorite for the title. pic.twitter.com/nFQ5FKwFHG

— Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (@LtGovFlanagan) March 21, 2024


So she had UConn facing Gonzaga in the final. Who wants to be the first to tell her?

One more thing–Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, liked Flanagan’s bracket tweet.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Enemies of the People

By: John Hinderaker — March 22nd 2024 at 18:44
(John Hinderaker)

When we started this site, exposing mainstream media bias was a big part of our mission. Using the then-new internet, we and many others held liberal outlets (i.e., virtually all of them) accountable in a way that hadn’t happened before. The effect of that effort was not that the liberal press became more accurate or more objective. Rather, they came out of the closet. For the most part, they no longer make any serious pretense of neutrality. Whether that is an improvement or not is debatable.

But, in any event, it no longer makes sense to criticize, say, the New York Times or the Washington Post for being biased. That would be like, if you were a soldier in World War II and a Panzer division was approaching, you were to say, “Those Germans are biased against us!” It isn’t a question of bias. They are just the enemy.

Donald Trump was perhaps the first major Republican politician to abandon the effort to curry favor with the press establishment. He famously denounced the fake news press (sometimes abbreviated to the press in general) as enemies of the people. The good news is, most Americans agree with him.

Rasmussen finds that Trump’s characterization is the majority view:

60% of Likely U.S. Voters agree that the media are “truly the enemy of the people,” as Trump said in 2019, including 30% who Strongly Agree. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree, including 21% who Strongly Disagree.

That is an extraordinary finding. Respondents were asked this question:

Do you agree or disagree with this statement: The media are “truly the enemy of the people”?

And a clear majority said that they agree. The press has utterly squandered whatever respect it once enjoyed.

The Rasmussen survey also asked about the Democrats’ “bloodbath” hoax:

Former President Donald Trump recently said that it would be a “bloodbath” if he didn’t win in November. Which is more likely, that he was talking about auto workers losing jobs or that he was talking about widespread political violence by his supporters?

The result:

Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters believe Trump was talking about auto workers losing jobs when he warned of a “bloodbath,” while 40% think Trump was talking about widespread political violence by his supporters if he did not win the election. Eleven percent (11%) are not sure.

Basically, Democrats follow the Democratic Party press and swallow the Democrats’ talking points:

Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 78% believe Trump’s “bloodbath” comment was about widespread political violence by his supporters if he did not win the election. By contrast, among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance, 84% think Trump was referring to auto workers losing jobs.

But again, returning to good news, most voters believe that the media’s coverage is driven by the Biden administration’s talking points:

Among all Likely Voters, 63% believe it is likely that the major news media’s political coverage is dictated by talking points from the Biden campaign, including 42% who say it’s Very Likely. Twenty-nine percent (29%) don’t think it’s likely media coverage is dictated by the Biden campaign, including 11% who say it’s Not At All Likely.

Majorities of every political category – 78% of Republicans, 50% of Democrats and 61% of unaffiliated voters – believe it’s at least somewhat likely that the major news media’s political coverage is dictated by talking points from the Biden campaign.

So even half of Democrats admit that the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Associated Press are servants of the Democratic Party. The bottom line is that the liberal press serves certain functions on behalf of the Democratic Party: it reinforces Democrats’ talking points and keeps Democratic voters riled up. Those are valuable contributions, to be sure. But the days when the liberal media could actually drive public opinion are long gone.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Daily Chart: Offshore and Out of Mind

By: Steven Hayward — March 22nd 2024 at 18:57
(Steven Hayward)

We always hear a lot about the expense and difficulty of decommissioning nuclear power plants, but we seldom hear about the cost and difficulty of decommissioning wind mills, which only last half as long (if that much) as nuclear plants. Especially offshore wind, which is much more expensive to begin with.  Here’s one estimate of the future problem:

JOHN adds: Offshore wind is possibly the stupidest way to generate electricity that has ever been devised. Someone should do the math, but I suspect it would make more sense to hire 10,000 men to walk on a treadmill. And liberals don’t clean up their own messes. There are already rotting hulks of wind turbines littering the landscape, often having been installed by now-defunct companies whose owners, long gone, have made off with the profits. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the billionaires who have gotten rich on government-mandated wind turbines to take down and dispose of offshore installations that have outlived their insanely brief useful lives. “Green” energy is, in multiple ways, the great scandal of our time.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

French Students Terrorized by Jihadists [Updated]

By: John Hinderaker — March 22nd 2024 at 20:08
(John Hinderaker)

In France, at least two teachers have been murdered by Muslim students, one of them beheaded. The French press reports that “death threats and threats of rape have become common among pupils.” Those threats are directed toward both teachers and fellow students.

Now, students at dozens of French schools have been sent “threatening messages and beheading videos” by Islamic radicals. The story is hard to parse out, and more is, perhaps, being concealed than revealed:

At least 30 schools in the Paris region have this week received threatening messages accompanied by “shocking” footage of beheadings, the education ministry said on Thursday.

That effort is being made in support of Islamic terrorism:

The establishments – mainly secondary schools – have received “serious threats” containing “justification of and incitement to terrorism,” a representative of the education ministry told AFP.

The Muslims apparently made use of software that France uses to connect students and teachers. Reportedly, they “‘hacked a student’s email address’ in order to distribute the message and a beheading video.” They also have been making bomb threats:

In the department of Seine-et-Marne, to the east of the French capital, a secondary school received a message saying that explosives had been hidden throughout the establishment “in the name of Allah”, a police source said.

The latest threats follow a flurry of false bomb alerts targeted schools, airport and tourist sites in autumn 2023.

All of this is due to France’s feckless immigration policies. But, to be fair, their policies are a lot better than Joe Biden’s.

UPDATE: Of course, it could be worse. You could be in Russia.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The Week in Pictures: Bloodbath Edition

By: Steven Hayward — March 23rd 2024 at 06:07
(Steven Hayward)

Has there ever been a greater example of media malpractice and malevolence than the way Trump’s mention of a “bloodbath” for the auto industry under Biden (analysis: completely true!) was turned into some kind of MAGA Kristallnacht? I suspect Joe Biden’s new clown shoes are an ironic tribute to this in-kind campaign contribution.

Headlines of the week:

No. Just no.

So glad the Biden regime is protecting us from broken ice cream machines.

Wut?

And finally. . .

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Tools of jihad, then and now

By: Scott Johnson — March 23rd 2024 at 07:21
(Scott Johnson)

Robert Satloff is executive director of the Washington Institute. He took issue with the December 2 Washington Post story “Israel’s assault forced a nurse to leave babies behind. They were found decomposing.” Satloff deconstructed the Post story in the 5,000-word critique “Once Again, a ‘Palestinian Babies Story Merits a Washington Post Apology.”

Satloff’s critique elicited a response from Post executive editor Sally Buzbee. She stands by the Post’s story and demands that Satloff clean up his critique. Satloff publishes Buzbee’s response in his disappointed postscript “Sadly, WaPost Admits No Error in Story Filled with Them.”

This episode had me thinking back to my own examination of the Post’s reporting in this vein on Israel’s 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense. Mr. Satloff, I see your 5,000 words and raise you 5,000 words. I wrote several posts and well over 5,000 words on the story featuring the aptly named Jihad Masharawi. Forgive me for saying that those posts have stood the test of time! As the song goes, “same as it ever was.” I have retrieved this March 11, 2013 post from our archives.

* * * * *

I wrote about the photograph of BBC Arabic editor Jihad Masharawi holding the shrouded body of his 11-month-old son, Omar, in posts here, here, here and here. The photograph depicted Masharawi outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City early in Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense. The young Masharawi’s death was attributed to an Israeli airstrike.

The photograph went viral on the second day of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, being featured on the Web and in newspapers around the world. One such among many was the Washington Post, which ran it at the top of page one. The photo is below.

Washington Post ombdudsman Patrick Pexton devoted a column to complaints about the photograph. Paul Mirengoff explicated the manifest animus in Pexton’s column.

Everything Pexton asserted directly or indirectly as a matter of fact was wrong. When a major newspaper ombudsman is this utterly clueless, who ya gonna call? Not Ghostbusters. Power Line, I guess.

Paul Danahar is the BBC Middle East Bureau Chief and Masharawi’s colleague. He spent much of the day at Masharawi’s house on the day on the day Masharawi’s son was killed, tweeting a photo of the hole in the roof of Masharawi’s house. The house wasn’t bombed, Pexton to the contrary notwithstanding. Danahar described the munition that did the damage as a “shell.”

I tweeted Danahar to ask him on what basis he identified the munition as Israeli. I wrote at the time on Power Line that I doubted it was. I thought it was more likely to have been a Hamas rocket that failed to hit its intended target in Israel. (As I recall, something like 10 percent of the Hamas rockets landed in Gaza.) Danahar failed to respond to my tweet, although he relentlessly propagated the line that Israeli forces had killed Masharawi’s son.

Everything about the photograph looked phony to me. Was Masharawi sobbing? His face doesn’t even look like he has shed tears. Masharawi looks like he’s enacting grief. I understand that Masharawi in fact lost his son as a result of the munition that hit his house, but I found the photo odd (as I did the other photos in the series of Masharawi parading around for the cameras).

I thought that Masharawi was engaging in an opportunistic bit of Terrorist Theater, the kind I wrote about in the Weekly Standard article “He didn’t give at the office.” The article demonstrates how news service stringers in Gaza work as an arm of the terrorist authorities on whom they purport to report. By the way, the staged photos of Arafat that I wrote about in the Standard article were the work of an AP stringer. The photo of Masharawi that the Post ran was credited to the AP.

Terrorist Theater is a function of the sinister authority wielded by terrorist forces in the areas where they hold sway. Gaza is of course under the thumb of Hamas, one such terrorist power.

We held that the death of Masharawi’s son was a tragedy and offered our condolences to Masharawi on the loss of his son. We acknowledged that we didn’t know to a certainty what had happened or who is responsible for the death, and therefore asked readers to keep an open mind.

I hope you will forgive me for rehearsing what must seem like ancient history, but it really is necessary to put this report in context, as they say: “UN clears Israel of charge it killed baby in Gaza.” The Times of Israel has the story, based on this UN report:

United Nations report cleared Israel in the death of the infant son of a BBC employee during Operation Pillar of Defense in November, instead fingering a misfired Palestinian rocket for the tragedy.

The November 14 strike left 11-month-old Omar Jihad al-Mishrawi and Hiba Aadel Fadel al-Mishrawi, 19, dead. The death of Omar, the son of BBC Arabic journalist Jihad al-Mishrawi, garnered more than usual media attention and focused anger for the death on Israel, which was initially blamed for the death.

Rather, the report suggests, a 19-year-old woman and a baby were hit by shrapnel from a rocket fired by Palestinians that was aimed at Israel, but missed its mark.

Omar is dead, and Hamas killed him, but both Jihad and jihad live, and the BBC and the Washington Post among others are their willing tools.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

The incredible shrinking majority

By: Scott Johnson — March 23rd 2024 at 08:58
(Scott Johnson)

John and I found the protracted humiliation of Kevin McCarthy in connection with his election to be Speaker of the House a clown show. By contrast, Steve Hayward looked mostly on the bright side in “In re: Speaker McCarthy — dissents and concurrences.”

It is at least worth noting that the GOP majority is dissipating. The clown show set the stage for the shrinking of the small GOP House majority to a number asymptotically approaching zero.

It empowered Matt Gaetz to trigger the chain of events leading to McCarthy’s ouster from the Speaker’s chair. I decried that development in “Gaetz of Eden.” Has anyone asked Gaetz what good he did in sacking McCarthy?

McCarthy was deposed this past October. It seems like ancient history. McCarthy subsequently resigned his House seat effective December 31.

I have here in my hand a list of names. According to the list, among the Republicans getting out of Dodge with McCarthy are Reps. Bill Johnson (effective January 21), Ken Buck (effective yesterday), Mike Gallagher (effective April 19), and George Santos, whose departure was involuntary.

“Normally they’re trying to talk people out of [retiring],” one House Republican told Axios. “Now we’re at a point where we’re trying to talk them out of leaving early.” It may or may not be a portent of trouble for Speaker Johnson and it may or may not be a portent of the coming Democratic majority, but it’s not good.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Podcast: The 3WHH—With a Twist!

By: Steven Hayward — March 23rd 2024 at 10:28
(Steven Hayward)

This week’s episode could be mistaken for the Three Martini Happy Hour, because this week’s installment comes with a tangy twist. John Yoo is away this week, so we brought in a ringer to take his place: Prof. Hadley Arkes! Thus this episode become a Positivism-Free Zone, in which we review the deepest ground of the natural law unencumbered by John’s usual alarums, excursions, and errors.

The episode comes in three parts: Hadley made some news yesterday, celebrating the retirement of the noted Notre Dame Law professor Gerard V. Bradley, who will be joining Hadley at the James Wilson Institute on Natural Law and the American Founding.

Gerard V. Bradley

From there Hadley proceeds to answering the question that we’ve been kicking around ever since the Dobbs decision, namely, just how should pro-life politicians break out of their self-imposed muteness about abortion. Hadley has the strategy.

Finally, we spend some time toward the end getting down some of Hadley’s “origin story” that brought him to Leo Strauss’s classroom at the University of Chicago back in the 1960s, and key friendships made along the way—especially our late friend and unsung hero Michael Uhlmann.

Note: We had some internet glitches while recording this episode that weren’t easily edited or smoothed over, so we ask listeners’ indulgence with these hiccups, in return for which we’re presenting this installment ad-free.

As usual, listen here, or at our hosts at Ricochet when it goes live there.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

In Mind of the Time

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 23rd 2024 at 14:17
(Lloyd Billingsley)

Joe Biden turning against Israel puts Scott “in mind of the time when England stood alone against a genocidal maniac.” That was the time when Hitler’s National Socialist regime was allied with Stalin’s Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They signed their Pact on August 23, 1939, and Stalin began handing Jews directly to the Gestapo. In September, 1939, both powers invaded Poland, effectively starting World War II.

In November, 1939, Stalin invaded Finland and in April of 1940 Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway. On May 10, 1940, Hitler invaded France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The genocidal maniac then turned his sights on England, standing alone during the Stalin-Hitler Pact. The American Communists, then collaborating with the pro-Nazi German-American Bund, picketed the White House to keep America out of the conflict, and fomented strikes in defense industries.

In the Battle of Britain (July 10, 1940 – October 31, 1940), England got some help from unofficial sources. Fliers from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Rhodesia, Belgium, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and even the USA, threw in with the Royal Air Force. As the Imperial War Museum explains:

Germany’s failure to defeat the RAF and secure control of the skies over southern England made invasion all but impossible. British victory in the Battle of Britain was decisive, but ultimately defensive in nature – in avoiding defeat, Britain secured one of its most significant victories of the Second World War. It was able to stay in the war and lived to fight another day.

In the style of John Lennon, “imagine” if the American president had been sending millions of dollars in cash to the Nazi regime. Imagine if the American president told Churchill to back off his military campaigns. Imagine if the American president and prominent senators had called for an election to remove Winston Churchill, and so on. Had such moves taken place, England might not have lived on to fight another day. The parallels are lost on Joe Biden, who in a 2020 debate said “Hitler invaded Europe,” like something from the drunk at the end of the bar.

As Scott notes, Biden and his brain trust “support the survival of Hamas,” genocidal maniacs pushing for a second Holocaust. The History of Jihad author Robert Spencer has thoughts on what this might mean for America:

What do Biden regime apparatchiks think will happen if Hamas defeats Israel and survives this war? Do they think that the jihadis will be so overflowing with gratitude to the U.S. that they won’t ever strike Americans or U.S. interests? They’re in for a rude surprise.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

When Dag and Kurt Met Idi

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 23rd 2024 at 16:21
(Lloyd Billingsley)

Employees of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, participated in the October 7 attack on Israel, raping, torturing and murdering Jews in tandem with Hamas jihadists and taking Israelis and Americans hostage. Such deadly collaboration should come as no surprise. As Paul Johnson showed in his masterful Modern Times, the United Nations has always been hostile to the West in general and the USA and Israel in particular.

“The notion that Israel was created by imperialism is not only wrong but the reverse of the truth,” writes Johnson. “Everywhere in the West, the foreign offices, defense ministries and big business were against the Zionists.” United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, the worst possible choice for the post according to Johnson, “treated Israel not as a small and vulnerable nation but as an outpost of imperialism.”

The UN boss demonstrated “the way in which the UN could be used to marshal and express hatred of the West.” That emerged in the Algerian conflict of the late 1950s, with a dynamic that went back to Muhammed Amin al-Husseini, Mufti of Jerusalem. He “outrivaled Hitler in his hatred for Jews” and “organized the systematic destruction of Arab moderates.”

In March of 1962, Johnson recalls, “a Muslim mob sacked the Great Synagogue in the heart of the Casbah, gutting it, ripping the Torah scrolls, killing the Jewish officials and chalking on the wall ‘Death to the Jews’ and other Nazi slogans.” Muslims who had sided with French were “made to dig their own tombs and swallow their military decorations before being killed; some were burned alive, castrated, dragged behind trucks, fed to the dogs; there were cases where entire families, including tiny children, were murdered together.” Decolonization of Africa brought similar horrors.

Johnson charts the atrocities of Bokassa, Mobutu, Sekou Toure et al, but “the most instructive case” was Uganda’s Idi Amin, who became a Muslim at age 16. In 1970, Libya’s Col. Gaddafi and the PLO’s Yasser Arafat pressured Amin to mount a coup against Milton Obote. Amin toppled Obote in early 1971 and quickly showed his true colors.

“Amin’s was a racist regime, operated in the Muslim-Arab League from the start,” Johnson notes, “since he began the massacres of the Langi and Achili tribes within weeks of taking over.” The dead soon included “any public figure who in any way criticized or obstructed Amin.” The victims included two cabinet ministers beaten to death by Amin himself. The Ugandan Muslim was a “ritual cannibal” who kept selected organs in his refrigerator.

Amin deployed the deadly State Research Center (SRC), operated “on the advice of Palestinians and Libyans.” Amin’s terror, “was a Muslim-Arab phenomenon” and his regime “was in many ways a foreign one, run by Nubians, Palestinians and Libyans.” The UN did nothing to stop it and “the only government to emerge with credit was Israel’s which acted vigorously to save lives when Amin and the Palestinians hijacked an airliner at Entebbe in 1976.”

As Johnson sees it, “Hammarskjold and his school were responsible for prolonging the Amin regime by six terrible years.” This was “the consequence of the morally relativistic principle introduced by Hammarskjold that killing among Africans was not the UN’s business; and Amin could be forgiven for thinking the UN had given him a license for mass-murder, even genocide.”

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) elected Amin as its chairman but the worst was yet to come. On October 1, 1975, Amin addressed UN General Assembly and called for “the expulsion of Israel from the United Nations and the extinction of Israel as a state, so that the territorial integrity of Palestine may be ensured and upheld.”

As Johnson notes, such extinction amounts to “genocide,” but the Assembly gave the Muslim cannibal a standing ovation. The UN Secretary General at the time was Nazi war criminal Kurt Waldheim, who remained in the office until 1981. Waldheimer’s Disease makes people forget the UN boss was a Nazi.

Amin found sanctuary in Saudi Arabia, where he died in 2003 many decades too late. The UN continued to ignore Communist dictatorships and jihadist states such as Iran. That made the events of October 2023 entirely predictable.

The small, vulnerable nation of Israel is again targeted as an imperialist “settler state,” as Johnson noted, a reversal of the truth. Like Idi Amin’s Uganda, Gaza is basically run by Iran through Hamas. Calls to free Palestine “from the river to the sea” echo Amin’s demands for Israel’s extinction, which amounts to genocide. The UN does nothing to prevent the 10/7 attack, and UNRWA employees take part in the slaughter, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, with Israelis and Americans alike taken hostage.

The revelations prompted some countries to withhold aid for UNRWA. That move, though fully justified, falls short. The United Nations is an enemy of peace and freedom around the world. The time has come for mass withdrawal, with the United States of America leading the way.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Used Ford Giveaway

By: Lloyd Billingsley — March 23rd 2024 at 20:38
(Lloyd Billingsley)

“My guest is Christine Blasey Ford,” said NPR’s Terry Gross on her March 19 “Fresh Air” show. “She testified at Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing that he sexually assaulted her.” Blasey Ford has a new book, One Way Back, and in the lengthy interview the author explains:

I did retraumatize myself, having to go back through everything and relive it. And I tried to write a book a couple of years after the testimony and just really wasn’t able to engage in the material. And when I looked at what I had written, I didn’t think it was something that would be very useful anyway. So I abandoned that project for a while and then took it back up once I felt a lot better five years later.

I expected a little bit of pushback in the hearing. And the hearing itself wasn’t particularly difficult. I mean, it was the difficulty that I expected it to be. Some of the questions towards the end started to get sort of off topic and confusing, but, other than that, I actually left the room feeling like I did a good enough job and I would be OK, and I would go back to California, and we would figure out our hotel life and move forward.

And the main thing is I just didn’t want to be on TV. That was my biggest fear at the time – was I don’t want to be – I was picturing the 1991 hearing and thinking, there’s just no way I could…

Well, I guess the main regret is that I didn’t know that that was the only time I would ever speak to them. I thought, well, of course they’re going to have follow-up questions and want to know more details and maybe look at the therapy records or talk to the friends or talk to people. I just didn’t think that was, you know, the only opportunity to speak.

I was definitely grieving – not over the outcome. The outcome is something I had to detach from before I even testified, that the outcome is going to be whatever it is. But the process was so difficult, especially with the DARVO [Deny, Attack and Reverse Victim Offender] and the smear attacks. I had a really difficult time with the social media comments and the memes and all of that. It was very hard to get through.

And so on, in classic style. Based on Blasey Ford’s testimony in 2018, people have a right to wonder what her 911 call might have been like.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Is Biden’s Re-Election Campaign Driving US Foreign Policy?

By: John Hinderaker — March 23rd 2024 at 21:28
(John Hinderaker)

It is widely believed that Joe Biden’s anti-Israel, pro-Hamas policy is driven by his desperate need to carry Michigan if he is to have any hope of re-election. That seems like a reasonable assumption, although, to be fair, it is also possible that he shares his old boss’s anti-Israel animus. But here is another one:

Scoop: The US has urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, warning senior SBU and GUR officials that drone strikes risk driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation.
w/ @hallbenjamin @felschwartz @mylesmccormick_ https://t.co/DRussu4cAs via @FT

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 22, 2024


Biden’s team knows that Americans have had about all the Bidenflation they can stand, and a spike in energy prices between now and November could well doom Joe’s chances. Would Biden be willing to throw the Ukrainians under the bus, along with the Israelis, to improve his odds? I think we all know the answer to that one.

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

What’s wrong with this picture?

By: Scott Johnson — March 24th 2024 at 09:26
(Scott Johnson)

The Times of Israel provides updates on Palestinian casualties according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, but suggests that skepticism is warranted. Indeed, the Ministry of Health is best understood as the functional equivalent of the Ministry of Truth (“Minitrue”) conceived by George Orwell in 1984, i.e., the ministry of propaganda.

In its update on Palestinian casualties in Gaza today, the Times of Israel states the numbers of dead and wounded according to “the Hamas-run health ministry,” but adds: “The terror group’s figures are unverified, don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, and list all the fatalities as caused by Israel — even those believed to have been caused by hundreds of misfired rockets or otherwise by Palestinian fire.”

These are obvious points, yet the numbers are taken (or repeated) at face value by President Biden and others. Here is Biden performing his Big Brother shtick earlier this month: “You can’t have another 30,000 Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after [Hamas]. There are other ways to deal with Hamas.”

In his invaluable March 6 Tablet column, Professor Abraham Wyner explains “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers” and even Biden must “know” this. It’s yet another sign of Biden’s turn against Israel and/or support for Hamas.

Let me add today’s sign, per Vice President Kamala Harris: “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Let me tell you, I have studied the maps — there is nowhere for those folks to go. So we’ve been very clear that it would be a mistake to move into Rafah with any kind of military operation.”

VP Kamala Harris takes a tougher line against Israel (re: going after remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah) on ABC’s “This Week”:

“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Let me tell you, I…

— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) March 24, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Dumbest Thing A Liberal Said Last Week

By: Steven Hayward — March 24th 2024 at 10:54
(Steven Hayward)

Robert “Beto” O’Rourke—remember him?—appeared on Bill Maher’s comedy show Friday night, and accused Big Retail—”the Walmarts, the Amazons, the Krogers of the world” of price gouging. But it is O’Rourke’s explanation that earns him an entire feature display in the Museum of Leftist Stupidity:

“They were jacking prices in the middle of inflation and blaming it on the economy.”

Imagine! Raising prices during inflation! Who ever heard of such a thing? I’m sure his solution will be government price controls, because when you are this dumb, it is too much to expect even a minimal grasp of economics.

Here it is in all it’s full glory:

Bill Maher is convinced Biden is going to lose the 2024 election because of food inflation.
Beto O'Rourke's spin:
"The FTC just yesterday released a report and said they're price gouging. These are the Walmarts, the Amazons, the Krogers of the world. They were jacking prices in… pic.twitter.com/kM31tDJTSC

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) March 23, 2024

☑ ☆ ✇ Power LinePower Line

Smartest Thing a Liberal Said Last Week

By: Steven Hayward — March 24th 2024 at 11:29
(Steven Hayward)

The Biden Administration’s diplomacy with Israel over its war against Hamas has reached the Animal House “double-secret probation” stage, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning Israel that it may find itself diplomatically “isolated” in the world if it attacks Rafah. Is it possible for Israel to be any more “isolated” than it already is in the joke that is called “the diplomatic community”? Dean Wormer could hardly have done it better, though, to be fair to Faber College, Dean Wormer would make a better secretary of state than Blinken.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Hoodie) is having none of it:

I’m starting to think that instead of banning hoodies on the Senate floor, maybe we should require them. At least for Democrats.

Chaser—I’m finding it harder to dislike this guy for his otherwise liberal views:

dibs on your parking space https://t.co/o9QUhIbKyF

— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) March 21, 2024

Chaser—Fetterman does have some competition this week, from the Ragin’ Cajun himself, James Carville: “A suspicion of mine is that there are too many preachy females [dominating the culture of the Democratic Party].”

❌