Newsom Tried Blaming Valero for High Fuel Costs. It Did Not Go Well.

 Townhall

"After Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom's [He-Him, I suppose] state Energy Commission accused Valero Energy of price gouging and ordered an "explanation" from the company on the high price of gas in California, Valero sent a lengthy letter putting Newsom in his place and explaining why his answer is waiting in the mirror. In doing so, the energy producer also exposed the true goal of Democrats' pain-is-the-point energy agenda.

"As the Commission knows, and as countless investigations have demonstrated, market drivers of supply and demand, together with government-imposed costs and specifications, determine market price," Valero's letter begins, explaining the basics of Econ 101 since apparently Newsom missed that lesson during his time at Santa Clara University. ". . .

. . ."As to why Californians are paying more than anyone else in America for gas, Valero then drops the hammer on Newsom and the state's Democrats:

For Valero, California is the most expensive operating environment in the country and a very hostile regulatory environment for refining. California policy makers have knowingly adopted policies with the expressed intent of eliminating the refinery sector. California requires refiners to pay very high carbon cap and trade fees and burdened gasoline with cost of the low carbon fuel standards. With the backdrop of these policies, not surprisingly, California has seen refineries completely close or shut down major units. When you shut down refinery operations, you limit the resilience of the supply chain. .

Kim Kardashian Is Booed At Rams-Cowboys Game

Savage Takes  "It appears Kim Kardashian is watching her popularity tank right before her eyes.

"Kardashian became famous after the release of a sex tape in 2007 that was filmed in 2003 with then-boyfriend Ray J.

"She was “booed into oblivion” when she attended the Rams-Cowboys game. Take a look:"

. . ."Speaking to Bridget Phetasy, Kelly said, “I never want to see another picture of Kim Kardashian again. I am so sick of seeing her boobs and her a** every time I open the New York Post, The Daily Mail, whatever I’m sick of it. And not just her but all of the sisters, too. Sick of it.”

"And I’m sick of all of these Hollywood actresses showing all of their body, like the stupid awards show,” she continued. “Wear some sparkles. Cover your navel. For the love of God, act like a woman.”. . .

Intelligence Official Cornered on Why He Called Hunter's Laptop 'Russian Misinformation'

Katie Pavlich  "When news of Hunter Biden's laptop broke in October 2020, the media and intelligence officials rushed to classify its contents as "Russian disinformation." Twitter swiftly moved to ban the New York Post, which first published the story, from the social media platform for weeks. Individuals who shared the story were also banned. 

"Fifty-one former intelligence officials, who worked in a number of different federal government agencies at top levels, jumped to sign a letter stating the laptop "had all of the markings" of a Russian disinformation campaign. They did so while the Biden campaign and Hunter Biden himself failed to reject the authenticity of the laptop. 

"During Special Report Tuesday evening, anchor Bret Baier confronted one of those officials about his participation and asked if he regretted signing the letter given what it stated was untrue. 

" 'In October, days before the 2020 election you signed onto this open letter which was published by POLITICO it said, 'We write to say that the arrival on the U.S. political scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, much of it related to his time serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,'" Baier read to former CIA officer David Priess. “Why did you sign onto that?”. . .

Democratic Party Leaves Tulsi Gabbard

 The American Spectator

                       She is one of the few resisting its relentless pull to the left.

. . ."Compare these diverse coalitions with Barack Obama’s convincing one Republican congressman to vote for Obamacare, Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees receiving a total of four Democratic votes, and Biden’s essentially using the executive order to enact a “legislative” agenda. The approach favored today necessarily breeds enmity, rancor, and division. It also makes a pariah of any politician who refuses to toe the party line. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s dismissing Gabbard as a “Russian asset” comes as an example of this marginalization. (READ MORE from Daniel J. Flynn: Will the Real Fascists Please Stand Up?)

"A politician as heterodox as Gabbard not only finds no place at the Democratic Party table but finds parts of the menu revolting as well. This poses no problem when the chefs allow diners to order. But Democratic Party politicians must swallow everything listed on the menu. This force-feeding started with abortion. It now extends to such outré issues as free puberty blockers for children identifying as transgender, the abolition of bail even for some violent criminals, the Taliban-ing of statuary, and open borders.

"Gabbard changed from endorsing presidential nominee Bernie Sanders in 2016 to extolling faith and freedom in 2022. The Democratic Party changed more."

Zero Hedge has her video statement:

The woke military is an institution that is breaking down

"I believe we’re entering a stage of government oppression from which it will be very difficult to escape" 

  Matt Rowe  "I recently read a Fox News article that presented the views of a number of anonymous military members regarding the “woke” military. The service members almost universally agreed that senior members who openly disagree with the direction the military is heading risk their careers or retirement pensions.

“Merely questioning the goals or methods used to promote ‘Equity & Diversity’ is punished and that punishment is swift, harsh, and public”....

[snip]

“Most of us who serve did so because we came from military families. Patriotism and American values are no longer appreciated or expected”....

"I am a 4th generation veteran in my family. My wife, who immigrated to the US, is the first generation on her side. We served in the 1980-1990s and saw the very beginning of wokeness and its consequences. Even before that, in the early 1980s, as a Military Policeman, I was falsely accused a few times of either racism or sexism for pulling over a speeder or making a uniform correction. At the time, I figured all cops get that occasionally... maybe the person even believed it to be true. It certainly wasn’t.". . .

Looking out for America: WSJ reports that Biden officials begged Saudis to delay OPEC+ output cutbacks until after the midterms

Joe challenged the princes to do push-ups with him. TD

  Thomas Lifson  

Caricature by Donkey Hotey CC BY-SA 2.0 license

. . .Days before a major oil-production cut by OPEC and its Russia-led allies, U.S. officials called their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and other big Gulf producers with an urgent appeal—delay the decision for another month, according to people familiar with the talks. The answer: a resounding no.

U.S. officials warned Saudi leaders that a cut would be viewed as a clear choice by Riyadh to side with Russia in the Ukraine war and that the move would weaken already-waning support in Washington for the kingdom, the people said.

Saudi officials dismissed the requests, which they viewed as a political gambit by the Biden administration to avoid bad news ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, on which control of Congress hangs. High gas prices and inflation have been central issues in the campaign.

Instead, the people said, the kingdom leaned on its OPEC allies to approve the cut, which is aimed at reducing production by 2 million barrels a day. . . .

But can the Saudis stand up to the power

 of US Democrats?

9 Times Sen. Lisa Murkowski Voted with Democrats

9 Times Senator Lisa Murkowski Voted for Democrats | Daily Headlines Live

"Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, heads to the November midterm election. Kelly Tshibaka has endorsed Trump. Lisa Murkowski had voted nine times for Senate Democrats in the previous two years.

"Murkowski has served in the office for 21-years and is trying to save her political future. In Tuesday’s Alaska Republican primary, she only finished a few points ahead of Tshibaka. Both Murkowski, and her opponent, qualified in the primary for passage to the general election on Nov 8.

"Frank Murkowski served her father as senator from 1981-2002 and was governor of Alaska from 2002 through 2006.". . .

Tulsi Gabbard Blows Democrat Party to Smithereens in Scathing Exit Announcement

 PJ Media   "The former congresswoman, who’s also a U.S. Army Reserve officer and a somewhat regular Fox News pundit, completely trashed the Dem Party for what it has become, pointing to the radical positions that the party has taken on various issues in recent years.

"From the video:

I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.

"Gabbard has gone on record trashing the Biden administration, she’s spoken out against the trans propaganda brainwashing of children, and has taken the opposite side of her former party members on several issues.

"Not only did she leave the Dem party and blow it to smithereens on the way out, but she also invited fellow “independent-minded” Democrats to join her.

“ 'I believe in a government that is of, by, and for the people. Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite. I’m calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party. If you can no longer stomach the direction that so-called woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country, I invite you to join me,” Gabbard wrote in a multi-part tweet.

"While Gabbard received rounds of applause from the right side of Twitter, unsurprisingly, her haters immediately pounced and attacked her for making the decision to split. In true liberal Twitter fashion, her whiny critics labeled her as a “Russian asset,” a “traitor,” and, of course, somehow, a “racist.” Those insults were on the lighter side of what was thrown at her by the hordes of crybaby, whiny Twitter radicals who can’t stand the humiliation of a high-profile Democrat leaving the party in disgust, less than 30 days from a crucial midterm election.

"It’s difficult to imagine being a Democrat at this juncture — on the verge of historic losses in the midterms, and prominent party members getting the hell out of Dodge. Yikes.

"Fox News noted that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich summarized perfectly why Gabbard is leaving the party, saying that Gabbard’s thoughts are likely representative of millions of Democrat voters across the country who no longer recognize the “weird” policies of the party.

[Gabbard] has always been sort of an independent maverick,” Gingrich said. “And I think when she ran for president, she realized how really isolated she was from the great majority of the Democratic Party, which is now, frankly, a pretty weird party….I think you’re seeing this drift. And we’ve certainly seen among Latinos a huge drift towards the Republican Party as they’re driven away by the weirder policies of the Democratic Party.”

"Interestingly, Gabbard’s stunning exit announcement was also the inaugural episode of her new podcast, The Tulsi Show, which I just added to my podcast app.

"The former congresswoman hasn’t confirmed whether or not she’ll join the Republican side of the aisle or remain independent. Stay tuned." 

A Take on Trump and Tulsi

If Republicans, conservatives, libertarians, and independents take the bait and buy into an internecine war on the American political right, 2024 may be a replay of 2020.  Ron DeSantis is no longer a rising star: he has arrived.  If Trump gets into a gutter fight with DeSantis, recidivism wins, and the perilous nihilistic drift to the left in America will continue unabated.

 Tulsi is, at bottom a Democrat and a vote for Democrat issues

As always, Democrats are deaf to cries for liberty in Iran

 Why Are The Democrats Terrified Of Iran? (thefederalist.com)  

Iran’s muted response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani has de-escalated the situation in the Middle East. So why are Democrats cowering in fear of the Iranian regime?

. . ." This is the United States of America. We are the world’s only superpower, we have the greatest military in the world, and the most awesome set of capabilities any nation on earth has ever had. Expressing fear of a second rate authoritarian regime to own Trump isn’t just dumb, its frankly un-American. Show a little backbone, Democrats. The way to handle a bully is to punch him in the nose, which is exactly what the president did. This shaking in fear in the face of Iran is not as good a look as the Democrats think it is." Would Tulsi Gabbard?

As always, Democrats are deaf to cries for liberty in Iran - American Thinker

. . .But Biden isn’t speaking the truth. Instead, like Obama before him, he’s being remarkably silent. In 2009, during Obama’s first year as president, when he was at the peak of his popularity at home and abroad, a corrupt election in Iran led to the massive Iranian Green Movement which was demanding that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leave office. Americans supported the Green Movement. Unfortunately, Obama didn’t. He was silent, offering no encouragement at all to the protesters, and the protests died away.

Thirteen years later, Biden is doing the same. He hasn’t stated strong support for those Iranian people bravely standing up against a tyrannical government that foments world terror, demands Israel’s annihilation, and still chants “Death to America.” Instead, just last week, Newsweek reported that “Biden Plans to Continue Iran Deal Talks Despite Regime’s Brutal Crackdown.”

Violence — The calling card of the Democratic Party  But not against this nation's enemies; only our fellow citizens. 

"The Democrat Party has embraced violence as its modus operandi. The party has sent a message to its adherents that anything goes in the pursuit of power—from weaponizing the FBI and IRS against political opponents, to rigging elections, to the use of violence. Democrats will not hesitate to deprive you of your basic rights if it suits their purpose. If that entails violent behavior aimed at you, too bad.

"A classic example of Democratic Party-supported violence is occurring as mobs attempt to intimidate conservative Supreme Court justices by protesting in front of their homes. Although this is expressly prohibited by federal law, you won’t see the Democrat-controlled Justice Department taking action against the protestors. Breaking the law has become acceptable.". . .