Remarks on Friday's debate

The Seven Dwarfs on the debate stage  "The grueling debate Friday night on ABC was actually sad for the seven debaters, with the exception of Andrew Yang, for they all are panderers of the first order. They all say only what they think their potential supporters want to hear. There are few core beliefs among them. 

"They all seem either ignorant or in serious denial of the countless successes of the Trump administration because they all simply deny them. They are each depending, as usual, on the conviction that all Americans are very stupid and unable to discern between the truth and their lies meant to terrorize unwitting citizens about health care, global warming, and President Trump.

"There was not an honest broker on that stage except Yang, and he has no chance of being the nominee because is a relatively normal human being. The debate brought to mind Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Among the dwarfs, Yang would be Happy." . . .

James Carville Rips ELITIST MEDIA, Says Dems are 'Losing Our Damn Minds'
James Carville, a former top adviser to President Clinton, laid out a scathing critique of his party, arguing that it drifted way too far to the left and was on the way to failure as a result of pushing extreme policy ideas.

"Drag a dollah biyill thru a traylah pahk
 and  see what you come up with"

"' We just had an election in 2018. We did great. We talked about everything we needed to talk about and we won," he said in a Vox interview published on Friday.
 "And now it’s like we’re losing our damn minds. Someone’s got to step their game up here."
"Carville added that he considered himself a "liberal" rather than a centrist -- but Democrats went too far even for him.

"They’ve tacked off the damn radar screen," he said when asked if the party moved too far left.
"His comments came just after another interview in which he said he was "scared to death" after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., netted a large portion of the vote in Iowa's caucuses." . . .

Drunkblogging the New Hampshire Democratic Debate Stephen Green posted:

It was a debate about nothing.

Not exactly nothing. Each candidate thinks that they're The One to beat Trump, and said so forcefully. Or in the case of Biden and Sanders, loudly.

But in terms of undoing all the gains made over the last three years, the seven candidates stand as one.

So they have that going for them, which isn't nice for us.

But as a debate over ideas, it wasn't a debate at all. Exact same ideas, varying only (and barely) in who would do the mostest fundamental transformation the fastest.

I don't think that's an easy sell in an economy with record-high confidence levels

 Leslie Marshall: Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar shine in latest Democratic
 debate  . . . "Vice President Joe Biden: He can’t seem to own the Obama years without owning Washington’s last 30 years. At some point, it’s impossible to win when you haven’t gained a supporter in a year. Arrow: Down
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg: He won, in part, because Biden couldn’t land a punch. That means the small-city mayor who shocked the Iowa caucuses got to build on his moment and continue to portray himself as the future in a more experienced field. Arrow: Up
Senator Amy Klobuchar: She has Biden’s folksy touch, Warren’s substance and Pete’s sense of decency. She did well and probably has the highest ceiling of any candidate, but can’t quite seem to put it all together on the same night. Arrow: Up
Sen. Bernie Sanders: A good debater, he pivots, sees traps and sounds forceful without fake toughness. He doesn’t convert anyone, but he doesn’t need to in this fractured field. Trump wants to debate socialism, but he doesn’t want to debate Bernie."  . . .

For all you Thunbergians out there; UPDATED

Ghenghis Gary

Global Warming's 50 Years of Fraud  "The theory for those pushing the green new deal or some other radical energy policy that will destroy tens of millions of jobs and greatly harm the poor and middle class is that humans, CO2, and fossil fuels cause warming and climate change. This warming causes the ice to melt in Alaska, then the melting ice causes sea levels to rise and the rising sea levels will cause coastal cities to under water.

"They have predicted the coastal cities to disappear for the last 100 years and they have been wrong for 100 years.

"Meanwhile, Alaska has been exceptionally cold for the last few months. As a nerd who knows that the people pushing the garbage theory of humans causing climate change is based on a series of lies, I look at actual data." 

"January 2020 was the 15th coldest January on record in Fairbanks Alaska. At negative 27 degrees. it was over 13 degrees below average this year. Obviously, the ice will be thickening faster than average and is not going to be gone as predicted.

"Here is a small sample of predictions and fear articles over the years.

1922-Article by AP in Washington Post and elsewhere saying icecaps were melting, oceans were dying, and coastal cities would disappear.

1970-First Earth Day. We were scared with articles that billions would die soon from catastrophic cooling.

1975-Newsweek-Doom and gloom article called “The Cooling World”

1989-Back to warming. The UN essentially repeated the warnings from 1922 article and said we only had ten years to solve the problem.

2008-ABC ran fear story saying much of Miami and New York City would be under water by 2015.

2019- The UN again repeated the same warnings from 1922 and 1989 and again we have only ten years left.

"How did the Earth cool so much from 1945 to 1976 that we got warnings of catastrophic cooling if rising CO2, humans and fossil fuels cause warming? The answer is there is no correlation between CO2, population, fossil fuel use and temperature." . . .

Yet journalists and other Democrats didn’t give a damn about the fraud as they continue to hide the truth from the public because they also like the money train.
Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation . . . 

Niall Ferguson: Davos Man is cooling on Stockholm Girl Greta Thunberg

Delegates publicly praise the gloomy activist, but privately prefer dirty Don

. . . "In this green new world, Davos Man must now prostrate himself before Stockholm Girl: 17-year-old Greta Thunberg, who delivered her latest tirade on Tuesday morning. “We don’t need a ‘low-carbon economy,’ ” she declared. “We don’t need to ‘lower emissions’. Our emissions have to stop. Any plan or policy of yours that doesn’t include radical emission cuts at the source, starting today, is completely insufficient.” She demanded that all participants “immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction”. "

. . . "As Trump said, in an uncharacteristically restrained speech, American consumer confidence is buoyant, the unemployment rate is the lowest in nearly half a century, taxes on business are down, as is regulation, and the stock market is at record highs. Since his election, the US economy has added nearly seven million jobs. Housebuilding has just hit a 13-year high. Most strikingly, earnings growth has been especially strong for less skilled, lower-paid and African-American workers." . . .

Cartoon below from An Inconvenient Truth: Mother Nature vs Greta Thunberg

Trending Views

UPDATE:

CNN's Cascading Credibility Crisis

Tony Branco

Daryl Austin  "CNN is currently suffering a credibility crisis unlike anything they've experienced before. Last year, Business Insider reported that only 53% of American adults believe CNN is "credible," and among Republicans in particular, CNN's credibility has fallen "by nearly 20 percentage points since 2016."

"One of CNN’s most famous "Facts First" ad campaigns shows a shiny red apple against a white backdrop as a voiceover posits the following:

“This is an apple. Some people might try to tell you that it’s a banana. They might scream banana banana banana over and over and over again. They might put BANANA in all caps. They might even start to believe that this is a banana, but it’s not. This is an apple.”

"Claiming to value the facts first used to work for the once-proud network, but no longer.

There are, of course, scores of contributing factors and explanations that various people may have for mistrusting CNN. But my primary reason for no longer trusting the network comes down to the way network executives react whenever their journalists are caught behaving badly.

"CNN host Don Lemon and two panelists openly mocking purportedly stupid Trump supporters last week provides one such example. Putting aside the blatant lack of journalistic objectivity and unprofessionalism displayed throughout the segment, the question of credibility still arises in its aftermath.

"Instead of apologizing or taking responsibility for his actions, Lemon tried to misrepresent what actually transpired. He said, "Just to make this perfectly clear, I was laughing at the joke, and not at any group of people." Unfortunately for him, the facts disagree. While the clip shows that Lemon certainly begins laughing in reaction to a joke told by one of his guests at President Trump's expense, his laughter only increases as his panelists continue to mock "an administration defined by the ignorance of the world," using farcical Southern accents and calling Trump supporters "credulous boomer rubes."

"After the clip went viral, Lemon defended himself by saying "I don't believe in belittling people," but once again, the facts say otherwise. The truth is that Lemon frequently uses his nightly program to belittle President Trump and his supporters." . . .   Full article here

Ian Macfarlane

It's Deanna Loraine or Nancy Pelosi

Mark Levin's Fan Club of Intelligent, Thinking Women (and Men)

AERIAL ATTACK: “Pelosi For Prison” Banner Spotted In The Skies of San Fran

. . . "Lorraine posted a photo of the airplane flying around the city on her Twitter account early Thursday morning and told this Gateway Pundit reporter that the plane will circle San Fran for several hours.  

“I am running for Congress to clean out the corruption that is Nancy Pelosi. Instead of caring for the people of San Francisco and advancing their issues on a national scale, she spends her time conducting asinine impeachments, petulant theatrical tantrums and ripping apart the President’s State of the Union Speech,” said Lorraine.

"The banner, which measures a whopping 25×80 feet, promotes pelosiforprison.co, a splash page petition site where the upstart candidate encourages people to put Pelosi in prison for her crimes against America. DeAnna bills the House Speaker as a “known violator” of our Constitution and accuses the pickled partisan of using her political power for personal financial gain.

“It’s past time we start hitting her hard on her record of poor leadership and egregious crimes against America, and I look very much forward to retiring her in November.” . . .

Bernie turns his fire on Buttigieg; The politics of envy.

American Thinker

Sanders has criticized the former Indiana mayor before, but not like this.

Politico "MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Bernie Sanders has a new target: Pete Buttigieg.
"In the days leading up to the first-in-the-nation primary, the Vermont senator is lighting up the former South Bend mayor over his billionaire donors while his aides are circulating talking points calling him “a favorite candidate of Wall Street and the health care industry.” Hours before the presidential contenders were due on the debate stage, Sanders’ team also managed to get the hashtag #PetesBillionaires trending on Twitter." . . .

. . . "Though Sanders has needled Buttigieg over his billionaire contributors previously, his most recent comments represent something of a shift. He almost never mentions Buttigieg on the trail, and until now has trained most of his fire in the Democratic contest on Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg. The change underscores the importance of New Hampshire to Sanders’ campaign — and the fact that Buttigieg is nipping at his heels in the first-in-the-nation primary state." . . .

. . . Sanders’ talking points, which were obtained by POLITICO, state that Buttigieg is “soliciting money from corporate executives and billionaires to fund his campaign” and that he supported Sanders’ Medicare-for-All proposal until “he started raising big money.” Forbes found that Buttigieg “has more exclusive billionaire donors than any other Democrat in the race.” . . .  More

We Gotta Talk About That Superbowl Halftime Show

ChicksOnRight

. . . "It’s a constant struggle really – to understand if feminism is all about showing as much sexiness as possible with as little clothing as possible OR if it’s about not being objectified.  I can’t keep up.  I mean, obviously Shakira and JLo wanted everyone to see their bodies writhing around and have as many ass and crotch shots as possible.  So….are they empowered by that?  Are they ok with the fact that they were leered at by millions of people who were likely paying far more attention to their bodies than their music?  Or are they gonna be mad that people were thinking about them sexually when they were performing instead of appreciating their songwriting and singing?" . . .

‘Slanderous’: Rush’s longtime producer Bo Snerdley asks CNN, Acosta to prove racist claim against boss

Learn the techniques of Trump-bashing by visiting this page of 'The View"

The Official Fan Page Of The View  This week on their show, Joy Behar called Trump a racist, as most in media do. In response to these things, "Bo Snerdley" posted these thoughts:
"Veteran Limbaugh Producer Bo Snerdley: “I just saw the footage from CNN’s Jim Acosta saying Rush has a ‘history’ of saying disparaging things about African Americans.
“ 'I have been in the studio with Rush for 30 years. I would like to formally challenge CNN and @Acosta to provide the list.' "

This regarding their kindred spirits at CNN:

‘Slanderous’: Rush’s longtime producer Bo Snerdley asks CNN, Acosta to prove racist claim against boss  "One of the most remarkable things seen from the American political landscape since talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh announced he has been diagnosed with advanced-stage lung cancer has been the outpouring of genuine concern and support.

"A lack of compassion and downright vile behavior from many on the left has also been noteworthy." . . .

. . . "At the same time, the left denounced the moment and the man, as seen when CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta commented on the president’s speech being an attempt to court the black vote — an attempt Acosta worked to counter by lashing out at an ailing Limbaugh, suggesting that Trump was honoring a racist.

“ 'He was trying to make appeals to the African-American community,” Acosta said. “It can’t be forgotten he was awarding the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh, who has a history of making derogatory comments about African-Americans. So I think, you know, overall it’s a wash.' ” . . .
. . . "Snerdley, whose real name is James Golden, formally challenged the reporter and his anti-Trump network to prove the accusation." . . .

I just saw the footage from CNN’s Jim Acosta saying Rush has a “history” of saying disparaging things about African Americans. I have been in the studio with Rush for 30 years. I would like to formally challenge CNN and @Acosta to provide the list.— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) February 5, 2020

 Full article

Democrat SOTU

Don Surber

"I know the governor of Michigan gave the Democrat response to President Donald John Trump's uplifting, rousing, and patriotic State of the Union address. But she is just their Bobby Jindal glossing over where the party stands. The true state of the Democrat Party is as American as the Iranian flag.
"They gave Iran 150 times what they gave Ukraine, and did not require Iran to fire anyone first.
"What do Democrats want for America?
"1. Open Borders. Democrat mayors across the United States order their police to ignore lawful orders to turn over to ICE illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes.
"Julián Castro was the first Democrat presidential candidate this time to call for ending deportations. He wrote, "Immigrants seeking refuge in our country aren’t a threat to national security. Migration shouldn’t be a criminal justice issue. It’s time to end this draconian policy and return to treating immigration as a civil — not a criminal — issue."
"The rest of the candidates followed his lead." . . .

3. Reparations. Elizabeth Warren said, "I believe it’s time to start the national, full-blown conversation about reparations."

 4. Trillions in new taxes. Bloomberg wants to go after "high earners," while Warren wants to confiscate 2% of the acquired wealth of billionaires.

5. Medicare for All. It is actually Medicaid for all as it would eliminate private insurance. Even liberals choke on this one. *

6. Yuppie Chow. The word Yuppie fell out of favor but forgiving $1.6 million million (or $1.6 trillion if you prefer) in student loans is welfare for mainly young urban professionals, most of whom are white. Colleges fleeced them, now they want to fleece taxpayers.

 7. Legalizing Crime. They have legalized pooping in the street, using hard drugs (needle exchanges) and shoplifting (stealing less than $960 is no big deal) in cities in California. New York state has ended requiring bail.

8. Eliminate the Electoral College. Unable to win the last election constitutionally, Democrats want to get around it by having states give up their electors to the candidate with the most votes. The problem with that the Constitution requires approval of each house of Congress and 38 states to eliminate the Electoral College. I do not see an honest judge approving this scheme.

9. Letting felons vote.
They call this restoring their rights.
How about we begin by restoring their rights to own a gun? 

. . . *The Eye-Popping Cost of Medicare for All  . . .  "Senator Elizabeth Warren’s refusal to answer repeated questions at last night’s debate about how she would fund Medicare for All underscores the challenge she faces finding a politically acceptable means to meet the idea’s huge price tag—a challenge that only intensified today with the release of an eye-popping new study." . . .

Commentary on Mitt Romney

American Thinker

National Review: What Is Consistent about Mitt Romney?  "His condescension to the public and esteem of himself"
. . . "But I’ve never understood him. Once the subject turns to politics, law, and morality, the things Romney says and his actions don’t quite match, or his reasoning doesn’t cohere. Unable to understand him, I’ve found him impossible to believe. And on two subjects in particular it has been impossible to reconcile his words and actions: abortion and Donald Trump. Exploring the first can help us illuminate his approach to the latter." . . .
. . . "Slate journalist Will Saletan wisely noted that Romney continued to avoid describing his convictions directly, referring instead to how he negotiated his conscience and public attitudes. “This isn’t a man talking about what he believes,” Saletan observed. “It’s a man talking about framing a public posture under constraint.” What Saletan observed is not so much Romney changing his views on abortion as changing his political identity on the issue."

What Supreme Being guides Romney's stands on Abortion?  From ABC News article, "Mitt Romney's Abortion Evolution":  . . . "Here is a rundown of Romney's stances on all things abortion-related, from supporting Roe v. Wade in 1994 to disavowing it in 2011, to backing away from any legislative changes in 2012." .  . .

Explaining why Mitt Romney really voted to convict Trump   . . . "Former staffers on the Romney campaign are rebuking their former boss, saying he's "motivated by bitterness and jealously."  That's somewhat true, but it's not the full story.  As much as Romney craves hero status among the Georgetown set, he hates that the very people who backed his presidential run also stood behind a vulgar reality TV host. 

"The difference is that Trump won.  Romney will never forgive Republicans for making that happen."

Mitt Romney's Oath before God

Does he not think that these undisputed offenses might "perhaps" (got to have that weasel word) be more abusive, etc.  to one's oath than  Trump's contended offense, even if we assume the worst?  And if so, with words like "appalling" and "flagrant" already used to describe Trump's contended abuse, what words does Romney use for the far more ominous abuses of the Obama administration?

. . . "Here, he is suggesting that his devotion to God is the reason for his decision, which implies that, for other senators, such devotion is not the reason. " . . . 

GOP Rep. Calls for Romney to be Expelled from Republican Caucus  “ 'Frankly, I don’t know what the difference is between Mitt Romney and a Democrat at this point,” Gaetz continued." . . . Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.)

"Why I’m Not Upset with Mitt Romney"

Coverage Of Mitt Romney’s Impeachment Vote Is A Case Study In Media Bias

. . . “ 'Jeff Van Drew’s Party Switch Underscores The Particularly Partisan Impeachment Of Trump,” blasted the Washington Post.“ 'Another Democrat, Wooed By Republicans, Likely To Oppose Impeachment,” wrote Newsweek."There was no coverage of heroism from Van Drew or Peterson coming from the mainstream media in their act of defiance."The episode showcases a common double-standard practiced in the mainstream media today, where practicing bipartisanship only makes one a principled public servant if it plays into the media narrative. It’s clear that simply switching parties on a major issue only makes one a hero if it hurts Republicans."

 Senate acquits Trump in impeachment trial; Romney breaks with GOP to vote for conviction . . . Democrats praised Romney’s decision. “Mitt Romney has restored my faith in this institution and my faith in the basic idea that political courage can exist in a polarized world,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. (Editor’s note: This shows the hypocrisy of the Democrat politicians who accused Romney of murder. . . "  But then he was running against Obama, a despicable thing to do.

Ben Garrison

Mitt Romney’s Impeachment Vote Backfires on Utah’s Push for S.386 Green Card Giveaway  "Utah Sen. Mike Lee is pushing his S.386 green card giveaway bill, in part, because the state’s political and business establishment is betting imported Indian graduates will jump start the state’s version of Silicon Valley.

"But Utah Sen. Mitt Romney’s vote to impeach President Donald Trump has created a new problem for Lee’s controversial bill, whose passage via the fast track Unanimous Consent rule has been blocked several times by GOP and Democratic Senators.

“ 'Lee’s immigration bill will give Silicon Slopes the high-tech workers it needs,” said the headline on an article posted by the Salt Lake Tribune. The December article was written by Miles Hansen, the president of a state-backed operation tasked with recruiting new investment into the state: . . ."

SKITS: Nightmare In Paradise | 3-year Old Chooses Gender

Religio-Political Talk

MOONBATTERY hat-tip:

• A recent arrival from Kansas learns what it is like to run a business in the People’s Republic of California…. You can see why the pathologically despotic Michael Bloomberg sees hyper-regulated California as a model to emulate. You can also see why moving vans tend to be full when they leave California and empty when they return. But the Third World still keeps the state’s population growing, if slowly.

Another skit where a 3-years old “chooses” his gender:

Hillary Tweets "No One Is Above the Law" Then Refuses To Accept Lawsuit Against Her

It would appear no law can touch her.

Zero Hedge  
"So no one is above the law, except if it’s Hillary Clinton, who has now TWICE refused to accept service from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s lawyers, as part of a $50 million defamation suit relating to Clinton’s accusations that Gabbard is a “Russian asset”."

"Gabbard’s attorney, Brian Dunne told The New York Post, “I find it rather unbelievable that Hillary Clinton is so intimidated by Tulsi Gabbard that she won’t accept service of process. But I guess here we are.”

"The Post notes that “Dunne said their process server first attempted to effect service at Clinton’s house in Chappaqua on Tuesday afternoon — but was turned away by Secret Service agents.”

"The report continues, “The agents directed the server to Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, who on Wednesday claimed at his Washington, DC, firm, Williams & Connolly, that he was unable to accept service on Clinton’s behalf, said Dunne.' ” . . .

@HillaryClinton tweeted:

Richard Nixon once made this argument: "When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."

He was forced to resign in disgrace.

In America, no one is above the law. https://twitter.com/ABC/status/122

Risks of Ignoring a Subpoena and Refusing to Attend a Deposition
"Subpoenas must be served in person to someone that is required in court. This means the individual must accept the paperwork and his or her attendance is required, and if he or she does not show, he or she may be found in contempt with possible negative consequences." . . .
Back in 2015: House Republicans Release The Subpoena Hillary Clinton Said She Never Received For Her Emails

Rep. Mike Johnson offers Speaker Nancy Pelosi some acquittal pens to pass around

Weasel Zippers

Rep. Mike Johnson

✔@RepMikeJohnson

Just in case Speaker Pelosi is too torn up to hand out acquittal pens, I went ahead and picked some up for our exceptional #impeachment defense team. @Jim_Jordan @RepDLesko @RepRatcliffe @RepStefanik @RepMarkMeadows @RepLeeZeldin @RepDougCollins

. . .
Twitchy  "This is great. As Twitchy reported, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a truckload of pens with her signature inscribed ready to sign the two articles of impeachment against President Trump so she could hand them out as party favors to the House impeachment managers; even CNN’s panel thought it was a little tacky for such a somber and prayerful occasion.

"Turnabout is fair play, however, and Rep. Mike Johnson says he has some acquittal pens ready to pass out “just in case Speaker Pelosi is too torn up” to hand them out." . . .