Sunday, December 25, 2022

The Most American Christmas Ever

No Antifa in this man.

Don Surber

"The old farmer was there with Washington when he crossed a frozen Delaware River in blizzard-like conditions on Christmas 1776. And so the photographer took a daguerreotype photo of Conrad Heyer in 1852, who 103 years early was the first European child born in Waldoboro, Maine. At 24, he had enlisted in the Continental Army and spent 1776 with Washington, whose rag-tag army went from victory in Boston to defeat in New York to a daring raid and stunning victory in the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey.

"The New Market Press reported on July 25, 2013, “According to the Maine Historical Society, Heyer may be the earliest born human being ever photographed. He is also the only U.S. veteran to be photographed who crossed the Delaware River alongside George Washington in December 1776.”

"There is some dispute as to whether he was the earliest born person to be photographed. Three claims of earlier birth have been made, including a slave who would have been 115 when photographed.

"But there is no dispute about Heyer’s service to our country. He was a farm boy who became one of thousands of patriots who took up arms to force the best army in the world to leave the colonies so that Founding Fathers could set up a government that protected our rights.". . .

The victory was not particularly significant from a strategic point of view, but news of Washington’s initiative raised the spirits of the American colonists, who previously feared that the Continental Army was incapable of victory.”The morale boost continues today. People use the Internet to boast about a victory by others nearly a quarter of a millennium ago.

Is Trump now forced to run third-party?

Why do third-party candidates have to be conservatives, thereby guaranteeing a Democrat win? 

 The Hill  At a certain point, all decisions and election chances in politics come down to basic math. No matter how some consultants, pollsters or campaign managers may attempt to complicate the process to justify their fees or salaries paid by a candidate or company, it still comes down to this: Does the math finish on the “plus side” for him or her to run, and does it finish on the plus side for the candidate to win?

"My mother used to say, “If you can read, you can cook.” In the arena of political elections, if you can do basic addition and subtraction, you can honestly advise a candidate whether to run. Former President Donald Trump has some of that basic math working against him — but also, for him. 

"What he and his mercurial ego really will do becomes the political question of the 2024 presidential cycle.

"With each passing week, there are reports of more and more Republicans suffering from “Trump fatigue.” Although many still strongly approve of most of Trump’s policies from his four years in the White House, they have grown increasingly tired of his perceived juvenile antics and insults. Worse for Trump, many now blame him for the GOP losing the chance to take control of the Senate — not only in the November midterms, when he forced marginal candidates on the party with his endorsements, but also back in 2021 when he suppressed GOP voter turnout with negative comments and attacks in Georgia’s runoff election.  

"On top of that, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comfortably leads Trump in the latest polls among Republicans. Given all this, does it spell the end for Trump as a viable GOP presidential candidate?

"Not necessarily. It all comes down to those fairly simple addition and subtraction equations. 

"In this case, the relevant question becomes: If Trump decides to run as a third-party candidate, could he somehow manage to win enough significant states to beat the GOP nominee (whether it’s DeSantis or someone else) and the Democratic nominee (whether it’s President Biden or someone else)? Even a high school student who’s truly proficient in math might be able to give Trump that answer.. . .

Celebrity chef Rachael Ray lectures on ‘moral imperative’ to support Ukraine and Twitter was NOT having it

 BPR   "The disconnect between Washington, D.C., the leftist cultural elite, and real America couldn’t be more clear when it comes to Ukraine and the blind support of politicians continuing to pour money into the war-torn country at a time when many in their own nation are in desperate need.

"While the preening of elected leaders during their orgy of worship for the diminutive, military fatigue-clad Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before a joint session of Congress this week left many feeling nauseous, it was the virtue signaling of celebrity chef Rachael Ray that really triggered a gag reflex.

"In a USA Today column, the Food Network star and entrepreneur lectured Americans that it was their “moral imperative” to unwaveringly support Ukraine through the “bitter winter” even as this week’s frigid temperatures have combined with economic misery to inflict a devastating one-two punch on those in need right here in the homeland.". . .

I will take this seriously when the border is truly secure, when homeless have been housed, when drug addicts are in treatment, when there are no more people living in makeshift “tent cities” in the middle of towns. Curious why nobody feels a “moral imperative” for US citizens?

Adam Schiff Picks A Fight With Elon Musk …OUCH! That Was A Mistake

 Yid With Lid


"You’d be hard-pressed to find a more shameless and dishonest political opportunist than the bug-eyed bull-sh**ting bloviating barrister of Burbank, also known as Adam Schiff (D-CA). For Schiff, every issue is little more than an opportunity for wielding political power.

"Adam Schiff tried to play his power games with Elon Musk. Musk wasn’t having any of it, and Schiff went home bruised,

"The little tyrant is mad that his party has been exposed in a massive conspiracy to deprive the public of free and fair elections. So Schiff is planning to weaponize the powers of government against a private citizen and the corporation he now owns.

"Here’s his excuse for weaponizing the government against a corporation that has gone from carrying water for the DNC and punishing their enemies to threatening the DNC by publishing the truth about backchannel meetings.

"Let’s have at Shift’s snark that inspired mocking memes like this:

"That had to hurt

"Musk wasn’t having any of it.

"The little tyrant is mad that his party has been exposed in a massive conspiracy to deprive the public of free and fair elections. So Schiff is planning to weaponize the powers of government against a private citizen and the corporation he now owns.

"Here’s his excuse for weaponizing the government against a corporation that has gone from carrying water for the DNC and punishing their enemies to threatening the DNC by publishing the truth about backchannel meetings.

"Let’s have at Shift’s snark that inspired mocking memes like this:". . .

Saturday, December 24, 2022

White House Struggles to Define ‘Border Czar’ Harris’ Role in Immigration Policy

Yid With Lid

Recent reports from Mexico have suggested that as many as 40,000 migrants are staging themselves for a caravan north to the border, adding a rather poignant urgency to the situation.


"Early in Vice President Kamala Harris’ first term in office, the California Democrat was appointed to the all-important position of Border Czar at a time when our nation was struggling mightily with the issue of illegal immigration.

"To put it bluntly, there is a humanitarian crisis on our southern border as tens of thousands of migrants continue to stream into America, placing an economic strain on cities like El Paso, Texas, and fueling the illegal and immoral human trafficking industry south of the border.

"Harris, for her part, spent 90 days after her appointment avoiding a visit to the border and drawing the ire of Americans from coast to coast.

"In the ensuing 8 months, Harris has made little to no progress on the issue whatsoever, and even the White House can’t seem to explain what, if anything, the Vice President is doing to remedy the situation.". . .

ESPN has meltdown after barely anyone shows up for Brittney Griner “welcome back” party – and it’s epic

I do not recommend Griner as a spokeswhatever for Subway. TD

Law Enforcement Today

Now ESPN expects Americans to hold parades celebrating her release? And it can also be argued that the conditions in the Russian jail were probably better than the conditions in the Washington, DC gulag where January 6 protesters are being held in violation of their constitutional rights.


"The female WNBA player who bounces basketballs for a living and who was traded for arguably one of the worst terrorists in the world to secure her freedom from a Russian jail, Brittney Griner, is apparently not as popular as the leftist media would have us believe.

"According to the Media Research Center, University Baptist Church in Waco, TX., located only miles from Baylor University where Griner attended college, sought to host a welcome back party for Griner after she returned back from Russia.

"Now one might think that an icon of the alphabet community who checks off a number of boxes on the woke checklist might draw a bit of a crowd for such a momentous event. In truth, only about 20 people actually showed up for the event. And that led the wokest of all woke sports networks, ESPN, to go off. More on that in a bit.

“I will say this: Baylor’s women’s coach has long used her own personal platform to…give support and love for Brittney,” Sharyl West Loeung, a speaker and “facilitator” at the church said. “But otherwise, from an administrative point of view, that hasn’t happened. For myself, coming from a graduate of the seminary and having worked there and [knowing] how much they confess being this Christian organization, I really wanted to see more.”

"What was she expecting to see? It isn’t like Griner was a prisoner of war being held by a foreign adversary. She was in essence a common criminal who broke Russian law.

"Now we can argue all we want about the seriousness of her crime, but honestly, in a country that has been holding people who engaged in merely trespassing on the US Capitol grounds for nearly two years, without bond, in squalid conditions, who are we to argue about conditions in Russia?

"If you’re unfamiliar with the Griner case, which honestly most Americans were until her release was secured by swapping the “Merchant of Death” for her, she was arrested for illegally possessing marijuana derivatives, in this case CBD oils in a Russian airport. Griner pleaded guilty, in fact, to that crime.". . .

What does Liz Cheney have to say about this?

AOC: The Giant Fraud America Is Getting Sick Of?

 AOC: The Giant Fraud America Is Getting Sick Of? (msn.com)

Have You Had Enough of AOC Yet?: Love her, hate herignore her, or tolerate her, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has become a household name and a force in Democratic politics.

She Is a Socialist Afterall

"Another problem with AOC is her extreme politics and interaction with the controversial “Squad” of like-minded progressives. AOC is really a socialist at heart – rebranded as a Democratic Socialist. This ideology may play well in her New York district, but it would never pass muster in the heartland. She has made enemies too, not only among Conservatives, but also in her own party for endorsing left-wing primary challengers against establishment and moderate Democrats. As I have mentioned before, AOC may have peaked too early. Is she committed enough to serve in Congress for another 20 to 30 years? Does she have presidential ambitions? Will she become more moderate with age to achieve crossover appeal? Does she want to settle down and start a family? These are questions that will be answered in the coming years should AOC continue her political career. But the country may have developed “AOC fatigue” by then. Stay tuned."

Why AOC Is a Fraud (townhall.com)  "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claims to be a progressive. She also claims to be concerned about the working class. In fact she is a fraud.

"We really need to stop calling the likes of Ocasio-Cortez a progressive. There is nothing progressive about her or her New Green Deal. She hates modernity, she hates progress and all the benefits it has brought the working classes. She wants to end fossil fuel use, she wants to stop cheap flights and people's freedom to live and spend their money as they choose."



Biden slammed for Christmas 'unity' speech after year of political attacks: 'Spare us, you old grinch'

Biden slammed 'MAGA Republicans' during a polarizing speech in September


 Fox News  Conservative Twitter users attacked Biden’s unity speech after he frequently attacked "MAGA Republicans," as well as unvaccinated Americans in previous addresses to the nation.
"’Unite, you stupid sons of b*tches! And Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!’" Townhall.com reporter Mia Cathell joked.". . .
. . ."He wants you to forget his red speech ever happened," RedState writer Bonchie remarked.
"Says the guy who tried to turn Americans against each other over a vaccine and often yells about ~half the country being fascists. Spare us, you old grinch," Townhall.com managing editor Spencer Brown wrote. 
"Gov. Ron DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern commented, "I guess last year’s Christmas message wasn’t much of a hit," noting that during the previous Christmas season Biden warned that unvaccinated Americans would face a "winter of severe illness and death." . . .


Romney Says He Didn’t Trust GOP-Controlled House To Craft A Budget

 Daily Caller


"Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Thursday that he backed a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill because he did not trust House Republicans to handle crafting a budget in light of Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California’s difficult campaign for speaker of the House.

“ 'House Republicans say that they want to craft a budget, but they haven’t yet been able to select a speaker,” Romney said, referencing the fact that several House Republicans came out in opposition to McCarthy’s bid for speaker. Romney noted it would be very difficult to sort out budgets for the current fiscal year and the following fiscal year. (RELATED: Blackburn Blasts Dems For Funding Border Security Abroad, But Not US)

“ 'Even if they could take on those two things at the same time, it would need Democrats in the Senate to pass it,” Romney said, claiming that the resulting compromise legislation would end up at a higher number than the $1.7 trillion in the bill. Romney noted that entitlement spending was twice the amount of the omnibus bill.

"Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona launched an unsuccessful challenge to McCarthy for the nomination of the House Republican caucus to serve as speaker of the House, losing by a 188-31 vote on Nov. 15. Biggs announced Dec. 6 he would still run for the post in spite of McCarthy being the Republican nominee.

“ 'McCarthy is so weak he’ll promise anything to anyone,” Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote for the Daily Caller News Foundation.". . .

GOP Can’t Be Successful Until Mitch McConnell Is Gone    . . ."Another comment from McConnell also shocked Republicans. Of the $1.7 trillion left-wing spending spree McConnell is working so hard to help Democrats pass, he said, unbelievably, that he was “pretty proud of the fact that with a Democratic president, Democratic House, and Democratic Senate, we were able to achieve through this omnibus spending bill essentially all of our priorities.” As an indication of how deeply sick and broken and unserious the Senate is, no one had even begun to read the lengthy bill, which was put forward just hours before votes began.". . .

The Rejection of 'Merry Christmas'

E. Jeffrey Ludwig

. . .Although I grew up in a Jewish household, my parents never felt either threatened by Christian “exclusion” nor that it was a season of hostility towards Jews, and thus did not believe they needed to barricade either themselves or me from Christmas. The message of joy, love, and hope -- although originating in Christ -- overflowed to all of us,. . .


. . .“Merry Christmas” as a greeting or as a cheerful blessing of citizen-to-citizen or neighbor-to-neighbor is vanishing.  Invariably, when I wish someone in a store or in my neighborhood a Merry Christmas, they respond by saying “Happy Holidays” to me.   One woman suggested to me that Christmas was religion-specific and not all people celebrate it, which is why she uses what she believes is a more neutral term.  In other words, she believes she is being kind and showing a gentle respect for all people whether they be Christian or not.  She obviously did not understand that by not responding to my Merry Christmas, she was not obliging me, not showing me the “respect” that she is according to all others who give not even a passing thought to the birth of Christ. Christians are getting her much-needed greeting, but she will deny them any sense of preference.  My “Merry Christmas” to her is partisan and self-absorbed, lacking the largesse of the more neutral well wishes.

"The irony of this shift away from “religious preference” is that for most Americans Christmas has been distinctly irreligious for decades.  As long ago as the 1960s -- long before this writer became an evangelical believer -- some of my best friends complained at the materialism of our culture. They were disturbed that Christmas had become about trees, lights, gifts, Santa Claus, and meals.  At best, it was about togetherness. At worst, it indulged a commercialism that only Americans have really known.  Spirituality was trumped by materialism.  But my philosophical friends not only said we were mired in materialism but in runaway materialism.  That was decades ago.  For them, Christmas had lost its “spiritual meaning” by that decade.  When did this spiritual decline begin?  I was not interested in the religious significance of the holiday so I never asked for their historical assessment.

Friday, December 23, 2022

WSJ Editors: Guess What We Found in the $1.7T Omnibus Bill?

Townhall  


Just two days before an expected Senate vote, congressional leaders cooked up an outrageous $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, demanding that lawmakers open wide and swallow its 4,155 pages so everybody can leave town for the year. This is a scandal. It is not a scandal to be added to the salacious and shocking catalogue of notorious Washington scandals, but a scandal precisely because what is happening has become a completely ordinary way for business to be conducted in Washington.". . .

. . ." Tucked into the Senate’s version is $785 million for migrant services such as food and shelter. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants the cash doled out to cities by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Awards will supposedly be determined through a competitive process, but Mr. Schumer has one recipient in mind. Politico reports that his hometown of New York will likely get a “substantial share” of the cash. Expect other Democratic strongholds to join the queue...this migrant pile-up is a direct result of the Biden border policy. Illegal crossings surpassed two million this year, overwhelming DHS facilities and allowing a greater share of migrants to be released in the U.S. on parole. The number of daily crossing has climbed by the thousands in recent weeks...The brunt of the migrant crisis is borne by smaller cities in GOP-led border states. Among the hardest hit is El Paso, Texas, which declared an emergency Sunday after the daily arrivals climbed to more than 2,400. The emergency will help the city earn federal reimbursement for the services it provides, yet it was declared after about 80,000 migrants had been released into the region since August. Compare that with the about 30,000 sent to New York this year.

Reports of a quarter billion dollar ‘bond’ for Bankman-Fried are almost as fraudulent as the crimes of which he is accused

Has Ben & Jerry's named a flavor for this Democrat yet?


Thomas Lifson: Reports of a quarter billion dollar ‘bond’ for Bankman-Fried are almost as fraudulent as the crimes of which he is accused   "The public is being bamboozled about the conditions for pretrial release of accused mega-fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

"It is the worst possible signal to those who fear that his scores of millions of dollars of political donations have bought him kid-glove treatment by the judicial system.

"The stories you read and hear from the media would have you believe that a “record” bail of $250 million has been paid to ensure that he doesn’t flee the country or otherwise evade prosecution. Where that figure comes from, I don’t know, but this account from The Hill  suggests that the federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York had a hand in it:

At the request of prosecutors, Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Gabriel Gorenstein agreed to the bond price and said Bankman-Fried can reside at his parent’s home in Palo Alto, Calif., ahead of the trial, according to The Associated Press.


The fact that the media are trumpeting a phony amount for pretrial release bond and that the Southern District of New York prosecutors and the judge in the case, federal magistrate Gabriel W. Gorenstein – a former chief of the civil rights unit in that same Southern District of New York prosecutors’ office  -- have enabled this misreporting suggests that Bankman-Fried is getting treatment commensurate with the political influence his donations evidently sought to purchase.