The Bonfire of Biden’s Vanities

  Power Line

"By now I imagine most readers have seen the photo of Joe Biden’s birthday cake, which is the greatest moment of presidential self-immolation since Jimmy Carter was attacked by a rabbit or George H.W. Bush threw up on the Japanese prime minister.

"The amazing thing is that someone in the White House thought it was a keen idea to release this photo. Which wasn’t even competently shot.

"What’s up with gripping the sides of the table? I have a theory. People who think Democrats are playing Lucy and the football with Republicans, waiting to swap out Biden for someone more plausible once the GOP has settled on Trump, are mistaken. Biden’s table grip suggests his political vanity, always malignant even in his younger days, has entered its Gollum-like phase: The presidency is “my precious,” something he pined for his whole life and is not about to give up. “Don’t even think of throwing my presidential seals of office into that Mount Doom of my [too small] birthday cake.”

"I wish we had video of Biden trying to blow out the 81 candles on the cake. On the other hand, since he has been a blowhard all his adult life, it was probably easy for him."

Biden Mocked Into Oblivion After Posing with 81st Birthday Cake: 'Portal to Hell' (westernjournal.com)   . . ."Recall that after the devastating Aug. 8 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, Biden waited 13 days to visit the island. When he finally arrived, he made a pathetic attempt to relate to the wildfire victims by sharing a story of a long-ago kitchen fire at his Delaware home.

"Whether as a “portal to hell” or a metaphor for his dumpster-fire administration, Biden’s bonfire of a birthday cake at least allowed us to laugh and keep from crying."

Obama Snubs Biden at 15th Anniversary of His Presidential Victory: 'Tensions Were Evident'

  The Gateway Pundit | by Bryan Chai, The Western Journal 

"The relationship between the POTUS and the VPOTUS can be a fickle thing.

"Sometimes things start out well enough but end badly, as they did with former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

"Other times, things sputter and struggle to even start out well, as with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

"And then there’s whatever is going on between former President Barack Obama and Biden, who served as the former’s VP in both presidential terms.

"The two-term Democrat ticket of Obama-Biden has always seemed like an odd fit from the outset — far more a marriage of convenience than anything else.

"Biden, very much a swampy, career politician, never quite felt like a natural extension of Obama, very much part of the new breed of far leftism infesting the Democratic Party (think the “squad.”)

"It doesn’t help dispel the odd couple vibe that Obama, for the many, many, many faults he has, at least has some semblance of a human personality — whereas Biden has all the charisma of a comatose wildebeest.

"Obama’s personality largely stems from his speaking ability, and it’s an ability the man clearly puts time and effort into. Whatever you may think of the man, when Obama speaks, it’s very deliberate, crafted and curated.

"So when Obama mentions — or doesn’t mention — something when speaking publicly, people take notice.

"In a less-than-glowing Sunday article from The Washington Post, the outlet that threatens democracy with darkness (or something to that effect) chronicled the way in which Democrats are furiously working to overturn the less-than-stellar image of the incumbent president — except for Obama." . . .

Joe Biden supporters had an especially paranoid couple of days   "It’s amazing that this man was once a congressman, because he clearly has zero understanding of both political philosophies and the American political system—for the umpteenth time, fascism is a leftist ideology and America was never supposed to be a democracy—and on a recently-broadcast televised MSNBC segment, Joe Scarborough issued an ominous warning: if President Trump secures a second term, he will “imprison” and “execute” any and all political opponents that he can.

"Projection much? Who’s really been imprisoning and executing political opponents? Does the name Ashli Babbitt ring a bell? What about Craig Robertson? Owen Shroyer? Or how about the J6ers? Or, is this a signal of guilt? Has he done something criminal and he’s starting to sweat? Talk about paranoia!" . . .

UPDATE: Obama's false equivalence on Hamas is outrageous — and adds pressure on Israel (nypost.com)  . . ."Pressure is already on Israel to make its temporary cease-fire in exchange for hostages permanent.

"Obama’s obscene comparison reflects both ignorance and bias.

"There can be no possible justification for the beheadings, rapes, burnings, kidnappings and mass murders of more than 1,200 Israeli babies, women, the elderly and others.

"Obama has admitted as such.

"Nor can there be any dispute that these abominations occurred and Hamas leaders have promised to repeat them again and again." . . .

Can Israel's Catastrophe Change the Jewish Worldview?

 American Thinker  . . ."But the pogroms of October 7 were not only the deaths of 1,200 Israelis, but also a blow to the Western liberal thinking of Israelis: their failed experience of reconciliation with radical extremists and religious fanatics, whom part of the Jewish population of Israel considered potential neighbors and partners for peaceful coexistence. 

"Israel is an oasis in the desert, surrounded by barbarians and fanatics who believe in the superiority of Muslims over non-Muslims. The conflict in this region has acquired the features of a religious war. Islamic extremists cannot accept the existence of a non-Islamic (Jewish) state. Therefore, expecting peaceful coexistence between "two states for two peoples" is as meaningless as waiting for Godot, as in the classic theater of the absurd play by Samuel Beckett.

"But is it enough to change the West's worldview?

"The West's desire to democratize the East has led to the flooding of Europe with Arab refugees. Failed attempts to establish democratic regimes in the East have created a threat to democracy in Western countries. 

"The Arab and Muslim population in Europe is growing due to the tens of millions of Muslims who fled there from their countries, which are all independent states.

"These people do not assimilate in Christian countries. They consider Islam the only correct religion. To them, non-Muslims in the new countries are second-class people. Muslims who fought the European colonizers and drove them out of Asia and Africa moved to Europe after the former colonizers and began to colonize European countries themselves. Democrats in Europe and the United States believe that it is possible and necessary to rationalize religious fanatics and involve Muslim populations in the building of Western civilization. They want to rationalize the irrational. " . . .

Israel Vows: The War Against Hamas Will Go On After Hostage Pause (breitbart.com)    . . ."Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a statement announcing the deal:

I would like to reiterate: The war is continuing and the war will continue until we achieve all of our goals – Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and assuring that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer threaten Israel, that there will be no other element that supports terrorism, educates its children for terrorism and threatens the State of Israel. With G-d’s help, we will do it and we will succeed – and together we will win.

"Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant added:"

As a result of the decision taken about a month ago to intensify our ground operations, to enter [Gaza] and to increase the pressure on Hamas, there is now a chance to create a plan that will lead to the release of hostages. I view the release of hostages first and foremost as an issue related to values – a moral issue, an issue that points to the [unwritten] agreement between the State, the government and its citizens. All members of the cabinet, all the members of the IDF, ISA, and Mossad, everyone who is working on the issue of the hostages and missing persons – is dedicating all their time, soul and energy to this issue, day and night.

…

At the same time, without continuing [military] pressure, there will be no chance of bringing [home] additional hostages. Therefore, upon my request and that of the defense establishment, the government has included in its decision, the unequivocal demand that immediately after we have exhausted this phase, all operations by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], ISA [Israel Security Agency] and all the security forces, will continue in full force – first in order to defeat Hamas, and secondly, in order to create the necessary conditions to bring home additional hostages." . . .

But what will Mses Thunberg and Sarandon say? 

JFK: 60 years

"Over the years, I’ve teetered between a lone gunman and a conspiracy.  However, in the last six years I’ve moved steadily towards the conspiracy theory.  Why?  Because of President Trump and the treatment he’s received." Sloan Oliver

 A Plausible Explanation for JFK’s Assassination? - American Thinker 

   . . ." Sure, conspiracies happen. Lincoln was killed as the principal target in a conspiracy.

"The Deep State is collusion. Persons in “permanent government,” a.k.a., the federal bureaucracy, with intelligence and law enforcement agencies as the nexus, act to protect their turf, accrue power, and line their pockets at the America people’s expense. Eisenhower flagged the “military-industrial complex” and Truman warned about the CIA.   

"When Trump came on the scene, the Deep State began shedding its shadowiness. Whether through arrogance or fear or both, Deep Staters proved they existed. As Chuck Schumer famously said, “You take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.”    

"JFK’s assassination happened 60 years ago today, November 22, in Dallas. Assassination “investigators” agree on very little, other than Kennedy was killed. Why JFK was assassinated and who did it are the stuff of elaborate theories, a veritable grocery store full of them. An entire industry has been created from them. All claim to have solved the 60-year-old whodunit. But most of it is highfalutin conjecture. Facts are stretched. Supposition is often presented as fact. Solving Kennedy’s death is bad for business." . . .

Where were you when Kennedy was shot?   . . ."The JFK assassination has captivated the nation (and the world) for decades.  Everything about it is questionable.  Was there a conspiracy to kill the president or was it a lone, commie kook?  Arguments have been both ways.  However, nothing shouts conspiracy louder than the accused killer (Oswald) conveniently gets killed by a guy who conveniently has terminal cancer; and the official autopsy results (done at Bethesda) are different than what the emergency room doctors (at Parkland Memorial Hospital) testified to." . . .

JFK assassination: 60 years later we know the truth about the real killer  "On Nov. 22, 1963, we lost not only a popular young president, but we also lost our national innocence. We lost our trust in government. Once lost, it has not returned and never will.

"The rifle shots fired at the president’s motorcade changed my own life as I watched TV coverage of my bloodied "friend" Lee Harvey Oswald dragged into the Dallas Police Station. When the Secret Service knocked on my door the morning after the assassination, they came for me as someone identified as a "known associate" of the presumed JFK assassin. 

"My involvement with Lee and Marina Oswald  began in June 1962. I saw them last as they ran to catch the Fort Worth to Dallas bus on Nov. 22, 1962. A year later, my father translated for Marina from Nov. 24 to 28 as the Secret Service probed her knowledge of a conspiracy." . . .  

Lawmakers call for investigation into J6 committee following release of security footage

  Washington Times

The calls for an investigation of the Democratic-led committee began after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the planned release of more than 40,000 hours of security video footage from the Capitol that day. The footage will be released in batches over the next several months.

 

AfterMath - Home (terrellaftermath.com)

"Republican lawmakers are calling for investigations into a House committee and its members after the release of security footage that captured the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah called for the investigation of the now-defunct United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, which determined that the riot was an attempted coup by then-President Trump. They said the tapes present a much different view of the chaos at the Capitol that day.

" 'The J6 committee was a sham,” Mr. Nehls said on X. “I knew it then. Everyone knows it now. Let’s investigate the investigators.”

"Mr. Lee accused two of the committee’s prominent members, former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a Republican, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Democrat, of deliberately hiding the security footage.

" 'Why didn’t Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger ever refer to any of these tapes? Maybe they never looked for them,” Mr. Lee said. “Maybe they never even questioned their own narrative. Maybe they were just too busy selectively leaking the text messages of Republicans they wanted to defeat.

“ 'Given the evidence they apparently suppressed, how much footage (and how many other records) do you think Nancy Pelosi and the J6 committee deliberately lost or destroyed?” . . .

Susan Sarandon’s noxious antisemitism and, finally, a little pushback

"Thankfully, at least one Muslim woman has gloriously talked about the freedom Muslims experience in America. Lately, because of massive amounts of misinformation, I always feel I need to begin my essays about what’s happening in Israel and America with a few facts: . . . 

(barenakedislam.com)

  Andrea Widburg - American Thinker    . . ."With that very incomplete context, let’s look at what Susan Sarandon has been saying:

She joined the crowd in chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – which is largely regarded as an antisemitic slogan that implies the decimation of Israel – before addressing the group herself.

“There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country,” she said.

"Many in the crowd she addressed handed out flyers with the names and addresses of Jewish people and organizations as targets for retaliation.

"Sarandon is an antisemitic ignoramus and a vile, disgusting excuse for a human being. She’s also no longer a box office draw. More than that, all the reliably leftist Jews in Hollywood are becoming scared. Being a Jewish leftist who spouts “Critical Race Theory,” “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” “Transgender Theory,” anti-Americanism, and the other fashionable academic tropes is all fun and games until the Gestapo and Brown Shirts come calling…and that’s what America’s leftist Jews are beginning to realize is a real possibility.

"So, Sarandon finally faced a consequence for her long-standing socialist-driven antisemitism:

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon has been dropped by top Hollywood agency UTA after saying frightened Jews are “getting a taste of how it feels to be Muslim in America,” Page Six can reveal.

"I agree with UTA. Anti-Jewish thinking (a European, Christian concept) and antisemitism (a Marxist concept) both have an ugly history of inciting genocidal fury. Sarandon won’t change her very little mind, but her career comeuppance might cause others to reexamine their beliefs." . . .

MUSLIM AMERICAN patriot, Asra Nomani, gives far-left America-hating actress, Susan Sarandon, a powerful ‘taste’ of reality for weaponizing Muslims at anti-Israel rally (barenakedislam.com)

Melissa Barrera Fired from 'Scream VII' After Accusing Israel of Genocide (breitbart.com)  "Actress has been fired from her role in the upcoming Scream VII after she publicly accused Israel of committing genocide.

"In a post on her Instagram stories, Barrera not only referred to Gaza as a “concentration camp” but also accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing” in its war against Hamas in retaliation for the horrific October 7 terrorist attack, which claimed 1,400 lives, most of whom were civilians.

“ 'Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she wrote. “Cornering everyone together, with nowhere to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”

She should stop depending on MSNBC, Joy Reid and Ali Velshi for news.

(4) Facebook

D.C. Metro Police Department Officer Caught on Camera Saying They 'Go Undercover With Antifa'

 – RedState  

Without further context, it is difficult to understand precisely what the officer was referring to. However, it does further reinforce the reality that the circumstances surrounding the riot at the Capitol Building are not exactly straightforward. Until there is clarification, the officer’s comments only pile on another layer of complexity in a whirlwind of narratives, opinions, and outright lies about the incident.

"House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) sparked a spirited debate last week when he announced that House Republicans would be releasing all of the J6 footage. Since then, members of the chattering class have been going back and forth about the riot now that new evidence further demonstrates that the incident was not worse than the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as was claimed by several on the left.

"Now, a new revelation has emerged that could either add more complexity to the ongoing narratives about J6, or it could mean absolutely nothing at all. Just the News reported on bodycam footage from a D.C. Metro Police Officer in which he claimed that he and other officers routinely “go undercover with Antifa.”

Just the News on Tuesday obtained footage of an undercover Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer recorded by his body-worn camera behind police lines on the U.S. Capitol grounds. The footage was obtained directly from official sources and has not been altered.

He is seen giving water to his fellow police officers who were suffering from the effects of tear gas which the Capitol Police had deployed against the pro-Trump protestors. The footage showed the officer in plainclothes with a grey jacket. Spotted in the video and  identifying him as a police officer is a badge hanging around his neck.

While helping his fellow officer, the undercover officer told his colleague that “we go undercover as Antifa in a crowd.”

LED BY THE ‘JIHAD SQUAD,’ more than 20 Democrats voted against resolution condemning surge in Jew-hatred on college campuses following Hamas terrorist attack on Israeli civilians

 Bare Naked Islam   "Daily Mail (h/t Nita)  The resolution calls out college leaders for not speaking out in support of Jewish and pro-Israel students. It urges them to condemn antisemitism and ensure those students have a right to free speech on campus. The resolution also condemns support for Hamas and Hezbollah on campus. 

"The departments of Homeland Security and Justice are currently working with campus police to combat what the Biden administration describes as an ‘alarming rise’ in antisemitic incidents and threats against Jewish students." 

"The Democrats who opposed the resolution were: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Summer Lee, D-Pa., Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., Mark Takano, D-Calif., Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., André Carson, D-Ind., Cori Bush, D-Mo., Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. 

"One Republican – Rep. Thomas Massie, K.Y., – voted against it, citing free speech concerns." 

Biden’s false tales are increasing: Is it a sign of a memory disorder?

 "Dr. Ahmed has not personally assessed Mr. Biden but said evidence of confabulation is “overwhelming.' ”

Joe Biden's false tales are increasing: Is it a sign of a memory disorder? - Washington Times  "President Biden has a long history of telling stories that are embellished, if not outright fabricated, but his falsehoods are increasing rapidly.

"Mental health experts say the false memories might be signs of confabulation, a neurological disorder linked to dementia.

"“Confabulation is most closely associated with dementia-related memory loss,” said Dr. Tanveer Ahmed, a psychiatrist. “You are trying to tell a story, but your brain can’t fill the space, so your brain protects you by making stuff up.” . . .

. . ."“The stories he’s been telling — he doesn’t realize that they’ve been debunked or otherwise he wouldn’t tell them. That is confabulation,” she said. “He’s missing the part of his brain that tells him he shouldn’t say those things because he’s convinced himself those stories are true.”

"Confabulation is the creation of false memories in the brain that lead to untrue stories. Those afflicted are not trying to deceive people but rather sincerely believe their stories are accurate.

"Confabulations can border on the fantastical and bizarre but are usually just distortions of actual events. It is sometimes called “honest lying” because those afflicted gain no benefit from telling false tales.

The West is abandoning Israel

 Spiked (spiked-online.com) Melanie Phillips on the military and moral assault on the Jewish State.

These are people who were still barbarically slaughtered. And yet to many in the West, they are not deserving of any human sympathy. That level of callousness and indifference, particularly among Western liberals, over the years was absolutely devastating to live through.

 . . ."But I also wasn’t surprised at the reaction of many leftists in the West following 7 October. People immediately came out either to support the Hamas ‘resistance’ effort and call Israel’s resistance ‘genocide’, or just to pretend the massacre didn’t even happen. That didn’t surprise me at all.

"O’Neill: What is the attitude in Israel to the war?

"Phillips: Israelis are determined to see the operation succeed because they understand that if it doesn’t the genocidal onslaught on Israel will continue. Not just from Hamas, either, but also by their paymasters in Iran and other Islamist threats like Hezbollah.

"When it comes to the operation in Gaza, it’s not possible to say precisely what’s happening due to military censorship. But Israel has made much faster strides than anyone thought – and with a lower level of casualties than expected. That’s not to say there haven’t been casualties. There are funerals for young soldiers all the time. But none of us in Israel wanted this war. Nobody in Israel wants to hurt the Palestinian people. But the West, including Britain, is simply not acknowledging the extraordinary lengths to which the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are going to in order to try to preserve civilian life."

"Take the current operation at al-Shifa Hospital. If you only listened to the mainstream Western media, you would think that the hospital is under sustained onslaught by Israeli forces, hell-bent on taking the lives of helpless patients and doctors inside. And yet the very opposite is the case. Israel has gone to enormous lengths to tell everybody at al-Shifa to evacuate. They have also concentrated the fighting around the hospital, rather than at the hospital itself.

"According to Israeli forces, the explosions seen around the hospital are largely caused by Hamas, which has been using the hospital as a nerve centre for its terrorist operations. Israel has since entered al-Shifa equipped with incubators, baby food, medicine, doctors and Arabic translators.

"It looks like some of the hostages taken by Hamas were held in and under the hospital in tunnels. The Israelis say that they have already found evidence of weapons and / or Hamas military activity in the hospital."... Below; Is America still worth fighting for?

Fremont High School in Oakland, California REMOVES U.S. flag and replaces it with a Palestine flag

Progressive Racist and The Most Shameless Liar on Television

"Hamas’ slaughter in Israel has revealed American progressives reveling in racism here.  For racism to be acceptable to them, it need only fit into the ideological justification of self-styled “progressives:” determinism." 

The Most Shameless Liar on Television - YouTube   "The most shameless liar on television today is MSNBC's Joy Reid. Every issue, every controversy, can be attributed to some type of racism.

Via Bode Lang - YouTube

American Progressivism’s Determined Racism – Issues & Insights   "Hamas’ slaughter in Israel has revealed American progressives reveling in racism here.  For racism to be acceptable to them, it need only fit into the ideological justification of self-styled “progressives:” determinism. 

"Since October 7, America’s progressives, such as the far-left House Members known as “the Squad,” have proved this repeatedly among our so-called elites — on college campuses, among politicians, and in journalists’ print. They have also implicitly shown that their ultimate target is not just Israel and Jews, but America and its values.

"The latest example of progressives’ regression came from within our own house: the House of Representatives.  On Wednesday, October 25, its eight ultra-left members known as “the Squad” refused to vote to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel.  Six (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.; Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa.; and Cori Bush, D-Mo.) of the eight voted against the legislation, while two Squad members (Rep. Greg Casar, D-Tex., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.) just voted “present.”  For progressives, the Squad’s regression from moral clarity to amoral opacity is mild in comparison to compatriots who have been forthrightly anti-Semitic in their expressions.    

"The aftermath of the Hamas terror attack has proved that today’s self-proclaimed “progressives” of America’s left are, in fact, extremely regressive.  They willingly embrace age-old racism if this racism will embrace progressives’ current ideological justification for it. Thus blessed, the most atrocious racism is not only not condemned but condoned.  Here within the left’s vanguard, racism finds more than the absence of scrutiny; it finds sanctuary." . . .  

Trumps gag order; Biden's Israeli conundrum (Parody)

 What is a gag order? : NPR   . . ."Merchan said he would not impose a gag order at the arraignment hearing even if it had been requested, arguing that it's among "the most serious and least intolerable on First Amendment rights." And he seemed especially disinclined to muzzle a candidate running for president, as Trump is, lest the move appear political or infringe on a candidate's ability to propagate a message.". . .

Meanwhile in Middle East news:

Biden Checks His Latest Poll Numbers To See If Israel Still Has Right To Defend Itself | Babylon Bee  " According to sources, President Biden has been awaiting results from the latest polls to see if giving Israel a right to defend itself is a popular thing or if they should just be annihilated or whatever.

" 'The Biden Administration plans to announce harsh condemnation of Hamas or maybe Israel," said Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, "We're still waiting for pollsters to get back with us on which condemnation is morally just."

"Sources say Presidential approval numbers have dropped in recent weeks, as Biden has been torn between appeasing his supporters who are pro-Israel, and appeasing his supporters who want to shed every last drop of Jewish blood until the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are erased from existence." . . .