Gavin Newsom for president? Tallying up his assets and liabilities - California Political Review

" Even as Biden insists that he is committed to finishing out the race, speculation continues among the party faithful and political observers over who might be best positioned to defeat Republican former President Donald Trump instead. Among those frequently cited is California’s own Gov. Gavin Newsom . . ."

 Alexei Koseff - California Political Review  . . ."While Newsom says he’s standing firmly behind Biden’s re-election and has long publicly denied any presidential ambitions, this chaotic political moment is elevating the national profile that Newsom has spent years cultivating — including through a Fox News debate last fall against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a heretofore unsuccessful bid for a constitutional amendment on gun control.

CalMatters spoke with political consultants and experts — veterans of California elections, swing state organizing and national campaigns — about Newsom’s prospects as a presidential contender. They largely agreed that he was extremely unlikely to become the Democratic nominee this year even if Biden ultimately withdraws, with Vice President Kamala Harris waiting in the wings, but that Newsom could be a strong candidate in the 2028 primary because of his progressive bona fides and extensive political network.

"The biggest question mark: Can a California Democrat, the liberal caricature that has been a political punching bag for decades, win a presidential election? If the last eight years have taught us anything, it’s that the conventional wisdom may no longer apply." . . .

The Gov has long been parody material:   Gavin Newsom Thankful As Fleeing Californians Can No Longer Afford To Fill Up Their U-Hauls | Babylon Bee

. . ."Whew! For a minute there, I thought we'd lose everyone!" said Newsom to reporters. "Good luck escaping California now with these gas prices! HAHAHA!" ...

. . ." As California continues to lose residents, Newsom has called for an additional tax on trudging down desert roads while carrying possessions on your back to prevent further escapes." 

Has the Media Been Covering Up President Biden’s Cognitive Decline?

 Kurt Mahlburg - Intellectual Takeout  

. . ."To the degree that the mainstream media didn’t see President Biden’s decline is the degree to which they were avoiding seeing it. They looked away until they could look away no more." . . .

 "For the last 17 months of his two-term presidency, following a severe stroke, President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) was barely functional.

"Behind the scenes, Wilson’s wife Edith stepped in to effectively serve as de facto commander-in-chief. She even earned herself the title “Secret President” and “first woman to run the government,” according to her official White House biography.

"The parallels between Woodrow Wilson and President Joe Biden might not be exact, but they are hard to ignore.

"Biden has faced disastrous polls since going head-to-head with GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. All eyes are now on Biden’s age and apparent cognitive decline since the pair’s last electoral matchup in 2020.

"To be fair, the current POTUS is certainly more functional than Wilson was: It would be near impossible to conceal a Woodrow-like condition in the White House given today’s 24-hour news cycle and incisive social media scrutiny.

"It is no surprise that the White House and prominent Democrats have denied reports of Biden’s declining mental acuity. That is, it could be argued, their job.

"What’s far less forgivable is the role the media has played in such denials.

"Voicing the concerns of many, Newsmax host Todd Starnes asked over the weekend, “How many White House correspondents will be fired for their part in the coverup of Biden’s health. They all knew. They had a front row seat.”

"Indeed they did." . . .

House Democrats and GOP Join Forces to Defend Our Appliances from Biden’s Crazed Energy Department

 Leslie Eastman (legalinsurrection.com)   "House backs bills to roll back energy efficiency standards for refrigerators, dishwashers."

From 7 Other Problematic Household Appliances That Should Be Banned | Babylon Bee

"Since the beginning of his administration, Biden has waged a seemingly endless war on America’s appliances.

"So far, the Biden administration goons at the Energy Department have come after our:

• Air Conditioners
• Washing Machines
•     Dishwashers

"Let’s not forget the attack on gas stoves, which led to the House of Representatives passing legislation to block the Department of Energy from implementing tough new energy conservation rules on gas stoves. That was a rare bipartisan move supported by more than two dozen Democrats.

"Now comes even more bipartisan opposition to Biden’s energy rules. Several Democrats in the House of Representatives joined Republicans on legislation blocking new Biden administration energy efficiency standards for refrigerators and dishwashers.

The Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act by Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., and Refrigerator Freedom Act by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, passed along party lines Tuesday evening.

Seven House Democrats voted for each bill. The dishwasher standards legislation passed 214-192 with no GOP dissent. The refrigerator bill passed 212-192, with one Republican voting against it.

Both bills are aimed at prohibiting the Secretary of Energy from enacting and enforcing “energy efficiency standards for residential refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers that are not technologically feasible and economically justified,” the House GOP has said.

"One bill offered by Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa would curtail Energy Department rules on refrigerators. The second measure was put forth by New York Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy and bars the administration from implementing or enforcing new efficiency rules if they are not “cost-effective or technologically feasible.”

America’s refusal to support Israel at the United Nations is cowardly and immoral

 Michael S. Goldstein

"In contrast, in 2023–24 Hamas is a true existential threat to the State of Israel, to all Jewish and non-Jewish Israeli citizens, to Jews world-wide, and eventually to all of Western civilization."

. . ."In U.S. experience, the way to win a war is to fight it with all necessary force, whether or not the threat to America is existential, and this they did in the Pacific.

In contrast, Arab opposition to the State of Israel, and particularly Hamas’s most recent barbaric attack of October 7, 2023, which it vows to repeat until all Jews everywhere are dead, is inarguably an existential threat to Israel and to the Jewish People.  Israel, with its very existence at issue, has much more at stake to win this war than the United States had to defeat Japan, and yet the current U.S. administration is siding with the barbarians of Hamas and telling Israel to stop its operations against Hamas in Gaza in the south, and to refrain from offensive warfare against the much greater threat of Hezbollah to its north, in southern Lebanon.  Instead of fighting to destroy these existential enemies, the administration is pressuring Israel to negotiate terms with them.  But no Israeli government would last for one day after agreeing to leave Hamas free to rebuild and rearm in Gaza, or to cede its sovereignty in northern Israel to Hezbollah, as the U.S. administration is demanding." . . .

"The most effective way to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza and in the north, is for Israel to use all necessary force within international law to win the wars on both fronts as soon as possible.  The U.S. administration’s siding with Hamas and Hezbollah to stop Israel from winning this war immediately, and to protect its sovereignty and its citizens from destruction, is not only cowardly, as CBN opines, but is also immoral, and all Americans, through their elected representatives and directly to the White House, should tell them so, again and again."

From the Tunnel Wall blog.

Victor Davis Hanson on the Illusion of Invincibility

 Victor Davis Hanson - American Thinker   "Victor Davis Hanson’s latest book is a macabre warning to an aging America as it closes in on its 250th birthday.  The warning comes in the form of a graphic depiction of the hideousness of war and the terrifying state of those who suffer ignominious defeat. 

However different the four societies described in the book were, be they Thebans, Carthaginians, Byzantines, or Aztecs, each was blinded by the illusion of invincibility.  Hanson shows that such an illusion is so persistent that even as the conquered were being slaughtered, they continued to think: “It cannot happen here.”. . .

"Hanson’s tone in The End Of Everything may seem detached and pitiless considering the brutality described in the book.   But his tone suggests how we, in contrast to the examples in the book, should unsparingly evaluate ourselves if we are to survive.   For people’s fears and hopes are like gravity in their consistency and predictability.  In that sense, Victor Davis Hanson is more Isaac Newton as opposed to the progressives, who dream “that money, education, and better intentions could arrest the gory arch of history,” as he wrote in one of his previous twenty-seven books.  Ignoring reality destroyed the four societies shown in the compelling narrative of this book.   May such blindness not be visited on us!"

Biden’s NATO speech should have been about a different nation - American Thinker  . . ."When Biden said this:

Together, we’ve built a global coalition to stand with Ukraine. Together, we’ve provided significant economic and humanitarian assistance. And together, we’ve supplied Ukraine with weapons it needs to defend itself: tanks, armored fighting vehicles, air defense systems, long-range missiles, and millions of munitions.

The United States and nearly two dozen Allied partners have signed the bilateral security agreements with Ukraine and more countries will follow.

"I wished he’d said this:

Together, we’ve built a global coalition to stand with Israel. Together, we’ve provided significant economic and humanitarian assistance. And together, we’ve supplied Israel with weapons it needs to defend itself: tanks, armored fighting vehicles, air defense systems, long-range missiles, and millions of munitions.

The United States and nearly two dozen Allied partners have signed the bilateral security agreements with Israel and more countries will follow.

"Would the current, ostensible Leader of the Free World have said that? And, had he done so, would his remarks have garnered the same applause? Would the world rally behind Israel the way it has behind Ukraine?" . . .

Why Biden Is So Insistent on Running

 

Why Biden Is So Insistent on Running - The American Spectator   . . ."And so we come to Joe Biden. Why in the world won’t he quit on his own, even without being pushed out? For that matter, why didn’t he pass the word a few months ago that he would be passing the torch to a new generation? We all know that the Big Guy has millions upon millions, howsoever attained. He achieved his lifelong goal, the presidency of the United States. There have only been 45 such people. (Grover Cleveland took it twice.) Even the most avid students of American history cannot say with certainty, looking back into legacies, which president served two terms and which only once. John Adams only once. But his son made it, too. And he also served only once. James Polk did a heck of a job, expanding the country, and he served only once. Teddy Roosevelt opted not to seek reelection; by the time he changed his mind four years later, it was too late. William Taft only once. Others of greatness served only once.

"Biden could have gone down in history as a very successful president because, even though he was a miserable disaster, history would have seen his time as one of comparative peace because Ukraine and Gaza, though both came from his weakness, will be seen as irrelevant to him. The disgrace of Afghanistan will not be appreciated by history. The border calamity will be traced to Reagan’s mass amnesty and Obama. As much as he messed up the economy, there was no Great Depression or Panic of 1837 or Panic of 1873. History will not blame him for Iran getting nuclear. Biden could have slipped through, lucky as Clinton, not too bruised by history. And he even avoided a Monica Lewinsky — Paula Corbi Jones — Kathleen Willey – Juanita Broaddrick legacy.

"So he has the money. He has the legacy. For all his lifetime of lies to aggrandize himself, the one truth — that he held court in the White House for four years — would have outlived all the lies. After all, who really remembers that Andrew Jackson shot people to death in duels or that John Tyler turned coat and joined the Confederacy or Lincoln’s failures or cancelation of Habeas Corpus, Wilson’s racism and suppression of civil liberties, the scandals that pocked Grant’s and Harding’s administrations, and such? Biden made it through to the finish line. So why in the world did he keep running after he had no more breath, trudging forward until he would collapse on the track?" . . .

Joe Biden's Press Conference Fails To Stop Democrat Rebellion: 'Step Aside'

CBS News reports that dozens of Democratic lawmakers are to issue statements calling for Biden to end his campaign within the next 48 hours.

Biden is on course to be confirmed as his party's 2024 presidential nominee at the Democratic National Committee in Chicago in August.

Update 7/12/2024 6:43 a.m. ET: The headline has changed.

FANFARE FOR THE 1ST LADY an anthem to JILL BIDEN

 Jill Biden's Ego and Arrogance...She Wanted Her Own Entrance Music?! With Tulsi Gabbard 

 FANFARE FOR THE 1ST LADY an anthem to JILL BIDEN unearthed by BEN SHAPIRO

Jill Biden apparently has her own ‘Hail to the Chief’-style entrance theme, courtesy of the Marine Corps band - Washington Examiner

"Jill Biden apparently has her own walk-up music now.

"The Marine Corps band was instructed last fall to come up with an entrance theme for the first lady, a source told the Washington Examiner. The band now has in its repertoire an original composition titled “Fanfare for the First Lady.” The song, the source said, is essentially Jill Biden’s personal “Hail to the Chief,” in that it is to be performed and repeated at official White House functions, from her first appearance until she is ready to speak.

“Fanfare for the First Lady” has created both amusement and confusion within the band, with some remarking that in the many years they’ve played in the group, this is the first time the group has had to provide the first lady with an exclusive entrance theme.

"Someone in the White House apparently “had the bright idea, ‘Oh, tell the band that we want music for Jill,'” a source said. “The band had to provide music.”

"The band was “rushed” to provide the entrance song for the first lady, the source said, adding the Marine Corps band submitted a few options for the White House’s consideration. The first lady’s handlers settled eventually on the original piece “Fanfare to the First Lady.”

"Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden’s press secretary, says the entire story is bunkum.

“The first lady does not have a song anybody has written for her specifically. She has no ‘Hail to the Chief’ song. She has no song,” he told the Washington Examiner. “She never asked anyone to create a song.”

“The White House asked nobody, not one person, to compose an exclusive entry song, or any song, for the first lady,” LaRosa added. “None of that is accurate.” . . .

Dems love for Biden

RealityBites by Broc Smith – Editorial Cartoons (rofcbybroc.com)

Democrats Have Never Really Loved Joe Biden Enough to Spare Him This Humiliation – PJ Media  "... Democrats don't love him that much, either. 

Bear with me on this one.

"Looking at the circumstances that got Joe Biden into the Oval Office, one can see that he wasn't carried there on a great wave of positive emotion. 

"Biden owes most of his political fortunes to his ability to keep getting elected to the United States Senate. He did that in Delaware, though, a state with a population similar to that of my favorite local brewery on a Saturday. 

"He hung around long enough to become useful to Barack Obama in 2008. His High Holiness the Lightbringer needed a running mate who was older and had better Washington connections than he did. Actually, "wanted" is a better word than "needed" in this situation. There is a very real possibility that Obama could have chosen one of Zsa Zsa Gabor's furs as a running mate and beaten John McCain. 

"In 2020, it wasn't a great love of Joe Biden that motivated Democrats but a deep, abiding hatred of Donald Trump. Biden had hung around longer than any other Dem in that race, so he was the safest bet for what Dem elites had planned. They knew he would be grateful for getting a third shot at the office and — because he's never been the sharpest tool in the Beltway shed — easy to control. 

"Now, all the Dem faithful who are asking him to step aside are telling us what a great guy he is for hanging around Washington all these years. It's crap. 

"Joe Biden has always been a combative, verbally abusive jerk. He's been tolerated because he was a great pit bull for the Dems. He may even be liked by many. But loved? 

"No way. 

"Because they really don't have any better options, all the power players in the Democratic Party are fine with Joe Biden getting mocked after every public appearance. Like his wife, there isn't one important Democrat who cares about Joe Biden enough to want to keep him from further embarrassment. The only ones who are sincere about him stepping aside are those on the B Team bench who are waiting to replace him.

"I think we know how they all feel about him." . . . 

CBS News ousts top exec accused of blocking correspondent’s Hunter Biden laptop coverage

Ms Herridge was an excellent journalist in the true sense of the word and not MSNBC-ish. She was sorely missed by the Tunnel Dweller.

 Alexandra Steigrad (nypost.com)  

"CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews — who was accused of sidelining white journalists and blocking an acclaimed correspondent’s reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop — is stepping down at the network, the company said Wednesday.

"The controversial news boss, who was named president just last August, is exiting after she made headlines in February over the firing of Catherine Herridge, a respected senior investigative reporter who had been doggedly covering the Hunter Biden laptop story for the network. 

"At the time, media insiders speculated that Herridge’s exit was linked to her reporting that President Biden may have kept evidence that he had foreign business dealings while in office.

"Another reason, according to sources, may have been Herridge’s role in a 2021 human resources probe of Ciprian-Matthews over favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices.

"As revealed by an investigation by The Post in January, Ciprian-Matthews had racked up HR complaints from staffers over unfair hiring and management practices, particularly against white female journalists. Among those who complained was Herridge, according to sources." . . .

Inside CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews' controversies

• Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, a 30-year veteran at the network, was promoted to president in August 2023 after her boss Neeraj Khemlani left in a storm of controversy.
• Ciprian-Matthews has been accused of using her clout to promote minorities while unfairly sidelining white journalists at CBS, leading to several employee complaints and a major internal probe in 2021.
• Current and former employees had revealed in January that two and a half years prior, Ciprian-Matthews was the target of a six-month human resources investigation by CBS parent Paramount Global into accusations of discriminatory hiring and management practices.
• Among the explosive claims were that Ciprian-Matthews supported the promotion of an African American correspondent after she witnessed him verbally abusing a female colleague. 
• In yet another instance, a white job candidate claimed Ciprian-Matthews told her it would be easier to hire her if she were a “different color” as she passed her over.
• Ciprian-Matthews is reportedly stepping down from her role following a string of controversies over her management of the embattled network, including accusations of discriminatory hiring and management practices.

Exclusive | Former Israeli hostage sues US group that employed captor

 Isabel Vincent (nypost.com)

"A former Israeli hostage freed last month in a daring Israel Defense Forces raid in Gaza is suing a US non-profit which employed his Hamas operative captor as a war correspondent, The Post has learned.

Almog Meir Jan, 22, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Seattle federal court against People Media Project, a non-profit based in Olympia, WA.

The organization runs a pro-Palestinian news website and had frequently published the work of Abdullah Aljamal, a Gaza-based journalist and former spokesman for the terrorist organization. He began writing articles for the website in May 2019, according to court filings.“It is indisputable that defendants provided Hamas operative Aljamal, whose connections to Hamas were publicly known, with a US-based and taxpayer subsidized platform to publish Hamas propaganda and to pass the material off as independent journalism,” the lawsuit says.

“Moreover, the compensation defendants paid Hamas operative Aljamal for his propaganda directly enabled him to imprison plaintiff in his home.” . . .

"Jan was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 last year while he attended the Nova Music Festival. He was held hostage for 246 days, along with Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, at Aljamal family’s home in Nuseirat, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.

"Jan claimed he was “abused and mistreated” by his captors, according to legal papers.

"Aljamal, who wrote articles for the website lamenting the evils of war and had also worked as a spokesman for the Hamas Ministry of Labor, continued to have his work published by the Palestine Chronicle until just before the June 8 rescue operation.

"He and his family were killed during the raid, according to reports." . . .

Debunking the Remaining Myth: Biden Has Never Been a 'Decent Man'

 Jim Thompson – RedState

"Biden has insulted constituents who have questioned him. He claimed to be a uniter, then stood in front of cameras at Independence Hall bathed in blood-red lighting and delivered a hateful rant insulting half the country." (Emphasis mine) ...  

"The last embedded myth about Joe Biden is that he’s a decent man. Like the rest of his life’s story, his “decency” is a made-up contrivance.  

"Biden has a habit of abusing the dead to his own end. Biden’s first wife Neilia and infant daughter died in a car crash. Neilia Biden was holding their daughter while driving. The accident was entirely her fault. She had a stop sign that she either blew through or didn’t check left and right before proceeding. The Biden car was broadsided by a truck driven by Curtis Dunn. It didn’t take long for Joe to blame Dunn, who was immediately determined to be blameless.  

"But Joe has never needed facts or evidence to back up his myths. Joe is infamous for puffing his résumé and his life’s history. Without a shred of evidence, Joe claimed Dunn was drunk when Neilia drove into Dunn’s right-of-way.  

“To the loved ones of the victims, there is nothing really we can say to erase this tragedy. And, those of you who think it's presumptuous of me to say that ... in a different circumstance, I got one of those phone calls ... I got a phone call saying, "Your wife's dead; your daughter's dead." And I've only said that three times in public before. But, I say it here because it's so important for you to understand. I got one of those phone calls. It was an errant driver who stopped to drink instead of drive and hit a tractor-trailer, hit my children and my wife and killed them.  

"Whenever he thought blaming a blameless man would advance his credibility, he would repeat that lie. “Dead men tell no tales,” and for Biden, it became a convenient lie because the only people who could correct that myth were dead. (Dunn passed away in 1999.) 

"His eldest son, Beau, died of brain cancer. Tragic, yes. Did he die as a result of military service? No. Biden has repeated that lie ad nauseam, and cravenly in front of troops in uniform. " . . .

 "No, he is not a decent man. He’s never been a decent man. Before Joe Biden drifted into complete incoherence, he was a nasty, vindictive "Queen of Hearts" who fell upwards his entire career. And he’s lied all the way while doing it. He’s abused the truth like a wife-beating drunk beats his mate. He’s always been a miserable human being, but now he’s a cognitive mess who can’t be prosecuted because he’s a befuddled old coot.  

"Sorry, not sorry, libs. Joe Biden has never been a decent man." 

It Has Dawned on Some That Biden Never Liked Black People - Which May Explain Trump's Black Voter Bump

  Jennifer Oliver O'Connell – RedState

"Black voter support for Trump up from 4% to 23%, poll finds. President Biden secured overwhelming support from Black voters in the 2020 election, but a recent New York Times/Siena College poll shows support for former President Trump among Black voters has risen 19 points in the last four years."

. . ."What is most telling are the Black faces used to justify his behavior and prop him up: South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn (D), VP Kamala Harris' former senior advisor Symone Sanders, The Breakfast Club host Charlamagne tha God, etc., all excusing Biden's clearly racist comments, and lying to convince their base that Joe is down with the Blacks. Much like the unmuzzling of the truth that Joe's brain is indeed broken, what has followed is the unmuzzling of the truth that Joe Biden is indeed racist, and has been for the 50 years he's been on the national stage. The difference this time is that no one is coming to his rescue. In fact, it is being affirmed, called out, and even mocked.

"Case in point: On Wednesday night's episode of "Gutfeld!," Fox Business host Charles Payne completely skewered Biden's Sunday visit to a Philadelphia Black church. The Biden team's goal was for him to pander and resurrect his image. It did not go well, and Payne said out loud what many Blacks who have watched Joe Biden in action for decades have always thought." . . . One unfortunate mention was that Biden neglected a young black girl in a rope line, but another video shows him greeting and even hugging that very young woman. We saw her moving down to greet Biden a second time. TD

Since everyone is discussing the young black girl in Joe Biden's audience that was passed and ignored as if she was invisible...

Here is a 5-minute video compilation of Joe Biden's racist behavior: pic.twitter.com/tSE0F6sOMr

— Free the World 🇺🇲🌏🦅 (@PatriotVerity) July 7, 2024