Tunnel Dweller on hiatus for about eight days...

... "so here are some cartoons that didn't get used yet. Use 'em or lose 'em. TD

Tony Branco

There Must Be a Better Way for Republicans to Deal with the Media

Rush Limbaugh  . . . "And yet it remains ineffective. It remains ineffective in persuading people’s minds. My point is, everybody that pays even a little bit of attention to this knows the media is unfair. They know the media is, call it biased or selective, whatever term you want to use, most people know it. Pointing it out, pointing out the hypocrisy, pointing out how the media treats Democrats totally differently than the way they treat Republicans." . . .

. . . "So we keep pointing it out. We keep pointing out the hypocrisy. We continue to point out the disparity, the unfairness, whatever it is, all for naught, it seems. So what I’m saying is there has to be another way of going about this. There has to be another way of dealing with it. And one of the ways I have determined would be: don’t appear with them. When Good Morning America calls you, understand it’s not Good Morning America, it’s the Hillary Clinton campaign calling you because George Stephanopoulos is at Good Morning America and where he really works is the Hillary campaign, or the Bill Clinton war room.

"You would no more accept invitation to be interviewed by Hillary Clinton’s campaign consultant, so why would you accept an invitation to be interviewed by Hillary’s campaign consultant disguised as an anchor on Good Morning America? And the same thing goes for whoever it is that moderates these debates that are yet to happen. If the Republicans fall for this business of letting Clinton campaign operatives moderate their debates we’re told that, “Rush, look, that’s the lay of the land, everybody knows it, and it’s an obstacle the Republicans have, it’s a reality that the Democrats don’t. And everybody knows it, and therefore the Republicans have to prove they can overcome this unfairness.”

Really? Why is that case? It’s apparently been required of the Republicans for 35 years that they demonstrate they’re willing to deal with this unfairness. It seems like they’ve demonstrated for a number of decades they’re willing to do it. The point is it doesn’t seem to help them much. " . . .

Tony Branco

Why Are the Western Middle Classes So Angry?

Victor Davis Hanson Cutting to the chase here: . . . "Three, unelected bureaucrats multiplied and vastly increased their power over private citizens. The targeted middle classes lacked the resources to fight back against the royal armies of tenured regulators, planners, auditors, inspectors, and adjusters who could not be fired and were never accountable.
"Four, the new global media reached billions and indoctrinated rather than reported.
"Five, academia, rather than focusing on education, became politicized as a shrill agent of cultural transformation — while charging more for less learning.
"Six, utopian social planning increased housing, energy, and transportation costs.
"One common gripe framed all these diverse issues: The wealthy had the means and influence not to be bothered by higher taxes and fees, or to avoid them altogether. Not so much the middle classes, who lacked the clout of the virtue-signaling rich and the romance of the distant poor.
"In other words, elites never suffered the firsthand consequences of their own ideological fiats." . . .

Sex Strike Activist Alyssa Milano Releases Abortion Map To Inform Hollywood Where They Should And Shouldn’t Film

RedState  "Incensed over her failure to stop Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) from signing the state’s fetal heartbeat bill into law last month, but emboldened by her role in getting close pal and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden to flip on the Hyde Amendment, abortion queen and sex strike activist Alyssa Milano is on a new mission.

"Variety reports on a state-by-state abortion map she collaborated on that will help inform Hollywood virtue signalers where they should and should not film:

In response to the introduction of multiple “heartbeat bills” across the country, actress and advocate Alyssa Milano has created a shoot location tool for filmmakers that lists the status of abortion legislation in all 50 states. The bills have caused uproar in Hollywood and inspired boycotts in production-heavy states like Georgia.

“Following the passage of a number of draconian attacks on a pregnant person’s right to choose in 2019, including those in states in which the motion picture and television industries conduct significant business, it has become apparent that those in our industry need to be able to make informed choices,” Milano and activist co-author Ben Jackson said in a mission statement accompanying the report. . . .

The Selective Prosecution of Kellyanne Conway

Roger L. Simon  

"As if the woman didn't have enough to deal with the-most-jealous-husband-on-the-planet, Kellyanne Conway is now being prosecuted, or is it persecuted, by a hitherto little-discussed operation called the  U.S. Office of Special Counsel or OSC (not to be confused with Mueller, et al.).

"These unknown bureaucrats and/or legal eagles want Kellyanne fired for.... wait for it... making political comments while in the White House, specifically: "Given that Ms. Conway is a repeat offender and has shown disregard for the law, OSC recommends that she be removed from federal service,".

"What utter garbage!  What member of any administration since any of us have been alive could not be accused of making political comments while in the White House, overtly or covertly? At least when they're doing it overtly we can see what they're up to. Kudos to Kellyanne for that.

"So why Conway and why now? . . . "

FLASHBACK: Two Obama-Era Officials Violated Hatch Act But Weren't Removed from Office
I repeat: "Two Obama-Era Officials Violated Hatch Act But Weren't Removed from Office".
One of the several cited was this: 

. . . Solis "left a voicemail message on a subordinate employee's government-issued Blackberry in which you asked the employee to contribute toward and assist with organizing others to attend a fundraiser for the President's reelection campaign." . . .

The flawed case for firing Kellyanne Conway

Monica Showalter  "In a weird case of uneven enforcement, the Justice Department's Office of Special Counsel recommended that President Trump's presidential advisor, Kellyanne Conway, be fired for making political statements in a violation of the Hatch Act. Here's the Washington Examiner's listing of her supposed 'violations':

Specific violations listed by Kerner related to Conway's comments during interviews about several 2020 Democratic candidates. For instance, she insinuated Sen. Cory Booker was “sexist” and a “tinny” “motivational speaker.” She castigated former Rep. Beto O'Rourke “think[ing] the women running are good enough to be President" and said Sen. Elizabeth Warren was "lying” about her ethnicity and “appropriating somebody else’s heritage.”

Townhall Toon added by TD

 . . . Which is kind of weird, given that it pretty well posits that no one, not even a political appointee, is allowed to have an opinion of any kind once in the White House. And by the way, the press asked for these opinions, Kellyanne didn't just give them.

"It also implies by default that no one in the Obama White House ever had or gave an opinion, which is laughable. Hello, Valerie Jarrett? Hello, Ben Rhodes. Double standard anyone? Spotty enforcement? And how is this not giving a political opinion, even without words? Shouldn't all the creatures in that picture have been slapped with the Hatch Act, too? There was some politicking in that opinion, too, by the Special Counsel's standard.

"Thirdly, it suggests that everyone can have an opinion at whatever level, even the level of a political appointee in an advisory role, but they need to keep the public in the dark about it. Which doesn't sound too good for transparency.

"The criticizing office, as the Examiner notes, is not affiliated with Robert Mueller's special counsel, but it is led by a Trump appointee, responding to complaints from leftists, and then going one further by attempting to micromanage President Trump's personnel decisions. (When Julian Castro was found in violation for the exact same thing, nothing but nothing happened to him, and he certainly wasn't fired.)" . . .

Trump on ‘Fox & Friends’: I will not fire Kellyanne Conway after watchdog rebuke

. . . Trump, though, said: “It looks to me like they’re trying to take away her right of free speech.”
He even suggested he would not counsel Conway to tone it down.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Trump said, arguing that Conway was merely responding to political attacks against him. “A person wouldn’t be able to express themselves, and I just don’t see it.”
Trump noted that he will be getting a briefing on the findings.

There is a tiny bit of sanity in California

They want to impeach Governor Newsom, the de Blasio of the West

Reform California

. . . "Reform California achieves its mission in two ways:

• Launching Our Own Campaigns: Reform California has filed, qualified, and passed numerous citizen ballot initiatives to impose reform on state and local government. Reform California also organizes campaigns in opposition to bad initiatives proposed by politicians such as tax increases.
• Helping Campaigns of Other Reformers: Reform California provides a wide variety of direct and indirect support to organizations and candidates who are reform-minded. By working collaboratively with these partners, we can maximize limited resources in the fight against the well-funded forces behind big government.

"Given that California is currently dominated by one political party with a supermajority – and the other political party has shown itself largely ineffective in its opposition role – Reform California seeks to be the counterbalance to extreme and misguided policies that are costing taxpayers and hurting working families in our state."

They seek funds to dump the Governor

Fair is fair:  California's Gavin Newsom: Impeach Trump!

Impeach Gavin Newsom
"Governor Newsom has already promised free health care to everyone and anyone in California legal resident or not. Nothing is free. Working people and the businesses that support them will bear the cost. This will cause businesses and their employees to leave the state, adding to that growing trend."


California Gov. Gavin Newsom seeks to add more illegal immigrants to state health care plan  "Newly sworn-in California Gov. Gavin Newsom, vowing to provide “sanctuary to all who seek it,” has proposed extending state health care coverage to more illegal immigrants living within the Golden State’s borders.
"Hours after assuming office, Mr. Newsom released sweeping health care proposals to raise the age limit for illegal aliens covered by Medi-Cal from 19 to 26, which would make California “the first state in the nation to cover young undocumented adults through a state Medicaid program,” according to a Monday release from the governor’s office." . . .

Max "Boot compares Trump to Josef Stalin, to Benito Mussolini, and. . . to the Roman emperors Caligula and Nero." Oh, and Hitler.

Don Surber  "What about the Holodomor, Mister Boot?"

 . . . "Calling Trump Hitler is a disservice to the victims of Nazism, but victims of communism can pound salt, eh? The 6 million Ukranians starved to death died for the greater good, right comrade?

"Ceaser also wrote, "Boot’s story is as surprising as it is disheartening. Since Trump’s advent, he became and has steadfastly remained a convinced Never Trumper. Among the right-of-center intellectuals who have gone this way, no one has been so unsparing in opposition to the President unless it be his fellow Post columnist, the Bush II speechwriter Michael Gerson. As for Boot, he devotes column after column and tweet after tweet to warning of Trump’s failures and the dangers he poses to American democracy. He has exhausted the English language in condemning his adversary for demagoguery, narcissism, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, sexism, and authoritarianism. The President is a charlatan, an ignoramus, and a fascist.' " . . .

US women embarrass themselves at Women's World Cup

Rapinoe idolizes Kaepernick

Power Line  . . . "However, some of the celebrations that followed the add-on goals were ridiculous, both on their face and judged by the norms of the sport. To take the most egregious example, in 40 years of watching men’s soccer, I can’t recall any celebration of a late goal in a rout that compares with Megan Rapinoe’s over-the-top celebration of goal number nine, which you can watch here.

"The absence (or virtual absence) of precedent for Rapinoe’s display demolishes Abby Wambach’s attempt to defend her former teammate. Wambach tweeted:

For all that have issue with many goals: for some players this is there first World Cup goal, and they should be excited. Imagine it being you out there. This is your dream of playing and then scoring in a World Cup. Celebrate. Would you tell a men’s team to not score or celebrate?

"For one thing, Rapinoe’s goal was not her first in the World Cup. She has scored frequently at the tournament. Moreover, you wouldn’t need to tell members of a men’s team not to celebrate as Rapinoe did after scoring in a rout. Few, if any, men would think about a celebration of that nature. For that matter, few women would think of it.
"It’s not surprising that Rapinoe showed so little class. As I wrote in 2016:

I’ve seen enough of the U.S. team to know that if there’s an act to get into, Megan Rapinoe, the flamboyant star midfielder, is probably going to get into it. Thus, it wasn’t surprising when she decided to emulate Colin Kaepernick and disrespect America by refusing to stand for the National Anthem.

"When Rapinoe was thwarted in her attempt to call attention to herself and to disrespect her country (the anthem was played before the players took the field), she whined about it, calling the move “[expletive] unbelievable.” She then accused the owner who thwarted her attention-grab of being “homophobic” (Rapinoe is a lesbian).
"This is an athlete who is obsessed with calling attention to herself. Once again, she has succeeded in this objective, but only by making herself look ridiculous and entirely unsympathetic."

Rapinoe's hero

VICTORY OVER COMMUNISM! TEXAS DECRIMINALIZES LEMONADE STANDS

Power Line "I know I wrote here several years ago now about how the modern culture of bureaucracy—the imperatives of the administrative state—had filtered all the way down to most local governments, as seen by the number of instances where little kids’ lemonade stands were shut down for bureaucratic reasons. Police in Coralville, Iowa, for example,

Pritchett's Pen

shut down 4-year-old Abigail Krstinger’s sidewalk lemonade stand because she lacked a $400 city permit—a feat duplicated in Midway, Georgia; Appleton, Wisconsin; McAllen, Texas, and more than three dozen other cities across the country that were reported in the media.Some parents were slapped with $500 fines for allowing their kids to sell lemonade without the proper (expensive) permits.  Local bureaucracies have even restricted or stopped annual Girl Scout cookie sales drives.

"So guess which state has stepped up to decriminalize Susie and Johnnie’s lemonade stand? Of course you don’t need to ask:

Great news, children of Texas: Your unlicensed lemonade stands soon won’t be criminal enterprises.Gov. Greg Abbott late Monday signed a bill that prohibits cities and neighborhood associations from enacting rules that block or regulate children trying to sell nonalcoholic drinks like lemonade on private property. The law targets local health codes and neighborhood rules that intentionally or unintentionally ban the stands or require permits for them to operate.Support for such a law in Texas began to grow in 2015, when police in the East Texas town of Overton reportedly shut down a lemonade stand by two young siblings who were trying to earn money to buy a Father’s Day present.

"Is it too soon to start the Abbott 2024 campaign committee?

"Reminds me a little of 1993, when Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan remarked that the most significant achievement of Congress that year was decriminalizing babysitting.

Video: The 2020 Dems’ Apology Tour…

Weasel Zippers

AOC spokesman tweets, then deletes, F-bomb rant against potential GOP challenger

NY Post

Valdes added that he never chased Ocasio-Cortez, but simply walked over to her.

"US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesman sent a profane tweet to a potential Republican challenger as he ripped him for wanting to debate his boss.

“ 'Yo @RichValdes what in the actual f–k makes you think you’re entitled to a debate with AOC,” spokesman Corbin Trent tweeted Sunday at the conservative talk radio producer who’s mulling a run against the freshman congresswoman.
"Earlier that day, Valdes said he tried to challenge Ocasio-Cortez to a debate on the merits of capitalism versus socialism as they both marched in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. Valdes claims the democratic socialist “jetted to the other side of street”when he tried to approach her.
"Trent told The Post after the missed encounter that Ocasio-Cortez didn’t run away from Valdes, and that she “doesn’t owe anybody a debate.' ” . . .

Tony Branco