Biden Backs America Into A Corner After Whittling Down Key Oil Reserve

 SUZANNE DOWNING: (msn.com)   "Since the creation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the mid-1970s, America has never been backed into such an energy corner as we’re in now, thanks to the Biden administration selling off much of our oil reserve to countries like China.

"It’s an invisible trap about which most Americans are oblivious, but it has everything to do

with inflation, recession and national security. Americans may soon feel the pain of rising prices, supply shortages and a faltering economy, if OPEC, Russia and China succeed in taking advantage of our suddenly depleted energy stockpile.

"Under President Joe Biden, this drawdown of our reserve oil masks political problems he blames on Russia. But that dog won’t hunt. Let me explain:

"Recall that it took just one year after Biden became president for Russia President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine. Putin had also seized parts of Crimea during the years when Barack Obama was president.

Putin held his Ukraine ambitions in abeyance during the four years of President Donald Trump. Love him or hate him, Trump was the president with whom Putin did not want to mess. For four years, the United States was strong enough to stall the expansion plans of the Russian strongman until that fateful day when American voters evidently elected a man who would hardly leave his basement to campaign for president.

"For Biden, the price of oil doubling under his administration was a serious problem starting in 2022; the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was his solution to keep Americans calm after the price of gas had doubled quickly last year.

"Thus, oil poured forth from the strategic reserve month after month, invisibly suppressing the supply problem Biden was creating with his other anti-oil policies. Much of that oil sold by the Biden administration went to companies that were middlemen for China.

"How much oil? You can practically hear the echo in the salt caverns. Last year, the Department of Energy sold off over 180 million reserve barrels. This was about 21 gallons of crude oil for every man, woman and child in America.

"In one year alone, the Biden administration drained nearly a third of what was in the emergency reserve and has more sell-offs on the schedule. The administration says its efforts have lowered gasoline prices by 17-42 cents over what they would be without this action." . . .

Why Costco Unleashing the 'Death Star' on Bud Light Is Even Worse Than You Think

  PJ Media

"It’s the logo that Costco shoppers dread: when the “Death Star” appears next to their favorite item, indicating that the discount retail giant won’t restock once current inventory has sold out. Just this year, the Death Star has appeared on Filthy brand blue cheese olives, Kinder’s organic toasted onion dip mix, and Jonny Pops chocolate dipped strawberry pops.

"Now the Death Star has been spotted adorning the price signs for Bud Light, which was the most popular beer in America back in the olden days of […checks notes…] a couple months ago.

"If you think that’s a bad sign for Bud Light sales, you’re wrong. It’s much, much worse.

"I first became aware of Bud Light’s Alderaan-like fate on Wednesday evening, when my friend and former RedState colleague Kira Davis tweeted that “they’re not even selling Bud Light at my local Costco anymore. Don’t know when it stopped but I’ve noticed it’s not in stock anymore.” Kira was reporting from southern California, which, as I noted on Instapundit earlier today, “isn’t exactly overrun with conservatives.”

"Sure enough, sharp Costco buyers have been sharing photos on social media of the Death Star menacing Bud Light signs across the nation." . . .

Costco just gave the “Death Star” to Bud Light. That’s the asterisk you see on sale items which aren’t going to be restocked anymore. Bud Light is done. pic.twitter.com/WVUlbNSqS0

— vbspurs (@vbspurs) July 13, 2023

 

 

Tucker Carlson Helps Cull the Republican Presidential Field -

 Clarice Feldman  "If, like me, you find the presidential debate format a rather meaningless exercise, you will be astonished at what one-on-one interviews by a skilled interrogator can accomplish.

"At the Iowa family Leader conference, Tucker Carlson interviewed several leading contenders for president Tim Scott, Asa Hutchinson, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis.

"If the participants thought this was going to be another tongue bath, they were certainly surprised. He asked hard questions and some of their answers exposed their muddled thinking. At least two of them – Asa Hutchinson and Mike Pence -- were clear losers and can now be safely considered out of the running.  If you haven’t had an opportunity to listen to all the interviews on the site, I’ll summarize some of the highlights.

"Tucker chided Pence for being more concerned about defending Ukraine than with dealing with domestic problems. 

Tucker: "Where's the concern for the United States?"

Pence: "That's not my concern. Tucker I've heard this routine from you before. That's not my concern."

"Pence tried to duck this gaffe by claiming it was out of context, but the video is undoctored and the response is clear. I believe his campaign is now dead.

"He offered up an extended clip in which he said, "Anybody that says that we can’t be the leader of the free world and solve our problems at home has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth. We can do both. 

“ 'And as president of the United States, we will secure our border, we will support our military, we will revive our economy and stand by our values. And we will also lead the world for freedom under my administration. I promise you.”  

"I don't think his optimism about our present ability to achieve all these ends is shared by many." . . .

Woke Warriors Wanted

 Issues & Insights

Matt Gaetz Suffers Shock Bill Defeat as Nine Republicans Vote Against Him

 Matt Gaetz Suffers Shock Bill Defeat as Nine Republicans Vote Against Him (newsweek.com)   . . ."Force-feeding wokeness to our service members DILUTES military readiness!" Gaetz tweeted on June 23. "Our military should focus on winning an actual conflict rather than losing a misguided culture war."

The nine Republicans who joined Democrats to vote down the Gaetz amendment were Congress members Don Bacon, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Anthony D'Esposito, Brian Fitzpatrick, Jenniffer González-Colón, John James, Mike Lawler, Marcus Molinaro and Mike Turner.

Newsweek has contacted Representative Gaetz's Washington D.C. office for comment, by email and answer phone message.

Separately, an amendment from GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene which would have eliminated $300 million in funding for Ukraine from the NDAA was voted down on a bipartisan basis, with 89 Republican representatives in favor and 130 voting against.

Biden angrily yells, curses at aides in private

 Axios

. . ."Jeff Connaughton, a former Biden campaign and Senate aide who was chief of staff to Kaufman when he filled Biden's seat in the Senate, wrote about Biden's temper in his 2012 book on Washington corruption, "The Payoff: Why Wall Street Wins."

Connaughton wrote that as a senator, Biden was an "egomaniacal autocrat … determined to manage his staff through fear."

He told of a time during the 2008 presidential campaign when a 23-year-old fundraising staffer got into the car with Biden.

"Okay, senator, time to do some fundraising calls," the aide said. Biden responded by looking at him and snapping: "Get the f**k out of the car."

Connaughton told Axios that Biden "hides his sharper edge to promote his folksy Uncle Joe image — which is why, when flashes of anger break through, it seems so out of public character." . . .

 

Biden's expiration date was long ago.

 Yet they had to wait till he had surrendered in Afghanistan!

Joe Scarborough says Biden ‘is so sharp’ and even wife Mika Brzezinski has a hard time with it -Thomas Lifson   "Although the video clip below from Grabien goes on and on for almost 4 minutes, the first minute will give you the gist if you’ve just eaten or have a weak stomach. For reasons unknown to me, former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, now turned into a fervent Democrat apologist as host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, stakes his credibility on the notion that President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. is actually not a dementia-ridden husk of his former self, but is actually “so sharp.”

Biden's Odd Gesture Frightens Child, Stirs Up Attention in Helsinki: Twitter Explodes (thefederalistpapers.org)

Joe Biden ‘Nibbled’ Again, Violating a Terrified Toddler - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics   . . ."So why aren’t parents trusting their child’s instincts when an adult, who otherwise bears no relationship to the child, acts inappropriately toward him or her? And why does the mother, who is clearly holding the child in her arms, ignore Biden’s behavior? 

"Senility and presidential power don’t excuse Biden’s behavior. If he’s truly senile, extra caution should be taken around children, who are too young to understand the situation around them. If he’s the president, the standard of behavior should be higher, especially with the most vulnerable: children.

"A child squirming away from a stranger kissing him or her sends a signal to mom and dad. Leftist parents are missing the message and enabling a pervert because he shares their politics. It needs to stop."

The most disturbing Biden weirdness yet - Thomas Lifson    . . ."I could not hold Harris in lower regard, yet I think she is preferable in the Oval Office to this husk of a man whose expiration date obviously has passed. Given the rate of Biden’s decline, it can only get worse, and it will do so at an accelerating pace.

"It’s time to badger Biden’s cabinet with demands that they invoke the 25th and spare the  nation the risk it faces. She could not be worse than Biden, and most likely, the same puppet  masters would be guiding her.

"And being frank, The Democrats ought to be stuck with her as the incumbent candidate when they proceed with their nominating process.  I acknowledge the peril a President Harris would involve, but at this point it is a lesser evil. "  

 Baby Gains The Powers Of An Old Man After Being Bitten By Biden |From the Parodigal son, Babylon Bee  HELSINKI — A young Finnish child was suddenly imbued with the incredible powers of advanced age and dementia Thursday after being bitten by a stray American president. Her DNA forever changed; the adorable one-year-old has since transformed into Old Baby, a defender of children everywhere.

" 'Old Baby's powers are beyond that of mere mortals," wrote Oliver Laine, a spunky news reporter for Helsinki Times. "Her forgetfulness and incontinence know no bounds!' ". . .

You Won't (???) Believe What Disney Is Doing to Snow White

 – PJ Media

"Disney is making a live-action version of Snow White, because of course they are, and the movie looks even worse and more woke than even my jaded self could have imagined because management has not yet finished relieving itself on the quality content produced in bygone eras.

"The corpse of Walt Disney could not be reached for comment due to spinning so hard that it was last seen digging its way deep into the Earth’s mantle.

"For only the third time in VodkaPundit’s 21-year history, I find myself with almost nothing to say other than, “I literally can’t even.” The first time was maybe a year ago.

"But do notice that I wrote “almost nothing,” because, please, just look at this:

Don Surber: Fire sale at Disney

Make no mistake: The Biden administration is laughing at us.

 CALLAHAN: The White House can find Bin Laden in Pakistan but not a cocaine culprit under its nose | Daily Mail Online

"We are meant to believe that the United States Secret Service, tasked with protecting the very life of the president, cannot crack the case of who left cocaine in a secure, hard-to-access part of the White House — despite facial recognition cameras, guest-book logs and security all over the most protected building in the Western world.

"The cover-up, as the Nixon-era saying goes, is always worse than the crime.

"At least this feels like yet another blatant White House whitewash.

"Here, in part, is the statement released by the Secret Service on Thursday. See if you can read this with a straight face.

' 'The investigation included a methodical review of security systems and protocols,' it says, noting that the baggie — which was initially tested for anthrax, its reported location changing three times over one week — was found in a receptacle used to store personal devices before entering the West Wing.

"But wouldn't you know, according to the Secret Service, there are no security cameras in the hallway that leads to the West Wing, to the Oval Office, to the hub of the most powerful person on Earth.

"Nope, folks, nothing to see here. Literally." . . .

UPDATE: D.C. Residents Concerned Crack House On Pennsylvania Avenue Will Drag Down Housing Market | Babylon Bee

"Local residents and landlords in the DC area are concerned after rumors surfaced that a nearby home on Pennsylvania Avenue has become a dangerous crack house.

" 'It's just not fair. I work hard to maintain my property, only to have real estate values plummet when this riff-raff moves into the neighborhood," said Carla Biggens, the owner of a middle-income apartment building that offers units at the reasonable price of just $15,000 per month. "I always see suspicious people coming and going from that place. It puts us all on edge. Lord knows what kind of shady things are happening there! Yuck!"

"Local authorities confirmed hard drugs were recently found on the premises, but warned they would likely never find the perpetrator because the owner of the crack house pays their salaries. . . ."

Sotomayor’s Wealth Has Exploded Since Joining the Supreme Court -

 The American Spectator | USA News and Politics  "Fox News reports that Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s wealth has exploded since joining the Supreme Court.

"The year before her nomination to the high court, she reported assets between $15,001 and $65,000.

" 'Since then, Sotomayor’s net worth has skyrocketed, putting her among the ranks of the nation’s millionaires,” Aaron Kliegman writes. “In 2021, her investments totaled somewhere between $1.5 million and $6.4 million, according to financial disclosure forms. Last year, investments were roughly the same, in between $1.6 million and $6.6 million.”

"Before one jumps to conclusions regarding corruption of office and such, know that the world knows Ms. Sotomayor as a “wise Latina,” and such wisdom likely extends beyond the world of jurisprudence to investing (and probably inventing, art, rocketry, and much else)." . . .

Controversy surrounding WOKE books for children is growing!

Woke Baby Books Take Over Bookstore Shelves with Stories to 'Indoctrinate Children' | CBN News

 

Kids and their parents are being bombarded with radical gender ideology everywhere they look.   Behind it are politicians, our state-funded mainstream media, special interest groups, and rogue school boards who continue to support sexually-charged topics appearing in children’s spaces. One event in Quebec billed taxpayers over $1,600 for a one-hour and 35-minute conference featuring Drag Queen Barbada, who you may remember from a past report after his video content was shared in classrooms without parental consent.  While governments are increasing investments to promote a more "WOKE" education, the education system itself continues to crumble.  Rebel News  Much in French; from Quebec. Dear Friend, Has all this gender stuff gone too far?  The book is called  "Ma sœur veut mon zizi" (My Sister Wants My Penis) — it tells the story of a little girl who discovers her brother's penis and goes on a search for her own.   It features explicit images of genitals and is meant for children as young as 3 to 6 years old. The "Panier Bleu" initiative, which promotes products from Quebec, endorsed the book.  Do people think this is age appropriate? I hit the streets in Quebec to find out!  Click here to see how people reacted.  How do parents feel about this outrageous misuse of public funds? Click here to find out.

How Roof Koreans Took Back Los Angeles...

 How Roof Koreans Took Back Los Angeles... (ft. donut operator) - YouTube  

"The riots of the spring of 2020 are far from without precedent in the United States. Indeed, they seem to happen once a generation at least. The 1992 Los Angeles Riots are such an example of these “generational riots.” And while most people know about the riots, less known – though quite well known at the time – were the phenomenon of the so-called “Roof Koreans.”

"The Roof Koreans were spontaneous self-defense forces organized by the Korean community of Los Angeles, primarily centered in Koreatown, in response to violent and frequently racist attacks on their communities and businesses by primarily black looters and rioters during the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. Despite their best efforts, over 2,200 Korean-owned businesses were looted or burned to the ground during the riots. It is chilling to imagine how many would have suffered the same fate had the Koreans not been armed. 

"Standing on the rooftops of Koreatown shops they and their families owned, clad not in body armor or tactical gear, but instead dressed like someone’s nerdy dad, often smoking cigarettes, but always on alert, the Roof Koreans provide a stirring example of how free Americans of all races can defend their own communities without relying upon outside help.

"The Koreans of Los Angeles were the ultimate marginalized minority group. They were subject to discrimination and often victimized by the black community of the city. Due to language barriers and other factors, they lacked the political clout of other minority groups, such as the large Mexican community of Los Angeles County. This in spite of their clear economic success in the city beginning in the 1970s and 80s." . . .

Roof Koreans: How Civilians Defended Koreatown from Racist Violence During the 1992 LA Riots | The Libertarian Institute