JEFFREY BLEHAR: Jasmine Crockett Is Tacky and Classless, and I Encourage This. Responding to Crockett calling wheelchair-bound Texas’ GOP Gov. Gregg Abbott “Gov. Hot Wheels” — at a Human Rights Campaign dinner to boot — Blehar writes:

It is the artificiality of her attempts to spark outrage that makes them fall so weirdly flat. Her attempt to catfight on the floor of Congress with Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R., Ga.) last May was strangely unsuccessful — she started out with the moral upper hand, no less — precisely because MTG is a moron to the manner born, a natural talent unrestrained in her impulses by qualms of intellect or conscience. Crockett is blocked from any real path to advancement in office by both geography (Texas may yet one day turn blue, but not for a former BLM activist) and work ethic (she isn’t exactly leadership material). Publicity — and its hopefully attendant financial rewards — is the best she can hope for.

Yesterday’s soundbite — designed quite intentionally to get people like me writing huffy pieces about her — instead leaves me feeling the same way I do about Mace: Stop trying so hard to elbow your way into a picture you don’t belong in. But I ultimately feel quite differently about the two: When Mace does something embarrassing, I cringe because we are on the same team. When Crockett does this, I can only applaud and happily encourage her to carry on. Let’s go, Jasmine! It’s time to escalate! Let’s see how you can top this one — and I hope every voter in America is watching when you do.

After being caught on video, Crockett preposterously claimed:

I wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition—I was thinking about the planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by Black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable.

Literally, the next line I said was that he was a “Hot A** Mess,” referencing his terrible policies. At no point did I mention or allude to his condition. So, I’m even more appalled that the very people who unequivocally support Trump—a man known for racially insensitive nicknames and mocking those with disabilities—are now outraged.

There are at least two problems with her dissembling. The first is that her “explanation” absolutely tortures the metaphor:

But the second is worse: Jasmine Crockett ‘Liked’ Posts Calling Abbott ‘Hot Wheels’ in 2021, Undercutting Her Explanation for Deriding Wheelchair-Bound Governor. “Crockett was aware—and supportive—of the derisive label for the governor before he began the migrant transfers.”

As Blehar concluded, “Let’s go, Jasmine! It’s time to escalate! Let’s see how you can top this one — and I hope every voter in America is watching when you do.” Well, here we go: Wait, Is That Assault? Jasmine Crockett Physically Attacks DC Correspondent, Slaps Phone Away (Watch).

“Wow, that’s pretty crazy. She grabbed his phone and scratched his hand because he asked her a question about violence. Yes, Democrats, pretty please, with sugar on top, keep making this woman the face of your party.”

WELL, FAIR:

I WAS ON ONE OF THESE A WHILE BACK. THIS ONE IS M. C. A. HOGARTH, WHO IS LIKE MY LITTLE SISTER OF THE SOUL:  Episode 137: M.C.A. Hogarth. (Podcast.)

She’s the nicer and prettier sister, though.

ICYMI: Hamas Keeps Getting Deader. “One good way to tell if your effort to eliminate your enemy’s leadership is going well is if you blow up their new defacto prime minister before his people have had a chance to learn that the old prime minister had been blown up, too.”

THIS IS A VERY, VERY BAD IDEA:  Nevada has a fairly wild AI bill that snuck up on me: SB 199. It might actually be the worst AI law I’ve ever seen. It creates a centralized regulator. It requires *any* company that develops *any* AI model to obtain a license from the state.

For the x-less.

If you think something is potentially dangerous, keep it away from the government. The government’s core competencies are killing (its own) people and breaking stuff. However making any technology more dangerous through economic and behavior distortions is a close third.

IT’S UNWISE TO BET AGAINST ELON (CONT’D):

Given Britain’s libel laws, the FT should be at least a little worried. . .

Loose Lips Sink Ships? Naw, Loose App Links to Security Lapse: Consequential Mistake?

The news hook title isn’t as crisp as World War II’s “Loose Lips Sink Ships.” It does send the relevant 21st-century message that digital communication systems have security flaws enemies can exploit to gather critical information.

WWII’s brilliant rhyme warned that loose talk in a New York bar could tell Nazi spies where to position U-boats to intercept convoys. My update repeats warnings everyone using a cellphone or email should already know: someone or some device can be monitoring your communications.

A little more:

On March 25, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the Senate Intelligence Committee that when he became director, he was given a phone with Signal pre-loaded. He was briefed that Signal was “permissible” for work use, and “That is a practice that preceded the current administration to the Biden administration.”

Did the Biden administration discuss sensitive national security information on the phones? Who knows. I doubt Communist Chinese intelligence will tell us.

Did the Biden administration provide the Trump administration with Signal apps that included Goldberg’s contact information? A fair question to ask for those demanding a thorough investigation.

Matt Margolis of PJMedia writes, “This has all the hallmarks of a deliberate setup.”

I suspect an inadvertent mistake, but Margolis has a point given the corruption we’ve witnessed in the CIA and FBI. Russia Russia Russia was a hoax.

A bit more:

Signalgate is/was a mistake. A destructive mistake? No. It may simply be an accidental leak to media. But it must be thoroughly investigated, and that includes public testimony from Mr. Goldberg — under oath so he risks perjury charges.

Suggest you peruse the entire essay.

THEY WANT IT TO BE CHINA, THOUGH:

Personally, I like it when people show our self-proclaimed betters a complete lack of respect:

OPEN THREAD: Enjoy this groovy Tuesday.