OPEN THREAD: It’s the one thread to have, when you’re having more than one.

OVER AT MY SUBSTACK, thoughts on age segregation. Sequestering teens and old people is bad for them, and for everyone else. (Bumped).

JOY BEHAR SAYS THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD: Joy Behar: ‘Trump Is The One Who Needs To Get The Nomination Because Then Democrats Will Win.’

Joy Behar, co-host of ABC’s “The View,” said on Wednesday that she hopes that former President Donald Trump beats Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary because Trump is the candidate that Democrats can beat.

Behar made the remarks after other co-hosts on the leftist show took shots at DeSantis, who has not announced whether or not he will seek the White House in 2024.

Cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin said that she believes that DeSantis “is the most over-hyped politician in America.”

“I want to see him sit down with a neutral interviewer like George Stephanopoulos and actually answer tough questions,” Griffin said. Stephanopoulos served as White House press secretary for former President Bill Clinton.

“DeSantis is what they call a dweeb,” Behar exclaimed. “And Trump is the one who needs to get the nomination because then the Democrats will win.”

That’s some serious grifting when Farah Griffin is paid to be the token faux-conservative in the cast, and yet still describes Stephanopoulos as “a neutral interviewer.”

OUT ON A LIMB: There Are No Banned Books. Books are ‘banned’ in Tennessee in much the same way a person can’t say the word ‘gay’ in Florida. It’s a myth.

For the left, the banned book claim is a political racket, allowing them to feign indignation over the alleged “authoritarianism” of Republicans who don’t want kids reading identitarian pseudohistories or books depicting oral sex, rape, violence, or gender dysphoria in their schools.

Yet, major media now regularly contend, as indisputable fact, that “book bans” are in place. The claim is embedded in the Democrat’s daily rhetoric. After the mass shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, we were not plunged into another inane discussion about “stochastic terrorism” or political violence, but rather a preposterous comparison of Tennessee’s “book bans” and lax gun control. As Liz Cheney noted, “if we really want to keep our children safe, we need to spend less time banning books and more time stopping the horrific gun violence in our schools.”

Books are banned in Tennessee in the same way a person can’t say the word “gay” in Florida. It’s a myth. Yet, here is a recent headline from NPR: “Plot twist: Activists skirt book bans with guerrilla giveaways and pop-up libraries.” In the piece, the reader learns that with “a record number of book bans” on the horizon, “some activists are finding creative ways to make banned books available to young readers anyway.”

“Activists” buying books at a local Barnes & Noble, where an endless supply exists, and handing them to other people’s children against the wishes of parents isn’t so much “creative” as it is creepy. NPR makes it sound as if these people were risking their lives trading Samizdat one step ahead of the Secret Police. Any dope with a car, a bus pass, a bicycle, legs, or an internet connection can hand some impressionable kid softcore porn. Because there are no banned books.

Why is NPR pro-grooming? Flashback: NPR Goes Full Groomer, Promotes ‘Queer’ Sex Education.

MICHAEL WALSH: “Not One Step Back.”

Ron DeSantis has made his first unforced error in his nascent, as yet still-unannounced, campaign for the Republican presidential nomination 2024. Even worse, he showed weakness – and that, in this late-Roman Republic political climate, is an unforgiveable sin. If DeSantis is not to be bullied out of the primaries by the raging bull elephant that is Donald Trump, he needs to do better, asap.

Read the whole thing.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Basic training without yelling: Army recruits get 2nd chance.

So far, 5,400 soldiers have made it through the prep course since it started in August at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. That’s an important boost since the Army fell dramatically short of its recruiting goals last year, due to low unemployment and general wariness about military service. And at least one other military service, the Navy, took notice and is setting up a similar course.

For those who make it through the program, it can be life-changing. Holiday, 23, said many of her peers in her hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, didn’t make it out of high school, with some “dead or in jail.” Sitting outside the class building in her Army fatigues last summer, she talked about trying to pass the academic test for two years with no success.

She said she wanted to set an example, especially for her younger siblings. The prep course gave her a second chance. She raised her academic score by more than 20 points.

The course, she said, was like “basic training without the yelling.” It also allowed her to bond with fellow students. “We helped each other out throughout basic training, so it was easy,” she said. “All of us actually passed, so it was a good experience. And we all keep in touch.”

Army leaders say the program — it involves classroom instruction and training ranging from how to wear the uniform and properly make a bed to fitness and discipline — gives recruits like Holiday an advantage.

As the first commenter to the AP article on Yahoo notes, “The real take away here is our public education system is so bad that these kids can’t even pass a very basic entrance exam. Rather than put money into the schools, we’re paying to have the military tutor kids so they can pass. We’re talking about the ASVAB. Most high school sophomores can pass it without even knowing what they’ve done. And what about the other kids who don’t enlist?”

Flashback: An army of snowflakes. The British Army wants to recruit snowflakes to its ranks. What is it thinking? “Its new PR campaign features posters and TV ads calling on ‘snowflakes’, ‘selfie addicts’, ‘class clowns’, ‘phone zombies’ and ‘me me me millennials’ to sign up. One poster says: ‘Snowflakes – your army needs YOU and your compassion.’”

WHY IS THE LEFT SUCH A CESSPIT OF VIOLENCE? Josselyn Berry, Katie Hobbs’ press secretary, tweets gun-toting image ripping ‘transphobes.’

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ press secretary ignited an uproar with a tweet blasting “transphobes” with an image of an armed woman, an image posted the same day that six students and staff at a Christian school were killed by a transgender shooter.

Josselyn Berry, spokeswoman for the Democratic governor, posted a Monday evening tweet with the caption “Us when we see transphobes” and a gif of a woman brandishing two handguns — a post viewed as shockingly tone-deaf.

The unidentified woman in the image is actress Gena Rowlands and comes from her 1980 movie “Gloria.”

The Arizona Freedom Caucus responded by calling for Ms. Berry to be “fired immediately.”

“Less than 12 hours after the tragic shooting in Nashville by a deranged transgender activist @katiehobbs’ Press Secretary calls for shooting people Democrats disagree with,” the caucus tweeted.

“Calling for violence like this is un-American & never acceptable,” the group added.

Late Tuesday night, Berry locked down her Twitter account, but here’s a screenshot of the tweet in question:

Earlier: Are You Ready for the “Trans Day of Vengeance?” Update: Joe Biden Makes Ice Cream Jokes.

NYT and NBC contributor suggests Matt Walsh and Daily Wire to blame for Christian school shooting today.

Are Democratic leaders encouraging political violence?

MSM don’t think man confessing to ‘politically motivated’ vehicular homicide of Republican teen is worth covering for some reason.

‘Not fitting their narrative’: Waukesha feels abandoned after tragic parade attack.

Bernie Bro James T. Hodgkinson, Attempted Assassin Of Steve Scalise, Already Being Erased From History. And additional examples of leftist violence and eliminationist rhetoric at the link.

UPDATE: Apologize and resign, says … Olby; Update: Resigned. “Credit where credit is due. [Olbermann] could have kept his mouth shut. So far, most of the Left is still doing just that. (To be clear, he’s talking about Berry, not Hobbs.)”

IF THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE WERE TRYING TO UNDERMINE OUR COUNTRY, what would they do differently?

WALTER HUDSON: The Gender Jihad. “There is a gender jihad in America. The latest victims are six dead in Nashville, including three nine-year-old children, slain by a transgender shooter whose actions fit an emerging pattern that deserves our attention.”

WILL CONGRESS GIVE DOJ WATCHDOG MORE AUTHORITY: Not an encouraging outlook at this early point in the 118th Congress for Department of Justice Inspector-General Michael Horowitz to get authority to investigate professional misconduct allegations against federal prosecutors.