HMM: Trump Disbands Voter Fraud Commission to Avoid ‘Endless Legal Battles’.

YOU COULD TURN THIS ONE UP WAY PAST 11: The Eleven Most Ridiculously PC Moments of 2017.

But this one was new-to-me:

A city councilman was concerned that hosing poop-covered sidewalks might be culturally insensitive.

A Seattle councilman expressed concern that hosing down some filthy sidewalks that smelled of excrement might be insensitive “because it brought back images of the use of hoses against civil-rights activists.”

Before I saw this article, I would have told you that the idea that a poop-mess needs to be cleaned up — and that that clean-up generally involves water — was the least controversial opinion in human history. I would have been wrong.

These are Heinlein’s Crazy Years — we just live in them.

THE HILL: If California has the power to defy immigration laws, could it secede as well?

YES. Let Marines Be Marines.

The military must cut waste, eliminate unnecessary paperwork and training that do not improve lethality, and provide additional funding for training (such as flight hours) to hone the warfighters’ combat edge. Marine leaders currently are focused on the wrong things. They need to cut back on Marine Net courses, transgender awareness training, mandatory safety stand downs, sexual assault prevention training, and other unnecessary activities that detract from operations. The Marine Corps must focus more on recruiting individuals who have the moral character to do the right thing—rather than accepting people who have broken moral compasses who require constant supervision and morality training. Recruit training should screen young Marines for character; if recruits do not have it, they should not be allowed to graduate from boot camp or receive a commission.

After making someone a Marine, the Corps must focus on retaining the best individuals and promoting talent. Let Marines be Marines. Don’t discharge them for having too many tattoos. Let them train under tougher conditions and accept higher risks to reflect operations. Marines must be warriors—professional yes, but ready for battle when things go south. Let Marines be investments that continue to grow, not depreciating assets that decrease in value as they come to the end of their contracts. Teach Marines their value and help them protect and add to it.

More than anything else, real Marines want to practice their warfighting skills.

More and better training. Less bureaucratic bullcrap.

MY TAKE ON THE FOOFARAW OVER MICHAEL WOLFF’S BOOK:

CHANGE? Breitbart Owners Debate Ousting Bannon Amid Trump Feud. “Former White House strategist’s longtime benefactors, billionaires Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, are distancing themselves from him.”

More:

They and other Breitbart News Network LLC board members on Thursday were debating whether to oust Mr. Bannon as chairman, with many supportive of the move, according to a person familiar with the exchanges. Among the considerations are Breitbart’s contractual relationships with other entities, including Sirius XM radio, that involve Mr. Bannon.

Staffers at Breitbart, which Mr. Bannon has called his “killing machine,” described a “chaotic” day at the company, with writers—many personally recruited by Mr. Bannon—wondering whether he would last the day.

Asked Thursday whether Breitbart should oust Mr. Bannon, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said: “I certainly think that it’s something they should look at and consider.”

None other than Matt Drudge hinted at a possible Bannon/Breitbart split yesterday on Twitter.

HARD TO ARGUE WITH THAT: Kurt Schlichter: The Big Problem With Hollywood Is Its Product. “We need good stories with interesting characters doing things we have not seen before in worlds we don’t inhabit. It’s not hard. That’s what made The Godfather work (at least the first two times).”

THE CRY OF THE DYING TAXOSAURUS:  Cuomo Promises to Sue Over New Tax Law.

POOR SHOCKED FACE.  SO WORN:  Media Matters Funding Sexual Assault Witch Hunt on Republicans.

BUT I THOUGHT THE SCIENCE WAS SETTLED!  Humans reached America 10K years earlier than previously thought.

I… I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY:  You Can Now Pump The Gas Yourself In Oregon’s Rural Places, And People’s Reactions Take Stupidity To Another Level.  My very favorite is the person wondering about gas station attendants losing their jobs, as if there were no other jobs they could take.  I mean, I’m sure we’ve all seen the vast hordes of displaced gas station attendants begging by the side of the highway in other states.  In fact, considering how long it’s been since other states had gas station attendants, they are now generational displaced gas station attendants.   That’s their only genetic capability.  They were maximally optimized by evolution to pump gas, and now that the jobs don’t exist, they just stand there, forlornly, grandad, dad, grandchild, in their faded overalls with names over the pockets, holding up cardboard signs that say “please, give!”  Will no one think of the plight of those who are no longer paid for pumping gas?   Their livelihood and dignity is gone forever and they shall multiply, a purposeless and desperate tribe upon the Earth, longing only for a return of the glory days when people couldn’t pump their own gas.  (Why, yes, that is a dent on my forehead, and it matches the one on my desk, because if I pound enough maybe the stupidity will stop bothering me.)

I RESEARCHED THESE FOR A SHORT STORY WHERE THE WHOLE POINT WAS FOR THE PISTOL TO BE INEFFECTIVE:  Pocket Pistols.

YOU KNOW, MY SHOCKED FACE IS GETTING KIND OF WORN OUT!   Keith Ellison Endorses Antifa.

ANOTHER “TRUMP DOSSIER”?  IT MUST BE THURSDAY:  Michael Wolff, fabulist.

COMMUNIST EFFICIENCY!  North Korea’s own Lil’ Kim hits his own city with a missile.

WHAT THE LEFT IN MY FIELD HATES TO ADMIT:  The Quiet Diversity of Robert Anson Heinlein -by Christopher Nuttall.

AMANDA GREEN IS DONE WITH HILLARY’S BOOK!  HRC: The End (or is it?) – by Amanda S. Green.

THEY TOLD ME IF DONALD TRUMP WERE ELECTED PRESIDENT, WE’D SEE DEATH THREATS AGAINST INDIAN-AMERICANS AND THEY WERE RIGHT! FCC Chairman Ajit Pai canceled his appearance at CES because of death threats.

Reminder: Bernie Bro James T. Hodgkinson, Attempted Assassin Of Steve Scalise, Already Being Erased From History.

THEY TOLD ME IF DONALD TRUMP WERE ELECTED PRESIDENT, WE’D SEE OPEN RACISM AGAINST HISPANICS AND THEY WERE RIGHT! Conservative Hispanic Writer Jon Del Arroz Banned from Worldcon Sci-Fi Convention.

DON SURBER: “Barack Obama’s refusal to lead his party to a peaceful transition of power a year ago has inspired an increasingly violent ‘resistance’ both within and without the government.”

CORY GARDNER: I’ll block Trump nominees until Sessions stops enforcing federal marijuana law.

Which produces this stinging response:

ANOTHER OPEN THREAD: Talk to each other if there’s any interesting news. Did anything happen today?

SO A FEW DAYS A GO WE WERE ALL GOING TO DIE IN A NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE, but as soon as there’s a juicy political-gossip book the press dropped that and started talking about who’s dissing whom. It’s almost like the previous panic was entirely artificial.

THE HILL: FBI launches new Clinton Foundation investigation. “The officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the probe is examining whether the Clintons promised or performed any policy favors in return for largesse to their charitable efforts or whether donors made commitments of donations in hopes of securing government outcomes.”

I wonder how much attention this will get compared to the Wolff book.

WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS DEMOCRATS? Cap-J Ignores Common Thread among Sex Harassment Allegations in Topeka. “A Democratic attorney working for the state of Kansas is under fire today after claims that he sexually harassed Kansas Department of Revenue employees were made public, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports. The paper ignores a common thread among most of allegations of sexual misconduct in the Capitol. Most of the named alleged perpetrators are Democrats.”