THOSE SHOES DON’T BUY THEMSELVES: Ocasio-Cortez tells reporter ‘gotta run’ when asked about shutdown paycheck. “New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is still mum on whether she will follow her own advice to lawmakers to ‘have some integrity’ and give up their salary during the government shutdown. ‘I’ve gotta run,’ the Democratic Socialist told the New York Post on Thursday after being asked about her salary, rushing for a mock swearing-in with newly elected House Speak Nancy Pelosi. The questions follow Ocasio-Cortez’ comments on social media during the early days of the shutdown, urging members of Congress to give up their salaries during the government shutdown just like federal workers.”
Archive for 2019
January 4, 2019
AT AMAZON, Fresh Year-End Deals All Week.
GREAT MOMENTS IN TOTAL LACK OF SELF-AWARENESS: New Muslim Congresswoman Vows to ‘Impeach the Motherf**ker!’ “Bullies don’t win.”
REMOVING FLUORIDE FROM TOWN’S WATER resulted in one additional cavity per year for kids.
HMM: Jim Webb emerges as candidate for Defense secretary.
He wasn’t much of a Democratic presidential candidate, but I thought his post-WWII novel, The Emperor’s General, was quite good and filled with interesting insights.
WHEN SUBSIDIES END: GM’s 200,000th vehicle sold triggers Federal Tax Credit phase out, Reuters says.
THE COMING DEMOCRATIC DISILLUSION: Control of the House isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Very soon, news from the trail will overtake the goings-on in Congress. House Democrats won’t just have trouble changing laws. They also will have difficulty promoting their message. Especially considering the third and greatest difference between 2007 and 2019: the presence of Donald Trump. There’s no evidence that Pelosi has any better an idea of how to deal with him than her predecessors. Whenever Trump focuses his attention on reelection, and sets the agenda of cable news coverage by attacking his rivals on Twitter, Pelosi will be less than powerless. She will be irrelevant.
The partial government shutdown is a prelude to an unpredictable two years of conflict, deadlock, breakdown, acrimony, dissatisfaction, and annoyance. At the end, Democrats will be reminded that, thanks to congressional delegation of authority, the House doesn’t count for much. What matters is the presidency. Ask the GOP.
Even there, Republicans will tell you, be careful what you wish for.
Or to put it another way:
SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT: Pelosi’s “Commonsense” Gun Bill Is Not Sensible.
Cocaine Mitch is going to have a long two years, to coin an Instaphrase™.
CHINA: Bribing Big Brother.
In December, for the first time since February 2016, Chinese factory activity declined. That alone was enough to cause stock markets worldwide to continue their sharp declines because the factory slowdown was more evidence that the entire Chinese economy was hitting a rough patch. It was also confirmed that Chinese GDP growth in 2018 was 6.5 percent and many economic indicators continue declining while those in the United States are growing. This is a reminder that the current trade war with the United States favors the Americans for many reasons that Chinese leaders cannot ignore. China has hit economic slumps since the 1990s, usually the result of economic problems in the West. But now the cause is China because of a lot of bad decisions that are now catching up with the Chinese leadership that made all the mistakes in the first place. Years of tolerating corruption and ignoring the growth of bad loans (that were at the basis of much corruption) means that just borrowing more money to give the economy a boost will not work.
Scroll down for some interesting comments on Russia’s relationship with China and how “money talks in different dialects.”
JUST LEAVING: An EA-18G Growler launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.
DON’T QUESTION IT; MOCK IT. Elizabeth Warren Compares Scrutiny Of Her ‘Native American Ancestry’ To ‘Birtherism.’
YOUR DAILY TREACHER: NYT Crossword Editor Gets Beaned By the Roaming Outrage Mob.
SHERIFF CLARKE: Teachers Unions Using Urban Youth as ‘Pawns,’ ‘It’s Criminal.’
MORE LIKELY TO TIP OVER, TOO: Rep. Hank Johnson Compares Trump to Hitler, Says MAGA Supporters are ‘Less Educated,’ ‘Dying Early.’
WILL PELOSI LEGISLATE OR INVESTIGATE? WHY NOT BOTH? She picked the perfect guy to be House General Counsel, no matter which direction she chooses. LINK FIXED.
THEY TOLD ME IF TRUMP WERE PRESIDENT, OUR NATIONAL DISCOURSE WOULD BE DEGRADED. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! Newly sworn-in Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) told a roaring crowd of supporters Thursday night that President Donald Trump was going down, promising Democrats would “impeach the motherfucker.”
Related: “House Democrats reacting to Rep. Tlaib’s explicit comments do not condemn them outright, telling reporters ahead of their caucus meeting today that the Congresswoman can speak for herself only and that passionate viewpoints are ‘welcomed.'”
Remember, Republicans “spew hate” while Democrats are “passionate.”
COLD WAR II: Chang’e 4 landing on far side of moon marks start of China’s space race with the US.
The next stage of the mission, according to the CNSA, is for Chang’e 4 to release a rover to explore the surrounding area, fire up ground penetration radar to map the moon’s inner structures, analyse soil and rock samples for minerals and chemicals with potential economic values, and activate a radio telescope to search for possible signals from distant universes.
The probes also carried a canister filled with air, soil, water, bacterium, silkworm eggs, the seeds of a small flowering plant and a potato. Scientists hope that the small eco-system will spring to life and produce the first blossoming flowers on the moon in about three months’ time.
It’s an impressive achievement, but the real action these days is in private space projects. Where is the Chinese Burt Rutan, Jeff Bezos, or Elon Musk?
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): I believe some of those are in the works, actually.
WE’RE ALL VICTIMS NOW: Two sociologists detail ‘The Rise of Victimhood Culture’ and how it’s used for social control.
Related (From Ed): 2019: The Year of the Wokescolds.
SETH BARRETT TILLMAN IS UNIMPRESSED WITH THE LATEST LEFTY CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY: On the Senate’s Purported Constitutional Duty to Meaningfully Consider Presidential Nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States: A Response to Chief Judge Peter J. Eckerstrom.
All I know is that whatever “duty” exists now would vanish entirely if the Senate were controlled by Democrats.