AWFUL: Nine Members Of Hong Kong Family Feared Infected After ‘Hotpot.’

SORRY, MAYOR PETE: Yale Prof: Gay White Men Are Actually Symbols of Heterosexuality.

JUST IN TIME FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE: Biden 2020: A Pre-Post Mortem. “Perhaps nothing during this primary season will give me greater pleasure than to write Joe Biden’s political obituary, and I might not have to wait long to do it, if recent caucus results, poll numbers, debate performances, and fundraising troubles are anything to go by. My, that’s an awful lot to go by, isn’t it?”

And for our PJMedia/Townhall VIP members: Coronavirus, Xi Jinping, and the Mandate of Heaven.

Xi has kept a low profile during the outbreak, perhaps wanting not to be seen as the symbol of Beijing’s troubles in dealing with it. But in a country where nearly one-third of the people are under some kind of quarantine, a leader has to… well, get out and lead if he’s going to be considered worthy of the title. Perhaps that why Xi just made what’s been a “rare appearance” in recent weeks, today at a Beijing medical center. His face covered in a mask (we’ll get to that momentarily), Xi had his temperature taken and urged “more decisive measures” to combat the virus.

According to Western suckups like Thomas Friedman, Xi’s ability to decisively move his authoritarian government is a big bonus for Getting Stuff Done. When the CCP says “Jump,” the country shouts “How high?” That is, that’s how it looks if you’re a comfy Westerner suffering from a common mental condition known as Authoritarian Envy. The truth of the matter is that the CCP is so thoroughly corrupt that Xi’s decisive measures aren’t measuring up — and some of the most “decisive” are mostly just for show. Business Insider reported today that “China is sending trucks to spray bleach on entire cities as the country struggles to contain the Wuhan coronavirus,” but it’s actually a PR stunt to make people feel like decisive action is being taken. The story notes that “health experts say these public displays of germ-busting are probably not doing much to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, and that the disinfection should instead target specific spots, like emergency rooms, and communal surfaces in hospitals.”

Probably, but the people can’t see that happening on a mass scale. Some of Xi’s most decisive actions look less like the effective handling of a deadly outbreak, and more like hurried construction of Potemkin villages.

The whole thing is just for members, and if you’ve been thinking of joining please use that VODKAPUNDIT promo code for a nice little discount.

THEY DON’T CALL THEM DEMOCRATIC PARTY OPERATIVES WITH BYLINES FOR NOTHING: Dan Mitchell: The Media’s Pervasively Dishonest Coverage of Trump’s New Budget.

FLASHBACK: Teen Vogue columnist and founder of the Unslut Project, Emily Lindin, shared her “unpopular opinion” that men who are falsely accused of sex crimes should suffer for the sake of “undoing the patriarchy.”

2020 IS A MIRROR IMAGE OF 2016: Bernie is the Chinese finger trap of the election — the harder you pull, the stronger he gets.

Related: From Steve at VodkaPundit.com: Biden 2020: A Pre-Post Mortem.

LOCAL LAW SAYS “KEEP IT ON THE BEACH” SO SHE GOT WHAT SHE WAS TROLLING FOR:  Cecilia Jastrzembska arrested in Maldives for wearing a bikini.

THE FAULT IS NOT IN OURSELVES, BUT IN OUR STARS:  Spectacular ‘rainbow cloud’ in space created by cosmic battle between stars.

IF YOU DECODE THE SIGNALS, THEY SAY “SEND JOE BIDEN HOME ALREADY!  HE NEEDS HIS MEDS! AT LEAST ARRANGE FOR OUTPATIENT TREATMENTS.”:  Something in Deep Space Is Sending Signals to Earth in Steady 16-Day Cycles.

TAKE FLORIDA MAN. ADD TDS. SHAKE:  Florida Man Arrested After Allegedly Driving Van into GOP Tent.

HE’D ALREADY EATEN THE CAT:  Traveler hid dead birds from China in luggage and said they were cat food, feds say.

SHOWERING WOULD BE INTERESTING:  Liquor pours out of water faucets after booze contaminates well.

IT IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW?:  Army’s new fabric works to destroy nerve agents.

SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED:  Chinese Military Charged In Equifax Hacking Attack.

THE AUDACITY OF THE COMMIE DOPE:  Workers of The World Unite, Obama Gives Two Thumbs Up.

SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT WOULD COME UP IN A CHINESE-DESIGNED GAME. DO WE HAVE PROOF THAT BIDEN IS NOT A CHINESE KNOCK-OFF CYBORG? IT WOULD EXPLAIN WHY HIS EYE FILLED WITH BLOOD AND IT WAS NO BIG DEAL:  The Biden dog-face and pony-soldier show.

BUT BUT BUT TELLING THE TRUTH TO GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATORS IS THE KIND OF THING ONLY REPUBLICANS OUGHT BE REQUIRED TO DO!  Why Bill de Blasio is furious over a simple ‘correct the record’ rule.

AND MORE COMPLEX: Totalitarianism and Ignorance.

IT’S MORE DANGEROUS THAN WE THINK:  Surviving Our Own Secrets in a Complex World Full of Danger.

THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE:  Gordon Chang:   ‘Overwhelmed’ Chinese authorities are deliberately falsifying coronavirus death toll.

NOTE HOW THEY AVOID INSULTING PIERRE DELECTO BY INSULTING THEIR WHOLE BASE INSTEAD. I WONDER WHAT THEIR NEXT TRICK WILL BE? SHOOTING OFF THEIR FEET?  AH, STUPID PARTY, NEVER CHANGE:  CPAC chair says Romney was uninvited because ‘physical safety’ would be at risk.

YES. Is it too late even to try to understand Joe Biden’s calling a woman a “lying dog-faced pony soldier,” or is this nothing but an absurd epitaph on a dead political campaign? “I think Biden believes he’s lovable, and he can kid in a silly way and people will know it’s all in good fun. I don’t know why he thinks he can swing around so freely when he’s trying to gain the deep trust needed to be President, but I don’t know why anyone pushing 80 thinks he can be President or why a grown man in politics thinks he can nuzzle and sniff at the hair of young girls other than to think he thinks he’s Joe and everybody knows Joe. Joe is Joe.”

Plus: “The only thing I’ll add to that is I have and will have a special problem with ‘dog-faced’ until Roseanne Barr is uncanceled. The greatest female comedian of all time was banished from her #1 TV show — had it snatched away and her brilliant character killed even after the actress was booted out — for the sin of comparing a woman to an animal. I was just looking at Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar speech, where he said, ‘I think that’s when we’re at our best: when we support each other. Not when we cancel each other out for our past mistakes.'” That’s different because reasons.

MAXIMUM DIVERSITY! Sadiq Khan Reveals “Diversity in Advertising” Winner; Features Zero White People.

HISTORY: ZZ Top played its first show together 50 years ago. My first big-venue rock concert — not counting Bob Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival when I was 4 — was a ZZ Topp show opened by The Outlaws in 1975.

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