VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR DAILY INSANITY WRAP: Did Jack Dorsey Just Repudiate His Decision to Exile Trump from Twitter?

Insanity Wrap needs to know: When is an apology not an apology and when is regret not regret and why did Jack Dorsey even bother?

Answer: We got maybe two hours of sleep last night pondering that one, and still got nowhere with it.

Before we get to the sordid details, a quick preview of today’s Wrap.

• The Language Police are real, and they aren’t in the mood to talk
• Policing the crazies, Left v. Right
• Communist China gets the upper hand on… free speech

Bonus Sanity: Nope, none of that today, sorry.

And so much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.

WHEN THERE WASN’T EVEN ANY HOLLYWOOD: World’s oldest known cave painting found in Indonesia.

WELL, MAYBE NOT WORSE THAN YOU THINK: California Is Worse Than You Think.

For example, the California legislature in its progressive wisdom effectively decriminalized theft as long as thieves take less than $950 worth of merchandise, officially reducing such theft to a misdemeanor but in effect making it legal, since progressive California prosecutors don’t like to be bothered by petty criminals. In practice, that means consumer goods are much harder to find in California stores than one might experience elsewhere. For me, the difference was quite revealing, as I recently returned to Maryland after spending close to nine months in Sacramento.

When I go to the Walmart near my wife’s home, I find many things openly are on display in Maryland are behind locked cases in California. Furthermore, California’s draconian labor laws mean Walmart has fewer employees, so if I wish to purchase something I easily could buy in Maryland, I have to wait for a long time and often I just walk away because no one is available to open the glass case. Yet, even with these provisions, shoplifting losses for California retailers are enormous, and the state’s pro-theft laws have encouraged organized grab-and-run rings.

My progressive colleagues, like my philosophy professor friend, see no problem with such developments. To them, the real thieves are the capitalists, the retailers like Walmart which refuse to pay “living wages” to their employees, and, according to Senator Bernie Sanders, the capitalists have “been looting” Americans for years. Thus, the wave of theft in that state is a positive development, according to progressives.

Read the whole thing.

THE MOBBING OF A PORTLAND BOOKSTORE REMINDS US WHY FAHRENHEIT 451 WAS WRITTEN:

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury depicted a world in which firemen do not put out fires; they ignite them. In Bradury’s dystopian world, books have been outlawed, and it is the fire department’s job to go around burning them, with the eventual goal of eliminating books entirely from society. That way, the authorities reason, they can control peoples’ access to information. And by controlling what information people may access, they can control public opinion.

“You can’t build a house without nails and wood,” one character explains. “If you don’t want a house built, hide the nails and wood.”

“If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one,” the same character later says in defense of the society’s book-burning efforts. “Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it.”

Exit quote: “Of course, history’s most infamous book burners were the Nazis, who also sought to ‘win the debate’ through censorship. Antifa’s ‘anti-fascist’ credentials are not helped by adopting typically fascist tactics.”

THAT’S DIFFERENT, BECAUSE SHUT UP: When Mob Inciters Become Lions of the Left: An Aaron Sorkin film celebrates the Chicago Seven for plotting an attack on a party convention.

The Chicago Seven were countercultural heroes in the 1960s. They thumbed their noses through one of the country’s most notorious political trials, taunting the judge and making a mockery of the proceedings with flippant courtroom pranks. Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed a movie about them last year, “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” which will probably win a few Oscars.

One thing people forget about the Chicago Seven is that most of them were guilty. Jerry Rubin admitted as much later: “We wanted disruption. We planned it. . . . We were guilty as hell. Guilty as charged.”

The crime they were accused of was crossing state lines to incite a riot.

Well, if you’re a lefty you can be an unrepentant terror-bomber and get a cushy slot at a top university. But if you peacefully speak at a rally for the right, well, you get this: Law Prof John Eastman Retires From Chapman ‘Effective Immediately’ Amidst Uproar Over Speaking At Trump Rally Last Wednesday.

“Participating in a pro-Trump rally” is now a crime, apparently.

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: GOP Congresswoman: ‘I Will Be Filing Articles of Impeachment Against Joe Biden’ on January 21.

TO BE HONEST, I CAN’T BLAME THEM: Pot use rises over the course of the year, study says.

ANN ALTHOUSE: “Tom Cotton is getting a lot of things right.”

WELCOME TO THE BIDEN ERA: Weekly initial jobless claims soar to 965,000.

BYRON YORK: Assessing Trump’s disastrous end. “With the exception of the vaccine, everything Trump did after the election has led to catastrophe for himself, the Republican Party, and the nation. It did not have to be that way. Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election led to a series of events that cast a shadow on everything he accomplished before.”

Read the whole thing.

THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP: Libs are freaking out because of what GOP Rep. Gohmert said on the House floor … But he was quoting Nancy Pelosi verbatim.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Nanotechnology prevents premature birth in mouse studies.

THEY FOLLOW CHINA’S MODEL, NOT SWEDEN’S: Issues & Insights points out that for decades it was thought the Left sought to implement in the U.S. a government modeled on that of Sweden. But if 2020 made nothing else clear, it showed what the Left really wants is to implement the China model.

THE PURGE: Chrissie Mayr: NY Comics Making a ‘List’ of Pro-Trump Stand-Ups.

JOURNALISTS FALSELY ACCUSE LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX) OF CALLING FOR MORE ‘UPRISINGS’ AFTER HE QUOTES PELOSI: “‘Here’s a quote: ‘I just don’t even know why there aren’t more- why there aren’t uprisings all over the country and maybe there will be,’‘ Gohmert began. ‘Or, ‘Sadly, the domestic enemies of our voting system and honoring our Constitution are right at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with their allies in Congress.’ We were called ‘enemies’ of the state. Those were all quotes from our speaker.”

TRUMP’S SPEECH WAS NOT INCITEMENT TO IMMINENT LAWLESS ACTION. Not if words and precedent have any meaning. You don’t need to be a lawyer to figure this out – read it for yourself. The entire media and political apparatus (apparently including the interim dean of Cornell Law School) is determined to gaslight you into believing it was. But you are not the crazy one.

And, as a lawyer, I really hate to say this, but it’s now wildly apparent you can’t trust our legal system on anything even remotely political either. Don’t expect sanity from that quarter.

(Bumped, by Glenn).

YES:

IT’S “DANGEROUS” BECAUSE IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH PREVENTING VIOLENCE, BUT WAS A NAKED EXERCISE OF POLITICAL CENSORSHIP:

UPDATE: Maybe this is why he’s sounding nervous: Twitter and Facebook have seen $51 billion in combined market value wiped out since booting Trump from their platforms.

TO BE FAIR, IT WAS ONLY THE MOST RECENT ESTABLISHMENT ‘F-U’ TO HALF OF AMERICA: Trump Impeachment Was The Political Establishment’s “F-U” To Half Of America.

WELL, NOW THAT WE’VE ESTABLISHED THAT PLATFORMS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING THEIR USERS SAY, SHUT THEM DOWN LIKE PARLER: Facebook’s Sandberg deflected blame for Capitol riot, but new evidence shows how platform played role: Fliers and hashtags promoting the pro-Trump rally circulated on Facebook and Instagram in the days and weeks beforehand.

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has sought to deflect blame, noting the role of smaller, right-leaning services such as Parler and Gab. . . .

A growing body of evidence shows Facebook played a much larger role than Sandberg suggested.

The #StopTheSteal hashtag was widely used on the service until Monday, when a search on Facebook reported that 128,000 people were talking about it and in many cases using it to coordinate for the rally, according to Eric Feinberg, a vice president with the Coalition for a Safer Web.

Of course, back when this was America, “organizing a rally” was seen as, dare I say it, what democracy looks like.

And note that this Washington Post story suggests that it’s okay, and maybe even required, to stop people from organizing in support of their beliefs “when those beliefs are based on misinformation.” Our ruling class really wants us to be like China. (Bumped).

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:

● Shot:

Why did The Post single out these four outlets and not, say, Variety or CBS News? The three journalists said no explanation had been given, but they added that the reason did not have to be detailed. CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The Times are seen as liberal within the Murdoch empire, which is home to Fox News and Fox Business, cable networks that were instrumental to the rise of President Trump. To publish articles based on the work of those organizations would not fit The Post’s right-leaning identity, the journalists said.

—New York Post to Staff: Stay Away From CNN, MSNBC, New York Times and Washington Post, the New York Times, yesterday.

● Chaser: Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper? Of course it is.

—Daniel Okrent, the New York Times, July 25^th, 2004.

TOM COTTON SUGGESTS IT’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL TO IMPEACH TRUMP AFTER JANUARY 20:

Cotton quoted Abraham Lincoln, who said, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”

“As I said last summer when mob violence gripped our streets, so I say again about the mob violence at our nation’s Capitol last week: those persons responsible should be held accountable in the courts to the full extent of the law,” the senator began.

He suggested that a Senate impeachment trial for Trump after January 20 would involve similar lawlessness.

“The House has passed an article of impeachment against the president, but the Senate under its rules and precedents cannot start and conclude a fair trial before the president leaves office next week. Under these circumstances, the Senate lacks constitutional authority to conduct impeachment proceedings against a former president,” Cotton argued.

“The Founders designed the impeachment process as a way to remove officeholders from public office—not an inquest against private citizens. The Constitution presupposes an office from which an impeached officeholder can be removed,” the senator insisted.

At Power Line, Scott Johnson adds that as a result of Mitch McConnell’s decision and subsequent statement, “no Senate trial will be held and Trump cannot be removed until he has left office. Can the Senate convict and remove him once he has already left office? Former Fourth Circuit Judge Michael Luttig argues in this Washington Post column that a Senate trial would be unconstitutional.” Others disagree, as the ABA Journal notes. In any case, “What a wonderful way to kick off the Harris/Biden administration,” Johnson deadpans.

YAL FIRES ITS PRESIDENT AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT INVESTIGATION:

On Wednesday, the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) Board of Directors announced it had fired YAL President Cliff Maloney amid an ongoing sexual harassment and assault investigation. Over the weekend, multiple women had come forth with allegations against Maloney and the YAL board for either perpetrating or covering up sexual harassment and assault.

“Today, the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) Board of Directors terminated Cliff Maloney from employment with the organization effective immediately,” the board announced in a statement dated Tuesday but posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “Losing the confidence of the board, YAL staff, and key stakeholders makes the ability to lead impossible and this action necessary.”

YAL announced that “a comprehensive search for a new leader is underway” and that the investigation continues.

On Friday evening, Addyson Rae Garner, one of the accusers who compiled a list of allegations, went public and launched the hashtag #YALtoo.

“It’s atrocious that Cliff Maloney has spouted ‘personal responsibility’ rhetoric while flagrantly violating the consent and the trust of his staff,” Garner told PJ Media over the weekend.

Garner released a four-page statement detailing at least seven allegations and denouncing YAL for allegedly covering them up. “Rape. Sexual assault. Harassment. I’ve heard it all from girls coming out of YAL. The ones who speak up are brushed off, gaslit, or fired.”

Of Maloney, she said, “He fancies himself the godfather of the liberty movement, but instead of sending people to kneecap the goons who assaulted your daughter, he’ll promote the goons—and maybe help them run for office. Consent is supposed to be a cornerstone of libertarianism, but consent has been violated by staff members of Young Americans for Liberty for years with little to no repercussion.”

Read the whole thing.

BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN PROMISED A RETURN TO NORMALCY: As Biden’s Inaguration Looms, Nearly 8 Out Of 10 Fear Civil War.

WE’RE FINE HERE, THANKS: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants to Liberate Red States From Their Suppression.