OH:

Like most of Biden’s actions, it was sound and fury signifying nothing — at best.

SKYNET SMILES: The Netherlands Has Deployed NATO’s First Killer Robot Ground Vehicles.

IT’S EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK: SpaceX announces Starlink Internet service on airplanes.

FORMER RNC CHAIR MICHAEL STEELE CALLS MAGA REPUBLICANS “LICE, FLEAS, AND BLOOD-SUCKING TICKS.”

As you can tell from the timeline of his leadership of the Republican Party, he is firmly aligned with the George W. Bush wing of the Party, as is Nicole Wallace, who worked for President Bush. As a former supporter of Bush I regret my two votes for him immensely.

Steele was not a particularly popular or effective Chair of the Party, having only won his race for the Chairmanship on the 6th ballot. Once in office he promptly started a war with Rush Limbaugh, attacking him as using “ugly” and “incendiary” rhetoric. Limbaugh won that battle and Steele apologized.

Steele never really recovered from his tiff with Limbaugh and despite running for reelection for Chair, he was ejected from the position. Deservedly so.

Ever since Steele has held a grudge, particularly exacerbated by the ascendance of Trump and the MAGA movement. His comments yesterday were in line with his previously expressed opinions, but crossed a line into dehumanizing rhetoric that is disqualifying for any commentator. He is not supposed to be an outrageous Twitter warrior using “ugly” and “incendiary” rhetoric, but rather portrays himself as a representative of Republicans from another era.

Comparing human beings to “lice, fleas, and blood-sucking ticks” has a rather nasty history. I hesitate to compare anybody to the Nazis because it is so rarely true, but this is exactly the same rhetorical move that Hitler used to “other” the Jews. Insects are to be exterminated, not reasoned with or afforded human rights. Steele knows this as well as any educated human being, and yet chose this rhetoric in a moment of clarity on national TV, with a TV news person nodding along.

We’ve been here before. Since Steele sat passively in 2009 while then-CNN host D. L. Hughley said that John McCain supporters ‘literally look like Nazi Germany,’ which Republicans does he support?

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Over One Million Americans Are Rationing Insulin.

OR IT’S A CORRELATION/CAUSATION THING: Neighborhood parks, private gardens could improve life spans in poor areas.

WELL, THERE ARE THE DEAD ONES:

I’M NOT GETTING COCKY BUT I AM FEELING BETTER ABOUT ARIZONA: Kari Lake In Lead For Arizona Gov, Masters Trails Kelly By One Point For Senate.

STAY WARM: Portable Electric Space Heater with Thermostat. #CommissionEarned (Bumped)

WITH DNC IN MIND, CITY BANS CARRYING URINE, FECES: VW climate protesters demand bowl to ‘urinate and defecate’ after gluing themselves to floor.

Gianluca Grimalda, a researcher with the Kiel Institute think tank and member of climate protest group Scientist Rebellion, posted on Twitter on Wednesday that 15 people had “occupied the Porsche pavilion” at the Autostadt museum adjoining the carmaker’s factory in Wolfsburg.

“Nine of us glued to the floor and some of us on hunger strike until our demands to decarbonise the German transport sector are met,” he wrote.

“[Volkswagen] told us that they supported our right to protest, but they refused our request to provide us with a bowl to urinate and defecate in a decent manner while we are glued, and have turned off the heating.”

And to think, the Germans were pioneers in environmentalism:

Earlier: Joel Kotkin: Environmentalism is a Fundamentalist Religion.

(Classical reference in headline.)

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): What did environmentalists use before floors and bowls? Toilets!

NUKE THE FBI: Former FBI Official Will Testify About White House Pressure to Inflate Domestic Extremism Numbers.

ROGER KIMBALL: The Indispensable Country. “Despite of President Biden’s blunders the United States has not fallen into irreversible decline. It remains the lynch pin and economic motor of the free world and a bulwark against rising tyrannies in China and elsewhere.”

THAT WAS FAST: UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announces resignation. “Truss, who only became prime minister on Sept. 6, will be the shortest serving prime minister in modern political history.”

More here: “Who will succeed her? Well, one Tory MP claimed that Boris Johnson should return, as he is the only one with a mandate, adding that ‘it’ll look better than having three different PMs.’ Others are pushing Rishi Sunak, Boris’s chancellor who came runner-up to Truss in the last leadership election, believing that he is the only candidate that can sort out the economy.”

IT’S THOSE DANG GAS PRICES BIDEN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT ARE KILLING DEM CHANCES: Gasoline Prices Are Stubbornly High in Election Swing States. “Nevada and Arizona — swing states with competitive Senate races — are among those grappling with the highest gasoline prices in the country. More than 40% of competitive races rated by Cook Political Report are in states seeing the highest increases in pump prices compared with the 2020 election.”

More: “As we have noted too many times to remember, the problem is not a lack of crude oil but a lack of refining capacity… ‘U.S. policy pushing away from oil consumption has led to refinery transitions to renewables, or outright closures. This trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic,’ and then accelerated further upon Biden’s inauguration.”

Related:

Read the whole thread.

FIGHT THE POWER: Anti-Xi Jinping Posters Are Spreading in China via AirDrop.

SURELY THIS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL: I mean, how could it be otherwise when Dr. Clifford Chen, whose most famous patient is Pennsylvania Democratic Senatorial Candidate John Fetterman, releases a letter that claims the latter’s health has “significantly improved” just a couple of weeks before election day.

DEMS QUIET ABOUT BIDEN’S LATEST SPR WITHDRAWAL: No surprise that Republicans on Capitol Hill are blasting away at President Joe Biden’s latest withdrawal of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). What is surprising is how few Democrats are cheering the move.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Biden’s Housing Market Bomb: Home Sales Plummet in Record September Drop.

STAY WARMER: Bedsure Heated Blanket Electric Throw. #CommissionEarned

JOE BIDEN’S AMERICA: Inflation is pushing half of Americans to consider second jobs. “The survey of more than 1,000 adults with full-time jobs found that 38% have looked for a second job, while another 14% plan to do so, the company said.”

SHAMELESS INSTITUTIONAL RACISM ON DISPLAY: Catholic university hosts ‘White Accountability Group.’

My question is always who’s entitled to demand this ‘accountability’ from me? And the answer is: No one, and especially not university commies, who have plenty of things to be accountable for on their own.

NEWS YOU CAN USE? How to Avoid Getting Arrested for Breaking the Hijab Law in Iran While Giving Authorities the Finger.

THEY’RE ALL ABOUT “DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION” UNTIL IT MIGHT DILUTE THEIR POWER ON THEIR OWN TURF: Leftist professors take to Twitter to condemn Ben Sasse recommendation.

Personally, I think we need a higher education establishment that looks like America. That will require some sacrifices by the current privileged class, but so be it. No justice, no peace!

IF ONLY WE COULD SHED CHIEF EXECUTIVES SO EASILY: Liz Truss Resigns as UK Prime Minister.

If Boris Johnson really does come back in a “shock return,” I’m going to think the wily old bastard set this whole thing up. Letting his enemies tear themselves apart while he vacations in the Caribbean seems very Boris.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: ‘Election Deniers’ Are Destroying the Dems’ False Narrative Machine. “Translation: How dare the hoi polloi be more concerned about their finances than about the manufactured temper tantrum we told them is important!“