REOPEN SOCIETY AND SHUT DOWN MORAL NARCISSISM: Fauci’s home office features photos of himself, his own bobblehead.
(Classical reference in headline.)
Archive for 2022
January 20, 2022
NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Ex-Labor Secretary Robert Reich says Democrats should assault Sinema over filibuster stance in deleted tweet. “National Review’s Charles Cooke said Reich’s remark was tantamount to saying Sinema ‘must be slapped around by her party if she fails to follow the demands of a white man.’ ‘No big deal,’ tweeted radio host Larry O’Connor. ‘Just Democrat/Socialist icon [Robert Reich] encouraging violence against a female senator who didn’t vote the way he wanted.’”
Related: What happens when a congressman threatens a colleague with violence?
In March 2010, 10 months before the shooting, former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin had posted a map of 20 congressional districts she and John McCain won in 2008 but whose representatives in Congress had voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act. The map marked each district with a set of crosshairs. Palin promoted the map by tweeting “Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD.” One of those crosshairs targeted Gabby.
Although no direct connection was ever established between Palin’s map and Gabby’s shooting, surely Palin’s violent rhetoric contributed to a climate of political violence in America in which a delusional man would mark Gabby for assassination. Gabby herself had expressed concern about Palin’s map.
Just as surely, Palin’s inflammatory post was a step toward increasingly violent political rhetoric on the way to Donald Trump and the insurrection of 6 January.
—Robert Reich, The Grauniad, November 16, 2021.
IT’S A SHORT LINE FROM “OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY” TO “OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES”: Joe Biden ‘Makes No Apologies For’ Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal.
K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: From Mask Mandates to Omicron, Ed Secretary Cardona Finishes a ‘Very, Very Difficult’ First Year.
Control-F “Terrorist” brings up zero results, curiously: Senators Demand Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Explain Role in Letter That Called Parents Domestic Terrorists.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Radian announces plans to build one of the holy grails of spaceflight. “A Washington-state based aerospace company has exited stealth mode by announcing plans to develop one of the holy grails of spaceflight—a single-stage-to-orbit space plane. Radian Aerospace said it is deep into the design of an airplane-like vehicle that could take off from a runway, ignite its rocket engines, spend time in orbit, and then return to Earth and land on a runway.”
REALCLEARINVESTIGATIONS: Durham vs. Horowitz: Tension Over Truth and Consequences Grips the FBI’s Trump-Russia Reckoning. “As he documents the role of Hillary Clinton’s campaign in generating false allegations of Trump-Russia collusion, Special Counsel John Durham has also previewed a challenge to the FBI’s claims about how and why its counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign began. At stake is the completeness of the official reckoning within the U.S. government over the Russiagate scandal – and whether there will be an accounting commensurate with the offense: the abuse of the nation’s highest law enforcement and intelligence powers to damage an opposition presidential candidate turned president, at the behest of his opponent from the governing party he defeated.”
IT’S DIFFERENT WHEN THEY QUESTION THE LEGITIMACY OF AN ELECTION: Will the 2022 Midterms Be Legitimate? Joe Biden Says ‘It All Depends.’
I eagerly look forward to the press calling out the president for this assault on our democracy.
AS CROMWELL TOLD THE LONG PARLIAMENT: That select committee House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol has issued 84 subpoenas, only eight of which actually relate to the events of that day, according to The Federalist’s Tristan Justice.
“Born in the ashes of a 9/11-style commission blocked by Republicans when Democrats refused a genuine investigation of violence on Capitol Hill, Pelosi’s Select Committee on Jan. 6 has remained faithful to its central purpose. That purpose is seeking retribution against political dissidents while offering a smokescreen to Pelosi’s own culpability in her failures to reinforce Capitol security,” Justice explains.
Were he around to witness these events today, Cromwell might well voice something along this line: “You are no investigators; I say you are no legitimate inquiry; begone, and give place to honest men.”
HOW MANY BOOSTERS TO AVOID THIS ONE? Hey folks, there’s an exciting new Flu Manchu side effect: ‘agonizing penis pain.’
He and his administration were elected to “shut down” a virus that he has for the most part ignored since July, when he declared “masked or vaxxed” and then stuck his foot in a hole in Afghanistan. His administration handlers ensured that the defining image from the Kabul catastrophe was footage of him turning his back to the American people, as he refused to answer questions about the manner of the troops’ withdrawal. We were told that Joe Biden was elected because of his empathy and competence. The commentators who told us that have since learned that he has neither quality.
Joe Biden is not suddenly going to become coherent when he speaks to the press. He can’t make Vladimir Putin back down by whipping out his aviators and heading to the nearest ice cream parlor. The pundits who bought the gingerly grandpa act may be praying that he can capture any fleeting fairy dust bestowed upon him by Barack Obama’s pop-culture prowess. But that won’t transform Biden into someone able to “shut down the virus.”
David Brooks thinks Biden needs to “begin revamping his presidency.” “Jennifer Rubin claims that “Biden needs a reset.” Frankly, any paid pundit begging for Biden to become the fantastical wise elder statesman they fantasized about should keep their thoughts to themselves. The rest of us should ignore their “expertise” when making any serious assessment of this defeated old man’s tenure.
Related: The ‘cabal’ that bragged of foisting Joe Biden on us must answer for his failed presidency.
I REMEMBER WHEN HIGHER EDUCATION WAS DEFENDED AS PRODUCING BETTER CITIZENS: Penn State professor: Maybe masked drunk drivers should speed through ‘pro-covid’ neighborhoods.
As taxpayers become increasingly unwilling to support this sort of thing, we’re told that it’s because they’re “anti-intellectual.”
YES. NEXT SOFTBALL QUESTION? Biden Calls from a List of Reporters at Press Conference, Is He Trying to Avoid Tough Questions?
THE CREEPY, AUTHORITARIAN WORLD OF HIGHER EDUCATION: Students describe life on campus under ‘health surveillance.’ It’s creepy and authoritarian, but also incompetent and risible.
STILL POPULAR: LED Desk Lamp Table Lamp Reading Lamp with USB Charging Port. #CommissionEarned
IF UNIVERSITIES ARE GOING TO START FIRING PROFESSORS WHO SAY THINGS THAT UPSET OTHERS, I’VE GOT A LIST: Academic Freedom Alliance Letter to the University of Pennsylvania.
And if Penn finds the idea of “too many Asians” offensive, maybe it needs to have a word with its admissions department.
THIS STORY WAS MORE AN INDICATION OF THE PRESS’S HOPES: Fmr. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien Pours Cold Water on Gossip About Split Between Former President Trump & Governor DeSantis.
He’s not very happy with the “minor incursion” remark from Biden, either.
CHANGE: Starbucks Drops COVID Vaccine and Testing Requirements for Employees. “The coffee chain told its staff of 228,000 that they are no longer required to be fully vaccinated or receive weekly testing. . . . The policy change follows the Supreme Court’s decision last week to block the Biden’s administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers. This order would have required companies with more than 100 workers to ensure that employees are either vaccinated against COVID, or wear a mask and be tested on a weekly basis.”
GOOD TIMING: On this day in 1981, approximately 20 minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, Iran released the 52 American hostages it had been holding for over a year. That same day, the United States “unfroze” $8 billion in Iranian assets.
PJ MEDIA VIP ROUNDUP: Don’t forget that VODKAPUNDIT promo code if you’ve been thinking of joining us.
Cameron Arcand: Why the Arizona Governor’s Race Is Important… and Amazingly Unusual. “While the Democrats will likely nominate Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the Republicans are dealing with a much more complicated battle to become Gov. Doug Ducey’s successor”
Athena Thorne: It’s Time to Re-Institutionalize the Dangerous Mentally Ill. “There is an ever-increasing supply of violent criminals to take advantage of the path the left has cleared for them to prey upon citizens. While this is a vast, multi-faceted problem with no quick and easy solution, one way to help would be to reduce the number of potential murderers, rapists, and attackers. And one way to do this is to return to the common-sense public policy of separating from society those who pose a threat to themselves and others.”
Yours Truly: Ranking the Bond Movies: Part 001 (Bonds, James Bonds). “The Bond movie franchise turns a respectable 60 years old in 2022, and with the …special… nature of the new No Time to Die — no spoilers! — I’m going to rank the Bond movies from best to worst in a 007-part series.”
THE MORE THEY TALK ABOUT DIVERSITY, THE MORE THEY PRACTICE CONFORMITY: From Hiring to Admissions, Universities Seek Ideological Conformity in Applicants.
And the more they talk about “inclusion” the more they try to isolate and exclude those who are different.
UPDATE: From a friend: “As I’ve noted many times, the people who currently insist that CRT is just an obscure method of thinking from advanced law school seminars are the same people who also demand statements expressing a commitment to CRT principles as a condition of hiring for a faculty job in the astronomy, economics, math, biology, or engineering departments. Increasingly, they are also demanding the same for college admissions in both undergrad and grad school.”
THEN A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL LOSE THE SOURCE OF MEANING IN THEIR LIVES: If Omicron Creates Herd Immunity, Then What?
LEGALLY SANCTIONED LAWLESSNESS: Soros-Funded Group Gets $158M Government Contract to Help Illegal Immigrants Avoid Deportation.