BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: CNN Freelance Journalist Worked With, Supported Hamas.
Archive for 2024
July 3, 2024
HERE WE GO AGAIN? Home Affordability in the US Sinks to Lowest Point Since 2007. “The costs of a typical home — including mortgage payments, property insurance and taxes — consumed 35.1% of the average wage in the second quarter, the highest share since 2007 and up from 32.1% a year earlier, according to a new report from Attom.”
SLOWLY, THEN SUDDENLY: THE SAD STORY OF JOE BIDEN’S DECLINE.
“Gradually and then suddenly” is the story of Joe Biden’s physical and cognitive decline. “Gradually and then suddenly” is how his army of enablers in the media, the Democratic Party and the donor base abandoned his defense. “Gradually and then suddenly” is how he gifted his party and his country with a full-scale political crisis, centered on a president who no longer appears fit for office and whose vice president (and presumptive successor) is widely disliked.
Years ago, Ronald Reagan wrote, elegiacally, that the sun was setting on his life. But by then, he was a former president, living in retirement on his ranch. He was not occupying the Oval Office, holding down the most powerful and demanding job on earth.
Joe Biden is. The public no longer thinks he is fit to do that job. They reached that firm conclusion after watching the debate Thursday night and then hearing nothing from Biden’s allies to convince them otherwise. Whatever voters think of Biden’s performance for the last three-plus years, they simply don’t think he can continue. They are certain he won’t last another term and wonder if he will make it to the end of this one. They didn’t vote for the country to be governed by his staff.
That situation is a tragedy for Joe and his family and a source of anguish for his friends. He deserves our sympathy. But what doesn’t deserve sympathy is Joe’s decision, backed by his family and close associates, that he should stay in the race and remain on the job.
That decision affects all Americans. We depend on the president to lead the country and keep us safe in a dangerous world. That’s why Joe Biden’s decline goes far beyond a family tragedy. It’s a national tragedy and a palpable danger.
The debate made that danger conspicuous, unavoidable and indelible.
The “indelible” part is devastating politically. Most voters think, quite rightly, that the president is impaired, not temporarily but permanently. He may have good days and bad days, but he didn’t just have one bad night, as his defenders say. It was a bad night, certainly, but it was more than that. Joe Biden is visibly frail and forgetful, suffering long-term decline.
That impression has taken hold over the past few days and may already be set in concrete. If Joe cannot break it — a nearly impossible task — then he is doomed politically. Since he is currently atop the Democratic ticket, his fate will doom a lot of down-ballot contests as well.
And speaking of down-ballot, Joe is dooming those who chose to spend the last five years covering up for him:
Now that all the liberal journalists are claiming they didn't try to cover up Biden's deteriorating mental condition, here's a supercut of them claiming any and all damaging videos of Biden are fake and/or deceptively edited. pic.twitter.com/XI5zeTGih5
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 3, 2024
COLOR ME UNDERWHELMED: FDA approves new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. “In clinical trials, donanemab (Kisunla) modestly slowed the pace of thinking declines among patients in the early stages of the memory-robbing disease. But it also carried significant safety risks, including swelling and bleeding in the brain.”
Drugs for clearing amyloid plaques seem iffy, given the shaky foundation for amyloid plaques as a cause.
REPORT: BIDEN TELLS KEY ALLY HE IS CONSIDERING DROPPING OUT.
[A] blistering new poll for President Joe Biden shows him slipping behind Trump in nearly every battleground state.
And a new Democrat frontrunner replacement for Biden has emerged – Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the United States, currently polls with a massive 50-39 lead over former President Trump.
The Democratic revolt in the House is starting as three sitting lawmakers shocked the party by either telling Biden to drop out or stating he’s already lost the election to Donald Trump. And Biden will meet with Democrat governors later today at the White House to try and reassure them.
* * * * * * * *
Another report states the Biden ally said it’s ‘only a matter of time’ until he drops out.
But Biden’s Deputy spokesperson Andrew Bates insisted in a post on X moments after the article went live that the reporting is ‘absolutely false.’ He complained the NYT only gave the team seven minutes to reply to a request for comment.
That claim is absolutely false. If the New York Times had provided us with more than 7 minutes to comment we would have told them so. https://t.co/SRTYIVTy7v
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) July 3, 2024
Oh how the tide has turned:
GOP comms staffers watching Dem flacks cry about a short deadline https://t.co/0DaF1tJCeE pic.twitter.com/N0fMkgoJMl
— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) July 3, 2024
CNN joins the dog pile:
#BREAKING: CNN confirms The New York Times story that Biden knows his reelection campaign may not be salvageable if he doesn't show improvement and contrition in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/JykWdpH0Xc
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 3, 2024
“The Comedy Continues,” John Hinderaker writes:
The White House denies the Times report.
This is an instance of a totally discretionary “news” story. The Times ran it, and the “ally” presumably leaked it, and maybe spun it, as part of an effort to drive Biden out of the race.
For now, we can just enjoy the Democrats’ disarray. They deserve everything they are getting, after gaslighting the rest of us for the last four years.
Meanwhile, at the Drudge Report today:
Or as America’s Newspaper of Record notes, deploying a classical reference: Report: Kamala About To Unburden Herself From What Has Been.
I LIKE THE CUT OF HIS JIB: Was This President Trump’s Ballsiest Play Ever?
NATE SILVER: Biden is probably in trouble. Here’s how to replace him.
I’m going to do something stupid: not tell you what I think should happen with Biden — that’s covered by the Times story — but offer a prediction of what I think will happen.
The reason this is stupid is because it’s mostly up to one man: Biden. If we’re being extremely literal, the decision technically isn’t Biden’s alone.2 But for all practical purposes, it comes down to the choices of what is probably a very narrow circle of family and advisors — and ultimately to Biden himself. There isn’t any good way to build a formal model of Biden’s thought process.
But by reading this newsletter, I suppose I think you’re indulging me to articulate predictions that will quite possibly be wrong — but where I think I have one or two insights that might be worthwhile. Even if that means people will screencap this and throw it back in my face later — which they will.
And if I had to bet, I’d bet against Biden being the Democratic nominee on Nov. 5.
Will Collier pointed out on Twitter X that Biden’s decision “will probably come down to Jill and Hunter… and they can be bought.”
That’s true enough in Hunter’s case — relatively cheaply, too. But it’s long seemed like the thing Jill wants, she can only get while Biden remains president.
None of this is possible to predict, of course, so stay tuned.
GREAT MOMENTS IN DISPASSIONATE OBJECTIVITY: Journalists: Don’t Blame Us, We Were Just Following Orders.
Read between the lines, and you get: if we cover this story, we help Republicans and piss off the Democrats, and we really really hate the idea of helping Republicans and can’t afford to piss off our buddies in the Democrat Party, especially those in the White House.
It’s the same argument made for why schools needed to be closed during the pandemic–Trump wanted them reopened, and we couldn’t have that.
I don't think you can put it any better than this. But remember that every time this stuff happens you have reporters on here going about their business with a straight face. https://t.co/cLEFAvCKjo
— Joe Gabriel Simonson (@SaysSimonson) July 3, 2024
How far we have fallen from the argument that the press is the vital “fourth estate” that needs to “hold politicians accountable.” Now we are told that journalists have a duty to harm Republicans and to help Democrats, and more importantly that even those imperatives is not to piss off the Democrats.
A motto followed by the ultimate Democratic Party operative with a byline:
It’s a shame that this knowledge fell to Carl Bernstein last year, rather than to, say, a journalist who had a reputation for following a small lead and uncovering the terrible truth it yielded irrespective of what it did to the president. https://t.co/jpWP8ijyUF
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) July 3, 2024
DEM HACK INTERVIEWS HACKING DEM: Joe Biden To Sit Down With ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos For First Post-Debate TV Interview. “Interestingly, despite the pleas from some of Biden’s most loyal supporters, the president’s network interview will not be live.”
Surprised?
A NEW DAILY VODKAPUNDIT FEATURE: Biden Campaign Collapse Tracker: Capitol Hill Blues.
Welcome to the Biden Campaign Collapse Tracker, a new daily (ish?) feature that will last every bit as long as Presidentish Joe Biden’s reelection campaign does — so check back tomorrow because, like Joe, it might still be here.
I kid, of course — I’m still on the side that believes that Biden will see it through to the bitter end. But this is a fast-moving game where everything can change in a hurry.
Let’s get started before everything changes again with the focus today on the palace intrigue coming from Capitol Hill.
Much more at the link.
READER FAVORITE: Callaway Golf 300 Pro Laser Rangefinder. #CommissionEarned
I’L BELIEVE THERE’S A CLIMATE CRISIS WHEN THE PEOPLE TELLING ME THERE’S A CLIMATE CRISIS START ACTING LIKE THERE’S A CLIMATE CRISIS: Google’s carbon emissions surge nearly 50% due to AI energy demand.
Google’s emissions surged nearly 50% compared to 2019, the company said Tuesday in its 2024 environmental report, marking a notable setback in its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030.
Google’s emissions also increased 13% year over year in 2023, per the report.
The company attributed the emissions spike to an increase in data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions driven by rapid advancements in and demand for artificial intelligence. The report noted that the company’s total data center electricity consumption grew 17% in 2023.
The impact of AI on electricity demand is well documented. Electricity demand is forecast to grow as much as 20% by 2030, with AI data centers alone expected to add about 323 terawatt hours of electricity demand in the U.S., CNBC previously reported.
Also Google:
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: New ‘Anarchy U’ film showcases violence, secrecy at pro-Palestinian UCLA encampment.
HMM: Alvin Bragg’s Team Makes Surprising Announcement About Trump’s Sentencing. “On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office announced that despite contesting the motion to overturn the hush money verdict based on immunity claims, it would not oppose delaying former President Trump’s sentencing.”
RAPPER ON PROBATION MUST RUN ALL LYRICS BY U.S. GOVERNMENT IN ADVANCE. Not a rap fan myself, but replace “rapper” with “Trump” and “lyrics” with “speeches” and you may begin to see the potential issue here.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Lawsuit: Northwestern Law School Is Biased Against White Men In Faculty Hiring. “The suit argues that racial and gender preferences at Northwestern’s law school are widespread and constitute wholesale discrimination against better qualified White men.”
I HAD BEEN ASSURED THAT INFLATION WAS IMAGINARY, TRANSITORY, A HIGH-CLASS PROBLEM, AND OVER ALREADY: Fed’s Powell says US on ‘disinflationary path,’ but more data needed before rate cuts.
THEY’RE CONSTANTLY HAVING “COME TO JESUS” MOMENTS, BUT THEY NEVER ACTUALLY COME TO JESUS:
My profession having a “come to Jesus moment” about the decision many made to not try to get the story of Biden’s decline because they were afraid of being accused of helping to elect President Trump.
Team Biden played many of you easily because they knew your weak spot. https://t.co/R8jMvStsHm— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) July 2, 2024
ELIZABETH PRICE FOLEY & DAVID RIVKIN: America Depends on Presidential Immunity: Rejecting Trump’s claim would have meant a weaker government and a more politicized justice system.
n Federalist No. 70, Alexander Hamilton explained that the executive branch is embodied in a single person, the president, to avoid the “habitual feebleness and dilatoriness” inherent in multimember bodies like Congress. A unitary president ensures vigor in the exercise of executive power for the benefit of the nation. “A feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.”
The Trump opinion acknowledged these truths and built on Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982), which recognized presidential immunity from civil lawsuits predicated on official acts. In that case, Justice Lewis Powell wrote that such immunity is mandated by the president’s “unique position” and “rooted in the constitutional tradition of the separation of powers.” Lawsuits “could distract a President from his public duties, to the detriment of not only the President and his office but also the Nation that the Presidency was designed to serve.”
As Chief Justice John Roberts noted in Trump, that’s even more true of criminal charges. Given “the peculiar public opprobrium that attaches to criminal proceedings,” they “are plainly more likely to distort Presidential decisionmaking than the potential payment of civil damages.” Without immunity, “a President inclined to take one course of action based on the public interest may instead opt for another, apprehensive that criminal penalties may befall him upon his departure from office.” Immunity is therefore crucial to protect the independence of the executive branch. But the immunity the court recognized isn’t without limit.
The president enjoys absolute immunity for acts undertaken within his exclusive power, as granted by the Constitution. “Once it is determined that the President acted within the scope of his exclusive authority,” the court declared, “his discretion in exercising such authority cannot be subject to further judicial examination.” One of the allegations against Mr. Trump is that he attempted to convince the Justice Department to investigate election fraud. Because the president has ultimate authority over the Justice Department, the high court held that Mr. Trump is absolutely immune from charges relating to his interactions with it.
For acts “within the outer perimeter” of the president’s official responsibility, the justices held, there is “at least a presumptive immunity.” The president has a broad array of “discretionary responsibilities” that aren’t exclusively his. “At a minimum,” the court held, “the President must . . . be immune from prosecution for an official act unless the Government can show that applying a criminal prohibition to that act would pose ‘no dangers of intrusion on the authority and functions of the Executive Branch.’ ” . . .
At the same time, the justices made clear that the president has no immunity from prosecution for private acts. That’s consistent with Clinton v. Jones (1997), which denied Bill Clinton’s claim of immunity in a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment during his time as Arkansas governor. Presidents aren’t “above the law”; they are immune from civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution only for actions undertaken pursuant to the highest law, the Constitution.
The court also wisely rejected special counsel Jack Smith’s argument that determining whether acts are official and therefore immune can wait until after the trial. Presidential immunity “must be addressed at the outset of a proceeding,” the court held, because the mere “possibility of an extended proceeding” may reduce the presidency’s vigor. The justices observed that “we do not ordinarily decline to decide significant constitutional questions based on the Government’s promises of good faith.”
Without immunity and prompt pretrial determination thereof, former presidents could face years of court proceedings fighting novel charges predicated on public speeches; negotiations with state, foreign or congressional leaders; or executive orders lacking clear statutory authorization such as vaccine mandates, eviction moratoriums or actions opening the border. Clever prosecutors could conjure up indictments based on opaque criminal statutes such as conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., obstruction of justice, mail or wire fraud, racketeering, and false statements or misrepresentations.
If you don’t like this decision, amend the Constitution. Personally, I think any official immunities should come from legislation, not from judicial decisions. But that’s not the world we live in.
AT AMAZON, Shop the 4th of July Sale. #CommissionEarned
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Mainstream Media Hacks Will Have No Problem Pivoting Back to Biden “Dem officials and their flying monkeys in the mainstream media are usually on the same page, steadily murmuring their untruths in unison. Since last Thursday, they’ve been a drunk, dysfunctional family at a Thanksgiving dinner where the slobbering uncle tried to deep fry a frozen turkey.”