#HIMTOO? Kamala Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff ‘forcefully slapped ex-girlfriend for flirting with another man’ and was accused of ‘causing’ nanny mistress’s miscarriage during their affair.

As Ed Morrissey writes, “Well, the oppo-research files have opened up right on time. I usually take any such extraordinary claims this close to an election with skepticism, but then again, both Hunter’s laptop and the Access Hollywood tape turned out to be on the level. Will this penetrate into mainstream American media outlets? And will ‘Jane’ come forward to refute or corroborate these accounts? Until the latter happens, I’d advise caution.”

Related:

And:

As to the likely silence of the DNC-MSM regarding the above Daily Mail story, as John Nolte likes to say, Democrats sure got it good:

Doug Emhoff timeline:

2009: Impregnated his chiId's nanny
2012: Physically assauIts his girlfriend
2023: Lectures us on toxic masculinity
2024: Hailed for redefining masculinity pic.twitter.com/Ow18xQpHlI

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 2, 2024

COLOR ME UNSURPRISED: Study suggests harmful diagnostic errors may occur in 1 in every 14 general medical hospital patients.

JIM GERAGHTY: Tim Walz Loses His Bubble Wrap.

On the menu today: J. D. Vance fans, last night your man won his own personal Super Bowl. Tim Walz fans, your guy may not be ready for the major leagues. The good news for the Minnesota governor is that there’s not a single smudge on any of his timepieces, and he can clearly see what time it is . . . because Vance absolutely cleaned his clock.

Walz Seemed Small on the Big Stage, and He Knew It

Being a Democratic statewide official in a deep-blue state ranks among the easiest jobs in America. Once you’ve won your primary — which can be hard fought and nasty — you’ve got that job until you choose to retire, or until you are term-limited out. It’s extremely unlikely you’ll lose a subsequent primary, because while neither party tosses out incumbents much, Democrats almost never do it. (That’s usually the case down ticket as well; of the 2,214 Democratic state legislators who ran for reelection this year, 98.5 percent won their primaries.)

What’s more, your state’s media will often be a wind at your back. Your gaffes will rarely matter; scandals, mistakes, and policy failures will be explained away; you’ll always have the fundraising advantage unless you’re challenged by a self-funding billionaire; and no matter how bad you are, the biggest names in your state’s media world will always endorse you for reelection. What are they going to do, vote for a Republican?

Democratic statewide officials in deep-blue states lose their jobs so rarely, they might as well have tenure. They play the game of politics on easy mode.

* * * * * * * * *

That CNN report that Walz was nervous might not have been expectation-setting spin after all.

The Minnesota governor looked like a guy who had no expectation of being on a nationally televised debate stage three months ago, and who realized early in the night that the moment was too big for him. His default facial expression is one of worry; he does not have a commanding presence. He looked down to take notes so often, someone on social media asked if he was working on a crossword puzzle.

Perhaps if most journalists weren’t Democratic Party operatives with bylines, they would have fewer not ready for primetime politicians. But then again, don’t discount the person who advances them to the big leagues:

“GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY,” THE WISE MAN ONCE SAID: Politicians Are Hindering Rescue Efforts in North Carolina, and One Rescuer Has Had Enough.

HMM: GLP-1 weight-loss meds might interfere with endoscopy, colonoscopy.

KAMALA SURE CAN PICK ‘EM: Doug Emhoff accused of ‘forcefully slapping’ NYC girlfriend for flirting with another man at ritzy gala in 2012: report. “All three friends said that Jane tried to leave following the assault, but that Emhoff forced his way into the cab with her, according to the Daily Mail.”

This is after he knocked up the nanny in his first marriage. Him and Tim Walz. Great choices.

A FRIEND: “IT’S LIKE THE JAPANESE TURNING OUT TO CELEBRATE PEARL HARBOR.”

Check the date.

Absolute psychopaths. pic.twitter.com/sr8Q7NAwZL

— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) October 2, 2024

RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Divorced Afghan child brides forced to return to former husbands under Taliban rule.

BIG APPLE CONTINUES TO ROT: “New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the elected official who would replace Mayor Eric Adams if he resigns, accepted political contributions from a businessman who is accused of orchestrating illegal donations to Adams.”

Earlier this year, Williams’s re-election campaign received a total of $5,000 in donations from Brooklyn construction contractor Tolib Mansurov and two of his company’s employees, city campaign finance records show.

A federal indictment unsealed last week against Adams alleges that Mansurov illegally reimbursed four of his employees who each donated $2,000 to Adams 2021 mayoral campaign. Mansurov, who also directly contributed $2,000 to the mayor’s 2021 campaign, later received favors from Adams, prosecutors said.

The contractor, an Uzbek American, got help from Adams and his assistants in arranging events celebrating the national heritage of his ethnic community, according to prosecutors. The mayor also helped to resolve a stop-work order that the city Buildings Department had imposed on one of Mansurov’s building projects, according to the indictment. Records show Mansurov also donated $1,000 to Adams’ re-election campaign last year.

Mansurov is referred to only as Businessman-4 in the Adams indictment and hasn’t been charged with wrongdoing. He didn’t respond to requests for comment. State and city campaign finance records show he has only donated to the campaigns of Adams and Williams.

As Glenn wrote yesterday in the New York Post, “Adams isn’t even the tip of the iceberg: He’s more like one of the little frozen chunks floating around it. Because in truth, American politics, all the way to the top, is riddled with corruption and foreign cash on a scale that dwarfs Hizzoner’s alleged misdeeds.”

UPDATE: Seen on Facebook:

WATCH: Kamala Completely Botched Her First Public Statement About Iran Attacking Israel.

NO ONE IS COMING, IT’S UP TO US.

Via Chris Bray, who notes: “While serious military assets sit unused and nearby, well into the disaster, little groups of neighbors are going hard at the problem. . . . No one in the American green zone knows what to begin discussing, much less doing. Wars metastasizing, ports closed, communities flooded. Did Margaret Brennan and Norah What’s-her-name appear to notice any of that? Friends and neighbors will have to do.”

And “the American green zone?” Harsh, but fair.

LESLIE EASTMAN: Who Should We Punish for the Fake Science Poisoning our Children’s Futures?

ANXIETY AS A LUXURY GOOD:

Kamala Harris’ campaign has spent $3.8 million on private planes even though the VP often talks about “climate anxiety” and how it shapes her life. We guess the anxiety isn’t so bad if private jets are involved: https://t.co/0iHKEN4NJ4

— Power The Future (@powerthefuture) October 1, 2024

From the linked article: “The NLM estimates that fuel use per passenger on private flights varies, ‘but [is] estimated to be on the order of 10 to 20 times higher than the average fuel use per passenger hour for a commercial flight.'”

READER FAVORITE: Etekcity Camping Lanterns for Power Outages 4 Pack. #CommissionEarned

WELL BLESS HER HEART: Journo Threatened by Flight Attendant Saying ‘Have a Blessed Night.’

THIS STORY HAS GOTTEN LOST IN THE SHUFFLE BUT IT COULD PROVE A BIGGIE: A tiny town just got slammed by Helene. It could massively disrupt the tech industry.

Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, the community of Spruce Pine, population 2,194, is known for its hiking and local artists. It’s also America’s sole source of high-purity quartz. Helene dumped more than 2 feet of rain on the town, destroying roads, shops and cutting power and water.

But its reach will likely be felt far beyond the small community.

Semiconductors are the brains of every computer-chip-enabled device. Solar panels are a key part of the global push to combat climate change. To make both semiconductors and solar panels, companies need crucibles and other equipment that can withstand extraordinarily high heat and be kept absolutely clean.

One material fits the bill: quartz. Pure quartz.

Quartz that comes, overwhelmingly, from Spruce Pine.

“As far as we know, there’s only a few places in the world that have ultra-high-quality quartz,” according to Ed Conway, author of Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization. Russia and Brazil also supply high-quality quartz, he says, but “Spruce Pine has far and away the [largest amount] and highest quality.”

Developing…

#SCIENCE: UConn professor: ‘No such thing as a natural disaster,’ it’s racism and racist policies.

TIMMY GOT ISSUES. Here, have a laff, courtesy of The Daily Caller: “Timmy Got Issues.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: JD Vance Did a Great Job Against Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan. “Vance has mastered every aspect of the political game very quickly. Despite all of the babysitting by the moderators, Walz looked like he was on the precipice of a panic attack all night.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Two more potentially anti-Semitic attacks happen at UMich as Jewish students think of safety measures.

Flashback: Jewish students, come here to the South — where you’ll be safe.

#JOURNALISM: Liberal Media Scream: Latinos like Trump because they ‘want to be white.’

HE CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF ALL THAT DELICIOUS PIZZA:

REPORTER: “Can you clarify what you meant when you said you became friends with school shooters?”

WALZ: 🦗🦗🦗

pic.twitter.com/HPXydExauD

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 2, 2024

Keeping Walz cocooned away from even the friendly press somehow failed to prepare him for much of anything — who knew?

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY (MOSCOW EDITION): Russia to raise defence budget by 25% to highest level on record.

The latest planned increase in spending will take Russia’s defence budget to a record 13.5tn rubles (£109bn) in 2025, according to draft budget documents published on Monday on the parliament’s website. That is about 3tn rubles more than was set aside for defence this year, which was the previous record.

Taken together, spending on defence and security will account for about 40% of Russia’s total government spending – or 41.5tn rubles in 2025.

The 2025 budget suggests Putin has embraced what economists have dubbed “military Keynesianism”, marked by a significant rise in military spending, which has fuelled the war in Ukraine, spurred a consumer spending boom and driven up inflation.

Related: Russia’s Central Bank Raises Rates to 19% as Inflation Ticks Up. “Given that so much of the spending is being directed by the state, which is less responsive to higher borrowing costs, analysts fear interest rate rises may not be an effective tool against inflation.”

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Now Comes Israel’s Vengeance — But Will They Go Full Old Testament? “While all options are on the table, Israeli officials indicated that their first targets would be Iran’s oil facilities, air defense systems, and targeted assassinations. Iran’s nuclear program will reportedly remain safe unless Iran attacks again.”

DEBATE FALLOUT: