BIDEN MIGHT BE SENILE BUT HE STILL KNOWS HOW TO SERVICE HIS MOST IMPORTANT CONSTITUENTS:

Presidents, and the number of individuals that they have of pardoned, commuted, or rescinded:

– John F Kennedy: 575

– Lyndon B Johnson: 1,187

– Richard Nixon: 926

– Gerald Ford: 409

– Jimmy Carter: 566 people + 200K Vietnam War draft evaders

– Ronald Reagan: 406

-…

— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) December 14, 2024

IF TRUE, THIS WOULD ACTUALLY BE PRETTY ON-BRAND FOR CNN: Prisoner CNN helped free from Syrian prison was actually notorious Assad regime torturer: report.

UPDATE:

LOL: Top schools urge foreign students to return from break before Trump takes office.

MEANWHILE, IN THE BLACK SEA: How to Sink Two Oil Tankers With This 1 Weird Trick.

OF COURSE: Binghamton University ‘Pride in December’ to provide ‘gender affirming haircuts.’

IT WOULD TAKE A HEART OF STONE NOT TO LAUGH: MSNBC and CNN Fight to Dig Out of a Postelection Ratings Hole.

MSNBC averaged 603,000 prime-time viewers from the day after the election through Dec. 8, down by more than half from the network’s year-to-date average through the election, according to Nielsen data. CNN was down 46%, to 401,000 viewers. Meanwhile, Fox News was up 12%, averaging about 2.7 million viewers.

MSNBC and CNN both reported dips for the month following the 2016 election, but they weren’t nearly as steep. CNN’s drop was off a higher baseline.

Partisan viewers “turn away in disgust when it’s the other side having that postelection euphoria,” said Johanna Dunaway, a political science professor and research director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

Dunaway said Democrats and Republicans grow disenchanted with the media and society when their candidates lose. After Biden won in 2020, Fox News’s prime-time viewership fell by 6%. Following Barack Obama’s 2012 win against Mitt Romney in the presidential election, Fox News’s prime-time viewership was down 13%.

Nobody wants to lose 13% or even just 6% of their business. But Fox’s 2012 and 2020 losses were a drop in the ratings bucket compared to CNN and MSNBC this year.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Good Times — The Trump Train Runs Over George Stephanopoulos. “The people who participated in making the Biden years a liberty-choking slog are taking it on the chin now, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun to watch. Trump’s latest roundhouse punch to the Left is one that has been long overdue. The Democrats’ flying monkeys in the mainstream media have been working to undermine the Constitution for decades and most Republicans in Washington have been letting them get away with it.”

HE FINALLY GETS IT:

Van Jones: Donald Trump is smarter than all of us pic.twitter.com/9RyN90mDSb

— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) December 14, 2024

The best part is at the end when Chris Cillizza says, “You’re totally right” while shaking his head “No.”

STRANGE NEW RESPECT: Eric Schmitt deems Tulsi Gabbard ‘a patriot’ in a rebuke against ‘smearing’ her.

Plus: Romney defends Trump after ‘overwhelming’ win: ‘Can’t complain.’

HMM: Drones Shut Down NY Airport Runway, Even Hochul Says ‘This Has Gone Too Far.’

SALENA ZITO: Whiskey Resurgence in the Heart of the Rebellion.

MARTIN GURRI: ‘Revolt of the Public,’ 10 Years On. The failure of the Biden-Harris experiment in governance has brought elites to the edge of a stark ideological wilderness, where the only justification for power is the will to attain it.

EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN RUSSIA: Russian Banks Raise Mortgage Rates To 100% Amid Market Turmoil.

According to Chebeskov, financial institutions are using various tactics to discourage mortgage lending, including additional fees, inflated down payments, and issuing part of the loan under market rates far above state-supported programs.

“We are working with the Central Bank to eliminate these extreme practices,” Chebeskov stated, adding that such schemes violate the principles of fair lending. The Central Bank confirmed the rise of such tactics, noting that some banks exploit state-backed combo mortgage programs by applying exorbitant rates to the market-linked portion of the loan.

Economist Olga Gogaladze explained that borrowers resort to these programs when home prices surpass state-subsidized limits. With Moscow’s average apartment price at 20.3 million rubles (and Russia’s national average at 6.2 million rubles, many homebuyers must seek costly supplementary loans.

Analysts warn that unless market stability improves, Russia’s already paralyzed property market will soon enter freefall.

A $350,000 loan at 100% for 30 years requires a monthly payment of $29,167. Which, if you’re trying to put a damper on a housing market, ought to do the trick.

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Beats Solo 4 – Wireless Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones. #CommissionEarned

HMM: Partitioning Ukraine: An Idea Whose Time Has Come? A ceasefire would help Ukraine by allowing the country to focus on its domestic problems.

The war isn’t working out well for anyone. I’ve been happy to see Putin bled white, but an actual collapse in Russia would be bad for everyone except China, which would wind up effectively in charge, even more than it already is.

RETURN TO NORMALCY:

This is a completely reasonable firing, but it’s interesting that in 2017 this type of behavior was widely tolerated and often applauded. That’s over. And it is a very good thing that it is. https://t.co/v5uemi22gd

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) December 15, 2024

IT’S FAIR TO ASK IF THE BIG GUY AT LEAST GOT HIS TEN PERCENT: It Turns Out That Biden Never Considered the ‘Specifics’ of the 1500 Clemency Cases He Commuted.

THIS:

Pardon every single J6 defendant. Apologized to them. Pay the millions to settle their civil rights claims. Fire every AUSA who has anything to do with this judicial abortion. https://t.co/INKFEApy3I

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 15, 2024

ON SUNDAYS I DO A PROMO POST ON MY BLOG TO PROMOTE (MOSTLY) INDIE AUTHORS: Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

There’s also a fun vignette challenge. Also, this week there’s a lot of my own books on sale for 99c.

AI DEFINITELY DOES IT BETTER:  Postmodern Die Hard, Courtesy of AI.

YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE HARMS MENTAL HEALTH? BEING GASLIGHTED BY YOUR GOVERNMENT:  Major study confirms covid jab harms mental health.

GIVEN THE DEM BENCH IN CALIFORNIA SHE’S HARDLY THE WORST CHOICE THEY COULD ELECT:  Kamala Harris for CA Governor? Here’s What Her Close Aides Think.

REPUBLICANS ARE GENERALLY RECOGNIZED AS BETTER TIPPERS:  DC Server Fired After Saying She Will Refuse to Serve Trump Officials, Republicans.

Restauranteurs are unlikely to let the inmates run the asylums.

UNFORTUNATELY THE VILLAGE MIGHT HAVE TO BE BURNED BEFORE IT CAN BE SAVED:  The problem with saving academia.

EVERY TIME GOVERNMENT GETS PERMISSION TO KILL ITS SUBJECTS, IT GETS A TASTE FOR IT:  MAID in the Great White North: Canadian per Capita Euthanasia Deaths Now Beat U.S. Gun Deaths.