JOHN HINDERAKER: News from an Alternative Universe.
Archive for 2024
October 21, 2024
20 MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE: Joseph Campbell: Surprises, outliers, oddities: What to anticipate in the campaign’s closing days.
- Speculation about an October or November surprise, which is an unanticipated development that bursts across the political landscape with potentially shattering effect. Bush’s drunk-driving case, made public by a television reporter in Maine five days before election, certainly was such a surprise. Bush adviser Karl Rove figured the disclosure kept Bush from carrying states that would have ensured him clear popular vote and Electoral College victories. As it was, the 2000 election pivoted on a prolonged dispute about who carried Florida, a dispute settled in Bush’s favor by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A more recent October surprise was the FBI’s announcement, just 11 days before the 2016 election, that it was reopening an inquiry into the private email server Hillary Clinton used during her time as U.S. secretary of State. Clinton later said the FBI’s renewed investigation was “the determining factor” in her loss to Trump.
- Persistent discussion about the campaign’s great known unknown, which is whether pollsters have effectively modified their methodologies so that surveys this year accurately measure Trump’s support. Polls in 2016 and 2020 underestimated his backing, resulting in back-to-back polling embarrassments.
Some pollsters thought adjustments made after the 2016 election would serve them well in 2020. That wasn’t the case. The collective performance of the polls four years ago was the worst in 40 years. If polls underperform as they did in 2020, Trump could be well-positioned to win reelection.
Polling’s known-unknown won’t be resolved till after the election. Even so, it has been a leading topic of discussion among pollsters and pundits for months.
As for what happens after election Tuesday in November, choose your adventure: Politico Loses It Over Trump Losing But ‘Taking Power Anyway.’
Four years ago, a sitting president — rejected by American voters — attempted to seize a second term anyway, plunging the nation into confusion, conflict and, in its last gasp, violence.
Now, Donald Trump’s political comeback has revived a sense of dread among the officials and institutions who stood in his way last time: Could it happen again?
Dozens of interviews with people deeply familiar or involved with the election process point to a clear consensus: Not only could Trump make a second attempt at overturning an election he loses, he and his allies are already laying the groundwork.
“The threat remains,” said Tim Heaphy, who led the investigation into Trump’s election subversion efforts for the House’s Jan. 6 select committee.
Conversely: Will Kamala commit to certifying a Trump win?
Should Trump win the election, we are sure to see a push from the Democratic Party and its allies in the media not to seat Donald Trump for a second and final term, invoking the insurrection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This would cause a constitutional crisis the likes of which the country has never seen and would likely involve the Supreme Court, which the media and Democrats have targeted repeatedly in the past.
If Trump represents the unique threat to democracy the left continues to claim, and if they truly believe he is another Hitler in waiting, a dictator from day one, to what lengths would they go to keep him out of office?
I’d say the two assassination attempts answer that question.
WILL THE HPV VACCINE PUT AN END TO THIS TREND? Throat Cancer Is Becoming an Epidemic, And Oral Sex May Be Why. The absolute risk is still comparatively low. “Behavioral trends studies show that oral sex is very prevalent in some countries. In a study that my colleagues and I conducted in almost 1,000 people having tonsillectomy for non-cancer reasons in the UK, 80 percent of adults reported practicing oral sex at some point in their lives. Yet, mercifully, only a small number of those people develop oropharyngeal cancer. Why that is, is not clear. The prevailing theory is that most of us catch HPV infections and are able to clear them completely. However, a small number of people are not able to get rid of the infection, maybe due to a defect in a particular aspect of their immune system.”
THIS ACCOUNTS FOR THE SUFFERING INVOLVED IN A “MAN COLD.” Men and Women Use Different Pain Relief Pathways, New Study Shows.
TO BOLDLY SMOKE WHERE NO MAN HAS SMOKED BEFORE: Break Time. “So I figured ‘taking a break’ would be a good theme to cover instead. Not only are we taking a quick break from artwork itself this issue, but we’ll be looking entirely at photos of other people taking breaks. Specifically, people on the sets of famous fantasy and sci-fi movies.”
THE CRITICAL DRINKER: Wicked — How To Tank Your Movie In One Easy Step (Video).
Flashback: In a 2013 post titled, “Alec Baldwin’s Real Twitter Problem Isn’t Homophobic Ranting—It’s the End of the Red Carpet,” Nick Gillespie wrote:
Remember the good old days, not just when there were only three national TV networks and one or two national newspapers, but when Hollywood studios could virtually completely control the image surrounding their contract players like halos on a saint’s shoulders? Those days are over, Baby Jane.
Considering the stars’ ability to implode their own projects (and their own careers) these days via their social media freakouts, I bet today’s studio heads desperately wish they could return to the good ol’ days of the iron-fisted Hollywood moguls.
UPDATE: Actress Playing Evil Witch in Wicked Melts Down Over Fan-Created Poster.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESS MODEL: Wordle With a Side of Propaganda.
OUT ON A LIMB: Ben Shapiro says Harris passed over Josh Shapiro for VP because he’s ‘a pro-Israel Jew’ her ‘pro-Hamas’ voters dislike.
Prolific podcaster Ben Shapiro may not be related to Gov. Josh Shapiro, but he still has his back, telling The Post in no uncertain terms that Kamala Harris “100%” passed over the Pennsylvania governor in her veepstakes because he’s Jewish.
Backstage at a Young Republicans event at Ohio’s Miami University last week, the 40-year-old pundit pulled no punches in his assessment of Democrats’ treatment of Shapiro.
“Kamala Harris was forced to not pick a Jew. I mean, it’s that simple,” Shapiro said. “She didn’t pick Josh Shapiro because Josh Shapiro is a Jew.”
He’s unpersuaded by those who say she picked Walz because he’s a superior choice.
“Her attempts to pretend that Tim Walz is some magical, unimaginable, unspeakably great candidate over the very popular governor of the one swing state she absolutely, 100% needs to win are failing,” he told The Post. “That’s not why. She didn’t pick him because he’s a pro-Israel Jew and that’s just unacceptable to her pro-Hamas base.”
And what does that say about Harris herself? Kamala Harris, Iran’s Pick, Is the Wrong Choice for American Jews.
Harris also opposed the Israeli counterterrorism operation to root out Hamas in its Gaza stronghold of Rafah, which she warned would be a “huge mistake“—the very Rafah where Israel just found and eliminated the architect of October 7, Yahyah Sinwar. Harris has not only opposed successful counterterrorism operations against Hamas but has advocated negotiations with the terrorist organization which have gone nowhere. She has equally opposed Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, even though Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism and days away from nuclear weapons capability. She has also opposed placing the Iran-backed Houthis on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list and even denied the existence “radical Islamic terrorism” in the world.
Beyond the JDCA, Kamala has been endorsed by the most anti-Israel congressmembers, people like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who opposes supplying not only offensive weapons to kill terrorists but also funds for the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System to defend Israel’s civilian population. Harris has been embraced by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is notorious for “spreading radicalization through the country through its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood—including Hamas,” according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Harris also wins the highest ratings from the National Iranian American Council, the lobbying arm of the Islamic Republic.
Iran itself has de facto endorsed Kamala by reportedly trying to kill Trump and steal internal documents from his campaign to share with pro-Kamala media outlets.
Since we’re on the eve of a potential de facto fourth term for Obama, flashback: How Obama Paved the Way for the Iran-Promoting, Israel-Pummeling, Squad-Like Biden White House. “Why would the Biden administration have so empowered Iran and its proxies, while putting the screws to Israel in the first place — helping create the conditions for the catastrophe that has unfolded, which could well expand into a regional if not world war? To understand all of this, you have to understand how President Barack Obama normalized the unholy intersectional progressive-Islamist alliance that has now come to dominate the Democrat Party, including this White House.”
So, for those keeping score at home, here’s the rundown:
- Kamala says she worked at McDonald’s.
- Trump says, ‘Yeah, no you didn’t.’
- Trump mocks her by working at McDonald’s.
- Kamala is offered a chance to actually work at McDonald’s and … doesn’t.
How hard would it have been to accept the invite and, based on your alleged experience having worked there, run circles around Trump? Wonder why she wouldn’t jump at the chance. If she held a similar event, legacy media outlets left and right would have fawned over it. It would have disarmed Trump’s line of attack. She could have even argued he was lying, not her.
But she didn’t.
You have to admit, Trump’s move here was genius-level trolling. And this is coming from somebody who initially thought the argument was a little petty and unnecessary.
It’s a microcosm of the election, really. Trump saw a chance to prove he’s more a man of the people and seized on it. Pounced even, as the media might say.
Harris was actually handed a chance to pounce herself and prove she’s not a cold and detached person who makes Hillary Clinton look lively by comparison, and she dropped the ball.
If you can’t make good choices when it comes to working at McDonald’s, how can you be trusted to run the country? Self-awareness: -500 points.
Related: Lefties Are NOT Lovin’ It! Here Are the Top 10 ‘McMeltdowns’ Over Trump’s McDonald’s Visit and LOL.
Most of which boil down “it was a campaign stunt by a politician.” And?
UPDATE: John Ekdahl writes, “My theory on the great liberal McDonalds freakout is this: Donald Trump is not allowed to have fun. Remember, he is the physical avatar of humanity’s cruelty, evil, and malice. The left has also spent a large amount of time, money, and energy though both media and legal campaigns, targeting his livelihood and even his personal freedom all to ensure that the man can never crack a smile again for the rest of his life. And then he did. While donning an apron and serving fries. They can’t handle it.”
BILL WHITTLE: Mr. Trump Goes to McDonald’s.
Bill nailed it (again) with this one.
NEWSWEEK HAVING A NORMAL ONE TODAY: Great Moments in Protection Racket Media: Attacking Mickey D’s for Hosting Trump. Ed Morrissey writes:
Alternate headline: Newsweek Digs for Literal Dirt.
Does Newsweek have a running feature on fast-food health inspections? Or do they only do that when Donald Trump charms a battleground state a couple of weeks before an election?
Trump, a big fan of McDonald’s food and a self-professed germophobe, wore an apron over his shirt and tie but did not wear gloves or a hairnet during his visit, stating that his hands were “nice and clean.” According to the Meidas Touch, he went straight to work without washing his hands.
Employees not washing their hands was one of the reasons that restaurant failed its most recent inspection.
I’d guess that, as a self-professed germaphobe, Trump uses enough sanitizer on a regular campaign day to render an entire city block bacteria-free. He might have even improved matters by shaking hands with the entire staff.
Put that point aside for right now, though. What does a previous health inspection for a locally owned fast-food joint have to do with this campaign appearance? Nothing at all, except that it provides a media outlet a way to make Trump look bad and to counter-act any positive impressions of the event.
Did that work? We’ll see, but color me skeptical, as the story reflects much more poorly on Newsweek than Trump, especially with this note:
Newsweek has contacted McDonald’s and the Trump campaign for comment outside business hours. This article will be updated if a comment is received.
Ahem. Was this news about a failed previous health inspection so important that Newsweek couldn’t wait until the business opened to publish it? Why not wait for a response? Did Newsweek expect to get scooped by the New York Times or the Joy Reid show?
Also today, after Trump appeared in a skybox at the Sunday night Jets-Steelers game in Pittsburgh, a separate young (also British-based*, curiously-enough) Newsweek scribe spent nearly 400 words to tell her readers, “Trump Appears to Post Fake Image of Himself as a Star NFL Player,” in the same obsessively dull police blotter-style journalistic tone:
Trump’s torso and arms also appear to have been altered to appear more muscular than they do in other photos and videos of Trump in sportswear, such as those posted by Trump Golf’s Instagram account in July.
According to an image detector search through “Is It AI?” the photo is 81 percent likely to be constructed by AI.
Another AI image detector site, AIimagedetector.org, also concluded that the picture was likely AI-generated, stating the picture is approximately 30 percent human and nearly 70 percent AI-generated.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email outside of business hours, as well as to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Gosh Newsweek, you’ve got Trump dead to rights with this one!
(Also, an American football fan would have noticed that Trump’s AI image has him wearing the Steelers’ current jersey style. However, Pittsburgh wore their ‘70s-era throwback uniforms last night, which have a different font than the numbers depicted in the Trump AI. The Bad Orange Man might have convinced America’s voters that the Steelers drafted him straight out of Hamburger University if it wasn’t for that one key detail…)
* Old and busted: Make America Great Again. The new hotness? Make Fleet Street Fun Again!
NEWS YOU CAN USE: The Cheapest Sports Cars You Can Buy for 2025.
THE SCIENCE IS NEVER SETTLED: Easter Island findings change everything we know about the Earth’s mantle and how it moves beneath the crust.
AMAZON REALLY MAKES ONE STOP SHOPPING EASY! WaPo’s Favorite Environmental Group Uses ‘Political’ Research To Link Climate Change to Natural Disasters. It’s Also Bankrolled by WaPo Owner Jeff Bezos. “Bezos’s funding for the group, paired with the Washington Post‘s favorable coverage of its research, raises questions about the newspaper’s declared independence from its billionaire owner. The Post’s stories citing WWA do not acknowledge that Bezos—who purchased the paper in 2013, one year before the group’s founding—also bankrolls WWA.”
UNEXPECTEDLY: California Cops Are Finding Out Teslas Are ‘Nearly Unusable’ As Police Cruisers.
California is all in on an electric future, planning to ban the sale of gas and diesel powered cars starting in 2035. To get ready for this brave new world some police departments started with buying a few Teslas. These departments immediately ran into serious problems using the vehicles as cruisers, such as a lack of charging infrastructure, inadequate interior space, expensive and lengthy retrofitting processes, interference from advanced driver safety assistance systems and more. Police Chief Cedric Crook for the Ukiah, California police department told San Francisco Gate he doesn’t think the department’s Model 3s will see action any time soon:
The car has other issues, namely size. Tesla back seats “only have room for one prisoner,” Crook said, limiting an officer’s ability to sequester suspects. With an all-Tesla police force, Crook believes incidents involving more than one party will require more officers to respond with more cars, putting strain on resources, all because of the tiny back seat.
Police are often required to transport suspects, witnesses or victims for cases they’re working, sometimes for long distances. Crook remembered a case where his detectives drove 630 miles to Mexico to transport a potentially dangerous subject in their vehicle. If the detectives were in a Tesla, Crook noted they would have had to spend an hour in the middle of the drive at an unsecured public charging station standing guard over the person, something that would not happen with an internal combustion engine.
The answer here is obvious: Ford needs to start reissuing the mighty Crown Victoria, once the pride of police forces across the land.
READER FAVORITE: CRAFTSMAN VERSASTACK Mechanics Tool Set. #CommissionEarned
HARRIS HASN’T CLOSED THE DEAL WITH MANY DEMS: The results of the latest Insights & Issues/TIPP Poll may well help explain growing sense of panic exhibited among media and other backers of Vice-President Kamala Harris.
“Are Democrats part of that big swing? As our own I&I/TIPP Poll strongly suggests, a third of Democrats remain upset with the quality of their party’s candidate this year — and with the fact that they had no say in making Kamala Harris their candidate in the first place,” I&I reports.
FORSWEAR ALL COCKINESS: Trump overtakes Harris for first time in Decision Desk HQ/The Hill election forecast.
WITH APLOMB: I’m Lovin’ It! How Trump Stole the Democrats’ Joy.
READER FAVORITE: ThermoPro TP19H Digital Meat Thermometer. #CommssionEarned
