IT’S NICE HAVING A FEW MORE BILLIONAIRES ON OUR SIDE: Seismic Shift: The Billionaire Boys Club Goes Full MAGA.
Archive for 2025
February 27, 2025
SOME SUBSTACK THOUGHTS: Reining In District Courts: Back to the Future.
TEXAS: Colony Ridge Swept For Illegal Alien Criminals. “Remember how three illegal aliens were arrested in Colony Ridge for carrying 350 pounds of meth in last week’s LinkSwarm? That, and the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal alien felons, finally seems to have prodded authorities into launching a crackdown on illegal alien and cartel-infested Colony Ridge.”
Exit quote: “It’s great to have an administration willing to work with Texas to enforce the law, rather than break it.”
RELAX: Snailax Shiatsu Neck Shoulder Massager. #CommissionEarned
JULIE KELLY: ‘Deranged Jack Smith’ Takes Down His Friends: An order signed by President Trump on Tuesday signals a new front in fighting lawfare operatives in the private sector. “Prestigious law firms act as both the hidden hammer and revolving door in the lawfare against Republicans. This is playing out in at least a dozen lawsuits filed against the Trump administration over the past 30 days. Until there is pain felt by both public and private lawyers responsible for this unprecedented attack against the will of the people, it will continue.”
Perkins, Coie, start your shredders.
THEY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING, THEY JUST PARROT THINGS THEY’RE TOLD: Scott Jennings Asks CNN Panel for Examples of Trump ‘Shredding’ Constitution and They Can’t Give Any.
NOPE, STILL NOT SICK OF ALL THE WINNING: Trump’s HUD Ends Racist, Disastrous ‘Zoning Tax.’
K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE:
It is hard to overstate how much things like this destroy voter support for public schools. It's a true gift to the parental choice movement https://t.co/CW3A9v7pWK
— Scott Rasmussen (@ScottWRasmussen) February 26, 2025
ROGER SIMON: Behind Jeff Bezos’ Changes at Washington Post.
One of the myths of our time is that there is such a thing as “evenhanded journalism.” It doesn’t exist since written by humans, all of whom are biased to one degree or another. (I believe the WaPo’s vaunted Woodward and Bernstein are responsible for institutionalizing bias in journalism—but that’s a subject for another article.)
Which leads me to what I think may be Bezos’ thinking beyond a gradual, but inexorable shift in his political views that appears to be quite genuine.
He and Elon Musk are the great business geniuses of our era so it’s worth paying attention to both. Both made their extraordinary fortunes not by inheriting them but executing brilliant concepts with unremitting hard work.
Bezos gives us a hint of his thinking in his conclusion on X:
“I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.”
Underserved? Fill a void? What does he mean? What about the venerable Wall Street Journal, among the most important and read newspapers in our country, if not in the world? What could be more free markets than that?
My guess, and likely some of yours, is that Bezos has been paying attention to the family succession struggle at News Corp. that controls the WSJ, the NY Post and Fox News and therefore the ideology of those outlets.
Here’s what Google’s AI had to say about it (no, that’s not necessarily impartial either):
“Rupert Murdoch’s family battle with his children involves a dispute over the family trust that controls the Murdoch media empire. The battle centers on Lachlan Murdoch’s desire to become the sole heir and control the companies, and his father’s attempts to make that happen.”
Lachlan is the conservative older son who wishes to preserve the old Fox empire while his brothers, conventional Manhattan liberals, want to water it down to something approximating CNN-lite.
As Google’s AI concludes under “What’s at stake”:
“If Rupert doesn’t succeed in making Lachlan the sole heir, the conservative media empire he built could be a risk.
“The battle could also determine the future of Fox News.”
So far the courts have not looked favorably on Rupert’s request to change the family trust. Auguries are not good.
This will make for a large gap that only Newsmax is currently filling on cable—and, surprisingly successful as they are, they are still not close to News Corp. in reach.
Has this potential opening been lost on a businessman Bezos’ perspicacity? I’d throw away my trusty Kindle if it had. I repeat this is not to disparage the Amazon founder’s genuine change of views in anyway. Since I made a similar change some time ago, I would never do that. It is just to point out that what he is doing makes long-term business sense as well.
In the short run he will hemorrhage staff and, so we are told, readers. But the Washington Post was already having its problems and making little impact outside the Beltway. The way things are going under Trump, there will soon be fewer Beltway readers anyway.
Bezos, as we know from his worldwide company selling practically everything practically everywhere, does not think small. He obviously has a national, perhaps international, newspaper in mind.
The writer(s) of the Wall Street Journal’s opinion column sound pleased by Bezos’ change of heart: The Washington Post’s Freedom Turn. “We welcome the intellectual company. These days it can be lonely as a rare voice for free speech and economic liberty. Political and media fashion has shifted toward industrial policy and income redistribution, and even the Republican Party has too often come to favor government intervention in economic decisions between consenting adults. We’ll see if Mr. Bezos’s turn signals a larger change in the battle of ideas. But it will be good to have a wingman in the fight. As for our discerning readers, our respectful counsel is: Accept no substitutes. Sample the competition but come back for the real thing.”
UPDATE: Christian Toto asks: Will the Real Jeff Bezos Please Stand Up? Amazon founder’s plea for personal liberties at odds with company’s censorship.
I DON’T KNOW IF THERE WERE ANY PREVIOUS MARTIANS, BUT THE NEXT MARTIANS WILL WEAR SPACEX SPACESUITS: Ancient beach on Mars discovered by China’s Mars rover: ‘This strengthens the case for past habitability.’
MORE LIGHT ON BIDEN’S BORDER LIES: You probably don’t remember this statement from early in Joe Biden’s Oval Office tenure, but the trouble-makers at Issue & Insights (I&I) certainly do:
“At his first press conference in March 2021 – after claiming that nothing had changed at the border (despite repealing every Trump executive order securing the border on day one) – he said the surge of illegals then underway ‘happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year … happens all the time.’”
It was transparently a lie then and was followed by many more for the next nearly four years. Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office in great part because of Biden’s constant lying about the border and much else. This graph courtesy of I&I makes crystal clear that border invasions like that of the Biden era do not happen “all the time:”
America will be paying the price of Biden’s border lies for years to come, I&I observes.
JUDITH MILLER’S EXCELLENT TAKE ON THE SEPTEMBER 1972 MASSACRE OF ISRAELI OLYMPIANS. Well worth reading.
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY:
This audit was repeated at the Department of Labor. Initial results:
– 380 Microsoft 365 licenses with zero users
– 128 Microsoft Teams conference room licenses; only installed in 30 rooms
– 250 VSCode licenses; only using 33
– 129 Photoshop licenses; only using 22.
– 5… https://t.co/xnY8TkKOWv— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 26, 2025
LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Scalia Law School Removes DEI Pages, Prompting Student Petition.
NOPE, STILL NOT SICK OF ALL THE WINNING: Trump Revokes Biden’s Concessions to Commie Venezuela.
LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Law Prof Files Anti-SLAPP Motion To Dismiss Dean’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Him.
RELEASE IT ALL: Attorney General Pam Bondi says ‘some Epstein information’ will be released Thursday.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced the scheduled release of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The release, set for Thursday, is expected to include flight logs and names of individuals associated with Epstein.
Bondi emphasized the importance of protecting the identities of over 200 victims involved.
“Breaking news right now, you’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office,” Bondi stated during an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Wednesday night. “This will make you sick,” she added, highlighting the gravity of the contents.
Bondi noted that the delay in releasing the documents was due to efforts to redact sensitive information to protect victims’ privacy.
I wonder how many victims there are.
THERE’S NO IQ TEST FOR CONGRESS: Ohio’s Finest: After 13 Years, Congresswoman Blames Trayvon Martin’s Death on Police Brutality.
EVERY DAY IS LIKE CHRISTMAS: White House Tells Agencies to Prepare for Large-Scale Layoffs.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Jake Tapper Agrees That Jake Tapper Is Horrible at His Job. “Tell us, Jake, what you told yourself every time Biden wandered around a stage shaking hands with people who weren’t there. He’s a ghost-whisperer? He’s such a nice guy that he’s always ready to extend a friendly greeting, even if no one is there at the moment? Walk us through the process.”
RIP, Gene Hackman. I still think his best role was as Lex Luthor.
RASMUSSEN: Does Everyone Hate What Trump is Doing? Far from It.
What do voters really think about the first month of MAGA? Just a week ago, the Harris Poll surveyed nearly 2,500 registered U.S. voters and provided many answers to that question.
They asked whether voters believe the country is on the right or wrong track. Voters feel that America has been on the wrong track for most of the past decade, with a brief improvement in 2021 as we emerged from the dark days of COVID-19. Since Trump was elected again in November, there has been a 15-point increase in the perception that America is on the right track.
Additionally, 38% believe the economy is on the right track, which is 10 points higher than last month. Regarding Trump, in his first month as president, his approval rating stands at 52%, slightly exceeding the percentage of those who voted for him last November, indicating he is gaining, not losing, support.
Trump is outperforming Biden in public perception on crucial issues such as the economy, immigration, foreign affairs, government efficiency, inflation, and the restoration of American values. He currently enjoys nearly or over majority approval on these topics, while Biden has obtained only about a third of voter approval.
Regarding the political parties, the GOP claims a 51% job approval rating, while the Democrats are at only 36%. This suggests that they have difficulty identifying or articulating a message or vision that resonates with Americans.
For voters, inflation and immigration are the top issues, far exceeding the Democratic priorities of climate change, political correctness, and January 6.
When comparing Trump and Biden, most surveyed voters believe Trump is performing better than Biden, with a margin of 58% to 42%.
When asked whether Democrats should wait and observe Trump’s efforts to cut government waste before opposing him, two-thirds of voters support a wait-and-see approach. However, Congressional Democrats uniformly oppose most of Trump’s cabinet nominees and the recent House budget resolution.
Slightly more than half (52-58%) of voters believe that Democrats intentionally kept the border open. Interestingly, birthright citizenship, as it is currently implemented, has the support of a narrow margin of voters (55-45%). The US Supreme Court will likely need to resolve this issue.
What about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)? More than two-thirds of voters (70-30%) believe that hiring should be based on merit. However, voters are evenly divided on whether DEI departments are necessary or should be abolished.
Returning to the original question of voter regret, 49% of Trump voters are satisfied with their choice, roughly the same percentage as the popular vote he won. Eight percent of Harris voters are now satisfied with Trump, while only six percent of Trump voters wish Harris had been the victor.
Let’s shift our focus to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Two-thirds of voters agree that the national debt is unsustainable, and 80% desire a balanced budget.
Run with it.
A FRIEND FROM CAMBRIDGE SENDS THIS PIC AND WRITES: “Headed north from Harvard Square into Porter Square. Jewbelong.org, same crowd that was posting pro-Jew/anti-terror, anti holocaust messages a couple of years ago. Apparently they’ve expanded their focus.”
