OUT ON A LIMB: The Biden administration hates you more than China.

After over a month of deliberation, the Biden administration announced last week that they had settled on a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The decision not to send an official delegation, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, was in response to the “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.”

This is a relatively toothless and inoffensive form of protest, but it is welcome that the Biden administration at least acknowledges China’s human rights abuses. What was more concerning was the administration’s response when asked if they would push American companies to pull advertisements from the games.

“What individual companies do is entirely up to them. We’re not going to pressure them one way or another,” commerce secretary Gina Raimondo* said. “So if a company decides — as many companies have — that they want to make a statement against human rights abuses, then that would be great. But we’re not going to be pushing anyone to make that decision.”

This is laughable considering the Biden administration has no problem using the bully pulpit and straight-up government coercion to pressure American companies into doing what it wants domestically.

As a group of Obama retreads, that’s not surprising: The party whose organizing method is “the moral equivalent of war” views American politics as the continuation of warfare by other means, to flip von Clausewitz’s axiom on its head. And as the past months have illustrated, they’re far more focused on fighting against American people and industries**, rather than Middle Eastern terrorists or ChiCom despots.

* Commerce Secretary’s Husband Is Top Executive at Tech Firm Funded by Chinese Government. Gina Raimondo has major financial stake in AI firm funded by Chinese venture capital firm.

** “A Democrat is president and inflation is going crazy. This isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. But when it happened last time, we didn’t have social media, so people like Elizabeth Warren didn’t have a forum to explain why the real culprit is… capitalism,” Jim Treacher writes:

“That’s right: Liz Warren is going to beat Big Meat,” Treacher adds. And so is Peppermint Psaki! “Jen Psaki reveals that meat’s gotten so pricey because those sneaky ‘meat conglomerates’ decided to get greedy after Biden took office (video).

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): 100Pcs I Did That Biden Funny Car Stickers. #Resist #CommissionEarned

SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER! Denver elementary school under fire for planning ‘families of color playground night.’

GOODER AND HARDER, CALIFORNIA: Famous LA shopping center adds barbed-wire-like fence to deter smash and grabs.

Earlier: “The ORC Invasion.”

WELCOME BACK, CARTER: Another Horrendous Inflation Metric Just Hit As Biden Continues to Spiral Out of Control.

Related: Nine Examples of Media Putting Senseless Spin on Spiking Inflation to Benefit Biden.

WHAT CHRIS WALLACE DOES NEXT: “If Wallace uses his airtime to trash his former employer on a regular basis, he would certainly lose the moral high ground. He would also prove that, for the right paycheck, he will do and say whatever Jeff Zucker tells him to, which is often how it goes for news personalities at CNN. But if Wallace is able to maintain his current reputation, he may be able to help CNN forge a new identity, beyond being a band of Fox News screechers on social media. Given the track record of other recent CNN hires, there is little cause for optimism.”

GOODER AND HARDER: It’s Official: Generator Ban Passes in California. “The California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed a regulation aimed at “Small Off-Road Engines” on Thursday that will ban the sale of portable generators in the state — which includes generators mounted in recreational vehicles. The ruling bans the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers in the state beginning in 2024. Portable generators will be required to meet more stringent standards in 2024 and meet zero-emission standards starting in 2028. In the 2024 model year, portable generators will have to improve their efficiency by somewhere between 40% and 90%, which seems unrealistic in such a short period of time, so the reality is, it will be very hard to find a generator in Calfornia in two years.”

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): I’m opening a generator superstore just across the line in Nevada. Who’s in?

NANCY PELOSI’S JANUARY 6TH SELECT COMMITTEE HOAX: “It’s a no-win situation. Either talk to the committee and risk perjury (the witnesses were deposed for up to eight hours) or plead the 5th and be prosecuted by the DOJ and spend your life savings trying to defend yourself from the full weight of the government in a venue that hates Republicans. Either sell out your friends and family or be in contempt of the committee. Stalin would be impressed.”

JAMES LILEKS ON AMTRAK’S BUSINESS CLASS LUNCH:

That’s a plastic container of cheese spread and another of hummus, which you can apportion between your four flavorless crackers. There is a meat stick, a Slim Jim reject that reforms into an unmasticatable cud after you’ve bitten off a piece. It could be meat; it could be an extremely pliable pencil. A packet of almonds; a packet of dried apple shavings. A packet of something chocolate. It hit the spot, if you’re starving, and I was.

Business class, though.

I can still taste the horrid microwaved cheeseburger served on Amtrak’s “Amcafe” cars from when I used to commute from Trenton to Manhattan in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

QUESTION ASKED: Why won’t the White House take inflation seriously?

Rather than actually tackling inflation, officials are more interested in explaining why those prices aren’t the full story. Biden chief of staff Ron Klain decided that the best response was a flip chart explaining that everything was actually great. It is one thing to tout your economic achievements, it is another to deny the existence of any problems. On inflation, the White House too often finds itself telling voters not to believe their lying eyes.

To some economists, frustration among Americans at the state of the economy is a head-scratcher. GDP is surging, why aren’t people feeling better, they ask themselves.

But as the New York Times’s David Leonhardt explained on Friday, this really isn’t as much of a paradox as these economists seem to think. In his blunt assessment, “Americans think the economy is in rough shape because the economy is in rough shape.”

As Obama economic adviser Jason Furman told the Washington Post recently, “The typical family is spending an extra $4,000 this year because of excess inflation. It does not seem like much of a mystery why people are upset when they have to spend thousands of additional dollars more because of inflation.”

Exit quote: “Not long ago, Klain called inflation a ‘quality problem.’ He has learned not to say something like that again in public. But one can’t help but feel that, privately at least, that is still the White House view.”

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): My latest utility bill was higher than the same month last year despite using less gas and electricity. That’s because gas prices for me are up 19%(!) and electricity is up 5% over last year. For me that’s annoying, for people closer to the edge it’s brutal and demands real sacrifice either in things like heating and cooling or somewhere else. Then there’s the increase in food and gasoline.

FORMER CHRIS CUOMO PRODUCER TRAINED GIRLS AS YOUNG AS 7 IN ‘SEXUAL SUBSERVIENCE’: Court Docs.

Related:

Insert Henry Kissinger Iran/Iraq War joke here.

WILL THE LAST PERSON OUT OF CALIFORNIA PLEASE TURN OFF THE (AL GORE TWISTY BULB) LIGHTS? YouTube Star Dave Rubin Announces That He’s Leaving California, Heading to This Free State Instead.

HEY, REMEMBER WHEN THE LEFT LOVED TO POLITICIZE SPORTS? Rep. Lee Zeldin: ‘Good Chance’ Joe Biden Avoided Army-Navy Game Due to Fear of ‘Let’s Go, Brandon Chant.’

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” — Saul Alinsky.

Related: Biden tormented by Republican guerrilla campaign and ‘I did it’ stickers.

Also: 100Pcs I Did That Biden Funny Car Stickers. #Resist #CommissionEarned

THIS BLOOMBERG HEADLINE IS PRETTY ON-BRAND: New Zealand Is Banning Tobacco. Will Anyone Follow? An absolute measure will limit freedom of choice. But the approach may be worthwhile, if only to show the rest of the world whether it can succeed.

(Emphasis mine.)

Flashback: It Wasn’t Just a Chokehold That Killed Eric Garner.

DR. SCOTT ATLAS SAVAGES FAUCI, CLAIMS HE UNDERMINED TRUMP AND MISLED AMERICANS ON COVID: ‘I was stunned at what I saw.’

Atlas added that as a public health leader, you shouldn’t make wild promises such as “I’m going to stop this one infection at all costs, without regard for all of public health.”

“It failed, by the way,” he continued. “But it also inflicted massive harm because you have to remember, we shut down a lot of medical care. It wasn’t just cosmetic surgery or something like that that was shut down. We had 650,000 people with cancer on chemotherapy. Half of them skipped their chemo just during the spring of 2020 out of fear. We had 85% of living organ transplants did not get done compared to the previous year. We had two-thirds of cancer screenings did not get done. These people still have cancer.”

Atlas added that many people who put their chronic health conditions on the back burner during the early days of the pandemic, whether voluntarily or because hospitals were full, are now finding themselves sicker than ever.

“They’re going to come back with widespread, what’s called metastatic, disease. A lot of them are going to die,” he continued. “We had massive increases in drug abuse, in spousal abuse, in child abuse. … So this was a massive harm, and the harm, again, all the losses, we are almost on the verge of destroying a younger generation, by the way, we have a massive rise in anxiety disorder, in depressive disorder.”

Atlas added that the mental health crisis in younger patients is a direct result of the lockdowns during the pandemic.

“We had tripling of medical visits to doctors by teenagers for self-harm in the United States compared to the previous year. What does that mean? That means these are kids putting out cigarettes on their skin, slashing their wrists out of the isolation,” he insisted. “It’s the lockdowns that did this. It’s the isolation. It’s not the virus. The isolation was caused by the grossly wrong public health advice. And this is going to take decades to solve.”

Read the whole thing.

The jig was up in the spring of 2020, when flip-flopping health officials and politicians went from demanding nationwide lockdowns, to cheering on masses of protestors (read: rioters):

● After telling GOP to downsize convention due to COVID-19, N.C. governor marches in crowded protest.

● NJ governor admits COVID-19 double standard, says recent protests are different from business owners’ complaints.

● De Blasio: Large Group Protests Are Acceptable, Religious Observances Are Not.

● NPR: Dozens of public health and disease experts have signed an open letter in support of the nationwide anti-racism protests. “White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19,” they wrote.

● ‘Did I miss the memo?’: Hospital workers in full PPE applaud George Floyd protesters as they march past.

Related: The Suicide of Expertise.

DISPATCHES FROM THE PALACE GUARD: Meet the Untouchables – The Public Figures Mainstream Comics Won’t Mock. It starts with VP Kamala Harris, but you may be surprised who else made the list:

The following politicians and public figures are ripe for ridicule. Some have behaved badly. Others repeatedly share bizarre opinions on social media and elsewhere. Political satirists should be salivating at the thought of mocking them, and speaking “truth to power” in the process.

But Kimmel, Colbert, Meyers, McKinnon, Bee and the rest of the mainstream comedy crowd stand down, time and again. Let’s meet these comedy “untouchables” and learn why comedians are missing plenty of material.

Since late night television exists to service an ever-shrinking audience, no wonder they won’t dunk on the left’s favorite totalitarians.

KAMALA CAN DO IT ALL!

● Psaki insists Harris still border czar after Guatemalan leader claims no contact.

● ‘How do I know it’s actually working?’ Kamala Harris really inspires confidence in her ability to fulfill new role as Biden’s electric vehicle ambassador.

● “Biden announced that Harris would head up the administration’s efforts to monitor and combat what he called the Republican Party’s ‘unprecedented assault on democracy.’”

● Biden: I’m putting Kamala Harris in charge of getting voting rights legislation passed through Congress. “Ah, that’s nice of him. Something new for her to fail at instead of just failing to ease the border crisis.”

Flashback: How Joe Biden is Hanging Kamala Harris Out to Dry.

But it’s not too late to turn things around, insists the Politico! ‘Does Kamala Harris Have Some Challenges Right Now? You Bet She Does.’ Here’s the Fix. A onetime political rock star is having a brutal season in the polls. We asked political consultants how a pioneering vice president can right her political ship.

A TALE OF TWO BLUE STATES:

● Colorado’s Democratic governor: I’m not mandating masks. The COVID emergency is over.

● California to reimpose universal indoor mask mandate.

UPDATE: “Just ignore it, Californians. Say you’re about to rob a Target and they’ll leave you alone,” Jon Gabriel tweets.

YOUR TERMS ARE ACCEPTABLE: Biden Says He’d Be Willing To Lose Presidency Over Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal.

OUT ON A LIMB: Sir, you are not a conservative. “Fast forward to 2021 and David Brooks may have finally figured out what principled conservatives knew along. David Brooks is not a conservative. In reality, he never was a conservative. His writing is often brilliant, his media presence is smooth as silk, and he is routinely identified as a conservative columnist for the New York Times. But that identification is only half true. He is indeed a columnist at the New York Times. But conservative? Not even close.”

THE FONZ’S TRIUMPH SOLD AT AUCTION: 1949 Triumph Trophy 500. “There are quite a few iconic movie motorcycles—the 1961 Triumph TR6 Trophy from The Great Escape comes to mind immediately, as does the Captain America Harley-Davidson in Easy Rider. It’s easy to overlook the customized 1949 Triumph Trophy 500 ridden by Arthur Fonzarelli in the Happy Days television show, but it was seen by far more people than the movie bikes in the show’s 11-season run. Bonhams sold The Fonz Triumph at the TMC Presents…Hollywood Cool auction for a staggering $231,562. The Happy Days Fonz Triumph has an unexpected tie-in with the Triumph from The Great Escape. In an odd twist, the Triumph Trophy 500 was customized by Bud Ekins. As most motorcyclists know, Ekins performed the famous jump over the barbed wire fence in The Great Escape. Ekins was Steve McQueen’s stunt double, and the Triumph TR6 Trophy was pretending to be a BMW R 75. This Fonz Triumph is one of three that was built for the show.”

J.K. ROWLING TWEETED THIS OUT AND DANG DOES THIS LADY HAVE COURAGE: “This lady gets it. Orwell would be proud. Then again, Rowling created a world in Harry Potter that showcases how authoritarianism and segregation occur in society. The very things she warned about by portraying the rise of the evil wizard Voldemort are now happening in our world today.”

JIM TREACHER IS ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: How Many People Have Died of the Omicron Variant? Hint: It’s a nice round number. “Which shouldn’t even be called the Omicron variant. It should be the Xi variant, but nobody wants to offend the Chinese Communist Party. Well, you and I do, but nobody in a position of power does.”

TV CHEF GORDON RAMSAY DITCHES CALIFORNIA, MOVES RESTAURANT HQ TO TEXAS: REPORT.

Add celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to the list of people and businesses trading California for Texas.

Ramsay has relocated his North American restaurant headquarters to Las Colinas, Texas, from the West Coast, according to a report.

The 55-year-old Scottish-born “Hell’s Kitchen” host has hired a team of businesspeople and chefs to expand his restaurant empire across North America, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The team has plans to open 18 restaurants in cities like Boston, Miami and Chicago.

Over the next five years, CEO Norman Abdallah says he’ll oversee the debut of 75 company-owned restaurants.

Some of the expansion will be in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

I hope the Fresh Start States Initiative’s Welcome Wagon program is up to the task of reminding leftists fleeing their Blue State blues not to vote again for the initiatives that caused them to leave.

SAVE SOVIET ARCHITECTURE! Preservationists Want to Save Penn Station. Yes, That Penn Station. “It happens first as tragedy, then as farce: The story of Penn Station has come full circle. After all, the 1963 demolition of the original 1910 Pennsylvania Station — an opulent Beaux-Arts building modeled on the Roman Baths of Caracalla — was considered such a grave crime against architecture that it gave rise to the historical preservation movement itself. Now that same movement is seeking to provide safe harbor for the reviled underworld expanse that still carries its name.”

QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED: “Is the Biden Administration at War with Israel?”

The behavior of the Biden administration towards Israel is all the more worrying in that at the same time, it places itself in a weak position regarding negotiations with Iran and seems ready to make a deal with the mullahs’ regime at any price, in a resolution that has already been called “less for less,” or, worse, “less for more.”

Which also answers another question: Was it inevitable that Iran would go nuclear? “That the Iranians negotiators in Vienna probably have known that all along may explain their sense of confidence, if not arrogance in the talks. They recognize that an America bidding farewell in the Middle East, tired of wars, and led by an elderly and weak president and a divided and anxious Israel, is not an America ready for a shootout at high noon. At least Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu gave the impression that they were.”