THE POWER LINE WEEK IN PICTURES: New Deviant Edition.

‘KAMIKAZE DEMOCRATS’ HAVE ARRIVED:

This handy little description was coined by The Wall Street Journal editorial board Tuesday to describe Democratic lawmakers who must now face the daunting reality of the multitrillion dollar tax, climate and entitlement spending bill, which passed in the U.S. House five days ago.

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi marched her majority off a cliff in 2010 with votes on ObamaCare, and now she has done it again,” said the detailed editorial.

“The 81-year-old Mrs. Pelosi is almost certainly retiring after this Congress, and this vote is a legacy project for her. But her younger members will have much to explain in 2022 as they defend this gargantuan, destructive and unnecessary bill,” the editorial advised, citing expensive particulars of the legislation which will raise taxes, raise energy prices and empower illegal immigrants, among other things.

“Democrats say their specific programs are popular — who doesn’t love free child care? But voters understand that nothing is free from the government, and polls are starting to show that voters think they will end up paying for it. They are right. There are only so many rich people to soak, and Democrats are cutting taxes for most of them,” the Journal continued.

“Americans have also begun to link the flood of government spending to inflation, which is acting like another tax. With this bill, passed in the wake of their nationwide election drubbing this month, Democrats are underscoring that they are the inflation party,” the editorial said.

“Mrs. Pelosi promised Democrats she wouldn’t make them vote on a bill before the Senate agreed to it, but as in 2010 she’s done that again. They’ll now have to defend provisions that couldn’t pass a Democratic Senate. No wonder Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke on the House floor for eight hours. He knows the Democrats were voting to make him Speaker,” the Journal concluded.

As Mark Steyn once wrote, “When the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dumped some of his closest cabinet colleagues to extricate himself from a political crisis, the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe responded: ‘Greater love hath no man than to lay down his friends for his life.’”

THIS IS MORE LIKE THE 21st CENTURY I WAS PROMISED: Flying Motorcycles, Better E-Bikes and More Personal Transportation to Come.

The Speeder is a futuristic-looking flying motorcycle created by Ventura, Calif.-based Jetpack Aviation. Though some elements are still in development, the vertical take-off-and-landing aircraft will have jet turbine engines that provide vertical thrust. Once in the air, the engines would tilt backward and the aircraft would fly on small wings powered by net-zero-carbon fuel. Two recreational models, priced starting at $385,000 each, are available for preorder. One reaches speeds of over 150 mph, and flies for nearly an hour at more than 15,000 feet; an ultralight version that doesn’t require a pilot’s license to operate is limited to 60 mph by federal regulations and flies for 15 minutes. The company hopes to make them available in 2023. A faster, heavy-duty model intended for military and rescue missions is also in development. Within 10 years, the recreational Speeder could be automated and used for public transportation in cities, with rooftops repurposed for parking, says CEO David Mayman.

The illustration atop the article displays a key breakthrough in the advance of flying motorcycles — the propeller blades are hidden within the jet turbine engines. Otherwise, what could possibly go wrong?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmAbvJC23qc

NPR MORPHED INTO THE BABYLON BEE SO SLOWLY, I HARDLY EVEN NOTICED: Canada taps into strategic reserves to deal with massive shortage … of maple syrup.

#AMAZONSHITCARSHOW: The Grand Tour Presents: Carnage A Trois.

SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES: Hate Skinny Jeans? You’re in Luck: Flared Jeans Are Making a Comeback.

How many dreadful 1970s trends did this photo-up unleash?

HERE WE GO AGAIN: NY Gov. Kathy Hochul orders halt on elective surgery amid COVID spike, Omicron.

I BLAME THE HOARDERS AND WRECKERS: NYT wonders: Say, why aren’t deep-blue states progressive Utopias?

MARCUS ARBERY ALMOST PUT AL SHARPTON OUT OF BUSINESS: “‘All lives matter, not just blacks,’ Arbery told the media Wednesday after the verdict. ‘We don’t wanna see nobody go through this. I don’t want to see no daddy watch their kid get shot down like that. So it’s all our problem. It’s all our problem. So hey, let’s keep fighting, let’s keep doing it, and making this place a better place for all human beings, all human beings. Everybody. Love everybody. All human beings need to be treated equally.’…If you take another look behind Arbery and his inspiring words, it looks like there’s another tableau going on. You can see after a couple of perfunctory ‘Amens’ from Ben Crump, there appears to be consternation from Crump as his hand goes to his face. Then, the person right behind Arbery says something to Crump, after which you can see Crump putting his hand on Arbery as though to draw his remarks to a close. You can see Crump exchange a look with Sharpton who appears to be about to step in and the video ends. It sure looked like they wanted to bring what Arbery was saying to a close, that he was going outside of the narrative. What would happen if everyone actually believed that ‘all lives matter?’ That would put the folks pitching division out of business.”

RED-LINING THE IRONY METER: German clinics are now requiring the Covid vaccine in order to get euthanized.

UPDATE NEWSPEAK DICTIONARIES ACCORDINGLY: American Medical Association Wokes Up, Cancels Terms Such as ‘Morbidly Obese’ and ‘Inmates.’

For those of you who are morbidly obese, I have huge news: You’re not.

So says the American Medical Association.

Over the past few years, institutions have given syllables a shellacking.

Societal betters have overhauled language for the sake of us all.

I question the timing: We Need to Stop Overlooking One Politically Incorrect COVID-19 Death Factor:

The United States has the 13th highest COVID-19 death rate relative to population. Many different factors shaped death rates in the pandemic. But there’s one uncomfortable reason that the U.S. likely experienced more COVID-19 deaths that has largely been ignored because it’s politically incorrect.

Out-of-control obesity rates and the “body positivity” movement predating the pandemic have left the U.S. population disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 compared to other countries. The U.S. ranks No. 12 in obesity worldwide, one of the highest rates among developed countries. One study found that 90% of worldwide COVID-19 deaths occurred in countries with high obesity rates.

Bill Maher concurs:

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: Biden Announces Travel Ban That Blows up His Own Prior Words and Those of Fauci.

Also from Biden (or his ghost tweeter) in early 2020:

That tweet links to an article at Medium in which Biden (or his ghostwriter) hyperventilates:

Yesterday, Donald Trump further diminished the United States in the eyes of the world by expanding his travel ban, placing new restrictions on the residents of six more nations that limit who is allowed to come to the United States.

Three years ago, he took aim at Muslim-majority nations. This time, he targeted primarily African…

And there is no evidence that they do anything to make us safer. If anything, they endanger the best tools we have to fight terrorism — our globe-spanning network of alliances and partnerships. They erode our moral standing in the world and make it less likely that other nations will work with us to take on terrorist threats before they can reach our shores.

Immigrants from each of these countries and their broader diaspora communities here in the United States enrich the larger fabric of American life as our friends and neighbors and make vital contributions to our economy. They make our nation stronger. The United States has a meaningful history of offering safety and opportunity to peoples of every nation — no matter where they come from, no matter if they are rich or poor, no matter the faith they follow.

Donald Trump is doing everything in his power to destroy that legacy. It’s a disgrace, and we cannot let him succeed.

And Joe and handlers wonder why they’re encountering so much skepticism and resistance in 2021.

RIP: ‘A titan of the American musical:’ Tributes pour in after renowned composer Stephen Sondheim dies.

GET WOKE…: Liquor Company Asks Consumers Not to Buy Its ‘Rittenhouse Rye’ Brand To Celebrate Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict.

Many social media users didn’t appreciate the sentiments of the Kentucky-based company, which describes itself as the “largest independent, family-owned and operated producer and marketer of spirits” in the U.S.

Radio show host Jesse Kelly said of the post, “Rule #1: You don’t have to respond to everyone. In fact, don’t have to respond to ANYTHING. Shut your freaking mouth and let it blow over. Here’s a great example why that’s Rule #1.”

Justified actor Nick Searcy, who stars in the upcoming Daily Wire release, “Terror on the Prairie,” also blasted the company, replying, “I’m going to buy it and celebrate the #RittenhouseVerdict anyway, @heavenhill, and if you don’t like it, you can kiss my ass.”

Finally an account by the name of “Some Welder (With a Bulldozer)” reflected the views of the vast majority of the hundreds of replies by commenting, “They went out of their way to make sure you’re aware that, if you’re not a commie pos, their whiskey is not for you. These people don’t value your patronage, act accordingly.”

Earlier: Black Rifle Coffee — Who Disavowed Rittenhouse — Silent After Not Guilty Verdict.

Flashback: Is Black Rifle Coffee About to Throw Its Customer Base Under the Bus for Fun and Profit? “Just as Black Rifle Coffee is on the cusp of changing its financial structure, it is also arriving at a philosophical decision point. Will it stay conservative and cater to the people that made it successful? Will it go ‘woke?’ Will it complete the transition from a cause to a grift? Unfortunately, the signs aren’t all that great.”

EVERGREEN ADVICE: This Thanksgiving (and Christmas) don’t be Molly Jong-Fast.

IF YOU HAVE TO ASK, YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER:

GET WOKE, GO BROKE: Salvation Army’s Donors Withdraw Support in Response to Racial ‘Wokeness’ Initiative.

FOR THE LAST DECADE, ARTIST AND COLLECTOR THOMAS SAUVIN RECOVERED DISCARDED NEGATIVES FROM A RECYCLING PLANT OUTSIDE BEIJING: “His Beijing Silvermine archive, one of the largest archival projects in China, now encompasses over 850000 anonymous photographs spanning the period from 1985 to 2005, thus allowing the reconstruction of a large part of the history of popular analogue photography in the country. This unceasingly evolving archive provides a visual platform for cross-cultural interactions, while impacting on our collective memory of the recent past.”

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Did the British Kill Glenn Miller? (Video.)

THE POWER LINE MID-WEEK IN PICTURES: Special Thanksgiving Holiday Edition.

Related: James Lileks flashes back to Coca-Cola’s mid-century Thanksgiving-themed ads and provides several scanned examples: “It’s not that Coke necessarily believed in any of this, although I’m sure the bottlers did. Coke was thankful for the things you liked, and if you have a different set of preferences, or the culture insists that you should have a different set, or the zeitgeist of the ad industry wants to elevate another set, then Coke will be thankful for those things, too. Any commercial historian who wants to chart these things will probably see that Coke pulled back on the Churchy Stuff before the culture did, in the same way advertisers in 1940 and 1941 went all in on defense-and-preparedness ads before the culture mobilized post-Pearl But back then I think they were good at sniffing the wind. Now I think they believe it’s their job to set up the fans.”

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: Old Dominion University professor stepping down after controversial comments on pedophilia.

No rush, though:

The controversy stems from an interview where Dr. Allyn Walker, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, argued for the use of the term “minor-attracted people” — or MAPs — to describe people attracted to children.

WHAT ELEPHANT? The Media Again Buries A Hunter Biden Scandal on Foreign Deals During the Biden Vice Presidency.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:

Three and a half days into the Waukesha Christmas Parade attack, the Washington Post apparently still thinks they can use the self-driving car angle to downplay the driver’s role.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Thanksgiving: How to Discuss Politics — If You Must.

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: DC Public Schools offers guidance on ‘decolonizing’ Thanksgiving.