“SMART DIPLOMACY:”
If Congress can’t muster the ability to renew these Compacts, Washington will jeopardize its own military posture in the Indo-Pacific. We’ll also imperil our credibility.
An entirely avoidable case of self-sabotage. Or at least, it should be. https://t.co/sktf2CZfnG
— Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) February 5, 2024
China will take advantage, and may already be.
MARK JUDGE: Remember those corny anti-communist movies from the 1950s? They were right. “Starting in the 1960s with the rise of the New Left, it became sport for cool people and liberals to mock movies such as I Was a Communist for the FBI or My Son John. The excesses of Sen. Joe McCarthy had made red hunting suspect, even shameful. Yet McCarthy was more often right than wrong. There were communists in the government, and in Hollywood, who wanted to destroy America. In 2024, however, with the far Left not only alive after the collapse of the Soviet Union but thriving in Washington, these films from the 1950s seem prescient — and deadly serious rather than goofy.”
NEWS FROM THE NCLA: NCLA Asks Supreme Court to Uphold Injunction Against Government Social Media Censorship. “The New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed a brief for the respondents in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Murthy v. Missouri, urging the Justices to uphold a historic preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The injunction would bar officials from the White House, CDC, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Surgeon General’s office from coercing or significantly encouraging social media platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech. Representing individual plaintiffs Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, and Aaron Kheriaty, and Ms. Jill Hines, NCLA eagerly anticipates presenting oral arguments to the Supreme Court on March 18, joining the Attorneys General of Louisiana and Missouri in defense of Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
Reminder/disclosure: I’m on the advisory board of the NCLA.
YES: Merit-based hiring needed to improve ‘diversity of thought’ at UMich: higher ed groups. Merit would certainly produce more diversity.
JOHN LUCAS remembers Toby Keith.
AMERICA’S MILITARY SELF-DECEPTION:
Long post warning!
Admirals repeatedly claiming that European allies can make up for deficiencies in US Naval capacity has nothing to do with overestimating European capabilities.
They claim that Allies are strong because it’s a solid defense when congress (or the media)… https://t.co/3AanmEyEBf
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) February 3, 2024
IT WOULD TAKE A HEART OF STONE NOT TO LAUGH: CNN Makes Drastic Cut As Ratings Slump Takes Its Toll.
HUNTER BAKER ON El Salvador’s Bukele and the Essence of Government.
A FREE SPEECH VICTORY: ABA Gives Final Approval To Law School Free Speech Accreditation Standard. “The proposal follows protests that disrupted conservative speakers at Stanford Law School and Yale Law School and continuing tensions on campuses since Hamas attacked Israel last fall. Standard 208, however, forbids disruptive activities that hinder free expression or impede law school activities.”
OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Inland spaceports seek ways to host orbital launches.
I HOPE NOT BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO WORK WITH THE GUY WHO PLAYS JEFFREY DAHMER: No, you don’t need to be disabled to play Richard III: Actors don’t need to share the ‘lived experience’ of their characters. “It’s called acting for a reason.”
Everyone knows this, except for the morons who have taken it upon themselves to recast our social mores in their own, moronic, image.
As Laurence Olivier famously said to a strung-out Dustin Hoffman on the set of Marathon Man (after he’d stayed awake for 48 hours straight to simulate the torment of his character): “Why not try acting dear boy?”
It’s a thought.
SERIOUS SUV: 2024 Lexus GX First Drive Review: Is It Better or Just Boxier? The previous-gen GX is a great vehicle, off-road, or in snow. Or even just down the Interstate.
MORE COMPETITION WOULD BE BETTER, BUT IMPOSSIBLE: Airlines learn patience in constrained Airbus-Boeing duopoly.
WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: US patient ‘happy again’ after brain implant treats epilepsy and OCD.
NEW SENATE BORDER BILL HAS DROPPED, to bad reviews:
🚨The new Senate border bill is out (https://t.co/tyjA6Jyz7R) and we are evaluating it, but here are TEN things you should know to start with (there are more).
In sum, it appears to be WORSE THAN the current law.
Read this 🧵and decide for yourself.
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) February 5, 2024
"The border never closes" is a good summary of this bill, and of Joe Biden's policy.
I can understand why Chris Murphy supports it. I cannot imagine why any Republican supports this atrocious proposal. https://t.co/ekv7LJ8qbO
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 5, 2024
Well-summarized https://t.co/HSF5R8LyaA
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2024
Plus: House Speaker: Senate Immigration Bill ‘Dead on Arrival.’
MICHAEL WALSH: Happy Birthday to Us, Not to Lenin.
InstaPundit is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.