A FORMER DEMOCRAT AND A VETERAN. BIPARTISAN! Trump appoints Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence: ‘Fearless spirit.’

This pick I’m not so sure about: Trump nominates Matt Gaetz as attorney general. OTOH, he picked an establishmentarian in Jeff Sessions, and another in Bill Barr, last time and they were rolled by the department. Gaetz will be his wingman, to use Eric Holder’s job self-description.

I am a bit concerned, though, that if he keeps naming people from the House to his cabinet it may put the majority at risk.

But hey, it’s an improvement on what we had:

Biden Administration Declares Trump Cabinet Picks ‘Unqualified’ https://t.co/miNG5Te7kx pic.twitter.com/7o01n5KdlF

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) November 13, 2024

Plus:

I mean, sure Peter Hegseth is an Ivy Leaguer with multiple tours who spent over 20 years in military service before becoming a veteran's advocate.

But he didn't work for Raytheon and hire drag queens for recruitment. So is he really qualified?

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) November 13, 2024

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Trump Reaffirms Push for National Concealed Carry Reciprocity.

HEH:

I’m legitimately not sure which of these men is happier that Kamala Harris lost pic.twitter.com/fdutNSioVY

— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) November 13, 2024

NEWS YOU USE: Why your computer screen hurts your eyes (and how to help).

DIDN’T NEED NO WELFARE STATE: Is “AI welfare” the new frontier in ethics?

HMM: A formula for life? New model calculates chances of intelligent beings in our universe and beyond.

I’M NOT HAPPY: Thune to succeed McConnell as next Senate GOP leader.

VITAMIN D UPDATE: Vitamin D supplements may help lower blood pressure in obese seniors.

A GENERAL WARNING: A friend emails “it’s important to keep in mind that there are a lot of “draft executive orders” floating around right now, most of which are written by people who don’t have influence and most of which won’t be signed by Trump.”

That’s true. Heck, I’ve drafted executive orders in the past, when I was a lawyer/lobbyist, ultimately to no effect.

DISMANTLE WOKE, INC., BY KILLING ITS SUBSIDIES. Two thoughts: First, defunding NPR at the federal level is worth doing, but not likely to have much effect. Most of NPR’s funding comes in the form of fees paid for programming by its affiliates. However, those affiliates are often state run and state funded. Red state governments could easily simply forbid them from buying programming from NPR (or possibly from anyone). That would save money, and encourage the local stations, most of which are university-affiliated, to develop their own programming, which would be more educational for students anyway.

JIM TREACHER: Chloe Fineman Is a Bully: What happened to tolerating neurodivergence? “Much like ‘transgender’ and ‘brat,’ it’s one of those words that just pops up out of nowhere. And we’re all supposed to act like it makes sense, or we’ll be cast out of the tribe. But now, as suddenly as it appeared, neurodivergence is no longer an excuse. At least if the subject is Elon Musk.”

IT’S A REAL RISK:

Democrats Warn Abolishing Department Of Education Could Result In Kids Being Too Smart To Vote For Democrats https://t.co/C959bG7vnq pic.twitter.com/iv5xmsF6dH

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) November 13, 2024

OUT: THE DEEP STATE IS A PARANOID RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY. IN: THE DEEP STATE IS REAL, AND THANK GOD. “The level of gaslighting here is unworldly.”

🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/dPfUBIyCfm

— Michelle Maxwell (@MichelleMaxwell) November 13, 2024

STANDING UP TO OPEN SEXISM: Northwestern faces complaint after bragging about 50-percent female class: Title IX complaint says several of business school’s programs, scholarships discriminate against men.

JOHN LUCAS: Our Most Courageous Political Leaders — Then and Now: The more viciously Trump’s enemies attack him, the more they add to his legend and legacy.

I REMEMBER WHEN HIGHER EDUCATION WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CIVILIZING INFLUENCE: Loyola student calls Trump-supporting peer a ‘Nazi,’ seems to call for violent assaults against him.

ENTITLEMENT: Liberal Media Scream: How dare Trump make demands on Senate, CNN whines.

IT’S SMART MARKETING THAT THE LOGO IS CUTE, PATRIOTIC, AND NON-THREATENING:

pic.twitter.com/4K0ruu7UMS

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024

DOGMA: Tufts University Walks Back Top Prof’s Threat To Blackball Seth Moulton Over Trans Athlete Remarks: ‘I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male,’ Dem rep told New York Times.

#JOURNALISM: (Thread).

🧵As Democrats deal with the impact of wokeness and how it make it difficult for them to connect to the working class, those wo college educations and a growing number of minority men, I wonder if the MSM will address the extent wokeness has crept into our style books & usage in…

— David Mastio (@DavidMastio) November 12, 2024

BIGOTRY IN THE BIDEN ERA: At the University of Rochester: Wanted Posters of Jewish Faculty Members Glued to Walls.

GOOD QUESTION: Can you pay celebrities millions to appear at your rally and report it as an “event production” expense to the FEC?

WHY SO MUCH HATE FOR AUTOMOBILES FROM URBAN PLANNERS? A federalist approach to anti-car urbanism.

Back in the early 1990s, anxious about long-term regional decline and hoping to put my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, back on the map, local leaders embarked upon constructing a totally new light rail system that was to provide living proof of our dynamic vision for the future. The MetroLink promised to unite the diffuse bistate area like never before.

But three decades and billions of dollars later, most St. Louisans except the starriest-eyed of rail boosters would probably say that the money might have been better spent on road repair and expanded bus routes. However noble the ambition, the system has proved an underutilized and crime-riddled vanity project that, for the foreseeable future, is more trouble than it’s worth.
More recently, a smaller-scale St. Louis project, The Loop Trolley, burned over $50 million on a 2-mile vintage-style streetcar line along one of the area’s main commercial corridors, worsening traffic and hurting small business. The system ended up an embarrassing failure that brought in roughly a tenth of projected revenues and shut down after just a year of service.

The appeal of light rail is the graft, not the service.

CHEERFULLY: How Trump crushed Obama’s legacy: The president-elect rides the cowboy spirit.

OPEN THREAD: Tuesday’s groovy.