KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Commie Democrat Psychopaths Are In Crime Denial. “The farther left one of them goes, the more removed from reality they become. For the longest time, I thought that they were all merely pathological liars. Most are, of course, but I am now beginning to believe that some of them are in the midst of a full psychotic break.”

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT? Critics Savage Progressive Climate Change Satire ‘Don’t Look Up.’ “McKay once dabbled primarily in mainstream comedies like ‘Anchorman,’ ‘Step Brothers’ and ‘The Other Guys.’ Now, he fuses his progressive politics with his art, and the results are dividing critics who otherwise agree with his views on most issues.”

PJ MEDIA VIP ROUNDUP: Don’t forget that VODKAPUNDIT promo code if you’ve been thinking of joining us.

Athena Thorne: The Left’s Next Coup has Already Begun. “One of Big Left’s favorite tactics, when taking over an institution (or country), is to grab the steering wheel. When they have the presidency, they rule by executive command. When they have the court, they rule by judicial decree. When they want to decide how a state votes, they concentrate on getting their operatives into a state-wide position of power.”

Megan Fox: Feminism Has Made Western Women Stupid and Dangerous to Themselves and Others. “The local women of Ecuador recognize what feminists do not. Men are flawed. Danger is everywhere. It’s better to be with a group than on your own. Don’t let a shaman get you naked. These are basic truths that Western women should know, but they don’t because the left has made it a sin to understand the true nature of what it means to be a woman.”

Yours Truly: Soros-Backed DA Wants Jacqueline Avant’s Killer to Serve Less Time. “What to do as the chief prosecutor when your city is in shock and outrage over the shooting murder of 81-year-old philanthropist Jacqueline Avant in her own home? If you’re Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, you leap immediately into action with a fundraising email ‘asking for money to push through a bill removing extra prison time for using a gun during a crime.'”

THE ONLY BLACK LIVES THAT MATTER TO BLACK LIVES MATTER ARE THE ONES WHO CAN WRITE BIG CHECKS TO BLACK LIVES MATTER: Black Lives Matter Believes Jussie Smollett, ‘We Can Never Believe Police.’

Meanwhile: 81% of Black Americans Don’t Want Less Police Presence Despite Protests—Some Want More Cops.

ED WEST: The unbearable whiteness of being an academic. “Why are so many white people claiming to be black or indigenous?”

Until recently, Carrie Bourassa had been a woman to inspire all. An indigenous member of the Métis Nation who had overcome poverty and racism to scale the heights of academia in Canada, she was a scientific director for indigenous peoples’ health at a leading scientific institute and described as ‘a selfless leader and a tireless champion for all Indigenous peoples in this country’. She had also edited a book on indigenous parenting; all in all, the type of person you expect to see in pious public sector celebrations of women put out by the BBC.

On one occasion Bourassa had delivered a TEDx Talk at the University of Saskatchewan ‘with a feather in her hand and a bright blue shawl and Métis sash draped over her shoulders’. Calling herself Morning Star Bear, she had tearfully told the audience: ‘I’m just going to say it — I’m emotional…. I’m Bear Clan. I’m Anishinaabe Métis from Treaty Four Territory,’ and went on explain how she had grown up experiencing racism, violence and addiction in the community. Bourassa had in articles and talks opened up about the difficulties of being raised by her Métis grandfather and facing the ‘intergenerational trauma’ of her people. It was a story that seemed to push all the right buttons – which was perhaps the problem.

But then some serious allegations came to light casting doubt on Morning Star Bear’s fitness for office: Bourassa, it turned out, was white. Her forebears were all Russian, Czech and Polish farmers, who while the Metis struggled with the arrival of the Europeans were back in Tsarist Russia, living lives of unbridled white privilege as agricultural workers.

Read the whole thing.

WELL, GOOD: Omicron ‘May Signal the End of COVID-19’ According to Healthcare CEO.

CORN, POPPED: CNN and Chris Cuomo Are on the Brink of All-Out War. “Despite the decisiveness of CNN’s actions following last week’s revelations, there are hints that the fireworks may only just be getting started. On Monday afternoon, the New York Post reported that Cuomo was ‘preparing to file [a] lawsuiT’ — reportedly to the tune of at least $18 million — ‘over the remainder of the four-year contract he signed last year.’ Sources on both sides told me they were caught off guard by the Post item, but Puck’s Matthew Belloni later reported that Cuomo had lawyered up with Bryan Freedman, who helped handle Megyn Kelly’s NBC exit, and that CNN was working with Daniel Petrocelli, who successfully battled the Trump administration when it attempted to scuttle a merger between AT&T and CNN’s parent company. Zucker reportedly told staff Tuesday that Cuomo did not receive severance.”

‘Tis a pity that can’t both lose.

HOW’S THAT “PERMANENT DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY” COMING ALONG? Hispanic Voters Are Now Evenly Split Between Parties.

HILARIOUSLY UNWOKE: Mel Brooks says his only regret as a comedian is the jokes he didn’t tell.

It’s not too late to tell them, Mel…

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Despite Near-Record Homicides, Philadelphia DA Proclaims No ‘Crisis of Crime.’

EIGHT YEARS TOO LATE: De Blasio Imposes New Vaccine Mandate And New Yorkers Scream ‘Enough!’ “Most businesses are already not complying with the existing mandates, and people are announcing they won’t comply with this one.”

MATT MARGOLIS: Jussie Smollett Gets Destroyed During Cross Examination.

Also: Jussie Smollett’s Testimony Was ‘Unparalleled Disaster,’ Experts Say.

NEVER AGAIN: The Hypersonic Global Pearl Harbor. “What if China wants hypersonic orbital weapons for a more practical warfighting mission? What if China needs a small number to hit our major ships in port where they are stationary, visible, and most vulnerable? Wouldn’t that prevent America from mobilizing and sending reinforcements to defeat China in the western Pacific?”

SHE CAN’T BE TRUSTED WITH ANYTHING: Top Ten Other Kamala Harris Make-Work Jobs.

KEVIN DOWNEY JR: Reps. Greene and Gohmert Finally Met the J6 Political Prisoners: What They Saw Isn’t Pretty. “Several inmates need medical attention. One has a broken finger. A seventy-one-year-old inmate, Lonnie Leroy Coffman, who hasn’t seen a doctor, watched as his lower forearm has turned purple and his thumb turned black. The other inmates suggested that if anyone can be released, it should be Lonnie.”

BLUE CITY BLUES: Security Guard: Denver’s Union Station ‘Being Taken Over’ By Crime & Drugs, Is ‘Major Risk For Patrons.’

On a recent pre-dawn trip to Union Station, CBS4 observed dozens of people sleeping or passed out in the lower-level bus terminal. Others appeared to smoke narcotics on the plazas and inside the bus terminal. Twice, young men accosted a CBS4 reporter who was taking pictures, one threatening to stab or assault him if the videotaping continued. Bathrooms in the bus station section of Union Station are now unsafe, according to Fleming.

“If you want to stay safe, stay away from the restroom. Go where you are going and don’t make eye contact with people and take stairs instead of the elevator,” he recommended.

Fleming said that just an hour earlier, he and his colleagues had revived a young man who had apparently overdosed on fentanyl in the bus terminal.

Last Week: RTD union calls Denver Union Station a ‘lawless hellhole.’

BLUE ON BLUE: Matthew Dowd Ends Campaign for Texas Lt. Gov., Suggests Beto O’Rourke Should Also Quit. “Self-proclaimed ‘thought leader’ says ‘white male Christians’ should show ‘integrity’ by removing themselves from diverse Democratic primary fields.”

JUSTICE: Violent Antifa Terrorists Are Finally Prosecuted for Attacking Conservatives.

81 MILLION VOTES: Majority see Biden out by 2024, fear Harris not ‘qualified.’

Recently crushed by reports about staff fleeing her “bullying” management style and a slew of horrible approval rating surveys, Rasmussen Reports said Tuesday that voters are concerned about her taking over for President Joe Biden.

The fear: She’s just not “qualified” for the job.

And that matters because the latest poll previewed by Secrets found that by a margin of 49% to 36%, likely voters believe that something will happen to 79-year-old Biden that will result in Harris being elevated to the top job. That includes 41% of Democrats and 45% of independents.

The Rasmussen findings extend a long streak of surveys showing voters concerned about Biden’s health and longevity, though the White House recently said he did well on his latest physical.

Related: Just 22% Of Americans Want Joe Biden To Run For President Again.

OK THEN: Black Man Gets New Trial Because of Confederate Memorabilia In Jury Room.

THIS MORNING: New report sheds light on Apple’s supply chain issues, highlights pre-pandemic problems.

Nikkei Asia has released a new report showing how ongoing supply chain bottlenecks and power restrictions in China have forced Foxconn, Pegatron, and other Apple suppliers to produce less, not more.

“Due to limited components and chips, it made no sense to work overtime on holidays and give extra pay for front-line workers,” a supply chain manager told Nikkei Asia.

“That has never happened before. The Chinese golden holiday in the past was always the most hustling time when all of the assemblers were gearing up for production.”

Nikkei Asia interviewed nearly two dozen industry executives in hopes of piecing together the story. As it turns out, the pandemic was only one part of the story.

Last Night: Apple CEO Tim Cook engineered a secret $275 billion deal with China. “Citing both interviews and direct access to internal Apple documents about repeated visits by Cook to China in the mid-2010s, the report describes a $275 billion deal whereby Apple committed to investing heavily in technology infrastructure and training in the country.”

Apple shareholders should have some very pointed questions for Cook about what he got for their $275 billion.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: The Sweaty, Gross Democrat/Media Lovefest Gets Even Nastier. “In yesterday’s Briefing we discussed the toilet flush of a president that is Joe Biden. America’s MSM hacks are the ones who put him in office. The Democrats wouldn’t have been able to pull off whatever the hell it was they did last November without the MSM lying and covering for them. Jim Acosta and George Stephanopoulos are as much to blame for the supply chain crisis, inflation, and global unrest as the drooling husk in the Oval Office is.”

FINGERS CROSSED: Why Putin Won’t Invade Ukraine.

Risk aversion. Vladimir Putin undoubtedly would like to project an image similar to that of the brave bogatyrs who populate Slavic mythology, but his operating style more closely resembles the behavior of a different regional archetype: the cunning peasant who plays a weak hand well.

Putin has maintained power for two decades by standing up to the West without taking big chances. Invading a nation of 40 million where four out of five inhabitants are non-Russian would entail incalculable uncertainties—uncertainties that might ultimately endanger Putin’s hold on power. Taking such risks would be out of character.

You break it, you own it. That’s what Secretary of State Colin Powell warned President Bush before the U.S. invaded Iraq, a formulation that has come to be known as the Pottery Barn rule. An invasion of Ukraine would require Russia to occupy part or all of Europe’s poorest, most corrupt country.

Assuming that Moscow does not envision genocidal extermination of non-Russians, it would then have to subsidize a restive developing nation that is recovering from the effects of war. That burden would persist indefinitely, imposing big costs on the Russian state for returns that are likely to be quite modest.

Much more at the link.

CHRIS QUEEN: EU Scrooges Wind Up With Eggnog on Their Faces After Trying to Ban the Word ‘Christmas.’

Post-Christian rule didn’t work out for Europe very well — to say the least — under the Nazis or the Soviets. There’s little reason to think it will turn out well under the EU, either.

HEINLEIN’S CRAZY YEARS (CONT’D): These universities are paying for menstrual products in men’s bathrooms.