WINNING:

Literally.

TODAY’S NON-SHOCKING NEWS: One Of Erdogan’s Biggest Allies Contributed To Ilhan Omar’s Campaign. “An official with a Turkish-American advocacy group contributed $1,500 to Rep. Ilhan Omar last month, campaign records show. He also met with the Minnesota Democrat. Omar was scrutinized over votes she cast Tuesday that are seen as favorable to the Turkish government.”

BUT TRUMP’S THE ONE WITH THE DANGEROUS EGO: Hillary Thinks God Put Her Here To Be President? Heaven Help Us.

ONLY IF HE WAS A DEMOCRAT: Alyssa Milano: If Katie Hill Were a Man There Would Be ‘A Very Different Outcome.’

HORACE COOPER: The Shameless Hypocrisy Of Cities Suing For Climate Change ‘Damages.’ “Using an already discredited “public nuisance” legal claim, Rhode Island and several cities have filed lawsuits that blame all of Earth’s climate change on a few profitable energy companies. The suits allege that, by producing oil, these energy companies have contributed to climate change, which, they argue, may cause damage to their communities in the future. Their cases, incidentally, fail to mention the large amounts of fossil fuels used by these same cities for public transportation, municipal airports, city buildings, and public improvement projects.”

COLORADO: Department of Transportation in Total Disarray. “CDOT Executive Director: Shoshana Lew, a history major in college, became the head of CDOT at age 35 with no engineering or construction management experience due to political connections in Washington, D.C.”

The convergence of two events has turned CDOT upside down. The first was the Orwellian named “Keep Jobs in Colorado Act of 2013.” Previously under CRS Sec. 24-92-109 all public projects in excess of $50,000 had to be “awarded by competitive bid.” The drawbacks to this method include occasional “bid rigging” by competing contractors. In addition, so-called “change orders” can drive up costs of a competitively bid project. But overall this method, which was used for decades by CDOT, was the least subjective and generally viewed fairest method to have projects completed at the lowest cost.

The 2013 act substituted the “lowest bid” method with the so-called “best value” model in which bids come in as either (1) Design Build; or (2) Construction Manager/General Contractor (CMGC). While these techniques have various theoretical advantages, especially for unique highly complex projects, including potentially cutting down the time to complete a project, it is a highly subjective selection process with the opportunity for corruption massively increased. To prevent cronyism and exorbitant cost increases, it requires high expertise and absolute diligence on the part of CDOT. What CDOT got was the exact opposite.

Lew’s primary qualification, according to insiders, was her close relationship to Michelle Obama who called the newly elected governor for a favor — find a job for Shoshana Lew. Lew is the daughter of President Obama’s Chief of Staff and later Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew.

In a word: Democrats.

DOES THIS MEAN I WON’T NEED THAT ROBOT LIVER? Liver damage from drinking may one day be REVERSIBLE: Scientists are developing a drug to undo tissue scarring in lung and liver disease.

LIVE AND WITH UPDATES: House Debates and Votes on Impeachment Inquiry Resolution. “The two Democrats who voted not to impeach are Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson and New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), a former Republican, voted with Democrats in favor of the resolution.”

Of course he did.

TYLER O’NEIL: 5 Big Problems With Twitter Banning Political Ads. “”We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought.”

What this says to me is that not even money will be able to counter Twitter’s selective rule enforcement and armies of bots.

UNDERREPORTED NEWS: President Trump Sings ‘God Bless America’ with Wounded Vet. “The kicker? This whole scene actually took place late last month, but somehow failed to generate the buzz of, say, an all-too-famous promotional picture of Barack Obama riding in Rosa Parks’ seat all by himself.”

Caution: The video comes with a three-hanky warning.

HERE COME THOSE SANTA ANA WINDS AGAIN: Fierce Santa Ana winds knock over 18-wheelers on California highway, photos show.

We get winds like that on occasion here on Monument Hill, which is even more fun in icy conditions like during last winter’s “bomb cyclone” snowstorm.

DECOUPLING: China’s US trade war charm offensive was meant to stop foreign investors from leaving, but is it working? “China’s status as the workshop for the world has for years been steadily eroded by rising domestic costs, even before the outbreak of the trade war, leading to a long list of foreign manufacturers throwing in the towel, seeking cheaper production bases in countries like Vietnam and India.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: The Whistleblower Gets Whistleblown. “This thing stunk when we first found out that the whistleblower didn’t even have firsthand knowledge of the call. If he’s Biden and Brennan’s puppet the stench becomes permanently toxic.”

The fact that villains this obvious and this inept occupy such positions of power doesn’t speak well of our republic.

UGH: Beauty queen begs for asylum in Facebook live videos.

Bahareh Zare Bahari, 31, who represented Iran in the 2018 Miss Intercontinental pageant, has reportedly been stranded at Manila airport in the Philippines for the past two weeks. Immigration authorities in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport detained her when she was entering the country from Dubai.

Bahari, a dentistry student in the Philippines, has been documenting her stay at the airport through live streams on Facebook that have received thousands of views.

In a video posted on Saturday, she pleaded to the Philippines government to grant her asylum.

“I have a message for President Duterte,” she said in the video. “Please help me, please. Philippines not safe for me anymore … Please hear me.”

She said that if sent back to Iran, she would face “long prison sentences, at least 25 years,” and “rape and beating.” She said as someone who lived in the Philippines for six years, she was expecting the Philippines government to show her support.

Granting asylum seems like a no-brainer to me.

ELECTRICITY IS FOR LOSERS: California is ‘winning’ its way into the Stone Age.

The same California that has been the seedbed of world-famous companies — like the ones that make it possible for people to send widely viewed short missives of 280 characters or fewer and share and like images of grumpy cats — isn’t doing so well at keeping the lights on.

The same California that has boldly committed to drawing half of its energy from renewable sources by 2025 — and 100 percent renewable energy by 2045 — can’t manage its existing energy infrastructure.

The same California that has pushed its electricity rates to the highest in the contiguous United States through its mandates and regulations doesn’t provide continuous access to that overpriced electricity.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has to try to evade responsibility for this debacle while presiding over it, blames “dog-eat-dog capitalism” for the state’s current blackout crisis. It sounds like he is referring to robber barons who have descended on the state to suck it dry of profits while burning it to the ground.

But in fact, Newsom is talking about one of the most regulated industries in the state — namely, California’s energy utilities that answer to the state’s public utilities commission.

Milton Friedman said that if you put the government in charge of the Sahara desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand. Put progressives in charge of the nation’s most advanced economy, and pretty soon you can’t even keep the lights on.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Why Woke Comedy’s ‘Punching Down’ Rule Is a Joke.

Trump fans aren’t rich. They often hail from cobalt blue collar backgrounds and have little political clout. In short, they’re low on the cultural ladder and, therefore, shouldn’t be targets of ridicule.

Yet they are, both in this sketch and across the comedy landscape. Earlier this year far-left comedian Jimmy Kimmel uncorked this screed.

“Like many Americans who have been repeatedly punched in the head, Colby Covington is a big Donald Trump supporter. And there’s nothing Donald Trump loves more than people who love Donald Trump.”

So where’s the outrage? Is anyone more marginalized than Trump supporters these days?

They’re repeatedly beaten up, mocked on national TV and some higher profile supporters are chased out of restaurants.

Meanwhile, today’s woke comedy police cite “punching down” as the biggest thought crime on the books.

To be fair, woke comedians say a lot of stuff, none of it funny.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Test Scores Drop as Teachers Around the Country Strike for More Money.

PHILISTINES: New York City Council votes to ban selling foie gras.

YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT: 2,000-Pound Great White Shark Spotted Off Florida Coast.

WELL, BYE: Say Goodbye to Congresswoman Naked BongHits.

BUT OF COURSE: CAIR Silent on the Death of ISIS Founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

UNEXPECTEDLY! Long lines and long waits for some on Day 1 of LAX’s new Uber, Lyft and taxi system.

In an attempt to tame the infamous traffic at the nation’s second-busiest airport, LAX officials on Tuesday took a major step: banning most Uber, Lyft and taxi pickups from the curbside. Drop-offs, which occur on the upper level, have not changed.

Even on a low-traffic day, the new pickup system had some growing pains. At points in the early afternoon, the wait time for Uber and Lyft rides swelled, with more than 100 people waiting in each line for their drivers in the pickup lot.

“When you make a bold change like this, you’ll be faced with a little bit of refining to get it right,” said Keith Wilschetz, deputy executive director at Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that runs LAX.

I read “bold change” as “taxi cab medallion protection.”

CHOICE FOR ME BUT NOT FOR THEE: Elizabeth Warren Pledges To Crack Down On School Choice, Despite Sending Her Own Son To Elite Private School.

VIDEO: Steve Scalise And Jim Jordan Rip Adam Schiff’s Kangaroo Court.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Mark Zuckerberg Embraces Free Speech: Will Facebook? “While there might not be any corporate policy in place against conservative or libertarian views, the fact that the Silicon Valley workforce has become so dominated by left-wing progressives, that it probably makes any attempts at moderation problematical at best.”