LINCOLN BROWN: An Ex-Leftist Reacts to Biden’s Speech About ‘Democracy.’ “Democracy versus autocracy, you say? Who but an autocrat would weaponize the Department of Justice to terrorize his political opponents, cast concerned parents as domestic terrorists, and even try to find ways to criminalize election rhetoric he doesn’t like? Who but an autocrat would freeze energy production in his own country, raid the reserves, and flirt with nationalizing the oil industry?”

Read the whole thing.

(Bumped, by Glenn.)

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: 29M US households ALREADY cannot pay bills and families are buying fewer groceries to keep the lights on — study says cold weather and rising costs will deepen the crisis.

DEJA VU: There’s Something Very Familiar About the Midterms, But the Color Has Changed. “I was finally able to put words to this odd feeling after seeing a CBS News poll showing that 80% of likely voters say that the country is ‘out of control.’ CBS News being CBS News, they put the best spin on the numbers as they could, but the dread is real and it’s almost universal. “

RUN AWAY! Tim Ryan, Who Twice Voted for Unlimited Abortion, Now States He Is Against Late-Term Abortions.

LEARN TO CODE: Elon Musk to Pull a Trump-Level ‘You’re Fired!’ on HALF of Twitter’s Workforce.

ANDREW STILES: Why No One’s Talking About This Swing-State Senate Race That Could Determine the Balance of Power in Washington. “The outcome of this race will be a reasonably accurate reflection of the national mood, which is why Budd is probably going to win. He has led almost every poll by at least 3 percentage points since early September. FiveThirtyEight gives him an 80 percent chance of victory. In a midterm cycle under a struggling Democratic president, being a generic Republican running in a swing state is a pretty good gig. The stump speech, if you can stick to the script, practically writes itself.”

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Turkey shortage looming on bigger birds this Thanksgiving.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: White House Deletes Tweet Flagged as Misinformation by Twitter.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: After 3 Months in Space, China’s Mysterious Spaceplane Ejects Unknown Object. “The spaceplane may have released other objects shortly after launching this past August. Tracking data from the Space Defense Squadron noted at least one or two objects that may be inspector satellites tracking the spacecraft itself, according to Space News.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dem Candidates Don’t Want Biden Anywhere Near Close Races. “Where has President LOLEightyonemillion recently been? Bumbling around in places where the Democrats either aren’t going to win or don’t need any help at all. And, as always, embarrassing himself and the country.”

TEXAS: Radicals In Reformer Drag. “The name, Save Our Schools, seems to imply a reformer agenda in the same way as Save Austin Now. But ‘Save Our Schools’ are peddling the same woke, anti-parent, social justice warrior/critical race theory/transexual madness agenda that’s destroying Round Rock ISD.”

ISN’T THAT ALWAYS THE PLAN? Kamala Harris to Announce Plans to Help Americans Heat Their Homes by Burning Billions in Cash.

XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT: As China-US ties worsen, Hong Kong bankers fear for their careers.

Since China’s Communist Party congress last month, bankers and asset managers I have spoken to are worried. They wonder whether they have viable careers at all.

The defiant tone President Xi Jinping took toward the US got those hardworking financiers scared. Already, strains between the two global superpowers led some of the biggest US pension funds to reassess their exposure to China, with one slashing its portfolio allocation and another halting new investments.

What if geopolitical tension over Taiwan intensifies and Washington DC imposes more sanctions on Chinese companies, or even restricts US investments in Chinese assets?

Xi got his third-to-life term already. Punishing Hong Kong bankers is just gravy.

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

Matt Margolis: The Democrats Have Something Sinister Planned After the Midterms. “The Justice Department has been working with various left-wing voting rights groups in secret meetings, so something is definitely up, and it doesn’t look good.”

Megan Fox: Missouri Health Department Launches Suspicious ‘Investigation’ Into Hospital That Refused to Perform Medical Emergency Abortion. “No one in the media who reported the scary story quoted the law accurately, nor did they reach out to anyone in Missouri who could refute the claim.”

Yours Truly: THE REAL SUICIDE OF THE WEST: The Hottest Jobs in Teaching Are All Woke. “Every single one of these positions is designed to do one thing: Generate class after graduating class of purple-haired, nose-ring wearers of indeterminate gender with a special hatred of the society wealthy enough to fritter itself away creating such useless creatures.”

CHANGE? White Suburban Women Flocking Back to the GOP in Huge Numbers.

SOD OFF, SWAMPY: Why you do NOT need to shower each morning… or ever again! Hygiene expert insists washing yourself is ‘really unimportant’ (just be prepared to stink!)

MEGAN FOX: Alex Stein Running Write-In Campaign for Dallas Family Court Judgeship Against Trans Activist Mary Brown. “Alex Stein, the comedian made famous by trolling board meetings and politicians all over the country, is running a write-in campaign to take the seat of Judge Mary Brown in the 301st family court district of Dallas.”

DON’T COUNT THOSE CHICKENS JUST YET: Kathy Hochul learns from Terry McAuliffe how to lose a blue state.

MANY THINGS DON’T: A Detail in the Paul Pelosi Attack Story Makes No Sense.

LAUGHING WOLF ON PUTIN’S Most Interesting Speech.

Again, note what he didn’t say in the speech. There was effectively no bluff, no threats, even almost an avoidance of direct talk of the war. It was not truly brought up until the Q&A. Now that got interesting, and again much of this was aimed internal, not external (save to useful idiots). The idea that Vladimir and Russia have NEVER threatened use, only hinted, was part of a well-laid campaign. Note how he brought up the threats from the British, which is going to play well in some quarters. The Slavophile dislike of the Brits showed through, just as it has throughout the invasion. Worth noting that they’ve gone after Great Britain more than they have the U.S. by a good margin. Leaving aside the hapless Truss, Vladimir was almost gentle in pointing out the threats of Biden. Which, given that the demented meat puppet and his incompetent Regency have chewed their shoes with their feet still in them almost continuously, is something.

Not sure what it says that I laughed along with Vladimir at the Khruschev comparison, but again note what wasn’t said along with what was said. No direct threats, though he invited all to read Russian doctrine on nukes. An emphasis on the threats incoming. The dirty bomb and nuclear plant discussions were interesting. Much wasn’t said, and how it wasn’t said was interesting indeed.

This is when smart Western leadership would prepare Sun Tzu’s golden bridge for Putin, but the West doesn’t have any smart leadership.

BIDEN: I Was Born a Poor Black Child. “That’s not a stutter, folks. That’s not a slip of the tongue. That’s what those of us in the high-powered punditry business call ‘a flat-out, big-ass, pandering lie.'”

HMM: Democrats Are Spending More in This Michigan District Than in Any Other in the Country.

The race in Michigan’s redrawn Seventh Congressional District, which pits Democratic incumbent Elissa Slotkin against Republican challenger Tom Barrett, a state lawmaker and military veteran, has emerged as one of the most hotly contested in the country. Together, spending from both sides totals nearly $27 million.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee alone dropped nearly $5 million to save Slotkin, more than the group has spent anywhere in the country. Nearly 1 out of every 22 dollars spent on a House race this cycle has gone to the battle over this district.

Slotkin likely never anticipated such a close race. She currently represents Michigan’s eighth district, but newly drawn districts moved her to run in the seventh, which is slightly more Democratic-voter-heavy than her old home. Biden’s plummeting approval ratings, along with the nation’s shaky economy, however, have nearly negated that advantage.

The district is in many ways the perfect swing district, encompassing the full spectrum of voter types—there are urban voters and college students in Lansing, but also rural voters in surrounding counties, including farmers and blue-collar factory workers.

I don’t know how the race will turn out, but I know it’s wrong that Washington has grown so big and powerful that any one House seat can be worth tens of millions of dollars.

ELECTION INTEGRITY: PA Supreme Court Rules Incorrectly Dated Absentee Ballots Can’t Be Counted.

OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: American Rescue Plan funded writing fellowship for ‘non-binary’ 13-year-olds, Muslim jazz series in NYC.

THE JOKES WRITE THEMSELVES: German Energy Company Demolishes Wind Turbines to Ramp Up Coal Mining.