BLAH, BLAH, BLAH

Douchebeard still hasn't read The Federalist so his trademark "America will only be great when America does whatever I tell America to do" rant has REALLY gotten tedious.

INFLUENCING PEOPLE

The anti-Communist Chinese list grows.

In response to the Netherlands' decision to change the name of its de facto embassy in Taiwan, China is threatening a halt in medical supplies and a boycott of Dutch products by Chinese consumers.

On Tuesday (April 28), The Netherlands Trade and Investment Office changed its name to “Netherlands Office Taipei," with Dutch representative in Taipei Guy Wittich referring to the new moniker as "little bit less, but a lot more." In a video clip that was released on Monday evening but later taken down, Wittich elaborated that the name had been changed and simplified because of an expansion of activities in many new areas between the two countries.

Wittich said that the terms "trade and investment" had been taken out, as the scope of cooperation between the two countries had increased. Over the past eight years, the Australian, British, Japanese, and Polish representative offices have similarly simplified the names of their de facto embassies in Taiwan.

In response, the Chinese embassy in the European country on Tuesday lodged "solemn representations" and demanded a "clarification" of the name change from the Dutch government. The embassy claimed that the name change "concerns China's core interests" and reminded the Netherlands to dutifully adhere to its "one China principle."

HORST WESSEL TWEETS

New York City's gauleiter gets in some brownshirt practice.

Nathan Wurtzel thinks this reads better in the original German.  But why single out the Jews, Wilhelm?  People tend to notice stuff like that.  This might have had something to do with it.  Seems that Wilhelm personally assisted in breaking up a Jewish funeral.

Pretty funny considering that not all that long ago, you were trying to get people to patronize NYC restaurants, you go to Brooklyn whenever the mood strikes you and you still haven't shut down the subways.  But do a mosque now.

UPDATE: Some people have trouble with nuance, don't they, Herr Gauleiter?  But if it's any consolation, Das Bloat* is on board.

*Term explained here.

YES, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Next question.

DARK HORSE

The Masher's going to make the run and lefties are NOT happy campers.

COLLABORATORS

Gav goes Vidkun Quisling.  #ThrowingInWithChina

TANNED, RESTED AND READY

Gam-Gam has had a lot of experience covering for guys like Joe Biden.

UPDATE: Not a smart move, Joe.

ANOTHER EPISODE

Oh great.  Grandma's thanking God that she is not as other men are again.

Gam-Gam?  After you finish your public piety, I have a question.  We know that no one in American public life is more on fire for the Gospel than you are which you recently demonstrated by defiantly illustrating the thoroughly-Christian principle that "I was hungry and you made me wait for something to eat because the Kennedy Center needed money and the Republicans insisted that the stimulus bill be 'clean' or some such stupid crap as that."

I know that's not actually in there but emanations, penumbra and all that.

Anyway, since we're all doing Matthew 25 now, does that mean that the Democrats will no longer take any donations from Murder Inc. Planned Parenthood?  It's impossible to get any more "least of these" than the unborn, right?  Or will the Democrats continue with the Episcopalian "I was pregnant and you paid for my abortion" exegesis?

WHEN JIM TREACHER'S GOOD

There's nobody better.

Okay, okay, fine. If you want to get all nitpicky, COVID-19 isn't the Chinese virus. It's merely the latest Chinese virus. Any number of deadly pandemics have emanated from China for thousands of years, and it will keep on happening as long as the Chinese allow it to happen. But you're not supposed to say that, because China is full of Chinese people and therefore criticizing them is racist. You're supposed to ignore facts. You mustn't tell the truth about why you're out of a job and worried about getting sick and dying. If you do, your moral, ethical, and intellectual betters will call you names, which they will also do for any other reason.

 

And why not? Why wouldn't they keep doing what they're doing? China's friends in the "American" press are more than happy to help. They pass along the Chinese government's lies without any hint of skepticism, and try to shame anyone who doesn't happily whistle the same tune as we're marched to the abbatoir. Maybe these "journalists" have been bought off. Maybe they've been coerced. Maybe they just hate America. Maybe it's all three. Whatever the case, they don't care about their audience. They work for China now.

 

China did this. If you think that's racist, you're out of your damn mind and I don't care what you say about me. Glad the Aussies feel the same way. And the Brits aren't taking this lying down either. This Chinese virus almost killed Boris Johnson, and now he's very cross indeed. The only people who aren't glad he's okay are Chinese communists and Western leftists. But then, they're one and the same.

BACKATCHA

Simpering Chinese toady says the to-be-left-unspoken part out loud.

This is the flag of Occupied Tibet. #BringBackTheQingDynasty

UPDATE: Commie liars gots to commie liar. #DontThreatenOzzies

GO EASY ON THE LEFT

Some of the mental contortions those people have to put themselves through just to get through the day are hard.  On the other hand, it's pretty impressive that Moscow knew 27 years ago, give or take, that Joe was going to run for president this year.  So there's that.

867-5309

What do journalists do when there's no news?  They call the Beijing Stenographers Guild.

Ask for Mr. Tutone.

BASIC INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

QUESTION: What is the quickest yet most accurate way of determining the bitterest enemies of the United States of America?

ANSWER: Look for any country that Ben Rhodes most obsequiously kisses the ass of, even to the extent of eagerly making a complete idiot of himself as Ben does here.

BILL GATES FOR ANTICHRIST?

You can make a good case.

UPDATE: A DAMNED good case (if you'll pardon the expression).

BOBBLEHEAD

Jake Tapper obediently nods along while Nanner McBotox utters some damn fool crap that popped into her ancient head just now.

GOOOOOD Jake. Who's a good boy? Who's a good Jake?

I wish the Democrats would get their stories straight.  Is Trump a xenophobic fascist or is he nowhere near fascist enough?  Make up your stupid minds.

LOCKING THE BARN DOOR

Anybody want to take any bets as to how this will turn out?

Mitt might consider this leadership and it certainly is that, assuming you define leadership as "licking your index finger and sticking it into the air to determine which way the wind is blowing."  Most people who've been paying attention knew that the Chinese were at fault for the Chinese Flu practically since the start of this whole business, ably aided and abetted by their compliant sock puppets at WHO.  And Mitt's just now figuring all this out?

And since WHO is a United Nations organization, does Mitt seriously believe that the UN is capable of a truly independent and transparent investigation into WHO's performance, never mind genuinely "reforming" it?  Because if Mitt is honestly stupid enough to seriously believe that, there is yet another illustration of Why He Lost, why his "conservatism" was never anything more than an inept pose and one more reason Why You Got Trump.

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

If Nikki Haley manages to seriously get this idea going, she must be considered the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

Former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has launched an effort to put China in the crosshairs of U.S. foreign policy. Her group is called — to the point — Stop Communist China, and its objective is to “stop the Chinese Communist government’s deception and manipulation. We need Congress to act now to prevent China’s growing influence.”

Meaning what?  Among other things, Haley would like the US to:

Investigate the Communist Chinese government’s role in covering up the initial COVID-19 outbreak.

Make China pay the UN and other international organizations’ like the second largest economy in the world should — no more being treated like a poor “developing country.”

Support Taiwan. Push back against Communist China’s bullying and allow Taiwan to join the World Health Organization (WHO).

Require American colleges and universities to disclose all Chinese Communist government funding of professors and researchers.

All worthwhile goals.  I might include full and official diplomatic recognition of Taiwan regardless of how loudly Beijing or the UN bitches about it but this is an outstanding start.

UPDATE: Know how good this approach is?  Joe takes it out for a spin.

YEAH...NO

It's like I always say about movies.  Why should I pay to see a leftist Episcopal Organization sermon when I can visit an Episcopal outlet any Sunday I care to and see one for free?

FIRST BULL RUN

Back here, I speculated that very, very bad results would occur if taxpayers in other states were ever forced to spend their hard-earned money because or all the criminally-stupid financial decisions (or criminally stupid financial non-decisions, as the case may be) made by the Blue states over the years.  Charming Billy, on the other hand, is all-in for civil war.

Charming Billy, is, of course, dead wrong.  If you want to see how dead wrong Charming Billy is, read the comments to Charming Billy's tweet.  Lots and lots of remarks from Blue Staters about all the Red State idiots on which this country wastes all that tax money.  Those Blue Staters would be only too happy to see Red Staters raise the Stars and Bars and open up on Sumter again and they wouldn't waste their time or their money trying to keep those bigots onside.

Right now, this country is a lot of things but united isn't one of them.

GOOD IDEA

But I doubt it ever happens, Governor.  Turtle Bay will never cross China.

THROW OFF THE (RUNNING) DOGS

My guess is that Red China lets The People's Daily Regurgitator New York Times publish stuff like this once in a great while so that the TPDRNYT can claim to still employ actual respected American "journalists" rather than serve as little more than a Chinese newsletter.

The alarming messages came fast and furious in mid-March, popping up on the cellphone screens and social media feeds of millions of Americans grappling with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Spread the word, the messages said: The Trump administration was about to lock down the entire country.

“They will announce this as soon as they have troops in place to help prevent looters and rioters,” warned one of the messages, which cited a source in the Department of Homeland Security. “He said he got the call last night and was told to pack and be prepared for the call today with his dispatch orders.”

The messages became so widespread over 48 hours that the White House’s National Security Council issued an announcement via Twitter that they were “FAKE.”

Since that wave of panic, United States intelligence agencies have assessed that Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms, according to six American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss intelligence matters. The amplification techniques are alarming to officials because the disinformation showed up as texts on many Americans’ cellphones, a tactic that several of the officials said they had not seen before.

 

After all, Beijing's got an American investment to protect.

RULES ARE FOR REPUBLICANS

Nanner McBotox, if you need the old thug.

ACT OF WAR

For the love of all that is sacred, the SWEDES get it.

Sweden has shut down the last of its Chinese state-sponsored teaching programmes as relations between the two countries deteriorate into hostility and mutual suspicion.

 

It is believed to be the first European state to close all its Confucius institutes and classrooms, which teach Chinese language and culture with textbooks and funding from Beijing.

 

Analysts regard the closure as a sign that the once-cordial ties between Sweden and China are unravelling at speed amid accusations of bullying, meddling and incompetence.

 

When all this is over(ish), the only friends Red China may have left will be the Democratic Party and the American "news media," if you'll pardon the redundancy.

UPDATE: Scarbs, of all people, might even be starting to pick this up.

BETO THEATRE

"What?  Is the bastard serious?  Does Trump actually expect me to mow my own lawn?  Or...or...or...oh God...cook my own food??  That's an impeachable offense right there or absolutely nothing whatsoever is.  That's not the America I know."

OMELETTE, EGGS...

The Airhead has since deleted this (screen cap is forever, cupcake).  Can't understand why since all she does here is to suggest that since tens of thousands of people are dropping dead and the economy's in the tank already, now would be a BITCHIN' time to pass her GND.

Parsing anything the Airhead says about anything at all is always a really bad idea.  I don't know about you but I could feel myself losing IQ points just reading this.  But what in the sainted name of Pat Cleburne does "worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure" even mean anyway?  If I were Boston University, I'd revoke her degree.

THERE'S AN "R" IN THE MONTH

So Illinois Democrats gotta Illinois Democrat.

Illinois Democrats are demanding $41 billion from the federal government for coronavirus relief, including $10 billion for Illinois's cash-strapped and underfunded public pension plan. The most fiscally mismanaged state in the union that has criminally neglected funding its public pension fund for two decades wants Washington to pull its chestnuts out of the fire?

Yup.

“I realize I’ve asked for a lot, but this is an unprecedented situation, and we face the reality that there likely will be additional, unanticipated costs that could result in future requests for assistance,” Harmon wrote on behalf of the state senate Democratic caucus.

Of course there will be.  These are Democrats, after all, and they ALWAYS need more money.

Harmon’s federal wish list for the second phase of federal coronavirus relief includes $15 billion in block grant funding to shore up the state’s spending plans for this fiscal year and the next two.

"Block grant" means "Give us $15 billion and don't you dare ask us what we spend it on."

The Oak Park Democrat also asked for $10 billion for the state’s desperately underfunded pension plans.

Any port in a storm.  Mike Madigan, Illinois' Cardinal Richelieu, and his morbidly-obese sock puppet pretended not to know anything about it.

Governor J.D. Pritzker played dumb about the request.

Harmon’s spokesman said the letter was shared with Pritzker and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, though they weren’t directly involved in drafting it.

At the governor’s daily coronavirus briefing Saturday, Pritzker distanced himself from Harmon’s requests, saying he “was not aware of the content of the letter” before it was sent.

“There’s no reason why a senate president in Illinois can’t send a letter to the delegation. I don’t object to people communicating with our federal representatives. I do it all the time,” Pritzker said.

Even though they obviously did.

“It’s different than what I have been talking to the federal representatives about,” [Pritzker] continued. “I really believe the state’s need to have some unencumbered dollars [see "block grant" discussion above. - Ed] that come in that will help us with the coming year’s budget — every state has this problem."

Illinois Democrats will now have to lie in the bed that they and they alone made.

There should be no bailout of the public pension fund in Illinois. For two decades, that has seen Democrats largely in control, the state refused to fully fund its pension system. Now, with the stock market in the toilet and the shortfall becoming critical, the bill for Illinois politicians' criminal negligence and shady dealing is coming due.

I don't think this idea has a chance in hell of ever happening; the Republicans can't possibly be this stupid.  The idea that anyone might seriously believe that they could possibly ever sell the idea that taxpayers in other states should be expected to foot the bill for Illinois' criminal stupidity is too ludicrous to seriously entertain for longer than a few seconds.

Unless the Republicans really do have a death wish.

STELTER THEATRE

Gotta tell ya, this is not a good luck for a "hero journalist" there, Edward R.

GESTAPO WATCH

If I were a police officer actually assigned to investigate this idiocy, the very first thing I'd do would be to canvass the neighborhood to find out who posted this.  Once that was done, I would then get the person's address and telephone number and then inform him/her that since he/she had obviously gone onto this woman's property to post this note, I would report this to my superior and possibly open another investigation into this person's "criminal trespass.'

Then I'd thank them for their time, leave and let them sit and worry a while.

PAYBACK

The bill for your Chinese Flu is coming due, Beijing.

The UK is moving to drop Huawei as a vendor for the country’s 5G cellphone network in a major blow to Communist China over poor coronavirus transparency.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, now recovering from COVID-19, gave the Chinese company a role in 5G infrastructure this year, squashing opposition last month by 24 votes in the 650-seat House of Commons.

But now, concern about the Chinese Communist Party’s inaccurate reporting on the coronavirus has lawmakers crafting plans for a retreat.

“We need to devise a proper, realistic exit strategy from relying on Huawei,” Conservative Member of Parliament Damian Green told Bloomberg News. “Our telecom providers … need to know the government is determined to drive down Huawei’s involvement to zero percent over a realistic timescale.”

It isn't just us, Beijing.  This time, you've managed to piss off lots of other people.

UPDATE: When you lose Germany...

NANNER MCBOTOX, YOU HAVE A CALL ON THE WHITE COURTESY PHONE

Recently, a government fund that benefited American small businesses was allowed by the Democratic Party to completely run out of money which will no doubt cause many small businesses to go under and put many people out of work.  Meanwhile, Harvard University, which has more money than many sovereign nations, received $9 million dollars from the government, for some reason, as did many other colleges and universities.

Don't look at me.

POLITICAL MAXIM

Governmental transparency is a good thing.  Except when it isn't.

DEATH WISH

Go ahead, Democrats.  Run against this.

It's no longer a question of whether our relationship with China changes. It's how much and how seriously it will change.  Because nobody with a functional brain cell left in their heads believes that any of this has only been Trump's fault.

UPDATE: The GOP is writing the ads as I type this, Nanner McBotox.  I gots to figger that those ads will contain testimony from all kinds of small businessmen and women whose businesses went under and more testimony from people drawing unemployment thanks to your party.

UPDATE: Arizona Democratic senator Krysten Sinema understands the danger.

UPDATE: I imagine that crap like this will come up a time or two.

UPDATE: Another Democrat breaks ranks.

QUID PRO QUO

China's really making Gam-Gam earn those Clinton Foundation donations.

NO RELATION

Hate to break the news to you, CJ, but that's not the Somme, dingus.

AND NOW...IDIOTS

Between Ol' Stolen Valor Blumenthal and this pinhead, the State of Connecticut demonstrates why the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution was a BIG mistake.

UPDATE: Geography education in the State of New York leaves a lot to be desired.

BADASS

As overwhelming a pitcher as Bob Gibson was in 1968 (a year my Cardinals didn't win the World Series), he may have been even more impressive the year before.  That was the year that Roberto Clemente hit a line drive up the middle that broke Gibson's leg.  He pitched to three more batters before coming out, came back a little later in the year, won three games and hit a home run in the Series (which the Cardinals won).

THE WATER'S FINE

Chris Hayes can't even make himself buy Beijing's crap anymore.

RIP NYT

Former news outlet officially becomes Democratic Party pamphlet.

UPDATE: Then there's this.

Alternate headline. Times Editor Becomes Journo-Whore

 

UPDATE: Ace sticks a fork in Dean Baquet.  Insofar as both have become sick jokes, Dean and his "newspaper" are done.

 

UPDATE: Why bother with "journalism" at all when you can run Chinese propaganda?

2024?

Nikki Haley sure sounds like she's laying the groundwork.  #OnBoard

GIFT HORSE

How's the Big Q treating you, Chris?  Not bad at all.  Since I lost my job in 2012, I've been living on an inheritance my father left his kids so there's not a lot of money coming in.  I don't have a car anymore (can't afford to keep one) and so my apartment is just across the street from a supermarket/pharmacy.  I'm still around so I guess I'm doing okay.

I spend most of my days in my apartment watching television and/or movies.  I wander across the street a few times a week, now and then changing my routine by walking to another market a little bit further up the street.   If I have to be somewhere farther away than that, I utilize Uber.  So for the last two and a half years or so, long before the Chinese Flu became a thing, I've had a completely different term for the Big Q.

Real life.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a gift from the folks who run this apartment complex about the Chinese Flu situation.  It was an e-mail that had to do with rent among other things.  It basically said that if you think you may have trouble making rent some month, give us a call and we'll see what we can work out which I thought was a very nice gesture for them to make.

Particularly since I didn't have to extort it from them.

THOUGHTS TO KEEP YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT

What indeed?

UPDATE: Case in point.

UPDATE: For God's sake.

AS HARD AS THIS MIGHT BE TO BELIEVE...

Bill Maher's not wrong.

STELTER THEATRE

TODAY'S EPISODE: Bri-Bri's scary encounter with federalism.

Heartiest congratulations on figuring out how this country is supposed to work, Bri-Bri.  I had no idea that there were so many American neo-monarchists.

I DIDN'T GET YOU ANYTHING

Guess who's about to go broke.  Hint: it's everybody's favorite completely worthless international organization based in New York City.

The United Nations could run out of money by the end of the month as it faces a near-unprecedented funding crisis, the secretary-general has warned.

Almost a third of member states have not paid their annual dues leading to a £1.3 billion black hole, António Guterres said in a statement on Tuesday.

The shortage of cash has meant vital staff vacancies have been left empty, travel limited to all but essential journeys and meetings deferred amid attempts to shore up the dwindling reserves. Staff have been warned there may be a default on salaries in November.

Peace-keeping operations, which are paid for from a closed budget, could eventually be scaled back, Mr Guterres indicated.

“The organisation runs the risk of depleting its liquidity reserves by the end of the month and defaulting on payments to staff and vendors,” he said during the shock warning, adding: "Our work and our reforms are at risk.”

Sure would like to be constructive here, Tony.  But the UN will lose a LOT more money when the Chinese Flu dies down and everybody starts taking a long, hard look at what a complete waste of time and money the World Chinese Health Organization was and is.  The US, where the money is, has already started down that path and I expect other hard-hit countries will follow our lead.

What we needed during this pandemic was facts.  We needed to know what was going on no matter who might be hurt by that information.  What we got from the WCHO was Chinese propaganda and a lot of blame directed toward Washington.  At the very least, the UN needs a serious investigation into the performance of the WCHO and its officials during the pandemic.  And that investigation damn well better be as transparent as air or WCHO money won't be the only UN money that dries up.

If the US isn't getting good value for our money, Tony, the UN won't get US money.

Apart from that, Tony, I don't know what to tell you.  That Manhattan real estate of yours has to be pretty pricey so I guess you could completely shut down the US office, sell the land it's on and move the whole operation to Geneva where you already have an alternate headquarters set up.  Maybe you could pay the bills with the money you make and have a little left for a rainy day.

But you're going to have to do something, Tony.  Because the UN's free ride is over.

DAMN COMMIES

The Chinese Flu claims a major trophy as the XFL closes up shop.

The XFL already had a questionable future once it suspended its inaugural season after five games due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now the league's future seems to be in serious jeopardy. 

Per ESPN's Field Yates, the XFL is suspending day-to-day operations and all employees have been laid off. The league held a conference call to inform employees of the decision Friday with one employee telling NFL Network's Tom Pelissero the term the league used was "shut down." 

The new XFL suspended play prior to Week 6 of its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and canceled the season a week later. The league allowed its players to sign deals with NFL and Canadian Football League teams shortly after, and some of the league's notable players reached deals with NFL teams in the following weeks.

Just kidding.  The XFL did extremely well in St. Louis and people here were genuinely excited about the BattleHawks.  But that doesn't seem to have translated to the other seven teams in the league and you can lay that at the feet of Vince McMahon.

St. Louis was the only city in the XFL that did not have an NFL team.  The other seven cities did.  And while a presence in a place like New York is understandable and maybe even necessary, you actually thought that a third professional football team in Los Angeles (fourth if you count USC) was a good idea, Vinnie?  You were literally begging for the XFL to die.

Other professional leagues have taken hits, some of them serious, because of the Chinese Flu but they'll be back.  I get the distinct impression that McMahon knew that the XFL would start hemorrhaging money before too much longer and wanted an excuse to shut things down.

Memo to anyone thinking of starting another new football league.  Don't neglect towns that you might not automatically think of as "big league."  Lots and lots of really passionate football fans live in your Birminghams, your Tulsas, your Omahas, your Portlands, your Oklahomas City, your Sans Antonio, your Saints Louis, etc., just waiting for teams of their own.

Memo to the Canadian Football League.  If you ever think about expanding south again, St. Louis has tons of intense football fans and a domed stadium that nobody's using.

MAKING FRIENDS AND INFLUENCING PEOPLE

Lots of countries are lots of angry about China's sole responsibility for the Chinese Flu pandemic and it looks like lots of countries will spend lots of money to reduce ties.  Tokyo gets it.

Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners.

The extra budget, compiled to try to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic, includes 220 billion yen ($2 billion) for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, according to details of the plan posted online.

The move coincides with what should have been a celebration of friendlier ties between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping was supposed to be on a state visit to Japan early this month. But what would have been the first visit of its sort in a decade was postponed a month ago amid the spread of the virus and no new date has been set.

China is Japan’s biggest trading partner under normal circumstances, but imports from China slumped by almost half in February as the disease shuttered factories, in turn starving Japanese manufacturers of necessary components.
 
That has renewed talk of Japanese firms reducing their reliance on China as a manufacturing base. The government’s panel on future investment last month discussed the need for manufacturing of high-added value products to be shifted back to Japan, and for production of other goods to be diversified across Southeast Asia.

Believe me, Democrats and the American news media (if you'll pardon the redundancy), China is not going to be a good hill for you to die on.

49ERS

Gav kicks things up a notch.

California this week declared its independence from the federal government’s feeble efforts to fight Covid-19 — and perhaps from a bit more. The consequences for the fight against the pandemic are almost certainly positive. The implications for the brewing civil war between Trumpism and America’s budding 21st-century majority, embodied by California’s multiracial liberal electorate, are less clear.

Speaking on MSNBC, Governor Gavin Newsom said that he would use the bulk purchasing power of California “as a nation-state” to acquire the hospital supplies that the federal government has failed to provide. If all goes according to plan, Newsom said, California might even “export some of those supplies to states in need.”

“Nation-state.” “Export.”

Would Gav really lead Cali out?  The author of this piece is salivating at the prospect.

Newsom is accomplishing a few things here, with what can only be a deliberate lack of subtlety. First and foremost, he is trying to relieve the shortage of personal protective equipment — a crisis the White House has proved incapable of remedying. Details are a little fuzzy, but Newsom, according to news reports, has organized multiple suppliers to deliver roughly 200 million masks monthly.

Second, Newsom is kicking sand in the face of President Donald Trump after Newsom’s previous flattery — the coin of the White House realm — failed to produce results. If Trump can’t manage to deliver supplies, there’s no point in Newsom continuing the charade.

Third, and this may be the most enduring effect, Newsom is sending a powerful message to both political parties. So far, the Republican Party’s war on democratic values, institutions and laws has been a largely one-sided affair, with the GOP assaulting and the Democratic Party defending. The lethal ruling this week by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Republican bloc, which required Wisconsin residents to vote in person during a pandemic that shut down polling stations, is a preview of the fall campaign. The GOP intends to restrict vote-by-mail and other legitimate enfranchisement to suppress turnout amid fear, uncertainty and disease.

Influenced by the phrase "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," a previously-reviled American political thinker may get a second look.

John C. Calhoun, who used the theory of states’ rights to defend the institution of slavery, is not generally a philosophical lodestar for liberal Democrats such as Newsom. But if Republicans (or foreign friends) succeed in sabotaging democracy in November, Calhoun’s theory of nullification, which posited that states have the power to defy federal law, could be ripe for a comeback on the left coast. With the heirs of the Confederacy now reigning in Washington, turnabout might be very fair play.

Subtle, asshole.  But would Cali really make the jump?  Tough to say.  There are conservative parts of that state that could and probably would cause Sacramento considerable trouble.  If Cali does decide to leave, there's at least one stretch of North American land, a fair chunk of which constitutes most of northern California, that might jump at a chance to be number 50.

Go for it, Gav.

LIFE IMITATES ART

Oddly enough, this really is how Tom Friedman understands the United States.

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

Q-list actress Alyssa Milano reintroduces herself to Due Process.

Celebrity Alyssa Milano — who is famous now mostly for having once been famous — has lately become an expert in this sort of hypocrisy, as she has cashed in her social-media currency to become a useless fixture of our increasingly useless political debates.

One of her more memorable crusades in recent memory was on behalf of failed 2017 Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff, who attempted to win an open seat in a Georgia district in which he didn’t reside. But perhaps her most vocal campaign has been as a self-fashioned leader of the #MeToo movement. In this role, she has often invoked the ill-conceived “believe all women” principle by which we are required to reflexively assume that every woman who alleges sexual harassment or assault is telling the truth.

Which she made a disgustingly public show of during the Kavanaugh hearings.

During the lengthy smear campaign against Brett Kavanaugh — in which the nominee’s ideological opponents attempted to tank his confirmation by entertaining unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct — Milano became one of the most vehement anti-Kavanaugh voices.

 

When one of Kavanaugh’s accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, gave her public statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Milano attended the hearing, sitting well within view of the C-Span and network cameras. She was there, she said, “to show support for Doctor Ford, to stand in solidarity with other women, other survivors that have been through similar experiences.”

Since women's accusations are always true, actual facts are a waste of time.

“If professor Christine Blasey Ford is to be believed, and I believe she is, Brett Kavanaugh is a sexual predator,” Milano wrote in a CNN op-ed in October 2018. In one tweet at the time, she shared a statement from discredited Kavanaugh accuser Debbie Ramirez.

Apparently, she thought that the FBI should “reach out” to Michael Avenatti and Julie Swetnick, who, without witnesses or evidence, accused Kavanaugh of vicious sexual crimes.

Since the dawn of the #MeToo movement, Milano has presented herself as a consistent advocate for women, staunchly refusing to survey the available evidence in each accusation and instead mechanically adopting the position that accused men are always guilty.

Until now anyway.

No longer. In the wake of sexual-misconduct allegations against Joe Biden, whom Milano has endorsed for president, the #MeToo maven appears to have discovered the long-forgotten notion of due process.

In an interview yesterday afternoon, Milano explained her decision to continue endorsing Biden, even as she defended her position of believing women’s testimony, saying that “for so long, the go-to has been not to believe them.”

“We really have to sort of societally change that mindset to believing women,” she continued. “But that does not mean at the expense of giving men their due process and investigating situations, and it’s got to be fair in both directions.”

Whatever the hell that means.  Actually, cupcake, the "mindset" that has to change is the "mindset" that you displayed during the Kavanaugh hearings when you were enthusiastically willing to destroy the career and the reputation of a man based on nothing other than the fact that he was the candidate of the other guy.  You don't get the privilege of suddenly finding the virtue of due process when Joe Biden, who you back for president, is accused to taking sexual liberties with one of his aides.

Take a seat and keep your mouth shut, junior.

JUST GOT REAL

The British prime minister is in intensive care.

ATTENTION WHOOPI GOLDBERG

Not all doctorates entitle you to practice medicine.

MAXIM

If you feel a constant urge to proclaim to people how vital, important and necessary your job is, you job is neither vital nor important nor necessary.

LEVEL WITH US, TURTLE BAY

Do you WANT the US to drastically cut its UN funding?  Because if you do, just say so.

ACT OF WAR

In the reporting period prior to the last one, new unemployment claims set a smashing, all-time record with something on the order of 3.3 million people filing.  What happened during the most recent reporting period?

Cataclysm.

Unemployment claims soared to a record-smashing 6.6 million last week, the Labor Department reported, more than double the previous week, signaling more economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic.

The rush to claim unemployment benefits occurred as the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus rose above 200,000 and government measures to contain the epidemic shut down increasing swaths of the U.S. economy, with residents in 37 states now ordered to stay at home.

President Donald Trump, who built his record for the past three years in office around economic growth and job growth, has now seen gains from much of the past decade evaporate in a matter of weeks. An official U.S. jobless rate that sat at 3.5% in February is poised to top 10% in April alone, eclipsing the peak of the last recession.

 

“In one line: No words for this,” Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Economist Ian Shepherdson wrote in reaction to the numbers.

 

All of which can be laid at the feet of China, a view that more and more people are coming around to.  I'm seeing sentiments like this one all over the Web.

 

Nullify our debts to China, repatriate all our industries, slap a punitive tariff on all Chinese goods, cut off food sales to the Communists, blockade their ports for a century and tell them to have a nice day.

 

I'm not sure we can do all of that.  Some of those suggestions are doable and ought to be given serious consideration.  But a port blockade would inevitably result in the Chinese shooting at our ships which means we'd shoot back and I'm not sure how much sentiment there is in this country for a shooting war with the Reds. 

 

At least right now.  Down the road?

 

But the Congress is starting to come around to the viewpoint that our relationship with Beijing cannot possibly resume on the same basis as it was before the Chinese loosed the Chinese Flu on the world.  Too many people have died and too much damage has been done.

 

But it starts right here.  Before any sort of reconciliation is possible or even conceivable, China must publicly admit its sole responsibility for this pandemic.

 

And since that's not going to happen...

UPDATE: Marsha Blackburn is on board.

WHY YOU GOT TRUMP

Dear Tom "Legend In His Own Mind" Nichols, Rick "Dick" Wilson, Jennifer "Beijing Jenny" Rubin, Charming Billy Kristol, Jonah Goldberg, etc.

In case you're still wondering, this letter explains better than anything can why the last presidential election turned out the way it did and why those of us who viewed the prospect of a President Trump with trepidation will enthusiastically crawl naked over broken glass soaked in alcohol and set on fire to vote for him in the fall while continuing to laugh uproariously as you lot continue to shriek incoherently and stamp your feet in impotent rage which will be your lot from here on out since no one's going to care what you think about national affairs any longer.

Have a nice day.

AND NOW...IDIOTS

I can't for the life of me understand why the President hates CNN.

UPDATE: Brian Stelter?  If you meet a clue in the road, see if it wants to grab a beer.