Conrad Black hits a walk-off grand slam to deep center field

Conrad Black:

“…all polls show Republican opinion in the country is rock solid behind the president and by any normal criteria—the economy, declining illegal immigration, and his delivery on election promises—he will be reelected easily. This, as the egregious U.S. Representative Al Green (D-Texas) says, is the problem: if Trump isn’t impeached, he will be reelected. But impeachment will be a complete failure, and he will be reelected anyway…

…Donald Trump was a total outsider politically. He pioneered a new technique of parlaying celebrity and a system of intensive branding of his name and exposure as an impresario and reality television star, into an outsider candidacy, representing the anti-elites and all who felt short-changed by the yuppie-champion Clintons and Obamas and the indistinct Bushes. Like a big cat stalking a wildebeest, Trump changed parties seven times in 13 years, polling constantly, until he saw his target clearly and within range and he charged and seized it.

As Trump was running against all factions of both parties, the adaptation of the congressional Republicans in Washington to the Trump era was sluggish and is still not complete. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) have left and John McCain died, having killed health care reform and ordained that he have an anti-Trump funeral. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a sly old Kentuckian, has made the cut, as he assimilates to all changes in Washington.

But whatever the Republican congressional delegations think of Trump—and Flake may be right that privately many Republican senators would like to see the back of him—he has the rank-and-file Republican public behind him as only a few Republican presidents have: Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon at his strongest, and Reagan. Apart from a few ostentatiously pseudo-conscientious senators such as Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the Republican senators can’t desert him in the absence of serious evidence of his wrongdoing, and there is none.

The principal lesson of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation in 2018 was that there are enough sane and honest people in the Senate who will notice the absence of any believable incriminating evidence to produce a just decision. No serious person could make a crime out of the Ukraine “facts”; only rabid, witless, blood and publicity hounds (of whom the Democrats have no shortage), can claim that. But that is no longer the point. There was no believable evidence against Kavanaugh either, but only a balance of probabilities was required, at a time when any female denunciation from the past against a prominent man was accorded great credence…

…The Democrats and their Republican kindred spirits in the Washington establishment, having completely failed to see Trump coming, and after complacently assuming they could jettison him on the Russian scam, relying on the slavish allies in the national political media, now realize their backs are to the wall and this is their last play.

It won’t work, and while they are trying to execute it, prominent figures of the previous administration will be arraigned for cooking up the Russian collusion fiction and inflicting it on the country by corrupting the FBI and intelligence services…

…The second notable development in the last week that has altered the political landscape is the outrageous, defamatory, and possibly insane charge by Hillary Clinton that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and the 2016 Green candidate for president Jill Stein, are “Russian assets” being “groomed” by the Russians for third party candidacies. This is the former first lady, U.S. senator from New York and secretary of state. This is the same mentality that in its deranged perversity commissioned the fraudulent Steele Dossier, and gave us the Trump-Russia “treason” myth, on which she blamed her loss of the election. It didn’t work in 2016. The fervent efforts of the Mueller special counsel staff to produce something remotely indictable against Trump failed, and this final effort to remove the president will be a disaster.

But Clinton has given us a hint of what the world was spared when she was defeated. The Democrats are being led by a coalition of constitutional renegades, spavined political tricksters, and would-be socialist tyrants. They are speeding over a political cliff. The force of gravity will assert itself…”

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Pierre Delecto’s Approval Rating In Utah Now Underwater At 46/51

Couldn’t happen to nicer guy!

Eric Felten:

“…Rudolph Giuliani didn’t hide the fact that he was investigating whether Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. Yet most media have treated Giuliani’s efforts as sneaky and suspect because he acted at the personal behest of the president and not as an official representative of the bureaucracy. The New York Times, for example, claimed Giuliani was conducting “a shadow foreign policy campaign.”

In fact, presidents since George Washington have turned to individuals without formal government positions to pursue foreign policy interests and objectives. Private citizens, often acting as special envoys, have helped negotiate issues ranging from trade to war. While critics deride such efforts as “back-door,” “secret,” or “shadow” undertakings, many presidents have found it useful to dispatch people they trust, who can think and operate outside the constraints of official channels in handling delicate matters…”

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Bonchie:

“…While it’s hard to keep up with all the freak-outs constantly percolating within our media establishment, one of the latest involves Donald Trump using the term “lynch” to describe the secret impeachment investigation they are carrying out. This came as part of his frustration with the Democrats refusing to take a vote and shutting off all minority rights for Republicans, something that’s unprecedented…

…This of course led to all manner of gnashing of teeth. How could the President use such a historically charged word!

Of course, a little digging has turned up the reality that Democrats have used the term “lynch” in its various forms (lynch mob, lynching, etc.) many times. It’s pretty laughable just how prevalent their use of the word has been throughout the years. Worse, they did so specifically decrying impeachment, the very thing Trump is decrying. You can’t make this stuff up…”

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I love these cartoons. This is a mash up of Wile E.’s great moments.

 

John Daniel Davidson:

“…The southwest U.S. border might be quieter now than it was this spring at the height of the migrant crisis, but south of the Rio Grande the Mexican state is disintegrating.

Last Thursday in the city of Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, a battle erupted between government forces and drug cartel gunmen after the Mexican military captured two sons of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. The elder son, Ivan, was quickly freed by his men, who overpowered government forces and secured his release. Ivan then launched an all-out siege of the entire city in an effort to free his younger brother, Ovidio.

The ensuing scene could have been mistaken for Syria or Yemen. Footage posted on social media Thursday showed burning vehicles spewing black smoke, heavily armed gunmen blocking roads, dead bodies strewn in the streets, and residents fleeing for cover amid high-caliber gunfire.

Armed with military-grade weapons and driving custom-built armored vehicles, cartel henchmen targeted security forces throughout Culiacan, launching more than one dozen separate attacks on Mexican security forces. They captured and held hostage eight soldiers, then kidnapped their families. Amid the fighting, an unknown number of inmates escaped from a nearby prison. At least eight people were killed and more than a dozen were injured.

The eight-hour battle ended when government forces, outgunned and surrounded, without reinforcements or a way to retreat, received an order directly from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to release their prisoner and surrender. Lopez Obrador later defended this decision, insisting that his security strategy is working and saying, “Many people were at risk and it was decided to protect people’s lives. I agreed with that, because we don’t do massacres, that’s over.”…

…The idea that a nation of 120 million people with whom the United States shares a 2,000-mile border and ever-increasing economic ties might spiral into collapse has not seriously occurred to the American people. We’ve had a century of relative peace on our southwest border, and aside from dealing with an occasional surge of illegal immigration, we have assumed that it will continue. It will not.

Culiacan should be a wake-up call that the war now underway in Mexico will not stay there, and that we’d better start thinking about what that will mean for America…”

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What we are witnessing with such gems of hysterical mendacity are the pathetic death throes of a discredited political franchise and its rapidly disintegrating narrative.

Roger Kimball:

“…If you haven’t had your daily dose of petulant surreality, swivel over to read this astounding editorial at what used to be America’s paper of record. This curious effusion warns that “The G.O.P. will not be able to postpone a reckoning on Donald Trump’s presidency for much longer.”

Oh, dear. Are things as bad as that? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. And you know that it is really serious because the cri de coeur not only appears in the leaky flagship of the legacy media (I won’t name it if you don’t mind) but also it appears under the solemn byline of “The Editorial Board.”

Silence, please! The important people are about to speak. Pay attention!

The sobbing editorial is called “The Crisis of the Republican Party,” but it might have been better titled “Whistling Past the Graveyard.”

I always wonder exactly who is the intended audience for such high-and-mighty imprecations. They appear to be addressed to “the GOP,” to “conservatives” (those who still have a “conscience,” i.e., those who have mutated into progressives), to “Republicans.” Here is your last chance, such columns seem to shout, we’re warning you. You are tearing the republic apart (you know they’re upset when they start talking about “the Republic”: I think they’re trying to remind you of Rome circa 44 B.C.)…”

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Journalism and polling seem to have reached new lows in professional competence.

Brian C. Joondeph:

“…Pollsters are at it again, pushing sketchy polls, not to reflect public opinion, but to shape it. This is called propaganda, a popular tool for dictators who want to control the information flow from an all-powerful government to their subjects, the people.

What once passed for journalism is now mostly propaganda, an effort by major media organizations to insert themselves into the political process, to push their agenda, even if it means throwing any pretense of journalistic principle and integrity to the wind. Look at the Project Veritas undercover videos of CNN for the latest example…

…Pew Research Center is the latest pollster to weigh in on President Trump and impeachment. Let’s see whether their polling sample sauce was well stirred before they took a taste.

Pew sampled 3,487 “randomly selected” adults between October 1-13. That may or may not be representative of the general population but given that only about half of eligible voters actually vote in presidential elections, a better sample would be registered, or even likely voters.

Who was in that sample? Of the 3,487 total sample, 1,453 were or leaned Republican, 1,942 were or leaned Democrat. In other words, 56 percent Democrat and only 42 percent Republican, a 14-point difference favoring Democrats…

…Pew found 54 approving the beginning of an inquiry versus 44 percent opposed, a 10-point difference. If the 14-point difference in political affiliation within the poll sample was negated, there may be a 4-point majority in favor of NOT beginning impeachment proceedings…

Is there a 14-point difference in political affiliation between Democrats and Republicans in the US population?…

…Gallup provides a more quantitative assessment. In early September 2019, they polled asking about party affiliation and found 29 percent Republican, 31 percent Democrat, and a whopping 38 percent independent.

This sample is much different than the one Pew used, explaining the skewed result. Was the Pew poll designed to reflect popular opinion or shape it?…

…Instead the impeachment narrative is just that, a drumbeat from the media to dispirit Trump and his supporters. The polls provide propaganda, attempting to convince squishy Republican members of Congress to abandon Trump. Watch Trump and his supporters at any rally and see confidence and enthusiasm, with dispirited faces only on CNN or MSNBC…”

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Biological Male Sets World Record For Women’s Cycling

You can’t make this stuff up. No one would believe you! This can only occur in wacky, woke lib-world.

A man of the left comments on the current state of the left, and it’s not pretty

MATT TAIBBI:

“…Hillary Clinton is nuts. She’s also not far from the Democratic Party mainstream, which has been pushing the same line for years.

Less than a week before Clinton’s outburst, the New York Times — once a symbol of stodgy, hyper-cautious reporting — ran a feature called, “What, Exactly, is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?” The piece speculated about the “suspicious activity” surrounding Gabbard’s campaign, using quotes from the neoconservative think-tank, the Alliance For Securing Democracy, to speculate about Gabbard’s Russian support.

This was the second such article the Times had written. An August piece, “Tulsi Gabbard thinks we’re doomed,“ hit nearly all the same talking points, quoting Clint Watts, an ex-spook from the same think-tank, calling Gabbard “the Kremlin’s preferred Democrat” and a “useful agent of influence.” The Times article echoed earlier pieces by the Daily Beast and NBC.com that said many of the same things.

After Clinton gave the “Russian asset” interview, it seemed for a moment like America’s commentariat might tiptoe away from the topic. Hillary Clinton has been through a lot over the course of a career, and even detractors would say she’s earned latitude to go loonybiscuits every now and then. A few of the Democratic presidential candidates, like Beto O’Rourke and Andrew Yang, gently chided Clinton for her remarks. But when Gabbard (who’s similarly been through a brutal media ordeal) snapped back and called Hillary “Queen of the warmongers,” and Donald Trump followed by calling Clinton “crazy,” most pundits doubled down on the “asset” idea…”

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Mitt Romney has proven to be a colossal  disappointment, for many reasons not just Trump, but Romney is one more example of Trump’s remarkable ability to cause otherwise normal humans to destroy themselves.

AOC: We Must Have The Government Control Things, So We Can Be More Free

Hard to tell?

Ned Ryun:

“…James Piereson described it best this week at a conference co-sponsored by American Greatness and The New Criterion: we’re used to domestic politics, where the discussions are over the size of tax cuts, etc. What we are seeing today is vicious regime politics and a struggle over who is really in charge of this country’s governmental agencies. The duly elected president of the United States? Or players inside of that administrative state, along with their mouthpieces in the media?…

…It is becoming apparent that for many inside Washington, D.C., elections and the peaceful transfer of power are quaint notions of yesterday’s republic. Presidents, administrations, and their political appointees come and go but the permanent governing class remains. It’s not really that much of a surprise that they think they’re in charge, as for generations the administrative state has expanded and more and more power as been ceded to it and to them…

…Our Founders did not trust consolidated power in the hands of imperfect human nature, thus the machinery of our republic; separation of powers, federalism, and so on…

…Even worse, those inside a powerful administrative state, much like the one we have today with over 430 departments, agencies and sub-agencies filled with millions of career employees, think that they are the decision makers on the domestic and foreign policy fronts. They believe they are entitled to rule us…

…We really are at a crossroads. We cannot take the tension any longer: we must choose. Either we are governed by an administrative state that is not accountable to the political process spelled out by our Constitution or we return to the constitutional republic intended by the Founders…”

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Washington Times Editorial:

“…Justice Kavanaugh vehemently denied the accusations, and none of them was ever even remotely corroborated. To the contrary, the most high-profile charge — leveled by his primary accuser, Christine Blasey Ford — was never corroborated, not even by her longtime friend Leland Keyser. Ms. Keyser refused to change her story despite being pressured by mutual acquaintances of the two women.

Mrs. Ford’s credibility was totally shredded after she was unable to support her accusation of a sexual assault at a private party in the early 1980s with even the most basic details of when and where it supposedly happened, or how she got there or got home afterward. Moreover, no one she said was at the same party backed up her claim.

All but three of the 12 Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee signed a letter sent Oct. 8 to Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking information on the status of the committee’s four referrals for criminal probes, initially submitted a year ago.

“The Committee referred four individuals to the [Justice Department] and FBI for investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. 1001 (materially false statements) and 1505 (obstruction), for false statements made to the Committee during the course of its investigation,” the lawmakers wrote. “It also referred two of those same individuals for potential violations of 18 U.S.C. 371 (conspiracy). We seek information about what actions [the Justice Department] and FBI are taking in response to these referrals.”

This pushback by the Judiciary Committee Republicans is as necessary as it is overdue, because as long as there are no legal consequences for making false accusations, liberal activists will continue to employ these hateful, scurrilous tactics…”

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ROGER L. SIMON:

“…When Chris Wallace — in all Deep State unctuousness — asked Mick Mulvaney on Fox News Sunday to comment on a “well-connected Republican” who allegedly told Wallace there was a 20 percent chance the GOP would vote to remove the president from office, he not only was aiding in that decomposition,  he was picking up a shovel and helping dig its grave.

Wallace didn’t identify who this “well-connected Republican” is or what he actually said in context, just the tidbit the host wanted to tell us. What Wallace was doing was engaging in propaganda, creating a smear based on the flimsiest hearsay.

But, as we all know, he’s not alone. This was only one of a myriad of cases and far from the worst. The employment of anonymous sources by media has been debated (and attacked) for years but since Trump was elected, their use has escalated into the stratosphere.  Barely a day goes by that we don’t hear something from some “source close to someone or other” or a “person in position to know” about things we learn, sooner or later, to be lies or, at best, half truths. Other times we read “experts agree” or other such terms of non-art. What we are really getting are leaks that are supposedly illegal but almost never prosecuted…”

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Dr. Sean Gabb:

“…Considered in itself, the European Union is a customs and regulatory union with a mild taste for political union. A customs union with our European neighbours is probably less in our economic interest than a set of free trade arrangement with the rest of the world. Many of the regulations are a nuisance, and we could make do very well with fewer of them, or with regulations more suited to our individual circumstances. The political union, so far, has been more spoken about than delivered. Why anyone should go white with anger on either side of these matters is a mystery in itself. If England has been ruined in the past half century, the ruin has been the work of our own ruling class, not of foreigners. The greatest threat to our freedom and our general ways of life is located not in Brussels, but in London. 

This being said, the Brexit debate that only began with the counting of the Referendum votes has been a valuable education. So far as it blurs the lines of accountability, membership of the European Union has been a useful entrenchment of our ruling class. It has also helped provide a mildly liberal and cosmopolitan gloss to a domestic project that has been anything but liberal. Its refusal to honour the Referendum has torn aside what remained of the democratic veil behind which power is exercised. These people are not our servants. They are a hostile elite. Their interests are not ours. They despise us. They fear us. They are determined not to give us even the shadow of what we were – perhaps unwisely – promised...”

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