Posse Incitatus

Wokeism May Have ESPN on the Outside Looking In

ESPN has lost 25 million viewers over the past 10 years. This is partly due to conference and regional sports networks such as Big Ten Network and Fox Sports Detroit. But it is also because many fans are fed up with ESPN's barrage of left-wing propaganda and blowhard woke commentators who try to force-feed their garbage down viewers' throats.

One thing that's nice about the rapid advance of technology is that it gives consumers greater choice -- not just in formats, types of media and myriad specs, but in editorial content. Back in the stone age, when it was just ABC, NBC and CBS (and quite possibly, a massive, homely antenna mounted to the rooftop), consumers were slaves to just a few voices as well as designated programming and show times. The content variety was as exciting as choosing between a black Model T Ford and a black Model A Ford.

Now, we have hundreds of TV stations (in actuality, probably thousands), plus the Internet, talk radio, podcasts, streaming video and untold opportunities to purchase movies, sports and other entertainment in a variety of packages and formats. If we don't like leftist blowhards on one network, we can choose to watch other networks.

Conversely, if stupid-ass networks like CNN and ESPN find that their ratings are in the toilet because they're chock-full of inane hosts parroting progressive nonsense, they may well choose to adjust their content accordingly to avoid losing billions of dollars (see CNN under its new owners, although the change is agonizingly slow). The free market at work. It's a beautiful thing.

Bob Costas, a former NBC sportscaster, was particularly notorious for spouting his smug and arrogant bullshit; too stupid to realize that millions of people turn to sports, music and other forms of entertainment to escape the fetid cesspool of politics.

News flash: If I go to a night club, I don't want a preacher screaming in my face about hellfire and brimstone. And if I am in church, seeing someone swigging a Jim Beam and passing a joint around is a bad look. DON'T try to combine politics and sports! Is that so hard? 

The Big Ten, which recently announced that USC and UCLA are joining the conference, has decided to end its business arrangement with ESPN after an incredible 40 years. Fox, NBC and CBS have swooped in like vulchers to chow down on the meat at a combined price that’s expected to exceed $1 billion annually. Ah, capitalism.

These networks have some left wing blowhards, too, but I doubt any of them will be as bad as ESPN. I don't have enough knowledge as to how qualified their analysts and commentators are, since I've often been known to watch football games with the volume turned down. (I almost always enjoy reading more than watching -- watching anything, including videos, news, sports, movies, whatever.)

We'll see how it all shakes out. But as college football and the NFL draw near, all I can say is: Thank God for the free market and technological advances. Even on my 12-year-old MacBook Pro, I can enjoy my hand-picked sports buffet any way, any day.

I haven't had ESPN on my Roku feed for years, and I don't miss it at all. Good riddance.

DOJ Goes Full Banana Republic on Trump

It was only a matter of time.

In recent years, we have seen the Democrats weaponize the federal government to go after their political enemies while looking the other way when members of their party and their constituents break the law.

We have witnessed a widespread irrational, obsessive and searing hatred of Donald Trump by the left leading to the elaborate Russian collusion hoax -- the biggest political dirty trick of all time -- perpetrated by Hillary Clinton and other Democrats with the FBI and Department of Justice aiding and abetting.

On Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland and his henchmen let it all hang out. The FBI raided Donald Trump's Florida home and even broke into his safe. Although initial press reports state this is related to the Presidential Records Act and disputed documents, one can't help but wonder if business dealings, income tax records, and maybe even Jan. 6-related documents are really the target. Who knows what this fishing expedition may produce, and how badly the search warrant will morph into a dragnet?

This unprecedented treatment of a former president comes with a roaring silence by the Department of Justice: DOJ issued no statement about the raid or its intent, allowing the rumor mill, nonstop spin and a potpourri of messaging to fill the void. As would be expected, the kooks at MSNBC are salivating with talk of Trump in an orange jumpsuit.

By now, tens of millions of Americans do not trust the DOJ or FBI, both of which have become de facto arms of the Democrat Party. The double standards abound.

We recall DOJ going after parents at school board meetings for criticizing Critical Race Theory and transgender policies that allow biological males into female restrooms and locker rooms, and permit biological males to compete in girls' sports.

At the same time, we shake our heads that hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants -- many of whom only committed misdemeanors -- are left to rot in wretched jails indefinitely without knowing what they're being charged with, without being released on bond, and not knowing when they will have their day in court. Their arrests and incarceration came just a few months after the DOJ and FBI neglected to go after untold numbers of violent anarchists from Antifa and Black Lives Matter who committed serious, often violent crimes in the hideous summer of 2020.

We are fully aware of Hillary Clinton's serious transgressions involving the Clinton Foundation and careless treatment of classified emails on a compromised home server; plus Hunter Biden's felonious behavior and influence peddling, along with the president's participation in Hunter's business dealings.

We recall duplicitous dealings and perjury by the likes of Madame Clinton, James Comey, John Brennan, and James Clapper. We have not forgotten about the likes of Peter Strzok and Michael Sussmann, both allowed to skate for offenses that would have landed most of us in jail.

"The boy who cried wolf" comes to mind whenever the Democrats sic their deep state puppets on Republicans. As sure as clockwork, the compliant media jackals are all over this story, the vast majority of them devoid of critical thinking or skepticism and gung-ho about advancing the Democrat narrative.

Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz -- a longtime, liberal Democrat, it should be noted -- criticized DOJ for its theatrical approach to obtaining disputed documents with a raid involving two dozen agents, some of them wielding machine guns. A simple subpoena would have sufficed, he said. Ah, but much better to feed red meat to the Trump haters and fire up the Democrat base and corrupt media for the final three months before the midterms!

Make no mistake, this was a bald political move to delegitimatize Donald Trump as a 2024 presidential candidate. Democrats may believe they are ensuring their hold on power post-2024, but they may well have stirred up a hornet's nest. Millions of people who might have sat out the midterms will probably come out to vote for Republicans -- any Republicans -- to halt the nation's eerie slide toward thuggish authoritarian rule.

Things have been growing uglier in our nation ever since the death of George Floyd, the summer 2020 riots, the obscene overreaction to COVID-19, and the 2020 election shenanigans. It has gotten so bad that some of us have had to tune it out, or at the very least cut way back on watching the news.

It has grown worse; still, things may well continue to deteriorate.

I feel a line has been crossed. I truly fear for our future.

Actions Speak Louder than Words

I have frequently criticized Republicans in Washington, D.C., and to a lesser extent, GOP politicians in my home state of Michigan, for being ineffective in hammering Democrats for their multiple failures and character defects: incompetence, hypocrisy, bad policy, demagoguery, anti-Christian bigotry -- you name it.

On the national level, I can cite a few bulldogs who are not afraid to castigate Democrats and don't give a shit how badly the corrupt media portrays them (matter of fact, incurring media criticism is a badge of honor): U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is a good example, as well as Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, among others. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also doesn't mince words, AND he follows up his verbal barrage with substantive actions (more on that shortly).

It is great that there are those in the national limelight who have thick skins and know how much is at stake in our society's epic battle. That struggle is between statists, nihilists, leftists and woke virtue signalers on the totalitarian side, and traditionalists on the other side who believe in a supreme being, respect the rule of law, appreciate the constitution and cherish individual rights -- all on the side of liberty.

Jordan, Cruz, Cotton, DeSantis and outspoken conservative talk radio hosts like Mark Levin know full well they will be subject to vile, hateful attacks from the left. But they pretty much let it roll off their backs. The heinous garbage from the left is tantamount to annoying gnats, flies and mosquitos buzzing around your head on a sweltering summer night. Just an ugly fact of life. Spray on some Off and keep swatting.

DeSantis really made a name for himself during the COVID lockdowns of 2020-2021. He defied the conventional wisdom about masks, social distancing virtual schooling, and vaccine mandates. He correctly pointed out that children are much less likely to contract Coronavirus, are likely to have mild symptoms if they do get infected, and are less likely to transmit the virus to others. Therefore, they should not be forced to get the vaccination, and they should attend actual schools rather than engage in virtual learning.

Because DeSantisu dared to defy the cult-like groupthink of the CDC, its propagandist Anthony Fauci and the overall authoritarian left, he was treated like a pariah. News flash: He's on his way to winning re-election in a rout, regardless of who his opponent is. Florida is perhaps the most successful state in the nation, on so many levels.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey are a couple of other high profile politicians who put their money where their mouth is. For weeks now, they have been bussing illegal aliens up to two prominent sanctuary cities: Washington, D.C., and New York City. It seems the mayors of these two corrupt progressive cities are upset that their resources are being overwhelmed. (Oh, you mean it's okay to overwhelm Texas, Arizona and Nevada with 2-3 million illegal immigrants, but NOT OKAY to swamp major cities in the Northeast with desperate, destitute Latin Americans?)

The despicable New York Times ran an editorial the other day lambasting Abbott and Ducey with the headline, "G.O.P. Governors Cause Havoc by Busing Migrants to East Coast.” The Times whined that this was a "poliical effort" by Abbott and Ducey to "offload the problems caused by record levels of migration at the border." These fools don't comprehend that what's ending up in their cities is a tiny fraction of the hordes invading our country thanks to the wrongheaded and traitorous Biden administration.

Astounding stupidity. So stupid, as a matter of fact, that actions are a much stronger response than mere words. Sometimes when it comes to smug, condescending progressives -- the kind so plentiful in northeastern metro areas -- intelligence, reason and logic aren't enough. A sledgehammer is what's needed.

Sinema Caves; Beware the Voracious IRS Beast

We received bad news late last night: Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the last holdout against  the Democrats' abominable climate bill Lite, has agreed to "move forward" with the bill. The Democrats agreed to to drop a tax increase on carried interest income, a commission of sorts for private equity and hedge fund managers.

One possible saving grace: The Senate parliamentarian must review the bill to ensure it qualifies for the reconciliation process, which allows passage with a simple majority, avoiding the filibuster.

This will hammer the middle class by raising taxes for mom-n-pop businesses (often classified as "S" Corporations) and also serve as an anti-growth, anti-investment dagger thanks to its higher corporate taxes.

But by far the worst aspect of this bill is that it will shower an appalling $80 billion on the IRS (over nine years), more than six times the agency's total budget of $12.6 billion. You can bet your last dollar that it's the middle class that will bear the brunt of a newly jacked up IRS.

To quote an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal editorial, 

...The main Democratic command is for the tax agency to bring the hammer down on taxpayers.

The bill earmarks $45.6 billion for “enforcement,” including “litigation,” “criminal investigations,” “investigative technology,” “digital asset monitoring” and a new fleet of tax-collector cars. The result will be far more audits, civil suits and criminal referrals...

The result will also include greater distrust of, and cynicism toward, the Big Brother leviathan.

The WSJ Editorial Board also points out -- correctly, I believe -- that many of those who are harassed by the IRS will just swallow their pride and reach a settlement rather than risk going bankrupt trying to fight an audit in court against an adversary with unlimited resources.

I have stated for years that policies of the establishment (not just progressives and liberals, but also go-along-to-get-along GOP swamp creatures) are hollowing out the middle class. Eventually, we may well reach a point where the United States morphs into a third world country: A few filthy rich oligarchs at the top, a massive underclass barely surviving, and a tiny, struggling middle class that must tread lightly lest they be persecuted or even locked up.

In the malevolent writings of the early communists, "bourgeoisie" essentially meant that era's middle and upper-middle class. Vladimir Lenin famously proclaimed , 

"The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation." 

Our contemptible political class seems to agree wholeheartedly.

Kudos to Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Shame on Corrupt Biden

I can't believe I'm writing this, but I have to give credit to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for having the courage and fortitude to go ahead with her visit to Taiwan this week despite threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to shoot down her plane.

Pelosi, who has been a steadfast supporter of Taiwan for decades, does not seem to have received much support or encouragement from the Biden administration (more on that shortly). Matter of fact, some news outlets went so far as to say the administration threw her under the bus.

Some who read this may think I'm a naive and gullible fool, that this was all staged to boost Pelosi's standing in the polls (and by extension, help Democrats in general as the mid-terms draw near). I don't think so. But I will admit that the CCP, like North Korea and Iran, loves to fulminate with bluster and bravado, threatening dire consequences should the Great Satan (Iran's pejorative) DARE not to obsequiously obey their orders.

In the case of North Korea and its pint-sized tyrant, Kim Jong un, and Iran and its Islamofascist bigmouth Ali Khamenei, these guys are all sizzle and no steak (or all hat and no cattle, as Texans like to say). They may be loose cannon idiots, but they're smart enough to know that if they attack the mainland United States, they won't be around to enjoy any kind of victory. North Korea, especially, would be wiped off the face of the earth, and Iran would end up being a radioactive parking lot.

However, when it comes to China, it's a whole different ballgame. China has a formidable military, substantial nuclear capabilities, serious leadership, and a bloodthirsty ruthlessness that is downright chilling. Yes, the Middle Kingdom plays the long game, but major moves are always possible and would ultimately take their place in the 2,000-year timeline. An aggressive action doesn't necessarily imply that a nation is looking for a quick-strike, knockout type victory.

A good college football team known for its ground game and close-to-the-vest approach may be expected to grind it out with tough defense and a plodding, pounding running game. This squad may suddenly send fleet wide receivers deep for a 70-yard bomb, catching the opposing defense totally off guard after it had grown comfortable being fully deployed at the line of scrimmage. A sudden aerial attack? From this team? W.O.W.

That's how I think of China. But my mixed emotions also tell me that China relies on the United States' market to buy its products, and it would be stupid to inflict major damage on America.

Brutal retaliation is, of course, the major reason, but even if the retaliation were ineffective, does it make sense to destroy hundreds of millions of loyal customers who buy the products your citizens produce? What happens if your people no longer have a market for their products? Massive starvation and riots in the streets. That's what happens. (And my analysis is admittedly superficial; worldwide radioactive fallout is a devastating consequence I cannot begin to grasp.)

The weakness and intellectual vapidity of Joe Biden and his administration full of surrender-monkeys does seem to be an open invitation for some superpower to, metaphorically speaking, sneak up on us as we're yukking it up at the bar and blindside us with a vicious roundhouse.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who often is called in like a relief pitcher to bail out the hapless and over-her-head White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, pulled no punches the other day in expressing the administration's position regarding China and Taiwan. He said, flat out, that the United States does not support Taiwan independence.

It's been known for a couple of years now that China has Biden in a highly compromised position, thanks in large part to dealings by Biden's reprobate son Hunter. Thanks, Mr. Kirby, for confirming what we already knew.

Build Biden's Barrier

There. I did it! Came up with three words that start with "B" and are NOT "Build Bungling Bureaucracy."  By now, I think I've worn out that moniker.

In this case, the "barrier" is the wall -- as in "BUILD THE WALL" on the U.S.-Mexican border. Yes, the Biden administration has announced it will complete portions of the wall near Yuma, Arizona.

One of Slow Joe's key campaign promises was to halt construction of the wall championed by Donald Trump, in large part because it is supposedly "racist." Indeed, on his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order to immediately halt all border wall construction.

Although the administration seeks to couch its no wall policy in terms of compassion for illegal immigrants (some of them have died from falls off steep river banks near Yuma or being swept away by fast currents in the Colorado River), the real reason is to wreak havoc domestically. Radical Joe, like other progressives, favors the Cloward Piven strategy of overwhelming our system -- welfare agencies, police, hospitals, schools, courts, jails, you name it.

As I have said many times before, Biden seems to be playing for the other side -- giving up $85 billion worth of American weapons to the Taliban and leaving Americans as well as Afghan supporters behind enemy lines, declaring war on domestic fossil fuel producers while kissing totalitarian asses to buy oil from thug regimes, even selling American oil to the Chinese! 

So why the resumption of wall construction? That's easy. It is to improve the re-election prospects of Arizona Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly, and to give a boost to Arizona's Democrat U.S. House candidates. 

I cannot say for sure what will happen, but the most likely scenario is this: The administration will slow walk this wall construction until after the mid-term elections, then drop it altogether.

When it comes to the duplicitous puppet Biden and his evil puppet masters, you can almost always be certain of ulterior motives and underlying schemes. Don't believe what's on the surface; machiavellian behavior is the norm.