Posse Incitatus

Russia's navy is screwed

Multiple sources are confirming that Russia's largest floating dry dock had a catastrophic accident and sank.  In so doing, it inflicted considerable damage on Russia's only aircraft carrier.

This represents a huge loss of repair and refit capability.  The dry dock was used by surface combatants and ballistic missile submarines.  Without it, some ships literally can't be repaired.  This includes the carrier.  It will likely take months before the dock can be salvaged and repaired - assuming that's even feasible.

This is yet another reminder that the RUSSIA of the neocon imagination is but a shadow monster projected on a tattered bedsheet.  Max Boot and other warmongers can rant about RUSSIA until they are blue in the face, the force projection capabilities they claim to fear just aren't there.

There are, of course, emerging threats to American security.  These come overwhelmingly from China, which the neocons seem reluctant to mention.  Certainly the Dems - who've been bought and paid for by the ChiComs since the Clinton Administration - don't care.

This unforeseen event is a needed reminder that media-hyped fears often mask the real ones.

 

 

Digging Their Own Graves

I have long maintained that delusion is rampant on the Left. It goes hand-in-hand with unhinged behavior, narcissism, and rage -- all staples of the Left.

Despite the widespread antisemitism among leftists (seen frequently on university campuses), and despite stalwart Democrats such as Louis Farrakhan (who recently compared Jews to termites), many progressives and media types claim Donald Trump is the anti-semite. They have blamed Trump's harsh rhetoric for inciting the twisted killer of innocent Jews at the synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The leftists bashed Trump when he announced the U.S. was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. This, on top of the travel ban affecting numerous Muslim nations, made Trump a Jew loving, Arab hating S.O.B., according to the irrational left. But several months later, despite Trump's daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren being Orthodox Jews, the loony Left is calling Trump an anti-semite.

Somehow, in the addled minds of the progressives, nationalism means white supremacy, a xenophobic streak, and hatred of Jews. The same folks who are fine with Farrakhan's demonic tongue and hateful rhetoric, and think nothing of rampant anti-semitism in academia, think using the word "globalism" or denouncing leftist George Soros  are "dog whistles" (they LOVE that term) for Jew hating. Getting dizzy yet?

The Left has already overplayed its hand with the Kavanaugh hearings and the mobile mobs marching on our southern border. One other thing the progressives need to watch out for: Even many of their peers on the Left sometimes get fed up with the excesses of liberalism (manifested in high property and income taxes, sluggish job growth, bad schools and massive corruption). If and when they do, they often turn to Republicans to clean up the mess.

New Jersey did with Chris Christie (following the corrupt regime of John Corzine). He didn't work out, but at least this deep blue state gave it a try, and Christie did succeed in reining in out-of-control teacher pension  and healthcare costs.

In cesspool Illinois, where four of the last seven governors have spent time in the slammer, Republican Bruce Rauner managed to get elected governor in 2014. He has tried doggedly to implement reforms and improve the deep blue state's business climate, but hidebound Democrats and unions have blocked his efforts. The state's Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, is like a barnacle that's latched onto the moldy hull of Springfield. He's been in the Illinois House since 1971, and served as Speaker for 40 years. Because of Madigan and his ilk, Rauner probably will lose in his re-election bid, as he is badly trailing liberal billionaire J.B. Pritzker in the polls.

But there are other blue states where Republican governors seem to be faring better. Namely, Govs. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Maryland’s Larry Hogan and Phil Scott in Vermont. All three of them are shoo-ins for re-election. And let's not forget what happened in solidly Democrat New York City after 12 years of failed Mayor David Dinkens, who left office in 1993: Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, succeeded him and did a great job.

I have commented several times about how even liberals can chafe at too much liberalism when it wreaks havoc in their lives and communities. But sometimes, as in the case of New York City, even the destruction of progressive policies is not enough to prevent died-in-the-wool leftists from re-electing a prog. Still, in a significant number of cases, Democrat voters will not hesitate to abandon their ideology if they believe a Republican can improve their lives. Democrats who still believe Nov. 6 will bring a blue wave ought to consider this -- especially in light of the roaring economy -- and be wary of low turnout among the millennials and minorities they're counting on for victory. It might be wise for them to temper their expectations.

 

 

 

The global center collapses

Does anyone remember how - after Trump's victory - Angela Merkel was hailed a the true leader of the free world?

Mutti Merkel had welcomed a million migrants into her unsuspecting and unprepared nation state, and every since has been enjoying a bountiful harvest of surging violent crime and domestic unrest.

Today Merkel confirmed the obvious - that her day is done.  She remains chancellor, but is resigning leadership of her party and will not run again in 2021.

She may not last even that long.

Germany has been radicalized from both the right and the left.  The nationalists of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) have cut deeply into the old Christian Democrat voting bloc.  At the same time, the Greens are carving out a huge chunk of the Social Democrats' voting base.

The result is a collapse of the German center.  The Greens are poised to become the dominant party of left while the right ponders its own divisions.  Merkel might have formed a coalition of right, but doing so was anathema to her.  So now the withering moderate center clings together, united only by a desire to keep everyone else out.

The same story is playing out all over Europe.  In the UK, Theresa May's government is in a zombie-like state, devoid of energy or direction, surviving only because the Labour government looks even more radical.

Brazil's election confirms this trend.  The self-styled elites have failed, and their insistent denial of that failure will only make the reckoning that much worse when it happens.

And let there be no doubt: it will happen.

The thing is, it didn't have to be this way.  Parties are in theory supposed to look to their own survival.  When a burning issue arises, they are supposed to seize upon it and thereby gain electoral advantage.

Strangely, in nation after nation, establishment parties are refusing to do that, instead declaring that the only solutions on tap are what the existing parties have decided they want to discuss.  Self-determination, control of one's own borders, defense of one's existing ancestral culture - these are now off-limits, beyond even discussion.

Except they're not.  Because "respectable" people won't talk about them, less savory types are taking up the banner.

There's a joke going around that liberals won't secure borders, but fascists will, so why are liberals upset that people are turning to fascists to the the job that they won't do?

Of course "fascist" is a completely subjective term these days.  It currently means whoever the establishment doesn't like.

The fact is that no one has voted for the globalist project.  It was imposed by elites who lied their way into power, and then lied about what they were doing.  When their schemes were exposed, the establishment locked ranks to avoid any real choice.

As the levers of government power slip from their grasp, they turn to billionaire plutocrats to "de-platform" those who disagree with them.  No need for the rule of law, raw corporate power will do in a pinch.

Because creating a corporatist state that transcends laws and national boundaries can't possibly be anything like fascism.

The curious media obsession with smearing Trump as an anti-semite

The mad bomber was an object of mirth last week precisely because no one was hurt.  The same cannot be said of the dastardly synagogue shooting yesterday.

It is a sad feature of our world that those places once considered sacred are now looked upon as targets of opportunity by the vicious and evil.

We cannot cure the hearts of men (only the Almighty can do that) but we can take prudent steps for self-defense against known evil.  Taken on its own terms, gun control doesn't work.  The UK has the advantages of having a tiny gun culture (almost entirely in the landed aristocracy) and being an island, which should make gun-running very difficult. 

Yet despite its strict laws, similar outrages happen there, too.  In fact, violent crime is surging there to levels never before seen.

In addition to the usual calls for gun control, however, there are strange arguments that President Trump is somehow responsible for provoking the attack because he is an anti-Semite.

This is nonsense on stilts.  Trump is the most pro-Jewish president in US history.  He has never through word or deed taken an action against Jews.

His daughter is a convert to Judaism and his own grandchildren have been raised in the faith.  The notion that he would somehow harbor hatred against Jews defies logic.

Then there are his stridently pro-Israel policies, which are the strongest in defense of the Jewish State since its foundation.  These raging lunatics are actually arguing that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem somehow provoked this attack because shut up.

Much of the left's argument is guilt by association, which is to say they quote David Duke as saying he likes Trump, therefore Trump is now beholding to everything David Duke has ever said.

Strangely, this test is not used by Democrats in regard to the rabid anti-Semites in their own ranks, like respected media personality Al Sharpton.  We can also recall the media successfully hid a photo of Barack Obama warmly embracing Louis Farrakhan until after he was out of office.  Calypso Louie recently went on a Twitter riff calling Jews "termites" and calling for their eradication.

Twitter decided this was not hate speech, and Democrats did not scramble to denounce him because he's on their side.

This goes beyond hypocrisy and instead has its roots in the core leftist precept that the ends justify the means.  Political violence is always acceptable to the left.  Demonizing opponents in dehumanizing language is not only acceptable but the preferred tactic.

This is not to say that all leftists embrace this viewpoint, but the moderates within their ranks won't take concrete action to stop it.  At best they will cluck their tongues and shake their heads sadly.  "This wouldn't be necessary if the right wasn't so awful."

A number of psychological surveys show that the left literally doesn't understand the right, while the right understands the left perfectly.  This helps explain why even moderate, personally kind leftists can convince themselves that no matter how depraved the extremists are in their own ranks, the ones on the right are ten times worse.

Even though Al Sharpton incited a riot, he's okay because deep in its heart, the left has deluded itself to think Donald Trump is even worse.

Getting back to the dud bomber for a moment, enough details have come out to reinforce my skepticism of the media narrative.  The choice of targets (mostly Dems not running for office and important enough to have layers of security), the pristine van covered with so much right-wing nonsense to be a parody of itself (not to mention illegal to drive) and the fact that the FBI can't give a clear description of the bombs themselves leads me to believe something sketchy is going on.

Regardless of whether the guy was sincere or just a dupe, the left's reaction to make political hay rather than call of a de-escalation rhetoric is both expected and I predict will backfire.

The left's combination of mindless moral certitude and a propensity to violence make it the natural home of angry lunatics.  This dud bombing campaign combined with the synagogue will be seen by these people as an invitation to "retaliation."

This is particularly likely as the GOP looks like it will increase its hold on the Senate and perhaps cling to power in the House.

In imagining civil war, the left is making one happen.

God help us all.

Anatomy of a Crackpot

I probably was wrong.

This does not look like a false flag affair, as I speculated it might be. Right-wing conspiracy theorists are alleging a wild-eyed scheme in which the Deep State uses a pro-Trump stooge to threaten high-profile liberals as a way to alarm the public, taint the image of Trump supporters and and turn people against the president. (Just in time for the mideterm elections, when undecided voters and maybe even a few conservatives will then decide to vote Democrat.) But this sounds outlandish, to say the least.

What apparently happened is that a notorious crackpot -- a small town yokel who has a lengthy rap sheet and is known for driving around in a van with windows covered by bumper stickers bashing liberal politicians and ideas - is the culprit. Cesar Sayoc was ubiquitous in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area, and well-known to law enforcement officials. His criminal record included Grand Theft in the 3rd degree, domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and many other transgressions. In other words, he was a nut job.

This case speaks to the need for better psychological and psychiatric care, but it also calls attention to the alarming tendency among law enforcement and social service professionals to coddle criminals and ignore red flags at the expense of public safety.

Sayoc should have been institutionalized; he should have been locked up for the public's protection. It was probably due more to his incompetence as a bomb maker than his desire not to actually harm anyone that his pipe bombs did not detonate. The case of Sayoc reminds me of the Parkland, Fla., school shooter last February. He had made repeated threats and been stopped numerous times trespassing on school grounds before that horrible Valentine's Day massacre. What does it take for authorities to respond to danger signals?

Of course, the Democrats and their lapdog media are eating this up. In their minds, Sayoc is no more deranged than anyone who would support and vote for Donald Trump. They'll go all out trying to portray Trump supporters and the president as menacing threats to civility, stability and security. Just as they attempted to paint Trump fans with a broad brush following the violence in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 that stemmed from a clash between a few misfit racist idiots and leftists such as Antifa.

The press certainly didn't dish out the same treatment toward Democrats and Trump haters following last year's baseball field shooting of House Republicans perpetrated by Bernie Sanders supporter James Hodgkinson. The press also downplayed the assault on Sen. Rand Paul by a loopy liberal neighbor.

Nor does the corrupt media seem to mind when their beloved liberal lions -- folks like Eric Holder and Joe Biden -- make threatening statements: "When they go low, we kick 'em" (Holder) and Biden stating he wishes he could take Trump out behind the gym to work him over. Then there was Robert DeNiro saying he'd like to punch Trump in the face, and Kathy Griffin with her severed Trump head. Not to mention the numerous books and short stories that have been written about assassinating Trump, and George W. Bush when he was president.

Look, 2018 politics is a toxic mess. Theodore Roosevelt spoke of the courage of being "in the arena" as a political leader. But his eloquent commentary was in the context of people who actually tried to accomplish something noble yet had to endure vituperative criticism, ridicule, contempt, hatred. Today, those in the arena risk life and limb, and social media seems to amp up the craziness.

Let's face it: There are crackpots on both sides. But if you look at the M.O. of the two major political parties, as well as the rage and unhinged behavior coming from the Left, there is absolutely no question the greater cauldron, and thus, the higher potential for danger and violence, comes from the Left.

 

 

False flags and fake bombs

I've been busy for the last couple of days, but looking at the incoherent howling of the media, it's clear I didn't miss much.

It's looking like the media-hyped political "bombing campaign" is as much of a dud as the inert weapons themselves.

Naturally, the media howled that it had to be a Trump supporter/Republican because that's who they always blame for violence, no matter the circumstance.

You know who never gets blamed?

Radical Muslims.

Seriously, you can print a manifesto, dress in traditional Islamic garb and even scream "I FIGHT FIGHT FOR AL QAEDA!!!" as you ply your grisly trade and the official government/media line will be:  "the motive remains a mystery."

In order for an attack on a nightclub, or concern arena or any other target to be considered tied to Islamic terrorism, the burden of proof is almost impossible to achieve.  It isn't enough to be inspired by terrorist propaganda, in fact, even exchanging message of support to known terrorists doesn't really establish a "link."

However, zero proof is required to tie Trump or Republicans to a crime.

It's interesting to recall that the anthrax letter campaign is officially a false-flag operation.  Even though it came at the same time as the Sept. 11, 2001 aircraft hijackings, even though the letters with the powdered disease openly celebrated the triumph of Islam and called for the destruction of America and Israel, then-FBI boss Robert Mueller and his crack team of investigators categorically ruled out any Muslim involvement.

Instead they launched a witch-hunt within the American defense community.

Yes, that's the same Robert Mueller investigating RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA.  So if anyone knows false-flag operations exist, it's him.

Of course the tactic itself seemed strange.  None of the targets get their own mail.  It's not like the Unabomber campaign, which singled out people of modest means who lack security details.

You remember the Unabomber, don't you?  The radical anti-capitalist? 

Oh wait, the media doesn't talk about those people.

It's like the attempted assassination of the House GOP baseball team - not something spoken of when the topic of "violent rhetoric" comes up.

The odd thing is that if the Dems were truly smart, they'd take Trump at his word and tone down their rhetoric, making them look responsible and even normal.  Howling even louder that Trump needs to be killed doesn't exactly make their case that they can be trusted with more political power.

 

 

Hype Bombs or Pipe Bombs?

Timing is everything.

We've all heard that line, applicable to everything from football play calling to the dating game to stock purchases to a stand-up comedian's punchline delivery.

And now we can examine how this adage comes into play with regard to the pipe bombs sent to former presidents Obama and Clinton, to CNN, former Attorney General Eric Holder, leftist sugar daddy George Soros, and others. The Left has known for several weeks that the Democrats' despicable behavior during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings inflicted grave damage on their efforts to re-take the U.S. House.

And if they thought they would score political points against Orange Julius and the Republicans with the mobile mobs coming up from Central America, they were sadly mistaken. Matter of fact, almost simultaneously with the cameras, emotional scenes, and overall breathless coverage of the rag-tag procession, the latest NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll revealed the Donald Trump's approval rating was a respectable 45 percent.

Trump told the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico that if they don't try to stop the mobile mob from moving northward, they are in serious danger of having all U.S. aid cut off. That kind of decisiveness and resolve is why so many people are delighted with the Trumpster, even if they don't like his personality. Trump also plans to deploy military troops to  keep order should the mobile mob make it to the Texas border. In other words, the immigrant wannabe's have hurt, not helped, the Democrats.

Sounds like a great time for a false flag event if you're a Democrat strategist, right? A coordinated mailing of pipe bombs to high-profile leftists. What a great idea! We've seen the deception of the leftists time and time again, from blacks who torch black churches in the South in an effort to portray conservative whites as racist KKK sympathizers, to well-documented cases of leftist operatives provoking fights at Trump rallies to paint Trump supporters as angry, belligerent fools. Leftists are also spray painting swastikas in the vicinity of Trump rallies to try framing the president's supporters. And it goes without saying, whenever there's a mass shooting or terrorist incident, the default position of the corrupt media is this: IT'S THE RIGHT WINGERS & TRUMP LOVERS!

Remember the disgraced idiot reporter Brian Ross, to whom ABC News gave a platform for far too long? After the Aurora, Colo., movie theater Batman massacre in 2012, Ross wildly implicated the suspect as a Tea Party member. It took numerous outrageous and horribly irresponsible acts by Ross before ABC finally axed him.

Look, if a right winger wanted to harm high profile liberals, he could do so easily. Millions of staunch conservatives are gun owners and/or former military personnel. They know how to make bombs that really do kill and maim, as opposed to just looking menacing. The fact that none of these pipe bombs have detonated really has to make one suspicious (provided there's a reasonable amount of critical thinking and skepticism as opposed to gullible naivete). Today I heard federal officials state that some of the packages did  not contain detonators, and the suspicious powder found in some of the envelopes did not present a biological threat.

We'll see what the investigation leads to in the next couple days. I could be wrong, and I will admit it if I am. But it looks like this is either a false flag incident from desperate Democrats, or a mentally ill person seeking attention and notoriety. The American public isn't stupid enough to think the pipe bombs tarnish conservatives 100 percent, despite the fervent wishes of George Soros, Hillary Clinton and Michael Moore.

 

 

 

Blessing in Disguise?

At first blush, you'll think I'm nuts to say the mobile mob headed north from Honduras and Guatemala is a blessing in disguise. But hear me out. That's all I ask...

Most people who supported Trump in 2016 are well aware of the serious problems massive illegal immigration causes in this nation. They also understand that it's a multi-faceted problem that involves so many different scenarios.

Millions from other nations simply overstay their visas and never return to from whence they came. There are those who sneak across the border and work illegally, earning money under the table and sending remittances back to Mexico. Many foreign women who are pregnant strive to make it inside the United States to give birth, knowing their newborn children will automatically become American citizen, thus becoming the foot in the door to allow many relatives into the country ("chain" migration). Additionally, there are many cases of people who are apprehended at the border, interviewed, given an ankle bracelet and released into the nation's interior with a date, time and place to show up for a hearing. More often than not, they do not appear at the hearing. (It goes without saying, they cut off and discard the ankle bracelet.)

Aside from overwhelming our border patrol officials and placing a heavy burden on resources including welfare agencies, charities, hospital emergency rooms, schools and law enforcement, there are other threats. These include violent criminals such as MS13, the violent Savadoran gang, being amongst the throngs. Ditto for the infiltration of terrorists from Middle East -- (News Flash to the idiots at CNN: This is FACT, not a scare tactic! The president of Guatemala confirmed his nation's security officials have arrested dozens of ISIS terrorists.) -- as well as the presence of drug dealers who contribute to death, heartache and violence across our great nation.

The pathologies of unchecked migration, of opening the floodgates to the impoverished, of abandoning the rule of law, of condoning lawlessness in sanctuary cities, of caring more about non-citizens than citizens -- too often these devastating circumstances (crime, drugs, gangs, depressed wages) get played out over the long haul -- at different times, in various locations, touching distinct lives and communities.

But here's where the mobile mob makes a difference: It's like a sledgehammer bringing all of these deviations together in a concentrated mess that drives home the point dramatically and convincingly. Some have called the caravan invasion a microcosm, but I believe that word is too weak. It's more like concentrated laundry detergent: A tiny bit is extremely potent.

It is likely that leftist scum such as George Soros and the Nazis of Venezuela and Cuba have organized and are supporting the invasion of our southern border in the hopes it will tug at American heartstrings and turn people against the Republicans, the opposite is happening.

Millions of Americans are fed up with the abuses of our nation's generosity and magnanimity by entitlement-minded refugees from Third World countries. Americans tend to have common sense, and it's obvious that bending over backwards to help lawbreaker interlopers while we have 40,000 homeless veterans -- many of whom cannot get adequate healthcare -- is the definition of insanity. It is a grotesque travesty.

As far as how this plays out for Democrats' prospects of re-taking the U.S. House, to use a common expression, "The optics look bad." If anything, this fiasco, on the heels of the disgraceful treatment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh a month ago, is firing up Republican voters and causing independents to lean toward the GOP. Many independents don't like Donald Trump personally and are not all that enamored of the Republican Party. It's just that they look at the Democrats and cringe. "Lesser of two evil" votes count every bit as much as gung-ho votes.

Once again, the manipulative Democrats have overplayed their hand, and it's blowing up in their face just two weeks from the midterm elections. Gotta love it!

 

 

The truth about the Catholic Church scandal that none dare to speak

This week Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano released his third open letter or "testimony." 

It is powerful stuff.  In his introduction he states plainly that he feels compelled to speak out because to do otherwise would put his soul in mortal danger.  He cannot go before God without telling the world all he knows about the evil lurking in the bosum of the Catholic Church.

The then goes on and rebuts the Papacy's talking points that his charges have been successfully disproven or refuted, noting that the Pope's henchmen are focusing on discrediting things he didn't say and ignoring the things he did say.

The conclusion, however, is even more powerful:

As to the second silence, this very grave crisis cannot be properly addressed and resolved unless and until we call things by their true names. This is a crisis due to the scourge of homosexuality, in its agents, in its motives, in its resistance to reform. It is no exaggeration to say that homosexuality has become a plague in the clergy, and it can only be eradicated with spiritual weapons. It is an enormous hypocrisy to condemn the abuse, claim to weep for the victims, and yet refuse to denounce the root cause of so much sexual abuse: homosexuality. It is hypocrisy to refuse to acknowledge that this scourge is due to a serious crisis in the spiritual life of the clergy and to fail to take the steps necessary to remedy it.

Unquestionably there exist philandering clergy, and unquestionably they too damage their own souls, the souls of those whom they corrupt, and the Church at large. But these violations of priestly celibacy are usually confined to the individuals immediately involved. Philandering clergy usually do not recruit other philanderers, nor work to promote them, nor cover-up their misdeeds -- whereas the evidence for homosexual collusion, with its deep roots that are so difficult to eradicate, is overwhelming.

He's absolutely right.  We live in a fallen world, and when a leader fails to live up to a moral code, it is a tragedy.

Given the size of the Catholic Church, such failings are inevitable.  They are to be expected and they happen in all faiths because all religious leaders in this world are mortals, prone to error by their nature.

What sets this scandal apart is that there is an organized faction within the Church hiding and enabling it.

Like most Catholics, I assumed Church leaders were simply unaware of the scope of the problem and had been duped and betrayed by canny and unscrupulous predators.  I believed that the payments and coverups were made out of a sincere (but flawed) hope that the individuals would repent and sin no more and the fear that the Church's reputation would so harmed as to damage its mission.

It goes without saying that I strongly disagree with the Church's actions, but I thought I could understand them.

I know know - the world now knows - differently.

These crooked priests and their degenerate bishops never meant to reform, they were only playing a game.  They victimized not just children, but also other priests in their depravity.

And they were overwhelmingly homosexual.

Indeed, they celebrated this fact and flaunted it whenever possible, only to play the victim card about Catholic "homophobia" whenever they faced exposure. 

But sexual predators are despicable whether gay or straight. 

The State of Michigan is now conducting on investigation and the dioceses are promising full cooperation.  Closer to home, one of the pastors in my diocese recently resigned his position after credible allegations of sexual harassment.  We've since learned that his target wasn't just a church employee, but another priest.

How often did priests keep this to themselves, fearful of retaliation or creating scandal?  It is sad that such things have happened, but also encouraging that good men are speaking out and stopping this behavior in its tracks.

Pope Francis has long frustrated conservative Catholics with this erratic utterances, obsession with trendy progressive causes and his constant flirtations with heresy, but his failure to address this situation directly has destroyed his moral authority.

 

Bitter Defeat

Just as I feared: The Meeeechigan Skunkbears came to East Lansing and defeated the Michigan State Spartans in an ugly game played in ugly weather. The final score, 21-7, wasn't too far off what I'd predicted (a 20-13 Michigan victory). Here are some pitiful statistics: MSU was 0/12 on third down conversions, and starting QB Brian Lewerke was a miserable 5/25. The Spartans finished with an anemic 15 yards rushing and 94 total yards of offense.

Also bad news, the Spartans' best receiver, senior Felton Davis, was carted off the field late in the first half with a torn Achilles tendon. Their second best receiver, Cody White, has missed several games with a broken hand. If those two had been in the lineup, along with top-notch punter Jake Hartbarger, the Spartans might have had a chance to win. I say "might have" because I have to credit Michigan for being a very good team. Their pass defense and defensive line are the best they've been for a long time.

It looks like Michigan is on its way to winning its first Big Ten championship in 14 years, because Penn State and Ohio State are all that stand in the way. The Nittany Lions, not as formidable as we thought they would be, play in Ann Arbor on Nov. 3 And although U-M plays OSU in Columbus, the Buckeyes also have not lived up to expectations. Yesterday, a 3-3 Purdue squad manhandled the Bucknuts, 49-20.

As for the Spartans, they are still a young team, and will still be highly competitive next season, despite what happens the remainder of this year. If they can stay healthy next year, they'll be able to put a lot of bad memories behind them. It's damned tough to watch a game like today's, but again, I've got to keep things in perspective with all that's going on in the world. Meantime, when does basketball season start?

USELESS MEDIA OVERKILL -- One of the most annoying traits about the mainstream media -- something I've criticized for decades -- is the tendency to take a story and run with it for weeks as if it were the  most important piece of news, ever. They'll beat it to death, squeeze every drop out of if, then drop it and move on to something else. Often, there's a "run-with-the-pack" M.O. that makes me wonder if there is one independent-minded news outlet left on planet earth. The latest example is the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Things are still being sorted out, but it looks like a Saudi hit squad tortured and murdered Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Let's cut to the chase: The Saudi regime is ruthless and oppressive. It supports extreme forms of Islam such as Wahabbism. Human rights and women's rights records in the House of Saud are abysmal. But Khashoggi was no angel, either. He was a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and was no friend of pluralism or individual liberty. But even if he wasn't as bad as some are accusing him of being, the fact is that totalitarian governments torture and murder dissidents on a daily basis around the world. Think of all of the unnamed Khashoggi's who've been heinously tortured and murdered in Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, China, Turkey, North Korea and untold other countries. Why is this guy so special?

There are probably several reasons. One is that Donald Trump and some of his top officials have sucked up to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Arabia. Anything to make the president look bad. The other is that Khashoggi was a journalist, and journalists worldwide thing highly of themselves. They are somewhat of a cult, albeit one with less and less integrity and credibility as time goes on. They are defending one of their own, and their sense of what's important and what matters is pretty much determined by the insular bubble in which they live and work. Is it any wonder their ratings continue to plummet?

There are also naive, gullible people like CNN's Jake Tapper (a close competitor to Brian Stelter and Don Lemon as the most stupid person on TV), who claim Khashoggi was a "reformer." Reminds me of when HildaBeast stated Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad was a "reformer" in 2011 -- right about the time the ophthalmologist butcher began slaughtering protesters in the early months of the Syrian revolution.

The Khashoggi story is another reason why I am becoming more and more averse to network television. Even Fox News has jumped into the pool. Although Fox at least tries to present conservative viewpoints, the network is as guilty as all of its competitors of providing entertainment more than news, and of wallowing in sensationalism. Much of it is utter garbage. To paraphrase a crude adage, network talking heads are like A**holes -- everybody's got one.