Posse Incitatus

Dems Are One Big Happy Family -- NOT!

As usual, the garbage media is playing up Republican pissing matches such as the slap-down of the execrable Liz Cheney, and the criticism of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene by some of her fellow Republicans.

The media narrative is that the Republicans are gravely divided by Trump supporters and never Trumpers, and have little chance of reclaiming the House or taking the Senate in 2022. But the truth is, the Democrats are facing their own dissension in the ranks.

Several Jewish Democrats have stated they support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups. But you would be hard-pressed to hear any of the Dems denounce virulently anti-Semitic bigots in their own party such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Cori Bush for their statements and tweets. Meanwhile, attacks on Jews have escalated in recent days. What's the matter, Dems? Cat got your tongue? I thought silence was violence!

Turning to fiscal policy, the president's plans to raise the corporate tax rate back to 28 percent may be derailed by none other than commie Sen. Bernie Sanders. As part of the plan, Biden wants to remove the cap on deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT), set at $10,000 under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But the deduction primarily benefits wealthy voters in blue states. Sanders, being the Marxist he is, cannot bear to remove the cap and thus give a tax break to wealthy people. At least he's consistent with his Marxist income redistribution. Other Democrat senators don't want the corporate rate going all the way up to 28 percent.

An absurd offshoot of Biden's proposal to raise the corporate tax rate is an effort to get European nations to raise their corporate tax rates, too, so the United States won't be at a severe competitive disadvantage. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is promoting a global corporate tax rate of 15 percent under a typically utopian and idealistic scheme called the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

So, while the administration claims that hiking corporate tax rates won't hurt American consumers or corporations (ignoring the fact it will cause companies to raise prices, cut wages and reduce dividends), it also is trying to prevent other countries from stealing American jobs away by offering lower corporate tax rates.

This anti-competitive bent also manifested itself in the administration's attempt to prevent states from using Coronavirus relief funds to offset tax cuts. Ohio sued to invalidate that restriction as an abuse of Congress’s power. A federal judge ruled last week that the state has a “substantial likelihood of success on that argument.” More to come.

Meanwhile, several Democrat senators are not on board with the so-called infrastructure bill, and hard-left Democrats are upset with Biden's support for Israel's right to defend itself. Democrats from domestic labor unions are non-too-pleased with the Keystone pipeline cancellation, while other Democrats want even more draconian actions taken against fossil fuel companies.

The Democrat Party is indeed a kaleidoscope of disparate special interest groups that have great difficulty finding unison. To them, Uncle Sam is a sugar daddy, and getting the biggest and best piece of the pie is the name of the game.

Systemic Bullshit, Existential Pushback: Reimagining Leftist Buzzwords

The propaganda machine has cranked up the "systemic racism" lie to full volume -- 24/7 brainwashing and repetition (Joseph Goebbels style) in the left's push to fundamentally vitiate the United States of America.

I dare say you wouldn't be able to watch more than 60 seconds of MSNBC or CNN without that cursed word "systemic" being uttered by one of the many inane parrots of the Fourth Estate. Sadly, millions of weak-minded sheep fall in line, ignorant that they may be complicit in ushering in a future totalitarian police state.

It's happening before our very eyes, yet we are hard-pressed to stop it. This reminds me of what my father used to say about the great Green Bay Packers teams of the 1960s, coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi. In those days, passing was infrequent, and running formations more rudimentary. It's been decades since the position names "halfback" and "fullback" were in common use; "tailback" is today's term for the players whose primary responsibility is taking handoffs and running with the ball.

So in that context, Green Bay ran the ball a lot. And they did so very effectively, since they had a powerful offensive line and star running backs like Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor and Donny Anderson.

What did my dad tell me? That defenses knew what the predictable Green Bay offense would do. It was as if they were inside the huddle and could hear Bart Starr call out the play. Even so, they STILL could not stop the Pack from steamrolling their defenders and grabbing large chunks of real estate each time they ran the ball.

How's that for frustration? You know what the other team will do, you know how to best defend it, and you do your damnedest to stop them, yet you fail, time and time again.

In some respects, the juggernaut we face today is like those Green Bay offenses of old. Combine the corrupt deep state, Demagogue - er, DEMOCRAT Party, Big Tech, garbage media, woke corporations, universities, leftist foundations and all manner of freelance, solo act virtue signalers, and it's a hell of a Marxist shit-storm. At times it may seem hopeless. But it isn't. I continue to see encouraging signs that make me believe lovers of liberty and limited government won't be like those hapless defenders opposing the green and gold gridiron heroes of Lambeau Field all those years ago.

First of all, ratings are way down for pro sports, due in large part to the leagues' insistence on foisting PC and woke garbage onto the public.

Last fall's World Series set a 20-year record low for average TV viewership. Just 9.78 million tuned in, compared to 13.91 million in 2019 and down from a peak of 25.47 million in 2004. Granted, the decline is due in part to the fact Major League Baseball's fan base is largely an older crowd, and a considerable number of them have passed away since 2004. But there's no question many fans are fed up with being lectured to by sanctimonious millionaires. 

The NBA has been the most egregious of the pro sports leagues as far as aggressive, obnoxious virtue signaling. Black Lives Matter has been emblazoned on players' jerseys and basketball courts, along with the usual pontificating over the P.A. system and players taking a knee during the national anthem. News flash: TV ratings for the 2020 NBA Finals were a whopping 70 percent lower than in 2019.

People will continue walking away from companies and entertainers who thrust garbage down their throats. The Oscars and Golden Globe Awards both have had record low ratings in recent years. Movie theaters have been hammered by the pandemic, and I suspect many of them will never re-open as millions of fans decide not to spend money to see movies involving cast members, directors and producers who regularly dump on America and push socialist, hard-left agendas.

There is also growing resistance to mask mandates and lockdowns. Despite Michigan's worsening incidence of COVID-19, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declined to impose more strict lockdowns, which the Centers for Disease Control and Biden administration urged. She's seen her poll numbers declining, and knows the public has had it with lockdowns.

A video of a mother of young children complaining bitterly at a Gwinnett School Board meeting in suburban Atlanta has gone viral. She calls out the so-called "experts" for advocating policies at odds with the facts and common sense -- i.e., requiring kids to continue learning virtually and children as young as 2 or 3 to wear masks all day. Children are less likely to catch and spread Coronavirus, and if they do get it, their symptoms are usually mild. Despite this, draconian policies prevail. People are FED UP!

In California, Chicago and other areas, obstinate teachers' unions are refusing to go back to the classroom, leaving parents stuck with the unsustainable and failed model of virtual learning. Some parents have turned to parochial and charter schoools; others are home schooling. The Wall Street Journal reports that California public schools have suffered a drop in enrollment of 160,000 since the pandemic began. Additionally, Republicans in more than a dozen states have responded to parental frustration with school closures by introducing legislation to expand education choice.

Georgia, Florida, Michigan and many other states are in the process of adopting legislation to prevent election fraud, retain oversight as Uncle Sam seeks to take it away, and ensure transparency in elections. These efforts are in response to the Democrats' disastrous HR1, which would federalize elections, allowing banana republic tactics like ballot harvesting, weeks of loosely regulated mail-in ballots, and the elimination of voter ID requirements. 

Oh, and while we're talking about elections, let's not forget that Arizona is conducting an audit of the state's 2020 presidential election. Predictably, the vermin of the left are mocking it, but their credibility is so low that whatever criticisms and cynicism they have must be taken with a pound of salt.

Meanwhile, certain Republican politicians have surprised me with their powerful rebuttals to the left-wing steamroller coming from Washington, D.C.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been outstanding in shining a light on the cockroaches, pushing back ferociously and effectively. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie grew soft for a few years and dialed down the combativeness he demonstrated in winning the Garden State's gubernatorial race in 2009 and 2013. But in recent weeks, he has locked horns with some of the Sunday talk show hosts and blasted the national Democrats' far-left agenda. His is a strong voice that we need going forward.

And then there are the solid conservative commentators who have pulled no punches in exposing the hypocritical and sanctimonious woke, the leftists, statists and arrogant P.C. virtue signalers. These include Tucker Carlson, Dan Bongino, Jesse Waters, Newt Gingrich, Leo Terrell, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tammy Bruce, Candace Owens, Sean Spicer, Michael Savage and many more.

In summary, the coordinated propaganda and indoctrination trying to chew up and spit out conservatives while shredding the constitution is alienating millions of voters (even some who voted for Biden simply because they hated Trump) and meeting with formidable resistance. We are witnessing the equivalent of a brutal, 12-round heavyweight boxing match that will go on for quite a while longer. This thing is FAR from over.

A Raw Power Grab

The Democrats are totalitarian in nature -- utterly power hungry, and basically fanatical when it comes to wielding power to ruthlessly crush their opposition. Their newly announced legislation to pack the U.S. Supreme Court comes as no surprise, and it is a harsh wake-up call to those who cherish liberty and loathe tyranny and totalitarianism. The legislation jumps the gun on the presidential commission appointed to study the matter, a body that is supposedly bipartisan but in actuality tilted toward the leftists.

This blog has warned for years that, left unchecked, today's radical Democrat Party will do its level best to turn the United States into Venezuela North. Even before the 2020 election results and the marionette Sleepy Joe Biden doing the progressives' bidding, the signs were everywhere.

From the indoctrination and groupthink of universities, to the disparaging of religion and traditional values, to the trashing of the constitution and demonization of the Founding Fathers, to ham-handed identity politics, to Big Tech censorship, to stoking the racial fires, to celebration of anarchists and violent rioters, to delegitimizing and hating the police... the Democrats have shown their true colors time and time again.

Some Republicans, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are on to them and pushing back hard. Good. We need a lot more of that. The fact that many Republican legislatures are passing laws to regulate and monitor elections and ensure transparency is a step in the right direction. The Democrats' attempt to federalize elections, HR1, is blatantly unconstitutional and nothing more than a way to loosen oversight and accountability so as to grease the skids for voter fraud and eventual Democrat one-party rule.

Within this scenario is the unseemly influencing of elections with cash and a propaganda press that has received little or no attention. Billionaire progressives like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are throwing their money and influence around to help Democrats.

Zuckerberg spent $300 million on "safe voting initiatives" in the 2020 election, showering money on local elections officials in blue cities to open up a pandora's box of infiltration by liberal activists and Democrat operatives. Ballot harvesting and other tactics were used to, shall we say, "finesse" the results.

For several years, Bezos has underwritten the Washington Post, a shrill and shameless Democrat propaganda rag that spent 24/7 bashing Donald Trump and his administration, and repeatedly gives kid gloves treatment to Sleepy Joe and his band of Obama retreads.

This pompous publication has the gall to act righteous with its sanctimonious motto, "Democracy dies in darkness." Never mind that the paper's publisher and editors -- not to mention its legions of devoted readers -- are too ignorant to know that the United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. The sticking point is that the paper's motto implies it is striving for transparency, which is far from the truth. One of my major criticisms of the Post and New York Times is their over reliance on anonymous sources for many of the stories they run that bash conservative legislation, ideas and people.

Any idiot knows you can't trust anonymous sources. In a few cases, they may be legitimate and telling the truth, but don't want to get fired, prosecuted or ostracized for divulging sensitive information. But in the majority of cases, the so-called anonymous sources are hacks with an ax to grind, a score to settle. They manufacture harmful slander to tar their enemies, and these two large, established newspapers gleefully run with it, like a kid who gets free run of the candy store. I strongly suspect that some reporters are so unscrupulous, they simply make up sources and information. Believe me, fiction writing has been an all-too common affliction involving members of the Fourth Estate. (See Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, et al.)

But enough on the WaPost & NY Times digression. Pushback against the banana republic election designs of the Democrats is one positive sign. Another is that several states are adopting or preparing to pass legislation to A) Combat Big Tech; and B) hold rioters accountable, thus superseding lawless progressive mayors and city councils -- let's not forget that municipalities are adjuncts of state governments. Additionally, many red states have pushed back hard against Dr. Anthony Fauci and the federal / medical tyrants who have used Coronavirus and "science" as they know it to exert control over people's lives and livelihoods, devastating millions of families.

As usual, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is leading the way. The Sunshine State adopted HB1, an anti-riot act that DeSantis promised to sign into law. Additionally, the Transparency in Technology Act would protect free speech and force tech platforms to disclose what data they have on Floridians to those users and delete that information if requested. The law would also ask companies not to sell the data and would create legal avenues to sue for noncompliance.

As I mentioned the other day, thousands of other Republicans need to show some spine, to "grow a pair," as the vernacular goes, and fight fire with fire. If the Supreme Court does end up getting four left-wing justices, it will in effect become a rubber stamp for whatever totalitarian legislation the Democrat megalomaniacs want to pass. It's all over.

Know this: The Democrats are on a mission: Remove checks and balances on the centralization of government power, shred the First and Second Amendments, and snuff out the Republicans and conservatives for good. Should they succeed, they will disenfranchise well over 100 million people. It will be a horrendous Pyrrhic victory the likes of which we've never seen.

The hour is late; the stakes are enormous. To quote Todd Beamer, that hero of nearly 20 years ago, "Let's roll."

John Roberts = John McCain / Jeff Flake / Mitt Romney

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, he of the infamous Obamacare ruling in 2012, in which he found the mandate with a fine for noncompliance to be a tax, is up to his old tricks again.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (concerned with equal employment opportunity) bars discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation or status as a transgender person. Supposedly conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joined Roberts in ruling for the majority, a ruling that grossly distorts the original intent of the 1964 law, and effectively gives free reign to LGBTQ rights.

Then, just a couple days later, a double-whammy: The Supremes ruled that President Donald Trump cannot immediately overturn DACA (Deferred Action for Childhool Arrivals), which President Barack Obama implemented via executive order to provide legal protections and work permits to unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Once again, Roberts was the swing vote, going with the liberals to rule against Trump.

I used to say that retired justice David Suiter, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Looking back, Suiter wasn't nearly as damaging as John Roberts, who G.W. Bush appointed as Chief Justice. Roberts, it turns out, is truly a fox guarding the henhouse. (Thanks, Dubya! Heckuva job, fellah!)

Fortunately, the high court made clear that the Department of Homeland Security could rescind the program, but said it must offer well-supported and transparent reasons for doing so. I certainly hope  (and feel fairly confident) that the Trump administration will be up to the task. This unconstitutional law can be slapped down; a massive influx of Democrat voters can be prevented.

It is disturbing that so may Supreme Court justices appointed by Republican presidents have strayed toward the dark side. They seem addicted to praise from the establishment Democrats and mainstream media. But on the reverse side of the coin, it is almost unheard of for a Democrat-appointed justice to wander off the reservation and vote for a conservative position alongside conservative justices.

Frankly, we're playing small-ball here. My greatest fear is that if Joe Biden wins in November, and the Democrats take over control of the U.S. Senate, Biden will stack the Supreme Court with leftists. After that, we'll see the abolition of the Electoral College, and possibly the elimination of the First and Second Amendments (or at the very least flagrant, unchecked trampling upon these two crucial amendments.)

To paraphrase scripture, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, the destruction, havoc and totalitarianism that will result when slappy politicians and judges seek to pacify the establishment and acquire plaudits from the mainstream media."

'Green’ Energy’s Monkey Wrenches

Someone once said that it’s so much easier to oppose things – to organize movements and boycotts against ideas, people or businesses – than it is to advocate for something, e.g., programs, people, a company or an industry.

Leftists are all about protest, demonstrations, obstructionism and opposition. But too often, when challenged to offer specific alternatives, then when challenged on their responses, they wither pathetically. Many times, their frustration, lack of knowledge and inarticulate ways lead them to the typical default: profanity, name-calling and demonization. Sometimes, violence and/or destruction of property is their response.

Many liberals have this simple-minded notion of “clean” and “green” energy as simply driving an electric vehicle up to an electric charger and hooking up the cable to the electric vehicle. And when it’s time to drive that Tesla away, there are zero carbon emissions! How cool is that?

But let’s take a deeper look. Chances are, fossil fuels were burned to generate the electricity used to charge up that Chevy Bolt or Nissan LEAF. And we know lots of fossil fuels were burned to mine the nickel, copper and lithium used in production of the batteries. We also know that once the batteries need to be discarded, they must be properly recycled or they're devastating for the environment.

Now, it’s true that wind turbines and solar panels may have been used to generate some of the power. Both forms of energy have increased in recent years, but they still represent a small portion of the overall electricity consumed in America.

A big part of the problem is that the turbines and solar panels tend to be located in regions of the country that are many hundreds of miles from the population centers where industry, commerce and residential users need the power. There's plenty of wind on the Northern Plains, and plenty of sun in the vast desert Southwest. But there are not plenty of people in either region.

It costs lots of money to store electricity, and to transmit it a thousand or more miles through several states. There is significant power loss through lengthy transmissions. Furthermore, many people do not want cables running anywhere near their residences. The NIMBY syndrome is interwoven with the patchwork of right-of-way hassles, permits, regulations, bureaucratic hearings and the like that inevitably would result from running cables across multiple jurisdictions.

And then there's the toll on birds and other wildlife. Tens of thousands of birds are chopped up by wind turbines. Too, scores of birds and their insect prey can mistake a reflective solar facility for a water body, or spot water ponds at the site. When they descend for a drink, they get fried. The windmill/solar panel carnage is horrible enough in itself, but it also has adverse effects on the ecological balance and food chain. It's not just birds that are slaughtered, it's also bats and pollinating insects. All of this takes its toll down the line.

There are also other drawbacks that the green dreamers don't stop to consider. For example, electric vehicles tend to be tiny clown cars that are not practical for millions of Americans. We live in a vast country, with families, relatives and friends often separated by hundreds of miles. Additionally, many Americans like to be able to transport items they pick up at Home Depot or Lowe's, and you can't do that in a Prius. Many families have several kids, and/or a large dog. They may need an SUV to haul around sporting gear and young athletes on their way to practice or games. Tiny cars won't cut it.

It also goes without saying that there are vast swaths of this great land that are not served by trains or buses. And while you could drive 75 or 150 miles in Europe and be in another country, you could drive 2,000 miles in the United States and still be in the heartland. Absurd comparisons with what the Europeans do are just that: absurd.

One thing the green weenies seem to have in common is many of them gullibly fall for the Chicken Little B.S. about human-caused global warming, and how our planet supposedly only has another dozen years to go until doomsday. Their utter lack of common sense, critical thinking and basic analysis carries over into their idealized visions of green energy. Republicans need to drill home these points when the Democrat candidates try to shove their ridiculous "green" schemes down our throats this election season. I see lots of low hanging fruit. Let's get to it!

Yeah, the Never Trumpers don't believe in civility either

It's been two years since Donald Trump locked up the GOP nomination for president and when that happened, a substantial portion of the conservative commentariat decided that they were implacably opposed to him.

These nascent Quislings offer a variety of excuses for their treason, but one they all had in common was that Trump was beyond the pale of civil discourse.

They hit on this again and again and continue to harp on it.  And yet, when pushed on the topic, it runs out that Jen Rubin, one of the loudest remaining Vichy Conservatives, is actually fine with harassing Trump administration officials.  In fact, she thinks this should be a lifelong punishment for the guilty parties without any possibility of parole.

This actually isn't that big of a deal if you think about it.  While a lot of people (including this blog) have focused on the personal embarrassment the Quisling Never Trumpers have suffered for the poor judgement, their ideological treason has also had serious financial consequences.

Jen Rubin is losing money.  Jonah Goldberg is losing money.  The Trumpening has been a financial disaster for them (though not as disastrous as it was for the Fredocons at Red state).

One thing I've learned over the years is that people really resent taking a pay cut.  It pisses them off in a very special and implacable way.  Rubin had a nice gig as one of the 'house conservatives' at the Washington Post. 

Don't get me wrong, she still works there, but no one takes her seriously any more.  No one links to her stories and says "Check this #hottake out!"  When Rubin gets a link, it's because she's made an ass of herself and reversed yet another one of her long-standing positions solely because Donald Trump acted on it.

So when she says that Sarah Huckabee Sanders should be hassled for the rest of her life, this is because she - Jen Rubin - will also pay for getting Trump wrong for the rest of her own life.   She wants her enemies to feel her pain because she can't see any path for her own redemption.

She's not alone, of course.  Jonah Goldberg came out with a book a while back, and it's getting panned by both left and right.  

That's gotta hurt, but it's not exactly a surprise.  One can't put a book out defending Western civilization and expect the let to endorse it simply because you hate Trump almost as much as they do.  The left still despises Goldberg and his arguments.  The difference is now most the right also despises him.

The obvious exist strategy is to pull a massive mea culpa and get right with the conservative base.  There were multiple opportunities to credibly do this.  Sure, not everyone would forgive and forget, but a Never Trumper who "sees the light" and becomes a staunch defender of The Donald has a lot more prospect for success than one who admits no wrongdoing and instead continues to harp on the same arguments that failed in 2016.

This is visceral, not logical.  That's the level the Never Trumpers are operating on.  I've seen some idiots try to link this implacable hostility to Jewishness, but that fails to account for clear-thinkers like David Horowitz and David "Spengler" Goldman, who have both been lions in defense of Trump.

The worst part is that the decline isn't going to be a swift one.  Rubin, Goldberg and the rest have managed to feather their nests quite well.  They won't be going to truck driving school any time soon.  Instead, they're going to cling to their "distinguished chairs" and opinion blogs and watch their traffic decline and the references to them become increasingly disparaging. And the bank balance will continue to drop.

They'd arguably be better off driving a big rig - at least from a mental health perspective.

And maybe from a financial one as well.  Truckers are in short supply at the moment.  Some good money to be made there.

Of course, then they'd be profiting from the policies of Donald Trump.  Such a conundrum.

Another week of yuuge winning

More than a year into his presidency, the battle rhythm of the The Donald is starting to emerge.  Knowing that the Democrat-owned press is irredeemably hostile, he arranges events in a series of convergences, resulting in bursts of good news that simply overwhelm the press filters.

It's hard to believe, but in this single span of seven days:

1. Trump dominated the G-7 talks, easily brushing aside efforts to form a united front against him.
2. He humiliated Justin from Canada, giving the pretty-boy ruler the back of his hand as he proceeded to more important matters.
3. The Singapore Summit went off without a hitch, providing a solid opening for future talks on finally resolving the Korean War. 
4. The IG report - which he obviously saw in advance - perfectly buttressed his long-standing claims about a Deep State.  The fact that the executive summary was a whitewash contradicted by the details within only adds to the sense that the FBI is a deeply compromised institution.
5. The economy continues to soar, despite all the talk of trade war.  Current growth forecasts are in the mid-four percent range - far above anything Obama achieved.

It is possible for the press to ignore one or two of these items, but they cannot look past them all.  It is almost the mirror image of Obama's "stray voltage" strategy of starting a pointless partisan pie fight to distract from more serious and unfavorable news.

In Trump's execution, the stray voltage is all good.  Tired of seeing Trump shaking hands and looking like a world leader at the G7?  Well now you can see him negotiating a peace settlement with North Korea - you remember, the thing he was going to turn into World War III.   The pathetic bitching of the press and their Never Trumper Quisling allies that Trump isn't being bellicose enough was a sight to see.

Tired of that?  Oh well, I guess you'll just have to sort through all the job offers that are piling up on your desk thanks to the booming economy.

Oh, but the trade war!  Right, and who doesn't enjoy Democrats trying to take control of Congress openly rooting for foreign boycotts of American goods?  Say, if we slap tariffs on RUSSIA, will they finally decide Putin's on the side of the angels after all?

I know I rip on the Never Trump Traitors, but this week pretty much crushed them.  Only the most insane are still howling that Shrillery would have been a better president.  Even the singing eunuchs at National Review are starting to lose heart.  The truth is that outside Twitter and a few Beltway circle-jerks, these people have no following and no influence.  They are included on cable shows merely as comic relief and deserve less attention than the Preparation H commercials that bracket their segment.  (This is because Preparation H is actually useful.)

Jonah Goldberg's new book has been panned by right and left alike, and I'm not surprised.  It's the height of delusion for a guy whose entire career was built on telling Simpsons jokes to believe he's now a deep thinker.

Or, to put it another way:  what kind of idiot would buy into the policy prescriptions of a guy who has been unrelentingly wrong for most of the last decade?  He's gone from being NR's enfant terrible to just plain terrible.

All this is a lot to absorb, but thanks to months of careful diet and training, I can handle more winning.

The twisted memoirs of Hillary Clinton

There’s an old joke that every memoir produced in Washington could be called “If Only They’d Listened to Me.”

Hillary Clinton’s book is the exception to the rule.  It proves that people did listen to her, and voted accordingly.

I have to admit that I’m rather surprised by the passages that have been leaked.  Given the Clintons’ mammoth staff, disciplined press shop and months to hone the message, this book is a massive self-inflicted wound.

t will not persuade a single soul that Hillary was wronged, but will likely convince many supporters that the woman is utterly deranged.  I would not be surprised if Trump’s approval rating goes up as people realize just how nutty the alternative was.

For me, the most striking passage is the one where an old woman brings her adult daughter to Hillary to obtain “absolution” for her failure to vote.  Hillary refused to do so.

What a bitter, hateful thing to do!  Who would advertise doing this?  Does she expect this show of implacable anger to make her seem more “authentic?”  It doesn’t, it makes her seem petty and vindictive – and someone who must be kept as far away from the levers of power as possible.

Now let us imagine for a moment that this hot-tempered harpy had somehow gained control of the White House.   Would she nuke Russia in a fit of anger?  Who among her obsequious courtiers would dare defy her wishes?

The general rule in autobiographies is that you try to make yourself seem more likeable than you actually are, peppering the story with tales of generosity and good deeds.

Hillary’s screed does the exact opposite.  She seems to go out of her way to live up to every Republican caricature, even to the point of embracing the utterly depraved and hateful Cersei Lannister from “Game of Thrones” as someone she can identify with.

Seriously?  In a show full of empowered women, she went with the politically-calculating, bloody-minded, incestuous control freak who owed her power to a political marriage of convenience?

What. The. Hell.

All people experience adversity and disappointment.  The question is not if it will happen, but how we react to it.

Hillary’s decision to put out this primal scream shows her true self, the one she promised to reveal.  In that, she was (for once) completely honest.

It is, however, one of the ugliest personalities I’ve ever seen.

This isn’t so much a memoir as a political suicide note printed in hardcover.

Useless Polls, Vulgarian Scaramucci

The editors of the Detroit Free Press are absolutely orgasmic over this headline. The lower Donald Trump's poll ratings are, the more they believe his administration will be an utter failure and his chances of getting re-elected are tantamount to Hugh Heffner's chances of being chosen as spokesman for the virtues of chastity.

But this is simply shallow thinking. For one thing, consider how inaccurate the polls were in the 2016 presidential election. Does anyone with half a brain and an ounce of critical thinking ability really put that much stock in job approval ratings?

Despite anemic economic growth and more than 90 million adults being out of the labor force during the Obama administration, his cult-like supporters repeatedly pointed to his high poll ratings as "proof" that he was a good president. Obama slappies simultaneously boasted about the O-man's job approval ratings and the continuously surging Dow Jones Industrial Average during the Annointed One's presidency.

But let's be real: A roaring stock market benefits wealthy, upper middle class and some middle class people -- if not in immediate income gains, then in continuously growing retirement accounts. However, it leaves behind tens of millions of lower middle class people who are struggling at the margins and don't have 401k accounts or stock options. Too, the Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing (artificially low interest rates intended to stimulate the economy) have meant meager interest rates on the bonds many retirees count on for their income. Piss-poor returns on mutual funds and bonds inspire investors to shovel money into the stock market in hopes of earning dividends or selling shares later at a profit, even though many companies are not exactly earning large margins. 

But I digress... The point is, a president's record of success and reputation in the history books has little to do with his popularity levels at any given point in time. Let us recall that Abraham Lincoln, now regarded as one of our greatest presidents, was largely reviled while he served. There were no presidential polls in the 1860s, but if there were, Lincoln's ratings would have been abysmal. Conversely, presidents such as Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter had stellar approval ratings in their first 100 days (in the 65 to 75 percent range) but ended up in bad shape. Carter is regarded by all but the most partisan liberals as one of our worst presidents; Johnson knew his credibility was so thoroughly shot, and his Vietnam policy such a fiasco, that he didn't even bother to run for re-election.

Folks, it's still very early, and there's a lot of the game to be played. It's not worth spending a great deal of time fretting over Trump's low approval ratings. Things can change in a big way within a few months, especially if Trump and his staff can work with Congress to cut taxes, reform the tax code and build a wall on the Mexican border. Healthcare improvements are even possible without legislation -- through regulatory actions. The jury is still out.

As far as Anthony Scaramucci's farcical 10-day tenure as White House communications director, well, thank God for the military men. And thank God Trump respects them and their judgment. The president's new chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, made it clear from the outset that he didn't want Scaramucci around, and for good reason. There is enough chaos and indiscipline in this White House, and a loose cannon like Scaramucci only added to the problems.

Trump has been known to make rash decisions, and hiring Scaramucci was no exception. Let's hope Orange Julius learns from this ridiculous little episode that there's too much important work to be done to get sidetracked. Here's wishing Gen. Kelly good luck in keeping The Donald on the right track.

SNL Turns 40

I don't write about pop culture that often, in large part because I don't think much of today's narcissistic, mediocre-at-best entertainers. While there have been quite a few good movies in recent years, there aren't many great ones. Ditto for comedians: There are plenty who are somewhat funny or quirky, but not many who will be considered among the greatest.

Too many of today's comedians make up for lack of humor with push-the-envelope, in-your-face vulgarity. Reminds me of what my friends and I said about KISS nearly 40 years ago: They make up for their lack of musical talent with the theatrics and loud pyrotechnics.

That's why I appreciate the original "Saturday Night Live": Originating as "NBC's Saturday Night," it came out of nowhere (well, actually Chicago's Second City comedy club was a primary source) and thrust upon the public an impressive all-star cast of now household name entertainers: John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Akroyd, Garrett Morris and Jane Curtin, soon to be followed by other staples including Eddie Murphy, John Candy, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray.

Their skits and satire are the stuff of legends. I am not going to bother researching the years or chronology (some of these might have been early 1980s rather than 1970s), but here are a few memories:

What middle-aged Baby Boomer who watched the show as a teen could forget the "Weekend Update" spoof of 60 Minutes involving Akroyd and Curtin. ("Jane, you ignorant slut!"). Or how about Radner's Emily Litella ("Never mind") and Roseanne Roseannadanna. Then there was Lily Tomlin's telephone operator Ernestine ("One ringy dingy..."); Murphy's parody of Fred Rogers in "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood"; Chevy Chase lampooning President Gerald Ford; the gumby-like "Mr. Bill" character ("Oh, no!"); and the Blues Brothers (cover of Sam & Dave's "Soul Man")...

Granted, sometimes the humor was left-wing and counter-culture in nature, but that's par for the course. Comedians by their very nature tend to lean left, because they exist to push the envelope. They operate in a malleable universe without absolutes and devoid of parameters. But the SNL humor was original, clever and had some real wit and bite to it. It was not the crude, often mean-spirited F-bomb stew that passes for humor today.

As I've often said, you don't want your accountant or lawyer up on stage trying to entertain or kick out the jams; nor do you want a stand-up clown or rock star representing you in court or doing your taxes. There's a time and a place for everything, and the mid-1970s was a great era for the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.

Too bad my little town doesn't have an Olympic Cafe. Boy, would I love to stroll in there and shout: "Cheeseborger/Cheesborger/Cheeps/Pepsi!....No Coke; Pepsi!"