It's too late, Sleepy, it's too late

Daily Wire: "After Biden Condemns Violence In Portland, Crenshaw Fires: ‘You’re Only Commenting Now Because The Polling Told You To’."

What happened to due process, Officer McClane?

Babylon Bee: "Large Turnout At Memorial For Hans Gruber Who Was Thrown From A Building By A Police Officer."  

"Gunfire erupts" after a "peaceful protest intensified"

Althouse: "Can you guess from this NYT headline whether a person of the right shot a person of the left or a person of the left shot a person of the right?" 

Background/graphic pictures here.  This story is developing.

Update - Fox Oregon: "Police: Man shot in chest in SE Portland; incident not related to protest."  Hmmm, yet the NY Times reported the victim was wearing a "Patriot Prayer" cap.

Update 2 - Oregonian: "The man’s body lay on Southwest Third Avenue near Alder Street. Next to the body was camouflage gear with infidel and thin blue line patches, which commonly indicate support for law enforcement." 

In defense of looting

Power Line: "Looting goes mainstream on NPR."  "The whole thing is a window into the mental perversion of today’s left. A lot of people are attacking NPR for featuring such an obvious nut job, but I think we should thank NPR for giving such extended exposure to a view that is widespread in the Democratic Party right now." 

Extra - Victory Girls: "In Defense of Looting: Exercise in Leftwing Sociopathy."

I'm not laughing at this story

Ace: "Antifa Occupies Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler's Apartment - Police Called, But No One Responds."

Relevant quote: "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Winston Churchill.

Extra - From Red State.

I bought a generator

After years of resisting, I finally broke down and got myself a small inverter generator for emergencies.  We survived through snowpocalypse with just camping gear but, in these modern times, access to a steady supply of electrons is a requirement to stay connected.

Originally, I was looking at the Honda generators but ended up with a Harbor Freight Predator for half the price and, by all accounts, just as much reliability and power.  

That speech needed an editor

Trump's acceptance speech was way long and felt more like a State of the Union address, including calling out people in the audience.  There was an extended laundry list of accomplishments and policy proposals but there was no thematic glue holding it together.

Clearing the stage for President Trump

It was sure nice of all the professional athletes to stop playing so as not to steal the spotlight from President Trump's speech tonight. 

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes

The New York Times, somehow, commits an act of journalism.  Red State: "In a Bizarre Turn of Events, NYT Investigation of Kenosha Shooting Makes a Strong Case for Self-Defense."  

Now it's a crisis

Legal Insurrection: "Don Lemon: “The Rioting Has Got to Stop… It’s Showing Up in the Polls” - "Forget about the people who have been killed, the businesses, homes and livelihoods ruined, it’s about the polls."

Extra - The talking points have been distributed.

More - Red State: "Polling Must Be Very Bad for Dems, Because It Sounds Like the Dem Memo Just Went Out on the Riots."

Oh man. Biden’s internal polling must be horrendous. https://t.co/4xDKwHSxu6

— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) August 26, 2020

Segregation now, segregation forever!

Those are the words of Joe Biden's role model, George Wallace.  Bizarrely, it's also the rallying cry of black and "black-identifying" students at NYU.  Reason: "Yes, Black NYU Students Demanded Segregated Housing. No, the University Didn't Agree to It."  

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

Viking Pundit, Sunday: "The long guns are out."

Today: "Kenosha violence: 3 shot, including 2 fatally in another night of unrest - Police were looking for a man armed with a long gun, reports said." 

Update - Lots of links and shocking videos here.  

Update 2 - Hot Air: "Illinois Teenager Arrested, Charged With First-Degree Murder For Kenosha Shootings." 

It took me a second to get this reference

Nice one:

WOW! The highest paid person at the Washington Post and CNN speaks at the RNC.. pic.twitter.com/z3oUtCx0O1

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) August 26, 2020

You ain't black

Federalist: "Racist White Guy At Mother Jones Calls Tim Scott And Herschel Walker Uncle Toms."

Democrats hate it when there's diversity of thought within their ranks.

That's for turning into Exxon oil!

 Twitchy: "Rioters in Kenosha topple statue of slave-owning dinosaur, also damage charter school, post office, library." 

That dinosaur had it coming. 

Best use of a CNN hack as a verb

Kurt Schlichter: "Now Democrats Are Stuck With Biden."

So, now the bar is raised for the debates since Kierkegaard’s fanboy is the master of rhetoric and the font of all wisdom. He can’t just come out, stand there, and win by not forgetting to zip up his fly or by foregoing groping a production assistant. He’s going to have to deal with Trump, who is as vital and focused as Biden is desiccated and lost. Sure, Joe will have the moderators Candy Crowleying for him big time, trying to cover for his incoherence and take Trump off his game. If Trump is cunning and bloodthirsty, which he is, he’ll ignore the media offensive line, blitz right at Biden, and smear him all over the field. Trump has achievements, promises he’s kept, and if you listen to his speeches (he’s back on the road with smaller crowds), he’s making more promises that he’ll keep. What’s Mr. Jill got? His theme is “I’m kind of nice, and pay no attention to the agenda of the communists pulling my strings.” He’ll raise your taxes, ban fracking, suck up to the ChiComs, let rioters run rampant, defund the cops, and try to take your guns. And the Dems’ plan has worked so well that they literally have the worst possible candidate to defend this idiotic agenda against the best and most aggressive GOP politician in decades.

Haha - love it - we'll never forget Candy.  Biden does fine with a teleprompter or the mainstream media who treats old Grandpa with kid gloves but he goes completely off the rails when he's faced with the slightest bit of confrontation, you dog-faced lying pony soldier.  Trump's gonna give him plenty.

Shocker: they still have Video Music Awards

Hot Air: "Shocker: VMA Stars Coming To NYC Will Be Exempt From Pandemic Rules."

Is MTV still on the air?  What are they doing for programming nowadays, pawn shops and storage lockers? 

The long guns are out

Red State: "The Lights Are “Blinking Red” in Portland — The Rubicon May Have Been Crossed Today."

There goes Joe, plagiarizing again

 Hot Air: "WSJ: Biden’s COVID-19 Plan “Is Mr. Trump’s Without The Bluster” 

The Wall Street Journal notes that everything in Biden's so-called "plan" to address coronavirus has been implemented by Trump.  In this editorial, the WSJ expands on an opinion piece Karl Rove wrote in July: "Joe Biden’s Lazy New Ideas - On Covid, he doesn’t have any. On climate and the economy, they’re liabilities."  

The only new idea Slow Joe has put out is the Federal Mask Requirement which is unconstitutional fantasy unless he means to have Federal officials enforce it.  

Language warning

Damn, Scott Adams really dislikes Joe Biden.  Real Clear Politics: "Scott Adams: Brain-Dead Race Hoaxer Joe Biden Is The Biggest A--hole In America."  

He calls the "fine people" hoax the tentpole hoax that holds up Biden's campaign and belies his whole character argument.

Swimming in a sea of red

Jonathan Turley: "$26,578,000,000,000: U.S. Debt Passes Redline at 106 Percent Of GDP."  

These are extraordinary times and driving up debt for events like war is expected.  But the underlying structural problems of entitlement and other government spending is never addressed and there are never any political consequences.

That's a bold move, Cotton

Twitchy: "Joe Biden’s son to speak at Democratic convention Thursday night."  How odd.

Who doesn't appreciate a great pun?

 

Sounds like Strozk & McCabe were on the same Page. https://t.co/ykOkuwFzTr

— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) August 18, 2020

Imagine

 Hot Air: "DNC Video: Democrat Asks “Why Can’t Folks Imagine A World Without The Cops?” 

Here comes the latest hoax

Legal Insurrection: "Desperate Democrats Go All-In On Anti-Trump Post Office Hoax."  

If you want to understand why the USPS has been decommissioning sorting machines and removing mailboxes way before Trump ever arrived on the scene, look no further than the USPS and "First Class Mail Volume since 1926.":

2000: 103 billion pieces of mail

2010: 77 billion

2019: 55 billion

The garbage media is garbage

Federalist: "7 Big Stories Corporate Media Is Ignoring Because The Truth Might Help Trump" - "Due to corporate media’s hatred of Donald Trump, Americans are sorely uninformed about news stories that, under any other presidency, would deservedly flood coverage." 

Here in Western MA, the Springfield paper wrote an editorial about the Israeli-UAE agreement that simply could not give Trump a soupcon of credit:

President Donald Trump was quick to seek plaudits. Fine. Let him take a bow, whether or not he personally had a whole lot to do with seeing the two sides come together. The fact is, Trump is in the White House right now, when a breakthrough was announced, and there are real, notable differences on the ground.

What turgid and biased crap.  Yes, Trump just happened to be around, as he signed a joint statement with Israel and the UAE.  It's a shame he can't win a Nobel Peace Prize for...being Obama.

Didn't he hear about Biden's hard-hitting interview with (checks notes) Cardi B?

 Twitchy: "CNN’s Chris Cillizza in hot water for suggesting it’s high time for Joe Biden to take questions from the press." 

Red State: "Joe Biden Finally Grants an Interview…With Singer Cardi B Which Was Nonsensical and Also Made Sense for the Campaign."

It has to be scripted. He can’t do on the spot pressers, his dementia becomes too evident. This is who you guys want negotiating on the world stage on behalf of our country. Someone who can’t even do a simple press briefing without a script.

— (•_•) (@AsTheWorldBurnz) August 17, 2020

Life in 2020 AB - after bandwidth

This was a long but really interesting read from a guy who loves New York City but doesn't think it's coming back: "NYC is dead forever...here's why."  Hat tip: Instapundit.  

His argument is that all the things that make the Big Apple special - business, culture, colleges and restaurants - are either closed down or subverted by the availability of high-bandwidth access.  For example, businesses are discovering they can get work done with remote workers on Zoom or Microsoft Teams.  Why would they rent out the Time/Life building at extraordinary rents to pay commuting workers?

Speaking as somebody who has worked in fiber optics his entire career: you're welcome, America.

It's getting really obvious now

 Here's Chris Wallace on the Guy Benson radio show: "“The Damnedest Thing I’ve Ever Seen” Chris Wallace On Biden Campaign Not Putting Any Surrogates On Sunday Shows Before Convention."  Emphasis in places is mine:

"So I've been doing Sunday shows with conventions. I started on Meet the Press in 1988. I've been doing it on and off. For what? What is that? Thirty two years. And and it always happens that the Sunday before the convention. The campaign puts out top officials to preview the convention and to say this is what we're gonna try to get accomplished. So, you know, we put counting all week on, you know, having a top official from the Biden campaign, the campaign manager, the top pollster, the chief strategist, to talk about what they're going to talk about during this next week. They are not putting anybody out. And at first I thought, well, maybe it's because it's Fox News and they're boycotting us. No, they're not putting anybody out on any of the Sunday shows point. I don't understand what's going on here. This is the damnedest thing I've ever seen that you would you know, you're basically giving a campaign. And as I say, it's a traditional thing. We're gonna do it for the Republicans a week from Sunday. What are you trying to accomplish this week? And they the Biden campaign isn't putting anybody out. And this just is of a piece with the the vice president not not doing really any serious interviews, not answering any questions since the rollout. I don't you know, you can you can try and I understand and has worked pretty well. And he continues to lead with what I'll call the basement strategy. I don't think you can hide from now until Election Day. I just I just don't think it's possible."

So we've already established that Joe Biden won't sit down for extended interviews and his appearances are tightly scripted before the staff comes in and chases reporters away.  But now not even surrogates are going to sit down and answer questions?  Exactly what is going on here?

I blame the last Republican mayor of Chicago

 What a mess he left behind when he stepped down in 1931.  City Journal: "When Authority Vanishes - Chicago’s leaders have surrendered to vandals."

In effect, Chicago has been run over twice. First, machine politics left it with a huge financial and trust deficit among many of its citizens. Now, progressive politics threaten to undermine the legal order, the foundation of the economic growth that the city needs to climb out of its deep hole. Chicago was sick even before the looting and riots of 2020, but things could get worse still. The city could become another Detroit.

In retrospect, Kim Foxx's handling of the Smollett hoax and her subsequent dismissal of felony cases was a window into Chicago's legal atrophy.  

Oh, nevermind, we're back to protecting Joe

The media reverts to form: "NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell shamed and threatened by the Left for pointing out Biden /Harris refused to take questions." 

Just another sign that Joe won't debate

 What rough beast is waking from its slumber?  Twitchy: "‘This is not a show of confidence’: Even New York Times correspondent thought Joe Biden and Kamala Harris shouldn’t have ducked out on questions."

Is that really Sean Ono Lennon? Haha, if so.

 Seen at Instapundit:

Huh...I can't seem to embed the Tweet.  Anyway, it's Sean Ono Lennon tweeting:

Hooray for the Peace deal between Israel and UAE! Wait...what? Trump negotiated it? I meant Boooo! I hate peace, peace is bad! Us dems have always been against peace deals right? Yeah that’s the ticket. 

CJR: "Marching orders received"

 The totally unbiased journalists at Columbia Journalism Review:

Last week, a group called We Have Her Back wrote an open letter demanding that newsrooms treat Biden’s running mate with “the same kind of internal consideration about systemic inequality as you undertook earlier this year,” following the police killing of George Floyd. Leaders from NARAL, EMILY’s List, Time’s Up, and other progressive causes signed on; reporters and columnists echoed the call. Going forward, it’s urgent that we heed their advice in our coverage of Harris. 

Won't Sarah Palin be surprised.  

Gotta keep that trial balloon afloat

 Twitchy: "‘This is fear’: Increasingly desperate Bill Kristol throws bold Hail Mary to try to save Biden from being destroyed by Trump in debates."  

ICYMI - Babylon Bee: "Biden Campaign Warns That For Debate Biden Will Need A Mask That Completely Conceals His Face And He Might Sound Different."  

Once you have your rationale, anything goes

 Hot Air: "BLM Chicago: Corporations Looted Us Far More Than A Few “Looters” Stole This Weekend."  According to the story, the looting in Chicago was an organized event:

This statement might suggest that BLM Chicago had something to do with the planning of the weekend pillaging. The police and the media have already noted that this didn’t resemble normal ad-hoc looting, where a breakdown in order precedes a sudden rush to cash in. When progressive activist priest Rev. Michael Pfleger notices that “this was obviously very orchestrated,” that points to a conspiracy.

Yes, well, a U-Haul pulling up in front of the Magnificent Mile right before the looting started is something of a tip-off.  

BLM has framed this in the context of their banner: everybody looted from us so we get to loot back.   This goofy drum-circle rationale is all they really need, then anybody and everything is a target.  Because, if there's one thing that C.S. Lewis has taught us, once you have "the approval of your own conscience", then all bets are off.

See also: Bill De Blasio's streetfront graffiti.  

Free speech for me, but not for thee

 NY Post: "Pro-cop groups sue Mayor de Blasio for denying Blue Lives Matter mural"

The two groups penned a letter to Hizzoner last month requesting the pro-cop mural near NYPD headquarters in downtown Manhattan.

But de Blasio refused, declaring in late July that Black Lives Matter “transcends any notion of politics … This is about something much bigger than any one group.”

All political messages are equal but some are more equal than others.

This is not the Onion

 Federalist: "Biden’s Staff Gave Him A Script So He’d Know Why He Was Calling Kamala Harris."

I'll bet he was sure surprised.

Great news! Rutgers will go undefeated this football season!

 NY Post: "Big Ten football reportedly expected to be canceled in big blow to college season."

Today's feel-good story

 Breitbart: "Los Angeles councilman who voted to cut police spending called cops to home 8 times since April."  

Desperate people in Chicago searching for bread

 Fox News: "AOC suggests NYC crime surge due to unemployment, residents who need to 'shoplift some bread'."

In Chicago last night, they were searching for bread in the Apple Store, the Tesla dealership, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the Best Buy.  No luck!

Might be satire

 Financial Times: "Joe Biden would be wise to pick Kamala Harris" - "Most of the other contenders for his vice-presidential choice are not ready for prime time."

Kamala Harris was TKO'd by Tulsi Gabbard in that single debate and her campaign never recovered.  She's an absolutely awful debater and campaigner, which is why she ended up with zero delegates before dropping out.

Stand back: I'm a fact-checker

 Fox News: "Washington Post fact-checker roasted for dismissing Biden diversity gaffe: 'He didn’t actually say this'."

CNN white-knights for Cheap Joe

Twitchy has a story about how CNN is shocked that Trump would attack Joe Biden's Catholic faith.  All I know is that, until he ran for President, Joe's relationship with the church seemed distant:

The Bidens reported giving $995 in charitable donations last year — about 0.3% of their income and the highest amount in the past decade. The low was $120 in 1999, about 0.1% of yearly income.

Over the decade, the Bidens reported a total of $3,690 in charitable donations, or 0.2% of their income.

That's Joe.  He's a giver.

Gallup: Americans agree garbage media is garbage

Red State: "New Gallup Poll Delivers Devastating Indictment of News Outlets by an Overwhelming Majority of Respondents."  "But a new major poll from Gallup and the Knight Foundation gives a more in-depth look at just how bad people believe media bias is and who those polled believe is most responsible for the political division in this country." 

Power is back

One observation: in all my years living in a development, I don't think I've ever heard a generator running when the power went out.  This time, I felt like I was the only one without a generator.

I dunno.  I guess if you have small children and want to keep them warm in the winter, that's one thing, but I question the need on a relatively mild summer night.  OTOH, there's the whole refrigerator question which becomes dire after 24 hours.  I think I might get a (small) generator just for that purpose.

Imminent danger

There's a tree that is going to topple over and take out the side of my house, unless things calm down.

Power is out

Power is out.  Tropical storm.

"They've always been preparing the Torricelli Option"

Always upvote references to the Torricelli option.  Ace: "Surprise! As Sundown Joe's Congnitive Function Rapidly Declines, Media Starts Narrative Push for Idea that Debates Are Contrary to Democracy and American Values."

The most predictable thing ever predicted happens, exactly as predicted, and about at the exact time as predicted.

Now fly, media monkeys, fly!

The narrative from the DNC to the garbage media

Twitchy: "‘Who saw this coming?’ NY Times shares a take about presidential debates that’s the most predictable thing EVER."

The opinion piece from Elizabeth Drew: "Let's scrap the Presidential debates."  Of course.

So this idea was floated a couple weeks back by the NYT's Tom Friedman and then raised again last week by Democrat hatchet man Joe Lockhart.  Now it's time to keep the drumbeat going with some timely opinion pieces in the NY Times and Washington Post, followed by a Chuck Todd commentary.

Why so scared?  C'mon, we all know why: "Dan Bongino: Sources Say Joe Biden Is Reaching the Point of No Return, Democrats Will Have a Decision to Make."

We’ve all seen how hard Biden’s campaign is working to hide his mental degradation. This is a guy who can’t give a short press conference without a list of hand chosen reporters to call on and detailed notes on how to answer basic questions. Absolutely nothing he does anymore is off the cuff, which is why said press conferences only happen ever three to four months. His speeches are short and even his most scripted moments are painful to watch. He’s been doing live streams from his basement and routinely forgets that he’s talking to a recording. Just the other day, he forgot where he was again, a very common theme from many of his public appearances.

All I can say about Dan Bongino is that he's a former Secret Service agent so I suspect he's been hearing rumors filtered through Joe Biden's detail.  The media elite see it, so they have to align their narrative on Biden's eventual withdrawal from the debates.

More - Althouse: "I knew this was coming, and I'm expecting a lot more of this: "Let’s Scrap the Presidential Debates."

Extra fun:

Democrats are waking up to the terrifying realization that if #HollowJoe debates, he's done. And if he doesn't debate, he's done because he didn't debate.

Dems also suspect they really DID push Trump supporters to lie to pollsters. #Landslide2020

— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) August 3, 2020

Have you considered another mural?

NY Post: "NYC has had more shootings so far this year than in all of 2019."

Funny how that works

John Lewis’s funeral was in Georgia. Dozens of Members of Congress were there.

Georgia is on Washington DC Mayor Bowser’s list of states that require 2 week mandatory quarantine for 14 days

Are these politicians going into quarantine, or are rules just for the little people?

— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) July 30, 2020

Take a wild guess. 

Shut up and listen, they explained

Hot Air: "James Lindsay: Why The Woke Won’t Debate You."  Because debating is a power construct and the wokesters refuse to engage within the "master's house" paradigm.  Also, you're a racist.

To be even more specific, the social justice warriors at Evergreen State College didn’t have a hope of out-arguing Professor Bret Weinstein on any topic. But by showing up as a group they could label him a racist and demand his firing. The goal wasn’t enlightenment, it was power.

I call this the "Lecturing Mike Pence from the Hamilton stage" level of debate.  You're not meant to respond, you're supposed to just shut up and take it.