And the Republic survives, if a bit wheezy. Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.20.22. At Am Great Eric Lendrum, Senate Fails To Abolish Filibuster During Debate Over Bill To Federalize Elections. Capt. Ed at Haut Hair wonders Schumer/Biden filibuster strategy flops ... so now what? and EBL notes Robert Reich wants to slap Kirsten Sinema silly, Robert Reich Suggests Democrats Should give Kyrsten Simena "the back of their hands", which he later regretted, and said it was just like Sarah Palin "targeting" Democrats. No, he didn't really. Prompting the Wombat to quote Jim Treacher, "Sinema is in no physical danger from Robert Reich, of course. She’s fit, healthy, and 30 years younger than Reich, who couldn’t even backhand a dachshund." I will note he did not physically threaten Joe Manchin, even in jest. AllahPundit is pleased with Robert Reich: Senate Dems should have given Sinema the back of their hands In Ugly Dwarf Robert Reich: Democrats Should Give Sinema "the Backs of Their Hands." Ace quips "The Party of Women, y'all.' Insty, NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Ex-Labor Secretary Robert Reich says Democrats should assault Sinema over filibuster stance in deleted tweet.
“National Review’s Charles Cooke said Reich’s remark was tantamount to saying Sinema ‘must be slapped around by her party if she fails to follow the demands of a white man.’ ‘No big deal,’ tweeted radio host Larry O’Connor. ‘Just Democrat/Socialist icon [Robert Reich] encouraging violence against a female senator who didn’t vote the way he wanted.’”
At the Slantic, Democrats Moved the Filibuster Overton Window "Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema may be the last in their party to support maintaining the procedure." Bullshit; it will become an essential part of 'democracy' when it helps them again. CNN, Arizona Democrat says some senators urging him to challenge Sinema with party at a 'breaking point'.
And then, of course, there is the matter of Joe challenging the 2022 election in advance, if he didn't get his way on the "Democrats OK to cheat" bill that was ultimately filibustered to death. Da Caller, White House Scrambles To Clean Up, Clarify Biden’s Comments On Ukraine And 2022 Election. Capt. Ed, Psaki circles back: Biden didn't mean what he explicitly said about midterms being illegitimate. PM, White House walks back Biden's suspicion about the legitimacy of the 2022 midterms. WaPoo thinks it knows What Biden Should Have Said About Election Legitimacy. NewsMax, Trump: Biden Admits 2020 Election May Have Been Fraudulent
At Breitbart, ‘Word Salad’: Kamala Harris Ripped for Defending Biden’s Gaffe on Midterm Election Illegitimacy Capt. Ed, Harris: Lemme get back to you on legitimacy of 2022 elections. Matt Vespa at Town Hall, The Today Show Cornered Kamala Harris...And Things Quickly Went Off the Rails. At Da Caller, ‘If I May Finish’: VP Harris Gets Testy After NBC Anchor Says It’s ‘Astonishing’ Biden’s Doubting US Elections, and proceeded to filibuster. Also at Da Caller, James Clyburn Stokes Doubt About Upcoming Elections If Voting Legislation Not Passed. It's their next out when they lose the Congress. David Harsanyi at RCP, Biden Is Not Alone. Democrats Have Been Delegitimizing Elections for Years. Of course; it's always projection. At Twitchy, Congressman says that ‘white nationalists used the Jim Crow filibuster to block voting rights legislation’ and A Hillary Clinton tweet about yesterday’s Senate vote has been scrubbed, like with a cloth or something. And here I thought she had no shame. And did you hear the one about the Murder Turtles gaffe, in which he said "“Well, the concern is misplaced, because if you look at the statistics,” McConnell began. “African-American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.” Matt Margolis at PJ Media says Oh Liberals, Spare Me Your Fake Outrage About Mitch McConnell's Non-Racist Remark. Besides, it's mathematically true.
And polls, we have polls, Nice Deb at Am Great cites Trafalgar: 38.7% Approval Rating for Biden; Voters Prefer GOP Over Dems 55.7% to 42.2%. BIDEN APPROVAL IN FREE FALL (see right) I'm a little disappointed in Maryland, but not surprised. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.20.22 Don Surber: Midterm Blowout – GOP Has 13-Point Lead, Da Caller and HE, POLL: Less Than Half of Biden’s Own Party Wants Him to Run for Reelection. Capt. Ed, AP poll: Nearly half of all Americans question Biden's mental fitness for the job, and the other half aren't paying attention. AllaPundit whines about Dem doom? Just 28% want Biden to run in 2024, including less than half of Democrats. NewsMax cites a Politico Poll: Majority Say Biden Not 'Capable of Leading the Country'. Yougov poll (cited at Haut Hair), More than half support maximum age limit for elected officials. Yep. I&I, The Dems’ Total War On Republicans Has Totally Backfired. At Da Mail, Jim Geraghty thinks Biden's dangerous, incoherent ramblings about the threat of war between Russia and Ukraine show that his mental decline may have disastrous consequences for America and the world. Capt. Ed, "Who's in charge?" CNN reports Biden's political operation at WH just as competent as you'd expect. Nick Arama at Red State WH Orders Press out as Biden Loses It on Reporter for 'Stupid Question' on Ukraine. Senility isn't pretty. And Sister Toldja piles on Reporter Who Joe Biden Yelled at Does Not Go Quietly Into the Night. Stacey Lennox at PJ Media, Joe Biden Accidentally Framed the Democrats' Biggest Challenge in 2022 "His answer indicates that Biden may understand on some level how the panic Democrats and their allies in the media fomented for more than a year, encouraging Democrat-run cities and school districts to overreact, is a disadvantage." At Front Page, Waking Up After a Trump Derangement Syndrome Overdose
Elle Reynolds at Da Fed has A Scandal For Every Month: The Biggest Botches, Failures, And Mess-Ups Of Joe Biden’s First 12 Months In Office. At Haut Hair, John Sexton considers the question, Is the left to blame for Biden's poor approval ratings?
The point is that voters can see what the progressive left is doing even if some of the elected figures who are part of that group do their best to downplay it. Elected figures and the sympathetic media can keep claiming that Critical Race Theory isn’t taught in schools but progressives drone on daily about how literally everything is the result of white supremacy and racism. Progressives can argue that defund the police isn’t what it sounds like even as violent crime skyrockets as a result of police leaving their jobs or simply playing it safe. Ultimately, voters don’t have to pretend they believe what elected officials are saying about progressive beliefs or goals when evidence to the contrary is all around them.
Kurt Schlichter at Town Hall, Youngkin Brings the Pain and Shows Republicans How to Win. 'Bonchie' at Red State sees Glenn Youngkin Masterfully Troll Woke Establishment With Diversity Hire
The governor has renamed the state’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer the Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion Officer. Further, he appointed a conservative to the spot and also listed one of the job requirements as being an “ambassador for unborn children.”
Democrats are not used to being fought on their own ground. By and large, the left has come to expect that while they may be opposed, the guardrails they’ve set up will be respected. That’s why a change like this makes them so upset, and to be sure, the wailing in response has been deafening. You aren’t supposed to actually retake territory when you fight the left. You are, instead, supposed to kowtow to their institutions and work around the edges. That’s what they’ve come to expect from Republicans like Larry Hogan.
To be fair to Larry, Virginia is a much more purple state. At Da Hill, Virginia universities lift vaccine mandates after Youngkin's order. And it might just be a coincidence but NYPo reports Loudoun County schools’ chief of staff axed over sex-attack scandal. But he still has work to do; at WaEx, Fairfax public school curriculum says children from military families are privileged. Nathan Brinkman@NatBrinkman #NotJustLoudoun: "Northern Virginia father tells school board his daughter was "sexually assaulted," claims the assailant was only suspended for "one day," but was he wearing a skirt? And from Megan Fox at PJ Media, Kent State Professor Doesn't Think Violent Rapes in School Bathrooms Are a 'Safety Issue'
'Bonchie' also has The Update on That Donald Trump vs. Ron DeSantis 'Feud' You've Been Waiting For, and the unsinkable Mollie Hemingway explains why The Media’s Attempt To Split DeSantis And Trump Isn’t Working. Because it's fake news. Paul Bedard at WaEx listened to the Trump interview: Biden’s failed and America wants ‘to go back to the past’
AllahPundit at Haut Hair is haut on the case of the The curious case of the forged electoral certificates, trying to find something criminal on Rudi Giuliani, and maybe Trump. I thinks just a case of trying to get the paperwork ready for an eventuality that didn't happen. CNN, Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw fake electors plot in 7 states
Gleen Grenwalt complains Congress's 1/6 Committee Claims Absolute Power as it Investigates Citizens With No Judicial Limits. "The Committee plotted with JPMorgan and its lawyer, former Obama AG Loretta Lynch, to obtain a citizen's financial records with no possibility of judicial review." Tristan Justice at Da Fed claims Only 10 Percent Of J6 Committee Subpoenas Relate To The Capitol Riot. Well, you can't fish without cutting some bait (well, you can, but you catch my drift). Also, Cheney Escalates Crusade Against Wyoming Political Opponents Persecuted By J6 Committee. It's always been about the weaponization of politics. At NYT (cited by Haut Hair), How January 6 gave the 14th Amendment new life, claiming to be able to ban politicians who somehow participate in the nonexistent insurrection.
Andy West at Da Lid, Stephanie Grisham Makes Wild Claims About ‘Secret Meetings’ Ahead of Jan. 6th "The Clear-Headed Among Us Will Recognize This Nothing-Burger For What It Is, However" They help meetings, and she wasn't invited! It must be criminal! The Wa Free Bee has a Midterm Messaging Alert: Major News Outlets Keep Hiring Journalists Obsessed With January 6.
At Am Great, the redoubtable Julie Kelly is still waging jihad on the Jan. 6 narrative, The Pathetic and Political Sedition Case Against the Oath Keepers, "Why did the Justice Department wait over a year to arrest Stewart Rhodes when nearly two dozen other Oath Keepers already have been charged with a conspiracy he orchestrated?" And one Oath Keeper, Ray Epps, is conspicuously missing from the list.
So what did these seditious conspirators do? For weeks, Rhodes led several group chats on an encrypted app to make plans to travel to Washington. Defendants discussed the deployment of “quick reaction forces” to the capital if necessary. Some allegedly brought guns but left them at hotels in Virginia rather than violate D.C.’s strict gun control laws. A lot of the chatter was harmless; in one exchange, a few defendants discussed whether to wear jeans or khakis.
Rhodes’ communications were by far the most inflammatory. On November 5, 2020 in a Signal group chat he initiated, Rhodes warned of a “civil war” and encouraged the participants to “prepare mind, body, spirit.” In a December 2020 interview, Rhodes declared, “we will have to do a bloody, massively bloody revolution against them,” if Biden assumed the presidency.
At 1:30 p.m. on January 6, Rhodes predicted the day would lead to “our Lexington.”
But despite all the bluster and threats, the Oath Keepers committed no violent crimes on January 6. Two separate groups of Oath Keepers entered the building in a “stack” formation used in the military. (Nearly all of the defendants are veterans.) None broke windows or tore down barriers to get inside.
Dressed in military garb, they walked around the Rotunda. According to prosecutors, the first group joined others in pushing against a line of police in an attempt to access the Senate chambers. After cops sprayed the first group with a chemical irritant, the group retreated and left. That attempt to “overturn democracy” lasted less than 25 minutes.
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About a half hour later, the second group—referred to as “Stack Two” by prosecutors—went inside. Two defendants confronted police officers and one screamed, “this is my fucking building!” That failed “coup” lasted less than five minutes before Stack Two exited the building.
Three of the men, including Rhodes, never even went inside. One man, Edward Vallejo, stayed behind in a Virginia hotel to manage what is described by the defendants as a “quick reaction force” or QRF to transport firearms and ammunition if needed. (There is speculation this was intended to respond to an attempted attack by Antifa or Black Lives Matter activists that day, not to seize the Capitol.) The QRF never materialized and guns were never illegally brought into D.C.
Not exactly Bunker Hill.
Capt. Ed, Supreme Court hands Trump a defeat on executive privilege
The only apparent full dissent came from Justice Clarence Thomas, although he chose not to put it in writing. Brett Kavanaugh, who got his appointment from Trump, instead wrote a brief concurrence and dissent in part:
The Court of Appeals suggested that a former President may not successfully invoke the Presidential communications privilege for communications that occurred during his Presidency, at least if the current President does not support the privilege claim. As this Court’s order today makes clear, those portions of the Court of Appeals’ opinion were dicta and should not be considered binding precedent going forward.
Moreover, I respectfully disagree with the Court of Appeals on that point. A former President must be able to successfully invoke the Presidential communications privilege for communications that occurred during his Presidency, even if the current President does not support the privilege claim. Concluding otherwise would eviscerate the executive privilege for Presidential communications.
Said the Supreme Court, disposing of Trump v. Thompson with sublime efficiency.
Justice Thomas would have granted what was an application for stay of mandate and injunction pending review.
. . .
Now that this decision has come out, I find myself very interested in finding out the specifics of what Trump said and did while the siege of the Capitol was under way. I could have accepted executive privilege for the reason Kavanaugh stated, but that isn't what's happening and I like the opportunity to find out this important information — after all we've been through, including the second impeachment. I hope it's a big letdown for Trump haters, but if it's not, it will be good to know.
Linked at 357 Magnum in the Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 22 January.
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