Flotsam and Jetsam - Waiting on the Flood

We're expecting 3 or more inches of rain today, and extremely high tides due to storm surge. 

A fairly thin crop today, thankfully. Nick Arama at RedState cites Jonathan Turley  who Thinks KJP May Have Just Put Biden in More Potential Impeachment Trouble. "If this latest allegation is true, the president was speaking with his son about committing a potentially criminal act of contempt. Hunter was refusing to give testimony focused not on his own role but on his father's potential role in the alleged influence peddling. The House can pursue evidence on that conversation and how the president may have supported his son’s effort. . . In addition, President Biden has enlisted White House staff to actively push challenged accounts of his conduct and attack the House Republicans’ investigative process. Such acts could legally bootstrap prior misconduct into his presidency under abuse-of-power allegations." At Althouse, "James Biden’s dealmaking caught on FBI tapes in unrelated bribery probe/While Joe Biden campaigned in Mississippi, his brother planned to build a powerful consulting business -- a deal that brought him to the periphery of a federal case." "This is a long, detailed article by Michael Kranish in The Washington Post. . . . "When a larger version of the tobacco settlement finally reached the Senate floor," Joe Biden went "from being one of its biggest critics to becoming one of its leading defenders." The Biden family business has always been about selling Joe to the highest bidder. 

At the Free Bacon, news that ‘Historic’ Biden Judicial Nominee Sits on Board of Group Founded by Cop-Killing Domestic Terrorist "Adeel Abdullah Mangi, whom Biden tapped to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, is an advisory board member of Alliance of Families for Justice. The organization, which works to end "mass incarceration," was formed in 2016 with Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin as a founding director. Boudin pleaded guilty to the murder of two police officers and a security guard during an armored truck robbery in 1981. The FBI named Weather Underground a domestic terrorist organization following a string of bombings and robberies in the 1970s and ‘80s." Kathy Boudin and  boyfriend and fellow Weatherperson Bill Ayers were also personal friends of Barack Obama.

Insty, A UNITER, NOT A DIVIDER! Trump ‘may turn off the internet’ if re-elected, former aide says. "One of Donald Trump‘s former staffers claims the former president may “turn off the internet” if he is re-elected. Miles Taylor, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, made the claim during an appearance on MSNBC. . ."  An utterly ridiculous claim, as Trump relies heavily on internet publicity. Althouse "Most Americans already don’t want Trump — or Biden, for that matter — to run, despite the overwhelming likelihood they will be the nominees." 

""If 2024 is a 2020 rematch, it will be a contest between two candidates the country doesn’t particularly want. And voters appear to be pricing in Trump’s legal woes already." Those are last 3 sentences of "Why a Trump conviction might not save Biden’s reelection. Pollsters have already started to explore what effect, if any, a criminal conviction before the election would have on Trump’s support" (Politico). 

People expect Trump to get convicted of something, and the actual occurrence of a conviction before the election is not going to give Biden the boost he needs. The polls already show the effect of this future event, and Biden supporters who are hoping for new abhorrence of Trump when he's Trump the Convicted Felon need to wake up.

Hat Hair's Jazz Shaw notices  Congress Moves to Stop Trump From Leaving NATO, so they expect him to win. 

At ET, an INFOGRAPHIC: Trump’s Legal Challenges Explained. NewBusters observes TV News Won’t Call Anti-Trump Attorney General and Judge ‘Democrats.’ Roger Kimball at Am Great asks is ‘Liberty and Justice For All’ – A Tattered Cliche? "One set of laws for Donald Trump and his supporters, and another set for the harassers."

Jonathon Turley,  Capitol Police Investigating Porn Video Shot in Senate Committee Room and discusses some legal aspects "Obviously, the videotape will result in the termination of any staffers involved. However, the question is any possible criminal charge. We have previously discussed porn videos shot in churches or other locations. Such porn shoots in church have also raised calls for prosecutions in other countries." Beege Welborn at Hat Hair kibbitzes "Personally I think the good professor is overly optimistic that people will be fired. Particularly if the people involved know about OTHER people “involved” in one form or another. But I’m cynical that way. Wonder how I got to be so jaded…" Kevin Downey at PJM snarks the Senate Sodomite in Capitol Sex Tape Is the Latest Attempt by Biden to 'Bring Back Decency'. "Senate Sodomite," I like that moniker, but I'm sure he's not the only one. Nick Arama, Liberal Media Take on 'Sex in the Senate Hearing Room' Is Everything You'd Expect, Including GOP Pouncing. Matt Vespa at TownHall, Here Are the Reactions to a Dem Staffer Getting Caught Having Gay Sex in a Senate Hearing Room

Kamala coming back to the Senate Hearing Room after forgetting her venn diagram files pic.twitter.com/kY5bFeapna

— Joey?❎ (@JoeyChipotle) December 16, 2023

At Bastiat's Window, Bob Graboyes discusses Antisemitism's Sharp Left Turn "An Open Letter to My Left-of-Center Friends." In recent year's it has been far more prevalent on the left than the right, but the Israel Hamas war really brought it into the news. The Tax Prof also compares  Tobacco Company CEOs, Ivy League Presidents, And Race

 

Rather than fix their ailing schools, Chicago has decided to trash the ones that work in the name of equity, Noah Rothman at NRO, Equality in Misery "In his pursuit of a more equitable status quo, Johnson plans to dismantle his city’s selective-enrollment schools, thereby reducing the prospects for competition among students and rendering all of Chicago’s schoolkids equal insofar as they would all be shackled to the same underperforming system." At Campus Reform, Oklahoma bans DEI requirements at public colleges and universities, requires cuts to 'non-critical personnel.' "Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced the mandate Wednesday, citing a need to spend more money on preparing young Oklahomans for the workforce, and less on 'six-figure salaries to DEI staff.'"

Insty, SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER! 

Boston City Hall roiled by email party invitation for ‘electeds of color’ sent to all. A Wu administration official, on behalf of the mayor, mistakenly sent all Boston city councilors an email Tuesday inviting them to a holiday party that was meant exclusively for “electeds of color,” prompting an apology and mixed reactions.
. . .
“I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding a Holiday Party for tomorrow,” DosSantos, a Cape Verdean Black woman, wrote. “I did send that to everyone by accident, and I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.”

Translation: I’m not sorry I’m a racialist; I’m only sorry that I was caught.

Lansing State J, cited at Hat Hair,  reports a Farmer Wins Six Figure Lawsuit Against MI City After Being Denied Spot in Farmers Market Over Religious Beliefs. Beege Welborn on the back story, "This all started back in 2017 when Tennes wouldn’t hold same-sex marriages at his Country Mil center because of his religious beliefs. The freaks-out was off to the races. How delightful for him to prevail."

At WaEx, Mark Judge (remember him?) explains Why conservatives need reporters in Hollywood. 

At Da Wire, Megan Rapinoe Calls Playing For U.S. Team ‘Worst Job In The World’ Check your lesbian privilege.