Flotsam and Jetsam - Mike Johnson Squeaks by as Speaker, Merchan Sets Trump Sentencing Jan 10

Earlier in the day, Ace, The House Is Voting for Speaker; Johnson Looks Likely to Lose, "Chip Roy refused to vote for Johnson, Andy Biggs didn't vote, and Thomas Massie voted for Tom Emmer. Update: Another Republican has voted against Johnson, instead voting for Jim Jordan. I think that's it. I don't think we can lose four votes, and we lost them. Update: It's worse than that -- the Republican majority is so thin we can only lose one single Representative's vote." But then a legislative trick, as Henry Rogers at Da Caller reports Mike Johnson Wins Speakership After Late Flip By Republican Holdouts. "Republican Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Michael Cloud of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Andy Harris of Maryland and Chip Roy of Texas were all silent when first called on during the first ballot. After being called again, Roy said he would be voting for Johnson. Gosar also then voted for Johnson." Apparently some phone calls from Donald Trump were involved. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair reports Here We Go Again; UPDATE: First Ballot-ish Win. Matt Margolis at PJM, Mike Johnson Wins Reelection As House Speaker. Da Signal, In Shocking Turn of Events, Johnson Reelected House Speaker. At Reason, Mike Johnson Is Speaker of the House. Again. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.03.25 (Evening Edition), Dana Loesch: Mike Johnson Elected Speaker of the House. Althouse, "Congratulations to Speaker Mike Johnson for receiving an unprecedented Vote of Confidence in Congress." "Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary. The People of America have waited four years for Common Sense, Strength, and Leadership. They’ll get it now, and America will be greater than ever before!" Writes Trump on Truth Social. Did you get caught up in the anxiety about whether Mike would get the votes? I'm so resistant to that kind of thing at this point." No, but I'm a little surprised the holdouts folded so quickly. I'm just glad the 'Pubs got their shit together, in at least a minimal fashion. Mike Johnson may not be the Speaker you want, but he was the least divisive choice.

Meanwhile around Congress, Althouse catches Rep. Hakeem Jeffries saying we will fart hard  . . . for the freedom to vote, Why is it so hard to be adult? With things like this, we should act as if nothing happened. We all know that.

"We will fart hard--- fight hard for the freedom to vote" -Hakeem Jeffriespic.twitter.com/Yl3011Iflv

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 3, 2025

Insty, FOR ONCE, I BELIEVE HIM: Aw, c'mon Ann, who doesn't like a good fart joke? 

Hakeem Jeffries today: “Let’s beat our partisan swords into bipartisan plowshares.”

Also Hakeem Jeffries today: “Donald Trump is an illegitimate president.” https://t.co/9BENoqc45u

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) January 3, 2025

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.03.25 (Evening Edition), Twitchy, Kamala Gaslights Child By Saying She Wasn’t Defeated In The Presidential Election. At WokeSpy, J.D. Vance Laughs As Kamala Harris Swears In New Senators. Althouse, who is trying to close 2024s post gap, I'm reading that J.D. Vance's reaction to Kamala Harris's swearing in of new Senators today has gone viral. "I don't understand why. It's an interesting situation, the defeated presidential candidate performing this role, but it is her duty as the current President of the Senate (i.e. Vice President), and J.D. Vance looks happy, but it's not as though he's taunting her . . . Some news media are calling attention to this other awkwardness: "Kamala Harris Heads to Capitol to Swear-In Senators Who Won’t Even Say Her Name Right" (Time), "Kamala Harris will give oath of office to GOP senators who couldn’t get her name right" (Independent)." In a less dramatic scene, Thune Officially Minted Senate Majority Leader, Promises to Keep Filibuster. The filibuster is an annoyance to those that temporarily hold the reins, and a godsend to those who don't. I generally support anything that slows down the legislative branch. I agree with Calvin Coolidge who reportedly said "It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones."

Hayden Ludwig at RCP thinks Trump’s Secret Weapon for Mass Deportations is E-Verify. Beege Welborn at Hat Hair is disgusted Honduras Rattling That 'No Deportar or We Boot Your Bases' Cage. Deportar, or no foreign aid. Maybe no foreign aid in any event. At CalMatters, Can California keep ICE away from schools? Lawmakers want to try as crackdowns loom. Hat Hair's Dave Strom thinks Europeans Still Don't Get How Different Trump's Administration Will Be. "European politicians at both the national level and at the European Union are hoping that the second Trump administration will be more "normal" than the first. Chances are that the norms of diplomacy will even less restrain it, which is good." At Culturecidal, John Hawkins address the question raised by Vivek in the H1B kerfuffle, Does American Culture Celebrate Mediocrity Over Excellence? It certainly doesn't overstress achievement.

If you can believe the news, it appears the CyberTruck explosion the the Las Vegas Trump Tower and the Bourbon Street Massacre using an electric truck, despite several coincidences which seen to suggest linkage, were two unrelated events. Matt Margolis at PJM says This Possible Motive for Vegas Cybertruck Explosion Changes Everything. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.03.25 (Morning Edition) Twitchy, Suspect In Vegas Cybertruck Bombing Was Happily Texting Ex-GF Days Before Explosion. ABC, Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion latest: Police look for clues in suspect's writings "Livelsberger shared personal and political "grievances" in the recovered messages and called the attack a "wake up call," police said. . . . Livelsberger, an active-duty Army soldier, said the country was being led by the "weak" and those out to "enrich themselves," while also claiming the incident was not meant as a terrorist attack, according to excerpts of the two letters shared by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. . . . Although this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who was struggling with PTSD and other issues," Evans said." Althouse, "But Livelsberger, who was an active member of the Army’s elite Special Forces, was known to be a 'Rambo-type patriot' and staunch Trump supporter..." "... and law enforcement officers are investigating if he had purposefully picked a Cybertruck to limit civilian casualties, rather than for political reasons, the sources said. If he had used a normal vehicle, the explosion would have likely taken out the glass doors of the building and possibly the lobby — potentially killing innocent bystanders. The Cybertruck’s impenetrable steel design contained the explosion, while still giving off large flames...."From "Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger’s wife broke up with him days before explosion outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas: sources" (NY Post). Meanwhile in NLO, Ace notes that For Some Reason, the FBI Leaves Behind Evidence at the NOLA Terrorist's Apartment and Allows the Media to Conduct Tours. But they took almost everything they could carry at Mar-a-Lago. Bob Spencer at PJM, New Orleans Jihadi’s Mosque Tells Members to Refer Inquirers to Hamas-Linked CAIR. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.03.25 (Evening Edition), EBL: Rotherham: Never Forget, I do not CAIR about NOLA Terrorist’s Mosque’s Concerns.

With 16 days left in office, Joe Biden, or whoever pulls his strings, continues his plan to burn down the government as he goes. Matt Margolis, Biden Returns From Vacation With Unexplained Injuries, Slurred Speech "Newsmax reporter James Rosen called out Biden’s noticeably slurred speech and unexplained injuries, including a cut near his lip, a bruise on his chin, and a disfigured jawline." Nick Arama at RedState, Biden Returns From Vacation With Unexplained Injuries, Wild Remarks "Many also took issue with the jocularity of this part of the remarks right as he was finishing talking about the attacks, where Biden said, he had to get "this damn thing done" because the Sugar Bowl was going to kick off shortly. Then he smirked and sort of winked." Insty, WELL, BIDEN ISN’T BECAUSE HE CAN’T EVEN TEE UP HIS MORNING OATMEAL: "Is Biden Teeing Up an Iran War for Trump? But some unnamed guy with a White House lanyard may be." RCP, Legacy Media Not Only Covered Up President's Health but Never Asked Who "Ruled in Biden's Name" Hat Hair's Dave Strom sees that On His Way Out, IG for Afghanistan Drops Truth Bombs. At the Free Bacon, How the Biden Admin Allowed Iran To Rake in Illicit Oil Cash Amid Tehran's Terror Spree "US officials were briefed on Iran's oil smuggling scheme—and mostly ignored the intel." Bloomberg, Biden Blocks Nippon Steel’s $14.1 Billion Takeover of US Steel. Althouse, "It is my solemn responsibility as President to ensure that, now and long into the future, America has a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry..." ""... that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad; and it is a fulfillment of that responsibility to block foreign ownership of this vital American company. U.S. Steel will remain a proud American company – one that’s American-owned, American-operated, by American union steelworkers – the best in the world." From a "Statement" attributed to President Biden." Heh. Insty, WAS IT OVER WHEN NIPPON STEEL* BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?! "Of course, the deal could very well get a do-over, starting in a few weeks: To make America great, Trump can enable the Nippon Steel acquisition." Ken Moriyasu @kenmoriyasu, "Oops. White House copy-and-pastes from a previous presidential order on a Chinese real estate transaction and uses it for the Nippon Steel announcement. And forgets to delete the title." Jim Geraghty at NRO The Last-Minute Push from the Lamest of Lame Ducks "Now, we are 17 days away from the start of Donald Trump’s second term, and Biden — or more accurately, the team around our mumbling, stumbling octogenarian president — is trying to push through a difficult-to-rescind ban on new oil and gas drilling in large sections of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enacted last-minute changes to the H-1B and H-2 visa programs to increase the number of foreign workers in the U.S., locked in hybrid work protections for tens of thousands of staffers at the Social Security Administration, set a new Paris Climate Agreement goal to reduce U.S. net emissions by 61-66 percent in 2035 (that one will be easier to rescind), and attempted to hinder efforts to increase U.S. exports of liquid natural gas. And of course, there’s been the pardon-palooza."

Benny Johnson@bennyjohnson "BREAKING: Judge has ordered Trump to appear for sentencing in the New York hush money case on Jan. 10, shortly before inauguration." John Sexton at Hat Hair, Trump's Sentencing on 34 Felony Counts Scheduled for Next Week. "However, the Judge Merchan also indicated that Trump won't be serving any time or even probation, but would instead be given an unconditional discharge." ET, Judge Sets Trump’s Sentencing for Jan. 10, Signals He Won’t Be Jailed. "New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to dismiss the case." Sundance at CTH, New York Judge Juan Merchan Orders President Trump to Appear for Sentencing January 10th. Althouse, "The judge, Juan M. Merchan, indicated that he favored a so-called unconditional discharge of Mr. Trump’s sentence..." ""... a rare and lenient alternative to jail or probation. He set a sentencing date of Jan. 10, and ordered Mr. Trump to appear either in person or virtually. An unconditional discharge would cement Mr. Trump’s status as a felon just weeks before his inauguration.... Unlike a conditional discharge, which allows defendants to walk free if they meet certain requirements, such as maintaining employment or paying restitution, an unconditional discharge would come without strings attached...." From "Judge Upholds Trump’s Conviction but Signals No Jail Time/The New York judge who oversaw President-elect Donald J. Trump’s hush-money trial scheduled his sentencing for Jan. 10. Mr. Trump is expected to appeal his conviction" (NYT). "Unconditional discharge" sounds super-light, which makes use of the verb "cement" — with all its connotations of heaviness — feel like taunting. What other "status" is "cemented"? It's demented." Matt Vespa, Law Professor Nails Why Judge Merchan Is Sentencing Trump on January 10. Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley "...The sentence will finalize the case and allow for an appeal. However, it would also label the President-elect a convicted felon just before he is sworn into office. It is the final cathartic act for lawfare warriors..." From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.03.25 (Evening Edition), EBL, anti MAGA Merchan.

Brit Hume@brithume "This is repulsive. That investigation was done by a committee all of whose members were chosen by Nancy Pelosi, and was produced like a TV show. There was no cross examination of witnesses. The media fell for it, but it was utterly one-sided. A show trial." Quote CBS News@CBSNews "President Biden announced he is awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal to Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Rep. Liz Cheney, the two lawmakers who led the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. https://cbsn.ws/4gW8yCN" The Victory Girls call it the J6 Kangaroo Sham: Liz Cheney Gets Presidential Participation Trophy. 'Becca Downs at TownHall hears Tyrus Has a Theory on Why Biden Is Giving Liz Cheney an Award "I feel like the award is for helping him get back at Kamala for being a part of the stab him in the back tour," with Timpf confirming Tyrus thinks "he's giving her an award because she did help Kamala lose?" From Twitchy, 'After Every Movie...': Greg Gutfeld Perfectly Captures the Vibe of Biden's Medal for Liz Cheney GregGutfeld@greggutfeld "imagine after every movie where the hero wins, there's a video following the credits featuring the villains and losers meeting to comfort themselves." At WaEx, Paul Bedard cites a Poll: FBI should investigate Jan. 6 charges against Liz Cheney. With a morning raid and shakedown. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.03.25 (Morning Edition) Twitchy, Ted Cruz Thinks Liz Cheney Deserves Something Other Than A Medal From Biden.

Sarah Anderson at PJM finds FBI: Largest Number of Pipe Bombs Ever Found (And You Won't Believe Where They Found Them). Some guy in Virginia seems to enjoy making them, but not using them, like some people tie flies. 

Ajit Pai@AjitPai "For a decade, I’ve argued that so-called “net neutrality” regulations are unlawful (not to mention pointless). Today, the Sixth Circuit held exactly that. You can read the court’s excellent opinion here: https://opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/25a0002p-06.pdf… It’s time for regulators and activists to give up on this tired non-issue once and for all and focus on what actually matters to American consumers—like improving Internet access and promoting online innovation." Insty has a Flashback: "Obama gave Netflix net neutrality. Netflix gives Obama a television show." At Discourse, John Mac Ghilionn explains Why We Need a Cyber Bill of Rights, but not the spelling of his last name. "In an era in which so much discourse happens in the digital arena, new protections of individual rights are needed." Insty calls it INCREDIBLE: Concerned Citizen@BGatesIsaPyscho, "Man Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison for Social Media Post The UK is the New North Korea." Flippy@sillyflippy, "In Russia last year, 400 people were arrested for things they said on social media. In Britain, that number was 3300..." VodkaPundit at Insty, YOU CAN GROK THIS: The biggest AI flops of 2024. "The vast majority of major AI image generators have guardrails—rules that dictate what AI models can and can’t do—to prevent users from creating violent, explicit, illegal, and otherwise harmful content. Sometimes these guardrails are just meant to make sure that no one makes blatant use of others’ intellectual property. But Grok, an assistant made by Elon Musk’s AI company, called xAI, ignores almost all of these principles in line with Musk’s rejection of what he calls “woke AI.” Whereas other image models will generally refuse to create images of celebrities, copyrighted material, violence, or terrorism—unless they’re tricked into ignoring these rules—Grok will happily generate images of Donald Trump firing a bazooka, or Mickey Mouse holding a bomb. While it draws the line at generating nude images, its refusal to play by the rules undermines other companies’ efforts to steer clear of creating problematic material. What it does is make Grok’s image generator much more useful and fun than the others I’ve tried."

Charlie Martin at Insty wonders TRUST, BUT VERIFY: How Do You Know What To Trust? UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "BREAKING: A Gallup poll shows just 31% of Americans trust the media to report “fully, accurately, and fairly.” At NewsBusters, CNN Shames Those Labeling New Orleans ISIS Attack As Terrorism. From WokeSpy, MSNBC Finally Acknowledges That Joe Biden Failed On The Border. Guy Benson at TownHall has a Flashback: That Other Time a Damning Photo of a Democrat Was Also Suppressed: Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty "Put another way, Obama met with Farrakhan at a Congressional Black Caucus meeting in 2005, and not a single person in attendance leaked that information until now. 

Mike La Chance at LI, Students in Boston U. ‘Medieval Trans Studies’ Course Learn About ‘Gender Fluid Angels’. “Medieval studies resisted the woke turn in the humanities but eventually succumbed to it.” From Ace, Lawsuit: "Hulking" Transgender Inmate Sexually Assaulted His Female Cellmate, ""The thing that they say can never happen just happened again," commented J.K. Rowling. The NY Post:"

Dave Strom sees DEI Dying on the Vine in Florida. Miami Herald, ‘We’re in trouble’: Miami DEI leader says state policies left the industry in freefall. "Industry," heh. Driscoll at Insty, BARI WEISS ON AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: How The Babylon Bee Predicted the Vibe Shift. "The Bee is a conservative, Christian satirical news site, which may sound like an oxymoron. It did to us. Until we read it and discovered it’s funny. Often really funny. While everyone else was busy criticizing and mocking the right, the Bee found success by filling a void. The Bee’s infamous tagline is “Fake News You Can Trust.” Here are a few recent headlines: “Biden Cancels Aid to Syria After Finding Out Some Needy Americans Live There” and “Canadian Dentist Now Offering Euthanasia as Alternative to Cavity Filling.”" Insty himself at his substack says Happy 2025 "The year when things come to a head."