Flotsam and Jetsam - Some Thanksgiving Leftovers

Althouse is amused by Donald Trump, "Happy Thanksgiving to all, including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country, but who have miserably failed, and will always fail..." ""... because their ideas and policies are so hopelessly bad that the great people of our Nation just gave a landslide victory to those who want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Don’t worry, our Country will soon be respected, productive, fair, and strong, and you will be, more than ever before, proud to be an American!" Tweets Donald Trump." Stacy McCain, Happy Thanksgiving to All! "Well, how about Kamala as your alcoholic aunt rambling incoherently at Thanksgiving? We can afford to laugh at that, as we give thanks that our nation has been spared from the Kamala Harris presidency." We had a nice quiet, family Thanksgiving, including Turkey and the usual sides, and pumpkin pie.

 At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 11.27.24 (Evening Edition), Don Surber: The Trump presidency has begun – or should I say resumed? Bob Hoge at RedState, Winning: Trump Sends '70s Dance Hit Shooting Straight to the Top of the Charts. From Fox, White House reporters already 'exhausted' by second Trump administration "New York Times and Politico reporters spoke to Vanity Fair on the Trump transition." And he's not even in office yet. Gabe Kaminsky at WaEx, Trump transition will continue to run on private donors despite striking deal with Biden administration, and boy is the deep state pissed that he's depriving them of the easy opportunity to spy. They'll still spy, but it's harder. At NYPo, Mark Zuckerberg dines with Trump at Mar-a-Lago after pushing for meeting to discuss new administration: ‘Grateful for the invitation’. Sarah Arnold at TownHall, Here's Why Mark Zuckerberg Had Dinner With Trump At Mar-a-Lago. Get back into his good graces. 

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Tariffs Work? Mexico President Pledges to Stop Migrant Caravans, but from NewsMax, Mexico's President Sheinbaum: Position Is Not to Close Borders and Blue Cities Finalizing Efforts to Thwart Trump's Deportations. At TownHall, Matt Vespa details how The 'Trump Killed the Bipartisan Border Bill' Talking Point Just Got Wrecked. Madeline Leesman at TownHall, Trump's Border Czar Is Already Visiting the Southern Border. 

At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 11.27.24 (Evening Edition), Twitchy, Retired Admiral Asks Trump Voters If They Have Buyer’s Remorse Yet, and Congressman Says Mexican President Shows How To Stand Up To Bullies Like Trump, Louder With Crowder: Unhinged TikToker Vows To Spit In Trump Supporter’s Food During Thanksgiving, American Greatness, Trump Negotiates Deal With Mexico to Close the Border ‘Effective Immediately’, Kamala Reportedly Open to Run for President in 2028, Tom Homan’s Badass Message to Defiant Denver Mayor, Nearly a Dozen Trump Appointees Targeted With Bomb Threats/Swattings Overnight, and MSNBC Allegedly ‘Unaware’ of $500K Donation to Al Sharpton’s Group by Kamala Harris Campaign, The Federalist: This Year I’m Thankful For Kamala’s Delusional, Misplaced Self-Confidence, Trump Transition Team Is Rightly Wary Of Sleazy General Services Administration, Bidenflation Brings Price Hikes To Thanksgiving Feasts For Fourth Year In A Row, North Carolina County Board Knowingly Certified The Votes Of Seven Dead Voters.

'Becca Downs at TownHall, Oh Boy: Alexander Vindman Is Feuding With Elon Musk. At Twitchy, He Can Dish It Out, But Can't Take It: Chow Thief Alex Vindman Cries as Elon Musk Returns Fire. At Hat Hair John Sexton sees a Clash of the Titans: Will Elon Musk Target Soros-Backed DA's Next? I hope. From OTP, Musk Calling Out Federal Workers His DOGE Would Like Gone. At OTP, Biden Takes Swipe At Musk, Pledges $6B To Failing EV Rival Rivian. Steve Richards at JTN, Trump's Defense Secretary nominee Hegseth gears up to target Pentagon DEI initiatives. Benny Johnson@bennyjohnson, "Tell this story at scale and you will change the world forever." Chief Nerd @TheChiefNerd "RFK Jr on How Bill Gates Had the Foresight to Buy Over a Million Shares of BioNTech Stock Before the World Found Out About the COVID Pandemic “The same week Bill Gates, who was overseeing the [Event 201] simulation, bought 1.1 Million shares of BioNTech vaccine which later."

Ben Averbook at Hat Hair, On Rogan: More Interesting Revelations About Things Trump Needs to Fix. Althouse, At "I must admit I had misgivings about Trump and his election denial after Jan. 6, but..." ""... Nancy Pelosi’s hijacking of the House’s special investigating committee shifted my perspective.... [W]hy did she have to overreach? It didn’t seem fair. And the ensuing lawfare waged against him only strengthened my support for him, and my feeling that there was nothing the opposition wouldn’t do to get him. . . Writes Maureen Dowd's brother Kevin, in "My Brother Is Doing the Trump Dance" (NYT)." At Da Caller, Trump Will Redirect Billions In Unspent Funds From Biden’s Climate Law To ‘Real Infrastructure’. Kevin Killough at JTN reports Trump plans to revive Keystone pipeline, but industry experts say Biden’s damage can’t be undone. "Even with presidential approval, reviving the project would mean restarting all the state, local and federal permitting process, obtaining right-of-ways, and enduring costly litigation from anti-fossil fuel groups."

From Responsible Statecraft On Middle East, will Trump follow his instincts or hawkish advisers? "Six key factors shaping Trump’s strategy in a second term." Speaking of hawkish wannabe advisers, Stephen Blank at Real Clear Defense, How Trump Can Win in Ukraine. 

Adam Turner at RedState, When the Polling Is Worse Than 'Damn Lies'. From TNP, The Polling is Way Worse Than You Know. Leading Report@LeadingReport, "BREAKING: With almost all votes counted, every state has shifted toward the Republican Party." Ron DeSantis@RonDeSantis, "We are on the eve of Thanksgiving and California still hasn’t finished counting votes.  Post-election day ballot “dumps” continue to net Democrat votes over two GOP incumbents. This may reduce the Republican majority in the US House to a razor thin 220-215. What a farce." Guy Benson at TownHall reads the NYT: Trump Destroyed Democrats' Expected 'Demographic Destiny'. Stacy McCain, warns Democrats: Please Do Not Listen to Advice From This Attractive Young Woman

All that is preamble to my praise of @Shoe0nHead. Back in the day — 10 years ago or thereabouts — I remember being a fan of hers on Twitter and sort of assumed she was a conservative, but in fact, she’s a kind of female Bernie Bro, a left-wing populist who hated Hillary Clinton for basically the same reason I hate John Cornyn, i.e., for being an unprincipled sellout. She no doubt strongly disagrees with me on most policy issues, but shares my contempt for “mainstream” politics and “establishment” politicians, and is hated by a lot of her fellow leftists simply because she tells the truth about such things. She did a post-election analysis of why Democrats lost that is so on-target that you simply must watch it:

At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 11.27.24 (Evening Edition), American Thinker, Do We Still Have to Pretend the 2020 Election Was ‘Free and Fair’?

From Twitchy, GRAB YOUR POPCORN! Fox News Reports There's Chaos in the Democratic Party. Paul Bedard at WaEx has a Harvard shocker: Voters ‘abandoning’ the Democratic Party. John Sexton hears Some Democratic Billionaires Vow to Fight On, Others Are Giving Up. Virginia Kruta at Da Wire, hears some Democrat Strategist Is Not Sold On Kamala 2028: ‘Please Don’t’. From WaEx, Harris’s postelection relaunch turns out to be a Thanksgiving turkey. Capt. Ed, Team Kamala Chair Goes Scooby-Doo: If It Weren't For That Darned Media ... The buck picks up speed as it passes by. Also at Da Wire, Top Kamala Aide Makes Shocking Excuse For Skipping Joe Rogan Podcast. "Even during the post-mortem of her campaign, the Harris people blatantly lie." VodkaPundit at Insty, HEH: Bill Whittle has gotten his hands on a pirated copy of the latest firmware update that the Vice President is currently running, and asks the question: what would Kamala Harris sound like if she were considerably smarter but still managed to speak without saying anything?

At NewsBusters, ‘The Right Thing to Do’: The View Urges Biden to Pardon His Son Hunter, naw, let Trump do it; I think he will.

Jeff Charles at RedState hears Democrats Are Royally Pissed Because Jack Smith Wasn't Able to Prosecute Trump Before the Election.

At Althouse, "MSNBC is a giant corporate propaganda operation to trick Democratic voters into voting for the most Republican candidate." "Said Cenk Uygur, "co-creator of the digital outlet the Young Turks (and a onetime MSNBC contributor and host), pointing to some "Republicans and lapsed Republicans on the channel, including" Joe Scarborough. Quoted in "MSNBC confronts viewer frustration, changes and an identity crisis/The network’s audience has declined since the Nov. 5 election, as viewers have tuned out. Its parent company is spinning it off. What happens next?" (WaPo)(free-access link)." and "A quick Bluesky primer: Content has a 300-character limit. Those entries are officially called posts, though some have taken to calling them 'skeets'...", "From "X is Elon’s world. Threads is a mess. Is Bluesky any better? The virtual town square, once framed by Twitter, is now fragmented as people flee to bluer pastures" (WaPo)(free-access link)." At Hat Hair Beege Welborn asks What Do Wile E. Coyote and MSNBC Have in Common?.

From Da Caller, America’s Largest And Most Expensive DEI Program Is About To Go Up In Flames. At TownHall, the Great Victor Davis Hanson thinks (hopes?) Universities Have a 2025 Rendezvous With Reality. From the College Fix, Black teacher, students allege pro-Trump ‘harassment, racism’ — but have no evidence. At Not the Bee@Not_the_Bee, "Axios is here to tell us that the Pilgrims were evil but the replies make me thankful to be an American." NYPo reports Mass arrests at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as anti-Israel protesters block procession.

Hat Hair cites a Rasmussen Poll: 6 in 10 Americans Support Biology-Based Bathroom Access Policy on Capitol Hill. Teri Christoph at RedState, Sanity Prevails: Transgender Radicals Just Suffered a Massive Defeat in Ohio. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 11.27.24 (Evening Edition), Margot Cleveland at Da Fed, is enraged that the Biden DOJ Seeks To Gag Texas Doctor Who Blew Whistle On Child Trans Surgeries. Breitbart, J.K. Rowling Rips BBC Awarding Athlete Who Failed Gender Eligibility Test. From NYPo, Life of Agony singer detransitioning after curing his ‘gender dysphoria’: ‘Living in my divine male self.’

I forgot to send my Rule 5s to the Wombat this week, but he still posted Rule 5 Sunday: Cheerful Bikini and FMJRA 2.0: Roster Like A Hole anyway. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Sending Rick Grenell to Ukraine

At Fox, a list, Trump administration takes shape: President-elect completes top 15 Cabinet picks. At Hat Hair, Capt. Ed cites Anxious: Trump Now Has the Most Ideologically Diverse Cabinet Ever. From OTP, Donald Trump Jr Major Player In Cabinet Picks, Alone Now As Top Family Political Adviser. Althouse watches "CBS News poll finds Trump starts on positive note as most approve of transition handling." Sundance at CTH, President Trump Announces Nomination of Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture.

From Fox, Ric Grenell under consideration to be Trump's point man on Ukraine: report. What a thankless job. Sundance has opinions on many of the intelligence related appointments, Potential Peacemaker – Reuters: President Trump Considering Ric Grenell for Special Envoy to Ukraine, Incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Outlines His Priorities for Trump Administration, Intelligence Games – Former House Intel Chair Schiff Says Trump Intel Nominees Not Qualified, But Senate Intel Chair Rubio is “Unquestionably Qualified” and SSCI Committee Member James Lankford Has Concerns About Tulsi Gabbard as DNI Nominee, and Other Matters. 

At Da Wire, Megyn Kelly Methodically Breaks Down ‘Bulls*** Allegation’ Against Pete Hegseth. Sundance, President Trump’s Attorney, John Lauro, Speaks in Support of Pam Bondi for U.S. Attorney General and sees trouble ahead with RFK Jr., Awkward – Vivek Ramaswamy Says the Quiet Part Out Loud. Leslie Eastman at LI sees The New York Times Accidentally Admit RFK Jr. is Correct on Food Additives. Mark Tapscott at Insty,  finds MIXED REVIEWS FOR DOGE AMONG HILL AIDES: "One might expect a roughly 50-50 split among Republican and Democrat congressional aides in terms of their view of the forthcoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to be headed by Elon Musk and Vivik Ramaswamy. But the latest Capitol Pulse CNCT informal survey finds a big split, with Senior GOP policy aides very much in favor, but the younger ones not so much. Not surprisingly, opposition among Democratic aides was all but unanimous." Ned Ryun and Mark Corallo at Am Great propose Tearing the Leviathan Apart  At WUWT, Lighting Up America: Why Chris Wright Should Be Welcomed, Not Spurned as DOE Sec. 

Breitbart hears Trump Border Czar Tom Homan Plans PR War over Migration and Repatriations. Tom Homan to Newsmax: 'Game On' for Dems Fighting Deportations, Homan to Newsmax: Border Closed in Matter of Months; Quick Fixes on Day 1 and Rep. Burlison to Newsmax: Prosecute Wray and Mayorkas. From Florida's Voice, Trump confirms plan to militarize border response, enact mass deportations, declare emergency. Victor Joeks at Hat Hair Debunks the Left's Deportation Hysteria. Sarah Anderson at PJM, Multiple Migrants Arrested in 'Sanctuary States' for Attacking Women, Children, & Dogs. No! Not the dogs! Sundance, Fearing Trump Compliance Demand – Mexico Quickly Looking for Alternatives to Chinese Parts and Components and German Industrialists Very Worried About Trump’s Return – German Economists Say ‘Relax, We’ll Just Devalue the Euro’. 

Matt Vespa at TownHall hears the Keystone XL Pipeline Is Back Once Trump Retakes Office, But There's a Problem. The builder doesn't want it anymore. American Energy Alliance hopes Trump’s Victory Will Save Ratepayers From Expensive Offshore Wind. 

At PJM Matt Margolis believes Voter Approval for Trump’s Transition Creates Huge Problem for Democrats. At Althouse, Bill Maher asks about the "fact" that 84% of "gays" "stuck with the Democrats," and Andrew Sullivan doesn't agree with the assertion of fact. Driscoll at Insty, has a REPORT: "Donald Trump to kick transgender troops out of US military. Donald Trump is planning an executive order that would lead to the removal of all transgender members of the US military, defence sources say."

You cannot argue with this logic. He’s 100% correct. And he’s going to be perfect as Secretary of Defense and that is why they hate this pick so much. pic.twitter.com/8dBdhlMOYk

— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) November 14, 2024

John Sexton at Hat Hair reads Vox: Moving Left Could Doom Democrats in Future Elections. Breitbart sees a Culture Shift: How Stand-Up Comedy Helped Reelect Trump. At Althouse, "We’ve marched so much. We’re tired of doing the same thing over and over...." "Said David Hogg, "who was among the students in Parkland, Fla., who mobilized on behalf of gun control legislation," quoted in "'Get Somebody Else to Do It': Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue/Donald J. Trump’s grass-roots opponents search for a new playbook as they reckon with how little they accomplished during his first term" (NYT)." And points out David Hogg is 24. Ward Clark at RedState, Oh, So *Now* the Dems Like the Filibuster and Ranked Choice Voting Fails Bigly Almost Everywhere - Despite Backers Spending Big Bundles of Cash. OTP, ‘Crying Session’ Blinken On Hot Seat For Reported Therapy Session For State Workers After Trump Win. At Twitchy, a Presidential Journey: Trump Voters Know Who's Crying Now in Hilarious Parody Music Video

😢 Who's crying now? 🎶
🎬 w/@BrandieWithABee pic.twitter.com/jSWMZvZ3Sm

— miguelifornia (@miguelifornia) November 13, 2024

​In the waning days of the Biden/Harris/Whoever Presidency, Ars Technica points out the Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine portends new era of warfare "This is the first time an IRBM, once restricted by a Cold War arms treaty, has been used in combat." Fox, Biden administration informs Congress it will forgive $5B in economic loans to Ukraine, "Congress passed a funding package that earmarked $60B for Ukraine in April." Kevin Killough at JTN reports Despite lackluster consumer interest, automakers are asking Trump to keep EV mandate in place. At Da Caller, ‘Solidarity Forever’: Biden-Harris EPA Weighs Awarding Taxpayer Dollars To Nonprofit That Wants To Defund The Police. NYPo reports Feds blew $267M fighting ‘misinformation’ under Biden — as Trump vows to ban ‘censorship cartel’. Tapscott at Insty, FOUR AD FIRMS GOT RICH ON HARRIS LOSS: "Washington Free Beacon’s Andrew Kerr dug into the FEC reports and found four ad firms that collectively received almost $600 million of the $1 billion+ raised by Vice-President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign.
“The latest available FEC data show the Harris campaign exceeded $880 million in total spending as of October 16, though that number is expected to balloon to $1.5 billion after the Harris campaign files its post-election FEC report on December 5,” Kerr reports."

Jonathan Turley thanks the DOJ, as the  Justice Department Indicts Alleged Swatters of Turley, Members of Congress, and Others.

Rick Moran at PJM notes 'The View' Hosts Forced to Read Four 'Legal Notes' on Friday for Lying, and It Was Glorious. At NewsBusters, Hostin Calls Bondi an 'Election Denier,' But She Denied Trump's 2016 Win. The Free Bacon sizzles as IT BEGINS: Rachel Maddow's Massive Salary Slashed at MSNBC. "More cutbacks imminent as Comcast cuts ties with liberal propaganda network." Twitchy, Rachel Maddow Crying Over Elon Musk Meme Parody Fools EVEN Us ... But It's Still REALLY Funny (Watch). Breitbart reports Jimmy Kimmel Still Fantasizing about Trump in Jail as Lawfare Cases Crumble.

At Hat Hair, Steve Moore fears Breaking Up Google Will Be a Great American Catastrophe. I don't know about "great."

From Reduxx, EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Mother Was Told To Be More “Inclusive” After Complaining About A Male Wearing A “Child’s Bikini” While Showering With Young Girls At Her Local Pool

I forgot to send my Rule 5s to the Wombat this week, but he still posted Rule 5 Sunday: Cheerful Bikini and FMJRA 2.0: Roster Like A Hole anyway. 

Keystone Developers Demand $15 Billion in Reparations

Epoch Times, Keystone XL Pipeline Developer Seeks $15 Billion in Damages From US

Energy company TC Energy has said it’s seeking $15 billion in damages from the United States government over President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project.

In a statement on July 2, the Canada-based company said it had filed a notice of intent with the State Department to begin a legacy North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

The company said it aims to “recover economic damages resulting from the revocation of the Keystone XL Project’s Presidential Permit,” adding that it suffered a loss of more than $15 billion “as a result of the U.S. Government’s breach of its NAFTA obligations.”

The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that halted the Keystone Pipeline project, saying the move was part of his administration’s larger agenda to tackle a projected climate crisis.

They should win, but they probably won't. And liberals should be made to pay, liberally.  But they won't.

Biden Admin Kills Keystone Energy Source

LI: Biden Permanently Kills Keystone XL Pipeline, Developer Abandons Project After Permit Pulled "Meanwhile, energy costs are fueling inflation and Russian oil will soon be flowing through its new pipeline."

When Biden entered office, he promptly nixed the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Afterwards, workers on the system protested the loss of jobs. Attorneys General from the impacted states explored their legal options.

Sadly, however, the economic impact of lost jobs and decreased gas production looks like it will be a hallmark of the current administration as the developer has now abandoned the project.

Canada’s TC Energy Corp. and the Albertan provincial government said Wednesday they would scuttle the Keystone XL oil pipeline project, bringing to an end a yearslong controversy over an effort to pipe more Canadian crude to the U.S.

The decision had been expected after President Biden used his first day in office to revoke a key permit for the pipeline to cross the country’s northern border, shutting down construction.

It is a victory for environmentalists who have campaigned to block new pipeline construction as a way to limit oil consumption that contributes to global warming.

Biden’s move was a slap in the face to Canada…which means the current adminiistration has managed to aggravate our neighbors to both the north as well as the south!

Alberta invested more than $1 billion in the project last year, kick-starting construction that had stalled amid determined opposition to the line from environmentalists and Native American tribes along its route.

Alberta officials said Wednesday they reached an agreement with TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada, to exit that partnership. The company and province plan to try to recoup the government’s investment, although neither offered any immediate details on how that would happen.

“We remain disappointed and frustrated with the circumstances surrounding the Keystone XL project, including the cancellation of the presidential permit for the pipeline’s border crossing,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a statement.

The province had hoped the pipeline would spur increased development in the oil sands and bring tens of billions of dollars in royalties over decades.

Perhaps if Alberta declared itself to be part of Russia, this issue could have been resolved. Biden seems to have no problem with that nation’s oil-production projects. I guess the need for a clean environment stops at the North American border?

Never mind that the opposition to the pipeline was based on bogus environmental damage claims, and the a bogus hope that restricting the extraction of the oil will stall CO2 emissions leading to global climate weirding, or what ever they are calling it these days. The oil will still be extracted, and largely shipped to Texas via Democrat friend Warren Buffett's Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. Rail transport of oil is less energy efficient, and more accident prone than transport by pipeline, so it's likely that this will increase carbon emissions, and environmental damage incidents. 

Annals of the Biden Crime Family - The Weekend Update

China Joe has been in office a little more than a week, so let's see what's happening. They say personnel is policy, so let's see who he is staffing his administration with. Labor Pick Paid Biden-Linked Firm Tens of Thousands Prior to Nomination "Boston's Marty Walsh has paid Anita Dunn's firm $90k since September"(Wa Free Bee), a mere pittance by political standards, also, Biden Energy Pick Set to Make Millions from Prominent Energy Company "Jennifer Granholm's ties to energy industry will likely lead to conflicts of interest" and according to Da Caller, Biden’s Energy Nominee Divvied Millions In Taxpayer Funds To Alternative Energy Startups That Went Bankrupt. So we can foresee more Solyndras in the future. PM, New Biden hire allowed Washington state to be defrauded out of millions by Nigerian scammers. Now, that's the way to spend taxpayer's money!

It was announced Friday that Suzie LeVine, Commissioner of Washington State's Employment Security Department (ESD), will be leaving her post at the end of January to take a position in the Biden Administration.

LeVine was directly responsible for the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars from Washington state unemployment funds after the agency was defrauded by Nigerian scammers.

An audit of the agency found that through the end of June 2020, the ESD had lost $600 million dollars to Nigerian fraudsters. They recovered only about $250 million of the missing funds. ESD said that more had been recovered since June for a total at the time of $357 million. Original estimates placed the loss at closer to $1 billion, though a large amount of the difference was recovered when the fraud was detected.

The audit found that LeVine and ESD had deliberately bypassed the waiting period for benefits in order to send out unemployment checks faster. That action was taken by LeVine at the urging of Democrat Governor Jay Inslee. LeVine was a political appointee of Inslee’s who had been a donor to his campaign.

From Tristan Justice at Da Fed, The Biden Administration Just Made Peter Strzok’s Wife A Top SEC Official, well, she'll have more time for the job, once Peter gets sent to jail for insurrection! (A case where the word might actually fit). Maybe she can hire Lisa Page as her aide-de-camp. 

A little over a week and Biden's brother touts proximity to new president in ad for Florida law firm (JTN) while Karen Townsend at Hot Air reports that Frank Biden Uses His Brother Joe’s Name In Inauguration Day Ad For Law Firm. They're not even trying to hide it.

And from Jordan Davidson at Da Fed, Violating Norms On Day One, Biden Axes Respected Labor Attorney. I only point out they hypocrisy of how they would have whined if Trump had fired a Democrat appointee. The unsinkable Mollie Hemingway at Da Fed, Breaking Norms And Precedent, Biden Attempts To Purge Career Intelligence Official

In a stunning violation of precedent, Biden’s National Security Agency (NSA) placed General Counsel Michael J. Ellis on administrative leave pending a Defense Inspector General investigation of his recent appointment, as well as an unspecified claim of mishandling of classified information. Ellis has maintained a top security clearance, without any blemish, for more than a decade. He is a trained classification official both as a military officer and civilian.


While Ellis has prominent defenders from his many years of service in the intelligence community, his detractors include high profile participants in the Russia collusion hoax, proponents of former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s attempt to publish classified information in a book, and some of the individuals who orchestrated the Ukraine impeachment effort.

Meanwhile, even as China makes provocative moves over Taiwan and the South China Sea, Biden Rescinds Trump Order Banning Chinese Communist Involvement In US Power Grid (Natalie Winters at TNP), and Biden Immediately Removes ‘China Challenge’ As ‘Policy Issue’ On State Dept Website,  from PM, Biden removes Trump order protecting US power grid from China and from Vodka Pundit at PJ Media, Insanity Wrap #131: 'CCP Joe' Welcomes Communist Firms Back into U.S. Energy Grid. China Economic Review, Biden administration delays Chinese military investment ban

At Da Lid, Joe Biden, The Job-Killing President: 70,000 Jobs Killed On Day One, More Since by killing the border wall and Keystone Pipeline. Global News, Premiers tell Trudeau they ‘want to go to war’ with U.S. over Keystone XL: sources. But Joe was going to normalize our relationships with our allies, right? Western Journal, Unions That Endorsed Biden Lash Out After He Stabs Them in the Back on Day 1

Da Wire, Biden Stops Trump Order To Slash Price Of Insulin, EpiPen, But don't worry, we'll raise your taxes to help! This might explain it, though, Biden Says ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Signing,’ Signs Executive Order Anyway

That was quick! Jack Posobiec, BREAKING: Large US military convoy enters northeast Syria on first full day of Biden presidency  https://almasdarnews.com/article/large-us-military-convoy-enters-northeast-syria-after-damascus-demands-immediate-withdrawal/ Back to the foreign wars!

John Solomon at JTN, 'Lawyer up, and get out': FBI first spurned Hunter Biden laptop, says Delaware tech repairman "FBI "didn't show an interest in any of the money" after seizing Hunter Biden's laptop, according to John Paul Mac Isaac, the computer shop owner who reported it to authorities." I can't imagine that will get any better. 

#HerToo! Biden accuser Tara Reade says it was 'unspeakably hard to watch the man who assaulted me' take the oath of office "'I will not be slienced'" (sic) at Da Blaze. Oh yes you will, once the media decide to spike your story, and social media censors it.

The Fed staff has Here’s The Full List Of Every Lie Joe Biden Has Told As President, as of 2 days of being President. He needs to step up his game. 

And, since CNN, WaPoo and the NYT won't, The Wa Free Bee has the handy dandy BIDEN COVID DEATH TRACKER

Biden Promises to Kancel Keystone Pipeline, Canada Objects

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air, Biden To Shut Down Keystone Pipeline “On Day One”

Joe Biden has added one more thing to his growing list of “day one” objectives after taking office. (How much work are they planning on dumping on this guy’s plate? He’s not a spring chicken anymore. Just saying…) Despite not uttering a peep about this on the campaign trail and repeatedly promising the voters in Pennsylvania that he wasn’t going to totally eliminate fossil fuels, Biden plans to rescind the construction permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on Wednesday. The number of jobs this will furlough, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars already invested in the project that could now be simply wasted, staggers the imagination. Oh, and he’s managed to tick off the Canadian government as well. (CBC News)

U.S. president-elect Joe Biden has indicated plans to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit via executive action on his first day in office, sources confirmed to CBC News on Sunday.

A purported briefing note from the Biden transition team mentioning the plan was widely circulated over the weekend after being shared by the incoming president’s team with U.S. stakeholders.

The words “Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit” appear on a list of executive actions supposedly scheduled for Day 1 of Biden’s presidency.

So much for “moderate Joe Biden,” eh? People have been warning for some time now that Uncle Joe’s “moderate” reputation was nothing but a smokescreen at this point and he has fully sold his soul to the liberal, socialist wing of his party. You can expect plenty more hits to the energy sector to come, all in the name of “saving the planet.”

Fox, Biden’s reported plans to kill Keystone XL pipeline alarm Canadian officials

Jason Kenney, the 18th Premier of Alberta, said in a tweet that he is "deeply concerned by reports that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden may repeal the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL border crossing."
. . .
Richard Madan, correspondent for Canada’s premier newscast, CTV News, said in a tweet that Canadian officials view the expected cancellation as "a punch in the face to Canada."

Even under Obama, they at least kept up the pretense that opposing the Keystone Pipeline was not just environmental virtue signaling. 

Court: Climate Concern No Excuse for Domestic Terrorism

From Wombat-sochos "In The Mailbox: 11.24.17", Weasel Zippers reports: Portland Man Who Used Climate Defense Found Guilty Of Pipeline Damage

He was protecting mother earth, Gaia. Via Great Falls Tribune:

Leonard Higgins, charged with tampering with an oil pipeline in Montana last year following a four-state climate change demonstration, was found guilty Wednesday by a Chouteau County jury of trespassing and criminal mischief.
The jury, which got the case at 11:15 a.m., returned an hour later with the verdict, which also included the conclusion that Higgins caused more than $1,500 in damage.
District Judge Daniel Boucher set sentencing for Jan. 2.
Following the verdict, Higgins, of Portland, said he was disappointed Boucher did not allow his defense team to present a so-called “necessity” defense in which he would have argued he committed a lesser harm because of an imminent greater harm, in this case climate change.
Had that climate change defense been allowed, Higgins said, the outcome may have been different.
“It was really frustrating not to be able to talk about climate in the courthouse,” Higgins said.
The charges stemmed from Higgins turning off an oil pipeline valve in 2016 located north of the Missouri River in Chouteau County 75 miles northeast of Great Falls as part of a coordinated, four-state effort to raise awareness about climate change.
His trial began Tuesday and the case was given to jurors for deliberation late Wednesday morning.
“This is not about climate change,” Chouteau County Attorney Steven Gannon told jurors during closing arguments.[…]
Higgins, 65, dressed in a sports coat and collared shirt, looked more like a college professor or grandpa than an “eco-terrorist,” as one oil and gas group called him following the Oct. 11, 2016 incident.
When he testified Wednesday morning, he still managed to discuss climate change in between objections.
e described himself as a church-going family man whose roots are in agriculture and he recalled picking beans growing up in Oregon.
Later in life, he got sucked into pursuing the American Dream, he said.
He grew up in Corvallis, Ore., but now lives in Portland.

Corvallis? That explains it.

Then, after soul-searching following his mother’s death and retirement in 2010, he began to consider more serious issues, including climate change.
It is his responsibility to stand up and do what is right, he said.
“Sometimes what’s right isn’t necessarily what’s legal,” Higgins said. “It was a really hard conclusion to come to.”
He read a report by a climate scientist that spurred him to action.
“In short it explains both why we have global warning, what the science is behind that and what will happen to not so much me but my kids and grandkids if we don’t do something about it,” Higgins said.

This is probably not the scientist he listened to:



So, I haven't heard what caused the recent leak of 5,000 barrels of oil from the Keystone pipeline (Not the Keystone XL, which still hasn't been finished). My guess is that the press is hiding something.

Trump Green Lights Keystone Pipeline

Hmm, I sorta though he already had, but just to make it more official: TransCanada Receives Presidential Permit for Keystone XL

TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) today announced that the U.S. Department of State has signed and issued a Presidential Permit to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline.

"This is a significant milestone for the Keystone XL project," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "We greatly appreciate President Trump's Administration for reviewing and approving this important initiative and we look forward to working with them as we continue to invest in and strengthen North America's energy infrastructure."

Keystone XL is an important piece of TransCanada's comprehensive U.S. growth portfolio driving an investment of more than US$15 billion in liquids and natural gas projects that will create thousands of well-paying jobs and generate substantial economic benefits across the U.S.

TransCanada will continue to engage key stakeholders and neighbors throughout Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota to obtain the necessary permits and approvals to advance this project to construction.

In conjunction, TransCanada has discontinued its claim under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and will end its U.S. Constitutional challenge.

As the Washington Post was quick to point out, this doesn't mean the end of opposition to the pipeline:

The project’s supporters and detractors immediately weighed in, promising to continue the fight over the pipeline on many different fronts.

“This project will not get built,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “We will defeat this pipeline in the courts and in the court of public opinion.”

Army Approves Dakota Access Pipeline

Army Corps to green-light Dakota Access pipeline construction

February 8, 2017 3:56 AM EST - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on Feb. 7 that it will grant the final permit needed to finish construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The project has been intensely protested by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and environmental activists. (Reuters)

I wasn't a big Trump fan, but between his cabinet and other agency appointees and getting this going again, I could become a fan. Who cares if he tweets?

Of course, that's not going to stop the usual suspects from going on with their violence:  The Latest: Dakota Access protests held around the country

Opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline are protesting around the country in response to the Army saying it will clear the way for completion of the disputed $3.8 billion project to carry North Dakota oil to Illinois.

Protesters posted an online list of nearly 50 events nationwide. There are large rallies, including one outside the White House, and smaller efforts, such as one in Des Moines, Iowa.

A group of protesters in Chicago targeted a bank. Another group went to an Army Corps of Engineers office in New York City, but protesters were asked to leave when they started filming without a permit.

Several people were arrested for blocking public access to a federal building in San Francisco.

Protest all you want, but break the law, or commit violence especially, and you should go to jail. And Jeff Sessions might just be the Attorney General to do it.

Now, onto the Keystone.

Reason #5403 We Elected Trump

People in red states were tired of obstruction for the sake of symbolic environmentalism:Trump To Give Green Light To Keystone, Dakota Access Pipelines

President Trump on Tuesday is expected to give the go-ahead for construction of two controversial oil pipelines, the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access, a White House official tells NPR's Tamara Keith.

The pipelines had been stopped during the Obama administration. The State Department rejected a permit for the Keystone pipeline from Canada, and President Obama ordered work halted on the Dakota pipeline after Native American groups and other activists protested its route near culturally sensitive sites in North Dakota.
. . .
In remarks to automakers on Tuesday morning, Trump proclaimed himself an environmentalist, but added, "It's out of control, and we're going to make a very short process, and we're going to either give you your permits or we're not going to give you your permits, but you're going to know very quickly."

I Blame Obama

Massive Fire Rages After Another Buffett-Owned Oiltrain Derails In North Dakota, Town Evacuated

Preznit Obama awards Warren Buffet freedom from competition

Exactly two months after the latest Warren Buffett-owned BNSF train derailed near the spot where the Galena river meets the Mississippi, resulting in a huge fire and the evacuation of all homes in a one mile radius, moments ago another of Buffett's BNSF oil trains derailed, this time near the town of Heimdal, North Dakota, resulting in the same outcome.

According to the Bismark Tribune, the town in Wells County was evacuated Tuesday morning after a train full of oil tanker cars derailed and burned about a mile and half east of here.

Wells County Emergency Manager Tammy Roehrich said the BNSF Railway oil tanker train derailed around 7:30 a.m., setting six oil tanker cars on fire.

Roehrich said she couldn’t get close enough to the train to see whether it was exploding or just burning. No injuries were reported, she said.
“It looks a lot like Casselton,” she said, referring to the fiery train wreck of oil tankers near Casselton in late 2013.

As a reminder, in 2013 another oil train, also owned by Buffett's Burlington Northern, derailed and led to the evacuation of the town of Casselton, and people living in a 5 mile radius.

The 30 or so residents of Heimdal were evacuated in response to the derailment. All were staying with family or friends, Roehrich said.

Well, thank heavens that oil wasn't being carried by the Keystone XL Pipeline, which might have spilled a minuscule amount of oil into the containment system at a pumping station somewhere.

Maybe tankers full of oil should be moved through Washington D.C. with some regularity.

Obama Nixes Keystone Pipeline

Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline

President Barack Obama on Friday rejected the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, ending the political fight over the Canada-to-Texas project that has gone on for much of his presidency.

Secretary of State John Kerry concluded the controversial project is not in the country's national security interest, and Obama announced from the White House that he agreed.

I'm sure glad we don't have to worry about that pipeline anymore:

Can't let something like that get built in somebodies backyard:

Now Canada will have to sell all that oil to China. I'm sure they'll burn it carbon free. Union leaders who wanted the jobs will get no sympathy from me, although I have some for the workers.

Democrats Vote to Kill 42,000 Jobs

Keystone veto override fails

The Senate failed on Wednesday to override President Obama’s veto of legislation approving the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, falling five votes short of the two-thirds majority needed in a 62-37 vote.
. . .
Eight Democrats voted with Republicans to override Obama: Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Mark Warner (Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.) and Jon Tester (Mont.).

Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who backs the pipeline, missed the vote.

The eight Democrats also voted to approve the $8 billion oil sands project in January. Sixty-seven votes are needed to override a presidential veto.Keystone proponents vowed to continue the fight for the pipeline despite the failure.
. . .
“This is coming back in the form an infrastructure bill, a road bill that we are all voting for,” said Manchin.

The State Deptartment has approved the pipeline twice and President Styer Obama has sent it back to them both times to find something wrong with it.

Make him veto it over and over, and attach it to legislation he really wants.

Obama Kills 42,000 Jobs

Obama vetoes Keystone pipeline bill because … it infringes on the executive branch’s prerogatives

A tip o’ the cap to O, after waging unauthorized war in multiple countries, rewriting various parts of the ObamaCare statute, and proclaiming by royal decree that amnesty hath come to America, for having the mammoth balls here to complain that Congress is stepping on his turf.

The bit about “circumventing longstanding processes” is a reference to the loooooooong State Department review — six years and counting — of whether Keystone, which would create more than 40,000 jobs during its construction, is in the “national interest.” That review is supposedly what’s being “cut short” by the bill on Obama’s desk. Although Sean Davis is right: In an era of unilateral presidential lawmaking, Congress attempting to set policy with bipartisan support (this one got 63 votes last month) itself qualifies as “circumventing longstanding processes.”

My advice to the republicans in congress is to go nuclear early and often.

Watching Josh Earnest defend the 6 year delay is priceless.

Congress Passes Keystone Pipeline in Bipartisan Vote

Congress passes Keystone XL bill, setting up veto showdown with Obama

The House passed a bill to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline Wednesday, setting the stage for the first veto showdown of the new Congress with President Obama.

On a 270-152 vote that fell mostly along party lines, the House approved the bill, which has already cleared the Senate. The measure will now head to Obama's desk. The president has vowed to veto the measure.

Only one Republican, Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.), voted against the bill. Amash, a libertarian-leaning member, frequently clashes with GOP leadership.

Twenty-nine Democrats crossed over to vote for the pipeline.

The Post would only deign to call it bipartisan if it were something the majority of democrats wanted, and a single Republican Senator from Maine had voted for it.

I fully expect Obama to veto it as promised, despite the fact that it has been given a clean bill of health by his own State Department and all the states involved.

Go ahead and veto 14,000 jobs Mr. Preznit.

Senate Passes Keystone Bill, Obama Threatens Veto

Senate votes to build Keystone, defying veto threat from Obama

The Senate on Thursday voted 62-36 to build the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, delivering Republicans the first legislative victory of their new majority.

Nine Democrats joined with Republicans in voting to approve the $8 billion project, five votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a promised veto from President Obama.

The nine Democrats who voted to approve Keystone were Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.), Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Mark Warner (Va.)
. . .
The bill now heads to the House, where Republicans are determined to act quickly to force Obama into taking what they believe will be a politically unpopular stand against a project that would carry oil sands from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

Wait, I thought the House had already passed a Keystone Pipeline Bill this session?

While the House voted to build the pipeline earlier this year, the Senate added several amendments to the legislation during three weeks of work, the byproduct of McConnell’s promise to give individual members more input on the floor.

Aides said House Republicans have not decided whether to pass the Senate bill as is or seek a conference committee, where a final version would be negotiated between the chambers.

You mean they allowed Senators to actually vote amendments to the bill? When did that start happening?  Oh, right. .  .

 Obama has repeatedly warned Congress not to short-circuit the federal review of the pipeline and seems poised to issue the third veto of his presidency when the legislation hits his desk.

"If, in fact, the legislation that passed the House also passes the Senate, then the president won't sign it," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday.

The State Department, who must rule on the Keystone Pipeline, has already twice given it's approval to the Keystone, only to have it sent back to Obama with understood instructions do find something wrong with it, to burnish his environmentalist credentials.

"We are hoping the president, upon reflection, will sign agree to sign onto a bill that his State Department says could creates 42,000 jobs," McConnell said.

As Instapundit says, make him wear out that veto pen on jobs bills, cuts in the federal work force, and other popular legislation.

UPDATE: This would also be a good time to read this article by Jonah Goldberg:

Why Obama and the Saudis Like Low Gas Prices

. . . By artificially keeping oil prices low, the Saudis get to deal a powerful blow to the energy revolution in the U.S. (They also get to deliver a severe economic blow to their enemies the Iranians, which is nice.) In exchange, Obama gets an unearned political windfall and can claim vindication for his ineffectual economic policies.

Obama is paying back the Saudis by permanently taking the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve’s billions of barrels of oil off the table for all time. By doing so, he also puts the entire Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) on a starvation diet. North Slope oil production is half of what it once was, and if it falls below 350,000 barrels per day, the TAPS itself will start to become economically and technically unfeasible. In other words, Saudi Arabia’s short-term economic hit is an investment in future dependence on Saudi oil.

Of course, there need not be a conspiracy, just a convergence of economic and political interests. But the fact remains that Obama could never have gotten away with restricting energy development in ANWR before an election or when gas prices were high. This is Obama’s window, and it appears the Saudis are holding it open for him for as long as he needs.

Nebraska Court OKs Keystone Pipeline

House vote on Keystone as Nebraska court OK’s pipeline

The Nebraska Supreme Court delivered an unpleasant surprise to the White House this morning. Barack Obama and his aides had argued that the Keystone XL Pipeline approval legislation working its way quickly through Congress would have to get vetoed in part because it would intrude on a court case in Nebraska over its route. That impediment, whether real or imaginary, vanished in a split decision this morning:

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday against landowners challenging Keystone XL pipeline route through the state, possibly clearing a path for President Barack Obama to make a decision on the project that has been under review for more than six years.
Nebraska’s highest court, in a split decision, threw out a lower-court ruling that had found a 2012 state law on pipeline oversight unconstitutional. The law gave Nebraska’s governor the power to review and approve certain major pipelines, including Keystone XL. The judges sided with Nebraska’s Republican governor, Dave Heineman, in a ruling that said the state law must remain in place because a required supermajority of the court wasn’t prepared to strike it down.

The formal veto threat on Wednesday cited this pending case as one of the main reasons Obama planned to veto any legislation authorizing construction of the pipeline. “The bill also would authorize the project despite uncertainty due to ongoing litigation in Nebraska,” the official statement read, even though a conditional approval would have had no impact on the legal issues involved. The other reason, that it would “cut short consideration” of a project that the State Department has been reviewing for almost as long as it took us to send a man to the Moon, may be the only fig leaf left. . . .

Long past time to ram this one through.

Update before pushing publish: House approves building Keystone pipeline

The Keystone XL pipeline cleared its first hurdle of the new Congress on Friday when the House voted to approve construction of the long-stalled project, just hours after a court in Nebraska cleared a final legal hurdle there.

The 266-153 vote saw 28 Democrats side with the GOP in backing the pipeline, signaling significant though not overwhelming support for the controversial project that would carry crude oil from Canada into the U.S. for refinement.

Now off to the newly reconfigured Republican Senate, and then to the President.

The Party of "No"

Democrats launch first filibuster of the year on Keystone

Democrats launched the first filibuster of the new Congress on Thursday, objecting to the GOP’s effort to try to bring the Keystone XL pipeline bill to the floor early next week.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to schedule action early next week on the bill, and promised an open process, including allowing both sides to offer amendments to the bill — an attempt to break with the previous few years, when Democrats controlled the floor and kept a tight lid on amendments.
. . .
Keystone has bipartisan support, but President Obama has vowed a veto. Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, said he thinks there could be enough Democrats willing to support the pipeline that the Senate could overturn an Obama veto, but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said her troops in the lower chamber would sustain Mr. Obama’s veto.

My advice? Go nuclear, early and often. As Harry Reid pointed out, the filibuster rules are just customs and can be changed with a simple majority vote. Then force the democrats to vote openly against job creation and lower energy and gasoline prices.

White House Confirms Keystone Veto Threat

White House finally issues formal veto threat on Keystone bill

Today, the White House made it explicit:

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 3, which would immediately authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline and related cross-border facilities and declare that the Secretary of State’s January 2014 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement satisfies the National Environmental Policy Act and any other provisions of law requiring Federal consultation or review with respect to the Keystone XL pipeline or its related facilities.
H.R. 3 seeks to circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether cross-border pipelines serve the national interest by authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline project prior to the completion of the Presidential Permitting process. In doing so, it would cut short consideration of important issues relevant to the national interest. The bill also would authorize the project despite uncertainty due to ongoing litigation in Nebraska.
Because H.R. 3 conflicts with longstanding Executive branch procedures regarding the authority of the President and prevents the thorough consideration of complex issues that could bear on U.S. national interests (including serious security, safety, environmental, and other ramifications), if presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill.

. . .On Keystone, though, the White House has more problems, not the least of which is dishonesty. The State Department has had six years to consider Keystone, which makes the claim that Congress would “cut short consideration of important issues” a laughable lie. The US fought the second world war in less than four years in comparison, and put a man on the Moon in almost the same amount of time that the Obama administration has stalled out on a pipeline. Citing the legal challenge is more nonsense; an approval would have no impact on the court. These applications do not sit around waiting around for the resolution of all possible legal challenges.

The State Department keeps giving the administration go ahead reports on the Keystone Pipeline, and Tom Steyer President Obama keeps sending in back with them to orders to get it right.

White House Promises Keystone Veto

I could write a lot about this, but Ace nailed it in one sentence:

Shock: Obama, Who Was Permitted by the Press For Two Elections to Pretend to Be Waiting to Decide on Issue, Makes Veto Threat on Keystone

The White House is, of course, waiting on yet another finding by the State Department, which has already given it's approval, albeit with the usual caveats, at least twice already.

The veto threat was not a surprise since Obama talked down the economic benefits of the Keystone pipeline in his final press conference before Christmas in December. Obama claimed that the pipeline creates only a few thousand temporary jobs only benefits one Canadian oil company. Earnest also reaffirmed yesterday that Obama is concerned about increased carbon emissions from the project, even though Obama's own State Department found the impact of the project on carbon emissions to be negligible.

On Tuesday, however, Earnest repeatedly stressed that the White House had faith in the State Department's process for ruling on these projects and that, separately a Nebraska judge was also holding up the pipeline.

The application to begin construction on the Keystone pipeline was first submitted to the State Department in 2008 and the House bill would not affect the Nebraska suit since it is based on state law claims.

Given the amount of pipeline already in the United States, and the fact that transporting it by pipeline rather than by rail or truck is many times safer, the recalcitrance of the administration on this issue is criminal.

Major natural gas and oil pipelines in the United States.
Liquid lines in red, gas transmission lines in blue.

UPDATE: Tom McGuire at "Just One Minute" points out a discrepancy in the language used by Josh Earnst, who said that Obama would not sign Keystone Pipeline.  This would not be a veto, and would not have the same effect:

Until we see the full transcript (WhiteHouse.gov) for more context, that is the best we've got. And it's not good enough! Lest you have forgotten your civics, here we go:

Bill becomes law without president's signatureWhen Congress is not adjourned, and the president fails to either sign or veto a bill sent to him by the end of the 10-day period, it becomes law without his signature.

We all remember the "pocket veto", where the President simply holds the bill while Congress adjourns within the ten-day window.

But a threat to "not sign" a bill is different from a threat to send it back with a veto message. Is this deliberate ambiguity, or just a chronic inability to articulate a clear message? well, if this is one more case of the mumble-mouths, at least it is only baffling a domestic audience and not, e.g, Putin or Kim Jong-Un.

So an unsigned bill would become law after 10 days without his signature? Good enough for me.