Paul Bedard at WaEx reports Republicans want Hegseth at the Pentagon — 68% support, I'm surprised, it's so low, but then I remember my initial reaction to Trump picking Hegseth. Really? Bill Whittle, We need a HERO: Pete Hegseth vs. The Deep State. From Da Fetched, Democrat Mega-Donor on Pete Hegseth: “I Actually Think He’s Been a Pretty Good Guy”, Lindy Li. Rep. Biggs to Newsmax: Hegseth Close to Having Confirmation Votes. From Fox, 'Political price to pay': Trump orbit expected to ramp up Ernst criticisms while she withholds Hegseth support. Ben Whedon at JTN, Ernst signals openness to Hegseth after 'encouraging conversations'. Benny Johnson@bennyjohnson, "BREAKING: Senator Joni Ernst announces her SUPPORT For Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. Ernst says she believes Pete Hegseth and not “anonymous sources” WE WON:" Color me skeptical, until the vote takes place.
At NYPo, Sen. Grassley expresses ‘no confidence’ in FBI Director Wray as Republicans cheer Trump nominee Kash Patel. Fox, Grassley rips Wray's 'failed' leadership at FBI with 11 pages of examples in blistering 'no confidence' letter, "'Time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives,' Grassley wrote to FBI Director Wray." WaT reports FBI Director Christopher Wray preparing to resign, by the inauguration. From OTP, Meet The Senators, "Kash Patel Takes His Turn On Capitol Hill In Meeting Lawmakers Key To His Confirmation." Reason's Jacob Sullum whines Kash Patel's Threats Against Journalists Make Him an Alarming Choice To Run the FBI ""We're gonna come after the people in the media," the Trump stalwart warns. "Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out."" Nicholas Ballasy at JTN, Gabbard heads to Capitol Hill for meetings about her nomination as director of national intelligence, "Gabbard's past support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been thrust into the spotlight ahead of the meetings after his regime collapsed over the weekend." The Peacock whines Trump says RFK Jr. will investigate the discredited link between vaccines and autism: ‘Somebody has to find out’ "Researchers attribute a rise in autism diagnoses to increased screening and changing definitions of the condition. Hundreds of studies have found childhood vaccines to be safe." Fine, but I don't trust RFK Jr to do it fairly. From WokeSpy, Megyn Kelly sees the Deep State Planning to Derail Trump’s 2nd Term by Targeting Cabinet Picks. Not a tough prediction. But OTP hears Sen. Tom Cotton: GOP Senate Will Confirm All Trump’s Nominees. But they already got Gaetz.
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| Lara and Donald Trump |
From NewsMax,
Lara Trump Steps Down From RNC Amid Senate Speculation, Rubio's Florida seat. Susie Moore at RedState says
With Harmeet Dhillon, Trump Adds Another Stellar Pick to His Administration, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. Insty calls it
ANOTHER GREAT TRUMP APPOINTMENT. "She and I did a free-speech
panel together at Stanford Law several years ago and I was quite impressed." At Mediaite,
Trump Reportedly Mulling Border Hawk Kari Lake as Ambassador to Mexico, that's gonna sting. At LifeZette,
Trump’s Incoming WH Press Secretary Floats Alternative Media In The Briefing Room, oh no, not bloggers and podcasters!
Stephen Kruiser at PJM fears We All Might Run Out of Popcorn on Inauguration Day. At NYPo Michael Goodwin thinks Donald Trump is poised to have a successful 2nd term as Commander-in-Chief. NewsMax predicts Trump's First Battles for Second Term: Petty Agendas. Insty, at his substack, The Clock Strikes Thirteen, "And the Establishment gets washed away by a preference cascade. But it was a damn close-run thing." Paul Bedard is pleased, Trump can fire anybody he wants, thanks to Sean Spicer "Thanks in part to a court fight former Trump White House spokesman Sean Spicer lost over his firing by Biden from a three-year term to the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy, the incoming president will have the legal backing to dump any of Biden’s over 4,000 appointments who try to stick around. And the best part, Spicer told Secrets, “They’ll have no one to blame but Biden himself.” . . . Spicer said that is exactly what he hoped the courts would do because he wanted to help a future Trump presidency fire Biden’s picks without having its hands tied."
Libs of TikTok@libsoftiktok "NBC is “fact checking” Trump’s interview this morning and they’re repeating the lies that crime is down. Trump is right. Crime is not down. Some major cities just stopped reporting it and the FBI recently quietly updated their crime statistics which was missing thousands of crimes. CRIME IS UP."
Yitz Friedman@friedman_yitz, "2/ First, what the hell is this?
Welker condescends to Trump, appearing to be trying to convince him to raise the minimum wage rather than asking him a question. Totally inappropriate. Trump proceeds to educate her on basic economics." Dave Strom at Hat Hair,
Is It Any Wonder That No Sane Person Takes Fact Checks Seriously? Insty,
WATCHING HER FACIAL EXPRESSIONS WITH THE SOUND OFF IS REVEALING.
Driscoll at Insty,
MSNBC HAS REVEALED A SINISTER NEW DIMENSION TO PROGRESSIVE MEDIA BIAS: And then there is MSNBC’s Joy Reid. On Tuesday, the TV host criticised Trump for “spending his time sitting in his golden palace, Mar-a-Lago, muscling other countries like he’s Tony Soprano with a social media site”. But one of the examples she gave was highly revealing. She cited his demand that Hamas – memo to
the MSNBC faithful, that’s not a country – “release all hostages being held in Gaza before his inauguration, or there will be, quote, ‘all hell to pay in the Middle East’”. That damned Don Soprano, making demands on Hamas! Who does he think he is?" Too bad I can't vote for him again!
At TownHall, Matt Vespa sees a
Progressive Host Nails Why Hunter Biden Got a Lengthy Blanket Pardon, Ana Kasparian. At Althouse,
What are the downsides of granting blanket pardons of the sort Biden is considering? "Isaac Chotiner asks lawprof Rachel Barkow, in
"Are Blanket Pardons for Officials on Donald Trump’s Target List a Good Idea?/As the Biden Administration considers granting clemency to officials singled out by Trump, a legal scholar explains the advantages and pitfalls of extending such protections" (The New Yorker)." At Am Great, the Great Victor Davis Hanson on
Biden’s Paranoid Pardons and Leftist Morality, "This unprecedented pardon is not aberrant. It is characteristic of the left’s recent contempt for the rule of law." 'Bonchie' at RedState hears
Liz Cheney Threatens Donald Trump's DOJ With 'Sanctions' If They Investigate Her. Twitchy,
Liz Cheney Has a Warning for Any Lawyer Who Would Investigate the J6 Committee.
Catturd ™@catturd2, "
She’s terrified." Quote Ian Jaeger@IanJaeger29, "BREAKING: Liz Cheney says that any lawyer who investigates members of the January 6th committee, will find themselves engaged in sanctionable conduct."
Nate Silver@NateSilver538 "
Idk, maybe Democrats should try to win elections instead of cater to neurotic privileged weirdos." Quote Anthony LaMesa@ajlamesa, ""Democrats began their meeting on Thursday with a "land acknowledgement," a symbolic gesture that grants that the land a person is standing on previously belonged to Native Americans..." x.com/ajlamesa/statu…" John Kass thinks
To Move Forward, Democrats Must Oust Obama. At Hat Hair, John Sexton hears
Matt Yglesias: Conservatives are Right About Identity Politics, subtraction by division. Fox,
Black Harris staffers say they were mistreated on the campaign, blame leadership for taking base for granted "The allegations only came to light now because staffers were reportedly advised against speaking out ." My guess is that staffers are treated shittily across the board by both parties when they lose.
Steve Guest @SteveGuest, "WATCH:
Following Kamala Harris’ loss, Biden Climate Czar John Podesta apologizes to the "climate regime" for the "disappointment that the United States has at times caused.""
The Redoubtable Julie Kelly
My Latest for Real Clear Investigations, "How DC judges are brazenly denying any relief for J6ers even as President Trump continues to promise pardons are in the making on Day One, at RCI,
Nearly 4 Years Later, No Letup in Jan. 6 Prosecutions, Possible Pardons or Not. One of The Chicago Boyz has
Thoughts on J6 Pardons and Investigations "The pardon decision must reflect zero tolerance of violence other than justifiable self-defense. The pardon announcement must call attention to prosecutorial abuse, excessively lengthy pretrial detention, and pretrial prison conditions."
Oilfield Rando@Oilfield_Rando, "
Hey remember that time when a bunch of parents got put on an FBI terror watch list for yelling at school board meetings about teachers showing their kids gay p0rn?" Quote Breaking911@Breaking911, "Hawk Newsome, founder of BLM of Greater New York, reacts to Penny verdict by advocating for retaliation against white people: "We need some black vigilantes. People wanna jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud? How about we do the same?"
The other major event was an arrest in the brazen assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the streets New York. The arrestee is a young, Ivy-educated, scion of a wealthy Maryland family. He was arrested with what was apparently the murder weapon still in his possession, with the fake ID he used in New York and a manifesto. He was spotted by sharp eyed employee at a McDonalds in Altoona, PA. Balmer Sun,
Man arrested in connection to health care CEO’s killing was Maryland native, Gilman graduate. "Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, was
eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania Monday morning when an employee recognized him — police had widely circulated surveillance footage of an alleged shooter — and called local police, authorities in New York told reporters at a news conference."
Driscoll at Insty,
DEVELOPING: Pennsylvania Police Question Man Found With ‘Similar’ Weapon As Was Used in Insurance CEO Assassination. "UPDATE:
“The handwritten manifesto found on the person of the man detained in Altoona criticized health care companies for putting profits above care, according to a senior law enforcement official,” Andy Newman of the New York Times writes." Ace, in red italics,
"Person of Interest" In Health Care CEO Assassination Caught in Altoona, PA, Identified as Luigi Mangione, "Former Ivy League Student" NYT: He Carried a Manifesto Decrying Health Care Corporations' Greed. At Hat Hair, Dave Strom calls out
Hatred Born Out of Delusion.
Melissa Chen@MsMelChen, "The public glee evident towards the United Health CEO death feels a tad “French Revolution” The top reaction to the official post from the company was the laugh emoji." But one good thing may have come out of it, from Semafor,
Taylor Lorenz and Vox are parting ways.
The Wombat has
Ruke 5 Sunday: Little Mischief Baker (sic) and
FMJRA 2.0: The Draft Plays On up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.
