Open Thread

Open Thread

Mark Noonan37 Comments

Good article on the Democrat-created collapse of California into Third World status. My only quibble is whether or not the voters of California are really that stupid – I do believe a great deal of the Democrat’s continued power there in spite of obvious failure is due to voter fraud on a grand scale.

Adam Schiff – a completely garbage person – is essentially witness tampering. He has to: if there aren’t lies, then he won’t even have a garbage reason to impeach Trump.

Meanwhile, the latest savior for impeachment – Lt. Colonel Vindman – is going to prove as a much a dud as the previous saviors. The real problem here, of course, is that Trump hasn’t done anything wrong. Had he explicitly told the Ukrainians that they’d get nothing unless they specifically investigated Hunter Biden, that still wouldn’t be a violation of law. In fact, it would be Trump merely going his job as the sole man with Constitutional authority to enforce federal law. To put it in really clear terms: once Trump became aware of what the Bidens were up to, it would have been an impeachable offense had he not done all he could to have the matter investigated as he is commanded by the Constitution to see to it that the laws are faithfully enforced. Anyways, back to Vindman: my bet is that he’s the guy who told the “whistleblower”…and if so, he broke the law…and so running to Congress may be a mere means to protect himself against prosecution by Barr.

Taylor Swift, who has been going increasingly SJW, is going to perform like a trained dog for the Chinese Communists. This does lend credence to a theory I’ve heard that it is the Chi-Coms who are pushing the SJW crap as a means to weaken the United States. Say bad things about America, get a Chinese contract.

Related: China’s economic problems could make for more aggression. Could be: a little known aspect of the timing of the start of WWII was that Hitler was informed in early 1939 that Germany was close to bankruptcy and it was either stop the military build up and have a recession, or conquer resources. The original German plan to attack was moved up from 1942 to 1939.

Its a Criminal Investigation Open Thread

Mark Noonan81 Comments

This is a bit important:

U.S. Attorney John Durham’s ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation, two sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News on Thursday night.

One source added that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s upcoming report on FBI surveillance abuses will shed light on why Durham’s probe has become a criminal inquiry.

Now, we’ll see how it comes out – but I’m just pleased that there’s likely to be a grand jury empaneled and these Deep State creeps will be dragged through it. Maybe we can’t send them to jail…but we can do a bit of the Left’s “the process is the punishment” on them. Let them have to hire attorneys and bankrupt themselves doing it. Enough is really enough.

The Left is, of course, having fits tonight about this – but that made me point out on Twitter that they are simply not used to a Republican President who fights back. They are used to investigating us and dragging our names through the mud and never a bit of pushback. Even when a Democrat’s corruption is so flagrant that they do have to go to jail, they are used to the GOP taking no advantage of it. Part of this is because a lot of our guys are neck deep in it, as well: and know they can expect no mercy from the Left. But, come on! As Matt and I carefully recorded in our 2007 book, The Caucus of Corruption, the Democrats/Left/Establishment/What Have You are corrupt to the bone. And they’ve simply gotten away with it – and for so long that they really do think the laws don’t apply to them. Well, they are about to find out that the only man with the federal power of indictment and trial is President Trump…and he’s not only uninterested in going along to get along, he’s got a lot of scores to settle. The good news is that his opponents are so dirty that Trump merely has to find a guy who will investigate and prosecute and just let things roll along.

You might have forgot the Israeli elections a little while back – but, they are still going on, because there was no clear winner:

President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday tasked Benny Gantz, the Blue and White party leader, with forming Israel’s next government, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier this week that he had failed to do so.

Gantz, like Netanyahu before him, now has 28 days to try and form a government, though the prime minister-designate is seen as being no more likely to manage the task.

So, Bibi is at least temporarily out: but it does seem difficult for Gantz to put a government together. Though, without knowing all the ins and outs of Israeli politics, I wonder if Bibi would be willing to throw his support to Gantz in return for a dropping of the ongoing criminal investigation Bibi faces? Guess we’ll find out – but from what I can tell, the likely outcome is that the Israelis will have to go to the polls a third time to see if they can sort it out. This is why I do like our Presidential system of government, by the way: it is clear, concise and only one person can possibly win.

We might finally get the 54’40” that President Polk promised us so long ago:

Following the reelection of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister with a Liberal minority, #Wexit, or Western exit (a play on Brexit), immediately began trending on Twitter, with separatist accounts gaining thousands of new followers.

One of the most important takeaways from the election is the blue sweep throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan. Both provinces have expressed growing indignation over the other provinces’ dependence on the oil industry, while simultaneously trying to stifle Alberta’s business prospects and economic growth by opposing pipelines.

“Blue” in Canadian terms is like “Red” here in the States: basically, Canada has the same sort of divide we do – coastal vs interior and urban vs rural. And if you want to talk about a loused up system: Trudeau barely crested 33% of the vote – a smaller total than his Conservative rival – and yet secured another four years as Prime Minister. I naturally doubt that Canada will break up – but, I’m pretty sure we could get Republican Senators out of the new States of Alberta, Saskatchewan and East British Columbia. So, let’s talk!

Congresswoman Katie Hill (D-CA) who probably won via a flurry of ballot-box stuffing in 2018, is quite the saucy tart. What makes it really funny is that this bong-hitting, tramp-stamped boozer who likes to go nude was fussing about Kavanaugh’s moral fitness. If it wasn’t for double standards, they’ve have no standards at all.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan24 Comments

We went from the Deep State being a paranoid, right-wing conspiracy to it being the Defender of Democracy very fast:

The deep state is alive and well, composed of patriotic public servants. Their aim is not to bring down President Trump out of personal or political animus but to rescue the Republic from his excesses…

How it works out as a good thing that those with zero power should thwart those vested with Constitutional authority is beyond me – save as more proof of my They Are All Insane Liars theory. Still, this is a major admission – via the New York Times, the mouthpiece of the Ruling Class – that they are, indeed, attempting to subvert the Presidency. That they are cloaking it as selfless dedication merely indicates they are psychopaths…but the revelation, itself, means they know the jig is up: that Trump and team are about to spill the beans on just what the Deep State has been up to. This is pre-spin to get the Democrat base to think the upcoming revelations are good for Democrats and bad for Trump.

As for the Impeachment thing, itself: if you listen to the Experts, its all moving along smoothly and Trump is doomed…though all predictions of doom are given an asterisk and if you dig deep you find that even in the massively rigged polls, they aren’t finding a majority solidly in favor of removing the President. Maybe we on our side are the blind idiots who are missing crucial facts…anything is possible; but when the pack of insane liars which is the MSM are all reading from the same script my default position – based on decades of experience – is that they are merely pushing an insane lie. We’ll find out soon enough which is which.

And if you think Romney is winning any friends for standing athwart Trump – well, maybe not:

The survey by Utah Policy and Y2 Analytics shows that only 46 percent of respondents in Utah approve of his performance, while 51 percent do not approve of his performance.

Romney was elected in 2018 with 62 percent of the vote.

Mormons, by and large, were never going to warm to Trump. The over-the-top glitz; the brashness; the womanizing…these are not the Mormons favorite things. But, also, Mormons ain’t stupid, people: they know that if they want to be Mormons practicing their faith without let or hindrance from the Left, then Trump is their go-to guy right now…and undermining him from within is unwise. And there’s also this: people don’t like a back-stabber. Trump endorsed Romney in 2012 and in 2018: where is the return on that? It looks really lousy for Mitt to jump on Trump.

In a bit of Deus Vulte news, a group of Catholics tossed a pagan idol into the Tiber the other day. The idol, itself (a hideously ugly thing to look at, as are most pagan idols), supposedly represents the indigenous peoples of the Amazon…but, whatever: it was a pagan idol and the Pope shouldn’t have allowed it in a Catholic Church. I’m not one of those who subscribes to the Commie Pope thing as some of my more Trad fellow Catholics do…but it is clear to me that Pope Francis is allowing a lot of foxes into the hen house.

Leftists claimed that polar bears were dying out because of climate change. Scientist investigated the matter and determined that polar bears are thriving. Scientist has now been forced out of her position. The Left is at war with Science, guys; for all their supposed adherence to it, they are ignorant pagans who are in the act of destroying all science. One hundred years from now, if we don’t stop them, we’ll be living in another Dark Age.

A Texas jury has awarded sole custody to a mother so she may begin the chemical castration of her seven year old son. I’ve been unable to find out precisely why the father lost custody – other than a generic “bitter divorce fight” sort of thing. Was dad abusive? Drunk? Don’t know – going back a bit, haven’t found anything that clarifies that aspect of the case. But the bottom line is that it is insane to have a 7 year old transition to anything. This is especially the case when we’re talking about chemical alteration of the boy’s body, which may cause irreversible damage. That a judge even for a moment entertained the assertion that the boy should be allowed to transition shows how far down the road to complete lunacy we’ve gone. And right now, there are really no laws regarding this – but we’re going to have to make laws prohibiting transition prior to 18 (at least: I would prefer we make it 21). The trans issue is the last, bright red line: we allow the Left to push us past this and we’ll all be forced to deny self-evident truth and become liars.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan40 Comments

Been working on the sequel to Mirrors, to be called Secrets. As you’ve all read Mirrors by now (right?) you know that our great heroes, Bryce and Fred, are up to any challenge…but I’ve got Fred in quite the pickle in Secrets and I’m puzzled about how I get him out of it. I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I hope – really, honestly – to have Secrets out early in 2020.

Hillary accused Tulsi Gabbard and Jill Stein (the lady who helped Hillary create the Trump-Russia Narrative, as you might recall) of being Russian agents. And everyone called her insane, right? Nope. I mean, lots of people did – but on the Democrat/Never Trump side its all been silence or, “hey, they are kinda Russian Agent-y”. These people are completely out of control.

As for why Hillary is suddenly worried about our Precious Bodily Fluids, the fact that her illegal server was, well, illegal and a huge security risk might play a role here.

Rasmussen finds that 49% of the American people haven’t been paying attention while 51% believe that the efforts to get Trump are a scam.

Trump’s lawyers go after CNN. Will anything come of it? Unlikely – but it is enormously funny.

Some US Senators – including Marco Rubio – have issued as statement to Activision Blizzard over it’s corporate kowtowing to China. It is an important issue and I’m glad it is being brought up (and under anyone but Trump, it never would have come up). China, of course, threatens dire punishment to any corporation which crosses China. Our job is to punish corporations even more if they kowtow. Enough of this – if you want to be corporate slaves to China, move your operations there.

There’s this group of ladies who dress up like 1940’s pinup girls and they go visit wounded veterans – except the VA says they don’t want them there because, I guess, there’s an a**hole out there who is offended (I can’t imagine any real veteran – even gay or female – being offended by this). We really need to bring a stop to this nonsense.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan68 Comments

The Impeachment Drama continues, but behind closed doors and then selective leaks to the MSM…which means they’ve got nothing but are trying to make it appear they have. I think it is still just with the hope that, somehow, Trump’s support will drop…but, absent that, I don’t see the Democrats actually impeaching Trump…they’ll probably drop the matter some time between Christmas and the first primaries. Though they might drag it out until March or April if the Democrat primary turns out to be too much of a clown show.

As for Trump’s support – he went down to Louisiana the day before their State and local elections and the GOP scored a tremendous victory the next day. Sure, Louisiana is a very red State, but it was really a phenomenal victory all up and down the ballot (you’re not hearing about it in the MSM because, per humorist David Burge, the job of the MSM is to “cover stories. With a pillow. Until they stop moving”). As a party, the Louisiana Democrats are barely clinging to the governorship (with a better than even chance they lose that in the November run-off) and, once that is gone, they’ll have no power at all in the State. Trump is also raising buckets of money and can whistle up a huge crowd on short notice. Polling also seems to indicate that his support hasn’t been dented but, you know: polling.

As if you didn’t already know – CNN really does have a vendetta against Trump, and it comes from the top.

Hunter Biden gave an interview to the very friendly MSM and still managed to step in it, if early reviews are correct (I didn’t watch it, myself). As Don Surber notes:

The ABC interview actually incriminated Hunter Biden as he had to concede that he has mooched off his old man’s position as senator and vice president.

The son said, “In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part. Is that I think that it was poor judgment because I don’t believe now, when I look back on it — I know that there was — did nothing wrong at all,” said Biden. However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is…a swamp in — in — in many ways? Yeah.”

He also said, “I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father. That’s where I made the mistake. So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.”

He takes no responsibility. He takes cash instead. He got his gigs because his name is Biden, which is all one needs to know about his lack of ethics.

This won’t work as well for Team Biden as I guess they thought it would. And given the Washington Post has a slobbering puff piece out about Warren, I’m guessing Joe’s days on the campaign trail are numbered.

The NBA has decided that sweet, sweet Chinese cash is the price of their soul. I stopped watching the NBA years ago as the players became increasingly garbage people who still dared to lecture Americans on morality…but there is something extra nauseating here. Remember, the NBA went ballistic when an American State tried to make a law about bathroom use…now they’re telling everyone to shut up about Hong Kong, because the ChiComs told them to.

Turns out that Trump’s economic policies are mostly benefiting….the middle class. Be fun to see how that works out in votes next year. I mean, fun for you and me: for Democrats, might be a bit less fun.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan61 Comments

Trump pulls our tiny number of troops out of part of northern Syria and all of a sudden, all of Trump’s opponents are pro-war. Ain’t fallin’ for it, guys.

As I said back when Obama was President, I’ve become quite the peace-nik – mostly because of complete lack of trust. I do trust President Trump’s basic instincts here, but overall I don’t trust our government, our military brass or the Democrats when it comes to war. The lives of our troops are too important for them to be thrown away on unclear, endless missions where we surrender all our military advantages and then haul up our troops on charges of war crimes when they make what some REMF thinks is a mistake. I’ll agree to send our troops to war on the following conditions:

1. It is declared.
2. It is fought with brutal and unlimited use of our military force.
3. This is very important to me – we inform all and sundry that when dealing with captured irregulars and hostile “civilian” populations, we’re going to use Rule .303.

The Trump impeachment circus goes on – from what I can tell, Schiff all but wrote the “whistleblower” complaint and as that is falling apart, the Democrats are cooking up a second “whistleblower” to shore up their collapsing case. Meanwhile, various DOJ investigators seem to be closing in on the whole start of the scandal – you know, back in 2016 when the O Admin authorized spying on Trump – and this is getting more and more people into a panic. None of can say where this goes, but I’m feeling confident that Trump (and McConnell) have a very firm grip on this and they are planning on using impeachment – if the Democrats do go for it – as a hammer in 2020.

Dick’s got woke and went broke – but don’t think that will deter them. The only thing an American corporation fears these days is offending the Chinese government. Dick’s made its anti-gun SJW move because it was, socially, cost-free for them. We have to make it economically expensive for corporations to indulge in this sort of thing – only then will they cool it.

Ellen DeGeneres was in the box at a football game with W and the left went ballistic. Ellen made a statement about how its ok for people to disagree and still be kind to each other. That isn’t sitting at all well with the left:

“Avengers” star Mark Ruffalo certainly agreed, saying kindness was out of the question until Bush was brought to justice.

Got that? Brought to justice…for the crime of being a moderately conservative Republican. And this is what Ellen – conventional American liberal – and W – conventional American conservative – don’t get: the left hates. It is what it does, first and foremost and above all else. For every Ellen there are a dozen liberals who’s fondest hope is to see people like us suffer. We could get along with – and often split the difference – with liberals who don’t hate, but such are not remotely in control of the left. We have to defeat these people – drive them from power and take away their subsidies. And we won’t be able to do that if we’re all pretending – as conventional conservatism has – that the left is run by sane people.

The brownouts in California afford us, I think, an opportunity to start rebuilding Republican strength in California. California is horribly misgoverned and this power outage thing just highlights how bad it is there. Trump has commented on it – to the fury of California Democrats – but I’m hoping that someone on Team Trump is really looking at the State to for any election prospects. Certainly it is worth it simply to run up the GOP vote total and thus help Trump win the popular vote (not that it matters, but that it’ll be a fitting and final insult to the Democrats) – but, long term, we can’t rely on Texas forever…and Californians are our fellow Americans (well, most of them, anyway) and we should be working to free them from liberal tyranny and malfeasance.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan98 Comments

In the Romney vs Trump battle, I can only say that it is the last straw for me: I am done, forever, with people like Romney. I can understand why someone might not like Trump but if you’re a Republican, your job is to advance the fortunes of the Republican Party – to propose Republican things. To make Republicans look as good as you can. To battle back against the Democrats. There was so much Romney could have done…and among all the things he could choose from, he decides to go after Trump…which no Republican was asking for him to do (Trump’s approval rating among GOPers is in the 95% range). So, what is Romney up to? In my view, its one of two things or it could be both: his own family is deep into garbage like the Bidens are and Trump refused Romney as SecState. I regret deeply voting for Romney in 2012 and I’m glad he lost.

If you listen to the Left and Never Trump (BIRM), Trump is already finished…its only a matter of a short time before he’s forced out (Romney’s thing was scripted into this, I’m sure). They believe this because, seriously, they only talk to themselves. Lots of things may happen to Trump – but being forced out over a clear hit job by the Democrats isn’t one of them.

Related: McConnell is doing anti-impeachment ads. This tells you what the fate of impeachment will be in Cocaine Mitch’s Senate should Nancy be forced to call a vote (she does not want to).

AOC says Trump’s attacks on Schiff are anti-Semitic. The most common response to this accusation from Trump supporters (myself included): he’s Jewish? Didn’t know that.

Related: anti-Semitic hate crimes are rising fast in Progressive NYC. Why? Because Progressives welcome anti-Semites. It is really that simple.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan117 Comments

The Experts are still talking up how Trump is doomed…but:

The Republican National Committee (RNC) continues to bring in lots of money thanks to the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

The RNC’s fundraising platform has brought in over $30 million in three months since it launched in June. Officials credit the impeachment inquiry.

That’s a lot of scratch…and while we can’t say for certain what it means, the fact that its happening does say that Trump and the GOP are popular somewhere in the country. Trump is already teeing up general election ads and its more than 13 months from election day…and Democrats won’t get started on a general election campaign for at least five months. You ask anyone who really does politics and if he gets to pick which situation he’s in, he’s going to pick Trump’s.

Meanwhile, our Matt takes note other another aspect of it:

Democrat Senators from red states have expressed concern that the impeachment process started by Nancy Pelosi “may spin out of control and destroy any chance their party might have of winning back the majority next year,” according to a report from The Hill. These Democrats believe that if their party doesn’t act quickly, Trump could “turn the tables on them.”

Would Manchin or, especially, Jones (who is up for re-election next year in a Trump +30 State) really vote to convict?

In case you were wondering how our liberals are dealing with things:

Recently, I went to dinner at the home of Rebecca Kee, a preschool principal in San Francisco who turned to Maddow in her depression and confusion over the 2016 election. I brought a bottle of rosé, and she poured it into glasses decorated with charms that featured Russia-investigation figures on one side and characters from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” on the other. I sipped from the Hope Hicks/Beverly Crusher glass, and we watched Maddow’s show over veggie enchiladas. “I think of her as a news doula: You know the news is going to be painful no matter what, so we might as well have someone who helps us survive it,” Kee told me. Last year, Kee had a Maddow-themed birthday party, at which her friends and her two young sons put on big black glasses and slicked their hair to the side. Also in attendance was a life-size cardboard cutout of Maddow, which is now in storage so as not to startle guests.

These people have lost it. If we don’t win next year, then we deserve every bit of what’s coming to us.

Report indicates that red meat isn’t all that bad for you – which is another “of course”. The campaign against red meat – like previous campaigns against eggs or coffee – were ridiculous efforts by various puritan scolds who got fixated on a thing and then tried to force us all to go along. The key to human diet is moderation – eat the red meat; have the cake; drink the beer…but don’t eat ten pounds of red meat a day; don’t have the whole cake; after two or three beers, ease off. We’re built – by God or Nature, take your pick – to eat pretty much everything there is. My view is that we must have a varied diet to be healthy. To tell anyone to entirely eliminate a food or heavily concentrate on only one thing seems to me rather insane.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan60 Comments

I’m getting some feedback on “Mirrors” and I have to say I’m pleased – people are liking it. Wish it would sell more, of course! But, the main thing is that I’ve written a story that people like. And I’m very grateful for that.

So, the Ukraine thing – looks more and more like it is another self-own by the Democrats: it is the Bidens who might be in jeopardy, not Trump. My view: in any controversy regarding Trump, always work on the assumption that he’s the guy who didn’t break the law. We’ve long heard about Biden’s son getting sweet heart deals in Ukraine…and my bet is that this NSA “whistleblower” was a desperate rear-guard to try and keep it from coming out. RSM has thoughts.

Patriots ditch Antonio Brown after a mere 11 days with rising allegations of bad behavior. I don’t know what is true in this – it’ll come out over time, I’m sure.

We’re close to flipping the 9th Circuit – this is why we elected Trump and why we have to re-elect him. Once the Courts are firmly in the hands of judges who will enforce the law not only will the left no longer be able to impose their policies via judicial fiat, but we’ll be able to start rolling back the previous, unconstitutional rulings liberal judges made. All those years the Tru-Cons told us they’d do this…and they never, ever did: Trump has nearly done it in three years. All that was lacking was the will.

“Ad Astra” has a good review. I might have to go see it – and as the Progs are simply hating Sallone’s latest “First Blood” installment, I’ll probably have to check it out, too.

Trump’s approval rating is better than Obama’s at this point in his term. And this with, I’m very certain, polls cooked to make Trump look worse than he is.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan95 Comments

Polls are meh, but there is a poll which says that Trump’s approval among Hispanics is at 37% and African-Americans at 26%. If so, the Democrats are doomed. But, once again, it is a poll. On the other hand, I’ve seen various news stories indicating that Team Trump is rolling out a very sophisticated voter outreach program…not just designed to do the usual stuff, but do things like bring people into voting who haven’t voted before or not very often. If they can really pull off something like that, then the 2020 results might be the shocker of all shocks…and other than a few bits and pieces fed to MSMers (some of which will be deliberate misdirection), most people won’t see it until it happens.

Beto decided to hand the GOP a gift in the form of admitting that liberals like him are after gun confiscation. Beto knows he won’t be the nominee – and he also knows that he has no real future in Texas politics. So, he’s just setting fire to things because it will generate attention and money and allow him to live well. But the bottom line is that a Democrat President for candidate has called for confiscation…and you can rely on it that none of the others will really dissent from that view. They can’t: they’ve told their mostly-mindless base that guns are bad and for a Progressive, all bad things must be utterly destroyed. Just that one assertion might get Trump two or three million more votes in 2020.

Democrats want to impeach Trump – because they’ve been told that Orange Man Bad and, once again, all bad things must be destroyed. However, the Democrat leaders know that doing such a thing absent a half dozen GOP Senators willing to vote with them is political suicide…and that wouldn’t happen unless Trump’s approval among GOP voters drops below, say, 75% (latest poll shows him at about 94% approval among GOP voters). So, they are trying to have it both ways – telling their base that they are super serial gonna get that guy Trump, but behind the scenes not actually doing anything. Well, Trump’s DOJ is calling them out on it – essentially telling them to sh** or get off the pot; which boxes the Democrats in nicely. They’ll eventually either have to drop it or drive forward…either way it would be a political disaster for them.

Abortion “doctor” kept body parts of his victims…you know, like serial killers do. This is not at all surprising – no decent doctor would perform an elective abortion. Only the dregs of the medical field would go into that as a primary means of making money…and the dregs tend to be low caliber people. Like this house of horrors abortionist.

China has some food problems:

…lifting the tariffs, China has just admitted it cannot produce enough protein for national consumption, both as a staple or as a preferred meat. Imagine a US shortage of wheat and chicken, with no real access to corn or beef, and a couple dozen urban areas of 20 millions or more with just a third arable land as now. That’s China.

So, what’s the problem with China’s agricultural industry? Basically, they simply do not have enough land to grow the volume of soy they need; and, their pork production is highly diffused and is ravaged by a massive and seemingly uncontrollable swine flu epidemic. In fact, it is estimated that up to 60% of China’s pigs are infected with the flu.

To compound a bad situation to worse, Chinese officials are both incapable of enforcing a quarantine and too corrupt to stop the spread of the flu.

China is a giant on spindly legs. We have far more leverage over them than we suspect – and we’ve never used it, until just recently. We’ll see how Trump does.