So, the Black Lives Matter thing? If you had guessed it was ginned up by commie activists, you guessed right. It does, after all, have the primary mark of a leftwing program – it is based upon lies.

John Stoehr over at The Week notes that Hillary will continue Obama’s policies and this is proof that Hillary is the change we need. I wonder: do our progs even remotely realize how silly their double-speak sounds?

Pretty sure that Team Hillary’s prediction of a what will result from a Sanders win in Iowa is “a plague of locusts o’er the land” – Nate Silver, however, breaks it down pretty well. Bottom line: Iowa and New Hampshire are Sanders country…filled with white, upper class liberals. Elsewhere in the country, not so much. On the other hand, a Sanders win in both places might tilt enough voters in SC his way to make even a Hillary win look weak…and then just about everything is up for grabs in the Democrat primary.

Apparently, Bill Clinton wasn’t looking a picture of health at a rally – and there are plenty of questions about Hillary’s overall health. Sanders, at 74, does appear at times more vigorous than both of them (maybe being a granola-eating hippy does have benefits?). Not to be disrespectful, here, but in the Clinton’s we are proposing to elect a Geezer-American as President. This can be done – most famously by Reagan…but Reagan looked and acted like the picture of good health. Question: if Hillary gets elected and is incapacitated while in office, would the Administration tell us?

Trump is to travel to Arkansas next week – Allahpundit notes the oddity. The obvious conclusion – Huckabee is going to endorse Trump. Allahpundit notes some strong reasons for doing this (animosity towards Cruz; possibility of some position with Trump…maybe even a VP pick). It would be yet another major Evangelical voice coming out for Trump who is, well, let’s just say he’s a bit theologically vague and has a checkered past. I admit I don’t understand the willingness of Evangelicals to back Trump – especially against rock-solid Evangelicals like Cruz (and Huckabee). Maybe this is just because I’m Catholic and can’t see it all from the inside…I fully understand the forgive thing (it is only anti-Christians who believe that Christians are cruel and unforgiving), but I wouldn’t expect someone like Trump – who has not, apparently, repented of those past actions which rather flew in the face of Christian morality – to get this sort of Evangelical support. But, there it is…

The Administration is changing the rules on labeling Israeli-made products. Seems that if you make your product on land the Administration considers Palestine, you can’t call it “Made in Israel”. This is to punish Israel over the Settlements issue. But if they aren’t labeled “Made in Israel”, then what will they be labeled? That is unclear. But what is clear is that, once again, the Obama Administration is signalling anti-Israel views.

I am a fan of National Review and enjoy reading their articles, but their decision last week to come out against Trump was irresponsible, and displays a disconnect from everyday Americans that evidently even our conservative pundits share. Of course keep in mind, they all do work within the beltway, enjoy six figure incomes, and attend much of the same cocktail parties, so it isn’t difficult to surmise that after many of their collegial, more liberal friends bent their ear about how “offensive” Trump is, at their latest cocktail soiree, the executives at NR decided it was probably best to come out against Trump to shore up their DC bona fides. To me, it exposes them for their lack of appreciation of just how fed up Americans are with their current government and possibly how disingenuous they are when they do pontificate on smaller government, conservatism and states rights. It appears to me that the status quo sets well with the boys at National Review and the last thing they want is some one like Trump upsetting their apple cart. Besides, when a Democrat is in office, conservative publications and opinions sell better. Maybe that’s their end game.

Had a post up for half an hour – didn’t like the total flow of it. It’ll be back up later, if you saw it. Meanwhile, how about an open thread like I promised?

We’re only 24 days until we reach Gore’s proclaimed point of no return on global warming climate change. Ah, Earth – we hardly knew ye.

The Saudi’s executed a Shia cleric and some rumbles of rebellion among Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority are being heard. Just to let you know – the Shia’s in Saudi Arabia live where a huge amount of Saudi Arabia’s oil is. This could get messy.

Obama, entering his last year in office, seems determined to boost gun sales, again. Anyone check to see if he’s a major stockholder in gun firms?

Gary Kasparov wonders whither America?

Rhambo took his vacation in Cuba – probably getting a few pointers on how to maintain one-party control.

Or so the Mamas and the Papas claimed…

At any rate, Victor Davis Hanson ponders what will happen in 2017 if a Republican takes office:

…In January 2017, the new president might announce a cut-off of all federal funds for sanctuary cities found in violation of federal law. Or, also taking his cue from Obama, he might allow individual municipalities to nullify federal laws as they see fit: The Endangered Species Act null and avoid inside Salt Lake City? Gay marriage illegal within the city limits of Mobile? Gun control mandates too much of a hassle for those living in Laramie? Texas towns free to burn coal as they please?

The media will object, but they will sound shrill and empty given their prior sanction of Obama’s illegal precedents. Apparently, from now on the president alone will set immigration laws, enforcing statutes he finds useful, ignoring those he doesn’t—and all without credible censure from the media…

But I’m sure Media Matters will create a chart to “prove” to our Progs that Obama had fewer unconstitutional power grabs than any other President.

Hanson is very right about this – and all of us have cause to be worried. The Obama Administration wasn’t just a policy disaster, is was a precedent disaster. More so, in my view, than even FDR’s Administration was. It will be nice if in 2017 we swear in a modern version of Calvin Coolidge – a humble man who limited himself out of an abundance of understanding about human limitations. But such people are few and far between in politics. The temptation to just ignore the law will be high for most. Obama didn’t start this ball rolling – oddly, it was Teddy Roosevelt who did – but he’s carried it the furthest and has most distinctly violated the requirement for the President to enforce the laws faithfully. Will the next President voluntarily give up the powers Obama has taken?

Story out there that Trump trade-marked “Make America Great Again” in 2012. If so, then this whole Trump phenomena is scripted from start to finish – meaning, that Trump is just following a plan he worked out in advance. Nothing will be funnier to me than to find out that this populist wave of righteous anger was really nothing more than a clever sales job – also, nothing would be less surprising.

Las Vegas money bags Sheldon Adelson purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal – Nevada’s largest newspaper. In some ways, this is just another zillionaire buying the ability to push his views – but the difference here is that in some respects Adelson adheres to the right in politics. Nothing will break down the left’s stranglehold on popular culture than a non-left take over of newspapers, magazines and websites.

Report that Team Hillary is a little worried about the prospects in Iowa and New Hampshire. I’d give them a 90% chance of being victorious there…but if she loses one or both, the whole Democrat primary gets thrown into chaos.

And, now, how about some Mamas and Papas?

I thought we would pick up where we left off on the Thanksgiving thread. There is certainly a lot to talk about, including this recent NYT article on Climate Change which I thought was irresponsible. Talk about fear based politics and not one mention of data manipulation or previous predictions which have been way off the mark. Then of course there is this article on the Maunder Minimum which in my opinion merits attention.

And finally, on an issue all of us have discussed at length and what Democrats are fond of calling the “Great Recession”, here is a well sourced article that connects the dots better than we ever did and it reveals a lot.