filibuster

Open Thread

Mark Noonan25 Comments

Time flies when you’re painting the house!

Anyways, Mark Kelly (D-AZ) announced he will vote to kill the filibuster…which means his pollster told him he’s doomed in November and so now is going for the MSNBC gig. So far, Sinema and Manchin are firm in keeping it, but Schumer is going to keep trying. At least some people – but not nearly enough – are openly saying that this whole “voting rights” effort is merely an effort to secure Democrat voter fraud forever. They want to win by cheating. To become what the PRI was to Mexico for 70 years – a Ruling Party which engages in sham elections to lend itself a patina of legitimacy. We’ll see if they are able to do it. Their strategy right now is to call Sinema a white supremacist. Not sure this will work.

Absent this, it looks like the Democrats are in for a blow out loss in November. Think in terms of anything D+10 or less being vulnerable. So far, 28 House Democrats have announced they won’t seek re-election.

NPR reported that Gorsuch and Sotomayor were feuding over mask wearing. Turns out this was Fake News. Because that is all NPR does.

Commies on American campuses are removing statues. You know, just like Chinese commies are doing in Hong Kong. Birds of a feather.

Insane person pushes a woman into the path of an oncoming subway train and everyone is all shocked. How can you be? We decided (well, “we” as in a few lawyers and judges) back in the 70’s that being insane isn’t sufficient cause to place a person into protective custody. That really was the first shot across the bow on where we were heading…that sane people could not, except for a very short period, put restrictions on the insane was a signpost to societal destruction. We’re all sympathetic. We don’t want insane people denied due process, abused or left to rot in filth (as all too often happened in the past) but the answer to poor care at insane asylums was to improve the asylums…not let raving nutters out. People who cannot perform basic life functions such as maintain personal cleanliness and normal social interaction belong under care…not wandering through the streets. It is brutal and inhuman to let these poor people try to take care of themselves when their mental condition is such that they cannot.

UPDATE: Well, they failed – at the end of the day, both Sinema and Manchin stood up and voted very definitely against a rules change. This not only preserves the filibuster for now, it may retain it in our system for quite a long while…but mostly because we’ll probably have 54 GOP Senators come January next and then it is probably 3 or 4 cycles before the Democrats have a realistic shot at a Senate majority.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan57 Comments

Social media can be a bit of a treasure – sometimes what passes through your TL is amazing.

A little earlier today I came across a USA Today thread discussing how we need to differentiate between pedophiles and those who abuse children. No, I’m not kidding. What this is, of course, is an attempt to start normalizing pedophilia. They have to, you see? That is, they have to do this before they all get caught. They are going to “love is love” their way into legalizing the sexual abuse of children.

Then I came across a Financial Times article written by a member of the American Enterprise Institute – you know, the libertarian think tank – which asserted that the government needs to engage in psy-ops against us to protect us from political radicalization. This article, naturally, is because the pys-ops are being exposed and they are now trying to get out in front and claim it was all for our own good.

Then a guy pointed out that at this time in 2008 Obama was saying that marriage is something between a man and a woman while here in 2022 we’ve got people seriously asserting that refusal to date a trans person is bigotry.

We are moving very fast.

They sent Pudding Brain to Georgia to give a voting rights speech – given that the Dawgs won the national championship last night you can rely on it that nobody in Georgia was paying any attention. Doubt that anyone else is, either. And key Georgia Democrats begged off from the event as they have crucial things to do…the most crucial being staying the hell away from the politically toxic Joe Biden.

So far, Manchin and Sinema are standing firm against nuking the filibuster. And Senator Kelly is also saying he has his doubt about it. Amazing what running for re-election in a purple State will do for some Democrats, huh? Some say that Schumer doesn’t even have 44 Democrat votes to kill the filibuster…it is just that they are keeping a low profile and hoping that Manchin’s opposition keeps them from having to take a stand on it. OTOH, Schumer is making noises about forcing a vote on the rules change – which is dumb on two levels. One: without Manchin and Sinema, its pointless. Two: by holding the vote he’ll force purple State Democrats to choose between giving ammo to their GOP opponents or infuriating the base. And the far left base of the Democrats is furious that they haven’t jettisoned the filibuster. My only question here is how many filing deadlines have passed: Schumer pulls the trigger too soon and a half dozen Democrats could end up drawing a far left primary opponent who will be massively funded by Blue State leftists.

Sucks to be Schumer.

Long and very good article about the opposition to paleogenetic research. This is research carried out to find DNA markers on ancient remains to see how human beings moved around. A great deal has been learned in this field and, as it turns out, humans have moved around a lot. So, why should anyone be opposed to finding this out? Because the Narrative of native tribes it that the land they were on when the crackers first showed up had always been their land. Their sacred spaces, polluted by the cruel and rapacious white man. Yeah, turns out that is all bull. The Natives moved around as much as anyone else in a fierce competition for resources. Some tribes didn’t arrive in their “ancestral” lands until after the Europeans arrived…as tribes desperately sought contact with the Europeans for trade opportunities. Often, Native tribes would fight each other for access. So, there’s your reason – we’re going to kill off this valuable and interesting science because some people who are financially invested in a garbage story about pre-Columbian North America don’t want their meal ticket taken away. Side note: the author expresses sympathy for the basic concept of respecting Native traditions. For me, I’ll respect the people living by their ancient traditions but this idea that because you have X percent pre-Columbian blood you get veto power over science is drivel. People are people; always have been, always will be. Nobody is all good. Nobody is all bad. And we should find out all about everything, if we can.

Our man Matt lays out the failure of Biden’s Covid policies.

Hollywood is burning itself alive on the altar of political correctness. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving of creeps.

I have no sympathy at all – not for any of them working. I hope they all go bankrupt and have to panhandle on the street. But, that said, there is still a market for movies – we on the right should seriously consider raising some billions of dollars and starting a movie studio. Not in Hollywood! Not in California or any of the traditional entertainment area. Maybe Tulsa or some such place. A complete new start. Now, do we go and make preachy, rightwing movies? No. But we make movies. You know: fantasy entertainment designed to divert people away from their daily lives. I can easily think of a dozen movies which range from fantasy to love story to war movies to western which, well made, would be highly successful and, perhaps, even spawn a few franchises. And I’m not just talking about my books! Though that would be cool. But here’s an example: Ann Bassett. She was an Old West rancher and some time associate of Butch Cassidy. Her basic story was fighting off other cattle barons to protect her late father’s ranch. It just screams “make a movie out of me”. Heck, imagine a top flight female star and then your supporting male role is a guy playing Butch Cassidy. Blockbuster all over it. That’s the kind of movie we should make – what hasn’t been done but which can be made fun and interesting. If it can be done, all that entertainment money stops flowing Left and starts flowing Right. Think of the possibilities.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan20 Comments

Manchin is going soft on whether or not he’ll vote to end the filibuster – but, we all knew he would do that. He’s an egregious liar and political hack. There’s still a chance that Sinema would vote to keep it. The bottom line is that ending it right now would be pretty disastrous for us – it would mean statehood for DC and Puerto Rico and Court packing, just for starters. Side note on that: Democrats are convinced that Puerto Rico would be a lock for them and, on balance, it is likely to at least start out as Democrat-friendly territory…but I’ll bet we’ve got at least even money at taking one of the Senate seats if it comes to that. DC, of course, would be two Democrat Senators forever. The kicker, though, is that PR would get at least four House seats..and they ain’t coming out of the Red States.

But it doesn’t mean the end of the world. It would make it harder for us to win – but not impossible and if we do, we’re no longer hamstrung by the filibuster and will be able to do lots of things which we couldn’t before. The key to victory will lie in doing ever more to get non-traditional GOP voters on board. Especially Latino voters – who are primed, I think, to go steadily 45% for us. This is especially true given that the Democrat party is enthralled to upper class, white liberals who simply have nothing to say to anyone who works for a living. Most Latinos, being relative newcomers to the USA, haven’t got out of the habit of working…like the guy who came here today, on a Sunday, to take floor measurements. How many crackers are willing to do that? How hard do you think it’ll be for us to get him to vote our way?

But, for now, let’s hope we don’t get to that point – much better if we can keep the Democrats tied up until next year when it will become increasingly difficult for them to get Red and Purple Democrats to walk the plank. And then if we can win the House and/or the Senate in 2022, the Democrats have no way to move their legislative agenda forward.

Related: Democrats having a hard time appealing to Latino men.

Our Matt notes that Rush Limbaugh’s death certificate lists him as the greatest radio host of all time – which has the benefit of being absolutely true.

Cuomo is up to five credible accusers of sexual harassment. Doesn’t matter. He’s a Democrat. “Me Too” was only a tool to hammer Republicans with. That it managed to get Al Franken was just bizarre – and something Democrats remain angry about it. Rely on it – Cuomo will be overwhelmingly re-elected next year, because for the most part the people of New York aren’t even hearing about this, nor about the nursing home deaths. They’re still being told that Cuomo is great. The hits on him are to keep him out of the 2024 election – Democrats are expecting Joe to be dead or incapable of running by then, and they want the field cleared for Kamala. I’d love to be wrong about this – that Cuomo would be forced out and a measure of justice done. But I won’t hold my breath.

Democrats have found more Enemies for us to destroy: Pepe Le Pew and Speedy Gonzalez.

Yes, this is ridiculous. But the purpose here is to, step by step, erase the past. The weakness in Orwell’s 1984 was that Winston Smith had memories of times before the Party. What the Left wants is no memories. Every book, song, statue, painting, building or whatnot which can indicate a different mode of living will be destroyed – and a hundred years from now, only Party approved things will exist.

We’re starting to get some pictures from Mars Perseverance and they care cool. I do have one question: don’t those tracks kinda look like they’re made in wet ground?

Open Thread

Mark Noonan30 Comments

The Democrats sent over their farce impeachment to the Senate this evening. What really astonishes me is the mental back flips that the anti-Trump people are doing in order to justify this. One guy – he’s actually a bit famous – tried to bring up ancient English law which allowed for the impeachment of former office holders. I pointed out that ancient English law also allowed for bills of attainder – something we don’t do, because we didn’t merely copy England when we wrote our Constitution. One of the key aspects of our Constitution is that is pretty much precludes (as long as it is obeyed) political vengeance. The Founders knew this was important because one of the main factors in the downfall of both the Athenian Democracy and the Roman Republic was the pursuit of quasi-legal revenge. In our system, the defeated are supposed to go home in safety and the victors are supposed to let them go.

Of course, mercilessness is one of the main marks of our political opponents – both traditional left and Never Trump “right”. Lacking any conception of God – and those who make the most pious statements are usually the ones you find the most alienated from any sense of mercy – these people want to punish us. Not just for winning in 2016, but for so much as trying to win. This post-facto impeachment is a means of punishing not Trump, but you and I.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are rapidly discovering that holding 50 Senate seats and 221 House seats is…well…it isn’t much. Especially when your leader is 78 and a bit gaga. Senators Sinema (D-AZ) and Manchin (D-WV) have both come out strong against messing with the filibuster. I don’t put too much stock in them: they are Democrats, after all. They may merely want a price for it. But, in practical terms, busting the filibuster does nothing for either of them – especially for Manchin, set to become Energy Committee chair. Once the filibuster is broken, the Democrats need pay no attention to semi-moderate people like Manchin and Sinema. They’d feel they could peel off a couple GOPers at need (likely true, given Mitt and Murkowski). As long as the filibuster is in place, the Democrats must come hat in hand to Manchin and Sinema on every major issue – meaning they can pretty much get everything they want for their own States. Of course, this leaves out the fact that if Nancy loses 4 House Democrats, there won’t even be anything to send to the Senate to bust the filibuster over. A wise person I know on line pointed out that the filibuster might be moot if Nancy is continually stuck at 210 votes and can’t get the rest because either the Squad or the few remaining moderates won’t budge. A vigorous President could easily get around this by simply hitting the road and arguing for important and popular proposals…but other than their plan to raise the minimum wage (perennially popular even if economically dumb), they got nothing. “Call your Congressperson and demand she vote amnesty for illegals!” is not a great look. But in addition to advocating for very unpopular things, the Democrats have Joe Biden…who often seems to be unaware of where he is or what he’s supposed to do.

I’ve been calling it the 1/20 Miracle – the way cities and States are suddenly opening back up. Nothing changed. In fact, some of the places opening back up have higher cases and deaths than before. I mean, nothing changed other than who was in the White House. It was an op: a very bad flu blown out of proportion to harm Trump. The op is over, and so it is being wound down.

Budweiser, Coca-Cola and Pepsi aren’t doing Super Bowl ads this year. That has got to be devastating to the NFL. Get woke, go broke. The only football I’ve watched so far this year was part of a game on Thanksgiving (had some family over who felt they had to watch) and a bit of the end of yesterday’s Packers game where I was comforting a Cheesehead friend. I suppose I might go back to watching – but the bottom line is that the thrill is largely gone. I really didn’t miss it this year. I spent my Sunday football time writing on my books. It will never again be a “thing” where I rigorously follow and I’ve cut the emotional ties to the team I used to root for. Maybe some day some team out there will capture my imagination and I’ll become a fan again…but, I figure that is unlikely. And I assume there are likely millions like me…because Coke, Pepsi and Bud aren’t spending millions advertising. Meanwhile, Hockey went only mildly woke and it seems to have pretty much dropped it…so, I’ve got my Knights and I’ll watch them win the Cup this year.

Over at Ace – what if the Deplorables start deplatforming the Left? Sure, they can kick us off their Twitter and Facebook…but Joe Average in Dayton can kick them off heater repairs while Fred Normal in Richmond can skip towing your car with the “Coexist” bumper sticker.

Speaking of cancel culture, Miley Cyrus has got herself into SJW hot water. I’d say what it was about, but I’m going to make you click the link. You really won’t believe it.

Filibuster Follies

Mark Noonan31 Comments

As for the filibuster, itself, I am just not that concerned.  After all, the real mutilation of the Senate came when we started to elect Senators by poplar vote instead of through the State legislators. The Senate is supposed to be the representative of the States, as sovereign institutions – by making the election of Senators direct, we simply turned the Senate in to a smaller, more exclusive House of Representatives.  If anyone wants to restore the Senate to its ancient glory, I’m all with you and let’s set about repealing the 17th Amendment.  But, still, this is a change – and a permanent one.  While the filibuster still technically exists in certain cases, it is in fact a dead letter…any time a Senate minority attempts to use it, the Senate majority will just do away with it, as Harry Reid’s majority just did.

The only thing I can find as a reason for this end of the filibuster is a desire on the part of Democrats to pack the courts with as little fuss as possible – especially the DC Court as it is in charge of dealing with regulatory matters.  Democrats want smooth sailing for whatever Obama and minions say in regulating our lives in to the ground, and this is their way to get it.  Seems a bit short-sighted, though – not a very good reason for giving up the filibuster, especially as Democrats are in grave danger of losing their majority in the 2014 mid-terms (I figure its 50/50 the GOP will win the necessary 6 seats…but even if we don’t in 2014, we will eventually have a Senate majority again, and Democrats will be rather backs against the wall).

And when we have a full Congressional majority and control of the White House, then the Democrats will feel the full force of their mistake.  No longer will the basic premises of Big Government reign supreme because it takes 60 votes to close off debate.  No longer will one or two RINOs be able to ensure that the legislative desires of the GOP are blocked.  All it will take, with a GOP President, is a mere 50 GOP Senators to agree, and our will is law…end of the Department of Education; end of the Department of Energy; and so on.  218 House members, 50 Senators, one President with a Vice President to break the tie in the Senate.  That is not a very high bar.  100 years of Progressive politics can now be undone in a few months.  To be sure, a returned Democrat majority can attempt to re-cobble it all together again…but after four or five years without it, it might not be politically possible to do.  And the certainty is that whatever is done can be easily undone.  And if Progressive politics are in bad odor then a non-Progressive campaign reminding the people that a victory for the left means mere re-imposition of the things we just got rid of, then the non-Progressive side will win.

It could be that when the history of our times are written, it will be revealed that Obama and Reid did away with the filibuster simply because they were frustrated they couldn’t immediately get 100% of their way…that they gutted their own protection because they simply didn’t want to get 90% of their desires.  If so, then it will be just another bit of proof that whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.