Open Thread

In response to Kimmell being fired a lot of people on the Right are trying to explain it – that is, squaring it with our disgust with Cancel Culture. I’m not. Kimmell wasn’t cancelled – he’s a disgusting liar. That’s the only reason he’s off the air. If he hadn’t been a disgusting liar, he’d still be on. Simple as that. We didn’t do anything to him – he did it to himself. The only surprise here is that the network kept him on to spew his disgusting lies as his audience collapsed. If I ran the network, I would have ditched him years ago – saying that having a disgusting liar on the air is not what the network is about.

But, of course, that is what all networks have been about – and for a long time. The movie Network (1976) nailed it pretty well in that they’ll do anything to get eyeballs glued to the tube…but missed entirely the depth upon depth of lies the networks would put out if they thought lies meant good ratings. And it isn’t remotely the news that has all the lies – in fact, the news has the least lies necessary to advance the Leftist agenda. The popular culture stuff is where you get down to really nitty-gritty lies…like Law and Order with its bizarre fixation on anything that isn’t a crime problem in the United States. Of course, no production company would ever put out a show dealing with real crime problems…that is, a massively disproportionate number of non-white people committing most of the serious crimes. Better to cook up something which always has a white man as the bad guy…and even better if he’s Christian. I mean, you could do a whole series of criminal procedure episodes just about welfare fraud in Minnesota…but as its massively Somali…ain’t gonna see it! Better to just lie.

As least, until now. Now we have a President who is being totally uncool about that whole drag-him-through-the-courts-and-also-try-to-shoot-him thing the Democrats set up. He’s willing to use the immense power which the Left handed off to the Executive in the firm belief that it would never be turned against the Left. Oooops! Now networks have to worry about licensing and lawsuits and just the President talking about how dishonest they are…absolutely no respect given to them. It hurts – socially and financially. Look for some shows that start to reflect our values pretty soon…especially if Vance or another Trumper wins in 2028.

In my view, Ilhan Omar should be denaturalized and deported. I am thoroughly disgusted with this foreigner who was rescued by our nation deciding to call us the bad guys. If she showed the least bit of gratitude for the immense wealth and position this nation has afforded her I’d be ok – but she’s just a bitter, spiteful woman – as well as being a mindless tool for people who want America destroyed. Enough. Back to Somalia for her…where she won’t be allowed to appear in public, have any position or wealth.

AOC got up in the House to say that the motion to honor Kirk causes pain – which is her way of saying, “we’re glad he’s dead, the operation worked – you’re all Nazis and we’re coming after all of you”. Not at all kidding. She’s a mindless Commie but she also has internalized the way Commies work…everything that helps them is good and the vile hatred which got Kirk killed helped Communism…so, she’s not going to condemn it and, indeed, will continue to encourage it.

Some Democrats tried to block ICE and got treated exactly like those who try to interfere with Federal law enforcement should expect: badly. These actions by the Left prove their utter contempt for the USA. The laws about immigration may be good, bad or indifferent…but they are the laws. They were passed over many years via our representatives in Congress assembled and represent the considered wisdom of the American body politic. They cannot be set aside. That they have been set aside for decades is the blot upon our honor – enforcing them is the only decent thing to do. If anyone doesn’t like the laws – and everyone is free to do so – then the only course of action is to work within the political system to obtain a government which will change the laws…trying to riot in front of ICE is a betrayal of the American ideal. I’m hoping that we’ll eventually get some indictments out of this behavior.

Open Thread

I get Trump’s reticence in relation to military action against Iran. War is always incalculable in results. Once the guns go off, you never quite know how it will come out. Clearly, the Mullahs should never possess a nuclear weapon. The chances they’ll actually use one are low given Israel’s almost certain already existing nuclear deterrent, but the world can’t rely on Mullah reasonableness. Additionally, I have held since 1979 that the Iranian regime is a pestilence. And since the fall of the USSR, they have been the primary promoter of Islamist terrorism (good to remember that prior to the fall of the USSR, most Muslim terrorists officially adhered to some sort of Socialist program downplaying the Islamic element…but the only pay for it post 1991 has been Tehran, so the Socialism is muted and the Islamism emphasized). Bottom line, if the Mullah regime goes, the most likely outcome in the Middle East is a general peace settlement as there will be no one to pay for Islamist programs (another good thing to remember is that outside Iran and its proxies, Islamist propaganda these days is heavily suppressed in Muslim nations…sure, they’ll let you publish endless copies of Mein Kampf and anti-Semitism if the order of the day…but this “river to the sea” nonsense is kept under control). In my view, we should – if necessary – launch attacks to ensure Iran’s nuclear program is crippled (there is some doubt that Israel has a weapon – outside a nuke – which can reach the deepest buried elements).

But I’m going to trust Trump’s judgement on this. He does have access to a lot of information we don’t have and, very important, he has earned our trust. The man took a bullet for us. He’s reliable – even if he gets it wrong, the motivation will still be to do what is best for the USA. If he orders an attack, I support that – if he decides to hold off, I’ll support that.

Someone posted a video on X claiming to show an empty Los Angeles emergency room – with the narration claiming it is a horror as “our people” aren’t getting life-saving care. If true, what it means is that illegals aren’t using the ER as their primary care facility…which they routinely do, clogging up the system and costing everyone untold sums of money. If they’re refusing to do this out of fear of ICE, then that is what I voted for – illegals should be afraid to show their faces. They should live furtive lives in the shadows – impossible to rent a house, buy a car, get health care…because they aren’t supposed to be here. They can go back home and not have these problems.

We’re also getting more tear-jerker bits of propaganda about some of the deported – “she’s a grandma who has been here 30 years and she loves being in America”. Yeah, if she had the least bit of respect for America and Americans, she wouldn’t have come here illegally. We really need to get that across – illegally crossing our border is an insult. It is done by people with total contempt for the United States and our people.

And, guys, it has been a long time since the immigrant was a self-selected, hard-working person who wanted to build a better life. The floodgates were opened under Obama (and, really, even before that) and the word went out that the suckers in the USA would let you stay illegally and provide you housing, medical care, food and education…never asking you to contribute or develop any love for America. The people who flooded in – especially when Biden was in office – are leeches looking to live off the American people. They’re precisely the people who keep their home countries as dumps…voting for any conman who offers a free ride and cheering loudly each tin pot dictator in turn…and, of course, considering it a point of honor to help and protect criminal gangs. They all have to go.

ICE is reporting a 500% increase in assaults on their officers – all of this encouraged and orchestrated by the Democrats. They are all-in on illegals – this is insane but, really, they can’t do otherwise…an end to illegal immigration and the huge amounts of graft it begets is a death knell for the Democrat party. Already the DNC is being starved of funds…the more Trump does the less money the Democrats will have. And that’s just one of a score of problems here – each 750,000 illegals deported means one less Blue State House seat, even if the SC refuses to allow Trump to only count citizens in the census. They must fight like this and hope that some even turns the American people against Trump’s policies. I don’t see that happening – they probably don’t, either – but they’ll keep at it because they have no choice.

Open Thread

As a Catholic, the moment I got my first look at Pope Leo XIV my heart was filled joy – such as I haven’t felt since John Paul II was elected. There were some who immediately tried to say he was on the Left side of the Church as Francis had been but his use of Papal vestments was a clear indicator that he’s not going to be put into a box. At all events, the Church is supranational and transcends politics. It never has been, is not nor ever will be on “your side” politically. Sure, Leo has condemned Trump admin immigration policy – that is nearly rote for the Catholic Church which has always been open borders (an organization charged by God with spreading the Gospel to the ends of the Earth cannot support border lockdowns; but the Church does recognize the necessity for the State to control its borders). But for every bit of Left that has been found there are also such for the Right. Looks like Leo doesn’t mind the traditional Latin Mass, for instance. I don’t think Leo’s going to be what anyone expected. And I advise everyone to read Rerum Novarum, which was promulgated by Leo XIII in 1891 (Pope’s do select their reign name on purpose – I can’t imagine Leo didn’t want to bring forward the spirit of his predecessor). It is the bedrock of Catholic social teaching and it hits hard at both Socialism and that brand of Capitalism which holds that as long as you’re maximizing profits there are no other considerations. And we’ll let it slide that he’s a Sox fan…

The Democrats invading the ICE facility were likely doing it on the theory that their arrest would outrage normal people and turn them against Trump. Do note that huge numbers of Democrats – including quite senior people – were immediately on X deploring the arrests and demanding immediate release. As if the whole country was instantly outraged by the arrest of some Democrat commie mayor. Its yet another op – and its an op based on the theory that “nobody voted for this”. That is, on immigration, the American people only want the worst of the worst deported, not the overall tens of millions.

I have no idea where Democrats got this idea. Trump campaigned on a program of deporting every last illegal alien in country. He was thumpingly elected President because of this. We’re not sympathetic to people who came in illegally. This is because the American people are, for the most part, fair – they want things to be fair and square. It simply isn’t fair that some people jumped the line and now want to stay in place of people who are still waiting in line. And this is before the criminality – that a large number of the illegals are committing quite horrific crimes just adds to the sense of unfairness…some Americans have to be killed or otherwise abused because the government allowed foreigners to jump the line. When Democrats try to gin up sympathy with stunts like the ICE facility or by pointing out some girl was brought here illegally at the age of 5 our attitude just hardens. If any of us had continually broken the law for a decade or more we know we wouldn’t be let off because we didn’t break other laws at the same time. The illegals have to go. All of them.

And this, of course, is the only morally just thing to do. Merciful, too. The laws must be enforced. A lot of people simply refuse to understand that each time we allow an illegal in, it means yet another person being abused. Sometimes unto death. The only way to stop the abuse is to stop the process. To make it fundamentally impossible to live in the USA illegally. That you can’t get a job. Can’t get a residence. Can’t get anything unless you are legal. Keep in mind that Trump is not anti-immigration. I am, Trump isn’t. I want at least a twenty year moratorium on all immigration to allow assimilation to catch up. But that isn’t Trump’s view; he might even go for increased legal immigration levels…he’s just identified the actual problem as illegal immigration and is determined to stop it.

Meanwhile, the Democrats continue to Resist on the legal front – finding judge after judge to hold that there’s a Trump Exception to Article II. The judges keep doing this because Roberts won’t call off the dogs. He’s still trying to triangulate his way through this – and clearly does want at least some Trump Exceptions to Article II. But we can’t have a system where Democrats can do things Republicans can’t. If Biden can stroke of the pen allow half a million illegals in, then Trump stroke of the pen must be able to send them back…can’t force Trump to do the half a million one at a time. And the Democrats will not like where this ends up – the termination of judicial review, as such. Trump clearly does not want to go there. I think he’s been fully justified for more than a month in openly defying court orders. He’s looking at it differently and maybe he’s right about it and I’m wrong. Not my call to make. But Trump will not allow Democrats in judicial robes to annul the 2024 election.

Keep in mind that down there at the federal district judge level you’re dealing almost exclusively with partisan, political appointees. Basically its a reward for services rendered…and even if a judge is a GOP appointee, if the judge resides in a deep blue State then it was really a Democrat appointment. They are nothing but partisan hacks – been decades since Democrats allowed anyone but partisan hacks into positions they control. These people are not fighting for Democracy or the Rule of Law – they are doing what they’re told to do by Democrats who seem convinced that the American people will swing around to supporting illegal immigration, boys playing in girls sports and keeping government corruption. And that is also something to remember: everything the Democrats do is running off a focus-group tested Narrative which is supposed to swing power into the Democrats hands. MSM, DNC, individual pols, talking heads on TV, judges, lawyers…all working off the same script.

The good news: it really seems to be a very stupid script.

Its Hard to Write on One Topic Open Thread

I honestly keep trying to find a subject to write at length about, but I usually find ten. So, lots of open threads. And today is no different:

A judge cut loose an illegal immigrant, preventing that illegal from being arrested by ICE. The judge has now been indicted:

This is huge — a lunatic hack state judge is indicted and charged with cutting loose a twice-deported Dominican illegal immigrant arrested with drugs after throwing an ICE agent out of her courtroom so that the criminal could escape.

For what appears to be the first time, someone in a “sanctuary” jurisdiction has to answer for the coddling of these illegal immigrants who are perpetrating a massive tidal wave of crime on the law-abiding, taxpaying citizens of the United States

We need more of this – if the Democrats want to go all neo-Confederate about federal laws, then we’ll have to become increasingly Shermanesque in dealing with them.

Joe Biden announced for President – third time will not be the charm. Naturally, he started out by repeating the “fine people on both sides” lie the Democrats have peddled about the Charlottsville incident. Don’t think any liberal will complain about the lie: they believe it. I’ve got a friend who is convinced he heard Trump, live, say that the “fine people” included the neo-Nazis. A cursory reading of the transcript shows he didn’t…but once the Democrats decide on a lie, they’ll never move away from it. In the end, Trump won’t beat Biden because there’s no way the Democrats will permit an old, straight white man to be their nominee in 2020.

We found Biden’s campaign song.

A German parenting magazine opines that blonde, happy families are evil incarnate. You know, I’ve run across the “blood and soil” neo-Nazi nitwits on a regular basis on social media: this is exactly the red meat they need to convince people to join them. If you want to convince such people that there isn’t a war on white people then just maybe you shouldn’t have a war on white people. Just spitballin’ here.

We’re used to this – but here’s how the MSM took the Trump Administration’s efforts to protect women in war zones and turned it into a “Trump wants women raped” story. They do this all the time – take a story and simply make up an anti-Trump angle, no matter how divorced from reality. This is why I say that any story in the MSM about politics must be presumed to be a lie until confirmed by a non-MSM source. (HT: Ace)

From RSM: Guy gets arrested for assaulting his wife. SJW do-gooder group bails guy out. Guy goes home and murders his wife. To be fair, I do understand the desire to be merciful: it is crucial to a functioning society that we have a gigantic amount of mercy towards those who transgress. Partially because mercy, as such, is good but, also, because the authorities do make mistakes. But, everyone makes mistakes. And if a guy is in jail under serious charges, its probably not wise to rush in and spring him from jail. The job of criminal justice reformers is not to get people out of jail, but to ensure that the accused receive justice – if we are doing justice, then there’s no reason for anyone to complain.

Powerline on how the left is using teaching history to, well, ensure that the kids learn no history, at all.

Open Thread

Rachel Rollins won the Democrat primary for Suffolk County, MA District Attorney…and, given the nature of things, this means she’s the new DA. She’s promised to “decline to prosecute”, unless a supervisor’s permission is obtained, such crimes as trespassing, shoplifting, disorderly conduct, receiving stolen property, driving without a license, minor in possession of alcohol, drug possession with intent to distribute. Everything old is new, again – especially for liberals, who haven’t had a new idea in a century. This is precisely what did starting in the 1950’s – going easy on “minor” crimes because, well, they were being committed by poor boys who were simply acting out of frustration over poverty and lack of opportunity. The result was our murder rate in the 1970’s. This is just the per usual virtue signalling from leftists who will never, ever spend the night in a crime infested neighborhood.

Some Lefty rando on Twitter decided to get into Robert O’Neill’s face when O’Neill mildly pointed out that Obama still can’t say “Radical Islam”. The Lefty said:

He kinda killed Osama Bin Laden, so….

Thing is, O’Neill was part of Seal Team 6, which took out Bin Laden…the rest of the Lefty rando’s day didn’t go so well on Twitter.

Papadopoulos got 14 days. Trump pointed out that it cost $28 million to get to this…$2 million per day spent in jail.

Corey Stewart wants to have an ICE Tea Party on September 15th outside the Fairfax, VA ICE office.

Woman gets dumped, and Robert Stacy McCain has an interesting take on it.

Small Thread Because I’ve Nothing Specific to Write About

Lot of violent and/or eliminationist rhetoric these days – almost all from the Left. Which is “as usual”, of course; it has just become so ubiquitous that no one can ignore it. And, I think, the regular folks – those who don’t spend their days in flame wars on social media – are starting to notice; and not liking what they see. No one can actually predict the future, but I’m laying my money on the Democrats increasing political radicalism turning off casual voters who will either stay home or vote GOP come November…and come 2020, unless there is a sea-change in Democrat attitudes. And I don’t expect that change until after a crushing loss in 2020.

I’m a bit serious about that. I was running things through my head and using 270 to Win and I’m expecting Trump to win 37 States with 356 Electoral votes in ’20…and if the Democrats keep the insanity up to 11, it might end up being 42 States and 391 Electoral Votes. Time will tell, of course – lots of things to happen between now and then, but I don’t see a trajectory which has the Democrats backing off and coming up with policies that appeal to people outside the true-blue, Progressive believers.

But, also, there is success for the GOP – things are going pretty well in the country right now. People might be feeling so good by 2020 that they decide they want four more years of it, regardless.

Related: Democrat governor candidate Cynthia Nixon calls ICE a terrorist organization. To be sure, she’s going to be crushed in the NY primary as she’s running against a sitting Democrat governor, but make no mistake about it: at least 40% of the Democrat base agrees and they are the people who will be driving the train in 2020.

It has been HOT in Southern Nevada. Got up to 112 on Thursday. Our Progressive friends will say this is Global Warming…but as I’ve lived out here 25 years, it is just par for the course. Now, 112 is a bit toasty…but I think my blood has thinned or something because below 80, I feel cold. Anything up to 105 and I barely feel it. And, yes, it is a dry heat – current humidity is 4%…which is murderous on the vegetable garden.

Melania Trump has visited 100% more children detention centers than Michelle Obama ever did.

Do you ever check out Powerline’s “The Week in Pictures“? You should.