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Two years ago Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) was conspicuous in standing and applauding during a President Trump SOTU address when he talk about tax cuts and opportunity zones announced.
Now she is conspicuous again bluntly ruling out the elimination of the filibuster as she promised back in 2019. This not only forces Chuck Schumer into a power sharing agreement in a 50-50 senate (based on the 2001 model) but also means that the Democrats will have to use reconciliation to push through their most radical bills as the only way to pass something with 50 votes (plus Harris).
A Democrat who keeps her promise even after she wins? That’s what I call a “Maverick” but I expect that term will not be applied to her by the press
Unexpectedly of course.
Apparently Joe Manchin of West Virginia has now also come out against Nuking the filibuster.
I found his sudden case of “principle” rather nostalgic because you might remember that during the Kavenaugh hearings Manchen hemmed and hawed and hesitated but in the end came out for Kavanaugh…the very moment Susan Collins declared she would vote for him meaning his vote meant nothing.
Joe Manchin is the John Roberts of the left. When he is the deciding vote that the left needs he always has a vote for them. But as long as his vote has no bearing on if the agenda of the left shall advance then he is with the voters of West Virginia defending them against the excesses of the left and the media trying to save a Democrat seat is ready to paint him as such.
Unexpectedly of course.
There were three interesting moves this week concerning Mitch McConnell as well the first being on the Filibuster . All were savvy moves that perfectly illustrated who and what Mitch McConnell is. On Wednesday McConnell was derided by Mark Steyn on the Rush Limbaugh show for dropping his demand during power sharing negotiations that Chuck Schumer explicitly vow not to nuke the filibuster.
Later that same day he was one of 45 GOP Senators who voted for Rand Paul’s point of order resolution saying the impeachment of an ex-president was unconstitutional.
Finally McConnell put out a threat of a “scorched-earth Senate” if Manchen or Sinema change their mind on a Filibuster
All were classic McConnell. The vote supposedly abandoning conservatives that got Steyn so upset was a meaningless concession to Schumer because it came after Sinema of AZ made it clear that she wouldn’t give Chuck Schumer the votes he needed to nuke it. Thus McConnell makes a public gesture in Schumer favor that I’m sure he got something in return for.
Likewise the “scorched earth” threat while I have no doubt he would follow through on such a threat (see what happened with judges) it again comes not before we know if the filibuster is in danger but after we know it isn’t.
Finally on the Rand Paul vote McConnell knew that his vote meant nothing because five Trump hating republicans, Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Sasse and Toomey were already with the Democrats. Thus McConnell’s could take a vote designed to appease Trump supporters who have been calling for his head and to head off those who are already extracting a deadly price from GOP house members who have gone along with this farce.
In all three cases McConnell made moves that meant nothing and cost nothing but were to his political advantage.
Unexpectedly of course.
As I’ve stated before the NFL is thanking it’s lucky stars that Tom Brady has made it to his 10th Superbowl because it gives conservatives and Trump supporters a reason to watch the game.
However this hasn’t stopped members of the left to cry injustice that Tom Brady still has a job in the NFL and Colin Kaepernick doesn’t.
I took the liberty of going to Football Reference.com and noted Mr. Kaepernick’s stats. Over his six year career he only led the NFL in one stat in any season. That was in 2014 when he threw the more pick-sixes (that is interceptions run back for a touchdown by another team) than any other quarterback in the league.
Meanwhile Tom Brady either leads or has led the NFL in 64 different single season, active or all time categories according to his page.
There is a legitimate debate on if Tom Brady has reached a point where he contends with Babe Ruth or Bill Russell as the greatest team sport athlete in history (pro tip Ruth beats him because he won titles both as both a pitcher & position player and Russell beats him not only for more titles (11) but winning two of them as a player/head coach) but there is no rational debate that suggests Colin Kaepernick is in the same league as Tom Brady.
Kaepernick knows this which is why no offer will be enough to tempt him back into the NFL
Unexpectedly of course.
Finally there is a point that needs to be made about something Ace of Spades said about the establishment GOP & abortion:
Conservative, Inc. only mouths very insincere pro-life rhetoric (but never demands actual action on the issue) to attract social conservatives, who would have no other reason to support their socially-liberal/arch-corporate-libertarian policies otherwise.
They’re “pro-life” with the “four exceptions:”
1. Rape
2. Incest
3. Life of the mother
4. “My situation”Obviously, that fourth exception covers a lot of ground.
Now this isn’t all that inaccurate but frankly Ace without realizing it has hit on something that is not unique either to Rino or to abortion but is a basic trait when it comes to sin.
One thing you will find is no matter what a persons religion, lack of religion or belief system, when we are talking about the sins of other people we find ourselves ready to condemn those sins.
When it comes to our own sins, a person always seems to have a reason why we deserve a pass.
Unexpectedly of course
FYI that’s the reason why Catholic sacramental confession is superior to all other systems even those of our fellow Christians. Said folks automatically presume the forgiveness of Christ while a Catholic goes before a priest and acknowledges sins, even sins unknown to fellow men, and thus by the act of seeking confession admonish ourselves before God rather than waiting to be caught by others.
It is that self admonishment that opens the door the mercy we do not deserve.
Mr. Jaggers: We’ll start setting his stocks short and keep selling it short until we break him.
Aide: But Mr. Jaggers his company has a solid reputation
Mr. Jaggers: Then start spreading rumors. Use that ugly word “mismanagement”… be inventive now, see to it.
Maverick: The Golden Fleecing 1961
So let me get this straight.
If well connected multi billion dollar hedge funds conspire to sell a stock short thus make a huge profit at the expense of the shareholders in a move that might damage or destroy the prospects of a company, why that’s is simply the free market at work with some people winning and some losing and anyone who objects is a communist!
BUT
If ordinary citizens seeing this move conspire to boost the value of a stock that been shorted strengthening the value of the company & the stock and making a huge profit at the expense of the hedge fund managers who were conspiring to destroy them, well that not only an example of online hate but it’s a travesty of justice that has to be stopped by new regulation and the shutting down of any recourse that makes it possible.
Now me, I don’t like either game. I’m for the the old fashioned concept of the value of a company & its stock being based on the quality of the product or service it creates and the demand or lack thereof said product or service generates, rather than on manipulation or tax breaks to shore it up.
Perhaps if traders worked on that principle rather than playing games they would not be in a dead panic now and remember, if this can happen with Gamestop or AMC it can happen with any publicly traded company.
Telosian Magistrate: Wrong thinking is punishable. Right thinking will be as quickly rewarded. You will find it an effective combination
Star Trek The Menagerie Part 2 1066
Ghost of Christmas Past: Truth Lives!
A Christmas Carol 1984
Yesterday on Twitter I found myself being accused of “ageism” because I pointed out that Joe Biden was not Compos mentis. The person who made this accusation is a person I’ve known for decades, whose house I’ve visited and who citied the fact that his father at 86 was teaching Calculus.
The real world cultural implications of this argument is one of the saddest things I’ve seen in my 57 years.
This fellow is an intelligent person, a bit of a rebel is certain ways that I won’t repeat as I don’t want to cause him trouble, but most of all he is familiar with actual truth and actual evidence the difference between reality and propaganda.
This person is also a deep and I mean DEEP leftist. Oddly enough before the election he had very little to say to me on twitter, in fact I can’t recall a single tweet from the man to over the last several years even though he’s been on twitter since 2008.
So why would he suddenly decide my statements the statements of a fellow with only a few thousand followers require a reply?
The answer and it’s implications are serious.
If I wanted to feed my ego I’d presume that it’s the task of him (and perhaps millions like him) to go after smaller guys like me is part of the general censorship of conservative thought to be kept out of the public square as a danger to the new order. To some degree that’s true but I suspect it’s not true enough to make someone like me worth targeting, at least not yet anyways.
I suspect the real answer is more akin to the character Vina from the original Star Trek Pilot later made into the two part episode The Menagerie.
Mike knows what the reality is, but to acknowledge that reality in public is dangerous because it can result in the othering of him, a risk to his job, his livelihood and to his position and social standing.
But I think it’s deeper and more painful than that.
To have to live a lie, to pretend a reality that one knows is not true can not be easy, even if it is for the cause. To have to do it in the face of others unwilling to go along with the game, to pretend not to see reality that in right in front of their face for the sake of the cause must be unbearable for someone who has been by nature a free spirit.
Every day that we resist having our thoughts caged and refuse to acknowledge their false reality is a reminder that they are in fact in the cage, even if they as true believers are considered favored members of their menagerie they are still in a cage.
As the telosian Magistrate put it:
The customs and history of your race show a unique hatred of captivity. Even when it’s pleasant and benevolent,
There are plenty of ignorant leftists who were taught poorly and have no understanding of the reality in front of them. Our enemies invested a lot of time, money and effort to be sure of this.
But to someone who is old enough, smart enough and educated enough to know reality and have to both in public and in private life contrary to it has to be hell.
I know that the next four years will be rough and I won’t be surprised if I run into problems, both legal and financial, for my unwillingness to play along, but I’d not trade places with such a person for all the comfort in the universe.
