Author: thependulumswings staff

Yes and Yes

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Here are two simple questions, but they come with one qualifying request.  The request is to put politics aside to answer them.

Question one: Do you believe freedom of speech is one of our most important rights?

Question two: Do you prefer a smaller but more efficient government than we have today?

Would anyone answer “no” to either question?

We strongly suspect that Elon Musk would answer with a loud “YES” to both. He’s at the center of both questions as the 2024 presidential election draws near.

Once upon a time, Musk was loved by the left.  Then he bought Twitter.  Now he’s not loved so much.

What happened?  What happened goes to the very core of both questions above.

Musk quickly ended the imbalance of censorship from the left on Twitter and in the process unwound the one-way definitions of disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech.

Ex-employees of the company now known as X

Along the way he kept asking employees at Twitter what they did for the company.  What is your job?  Incorrect was the answer “Umm.”

He quickly slashed a ton of dead weight on the payroll.  The social media platform now has only 1,500 employees, down from the 8,000 employed at the time of the acquisition.

Late last week he was drawn even nearer to the crux of the questions.

VP and Prez want-to-be Kamala Harris told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “he has lost his privileges and it should be taken down.  You can’t have one rule for Twitter and another for Facebook.  These social sites have to understand their power.  They are directly speaking to millions and millions of people without any oversight and regulation and that has to stop.”

Isn’t freedom of speech a right, not a privilege?  Who has oversight and regulates what Kamala says to millions and millions?  Maybe she doesn’t like Musk’s resistance to conform to government-approved narratives?

Marc Zuckerberg admitted last week that he wished that Facebook would have more overtly pushed back on the Biden/Harris administration’s multiple requests for FB to censor jokes or dissents to be published about the government’s position on Covid 19 back in 2021.  Well well.

Former President Trump is reportedly eyeing a plan to involve prominent business executives, including Elon, in auditing federal agencies to identify programs to cut.

Elon’s blue checkmark tweet response was,  “I can’t wait.  There is a lot of waste and needless regulation government that needs to go.”

Back up the Waste Management trucks to DC and start managing the waste.

Real free speech and real government cuts.

New Texas resident Elon Musk says “Giddyup!”

 

 

 

Kamala and Coach-Primetime

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Two months away from the general election and one month after she became the presumptive nominee, Kamala Harris will sit down tomorrow afternoon for an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.

You won’t be able to see Harris’ first interview until primetime.  Why?  It will be prerecorded.  Why prerecorded?  It gives CNN the time to gussie up the interview to put them and Harris in the best light should they choose.  They’ll choose.

Coach Time Walz will be at Kamala’s side.  Coach doesn’t coach anymore but he’s turned into a hell of a cheerleader.

Is it odd that they are both sitting down to interview?  Yes.   Handlers must think it better to ham and egg it than for Harris to go it alone and wind up with egg on her face.

Hopefully, we get to know more about the Democratic candidate.

In 2020 she left the stage so soon.  That happens when you are polling less than 1% right before Iowa, the first primary.

That was after she accused Biden of being a racist by saying he wasn’t a racist.  “Not a joke,” as Joe would say.  And that was before Biden selected her to be his VP mate, racism claims be damned.

Since then she’s been very busy with Venn diagrams, solving the root causes of illegal immigration, and covering up Biden’s failing physical and mental health.

But don’t we know a lot about her already?  Of course, we do.

She was tough on marijuana criminals while Cali’s Attorney General.  She also said she smoked dope in college listening to music that wasn’t yet written.

She assisted in getting Minnesota’s arrested protesters bail money.  And, she supported defunding the police which she now says she didn’t support.

She also supported Medicare for All and banning fracking — proposals aides say she now is against.  Times are changing.

In February 2020, Harris wrote on Facebook that “Trump’s border wall is a complete waste of taxpayer money and won’t make us any safer.”  In her nomination acceptance speech last week she said that she would sign a bipartisan bill if elected that would refund building some more of that wall.

A month after Trump proposed no federal taxes on tips so did chameleon Kamala.  Or is it “Khamaleon” for short?

Her “rizz,” that’s charisma for all you Boomers, and her joy can only take one so far when substance, or lack thereof, might get in the way.

The wheels on the EV campaign bus have been churning hard to remake her into something other than the furthest left-leaning candidate in this country’s history.

Would Dana get bashed if she advanced the questions to Harris?  Only Donna Brazile knows.

If you want to watch the curated interview find CNN on your TV guide or stop by any airport terminal.

 

 

 

 

Swing and a Miss

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Joe Biden closed the first night of the Democratic National Convention late Monday evening, or early Tuesday morning on the East Coast.  The Dems didn’t want him to be the starter with all the bright lights and eyes focused on him.  Say it ain’t so, Joe!

It would be even worse if he were a Major League Baseball pitcher.  MLB remembers when starters used to be stars and wants to make them great again.

How do they propose to do that?  They want anyone who starts on the mound to pitch six or more complete innings.

The Man Himself-Tommy John.   Elbow not included.

Why wouldn’t they trial balloon that idea out loud during a season that has seen more pitchers shut down for surgery than ever?  MLB leadership has a fever again.  Don’t catch it.

Tommy John on line two.

You’d think they have as much chance to institute this rule as Joe Biden has of getting reelected right about now.

But it is the MLB.   Remember, the designated hitter rule was adopted by the American League in 1973 and by the National League in 2022.  In other words, it was so good in the AL that it only took 49 years to implement in the NL.

Joe Biden was but a freshman Senator in 1973 at the tender age of 29.  Just half a century later he was President and the NL had its DH.

Keep hope alive.

Ever diligent to prevent injuries or arm fatigue, MLB would of course make a few exceptions to the mandatory six innings.  An injury would be acceptable to take out the starter.  If he reached a hundred or more pitches he could exit too.   Finally, if the starter gave up four or more earned runs he could shower early.

Thoughtful.  It’s thoughtful except a great source tells BBR that the game has changed greatly with GMs green lighting managers to instruct starters to empty their tank early and often and let the next man up pick up the ball. Why force a hundred pitches or six innings?

Should MLB senior management have term limits?  Should US congressmen?  Does a Cub play in Wrigley Field?

Control.  The pitch clock is working so well, ailing arms aside, what next?  Let’s eliminate creativity in getting the other team out.   Tampa Bay pitching backward says hello.

We need stars and we need them now.  Take Kamala for example.  Please take Kamala.

Soon they’ll decide to juice the ball with more elixer than Biden ever got before any speech.  Homeruns will be back in style.

They’ll call it “Ballz over Walz,” or something like that.

Keep pitching.  Like the DNC, someone late into the evening might still be watching.

The six-inning starter idea is a swing and a miss and should not see the light of day.

What’s weird, not like JD Vance weird, is that Joe Biden’s last pitch was almost in the light of day.

 

Want a Tip? Reduce Spending.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which does a lot of things but reducing inflation is not one of them, provided the IRS with an additional 80 billion dollars to hunt down tax cheats.  With the loose change, the IRS planned to hire up to 88 thousand additional agents.

They said they were going after the rich folks.  But, it also gave the green light to tighten the efforts against workers who primarily earn their income from tips.

The bill passed when Vice President Kamala Harris voted “yay” to break the 50-50 Senate deadlock and was signed into law in August of 2022.

The bloated IRS, chasing tip earners, reminds us of a lion who runs down a field mouse, a tasty treat.  The problem with doing so is that he burns more calories than the consumption of the mouse provides.  But, we digress.

Fast forward to the 2024 campaign for President.  A month ago, former President Donald Trump announced that he would eliminate taxes on tips if he were reelected.  Nevada’s casino industry cheered.

Last week, VP Harris addressed a Nevada rally that numbered in the tens of thousands or tens of hundreds depending on how much or little AI was involved.  Surprise, surprise.  She announced that she would eliminate taxes on tips if she gets elected.  Nevada’s casino industry cheered.

That is a direct reversal of the Act she voted for just two years ago.  This wouldn’t be about winning the swing state, would it?

Does that make her a flip-flopping copycat?  It’s a rare combo.

Take a politician at their word at your peril.  But, one of them will take the Oval Office.   Plenty of bartenders, waitresses, and blackjack dealers will be happy.

But, will it cause plenty of IRS workers to lose their job?  After all, you won’t need to chase the underreported tips of those chasing tips for a living.

It won’t.

The government never “cuts” anything. They only throw the word around like a $5 casino chip.

It’s like the Act.  Spending doesn’t reduce inflation.

In short, Congress decided it had a collection problem. Then it funded a “solution.”  Now the two candidates don’t think it’s a problem.  And, when/if it’s repealed there won’t be a single government job cut from those added.  Has there ever?

The real problem is spending.  But cutting spending doesn’t win votes, it only loses elections.

That’s why we can’t talk about that.

 

 

They’re All in Line!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

All four horses have now reached the starting gate.  Pop!  Off goes the starter’s pistol.  And, they’re off!

It’s a sloppy start on a long track.

Walz the gelding breaks dead to the left.  Mare Harris, often confused for a hyena, steadies along the rail.

Colt Vance wobbles weirdly before steadying.  Trump the stallion, who probably should have been gelded, tries to find and refine his stride.

Harris now runs stride for stride.  Walz entering the race has boosted her campaign and spirits.  Honeymoons do that.  Then reality sets in.

Some polls show she leads. The trip from a yearling that no one wanted to favored like Secretariat has been swift.  Are they bought and paid for?

As they reach the backstretch RFK, Jr. eats organic oats and looks on from his stall.

Before Biden scratched late and was put out to pasture, RFK wanted in the race.  Race organizers refused.

They then entered a paint horse per the breeders.  She identifies as a black horse now.

This is Walz and Vance’s first run in such a high-stakes race.  Will Walz hit a wall?  Will Vance properly dance on Turmp’s cue?

They reach the far turn.  News breaks that Trump’s ear may have been grazed by the race starter’s shot.  “Some of the doctors said it was the most blood they  have ever seen.”  Is this why he seems confused ever since Harris entered?

Who has the most horse left when they come down the stretch?  Trump says “Some say that I was the best president ever.  Actually, many say that.  Most.”  Some say he sounds like a one-trick pony.  Most say.

What can Harris be, unburdened by what has been?  Will she need a Venn diagram to get her to the finish line?  Ed the Talking Horse has given more interviews thus far, but savvy thoroughbred watchers think they’ll sound similar.  “After all who doesn’t like a yellow school bus?”  What?

As they turn for home Trump rallies, and the crowd real and imagined, roars.  Harris zooms forward and the crowd, real and AI-generated, roars.

ABC has a debate set up for us to see the finish.  Had.  FOX wants one.

It could be a photo finish if the cameras in Arizona and Georgia don’t break.

That would assume that the election will be fair.

Balanced?  Neigh.

 

 

You Want Weird?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Roughly a week ago, the machine known as the DNC dropped its latest talking points to its faithful in elected offices and an eager-to-please media.

As Carrie Bradshaw would say,  “And just like that JD Vance was weird!”  Why?  Cause everyone says so, it is so.

Much more quietly the national debt passed $35 trillion.  That doesn’t sell nearly as many ads as labeling a VP as weird to try to help get an Indian/Jamaican woman elected as the first black female president.  Got that?

And, after an attempted assassination that some are trying to label as not an attempted assassination, you might need a break.

Weird times call for weird one-liners.

How about a baker’s dozen or so one from a uniquely weird comic?  We present some of Steven Wright’s masterpieces below.

 

If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?

I got food poisoning today. I don’t know when I’ll use it.

Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn’t happen.

Last week I forgot how to ride a bicycle.

I went to San Francisco. I found someone’s heart.

Is “tired old cliche” one?

I got a garage door opener. It can’t close. Just open.

If you were going to shoot a mime, would you use a silencer?

You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?

I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn’t park anywhere near the place.

On the other hand, you have different fingers.

I went to a restaurant that serves “breakfast at any time”. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.

I was sad because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet. So I said, “Got any shoes you’re not using?”

 

Weird indeed.

 

 

 

Unburdened

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

After the last eight days labeling the US a banana republic might be insulting to banana republics.  In today’s world with Veep Kamala Harris poised(or not) to be the next nominee for the Democratic Party it might also be an insulting racist comment.

The Republican Party nominee and former President survived an attempted assassination.   His protectors were anything but when he needed them the most.

The Democratic Party nominee is(or was) the sitting President who didn’t survive a DNC power play.  His protectors were anything but when he needed them the most.

Eighty-one million popular votes in 2020 wasn’t enough to save Biden from himself in 2024.  As of Friday, he said he was still running.  Sunday the DNC money donors said he wasn’t.

“Unburdened by the past we look to tomorrow, for there is no tomorrow without today.  And, today was yesterday’s tomorrow.  Unburdened.”   –Kamala sort of.

On Sunday on a piece of plain white paper, he signed his name(maybe) to a letter he didn’t write saying he was no longer running for president in 2024 and posted it on X.  No photo of him signing.  No sighting of him.  His admin and aides had no idea.

If he’s not fit to run in 2024 is he fit to finish his term?   We digress.

Voila!  The coup is complete.  The Democratic Party, who reminds you that Trump is a threat to our democracy,  removed Joe in a very undemocratic way.  He couldn’t win.  So they quit on him.

You’re forced out because the elites know you can’t win.  You fold.  They pick your replacement.  Is this how democratic elections are supposed to unfold?

The system only cares about holding on to the power.  It gets you to the money.  “Democracy” is but a cover.

Minutes later scrappy-no-more Joe from Scranton endorsed Kamala Harris.  Quickly, Newsom, Buttigieg, Shapiro, Whitmer, and many others did too.  Notably Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, and Jeffries did not.

Will they all eventually coalesce around VP Harris?  If so, she’ll be the choice now who dropped out in 2016 before the Dems Iowa Primary with less than one percent of the projected vote.  She will do so without a primary this time.  And, she is the one who lied to the public repeatedly about Biden’s actual health until the last minute.

How convenient.

Legally there is the Biden/Harris $280 million PAC war chest that can only be used if she runs.  The power brokers have a month to use it and then decide.

She’s on trial.  As a former state attorney general, she knows how tricky verdicts can be.  Unburdened?  Or, do they have one burden left?  As VP her approval ratings rival Walter Mondale’s.

Meanwhile, a guy with a hole in his ear awaits.  He’s been impeached, impeached again, threatened with ballot removal, indicted, arrested, convicted, and shot.

He’s put a Bush, a Clinton, and a Biden out.  It’s four decades and counting since one of those establishment names wasn’t running for office.

He’s not a threat to democracy.  He’s a threat to “them.”

He’s a threat to the golden goose.  And, the Democratic Party just laid a very different egg.

At this point, an October Surprise will not surprise.

The End

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Shortly after POTUS Barack Obama became the former prez he uttered the infamous sentence, “Never underestimate Joe Biden’s ability to mess things up.”

Actually, he did not say “mess.”  What he did say was a four-letter word though.

In 2019 Barack didn’t give Joe what he asked for.  Biden came to the clear Democratic Party leader and asked for his endorsement to run for president in 2020.  Instead, he told Joe, “You know you don’t have to do this.”

But Biden soldiered on.  He told us that the soul of the country was at stake.  This was after his son sold his and Joe’s soul to Ukraine, but we digress.

Eighty-one million votes and one “insurrection” later, Biden started calling the White House home.  Is Arizona finished counting votes yet?  We digress again.

Fast forward to the first debate of 2024 on Joe’s way to reelection, and he hit a pothole.  And, it was one big, incoherent, babbling run-on sentence after another surely caused by jet lag and a cold.  Or, not.

This was the beginning of the end publicly.  For DNC brass it was the middle.

When one runs for the highest office in all of the land he or she must win two votes.  The first one is the coronation from the internal powers who control the donation kitty.  The second is the Electoral College.

A couple of weeks later facing sharp persistent criticism, Biden landed in Los Angeles for a heavy Hollywood-hitting fundraiser hosted by Obama’s tight buddy, George Clooney.  With 28 mil secured Biden boarded Air Force One to head east.

But, once the checks cleared Clooney did the switch art of the old bait and switch.  He said the obvious out loud.  Biden has(most would say had) deteriorated significantly and wondered if he was fit to serve four more years.  Clooney, by Obama’s proxy,  green-lit the lieutenants.

Adam Shiff became the 20th Dem Rep/Senator to ask Biden to reconsider.  Reports are that friend Chuck Schumer, in a one-on-one, told Biden directly that he should stop the campaign.

Joe pressed on.  His inner circle has no conscience.  Yesterday, he forgot his appointed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s name in an interview.  He referred to him as “the black man.”  Oh, yes he did.

By nightfall, he did all he could to stay vertical climbing ever so slowly up the short steps of Air Force One.

Now it’s Covid for the thrice-boosted one.  Joy Reid said this could be a benefit to the campaign. “He can remind people of what hell we went through because of Donald Trump.”

Campaign?

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over,”  Yogi Berra wisely reasoned long ago.  Joy heartedly agrees today.

The DNC plans to push back their convention a month.  Hmmmm.

Barack Obama has spoken.  Therefore, the money has as well.

It’s over.

The end.

 

 

That Close

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s no secret that it’s a fine line in this country between civility and incivility.  Late Saturday afternoon it got as close to crossing over as the distance between former President Donald Trump’s ear and his head.

Luckily for him even more than us, it didn’t.

Who is to blame?  It starts with the deranged 20-year-old who pulled the trigger.  No gun has ever shot anyone.  It needs a human’s finger to pull the trigger.

But, it’s reached a point where that’s only the end result.

For the lone gunman to get to the high point on the roof a mere 130 yards away is a Secret Service failure plain and simple.  As a team, they looked balky(and that’s being kind) trying to surround Trump, move him to the safety of the limo, and whisk him away.

Three female agents looked like unsynchronized swimmers in dire need of floaties.  The relatively new leader of the USSS Kimberly Cheatle is the 27th Director of the U.S. Secret Service, sworn into office on September 17, 2022.  Her publicly stated goal of having 30% female agents ASAP might be ambitious.  How about having the very best candidates regardless of skin color, gender, and sexual orientation?

This was a DEI failure and an abject team job failure overall.  Ms. Cheatle should pay for it with her job.

But they were dealt this dangerous situation by an even deeper hand.

The animous that the left has for Donald Trump is unhinged.  Donald and the right have a hand in egging it on as well.

President Biden took to the airwaves yesterday.  “The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down.”

Just last week Biden was trying to rally the deflated Dem donors.  “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. So, we’re done talking about the debate.  It’s time to put Donald Trump in a bullseye.”

You can almost hear him if asked today, “Oh, you know what I meant, come on man!”  Sir, we rarely know what you mean these days.

“Our very democracy is at stake.”  Trump will be a dictator from day one.”  “This is what Hitler did.”    Jeez, somebody better do something about this guy.

And, a very misguided 20-year-old who likely liked blue hair had a hair trigger because somehow he was triggered.  Go figure.

Social media is like watching a long rally in a ping-pong match.  “Gotch ya.”  “No, I got you.”  People only relent when their mom calls them to dinner or the phone battery needs recharging.

The mainstream media personalities are only cheerleaders for their chosen side while constantly castigating the other.

And then there is Hollywood for now.   It will mostly move to Canada if Trump gets reelected.

Kathy Griffin had his decapitated head in her hand.  Tiny Robert De Niro is going to slug him in the face.  Anthony Bourdain wants to poison him.  Madonna wants to blow him up.  Rosie O’Donnell ends it all by throwing him over a cliff even though she can’t see her shoelaces.

Some people believe that these actors are more than just that.

And, let’s be perfectly candid.  There are a lot of not-too-smart people.  And, it only takes one.

Where to from here?

For former President Trump luckily that answer is Milwaukee.  “Fight.”  Fight!”  “FIGHT!”

For America, we wonder.

 

 

 

 

 

To Fight Another Day

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As the US heavyweight championship bout neared the challenger and the champ approached the ring.  The challenger strode confidently, never short on confidence.  The champ shuffled but it was not exactly like Ali did it.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s get ready to rumble.”  Actually, only one lady and one gentleman were allowed to view the fight.

Ding! Ding!

Quickly it was apparent that the champ misunderstood the ring announcer.  Biden must have thought he said, “Let’s get ready to mumble.”

It would be kind to say it was a slow start for the champ.

The last few seconds of round three ticked away, and Biden was on the ropes.  His last sentence sounded like anything but one.

Challenger Trump sensed weakness and went for the haymaker.  “I don’t understand what he said at the end of that last sentence, and I don’t think he does either.”

Boom!  The fight was over.  It was more than a standing eight count.  It was a TKO.  It was prescient as it summarized the entire night.

As future rounds wore on Trump bragged, exaggerated, avoided, and lied.   He was far from perfect.  He always is.

But, the champ showed his age.  He was only fighting half a round at times.  “President Biden, you still have 83 seconds left, would you care to say anything else?”

“Yes, I would, Number one blah, blah, blah.  And number two, blah blah blah.”   Speaking of number two, we can only hope for his sake.

This performance came after he was sequestered for seven days at Camp David focused solely on debate prep.

At this point, interest in the showdown had waned.  Policy wasn’t on the card any longer.  The ability to hold office competently till you’re 86 is.  Or was.

Biden was asked about abortion-an issue that he leads on.  He attempted a comeback.  Then he uttered, “we need abortion because a lot of women are raped by their in-laws and sisters.”

Sisters?  It all depends on how you identify these days.

Mercifully, the bell rang.  Trump strode out just like he strode in.

Biden must have felt like Rocky at the end of Rocky.  He was helped down the stairs by Adrianne, er, Dr Jill.  It was a sad end to a bad night for him.

But was it his last fight?  Another is scheduled this fall.

Or was this fight scheduled perfectly by the Democrats?

If they can convince Irish Joe to step away it gives them time to rally behind another.  They have fifteen rounds of film to help him see the light.

They floated the timing and conditions of this one to the Trump Camp.  He latched on hook, line, and sinker.

What was the bait?  The bait was his ego.  He’s a street fighter from NY.  Anytime, anywhere suits him just fine.

Did he win the night but lose the election?

You have to pay off Kamala.  Her approval ratings are lower than Joe’s.

Gavin Newsom, an undercard fighter to this point, is champing