News

Yin and Yang

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If America had a nickel for every time a politician said “we need to come together as a nation and move forward,” America wouldn’t be in debt.  Well, it still would be actually based on the “free” for all mentality we have in place now.  But, go with it anyway.

The truth is we never come together in the absolute sense of the phrase.  We aren’t even built that way as the checks and balances that our founding fathers (can you still say that?) put in place some 245 years ago create what used to be a purposeful debate.  And, we should thank them for that.

But, way back when we did a much better job of putting the country first and the agendas of factions thereof second.

Remember when House Majority Leader Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan would top off Tip’s glass of Scotch and hammer out a deal while Tip got hammered?

Bill Clinton’s tenure at the top produced nearly balanced budgets and a budget surplus once or twice.  He signed into law the three strikes and you’re out legislation.  The border was ours and we protected it well.   As a friendly reminder, Clinton was a Democrat.  But most all Americans saw these policies as effective, not just the more moderate left back then.

No more, and close isn’t close.

So, what to do?  Well solving it on just one quick dip of the pen in the ink well is far too ambitious.  But, with an early eye on 2024, we have an idea to try on.

Biden has no shot unless you count his three and counting “vaccine” shots.  Kamala will be off creating a new gameboard phenomenon called “Where’s Kamala?”  She’s practicing and perfecting it now.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the President and Vice President of the United States, Ron DeSantis(R) and Tulsi Gabbard(D).

Did you see the R and D inside of those parentheses?  Of course, you did.

Forget if you like DeSantis or not. The pendulum always swings and it’s swinging right now.  The Republicans will return to the highest office in the land, mail-in ballots or not. It’s him or someone else from the right.

The point is, what if he used his Floridian stones to go where only Abe Lincoln and Andrew Johnson have gone before?  Nominate the opposite party as your running mate.  He’s not afraid to make bold moves and take chances.

At a minimum, for the Republicans, it would(should) neuter the every four-years “war on women” nonsense that the Dems drag out.  The cries of misogyny would be dampened.  And it reaches across the aisle like never before.  It might even make Morning Joe happy, or infuriated, or both.

She seems very even-keeled, intelligent, and moderate in her views. She could be the yin and Ron the yang.  Her actions (military service) and her words always seem to try to put America, not her party, first.

And, most of all “we could come together as a nation and move forward.”

Couldn’t we?

Sure, probably, maybe, doubtfully, no chance.

 

A Free Chicken

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Ok, it’s time for Congressional Jeopardy.  Welcome, everyone!  What a great group of contestants we have today.  Let’s get started.

Madame Speaker, please select.

“I’ll take Marketing 101 for $100.”

This game-changing business owner famously declared “focus groups are worthless, we know what our consumers want more than they do.”

Senator Manchin buzzes in. “Who is Steve Jobs?”

“Correct, and boy was he, please select.”

“Marketing 101 for $200”

“This American President famously believes he knows more about what Americans want than they do.”

Rep Jayapal buzzes in.  “Who is President Joe Biden?”

“Correct. Unfortunate.  But, correct.  Please select.”

“How about Campaign Slogans for $100.”

“The date that “Build Back Better” got reduced to “Better Not Build Back.”

Senator Manchin.

“What was Tuesday?”

Correct again, please select.

“Let’s take Now What? for $100.”

And the clue is, ha, well, “Now What?”

Jayapal.  “Spend more?”

“In the form of a question, please.”

“What is spend more and offer a free chicken in every pot?”

No sorry.

Madame Speaker buzzes.  “What is blame Trump?”

No sorry.  “Impeach Trump?”  No, still sorry.

Senator Manchin, do you want to take a shot?

“What is you better pay attention to what Virginia just told you.”

Correct.  Select again.  We have but a minute remaining in Double Jeopardy.

Let’s take “All things Minnesota” for $1000.

The clue is, “enough of this nonsense already.”

Senator Manchin. “What is the police defund just got a refund.”

“Correct.”  Bahhhhh.  “Time is up.  We see Manchin in the lead with $12,000, Madam Speaker with $2,000, and unfortunately Rep Jayapal with -$200 which makes you unable to play Final Jeopardy.

Jayapal asks, “why not?”  Alex Trebek’s fill-in responds, “you actually have to have your own money to risk money.  And the category today is Famous Bills.  We’ll be back after this commercial word.”

The video cuts to the commercial  “Hello, I’m President Biden.  As you know I have a job that requires long hours.  If you’re like me and sometimes fall asleep in meetings, or interviews, or summits, try NoDoz. It gets the job done when I’d rather sleep on it.”

“Welcome back to Final Jeopardy, the category again is famous Bills, and the clue is, “This Bill now carries a price tag of somewhere between $1.7 and $3.5 trillion dollars?”  “Good luck.”

Do do do, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah doo, doo doo doo, dum, dum, dum.   Pens down, please.

“We go now to Madame Pelosi. Let’s see what she wrote.  ‘What’s the cost of paying off all of Bill Clinton’s dalliances?’  No sorry.  How much did you wager?”

“I wagered $1,000,000.”  Well, you only had $2,000, so I’m not sure how you can do that.”

“I’m the Speaker, I can do anything I want.”

“And to Senator Manchin.   He wrote, ‘The Reconciliation Bill, vote for it and America will vote you out in 2022.'”

“CORRECT.”  Let’s see how much you wagered?  “Your entire political career!”

And Senator Manchin you are our Congressional Jeopardy Champion!

Congratulations!”

doo, doo, doo, dah, dah, dah…

 

 

 

The Friendly Skies

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

United Airlines marketed the jingle “fly the friendly skies.”   And, one pilot of United’s very worthy adversary, Southwest Airlines, should have taken note, perhaps.

We write “perhaps” because, in spite of AP reporter Collen Long’s outrage expressed on her Twitter account, there is no clear-cut audio or video of the reported SWA pilot uttering “Let’s Go Brandon” as passengers were about to deplane in Alberquerque this past weekend.  Not yet.

Predictably both sides of the divided country quickly stepped up to either defend the yet unnamed pilot or want to have him fired by sundown in New Mexico.

Fox News had their roundtable of five on the Outnumbered show yesterday take turns citing examples of either Alec Baldwin or Robert DeNiro screaming “F Trump” into microphones, or even that has been redheaded comedienne (her name escapes us) that faux beheaded Trump as justification for the pilot’s behavior.

There are few more staunch supporters of the freedom of speech than BBR.

But, the above examples are individuals acting as individuals.  You don’t have to like what they said or did any more than watching the American flag being set ablaze. You just have to respect their right to do so.

So, simply stated he had a right to say what he said.  And, because of that, the airline has a right to take whatever disciplinary action it deems appropriate against the pilot.  He was on their time earning his dime.

The SWA pilot was representing SWA.  And a company spokesperson released the following statement yesterday.  “Southwest Team takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, and respectful environment for the millions of customers who fly with the airline each year, and behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive is not condoned.”

A wise owl once said, “you can say anything you want on your last day.”

Whether the purported incident did or did not happen is still for debate. What is not debatable is that a corporate line is a corporate line.

And, now a pilot, vaccinated or not, might have to join the unemployment line. His freedom of speech wasn’t free.

At a minimum he’ll get his wings clipped a bit.

Meanwhile, “Let’s Go Brandon” seems to have a lot of air under its wings.

 

 

Meet The Depressed

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Rush Limbaugh used to mockingly refer to the NBC Sunday morning news show as “Meet the Depressed.”

Perhaps it is an apropos name even if just for a week for the party in power.

Yesterday, Halloween Day, host Chuck Todd delivered some scary news for Democrats.  An October 23-26 NBC News poll was discussed and answers to it disseminated.

“The overarching message, Americans have lost their confidence in President Joe Biden and their optimism for the country. At least they have right now. Just 22% of adults say we are headed in the right direction. A shocking 71% say we’re on the wrong track and that includes a near majority of Democrats who are saying that,” Todd said.

Did he say “a near majority of Democrats as well?”  It is spooky indeed that the left-leaning network and its marquee show would even kick off the broadcast with that.

Further, fifty-four percent of Americans disapprove of the job Biden is doing, while only 42% approve.  The numbers are in a free fall from a similar poll conducted just two months ago.

The further you dive into the details the worse it gets for team Biden on some issues.  On border security, inflation, crime, national security, and the economy the president is underwater by 18-27 percent vs how Americans think that Republicans would handle such needs.

All of this sets up as an early tell.  Later this week Biden travels back from Europe to Virginia to lend a political hand.   Republican Glenn Youngkin is within striking distance of Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor’s election.  This statistical dead heat comes just one year after Biden routed Trump in the state by 10 points.

Can McAuliffe survive after he told parents that they shouldn’t have a say in what their children are taught?  Biden is ridin’ to the rescue.

The good news about the scary news is that the midterms are a year away.  Poll numbers can change significantly by then.  But will they?

The Dems currently hold all of the power, but constantly argue over spending more, or a lot more money than this country can afford?  Too much candy isn’t too good for you.

Will Halloween time a year from now be a trick or a treat for the Democrats?

Fish Like Hell, and Make Up Lies

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Hook, line, and sinker.  It’s all there for your eyes to peruse the ruse in one sentence.  Wear some sunglasses though.

“It seems to me almost every sensible progressive revenue option that the President wants, that the American people want, that I want, seems to be sabotaged,” he said.  He would be Bernie Sanders, of all things the Senate Budget Chairman.

Is there such a thing as a “sensible progressive revenue option?”

If you have enough lines in the water surely someone (Sinema, Manchin, someone, Buehler, anyone) will bite, won’t they?

As Democrats face a self-imposed deadline to pass a sweeping reconciliation spending bill and a bipartisan infrastructure plan they appear in danger of doing neither – again.

You make your bed, and you lie in it.  Months ago Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi caved or got in cahoots (take your pick) with the far, far left.  She agreed to tie the two bills together.

It sounded good at the time.  When you’re the majority on both floors of the Congress and are reeling in a fish for a President what could go wrong?   What went wrong is that they thought they had all of the fish in the boat, but two are unexpectedly swimming upstream.

It seems like the fishing license has a renewal date, too.

President Biden is leaving the United States Thursday for an international trip that will include, among other things, a climate summit.   “The president looked at us in the eye and he said, ‘I need this before I go represent the United States in Glasgow,’” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Sunday.

Ah, yes, the bull rush close.  Get them in the boat before there’s too much slack in the line and the hook gets loose.

“American prestige is on the line,” he added.  Really?  Sounds like good cop, bad cop.

“It’s the effing progressives,” one moderate Democrat anonymously told Fox News. The moderate accused progressives of asking for “unreasonable things.”  It sounds like some are ready to jump overboard.

Maybe, just maybe, they’re asking for a haul that exceeds any sensible fishing limits?  Elon Musk thinks so.  He’s had enough.   They threw out the chum and grabbed the gaff to hook the rich.

How about a 15% tax on all billionaires making over 100 million?   “Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you,” he wrote on Twitter.

Musk could face up to $50 billion in taxes for the first five years under the plan if implemented.  We are reminded often that everyone should pay their fair share.  In his case, the fair share exceeds the gross domestic product of some developed countries.

If you let a group of angry, unintelligent fishermen (call them “the squad” maybe) wet a line long enough they’ll eventually fish an area dry. It’s why gill nets are banned.

The Democrats could extend their own self-imposed deadline again.  But, before you know it, it will be winter and then 2022.

Remember, 2022 is a midterm election year.

That’s when fishing poles are quickly replaced by reelection polls, and Americans take the bait all over again.

 

 

Ho, Ho, No

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yes DC, there is a Santa Claus.

“With holidays coming up, you might be wondering if the gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time,” President Biden said from the White House yesterday. “Today we have some good news: We’re going to help speed up the delivery of goods all across America.”

And ole Joe, one of Kris Kringle’s older elves is here to help.  The White House responded to the roughly 66 container ship backlog by finalizing an agreement for the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach to become a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week operation just like the hours that Santa’s helpers keep this time of the year.

The hope is that nighttime operations will help to break the logjam and get that temporary inflation, which isn’t so temporary, under control.

Want to know a Santa’s secret?  The port has been operating 24/7 for the last 21 days.  Want to know another?   Consumer prices climbed 5.4% from a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, way above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Higher energy, food, and shelter costs were prime drivers of price increases in September.   There isn’t too much energy coming into LA’s ports.  And, it accounts for zero shelter cost increases.

Ah, but it’s been said before, and savvy politicians will say it again.  And, again.   Never, ever let a good crisis go to waste.  Alas, the president is trying to use the predicament as a selling point for his policy plans that are undergoing congressional scrutiny.

“We need to take a longer view and invest in building greater resiliency to withstand the kinds of shocks we’ve seen over and over, year in and year out, the risk of a pandemic, extreme weather, climate change, cyberattacks, weather disruptions,” he said.  That’s a mouthful of leftist cookies and milk if we’ve ever heard it.

What’s so weird about this is that Santa and his elves work in the harshest climate of all, the North Pole.  And, we’ve seen over and over, year in and year out that jolly ole Nick guy and his reindeer get to millions of homes, up and down chimneys, and deliver on promises all in one 24 hour window.  That’s a supply chain logistics model to emulate if ever there was one.  And, yet, it doesn’t work this year.  Hmm.

And, lost in all of this is that the ports are but one small piece of the puzzle.  Up and down the supply chain- wages, raw material shortages, manufacturing shortfalls, lack of truck drivers, lack of retail workers, etc all have a role.  Oh, and the government is stuffing money in the stockings hung on the mantle without care.

Rudolph’s red inflation nose is flashing so bright, that the Fed might need to deliver an interest rate lump of coal increase sooner than later.   That, of course, assumes coal is still an allowable fuel source should the Democrats pass the Reconciliation Bill, but we digress.

University of Michigan economist Betsey Stevenson noted on Twitter the “economy is in a very fragile and unprecedented place.”  “No one really knows what’s going to happen,” wrote Stevenson, a former member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama.

Maybe Santa could trade in his old, old sleigh. We hear used vehicles are commanding top trade-in dollars these days.

The problem with that is he’d need to buy a pricey new one.

And, those come from China, through the LA port, and are back-ordered until mid-2022 we heard.

Lefty and Shorty-Gruden, Gas Prices, etc.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last evening Lefty and Shorty were all but ready to close the Gulf Station.   Rain was falling from the heavens at an accelerating pace and cars were nowhere to be found. Lefty- Why do we stay open until midnight?  Shorty-So that you and I can discuss this wacky world.

Lefty sat to the left of Shorty.  Imagine that.  Shorty sat on the shorter of the two “halves” of the 55-gallon drum. Imagine that.  Each was cut down to size and retrofitted with a soft cushion top.

Lefty- Jon Gruden resigned.  Shorty- It’s about time somebody took ownership of the fiasco under the Del Rio Bridge.  Lefty- What? Gruden, the Raiders coach. Shorty- Oh!  Maybe Jack Del Rio can take over as interim?  Why did he resign?

Lefty- Umm.  Gruden’s 10-year-old emails exposed him as a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, and a few other names that I cannot spell.  Shorty- What do 10-year-old emails have to do with the high price of oil today? Lefty- I’m dumbfounded, but in today’s cancel culture world I guess everything.  Shorty-What does dumbfounded mean?   Lefty-  Look in the mirror much?  Shorty- I’ve called Roger Goodell a few names myself from time to time.   Lefty- Everyone that has an NFL pulse has, but “gotcha” got Gruden this time.   Shorty- Frank Caliendo lost a voice.

Lefty- Moving along.   Shorty-  What’s Biden doing about the high price of oil?

Lefty- Same as he’s doing for everything.  Calling it transitory.  Shorty- Isn’t transitory one of those bad names that exposed Gruden that you can’t spell?   Lefty- Huh?  No.  He’s saying it’s only temporary.  Shorty- Like his presidency?  Lefty- Whew, you must have slept well last night! Here’s a softball down the middle for you.  Do you think Kamala takes over if Biden doesn’t quite make the four years? Shorty-  Who is harder to find these days, Kamala Harris or Brian Laundrie?

Lefty- This isn’t going well.  Shorty- You mean the gas business?  Lefty- Sure. I’ll bite.  Shorty- How can it?  We don’t have enough help.  We don’t have enough gas.  And, the cost per gallon is about to hit a decade-high price. 

Lefty- Just one more question should do it.  What do you think of the Reconciliation Bill?  Shorty- Not much.  If I was Bill I’d stay as far away from Hillary as possible.

Lefty- Be sure to lock up.  Shorty- Bill?

 

 

Buy Today, Deliver Tonight

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Those “come on” deals always sound so tempting.  You know the ones.

Buy this entire room of furniture today, have it delivered tonight with nothing down, no interest, and nothing to pay until…….

Until.  That’s the rub.  The bills always come due.  And, if you sell your soul to the devil(or Tony Soprano types) they never end.

Do take our word for it, ask POTUS.

He promised it all, or at least his team did, to the left of the left inside of the Democratic Party to get elected.  They wanted that room full of furniture.

So, they took to the streets, lit fires, threw rocks, looted, had mostly peaceful protests, told you that Black Lives Matter, wanted to defund the police for social justice, complained about the rich getting richer, needed tuition debt forgiven, wanted free preschool, and need to end this pesky climate change(hurricanes included) all to get Biden in office.  And it worked in record voting numbers we are told.

All of this unrest when unemployment was at record lows, the stock market was at record highs, interest rates were at record lows, companies building new in America were at record highs, illegal border crossings were at record lows.  We could go on.

But, the Trump world was a terrible one and we need to Build Back Better they said.  And, now the bills are due.

So, with one enormous spending bill followed by another, he’s attempting to pay off the debts of gratitude.  Like hurricanes, each bill had(Covid relief) or has(Infrastructure, Reconciliation) a name to remember it by.

But, a funny thing happened these last several weeks.  Controlling the House, the Senate, and the White House the party in power can’t agree on how much, how fast, when, where, and why.

The further left you are, the more you “need” for all of the minions that elect and reelect and reelect you.

The furniture hasn’t even been delivered yet.  Yet, Bernie Sanders wants to remodel and nearly double the size of the room (5 tril he says).  AOC scoffed at 3.5 tril on the Reconciliation Bill sarcastically asking if this was rent to own by month money.  Nancy Pelosi wants until the end of October to appoint the joint.  She’s trying to get the kids to agree on adding the love seat and dropping out the recliner.

And two Senators (Manchin and Sinema)aren’t sure if we need all of this new free stuff.

One of them, Sinema, made the mistake of getting up from the sofa and heading to the bathroom where she was accosted by malcontents likely hired to act like imbeciles.

Biden said yesterday that all of this stalling was the Republican’s fault. He really did.  He also said that he needed them to get out of the way as our nation’s economy was at stake over this.  He actually may be so wrong about the economy that he is right.

With gas prices at seven-year highs, supply chain issues across numerous industries, food prices skyrocketing, labor shortages everywhere, and the Fed carefully considering when(not if) to raise interest rates perhaps the last thing we need to do is print more money to create more demand and higher costs of living.

At least soon enough we’ll be able to forget about these squabbles over money we don’t have and buy some Christmas presents for our loved ones with money that we don’t have.

On Monday Dr. Fauci said we could have Christmas celebrations this year.  That was a relief because on one of Sunday’s morning shows he said it was too soon to tell if we could gather with our loved ones.

He also said that his comments were taken out of context. His problem is a lot like Urban Meyer’s problem.  Roll the videos.  But, we digress.

For now, the conservatives can tell the woke that we are going broke and the woke can tell the conservatives that our country is broken.

Buy today and we’ll deliver tonight!

 

 

 

If A Tree Falls…

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Unless you live under a rock you know that 10-15k Haitian migrants have been living under a bridge on the border in Del Rio, TX for about 10 days and counting.

What you may not know is that in mid-sentence of answering a question yesterday (presumably about Ireland), UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was cut off by a White House staff that ushered all UK and US reporters out of the room.

This was only one and one-half answer in for the Prime Minister, and after President Joe Biden had answered “good luck” to Johnson when he first suggested that the two begin taking questions.  Biden and Boris watched the herding out of the reporters with the look of second-graders when first introduced to long division.  There sat Plugs and Shag Rugs.

The migrants’ ten-day fiasco and the three-minutes and halted Q and A have much in common.   They are both unfortunate examples of the Biden Administration’s over-the-top, incessant attempt to control the content, its narrative, as well as Biden’s exposure to the press to account for any and all things pertinent to running this country.

Consider the following.

  1. None of the Haitians are directly from Haiti, hence the term migrants, not refugees.  Every single one interviewed thus far stated that they have been living in Brazil, Mexico, or in one of a few Central American countries.  They’re claiming refugee status in light of the recent events in Haiti as a cover for entry.  Biden kicked that door wide open months back.
  2. The Del Rio crossing as well as other entry points across the Rio Grande have gone unmanned in recent weeks.  The Biden team told the Border Patrol to stand down entirely.  Open borders it is.
  3. It is believed that Haitian’s are only 3% vaccinated.  Americans can’t walk into restaurants without one or two jabs, but it’s no problem for entry via our borders.
  4. On Sunday talk shows DHS and ICE leaders told America that everyone was going to get a one-way ticket back to Haiti.  Crisis solved. Nothing to see here.  Never mind that they don’t live there anymore.  Also, as of yesterday, only about 300 have been flown back. Over 1000 have caught buses bound to who knows where in the US sans any documentation.  And, most of all, estimates range from 10k to 30k people caravans of additional migrants headed to Del Rio from all parts south.
  5. The FAA over the weekend prohibited Fox News from flying drones over the site.  If you can’t see the crisis is there a crisis?  Other networks finally started covering the mess days later.  If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, is it sound?  Yesterday, the FAA relented.
  6.  Politicians and left-wing media types spent the last 48 hours comparing pictures of border patrol officers “whipping” Haitians to slavery, systemic racism, 100 years ago, etc.  The incensed officers pushed back yesterday saying no one was hit, the whips were actually horse reins and are swung for the horse to see to control their movements in crowds.   Doesn’t the Biden team control the border patrol?  They stood down two weeks ago when asked.
  7. Seldom seen Border Czar Comma La Harris called the images “very disturbing.”  CNN shrill Chris Cuomo compared the horse scene to the aforementioned slavery.  Cuomo may have a bit of a horse face, but his familiarity with equines likely stops there.  Forget the illegality of the crossing, the terrible conditions, the heat.  Forget the green card.  Play the race card.
  8.  Texas Governor Abbott yesterday finally put a halt to the unfettered crossings with Texas Ranger vehicles blocking the way.  He did what the federal government paid lip service to.  Somehow, he’ll be the bad guy now.  Isn’t that what the left wants anyway?

Walking out of the UN Council yesterday morning a masked Biden was asked what he was going to do about the “out of control border crisis.”  He answered simply, “we’ll get it under control.”  That’s it on day ten of this mess, five words.

The administration must be proud.  Plan executed.  You know, less is more.

Oh, and he must have been following the science wearing the mask.  Remember, he said sternly two weeks back that we need to protect the vaccinated from the unvaccinated.  Haitians aside we presume.

 

 

A Not So Hairy Recall.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In the 19th-century election ballots were counted by hand. Usually, when the count was first announced, the customary crowd of people that gathered to await the results cheered loudly. Oftentimes, this was a preliminary indication of who would win the election, hence the expression, all over but the shouting.

In California last evening it was over without any shouting.  And, in fact, the recall Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom election ballot was over before it started. BBR’s best guess is that the final tally will be at least 60% against combing back Gavin like his hair to under 40% in favor of a new dude with a new do.  That’s not close, and it never was.

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly a 2-1 margin these days in the Golden State.  With nearly 40 million residents it’s not too hard to get 1.5 million to sign a recall petition, but it’s really hard to get 51% of a vote when the sitting governor “identifies” the same as 67% of the state’s citizens.

“We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic,” said Newsom.  He controls none of that, but never mind.  “Economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice are values where California has made so much progress.   All of those things were on the ballot this evening,” he added.  That’s a lot of justice.  It makes you wonder why Cali is losing a congressional seat due to an accelerating population reduction even with immigration flowing in.

This brings us to a bevy of questions.  One, did Cali vote against Larry Elders (or anyone not deemed Progressive) or for Gavin Newsom?  Two, did America vote more against Donald Trump or for Joe Biden? If you say you voted for Biden and not against Trump, get some truth serum in your next booster vaccine, please. Three, did America vote against Hillary Clinton more than for Donald Trump?  Likely.  We could continue.

This brings us very prematurely to 2024.   Can America find a candidate that the very polarized public can get behind from both sides?  We HIGHLY doubt it.  The entirety of the process, more than ever before, sets up against it.  Lobbyists, big donor money, PACs, two-party dominance, fractured feelings, and several other major factors all set up against it.

America sees things more black and white than ever before and we aren’t talking about race.  Though, playing the race card is still a, ahem, trump card.  Either you’re with us or you’re against us.  Hatfields and McCoys.  Cowboys and Indians, though you can’t say Indians any longer.  Good cop, no cop.

Hey, how about Rand Paul?

Have you ever listened in detail to his orations?  He identifies as a Republican, but he’s plenty Libertarian.

Yesterday, without malice he took Secretary of State Antony Blinken apart limb by limb over what we did and didn’t do in Afghanistan, knew and didn’t, and what we are going to do, or not about it now.  Like Paul himself, it was a poised, unemotional, educated, evenhanded, intelligent drive down the middle lane.

Unelectable you say?  We agree.  Paul favors a balanced budget, not a ballooning deficit.  Strike one.  He favors independence over dependence on government.  Strike two.   And, three, his hair game ends where Gavin’s begins.  Strike three, you’re out!

Logic is as out of style as a perm on the national scene.  Emotion is all the craze.

Meanwhile back in Cali, Newsom can again dare to depart for the maskless, crazy expensive dinners that he doesn’t dare part his hair for.

After all, a part divides.

Slick.