gavinnewsom

Ten Percent of Ten Percent

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The House took three weeks off to make up their minds about a new Speaker.  BBR took three weeks off to give the staff some much-needed rest as well.

Wednesday the new Speaker Mike Johnson and at least 25 of his House Republican Representatives sat down for a town hall with Republican blowhard cheerleader Sean Hannity.

Sean asked them in a show of hands who would vote for, based on their knowledge to date on the influence peddling of Hunter and the Biden family, impeaching President Biden.  The show of hands looked unanimous in favor of doing so.

Yesterday a copy of a 40k check made out to Joe Biden was shown again and again on fair and balanced Fox.  The 2017 transfer from first brother James Biden and his wife Sara to the future president allegedly involves the same business deal in which Joe Biden was called the “big guy” and penciled in for a 10% cut.  It could be and maybe will be the first proven instance of the commander-in-chief getting a piece of his family’s foreign income.

All of that while more than just Rome is burning around the globe and here at home.  Would impeaching old Joe be a good idea in the political theatre while men and women are dying in theatres of war?

Maybe it would assuage those from the right still seething from one or more of the Trump “witch hunt impeachments.”  But does it move the needle in 2024?

Well, it would if the House actually voted to impeach then sent it to the Senate and the Senate held an Impeachment Trial and found Prez Biden guilty of hiding some fraudulently acquired funds.

The Senate has a slim Democratic majority.  In today’s polarized political climate, there is no way any Dems would break ranks and vote to abandon Joe is there?

That’s likely very accurate.  An in-the-know Republican friend of BBR doubts that any Dems would break.

It’s very accurate unless you are one of those who believe that the Dems don’t really want an 81-year-old Biden to run again.  After all, he seems challenged to walk much less run.

It’s actually the trap door they may be looking for if only one or two decided to make it so.

“Farfetched that is,” you naysayers say.

Pay off Kamala with a 15 million dollar book deal.  She could write about Venn Diagrams.  And voila!

Before your eyes appears a Newsom/Buttigieg ticket.

What are the odds in Vegas right now that we could have a second Second Gentleman in a row?

If you were Biden would you take 10% of the “10% for the big guy” and get some action now?

Or, is this another all-talk and no-action Republican-led House with a new leader making all of the above a nonstarter?

 

 

The Pretend Fight

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In 2018 Joe Biden announced he was running for president. When asked why, he emphatically said, “It’s a battle for our nation’s soul.” In other words, “embrace our vision.”

Last week, Nancy Pelosi announced that she was running for reelection as the representative from Cali District 11.  She said she has to as “we are in a fight for our democracy.”  She may have been the accelerant for J6, and she’ll use it to her advantage as long as her 83-year-old soul lives.

Always give the Dems credit.  They craft a catchy “cause” phrase, define it in their own self-interests, tell the media to run with it, and sell it way better than their friends from the other side of the aisle.

We assume our nation’s soul and our democracy would include open and fair elections.

Is the Democratic Party open to a fair process this go around? Does their democracy in the “fight for our democracy” include the opportunity for all voices to be heard, or just voices that see the nation’s soul the way they do?

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wonders as well.  He hinted strongly last Friday that he would run for president on a third-party ticket instead of continuing his long-shot primary challenge to President Biden.  The DNC shut down the “democratic” election process months and months ago.

Free speech sometimes has a hard time finding its way onto an expensive stage.

No debate, no opposition.  It’s Biden 2024. Or, bust.

Or, is it?

Maybe RFK sees the country’s soul and democracy fight differently than the establishment does.  RFK’s move set off alarms among Democrats worried about its potential to cause chaos in November 2024.

The establishment has “established” folks like Biden and Pelosi.  They’ve been “doing the people’s work” in DC since 1972 and 1987 respectively.  If you’re counting, that’s 87 years of combined fine service.

Lieutenants Harris and Buttigieg fell directly in line when asked four years ago.  For that, they got high-profile jobs that they were immensely not qualified for.

What do we do with this RFK guy?   He seems like a rogue one that has little interest in being bought and paid for.  Worse yet, he thinks on his own.

Ah, how about we have Gavin Newsom at the ready, yet only emerging from the shadows enough to show his pearly whites now and again? He’s bought all in.

In the fight for our democracy, we need a promotable lieutenant in case our president were to take a nasty fall ascending a staircase or exiting a stage.

Or worse, he could pull a Dianne Feinstein.  She was well established too and a spry 90.

Too soon?

 

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Did you stress when you had to pay more for less at the grocery store?  That said, should you have eaten less this past holiday weekend?  If that, more or less, is correct we have help on the way below.  It’s ten complimentary fat-free nuggets.

  1. The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman plan to unveil the latest stealth aircraft called the B-21 Raider at the company’s facility in Palmdale, California, this Friday.  The estimated cost to develop, purchase and operate 100 aircraft is estimated at $203 billion, or about $2 billion per plane.  That’s a lot for something that you can’t even see.
  2. Maybe they could nickname the B-21 Raider after the latest COVID variant which is also stealth.   You can’t see it.  With no symptoms, you don’t know it hit you either.   You test negative.  And, the government is spending billions fighting it.
  3. CNN dusted off Dr. Anthony Fauci this past weekend for some air time.  Fauci, amongst other comments, highly recommended that we all test for covid before going to our family gatherings and went on to say that we are still right in the middle of this pandemic.  He must not be listening to the ultimate voice on this health crisis- Joe Biden.   Biden declared the pandemic over two months ago.
  4. We’re disappointed that CNN didn’t ask if the good doctor thought that the World Cup matches, unlike the 2020 mostly peaceful protests, might be a super spreader event.
  5. China’s showing the matches but blurring the stands to prevent its citizens from seeing that 100k fans from all over the world in four venues a day are yelling, hugging, and shouting in close contact all the while maskless.  No deception there.  As Lebron taught us we should be sensitive to other cultures that we know little about.
  6. Dr. Fauci(81), Speaker Nancy(82), and Prez Joe(80) are a combined 243 years old.  America is 246 years old.  That’s some wealth of experience leading this country.
  7. Turning to crime in Gotham City, there is a NYC bill being seriously considered by city lawmakers that would strip landlords of the ability to perform criminal background checks on prospective tenants.  The legislation is known as the “Fair Chance Housing Act.”  Mayor Eric Adams supports the bill saying no one should be denied housing because they were once engaged in the criminal justice system.  Even Batman is moving to Florida.
  8. Did you know that there is a position in your govt called the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the U.S. Department of Energy?  Did you know that MIT grad and “openly genderfluid” Sam Brinton holds down the post?  Did you know that 34-year-old Sam was charged with a felony last month for allegedly stealing a woman’s luggage?  At least he/she has good taste. The navy blue Vera Bradley roller bag is valued at $2400.
  9. If you wondered, gender fluidity describes the experience of changing gender identity over time. They can fluctuate between any gender at any time, such as feeling more feminine or masculine, bi-gender or agender, maverique or neutrois, and demi-gender or polygender.  Full disclosure- we took this definition directly from Wikipedia, so the information like the gender of a gender-fluid person may change at any time.
  10.  And from Cali, the WSJ  noted that under Gavin Newsom, the state saw a roughly 15 percent increase in the homeless population since 2019, despite having the most significant funding increase to fight the problem.  Throwing money to homeless people or throwing money at the homeless population isn’t the answer.  Identify and attack the root problems.

 

 

 

 

Frick and Frack

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

They were out in all of their glory doing what they think they do best last evening for their respective parties.  Trump and Biden.  Biden and Trump.

Donald Trump was in Ohio at a rally of his own, promising a major announcement on November 15th.  He even spent some time attacking Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan and boosting his GOP opponent JD Vance.

Meanwhile a few states over in Maryland, Biden headlined a last-minute get-out-the-vote rally at Bowie State University, stumping for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore.

Trump didn’t call anybody in his party a bad nickname.  Biden forgot the want to be governor’s name.

On his best behavior, as he went through poll numbers at the rally, Trump did not call Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious” as he did at a recent rally.

“And, of course, you got that next governor. What’s his name? Wes… Wes…,” Biden said, turning to the audience as they held up “Wes Moore” signs.  “Wes Moore!” Biden said after reading a sign. “The guy’s the real deal, man.”

So on midterm election eve with a possible red wave on the horizon, you had an orange face stumping for himself and an ashen face who might be singing the blues hours from now just plain stumped.

The questions are “why now” for Trump and “why” period for Biden.  Haven’t we reached a point where we can agree on one thing?  That thing is one past president and a past prime current president are both more harmful than good for their sides’ cause.

It may have been fun to label Marco Rubio “Lil Marco” six years ago. How about “low energy Jeb?” Some smart money is now on DeSantis and calling him “DeSanctimonious” doesn’t draw the laughs these days.

It may have been fun for 81 million people to bounce Trump in favor of Biden two years ago.  Today that choice will cost the left the House for sure and the Senate is at best a toss-up.

Things are bad around these 50 states, or 54 if you ask Joe.  Only an ostrich can’t see that.  DeSantis and Newsom can.

The for-sure Republican that will get a Democrat elected to the White House in 2024 is Trump.  The for-sure Democrat that insures a Republican will move in is Biden.  Kamala is a very close second, but we digress.

The RNC and the DNC have quite a job on their hands.  The former needs to convince an egomaniac that it’s in the party’s best interest that he should have no interest in running.  The latter needs to finesse a sitting president and vice president straight to the curb.

That fact will never become clear enough in Trump’s cranium for him to see it.  That fact should become clear to Biden around 10 pm tonight assuming he’s awake and cognitive enough to see it.

Americans coast to coast can see it.  Especially the smart ones.

Toward the beginning of his speech last night, Biden reminded some just how smart they were.  He told the mostly Black audience at the historically Black university that – despite them not having the endowments other schools have – they were “just as smart” and “just as bright.”  Pandering much?

See.

 

She Must Not be Here

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As it has been told, Joe Biden sought former President Barrack Obama’s council prior to deciding to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020.  As has also been told, Obama reportedly said, “You don’t have to do this Joe, you know?”

Was that a polite way of saying “don’t run?”  If the response confused Biden in any way, it ultimately did not stop him from running and winning.

Speaking of confusion, President Biden was looking around at his WH announcement yesterday and uttered, “Jackie, are you here?  Where’s Jackie? She must not be here.”

The president wondered aloud if Jackie Walorski, who died last month, was present during a conference on hunger, nutrition, and health on Wednesday.  Walorski was killed in a car crash on Aug. 3. She had been a champion of a bill that established the White House Hunger Conference Biden was addressing on Wednesday.

Predictably, NBC News called the attempt to find Jackie a “gaffe.”  No matter where you stand politically, isn’t it time we called this and other cringeworthy moments what they are?  After all, we are talking about the highest office in the world.

What they are are old age and dementia at the barest of minimums.  Biden turns 80 in two months.  Yesterday, Dr. Jill had to tell him where to walk after he finished his remarks in another ceremony.

They hid him quite well in his basement during the covid 2020 campaign.  They’ve sent him to Delaware nearly every weekend while he has held the office and many of them have been three-day weekends.  They restrict the number of his appearances before the press, designate who calls on him when he has a rare one, and script his answers to the degree they can keep him on point.

But, the decline is on the rise.

If he runs in 2024 he’ll be doing this country, his party, his family, and himself a disservice.  If his family allows him to run, shame on them.  If the DNC allows him to run double shame on them.

The press demanded that Trump take a cognitive ability test. He passed and of course, he bragged about it.

Isn’t it time they do the same for old Joe?  It would be great if he passed and even if he bragged about it.

Meanwhile, isn’t it time for the Biden camp to admit that Father Time remains undefeated?  Wall St impatiently awaits.

Don’t bet against Gavin Newsom.  He knows where Jackie is.  He knows where Kamala stands.

And, he knows where Pennsylvania Ave is as well.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s February 1st, the middle of the winter.  You need some warmth and comfort.  What better way is there to get that than to digest some Ten Piece Nuggets?

They’re served one at a time and randomly below.

  1.  Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau says that he tested positive for Covid-19.  Is he hiding from the convoy of truckers in Ottawa who are opposed to the jab, while he is vaxxed, boosted, and positive all at once? The irony.  It says here that he tucked his tail and ran.   He blasted them via a taped message calling their actions “racist” amongst other lies about their cause.  It’s always a good day to play the race card.  Should Canada insist that he go get tested for conniving cowardness as well?
  2.  If Trudeau and California Governor Gavin Newsom switched jobs in the middle of the night how long would it take for anyone to notice?  Newsom was caught on camera multiple times during the Rams/49ers NFC Championship Game yet again thumbing his non-masked nose at Californians who are under his mandate to mask up while indoors at work, events, and school.   He denied doing so.  Cameras don’t lie, people do.
  3.  While Joe Rogan apologized for exercising his right to free speech yesterday, Whoppi Goldberg exercised hers on The View.  The longtime co-host claimed the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” adding, “it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”  There was no joy in Joy Behar’s face.
  4. By afternoon she apologized.  “On today’s show, I said the Holocaust is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man. I should’ve said it is about both.  I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused.”  That’s how you cancel the Cancel Culture Cops.
  5. And, rather than trying to cancel Rogan, why not ask to appear on his podcast?  He goes in-depth is why.  Superficial answers get followed up.  Fauci should be the first guest.  Rand Paul would jump at the chance.
  6. It was a busy Monday at the White House as well.  President Biden took to the podium to tell the assembled press that his team was trying to “figure out” why so many illegal immigrants were crossing our southern border.  Could it be that there is no enforcement and upon entry you get a free plane ride to a state of Biden’s choosing?  Stand-up comedy is not dead after all.
  7. Unvaxxed truckers cannot enter, but unvaxxed illegal immigrants with no IDs can.   Maybe next week old Joe can try to “figure out” why our supply chain is failing.  Could it be partially due to so few trucks crossing our borders due to the vax mandate?
  8. At least there’s good news for parents on the vax front.  Pfizer and BioNTech plan to submit a request for emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine in children six months to 5 years old as soon as Tuesday.  It’s even better news for the under-two crowd.  Pfizer reports sufficient immune effectiveness with only two jabs.  But, if you’re three or more you’ll need three or more jabs.  Approval from the “lost its mind” FDA could come early next month.
  9.  Meanwhile, several countries seem to be regaining their senses.  Today Finland joins England, Ireland, and Denmark in ending all covid restrictions.  Remember when the US was known as the home of the free and the brave?  Maybe in two more weeks after we flatten the curve we can join the crowd.
  10.  Changing gears, can the NFL be any hotter?  Four unbelievable games two weekends ago gave way to two nail-biters this past weekend.  We’ve not seen the ratings but we’re old enough to remember when we were told that the NFL was going to suffer for its activism, etc.   Doubtful.  Very.  The “home” LA Rams have been instilled as an early four-point pick over the “visiting” Cincinnatti Bengals.  Joe B. has them right where he wants them.

Less Zoom, doom, and gloom are right around the corner.

 

SoFi or So Long?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Way back in 1977, a fictitious movie titled Black Sunday hit the big screens.  But, before it hit the big screens one of the final scenes had to be shot.

That scene had the ever-present at Super Bowl games Goodyear Blimp hitting a packed Orange Bowl Stadium during Super Bowl X, and dropping a bomb that would turn lose a quarter-million steel flechettes(think mini bombs).  The terroristic plot was foiled at the last second, but not before it terrorized 80,000 fans who were actually movie stand-ins of course.  The film grossed $16 million.

Now, 45 years later, Super Bowl LVI will be the 56th Super Bowl and is scheduled to be played on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, a city two miles from LAX and not far from the movie-making capital of the world-Hollywood.

Note we said scheduled to be played.  There’s a terror of a different kind sweeping the nation as we write.  And, last night there it was scrolling across the ever-present ESPN updates.  “The NFL is looking into alternate sites to host SB LVI.”

What the scroll didn’t say was why.  Why move?  It’s because Omicron is the 2022 version of the bomb and the ease of its transmission is the quarter-million flechettes.

The real why of course is that the NFL show must go on as Hollywood might say even if it needs to move to another state and stadium.  Super Bowl “movies” gross way more than $16 million worldwide these days.

A determined virus should never get in the way of capitalism, our economy, our freedom, and our independence many say.  The “many” who say that are few when it comes to California governance, however.

You can never be “too safe,” and even level that might not be safe enough for Cali.  Could Cali opt out of SB LVI? Will Gavin Newsom make the call from the French Laundry Restaurant for the safety of the citizens he governs?

Could LA?  The Rose Bowl was played last Saturday in Pasadena.  But. But. But, new cases are geometrically increasing.

The world is waiting because the world will be watching regardless of what patch of grass it’s played on in five weeks.

It would take some game balls to call it off and make the NFL move the game and its footballs to another state.  It would be another huge defining moment of how divided our United States are on issues big and small.

Super Bowl LVI hits the big screens in your living room in five weeks and the Goodyear Blimp, sans flechettes, will have an eye in the sky to bring it to you.

Safety first?  Or hooray, hooray for Inglewood?

 

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.

 

 

 

 

I’ll be Home(less) for Christmas

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?  The lyrics don’t work so well if you don’t have a home though.

And, apparently in California the lyrics don’t work so well.  New statistics released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that California’s 16.4% increase in homeless was “entirely” responsible for the nation’s overall increase of 2.7% by early 2019.

So if the nation’s homeless population increased by 2.7% and Cali increased by 16.4%, and that was “entirely” responsible for the increase, that means either less people were homeless in all of the other states, or they all moved to California.

Which one was it?  If 49 states found a way to reduce the national embarrassment, how did they do it?  Perhaps it was more drug addition, alcohol addiction, or mental health treatment?  With the national unemployment near zero, did some find permanent work, and by extension housing?  Or, did the nation’s homeless catch a ride to the left side of the continent?  If so, why?  Is it because California is more tolerant and accommodative?

These aren’t easy questions to ask, and the answers might be much more complex than meets the eye.  But, isn’t it time, actually past time, that we asked the tough questions? As a nation are we willing to accept the tough answers and get after fixing the problem rather than passing it by under a tent under an overpass?

California Governor Gavin Newsom thinks so.    He said earlier this week, “It is an embarrassment, it is unacceptable. And we’ve got to own it, we’ve got to own up and solve it.”  How?  Newsom and other Democrats in California insist the solution is more federal money for housing.  Donald J. Trump disagrees. He tweeted, “Governor Gavin N has done a really bad job on taking care of the homeless population in California. If he can’t fix the problem, the Federal Govt. will get involved!”

We wonder if giving(throwing money at) housing to those without a house helps anything long term.  You’ve heard of “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach him how to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime,” haven’t you?  Is the problem not having a home? Or, is the problem not doing enough good in society to be paid in kind for it and then renting or buying a place to live?

For a person homelessness should be a short term problem.  Society should look for a long term solution.  Gavin Newsom needs to lead the charge for change in how this is addressed, not lead the cry for national cash to address it.

You don’t get to tell the federal government to stay out of your sanctuary cities, but come build your homeless a city.  Trump won’t carry California in 2020.  There is not a chance.  But he might have to step in to solve it’s problem for it’s downtrodden to have a chance.