There is no doubt that 2020 was the worst year in living memory. The accumulation of disasters continues to roll. According to Accuweather, and all the local weather-weenies, we're in for one last indignity before this year passes into history. From noon today until midnight, we're in for severe weather alerts.
I see with some regret and chagrin that Congressman-elect Luke Letlow has succumbed to the coronavirus. He was elected in December and was supposed to take office in January.
He was to serve as my Congressman.
I will pray for his family.
Pore 'ol Doc Faucci. It seems that other experts are beginning to question his statements durin the Covid plague. No one can doubt that before he was i the public eye, he was a highly respected epidemiologist.
But, he kept dragging the goalposts up and down the field in an attempt to shift public behavior, first with the advise on wearing masks, and later on the question of herd immunity.
I feel sorry for the guy. He labored for decades in work that was demanding, important, and generally ignored by the vast majority o the public sphere. His work was important, but not of interest to most folks. Then, one day, the President called him and he seemed to be the leading expert on pandemics. Suddenly, he was in the public eye. As a respected scientist. And, in the space of a year, hie ego got the best of him.
Of all the people that no one knew last year, Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Faucci seem to represent those anonymous scientists that labor for our combined good in near anonymity. Their reputations were secure and their expertise unquestioned. Now, a year later, Dr. Birx is retired because she recommended one thing and did something else. Doc Faucci is now regarded as a policy flack. Science be damned.
It's a cautionary tale. In the Army we had a saying, that one aw-shit wipes out a thousand atta-boys. To her credit, Dr. Birx, when confronted with her hypocrisy, chose to retire with dignity. We have yet to know how Doc Faucci's career will end, but if other scientists are questioning his judgement, it might be time for him to retire, before he's fired.
Every year, Dave Berry recaps the year that we've just gone through. It's a funny, irreverent look at our combined experience. This year is no different.
We’re trying to think of something nice to say about 2020.
OK, here goes: Nobody got killed by the murder hornets. As far as we know.
That’s pretty much it.
In the past, writing these annual reviews, we have said harsh things about previous years. We owe those years an apology. Compared to 2020, all previous years, even the Disco Era, were the golden age of human existence.
Click on the link above, and read the whole thing.
More on Dr. Faucci acting less like a reputable scientist and more like a PR flack. The Federalist tells the tale.
This quote, which has been rightfully making the rounds, really tells the whole tale. Asked why he changed his mind about how much vaccination would result in herd immunity, Fauci said, “When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent … Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, ‘I can nudge this up a bit,’ so I went to 80, 85. We need to have some humility here …. We really don’t know what the real number is. I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent. But, I’m not going to say 90 percent.”
You really don't know the numbers, Doc, but you thought you'd fudge it based on your reputation. That's twice, Doc. First, in March you said that we didn't need to mask up, basically because you were trying to save the supply of masks for health care professionals. Now, you tell us you really don't know what constitutes herd immunity, but you thought you'd bullshit us to get us to take the vaccine.
So, tell me again why we should trust anything that comes out of this flack's mouth? He has destroyed his reputation and his credibility is in tatters. I would like to think that this would be an ethics concern for the American Medical Association.
As for myself, I'm through listening to Faucci. And, I'll continue to trumpet his falsehoods every time he opens his mouth. The man is a liar. That has been proven in the Court of his own mouth.
It seems that the diminutive epidemiologist, Dr. Anthony Faucci was "hesitant" to tell us the truth early on inn the Covid pandemic, simply because Americans weren't ready to hear the truth.
The article explains that, early in 2020, Fauci was telling people that society reaches herd immunity when about 60-70% of people are immune. A month ago, he claimed herd immunity hits at about "75 to 80-plus percent." Now he says it needs to be greater than 90%. (That's still better than the World Health Organization, which has jettisoned all scientific knowledge to say there is no naturally acquired herd immunity. Only vaccinations provide immunity.) Why the lies? Fauci explains:
Dr. Fauci said that weeks ago, he had hesitated to publicly raise his estimate because many Americans seemed hesitant about vaccines, which they would need to accept almost universally in order for the country to achieve herd immunity.
Now that some polls are showing that many more Americans are ready, even eager, for vaccines, he said he felt he could deliver the tough message that the return to normal might take longer than anticipated.
So, Doc, you lied to us because we were not ready to hear the truth? Then why should we believe anything that you say now? From you own words you tell me that you will lie to me when it suits your purposes. What are your purposes? Which is the lie, which is the truth?
Doc Faucci should immediately retire in shame. From his own lips he tells us that he lied to us. There is no reason to believe anything he says from this point forward.
My own Doc and I had this very conversation during my last visit. We were talking about trust and science, and he told me that if he ever lied to a patient, he would feel that he had violated his oath as a physician and would feel honor-bound to close his practice and retire. Medicine requires no less than a physician telling the patient the unvarnished truth.
Doc Faucci admits that he lied to his patient, the entire American population. He should step down immediately. At this point he has no honor and no credibility.
A bunch of the family went out last night to try a new restaurant. It's a pizza/Italian joint in a new shopping center.
That's me down at the end of the table, Belle to my left. She and I both ordered an Alfredo dish with penne pasta. Tasty, but they served it in a steel skillet, which I thought was a bit gauche, but I enoyed the pasta nonetheless. But, I had to inspect the skillet, which seemed very well built, and I noticed a Lodge logo on the handle. Lodge? Sure enough, Lodge makes a carbon steel skillet? Sure enough.
A little good news on a Sunday morning. It appears that a concealed-carry critter capped a Goblin in Chicago last night.
A gun owner with a concealed-carry permit shot and killed an armed robbery suspect at a Chicago cell phone store on Saturday night, according to police.
They weren't immediately sure if the good guy was a customer or employee, but they're sure that the goblin won't be holding up any more stores. He's defunct.
I'll be out in the front yard doing a happy dance.
Police agencies across much of the US are facing recruitment and retention problems. The current political climate in some places is such that being a police officer isn't worth the paltry coin. So, i the midst of the defund-the-police narrative, many cops are saying "Don't bother, we'll take care of that for you."
Portland cops are already retiring in record numbers, but now cops are fleeing mid-career to go to places for lower pay and a fiscal hit to their retirement accounts. The Democrats’ embrace of the antifa and BLM defund-the-police stance is working—leaving Portlanders even more defenseless against rioters, looters, arsonists, squatters, and terrorists. In essence, the exodus is “a win by those that would want the police to be defunded,” according to the Portland Police Bureau’s human resources officer.
Being a police officer is more than a job. In many cases, it's a calling, a way of life. Many police officers feel like they are making a positive impact on the community that they serve. When a police agency becomes dispirited because the political leadership does not support the police.
It's not just Portland, OR. Policing is changing across the US, fueled by societal changes taking place, driven by the political climate. In blue run cities across the US, good police officers are checking their options. In many cases, they are choosing to vote with their feet, and go to a place where their skills are appreciated.
It takes six months, minimum, to train a new police officer. Sometimes longer, depending on the agency. When your veteran cops start to bail on political leadership, it causes a downward spiral. Less officers on the street mans more work for the ones that are left, more crime on the street, less resiliency in the department, an inability for the remaining officers to take time off when they need to reset.
It's a sad state of affairs when police officers start bailing o an agency, but the reason is always that the political leadership fails to appreciate the difficult ob of being a police officer.
What the hell happened in Nashville this morning?
I'm watching it on the news, trying to figure it out. This thing doesn't fit many known parameters.
With Alexandria, LA experiencing some certain amount of criminal activity, the knee-jerk reaction of the city administration is to diffuse blame from the culture and put try to blame it on the police. Brooke Buford reports from KALB.
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - The Alexandria Police Department says the man who was shot in the 3900 block of Clinton Street in Alexandria has died. Cynthia Perry, City Councilwoman for District 3, took to social media about that fatal shooting, noting that she stopped by the scene after Tuesday’s council meeting and spoke to District Attorney Phillip Terrell about it. Steven and Brooke speak with Miss Perry about the incident.
“I know right now we have a shortage of police officers and they’re not patrolling the neighborhoods like they should. So, these are some of the reasons why these shootings are taking place as well,” said Cynthia Perry, Alexandria City Council (Dist. 3)
The first thing I'd ask that Council-critter is why she thought she needed to stop by a crime scene? To get in the say? To stumble around, complicating the crime scene? What possible good came from her stopping by? I always hated it when elected officials cane out to a crime scene. They wanted answers that we didn't have, and were simply preening for whatever camera might be present. In shot,, they were a huge pain in the ass.
And, of course, the first words out fo this idiots mouth were that there is a shortage of police officers.
The culture of any community can be traced to whatever current administration is running things. If police officers are leaving in droves, it's not the fault of the individual police officers, and it is certainly not the fault of the officers who remain.
If officers are leaving for other agencies, we have to ask ourselves why? Better pay, better working conditions, better chances for promotion? Many times it is the attitude of the administration. If the attitude of the administration is hostile to police efforts, then there is really no reason to stay.
The reasons why any community has an unacceptable level of street crime may be many and varied, but those reasons are very seldom the fault of the police. Individual police officers expect a certain amount of bullshit, but when thee scale tips to an unacceptable level, those individual officers start looking for better working conditions.
Our presumptive present-elect got up on stage yesterday to set the agenda for his new debacle. Rather than unity and prosperity, two points that incoming presidents like to stress, he's talking about darkness.
“Our darkest days in the battle against Covid are ahead of us, not behind us,” he said at a year-end news conference in Wilmington, Delaware.
That might sum up his entire presidency. ark days. Not unity and growth, but darkness. How very inspiring. He went further, saying that he's willing to bail out cities and states who have wrecked their own economies.
Biden said the country needs to support state and local governments, which have seen resources plunge during the pandemic, and also offer other economic stimulus.
No, Joe, we don't. Those states and cities that are struggling as a result of this pandemic are struggling because of the decisions that local leaders made. They need to live within their means, and if their means are much reduced as a result of disastrous decisions, then that is not our problem. If lockdowns worked, both New York and California would be Covid-free.
The Federal government has no business bailing out governors and mayors who worked against the best interests of their people. Those were political decisions and those politicians should be forced to live with the ramifications of those decisions.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to check a skinny, bony turkey that I have on the smoker.
Back in the day, in 1800s New Orleans, there were these places called "coffee houses:. Oh, you could get a cup of coffee, but you could also get a drink. According to the tale:
Sazerac Rye is produced by Sazerac Company, Inc. at Buffalo Trace Distillery. Sazerac is headquartered in New Orleans, and was founded in the 1800’s. According to the company, it started with the cocktail, then the bar, then the company. Antoine Peychaud, a Creole immigrant, would mix brandy, absinthe, and bitters he created at his pharmacy located in the French Quarter. The cocktail became popular at the city’s “coffee houses,” which was the term used for drinking establishments at the time. Peychaud’s concoction became most strongly associated with one coffee house in particular, the Sazerac Coffee House located on Exchange Alley. The coffee house’s owner, Sewell Taylor, institutionalized the drink by using only Sazerac de Forge et Fils brandy, which he imported to the U.S. and sold exclusively. This cocktail earned its name as a result. Thomas H. Handy acquired the Sazerac Coffee House in 1869, and then Peychaud’s bitters in 1873. Thereafter in the 1890s, his company bottled and marketed the Sazerac cocktail, which is now made with rye whiskey as opposed to brandy. C.J. O’Reilly, Handy’s secretary, chartered the Sazerac Company.
The basic Sazerac Rye is currently produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky from a rye mas bill. The non-age-statement rye is supposedly ~6~ years old.
Dr. Deborah Birx is announcing her retirement over the holiday travel kerfluffle.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the Trump administration’s coronavirus response coordinator, announced Tuesday that she will retire shortly, citing the criticism she received over the weekend for traveling to visit her relatives over the holidays, violating her own coronavirus guidelines.
I always liked Dr. Birx, and thought that she was shooting straight with us, but if she is going to make recommendations, then do something entirely different, she should step down. Hypocrisy doesn't look good on a public health authority. I can kind of expect it from New York politicians, and CNN reporters, but not on anyone that should be trustworthy.
Too bad, Deborah. One aw-shit wipes out a thousand atta-boys.
It's hyper demand. Everyone is looking or ammo, and no one has any. And, the Remigton plant in Arkansas is shut down for bankruptcy. From the American Rifleman:
A friend at Hornady recently reached out to me to ask that I spread the word. What’s going on with ammunition is nothing sinister, nor a conspiracy. It is simple supply-and-demand. In fact, it's hyper-inflated demand like no one has ever seen. I certainly haven't in the 30 years that I've been paying attention to such things.
This past year has been a dumpster fire of a pandemic, piled on a shit-storm of civil unrest, and now we're faced with a train-wreck of a Biden administration. Talking to folks I know in the business, we can't expect it to get any better in 2021. CFDA shooters are having trouble finding their favorite shotgun primers. I was able to get enough put aside for a maor match I'm hoping to host in 2021,so that is covered, but if supplies don't start loosening up later this year, we might have to start using domestic primers, which are not preferred for CFDA shooting.
Almost universally, we shoot Rio, Fiocchi, Nobel, Cheddite, or Wolf primers. Even the supplies of those has dried up over the past year.
In the midst of a global pandemic, and a large portion of the US population feeling and believing that an election has been stolen, I'm really enjoying the continuing coverage of Creepy Joe's wife, Jill, insisting that she be called "doctor."
For a large part of my adult life, I lived in a small college town. We had our fair share of PhD folks who taught at the local college. The vast majority of those PhDs were fine people, highly educated in a narrow field and very conversant in that discipline, but they realized that they had broad swaths of human knowledge in which they were absolutely ignorant. A small minority of them believed that the advanced degree gave them intellectual advantage over the rest of us. Those folks we routinely referred to as "assholes".
The first group, those that realized their limitations, were a lot of fun to be around. Educated, erudite, with a grand sense of humility and humor, they were simply sterling individuals. That small minority of assholes were also fun to be around, simply because they were so easy to mock. They made themselves a target of ridicule, and attracted the attention that they craved. It was a lot of fun.
Thomas Sowell is faously quoted as having said; "The road to hell is paved with Ivy League degrees." I would amend that statement to read, "The road to mirth is paved with pretentious PhDs. I might add EdDs to that list, but it is pretentious to put an EdD in the same category as a hard-science PhD.
When I moved to my current home, I left the college scene behind and began my second law enforcement career, I worked in the school system as a Resource Cop. I ran into a goodly population of EdDs and learned that most of then were extremely easy to mock. They'd come up with some grandious plan, a reinvention of some program that had been tried, and failed, and were mystified when it once again failed. At that point, I'd ask, "Hey Doc, have you tried teaching them to read, write, and cipher?" That would generally get a god laugh from the audience,.
I am convinced that EdDs and local politicians equally share in the failures of public education.
But, back to Dr. Jill. She had made herself the center of attention in this public parody. We didn't bring it up, she did. Steve Hayward, at Powerline, gives us a good synopsis.
The great thing about the “Dr. Jill Biden” issue is that it means the Bidens and the media will double down on this pathetic pretension and remind a large swath of the population the condescending elitism at the heart of liberalism today.
Go read the whole thing.
In this time of Covid confusion, when the lockdowns are causing spikes in cases, and the new vaccine is rolling out, it seems that the confusion keeps snowballing.
Medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupt M ta tells us that the vaccine may not keep us from being infected.
"Just because you get vaccinated after the second dose does not mean you should be traveling. ... You could still get infected and pass it along to others."
Huh? Even if I get the vaccine, it won't help prevent me from getting the virus, or prevent me from passing it on? Then why should I bother getting the vaccine? It's a legit question.
So, the AMA needs to get on board. Either this thing is safe and effective, or it's not.
Personally, I am going to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to me. I know others, trained, educated other folks who don't really trust the idea that a vaccine can be researched, invented, tested, and administered in a matter of months. I understand their misgiving, but I intend to get it as soon as I can.
It's almost as if this entire exercise was not so much a medical disaster as it was an opportunity to wreck the fabric of the American nation.
Jill Biden’s Doctorate Is Garbage Because Her Dissertation Is Garbage
Yeah, that is the title of the article. A brief snippet.
Mrs. Biden wanted the credential for its own sake. As for its quality, well. She got it from the University of Delaware, whose ties to her husband, its most illustrious alumnus if you don’t count Joe Flacco, run so deep that it has a school of public policy named after him. That the University of Delaware would have rejected her 2006 dissertation as sloppy, poorly written, non-academic, and barely fit for a middle-school Social Studies classroom (all of which it is) when her husband had been representing its state in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades was about as likely as Tom Hagen telling Vito Corleone that his wife is a fat sow on payday. The only risk to the University of Delaware was that it might strain its collective wrist in its rush to rubber-stamp her doctoral paper. Mrs. Biden could have turned in a quarter-a**ed excuse for a magazine article written at the level of Simple English Wikipedia and been heartily congratulated by the university for her towering mastery. Which is exactly what happened.
Oh, damn. Go read the whole thing.
Our governor in Louisiana is pleading with us to do what is necessary to limit the spread of Covid. That is perfectly reasonable; I like it when the Governor pleads.
In Minnesota, the Governor has stretched into the absurd. Minnesota is cold, okay, and he evidently hasn't looked at historical weather reports, nor does he understand that hypothermia is a thing. John Hinderaker reports:
The idea that anyone will have dinner on Christmas or Christmas Eve outdoors under these conditions is a sick joke–a sick joke that is perpetrated by the governor of the State of Minnesota, who glories in his ability to perpetrate such absurdities. Likewise, the idea that it is viable for restaurants to stay in business via outdoor service in Minnesota in December and January is ridiculous.
Belle and I are talking about Christmas, and trying to decide on the menu. She is voting for a traditional menu, with a turkey and a ham. Because she controls 51% of the household voting rights, I suppose I should acquiesce. We'll have a small gathering here, small under Louisiana standards, and maintain appropriate distancing. Under common Louisiana practice.
But, the idea of an outdoor gathering in sub-freezing weather is a bit absurd. Evidently the governor of Minnesota revels in absurdities.
There are some who claim that our Governor here in Louisiana is going to devolve into proto-fascism during the holidays, and it would not surprise me at all to see him try. What should not surprise him is when his orders are routinely and universally ignored. Free people don't ask permission.
Driving around today with the radio on, I heard that the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving the NCAA and student-athlete compensation.
Sure enough, the US Supreme Court is willing to hear a case about whether or not NCAA athletes can get paid.
But they refuse to hear a case in which one state is suing another over vote fraud.
In the grand scheme of things, which case do you think might hold the greatest interest in the formation of the American experience? Election fraud, or student compensation?
The US Supreme Court is making a mockery of themselves. I certainly can't mock them, my feeble efforts are sorely lacking in the manner in which they mock themselves.
What are they going to do when it is over? The vaccine is starting to roll out, and the petty tyrants tell us that the end is in sight Not tomorrow, but soon. Eventually, those of us who are left will emerge into the sunlight following the dark days of 2020. And we will see our government for what it has become.
I'm not talking about the federal government, although sometimes it tends to focus the worst tendencies of the tyrants. It was Trump, after all, who locked us down in the first place. Remember "14 days to Slow the Spread?" The governors and local officials got in lockstep real quick. That has turned into ten months o economic devastation. Mainly through the tender ministrations of state and local government.
During this experiment in government control, many of us have been learning the lessons that they tried to teach us. .Too much government is bad for business. Too much government is bad for private citizens. Too much government turns us all into paupers. We've become quite comfortable mocking local officials.
Sitting at home, twiddling our thumbs, trying to learn what we can learn, some truths come to light. We are not a free people any longer. Not that we have been for quite a while, but now, certainly not. The horsemen of the apocalypse are upon us (Covid, Communists, Corrupt politicians, and Conniving bureaucrats). These four do not bode well for a free people.
Free men don't ask permission. Free men don't ask forgiveness.
We had the perfect storm of the worst tendencies of government for the past ten months, and man of us are seeing that those tendencies do not bode well for a free society. Yet, in the recent election that is still playing out, we see an ascendance of those worst tendencies. We may be approaching the darkest days in our Republic since 1861.
Free men don't ask permission. Free men don't ask forgiveness.
Williams died in his car on December 1, 2020, at age 84, shortly after teaching a class at George Mason University.[20] His daughter said that he suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension.
Evidently, Jill Biden, our soon-to-be First Lady has earned a PhD from the University of Delaware in Education. Good for her. (I'm not sure if it's an EDD or a PhD, but you get my point).
Evidently also, she takes umbrage when not addressed as Doctor. And folks have called her on it.
In the course of my life, both professional and private, I've known many people with advanced degrees in a number of fields. Esoteric fields. In education, and philosophy, in history and English lit. A couple with PhDs in Economics. A smattering of physicians in various disciplines. One fellow who I really like, earned a doctorate in optical physics. (While you're scratching your head, think about lasers.)
One particular fellow, a dear family friend with an education degree, I chided constantly for being educated far past his native intelligence. Oh, he knew his field, but would admit easily that he stayed in college until they finally pitched him out and he had to get a job. What really aggravated him was the Belle's little Associate degree in Nursing earned her a better salary than his advanced degree.
The only folks I call "Doctor" are my personal physicians. Unless I'm in a formal ceremony, or unless I wnt to bring out the sarcasm. I'll ding them good, as in, "Well done Doc! Did they teach you to use a spoon at that big university?" If they want to be silly, I'll use that to my advantage.
Not taxidermy, I don't do that. We had a little stray turn up several months ago, a pretty little grey tiger-striped can that Belle tagged as Tiger. Belle thinks that it's time to get her spayed, and made the appointment for this morning. We borrowed a small animal carrier, and this morning before coffee I stuffed her into that carrier.
Oh, she's upset. Totally aggravated. Whining piteously. I'll take her to the vet in another hour and leave her to their tender mercies. In the meantime, she's whining like a bad bearing that is fixing to seize. It's piteous, tell you.
Much has been made of the call by Allen West for a union of states to defend the laws and constitution of the United States. Some call it sedition. Not me.
States have long entered into agreements about how to address certain common problems. One that I worked under for many years is still an active agreement between states. The Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. This agreement between states regulates the reatment of adult offenders who are supervised as probation or parole. It's been around for a long tie and works pretty well.
A union of states to achieve a noble goal is not sedition, and no one said anything about secession.
I would support a group of states banding together to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. It's an oath I swore many years go, it's an oath that every elected official swears, and it's a laudable goal. States banding together to uphold the Constitution is a great idea. They should be doing that all the time, anyway. And, we should hold those officials accountable who fail to uphold the Constitution.
We can certainly band together to insist that our judges and elected officials take seriously the oaths they've sworn, and we can and should hold them accountable when they fail.
Colonel West's full statement is here.
Now, let's have no more talk of secession.
Joe Biden will be elected president today, according to our updated Constitution as recently defined by our Supreme Court. Many of us, including myself, are dismayed at the result. Yet, it is what it is.
Joe Biden did what he was supposed to do, according to the DNC. He stayed home, kept his mouth shut, and didn't case any huge distraction so that the DNC could beat Orange Man Bad. His record as a moderate (according to DNC standards) appealed to folks who really didn't like Orange Man Bad because he was always tweeting nasty things about the media and the Democrats. Orange Man Bad was irascible, combative, and arrogant. These middle-of-the-road folks wanted something that approaches normality in the midst of urban unrest and a global pandemic.
Joe has served his purpose, but the end game is starting to play out now. News of Biden family corruption is starting to trickle into the news. His close ties to China are coming to light. And, he's an old man. Older than I by two decades. He's gaffe-prone and creepy around women.
Then, we turn our gaze to Dianne Feinstein, and the news starting to coalesce about her cognitive decline. If my guess is correct, she'll be shuffled off to retirement as a senior politico, and laud her service, but she is not the issue. Joe is. The media and the DNC are preparing the battlespace, getting the unseeing used to the idea of a long-standing political insider being taken to the rhetorical nursing home. This is crucial so that when the coup is applied to President Biden, it doesn't seem like such an outlier. Joe is done, he's outlived his usefulness, but they won't shuffle him off until he has had a little while to enjoy the Oval Office, at least for a few months.
I feel kind of sorry for Dianne, and Joe. They should have known when to gracefully slip into retirement. But, the continuing quest for power is a corrupting influence, so I won't lose much effort in worrying about them.
I doubt that within a year, either of them will be in public office. Then the fun will really start.
Not to pick on Georgia, as I have no standing according to the Supreme Court, but it seems that there are more questions coming out of that state's voting record.
More than 1,700 Georgians were singled out for illegally casting two ballots in 2020 elections — including last month’s hotly contested presidential race -- but their fraudulent votes weren't canceled out, according to state election officials. And so far, none of the cheaters has been prosecuted, raising concerns about continued fraud as Georgia prepares to vote again in twin U.S. Senate runoff elections next month.
Where did these double votes come from? You guessed it.
The highest share of offenders were from Fulton County, which includes Atlanta -- many of whom were allowed to cast a second ballot by poll workers, officials said.
This is a felony under Georgia law, and it's not being prosecuted.
Though the number of suspected double-voting felons is the largest in state history, RealClearInvestigations has learned that no cases have been referred to the state attorney general for criminal investigation.
We have to wonder why state election officials in Georgia are not referring vote fraud for criminal prosecution.
Biden is going to be sworn in. There is nothing we can do about that. But, there is no reason why each state can't fix the problem that led to this abomination of an election result. The Constitution is clear, that the state legislatures control the manner in which electors are chosen. Not the bureaucrats, not the Governor, not the state courts. The legislature. In any reading of the US Constitution, that is plain. What is also plain from the recent Supreme Court "punt" on the question, it must be fixed in each state. One state cannot sue another state to fix this particular problem.
In an article at PJMedia, Stacey Lennox talks about this problem:
Many Georgia residents are horrified that we live in a state supposedly run by a Republican trifecta, yet our election procedures deviated so drastically from the election laws passed by our legislators.
Well, if Georgian residents are horrified at the outcome, they need to fix the problem. The legislature needs to assert itself against those who would thwart their intentions, and if necessary, take it all the way to the US Supreme Court. Surely, if Texas cannot, then the legislatures in the several states can sure their Governors and election officials to ensure that the will of the legislature is followed.
Our Governor in Louisiana tried to loosen our election procedures to achieve a desired outcome, and he greatly expanded fraudulent voting to achieve those ends. Luckily, our Secretary f State was able to mitigate the most extreme wishes of our Governor to modulate the practice. I am convinced that the election returns in Louisiana accurately reflect he will of he people, but I will be contacting my legislators to ensure that the will of the legislature is followed whether the Governor likes it or not.
The several states listed recently as "battleground" states should follow the same course, If the voting practices in those states do not scrupulously follow the law, then it is the legislatures responsibility to hold those election officials accountable. If the state Courts don't fall into line on scrupulously backing the legislature, then I'm sure that there are impeachment remedies available to the legislatures.
Autocorrect on a cell phone is a tool o the devil. It hinders communication and is destructive to the signal.
That is all.
It's apparent now to everyone that the Supreme Court will pick and choose which cases they want to hear. They can choose to reject cases that fall under their original jurisdiction.
It is also apparent that individual states can ignore their own legislatures and drag the goalposts around during an election and that no one will call them to task for doing so.
It is apparent that electoral shenanigans will be rewarded by victory.
Joe Biden will be sworn in as President of the United States. It is essential that we accept this outcome even if we are disgusted at the outcome.
I detested the Obama years while believing that he had won fairly. I enjoyed the Trump years while believing that his rancorous tweeting was not helpful. I'm not sure how I will yet feel about the Biden term, but at this point I am not entirely sure that the vote was on the up-and-up. Ye, the challenges are over and the Presidency will change hands.
I'm sure that we will hear calls for unity. Fat chance. If my initial misgivings are correct, the next four years are going to be a wild ride. The four horsemen are upon us, and we must try to save the soul of a nation.
It seems that Congress has passed the Defense Authorization Act with veto-prof majorities. One of the sections in the bill sets up a commission to sturdy the renaming of bases named after Confederate generals.
Of course, Fort Polk has been the Joint Readiness Training Center since the early '90s, when the 5th Infantry division was inactivated. We've called that acreage JRTC ever since, but the sign out front still says Fort Polk.
We always wondered why Polk was named after an Episcopal Bishop. He was a Confederate General, but he got himself shot while scouting the Federal position near Pine Mountain, outside of Marietta , GA. As the story is told, Polk was scouting the Union positions when a Union general happened to notice his group. He asked an artillery officer to "drive those people away". The artillery officer aimed a Parrot Rifle (a 3" artillery piece) and fired it. The shell hit Polk in the chest, went through him, and exploded on tree behind him. It proved fatal to Polk, nearly cutting him in half. There is no record of the reaction of his horse.
At any rate, we expect that several Army posts will be renamed next year. Along with Fort Bragg, Jackson, Lee, Benning, Hood, and a host of others.
I do my brisket different than everyone else. In the oven. I put it in at 250 for 12 hours (overnight). Then, I slice and trim it and let it rest for a little bit.
It's resting peacefully right now, and in a couple of hours I'll run it in the smoker for a little loving with good smoke. Everyone tells me I'm doing it wrong, but no one culls it when it's time to fill a plate. Folks ask me what I rub it with, and all beef needs is salt and pepper. You can put anything you like one it, but all it NEEDS is salt and pepper.
Our annual club banquet it tonight, a pot-luck affair, and I'm bringing a brisket.
Do you remember several months ago, before the election, when we were told that the rumors about Hunter Biden's criminality were bizarre fabrications of the Trump campaign to throw shade on Creepy Joe? When the major news weenies refused to give the story any traction?
Rush Limbaugh is talking about it right now. It seems that several news agencies are now covering revelations that Hunter Biden is now under investigation for tax issues relating to his foreign business dealings.
CNN is on it. The BBC is on it. USA Today is on it.
Why, all of a sudden, are the various news agencies on the Hunter Biden story? What nefarious plot is afoot? These are the same stories they denied and decried just months ago. Why now?
I've said before that when you think you know what is happening, you'd better pay attention. Rush is saying that if Biden is inaugurated, he won't serve for a full year, before he is pushed out n favor of Commie Harris.
We thought that the Trump Collusion brouhaha was an attempted coup. We may be seeing a successful coup play out before our eyes.
Jonathan H asked in comments:
I saw a claim that the Louisiana AG joined the suit. Is that accurate, or wishful thinking?
Yes, it's true. The Louisiana AG has joined the Texas suit, along with a host of others.
Is it wishful thinking? Yeah, I believe so. I suspect that the Court will deny the suit. However, I think that the American public deserves more than a single-line denial. I'd like to see some opining about the nature of elections, and who is approved to change rules during a pandemic. I'd like to see their thoughts, for example, on how they square what happened in Pennsylvania with the Constitution.
I believe that the Republicans have an opportunity here, to strengthen voting laws, to toughen the integrity o elections. We won a bunch of down-ballot seats all across the nation, and we should not let this defeat go to waste.
The Georgia election will surely be a bellwether on the course of the nation for the net two years. I say two years, because there are congressional elections in two years, and we have an opportunity to re-take the House. Biden's policy choices certainly won't follow conservative norms, but I think that we can show the folly of let-wing governance and turn the party and the nation more toward the center.
I don't expect the Supremes to overturn the election, but I hope that their answer is "Well, the Deocrats cheat better than the Republicans".
It seems that Rep Eric Swalwell., D-CA, has been banging a Chinese spy.
Back in the day, I knew a lot of Far East soldiers that absolutely adored oriental hootchie. It cost some of them, and their security clearances and their jobs. The Army did not suffer fools as easily as the Democratic party seems to, these days.
Speaking of the Army, I see that Fort Hood undergoing a shit-storm. Evidently a bunch of leaders have been fired or suspended, citing the "leadership climate". Fort Hood is a large military post, home to the 1st Cavalry Division, the 1st Armored Division, and the 3rs Armored Cavalry regiment, among others. It's a huge post, with lots of General officers.
I've been on posts that were undergoing a "leadership change", and it ain't pleasant.
I see that Alabama and Louisiana want to join the Texas suit against the battleground states. I doubt our Governor (hack, spit) is okay with that.
The news today is a wild ride.
People are asking me, and I have o idea why, about the motion that Texas has filed seeing suit against the battle ground states. I'm not a lawyer, but I did spend a lot o time in court rooms durg my street-cop career. The rarefied air of the highest court is something with which I have no experience. I"m sure that they are nicer digs than the tawdry parish courts I testified in.
But, I am a casual observer, and I can read, and I notice that Article 5, Section 2 of our Constitution akes the Supremes the original jurisdiction controversies between states. It's their job to listen to squabbles between states.
I'm sure that the last thing that the Supremes want to get involved in is this particular squabble. They would rather opine at leisure about arcane matters of obscure law. If they wanted to get involved in precinct-level politics, they would be working in some public defender's office. And, precinct-level politics is precisely what is at stake here. Texas is claiming that changing the rules in mid-stream in those other states has harmed the citizens of Texas.
John Roberts is squishy at best. And you can believe that he would love to punt on this one. His law clerks are (if my guess is right) are currently looking at lots of dusty law books. Some observers believe that the Texas motion is frivolous, yet it may go squarely to the Equal Protection clause.
There is no doubt that there were shenanigans. Seventy-four million Americans feel that they have been robbed. If the Supremes punt on this one, they may initiate a constitutional crisis, the very thing they are supposed to prevent.
It will be interesting to see what they do.
It looks like Texas is filing suit directly with the Supreme Court against four battleground states.
In papers filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Paxton claimed the states unlawfully enacted last-minute changes, which skewed the results of the general election.
The papers also allege that the majority of the rushed decisions, made by local officials, were not approved by the state legislatures, thereby circumventing the Constitution.
The Constitution says that the various state legislatures will determine how electors are chosen. If officials make last-minute changes to the vote protocols, then those changes are likely un-constitutional. Now, the Supremes get to weigh in on the question. What do you want to bet that John Roberts (hack, spit) will try to punt on the question?
The evidentiary pendulum notched down last week, ever closer to the lifeblood organs of a concerted and thuggish scheme now strapped down on a slab by Rudy Giuliani and the President Trump legal team. At the very least, any potential Biden/Harris administration is doomed to asterisk from the standpoint of historical legacy. It is in no way clear that they came close to winning the 2020 election.
Before the pandemic, Belle bought this thing called a Facebook Portal. We got busy with life and forgot about it, left it in the box. Then the pandemic struck and all our plans changed. This morning we started talking about the upcoming Christmas holidays and how much the WuFlu had changed our lives. Belle remembered the Portal, so we dug it out, put it in the shop where family gathers, and set it up.
PJMedia is reporting that the Chinese Communists have planted a flag on the moon. Reportedly, it was an unmanned spacecraft, but this new is startling.
Supposedly, this is no easy technological feat. I hope that US intelligence was not surprised by this announcement.
The drum-roll of hypocrisy from our ruling class continues apace. It seems that three judges in Texas have been busted for violating their own covid mitigation rules.
I learned something in the Army a long time ago. Whatever you insist that the troops do, you must also do yourself. Set the example. Take on the burden. Don't expect something of them that you are not willing to do yourself. This is basic leadership.
Our elected leaders have forgotten this basic leadership tool. The only honorable thing for those people to do is immediately resign. Step down as being unfit for office. They certainly have no moral authority any longer.
The Army's much beloved heavy lift helicopter lifts off the deck of a US Navy ship.
Our petty tyrant Governor, John Bel Edwards is big on things like limiting gatherings and wearing a mask when it comes to his official stance for citizens of Louisiana, but he just can't be bothered to follow the same guidelines he set for everyone else. According to the article:
Governor John Bel Edwards confirmed that he was indeed in a controversial photo that has gone viral on social media.
The photo was posted by multiple Facebook users alleging that the Governor was out and about at a Baton Rouge Country Club over the holiday weekend, violating the same measures that he advised Louisiana residents to abide by to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The Governor was real clear. Louisianans should avoid gathering with folks outside their immediate household and should wear a mask.. In the photo, he's enjoying himself among friends, without a mask.
The Governor, of course, claims that he wasn't breaking any rules. Who should I believe, Governor? You or my lying eyes?
I went today to get my December haircut. It's an old country barber shop in a tiny community in the parish. One barber chair, patronized by country folk.
When I walked in, everyone was socially distancing, but not a mask in the shop. The main topic of conversation was the recent election, and the decided opinion that the Democrats are trying to teal the election.
Duck hunting, of course, and grandkids were woven into the conversation.
Our governor was routinely dismissed. The general thrust of that conversation was that he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about and spends too much time saying it.
The boys left for college yesterday afternoon, their school is on a quarter system and the Winter session starts tomorrow. Belle went to work this morning, and I have been doing distaff work all day long. Sweeping, mopping, laundry. Ran a few errands.
The house is remarkably quiet with the boys gone. I didn't think that they made much noise, but this place is really quiet. I may even be able to get in a nap before Belle comes home.
Louisiana pays 38.4 cents per gallon in taxes. Currently, 20 cents stays in the state.
According to this, Louisiana suppliers sell 6,918,600 gallons of gasoline per day. If my math is anywhere near correct, that amount of gasoline should generate $1,383,720 per day in road tax money.
Some of our legislators want to add an additional dime per gallon. For the roads. I thought that we paid goas tax already for the roads. What happened to that money?
Coming of the back of an horrific hurricane season and a devastating government imposed Covid crisis, I don't really think that any new taxes are a good idea.
I'm having fun with this. We have another Anonymous who seems to believe that he or she has all the answers. In pertinent part:
I'm a nurse and I've repeatedly seen the effect covid has on people. You may be one of the lucky asymptomatic ones
Funny you should mention that. The gal I wake up beside every morning, known to readers as Belle, is a registered nurse. She has practiced in a med/surg environment for forty years. Most of my medical opinions are informed by her. And, I do consider myself to be a lucky man, simply because she lets me hang out with her.
Belle believes that masking is generally ludicrous, except in a surgical environment. She goes along with it recently but thinks that it is socially expedient, not necessarily good medicine. Don't get her started on Big Pharma.
Thanks for commenting.
If standing up for civil liberties is a problem, then I am the problem.
Here in Louisiana, we do a lot of regionnal cooking. Something that is considered crucial to a recipe is omitted entirely in other parts of the state. For example, Stuart's comment illustrates this in the perfectly.
Heretic!
One cannot make gumbo without RoTels. Period.
Red Gumbo! I've seen that in the River parishes and in Natchitoches. It's a regional variation, and tickle the taste buds. In some places, okra is added. In other places a scoop of potato salad is added. The first time I was served gumbo with potato salad, I was a bit confused. It' ain't bad, but I'll take my potato salad on the side, thank you.
Jambalaya is another food with regional variations. You'll find brown jambalaya, red jambalaya, and white jambalaya. They are all good, ad all different. In central and north Louisiana, we generally make our jambalaya with sausage end fowl. In South Louisiana, you find a lot of seafood jambalaya.
My maternal grandmother grew up in New Iberia, along the Bayou Teche. She cooked gumbos, sauce picante, and courtbullions. My paternal grandmother grew up in north Louisiana and cooked in the German and Scots-Irish tradition. I learned a lot from both of them, and my cooking reflects that .
The blending of cultures is what makes our cuisine so vibrant. The cultural and gustatory blending of French, Spanish, Creole, Black and Native is what makes our food so wonderful.
There is an axiom in Cajun cooking that gumbo is best on the second day. The flavors have time to mingle and blend and offers a depth of flavor and intensity that simply is not found on the first day.
My basic gumbo recipe is here.
One of my holiday traditions is to take the turkey carcass, drop it in a stock pot, and boil it for stock. Drain it, strain it, and add sausage, onions, peppers, and the leftover bird to make a big gumbo. Roux, of course, for traditional flavor. I made this one yesterday and left it in the slow cooker overnight.
The kitchen smells wonderful. Closer to lunch I'll make a big pot of rice. Belle has threatened to construct a peach cobbler, but with the pies still hanging on from Thursday, I don't know if she will really make the effort.
Much has been made of a recent case here in Louisiana where a pastor challenged our Governor's Covid-related restrictions on church capacity. On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, and the Governor is touting it as a victory for his restrictions on capacity.
I'm no lawyer, but I suspect that the reason the Court declined to hear the case is that they decided a remarkably similar one on Wednesday. We talked about it then.. And, they were quite clear that the Free Expression clause in the First Amendment takes precedent over Covid restrictions.
On this rainy, thunder-y Sunday morning, I re-read Mr. Justice Gorsuch's opinion, and it is quite clear. He concludes thus:
It is time—past time—to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques.
I note that in the latest order from our petty tyrant, he left the churches alone. Capacity restrictions at churches are set at 75% but many other venues are set at much more restrictive percentages. OUr Governor knows that the Free Expression clause supersedes his executive powers and that the New York case binds his hands. The Court has ruled, and he knows it.
His trumpeting that the Louisiana case was denied is a hollow reed. He knows where the Court stands, and it is not with petty tyrant governors.
Shortly after Squirrel knocked down her little buck this morning, son Matt got a nice doe on the same lease.
That's son-in-law Greg in the background. Can't tell what he is doing. But, Matt got a nice doe and Squirrel got a nice little buck. Matt shoots a Ruger 77 in .25-06 using the family handload recipe. (WLR primer, 50 grains RL 22, and a 117 grain bullet, either Hornady or Sierra.)
Brother and sister both got deer this morning. Plenty of venison in the freezer.
My father nicknamed my daughter Squirrel when she was a toddler. She has carried that nickname since.
She got her buck this morning. While her husband is looking for trophies, she is looking for meat. Trying to feed a family.
It's a nice little yearling buck, She took it at about a hundred yards early this morning. She shoots a Ruger American in .308 Win with a Leupold 3X9 scope.
Thanksgiving is is the record books, for better or worse. Belle and I always over-cook for Thanksgiving, it's part of the plan. It's hard to cook a ham, and a turkey, and not have leftovers, especial this year when the crowds are covid restricted.
But, that's part of the plan. Friday morning turned of coo and rainy here. In a bit, we'll go out to the shop and start making sense of what's left. Belle's Black Friday tradition includes leftover yeast rolls, leftover ham, and leftover dressing. She'll make sliders and nuke the dressing for lunch.
My Black Friday tradition is to break up the turkey carcass, then put bones and water into a big stock pot. I'll boil it down, let it cool, and package the stock. Either Saturday night late, or early Sunday morning I'll take that stock and start a big turkey gumbo. If you've never boiled a smoked turkey carcass, you don't know the depth of flavor that the smoked bones add to the broth.
Today is supposed to be the warmest for the next 10 days. The weather-weenies tel us that a front will move through this weekend, and the temps will start to drop tomorrow, with our first frost on Monday evening.
The Supreme Court dropped a ruling last night, slapping the hands of the Governor of New York for violating the Free Expression clause of the 1st Amendment. The Court split along predicable lines, ruling 5-4 in favor of the churches. And, yes, Roberts (hack, spit) sided with the liberals.
Mr. Justice Gorsuch penned a concurring opinion, with some notable lines. In particularly like this one.
Even if the Constitution has taken a holiday during this pandemic, it cannot become a sabbatical.
I knew I liked that guy, and if I ever get the opportunity, I intend to spit on Robert's shoes.
Looking at some photos from last year. Belle and I traveled to New Mexico to visit with family. Our greatest concern was an impending blizzard in the high country that might strand us there until the roads cleared.
