December 31, 2019
China trade deal phase 1 to be signed soon, but there are other problems
Via Fox Business:
This is good news for president Trump, but let's not get too crazy about his re-election chances. There are some storm clouds on the horizon. Coal jobs, and therefore Pennsylvania, are at risk of steep losses in 2020, despite president Trump's efforts to make the industry more competitive and unfettered. That hurts the president's chances of winning the state again.
Why is American coal having a hard time? It's not because there is not demand anymore as climate activists would have you believe. It's because of increased international competition - primarily from China.
We're back to learn to code
Joe Biden proves once again he's clueless. He tells coal miners to learn to code (actually program). This callousness and insensitivity was a problem for Democrats previously. The more this guy says, the more I want him to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020.
It's not just Fox that takes Biden to task for this. The Left did too.
December 30, 2019
U.S. trade deficit drops sharply in November
Good news for president Trump continues (emphasis added):
The US trade deficit on goods narrowed sharply to USD 63.19 billion in November 2019 from USD 66.8 billion in the previous month and well below market expectations of USD 68.75 billion. That was the smallest trade gap since December 2016, as exports rose 0.7 percent, boosted by sales of vehicles (3.4 percent), consumer goods (2.6 percent), capital goods (1.3 percent) and foods, feeds, & beverages (2.0 percent). Meanwhile, there were declines in exports of industrial supplies (-0.7 percent) and other goods (-7.3 percent). Imports dropped 1.3 percent as purchases declined for consumer goods (-2.2 percent), capital goods (-2.0 percent), industrial supplies (-1.5 percent), foods, feeds, & beverages (-1.3 percent), and other goods (-6.8 percent). Imports of vehicles, however, increased 3.7 percent... source: U.S. Census Bureau
A trade deficit means Americans are spending more, which tends to be a sign of a healthy economy. But endless trade deficits are unsustainable. In seeking to level the field for international trade, the president is not being anti-trade, he is being anti-America-being-taken-advantage-of-in-international-trade. Declining trade deficits in the long run means that other nations are going to have to provide access to their markets in exchange for access to the lucrative American marketplace. That means better opportunities for American businesses and potentially better deals for American consumers if all nations concerned take advantage of their comparative advantage and trade fairly based on that rather than through currency manipulation, predatory pricing, intellectual property theft and poverty level labor markets.
A reminder of why elections matter
Courtesy of Bill Whittle, why elections matter. Despite Bill's despondence, he clearly articulates why elections matter. Yes, conservatives will be barraged with vile lies, but the alternative is worse.
December 29, 2019
Christianity and the West - a Christmas message
Courtesy of Bill Whittle and company, a treatise on the impact of Christianity on the West and the world.
December 28, 2019
December 27, 2019
Warren is weak
Via Michael Knowles at Daily Wire on why Warren is a weak candidate (in a weak field).
December 26, 2019
Trump's North Korea approach might be working
Earlier today I posted about a John Bolton policy attack on president Trump with regard to North Korea. Here are some other push backs on why Bolton is being just a little bit over the top with it.
Jordan Peterson on the lie of White Privilege
More brilliance from Jordan Peterson: Identity politics and the Marxist lie of white privilege.
Does Democrat overreach mean the death of Obamacare?
The slow, quiet death of Obamacare is upon us and in progress. Chief Justice Roberts in upholding the taxation view of the individual mandate in the Supreme Court's decision on Obamacare mapped out the way to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Whether it was inadvertent or a shrewd conservative ploy does not matter at this point. What matters as Obamacare's slow death plays out, is the Democrats' attempt to frogmarch the nation towards nationally unaffordable Medicare for all and how to fight that effort.
2020 concerns
Ted Cruz talks about the Democrats' ferocity going into 2020. While president Trump is on a good track for re-election in 2020, it is important conservatives not be complacent because the left is going to fight hard - for the presidency, for congress, for the senate and for state races, The 2020 election is as much a watershed election as 2012 was supposed to be and failed. Failure is not impossible in 2020 but success is even more important than it was in 2016.
John Bolton slams president Trump on Korea
It's the 'why' that's unclear. The president is trying a different approach on North Korea to the one used by previous administrations that clearly has not made the slightest bit of difference towards the rogue nation's nuclear ambitions.
The clip explains president Trump's rationale but not Bolton's. It suggests that Bolton is a neocon (neo-conservative). But it does not explain why neocons might want a more aggressive, military approach on North Korea. Since neocons are globalists, a military option would probably be Bolton's preferred option. I have always respected Bolton's tough stance on a number of foreign policy issues. But a tough stance does not always equate to an effective approach. President Trump is trying a new tack on an old, heretofore unsolved problem. Given that the old approach has taken decades and resolved nothing, it would seem a new approach deserves a fair shake, which does not mean just two years.
December 25, 2019
December 24, 2019
Debunking Buzzfeed because it's Buzzfeed
Buzzfeed is wrong so often and they get away with it by continuing to exist. Here's a debunking of a clearly politically motivated Buzzfeed video:
December 23, 2019
Pelosi theories
Ted Cruz says Pelosi is in full-blown panic:
An RNC spokesperson says she's just clueless:
And of course there's the theory that they are shrewdly torpedoing their own candidates.
An RNC spokesperson says she's just clueless:
And of course there's the theory that they are shrewdly torpedoing their own candidates.
No one really knows what Nancy Pelosi is thinking, and I suspect Nancy Pelosi doesn't either.
Well when you put it that way, yeah.
This video of the most recent Democrat candidates' debate speaks for itself:
Are the Democrats deliberately torpedoing their own candidates? If so, here's why.
This is not exactly crazy. It's possible, Something odd is happening with the impeachment of president Trump, and theories have developed as to why. One such theory is that Democrats are creating a self-inflicted wound, deliberately. Democrat could be torpedoing Senators Warren and Sanders primary chances. But that's only the beginning of the story.
Firstly, Tim Pool explains the Sanders supporters' conspiracy theory and the background and rationale:
So who does that help? As Tim Pool points out in the above video, not surprisingly mostly Biden and Buttigieg. But Democrats have to know that not only has impeachment helped president Trump's support levels, but they also have to know that Republicans have a Joe Biden investigation looming. It's possible that the Republicans could be holding that in abeyance until Warren and Sanders until after Warren and Sanders are critically hurt by the Pelosi impeachment timing ploy. Democrats surely are aware of that. Then Biden could possibly be critically hurt too. While that could turn out to be a positive for Joe the same way impeachment has for president Trump, it's not exactly the same thing and my calculus says it will hurt Biden - a lot. That would leave Buttigieg as the front runner.
Could Pelosi be hoping a wipe-out in 2020 could lead to a socialist purge in the Democrat party? It would be an admirable goal. That's why I don't buy into it.
It's more likely she and other establishment Democrats could be angling for a fractured, brokered convention and the opportunity for Hillary Clinton to swoop in and save the party with a late candidacy, minus the campaigning, which Hillary is clearly truly terrible at doing. Not only that, it would allow Hillary to save her war chest for the general election too. It would keep her from scrutiny for the primaries as well. There are a lot of reasons to do it if that's the end goal.
I'm skeptical. It's not that I don't believe Democrats are that political, that nefarious. They are. But there are some big ifs to the theory. It would require that Pelosi drop the impeachment on the Senate during the primaries. That has yet to happen, so the proof at this point is mere speculation (almost as bad as the wishful thinking of the impeachment itself). Until that timing occurs, take the conspiracy theory with a wheelbarrow full of salt.
But suppose it does. It also requires the notion that Democrats are willing to risk their primary voters' wrath to pull off a Clinton nomination, or a purge. As closed-door establishment as the insider Democrat cabal is, that is an awfully big risk. It requires the belief that they are not sick of Hillary Clinton and her anemic record of presidential runs. It also requires the belief that they are smart enough to come up with this idea but dumb enough not to see it's fatal flaws. Long term purging of socialists from the party would be a healthy move, but Democrats, especially establishment Democrats are not long term thinkers. Political expedience is their forte. So that is the most far-fetched scenario.
Is it possible that a Democrat plan is afoot? Yes. Is this the plan? I doubt it, highly. As much as I would love for it to be true, I just don't see it. Not yet, anyway. It's more likely that they just do not have a way forward with the impeachment and in their zeal to get it done because they have nothing else, and they are indeed on an all-in strategy that they have lost control of managing.
December 22, 2019
Did you know the president Trump is no longer president?
These people knew. OMG I read a bunch of these tweets earlier, this is a hilarious compilation:
What's scary is that these people are going to vote and yet they know so little.
Democrats' urgent need to impeach stalls at the finish line
Congress impeached president Trump, except they didn't. As part of the impeachment they had to pass the impeachment on to the Senate to vote on. But the urgency suddenly disappeared and they are just sitting on it now and won't pass it on to the Senate.
Where's the urgency with which they rushed the impeachment? Gone.
More here.
December 21, 2019
December 20, 2019
The Impeachment Saga - The fallout (3 of 3)
So the Democrats were happy, the mainstream media were happy and the polls have shown they were dumb to do this. Some in the media already get that, though most don't see it.
But there is more to this impeachment than all of that. Firstly, president Trump will not be judged impeachable by the Senate, who must decide to convict or acquit the president.
But that's not where the Democrats plan to go anyway. They know they can't win. They know the president would be exonerated. They will probably just hold this over the president's head.
Even that looks like a doomed strategy that will accomplish nothing. No impeachment in progress, no leverage. What is a little more worrisome is that Democrats already are planning for more impeachments. They've cheapened the process to the point where it can never be used because it will forevermore be useless. Maybe their objective is to make the next Democrat president unimpeachable because the process has become so partisan as to be seen as forever despicable. The next Democrat president will have carte blanche. Maybe in that they have succeeded.
Impeachment Saga - The fallout (2 of 3)
President Trump got impeached this week. Everyone knows the Democrats were not sad. Everyone knows the Mainstream media were ecstatic. The Democrats and the media though seem oblivious to the real fallout. This result was already underway before the vote. The vote is only going to cement the shift in the polls. Democrats by caving to their extremist base, have ensured a president Trump re-election and very possibly a loss of Congress.
Impeachment Saga - The fallout (1 of 3)
After the dubious impeachment vote, the media unlike the Democrats, could not even fake somberness. They were absolutely giddy.
Ladies and gentlemen, the @WashingtonPost. This is “our” media in 2019... but don’t worry, they have an even lower approval rating than congress... #JournalismIsDead @JeffBezos pic.twitter.com/fDQ0Tf8QkN— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) December 19, 2019
As soon as the firestorm around the obviously partisan nature of the Washington Post became obvious, Rachel Bade took it down and the staff pronounced this as a misinterpretation of their festive appreciation of the season. This is why you are fake news. More importantly it's why people don't trust you.
Impeachment Saga - The vote
Remember how sad the Democrats were trying to portray themselves as being for being forced to impeach president Trump? Then the vote happened.
Even CNN had to show how Democrats responded and Nancy Pelosi's visual admonishment of her team of Impeachocrats:
Of course CNN immediately ran cover for Democrats, citing the exceptional few as not being civil, somber, etc. That was as sickening to watch as the Democrats' hypocrisy and speciousness itself.
Impeachment Saga - The Leadup (3 of 3)
Democrats were marching towards what they mandated for themselves as an impeachment, facts be damned, despite the significant resistance to it. Keep in mind Democrats are not used to seeing the kind of push back that they have experienced recently:
It didn't deter them, they just had to impeach president Trump no matter how implausible their case was, no matter the impact in swing districts and the fallout for 2020 on their own political fortunes. They were blinded by hatred.
Impeachment Saga - The Leadup (2 of 3)
Previously I noted that there was absolute glee among many Democrats (as well as the media) in the mindless march towards a political impeachment. Nancy Pelosi was busy reminding the country that this was terrible, sad and a somber thing. The MSNBC video below was from September 2019.
Even as impeachment day arrived, Democrats, pre-vote were busy reminding the voters (and perhaps each other, for appearance's sake) how truly sad they were and how somber this moment was:
It was a sad day indeed. The Democrats were so pathetic in their zeal to impeach president Trump they forgot to hide it along the way. Now they are trying to change the narrative, all while hiding the fact that there are no facts behind this impeachment, just a lust for power.
Impeachment Saga - The Leadup (1 of 3)
Going into the Trump Impeachment Frenzy Congressional Vote this week, Democrats and the media were full of absolute glee. Rashida Tlaib is a prime example. It was never about evidence it was about a mission. Remember, the video below predates the Ukrainian fake scandal. It was before the Mueller report came out and showed there was no collusion and no obstruction.
This was followed this past week by her excitement to impeach the president:
Clearly she's thrilled she's reaching her political goal. This will become important later in the chronology.
December 18, 2019
Indisputably? I do not think it means what you think it means.
Former (ersatz) president Obama recently claimed that women are indisputably better leaders than men. There are so many problems with that but I will highlight three.
(1) He's looking at groups not individuals. That's always a flawed approach. Whether it's about assessing people or how you treat people, it's a recipe for division, something Democrats excel at doing deliberately.
(2) He's using the Al Gore "the debate is over" tactic to silence opposing views. Al Gore used the approach to end discussion on climate change when he could not argue facts. Obama is using it here as a glibly tossed out thought in an effort to pander to an audience. To what end, who can say.?
(3) He offers no specific evidence. In fact it's mere opinion but it's disguised as fact, it's meant to lead opinion, not facilitate discussion or invite commentary. That's contrary to everything the president claimed to be about - open inclusive discussion. Yeah, not so much.
The former president, clearly pandering, is once again proving that he is all style, no substance.
Tim Pool goes into more depth below. I don't think Obama's foolhardy pronouncement needs it but Tim Pool does a good job of dissecting it, nonetheless.
Now?
I only have one question. Where was the FISA court for the last 2 plus years in demanding this? Or put more directly - Why did it take an IG report for them to act on what we all knew was a problem for the last 2 plus years?
This is not bravery, it's the FISA court jumping on the bandwagon in an act of self-preservation.
December 17, 2019
This impeachment thing is going south for Democrats faster and faster.
When you see this, you have to think it's bad for Democrats.
When you see this, you see how bad it actually is:
Tim Pool gets it. Democrats do not seem to have figured it out yet.
When you see this, you see how bad it actually is:
Tim Pool gets it. Democrats do not seem to have figured it out yet.
President Trump's phenomenal economic record is bad news?
President Trump has had an incredible record on the economy in the first three years of his presidency. A string of record low unemployment figures (African American, Hispanic, women, Asian, and overall) are accompanied by a string of records of Dow Jones record highs, at a record pace. The labor force participation rate is up, meaning there are more people in the work force and the unemployment rate is down despite that. And despite trade tensions, president Trump has added over 5 million jobs to the economy so far. 7 million people have quit using food stamps. Yet despite all of that, if you follow the mainstream media, president Trump's economy is really, really bad news.
As laughable and counter-intuitive and wrong as that notion is, it's clearly going to be the main thrust of the mainstream media's assault on the president's re-election bid in 2020 after the impeachment effort finally implodes (for the time being).
The AP actually claim that Trump doesn't deserve credit for African American record low unemployment. Thankfully they do a woeful job of making their "Fact Check" case.
Forbes has article after article on how terrible the economy is but the one stating that even president Trump would admit his economy is in deep trouble is emblematic of an institutional bias against the president. That's from Chuck Jones who has a record of bashing Trump's accomplishments.
The New York Times is coaching Democrats on how to go after president Trump's economy.
Salon calls the great economy a myth.
Fortune says Trump is bad for business, and cherry picks facts to make it's case.
The Atlantic claims the president is experiencing economic anxiety. They must be privy to his psychiatric records.
CCN (not exactly mainstream, but still indicative of it) says record low unemployment a sign that the economy is teetering on collapse. It's a ridiculous notion that doesn't even require a rebuttal.
And on it goes. Thankfully, Americans have awakened from the hazed belief that their media is still honest. They can sift through opinion, they can feel the truth in their own lives. President Trump's economy is doing great, and the only thing that will derail it is not his dealing with China, and not the 'fragile underpinnings' that are due to collapse but rather a Democratic victory in 2020, for the presidency, or in congress. Neither appears likely to happen.
December 16, 2019
Democrat congressman to defect to the Republicans over impeachment
This is not a game changer, but it is a signpost that a lot of Democrats are uneasy about an impeachment vote coming this Wednesday.
Leftists morose over Boris Johnson's U.K. election win.
If you aren't interested in a victory lap, there's no need to watch this.
December 15, 2019
December 14, 2019
December 13, 2019
December 8, 2019
December 7, 2019
December 6, 2019
December 5, 2019
December 4, 2019
Impeachment musings
A few early observations regarding the latest impeachment hearings:
Firstly, again? Really? This will be strike three for Democrats. No impeachment will occur, no minds will be changed. It follows that if they saw the polls shift against them after the Schiff show, they must be using the hearings to ensure their hardcore base voters turn out in 2020.
If the above is true, and president Trump is not going to be impeached and is likely to win re-election in 2020, is it possible that Democrats are playing a long game to win the popular vote in 2020 and turn public opinion further towards removing the electoral college in the future?
Jerry Nadler in his opening statement referenced the Mueller investigation, which provided zero plausibility towards impeachment. By invoking that investigation, Nadler undercut all credibility of all subsequent hearings including the Schiff hearings; it looks as though Democrats are stuck on Russia and are using discredited opinions as facts and that undercuts the credibility of all subsequent arguments they have made.
Democrats seem to have a playbook. Commit a crime, accuse their opponent of their crime, when he fights back accuse the fight itself of being an impeachable offense.
The current hearing is NOTHING more than a PR battle. Democrats have allowed themselves to call 3 witnesses and Republicans to call 1. All three Democrat witnesses are professors and are arguing that the president has committed impeachable offenses. The Republican witness argued against it. No new evidence was offered. This is clearly only about changing minds, which Democrats so far have only managed to do in a direction that is negative for them.
With the previous point in mind, all three Democrat witnesses and the Democrat lawyer come across as pompous and are likely to not influence viewers positively towards the Democrats' case.
December 3, 2019
Kamala Harris drops out
Kamala Harris will not be the next president of the United States. But you knew that already, didn't you.
The Big Tech bias continues, ramps up
Tim Pool, a self-described centrist (and former progressive Bernie Sanders supporter) outs more big tech bias against president Trump - in this case at Google and it's subsidiary YouTube. And it's not just happening in the U.S.A.
December 2, 2019
Hong Kong pro-democracy voter turnout in context
An explainer on how dramatically the pro-democracy movement changed the election results from the previous election:
Obama administration held 100k children in detention in 2015
According to the U.N., Obama was the worst - at least for detention of alien children. By comparison, in 2018 that number had been reduced from 100,000 to 15,000 under president Trump. Many will claim this is fake news but the U.N. report, is real.
December 1, 2019
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