Remember, when you go to the polls, that this is what our “elites” think the immigration crisis is about:
The borders they will enforce are all cultural.
And if you’re reading this blog, there is likely no trip to Martha’s Vinyard in your future.
In response to Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) noting that two months ago the Administration (like the MNDFL) told us that non-citizens weren’t voting, or even registering, and now the DOJ is suing to keep the on the voter rolls, Elon Musk responded:
Now can I count the ways this is not only true, but happening?
What am I missing?
As a good American of rural Scandinavian/Scottish descent, I’m rarely given to sharing optimism publicly. It’s just not in the DNA.
And, as always, I’m a Trump skeptic.
The race could still swing either way; there’s a week left for October Surprises (although have of them, mathematically, would be November surprises).
But over the weekend, the Real Clear Politics average finally showed Trump up in their polling average.
The margin is well within the margin of error – like, in the margin of error’s upper GI tract. But this is the first lead of any kind Trump has had in the RCP average since Harris’s “surge” after defenestrating the Potato. And if it holds until Election Day, it’ll be the first time Trump has ever led the RCP average at election time – 2016, 2020 or this year.
Now, I never bought the “Red Wave” hype in 2022, and I’m not getting on board any bandwagons this year either. But I think two, maybe three, stories over the weekend got me thinking.
Lifeboats
VIrginia hasn’t gone Republican, IIRC, since the ’84 landlside.
But as Strommie points out, this isn’t your father’s VIrginia:
Harris is still up, but the change in momentum is pretty clear. If Harris is going to have to fight to defend Virginia, that could make for a very long election night for her, and a much shorter one for me.
Self-Inflicted
Over the weekend, NBC News started to rip off the bandaid – Arab-Americans in MIchigan are…not very warm to Harris:
[Michigan state represetnative Abanas] Farhat said the Democratic Party “has missed several key opportunities” to reassure Arab American voters concerned about Gaza. One glaring oversight, he said, is the ongoing decision to supply Israel with weapons for its military campaign in the enclave. He also points to how the Democratic National Convention did not allow a Palestinian American affected by the war to speak, despite giving a platform to the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a slain Israeli American who was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
“The time for listening — we’re beyond that now,” Farhat said. “We’re in a phase where constituencies like mine are demanding action in the form of policy change, not just rhetoric change, but in seeing a party that for years this community has been loyal to, standing up for them.”
It’d be reasonable to read the NBC piece and conclude that Harris could lose Michigan’s Arabs – and, possibly, Michigan itself – rather than Trump winning it.
But events over the weekend showed us it might not be quite that simple:
At the Suburban Collection Showplace, 46100 Grand River Ave., a group of Muslim imams from the Michigan Chapter of the Arab American Bar Association took the stage to endorse Trump, expressing their support for his stance on ending the wars in the Middle East.
“We as Muslims stand with President Trump because he promises peace not war,” one of the imams said. “We are supporting Donald Trump because he promised to end war in the Middle East and Ukraine.”
The imams voiced a shared desire for peace, emphasizing that their communities want to see an end to these wars. Joining them was the mayor of Dearborn Heights, Bill Bazzi, who also took the stage to endorse Trump.
I did not have that on my bingo card. Speaking of candidate just losing states…
Worse
Remember 2016? When Hillary only carried MInnesota by two points?
The Conventional wisdom was not that Trump almost won, but that Hillary almost lost; that Hillary was an unlikeable, bad candidate.
So my question, amid the usual overheated rumors that Trump is contending in Minnesota – and I’ve asked this of a number of Republicans – is this: is Harris a better candidate and more likeable, presidential candidate than Killary?
The election is next week.
As I write this, Kamala Harris’s lead in the Real Clear Politics average has shrunk to under a point, while Trump’s lead in the seven battleground states that’ll likely decide the election is approaching a point. That’s all within the margin of error – but polls tend to undercount Trump, and he’s outperforming both his previous bouts.
So – after two years of chanting about Trump’s behavior after the 2020 election, will Democrats respect the decision if Harris loses?
So, yes, Trump will be elected as the 47th president of the United States, and the liberal talking heads will melt down just as they did in 2016. But what matters most is what happens after the election, and whether the experience of Americans will reflect renewed prosperity, a safer world, and respect for tradition and common sense. Many will try to prevent that, but making America great again should be a unifying goal. “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
I’m not sure the Democrats can let the nation have a peaceful, prosperous four years without repercussions.
SCENE: Mitch BERG is glueing a board full of protruding tacks under the surface of a May Lor Xiong campaign sign, when Avery LIBRELLE rides up in an even weirder looking recumbent.
LIBRELLE: Merg!
BERG: (Visibly stifling annoyance): Oh, hey, Av…
LIBRELLE: Shut up. “Trump held a rally in the same place where they held…”
BERG: “Several Democrat national conventions?”
LIBRELLE: “No, it was…”
BERG: Several nights of the most recent Billy Joel tours?
LIBRELLE: No, it was…
BERG: Several Democrat national conventions, including both of Jimmy Carter’s nominations and Bill Clinton’s 1992 coronation?
LIBRELLE: Knock it off!
BERG: Led Zeppelin had a concert there. They filmed it. I think it was called…
LIBRELLE: Don’t!
BERG: “The Triumph Of The Will Remains The Same!”
LIBRELLE: I hate you.
BERG: “The all-star 1979 ‘No Nukes’ concerts?”
LIBRELLE: “NO! It was…”
BERG: I got it! Where former GOP presidential candidate Wendell Willkie led 20,000 African Americans in June, 1943 in the largest Civil Rights rally of its era, calling for equal rights and for victory against Hitler.
LIBRELLE : Seriously, stop it, or I’ll…
BERG: “The NYC stop on Beyonce’s 2023 tour?
LIBRELLE: “STOP IT!”
Rides away
And SCENE.
Walter Hudson is a first-term representative from Albertville. He’s been in the minority his entire legislative career – so has been able to have relatively little legislative impact.
And. yet the DFL is spending a lot of effort trying to sandbag him – clipping one of his speeches out of context (maybe more on that next week, and possibly on the show this weekend)…
…and this:
Let’s forget for a moment that this is the party whose leader, Tim Walz, had this to say about a clearly senescent Joe Biden…
…scant weeks before joining the team that defenestrated the POTATUS for being to senile to campaign (but not hold the nuclear football until late January).
Over the weekend, a courier hauling boxes of ballots was observed leaving his trunk open for about ten minutes as he ran another errand.
The driver got fired – but the story hasn’t quite gone away yet.
Secretary of State Simon rained down his anger…
…on the courier.
But it turns out, the bonehead was anyone who believed Steve Simon when he said Minnesota had the bestest, mostest sucurest election system in the universe.
This is a violation of the law that Simon is supposed to enforce:
So I don’t know about you, but I get the impression that there’s more than one “bonehead” involved.
Why, yes – this was on mine!
When a hurricane like Helene or Milton ravages coastal communities, already-strained first responders face a novel, and growing, threat: the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, e-bikes, and countless gadgets. When exposed to the salty water of a storm surge, they are at risk of bursting into flames — and taking an entire house with them.
“Anything that’s lithium-ion and exposed to salt water can have an issue,” said Bill Morelli, the fire chief in Seminole, Florida, and the bigger the battery, the greater the threat. That’s what makes EVs especially hazardous. “[The problem] has expanded as they continue to be more and more popular….”
“…“They burn hot, they burn fast, and they’re hard to extinguish,” Morelli said.
Can’t wait until someone does a comparative study about how EVs and gas cars compare when stranded in blizzards.
Last week, I ruffled some of the usual feathers by posting a link to this video by Ryan McBeth.
McBeth is a former anti-tank grunt who now does open-source intelligence and systems work. His Youtube and Substack channels are interesting; he doesn’t get everything right (he is still claiming Mossad figured out how to remotely blow up lithium batteries, although his reasoning for getting to that conclusion isn’t wrong), and he certainly runs in official-ish circles, but he shows his math.
I pointed this out, not to “run cover” for officialdom (wtf?) but out of awareness that all “sides” of every issue on social media are farming engagements to draw clicks, eyeballs, and of course the mother of all motivations, “monetization”.
The real lesson? Waiting for government to help you out after an emergency is a sucker bet. Government may mean well but be incompetent; it may do its best but be overstretched; it might be actively undercutting you; it might be all three and then some. But one way or another, example after example in the real world shows us you, the regular schnook, are likely to have to see to your own well-being after a disaster.
Seeing to that well-being is either a waste of time, or absolutely vital – and you won’t know which until it’s too late.
This note comes from a friend of a friend:
“I’m in Asheville, NC right now and we were devastated by the hurricane. Day 5 of no power, water, internet, or even cell service. We are cut off from the world. Here’s what has mattered so far and what hasn’t in my particular situation:
Life saver #1 = Starlink internet. All our phones say SOS. Can’t text for help. Don’t know what’s going on. I plugged in my satellite internet and have been helping the whole neighborhood call loved ones. Everyone is offering me anything from their supplies because it’s so valuable.
Life saver #2 = Solar panels and 3000w battery pack. I can run satellite internet, electric kettle to purify water, charge headlamps, electronics, instant pot for cooking, ice maker for the cooler, everything I need. I’ll won’t run out of the sun like I would propane or gas if this extends a lot longer.
Life saver #3 = Gas cans and extra gas. These are sold out everywhere and are harder to get than gas itself. When power goes out so do gas station pumps. When you have portable gas you can run a generator, evacuate, drive to where the supplies are, check on family members, etc. People are stranded and sleeping at gas stations for days in their car waiting for power to come back on so they can get home.
Life saver #4 = Knowledge on how to survive without a huge stash. Some preppers spend too much on stocking up and not enough on education. None of us knew the hurricane was going to be this bad. Some people lost their entire house including supplies. Those who know multiple ways to collect water, purify it, start a fire, find food, are the ones still alive that haven’t been rescued yet. I could go for another month if I had to with nothing but my backpack and tools.
Life saver #5 = Hand sanitizer. Sanitation is rough here and the hospitals are out of power, food, and water. People are starting to smell and after you touch something you do not want to get sick and go to the hospital because it’s bad there too. The water you do find may not be safe for hand washing without purification. I wash my hands with soap and water and then do hand sanitizer after to stay healthy.
Other things I’ve relied on:
Cash. No power means no debit cards can be used
Disposable cutlery and plates
A 4×4 truck that can drive where others can’t or help tow people to safety
Solar/battery radio
Dogs for company and to alert if someone is outside
Hasn’t mattered as much as I thought:
#1 = Guns! I haven’t even thought about needing my gun and realized I put too much on this. Strangers have come together in our area and are taking care of each other like you wouldn’t believe. Each person has a surplus of something and is missing something else. We all share while still respecting boundaries and only sharing what we choose. Again, this can depend on the area but here if you are acting paranoid/standoffish of others and open carrying a gun, the nice innocent people are going to avoid you and you will be isolated without community or resources. I’m still glad to have a gun but I wish I spent more time on other skills too instead of putting so much emphasis on shooting. (And to anyone who says, “it only takes one time and you will be glad for your aim”, you’re missing the point I’m trying to make here.)
#2 = Food. This is easy to find for me but it may be due to the part of the country I’m in. I can also fish, forage, and don’t cook much because I don’t want to waste water on dishes. I had shelf stable food prepped and lll probably end up only using 25% of it in a month. As people’s freezers start to thaw we’ve had big cookouts so it doesn’t go to waste and I’ve been full most nights.
Again, this list could be based on location, type of natural disaster, weather, etc But it’s interesting to me because I’m actually living it instead of preparing and wanted to share.”
As the correspondent notes in the last graf, it “could” be based on location. And it most certainly is based on the relative health of the social fabric in the area.
Which is a good thing, since the Democrats and Media (PTR) won’t say it.
Shot: Harris was on board with #MeToo:
Chaser: until she wasn‘t:
Vice President Kamala Harris‘s husband assaulted his ex-girlfriend, three friends have told Dailymail.com.
The Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, 59, allegedly struck the woman in the face so hard she spun around, while waiting in a valet line late at night after a May 2012 Cannes Film Festival event in France.
One of her friends told DailyMail.com that the woman called him immediately after the incident, sobbing in her cab, and described the alleged assault.
Thing is, I’m all about people being innocent until proven guilty.
But given that Emhoff – a guy who knocked up his nanny during his first marriage, not to mention the new allegations – is being actively promoted as the model for modern masculinity – it
But given that Emhoff – a guy who has admitted to knocking up his nanny during his first marriage, to say nothing of these allegations – is being actively promoted as the very model of modern masculinity (by institutions that have little institutional knowledge of the concept), it’s certainly worth validating.
Soon.
Gene Pelowski – one of the few DFL house members in a relatively rural area, from HD26A, which is the very southeast corner of Minnesota – is retiring from office.
And he’s having second thoughts about the DFL’s trifecta:
On the one hand, I applaud, and approve.
On the other – where was all this independence over the past two legislative sessions?
I get it – the DFL had a four vote majority, so being a single dissident would have no effect other than getting him mau-maued by his own caucus.
One hopes the GOP can pick this distsrict up.
During the heyday of blogging, in the late 2000s, two of the big guidelines were “update predictably” and “give people reasons to keep coming back”.
Where those two guidelines converged was this blog’s publication schedule.
In 2007, I did some research, and discovered that something like half of this blog’s traffic hit before betwen 5AM and 9AM – and 80% had visited by 1PM.
So I developed the habit of having stuff rolling out a 6, and sometimes 5 and 7, AM, and then a follow-up around 11ish, to catch the lunch-time crowd.
And that’s been the rhythm of this blog since George W Bush was president.
Another constant on this blog, since 2006? I’ve run it on WordPress.
Unfortunately, WordPress keeps making “improvements”.
One of those seems to have broken the ability to schedule posts reliably; the past few days, posts I’ve scheduled for 6AM have not rolled out; I’ve needed to push them myself, after I noticed there was a problem – at, like, 8AM.
So until that’s fixed, I’m tempted to just start running all my posts manually in the morning, since the day job’s demands get pretty sticky during the middle of the day.
I’ll revert to the mean as soon as WordPress takes out the improvements.
So Kamala Harris is both an incumbent, and “fresh and new”.
This would seem to be an inconsistency and liability to normal candidates – who’d be getting questioned about this by a press that actually did its job.
But we don’t have that press:
Our actual press is more of a Praetorian Guard:
Kamala Harris is having it both ways as she hits the campaign trail after the Democratic National Convention, taking credit for parts of President Joe Biden’s record in rallies staged in front of Air Force Two while casting herself as a new leader who rails against “the politics of the past.”
In every presidential cycle candidates run on experience or freshness, but Harris so far appears to be successfully harmonizing two seemingly competing messages, much to the frustration of former President Donald Trump and his allies.
And, shucks, the AP isn’t going to do anything to change that, are they?
Governor Klink and other state officials are fond of trumpeting “studies” that seem to come out weekly, telling us Minnesota is doing just great.
Klink’s enforcer, Keith Ellison, did it the other day:
Figuring that this observation contradicts everything our lying eyes are gelling us about realiity around us, I figured I’d click through to read the actual study.
CNBC scored all 50 states on 128 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitiveness. Each category is weighted based on how frequently states use them as a selling point in economic development marketing materials. That way, our study ranks the states based on the attributes they use to sell themselves.
So, it weights the quality of states’ sales pitches?
And apparently subjective weighting counts for a lot, since Minnesota came in fourth place for “quality of life” (measured how?) but 35th for “cost of doing business” and 24th for “economy”.
It appears to be a measure of a state’s commitment to happy talk.
The Strib’s Rochelle Olson is at the Democrat National Convention, and, uh…
…well…
I mean, I can’t possibly be the only one that notices, can I?
Looking at the various lines of approach in the Democrat campaign this time around:
“You’re weird!“
“You’re terrified of Walz’s manly masculinity!!!
“What, do you want children to starve? You must want children to starve!”
The Democrat campaign is being run by middle-school mean girls.
If you’ve stuck with things long enough to read this, you know the blog is having technical issues.
We’re working on it
Can someone ask Cori Bush if I can get some blue cheese dressing with the word salad?
That’s two “Squad” members out in two months.
Wonder if that occurred to Kamala Harris before picking honorary “squad” member Tim Walz for Veep?
Joe Doakes, no longer of Como Park, emails:
The fact that they need to rig and cheat to support an (in effect) incumbent tells you how nervous they are.
Gabriela Kroetsch is running for MN House in district 55A – Savage and parts of Burnsville.
And here’s today’s music list:
“Frumming (Verb): To compare two radically different things as if they were the same, by leaving out dispositively vital context.
Example:
Variations: Frummery: (Noun): “It was pure frummery to compare the records of the two presidents by dishonestly leaving out the pandemic”.
Massachusetts spends tax money to support its racket with Planned Parenthood – no doubt making Senator Erin Maye Quade’s little authoritarian heart sing.
Support the AM Radio For Every Vehicle act by texting “AM” to 52886, or just go to “Depend On AM“.
Today’s music list:
This was the “white nationalist rally” in Charlottesville seven years ago looked like:
Kind of a cantina band scene, a grab bag of endomorphic remainders from a dozen states, waving tiki torches and chanting.
Now, here’s another “white supremacist group” – the “Patriot Front” – marching in NYC.
Fit-ish looking.
Matching uniforms.
Marching in step.
And no reporter has ever tried to interview them.
No crowd of “counterprotesters” in sight – odd, considering every time ten “KKK” members gather outside a Speedway, they draw hundreds of opponents.
Huh.
What a difference wearing a mask makes.
The state legislature wrapped up on Sunday. Behind their moral leaders – an accused felon and a not-very-closeted authoritarian – they enacted one of the more shameful spectacles anyone has ever seen in the Minnesota state legislature:
The process – and all inconvenient parliamentary procedure – was ignored, as the DFL jammed down a 2,800 page omnibus bill that the DFL had crammed together at the literal last minute, dropping a printed copy on the floor with a half hour remaining (as the online version “unexpectedly” went down).
Representative Engen put it well:
“We did what we had to do”.
How are people not seeing this is every bit as destructive as “January 6?”
So – they continued squashing freedom and the economy.
But the accomplishments!
In the past two sessions, they squandered $19B in surpluses, jacked up taxes, set up a speech database and gun registration, turned on a firehose of funding for the fraud-prone non-profit/industrial complex, and trashed the rideshare market, among many other sins.
But hey. Junk fees.
What’s next session? Banning “shrinkflation” in potato chips?
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