Ukraine and the Decline of the West

posted by Robert Orlando at Townhall 

Liberalism and moral superiority have long been the hallmarks of the West and its values. Yet, with escalating tensions involving Israel, Iran, and especially Ukraine, the world seems to be teetering on the edge of a predictable crisis. Not only does the situation in Ukraine provoke tensions with Russia, but it also foreshadows potential conflicts with China. The pressing question is: Where is the course correction?

In all these conflicts, there were opportunities to avoid the current state of affairs, yet these opportunities were ignored, to allow problems to escalate. The geopolitical landscape is now more volatile than it has been for decades. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, exacerbated by the provision of missiles and F-16s to Ukraine, signals a dangerous escalation. This development not only targets Russian military and civilian sites but drags the US further into an unwinnable war.

The West continues to provoke, ignoring the possibility that Putin might not be bluffing about his red lines. This dangerous gamble stems from a triumphalist hangover from the fall of Berlin and the end of the Cold War. But can Putin and Russia be pushed indefinitely? Daily headlines often paint a narrative of Ukrainian victory, but Russia is not deceived. Eventually, Russia will be compelled to respond decisively, and that's when the West will face the consequences.

Potential Russian reactions could include targeting NATO-supplied weapons, possibly escalating to bombing F-16s based in Poland. This scenario could invoke Article 5 of the NATO treaty, leading inevitable escalation. More aircraft in Poland and Romania for attacks? How can we so thoroughly misread Russian defense capabilities, perhaps hoping for another American election to change the dynamics?

Putin's strategy has been slow and deliberate showing great strength. Just as the US refrained from bombing Russian supply ships bound for North Vietnam knowing such an action would spark a conflict beyond control, and lead to direct confrontation with the Soviet Union. This restraint is a stark contrast to the current approach towards Russia and Ukraine, where each step seems to edge closer to a full-blown war.

Simultaneously, the US and the West continue to ignore the crisis in Israel and Palestine, to further fuel the conflict in Ukraine and distract from potential conflicts in China over Taiwan. Are we capable of thinking through the realistic ground realities in Palestine or Ukraine? Without a process to end these wars and withdraw from Iraqi-like conflicts, the debt and decline of the US seems inevitable.

Further complicating the issue is the intricate web of NATO and US security arrangements, which have their roots in secretive meetings of influential groups such as the Trilateral Commission and figures like David Rockefeller. The network represents a permanent security state that exerts immense pressure on European political leaders, preventing them from exiting the "club." 

The existential fear of showing disloyalty to this powerful coalition keeps them in line. Putin seems acutely aware of this dilemma and appears to be leveraging it, almost waiting for the West to collapse under its own contradictions as his country rebuilds its national pride and military strength to maintain its sovereignty.

American politicians are unaware of their self-destructive path for Ukraine distant from American consciousness or political interest. By forcing NATO allies to adopt the same stance and painting Putin as the new Stalin, they rally their forces to continue the machinery of war, with Zelensky acting as a show puppet.

A nation's decline is evident when its lost strategic direction, unable to disentangle, ala Washington, itself from conflicts and pursue a strategic direction that no longer benefits the West; rather, it threatens Russia by equipping an aggressive army on its border. And for all the liberal hawks and neocons this is not about strength or appeasing Putin, but about stupidity and low war IQ.

As was demonstrated by Washington during the Revolutionary War, a strategic retreat to resupply and live to fight another day is the only way to prevent inevitable suicide. Biden’s glazed vision is pure proof for Putin of another capitalist overreach. He knows the gods of war will guide us toward our less sustainable and secure future.

X22, On the Fringe, and more- June 25

 

Fact Checking Biden's Student Loan Bailout

 WASHINGTON, D.C., February 28, 2023

Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding Biden’s illegal student loan debt scheme. Here’s a look at the most commonly heard myths, and the facts this administration is leaving behind.

Myth: Student loan forgiveness is critical to ensuring millions of Americans are not buried under a mountain of debt.

Fact: There is no such thing as “forgiveness,” and student loan debt does not go away—it remains on the federal government’s books. Cancelation alone is estimated to cost at least $400 billion dollars. The Biden administration simply moved the loan debt, agreed to by millions of student loan borrowers, onto the backs of American taxpayers. Biden’s student loan bailout will cost every taxpayer, even those who never went to college, at least $2,500.

Myth: Since 2000, the cost of college has increased nearly 200 percent—leaving students with no choice but to borrow if they want a degree. Biden’s so-called forgiveness plan will help students afford college.

Fact: A one-time erasure of student debt does nothing to address why college costs have risen. Rather, it emboldens colleges to continue raising tuition and forces students to borrow even more—with taxpayers ultimately footing the bill. In fact, one study by the Federal Reserve found that schools raise tuition by up to 60 cents for every dollar in additional grants provided by the federal government.

Myth: Biden’s bailout will make the student loan system more manageable for current and future borrowers.

Fact: Even before the repayment pause extension and loan cancelation announcement, federal loan servicers warned the administration that the “situation would only be made far more complicated and riskier operationally with any additional changes to the loan program.” The Biden administration continues to confuse borrowers by announcing yet another extension of the repayment pause while proposing a swath of new burdensome and complicated regulations.

Myth: Student loan forgiveness is the fair way to help Americans escape massive amounts of debt.

Fact: Borrowers signed on the dotted line for their loans. Erasing these loans does not teach borrowers to manage their debts. Moreover, the cancelation is an insult to those who diligently paid off their loans. Further, it will not help student borrowers who enroll in college after debts are wiped clean. Instead, the Biden administration is forcing the 87 percent of Americans without student debt to pay the bills of college graduates.

Myth: Republicans supported loan forgiveness for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. It is hypocritical for them to oppose student loan forgiveness.

Fact: Offering PPP loans and “forgiving” federal student loans is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Congress created the PPP loans when state and local governments mandated small businesses to shut down, which halted large portions of the economy. PPP loans were made to those small businesses to keep their workforce employed only during the COVID-19 pandemic and ended on May 31, 2021.

Myth: The Biden administration’s plan offers targeted debt relief and makes the student loan system more manageable for working families.

Fact: Even with the income caps of $125,000 for individuals, and $250,000 for married couples, up to two-thirds of the benefit from the President’s bailout goes to borrowers in the top half of the income distribution. Moreover, graduate students and high-income earners disproportionately benefit from his unlawful action.

Myth: Biden’s plan is necessary to keep bad debt off the federal government’s plate.

Fact: Unlike PPP loans, federal student loans are still being given, and waiving these obligations for borrowers creates bad incentives for borrowers to continue taking out more loans under the assumption of continued “forgiveness.”

Myth: Forgiving student loans will help the economy and will not affect inflation.

Fact: Mass student loan cancelation alone will likely boost inflation by 15 to 27 basis points over the next year, which already reached 40 year highs because of Biden's radical policies. Moreover, the repayment pause provided medical students $107,000 in tax free forgiveness while Americans without degrees struggled to put food on the table.

Myth: Republicans supported the Tax Cuts and Job Act (TCJA)—a $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy. The Biden administration is supporting middle class families with this loan cancelation.

Fact: Student loan cancelation is a regressive transfer of wealth. The top-earning 40 percent of households hold nearly two-thirds of outstanding student loan debt. The Biden administration’s plan will wipe out $10,000 of debt for households making up to $250,000 or for an individual making up to $125,000. If a student received a Pell Grant, he or she will receive $20,000, no matter how wealthy he or she is today. Additionally, the TCJA was not a tax cut for the wealthy. After the passage of TCJA, the Congressional Budget Office data showed that “the share of income taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers reached a near-record high of 41.7 percent. The same group paid almost 26 percent of all federal taxes—twice the share paid by the bottom 60 percent of Americans combined.”

Myth: The HEROES Act of 2003 gave the Secretary of Education broad authority to cancel student loans during times of national emergencies.

Fact: The HEROES Act was passed in the wake of 9/11 and later reauthorized during the first days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The HEROES Act authority is narrow, and by using it to justify this bailout Biden is abusing authority intended for individual cases of hardship in a limited term war, military operation, disaster, or national emergency. Further, when HEROES was debated, the topic of "forgiveness" never came up.

The Logic in All the Madness ~ VDH

The Biden administration's agendas may have fundamentally changed the country for decades, if not longer—and will require tough remedies that may be almost as unpopular as the wreckage they wrought.

by Victor Davis Hanson for American Greatness

Most Americans believe it is unhinged to deliberately destroy the border and  allow 10 million illegal aliens to enter the country without background audits, means of support, any claims to legal residency, and definable skills. And worse still, why would federal authorities be ordered to release repeat violent felons who have gone on to commit horrendous crimes against American citizens?

Equally perplexing to most Americans is borrowing $1 trillion every 90 days and paying 5-5.5% interest on the near $36 trillion in ballooning national debt. Serving that debt at current interest exceeds the size of the annual defense budget and may soon top $1 trillion in interest costs, or more than 13% of the budget.

Why would the United States suspend military aid to Israel as it tries to destroy the Hamas architects of the October 7 massacres? Why would it lift sanctions on a terrorist Iran? Why would it suppress Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack on the Jewish homeland? Why would it prevent Israel from stockpiling key munitions as it prepares to deal with the existential threats posed by Hezbollah?

Why would the Biden administration cancel key pipeline projects and put vast swaths of federal lands rich in oil and gas off limits to production, even as it further drains the strategic petroleum reserve? Why not pump rather than drain our own oil from strategic stockpiles?

Why would the Biden White House’s counsel’s office meet with Nathan Wade, the former paramour chief prosecutor in the Fani Willis Fulton County prosecution of Donald Trump? Why would the third-ranking prosecutor in the Biden Justice Department step down to lead Alvin Bragg’s Manhattan prosecution of Donald Trump? Why would the Biden Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland select Jack Smith as a special prosecutor of Donald Trump—given his past failures as a special counsel and known political biases?

Nihilism only explains so much. A better explanation is that the Biden administration and its handlers knew that there was a good chance that most of their policies would prove unpopular and might even jeopardize Biden’s reelection.

But they also were confident the changes were of such magnitude that the United States would either become—in the infamous phrase of Barack Obama—“fundamentally transformed” or force the next Republican administration to adopt such tough medicine that it would prove untenable politically and the malady would still prove mostly impossible to undo.

After all, how would a Trump administration deal with 10 million illegal aliens who entered the US without audit or legality? Where are they? How would they be found and deported? How many court suits in blue-jurisdictions before blue judges would have to be overcome?

The country has become accultured to a nonexistent border. And so, the left assumes, it would be expensive and difficult to finish the wall, to stop catch and release, to insist refugee status must be obtained before entry, and to deport what is likely now 20-30 million illegal aliens in toto. In other words, the Biden administration may sigh, “Our work is done. Whatever you think about our illegal methods, we forever changed the idea of immigration and the demographics of the country.”

All presidents—Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden—have run deficits and vastly increased the debt since the Bill Clinton-Newt Gingrich compromises that resulted in a temporary period of balanced budgets. But in the case of Biden, there was no need to keep up the multitrillion-dollar deficits, especially as interest rates on the national debt tripled and the service costs now approach $1 trillion per year.

Biden, after all, inherited a recovering economy, flush with post-COVID-19 lockdown stimulatory dollars, pent-up consumer demand, and ossified supply chains. And then he stupidly poured gasoline on the explosive mix by dousing the country with even more federal spending. Now we have the worst of both worlds: high interest rates and nearly $36 trillion to service.

But in the leftist mind, it was worth it, given that left-wing constituencies received vast expansions of entitlements that will be hard to prune back. And unprecedentedly vast debt at levels like our current burden of 123% of annual GDP prove unsustainable. And the historic correctives are brutal: 1) major cuts in entitlements and redistributive spending programs; 2) tax hikes at a time when state, local, federal, and gas, sales, and property taxes—and other “fees”—already take over half the income of most middle-class Americans; 3) hyper-inflation to pay back what is owed with cheap funny money, with the added leftist fillip that those who have dollars lose wealth and those who don’t gain greater access to them; 4) renunciation of debt. We already saw in the Obama era that liberal bureaucrats and courts often reversed the orders of creditors in bankruptcy hearings. When debt becomes unsustainable, historically arise cries of “Why should the poor suffer more when the rich already have enough money and don’t really need to be paid back?”; and 5) efforts to “confiscate” private wealth by giving, in exchange, government “credits.” For example, there have already been floated ideas that 401Ks could be absorbed into the insolvent Social Security system for credit in government benefits.

Most Americans poll strong support for Israel. They oppose the Biden effort to triangulate by revisiting the old Obama nihilist agendas of emboldening the Iranian/Hezbollah/Hamas/Houthis axis to play off against our traditional allies of Israel and the more moderate Arab regimes.

By failing to prosecute nine months of domestic violence committed by pro-Hamas lawbreakers, by allowing leftist campuses to normalize anti-Semitism and pro-terrorist advocacy, and by destroying the once close alliance of Israel and the United States, the left feels it will be almost impossible to go back to the pre-Obama/Biden years. Their legacy, they hope, is a mendicant Israel utterly dependent on U.S. largess—a condition itself predicated on essentially destroying the idea of a secure Jewish state within its present borders.

The Biden administration sought to curb oil and gas production—save for brief periods before the midterm and reelection campaigns, when it drained the strategic petroleum reserve. The point was to acculturate the public to high gasoline prices, to make inefficient solar/wind/EVs projects competitive against artificially costly fossil fuels, and to institutionalize policies that will make it difficult to reopen closed fields, to reboot federal oilfield leasing, and to dismantle costly subsidies for inefficient green fuels.

That Americans paid hundreds of billions of dollars more for their fuels under Biden, that the auto industry is stuck with vast inventories of money-losing electric vehicles that the public does not want, and that the entire economy has been shackled by counterproductive green mandates were considered worth the cost of alienating the public.

The left knows that neither Alvin Bragg, E. Jean Carroll, Letitia James, Jack Smith, nor Fani Willis would have gone to court against Donald Trump if he was either a leftist or had bowed out of the 2024 presidential race. They know no one has been tried on such pseudo-charges, and no one will again be so charged after Trump. And they accept that no republic can long survive if the opposition party seeks to remove the names of its political opponents from the ballot.

But they also know that the left has now established a valuable precedent: oppose woke progressivism, and one will either become bankrupted by indictments or land before a blue-city jury eager to nullify evidence to ensure the accused is jailed and broke.

So the left believes that its new lawfare was well worth the destruction of the entire tradition of equality under the law: 1) Donald Trump has lost a half-billion dollars in fines and legal fees; 2) a court-bound Donald Trump was robbed of weeks of valuable campaign time; 3) Donald Trump can be forever now libeled as a “convicted felon”; and 4) the left has played chicken with the American Constitution and believes it has won, given conservatives would never enter into a destructive cycle of tit-for-tat.

The Biden years did the country great damage and rendered Biden himself one of the most unpopular incumbent presidents in American history. But his agendas may have fundamentally changed the country for decades, if not longer—and will require tough remedies that may be almost as unpopular as the wreckage they wrought.

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New Pentagon Chief of Staff Slammed As 'Unqualified' and Not 'Trustworthy'

Spencer Brown reporting for Townhall 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Derek Chollet as the new Pentagon chief of staff on Monday, but the pick is raising eyebrows and drawing criticism after Chollet's previous nomination to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy stalled out in the Senate due to concerns over his role in the Biden administration's catastrophic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

If Secretary Austin is to be believed (editor's note: he's not) Chollet "is one of the most distinguished, far-sighted, and skillful national-security practitioners of his generation," according to the Pentagon's announcement of Chollet's new post as chief of staff which highlights his current role as Counselor of the Department of State, "where he has performed superbly as one of the top policy advisers to my friend Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken," Austin's statement laughably gushed. 

For his hand in Biden's departure from Afghanistan — which left an unknown number of Americans and our nation's allies behind in a Taliban hell and saw 13 heroic U.S. servicemembers killed in an ISIS-K suicide bombing outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport — Chollet sat for a transcribed interview with the House Foreign Affairs Committee as part of its investigation of the admin's botched withdrawal. That interview went over about as well as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, proving Chollet has not "performed superbly" nor should be considered "distinguished" or "far-sighted."

As House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) wrote in a February 5 letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee opposing Chollet's confirmation, "it is my duty to notify you that I have grave concerns about Mr. Chollet’s candor and fitness to serve" and "must advise against his confirmation as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. I do not make this recommendation lightly," McCaul emphasized. "[D]uring his transcribed interview, Mr. Chollet exhibited not only a failure to take accountability for his role in the withdrawal but also a disregard for Congress."

"My investigation has shed further light on the disaster that was President Biden’s calamitous withdrawal," McCaul's letter to the upper chamber from earlier this year continued. "By all accounts, including his own, Mr. Chollet played a key role in all of this but says he remembers little of import...Mr. Chollet’s feigned forgetfulness reflects a disrespect for Congress’ oversight authority under Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The magnitude of this lack of transparency and obfuscation should disqualify him for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy because he would directly impact the lives of America’s service members for years to come," wrote McCaul.

The concerns were significant enough to prevent Chollet from moving forward with confirmation, but the Biden administration found a backdoor to get Chollet into the Pentagon regardless of Congress' lack of faith in his ability to reliably serve America and our brave men and women in uniform. Put succinctly, it's a slap in the face to the American people and their elected representatives. 

In a statement on Monday, Chairman McCaul said he was "incredibly disappointed in Secretary Austin for making the ill-advised decision to name Derek Chollet as the Pentagon’s chief of staff."

"He is absolutely unqualified for this position," McCaul's statement continued. "His lack of candor in my committee’s transcribed interview together with his flippant public remarks about his work at the State Department make it clear he is neither a serious person nor is he trustworthy."

"With the many national security threats this country is facing, we need real leadership at the Defense Department – and Derek Chollet is not that," McCaul warned. "I strongly urge the secretary to reconsider this move."

Maxine Waters Goes Off Her Rocker Again, Claims 'Killings' Will Happen If Trump Wins Election

Mike Miller reporting for RedState 

What can one — a sane, rational one, that is — say about California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters? That can be published, that is. The tormented left-wing loon is the epitome of Stage 4 Trump Derangement Syndrome, bless her anguished heart.

Maxine's latest fabricated fantasy came over the weekend as she predicted “millions” of people will be threatened and “killings” will happen if Donald Trump wins in November. Nope, not perverse at all, Max.

This was classic "off her rocker" Waters at her "best."

I’m very concerned, not only about my safety and not only about the safety of members of Congress. I’m concerned about the safety of so many people in this country, particularly people of color. Donald Trump has said that if he does not win, it is going to be fraud, and because it is going to be fraud, there will be blood in the streets. He threatens about a civil war, and he threatens there’s going to be violence.

I would say all of this talk is motivational with many of those who are racist, who are sitting at home listening to him, and they are taking him up on his threats even before the elections take place,” she continued. “It is about thousands, maybe millions of people being threatened and being at risk because of Donald Trump and his desire to seek revenge on anything and everybody.

Can you imagine being eaten up that horrendously about anything?

So Mad Max is worried about violence, is she? Remember when she decried the George Floyd riots that destroyed businesses and several lives across America? Me, either.

Waters ridiculously claimed Trump's words, combined with memories among his avid supporters, would lead to "more killings" happening.

I think Donald Trump has to take responsibility for what he is saying about blood in the streets and violence if he is not elected to be the president of the United States of America.

Did I mention that Maxine's latest unhinged rant came during a Sunday appearance on MSNBC? Yeah, CNN was undoubtedly jealous, I'm sure.

Waters is not only adept at making absurd comments and issuing ominous warnings about the plethora of awful things that will happen to Democrats  — and the country as a whole — if Donald Trump is elected in November. Like all "good" Democrats, she's also adept at flat-out lying with a straight face. Here she is in September 2023, on MSNBC, lying about congressional Republicans:

When you take a look at what they're doing, it shows, you know, that the Republicans have claimed patriotism — claimed that they love this country. They don't care. If they will allow seniors and veterans not to be able to get their disability check [sic], for example, they don't care.

And, of course, a key Democrat trait is their never-ending attempt to scare seniors into believing Republicans are going to take away their Social Security benefits, so why not toss in disability benefits, as well?

The Bottom Line

I don't know where Mad Max places on the Trump Derangement Syndrome totem pole, but I do know this: Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff ain't got nothin' on Maxine Waters.

U.S. Airbase Authorizes Troops To Wear LGBT ‘Pride Patch’ Alongside Real Badges Of Honor

The commander of a U.S. airbase in South Korea has authorized troops to wear a ‘pride morale patch’ on their military uniforms.

John A. Lucas reporting for The Federalist

The latest example of the politicization of the military under the Biden administration (and there are many) has been revealed by Stars and Stripes. It reports that the commander of the Osan Air Force base in South Korea has authorized troops on the base to wear a “pride morale patch” on their military uniforms, in public and while on duty.

Insignia and patches on a soldier’s uniform used to serve the purpose of telling you something about the military qualifications and experience of the soldier. They now can also signal whether a soldier ascribes to the Democrat Party’s current political trends.

The patches, badges, and ribbons on a soldier’s uniform can tell you a lot about the person, including their current assignment, the unit they served with in combat, their time in service and in overseas deployments in a combat theater, campaigns in which they have served, and sometimes their performance in combat.

The patches and badges are not just informative, they are sources of immense pride in military assignments and achievements. For example, soldiers take great pride in being assigned to an elite unit, such as the Ranger Regiment, Special Forces, or the 82d Airborne, and proudly wear their patches or insignia on their uniforms. When you see a soldier proudly wearing a Ranger scroll as the patch on his right shoulder, you know he has served in combat with one of the most elite military units in the world.

The Combat Infantryman’s badge, known as a “CIB,” is also a prestigious and coveted award that veterans of infantry combat wear proudly.

In short, these and other insignia, patches, and ribbons on a soldier’s uniform are like a biography of his military career and accomplishments. They tell you who he is, where he’s been, and what he’s done. And although they are not called “pride” patches or insignia, they are worn with pride in what they represent.

Apolitical Military Is National Imperative

I have previously written about dangers of a political military, which is a danger to a free country and paves the way to a loss of freedom and even a dictatorship. But as we know, under the Biden administration, the politicization of the military is proceeding apace. As Joy Pullmann has documented in her just-released book, False Flag, the “pride flag” has flown over U.S. embassies and military installations worldwide since 2011. And our senior military leadership, from Commander-in-Chief Joe Biden on down, has embraced “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) and its political symbols to the max and to the detriment of the military and the country.

And make no mistake about it, commanders who want to be promoted or favored with good assignments know who is buttering their bread and what they want.

Political Symbol, Not Military Badge

The Air Force base commander responsible for the change is Col. William McKibban. His spokeswoman told Stars and Stripes, “The patch represents the advancement of the Air Force’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, dignity, and respect within the mission.” Now, there is a commander who understands what his political masters want to see.

Frankly, I would prefer an Air Force that prioritized a “commitment” to winning our wars, but that’s just old-fashioned me.

Although they call it a “pride patch,” the “pride” being touted has nothing to do with military accomplishments as does, say, a Ranger tab, a Seal trident, airborne wings, a ribbon or medal signifying an award for valor in combat, or even a campaign ribbon.

So now Army troops on the air base can proudly proclaim their allegiance to diverse sexual practices by sporting “pride” patches alongside their Ranger tabs, CIBs, and valor awards. Nice job, commander.

Make no mistake about it: Flaunting an 11-colored “pride” patch that announces the wearer’s supposed “pride” in identifying with particular sexual practices or lifestyles is a political statement. It does absolutely nothing to advance a military unit’s lethality, competence, or readiness. But it does signal loyalty to DEI politics. Allowing it on any military uniform is another strike against an apolitical military, which is essential to a free country. But Col. McKibban clearly sees which way the political winds are blowing. My prediction is that he will make general.

CNN's Van Jones Explains Why the Obama Coalition Is Collapsing Right Now

Matt Vespa reporting for Townhall 

He might have shot his mouth off during the Obama administration, which cost him his job, but Van Jones does have his moments of clarity. He’s another unabashed liberal who can give reasonable analyses on the political landscape much better than any clown at MSNBC. Again, I know that’s not challenging, but Jones has said the Russian collusion story was a nothing burger. What isn’t a ‘nothing burger’ is the Obama coalition collapsing before our eyes, much like Joe Biden’s mental health. 

At the Milken Institute’s Global Conference, Jones gave a damning assessment of the health of this coalition that was, by all intents and purposes, unbeatable at the time. Yet, as Republicans and Democrats have learned under the Bush and Obama presidencies, there is no permanent political majority. Liberals may scoff, and Jones admits he gets beaten up over it, but the evidence is clear that the core voter groups that overwhelmingly back Democrats aren’t going to be as strong this year. 

It’s all about the margins.

Jones admits that the vast majority of black people are going to vote for Biden, but that’s not the point: there is a segment that is “hurtin’ and uncertain” about their place in the party. The white working class has defected en masse—that’s over. Now, black and Latino working-class voters are following. Jones isn’t the only one to make this point. James Carville has already conceded that Democrats are going to lose Hispanic men this year. And both men pointed to the same reason: they’re tired of the woke lectures.

 “They're just tired of being lectured, tired of being wrong, tired of being criticized, tired of being called toxic; tired of, frankly, a lot of other groups getting more out of the Biden administration than black folks got,” added Jones. 

Biden’s support among blacks under 50 has been more than halved, falling from an 80-point advantage in 2020 to just 37. Trump is on pace for a historic performance among black voters. If it holds, this election is over. 

And it goes beyond black and Latino voters; Biden does not enthuse young people. One pollster noted how, in less than a generation, the ‘yes we can’ brigades have de-mobilized to levels where Democrats should be nervous. Labor union support is fractured. The front office of the United Auto Workers’ union might be pro-Biden, but even its president conceded that a majority of UAW members won’t be voting for Biden in 2024. Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, will speak at the Republican Convention this summer. You can’t look at that other than it’s a soft endorsement of Trump. 

Jones has been a canary in the coal mine of sorts for Democrats in the past. In 2016, he warned that his party was grossly overlooking their footing along the so-called blue wall. He was right; Trump shattered that Democratic stronghold in his upset win over Hillary.

The cracks in the Democratic Party base are evident, and a visible, vibrant, and pugnacious Democrat with elite political skills, like Obama, is a candidate who could resolve many of these issues. That’s not the case: Democrats have Biden, who is a brain cell shy of being a drooling vegetable and who cannot be in public as often due to his repeated mental collapses. Once the sun goes down, forget it. Biden is also a beer league-style politician in a world of heavyweights. Even Democrats agree that Biden didn’t win the 2020 election; Trump just lost it—a tacit acknowledgment that COVID is what got Biden over the top. It wasn’t precisely his skills as a politician.

Mass unemployment fuelled by Justin Trudeau’s mass immigration - Does the US have the same problem ?

 There are now more unemployed people living in Toronto than in the entirely of Quebec.

Over 317,000 people living in the Greater Toronto Area are now unemployed. At the same time, Ontario is taking in millions of new immigrants. There simply aren’t enough jobs for the number of people who now live in Southern Ontario, but does anybody in the political class actually care?

The effects of Justin Trudeau’s mass immigration agenda aren’t only affecting our economic numbers. Homelessness, food insecurity and crime are also on the rise.

True North’s Harrison Faulkner says Canadians are being sold out by politicians who are putting the needs of Canadians last in a pursuit to arbitrarily raise the country’s GDP.

Tune into Ratio’d.

Biden's Handlers Seem Oddly Confident He'll Be 'Energized' at the Debate, but They're Playing With Fire

Bonchie reporting for RedState 

With Thursday's presidential debate looming, the Biden campaign has settled on a strategy: Attempt to exceed expectations. 

Oddly enough, that doesn't have anything to do with policy. Instead, the president's handlers are setting the stage for an "energized" Biden who can put down all the talk about his ongoing struggle with senility. More oddly, they seem rather confident he can pull it off. 

They're playing with fire, though.

I do not doubt that there's a plan in place to load Biden up with more amphetamines than a Los Angeles drug dealer. We allegedly saw what that looked like during the most recent State of the Union. 

Admittedly, I'm not able to drug test Biden to be sure, but you could tell he was on something. He started his speech at the speed of light, barking lines like a cracked-out chihuahua. Certainly, he was "energized," but there are downsides to that approach. One of them is the president being so hyped up that he can't deliver his lines properly.

Then there's the anger. When Biden is "energized," that tends to manifest in him shouting and appearing extremely unstable. Naturally, or better yet, unnaturally, that also leads to him screwing up his teleprompter reading in between screams.

That wasn't the only side-effect, though. About 30 minutes into that State of the Union, Biden began to crash. His speech got more labored and he began to slur at times. He also became increasingly unhinged, even attempting to heckle the audience in an extremely awkward scene that didn't appear pre-planned by his handlers. By the end, the same old tired and declining Biden was on full display.

Will the debate be different? It's possible the numerous commercial breaks (which are not normal for a presidential debate) will help him. It's also possible that being in a controlled studio environment will mask some of the issues, especially if he's allowed to sit down. Still, it's hard to imagine that Biden is going to show up and pitch a perfect game. If Trump lets him, Biden will highlight his own deficiencies.

In other words, while the drug cocktail team is no doubt treating this as their Super Bowl, they can't escape the realities of basic human physiology. Biden is senile, and jacking him up is always a temporary and imprecise procedure. Will he be "energized" on Thursday? I'm fairly confident he will be. Will that lead to him appearing normal and coherent? I'm much less confident on that front.

Debate... Whatever happens at that, its Democrats versus Republicans in November.

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W³P Daily News Open Thread. 

posted by DarkGoldenMan

Welcome to the W³P Daily News Open Thread. 

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