BREAKING: Feds arrest Steele dossier figure

Court won’t block order requiring reinstatement of “remain in Mexico” policy

I have been telling folks that complain about SCOTUS procedurals that on merits cases when the rubber meets the road, cases like this will usually be at least 6-3. And when the eviction moratorium issue became a case based on merits rather than procedural, I figured when we got past procedurals and to merits it would go precisely this way. 

SCOTUS also refused to hear a Biden administration plea for reprieve on a district court's order requiring it to reinstate the Trump administration's "remain in Mexico" policy requiring asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in U.S. immigration court. That one was also 6-3. I am not surprised there either. I was kinda amused that DHS vs Regents was cited to bolster the ruling since conservatives whined a lot on the Chief Justice John Roberts rationale there; namely, that the Trump administration had not properly explained its decision to end DACA. Well, the court just struck the Biden administration with the same sword ruling that the Biden administration was unlikely to prevail in court in demonstrating that its decision to end the "stay in Mexico" policy was not "arbitrary and capricious" rather than reasonable and reasonably explained. 

I wonder of those cheering the Chief Justice's application of the Administrative Procedures Act on the Trump administration's attempts to end DACA will be similarly euphoric on Biden's administration getting its wings clipped on its attempts to end the Trump era "stay in Mexico" policy. Or if those booing the DACA case and Chief Justice Roberts on DACA will similarly boo on this one. In neither case is that likely since the hyper partisans among us are rarely consistent and non-hypocritical. But I digress. 

In light of the recent attacks on the state of Israel by Hamas and the continuing issues with Hezbollah and the Palestinians, I want to take a moment to remind readers of some of what I have said in the past regarding this geopolitical situation on this site. My overall view is the same and can be aptly summarized in this phrasing from social media posted ten years ago yesterday:

If a group seeking more land cannot run what they already have without screwing it up royally, then they are incapable of handling greater land responsibility and should be refused!

This is in a nutshell what I referred to in the thread link above as The McElhinney Gaza Scholastic Postulate. And it explains why I view the Middle East situation as I do, especially in light of the recent Abraham Accords which gives even less reason to care a whit about groups who have already wasted far too many people's time and energies on their irrational idiocies. But I digress.

Time Magazine Gushingly Profiles The Successful ‘Conspiracy’ To Rig The 2020 Election

To reiterate what I said earlier in the week:

This is by far and away and without a shadow of doubt the most important media election article of the year. It exposes what a number of us have to varying degrees suspected and furthermore makes it clear why no one should take seriously anyone or anything that is pushed by the mainstream media, social tech giants, etc. 

...  

[A] healthy skepticism of anything and everything these outlets have been pushing is no longer just advisable but is now mandatory. Another requirement is presuming defacto that any story pushed by these outlets is false until proven to the contrary beyond a reasonable doubt. And that is the bottom line.

Lincoln Project Predator: What Did They Know, And When Did They Know It?

Basically, the pompous grifters at the Lin-Con project posed as More Moral Than Thou during the past four years. It was just a pose because they endlessly tut tutted about the specks in President Donald Trump's eye while the beam in their own eye (harbouring a sexual predator) went conspicuously ignored.

On Q, Conspiracies, "Patriots", "The Plan", Etc.

This is taken from a social media platform. My words will be in regular font. Without further ado...

We know for absolute certain that Q was never a larp.

We do?

There's way too many Q proofs and hat tips from the likes of Trump, Scavino, Pompeo and Flynn etc.

Or you are artificially imposing a pattern where one does not actually exist.

So, with that said, and in view of what happened today, I only see 3 possibilities:

There are more than three.

1) Q, Trump, Scavino, Flynn, Pompeo etc are all deepstate agents participating in a massive scam/psyop, for who knows exactly what reason.

Or some are agents while others are not and there is no massive scam/psyop involved other than Rudy Guiliani, Sydney Powell and Linn Woods' incompetent attempts to grift.

2) All those people are patriots, and there was a plan, but the plan has failed and perhaps patriots didn't have as much control as they thought.

You forgot the possibilities that (i) some or none are patriots and (ii) there was no plan. You brush up against probability when surmising that "perhaps patriots didn't have as much control as they thought."

3) The plan is still unfolding and patriots are still in control.

There is about as much "control" here as the 1986 Challenger explosion was a successful space mission.

Personally, I discount number 1. If the deepstate were always in control it doesn't make any sense that they wouldn't have installed Hillary and instead woken up millions of people to who they are.

Or you are hung up on the idea that Hillary is a necessary part of "the plan" when she is yesterdays trash and far less useful than you presume.

So, for me it's between 2 and 3.

I already pointed out that there are more possibilities than just the ones you noted.

Maybe I'm hopelessly optimistic, but I'm still leaning towards 3.

Well, the word "hopeless" does come to mind. For weeks now, I have told folks like you nothing was going to happen and that Trump was going to leave office on 1/20. The responses were always variations of gibberish grand plans with claims I had to "just wait" and "[I] will see when all is revealed" and all that jazz. 

Wait another week when we will win this or that court case which never happened. Wait and see 45 days after the election when Trump will enact his executive order on election fraud and take federal actions which did not happen. Wait until we challenge the certification and get Trump delegates installed in the controversial states which did not happen. Etc, etc, etc.

Every time, it was yet another "just you wait" prediction which falls flat. And now, rather than just man up and admit you and others like you were raving and drooling fools engaging in fantasyland bullshit that was never going to be, you again play the "well, something has to happen" card. It is a desperate attempt to try and salvage something from the mountains of conspiratard drivel you swallowed in the naive hope that those who conned you were right all along instead of just admitting you were had. No one wants to admit that they were so gullible as to be fooled like this but the sooner you do, the easier life will be for you. 

Trump seems to have 'given up' way too easily. He seems not to have played any of his 'Trump Cards' yet. He's never conceded and keeps insisting 'the best is yet to come'. We all know there's absolutely no way that life could possibly get better under Biden.

You presume there are "Trump cards" left to play. The truth is, the moment none of the cases were taken up by SCOTUS is the moment the train ran out of track. You have spent five weeks only fooling yourselves and now you cannot accept the reality that Trump is now a private citizen again and there is no plan to try and change that in the immediate future.

So don't give up yet folks. It may seem hopeless (and maybe it is). But I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not over yet and that the Trump Card has yet to be played.

And you will be played for a fool once again if you keep this up. Plugs is president now. Whether you like it or not, that is the reality you need to face and the sooner you do, the easier it will be deciding where to go from there.

Briefly...

Will any of those leftist lunatics who hyperventilated about Trump not turning over power apologize for their stupidity, admit they were morons, and acknowledge that no one should take them seriously again? Fat chance! We never got those concessions from the folks on the right who did the same shit with Obama.  Many of those same leftists whined in like fashion about Bush43 as rightist douches whined about Clinton back in the day. Etc, etc, etc.

And yet not a few wonder why I do not take much of politics seriously but instead view it as less authentic than pro wrestling!

Points to Ponder:

"[A]t this point, neither I nor anyone else knows whether the Democrats stole the 2020 election, and we may never know. But, given the lengths to which the Democrats went in order to facilitate voter fraud, there is no reason to cut them slack in judging whether their efforts influenced the result." [Excerpt from the Powerline Article Did The Democrats Steal The 2020 Election?]

Today in History:
(Posted For Future Reference)

Today is the Biden/Harris inauguration. Gas is currently $1.95 per gallon. Interest rates are 2.25% for a 30-year mortgage. The stock market closed at 30829.40 though we have been fighting COVID for 11 months. Our GDP growth for the 3rd Qtr was 33.1%. We had a strong economy until COVID and it is recovering well. We have not had any new wars or conflicts in the last 4 years. North Korea has been under control and has not been testing any missiles. ISIS has not been heard from for over 3 years. The housing market is the strongest it has been in years. Homes have appreciated at an unbelievable rate and sell well. And let us not forget the peace deals with 4 countries in the Middle East that were signed with Israel.

Unemployment sits at 6.7% in spite of COVID. Joe Biden becomes president today at noon. Let us see how the next 4 years go...

Did The Democrats Steal The 2020 Election?

Opinion: A Trump Future Candidacy Isn’t What Democrats and RINOs Are Afraid Of

Briefly on the 2020 and Presumptive 2021 Impeachments:

I had barely touched on the issue of the 2020 impeachment of President Donald Trump when it was occurring but to reiterate anew here: there were no viable grounds for the 2020 impeachment. It established a precedent that will bite the Democrats in the ass in 2023 when a Republican House will impeach Joe Biden or Kamala Harris on some similarly stupid premise. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes basically.

Where 2021 is concerned, it is different insofar as one can at least make an argument for impeachment this time materially. And as all you need is a simple majority for impeachment, it will happen. They were hoping for a 25th Amendment approach which would make a trial unnecessary but they are not going to get it; ergo, they will with all likelihood successfully impeach.

My position on the latest one is simple: it is all kabuki theatre without 67 Senate votes to actually confirm it which they will not get. The charges will struggle to withstand Supreme Court precedents on First Amendment speech as set down in Brandenburg v Ohio and the Brandenburg test.{1} That does not exonerate what Trump did, only that the bar on this issue is a lot higher than many presume and there will not be 67 votes in the Senate to clear it.

So with the 2021 impeachment drive in brief (i) yes, one at least materially has grounds for impeachment; however, (ii) the attempt to invalidate Donald Trump's eligibility for a future presidential run will fail in the Senate.

Note:

{1} Also known as the imminent lawless action test.

Miscellaneous Musings:

(On Political Kayfabe) 

We are almost to that changing season where the days get longer, a new Congress is sworn in, and Republicans start once again tut tutting about being guardians against all ye deficits with a Democrat in the White House. Of course they gave as much of a shit about it in 2017-2019 as they did during 2001-2007 when Bush 43 was president which was none. 

Meanwhile, the Democrats who nitpicked a few billion dollars for the silly wall and pretended to care about things like PayGo and all that under Trump will suddenly want to spend trillions with no shame whatsoever under Biden much as they did under Obama but whined incessantly about when it happened under Bush.

In wrestling parlance, this is called a double turn and it happens when the parties out of executive power change just like clockwork. And that many of those who would claim that wrestling is "fake" actually think any of this government posturing is real? It is as predetermined as any wrestling event and frankly far less real.

Never Trumpers Play the Moral Authority Card on Anti-Lockdown Conservatives, Get the Responses They Deserve

It would be less than honest if I did not admit that I was #NeverTrump back in 2015-2016 including supporting Gary Johnson in that election. (Not a chance in hell was I going to vote for #Hildabeast.) But over time, my views of President Trump changed insofar as I both liked many of his policies but did not like him personally. In some areas, he governed a lot better than I thought he would. And I am unaware of any president who was treated as unfairly as he has been by the loathesome media industrial complex so that factor brings about a certain degree of sympathy from me for what he has gone through -even if some of it was self inflicted by not knowing when the hell to shut up. But that is neither here nor there.

Despite all of that and much more, I grew over time to dislike and eventually loathe Never Trumpers for the skeevy grifting pieces of trash most of them are. The above article is just one example of countless ones I could post showing the depths of mental and other sickness prevalent on these most disgusting of people. And may they never be given relevance again by anyone with a normal intact functioning brain.

On Positive Arguments For Voting For Biden/Harris in 2020:

My words will be in regular font. Without further ado...

So far I've managed to detect only two positive arguments for Harris/Biden from left-leaning Catholics: he's "minimally rational," and he'd aim to raise taxes. All the other arguments are fulminations against Trump and/or against the ASP.  Not a bad endorsement of voting for somebody other than Harris/Biden.

I dealt with the American Solidarity Party (ASP) earlier in the year so I am not going to reinvent the wheel here. As for the rest, raising taxes is never a positive argument. It is instead the lazy politicians attempt to avoid exercising fiscal discipline. If Biden was to push for zero based budgeting coupled with sequestration automatically cutting 5% of all essential and unquestionably constitutional programs every year{1} until the budget was balanced then the creation of a sinking fund to pay down debt{2}, that would be a great combination of reasons. But raising taxes is both lazy as well as deceptive because "only the rich" is the camels nose in the tent to raise taxes on everyone and is always what happens. So point one is a highly negative reason not a positive one and ergo stands debunked.

So you only have one and if "minimally rational" is the argument, Trump meets that low threshold so it is a wash/push.

Notes:

{1} And 10% of all non essential or constitutionally controversial programs.

{2} See this thread for more details:

A Plan To Pay Off The National Debt (circa August 14, 2020)

'Unverified' is a (false) excuse for ignoring The Post’s Hunter Biden scoops

This article is spot on. The same sources using the "inverified" excuse here have used a trove of anonymous sources to supposedly "verify" their stories in the past where President Trump is concerned. 

Considering that many of these have been exposed as false{1} you will have to pardon those of us who roll our eyes hard at the idea of the mainstream media having any credibility in this area. They have unambiguously shown their hands in recent years that it calls into question why they should be believed on anything at all.

Note:

{1} To give one such example, see this link.

Signs Saudis are edging towards historic Israel peace

I commented on earlier peace treaties between Israel and the United Arab Emerites and Bahrain HERE. I speculated that Oman would be next but that has not happened yet. But we are seeing a historical process play out in the Middle East right now. 

Briefly...

Since I cannot find a balanced and responsible article on President Donald Trump's catching of Covid 19, I will simply note here that (i) I am praying for him and everyone afflicted by this virus and (ii) I have zero respect for anyone who wishes this sort of thing on anyone else for reasons of political disagreement. Sadly, there are some disgusting people out there who do these things and I want nothing to do with them no matter whom they are.

Briefly...

Whatever else one thinks about him, President Donald Trump has now had more success by far in Middle East peace than Barack Obama or George W. Bush ever did. Israel has signed peace treaties with the United Arab Emirates (August) and now Bahrain (September). Oman is apparently next up. If that deal is inked say in October, that would be three Middle East peace treaties in three months. It would make not giving him a Nobel Peace Prize look pretty damn foolish since they gave one to Obama just for winning a presidential election and before he basically did to the Middle East what Antifa has been doing to Portland in recent months.

"None Dare Call It A Volokh Conspiracy" Dept.

To revisit an old segment once run on this humble website at sundry times and in divers manners, we have the this recent piece on the latest list of Supreme Court justice candidates announced by President Trump. Just a snippet to whet the appetite, click on the above link for the rest...

In May 2016, President Trump released his first short list for the Supreme Court. At the time, I was cautiously optimistic about the eleven names on the list. There were two names missing from that list: Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. At the time, those omissions did not bother me. But it surely bothered these two judges, and their boosters. In September 2016, Trump added ten more names to the list, bringing the total to twenty-one. Neil Gorsuch was added to the list. Brett Kavanaugh was not. In January 2017, Trump nominated Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Fast forward to November 25, 2017, President Trump added five new names to the list. Now, Kavanaugh was added to the list. At this point, it was obvious why the five other names were added: to bring Kavanaugh into the fold. And after Justice Kennedy retired in June 2018, Kavanaugh was tapped to the Supreme Court...