Nikki Haley is a Horrible Candidate

First, I will start by saying that I really wanted to like Nikki Haley but the more I learn about her, the more convinced I am that she is the type of Republican that is harmful for America; especially, in times like this.

I started writing a previous post on Republican candidates but before I finished, more concerning info came to light, and I scrapped it. However, here is the part about Haley.

Yep, there are folks running for President—not named Biden—that are unfit for the office because they support the mutilation of children in the name of transgenderism. Somehow, they view liberty as the right to forcibly remove someone else’s genitals. I guess once we decided that dismemberment of children was a rite that women could exercise to rid themselves of offspring that this type of mutilation would eventually logically follow but …

Anyway, here they are in their own words:

Chris Christie

“I don’t think that the government should ever be stepping into the place of the parents in helping to move their children through a process where those children are confused about their gender,” Mr Christie said.

The former governor has instead indicated that he would consider legislation that requires parents to be involved in a child’s decision to seek gender-affirming care.

“Folks who are under the age of 18 should have parental support and guidance and love as they make all of the key decisions in their life and this should not be one that’s excluded by the government in any way,” he said.

What the GOP candidates have said about transgender rights

“Republicans believe in less government, not more and less involvement with government, not more government involvement in people’s lives,” Christie replied. “I trust parents, and we’re out there saying that we should empower parents in education. We should empower parents to make more decisions about where their kids go to school. I agree. We should empower parents to be teaching the values that they believe in in their homes without the government telling them what those values should be. And yet we want to take other parental rights away.”

Republican debate: Fact-checking transgender comments that sparked GOP divide onstage

Please note that I had to lead with Governor Christie. As the rest of America knows; especially anyone knowledgeable about California, parents have zero say in the decision of children to “transition” unless they are the ones initiation the change. Like minors getting abortion, anyone with knowledge of a child doing that is legally forbidden to inform the parents. Please note that in the case of transgenderism, the parent’s insurance is obligated to pay but barred from informing the parents.

Christie’s appeal to the government to stay out of the way is a baldfaced lie. He either knows he is lying, which makes him unfit for office, or he thinks he is telling the truth which also makes him unfit for office.

The legal position of California and the Biden Administration is that transgenderism should be encouraged and kept from their parents. In many states, and in the view of the Biden Administration, those who disagree are unfit to be parents or adoptive parents. Some states say that disagreeing with transgenderism is grounds to remove children from their parents. Christie knows this and still has the gall to spew the trash about a decision between parents and their children, HA.

The proper role of government is to protect its citizens. The government is obligated to protect children from predators be they Jeffery Epstein, Planned Parenthood, or evil family members. Mutilation of children should never be permitted; especially, in the name of “choice”.

Having stated the above, let’s look at Nikki Haley.

Former South Carolina governor and current presidential candidate Nikki Haley, as it turns out, is of the same breed. In a recent interview with CBS, a host asked her: “What care should be on the table when a 12-year-old child in this country assigned female at birth says, ‘actually I feel more comfortable living as a boy’? What should the law allow the response to be?” Haley should have challenged the framing of the question – the ideological nonsense of “assigned female at birth” or referring to transgender quackery as “care.” Instead, Haley caved. 

“I think the law should stay out of it and I think parents should handle it. This is a job for the parents to handle,” Haley responded. “And then when a child becomes 18, they can do that. But I think up until then – we see with our teenage kids, they go through a lot in puberty. They go through a lot of confusion, they go through a lot of anxiety, they go through a lot of pressures. We should support them, the whole way through, but we don’t need to go in and force something in schools. We don’t need schools sitting there hiding from parents what gender pronouns their kids are using. We don’t need to have those conversations in schools. Those are conversations that should be had at home.”

At the December 6 Republican presidential primary debate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted Haley’s prevarications. “I did a bill in Florida to stop the gender mutilation of minors. It’s child abuse, and it’s wrong,” DeSantis said. “She opposes that bill. She thinks it’s fine and the law shouldn’t get involved with it. If you’re not willing to stand up for the kids, if you’re not willing to stand up and say that it is wrong to mutilate these kids, then you’re not going to fight for the people back home. I will fight for you, and I will win for you.” This is precisely how conservatives should be talking about transgender surgeries – as usual, DeSantis speaks with moral clarity and gets the big issues right.

Haley responded by attempting to dodge the question; when pushed, she pretended she didn’t say what she said on CBS. “I never said that,” she claimed. “I said that if you have to be 18 to get a tattoo, you should have to be 18 to have anything done to check your gender.” She clearly recognized the attack could hurt her. “You said the law should stay out of it,” DeSantis reminded her.

Republicans like Nikki Haley aren’t conservative if they won’t protect kids from transgender insanity

Reporting on the same Presidential Debate, Breitbart noted:

While Haley and Christie claim that the government does not have a role in protecting children from pro-transgender sexual mutilation, Democrats across the country are actively working to disempower parents who oppose gender ideology…

Chris Christie Joins Nikki Haley: Feds Should Not Ban Child Sex Changes

Following this abysmal rebuke of American parents, Haley got a 70-million-dollar campaign boost from the Koch (pronounced “COKE”) brothers. Remember them? These guys really hate Donald Trump. They are the financial architects of the George W Bush campaign. Like Haley, they believe in perpetual wars all over the planet. Think NEOCONs.

Four weeks before the first-in-the-nation caucuses, former President Donald Trump holds a commanding lead in this state over Republican rivals Haley and Ron DeSantis.

So commanding, in fact, that the Haley campaign and Americans for Prosperity Action, the advocacy group founded by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, aren’t trying to win over Trump supporters. The Koch group reported in July it amassed more than $70 million — roughly the same amount President Joe Biden’s campaign raised last quarter.

That money will be spent to ensure Haley, the Koch network’s preferred candidate and a favorite of the Wall Street donor class, makes a strong showing on Jan. 15. She has said she’s aiming to finish second, ahead of DeSantis. Americans for Prosperity Action is also planning to boost candidates in other state and local races.

Nikki Haley Aims for Second Place With Koch Group’s $70 Million

Haley also unconditionally supports Israel.

“We have three priorities when we look at Israel: Support Israel with whatever they need whenever they need it,” Haley said. “Eliminate Hamas, not weaken them — eliminate Hamas. And do everything we can to bring our hostages home.”

Nikki Haley says she would support Israel, strengthen U.S. military as president

… when she talked to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on the recent conflict with Hamas, she had one thing to tell him: “Finish them.”

Nikki sounds like she wants genocide in Gaza.

Oh, here’s some statistics on the war. These are from October 7th forward.

    Here are the latest casualty figures as of January 9 at 4:00pm in Gaza (14:00 GMT):

    Gaza

    Killed: at least 23,210 people, including more than:

    9,600 children

    6,750 women

    Injured: more than 59,167, including at least:

    8,663 children

    6,327 women

    Missing: more than 8,000

    Israel

    Killed: about 1,139 people

    Injured: at least 8,730

    Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker

    According to the latest data from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Palestinian government as of January 9, Israeli attacks have damaged:

    More than half of Gaza’s homes – 359,000 residential units have been destroyed or damaged

    370 educational facilities

    30 out of 35 hospitals not functioning

    121 ambulances

    221 places of worship

    Please note the following highlights from above:

    In Gaza, half of all houses have been destroyed and 85 percent of the population is displaced.

    Folks, given those numbers, it’s just a matter of time before the refugees start streaming to Western countries.

    Nikki is OK with all of this. There is no talk of peace from anyone in Israel or the United States. Nikki also is on record as saying if elected, the first thing she will do is give Israel whatever they need.

    So, if you like sending our youth to die overseas, the Koch Brothers say she is your only choice. Nikki is also your best bet to lose your children to the cult of transgenderism. So, if you want to be rid of children and any hope of grandchildren, Nikki Haley is your best bet.

    Nikki Haley, the Republican candidate best positioned to insure American has no tomorrow.

    Sean Hannity Finally Flees NY

    So, it finally happened.  New York City has been home for Sean Hannity for as long as I have listened to/followed him.  He helped me get through college and parts of the Obama administration.  I enjoyed hearing him on the radio. His show typically followed Rush Limbaugh (RIP).  He always had the same monologue as Rush, and similar guests that would appear.  Sean knows his talking points and like most I know in the GOP, he rehearses them well.  Sean, in my opinion, never spoke bad of his hometown.  He even bragged about owning a hybrid Chevy Tahoe and how happy he was.  Well that all changed this week.  Check out his monologue to start his show.

    The Fox News host first made the announcement on his radio show Tuesday, noting that he was “broadcasting now from my new home in the free state of Florida.”

    “If anybody is listening to this program for any length of time, been threatening now to do this for quite a while, but we are now beginning our first broadcast of my new home, and that is in the free state of Florida. I am out. I am done. I’m finished. New York, New York, goodbye. Florida, Florida, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. But it’s great to be here,” Hannity said.

    Sean Hannity announces move from New York to ‘free state of Florida’

    “And finally, for the first time that I can think of in my adult life, I actually have representatives in the state that I’m living in that share my values. I have a governor by the name of Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Rick Scott. So I’m feeling a lot better about it,” Hannity said.

    He added, “And I’m not going to go through the whys, the how comes, because it’s obvious this migration out of the blue states with high taxes, burdensome regulation, high crime, horrible school districts is real. And if anything, I’m probably late and behind the curve and many others have made the move beforehand.”

    I must ask the question…. ”What changed Sean?”

    New York as a whole and specifically New York City are not conservative. I would even argue not close to having Republican ideals, except maybe the very sparsely populated far north up-state parts.  It hasn’t been that way for my entire adult lifetime.  Liberal policies are not new here.  It has always been a far-left cesspool.  Maybe only second to the California Bay Area. 

    I honestly never remember him threatening to leave New York. To me he always seemed happy and content there.  Keep in mind he was always Fox News number 1 or 2 biggest star on both radio and television.  His shows are a ratings bonanza so Fox would have definitely paid top money to keep him around.  Why would he stay in New York?  Again, I will mention he bought the hybrid Tahoe.  If it was so bad, I think he could afford to pack up and move anytime.  Again, he has a very highly rated national radio program, and a huge TV following. 

    Regarding his last paragraph about a blue state exodus, this has been going on for years. Heck Limbaugh left New York over two decades before. My question is this, what states are really getting redder?  Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado have trended away from the GOP, not towards it.  (This is thanks in large part to California immigrants that think they are conservative but are not changing the demographics of these states.) My point is who is leaving these blue states?  His comments about crime are fine, but has Sean been made aware of Tallahassee and Miami?  Sure, the schools will be better than New York but who cares? Hannity’s children are adults. One has graduated college and the other will shortly. Has he studied the insurance crisis in Florida?  It is much the same as in California but due to hurricanes not wildfires. My point is, sometimes you trade one set of problems for another.  Burdensome regulation isn’t just in blue states.  Again, Sean does a good job staying on the talking points script of taxes, regulations, crime, bad schools, and freedom. 

    His last comments about being late to the party sum up his entire existence in my opinion.  Sean strikes me as the type who infests the CA GOP and CRA.  They love to speak about how conservative they are, espouse conservative ideals, yet in every single election these folks pick the most liberal Republican candidate.  McCain, Romney, even the folks backing Jeb Bush, it’s crazy.  He was even worse on the Speaker of the House for the GOP over the years.  He loved John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and fawned all over Kevin McCarthy.  All three have something in common, they love regurgitating talking points just like Sean does.  I know no one who shares the views of any of those 3. None are conservative.  They all sum up the GOP in a way Sean loves, get elected, then re-elected, go on talk shows and tell folks how conservative you are, then after being re-elected again, tell us how we must work with the other side.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Folks like Sean Hannity love this playbook.

    Hannity is in trouble because he is alone.  Rush Limbaugh died.  Fox ratings are way down.  McCarthy was ousted as Speaker, and it appears the GOP found a real conservative to replace him.  So, to stay relevant he moved to Florida. Oh, by the way, Hannity has owned the Florida house since 2018 and split from his wife in 2020. Seems this move is about more than crime and high taxes.

    It’s sad to watch but Hannity is just a microcosm of the GOP’s branding issues.  This move reeks of desperation to stay in the news.  Maybe it took years of liberal GOP and leftist Democrats ruling the roost to get this to occur or perhaps all his bravado is a smokescreen for more personal reasons.

    The Chief

    Liberalism 101 Minimum Wage Hikes = Prosperity

    The minimum wage for fast food workers in California will increase on April 1st, 2024.  Since most of the blog staff live out here, we witnessed the masses cheering this revelation on.  They will finally be able to get their own apartments, buy nicer things, and not have the massive credit card/overdraft debt.  While this sounded great, the joke was on the workers once again.  Yesterday the big news out of southern California was several major Pizza Hut chains fired all their delivery drivers.  Yup, every single driver at these franchised stores got a nice New Year’s gift.

    Rather than pay delivery drivers $20 an hour — under a new California law set to go into effect in April 1, 2024 — Pizza Hut franchisees in Sacramento and elsewhere in the state are laying them all off.

    The franchisees, one of which operates restaurants in the Sacramento area, are letting go more than 1,200 delivery drivers across the state, according to Business Insider, which reviewed a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act document filed with the state Employment Development Department.

    Pizza Huts in California, including Sacramento, laying off drivers rather than pay $20 minimum wage

    So, are the stores going to be takeout only?  I don’t think so, pizza is synonymous with a delivery driver, so they will all likely be contracting through Uber Eats, Door Dash or Grub hub.  In all three cases they will not be fast food employees and as such not subject to the $20 an hour wage. 

    This is the problem with liberal, hive mind, groupthink.  Let’s give everyone a raise and all will be well in the world, folks will not be in poverty.  It is going to have the opposite effect.  These workers laid off will be making a low wage, plus a possibility of a tip as a delivery driver for a third-party company.  They will be responsible for the wear and tear, insurance, and gas, while hoping for tips to balance it out.  More on this in a moment.

    The prices will increase, so sticking with Pizza Hut; your $12 pizza will now be $17.  This makes you less likely to tip your delivery driver, who as pointed out above won’t be partaking in the increase in wages.  Sticking with this theme, do you think the franchisee will eat the increased costs?  No chance.  There will be a headcount reduction in workers as well.  What may take 4 to cover a dinner shift, will likely be reduced to three.  There will be increased ordering off an app or self-serve kiosk, as this will help reduce head count as well.  No one needing to work the till means a savings.

    The price increases elsewhere will more than offset the increase in the minimum wage.  Folks a sandwich I got at Jersey Mikes today is listed on the menu board for $11.85, this is prior to any real minimum wage effect on the sub.  There will be increased costs at gas stations, grocery stores, and you better bet rent will be going up.  The rising tide doesn’t lift the boats, it just shows which ones are taking on water.

    Some of the employees in the store will be flushed out of society.  It’s sad but inside you know it’s true as well.  At the local Burger King I visit when I make bad life decisions, like forgetting lunch at work, the majority of the employees appear to not give a rip.  No chance those folks are kept around making $20 an hour, along with the increased menu prices.  The consumer will demand more, and the franchisee will expect it.  Those in this group will be part of the unemployable class.  Same goes for folks who didn’t finish high school, you will be deemed not worth the cost of employability.  Looking to make some extra cash over the summer or winter during your school break?  Not going to happen, as the cost of onboarding and off boarding you will be too much.

    The cold-hearted truth is these positions were created for high school and college aged kids, a resume builder for someone who didn’t want to go to college, criminals exiting the “system” and folks who may be a little on the spectrum.  Those people will now have no chance.  Wait and watch as this will raise wages at all other jobs too; the health club, the spa, the grocer, the gas station.  Again, the workers at the lowest level will be frozen out.

    This is called Liberalism 101.  Do the thing that feels good, ignore any chance it could backfire and when it does, double and triple down hoping for a different outcome.

    It’s a nice sentiment, but wow, they didn’t foresee the consequences.

    The Chief

    68 Billion Reasons Gavin Newsom is in Trouble

    68 billion, yes with a “b” that is California’s projected budget shortfall for next fiscal year.  That is a big problem for our governor.  To give you an idea of just how bad it is, our entire rainy-day fund will only cover about 2/3 of the shortfall.  So draconian cuts will be needed/required.  Unlike the federal budget, the state must balance its budget.  True, they can and do use voodoo accounting tricks, but you can only do that for so long.  One trick CA used once was to pay their employees on July 1st rather than June 30th , the last day of the fiscal year, essentially pushing the payment forward a year.

    Then came the Covid 19 windfall money.  The federal government gave lots of cash to support state and local governments affected by the shutdown and as a result, because flush with cash.  Folks also got stir crazy and decided to re-do their landscaping or the interior/exterior of their dwellings.  The Home Depot, Green Acre’s, Lowe’s, and Costco had lines miles long each day, let alone on weekends. 

    While this was great, as usual, the government thought it would never stop.  It did.

    CA you see has had a steady stream of people leaving it for decades.  Ditto with corporations and small business closing.  Elon Musk, who most would think would be revered and welcomed in CA was essentially run off. 

    Now some will point out that we added jobs in California for so many years, even during the Trump administration…. they are correct.  But there is a caveat.  Most of those jobs were retail, minimum wage type jobs, or government ones.  The former don’t really help as minimum wage employees don’t provide much stimulation for the economy, as most are on a form of assistance or not a head of household earner.  The latter are an outflow of government monies and come with high unfunded costs like pension commitments and healthcare.

    So how do we cut the 68 billion?  It’s not easy at all.  Gavin is going to be unpopular.

    How can you cut electric vehicle subsidies/incentives when we are outlawing cars with internal combustion engines soon?  Ditto on cutting incentives/subsidies for solar systems on your roof.  Want to put off maintaining the roads? A judge may have something to say about that as gas tax is collected specifically for that.  Even eliminating all the incentives above, its likely only several hundred million, we need 68 billion… again with a “b”.

    Uncle Joe Biden may want to try to help, but if there is one thing that is bipartisan in Congress, bailing out crazy California in a budget bind isn’t one of them!  Halting the high-speed rail is off the table since we have spent 15 years buying up land and suing every owner who dragged their feet.  The delta tunnels?  Ditto, off the table.

    Closing down a government office building?  Unless you are planning to turn it into a homeless housing unit, that ain’t happening.  If you are in a lease, you owe the money, it’s just like a utility bill or rent payment.  Just because you didn’t turn it on or were on vacation all month doesn’t mean you skip the payment.

    That brings us to the big cost cutting that needs to happen.  The reduction of pension/payrolls.  P and P as I call them likely takes up 70% of the budget, the pension is the golden goose, and you cannot cut that.  So, it comes down to cutting bodies.  Terminations are not really a government thing, layoffs aren’t either.  The way the contracts are negotiated, furloughs may be the only option.  I remember the Friday furloughs put in place under Governor Arnold were heavily criticized but found to be legal. Also, the State doesn’t cut management. They may keep some positions unfilled for a time but ultimately, they will cut entry level positions (the lowest paying ones) and just add more to the next rung up the ladder.

    Also, keep in mind that a balanced budget is required by the State Constitution, but the reality is that the governor and legislature just need to agree to call it “balanced.” In reality the math doesn’t really have to work as long as both sides agree to the smoke and mirrors employed. Look for much to be papered over or pushed into future years. Also, special funds will be looted and their contents diverted to the General Fund in exchange for IOU’s.

    Barring some kind of miracle that allows Gavin to run for President and thus avoid this nightmare, he is looking at being one of the most unpopular governors in the country when he starts making tough decisions.  The furloughs were hell on wheels for Arnold, will Gavin bring them back?  Will he cut back on programs? If so, which ones? CA is the liberal mecca for green energy spending, try to put the brakes on that?

    The man in the 68-billion-dollar hole is coming for you. 

    Not going to be fun…

    The Chief

    Beat Trump Legitimately and He will have to go away

    It’s easy to say, harder for the Democrats to do.

    Honestly, the thing I remember most about Trump is not a slogan, a hat, or clichés.  He made a big deal out of being treated fairly.  He demanded it.  He skipped a debate when first running because he said he wasn’t being treated fairly.  He did not do interviews on certain networks or shows and claimed the same.  Back when I had cable (before the Blog Father straightened me out) I remember Trump telling Bill O’Reilly that he wasn’t treating him fairly.  On Fox no less!

    Voter fraud was his thing… and he was very vocal during Covid.

    How do you beat him legitimately?  Easy.

    Stop sending a ballot to every Tom, Dick, Harry, and everyone else.  Yes, even in liberal mecca California you used to have to request a mail in ballot.  Have voting centers open for dropping the ballot off.  The local library, heck even the local watering hole may have had a drop off box for ballots last election.  In California (and elsewhere) ballots are also sent to each person who wants one, even if you have died or move away.  When I bought my house, the ex-owners got ballots for 3 years.  Even when presented with proof of out of state registration (wife) or a death certificate (husband), the county registrar’s office didn’t care. Literally voter fraud is supported in Sacramento County. 

    My point?  Quit this process.

    Count all ballots on election night.  None of this California bullshit of counting ballots for a good month plus after the election.  (The truth is that in many areas, all ballots are not counted.) No broken pipes, no leaving for the day and coming back tomorrow.  Bring in temporary workers, I could care less.  Make sure the water main doesn’t “break” or have the webcam be “down.”  Do vote count updates in real time.  We need to know the winner by midnight in California.

    Vote in person or request a ballot via mail.  Require ballots to be returned by a certain date.  A webcam should be live streaming the vote counting process.  Count them all that night.  No breaks, pauses or anything.  This removes Trumps biggest card of fraud and not being treated fairly.  Trust me, do what I suggest and the conspiracy folks will have nothing to shout about.  Beat him fairly, like I laid out, and there will be no insurrection, stealing, cheating, or anything else.  If he tries to pull that card, he and his supporters will be laughed at.

    The Chief

    Colorado Ignores the Rule of Law Re: Trump

    Series of quick blogs coming, likely will not be able to be posted in time, due to Blog Father’s well-deserved vacation.

    So yesterday the State of Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Donald Trump will not appear on the 2024 ballot for President in Colorado.  This is a wild case of judicial misuse.  Keep in mind all 7 judges are Democrat appointee’s so this isn’t a case of the “right” or “left” wing stacking a court, which Democrats love to pull. 

    Please note this from the dissenting opinion, “I have been involved in the justice system for thirty-three years now, and what took place here doesn’t resemble anything I’ve seen in a courtroom.”

    Translation: the Democrats will rue this day.

    The truth here is Donald Trump has virtually no chance of winning in Colorado against any Democrat.  Why is the heck would the Democrats waste their capital on this?  It is pointless, they will now have to spend more time and attention to defending this practice, as it will be appealed to the US Supreme Court.

    Again, just to point out, 7 judges–all Democrat appointees–basically split on this one.  4-3.  Again, it was a 4-3 decision.  In a state where Trump will not win.

    In today’s news it appears CA Secretary of State Shirley Weber wants to do the same thing.  Our Attorney General and fellow brainless Democrat Rob Bonta appears ready to defend it all the way to the US Supreme Court.  Again, in a state Trump will not and cannot win to begin with.  Word has it at the press conference, Weber had to read off very large Kindergarten style cue cards and Rob Bonta immediately excused himself to the gender neutral (neutered?) bathroom to change his panties as the excitement from blocking a white male from a top job became too much for his body to handle.

    Now for serious commentary.

    Folk’s this is patently illegal.  It will not take much but this will be overturned.  Actually, I would not be stunned if the Supreme Court went 8-1 on this.  It sets a very dangerous precedent.  Think about it, what if a red state governor comes out and says, “Biden has had too many slips and falls, incoherent moments, etc. and by the power invested in me, he is henceforth banned from a ballot?”  “Or a blue state governor says we cannot allow candidate ____ or ____ on the ballot because they are hostile to; trans, LBGTQ, business, abortion, churches, etc.?”  This would be opening Pandora’s box like never before. 

    Is this the type of world we want to live in?  A hyper-partisan society where a sole and single leader aka a dictator or ruling family decides who can and cannot run?

    Here is a novel concept…let Donald Trump run.  He won’t win either state, not even a meteor killing all Democrats and decline to states as the dead vote in far bigger numbers for the Democrat than the Republican.  He won’t win there. 

    Donald is a very flawed person, and a flawed candidate.  Regardless of your thoughts on stolen elections, the January 6th thing was not a pretty sight.  Donald is a polarizing figure as we have pointed out here, even against a very bad Joe Biden, Trump is up just a few points.  Let the election play out and you may just beat Trump twice! 

    While folks like William and the staff here have soured on Trump, imagine the rank and file?  However, when Democrats pull this crap on Trump, they are saying that we are next. Trump is cast once again as an outsider and a threat to the Elites. This causes us to rally around Trump. Were they to ignore Trump during the last three years, DeSantis would be leading the pack by 30 points.

    To the Democrats who think this extra-legal political persecution is a good idea:  Think about groups who get upset when they are excluded from things for no reason.  Black People, Asian people, Hispanic people, Jews, Palestinians are some that quickly come to mind.  They do not like being excluded, restricted, charged with crimes, perp walked, mug shotted, etc. yet you are doing this very thing.  Trump would likely be getting molly-whopped in the primary, yet you continue to indict and convict without even a trial!  I have a feeling if someone actually could break down the polling for Trump, he is going to get a record high number of “non-white” groups for a Republican.  I doubt many of the above-mentioned groups feel like Trump is getting a fair shake.

    Watch Trumps’s poll numbers next week.  I bet he picks up another 2-4% lead on Biden in the polls. 

    Again, if you hate Trump, let the election play out and should he prevail then beat him in the General Election fair and square. The fact is Democrats can’t trust voters to agree with them and thus must deploy every dirty trick and political gambit they can think of.

    FYI: I feel the same about rumblings in Texas that Biden should not be allowed on the ballot due to his failure to fix the border.  Knock it off.

    This is so funny because when I was in school, I remember the USA and allies calling rigged elections out in North Korea, Russia, China, and various South American, and African nations for doing this same thing.  Now that we are a third-world country, I guess it’s, ok?  Wow.  That’s something.

    The Chief

    EV Utopia an Illusion

    Of all the things to blog about in the days leading to Christmas, I am choosing to vent about electric charging stations. No, I’m not crazy enough to buy an electric car but we did end-up with a hybrid Jeep. It gets great mileage but works differently than my wife’s old Ford. This vehicle has the ability to plug in and charge the battery.

    I think the difference between the Ford and Jeep hybrids is this; the Ford’s propulsion is electric and is augmented with essentially a gas generator while the Jeep is run by the gas engine which is helped by the electric battery.

    Anyway, since we don’t have a garage, we have no place in Idaho to charge the Jeep. Plugging it into 120 VAC takes over 15 hours. The token charging station in our area does not have a compatible plug. This I am learning is a common problem.

    Anyway, since we are visiting relatives at Christmas time, I thought we could try charging the battery at least once during the trip. At a stop in Oregon, we encountered three charging stations. Each station had two different plug ends. Yep, six different plug options. The second station was out of order. As a result, we couldn’t charge our Jeep. Station two, the one out of order, had the only correct plug. Strike One.

    After we entered the once Golden State, we made our way to see an old high school friend. Said friend had previously owned two electric Chevy’s. His plug was on a 25-foot cord and fit the Jeep. During our visit, we got the battery up to 81 percent charged.

    Once we arrived in the East Bay Area, we thought surely, we could find a charger here. We literally looked at about two dozen stations. The only ones we could find that fit our Jeep were out of order. Most of the others were attached to Teslas. Strikes two and three.

    So, we have yet to get a full charge on the battery and as things stand now, we won’t on this trip. I only want to charge it once in a while to keep the battery in working order.

    This points out the stupidity of forcing everyone into electric cars. Vehicle plugs are not standardized, the charging stations are often broken, and there’s just not enough to make the technology viable. My car doesn’t need to be charged in order to run but if the technology is available why can’t I use it?

    Israel Knew of Hamas Attack One Year in Advance

    No surprise with this news. We knew that Israel planned to force Hamas to take some sort of action at least five years prior to this attack. The expansion of Jewish settlements and other efforts to expand the Jewish State at the expense of the Palestinian communities in Gaza and the West Bank was intended to come to a head so that Israel could react with military force. This is no secret but last week it finally was reported that Israel Knew over a year ago that the attack was planned. Here is the account as it appeared on the pages of the Old Gray Lady herself:

    TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli officials obtained Hamas’ battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out.

    The approximately 40-page document, which Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.

    The translated document, which was reviewed by The New York Times, did not set a date for the attack, but described a methodical assault designed to overwhelm the fortifications around the Gaza Strip, take over Israeli cities and storm key military bases, including a division headquarters.

    Hamas followed the blueprint with shocking precision. The document called for a barrage of rockets at the outset of the attack, drones to knock out the security cameras and automated machine guns along the border, and gunmen to pour into Israel en masse in paragliders, on motorcycles and on foot — all of which happened Oct. 7.

    Israel knew Hamas’ attack plan more than a year ago

    So, on the one hand we are supposed to believe that the peace-loving residents of Israel were attacked without provocation while at the same time, the Israeli government knew in advance that this was going to happen and that they wanted it to. Folks, this is just evil. Any government willing to sacrifice its own citizens so that they can provoke a war is just horrible.

    As I’m writing this, my mind goes back to all the conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks here in the United States. To this day, I’m still unclear why we ever went into Iraq and Afghanistan. Especially in light of the fact that no evidence exists of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The “intelligence” of WMDs was provided mostly by Israel. The Colin Powell PowerPoint show at the United Nations was very convincing but turned out to be totally bogus.

    In light of all the other lies told to us in the last few years by our government, I think being skeptical about previous events is in order. Healthy skepticism is probably the best way to view such events. Limiting the power and scope of government is at least part of the solution but neither party has the will to do that.

    My Foreign Policy Takes

    Chief and I were at the same Thanksgiving table and broke bread with a group of other readers of this blog.  Two leaned left, two leaned right, all of them had issues with the foreign policy takes on this blog.  Specifically, Israel and Ukraine.  Simply put they feel the blog staff here are nationalist, isolationist whackos.  This could not be further from the truth!

    I believe we had a lot we could have learned from the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, but we did not.  Other countries do not like to be occupied.  Outside of Afghanistan, we have NEVER left a country we have invaded.  While keeping troops in Iraq and Afghanistan like we did, we lost numerous additional troops.  For zero reason.

    We normally go to war/invasion over false pretenses … weapons of mass destruction anyone?  How many missiles/bombs/drone strikes have we lobbed at another country in the Middle East simply over “we think they are responsible for such and such attack on one of our bases there”.  It makes no sense, in most of these regions we have no reason to be there.

    We even enter wars via proxy when we have no real connection to the invaded country.  Take for instance Ukraine. They are not a member of NATO or the EU (European Union). They never wanted to join either!  So now that they are attacked, we need to step in?  Why exactly?  Think about this, we are sending our munitions to a country who is not an ally in any way!

    (Editor’s Note: Obama, Biden, and Soros did finance and coordinate the overthrow of the government in Ukraine in 2014. In a sense, we started this mess, but Johnnie Does is correct; what business did we have getting involved in the first place?)

    Despite my best efforts, I didn’t land any punches with this group.

    In the case of Israel, they are technically an ally, but they are surrounded by countries who have been/are hostile towards our foreign policy.  Egypt kinda blows hot and cold with us, Jordan as well.  Lebanon doesn’t like us.  Iran wants our country wiped off the earth and Syria, Yemen, and Oman like our money but could care less about us.  Israel, simply put, will not be helping us much in any war we engage in because they know they are on an island geo-politically.

    When asked my opinion I gave the following regarding both “conflicts.”

    On Israel:  We get our navy/ships out of their ASAP and back to their normal positions.  We do not need those strike groups in that region, we have NATO allies and troops stationed not far away.  To be fair, Israel has stated they don’t want, nor need our help. Regarding the numerous, (yeah check it out) numerous bases in Syria and Iraq, it’s time to pull up stakes and leave.  We have a massive airbase in Qatar, another country that in my opinion tolerates us, not really likes us.  That should be enough.  It’s time to bring our young people back home.  Just remember we believe Iran is funding the groups attacking Israel via proxy….

    This brings me to my next point.

    On Russia/Ukraine:  How come it’s ok for US/NATO to provide Ukraine with money, weapons, planes, vehicles, etc. but not ok when Iran does it?  On that topic, how much has NATO really given to Ukraine?  I read an article stating that the weapons we promised (NATO) will fall short of the goal.  Why must we arm them?  It seems like NATO really isn’t giving much; Germany gave some helmets, France has sent a few tanks and guns.  Seems like the countries sending the most are Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland. Each of these countries are small (the 3 Baltic states) or share a border with Russia and I would argue should be stockpiling not donating.  Why aren’t the other member nations stepping up?  If they don’t want to donate from their stock, they could purchase from US and give.  If the member nations who are not directly neighboring Russia are giving very little what does that tell you about this alliance?  Hate to say it but they are counting on us to bail them all out.  I would be ok with donating outdated weaponry such as missiles, bombs, and guns.  Tanks, planes, and other toys?  No chance.  By the way check out how much money the US and other countries have donated that is flat out unaccounted for… think we could be using that to solve the homeless issue a little?  Ukraine is corrupt, and has a very weak military, we are simply propping them up.  Sucks they got attacked but at some point, we may wish we had those weapons.

    Let us address the real reason we are involving ourselves … the military industrial complex.  Raytheon, Boeing (yeah, they make war ships too), Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and others spend millions to lobby congress each year. In return they get billions in defense contracts.  Over time we accumulate a stockpile of military products.  As such we feel we must use/sell them to other countries.  As a result of this stockpiling, some of our leaders–think Bush’s, Clinton’s, Obama, Lindsay Graham, John McCain types feel we must invade or bomb anyone we do not like.  As you can see it’s a bi-partisan issue here, or I guess one issue both parties can agree on.  Buy me an expensive steak and lobster meal each time I want one, and you will get a blank check for defense spending.  Just look at how hard it is to get a slot on the defense committee in either branch of congress. These folks are smart and know where the lobby money hits hardest.  As such we have decades of pointless involvement in the Middle East and now Ukraine.  While the conflict in Israel has an end or goal, the Ukraine conflict shows no signs of stopping which is exactly what the military industrial complex wants.  They want continued war to get extra contracts. Notice how some are sounding the alarm about us running out of vehicles and weapons?  Again, why are we in these wars?

    How would I fix these?  Let’s say I am king for a day.  I am calling Israel and saying what is your end game here?  How about kill the folks leading Hamas who ordered this brutal attack and demand all hostages released?  What they are doing now amounts to borderline genocide.  I am sorry but Hamas is a terror group, they don’t wear uniforms, they have no real military.  Israel looks like it’s going door to door and blowing up whomever appears to be a terrorist, so I guess all males aged 17-60.  This is not a strategy.  Kills those responsible, anyone in the direct way/tunnel etc. is collateral damage. 

    After this I am calling the president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan and telling him here is the plan from Israel, and the US is pulling its warships out of the Middle East.  I am telling him stop dialoguing with Russia and Iran…. Yeah, he recently started trying to thaw relations with both adversaries of ours.  He has always had the ear of Putin, but Turkey has been one of the countries supplying Ukraine fairly heavily with drones and equipment. Turkey has the second largest army in NATO.  Speaking of NATO, we cannot lose Turkey, as they control the Black Sea, and are a bridge to the Middle East.  By the way check out the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict; Turkey picked Azerbaijan, apparently, we are picking Armenia.  Doh!

    As far as Ukraine… they aren’t in NATO or the EU, as noted earlier.  I would call the president and tell him the stockpile is thinning out and he will need to fill the holes elsewhere.  We can send the old things, but the flow is slowing, and he gets no more money!  I do not trust this country or any of their “leadership.” They are very corrupt and frankly I don’t think they really care about their people.  Ukraine is out gunned and outmanned. It’s time to re-trench.  Our goal in NATO is to defend those in the alliance, not those who feel they want to be after being attacked.  It’s time to fortify Finland, the Baltic Countries, and Poland, as they directly neighbor Russia.  Actions have consequence and Ukraine never wanted to join either group.  Russia is being made fun of right now militarily, but those making fun do not understand, Russia can lose 10 million people in this war, Ukraine cannot.  Look to history, even when fighting on our side in WW2 Russia has always been a meat grinder militarily. 

    Final thought:  An isolationist policy isn’t what I am advocating.  I am saying our days as being the world’s police force are over.  If we are being honest and looking at this rationally, Russia will take Ukraine, and maybe Moldova, they won’t go farther that way.  Perhaps they also have designs on Georgia and maybe Armenia since Armenia was a former ally of Russia.  Outside of that they do not have many options.  If they attack a NATO country, it’s on.  Then we get involved.  Israel, they have proven they can defend themselves; the show of force was dumb.  Also, we need to think about our military’s sustainability, not in a “green” way but in a numbers way.  No one wants to sign up for the military now. We have been in pointless conflicts for my entire life, I am 37.  We continue to send our young people to die and for what exactly?  Move our troops back, and bring them home, if things get even more dicey, we can always re-deploy.

    Johnnie Does

    The Democrat Conundrum for 2024

    We have blogged about how both Joe Biden and Donald Trump can win next year in the election, but we haven’t spoken about the elephant in the room.  The elephant is the Democrat machine.  The machine knows Joe Biden is too old and is definitely in cognitive decline.  Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Senator John Fetterman have both made comments about this very thing.  Phillips is an obscure congressperson who announced a primary run against an incumbent, which is a big no-no in either party.  Fetterman who had a stroke during his run for Senate last year has said Gavin Newsom is running a shadow campaign for president.  Folk’s comments like those don’t just come out unless there are legs to them. 

    So how do they remove Joe from the ticket you may ask?

    Easy, at the nominating convention for their party.  The delegates basically can pick the nominee, and just have a majority not vote in his favor.  You may remember Bernie did this last go round, taking his delegates all the way to the convention, even though he had zero chance of the nomination being his.  I fully believe this is why that Phillips guy is running, just to carry a name to the nominating convention.  I also do not think RFK will be on the general election ballot as an independent, I can’t put my finger on it, but I just don’t see a Kennedy not on the Democrat line. 

    Simply said, Joe has major health and mental health concerns, and this blog feels the Democrats are waiting for an error similar to the dreaded “blue screen of death” Windows users fear their computer contracting.  For those reasons we feel Joe will not be the nominee.

    Here is the bigger problem.

    If not Joe, what do the Democrats do with Kamala Harris?  Democrats have always thrown the black person overboard when necessary, but in this case it is different.  Harris is the sitting Vice President.  She and Gavin do not like one another.  They will not be on the same ticket. Two folks from California is a liability not an asset for the Democrats.  This is what creates the issue.  Kamala was a Senator; however, she will not “path back” to the Senate. First, it’s a demotion, and second, she will look weak trying to get her old seat back.  (BTW her old Senate seat currently has a primary with 3 sitting Democrat congressmen in it, making it no sure thing).  Removing Harris is very risky, as throwing a black woman under the political bus will be viewed in a bad light by the black community.  BLM would be outraged, and we have seen what happens when they riot.  For those who say let Kamal be governor, again there is a problem.  That requires Gavin winning the presidency, which is no sure thing, even against Donald Trump.  Also, there is a primary forming for that position as Gavin terms out in 2026.  (In heavy red and blue states there is a pecking order, and folks get very nasty when you mess up the rotation).  Again, it’s no shoe-in for Kamala.

    Kamala doesn’t seem like the type to go quietly into the night when she doesn’t get her way.  It will get ugly.

    Let’s say Joe bows out, and Gavin takes over.  Who is the VP?  Can’t pick a white person in that party, not to replace a black woman.  Michele “my belle” Obama doesn’t seem to want the job, and I think Barack wants to just hit the speaker circuit, he seems out on politics.  Al Sharpton has too much blood on his hands, so he is out.  I think there are 2 logical choices, there are 2 Castro brothers from Texas, either would be safe choices, the other being Xavier Beccera.  I am contradicting myself with Beccera as he is a Californian, but if you can read between the lines, you wind up throwing a bone to the Hispanic voters.  Democrats love racist dog whistles and here is another chance to play the “Trump is a racist” card.  Hispanic people outnumber black people about 4-1 (not counting new residents that arrived over the southern border) so any votes lost in the black community are likely more than accounted for moving forward.

    It may seem like tin foil hat thinking, but it could work for the Democrats.

    They needed Joe in 2020 to beat Trump.  There was no way; Bernie, Mayor Booty judge, or any of those other clowns out that stage was beating Trump last go round.  They knew it and rigged it.  Now that Joe is a liability, looking worse and worse with each speech or appearance, he makes it high time for him to go.  Need more proof?  David Axelrod (Obama campaign manager) and James Carville (Clinton campaign) are both saying Joe cannot win. Regardless of your thoughts about those two, they are very savvy and smart.

    Need more proof?  A Fox News article recently advised Joe to “Throw his son Hunter under the bus to save his campaign.”  Folks, a father throwing a family member under the bus is a bad look, even in this case.

    Still not convinced?  Why did Newsom vs DeSantis debate happen in Georgia?  Also why was it on Fox and moderated by Sean Hannity?  DeSantis looks like yesterday’s news and Gavin isn’t running so why have this?  Answer…. if Gavin looks good, Joe will be taking a tumble down the stairs, either on his own or someone will be pushing him.

    For the Democrats the stakes are too high.