ATTA BOY, JOE!  LUV YA, MAN…NO JOKE!

Let’s hope this old fraud does well this ‘Super Tuesday”; He will be the best candidate the GOP could hope for. And his campaign will be the most entertaining since Vaudeville.  

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On top of news earlier in the week about Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang dropping out from the Democrat presidential wading pool (it was never more than ankle -biter deep) last night there was more Heartbreaking News!

Wife of Chasten Glezman Quits Democrat Presidential Race

Columnist J.D. Rucker…makes a good point. (Worst possible outcome: a SecDef position in a ‘Dogface’ admin.)      dlh

“While his chances of winning the nomination were low at this stage, leaving ahead of Super Tuesday, especially following a strong debate performance and over-performing in all four contests to date, it appears to be nothing short of some sort of exchange that pushed him to the decision. Perhaps the DNC told him they would back his run in 2024 if the Democrats lose or 2028 if they win. Maybe Bloomberg and/or Biden offered him a nice cabinet position; it’s almost certain the VP tap is going to a woman regardless of who gets the nomination. Whatever happened, it’s highly unlikely Buttigieg would have dropped out willingly with no assurances. He had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by waiting until after Super Tuesday.”

And now this morning it appears Amy Klobuchur may be seeing the writing on the wall, err, protest signs:

Amy Klobuchar cancels Minnesota rally after protesters demand justice in Myon Burrell case

So lets speculate with abound:

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The NYT, part of the Dem Party skunk works, speculates Buttigieg will endorse Biden with a wink and a pat from Obama.  Some have speculated Yang will be in Bloomberg’s pocket. If (when) Amy drops out, HER FIRST LOSS EVER ,  she is not going to go for Bernie, not is she wants to eat salad with a fork ever again (rumors that she prefers the comb notwithstanding). We would suspect Joe will get her support and he will finally get to sniff the Roquefort in her hair.

This is all about stop Bernie even if it means Biden is the nominee, who all must know will eat a live rat on stage if he ever gets to stand next to Trump.  The Democrat apparat  is busy giving offers that can’t be refused to the remaining non-Bernie candidates who understand that the complete government take-over (guns, energy, healthcare, food, housing, child-care) that Bernie is pushing post-haste must be a little more subtle, lest aging soccer-moms in the ‘burbs get spooked” and take down the House.

All the Dems are essentially on the same page, but the impatient Bernie-Bros must be dealt with, as agitated as they are that without Bernie they are nearing the time when they will have to get a job, even if temporarily until the full impact of Biden’s me-too policies take hold.

Bloomberg – well he has so much FU money that there really is not that much they can do about him unless a solid majority coalition can be formed (if the numbers are there). Pocahauntus by some estimates may drop out and go with Bernie (perhaps anticipating the V-P slot ) but then again if the money, promises, or threats are credible she will go with whomever, or maybe just go but, more likely, as by this Bonchie analysis about the status of Elizabeth Warren’s campaign at RedState.

The powers that be will deal with the fall-out from a brokered convention, Bernie can be dealt with, ultimately they must think.  Stop him know “legitimately”, or in Milwaukee, wherever.  The more mature apparatchiks understand that Trump is the odds on winner, they just need someone to carry the disguised flag to preserve legitimacy to fight again, to not be a total disaster/exposure. But remember, they could not stop McGovern, and probably because they were intellectually defenseless as that is who they were/are. It took years of bringing together the elements of education , the media, the enclaves working together.  They are all Bernie-Bros, this is just fraternal rivalry but here’s hoping for fratricide.              R Mall

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THE STORY DRUDGE MISSED:

The Signature Room Restaurant

Reservations Not Required 

* CAUTION!  FAKE NEWS STORY (be aware in case a wire service picks up the story)          dlh

City: Chicago Height: 1,054 feet Across the river from the Willis Tower sits another high-dining destination. The Signature Room Restaurant is on the 95th floor at the John Hancock Center. 

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From our Southern Bureau:

Thursday’s favorite headlines (“Now hiring: Copy Editor to write headlines; no experience necessary but must not be pro-Trump”?)

The Ledger (Lakeland FL):
“Trump urges calm even as CDC reports worrisome new virus case” 

This one could be in the running for one of my all time favorites. The Ledger is Lakeland Florida’s newspaper. It may not be the worst biased publication in this state, but it is pretty poor as a news source. It appears that, in regard to “Letters to the Editor” its policy is that it will not accept any letter criticizing the paper. Not surprising, especially for a liberal publication. (In the case of the Ledger, however, disposal of a letter of such a type is very nearly irresistible!.)

The headline above is typical of the paper’s dire need for a competent copy editor: This headline, of course, obviously begs the question, ‘should Trump urge ‘panic’ as soon as the CDC reports a new virus case…especially when the The Ledger finds such a case “worrisome”?

Then to reinforce its views of a sound approach to the current news cycle, the Ledger brings the focus to the inevitable ‘local’ level with this story’s headline:

Coronavirus: Florida officials express caution — not panic … yet 

Apparently, this paper is a firm believer in the value of “panic”. It undoubtedly also has its notion of the proper timing in which public officials should apply it.

And, apparently, that is at the earliest stage possible…all the better if sincere panic can be introduced even before the dimensions of a potential ‘crisis’ are known.
——–
I want to note one last thing to illustrate the competence that rages at The Ledger.

Earlier this past week, its op-ed pages ran a column it attributed in its cutline to ‘Judd Grady’; there is a popular sheriff of Polk County (which includes Lakeland), widely known, even somewhat on a national basis (he has appeared more than once on Fox News in recent times, and is considered to hold some fairly doctrinaire right of center views).

If only because he is widely known and generally very popular in this part of Florida, his op-ed, I suspect, was widely read.

As I read it, however, I was at first surprised by the column’s tone. As I read further, I was rather shocked by the very distinct leftist flavor of the piece.

By the time I reached the end of the column, I was convinced that the writer had flipped, virtually ‘overnight’ from one who held longstanding views reflecting a mild to strongly-held conservative flavor, to a decidedly leftist outlook.

The fact the writer of the piece was identified as “Judd Grady”, I had earlier attributed to a slight. perhaps typographical, error on the part of the copy desk. The name of the sheriff to which it was obviously attributed is actually GRADY JUDD…not JUDD GRADY.

The cut below the column was attributed to the very liberal syndicated writer, Froma Harrop, whom Wikipedia describes as, “allegedly liberal / left-of-center”.

(As of Friday, I had seen no correction posted)

(Again, about that need for “Help Wanted” at the Ledger.)        dlh

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• Well, at least by what we include in our selection of commentaries
  
• The Corona that staggered Wall Street
• Or was it near beer?
• Ironically, alcohol can kill coronavirus (on surfaces anyway)
• Folks, the flu kills, always has
• Graphics posted herein not part of articles referenced

Nevertheless, there is cause for concern and response, but get sober people!

The very credible Elizabeth Vaughn at RedState writes

NYU Professor Notes Coronavirus May Be ‘Bi-Phasic like Anthrax’, It’s Time to Press the Chinese for More Answers

Via Market Watch:

Coronavirus fatality rates vary wildly depending on age, gender and medical history — some patients fare much worse than others   

Excerpts from the American Spactatror article by Daniel J Flynn:

That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Dumber 
There’s no cure for panic and hysteria.

Symptoms of the coronavirus abroad include sneezing, coughing, fever, and breathing difficulties. Here in the United States, the disease, apparently mutating, displays different symptoms. They include exaggeration, panic, and overreaction.

San Francisco declared a coronavirus state of emergency despite not a single confirmed case among the city’s residents. Why not include yellow fever and polio in the state of emergency just to stay on the safe side?   . . .

Currently, at least outside of China, the disease primarily afflicts politicians and journalists. The symptoms grow worse for those in front of a camera or microphone, and especially bad for those — gulp — touching a keyboard. Stock holders appear most greatly plagued by the virus.

The latest CDC update shows just 14 cases in the United States atop 45 cases among repatriating Americans unfortunate enough to cruise on the Diamond Princess ship or visit Wuhan itself. In other words, the disease kneecapping the stock market and shutting down a Facebook conference in California in May afflicts 0.0000042 percent of the American population. The number of Americans killed by the Wuhan coronavirus falls even below that minuscule fraction to zero.

One cannot even call the coronavirus endemic to any area in the United States. Yet, speakers affix “epidemic” and even “pandemic” to coronavirus even though two countries, China and Korea, house 99 percent of cases. In just three other countries, Japan, Italy, and Iran, do cases reach into the triple digits.

“As of Feb. 26, 2020, the flu is showing much more of an impact on Americans than COVID-19,” Dr. Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, the senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins, points out. She estimates coronavirus deaths at 2,770 worldwide and “0 deaths in the U.S., as of Feb. 26, 2020.” On the other hand, she writes that the flu causes between “291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide” and “12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S.” annually.

Hers reads like the voice of science, soberly using facts and figures throw water rather than gasoline on the flames. Sure, even the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, which boasted a kill percentage eerily close to the coronavirus’s 2.5 percent, started with just a few cases. And it is likely more Americans acquire this condition and that some die from it. But treating every bug that catches on somewhere in the world as the end of the world does much harm and little good. Panic is not preparedness.

People in positions of responsibility act so irresponsibly regarding public health matters precisely because they wish for the public to not hold them responsible. If coronavirus does not kill thousands of Americans, they can claim their warnings defeated the disease. If coronavirus does kill thousands of Americans, they can say they told us so. It’s a win-win for them.

But this disease of the bureaucrat, call it CYA, stokes fear rather than instills calm. It’s terribly reckless, as the 2,000-point decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last week indicates. Whole industries, including transportation and tourism, suffer not because of prudence but because of hysteria. Zero American deaths and 14 cases within our borders do not justify turning the country into the Animal House parade scene after the Deathmobile’s arrival.      . . .

In the mean time will a capitalist effort overcome evil of a socialist state ( the latter by intent or indifference)?

Jerusalem Post today:
Israeli scientists: ‘In a few weeks, we will have coronavirus vaccine‘
Once the vaccine is developed, it will take at least 90 days to complete the regulatory process and potentially more to enter the marketplace.   . . .

It will be an oral vaccine, making it particularly accessible to the general public, Zigdon said.

“We are currently in intensive discussions with potential partners that can help accelerate the in-human trials phase and expedite completion of final-product development and regulatory activities,” he said.

As to the stock market reaction to pandemic fears, well I hope some bastards lost a lot but the bastards never do, they instigate but take no significant hit as they sell, or they see the reaction and sit it out, maybe even buying.  Or maybe it is just a good time for a market correction, and an reason will do. As Trump said it is a buying opportunity.  Now I wish I had some money to invest!  Unfortunately the Corona beer ad campaign won’t help them.

Related reading:

Vietnam Insider:

https://vietnaminsider.vn/wuhan-coronavirus-seems-to-have-a-low-fatality-rate-most-patients-make-full-recoveries/

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• Hanson on the nomination of “Get-off-my-grass” Sanders (great line by Hanson) but the others are effectively just as mean spirited and sinister
  
• As to Gorka – We should indeed investigate,  push back, keep hope for justice alive against the deep-state. At least bankrupt the bastards with legal fees which is a key technique they use against political enemies.  But cleaning house has to come straight away (done expeditiously it would have curtailed much of the cred-seeking BS from the Obama holdovers).
• One can have little confidence in the reliability of the current DOJ or jury pool in DC producing Grand Jury indictments.

The following commentaries earlier this week from Victor Davis Hanson and Sebastien Gorka are as to be expected insightful, and in their way hopeful. Their full text is available at American Greatness (links and excerpts below) . We do not disagree with the thrust of the articles.  Rather, in Hanson’s case, we miss a statement we think appropriate  — recognizing that the nomination by the Democrats of  anyone but Bernie could ultimately be worse for the country, a fear we set forth below. And in Gorka’s case — we question the presumption that Durham’s work, conceding all genuineness, could not be thwarted by DC Grand Juries.

Victor Davis Hanson writes:

NeverSanders?  

His policy nostrums are frightening. He cannot take criticism, but becomes gruff and animated. And he is a different sort of septuagenarian than is Trump, who has a sense of humor and can be self-deprecating. Get-off-my-grass Bernie, like most true-believers and fellow travelers of mandated government redistribution, is serious 24/7. He never really addresses criticism, and his fallback position on any issue is always another predictable socialist bromide, a frown and two frail arms flailing in the air.

Again, Sanders the person gives the Sanders agenda no boost. All that can be said of Sanders is that he is authentically socialist in a way that candidates like Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren are only so occasionally and opportunistically.

In 2020 if Sanders is the Democratic nominee, the NeverSanders movement will be far larger, far wealthier, far more influential—even as it is likely far quieter—than were the vociferous but anemic NeverTrumpers of 2016.

ANY Democrat who receives the nomination has already been so compromised by campaign statements, vote buying, etc., and hate for all things Republican, that they would be forced to aggressively populate government with the most doctrinaire elements of the Bernie Bolsheviks. From postal worker to cabinet level and with such a victory would come the Congress. There is only a narrow band of degrees of horror in a Democrat victory at this stage.

From Sebastian Gorka, also at American Greatness

The Counter-Coup Has Begun 

If God blesses us again and President Trump is reelected this November, it would be nice to have people working for the man chosen by the American voters to lead them and upon whom we don’t have to use lie detectors.

We have great concern that Durham will not get very far with actual convictions operating in a DC venue. Trials of nationwide crimes, crimes against the electorate ought not be limited to the DC area. Indictments in such matters ought to be able to come from a system without bias as to Democrat innocence and Republican guilt. A Grand Jury is hardly a jury of one’s peers anyway but the pool ought to more represent America than DC group-think and that point is especially true for trial juries and judges.  The Roger Stone miscarriage is an example of Beltway justice.

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The following commentaries about the Democrat debate last night in South Carolina are worthy as they give us the flavor of the evening’s proceedings.  While they make some insightful observations and prognostications, some are arguable, even irritating.

At The Federalist by Brian Linville (excerpt)

Why Bernie Sanders As Democrats’ Nominee Would Be Best For The Country
Better to gird for the fight against socialism now than to put it off to another day .

If, on the other hand, Sanders is the nominee and goes on to lose badly, the centrists in the Democratic Party will have an opportunity to reassert themselves. In this, Sanders’s defeat could be a repeat of George McGovern’s landslide loss to Richard Nixon in 1972. In the aftermath of that election, Democrats reckoned with the results, recognizing that radicals had taken the reins of the party. Moderates then took charge to shepherd a return to electoral viability. A similar reaction post-Walter Mondale in 1984 led to Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 as a centrist.

Such a Democratic shift would certainly improve their prospects in future elections. It would also incentivize Republicans to hew closer to the center. Both parties, shocked by the populist insurgencies of Trump and Sanders, would be compelled to reckon with the unsavory results of the post-Cold War neoliberal consensus that enriched coastal elites while leaving much of the country behind.

We Must Crush Socialism to Maintain Stability

One of America’s great strengths throughout history has been the domination of our politics by parties of the center-left and center-right. When power changes hands, the shift is subtle. This stability is critical for businesses and households to make decisions about what the future will look like, and it has enabled our enviable record of sustained growth. The results for nations who alternate between far-left and far-right governments are much less impressive — looking at you, Argentina, and much of the rest of Latin America for that matter.

We would ask Mr Linville to please identify the “far right” – who is their candidate – what are their positions – what is inimical about their positions —  are they in any way plausible candidates?   The article, while good in some respects, creates straw men of no political consequence for purposes of making a useless point. We know the far-left candidates.  They are real. They are each of the Democrat candidates driven there by the relentless logic of big government.  We also know that the center- left and to some extent the center-right element he refers to (unnamed as well)  only serve to ratchet up expectations and dependence on government.

Reading more about the Dem debate this morning:

Winners and Losers of the South Carolina Debate

At RedState by Joe Cunningham — His commentary plays up Amy Klobuchar, which we find shortsighted, as in oblivious to her being as ultimately radical as the rest, by vote record and stated position, a matter here and there simply being more nuanced.  They are all inextricably on the same glide path.  Implicating one as moderate in any way is not useful or insightful.

Also at RedState, this one by Bonchie:

Debate Reaction: Elizabeth Warren’s Strategy Becomes Crystal Clear

Plausible, based on the description of the proceedings, Warren now maneuvering for Vice-President slot on Sanders ticket.

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Re: the Super Bowl of politics and toilet bowl of performances

From a blog posting by Chastity Clark — actual quotes from Michelle O

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