We are the drain the swamp people

• Drudge sold out
• Now run by a Weekly Standard alumnus
• Explains current Trump animus
• Also explains sites blood loss

We had this information in our ditty bag for a month now and neglected to mention it as inquiring minds wanted to know. Matters directly related to all the impeachment shenanigans conspired to put it on the back-burner.  For months we have wondered what was going on and mentioned our dissatisfaction with the publication a time or two.

In reading this article at PJ Media, which mentioned the Drudge Report emphasis on anything negative about Trump, led us to the following bell ringer at Wikipedia (which actually goes back to at least December of last year): (Bold our emphasis)

Daniel Halper

Daniel Halper is an American political writer. He previously served as the online editor of the now-defunct neoconservative magazine The Weekly Standard until a management change at that publication in 2016  . . .

In 2017, he became an editor for the Drudge Report, replacing Joseph Curl. Halper’s hiring coincided with the Drudge family’s retreat from the public sphere (Drudge’s father sold his own site Refdesk the same year to the same company that also took over the Report’s advertising account at the same time, and by 2019 unconfirmed reports had emerged that Matt Drudge had sold the Report) [4] and was a factor in the Report having a substantial change in editorial direction, going from being in favor of Donald Trump to against him. [2]

If (or that) Drudge would sell to an entity with such an attitude can be taken several ways.  Drudge decidedly changed and had it in for Trump and was willing to sell to antagonists. We find it difficult to believe that perhaps at least a consortium of conservatives more favorable to Trump would not have been interested at a reasonable price. Then again maybe the new owners way outbid any others thinking Drudge’s following was built in. Drudge took the money.  We have seen references to extensive drops in viewership.

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This is not the face or proper demeanor of conservatism

• It is past time to find their tongue, not just among themselves on Facebook
  
• When one’s honor and integrity is being impacted (general contempt for the DOJ impacting conservatives as well), for crying out loud can’t you form your own group and put together your own statements and release them to the press?

Kurt Schlichter  excoriates the current DOJ in a column yesterday at Townhall. Burn Down the DOJ and Start Over It is another trenchant and insightful offering that we highly recommend (excerpt below).

Our own dlh has for several years wearied (and commented accordingly) of the “obligatory” praise handed out by conservative pundits for rank and file federal law-enforcement whenever those pundits comment about the lawless and protected swamp dwellers entrenched in leadership positions.  Growing more weary over the lack of organized public response by at least  “rank and file” retirees in response to obvious lawlessness of the current DOJ apparat,  dlh wrote several weeks ago:

“One cannot make any statement regarding the shocking abuse of law enforcement and judicial power which has been revealed, without first disclaiming any possible lack of virtue on the part of any of the ‘hardworking, fully committed,, ‘life on the line’, rank and file current and former members of the FBI !

“Really?! How many were ‘just following orders’? How did only the “rotten exceptions” among the bureau’s ‘long serving’ , hardworking, committed to their ‘high calling’ members, rise to the key leadership positions in the FBI?

“And…where are all those “Efrem Zimbalists” now, when all the institutional rot has been disclosed? Where are the letters signed by hundreds…thousands of current and former agents decrying and condemning the actions of their current and former bosses?

“The Left seems to have no shortage of ‘letter-signers’ condemning anything and everything Trump and his choices for leadership attempt to do, as example following”

Here are some of Schlichter’s comments in response to reports about decisions by the Bill Barr DOJ not to prosecute lack of candor lying Andrew McCabe, with some recommendations for rank and file citizens:

. . . I like Bill Barr. I think he wants to do the right thing. But he needs to spare us the clichés about the hard-working and honest DOJ staff because that’s not what we see. I trust Barr, but I trust my eyes more, and all I see issuing from his Department is a flow of raw sewage. And don’t tell me “But they convicted Avenatti!” because Avenatti was not a friend to the establishment. He was a threat, an uppity outsider who smarmed his way into position to potentially cut in the line for power. Yeah, the Democrats were totally broken up for him to be taken out.

. . .

It was absolute Schiff when rapists, thugs, and other Democrat constituents regularly coast out of court with much less time. Wait, I thought we had a non-violent convict incarceration crisis, but I guess that doesn’t apply to political crimes, the most serious crimes of all apparently. No, they won’t get fired. They will keep on ruining lives.

They have failed to meet the minimum standards for integrity. You owe them nothing, not obedience, respect, or assistance. Don’t give them any.

You have no reason to cooperate with any of them if they come asking you questions. You’re a fool to do so – they seek to harm you, so you should protect yourself. Stone is where he is because he foolishly chose to testify.

When a federal law enforcement asks you anything, repeat after me:

“I invoke my right to remain silent. Please stop asking me questions. I want my lawyer.”

“Uh, I was just asking you if there’s a coffee shop around here.”

“I invoke my right to remain silent. Please stop asking me questions. I want my lawyer.”

And when you are in court on a jury, and the prosecutor attempts to stand in the golden glow of the United States of America, remember what the prosecutors did to innocent people for daring to dissent and give that lawyer no credit or benefit of the doubt. Listen closely and carefully to the accused. There was a time when an accused claiming he was framed by the feds could be laughed off; now, you should consider it. Ask Ted Stevens – oh wait, he died after a corrupt conviction. Do not hesitate to acquit, because the Department of Justice has proven itself corrupt and dishonest.

“But, but, but, many hard-working, honest blah blah blah blah….”

Save it.

Who was the guy who went to jail for scores of wrongful convictions thanks to the FBI crime lab scandal?

Who is the guy who went to jail for lying about leaking stuff to hurt the Trump administration?

Who is the guy (or Chardonnay-swilling, cankle-having gal) who went to jail for using classified materials for his/her own personal agendas?

Nobody.

Nobody did because the law is not a neutral set of rules equally applicable to all but a weapon used by politicized bureaucrats to neutralize opponents.

You took your reputation and you used it as Charmin because you wanted your pals to win an election. And now we all know the truth and we know what you are.

You are not the enforcers of justice. You are the enforcers of a two-track system that excuses your pals and jams up your opponents.

So, what do we do? I mean, besides refuse to pretend any longer that the feds are Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., instead of seedy little crustaceans like Andrew McCabe or the hard-five sext twins?

Let Barr do his thing. Let Durham do his. I’m not going to Lucy and the football myself into believing that either one is definitely going to serve up the justice upon the Deep State derps that is the minimal requirement for beginning to rebuild the trust in federal law enforcement these hacks flushed away, but who knows? They might do something. In the meantime, we simply need to treat federal law enforcement as what it is: deeply corrupt and utterly untrustworthy. . . .

DLH further responds:

There should be alarm at today’s disastrous state of the federal law enforcement apparatus and the probability that it will only worsen.

I would reiterate my fear that, due to a deliberate faithlessness or simply resistance at every level to any meaningful investigation, the much anticipated legal destruction of the “deep state”, if it happens at all (unlikely in my view), will be too late and too easily discarded by the leftist media and radical establishment opposition to save Trump’s reelection and the preservation of the Republic.

Is Barr “faithless”…or, incompetent? I hope not! But so far, all the other ‘honorable’, ‘widely respected’, “stunningly bi-partisan”, “unblemished record”, ‘incredibly qualified and competent’, etc, etc people have turned out to be ‘wildly overrated’ when not totally misrepresented: Robert Mueller, James Comey, Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Christopher Wray, Gina Haspell, John Kelly, “Mad Dog”, H R McMaster……

We will see.     dlh

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‘GO AHEAD OLDSTER — BUY AS MANY BIG GULPS AS YOU WANT ?!.’

Via The Gateway Pundit –

“Mike Bloomberg: All of these costs keep going up. Nobody wants to pay anymore money. And at the rate we’re going healthcare is going to bankrupt us. So not only do we have a problem we’ve got to sit here and say which things we’re going to do and which things we’re not. Nobody wants to do that. If you show up with prostrate cancer and you’re 95 years old, we should say go and enjoy, you’ve had a long life, there’s no cure and we can’t do anything. If you’re a young person, we should do something about it. Society’s not willing to do that, yet.”

– Is 95 the cutoff age, Mike? Or is it 85? 75? 70?
– Did “Mikey” say “Prostrate”???
-“You’ve had a long life…” “Be Grateful, and…Begone !”, says Mikey, and, oh yes, “Enjoy”!

dlh

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Yesterday’s post had a great quote from Carmine Sabia writing at The Western Journal   — Referring to buzz about the possibility of Democrats going to Adam Schiff should there be a brokered convention:

Democrats had three years to craft a candidate to face perhaps the most charismatic president in history, and they have landed on Andy Kaufman’s stunt double.

Well the resemblance of Schiff and Kaufman is remarkable in many ways. Impersonator, proponent of ridiculous lies, not to mention physical (you have to be old enough to remember the early Saturday Night Live cast). We present the resemblance along with a readers choice feature regarding Pete Buttigieg — which does he most resemble?  Answers and your reasoning always welcome in comment section.

Regarding Pete Buttigieg – Readers choice –  which does he most resemble in appearance and political persona?

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• If the Dem convention goes to a second ballot . . .  Bloomberg’s money will really count
• A brokered convention is the Moochelle scenario . . . but . . .
• Money talks MO walks
• Drag a BILLION through a Demorat convention and you never know HOW MANY delegates you’ll line up, but it will be a lot
• Bernie folks would be soooo burned

Prediction Model Now Shows ‘No One’ as Most Likely Winner of Democratic Primary  (bold our emphasis)

The model projects that although 1,990 delegates are needed, Sanders will get no more than 1,521, while Biden will net 815 and Bloomberg will snare 786. Other candidates in the race will have even small chunks of the delegate pie, the model predicts.

If the projection holds true, Democrats would be heading for what is called a brokered convention.

That takes place when no candidate wins a majority of delegates, leading to deal-making that result in one candidate’s delegates supporting another candidate to put the other over the top.

Sanders has said whoever has the most delegates should be the nominee, regardless of whether that candidate hits the magic number.

“The convention would have to explain to the American people, ‘Hey, candidate X got the most votes and won the most delegates at the primary process, but we’re not going to give him or her the nomination,’” he told MSNBC.

“I think that would be a divisive moment for the Democratic Party.”

The last brokered convention took place in 1952, when Adlai Stevenson was nominated by the Democratic Party on the convention’s third ballot, CNN reported.

“It’s possible, it’s quite possible,” Chris Spirou, a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman, told The Hill. “I think Bloomberg entering into this thing provides a much greater possibility of a brokered convention.”

“There’s a real possibility of a brokered convention and that in itself may be enough to serve as motivation for some who might have otherwise dropped out, to hang around longer to see if they can’t have a place in this thing and play a part in determining the nominee,” Jim Demers, a New Hampshire Democratic strategist said.

One commentator said Bloomberg’s personal resources could speak very loudly at a brokered convention.

“Bloomberg potentially could spend $4 billion or $5 billion of his own money, not just for his own campaign, but for Democrats all over, from dog catcher to Senate,” Lenny Glynn, a Massachusetts businessman, told The Hill. “Every single superdelegate at the Democratic convention, if we don’t have a clear majority, is going to realize — holy bazookas, Mike Bloomberg might spend $5 million in support of my campaign for a district in Oklahoma. So yeah, there’s a chance.”

Then again:

In Midst of Iowa Debacle, Chris Matthews Thinks Even Adam Schiff Could Be 2020 Nominee

Democrats had three years to craft a candidate to face perhaps the most charismatic president in history, and they have landed on Andy Kaufman’s stunt double.

Sad times indeed.    

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• The entrance
• The address
• The pace lap
• Democrats, eat your heart out

Clips via FOX Sports /YouTube (If not loading let us know).  Yahoo News excerpts below:

President Trump gives command for drivers to start their engines at Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 is the fourth sporting event Trump has attended since he went to the World Series. After going to Alabama’s game against LSU in November Trump has been to Navy’s win over Army and LSU’s national championship game win against Clemson.

The president was in friendly territory at each of the last three sporting events and the Daytona 500 was no different. You didn’t have to look far to find Trump flags flying over campers and recreational vehicles and he received raucous cheers from among the 100,000 people set to attend. The reception was a contrast to the welcome that then-First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden received while at the 2011 NASCAR season finale at Homestead and a mini-controversy ensued about the booing that could be heard on the race telecast. 

As Air Force One approached the airport just beyond the backstretch at Daytona International before landing at 1:05 p.m., the plane dipped low and cruised over the track so fans could get a dramatic glimpse of the behemoth 747 before it touched down. No other sporting event would have allowed fans to get such a close glimpse of the president’s plane landing.

President Donald Trump leads field on a pace lap after giving command ahead of Daytona 500 

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — President Donald Trump delivered the command for drivers to start their engines ahead of the 62nd Daytona 500 on Sunday.

“Daytona International Speedway, we love our country and it’s truly an honor to be with all of you at the Great American Race,” Trump said. “Gentlemen, start your engines.”

After he made the command, Trump led the field in a pace lap in his limousine.

Before making the command, Trump delivered remarks to the crowd just after 2:30 p.m. ET. He spoke for approximately four minutes at a podium set up in victory lane.

“For 500 heart-pounding miles, these fierce competitors will chase the checkered flag, fight for the Harley J. Earl trophy and make their play for pure American glory,” Trump said in those comments. “And that’s what it is. Pure American glory.”

Previously, at the “DC Circuit Track” aka “The Greatest Spectacle in Politics” , Trump had done a victory lap:

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Sent to us by “Sister Mary” this item expresses a mom’s take on Nancy Pelosi’s performance during the State of the Union Address. Perhaps apocryphal but certainly on point.  Sister Mary arrived at it via this blog: Polination

An open letter to Mrs. Pelosi

Mrs. Pelosi, I am speaking to you woman to woman. I don’t care about our political parties or our individual beliefs right now. I’m simply speaking to you as a woman in the year 2020.

You don’t know me, so to be fair I’ll give you a bit of background. I am my children’s teacher. I educate their young minds every single day. I do so willingly and with a sense of responsibility unlike any other. I have been sexually assaulted twice in my life. When I was 14, a man stalked my every move for months and then broke in through my bedroom window at 3:00 a.m. When I was in my early twenties, I was assaulted by a different man while I was working at an apartment community. I’ve been ruthlessly bullied by a girl in high school who I later learned has legitimate mental health issues. I’ve had multiple doctors strongly urge me to abort my baby because there was less than a 1% chance of her surviving the next 28 weeks of the pregnancy. She’s 15 years old and smart as a whip. I’m a woman who cares about other women. I care.

Last night, President Trump gave the State of the Union address. You fidgeted in your seat more than my kids did in church when they were toddlers. You made smug, condescending faces and you used hand motions and little head shakes to tell “your people” when and when not to clap, when to stand, basically how to act during during the entire speech.

I must tell you, Mrs. Pelosi, this is an amazing time in history for us because my girls and I are studying American government. The past semester has been rich with opportunities to watch history unfold live not just in a textbook.

You are part of a party that claims to promote diversity and individual freedoms, yet you “direct” those around you as to when to sit, stand, clap, or show emotion. Unfortunately, you seem to have a very difficult time when someone disagrees with your opinion. You are a woman in a role of leadership and you’ve looked less like a leader than the pint-sized bully at the local preschool. You, Mrs. Pelosi, are a mean girl. I’ve dealt with enough them to know. You want men/the world to respect us and treats us as equals, then don’t act like a deranged woman who’s in desperate need of some alone time in the bathroom to eat her hidden stash of chocolate in front of millions of people.

You didn’t use the time honored words to introduce the president. You allowed your personal feelings to override anything that looks like what you’re paid to do. You are paid to represent the American people and to do your best while you have the position. You’re not paid to have a temper tantrum upon your mini throne.

It’s OK, if you don’t feel love for the current president, but do you think that ripping up a speech that recognized and honored a baby born prematurely, a young lady receiving a big honor, a respected military man turning 100 years old, a soldier returning home, and more is the morally right thing to do? We wonder why there’s such a lack of respect for elders and authority in this country. You, ma’am, were a perfect example for the reason—you, you who are an elected “leader” of this great nation, acted like an enraged toddler whose Goldfish were taken away before you were ready. Sadly, you have repeatedly allowed the vitriol in your heart to overflow into your work.

You can rip up a copy of the president’s speech while trying to look cute and powerful to your cronies, but what worries me is that one day you’ll decide it’s time to rip up the Constitution. The 2020 election is coming up, and I pray that the people of this great land will recognize mental illness when they see it and allow you some much needed time off to get some help. Please, get some help.

Humbly,

Shannon Schick

Also thanks to the prolifically excellent Branco.

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We have frequent typos and clerical issues on this blog and I take responsibility for all of them. As the saying goes – we do our best proofreading after we hit send/post. I take some solace in seeing as bad in well-known, well-funded blogs that do or could employ proofreaders. Check this out from the shop of one of the top five newspaper publishing conglomerates. The Lee Enterprises home-town newspaper. It perhaps says more about the educational problem in Iowa than the story itself.  Brief comment follows.

Number proficiency/agreement continues to be a problem at QC Times

The above is what the QC Times sent via e-mail as a tease for its daily offering. Which is it, four or five?

The story is largely a hodgepodge of largely statistical BS.  The only one that is meaningful in our opinion is when fourth grade reading proficiency improves.  That is the key to everything.

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Via Wall Street Journal:

Newspaper Publisher McClatchy Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy…

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