This week was a big one for our friends at Fox News. Sure, the Left loves to talk about the Dominion defamation lawsuit against the network, but the Fox hate was cranked up to 12 (because 11 just won’t do) because of Tucker Carlson showing previously unreleased security footage from January 6th. You know, that insurrection that simultaneously could have destroyed the nation and was run by dumb Trump supporters?
Well, since both Leftists and, well, other Leftists are losing their collectivist shit over the footage, I figured it was time to take a look at the little cable network that could…bitch slap CNN and MSNBC into oblivion.
Fox News
What the Left thinks it means – a radical right wing network that lies to the country, thus becoming a national security threat
What it really means – a right-leaning network that represents everything the Left fears/hates
Fox News Channel began in 1996 from humble beginnings. Well, as humble as can be while being funded by a wealthy Australian. Anyway, Fox News was established as an alternative to the media, who lean so far left they walk at a 5 degree angle perpendicular to the ground, and it proved to be very successful. No longer did we have Leftist talking heads telling us what and how to think about the events of the day. Now, we had “fair and balanced” news.
Kinda.
It’s hard to overcome personal biases in the media, but Fox News at least tried to do it for a long time, and they still do. But try to convince a Leftist raised on Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann of that. They’ll continue to say Fox News isn’t really news because of all the lies they tell.
Seriously? Have you fucknuckles looked in the mirror lately?
Where the Left gets things twisted is a common blind spot for people: separating news from opinion. To the Left, the two are inseparable as they believe their opinions are facts. Granted, the Right does this as well, but in their defense people on the Right can be persuaded with facts most of the time. Their ego isn’t tied to being correct. The Left’s is.
But actual reporting has little to do with ego. The journalism of even the past 50 years has gone from hitting the pavement to hitting up a Leftist politician on Twitter to get a quote for a story that’s pretty much plug-and-play. Just add a quote or two, make Republicans look bad, and you’re done.
Fox News’ actual reporting isn’t anything like that from what I’ve seen. For one, they get blocked by Twitter Leftists. But more importantly the reporters on staff do amazing work. Even former Fox News contributors like Catherine Herridge found work after leaving it because of her reputation as a strong, driven reporter. And if you look at the body of her work, you’ll find a common theme: report the facts without emotional attachments. She’s like a female Data.
This blurring of lines between news and opinion actually makes the rest of the media look bad, mainly because they assume Fox News does what they do, only with more of a conservative bent. Of course, Leftists think…excuse me…AHAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAA!
So, where was I? Oh, yes, Leftist media.
Being anything to the right of the Socialist Socialite makes you incredible to Leftists, and not in a good way. Once you get branded as a conservative, Leftists no longer consider you to be human, let alone credible. Just ask Matt Taibbi, a reporter that used to work for Leftist rag Rolling Stone and is now reporter-non-grata for his role in the Twitter Files.
Yet, this is lazy thinking. Dismissing a source solely because of political leanings is silly. You need to take the time and really look at the body of work before you determine how badly they suck. Then, you can dismiss them.
In the case of Fox News, I can’t completely dismiss them for having no credibility. Their news side is consistently running circles around the competition by being good at their jobs. It’s the commentary side that ultimately hurts the network. Sure, they have solid contributors like Brit Hume, Greg Gutfeld, Tammy Bruce, and Tulsi Gabbard, people whose opinions aren’t hidden and even-handed.
Then, there’s the hard pro-Trump side like Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, neither of one I can stand because they just find ways to say the same things over and over again night after night. If I wanted to hear Trump talking points, I would go right to the source, not filtered through people whose opinions I care less about than the insane homeless man I see on my way to work. Although the homeless guy did give me some great stock tips…
Regardless, Fox News is doing something right because they continue to dominate the cable news ratings. Granted, ratings doesn’t always mean quality. I’m looking right at you “Friends.” You owe me 3 years of my life back watching Ross and Rachel. And no number of times singing “Smelly Cat” will make up for it.
Yet, Fox News has enough crossover appeal that it gets people on the Left and the Right to watch. This link is from 2019, so the numbers may have changed, but the fact Fox News continues to dominate month after month, year after year, makes it harder to dismiss the network as niche. Even with the Dominion lawsuit looming over them, it just doesn’t matter.
And that’s what pisses off Leftists the most. No matter what they do, no matter how many boycotts or hashtags they come up with, Fox News keeps chugging along, making CNN and MSNBC fight for the scraps. Or scrap for the scraps, if you prefer (and I do).
Of course, the Left can’t let that happen, so they’re doing what they can to attack Fox News. Hence, the accusations they’re a threat to national security and lie all the time. And hence the reason they have to lie about what Fox News is.
A lot of the “Fox News is a national security threat” bullshit arose in the aftermath of January 6th, a dark day in our history where…let me check my notes…a bunch of people attended a rally in Washington, DC, to protest an election they felt was stolen and some asshats decided to be destructive dicks. Apparently, protesting the results of a contested election is a national security threat to the Left.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries? Please pick up the white courtesy phone. You may be a national security threat.
Where Fox News comes into the picture is related to the Dominion lawsuit in that the network is alleged to have lied to its viewers about the 2020 Presidential election being stolen, which prompted the January 6th “insurrection,” which as we’ve been told is worse than 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and another “Scary Movie” sequel…combined.
I won’t dispute Fox News had a hand in the “stolen election” narrative. What I do dispute is that they knowingly lied. I didn’t vote for Trump or Puddin’ Head Joe, so I don’t really have a dog in the hunt, but I can’t completely dismiss the idea there was some funky shit going down at the polls. Polling places running out of ballots, allegations of renewed counting after most of the vote counters had left, and other irregularities became the coin of the Trump realm. I can’t say every accusation of election irregularities could be substantiated with facts, but there were enough to make me question whether the results we got on Election Day 2020 were real or Memorex. And, me being the curious boy I am, I want to get to the bottom of it.
And apparently Fox News did, too. When the rest of the media dismissed the possibility of election fraud out of hand (while saying the 2016 election was fundamentally flawed because of Russia, Russia, Russia), Fox News became the contrarian and started to look at what happened with a critical eye.
You know, like reporters are supposed to do?
But is this questioning a threat to national security? In a word. In two words, fuck no. In three words, fuckity fuck no. In four words…well, let’s just say there’s a lot more variations of “fuck” used.
The First Amendment says Congress cannot pass laws prohibiting the redress of grievances against the government. If a rally about possible election fraud isn’t a redress of grievances, I don’t know what is. At the very least, the January 6 protestors had a Constitutional right to do what they did. Once they breached the rules of decorum to commit criminal acts, that protection goes the way of Kamala Harris’ Presidential hopes in 2024.
On top of that, the concept of January 6th being a “riot” or an “insurrection” is being undone by the security footage being shown. Most of the people at the rally stayed outside, and those who gained access to the Capitol mostly…took a tour, some with the help of the Capitol Police on duty that day.
But wait a minute! Wouldn’t that prove the Left’s narrative about January 6th is full of shit? Why, yes…yes it would! But they can’t just say “The real reason we lied about January 6th is because we got scared by a bunch of non-violent Americans who disagree with us” because it would go over as well as giving David Duke an NAACP Image Award.
And not to put too fine a point on this, but who was President on January 6, 2021? That would be Donald Trump, not Puddin’ Head Joe. There was no transfer of power, no transition (except maybe for some members of the Biden Administration), and no attempt to overthrow the government. For January 6th to be an actual insurrection, the protestors/”rioters” would have to be seeking to overthrow…the man they supported for President in 2020. Fox News broadcasting security footage doesn’t make the lack of logic behind the “insurrection” go away, nor is it nearly as horrible as the Left wants to make it out to be. The only real threat with releasing the security footage isn’t to national security, but to the security of the Leftist narrative.
Now, for the lying. Not on my part, but to the allegations Fox News misinforms its viewers. Let’s just say any major media outlet that pushed even one-tenth of the stories about Russiagate being real should take all the seats. Much of what passes for reporting these days revolves around lying, whether it be omitting context, fabricating stories to advance a narrative, or spinning events to make one side look better than the other. In fact, most of the “reporters” today should get an additional pay for being the DNC’s steno pool.
Fox News is no different, except for the DNC steno pool bit. They do exactly what the rest of the media do, only for the Right instead of the Left. That’s not meant as an excuse, but rather an observation built over 35 years of studying the media both formally and informally. It’s hypocritical for the Left to hold Fox News to a higher standard than they hold themselves, but it’s par for the Alinsky course. Not that you’d ever get an actual admission of dishonesty from the Left, mind you. They’re still clinging to the “very fine people on both sides” lie as though it were a security blanket.
So, is Fox News as bad as its critics say it is? Yes, and no. They are a product of the current media environment and are guilty of at least some of the sins attributed to it. Overall, they’re no better or worse than any other media outlet, and much of the criticism levied against it is the result of partisan hyperbole. Having said that, Fox News has a lot of room to improve. Don’t fall back on reciting RNC/Donald Trump talking points and go back to reporting that lives up to the “fair and balanced” standard.
Oh, and fire Geraldo Rivera. He’s as useful as tits on Michael Moore.
Tag: joe biden
2023 State of the Onion Address
My fellow Americans. Oh, and you, too, Leftists.
2022 was an interesting year for the media. Sure, they still haven’t figured out how to get their favorability ratings above Hitler, Stalin, and Nickelback, but they really tried.
Just kidding. They still suck.
What made 2022 so interesting for the media was how many stories they got wrong, either on purpose or by accident, and how quickly (relatively speaking) they corrected these errors. One thing they weren’t shy about, though, was labeling news stories “conspiracy theories.” It’s gotten to the point parody news sites were doing better journalism than the serious ones.
The merging of opinion and news continued unabated, as did the elevation of certain stories/narratives along with the suppression of others. And, surprise surprise, much of the latter was done under the auspices of battling misinformation. Well, the problem was these fuckknuckles were too busy creating misinformation to bother with doing even basic reporting.
Let’s start with COVID-19. From the jump, media squawking heads put down anyone who wasn’t 100% behind getting the jab, wearing more masks than a Halloween costume model working straight commission, and worshiping at the altar of Saint Anthony of Fauci. Even negative stories about the good doctor, like the fact he supported gain of function research after saying repeatedly he didn’t, were turned into cudgels with which to beat the infidels.
And by infidels, I mean the people who were right to be skeptical about how cultish the pro-vax side had gotten. I have seen Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades with less marching in lockstep than I saw during the height of COVID. And, yes, that sentiment remains today, even as more and more shit comes out about how full of shit the pro-vax side was. Even they could see the writing on the wall and started trying to play off their stridency as a “whoopsie doodle”!
And the media not only played a role in creating the “vax or you’re scum” environment, but unironically tried to get us to forgive and forget as though nothing major happened.
And the media wonder why people don’t trust them.
If I could offer some perspective (and I can because this is my post), a lot of it comes down to how far the media are willing to lie to us about what we’re seeing right in front of our eyes. We saw the start of a regime change within Twitter, which ruffled Leftist and media (but I repeat myself) feathers to no end. Elon Musk went from eco-friendly visionary to reactionary maniac hellbent on pushing right wing narratives. All because he saw what so many of us saw: Twitter wasn’t enforcing its own rules with any degree of fairness or obvious logic. Even now, most media types are ignoring or dismissing the Twitter Files instead of following up to either prove or disprove the information within them.
Oh, but the screamingly obvious that even Ray Charles can see (which is pretty damn impressive for a dead guy) has to be a figment of our imaginations.
Then, on the other ends of the impressiveness spectrum, we have media whore…I mean darling Taylor Lorenz. Words cannot express just how low my opinion of her journalistic skills is. The best way I can say it is if my opinion was any lower, it would bore through the Earth and come out the other side without stopping. Yet, because she starts shit, gets hit, and cries about it all, the media put her on a pedestal and gave her Most Favored Victim status. Whenever the topic of toxic online culture was brought up, you can be Ms. Lorenz was there to pick up a paycheck and pimp herself even more than a self-employed prostitute.
This isn’t to say the media on the Right was any better. Remember the “red wave” that was supposed to happen during the midterm elections? The one that was a lock and would cause Leftist heads to explode from sea to shining sea? Yeah…about that. So much bravado lead to so few seats being picked up by the GOP. And it didn’t help matters that media heat magnet Donald Trump used the same high quality judgement in picking candidates that he used to pick Cabinet posts. Trump went through staffers like most people go through chewing gum.
Although most Trump-backed candidates won (mostly because they were in safe Districts or were running unopposed), the media had a field day focusing on the more spectacular dumpster fires like Dr. Oz, who was as much of a Pennsylvanian as Gavin Newsom. This is because the media love a shitshow, and Trump’s presence in 2022 was a 25/8 shitshow because 24/7 just wasn’t long enough.
But there is a downside to all the media attention spent on Trump: Trump Derangement Syndrome. I’ll admit I was late to the party on this, thinking it was just a meme the Right used to mock the Left. After the media coverage from 2022, I’m a believer. It’s real, and it’s seriously affecting the brains of the media. Granted there’s not much to affect in the brains of most reporters, but even a mild case of TDS was enough to turn them from frothing-at-the-mouth Trump haters to…well, even bigger frothing-at-the-mouth Trump haters.
Yet, for all the intense scrutiny the media gave to every Trump foible, the media couldn’t wait to look the other way when it came to President Puddin’ Head Joe. On nearly a daily basis, the PHJ Administration embarrassed themselves, being over their heads in a political mud puddle in the Sahara. Whether it was Puddin’ Head Joe’s invention of nonsense words (which was and is attributed to stuttering) or Vice President Kamala Harris laughing at the most inappropriate times like she was huffing nitrous oxide on the daily to Administration officials being more tone deaf than William Hung, it was a 947 ring circus solely staffed by clowns on the daily.
But no mean tweets, amirite, kids?
Want proof? I have three words for you: Hunter Biden’s laptop. The media coverage of this story was more scarce than a Japanese fishing village when Godzilla came to town for a weekend bender. Instead, they were playing defense for Puddin’ Head Joe and Hunter “I’m Not a Crackhead, But..Wait, What Was I Saying” Biden at every turn, usually by…you guessed it, bringing up Trump. Let me give you media types some free advice: when your main defense of a politician you like revolves around smearing a politician you hate, your dude fucking sucks!
With the 2024 Presidential election right around the corner, the media are focusing on who they believe the next Republican candidate will be, and that person is…Donald Trump. Or Ron DeSantis. You know, whomever they want to shit on that day. Be prepared to see a lot more of what’s happened since 2016 to continue, only at a louder and more shrill volume. If current trends continue, media complaints about Trump and/or DeSantis are going to only be heard by dogs before the first ballot gets cast.
So, buckle up, kids. This year is going to be off the charts, and not in a good way!
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
Ever see the movie “Catch Me If You Can“? If not, it’s a movie about a real person, Frank Abagnale Jr., who made a name for himself by scamming people. Well, recently Republicans found their own Frank Abagnale in the form of George Santos, incoming Republican Congressman from New York. Seems he lied, like, a lot.
In other words, he was well-qualified for the job.
Leftists, never known for being honest or consistent, have jumped on the controversy to try to demand he resign and start state and federal investigations into his campaign. Although I really don’t have a problem with any of that, the Left’s reaction is a bit of a tell, as we’ll see in a bit.
George Santos
What the Left thinks it means – a Republican politician who should not be allowed to represent anyone because he lied about his past
What it really means – a man being held to a different standard by the Left to hide the real reason they want him gone
This is going to come to a shock to some of you, but politicians lie. I’ll give you all a moment to compose yourselves after such a revelation.
Okay, that’s long enough.
What makes Santos a different breed of cat, according to the Left, is the extent of his lies. He’s claimed to be Jewish, gay, a financial advisor to Goldman Sachs, and any number of things, both about himself and his family. Hmm…that sounds a lot like a former Vice President, but I can’t remember who…
Oh, well. Guess I’ll have some pudding.
While the lies themselves are troubling, what’s more troubling is the underlying reason for the Left’s reaction. No, they haven’t decided to turn over a new leaf and become truth seekers. Instead, their reaction is based on something more…base. And if Meghan Trainor taught us anything, it’s that it’s all about that base….
For more context, let’s take a trip to New York. See, Mr. (or Doctor or Monsignor or whatever title he’s given himself) Santos committed a mortal sin in Leftists’ minds: he beat a Democrat. What’s more, it was a seat formerly held by a Democrat, meaning it flipped with Santos’ election. That alone would make Santos a target for Leftist hate, but the over embellishment of his resume gives them a legitimate hook on which to hang their disdain and hide their real agenda.
Of course, getting Santos to either resign or have House Republicans not seat him won’t affect the fact Republicans will still hold a slight majority. But that’s not the point. The point is to make Republicans live up to their own standards, as our good friend Saul Alinsky taught in Rules for Radicals. And knowing how many House Republicans have spines of Jello, there’s a good chance this strategy will work.
Provided, of course, some House Republicans don’t use the Santos situation to expose the Left’s hypocrisy, that is. And it’s not like they will have to do a lot of legwork because conservative commenters on Twitter have already done it. It is just a matter of playing the Left’s game better than they do. Make them defend their silence/defense of Puddin’ Head Joe’s multiple lies, and don’t let them off the hook. After all, these are the same fucknuckles who said former President Donald Trump lied over 30,000 times and said it was unbecoming of a President.
Of course, the Left will call this “whataboutism” (mainly because they can’t refute Puddin’ Head Joe’s lies), which to some extent it is. My counter to this is simple: lying is never good for leaders to do, even if it’s infrequent. Whether it’s 30,000 lies or just 30, each time a political leader pulls a Tommy Flannagan it undermines public trust. Or at least that’s what my wife, Morgan Fairchild, says.
But a key for this to work is consistency. Republicans need to hold Santos to the same standard as Biden, and not quietly in either case. And, while we’re at it, let’s follow the Left’s logic a bit more. Santos should be punished, whether it be by the House Leadership or by his constituents, and so should Puddin’ Head Joe. Then, sweeten the pot by pointing out how Leftist darlings Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth “Chief Running Mouth” Warren, Eric Swalwell, Richard Blumenthal, Adam Schiff, and others should be held to the same standard the Left wants to apply to Santos.
Then, when Leftists point out Republican liars, say, “Sure. Throw them out, too.”
Then, grab a bottle of water as the Leftists run off in a cloud of dust that would make the Road Runner look like a sleeping sloth. But enough about Jerrold Nadler.
Let’s face it, George Santos gives the GOP a black eye (or if you’re politically correct, an African-American eye). The fact he got this far without someone at the RNC giving him the side-eye at all the red flags that came up means the party needs to seriously revamp their vetting process. It doesn’t matter if the candidate is backed by Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or Susan Collins, Republicans need to do a much better job in 2024 to avoid embarrassments like Santos.
After all, we wouldn’t want someone like that to be President, right?
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
After a week full of surprise twists (the #TwitterFiles exposing a lot more than anticipated), not-so-surprise twists (Leftists being wrong again about Twitter being dead), and some disappointing-but-not-surprising twists (Herschel Walker couldn’t cross the goal line to win the Georgia Senate runoff election against Raphael Warnock), we finally have a story worth discussing that doesn’t involve Elon Musk.
Brittney Griner is coming home!
Now, if you’re like me (and if you are I’m so very sorry), you have little or no idea who Brittney Griner is. I will admit I had to do a bit of digging to get the facts behind why her release is such a big deal, and I agree it is. Just not for the reason the Left wants us to believe it is.
Brittney Griner
What the Left thinks it means – a brave woman freed after being imprisoned in Russia for no reason
What it really means – a prisoner released solely due to the social justice hierarchy
When Joe Biden took over as President, I knew there would be some bad decisions coming down the pike. I mean, he picked Kamala Harris as Vice-President, a woman so unpopular with Democrats that I got the same number of delegates she did and I didn’t even run. Sure enough, there were no supply chain issues with Puddin’ Head Joe’s bad decisions, as they kept coming in like a LGBQT+ wrecking ball.
Even with incredibly low expectations, I knew somehow the Biden Administration would find a way to limbo under them with room to spare. And that’s exactly what we got with the Griner release.
Brittney Griner is a WNBA player who played in Russia during the off season (which is not that different from the regular WNBA season) and was detained after a search found vape cartridges with hash oil in them. Although what she had was legal in Arizona where Griner plays, it isn’t legal in Russia. As a result, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. Griner appealed the verdict, but was denied. Now, less than a year after she was arrested, Griner is free. A feel good story, right?
Yeaaaaah…not so much.
The terms of Griner’s release included a prisoner exchange for Viktor Bout, who just happens to be an arms dealer with the cute little nickname “the Merchant of Death.” Aside from the laundry list of activities for which he became infamous, he was also the inspiration for a Nicholas Cage movie. That alone should have kept him locked up indefinitely.
Then came Puddin’ Head Joe, who thought it was a good idea to trade Bout for Griner with the hopes of getting another American prisoner detained in Russia, former Marine Paul Whelan. Whelan has been detained since 2018 amid allegations of espionage. Although the charges seem a bit shaky, America has let him sit in a prison camp for far longer than Griner.
So, why are we getting excited over a WNBA player getting released in exchange for an arms dealer? A lot of it has to do with Griner’s identity. Not only is she a basketball player (that maybe 0.00000000001% of the population knew prior to her arrest), but she is black and a lesbian. In social justice terms, that’s practically a “Get Out of Gulag Free” Card! Throw in the fact she lobbied the WNBA to not play the National Anthem during the 2019 season to protest police brutality, and you might as well make her a Leftist Saint. You know, if they believed in that sort of thing.
Even if you strip away all of that, anybody with a lick of sense can see trading an arms dealer for a basketball player while leaving a retired Marine on the table is a bad idea. For one, it’s a fucking arms dealer! For another, it shows the world just what America values these days. If you’re an albino transsexual paraplegic Inuit midget with AIDS, you’ll get the Biden Administration working around the clock to get you home. If you’re a white guy, well…let’s just say you’re going to have to wait a while.
Like, say, the 43rd of Never.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but Bout is also a Russian fucking arms dealer! Now, who are we currently in c0nflict with on the world states? If you said Russia, congratulations! You’ve been paying attention. And if you’ve been paying attention, you can also see where this is going, but for you Leftists reading this, let me spell it out for you: Joe Biden just gave Vladimir Putin an arms dealer, all while funneling money to Ukraine…who is currently fighting Putin and Russia.
Either Griner is one hell of a basketball player, or Puddin’ Head Joe got played. And I think you know which way I’m leaning on that one.
Regardless of how you feel about Griner’s detainment (I think it’s bullshit) and release (it’s great she’s coming back home), the fact the only way it makes sense is through the lens of social justice should be concerning. We should not be making these kinds of major decisions through social justice because of the way social justice operates.
Leftists have devised a hierarchy of oppression through which they view different scenarios to determine how to react. Put another way, it’s a checklist to see how oppressed you are based on superficial factors like gender or race. Check enough boxes and, voila, you’re oppressed! But wait! There’s more! Not only will the hierarchy of oppression tell you if you’re oppressed, but it will show you how oppressed you are! And if your oppression score is lower than someone else’s, the other person gets the support because…oppression!
This makes Calvinball look like chess.
Needless to say, when you prioritize oppression by who allegedly has more of it, some people are still going to feel oppressed which doesn’t help the situation any. Then again, if Leftists were critical thinkers, we might not have Puddin’ Head Joe as President.
As it stands, Brittney Griner is coming home to a hero’s welcome while Russia gets a fucking arms dealer back and a former Marine remains in custody. Even before now, the Left has been writing pieces damning America for various aspects of our prison system or why our government should be supporting Griner because patriotism or what it says about America’s current social issues or how black women are treated in prison. Expect this trend to continue with more frequency and ever higher decibel levels.
But always keep in the back of your mind the Leftists cheering at Griner’s freedom have given zero fucks about Paul Whelan, as evidenced by a) how they haven’t talked about him before now, and b) how slowly the Biden Administration has been working towards getting him home. But when social justice overrules geopolitics and common sense, you’re bound to find yourselves in situations where the obvious answer gets rejected in favor of a worse deal than the Minnesota Vikings trading for Hershel Walker.
Oh, and one last thing. Viktor Bout is a fucking arms dealer.
Damn. Now I need some of the good eggnog…
A Nuclear Iran?
While people’s attentions have been focused on the war in Ukraine (if their Twitter bios are any indication), there have been some big goings on in the Middle East, namely Iran. A recent story from The Jerusalem Post suggests Iran might either be close to or has nuclear weapon capability. Granted, this is a report from Iran itself filtered through Al Jazeera (the Salon of the Islamic world in your humble reporter’s opinion), so we might have to take Iran’s word with a Mount Everest-sized grain of salt.
However, I happen to take a slightly less optimistic view of this news. For a few years now, I have predicted Iran would go nuclear sooner rather than later, and it wouldn’t be for power generation as the Iranian government and their Leftist enablers in America would have us believe. Think about it for a moment. Iran has one of the largest oil deposits in the world under their feet, so why would they want to go nuclear?
Here’s a hint: they’re not trying to go green, kids.
The fact of the matter is Iran has had nuclear designs since former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (whom I affectionately call Mahmoud Imadinnerjacket) came onto the scene. At the time, Leftists swooned over Imadinnerjacket because he was critical of then-President George W. Bush. (That, and Leftists are massive dumbasses when it comes to the Middle East.) After a brief love affair, Leftists must have lost his number and promptly ghosted him. Either that, or it was his speech where he claimed there were no gay people in Iran (mainly because he killed them on sight). Six of one, half a dozen of another, I guess…
Anyway, we managed to stymie Iran’s nuclear development until President Barack Obama decided the people who loved to chant “Death to America” were trustworthy enough to honor a deal with us to not develop nuclear weapons in exchange for the easing of sanctions against them. Oh, and a tidy $1.7 billion in cash. No way that could backfire, amirite? Not with the brilliant foreign policy of John “I Was For Kissing Iran’s Ass Before I Was For It” Kerry!
As little faith as I have in Kerry’s ability to negotiate for a $5 foot long at Subway, I have even less faith in Iran telling us the truth. Not only do they have a vested interest in keeping their nuclear arms program on the lowest of down-lows, but they still see us as an enemy to be wiped from the face of this earth. Although with inflation these days, we may be downgraded from “Great Satan” to “Mostly Okay Satan” to save some money, but the point remains the same. We are less likely to see Seth Rogan winning a Best Actor Oscar than we are to making Iran our newest buddy.
Of course, no foreign policy blunder would be complete without some level of confusion. Although the Iran Deal promised it would prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, there is some controversy over whether Iran actually kept up its end of the deal. Of course, when these accusations went public, Iran claimed it was the coalition that put the Iran Deal together that reneged on the agreement, which left them free to continue what they were most likely doing in the first place.
Complicating matters further is the aforementioned announcement came with a threat to attack Israel (who actually is a buddy globally) if they attempt to stop Iran’s nuclear development. Historically, the US and Israel have been on good terms, but recently that hasn’t always been the case. Thanks to former President Obama, Israel has learned it can’t always count on us to back its play on the geopolitical stage. Even with Obama’s former Vice President at the helm, there haven’t been any indications President Biden will be recycling the Obama approach. Even so, I’m guessing Israel might still have a few sleepless nights worrying.
After all, the President is a guy who thought dividing Iraq into three separate states was a good idea.
Either way, there may be some out there who question the Jerusalem Post‘s reporting since they have a vested interest in parroting the official line of the country. This is a fair point, in my opinion, but it also applies to Al Jazeera. If bias is a disqualifying point for one side, it needs to be a disqualifying point for both sides. Of course, Leftists don’t want that since they have a hate boner for Israel. Not their money, mind you. Just the country itself. Plus, the Left has raved about Al Jazeera’s reporting for years now, which calls into question how objective they can be with the Jerusalem Post. (Not to mention whether they know the first thing about actual reporting.)
For me, it’s pretty much a wash. If we’re being honest (and I really have no reason not to be here), it’s clear both the Jerusalem Post and Al Jazeera have agendas, which will skew everything from hard news to the weather report if unchecked. So, which side is telling the truth?
That’s when I apply a little common sense to see if I can find the more plausible/likely scenario. Neither Israel nor Iran has completely clean hands, but Iran has been playing around in the coal mines from a transparency perspective. They have a long track record of not digging our scene, which gives them every justification in their minds to try to pull one over on us. What better way to do that than by developing nuclear weapons in direct defiance of our efforts and the Iran Deal we put in place?
Israel, on the other hand, doesn’t have any such motivation. They are stronger than they let on, but they still need our help to maintain that strength. And let’s not overlook the fact Israel has had nukes since the mid-to-late 60s and hasn’t once threatened to destroy us. That goes a long way with me.
When all these factors are considered, it’s more likely Iran has nuclear weapons, but has been slow-rolling us to give the impression they’re complying with the Iran Deal. There are just too many questions to give them the benefit of the doubt here.
And that should scare the shit out of us. The fact the prospect of a nuclear Iran isn’t even a blip on our proverbial radar is a bad sign foretelling a worse outcome unless we take it seriously.
In a society where we’re more worked up over the number of genders than we are a country that hates our guts and will be a nuclear power sooner rather than later, is it any wonder I think we’re doomed?
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
Since its inception, the Internet has been home to three main things: porn, cat pictures, and conspiracy theories. Whether it’s “exposing” the Bilderbergs or finding the CIA’s connections to if the cat can haz cheeseburger, there are parts of the Information Superhighway that lead to sketchy neighborhoods.
During the Trump Administration, the Left heaped scorn on QAnon, a movement sharing pro-Trump information and finding conspiracies where there weren’t any. Now, the Left has its own QAnon group, nicknamed “Blue Anon.” And, as with most things the Left is involved in, it’s divisive. There are some who take Blue Anon as seriously as the footnotes in a Buzzfeed article, and others who take it very seriously as the Leftist hackery in a Buzzfeed article. In either case, it’s worth further mockery…I mean examination.
Blue Anon
What the Left thinks it means – Ummmm…let me circle back with you on that…
What it really means – a sign not everything is rosy in Bidenland
In my lifetime, I’ve watched as the Democrat Party went from a political party to a collective of loosely-connected voting blocs, often working at cross purposes, who vote the way they do because “they’re better than Republicans.” In the past two Presidential election cycles, though, there is a core of activists who don’t necessarily agree the Democrats are better than the Republicans and feel the party needs to move further Left. Apparently because these activists want to lose more elections, thus ensuring they will be “oppressed” with their iPhones and Starbucks lattes.
And it’s in these pockets of resistance where Blue Anon thrives. With Donald Trump out of office, they have to find a different Boogeyman to sustain their narrative that has the cushiest oppression this side of a 4 star day spa. Guess what, Leftists? They’re gunning for you now! Or they would if they didn’t believe guns were a tool of white supremacy or the Patriarchy or some such.
Regardless, Blue Anon isn’t happy with the current crop of Leftists running things, as is evidenced by watching the Socialist Socialite and the Squad take pot-shots at Nancy Pelosi whenever it’s politically expedient to do so, but to walk in line behind her most of the time. Say what you will about the Squad, they’ve picked up the Washington Cha-Cha pretty quickly. But they’re still committed to a more progressive Democrat Party in the near future, and the sooner for them, the better. As a result, there are people who not only buy into the idea Karl Marx had some good ideas, but also believe the current Democrat Party leadership is working against them.
Welcome to the Blue Anon Petrie dish!
To be fair, Blue Anon does have a point. The Leftist leadership wants nothing to do with advancing a more progressive agenda. A progressive agenda, yes, but not nearly as progressive as Blue Anon wants because of one thing: the Leftist leadership wants to stay in leadership. Losing elections because you took a hard stand to protect the Twin-Billed Yellow Sapsucker at the expense of a few thousand jobs isn’t something the leaders relish. Oh, they’ll pay it more lip service than Andrew Cuomo with his subordinates, but for some strange reason, they promptly forget it once they’ve secured enough votes to keep their butts Crazy Glued to their seats for the next millennia. It’s this reality of politics that escapes Blue Anon like most prisoners at Stalag 13, and it’s also the fuel for their conspiracy theories.
The thing to remember about any conspiracy theory is there is usually a nugget of truth in it. You may have to dig for it, but it’s there. With Blue Anon, the nugget of truth is there in the open, mainly because political Leftists aren’t afraid to show their contempt for people they consider inferior (i.e. not them). Where Blue Anon goes off the rails is when they attribute every bad outcome on the same nugget of truth even when there is no connection. To be fair, this is the same problem QAnon has, but it’s a feature of any conspiracy theory worth its salt.
Another feature, which is the fatal flaw, is the fact it can be reasonably explained away with common sense. In order to believe any conspiracy theory, you have to simultaneously believe the powers that be are so clever as to get into positions of power without being noticed while simultaneously being stupid enough to let the “real facts” get leaked to the conspiracy theorists. Now, I’ll admit I’m not an expert on stuff like this, but if the only people who know the truth are people you wouldn’t trust not to injure themselves with a plastic spork, I’m willing to bet they and the truth aren’t on speaking terms.
That is what makes Blue Anon so funny to me. These are people so convinced of their mental superiority while at the same time getting suckered in by an absurd con solely because it feeds into their preconceived ideas. That’s the hook, kids. Blue Anon works for Leftists because it reinforces their beliefs, no matter how silly or unrealistic. And before Leftist leaders can say “Et tu, AOC?” Blue Anon will start asserting their perceived power in an attempt to create political power.
And most of the time they will get crushed in the process. Ask Cindy Sheehan about trying to take on Nancy Pelosi.
On a bigger scale, Blue Anon represents the biggest failure of the Biden Administration to date: the inability to unite the country. There will be more failure to come, I assure you, but the failure to unite the country (which was one of the cornerstones of why Joe got the gig in the first place) will certainly be hard to top. And, yes, I know Leftists are blaming Trump and conservatives for this, which is fair. But you supported Joe Biden on the basis that he wasn’t Donald Trump and could bring the country back together again. Also, don’t give me the “he’s only been in office for X months” because Joe Biden was in office for most of my life, and I’m 51 as of the date of this writing. The fact he’s had decades to come up with a cogent vision isn’t undone because he just moved into the White House. Not to mention, he was Vice President for 8 years under Barack Obama, so it’s not like he’s been hiding in his basement…oh, wait.
Seriously, though, Blue Anon is going to be a thorn in the Left’s side for months to come because they can’t just dismiss them like they dismissed QAnon without political consequences, namely the 2022 midterm elections. Yet, they can’t simply accept Blue Anon at face value because the conspiratorial stink will rub off on them.
Welcome aboard the Kobiashi Maru, kids!
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
With the Electoral College officially voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the 2020 election is all over but the screeching. The Left has taken a break from its regularly scheduled outrage to focus on unity. And the Leftists in the media have jumped on board, claiming Biden and Harris are responsible for lower blood pressure (per an actual opinion piece from the Washington Post) to intelligence and maturity coming back to the White House. As a result, we are urged to get behind the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect so we can accomplish great things.
Like…well…ummm…I’m sure they’ll get around to it, as soon as Biden finds someone to copy.
While we wait for that moment, let’s take a look at unity.
unity
What the Left thinks it means – coming together as a country to undo the damage Donald Trump left
What it really means – do what the Left says or else
Four years ago, the Left was all about resisting. It was #IAmTheResistance this and #NotMyPresident that for four years. Now, resistance isn’t seen as favorably and the “Not My President” statements are mean and hurtful. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
And that is by design.
When the Left is in power, unity is important because they can’t handle actual diversity. Instead, they will batter the non-Leftists until they comply or until they rebel. Once they rebel, it becomes easy for them to marginalize (i.e. insult) them. It worked to a point with Trump supporters, and it may work as well, if not better, under a Biden Administration. The Left and the media (one in the same) are already praising Biden’s ability to unify people…without presenting any evidence. And, no, “he’s better than Trump” isn’t proof.
This isn’t to say Joe Biden won’t be able to do it. He is a likeable guy…if you ignore the frequent mental lapses and the weird fascination with body hair. For all intents and purposes, Joe Biden appears to be a good guy, which begs the question of why he’s in politics, but that’s neither here nor there. The problem he faces is the country isn’t full of nice guys on both sides of the aisle. Whether it’s the extreme right or extreme left, America is so contentious it makes the Hatfields and McCoys look like an Amish barn-raising. And unlike on the campaign trail, you can’t keep ducking questions about the extremists within your own party and ideology.
Including…oh, I don’t know…your Vice President.
While unity is a wonderful goal to strive for, we have to understand the Left’s version of unity isn’t One Nation Under God but One Nation Under the Thumb of the Federal Government. Imagine the person in your lives who are control freaks. Give them access to the military, and you have the Left’s governance strategy. In this case, unity involves shared struggle for the most people, themselves excluded. Even if you agree with this definition of unity, the fact it involves suffering doesn’t exactly make it an attractive option.
Now, what I’m about to say is going to shock you Leftists, so be prepared. Maybe unity isn’t something the government can provide for us. Oh, it can provide for the common defense to the tune of billions of dollars each year, but when has any government actively brought people together? Instead, let’s turn our sights a little be closer to home. Namely…us.
After 9/11, we came together as a nation because the tragedy didn’t just affect one political party or another, one race or another, one creed or another. It affected us all. We looked to government to help us, but when it came to coming together, that was all us, kids. We found commonality amidst the chaos and uncertainty and for a relatively short time, we were a United States again. It felt good to reconnect with our neighbors again, didn’t it? We mourned the losses and praised the front line police, fire, and medical services who were trying to keep the number of fatalities as low as possible, to keep working and never giving up hope in finding one more survivor.
When we are united, not out of shared pain but out of shared pride, we can accomplish just about anything. I believed it on 9/12, and I believe it today. The Left wants us to unify under an ideology or a politician that is a means to an end. The unity I speak of doesn’t even involve the ultimately meaningless descriptors we give to ourselves or are given to us by others as a means to pigeonhole us. All it involves is stripping off those labels and seeing each other as people. The Left can’t do that because their ideology relies on finding and exploiting our differences.
If you want to unite the country with me, the line starts to my left and my right.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
Yep, this is another Election 2020-related blog post.
The latest news out of the Election That Won’t Die revolves around 126 Republican Congresscritters who supported a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump’s election team against four states due to election irregularities (you know, like…throwing away military votes for the President). This has the Left up in arms. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said these Republicans have “brought dishonor to the House.”
But that’s not good enough for Leftists. Leftist Twitter (but I repeat myself) exploded with claims these House Republicans are guilty of sedition. Probably not the best week to invoke this, given Rep. Eric Swalwell sleeping with a Chinese spy while he was running for the House, but let’s go with it. Do they have a point this time? Let’s delve deeper into sedition, hopefully without contributing to it.
sedition
What the Left thinks it means – advocating for revolting against and toppling the established order
What it really means – another example of how the Left doesn’t understand irony
For the past 4 years, Democrats and Leftists have been calling President Trump illegitimate and demanding he be removed from office because he didn’t win the popular vote and/or various crimes he and his family are alleged to have committed. They “know” Trump had help from Russia to steal the 2016 elections. In fact, they went so far as to hold protests across the country delegitimizing the Trump Presidency, up to and including violent overthrow of the government or blowing up the White House.
Yeah. These are the folks I trust when it comes to sedition.
On the plus side, Leftists are concerned with people who want to overthrow our government. On the down side, they’re going after the wrong folks. I’ll be the first one to tell you I thought the lawsuit was dumber than letting Jeffrey Epstein babysit, but does it rise to the level the Left wants you think it does? The short answer is no. The longer answer is still no, but has a lot more words connected to it.
The President’s lawsuit, although ill-advised, isn’t an attempt to overthrow the government or its rightful leadership. Neither is the support from House Republicans because…and this is the part the Left keeps forgetting…Trump is still President until January 20, 2021. This little detail makes the sedition charges harder to stick. After all, why would the support for the President’s lawsuit be seditious when the person bringing the lawsuit itself is the President? No violence called for. No threats against the President’s life or the lives of government leaders. Just support for a lawsuit.
Can you say “overkill”? I knew you could.
Even if you expand the focus to the lawsuit and its supporters hurting the government, it falls flat because of the forum used to address the President’s concerns: the courts. You know, the courts…that are established in the Constitution? If President Trump is trying to get people to rebel against the government, he’s doing a crappy job of it. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the Left is reaching more than Reed Richards.
The funny thing (at least to me) is how quickly the Left is adopting conservative ideas. Since it’s their ideology that stands to gain or lose the most over the outcome of the lawsuit, they want to preserve the status quo of a Biden victory over Trump. If the courts agree with the Trump campaign (which, to date, they haven’t, making them the second most losing team in history behind the Cleveland Browns, but work with me here), that overturns everything the Left wants to accomplish. No Green New Deal, no tax hikes on the wealthy, no free health care and tuition, just four more years of Trump’s Tweets and Leftist meltdowns. Don’t worry, though. Leftists will still have their meltdowns because that’s what they do in lieu of gainful employment.
Once you get past the hyperbole, the Left’s concept of sedition in this case is frightfully strong in words, but frightfully weak in application. In a few short years, they’ve gone from “Dissent is patriotic” to “Dissent is treason.” Yet, the First Amendment gives people the right to not only criticize the government, but to redress grievances with the government. Under Republican Presidents, the Left uses, if not abuses, both concepts demanding they be heard. Under Democrat Presidents, however, they seem to “forget” these parts of the First Amendment exist. Funny how that works out, isn’t it?
This is by design, of course. Leftists believe anyone who doesn’t stay in line like a Rockette is intellectually and morally inferior, which justifies their actions (at least in their minds). To extend this thinking a bit further, anything a non-Leftist does is anti-American and dangerous to the country. And when that non-Leftist is connected to Trump in any way, it becomes an imperative to discredit them, if not outright punish them for not thinking the right way.
George Orwell called. He wanted to let you Leftists know “1984” wasn’t an instruction manual.
Regardless of my feelings on the Trump campaign’s lawsuit regarding the 2020 election, there is no way it rises to the level of sedition, even if you water the definition down like a drink at a strip club. It’s more of the Left conflating objections to their ideology with objections to the country. After seeing some of the Left over the past four years, it’s safe to say the two are mutually exclusive.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
After the Associated Press called the 2020 election for Joe Biden, the Left wet themselves with joy (and I hope it was just tears). As soon as the fireworks were set off, the spreader events…I mean street parties, and other celebrations wound down, the Left then started demanding President Donald Trump concede the election and start a smooth transition period. You know, like the Left did when President Trump was elected.
Okay, bad example.
While we’re trying to sort through questions like whether Twitter will consider “Not My President” hate speech, few people are considering what a transition looks and feels like. And, as you might expect, the Left has a completely different mindset when it comes to transitions.
transition of power
What the Left thinks it means – a tradition where an outgoing President paves the way for an incoming President to hit the ground running
What it really means – holding Republican Presidential staffs to standards Democrat Presidential staffs can’t meet
Politics is an ugly game, especially in these hyper-partisan times. I’ve seen family Monopoly games end more amicably than recent elections and with fewer lawsuits. And after 4+ years of the Left demonizing the President, his family, his staff, his supporters, and anyone even tangentially related to the Trump family or campaign, any transition of power is going to be more like a hostage negotiation than a handing off of a baton.
In recent history, one party has been responsible and without malice when handing over the keys to the White House to its new inhabitants. And the other party is the Democrats. Whether it was taking White House furniture, removing the W keys off keyboards or spying on the incoming President, the Left has been petty when it comes to transitions, so when they demand a smooth transition for Joe Biden, it rings hollow for me.
The reasons for the Left’s call for civility after their lack of said civility over the past few years come down to holding President Trump to their standard, using it as a pseudo-concession, and scoring a political win without spending political capital to obtain it. Let’s break these down one at a time.
One of the Left’s favorite strategy guides is Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky. One of the tenets is “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” In this case, the Left has set the demand Trump follow the precedent of previous Republican Presidents and submit. And the President has done what any Republican President in his place has done: ignore them. (Okay, only some of them would have told the Left to take a hike, but we can dream.) The more President Trump defies the Left’s demands, the more vocal the demands become. It’s like having a Judas Priest concert in the Grand Canyon.
Because President Trump has yet to concede, the Left are trying to manipulate him into a half-measure they can spin into a concession. If Trump starts the transition phase right now, the Left can then say he conceded, even though he hasn’t really. That will go a long way toward getting popular opinion on their side because many people think Biden is or should be acting President right now, but that’s to be expected by a culture that made Cardi B popular.
And the best part of this for the Left is they don’t lose any political capital making these demands. As of this writing, the House is barely in Democrat control and Senate control hasn’t been completely decided yet. After wasting money and political capital to unseat Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and fail, the Left needs to keep their eyes on what they can and cannot afford to use to fulfill their objectives. Right now, all the Left has to do is keep telling President Trump to concede or at least start the transfer of power to Joe Biden and it doesn’t cost them anything but time and energy.
In spite of all this, the Left hasn’t gotten Trump to budge because he’s not like past Republicans. He has his own set of rules and norms, which has infuriated people on the Left and the Right because they don’t agree with his approach. It also means he isn’t bound to their expectations. When they say “jump” Trump tells them to jump in a lake, although probably not in those words nor as nicely as I put it. Although this approach has made him less popular than Gretchen Witmer at a Michigan NRA meeting, it has shown an independent streak the Left doesn’t know how to handle. They love diversity, except when it comes to diversity of thought. Free will is a Leftist’s worst nightmare, so they will try to coerce compliance whenever possible.
Needless to say that hasn’t worked with President Trump.
Regardless of who takes up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January 20th, the transition tradition is going to look and feel different going forward. Republican Presidents may be more emboldened (hey, I can dream, can’t I) to treat the Left like the Left has treated Republicans during previous transitions of power, but something tells me they’ll be adults about it. Meanwhile, Leftists are going to continue to use the process to say one thing and do another for political ends.
In other words, acting like they do on any day ending in a Y.
Election Fraud
The evidence of fraud taking place in the 2020 Presidential Election is overwhelming. Reported across multiple media sources and social media as well before it gets taken down by the current tech giants. It is plain as day.
From the media reporting different results from the official election results being reported by the various Secretaries of State on their websites to the videos and photos being released by poll watchers across the nation.
We see the tampering of ballots. We see manual voter registrations being entered to the the voter rolls on election day of people born in 1900 or even 1824.
We find that our overseas military absentee ballots have been dumped into the trash. And mail-in ballots being accepted without postmarks.
We see voters given Sharpies to mark ballots with instead of regular ink pens. Since voting machines can’t read Sharpies these votes aren’t counted but the ballot is accepted and marked as read. We see voting machines not properly filled with ink in a strong Republican district.
Poll watchers were removed from some polling places after they noted irregularities. and illegal activity being conducted. Some were removed when they took the evidence on camera that we are seeing being presented as evidence.
And these are just the tip of the iceberg of the fraud that is being carried out in the 2020 election. This a coup by election fraud. If Biden wins it will be because he cheated and the Democratic Party is corrupt at its very core. And the whole world will know it.
But thankfully there is a fix in the works. Vortex Blockchain Technologies will prevent voter fraud like this from ever happening again. But until that day comes we may have to endure 4 years of a Harris Administration and loss of Liberty.