Free Republic

My memory could be tricking me, but I seem to recall McConnell saying something to the effect that what he was hearing in the 2020 impeachment trial in President Trump's defense was the first time he was hearing it.

If so, it's not a stretch to believe he's saying this now. As the Senate majority leader, he's been woefully out of touch with what's been going on.

-PJ

The real question is if Gore had become President, would Tipper still have divorced him in 2010, or sooner, or later, or not at all?

-PJ

The argument against the Keystone XL is political. Biden’s leftwing base despises fossil fuels and opposes just about every project that develops them or helps bring them to market.

That may have been Obama's nominal reason for blocking the Keystone pipeline, but Biden's reason is simpler: restore the Obama legacy.

If Obama wanted it and Trump overturned it, Biden will overturn the overturn just because Trump overturned it, regardless of its positive impact on the American economy and energy self-sufficiency.

-PJ

The notional case against Keystone is environmental in the main part, and in the lesser part an issue of Indian lands and rights.

That may have been Obama's nominal reason for blocking the Keystone pipeline, but Biden's reason is simpler: restore the Obama legacy.

If Obama wanted it and Trump overturned it, Biden will overturn the overturn, just because Trump overturned it regardless of its positive impact on the American economy and energy self-sufficiency.

-PJ

I predict that all the reasons groups had for standing to sue the Trump administration over immigration issues will no longer justify standing to sue the Biden administration over immigration issues.

-PJ

I predict that all the reasons that groups had standing to sue the Trump administration over immigration issues will no longer justify standing to sue the Biden administration over immigration issues.

-PJ

Keep an eye on Senator Patrick Leahy's health (he's 80 and declining). Start rumors that he's starting to fail mentally. Leave windows open. 😉

If Leahy leaves the Senate, Vermont Governor Phil Scott is a Republican and can appoint a Republican to fill the vacancy. This would take back control of the Senate with 51R - 49D and kick Schumer back to minority leader status.

-PJ

Here is my plan for the GOP:

Keep an eye on Senator Patrick Leahy's health (he's 80 and declining). Start rumors that he's starting to fail mentally. Leave windows open. 😉

If Leahy leaves the Senate, Vermont Governor Phil Scott is a Republican and can appoint a Republican to fill the vacancy. This would take back control of the Senate with 51R - 49D.

-PJ

Recently, I've been using eye round to make roast beef sandwiches.

I heavily salt it and let it stand in the refrigerator overnight (you can add other spices like paprika, too). The beef absorbs the salt and helps to tenderize it.

The next day, I cook it in a sous vide at 135 degrees for 90 minutes. Cooking it slowly also helps to tenderize the meat.

When it's done, I let it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours and then slice it thinly for sandwiches.

-PJ

The dubious legality of Amazon's action raises two possibilities about the role of Amazon's lawyers in this affair, both of which are disturbing.

The second is that the lawyers gave them the go-ahead on the grounds that the legal profession is now so corrupted that no court would dare to find for Parler, however meritorious its case.

If true that lawyers believe that the courts have decided to give carte blanche to the left, we will see an overreach like never before.

-PJ

I pretty much wrote this same article 1 year ago.

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I believe the problem is that universities are putting out a product that there is no demand for.

I believe it's a three-fold issue.

1. The job market isn't paying the salaries.
2. The students aren't pursuing the marketable degrees.
3. The universities are cranking out graduates without regard to whether the job market is there for the graduates. In other words, they are graduating buggy whips.

The causes for #1 are two-fold:

1. The jobs are being off-shored to lower-cost geographies.
2. The cheaper workers are being imported via H-1B visas and are displacing our graduates.

The causes for #2 are two-fold:

1. The students are choosing social-justice degrees with no anchoring in reality.
2. The K-12 schools are socially promoting students who either aren't ready for college or are better suited to trade studies.

The causes for #3 are two-fold:

1. The students have been socially indoctrinated to believe the only way to succeed is with a college degree, so everyone must now go to college.
2. The change to government-sponsored student loans has made it easy for universities to pad their enrollments in order to get the funding to sustain their tenures and research programs.

I believe that if there is a market balance between supply and demand then the price paid will equal the cost plus profit. If the universities were balancing the supply of graduates with the demand for graduates, this would mean that the graduates were being paid a salary that allowed them to pay off their loans plus their living expenses.

The fact is that the university degree market is completely unbalanced and out of whack. Young students may be making good decisions to pursue a degree, but many are too uninformed at that age to understand that the universities are glutting the market right now. The universities have built up a capital investment in professors and manufactured an inventory of graduates that can't be sold.

The university result will eventually be the same as a business selling unwanted products: their inventory of unsold graduates will lose their value (in terms of alumni donations, university brand reputation, etc.), and the university might eventually go out of business if they can't get new student enrollments because the word is out that their graduates are unemployable.

Is all of this the fault of the student loan scam? Is it the result of students making bad career decisions? Is it the fault of businesses that are looking for cheaper workers or exporting jobs? Is it the fault of universities hungry for students flush with loan cash that they keep taking them in regardless of the ability of the job market to absorb the graduates?

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-PJ

Not sure I'd TRUST ANYTHING the government tells us about a damn thing!

Political Junkies 1st Rule of Everything:

Never believe the first 48 hours of MSM reporting.

-PJ

Blue staters (not all of them of course) go a step further and actually *like* the lockdown.

I agree.

I think the blue staters who are radical Trump-haters see the lockdown as a strategic weapon to hurt him, but the rest probably feel like human shields or hostages.

While the East Berliners seemed resigned to their fate (except the few who tried to escape), I doubt there were any who felt they were "sticking it to the West" by being there.

-PJ

I suspect all these "Trump is out for blood revenge" articles are intended to pressure the GOP into convicting Trump in the Senate to marginalize him like Nixon. These articles are aimed at scaring Republicans into thinking that Trump is out for THEM specifically, so their only protection is to take him out first.

They don't want a viable Trump making news during the next two years.

-PJ

The left-behind middle class isn't capable of picking up and leaving, either, especially in the rust belt. The difference is that they are kept in place by economics, not strongarm. They have businesses they can't leave, or mortgages they can't abandon on homes they can't sell.

It's mostly the well-off in California and New York who make the news about leaving their states.

-PJ

I was there one month after the wall came down. I took a small piece of the Berlin Wall home with me to keep on my desk as a keepsake.

-PJ

It only takes one Governor and one Secretary of State to enslave an entire state.

Remember that Govern Whitmer of Michigan gave the Democrat response to the State of the Union in 2020, and then she locked down Michigan a few months later.

-PJ

If they let you.

Airlines are putting more and more people on their "no fly" lists over political statements.

-PJ

Well, no analogy is perfect. Take from it what you can.

-PJ

But it's the state governors that impose the restrictions on all, not local mayors or county supervisors. Agree that it can be more severe at the local area.

Here in Texas, we had the county judge in Harris County try to impose more severe restrictions in Houston, but the governor overruled her, saying that she didn't have the authority to impose more than the governor authorized.

-PJ