With Six Tweets, Trump Gives Taste of What's to Come

I've been arguing, mostly in conversations offline, that Trump should ditch his Twitter feed after he takes office. He should tweet from the official POTUS account and keep it professional. No personal attacks. No attacks on intelligence agencies, etc.

But it's been reported that he won't stop tweeting after the inauguration. If so, it's going to set a new precedent in presidential leadership and political communications. His successors won't be bound by norms of propriety and professionalism. Trump's in fact changing what it means to be a professional president. He's a showman in office. It's going to be a wild ride.

My only concern is with reelection in 2020. We really need him to serve eight years if we want to build a long-lasting bulwark against the left's onslaught on society and basic decency. I'd hate for his tweeting to be a liability, but it wasn't in 2016, so perhaps it's a new era?

In any case, here's the latest at WSJ, "Six Tweets in 80 Minutes: Trump Gives New Congress a Taste of What’s to Come":

Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got "swamped" (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

In a span of about 80 minutes on Friday morning, President-elect Donald Trump signaled what Congress and the American public may have in store for the next four years.

From 6:19 a.m. to 7:42 a.m., Mr. Trump posted six messages on Twitter in which he criticized the media, tweaked a promise to pay for a border wall and derided Arnold Schwarzenegger for a TV ratings flop—on a show that Mr. Trump himself is producing.

It may have been par for the course for candidate Trump, but it capped an extraordinary first week of a new Republican-controlled Congress eager to do business with President-elect Trump, who in turn got a taste for what life will be like in the nation’s capital as the 45th president two weeks from now.

It was a study in contrasts. Mr. Trump’s rapid-fire missives about an assortment of topics clashed with typical Washington political tactics that prioritize message discipline and avoiding overexposure.

Right from the start, Mr. Trump and his team seemed intent on influencing and, if necessary, overwhelming Washington’s political establishment—the Republicans, Democrats and the news media—that some in the incoming administration view as hurdles to connecting with American voters.

It was a successful battle plan during his 17-month presidential campaign. Mr. Trump’s formula for controlled chaos largely kept opponents on their heels as he rolled over more than a dozen Republican rivals and a better financed and more politically experienced Democratic presidential nominee.

The week appeared to start where the campaign left off, with a Trump criticism of one of the Congress’s first major acts—a Republican proposal to weaken an ethics watchdog. The party quickly abandoned the proposal after the president-elect tweeted his disapproval.

But as it wore on, the challenges of Mr. Trump’s continued strategy became more apparent. At times, his unique approach stirred confusion inside the Capitol and within his own team, according to officials in both places.

When Republicans in Congress started to plan the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a move that Mr. Trump called for on the campaign trail, he took to Twitter to warn them to be careful of the political consequences and that the health-insurance system would fall under its own weight.

With that, more notes of caution were raised within his own party, leaving the Republican strategy for ending the Affordable Care Act looking more tenuous. Mr. Trump soon found his voice again in mocking Democrats seeking to save the act as clowns, but key Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), said late in the week they wanted to settle on a replacement plan before beginning the complex task of repealing the law...

House Democrats Struggle to Find Voice in Trump-Era Minority (VIDEO)

At Bloomberg, "Despite weak perch in Capitol, they’re determined to rebuild":

Jamie Raskin has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for less than a week, but he isn’t joining a newly energized and resurgent Democratic caucus like he hoped. Instead, he’ll be a freshman member of a party stuck in the political wilderness.

“For me, it’s a bit of a cold shower,” said Raskin, a former Democratic leader in the Maryland state legislature. “I had hoped I would be part of a big blue wave overtaking Washington and giving us the opportunity to make progress on many fronts in national politics.”

After a disappointing election where Democrats fell short, Raskin and the 193 other House Democrats he joins in Congress’s new session are trying to revitalize their demoralized base. They also want to win back Rust Belt voters who bolted for Donald Trump.

It’s a tough task. They serve in a chamber where rules and traditions give the minority party virtually no ability to get measures on the floor or even amend what the governing party offers.

And it could be a while before they find their footing. Many in the party are desperate to reinvent Democrats’ image, but it might not help that their top two House leaders have been in place for more than a decade.

Raskin says one place to start is tackling the loss of jobs in a shrinking manufacturing sector. But he says the party’s traditional responses, like a minimum wage boost or protecting entitlement programs from cuts, aren’t sufficient any more.

‘Message Will Follow’

“If we get the substance right, the message will follow along,” he said. “The problem that we are having with displaced working-class whites across America is a problem that neither party has a solution to. It’s not just a question of trade, it’s more an issue of automation and mechanization which are replacing millions of workers in America.”

Peter Welch of Vermont, who as a chief deputy whip helps Democratic leaders count votes, says that they should start by simply sticking together. Democrats picked up a mere six House seats in the elections, leaving Republicans to govern with a 23-seat margin.

Welch is counting on the Republicans to be more fractured than his party -- and he’s hoping that united Democrats can exploit Trump’s splits with some conservatives on infrastructure spending, trade and other matters.

The House’s most conservative lawmakers “won’t provide their votes unless they get their way,” said Welch, who was first elected in 2007 when Democrats took House control from Republicans. House Speaker Paul Ryan “has to decide whether he will accede to their demands or find reasonable Democrats who are willing to work on bills,” the Vermont lawmaker said.

2018 Election

That still leaves Democrats trying to figure out how to rebuild their own image.

Just-retired Representative Steve Israel of New York, who oversaw campaign strategy and fundraising for House Democrats in 2012 and 2014, says his colleagues would be best off focusing on the 2018 midterm elections. Historically, the party out of power picks up seats in non-presidential election years, and he says Democrats have a chance to retake the House -- although the electoral map suggests that’s a real long shot.

Israel said Trump’s win stemmed from a convergence of factors including economic insecurity, the alienation of middle-class voters and the spread of terrorism...

More.

Congressman Raskin's featured at that hilarious video above. You gotta give it up for Joe Biden sometimes. He was excellent during the count of the Electoral College on Thursday. He kept banging his gavel on the House Democrats, making them look like preschoolers.

That's gold, man. Pure gold lol.

'Gateway Pundit' Jim Hoft Trolls Mollie Hemingway

From the other day, on Twitter.

Why is Mollie @MZHemingway on @SpecialReport? She was wrong and a Nasty #NeverTrumper throughout election last year. #Awful Person

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) January 2, 2017

@gatewaypundit No she wasn't. @MZHemingway @SpecialReport

— Melissa Mackenzie 🌐 (@MelissaTweets) January 3, 2017

@MelissaTweets What happened to Jim Hoft?

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 3, 2017

@AmPowerBlog @MelissaTweets Jumped too deep into the Cult of Trump. I haven't linked him most of this year

— William Teach (@WilliamTeach) January 3, 2017

@WilliamTeach I'll say. Sheesh. @MelissaTweets

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 3, 2017

If you weren't for Trump, Gateway Pundit was trashing you all year. I like Jim Hoft, but that's definitely going overboard. He seems like such a reasonable guy in person too. I met him at CPAC. What can you do, I guess?

Lindsey Thiry Now Covering the Lakers

She's a really good journalist, particularly excellent with the new technology (social media, You Tube, etc.). I wish she had her own beat, but as long at the Times keeps her, I'm good.

I've never seen a game like that. What a Rose Bowl

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) January 3, 2017

@LindseyThiry And you've sure been there this season. Kudos to you for the multimedia coverage. cc. @latimes @latimessports

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 3, 2017

@AmPowerBlog @latimes @latimessports Much appreciated!

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) January 3, 2017

Yep, football is over. Now, it's #Lakers. pic.twitter.com/dJRz9RjrWP

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) January 7, 2017

Genevieve Morton Bares All (VIDEO)

At Theo's, "WATCH: Genevieve Morton Bares All and Blossoms in Switzerland - Intimates - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (VIDEO)."

Kristen Keogh's Snowy Weekend Forecast

It's not going to be too snowy down in San Diego, but it's supposed to be a big weekend for winter weather in California.

See the Los Angeles Times, "'A big mess': Mammoth prepares for a monster snowstorm."

And here's Ms. Kristen, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

The Sun U.K.'s Official 'Page 3' Calendar 2017

My favorite girls.

Here, "Treat yourself to a sneak peek of 2017's outrageously sexy Page 3 calendar."

I just love Sabine Jemeljanova.

Saturday Drunken Steplinks

They do the linking so I don't have to, heh.

At Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY."

Also, "HILARY DUFF IN COSMO OF THE DAY," and "CAMILA MORRONE YOUNG ENTITLED TITS HAS A BOOTY OF THE DAY."

BONUS: "SOFIIA CHUPRIKOVA NUDE PHOOTSHOOT OF THE DAY."

Department Stores in Trouble

Macy's and Sears made big announcements of closings and downsizing this week.

I remember just last year Macy's closed and then bulldozed its store at the Spectrum in Irvine. They closed dozens of stores nationwide back then, and now they're doing another round.

I rarely shop at department stores anymore. Every now and then I think about South Coast Plaza, which is a mall built around about a half dozen major department stores, including high stores like Saks Fifth Avenue. Sometimes I wonder how they're still in business over there. I guess they'll just bulldoze some stores when the time comes.

In any case, at USA Today, "Department stores become endangered as Sears, Macy's struggle":

Sears is  closing  150 stores and selling its vaunted Craftsman tool brand, but those steps may not be enough to stop the unraveling of the American icon.

With Sears' announcement Thursday coming only a day after rival Macy's saying it would close 68 locations, the department store concept itself is looking like an endangered species. In a retail landscape now dominated by online sellers like Amazon and big-box chains like Walmart and Home Depot, Sears finds itself in a search for a reason to exist.

"The brand has lost relevance,  it’s lost customers and it’s lost its real reason for existence on the American retail scene,'' says Neil Saunders, CEO of Conlumino, a retail consulting firm. Following "the trajectory they're on, there are no real signs of them turning it around to profitability.''

Sears has more than 1,300 stores remaining in its portfolio, so its demise could be prolonged. But if the retailer is unable to stem its financial bleeding and is forced into bankruptcy or perhaps a final assets sale, its loss would be akin to that of dominating American companies like airline Pan Am or five-and dime F.W. Woolworth.

"I honestly don’t see a spot for Sears long-term," says Van Conway, CEO of Van Conway & Partners, who has advised retail companies and other businesses on reorganization and insolvency. "My mom shopped at Sears. That was the only place she could go. Now you have 50 choices, and Sears is outdated.’’

Founded in 1886, Sears launched its first large, general catalog a decade later and for generations was the go-to source for products ranging from watches to washing machines. Though it lost its place as the nation's biggest retailer to Walmart in the 1990s, Sears enjoyed a renaissance during that decade under the helm of then-CEO Arthur Martinez, who pushed a greater focus on apparel sales and other initiatives.

The company faltered in the 2000s, selling its more than $30 billion credit portfolio to Citibank in  2003 and merging the Sears brand with Kmart, another struggling big box chain...

More.

Brutal Chicago Video is No Surprise in Climate of Racial Lies

From Mark Davis, at Town Hall:

The toxic roots of this outrageous crime are on display every day. They are found in the sick and malicious rhetoric that filled the air in reaction to the Trump campaign, that has only intensified since his victory. And it wasn’t only from liberals.

How many people on TV, in elected office, from the stages of shrill rallies, have spread the following damnable lies:

-- Donald Trump is a racist.

-- Our cops are racist.

-- Our country is racist.

Pour this poison into the heads of kids already damaged by the societal dysfunctions around them, and we might wonder why we don’t get videos like this with nauseating regularity.

The animus of the left is on constant display. Black Lives Matter tells America that waves of racist cops are out to kill our black youth. Democrat politicians have maligned Trump as a bigot for pure sport, joined by some unhinged NeverTrumpers.

Astride it all, we have had a President for eight years who has discouraged none of this, while adding his own winking double-talk that makes clear his belief that racism is still rampant in the nation that elected him twice.

So don’t let anyone get away with feigned bewilderment over how this barbaric cruelty happened. The responsibility for it is shared by anyone who has engaged in the slanders that fill the daily talking points of the left.

Hat Tip: Blazing Cat Fur.

Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting: Suspect Esteban Santiago Had Alleged Ties to Islamic State

The suspect claims he was being forced to wage jihad by Islamic State.

At the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "Esteban Santiago identified as Fort Lauderdale airport shooter."

Also, at London's Daily Mail, "Pictured: The Fort Lauderdale 'air rage' gunman who 'argued with passengers' on his flight before he retrieved his handgun from checked luggage and then executed five people in baggage claim."

And at FrontPage Magazine, "Esteban Santiago-Ruiz: Airport Shooter Claimed He Was Forced to Fight for ISIS":

#UPDATE via #iAWACS Ft Lauderdale shooter was posting on Jihadi forums when he was 17yrs old in 2007 - Now closed twitter acct @Esteban00903 pic.twitter.com/h17HK3mOzb

— JΞSTΞR ✪ ΔCTUAL³³º¹ (@th3j35t3r) January 6, 2017

Santiago told the FBI in November that he was being forced to fight for ISIS...https://t.co/7T97Nf95D9#FtLauderdale #EstebanSantiago pic.twitter.com/3O14CgdyYG

— Ethan Ralph (@TheRalphRetort) January 6, 2017

Esteban Santiago-Ruiz: Airport Shooter Claimed He Was Forced to Fight for ISIS https://t.co/kmHi1tvXGT pic.twitter.com/WBO6QkgeyO

— Jewhadi™ (@JewhadiTM) January 7, 2017

Airport shooter motive appears to be a mixture of mental illness and Islamist fantasies. Toxic combination.

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) January 7, 2017

Details are still emerging about airport shooter Esteban Santiago-Ruiz. His shooting spree at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has claimed 5 lives and wounded 8 more people.

This is a developing story so we will likely know a lot more by the evening and by the next day than we do today. The above photo has been circulating on social media, for example. It may be that of the gunman.

The media is rolling with the usual "mental illness" narrative. This is the same excuse often used for Islamic terrorists. There's no proven connection to Islam yet, except this particular part of his background.

Law enforcement said he was found with an active military ID and is an American citizen, born in New Jersey. Previous known addresses include Penuelas, Puerto Rico and Anchorage, Alaska.

They add that in November 2016, he walked into an FBI office in Anchorage claiming that he was being forced to fight for ISIS. He was sent to a psychiatric hospital.

In 2011 or 2012, he was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations for child porn. Three weapons and a computer were seized, but there was not enough evidence to prosecute, according to law enforcement sources.

It's possible that he is mentally ill. It's possible that he's a Muslim terrorist. Or both. Or neither.

More at Memeorandum.

And especially, the Newark Star-Ledger, "N.J. aunt of Ft. Lauderdale airport shooting suspect: 'He lost his mind' in Iraq."

Rose Bertram LOVE Advent 2016 (VIDEO)

Following-up from Wednesday, "Rose Bertram's Tahitian Paradise (VIDEO)."

She's a crazy-hot babe, at LOVE:

Shaun King, Black Lives Matter Activist and Racial Appropriator, Blames the 'White Kid' for His Own Facebook Live Beating and Torture

I first saw this tweet screen-capped at Luann's Twitter page, but she took it down.

I tweeted her, in shock, when I first saw it.

No one else is tweeting it, but it looks legitimate.

And Shaun King has been in the news since the live beating and torture in Chicago, so there's that. At Twitchy, "SHOCKER. Shaun King more concerned over ‘white supremacist hashtag’ #BLMKidnapping than actual attack," and "LAME. Shaun King 'won't fight for justice' for disabled young man in Chicago attack, blames racist system."

Ari Fleischer Live-Tweets Shooting at Ft. Lauderdale Airport — UPDATED!

CNN's reporting at least 9 wounded, and with a number like that, that means there's probably fatalities. I'll update.

Meanwhile, folks were sharing Air Fleischer's live-tweets:

I'm at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. Shots have been fired. Everyone is running.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 6, 2017

The police said there is one shooter and five victims.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 6, 2017

All seems calm now but the police aren't letting anyone out of the airport - at least not the area where I am.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 6, 2017

UPDATE: CNN is now reporting "multiple people shot dead," as I suspected. A terrible story. I'll have more updates.

MORE: The suspect is in custody.

Cancer Patient and Amputee Took Her Leg Home With Her After Surgery

This is the trippiest story, but pretty cool.

The lady has an Instagram page. She takes her foot with her everywhere, takes photos and posts them. You're gonna be the life of the party, for sure.

At PBS:

She took her amputated leg home, and you can too https://t.co/GEjIUOicBb

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) January 5, 2017

The New Yorker Mocks Trump Voters in Political Cartoon

I saw the buzz on this on Twitter a few days ago.

People were Photoshopping the hell out of this cartoon, by Will McPhail, for the New Yorker:

One from this week's @NewYorker. Hello politics, my names Will. pic.twitter.com/5LfNYnOgMA

— Will McPhail (@WillMcPhail) January 2, 2017

And here's the debate at today's editorial page, "When a cartoon is not just a cartoon: Mastio & Lawrence" (via Instapundit).

And see Legal Insurrection, "The New Yorker’s view of the world, updated for Trump victory," and the Blaze, "New Yorker cartoon sums up anti-elite national mood, angers many."

Do you think there was actually someone at the New Yorker who thought this cartoon made sense, or is it just 100% trolling? pic.twitter.com/EeSC4l7ogS

— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) January 2, 2017

This sums up what liberals think.
Understand, they think you are stupid + need to obey.@exjon @stephenkruiser @AceofSpadesHQ @LarryOConnor https://t.co/pEY2Aedz5H

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) January 2, 2017

The Delusional Democrats of 2017

From Matthew Continetti, at Free Beacon, "Send in the Head Clowns":

Continetti throws a huge bucket of ice cold water on Dems & media attempting to oppose Obamacare repeal & SCOTUS

https://t.co/TkBJdJHsS1

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) January 6, 2017

Democrats have been in power for so long that they’ve forgotten how to oppose. Their party has been on a roll since 2005 when the botched Social Security reform, the slow bleed of the Iraq war, and Hurricane Katrina sent the Bush administration into a tailspin. The Democrats won the Congress the following year and the White House two years after that. And while they lost the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014, Democrats still had the advantage of retaining the White House, a president seemingly immune from criticism, the courts, the bureaucracy, and large portions of the media. The correlation of forces in Washington has weighed heavily in favor of the Democrats for a decade.

No longer. The election of Donald Trump has brought unified Republican government to Washington and overturned our understanding of how politics works. Or at least it should have done so. The Democrats seem not to understand how to deal with Trump and the massive change he is about to bring to the nation’s capital. During the general election they fell for the idea that Trump can be defeated by conventional means, spending hundreds of millions of dollars in negative television advertising and relying on political consultants beholden to whatever line Politico was selling on a given day. This strategy failed Trump’s Republican primary opponents, but Democrats figured that was simply because the GOP was filled with deplorables. It was a rationalization that would cost them.

Republicans control the House, the Senate, 34 governor’s mansions, and 4,100 seats in state legislatures. But Democrats act like they run Washington. Nancy Pelosi’s speech to the 115th House of Representatives was a long-winded recitation of the same liberal agenda that has brought her party to its current low. Give her points for consistency I guess. Chuck Schumer is just being delusional.

Smarting from the failed nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, the Senate minority leader pledged to oppose Donald Trump’s nominee weeks before inauguration day. “If they don’t appoint somebody good,” he said on MSNBC, “we’re going to oppose them tooth and nail.” That would “absolutely” include keeping the seat held by the late Antonin Scalia empty, he said. “We are not going to make it easy for them to pick a Supreme Court justice.”

I suppose it’s too much to expect a graduate of Harvard Law School to grasp the difference between majority and minority. Mitch McConnell was able to block Garland’s appointment because the Republicans controlled the Senate. The Democrats do not. And McConnell was able to hold his caucus together because he was on solid historical ground. Lyndon Johnson’s nomination of Abe Fortas as chief justice failed in the election year 1968, and the so-called “Biden Rule” of 1992 stipulated no Supreme Court replacements during the last year of a presidency. Schumer himself, in a 2007 speech, expanded the waiting period to the final 18 months of a president’s term. Now, despite a record of calling on the Senate to confirm the president’s nominees—as long as the president is a Democrat—Schumer has adopted the strategy of no Supreme Court confirmations at all. How does he think President Trump will respond? By caving?

*****

Yes, the first duty of the opposition is to oppose. And I don’t expect the Democrats to roll over for Trump. But I am surprised by their hysterics, and by their race to see who can be the most obnoxious to the new president. They seem to have been caught off guard, to say the least, by their situation. Take for example their willingness to stand on a podium beside a sign that reads, “Make America Sick Again.” By embracing this message, such as it is, the Democrats associated not Trump but themselves with illness. Who on earth thought that was a good idea?

It takes time to adjust. The Democrats may be counting on inertia and the media to slow the Republicans down and force them into a defensive crouch. Worked in the past. But here’s the thing about Trump: He doesn’t play defense.

Excellent. Just outstanding analysis.

I especially like the part about how McConnell can just change the rules to a straight majority vote for Supreme Court confirmations. I hope he does.

And, the Dems sure are clowns. It's the clown-shoe party, lol.

USC Football Should Be Ranked in the Top Three Next Season (VIDEO)

My earlier Rose Bowl coverage is here.

Oh my gosh, what a game.

Here's the sports crew from the L.A. Times, with their post-game wrap-up from Monday night. Bill Plaschke argues that right now USC is in the top three nationally, and thus should be ranked in the top three next season.

We'll see. There's some turnover on the team, and some key players may opt for the NFL draft. But QB Sam Darnold's definitely going to be around, and I think that's key.

Watch:

Nine People We're Hoping Will Just Shut Up and Go Away in 2017

Just nine?

I'm sure I could think of a few more, lol.

From Stephen Green (Vodkapundit), at Instapundit, "I’VE GOT A LITTLE LIST, THEY NEVER WOULD BE MISSED." (The link goes to a David Forsmark essay.)

Rules for Righties — a War-Winning Manifesto for 2017

From James Delingpole, at Breitbart London:

"The bad news is that wars are hard, costly & ugly. The good news is we’re on the right side & we’re going to win." https://t.co/ukHwHy6GcU

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 1, 2017

Orange County Saw Another Day of Heavy Rainfall and Cloudy Skies (VIDEO)

It was raining pretty good this morning when I dropped my kid off at school.

I hope there's no flooding, but the rain's good. The more rain, the less we'll be hearing about how climate change is causing the "drought."

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Heavy Rains Blanket Orange County."

Plus, a weather report with Garth Kemp, "Garth Kemp's Weather Forecast (Jan. 5)."

Obama Claims Race Relations Haven't 'Gotten Worse' Under His Administration (VIDEO)

O's living in his own private Idaho.

Asked point-blank, he denies race relations have gotten worse during his administration.

At CBS News 2 Chicago:

Obama Calls Facebook Torture Video 'Despicable', But Optimistic About Race Relations In U.S. https://t.co/2nqdutelde

— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) January 5, 2017

However, the president remains hopeful about the future.

“I take these things very seriously.”

“The good news is that the next generation that’s coming behind us … have smarter, better, more thoughtful attitudes about race.

“I think the overall trajectory of race relations in this country is actually very positive. It doesn’t mean that all racial problems have gone away. It means that we have the capacity to get better.”

Actually, public opinion polling consistently finds that race relations have deteriorated during the Obama regime. Indeed, a majority of white Americans say race relations have gotten worse over the past eight years, according to a report at Gallup last August, "In U.S., Obama Effect on Racial Matters Falls Short of Hopes":

Americans' optimism about the effects that Obama's election and presidency would have on race relations has ... declined significantly since he was elected in November 2008. At that time, 70% of Americans expected race relations in the U.S. to get better, while only 10% believed relations would get worse. Now, more say that race relations have gotten worse as a result of his presidency (46%) than say they have gotten better (29%).

Whites, by more than a 2-to-1 margin, now say race relations are worse rather than better. Blacks are more charitable in their evaluation of the effect of Obama's presidency on U.S. race relations, but they are divided on whether things are better or worse. Both blacks' and whites' opinions are more pessimistic than they were in October 2009, nine months into Obama's presidency...

A Pew report last June found Americans only slightly less pessimistic about race relations, with fully one third of whites saying race relations have deteriorated, with another 24 percent saying Obama tried but failed to improve relations between the races during his administration. See, "On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart."

And even the far-left New York Times, last July, found a large majority saying race relations are bad. See, "Race Relations Are at Lowest Point in Obama Presidency, Poll Finds":

Sixty-nine percent of Americans say race relations are generally bad, one of the highest levels of discord since the 1992 riots in Los Angeles during the Rodney King case, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The poll, conducted from Friday, the day after the killing of five Dallas police officers, until Tuesday, found that six in 10 Americans say race relations were growing worse, up from 38 percent a year ago.

Racial discontent is at its highest point in the Obama presidency and at the same level as after the riots touched off by the 1992 acquittal of Los Angeles police officers charged in Mr. King’s beating.

Relations between black Americans and the police have become so brittle that more than half of black people say they were not surprised by the attack that killed five police officers and wounded nine others in Dallas last week. Nearly half of white Americans say that they, too, were unsurprised by the episode, the survey found...

There's been saturation coverage of the Chicago black thug Facebook beating and torture all day, and so expect new polling on race to be at least as bad as last July, when the Dallas police officers were massacred by a Black Lives Matter supporter.

Democrats Consider Another Challenge to Donald Trump's Victory in the Electoral College

Bizarre.

At Twitchy, "House Dems are NOT giving up hope for Hillary (She could lose AGAIN?)."

pic.twitter.com/u6821aLmkV

— Jason C. (@CounterMoonbat) January 5, 2017

Here's the Politico piece, "Democratic lawmakers considering challenge to Trump’s Electoral College victory."

Like I said, truly bizarre.

Democrats are literally clinical at this point.

On the Structural Safegaurds of the U.S. Constitution

From James Piereson, at the New Criterion, "Populism, V: A bulwark against tyranny":

The framers of the Constitution did not use the term “populism,” but they were aware of the phenomenon it describes—that is, an uprising by the voters against what they judge to be a corrupt or out-of-touch elite. James Madison, for example, referred to something roughly similar in his extensive discussions in the Federalist of factions and “factious majorities.” To a considerable degree, the challenges posed by “populism” were front and center in the debates that eventually produced the Constitution. For better or worse, the framework Madison was instrumental in creating does not easily allow for the kind of popular referendum through which a majority of voters in Great Britain decided to pull that country out of the European Union, or the more recent referendum in Italy through which voters turned down a package of constitutional reforms. In this sense, the U.S. Constitution operates as an impediment to populism because it substitutes representation and deliberation for national referenda and direct democracy.

In the United States, of course, voters can decide to pull out of a treaty or an alliance or repeal a law, but they must do so indirectly by first electing a willing President and Congress, and then hoping that the two can find enough common ground to enact a program—and then sustain that program through subsequent elections. Under the U.S. Constitution, a populist “moment” is not sufficient to win the long game; the moment must be sustained over a sequence of elections such that a temporary uprising of voters is translated into a durable governing majority, which is a difficult thing to accomplish in a country as large and diverse as the United States, as the Founders well understood.

The populist moment that we seem to be in, here and abroad, is a propitious occasion to reconsider some contemporary assumptions about democracy and majority rule in relation to the arguments advanced by the Founders on those same subjects. Many today are instinctively inclined toward democracy and majority rule but are also worried about the implications of “populism.” Can they have it both ways? After all, populism, to the extent that we use it in a pejorative way, implies that majority rule is not always a good thing, and that, as James Madison argued in the Federalist, there can be “bad” majorities as well as “good” ones. How do we tell the difference? And how does one design a system to deter or to deflect these “bad” majorities? Once we raise such questions, we enter into the political and intellectual world of Madison and the Founders...

One of the key points I made repeatedly last semester, when lots of people were freakin' out about Donald Trump, is that our Constitution is strong enough to handle whatever comes along. We survived the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World War II. I expect we'll survive the Trump regime just fine. Indeed, all this talk about "fascism" on the left is really leftist extremism in defense of favored progressive policy priorities. Seriously, these people are unhinged.

But keep reading.

Kendall Jenner Snake Tattoo for V Magazine

At Drunken Stepfather, "KENDALL JENNER, JOAN SMALLS AND LARA STONE FOR V MAGAZINE OF THE DAY."

.@kendalljenner, @joansmalls, @larastone, and more get inked for V's January issue: https://t.co/EeNk4v6n0g pic.twitter.com/MRZCQqc9CE

— V Magazine (@vmagazine) January 5, 2017

Watch @KendallJenner​, @JoanSmalls​, @LilyAldridge​ & more get the tattoo treatment for #V105: https://t.co/jR6aZc31FX pic.twitter.com/oZhV4CXXjp

— V Magazine (@vmagazine) January 5, 2017

Struggling with the Costs of Growing Old: Many Slip Out of Middle Class as Aging Takes Its Toll

A fascinating column, from Steve Lopez, at the Los Angeles Times, "Not rich, not poor, and not ready for the cost of growing old."

I've got a least 10 more years before retirement, and probably quite a few more, if I'm feeling well. I take the winters and summers off. Basically, I'm working eight months out of the year. I can hack it past the traditional retirement age, and meanwhile I can be socking away money into my retirement accounts. My wife's seven years younger, and healthy, so we've got a while to plan for those "drought" years (although, as noted, if things stay as they are, I think my family will avoid the "drought" years, thank goodness).

CHS Dept. Chair Steve Wallace addresses the "hidden poor" in today's @LATstevelopez @latimes https://t.co/ZDP4LFFfDh

— UCLA Fielding School (@UCLAFSPH) January 4, 2017

Boomers are crowding the retirement turnstiles just as safety nets may get a haircut from a Republican Congress fixated on an Obamacare repeal that could whack Medicare and Medicaid. And although President-elect Trump has defended entitlements, a key advisor once called for privatizing Social Security. California has been a national leader in supporting in-home care and expanding medical insurance to wider populations, but federal funding cuts could jeopardize those advances.

“Everything is a wild card right now,” said UCLA professor Steven Wallace, chair of the school’s Department of Community Health Sciences.

Wallace co-authored a report published last year on what he refers to as California’s “hidden poor,” approximately 655,000 older adults who are above the federal poverty level and ineligible for some government programs, but not wealthy enough to live comfortably in a region with such high housing costs.

I know those people. I’ve met many of them and written about some of them.

Doris Tillman comes to mind. She’s the South Los Angeles retiree who went nine months without running water after losing a job and falling behind on a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power bill she disputed.

“I’m going to write a book about how to survive in L.A. without water,” the 71-year-old Tillman told me at the time. She learned to get by on 50 gallons a week of water she purchased, lugging heavy five-gallon jugs into and out of her car and into her home.

Deirdre McCloskey: Economic Growth Saves the Poor

A great essay, at the New York Times:

Growth, Not Forced Equality, Saves the Poor. https://t.co/nd90GXokj4

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 5, 2017

Playboy Playmates Pick the Best Songs of All Time (VIDEO)

I feel like making love!

Via Playboy:

Nina Agdal Bonus LOVE Advent 2016 (VIDEO)

The lovely Ms. Nina brings us back to some babe blogging for the afternoon.

The news out of Chicago is just too sickening.

Jeff Sessions Faces Onslaught from the Most Ugly and Dishonest Political Activists in America

From J. Christian Adams, at Pajamas, "Pray for Jeff Sessions":

Pray for Jeff Sessions: Liars on the Left are Attacking https://t.co/Vz7BvrmSbc #Catholic #Christian #CivilRights #VoterFraud

— J. Christian Adams (@ElectionLawCtr) January 5, 2017

Everyone who believes in prayer should say some for attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions. Senator Sessions is experiencing the full wrath of the worst hateful lies that the modern Left and Democrat Party can conjure. Lies, half-truths, and smears have become the strategy to attack his nomination.

The age of Obama has seen the rise of bricks-and-mortar operations with deep cash reserves designed to permanently transform the nation, and the Justice Department has been ground zero. That's why Jeff Sessions is the perfect pick for attorney general, and that's why the liars on the Left are willing to smear this good man. They've served up all their familiar charges against him from their phobia smorgasbord: homo-, xeno-, Islamo- or trans-.

That's why the NAACP decided to trespass and occupy his Senate office -- an action far worse than the one that landed James O'Keefe in jail (banner photo above). Don't expect Loretta Lynch to do anything. Who commits the crime is sometimes more important than what they did. O'Keefe played for the wrong team.

Sessions' opponents hate that he understands them better than most in Washington, and understands the damage they have done transforming the nation in the last eight years...

Keep reading.

Sessions is perhaps the best pick of the entire cabinet. I can't wait until he gets to work!

FLASHBACK: "Why Jeff Sessions Has Conservatives So Fired Up."

Greta Van Susteren to Join MSNBC

Just now, via Greta's Twitter feed:

.@greta joins MSNBC after leaving Fox News https://t.co/g2RsJVTabf pic.twitter.com/a12pIrIl5X

— Bloomberg (@business) January 5, 2017

And at Politico:

Greta Van Susteren to join MSNBChttps://t.co/q1EHbVGKNG

— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) January 5, 2017

How the Democrats Became the Anti-Israel Party

From Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Mag, "The Left can’t stop hating and killing Jews":

Democrats have come down with a wicked virus. Somewhere along the way they caught Nazi fever.

It’s not the Nazi fever of the fevered headlines in which Trump is the new Fuhrer and Republicans are the new Third Reich.

The truth is that there’s only one major political party in this country that supports the murder of Jews.

The Democrats demand the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Jerusalem. They fund the mass murder of Jews by nuclear fire, rocket, bullet, bomb and bloody knife. And they collaborate and defend that terror.

President Clinton was the first to openly fund Islamic terrorists killing Jews. Men, women and children across Israel were shot and blown up by terrorists funded by his administration. And when terror victims sought justice, instead of protecting them from Iran, he protected Iran’s dirty money from them.

And he was not the last.

Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice collaborated with the leaders of a terrorist organization, with American and Israeli blood on its hands, on a UN attack on Israel that demands that Jews be banned from moving into neighborhoods and areas claimed by Islamic terrorists.

A leaked transcript showed Kerry conspiring with Saeb Erekat, who has praised the mass murderers of Jews and spewed anti-Semitism. Erekat is called a “negotiator”, a strange term considering that the PLO and its various front groups, including the Palestinian Authority, refuse to negotiate with Israel.

Erekat has made his position on the Jewish State quite clear. “We cannot accept the Jewish state – Israel as a Jewish state – not today, not tomorrow and not in a hundred years.”

Instead of reproving Erekat, Susan Rice warned him about Trump. Rice, like the rest of Obama’s team, was not only closer to the terrorists than to Israel, but was closer to the terrorists than to Trump.

Obama praised PLO boss Abbas despite the terrorist leader’s own admission, “There is no difference between our policies and those of Hamas.” The terror organization headed by Obama’s pal had honored a monster who butchered a 13-year-old Jewish girl in her own bedroom as a “martyr”.

The White House backed the Muslim Brotherhood whose “spiritual” witch doctor had praised Hitler and expressed a wish that Muslims would be able to finish the Holocaust.

Sheikh Rashid Ghannouchi, another beneficiary of Obama's Jihadist Spring, endorsed genocide. "There are no civilians in Israel. The population—males, females and children... can be killed.”

When this monster, who had called for the extermination of the Jews, visited the United States, he was honored at a dinner whose speakers included Obama’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.

If the left really wants to find Hitler and Nazism, it ought to look in the mirror. The Democrats have become a political movement that aids and celebrates the mass murderers of Jews.

And they keep playing the victim...

Keep reading.

Black Chicago Thugs in Facebook Live Beating Charged with Hate Crimes (VIDEO)

The Chicago press conference is live on television right now. More on that later.

Meanwhile, at the Chicago Tribune, "Hate crime, kidnapping charges filed in West Side attack streamed on Facebook Live":

4 charged in attack streamed on Facebook: Kidnapping, hate crime, unlawful restraint, battery with a deadly weapon. https://t.co/1ZFM0EMRv2 pic.twitter.com/BKaQzWhwfj

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) January 5, 2017

Hate crime charges have been filed against four people shown in a Facebook video attacking a mentally disabled man, cutting his scalp with a knife and punching him while yelling obscenities about Donald Trump and "white people."

Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville, Tesfaye Cooper, 18, of Chicago, Brittany Covington, 18, of Chicago, and Tanishia Covington, 24,  of Chicago were charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Hill also was charged with robbery, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and residential burglary, while Cooper and Brittany Covington were charged with residential burglary.

The victim, an 18-year-old man reported missing by his parents in Crystal Lake this week, is shown crouching in a corner on a video carried on Facebook Live.  His wrists are bound and his mouth is taped shut.

As a woman shoots the video, two men cut the man's shirt with knives, then take turns punching him and stomping his head.  One of the men cuts the victim’s hair and scalp with a knife, and it appears the man is bleeding.

As the man crouches against a wall, someone shouts, “F‑‑‑ Donald Trump” and “F‑‑‑ white people.”

The attackers on the video appear to be black and the man appears to be white, though police declined at a news conference Wednesday evening to give the race of the attackers or the victim. The attack appears to have taken place on the West Side...

Still more.

And at Memeorandum.

Chicago Teens Post Racially-Motivated Hate Crime Against Special Needs Man on Facebook (VIDEO)

It's black Chicago teens. This is the real racism in America today, not the alleged racist fascist Nazi violence of Donald Trump supporters.

This is the logical result of the left's cancerous politics of hatred and division.

Dana Loesch is sickened and angry, plus the CBS News 2 Chicago report below:

What is WRONG with people???? Sickening. I’ll discuss this tomorrow on air.https://t.co/wHatqbJwp0

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 5, 2017

This is the result of shilling identity politics 24-7. People making bank off of division. It’s a hurt and rescue scheme. No $ w/o conflict.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 5, 2017

A rant. Read it. https://t.co/xizlsSCeyv

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 5, 2017

If you’re angry at these words but not the incident they discuss, your’e part of the problem.https://t.co/xizlsSCeyv#BLMKidnapping

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 5, 2017

& don’t troll me with your stolen Google images. You bots are so basic. If ur fighting me, ur not fighting the left, so u picked your side.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 5, 2017

It's even sicker: The white victim of the kidnap-torture attack has special needs. https://t.co/xXhF2gaAYk

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 4, 2017

More at World Star Hip Hop, "Chicago Teens Allegedly Kidnapped a Man and Beat Him on Facebook Live!"

Full video here.

Refuse Fascism

Following-up from previously, "Fascism vs. Right-Wing Populism."

I think it's important to nail down exactly what we're talking about. Professor Sheri Berman is right that Donald Trump and right-wing populist movements are not fascist. She's wrong when she demonizes Trump and right-wing populists as threat to current democratic norms and institutions.

Getting these things right is particularly important, since the smear of "fascism" is being thrown around like so much confetti on New Year's Eve.

Here's this big push by the leftist interested group "Refuse Fascism," which published a full-page advertisement in today's New York Times.

As I've said, Trump's not fascist. But if leftists keep pushing and pushing, publishing these smears in all the "correct" outlets, then even your non-political teenybopper down at the mall with be denouncing Trump supporters as "fascist" threats to the "democratic order."

Talk about fake news. Sheesh.

See, "Call to Action to STOP Trump and Pence BEFORE they Come to Power."

Call to Action 2 STOP #Trump #Pence BEFORE #J20 published today in @nytimes! Say NO! Read-sign-spread #NoFascistUSA https://t.co/9mZtw9tTBZ pic.twitter.com/DnPAw4PceL

— #NoFascistUSA (@RefuseFascism) January 4, 2017

(Frankly, since the election, the most significant threats to democratic norms --- like the legitimacy of the Electoral College --- have come from the left. But that doesn't matter to all the "correct" people at the "correct" outlets and institutions, like the MSM and academe. Frankly, the truth doesn't matter to the left, unless it's a truth that advances their agenda. We're in for a wild ride.)

Fascism vs. Right-Wing Populism

Sheri Berman is an excellent political scientist. I like her work a lot. But in two recent pieces on the surge in populism she can't resolve some key inconsistencies in her writing. The main thing is (1) she wants to argue Donald Trump (and right-wing populists in Europe) are not fascist, but (2) this same surging "right-wing [populist] extremism," in Berman's terminology, is still a threat to democracy.

I don't think you can have it both ways. For Berman, if the structural variables that were present in the Interwar period in Europe --- countries in physical ruin after WWI, extreme economic crisis, including the Great Depression, the breakdown of traditional hierarchy, especially aristocracy, absent the consolidation of democratic regimes --- were present today, we'd see the return of fascism.

She doesn't say in so many words, though. She only goes so far as to say that Trump and European "right-wing extremists" threaten current democratic norms and should be challenged, lest they threaten the democratic order.

See for example, Berman's piece from the November/December issue of Foreign Affairs, "Populism Is Not Fascism," and especially the conclusion:

The best way to ensure that the [Marine] Le Pens and Trumps of the world go down in history as also-rans rather than as real threats is to make democratic institutions, parties, and politicians more responsive to the needs of all citizens. In the United States, for example, rising inequality, stagnating wages, deteriorating communities, congressional gridlock, and the flow of big money to campaigns have played a bigger role in fueling support for Trump than his purported charisma or the supposed authoritarian leanings of his supporters. Tackling those problems would no doubt help prevent the rise of the next Trump.

History also shows that conservatives should be particularly wary of embracing right-wing populists. Mainstream Republicans who make bogus claims about voter fraud, rigged elections, and the questionable patriotism and nationality of President Barack Obama in order to appeal to the extremist fringes are playing an extremely dangerous game, since such rhetoric fans citizens’ fear and distrust of their politicians and institutions, thus undermining their faith in democracy itself. And just like their interwar counter­parts, these conservatives are also likely enhancing the appeal of politicians who have little loyalty to the conservatives’ own policies, constituencies, or institutions.

Right-wing populism—indeed, populism of any kind—is a symptom of democracy in trouble; fascism and other revolutionary movements are the consequence of democracy in crisis. But if governments do not do more to address the many social and economic problems the United States and Europe currently face, if mainstream politicians and parties don’t do a better job reaching out to all citizens, and if conservatives continue to fan fear and turn a blind eye to extremism, then the West could quickly find itself moving from the former to the latter.

Actually, democracy is not in trouble.

Donald Trump is not an "also-ran" but the president-elect who will take office as the 45th president of the U.S. on January 20th.

Berman's problem, I would argue, is that she sees populist rejection of left-wing policies as threats to democracy. They are not.

Her other piece, which specifies the nature of fascism much better than at Foreign Affairs, is at Vox, "Donald Trump isn’t a fascist."

The always excellent Sheri Berman: Trump is a right-wing populist, not a fascist. https://t.co/CyQgOcBQcH

— Daniel Nexon (@dhnexon) January 3, 2017

It's good, but like I said, Berman fails to persuasively explain why so called "extreme" right-wing populist movements threaten democracy.

These movements, at least in the U.S., don't even threaten democratic norms, and her examples (like Trump's rejection of intelligence findings on Russian hacking) aren't in fact cases of deviations from such norms. And of course, the same things that Berman claims right-wing populist are doing, like rejecting election results, are exactly what Democrats and leftists have done since the election. So, why aren't far-left movements, socialism, neo-communism, and anti-neo-liberalism, in fact threats to democracy? The reason is that leftists have double-standards, and for them threats to democratic norms are only seen when populists reject leftist policies.

Until Berman and others can offer an even-handed argument for fascism vs. right-wing populism (or left-wing populism, for that matter), their commentary and research will be rejected as nothing more than partisan hackery.

'Pink Houses'

From yesterday's driving-around time, at the Sound L.A. (I picked up my son from school and then made a Walmart run for some groceries.)

John Mellencamp:

Lola (Mono 'Cherry Cola' Single Version)
The Kinks
3:51 PM

Dancing in the Dark
Bruce Springsteen
3:47 PM

Can't You See
The Marshall Tucker Band
3:41 PM

Let's Dance
David Bowie
3:37 PM

Fat Bottomed Girls
Queen
3:33 PM

Pinball Wizard
The Who
3:26 PM

Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac
3:23 PM

Shake It Up
The Cars
3:19 PM

I Shot the Sheriff
Eric Clapton
3:15 PM

Pink Houses
John Mellencamp
3:10 PM

Stairway to Heaven
Led Zeppelin
3:02 PM

'Thanks for not Photoshopping my thighs...'

I think, as a matter of public service, Glamour really needed to Photoshop Lena Dunham's thighs.

My god, is this the new standard of Glamour for today's young women? How sickening.

Via Ms. Rachel on Twitter, "If the average and the drab can achieve Glamour without effort, then the magazine is obsolete."

At Newser, "Lena Dunham to Glamour: Thanks for Not Photoshopping."

Our first cover as a fearsome foursome. Can't wait to show the grandkids ❤️❤️❤️ Love you @glamourmag! https://t.co/MOVll3svXP pic.twitter.com/gFvD5QFPTN

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) January 3, 2017

Deaf Baby Boy Hears Mom's Voice for the First Time (VIDEO)

I wasn't born deaf, but I have a hearing impairment from a head injury when I was 21.

I wear a hearing aid. Most people don't realize I have an impairment when I'm talking to them. I read lips. My voice is a bit muffled, creating something of a Mr. Magoo effect, but most people never remark on it.

But because if this, I always see these "baby hears" videos with a special joy. Sometimes I used to think I'd rather be blind than deaf. You never really know how cherished are your senses until you've lost one of them, or more.

In any case, seen on Twitter just now (and this isn't the first clip like this I've posted):

This is pure joy and my favorite share: a priceless reaction of deaf baby boy hearing his mom's voice for first time pic.twitter.com/RIRkf14ypN

— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) December 30, 2016

Senate Moves to Repeal ObamaCare (VIDEO)

Senators were actually working on this yesterday, their first day back on the Hill.

At Roll Call, "Senate Republicans Start Obamacare Repeal Process":

Senate Republicans wasted no time Tuesday setting in motion their plan to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

GOP senators intend to strike large portions of the law while avoiding the threat of a Democratic filibuster through a procedural gambit that expedites Senate consideration of the repeal bill.

But Democrats aren’t going down without a fight.

On Tuesday, Senate Budget Chairman Michael B. Enzi started the process known as reconciliation. A fiscal 2017 budget resolution the Wyoming Republican unveiled on the first day of the 115th Congress includes instructions to two House and two Senate committees to craft legislation reducing the deficit by $1 billion over the next ten years.

To do so, those committees will draft bills repealing portions of the health care law. Senate debate is not subject to cloture, meaning 60 votes are not required to end debate. Republicans, with their 52-seat majority, will be able to advance the repeal without needing any Democratic defections.

One of the committees with jurisdiction is Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the panel’s chairman, GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said Tuesday that any repeal bill will be crafted “carefully.” Lawmakers have until Jan. 27 to draft the measures.

But before then, Democrats plan to put Republicans on the record regarding certain provisions of the 2010 health care law.

Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin said Democrats plan to offer health-related provisions when the Senate votes on amendments to the budget resolution. A marathon vote series known as a vote-a-rama is expected next week...

More.

Not sure why she mentions the cloture rule isn't in effect, mainly because the filibuster still applies to legislation (despite this whole debate over killing the filibuster). Normally floor debate is held when a bill is ready to be sent to conference, and thus it would be defeated in the Senate before that if there wasn't a 60-vote level of support. I've tweeted to Bridget Bowman for an answer.

The Wages of Trump Derangement Syndrome

From Roger Kimball, at Pajamas:

There will continue to be a lot of flailing [after Trump's election], a lot of wailing and abuse. But among the many things that changed during the early hours of November 9 was a cultural dispensation that had been with us since at least the 1960s, the smug, "progressive" (don't call it "liberal") dispensation that had insinuated itself like a toxic fog throughout our cultural institutions — our media, our universities, our think tanks and beyond. So well established was this set of cultural assumptions, cultural presumptions, that it seemed to many like the state of nature: just there as is a mountain or an expanse of ocean.  But it turns out it was just a human, all-too-human fabrication whose tawdriness is now as obvious as its fragility.

What we are witnessing is its dissolution. It won't happen all at once and there are bound to be pockets of resistance. But they will become ever more irrelevant even if they become ever shriller and more histrionic. The anti-Trump establishment is correct that what is taking place is a sea change in our country. But they are wrong about its purport.  It is rendering them utterly irrelevant even as it is boosting the confidence, strength, and competence of the country as a whole. Glad tidings indeed...

RTWT.

Hat Tip: James Taranto, at his final entry for the "Best of the Web" column at WSJ, "Finale." (I read that on my iPhone. My normal Google workaround for the subscription paywall didn't work. I'm thinking about subscribing to the newspaper this year, perhaps as part of a new change for my reading habits.)

An Embarrassing Start for the New GOP Congress

Actually, maybe House Republicans shouldn't have caved to the pressure, from Trump or elsewhere.

Following-up from yesterday, "House Republicans Retreat from Ethics Change Following Backlash."

See the Wall Street Journal editorial board, "Fake Ethics Reform Fiasco":

The burning question in the media has been whether Mr. Trump or public outcry deserve credit for the GOP’s about-face. In any case, House Republicans will pay a political price for trying, then failing, to rush through ethics changes—after running on draining the D.C. swamp. By caving so precipitously at the first sign of opposition, they’ve also invited more such pressure campaigns.

The upshot is an embarrassing start for a new GOP Congress that is supposed to be stalwart for pursuing conservative reform no matter the opposition. Progressives are elated that their Trump “resistance” project notched a victory and will continue the fact-free outrage campaigns. If you think the political pressure is intense on ethics rules, wait until the left completes its nationwide talent search for the person most harmed by the GOP’s health-care proposals. Mr. Trump will also figure he can rout any opposition with a tweet, not that he’s known for restraint.

The shame is that a review of the ethics office is overdue, much as due-process rights have suffered under the Obama Administration—from college campus show trials to bankrupting legal companies. Maybe Congress can restore its own due-process guarantees after it does something for everyone else’s.

RTWT.

George Hawley, Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism

This looks interesting.

At Amazon, Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism.

Rose Bertram's Tahitian Paradise (VIDEO)

Via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

As Cops Retreat Under Political Pressure, Chicago Homicides Rise 57 Percent

At WSJ, "Murder and Policing in Chicago":

As cops retreat under political pressure, homicides rise 57% in Chicago: https://t.co/6kphDZJnRY

— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) January 3, 2017

Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told CBS’s “60 Minutes” this weekend that the increase in paperwork has taken time away from proactive policing and made officers more reluctant to stop suspicious individuals. According to CBS, the number of stops declined from 49,257 in August 2015 to 8,859 a year later while arrests fell by a third to 6,900. While current Superintendent Eddie Johnson denied that police were retreating, he noted at a press conference this weekend that anger at police has “emboldened” criminals. He also blamed lax enforcement of Chicago’s strict antigun laws.

All of this suggests that the demonization of cops has contributed to Chicago’s surge of violence, with the principal victims being young minorities, many of them innocent bystanders. Perhaps the President could include an elegy for these black lives in his farewell.

RTWT.

House Republicans Retreat from Ethics Change Following Backlash

I wasn't following politics too closely today. Indeed, I took my son to school and came home and went back to sleep. I woke up at Noon and the GOP ethics reform story was getting tremendous coverage at Memeorandum.

If House Republicans indeed retreated because Donald Trump tweeted his displeasure, that's gotta be a significant development. The GOP (and many in the conservative) establishment dissed Trump during the Republican primaries, lots of these people being part of the "Never Trump" movement. So it's interesting to see now the kind of power Trump can wield with a single tweet.

In any case, at WSJ, "House GOP Drops Bid to Undercut Ethics Board":

With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

WASHINGTON—House Republicans on Tuesday dropped their effort to curb the independence of a nonpartisan ethics board after a fierce backlash to it eclipsed other news on the first day of the new session of Congress.

Meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday, House Republicans unanimously decided to scrap their effort to place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee, a move that would leave lawmakers policing themselves. That move, announced late Monday night, drew swift pushback from government-watchdog groups, Democrats and some Republicans, who heard from angry constituents about the proposal.

President-elect Donald Trump, in tweets Tuesday mornings, questioned the timing of the move over other congressional priorities.

“It’s like a circular firing squad—our first day here and we’re passing around the handgun,” lamented Rep. Rod Blum (R., Iowa).

As criticism mounted Tuesday, Republicans decided midday to abandon the measure for now, though lawmakers said they would try to advance changes to the ethics watchdog later this year. Lawmakers have raised concerns over the board, including objections that it makes complaints against them public.

House Republicans meeting Monday night had approved, by a 119-74 vote, the amendment from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) to a package of new House rules. Both House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) had objected to the amendment, urging a bipartisan approach to changing the office.

It wasn’t clear that the rules package would have had the votes to pass, given that it was likely to garner no support from Democrats, and some Republicans objected to the ethics amendment.

In two tweets Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump seemed to express sympathy with the move on its merits, calling the watchdog office “unfair.” But he said, “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it…may be, their number one act and priority.” He added that he would prefer a focus on issues “of far greater importance!”

The Office of Congressional Ethics serves as the chamber’s independent ethics watchdog by reviewing allegations against House members and staff. It is governed by an eight-person board of private citizens who don’t work for the government...

Still more.

Best of LOVE Advent 2016 (VIDEO)

Heh, I haven't been too consistent posting these LOVE videos. They're nice though.

How Megyn Kelly's Move to NBC Could Change the Cable News Landscape

Following-up from earlier, "Megyn Kelly to Join NBC News."

I watched the "Kelly File" tonight, looking to catch the last of Ms. Megyn's appearances on Fox News. Unlike a lot of conservatives during the GOP primary (especially on Twitter), I wasn't critical of her. I liked her approach. I think Trump said some nasty things. I don't like him any less, but I don't think he shouldn't be called out from time to time.

In any case, it's going to be interesting at Fox News with Megyn gone. The network will be fine. The New York Times reported today that network executives have no plans to change the conservative programming that's made Fox the leader in cable news. That's good. On the other hand, I liked the more news/analysis feel of the 6:00pm hour (Pacific time) between O'Reilly and Hannity. Indeed, I always get a kick with how the "Kelly File" opens with "BREAKING TONIGHT!" It seems so urgent, heh.

In any case, at WaPo:

An ending, and a new beginning... pic.twitter.com/clyKaDpQTW

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 3, 2017

Thank you for watching. With love... pic.twitter.com/0MjyVl6vAe

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 4, 2017

Megyn Kelly's wholly unsurprising decision to leave Fox News to join NBC leaves a void at the network where she spent the past 12 years, and perhaps nudges the cable news juggernaut in a new direction — while opening the door for media rivals.

Kelly confirmed her job change in a message Tuesday on Twitter after it was first reported by the New York Times.

Already a cable news star before the 2016 election cycle began, Kelly became a household name as she remained poised amid nasty attacks by Donald Trump, who objected to her line of questioning at the first Republican primary debate. Last January, Fox News's then-chairman, Roger Ailes, rejected Trump's demand that the network replace Kelly as a moderator of the second debate, even as the billionaire threatened to boycott the event — which he did.

When former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson accused Ailes of sexual harassment in a lawsuit in July, prompting 21st Century Fox to launch an investigation, Kelly shared her own claim of harassment by Ailes, who resigned later that month.

From then on, Kelly seemed to be viewed as a traitor by some Ailes loyalists who remained at Fox News. Sean Hannity called her a Hillary Clinton supporter in October. Bill O'Reilly criticized Kelly's decision to air dirty laundry in a book released in November.

“If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance,” O'Reilly told CBS News. “You don't like what's happening in the workplace? Go to human resources or leave. I've done that. And then take the action you need to take afterward if you feel aggrieved. There are labor laws in this country. But don't run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it.”

Kelly's departure from Fox News appeared inevitable. But now that it is here, it is worth considering the effect on cable news...

An interesting piece.

Keep reading.

At at the bottom tweet above, Ms. Megyn announces she leaving the network.

How Close is #USC Football to Winning the National Championship?

I think they're very close.

As long as they've got Sam Darnold at QB, I think USC could win the national championship next year. I think they're that good.

At LAT, "How close is USC to winning a national championship?":

How close is USC to winning a national championship? https://t.co/bXTgflhfqk

— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) January 4, 2017

.@ColinCowherd on Sam Darnold: "I think it's the best quarterback I've ever seen at USC." pic.twitter.com/hw8a8OiWTd

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 3, 2017

In a boisterous corridor outside the winning locker room following a classic Rose Bowl game on Monday evening, Lynn Swann, USC’s athletic director, was asked if the win meant the Trojans were back at the top of college football.

"No, if we were back at the top of the national landscape, we'd be playing on Monday, January 9th,” Swann said, referring to the national championship game. “We're not there yet. It's a building process.”

USC’s nine straight wins, its sizable chunk of returning talent and its quarterback, Sam Darnold, will likely thrust the Trojans into the national championship hunt next season. So, how close are they to being capable of winning it?

In short, they’re two offensive tackles, one linebacker, one defensive tackle and a couple receivers away. The return of a couple playmakers — receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and cornerback and return specialist Adoree’ Jackson — wouldn’t hurt either.

Whether USC can effectively plug those holes will determine whether it is a playoff or national championship team next season.

One player has elevated expectations to such levels: Darnold, who as a freshman set Rose Bowl records with five touchdown passes and 473 yards of total offense in a 52-49 victory over Penn State. It seems a foregone conclusion that he will begin next season as a Heisman Trophy front-runner. The hype is already stratospheric.

The morning after USC’s Rose Bowl victory, ESPN was teasing to a commercial with questions such as: "Will Sam Darnold be as good as Vince Young? We'll debate, next."

One his radio show, Colin Cowherd said Darnold is “the best quarterback I've ever seen at USC.” Darnold, he said, reminded him of Andrew Luck and Brett Favre.

Darnold deserves to be praised, but no team can win with one player alone. Much attention in the coming days will be given to Jackson and Smith-Schuster, who will decide whether to enter the NFL draft or return for their senior seasons. Both have said that coming back to compete for a national championship is attractive. But both are considered high-round draft prospects.

After the game, Smith-Schuster said he would “take about a few days” to make his decision. Jackson was noncommittal. “I don't know,” he said. “I'm out here living in this moment.”

The focus on Jackson and Smith-Schuster obscures what might be more impactful losses: offensive tackles Chad Wheeler and Zach Banner.

Unlike at cornerback, where there is a replacement, Jack Jones, waiting in the wings, or at receiver, where Darnold prefers to spread the ball around to many options, there are no clear replacements at tackle, where mistakes can be magnified.

More.

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BONUS: John Prados, Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy.