October 6-9, 2020
Oct 06 12:44 Trump vs. Biden, leadership edition Oct 06 18:47 CNN's Fake News polling Oct 07 04:29 Peterson's Pelosi problem Oct 07 07:56 COVID is the top issue? Oct 07 11:12 Donald Trump stumps Nancy Pelosi Oct 07 17:31 Will the Real Kamala Harris Please Stand Up? Oct 08 04:53 Mike Pence vs. Kamala Harris, old-fashioned butt-kicking edition Oct 08 11:21 Democrat activists as moderators Oct 09 06:53 The Swamp, aka Commission on Presidential Debates, strikes back
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
Prior Years:
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Trump vs. Biden, leadership edition
This article tells the story of a leader whose followers followed him wherever he went. That leader's name is President Donald J. Trump and his supporters' actions aren't the least bit surprising. In fact, they're quite predictable.
The article starts by saying "They came from all over the country, determined to help their stricken president recover. Some had homemade signs, others held 'GET WELL' balloons and dozens brought bouquets to lay in front of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where President Donald Trump has been combating his own coronavirus infection since Friday."
If Vice President Biden were forced to tell the truth about this outpouring of affection and appreciation, he'd have to admit that he's jealous of President Trump's steadfast, enthusiastic support. Most presidential candidates would pay top dollar (figuratively speaking) for that type of enthusiastic support. Now that President Trump has returned to the White House, one of the Democrats' chief talking points is worthless.
[Video no longer available]
Democrats insist that President Trump hasn't taken COVID seriously. They're lying when they say that and they know that. President Trump is taking some medications that've been developed since the start of the pandemic. Regeneron and Remdesivir weren't available prior to COVID. In fact, they still haven't received final FDA approval. These therapeutics are different than Operation Warp Speed, which relates to COVID vaccines.
If a vaccine is approved by the FDA before the end of this year, that will be the fastest start-to-finish approval of a vaccine in history -- by a couple of years . This isn't happening by accident. It isn't happening despite President Trump not paying attention to COVID. It's happening because President Trump is a) speaking in confident tones and b) making great decisions.
For those looking for soothing tones, they have a candidate. His name is Joe Biden. However, before picking him, realize that you won't get just soothing tones with him; you'll also get a terrible decision-maker. Robert Gates said that Biden "has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."
By comparison, President Trump's decisions, especially on the economy, the Middle East and public safety have been right. Yes, you have to put up with his Twitter feed but I'm willing to sacrifice some annoying things in order to get great decisions on important issues.
Posted Tuesday, October 6, 2020 12:44 PM
No comments.
CNN's Fake News polling
CNN is expanding their Fake News franchise to not just include 'Fake News Bombshell' coverage but to also include 'Fake News Polling. This poll shouldn't get respect from serious people. News people and pundits like prefacing their polling by saying that polls are snapshots. That's occasionally true. This time, that isn't the case.
This time, CNN reports that "Joe Biden's advantage over President Donald Trump has expanded and the former vice president now holds his widest lead of the cycle with less than a month remaining before Election Day, according to a new nationwide CNN Poll conducted by SSRS. Among likely voters, 57% say they back Biden and 41% Trump in the poll that was conducted entirely after the first debate and mostly after the President's coronavirus infection was made public."
A little history is required to show how dishonest this poll is. The Reagan-Mondale landslide provides all the context that's required. In 1984, President Reagan gethered 58.77% of the vote, compared to Mondale's 40.56% of the vote. Nobody in their right mind thinks that Joe Biden will win by the same margin that Reagan won by. You'd have to be exceptionally stupid to think that. That's before thinking about how little enthusiasm there is for Biden. Today, Biden held a unity event in Gettysburg, PA. There were more Trump supporters outside the Biden event than there were Biden supporters at the event:
[Video no longer available]
That's before thinking about the Trump/RNC GOTV operation. This afternoon, Tim Murtaugh told Bill Hemmer that the RNC GOTV volunteer army has 2,300,000 volunteers and that those 2,300,000 volunteers have made 119,000,000 voter contacts:
[Video no longer available]
With that much enthusiasm and that big of a GOTV army, why would anyone think that Biden is even competitive? Biden doesn't have a GOTV operation, at least nothing this muscular. When Biden holds a major event in the most important battleground state for Democrats and more Trump supporters show up than Biden supporters, that's an indicator that the Biden campaign isn't a serious operation.
CNN can run all the Fake News polls it wants. It won't change reality.
Posted Tuesday, October 6, 2020 6:47 PM
No comments.
Peterson's Pelosi problem
Collin Peterson is suffering from Tom Daschle Disease. For those too young to remember, Tom Daschle Disease is characterized when you act conservative when you're 'back home' in a red state or district but vote liberal in Washington, DC. Collin Peterson insists that he still represents Minnesota's Seventh District just like he always has. That isn't the truth.
Peterson represents a district that President Trump won by 31 points in 2016. In her announcement that she's running against Peterson, Michelle Fischbach highlighted as fact that Peterson voted against President Trump's agenda 85% of the time. That isn't representing Minnesota's Seventh District. But that's just the tip of Peterson's difficulties. This information should be shared with Seventh District voters immediately:
Each Congress, Peterson votes more with Pelosi. It's understatement to say that Pelosi's priorities aren't the Seventh District's priorities. Peterson is counting on voters giving him credit for being independent-minded:
[Video no longer available]
"He doesn't back down"? Seriously? Apparently, that's DC-Speak for 'He does what Pelosi wants.' Like someone who's been in DC 30 years, Peterson has a nasty case of DC-itis, too, which is just as bad as Tom Daschle Disease. The only cure for DC-itis is defeat at the ballot box.
Posted Wednesday, October 7, 2020 4:29 AM
No comments.
COVID is the top issue?
According to this Gallup poll , "Americans grew more likely in the past month to consider the coronavirus or COVID-19 to be the nation's top problem." Let's examine that statement, though, because it's possibly both accurate and misleading. Numerically speaking, it's likely that more people said COVID than any other option. It's also possible that the people think that the economy is the most important voting issue. Another possibility is that they think law and order is the most important voting issue.
That's just a theoretical perspective, though. It's thoroughly possible that a more meaningful way of looking at things is by looking at things state-by-state. For instance, I'm betting that law and order is the biggest vote driver. Thanks to Boy Toy Frey's and Gov. Tim Walz's decision-making, Minneapolis neighborhoods lay in ruin:
In fact, a major point of contention is that the emergency is over and Gov. Walz's Peacetime Emergency Powers need to be rescinded. To the extent that COVID is an issue, it cuts against DFL candidates.
Then there's neighboring Wisconsin. It's been months since COVID has been a concern there. Since Kenosha, law and order is the top issue in Wisconsin. Moving eastward along the Great Lakes, COVID is the biggest issue in Michigan. It also hurts Democrats because the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer overstepped her constitutional authority :
Michigan's Supreme Court ruled Friday that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lacks the authority to extend or declare states of emergency in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Democratic governor issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in March and expanded it via another executive order in April. The Republican-controlled legislature passed a resolution to extend the state of emergency, but only until April 30. Whitmer has since issued many more orders related to the pandemic.
Michiganders have been protesting against Gov. Whitmer since the spring. Michiganders are upset that Gov. Whitmer has acted like an autocrat. Frankly, they're tired of being treated like subjects instead of citizens. Democrats have overstepped their authorities repeatedly. Frankly, Democrats have ripped their democracy mask off and exposed their autocratic true nature.
COVID shouldn't be the Republicans' first topic of choice. The economy, school choice and law and order should be the Republicans' first choices. Still, Republicans shouldn't be afraid to go toe-to-toe with Democrats on this issue.
Posted Wednesday, October 7, 2020 7:56 AM
No comments.
Donald Trump stumps Nancy Pelosi
This morning, President Trump took to Twitter to taunt Nancy Pelosi into doing the right thing for the American people . President Trump tweeted "The House and Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support and 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business. Both of these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the Cares Act. Have this money. I will sign now!"
Pelosi is now in a can't win situation. That's why President Trump is considered a master negotiator. When he cut off negotiations on a COVID relief package, analysts of all political stripes said that he'd handed Democrats a political victory. Obviously, President Trump had this quartet of aces up his sleeve when he ordered Secretary Mnuchin and Chief of Staff Meadows to suspend negotiations.
That announcement yesterday sent stocks tumbling, with the DJIA finishing off 375.88. With this new plan, the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) is currently up 424.79, gaining back everything from yesterday, then jumping above the 28,000 mark.
The House & Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business. Both of these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the Cares Act. Have this money. I will sign now!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020
Less than 30 minutes later, President Trump tweeted this:
Move Fast, I Am Waiting To Sign! @SpeakerPelosi https://t.co/RYBeWWuPC2
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020
Meanwhile, Democrats continue insulting President Trump:
[Video no longer available]
This is behavior unbecoming of the Speaker's office:
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in a call with Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday, floated the question of whether the steroids President Trump is taking to treat his case of the coronavirus led to his decision to endorse parts of a coronavirus stimulus deal just hours after telling his negotiators to walk away from talks.
"Believe me, there are people ... who think that steroids have an impact on your thinking. So, I don't know," Pelosi said on a call with Democrats after Trump's Tuesday night tweets, according to two sources.
What's happening is that Pelosi has found herself boxed in again. Because she's boxed in, she's upset. If she doesn't pass these standalone relief bills, she's the villain to the airline industry, to people everywhere waiting for stimulus checks and to small businesses. That's a disaster for Democrats up for re-election. It would likely hurt Joe Biden, too. If Biden doesn't support President Trump's plan and doesn't offer a plan of his own, then he's on the hot seat, too. More immediately, this becomes the hot topic for tonight's Vice Presidential Debate.
Posted Wednesday, October 7, 2020 11:12 AM
No comments.
Will the Real Kamala Harris Please Stand Up?
"Will the Real Kamala Harris Please Stand Up?" is the title of this RedState article . The article then opens by saying "This evening, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) will meet Vice President Mike Pence on the debate stage for the one and only vice presidential debate of the 2020 campaign. So, which Kamala Harris should we expect to show up tonight, the far-Left liberal or the so-called moderate?"
The simple answer is that we should expect to see both versions tonight. Like Joe Biden, Sen. Harris is whoever she needs to be in front of whichever audience she's talking to. The reason why she hasn't taken many questions is because taking a position on issues means that she'd piss off either AOC or Establishment Democrats. It's like playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun. There's no winning in situations like that.
I suspect that she'll be on the defensive most of tonight. Here's why I expect that:
To date, Harris has been on the leading edge of the socialist makeover of the Democratic Party. She has co-sponsored several socialistic proposals, including the Green New Deal and Sanders' Medicare for All bill.
According to Harris, "Climate change is an existential threat - it's critical we act now to achieve a cleaner, safer, and healthier future. But it is not enough to simply cut emissions and end our reliance on fossil fuels. : We need a Green New Deal based in climate and environmental justice, which means building a clean economy that protects communities that have been neglected by policymakers for far too long. I'm proud to work with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez on this comprehensive proposal, and I'm hopeful that it brings a Green New Deal closer to reality."
On Medicare for All, Harris is all-in, too. 'In America, health care should be a right, not a privilege only for those who can afford it. It's why we need Medicare for All : We need comprehensive health insurance that covers every American,' said Harris.
Watching this video is fun -- if you're a Republican:
[Video no longer available]
With any luck, we'll see all the different Harris faces tonight.
Posted Wednesday, October 7, 2020 5:31 PM
No comments.
Mike Pence vs. Kamala Harris, old-fashioned butt-kicking edition
One of the things I look for during the Vice Presidential Debate is whether both people are ready to be commander-in-chief if, God forbid, something terrible happens to the president. Tonight, Mike Pence's mastery of the issues and his calmness even when Sen. Harris criticized left no doubt whether he'd be able to step in and do a great job without missing a beat. That can't be said of Kamala Harris. She was thrown off often.
On the issue of COVID, Vice President Pence talked about the Obama-Biden administration got everything wrong about the Swine Flu but lucked out because it wasn't as deadly as COVID. Pence then said that 60,000,000 people got the Swine Flu, not the 7,500,000 who've gotten COVID. Pence then finished by saying that had the Swine Flu had been as lethal as COVID is, there would've been 2,000,000 deaths, not 210,000:
[Video no longer available]
The other hard shot Vice President Pence landed was when he compared the Biden-Harris plan to the Trump-Pence plan:
[Video no longer available]
Sen. Harris has a tell when she's pinned down on something. She starts smiling that nervous smile. Then she shakes her head side-to-side like she's saying no. She did that often after the first segment. As Vice President Pence took command of the debate, Sen. Harris did that at least once per segment.
Sen. Harris did that on tax policy. Sen. Harris especially did that on fracking. Sen. Harris got trapped often on policy, often saying 'Vice President Biden has been consistent about' or 'Vice President Biden has been quite clear' about a topic where he'd flip-flopped. This was especially true about the Trump tax cuts and fracking.
One thing that became clear throughout the debate was that Sen. Harris is very artificial. When she got ready for one of her pre-rehearsed lines, she'd look into the camera, then started speaking with a bit of a lilt in her voice. Sen. Harris's pre-rehearsed lines were intended to be kill-shots. None of them had the impact that she'd hoped they would.
Vice President Pence's training as a radio talk show host shined through. When co-debater Susan Page interrupted, Vice President Pence talked right through her and finished his point. Vice President Pence was a man on a mission and he was focused like a laser. That Page often interrupted him when he ran long didn't bother him.
Perhaps Pence's hardest-hitting line was when he criticized Sen. Harris, saying "The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine, if a vaccine emerges during the Trump administration, I think is unconscionable. Senator, I just ask you: Stop playing politics with people's lives. "
Vice President Pence was the only person on that stage that I'd trust to step into the job of commander-in-chief. Sen. Harris simply isn't ready for that daunting assignment.
Posted Thursday, October 8, 2020 4:53 AM
No comments.
Democrat activists as moderators
It's exceptionally obvious that Chris Wallace and Susan Page have been co-debaters masquerading as debate moderators. It wasn't until the final 15 minutes of the debate that Page interrupted Sen. Harris. By that time, she'd interrupted Vice President Pence at least 20 times for going long on his answer. Despite Page's interruptions, Sen. Harris still wound up with more speaking time than Vice President Pence. Sen. Harris wound up speaking 3 more minutes than Vice President Pence.
That's the bad news for the Trump-Pence ticket. The good news for the Trump-Pence ticket is that Vice President Pence defeated the Harris-Page ticket last night. It wasn't that close of a match, TBH. One thing positive that I'll say about Susan Page is that she didn't interrupt Sen. Harris when Sen. Harris admitted that Vice President Biden would raise everyone's taxes if elected:
"On the other hand, you have Donald Trump, who measures the strength of the economy based on how rich people are doing. Which is why he passed a tax bill benefiting the top 1% and the biggest corporations of America, leading to a two trillion dollar deficit that the American people are going to have to pay for. On day one, Joe Biden will repeal that tax bill. He'll get rid of it . "
The it that Biden would get rid of is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It includes child tax credits, lower marginal tax rates and Tim Scott's Opportunity Zones provisions that are intended to attract investment in minority neighborhoods and communities. Why would Biden get rid of things that help minority communities?
Further, Joe Biden was in DC for almost half a century. Was he too blind to notice these problems? Or did he just take the problems for granted? Blighted neighborhoods aren't a new phenomenon. Detroit was destroyed 30 years ago, partially by terrible trade deals, partially by counterproductive urban policies. Baltimore has been blighted for 20+ years. But I digress.
Susan Page wasn't as obnoxious as Chris Wallace but she still interfered too often. What needs to change is having co-moderators, where mainstream conservatives like Katie Pavlich, Ed Morrissey, Guy Benson and Charlie Kirk pitch questions to the Democrats and sensible Democrats, if they still exist, ask questions of the GOP nominee.
The truth is that the MSM has swerved so far left in supporting Democrats that the MSM is considered the propaganda wing of the Democratic Party. The Joe Biden 'town hall' with undecided voters had 2 people on who identified themselves a couple months ago as likely Biden voters. George Stephanopoulos's Trump town hall was so hostile that I thought the Secret Service might be required to protect our president. The notion of objectivity or, at minimum, neutrality disappeared in 2016. (Think Adam Schiff, impeachment and the Russia Hoax.)
Posted Thursday, October 8, 2020 11:21 AM
No comments.
The Swamp, aka Commission on Presidential Debates, strikes back
The Commission on Presidential Debates, aka CPD, announced that "it is not reconsidering shifting the second debate from virtual back to in-person, despite a request from President Donald Trump's team." This is what the Swamp does when the establishment is experiencing difficulty. This election cycle, Joe Biden is the establishment candidate.
Biden lost the first
The CPD didn't need to change the debate schedule. The Swamp just changed it to make that the headline, instead of letting 'Pence thumps Harris' be the dominant headline Thursday morning. The CPD should be disbanded. They're corrupt through and through.
After the CPD's announcement that their change was etched in stone, the White House Physician cleared President Trump to resume normal activities. President Trump told FNC's Sean Hannity that the COVID test will happen sometime Friday. No difficulties are expected. President Trump had his own major announcement today:
[Video no longer available]
Saying that Ronna McDaniel was upset in this interview is understatement:
[Video no longer available]
After watching this interview, I understand why Chairwoman McDaniel was upset:
[Video no longer available]
FARENKOPF: We've been around for over 30 years. For 25 of those years, it has been the Commission that has picked the dates, the location, the format and the moderators without any consultation with the campaigns and the candidates. It was created because there was so many problems in the early 80s as to whether debates would ever take place.
The CPD isn't needed anymore. It might'v e been needed 40 years ago. It isn't anymore.
These days, the CPD is filled with hardline progressives and Never Trumper Republicans. Steve Scully was scheduled to moderate next week's debate. That debate is now cancelled. Scully interned for VP Biden in 1978.
Meanwhile, ABC News announced a town hall with Biden on Oct. 15, the original date of the next debate. The town hall will be in Philadelphia, but the time hasn't been announced.
Let's see if ABC and George Stephanopoulos pick people hostile to Joe Biden like they did with President Trump. I'm betting the proverbial ranch that this will be another night of softballs for Joe. That's another tactic that the Swamp deploys. That's ok. President Trump handled the hostile environment just fine. Biden, had he been subjected to that type of questioning, would've started crying on the floor in the fetal position within 5 minutes.
Posted Friday, October 9, 2020 6:53 AM
No comments.
