Biden to Visit East Palestine, Ohio, One Year After Train Derailment - WSJ

The trip would mark the first time Biden has visited the site since the accident devastated the small Ohio town

Consoler-in-Chief

Intelligence Reveals Details of U.N. Agency Staff’s Links to Oct. 7 Attack - WSJ

Six United Nations Relief and Works Agency workers were part of the wave of Palestinian militants who killed 1,200 people in the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust, according to the intelligence dossier. Two helped kidnap Israelis. Two others were tracked to sites where scores of Israeli civilians were shot and killed. Others coordinated logistics for the assault, including procuring weapons.

Of the 12 Unrwa employees with links to the attacks, seven were primary or secondary school teachers, including two math teachers, two Arabic language teachers and one primary school teacher.

The Trump-MAGA Purge - WSJ Opinion

“Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley is very bad for the Republican Party and, indeed, our Country,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday on his social-media site. “Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp. We don’t want them, and will not accept them.”

The art of persuasion.

He may find people react to his threats by voting for another candidate, or not at all.

Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Gets Four-Month Sentence for Defying Jan. 6 Committee - WSJ

“You were more than happy to talk to the press about what you did… but not go up to the Hill to talk to Congress,” the judge said.

Hunter?

The Justice Department had suggested a six-month sentence for Navarro, saying he had thumbed his nose at congressional authority as if he were above the law.

Hunter.

The Money-Market Bonanza Is Over. So Is Now the Time for Stocks? - WSJ

The S&P and Dow both hit records Tuesday, making further gains from here difficult.

Why did the editor allow this line to be published?

The S&P 500 set more than 1,000 record highs between 1950 and 2021, according to an analysis by Royal Bank of Canada. One year later, those highs were followed by a correction—a decline of more than 20%—less than 7% of the time. When the time horizon was extended to 10 years, that number dropped to 0.

This was seven paragraphs later, and exactly my point.

The Labor Union That Defeated Amazon Is Fighting for Survival - WSJ

The union is “dealing with a lot of institutional failure—failure of the labor law and failure of American businesses to really accept unionizing without putting up a battle,” said Wilma Liebman, formerly chair of the National Labor Relations Board under President Barack Obama.

Sometimes, when you’re asked to give a quote, a simple “no” is best.

The GOP Wants Pure, Uncut Trumpism as Haley’s Path Forward Narrows - WSJ

What the GOP’s most loyal voters want, it seems, is pure, uncut Trumpism—with all the baggage and ideological divergence from traditional conservatism that entails.

I’m old enough to remember when Trump wasted two months after his election on his loss instead of on winning the Georgia Senate runoffs.

The GOP lost the Senate, and we got the radical appointees, endless mandates, administrative state fiat galore, economic misery, and rancor of the last four years.

Gracious Trump Runs Out To Welcome Prodigal DeSantis Back Home - Babylon Bee

“This son of mine was dead, and boy, was he so dead, I mean really, really dead, believe me. But now, he is alive again; he was lost and is found. He was Meatball, but now he is Ron. He was DeSanctimonious, but now he is DeSantis once again. So fantastic, really.”

The 2024 Republican Choice - WSJ

It also isn’t clear Mr. Trump could attract first-rate advisers. The lure of power is strong, but anyone who takes a job had better have a lawyer on retainer. No conservative who wants a career in the law is likely to accept a job in the White House or Justice—not after what Mr. Trump asked his lawyers to do after the 2020 election.

Tim Scott to Endorse Trump for GOP Nomination, in Blow to Haley - WSJ

The endorsement is another sign of the difficulty Haley faces in a party that appears to be coalescing behind the former president.

Mistake.

Apple Changes Its App Store Policy. Critics Call the Moves ‘Outrageous.’  - WSJ

Apple’s new fees have drawn sharp criticism from the app-developer community, with opponents arguing the 27% commission the company will now impose on in-app purchases made through alternative payment methods will cost developers and, ultimately consumers, more money.

I’m moving as many of my subscriptions out of the IAP system as possible. A 27% referral fee!?

Aide to Lloyd Austin asked ambulance to arrive quietly to defense secretary’s home, 911 call shows - WTOP News

“Can I ask, like, can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? Um, we’re trying to remain a little subtle,” the aide said, according to the recording.

Is it an emergency or is it not?

Glaring Questions Remain Over Defense Secretary Austin’s Transfer Of Authority - The War Zone

“We’re not going to track the GPS coordinates on somebody’s mobile phone in the administration and we’re not going to plant a microchip in their neck like they’re a poodle,” he said in the exchange below, when asked why cabinet members are not tracked more closely than the city they are in. This is a somewhat fascinating detail because these officials, especially the Defense Secretary have critical roles to play in so-called continuity of government operations. The idea that their exact whereabouts is known about at all times is a unique admission.

We’re entering the second week of this story and they’re still giving these stupid quotes. We’re not talking about the Secretary of Agriculture. If there had been an attack, no one would’ve known where SecDef and his deputy was clueless on a beach somewhere.

Hertz Selling 20,000 EVs in the U.S., to Reinvest in Gas-Powered Vehicles - WSJ

Hertz said Thursday that it would sell about 20,000 EVs in the U.S., and use some of the proceeds to purchase internal-combustion-engine vehicles. The company in a regulatory filing cited weaker demand for electrics, and their higher operating costs. 

Emphasis added.

Hertz previously set a goal to electrify a quarter of its fleet by the end of 2024. On Thursday, the company said it would focus on matching supply with demand and focus on margins.

Bold, outside-the-box strategy.

Biden Backs Defense Chief Austin, Won’t Take Resignation if Offered - WSJ

“There [are] no plans, or anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job and continuing the leadership that he’s been demonstrating,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday. 

From Afghanistan to Walter Reed, the Secretary’s performance is 100% on brand for this Administration and we are just hoping against hope that he stays!

It’s the policy of this Administration that no failure go punished, and we’re 100% focused on the consistent application of this policy.

Good thing we didn’t go to war while we thought the SecDef was working from home, like he said he was, but was really in intensive care, eh?

A little fun at tea time. 🦩

Biden Has a Second-Term Wish List. Congress Could Spoil His Plans. - WSJ

“Donald Trump’s campaign,” Biden said on Friday, “is about him, not you.”

Completely true.

It’s a campaign solely built on hubris and rehashing the 2020 election by a confused old man who refuses to step aside and champion a new generation of leadership for America.

Then again, so is the Biden 2024 campaign.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Hospitalization Deepens Mystery of His Absence - WSJ

He has by design kept a low profile in the Biden administration.

He certainly has kept a low profile since the strategically brilliant and historical airlift that was the Afghanistan withdrawal. Almost as if he didn’t want people to get the idea that he’s completely incompetent.