Democrats Campaign for the Trump Guy - WSJ Opinion

One of the strangest themes of the 2022 elections is that Democrats say President Trump is a grave threat to democracy, even as they’re also trying to help Mr. Trump’s acolytes win Republican primaries.

This is a perverse, cynical, and disgusting strategy. The two-party system should filter out the extremes and put the two strongest candidates on the ballot.

We all lose when weak candidates make it to the final round… double if they win.

Joe Biden Signs ‘Don’t Say Recession’ Bill - Babylon Bee

According to sources, those who break the law and use the word “recession” will face up to 10 years in prison, which after inflation, amounts to 17 years.

Student Loan Servicers Told to Hold Off on Sending Billing Statements - WSJ

“The situation is that we’re almost 30 days away from the planned resumption and the department has been telling servicers to hold off on resumption communications for the last few months,” said Mr. Buchanan, the executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance. “Maybe the department expects that the White House will yet again kick the can down the road.”

Insightful.

‘Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’ Is Canceled After Seven Seasons - WSJ

The decision to pull the plug on “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” a critically acclaimed weekly political humor show that had been running for seven seasons, is part of a broader overhaul of the Warner Bros. Discovery cable networks, which include TBS and TNT.

I join my fellow Americans in expressing shock that this TV show still existed.

I had no idea, let alone the fact that it has aired every year since 2015.

How Do Economists Determine Whether the Economy Is in a Recession? - The White House

What is a recession? While some maintain that two consecutive quarters of falling real GDP constitute a recession, that is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle.

Translation: they’ve seen Q2 GDP number, it’s negative, and we’re in a recession.

In Maryland, Democrats Traduce Democracy - WSJ Opinion

The Democrats’ hypocrisy will continue to erode what remaining trust the public has in our political processes. The DGA presents itself as leading “the fight to defend our democracy” as it spends tens of millions of dollars promoting candidates it claims are an active threat to our republic. No wonder so many Americans tune out warnings of our supposedly imperiled democracy when the very people who issue them are willing to fan the flames as soon as it’s politically convenient. By giving fringe candidates legitimacy, Democrats provide them with significant platforms from which to spread conspiracy theories and lies. Nothing good can come from bringing these ideas into the mainstream. Many of the same people who warn about misinformation on social media seem to have no problem amplifying it through paid political ads that suit their short-term partisan ends.

Bernie Sanders and ‘Doomerism’ - WSJ Opinion

“We can’t give in to doomerism,” tweets Sen. Bernie Sanders (socialist, Vt.). It seems to be a refreshing new message from a man who’s been claiming for more than half a century that America is in crisis and in need of revolutionary change.

Foggy morning, country road

Google Parts With Engineer Who Claimed Its AI System Is Sentient - WSJ

Blake Lemoine, a software engineer at Alphabet Inc.’s Google, told the company he believed that its Language Model for Dialogue Applications, or LaMDA, is a person who has rights and might well have a soul.

A computer program is not a person, has no rights, and doesn’t have a soul.

Have a good night, Blake!

Steve Bannon Found Guilty of Contempt of Congress - WSJ

Mr. Corcoran also called the case “infected by politics” because the prosecution’s main witness, congressional lawyer Kristin Amerling, has worked for Democratic Party lawmakers, donated to Democrats, and was in a book club with Ms. Gaston, the prosecutor.

If we’re going to pursue Steve Bannon for Contempt of Congress, then DOJ needs to pursue everyone referred for Contempt of Congress. Cherry-picking cases of political foes is beyond corrosive.

And we need to shut down the District Court in DC and send these high profile cases to another federal court. The relationships between people in this case, and in the Sussmann case, would never fly in the Northern District of Illinois or the District of Nebraska.

Just over a week ago, Mr. Bannon made a last-minute offer to testify to the Jan. 6 committee, adding he would prefer to do so at a public hearing. Mr. Bannon said his change of heart came after Mr. Trump waived executive privilege. Prosecutors had argued that executive privilege was never properly invoked in the first place. Judge Nichols said that Mr. Bannon’s offer to testify was irrelevant to whether he defaulted on the subpoena months earlier.

The purpose of the justice system is to correct injustices and repair the damage done by breaches. So instead of letting Bannon cure the contempt and obey the subpoena, we send him to jail for 30 days and get no testimony?

‘National Emergency’ and the Democrats’ Apocalyptic Politics - WSJ Opinion

The rest of the country is still looking for that promised, but undelivered, return to normal.

Netflix Loses 1 Million Subscribers, Leaving 10 Million People Wondering Why Their Netflix Login Doesn’t Work Anymore - Babylon Bee

Netflix has also promised to change course by cracking down on account sharing after a survey found that most customers couldn’t even name the person whose account they were using.

Red flag.

Biden Places ‘I Did That’ Sticker On Gas Pump After Price Drops Two Cents - Babylon Bee

“And remember Putin makes prices go up. Biden makes prices go down!”

Lawmakers Move to Clarify Vice President’s Role in Certifying Presidential Election Results - WSJ

The legislation was the result of months of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats eager to make changes to the 1887 law to eliminate uncertainty regarding the electoral process.

Seriously, why did this take so long?

The ‘Beast Mode’ Presidency? - WSJ Opinion

While a President may sometimes need to act with dispatch during an emergency, climate change isn’t close to such an event. Climate change is neither sudden nor unexpected. The world has warmed by 1.1 degree Celsius since the late 19th century, and the pace of future warming is uncertain and depends on multiple variables.

AOC Sits In Invisible Police Car Awaiting Transport To Invisible Jail - Babylon Bee

“It is absolutely heinous that the Supreme Court would ask us to like, make laws,” said Representative Ilhan Omar. “We are far too busy leading protests about abortion to actually write any legislation on it.”

Anthony Fauci Plans to Retire by End of Biden’s Term - WSJ

Dr. Fauci said Monday he hadn’t decided on a date but planned to step down by the end of Mr. Biden’s term in January 2025.

The nice thing about government jobs, you can be terrible and still keep it. And leave on your own terms to boot!

Die Another Day

🍿

I gave myself the “day off” today, and yet I’ve been busy since breakfast.

Time to sit down and enjoy a movie before the evening outdoor work session.

“Last night we flew to Vegas, stood in line for a license with four other couples… all of us wanting the same thing— for the world to recognize us as partners and to declare our love to the world through the ancient and nearly universal symbol of marriage.”

On her fourth marriage, the evidence suggests that Jennifer Lopez still has zero clue what marriage is and even less of an idea of the metaphysical nature of love.

Biden Calls On The Economy To Stop Being Bad - Babylon Bee

“Come on, economy!” said an impassioned President Biden. “Make everything cheaper! Give everyone more money! I hereby demand you stop being atrocious! Do it. Do it now!”

That ought to do it. Wish he’d thought of that 14 months ago, tho.

“I know people who used to have money in their retirement accounts are frustrated — which is why today I am also calling on the stock market to go up. Just do it, ok? Just make the numbers bigger! Repeat line, end of speech!”

Senate Climate Setback Puts Pressure on Biden - WSJ

Some of those measures could raise gasoline prices and other energy costs for consumers, something Mr. Biden wants to avoid as his Democratic Party faces crucial midterm elections.

Why is it this Administration is always harping on saving people money, but every idea they propose will end up costing us more money?