B-Man

“Racism is not dead, but it is on life support - kept alive by politicians, race hustlers and people who get a sense of superiority by denouncing others as racists.” — Thomas Sowell

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Hegseth On Track? By John Hinderaker The Democrats have mounted a smear campaign against Pete Hegseth. With Matt Gaetz gone, he appears to be their number one target. The smears have involved Hegseth’s relationships with women and allegations of excessive drinking. But there are problems with the Democrats’ campaign: the allegations are anonymous, and thus in the realm of rumor. And they are nearly all old, and generally contradicted by others who are willing to go on the record. If the question is whether Hegseth has a checkered history with women, the answer is yes. But there is no solid evidence of anything beyond that, and I don’t think anyone seriously believes that what is in the public domain should disqualify Pete from serving in the cabinet. I don’t think there are four Republican senators willing to buck Trump on an important nomination. Senators like Joni Ernst have expressed caution, but I can’t see her–or any other Republicans other than Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins–actually voting Hegseth down. So I am optimistic that he will be confirmed. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/12/hegseth-on-track.php

There is already a current thread.

Will other Democrats follow Fetterman's lead? Probably not. We’re definitely not saying Fetterman and Musk will become best friends either, but it is refreshing to hear a Democrat say someone from the MAGA side of the aisle is not an enemy. https://twitchy.com/warren-squire/2024/12/06/fetterman-open-to-working-with-elon-musk-ands-vivek-n2404747

Biden White House considering pre-emptive pardon for retired Gen. Mark Milley who made secret phone calls to China: report by Victor Nava Senior White House officials are reportedly considering issuing retired Gen. Mark Milley a pre-emptive pardon over fears that President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration will go after the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The potential pardon for Milley, who was the nation’s highest-ranking military officer for part of Trump’s first term, was reported by the Washington Post Thursday. Milley, 66, faced intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill during President Biden’s first year in office after journalist Bob Woodward revealed that the Pentagon official placed secret phone calls to a top Chinese official before the 2020 election and after the Jan. 6. 2021, riot at the US Capitol. https://nypost.com/2024/12/06/us-news/biden-white-house-considering-pre-emptive-pardon-for-retired-general-who-made-secret-phone-calls-to-china-report/

DOGE at the state, county and municipal level by Bill Andersen “As above, so below” There are many more swamps to drain than the huge one in Washington DC. Every state, county and municipal government agency has one. These agencies are riddled with inefficient work processes and entrenched slackers. People interact with these bureaucracies far more often than the federal ones. So why not apply DOGE principles to these bureaucracies? It is fitting and proper to do so. For example every day normal Americans go to the DMV and Post Office and come away feeling like victims. Routinely there is a line at a post office with ten people in it being waited on by one employee. Yet you can hear several employees hiding in the back scurrying around and doing everything they can to avoid having to interact with customers. They get away with it because they face no disciplinary actions. They get their lavish pay, benefits and retirement regardless of how much (or little) they do in a day. And the DMV is even worse. The three-toed sloths that work there are known to be the slowest living organisms on the planet. Hell Disney has even made an animated movie about it called Zootopia. Even a rock on the ground moves faster than they do. And their utter contempt for providing even the minimum amount of customer service is apparent every time anyone has to deal with them. The dmv folks and the post office are the ones we see most often. There are many more state, county and municipal bureaucrats that have fewer customer interactions and are more adept at doing little or nothing. Try getting a building permit for example. It is obvious they will get to you at their convenience and not a moment sooner. They look upon you with contempt for interrupting their day. Call them up and it always goes to voice mail. Leave a message and you might hear back from them two weeks later, if they call you back at all. Identify and eliminate the inefficient, ineffective work processes. Make sure all employees are held accountable to high standards of customer care. We are all Elons. We are all Viveks. https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4282893/posts

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The usual suspects all predicting the demise of Pete Hegseth's nomination You might even say "The Walls are Closing in on Him" This means he probably will be our new Defense Secretary.

Another converted vote.

Bump

CHANGE? House Democrats in Open Revolt Against Aging, Out-of-Touch Ranking Committee Members. House Democrats are staging a mutiny against several long-sitting committee committee members. And the party leader in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), is allowing it to happen. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, 76, announced that he would step down from the ranking minority leader spot on the Natural Resources Committee. Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, 77, decided not to contest a challenge from Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland to the top Democratic spot on the Judiciary Committee. And Rep. David Scott of Georgia, 79, appears on the way out of the top Democratic spot on the Agriculture Committee due to numerous, younger challengers. All of the challengers are farther left and more radical than the old guard they're replacing. What they're promising is a change in "narrative" and doubling down on progressive issues that the American voter soundly and roundly rejected a month ago. https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2024/12/05/house-democrats-in-open-revolt-against-aging-out-of-touch-committee-chairmen-n4934860#google_vignette

IMAGINE THAT: Mexico makes record fentanyl bust days after Trump tariff threat. “Mexico’s top security official, Omar Garcia Harfuch, said the ‘historic’ bust was achieved in two raids spearheaded by the country’s navy and that two men were arrested and several weapons seized.” https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/04/americas/mexico-fentanyl-seizure-trump-tariffs-intl-latam/index.html Incentives work. .

"Don't invoke 9/11 for political purposes!" - said with a straight face after 23 years of the government doing exactly that to the tune of trillions out the door, the loss of fundamental rights and liberties, and millions dead.

You don't hate the media enough.

HMM: Russia is evacuating naval assets from its base in Tartus, Syria, which may suggest that Russia does not intend to send significant reinforcements to support Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s regime in the near term. OSINT analyst MT Anderson reported on December 2 that satellite imagery from November 30 and December 1 showed that the Russian Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Golovko Gorskhov-class frigates, the Admiral Grigorovich Grigorovich-class frigate, the Novorossiysk Kilo-class submarine, the Yelnya Altay-class oiler, and the Vyazma Kaliningradneft-class oiler were at the Russian base in Tartus. Anderson then reported that satellite imagery from December 3 showed that Russia removed the three frigates, the submarine, and two unnamed auxiliary vessels (likely the Yelnya and Vyazma) from the base — amounting to all of the vessels that Russia had stationed at Tartus. Russia cannot redeploy these vessels to its Black Sea ports because Turkey is enforcing the Montreux Convention, which prevents Russian warships from passing through the Turkish Straits. Russia will likely therefore redeploy the vessels to its bases in northwestern Russia and Kaliningrad Oblast. Russian power projection in the Med just took a big hit but it remains to be seen what that means for Bashar Assad. https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-december-3-2024

"Even if [Daniel] Penny’s found innocent on all charges, his ordeal still sends a grim message to all New Yorkers remains: Don’t think about standing up to protect the innocent." "And this is far from Bragg’s only outrage. Consider his prosecution of Jose Alba, the bodega clerk attacked in his workplace who accidentally killed in self-defense — the charges dropped only when the 'optics' got bad. Or Bragg’s two-years-belated indictment of a cop for punching an unruly perp (who wasn’t harmed) he was escorting out of an Upper West Side Apple Store. Or the charges against Scotty Enoe, a CVS worker, who stabbed a serial shoplifter to death after the homeless man pulled the knife on him. This DA sides with the perps every time — and against those who resist them. Not to mention the resources wasted on his ultimate political persecution: the ridiculous pursuit of now-President-elect Donald Trump over 2017 book-keeping entries that supposedly tampered with the 2016 election...." Writes the NY Post Editorial Board in "Daniel Penny trial: Alvin Bragg is a menace to our society and must GO." Posted by Ann Althouse https://althouse.blogspot.com/2024/12/even-if-daniel-pennys-found-innocent-on.html https://nypost.com/2024/12/04/opinion/daniel-penny-trial-alvin-bragg-is-a-menace-to-our-society-and-must-go/