B-Man

My boundless joy tends to drive away my staff .

Too bad the usual suspects here at PPP can't see it (or won't admit it) What Happened to My Party? Joel Kotkin I grew up among people who worshipped the key pillars of the twentieth century Democratic Party: the New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt, and the great public works project known as New York City. The Democrats then were the party of progress—of new roads, bridges, ports, factories, and laboratories. They were also the party of national defense, a holdover from the triumph of World War II that was sustained by a fear of Communist aggression. But the Democratic Party’s recent evolution contrasts sharply to its glory days. Today, the Democrats are losing out among some of the party’s core constituencies, notably those who work with their hands, Latinos, Jews, Asians, and even some African Americans. In their new configuration, the Democrats function as an electoral cabal forged by an alliance between the business elite, the professional classes, the federal bureaucracy, and dependent voters. If anything, the Democrats synchronized swimming of the past month could only occur in a party largely uniform in its core constituencies and essential beliefs. They shift positions and allegiances through technology and media control, using influencers to hide troublesome past positions with a dexterity that a Communist vozdh like Joseph Stalin would have appreciated. The new mindset is obvious considering the Democrats’ embrace of censorship in alliance with the tech oligarchs, who have been long-time backers of Kamala Harris, and the universities, another bulwark of progressive power. It also builds upon the assumption that the experts embraced by progressive voters should be allowed free reign since they know better than the masses. The keys to understanding the increasingly authoritarian Democratic Party are threefold: class, racial politics, and sexual politics. As someone schooled in Marxist theory, I tend to place the class component first. In the past, Democrats were a party that appealed to “the little people” like factory hands, small shopkeepers, yeoman farmers, skilled mechanics, and artisans. Democrats from Kennedy to Clinton focused on private sector growth as a means to achieve upward mobility for middle- and working-class Americans. But in the new Democratic policy world, most employment growth has been focused on government and public-funded health care. And the Democrats’ electoral base is largely those professionals who benefit from an expanded regulatory state. MORE at the link: https://americanmind.org/salvo/what-happed-to-my-party/ .

Kamunism. Kamala Harris unveils economic plan — including a whopping $1.7T in handouts, federal ban on grocery store ‘price gouging’ By Diana Glebova, Josh Christenson and Victoria Churchill RALEIGH, North Carolina — Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday unveiled the economic policies she would enact in her first 100 days in office — and it comes with a whopping estimated $1.7 trillion in handouts, as well as government price controls on groceries amid ravaging Biden-Harris administration inflation. https://nypost.com/2024/08/16/us-news/kamala-harris-unveils-economic-plan-including-a-whopping-1-7t-in-handouts-fed-ban-on-grocery-store-price-gouging/ .

Very Funny.

What is going on at the Washington Post?

Giving away more money. . . . . . that's the ticket Kamala Harris to Propose $25,000 Down Payment Support for First-Time Homeowners https://twitchy.com/brettt/2024/08/15/kamala-harris-to-propose-25000-down-payment-support-for-first-time-homeowners-n2399691 .

Exactly right.

No surprise.

The Backstabbers: Biden Still Angry With These Three Dump-Biden Leaders Ed Morrissey https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/08/14/biden-still-angry-with-dump-biden-leaders-pelosi-schumer-obama-n3793139 .

Another Palestinian Terror Watchlist Member Caught in New Mexico Jazz Shaw This is turning into an unpleasant pattern that continues to repeat despite assurances from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that they have the situation under control. Last month, border agents caught three Palestinians whose names appear on the terror watchlist coming over the southern border into California. On Monday, CBP found another one, this time in New Mexico. Omar Shehada turned out to be a doozy. He's from the West Bank and he landed on the watchlist because he had already been convicted of terror attacks involving "explosives and firearms." (Probably against Israel.) And now he has crossed the world and very nearly entered our country undetected. Are we honestly expected to believe that he was the only one? https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2024/08/15/another-palestinian-terror-watchlist-member-caught-in-new-mexico-n3793174

The Taliban party down The signature foreign policy “achievement” of the Biden/Harris administration must be our Afghanistan exit, pursued by a Taliban bear. Yesterday the Taliban celebrated the third anniversary of their victory with a party and parade at the Bagram Air Base featuring the materiel we left behind (video below). The AP reported on the festivities in a story datelined Kabul: Under blue skies and blazing sunshine at the Bagram base — once the center of America’s war to unseat the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks — members of the Taliban Cabinet lauded achievements such as strengthening Islamic law and establishing a military system that provides “peace and security.” The AP notes: “Women were barred from the event, including female journalists from The Associated Press, Agence French-Presse and Reuters. The Taliban did not give a reason for barring them.” Surely someone at the AP can crack the mystery. The AP doesn’t authenticate the military parade depicted in the video, but it describes it. The story observes that the Taliban’s Bagram party “was also an opportunity to showcase some of the military hardware abandoned by U.S. and NATO-led forces after decades of war, including helicopters, Humvees and tanks.” Let us recall that Vice President Kamala Harris was “the last person in the room” with President Biden when the decision to exit was made. Yet, according to unnamed Harris aide, her own position remains obscure: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/08/the-taliban-party-down.php