We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
People capable of feeling shame would not have immediately followed up the Russiagate hoax fiasco with another transparently phony—and in “substance” nearly identical—attempt to remove President Trump from office, overturn the 2016 election, and shower deplorable-Americans with contempt and hatred. But our ruling elites have no shame.
That is not to say, however, that they are entirely cynical. The means by which they’ve so far tried to crush the Trump presidency may be nasty and illegitimate, but our overlords are 100% convinced of the righteousness of their cause, and of themselves. Hence they do not even need recourse to the cliché that the ends justify the means. The means are good because the end is sacred; they cannot countenance even the thought that the means might be suspect or (ahem) trumped up.
If progressives were truly to “interrogate the current structures of power,” they would only find themselves. Progressives have controlled Seattle for a generation, yet they pretend to be outsiders fighting forces of “institutional oppression” and “structural racism.” City government employs more than 10,000 workers, all subject to rigorous diversity training and politically correct thinking. Despite the occasional public-relations fiasco, the progressive grip on Seattle’s political culture shows no sign of loosening.
Dirty cops, not all of them for sure but maybe just some at the top. A sad, and frightening thing to see what the FBI did against the country for seemingly political purposes. Power corrupts.
The Swedes are a coldhearted people. When a 15-year-old boy was gunned down in a busy square in Malmo recently, a photograph showed that the townspeople had placed only seventeen candles and seven bouquets of flowers on the site where he had fallen. If the murder had happened in Britain, the ground on which the young victim had been shot would have been covered for yards around in candles, flowers, and teddy bears. In Sweden, by contrast, there was not a teddy bear to be seen.
From a too-fancy party last night: "Guess what, Bird Dog, I have an announcement for ya."
"OK, I am listening."
"I've gone vegetarian."
"That's cool," I said. "You are fitting in exactly to the joke about vegetarians telling everybody. But why?"
"Mostly to feel morally superior to other people like you, secondarily for my triglycerides."
Excellent response. I love our friends. So lucky to have them all, especially at Christmastime. I didn't bother correcting him on his medical ignorance, because cheerful friends don't correct people at Christmas parties.
As I’ve often said, conservatives are like doctors. Ours is a noble but tragic business. We’re trying to conserve a living thing: American liberty. And like all living things, liberty will one day die. But not today.
The FBI knew the Russia thing was a Clinton opposition hoax. Sen Hawley notes that the true 2016 collusion was between the Clinton campaign and the FBI. Russians don't scare me, but the FBI does. Russia is a pathetic place.
I don't think people should have strident opinions about trivialities. Children have strident opinions about trivialities.
Men don't. Men are supposed to be wise enough to know which things are trifling, and which things deserve their concern, and express themselves accordingly.
If it's important, you say something.
If it's not important, you practice the most ancient of all manly arts, the Manly Art of Shutting the F*** Up Once in a While and Giving Your C***slappers a Rest.
The Afghanistan fiasco reads like a systematic failure of leadership. The people in charge did not know what they were doing. They did not know what victory would look like. They did not set the agenda and define the policy. As a result, every junior officer and every junior bureaucrat could project his or her own priorities.
“We are deeply concerned that so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked investigative teams; on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations; after the matter had been briefed to the highest levels within the FBI; even though the information sought through use of FISA authority related so closely to an ongoing presidential campaign; and even though those involved with the investigation knew that their actions were likely to be subjected to close scrutiny. We believe this circumstance reflects a failure not just by those who prepared the FISA applications, but also by the managers and supervisors in the [investigation’s] chain of command, including FBI senior officials who were briefed as the investigation progressed.”
Punishable by death. The below from Ace this morning:
Good morning kids. Start of a new week and the top stories are the release of the IG Horowitz Report and the House Judiciary Committee set to charge President Trump with treason. Yes, gentle reader, you read that right: T-R-E-A-S-O-N. These people are truly sick. They are doing more than just playing games; they are playing with fire, here. If I had the ability to hold back and not slam my fist into Jerrold Nadler's gaping maw, I would certainly displace the perpetual slab of pastrami with a microphone and try to get him on record to answer the question "do you realize treason is a capital crime?" Okay, I get it. You turds are doing anything and everything you can to sabotage the President while covering up for your own crimes of sabotaging 2016 and then Trump's nascent presidency, which for the record, come within a red nether-hair's breadth of actual dictionary definition treason. Meanwhile, we still have hearings set for today, which you gave the Republicans on the committee essentially zero time to prepare for, dumping thousands of pages of evidence at the last minute. Not that that would matter since the committees are a farce of both fairness and legal precedent.
The Democrats have ensnared themselves in their own trap. For over three years, everything they have done to rig the election and then sabotage this president have failed, and spectacularly so. And since impeachment was promised even before Trump took the oath of office, impeachment is what they are going to have to deliver. But invoking treason is truly crossing a line. For argument's sake, let's say the House votes to impeach - and the jury is still out on if they even have the votes (although I suspect they do and the scuttlebutt that they don't is a head-fake), and then he is exonerated in the Senate. What then? Forget the shmoo-like bespectacled "G-d-cursed chimptato hybrid" screaming at the clouds. Will the Antifarians turn into Weathermen 2, Electric Boogaloo? I almost feel the Democrats would cheer that on, if not intentionally engaging in all of this to enable exactly that. As I said, they are playing with fire here.
Photo of holly on ice. We had a nice minor ice storm the other day 
This simple Holiday Wrapping Hack Is Blowing People’s Minds -
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From a too-fancy party last night: "Guess what, Bird Dog, I have an announcement for ya." 
WSJ: 
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