A report card on the Biden administration

So, a visitor comes to Kenosha, placing himself in harm's way by arming himself with a fully loaded assault rifle and walking down a city street. Then he is attacked by those who want to remove the AR-15 from the outsider, and the outsider claims he was defending himself. The Kenosha jury agreed with the outsider and freed him.

It is quite interesting that a jury in the south ruled in favor of the victims of white supremacy (Charlottesville), and a nearly all white jury in the deep south convicted three white men for killing a black man, while a jury in the north, Kenosha, Wisconsin to be exact, ruled in favor of a vigilante who killed two men with an assault rifle. Because of Wisconsin's open carry law, the 17-year old vigilante could not even be charged with illegal possession of a firearm, an AR-15 assault rifle to be specific.

Based on past history and the Republican south's affinity for open carry laws, one would think the jury decisions would be reversed. But that is not true. That is what makes all this very interesting.

What makes this all the more interesting is that Kyle Rittenhouse has become the darling of the Republican Party and Fox News, specifically Tucker Carlson, and the vigilante has now become Donald Trump's friend. I wonder how the good people of Kenosha feel about that.

Reuters reports, "A teenager acquitted of murdering two men and wounding another last year during racially based protests in Wisconsin reportedly visited Donald Trump at his Florida resort, with the former president describing Kyle Rittenhouse as “really a nice young man”.

"Trump revealed the visit in an interview with the TV show host Sean Hannity that aired on Fox News on Tuesday night. It was accompanied by a photograph of the pair together at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, where the former president lives.

"Rittenhouse, 18, and Trump were smiling and flashing thumbs-up signs at the camera, both wearing suits."

I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

Notwithstanding inflation, once again, it is a mystery as to why so many Americans think the economy is doing badly.

ABC reports, "The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits plummeted last week to the lowest level in more than half a century, another sign that the U.S. job market is rebounding rapidly from last year's coronavirus recession."

However, there is a downside as ABC explains:

"Jobless claims dropped by 71,000 to 199,000, the lowest since mid-November 1969. But seasonal adjustments around the Thanksgiving holiday contributed significantly to the bigger-than-expected drop. Unadjusted, claims actually ticked up by more than 18,000 to nearly 259,000."

The fact remains the number of jobless claims is the lowest in over 50 years.

Americans remain unhappy with Biden. His approval number is 42%. Apparently, Americans are difficult to please.

Readers are reminded that when the economy is doing poorly, the President gets the blame, and when the economy is doing great, the President gets the credit. This is true even though Presidents historically have little impact on the economy. For example, President Hoover was not responsible for the Great Depression, and President Roosevelt was not responsible for the recovery.

Another economic fact, when the economy is doing well, there is inflation. More people with more money buying more goods inevitably causes inflation. It's the economy, stupid.

The economy is booming as is the stock market, and unemployment is at a historical low. The problem is, Americans don't know it.

 

That statement was written on Wednesday. Then came Black Friday. Pun intended.

CNN reports, "The United States is working to quickly learn more about the newly identified coronavirus variant B.1.1.529, which was first identified in South Africa.

"South Africa's health minister announced Thursday the discovery of the variant, which appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of the country. Then on Friday, the World Health Organization designated the variant as a "variant of concern," naming it Omicron.

"Currently, "there's no indication" that B.1.1.529 is in the United States right now -- and US scientists are working closely with colleagues in South Africa to learn more about the emerging variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said Friday.

Turning to ABC, the network reports, "The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 900 points on Friday over concerns about the spread of the new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa.

"Anxiety among investors grew as countries ramped up responses to the variant, called B.1.1.529, first detected in Botswana. The Dow fell 2.53%, to 34,899, while the Nasdaq fell 2.23%, to 15,492, and the S&P tumbled 2.27% to 4,595.

"Over the summer, markets tumbled as the delta variant spread throughout the U.S."

"Investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known," Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, a foreign trading company, wrote in a report.

No doubt whatsoever Republicans will blame President Biden and Kamala Harris for the stock market downturn.

Word of advice from an older and wiser investor with 40 years worth of lessons. The best thing to do is to do absolutely nothing. Don't sell. Don't change a thing, which is a form of selling. Do nothing, nada.

It will all come back and more. If it doesn't -- which is like saying the sun won't rise -- you got more to worry about than your investments.

 

“Omicron” ????? They were following the Greek alphabet. “Nu” was the last variant. “Xi” should be next inline. Guess the WHO doesn’t want to offend the Chinese

 

We may already be seeing recovery from the downturn of the stock market on Black Friday.

That said, I dislike writing about what the stock market might do. The stock market is volatile, and that was proven on Friday.

Here's hoping the market is making a comeback. Today, the Dow was up 237 points, Nasdaq was up 294 points, and the S&P 500 up 61 points.

For a far better understanding of what the economy is doing, check out Key Economic Growth Indicators - CNN Business.

The site contains facts the Republican Party doesn't want you to know. They prefer you to think the American economy is a disaster. When the Democrats are in power, Republicans are dedicated pessimists and naysayers.

 

The Defense Department is trying to protect the American Presidency from the chaos and ignorance of the Trump administration.

CNN reports, "Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Monday that the American people deserve an "unvarnished" look at former President Donald Trump's "tumultuous" presidency after he filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon for not clearing his book manuscript for publication."

"My view is that the American people deserve a full and unvarnished history of the last presidency, the Trump administration," Esper told CNN. "And what I aimed to do was to provide important insights and anecdotes and color to what was arguably one of the most tumultuous second halves of an administration in history."

Esper's lawsuit against the Defense Department came after the agency told him that he needed to take out parts of the book about his time working under Trump.

CNN continued, "Beginning in October, a Defense Department staff member told Esper he needed to make redactions to his book, according to his lawsuit filed Sunday.

"But Esper said the requested redactions covered quotes from Trump and others, conversations he had with Trump, and his views related to foreign countries. Trump fired Esper by tweet in early November 2020, days after losing the presidential election.

The former secretary of defense called the redactions "arbitrary and unfair."

"I submitted what I believed at the time and still believe is an unclassified manuscript."

In September of 2018 "U.S. President Donald Trump took his enthusiasm for his detente with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to new heights, declaring at a rally with supporters that “we fell in love” after an exchange of letters.

“I was really being tough - and so was he. And we would go back and forth,” Trump told the rally in West Virginia.

“And then we fell in love, okay? No, really - he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters,” he said.

Can you blame the Pentagon for wanting to protect America from this idiot?

 

In September of 2018 "U.S. President Donald Trump took his enthusiasm for his detente with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to new heights, declaring at a rally with supporters that “we fell in love” after an exchange of letters.

“I was really being tough - and so was he. And we would go back and forth,” Trump told the rally in West Virginia.

“And then we fell in love, okay? No, really - he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters,” he said.


'We fell in love:' Trump swoons over letters from North Korea's Kim
U.S. President Donald Trump took his enthusiasm for his detente with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to new heights on Saturday, declaring at a rally with supporters that "we fell in love" after exchanging letters.
www.reuters.com

 

Obama told Trump when he came into office that North Korea was the top national security priority for the incoming administration. Now it is not. What did we need to be protected from?

 

The VA has a lot bigger problems than those bills. For the vast majority of us, they make no difference at all.

 

Breaking news!

CNN reports, "Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows is cooperating with the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot and is providing records and agreeing to appear for an initial interview, CNN exclusively has learned.

"The move represents a critical shift in the relationship between the top Trump ally and the panel, and staving off a criminal contempt referral for now."

"Mr. Meadows has been engaging with the Select Committee through his attorney," Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi who chairs the committee said in a statement. "He has produced records to the committee and will soon appear for an initial deposition. The Select Committee expects all witnesses, including Mr. Meadows, to provide all information requested and that the Select Committee is lawfully entitled to receive. The Committee will continue to assess his degree of compliance with our subpoena after the deposition."

Meadows' lawyer George Terwilliger said in a statement to CNN that there is now an understanding between the two parties on how information can be exchanged moving forward, stating that his client and the committee are open to engaging on a certain set of topics as they work out how to deal with information that the committee is seeking that could fall under executive privilege.

What executive privilege? There is no executive privilege. The current President has ruled out executive privilege on this matter. A private citizen, the former President, cannot overrule the current President. Meadows and his lawyer are making a vain attempt to save face. Executive privilege will have no role in these investigations.

Even if Trump could claim executive privilege, there is none. Executive privilege concerns the protection of the office, national security, and the Constitution. Trump is only interested in protecting himself.

 

The clown show must go on!

 

See what I mean. The omicron variant is playing havoc with the markets. The Dow is off 652 today, Nasdaq is down 245, and the S&P is down 88.

That's it. I quit. I will not try to predict what the market will do again.

Stay loose, and do nothing. Sell, you lose. When you don't sell, you don't lose a thing and the market will come back.

 

Trump's lawsuit to shield his White House records regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection came under scrutiny in court today.

Politico reports, "Three federal appellate judges appear likely to reject Donald Trump’s effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from obtaining his White House records — a big potential boost for lawmakers hoping to reveal the former president’s actions as a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol."

“We have one president at a time under our constitution,” said Patricia Millett, one of the three judges on the D.C. Circuit panel that heard arguments today in the high-profile fight. “That incumbent president … has made the judgment and is best positioned, as the Supreme Court has told us, to make that call as to the interests of the executive branch.”

Politico continued, "As they questioned Trump’s lawyers, the judges repeatedly expressed skepticism that a former president could override a decision by the sitting president — in this case Joe Biden — to release documents to Congress, particularly when the incumbent has decided it’s in the national interest to release records to investigators.

"Millett and fellow judges Robert Wilkins and Ketanji Brown Jackson — all Democratic appointees to the appeals court — underscored deep concerns about allowing a former president to intervene in delicate negotiations between the sitting president and Congress.

Jackson was appointed by President Biden.

The court's ruling, which could come within days, could determine whether the House Jan. 6 select committee gains access to a massive trove of Trump’s White House records that shed light on his efforts to overthrow the elected government.

 

Companies added jobs at a robust pace in November despite worries about rising inflation and the threat that the pandemic could slow growth into the winter months, according to a report Wednesday from payroll processing firm ADP.

Private hiring increased by 534,000 for the month, better than the Dow Jones estimate of 506,000 in a labor market that appears to be getting tighter. The total was a decline from the October growth of 570,000, which was revised lower by 1,000.

Big business led job creation by company size, but it was hospitality and leisure that led in sectors.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/01/adp-november-2021.html

 

When Justice Brett Kavanaugh was facing tough questions during his 2018 confirmation battle, I didn't like him then. I dislike him even more now because, along with everything else, he is a liar. Kavanaugh lied to the Senate, and he lied to the American people.

During his confirmation hearing, he teed off on the Senators, showing uncontrolled anger. He didn't have sombre restraint required of a Supreme Court justice ... or any judge for that matter.

When the matter of abortion rights became an issue in the hearing, time and time again Kavanaugh espoused the importance of precedent and their "precedent on precedent."

CNN reports, "Speaking more broadly, Kavanaugh at the time described the circumstances that the justices overturn precedent as "rare" and said that a court majority's disagreement with a prior ruling was, by itself, not enough to overturn it (the prior ruling)."

Kavanaugh was lying to get confirmed.

CNN continues, "His questions and comments Wednesday suggested he is inclined to uphold Mississippi's 15-week ban on abortion. Mississippi wants to reverse Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision enshrining a constitutional right to an abortion, leaving the question of whether abortion can be banned by the states.

"The statements Kavanaugh made about Roe and precedent in 2018 were key to him securing the support of Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who favors abortion rights and who provided the pivotal vote for confirming Kavanaugh to the high court."

On October 6, 2018, the Senate voted 50–48 to confirm Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.

"She claimed at the time that Kavanaugh had privately told her that Roe v. Wade was "settled law," while pointing to his public remarks about precedent to explain why she was supporting his confirmation," CNN.

Collins is a simple-minded, gullible Senator who paid little attention to what was happening outside of her little world.

Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court by then-President Donald Trump, who promised during the 2016 campaign to pick justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade.

 

Trump Republicans can be very strange!

NBC reports, "The House passed a short-term government funding bill that would prevent a shutdown before the Friday night deadline, sending the legislation to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

"The House voted 221-212 to advance the continuing resolution. If it is approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, it will keep large parts of the government funded until Feb. 18."

All but one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, voted against the measure. Apparently, Republicans want to shut down the federal government.

But that is not all.

Republicans want people to die from Covid-19.

"The Senate, where it faces an uncertain future."

NBC continued, "Republicans in the House and the Senate have signaled that they want to delay passage of a spending bill over objections to the Biden administration's Covid-19 vaccination mandates for workers.

"The conservative caucus in essence is threatening a potential shutdown to push back against Biden's vaccination mandates."

Not surprisingly, the risk of dying from covid in red states -- states that voted for Trump -- is 50% higher than in blue states.

Believe it or not, it gets even stranger. This one is hard to believe, but I heard Meadows make the peculiar statement on video.

The Post reports, "Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows’s disclosed that President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus earlier than known last year."

Meadows, revealed that "Trump pressed forward with public events including a debate with Joe Biden after his Sept. 26, 2020, positive test — a decision that could have exposed countless people to the virus, courtesy of the Trump himself."

"After Trump on Wednesday labeled reporting on the claim in Meadows’s book “Fake News,” That’s what Meadows argued Wednesday night on Newsmax.




Justin Baragona

@justinbaragona
Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt: "I believe the president said it's fake news. What's the story here?"

Mark Meadows: "Well, the president's right, it's fake news."

These people want control of Congress after the mid-term elections? You got to be kidding me. They can't even respond to the issues on this thread. That's surreal.

 

The Republican Party will be in a world of hurt during most of 2022 leading up to the mid-term elections in November. The Republican President and several Republican members of Congress participated in an attempt to overthrow the elected government on Jan. 6.

The January 6 Select Committee is looking into the matter.

CNBC reports, "The House panel investigating the deadly invasion of the U.S. Capitol aims to hold lengthy public hearings next year detailing “in vivid color” the events of Jan. 6, both at the Capitol and in former President Donald Trump’s White House, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Thursday.

"Those hearings will lay out “exactly what happened every minute of the day on Jan. 6 here at the Capitol and at the White House and what led to that violent attack,” Cheney said in a House Rules Committee hearing.

"Cheney revealed the plans less than a day after the select committee voted to advance contempt proceedings for former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark over his alleged defiance of a subpoena for documents and testimony."

The committee means business, but Clark may get a reprieve. It's up to him. Clark is being given another chance to appear before the investigators on Saturday. If he is not forthcoming, he can explain it to the FBI.

 

Turns out the Republicans were just being jerks. A lot of that going on with the GOP lately.

Why they expect to be in control of Congress after the mid-terms is beyond. A number of Republicans are acting very irresponsibly. That is on top of the fact that some Congressional Republicans played a role in attempting to overthrow the elected government on Jan. 6.

CBS reports, "Both chambers of Congress on Thursday passed a stopgap measure that will fund federal agencies into mid-February, sending the legislation to President Biden's desk and avoiding a holiday season partial shutdown.

"The measure passed the Senate 69-28 with substantial GOP support, hours after passing the House 221-212. Congressman Adam Kinzinger provided the sole Republican vote for the bill in the House."

 

"President Joe Biden looked out over an audience of government scientists and framed his latest plan for fighting COVID-19 as an opportunity to at last put an end to divisiveness over the virus, calling the politicization of the issue a “sad, sad commentary."

"Some people “on the other team,” he said Thursday, were threatening to hold up government spending and endangering the nation’s credit out of pique over vaccination requirements."

“Go figure,” he added.

"It was a quick aside in a Biden speech that otherwise struck a largely bipartisan tone. But it served as fresh evidence that after taking it on the chin for months, Biden and his allies are increasingly willing to hit back, casting Republicans as the true obstacle to the nation’s recovery from the pandemic."

ABC reporting.

 

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

“When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules."

“We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” President Trump during Jan. 6 insurrection.

Mark Meadows downplays the Capitol riot in his forthcoming memoir, saying "a handful of fanatics" are behind the deadly January 6 insurrection, according to a report in the Guardian.

An estimated 2,000 to 2,500 people entered the Capitol during the course of insurrection and rioters violently attacked and assaulted 1,000 law enforcement officers during the siege.

Business Insider reports. "Meadows also minimizes Trump's role in instigating the riot, saying the mob "had absolutely no urging" from the former president despite him telling supporters, who had gathered to protest the election result, to "fight like hell."

"Meadows writes that Trump was "more subdued than usual" in the speech and that he was ad-libbing when he said, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on" members of Congress objecting to counting slates of electoral votes for President Joe Biden.

"Trump was "speaking metaphorically," Meadows says, when he told supporters at a rally that he was going to march down to the Capitol. He "knew as well as anyone that we couldn't organize a trip like that on such short notice."

Come on, now that was funny.

During the four years of Trump's Presidency we heard a variety of excuses for what came out of the mouth of the immature, inexperienced President.

"Trump really didn't mean that."

"Trump was being sarcastic."

"Trump was joking."

Now we get "Trump was ad-libbing," and "Trump was speaking metaphorically."

Trump never joked. Trump is the joke.

 

oops... you left out the juicy part...
"I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."

 

Now this is interesting.

Politico writes, "Jan. 6 investigators have tried to pry information from Mark Meadows for months. Meadows may have damaged his case for maintaining the secrecy of his contacts with former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 by divulging selected details in his book, due to publish Tuesday."

“It's … very possible that by discussing the events of Jan. 6 in his book, if he does that, he's waiving any claim of privilege. So, it'd be very difficult for him to maintain ‘I can't speak about events to you, but I can speak about them in my book,’” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the panel’s nine members.

Politico continued, "Meadows’ book is due to be released the same week he’s expected to appear before the Jan. 6 committee. Meadows’ lawyer George Terwilliger III and Thompson described a breakthrough, revealing that Meadows had provided thousands of emails to the panel and arranged to appear for an interview.

"In the upcoming interview, committee members plan to challenge Meadows’ citing of executive privilege as a reason to avoid discussing his interactions with Trump. Now, they say, his book could become a factor in that argument."

The Republican Party will be in a world of hurt during most of 2022 leading up to the mid-term elections in November. The Republican President and several Republican members of Congress participated in an attempt to overthrow the elected government on Jan. 6. The investigation continues.

 

Yes, Trump said that, too. During his entire Presidency, Trump wanted it both ways. He thought he was being smart, when, in fact, he was being indecisive. Inevitably, in a speech he would contradict himself just as he did here.

That said, Trump's quote seen in my report above was what happened. There was nothing peaceful about the ransacking of our capitol, and five people died as a result, over 600 have been arrested.

Thank you for your contribution. A response from a Trump defender has been extremely rare on this thread.

 

He said "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.".... spin it anyway you can my liberal friend....