At this point, another impeachment is an assault on the Constitution. Will saying things to rally your supporters be impeachable now? Will we redefine "incitement" to mean saying anything that your most extreme supporters will take as a "dog whistle" to commit violence? Even when Trump was explicit about peacefully marching to the Capitol Building? Come on Democrats, show me on the transcript where the Bad Orange Man hurt you. Really? You see something? That's where Democrats want to go? Well, for Republicans only, I suppose. So yeah, Democrats may really want to go there. This is insane. And dangerous. Sadly, constant Democratic accusations that the election of Trump would lead to dictatorship might be right. But it could be happening after he leaves office because Democrats completely lost their minds with four years of futilely listening for Trump's coup "dog whistles" when all they were hearing were the spittle-flecked insane voices in their own heads.
It's always something. As the Philippines grinds down the Islamist threat internally, the external China threat rises.
It amazes me that there are people outraged that Trump backers went to Washington, D.C. in early January to protest the election process. Right up until Trump won, it was Democrats saying the election was rigged (remember Trump "stealing" mailboxes?). Saying that it is awful for people to mass in WDC to "pressure" Congress on that issue is weird. Why else do people gather in large numbers to lawfully protest? To pressure the government or legislative body to recognize the protesters' views, obviously. That's what the rights to assemble and petition the government mean. Democrats do it all the time. My respect for peaceful protesters isn't new, regardless of what I may think of the reason. Riots are another thing altogether. And rioters should be prosecuted. As I've been saying all along. I don't change my mind from Antifa/BLM to Trump backers. Which isn't something Democratic leaders and their media partners can say. Which is why I'm so angry at the insane Democratic rage and their attacks and suppression of all Republicans who actually quickly condemned the Capitol Building riot. Instead of uniting against rioting from whatever side and making sure all people have confidence in our elections, those Democrats stoked divisions to even higher levels with insane collective guilt accusations and actual suppression of conservative speech. Ah, the healing powers of a Biden win. Back to normal! The new normal of thought police and political suppression. Kiss holy dissent goodbye and say hello to compelled unity!
Competence. And Science! I suppose.
The Navy's new EMALS catapult system still doesn't work.
The Marines were sent to Norway for cold weather training.
Good grief, how bad is Iraqi F-16 maintenance? The air force was crappy under Saddam and I guess the culture hasn't changed enough to fix that problem. Really, for ground attack the Iraqis should have simple aircraft. The F-16s are really only needed for air superiority missions against Iran. #WhyIraqisCan'tHaveNiceThings
It looks like the Saudi Arabia-Qatar dispute is easing.
Kafkaesque doesn't begin to explain this complicated New York online Covid-19 vaccination application process that seems intended to kill the elderly rather than get them vaccinated. Oddly, science, compassion, competence, and wokeness don't have an overlap. Pro tip: Get rid of the wokeness. Tip to Instapundit.
Getting the LCS to work. This time for sure! Oh, and let's not unroll the new frigate the same way. I'm still hoping the Navy can get the LCS mission modules to work to have them ready for mass production to build modularized auxiliary cruisers.
Democrats claim to want unity. But it is clear that Democrats want to impose unity by browbeating opposition rather than earning unity by appealing to more Americans.
On the bright side, Cuomo's conversion to what Republicans have been begging governors to consider means Republicans calling to reopen the economy during the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic aren't grandma killers any more, eh?
Actual scumball fuckhead hard-to-distinguish-them-from-fascists communist revolutionaries committed to overthrowing the United States government march openly and without police action to stop them through New York City streets. Watch the embedded video--especially at 1 hour: 26 minutes to see how the rabid pack of jackal commie SOBs abuse and assault a woman filming them, unwilling to let people see who they are and what they do. Pure evil scum. I'm sure they all have social media accounts. No banning for them! She's a brave young woman and even saying she is a Bernie Sanders supporter didn't save her from Antifa/BLM abuse. Yes, to better days, indeed. The scum were equipped for battle. But nothing to see, move along. Twitter and Facebook welcome them!
Pelosi's Congress distributes Chinese Communist Party propaganda to member offices. Because of course she allows that.
Let's see. Companies are cutting ties with conservatives because after the Capitol Building riot, they say there might be more violent riots. You mean like the 7 months of Democratic-backed Antifa/BLM riots that you were okey dokey with?!
That's different! Because shut up. I hate to keep bringing this stuff up. I was truly horrified at the Capitol Hill riot. And the reports of a number of weapons in rioter hands--and this man should be prosecuted for allegedly stashing a small arsenal in his truck--although they don't seem to have been used. Some coup, eh? The ridiculous elevation by Democrats of the failed riot into a coup attempt that implicates every conservative is too much to take given the horrible record of liberals in regard to inflammatory language and street unrest and violence. For my entire adult life, I've had to listen to Democrats claim that slightly reducing the rate of increase of any given government spending program was tantamount to killing senior citizens (or whoever)!
"In the east (Deir Ezzor province) unidentified UAVs fired eight missiles at Iranian forces near the Syrian side of the Al Bukamal crossing into Iraq. Night attacks by unidentified jets and UAVs in this area are believed to be the work of the Americans. These attacks, which no one takes credit for, have been more frequent in the last few months." To be fair, Iran has been waging war on America since 1979.
Enemies exploiting ties to the Old World.
It's odd that the left had more sympathy for the Islamist terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 ("Why do they hate us?") than they have for Republicans after a single riot at the Capitol Building that was quickly denounced by Republicans and suppressed with no damage to our Constitution. Well, maybe "odd" is the wrong word. "Horrifying" is better.
The British seem to want to window shop the development of a European tank. Perhaps the British aren't sure about abandoning heavy forces.
Did Antifa essentially lead the rioters into the Capitol Building? Big if true. I'd think that Antifa won't be able to avoid bragging at some point if they played a role. But until we have proof I'm not buying it. Possible? Sure. That's all I'll say. But until Michael Yon brought it up I dismissed the idea. He knows his stuff on this sort of thing. All the more reason to start identifying rioters and those who helped rioters get into the Capitol Building and arresting them.
The situation is bad. The distinction between fascists and anti-fascist leftists hardly matters in the real world. But conservatives and non-leftists should not despair. There are a lot of levers of power in this country that can be used to hold back what seems like a left-wing juggernaut in the federal government, media, education, and big tech. In a country divided so evenly, liberals, progressives, and leftists fanatics have to screw up just a bit to turn the tide. What are the odds that they won't do that? Nobody on the right should use the excuse--as true as it is--that Democrats excuse leftist thuggery in order to go all out on violence. I don't want rule by rightist thugs any more than I want rule by leftist thugs. Destroying America to save it is no answer. And enemies abroad will pounce if we go that far. Two years is a long time for the left to screw things up and inspire more voters to reject Democrats in 2022. Work the problem. Don't create a new, bigger problem. Rule of law is still the key. And who knows? Perhaps the hate-filled Democratic rage and demand for vengeance against political opponents will fade in the weeks ahead. I hope so. But right now the hate is pretty frightening in what it could lead to if not checked.
The German and French leaders raise objections to the banning of Trump by social media. Although the article reporting that has been scrubbed of any of that information, with only the headline ("Germany and France Oppose Trump’s Twitter Exile") and body of the web address ("merkel-sees-closing-trump-s-social-media-accounts-problematic") remaining to show the original Bloomberg article. Odd, that is. But why shouldn't Merkel and Macron--and the Mexican president Obrador who first registered concern--worry about that? If the president of the United States can be banned, who's next? What else might foreigners begin to fear American big tech can do to them at a whim? Big tech is taking a shot at Trump and Republicans. But the collateral damage could be worldwide and end up hurting big tech. Might Europeans decide they need their own Internet? Might a European decide there is profit in seeking the "niche" market of American conservatives with competitors to Twitter and Facebook?
Tensions between Kuwait's parliament and executive are escalating during economic problems from the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic and low oil prices. American troops are based there to watch Iran and provide some reinforcements for our people inside Iraq. We have also prepositioned equipment there.
No matter how "complicated and sometimes tense" the relationship between al Qaeda and Iran has been, Iran has in fact hosted and protected al Qaeda ever since al Qaeda's survivors fled Afghanistan after our 2001 invasion of Afghanistan to hunt the terrorists after 9/11. With a bonus feature that the Iranian terror-supporting and Jew-hating nutballs still have Twitter accounts. My, those community standards are fascinating, no?
When pro-Democratic protesters mass to pressure the government to change policy, that isn't a coup. When those protesters get rowdy and chant "this is what democracy looks like" Democrats nod in agreement.
Cyprus and the UAE signed a military cooperation agreement. That's odd you may think. But that's because the story oddly doesn't mention Turkey, which both countries have an interest in blocking. I'm sure this is a little revenge by the UAE for Turkey's foray into the Persian Gulf with a base in Qatar, as I noted in this post about Erdogan's effort to restore Ottoman glories.
So much for the president inciting the Capitol Hill riot. Even if Trump did try to incite the protesters (and he didn't) the cause-and-effect link is broken. How long before that CBS reporter loses her Twitter account?
Houthi rebels are still holding the people of Yemen hostage by threatening aid shipments in order to blackmail agencies into providing support to the Iran-backed separatists. People don't understand how "humanitarian" aid is often the logistics arm of rebels which just prolongs the suffering in the long run by extending the conflict. Yemen should be broken up and sold for parts.
Pantsir air defense goes to sea with its flaws fixed. Use in Syria by Russia exposed some weaknesses.
Will American enemies take advantage of the Capitol Building riot? Probably. To some extent. Although our military has been carrying out "watch your step" deployments to minimize overt actions. But I want to clarify one thing. The Capitol Building riot was no doubt a figurative assault on our democracy. But it was an assault that had zero chance of literal success. The real threat is the Democratic overreaction to the riot that has rejected freedom of speech, a foundation of our democracy. Note too that autocrats want America to be less of a beacon for democracy. For self preservation. Don't make their wishes come true.
A reminder to the troops about avoiding politics is always good. I recall standing in formation at Camp Grayling with leadership going around our ranks reminding us not to boo the governor who was going to give a speech to the assembled National Guard troops.
The Xi Jinping Flu has re-ignited across North China. The fact that news got out indicates that China has done a good job--ignoring tactics and mindful of regional advantages--of containing the pandemic.
Britain is gutting their heavy army force. Well, that fits with the apparent plan. But it doesn't fit with commitments to NATO.
Good. I want rioters prosecuted. Maybe broaden that anti-rioting interest to Antifa and BLM in other cities, okay? Or explain why months of Antifa/BLM rioting was just a matter of "people will do what they do" nonchalance; yet the Capitol Hill riot was a threat to democracy. Pelosi's change of tune is amazing. The last time Democrats changed on a head-spinning dime this fast was their sudden obsession with Russia. I've been consistent on both issues.
Sadly true (via Instapundit): "Within a generation, the torch for literal-mindedness, pinched morality,
and scolding righteousness has passed from a relatively small group of
people on the marginal right to a growing number of people on the
trendsetting left. The trend even reaches into popular culture. Some
Evangelicals sought to ban Harry Potter in the 90s, but today, J.K. Rowling’s comments on the transgendered and women’s rights have given the Potter industry a black mark. Now, it’s progressives who call for banning, boycotting, and shunning her." This touches on something else I've often noted in relation to conspiracy theories. Our media contributed to the marginalization of the "marginal right" because the media opposed it; but the media glorifies the "growing number of people on the trendsetting left" who have taken over the censor's role because the media supports them. The Democratic Party used to earn some respect from me because it used to defend civil liberties and blue collar people (even if I think Democrats had the wrong big-government solutions). The modern Democratic Party has turned its back on both issues. I have no respect for the party at all these days. I'm not happy about feeling that way. But who changed? Me? Or them?
Well that's revolting. Wait until left-wing American Jews discover that their place in the Green-Red alliance of Islamists and Leftists isn't as secure as they think because hatred of Jews is a unifying feature of that alliance. Tip to Instapundit.
Silly me, when I saw an AP "fact check" that said Trump's speech was being distorted in the impeachment 2.0 farce, I briefly got my hopes up. The AP simply distorted the speech in the same way that all liberals have. There was fiery language--no worse than your typical Democratic praise of BLM/Antifa or denunciation as grandma-killing of a Republican proposal to cut the rate of increase to some social program--but Trump absolutely told his supporters to be peaceful and demonstrate support for the president outside the Capitol Building. This blatant bias is just horrifying.
The answer to the question is "yes." It doesn't excuse Capitol Building rioters from facing legal consequences for their actions. But the answer is "yes."
One last episode of Senate sanity for a while.
Sigh. A total farce. Democrats should be ashamed of their TDS impeachment. Dean Pelosi put Trump on double secret impeachment.
I guess this goes on his--and his supporters'--permanent record, or something. This is about the level of seriousness we should take this spiteful idiocy. Given that Democrats--including Kamela Harris--use far more inciting language routinely to condemn Republicans for every damn thing, this is going to be a rough precedent for Democrats should Republicans claim the House in 2022. Although Biden personally will be safe. He'll be long gone through a 25th Amendment removal. Biden better be careful who he appoints to his cabinet.
Corruption in India and Pakistan. If India hopes to build an economic base to challenge China's rising military, India needs to reduce their corruption.
As I've said, the behavior of teachers unions during the pandemic is awful and I won't support property taxes for them as I used to routinely do when I simply had little respect for them because of their political activism on the left.
The crazy impeachment. There's a certain crazy symmetry given that Democrats began thinking about impeaching Trump before he was sworn in; and may now eject Trump from office long after he has left office. Rather than doubling the stigma of the first impeachment, this second BS impeachment will negate the first, serving to demonstrate how ridiculous and unhinged the Resistance has been. Perhaps policy successes (tip to Instapundit) will get another look.
Ukraine has purchased Turkish-designed corvettes. I assume there is an anti-Russian move by having closer defense relationships in the Black Sea.
Yes, support Australia. I don't drink wine and I still looked for a bottle of their wine to buy recently. I should drink it and buy another.
It's funny that the super duper Iran nuclear disarmament deal even left Iran with equipment to install which can be used to build nuclear weapons. As I long said, the basic deal was simple: the Iranians pretended not to want nuclear weapons; and we pretended to believe them.
Here comes the Army's Integrated Battle Command System. Fingers crossed. I'm hoping this enables a black box of effects support.
In an age of great power competition, America needs to be able to win a war with significant attrition to our forces. We got used to the post-Cold War era when only small enemies could be smashed in conventional battle. One effect of that more than a quarter century of time is that America's industrial base cannot sustain a long war against a peer military.
I don't know if this condemnation of military intellectual culture is true or a load of BS. Way outside my lanes.
Israel is revising war plans for a strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure. I doubt that this is in anticipation of an immediate strike before Biden enters office. The plans would already be there for that. I imagine that the Israelis need to update plans to account for the likely total non-cooperation of America under Biden in a strike at some point in the next four years, if necessary.
I've said the Capitol Building riot didn't look terribly organized inside the building. Was there organization to push protesters into the Capitol Building? I can't judge that. It is not out of the bounds of possible that pro-Trump people entered the Capitol Building while Antifa acted as engineers to pave the way in and as cheerleaders to encourage the entry. Heck, it is possible that those engineers and cheerleaders were far-right fringe actors. We'll see if the FBI actually investigates this aspect, too. I recall reports from the summer that Antifa was inflaming passions at protests against police violence to generate riots. So there's that pattern.
President Trump again called for peaceful behavior since the Capitol Building riots. Nine months after Antifa/BLM riots began Democrats still can't work up condemnation of those riots. But somehow Trump and his supporters and not Democrats are a threat to our democracy? I still think Trump's "coddling" of the rioters on the day of the riot was the better way to approach getting them to stop and just go home. I don't see how condemning them at that moment would have calmed the situation rather than make it worse. Perhaps I'm wrong on the psychology of it, but that's how it seems to me at this moment.
I can't decide whether Swalwell is a moron or just blinded by hatred. Although he might want to check his left flank for suggesting that Osama bin Laden is a horrible man for killing Americans.
To be fair, AOC is a clueless and hate-filled moron. Just because that's what she would do doesn't mean her political foes are as awful. Well, perhaps "moron" is unfair. Let me just say that she demonstrates no evidence of benefiting from a college education. For God's sake, the government's job is literally to NOT "rein in our media," contrary to her ignorant brain sparks. She's a rising star in the Democratic Party.
Hahaha! Who gets the "request the use of the 25th amendment" bill? Via Instapundit.
President-elect Biden's Covid-19 advisory board had no idea what Biden's Xi Jinping Flu pandemic response will be on the eve of announcement? Please. Biden's plan is clear. It consists of three parts: 1) Doing what Trump planned, 2) Angrily demanding people cut the malarkey and just wear a mask, and 3) The media swooning and telling Americans that Joe's contribution to the plan is the key component that will finally save us from the dread pox after Trump's failures. In related news, Trump was apparently in charge of the German vaccination plan--which must be true to have gutted Prussian efficiency, state-run health care, and glorious European nuance. Others can only envy our progress in vaccinating people. Although per capita, we aren't the leader. But then again, we weren't the leader in per capita deaths notwithstanding the false impression our media gave us. Tips to Instapundit.
Pakistan used to be America's black sheep ally. Now Pakistan is China's problem.
I feel a little bit sorry for the woke mobs on social media. With social media companies kicking conservatives off their platforms, I guess the woke Red Guards will have to gang-Tweet and cancel non-conservatives still on social media. But hey, that's why micro aggressions were invented, eh? Sad.
Is it just me or is Mali heating up with more jihadi attacks?
Israel tests their missile/rocket/drone defenses in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Does that imply a test of the ability to defend offshore gas fields? Remember, if Israel does go after Iran's forces and proxies in Lebanon and Syria, this kind of defensive shield is necessary. But remember, too, such a shield is not enough alone.
Did he try "123456789"? That's gonna hurt in the morning. Via Instapundit.
"CNN, Fox, and MSNBC blamed ‘very strongly’ for dividing nation. But Facebook — and especially Twitter — are even worse." Yeah. Hard to argue with that. I'm not on any social media. I stopped watching biased network news pre-Internet and dropped CNN and MSNBC during the Iraq War for their horrible bias. Heck, I slowly stopped watching Fox opinion shows over the years despite liking their news better. I stopped watching almost all of the Fox opinion shows last year. And in late summer just dropped my cable TV subscription completely. So yeah, I think I can give honest opinions on events--whether right or wrong--without reflecting the insanity that has gripped our country.
But holding this position before this week was anti-science. Life moves fast. And the goal posts move faster. On the bright side, with Biden in office "science" will now demand the end of restrictive lockdowns. Heck, even unionized teachers might agree to actually teach in schools again! Still, this is out of my lane and I don't know if the study is good. And the study only concluded that the most severe form of mandatory lockdown didn't work rather than less severe forms, which did seem to help. Which makes sense.
America putting Israel in EUCOM's area of responsibility rather than CENTCOM's made sense in the Cold War when Israel's help would be most useful for fighting Soviet naval and air power in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. And separating Arab states from Israel in our routine military planning made sense. But the Soviets are gone and the Russian threat to the region is minimal; and peace trends mean putting Arabs and Israel together is tolerable and needed in the face of the Iran threat. So moving Israel to CENTCOM's area of responsibility is a good idea.
Britain's evolving foreign policy outside of the European Union. I've been grappling with that issue. And yeah, I agree that American power is a needed partner for Britain.
China is fine with Xi Jinping Flu vaccines that are 50% effective. To be fair, China probably would consider it a mixed blessing to lose 300 million older people.
This was basically years-long abortions in practice. There had better be convictions and ideally executions for this horror.
Fox News does have some work to do. Although Bret Baier always seemed like a pretty good news guy, perhaps I missed things since the summer when I dumped cable TV. I suspect people on the right wrongly expected him to act like an opinion guy the way all of the people on the other newstainment networks act.
The U.S. declassified its view on objectives in INDOPACOM. Nothing is terribly shocking if you pay attention to events. Darned right I saved a copy.
Why are blue city police forces such hotbeds of abuse? If only Comrade de Blasio knew!
Just in case I didn't link to this condemnation of big tech's abuse of its power.
The precedent of impeaching an ex-president may be relevant if this Obamagate documents declassification pans out.
And now Indonesia endures an earthquake after the 737 crash. Hopefully this is small and contained enough not to require a big American relief effort to support the Indonesian effort.
You know what? Maybe social media isn't wrong to expel conservatives. Maybe for the sake of our country those companies just aren't right enough. I think that social media should expel liberals, too. That way social media will go back to what is was made for: cat videos, epic stories of how wasted you got last night, what you ate for lunch, and just how cute your grandchildren are. As a bonus, maybe the shrill and hateful minorities on both sides will no longer define "the other side." Nuke 'em all.
Remember people, much as formerly Holy Dissent is now racist treason, occupying capitol buildings is no longer a righteous display of Holy Anger against the system: "Most conservatives have condemned the right-wing mob that assaulted the U.S. Capitol. But 10 years ago, Democrats embraced the left-wing mob that occupied the state Capitol in Madison. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised the occupiers for an 'impressive show of democracy in action' and tweeted as they assaulted the Capitol that she continued 'to stand in solidarity' with the union activists. In other words, Democrats were for occupying capitols before they were against it." I didn't change my mind on assaults on capitol buildings. Did you? Is there a statute of limitations on impeachment? Or could Pelosi be nailed for her pro-capitol building occupation position?
I suggest Republicans start calling themselves members of the "political party of peace" to get a little more tolerance and respect from Democrats. Tip to Instapundit.
Just what the Hell were the Chinese doing at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (via Instapundit)?! Isn't China's behavior since over a year ago indistinguishable from a deliberate biological attack on the world?
This won't end in three days, will it?
And:
I can hardly wait for the media's new formulation of "systemically violent mostly peaceful protests."
So that's why he became a Democrat! As a Democrat he expects a free pass for his (alleged) sex crimes. Now it makes sense. I mean, as long as he pledges to fight the NRA from now on he's golden, right?
Prosperity built on a national credit card--spent in a bipartisan fashion--isn't going to end well, is it? Tip to Instapundit.
Preparing for mass martyrdom at sea. We'll sink them all and let the sharks sort them out.
Seriously? Four years--and especially since the riots/arson/autonomous zones the last 8 months--of left-wing violence didn't count? I just don't believe there are many on the far right willing to wage an insurgency.
The Pentagon announced that American troop levels in Afghanistan are down to 2,500 and that this will allow the counter-terrorism mission to continue and will allow us to continue training, advising, and assisting Afghan forces. There are coalition forces, as well, as course. And private military contractors. Plus how you count the troops affects how many are actually on the ground working and fighting. I certainly hope that the coalition has done enough work that Afghanistan would be fine even without us there. But I seriously doubt that America could successfully conduct counter-terrorism "remotely." Or have we forgotten our glorious anti-tent strike? Strikes require good intelligence on the ground from reliable sources.
"Positive results" from Greek-Turkish talks just have to be preventing a war between them.
I don't think Trump abandoned multilateralism like his critics stated. Our alliances were strengthened by pushing NATO to spend more on defense and by forging deeper ties in the Pacific. Trump simply rejected thinking of alliances and multilateralism as the objective rather than the means. But I fear that a so-called return to multilateralism under Biden is an excuse to reduce American military power on the theory that allies will make up for that reduction. Leading from Behind 2.0, anyone?
Again, I'm not too worried about civil war. But I worry about civil strife if the left tries to carry out the punishment, banishment, and suppression of conservative political opposition that many leftists claim they want. If Democrats want to eliminate even the chance of competing in a rigged election (as perceived, if potential holes in the process aren't closed) in two years, it could get ugly.
Twitter likes community standards of discourse so much that they have many standards! Via Instapundit.
This is the worry about the most public president--even aside from legions of leakers--in history? "The public won’t see President Donald Trump’s White House records for years, but there’s growing concern the collection won’t be complete, leaving a hole in the history of one of America’s most tumultuous presidencies." I'd only worry if Trump set up a private communications network outside of security and record retention requirements, and then deleted tens of thousands of those messages because they were just about planning Chelsea's wedding or yoga classes.
I bet Democratic policy initiatives will correct this GOP problem.
Trump is piling sanctions on Iran seemingly until the moment he leaves office. Good.
Biden's plan to combat the effects of the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic has little to do with the pandemic. Tip to Instapundit. Like the Obama "stimulus" plan in 2009 it is a wish list of liberal spending items on a massive scale. It is pointless to point out that a high minimum wage will hurt people at the bottom rung of the economy by killing jobs. The real beneficiary of minimum wage laws are union workers with contracts specifying a wage at some multiple of the minimum wage. Those who can't get entry level jobs can just collect expanded unemployment payments and be grateful (and loyal) to big government for that. Never let a crisis go to waste.
Last week I noted that rather than being a para-military organization, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is a parallel military organization. In defense of that author who used the former term, the Basij are a paramilitary force. The Basij is under the Revolutionary Guards and provides the street muscle to repress dissent. It also provided the cannon fodder for human wave assaults and mine "clearance" during the Iran-Iraq War.
So ... it will be zip tie control next? Tip to Instapundit. Even I've used them--and not for kidnapping. I might even have some lying around in a closet, although I'm not sure.
In late 2020 Iran successfully conducted a cyber-breach in Israel that helped map out military supply chains. With bonus ransomware attacks from the exploitation. No doubt Israel will respond even if it takes time. Is Iran's massive blackout that the government bizarrely blames on Bitcoin mining part of Israel's retaliation? Although it might just be mismanagement.
Good. Use the levers of power and influence still available. Although I didn't think much of the Texas election lawsuit. That would have been a gift to Democrats if it had somehow succeeded. So choose and aim the lawsuits wisely.
Should Trump (via Instapundit) recognize Taiwan as an independent country in his time left in office? I admit I'm of two minds. We probably should have done that in 1996. And honestly, every year I think we should have done it a decade earlier when Chinese military power was weaker. I imagine I will continue to think that. But I'd say don't do that. China is strong enough to try an invasion with a chance of success and we have a lot to do without dealing with a war with China over Taiwan. We'd do it, I think. But I'd rather not. I'd hold that threat of recognition in reserve with the trigger being any Chinese initiated and sustained combat against Taiwan. We've said Taiwan is free to join China as long as China doesn't use force to compel unification. So apart from an accidental or local clash that quickly ends, I'd try to stay China's hand by threatening recognition for any effort that looks like it is trying to compel unification. And I worry that recognition without that trigger would reduce Taiwan's motivation to arm up in the belief that American recognition means automatic and early American intervention to save Taiwan from China.
Twenty-five thousand National Guard troops are pouring into Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. Better safe than sorry. Although we could have used them four years ago, too, eh?
ISIL overran a military base and town in northeast Nigeria.
Prof: ‘All’ Republicans are ‘guilty’ of Capitol attack; should be ‘forced to shut the hell up.’ That was fun. Now do Moslems for 9/11 without being cancelled. Tip to Instapundit.
I can hardly wait for the last gasp of media/Democratic Trump era outrage-manufacturing at whoever Trump pardons (and commutations of sentences) in his last days in office. Nobody who is outraged will care who Democratic presidents released.
In TDR administrative news, I had gaps in my archives in 2003 and 2004 from my original Yahoo!Geocities (actually, I first started on Geocities). I jumped to Blogger in December 2004. Yahoo!Geocities was shut down at some point after that but backup sites mirrored it so I thought I had archives set. Still, at some point I emailed all my pre-Blogger posts to myself just in case. When I got around to adding them they were gibberish. Eventually I found some of the old archives on the Internet Archive. Then recently for some reason I looked at my old emailed archives, and they were all good! I have no idea what happened. Anyway, I think I have all of my archives online now at Blogger. Which is really cool unless the Great Online Purge (or GOP, funny enough) reaches Blogger too.
American are failing to take sufficient precautions to halt the spread of the Xi Jinping Flu. But whatever we are doing is limiting the regular flu spread. Via Instapundit.
Morocco honored Trump for the deal that normalized of relations between Morocco and Israel. Yet somehow Trump is an anti-Semite and Islamophobe.
Arresting hate. Imagining hate.
Preparing for Biden's inauguration:
I'm shocked--and I suppose I should be outraged--at the racist flags at both ends of the flag line. Fire up the impeachment!
Wait. What? I was assured that 12-foot walls were pointless and stupid (not to mention immoral) as long as 13-foot ladders exist. That's a stupid argument. But it was commonly made in opposition to a southern border "wall." Tip to Instapundit.
I suppose out of respect for the office, once Biden is sworn in as president I'll have to stop my occasional references to him as a barely sentient meat sack incapable of carrying out the duties of the presidency. Or maybe I've just been thinking that a lot. Regardless of my opinion of him he will be my president. For a bit while longer. It's kind of funny, but in the first two years of the Obama presidency I had routine hits from the Executive Office of the White House. Combined with related hits from Delaware my primitive SIGINT led me to believe one or two people from Biden's VP staff read my blog. Sometimes I wrote posts just for those people. I guess it was futile.
Perhaps you thought it was ridiculous when I wrote this after the election: "Some leftists--including neo-leftist Jennifer Rubin--want a "list" of people who supported Trump to make sure they never work again and to ostracize them from society. I say a list isn't enough! Trump supporters should be forced to wear little orange triangles on their clothing so proper liberals can avoid Trump supporters trying to "pass" as decent folks. What is wrong with these people? I know. This is just big talk from a-holes. But nobody on their side calls them out for being a-holes. Let me start the ball rolling. They're a-holes." Does it seem out of bounds now? The Democrats have gone insane. I wish I could say that they're better than that. But right now that hope is contraindicated by their rhetoric and actions. I'm hoping that Democrats will face a voter reaction like the last two times they swept WDC. But today's Democrats are way more intolerant now and potentially drunk with power they are willing to abuse.
