There were zero right wing sieges of state capitols or WDC on inauguration day. Despite all the media-stoked panic. Huh. The imagery of 25,000 troops and extensive fencing surrounding political elites only with no threats to them is hardly reassuring, is it? And we somehow had an orderly transition of power despite 4-1/2 years of Tyrant Porn alleging that the Orange Hitler would never leave office. Go figure. I guess "dog whistles" aren't as potent as we were told. Sane people would reconsider their hysteria during the Trump era in light of this actual experience. Obviously that won't happen now. The Trump Resistance will be like the drunk walking around banging a drum who was stopped by a police office who asked him, "Why are you banging those drums? You really have to stop." The drunk replied, "But I have to bang the drums to keep the elephants away!" The police officer tried to calm the man, "Sir, there aren't any elephants around here." The drunk answered, "See? It's working!" In their preening self importance leftists will believe that the eternal vigilance of their Resistance prevented a Trumptatorship. Or even any pro-Trump inauguration day violence. At all. Sad. Now we have to get through this era. I wish I knew who the president is. Because Biden sure isn't at the helm at the ship of state. But hey, maybe this is the best thing that could happen for federalism.
You can count on me to comment on and analyze foreign policy and defense issues. I managed to do that through three presidents of different parties so far. I will continue to do so. I won't treat Biden like an enemy. Although I am worried about his administration's policies. But we'll see. Much depends on whether Democrats continue their purge of political opponents who have been dressed up like enemies. At least you know I'm not directly susceptible to social media manipulation because I am not on any social media. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice. Also nice is the confirmation of my wisdom of not enabling comments. Like I need to provide one more home for that kind of insanity. I used to fear being "captured" by friendly comments. Those days are from the Golden Age of blogging and not a reflection of our Twitter age of bitter and public insanity.
Mali remains corrupt with political uncertainty. But most of the country is peaceful despite being the most dangerous place for UN peacekeepers. The French would like to get out of their counter-terrorism mission there.
Democrats are going after Trump's businesses, family, and ability to engage in politics. Are Democrats just trying to force Trump into making a media empire as his only way to make money? The Democratic Party's media allies built their business models on attacking Trump. Isn't this just a way to keep that gravy train going?
Sudan's Darfur region, long the site of genocidal efforts against its people, had seemed to be quietly wallowing in its misery and poverty lately. But more than 80 are dead in "clashes."
Russian dissident Alexei Navalny returned to Russia after recovering in Britain from an assassination attempt. Putin had him arrested upon landing in Moscow. Apparently, surviving a Putin poisoning is illegal.
Hamas fired rockets into Israel and Israel responded with air strikes. Clearly, Hamas thinks the retaliation is a price worth paying to keep trying to kill Jews.
Hahahaha! If you wonder why. Via Instapundit.
Somalis are worried that well-resourced jihadis will cause more damage without the help of American troops that redeployed to other points in the region. We'll see if American troops can keep making "good jihadis" from outside the territory formally called "Somalia."
For those who think Biden can get Europeans to like America again, let's recall pre-Trump Germany (tip to Instapundit). Sure, Germans booed Trump and cheered for Obama. Obama didn't want to do much. So he didn't ask the Germans or other Europeans to contribute to allied defense. Germans loved that. Will Biden simply not ask the Germans to do much? Like meeting their late-Obama era pledge to spend 2% of GDP on defense? Or build up defenses to match Russian claims that NATO is a mortal danger? Reset! Face it, the problem is them and not us.
Trump's approval rating is mostly unchanged. That's because no matter what Trump says or does, Democrats always say "hold my beer" and act or speak dramatically worse.
The new (old) bigotry of class resentment.
Fingers crossed (tip to Instapundit). That's been my hope for the Senate. This is a great opportunity to maximize his--and his state's--gain. Still, maybe the best Republican strategy would be to let the Democrats control the Senate for a bit. That would give Schumer and his cronies the chance to expose their partisan extremism. If Manchin doesn't realize it yet, that will demonstrate clearly that the Democratic Party already left him. And only then Republicans could snatch the pebble from Schumer's hand.
I'm really starting to hate the Hello Fresh meal kit delivery company commercials. The combination of pretentiousness, snobbery, and wealth flaunting really bugs me.
Doctor Who? I couldn't resist. I regret nothing!
This is so stupid that I can't begin to react to it. They're going to need a bigger pile of cash. Who on Earth would agree to get vaccinated without a $300 payment now?
The government no longer says Capitol Building rioters planned to capture and kill legislators. As I said, that was a shameful episode. People died. One from each "side" and three health incidents. But it was no insurrection. It didn't display the organization of a typical campus radical takeover of a college president's office.
Let's get off this rock! Via Instapundit.
I was relieved that Biden sent John Kerry to a meaningless post and not back to a diplomatic role. But his familiar--who negotiated the awful Iran nuclear deal--will have a senior diplomatic position. Well that's just great.
Prison time. Lots of it. Just joking! Promotions and accolades all around! To nearly quote former Senate Majority Leader Reid, "Trump didn't win did he?"
"Multiracial whiteness." It's always something:
Leftists warned us in 2016 that there would be a war on the press during the Trump administration. And they were right! Just at the end, however. Against conservative press. By liberals. And who knows when it will end. But I have to hand it to them for their predictive powers.
Again, where was Trump's incitement to riot the day of the Capitol Building protest that spawned a group of rioters to break into the building? Remember, he's been saying the same things for 4-1/2 years without sparking a riot until January 6th allegedly can be blamed on him. And Democrats have decades of saying far more inciting things without getting their wrists even slapped.
Biden intends to screw Canada in order to please Russia, apparently.
Capitol Police command and control collapsed during the Capitol Building riot. It sounds like a complete clusterfuck. That's not encouraging. Maybe fix that before actual terrorists with a plan to kill rather than frustrated citizens charge into the building. Note too that the police didn't expect problems. No special precautions were taken and there were no reinforcements ordered. But somehow Trump should have known some of the pro-Trump protesters would turn violent. Tip to Instapundit.
Good Lord. Damn fine job under stress. I don't remember that at all. But then, it was a pre-Internet time. Tip to Instapundit.
Dispatches from the Memory Hole. Hey, the first draft of history doesn't re-write itself, you know.
Hillary Clinton wants a commission to investigate Trump "ties" to Putin's Russia. Can we expand the scope of that commission?
With the vaccine, "the coronavirus will become 'endemic,' a pathogen that circulates at low levels and only rarely causes serious illness." So we've got that going for us. Which is nice.
I believe that over the last four years the media set the standard for the terms of the debate over this potential DOD official: Chinese-controlled puppet or collusion? And that guy isn't the only one. China placed bets and hopes to collect now.
Japan is buying F-35s and has been pursuing its own stealth fighter.
Iranian ground force exercises near the Gulf of Oman only make sense if the Iranians plan to invade Iraq.
TDS Tyrant Porn from the echelon above reality: "Shortly before crowds of his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, Donald Trump implored them to 'take back our country.' His words echoed a long history of authoritarians who have attempted to privatize power and turn it into personal property." Um, no. This echoes the voices in the authors' heads. "Take back our country" has long been the rallying cry of the party out of power. I've expressed my distaste for it when both Democrats and Republicans said it. My feeling is that one has to persuade the country to vote for your side to "give" you the country. No "taking" is involved. These two highly credentialed authors are just nuts dabbling in mind reading.
Up until his last day in office, I was grateful Trump kept Hillary Clinton out of the White House. At the rate she is going she's going to make Biden look better, too.
The Left's wokeness is the other side of the right's Q-Anon coin. Makes sense to me. This will work out just swell. Seriously, the left wokeness is just nuts. The difference is that the woke media ridicules Q Anon (rightly) while drinking the Koolaid of the woke left madness. Tips to Instapundit.
This declaration was literally now or never: "The United States became the first country to officially declare Chinese government of Uighur Muslims an act of 'genocide,' announcing findings Tuesday which found China's policies toward the minority group are 'crimes against humanity.'"
Agent of influence for Iran. So he's little different than Ben Rhodes?
A flare up of Xi Jinping Flu in China. Will we ever really know the impact inside China?
"What we are actually confronting is the boomerang effect of [Democratic] political paranoia." The Capitol Hill riot was no coup or insurrection. It lacked the organization of even your randomly selected student radical take over of a college president's office. But the purge might be real. The crazy language against conservatives is certainly worrisome and exceeds what we've seen in the past. The left that constantly sounded the alarm for the looming Trumptatorship. My fear is that they are so frustrated at not getting proof of their fear that they will actually create the dictatorship. My hope is that this is only the lunatic but highly visible fringe obsessed with social media amplified by the lunatic fringe on CNN and MSNBC. I hope this does not reflect typical liberals. My hope is that Trump's final pardon list didn't need to include all those who voted for him.
Sanctions on Iran make Iraq less bad. Iran's influence is bad enough. Imagine how much worse Biden can make it by bringing the zombie Iran nuclear deal back to life. Iran isn't popular in Iraq. But money goes a long way to making Iran's unpopularity less relevant. Let's hope new Saudi money limits the damage.
China crippled American human intelligence and counter-intelligence. But at least few in the West can pretend not to know what China is up to in order to feather their own nests.
One that really angered me about Republicans is that in 2017 they failed to use control of the White House, Senate, and House to push through conservative legislation. Other than confirming judges the Congressional Republicans seemed afraid of provoking media disdain for legislating. Democrats don't make that mistake. Hold on because it could get rough the next year or two.
Trump took off on once last flight on his Air Force One after saying farewell to America. After all the tyrant "dog whistles" leftists heard, Trump gave his successor a more peaceful and orderly transition than Obama gave Trump. I wish Trump 45 well. Few people are bestowed with the honor of leading America. He came to recognize that despite what I believe was true surprise at winning in 2016. I had a long history of despising the man who had a long liberal Democrat history on top of his personality. Nonetheless, I was ecstatic that he defeated Hillary Clinton. And over the last 50 months, no matter what Trump did that I found distasteful or bad policy, Democrats always turned their Resistance to 11 and made him look better by comparison. So in the end, I thank Trump for what he did and what he endured without breaking, and wish him well.
The second B-21 long-range stealth bomber prototype is under construction.
The ability of America to be an arsenal of democracy again is questionable.
Azerbaijan natural gas is now flowing to Europe. Which means less European reliance on Russian energy to keep from freezing in the winter (thanks Germany!):
[Map from Wikipedia.] Although I'm not sure Turkey is the best alternative.
Good and gooder. Be the president until you are not.
Preparing the foundation for the 25th Amendment already, I see.
Of all people, Rouhani should not be unclear on the concept of what a "Tyrant" is: "Iran has hailed Donald Trump's departure as the final day of a 'tyrant',
saying it was now up to Joe Biden's new administration to forge peace." Sadly, Rouhani knows his audience. God help us, but Rouhani might have a "peace" partner in Biden.
I didn't watch this, but the title is unintentionally hilarious--and true: "The Biden Presidency: What Lies Ahead" They forgot the exclamation point. His lies that are ahead will be awesome. But (later) I honestly can't count this as a Biden "lie."
Oddly enough, SNL and late night "comedians" won't see this record as source material.
Rumbling in Tunisia. The last time caused an earthquake as the Arab Spring rattled autocrats. Although Tunisia is no longer a dictatorship. So we have that going for us.
North Korea stopped pretending that they can be talked out of getting nuclear weapons (with bonus East Asia Xi Jinping discussion). Will Biden's people just think that is a challenge to offer more stuff? My theory has always been to wait them out. Talk, talk, die, die. It's a race now.
I know it is almost a parlor game to figure out when Harris takes over from Biden. I work on the theory that a term served counts against term limits if you are in office more than half of a term. So ideally Democrats want Biden to last 2+ years to give Harris a theoretical maximum of almost ten years in office. But I'm no Constitutional scholar and don't feel like doing even minimal research. The question is can Biden last 2+ years?
I wondered when WHO would stop being a tool of China. When WHO no longer needs to harm Trump! It's a good change in Xi Jinping Flu testing definitions. Just in time for Biden to prove his toothless mask "mandate" saves the world! Mind you, this doesn't mean the pandemic is a fraud. Even with over-counting deaths as due to the covid-19 virus the death pace in America continues to be high. And if we have fewer actual cases, the fatality rate of those who get the virus will go up, naturally. All I want is good data to drive our policy.
Good Lord: "On Jan. 9, the Europe External Programme with Africa reported that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, about 80 miles west of Adigrat, had been attacked, and that hundreds of people who hid inside were brought out to the front square and shot to death. According to Church Times UK, the attack was carried out by Ethiopian government troops and Amhara militia from central Ethiopia. At least 1,000 people were estimated to be hiding in the church at the time of the attack." Supposedly the "reason" for 750 dead was the search for the Biblical Ark of the Covenant. I'm glad I have time before this posts because it seems too absurd to be true. A search of Yahoo! news didn't identify any story on this. It honestly seems like propaganda.
The White House website now asks for your pronouns. Sadly, it is not open ended. I'd enter "ho, hum, huh?" if I could.
Outline for being a useful idiot.
It wasn't enough for Amazon to hurt its "enemies." Now it reveals it only helps its allies. I honestly haven't ordered anything from Amazon since it openly silenced conservatives. We'll see how long I can go without using them. I'll look for less convenient alternatives. Like recently going to five different stores before finding a reasonably priced cocktail shaker.
Antifa doesn't even think Biden is acceptable and will riot to prove it. Please note that all of us are Nazis, from their point of view. Don't be like those vile Antifa thugs.
That's interesting: A Farsi translation of my Iran-Iraq War summary (with the citations stripped out, from a book manuscript that I almost got published thirty-plus years ago. I keep meaning to pull it together again and put it up for sale online). I will say that in the 1990s I got an email from an Iranian veteran of the war who saw it on my pre-TDR Geocities site who expressed his shock that a Westerner could provide a balanced view of the war. I just wanted to write a military history of the war rather than a political attack on an odious regime. So how's that for my ability to be balanced? Still, my name is not Brian G. Dan or Brian J. Dan. Just saying. Fascinating what you find from your statistics package.
Jihadi terrorists carried out their first suicide bombings in central Baghdad in three years. At least 32 were killed.
Ship-building, concentration, and allies are needed to match and defeat China's growing fleet.
George Friedman expects broad continuity in foreign policy from Trump to Biden, barring major changes of course (good or bad) from foes or major efforts to frame alternatives (e.g., Iran). That's my hope. Trump's policies weren't radical notwithstanding Resistance panic-mongering. But my fear is that Biden will indeed try to break the Arab-Israel alliance against Iran to restore the Holy Iran Nuclear Deal. Although I disagree on his assessment that the war on terror achieved minimal results. The alternative reality we might be in now could be gruesome. The GWOT has broken the state sponsorship of the jihad, provided defeat after defeat to discourage the jihadi recruiting pool, and recruited Arab and Moslem states to fight jihadis. Perhaps that could have been achieved without major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But how do you test that? Although I do suspect the dramatic escalation in Afghanistan in 2009 was unnecessary.
Don't fall for the ridiculous notion that the 1776 Commission and its report are racist. They are proud calls to praise our founding ideals and the pursuit of fully reaching them for all people. Of course it all had to go in the 1619 Project-obsessed woke crowd moving into the White House.
Policy successes. But don't forget preventing Hillary Clinton from being president.
Biden's goal for a million Xi Jinping Flu vaccine doses per day in his first 100 days in office is just 10% more than what Trump managed to reach. This was true despite the Biden false claim that there was no plan to distribute the vaccines. Biden claims that he will double the average of Trump's daily rate. Which misleadingly averages the six weeks of Trump vaccinations--which began at zero! And which rose to more than 900,000 on the last full day of Trump's tenure. The media just passed this along. C'mon man. Give me a break. You wonder why I despise our media?
While I think nationwide court injunctions against Trump executive orders took judicial powers too far, I hope Republican attorneys general return the favor to Biden. We won't end that judicial overreach until Democrats feel the pain at least as much as Republicans felt it the last four years.
Well, we surely live in interesting times: "Inaugural observation: The White House and US Capitol are ringed in fences and 25k National Guard, while the new President is about to halt the building/reinforcement of the Wall on our Southern border."
It would be horrible for Trump to start a new political party. Except for Democrats, for whom it would be a gift. Tip to Instapundit. No new Bull Moose Party.
It's hard to argue that the Democratic Party isn't the party of racism. It was born to defend slavery and grew up enforcing segregation. And now its hyper-racial politics only appear to be pro-minority. At its foundation is a view that denies agency to African Americans and other classes of people. At its core is the view that the largely white Democratic Party leadership and bureaucrats must show the protected classes how to live and take care of them. Any minority who sides with Republicans is simply an honorary white in their view. It is sick. And contrary to our Constitution and promise of our Declaration of Independence. Tip to Instapundit.
It's hard to be upset that Twitter has suspended the chief mullah nutball in Iran. But I'd rather know what nutballery he is thinking. And again, won't people in other countries especially be pushed to alternative means of communicating when faced with Twitter's censorship threat?
The Libyan navy intercepted a boat of refugees heading for Europe. I suspect these people simply didn't pay the required bribes to the navy.
The price of security theater for non-existent threats on inauguration day in WDC. I figured better safe than sorry. But I may have been wrong about the justification. Will this be called a "super-spreader event?"
Yay! More than 120 countries without nuclear weapons pledged themselves to a non-nuclear world.
Pelosi will transmit impeachment charges to the Senate on Monday. Which makes sense because Trump's coup has left him in the White House defying the end of his term with dug-in troops and MAGA militia defending him. What an embarrassing farce for this country. Democrats need a vaccine for TDS more than they need Xi Jinping Flu vaccines.
Chuck Schumer on the coming Senate impeachment trial for Trump: “Make no mistake, there will be a trial and when that trial ends, senators will have to decide if they believe Donald John Trump incited the erection against the United States.” Oops. Tyrant Porn, indeed. You think I've been joking? Truly the little Blue State pill is amazing. But if your impeachment trial lasts beyond the president's term of office, seek medical attention immediately. Still, you have to admit that "Erection Insurrection" would make a great punk rock band name. Video at the link. Tip to Instapundit.
There never was a Trump "Moslem ban." Just a ban on people coming from a small number of countries that couldn't--or would not--provide accurate information about people coming to America from there. Most of the countries on the executive order are Moslem-majority countries. The people from the countries on the Trump executive order represented only a small fraction of Moslems worldwide. Biden ordered its repeal. We'll see how ending a national security measure works out.
One thing I'm not going to complain about in the new Biden era is that the 25,000 National Guard troops sent to WDC for the inauguration generally had unloaded rifles. I actually had riot control training when I was in the Guard. In the training we weren't even issued rifles. We had wooden batons plus protective gear. Only a small number of troops had rifles with ammunition. These soldiers were held behind the line. The reason was to avoid killing rioters. Our job was to make people--fellow citizens--disperse and go home. If someone in the rioters was armed and a threat, the Guard marksmen held in reserve would use lethal force. Or the police we were teamed with would use lethal force. And massed bayonet-tipped unloaded rifles are pretty intimidating if it gets that far.
I have no idea if this left-wing site's description of the Capitol Building riot as a diverse QAnon operation is correct. But it is right that it was no coup: "As became clear once QAnon-ers entered the Capitol, they had no genuine strategy and no genuine program, instead relying on a millenarian faith that Trump would deliver them[.]" That much was clear. I've noted that your typical campus student takeover of a college president's office has more organization and planning. The January 6th incident had no hope of threatening American democracy notwithstanding the wailing and rending of shirts by the media and Democrats. Tip to Instapundit.
The prospect of conventional combat against peer military forces has inspired the Army to seriously pursue more secure radios. The collapse of the USSR revealed how good the Soviet electronic warfare gear was. And Russia's war on Ukraine reminded us of their skill. The new radios will be better able to cope with modern electronic warfare devices that can locate and jam our communications. Do read it all.
Hahahaha! There are a lot of these:
Biden ordered the halt to construction of walls on the Mexican border. I suppose that's because all the barbed wire-topped fences set up in WDC for the inauguration can be sent down there now, eh?
Okay, I had to do one more because it really isn't funny:
Dang. One more because it is funny and I'm sure somebody, somewhere, somehow, thinks it is "problematic": 
Trump finished his presidency with 51% approval; Biden starts his with 48%. Huh. Note also that Trump started with 56% approval. Clearly the issue for the next Republican presidential candidate will be holding the people that Trump got to vote for him while avoiding repelling the voters who Trump inspired to vote against him.
The Army is in much better shape than four years ago. I can't imagine modernization will continue at a reasonable pace given the need to improve the Navy and modernize the aging Air Force. And given Biden administration spending plans for non-defense areas that will cut defense spending. Oh, some of the non-defense spending will likely be put in the DOD budget to disguise the reduction. But reduction it will be.
The Russians provoked NATO to build up military power on Russia's military border. There wasn't any NATO infrastructure to support military power there despite Russian hysterics. And even now few troops are close to Russia. But the trend is clear. Russia has been NATO's best recruiter, even before invading Georgia! Because the Fuck-Up Fairy lives in Russia now.
The Saudis shot down a drone or missile over their capital. The Iran-backed Houthi are the usual suspects. The Houthis deny it. It's possible that Iran did it, of course. Or a phantom target.
So ... Biden's approach to the Xi Jinping Flu is to mislead America? To be fair, that is a proven strategy!
It seemed unlikely that Biden reinforced American troops in eastern Syria. And my doubt was justified. Still, the new Congress and president now have the responsibility for our policy and troops there. They must decide just exactly what we are doing in Syria before we face a Mogadishu "Blackhawk Down" or Beirut Barracks-type attack.
Let me guess, the Biden-ordered inquiry into domestic extremism will ignore the Antifa/BLM 7+ months of riots, arson, and murder. No, the focus will be on the threat from rightists who did not in fact riot on inauguration day in WDC or state capitals as we were warned they would do. The witch hunt begins.
Good Lord. Just having a seasonably normal and safe childhood seems like more of a precious gift the older I get.
Actual brave Resistance against a tyrant.
Democrats bizarrely blamed Trump for the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic and claimed they'd do a much better job. Now Biden says "there’s nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months[.]" Democratic governors and mayors don't have better records than Republican records. I'd say they have worse records but that, in part, saddles them with having to deal with big cities where the virus spreads more easily. So that judgment wouldn't be totally fair. Certainly they've demonstrated no success that allows them to back their boasts of scientific fealty. Biden won't do any better than Trump at the national level. All Biden has for him is starting as president when a vaccine exists rather than being in charge at the start.
Taiwan said that 8 Chinese bombers and 4 fighters threw elbows in the Taiwan Strait, triggering more robust air defense efforts. Usually such probes are in ones and twos. The PLA aircraft breached Taiwan's air defense identification zone. Which isn't the same as Taiwan's air space.
In a way, I'm pleased Biden "rejoined" the Paris climate pact. Mind you, he really can't enter a treaty without Senate approval. But other than that, so what? When Obama signed his way into the pact, climate change activists derided the pact as toothless. It was only with Trump's withdrawal that the pact became sacred for climate activists. Now we are back in a pointless agreement that ratifies China's carbon emissions and doesn't give America credit for carbon emission reductions without the pact. With luck that will be a fig leaf to prevent future BS pacts that will actually harm our economy and kill more jobs that we already lost with the XL Pipeline cancellation.
After four years of mainlining Trump, liberals will find themselves shaking with withdrawal symptoms (via Instapundit). As I foretold:
Biden's staff called a lid on his further appearances for the day on Saturday. I guess three consecutive days of being president is too taxing to go on. I'm reasonably sure the lid is on the giant jar of formaldehyde he is immersed in. This is going to work out just swell.
Biden clearly said "Good looking Marines" and not "Salute the Marines" in the now-famous video. Don't go searching for Biden gaffes or evidence of being coached so hard that you hear things. There will be plenty of gaffes. People on the right shouldn't behave as badly as the left's Resistance did for the last four years. Even if it works.
I've been worried about the extreme nature of the public and vocal face of the Democratic Party. The clear leftist hatred of Republicans and blue collar people is frightening now that federal and media power is concentrated in Democratic hands. The last four years go beyond what I've seen in the past. My hope is that this elevated display of hate will quickly wear off when Trump is out of the White House. My fear is that it will not. My natural sense of optimism will be tested against my worries about worst case scenarios.
Sometimes when I go back to look at posts, I read my posts and find myself trying to decode a complicated sentence that I'm sure seemed logical and clear at the time. In part this is because I basically post draft essays. I don't edit for this. But I decided to try to avoid complicated sentences starting this last week. Let's see how that goes.
