On December 14, 2021,
in Uncategorized,
by magoo1310
It’s Monday, December 13th, 2021…but before we begin, we know you join us in wishing a VERY happy 32nd birthday to our youngest son Travis, along with MANY happy returns.
Paul Krugman, May 7: “[Treasury secretary] Janet Yellen and I believe that the Fed can contain any inflationary risks.”
Paul Krugman, June 21: “For those paying closer attention to the flow of new information, inflation panic is, you know, so last week.”
Paul Krugman, July 23: “Overheating is still possible, and the Fed should keep its eye on that possibility. But the big numbers aren’t as scary as they seem.”
Paul Krugman, August 12: “Anxiety about the inflationary impact of public investment just doesn’t make sense if you work through the numbers.”
Paul Krugman, September 10: “Companies aren’t acting as if they expect lots of future inflation, where they can hike wages without losing competitive advantage. They’re acting, instead, as if they see current inflation as a blip.”
Paul Krugman, November 11: “So yes, that was an ugly inflation report, and we hope that future reports will look better. But people making knee-jerk comparisons with the 1970s and screaming about stagflation are looking at the wrong history. When you look at the right history, it tells you not to panic.”
Inflation jumped to the highest level in nearly 40 years, fresh data released on Friday showed, as supply chain disruptions, rapid consumer demand and rising housing costs combined to fuel the strongest inflationary burst in a generation.
The rising costs spell trouble for officials at the Federal Reserve and the White House, who are trying to calibrate policy at a moment when the labor market has yet to completely heal from the pandemic, but the risk that price increases could become more lasting is increasing.
The Consumer Price Index climbed by 6.8 percent in the year through November, the data showed, the fastest pace since 1982.
One of the reasons inflation is such a serious problem right now is that we have an administration, a Fed, and a lot of ideologically or politically aligned economic elites who are wedded to the belief that inflation is not a serious problem.
In other words, they’re playing politics, NOT trading in truth. Which makes them, in our humble opinion, unserious people whose opinions and judgement mean about as much as that of any random individual standing on a street corner in West Baltimore…or anywhere else in the world
Speaking of those whose opinions and judgement means about as much as that of any random individual standing on a street corner in West Baltimore…or anywhere else in the world:
Funny: Were the facts not “still unfolding” when Kommielaa tweeted THIS back on January 29th, 2019:
In the Socialist utopia, though all facts are equal, like certain people, some “facts” are apparently more equal than others…primarily because they’re non-factual, aka nonsense.
Speaking of nonsense, Best of the Web‘s Jim Freeman relates…
“…Hillary Clinton is marketing a new online course on the “Power of Resilience.” Consumers can gain access to the Clinton course, plus many others from a variety of celebrities, for as little as $15 per month, according to the streaming platform MasterClass, which also promises a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. Mrs. Clinton is sharing with her new customers the words of the victory speech she had hoped to deliver on Election Night in November of 2016, and NBC’s “Today” show obtained the course video.
In one very narrow sense it’s a shame that Mrs. Clinton never had a chance to give the speech, because it includes a beautiful message that is sorely needed in this country today, just as it was then. In the event Mrs. Clinton had won the presidency, she planned to say:
I am as sure of this as anything I have ever known: America is the greatest country in the world.
As for the last eight words of the preceding passage, truer words were never spoken. Unfortunately these words were never spoken at all by Mrs. Clinton in her concession speech on Nov. 9, 2016. Though she had planned to share with a cheering crowd of supporters on Election Night a bedrock conviction that this nation is the world’s best, somehow the line never made itinto the next day’s message. Did America’s unique greatness end when we refused to elect Mrs. Clinton?
There is a recurring and destructive theme on the American leftthat this country is only functional, legitimate and just when it is moving rapidly to enact so-called progressive policies. Otherwise, pundits carp about an alleged broken democracy and an Electoral College in alleged need of replacement and a Supreme Court in alleged need of restructuring and an allegedly dysfunctional Senate and of course allegedly deplorable people who perhaps cannot be redeemed or reeducated at all…”
Here’s the juice: Were Libtards, including a member of our own family, twice as smart as they actually are, they’d still be only half as bright as they believe themselves to be.
Next up, one Dalibor Rohac, a senior fellow at AEI explains why…
Forget the “commitment” of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine’s sovereignty, the EU’s “firm and decisive“ support, and Liz Truss’s “vow to ‘stand firm” with Ukraine. The hard truth is that the West has already lost, or rather abandoned, Ukraine.
Even if it is not overrun by Russian tanks this winter, the Kremlin has a free hand to destabilise, threaten, and undercut Ukraine – including by intensifying the conflict in Ukraine’s east. After all, that war, initiated by Vladimir Putin, has been ongoing since 2014. And for all the tough rhetoric, countless sanctions, and the two bargains struck in Minsk, Russia continues to occupy Crimea and treat Donbas as its own territory.
If Russia were indeed to intensify the conflict, what exactly is the West going to do? Slap more sanctions on the regime in the hope that it changes its behaviour? An oil and gas embargo? Good luck with that, considering the current energy prices. If Russia were indeed to intensify the conflict, what exactly is the West going to do?
Or perhaps, the ‘nuclear option’ of cutting Russia off SWIFT, the global financial settlement system? The negative shock would surely harm Russian financial institutions and businesses. It is doubtful, to say the least, that it would force the Kremlin to reconsider. After all, being off SWIFT has not noticeably altered the behaviour of Iran or North Korea’s leaders.
Boosting military aid to Ukraine might help – but it should have come a long time ago. The country has received $2.5bn (£2bn) in military assistance from the United States since 2014 – equivalent to what Egypt gets in less than two years. However, it takes time, effort, and good governance to translate a hypothetical boost in lethal aid into an effective deterrent against Russian aggression. By the time new money would make a difference, the Kremlin could force a new geopolitical reality on the ground or undermine the Ukrainian government to an extent that would make the political case for further military assistance from the West untenable.
In fact, it is difficult to identify policies that could materially change Putin’s calculus – other than committing Nato troops to the defence of Ukraine. Sure, if it chose to, the West could also play dirty, just as Russia has. Instead of officially stationing forces in Ukraine, perhaps Ukraine could become a ‘holiday destination’ for Nato soldiers in unmarked uniforms, together with their equipment.
But unless the United States and its allies are ready to go down one of those paths – which can easily result in a shooting war involving Nato and Russia – there will be a mismatch between the rhetorical flourishes and displays of commitment to Ukraine’s future and the West’s actions. That mismatch is going to be exploited by Putin. In other words, no matter how uncouth it may be, unless the West is willing to put up an actual fight over Ukraine, the country’s Western and European future is a lost cause.
It is, after all, much the same way that the West has lost in Afghanistan, Syria, or Libya – all places where our adversaries made the (correct) calculation that the United States and its allies either did not want to get involved or lacked the political stamina to persist in their efforts. Similarly, the West has lost in Georgia and in parts of the Western Balkans, where the West did not follow up its talk of future integration with action.
Now, there might be good reasons for not getting involved in conflicts in faraway places and for not making open-ended political and security commitments to countries that are only tangentially related to our own security interests. Yet one should be clearheaded about the fact that staying out means ceding influence to other, potentially malevolent actors. As a result, the Biden administration and the broader transatlantic community cannot have it both ways – pretending to be the bedrock of the world’s ‘liberal’, or ‘rules-based’, order and not making any of the hard choices and sacrifices needed to turn that notion into something more than just an empty slogan.
Ultimately, the mindset that appears to animate foreign policy choices in Western capitals makes it harder, not easier, to confront the new strategic priority that has eclipsed in importance both Russia and the Middle East: China. After all, containing Chinese expansionism requires the resolve to incur costs and casualties and to make good on promises to allies, whether they are in the Indo-Pacific or elsewhere. The question remains: is the West up to the job?
In a related item, The Washington Free Beacon‘s Matt Continetti details such inaction in the face of raw, unwarranted aggression is…
“‘Democracy needs champions,’ President Biden said on December 9 as he called to order his summit of democracies. It sure does.Yet Biden has a funny way of championing it.
…Deterrence doesn’t run on promissory notes. Deterrence raises the cost of hostile action in the here and now. Which is why Biden’s video conference was a mistake, and why his preemptively ruling out U.S. boots on the ground was too. No one wants or expects the commitment of U.S. forces in the case of Russo-Ukrainian war—but no one should tell Putin he doesn’t have to worry about that possibility either. Deterrence is about keeping Putin on his toes: by calling for real increases in the defense budget, by reinforcing the Baltic states sooner rather than later, by selling drones and other lethal materiel to Ukraine, by pledging construction of additional liquefied natural gas facilities in Poland, Ukraine, and Latvia.
What’s happening in Ukraine today is the result of what happened in Afghanistan over the summer.
And what might happen in Taiwan in the coming years depends on what happens in Ukraine now. The failure of American nerve in Afghanistan caught the attention of authoritarians everywhere (including in Iran). They watched as America bolted and a democracy collapsed. They saw that democracies don’t live or die on talk. Democracies live or die upon their willingness to use force to defend their way of life. And that willingness, in turn, depends on the leadership and support and resolve of the world’s oldest, richest, and most powerful constitutional democracy.
This isn’t theory—ask the Afghans. Democracies perish when America bugs out.“
This issue forms the basis for one of our biggest disagreements with Tucker Carlson…or The Donald for that matter. And while we would never advocate for the involvement of U.S. forces in any foreign entanglement without a truly compelling reason (We for one believed, rather than invading Iraq, Bush II should have launched nightly waves of Tomahawks into any abode Saddam might be occupying until he was either taken out or straightened up and flew right!), neither do we believe one can blithely cast aside the mantle of The World’s Policeman…because there’s always going to be someone unsavory…
…willing to assume the role. And as we’ve observed many times before, some conflicts ARE forever…whether Tucker, The Donald and 46* believe they’re not.
Moving on, we offer a septet of special selections certain to pique the interest of inquiring Conservative minds:
(1). The Journal‘s Kim Strassel records how Merrick Garland has one-uped Eric Holder, as 46*’s Justice Department is pursuing an even more partisan agenda than it did in the Obama years…which is SAYIN‘ somethin’; Somethin’ which ain’t good.
(2). Since we’re on the subject of the Socialists’ agenda, writing at The Daily Signal, Christian Mysliwiec explains The Left’s plan to codify Roe v. Wade into law. Hey, let’s face it: For Progressives…
“Conservatives took to social media in 2019 to express outrage over the dropped charges. How dare someone make such a heinous claim about followers of their dear leader, they screeched. Violent, masked white guys who shout Trump slogans and use chemical agents to attack victims? Many on the right shamed those of us who knew such a claim was totally plausible — and then the Jan. 6 insurrection happened.”
We direct anyone who found Smollett’s story the least bit plausible to our On the Lighter Side video, accessible through link #4, immediately below the Quote of the Day at the top of the page.
(4). For more on the utter farce perpetrated by the man Dave Chappelle dubbed “Juicy Smollé”, we recommend Kyle Smith’s summary in which he details how Smollett’s hate-hoax fairy tale exposed how gullible Americans can be when you yell “racism“. BTW, at the risk of seeming repetitive, those initially taken in by Smollé’s manifestly manufactured murphy included The Donald.
(5). Speaking of The Donald, for those needing further evidence the man shouldn’t seek reelection, if this doesn’t do it, nothing will. And, BTW, you’ve closed your mind to reason.
(6). In a 38-page document released December 6th, the 46* clown car outlined the five pillars of its new plan to combat corruption. And while the plan includes new regulations on the real estate industry, no where does it prohibit anyone in the Biden crime family from profiting from its Don’s illegitimate occupancy of the Oval Office.
(7). And in a decision almost as shocking as Shep Smith severing his ties with the network to join NBC, our old friend and Naval Academy classmate Breeze Gould informs us Chris Wallace has announced he’s leaving FOX for the ideologically-friendlier confines of CNN. Talk about a match made in Hell…which is where all concerned will eventually be heading.
Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side:
Then there’s these from Speed…
…Ed Hickey…
…and first-time contributor Bernard Taylor:
Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with yet another sordid story straight from the pages of The Crime Blotter, and this update on a previously featured item, as the…
Latira Schonty Hunt faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and battery as a result of urging her daughter to sucker-punch a significantly smaller opponent after faking a foul following a missed 3-point attempt:
You GO, girl…straight to Hell!
Magoo
Video of the Day
Jesse Watters highlights how what goes around comes around. And it couldn’t be happening to a more deserving group of people.
Tales of The Darkside
As this timely, classic bit from Dave Chappelle via James Patrick proves, nothing bespeaks the moral bankruptcy of an ideology like an unwoke, politically-incorrect comedian accurately assessing the holes in an obvious fraud the political class and their MSM shills refused to see.
On the Lighter Side
As one wag observed, if brains were gasoline Joe Biden couldn’t power a gnat’s go-cart two laps around a Cheerio. In other words, if stupidity were a virtue, Joe would be the political equivalent of Mother Theresa.
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