{"id":106774,"date":"2023-01-24T16:51:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T21:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=106774"},"modified":"2023-01-24T16:51:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T21:51:42","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-monday-january-23rd-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=106774","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Monday, January 23rd, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>It&#8217;s Monday, January 21st, 2023&#8230;but before we begin, Dave Rubin gives you a taste of what we in The Democratic Republic of Maryland get as a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Republican<\/em><\/span> governor:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e5CcwW1rDWA\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does anyone other than Larry Hogan even remember WTF Charlie Baker <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>was<\/em><\/span>?!?\u00a0 Fortunately for Maryland and the country, Hogan&#8217;s political future is about as bright as George Santos&#8217;.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By the way, things work <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>precisely the same way<\/em><\/span> north of the border in Canada:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Xym5Onnmb-M\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Now, here&#8217;s <em>The Gouge<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>First up,\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Clay Travis weighs in on the Ivan Provorov persecution:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yEKPRzrlgxA?start=37&amp;end=203&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>It&#8217;s life once more imitating art, in this case, the classic <em>Seinfeld<\/em> ribbon scene:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3iV8X8ubGCc\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/ivan-provorov-jerseys-sell-out-nhl-player-refuses-to-wear-pride-jersey\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Provorov&#8217;s jersey quickly sold out<\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In a related example of Progressive oppression&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/gianno-caldwell-blasts-restaurant-kicking-him-political-views-target-back\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900; text-decoration: underline;\">FOX News analyst asked to leave North Miami restaurant over his political views<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gino.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106803\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gino.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gino.png 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gino-300x129.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>On Saturday morning, Fox News&#8217; Gianno Caldwell was asked to leave a restaurant in North Miami, Florida because his\u00a0Conservative views &#8220;don&#8217;t align&#8221;\u00a0with the opinions of the owners.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">The restaurant, Paradis Books and Bread, posted on their public Instagram account (@paradis.bb) with a caption that alluded to Gianno and his group, stating that &#8220;their behavior and their words made other folks in the space as well as the one of us working very uncomfortable.&#8221;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>&#8220;This situation reminds me of something that MLK said in 1963, a very simple truth. <span style=\"color: #800080;\">He said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.<\/span> And what I experienced yesterday, me and some of my neighbors, who I&#8217;m just getting to know, was an injustice. <span style=\"color: #800080;\">It was a grave injustice,&#8221; the Fox News political analyst said on\u00a0&#8220;Fox &amp; Friends Weekend&#8221;\u00a0Sunday.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>On Saturday morning,\u00a0the restaurant owner approached\u00a0Caldwell and said that she had been &#8220;listening&#8221; to their conversation and decided that they &#8220;were not welcome&#8221; in her restaurant. <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Caldwell said he asked if he had said something &#8220;triggering&#8221; to the owner, to which she explained that they were being removed because their politics do not align.<\/span> Caldwell and his group promptly exited the restaurant in response<\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here&#8217;s the juice: Please explain, if you&#8217;re able, how a Socialist denying someone service over the substance of a private conversation is any different than a Christian baker opting out of crafting a custom cake for a gay wedding?\u00a0 And why has the latter been the cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre for numerous frivolous lawsuits while the former is allowed with impunity?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And yes, given The Left&#8217;s unending penchant for hypocrisy and double standards, the questions are somewhat rhetorical.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Next up, writing at the <em>Weekend Jolt<\/em>, Judson Berger suggests, in a typical example of Socialist overreach&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/the-weekend-jolt\/the-reparations-movement-is-sabotaging-itself\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=20230121_Weekend_Jolt&amp;utm_term=Jolt-Smart\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800080; text-decoration: underline;\">The Reparations Movement Is Sabotaging Itself<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dfti.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106804\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dfti.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dfti.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dfti-300x213.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>With a single document, a San Francisco committee has managed to warp the common understanding of reparations beyond recognition and damage the cause the authors aim to advance.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">A city advisory panel\u2019s draft\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/sf.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2023-01\/HRC%20Reparations%202022%20Report%20Final_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">recommendations<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0on reparations, released last month but getting noticed this week, not only would expand eligibility for individuals who are not descendants of slaves but put to paper an astronomical monetary figure that, if honored, would necessarily open new wounds in the attempt to heal old ones.<\/span> From\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/san-francisco-reparations-committee-recommends-paying-5-million-to-black-residents-supplementing-income-for-250-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">Brittany Bernstein\u2019s news report<\/a><\/em><\/span>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><p><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><em>[The San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee] has recommended paying out hefty reparations to the city\u2019s longtime black residents, including a $5 million payment per qualifying person and a supplemental income to low-income residents for <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">250 years<\/span>.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>One problem with this exercise is there\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>always a higher number<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #333399;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Two years ago<\/em><\/span>,\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/evanston-illinois-becomes-first-american-city-to-pay-reparations-to-black-residents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">Evanston, Ill., became the first U.S. city<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0to approve reparations-style payments to black residents, aiming to distribute $25,000 to qualifying households for home repairs or down payments.<\/span> Now the going rate is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>$5 million<\/em><\/span>, proving inflation is still with us. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">The San Francisco proposal, if taken national, would blow out of the water BET founder Robert Johnson\u2019s once-shocking<\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/robert-johnsons-big-idea-14-trillion-slavery-reparations-payments-to-african-americans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">reparations estimate of $14 trillion<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span><span style=\"color: #333399;\">.<\/span> If one were to send the San Francisco sum to even half of black Americans, the cost would exceed <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>$100 trillion<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Why not <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>$200 trillion<\/em><\/span>?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>The San Francisco plan is\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/how-absurd-is-the-san-francisco-reparations-proposal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">discrediting<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/span>to a movement that has encountered a difficult enough time attracting commitments from policy-makers \u2014 even if most accept that the stain of slavery, segregation, and discrimination has disadvantaged many Americans of color, disadvantages that persist to this day. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">Does anyone truly believe that the typical financial advantage enjoyed by white families is anywhere near $5 million?<\/span> One need only look at household-finance data for clarity: Most white people aren\u2019t sitting on that amount of money.<span style=\"color: #333399;\"> The\u00a02019 Survey of Consumer Finances\u00a0found that white households had a median wealth of $188,200, compared with $24,100 for black households.<\/span> The gap is stark, to be sure; but as that same survey notes, it is also observable in comparison with Hispanic families (median wealth: $36,100) and other minority groups.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">If the goal is to redress discrimination and resultant disparities in wealth, and not just slavery, then by that logic they too should be made whole.<\/span> Herein lies another big problem. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">As California was not a slave state, the San Francisco draft proposes reparations to a range of people affected by repression in various forms (the document leans on a United Nations definition of reparations as measures that \u201credress violations of human rights\u201d).<\/span> So, descendants of slaves along with many others would be eligible; applicants would have to be black, 18 years or older, and meet any two of a list of other criteria ranging from having been born in the city between 1940 and 1996 and lived there for at least 13 years to having been incarcerated by the \u201cfailed War on Drugs.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">While the San Francisco committee is not the only group taking a flexible view toward reparations eligibility \u2014 Evanston also did \u2014 such interpretations leave unclear where to draw the line.<\/span> Presuming one is drawn, the massive payouts would be invidious and give rise to new grievances, especially among\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/01\/san-franciscos-insane-reparations-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">immigrant taxpayers<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0with no generational link to slavery.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>NR\u2019s\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/01\/san-franciscos-insane-reparations-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">editorial elaborates<\/a><\/em><\/span>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><em>If reparations are based on injustices and discrimination other than slavery, there is a far weaker case for singling out a single group for benefits. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">If anything, California and San Francisco have a much more egregious history of injustices done by the government towards Native Americans and people of Chinese and Japanese descent.<\/span> Those injustices include laws that prevented Asian Americans from owning guns or testifying in court.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><em><span style=\"color: #333399;\">Then, there are the legal and moral problems with giving people money on the basis of race without requiring them to show that they have ever suffered injustice. . . .<\/span> Its list of proofs of suffering past injustice is quite elastic, including black immigrants from foreign countries to San Francisco as late as 1996 and those who were \u201cPersonally, or the direct descendant of someone, incarcerated by the failed War on Drugs.\u201d <span style=\"color: #333399;\">Giving someone $5 million for being a heroin trafficker does not seem like justice.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>The obligatory caveat is that this proposal is a draft (prepared by city Human Rights Commission staff) and represents recommendations only. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">Other places are similarly exploring the issue: Cities from Boston to Kansas City have moved recently to study reparations; California has its own task force; Representative Sheila Jackson Lee continues to push for a commission in Congress; and Jen Psaki said in 2021 that President Biden would\u00a0support a study.<\/span> The Biden administration has not gone beyond that statement, though the president has a poor track record lately of saying \u201cno\u201d to the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/the-first-lawsuit-is-filed-against-joe-bidens-illegal-student-loan-move\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">most ambitious<\/a>\u00a0<a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2021\/09\/malarkey-in-trillions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">progressive projects imaginable<\/a><\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">Still, the latest proposal is\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/01\/san-franciscos-insane-reparations-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"dynamic-link\">SO ludicrous that even San Francisco could turn it down<\/a><\/em><\/span><span style=\"color: #333399;\">.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p><strong>While we agree with Berger&#8217;s central focus on the utter unworkability of the entire concept of reparations, we question one assertion he makes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;<\/span><strong>even <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>if most accept<\/em><\/span> that the stain of slavery, segregation, and discrimination has disadvantaged many Americans of color, disadvantages that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>persist to this day<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>WE<\/em><\/span>\u00a0certainly do not accept the stain of slavery, segregation and discrimination as ever having disadvantaged many if any <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>living<\/em><\/span> Americans of color, let alone doing so to this day.\u00a0 Any contemporary disadvantages Americans of color experience are the direct result of utterly counterproductive Progressive policies born of LBJ&#8217;s hopelessly-misnomered <em>Great Society<\/em>, six decades of ruinous, exclusively Dimocratic urban mismanagement and the ignorant and uneducated believing charlatans, scam artists and race hustlers their lot in life is the result not of their own personal choices, but systemic racism and bias based on their skin color.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>For more on the subject, we recommend David Horowitz&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/00064246.2001.11431145?journalCode=rtbs20\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea for Blacks\u2014and Racist Too<\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Turning now to the latest on the scamdemic, courtesy of <em>NRO<\/em>, Austin Lin and Jianli Yang relate why&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/01\/the-search-for-the-origin-of-covid-19-cannot-stop\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=WIR%20-%20Sunday%202023-01-22&amp;utm_term=WIR-Smart\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #333399;\">The Search for the Origin of Covid-19 Cannot Stop<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2023\/01\/the-search-for-the-origin-of-covid-19-cannot-stop\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=WIR%20-%20Sunday%202023-01-22&amp;utm_term=WIR-Smart\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">Gain-of-function research and other factors have made pandemic risks truly existential. The world must take action<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dms2.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106810\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dms2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dms2.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dms2-300x199.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"drop\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>T<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><span class=\"small_caps\">he<\/span>\u00a0Covid-19 pandemic recently marked its third year. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Life has seemingly returned to normal for people in many countries.<\/span> But Covid itself lingers. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Milder variants with significantly higher lethality rates than the seasonal flu circulate.<\/span> Long-Covid symptoms still plague those afflicted. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">The official worldwide Covid death toll tops\u00a06 million, while the\u00a0excess-death count is above\u00a020 million.<\/span> Just weeks ago, China abandoned its zero-Covid policy overnight without proper preparation, inducing a catastrophe of\u00a0millions\u00a0dead under the Omicron wave, as many elders were not vaccinated. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Japan recently recorded a new\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/article\/international\/japan-reports-record-7-688-covid-19-deaths-in-december-2022-report-123010200383_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">peak<\/a>\u00a0in Covid deaths as of December 2022.<\/span> To paraphrase Yogi Berra \u2014 the pandemic ain\u2019t over until it\u2019s over.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Against this backdrop of human tragedy, a pandemic that not only took human lives but also altered social norms and deepened political fault lines, mainstream media have\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/faith-freedom-self-reliance\/the-medias-startling-incuriosity-about-covid-19s-origin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">neither critically covered nor objectively scrutinized the central question<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0covered nor objectively scrutinized the central question regarding the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>origin<\/em><\/span> of Covid-19.<\/span> Similarly, national leaders and international agencies have remained <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>callously silent<\/em><\/span> during the most recent summits of the United Nations, G7, and G20 \u2014 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>not a single word<\/em><\/span> about the need to ascertain the origin of this existential risk. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">In the United States, where the Democratic Party had controlled Congress from 2021 until now, Congress failed to take action, such as issuing subpoenas for relevant U.S.-based research\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/11\/03\/coronavirus-research-ecohealth-nih-emails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">entities<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0that\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/11\/03\/coronavirus-research-ecohealth-nih-emails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">partnered<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>\u00a0with Wuhan coronavirus labs.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>It is the essential duty of the government to find the origin of any major disasters and formulate reforms necessary to prevent future occurrences. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Imagine if there had been no government investigation after catastrophes such as the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, 9\/11, the 2008 financial crisis, or other such disasters.<\/span> We would have been deprived of essential information to obviate future similar incidents.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Investigating the origin of Covid is a comparably urgent priority.<\/span> It is a public-health disaster of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>unfathomable magnitude<\/em><\/span> that has killed\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2022\/05\/17\/1093651037\/us-one-million-deaths\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">1 million<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0Americans, more than the\u00a0total\u00a0American casualties in World War II.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8230;<\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Additional misconduct related to the general origin inquiry comes unexpectedly from the anti-scientific behavior of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) leadership, who support GoF research, and a small clique of GoF virologists, some of whom have\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/usrtk.org\/covid-19-origins\/emails-show-wuhan-lab-collaborator-played-central-role-in-public-messaging-about-covid-19-origins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">undisclosed connections<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/span>to Wuhan labs.<\/span> Meanwhile, in public, they\u00a0attack\u00a0people as\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(20)30418-9\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">conspiracists and racists<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0for merely <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>suggesting<\/em><\/span> the lab-leak possibility. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">There are many renowned voices outside of the GoF circle who are asking for a real investigation, including Drs. Richard Ebright of Rutgers, Alina Chan of Harvard\/MIT, David Relman of Stanford, David Baltimore of Caltech, Marc Lipsitch of Harvard, Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia, who leads the\u00a0<em>Lancet<\/em>\u00a0Covid-19 Commission, and\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.abj0016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">many<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0other scientists from\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/int.nyt.com\/data\/documenttools\/covid-origins-letter\/5c9743168205f926\/full.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">multiple<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00a0countries.<\/span> These <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>scientists<\/em><\/span> are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>not<\/em><\/span> right-wing extremists.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">The indifference to the origin of Covid from the Democratic side is rather perplexing.<\/span> After all, Democrats and many on the left are intensely worried about the danger of climate change accelerated by human activity, which they consider an\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/climate.mit.edu\/ask-mit\/why-do-some-people-call-climate-change-existential-threat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">existential threat to mankind<\/a><\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Former vice president Al Gore\u2019s documentary\u00a0<em>An Inconvenient Truth\u00a0<\/em>detailed this case, though not without some skeptical pushback, which Democrats dismiss.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Now, however, the Democrats are facing their own version of an inconvenient truth: GoF research offers\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/scientists-brace-media-storm-around-controversial-flu-studies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">no tangible scientific benefits<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0while\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-022-01209-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">risking a pandemic<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0in the event of a lab leak. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Moreover, Fauci and GoF virologists seem <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>hell-bent<\/em><\/span> on\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/usrtk.org\/covid-19-origins\/scientists-masked-involvement-in-lancet-letter-on-covid-origin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">destroying public trust<\/a><\/em><\/span> in science with misleading origin narratives that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>impede<\/em><\/span> a lab-leak investigation.<\/span> Their\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/providencemag.com\/2022\/02\/world-must-investigate-covid-19-origin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"standard-link\">motive<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0is to protect their legacy and maintain research grants, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>not<\/em><\/span> pursue the public good.<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"> This shouldn\u2019t be a partisan issue.<\/span> Democratic President Barack Obama\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/us-halts-funding-new-risky-virus-studies-calls-voluntary-moratorium\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" testid=\"standard-link\" class=\"broken_link\">banned<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0GoF experiments in 2014.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">In recent years, the likelihood of viruses\u2019\u00a0escaping\u00a0from labs has only increased due to a\u00a0proliferation\u00a0of research facilities studying dangerous viruses, some of them being GoF viruses in dense-population areas such as\u00a0Wuhan,\u00a0Rotterdam\u00a0in the Netherlands, as well as\u00a0Boston, Mass., and\u00a0Raleigh, N.C.<\/span> Building more labs without proper oversight simply increases the probability of lab leaks. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Consequently, when we are debating the creation of man-made GoF viruses that can affect our entire civilization, then, just as with climate change, the world must have a say.<\/span> This can\u2019t be the exclusive domain of GoF virologists. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">There is absolutely no reason for Democrats to focus on one existential risk but ignore another.<\/span> The same goes for Republicans.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Yet there is little evidence that the world is taking this threat seriously. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">In the recent G7 meeting,\u00a0climate security\u00a0was at the top of the agenda, but GoF biosafety was <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>nowhere to be found<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> Without a real investigation into the origin of Covid, world leaders simply lack urgency to address this issue.<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"> The inconvenient truth is that the Covid pandemic has killed millions already while <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>climate change has not<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> GoF biosafety <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>wasn\u2019t discussed at all<\/em><\/span> at the G20 summit in late 2022, either. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">In the leaders\u2019\u00a0declaration, Covid was mentioned 14 times in the context of vaccines, financial stability, and global supply chains.<\/span> Even tourism recovery got a full paragraph. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">However, there was not a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>single word<\/em><\/span> on the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>origin<\/em><\/span> of Covid<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>We must confess we question Lin and Yang accepting any WuFlu death figures at face value, but there&#8217;s little if any doubt the Wuhan virus was genetically engineered in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China with the direct financial aid and assistance of a number of Americans, including <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/10\/21\/nih-admits-us-funded-gain-of-function-in-wuhan-despite-faucis-repeated-denials\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Dr. Faux Chi<\/em><\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/06\/04\/who-is-peter-daszak-exec-who-sent-taxpayer-money-to-wuhan-lab\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Peter Daszak<\/em><\/span><\/a>, unconscionably irresponsible acts for which they frankly both deserve death.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Then there&#8217;s this from\u00a0<em>Townhall.com<\/em>, as Derek Hunter examines&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/columnists\/derekhunter\/2023\/01\/22\/the-problem-with-historic-n2618585\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Problem With \u201cHistoric<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dvjy.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106815\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dvjy.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dvjy.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dvjy-300x291.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"isPasted\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>You hear it all the time \u2013 so and so is \u201chistoric\u201d because of their skin color, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, or some other meaningless characteristic. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Democrats seem to celebrate those \u201caccomplishments\u201d almost exclusively.<\/span> This person is \u201chistoric\u201d because they\u2019re the first non-binary weirdo to hold whatever job they\u2019ve just been hired for. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Honestly, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>who cares<\/em><\/span>?<\/span> If who you sleep with defines who you are, you aren\u2019t worth knowing. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Yet, these irrelevant characteristics are what the left celebrates, and in many cases, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>all<\/em><\/span> they see.<\/span> It\u2019s dehumanizing to the people being \u201ccelebrated\u201d and an attempt to control everyone else.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8230;<\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">You saw this on display in stories about allegedly serial luggage thief Sam Brinton. <\/span>Touted as the \u201cfirst non-binary\u201d person appointed to a political position in government, this mutant was billed as \u201chistoric!\u201d for that very reason. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">His <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>firing<\/em><\/span> was <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>just as historic<\/em><\/span>, being the first weirdo fired for stealing people\u2019s suitcases, but it didn\u2019t get the same amount of coverage as his appointment.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>The same goes for Rachel Levine. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">The mentally confused man was known for <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>ordering nursing homes in Pennsylvania to accept COVID positive patients<\/em><\/span> at the start of the pandemic, causing thousands of deaths, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>while moving his mother out of one without telling the public<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> But because he thinks he\u2019s she he is billed as \u201chistoric\u201d and was promoted to Assistant Secretary for Health in the Biden administration.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000;\">If you\u2019re some kind of mentally confused gender dysphoria-suffering Democrat you are \u201chistoric\u201d and literally cannot fail, even while advocating for the butchering of the bodies of children to suit your delusions.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>If you are gay, same thing. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">If you are not white, same thing.<\/span> It\u2019s funny how the whitest man to ever hold the presidency, with a long and storied history of racism, is milking having the first gay, black press secretary in history as if it\u2019s one of his (limited) accomplishments.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">If you play the left\u2019s game, Karine Jean-Pierre is \u201chistoric\u201d for those reasons.<\/span> If you live in reality, Karine Jean-Pierre is \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>historic-ally\u201d bad at her job<\/em><\/span>, quite probably <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>the worst<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">She can\u2019t answer basic questions without reading them from a script provided to her, likely by White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.<\/span> Any self-respecting person who\u2019s quit over being forced to serve as a puppet to a senile clown, but KJP is historic!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">The term \u201chistoric\u201d is tossed around like it\u2019s an accomplishment in and of itself.<\/span> It is not. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Elizabeth Holmes, for disgraced former CEO of Theranos, was declared \u201chistoric\u201d because she was the first female Silicon Valley billionaire and was immediately put on magazine covers and every \u201cpeople to watch under 30\u201d list the left-wing media had to offer.<\/span> The only problem is no one was watching her. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">She was a con artist who ripped off investors of billions.<\/span> They were too busy celebrating her gender to bother to look at whether or not she was a fraud. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">It wouldn\u2019t have taken much to see it, but it\u2019s amazing what people can miss when they deliberately do not look for it.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Attaching the label \u201chistoric\u201d to everything they love, Democrats have stripped it of its meaning related to actual accomplishments.<span style=\"color: #800000;\"> They <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>do not celebrate accomplishments<\/em><\/span> \u2013 Elon Musk is a prime example of someone who has made truly historic developments in his fields of business and who is demonized because of his skin color, gender, and, most importantly because he\u2019s exposing the power-plays of the left through Twitter.<\/span> Musk is more accomplished than anyone Democrats celebrate, and in fields, they insist are wildly important to their agenda (electric vehicles and space travel), but he\u2019s the wrong configuration of human. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">If he weren\u2019t white or were gay\u2026 lookout.<\/span> (Not now, of course, he\u2019s on the enemies list for wrong-think, but before.)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Simply declaring someone to be \u201chistoric\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>ignores whether or not they\u2019re qualified<\/em><\/span>; whether or not they are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>capable of doing a job<\/em><\/span> and, more importantly, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>whether or not they\u2019re any good<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> The moon landing was \u201chistoric\u201d and so were the Hindenburg and Titanic, just for <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>very different reasons<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Individuals are no different<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Moving on, here&#8217;s another sextet of special selections certain to sate the curiosity of inquiring Conservative minds:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(1).\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Writing at <em>NRO<\/em>, Andrew Stuttaford exposes\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/magazine\/2023\/02\/06\/the-false-promise-of-electric-cars\/?bypass_key=a09YbDhkMnl0aS9YM0tHQ051K0NrQT09OjpTRm94VFhwWWRXaE9RV1pqVlRWWWFqSnljVFY1ZHowOQ%3D%3D?utm_source%3Demail&amp;utm_medium=breaking&amp;utm_campaign=newstrack&amp;utm_term=30310396&amp;utm_source=Sailthru\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">the fantastically false and completely unkeepable promise of electric cars<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><strong>As recorded by John Stossel in his two-part exopos\u00e9\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/z2HneqfZGsM\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/span> and <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ptI6BRVC1Kw\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>here<\/em><\/span><\/a>&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sIJBUZm1HoY?start=72&amp;end=75&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Two of the more intriguing points Stuttaford raises are this unreasoned EV insanity is greatly aiding the ChiComs, and not even far more dependable, common-sensical hybrids are good enough for the environmentally holy:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">&#8220;<em><strong>Europe\u2019s ban will also cover hybrids, one of the better, less disruptive pathways to lower greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">But like many of the religious cults it resembles, climate fundamentalism is characterized by a perpetual quest for purity<\/span>. Tainted by gasoline, the hybrid had to go.<\/strong><\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(2). The <em>Journal<\/em>&#8216;s Dan Henninger provides a brief primer\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">explaining why,\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><strong>when some 50 years ago Congress voted to insulate itself from external discipline,<\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/why-federal-spending-exploded-house-speaker-line-item-veto-president-tea-party-ryan-boehner-11673469707\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>federal spending exploded<\/em><\/span><\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(3). In a related item,\u00a0<em>The Washington Free Beacon<\/em>&#8216;s Matt Continetti suggests how to handle the debt ceiling: <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/columns\/what-to-do-about-the-debt-ceiling\/?utm_source=actengage&amp;utm_campaign=FreedomMail&amp;utm_medium=email\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>take simple steps towards smaller government which don&#8217;t reduce critical defense spending<\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(4). So now simply\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/tony-dungy-attend-march-life-dubbed-right-wing-extremist\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>attending the Right to Life March<\/em><\/span><\/a> makes even NFL Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy an anti-gay, right-wing-extremist bigot.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(5). The <em>Morning Jolt<\/em> wonders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/the-morning-jolt\/what-do-fairfax-county-public-schools-have-against-asian-american-students\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=MJ_20230120&amp;utm_term=Jolt-Smart\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>what do the educated idiots running the Fairfax County, VA school system have against hard-working students of Asian descent<\/em><\/span><\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>(6). FOX informs us\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/nancy-pelosi-called-priests-perform-exorcism-husbands-hammer-attack-daughter-says\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Alexandra Pelosi says Nancy called priests to perform &#8216;exorcism&#8217; after husband&#8217;s hammer attack<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span>, as the event\u00a0&#8220;weighed really heavy&#8221; on her mother&#8217;s soul.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Two thoughts immediately come to mind: (i) assuming Pelosi actually did so, why on earth would her daughter admit it?; and, (ii) WHAT soul?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/EINv645XUAE7aOZ.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106791\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/EINv645XUAE7aOZ.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/EINv645XUAE7aOZ.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/EINv645XUAE7aOZ-300x107.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Sorry, but in all seriousness, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>WHAT<\/em><\/span> soul?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Which brings us, appropriately enough, to <em>The Lighter Side<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-13.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106808\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-13.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-13.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-13-300x206.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/aa-7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106782\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/aa-7.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/aa-7.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/aa-7-300x205.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sk012023dAPR-800x0.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106783\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sk012023dAPR-800x0.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sk012023dAPR-800x0.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sk012023dAPR-800x0-300x235.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-12.44-PM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106777\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-12.44-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-12.44-PM.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-12.44-PM-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-11.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106770\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-11.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-11.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-11-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/MC_Universe_web-800x0.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106781\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/MC_Universe_web-800x0.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/MC_Universe_web-800x0.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/MC_Universe_web-800x0-300x225.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb011823dAPR-800x0.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106771\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb011823dAPR-800x0.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb011823dAPR-800x0.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb011823dAPR-800x0-300x227.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lisa.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106763\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lisa.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lisa.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lisa-300x192.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-12.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106780\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-12.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-12.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-12-300x215.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/THM_NoRegrets_web-800x0.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106793\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/THM_NoRegrets_web-800x0.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/THM_NoRegrets_web-800x0.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/THM_NoRegrets_web-800x0-300x225.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb012023dAPR-800x0.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106779\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb012023dAPR-800x0.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb012023dAPR-800x0.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cb012023dAPR-800x0-300x227.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-9.18-AM.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106757\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-9.18-AM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-9.18-AM.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Image-1-20-23-at-9.18-AM-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Then there&#8217;s these from Speed&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Speed-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106760\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Speed-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Speed-2.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Speed-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Speed-2-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;Balls Cotton&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000003.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000003.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000003-300x219.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000005.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106769\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000005.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"382\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000005.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image000005-300x248.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;and Mark Foster:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Mark-Foster1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106794\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Mark-Foster1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Mark-Foster1.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Mark-Foster1-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, we&#8217;ll call it a day with Part 4 of the <em>Townhall.com<\/em> series featured in the last two installments of <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>The Crime Blotter<\/em><\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/tipsheet\/miacathell\/2023\/01\/20\/zulock-case-pt-4-n2618324\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">What&#8217;s Jail Like for Two Accused Child Rapists<\/span><\/a>?<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dwik.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106822\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dwik.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"417\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dwik.jpeg 417w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dwik-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/78dwik-298x300.jpeg 298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 417px) 100vw, 417px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>However heinous it might be, it cannot <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>possibly<\/em><\/span> be hellish enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Magoo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>Video of the Day<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>After Communism, the WuFlu scamdemic was the most destructive myth ever foisted upon the planet. Hat tip to Quay Richerson for the clip.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0bDroEyS2A8?start=10977&amp;end=11396&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Tales of The Darkside<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The brilliant Konstantin Kisin talks with Tucker.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-o0bPYPJA9I\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>On the Lighter Side<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Babylon Bee offers frightening but 100% &#8220;true facts&#8221; Progressives promote about firearms.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YmyyEbvDgr8\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Monday, January 21st, 2023&#8230;but before we begin, Dave Rubin gives you a taste of what we in The Democratic Republic of Maryland get as a Republican governor: \ufeff Does anyone other than Larry Hogan even remember WTF Charlie Baker was?!?\u00a0 Fortunately for Maryland and the country, Hogan&#8217;s political future is about as bright as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1988,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106774"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106889,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106774\/revisions\/106889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}