JUSTIN says “NO”

In a pre-recorded interview with NBC‘s “Meet the Press” that aired moments ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin offered Canadians and Americans NO hope that the border between the two countries will reopen anytime soon.

“We’ll continue to engage with the White House and with the administration on the best times to start releasing border measures,” said Trudeau. “But for now, we all need to keep safe, and that means keeping the border restrictions in place.”

Trudeau’s comments came in the 12th month of the border closure, which restricts crossings to essential commercial, medical- and education-related travel.

The US and Canada largely shut land borders between the two countries last March 21st in order to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.

KEEP AN EYE OPEN

To be perfectly honest, I had missed it.

Thankfully, one of my closest former mates from the fishing community emailed some info from media sites across the country to me, and I drove in immediately.

And, it appears the old Lobsterman was NOT the only one missing the breadcrumbs.

Over the course of this past week, the national Re’Trump’lican Party activated a movement by setting up a Committee on Election Integrity to scrutinize state election laws [certainly a good thing], echoing similar moves by Re’Trump’licans in a number of state legislatures.

As I’ve said, repeatedly, over the past two years, really since the ’18 off-year elections, this is where the coming political battleground is going to be for the foreseeable future: State-by-State elections.

Since 1992, Republicans have won the popular vote for president only once – 2004 – and yet they control the Supreme Court; controlled the Senate for significant portions of the past 30 years; and, have made frequent use of gerrymandering to win a disproportionate share of House seats.

And, I’m NOT going to even touch on who deliberately obstructs, or takes away a person’s right to vote.

My point is this: whether one’s an Elephant or a Donkey or whatever may be in between, we’re ALL starting to look closer than at anytime in my life, at local and state candidates as the raucous ride to the ’22 election comes into view.

People are starting to realize that the Donnies, Bernies, Chuckies, Nancies, Teddies, Joshes, Kevins, AOCs, et al…have expired dates on their collective hides!!!

Plus, they’re ALL clueless about their own neighborhoods!

Although the decennial redrawing of political maps has been pushed to the Fall because of delays in delivering 2020 census totals, there are ALREADY signs of an aggressive drive to further gerrymander political districts, particularly in states under complete Re’Trump’lican control.

The local language matters.

NOTHING is/could be off the table, even allowing state legislatures to replace election results !!! they don’t like.

Voting rights, and respective community resolutions is ALREADY bordering on an obscenity.

h/t: Historical Election Results/USAGov; Constitutional center.org.

KOOL-AID LINES are OPEN

Since yesterday morning, thousands of Deplorables have flocked to CPAC to hear from Boy Orange and some of his staunchest political vermin, like “Fled Ted” Cruz.

As the annual Conservative Political Action Conference got under way, inside an Orlando hotel ballroom, hundreds of mindless toadies were welcomed by video recordings that repeated Donald John Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in the ’20 presidential election.

THE BIG LIE. 

 The annual CPAC event is typically hosted near Washington but relocated to Florida, where state COVID-19 restrictions allow for mass gatherings like CPAC to occur indoors, something native son and resident ‘toy-boy’ Governor Ronnie DeSantis bragged about yesterday.

NOT surprising, some high-profile Republicans who have sought distance from the Orange Menace‘s tenure – since the 1/6 insurrection at the Capitol – are NOT coming, including Mitt Romney, the ’12 Republican presidential nominee.

Also NOT on the speaking roster, either by their own choice or CPAC’s: Mitch McConnell; Nikki Haley; Liz Cheney; and, Pastor Pence.

There have been reports that some folks said they saw Jim Jones mixing up batches and batches of Kool-Aid in the back of the kitchen areas.

A six-foot gold statue of Trump in shorts…why was it NOT painted orange??!

Collective refusal to wear masks!

“Lying Teddy” Cruz as the warm-up lounge act!!!

Aunts and uncles, get to bed early tonight, the Big Orange Daddy will be on location tomorrow!!!!!!!!! 

 

PASSED ON…

Earlier this morning, the House passed President Biden’s humongous $1.9 trillion stimulus package, teeing up what is expected to be days of debate and political deal-making in-and-around the Senate.

Giddy up, ranch hands…

The House, led by Speaker Pelosi, voted largely along party lines to advance this bounteous relief plan, which includes extensions to programs designed to assist millions of unemployed Americans and provides financial support for state and local governments.

With the bill bound for a Senate split 50-50 between Dems and Re’Trump’licans, lawmakers will next week begin offering amendments to the House’s plan and will likely pass a different version of the bill they received.

That said, if that does happen, the House will then have to pass the Senate’s version or the two chambers will have to meet to draft a final, agreeable draft in a conference committee [that’s when ALL the animals come out to play!!!].

Dems are rushing to send the bill to Biden’s desk by March 14th, when jobless benefits are set to expire.

NO WEEKEND PRIVILEGES

Joey, in the end, was afraid of Peck’s Bad Boy!!!

Let’s put aside ALL the crap about international needs and wants with so-called allies.

I just want to comment on E-V-I-L.

Our 46th president decided that the diplomatic cost of directly penalizing ! Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman [the infamous MbS], was/is too high.

We ALL remember Joey, beating his chest, during the ’20 campaign, yelling about Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” state with “no redeeming social value.”

Well, such tirades fade rather quickly once behind the Oval Office desk.

Despite an intel report that the administration released yesterday, that offered the world a reminder of the brutal killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi [an American citizen living in Virginia]in 2018, Biden took NO direct action against MbS, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, instead announcing travel and financial sanctions on other Saudis involved in the killing and on members of the elite unit of the Royal Guard who protect the crown prince.

The administration concluded it could NOT risk a full rupture of its relationship with the kingdom, relied on by the US to help contain Iran, to counter terrorist groups and to broker peaceful relations with Israel.

Plus, the distinct possibility of pushing Saudi Arabia‘s leaders toward the looming shadow ALL over the Middle East: China.

Allowing human rights violations is a slippery slope; one of which we, as a country, have NOT always stood on sold ground.

Our relationship with the Desert Princes is long in the tooth, going back to FDR.

Listen, W provided air security/departures for SA royal family and friends on 9/11! Much to do and with the 9/11 terrorists were supported and funded by folks in SA, so we owe this crowd NOTHING!!!

History rarely allows change, within this dimension, when it comes to an individual government protecting its citizens from foreigners that is deemed to be too important !!! to that respective nation’s foreign policy.

So-o-o, just plan to stay out in the cold…a little bit longer.

THE AWAKENING

The need for magnetometers.

Access points in the perimeter fencing.

Sustained mobilization of the National Guard troops.

Political theater or bureaucratic CYA or Safety Requisite??!

The acting chief of the US Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, yesterday, told lawmakers that militia members involved in the 1/6 riot “want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible” during Biden’s first congressional address. 

This stark warning about another potential threat to Congress – which has NOT been corroborated !!! by other law enforcement agencies – comes as a date for Biden’s first address on Capitol Hill has NOT been set.

Typically, new presidents deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress in February.

Pittman cited that intelligence to explain why National Guard members who were deployed and the tall security barriers that were erected around the Capitol after the insurrection have NOT yet been removed.

Bastille Day was NOT a once-in-a-lifetime event, the Gobbermensch still want to demonstrate their unyielding love for Dear Leader. 

LIZZIE says ‘no’

Nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined that lawmakers could NOT include the policy under budget reconciliation.

MacDonough and her staff heard arguments from Dems and Re’Trump’licans about whether the proposal met strict standards for deficit effects needed to include it in the process.

Thus, Dems can NOT include a $15 per hour minimum wage in their $1.9 trillion Coronavirus relief package.

Miss Nancy is pissed…

House Speaker Pelosi D-CA), said in a statement yesterday commented that the provisions “will remain” in the relief bill as Dems “are determined to pursue every possible path” to a federal pay hike.

The decision means the Senate will likely pass a different version of the bill than the House, and representatives will have to approve the plan a second time.

JOEY, GET YOUR GUN…

…get your gun, get your gun. Take it on the run, on the run, on the run. Hear them calling you and me, Every Son of Liberty. Hurry right away, no delay, go today.

The attack on a border-crossing station in eastern Syria, the first lethal operation ordered by the Biden administration against Iran’s network of armed proxies, was “authorized in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats,” according to the Pentagon.

A rocket attack earlier this month on the airport in Erbil [northern Iraq] killed a Filipino contractor with the American-led military coalition and wounded six others, including a Louisiana National Guard soldier and four American contractors.

US officials, this morning, believe our surprise attack – yesterday, local time – killed a number of alleged Iranian-linked fighters, signaling our intent to use targeted military action to push back against violence tied to Tehran.

Purportedly, the strikes were a relatively small, carefully calibrated military response: seven 500-pound bombs dropped on a small cluster of buildings at an unofficial crossing at the Syria-Iraq border used to smuggle across weapons and fighters.

The attack comes as Biden attempts to open a diplomatic door to Iran.

In a part of the globe where NOTHING is as it seems, I’m constantly reminded of the Fable of the Scorpion and the Frog: “A scorpion asks a frog to carry him over a river. The frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, both would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog then agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature.” 

h/t: early 20th century song by artist Billy Murray.

The Green New Deal…defined

Now I understand, the Green New Deal is NOT about the environment!

It’s about printing the ‘green’ and dealing it out to those whose votes one wants.

 Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s main message to Congress and markets in two days of testimony this week: What inflation??!

Jerome told the masses NOT to worry about rising interest rates or soaring asset prices because he and the Fed aren’t worried.

“The economy is a long way from our employment and inflation goals, and it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved,” he said early and often.

He appears to be strongly focusing the Fed on the full employment. 

Yes, 10-plus million jobs haven’t returned following the COVID-19 lockdowns of the past year, with many more leaving the job market, maybe forever.

What’s concerning about this is Powell thinks the economy could grow 6% or so this year.

But…

He NEVER explains why that growth wouldn’t naturally boost employment absent the Fed’s interventions, or how stoking demand via successive government spending bills amid supply constraints won’t trigger inflation.

From my bunker, the main justification for Treasury purchases is NOT so much to help households or the economy; the ‘hidden purpose’ increasingly is to finance the debt !!! required by record federal spending, lest interest rates spike if demand for Treasury debt falls around the world.

But Powell can’t speak such words without embarrassing Congress and calling into question Fed independence.

Did I hear the word “independence” used??!

MISMANAGEMENT and NEGLECT

Let’s start with the unholy trinity: Power Grids, Roads and Schools.

As Texas, along with major sectors of the Prairie, crawls and scrambles to get back to a modicum of normalcy again, we are drawn to reassess the ugly.

The result of what happened in these specific areas of the country has less to do with the weather and more to do with neglect and mismanagement of wealth and the pure arrogance of the elected and/or appointed individual officials toward NOT accepting science, at every turn – month-after-month, year-after-year.

And, aunts and uncles, this NOT a partisan issue!

The Dems run California and the Re’Trump’licans run Texas…BOTH are a mess!!!

Backward-looking risk assessment models at every level; and they repeat themselves, with astonishing regularity, in every state.

How much suffering could it bring??!

Just start by recognizing how fragile the basic infrastructure of our day-to-day activities of LIFE is right now!!!

And, who in your community, town, state, and/or in Washington do you hear/see addressing these matters??!

Allow me to answer that for you, NO one in earnest.

There appears to be z-e-r-o lawmakers aggressively wanting to prepare for the near future [or, next catastrophic incident], let alone the far future.

It’s like our national debt!!!

Most folks, and, yes, I include politicians, save for the really crazy ones [flat earthers], know climate change is real.

But…

As is the case with so many avaricious, soulless creatures who live amongst us, they just do NOT care.