INCHING CLOSER and CLOSER

Biden’s announcement yesterday that he would send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine came after weeks of tense back-channel negotiations with the chancellor of Germany and other European leaders.

For any of you in doubt, this latest move should remove ALL doubts about whether we are in ‘direct conflict’ with Vlad “The Bad”.

Joey’s decision, however reluctant, now paves the way for German-made Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered to Ukraine in two or three months, provided by several European nations.

While it is unclear whether it will make a decisive difference in the spring offensive that President Volodymyr Zelensky is now planning to take back territory seized by Russia, it is the latest in a series of gradual escalations!!! that has inched the US and its NATO allies closer to direct conflict with Russia.

European and American officials acknowledged they wanted to demonstrate to Putin that his bet that European unity would fracture over the winter had failed, and that NATO remained committed to the war even in the face of gas and oil cutoffs and fears that Russian cyberattacks would cripple European infrastructure.

By promising Abrams tanks, Biden was able to give Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany political cover to send Leopard tanks by early spring. And…Germany’s decision opened the way for Spain, Poland and Finland to do the same, with Norway likely next to announce a similar contribution.

Biden often has said he has two goals: to liberate Ukraine and to avoid direct conflict between American and Russian forces.

Increasingly, those two goals are being elevated in tension and heavier military commitment by our Defense Department. 

IT’S ABOUT THE GUN…

The status quo can NOT be tolerated!!!

It is NOT working!!!

In a nation where mass gun violence is a constant drumbeat, we, yet again, experienced striking examples of that by two alleged senior citizens.

Within a 72-hour period, in a state with some of the strictest gun laws in the country, community members and mourners are left holding flowers and candles.

Seven people were shot to death yesterday afternoon in San Mateo County, California, the second mass shooting in the state in three days.

California has been racked by back-to-back mass shootings, leaving at least 18 people dead, along with one of the suspected gunmen.

But the horror of the attacks was NOT limited to the toll, or the speed with which one unfurled after the other.

Californians were struggling to grapple with the specifics and the timing of the shootings. The suspects in BOTH attacks were older Asian men, whose age and ethnicity have been rare in mass shootings. And the victims were Asian and Asian American, many who were still celebrating the Lunar New Year.

The first attack – on Saturday night in Monterey Park – caused the deaths of 11 people and injured at least nine at a joyous dance hall. 

Details were still emerging of yesterday’s shooting – in San Mateo County – but this much was clear: Seven people were dead in attacks at two agricultural locations where many Asian workers toil, and one person was in the hospital.

Just think about this…we’re talking about a dance hall and a place of work – BOTH places of violence.

THE DRIP CONTINUES!!!

Yet another search…

We found out last night the Justice Department conducted a 13-hour “visit” to the Wilmington residence of the 46th president last Friday.

They seized more than a half-dozen documents, some of them classified.

The remarkable search of a sitting president’s home by federal agents – at the invitation of Biden’s lawyers – has dramatically escalated the legal and political situation for Joey.

During Friday’s search, six more items with classified markings – including some documents from his time as a senator?!!??! and others from his time as vice president – were taken by investigators, along with surrounding materials, according to the New York Times.

From Biden’s time as senator…WTF!

The trains are NO longer running on time within the corridors of power of our government.

SHINY EXAMPLE of HYPOCRISY

NO, No, no…I’m NOT referring to Joey’s ’67 Stingray.

I’m talking about Joe Biden himself, in the flesh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it doesn’t get much better than Biden snapping at reporters, “My Corvette is in a locked garage.”

Some have pointed out the storage room at Mar-a-Lago was locked, too.

Oh, those damn ‘classified documents.’

The 46th President, at the very least, has been horribly embarrassed at a time when he can ill afford it; Biden NO longer has the high road and is now looking hypocritical in calling the Orange Despot out for mishandling classified documents.

Dems are now experiencing the exquisite torture that comes with the slow release of politically damaging information, in this case the acknowledgment of docs found in Joey’s former offices and Wilmington home.

Now he’s fully in the barrel – targeted by powerful congressional committees, aggressive reporters looking for scoops and a methodical new special counsel, Robert Hur, to match Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating Boy Orange.

As I look at it, Biden’s new problems run deeper than the ’24 presidential campaign; they represent BOTH a challenge to his core political brand of honor and decency and the start of a more intense, potentially combative period of scrutiny for a president poised to seek re-election.

That said, and with the jackals in the House salivating to ruin Biden and his family, and especially given his age, it would make complete sense for Joey to announce he will NOT be seeking office in ’24.

It is time for him to rest on his career [historians will make the ultimate decision] and leave at the end of his term with his head held high and seeing Washington in the rearview mirror of his Corvette.

Best for the country as well!

Joey has ALWAYS been his own worst enemy.

DIVISIONAL ROUND

Word to the wise: update your Weather Underground app!

Of the eight teams left in the postseason, seven finished the regular season in the top 10 for offensive efficiency, while only five have top 10 defenses.

Maybe, those defenses could provide the edge in this weekend’s divisional round matchups.

You’ll have to do some homework on your own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here we go…

• No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 1 Kansas City, 4:30 p.m., NBC, pick: Chiefs by 8; Saturday
• No. 6 Giants at No. 1 Philadelphia Eagles, 8:15 p.m., Fox, pick: Giants by 4; Saturday
• No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 3 p.m., CBS; pick: Bills by 6.5; Sunday
• No. 5 Dallas Cowboys at No. 2 San Francisco 49ers, 6:30 p.m., Fox, pick: ’49ers by 3.5; Sunday.

The old Lobsterman threw away his green visor…

MY JOURNEY…more out than in

This week has, to put it bluntly, been unpleasant, at best.

My body has spent, hour-after-hour, trying to stay hydrated, while also attempting to retain some semblance of sustenance.

In a sentence, I’ve lost more than I’ve been able to keep within…

I don’t think I need to be any more descriptive than that…you know where I’m coming from.

The latter part of last week, and the first three days of this week, the old Lobsterman had to cancel, and then reschedule: blood panels and body and bone scans; I simply could NOT get my body to function to any level of normalcy.

My chief consolation in getting by each hour has been my better half; steady as a rock, but, by a factor 10…tougher.

I’ll leave you with this thought: there is NO way to explain – to any living soul – the feeling of nausea when one has just emptied his insides…over the course of an 8–10-hour period.

FAILING TO MENTION…

The old Lobsterman, in his haste, this morning failed to mention a critical element in this now current ‘debt ceiling’ crisis…

If I’m NOT mistaken, China owns over $1 trillion dollar of the US debt obligations.

Why doesn’t someone ask Kevin “The Squatter” McCarthy and his 15th round luminaries if they want China to call in their markers??!

A CATASTROPHIC BREACH??!

Today is the day…

The US is expected to hit a congressionally imposed borrowing limit, requiring the Treasury Department to engage in ‘accounting maneuvers’ to ensure the federal government can keep paying its bills.

NOT tomorrow, or sometime next week…but today!!!

At a moment of heightened partisanship and divided government, it is also a warning of the entrenched partisan battles that are set to dominate Washington in the months to come, and that could end in economic cratering…in America, as well as globally.

Joey, for the moment, has said he will NOT negotiate conditions for a debt-limit increase, arguing that lawmakers should lift the cap with NO strings attached to cover spending that previous Congresses authorized.

On the other side of the picket fence surrounding The Swamp, newly empowered House Republicans have vowed they will NOT raise the borrowing limit again unless Biden agrees to steep cuts in federal spending…which is where the financial rubber will hit the ‘pork’ pavement, in the coming hours, days, weeks, and, I’m afraid, months.

From what we know, Treasury officials estimate the measures that they will begin employing today will enable the government to keep paying federal workers, Medicare providers, investors who hold US debt and other recipients of federal dollars at least until early June.

But…

Economists, and market analysts, warn that the nation risks a financial crisis and other immediate economic pain if elected lawmakers do NOT raise the limit before the Treasury Department exhausts its ability to buy more time.

In truth, BOTH parties have approved policies that fueled the growth in government borrowing.

Republicans repeatedly passed tax cuts when they controlled the White House over the last 20 years; while the Dems have expanded spending programs that have often NOT been fully offset by tax increases.

And, lest we ALL forget, BOTH sides have voted for large economic aid packages to help people and businesses endure the ’08 financial crisis and the ’20 pandemic recession.

As this latest parade of clown cars begins to encircle ALL our lives, with their collective posturing, one thing looms on the horizon: borrowing costs for businesses and home buyers will start to climb higher and higher.

WILD CARD WEEKEND

The NFL playoffs have arrived, and with them come six games on a jam-packed wild-card weekend. 

The betting markets, and neighborhood parlors, are just about at full capacity.

And, the old Lobsterman can’t wait.

BOTH the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins are expected to play without their franchise quarterbacks and uncertainty remains over which of their backups would start.

That said, here’s who I like —

• No. 7 Seattle Seahawks at No. 2 San Francisco 49ers, 4:30 p.m., Fox, Saturday ~ pick: ’49ers by 8
• No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars, 8:15 p.m., NBC, Saturday ~ pick: Jags by2.5
• No. 7 Miami Dolphins at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m., CBS, Sunday ~ pick: Bills by 13
• No. 6 Giants at No. 3 Minnesota Vikings, 4:30 p.m., Fox, Sunday ~ pick: Giants by 3
• No. 6 Baltimore Ravens at No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals, 8:15 p.m., NBC, Sunday ~ pick: Bengals by 6.5
• Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8 p.m., ESPN, Monday ~ pick: Bucs by 3.5

Go easy, Sparky.

SEND IN THE ADULTS!

I think what I’m about to say will be greeted with a general consensus…

The Democrats and GOP have continued on a spending binge that is cratering the country: $32 trillion-plus in debt and counting and adding to it at the rate of $1.4 trillion/ per year on a federal budget of $5 trillion…estimated.

How does that make any sense??!

And, I also believe – hopefully with your agreement – that our government does NOT spend every dollar effectively!!!

Well, to put a bigger shine on my aforementioned comments, our Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned yesterday that she would have to begin employing “extraordinary measures” next Thursday, the 19th, to continue paying the nation’s bills if lawmakers did NOT act to raise the statutory debt limit and that her powers to delay a default could be exhausted by early June.

Boys and girls, George Santos isn’t our only problem in Congress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To state the obvious, Yellen’s letter to Congress was the first sign that resistance by House Republicans to lifting the borrowing cap could put the US economy at serious risk, and, without question, signals the beginning of an intense fight in Washington this year over spending and deficits.

“Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the US economy, the livelihoods of all Americans and global financial stability,” Yellen wrote.

As I bang away, Congress does NOT talk about reducing spending; their format is just come up with another way to delay having to vote to increase our debt limit.

NO solution is ever discussed because the primary job of these circus clowns is to spend money, NOT fund it.