In The Mailbox: 10.17.22

Posted on | October 18, 2022 | 1 Comment

This is going to be a busy week for me. Going to be down in Vegas for a couple of days doing the National Security Site (was Nevada Test Site) tour Wednesday and getting some tests in connection with a medical study on Thursday before I come home. All of this means I have to go down the day before the tour, so blogging may not be daily.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

…and the downside of this is what, exactly?

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Hate Doesn’t Take the Sabbath Off
EBL: So who is next to get the boot at CNN?, Let’s Get Ready To Bumble!, and Russia Has Problems
Twitchy: Tim Allen Asks “Who Is The Face Of Woke?”, also, FBI Tweet Encourages People To Report Election Shenanigans, And Then It Gets Awkward
Louder With Crowder: Notorious ‘Defund the Police’ councilwoman demands police catch whoever is throwing poop on her house, also, Silly liberals glue their hands to the street in protest, cry when police aren’t gentle removing them
Vox Popoli: Boosted and Triggered, You Were Right, The Next Step for Red China, and Vaxx = Cervical Malignancies
Stoic Observations: Notes On Woke Racism

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: In UK, Cross Yourself & Go To Jail, The Dysfunction of Big Education, and Viktor Orban, Keeping It Realist
American Greatness: ‘Being an Eagles Fan Didn’t Save Her’, Hiding Hunter’s Laptop, and The Establishment is Still Terrified of Donald Trump
American Power: The Democrats’ Willie Horton Problem, also, Meet the Temporary Republicans Saving U.S. From the Left
American Thinker: Score One for True the Vote, also, The COVID Cult Proved How Desperate Westerners Are for Meaning
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: The religious in communist Cuba protest in Havana, launch campaign for freedom, Half the population of Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province still without electricity or water, and Democrats vehemently deny their party sympathizes with socialism, but a new poll says otherwise
BattleSwarm: Why Hasn’t Isopropyl Alcohol Gone Back Down In Price?, also, Drop Drones And A Blinding Flash Of The Obvious
Behind The Black: SpaceX successfully launches communications satellite, “Nice business you got here, shame if something happened to it.”, Red China launches military satellite, and Blacklisting in academia has been going on for decades unseen
Cafe Hayek: It’s Difficult to Believe That an Economist Can be So Terribly Clueless about Basic Economics
CDR Salamander: Can You be Realistic About the Real World?, also, So, we Have a National Security Strategy
Da Tech Guy: We won’t have quotas in the Navy…oh wait, I Guess We Skeptics Were Right, The Chosen Season 3 Disciple Pairings Some Thoughts, and Democrats’ inflation attacks ordinary Americans as Washington insiders are unaffected
Don Surber: Save the nation – MDTPA, “Trump is the first Hispanic president”, and The Dancing Vax media mocks the truth
First Street Journal: 2022 wins the Gold Medal in Lexington!, and Bad causes attract bad people
Gates Of Vienna: Pimpin’ for the New World Order, Losing Their Heads Over the Motoons (Again), A Vivarium for Jihad, and OSCE: An Organization on the Ropes After Failing at Its Primary Mission
The Geller Report: Vaccinated Suffering Strange, Terrifying New Illness, The ‘Best Friend Israel Ever Had in the White House’, and Obama Threatened Netanyahu With SLITTING THE THROAT Gesture
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, Falling Into A Black Hole, and Which Side Is He On?
Hollywood In Toto: Shroud Doc to Merge Religion, Science, Is Tom Macdonald’s ‘Sheeple’ His Best Protest Song Yet? (Yes!), and Why Has Pop Culture Forgotten Dead of Winter?
The Lid: If Biden Cared About High Oil Prices, He’d Prioritize Additional Oil Drilling, also, We Are VERY Powerful- Ye Says So
Legal Insurrection: Gettysburg College Officials Organize ‘Solidarity’ Protest Ahead of Talk Critical of Transgenderism, Time To ‘Rebrand’ – Enthusiasm for ESG Crashing and Burning, Researchers at Boston U. Supposedly Claim They Developed a COVID Strain With ‘80% Kill Rate’, and Potential Candy Shortage Haunts This Halloween
Nebraska Energy Observer: Change is good, also, Prayer
Outkick: Tennessee Was Never Going To Lose After Vols Lineman Turned Mid-Game Vomit Into Savage Intimidation Tactic, Tennessee Finally Breaks The Curse And Beats Alabama For The First Time Since 2006, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson Get Into It After Crashing Out In Vegas, and Boo Birds: Eagles Fans Let Jill Biden Have It
Power Line: Four Cheers for Tulsi, Truth & no consequences, and The Daily Chart: Long, Cold, Expensive Winter Ahead
Shark Tank: Parkland Dad Shames “Jerkoff” David Hogg & Other Antigun Activists
Shot In The Dark: Rochelle Olson – Still A DFL Flack After All These Years, also, Fake News
The Political Hat: Mandatory Racial Discrimination In Canadian Courts
This Ain’t Hell: Herky Bird update, Portland politician back in the news for Stolen Valor accusation, Raptor bites Army personnel, and DoD “Woke” School Administrator
Transterrestrial Musings: Our Mad Aristos, also, Getting Ready For Static Fire
Victory Girls: VA Democrat Wants To Criminalize Parents Opposed To Child Gender Transition, Democrats Realize Future Is Grim Post-Biden, and Boycott Ulta Trends After Trans “Girl” Podcast
Volokh Conspiracy: Sixth Circuit Rules Government Cannot Seize $300,000 in Home Equity to Pay $22,000 Tax Debt
Watts Up With That: Green British Academics Blast Politicians for Allowing Consumer Choice, Some Banks and Energy Companies Finally Starting to Get Some Backbone, and Robbing Grandma to Pay Gaia
Weasel Zippers: Biden Creeps On Another Young Girl, Fetterman Is Still A Mess, DeSantis Plans To Ship Illegals Off To Biden’s Hometown, Obama Rips Dems For Being “Buzzkills,” and California School District Fires Teacher For Refusing To Read LGBTQ Book To Children
The Federalist: Alaska Republicans Call On Kentucky GOP To Censure Mitch McConnell Over Party Interference, How Much Porn Do Libraries And Schools Have To Sponsor To Get Defunded?, WaPo ‘Journalists’ – The ‘Public Interest’ Isn’t The Same Thing As Your Political Preference, Fauci Can’t Whitewash His Disastrous Legacy, and Here’s A List Of Election Integrity Ballot Initiatives You Should Know
Mark Steyn: The Eagle Has Landed (in a Department Store), Low Dishonest Decade: Robert Aldrich, Hustle and the ’70s, and Naomi Wolf on Covid and Control

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Category: Linkagery

More Signs of a Midterm ‘Red Wave’?

Posted on | October 17, 2022 | 1 Comment

Ann Althouse captures Frank Bruni of the New York Times worrying that Joe Biden’s unpopularity may sink Raphael Warnock’s Senate reelection bid in Georgia. (Hat-tip: Instapundit.) The other big problem for Warnock is that the Democratic candidate for governor is Stacey Abrams, who is losing very badly to Gov. Brian Kemp.

Bruni is apparently trying to warn readers of the Times — trapped inside their liberal media echo chamber — that November 8 is starting to look like a complete wipeout for Democrats. Did I mention that Republican Kari Lake, a dreaded pro-Trump “election denier” is leading the governor’s race in Arizona? Although some polls in Arizona have shown the race a tie, or with a lead for Democrat Katie Hobbs, the RCP average has been in Lake’s favor for the past month. And if Lake is winning the governor’s race, isn’t it likely that Republican Blake Masters will upset Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona? Masters is scarcely more “extremist” than Lake, and how many split-ticket voters will there be in Arizona? If we are looking at a genuine “wave” election, the fact that Kelly has an enormous money advantage and has led all the polls won’t save him from defeat. And hey, what about Connecticut?

Yes, Connecticut — a state that Joe Biden won by a 20-point margin two years ago — may be in play on November 8. The latest Connecticut poll shows Democrat Gov. Ned Lamont with just a 6-point lead over GOP challenger Bob Stefanowski, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal is leading Republican Leora Levy by only 5 points. While I doubt that Republicans are on the verge of upset victories in Connecticut, the mere fact that the polls are this close speaks volumes about the general anti-Democrat mood of the nationwide electorate as the midterms approach.

Democrats are now sweating elections in places where Republicans haven’t won in years. Republican Lee Zeldin’s challenge to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is now rated a “toss-up,” in large measure because crime in New York has gotten completely out of control, and the blame goes directly to Democrats for passing “bail reform” laws.

If Democrats are fighting to keep their jobs in New York and Connecticut, how do you think the midterms are shaping up for Democratic congressional candidates in crucial “swing” districts?

There are 36 House races currently rated as “toss-ups” by Real Clear Politics. Thirty of those seats are held by Democrats. Five of them are in New York (the 3rd, 4th, 17th, 18th and 19th districts) and one is in Connecticut (5th District), so the fact that statewide races are unusually close in those states points toward the likelihood that at least some of those seats will end up in Republican hands. This is even more true for toss-up seats in the Heartland, like OH-9, TX-28, NC-1, MN-2 and MI-8. Keep in mind that Nancy Pelosi’s grip on the Speaker’s gavel rests on a razor-thin 222-213 majority, so that Republicans only need to flip five seats to take control of the House. Rick Moran breaks down the latest numbers from the CBS Battleground poll, which estimates the GOP gaining 11 seats — and that’s likely a lowball estimate.

CBS frames the story as Democratic “momentum has stalled, at least for now” — the Republican lead has “stabilized” after two months in which the Democrats had gained ground in the CBS poll. However, polls are a lagging indicator; what this actually reflects is that the Democrats got a bump in June because of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, but that boost was only temporary. Economic reality has proven to have a more enduring impact, as might be expected.

The nationwide average price of a gallon of regular gasoline peaked at $4.84 in mid-June, then slid down all the way to $3.51 in mid-September, but it’s now back up to $3.72 and can be expected to continue rising, as the demand for home heating oil impacts petroleum prices. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was near $36,800 in January, closed Friday at $29,635 — nearly a 20% decline, which translates to a loss of more than $30,000 for the average 401(k) account.

Democrats have spent the past seven years chasing delusions — first the “Orange Man Bad” bogeyman, then the “Black Lives Matter” crusade, and now the belief that endless deficit spending and “Green energy” boondoggles can be sold as “inflation reduction” — and all those fantasies will collapse into a heap of futility once the midterms end Pelosi’s tenure as Speaker of the House. Frank Bruni’s column is his way of nudging the elbows of New York Times readers, telling them the jig will soon be up, so when the “Red Wave” hits on November 8, they won’t be so shocked.

Category: Congress, Election, Polls

Rule 5 Sunday: Caitlin McSwain

Posted on | October 17, 2022 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Texas native Caitlin McSwain started as a model in her teens, was voted Playboy’s Cybergirl of the Month for January 2015, has posed for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and has released her own calendar.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

NINETY MILES FROM TYRANNY: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1869, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Rule Five World Ending Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: MAGA – Trump Subpoena, ABBA, William The Conqueror Bringing Sexy Back, Charissa Thompson, The Path, Angela Lansbury RIP, Maybe It’s Best To Stay Off Tinder?, Dinah Washington, Natalie Wood, Eraser: Reborn, and They/Them.

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Julia Rose Paul Unhinged, Fish Pic Friday – Aquagirl SA, Drinking Games, Gabbard Goes Off the Rez, Warnock Attempts to Evict Poor, Walker Offers to Pay, FBI Offered Steele Cool Million, Some Wednesday Wetness, Sleepy, Sloppy Joe’s Slouch To ‘Armageddon’, Vance and Ryan Rumble, Murky in Trouble, Tattoo Tuesday, Election Deniers?, The Monday Morning Stimulus and Sunday Sunrise

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Category: Rule 5

How to Get Yourself Shot

Posted on | October 16, 2022 | Comments Off on How to Get Yourself Shot

Say hello to Steven Joaquin “Zhoie” Perez (a/k/a “Furry Potato”), a transgender YouTuber who specializes in “First Amendment audits.”

You may not have heard of this phenomenon: People who record videos in public places — post offices, municipal buildings, etc. — in order to test {“audit,” as they say) the police response. These self-declared “auditors” are deliberately non-cooperative when confronted by law enforcement, refusing to identify themselves and sometimes insulting the officers who usually show up in response to reports of “suspicious behavior.”

“First Amendment auditors” seemed to emerge into the news in 2017 when two Michigan men, James Baker and Brandon Vreeland, showed up armed at the Dearborn police station:

The two men wanted to file a complaint about being pulled over earlier by Dearborn police officers, but also saw it as an opportunity to test the suburban Detroit department to see if its officers “honored” the Constitution and their right to carry guns. . . .
“We audit police to see how well they honor the Constitution and people’s rights,” said Vreeland, who was free after posting $1,500 bond late Sunday night. “We showcase police abuse and abuse of police power in the totalitarian police state that we live in.”

Baker and Vreeland were subsequently sentenced to jail, but the “movement” which they represent has grown. I never heard of this until the other day when I saw a video by a guy named Abiyah Israel who calls his YouTube channel “We the People University.”

The doctrine being promoted — i.e., that you don’t have to cooperate with law enforcement when, for example, they ask to see identification — reminded me of so-called “sovereign citizens.” And as it turns out, I’m not the only one who sees this resemblance:

[C]ritics, including domestic terrorism experts, say the tactics are intimidating — sometimes downright scary — and that the “auditors” seem intent on inciting authorities. And they fear that it’s just a matter of time before one of the encounters turns violent.
“I am definitely concerned,” said Bob Paudert, former police chief of West Memphis, Ark., whose son and another officer were gunned down by anti-government sovereign citizens during a traffic stop in 2010. “These are the same tactics the sovereign citizens use. The language they use, going into city office buildings, refusing to give their names but demanding you give yours, videotaping everybody.
“They’re harassing city employees and government employees, and they’ve got no legitimate reason for being there other than just to film. They’re trying to provoke these people to make an arrest or hit them or whatever. The problem is, the employees don’t know how to handle it. They’re not sure what to do.”
Sovereign citizens believe the government is corrupt and out of control; therefore, they do not recognize local, state or federal authority or tax systems. Not all are violent, but in recent years they have come to be considered a top domestic terrorism threat by the FBI and other government agencies.

The “auditors” deny any connection to “sovereign citizens,” but their apparent intent to provoke confrontation with law enforcement is dangerous. Certainly, I value my First Amendment rights as much as any American, but I also value not getting shot by cops. Which brings us to the case of Steven Joaquin “Zhoie” Perez:

[In February 2019], Perez got into an altercation that provoked a security guard at a Los Angeles synagogue to fire a shot that grazed her leg.
It was a bizarre cultural clash between a social media provocateur and a community on edge since the Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting in October and rising incidents of anti-Semitism.
Perez filmed for 40 minutes outside the gates of the Etz Jacob Congregation/Ohel Chana High School building in the Fairfax District. As the security guard grew angrier, he filmed Perez in return, then pulled out his handgun.
“Get away from the door,” the guard said in one of two videos Perez posted to her “Furry Potato Live” YouTube channel. “You try one more time and I shoot you.”
The gun fired, and Perez repeatedly shouted that he shot her in the leg.
Police arrested the guard, Edduin Zelayagrunfeld on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He could not be reached for comment Friday.
Perez was treated for her injury and gave a news conference later.
She is a self-proclaimed “1st Amendment auditor” — a phenomenon that started in the last two years. According to Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center on Hate and Extremism, the “audits” usually involve people provoking police or others near sensitive locations who might challenge their right to assemble or film in a public space.

Prosecutors declined to file charges against the security guard, perhaps because if you’re hired to guard a synagogue, you get a lot of leeway when dealing with suspicious strangers:

Videos that Perez posted to her YouTube channel, where she is better known as “Furry Potato,” show the guard repeatedly telling Perez to leave the area and constantly moving his hand toward his firearm, even though she is standing on a public sidewalk.
At one point in the video, Zelayagrunfeld threatens to shoot Perez if she does not move away from an entrance. The guard appears to have his weapon pointed toward the ground when a gunshot is heard in the video.
Before the shooting, Zelayagrunfeld had asked school staff to move students to a safe location, triggering a lockdown, according to the memo filed by the district attorney’s office. Taken together with recent surges in anti-Semitic hate crimes and the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh roughly four months earlier, prosecutors believed the guard’s “perception of Perez’s behavior as dangerous was reasonable.”
“Perez went to a Jewish school, and place of worship, dressed in all black and with a backpack secured to her body by a harness,” the document read. “As Zelaya told detectives, Perez’s backpack could have contained a bomb, and her attire could have concealed a firearm or other deadly weapon.”

See what I mean? The guard’s actions were “reasonable,” considering the circumstances. Perez is lucky to have been only grazed by a bullet.

Sooner or later, one of these “auditors” is likely to be a lot less lucky. Generally speaking, if a cop is going to shoot you, he’ll keep pulling the trigger until the magazine’s empty. Your “rights” don’t do you much good after you bleed to death. Your family might get a lawsuit settlement payoff, but you won’t be around to spend that money.

Category: Constitution, Crime

There Is No Joy in ’Bamaland

Posted on | October 16, 2022 | Comments Off on There Is No Joy in ’Bamaland

The headline at ESPN says, “Tennessee tops Alabama in epic back-and-forth thriller,” but please, spare me such “thrills.” Pardon my lifelong preference for the boring, easy, lopsided Alabama victories.

O, Lord, keep your “thrillers” far away from the Crimson Tide!

’Bama spotted Tennessee a 28-10 first-half lead, but then Heisman Trophy quarterback Bryce Young led the Tide back to tie it 28-28 early in the third quarter. Alabama only punted once in the second half, scoring touchdowns on three of its five possessions, and adding a defensive touchdown when linebacker Dallas Turner scooped up a Tennessee fumble and ran it in. That gave ’Bama a 49-42 lead with less than eight minutes remaining, but Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker then led the Volunteers on a 75-yard touchdown drive that included two pass interference penalties against Alabama. The second penalty saved Tennessee after a fourth-down interception that would have — should have? — clinched the victory with four minutes left to play.

Now the game was tied, but Young led the Tide downfield again, reaching the Tennessee 32-yard line with 34 seconds left. Alabama still had one timeout left, and you might think they could have RUN THE DAMNED BALL at least once, but instead they threw three passes, all of them incomplete. With 15 seconds on the clock, Will Reichard came on to kick what would have been the game-winning field goal, but it went wide right, and it seemed we were headed to overtime.

Alas, Hendon Hooker may be the best quarterback Tennessee’s had since Peyton Manning. He connected on two passes that put the Vols at the Alabama 23 with two seconds left and Tennessee won on a field goal.

It was the first time Tennessee has beat ’Bama since 2006. Their fans tore down the goal posts and, of course, UT alumnus Glenn Reynolds was celebrating. Someone in the comments at Instapundit said, “Imagine scoring 49 points and losing!” To which I replied, “Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine it.” A dreadful nightmare. “Thriller,” my ass.

Much of the blame for this defeat will fall on Bryce Young, perhaps unfairly. He threw for 455 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, spreading the ball around to nine different receivers. The real problem for Alabama was that they got 17 penalties for 130 yards.

And where the hell was the defense, huh? Since when does Alabama’s defense give up 52 points to anybody, let alone Tennessee? The last time the Crimson Tide gave up this many points was 1907.

If Bear Bryant was alive, he’d have them boys running wind sprints until they died. Fifty-two points! That’s not a defeat, it’s a humiliation!

One of the problems with being America’s Greatest College Football Team is that there are really only two kinds of seasons for ’Bama: National Championships and failures. Since Nick Saban became the coach in 2007, the Crimson Tide has won six National Championships and, in all but two of those years, they did so with at least one regular-season loss on their record. So it is too early to say the Tide can’t come back this year, although they face a difficult schedule down the stretch, with the Nov. 12 game at Ole Miss looking especially tough.

’Bama fans will therefore remain hopeful that somehow Saban can get the team back to the SEC title game and we’ll see how it goes from here. For now, however, a dark cloud looms above Tuscaloosa, and in the hearts of Crimson Tide fans everywhere. There is no joy in ’Bamaland.

Category: Alabama, Football

FMJRA 2.0: Out of The Blue & Into The Black

Posted on | October 16, 2022 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Out of The Blue & Into The Black

— compiled by Wombat-socho

A decent week for the Senators. True, we lost two out of three to the Twins, who have a disgusting number of left-handed hitters and pitchers, but we began the week with two wins against the Yankees. So we’re .500 for the week.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Fly the Curly W flag!

‘Climate Change’ Is a Dangerous Cult
The DaleyGator
The Political Hat
Rockport Conservatives
EBL
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

Ohio Voters Are Not Stupid, the Polls Are Mostly Bulls**t and Tim Ryan Is Losing
The DaleyGator
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

FMJRA 2.0: I Was Dreaming I Was Awake
EBL
A View From The Beach

Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday: My Favorite Celtic Death Goddess
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
EBL
A View From The Beach

Columbus and the Meaning of America
The DaleyGator
EBL
357 Magnum

The Annual Admiral Of The Ocean Sea Appreciation Post
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 10.10.22
EBL
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 10.12.22
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

Who Put the Bomp?
Nebraska Energy Observer
EBL
357 Magnum

‘Demented Liar Joe Biden’
The DaleyGator
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 10.13.22
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 10.14.22
EBL
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending October 14:

EBL (12)
357 Magnum (10)
A View From The Beach (7)
Proof Positive (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

The J6 Committee Tantrum

Posted on | October 15, 2022 | 1 Comment

This week marked the beginning of the end of “The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, more commonly known as the January 6th Committee.”

Congress has now adjourned until after the election, which Democrats will lose, and so, while we might see some further theatrics during the lame-duck sessions before the 118th Congress convenes in January, this was their big finale: “Let’s subpoena Trump!”

It so happened that I decided to switch my home-office TV to MSNBC on Friday (I watch MSNBC so you don’t have to), and on Morning Joe, they featured this interview with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland):

“… the terrible violence … scrambling to get more police and military reinforcements on the scene … the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and insurrectionists … the attempted political coup and violent insurrection … the mobilizing of a domestic violent extremist movement …”

Listening to that, I was struck by how easily these hyperbolic phrases tumbled out of Raskin’s mouth, as evidence of how insulated inside the echo chamber Democrats have become and, of course, the “journalist” Willie Geist is part of that echo chamber. He is as objective about the J6 Committee as my teenage daughter is objective about Harry Styles.

The predicate of the J6 “investigation,” the fundamental tenet of the belief system in which the Capitol riot was an “attempted political coup,” is that there is no reason to believe that the 2020 election was fraudulent. If no reasonable person could suspect that the election was stolen, then what happened on J6 was an illegal “insurrection,” an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government. Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) are unwilling to hear the arguments made or to examine the evidence cited by those who claim that Biden was not legitimately elected. The bedrock assumption of Democrats is that Biden was elected in a landslide — 81 million votes! the most popular presidential candidate in history! — and thus they view any expression of doubt about Biden’s legitimacy as “insurrectionist” crazy-talk.

This is not how discourse in a democratic society is supposed to operate. Controversies over public policy would never occur, if we all shared the same set of beliefs, and so the fact that there is controversy about any subject (in this case, the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election) requires a public hearing of arguments on both sides of the dispute, so that the electorate may be fully informed. The J6 Committee deliberately avoided such a discussion. Indeed, the whole purpose of this committee (which, by the way, lacks legitimacy under the normal rules of House procedure) was to criminalize doubt about the 2020 election.

It is one thing, when partisans on either side of dispute are seeking to rally their supporters, to make a one-sided argument in favor of a particular policy. This is entirely normal in politics. Yet the proceedings of a congressional committee are not supposed to be partisan rallies. Pelosi’s charade of phony “bipartisanship” — handpicking Trump-haters Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger as “Republican” members of the select committee, over the objections of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — cannot disguise the one-sided nature of the J6 Committee’s business. At no time in the operations of this committee has there been any fair consideration of the views of 74 million Americans who voted to reelect President Trump, 77% of whom think cheating affected the 2020 election.

Now, it may be that, after hearing everything that election skeptics had to say on this subject, most Americans would still conclude that Biden was legitimately elected, and therefore would believe that the protest of the January 6 certification of Biden’s election — which is what the rally at the Capitol was supposed to be, a peaceful protest — was inspired by erroneous (but sincere) beliefs. There is a world of difference between a protest motivated by a sincere sense of grievance and an “attempted political coup,” and yet at no time did the J6 Committee ever allow any consideration of the election doubts that inspired the events of J6.

Furthermore, and this is equally crucial, Democrats and the media absolutely refuse to recognize that the outbreak of violence at the Capitol in January 2021 was clearly inspired by the months of “Black Lives Matter” riots that broke out in May 2020 — riots that the Democrats enthusiastically applauded. Many millions of dollars of damage were inflicted, and many people killed or injured, during the weeks of arson, vandalism and looting which CNN reporter Omar Jimenez infamously described as “fiery but most peaceful” protests.

CNN ran the chyron tonight: "FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER POLICE SHOOTING" while a fire raged in the background. pic.twitter.com/nEIKhTrepE

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 27, 2020

By applauding this destruction, Democrats thereby legitimized violent “protests,” and if the Capitol rioters believed there would be no repercussions for their actions on January 6 — well, why shouldn’t they believe that? Antifa thugs and mobs of urban looters had gotten away with criminal activity which everybody saw happening live on television throughout the summer of 2020, and Democrats never objected to those “mostly peaceful” protests. Yet here was Jamie Raskin on MSNBC Friday morning, speaking of Republican voters as “a domestic violent extremist movement,” and Willie Geist did not object to this partisan smear.

Well, this will all be fading in our rearview mirror soon enough. Anyone who looks at the poll numbers can see that Democrats are going to get wiped out in the midterms, and the proceedings of the J6 Committee will be remembered as symptomatic of Orange Man Bad Syndrome.

All we have to do is Keep Calm and Vote Republican.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!