The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Lincoln Project: ‘Sunk in a Swamp of Complete Moral and Personal Cowardice’

Posted on | February 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Lincoln Project: ‘Sunk in a Swamp of Complete Moral and Personal Cowardice’

Did you know that, during a three-week period last month, MSNBC had 17 guest appearances by people from the anti-Trump “Lincoln Project”?

That’s an awful lot of free publicity for a single PAC run by disgraced former Republican consultants. Oh, did I say “disgraced”?

MSNBC hosts did not ask Lincoln Project co-founders about sexual harassment allegations against their colleague despite booking them 17 times over three weeks.
The Lincoln Project, a pro-Democrat group, was forced to disavow co-founder John Weaver on Jan. 31 following a New York Times report that he sexually propositioned men and boys on social media.
The Lincoln Project claimed in a statement that it was “betrayed and deceived by John Weaver.”
Weaver’s sexual misconduct was first reported by Ryan Girdusky of The American Conservative on Jan. 11. After Girdusky published his story, the Lincoln Project quietly removed Weaver from its site’s “Our Team” page. Weaver released a statement to Axios on Jan. 15 in which he said that he “viewed [the messages] as consensual mutual conversations at the time.” The Lincoln Project’s only official response to the story until Jan. 31 was a comment to Axios in which a spokesperson said that Weaver’s “statement speaks for itself.”
The Lincoln Project was able to avoid commenting on the Weaver allegations partly due to the fact that its co-founders were not asked about them during their many cable news appearances. In the three weeks between Girdusky’s initial report and the Times’ follow-up, George Conway appeared on MSNBC at least two times, Steve Schmidt appeared on MSNBC at least eight times, and Rick Wilson appeared on MSNBC at least seven times. . . .
When discussing impeachment on MSNBC’s Deadline on Jan. 26, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson said that Republicans are “sunk in a swamp of complete moral and personal cowardice.” This appearance was 15 days after Girdusky first reported on the Weaver allegations.

As a lesson in psychological projection, Rick Wilson is a textbook case.

(Hat-tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)




 

Category: MSNBC

Rule Five Sunday: Jane Russell

Posted on | February 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Rule Five Sunday: Jane Russell

— compiled by Wombat-socho

TIL that Jane Russell didn’t actually wear the custom-designed bra her boss Howard Hughes designed for her to wear in her debut film, The Outlaw; while he was a great engineer and aviator, his bra design was apparently pretty horrible, and she wore one of her own with the cups stuffed and the straps tightened to enhance her already impressive cleavage. Also, after barely surviving a botched abortion that rendered her infertile, she became (in her own words) “vigorously pro-life” and a strong advocate of adoption. Her she is in a candid photo from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with her co-star Marilyn Monroe.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Stars playing showgirls.

Ninety Miles From Tyranny: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1246, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

Animal Magnetism: Rule Five More Civil War Friday, and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: Don Giovanni, Outside The Wire (review), Le Comte Ory, The Stand (review), Faust, Millie Turner, Salvation (review), Falstaff, Cloris Leachman RIP, Der Fliegende Hollander, Cicely Tyson RIP, Trading Places, Rigoletto, #CircleBackGirl, Sexy MAGA Resistance, and Macbeth.

A View From the Beach: Kelli Garner, Fish Pic Friday – Erika Almond, Surely, If Two are Better, Four is Best, Thursday Tanlines, Maryland Balloon Ban Likely to Happen, Election 2020: Impeachment 2.0 Slip Sliding Away, Oh Well, WuFlu Tough on Blue Tits . . ., Your Monday Morning Stimulation, Palm Sunday and “Lost” Star Lost

Proof Positive’s Vintage Babe of the Week is Pamela Tiffin!

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious linkagery. 

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Visit Amazon’s Intimate Apparel Shop
Shop Sex & Sensuality Gifts




Category: Rule 5

A Tale of Two Car Thieves

Posted on | January 31, 2021 | Comments Off on A Tale of Two Car Thieves

Reginald Lamar Harris was a lifelong criminal. He had 18 felony convictions and had been sent to prison eight times. Last September, at age 47, Harris was released from prison after serving time for grand theft, and it was only a matter of time before he committed another crime.

About 11 p.m. on Sunday, December 27, on Lee Road on the north side of Orlando near Interstate 4, Harris carjacked a pizza delivery driver, getting away behind the wheel of a 2017 Nissan Altima. Two days later and about 80 miles away, deputies in Flagler County spotted the stolen Nissan, which took off and headed south down I-95. Harris turned off the car’s headlights — it was about 7 p.m. — and raced southward at speeds upward of 100 mph. When he crossed into Volusia County, deputies there joined the pursuit, but backed off because of the high speed. Harris continued south to Beville Road near Daytona, where he inexplicably made a U-turn and began driving north in the southbound lane. He didn’t get far, ramming head-on into an SUV carrying a family from Wisconsin:

A brother and sister driving back from seeing a display of Christmas lights at Daytona International Speedway in Florida were killed Tuesday night when a man fleeing the police at speeds over 110 m.p.h. drove against traffic on southbound Interstate 95 and struck their S.U.V. head-on, the authorities said.
Moments before the crash, which also killed the fleeing driver, the siblings were following family members in another car but missed their exit onto Interstate 4, said Mike Chitwood, the Volusia County sheriff.
The fleeing driver had 50 previous arrests, no driver’s license and had been incarcerated eight times in state prison, the sheriff said at a news conference where he angrily flipped through a thick sheaf of papers that he said was the man’s 200-page rap sheet. “Fifty prior arrests,” he said. “I don’t know what to say.”
The siblings was identified as Danycka Milis, 18, and Domynick Milis, 21, in a letter sent on Wednesday from the School District of Omro, Wis., where both had graduated. . . .

“Fifty prior arrests. I don’t know what to say.” Watch the video:

 

Car thieves are dangerous criminals. This is not a trivial offense. And yet for some reason Reginald Harris, whose prior record included carjacking and armed home invasion, was not behind bars. Two innocent young people are dead because this career criminal was turned loose. The only consolation is that Harris also died in the crash, so that he is no longer a danger to the law-abiding citizens of Florida. Meanwhile, in Georgia . . .

 

On the night of July 14, Vincent Demario Truitt, 17, was one of three teenagers riding in a car they’d stolen in Atlanta earlier that day. They made the mistake of crossing the river into Cobb County, where police spotted the stolen car and gave chase. Evidently unfamiliar with the area, the 17-year-old driver (who was wanted on a separate arrest warrant) turned into a dead-end. When the car stopped, the driver took off on foot, and then Truitt exited the vehicle with a pistol in his hand.

Bad idea.

Seeing the pistol, the officer fired twice, hitting Truitt with both shots, and he died. Because we are living in the #BlackLivesMatter era, however, the death of this car thief has become a subject of protests.

 

“Justice for Vincent”? Car thief gets shot — that’s not justice?

But no, the dead criminal’s family wants $50 million:

The family of a teenager killed by police wants Cobb County to pay them $50 million or face a lawsuit.
A Cobb County police officer shot 17-year-old Vincent Truitt twice in the back as he ran away.
“Cobb County! The blood is on your hands,” said Truitt’s grandmother Deborah Johnson. “You can do the right thing or you can be forced to do the right thing.”
At a news conference Friday, Truitt’s family wore shirts that said “Why did you shoot me?”
Those were the teen’s dying words.
Truitt’s family and their attorneys learned that when former Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes met with the family in November and showed them body camera footage of the fatal shooting.
Last fall, law enforcement sources also corroborated the details of the body camera video to Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Chris Jose.
“Since when did running away become a death sentence?” said Truitt’s mother, Venethia Cook-Lewis. “This officer not only killed Vincent, but he killed me, too.”
In a legal document called an ante litem notice, addressed to Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and Cobb Police Chief Tim Cox, the family’s attorneys presented a claim for excessive force and wrongful death.
“This is a case where clearly it’s not just excessive force, this was a murder. This was a murder of an innocent young man that was literally running away from police. [He] did not pose a threat in any way,” said Truitt family attorney Jackie Patterson.
Patterson said Cobb County has 30 days to respond. If the $50 million settlement is declined, a lawsuit will be filed.
“No amount of money will bring my son back. No amount of money will fill the emptiness inside my heart. No amount of money will help my sleepless nights. Money won’t make it right,” said Cook-Lewis. “Cobb County, release the tapes. The same way you released several false statements. The public should know the truth.” . . .
“We want the firing of that officer, and we want the termination of [Police Chief] Tim Cox,” said Truitt family attorney Gerald Griggs.
Griggs and his co-counsel, Maria Banjo, told reporters there is sufficient probable cause for newly-elected Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady to present the case to a magistrate court judge and obtain an arrest warrant for the officer involved.
“On the face of this [body camera] video, there is sufficient probable cause for his arrest,” said Banjo.
The day after his election victory, Broady told Channel 2?s Mark Winne that he would release the tape to the public with the family’s permission, or as part of the case as it moves forward.
That has not happened.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said Broady has no plans to release the body camera video before the case is presented to a grand jury.
“As of right now, it is an active case, and we don’t release evidence in active cases,” said Kim Isaza.

Now, we have not seen the bodycam video, and therefore must reserve judgment as to what happened. However, the police have said from the beginning that Truitt had a pistol in his hand when he was shot. The family, who have seen the video, does not dispute this. Yet they claim that the gun-wielding car thief was “an innocent young man.”

Here’s a question: Why wasn’t the driver shot? If this cop was just determined to shoot some black kids, why not shoot the driver?

Oh, that’s right — because the driver didn’t have a gun.

Here’s another question: Why did Vincent Truitt have a gun in his hand?

The cops have caught you in a stolen car. You’ve got a pistol. Before you exit the vehicle and take off running, should you (a) leave the gun in the car, (b) put the gun in your pocket, or (c) try running with the gun in your hand? Vincent Truitt apparently chose (c), and died as a result.

See, that’s the thing about cops: They see a suspect with a gun in his hand, they’ve got a split-second decision to make, and it’s life or death.

Truitt’s family and lawyers say he “did not pose a threat,” but the cop on the scene didn’t have the luxury of watching it on video. And I think most people would give the cop the benefit of the doubt because, frankly, most people don’t give a damn if a car thief gets shot.

In fact, I think most people wish more car thieves got shot, because a dead thief can’t steal any more cars. “Justice for Vincent,” indeed.




 

Category: Crime

FMJRA 2.0: Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

Posted on | January 31, 2021 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

Too good to pass up.

Rule Five Sunday: Jayne Mansfield
Animal Magnetism
Harsh Brutus
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL
Ninety Miles From Tyranny

GameStop: The Best Story EVER!
Internet Cloning
GeorgiaPol.Com
Female Investors Daily
357 Magnum
EBL

Why Are National Guard Still in D.C.?
Bacon Time
357 Magnum
EBL

The Sanhedrin
357 Magnum
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Harsh Brutus
A View From The Beach
EBL

Lincoln Project Senior Adviser Blames Capitol Riot on … David Brooks?
EBL

Booted!
357 Magnum
EBL

‘HOLY F***ING S**T!’
357 Magnum
EBL

Manufacturing an Atrocity Narrative: How BLM Distorts the Reality of Crime
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.25.21
357 Magnum
Proof Positive
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.27.21 (Morning Edition)
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.27.21 (Evening Edition)
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.28.01
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.29.21 (STONKS EDITION)
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending January 29:

  1.  EBL (13)
  2.  357 Magnum (10)
  3.  (tied) A View From The Beach & Proof Positive (6)

Thanks to everyone for the links! 

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: FMJRA Award

Deep Dark Depression, Excessive Misery

Posted on | January 30, 2021 | Comments Off on Deep Dark Depression, Excessive Misery

— compiled by Wombat-socho

These last few months have been largely taken up with getting ready for tax season, but now that the season is underway and I’m spending several nights a week in Las Vegas between shifts in the tax mines, I’m finding more time to read. Also, Amazon seems to have killed off the Prime Lending Library in favor of folding everyone into the Kindle Unlimited program, and I feel the need to take advantage of that.
Song of the Day
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

What with the election of the Potted Plant of the United States (PPOTUS) and his many Chicom connections, I had to stop reading Divided We Fall, because it was just getting too damned dark for me in the current circumstances. Not all of the stories are grim tales of struggle against a panopticon state whose tentacles control every aspect of life in a future socialist America, but enough of them were to make me decide to save the book for better times.

In contrast to the preceding anthology, the struggle for freedom hasn’t been decided yet in Fortress Doctrine, the fifth of Peter Nealen’s Maelstrom Rising books. Pivoting back to the home front from the European theater action in Strategic Assets, the Triarii and local militia are trying to hold the Texas border against the cartels and possibly the Mexican Army, while Washington wrings its hands and los chales exploit their connections with the cartels and politicians willing to look the other way for a fistful of renminbi. Nealen is getting better with each book; like Tom Clancy before him, he’s able to keep the action rolling on the tactical level while keeping you in tune with the bigger picture. Highly recommended. 

On a more cheerful note, the Keith Laumer Super Pack from the Positronic Super Pack series is a good combination of Laumer’s Retief stories, some non-Retief stories such as “It Could Be Anything”, “Cocoon”, and “End As A Hero”, the early Bolo story “Night of the Trolls, and two complete novels: Worlds Of The Imperium and A Trace of Memory. Quite a deal for just $1.99, especially since it includes what may be the best Retief story, “Diplomat At Arms”. 

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: Books

In The Mailbox: 01.29.21 (STONKS EDITION)

Posted on | January 30, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 01.29.21 (STONKS EDITION)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual deadlines for the usual weekend posts. Going to get the much-promised and seldom-seen Book Post done Saturday, and Rule Five Sunday’s going to be early because I don’t want to try and pound it out after a three-hour drive down to Las Vegas. 
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Just about everybody’s attitude toward the $GME kerfluffle.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Scientists Can Be Boneheaded Fools
EBL: Trading Places, also, Cicely Tyson, RIP
Twitchy: BUSTED! Video Shows It Was Cori Bush’s Staff Who Started The Mask Altercation With Marjorie Taylor Greene
Louder With Crowder: Did Nancy Pelosi Buy Stock To Profit Off Biden’s EOs? also, Dave Portnoy Unloads On Robinhood, Hedge Funds
Stoic Observations: Babes In The Woods
Vox Popoli: Burning Wall Street, also, Breaking Robinhood
According To Hoyt: When They Come For You, also, The Poison Pill Of The $15 Minimum Wage
Monster Hunter Nation: January Update Post, also, College Doesn’t Have To Be Stupid, But They Like It That Way

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: A Global Economy – Your Participation Must Be Approved
American Conservative:
American Greatness: Poll Says Majority Of Republicans Want New Trump Party, also, Conservative Activists Protest At $BBBY For Dropping MyPillow Products
American Thinker: Off To A Bad START – Putin Schools Biden With One Phone Call, also, What To Do Now?
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five More Civil War Friday
Babalu Blog: Dissident Female Artists Arrested By Cuban State Security Were Raped
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For January 29
Beyond The Black: Today’s Blacklisted Americans, also, Biden’s DOJ Investigating SpaceX For Refusing To Hire Foreigners
Cafe Hayek: A Rare Unbiased Report On COVID & The Lockdowns
CDR Salamander: Competing In The Competition Phase
Da Tech Guy: The #Unexpectedly Chronicles – An Actual AZ Maverick, A Phony WV One, And More, also, DaTechGuy Off DaRadio Spontaneous Livestream
Don Surber: Turning DC Into The Forbidden City, also, The GameStop Uprising Goes Global
First Street Journal: Chicago Thinks It’s The Murder Capital. Philly Says “Hold My Beer!”
The Geller Report: Biden To Sign EOs Expanding Obamacare, International Funding For Abortion, also, Biden’s Order Halting Drilling On Federal Lands Kills 58,000 Jobs
Hogewash: This Can’t Be Seen From Earth, also, Our Betters & Vogons
Hollywood In Toto: Supernova Lets Firth, Tucci Shine Anew
The Lid: Unity? Pelosi Calls GOP Reps “The Enemy Within”
Legal Insurrection: Joe Biden’s Presidency Is Already Worse Than Imagined, also, Tweet Taunting Andrew Cuomo Using Maxine Waters’ Words Infuriates NY Democrats
Nebraska Energy Observer: Random Friday Observations
Power Line: Let Them Eat Solar Panels, also, The Persecution Of Michael Ellis, Part Two
Shark Tank: Matt Gaetz Rallies Massive Wyoming Crowd Against Liz Cheney
Shot In The Dark: A Barrel With No Bottom. Ever.
The Political Hat: The Digital Gatekeepers & The Quandary Of Online Speech
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, also, Terrorists At GITMO Are Getting COVID Vaccine Before You
Transterrestrial Musings: Big Sur
Victory Girls: Robinhood App Exposes Hedge Funds, Commits Suicide
Volokh Conspiracy: California Law Limiting Private Employers’ Restrictions On Employee Speech
Weasel Zippers: WTF Is Going On In DC? The Fortifications Are Getting Bigger Now, also, Biden Walks Off When Asked About The Sacrifices He’s Forcing On Americans
The Federalist: SecTreas Yellen Won’t Recuse From GameStop Despite Getting Almost $1 Million From Citadel Hedge Fund, also, Critics Who Called Trump Authoritarian Are Silent On Biden’s Executive Order Spree
Mark Steyn: Penn State’s Institutional Wickedness, also, Game Stopped

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 01.28.01

Posted on | January 29, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 01.28.01

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Song of the Day (via Megyn Fox @PJ Media)
Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: That Should Put An End To Carjacking
EBL: Cloris Leachman, RIP, also, Holocaust Remembrance Day 
Twitchy: Occasional Cortex Flips Out Even More After Ted Cruz Calmly Replies To Her Accusing Him Of Trying To Have Her Murdered  (As if the Zodiac Killer would have to “try”.)
Louder With Crowder: Man Breaks Down After Losing His Job Thanks To Joe Biden
Vox Popoli: The Tiger Approaches, also, Never Trust A Ticket-Taker

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Time For Senator J.D. Vance?
American Greatness: Biden’s DHS Claims (Without Evidence) Ongoing Threat From “Domestic Extremists”, also, San Francisco To Remove Washington & Lincoln From School Names
American Power: “How Is That Not Rigging The Game?”
American Thinker: Biden’s LGBT Agenda – What’s Next, Pedophilia? also, CDC/NFL Publish Revealing WuFlu Paper
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Social Media News
Babalu Blog: Jose Marti, Cuba’s Apostle
BattleSwarm: The Great Game Stop Short Squeeze, also, Corrupt Establishment Moves To Screw Retail Investors & Bail Out Hedge Funds
Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted Americans, also, FAA Bureaucrats Block SpaceX Starship Flight
Cafe Hayek: Boris Johnson Didn’t Want To Hear Theresa May’s Criticism Of His Lockdown Policy
CDR Salamander: Is Sweden Going To Lap Us Again?
Da Tech Guy: The #Unexpectedly Chronicles – Stock Manipulation Is Fine Unless Done By The Wrong People, also, This Scene From The Final Hunger Games Movie Sums Up The Capitol Hill Riot
Don Surber: Biden’s Normal Is Abnormal
The Geller Report: More Than Half Of Joe Biden’s Twitter Followers Are Fake, Just Created In January, also, John F. Kerry* Says “Let Them Make Solar Panels”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, also, In Re Game Stop
Hollywood In Toto: New Poll Spells Doom For Theaters, also, How Little Things Squanders Its Oscar-Winning Cast
The Lid: Tulsi Gabbard Slams Brennan, Schiff, & Big Tech As “More Dangerous” Than Capitol Attackers
Legal Insurrection: DOJ Arrest Reports For Capitol Riot Focus On Facebook, YouTube, & Twitter, Barely Mention Parler, also, John Kerry Says Fired Pipeline Workers Should Learn To Make Solar Panels
Nebraska Energy Observer: History, Its And Ours
Power Line: Deep Meaning Of Equity, also, Can You Be Fired For Being Conservative?
Shark Tank: Rep. Deutch Calls For GOP Congresswoman To Be Silenced, Deplatformed, also, Rep. Donalds Comes Out Swinging In Defense Of GA Congresswoman’s Freedom Of Speech
Shot In The Dark: Government By Platitude
STUMP: Mortality With Meep – Total Excess 2020 Mortality By Race & Ethnicity
The Political Hat: Genderbending – Sexless Birth Certificates, Transgender Brainwashing, & SCOTUS
This Ain’t Hell: Pentagon Orders The Military To Fight Climate Change, also, Keyboard Warriors – Let The Purge Begin
Transterrestrial Musings: SN9, also, More Money Down The Drain
Victory Girls: Climate Change Arrogance
Volokh Conspiracy: Impeaching Officers While They’re In Office, Trying Them After They Leave
Weasel Zippers: Congress Trying To Require Licensing To Purchase Arms, Ammunition, also, Watch Hedge Fund Billionaire Lose His Shit Over Reddit On CNBC
The Federalist: Grandma-Killer Andrew Cuomo Undercounted COVID Nursing Home Deaths, also, After Vetting 25,000 Guardsmen, No Extremists Were Found
Mark Steyn: War Without End (Home Front Edition), also, Quadruply Masked

*”Who, by the way, served in Vietnam.” – R. Limbaugh

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Explore our most popular Vitamins & supplements!
Face Masks and Hand Sanitizers
Best Sellers in Health & Household




Category: Linkagery

GameStop: The Best Story EVER!

Posted on | January 28, 2021 | Comments Off on GameStop: The Best Story EVER!

Oh, my! Oh, my! What a storm of hilarious schadenfreude has overtaken the stock market this week! The hero of this saga is a guy with a Reddit account called “DeepF**kingValue” who, in September 2019, accumulated $53,000 in stock in the retail chain GameStop.

From any objective analysis, this was the Stupidest Investment Ever, because GameStop’s business model — selling physical copies of videogames and equipment in brick-and-mortar stores, mostly at shopping malls — is doomed in the online digital era. And yet . . .

“DeepF**kingValue” had a hunch that GameStop was drastically undervalued when it was selling as low as 30 cents per share. His argument was that the retailer was shifting to online sales, competing with Amazon, while cutting costs by closing many of its brick-and-mortar stores. So he kept buying, and the share price kept going up, and as “DeepF**kingValue” shared his story on the Reddit channel WallStreetBets, a cult following developed. By December, with GameStop selling at $4 a share, “DeepF**kingValue” was a legit millionaire.

God Bless America, land that I love!

You can imagine every agent in Hollywood trying to get their client the lead role of “DeepF**kingValue” in The GameStop Story, a yet-to-be-made movie that will win every Academy Award. And the brilliant plot twist, the Second Act turn, is when actual corporate guys started to notice what was happening with this Reddit-driven phenomenon. Ryan Cohen, CEO of the online pet-supply business Chewy-dot-com, ploughed $82 million into GameStop at an average price around $9 a share (as much as 30 times what “DeepF**kingValue” had paid for his shares in 2019), which got Cohen a seat on GameStop’s board. Meanwhile, the Reddit crew on WallStreetBets discerned that hedge funds, which considered GameStop a sure loser, had gone short on the company, i.e., investing money on the proposition that its share price would go down.

Billions. B-I-L-L-I-O-N-S — these hedge fund wizards were so sure that GameStop was overpriced that they shorted the stock to the tune of something like $13 billion. And they got screwed. Bad.

Prison gang rape is the only metaphor that comes to mind for how badly the hedge funds got screwed on their GameStop shorts. How bad was it? So bad that NASDAQ intervened, so bad that Discord shut down the WallStreetBets chat channel, so bad that the Securities and Exchange Commission is now investigating the Reddit crew.

The “creative destruction” of capitalism can be a beautiful thing to watch, and if I were asked to write the script for The GameStop Story, the closing scene would be when “DeepF**kingValue” (played by Seth Rogen with a neckbeard) drives up to Mar-a-Lago in his gull-wing Lamborghini, with a Swedish supermodel named Elsa in the passenger seat.

Donald Trump comes out to greet him, personally.

Not kidding here. Liberals are actually claiming that “Trumpism” is what has caused the GameStop bonanza. The hedge funds got screwed over by “white supremacists,” some liberals are arguing on Twitter.

What does this claim imply? It implies that any challenge to the status quo is illegitimate, that it’s “hate speech” or “terrorism” any time you do something or say something that disrupts the ordinary process by which rich people get richer and powerful people exercise power.

Yeah, tell me again how Biden won that election with 81 million votes. Meanwhile, my college-age son decided to drop $50 into Nokia (another stock the Reddit crew is pumping) and I doubt he’ll be driving a Lamborghini next year, but who knows, in the Land of Liberty?

God bless America, my home sweet home!

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! The Professor observes:

The way the establishment works is, they win, you lose. Then they say well, that’s just the rules, better luck next time! Then if you actually have better luck next time, they change the rules. Then they tell you the rules are the price we pay for civilization.

“Analysis: True.” Heh.




 

Category: Economics
« go back — keep looking »