The Morning Report - 12/28/20 [J.J. Sefton]

Good morning, kids. Monday and as we tick off the final days of this accursed year (thanks entirely to the Left both here and abroad) the top story is the Christmas day suicide truck bomb that while causing much property damage in downtown Nashville, mercifully only took the life of the perpetrator.

Anthony Q. Warner, 63, was identified as the lone bomber after DNA at the scene was matched to samples taken at another location that investigators searched, U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran announced Sunday, the Tennessean reported.

"Anthony Warner is the bomber. He was present when the bomb went off, and he perished in the bombing"...

... Authorities have called the incident an "intentional" act and are continuing to investigate a motive. They are also investigating what type[s] of explosives were used in the bombing. One of Warner's former employers, Steve Fridrich, called the bombing "out of character," and told the Tennessean that Warner had worked as a contract laborer in computer consulting for his company, Fridrich & Clark Realty...

... "These answers won't come quickly and will still require a lot of our team's effort," FBI Special Agent for Public Affairs Doug Korneski said, according to USA Today. "None of those answers will ever be enough for those who have been affected by this event. We still have work to do."

Translation: although the perp was a white late middle-aged male, the FBI was unable to plant a charred MAGA hat at the crime scene nor fake his membership in the NRA, the GOP, the Tea Party or determine that he was ever within 1,000 miles of a Trump rally. Yet. With all the FBI's covering up of their involvement with trying to take out President Trump over the past four years as well as persecute anyone trying to uncover the massive so-far successful plot to steal the 2020 election, Christopher Wray's hands are full. So please be patient.

Three days later and this is about all that I have seen in the media, ours as well as the usual propaganda organs, which means the perp was tied to or sympathized with the Democrat-linked terrorist organizations BLM and Antifa, hated Trump or otherwise had no motivation that could advance the Democrat-Propaganda Complex's meme. Watch it disappear within the next few days.

Meanwhile, President Trump evidently flinched and has signed the 5,300-plus page trillion-dollar-plus (when it's all said and done) monstrosity Peking Pox relief and continuing resolution.

"As President, I have told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child," Trump said in a statement.

According to White House spokesman Judd Deere, Trump will send the bill back to Congress with wasteful spending red-lined for removal.

"The President is sending a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. Sending back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill," Deere explained.

"The President is signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more," the spokesman added...

... Trump's decision to sign the bill will secure at least $600 to individuals below a certain income threshold. These direct individual stimulus checks have emerged as a key issue in the Georgia Senate runoffs.

It would be excellent if Congress trimmed the unnecessary spending from the COVID-19 relief bill, but it seems unlikely they will make all the cuts Trump will recommend.

It remains unclear what will come of Trump's move. The president lacks the ability to perform a line-item veto -- to sign a bill while striking parts of it. Some state governors have this power, but the president does not. Congress passed the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, but the Supreme Court struck down the practice as unconstitutional in the 6-3 decision Clinton v. City of New York (1998). The Court argued that the exercise of the line-item veto is tantamount to a unilateral amendment or repeal by the executive of only parts of statutes authorizing federal spending. Only Congress has the legislative power, so the president cannot issue line-item vetoes.

What can I say? Whatever his motivations, last week I said I thought this would be a mistake for the President and I stand by my opinion. One of the things Trump ran on was draining the swamp. This madness is the swamp collectively grabbing Trump by his golden scalp weasel and dragging him under the effluent. Would digging his heels in have damaged the chances of Loeffler and Purdue in Georgia? That's debatable, all things considered. Neither are stellar candidates to begin with and there is every reason to believe that those Senate seats are already stolen and we're just waiting for the kabu-kakke theater of the runoff elections which I believe are some time next week.

In any case, what's the point of getting down on Trump? Right now, the final cards in the fight to restore his victory are set to be played either in the SCOTUS, Congress or some combination of both. Or, as the first link in that section suggests in the mind and heart of perhaps a lone individual who could change history:

The central point is that the VP, as the presiding officer and final authority, has the unquestionable authority to declare that the states in question have not conducted presidential elections. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, but no one has the authority to override his decision.

The statement says nothing about who might or might not have "won" the contested states. Rather, by not following their own laws, as enacted by their own legislatures, they have violated Article II, Section 1. Thus, they have not conducted an election, and their results are void.

If the votes of all seven contested states are registered as zero, President Trump will have 232 votes, and Joe Biden will have 222. The 12th Amendment says, "[T]he votes shall then be counted[.] ... The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President[.]"

In plain language, Donald Trump will be re-elected, since he has a majority of the actual electoral votes. There will be no need to involve the House of Representatives to resolve a contingent election.

Richard Nixon chose not to contest the 1960 election because he felt that winning that way would lead to an ungovernable country. If V.P. Pence does this, that same argument might be made. But is the country governable even now? Blue states such as California, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey, and Michigan are already operating in an openly lawless manner with their "emergency" "COVID-related" restrictions. Their denial of the civil rights of law-abiding citizens is horrific. Their refusal to do basic policing and law enforcement is a recipe for open war. How much worse would things be if the V.P. lived up to his oath and upheld the law?

Those bits that I emphasized underscore what I and many of us have been stating in one way or another for years now. Trying to fight what is a lawless internal enemy by doing things under the rubric of "regular order" or being afraid of setting a dangerous precedent by going outside regular order is like watching your entire neighborhood go up in flames while trying to save your house by peeing on the lawn.

Only a fool living in denial cannot see that there's no going back to "normal" for whatever definition of normal there might be. If indeed Mike Pence can do what the article states, he cannot afford to play it safe. From what I have seen and heard of him these past four years, I like. He's affable, level-headed and by all accounts seems to be a decent, G-d fearing man. That said, he is a lifelong politician and in many ways has been molded by DC - the entity that is his boss' nemesis. Pence's caving on RFRA did not inspire strength and confidence. The question is, if indeed he does have the power, does he understand the consequences of not fulfilling his oath and doing his duty?

As bad as the chaos and violence of restoring President Trump's stolen victory may be in the short term, allowing the theft of the 2020 election will condemn our nation, society and way of life too death, along with much of the rest of world. If you're still praying, you might want to include a few words to the Almighty on behalf of the vice president.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• "Warner is believed to have died in the explosion. Authorities do not believe anyone else was involved in the explosion besides Warner after reviewing hours of surveillance footage, which only showed Warner. Tips from the public helped lead investigators to Warner, who was not known to authorities prior to the explosion."
  Nashville Bomber Identified As Anthony Q. Warner
  
• "They ran to danger with uncertain outcomes ahead of them; they were responsible for so many innocents being saved."
  "Heroes": Nashville Cop Honored For Blast Response Tells Harrowing Tale of Evacuation
  
• "What we know about the mysterious Nashville bombing leaves us with many more questions than answers."
  Nashville: A Bomb Blast Unlike Any Other on American Soil
  
• "The driver of the box truck has been detained by authorities, the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department said Sunday. They declined to describe the exact nature of the audio, but said an emergency dispatcher received a call about the truck on Sunday morning, when it was still parked at a market."
  Authorities Close Road, Pull Over Truck For Playing Suspicious Audio Near Nashville

  THE 2020 DEMOCRAT ELECTION HEIST

• "And he's the president of the Senate. So on January 6, what he says goes."
  It's for Mike Pence to Judge Whether a Presidential Election Was Held at All
  
• "So, is this the next step for the Trump legal team? Trump legal adviser Jenna Ellis shared this legal strategy memo on Twitter, urging her followers to read it, so this strategy is definitely on their radar. This still leaves us asking,' "Is there hope?'"
  Legal Memo Outlines Strategy for Trump to Succeed Having Supreme Court Hear Election Dispute
  
• "Despite the justices' oath to uphold the Constitution, the Supreme Court is hiding from the most important constitutional issue in America -- and that spells danger."
  A Supreme Court in Hiding is Dangerous for Our Country
  
• "Attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems have sent letters threatening litigation to President Trump's supporters in an attempt to intimidate them."
  The Intimidation of Mellissa Carone

  MICHIGAN:

• "You would think elections officials would want an investigation because it would exonerate them. But they don't. What are they hiding?"
  McCarthy Misses the Point in the Michigan Election Audit

  GEORGIA:

• The unearthed remarks -- occurring on Twitter in 2012 -- are in addition to Ossoff's financial ties to another Chinese state-run media company -- a relationship he failed to include on financial disclosures and labeled "paperwork oversight" by his campaign.
  Dem Senate Hopeful Urged Americans to Follow Chinese State-Run Media
  * * * * *

• "Observers of human history might have to go back all the way to Galileo to find a ruling class as determined to cancel someone as much as today's is to cancel Sidney Powell."
  Why Sidney Powell Gets the Galileo Treatment
  
• "Hans Christian Andersen's celebrated folk tale The Emperor's New Clothes serves as a parable for our ideological age and in particular for the current political environment in the U.S. in which a presidential election has been stolen from the people by massive and undoubted electoral fraud."
  The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Tale for the Times
  
• "Our future rulers will not relinquish the power they grabbed with 2020 election fraud if we let them have their way."
  What Denying Election Fraud Accomplishes

  POLITICS

• "Is this really possible? Well, let's see..."
  Here's How a Republican Could End Up Speaker of the House Instead of Malig-Nancy Pelosi
  
• The two psycho newbies from the Marxist death "Squad."
  Two Incoming House Dems Won't Say If They'll Back Malig-Nancy Pelosi's Speakership Bid
  
• "At least conservatives are allowed to be colorblind. Not so with the progressives."
  Biden Appointees Underrepresent Whites, But It's Still Not Good Enough
  
• "We must do more than just rail against the easy target a Biden administration would be likely to make."
  Reclaiming the Swamp: The Issue of Our Time
  
• "I think it would be a primary driven by ambition more than by need."
  New York Democrat Party Chairman Warns Alexandria Titty Caca Not to Challenge Cuck Schemer
  
• "America is fortunate to have Donald Trump as president, who despite his shortcomings, is indisputably a leader with the essential quality of courage for a time such as this."
  Trump: The American David
  
• "In this climactic battle of our decades-long culture war, we need to win -- or be prepared to lose in ways beyond imagining."
  An Essential Man
  
• "American history is hanging in the balance."
  If It's Biden, Expect Wholesale Rejection of American Core Values

  CIVIL WAR 2.0: LEFTIST REIGN OF TERROR, WAR ON POLICE, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION

• According to the report, "violent extremists or other actors could quickly mobilize to violence or generate violent disruptions or otherwise lawful protests in response to a range of issues, including possible disputes over the results of the U.S. presidential election."
  DHS Warns of "Heightened Physical Threat Environment" Ahead of Georgia Run-Off Election

  OTHER BIDEN FAMILY HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

• According to disclosure forms filed with Congress, Ricchetti will lobby for Amazon on "[i]ssues related to [Chinese] COVID-19, including implementation of the CARES Act." Biden tapped Ricchetti, his longtime aide, to serve as his counselor on Nov. 16. CNBC first reported that Amazon had hired Ricchetti.
  Amazon Hires Lobbying Firm Connected To Biden's Top White House Adviser

  CHINESE CORONAVIRUS FICTIONS, FACTS AND AMERICA IMPRISONED

• "Trump's decision to sign the bill will secure at least $600 to individuals below a certain income threshold. These direct individual stimulus checks have emerged as a key issue in the Georgia Senate runoffs. It would be excellent if Congress trimmed the unnecessary spending from the [Chinese] COVID-19 relief bill, but it seems unlikely they will make all the cuts Trump will recommend." (feh - jjs)
  Trump Signs "Red-Lined" Chinese COVID-19 Stimulus Bill, Asks Congress to Remove Wasteful Spending
  
• "It's always nice to end a bad year with a bombing."
  The Lockdown Christmas
  
• "Those of us who recognize the brazen lawlessness of current governmental actions to deal with [Chinese] COVID-19 have an obligation to resist this overreach."
  Chinese COVID-19 and Resisting Government Malfeasance
  
• "Once again, so-called scientists who are either irresponsible or have an agenda, are manipulating us with highly suspect data."
  It's Unlikely That There's a Super-Contagious Wuhan Virus Floating Around
  
• "A comprehensive national audit of [Chinese] COVID deaths is needed."
  Minnesota Legislators Review Thousands of Deaths Attributed to Chinese COVID -- Discover Up to 40% Due to Other Causes
  
• "The Black Lives Matter movement meant exactly what they said: all lives don't matter equally, and therefore white lives should be placed lower on the list of [Chinese] COVID-19 vaccine priority."
  Racial Triage
  
• "People with weakened immune systems, autoimmune conditions can still take vaccine."
  CDC Issues New Guidance About Chinese COVID-19 Vaccinations For People With Pre-Existing Health Conditions
  
• "A Covina, California pub owner's desperate bid to stop health inspectors from shutting his establishment down portends big trouble for Democrats."
  Trouble for Democrats: Rebellion in the California Suburbs
  
• "A restaurant is shut down -- while a film crew sets up a dining area in the same parking lot."
  Prager U Video: Will Witt Interviews Viral LA Restaurant Owner About Impact of Lockdowns

  OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

• Robert Spencer: "His latest autobiography goes out of its way to demonize the Jewish state."
  Barack Obama Hates Israel and Wants You to Hate It, Too

  AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY

• "The overwhelming majority, 92 percent, of illegal aliens deported from the interior of the U.S. had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges against them at the time of their deportation."
  ICE Deports More Than 185,000 Illegal Aliens, 4,200 Gang Members in 2020
  
• What could possibly be bad about this?
  Illegal Immigrants In Virginia Can Apply For Driver Privilege Cards Starting Jan. 1

  FIRST AMENDMENT, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH

• "Any infringement of free speech is the beginning of tyranny -- and there can be no doubt that radicals are on a course toward tyranny."
  If You Disagree, You're a Rat
  
• The fucking gall on this hack low-life propagandist is just incredible.
  XiNN's Fake Yapper: Kayleigh McEnany Banned from My Show -- She "Lies" the Way Most People Breathe
  
• "More fake news about [Chinese] COVID-19."
  Fact-Checking the 'Fact-Checkers'
  
• "Thank you so much for speaking out to open schools. I can't do it myself, for obvious reasons." "I completely agree with you about opening schools in September, but I'm afraid I'll be targeted at my job."
  How Cancel Culture Keeps Chinese COVID-19 Doubters Silent
  
• "Speaking on Wednesday, correspondent Mark Phillips attempted to downplay the fact that [Chinese] COVID-19 would lead to a decrease in global carbon emissions. He focuses on how emails could offset the saved carbon emissions from less flying, driving, and commuting as a result of [Chinese] COVID-19 and lockdowns."
  CBS Frets Too Many "Thank You" E-Mails Contributing to Global Warming
  
• Victor Davis Hanson: "Millions of Americans may come to resemble Winston Smith, the defeated hero of Nineteen Eighty-Four, who at last accepts the calm."
  Did Americans Come to Love Big Brother?

  FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL

• "The executive allegedly fabricated evidence against the video conference participants in order to shut down events to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre."
  China-Based Zoom Employee Spied on Dissidents at Direction of Chinese Intelligence, Feds Say
  
• BBC: The seized cache part of "lucrative narcotics trade likely run by the Syrian regime and its allies."
  Iran-Backed Hezbollah and Syria Likely Behind Billion Dollar Drugs Bust, Italian Police Say
  
• "Left-wing power centers double as back doors for Chinese interests."
  It's a Small World After All: Chinese Influence in America

  DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS

• "During that operation, MC-130J refueling aircraft, CV-22B Ospreys tilt-rotor aircraft, and KC-135 refueling aircraft based at Royal Air Force Station Mildenhall deployed to Rota, Spain, on October 29. From there, U.S. special operations were flown and parachuted into Nigeria, traveled on foot approximately three miles, engaged the hostage-takers in a firefight, and rescued American hostage Philip Walton, taking him to an extraction site where CV-22s flew them to safety."
  Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller Thanks Airmen Who Supported Nigerian Hostage Rescue

  WE-ALL-SLAM-FOR-I-SLAM

• Robert Spencer: "CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror."
  Hamas-Linked CAIR Demands Biden Dismantle Counterterror Operations

  DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, THE BUREAUCRACY, WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE

• "Jay Inslee's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion dogma puts him on a collision course with Washington state's voters."
  Jay Inbreed's Diversity Dogma
  
• "Anyone who still thinks New Yorkers don't mind high taxes or heavy-handed governance should ponder Tuesday's population estimates from the US Census Bureau. Residents are voting with their feet -- and heading for the exits in record numbers."
  The Incredible Shrinking Empire State

  CRIME & PUNISHMENT, NON-DOSTOYEVSKY

• "In essence, the exodus is 'a win by those that would want the police to be defunded,' according to the Portland Police Bureau's human resources officer."
  "Racially Diverse" Cops Dumping Portland in Favor of Lower Paying Jobs in Places Where They're Appreciated
  
• Daniel Greenfield: "'Meaningful criminal penalties' for piracy, not for crushing a baby's skull."
  Hollywood Fights to Free Muggers and Killers -- and Lock Up Video Streamers
  
• "[Quote-unquote] President-elect's promised end to executions a win for liberal billionaires."
  Joe Biden's Death Knell for the Death Penalty

  EDUCATION, AND WHAT PASSES FOR IT

• "Demography -- shrinking cohorts of high school graduates -- and [Chinese] Covid have caused a decline in the number of people seeking to attend college. The laws of supply and demand start to work."
  At Last! First Signs Arrive That Shortage of Students is Causing Tuition Cuts at Brand Name Private Colleges

  ACTUAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

• Our intrepid science reporter on whither Scottie: "It appears that when video game developer Richard Garriott flew to ISS as a space tourist in 2008, he smuggled some of Doohan's ashes on board, where they have stayed hidden for a dozen years."
  James Doohan's Ashes Have Been on the ISS for the Past Dozen Years

  RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM

• Biden's potential picks for key positions include proponent of "environmental racism" and former EPA-head during Animas River disaster."
  Trump's EPA Team Locks In Smog Limits Ahead of Biden Transition

  FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY

• "There is a kind of natural anti-mimesis when it comes to what boys see girls doing. The boy must accomplish a task that the girl does not have to accomplish."
  We Treat Our Dogs Better Than Our Boys
  
• "The Equality Act will be an unmitigated disaster that will harm many people."
  Transgenderism and the Equality Act

  CULTURE WARS, NATIONAL SUICIDE

• "In the name of social justice, it is important to quash all the good Christmas feelings and instead find something at which to take offense."
  We Must Ban These Christmas Classics to Please the Wokesters
  
• "The division between Baptists is not between blacks and whites but between those who are woke on race and those who are not."
  Will Critical Race Theory Break the Baptist Church?
  
• Christian Toto: "Pixar's first black-led story is problematic, while woke Wonder Woman is far worse."
  Never Woke Enough: Critics Savage Soul, Wonder Woman 1984
  
• "They refuse to serve companies in 'bad' industries -- and in the end it's their loss."
  The North Face's Absurd, Hypocritical Virtue-Signaling
  
• "Players from Cambridge United took a knee to protest alleged racial injustice and inequality before a December 15th game against Colchester United, prompting a handful of fans to boo their misguided actions."
  Stadium Bans Non-Woke Fans, Demands "Re-Education" Before Re-Entry
  
• "To think that a single op-ed could elicit such an effluence of opinion and such a diluvium of print is to recognize that Epstein, who will turn 84 in January, has lost none of his touch."
  Joseph Epstein, In Brief

  HITHER & YON

• "It was post-WW2..."
  Tracing the Genesis of the Swamp
  
• "Concepts such as privacy, romance, and personal happiness are fundamentally at odds with totalitarianism."
  Book review: The Nesting Dolls, by Alina Adams -- A Meaningful Dramatization of Life Under Socialism
  
• Lloyd Billingsley on the lives of Walter Williams, Rafer Johnson and Paul Hornung: "Gone in 2020, without due recognition."
  Three Great Americans

NOTE: The opinions expressed in some links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.

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posted by Open Blogger at 06:40 AM

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