Toby Keith RIP
Country music superstar Toby Keith has passed away at the too-young age of 62 from stomach cancer.
From his own website: Toby Keith passes peacefully last night on February 5th
Just One Thing: There won't be a better deal but that doesn't mean this is good enough
UPDATE: Sen Lakford, the main Republican negotiator of the current bill will likely vote AGAINST it during an initial procedural vote on Weds (if the vote even happens.) This would be an effort to give a little more time to explain the bill to his colleagues and see if he can generate support. The momentum right now is clearly against the bill which might be what Donald Trump wants but isn't necessarily good for Trump, and probably is good for Biden. Not very many people will be convinced to blame anyone but Biden for the border chaos and the invasion of illegal aliens, but when the bill fails you will hear Biden and every other Dem blaming the GOP for not passing a bill that doesn't actually need to be passed for at least some significant improvement on the border to occur. It would just require Biden to do his job.
The text of the so-called bipartisan Senate immigration bill was released on Sunday. I’m not going to offer a definitive pronouncement about whether the bill is worth supporting but will make a few points: First, folks in Congress who most want to tie themselves to Donald Trump will oppose the bill before even reading it. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, seems to be using that approach. Second, as far as I can tell this bill has some provisions to tighten things up at the border but also appears to legalize the currently illegal (but still done every day) process of simply allowing illegals into the country. The bill also provides aid for Israel and Ukraine. Third, there is approximately zero chance that Donald Trump would get a better deal because the Democrats incentive to do anything evaporates with this year’s election. So the question, that I can't answer today, is: Is this worth passing, despite flaws, knowing there will likely not be another chance at immigration reform for many years?
I think a LOT of Republicans will get hung up on the numbers 5,000 and 4,000, and some will misunderstand or misstate what they mean, but even what they do mean will make this a challenge for GOP legislators to swallow. They represent threshold in terms of numbers of "encounters" (which is not the same as number of people allowed into the country) to occur on a daily basis for a week (by rolling average) before the border is mostly "closed".
So the question comes down to this: Does this make the situation better or worse? If better, can the bill be even further improved upon through House-Senate negotiations? Or are some aspects such non-starters that it's not fixable? Andy McCarthy seems to suggest the latter: Senate Border Deal Should Be Rejected on the Merits | National Review
And the WSJ takes the other side: A Border Security Bill Worth Passing - WSJ
And one more against it: 'Border Never Closes': Democrat 'Outs' Senate's Immigration Bill (dailysignal.com)
Actual text: Emergency National Security Supplemental Bill Text (senate.gov)
I hope you can read this...it's worth reading: The Fast and the Furious - The Dispatch
As you can tell, this is not an easy bill to make an honest assessment of, in terms of worthiness to pass, which I suppose is what you'd expect in a situation where Dems control the Senate but Republicans hold an unusually strong position of leverage. At the moment I do not know whether I support the bill. I do know that Republicans will not get another opportunity for something better for many many years. And for sure Trump will not get a better deal (or any deal, most likely.)
Today's Guests
Terry Hayes wrote a great thriller novel, I Am Pilgrim, that became a huge hit in 2014. A decade later, he's out with his next book -- not a sequel but an entirely different story. It's "The Year of the Locust" and it's one of the wildest thriller-novel rides I've ever taken. I can't say too much without spoiling the book for you. Will just suggest that the book delves into more than just the thriller genre, which is what makes it so interesting, in addition to the fact that the plot and action are tremendous. It's what you'd expect from a guy who is a movie screenwriter in addition to being a novelist. (For example, he wrote the screen play for Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.)
TODAY IS PUBLICATION DAY...SO GO ORDER YOUR COPY RIGHT NOW
The Year of the Locust: A Thriller: Hayes, Terry: 9781668055786: Amazon.com: Books
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Paul Mauro is a former NYPD inspector and current Fox News Contributor. His great website is: (5) The Ops Desk | Paul | Substack
We'll discuss several topics including:
- Migrants attacking cops in NYC, then being freed without bail just to skip town
- Crumbley case in jury's hands: can a mass-shooter's mother be convicted for not stopping him?
Jennifer Crumbley jury goes home after full day of deliberation (msn.com)
- Alec Baldwin facing new charges
Alec Baldwin Enters Plea In ‘Rust’ Shooting Case (msn.com)
- Dead KC Chiefs fans
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George Braucher is running for District Attorney for the newly created 23rd Judicial District, comprised of Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln Counties. George served as the 18th JD DA for years. He's also a military judge -- for the CO National Guard. (Last time I checked he's the only one in Colorado.) George Brauchler is 1st military judge for Colorado National Guard – District Attorney’s Office (da18.org)
Here's George's website for the new campaign: George Brauchler for District Attorney of CO’s 23rd District
George was a great DA. He's a hard-working man of principle and I urge you to support him. I also note that as John Kellner will not run for re-election in the 18th (which is likely turning blue as the counties that will be in the 23rd are separated from the 18th). This means that the 23rd may end up being the only DA's office in the Denver Metro area to be held by a Republican.
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Other Stuff
Yesterday, I spent quite a while talking about an organization called Woke Kindergarten that had been hired to try to improve reading and math scores in a mostly lower-income Hispanic school district in northern California and, unsurprisingly, had the opposite impact.
Apparently this is the person who founded the group. She (or he?) is not just misguided. This mindset is pure evil, it's poison being injected into the body politic, and every single bureaucrat or school board member who ever gave a contract to Woke Kindergarten should lose their jobs and never be allowed involvement in education policy again.
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Do we really need more of this drama in Congress? US Rep. Lauren Boebert granted temporary restraining order against her ex-husband (msn.com)
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Britain's King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer, though they have not disclosed what form of cancer: Prince Harry reportedly arrives in UK after King Charles’s cancer diagnosis – latest updates (msn.com)
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If you're gonna hold a record, this is a VERY cool one: Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko sets world record for the longest time spent in space (nypost.com)
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I think this is mostly right: 7 Things Boomers Still Spend Money on That Millennials and Gen Z Don’t (yahoo.com)
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Can we PLEASE let tipping get back to normal?
Drink expert reveals how much you should tip a bartender — but will people do it? (nypost.com)
How Americans decide whether to leave a tip and how much | Pew Research Center
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Criminals catching criminals? How a stolen memory card with gruesome footage led to an Alaska murder trial | AP News
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Dartmouth becomes the first Ivy League school to reinstate use of standardized testing. I hate to say "I told you so" but...
Update To Testing Policy | Dartmouth Admissions
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Why I'd rather have America's immigration problems than Europe's: Britain Can’t Protect Its Own Government Ministers from Islamists | The Free Press (thefp.com)
(Well, America's CURRENT immigration problems are really bad...but my point is that to the extent we're getting people from a Judeo-Christian background who want to come here and work hard, that's much better than the immigration situation Europe invited.)
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Offered without comment: GOP Rep Announces Re-Election Bid in Surprise Reversal (msn.com)
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Amazon seems to have held up better than other big websites. Incredible what Team Biden was willing to do in order to censor and control opinions and information, and I say that while fully recognizing that there was plenty of misinformation out there about vaccines, nonsense "treatments" for COVID, etc. Amazon Bowed to White House Pressure to Conceal COVID Books (dailysignal.com)
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Today's Videos
Snow dog wants the snow back
But why???
And finally, this is pretty cool: Wife spots husband in selfie she took years before they met (nypost.com)