I was on Fox Business Network yesterday with Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy to talk about the impact of the "migrant crisis" on Denver:
Just One Thing: The GOP always finds a way to lose
Republicans better be very careful here. Their single best issue going into this year’s election, is, for the moment, the southern border. While some well-intended Republicans in the Senate are negotiating with Chuck Schumer who is never well-intended as far as I can tell, it seems like they may come out with a bill that is dead on arrival in the House because House members are cowed by Donald Trump telling them to vote no. It’s a huge mistake by Trump who should use his leverage to improve the deal and proclaim himself the great dealmaker. By torpedoing the deal it will give Dems, with help from their friends all through the media, the opportunity to point at the GOP as being part of the border problem. Even on their best issues, Republicans find ways to lose. They’re about to do it again.
Note: details about what the bill actually allows in terms of border crosses seem, unsurprisingly, to have been leaked in a way designed to harm the bill. The reality seems likely to be better but I won't go too far because we don't have the document to confirm those details either: Sinema fires back at House GOP on border plan: "A deal's a deal" (msn.com)
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One More Thing: Maybe this isn't war, but it sure looks like preparation for war
Major US Counter-Hack Disables China Botnet in Critical Infrastructure (msn.com)
Microsoft: State-sponsored Chinese hackers could be laying groundwork for disruption | AP News
Today's Guest
Admiral James Stavridis served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander. He's a best-selling author in both fiction and non-fiction, including "To Risk it All" (non-fiction) and "2034" (fiction, soon to be followed by "2054").
We'll discuss the perilous state of the world and how the US should react to Iranian attacks and provocations. Also, the ability of ships of all nations to sail the high sees for international commerce is under threat. It's a bigger deal than most people recognize. Admiral Stavridis was quoted in a WSJ article about it this morning so we'll talk about that as well. (See link just below.)
Admiral James Stavridis – Admiral James Stavridis (admiralstav.com)
How the US Can Strike Back at Iran After Deadly Drone Attack - ADM James Stavridis (Bloomberg)
On the High Seas, a Pillar of Global Trade Is Under Attack - WSJ
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Elmo Trauma Dump
Elmo started off a massive viral outpouring of emotion with this:
My reply to Elmo
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Oh, speaking of Elmo: Biden Names Elmo New Press Secretary | Babylon Bee
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Other Stuff
One side is pushing to let companies keep more of what they earn. The other side is pushing to give some people more of what other people earn. And yet they're talked about similarly: Johnson plans to bring bipartisan tax package to House floor Wednesday - POLITICO
I know that Jason Smith (whom I like) says that this is as good as it gets when Dems have so much power in DC but I really hate these welfare/redistribution "tax credits" and to me this looks like a win for the Dems and a loser for sane policy: House passes $79 billion bill to enhance child tax credit and revive key tax breaks | AP News
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Seriously, this article is not for sensitive people...contains some gruesome facts. So much to say about this...and yet I probably don't need to say anything at all: YouTube takes down beheading video hours after it circulated | AP News
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They are just young famous people: How Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce became the focus of baseless political conspiracy theories | AP News
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Shoulda filed this on time: Colorado Supreme Court throws out Adams County noise case against DIA (denverpost.com)
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The last part of this is what I've been wondering: The Taylor Swift ‘Psyop’ - WSJ
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This was a remarkable moment. Sen Josh Hawley (R-MO) was grilling Mark Zuckerberg (founder and CEO of Meta, which owns, among other things, Facebook and Instagram). He asked Zuckerberg if he'd be willing to apologize to the audience in the hearing room, many of whom have (or had) children whom they believe were harmed (or caused to commit suicide) because of social media, and Zuckerberg did so. Arguably this whole thing is worth watching. The apology is at about 4:30.
And Lindsey Graham was brutal too: Republican Blasts Mark Zuckerberg During Hearing: 'Blood on Your Hands' (newsweek.com)
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News website "The Messenger" is gone. But you probably never heard of it anyway. Which was a big part of the problem, right?
When I was a trader, the people who lost the most money were the PhDs who thought the markets and the world must eventually conform to their models. Seems like this guy did the same with a website, blowing an insane amount of money in a short time on something that lots of knowledgeable folks said at the beginning wouldn’t work.
The Messenger news startup is shutting down (axios.com)
Seems like some REALLY stupid, i.e. overly aggressive, management:
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Didn't get to this on the show yesterday but will try today. Utterly insane that these thugs are not just back out on the street but still in our country.
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I wonder if Trump supporters will ever get tired of paying the billionaire's legal bills. I suspect the answer is "mostly not": More than $27M in Trump campaign fundraising went to legal costs in the last six months of 2023 (msn.com)
A little more on the same subject: Trump spent more than $50M of his PAC and super PAC money on legal bills in 2023 (msn.com)
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How the heck did people get these pictures and does this really belong to Putin? Secret Putin home on Finnish border revealed by drone – complete with £8,000 bidets and ‘stolen’ waterfall (telegraph.co.uk)
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Today's Videos
For Brad Pitt fans
Homelessness math