Roundup time again
(1) Oprah speaks at the DNC to enthusiastically endorse Harris, and Trump replies with something from the past:
The Trump War Room account dropped a letter from Oprah where she says it was one thing “to live a life of integrity — still another to have people like yourself in office…Too bad we’re not running for office, what a team!”
Those were the days.
(2) I wrote this post yesterday in which I discussed the scale-down of the jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The news was pretty well-covered (even the Times had a piece), but somehow our brilliant Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo failed to get the memo.
I kid you not. This is extraordinary. At first she tries to say it’s a Trump lie, of course:
The reporter played a clip of former President Trump talking about the report at his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday. “The administration padded the numbers with an extra – listen to this one – 818,000 jobs that don’t exist. So they said they existed and they never did exist. They built ‘em up so they could say what a wonderful job they’re doing,” Trump said.
Raimondo appeared to dismiss the news as Trump spreading misinformation and when asked if the revision could be a liability for Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Harris, she said no.
“No. When I hear that, first of all, I don’t believe it because I’ve never heard Donald Trump say anything truthful,” Raimondo said.
“It is from the Bureau of Labor,” Whitworth responded.
“I’m not familiar with that,” Raimondo said, despite the report having been released several hours earlier.
Arrogant and ignorant – a winning combination.
(3) Here’s quite a trend:
"Depression increased the most among liberal young women, where it went from 15% in the late 2000s to 46% in 2021-22 — more than tripling in a little more than a decade."
— Jean Twenge pic.twitter.com/5VOeE2NIo5
— Paul Graham (@paulg) August 21, 2024
(4) On Kamala’s liaison to Jews:
Previous Jewish liaisons were usually involved with Jewish communal life and could speak to a variety of issues. Goldenberg is simply an anti-Israel activist whose only issues are empowering Iran and Hamas.
Instead of selecting someone from the Jewish community or any of her political aides, Harris chose someone whose sole function will be to justify her anti-Israel policies to the Jewish community, and who will filter any efforts by the Jewish community to push back against them. …
The appointment of one of the most persistently hostile foreign policy figures as a ‘liaison’ to the Jewish community sends a powerful message that this administration will be as anti-Israel as him and that Kamala will reconfigure her relationship with American Jews around her anti-Israel policies. Not even Obama went that far. What does it say that Kamala is already doing it now?
(5) It occurs to me that it’s possible that one of the threats from Democrats that got Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race may have been that they would join Republicans in impeaching him when this report was released that provides convincing evidence of his corruption. How likely do I think that Biden was threatened in that manner by Democrats? Not very. But it’s certainly a possibility, and would act as a potent motivator, much as it did for Richard Nixon at the hands of Republicans – for far less serious offenses.
Was she saying she wasn’t familiar with the report itself, or was she saying that she wasn’t aware that Bureau of Labor Statistics even existed? One would assume that the Commerce Secretary at minimum would be aware of the existence of the BLS. But these days I’m finding my expectations of the levels of incompetence of typical government functionaries are often severely underestimated, and I already have an extraordinarily low expectation of their capacities to begin with. As in, I assume they do their work with crayons, but perhaps they eat the crayons too?
While the BLS releases the employment data, the Census Bureau collects the data and delivers the numbers to the BLS. The Census Bureau is of course part of the Commerce Department which Raimondo leads. There is almost no chance that Raimondo was unaware of these revisions because I’m sure the release of these data was a big topic of discussion among all agencies involved because of the obvious political implications.
Unfortunately as someone who worked at the Census Bureau for 24 years, I no longer trust the data which they produce.
If you read the picture of Oprah’s note in the article you linked to, the linked quote actually makes sense. The link itself made a typo in the highlighted quote. It should read:
“to live a life of integrity — still another to have people like yourself NOTICE…Too bad we’re not running for office, what a team!”
Concerning item #3, I guess Rush Limbaugh was right when he said “Liberalism is a mental disorder.”
On #5, I think that’s the most powerful threat they could have made—or something related regarding the Biden family corruption—and I would be cynically disappointed in their incompetence if we could learn they never used it.
Steve Cortes:
https://x.com/CortesSteve/status/1826646631116407050?t=UuykzNVclGAxlKUn9pUJaA&s=19
video at link
Yet people keep voting for the Democrats, despite the overwhelming evidence of their malfeasance.
There is no way anything was going to happen with Biden’s corruption. How many other Senators and Congressmen in both parties are doing the same kinds of things? If not the numerical majority, enough that you couldn’t get two-thirds of both Houses if only clean people voted to convict.
Niketas:
None of that would have stopped them from making the threat.
SCOTTtheBADGER:
I believe you are making the incorrect assumptions that most of those people are aware of that news, or that those who are aware of the news believe it’s true.
As with #2 above, a lot of Democrat voters think allegations against Democrats are GOP lies.
@neo:None of that would have stopped them from making the threat.
I’m sure Biden is compos mentis enough to know it would be an empty threat if they did. Think how much dirt he has on everyone in DC by now….if there’s anyone who knows where all the bodies are buried it’s Joseph Biden.
If they threatened him it’s probably not with something that’s public. Article XXV is too hard to use against a President not actually in a coma. Maybe a threat to prosecute Hunter Biden for something really bad, who knows.
Numbers 2) and 3) are interesting to me.
It really bugs me when these top officials say “I’m not familiar with that.” Occasionally, they might be that vacant and ignorant, but most of the time it is just one of many lies. Also, her job at the top of Commerce is an economics focused job. And she doesn’t claim knowledge of a crucial economic data release?? Unbelievable.
Several weeks ago, liberal economist Jard Bernstein was interviewed and was asked about the government printing money. Do they? He was asked.
First it was, “Gee, I don’t know.” Then after great mumbling and stumbling he said, “Well yes, the Treasury prints money, I guess.”
Gads! A) He doesn’t know??? B) I’m no expert, but the Treasury borrows money by issuing debt, and the Federal Reserve prints money as part of its interest rate manipulations. So no, the Treasury does NOT print money.
3) Depression numbers: It is a small effect, but I noticed liberal young men do slightly better than the women, but with conservatives it is reversed. Why?
The latter effect is very small. I see the trend starts around 2008 when real estate was blowing up. And the finance industry.
I’d guess that the world can be a lonely place for conservatives in recent years, and perhaps especially so for male conservatives. Conservative women may complain more about being excluded, but possibly that is consistent their greater social connection in the first place. I just had such a conversation with a lady friend several hours ago.
Niketas:
I strongly disagree. If Pelosi, Schumer, and Hakeem Jeffries – as well as other leading Democrats in Congress – made the threat, Biden would have considered it serious.
As many people have pointed out, the spike in depression, particularly among young women, corresponds with the wide availability of smart phones and the non-stop access to social media. I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with this issue as a parent. I don’t envy my children having to deal it with their kids.
Re: Young people / depression
I would include the rise of victimhood mentality which has also taken place over the same time period.
Victimhood is a real accelerant for depression.
I would be surprised if young women were not depressed. Their highest calling is now denigrated. They feel that they must have careers and spend years and fortunes preparing for non-existent careers.
In the furtherance of the sexual revolution they casually cohabit with guys who are perfectly willing to enjoy the benefits–for the time being–without any responsibility. Many have no stability, or the prospect of stability.
Then, as aptly noted, smart phones has brought isolation, or
the very impersonal text as the chosen form of communication. ( How many times have I asked my daughter when she last conversed with her remotely located children; and the answer is “we texted” ” I feel like saying, “have a conversation with your kids for Pete’s sake.”)
And as also aptly noted, there is social media. Anonymity makes it so easy to be mean. It seems that meanness and vulgar language are now the badges of sophistication.
“Depression increased the most among liberal young women, where it went from 15% in the late 2000s to 46% in 2021-22 — more than tripling in a little more than a decade.”
It’s hardly surprising that depression results from embracing beliefs that require the rejection of basic aspects of reality. As each succeeding generation is subjected to the left’s insane indoctrination at an ever earlier age, the % experiencing depression and mental illness will increase. And the effect is entirely intentional.
Re #5…Why do I more likely believe that those in the D leadership cabal made their intentions known to Jill and Hunter before they spoke to Joe?
Hunter would then be on notice that he’d be facing jail time and Jill would see the money and prestige train derailed in real time. Both would then lean on Joe. He’s more likely to give Hakeem the finger than Jill. We’ll never know the truth. Especially not from this White House.
I would also note that the spike coincided with Obama. Including all his baggage.
And as far as #3….
Feature not a bug of the Gramsciian march.
Undermine every value, belief, more, and structure that adheres a culture together and voilá. Or Bob’s your uncle.
So true, Oldflyer.
Cellphone technology was supposed to be a great advancement. But we humans seem to always find a way to go for the lowest common denominator.
TV and movies had great potentials to enrich our lives. Now look at
what they’ve become. The decline has been even faster with cellphones and social media.
It’s going to be even worse with AI.
When I was growing up, there were guard rails – social rules and Biblical truths – that put some guard rails on societal behavior. Now, with 24/7 comms, the guard rails are off. Young women need nurturing, guidance, and a sense of security. Without those things it’s all too easy to fall into depression. They sure don’t find them on social media.
The outlook isn’t bright, yet I refuse to give up hope. I remember 1980. The election of Ronald Reagan reshaped thins for the next 28 years. It could happen again.
In re Goldenberg, it would seem their calculation is that nothing they do will shake loose an appreciable share of the Jewish population and persuade them to decamp to the Republicans.
and the Federal Reserve prints money as part of its interest rate manipulations. So no, the Treasury does NOT print money.
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The Bureau of Engraving and Printing actually does print money. It’s dispatched to the Federal Reserve. In regulating the money supply, the Federal Reserve makes use of a number of tools, among them purchasing securities (generally Treasury bills, notes, and bonds) with cash (“open market operations”). AFAIK, the Federal Reserve only purchases in the secondary market, so they do not finance the deficit directly.
The depressed men are the ones with the depressed women.
Let’s see the Venn diagram.
I can’t see Schumer or Congressional Democrats agreeing to impeach and convict Biden. That would be the Democrat Party throwing away their election chances. Maybe there wasn’t some massive threat. Maybe “mutual assured destruction” wasn’t the reason for Biden’s giving up. Biden was probably threatened with this and that and offered this and that, and perhaps it was just the constant hectoring and the accumulation of threats and promises that led him to pull out. A health crisis also isn’t off the table as a possible reason for his withdrawing from the race. Something happened in Las Vegas, and we won’t know what that was for a long time.
_________
It’s possible that Raimondo didn’t want to answer the question and just wanted to break off the interview or conversation. It’s not impossible that she hadn’t heard the news Did she really not know there was a Bureau of Labor Statistics? That’s much less likely, but it’s an intriguing idea. Buttigieg and Granholm know nothing about transportation or energy. Maybe Raimondo knows nothing about commerce or the economy. Were cabinet secretaries always this ignorant? Or is it just that they were kept away from reporters and microphones and television cameras, so no one knew just how ignorant they were?
Art Deco:
Have you seen polls? If not, what is your evidence? I saw a poll the other day (can’t recall where) that said the Jewish vote was now 50/50, which is a very significant swing to the right.
Have you seen polls? If not, what is your evidence? I
==
I’m hypothesizing about their calculations, not making any of my own. (Though I suspect political preferences among Jews are not all that sensitive to external events). BTW, Jews are difficult to poll and polling is much less reliable then in the era when you could get respondents via random-digit dialing.
Raimondo didn’t want to answer questions about the revision, so she said she was unfamiliar with it. She may indeed have known nothing of it but the executive summary.
J. E. Dyer tackles a round-up as well. She covers a lot of important events that go under the radar of most of the media (have you noticed that all of the Salem media pundits tread the same ground, just in different words and sometimes a different focus?) and brings a deep knowledge of history and foreign affairs into her analyses.
These are my topic “summaries” (my numbering); the first is the longest topic of a very long post, but all of the entries are important in some way.
https://theoptimisticconservative.wordpress.com/2024/08/22/toc-ready-room-22-august-2024-biggest-grab-bag-evah-defense-economics-nuclear-energy-more/
Phew…
Thanks very much for that, albeit scary, comprehensive rundown, AF.
(The Optimistic Conservative???)
One should note that all the lying and chicanery involved over a wide variety of different areas demonstrates just how crucial this election is for the Democratic Party’s plan to destroy the country—IOW, demonstrates the extent to which this is an election that the Democrats, if they are to succeed in their plan of total destruction, know they MUST NOT LOSE…which goes a long way to explaining the airbrushing of Joe Biden out of the picture and the concomitant mega-rehabilitation of Kamala Harris (AKA making something out of nothing).
Mpox—i.e., Mbusiness, on a huge scale—indeed…
Section 4 of the 25th is a bit ambiguous about who makes the determination that the President is no longer competent. While the VP and Cabinet are named specifically, there is a clause that empowers Congress to create a body to make the determination (‘…of such other body as Congress may by law provide…’). I don’t know if ‘by law’ indicates that this has to be enacted as a normal bill, i.e. passed by both chambers and signed by the President, or if Congress is simply empowered to appoint a group. Every story mentions that Pelosi and Schumer were the ones communicating with Biden which is odd because Congress plays no part in originating the competency determination unless you count this clause as a preliminary step. I wonder if they could have been threatening him with taking action to appoint a group to evaluate his competency which, after his debate performance, would likely have ended any chance he would have had of being nominated or, if he was nominated, winning the election.