I’m sorry to have to announce the death of commenter “Mike K” on October 25, 2024. Mike K began commenting here in 2007 but only very intermittently at that point, and became a regular and prolific part of the commenting community at this blog in 2016. I will miss him, and I know a lot of you share that sentiment.
In the real world as opposed to the virtual one, “Mike K” was Dr. Michael Thomas Kennedy of Mission Viejo and Tucson. He was 86 years old, and the author of a book about his years of practicing medicine called War Stories: 50 Years in Medicine. I’ve never read it, but Mike K had a way with words, and I bet it’s well worth the journey.
Mike K had a blog for many years, and it still can be found here. I don’t think I even knew it existed until now, but it has a wealth of information about Mike’s life and work. He seems to have also been an avid sailor, at least until recent years. And from his blog I also learned that in 2004 he had written another book entitled A Brief History of Disease, Science and Medicine: From the Ice Age to the Genome Project. It seems to have sold pretty well and gets good reviews on Amazon.
One of Mike K’s last comments here was about some books by Samuel Eliot Morrison that he owned:
I have both, including another volume. We are having to move to a smaller place and I will have to give them away. Golden Years, my ass.
The “Golden Years, my ass” comment got several approving dittos.
I have five kids. Two are conservative and two are lefties. One, a daughter, is a reasonable lefty. She and I have had conversations about politics. The other lefties just agree to disagree. Both are lawyers, of course. We don’t argue as we all know it would be uinseless. My moderate daughter has a child, now 5, and she says it has changed her life. Maybe she is saying what I want to hear, but I think it has had a huge effect on her.
I operated on a 1 pound 10 ounce baby in 1969. She survived and thrived. I did not write it up. Too busy. Two guys in FL operated on a 2 pound 2 ounce baby the next year and got credit for youngest to survive.
And ah yes; it was Mike K who had a mother who lived in three centuries. He wrote this in July of 2024:
I am still a kid compared to my mother but I will be 87 next February. She died at 103 having lived in three centuries, 1898 to 2001. She kept all her marbles until the last 6 months. Speaking of hair, she never fixed her own after childhood. She had an unfrocked priest who lived in her building drive her to the beauty parlor every 2 weeks til she gave up her apartment at 100.
RIP Mike K, and all the commenters here who may have died but all we know is that they disappeared never to return.
But it’s Hunter Biden’s father’s extraordinary pardon.
Because I never took Joe Biden’s promises not to pardon Hunter seriously, I didn’t really follow how many people on the left were saying he was some George-Washington-like figure for making the vow. And so I didn’t realize how much backpedaling they were going to have to do when he made the nearly-inevitable pardon announcement.
Here’s one, for example, who has been left wide-eyed and slack-jawed:
BRUTAL: Brianna Keilar on CNN just made Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) watch a clip of himself insisting that Biden would never pardon Hunter. She then asked: "What does that feel like?"
They even kept him on-screen as the video played so we could watch his reaction. pic.twitter.com/uC6EM06Ikh
Joe’s pardon has several unusual characteristics that make it worse for the left than a simple lie. For those who peddled the “noble Joe” line, it’s hard to rationalize what Biden did – although they try. But for their following who bought the “noble” line, it’s disillusioning. There’s also the breadth of the pardon:
President Joe Biden’s grant of clemency on Sunday night — an extraordinary political act with extraordinary legal breadth — insulates his son from ever facing federal charges over any crimes he possibly could have committed over the past decade.
Experts on pardons said they could think of only one other person who has received a presidential pardon so sweeping in generations: Nixon, who was given a blanket pardon by Gerald Ford in 1974.
“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, with the exception of the Nixon pardon,” said Margaret Love, who served from 1990 to 1997 as the U.S. pardon attorney, a Justice Department position devoted to assisting the president on clemency issues.
“Even the broadest Trump pardons were specific as to what was being pardoned,” Love added.
But Joe had to protect his son, his family, and himself from any possible charges connected with the family corruption, influence-peddling, FARA violations, perjury, and what-have-you. That’s why the pardon had to start in 2014, when Hunter began his “work” with Burisma. That’s also why the pardon had to be so broad.
And you may recall that Hunter Biden’s original plea deal that was offered by the Biden-friendly DOJ had included an unusually broad immunity grant:
First son Hunter Biden was set to receive sweeping immunity protection under the terms of a plea deal negotiated with federal prosecutors — only for the Justice Department to backtrack under questioning from a Delaware judge during a Wednesday hearing.
Special Assistant US Attorney Leo Wise and Hunter’s lawyer Christopher Clark both signed a probation-only agreement to allow the 53-year-old first son to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and enter a diversion program for a felony charge of possessing a firearm while addicted to crack cocaine, according to a copy of the document obtained by Politico.
The memo stated that prosecutors would also not seek to charge Hunter Biden for any federal crimes attached to his case, which included millions of dollars in missed tax payments between 2016 and 2019.
The deal only left open the possibility of “prosecution for any future conduct” by the president’s son — ensuring that possible violations of foreign lobbying laws and money laundering would be forever uncharged.
That article is from July of 2023. This is what the original deal from the DOJ was. Far from being out to get Hunter (which is what Joe now asserts: selective prosecution from a hostile DOJ), they were out to make sure Hunter didn’t serve a day in prison and to immunize him from future prosecutions. The only reason it didn’t work was that the judge noticed it and put the kibosh on it.
So, far from being some act of defiance against an anti-Hunter weaponized DOJ, Joe Biden’s pardon is merely achieving what the DOJ originally tried to achieve, only through another route.
Anyone who has followed Joe’s career could not have believed the talk about how noble and rule of law he is. I’m surprised any sentient being seemed to believe it, actually.
But they are bold and they are shameless, and they are accustomed to wiggling out of anything.
Here’s a list of crimes for which Hunter might have been indicted but which are now off the table – except, I suppose, if any of them are state prosecutions. I don’t see it happening. And Hunter’s freedom seems a small price to pay in exchange for getting rid of the Biden or the Harris presidency.
This is the key thing about the Hunter pardon: it pulls the rug from under the feet of the woke elites. For months, especially as it became clear that their political fortunes were waning under a second Trump surge, the Dems and their media backers pointed to Biden’s principled position on Hunter as proof that they still enjoyed moral superiority over Trump. Biden categorically ruled out a pardon. ‘I abide by the jury decision… I will not pardon him’, he said in June. …
Look, we don’t have to be heartless bastards about it. Many among us would opt to save a child from jail, even if it meant backtracking on all our fine moral grandstanding. But the problem is the Dems tied their political rectitude to Biden’s acceptance of the jury’s democratic deliberations. They used the Hunter case to morally distinguish themselves from the allegedly lawless bruisers of the Trump set. They swore, endlessly, that they would abide by the rules and restore normalcy to the Trump-rattled republic. And they didn’t. They ended up exploiting presidential power for personal favour to a degree Trump never did. Their claims to moral distinction lie in tatters. Their delusion of righteousness stands exposed as just that: a delusion. This is why this pardon matters.
To some people, yes. But most people weren’t paying such close attention, and a lot of people will just shrug and say any father would do the same.
This is a good discussion of the pardon. These guys are sharp and funny:
That’s one of those post titles that promises more than I can deliver. But I’ll do my best.
The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, gave a speech declaring martial law in the country. His explanation was something akin to “in order to save democracy.” From his speech:
Since the inauguration of our government, the National Assembly has initiated 22 impeachment motions against government officials, and since the inauguration of the 22nd National Assembly in June, it is pushing for the impeachment of 10 more. This is a situation that is not only unprecedented in any country in the world, but has never been seen since the founding of our country …
This trampling of the constitutional order of the free Republic of Korea and the disruption of legitimate state institutions established by the constitution and laws is an obvious anti-state act that plots insurrection. …
The National Assembly, which should be the foundation of liberal democracy, has become a monster that collapses the liberal democracy system. …
Dear citizens, I declare emergency martial law to defend the free Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces and to eradicate the shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people and to protect the free constitutional order.
And the National Assembly countered by blocking the declaration of martial law, with the military standing down. And it seems that even Yoon’s own party isn’t backing his martial law move.
It’s hard to get any really in-depth analysis at this point. But it seems at the outset, anyway, that he’s not a popular guy and it’s not a popular move. My hunch is that North Korea doesn’t have all that much to do with it. And I guess that either it will blow over, or we’ll find out more.
I haven’t followed ice skating for quite a few years, although I used to. Seems like it’s become a lot more daring and acrobatic – at least, this event has. I have no idea who these people are:
A new president needs transition time to get his or her administration together prior to the transfer of power. But how much transition time is too much? I’m of the opinion that the current 2+ months is too much. Of course, a lot of damage can be done in less than two months, as well.
Biden was spotted by the press leaving Nantucket Bookworks holding a copy of “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017” by Columbia University professor emeritus Rashid Khalidi, the New York Post reported.
“I do not speak to the Post (or the Times for that matter), so this is not for publication, but my reaction is that this is four years too late,” Khalidi told the Post of Biden holding his book.
You may recall the name “Khalidi.” As I wrote back in 2016, while discussing Obama’s parting shots at Israel when he was in lame-duck-land much as Biden is now:
Did you hear a faint bell ringing in the background when you read the name “Rashid Khalidi”? You should have, because Khalidi was the subject of the famous but never-revealed 2003 video of Obama at a function honoring him, a video that the LA Times had possession of but refused to release.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single story about Biden carrying a book or reading a book, and it’s an odd time to start now. But it’s definitely a leaf from Obama’s book.
When I was a kid and the internet didn’t exist, I used to spend a lot of time listening to records. That’s why, to this day, my brain still has access to the entire scores of many Broadway musicals and Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The mind of a child is a spongelike thing, and when I say entire scores I mean every single word.
And so, with the news of Biden’s pardon of son Hunter, this song started to enter earworm territory for me. Yes, I know it’s a different kind of pardon, but here it is anyway for your listening pleasure:
And yet some people are surprised. Or are they pretending to be surprised? It’s the old fools/knaves puzzle.
There are so many fascinating aspects to this action of Biden’s, even though the thing itself was almost inevitable. If Joe Biden had merely pardoned Hunter, saying that it was because he’s his son, it wouldn’t be nearly so interesting although it would be a continuation of Joe’s enabling of Hunter. However, Joe used the ridiculous excuse that the pardon was issued because Hunter’s convictions represented selective prosecution – “ridiculous” because (1) actually authorities bent over backwards for quite some time to negotiate a sweetheart plea deal for Hunter instead, and it was only whistleblowers and the judge who made that impossible (2) the Biden administration has been selectively prosecuting its political opponents for years; and (3) Hunter actually is guilty of actual crimes (unlike the manufactured ones with which Trump was charged).
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.
Whether or not Joe actually wrote that is somewhat irrelevant at this point. I don’t think he’s so far gone, however, that he doesn’t understand it and approve it.
And the J6 defendants and Trump and Steve Bannon and General Flynn? No selective prosecution there, no sirree.
What makes this case extra-special is the fact that Joe spent a lot of time in the last year or so promising not to pardon Hunter. It was always pretty clear that Biden would be likely to pardon him if necessary; as I wrote here when speaking of the sentencing date:
Sentencing is scheduled for December 16. That seems to me to be well-timed. It takes the case out of the campaign season, and yet it places sentencing early enough that his father can pardon him if needed.
And that has played out with Joe pardoning Hunter before sentence can be pronounced.
Here’s a great clip that highlights the way the left is spinning this:
Of course – as Scott Jennings indicates – a “selective prosecution” argument can’t justify a blanket pardon. And the biggest issue is that Biden promised over and over not to do this. The woman in that clip shrugs it off by saying Biden changed his mind and didn’t actually lie, which is a difference that doesn’t make a difference. When a person promises something over and over – such as to be faithful to a spouse – and then cheats, was the original vow not a lie because he/she meant it at the time and just had a change of mind?
President-elect Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as FBI director evoked strong reactions from supporters and critics Saturday night.
Patel’s nomination hints at massive changes the agency will likely undergo during the second Trump administration. As a staunch supporter of Trump, Patel is a fierce critic of government corruption and the so-called “deep state” and has blasted the bureau in the past.
Patel is also very very smart. The right is very happy about this choice and the left is very unhappy.
More:
Trump has not historically been a fan of the FBI, which raided his Florida estate in 2022 and years earlier investigated false claims he was a Russian asset. Most observers expect Trump will demand an agency overhaul by his director.
Indeed. A much-needed overhaul.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe previously called Patel the “personification of MAGA rage about the Justice Department and the FBI.”
Completely justified rage, I might add.
Patel will need to be approved by the Senate. That’s a reminder of how very important it was for the GOP to gain majority control of that legislative branch. Of course, it will also be vital that there not be too many GOP “mavericks” in that august body, ready to oppose the nominations.
On Saturday, the sick group released a proof-of-life video of American hostage Idan Alexander, who they’ve held in captivity for over 400 days after they captured him during the massacre of Oct. 7, 2023.
Alexander pushed for President-elect Donald Trump to negotiate his release—something Trump has indicated is his priority even before he re-enters the Oval Office—but presumably, Alexander was told what to say by his captors …
I think the most important thing about this video is that the reference to Trump indicates it was made recently and that therefore the hostage is still alive, or was until a little while ago. In the video he refers not only to the Trump election but also states that he’s been held captive for more than 420 days, and also references the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Poulin. Of course, two different videos might have been made a while ago – one for a possible Harris victory and one for a possible Trump victory. But the reference to Hersh Goldberg-Poulin’s killing means the video was almost certainly made no earlier than late August of 2024.
Quite ominously, however, a video of Goldberg-Poulin was released about four months before he was killed.
NOTE: By the way, a coup seems to be underway in Syria. Nothing good, though; reports are it’s a Taliban-like group seeking to take over.
Overall, Republicans today are more excited about what Trump will do as president now than they were in 2016 when he was first elected.
Democrats say they feel more scared about what Trump might do than they did in 2016, and a large majority of Democrats think as president he will threaten their rights and freedoms. But at the same time, there seems to be a sense of exhaustion, as fewer than half of Democrats feel motivated to oppose Trump right now.
There are a lot of poll results at the link, with simple charts.
And here’s a relevant clip from CNN:
There are three main reasons for this, the first two being the most important:
(1) People have endured the Biden years and the prospect of Harris, and are soundly rejecting them.
(2) People experienced Trump’s first term and it was pretty good, especially in retrospect.
(3) The opposition is somewhat tired – for the moment, anyway.
I think there are quite a few people like me who in 2016 were happy Hillary Clinton lost but were apprehensive about Trump, the unknown and potential loose cannon. Now he has a track record that is reassuring – although of course anything can happen.
