Romney: finally an old pol retires

The New Neo Posted on by

Well, at least Mitt Romney says he’s bowing off the scene:

“I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-eighties. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in,” Romney said.

Too bad he didn’t do it in 2018. However, he’s not retiring yet – he intends to serve out his term.

Does anyone believe that Romney wouldn’t be running again if he hadn’t burned his bridges with the Republicans in his state? I think that’s his main motive; he just doesn’t see a political future for himself. He’s not shutting up, though; he apparently is quoted as dissing the GOP in a new biography released to coincide with today’s announcement.

And Donald Trump had this to say about Romney’s statement that he won’t be running for re-election in 2024:

In response to the announcement on Wednesday, Trump wrote a statement in all caps on Truth Social, celebrating the news.

“Fantastic news for America, the great state of Utah, & for the Republican Party. Mitt Romney, sometimes referred to as Pierre Delecto, will not be seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate, where he did not serve with distinction,” Trump wrote, referring to Romney using a pseudonym of “Pierre Delecto” to operate a Twitter account anonymously.

Trump added, “A big primary fight against him was in the offing, but now that will not be necessary. Congrats to all. Make America Great Again.”

I’ve got to agree with Trump here – and I like the fine understatement of the phrase “where he did not serve with distinction.”

I supported Romney in 2012 when he was running against Obama for the presidency, but Romney was not my first choice and he wasn’t a great candidate, although he had his moments. Obama’s second term was worse and more destructive than his first term, and Romney or some other GOP candidate could have stopped him – although I’m not sure if that chance was not just theoretical, because Obama was still quite popular at the time.

[NOTE: I also think one of Romney’s aims is to get Biden to voluntarily bow out in 2024. Romney would like a better candidate to oppose Trump, whom he detests. But I doubt Biden is listening to him.]

New Mexico: and the cheese (aka Governor Grisham) stands alone

The New Neo Posted on by

A state of emergency is a tyrant’s best friend, as all students of history know. Whether or not New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is a student of history, she has the instincts of a tyrant and has been unafraid to act on them by declaring an emergency based on some fatal shootings of minors, and suspending the right to carry guns in Albuquerque and its environs. The fact that such an edict would only be obeyed by the law-abiding, therefore undermining people’s right to self-defense – not to mention the Second Amendment – seemed lost on her. And the fact that as governor she is not empowered to do such a thing just by declaring some sort of emergency is also lost on her.

But perhaps this development won’t be lost on her:

The state senate has 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans; the state house has 45 Democrats and 25 Republicans. New Mexico has not failed to repeal or revise the state’s concealed- and open-carry laws because of GOP obstinacy. There simply aren’t enough votes supporting the changes Lujan Grisham wants. So she has chosen to ignore her state’s constitution and is attempting to unilaterally suspend laws she opposes.

Unsurprisingly, New Mexico’s law-enforcement communities want nothing to do with this blatantly unconstitutional act. Almost immediately after the governor’s announcement, Albuquerque mayor Tim Keller, Bernalillo County sheriff John Allen, and Albuquerque police chief Harold Medina all issued statements that they would not be enforcing the governor’s order. Medina stated, “Our officers at APD will continue to focus on the enforcement of criminal laws and arresting the criminals who are driving violent crime in the city.”

Yesterday, Lujan Grisham’s effort hit another significant setback when her state’s attorney general, Raul Torrez, declared that he, too, saw the governor’s action as unconstitutional and that he would not defend it in court …

The New Mexico legislature is controlled by Democrats. Torrez is a Democrat. Keller is a Democrat. I suspect the others are Democrats, too, although I couldn’t immediately get information on that. But the point is that even the Democrats in the area are against what the governor has done. One clue as to why is the fact that about 46% of New Mexican adults have at least one gun in the house, according to the linked article. That doesn’t mean they carry them – the governor’s ban had to do with carrying rather than possession in the home – but it nevertheless shows the extent of support for gun rights in the state. Even most of the Democrats in office in the state seem to be aware that what Governor Grisham is trying to do would be wildly unpopular in New Mexico, and they are eager to distance themselves from her.

They are also eager to distance themselves from the widespread perception (which I think is mostly correct, by the way) that most Democrat politicians are against the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns and would dearly love to take that right away if it wasn’t political suicide to do so.

The Biden administration gives Iran the gift of unfreezing six billion dollars

The New Neo Posted on by

Of course. Of course. The six billion is in exchange for five US prisoners.

Which of course – of course – will discourage the taking of more US prisoners – not.

Oh, but the administration says the money has to be used for “humanitarian purposes.” The Iranian leaders say Ha ha suckers:

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government will decide how it will spend $6 billion in previously frozen funds due to be released in a prisoner exchange agreement with the United States, telling NBC News’ Lester Holt that the money will be spent “wherever we need it.” …

Under the arrangement, Tehran will be granted access to the roughly $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues that were blocked in South Korean banks because of U.S. sanctions. But U.S. officials say Qatar’s central bank will oversee the funds and Iran will be permitted to use the money only for humanitarian purposes in accordance with U.S. sanctions.

In response to Raisi’s remarks, a senior Biden administration official said the released funds would first be transferred to Qatar. The Treasury Department would then track all transactions closely to ensure the money is used exclusively for humanitarian purposes.

Nothing could possibly go wrong – just as when this happened as a result of the prisoner exchange for Bergdahl:

Four of the five Taliban members released from Guantanamo Bay by the Obama administration in 2014 in exchange for admitted US Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl are part of the Islamic fundamentalist group’s new hardline government in Afghanistan, according to local media reports. …

As Bergdhal returned to the United States, the Taliban Five were flown to Qatar, where much of the Taliban’s political leadership resided at the time.

The agreement for the release of the prisoners was that Qatar would monitor them:

Concerns have been expressed by U.S. intelligence officials and Congressional advisers over the role of the Gulf emirate as a bridge between Washington and the world of radical Islam. But the White House says it received “very specific” assurances from Qatar on the terms under which it agreed to accept and keep tabs on the five Afghans.

“I have little confidence in the security assurances regarding the movement and activities of the now released Taliban leaders and I have even less confidence in this administration’s willingness to ensure they are enforced,” said Mike Rogers, a Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

And that last paragraph is just how I feel about this latest prisoner exchange and the terms for Iran, as well as Qatar’s role.

Customer “help” is getting worse

The New Neo Posted on by

In recent years it often feels that it’s not even worth it to try to get help for most products or websites. The instructions can be so arcane and convoluted that it seems that they were designed by programmers talking to other programmers. Everything is complex, and simple operations aren’t even covered. The “chats” are manned (a misnomer) by AI bots, and when you are bumped up to supposedly human level it’s hardly any better.

Last night I had a frustrating forty-five minute back-and-forth with a website, trying to get a very simple and basic question answered. It was no go, although they bumped me up to two levels of human interaction. Not only did no one know the answer, but they couldn’t even understand the question. Language barrier? Stupidity? Being told to stick to the manual and never go outside it? All of the above? None of the above?

I finally gave up and went to another site that offered a similar service. There were glitches there, too. I spent about four nearly-fruitless hours in this endeavor, and that’s not unusual.

Have you had the same experience?

Kevin McCarthy has opened a formal impeachment inquiry against Biden

The New Neo Posted on by

The news:

The speaker said House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will lead the inquiry in coordination with House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

McCarthy spoke for only roughly three minutes and did not take questions from reporters. ,,,

He listed allegations of “abuse of power, obstruction and corruption” made against Biden by several GOP-led committees who have been investigating the president.

“Through our investigations, we have found that President Biden did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings. Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions, dinners resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his sons and his son’s business partners,” McCarthy said.

“We know that bank records show that nearly $20 million in payments were directed to the Biden family members and associates through various Shell companies.

I strongly believe that Biden is guilty of old-fashioned corruption. These are not manufactured charges based on novel legal theories. But of course, there is no chance that Biden will be convicted in the Senate. Instead, the goal of these hearings will be to get the facts in front of the American people. But that endeavor will be hampered by the MSM, which will frame the whole thing as “Republicans pounce on poor innocent old good guy Joe and his lovable-but-flawed-and-now-reformed son.”

The only thing that would get the MSM and the Democrats to admit Joe’s corruption would be if they decided they wanted to be rid of him and they can’t figure out another way to do it. But I do not predict that will happen.

New York City versus airbnb

The New Neo Posted on by

Airbnb may be pretty much finished in New York City:

New rules governing short-term stays book via Airbnb, Vrbo and similar platforms in New York City could have broader consequences for the vacation rental industry, just as it faces headwinds from some travelers who are once again favoring traditional hotels over residential-style listings.

Why it matters: The change — which Airbnb has called a “de facto ban” — is one of the most significant moves a major city has made in recent years to curtail short-term rentals, coming after New Orleans issued new restrictions of its own in March.

A lot of cities might end up doing the same thing as New York, which is basically to limit airbnb-type listings of under thirty days to properties in which the owner is present, the number of guests is limited to two, and the guests have access to the whole property. Only a small percentage of listings are of that type.

I wonder if this is being done to protect the hotel industry; that certainly is the argument of the pro-airbnb folks. But I am also under the impression that there are so many airbnb properties in a city like New York that it’s making it harder for bona fide residents to rent an apartment, and probably driving up prices as well.

One of the many problems is that hotel rooms in general, and particularly in a city like New York, have become exorbitant in recent years. That’s my perception, when a basic room costs at least $350 a night.

Will the limitations on airbnbs discourage tourism? No one seems to know. Probably many of you don’t much care about New York, but this sort of thing could spread to many many cities.

Are Biden’s handlers guilty of elder abuse?

The New Neo Posted on by

Even back during the 2020 campaign, I heard the claim that Biden’s handlers – and also Jill Biden – were guilty of elder abuse in having him run for president and cooperating with it and facilitating it. I noticed today a commenter here (“Brooklyn Boy”) making the very same point: “His handlers are guilty of elder abuse.”

And surely, if it was true in 2020, it’s even more true now, because unlike fine wine, Joe Biden has not improved with age.

But I disagreed with the “elder abuse” premise in 2020, and I disagree with it now. I suppose your opinion on the matter depends on how you evaluate Biden’s cognitive state at the moment. I have long used phases like “cognitively challenged” for Biden, whom I see as having many cognitive deficits but as still being cogniscent of what’s going on around him and possessed of what is commonly known as “agency.”

The man was never sharp or wise, so that’s not the issue. He was never a truth-teller. Nor was he possessed of solid political principles, whatever they might have been, left or middle-of-the-road. He was a great vice president for Obama because he was a policy chameleon, willing to go along with whatever Obama wanted, which was to move ever leftward. It was just fine with Biden, whose overwhelming motive has always been his own personal ambition. Becoming VP in his golden years was a dream come true, although it was a dream he thought he’d fulfill much much earlier in life.

And becoming president was even more of a dream fulfilled for Biden. He has willed it for his entire adult life, and he has achieved it. And he still has will, despite his cognitive limitations which are hardly absolute. Being president is exactly what he wants and has always wanted, and he would crawl over the proverbial broken glass to do it again in 2024. If his party wishes to remove him, it will take some doing.

Nor is Biden particularly embarrassed by his current state. He was always sort of goony, given to strange and/or shady statements and claims, many of them made up. He had no shame then and none now.

No; the only people being abused in this deal are those of us who didn’t vote for him.

Roundup

The New Neo Posted on by

(1) The absolute and imperial monarch of New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, has taken to heart the idea that in crisis is opportunity. But she’s getting some pushback, even from a few on the left:

Emergency orders issued by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque are getting pushback from gun rights groups and some law enforcement officials and elected leaders.

Citing the recent shooting deaths of three children, including an 11-year-old boy gunned down outside a minor league baseball park last week, Grisham issued a 30-day ban on open and concealed carrying of firearms in her state’s largest city and surrounding areas in Bernalillo County. The decree came a day after Lujan Grisham declared gun violence a statewide public health emergency, saying “the rate of gun deaths in New Mexico increased 43% from 2009 to 2018.” …

“Gun violence is an epidemic in America, and I’m done letting it be an epidemic anywhere in my state. Enough is enough,” Lujan Grisham said.

Well, that settles it, right?

Governor Grisham’s order is already the target of four lawsuits.

(2) A North Dakota man has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for manslaughter, to which he had pleaded guilty. Reading the article, it’s difficult to get a sense of what really happened. But the lightness of the sentence seems wrong on the face of it, according to the facts as I understand them.

It’s a good thing he didn’t do what this J6 defendant who got 7 1/4 years did: talk about taking the Capitol and wear a gun but never use or even brandish it, never enter the Capitol, and never assault anyone.

(3) Nancy Pelosi is running again. She says it’s so she can raise money for the Democrats, something at which she’s excelled in the past. Pelosi is presently 83 and would be 84 1/2 by the time of the 2024 election and 86 at the end of the term, a relative spring chicken in these days of geriatric politicians. I think she harbors visions of being Speaker one more time.

(4) And speaking of spring chickens – Joe Biden is spending 9/11 in Alaska.

(5) Musk’s “X” (formerly Twitter) is suing California:

The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento federal court, alleges a new California law violates the company’s First Amendment rights because “it compels companies like X Corp. to engage in speech against their will” and “interferes with the constitutionally-protected editorial judgments” of the company.

It says it does so by “pressuring companies such as X Corp. to remove, demonetize, or deprioritize constitutionally-protected speech that the State deems undesirable or harmful,” and “places an unjustified and undue burden” on social media companies like X.

On the 22nd anniversary of 9/11

The New Neo Posted on by

It doesn’t seem possible that so many years have passed. And yet in a way, 9/11 seems like ancient history, or a bad dream. Or both.

There are college graduates who were not born when 9/11 happened. To an entire generation, 9/11 is part of the background noise of their lives, something that was always there. They cannot imagine the shock of that day for those of us who are older.

We should bow our heads and remember those who were foully murdered on 9/11, many of them young people themselves who would now be middle-aged or old but never got the chance. The NY Times has written many abominable things before and since 9/11, but its “Portraits of Grief” sketches of the victims are wonderfully done and remain heartbreaking.

One of the many terrible legacies of that day is the surveillance state, enabled by the War on Terror’s Patriot Act and now used against us all, particularly on the right. But I believe that would have happened anyway, because the computer age and other advances in technology have made that type of spying on the average citizen all too tempting and all too possible.

But would the left have gained such ascendance without 9/11? I think the answer is “yes.” Recall that on 9/11 the left was fully ready with its “blame America” stance. The Gramscian march was already well advanced, too.

And would Obama have been elected in 2008 without 9/11? I think so; his appeal was about a host of other things, including the (utterly betrayed) promise of racial healing, the financial crisis, and his own carefully-crafted persona.

Without 9/11, however, the Afghanistan War would not have happened, a war whose consequences – thanks in particular to Joe Biden – have been bad and whatever good it accomplished undone. The attacks of 9/11 were not the reason for the Iraq War – unlike the Afghan War. But I submit that without 9/11 the Iraq War would not have happened, either.

On a personal note, 9/11 was the catalyst for a several-years-long process of reading and thinking that led to a political change on my part. The change was only of political affiliation, however. Nothing basic about my point of view changed, and the change wasn’t about terrorism or 9/11 itself. I simply became more interested in learning the facts about history and politics as well as the MSM coverage of those things, and in the course of that activity I discovered to my surprise that I no longer could support the Democratic Party. And so in a very real way 9/11 began a long process that led to my starting this blog in the fall of 2004.

RIP to all the victims and heroes of 9/11. And may their families, and the survivors, be comforted. And may the republic somehow manage to reverse the terrible course it’s been on lately.

[NOTE: Here’s my personal account of 9/11.]

ADDENDUM: There are many many videos available about 9/11. Here are just a few short ones: