Joe Biden on Election 2020

But who is going to look Goofy after New Hampshire?  Perhaps the same pol who sounds goofy now--the  lying Dog Faced Pony soldier. 

Mayor Pete on Backyard Bullying

Preying on Fake Prayer

At the 2020 National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump railed against politicians who hide behind false piety in proffering their politics. 

Pelosi's purportedly prayful approach to impeachment has not conveyed a sense of sincerely, as evidenced by a skit from Saturday Night Live.

Andrew Yang on Incompetence and Elections

No Malarkey from Joe Biden?

Apparently, former Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) is not totally detached from reality as he offered a no malarkey assessment of his campaign's performance in the 2020 Iowa Caucuses.  With less than 70% of the vote tallied after two days, Biden is running in 4th place with 15.9% support.  On the bright side, Biden (barely) qualifies for delegates.  But on the dark side, he might place fifth behind Senator Amy Klobachar (D-MN).

Iowa is not about delegates, as only 41 were available from the Iowa Caucuses.  It is about gaining momentum at the start of the Presidential Primary campaign.  Conventional wisdom is that there are three tickets out of Iowa, and it looks like Lunch Bucket Joe got a gut punch rather than his ticket punched.  Granted,  Biden did not pour all of his resources into organizing in the Hawkeye State, like Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South Bend, IN) or Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).  But a former Vice President, who the media kept touting as the national front runner,  being an also ran is devasting.

Some have suspected that the Democrat Establishment have been obliquely seeking to help Biden, because the prospect of nominating socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT) scares the bejesus out of them.  Thus, the delayed submission of the Articles of Impeachment curiously required that sitting Senators (Sanders, Warren, Klobachar, Bennett) could not be out on the Hawkeye hustings when the Senate was trying President Trump.   Moreover, the prolonged odd delay in reporting results from the Iowa Caucuses (which has been attributed to software output issues) both steals the thunder from winning candidates like Buttigieg and Sanders, thus taking away momentum from Iowa and it obscures the gut punch of a fourth place finish for Biden. 

Political junkies know that Biden planned on having a South Carolina strategy, as he expects to garner giant support from the largely black electorate who would give fealty to Barack Obama's number two.   The problem is that he has to make it to the end of February.  When a candidate, like Biden, is competing as a front runner, it burns cash. If Biden has another disappointing result in New Hampshire, the money dries up and the staff starts to bolt. 

The Establishment's chosen candidate has been floored by a Hawkeye gut punch and they feel they need to slow the Sanders juggernaut lest he becomes the inevitable nominee.  So they need someone to last until the March 3rd Super Tuesday primaries, when ex Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R, I, D) can buy them some time and victories before the Milwaukee convention in July.

And THAT'S no malarkey.

Talking Trash About DC's Green Police

For Super Bowl XLIV, Audi made a splash with its advertisement during the Super Bowl “The Green Police” which spoof’s Cheap Trick’s 1979 hit song “Dream Police” by fusing it lyrics and images of  overzealous Eco-Cops.




After the defeat of “Cap and Trade” legislation in the United States Senate and the revelations about scientists skewing global warming data in Climate-gate, the public could chuckle at this green cacotopia while considering the virtues of clean diesel cars.

Unfortunately, Audi did not prepare a parody but a prognostication. In the District of Columbia, a Dupont Circle resident is being barraged with fines from DC’s Department of Public Works for not recycling. It seems that Patricia White shreds her junk mail and newspapers to use as cat litter. In fact, she is being quite green since colored print matter is considered not recyclable.

 But much like the “Green Police” Audi ad, the DPW inspector admitted to digging through her trash cans to fine these violations. The city and the courts have enforced fines totalling $2,000.  Perhaps she should put these soiled papers into recycling and let the city sort it out.





At home I am nicknamed a “Recycling Nazi” for trying to get all the cans and bottles into the recycling bins. But I recognize the relative futility of the exercise. Washington mandates that all offices in the city have recycling bins for paper.  I have worked late at many offices and seen these blue bins dumped into the rest of the “basura” (trash), even though they are clearly labeled-even in Spanish.   I have also been to the city dump where I have seen the recycling trucks deposit their collections with the rest of the refuse.

The DC government used the plastic bag ban as a tool to expand its power and financial base while clothing it in environmentalism.  The 5-cent a disposable plastic bag fee was supposed to stem the tide of trash in the Anacostia River.  But then Mayor Adrian Fenty quickly diverted the proceeds from these mandatory fees assessed by business on consumers to non-environmental concerns.  After the first year of operation, the DC government realized the program for people bringing their own bags had been so successful that the DC Council looked to impose other taxes to supplement this shortfall. This was not a job for Captain Planet.

Improvements in the city are stifled by the city government concocting suspect environmental excuses to slow progress.  Philanthropists are seeking to convert an abandoned school into housing for homeless veterans. The charity was able to raise enough funds but their efforts are waylaid by city officials citing sustainable growth citing that there would not be enough parking spaces for these homeless vets.

These episode about municipal obsession about recycling illustrates several points.  The DPW inspector seems like an obsessive go-getter who is vying for promotion.  Allowing governments to expand by raising taxes funds such nonsense. In the end, seeing how recycling is more honored in the breach than the observance makes the recycling law more like feel good nanny-state law.  

No wonder this place earns the nickname “The District of Calamity”

[This piece originally ran on DCBarroco]

Tulsi Gabbard on the DNC

As Democrat voters begin the 2020 Election Cycle, it seems that establishment Democrats are putting their thumbs on the scale to try to shape the outcome.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is outraged that the DNC and CNN are not allowing her on stage for the New Hampshire debate, despite garnering 8% support, while they are letting former Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA) onstage as he only has 2% support.

The DNC seems worried that Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist- NH) may well sweep the first few primaries, which would make him the odds on favorite to win the Presidential nomination.  So the DNC changed the rules for qualifying for future debates, ignoring the grass roots element of qualifications.  

That rules change allows billionaire candidate ex NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to participate.  That becomes crucial as Bloomberg is banking on a strong Super Tuesday showing on Tuesday March 3rd and the fact that he can self finance his campaign.  

Mazie Hirono on Due Process and Impeachment

Lisa Murkowski on Impeachment

During the Impeachment Trial, House Managers have vociferously argued for the need of more witnesses to try to convict President Trump.  Democrats had hoped to gain the support of four maverick liberal Republican Senators to take control of the Impeachment process to continue to search for the silver bullet that would compel removal of the President.

With that dynamic in mind, it is curious how Democrats have conducted themselves during the Impeachment Trial.  On the opening day, when deliberations went past 2 a.m., House Managers asserted that their rushed Impeachment put the Senate on trial along with the President.  Perhaps they should have consulted Dale Carnagie on "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

As House Managers closed their arguments, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA 28th) implied that President Trump told wavering Republicans that if they voted incorrectly then their heads would be put on pikes.  That charge was so outrageous that Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who was one of the supposed persuadable Republicans, exclaimed: "That's not true."

During the Question Time, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who is currently running for President, submits a query which drew Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts into the political fray, wondering if this contributes to the public's lack of confidence in the system.  

Aside from Chief Justice Roberts death stare, one wonders what the Democrats were thinking?

 Maybe Warren gets her name in the news for a "tough question" before the crucial Iowa Caucuses.  However, this veiled attack further politicizes the process.  And it was aimed at Chief Justice Roberts, who had twice helped Democrats out by not allowing Senator Rand Paul's (R-KY) incisive question about the so called "Whistle Blower".

Further fallout from attacking Senator Lisa Murkowski's vote on witnesses.  The question was going to be a close vote.  But Murkowski was so offended by this tactic of sullying the Chief Justice that they lost her support, dooming the call for witnesses. 

While conservative commentators are wont to think that Democrats had weak Articles Impeachment which were rushed through the House, the way Democrats comported themselves during the trial, they seemed like they just wanted political wedge issues rather than trying to remove the Chief Executive. 

Nancy Pelosi on Impeachment

Needless to say, Speaker Pelosi's assessment has not been universally accepted, much less respected.