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ELECTIONS

Who You Calling ‘Dastardly,’ Mr. Schumer? Another tall tale about Georgia voting proves too good to check.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-you-calling-dastardly-chuck-schumer-georgia-voting-law-11642172418?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

Sen. Chuck Schumer is the latest politician to cite Georgia’s election laws as a tool of voter suppression. “What motivated the insurrectionists” on Jan. 6, he told MSNBC, “is now motivating these state legislatures to do dastardly things.” But these claims don’t survive cursory inspection.

Changes to voting rules, Mr. Schumer claimed, are “aimed at Democratic constituencies,” including “people of color, young people, urban people.” He specifically cited “only one early voting place in an entire county, that you have to travel 23 miles.” This is an apparent reference to Lincoln County, Ga., which is considering a plan to consolidate seven polling sites into a central hub.

Lincoln County is a rural area where President Trump won 68% of the 4,641 votes. The county’s elections director, Lilvender Bolton, is unlikely to be conspiring to disenfranchise minorities. For one thing, she happens to be black. “The amazing thing about this is that the story is that I’m just after the black people, and I’m not going to let them vote,” Ms. Bolton says. “That’s what they’re actually going out telling the people, and you know, it’s crazy.”

On the filibuster, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin came through in the crunch By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/01/on_the_filibuster_kyrsten_sinema_and_joe_manchin_came_through_in_the_crunch.html

Almost a year ago, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell agreed with majority leader Chuck Schumer to an equal power-sharing agreement for the upcoming session, reflecting the 50-50 split between the parties (with Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote). In exchange, McConnell agreed to allow the question of the filibuster’s continued existence to be brought up to a vote. He did so because Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema promised not to end the filibuster. That was an incredible gamble but, on Thursday, Manchin and Sinema came through on a filibuster vote. A furious Biden started hollering about the horrors of life without federalizing American elections and made it clear Democrats will keep coming back.

I must admit that I was dubious that either Manchin or Sinema would keep the promise to protect the filibuster. I was certain that they’d find a reason to go back on their word and end the 216-year-old procedural device that blocks a minute majority (such as the Democrats’ majority thanks only to Harris’s vote) from running away with legislation. But they didn’t. If I were in the room with them, I’d apologize for doubting them.

After explaining why she supports the “For The People Act” (and she’s completely wrong on that, as I discuss briefly, below), Sinema elegantly explained why she would not vote to end the filibuster:

Here are the Dems Who Could Have Their Committee Assignments Stripped If the GOP Retakes the House Matt Vespa

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2022/01/10/revenge-is-coming-leader-mccarthy-says-these-dems-could-be-purged-from-committee-n2601661

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has threatened to purge Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) from their committee assignments if the GOP retakes the House in 2022. He should do it. These Democrats are some of the most annoying of the bunch—and Democrats set the precedent for this. It’s the ‘we don’t like you’ doctrine. It’s their rule. We didn’t set it. They did it thinking that they would hold onto the House majority forever. If this happens, and I hope it does—it’s entirely their fault. Elections have consequences (via Axios):

 What they’re saying: “He will not be serving there,” McCarthy said of Swalwell’s placement on the House Intelligence Committee in an interview with Breitbart.

“Ilhan Omar should not be serving on” the House Foreign Affairs Committee, McCarthy added. “Adam Schiff, he should not be serving on Intel.”

McCarthy pointed to Swalwell’s association with a Chinese spy, reported by Axios. Swalwell, who cut ties with the spy after being alerted to her activities by federal investigators, has not been accused of wrongdoing.

In the case of Omar, McCarthy quoted her 2019 remark that a pro-Israel lobbying group’s influence in Congress is “all about the Benjamins,” which was blasted by members of both parties at the time as anti-Semitic.

McCarthy also said Schiff “lied to the American public” with his support of the unverified Steele Dossier, which alleged extensive ties between former President Trump and Russia.

Democrats removed Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) over weak sauce reasons. Again, they didn’t like these people. They didn’t commit any crimes. They didn’t do anything wrong, but they were removed due to a difference of opinion. We have no interest in playing the better party here. We should hit back at them in 2023. Remove the Swally, Schiff, the Squad—get rid of them all. This is your game, liberals. We’re playing too.

Hillary Clinton 5.0? By Charles C. W. Cooke

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/hillary-clinton-5-0/

If Hillary is the Democrats’ best option in 2024, the party is in more trouble than we thought.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Douglas E. Schoen and Andrew Stein suggest that Hillary Clinton may be gearing up for another shot at the White House:

A perfect storm in the Democratic Party is making a once-unfathomable scenario plausible: a political comeback for Hillary Clinton in 2024.

Specifically:

Several circumstances—President Biden’s low approval rating, doubts over his capacity to run for re-election at 82, Vice President Kamala Harris’s unpopularity, and the absence of another strong Democrat to lead the ticket in 2024—have created a leadership vacuum in the party, which Mrs. Clinton viably could fill.

She is already in an advantageous position to become the 2024 Democratic nominee. She is an experienced national figure who is younger than Mr. Biden and can offer a different approach from the disorganized and unpopular one the party is currently taking.

Hillary Hints at 2024 Run Never counted out, because never held accountable. Lloyd Billingsley

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/hillary-hints-2024-run-lloyd-billingsley/

“Hillary Clinton’s all-encompassing ambition will ensure that she can never be completely counted out for a presidential run as long as she is still drawing breath,” noted Robert Spencer recently. With Biden more addled by the day, and few prospects on the bench, such a run could indeed happen — especially with Hillary’s recent hints on the matter.

But Hillary has a problem.

“If Hillary were held accountable for her actions,” Spencer adds, “there would be no question of her running for president in 2024 or ever.” Those actions include the home-brew server, the Russia Hoax, Benghazi, and the Clinton Foundation, the influence-peddling scheme Peter Schweizer exposed in Clinton Cash. Hillary Clinton has also escaped accountability for actions from her early days as First Lady, when the FBI became an ally.

Bill Clinton was the first presidential candidate to offer a two-for-one deal, and once in office he put Hillary in charge of health care reform. The Yale law alum had served as chair of the legal services corporation under Jimmy Carter. With the Rose Law Firm in Arkansas, Hillary performed legal work for the Madison Guarantee Savings and Loan Association, which went bust, leaving taxpayers on the hook. With Hillary in the White House, that became an issue.

Hillary’s choice for deputy White House counsel was Vincent Foster, her colleague with the Rose law firm. The dapper Foster had custody of Hillary’s billing records, a potential problem for the new administration and Hillary in particular. 

On July 19, 1993, President Clinton fired FBI director William Sessions. The next day at approximately 1 p.m., Foster came out of his office, suit jacket in hand, and told White House aide Linda Tripp “I’ll be back.” As it turned out, he would not be back. 

Michelle Obama: ‘We Must Give Congress No Choice’ Michelle announces she’s going to be a player in the election. Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/michelle-obama-we-must-give-congress-no-choice-daniel-greenfield/

“We must give Congress no choice,” Michelle Obama rants in the latest bulletin from her When We All Vote organization.

That’s how dictators or aspiring dictators talk.

After Democrats spuriously warned of a “threat to democracy” from Republicans, they once again demonstrate that they are the real threat.

And that the party of radicals is projecting its own actions and attitudes onto Republicans.

Michelle Obama’s letter threatens to “organize at least 100,000” people to “contact their Senators, calling on them to do everything they can to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.”

Considering the violent results of past leftist pressure campaigns on the Senate and House, leading to surges of death threats, and the aggressive harassment of even moderate Senate Dems like Manchin and Synema during the recent coup efforts, there’s little doubt that mobilizing 100,000 leftist extremists for a campaign that falsely accuses opponents of being a threat to democracy risks more death threats, harassments, and even possible acts of violence.

The Left’s Latest Political Scheme: Let Noncitizens Vote By John Fund

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/01/the-lefts-latest-political-scheme-let-noncitizens-vote/

More than 800,000 will soon be eligible to cast ballots in municipal elections in New York City.

D espite misgivings, New York City’s new mayor, Eric Adams, has rolled over for the city council and allowed more than 800,000 noncitizen residents to vote in future elections for mayor and all other city officials.

Starting in 2023, the city will have to print separate ballots for city races, since noncitizens will still be barred from voting in statewide and presidential elections. But make no mistake. The new New York law is part of a nationwide push to blur the very meaning of citizenship and promote noncitizen voting everywhere and for all offices.

There are few limits on how far the “woke” Left will go to change the rules of voting. In 2019, a majority of House Democrats voted to lower the federal voting age to 16 years, from 18. This week, Senate Democrats will try to ram through a bill that would nationalize elections by taking away the right of states to determine their own voting systems. Liberals will use any hysterical argument to justify this power grab: Representative Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) even told MSNBC last week that if Republicans win November’s midterm elections, “voting in this country as we know it will be gone.”

New York City’s law was promoted by former councilman Ydanis Rodríguez, who immigrated to the city from the Dominican Republic and is now the commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation. If noncitizens “pay their taxes as I did when I had a green card,” he says, “then they should have a right to elect their local leaders.” He notes that the new law will limit the right to vote to legal residents and green-card holders.

Trump in 2024? Maybe! What’s certain is not too many Americans will be willing to hand over the honor of choosing the next president to Liz Cheney and her smug, entitled, and repellent confrères. By Roger Kimball

https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/08/trump-in-2024-maybe/

Among Trump-friendly conservatives, there seem to be essentially two strands of sentiment about who should be the Republican candidate for president in 2024. One strand says, “Donald Trump, assuming he runs and his health is good.” 

The other strand exhibits various shades of dubiousness. Some profess admiration for what Trump accomplished in his first term, but lament his “divisiveness,” which they anatomize in various ways as a product of narcissism, impulsiveness, or simple bad character. 

A few in this group blame the divisiveness not on Trump, but the people, inside his administration and out, who spent the entirety of Trump’s first term trying to undermine his presidency. A sizable segment of this dubious group would, truth be told, like to see the back of Donald Trump forever. 

Other segments of this group acknowledge that they would support Trump should he run and win the nomination, but confess, sotto voce, that they would prefer another “Trumpist” candidate. “Trumpism without Trump” is the slogan of many in this group, and it is in these circles that one repeatedly hears the names of Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, and Mike Pompeo, secretary of state in the second part of the Trump Administration.

Is there such a thing as “Trumpism without Trump”? I do not know. I understand those who argue that asking for Trumpism without Trump is a bit like asking for sunshine without the sun. It was often said, sometimes thankfully, sometimes as a matter of fact, that Trump was sui generis. If that is the case, then it might well be that the message and the messenger are so closely bound up with each other that the effort to disentangle them is doomed to fail. 

I understand the concern about Trump’s vaunted “divisiveness.” But it is well to acknowledge this irony. The tsunami of hatred and vitriol that washed over Donald Trump since before he assumed office until the present moment was nothing if not “divisive.” It infected the Twittersphere as brazenly as any of Trump’s “mean tweets” about Jim Acosta, the “fake news,” or sundry other “losers.” Why was that not castigated as “divisive,” evidence of bad character, against the norms or civilized political behavior? 

We now know that the whole Russia collusion delusion was invented lock-stock-and-barrel in the fetid skunkworks of the Clinton campaign. We know, too, that it was seized upon and pumped up by an irresponsible media and the rancid outposts of the administrative state and its so-called intelligence agencies. Trump was cooked before he set foot in the Oval Office. 

DeSantis Derangement Syndrome a Boon for Florida GOP By Stephen Kruiser

https://pjmedia.com/columns/stephen-kruiser/2022/01/06/the-morning-briefing-desantis-derangement-syndrome-a-boon-for-florida-gop-n1547284

We’ve all been witnessing the spectacle of the leftist panic porn crowd admitting that we here in Knuckle-Dragging Land have been right about everything all throughout the Wuhan Chinese Bat Flu plague. OK, they’re not actually admitting that, but I’m hard-pressed to think of a conservative position on Covid that hasn’t been co-opted by the leftist “experts” in the last two weeks.

Of course, the most prominent Republican to have been right all along is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Regulars here know that I’m a big fan of his. As I wrote last fall, every time the Democrats go after him they not only fail, they fail badly.

Little did I know then how badly.

Mr. Green (Stephen the Younger on the PJ Media Ranch) wrote yesterday about a stunning demographic shift in the Sunshine State:

Florida Republicans outnumber registered Democrats for the first time in the state’s history, as Blue State COVID refugees tick the Big R on their voter registrations.

Twitter user TimDCpolitico took Florida’s voter rolls from March 31 of 2020 and compared them to the latest figures. The results, he says, are “jaw-dropping,” and I can’t think of a better way to describe them.

Not only did the Democrats’ relentless slandering over the course of almost two years do no damage to him but it ended up greatly helping his party.

Schumer shows the left’s desperation to build fraud into elections By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/01/schumer_shows_the_lefts_desperation_to_build_fraud_into_elections.html

His chosen technique is the equivalent of telling Republicans that, if they don’t commit suicide, he’s going to kill them.

Although the Democrats put most of their political capital in the Build More Communist Bill (known as the “Build Back Better Bill”), the bill that’s more important to them is actually the “For The People” Act, which has already passed in the House. If the Senate passes it, it will build into elections every type of pro-fraud procedure possible. To that end, Sen. Chuckie Schumer wrote to tell Republicans, who will be destroyed if the act passes, that they’d better pass the act or else he’ll destroy the filibuster and pass the act without them.

You may recall that, in January 2021, Sen. Mitch McConnell entered into an agreement with Schumer that raised the possibility of doing away with the filibuster. Currently, the filibuster is a rule that, when brought into play, does away with a simple majority vote in the Senate and, instead, requires a supermajority to pass a bill.

The filibuster has existed since 1806. With Democrat control over both Congress and the White House, following an election so bizarre and tainted that huge numbers of Americans believe Biden got “help” getting into the White House, the filibuster is all that stands between packing the Supreme Court, federalizing election fraud, adding D.C. and Puerto Rico as states, and Building More Communist.

The 50-50 split in the Senate, with Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker, means that Schumer is the majority leader. He offered McConnell an equal power-sharing agreement if the Senate ditched the filibuster. McConnell agreed because Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema promised they wouldn’t vote to end the filibuster. So far Manchin and Sinema have proven surprisingly resistant to Democrat efforts to force them to get on board with the Democrats’ more extreme demands. (Although, unnervingly, Manchin seems willing to have a re-do of the Build More Communist bill, which will destroy the U.S. economy.)

As of yesterday, though, Schumer seems to believe that he can get Manchin and Sinema to betray their promise to McConnell.