Jack ‘Uncle Horse’ Ma Is a Bad Bet by Gordon G. Chang

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16932/jack-uncle-horse-ma-is-a-bad-bet

Beijing has… gone after Ma’s business empire hard.

[R]egulators appear to be forcing Ant to restrict its profitable investment and loan businesses and making the company accept bank-like regulation. Tighter control would ensure that the fast-growing Ant would pose less of a challenge to state control of lending.

Rumor has it that Beijing ordered Ma not to leave the country. “His passport has supposedly been held by the Foreign Ministry for a long time,” Anne Stevenson-Yang of J Capital Research told Gatestone, passing along financial community gossip.

Of course, this series of incidents also shows that foreign optimism about the Chinese markets—large inflows of capital have recently driven the Chinese currency sharply higher against the dollar—could be misplaced. If Jack Ma’s business empire can be broken up—and that is what’s happening—all foreign investment is at risk of confiscation.

Foreigners need to begin paying attention….

Jack Ma’s fate, then, is a leading indicator.

Ma Yun, until recently China’s richest individual, is in detention in a Chinese cell, is in hiding in China, is “embracing supervision” from the ruling Communist Party, or is in Singapore after having evaded Chinese authorities. One observer even argues Ma’s disappearance, the object of intense speculation in China and elsewhere, is nothing more than a ruse.

MY SAY: CONGRATULATE JOE BIDEN? OH PULEEZ!

I accept the fact that he will be inaugurated, but I have to reach for an anti-emetic every time a column starts with the requisite denunciation of the storming of the capitol and segues into congratulating Biden. I would not don a “pussy hat” and march with harridans proclaiming “he is not my president” as they did the day after the inauguration of President Trump in 2016.

 When the dust settles  a proper investigation of the election and the riot should occur and until then I will avoid the obsequy and virtue signaling…..rsk  

The Most Definitive Video Yet of Capitol Police Letting the Protesters In By Victoria Taft

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2021/01/08/the-most-definitive-video-yet-of-capitol-police-letting-the-protesters-in-n1325022

A protester was shot and killed and a Capitol Police officer died after protesters at a Trump rally poured into the Capitol Building and became violent. Soon thereafter, videos of crowds being allowed in by Capitol Police began to appear.

Here’s how I reported it at PJ Media:

One of the most pervasive story lines following the Capitol protest that turned violent is that the Capitol Police let in protesters.

Though some still doubt it, it’s beginning to appear that some of the protesters were, in fact, allowed onto the grounds and into the building, which explains why there were those who entered and stayed within the velvet guide ropes, taking selfies, and staying peaceful. And those who were not peaceful.

Indeed, two reporters from The Washington Examiner spoke with dozens of people who said that Capitol Police simply allowed them to come into the Capitol Building as they do with visitors.

And now there’s a definitive video showing that not only were police letting the protesters in, but a phalanx of police watched them let the protesters—some of whom were chanting, “f*cking traitors!”—into the building. You can hear another man wonder aloud if it might be some sort of trick when he said out loud, “they’re gonna lock us in.”

One officer greeted the protesters saying, “I don’t agree with you but …”—you can make out him saying “respect” as the crowd clambers in.

See the video in this tweet.

The breach of the Capitol was an obvious set-up By Patricia McCarthy

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/01/the_breach_of_the_capitol_was_an_obvious_setup.html

What happened at the Capitol building on Wednesday obviously was a stratagem to destroy the President’s popularity and support and overshadow the challenges to the Electoral College vote, to my eyes.  The building was breached at the beginning of that process and, of course, riveted the media news feeds.  Members of Congress were evacuated with hoods over their heads as if they were in grave danger.

As a group of protesters approached the building, a policeman removed the barricade and appeared to invite them in.

That group entered the rotunda peacefully and stayed behind the rope line.  Those who observed this noted that there were several instigators embedded among the crowd.  They were using bullhorns to agitate and move people.  A couple of them set off flash bangs.   

We now know that several known Antifa activists were among the agitators.  As they broke windows, Trump supporters tried to stop them.  But the distraction worked, frightened the pathetically spineless Republicans who were set to challenge the stolen election.  They quickly capitulated and Biden was certified.  The Republicans, even the ones we thought had grit, got rolled.  

There were tragic deaths, about which the leftists who planned this could not care less, any more than they cared about all those who died in the riots they so embraced over the summer.

Political Theater Won’t Work for the Right The January 6 Capitol Hill protest was, in the words of Talleyrand, “worse than a crime, it was a blunder.” By Christopher Roach

https://amgreatness.com/2021/01/08/political-theater-wont-work-for-the-right/

EXCERPT

A sizable cohort of the American Right believes the recent election was stolen, that the government has become loosened from democratic accountability in the form of the deep state, and that the courts have denied millions of Trump voters a proper forum in which to make their case for election fraud. These procedural irregularities have happened amid a long year of hostility to American norms in the name of fighting the coronavirus. 

In theory, if ever there was a possible justification for political violence, the combination of bad and hostile governance and a stolen election would loom large. 

Looking abroad, this was the basis of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Stolen elections have led to extended protests and violence in Venezuela and Iran. After many years of supporting a decrepit aristocracy, the French Revolution ushered in a long and bloody era of instability and violence, which was only arrested by the rise of Napoleon as emperor. 

On Good and Bad Tactics

Is the brief occupation of the U.S. Capitol “bad optics?” Certainly in the short term. But there is no reason to believe any right-wing political activity that accomplishes anything will ever be given a fair shake in the “optics” department. 

Michelle Obama Again Falsely Claims BLM Race Rioters Were Peaceful Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2021/01/michelle-obama-again-falsely-claims-blm-rioters-daniel-greenfield/

Michelle Obama once again falsely claimed that the Black Lives Matter race riots which wounded hundreds of police officers, killed multiple people, including a black 8-year-old girl in Atlanta, and caused over $2 billion in damage, were “peaceful”.

Twitter and social media did not slap a disputed tag on Obama’s blatant lie which she has repeated many times.

First, Michelle Obama celebrated Warnock, a racist pal of her husband’s violently racist mentor Jeremiah Wright, followed by the false claim that the Capitol rioters had been let off easy.

“And once authorities finally gained control of the situation, these rioters and gang members were led out of the building not in handcuffs, but free to carry on with their days,” Michelle Obama falsely claimed.

Last time I checked, four people are dead. One of them, Ashley Babbitt, a QAnon supporter, was shot and killed despite being unarmed. Had the races and politics in that encounter been reversed, there would be mass riots and looting in her name. And Michelle knows it.

Federal and D.C. authorities are also tracking down and arresting the people who got inside.

Meanwhile the vast majority of BLM rioters and gang members are free and immune from consequences even when they’ve committed assault and murder. 

Portland activists harass, punch Mayor Ted Wheeler at a restaurant John Sexton

https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2021/01/07/portland-activists-harass-punch-mayor-ted-wheeler-restaurant/

Ted Wheeler may be the 2nd worst mayor in America (after Bill de Blasio) but he still shouldn’t be assaulted in public by Portland’s far left activists. That’s what happened last night as the mayor was dining outdoors on a date.

Wheeler and a dinner companion had just arrived at Café Nell in the Nob Hill neighborhood about 8:30 p.m. when a group of people confronted the pair, who were seated in an outdoor dining area, according to a City Hall official who asked not to be named.

Wheeler took out his phone to snap a photo of the hecklers, the official said. That’s when, according to Wheeler, a woman in the crowd “swatted” at him and struck his shoulder, the official said.

Again, I’m not a fan of Wheeler but having these goons show up and scream that he’s a “war criminal” in a restaurant is over the line. I didn’t like it when the mob did this to diners in DC and I don’t like it here either.

I hate federal commissions, but Americans need one to look into the 2020 election To restore faith, we must review how mail voting worked, analyze problems like uncounted votes, and conclusively prove or disprove fraud allegations. Jonathan Turley

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/06/2020-election-mistrust-commission-prove-or-disprove-fraud-column/4132191001/

EXCERPTS:

I hate federal commissions. I have always hated federal commissions. Federal commissions are Washington’s way of managing scandals. They work like placebos for political fevers, convincing voters that answers and change are on the way. That is why it is so difficult for me to utter these words: We need a federal election commission. Not the one proposed by some Senate Republicans. And not like past placebo commissions. An honest-to-God, no-holds-barred federal commission to look into the 2020 presidential election.

That is not what we need. There are three reasons why the need for a real commission is needed: 

►First, and most important, this was an unprecedented election in the reliance of mail-in voting and the use of new voting systems and procedures. We need to review how that worked down to the smallest precincts and hamlets.

►Second, possibly tens of millions of voters believe that this election was rigged and stolen. I am not one of them. However, the integrity of our elections depends on the faith of the electorate.

Roughly 40% of that electorate have lingering doubts about whether their votes actually matter. Most of the cases challenging the election were not decided on the merits. Indeed, it seems they haven’t even been allowed for discovery. Instead, they were largely dismissed on jurisdictional or standing groups or under the “laches” doctrine that they were brought too late. Those allegations need to be conclusively proven or disproven in the interests of the country.

►Third, there were problems. There was not proof of systemic fraud or irregularities, but there were problems of uncounted votes, loss of key custodial information and key differences in the rules governing voting and tabulations. 

Nothing has changed. The stakes are too high to allow even a dust particle to tip the difference on the ultimate findings. The dust-free option requires a dependent, not independent, commission. Otherwise, the public will be the loser.

So, let’s have a commission, but let’s make it a real one.

A Coup of Pelosi’s Own The House Speaker publicizes her nuclear option to protect the world from Trump.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-coup-of-pelosis-own-11610148740?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

We scoured the U.S. Constitution Friday afternoon and it’s definitely not there: the provision allowing the Speaker of the House of Representatives to intervene in the military chain of command to protect the world from President Trump.

Mrs. Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues that she spoke Friday morning to Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.” She posted the “Dear colleague” letter on her website to make sure the world got the message. A spokesman for Gen. Milley told reporters the chairman “answered her questions.”

The press and left-wing Twitter (we repeat ourselves) love the idea of the Speaker inserting herself into the chain of command as a rebuke to an erratic President. But it’s an abuse of her own power, which is limited to leading the legislative branch unless both the President and Vice President are incapacitated or removed from office. In that case she is third in line for the Presidency.

But in the meantime she has no business telling the Joint Chiefs not to follow the President’s orders. Gen. Milley hardly needs the lecture, as he has been dealing with Mr. Trump for 15 months and isn’t about to indulge an unlawful order, much less an effort to launch nuclear weapons.

China Starts Collecting On Its Investment In The Bidens  Francis Menton

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2021-1-6-china-starts-collecting-on-its-investment-in-the-bidens

You have to hand it to China for one thing — they play a long game.

Remember back a few months to October. That’s when the infamous Hunter Biden laptop became public information through the diligent reporting of the New York Post. The biggest revelation on the laptop was the formation in 2017 of a joint venture between Biden family members and a Chinese-government-affiliated energy company called CEFC (10% for “the big guy”). According to emails on the laptop, sums changing hands included at least a $5 million “forgivable non-interest-bearing” loan. There was discussion in the laptop emails about much larger sums also moving from China to the Bidens, but since nobody has ever been able to get a Biden to answer any questions about the subject, the full extent of the payments remains a state secret.

But why, you ask, was China paying that kind of money to the Biden family in 2017 — a time when Joe had left office as Vice President, and was just one of many potential candidates for President in 2020? That question was answered by Tony Bobulinski, the guy the Bidens had recruited to be the CEO of their joint venture with CEFC. Bobulinski’s name was all over the laptop emails, which suddenly made him a very public guy, and led him in October 2020 to give interviews to the (NY) Post and others. He also gave a written statement to the Post with the answer to the question of China’s motive:

I realized the Chinese were not really focused on a healthy financial ROI. They were looking at this as a political or influence investment. Once I realized that Hunter wanted to use the company as his personal piggy bank by just taking money out of it as soon as it came from the Chinese, I took steps to prevent that from happening.