I'LL VOTE FOR THAT: Democrats need to be destroyed.

In 2022, and again in 2024.

OF COURSE NOT. Will Yale law students be punished for disrupting an event?

The Leftist idiots succeeded in taking over education, so why not law?

POWERLINE: Oh, the [mercifully soon-to-be-forgotten] humanities.

PLEASE, HERSHEL, BEAT HIM LIKE A DRUM: Sen. Raphael Warnock [D(isaster)-GA] hosting fundraiser with activist who compared GOP to terrorist organizations.

I MISSED THE OPENING ROUNDS: Here's the 'Sweet 16' results of the 2022 Liberal Hack Tournament.

IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT A WOMAN IS, 'Science' says you should think again.

DAY BY DAY strikes again.

HEH: It's sort of like putting Leftists in control of your media and education system.

Just more humane.

TOO LATE TO LEARN TO CODE? Yes.

FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DeSANTIS: People vote with their feet.

And they're not voting for California. Or New York. Or Illinois. Or....

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: How to respond if you are libeled.

BIDEN GOES THERE: "For God’s sake, Putin cannot remain in power." As Instapundit correctly, I think, notes "This is effectively a threat to kill Putin, since he can't surrender power and live." Two reminders --

Former Defense Secretary Bill Gates: He's never been right on any foreign policy decision.
Former President Barack Obama: Never underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up.

His record remains unblemished.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ [D(umb)-NY] says that Joe Biden faces a potential “collapse” of support from young voters and far-left Democrats.

Well, they put him in there. Young and stupid is the #1 reason why the voting age should be raised, not lowered.

YES. NUKE IT. Is there any way to save Hollywood?

And salt the earth underneath.

BUY TWITTER AND FIRE ITS SPEECH POLICE. Elon Musk: "Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy, what should be done?"

YES, SUE THE BASTARDS: New Civil Liberties Alliance takes on U.S. Surgeon General’s censoring of alleged Covid-19 “misinformation” on Twitter.

Linked from Instapundit.

THE DIPLOMAD WARNS ON UKRAINE NEWS: "We wander in a desert of bright shimmering mirages, goaded into chasing one after another."

TOWNHALL.COM STAFF: We've defined 'woman' for you.

And all it took was a simple Google DuckDuckGo search....

ONE CAN HOPE: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears.

DANA MILBANK claims Ted Cruz is a hypocrite.

Dana Milbank is either crazy, stupid, or more likely a progressive Democrat (i.e., both).

A WOMAN IS ANYONE WHO IDENTIFIES AS A WOMAN. Provided she has the correct 'internal state of being'.

Huh?

WHO IS MOST OUT OF TOUCH? Both is an acceptable vote.

THE DIPLOMAD ON JUDGE KITANJI BROWN JACKSON: Preserving the false narrative.

I WOULD SAY "you've gotta be kidding me" but these are Democrats and they're not kidding. Democrats propose massive fossil fuel subsidy.

And don't kid yourself; they'll take the subsidy away at the appropriate time (for them, not us).

This is about power, pure and simple. And they plan to keep it, by any means necessary.

WHAT IS A WOMAN? The 'Freeport Question' of our time.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: the real reset is coming.

Accordingly, the nations of the world would have to surrender their sovereignty to an international body of experts. They would enlighten us on taxes, diversity, and green policies.

These "new orders" and "resets" always entail far bigger government and more unelected, powerful bureaucracies. Elites assume that their radical changes in energy use, media reporting, voting, sovereignty, and racial and ethnic quotas will never quite apply to themselves, the architects of such top-down changes.

Only if we let it.

I HAVE A BETTER IDEA: The International Energy Agency (IEA) and Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm are proposing car-less Sundays. Instead, let's have car-less cities, starting with Washington DC.

Keep cars to rural America, where they're actually needed.

THE TRUTH HURTS:

Linked from here.

SPRINGTIME 2022, Week 4: We're sort of back in the saddle again after the freeze two weeks ago. Here's the forsythia that was frozen and nearly dead last week. I've pruned it back some, and the flowers are back, not as abundant as before, and it's beginning to show leaves coming out.

My usual view of the pond from our deck. Hopefully it won't be as obscured this year as is usual. The tulip magnolia (we think) has survived, but the flowers are gone and don't seem to be reappearing. Some of the low-lying brush is coming back, but I'm working hard with the brush cutter to keep it under control.

The fire pit view has most emphatically changed. The picture is a little dark, but that's the trunk of an 80⁺ foot tall pine tree lying across the top of the fire pit. Luckily it missed the barn (and house ... and me) when it fell. Damage to the fire pit doesn't appear extensive, but we won't know for sure til the trunk is cut up and removed. Otherwise, the view is normal for this time of year -- I've already cleared the brush, and the trees are still bare. No buds in evidence yet.

Here's another view of the fire pit area showing the remains of the top of the fallen pine. The remaining pines appear healthy, and the deciduous trees are still bare.

Here's the house, taken from down the road a bit. That's a small patch of mountain laurel at the bottom, and as you can see the trees are still bare. By next week we should see some budding and I'm hopeful that the dogwoods on the other side of the house will be in bloom.

Finally, the road to civilization. As usual, the trees are barren, but the road should be returning to its tunnel-like status soon.

Until next week then. Pictures from the pond if it's warm enough for the trek....

DAY BY DAY explains why the People's Convoy truckers continue to encircle Washington DC on Interstate 495.

I WAS 26 AT THE TIME: On this date 51 years ago the climate scientists predicted a new ice age was coming.

And now for the breaking news -- it hasn't happened.

THE GREAT RESET is already underway.

Forget the gratuitous insult to polygamists; the fact of the matter is that the digital 'haystack' is alive and well in an isolated part of America and your 'needle' is there to be pulled out and examined at any time, for any reason. Or no reason.

NEWS FROM THE SWAMP: Pelosi's electric car 'windfall'.

And if you believe that's not insider trading, check with me for a great deal on oceanfront property in Arizona....

Added thought: East coast swampland is very valuable.

THE COMING DISASTER: Welcome to the most dangerous two years in American history.

FACT-CHECKERS BEWARE: We're watching.

CNN: TONIGHT IS EARTH HOUR. Turn off your lights for 1 hour tonight.

I didn't notice (because I don't watch CNN), but did CNN turn itself off for one hour tonight? At any time and in any time zone?

AGREED: Lia Thomas doesn't deserve our compassion.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Conspirators in their own words.

A conspiracy of idiots....

CANDACE OWENS eviscerates the New York Times.

POWERLINE has a women's question edition this week. As a Georgia resident, this has to be my favorite.

Now go see the rest.

WOKE KINDERGARTEN.

JEREMY'S RAZORS: Shut up and shave. Be sure and click on the full commercial at the bottom of the post. To paraphrase Mike Lindell, "I guarantee you'll love it."

See the ad. And read the comments.

GIVE ME DUMB THINGS EVERY TIME. I'll add the smart myself.

Read the comments, too.

IT'S TIME TO DEFUND THE UNIVERSITIES: University announces first-ever Masters degree in 'Happiness Studies'.

All of them.

UPDATE: More reason to defund them. [My preference is to reduce them to rubble and salt the earth on which they stood.]

AMERICA'S REAL NEWS OF RECORD: With Babylon Bee off Twitter, users forced to get fake news from CNN.

CNN immediately tried to capitalize on the influx of followers looking for good, comedic fake news by publishing an article on how Joe Biden is doing a great job and does not have dementia, a report on how World War III could have a negative effect on trans BIPOC representation in Netflix films, and an in-depth investigation into how many ice cream scoops Trump got as president.

Go, enjoy it all.

YES, AS LONG AS DEMOCRATS REMAIN IN POWER. Are mask mandates forever?

LET THEM EAT BUGS LENTILS: Bloomberg's advice for those earning less than $300K.

Serious question: Is it even possible for our self-appointed 'elites' to be more out of touch with reality?

Marie Antoinette ("Let them eat cake") was just stupid; these people have left stupid far, far behind.

HIGH PRICES AND SUFFERING are a feature of Democrat governance. For us, not them.

AFTER ALL THE GOOD PEOPLE HAVE LEFT, NUKE THE REST: California's big cities are shrinking.

FOR THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT, this chart isn't a bug, it's a feature.

The post is here.

CLARENCE THOMAS ISN'T BLACK? Bill Maher says conservatives don’t want any Black justices on Supreme Court.

AT LEAST THEY'RE NOT RACIST: If you exercise, you’re a neo-Nazi.

Oh, wait -- Nazis are racist.

FIRE UP THE PRINTERS, WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF FREE MONEY: Democrats promise free gas money for everybody!

DILBERT channels the Biden administration.

DO AMERICA A FAVOR, FIRE HIM. FAUCI: Pandemic still has ‘a way to go', must be 'prepared' to return to COVID-19 restrictions if cases surge.

Spare us, Dr. Doom; retire already.

WITH THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION --

We have proof.

NEW YORK TIMES: It's only free speech when you agree with us.

KURT SCHLICHTER TO REPUBLICANS: Yeah, Ukraine is bad, but we've got plenty of Democrat messes here at home that desperately need attending to.

SO IS BIDEN'S WAR ON UKRAINE to save his own presidency?

MAY? Kamala Harris may be the ‘dumbest person’ elected as Vice President.

AWKWARD. The New York Times asked Candace Owens where she got her ideas about Ukraine corruption. Answer: From the New York Times.

HMM: Twenty percent of newly-minted MDs will ultimately not be able to practice medicine.

To be licensed, new doctors must complete a graduate medical training program (residency), of which there is a shortage of slots available.

Why should we care? The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates the United States has a shortage of nearly 20,000 physicians today. This shortage could possibly rise as high as 124,000 by the year 2034 as aging physicians retire. The U.S. has an aging population who will need care and many rural towns and urban areas are under-served by physicians. At the same time the U.S. has an excess of medical school graduates who would like to practice medicine but may never be allowed to.

There is something seriously wrong with the medical bureaucracy as anyone who's lived through the last two years of covidiocy can easily attest.

Just a random thought: Did Anthony Fauci ever complete a residency? Or was he a 20 percenter?

FOR THEM MAYBE: Biden says economic strategy working after inflation rises to 40-year high.

Just not for the rest of us -- unless by 'working' he means impoverishing the proles.

GOOD RIDDANCE: Disney employees are walking out across the country.

WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT? Russian elites planning to overthrow Putin.

We can always hope.

DEREK HUNTER: To Hell with these Leftists.

YES, BLACK LIVES MATTER. If they're liberal black lives.

LOONEY TUNES AT ESPN: The essence of liberalism is bullying.

True that.

I TOLD YOU TWITTER WAS A TWIT HAVEN: See the final video.

THEY'VE BEEN TAUGHT TO: Why is the Left afraid of everything?

The one chart that's missing is risk aversity versus age. My bet is the younger (post 1970's) cohort is increasingly risk averse compared to their elders. I've noticed it as far back as the early 1980's.

MALLARD FILLMORE: Life inside the progressive bubble.

WHY NOW? The New York Times finally admits Hunter Biden's laptop is real.

One suggestion: "the word has gone out from somewhere that the Hunter Biden lever might be useful in prying President Biden from office before he dooms Democrats in 2024."

BECAUSE DEEP DOWN THEY KNOW THEY'RE LOSERS? Why are liberals so psychologically needy and inauthentic?

IMPRIMIS: Spiraling violence in Chicago.

It was a nice place at the time, but I'm glad my daughter got out when she did.

IT'S JUST ME but Biden gets the top three favorites from PowerLine's Week in Pictures this week:

And there are many, many others. Don't miss them.

WHAT'S UP? Strange flights and fired generals in Russia.

FINALLY the real judiciary notices.

AMMO GRRRLL: Not free to leave.

EVEN MY GROCERY STORES ARE SHOWING SOME EMPTY SHELVES: Looming food shortages is world's next slow-moving disaster.

But there's no shortage of 'I did that' stickers....

A 'LIVING WAGE' FOR ME, but not for thee.

IT LOOKS LIKE the mama bears are waking up from a long winter's nap.

MANTRA of the Biden administration.

BREAKING NEWS: Babylon Bee suspends Twitter for satire infringement.

Linked from Instapundit.

SPRINGTIME 2022, Week 3: Let's try again, shall we?. It's a beautiful day out and spring has (seemingly) sprung again. Here's our spring-opening forsythia:

Last week, before the freeze/snow, it was a brilliant yellow. Today the flowers have died, but the plant survived and is just now beginning to bud out. I doubt the flowers will return this year.

Now for the deck view:

Not much to see yet. The tulip magnolia has just begun to bloom before the freeze, and I'm hopeful it will continue to bloom as spring progresses.

The previous picture was of the pond from the house; here's the reverse - the house from the pond. Now that the trees have been thinned out and brush cleared, there's a much better view as summer comes around. None of the trees has begun to show signs of budding out yet.

Gratuitous pond picture. Everything along the side of the pond is evergreen, but you can see behind the dam that the deciduous trees haven't woken yet.

Finally, a picture of our adjacent lot which has mostly been thinned and cleared of brush. Only the pine trees are still green, so it will be interesting to watch it fill in as spring progresses.

'Til next week....

COMING SOON: It's over for the Biden administration.

ELITE IS A SYNONYM FOR STUPID: Is Yale the most embarrassing elite university?

And the answer is 'yes'.

DEMOCRAT POLITICIAN explains why she's retiring after 4 short years.

Short version: the insane have taken over the asylum.

THE IMPORTANT QUESTION IS WHEN WILL IT LEAVE? When Bolshevik schooling came to America. Well worth reading in light of today's education controversies. I'd also recommend clicking back on his earlier links.

Linked from Instapundit.

BUT WHY IS SHE RUNNING FOR A LESSER JOB? Meet your new President of United Earth.

TODAY IN STUPID WOKERY: Now steam engines (locomotives) are racist. But only in Wales (for now).

ALL HAT, NO COWGIRL: Democrats hate their constituents. And work....

For those who missed the lede, look up Frederica Wilson on Wikipedia.

KURT SCHLICHTER EXPLAINS THE DeSANTIS DOCTRINE: Pound sand.

HE OUGHT TO DO IT: Mitch McConnell could stop Biden from replacing Justice Breyer due to little-noticed backroom deal.

All the way past the 2022 elections. Majority Leader Schumer needs deserves a swift kick in the butt.

Linked from Instapundit.

THE CLOWN SHOW continues.

PLEASE, GOD, NO: Fauci returns.

WE HAVE THE BEST CLOWNS EVER: Teachers union president misspells Ukraine on Twitter after posing with upside-down Ukrainian flag.

And they're teaching our children. To be what? Clowns?

A MONTH OR SO BACK, I wrote my senator, Raphael Warnock, asking that he reject Biden's 'Build Back Better' bill in the Senate. Luckily, Senators Joe Manchin [D-WV] and Kyrsten Sinema [D-Az] saved the day by killing BBB 'in utero', so to speak.

Now that the bill is indeed dead, I get this long-winded explanation of why Warnock voted for the multi-trillion dollar 'save America' bills (and would have voted for BBB if it had survived Manchin/Sinema):

The day I was sworn in as your United States Senator was one of the highest honors of my life. Since that day on January 20, 2021, I have been working hard for the state of Georgia to lower costs, create jobs, invest in families, and improve access to health care.

For far too long, our country has neglected critical infrastructure that connects Americans together. That is why I am proud to have supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act , which is now law. With the enactment of this legislation, I helped secure $8.9 billion in federal infrastructure funds to improve Georgia’s roads and highways, nearly $1.5 billion for public transportation, $913 million for waste and drinking water infrastructure, $619.5 million for airport improvements across Georgia, $225 million to improve bridges, and more than $660 million for broadband.

That's $12.8175 billion in future taxes that I and my fellow Georgians are on the hook for.

Infrastructure also means shoring up our nation's supply chain. I helped direct $8 million in federal funding for the Georgia Ports Authority to address congestion issues at the Port of Savannah, easing pressures that have exacerbated inflation across the state. I am also proud to have introduced the Gas Prices Relief Act, which would temporarily suspend the federal gas tax to alleviate the high prices that Americans face at the pump.

A mere $8 million to ease supply chain pressures that didn't exist before all the lockdowns ... and gas prices have ballooned to $4.37/gallon from $2.64/gallon (from shutting down U.S. oil production to save the world from climate change).

I'm sure that a 26 cent/gallon rebate will ease my financial pressures. (By the way, diesel just hit $4.99 -- and I get a 29-cent rebate -- if the Gas Prices Relief Act is signed into law.) I can hardly wait to refuel my tractor....

The impact of lowering costs does not just stop at the gas station. Too many Americans forego their prescription drugs due to high costs. That is why I am championing this issue by leading the Capping Prescription Costs Act. This legislation would cap out-of-pocket spending for individuals at $250 per month and families at $500 per month on private health plans. In addition to this effort, I am fighting to close the Medicaid coverage gap in our state so that 646,000 Georgians have access to affordable health care.

Hmm. I've already been paying well over $60/month for (required by Medicare) prescription drug coverage since 2016 and to date that coverage has paid exactly 10 cents. Thanks, but I can do with much less of your health care.

Access to health care has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. I understand we are all tired and ready to move on from these last two years, and I am working hard to get resources to our state so we can return to normal. One of my first actions as your Senator was to vote for the American Rescue Plan Act. With the passage of this landmark relief bill, I secured $2 billion to power Georgia’s vaccination program, as well as provide robust support for Georgia’s rural hospitals and make health care more affordable for Georgians. Additionally, K-12 schools in Georgia received more than $4.5 billion in relief to assist with costs associated with in-person learning during a pandemic.

Another $6.5 billion my fellow Georgians and I are on the hook for. And to boot, (1) the 'free' COVID vaccinations I received are about as effective as the 'free' flu shots I get every year and (2) the pandemic school closures -- for almost 2 years! -- have been shown to be worthless (if you bother with reading real news).

Young people have had an especially difficult year, and I am committed to supporting proposals that give families the boost they need to thrive. One of my proudest moments as your Senator was passing the Child Tax Credit, which supported more than 2 million Georgia children and has helped reduce child poverty in Georgia by 40 percent. I have also championed efforts to protect students from predatory lending and urged President Biden to deliver widespread student loan debt relief, which would help over 1.5 million borrowers in Georgia.

So how much is that costing me in future taxes? Any guesses? And by the way, how much of that largess is being swept up in government grift?

Lastly, I know our economy has taken a hit since the pandemic, and while I am glad that the U.S. Jobs Report has shown that 6.6 million jobs were created in the last year, I know many business owners are still hurting. I have advocated for an increase in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as well as expanding the program to more organizations. The PPP has provided over 400,000 forgivable loans to Georgians, totaling more than $11 billion in aid to small businesses. I also introduced the bipartisan Small Business Credit Protection Act with Senator Marco Rubio to help small businesses proactively protect themselves after a cybersecurity incident. To get businesses on their feet after a difficult few years, I backed the creation of a new $28.6 billion grant program specifically for restaurants and eating establishments affected by the pandemic.

Um, that's another $39.6 billion wasted by shutting down the economy and putting small businesses out of business just to virtue signal how important you are. The data is in, Senator; all you've done over the pandemic is killed people and utterly destroyed a vibrant economy.

Know that I am working hard every day to deliver for Georgia. My job as a Senator, and I believe all of our jobs, particularly in the midst of a pandemic, is to find the road that runs through our humanity, find ways to connect to one another, to get the things done in order to prepare a future that is worthy for all of our children.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future if I may be of assistance to you or your family.

Thanks to you and your Democrat cohorts, that's a mere $58.925 billion dollars my fellow Georgian, our children, and I are on the hook for in future taxes.

I don't think we can afford any more 'help'.

MY HEAD HURTS: War criminal or bosom buddy?

FACT-FIND FAUCI FINANCES, get canceled.

The 'deep state' is alive and well. That must be changed.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE. Now go pound sand.

MSNBC TWIT: Poland accepting Ukranian refugees is racist.

YOU, TOO, CAN BE 'WOMAN OF THE YEAR' -- if you're male and not particularly accomplished.

TWITTER THREAD: The meaning of 'Z'.

UPDATE: PowerLine has more on 'Z'.

PRESIDENT BIDEN polling worse than either Trump or Obama. Here's the data:

It's taken from Rasmussen's Presidential Approval Index which I've been tracking since Obama became President.

PUTIN'S MOUTHPIECE: Environmentalists.

The only question in my mind is are they fellow travelers or just useless useful idiots?

SO MANY CHOICES: Who to offend this week?

Read and enjoy.

NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair: "Let's face it, we're the problem."

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: The Diplomad comments.

His 'It Seems' paragraph tracks pretty well with my initial thoughts, perhaps with the U.S.'s Aghanistan withdrawal debacle drawing Putin into assuming he could go for the whole enchilada. The Ukranians, however, are disabusing him of that idea.

On the latter two issues I am in total agreement.

SALENA ZITO: In pursuit of the normal. I enjoyed her article, and my take is similar to Instapundit's comment:

Twitter ... [is] ... basically an electronic asylum for the mentally dysfunctional crowd that runs our institutions now. Unlike traditional asylums, though, it doesn’t limit their ability to do harm to the sane.

Twitter is for twits.

IT WAS 25 CENTS/GALLON WHEN I STARTED: The cost of gasoline the year you started driving. That got me thinking about the correlation, if any, between inflation and the cost of gas. So I went to the wayback machine and looked:

Make of it what you will, but the only obvious correlation I see is Biden (2021-present).

MOST OF THE WEST is run by woke morons.

It's hard to be surprised if your television is tuned to a newscast for more than 6 minutes (the length of an average commercial break) a day.

IT'S NOT JUST CHILDREN: U.S. children’s mental health becoming worse.

ELON MUSK is working on it.

WISHFUL THINKING BY MORONS: Democrats push plan to tax oil companies' profits to send checks to Americans.

NOT ONLY ARE THEY 'WOKE', THEY'RE STUPID TO BOOT: School district hires antiracist consultants to ask parents if their kids are taught enough about racism.

THROW THE BUM OUT: Democrat pollster points to big problems for Raphael Warnock in potential Herschel Walker matchup.

IT ISN'T JUST SLOW JOE AND CACKLES: Now Pelosi is babbling incoherently.

Or are we just now noticing?

IN THE 'TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION' CATEGORY, not even the can one-up The Atlantic in satire.

DON SURBER: Earmarks aren't the problem.

Congress is.

SURELY YOU JEST: The GOP's strongest play in 2024 is Mitt Romney?

A name chosen at random from any phone book in the USA is looking better and better every day....

DISNEY SEVERELY MISCALCULATED — and Republicans shouldn’t forgive and forget.

Punch back. Defund Disney; don't buy their products.

SPRINGTIME 2022, Week 2, has been canceled. Here's why:

The picture was taken mid-day on Saturday, after subfreezing cold and about 1/2" of snow after all was said and done. Here is the same scene today, late afternoon, after all the snow has melted away (it doesn't last):

That said, I'm afraid the damage is done and it'll take a couple of weeks to recover. Tuxedo's bush (top photo here) was in full bloom Friday before the snow; today the flowers and leaves are dead and shriveling up.

Next week I'll start anew, hoping that there will be some recovery by then.

'Til next week....

I THINK WE ALREADY KNOW: Kamala Harris says Democrats’ task ahead of midterms is tell voters ‘they got what they ordered' on Biden promises.

THE DIPLOMAD ON THE DEATH OF CREDIBILITY: Who you gonna believe?

IN TEXAS, 27,000 ballots validate election security laws.

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR KITTENSELF KIND: NASA invites employees to pick their pronouns.

No wonder NASA can't build a man-rated launch vehicle (i.e., rocket) or spacecraft -- it's peopled by snowflakes.

BIDEN'S AMERICA: The inmates are running the asylum.

That's what happens when you close the insane asylums -- the inmates move to Washington DC.

NOT JUST PORK: Wokester pork.

BIDEN SAYS 'NOT ME': Putin, Big Oil, and COVID to blame for surging gas prices and inflation.

JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE lies in court filing.

WHAT'S TO EXAMINE IN AN EMPTY SPACE? Science should analyze what’s left of Joe Biden’s brain.

As Instapundit is fond of saying, "Harsh, but fair."

COVID MANDATES DID ONE THING REALLY WELL: Erode public trust in government.

IT'S BEING HELD IN RESERVE FOR THE MID-TERMS: What the new COVID scare is going to be.

Don't buy it.

THE DIPLOMAD ON UKRAINE: What now?

BUY AN ELECTRIC CAR and pay even more to fuel it. Even electricity costs money and fast charging technology is expensive. If you drive a lot (like for business) and aren't home every night to recharge, you could be in for a helluva surprise.

Linked from Instapundit.

YECCH: Chasten Buttigieg leads kids in pledge to the gay flag.

EXPLAINING WHY Putin, Xi, Kim Jong-un, et.al. aren't worried.

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: Inflation-adjusted, of course.

THERE MAY BE A BRIGHT SIDE to our open southern border (see update).

FACT CHECK.

FROM POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures, I have a favorite and an almost-favorite. Here's the favorite, a question for Mayor Pete:

And this would be the favorite ...

.... except that alternative is worse.

Go see the rest. There are many good ones this week.

HIGHER EDUCATION snowflake alert.

DILBERT explains the Peter Principle.

HAVE THEY EVER NOT LIED? Democrats have started lying about Florida's Stop WOKE act.

Florida, with Gov. Ron DeSantis, may be America's last free state....

IF ALL YOU HAVE IS A BANDAID: Bipartisan support growing for suspending the gas tax.

Well, I'm all for lowering taxes. And since under the Biden administration's 'infrastructure plan' the gas tax only pays for nonracist bridges and bike paths it's as good place to start as any.

HIGH PRICES AND AMERICANS SUFFERING: The Democrats' 'new normal'.

DEFUND THE POLICE. Just not our police.

As part of the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill released Wednesday, the $5.9 billion fiscal 2022 Legislative Branch funding portion would substantially boost the office budgets of House members to pay staff more and seeks to enable the Capitol Police department to hire more officers.

For you peons outside our Washington enclave, "Meh!"

THE GEEK IN PICTURES looks at inflation and other economic topics.

Surprise, surprise -- 2021 was a pretty bad year on all fronts....

F^- ISN'T LOW ENOUGH: How low can the teachers' unions sink?

LATEST DEMOCRAT TALKING POINT: "Adjusted for inflation, there is no inflation."

MY BAD: I was the one assigning sex at birth.

UKRAINE WAR: An (almost) complete collection of everything we (and they) are doing wrong.

Completeness would require another blog....

PROGRESSIVE DISCRIMINATION: Your kids matter, unless they’re Asian.

They only care about minorities they can exploit.

BOMBSHELL? TO WHOM? New York Times reporter admits Lefty media 'were making too big a deal' about the January 6 'insurrection'.

No, the media just recognized the story had passed its 'sell by' date. It's a non-apology apology as they busily clear the battlefield for the next crisis du jour.

BIDEN'S HANDLERS want skyrocketing gas prices. The EPA just revealed why.

Translated into a single pithy phrase -- "Never let a 'crisis' go to waste"....

CACKLE DIPLOMACY: Kamala invades Poland.

The Biden Administration has gone from a clown circus to a farce to a tragedy in just two days.

SHE SURVIVED: Florida Highway Patrol officer blocks reckless driver with own vehicle. Video from the trooper's dashcam here.

DESPITE AN ALMOST TOTAL MEDIA BLACKOUT, the People's [Truck] Convoy makes its mark.

More [video] here.

I'D RATHER IT BE PUTIN'S HEAD: The man whose head will be served on a platter to Putin over the fiasco in Ukraine.

If he hasn't already, Shoigu should immediately hire a food taster....

[SHAKES HEAD]: Environmental 'Protection' Agency bans herbicide to protect endangered species in area it doesn't inhabit.

OUR PRESENT BEWILDERMENT: Greta Thunberg-style eco-apocalypse ranting is now common sense on the left.

Linked from PowerLine here.

NATIONAL REVIEW stands athwart history, yells ... and nobody listens.

It's nice to find out (I guess) that I've been promoted from 'deplorable' to mere 'schmuck' but I already canceled my subscription.

ELON MUSK takes one for the team.

It's refreshing to see someone heavily invested in EVs to admit that they're not yet ready for prime time.

"Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil & gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures," Musk tweeted. "Obviously, this would negatively affect Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil & gas exports."

He's right.

SEATTLE POLICE shoot and kill armed suspect after he rams downtown Federal building.

At least they spared the citizens of Seattle of having to watch the local district attorney's office explain why he was released without bail.

THEY HAVE NO PLAN; AND THEY DON'T CARE: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY] asked how Democrats plan to deal with record gas prices.

AND WITH NO MEAN TWEETS: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shuts down liberal reporter.

YES, IT IS SATIRE: Biden begs Texas to secede.

And as a former Texan myself, I'm confident that the State wouldn't sell a quart of oil to the Biden administration....

THIS GUY IS A COMPLEAT ASS: Kerry claims Ukraine humanitarian crisis pales in comparison to 'climate refugees'.

THE MIDTERMS ARE COMING. THE MIDTERMS ARE COMING! Texas Democrats to Biden: Drill, baby, drill.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE of the Left's 'never let a crisis go to waste' attitude.

RANDOM THOUGHT: The Biden administration is proving to be a 15-ring clown circus.

The rings being his cabinet (State / Treasury / Defense / Attorney General / Interior / Agriculture / Commerce / Labor / Health & Human Services / Housing & Urban Development / Transportation / Energy / Education / Veterans Affairs / Homeland Security); the ringmasters being his hamsters handlers.

POWERLINE'S gas pains edition of its Mid-Week in Pictures. This one I can't unsee:

Now go see the rest.

AND EXPERTS. DON'T FORGET EXPERTS. Intellectuals are proving bad for America.

ASSUMING HE HAS ONE, what's going on in Joe Biden's mind?

I tend to think the motives are these:

(1) Whatever Trump did, do the opposite. This is in part reflexive and in part spiteful.
(2) Whatever Obama did, do more of it and go that extra mile.
(3) Virtue-signal to your leftist base and give them what they want,
     or you will lose them.

Even now, with this Russia invasion of Ukraine, they’re not going to reverse direction.

Fair, and accurate. -

IF UKRAINE HAPPENED TO US, more Republicans than Democrats would stay and fight.

This is a surprise only in that I thought the split would be larger.

ALEXANDER VINDMAN has a meltdown at the GOP and Marjorie Taylor Greene over Russia.

He's just mad because he volunteered to lead the Ukraine army and was rejected.

THE MORE YOU PAY, THE LESS YOU GET: Your teachers unions at work.

HER DEPTHS HAVE NEVER BEEN SUCCESSFULLY PLUMBED: How stupid is Kamala Harris?

IF TELLING PEOPLE to shape up is bullying, then America needs more bullying.

It's Kurt Schlichter, so read it all.

BUT A TAX INCREASE AND MORE SOCIAL WORKERS WILL FIX EVERYTHING: the idiocy of Seattle.

DEREK HUNTER: Are some people just bad?

Usually I go with Occam's Razor (never attribute to malice that which be explained by stupidity); this time I'm conflicted. I hope Lindsey Graham is just stupid, but the more I see him, the more certain I am that he's only there to polish his image.

RANDOM THOUGHT on Biden's just-concluded press conference announcing sanctions against Russian oil: 'That train has left the station so we must run to catch up'.

Additionally, his announcement that America will share the refugee costs with our allies in Europe came following Fox News' announcement of a $1M donation to the American Red Cross for Ukraine relief efforts.

Another train, another station....

HIGH GAS PRICES BOTHERING YOU? Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says to buy an EV.

With what? My tax savings? And how do I pay for the electricity to charge it?

Dummkopf.

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: Never mind the new CDC guidance; I'll keep masking indoors and you should too.

Which explains why I'll never trust a medical professional again. And I'm not alone; I've spoken with others in my neighborhood who've decided the same.

As I posited long ago, my doctor occupies about the same position in my personal economic hierarchy as my garage mechanic -- if my car is broken or not working properly, I'll take it in for diagnosis and repair. But decisions -- to maintain or not, to repair or not -- are mine.

And mine alone. I'll solicit advice if needed, I'll listen to advice if offered. But I will not accept control.

CALIFORNIA on gasoline prices. Fortunately I don't live in California. Here's what I paid at the pump today: $4.07⁹ per gallon of regular.

That number's almost double what I paid a year ago at the same pump, but compared to California it's a bargain.

A CLOWN SHOW HAS TO HAVE CLOWNS: Justin Trudeau delivers a bizarre rant on democracy.

PUT YOUR COFFEE DOWN FIRST: The Eagle has landed.

OVERWROUGHT, BUT FUNDAMENTALLY CORRECT: The transgender movement is a modern day castration cult.

JUST WAIT 'TIL TOMORROW: Is this the dumbest claim Jen Psaki has ever made?

RANDOM THOUGHT: It's getting to be axiomatic that any time an 'expert' is quoted in a news article it's fake news (i.e., wrong).

UKRAINE MUSEUMS desperately working to preserve priceless Hunter Biden paintings.

Yes, it's America's News of Record.

I GUESS THAT TRANSGENDER THING doesn't work in a war zone.

AMMO GRRRLL has more on her political travels from Red to Blue to Red to ... wherever's next.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP: CNN to stop reporting in Russia because "a new law was passed there, threatening jail for anyone who intentionally spreads 'fake' news."

CNN's new tagline should become 'It's only fake news if we report it'. That would go so well with the Washington Post's tagline 'Democracy dies in darkness'.

GASOLINE PRICE EXPLAINER:

Linked from Instapundit.

UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR (SO FAR): The world's weak leadership isn't up to the Ukraine crisis.

It does appear to me, though, that ordinary citizens are beginning to move where our 'leadership' fears to tread. Actions matter; strongly worded statements do not.

ROOTING FOR PUTIN? No, but....

It's the Diplomad, so read it all.

SO THAT'S WHY THE STEREO WON'T WORK....

SPRINGTIME 2022: Week 1 begins with Tuxedo the cat and his favorite bush, which last year (and again this year) was the first to bud out.

Here's my usual pond view from the deck.

This year, however, it's the entire pond, almost completely unobstructed. We've had a number of trees taken down and brush cleared as part of this year's landscaping project. We're hoping that as the trees leaf out, it'll be mostly canopy with a good view underneath as all the smaller stuff has been cut down and moved out.

Here's the barn and our (hopefully soon to be) new front yard. We had about 10 trees taken out, including (sadly) the massive pine tree next to the garage and the two oaks from which the grandchildrens' swings used to hang. This week, God willin' and the creeks don't rise rains don't come, the landscapers will be out to flatten, slope, and fill in with new soil so we'll actually have a yard. Then replace the fences and gravel in a new driveway.

For the first time ever: our creek! This picture was taken about halfway down the stair to the pond. It has always been so overgrown that even in the winter the creek was invisible from anywhere except the back side of the dam. The slope of the mountain is too steep to see the creek from ground level at the house, but from the loft we now have a great view.

Here's Tuxedo on the pond freeway as I look back at the house from the same place the previous picture was taken. All the trees/brush that obstructed our views have been taken out, and I'm very slowly cleaning up the litter into 'erosion control' dams.

Here's what it looks like from the pond's dam. You can see the downed tree trunks that I'm moving ever so slowly at the left toward the bottom of the picture. As I mentioned to my neighbor, "that slope is approaching, if not over, 45 degrees (and I'm not yet at the really steep part). If I'm clearing from the topside, I'm sitting facing downslope; from the other side I'm kneeling facing upslope. If I'm upright, I'm praying to be sitting or kneeling...."

Here's a pretty good view from across the pond. To the left is the untouched part of our property -- generally speaking, on the other side of the creek from the house, and on the right is the cleared area. It would be nice to clean up that area that still obscures some of the house, but as a practical matter it would take a major investment in heavy equipment just to get in there....

Finally, a last picture from the pond, looking across to the fountain. The buds in the foreground are (I think) from a small, lonely tulip magnolia growing right at the edge of the pond.

Here are last year's opening pictures for those interested. Come back next week as spring continues....

BECAUSE INSIDE EVERY LEFTIST IS A TYRANT SCREAMING TO GET OUT: Why is the Left such a cesspit of racism?

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION (AND NATO) may not be supporting Ukraine, but Americans sure as hell are.

MY FAVORITES from PowerLine's Week in Pictures this week:

On Ukraine:

On America:

On the economy (it must be in California):

And Supreme Coronavirus Authority Dr. Anthony Fauci has gone missing....

Now go see them all.

SALENA ZITO: It's the my culture, stupid.

JUST IN TIME FOR THE MID-TERM ELECTIONS: A new Covid variant has arrived.

THE DIPLOMAD ON THE SOTU SPEECH: The Mummy mutters.

IT'S EARLY YET: Dumbest statement of the year.

I'D RATHER HAVE MEAN TWEETS: $5/gallon gas is coming.

SO NOW WE KNOW: Martin Luther King was a white supremacist.

He was merely smart, something which cannot be said about today's credentialed wokesters.

HE'S BEING KIND: We’re governed by grifters and dullards.

RUSSIA WAGES WAR, Pentagon wages gender identity training.

Lede from Instapundit. As noted, you really can't make this stuff up.

THE DIPLOMAD ON UKRAINE: Not much makes sense.

THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF POLL REVERSE: NYC mayor announces tentative end date to city’s vaccine, school mask mandates.

"The mid-terms are coming! The mid-terms are coming!"

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The crowded road to Kyiv.

One of the oddest commentaries about the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the boilerplate reaction that “borders can’t change in modern Europe” or “this does not happen in the 21st century.”

But why in the world should the 21st century be exempt from the pathologies of the past 20 centuries? Are we smarter than the Romans? More innovative than the Florentines? Do we have more savvy leaders than Lincoln or Churchill? Are they more mellifluous than Demosthenes? Does anyone now remember that some 130,000 were slaughtered just 30 years ago in the former Yugoslavia, as NATO planes bombed Belgrade and nuclear America and Russia almost squared off?

Has globalization, the “rules-based order,” the Davos reset elite, the “international community” so improved the very way humans think that they have rendered obsolete the now ossified ancient idea of deterrence? Will the Kardashians and Beyoncé tweet our pathway to global peace?

How about transnational NGOs? NATO? WHO? The U.N.? Are all their recent records of service proof of our more exalted modern morality? Will some new engineered Wuhan virus alter human nature, end its innate ancient pathologies, and so eliminate war as we knew it? Are we not the League of Nations because Putin is now chair of the Security Council?

In truth, anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time — and has and will until the end of time.

So let us walk down the crowded road to Kyiv.

It's lengthy, but worthy of a careful read.

PowerLine comments.

BLACK HISTORY I learned at CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference) 2022.

DEMOCRATS WILL TRY to retroactively change their COVID-19 response; don't let them.