AUTUMN LEAVES, INSTALLMENT IV: Finally, a tiny bit of color, though the most obvious sign of fall is fewer leaves. Here's the usual pond view from the deck:

Finally a touch of reddish, but the bigger difference is fewer leaves on the trees.

Again, not much color change, just fewer leaves. Note that the rock walkway has been finished.

The picture was taken a little higher up on the pond path than last week. The only difference is a tiny hint of color in some of the leaves.

Taken closer to the pond than last week, it's hard to tell any significant color change.

Likewise from the other side of the pond, though the sun angle makes it difficult to tell.

Here are last week's pictures for comparison.

CHELSEA MANNING – still delusional after all these years.

So, tell us what you really think....

LET US NOW praise Democrat party incompetence:

Can we send another bouquet of flowers to Harry Reid for starting the process of ending the filibuster for judicial nominees? Democrats did that for the purpose of packing the DC Circuit Court of Appeals (Kavanaugh’s current post) because they knew that a lot of Obama’s executive actions were vulnerable to challenge in that venue. Then, Democrats decided that they had to filibuster—for the first time ever for the Supreme Court—Neil Gorsuch’s nomination, even though he was replacing Scalia and wouldn’t have affected the ideological distribution of the Court at all. There were apparently some cooler heads among Democrats who thought they should not have forced the GOP to nuke the filibuster and kept it in reserve for the next nomination, which turned out to be . . . now. But they couldn’t help themselves, because Resistance!

Enjoy the rest.

QUESTION ASKED AND ANSWERED: Why the Brett Kavanaugh smear?

We should just steamroller over the Democrats and salt the earth underneath. Judging from Sen. Grassley's comments today, I'm thinking that's gonna happen.

HEH: What Democrat overreach looks like.

LOVE THOSE KAVANAUGH HEARINGS: Here's the (Trump) Presidential Approval Index as of this morning.

The solid lines are 6th order best fit polynomials. That high a fit level is not something useful for long-term trends, but they are very useful short-term estimates.

AMEN: "These kinds of stunts explain why I have come to regard Democrats with great contempt."

COMING SOON:

The Restoration Project.

RANDOM OBSERVATION: The Democrats have cranked up their outrage machine from 11 to 15; Republicans have noticed, and learned from President Trump the value of counterattack.

For the midterm elections, I think that 'blue wave' we've been hearing about is just the swirling around the drain.

KAVANAUGH HEARING UPDATE: The Democrats have moved the goalposts again.

Linked from here. Their desperation is showing for all to see.

I ALMOST MISSED IT: It's Sunday, and time for Installment III of Autumn Leaves 2018. Here are today's pictures:

Color changes (from green to dead) are beginning to show in some of the other trees in the background. Unfortunately, it looks like their will be no yellow or red this year.

No real changes from last week.

Again, no real changes from last week although the glare from the cloudy sky makes it difficult to tell.

Finally, some change. You can see the brown across the pond, and there is a bit of yellowish tinge in the trees at the right.

The cloud glare does wash out the picture some, but it's clear that the foliage is thinning as the leaves drop. The house is now (barely) visible above the dock if you know where to look.

Last week's pictures are here for comparison.

POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures has posted. Here's my favorite:

But there are many others. Almost making the 'favorite' were Dianne Feinstein, Lindsey Graham, Me Too, It's Not Rape, Democrat Harassment, Corey Booker's face and the left-handed vice grips. Go see them all.

IS IT SATIRE, or is it real? Democrat Senators apologized to ‘all of those we surely molested during the past several decades, though we’re not aware of having done so.’

It's satire - Democrats never apologize.

BRAVO, PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We will never surrender America’s sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy.” I would only add that we, the American people, will never surrender our sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, U.S. government bureaucracy.

Now go read it all.

POWERLINE: Some thoughts about liberal presumptions. You can take it to the bank that any (progressive) liberal presumptions about conservatives/Republicans are nothing more than projection of their own internal beliefs.

Here's an item from the comments that reflects my own opinion exactly:

I'm having difficulty imagining a treatment that can be considered "respectful" while the author (Brinkley) feels the need to ensure his innate (to him) belief in the superiority of leftism is defended. I readily admit I am nothing resembling respectful when I refer to leftists as idiots. But I am serious about it. It is the leftists' feeling of entitlement to always demand bipartisanship and acceptance of their definition of the term (at some point, and preferably sooner rather than later, accede to the leftist) that makes me loathe them so.

Not only do leftists lack a knowledge base about conservatism and familiarity with the people who practice it, they have no interest in the topic. Therefore, their work always reverts to criticism or condescension instead of an objective discussion of the merits. Why would I read a leftist's view on conservatism, a topic she is so thoroughly unqualified to write about except to point fingers at the "boogeyman"? I certainly wouldn't read a book about capitalism written by a lifelong Communist or anything written about guns by Michael Beschloss.

I had to laugh when I read the comment by MacLean in the postscript. She used "IMHO," which usually stands for "In My Humble Opinion." By the tone of the rest of her comment, she hasn't had a humble nanosecond in her life.

Exactly right.

MALLARD FILLMORE has a 'trigger warning' for readers.

NO SURPRISE: It looks like Maxine Waters's staff doxxed several GOP senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Maxine Waters is batshit crazy; there's no reason not to assume her staff is as well.

NEWT GINGRICH: Is there even one Democrat decent enough or disgusted enough to end this Kavanaugh travesty?

Quick answer: No. Even Diogenes would fail if he limited his search to Democrat politicians.

THE NRA FIGHTS BACK:



I just re-upped for another year's membership.

I JUST EMAILED Sen. Joe Manchin to encourage him to vote in favor of Brett Kavanaugh's elevation to the Supreme Court, and then this popped up online.

The fat lady just sung.