I DIDN'T LIE TO YOU. I just hung up the telephone.

GOOD RIDDANCE: Eric Ciaramella crony and impeachment figure LTC Alexander Vindman retires.

RACIST, TOTALITARIAN DICTATORS ARE FINE -- as long as they're not white.

MICHAEL RAMIREZ: Susan Rice prepares for Veep job interview.

REPUBLICANS: sheep in elephant costumes.

I'll vote a straight Republican ticket in November, but in the meantime, I voted for the challenger over the incumbent in every Republican primary race, from top to bottom. Maybe they will/did get the message.

BOO! Texas Gov. Greg Abbott flinches.

I'M NOT READY to go back to restaurants. I tend to agree, not because of fear safety, but because I really am tired of all the damned masks, 'social distancing', and virtue-signaling Karens. Please, y'all, go back to your basements and cower there.

The comments, though, indicate I'm in a clear minority. Good for them.

HAS IT? The time has come to ARM.

I'm convinced it has.

AMMO GRRRLL writes about 'excellent choices'.

THIS TIME THE RULING CLASS GOVERNING APPARATCHIK TOOK IT DOWN: Jeffrey Epstein statue installed in front of Albuquerque city hall.

LAST WEEK (June 30th) I linked to a DiploMad post titled "The West is breeding ravens."

On July 3rd, TownHall made it visual.

NO MORE SUICIDES: Federal officials have hired top-rated Italian body guard Hillena Clintonelli to protect Ghislaine Maxwell.

Of course it's the Babylon Bee.

SOME REFLECTIONS FROM INDEPENDENCE DAY:

THE DIPLOMAD: The 4th now more than ever. Click through to read the comments.

AMERICAN GREATNESS: A magnificent speech.

SARAH HOYT: Fly the flag proudly.

CALIFORNIA TO THE PEOPLE: No fireworks. THE PEOPLE to California: Watch this.

I was somewhat annoyed (to say the least) that all channels (including Fox, to my everlasting regret) cut away from President Trump's fireworks display on the National Mall shortly after it began. Shame on them all.

WUHAN FLU [CORONAVIRUS] UPDATE for July 7, 2020:

Since Friday's update, the coronavirus toll remains relatively stable. The cumulative toll continues to increase slowly as the number of daily deaths remains low. We had 3 days over the weekend of very few deaths, followed by the predictable Monday spike of delayed weekend reports.

That said, the estimated number of uninfected Americans continues to decline, now down to 48.317%. The daily death rate continues its decline, now at 0.0783%, and the rolling average continues its steady decline now that the June 25th 'bump' has fallen out.

Gov. Brian Kemp has kept Georgia open. As was the case at my last report, the number of newly confirmed cases remains quite high, but deaths remain low.

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO STOP LETTING THESE IDIOTS RUN RUIN OUR LIVES?

With murders up nearly 80% in Chicago last month, [Mayor] Lori Lightfoot blames guns.

[NIAID Director Anthony] Fauci says country headed in wrong direction as Trump pledges control.

NFL to play black national anthem before 'Star-Spangled Banner' during opening week.

Kurt Schlichter has the answer.

I FIND THIS THOUGHT SOMEWHAT AMUSING: With a second pandemic lockdown (almost certainly) in the planning stage, how will the 'woke' establishment enforce it given their plans to defund the police?

Update: No fireworks? Watch this.

Will the woke apparatchik get the message? Unlikely....

YALE TO BECOME DUMMER UNIVERSITY? Sounds about right to me.

Although they did misspell "dumber"....

BIDEN AND THE DEMOCRATS are set to abolish the suburbs.

Well, my wife and I long ago decamped to the relative sanity of rural America, but we will be sorry to see the suburbs go as our children and grandchildren live there. Still, it's up to them (mostly) to end this madness.

POWERLINE: Hail to the Redskins Wokeskins.

Here are some suggestions taken from a Facebook post in response to a Clarence Page op-ed in the Chicago Tribune:

Dear Mr. Page:

I agree with our Native American population. I am highly jilted by the racially charged name of the Washington Redskins. One might argue that to name a professional football team after Native Americans would exalt them as fine warriors, but nay, nay. We must be careful not to offend, and in the spirit of political correctness and courtesy, we must move forward.

Let's ditch the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians. If your shorts are in a wad because of the reference the name Redskins makes to skin color, then we need to get rid of the Cleveland Browns.

The Carolina Panthers obviously were named to keep the memory of militant Blacks from the 60's alive. Gone. It's offensive to us white folk.

The New York Yankees offend the Southern population. Do you see a team named for the Confederacy? No! There is no room for any reference to that tragic war that cost this country so many young men's lives. I am also offended by the blatant references to the Catholic religion among our sports team names. Totally inappropriate to have the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angeles Angels or the San Diego Padres.

Then there are the team names that glorify criminals who raped and pillaged. We are talking about the horrible Oakland Raiders, the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Pittsburgh Pirates!

Now, let us address those teams that clearly send the wrong message to our children. The San Diego Chargers promote irresponsible fighting or even spending habits. Wrong message to our children.

The New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants promote obesity, a growing childhood epidemic. Wrong message to our children. The Cincinnati Reds promote downers/barbiturates. Wrong message to our children.

The Milwaukee Brewers. Well that goes without saying. Wrong message to our children.

So, there you go. We need to support any legislation that comes out to rectify this travesty, because the government will likely become involved with this issue, as they should. Just the kind of thing the do-nothing Congress loves.

As a die-hard Oregon State fan, my wife and I, with all of this in mind, suggest it might also make some sense to change the name of the Oregon State women's athletic teams to something other than "the" Beavers (especially when they play Southern California. Do we really want the Trojans sticking it to the Beavers???

I always love your articles and I generally agree with them. As for the Redskins name I would suggest they change the name to the "Foreskins" to better represent their community, paying tribute to the dick heads in Washington DC....

Take heed, Wokesters; it's payback time....

HAPPILY I FLED THE STATE YEARS AGO: 'Stop letting the inmates run the asylum!'