THAT'S HOW WE KNOW THEY'RE LOSING: Left-wing pundits cheer on columnist calling for end of fairness in journalism.

MAYOR, ER, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY PETE insults our intelligence with new gaslighting effort about the supply chain crisis.

They lie because they truly believe Americans are dumb enough to believe them.

And most progressives are....

RANDOM THOUGHT: The primary problem with our election process is that in general Republicans are not interested in controlling others. Democrats are.

So they cheat to maintain control.

SANDEL'S JUST DESSERTS: The primary problem with meritocracy in America is that those in the leadership are without it.

[M]any Americans are more likely to disdain Harvard for its haughtiness and for the pretensions of its faculty and graduates to impose their progressive views and preferences on the entire nation than to aspire to send their children there. He [Sandel] fails to consider that substantial numbers of Americans are proud of their local way of life, have no yearning to live in Manhattan or Silicon Valley, and mostly want progressive elites to mind their own business.

The PowerLine post is longish but eminently readable; the Washington Free Beacon book review is as well. Read both.

WE CAN'T LET A REAL CRISIS distract us from a politically correct -- but unreal -- crisis.

POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures is up.

Many, many excellent ones this week. Go and see them all.

FALLING LEAVES 2021, Week 6.

This week will be a bit different from the usual 4-5 pictures. Without much comment here is a panoramic view of the forest surrounding our house, starting with the usual pond view and moving clockwise around the compass.

The following four pictures were taken along the eastern side of the house which is along a steep, brushy, heavily treed, and rarely photographed slope. It's a bit clearer now that the leaves are falling; usually one cannot see the other side of the ravine.

The last photo is looking south along our road so it's not quite so crowded. Looking at the top right it's more evident that the bigger deciduous trees have all lost their leaves. Continuing clockwise to the southwest, the next photo shows our road and clear evidence that all the taller trees are now pretty much bare of leaves.

Moving west now, along the road turning to the north, we pass the gap that has been showing for several weeks now.

The next three pictures are back along the north side of our property where the barn and fire pit (my usual photos) are located.

And the circle is complete.

Finally here are two photos taken earlier this week at Lake Blue Ridge. This first one is of a tree that is usually spectacularly red. This year it's a bit subdued, but that's mostly because I was late to take the picture.

And finally, finally here's one of Lake Blue Ridge.

It was cloudy, cool -- so no boats -- and perfectly calm. Note the lake is down about 6 feet.

Next week I'll return to my usual format.

$20K PER HOUR: Not bad for grifting.

OLD AND BUSTED: The Hippocratic Oath. The New Hotness? The Hypocritic Oath.

SO MUCH FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS, Pete Buttigieg is still on maternity paternity leave.

Progressives certainly know how to waste our tax money, don't they?

A COUNTRY THAT CANNOT CONTROL ITS BORDERS is not a country, and we are facing that eventuality.

MOLLIE Z. HEMINGWAY: A hint to Republicans for 2022 -- and 2024.

Long, but very, very worthy. Read and heed.

THE LEFT'S BISEXUAL SELF-ABSORBED NARCISSISTIC SUPERMAN is a reflection of themselves.

Keep firmly in mind that the Left always -- always -- blames us for things they do, have done, or will do given the opportunity.

IMPRIMIS: The January 6th insurrection hoax.

Read it all -- and never forget.

AMMO GRRRLL has thoughts about gender-neutral toy sections.

Just when you think that our Ruling Class and the Worst Administration since at least King Herod cannot think up something yet more stupid to occupy their time, they rise like an unsupervised overnight Biden vote count to the occasion.

See if you can read it all without laughing.

SATIRE REQUIRES SOMEONE WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR. The Atlantic doesn't qualify.

RANDOM THOUGHT: In my lifetime, the Left has never built any product that wasn't just paper. Or more recently, I suppose, electrons in a computer cloud somewhere.

If it exists and can be seen, touched, or more importantly, used, you --the progressive Left -- didn't build that. We did.

AMERICAN GREATNESS: Sovereign citizen or greengrocer?

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm a sovereign citizen and I plan to remain that way.

SO THE LEFT WON ITS PYRRHIC VICTORY. Now what?

Chaos.

BIG TROUBLE AHEAD: A record number of workers quit their jobs in August.

Moving up (to a higher paying job)? Or moving out (in disgust)? My bet is on the latter.