I’m going to preface this with a disclaimer. I didn’t watch the entire press conference. I have watched some of the excerpts however. I am not going to link to the entire thing, if you so choose to watch, it is available elsewhere.
66 days. That is how long it took Joe to hold his first presser. That is the longest in more than 100 years. And what did we get for all that delay? Not much.
Team Biden called a “lid” fairly early for the past few days so Joe could prepare. All the prep didn’t seem to help much. Nor did the convention busting binder Biden used.
Johnathan Allen is a “reporter” for NBC news in case you were wondering. I don’t know what universe John lives in, but it isn’t this one if he thought Biden was doing well at any point during this mess. That said, even he noticed that Joe wasn’t doing well after a bit.
He faced no tough questions and one fawning fangirl, NPR’s Amiche Alcindor asked if the border surge was due to him being a “moral and decent man”. The one reporter who has asked the tough questions of the biden administration, Fox’s Peter Doocy, wasn’t even called on. This despite the fact Fox is the most watched cable news network.
At one point Biden was asked a question about North Korea. One would think that Joe would have some thoughts on the matter, seeing as North Korea just resumed ballistic missile testing. Instead what we got was some pablum about diplomacy and consulting our allies. Worse, the answer was read directly from the briefing book Biden had at the podium.
It also seems that the questions he took had been pre-cleared with his handlers. He definitely called on people froma prepared list.
At one point, he became agitated when ABC News reporter Cecilia Vega brought up the conditions in the illegal immigrant detention facilities. “You mentioned circumstances that must be horrific. The Customs and Border Protection facility in Donna, Texas — I was there — is at 1556% capacity right now with mostly unaccompanied minors. There are kids that are sleeping on floors, they are packed into these pods,” Vega began. “I’ve spoken to lawyers who say that some of these children have not seen the sun in days. What is your reaction to these images that have come out from that particular facility? Is what’s happening inside acceptable to you? And when is this going to be fixed?”
“That’s a serious question, right? If it’s acceptable to me? Come on,” Biden snapped.
Biden Overstepped Constitutional Authority When He Revoked Keystone Pipeline Permit, Multiple States Allege In Lawsuit
A group of 21 Republican state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against President Joe Biden’s administration over its decision to nix the Keystone Pipeline.
“This Administration has sought to leverage its power regarding U.S. foreign policy to unilaterally contradict Congress’s stated domestic policy regarding one of the most significant energy projects in a generation: the Keystone XL Pipeline,” the lawsuit said.
Congress never granted the president the authority to revoke the pipeline’s permit, which is a regulation of interstate and international commerce, according to the lawsuit.
A group of 21 Republican state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against President Joe Biden’s administration over its decision to nix the Keystone XL Pipeline.
The states, led by Montana and Texas, accused President Joe Biden of overstepping his constitutional authority when he revoked the Keystone XL Pipeline’s federal permit on Jan. 20 hours after entering office, in the lawsuit filed Wednesday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
“The power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce belongs to Congress – not the President,” Montana Attorney General Knudsen said in a statement Wednesday. “This is another example of Joe Biden overstepping his constitutional role to the detriment of Montanans.”
“There is not even a perceived environmental benefit to his actions – his attempt to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline is an empty virtue signal to his wealthy coastal elite donors,” Knudsen said. “It shows Biden’s contempt for rural communities in Montana and other states along the pipeline’s path that would benefit from and support the project.”
Congress never granted the president the authority to revoke the pipeline’s permit, which is a regulation of interstate and international commerce, according to the lawsuit. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the sole power to regulate interstate and international commerce.
Further, Biden violated the rules previously set by Congress on what actions the executive branch may take regarding the Keystone pipeline, the lawsuit said.
Biden had stated that keeping the pipeline’s permit would not be consistent with his “economic and climate imperatives,” which include solving the world’s climate crisis. The complaint Wednesday argued that he couldn’t alter U.S. domestic policy with the intention of conducting foreign policy.
“The President has certain prerogatives to act on behalf of the United States in foreign affairs,” the lawsuit said. “But as far as domestic law is concerned, the President must work with and abide by the limits set by Congress—whether he likes them or not.”
“This Administration has sought to leverage its power regarding U.S. foreign policy to unilaterally contradict Congress’s stated domestic policy regarding one of the most significant energy projects in a generation: the Keystone XL Pipeline,” the lawsuit said.
Former President Donald Trump’s March 2019 executive order approving the pipeline permit was constitutional because it fell in line with the “repeatedly expressed preferences” of Congress, according to Wednesday’s complaint.
The project is an extension of an existing TC Energy pipeline that already transports crude oil from Canada to the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal. The extension would carry crude directly from Alberta, Canada to Steele City, Nebraska where it would connect to existing pipeline that stretches to the Gulf of Mexico.
The part of the pipeline extension that crosses the U.S.-Canada border is mostly completed, the lawsuit said.
Montana, Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming were listed as plaintiffs on the suit.
Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas were all listed as defendants.
On Feb. 10, 14 attorneys general, including many listed in Wednesday’s lawsuit, sent a letter “with alarm” to the Biden administration, urging the president to reconsider his decision to effectively kill the pipeline. The letter warned that the states had been reviewing all available legal options to protect their residents.
“Your decision will result in devastating damage to many of our states and local communities,” the attorneys general wrote in the letter to Biden. “Even those states outside the path of the Keystone XL pipeline—indeed all Americans—will suffer serious, detrimental consequences.”
Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led the coalition, which included the top legal officers from Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas. Montana’s portion of the proposed pipeline would have been 285 miles long and was expected to generate more than 4,000 jobs.
John Kerry, the White House climate czar, recently said workers who lose their jobs due to the administration’s climate policies can find jobs making solar panels. The letter said the Biden administration’s insistence that laid off pipeline workers would be given green jobs in the future was a “cold promise.”
Several prominent trade unions, which endorsed Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, strongly condemned the executive order. The unions ignored requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation asking why they supported Biden despite his campaign promise to nix the job-creating pipeline.
“Well, I wish he hadn’t done that on the first day,” Richard Trumka, the president of the powerful AFL-CIO, told Axios. “Because the Laborer’s International was right, it did and will cost us jobs in the process.”
The Teamsters, the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), the International Union of Operating Engineers and the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters signed the Keystone Pipeline’s labor agreement in August. The agreement promised the creation of 42,000 “family-sustaining jobs” in the U.S. and $2 billion in total earnings for the all-union workforce.
Meanwhile, twelve states sued the Biden administration over its climate policies on March 8. One day later, two states sued the administration over its immigration policies.
A group of Republican attorneys general threatened additional legal action against the Biden administration in a letter to Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Tuesday. The 21 attorneys general demanded clarity on Biden’s position regarding state tax policy.
Comment: Every State – It’s a Republic, if you can keep it – take every Executive Order, executed by this Beijing Biden dictatorship and start filing lawsuits in opposition. Stabilize, your economy – follow the lead of DeSantis.
House Democrats ask Biden to give up sole power to launch nuclear bomb
Over thirty House Democrats are asking President Biden to consider renouncing his authority to launch nuclear weapons.
In a letter sent Tuesday but publicized Wednesday, 31 lawmakers led by Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) urge the commander in chief to “consider modifying the decision-making process the United States uses in its command and control of nuclear forces.”
“As president, two of your most critical and solemn duties are the security of the country and the safeguarding of its nuclear arsenal,” the letter reads, noting the president’s sole authority to order the use of nuclear weapons assures keeping them under civilian control.
“However, vesting one person with this authority entails real risks,” Panetta and Lieu continued.
Some House Democrats have asked President Biden to renounce his authority to launch nuclear weapons. Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images
“Past presidents have threatened to attack other countries with nuclear weapons or exhibited behavior that caused other officials to express concern about the president’s judgment,” the two said, referencing former President Donald Trump’s very public feud with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
An Air Force aide carries the “nuclear football” out of the White House as he accompanies President Joe Biden. Getty Images
In terms of alternatives, the two California Democrats suggested a number of options.
One would be to require that the vice president and speaker of the House of Representatives concur with the president’s decision to strike.
Another option would be requiring certifications from the secretary of defense that the strike order was valid, as well as the attorney general that it was legal.
Rep. Ted Lieu was one of more than 30 House Democrats asking President Biden to give up his sole power to launch a nuclear strike. Michael Reynolds/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The two lawmakers also suggested requiring a Congressional declaration of war and specific approval from Congress on the strike.
The last option they suggested was creating a permanent council of Congressional leaders that would hold regular deliberations with the president and their administration on national security issues.
That council would be required to be consulted before the launch of any nuclear weapon.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta is the son of former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
Panetta is the son of Leon Panetta, who served as Defense Secretary and CIA director under President Obama and was chief of staff to President Clinton.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the letter.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on his stance on the president’s nuclear authority.
Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Barack Obama listen as then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks. Getty Images
“While any president would presumably consult with advisors before ordering a nuclear attack, there is no requirement to do so,” the letter states, “The military is obligated to carry out the order if they assess it is legal under the laws of war.”
“Under the current posture of U.S. nuclear forces, that attack would happen in minutes.”
House Republicans on the Armed Services Committee are slamming the effort, with GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), Committee Ranking Member Mike Rogers (R-Al.) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Turner (R-Oh.) releasing a statement decrying the idea as dangerous.
“The President of the United States must have the exclusive ability to command and control our nuclear deterrent. Democrats’ dangerous efforts suggesting a restructuring of our nuclear command and control process will undermine American security, as well as the security of our allies,” the three said.
“These proposals, if enacted, would leave Americans vulnerable, destabilize the nuclear balance, and shake our allies’ confidence in the nuclear umbrella. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping would cheer if the United States adopted such a unilateral restriction,” they continued. Article: https://nypost.com/2021/02/25/democrats-ask-biden-to-give-up-power-to-launch-nuclear-bomb/ By: Emily Jacobs – February 25, 2021
Comment: Not even sixty days in to the 46th Presidency and your “team” is discussing relinquishing your power and the control of the nuclear codes to a “committee”. WOW !! Assume this is an indication of the diminished mental health of Biden or an internal power struggle is taking place.
Several media outlets have called the Presidential race for Joe Biden despite the fact that several key states have not completed their vote counts.
There are several thousand votes, mostly Military ballots, outstanding in GA which is headed for an automatic recount. AZ has somewhere around 200,000 votes yet to be counted. The NV count is only around 80% complete. WI will see an automatic recount, as will PA, where the Supreme Court issued an order requiring any ballot received after 3pm on the third be segregated.
Keep in mind, none of the vote totals we have seen so far are official. Regardless of what the media says, until the tallies are certified by the secretaries of state, not a single one is official.
The President released a statement today regarding the media call of the election.
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor. In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.
Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election. It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters. Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access.
So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”
By now I’m sure that you all have read, listened to or watched all kinds of analysis on last night’s debate. Get ready for just a little more, because I’m about to give you my two cents on the topic.
First we’re going to start with the results of yesterday’s Snap Poll. I asked what you thought was going to happen at the debate and who would interrupt first.
I have to admit, I voted for the shitshow. However, this is one time I’m glad I was wrong. Last night’s debate was far better than the first. Substantive issues were discussed, there were very few times when the candidates talked over one another. The moderator, Kristen Welker, while not perfect, did a reasonable job.
There were a couple of instances that really stood out to me.
There was a period, a little more than halfway through, where I thought Joe was going to lose it. He started slurring his words, became somewhat incoherent and flailed around trying to find his place. From that point on, he struggled, even if he regained some of his composure.
The other thing that really stood out to me was when Trump cornered Joe on the fossil fuel industry. Joe and the rest of his team have been furiously trying to walk back that statement ever since. Of the entire campaign, I think that one exchange caused Joe more damage than anything else.
This past Saturday, October 17, 2020, I got wind of a story about a kooky shooting in Kingsville, Maryland; a sleepy quasi-rural community in Baltimore County, currently home for some 4400 people. Delightful, not quite the country communities like Kingsville were created by good ole boys, farmers and grand old families on properties outside city suburbs. Today, an aging local populace works its way through the first pangs of urban sprawl as modern subdivisions slowly begin to replace spaces once filled with tilled fields and pasture lands. People with multi-generational roots in Kingsville are friendly Americans, welcoming their new neighbors to the community.
Enter, Douglas Edward Kuhn – an IT professional employed by a firm in New Mexico, and one of those newer Kingsville residents. Last April, 50 year old Kuhn paid $675,000 for an absolutely lovely piece of real estate. The parcel of well tended land measures just under 15 acres and features a stunning, fully updated Colonial house, built circa 1915. Locals in Kingsville breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the Cedar Lane property was purchased with its Agricultural Use designation intact. There were no signs the lovely single home estate would be turned into blocks of houses for 30+ families. Unfortunately, the change in ownership still shattered the peace in this off-the-beaten-trail community.
Shortly before 2:30 pm on Saturday, police responded to a disturbance call near Cedar Lane and Mt. Vista Road in Kingsville. A homeowner had been posting a political sign on his property when the driver of a pickup truck carrying signs for the opposing party’s candidate honked the horn while motoring past. Apparently, the homeowner felt an equal and appropriate response to the driver’s horn abuse was to grab a shotgun and blast it the truck’s direction. Neither truck nor occupants were injured, thankfully. Truck driver pulled off a safe distance up the road and called the police. Short Sighted Shotty McGee was arrested without incident.
Did Joe Biden’s advice to fire a shotgun in the air as a way to warn people off take root good and tight in Kuhn’s sh*t simple lil heart? He ought not feel badly if inspiration to chase a truck down the street and shoot a round over its head came from the Phantom of the Election’s poor advice. Kuhn wouldn’t be the first witless wonder outside of Joe’s immediate family victimised by Biden Misdirection.
It didn’t take much effort to determine the address where this occurred and the shooters identity – Douglas Edward Kuhn, the new kid on the block. It did seem as though I’d have to visit Kingsville if I wished to learn what political party messaging Kuhn has determined renders a person deserved of a rootin’ tootin’ shootin’. Pondering the conspicuous absence of that data in official reports, the newness of Mr. Kuhn to the neighborhood and his irrational behaviour, I indulged myself with a comfy presumption that the truck was probably heavy with Trump signage – and the shooter inflicted with a bad case of TDS. Gosh, turned out that was a good guess.
Kuhn’s victims have been identified as Neal Houk, driver of the horny truck, and Neal’s son Bradley Lang, former Vice President of the Towson College Republicans.
“It’s Kingsville, it’s a friendly area. Everyone honks at each other. We think we were hoping there could be some civility between people who support different candidates,” Lang told WBALTV.
“He picked up a shotgun from near his feet and ran towards us aiming it and we got 100, 200 feet down the road, he began to fire,” Lang continues. “We were scared, although we were happy that he missed, the truck was missed and we were alright.”
Houk shared an accounting of the bizarre event with Channel 2.
“I came down Cedar and turned down here and blew the horn. There was a gentleman in the field putting up a banner and I blew the horn and he had a shotgun right there and he reached down, picked it up, pointed it,“said Houk. “My son was in the passenger seat. We looked straight down the barrel and we looked in disbelief and then right then he fired the shotgun.”
“I would never think — especially in Kingsville — that anyone would be violent about this situation. We all play nice here. It is America,” Houk told WBALTV.
Douglas Kuhn allegedly told police he had a shovel, not a shotgun. Witness testimony cleanly refuted that claim. Police charged Kuhn with two counts each of first-degree and second-degree assault, felony use of a firearm, reckless endangerment and other charges. He was denied a bail hearing until Monday morning. At the hearing, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Schellenberger gave the nod to Kuhn’s being released on bail after home detention had been arranged, Kuhn was released from custody Monday night. He’ll be staying at home until his next court date. The presiding judge, Baltimore County District Court Judge Philip Tirabassi, was reportedly, “furious over the current political climate, saying he was aghast that life has gotten to this stage.”
“How did it get to the point where he pulls out a shotgun? What has the world come to? This is beyond belief. Free speech. Why resort to weaponry. This could have been horrible,” Judge Tirabassi fumed from the bench.
Saturday’s shotgun discharge moment is not the first instance of trouble with Kuhn’s political displays. FOX45 News interviewed some neighbors of the trigger happy Biden devotee, including a gentleman named David Franz who has lived in Kingsville for 35 years. Franz said Kuhn’s signs and flags for Biden-Harris and BLM tend to disappear a few days after they appear.
“The ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign was down and one of the Biden signs was down — they’re flags that were torn down,” said Franz.
Well now. It becomes a bit more clear why Kuhn was so irked. Where my headspace exists, (which is outside of what is legal in the state of Maryland,) a man catching trespassers destroying his personal property has the right to shoot a trespassing vandal. There is no justification in shooting at a passing motorist who has done no harm, however. Why the hell did Kuhn even have a shotgun with him? Does he really take his property and/or politics so seriously? Something is missing. More than just the man’s sense.
A quick look through publicly available records produces the Deed to the property on Cedar Lane. Douglas Kuhn co-owns the home with another gentleman, William E. Narrow. Kuhn and Narrow appear on the Deed as ‘tenants by the entireties’, Owner/Occupants. Both are also equally responsible to pay the $573,750.00 debt recorded on a Deed of Trust secured by the property. That’s a helluva mortgage for land zoned Agricultural, useless to home developers. Perhaps Maryland’s recent laws on cannabis use sparked the idea of starting a farm. Just musing. Also, in the Lutheran Volunteer Corp (LVC) Annual Report, FY 2010-2011, “William Narrow and Doug Kuhn” appears, like that, in a list of people recognised as generous donors of $5000 or more. Perhaps theirs is a simple business arrangement. Perhaps, more.
Douglas Kuhn’s choices to festoon his property with markers of politics and social policy not embraced by the people he has opted to live amongst, and actually firing a shotgun at his fellow citizens, suggest he is an intolerant control freak who is regularly inconsiderate of others. His would not be a novel impetus if the decision to move to a traditionally conservative neighborhood was impelled by a desire to “influence” people he considers some kind of backwards hick. He has the right to his opinion and free speech, just like all U.S. citizens. So long as his efforts do not impede another’s path to their pursuit of happiness. Overkill is an impediment, a distraction, an unnecessary whap upside the head. As of Monday evening there are three, full size Biden flags (two, pictured above) on Kuhn’s property. At least. That’s at least two too many if ya want to be neighborly.
OK – fair and balanced criticism moment. It’s not just people to the Left who seem unable to curb their yen to vomit bodacious amounts of political messaging. Some Trump supporters have brought tacky campaigning overkill to the party, as well. See, Neal Houk’s truck, long may it roll and wave:
Yes and again, depending on any housing codes relevant to his home on Cedar Lane, Douglas Kuhn is free to fly fifty Biden flags if it makes him feel happy. Such overkill, however, will invite a negative response. One wonders if a single flag would ever have been removed from it’s assigned place if only a single flag had ever been displayed.
The insistent abundance factor makes this homeowners political messaging smell like a disrespectful, purposeful tweaking of nerves. Let me qualify such a castigating personal values assumption. Doug Kuhn lives on a local traffic kind of thoroughfare. The only people who see his banners are community members going back and forth to work, school, church, shopping, etc. He’s doing this for them. Rather, for himself and to them.
red star marks Kuhn/Narrow property in Kingsville MD
It would be nice if we could be more respectful of the old when we decide to make it our new. Moving into established communities means moving into established mindsets and preferences. A certain level of assimilation is expected when one plants new roots. Attempting to push a personal agenda down the throats of the uninterested will not yield positive results. These are human nature truisms most of us figure out by the time we reach the age of majority – Kuhn somehow missed those life lessons back when they don’t hurt so much to learn.
Conversely, hands off the property of disrespectful people who do not participate in the niceties that keep society peaceful. It is not acceptable for Trump supporters to trespass on private property or destroy other peoples political messaging devices. Period. Besides being unlawful and not nice, it is easy enough to drive ’em nuts with your own signs and a truck horn, apparently.
It seems relevant to note that while Kuhn’s flags were tampered with, his house was not set afire. Yet, he seems to have found the decision to risk human life and property a quick and easy choice to make. There are clear patterns of personal conduct regularly displayed by US of Americans versus the citizen seeking to turn an exceptional nation into a typical failure. Even if it should turn out that Kuhn has been the target of much hate and feels as though he is in danger, chasing a vehicle as it drives away so you can blast at it with a shotgun is considered wildly inappropriate – by sane people.
This ‘Merican wonders if liberal legislators writing Red Flag laws haven’t been motivated to do so by the Douglas Kuhns in their own family trees.
Airhead Author Note I thought I’d posted this last night, Tuesday. Think I took it down to edit because it’s long, and yet, did not do any editing. Sorry for the ramble. If I did already post this, please accept my apologies for the overkill. 😉
Joe Biden is making an appearance in North Carolina today and won’t be seen again in public until the debate on Thursday.
Ostensibly, this is for debate prep, or so his surrogates are saying. Realistically, it’s to prevent any enterprising reporter from asking him about the influence peddling scheme he and his son Hunter cooked up. Polls taken since the news broke are showing a negative effect for Joe, his numbers are down, on average, by 2% points.
I’ll admit to being somewhat skeptical of the NY Post story when it first broke, however it’s becoming more and more clear that the Biden’s have been selling influence to whomever they could. The latest emails, from a former Hunter Biden business associate, paint a clear picture of Joe being a direct beneficiary of this scheme.
There has been no denial from the Biden camp of any of the allegations other than a weak, “it wasn’t on his official calender” statement early on.
It’s now been four days since The Post dropped the first Hunter Files story, and neither Joe nor Hunter has disputed a single material fact.
The easiest thing they could do is to say, “That laptop isn’t ours, Hunter didn’t send/receive those e-mails.”
