NEWS REVUE
Oprah's Greed! Lichtman Un-Keyed! Whoop's Indeed! Woke/No Seed!
This column was published earlier to day in Santa Barbara Current.
“Trump sparks liberal meltdown as he taps Elon Musk to 'dismantle' U.S. bureaucracy and nominates Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead Department of Defense” (Daily Mail)
Our government, at all levels, is not just bloated. It is obese.
I’ll venture to guess that if one-third of all government bureaucrats got cut from the payroll—federal, state and local—it would not only help balance the budget but would increase efficiency rather than decrease it.
Start with the Department of Justice…
“Many in government are worried about Trump’s return. At DOJ, they’re terrified” (Politico)
They should be.
Especially bigwigs at the FBI.
And speaking of obesity: An astonishing 40.3 % of all Americanas are obese.
“What is ‘Make America Healthy Again’? What to know about Trump and RFK Jr.'s wide-ranging platform” (CBS News)
All are under the banner of fighting what Kennedy sees as a common thread behind a broad swath of ailments: that Americans have been "mass poisoned by big pharma and big food," and that federal agencies have failed to stop it.
As Santa Barbara’s wonderful Dr. Richard Danson (now retired) used to say, “Help is on the way!”
“Trump gets revenge on Pfizer with Robert F Kennedy Jr role” (The Telegraph)
Pharma stocks slump following appointment of renowned vaccine sceptic.
I wouldn’t call it revenge. How about much needed poetic justice?
“Trump plans to create a 'warrior board' of retired senior officials that can weed out 'woke generals'“ (Daily Mail)
Woke was (and remains) a sick joke in all quarters. But most especially, woke has no place in the military, which by its very nature does not loan itself to sensitivity training.
Forced diversity and quotas have always been nonsense. Only meritocracy produces high quality government and business.
I’m exhilarated to see that common sense is the prevailing trend and that anti-woke war veteran Pete Hegseth will (if confirmed) lord over the Pentagon as…
“Draft Executive Order Would Create Board to Purge Generals” (WSJ)
As commander in chief, Trump can fire any officer at will, but an outside board whose members he appoints would bypass the Pentagon’s regular promotion system.
The president-elect previewed the move during a campaign event in October, telling an audience that he would create a task force to monitor the “woke generals” and get rid of diversity training in the military.
“They’re gone,” Trump said of those generals.
And hopefully never coming back.
“Scientists warn men could become extinct due to 'testicle mutations.’” (Daily Star)
Hasn’t that already happened to woke males?
“Lichtman blames bad election prediction on disinformation, Elon Musk” (The Hill)
Some egos refuse to be humbled.
It wasn’t “disinformation,” Allan—pure and simple, you lost your “keys.”
But former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo gets it (if a tad befuddled), posting on X…
“We were so blinded by our hatred for Trump and assumed that everybody was going to see that we were right and that he was bad,” says Cuomo about why Democrats were trounced in the election. “We were so consumed with making the negative for Trump, we never made the positive case for the Democratic Party.”
What positive case?
“Donald Trump and Joe Biden's friendly White House encounter left everyone saying the same thing” ( Daily Mail)
The suggestion—tongue-in-cheek or otherwise—is that Joe voted for Trump.
If you’d hung out with the Kameleon for four years, you probably would have cast your vote elsewhere, too, exemplified by how many staffers walked out on the VP over the years. One can take only so much “joyous” cackling or someone who begins every sentence with “so” then follows with nothing of substance.
The Kameleon never should have been a presidential contender; she never should have been a VP. Only fools and Hollyweird celebrities grieve her defeat.
Everyone should consider themselves fortunate for having been spared a national nightmare.
It now appears at least of one those celebrities (probably others) milked the Kameleon’s billion-dollar campaign coffers…
“Oprah's hometown newspaper eviscerates her for 'taking $1m from Kamala'“ (Daily Mail)
There’s nothing like a billionaire’s greed for an extra mil.
But wait…
“Real Cost of Harris Event With Oprah Leaked as Campaign Struggles With Bills” (Daily Beast)
It was more like $2.5 million.
“Bakery hits back at Whoopi Goldberg's claims that it refused to serve her over political views” (Daily Mail)
Bakery owner Jill Holtermann denied hints that she was unable to complete the order due to Whoopi's left-leaning political views and claimed the truth was that the bakery had been having trouble with its equipment.
Another round of flatulence from a Whoopee cushion.
“Go bags, passports, foreign assets” (Washington Post)
Some prominent critics of Donald Trump, and those he has vilified as “deep state” saboteurs, are taking seriously his vow of retribution.
Go for it, drama queens, even though it’s totally unnecessary. No one will be coming after you for retribution. That’s because lawfare was a dumb Dem thing plus there are important policies to implement. Your feckless concerns belong only to your ego, ranking zero attention from anyone in power. But do enjoy your paranoia while abroad.
However, if evidence of genuine criminal activity is uncovered, all bets are off.
And that may include…
“Trump transition team compiling list of current and former U.S. military officers for possible courts-martial” (NBC News)
All of the officers were involved in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
A debacle from beginning to end followed by a tidal wave of lies.
“Elon Musk Met with Iran’s U.N. Ambassador, Iranian Officials Say” (NYTs)
The purpose of this meeting?
Most assuredly about pushing Iran to press Hamas to release all remaining hostages (perhaps on Inauguration Day)—or else.
And, given Iran’s threat to assassinate Trump, perhaps it was politely pointed out that, if the Ayatollah favors such tactics, he is not immune from assassination himself.
“Iran denies meeting between its UN envoy and Elon Musk” (NYTs)
The New York Times is either fabricating news (again) or Ayatollah Khamenei did not like Trump’s message.
“The Babylon Bee Is Graciously Offering To Hire Any Laid-Off Employee From Fake News Rival CNN” (The Babylon Bee)
“We're not here to gloat. We're here to help," said Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon. "Look, the Fake News industry is fiercely competitive, and CNN has incredible talent. We may be rivals, but at the end of the day, we're human beings—human beings who love making up the news."
Charlie Kirk on X…
Former Obama CIA director John Brennan says Tulsi Gabbard "doesn't have the right perspective" to be Director of National Intelligence.
So let's remind people:
-John Brennan lied under oath to the Senate about the CIA spying on Senate staffers.
-John Brennan lied to the public about Obama's drone war, claiming they never killed any civilians when he knew (and it was obvious) that this was false.
-John Brennan helped get the Russia collusion hoax off the ground, and lied that it was "well-founded" and based on real evidence.
-John Brennan lied that the Hunter Biden laptop was fake and was "Russian disinfo."
John Brennan is the exact sort of lifelong Washington D.C. parasite who must be stamped out.
Amen, brother.
And speaking of lost causes…
“Wasserman Schultz says Gabbard ‘likely a Russian asset’” (The Hill)
Can you imagine what life would be like being married to Wasserman Schultz?
Worse, I’m certain, than a Bosch depiction of hell.
“House Dems Sick of Pelosi” (Axios)
“She needs to take a seat,” said one senior Democratic lawmaker.
Apparently, Neutered Nance thinks she’s still Leader of the House—and Dems aren’t having it.
“John Fetterman Slams Nancy Pelosi As 'Godmother' Of Democratic Party” (Huffpost)
“You got what you wanted [getting Biden out the way] and now you’re still blaming Biden,” said Fetterman. “I think it’s really ironic that you have a woman at age 84 and she is still hanging on. Why not give a younger generation an opportunity to occupy that seat?”
Rather than take a seat, or unseat herself for someone younger, this Godmother from Gehenna needs to take a hike. Or go jump in the lake (preferably one with piranhas looking for lunch).
“Pentagon fails 7th audit in a row but says progress made” (The Hill)
The Pentagon on Friday failed its seventh audit in a row, with the nation’s largest government agency still unable to fully account for its more than $824 billion budget.
This is precisely why the status quo is unacceptable and why USG needs to be overhauled.
The liberal left is calling Trump’s cabinet picks “disruptors.”
I hope they’re right. Because disruption is exactly what is necessary to put this country back on track after years of rampant mismanagement, for which Institutional Washington is largely responsible, including…
“Trans monkeys and IRS cheques for dead people: the bizarre government spending Musk could cut” (Daily Telegraph)
Add this…
$15 million of NIH funding was spent on security for Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s former top public health official, despite him being retired, reports suggest.
Dr Fauci received a publicly funded chauffeur and a dedicated security team of US Marshals.
The scamming and mis-spending cataloged in this article goes on and on and on—and it’s only the tip of a titanic iceberg.
“Trump set for clash with CIA over release of JFK secret files” (The Telegraph)
The time has come.
Trump must make good on his promise to release files that were mandated by congress to be released seven years ago, despite the “serious concerns” CIA has due to what these files will undoubtedly reveal.
Let the chips fall where they may. Americans have a right to know the truth about who was responsible for what happened in Dallas coming up 61 years ago this week.
Mr. Trump is also facing pressure to release US intelligence on the origin of Covid.
Smart folk already know that a) not only was Covid born in a Chinese bio lab but b) China’s leadership could have suppressed the spread of their virus—and chose not to do so.
“Gavin Newsom's new $9.1 million mansion as he relocates his family from California's capital to one of the wealthiest areas of the US” (Daily Mail)
Gov. Gruesome is showing himself to be a true New Democrat (like the Clintons & the Obamas): A $10 mil home plus $60K per annum tuition for the kids
And finally, breaking news...
“Sweden tells citizens to prepare for WAR: Five million households get pamphlets on how to get their home ready for nuclear armageddon... as Biden is accused of trying to start World War Three” (Daily Mail)
It comes as tensions between Moscow and Ukraine's western allies have reached new heights, with the Biden administration yesterday giving Kyiv the green light to blast targets inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles.
Could this be Biden’s revenge on the American people (Dems and Republicans alike) for turning on him?
Certainly, his timing as a lame duck president with only two months to govern is questionable.
Will Mad Vlad Putin be provoked into extreme measures after his thickest red line is crossed?
Is Joe hopeful a war will break out between Russia and NATO, which, to his thinking, he could use for declaring a “national emergency” that disrupts the peaceful transfer of power?
“THE ALARMING SCOPE OF THE PRESIDENT’S EMERGENCY POWERS” (The Atlantic)
“Unknown to most Americans, a parallel legal regime allows the president to sidestep many of the constraints that normally apply. The moment the president declares a “national emergency” — a decision that is entirely within his discretion — more than 100 special provisions become available to him. While many of these tee up reasonable responses to genuine emergencies, some appear dangerously suited to a leader bent on amassing or retaining power.
Stay tuned for another episode of News Revue next week.