It is increasingly obvious that the DNC establishment is so done with Joe Biden. There are probably two main factors. One is that the DNC is now convinced that Donald Trump will not be a major factor in 2024. They may be wrong about that, but they believe that. The removes the “only” justification for choosing Joe Biden as the 2020 candidate for President. They were desperate for someone, anyone, who could beat Donald Trump. The other DNC candidates all self-eliminated, leaving the choice between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Even the DNC establishment realized that Bernie Sanders would be a total disaster.

Republicans will investigate Joe Biden, but they are so not in a rush. They have him right where they want him, stinking up the White House. Increasingly it will be Democrats, not Republicans, desperate to move on. While a significant number of Democratic politicians in Washington, D. C. are certifiably insane, they are not all drinking the liberal left KoolAid.

CNN just admitted that Hunter Biden was conducting business deals, that stink to high heaven, while trading on his father’s name. Of course, they have known this all along, but their hatred of Donald Trump and lust for power blinded them to the disaster unfolding before their eyes. Well eyes wide open now.

This does not mean the MSM is going to start reporting objectively. They will remain highly partisan in favor of Democrats. But it does mean that someone has given permission to start reporting the truth about Joe Biden, and that is a really big deal.

The MSM has been telling huge lies, in a failed attempt to cover-up for everything Biden. That included lying about the serious and obvious problems with the 2020 election. A lot of people are going to be shocked at the extent to which the MSM has mislead them. This has already started with the “Biden classified document scandal”, but it won’t end there. It has already morphed into asking serious questions about Hunter Biden. But once people realize they have been lied to, over and over again, they are increasingly reluctant to trust those people who perpetuated this lie again. “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” Combine that with the abject failure of Democratic policies, the destruction of our economy, the increasing fear of criminal violence, and the run-a-way Woke movement, and this may become a perfect storm. One very obvious question is: “If you were lying about this, what else were you lying about?” Good Question.

Most people are glad to see 2021 and 2022 in the rear-view mirror. But 2022 wasn’t much of an improvement over 2021, and 2023 just may be an extremely challenging year. At times like this, don’t be surprised if the House of Card built by the liberal left wing of the Democratic Party and their supporters in the MSM suffers a catastrophic collapse. There are at least some members of the DNC establishment very concerned and they are more than willing to cast Joe Biden overboard in a failed effort to save a sinking ship. But don’t bet on a House of Cards withstanding a perfect storm.

TDM

We never really know what goes on behind closed doors in Washington, D.C. We can get hints of this from sources like the MSM and social media, but we can be sure that some of the most important conversations are very private and that seldom changes. In addition, when private conversations are leaked, it is always important to look at who is leaking the information and why. We can also apply the speed test, since the time of things sometimes tells us a lot.

I was once scheduled to speak at a conference, following Admiral Buzz Zumwalt. As a result, we spent about an hour in the green room with no one else around. He was appointed Chief of Naval Operations by Richard Nixon in May of 1970. He later ran for the U.S. Senate, as a Democrat, from Virginia, where he was defeated by Harry F. Byrd, Jr.

He told me several personal stories, about politicians in both parties, and the Vietnam War that I found beyond fascinating. In some cases, it became obvious that some things that seemed obvious to me were very different than what actually happened, at least according to his version of events..

Another incident, somewhat embarrassing for me, happened in Hamilton, Bermuda. The insurance company I managed had its headquarters in Bermuda, so I was invited to a private social event at the home of the president of one of the largest banks in Bermuda. He had invited another guest, an English gentleman, who had obviously been drinking, a lot. This man proceeded to tell me he had been the head of British Intelligence during World War II. He talked about inventing explosive coal that his operatives would drop into railroad tender cars, from bridges. When that “lump of coal” reached the engine, it would explode. He even talked about personally catching Joe Kennedy, JFK’s dad, sending British military secrets to Germany in the U.S. diplomatic pouch. Joe Kennedy had been Ambassador to the Court of St James at the time. This guy claimed he had flown personally to Washington, D.C., and confronted FDR with the evidence. FDR then recalled Joe Kennedy from his post in Great Britain. I mentioned what this guy said, to another guest and asked if this was possibly true. He said: “Bill sometimes talks too much when he has been drinking.” I stupidly assumed this meant he was making things up. Actually, he was talking too much, but he was also telling the truth.

I didn’t realize my error until on a business trip to New York City in February of 1989. I picked up a New York Times. There was an article in there about the death of Sir William Stephenson, former head of the British Intelligence along with a picture of the man I had met in Bermuda.

William Stephenson, British Spy Known as Intrepid, Is Dead at 93 – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

They even made a movie about him called “A Man Called Intrepid”.

I was absolutely shocked to learn that everything he told me was true. I was just too stupid, at the time, to even consider the possibility that he was the genuine article. I still consider this as a missed opportunity.

While we seldom get a chance to learn about truly private conversations, we can often observe the results of those events. One important clue is how quickly things can change. It is well documented that  FDR recalled Joe Kennedy as Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Most people just didn’t know why, and FDR certainly wasn’t willing to explain this to anyone. At the time Joe Kennedy was planning on running for President. After his “meeting” with FDR, he announced that FDR was probably the best President in U.S. history.

There have now been two special counsels appointed by Merrick Garland, one investigating Trump and one investigating Biden. This has never happened before. The special counsel investigating Trump could be expected to release his report either during the primary elections or shortly after Trump won the nomination. It wouldn’t be released sooner than that, because the “ongoing” investigation rule is great at preventing anyone else from getting any information.

But the timing of the special counsel report on Biden is more interesting. The events resulting in this appointment have been known for months, but Garland only acted after learning that McCarthy would be the Speaker of the House and after intense pressure from the Freedom Caucus, agreed to investigate improper politicization of the DOJ and other government agencies.  That is unlikely to be a coincidence. It may also be a sign that the Democratic establishment is so done with Joe Biden. It seems very unlikely that, after this, he will be able to win the nomination for re-election and I wouldn’t be surprised if he “decides” it is time to hang up his robes and run out the clock on this his one, and only, term. If he conveniently decides to leave gracefully, the special counsel report will probably be released in November or December 2024, after it no longer matters. But, if he foolishly tries to fight the current and run for re-election, this may move much faster.

The point being that the speed at which either of these investigations moves will provide a strong hint regarding what is going on behind closed doors. At a minimum, this will be interesting to watch.

TDM

What goes around comes around. Ever since Trump was elected, the MSM and Democrats have attacked him relentlessly. They even tried to impeach him twice. None of the serious charges against him have been proven true. Many have been totally debunked.

All of this was possible because Paul Ryan was and is a “never-Trumper” and Republicans did zero investigations of Democrats while he was Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi was even worse, with her unrelenting attacks on Trump and any Republican remotely connected with January 6th. But there is an old saying, “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” Republicans only took full control of the House on Monday, and a lot of Democrats are already showing signs of pure panic.

There may also be something else going on. It appears as though some members of the Democratic establishment have had enough of Joe Biden. They were probably hoping he would just announce plans to ride off into the sunset, but instead he is threatening to run for re-election. Perhaps that explains some of the recent leaks, all bad for Biden, some of them involving things that had previously been ignored.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. One suspects he noticed that Republicans are going to investigate the politicization of the DOJ and other government agencies. It is increasingly clear that Republicans are ready, willing, and able to investigate a lot of things ignored by the MSM and the DNC.

There was even a report that the FBI had Seth Rich’s laptop, and that they knew he had leaked the Hillary Clinton emails to WikiLeaks. Apparently, these documents are about to be released because of a freedom of information request. If this is true, it means the FBI knew the Russia Collusion charge against Trump had zero merit, yet James Comey appointed a Special Counsel anyway.

Credibility, once lost, is often impossible to restore. Most people are reluctant to believe that the MSM, the DOJ, and the FBI would deliberately lie to the American people. To anyone doing some research and paying any attention, these lies were always obvious. But they were ignored by the MSM which dismissed these as discredited conspiracy theories. One reason for that opinion is that they all realize this would be unthinkable. Well start thinking the unthinkable. There are several cases when the lies are no longer possible to ignore.

For the past two years, the January 6^th committee has successfully managed the narrative. They painted a picture of an armed insurrection, fueled by Donald Trump, which threatened our democracy. Incredibly, Hakeem Jeffries, who every Democrat voted to be Speaker of the House, repeated this nonsense.

But there is another side to this story, and it is coming to a screen near you. Republicans reportedly have 14,000 hours of video, suppressed by the January 6^th committee that show a lot of photo ops, but not much resembling an insurrection. They will also show who approved increased security, Donald Trump, and who blocked it, Nancy Pelosi. The former Chief of the Capitol Police wrote a scathing book, and he didn’t pull any punches. He is not a friend of Donald Trump, by any means, but he absolutely despises Nancy Pelosi.

So far, Kevin McCarthy is playing hard ball and he is proving to be very skilled at making his points. He has even convinced Democrats to support a select committee on China and got significant Democratic support for blocking Biden from giving more oil from our strategic oil reserve to China.

What goes around sometimes does come around. The winds of change are blowing strongly and some people who thought their power was eternal are about to experience a major wind fall.  Enjoy. This could be fun to watch.

TDM

Most people paying attention realize that the Biden Administration is an unprecedented disaster. It is a miracle that he hasn’t blundered his way into a war, yet. It is a miracle that the economy, although under extreme duress, continues to do much better than almost anywhere else in the world. And yes, it is a miracle, that despite their worst intentions, the United States remains the freest nation on earth.

But now the Biden Administration is apparently considering banning gas stoves. Here is a link to an NBC News report about this.

Ban new gas stoves, a federal safety commissioner proposes; CPSC says no such official plan yet (nbcnews.com)

CNN, predictably, responded by trying to explain why this is actually a good idea.

A US federal agency is considering a ban on gas stoves | CNN Business

Naturally, some of the usual suspects consider gas stoves to be racist.

“Short-term exposure to NO2 is linked to worsening asthma in children, and long-term exposure has been determined to likely cause the development of asthma,” a group of lawmakers said in a letter to chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric, adding it can also exacerbate cardiovascular illnesses.

The letter – Sen. Corey Booker and Sen. Elizabeth Warren among its signers – argued that Black, Latino and low-income households are more likely to be affected by these adverse reactions, because they are either more likely to live near a waste incinerator or coal ash site or are in a home with poor ventilation.”.

Miraculously, I survived a childhood where all of the cooking was done on a gas stove. This was probably because my parents couldn’t afford the luxury of an electric stove. We have had gas stove and electric stoves, and for me a gas stove is much easier to use.

Some places, like Sacramento, already ban building new homes with gas stoves. They do this for the same reason they ban gas furnaces. They want the entire world to run on electricity, ignoring the fact that electricity is generated, by gas among other things. The other things, that actually work, does not include solar energy in much of the world and wind energy unless located in areas with over population of Democratic politicians.

But the real problem here is that this is not only is this insanely stupid, but a high percentage of people also instantly realize it is insanely stupid. Predictably, certain people, like AOC, instantly double down on stupid, by shrieking about the dangers of gas stoves, forgetting there are pictures of them using their gas stove.

There are lot of people who are experiencing daily power outages in California, because of the extremely rare storms that are remarkably similar to what happened in 1997 and several other years. Some of these major storms even happened after the invention of color TV, so it is difficult to argue that these never happened before global warming.

So now, in a state where it is cold, windy, wet, and wild, it is difficult to take much comfort in your electric car, you can’t charge, living in a home without heat, without cable TV to provide some distraction, and if this piece of insanity becomes law, without hot food.

If there were gas refrigerators, I would say this was a fridge too far, but that would be unfair. I just think this is going to change more than people imagine for one simple reason. You can actually sell stupid, for quite a while, but you can’t sell banning gas stoves to the 35% of people who already own them and probably another equal  number of people who used to have them and miss them.

I would say power to the people, but with out gas, that seems unfair. So, I will just say the latest attempt to gas light people about another insane idea is guaranteed to flicker out for the most obvious of reasons. People can be confused about a lot of things, but gas stoves is way, way, way down the list.

TDM.

Kevin McCarthy is officially the Speaker of the House. At times this week that seemed increasingly unlikely. But McCarthy never backed down an inch. It had to be humiliating to go through all those votes, only to keep coming up short. It is hard to imagine having 20 members of your caucus determined to find someone else, anyone else. It must have been particularly frustrating when it got down to 6 people who just refused to let him win, even when the outcome was obviously inevitable.

Some of this was definitely driven by personality issues. There are clearly some people who either hate Kevin McCarthy or simply believe he cannot be trusted. It is interesting to note that Kevin McCarthy was poised to become Speaker after John Boehner resigned. But he could not get enough votes, so Paul Ryan stepped in as to become a “unity” candidate. At first, I was optimistic about Paul Ryan, but he turned out to be just another part of the establishment terrified of a good fight. He also let himself get too distracted by his personal hatred of Donald Trump to pay attention to what he actually proposed.

Well now McCarthy has clinched the deal and the question is whether or not he will fight just as hard for conservative principles as he did to win his election. I suspect people may be surprised at how effective Kevin McCarthy can be at providing leadership. If you listen to the MSM you probably think that McCarthy is letting the extremists run the table. But in reality, he primarily gave them a seat at the table, something which would never have happened without this fight.

Perhaps the best explanation of what happened is written in this article by MSN.com

How Kevin McCarthy got the votes for speaker — and why it could haunt him (msn.com)

“The deal is poised to enhance the power of far-right Republicans at the expense of moderates who want to advance legislation that can win the approval of a Democratic-controlled Senate and President Joe Biden. It could make McCarthy’s task of passing must-do bills like funding the government and lifting the debt ceiling much harder under a slim majority if a group of five Republicans can effectively force him out at any time.”

Exactly: it made it more difficult for moderates to advance legislation that can win the approval of a Democratic controlled Senate and President Joe Biden. That is precisely what has been the problem with the Republican establishment for decades. Democrats seldom bother to compromise with Republicans. They know that the Republican establishment will accommodate them. Passing legislation so that it can be approved by a Chuck Schumer led Senate and signed by Joe Biden is the perfect recipe for disaster. Even if this change means Republicans can’t pass anything themselves, it would still be a major accomplishment.

Perhaps, just perhaps, McCarthy watched how DeSantis transformed Florida from deep purple to solid red. He wasn’t intimidated by Democrats or their fawning supporters in the MSM. He stood strong, fought back and to some people it was a shock that so many people recognized and rewarded strong leadership.

Democrats voted for Hakeem Jeffries, in lockstep, on every vote. There were no discussions regarding any policy issues at all. No consideration of making any changes, just voting the same way, every time, for the same person, without regard to any other factors. That is not leadership, it is dictatorship. It is the polar opposite of fair and honest debate.

If one really paid attention to the fight for Kevin McCarthy to become leader of the Republican Party, one can easily visualize Victory at See. Those who are willing to stand up for what they believe, even if it means challenging fellow Republicans, are those most likely to stand up for the rest of us. You don’t win by compromising with the enemy, you win by joining forces to defeat the enemy. But first, you need to make sure you can even identify the enemy. Compromising with evil, is no virtue.

TDM

My first reaction to the failed vote to confirm Kevin McCarthy was that the “Freedom Caucus” was snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Obviously, Kevin McCarthy has the support of the vast majority of the Republican caucus, the freedom caucus is being voted down 20 to 1. It seems like a handful of extremely conservatives representatives want to hold the entire caucus hostage.

But then I read the following statement from Lauren Boebert, and it added some important perspective. Here is the statement, read it for yourself:

So I’ve said from the beginning that my hard line was the motion to vacate, single member motion to vacate. You cannot demand more responsibility and less accountability. And Kevin McCarthy was taking the path of Nancy Pelosi and following her precedents with the motion to vacate. We were just told when we left this door, we will give you single member motion to vacate.

Just today. That was the starting point for negotiations. That was the starting point to everything that we are wanting to transform the way Washington, D.C. operates. If you go to the American people and ask them if Congress is doing a good job, if they like the way things are run in Washington, D.C., you’re probably going to get a big hell no. We want to change the way things are done here. We didn’t offer up a personal wish list. We were told to provide lists of what members need to be seated on what committees. And we did exactly that.

And then there were amazing items that were listed as well for our border security, for term limits. Just bring the bill to the floor so we can have a vote on term limits. That’s what the majority of Americans want to see in Congress. We said that any amendment that reduces the national debt needs to be made in order. This is not a personal wish list. This is not something that is unreasonable. This is just for the American people. This is fair for the American people.

And so now here we are being sworn at instead of being sworn in. And we could have had this solved months ago.

While I do not necessarily agree with some of this, it does shed some serious light on the problem. I am reminded how when Republicans soured on John Boerner, in hindsight with a lot of justification, Paul Ryan was chosen as the consensus leader. The middle of the road approach leads to nowhere. It is like someone more focused on settling the boat rather than steering it in the right direction. It was a disastrous choice and explains why the Republicans repeatedly failed to make much progress on the things it claimed were important.

Democrats, on the other hand, are totally united on their extremist agenda. They vote in lock step, every time, on every issue. Hakeem Jeffries won every Democratic vote on every ballot.

This reminded me of something Barry Goldwater said years ago, words that mattered then, words that matter now, words that will always matter.

Extremism in the Defense of Liberty Is No Virtue – PETER WEHNER, Commentary Magazine

“Let me remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me also remind you that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

What we are watching in the House is embarrassing. However, it may also be beyond necessary. Republicans under the leadership of people including Kevin McCarthy have failed to stand up to the tyranny of the Democratic Party and the establishment in both parties. Perhaps one reason so few people voted for Republicans during this election is that few people actually expected significantly different results. After all, Republicans had the Presidency, the House and the Senate under both Bush and Trump and accomplishing next to nothing.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the most extreme voices are the ones saying things that really matter. They are the ones, who actually do have the potential to rock our world in a better direction. We need to pay attention to people like Ron DeSantis who taught Republicans how to stand up for they believe is right and fight back regardless of the opposition. He has transformed Florida and it is people like him who are necessary to transform this country.

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. Evil never stops on its own, it must be stopped, by those who recognize it for what it is and are willing to do the necessary to stop it.

That is why police, jails, judges, prisons and yes churches are necessary. It is why Republicans need to choose a real leader, someone willing to fight, to be the real Speaker of the House. If Kevin McCarthy wants the job, he needs to demonstrate that he had the leadership ability necessary to get it done.

“Compromise with evil, is no virtue and moderation in doing what is right is no virtue.” My hunch is this is going to turn out different than anyone expected and sometimes that is the best possible outcome.

TDM

Republicans are posed to take control of the House tomorrow. That is if they can find a way to stop the circular firing squad. My prediction is that McCarthy will cut a deal and he will be the Speaker. If he responds positively to the legitimate concerns about Republican leadership, he could turn out to be very effective. He, unlike his critics, appears to be a least willing to admit some of his own mistakes.

One of the really interesting stories that is starting to blow up is the mysterious Ray Epps. Here are some of the known facts. There is video of Mr. Epps openly encouraging people to enter the capital. At a minimum, one has to wonder why he was never selected for prosecution. People who appear to have done much less have been prosecuted and convicted. Some have accused him of being an FBI informant or working for another government agency. Many people discount that, because it would be unthinkable, but based on a lot of stuff we have recently learned about the FBI, not all that unthinkable.

For example, while Epps was definitely encouraging people, there are reports that later he appears to be trying to assist the police. But actually, that is exactly what a good informant would do. Encourage people, push them over the edge, and then back off and pretend you weren’t even there. The real problem is that the January 6^th committee knew about him, knew what he did, and then decided he was “ok.” Seriously?

Adam Kinzinger even said the videos of Epps encouraging people to enter the capital were lies. To be specific, here is what a tweet from Eric Matheny claimed:

In terms of culpability, Ray Epps is on video encouraging a crowd to riot and admitted such in a sworn statement (I also orchestrated it). House GOP has an obligation to find out his role, who he was communicating with, and who in power helped setup the events of January 6th.

Adam Kinzinger wrote: “Literally completely untrue.”

Yet, what Matheny wrote is pretty well documented. That begs the question, why is the January 6^th committee so determined to cover this up?  There is a text from Ray Epps saying: ”I was in the front with a few others. I also orchestrated it.”

His response to the committee, after some carefully worded questions was: “it’s just – yeah, I took credit for it, but I didn’t know what I was taking credit for.”

This doesn’t come close to passing the smell test. It is hard to imagine someone doing and saying things like this just being ignored by the same DOJ and FBI that tracked people down all over the country for taking photo ops in the Capital. At a minimum, someone needs to dig down to see if there is more to the story. More importantly, why was the January 6^th committee so determined to sweep this type of action by Ray Epps under the rug. Whether intentional or not, the January 6^th committee just made Ray Epps really important.

The January 6^th committee focused solely on convicting Donald Trump, for something. We recently learned that Nancy Pelosi not only refused to approve increased security, but she may also have instead ordered a reduction in security while arranging for a film crew to showcase her activities. At a minimum, this raises some very serious questions.

Combine this with the documented fact that it was Donald Trump who authorized the National Guard to protect the capital, him and it is difficult, in not impossible to reconcile that with him planning an insurrection.

The decision by the January 6^th committee to make a criminal referral regarding Donald Trump is literally insane. Trump was President of the United States. Congress doesn’t get to recommend law enforcement take legal action against a sitting U.S. President. The SOLE remedy for congress is impeachment, which Democrats tried twice, and failed. Yet few in the MSM seem to notice the absurdity of all this.

One thing is absolutely certain. At least some Republicans are determined to reverse the mistakes made by the Republican Establishment leadership in both the House and the Senate. That starts with refusing to let Democrats gloss over something that stinks like the Ray Epps fiasco.

I think that Mr. Epps could literally be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, primarily because it is hard to imagine the January 6^th committee doing anything for the right reason under any circumstances. That means the least likely explanation for the Ray Epps fiasco is that put forward by the January 6^th committee. Soon and very soon we could see an Epp Tide come in and don’t be surprised if a lot of the coverup goes out with the Tide.

TDM

We recently have a conversation with a couple of die-hard liberals who are also KoolAid drinking climate change activists. When I casually asked if they knew that Antarctica was having record cold temperatures, they immediately told me I was wrong. Of course, I was relying on an article by the Washington Post, so they could be right in challenging the source:

The South Pole just had its most severe cold season on record – The Washington Post

However, this was so obvious that even CNN noticed:

Antarctica’s last 6 months were the coldest on record | CNN

How do they reconcile this with “global warming” (excuse me “climate change”)? The answer is simple. They distinguish between “weather” and “climate”.  You can read this nonsense for yourself:

Weather versus climate 

It is important to understand weather is different from climate. Weather is what happens over shorter periods of time (days to months), such as the seven-day forecast. Climate is what happens over much longer periods of time, such as several years, or even entire generations.

“One such example is a cold snap, which can happen due to sudden changes in atmospheric circulation and may not be linked to climate change,” says Tom Slater, Research Fellow at the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at the University of Leeds. “Texas is a good example of this; even though parts of it experienced extreme cold weather earlier this year when air from the Arctic was pushed south, looking at the long-term change in temperature tells us that Texas is 1.5 degrees warmer on average now than it was 100 years ago. That’s climate.”

One notes that these “climate activists” arrogantly pointed out that extreme cold was also the result of climate change. Nothing that happens can possibly be considered evidence of reason for questioning the science, because anything that happens just proves the theory. If this seems like silly circular reasoning, it is because it is silly circular reasoning.

Which brings us to Buffalo. People in Buffalo are no longer dreaming of a White Christmas. They were actually used to that already. My wife is from North Tonawanda, New York, which is just north of Buffalo. As a result, I made a lot of “Christmas and New Year’s” visits to the Buffalo area. It was seldom as bad as this year, although 1977 was also pretty exciting.  Anyone who has been in the Buffalo area during the winter knows that if cold air starts blowing over Lake Erie, the amount of lake effect snow can be astonishing.

The people in Buffalo will handle this ok. They have been there, done that. Most of them will eventually remember that a really bad experience is often the source of a great story. Traditionally, this only happens after the snow starts to melt.

But perhaps the best picture I saw was of a “stop global warming” sign, covered in snow. You can see this beauty for yourself.

So, while people like my friends will continue to drink the KoolAid others will notice that this hasn’t exactly been another predicted warm winter. In addition, if you live in California, and you go outdoors, you may notice something referred to as rain. A lot of rain. Like in enough rain to change the fear of everlasting drought to consideration of things like floods.

The winter weather in Buffalo, although extreme, is not exactly unprecedented. That has been happening forever, just ask any Indian who had to shovel snow off his tee pee. And the rain in California is not new either. There is a reason the Indians weren’t overly enthusiastic about living in what is now Sacramento. While the dams have made flooding less frequent, every honest scientist knows that California has gotten rain in the past and will get rain in the future that far exceeds the feeble efforts by mortal man to control this.  It may not happen this year, it may not happen during our lifetime, but it will happen.

In the meantime, if you are inclined to purchase an electric vehicle, the government recommends you avoid charging during peak hours, to preserve precious electric power, well check out the pictures of Buffalo. Get the picture? A lot of people can see the obvious.

TDM

One cannot do much to control the weather. But, with careful planning, one can cruise away from it. We just got back from a Caribbean cruise over Christmas. While wandering around St. Maarten in my shorts and T shirt, my Apple Watch notified me of a freeze warning for Sun City Center, Florida. At first, I thought this was probably for Northern California, but no, it was for Florida. When we got home, we heard all about the coldest weather in about 40 years. We didn’t actually plan for this, but the timing sure turned out to be spot on.

The United States is on a difference kind of cruise control, and this is really hard to predict. It is hard to imagine anything dumber than Republicans agreeing to a $1.7 trillion Biden budget just hours before Republicans take over congress. We can be sure that, if the roles were reversed, Democrats would never have considered giving Republicans this kind of gift. One hopes this is mere stupidity and not something more sinister like RINO Republicans deliberately sabotaging the incoming, conservative class. One thing is certain, this was a gift that will keep on giving and most of this will be beyond bad. Unless one buys the logic that increased government spending, for the first time in recorded history, is the secret to controlling inflation, then few rational people can predict anything other than catastrophic economic meltdown. Many smart economists are already scream red flag warnings, but not one seems to be listening. I wonder if the people in Washington realize how close we are to uniting behind the “none of the above” club.

It does not help to learn that the Washington established has been caught telling vicious lies while trying to desperately silence anyone who dares hint at the truth. We are rapidly learning that the government not only lied about COVID, but it also silenced internationally respected experts on the subject if they dared question the CDC proclamations, even when the CDC was clearly flat out wrong on a lot of really important issues.

And it is difficult to even fathom the depths of political depravity demonstrated by the FBI.  There have always been rumors of the deep state, but thanks to Elon Musk, we now have actual evidence, and it is worst than most of us could even imagine.

It is at times like this that God seems to intervene. The massive artic chill that arrived just in time for Christmas is going to do a lot more than make people cold and miserable. This has exposed government incompetence on a scale few thought possible. People who foolishly bought electric cars to protect against global warming just may find themselves shivering in their electric homes, unable to leave even if the weather improves. Then after power is finally restored, to hear the Governor of New York claim this as proof of climate change.

For those who don’t live on the West Coast and so may not yet notice, there is an atmospheric river forming from Hawaii to the West Coast. Those of us who lived in Northern California during previous atmospheric rivers know that this can result in an unbelievable amount of rain. In addition, all this delicious precipitation is destined for the rest of the country, soon.

Actually no one alive has really experienced how this works since the last time this happened was around 1860. That is when the Governor of California went to his inauguration in a rowboat that delivered him on the second floor. Los Angeles got about 76 inches of rain in a 30-day period and there was a flood that went from Marysville to Bakersfield. Most people don’t know about this because they think everything that ever happened has been since the invention of color TV.

So, when you combine really bad weather, with a really bad economy, rising crime, an open border allowing millions of people to just walk across our border, skyrocketing inflation and leaders in this country confused regarding whether or not there is any real biological difference between males and females and perfect storm isn’t a strong enough term. These are the times that try men’s souls and also their soles, as they may find themselves walking miles trying to get back home after abandoning their electric vehicle. One thing is clear, this country is on cruise control and all those people supposed to be in charges are either a sleep at the wheel or wondering why there even is a wheel?

We don’t know where this will go, but we can easily identify who will not lead us into the future. Anybody currently in charge, either in government or in the MSM, need not apply. Start with none of the above, and then go from there.

TDM

Perhaps it is just me, but sometimes it seems as though God has a sense of humor, particularly when it comes to climate change alarmists. If they hold a rally to protest about a drought, they seem to always get rained out. If they complain about the heat, the weather turns wet and stormy. Now they are trying to convince everyone to abandon fossil fuels, which may not even be fossil fuels in some cases, with alternative sources of energy that have not and probably never will work. In addition, these alternatives bring enormous environmental problems often potentially worse than the problem they are pretending to solve. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, one may recall that recently I posted an article showing that the snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is the highest it has been since around 1976. Some of the usual suspects immediately said that snow cover does not necessarily mean colder temperatures and that global warming can actually increase snow fall. God must have been listening, because he just sent a massive cold front from Siberia into the United States.

Cold air from Siberia will send U.S. into deep freeze ahead of Christmas – UPI.com

“The cold could challenge records that have stood since the 1980s, as subzero temperatures are expected to grip states from the northern Rockies to the East. AccuWeather long-range forecasters expect the mercury to be up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit below late-December averages in parts of the country.

To anyone who has ever lived in a “four seasons” part of the country, 40 degrees colder than average is, well, really, really, really cold. When we lived in Steven Point, it was so cold that the radio stations issued “walk warnings.” This is because when it is extremely cold, you can literally freeze your lungs. There were times when I walked to work backwards.

Those of us who wisely moved to warmer climates have zero appreciation of wind chill. Granted, when it 40 degrees, a strong wind can make it feel really cold, to Californians, like say 25 degrees if there is a 60-mph wind. But to those who live in areas where it gets really cold, windchill is a far more serious problem. Here is the windchill chart from the NWS.

Now if it is 0 degrees and there is a 20-mph wind, it “feels” like -22. But if it is already -10, then a 20-mph wind makes it feel like -35. A lot of people have never experienced this kind of cold. But it actually can get really cold. On February 3, 1996, Couderay, Wisconsin recorded a low temperature of -55.

Now the fun part. Electrical power supplies tend to underperform during really cold weather. Things that rely on wind and solar may stop functioning completely. Imagine the joy of sitting in your home, literally freezing to death, with no heat at all. This type of situation would even drive someone like Ted Cruz to consider a last-minute vacation to Cozumel. That is until we switch to electric airplanes.

Now imagine this. You are very cold. You go to buy a warm coat and it costs a fortune. If you want to go anywhere, you need to let your car warm up for about 10 minutes before you can drive it without shivering. If you have a nice new Tesla, you will learn something else. It takes a lot of electricity to warm up an electric vehicle. The distance you can travel is far less than normal. Tesla knows this, which is why the owner’s manual includes the following wording:

In the owner’s manual of the Tesla Model S, you’ll find a stark warning: “In cold weather, some of the stored energy in the Battery may not be available on your drive because the battery is too cold.” When you’re driving, this is usually indicated by a snowflake symbol on the dash display.

Now imagine sitting in your electric vehicle, stranded on some highway. It is bitter cold inside the vehicle. The heater no longer works. You are waiting for a tow truck, but your phone doesn’t work very well either in extreme cold. There is a shortage of tow trucks anyway because many of them have been converted to electric power, so they aren’t working either.

You finally make it home, after some kind person driving a gasoline powered car offers you a lift. When you get home, you don’t have any heat in your electric home, and you can’t even watch TV. When the TV does come back on, there is Joe Biden, grinning like a deranged hyena, says that in five years we will no longer use any fossil fuels to power anything. You would throw something at the TV, but that would be expensive, and you don’t have the energy. But the thought that you are saving the planet from global warming gives you a nice warm glo inside, not.

TDM