End of Car-Centric Era Predicted
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has appointed 24 new members to his Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity. "Cars are the weal link in our transportation system," he explained. "They are a major contributor to global warming and perpetuate systemic racism. Equity requires that they be phased out and replaced with superior alternatives."
The Secretary hastened to clarify that "electric vehicles (EVs) are a bridge to an automobile future, not a permanent alternative. Let's face it, EVs aren't that great. They cost more to own and operate, are less convenient and versatile than gasoline-fueled vehicles, and are not especially environmentally friendly. The end result we need to achieve is the elimination of privately owned and operated transportation, but we lack the backbone to decree it in one swell foop."
"After people get used to the inferior performance of their EVs, the inferior performance of public transit won't be as glaring," Buttigieg argued. "Resistance to the abolition of private vehicles will be decreased. Instead of waiting for your EV to charge, you'll wait for a bus or train to take you where you need to go. The extra walking will be good for your health and the professionally driven buses and trains will improve transportation safety. The hassles and expense of buying and insuring a private vehicle will disappear."
FBI Director Christopher Wray praised Buttigieg's initiative, calling it "a major step toward improved security. Ultimately, the elimination of private transportation will put a big dent in the ability of criminals and insurrectionists' to oppose law-and-order. In the interim, the fact that EVs have to be plugged in to recharge gives us access to more surveillance data from the vehicle's computer than we can get when drivers can just put gas into their tanks are go who knows where."
Barr Defends Trump Trials
Former Attorney General Bill Barr rejected Trump's contention that the multiple prosecutions he faces are illegal election interference, saying "putting his opponents on trial is a matter of a president's executive privilege. Trump's failure to use this privilege against Biden in 2020 was his own fault. Crying about it now is just 'sour grapes.'"
"I think a case could be made that it is Trump's insistence on running for president that is the real election interference," Barr added. "Is there anyone who believes that if Trump had taken his 2020 defeat like a man and retired to private life he would be facing four trials over the next year? There would've been no incentive for President Biden to have targeted him."
"Now, with polls showing Trump would win in a rematch with Biden, why shouldn't Biden use his authority to tip the odds back in his favor?" Barr mused. "The millions Trump will have to spend on lawyers will be millions unavailable for campaign ads. The thousands of hours he has to spend in court and prepping for court will be thousands of hours unavailable for campaign speeches and rallies. It's the kind of pure genius that, in my opinion, should put to rest the notion that President Biden isn't mentally fit to wield power."
Barr's views on this issue differ from those of a majority polled by Redfield & Wilton Strategies. Sixty-five percent of Republicans and 58% of Democrats called the prosecution of Trump "election interference." Subsets of men and women, young and old, and every region of the country except the northeast found a majority calling the prosecutions "election interference." Respondents from the northeast had a plurality of 46% saying it is interference to 27% saying it's not. Unlike Barr, more than 60% of voters doubt Biden is mentally fit for the job of president.
ACLU Sues Indiana
In 2002, Jonathan Richardson was sentenced to 55 years in prison for killing his 11-month-old stepdaughter. He now claims to be a transgender named Autumn Cordellione and wants the state to fund the "sex reassignment" surgery that Indiana law prohibits the Department of Corrections from providing. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Indiana on Richardson's behalf.
ACLU spokesman Bertram Petty asserted that "while Autumn admitted to strangling 'the little f**king bitch' back in 2001, that doesn't mean she forfeits her constitutional rights. If it weren't for the misfortune of being born male, she wouldn't have been forced into an unwanted stepfather relationship with her victim. Rather than let the misfortunes continue to afflict her precious life, we are seeking the medical redress that science now makes possible. It is cruel and unusual punishment for this to be denied to her."
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita argued "against further punishing the relatives of the little girl this cruel criminal murdered by using their tax dollars to fund the surgery being demanded. No surgery can transform this person into a female. There is no justification for compelling the further victimization of society by this individual. Trans advocates who think this type of surgery is warranted can raise the funds required by using the numerous non-coercive legal options available to them."
Petty pointed out that "in Minnesota, a transgender inmate was awarded $495,000 for sex-change surgery and was then allowed to transfer to a women's prison. So by precedent, it has been established that incarcerated prisoners have a right to freely choose their sex and have the state pay for the surgery needed to simulate it."
Celebrities Being Idiots
This week, former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann called for former NCAA championship swimmer Riley Gaines to drop her campaign to exclude males from competing in women's sports, saying "can you just address the reality and move past it? You sucked at swimming. You couldn't even beat the mediocre Lia Thomas."
Paula Scanlan, former Penn University teammate of Lia Thomas on the women's swim team, pointed out that "Riley Gaines was the SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2022. That's the reality Olbermann can't deal with. She didn't beat Thomas because he's a man who invaded our sport, which in my opinion, validates the campaign to get males out of women's sports and locker rooms."
In an interview with Bill Maher, singer John Mellencamp asserted that "only 1 or 2% of today's Blacks live better than they did as slaves. Going from the cotton fields to the playing fields--like what happened to Kapaernick--was no big improvement."
A stunned Maher asked Mellencamp, "am I crazy to think that life for Blacks today may be 100% better? Slaves were in chains, they could be whipped, sold away from their families, everything they produced belonged to their owners. None of that is the case with Blacks alive today. Racism hasn't been totally done away with, but significant progress has been made against the worst of its abuses."
"Well, slaves had some security," Mellencamp said. "They knew where their next meal was coming from. They were never unemployed. They weren't shooting each other down on city streets like they are today. So, I don't think you can say 100% are better off."
Aerosol Covid Vaccine Developed
The development of an airborne method of delivery for mRNA vaccines was hailed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra as "a game changer in the way we can combat future pandemics. No longer will we be dependent on our ability to persuade or threaten people to get vaccinated. By placing aerosol dispensers of FDA approved experimental vaccines in key gathering places like food stores, medical facilities, indoor sports arenas, airports, and public transit people can be painlessly vaccinated without their knowledge and 100% compliance achieved."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the world's leading expert on health said "I wish this tool had been available for the first round of immunizations against the covid pandemic. I wouldn't be as restrained as Secretary Becerra seems when he projects how to deploy this new weapon. Hard core vaccine resisters could avoid the public places chosen for administering the covert aerosol vaccinations. I think we ought to go door to door and pump the vaccine into every living space in the country every time a new booster dose of the vaccine is deemed necessary. This way no one will escape receiving the medical care the government wants them to have."
Stanford University Professor of Medicine Dr. Jay Bhattacharya found the potential for abusing this tool "horrifying. Bypassing the matter of individual consent before dosing a person with new and dangerous drugs is clearly unethical. It is the type of behavior that was rightfully declared a crime against humanity after World War II. Considering how ineffective and deadly the covid vaccines turned out to be, it is irresponsible to contemplate allowing government to wield such power."
"I'll tell you what's irresponsible," Becerra countered. "It's the inherent inequity of allowing people to make an unwise choice about what medications they take. President Biden had made it clear that fighting inequity is our highest obligation as public servants. Determining what the people need and making sure they get it represents the triumph of equity over ignorance."
Taxpayers Pay $10,000 Per Month to House Illegals
How many Americans pay $10,000 per month for an apartment? Even in New York City a one bedroom apartment can be had for a tenth that price. In contrast, the homeless shelter for illegal immigrants on Randall's Island in New York City is costing taxpayers $10,000 per month per resident. The amenities include a cot with bedding and a public bathroom shared with 2,000 other residents.
While both Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Mayor Eric Adams (D) have characterized the massive inflow of illegal immigrants to the state as "an immigration crisis," said that "the President should take ownership of it," and asked for more federal aid, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained that "he's too busy right now. He's got a lot on his plate and can't spare the time to handle problems that are a state and local responsibility. In fact, he wishes local businesses could help by providing free services to asylum seekers, including pro bono legal advice."
"These people don't need lawyers," Adams retorted. "They need food and a place to stay. Some of them want work permits so they can get jobs to support themselves and their families. But Biden's aides don't want to speed up the work permits because they think taking personal responsibility may turn these migrants into Republicans. Well, we don't have unlimited resources like the feds do. They have the power to create new money. If they believe that the country needs more loafers to ensure Democrats get their votes they need to send us the money to support them."
Dems Demand Cancellation of Student Debt
This week, 90 Democrats signed a letter urging President Biden to find a way to cancel student debt by early 2024. Thirteen of these Democrats--including Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (Mich), Ilhan Omar (Minn), Jamaal Bowman (NY), Grace Meng (NY), Jimmy Gomez (CA), Nanette Barragán (CA), Brendan Boyle (PA), Veronica Escobar (TX), Nikema Williams (GA), Salud Carbajal (CA), Jasmine Crockett (DX), and Greg Casar (TX)--have a personal financial interest in having this debt canceled.
Rep. Meng denied that there is any conflict of interest in her supporting the cancellation of her husband's $250,000 debt, saying "he's one of my constituents. Moreover, he voted for me. Part of my job as a member of Congress is to bring back the bacon for my constituents."
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez asserted that "my service as a representative of the people is a sacrifice that should be rewarded by the cancellation of the $50,000 I still owe on the loans I took out to help pay my tuition. Taxpayers should want to come to my aid because it will give me more motivation to come to their aid."
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, opposes the cancellation of this debt. "No one forced these people to take out the loans they used for college," she pointed out. "If the beneficiaries of these loans do not pay them back someone else will be forced to. These someone elses could be students who already repaid their student debt, or students who worked to pay their college expenses, or people who didn't receive the benefit of going to college. There is no way that making someone else pay your debts is fair."
"Well, President Biden says it is fair," Ocasio-Cortez asserted. "He's the most powerful man in the world. Surely his opinion counts for more than a right-wing anti-progressive like Rep. Foxx."
