(John Hinderaker)How crazy are liberals? Whenever you think you have taken the measure of their nuttiness, you see something like this, from the Women’s March:

We apologize deeply for the email that was sent today. $14.92 was our average donation amount this week. It was an oversight on our part to not make the connection to a year of colonization, conquest, and genocide for Indigenous people, especially before Thanksgiving.

— Women’s March (@womensmarch) November 23, 2021

What is most striking to me, apart from the sheer stupidity of this tweet, is the low opinion that liberals seem to have of other liberals. The Women’s March people evidently assume that their fellow liberals are so fragile that they will be emotionally wounded by the mention of $14.92. Hence the need for an apology. I don’t know, maybe they are right. Maybe liberals really are that pathetic. But I think if I were a liberal, I would be offended.

  

(Paul Mirengoff)The Bay Area of California is now the “Shoplifting Capital of America,” as Rich Lowry dubs it. Things are so bad that Gov. Gavin Newsom paid the area a visit.

Newsom declared that he has “no empathy or sympathy” for the shoplifters. It’s noteworthy, and a little scary, that the governor felt he had to say this. Until recently, it went without saying that elected officials didn’t empathize or sympathize with criminals, and certainly not with organized criminals, which is how Newsom described many of the shoplifters.

But does Newsom’s declaration of “no empathy or sympathy” reflect his true beliefs? It was Newsom who released thousands of prisoners — an estimated 8,000 of them — during the pandemic. Newsom also supported the elimination of cash bail.

Newsome also backed Prop 47 when he was Lieutenant Governor. It converted many offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. Shoplifting was among those offenses so reduced.

These moves demonstrate Newsom’s sympathy for criminals, including many guilty of worse offenses than looting. They also show a disregard for public safety. Indeed, they amount to giving higher priority to helping criminals than to protecting the law-abiding public from them.

To be fair to Newsom, he never advocated defunding the police. However, he did indulge in BS about “reimagining” law enforcement, by which he meant enlisting social and mental health workers. And, as the crime wave gained momentum, Newsom wouldn’t commit to increasing funding for the police.

Newsom’s visit to the Bay Area may have enlightened him, at least a little bit. His team met with retailers and asked them what they needed to stem the shoplifting/looting epidemic. They didn’t respond by asking for social workers or mental health professionals. They asked for “more law enforcement presence at store locations.”

According to this report, Newsom responded by “hint[ing] that there is an ‘exponential’ increase in supporting these local efforts within the state budget, but did not get into detail.” There had better be an exponential increase in police funding, because if the existing police force is diverted into patrolling stores, it will be less able to deal with crime on the street.

Newsom has been mugged by reality, but it’s clear that he realizes it.

  

(Paul Mirengoff)Mary Lemanski was the social media director for the DuPage County, Illinois Democrats. She no longer holds that position after a series of deranged tweets about the massacre in Waukesha, Wisconsin that left at least five people dead and dozens injured.

Lemanski viewed this tragedy as “Karma” — just punishment for the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. Here is some of what she tweeted:

The blood of Kyle Rittenhouse’s victims is on the hands of Wisconsin citizens. Even the children.

I just believe in Karma and this came around quick on the citizens of Wisconsin.

You reap what you sow, Wisconsin.

Attempting sarcasm, Lemanski also tweeted:

It was probably just self-defense.

Living in Wisconsin, he probably felt threatened.

I’m sure he didn’t want to hurt anyone. He came to help people.

There was more, but Lemanski’s lunatic tweets about the massacre aren’t the main subject of this post. Sick, bitter people tweet sick, bitter stuff all the time, or so I’m told (I’m not on Twitter), and it’s not surprising that these examples came from a low-level left-wing Democrat functionary/activist.

What interests me is Lemanski’s reaction to the blowback her tweets naturally produced. She responded:

Nobody cared about me like my whole life. My mom used to leave me for hours at a time alone in my play pen. I’ve put out music for 20 years nobody gave a sh*t. Why do people all of a sudden care about a stupid remark? I can’t believe my 15 minutes of fame is for this sh*t.

According to Lenin, “left-wing communism” was “an infantile disorder.” Lemanski’s excuse suggests that her leftism also fits that description.

She isn’t alone in this regard. Or is it just a coincidence that students “triggered” by speech or a presidential candidate they don’t like are provided with rooms where they can relax with stuffed animals, coloring books, and Play-Doh?

  

(Steven Hayward)All last week the scuttlebutt in the media and in Washington was that President Biden was leaning toward appointing progressive favorite Lael Brainard to replace the “dangerous” (in Lizzie Warren’s words) Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, because Brainard pledged to make the Fed a full partner in pushing the climate and “anti-racist” agenda by pressuring financial institutions not to make loans to any fossil fuel companies. Never mind that the legal authority for this kind of thumb-on-the-scale of capital allocation cannot be found in any statute governing the Fed, but who needs statutory authority when you have the Administrative State?

But then yesterday Biden surprised everyone by re-appointing Powell, while elevating Brainard to vice chair as a consolation prize for the progs. I suspect part of this decision is the rising fear about what inflation is doing to the Democratic Party, as Powell is much more likely than Brainard to rein in easy money. Likely, but not certain. Remember that Trump picked Powell over the much superior John Taylor in 2017 because Trump, as a real estate guy, likes easy money and low interest rates, and sure enough when Powell took some mild steps toward normalizing the interest-rate cycle in 2018 Trump attacked him, and Powell let up. Still, Powell is a far better choice than Brainard, though I’d prefer disinterring Paul Volcker at this point, before things get completely out of hand.

Then this morning Biden announced that he’s releasing 50 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is meant for use only in national emergencies, though if you’re a Democrat, soaring pump prices and the party’s slumping approval ratings are a a national emergency. I note that oil stocks jumped sharply higher on the news this morning, as this move portends that whatever short-term relief this move may provide (likely not much at all), the trajectory of oil prices over the medium term is likely higher. It is clearly panic time at the White House. If Biden really wanted to do something, he’d reverse his decisions to cancel the Keystone pipeline and block domestic oil production. Less than a year ago, the U.S. was a net exporter of oil and petroleum products, but now we’re dipping into the emergency SPR? Way to go, Brandon!

Even Jimmy Carter finally figured out late in his only term that what he needed to do was decontrol oil and natural gas prices and install a sensible chair at the Federal Reserve. Biden is about a third of the way along the Carter Curve.

Of equal interest is the likelihood that there is a full-scale civil war going on inside the White House between Team Biden and Team Harris. A few days ago we noted the harsh CNN story on Kamala Harris’s dysfunctional and embarrassing performance in office, a story that contained lots of anonymous quotes from people inside the White House. This story has all the invisible ink of a planted story, likely by Biden chief of staff Ron Klain himself, but certainly with his approval and encouragement. Why would Biden’s political guard do this? My theory is that it is a clear warning shot for Harris and her team to get their act together. I suspect—and there are lots of rumors swirling—that Harris’s staff is amateurish, whiney, and demanding (like their boss), and that there is intense friction between the Biden staff and the Harris staff. Keep in mind that Harris has always had a terrible reputation as a boss, and has always had very high staff turnover. (The CNN story reported that her head “comms person” is leaving shortly, though I suspect she is already gone from the building. There’s a strange consistency to liberals when they are in trouble: they always say they have a “communications problem,” with nary a moment’s reflection that perhaps what they are communicating is the problem.) Friction between the vice president’s staff and the president’s staff is not unusual—it happened back in the Bush-Quayle administration, and even in Nixon-Agnew—but Harris likely sets a new low.

But then there is the curious story in the New York Times two days ago:

How Hunter Biden’s Firm Helped Secure Cobalt for the Chinese

The president’s son was part owner of a venture involved in the $3.8 billion purchase by a Chinese conglomerate of one of the world’s largest cobalt deposits. The metal is a key ingredient in batteries for electric vehicles.

Hmmm. After watching the Times and other elite media prodigiously guarding Joe Biden against any allegations of scandal or dubious business dealings by Hunter, why this story just now? Theory: Kamala Harris sympathizers planted or encouraged the Times to run it as retaliation for the anti-Harris stories. Though perhaps it is just the beginning of an organized campaign to drive Biden from office early through scandal. It will be interesting to see whether any of the ace “investigative reporters” in the elite media can come up with the identities of the “anonymous” buyers of Hunter Biden’s “art” that has recently gone up for auction. And do any of his pieces contain brush strokes in cobalt blue?

  

(Scott Johnson)I am in search of a deeper understanding of the facts underlying the FBI raids on James O’Keefe’s and former Project Veritas associates in the matter of Ashley Biden’s diary. Pending before the court that issued the search warrants authorizing the raids is the motion of Project Veritas for the appointment of a Special Master to review the contents of O’Keefe’s cell phones and protect against the disclosure of otherwise unrelated and/or privileged information. This is an important case in several respects.

Project Veritas is represented in the case by attorney Paul Calli and others. Yesterday Calli filed a 15-page letter and accompanying exhibit supporting the motion for appointment of a Special Master. The letter provides helpful factual background and and legal argument that go to the significance of the case.

Attention must be paid. I thought that Power Line readers trying, like me, to follow the case, would want to have a look at Calli’s letter with their own eyes.

2021-11-22 (de 38) PV Parti… by Scott Johnson

  

Pelosi’s finished off California so now she’s Florida bound. She bought a $25 million mansion in Florida right off the water which will be under water soon if the administration’s predictions are accurate.

Cali County is going to require masks in people’s own homes.

Hunter was trying to sell off our gas to a state-tied Chinese communist firm and now his father is trying to destroy our fossil fuel industry.

Biden has a new mandate and it’s bad.

The Hulk actor mourns the loss of JoJo.

An 8-year old boy died from the terrorist attack in Waukesha. He is the sixth person to die. The media is memory holing the massacre in Waukesha. They are calling it a parade crash.

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	NY ER Shuttered After Unvaxxed Staff Firings-Thanks ‘Job Creator’ JoeThe city of Long Beach, NY faces a major crisis as Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate has shuttered the only emergency room in the city. Biden said he is known as…
	Cali Clown World: County Mandates Masks for People in Their HomesThe media is ginning up the COVID-19 panic and hysteria in time for the holidays. The cases are rising in Europe and authorities in Europe are locking down their citizens,…
	Biden May Face a Lawsuit for Slandering Kyle Rittenhouse Pre-TrialPresident Joe Biden may face a lawsuit over his evidence-free claim that Kyle Rittenhouse is a white supremacist, the teenager indicated in an interview that aired on Monday night. The…
	ON Marxists Want Votes Based on Skin ColorThe Ontario Teachers Federation District 20 believes people’s voting rights should be based on skin color. These people are teaching the next generation. Under their system, white people will have…
	NY AG Wants to Loosen Up Bail Laws That Are Already LawlessThe New York Attorney General Letitia James is looking to change the destructive bail reform laws that allow criminals to run free after committing serious crimes. She wants to make…
	Kenosha, The Most Important Trial In This CenturyBeto O’Rourke, the fake Hispanic, is running for governor and part of his platform is to take away our guns, claiming “this entire tragedy” , “makes the case we should…
	The Joy of Riding on the New York City SubwayThis subway rider thinks she has the problem of homeless and other unsavory characters throwing people to the tracks licked. Unfortunately, she is forgetting that they also slash people rather…
	Hulk Actor Mourns the Loss of Creepy Pedophile JoJoVery far-Left Mark Ruffalo — the Hulk actor — criticized the American justice system as being racist, and devaluing the lives of not only blacks, but also those shot in…
	Dutch Protest & Riot over Tyrannical COV MandatesRiots and protests broke out in The Netherlands after new tyrannical COVID mandates were issued. The Dutch are not the type of people to riot. Government is about to mandate…
	Moment Waukesha Killer Was ArrestedDaniel Rider provided ring doorbell footage to NBC News showing Waukesha Killer on his doorstep moments after he ran down more than fifty people, killing five, injuring 48, including 18…
	Catholic U Sees St. George Floyd as Jesus ChristA print of a painting are now hanging in the Ministry office and law school. The painting,‘Mama’ by iconographer Kelly Latimore, evokes the Christian imagery of Pieta, showing the Virgin…