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HuffPo Sen. Raphael Warnock is the latest option among a host of swing-state governors and superstar senators ready for when the party moves past Joe Biden. Kevin Robillard Dec 7, 2022 WASHINGTON – The 2022 midterms have rebuilt the Democrats’ presidential bench, providing the party with a host of ideological, geographical and biographical options for the party’s next nominee after Joe Biden — be that sooner or later. While November’s midterms were far from a complete success — Republicans took control of the U.S. House — Democrats won most of the country’s marquee swing-state Senate and gubernatorial contests, with presidential buzz developing around some of the victors even before their races were called. Two events this week highlight this new bench: The reelection of Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in a runoff on Tuesday night put the spotlight on one of the party’s highest-profile Black leaders. And the Democratic Governors’ Association’s conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, featured a host of would-be presidential contenders. (Snip) The full list of names who won in November is dizzying and diverse. Want a moderate senator with a compelling personal story who’s won reelection in a tough state? Here’s Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. Want a candidate from a traditional battleground who’s shown a pathway for defeating extremist Republicans? Take a look at Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro. How about taking another run at electing the first woman to the presidency? Meet Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or Massachusetts Gov.-elect Maura Healey. (Snip)

American Library Association awards top honors to org that gives 'LGBTQ+ affirming' book sets to schools

zesty @zestular · Dec 4 Harvard employs almost as many administrators as there are undergrad students. 7,024 admins vs 7,153 undergrads. unreal! what the hell do they do?

Real Clear Policy The State Department spent $275,000 to develop a video game for people 15 and up to counter disinformation, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraging diplomatic and consular posts worldwide to promote it. The video game, "Cat Park," was funded by the State Department's Global Engagement Center and the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands and released to coincide with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s — or UNESCO's — Global Media and Information Literacy Week in October, Just The News reported. “With the Internet, only two things are certain: the global appeal of cat videos and the pervasiveness of disinformation,” a leaked State Department memo states. “Cat Park inoculates players against real-world disinformation by showing how sensational headlines, memes, and manipulated media can be used to advance conspiracy theories and incite real-world violence.” Besides engaging diplomatic and consular posts, the State Department hopes to get “Cat Park” — available in English, Dutch, French, and Russian – used in local schools, Just The News reported. Diplomats are also expected to "organize special rollout events," the memo states, such as ambassadors playing the game "with a local popular influencer, academic, journalist or government official" or taking the game to cat cafes.

Wish I could disagree.

Actual Justice Warrior Dec. 6 2022

33 Rare Photos of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor

MSN.Com On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese military made a surprise raid on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 U.S. service members and civilians. More than 1,100 people were injured in the attack, which also destroyed aircraft and naval vessels, according to the National Parks Service. The next day, Congress would declare war with Japan, leading the U.S. into World War II. During an address to a joint session of Congress, then-President Franklin Roosevelt famously called Dec. 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.” Congress in 1994 designated Dec. 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, and each year commemorations are held in Hawaii and across the country. American flags from coast to coast will be flown at half-staff in honor of the anniversary.

NY Post It’s been more than two years since The Post published the first article on Hunter Biden’s laptop and for much of that time, the effort to reveal Joe Biden’s role in his son’s dirty deals seemed stalled or even hopeless. Democratic propaganda outlets circled the wagons around the president they helped elect and never asked him or the White House if Biden is “the big guy” slated to get a secret 10% cut in his son’s deal with a Chinese conglomerate. Similarly, social media platforms continued to restrict users who didn’t follow the party line that Democrats are the good guys and everybody else is ignorant or evil. Whatever the topic, from COVID to corruption to the transgender agenda, the pattern was gratingly consistent. Feeling it could always count on this protection, the Biden White House was free to ignore any new evidence against the president. It was proven right when some news outlets that belatedly concluded the laptop was authentic, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, failed to take the logical next step of exploring the evidence that the president shared in the profits of his son’s schemes.

You're welcome, as always, Rcat!

Fox News Now that the U.S. Senate run-off in Georgia between Herschel Walker and Sen. Rafael Warnock is behind us, the final results of the 2022 midterm elections are in. This is an opportune moment to examine what happened at the polls and what we can expect from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in the 118th Congress starting in January 2023. With incumbent Raphael Warnock’s victory, Democrats will return to Washington with a 51 to 49 majority in the U.S. Senate. Although Senate Democrats only managed a net pick-up of one seat this election cycle despite an extremely favorable map, that lone seat carries with it great significance. Recall that for two years left-wing talking heads and so-called experts were predicting the Democrats could win Senate races in Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, and even Utah. In the end, only John Fetterman in the Keystone State succeeding in flipping one of these coveted seats. But with Senator-elect Fetterman’s 51st vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats will now be able to approve President Biden’s left-wing judicial nominees with greater ease and can launch oversight investigations and issue subpoenas as they see fit. Not to mention, Fetterman gives Schumer wiggle room on tight votes since he no longer needs to keep Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on board for every liberal measure before the Senate. This comes as welcome news for Manchin and Sinema, who are both on the ballot in 2024 in what promise to be hotly contested races. On the House side, Republicans picked up nine seats on their way to clinching a tight 222 - 213 majority, the same slim advantage that outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to work with in the previous Congress. With this majority, Republicans can drive their common sense America first agenda -- if they can stick together like Pelosi’s Democrats did -- as well as get the chamber back to regular order and provide a much-needed check on the reckless Biden administration. With this election outcome, the American people made an already rigidly divided Washington even more so.

And the clean up is not near over. My son and GS posts pics daily of huge piles of debris clogging the canals and bays. The Naples Daily News yesterday had an article that said this is the second biggest insurance lost in world history. I would link it but it won't let me. The flooding in to the ocean from the land has caused huge outbreak of red tide which has led to thousands of fish dying and floating up on shore. It's a mess. I would be sad to see the governor become President for a very selfish reason. As bad as this tragedy is it would be much worse without his leadership. He has been outstanding.

Star News Network Hurricane season may be over, but recovery efforts continue in Florida and in Lee County, which was hard hit by Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that made landfall on Sept. 28. On Monday, Lee County announced recovery personnel had “reached another milestone with 4 million cubic yards of debris collected, roughly enough material to fill Hertz Arena to the ceiling 10½ times.” The 30-acre 171,000 square-foot entertainment venue, which seats 7,181 people, is southwest Florida’s premier arena that also hosts NHL, NBA, USBL and other sporting events. The county said in a news release that recovery personnel operating specialized debris trucks have collected more than 60,000 cubic yards of roadside debris every day for the last two months and moved roughly 20,000 cubic yards from debris management sites to final disposal. Crews have cleared debris from more than 3,500 miles of county roads, the county said, “the distance from Fort Myers to Minneapolis and back.” Also on Monday at a news conference in neighboring Charlotte County, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state and generous donors through the Florida Disaster Fund would be providing $60 million to help impacted Floridians with ongoing housing and recovery efforts. On Sunday, the state’s first-ever housing program was launched in Lee County.

Well, I think I've given up hoping for SOME justice SOMEWHERE. If it happens thats great, but i'm damn tired of all these promises and zilch.

Here we see once again The problem. Notice that Big Dark Blue spot. That's Atlanta. Its a place with a Large concentration of Voters.

After last night Scott Johnson Dec. 7 2022 This is a postscript to my November 9 installment of “After last night” on this year’s midterms. • In a perfect coda to the disappointing outcome of the 2022 midterm elections, Raphael Warnock won reelection to the Senate from Georgia last night. He did it by taking 51.4 percent of the vote in his runoff against Herschel Walker for a full six-year term. Walker fell about 100,000 votes short out of 3.5 million cast. • Republicans won every statewide office but for the Senate seat. Governor Brian Kemp led the way. Georgia is not a blue state. When it comes to a Republican path to electoral success, however, I’ll have what Kemp is having, if you know what I mean. Even so, Kemp and his organization proved unable to pull Walker over the finish line in this contest. • Hundreds of millions of dollars were raised on behalf of Warnock. Walker was vastly outspent. A total of at least $400 million was spent on the race. For the runoff, From Oct. 20 through Nov. 16, Warnock raised twice as much money as Walker. The Warnock reported raising $51.9 million, while his Walker reported raising $20.8 million. Warnock was supported by a barrage of ads attacking Walker’s character. (Snip) • Walker’s career in elective politics reminds me of the Minnesota Vikings’ 1989 trade for Walker. It did not go well for the Vikings. It hurt, big time, for a long time to come.

@Geee He Better be Lawyered Up.

Please PLEASE PLEASE Don't.

Thanks for the midweek toons Pookie. 🙂

The Jerusalem Post A recent report claimed that Saudi Arabia wants to normalize ties with Israel, though it will take time and hinges on the US meeting demands. JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 6, 2022 Saudi Arabia is looking to normalize ties with Israel, although it will be a while before this ever properly manifests, Israeli news outlet i24NEWS reported Tuesday. The article cited Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abdel al-Jubeir, who recently spoke to senior American Jewish leaders. There, he guaranteed that Israeli-Saudi normalization will happen eventually, but stressed that it will take time. In addition, in a meeting with US officials visiting Riyadh courtesy of the Washington Institute, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman listed three main demands that must be met for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel, according to i24NEWS. "According to the report, these demands did not include anything about the Palestinian conflict or requests for Israel. Rather, they hinged entirely on the US, specifically affirming a US-Saudi alliance, proper weapons supplies to the kingdom as if it were a NATO country and allowing Riyadh to have a restricted civil nuclear program." (Snip)

My pleasure, MISBAILEY!

The Epoch Times A top FBI official has stepped down just as House Republicans have announced plans to investigate recent operations and actions at the bureau. In a Dec. 2 post to his LinkedIn profile, Steven D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, announced his retirement. “After a 26-year, 10-month career with the FBI, I chose to retire,” D’Antuono wrote. “Yesterday was my last day.” Attributing the decision to wanting to spend more time with his family, he added, “Deciding to retire was not easy, it is extremely difficult to say farewell to the mission and the wonderful people I work with, but in making my decision I knew it is time to hand the reins over to the next generation of FBI employees.” News of D’Antuono’s retirement comes just weeks after Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee named him as one of nine FBI employees they would “require prompt testimony” from as they seek to investigate potential political bias at the bureau. “Over the past twenty-one months, we have made several requests for information and documents concerning operations and actions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the congressmen wrote in a Nov. 12 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. “To date, you have ignored these requests, or you have failed to respond sufficiently,” the letter continues. “Please be aware that if our requests remain outstanding at the beginning of the 118th Congress, the Committee may be forced to resort to compulsory process to obtain the material we require.” So far, the committee has requested testimony from at least 42 Biden administration officials, including employees in the Justice Department, Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, and the White House.

Thanks for the toons Pookie! 😁

Free Beacon Founded in 1930 as an offshoot of the American Medical Association, the AAP is first and foremost a standard-setting body. It outlines best practices for the nation’s pediatricians, advises policy-makers on public health issues, and, for many parents, is the premier authority on raising healthy kids. In recent years, it has also become a participant in America’s culture wars. Judges have deferred to the group’s expertise in high-stakes court cases about children with gender dysphoria, who the AAP says can start socially transitioning at "any" age. During the height of Covid, schools masked toddlers—including toddlers with speech delays—based on the guidance of the AAP. Sports leagues and after-school programs mandated the Covid vaccine after the AAP strongly recommended it, even as concerns mounted about its association with myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, in young males. Though the organization’s guidelines are framed as the consensus position of the AAP’s members, only a handful of physicians had a role in shaping them. Instead, insiders say, the AAP is deferring to small, like-minded teams of specialists ensconced in children’s hospitals, research centers, and public health bureaucracies, rather than seeking the insights of pediatricians who see a wide cross-section of America’s children. They also say a longstanding left-wing bias—over two thirds of pediatricians are registered Democrats—has accelerated, turning the organization into a more overtly political body that now pronounces on issues from climate change to immigration. As rates of gender dysphoria exploded and the Covid-19 pandemic hit, that bias seeped into the organization’s medical policy recommendations, unchecked by discussion or debate. This story is based on dozens of interviews with pediatricians, academics, and current and former AAP members, including several with leadership positions in the AAP. It shows how a small group of doctors with virtually unaccountable power can exert tremendous influence over public policy, especially when a new crisis—be it moral or virological—gives them an emergency mandate. A mandate affecting the lives of millions of families.

You're welcome, mass55th!