Governor Crybaby

Now it’s Illinois’ Progressive-Democrat Governor JB Pritzker who’s joining the Greek Chorus (and giving a bad name to Greek Choruses) with his bodice-ripping (not that I mix metaphors, or anything) sobbing about all the illegal aliens coming into Democratic states, Democratic cities.

We have migrants that arrive from Texas virtually every day, hundreds, and we don’t have places to put them.

This is the first of his cynical tear-jerks. Texas hasn’t transported a single migrant to Illinois, or to anywhere else, come to that. Texas has transported illegal aliens—every one of whom makes the trip voluntarily—to Illinois and to other places.

Hundreds: wow. So many. Never mind that Texas and Arizona towns and cities are getting inundated by thousands of illegal aliens every day, and that the “immigration” deal on offer in the Senate would seek to dam that flood at…5,000 per day.

We don’t have places to put them. Then stop enthusiastically—zealously, even—inviting them in with your open arms Illegal Aliens Sanctuary status.

There are plenty of other cities where, you know, if he’s going to send people, they could be sent, but no. He’s choosing only Democratic states, Democratic cities….

This is the second of his cynical tear-jerks. No, Texas’ Republican Governor Gregg Abbott is not transporting any illegal aliens at all to Democratic states, Democratic cities. He’s transporting them to sanctuary States and to sanctuary cities. That those receiving jurisdictions happen to be Progressive-Democrat-run says volumes about the Progressive-Democratic Party, and nothing at all about the torrent of illegal aliens flooding across our border compared to the tiny trickle these sanctuary States and cities are getting.

Maybe Pritzker should sit down. His caterwauling is damaging to the Chorus.

A Cost of Biden’s Red Sea Dithering

As Progressive-Democrat President Timid Joe Biden continues to respond to Houthi terrorist attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea with namby-pamby—the recent strikes against some terrorist launch sites in Houthi-occupied western Yemen are proving to be a one-off, with Houthi attacks continuing, with Biden shying away from further response (his Tuesday potshots don’t count)—Egypt is suffering considerable shipping drops from the reduced shipping through its Suez Canal.

International Monetary Fund figures show 35% less cargo was transported through the Suez Canal in the first week of 2024 compared with the same period last year.

The shipping rate drop is made clear in these graphs. The first is an Agence France-Presse graph:This one is from the IMF’s Port Watch:

The key part of this 4-yr graph is the blue-highlighted last-six-months date range at the right. The rest of the four years just shows how steady shipping was before the Houthi attacks and Biden’s timidity in the face of them.

As usual, right click and select the Open Image in New Tab option for a larger versions of the graphs.

From that shipping drop, Egypt’s Suez Canal-related revenue is down 40% in just the first 10 days of this year compared to 2023, as a result of the Houthis’ attacks.

The Houthis’ terrorist attacks on commercial shipping aren’t what’s isolating the Suez Canal from the world’s shipping lanes, though. It’s Biden’s tolerance for those attacks, and his meek acceptance of them as the new status quo, that are doing that.

Maybe the Judge Isn’t Entirely Correct

A Florida man was charged by the Feds for possessing a firearm in a US Post Office facility. A Federal district judge ruled the law governing his arrest to be unconstitutional.

US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of former President Trump, cited a 2022 landmark US Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights when she handed down her ruling Friday that dismissed part of an indictment charging a postal worker with illegally possessing a gun in a federal facility.

So far, so good. But:

[T]he judge declined to dismiss a separate charge for forcibly resisting arrest.

The “forcible resistance” consisted of the man running when Federal agents tried to “detain” him. This is where I have a problem. I don’t see anything wrong with resisting arrest when the arrest is pursuant to a non-law, a law that is unconstitutional. The charge itself was legitimate, since the agents, in good faith, were trying to arrest him, and he ran (notice that: he ran, he did not fight); however, once the underlying law was ruled unconstitutional, the arrest pursuant to it became illegitimate, and the charge of resisting that arrest should have been dismissed.

A Debate Idea

Progressive-Democrat President Joe Biden plans to refuse to participate in any Presidential debates in the coming Presidential campaign season. He’s already cowering away from any primary debates with his opponent, Marrianne Williamson and Minnesota Progressive-Democrat Congressman Dean Phillips, even ducking whole primary campaigns, getting States to completely suppress Democrat voters cancel their primary contests.

The Republican Presidential nominee—likely former President Donald Trump, but it still could be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley—should challenge Biden to open debate, and when he refuses, the Republican candidate should follow the example set a few years ago by Clint Eastwood and debate an empty chair.

Then challenge again, and then debate the empty chair.

And again.

Hold these first debates before any State starts early voting, and then continue the debates throughout the fall. Each debate should focus on a single subject of national importance.

I have to wonder why Phillips is so reluctant to do that during the Progressive-Democratic Party’s primary campaign season.

Constitutional Ignorance

Progressive-Democratic Party Senator from New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen tweeted posted this not so long ago, in her effort to magnify the 6 January riot beyond all proportion:

“A democracy, if you can keep it,” said Ben Franklin.

Readers added context to Shaheen’s post:

The real quote is, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
The United States is a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy.

The ignorance is strong in this Shaheen person.

Regarding the nature of Democracies, there are these Founders’ quotes:

Democracy is when 51% of the population gets to tell the other 49% how to live.
– Thomas Jefferson

And from Ben Franklin, again,

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what’s for lunch.

Progressive-Democrat President Joe Biden is demonstrating the truth of Jefferson’s characterization.

And finally: dishonest revisionist history maven and coward that she is, Shaheen deleted her post (which also deleted the Reader Context) rather than acknowledging her error.

Powerline has the image of Shaheen’s ignorance and the added Reader Context: