Tuesday: Below the Fold
Senate hearings begin today, Harris snubs Vance, Hamas bargains with Biden on hostages, and more.
Politics
Cabinet confirmation hearings begin today: A number of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees begin their confirmation hearings this week, headlined today by Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for secretary of defense. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has made it clear that Democrats will look to make this process for certain nominees as difficult as possible. High on their list of targets is Hegseth, who has been hit with allegations of sexual assault and problems with excessive drinking. If the Democrats successfully block Hegseth’s confirmation, it will put wind in their sails for thwarting other nominees to whom they have expressed objections, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (secretary of health) and Tulsi Gabbard (director of national intelligence). However, should Hegseth, who at one point looked to have been dead in the water only to bounce back, win confirmation, it will likely pave the way for Trump’s other nominees. Expect the verbal fireworks to fly.
Federal employees vow to resist Trump: That a recent poll suggests 42% of federal government managers intend to work against the Trump administration isn’t a surprise. The surprise is that more of them didn’t admit to being part of The Resistance. However, this number points to the difficulties Donald Trump encountered in getting his first-term agenda enacted. The Beltway is overwhelmingly staffed with Democrats, and their partisanship tends to show up during Republican administrations. As The Daily Signal’s Tyler O'Neil reports, “RMG Research conducted three surveys in mid-December to study three different segments of the population. The polling firm focused on what it calls the Elite 1% who have postgraduate degrees, earn more than $150,000 annually, and live in densely populated areas; Main Street Americans who meet none of these three criteria and who represent between 70% and 75% of the U.S. population; and Federal Government Managers — federal employees who live in the National Capitol Region around Washington and earn at least $75,000 annually.” For every unelected bureaucrat like Eric Ciaramella and Alexander Vindman, there are no doubt thousands more in the woodwork. Let’s hope the second Trump administration has plans to exterminate these cockroaches — figuratively, of course.
Harris snubs Vance: It’s hard to blame Kamala Harris for not being a happy camper. Given her election loss, remaining cordial and helpful goes against even the most sanguine person’s instincts. Moreover, despite her penchant for cackling, Harris does not have an upbeat reputation. Yet that is what’s expected of our elected officials. Therefore, when Harris declines to invite Vice President-elect JD Vance to the veep’s residence ahead of Inauguration Day, it speaks more to her character than Vance’s. The extension of an invitation to the vice-presidential residence at the Naval Observatory has been a long-standing tradition. However, when Vance’s wife, Usha, contacted Harris via intermediaries over concerns about childproofing the house for her young children, she was rebuffed. Meanwhile, folks close to Harris claim that former Vice President Mike Pence similarly did not extend an invitation to her back in 2020, but Pence’s aides dispute that claim. Harris’s people also claim she has been busy dealing with the Los Angeles fires. Doing what, exactly?
No half-staff flags in Texas for Trump inauguration: Much ado has been made in the Leftmedia about the American flags at Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago estate flying at full-staff now that former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and burial have concluded. Now, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared that flags in the Lone Star State will be at full-staff for Trump’s inauguration on January 20. “Today,” Abbott said, “I ordered flags raised to full-staff at the Texas Capitol and state buildings for President Trump’s inauguration. While we honor President Carter’s service, we also celebrate an incoming President and our bright future.” This seems like the right call. And it seems like a call that Democrats would appreciate were the tables turned. After all, there’s something less than egalitarian about flying a flag at half-staff for 30 days because of the death of a man who happened to win a national election. Moreover, for example, 24 nameless souls have perished in the LA wildfires, and no flags anywhere will fly at half-staff for them for even a minute. Dare we say that Jimmy Carter himself, humble Christian that he was, would no doubt agree with us.
Biden announces student debt giveaway for 150,000 borrowers (The Hill)
Biden says his foreign policy gives Trump “a strong hand” (Politico)
Humor: Jill Biden prepares for final week as president (Babylon Bee)
Security
Hamas bargains with Biden on hostages: As our strikingly irrelevant president prepares to shuffle off the stage, his handlers are still working to secure a piece of his legacy: the release of the remaining hostages held by the barbarians of Hamas since October 7, 2023. A deal appears to be at hand, which makes sense because the beleaguered Islamist group now seems ill-equipped to test incoming President Donald Trump’s demand that the hostages be released by his January 20 inauguration date, lest there be “all hell to pay.” This morning, Hamas and Israel are reportedly close to a Gaza ceasefire-hostage agreement, with negotiations continuing in Qatar. According to the report, Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during the first phase, with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being concurrently released from Israeli jails. The human cost has been excruciating, especially for the families and friends of the captives. As Fox News reports, “There are believed to be 96 hostages still held by Hamas … only 50 of whom are still assessed to be alive, including three Americans. It is unclear when the deceased hostages would be returned to their families.”
Jake Sullivan’s Afghanistan revisionism: Years from now, historians will likely mark Joe Biden’s disastrous surrender and retreat in Afghanistan, just seven months into his term, as the beginning of the end of his presidency. And rightly so. Still, Biden’s handlers are working feverishly to put their elbows on the scale of history, as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan did Sunday. “Appearing on CNN’s ‘State of the Union,’ host Jake Tapper asked Sullivan if he feels ‘personally responsible for the failures in the withdrawal’ from Afghanistan,” Just the News reports. “Sullivan dodged the question, saying ‘I think the entire team, the entire national security team has responsibility for everything in our national security, and that includes me as the national security adviser.’” Donald Trump, of course, also wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan — but not on a date certain, September 11, 2021, as Joe Biden did, and from a position of strength rather than weakness. Not surprisingly, Tapper failed to ask Sullivan about abandoning Bagram Air Base or leaving behind billions of dollars in U.S. military equipment for the benefit of the Taliban, much less the 13 Americans killed during the retreat. To do so would’ve required an act of journalism.
U.S. Air Force to implement stricter dress and appearance standards (Washington Examiner)
Aurora officials to shut down apartment complex taken over by illegal immigrant gang (Free Beacon)
University of Michigan ends partnership with Communist Chinese university (Daily Wire)
Leftmedia
WaPo is dying in darkness: The Washington Post may face an existential crisis as its readership numbers crater in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory. However, the Post’s slide in subscription numbers has been ongoing throughout Joe Biden’s time in office. Last year alone, the Post lost $100 million. It’s not only subscribers who are ditching the paper but its own talent as well. Indeed, following the decision of the paper’s owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, to nix an endorsement of Kamala Harris, the Post saw some 250,000 subscriptions canceled. Furthermore, digital numbers have been tanking as well. The Post had 54 million visits to its homepage in November, which is down from 114 million visits in November 2020. In other words, the paper is shrinking. Bezos knows it, and he blamed the paper for narrowing its audience. “Increasingly, we talk only to a certain elite,” he wrote in an op-ed explaining his decision to nix a Harris endorsement. It seems Bezos knows that for The Washington Post to survive, it will have to appeal to a broader audience. That’s easier said than done.
Prince Harry blasts Meta: Once again, a British royal reminds America why our Founding Fathers declared independence from England. We don’t have kings, and Prince Harry is Exhibit A for why. In a lengthy statement published Monday, Harry bemoaned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to eliminate the brigade of biased “fact-checkers” from his social media platforms. Harry said the decision to roll back “hate speech” restrictions “should deeply concern us all.” He added, “It doesn’t matter whether your views are left, right, or somewhere in between — the latest news from Meta about changes to their policies directly undermines free speech. Contrary to the company’s talking points, allowing more abuse and normalizing hate speech serves to silence speech and expression, not foster it.” Only someone with the instincts of an authoritarian could assert such a contradictory notion. America’s defense of free speech comes from the exact opposite rationale. The real danger to free speech is suppression of speech, not more speech. Harry hides behind dubious concerns regarding “hate speech” not because he’s concerned about the truth but because he’s invested in promoting his own leftist social and political narratives without resistance. Maybe it’s time for him to go back home.
Misc.
Biden names Navy aircraft carriers after Clinton, Bush (The Hill)
LA’s Karen Bass told NYT in 2021 that she wouldn’t travel internationally as mayor (Fox News)
Palisades fire likely caused by humans in hiking area popular with teens (NY Post) | Authorities warn of more high winds (Daily Wire)
Policy: Prescribed burns are the only way for California to avoid another catastrophic fire (The Federalist)
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