Insight

“In war, truth is the first casualty.” —Aeschylus (525-456 BC)

For the Record

“Team Biden loves to talk about the 9,000 leases that oil and gas companies possess on which production has not started. It is probably important to note that the oil and gas companies are working on more than 37,000 leases in total; they are already producing oil and natural gas on about 75% of all the federal leases they hold. The ones that are not producing are, in many cases, because the federal government has not issued the relevant permits; the administration is sitting on more than 4,500 permit applications at the moment. It is also important to remember that a tiny percentage — about 2% — of the acreage under federal stewardship is actually available for energy production.” —Michael McKenna

“The story in energy over the last few years is not about alternative energy sources like wind and solar. It is about the new oil and natural gas we have developed in places such as Pennsylvania and Texas. In the last 15 years, precision drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have produced about 10 times more energy in the United States than wind turbines and solar panels. We can produce much more and affect the global price of oil and natural gas, but only if the federal government stops suppressing investment and production. … Team Biden is counting on short memories and careless attention to facts. That is probably its best chance to avoid the reckonings — electoral and otherwise — that are heading its way.” —Michael McKenna

“Special note to the RNC: Now’s a good time to open up mobile voter registration sites — at gasoline stations!” —Gary Bauer

“I’m afraid, particularly in this world of cancel culture attack, I don’t know where you’re going to learn to engage as we did when I grew up. If you don’t learn at that level in high school, in grammar school, in your neighborhood, or in civic organizations, then how do you have it when you’re making decisions in government, in the legislature, or in the courts?” —Justice Clarence Thomas

“You can cavalierly talk about packing or stacking the Court. You can cavalierly talk about doing this or doing that. At some point the institution is going to be compromised.” —Clarence Thomas

Political Futures

“‘Make no mistake,’ [Biden] said, ‘inflation is largely the fault of Putin.’ Do you believe that? It seems unlikely that most people will agree with the president because the it’s-Putin’s-fault explanation conflicts with their personal experience. They remember last year, long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when inflation worries first arose, when prices started to shoot up, and the Biden White House assured them it was ‘transitory.’ They have been to the grocery store. They have tried to buy a car. They know that inflation is more than just the price of gas, although the price of gas has been going up for a year — again, before Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. … But what can Democrats do? The elections are less than nine months away. Nearly all electoral indicators look bad for them. Barring some huge, entirely unforeseen event, they are headed for minority status in the House, and perhaps in the Senate. If that happens, the president’s ability to pass partisan legislation will be gone. The situation is approaching the code-red level. And blaming Putin … won’t fix anything.” —Byron York

Credit Where It’s Due

“Seventy-eight percent of the people who died [of COVID] or are hospitalized were obese. And that’s another one that’s not a popular opinion to talk about, but I feel like I have to because it’s such a salient fact in this. … We’re at such a crazy place with obesity, it is the ultimate third rail in discourse. … Anyone in the media who doesn’t talk about this because you’re so afraid of the reaction, you have blood on your hands because you’re not doing these people a favor.” —Bill Maher

The BIG Lie

“Fact: The U.S. is more energy independent under President @JoeBiden than it was under Trump.” —DNC

Race/Sexism Bait

“The rise of white nationalist Hispanics.” —Axios headline

“Women have been told that they are dangerous, and that’s because they are. Dangerous to corruption and injustice.” —Jill Biden

And Last…

“Seemed impossible the Democrat corporate news media could have destroyed its credibility more thoroughly than with Trump-Russia collusion lies. But their decision to be promoters and enforcers of Covid totalitarianism is even more disgraceful and unforgivable in many ways.” —Buck Sexton