God Blessed Texas
Greg and guest host Chad Benson appreciate New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang being the only one to admit that mentally ill people committing violent acts are a problem for the city and that residents have the right to not be assaulted. They also cringe as Iran prepares to install a new president who is already under U.S. sanctions for leading the mass execution of political prisoners in the 1980s. And they react to Sen. Ted Cruz saying that he hopes actor Matthew McConnaughey does not run for governor in Texas because he would be a very formidable candidate.
Join Jim and Greg as they dish out two bad martinis and a crazy one. First, they sigh as reports from non-conservative sources say President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill will actually waste taxpayer dollars and do economic damage. They also cringe as Dr. Fauci suggests a new vaccine needs to be created to ward off the effects of the South African variant of COVID, but Jim explains why Fauci is probably wrong. And they wade into the news of Sen. Ted Cruz flying to Cancun while Texas is in crisis and the media reaction to it.
A Wine Snob Reviews the Political Class
Nancy Pelosi
Aged over a period of 80 years, Pelosi will strike many political connoisseurs as almost pickled. Imperious, regal, and with an extraordinarily high alcohol content, Pelosi’s bouquet almost washes over you like the tide or the administrative state. Most palates outside Mill Valley will find this varietal has lost a step.
Mitch McConnell
McConnell almost teases you with a laconic nature. With a fragrant bouquet redolent of bourbon and cocaine, McConnell is an excellent choice for anyone whose palate favors character and mastery above all. A superb choice for reshaping the federal judiciary into the originalist mold for at least a generation.
Joe Manchin
Technically a red but with unmistakable blue streaks yielding a kind of wishy-washy purple hue, Manchin is a rarity on the current scene. Widely disliked, Manchin is nevertheless redolent of rich dark coal and finishes delightfully with hints of fiscal sanity and the second amendment.
Due to the lockdown, the Pasadena GOP Club group was notified 24 hours before the event they would not be allowed to have a speaker. Dinner, yes, but no speaker. So instead of obeying bureaucrats’ inane rules, they moved the meeting to a private home. The turnout was spectacular. Dave discusses the state of the 2020 Election, Sidney Powell, what a Biden Administration intends to do, and answers questions from the audience.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and host of the The Daily Wire’s podcast “The Michael Knowles Show” Michael Knowles joined Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to discuss everything from censorship by big tech to Tik Tok and the Chinese Communist Party. Sen. Cruz and Knowles co-host the political podcast “Verdict With Ted Cruz” in which Cruz gives his take on the most important national news.
The senator argued that although media bias has been around forever, it’s immensely dangerous that a handful of monopolies now control every means of discourse. Similarly to China, the left, who controls all the major institutions in America, doesn’t want people to thoughtfully communicate their ideas because they don’t work. They must suppress free speech and silence the truth, Sen. Cruz said, because truth prevails if the discourse allows for it.
There’s not a lot of good news Monday, so let’s just tackle the bad stuff on Three Martini Lunch. Join Jim and Greg as they react to the massive Wall Street sell-off as investors are spooked by coronavirus, oil prices, and the bond market, and once again they call out irresponsible figures either whipping up panic or openly cheering for the virus to spell Donald Trump’s political doom. They also wince a bit as Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock launches a challenge to GOP Sen. Steve Daines, adding another race where Republicans will have to work hard to keep a seat. And they react to the news that a CPAC attendee has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar to self-quarantine themselves after interacting with that person.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are pleased to see Ted Cruz opening up a nine point lead over Beto O’Rourke in the Texas U.S. Senate race and it looks like very few voters are likely to change their minds. They also react to former Attorney General Eric Holder telling activists that when Republicans go low, Democrats should kick them. And Democrat Phil Bredesen’s Tennessee campaign staffers are caught on camera admitting Bredesen really hates Trump and only said he would have voted for Brett Kavanaugh to pander to moderate Republicans.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his Senate floor speech blasting Senate Democrats for their conduct during the Kavanaugh confirmation process. They also unload on Antifa and the other menacing groups who berated Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and his wife and forced them to leave a Washington restaurant. And they react to cable news fixture Michael Avenatti promising an air-tight case of misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh only to walk back his bravado and go silent on Twitter.
I haven’t been following the news closely enough to understand what is happening with the Texas U.S. Senate Race. Is Ted Cruz really in danger of losing to a nut-case like Beto O’Rourke? In Texas?? How did that happen? Preview Open
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are glad to see polls showing Republicans inching ahead in the Tennessee and Indiana Senate races, and other key pick-up opportunities are also in reach. They also hammer President Trump for tweeting his objections to the death toll listed for last year’s hurricanes in Puerto Rico, especially as another major storm is making landfall. And they react to George W. Bush hitting the midterm campaign trail for several candidates, but not for Sen. Ted Cruz in his own state.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are excited after a new poll shows Republican Josh Hawley leading incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill in the Missouri Senate race. They also think Beto O’Rourke and the Democratic Party are wasting money on the Texas U.S. Senate race, as incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leads by 10 points. And they laugh at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who pandered to his constituents by making the absurd claim he will sue the Supreme Court if they overturn Roe v. Wade.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America groan as President Trump disinvites the Philadelphia Eagles from their White House visit, after most players decided to boycott the event. They also laugh as the normally loquacious Sen. Ted Cruz is left speechless after being asked if he thinks President Trump has the power to pardon himself. And Jim rips outgoing Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz for his pathetic noncommittals on the 2020 presidential race, while explaining how Schultz would likely be a flop in the Democratic primary.
The Left Thinks Mark Zuckerberg Escaped Danger in Congress. The Right Sees It Very Differently.
Facebook doesn’t seem any closer to data privacy regulation, much less getting broken up, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s two-day visit to Capitol Hill than before he came. That’s why Facebook stock rose so sharply during Zuckerberg’s testimony to the Senate and House. Investors saw the same thing everyone did: A smart, if slightly robotic, corporate chieftain easily answering or swatting away questions from tech-illiterate politicians. If Congress has only a tenuous grasp of how the social media platform’s ad-driven business model works, it’s probably not very likely Democrats and Republicans can agree on significant new rules constraining it anytime soon.
But as Team Facebook analyzes their boss’s performance, they should give special focus to his questioning by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz used his five minutes to grill Zuckerberg about his concern that “Facebook and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship.” Among the examples Cruz cited: Facebook suppressing conservative stories from trending news in 2016, temporarily shutting down a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day page in 2012, and blocking the Facebook page of President Trump supporters and video bloggers Diamond and Silk.
Zuckerberg didn’t specifically address Cruz’s examples of bias. And while conceding that Facebook’s Silicon Valley home was indeed “an extremely left-leaning place,” Zuckerberg also emphasized that he was “very committed to making sure that Facebook is a platform for all ideas.”
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are happy to Republicans senators like Ted Cruz, Ben Sasse, and John Kennedy pin down Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on critical issues like censorship, free speech, and user policies that actually benefit Facebook members. They also react to House Speaker Paul Ryan announcing his retirement, looking both at his record and the increased likelihood that Democrats will take back the House this year. And they have fun with London’s ridiculous new knife control push after 50 stabbing deaths in the city this year, including police confiscating scissors and pliers as deadly weapons.
The Texas tale for 2018? Republicans are still in the race. In fact, Ned Ryun of American Majority says the GOP is going to keep control of Congress. Is he right?
Texas GOP consultant Derek Ryan tells us how things look on the ground in the Lone Star state.
Washington Free Beacon reporting that Victoria Coates, late of Team Ted Cruz, will be joining the NSC as Senior Director for Strategic Assessments. Hardcore #NeverTrumper, our own @jaynordlinger interviewed her on Q&A a year ago. Highly recommended. Also pick up her fine, fine book David’s Sling wherever fine books are sold. Preview Open
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According to the Blaze The proposed constitutional amendment specifies that senators could only serve two six-year terms, while House representatives would be allowed two three-year terms. [three two year terms. Error in the original. -UF] It also states that the term limits would not begin until the bill becomes law, so the clock for current lawmakers wouldn’t […]
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Jon Gabriel & Liz Wheeler on Religious Liberty
