Amnesty, mIsiNfoRmATiOn, and Hurray COLA!
So many thoughts. So little time.
Do you feel it? Are you watching what is happening in real time? Narratives falling apart, jerseys changing, and one of the more breathtaking victory laps I can recall. Tell me without telling me COVID hysterics are over:
This monstrosity is courtesy of The Atlantic. Because of course it is. Translation:
We’re all friends here. I said some things. You said some things. Some of us wanted others completely removed from society but that was just because we were scared and didn’t know what the fuck we were talking about. Forgive and forget, right?
I’m not going to spend any more time on Ms. Emily Oster. I think QTR pretty much nailed it yesterday.
Look who else discovered logic again…
Remember the ACLU last year? The organization that literally has “Civil Liberties” in its name? Last year the ACLU lost many in the libertarian-leaning camp when it came out with this stinker of a take back in September of 2021:
At the ACLU, we are not shy about defending civil liberties, even when they are very unpopular. But we see no civil liberties problem with requiring Covid-19 vaccines in most circumstances.
Can’t see the line can you, Russ?
Now that the conversation surrounding all things COVID has been changing in the public discourse, the ACLU is attempting a shift to civil liberties protector rather than its previous position of defending civil liberties in name only. Yesterday, The Intercept detailed how the Department of Homeland Security has pivoted from defending the homeland against terrorism to defending the establishment against the citizens by pressuring platforms like Twitter to disappear the inconveniences:
Behind closed doors, and through pressure on private platforms, the U.S. government has used its power to try to shape online discourse. According to meeting minutes and other records appended to a lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican who is also running for Senate, discussions have ranged from the scale and scope of government intervention in online discourse to the mechanics of streamlining takedown requests for false or intentionally misleading information.
Turns out this tOtAlLY sAnE theater school dropout turned bureaucrat getting mocked out of power wasn’t the end of the Ministry of Truth. Noted. Thankfully, the ACLU decided to stop sucking for a moment and managed to muster up the correct take on free speech:
Thanks, ACLU. Where the hell were you last year? Look, I don’t know what’s gotten into the ACLU. I can only speculate that it’s possible 2022 donations weren’t as robust as the organization had hoped after very clearly endorsing the destruction of civil liberties last year. I tried to check the financial records to see contribution figures but the ACLU doesn’t have an updated audited financial statement audit yet. I went back a decade and can only find 2 examples of ACLU audit reports dated October - the other 8 were in September. None of them took all the way to November. I’m sure it’s nothing…
Making Lemonade At The White House
Not real lemonade though. Of course, the president would need a proper permit for that or Karen would get very upset. No, this lemonade is figurative. What do you do when inflation is so bad that the COLA adjustments that boost social security benefits get a massive bump? Well you take credit for inflation of course:
Just so that we’re all clear: Biden’s leadership is why the inflation-adjustment to social security payments is getting the biggest increase in years. The inflation is Putin’s fault though. Wait, I mean Exxon Mobil’s fault. I can’t keep up.
