Observations for 28 May 23

This week, we spend the first half of the podcast talking about the legal issues currently before the Supreme Court. We then move to discussions about Gaza, the budget, voting rights, and the Alabama Supreme Court decision that may sharply limit the availability of IVF treatment in that state.

This week, we discuss how the Trump civil fraud verdict is affecting potential real estate investment in New York. We then move to Trump's 60% win in the South Carolina primary, and what a Trump/Biden presidential campaign might look like. Then, we cover a large observational study of COVID vaccine side effects that was released this week, which seems to have unveiled new safety signals. SCOTUS is set to hear a case on social media regulation, challenging new laws passed in Texas and Florida. Finally, we discuss the possibility that America is entering another era of Isolationism, and what that might mean.

In our post-Superbowl return, we start with Tucker Carlson's interview of Vladimir Putin. We then address the strange coupling of US border security with approving more military support for Ukraine. Joe Biden apparently did inappropriately take classified documents home with him, going all the way back to his Senate days, but no one's going to do anything about that. Donald Trump, meanwhile, took a beating in a NY state court. We then muse about a possible security threat to the US that was hinted about this week. Finally, we note that all these stories are part of a series of converging threads of disaster, as things seem to be ever more quickly spinning out of control.

Today, we begin with Joe Biden, and the amusing consequences of wearing a hard hat backwards during a photo op. We then move to the immigration battle between the Federal government as Texas. Finally, we move to the release of recordings from a secret Zoom conference between government employees, NGOs, and activists to use their positions in the government to interfere in the 2020 election. All of these stories demonstrate the institutional failures that are leading us towards disaster. And, yes, Dale DID keep saying it was the 29th.

[Apologies for the audio issues in the first few minutes.] We start by discussing Ron DeSantis' withdrawal from the presidential race earlier today. The die is now cast. Barring illness or death of one or the other elderly gentleman, the 2024 race will, once again, be a Trump-Biden contest. Meanwhile, Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis is facing allegations of impropriety in her prosecution of Donald Trump. Finally, we discuss an analysis that indicates North Korea may be preparing for another invasion of South Korea. We have to ask, is this something they're doing on their own, or could any such invasion be a diversionary action to set up a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, to force "reunification" on both Korea and China?

It's the day before the Iowa Caucus, and we look ahead at what it means. Are the polls correct, with Donald Trump Having a lock on victory? Or is something else going on? What does it mean for the nomination race? Democrats are already prepping the electoral battlefield, declaring Donald Trump to be an impending dictator. Maybe Trump will win, maybe he won't. But it's a mistake to to think that MAGA will fade away, no matter what happens.

Our holiday hiatus is over, so we're back to talk about Trump's "removal" from the Primary ballot in CO and ME. We also discuss Claudine Gay's resignation from the presidency of Harvard.

After we discuss the cultural implications of a senate staffer recording themselves having sex with another man in a US Senate hearing room, we turn to legal matters. Rudy Giuliani lost a $148.1 million jury verdict in the defamation case bought by two Georgia election workers. Meanwhile, Sidney Powell pled guilty to six misdemeanor counts, and Keneth Cheseboro pled guilty to 1 felony count, in their Georgia election interference cases. The Supreme Court took up a case questioning the validity of charging January 6 protestors with the "obstructing an official proceeding" statute, which could overturn many J6 convistions, as well as drop charges from Donald Trump's upcoming trial. Finally, we look at the latest Harvard/Harris poll.

Interest payments on the National Debt have ballooned to $900 billion per year. For the first time in two decades, debt service now costs more than the entire military budget of the United States. This is not a sign of good economic times ahead. In other news, Hunter Biden's sweetheart deal from Federal prosecutors is dead as fried chicken, with a new series of indictments filed, though he is still getting a bit of a break. Other topics: UPenn's president resigned, Trump won't testify in NY, Ukraine funding got halted in Congress, and Blackrock's Larry Fink doesn't want to talk about ESG anymore.

It was a bit of a rough start, since Dale forgot to hit the Go Live button, but we first get into how House Democrats are abandoning "Bidenomics" as a 2024 Election slogan. We move from there into the many other failures of the Biden Administration. Whatever the policy area may be: Defense, Energy, Immigration...you name it, Joe Biden has the worst possible policy for it.