The young Leak:

But when Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi claimed Leak’s cartoon depiction of her was racist and would cost her votes at the next election, he recognised something else in her accusations.

Not just a politician with a thin skin but a disturbing sign of a growing intolerance to criticism and strong debate about difficult subjects.

“I think there was a big element of deliberate misunderstanding, it’s sort of confected outrage. “They deliberately misunderstand the meaning and the motivation behind a cartoon and they say, well, it’s simply racist, because some people might be offended. The priority for a cartoonist should never be ‘oh dear, I might upset somebody’.

“I think it highlights a very practised sense of victimhood, deeply ingrained and well rehearsed. It’s symptomatic of the sort of woke mindset which is: oppressors/oppressed, victims/oppressors; and she has almost reflexively turned herself the victim of some sort of unfair attack.

“This is the way these games are played these days by people who don’t understand that satire and the tradition of ridiculing politicians, is a way of making robust commentary about the affairs of the day.”

Well said, “a practised sense of victimhood”, yep, see it all the time.

It would be well for our politicians to recognise that and not fall into the trap on tolerating such intolerence or rewarding it

Tony Abbott, and so many Liberal politicians fall for this and end up trying to make them “happy”, make no one happy and let down the very people who elect them to represent their views and not acquiese to the views of manipulators.

Offend them I say, like Leak, good, hard and often!

The RNC trotting out Kai Trump was in my view wrong in every imaginable way.

There have been enough ‘soapy’ moments during the RNC but a sugary school kid cameo belittles the serious contributions made by others during the event. It is the kind of crap that you would expect from the Dems.

Political dynasties are never acceptable.

Why wasn’t the old filthbot wearing a mask?

Surely Dr Fauci told him to wear one once he tested positive. 😀

Postcard from Romania

Mrs TE writes:

“We’re going on a Bear Hunt”…

The Transf?g?r??an or DN7C is a paved mountain road crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. The second-highest paved road in the county up to 2000m, it was built in the early 1970s as a strategic military route by the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, the former communist leader of Romania, who feared the Russians after their invasion of Czechoslavakia.

A great driving road according to the TV program Top Gear. They liked the hundreds of corners, scintillating views as you ascend or descend, the remote location – slap, bang in the middle of nowhere. They brought in three supercars a few years back to test it out: a Ferrari, a Lamborgini, and an Aston Martin. We found the program online and watched it – very good. 

We found the drive however to be a hard, bumpy road in the back of a 9-seater van, some experiencing queasiness. Apparently it is only recommended in July and August, when there is no avalanche risk. At a brisk pace, it takes 4-5 hours. Unfortunately, our tour day was school holidays and a Sunday – it was chock-a-block.

However, it is THE place to see brown bears and their cubs. 6000 in the country. We saw 6 on our drive, just on the side of the road. Their appearance led to chaos – cars stopping anywhere on the road to see. They can be dangerous – even a recent pair of human fatalities. There were “bear alerts” coming through on all our phones constantly.

At the end of the road there are some beautiful lakes – lovely reflections. Also gorgeous wild flowers. Lots of people were camping – I think above the forest line, otherwise you’d be worried about bears. There were also thousands of locals and tourists lolling about in the grass, picnicking, kids running up and down mountains, hundreds of stalls selling meat and cheese, the hotels/restaurants making a fortune charging you to use their toilets (no public), car parks jammed full etc. We were told to get out in the middle of a tunnel and walk through because there was a traffic jam.

We also saw the REAL Dracula castle belonging to Vlad the Impaler – no it is not Bram Castle in Transylvania (long story – look it up), waterfalls, an impressive dam, lovely pyramid haystacks, old farmhouses, productive farmland (wheat, sunflowers, crops). It was a 12 hour tour.

“We can’t do our jobs because it might help Trump”

Axios: a “photo editor” at a “major news outlet” suggests media should bury the photo of Trump raising his fist because it’s “kind of free PR for Trump in a way, and it’s dangerous for media organizations to keep sharing that photo despite how good it is.”

“Dangerous” to who exactly?

Thanks for the purgative Arky…

On July 12, 2024, Austin Private Wealth LLC reportedly placed a significant put option on 12 million shares of Trump Media & Technology Group stock ($DJT) just one day before an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The firm, linked to George Soros, BlackRock, and the George W. Bush family, has denied these claims, stating that the filing was a clerical error. This incident has sparked widespread speculation and discussion on social media, with many users questioning the timing and motives behind the alleged short position.

reminds me of the big shorts on airlines before 9/11

someone knew

Then there was a mensch.
Hope we have them today.

Veep Speech – like watching a young Bobby Kennedy in the making.

Extraordinary and powerful stuff. Ask not what your country can do for you etc… implied, by the heroic life story of this representative of a rising generation.

Rags to riches? Yes, that plays well with me. And will with so many others.

Wow, Leak’s cartoon covers all bases, the bailing carpetbagger with his suitcases full of grift, the hose-monster in Y-fronts burning more hard-earned taxpayer money, and helicopter-hated popinjay pedalling his way to nowhere- superb

On July 18, 2024, an incident occurred where President Joe Biden appeared to mistake another woman for his wife, Jill Biden, and was about to kiss her before Jill intervened. This event has sparked a variety of reactions on social media, ranging from humorous comments to concerns about Biden’s mental acuity. Some users have questioned whether Biden genuinely thought the woman was his wife, while others have used the incident to criticize his cognitive abilities and leadership.

Newhart was on a tonight show with Carson relating how he bombed on an Australian tour. Hilarious.

The Biden-Harris administration has approved an additional $1.2 billion in student debt cancellation for 35,000 public service workers, including teachers, nurses, firefighters, and law enforcement officials. This action is part of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and brings the total amount of student debt cancelled to $168.5 billion for nearly 5 million borrowers. The administration aims to provide relief to hardworking Americans who have dedicated their careers to serving their communities, with an average cancellation of over $35,000 per person.

rewarding the deep state

Hello from Dublin.
I’m staying in Harold’s Cross on the south of the river.
Caught the local bus from the airport which dropped me 250 metres from my front door. It rained the whole way and I was feeling pleased about my ponchos (and the €2.60 bus ticket. It was 48 stops but no slower than catching the express Dublin bus and switching to a local one).
North of the Liffey looked pretty iffy with lots of gimmegrants wandering around. Here is mostly indigenous.
I enquired my stop from the bus driver and he was very nice, asked a local to confirm the best stop, then called me back, asked if I was a visitor and told me to be very careful of pickpockets especially on public transport.
I mildly mentioned Dublin had changed a little from when I was here in 2015 and he angrily said it was now a ‘sh**hole’ which made me feel downcast.
Still the sky cleared, the mini supermarket across the road did a roaring trade in sandwiches so I joined the queue then took myself to the park, lots of flowers blooming, the local pub had massive hanging pots of petunias, I thought they were fake but no sweet perfume said otherwise.
Billboards told me that free contraception had been extended to 32 to 35 year olds and the local pharmacy was proudly advertising the morning after pill in the front window.
The government plan to replace the indigenous population is still full steam ahead.

You have to wonder whether the GOP has made a mistake highlighting Biden’s incompetence to the point where will be removed. Napoleon’s “never interfere” rule comes to mind.

It doesn’t matter who ‘The Light Bringer’ appoints as a replacement, it gives the Dems and the media a fresh start. The new appointee will have access to unlimited resources and historic levels of media propaganda.

Four months may well be enough.