President Elect Trump says he will designate Mexican Drug Cartels as terrorist organizations.

 

Donald Trump during the speech when he made the announcement. Reuters. 

President Elect Donald Trump has vowed to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorists organizations in a wider operation to control the flow of drugs into America. Reuters. Trump had made the threat during his first time but backed off after gaining cooperation from Mexico's former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. However, the flow of drugs has not subsided, with around 50,000 to 60,000 deaths expected from fentanyl and other related drugs. Trump said that the military could use covert and overt operations against the cartels involving special operations and cyber-warfare. In addition to the campaign against the cartels directly, Trump seeks to convince people to not be their customers, with a new ad campaign that would show the devastating effects drugs have on people, saying they would focus on how it can destroy your looks. 

My Comment:

This story kind of flew under the radar but it's kind of a huge deal. Trump essentially said that military force could be used against the Mexican drug cartels, which would finally involve the United States directly into the war. Regardless of what you think of that idea, you would think that would be the key takeaway from the story. But nope, half of the article was about Trump's plan to run some anti-drug advertisements. 

Will those ads accomplish much? Probably not. I don't think that the original Just Say No campaign did much and there was evidence that scare tactics, like the DARE program back in the day, actually did more damage than they helped. I think if you are going to run ads like this, appealing to vanity isn't the worst idea. I remember the "faces of meth" campaign and I think that was probably at least somewhat successful. Showing folks a bunch of fentanyl zombies might make them think twice about trying drugs for the first time. 

Regardless, that's not the main takeaway we should have from this announcement. Trump has essentially announced a potential military campaign. Designating the cartels as terrorists wouldn't necessarily result in combat, but Trump did say that we could be taking more direct action against them. 

But we should note that military action isn't the only thing this would affect. There would be legal action to be taken as well and it would also mean that folks with links to the cartels would be fast tracked deported if they were here illegally. 

The real question is what the government of Mexico will do. Trump does not have the kind of relationship with the new President, Claudia Pardo, that he had with AMLO and she has been trying to play hardball with him over the tariff issue. It's possible that this is just a threat on Trump's part and one that could be avoided if Pardo plays ball, like AMLO did. 

But if Pardo doesn't play ball, then I think it's very possible we could take some limited military action against the cartels. We certainly have a casus belli against them, they are facilitating the deaths of thousands of Americans every year and they represent a threat to our borders and citizens as well. And they seem to understand little else other than violence. 

Will it work out? It depends on what the goal is. If you are Mexico you probably aren't happy as any campaign against the leadership of the cartels would probably lead to civil wars in the cartels. But for America, that's a solution, not a problem. Chaos in the cartels means less drugs getting into America and fewer problems caused by those drugs. 

The one thing that could be a problem though is we could see reprisal attacks from the cartels. Right now they mostly leave American citizens alone, to avoid this very scenario. But if we declare war against them in a de facto manor, they may do the same to us, which could lead to terror attacks in the homeland and kidnappings and murders to US citizens in Mexico. 

But I think we have to do something. The drug problem is getting worse and it's a major reason why our life expectancy is so bad. Stopping, or even slowing down, the amount of Fentanyl out there would be a major good, even if the cost is violence... 

Who knows what will come to pass though. Trump's not in power yet and he is known to take a hard line as a negotiating tactic. Like I said, this could just be a message to Pardo, play ball or else. A deal could be made or it could be a bluff. Time will tell I guess. 

US Congresswoman Kay Granger found living in a memory care facility...

 

Texas representative Kay Granger (R) on the right. Dallas Express. 

US Congresswoman Kay Granger, a Republican in 12th district in Texas, has been found living in a memory care facility. Dallas Express. Granger has not showed up for a vote in Congress since July 24th and when reporters came to visit her office there was nobody there. Calls were also not returned. A tip stated that Granger was a resident of a memory care facility and had an incident where she had been found wandering in her former neighborhood. The managers of the memory facility were able to confirm that Granger was indeed a resident but did not grant an interview. Granger was retiring from her position and another Republican, Craig Goldman won her seat, raising questions as to why Granger hasn't retired. 

My Comment:

I know I have said this before but I will keep harping on this. America is starting to turn into the Soviet Union right before they collapsed where they had a series of geriatric leaders that were really unable to govern. It was true with Joe Biden. It's true with Mitch McConnell. It's true with Nancy Pelosi, and it was true with Dianne Feinstein until she died in office. And now it's true with Kay Granger as well. 

To be fair, I do sympathize with Granger, along with the rest of these folks. Aging is a hard thing and I wouldn't wish Alzheimer's and/or Dementia on anyone. I have seen first hand what it can do to people and it's absolutely heartbreaking when someone you love doesn't recognize you or doesn't remember that you visited them. 

But at some people folks need to step up and say that you can't be in control of the government when your brain doesn't work anymore. It's one thing when you are Trump, where you are old but still sharp, but many of these leaders are just not there anymore. And it's leading to bad outcomes. 

And this isn't a partisan issue. The Dallas Express, that broke this story, is a conservative outlet. I am guessing the folks that own the paper were pretty angry that Granger wasn't there for the crucial budget vote that got passed this weekend, and understandably so. Granger was not fulfilling her duties and the folks that voted for her in 2022 were not being served by her. 

I can tell you first hand how annoying it is to not actually have a congressman. I live in Mike Gallagher's district in Wisconsin and after his unexpected retirement I was left without a congressman for many months until we got one back during election day (Tony Wied ran two campaigns, one for the 2024 term and one for the remainder of Gallagher's term). But at least in my case Gallagher's office was still open for the day to day stuff. 

It appears that Granger's office didn't even do that. She had a staff of around 25 people but their office was closed and there didn't appear to be any constituent services available. She and her staff were drawing a salary even though they weren't going to do anything to help the people. 

What is worse is that the GOP appears to have been somewhat complicit with this. Granger has made some public appearances after her last vote in July, but it should have been obvious that she was no longer fit to serve. But if it hadn't been for a local news outlet in Texas the people would have never known. 

It really does seem like we need some kind of reform on this area. We should not have a permanent political class that continues to run the country even though they aren't capable of doing the job. Some of this is the fact that a lot of these folks are in safe red or blue areas. At least when Biden was shown to be senile, we could vote him out of office, but how do you get rid of someone like Kay Granger? Granger won her post with 64% of the vote. She wisely didn't run in 2024, but if she had? Would there be any way to get rid of her? 

Maybe we should have some basic cognitive test for elected officials?

This is getting crazy … https://t.co/raE6dAS1jm

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2024

Elon Musk suggests some kind of test and there are such tests available, like the MMSE and SAGE tests that can be used to detect senility and dementia. But right now there isn't a way to actually get candidates and serving officials to take them. Both Trump and Biden laughed off attempts to take these tests and though Trump at least can point to his public appearances to show that he isn't senile, Biden did not. But regardless, these tests aren't mandatory but perhaps they should be?

Another possibility is term limits. Kay Granger has been in the house for 27 years, since 1997. Now I do think that the term limits proposed are a bit too low, you should be able to stay for more than two terms, but do we really need folks in office for more than 20 years? There perhaps should be some kind of limit, combined with age. 

Either way, I think this is going to be a scandal for the Republicans and one that is just going to frustrate people on both sides of the political spectrum. For the Presidency at least, we should be getting someone younger when Trump leaves office in 2028. But what are we going to do with all these ancient folks in congress? Because I doubt Granger is the only one that has issues... 

Car ramming attack in Germany leaves dozens injured.

 

The aftermath of the attack in Magdeburg Germany. AP. 

A car ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg Germany has left at least one person dead and dozens wounded. AP. The driver was arrested by police and the police have confirmed that it was a deliberate act. Video was taken of the attack and showed the vehicle ramming into dozens of people before driving off. Christmas markets are a strong tradition in Germany, but this is not the first attack of its kind on one. In 2016 an Islamic State supporter killed 13 people in Berlin in a similar attack, and was later killed by police in a shootout in Italy. No motive for this attack has been released at this time. 

My Comment:

This is a breaking news story and, as always, the casualty figures could change. Other sources are saying 11 dead and 60 wounded but those are not universal and many bigger outlets are going with the 1 dead 50 wounded numbers. It's very possible that both numbers could be wrong, so keep that in mind. 

As for the attack itself, it really isn't surprising. Christmas markets are key targets for vehicle ramming attacks as they usually have little in the way of defenses and are target rich environment. You have a huge number of people all crowded together and they may not have the ability to escape. That's exactly what happened here, I saw the video that was posted on social media and those folks had little chance. 

It hasn't been confirmed that this was Islamic terrorism, but that would be my bet. ISIS has a long history of vehicle ramming attacks so it would be somewhat surprising if it wasn't them. It wouldn't be unprecedented of course, a similar attack on a Christmas parade here in Wisconsin, the Waukesha ramming attack was committed by a black nationalist racist. But for what it is worth, there are photos of the arrest on social media and it looks like it was a vaguely Arabic looking man, though who knows if that is accurate. 

If it is ISIS or other Islamic terrorism I would not be surprised. ISIS has made a bit of a comeback recently and controls territory in both Syria and Afghanistan. It would no be surprising if they funded or at least inspired this attack. And there is always the threat of the attacker being a lone wolf, the low complexity of the attack certainly suggests that. 

There should be questions asked of the local German officials as to why there didn't appear to be any defenses at this market. All it takes is a moveable concrete barrier to block of car lanes to prevent most of these attacks. I couldn't see any on the video of the attack or in the aftermath, but either they weren't present or they were placed in such a way that the attacker was able to evade them. Either way, this was mostly likely a preventable attack. 

Triple homicide suspect attempted to assassinate Nicholas Fuentes before being shot and killed by police.

 

Police tape near the scene of the crime. Chicago Tribune. 

Triple homicide suspect apparently tried to assassinate notorious America First leader Nicholas Fuentes before being shot and killed by police. Chicago Tribune. The man, John Lyons, was a suspect in a triple homicide against the Mason family in Mahomet Illinois. He then drove to Chicago to the home of Nicholas Fuentes, who had his address leaked online in the wake of his controversial "your body, my choice" statement in the wake of the election. The suspect knocked on the door but was unable to get inside to Fuentes, who had called the police during his stream. Lyons then fled into another home and shot and killed two dogs that were inside before getting into and losing a shootout with police. No police were harmed but Lyons was killed. The incident comes after Fuentes faced arrest after pepper spraying another person who had showed up and his house and comes after the high profile assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. 

The killer parked his car in front of my house and approached my door with his pistol drawn and what appears to be a crossbow. I was livestreaming at the time.

He rings the door bell, tries the doorknob and yells “yo Nick!” pic.twitter.com/5y1LF3Dv56

— Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) December 19, 2024

My Comment:

Very strange story out of Chicago. Normally I don't cover this kind of story but given I have talked about Fuentes before and I think this incident may speak to larger issues, I think it is worth covering. This is a breaking news story though, so much of this will be speculation. 

This may be the only time I feel any sympathy for Nicholas Fuentes. He's a notorious figure and I have been disgusted with him ever since he and Milo Yiannapolus ambushed Donald Trump while Trump was trying to help Kanye West during his mental breakdown. I always thought that was an attempt to damage the career of Donald Trump and though most folks saw it for what it was, I have never forgiven either man. Since then he's been getting into all kinds of trouble and more than a few people think he's on the payroll of the government due to not being charged with his role on January 6th. 

He's also kind of an idiot. He's gotten all kinds of personal scandals and has also trolled the world. Folks were not happy with him when he made his "your body my choice" statement after the election. He was doxed and some crazy lefty lady ended up showing up at his house and got maced and had her phone stolen for the trouble. He has a ton of enemies on all sides of the political spectrum and even if ignoring his politics, he's kind of a joke. He's a right wing Chris-Chan, a notorious internet figure.   

But he also almost got murdered. To his credit, he was smart enough to not open the door, perhaps learning a lesson from the lady he maced. Indeed, she might have indirectly saved his life as he might have opened the door if that hadn't happened. Regardless, had the killer managed to get close enough to Fuentes I have no doubt that he would have tried to kill him, and given the guy killed three people and two dogs, I think he would have succeeded. 

It's unclear what the motive of this crime was. We have very little information on the family he killed or why he targeted them. It's even possible that he wasn't actually involved, though I doubt that at this point. What we can say for sure is that he was targeting Fuentes directly. Fuentes posted video that showed him saying "Hey Nick" and trying to enter his home. That shows that this wasn't some kind of random crime, but a targeted attack. 

What do I think happened? Well, regardless of his motivation in killing the Mason family, I think after that he probably drew inspiration from the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The suspect in that case, who has gotten enough attention already to be named again here, is now a folk hero for some folks on the left. My guess is that Lyons was going for the same thing. He wanted to get the same adoration and press that the suspect in that case is getting now and since he was, at best, going to prison for a triple homicide he might as well. It might even have been a play for jury nullification, as enough people hate Fuentes that they could hang a jury on the triple homicide, as sad as it is to say. That is of course speculation, but I am guessing we will find out the truth as the media catches on to this story.

I do think that we are probably going to see more of this, regardless of the actual motive. There has been a large number of high profile assassination and assassination attempts on public figures, mostly on the right or at least enemies of the left, including this case, the Brian Thompson murder and the two attempts on Donald Trump's life. The intense media coverage of these cases appears to be causing copycats and it may overtake school shootings as the go too outlet for angry folks looking to get famous. 

I also think that folks that are media personalities like Fuentes are at a higher risk. Fuentes apparently has security (unless he's just trying to grift on that) but a lot of smaller folks don't have that luxury. And all it takes is one disturbed person to get an address or work location and something like this could happen again. 

As for Fuentes himself, I am sure he will exploit this for sympathy and money. To be fair to him, he has a case this time, he was absolutely almost just murdered. But it's still frustrating that he is going to milk this for all it is worth. I am glad that he wasn't killed, even idiots like him don't deserve to be murdered over politics, but I also wish he would take the hint and get out of the public space. He's not someone that I like at all and I hate that I am in a position where I have to kind of defend him a bit. 

Donald Trump sues Des Moines Register after Iowa polling disaster.

 

President-Elect Donald J. Trump. BBC/Getty.

Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register over a wildly inaccurate 2024 poll. BBC. Trump accused the pollster, J. Ann Selzer of "blatant election interference" for the poll that showed Kamala Harris with a 3 to 4 point lead in Iowa. All other polling Iowa showed Trump in a comfortable lead and he went on to carry the state by 13 points. Trump accused Selzer of intentionally skewing the poll results to damage his campaign and help prop up a faltering Harris campaign. Trump has been litigious lately, winning a settlement against ABC News, which falsely accused him of being found guilty of rape. 

My Comment:

I am not sure, but this seems like a fairly unprecedented development. As far as I know, nobody has sued for an outlier poll before. But this was hardly just any poll. It caused an absolute firestorm when it was released and it did indeed give some lifeblood to the Harris campaign. 

The question is if it was just a genuine mistake by the pollster, J. Ann Selzer, or if she did this with malice. There is an argument to be made for both, and I am sure both sides will be heard in court assuming the case isn't settled. 

Polling is a tricky business after all, they have very consistently had trouble polling for Trump supporters and that was just as true in 2024. It's very possible that Selzer just screwed up and was polling the absolute worst demographics for the election in Iowa. From what I have heard she did try to focus on college towns which could obviously skew the results. That alone could have been enough to get these crazy results. 

But it's also very possible that this was a push poll, done on purpose to try and help the Harris campaign. Supposedly the poll results were forwarded to some Democrats before the poll was released, which at least gives the appearance of corruption. 

What makes me think it was the 2nd option was that Selzer had a good reputation as a pollster until 2024. Indeed, her earlier polls in the cycle were a lot more accurate. And she had to know what the implications would be if she focused on the college towns instead of the more traditional rural areas of the state. And she also had to know the trends with the rest of the polling industry and the internal polls of both the Democrats and Republicans that showed Trump ahead in Iowa. In short, she's too good at her job to be this incompetent. 

Will Trump win his lawsuit? It's possible. The Des Moines Register might just want this to go away and they could settle like ABC News did. If Trump's claims are found to be true, which I think they will be, they probably stand to lose a lot more than they would if they just settled. And I think Trump is at least likely to win the court case as he would in a defamation claim against ABC News. 

Of course the real effect will be that folks will be scared to try and do this again. Folks in the polling industry now know that if a poll is farcical then they risk a lawsuit over it. This should help against this kind of thing happening again.

And to be clear, this did have an effect in the 2024 race. The Harris camp and the Democrats were in desperation territory before this poll came out. They were afraid that folks would just stay home and not even vote because there was no point. So this poll came out and gave them some kind of hope right when things were at their lowest and gave them a shot in the arm. It ended up not mattering, Harris lost in a landslide, but if this was a closer race like 2020 was then it could have turned the course of the election. I do think that if this was a case of a pollster lying than there absolutely should be a punishment for it. Our elections do depend on accurate polling to a degree and if this was a case of the pollster going above and beyond to try and swing the race than they should absolutely be punished for it. 

Prisoner filmed by CNN in Syria may actually be a war criminal...

 

The supposed prisoner (center). New York Post/CNN.

A prisoner filmed by CNN supposedly being released after being held by the Syrian regime may actually be a war criminal. New York Post. The footage, which showed CNN reporter Clarissa Ward leading a prisoner out of jail for the first time in three months, went viral last week, with few questioning it. However, a fact checker claimed that the prisoner, named Adel Ghurbal in the video, was actually 1st Lieutenant Salama Mohammad Salama, a member of Syria's Air Force Intelligence service. Local residents claimed that he had killed civilians during the war in Homs and used his position to extort civilians as well. The civilians say he was locked up for not sharing his ill-gotten gains with his superiors and was not a political prisoner at all. The fact checkers also allege he was there for less than a month and was not held in as bad of conditions as he claimed. CNN says they are investigating the matter. 

My Comment:

Strange story out of the Syria conflict and one that makes CNN look like fools. They apparently didn't do any vetting of this situation before they actually released the video and now it looks like they were victims of a scam job. 

Was Lieutenant Salama in prison? Sure looks like it. But that's about all about his story that seems verified. If the reports of his identity are true, it's possible the whole thing was an intelligence or propaganda operation. Indeed, it might have been the Jihadists who took over Syria trying to make the Syrian regime look worse than it is by portraying them as a regime that holds innocent people in the dark for three months. That isn't to say that the Assad regime wasn't brutal, but it does seem to be demonization on the part of the rebels to try and justify their rebellion. 

It does seem like this guy, if the fact check is true, was a pretty huge scumbag. He abused his position of power t exploit and harm civilians and even commit war crimes. He was a victim of the regime only in that he made the wrong superior angry and got what he honestly deserved. He's someone that should be locked up, assuming the fact check is right.

Either way, CNN screwed up here, and badly. They absolutely should have vetted the footage and made sure that man was who he said he was. Indeed, this almost seems like the reporters in this case were almost painfully naive, assuming they weren't in on the scam. The whole point of journalism is asking questions but none of the people involved in this story thought to ask if a man that was in prison was actually a good guy?

And it's not like there weren't signs. In retrospect something was obviously up when the guy was supposedly held in the dark for three months was able to see just fine when he walked out side. He looked like he was in good health and had no visible signs of torture or even distress. But CNN just repeated his claims like they were the gospel. 

It's another example of how modern journalism is a joke. I took locals working on the ground to debunk this story and they sound like real journalists, compared to CNN that bought this hook line and sinker, assuming they didn't play a part in setting it up. It's just another example of journalism in general and CNN in particular not having good journalistic standards. 

The Pentagon says the drones flying over New Jersey aren't from Iran, but where are they from?

 

A screengrab showing one of the drones. ABC News.

The Pentagon does not know where a group of drones that have been flying over New Jersey are from but shot down the idea that they were from Iran. ABC News. The drones have been sighted over south and central New Jersey and have even been seen over military bases. Congressman Jeff Van Drew said that sources had told him that the drones were being launched from an Iranian ship at sea in the Atlantic but the Pentagon shot down this theory. Local officials have been upset at the lack of transparency over the drones. The Pentagon also says that the drones are not hobbyist drones or anything from the United States military.  Officials are demanding more transparency and some kind of response to the drone incursions. 

My Comment:

I have been following this story for awhile now it it's frankly disturbing and follows a rash of these kinds of counters at military bases around the world. And the Pentagon doesn't seem to have a clue as to what they are. 

I do think that the majority of sightings are not civilian drones. A few might be, I am sure there are few pranksters that are trying to get in on the action, but the ones that are the size of cars are too big and show capabilities that most commercial drones don't have. These drones are able to fly for hours and are simply too big to be civilian in nature. 

The idea that it could be Iran is plausible, though I think if that was the case we would know it for sure. Plus, Iran does have sophisticated drones, but they are mostly kamikaze stile drones used in strikes, not these kind of drones that loiter in an area for hours. Plus, a "mothership" in the Atlantic would be fairly easy to detect and intercept. 

Russia and China are the other main suspect if the objects are indeed terrestrial. Both have sophisticated drone operations and could have a "mothership", most likely a submarine, in the Atlantic ocean. And they certainly have a motivation to spy on the United States. And after the spy balloon debacle, we absolutely know China is willing to violate our airspace. I would say that China is the most likely suspect. 

It's also possible, perhaps even probable, that these are drones operated by the US government. The government could be lying about it, or it could be an example of the left hand of the government not knowing what the right hand is doing. What makes me think this isn't the case though is if this was some kind of test of new drone systems it wouldn't be happening in the populated area on the East Coast. It would be at Area 51 or some other remote and secret base. 

The final possibility is the most fantastic and thus most unlikely. But we shouldn't discount it either. It's possible that these are UAP's, not drones. Certainly there have been enough unknown encounters out there that it's possible that this is one as well. I tend to disregard it in this situation as the UAP videos that have been released show a lot more impressive capabilities than these drones have and they do not seem to be technology beyond what is available on Earth. But it's not outside the realm of possibility that these are indeed UAP's. 

Regardless, the response to this has been pretty abysmal. We shouldn't allow these drones to be operated over our territory as allowing it shows weakness. It wouldn't be too difficult to destroy one of these drones and recover the wreckage. Not only would that send a clear message to whoever is operating these drones, it would also solve the mystery. It's only for the weakness of our current government that this hasn't happened already. 

Israel launches major airstrikes against Syria and has occupied part of the country.

 

Israeli tanks near the Golan Heights. AP.

Israel has launched major airstrikes at military targets in Syria after the fall of Basha al-Assad and has occupied parts of the country. AP. Israel said they are creating a "buffer zone" between Syria and Israel. They have also launched hundreds of air strikes, destroying military stockpiles, anti-air weapons, airfields and military factories. They have also completely destroyed Syria's Navy. Israel's advances into Syria have caused concern as they are only 25 miles from the capital of Damascus itself. The new transitional government of Syria, led by the former al-Qaeda affiliate HTS, formally known as al-Nusra, has not commented on the attacks and occupation. 

My Comment:

Israel's goals here appear similar to Russia's goals in Ukraine. They are determined that Syria will never be a threat to them again and working to demilitarize the entire country. Israel appears to be attempting to destroy Syria's ability to launch a war against them and they are taking territory, which they will probably not ever give back, so that they have an even larger buffer zone between them and Syria. 

This is not a surprise at all. Israel has long launched strikes in Syria and the Golan Heights is former Syrian territory. This was always going to happen and I doubt Syria will be the only one to do so. Both Turkey and the United States have de facto power over large swaths of Syrian territory and I am guessing that both will also expand their actions in Syria in their own interests. In our case it will be controlling the economy of Syria while targeting ISIS while Turkey will be targeting the Kurds. 

What is surprising is how HTS isn't doing a thing about it. Not that there is much they can do, they do not really have control over the Syrian military and their anti-air defenses were in shambles even before HTS took over. But you would think they would at least make a formal protest or maybe send some troops to at least keep an eye on the Israeli units in their territory. 

Instead, as far as I can tell, they have done less than nothing. That is going to raise concerns to conspiracy minded people that may think that Israel may have had something to do with the success of the Jihadis. I don't know if I would go that far but it is clear that neither side is really trying to pick a fight with each other. 

Israel is probably the biggest winner after Turkey in the collapse of the Assad regime. Syria was semi-hostile to Israel and was allies with both Iran and Hezbollah, but now they are gone. Hezbollah will now lose their land supply route through Syria which is hugely damaging to them and a big win for Israel. It's also a major loss of face for Iran as well. 

But I think it may very well backfire on them. HTS are obvious extremists and after they are done consolidating power they will likely revert to their terrorist ways. And ISIS too has a chance of regrouping in the country as well. If either side wants to they should be able to threaten Israel with state level resources, despite the fact that their country has now been largely demilitarized. They have a religious state next to them that calls for their destruction, and who could be a much more immediate threat than Iran ever was...

Daniel Penny found not guilty for the death of Jordan Neely.

 

Daniel Penny in court. New York Post. 

Daniel Penny was found not guilty in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was threatening people on the subway in New York. New York Post. Prosecutors had dropped manslaughter charges against Neely during deliberations but Penny was acquitted on the less serious charge of negligent homicide. During the trial the defense portrayed Penny as a hero that was protecting his fellow subway passengers and argued that the death of Neely was due to drugs, genetic problems and over-exertion, not the "chokehold" that Penny placed him in. Prosecutors argued that Penny went beyond self defense during the "chokehold". Many people believe that the charges were politically motivated. 

My Comment:

It was beyond absurd that this case was charged in the first place Daniel Penny did nothing wrong and Jordan Neely was acting like a menace. Once Neely threatened to kill the other people on that subway car, Penny was more than justified to take him down until police arrived. 

And I am not entirely convinced that he caused Neely's death in the first place. Neely was on drugs and had some medical problems and could have easily died from over exertion. I am guessing being placed in a restraint didn't help things, but ultimately his death wasn't predictable. I am guessing that a healthy person put into the same hold would have been, if not fine, still alive. 

Penny did what people are supposed to do when someone acts like a threat. The message this case sent is that folks should do nothing when a man goes nuts and threatens to kill folks. And if he had done nothing than perhaps someone else would be dead. Would he have been charged if he had stopped someone after Neely attacked someone, which he was known to do?

I think he would have been. Because this wasn't a case brought because Penny did the wrong thing. It was brought because he was a white male. If the races had been reversed would it have been charged? Absolutely not. But because a white guy killed a black criminal it's a huge deal. It's racism, plain and simple. 

Of course if Neely had been in jail or prison like he belonged then he would likely still be alive. New York is famous for having a revolving door criminal justice system. Neely had a 43 arrest record and at least some of those case involved violence. He's exactly the kind of person that should have never been in public in the first place, he had already proven that he couldn't handle it. It didn't help that he was on drugs and was mentally ill as well. 

I will never understand why folks sympathize with people like Neely. Sure, I guess there is some tragedy involved, a sane country would have done something to prevent his actions long before he got onto that subway. But I just can't feel bad when someone like that dies. Had Penny gone above the bounds of self defense, then sure punish him, but that's not what happened in this case. But even then I wouldn't feel bad for him, he was a menace and he died because of his own actions. 

Hopefully there won't be any repercussions for this case. Already the usual suspects are making trouble, several Democratic politicians saying some incredibly irresponsible things and there is the threat of Black Lives Matter trying to make this a thing. But I doubt we will see the 2020 summer of love. Folks are absolutely sick and tired of both the street crime and the folks that try to exploit it for political reasons. At least I hope they have. 

Biden inexplicably offers aid to Syria despite it being taken over by former al-Qaeda affilate HTS

 

Joe Biden. CNBC/Reuters.

Joe Biden has said he will support and send aid to Syria and other Middle East countries after the fall of the Assad regime. CNBC. Biden vowed to help all Syrian groups to establish a new government, but warned that he would be watching the behavior of some of the groups involved in the fall of Assad. Humanitarian aid will also be sent, though it is not clear how much or what type. Biden also vowed to continue the fight against ISIS, which was having a resurgence even before the government fell. He also ordered a series of air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria. 

🚨 BREAKING: President Biden announces U.S. involvement in Syria rebellion, wants to directly help the people "seize" on the new opportunity by establishing a new regime.

Biden also hinted at sending aid to Syria.

"Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle… pic.twitter.com/CT0HQAVeJj

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 8, 2024

My Comment:

It's things like this that radicalized me. Sending aid to Syria after it was taken over by Jihadists? It's insane. We shouldn't be sending any money or aid at all to a government that will likely be led by HTS, which, as I keep pointing out, used to be an al-Qaeda affiliate and was al-Nusra, the 2nd worst terror group in Syria.  

Indeed, we have little interest in Syria other than preventing those folks from taking power in the first place. We have failed at that, we didn't do a thing to save the Syrian government and did everything in our power to actually ensure that it fell. Sending money to the folks that are by all accounts really bad people is a horrible idea. 

I don't trust Biden's words that he will be watching the HTS group. Biden's both a lame duck president and an empty suit. I also don't think he has all that much in the way of a problem with Syria being ruled by radical Sunni Muslim terrorists. He doesn't care at all about the various religious minorities that are at risk, like the Shite Muslims, Alawites, Christians, Druze and so on. 

Keep in mind that Biden is going to send money to Syria while the folks in North Carolina are still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Helene. We don't know how much money is going to be sent to Syria yet but every single cent would be better spent helping folks in America. The fact that the money is going to be given to folks that not only hate us, but stand a good chance of turning the country into a hub for terrorists is just a slap in the face.

The only good news is that Biden at least recognizes that ISIS is going to be a huge threat in Syria and is bombing them. The hope is that by doing so they won't be able to take a bunch of territory in the wake of the regime falling. But the problem is that they are already doing so and a few air strike aren't going to be enough. And we don't know how HTS and ISIS will interact, they have been historical enemies, but I think HTS will be too busy with trying to build a country to actually do anything about them. 

It's over. Bashar al-Assad flees Syria after jihadist rebels take Damascus.

 

Syrians in Damascus celebrate the fall of the Assad Regime. AP. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country after a shocking offensive came to the capital of Damascus. AP. Led by the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS), formerly al-Nusra, the 10 day offensive showed stunting success for the rebels and little resistance from the Syrian military. 10 days ago the offensive started and the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs all fell before the rebels entered Damascus itself. Assad is said to have fled the country to an undisclosed location. The country's Prime Minster, Mohammed Ghazi Jalali, said that he was ready to turn over the government to the rebels on a provisional basis and asked that Syrians not destroy government property. The defeat is a blow to the allies of Syria in the region, including Iran and Russia. Both countries and their proxies had bigger problems on their plate and were unable too offer much help to Assad as the rebels stormed the country. It is unclear what will happen to Syria or President Assad, though President Elect Donald Trump voiced skepticism of further involvement in Syria and called for peace in the Ukraine conflict. 

My Comment:

It's been an absolutely absurd 10 days in Syria. To think that most folks considered the war to be essentially over with the Syrian government and the remaining rebels in an essential state of peace. But it only took 10 days for HTS and their allies to take the Syrian Government. It's a very impressive accomplishment to be sure. But is it a good thing?

To be sure, Bashar al-Assad is not a nice man. Though I tend to think his worst crimes are either exaggerated or even made up out of whole cloth, he is still a pretty brutal dictator and he ruled with an iron fist. There is no questions that even before the war there was a reason why folks opposed him. And he didn't exactly use kid gloves on the rebels during the war.

But the folks that just took Syria? They are worse. Way worse. HTS has tried to rebrand themselves as a more secular group that is paying lip service to respecting Syria's many minorities, but they are literally al-Qaeda. Sure, they cut ties, but they remain al-Nusra front. If it hadn't been for ISIS they would have been the most brutal and horrible faction in Syria. And now they have control of much of the country. This does not bode well even if they turn out to not be as bad as ISIS was. At best they will be a new Taliban, a major regional problem, but hopefully not a international one. 

So why did the government fall? I am thinking the soldiers just lost the will to fight. They were so shocked by the Aleppo offensive that they were never able to recover. The panic spread not just to the regular soldiers but to the officers and generals as well. Had they made even a single stand at Aleppo, Hama or even Homs, things might have gone differently, but they didn't and that was all she wrote. 

Part of it must have been that they knew that nobody was coming to save them at this point. In the past they had help from thousands of Hezbollah fighters, Russian soldiers, Iran backed militias and even on occasions during their fights with ISIS, support from Turkey and the United States. But with Hezbollah decapitated in their war with Israel and Russia distracted with their war in Ukraine, they couldn't count on help getting their in time, and it absolutely did not. 

We shouldn't expect this to be the end of the war. The regime has fallen but Syria is still a mess of competing factions, ethnicities, religions and foreign influence. Indeed, this could end up being a new, even bloodier phase of the war as the fighting will come to areas that were formally peaceful, like the coast. 

It's even possible that the country of Syria could no longer exist with it breaking into separate states. Perhaps one for the Alawites on the coast, one of the rebels in the center, one for the Kurds in the North and whatever the hell is going to be the territory we have control of with 900 American soldiers stationed in Syria. It's simply too soon to tell at this point. 

I also expect other countries to take some of Syria's territory. Supposedly Israel made a move already, but I fully expect that Turkey will make a move against the Kurds. They hate the Kurds and there are Kurdish terror groups active in the North of Syria. There simply isn't anything left to protect the Kurds as there isn't really a sovereign state at the moment. I would be shocked if Turkey doesn't send some major forces in to Syria to take territory, de facto like they already have, or de jure. 

What does America get out of this mess? Nothing but headaches, though at least we won't be the ones dealing with the refugee crisis this will cause, though perhaps some will also head home. Like I said, we have 900 troops chilling out in the desert looking out for ISIS, which are also making a comeback now. Do we keep them there to counter ISIS? Are they even safe with HTS now apparently being in charge? Can we even pull them out safely? All questions to be asked in the coming days and weeks. 

My one hope is that we can somehow avoid the trap we have fallen into with regime change in Islamic countries. The government of Iraq was taken out and we were stuck there for years and then ISIS came and made war on the world. Libya was no better, and the less said about Afghanistan the better. My real fear is that both HTS and ISIS will end up being global terror threats and we will be drawn into yet another pointless war in the Middle East, as if there hasn't been enough of those already. Maybe I am wrong and things will somehow work out this time, but I don't think so. The folks celebrating the fall of Assad are fools...    

Assad regime reeling after Jihadist rebels take Hama, another major city.

 

A Syrian rebel covers his ears while an MLRS fires near Hama. Fox News/AFP.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad is reeling after jihadist rebels have taken the strategic city of Hama just days after the fall of Aleppo. Fox News. The shocking advance, led by the Jihadist group Hayat Tahir al-Sham (formally al-Nusra), has caught many people off guard and is one of the most significant of the long simmer civil war. HTS has captured large stockpiles of weapons and even aircraft from the regime and there are fears that they may have even captured stockpiles of chemical weapons. There is also a fear that the chaos could be exploited by the other major terror group in the region, ISIS, which has managed to take some territory in the desert near Homs and Deir ez Zor. So far the United States has remained neutral in the fight, with the 900 or so troops in Syria not participating in the battle. But Russia and Iraq-based and Iranian backed militias are helping the Syrian regime. 

My Comment:

I will admit that I wasn't paying close attention to the situation in Syria and that was a mistake given how quickly things have advanced. Just a few days ago the regime was in a very secure situation and there was very little threat. Now, Syria has lost one of their biggest cities, Aleppo, and now they have lost Hama too, without much of a fight. 

How did this happen? Supposedly HTS has been planning this attack for four years now so they were well prepared and have found good weapons. But the Syrian regime? I am guessing they were resting on their laurels. They were very obviously not prepared for the size of this success and have not put up much of a fight here. 

And failure compounds. The shocking loss of Aleppo made the regime forces even less motivated to fight. Losing Hama will hurt morale even worse. There is a real possibility that the regime military breaks entirely and collapses, which will through the entire country into chaos and could even cost the regime the war. The only major city between Hama and Damascus itself is Homs, and supposedly the HTS rebels are getting closer to Homs as I write this. 

There is also the possibility that HTS will be able to cut a large portion of the country off. If they continue south they could cut off the Tartus and Latakia governates. This would cut off the rest of Syria from the sea and make it dramatically more different to supply the rest of the country. 

Though it's very possible that the Syrian regime could collapse, I do think it's very possible they turn things around. My gut says that HTS has overextended themselves and such an advance isn't really sustainable. Syria's allies are going to be able to join the fight the longer time passes and it will restore some of the advantages Syria had during the rest of the war. 

The problem is that both of Syria's major allies, Russia and Iran, have their own problems. Russia does has forces to spare, but the Ukraine conflict is obviously a huge drain on resources. And Iran's proxies have faced major setbacks in their war with Israel. Hezbollah is in a very bad position with much of their leadership dead. The only force that I can say has nothing else going on are the Iraq based and Iran backed militias, which will at least give the Syrians some bodies to try and stem the tide.

Of course Syria is the war where everyone shows up so there are other countries that will have a say in what happens in Syria as well. The United States is supposedly neutral but I would say they are more sympathetic to the Jihadists, though their real concern is both ISIS and Russia. Israel's main concern is of course any Hezbollah or Iran backed militias which means they are de facto allied with HTS, even though there is no love lost there either. 

Turkey is the true wildcard and I wouldn't be surprised if this offensive is at least partially their doing. Chaos in Syria works in their advantage as they want the regime weakened or destroyed so they can go after the Kurds in the north. They are still concerned with Kurdish terror groups and want a free hand to destroy them. Or, more cynically, they just hate Kurds period. 

ISIS is another major player and they aren't allied to anyone. But they are using the chaos to take some territory again and that does not bode well. When ISIS had control of major parts of Syria they were able to use the taxes they made to fund attacks across the world. It's very possible if the HTS offensive continues to be effective that they could try and take over a major city. And if that happens? Nothing good happens. 

With all that being said it's pretty obvious what happens next. Either the regime finds its backbone and makes a stand on Homs, or it doesn't and the war comes to Damascus in the next month. If it does I expect the regime to begin a grinding offensive to take back what is lost. If it doesn't, then the whole country will fall into chaos we haven't seen in a long time in Syria... 

United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson killed in assassination in New York.

 

Surveillance photos of the assassin. AP. 

The CEO of United Healthcare, Brian Thompson, was assassinated by a gunman in New York City in a crime that has shocked the nation. AP. United Healthcare provides health insurance for 49 million Americans. Thompson generally kept a low profile but had a few moments of note, including an attempt to switch doctors to prevent illness instead of just treating it and a controversy about not covering certain emergency room visits. He was in New York for a meeting and lived in Minnesota. The gun man approached Thompson and shot him in the back. The suspect is still at large and the motive is unknown. 

My Comment:

There are two things that make this crime notable. The first is that the victim was a CEO at a huge health care company and that was always going to make it political. The murder may have absolutely nothing to do with that, we have no clue about the motive, but it's pretty rare that CEO millionaires get shot in the back on a city street in New York. 

But what is really getting people to talk about this is the fact that this looks like a professional, or at least well planned amateur, hit. The assassin used a suppressor and hid his face, making him hard to identify. And so far he has gotten away with it... 

⚠️ Graphic Video

United Healthcare CEO is assassinated in front of a hotel in Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/P3I0poQ4qZ

— National File (@NationalFile) December 5, 2024

So was this a professional hit? I have no idea. The video makes me question it. The first thing that happens after he fires his first shot is that his gun jams. And he takes a lot of time to recharge the pistol. Folks are speculating that this is because he used subsonic ammo, which is a lot quieter, but often causes issues with the pistol cycling. Regardless, I think a professional would have had his gun cleared a lot quicker than that. 

I also think that professional would not have shot someone right in front of a witness and would have been more likely to use a revolver instead of a suppressed pistol so he wouldn't leave a shell casing behind. 

Though I also don't think there are actually that many professional assassins out there. There are very few hitmen out there and the ones that are tend to be low level street thugs. There probably a few real ones out there but who would hire them to kill this CEO? 

Still, this does seem like someone that was very bound and determined to kill Brian Thompson. You don't buy a suppressed pistol for anything other than a planned attack. It is possible that this was a random crime, but that would be very surprising as you would think that the witness seen in the video would have been shot too, though perhaps the jammed weapon prevented that? Either way, this wasn't a spur of the moment attack. If Thompson was the target it would have required quite a bit of intelligence to pull off, how did the assassin know he was going to be there? 

So what could the motive possibly be? It's totally unclear at this point. Thompson was a public figure but barely and I don't think he is well known enough for him to be targeted by random crazies. It could have been revenge for a perceived or real wrong he committed against someone but who knows what that could be? It could even be a state level actor. Without more information everything is speculation.

What I do know is that every CEO in the country is probably considering private security. Thompson didn't have any though I don't know what a bodyguard or two would have been able to do in this case. But it does show that even the head of huge healthcare company can be assassinated fairly easily.  

South Korea's President briefly declares martial law...

 

Police guard the entrance to the National Assembly. BBC/Reuters. 

South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law in an early morning address before being overruled by Parliament. BBC. Yoon mentioned threats from North Korea and communists but it was clear that it was more due to his own domestic issues with his opposition party. The declaration was not popular with even members of his own party opposing the measure. Despite the presence of police and military, the opposition party was able to get into Parliament and vote down the measure, which President Yoon respected. Martial law has not been declared for 50 years. Yoon has been unpopular due to being a lame duck president and having several corruption scandals involving his wife. It is unclear what will happen next but Yoon is likely to be impeached. 

My Comment: 

Fairly shocking development out of South Korea. I had no idea that they could have what was essentially a failed coup. And have no doubt, this was a coup. There was no real reason for Yoon to call for martial law and whatever he was trying to do here has failed pretty miserably. 

North Korea had very little to do with this. Yoon is a lame duck and is extremely unpopular and has had several scandals. His party lost in a landslide during the last election which shows his people are tired of him. And he is very limited in what he can do. He was probably going to be impeached before this happened. And he absolutely is going to be now.  

This was probably a coup but it was a very poorly planned one. He should have made sure that the military was on board to actually do something against the members of parliament couldn't actually vote. Had he done so he could have shut the country down, but he did not and now he's probably going to be impeached and even imprisoned. 

Would the country be better off if he had succeeded? I am not sure. Yoon is on the right and the political left in South Korea is especially loony. They are very far to the left by Asian standards and I don't think they are good people. But that being said, there was nothing they were doing that justified a coup. And that would have meant that any regime that Yoon had come up with would have been considered illegitimate by almost everyone. 

I tend to see South Korea as being dysfunctional. This is not the first major scandal the country has had recently. There was the incident in 2016 with their first female president, Park Geun-hye, who was dominated by an actual cult. That incident brought down their government and caused a huge embarrassment for the country. 

And South Korea has some of the worst gender relations in the world and a horrible birthrate. South Korean men and women hate each other and that's not an exaggeration. Many women there are full of misandry and can't stand South Korean men and the feeling is more than mutual, many South Korean men see South Korean women as nothing more than feminist weirdos. Remember the 4b movement, where women in America were going to boycott sex? South Korea is where it came from, and unlike the folks here, they were actually serious about it. Both sides of the debate there deserve a lot of criticism, the level of hatred they have for each other about biological sex is almost beyond parody.

All of this added with the coup attempt appears to show that the country is not at all stable. Indeed, it's probably less stable than North Korea, there is no question who is in charge there. But in South Korea things are different. Though this situation is likely to be resolved peacefully, who knows what will happen next time? It's not a good sign for one of our largest trading partners and major ally in Asia... 

Biden administration sends another $725 million worth of weapons to Ukraine.

 

An Ukrainian serviceman mans an anti-drone system. Fox News/Getty.

The Biden Administration is sending another $725 million worth of weapons to Ukraine before the Trump Administration takes over. Fox News. The weapons will include anti-tank weapons, artillery, drones, HMARS rockets, and land mines, to be used the Kursk incursion. Trump has been skeptical of funding the war and vowed to end it, perhaps even before he enters office. Trump's VP had suggested Ukraine trade land to Russia in exchange for a DMZ, a proposal that Zelensky rejected. Ukraine has been attempting to join NATO in their own effort to end the war, an effort that is unlikely to succeed. 

My Comment:

Hopefully this is the last shipment of weapons that Biden is able to send. He is running out of time, he's got less than two months to continue his Ukraine policy before Trump takes over. But Biden seems determined to continue the war in Ukraine, a war that has already been lost. 

Most of these weapons are not really going to have much of an effect. Russia will continue to have their advantage in artillery and weapons like the HMARS system have not proven effective. That isn't to say that the Ukrainians don't need these weapons, their stocks are absolutely low. But nothing we are sending in this package will actually change the real problems with the Ukrainian military. 

Ukraine's biggest problem is they are running out of men. They have, so far, not drafted young men for demographic reasons. There simply isn't many young men in the country, they had a big fertility drop about 20 years ago, which means that generation of men is small. 

But they are also running out of the older men that have  born the brunt of this conflict. The average age of the soldiers in Ukraine is absurdly old, around 40, and that is probably getting worse, not better. Ukraine has been taking huge casualties and now many soldiers are deserting. A few new weapons won't fix these problems. 

What is surprising is the inclusion of land mines in this package. The left has long been against land mines, largely because they can cause injuries and death long after the war is over. But that is apparently not a problem anymore. Of course there are already probably millions of land mines being used by both sides in the war so adding a few more won't do much. But it's odd that the left isn't more upset by this. It's just another example of the left abandoning things they believe when it is politically expedient to do so. 

As for Ukraine itself, it's unclear what will happen there long term. Nobody really knows what Trump is going to do. But I don't think it's going to be the continuation of Biden's policy. Trump wants the war to end, and failing that, he wants America to stop spending money there. I think Trump views the Ukraine conflict a distraction from the domestic policy he wants to put into place. He is going to try and cut a deal between Ukraine and Russia and if Ukraine won't play ball he will cut them off. I do wonder what happens if Russia is the one that decides to be obstinate. Russia has little reason to end the war at this point and they are probably not going to agree to any deal that can be undone after Trump is out of office. 

Regardless though, the status quo won't remain. This will likely be the least weapons that Ukraine can expect from the United States anytime soon. They will still get weapons from other NATO countries but that's about it, unless Trump makes some kind of bizarre policy reversal. 

Finally, I do worry that Joe Biden will continue to do stupid things to try and sabotage the Trump administration. The use of long range missiles directly controlled by US satellites was an act of war against Russia and I worry that he will do something even worse. January 20th can't come soon enough. 

Joe Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden for gun and tax crimes, breaking promise to not do so.

 

File photo of Joe and Hunter Biden. AP.

Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden for gun and tax crimes, breaking his promise to not do so. AP. The pardon follows the younger Biden's conviction for lying on a federal background check for firearms, (form 4473) and a surprise plea deal for his tax crime charges for not reporting $1.4 million in income. Biden had said he would respect the jury's decision in the gun case but has now pardoned his son, despite claims as recent as last month saying he would not do so. In addition to the two convictions, the pardon covers any and all federal crimes committed by Hunter Biden between the years of 2014 and 2024. Biden said in the announcement that he felt that prosecution of his son was politically motivated. Hunter had pled guilty to both crimes but there was outrage after the gun charges would have been dropped under the terms of the "sweetheart" deal. 

BREAKING: Pres. Biden issues statement on his decision to issue a pardon for son Hunter Biden: "I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision." https://t.co/RLEvavZmg2 pic.twitter.com/3YPUUXmfWf

— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2024

Anyone who believed him when he said he wouldn't pardon Hunter Biden was a fool.

— Jeff H (@politicswarblog) December 2, 2024

My Comment:

This was obviously expected and the only way Joe Biden wasn't going to pardon his son is if he had a deal in place to have Donald Trump pardon him instead. That was a longshot but it was something that was considered.  Ultimately, it didn't happen because Biden did it before Trump even had the chance to do so. 

I am guessing that the sticking point for any such deal, if it was even discussed, was the scope of the pardon. Trump was likely to only pardon Hunter for the two crimes he was convicted of, the gun charge and the tax case. Biden's pardon was of a much larger scope and would cover any corruption Hunter Biden had during his Ukraine adventures. This pardon will pretty much cancel any attempt to punish Hunter Biden for his Ukraine corruption before they could even get started. 

Biden complained that the charges against Hunter were politically motivated and it's not the craziest thing he's ever said. Folks rarely get charged for lying on form 4473 and the tax charges would have been plead down. The charges were kind of unprecedented. 

But I also think that the charges were justified due to the fact that the "sweetheart deal" that was offered to Hunter Biden was also politically motivated. Hunter Biden would not have gotten that deal if it wasn't for who his father was, and it fell apart because there was real outrage that Biden was going to skate on charges that most folks would not have. 

People were also outraged that Hunter Biden had committed a gun crime while his father supported gun control. Sure, I personally have a lot of problems with the charge that Hunter Biden caught, form 4073 shouldn't exist and being a drug user shouldn't hurt your gun rights unless you are convicted. But for an anti-gun president to pardon a gun criminal? It's not a good look. 

Still, this was always going to happen. Everyone knew that Joe Biden was lying though his teeth when he said that he wouldn't pardon Hunter Biden. Indeed, it would have been shocking if he hadn't. Biden is many things, most of them are bad, but one of his rare virtues is his love for his family and there was no way he was going to send his only remaining son to prison. It was always a lie but at least it's an understandable one. Biden should and will be criticized for lying about this, but I can't really fault him for the pardon, it's what presidents do, and even I have to admit that his love for Hunter Biden, wastrel that he is, is genuine. 

Finally, there was some hope in the gun rights community that Hunter Biden would appeal his gun conviction. After NYSRPA v Bruen, form 4473 was on the bubble. There would have been a real chance of the law being overturned due to failing the standard set by Bruen. That was always probably a pipe dream, but that dream is dead for sure now... 

Syrian rebels breach the largest city in Syria, Aleppo, in a shocking offensive.

 

Syrian rebels outside of Aleppo. AP. 

Syrian rebels have launched a major offensive in Northern Syria and have managed to enter Aleppo, Syria's largest city. AP. Aleppo has remained peaceful since 2016 when the regime recaptured the city after a brutal fight. But this new attack swept through northern villages and has now entered the city facing limited resistance. Syrian forces did not put up much of a fight and some regime forces melted away under the pressure of the attack. The rebels are mostly from the Hayat Tahir al-Sham, HTS, which used to be known as al-Nusra Front. They are Islamic terrorists. The offensive comes as Syria's two major allies are distracted by wars of their own. Hezbollah and Israel were fighting before a 60 day cease fire was signed earlier this week and Russia has Ukraine to deal with as well. 

My Comment:

Disturbing news out of Syria. This attack comes from HTS, which was the notorious al-Nusra Front before they changed their name. Al-Nusra was one of the worst groups in the Syrian Civil War, only eclipsed by ISIS, and their reemergence as a major force in Syria is not a good thing. They were at one point al-Qaeda's proxy army in Syria, though given al-Qaeda's current irrelevance that's probably no longer the case. 

It's fairly shocking how quickly the Syrians are folding. I'm not sure why either. It's possible that the Syrian forces sent to Aleppo were lower quality and that they had no idea this attack was coming. The area was at peace since 2016 and there hadn't really been all that many indications that an attack was coming. Still, Syria has a hardened and professional army, to see them fold like this is not a good sign for them. 

Syria is in a difficult position too, their allies are distracted. Hezbollah was one of the biggest groups fighting for Syria but they obviously have their own problems. Though a cease-fire has been signed between Hezbollah and Israel, they are certainly not in any condition to help Syria right now given how much of their leadership is dead. I don't see them being much of a help in this current offensive. 

Russia, too, has their own problems as they are currently fighting a massive war in Ukraine. But unlike Hezbollah I think they will be able to spare some forces to help Syria. After all, they have a major navy base in Tartus and that means they have strategic concerns in the country. I do believe they are already launching airstrikes and I wouldn't be surprised if they send a limited deployment of troops and/or mercenaries to help fight HTS. 

Speaking of Russia, I would not be surprised that if this wasn't actually about them. Both the CIA and Turkey have an interest in overthrowing the Syrian regime and they don't particularly care if they have to fund and arm a terror group like HTS to do so. The naval base in Tartus is the CIA's goal as they have never liked the fact that Russia has a base in the Mediterranean. And any pressure they can put on Russia outside if Ukraine will possibly help Ukraine hang on a bit longer. 

What will happen next? Well, either the Syrian troops will gain a backbone (with help from the Russians) or HTS is going to capture Aleppo. If they do I expect it to be very bad for the people there. Al-Nusra was never as brutal as ISIS was but they aren't exactly nice people and I would expect some murders and killings if they take over the city... I do hope that the Syrians find a way to blunt this offensive and sooner rather than later... 

Donald Trump and the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, make a deal on illegal immigration.

 

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and President elect Donald Trump. Fox News/Getty.

Donald Trump and the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, have made a deal on illegal immigration. Fox News. Trump had threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Mexico on day one of his presidency, but he called Sheinbaum today. Both leaders praised each other in the call and said it was productive. Trump said that Mexico would stop the convoys from Central and South America and also said that they would work with Trump on the issue of illegal drug smuggling. Sheinbaum said that the call was productive and that Mexico had agreed to work with the Trump administration on security issues. 

En nuestra conversación con el presidente Trump, le expuse la estrategia integral que ha seguido México para atender el fenómeno migratorio, respetando los derechos humanos. Gracias a ello se atiende a las personas migrantes y a las caravanas previo a que lleguen a la frontera.…

— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) November 28, 2024

My Comment:

This outcome was extremely expected. Donald Trump had all the leverage when it came to Mexico. Mexico is far more dependent on us than we are on them and the 25% tariffs would have devastated them. And Trump still had the nuclear option, a tax on remittances. Mexico had little choice but to play ball with Donald Trump. 

The most important step here was ending the convoys coming into the country. There was a large one on its way to the United States composed of people that wanted to get into the country while Biden was still in office. Now those folks won't make it here and will be held in Mexico, where they will either be free to settle or turn back and go home. 

The war on drugs is going to be a longer term issue. Mexico is fairly corrupted by the cartels and that isn't likely to change under Sheinbaum. I don't see her as a strong president when it comes to fighting the cartels. But she can do more than what has been done recently on the issue and hopefully she will do so now. 

This also shows how Biden's immigration policy was a choice. All Biden had to do to end the convoys from Mexico was to make a threat and then a phone call and it would have ended. Millions of illegal immigrants would have never crossed the border and would have stayed in Mexico to be processed. But instead he just let them in and now it's going to be hard to send them out. 

As for Trump's relationship with Sheinbaum, I expect it to be a good one. Despite their differences in political affiliation, Trump is a fairly good diplomat and had a very good relationship with Mexico's former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is a political ally of Shienbaum. I expect them to be able to work together. 

The next step will be dealing with Canada. Trump and Trudeau get along well enough and we have a lot of leverage over Canada as well. Given that Trump has already gave the 25% tariff threat against Canada and closing the border would be a lot easier for them I expect that Trudeau will bend the knee as well. 

For those that care about illegal immigration, Trump has already justified their vote. Though stopping illegal immigration from Mexico won't solve the problem of the illegals already here it will stop new ones from arriving. That alone is a huge victory for anyone that cares about the issue.