Tues Blogcast: Not-just-Boy Scouts; Asian population collapse; Seinfeld

Summer Book Events!

This summer, I’ll be hosting some big events with top thriller authors including Jack Carr and Brad Thor. More info here: Featured Events | Douglas County Libraries (dcl.org)

Dates:

• Jack Carr: Friday, June 21
• Daniel Silva: Thursday, July 18
• Brad Thor: Wednesday, July 24

I'm not yet sure whether I'm hosting Daniel Silva. (But if you love thrillers you should go to all of them no matter who's hosting.) Should find out soon. Buy tickets for these events before they sell out!

Thanks very much to these authors, their publishers, and the Douglas County Public Libraries for asking me to participate. Truly one of the highlights of my year and of my job.

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Just One Thing: Follow-up on the Seinfeld commencement speech at Duke University

Jerry Seinfeld gave an insightful and funny commencement speech at Duke University over the weekend. There were laughs and great lines like, “these days we’re embarrassed of things we should be proud of, and proud of things we should be embarrassed about.” Something that falls ironically into that last category is the students who booed Seinfeld. Presumably because he’s Jewish and supports Israel in their war against murderous islamofascist barbarity. I bet the braindead boo-birds are proud of their little temper tantrum but it says more about them than about Seinfeld, and mostly what it says is “please don’t hire me.”

Here's just one recent example of kids probably proud of things they should be ashamed of: Columbia University student in handcuffs rips up diploma on commencement stage in act of protest (msn.com)

If you missed the video yesterday of Seinfeld's remarks:

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One More Thing: Kamala's F-bomb

In the video just below, you'll see Vice President Kamala Harris use the "f-word" in a conversation about opportunity. Much is being made of this moment with many on the right claiming (and based on her own reaction after saying it I suspect they might be correct) that it was a scripted moment intended to make her look "cool" and more relatable to young people.

I'm not a prude and I do my share of swearing but I have to say I don't love' the constant coarsening of speech. Joe Biden, upon Barack Obama's signing of Obamacare, called it a "big f**king deal" but he didn't know that a microphone was picking up his words. Donald Trump swears a lot, unsurprising for a thuggish New York real estate guy. But what I noticed more during the first Trump term was the incredible amount of swearing that showed up in newspapers and on cable television, often directly quoting people who swore in reaction to Trump but sometimes quoting Trump himself such as his comment about "s**thole countries." I mean, not that long ago, it was inconceivable that you'd see a headline like this from a major news outlet: Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as 'shithole' countries (nbcnews.com)

I also don't love that in much of today's popular music including that of megastar Taylor Swift swearing is not just more common than it used to be; it's frequent. Every Time Taylor Swift Says the F-Word in the Eras Tour (epicdope.com)

Again, I'm not a prude. In my prior career, swearing was half of our daily conversation. And a well-placed swear word can be quite effective, rhetorically. But if I overhear my kid swearing when, for example, playing a video game, it disappoints me because -- and maybe this is old-fashioned -- I still see frequent swearing as the sign of a mind, or at least a vocabulary, that isn't as developed or creative as it should be. And if you need to swear to impress people, either you have a very lowbrow audience or, more likely, you yourself are not very impressive. The latter of which certainly describes Kamala Harris.

The video below is the Harris f-bomb moment -- and it is NOT bleeped out so if you don't like hearing it, don't watch. And then a new Taylor Swift song...same warning

Hey Jen Psaki, we always knew you were a liar

Joe Biden checked his watch during the dignified return of dead US service members, killed because of Joe Biden's decision to rush a withdrawal from Afghanistan despite the opposition of his senior military (and other) advisors. Biden ripped for apparently looking at watch at troops' ceremony (nypost.com)

Jen Psaki, former Press Secretary for President Biden, has always been a skilled liar; after all, that's why she (and most other Press Secretaries for our last few presidents) were hired. And it's why she's a great fit for MSNBC. You probably have to go back to Dana Perino to find an honest Press Secretary. In her new book, "Say More", which is the opposite of what I wish from her, she lied by claiming that "the president looked at his watch only after the ceremony had ended" and asserted that claims that Biden looked at his watch during the ceremony, which he clearly did, were "misinformation." Now, liar Psaki is being forced to correct her book. This is now a mini-epidemic with the once-rising GOP star, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, having to correct her own book in which she claims that she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, which is not true. (And of course, she should have left out of the book her story of shooting a 14-month old dog because she thought it couldn't be trained to be a good hunting dog...even if the story is true.)

I would add that Biden actually checked his watch TWICE during that solemn ceremony at Dover Air Base. Here's one: Casualty Return Afghanistan | AP Newsroom

Psaki's new book falsely recounts Biden's watch check in ceremony for fallen soldiers (axios.com)

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Today's Guests

I saw an interesting piece in the Denver Post recently: Buyers have more homes to choose from after a surge in new listings (denverpost.com)

I've asked my friend and show partner Ed Prather to join us for a few minutes to update us on the macro view of the Denver Metro real estate market, especially with stubbornly high mortgage rates.

You know I recommend Ed if you're gonna sell a home in the area... Ed Prather

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Kathleen Deatheridge is National Executive Board Member for Scouting America. We'll discuss the rebranding of the Boy Scouts of America into Scouting America (effective next February) and how it's going so far regarding the participation of girls. I have lots of questions...

Boy Scouts of America | Prepared. For Life.™ (scouting.org)

Why the Boy Scouts of America is rebranding | AP News

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Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute.

We'll discuss the implications of the impending "population collapse" across much (or maybe all) of East Asia.

East Asia’s Coming Population Collapse | Foreign Affairs

Or, if there's a paywall with the prior link: East Asia’s Coming Population Collapse - Revista de Prensa (almendron.com)

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Other Stuff

Leland Vittert of News Nation had this in his great (free) "War Notes" email yesterday. It's very interesting if it's true...he says it's a quote from the Financial Times: “Fifty-two percent of university graduates said Biden better represented blue-collar interests, compared to just a third of non-college graduates.” This, of course is NOT what blue-collar Americans believe.

I encourage you to sign up for "War Notes" here: NewsNation Signup (newsnationnow.com)

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This is more than a little bit stupid: Meme stocks soar on Roaring Kitty's rumored return (axios.com)

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Excellent. Now let's see 100 more or 1000 more universities do this: UNC Chapel Hill Board Slashes DEI Funding, Diverts Money to Campus Police | National Review

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A tragic fall for America’s Mayor: WABC Owner On Rudy Giuliani: ‘It’s Pretty Hard To Bring Him Back.’ | Story | insideradio.com

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I have a lot of thoughts about this but my first is that I'm always skeptical of references to "the common good" because I don't think there is one beyond such things as clean air and not starting a nuclear war. When you get any more granular than that, what some people think is good others will find irrelevant or even bad/evil.

Minouche Shafik: Universities must engage in serious soul searching on protests | Office of the President (columbia.edu)

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Nothing is proven here but this deserves serious and intense investigation: Biden’s Compromised Iran Envoy Deserves More Congressional Investigation (msn.com)

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Great piece by Kevin Williamson over at The Dispatch (at a different link since some of you aren't Dispatch subscribers): There Are Two Sides to Every Debt (yahoo.com)

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Around 50 Red Lobster restaurants (about 8% of their total locations) were suddenly closed yesterday, including four in Colorado. The restaurant chain is auctioning off all of the fixtures and restaurant equipment at the locations, with one winner per location taking everything at that location.

Colorado locations are: Denver/Northfield, Lakewood, Lone Tree and Wheat Ridge

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I don't think this can really hurt Trump anymore but I'll mention one thing about the testimony of former Trump attorney/fixer Michael Cohen in the "hush money" trial. We expect Trump's legal team to shred Cohen in cross-examination and Trump supporters like Senator Tommy Tuberville (whose comments were moderately interesting and posted just below) noting that Michael Cohen is a "serial liar" and convicted felon who is "giving an acting scene." The problem is that Cohen was hired by Trump (as far as I can tell) not despite being a serial liar but because of it. Cohen's willingness to lie was a feature, not a bug, for a man who needed a henchmen with that skill set. But again I think voters are fairly numb to all this...much more numb than they are to the cost of groceries.

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Weird how statements like this one don't get nearly the press attention as things like "US Administration investigating whether Israel broke international law": White House sees no genocide in Gaza, condemns aid convoy attacks | Reuters

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It's kinda funny to see Joe Biden now being the one saying polls are wrong after Donald Trump famously (and with some basis given how essentially no poll showed him winning in 2016). But new polls are ugly (or, if you're Kamala or Taylor or even Joe, f**king ugly) for President Biden: Trump Leads in 5 Key States, as Young and Nonwhite Voters Express Discontent With Biden - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in 5 key battleground states: Polling (thehill.com)

Some Dems are claiming that Biden's position in polls is improving but that seemed to be a short-lived, and now gone, phenomenon. 2024 Arizona Election: Trump vs. Biden Polls | RealClearPolling

Of course, polls can be wrong because it's no easy thing to accurately model just who will turn out in any given election. For example, will young voters participate in 2024 the way they did for Biden in 2020? I have no idea. BUT, even the famously wrong Trump polls were wrong by a LOT less than people think and as we're now less than 6 months from the presidential election they start to take on more significance as indicators.

Biden’s polling denial: Why he doesn't believe he's behind (axios.com)

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Far-right moves against every form of abortion at any time are the gift that keeps on giving (to Democrats): Louisiana attempts to criminalize unprescribed possession of abortion pills (axios.com)

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Today's Videos

Ryan Gosling settles the question "What is the best sandwich?"

Trust but verify, especially when demonstrating a bungee jump takeoff