Pun Salad

Elon Musk living rent-free in the heads of woke media personages.

And Elon seems to enjoy it, as shown in one of his responses:

You elevate Tourette’s to poetry

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024

Brought (literally) home to me last night as I was channel-surfing and landed with a thunk on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. For about 20 seconds (all I could stand) I must have heard Rachel and her apparatchiks say "Musk" a half-dozen times.

Want more examples? Brittany Bernstein's got 'em: For Liberal Pundits, New Elon Musk 'Derangement Syndrome' Emerges.

(I got the Olbermann tweet and Musk's response from Brittany too.)

And that's my last "gifted" NR link of the year. Enjoy!

Also of note:

• Just a reminder from Sabine: Science Does Not Work By Consensus.

  Her lead-in:

  A group of philosophers and sociologists have come up with the idea to regularly poll scientists in order to establish and maintain a “scientific consensus.” While this might sound plausible, it’s a terrible idea. Here’s why.

  "A group of philosophers and sociologists…" Hm. Surely we can come up with a better word than "group"! You know, like a "gaggle of geese".

  Unfortunately, this Merriam-Webster article on collective nouns doesn't help.

  How about "a fallacy of philosophers and sociologists"?

• Could he be worse if he wasn't decaying? J.D. Tuccille makes an obvious libertarian point: A decaying Joe Biden underlines the need for a less powerful presidency.

  Observers of the American presidency warn with increasing frequency that the office of the country's chief executive has acquired power more befitting a monarchy than a republic with elected officials. But what if the person holding that office is a placeholder for aides who cocoon the president and who really make the decisions? That is, what if all that growing power is wielded by an unelected and relatively faceless circle of advisers? That brings us to the Biden administration which, in just one term, has powerfully reinforced the argument for making the presidency much less important.

  "Presidents always have gatekeepers," Annie Linskey, Rebecca Ballhaus, Emily Glazer, and Siobhan Hughes wrote last week for The Wall Street Journal. "But in Biden's case, the walls around him were higher and the controls greater, according to Democratic lawmakers, donors and aides who worked for Biden and other administrations. There were limits over who Biden spoke with, limits on what they said to him and limits around the sources of information he consumed."

  So there are clear problems with accountability; we don't know who's actually in charge, we don't know who to blame. (Or praise, but let's face it, these days it's mostly blame.)

  But beyond accountability, as J.D. goes on to explain, there are real problems with the sheer monarchical power of the Executive.

  And also the Federal Government generally, but you get the idea.

• Literally making a Federal Case out of it. Speaking of the general centralization of power, my CongressCritter is doing his bit:

  As we enter the height of the holiday gift-giving season, package theft remains a significant concern.
  
  That’s why I’m pushing to pass the Porch Pirates Act to increase penalties, deter theft, and help hold those responsible accountable.https://t.co/sT5m9Kmh2P

  — Rep. Chris Pappas (@RepChrisPappas) December 18, 2024

  Yes, he wants Uncle Stupid to go after porch pirates. What would James Madison say?

• What was the thought process here? Scott Johnson tries to find it in Biden’s jailbreak, death row edition.

  President Biden has commuted the death sentences of 37 federal death row prisoners. The White House has just posted Biden’s statement on the commutations here. The White House has also posted a “fact-sheet” on the commutations here.

  These are documents of sickening dishonesty. Biden purports to rest his commutations on opposition to the death penalty — “I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level” — but Biden leaves out the Boston bomber, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, and Dylan Roof.

  The fact-sheet exempts “cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder…” Good old garden variety mass murder is not too loving either, but c’est la vie, so to speak.

  Biden’s list includes at least five child killers and several mass murderers. Only a principled opposition to the death penalty could support the commutations, but Biden doesn’t go that far in his actions. The exceptions refute the stated principle of the commutations.

  I'd guess the choices were made on a publicity basis: "Let's still kill the guys people are likely to have heard of."

• Yeah, but that's nothing new. Rich Lowry points out Biden’s horrific commutations are a grotesque abuse of the US justice system.

  President Biden, or whoever is running the White House, has grotesquely abused the pardon power, yet again.

  Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 of the prisoners on federal death row in response to the lobbying of opponents of the death penalty, keeping intact his nearly unbroken record of bending to left-wing pressure groups while in office.

  Biden, or whoever is running the White House, put out a statement averring that the president has long been committed to “ensuring a fair and effective justice system.”

  Even if true, this is a non-sequitur, since there’s nothing to suggest the handling of these cases was unfair. 

  Fun fact from later in Rich's column: "On top of this, the Biden Justice Department just filed a death-penalty charge against the UnitedHealthCare CEO assassin, Luigi Mangione."

• I don't think of myself as a "Trump Hater". And I'm planning on enjoying Christmas just fine. Still, I was thinking maybe Eddie Scarry would have some good advice for me. And maybe you: How To Enjoy This Christmas If You’re A Trump Hater (Or If You Sadly Know One).

  First, take solace in the fact that Trump is term-limited, and this is the last time he can constitutionally serve as president of the United States, be the commander-in-chief, and hold more power than any one person on earth. It’s four years, but if you made it the first time, surely you can do it again. Sit back and let come what may. It’s easier this way.

  Next, consider that your family and loved ones still care for you, even if you didn’t see eye to eye about the election. Cutting them off would hurt you just as much as them. Elections unfortunately come with bragging rights, and your MAGA cousins and uncles deserve the same opportunities to don the red hats you might rather toss in a fire pit.

  Lastly, understand that the holiday isn’t about you and your misplaced emotional investment in politics. It’s about everything but that. Don’t be a narcissist. Join your family and friends, give them a hug, and wish them a Merry Christmas. I promise you’ll feel better and so will everyone else, all through the house.

  That last bit of advice could have been better worded: "Try to be less of a narcissist than Trump is."