Embassy In a What?

You can’t get an embassy in a box unless you push *real hard.* https://t.co/m7RIcMsYyV

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) April 26, 2024

I appreciate the sentiment behind this ill-named bill, but really, there is no 'there' there. 

We'd all like to see new diplomatic presences spring up overnight in all those little Pacific islands. How else could we counter the malign influences of what I like to call the ChiComs? 

But a serious legislative initiative requires some substance, and this bill is all wishful thinking.

From the bill's text:
 

    The Embassy in a Box Act:

Requires the State Department to develop an “embassy in a box concept” that provides expedited procedures and physical resources needed to stand up new diplomatic missions overseas.

Requires the secretary of State to issue guidance so the Department can build new embassies more quickly and save taxpayer dollars.

So then, the bill requires the SecState to figure out what the hell Senator Risch means by an "Embassy in a Box" and then use a magic wand to dispel all the realities of limited resources and even more limited physical infrastructure on those tiny islands that the bill describes as "austere locations."

Apparently, the catchphrase "Embassy in a Box" is supposed to bridge the gap between our wish and our reality.  

From my own simple point of view, I'd rather focus on creating a "Box In an Embassy" on the assumption that our staffers may need a safe place to ride out any local Tong Wars. This kind of thing, for example.

Good luck, Senator, but I think this is the kind of bill that doesn't survive contact with reality. 

Miss Dismal Is Back And This Time It's a Grudge Match

Mis-Dis-Mal is back to fight again, which itself "represents a tacit admission that the informal networks formed at major universities and research organizations" (and especially at Homeland Security, the NYT omits) to police speech lost the political battle last year. https://t.co/WZiSm9KXiH

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) April 26, 2024

She's fighting a battle for nothing less than Democracy and Freedom, provided, of course, that you think those things require some kind of authority to pre-clear the news and opinion you see. 

This time she's going private sector, and why not? Her government gig at the Disinformation Governance Board was such a fiasco its charter was rescinded after only three weeks, which must be a record for Federal government reaction time. The Biden Administration couldn't drop that bad idea fast enough.

Well, now it sounds like Miss Dismal is looking for revenge on all the scoffers who laughed her out of town. And what better time to do that than during an election year? 

I hope she's bringing her best Mary Poppins voice because it will be a tough slog all the way to November.   

C'mon Man!©, Pay Attention Or Don't Use a 'Prompter

Or else, just pause your whole campaign and let Gavin Newsom play in the big game.

Every Nacht is Kristallnacht at Columbia University

It’s Kristallnacht on Kampus as Mayor Adams blames mysterious outside agitators. https://t.co/vhjb7WVdU5

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) April 23, 2024

On the one hand, it is staggering to see this sort of open and raw antisemitism in the U.S. (and UK, Australia, Canada, etc.).

On the other hand, the more the population of the U.S. resembles, say, the General Assembly of the UN, the more it will exhibit the common attitudes of the General Assembly toward Israel, not to mention toward the U.S. in particular and Western civilization at large. 

BTW, while not every criticism of Israel can be regarded as antisemitism, what we see today on Columbia and many other locations meets the definition.    

    

Secret Service Agent on Veep Detail Snaps "Entirely"

When an on-duty Secret Service agent acts out a bundle of bizarre behaviors, escalating to the point that she assaults her shift leader and needs to be wrestled to the ground, physically restrained, and disarmed, well, that requires serious oversight by the administration and by Congress. 

In fact, if yesterday's incident fails to bring on an oversight hearing, that would be something even more bizarre than the behavior of Special Agent Herczeg. 

This news story names names and brings the incident back to a question of Secret Service hiring policies, Secret Service Scuffle Prompts DEI, Vetting Scrutiny:

Herczeg also screamed at the special agent in charge (SAIC), rattling off the names of female officers on the vice president’s detail and claiming they would show up and help her and allow her to continue working. At that point, other agents on the scene believed Herczeg was suffering from a mental lapse, and the superior officer, SAIC, approached her to tell her she was relieved from the assignment.

“That’s when she snapped entirely,” one source recounted.

Appparently, she hadn't snapped entirely until the other agents at the scene needed to remove her pistol and handcuff her.

We can only hope Special Agent Herczeg gets the mental health treatment she needs. And it wouldn't hurt at all if the Secret Service itself were given some shock therapy.   

Fun, Fun, Fun, 'til Their Daddy Takes Their T-Bird Away

"NPR gives a masterclass on how not to do damage control" (@TheHillOpinion) https://t.co/zUTkJPdLwH

— The Hill (@thehill) April 22, 2024

There are lots of choice phrases in that opinion piece:

"when you depend upon an act of Congress to help keep the lights on ... NPR, whose response to Berliner is a lot like its reporting: one-sided, tone-deaf, ill-advised and insanely self-important ... the breathy staccato ubiquitous in its on-air programming"

And the author winds up with this bottom-line proposition: 

"[NPR] is free to believe that it’s a balanced and even-handed news organization. But it is not entitled to taxpayer support. Is it really too much to ask that NPR indulge in its delusions on its own dime? It’s a fair proposition." 

Fair indeed.

BTW, that taxpayer support runs to $525 million in FY24 from the federal government alone. Every other media entity in the country manages to keep its lights on without putting its hand in the taxpayer's pocket. How much longer must we pay for breathy staccato tone-deaf self-importance?

 

We Don't Need No Thought Control (Hey! NPR! Leave That News Alone!)

Bill Maher Issues Wake-Up Call to All Democrats Who Think the NPR Story Is Not a Big Deal

"NPR is to them [Republicans] what this country would be if it was a permanent democratic governorship."

"Of the 87 people working in editorial positions there, 87 are Democrats. Even if… pic.twitter.com/6GbSwqMLA0

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) April 20, 2024

Do we, kids? Hell no! Just another brick in the wall.