Mandate Madness

As we reported yesterday, OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, announced it has suspended enforcement of Joe Biden's vaccine mandate pending the outcome of further legal challenges. 

OSHA's retreat came in the wake of a blistering opinion and nationwide injunction issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Now here's an update on the status of the pending legal challenges.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati, Ohio, was selected at random to hear arguments that consolidate dozens of legal challenges from around the country. (It was literally like a Bingo or lottery drawing with ping pong balls in a drum.) 

From a constitutional, limited government perspective, that's good news. Nearly 70% of the judges on the court are Republican appointees. Donald Trump appointed more than a third of them. So, the odds are good that the three-judge panel hearing the case will be a 2-to-1 or perhaps even a 3-to-0 conservative majority. 

But there are no guarantees. The selection of judges is also random. It's possible, although statistically unlikely, that the panel could be three of the court's five liberal judges. Regardless of the outcome in the Sixth Circuit, the Supreme Court is expected to make the final decision.

While Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are too clueless to appreciate it, the nationwide injunction ordered by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last week blocking the vaccine mandate is actually a "parachute" for them. They were headed toward a cliff and they were prepared to take the country right over it. 

If the courts had not stepped in quickly, we were about to have huge shortages of truck drivers, warehouse workers, etc. In short, everything the Biden gang has messed up in the supply chain crisis would have been put on steroids.  

By the way, that crisis has been getting worse, not better, since Biden announced his big "fix" four weeks ago.

While they are probably scheming to come up with another "ultimate work-around," as Biden's chief of staff put it, they ought to be happy that they just dodged a huge disaster.

How Low Can He Go?

If Joe Biden was doing the limbo, where you have to go lower and lower to win, he'd be winning hands down. Unfortunately, for him, he's competing in American politics where low is bad, and his approval rating just hit a new low of 36% in the latest Quinnipiac poll. 

The poll also found major dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and the state of the economy. For example:

• 74% of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the nation.
• Only 16% believe the economy is improving, while 61% say it's getting worse.
• 68% say skyrocketing inflation is changing their spending habits.
• 53% say they're finding empty shelves at the grocery store.
• 52% say the Democrat Party has moved "too far left."
• Looking ahead to 2022, Americans prefer GOP control of the House by eight points and GOP control of the Senate by six points. Self-identified Independents backed the GOP by 10 points.

As we noted yesterday, there are rumors that Biden may be getting ready to dump Kamala Harris as vice president. Some speculate he might replace her with Michelle Obama. 

One recent survey found that the former first lady would trounce the current vice president if they ran against each other in 2024. In fact, Harris barely beat out "someone else" and "not sure." 

Many conservatives suspect that Barack Obama may actually be calling the shots now in the Biden Administration. If Michelle Obama replaced Harris, it would be clear that we are in Obama's third term. 

The Real Threat

The left-wing media and the incompetent prosecutor in Kenosha have tried to portray Kyle Rittenhouse as some kind of unhinged vigilante. They insist he is a vigilante who went to Kenosha to take the law into his own hands and kill BLM protesters. That's completely false. 

Kyle Rittenhouse never aimed his gun at anyone until his life was threatened on the streets by rioting thugs and was forced to defend himself. 

The irony is that there is vigilantism going on right now within feet of the courthouse in Kenosha. There are leftist demonstrators outside making vigilante threats, "Either we get the verdict we want or we're going to burn Kenosha down."

That crowd of vigilantes is attempting to intimidate the jury, and no one is calling them out. Where is Governor Tony Evers? Why isn't Joe Biden telling the mob to back off and let the legal system do its job? Well, he can't do that because he's already "jumped to conclusions" in the case, slandering Rittenhouse as a "white supremacist."

The threat to our Republic is not young men like Kyle Rittenhouse. The real threat to our Republic is the left-wing vigilantes outside the courthouse in Kenosha and those who took to the streets last summer who have the seal of approval of some of the most powerful forces in America.

The "vigilantes" also include employees of Big Media who are left-wing ideological foot soldiers in the war for America. They are not restrained by the standards of journalism. They are leftists who see their job as advancing the Marxist/leftist cause at all costs. They are as dedicated as any state-owned propaganda outlet in communist China, Cuba or Venezuela.

The judge in the Rittenhouse trial today kicked MSNBC reporters out of his courtroom after one of their producers was arrested yesterday by Kenosha police. The producer is accused of following a bus transporting the jurors and attempting to take their pictures. 

Given the obnoxious bias of MSNBC in this case, that's a clear example of jury tampering in my view.

Boebert Goes Beast Mode

Yesterday, House Democrats formally censured Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona for posting a cartoon of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being attacked with a sword. I'm not going to defend the cartoon. But while most Americans would appreciate more civility in politics, Democrats went overboard by stripping Gosar of his committee posts. 

During the intense debate on the censure resolution, many Republicans warned that Democrats are driven only by partisanship since Gosar isn't the first Republican they have stripped of their committee assignments. 

Rep. Lauren Boebert listed several Democrats who have not been punished but could easily be punished by a future GOP majority for their offenses. 

She referred to "Jihad Squad" member Ilhan Omar, who has made numerous anti-Semitic statements. She called out "Mad Maxine" Waters for her repeated incitement to mob violence. And Boebert also reminded the American people that a Democrat member of the House Intelligence Committee "slept with Fang Fang, a Chinese spy." 

And, yes, Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed Rep. Eric Swalwell to stay on the Intelligence Committee. Not very intelligent if you ask me.

Are The Carolinas Sending A Message?

Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) announced that he is retiring next year. He's the 15th House Democrat to take a pass on reelection. First elected in 2004, Butterfield blamed congressional redistricting for his decision to retire. His new seat still has a Democrat lean to it, but it's more of a toss-up district now.

Meanwhile, the voters of Columbia, South Carolina, just elected a Republican mayor.  There aren't many liberal strongholds in South Carolina, but Columbia is one of them.  It's worth noting that Joe Biden carried Richland County, where Columbia is located, by 38 points over Donald Trump. And the last time Columbia elected a Republican mayor was 1986 – 35 years ago!