Properly Subversive: Foggy Joe says the economy is doing super fine; nothing to see here, move along

Sherman R. Frederick/Properly Subversive

If Joe Biden goes out again on national TV to tell us how great he’s doing on the economy, networks ought to put a crawling disclaimer under the picture saying: “Viewer discretion advised … this broadcast may not be unsuitable for children under 13.”

I mean, really, folks? It takes a special kind denial to pretend all is well with the U.S. economy.

Food prices are through the roof. Eggs are – what? – 7 bucks a dozen? A good cheeseburger at a sit-down restaurant goes for about $20 and I don’t have to tell you the price of gasoline.

Fifteen minutes ago, mortgage rates were at 3%. Today, they’re double that and going up. God forbid Biden continues doing such a good job on the economy, because at this rate our kids will never be able to afford a house. 

And to punctuate these scary times, last week two regional banks failed. A couple more are in bank hospice at this writing.

The economy is most definitely not in good shape. 

And, to be honest, I’m not so sure the president himself isn’t one taco short of a combination plate. Remember the last time he went out to talk about his budget proposal, he mixed up “billions” with “trillions.” 

This was the only thing he had on his agenda that day. Job 2: Read one short speech on the budget. Yet, he makes a mistake like that and he doesn’t have the cognitive self-awareness to catch himself mid-speech. He simply finished reading the teleprompter as if he didn’t screw up the numbers royally, turned his back to the camera and baby-step shuffled off stage.

Performances like that, coupled with him handing pens to American flags and shaking hands with nobody, doesn’t give me a sense of confidence that he’s grasping big issues of the day. 

Am I too harsh on the old man? 

STANFORD MESS

You can protest, but you can’t obstruct. 

That’s the rule at Stanford. 

It’s a pretty good rule. 

But,  it was broken when the associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion shut down an invited speaker to the law school there. Some students now want the administrator fired for violating the school’s free speech rule.

Not sure I advocate that. But I must sound the alarm again: Free speech is under assault by the political left in America. 

Now is the time for all good people to resist.

J6 PROPAGANDA

We now have access to all the tapes on January 6. So, was it a deadly “insurrection” or Trump “tourists” meandering around the Capitol building?

It’s neither, of course. Something in the middle, I suspect. 

Here’s how you can know who to trust on this: Trust only the people willing to give you the most information. 

For example, when Nancy Pelosi tells you that you can’t see all the tapes of the “insurrection” that day, tell her, then, “I don’t believe you.” 

When the January 6 Committee tells you that you can’t see the transcripts from witnesses that allegedly  justified the committee’s conclusions, then tell them “I can’t believe you, either.”

I, for one, am sick and tired of being treated like a child when it comes to things like what really happened on Jan. 6. 

Stop the propaganda. Put up the information, or shut up.

CLIMATE KILLER

President Joe Biden announced last week that he will approve a huge oil-drilling project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope. I await communication from Marin’s congressional representative Jared Huffman condemning Biden for his  betrayal of Earth.

No word yet, but I’m sure the press release is coming right away because, you know, the climate is more important than politics, right?

ANTIFA, ANYONE?

I wonder what the two Antifa sympathizers who sit on the Novato Police Review Board think about their beloved group after the violence this month in Atlanta? In case you missed it, thirty-five Antifa “terrorists” were arrested in Atlanta for throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police. (Google it, boys and girls.)

All I am saying is that it is bad judgment for the Novato City Council to have appointed Antifa sympathizers to sit on a board that reviews the conduct of Novato’s finest. We can do better.

DNA DAMAGE? SERIOUSLY?

The latest battle cry in the reparations movement is the pseudo-scientific claim that descendants of people who fell victim to the “historical trauma” of the “TransAtlantic Slave ‘Trade’” are now damaged by “epigenetic (chemical) changes in the DNA.” 

Defective DNA? That’s the argument? What could go wrong?

ONE MORE THING

– After the most recent rain in Marin, hikers found this on top of Mt. Tam.

Thanks for reading Marin’s favorite (and most needed) newspaper. Until next week, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority.

(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)