Top O' the Briefing
Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Korchunyn took great delight in the cultural appropriation of the festive glory surrounding the bocce ball.
As proof of just how weird this year is going to be, we're heading into the first weekend of 2024 seeing me do something I almost never do: softening my opinion of a Republican politician I never really liked before.
For most of the DonkeyManureClownCar Republican primary debate season, I've found tech bro (h/t VodkaPundit) Vivek Ramaswamy to be a tedious nit who adds nothing to any of the national conversations that we should be having. He has scored a couple of scripted blows against Nikki Haley, but high fiving that is like giving someone a participation trophy for flossing one day in a row.
I have, I will admit, been harshly judgmental of any Republican voter and/or conservative pundit who has experienced a "YAY, VIVEK!" moment.
Until now.
Vivek Ramaswamy has no bona fides as a conservative, or anything else, for that matter. He thought he was a libertarian for a while, then he just did a peace out on voting for a long time, and now he's a Republican. His hot takes aren't rooted in ideology; they tend to seem like something he cobbled together after hours of scrolling social media.
Back to the scripted thing. Whenever he delivers what he thinks is a zinger in a debate it's obvious that he's workshopped it with his staff during prep. The only genuine moments I've seen from him are when he is lambasting the Democrats' flying monkeys in the mainstream media for their egregious bias.
Matt has written a couple of times this week about Vivek's latest knockout blow to a biased MSM simpleton. This is from his first post about this story:
On Wednesday, Vivek Ramaswamy absolutely destroyed a Washington Post reporter who thought she was asking a gotcha question by asking him to condemn white supremacy.
"I'm not — I'm not going to recite some catechism for you,” Ramaswamy told her. "I'm against vicious racial discrimination in this country. So I'm not pledging allegiance to your new religion of modern wokeism which absolutely fits the test."
"I'm not going to bend the knee to your religion. I'm sorry, I'm not asking you to bend the knee to mine, and I'm not going to bend the knee to yours. But do I condemn vicious racial discrimination? Yes, I do. Am I going to play your silly game of ‘Gotcha'? No, I'm not. And frankly, this is why people have lost trust [in the media]."
Ramaswamy continued, "And I know you’re going to go print the headline tomorrow. I already know this; we already know how your game works. 'Vivek Ramaswamy Refuses to Condemn Racism,' because you asked a stupid question. The reality is, I condemn vicious racial discrimination in this country, but the kind of vicious and systematic racism we see today is discrimination on the basis of race in a very different direction."
Matt's follow-up post is about the fact that the WaPo hack did pretty much what Ramaswamy said she would.
The pro-Democrat bias in the MSM is waning in the information age, to be sure. It's still far stronger than it should be for one reason: Republican politicians are too timid to push back on it. For every one Marjorie Taylor Greene on Capitol Hill, there are 10 Mitt Romneys sucking up to The New York Times.
Related: Can Ron DeSantis Teach Media Relations to Weak Republicans?
Vivek Ramaswamy's casual ease with curb-stomping idiotic questions from the Dem cheerleading squad is a breath of fresh air relief from the stench of the roll over and play dead Republicans in Washington. I would once more remind you, dear readers, that I haven't had a nice thing to write about this guy until now.
I grew up in Barry Goldwater's Arizona. He had preternatural gifts when it came to telling reporters that they were idiots. So did Ronald Reagan, albeit in a much nicer fashion than Goldwater. Newt Gingrich is brilliant at rejecting a premise. Donald Trump is good at swatting away MSM lunacy.
There have been a few others but, for the most part, the GOP is on an intravenous drip of milquetoast. Most Beltway Republicans are so terrified of having The New York Times say something bad about them that they eagerly slobber all over the kinds of "Gotcha!" questions that Ramaswamy told the WaPo hack to flush down the toilet.
The fact that Ramaswamy said that the question was "stupid" is what caught my attention. That is exactly how Republicans — no matter how new they are to the party — should deal with these things. The Coastal Media Bubble Democratic advocates truly believe that they're intellectually superior to their audience. In reality, most of them need detailed instructions for the removal of sweatpants.
Republican politicians — aspiring or elected — need to learn how to say, "Wow, you're an idiot," to a hostile press. As most of you know, I have been writing about liberal bias in the mainstream media for over 20 years. I have seen waves of Republicans come through Washington who can't grasp that The New York Times and WaPo will still brutalize them no matter how much you-know-what-kissing they do.
For the 14 people out there who are Ramaswamy fans: he's not going to be president. I do see that he has a role to play in a future Republican administration, however. If a Republican does win back the White House, toss the press secretary gig to Vivek right away.
I'm already enjoying the thought of him saying, "Stupid question," with the frequency that Biden's former Spokesditz Jen Psaki said, "Circle back."
Click the button below to get the Morning Briefing emailed to you every weekday. Have your coffee with me, people. It's free and it supports conservative media!
The Mailbag of Magnificence contributions can be sent to [email protected].
Everything Isn't Awful
Another homerun by the Founding Fathers.
The Majestic Bald Eagle!! 🦅 pic.twitter.com/7zPPqCuKed
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) January 4, 2024
PJ Media
VodkaPundit. I Know How to Save Star Wars (and Marvel, Too)
Not ready for prime time. Nikki Haley Managed to Insult All of Iowa's GOP Voters With 1 Weird Trick
Active Shooter Neutralized in Perry, Iowa, High School
Unsealed Epstein Docs Exonerate Trump, Liberals Most Hurt
A Jewish Family Is Attacked at 'American Dream Mall' in N.J., and We've Got One Big Question
AP and CNN Appoint Themselves Defense Lawyers for Harvard’s Disgraced Gay
Did Harvard Just Make a 'Token' Hire?
WaPo Reporter Who Was Schooled by Ramaswamy Does Exactly What He Said She Would
SO THERE'S THAT. Federal Regulations Cost the U.S. Economy $3 Trillion in 2022
Bring it, Drools. Biden Drops First Campaign Ad, and It’s As Dishonest and Embarrassing As You’d Expect
More white supremacy domestic terrorism. The Iowa School Shooter Was an LGBTQ+ Activist
Townhall Mothership
EPIC. A CNN Host Tried to Bait a Guest Into Playing the Race Card on Claudine Gay. It Turned Out Poorly.
Bill Clinton Allegedly Threatened Vanity Fair to Not Write Sex Trafficking Articles About Epstein
A CNN Host Tried to Bait a Guest Into Playing the Race Card on Claudine Gay. It Turned Out Poorly.
Grand Jury Declines to Charge Taco Shop Customer Who Killed Houston Robber
Cam&Co. Civil Disobedience in Illinois as Gun Owners Defy Registration Mandate
Case of Woman Denied Rights Over Husband's Felony Gets Worse
Flashback: MSM Knew About Epstein and Covered It Up
Safe in Baghdad, Iranian-Backed Militia Leaders Laugh at Israeli Strikes an...DUCK!
How the Houthis Are Beating Biden
YAHTZEE! Of Course: Ohio's Gun Violence Rates Show That Its Permitless Carry Law Prevents Crime
Tapper is the male Joy Behar. Jake Tapper Flies Wingman for Biden's Border Crisis, Gets Fact-Checked Into Next Week by Speaker Johnson
#RIP and LOL. DEI Administrator Declares DEI DOA And There Was Much Rejoicing
Another Not-Insurrection: Pro-Palestine Protesters Shut Down California State Capitol
VIP
Become part of the PJ Media VIP party by subscribing here. Use promo code KRUISERMB to receive a 25% discount. Trust me, we’re having fun over here.
CCP Warns U.S. of Potential ‘Conflict’ in South China Sea
Techno-Hell: UK Police Investigate Metaverse Gang Rape
Biden Tries to Blame Republicans for $34 Trillion National Debt
Has The Democrats' Desperation Reached Fever Pitch With This Latest Tactic?
The Dangers of Living in the Past
Does the Vice-Presidential Running Mate Actually Matter?
Around the Interwebz
Christopher Nolan Recalls Peloton Instructor’s Diss Of ‘Tenet’ While He Was Working Out With Her
Crypto hedge fund CEO may not exist; probe finds no record of identity
Meet the Man Telling Stories in Miniature on Seeds
Reduct This
True story: I write jokes when I go for long walks and don't listen to music.
Sources Confirm Most Scientific Discoveries Are the Result of One Walk Without Music: https://t.co/cGiiWMBqsC pic.twitter.com/4ikEISIgRe
— Reductress (@Reductress) January 3, 2024
The Kruiser Kabana
Kabana Gallery
This is the security line at the Denver airport.
The Procession Passing the Queen Victoria Memorial, Coronation, 1953 #lawrencestephenlowry #lslowry https://t.co/JuPLs2HS5C pic.twitter.com/k4KtTRX73R
— L. S. Lowry (@lowryartist) March 27, 2023
Kabana Comedy/Tunes
My friend, Morning Briefing regular, and original VIP Gold member Jennifer requested some Joan Jett.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member