Following a federal judge vacating the federal mask mandate on transportation, the TSA responded, “TSA (Transportation Security Administration) will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time.”

Within hours, various airlines began notifying customers the mask mandate is gone:

♦ American Airlines – “In accordance with the Transportation Security Administration no longer enforcing the federal face mask mandate, face masks will no longer be required for our customers and team members at U.S. airports and on domestic flights.” (link)

♦ Southwest Airlines – “As a result of this development, effectively immediately, Southwest Employees and Customers will be able to choose whether they would like to wear a mask, and we encourage individuals to make the best decision to support their personal wellbeing.” (link)

♦ Delta Airlines – “Effective immediately, masks are optional for all airport employees, crew members and customers inside U.S. airports and on board all aircraft domestically, as well as on most international flights.” (link)

♦ Alaska Airlines – “Effective immediately, all Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air guests and employees have the option to wear a mask while traveling in the U.S. and at work. Masks are no longer required for travel and will be optional.” (link)

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Moments after a Florida federal judge vacated the CDC federal mask mandate for transportation, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked the obvious question about airline travelers right now.  What does this mean for passengers in the immediate future?

Psaki noted she was unsure about what steps could be or would be taken, and she deferred to the FAA and Dept of Homeland Security who will need to make immediate decisions. The most substantive aspect at 11:49 of video, prompted:

The White House is very committed to all their mandates around COVID-19, the mask mandate is no different.  From the perspective of the professional political left, the theater of forced mask wearing represents the visible power and authority of government to rule the lives of the irrelevant proles.

Any pesky legal rulings, that seek to reduce or remove the power of government, are viewed by the left as arbitrary and insignificant efforts to block their almighty power of government.  They can choose to wear a mask if they want, but that’s not really the issue behind the mask mandate.  The true power of the left is in the ability to force everyone to comply to their whims regardless of individual freedom.

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A federal judge in Tampa, Florida has vacated the federal transportation mask mandate for planes, trains, buses and public Transporation.  [PDF Ruling Available Here]

In essence, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle found the CDC exceeded its statutory authority with the mask mandate and violated the rules that guide CDC regulations.   After Joe Biden arbitrarily announced the federal transportation mandate, the CDC triggered enforcement of the mask mandate without any required time for public feedback on a new regulation.

(SEE FULL RULING HERE)

Within the ruling, one of the commonsense arguments against the federal mandate was noted.  Prior to Joe Biden taking office there was no mask mandate.  At the time Joe Biden took office and invoked the mask mandate, there was nothing substantively different in/around the spread of COVID-19 and the mitigation efforts underway.

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This Sunday segment from CBS’s Margaret Brennan allows us to watch narrative engineering in real time.  During a segment outlining the reasons behind the major economic issues American’s are feeling, CBS notes everything except the reason the economy is struggling.  It really is quite a remarkable example of professional gaslighting.

Watch the segment, note the inflation crisis has been underway for more than 18 months, and notice how many justifications are made-up illusions. (1) A Texas-Mexico cargo checkpoint issue that started less than a week ago; (2) Trucker shortages; (3) Ukraine-Russia which started only 6 weeks ago; and (4) Pandemic lockdowns, now causing an excess in demand.  None of these issues are even close to the source of the issue.

The two major drivers of inflation are both Biden policy issues.  (1) Extreme federal government spending and the Fed purchasing debt. (2) The shutting down of U.S. energy development (pipelines closed or blocked, oil leases cancelled, permits pulled and refinery permits cancelled).  All of this is Joe Biden policy.

On the restaurant pricing side, and likely restaurants soon to close, I would note the CTH outline from a few days ago:

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The metaphorical Jack had a great idea, open a coffee shop where the beverages were free and use internal advertising as the income subsidy to operate the business.  Crowds came for the free coffee, comfy couches, fellowship, conversation and enjoyment.

It didn’t matter where Jack got the coffee, how he paid for it, or didn’t, or what product advertising the customers would be exposed to while there.  Few people thought about such things.  Curiously, it didn’t matter what size the crowd was; in the backroom of Jack’s Coffee Shop they were able to generate massive amounts of never-ending free coffee at extreme scales.

Over time, using the justification of parking lot capacity and township regulations, not everyone would be able to park and enter.  Guards were placed at the entrance to pre-screen customers. A debate began.

Alternative coffee shops opened around town.  It was entirely possible to duplicate Jacks Coffee Shop, yet no one could duplicate the business model for the free coffee.  Indeed, there was something very unique about Jack’s Coffee Shop.  Thus, some underlying suspicions were raised:

The only way Twitter, with 217 million users, could exist as a viable platform is if they had access to tech systems of incredible scale and performance, and those systems were essentially free or very cheap.  The only entity that could possibly provide that level of capacity and scale is the United States Government – combined with a bottomless bank account.  A public-private partnership.

If my hunch is correct, Elon Musk is poised to expose the well-kept secret that most social media platforms are operating on U.S. government tech infrastructure and indirect subsidy.  Let that sink in.

The U.S. technology system, the assembled massive system of connected databases and server networks, is the operating infrastructure that offsets the cost of Twitter to run their own servers and database.  The backbone of Twitter is the United States government.

FREE COFFEE:

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CTH begins every outline of the ongoing Durham investigation with the following disclaimer:  How is John Durham going to reveal everything that is possible about the deep state Trump targeting operation, and simultaneously handle the involvement of Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann and the Special Counsel team who were specifically appointed to cover it up?

Thanks to a more detailed filing by John Durham last night {pdf here, h/t Techno}, we can now see the guardrails, rules and general direction the prosecution is taking.

In essence, the underlying Trump-Russia conspiracy theory material from the Clinton campaign, via Rodney Joffe to Michael Sussmann, was fabricated – likely for a dual purpose:

(A) to coverup and make excuses for the stunningly embarrassing, potentially unlawful and politically terrible April 2016 DNC email leaks, which showed the DNC Club internally working to secure the nomination for Hillary Clinton, while trying to destroy her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders.

and

(B) to create the political Russia narrative against Trump, to be deployed later in the general election.

Within the general direction Durham is following, the FBI was duped by a purposeful and manipulative intent from the Clinton campaign.  Meanwhile, the CIA [Agency-2] did not buy into the technological evidence saying it was not “technically plausible” and was “user created and not machine/tool generated.”   (more…)

Jumpin’ ju-ju bones, this is rather remarkable.  Two video segments from CNN today highlight just how horrible things are for Democrats this mid-term election year.  No amount of J6 leverage is going to offset the way Americans feel about Joe Biden.

Delivering a summary of the last four most recent and consecutive polls, even CNN had to report that President Joe Biden’s approval is the lowest ever for any president at this point in any presidency.  According to the CNN presentation, Joe Biden is “in a lot of trouble,” as outlined during a segment on CNN’s “New Day” with Brianna Keilar and John Berman.  WATCH:

The second segment is even worse news than the first.  In the second segment they take a look at all modern presidential polling and discover that Joe Biden has a lower approval rating than even Jimmy Carter in 1978.

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Late last month Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a legislative redistricting proposal for the state’s new expanded districts.  Florida is gaining a congressional seat as an outcome of the last census and a rapid growth in population.

The concern DeSantis expressed last month was not with the state house or state senate districts, but rather with the new congressional district mapping. {Background} Attorneys for the governor’s office and state saw a conflict between the legislative map and the constitutional provisions for district assignment.  The Governor’s office wrote a new map eliminating the gerrymandering which ultimately, based on the 2020 election outcome, would appear to give 20 districts to Republican areas and 8 districts to Democrat areas

Of course, the professional activists within the Democrat apparatus are apoplectic. “If this map is enacted, Florida will be sued.,” tweeted Marc Elias, a Democratic Party elections lawyer.  However, the Republican state legislature has indicated their full support in advance of a special session to affirm the new redistricting map.

FLORIDA – A Republican-favorable congressional redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office released Wednesday landed quick support from the leader of the Senate’s reapportionment efforts.

Democrats, meanwhile, said the once-a-decade redistricting process has gone “extreme partisan” and threatened legal challenges.

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CNBC commissioned a poll by Hart research and associates, a friendly outfit for the left.  Unfortunately, that means CNBC then needed to tell everyone what the results were [Full Poll pdf Here].  That task fell to CNBC’s Steve Liesman; an appropriate name given the task at hand.

The irony doubles when you remember this was the same CNBC pundit who refused to accept the horrible economic data that began surfacing last fall.  There was even a public broadcast where Liesman said the BLS statistics had to be wrong, because the results were so horrible.  A few months later, and here he is explaining how the country now feels about Joe Biden.   WATCH:

(CNBC) – […] The pessimism is clearly dragging on Americans’ opinions of President Joe Biden. In fact, nothing looks to be working in the Biden presidency from the public’s viewpoint.

The president’s approval rating sank to a new low of just 38%, with 53% disapproving. Biden’s -15% net approval rating is measurably worse than his -9% approval in the CNBC December survey. What’s more, his approval rating on the economy dropped for a fourth straight survey to just 35%, with 60% disapproving, putting the president a deep 25 points underwater. (article link)

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DeceptiCon ruler Mitch McConnell is the ultimate abuser in the relationship of the Republican Party to its base of voters.

During a series of remarks at a Kentucky Chamber of Commerce convention Tuesday, the Senate Minority Leader went right back to his familiar pattern of telling voters they should listen to who he says is acceptable or not acceptable as a 2022 Republican candidate.

Those of you who have walked the deep political weeds with us, will remember the battles against McConnell’s uniparty wing in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 races.  This is where McConnell and McCain famously called the base of the GOP “whack-o-birds” and “jihobbits” for supporting unsanctioned Senate candidates like Scott Brown, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, Tom Cotton, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and more.

(KENTUCKY) – […] McConnell, speaking at a chamber event in Kentucky, said that 1994 had been the best year for Republicans and that the atmosphere heading into November “is better than it was in 1994.”

“From an atmospheric point of view, it’s a perfect storm of problems for the Democrats,” McConnell said. “How could you screw this up? It’s actually possible. And we’ve had some experience with that in the past.”

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