Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as President Joe Biden listens at a Rose Garden event on gun safety at the White House in Washington, D.C., September 22, 2023. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)none

There are bad vice-presidential picks, and then there’s Kamala Harris.​

In different circumstances, she might have been a run-of-the-mill, underwhelming choice, but present circumstances have made Biden’s choice much more momentous.

In fact, it ranks as the worst VP pick in half a century, and easily one of the worst picks in the last 100 years.

As Democrats begin to realize Biden’s political weakness, with Donald Trump barreling down the pike toward a third presidential nomination, Harris is one of the factors — although not the main one — keeping them from doing anything about it.

GOP donor wants his money back after gubernatorial candidate hires Trump goon Corey Lewandowski

John Odom, a major Republican donor, has been a top backer of Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry, having given $100,000 to his political operation. But now Landry, the state’s attorney general and frontrunner in the race, has done something that, for Odom, is unforgivable — he hired ex-Trump campaign manager and noted sex pest, Corey Lewandowski, who made unwanted sexual advances toward Odom's then-wife, Trashelle Odom in 2021.

Just another one of Trump's "best people" doing what he does best, spreading misogyny and wreaking havoc across America.

Russian Black Sea Fleet commander was killed in Crimea missile strike, Ukraine says​

Kyiv did not provide evidence for the claim, which NBC News has not verified. It comes days after an attack on the fleet's headquarters in occupied Sevastopol.


Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.Viktor Korotaev / Sipa USA via AP

Sept. 25, 2023, 7:52 AM CDT
By Alexander Smith

Ukraine said Monday it had killed the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in a missile strike on the naval headquarters in occupied Crimea.

It comes days after an attack that left the building smoldering, the latest salvo in a mounting effort to target the Kremlin’s naval forces and isolate the annexed peninsula.

Kyiv did not provide evidence for the claim, which NBC News has not verified, but if confirmed it would be one of the most high-profile losses of the war so far.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said in a post on Telegram that “the commander” of the Black Sea Fleet was among 34 officers who died in the strike on the fleet’s headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Friday.

The commander of the fleet is Viktor Sokolov, although the Ukrainian statement did not name him directly.

Rumors had circulated among Ukraine-watchers all weekend that Sokolov had been killed. Russia's defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“If true it would likely be the highest ranking naval officer killed in combat since WWII,” Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander and current chief international security analyst for NBC News, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Satellite images of the damaged Black Sea headquarters Friday.Planet Labs PBC via AP

On Saturday, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said in another Telegram post that the strike on the fleet’s headquarters caused “dozens of dead and wounded occupants, including the senior leadership of the fleet.”

It said the strike had been part of an operation named “Crab trap" that it said was carried out “on time and accurately” during a meeting of the Russian navy’s senior members at the building.

Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, told Voice of America on Saturday that at least nine people were killed and 16 others wounded as a result of Kyiv’s attack on the Black Sea Fleet on Friday. He said Alexander Romanchuk, a Russian general commanding forces along the key southeastern front line, was “in a very serious condition” following the attack.

Shortly after Friday’s attack, Russia’s defense ministry said that one serviceman was killed. It later said this person was missing, adding that five missiles were shot down by air defenses.

Smoke was seen rising from the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on Friday.Telegram

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, in violation of international law.

It has since bolstered the peninsula's military assets, but its use of the area just off Ukraine's mainland coast to support its invasion has also made it a growing target for Kyiv's strikes.

Ukraine's efforts to hit behind Russian lines were given a boost last week when President Joe Biden told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the U.S. would provide a small number of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, three U.S. officials and a congressional official familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

Ukraine has vowed it will retake Crimea as part of its campaign and has stepped up its attacks against the Russian navy in recent months, damaging ships and buildings stationed on the peninsula.

Sevastopol, the city hit by Friday’s strikes, is the largest population center in Crimea. Its port is the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, which has been used to launch attacks deep into Ukraine.

In April last year, Ukrainian missiles launched with the help of U.S. intelligence sank a Russian guided missile cruiser, the Moskva, which was the flagship of the fleet and the largest Russian warship sunk in combat since World War II.

Sokolov has led the fleet since August last year, the result of a major reshuffle that came after the Moskva’s sinking and strikes against the fleet on Crimea.

He rose through a series of posts in the Pacific and Northern Fleets, serving as deputy commander in the latter, according to Russian state media. From 2020 he headed a prestigious military academy, before taking command of the Black Sea Fleet last year.

As for Donald Trump, the 77-year-old presidential hopeful – who has been indicted four times and currently faces dozens of criminal charges related to attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss – stoked the flames of GOP infighting this week by calling for a government shutdown unless the prosecutions against him are defunded. He may have been trying to divert attention away from a slew of negative press about his disdain for disabled veterans, continued refusal to join the GOP debate stage , and a contentious pre-trial hearing in the New York Attorney General's fraud case against him and other Trump Organization executives. That trial is expected to begin October 2nd.

Really? Why does he play?

Democrat Party is the party of the rich and coastal elites

Many of the world’s most valuable companies are listed on the S&P 500, the benchmark index for the U.S. stock market.

For this reason, it is no surprise to see that CEOs of these key companies have multi-million dollar compensation packages. But what do these pay packages comprise? And do these CEOs always receive the compensation they are awarded? Or does it increase and decrease with stock market fluctuations?

In the following infographic, Visual Capitalist's Freny Fernandes and Sam Parker use data published by The Wall Street Journal to show the highest paid CEOs of S&P 500 companies in 2022, and delve into what their compensation includes.

And we ain't in it. I realize he's just going to Oregon anyway, but it certainly feels like we've done something to discourage the Mater Dei kids this year (and piss Baker off in particular). It doesn't seem like we're favorites for any of their big time kids - Aydin Breland, DeAndre Carter, Zabien Brown (maybe I'm wrong on him), Elijah Brown, etc. It's a pretty strange situation given our history with the school and the fact they're in our backyard.

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A look at the five-stars in the 2023 class right here:

OFFENSE

QB Caleb Williams 62
LT Jonah Monheim 62
LG Emmanuel Pregnon 62
C Justin Dedich 62
RG Jarrett Kingston 62
RT Michael Tarquin 62
RB MarShawn Lloyd 42
WR Tahj Washington 38
WR Brenden Rice 33
WR Dorian Singer 32
WR Kyron Hudson 30
TE Lake McRee 28
WR Mario Williams 27
WR Zachariah Branch 25
WR Michael Jackson III 25
RB Austin Jones 23
TE Jude Wolfe 7

DEFENSE

LB Mason Cobb 74
S Calen Bullock 73
NK Jaylin Smith 73
DT Bear Alexander 60
CB Domani Jackson 57
CB Christian Roland-Wallace 55
S Max Williams 52
DE Solomon Byrd 51
LB Tackett Curtis 44
RUSH Jamil Muhammad 40
DT Stanley Ta'ufo'ou 34
RUSH Romello Height 33
LB Eric Gentry 28
CB Ceyair Wright 27
RUSH Anthony Lucas 24
S Bryson Shaw 22
DT Jack Sullivan 20
DT De'jon Benton 19
CB Jacobe Covington 12
DT Kyon Barrs 9
DE Tyrone Taleni 6
RUSH Braylan Shelby 1

The latest on some top targets:

It's a slow Monday morning, so I went ahead and updated the season standings. You can only miss two weeks to be eligible, so at this point, there are a max of 68 players who can qualify (that number will shrink each week as people don't put in a guess). These standings are only taking your best two guesses out of a possible 4 games, so there will be lots of shuffling over the next two months. Good luck to all and can anyone beat @Jack53 ???

Well, that didn't go as planned. For USC or anyone playing the weekly GTS game. Not only was there not a single guess within 10 points, only one guess was within 10 points of ASU's score alone. Not a single guess was made lower than what the Trojans actually scored (45 was the closest) and not a single guess was higher than ASU scored (20 was the closest). While it wasn't pretty, there still must be a winner, and this week the winner was @PanamaSteve with a variance of 14. @MrSC came in second with a 17 and @tentm , @CRDUSC93 and @ericsanford all tied for 3rd with a 18. Ugly stuff. It's a good thing Ryan allows for 2 drops, because this one will qualify for almost everyone.

We'll wait one more week for full season standings as they still don't make a lot of sense with 2 drops out of 4, but perennial front runner, @Jack53 still has the lowest total variance right now when the two drops are factored in. Better luck to everyone next week!

...track and field is really my first love.

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We should have come in there tonight rested, hungry and ready to proof a point. Instead they are out of sync, lethargic and so mentally out of touch. I sure hope we can get out of Arizona with a win and a good lesson because if it were any other Pac-12 team tonight we lose!

..... I'm pretty concerned about this. I don't think we are, and its more than the style of offense we run. I'm recalling watching ND, Texas, Florida St and a few others early in this season. They all looked more physical than us. This was particularly evident defensively, specifically their LB corps. We have got to shore that position group up going into BIG 10 conference play next season. I sure as hell don't want Harbaugh terrorizing us along the LOS, and Ohio St and Penn St are capable of doing the same. Maybe I'm being a little worrisome, but that's what I see

Trump edges out Biden 51-42 in head-to-head matchup: POLL​

ABC News

President Joe Biden's job approval rating is 19 points underwater, his ratings for handling the economy and immigration are at career lows. A record number of Americans say they've become worse off under his presidency, three-quarters say he's too old for another term and Donald Trump is looking better in retrospect -- all severe challenges for Biden in his reelection campaign ahead.

Forty-four percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they've gotten worse off financially under Biden's presidency, the most for any president in ABC/Post polls since 1986. Just 37% approve of his job performance, while 56% disapprove. Still fewer approve of Biden's performance on the economy, 30%.

On handling immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden's rating is even lower, with 23% approval. In terms of intensity of sentiment, 20% strongly approve of his work overall, while 45% strongly disapprove. And the 74% who say he's too old for a second term is up 6 percentage points since May. Views that Trump is too old also are up, but to 50% in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.

Who asked that awful question? @Ryan Young

A season ago, most of us were down on this kid. "He can't perform in big moments"..."he chokes"...etc., etc. He himself said something in an interview about struggling mentally during those moments.

Well, I want to know who his sports psychologist is because that dude's good and I have a ton of mental issues that need to get worked out. Man has Brendan stepped up! He's making himself some money with USC this season!

As we do each week ...

Weltwoche: Another story that has raised zero curiosity among the DC press is the allegation, reportedly made by his own daughter, Ashley, in her private diary, that Joe Biden may have behaved toward her in a way that she describes as "probably not appropriate" when she was a young girl. Hunter gave his dad the alias "Pedo Peter" in his cell phone contact list. I assume that in America "Pedo Peter" is an unusual term of address for one's father. Why has the press shown so little interest in investigating these disturbing details, especially in the post-#MeToo era?

Carlson: Well, [Ashley] said it in her diary, whose only audience was herself. She didn't allege it. She recorded it: that her father took showers with her as a child and, because he did, she became a sex addict. That's what she wrote in her diary.

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The response from the Biden administration was to get the Department of Justice to raid the home of the man who had the diary, arrest the people who had the diary though they didn't steal it, they paid for it. Ashley Biden left it behind in a house she'd been renting, and they never said anything about it.

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That's a sex crime. I have three daughters. I can promise you it's not normal for a father to shower with his daughters. [Ashley] said, in her diary, “I think I have a sex addiction because my father showered with me.” That's what she says.

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By the way, Joe Biden has dementia and is not running the United States. So, that raises the obvious question: “Who is?”

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All those snaps and 1 tackle...

Davis must be hurt...

He really coached his ass off this week. He pulled out all of the stops. Nice job!

The GOP Wants You to Be Terrified of a Black Woman President​

NOT EVEN HIDING IT

Republicans are creating a fake narrative that Michelle Obama will replace Kamala Harris on the 2024 Democratic ticket—because they know their base will take the bait.

Kali Holloway​

Updated Sep. 23, 2023 4:33AM EDT / Published Sep. 21, 2023 8:03PM EDT

By now, you’re likely well familiar with the GOP’s current 2024 election party line—the one about how a vote for (too old, nearly dead) President Joe Biden is really a vote for (too unprepared, heartbeat away) Vice President Kamala Harris.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) kicked off his podcast earlier this week by pushing the same tired mantra—but then road-tested a prediction seemingly crafted for maximum fear mongering effect.

“In August of 2024, the Democrat kingmakers [will] jettison Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama,” Cruz stated. “That ought to scare the hell out of anyone who is unhappy about the direction this country is going and doesn’t want us to go even crazier, in an even worse direction.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-clown-pundits-are-defending-a-racist-to-own-the-libs

I’ll spare you the details of Cruz’s nonsensical conspiracy theory, except to say that his explanation for how a shadowy cabal of Democratic power brokers will force Biden to drop out at the 11th hour in order to pull off a dramatic switcheroo during the party’s national convention rested precariously on his admission that, “how the Democrats execute that exactly, I don't know.”

Nonetheless, Cruz claims the former first lady’s selection as the Democratic nominee is “the most likely and most dangerous” outcome. This is, in no small part, likely due to Cruz’s certainty that former President Barack Obama is “the puppet master” who is “already running the Biden administration.”

As it turns out, Cruz wasn’t floating brand new nuttery he invented himself, but reading from a script Republicans have been passing among themselves for months, hoping it will gain traction with conspiracy-minded GOP voters.

Back in May, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy described the same delusional vision—in nearly verbatim language, no less—stating, “I think that Biden’s not gonna make it to the end and that Michelle Obama will be brought in. After all, the Obamas are pretty much running this administration.” She’s one of a lengthy roster of conservatives doing their part to help the completely baseless rumor gain legs, including Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone, Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly, Newsmax’s Eric Bolling and garbage U.K. newspapers such as The Telegraph.

How convenient that this emerging talking point comes after party boosters have used every given opportunity to malign Kamala Harris, Biden’s obvious and constitutionally ordained successor—and also a Black woman—as unfit to serve.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama

Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley, ostensibly running against Biden, has instead campaigned on the idea that the president’s age makes him a dead man walking, and that a resulting Harris presidency would be an existential threat to the country. “This is really me running against Kamala Harris,” Haley said recently, adding in yet another Fox News interview that “the thought of Kamala Harris being president should send a chill up every American spine."

It’s all too predictable that the GOP—which is today less of a political party than a vehicle for racial grievance—has settled on an electoral strategy that in large part consists of galvanizing white voters with the “threat” that a vote for anyone but a Republican will end with a Black woman, any Black woman, as the next president. (This is not an overstatement; both U.S. and U.K. conservative rags from the New York Post to the Daily Mail have lately been trying to make the idea of President Meghan Markle stick.)

On the one hand, the strategy allows conservative operatives to play on well-established, overtly misogynoir fallacies about the inherent incompetency of Black women.