DeMille had a list this morning. He told Rocket to see if he could get Vic and Vapor to do something to explain the strategic importance of the Pakistani port of Gwadar. Actually, it was the Omani port of Gwadar until 1958, part of the disintegration of British India that erupted in 1948.

So, they went off to do that but Splash looked at the map and said that if the Chinese secured development rights at Gwadar, it would put a PRC naval base astride most of the oil shipping out of the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia across the Indian Ocean. And the good ‘ole USN is looking at the little nation of Mauritius throwing us out of our distant base down south at Diego Garcia.

So, they were off doing that to look like they are not concerned about the incredible Ukraine war that has now devolved into an attrition fight fought on the Dnepr River at least in part by Koreans under the cover of rockets manufactured in the Far East. So, you can understand no one wanted to deal with the Budget Side Show right across our river.

It looked like House Speaker Mike Johnson was going to get something a little leaner than the usual Omnibus Shortfall sleigh filled with colorful pet projects un-debated in regular order and hung with wild festive abandon.

But what is happening today is something else. Johnson’s House majority hangs by a thread, and gets thinner on 03 January. The President-Elect’s call to reject the Bill was successful, provoking another crisis which cannot be allowed to happen for the public good.

The discussion about the Budget is a forecast for what will happen with the new Census Numbers that just got released and the new wrinkle on neighborhood car-jackings of delivery drivers.

Caroline Downey at National Review, an old-red source headlined it nicely with this one:

“A transgender-identifying male felon convicted of murdering his parents sued the Washington State Department of Corrections for moving him back to a men’s prison after he was caught in a prohibited intimate encounter with a female inmate while being housed in the state’s women’s prison.”
That pretty much sums up one aspect of this season teetering on the edge of Solstice and the beginning once again of our march back to the light. A couple minutes a day, starting tomorrow. Vic has a story about that, but it can wait.

We are committed to the timing on these things just like they are on the Hill. It is about the lines of communication and when they are energized. We are confident we will probably see you tomorrow even if the budget runs out at midnight.Tonight.

The Legal Section, through Kristina at the picnic table, suggests an emoji of some kind could be used to signify this is all perfectly routine and in fact now the way the Government operates to avoid old procedures put in place to forbid the new ones. Splash is supposed to put it on a list if we see him.

Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com