White House Dossier's

John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh Are Now the Supreme Court’s Swing Votes . . . Chief justice moves to counter the perception the court is partisan. The Supreme Court completed its annual term last week with resounding conservative victories, ending a half-century of affirmative action in college admissions, curbing gay rights when they clashed with religious objectors and canceling President Biden’s plan to forgive student debt owed by 40 million Americans. Yet, Chief Justice John Roberts, concluding his 17th term in charge, sought to signal that his wasn’t purely a partisan court. Roberts wrote opinions frustrating Republican efforts to win new legal advantages in the 2024 elections, rejecting Alabama’s plea to roll back Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters and turning down another, filed by North Carolina’s legislative leaders, that sought to block state courts from reviewing gerrymandered congressional districts. Wall Street Journal

McCarthy declines to endorse Trump — looking to avoid a GOP civil war . . . The peace might be short-lived, but the speaker’s members understand why he’s not offering a formal endorsement to Donald Trump. Some Republicans already view McCarthy as a Trump backer in all but name. Pro-Trump Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) suggested that the speaker is subtly clearing a path for his members to rally behind the former president by the end of the primary. Meuser summed up McCarthy’s 2024 message to House Republicans this way: “‘Hey, you’re with DeSantis right now. That’s OK. We get that. You’re with Mike Pence, Tim Scott. But in the end, we’ve got to come together with who’s going to be our winning candidate.’” Another House conservative, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said that a Trump endorsement might only make matters worse for McCarthy and his “incredibly split” conference. Politico

Republicans sound alarm over DeSantis’s sagging campaign . . . Questions surrounding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) presidential campaign strategy are multiplying as he continues to trail former President Trump in the polls nearly a month after his highly anticipated campaign launch. In a sign of just how concerned some of the governor’s allies are, the spokesperson for the pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down recently referred to Trump as the “runaway front-runner” in the primary and said that DeSantis faced an “uphill battle.” The Hill

Kari Lake's Chances of Becoming Donald Trump's Running Mate Receive Boost . . . The odds of Kari Lake being picked as Donald Trump's 2024 vice-presidential running mate have increased dramatically over the past four months, according to a leading bookmaker. Lake, a fierce Trump supporter, worked as a television news anchor before standing as the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona in November 2022. She was defeated by Democrat Katie Hobbs but is still refusing to concede, despite her claims of electoral malpractice being rejected multiple times in court. Polls give Trump a substantial lead over his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, when Republican voters are asked who their preferred 2024 presidential candidate would be. If he secures the nomination, Trump's choice of running mate could play a crucial role in determining whether he returns to the White House. Newsweek

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘Overwhelmingly’ Booted From House Freedom Caucus . . . Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was removed from the House Freedom Caucus after repeatedly siding with Speaker Kevin McCarthy on a series of key votes. Greene, who joined HFC after entering Congress in 2021, has emerged as a key McCarthy surrogate in the 118th Congress. She supported him throughout the marathon 15-vote series that made him speaker in January, and voted in favor of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, a bipartisan compromise to raise the debt ceiling. Greene has also repeatedly feuded with HFC member and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, going so far as to call her “a little bitch” on the House floor. Daily Caller

Kamala Harris 'culture' word salad stumps Twitter users: 'Emptiest human being alive' . . .  Vice President Kamala Harris described what she thinks about culture in a wordy statement while speaking at the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans. Vice President Kamala Harris’ wordy description of the meaning of "culture" brought out social media mockery as she delivered what many considered another "nonsense" comment.

Harris appeared at the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture on Friday to discuss various topics including small businesses and abortion. During the event, the vice president described how she would define culture.

"Culture is — it is a reflection of our moment and our time. Right? And present culture is the way we express how we're feeling about the moment and we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment. That is a reflection of joy. Because, you know…it comes in the morning," Harris said, breaking into laughter. She added, "We have to find ways to also express the way we feel about the moment in terms of just having language and a connection to how people are experiencing life. And I think about it in that way, too." Fox News

It is truly no longer funny. There must be a lawful way to remove this lady from Vice Presidency. No?

Iran Finds New Way to Challenge U.S. Through Old Cold War Movement . . .Just one day after becoming the ninth member of a regional security bloc led by China and Russia, Iran began utilizing an even broader multilateral platform in a bid to reestablish itself on the world stage against U.S. attempts to isolate the Islamic Republic. After the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) wrapped up its two-day ministerial summit in Azerbaijan on Thursday, Tehran appeared well-poised to continue to its diplomatic rally under President Ebrahim Raisi. "Iran under Raisi is trying to join regional alliances, as it believes that there is a new world order," Saeed Azimi, a political journalist based in Tehran, told Newsweek, "and in this order, multipolarity dominates the unipolarity of the U.S. after the collapse of the USSR." Newsweek

Yellen Says U.S. Doesn’t Seek ‘Winner Take All’ Fight With China . . . The Treasury secretary met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during visit to Beijing. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pledged to Chinese Premier Li Qiang that the U.S. doesn’t seek economic estrangement from China, as she sought to curb a steep slide in relations between the world’s two biggest economies during a closely watched visit to Beijing. In China’s Great Hall of the People on Friday, Yellen defended the Biden administration’s position that the U.S. isn’t pursuing a “winner take all” fight with China, but rather wants to engage in economic competition that would benefit both countries over time. Yellen played down efforts by the U.S. to limit China’s access to sensitive technology—a particular irritant for Beijing, which has begun retaliating more forcefully—as narrowly targeted. She said such measures aren’t a reason to allow relations to deteriorate further. Wall Street Journal

Why doesn't she just stick to economics?

Interior Department included Wuhan lab funder on early COVID pandemic research team . . . EcoHealth Alliance officials served as report author, "expert panel" member in U.S. Geological Survey research of potentiial transmission between humans, bats before "empirical data" were available. Officials at the U.S. nonprofit that passed taxpayer money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology – whose coronavirus bat research is now suspected by the FBI to be the source of the pandemic – helped the Interior Department research possible transmission of COVID-19 between humans and North American bats, according to newly released government memos. Just the News

Taiwan Has a Big National-Security Risk: It Imports 97% of Its Energy . . . Experts in Washington are beginning to fret about the island democracy’s ability to keep the lights on in a conflict with China. When Beijing effectively cordoned off Taiwan and conducted four days of live-fire exercises in response to a visit last year by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it offered a preview of the tactics that China would likely employ in a future conflict around the island. It also raised questions about Taiwan’s energy supplies and the unique vulnerabilities of an island lacking indigenous resources and relying on sea shipments for 97% of its energy. Wall Street Journal

Saudi Press Following U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken's Visit To Kingdom: We Clarified To America That Our Relations With It Are Based On Interests And Cooperation; The Era Of Dictates Is Over . . . On June 6, 2023, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken visited Saudi Arabia and met with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan. He also attended meetings with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and with representatives of the coalition for fighting ISIS.  Following Blinken's visit, the Saudi press published many articles that reflected the tense relations between the countries. The articles stated that, after a long period in which the Biden administration had been hostile to the kingdom and even threatened to turn it into a "pariah state," it now understands that the relations with it must be based on cooperation and shared interests, not on threats and dictates. They also argued that the Saudi leadership, headed by Bin Salman, has managed to clarify to the U.S. that, in light of the great changes in the world – including the decline in America's power and the advent of other superpowers like Russia and China – Saudi Arabia must be regarded as an equal partner and treated with respect, not with arrogance. One of the articles stated that Biden had realized from the start that Bin Salman was likely to be "a thorn in the side" of anyone seeking to exploit Saudi Arabia, and that this is exactly what happened. Another explained that Saudi Arabia cannot afford to continue pandering to the U.S. MEMRI

Former U.S. officials have held secret Ukraine talks with prominent Russians . . . A group of former senior U.S. national security officials has held secret talks with prominent Russians believed to be close to the Kremlin — and, in at least one case, with the country’s top diplomat — with the aim of laying the groundwork for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, half a dozen people briefed on the discussions said. In a high-level example of the back-channel diplomacy taking place behind the scenes, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov met with members of the group for several hours in April in New York, four former officials and two current officials said. On the agenda were some of the thorniest issues in the war in Ukraine, like the fate of Russian-held territory that Ukraine may never be able to liberate and the search for an elusive diplomatic off-ramp that could be tolerable to both sides. Meeting with Lavrov were Richard Haass, a former diplomat and the outgoing president of the Council on Foreign Relations, current and former officials said. The group was joined by Europe expert Charles Kupchan and Russia expert Thomas Graham, both former White House and State Department officials who are Council on Foreign Relations fellows.

This is all virtue signaling as Biden wants to show he is doing something to bring peace to Ukraine. But peace is unachievable as the US/NATO and Russia's interests in Ukraine -- which has been part of Russia's strategic security perimeter for centuries --  are irreconcilable. Hence, this will be another forever war - Biden's Afghanistan 2.0. 

Tom Graham (and Condi Rice too) was President Bush's Russia advisor when Bush gazed into Putin's eyes and saw a soul. Putin is the same cold-blooded KGB operative today as he has been back in 2001. Putin has been playing the US and the West for even a longer time than Zelensky. 

Here's my intelligence assessment from December 28, 2021

Russia will strike Ukraine soon -- Putin is playing with Biden and NATO - Rebekah Koffler | Fox News

Money

US economy adds 209,000 jobs in June, lighter than estimates . . . U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in June, the lowest number since 2020, but still a sign that the Federal Reserve will continue on its rate tightening cycle this year and perhaps into early 2024. While the additions build on the 339,000 positions created in May, which was the lowest since March, the data may still present a conundrum for policymakers who continue to wrestle with consumer inflation of 4%, twice the Fed's preferred level. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.6%. Fox Business

Market expert warns Fed will ‘crush’ US housing in ‘decade-long fallout’ from rate hikes . . . Though the Federal Reserve paused rate hikes in its last meeting, one market expert warned that the U.S. economy faces a long inflation fight. "I don't think that the Fed is going to go ahead and get to its inflation targets very soon. I think it is going to take a long period of time," ProChain Capital President David Tawil said on "Mornings with Maria" Friday. "Relative to the markets, I don't think that's wrong. The markets have been able to take this in stride," he continued. "It is going to crush some very interest-rate sensitive industries such as real estate, and I think we're going to see a multi-year, maybe decade-long fallout, first on commercial, and then we will eventually get to housing." Fox Business

Biden’s Billion Dollar Hydrogen Program Makes No ‘Economic Or Common Sense.’ . The Biden administration announced plans Wednesday to invest up to $1 billion in “clean hydrogen,” an expensive fuel source that requires significant infrastructure to support it that would be unlikely to get significant private investment if not for government intervention in the energy sector, industry experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announcement stated the administration’s intent to invest the funds into Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs for the widespread deployment of the technology, with a particular focus on providing “demand-side support” to encourage buyers to come forward and support hydrogen projects, according to the agency’s press release. Daily Caller

US bankruptcy filings surge in first half of 2023 . . .  Bankruptcy filings in the U.S. jumped markedly in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period last year according to data released this week by Epiq Bankruptcy. The firm reported commercial Chapter 11 "reorganization" bankruptcies surged 68%, with filings for small businesses climbing by 55%. Chapter 13 filings that allow individuals to repay a portion of their debts jumped by 23% in the first half of the year. Fox Business

Culture

The American Ballet Theater Does Not See Me as I See Myself . . .  Mr. Shayer is a soloist with the American Ballet Theater, which he joined in 2012. I am a ballet dancer and a Black man, in that order. I left the United States to train at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow at age 15 so that people would see my skill first and not my skin. It was a naïve dream, I realize now, since unlike painters, whose work can be regarded without their presence, I am both the artist and the artwork, and there can be no separation. In Russia, I found this freedom. There was no history to support American stereotypes, and so I was so alien, so foreign, that I was the author of my past, present and future for the first time. Also, the Russians didn’t care about diversity, so they didn’t plaster my face on a billboard or in a catalog to show they filled a quota. 

My nearly 12 years dancing for the American Ballet Theater could not have been more different. Back in the United States, my skin color seemed to snap into the spotlight. I tended to get cast in swarthy, sinister roles, like the evil sorcerer in “Swan Lake,” and subservient, exotic roles like the lead fakir in “La Bayadère,” where I played a beggar. When I was given the title role of Harlequin in “Harlequinade,” a significant role, I was still playing what is essentially a comic court servant. I couldn’t help feeling humiliated, like I was doing a shuck and jive. Would I ever be ready in their eyes for a more aristocratic role? The leadership of the American Ballet Theater does not agree with the way I am characterizing my tenure with the company. They said I lacked the technical and artistic skills for the roles I sought. New York Times

This dancer implies that ABT is racist, America is racist, and Russia isn't. The opposite is true. Racism is engrained in a average Russian. Slavic people are believed to be superior to minorities, not just blacks, but all non-whites.

Neither America, nor ABT are racist. ABT has Misty Copeland as a principal dancer. Sometimes, you just don't fit the role, that's it. It is profoundly said that there's a whole segment of American population who have been brainwashed with the victimization ideology. The guy is part of the world's premier ballet company -- ABT is a equivalent of Russia's Bolshoi, which is the world's best. And he is complaining about not being able to dance aristocratic roles. 

Mothers Swing at CDC for Equating Male Nipple Secretions to Breast Milk . . . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new transgender-themed guidance on biological men and “chestfeeding” infant babies has roused the wrath of mothers across the nation, many of whom are well acquainted with the vulnerability, intricacies, and intimacy of breastfeeding their children. “Transgender and nonbinary-gendered individuals may give birth and breastfeed or feed at the chest (chestfeed),” the CDC says in guidance on feeding infants. “The gender identity or expression of transgender individuals is different from their sex at birth. The gender identity of nonbinary-gendered individuals does not fit neatly into either man or woman.”

The CDC also refers readers to the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine protocol that breaks down how biological men who identify as transgender women and have had “breast augmentation” (the addition of faux breasts) can “chestfeed” an infant baby. Daily Signal

Oh, my!

How Life Expectancy in Republican States Compares to Democratic Ones . . . Residents in Democratic-voting states experience an average life expectancy of more than two years longer than their Republican counterparts, according to a Newsweek analysis of World Population Review data. The data shows, on average, that people living in states in which former President Donald Trump won in 2020 had a life expectancy in 2023 of 75.5 years, versus 77.7 years for those in states that backed President Joe Biden. Life expectancy in the U.S. fell in 2020 and 2021, eliciting concern across the health and political spectrum. Whilst other developed countries also saw their life expectancy decline in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, most saw a recovery the following year. American life expectancy is now lower than that of dramatically poorer countries such as Cuba and Lebanon. Newsweek

Hmm. OK.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Now Has a ‘De Facto’ Monopoly on Rocket Launches . . . Satellite operators and government agencies doing business in space are increasingly dependent on one company to help them reach orbit: Elon Musk’s SpaceX. SpaceX has cornered much of the rocket-launch market, with a proven fleet of reusable rockets that can fly at a pace that rivals can’t match—and at lower prices. The company’s rockets powered 66% of customer flights from American launch sites in 2022, and handled 88% in the first six months of this year, according to launch data compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist who tracks space activity. That dominance is set to continue. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put one alternative, the Russian Soyuz rocket, off limits for many launch buyers. Rival vehicles from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and the French launch company Arianespace haven’t flown yet. Wall Street Journal

Biden, Kerry continue whale slaughtering spree with new offshore wind farm . . . The Biden administration is green-lighting a massive offshore wind farm off the coast of southern New Jersey despite calls for a pause on such development amid a spate of marine mammal deaths along the Atlantic Coast. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced Wednesday that it is approving the construction and operations plan for Ocean Wind 1, a 1,100-megawatt project that will be located 15 miles off the New Jersey coast, power 380,000 homes and enter commercial operations in 2025. The project will be made up of 98 wind turbines spread across a 68,450-acre lease area. White House Dossier

Is this what’s going to save the planet? Massive numbers of ugly giant windmills of our coasts, the construction of which is killing whales and dolphins – two highly intelligent animals?

President Biden and John Kerry don’t care who or what gets hurt by their mania over global warming.

Democrats Confused By Parades Where Everyone Wears Clothes And Doesn’t Swing Sex Toys Around . . .  Democrats across the nation were reportedly confused by thousands of local parades held yesterday, as everyone in them kept their clothes on and didn't swing sex toys around. "What even is this?" said local Democrat and cat mom Glenda Fitzgerald. "Where are the BDSM displays, the transgender furries, and the naked men on bicycles? This is not what parades are for! I don't get it! I'm so annoyed I even bothered to bring my 5-year-old nephew to this strange event!" Initial reports indicate that over 60 million Americans attended the events in question even though they featured no queer enrichment targeted at children.

Several sources investigated the events around the nation, which reportedly featured American flags, apple pie, and innocent joy. As of now, it is still unclear what these events were celebrating and who they were for. "Our sources indicate these strange kink-free parades could be fronts for dangerous fascist groups," said Congresswoman and affirmative action recipient Cori Bush. "I watched one on TV and didn't see a single genital. This is white supremacy. Babylon Bee