Posted January 28, 2022
By Sean Ring
Black Males Need Not Apply
- Joke Biden will only nominate a black woman to the SCOTUS.
- This keeps his deeply unpopular veep from scoring cheap points.
- It also keeps every other qualified candidate off the shortlist.
Not You
My only buddy Dan used to crack me up when we were at a pub on Friday night.There would be scores of women having drinks, and wed scope out which ones to chat up.Dan would sit on his stool like a hawk - he is 67 - and just start talking to himself.You you youAnd then an ugly chick would walk byNot youThey had no idea what was going on, but I would be in stitches.Well, it was far more subtle than holding up scorecards, anyway.Of course, I thought of this because thats exactly what Joe Biden has done.Not only was it needless, but its also wholly divisive and incendiary.Whites/Hispanics/Asians/Black Males Need not Apply
Black women make up a whopping 6.67% of the U.S. population. So unthinkingly - which is the way POTUS does things anyway - Biden excluded over 93% of his population.Imagine being an Asian-American right now. Already being discriminated against because their grades are too high, theyre not even getting a look at the top law table in the land.Its ludicrous.And its ok to leave out a highly qualified Hispanic woman because Sonia Sotomayer is already a justice?Wheres the justice in that?Never mind that Whites are still a majority of the population.And what about the Native Americans. Does Joe think theyre happy on their reservations they dont care?Every other group that exists in the US has a dog in this fight. And a legitimate one, at that.For no good reason other than for Joe to keep his VP at bay.You Only Got There Because No One Else Could.
Every black female candidate thats a frontrunner for the job is eminently qualified to be a Supreme Court justice.Theres no doubt about it.Their CVs are impeccable, from their Ivy League degrees to their clerkships to their records.Lets face it, even on the most divisive issues, most justices at least see each others points.Heck, even RBG and Scalia were BFFs and sided together in 75% of their cases.But thats not the look Demented Joes given us here.Even as a Senator, Biden was a grandstander. Subtlety was a word that escaped him entirely.But thats just what this situation called for.He couldve personally, legally, and quietly put forward a black female judge without preannouncing to the world.But no, Captured Joe had to keep his VP at bay.Now, for the first few years, at least, this justice will be the one that got her job thanks to affirmative action.And as whichever one gets the job is entirely qualified, this slight is completely untrue.Incentives Matter
Two bads here:The first one is that qualified judges will now think twice about their career choices.After all, if you work hard for 30 years and still cant get a look, why continue?Surely there are other things to do with ones life.The second is that it pays to be a baying mob.Do you really think those who pressured Biden into this are thinking, Geez, no one thinks this choice is legitimate now.?Of course not!The revolutionaries have indeed won this round and will, in their minds at least, have acquired greater power.Whatever the future justices rulings are, theyre correct.They forced a president to appoint one of their own to the exclusion of everyone else.Yes, thats power.What I Hope Happens
In practice, the Supreme Court is no longer the judicial branch of the government called on to interpret the law.Its a nine-person unelected legislature thats too often created new law at the expense of the elected legislature. (No matter how useless theyve been, its still not the way to do things.)This sham of a process takes a bit of shine off the courts legitimacy. And I only hope that continues.I also hope that the new justice is a strict Originalist, though I think Im aiming a bit high.Lets not pretend The Constitution, as it stands, is worth the parchment its printed on.Since Dishonest Abe destroyed the thing in aid of saving the union, its been little more than a hindrance to those who seize - yes, seize - power.If you disagree with that statement, do this for a goof:Have a look at US History from Lincoln through Wilson through FDR and tell me what you come up with.The country at the start of your search will bear little resemblance to the country at the end of your search.And from there, it didnt get better, which is why were in the mess were in right now.To brazenly exclude over 94% of your population from the most important court in the land is something one could only get away with when the machine is broken.And America is broken right now.I wish the answer were a Red Wave this November, but Id be fooling myself.Itll be interesting to see how Republicans react to this.My guess is that to court the minority vote, theyll just go along with it.I imagine that unless the nominee disgraces herself in the Senate chamber, shell sail through the process.She probably would have done so without this Presidential Pre-Announcement.Lets see how it goes.Either way, its not the way things should work.Have a great weekend!All the best,Sean
The Pentagon’s Velvet Rope
Posted September 29, 2026
By Sean Ring
Every good nightclub has two things: people with money and a bouncer deciding who gets in. The Pentagon has an enormous amount of the first. Congress has been working on the second. And a handful of mining and manufacturing companies could find themselves inside a very profitable party.
From Athens with Contempt
Posted September 28, 2026
By Sean Ring
America spent decades convincing other countries that its friendship was worth having. Then its ambassador to Greece allegedly explained, over dinner, that their governments were replaceable. Beijing couldn’t have written a better sales pitch. And it didn’t even have to pick up the check.
The Lost Round Trip
Posted September 25, 2026
By Sean Ring
In 1884, a dollar bought roughly what it had bought before the Civil War. Try imagining that today: twenty years after a 75% inflationary surge, the price level had retraced the entire move. America once had inflation that went away.
The Hunt for Red November
Posted September 24, 2026
By Sean Ring
The most dangerous voter in American politics this November may be the Republican who does absolutely nothing. He doesn’t have to switch parties. He doesn’t have to put a Mamdani sign on his lawn, discover a sudden enthusiasm for socialism, or start watching MSNBC. He merely has to stay home. And the first bits of election data suggest quite a few of them may be thinking about doing exactly that.
The Straits Strangle
Posted September 23, 2026
By Sean Ring
Two superpowers guard the gate. The Houthis hold the key.
The Price Behind the Price
Posted September 22, 2026
By Jim Rickards
Oil at $105 is bad enough. The trouble is that $105 is the price everyone can see. If you actually need physical crude delivered to a refinery, the market is telling a nastier story. Cargo premiums are rising, diesel has traded at the equivalent of roughly $180 a barrel, and crack spreads have blown out to extraordinary levels. The Iran war’s economic damage was delayed by reserves, rerouting and extra production. It wasn’t avoided. Now the price behind the price is starting to hit home.