It’s Wednesday, July 12th, 2017…but before we begin, two quick questions: first, what’s “douchebag” in German?

Very good.  Now, what’s “douche pump” en Espanol?

Si, Jorge Lopez; muy bueno, mi amigo!

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First up, writing at White House Dossier, Keith Koffler poses a provocative point:

We Are Probably on a Path to War With North Korea

I think a war with North Korea is coming. Maybe soon. And I don’t know what their capabilities are here, although I doubt they are robust. But I think people should prepare for it. Some supplies, a few extra rounds. Can’t hurt.

…Bill Clinton already allowed North Korea to have nuclear weapons. Because he was a terribly irresponsible man and an irresponsible president, and also, a pussy. The current president, whatever you think of him, is not a pussy. He will act if he is convinced he must.

I deal in bottom lines. Where there is a bottom line, there are not alternatives. And the bottom line is that no president can allow North Korea to be able to hit the United States with nuclear weapons. We cannot operate in a world where North Korea can dictate our policies. And we cannot risk the existential threat of allowing a proven madman the capability to eviscerate Los Angeles on a whim.

…I know that the consequences of war for the South Koreans will be horrific. Hopefully not as horrific as predicted. One can only pray. But this has to move forward. I don’t think pressure on China to influence the North Koreans is going to work. We can continue to try. And we can continue to do whatever we are doing to undermine the North Korean regime. Please, keep trying to poison Kim Jong-Un’s bulgogi.

I do not underestimate the consequences of war. I fear it greatly. But I also don’t underestimate the consequences of a nuclear North Korea.“

Nor should one underestimate the capability for unreasoned violence of a man who’s repeatedly and unhesitatingly ordered the slaughter of his own family in order to cling to power.

Here’s the juice: while we’re in no position to gauge the depth of Kim’s propensity towards suicide, we’re relatively certain the Mutually Assured Destruction scenario which guided U.S.-Soviet relations through the Cold War isn’t applicable to this third-generation despot.

And it is by no means a stretch to believe, if push comes to shove, Kim might well opt for the course chosen by another, equally-blood-thirsty dictator who selected suicide for himself…

…only after ensuring the annihilation of a significant segment of his country.

Much as we despise California Liberals, we for one would rather see Pyongyang incinerated before L.A.

Since we’re on the subject of the unreasoned and deranged, courtesy of Townhall.com, Dennis Prager offers one-stop shopping for those still seeking to understand contemporary Progressivism, as…

The Atlantic Publishes All You Need to Know About the Left

“Last week, The Atlantic rendered a great service to those of us who contend that America is in the midst of a civil war between the right and the left. It provided a smoking gun — actually, the gunshot itself — to those of us who contend that the left (never to be confused with liberals) is intent on dismantling Western civilization.

It published articles by two left-wing writers, one by Peter Beinart titled “The Racial and Religious Paranoia of Trump’s Warsaw Speech,” and one by its national correspondent, James Fallows, written on the same theme as Beinart’s. The subject of both articles was President Donald Trump’s speech in Warsaw, Poland, last week, a speech described by The Wall Street Journal as “a determined and affirmative defense of the Western tradition.” Yet, to the Atlantic writers, defending Western civilization is nothing more than a defense of white racism.

Beinart begins his piece saying: “In his speech in Poland on Thursday, Donald Trump referred 10 times to ‘the West’ and five times to ‘our civilization.’ His white nationalist supporters will understand exactly what he means. It’s important that other Americans do, too.” And Fallows begins saying, “what he called ‘civilization’ … boils down to ties of ethnicity and blood.”

Is there one liberal or conservative American who thinks that the words “the West” and “Western civilization” mean a celebration of white-blood purity? I doubt it.

What we have here are two vital lessons. One is that leftism is the primary racist ideology of our time, seeing everything in terms of race, whereas mainstream liberalism and conservatism advocate a race-blind society as manifest in Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “content of his character” line. The left disdains this view.

…The second service provided by The Atlantic writers is proof that the left loathes Western civilization and therefore has become the internal enemy of Western civilization both in America and Europe.

…Those of us who have long equated the left with opposition to Western civilization are vindicated…”

As we’ve so often observed, Liberalism is a mental disorder; are you doing your part…

…to stamp it out?!?

And in the Environmental Moment, James Freeman poses an intriguing question at the WSJ:

Guess How Many Cars Tesla Can Sell Without Taxpayer Subsidies

In March, shortly after the tax change was announced and ahead of the April 1 deadline, 2,939 Tesla vehicles were registered there—almost twice as many as in the last six months of 2016.

The end of the tax exemption “has really put the brakes on electric-vehicle adoption in Hong Kong,” said Mark Webb-Johnson, a founder of Charged Hong Kong, a group that promotes electric vehicles. As a result of the new policy, the cost of a basic Tesla Model S four-door car in Hong Kong​ has effectively risen to around $130,000 from less than $75,000.

Hong Kong’s decision is effective through March 2018, and the government has said it would review the policy before then…”

Yeah,…and Social Security and the State Retirement System of Illinois are both solvent!

In another Environazi-related item forwarded by Jeff Foutch…

Russians tried to influence US energy markets, House Republicans say

“Two senior Republicans on the US House Science, Space, and Technology Committee asked Treasury Sec. Steven T. Mnuchin to investigate allegations that Russian state-sponsored entities funneled money to US environmental organizations opposed to fossil fuels in an effort to disrupt domestic energy markets.

“If you connect the dots, it is clear that Russia is funding US environmental groups in an effort to suppress our domestic oil and gas industry, specifically hydraulic fracturing,” Committee Chairman LaMar Smith (Tex.) said on July 7 as he released a letter he and Energy Subcommittee Chairman Randy Weber (Tex.) sent to Mnuchin.

“They have established an elaborate scheme that funnels money through shell companies in Bermuda. This scheme may violate federal law and certainly distorts the US energy market,” Smith asserted…”

Regardless of whether the claims of Smith and Weber are accurate, as Best of the Web records…

“…Leaving aside the specific question of which vehicles Putin’s government uses to conduct influence campaigns, the two Texas Republicans aren’t the only ones who have made the more general accusation that Russia has been funding green front groups to disrupt energy supplies that would compete with Russian oil and gas. If a document posted last year on WikiLeaks is to be believed, Clinton campaign staff summarized in an email attachment Hillary Clinton’s remarks on the subject during a private speech:

Clinton Talked About “Phony Environmental Groups” Funded By The Russians To Stand Against Pipelines And Fracking. “We were up against Russia pushing oligarchs and others to buy media. We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand against any effort, oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you, and a lot of the money supporting that message was coming from Russia.” [Remarks at tinePublic, 6/18/14]

Reading further into the speech summaries in the WikiLeaks document, this column is struck by how much more sensible Mrs. Clinton’s private remarks were compared to her public positions…”

Which begs the question why Comrade Clinton…

…still saw fit to sell Putin a 20% interest in Uranium One; other than of course…

Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side…

Then there’s a few perfectly-timed photos forwarded by G. Trevor:

Pretty cool!

Finally, we’ll call it a day with this corker from Cortney O’Brien and Townhall.com:

Politico Scolds Rubio for Tweeting Out ‘Republican’ Part of the Bible

Did you know the book of Proverbs was written by a Republican? A biblical scholar at Politico Magazine tried to convince their readers of that conclusion over the weekend when they tweeted out this headline, “Marco Rubio Is Tweeting the Most Republican Part of the Bible.”

In the piece, Joel S. Baden, who is an associate professor of the Old Testament at the Yale Divinity School, argues that Republicans love to quote Proverbs because it emphasizes how God rewards hard work:

Some of the statements in Proverbs look strikingly similar to those made by modern-day conservative policymakers. Take, for example, Representative Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who, arguing that poorer people should pay more for health care, recently said, “Those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy.” It’s not quite a direct quote from Proverbs, but it’s not too far from these: “The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry” (Proverbs10:3) and “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (Proverbs 10:4). In short: Proverbs is probably the most Republican book of the entire Bible.

Baden accused Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) of using “confirmation bias” to justify his conservative worldview, since he has been tweeting several Proverbs quotes in recent weeks. He would be better served, Baden said, by quoting Ecclesiastes or the New Testament, which does not sound as favorable to the wealthy.

Rubio had an amusing response:

The senator continues to be unfazed by Baden’s lecture. On Monday, he tweeted out another Proverbs verse:

Since Professor Baden suggested Ecclesiastes, how about Chapter 3, verses 12 & 13: “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God.”

As for the New Testament, imagine Liberals living under Paul’s stricture in his second letter to the Thessalonians: “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat‘.” (II Thess. 3:10)

And need we remind this learned theologian, as Paul observes in II Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

We say again, “all” scripture…not just the parts Progressives want to cherry-pick.

Magoo