It’s Wednesday, April 24th, 2019…but before we begin, here’s another picture worth far more than a mere thousand words:

It’s priceless.  C.S. Lewis had more wisdom and common sense in his earlobes than every member of the Progressive movement combined…since its inception. 

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First up, in an nonsensical attempt to defend the indefensible, i.e., single-payer healthcare…

Ocasio-Cortez declares VA ‘isn’t broken,’ already provides top-notch care

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., claimed during a recent town hall event that the Department of Veterans Affairs “isn’t broken” and is actually providing “some of the highest quality” care to veterans. “All I can think of is that classic refrain that my parents always taught me growing up, is that: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’” she said in New York, as part of her argument against privatizing aspects of the scandal-scarred agency’s work.

…Ocasio-Cortez’s comments were aimed at Trump administration efforts to expand choice and private health care options in the VA health care system, particularly via the MISSION Act — signed into law by President Trump last year.“

Which just goes to prove not only has AOC no personal experience WHATSOEVER with the VA “health” system, it further confirms the woman is either: (a) dangerously ignorant; (b) an accomplished liar; or, (c) completely crazy.

Or, as we’d maintain, all three.

Her utterly erroneous claim is as much a response to Trump’s efforts to improve veteran healthcare via limited privatization as an anticipatory attempt by Progressives to shield their dream of socialized medicine from the harsh reality of its only functioning…make that MALfunctioning…example.

Since we’re on the subject of harsh realities Progressives refuse to recognize, writing at NRO, Andy McCarthy offers his expert opinion on…

“The most interesting new disclosure to come out of Attorney General William Barr’s press conference on the Mueller report was about obstruction of justice.

As I pointed out in a Fox News column this morning, the obstruction issue was one of the main reasons why the media-Democrat complex’s caterwauling about Barr’s unremarkable decision to hold a press conference was ludicrous. Special Counsel Mueller declined to render a prosecutorial judgment on whether obstruction charges should be brought against the president. Since it is the attorney general who made the judgment, for that reason alone it was worth hearing from him this morning.

…The problem we have when a prosecutor makes a decision that implicates politics is that an unreal standard is imposed. For a prosecutor, either there is enough evidence of a crime or there is not. There is no gray area in between. But in reality, there is more gray area than anything else. The fact that no crime is found does not mean the underlying conduct merits our endorsement. It is common sense that we can conclude the president did not handle each of the ten incidents in a way we find admirable, and at the same time agree that the president’s conduct was not felonious.

Common sense is in short supply, though.“

Speaking of common sense, courtesy of Townhall.com, Cortney O’Brien relates how an…

Openly Gay Trump Admin Member Compares Buttigieg to Jussie Smollett

“South Bend, Indiana Mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg insists on picking a fight with Vice President Mike Pence, but so far he’s been disappointed. Pence has “no problem” with Buttigieg, having worked with him when he was governor of Indiana. He’s known him for years. Still, the mayor insists that Pence’s belief in traditional marriage and his views on homosexuality are bigoted and backward.

U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is also gay, yet he took Pence’s side on this one. In a recent Fox News interview, he not only defended the Pences’ character, but he went so far as to accuse Buttigieg of staging a “hate hoax” in the same vein as “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

Pence, Grenell shared, has warmly “accepted” him and his partner, and have always extended to them Christian hospitality. Buttigieg, meanwhile, “has been pushing this hate hoax along the lines of Jussie Smollett for a very long time now.”

Grenell finds it “really ironic” that Buttigieg waited to speak out against Pence until he announced his campaign for president…”

We’d suggest an alternate comparison: Christine Ballsey Ford failing to recollect anything about Brett Kavanaugh until after he was nominated to Supreme Court.

Next up, an incident which we believe, at least when it comes to the FBI, reveals the Deep State is alive and well and living under Team Trump:

FBI arrests leader of armed group stopping migrants in New Mexico

Obviously, in the best tradition of the MSM’s comparison between the son Obama never had and George Zimmerman…

…NOT Hopkins’ best look.

You’ll recall this was in response to the efforts of an organization which, heretofore, without any publicity or public complaint, had detained some 5,600 illegal immigrants for the U.S. Border Patrol.

SERIOUSLY…(pardon our French)…but WTF is going to patrol our southern border UNARMED…particularly in view of recent actions by the Mexican Army…

Mexican Troops Disarmed American Soldiers On U.S. Side Of Border

U.S. soldiers attempted to “de-escalate a potential volatile situation.”

Their expressions of concern for conditions NORTH of the border notwithstanding!!!

Here’s the juice: sorry, though we could be wrong, this smells like a Liberal-licensed scam.

First, these are CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS, NOT “migrants”…NOT “asylum-seekers.  And, Progressive protestations to the contrary getting the consideration they deserve, it’s not a question of whether to secure our southern border…

Meanwhile, the United Constitutional Patriots deny their members pointed firearms at anyone…and until proven otherwise, given Progressives’ penchant for hyperbole, we’ll side with those seeking to enforce the rule of law…volunteer or otherwise.

In a related item, in a forward via Jeff Foutch, Biz Pac Review reveals how the…

U.S. Border Patrol has identified thousands of ‘fraudulent family’ cases

“…“It’s very clear that the cartel and smugglers know the weaknesses in our laws. They know that family units and unaccompanied children will be released with no consequences for their illegal entries,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan stated when he visited the U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas.

McAleenan, who took over the role of DHS chief following Kirstjen Nielsen’s resignation, said Tuesday marked a new record in single-day border crossings, with over 4,800 people crossing in a 24-hour period. Nearly 1,000 of those apprehended on Tuesday came in just three big groups.

Thousands of families, the acting DHS chief said, have arrived at the border only to be discovered to be lying about their kinship. The department is now buckling down on migrant child recycling rings. “The same child is brought across the border with an adult multiple times to try and gain that release that family units are required under court order,” he said…”

Then there’s a question was raised by another child about the legitimacy of Beto’s charitable contributions:

Or, perhaps more accurately, his lack thereof:

Beto could have offered a far shorter, much more accurate answer: “Because I’m a Socialist, and I therefore believe in giving away OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY!”

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

Then there’s these gems from Jimmy Crilley…

…G. Trevor…

…and finally Balls Cotton:

Which leaves us wondering, which is the uglier dog: the one on the right…or the one wearing the blue muumuu?!?

Magoo