It’s Friday, November 22nd, 2019…but before we begin, Jim Geraghty relates…

“Why I’m not riveted by the impeachment hearings, as summarized by two quotes that other morning newsletter run by Politico:

Quote one: “As of right now, every single Republican would vote against impeachment in the House, multiple senior-level GOP lawmakers and aides told us.”

Quote two: “Despite what Speaker Nancy Pelosi says publicly, every single Democrat we speak to is completely certain that they will impeach Trump. No more facts are needed, they say.”

Whatever impeachment is supposed to be, it has turned into just another partisan battle — just like our Supreme Court confirmation hearings, almost all of our legislation, most of our national security discussions, most of our efforts regarding the economy…”

In other words, it’s straight out of Alice in Wonderland:

Or, as this meme forwarded by Speed Mach suggests…

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First up, writing at Best of the Web, Jim Freeman recounts how Bernie’s…

Scaring Voters

Most Americans don’t want to abolish their health plans.

“At Wednesday’s Democratic presidential campaign debate, MSNBC viewers can expect that once again Sen. Bernie Sanders will claim credit for writing “the damn bill” that would end private health plans. But the good news for patients is that voters don’t seem to want the bill enacted. Two new polls find that a government-run health system remains a tough sale.

CNN’s Grace Sparks reports today:

A CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll in Iowa finds that a majority of likely Democratic caucusgoers would prefer a health care option that isn’t “Medicare for All.”

About a third (36%) want Medicare for All while another third (34%) want to create a public option for buy in and 20% would prefer to restore lost provisions from the Affordable Care Act and work incrementally from there.

Together, a majority (54%) would prefer an option that isn’t Medicare for All, while only 36% prefer the more liberal alternative.

This poll’s sponsors and the research company that conducted the survey, Selzer & Company, deserve some credit for describing the Sanders plan to survey participants as “a Medicare for All plan that eliminates private health insurance and covers everyone through a government-run program similar to Medicare.”

Whether the resulting system would be “similar” to current Medicare is up for debate. But the pollsters in this case rightly pointed out to survey participants that what politicians call “Medicare for All” not only eliminates private health plans but also replaces existing Medicare.

Also today, Drew Altman of the Kaiser Family Foundation writes in Axios on other survey data finding greater Democratic support for a government health care takeover, but significant opposition from independents in states expected to be key battlegrounds in the 2020 election.

Mr. Altman says that his outfit and the Cook Political Report polled in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He adds:

62% of Democratic voters in those states say a Medicare for All plan that eliminates private insurance is a good idea — while 62% of swing voters in these battleground states say it’s a bad idea.

…Who are the people drawn to a candidate promising to abolish private health plans? Matt Pearce of the Los Angeles Times offers an interesting study of the Sanders voter:

“When I’m lying in the morgue, they’ll know I fought in the revolution, I did my best,” said campaign volunteer Gina Franklin, 62, of Marion, Iowa, showing off a Sanders tattoo on her forearm at a recent phonebanking session.

…Mr. Pearce has more in the L.A. Times:

Aric Nielsen, 23, of Omaha, who attended the Council Bluffs rally, described himself as a “fiscal socialist” who supported Sanders in 2016 but now prefers Buttigieg.

Nielsen thinks the Indiana mayor has a better shot of beating President Trump because of his military service and his conciliatory style. Nielsen works with “very conservative, blue-collar people” who do trenchwork for a nonunion excavation firm, and their responses to Sanders are “ ‘Blah!’ Disgust.”

“Once you throw in the term ‘socialism,’ people just freak out,” said Nielsen, who was wearing a pro-Sanders shirt. “It’s all, ‘We don’t want to give free [stuff] away…You need to work for what you get.’ “

If Mr. Nielsen thinks such comments represent freaking out, wait until he sees how patients respond to the abolition of their health plans.“

In a related item, the WSJ‘s Kimberly Strassel details…

Warren’s Medicare Blunder

She makes her plan slightly less radical. That’s likely to leave everyone unhappy.

“Sen. Elizabeth Warren admitted last Friday that she had made a colossal, potentially fatal, campaign error—and immediately proceeded to make it worse. If the Warren presidential bid flops, this will be the moment to mark…”

Since we’re on the subject of Progressives utterly detached from reality, FOX News informs us how an…

Ohio woman wearing fur is stabbed by animal-rights activist in church

“An Ohio animal rights activist allegedly stabbed a woman in a church on Wednesday because she was wearing fur. Police believe that Meredith Lowell, 35, stabbed the woman wearing fur boots based on a prior arrest in 2012, in which Lowell was charged with attempting to hire a hitman to kill a person wearing fur.

…In 2012, Lowell allegedly posted several times on social media looking for someone willing to kill a person wearing fur. “I would like to create an online community on Facebook which would allow me to find someone who is willing to kill someone who is wearing fur toward the end of October 2011 or early November 2011 or possibly January 2012 or February 2012 at the latest,” Lowell wrote, according to the indictment.

After multiple evaluations, psychologists determined Lowell was not competent to stand trial because of mental disease or defect.

…Prosecutors said she had passed a handwritten note to jail guards shortly after her 2012 arrest. The note stated that if Lowell were to be released, she would contract another hit man to kill a person wearing fur or even do the deed herself, according to prosecutors.

However, a forensic evaluation later determined that though she was not competent to stand trial, did not pose a risk to herself, the general public or to property…”

“Fast-forward to 2018, when Lowell reportedly stabbed a woman. Her motives were unknown. She was charged with felonious assault and released on a $5,000 bond. Her case was transferred to mental health court, specialized for individuals with documented mental health issues.“

We won’t hold our breath waiting for Ms. Lowell to be charged with a hate crime on top of attempted murder…sorry, “felonious assault”.  After all, doesn’t everyone who stabs another human being for wearing fur only intend on teaching them a lesson?!?

Then there’s this ironic video from the Dean of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism in response to the recent anti-First Amendment opposition voiced by some of his students:

“Public thinks of journalism as advocacy, and many of our students, when they start, think of journalism as advocacy as well, and we quickly try to disabuse them of that notion” — Charles Whitaker, Dean of @MedillSchool of Journalism at Northwestern U, on CNN’s @ReliableSources pic.twitter.com/1BuGFOx3nX

— Brent Baker (@BrentHBaker) November 17, 2019

“Ironic” because he recorded it with the “George ‘Can’t Stands Ya'” Lookalike Contest winner, on the cable network most-closely related with the term “Fake News“.

Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side, thanks today in large part by Ed Hickey:

Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with another sordid story straight from The Crime Blotter, courtesy today of yet another urban “leader” facing significant time in stir for abusing their office:

Former Baltimore Mayor Charged with Fraud, Faces up to 20 Years in Prison

“Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh was indicted on Tuesday on multiple federal charges, including fraud and tax evasion.

In March, federal authorities began investigating allegations that Pugh made $500,000 from selling her children’s book Healthy Holly to the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) while she was serving on the UMMS board. It was then revealed that health insurance provider Kaiser Permanente had paid Pugh $100,000 for 20,000 copies of the book, at the same time the company was seeking a contract to insure city employees.

…Pugh will be arraigned on Thursday in Washington, D.C. district court. She faces a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted.“

With the emphasis on “if“.  Hells bells, if Pugh stands trial in D.C., the jury will likely want to award her a medal and monetary damages.

Magoo