Zuck Doesn't Suck?

 

Friends, remember how elated we were when Elon Musk took over Twitter and turned it into a platform where conservatives wouldn't be treated like pariahs and psycho killers?  We saw it as a mighty victory over the censorship complex that the Left and its fellow travelers had built, and we were right.  Well, the ongoing transformation of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc., into a company that respects free speech and treats Donald Trump like the global statesman he is, rather than a carnival huckster/insurrectionist, is equally significant and, in its own way, even more remarkable.  A few years ago, Facebook banned Trump indefinitely.  Now Mark Zuckerberg is dining with Trump, donating to his inauguration, and appointing a Republican (!) to head his global policy team.  Wow!  What a difference a few years makes.  Is all of this a response to Trump's big election victory?  Yes and no.  It's also, I would argue, a response to the growing popularity of conservative ideas, as well as the escalating alienation of leftists from popular opinion, simple decency and open-mindedness, and objective reality.  In any case, whatever improves conservatives' access to these critical online forums and to public discourse in general is a very good thing.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/02/tech/meta-nick-clegg-stepping-down-joel-kaplan/index.html 

Listen in to this week's Newsmakers show and you'll learn my thoughts on the recent terrorist incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas, the reelection of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House, Liz Cheney's latest honor from the leftist establishment, the upcoming MAGA rally before the official presidential inauguration, the ramifications of Chinese hacking, the debate over H1B visas, Sleepy Joe's commutations of most federal death sentences, the prospects for U.S. territorial expansion, the impact of Jimmy Carter on American political life, the challenges involved in "making America healthy again", and the degree to which some MAGA goals may or may not be a "lost" cause.  Wow!

When we get to This Day in History, Brian and I also consider LBJ's "Great Society" programs and the proper role of government in our lives.

 

That's about half an hour of pure, unadulterated Waddy!!!  Man, oh man!  Can you have too much of a good thing?  We're about to find out...

https://rumble.com/v65togg-wlea-newsmaker-january-4-2025-sheriff-jim-allard-dr.-nick-waddy.html

On Thin Ice

 

Friends, let us all congratulate and commiserate with Mike Johnson, who has been reelected Speaker of the House, with Donald Trump's fulsome support, and will now have to battle (vainly?) to shove Trump's agenda through a recalcitrant legislative body.  Will he get America where it needs to go?  Will he even survive as Speaker for two full years?  Who can say.  What we know for sure is that Republicans have averted disaster for at least a few days, and that's better than...the obvious alternative!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/speaker-mike-johnson-is-trying-to-save-his-job-as-a-new-congress-convenes/ar-AA1wU6Nh

 

Meta's transformation from woke, Trump-bashing digital megaphone to even-handed, Trump-friendly online marketplace of ideas has been, in grand historical terms, remarkably speedy.  The same platform that banned Trump four years ago is now embracing him, and conservatism, rather brazenly.  One assumes that the Left will gird itself to punish and boycott Meta, which is okay by me, because that will only confirm Zuckerberg and friends in the assumption that the progressives have gone off the deep end.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2025/01/03/mark-zuckerbergs-meta-replaces-global-head-of-policy-nick-clegg-with-republican-joel-kaplan/ 

The Best of Times?

 

 

Friends, 2025 promises to be a wondrous experience for Trump supporters, and a deeply disspirting one for Trump haters.  Of course, Trump isn't the ONLY person or thing that will define the year ahead.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on what the top stories of 2025 are likely to be...

In the meantime, if you're a typical denizen of the internets, you're probably dealing with a lot of anger and self-loathing.  Not to worry!  WaddyIsRight has your back.  Here are some tips on how to make 2025 your happiest year yet...  I recommend buying (or renting) a puppy.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241231-eight-ways-to-stay-happier-this-year-according-to-science

 

China is getting increasingly bold in its hacking of Western companies, governments, and opinion leaders.  What does this mean?  If we retaliate, which presumably we will, could this digital cold war escalate into a hot one?  

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86w2evj05do 

The recent airplane crash in South Korea is a real puzzlement.  Some aspects of it just don't seem to add up.  Hopefully in the days ahead we'll have more to go on.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9g40v898do

 

Lastly, feel free to reflect on the passing of Jimmy Carter.  In my humble opinion, he was a mediocre president, at best, but it's certainly conceivable that he could have won reelection and thus forestalled the Reagan Revolution.  Indeed, that's what almost all insiders and experts expected.  Democracy can really throw us a curveball now and then, no?