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Good Friday Morning! Except for one of the craziest women I’ve ever read about. A woman in China made medical news this week because she was so thoroughly terrified of the sun and getting a tan that she covered every square inch of her body and applied sunscreen to avoid direct sunlight. She’d do this and carry multiple umbrellas to cover her entire body.
That, in turn, triggered such a bad case of vitamin D deficiency that her bones started breaking from the weight of her own body. Her extreme osteoporosis set in because her body never encountered sunlight.
How’s that for insane? Speaking of things that don’t want light shown on them, I’m diving back into the Biden cover-up this week. I’m wrapping up my thoughts on “Original Sin” and the things the authors miss in the book – links to follow.
Quick Hits:
- Tapper and Thompson go to The Free Press. The press tour for “Original Sin” continues, which debuted this week at number one on The New York Times bestseller list and has remained at the top of Amazon’s charts for at least the past week. Last week, I recommended Megyn Kelly’s show. This week, I’m recommending Bari Weiss’s interview with them on YouTube at The Free Press. Weiss does a good job of hitting all the points you’d expect but does press them in ways that other interviewers haven’t. Watch for free on YouTube.
- The American Almanac is growing! I want to express my continuing thanks to those of you who subscribe, share, and help us grow. You can subscribe here for free.
Where you can find me this week
Please subscribe, rate, and review The Horse Race on YouTube — the reviews help listeners, and readers like you find me. Make sure to sign up for the Conservative Institute’s daily newsletter and The American Almanac.
Yes, The Press Was Part Of The Biden Health Cover-Up – Conservative Institute
If Biden’s Cover-up Is Worse Than Watergate Then Where Is Jail-time? – Conservative Institute
Elon Musk’s DOGE Legacy Should Be Followed – Conservative Institute
“Original Sin” And The Missing Facts We Know
I thought last week would be my list foray into discussing “Original Sin,” but it will be this week. I finished the second half of the book and wanted to touch on a few themes that emerged towards the end.
It is one of the more frustrating books to read during a period we just lived through. It’s not even a year-old event. The Biden-Trump debate was held on June 27, 2024. One year ago, everyone was still covering for Biden.
Since then, we’ve gone from Biden is fine to him dropping out of the race, Harris losing to Trump in the election, and now the “real stories” are being told, and somehow Biden also has stage four prostate cancer. It’s objectively wild.
However, I would like to focus on the second half of the book. During the Free Press interview, Weiss asks them point-blank if they’ve talked to certain people. They claim they can’t reveal sources. However, in the book and in that interview, it’s exceedingly clear they spoke to the following people:
- Chuck Schumer
- Nancy Pelosi
- Barack Obama
- Hakeem Jefferies
The Pelosi coverage is fascinatingly scant. She did not want to feature in this book, whereas Schumer and Obama did.
Why does this matter? For two reasons: 1) Schumer and Obama are trying to position themselves as a kind of power broker in this affair and make themselves look good. 2) Pelosi, the real kingmaker, has already done her victory lap and isn’t letting others determine what she looks like.
Tapper and Thompson happily let prominent Democratic figures remain anonymous. And while they never admit to talking to the big players, they very clearly did, as evidenced by their direct quotes.
What this does is warp history. Tapper and Thompson miss two huge things, which suggests that their reporting is incomplete. First, according to them, Chuck Schumer is the one who drove Biden out of the race. They have no reporting on Pelosi meeting with Biden to push him out of the race – this is something we know happened.
Second, they claim Biden dropped out the day he decided to do it, which was a Sunday. This overlooks the reporting by Mark Halperin on July 18, which correctly noted that Biden was dropping out on Thursday of that week and accurately captured critical details. I wrote about it in my newsletter that week.
I’m not saying Chuck Schumer played no role in Biden dropping out, but the way he’s trying to position himself in “Original Sin” as the critical decisionmaker is unsupported by history. Nancy Pelosi forced Biden out. She appeared on MSNBC and gave Democrats room to reject Biden, and then directly pressured Biden to drop out of the race.
Everyone knows this. It’s an open secret. Pelosi, however, refused to talk as much for this book.
The other person who bizarrely presents himself is Barack Obama. The man, arguably, who should know Biden better than most since they served together in the White House.
Obama does this thing where, in every scene of the book, he breezes in and makes aloof observations before heading out. And at no point does he admit or acknowledge anything about Biden’s condition. He never allows himself to be in a position to claim he knew Biden was in decline; he always trots out vague excuses before stepping off the stage of the book.
It’s classic Obama. It’s similar, in some respects, to the George Clooney sections of the book, where Clooney clearly tries to portray himself as a highly sought-after political player who is too busy with Hollywood to talk to all the Democratic Governors, Senators, and representatives knocking on his door.
Here’s the reality: Pelosi forced Biden out. She was the central player in everything. Schumer was second fiddle to Pelosi.
Obama wanted Biden out, too. However, he wanted Biden out, as well as an open convention, which would effectively sideline Kamala Harris as well.
There’s a hilarious scene where James Clyburn, the long-serving representative from South Carolina, is asked by some extremely hopeful Democrats if they can somehow get Biden and Harris off the ticket for a “unity ticket” of Midwest senators/Governors. Clyburn says he will consider their offer if they do one thing: go poll African Americans and ask them what their turnout would be if the Democratic Party tossed Harris to the side. The Democrats he asked to never return to him.
Obama was under a similar delusion: he wanted Biden and Harris out, with a convention that he could broker. He wanted to flex his weight in the party to shift it towards him. The obstacle in his way was Harris. The only way to get around her was to force Michelle onto the ticket, an option he was never able to exercise because Harris outflanked him. Their silence is the answer.
Now, Obama’s star is dimming even more. NBC News reported this week that Democrats are wanting to move on from the former president and his aides:
More Democrats are openly criticizing Obama strategists and consultants, who were long treated as the high priests of their party’s politics. Democratic National Committee officials at a news event last month blamed Obama’s lack of investment in state parties over his two terms for setting back local organizing, with the party still feeling the effects. The so-called Obama coalition of voters — less politically engaged voters, younger voters and voters of color — is no more. In 2024, each of those groups shifted toward Trump in high numbers.
Going forward, it could mark a clean slate for a party whose course for nearly two decades cascaded from decisions Obama had made. It was Obama who chose Biden as his vice president, offering him the elevated perch that set up his 2020 election and his aborted 2024 re-election. Obama selected Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, then anointed her for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 race against Trump. The operatives Obama and his top aides empowered have carved out leading, decision-making roles at the top of the Democratic Party since then.
The remarkable thing about Trump’s three elections is that he has accomplished three things: 1) Destroyed the Clinton dynasty. 2) Destroyed the Biden family. 3) Destroyed the Obama legacy.
Reflect on the rise of Barack Obama in 2008, when he emerged onto the world stage. Now consider the following: the man does not have a long-lasting legacy in the United States. FDR had his acolytes, and Reagan his supporters. Barack Obama has neither a successor to continue his legacy nor a movement of people. It’s gone.
The Cook Political Report sums it up like this: “The Obama Coalition Turned Into the Trump Coalition.”
When you realize this is the reality, you must incorporate it into the “Original Sin” narrative. Pelosi talks the least because she has nothing to prove. Schumer talks the most because he’s inflating his accomplishments. And Obama has nothing to show for all his machinations, so he tries to play it cool.
Tapper and Thompson appear wholly unaware of how they’re being used by the political players involved. However, for me, once you start poking holes in their reporting, the glaring weaknesses become apparent. They don’t have the whole story. And I can’t even tell if they’re aware of that fact.
In any case, if you’re looking for a frustrating read, I recommend it. Unfortunately for the Biden family, a paperback version of this book is also being released. Tapper and Thompson say they’re working on new material for the paperback edition. So we’re going to get another news cycle of the things in this book.
Congress has a lot to investigate moving forward.
Links of the week
Amid Courtroom Spectacles, Senate Should Confirm Emil Bove – RealClearPolitics
Hispanic Moderates’ Big Swing Right: The bottom is falling out of Democratic support. – Liberal Patriot
Trump Admin Institutes 80-Hour Constitution Course for ‘Deep State’ Execs – RealClearPolitics
Harvard’s bogus ‘free speech’ claim — 1st Amendment doesn’t make taxpayers cough up cash – NYPost
X/Twitter Thread(s) of the week
Drew Holden comparing media coverage to the truth of “Origianl Sin.”
Satire of the week
Owner Gives Detailed Preamble For Why Dog Named Mr. Dog – Onion
Elon Musk Leaves Job Of Making Government More Efficient For Much Easier Job Of Sending Humans To Mars – Babylon Bee
Man Claiming to Multitask Actually Just Making a Lot of Different Mistakes at the Same Time – The Hard Times
Spidey Sense Fails To Detect Pyramid Scheme – The Hard Drive
90% Of Irish Towns Not As Well Planned Out As Play Mat Everyone Had As A Kid – Waterford Whispers News
Thanks for reading!