How do You Like Will Now?...

...How do you like him now?

Good Tuesday morn, Stroock's Books Caucus. We write from our old new, (or is it new old?), coffeeshop. The music sucks but the coffee is less meh than usual. Maybe we're just becoming acclimated to mediocrity. One thing we've noticed since this place changed hands, there's a tonne of Door Dash delivery traffic here. The owners have a separate que for Door Dash and business is conducted in Spanish.  When we leave there's often a gaggle of kind of shady looking guys loitering outside, smoking and waiting for their next delivery. 

Breitbart tells us: 'Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the shocking decision to recommend Republicans block the advancement of the Senate pro-migration border bill.' Wow! Mitch sensed the moment and realized how much the GOP base hates the bill. McConnell reversed course during the Dem's second impeachment of Trump, when he realized the base still supported the president. Exit question: did McConnell outmaneuver the regime by getting it to write a bill most Americans hate and pinning the border crises on Joe? Is Cocaine Mitch back?* 

Over in the Middle East, the Israeli Defense Force makes war and prepares to make war. The 162nd Division is tearing apart Khan Younis in the south. In the north the 98th Division is fighting Hamas units in Gaza City. Yes, the Israelis already fought over this ground. They cleared it, let Hamas come out of hiding, and attacked again. This is better than manning roadblocks and inspecting cars, no? It's almost as if the Israelis have a plan, or something. The 36th Division (including the 188th Armored Brigade and the Golani Brigade) is one of three divisions on the northern border. Exit question: where is the Paratrooper's Brigade. 

Why I don't hate Russia, Comrade Часть 2: Because Putin is totally based.  The man is a dictator, an autocrat, a living Bond Villain. Under Yeltsin, the Russian economy was racked by inflation. Law and order had collapsed. Putin stabilized Russia and turned it into an energy superpower. Also, Putin has killed a lot of Islamic terrorists in Chechnya, Syria and elsewhere. Putin's made himself rich in the Kremlin, the Regime says. So have Barry Soetoro and the Clintons in the White House. Putin's the greatest Russian ruler since Петр I. Putin would be a hell of an ally. But no, the Regime's Ukraine fetish is too important. Note, anon pussies at Nightengale Russia, we didn't say Putin is a great guy. We said he's based. 

Monday not Metal (Supplemental): The indefatigable John Nolte writes a wonderful article about Fast Car, Luke Combs and Tracey Chapman. Do watch the video of Chapman's 1988 performance of Fast Car. One can see her win over a hostile crowd and herself be overcome by the moment. We'll quote another 80's artist again: ain't that America.   

2004 and More: The great Toby Keith has passed on. Twenty years ago this summer we were writing A Line through the Desert and listening to How do you like me Now a lot. This song motivated us to no end, and if one has read ALTD, one would understand why. Thank you, Mr. Keith, for capturing our mood and motivation perfectly:

Well goddamn, that 20-year-old song about something that happened 20 years before is getting us a bit emotional this morning. We used to do stupid shit to impress a girl too. Twenty years later we're a mid-lister among the top 15, maybe top 10 percent of authors in the English-speaking world. How do you like me now? 

*No. Hell no. McConnell, Lankford and the rest of the GOPe love open borders.