Patterico's Pontifications

1/31/2023

Donald Trump Again Chooses Russia’s President Putin Over U.S. Intelligence

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:50 am



[guest post by Dana]

This should be surprising or shocking, but isn’t. Instead, it’s completely expected, and shameful:

Donald Trump has issued his intermittent reminder that he trusts Russian President Vladimir Putin more than intelligence agencies for the government he once led.

The former president posted on his Truth Social platform Monday criticizing U.S. intelligence officials as “misfits” and “lowlifes” while sharing an article about Chris McGonigal, who led the FBI’s New York counterintelligence division before his 2018 retirement. McGonigal was arrested earlier this month over his alleged ties to a Russian oligarch and other charges, including money laundering.

In the post, Trump recalled the 2018 Helsinki summit where he infamously sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence when asked about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A look back at Trump’s admiration for Putin (and for himself):

Speaking on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show in February 2022, Trump described Putin’s tactic of recognizing two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine and sending Russian troops to the regions under the guise of “peacekeeping operations” as “genius” and “very savvy.”

Trump doubled down on his praise of the Russian president, telling a crowd at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that Putin was “pretty smart” as he had “taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions” just as the invasion of Ukraine was being carried out.

Trump has also repeatedly claimed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if he was still president, and would be able to end it now if he was in office.

“My personality kept us out of war,” Trump said at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee’s annual meeting in Salem on Saturday, January 28…”And I told you before, [it] would have never happened with Russia. Putin would have never ever gone in. And even now I could solve that in 24 hours. It’s so horrible what happened. Those cities are demolished now.”

You can read much more here.

How is this not traitorous? And this guy wants to become the next President of the United States…

–Dana

Mitch Daniels Says He Won’t Be Running For Open Indiana Senate Seat

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:09 am



[guest post by Dana]

His statement alone reminds to me why America needs him (and people like him) in the Senate:

After what I hope was adequate reflection, I’ve decided not to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate,” Daniels told POLITICO. “With full credit and respect for the institution and those serving in it, I conclude that it’s just not the job for me, not the town for me, and not the life I want to live at this point.”

“Maybe I can find ways to contribute that do not involve holding elective office. If not, there is so much more to life,” he said. “People obsessed with politics or driven by personal ambition sometimes have difficulty understanding those who are neither. I hope to be understood as a citizen and patriot who thought seriously, but not tediously, about how to be deserving of those labels and simply decided the U.S. Senate was not the only way.”

–Dana

1/30/2023

President Biden Says No F-16s to Ukraine

Filed under: General — Dana @ 3:38 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Today, President Biden was asked whether the United States would send F-16s to Ukraine. The President answered no, saying that the U.S. would not send fighter jets to Ukraine. This despite repeated requests from President Zelensky and military officials pushing the Pentagon to send them.

Mr Biden was addressing reporters upon his return to the White House when he was asked if the US would offer the single-engine multirole fighters to Kyiv.

He replied: “No”.

The president’s statement comes amid a renewed push by Pentagon officials to provide the jets, which are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and used by a variety of US allies, in the wake of his decision to allow Kyiv to acquire American-made M1 Abrams tanks.

President Biden did not comment any further on the situation. Given that he reversed course on sending Abrams after saying that sending tanks would escalate the war, perhaps he will reverse course on the fighter jets as well.

Meanwhile, here is a brief look at what is being sent to Ukraine and by whom:

Ukraine will receive the 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks pledged by the U.K. “this side of the summer,” U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Jan. 30.

France, Australia launch joint artillery shell production for Ukraine.

France and Australia plan to produce several thousand artillery shells for Ukraine in a joint multi-million dollar project, French Defense Minister Sébastian Lecornu said on Jan. 30.

Macron does not rule out sending fighter jets to Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Jan. 30 that multiple conditions must be met before France does so. The jets should not lead to an escalation of tensions or be used to “touch Russian soil.” Macron added that the provision of fighter jets to Ukraine must also not “weaken the capacities of the French army.”

Additionally, Poland is weighing out on sending fighter jets to Ukraine. However, Germany is a hard no:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vehemently opposed the move. “The question of combat aircraft does not arise at all,” he told Tagesspiegel in an interview published on Sunday.

–Dana

Demanding the Impossible: 71 Commands in 13 Minutes

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:27 am



[guest post by Dana]

Here is a link to the graphic videos of the moments leading up to the death of Tyre Nichols. The New York Times provides more details about the insane chaos that took place between Memphis police officers and Nichols on that fateful night in Memphis:

Police officers unleashed a barrage of commands that were confusing, conflicting and sometimes even impossible to obey, a Times analysis of footage from Tyre Nichols’s fatal traffic stop found. When Mr. Nichols could not comply — and even when he managed to — the officers responded with escalating force.

The review of the available footage found that officers shouted at least 71 commands during the approximately 13-minute period before they reported over the radio that Mr. Nichols was officially in custody. The orders were issued at two locations, one near Mr. Nichols’s vehicle and the other in the area he had fled to and where he would be severely beaten. The orders were often simultaneous and contradictory. Officers commanded Mr. Nichols to show his hands even as they were holding his hands. They told him to get on the ground even when he was on the ground. And they ordered him to reposition himself even when they had control of his body.

The report explains that there are protocols in place to diffuse these kinds of situations:

To mitigate the potential for escalation and confusion during police encounters, today’s police training typically calls for a single officer at the scene to issue clear and specific commands. It also requires police officers to respond professionally and proportionately to any perceived act of defiance.

But The Times’s review shows that the officers did the exact opposite, over and over.

The available footage does not show any sign that the officers present intervened to stop the aggressive use of force. If anything, it shows the contrary.

At one point, footage captured an officer saying “I hope they stomp his ass” after Mr. Nichols’s attempt to flee the scene.

Five officers have been fired for violating the department’s policy on the use of force, and are charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression and one count of aggravated assault. A sixth police officer has also been relieved of duty as the investigation continues.

–Dana

1/27/2023

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:56 am



[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

Shame on Stanford:

Reading a book on a college campus should not prompt formal administrative intervention. But that’s what’s reportedly happening at Stanford University this week, after a photo of a student reading Adolf Hitler’s autobiography, “Mein Kampf,” circulated on campus last Friday… administrators were working “swiftly” with the students involved to “address” the incident.

Stanford was reportedly alerted to the book-reading via its Protected Identity Harm reporting system. Effectively a bias response system, Stanford says PIH reports help the university “address incidents where a community member experiences harm because of who they are and how they show up in the world.”

NOTE Mein Kampf is a book

that has been required reading in at least one recent Stanford humanities class and is available to borrow from the university library

It gets worse:

Stanford defines a PIH Incident as “conduct or an incident that adversely and unfairly targets an individual or group” on the basis of actual or perceived characteristics like race, religion, or marital status. Yet, it acknowledges such conduct does not necessarily violate its harassment or discrimination policies that, quite rightly, already prohibit such unlawful conduct.

FIRE warns:

Administrators with disciplinary authority formally notifying students they’ve been accused of “harm,” when they’ve done nothing more than read a book, and asking them to “acknowledge” what they’ve done and “change” their ways through restorative justice-type exercises undoubtedly chills student speech.

Read the report and FIRE’s letter sent to Stanford at the link.

Also concerning schools:

While there is certainly much to debate about the subject of gender identity, especially when it concerns minors, public school officials intentionally deciding to withhold from parents that their minor children are identifying as a different gender at school is becoming more widespread, and rightfully upsetting parents on the both the Left and Right:

Jessica Bradshaw found out that her 15-year-old identified as transgender at school after she glimpsed a homework assignment with an unfamiliar name scrawled at the top.

When she asked about the name, the teenager acknowledged that, at his request, teachers and administrators at his high school in Southern California had for six months been letting him use the boy’s bathroom and calling him by male pronouns.

Mrs. Bradshaw was confused: Didn’t the school need her permission, or at least need to tell her?

It did not, a counselor later explained, because the student did not want his parents to know. District and state policies instructed the school to respect his wishes.

Mrs. Bradshaw said that there had been no notification of any sort from the school informing her that her 15-year-old daughter was now identifying as a boy in the classroom. When they did find out about their child’s change, both parents accepted the new identity.

Prior to their child’s transition, their teenager faced a number of serious (including being on the autism spectrum, having ADHD and PTSD). No small potato issues. One assumes that the school was aware of these. Because of these already existing issues, the fact that the school felt justified in not notifying the Bradshaws of yet another very serious event taking place in their teenager’s life, the parents were angry. While they had accepted their teenager’s new gender identity, their level of concern increased significantly when their teenager wanted to have surgery to remove her breasts:

…Mrs. Bradshaw said she resented the fact that the school had made her feel like a bad parent for wondering whether educators had put her teenager, a minor, on a path the school wasn’t qualified to oversee.

“It felt like a parenting stab in the back from the school system,” she said. “It should have been a decision we made as a family.”

Liberal parents are also uncomfortable with schools not disclosing to them what is taking place in the classroom with regard to their children’s gender identities:

…dozens of parents whose children have socially transitioned at school told The Times they felt villainized by educators who seemed to think that they — not the parents — knew what was best for their children. They insisted that educators should not intervene without notifying parents unless there is evidence of physical abuse at home. Although some didn’t want their children to transition at all, others said they were open to it, but felt schools forced the process to move too quickly, and that they couldn’t raise concerns without being cut out completely or having their home labeled “unsafe.”

Parents of all political persuasions have found themselves unsettled by what schools know and don’t reveal…Mrs. Bradshaw said she wouldn’t align herself with Republican lawmakers who sought to ban L.G.B.T.Q. rights, but she also felt as though her school’s policy left no room for nuance.

“It is almost impossible to have these discussions,” Mrs. Bradshaw said. “There is no forum for someone like me.”

Other self-described liberal parents said they registered as independents or voted for Republican candidates for the first time as a result of this issue. Although they haven’t sued, some have retained lawyers affiliated with the largest legal organization on the religious right to battle their children’s schools.

Second news item

Trump’s lawyer might lose CA law license:

John Eastman, the conservative lawyer who helped lead former President Donald Trump’s legal efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election, is facing disciplinary action in California, where state bar regulators say they will seek to strip his license.

The complaint features 11 counts alleging ethics violations stemming from Eastman’s work and public statements in the weeks after the 2020 election.

“The Notice of Disciplinary Charges alleges that Mr. Eastman violated this duty in furtherance of an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land — an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy — for which he must be held accountable,” [State Bar of California’s Chief Trial Counse] Cardona said in a statement.

Third news item

Earning praise from Russia and happy about it:

Russian Olympic officials on Thursday praised the International Olympic Committee’s decision allowing Russian athletes to participate in the Summer Olympics in Paris next year.

The IOC Executive Board agreed to allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in Olympic events if they are not “actively supporting” Russia’s war in Ukraine. The athletes also must compete under neutral status.

“I believe that this is already a success,” said Igor Levitin, vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee. “The Olympic community realizes that the Olympic Games cannot transpire without Russia’s participation.”

Fourth news item

Gov. DeSantis makes an interesting move:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is praising California attorney and former Trump campaign adviser Harmeet Dhillon amid in her bid to take the Republican National Committee chairmanship away from Ronna McDaniel…“I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis told Charlie Kirk, the founder of conservative Turning Point USA.

“I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of D.C. Why would you want to have your headquarters in the most Democrat city in America? It’s more Democrat than San Francisco is…We’ve had three substandard election cycles in a row: ‘18, ‘20 and ‘22. And I would say of all three of those, ‘22 was probably the worst. Given the political environment of a very unpopular president in Biden, huge majorities of the people think the country is going in the wrong direction — that is an environment that’s tailor-made to make big gains in the House and the Senate and in state houses all across the country. And yet that didn’t happen.”

The GOP is scheduled to vote for RNC chair today.

Fifth news item

This guy thinks he deserves to hold the most powerful position in the world:

Trump announced on his social media platform on Tuesday that he won the Senior Club Championship at Trump International Golf Club in unincorporated West Palm Beach last weekend, despite not playing the first round of the tournament.

Members arrived the second day surprised to see Trump with a five-point lead, according to the Daily Mail. But Trump never played the first round as he was attending a funeral in North Carolina of ardent supporter Lynette Hardaway, known by the moniker “Diamond” of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk.

Trump told tournament organizers he played a strong round on the course Thursday, two days before the tournament started, and decided that would count as his Saturday score for the club championship. That score was five points better than any competitor posted during Saturday’s first round.

No wonder he has the reputation of cheating like a 4-year-old at Monopoly…

Sixth news item

Neither the Left nor the Right are happy with President Biden’s border policies:

A group of 77 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday criticizing his administration’s policies restricting asylum access for migrants crossing the southern border.

The letter, signed by New Jersey Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and 74 others, said the new policies announced Jan. 5 to open more legal options for migrants from Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba while also eliminating pathways for those nationalities to claim asylum at the border are “disappointing.”

MISCELLANEOUS

Republican lawmakers decide women’s shoulders are simply too tantalizing for male colleagues to see:

Republican leadership of the Florida House has posted flyers throughout the Capitol showing what to wear — and perhaps more strikingly, what not to wear.

The flyer breaks down a dress code for three different scenarios — when in the chamber, when Members are in the building, and when Members are not in the building. The required attire is, not surprisingly, most formal when in the House chamber.

What sticks out though, is the requirement that women never show their shoulders when House Members are present in the building, whether in the chamber or not.

Have a great weekend.

–Dana

1/26/2023

Republican Leaders Worry Trump Can’t Win in 2024

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:46 am



[guest post by Dana]

When Donald Trump announced his 2024 bid for the presidency back in November, he of course positioned himself as the savior America needs: “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.” We’ve heard very little from him since then – with regard to his campaign, that is…

Unfortunately for the former president, it looks like some members of the Republican National Committee have at best, a “wait-and-see” attitude about yet one more Trump run for the presidency:

As Donald J. Trump prepares for his first public events since announcing his presidential campaign, dozens of members of the Republican Party’s governing body are expressing doubts about his ability to win back the White House and are calling for a competitive primary to produce a stronger nominee in 2024.

The 168 members of the Republican National Committee are gathering in Southern California to select their own leader on Friday, and interviews this week with 59 of them — more than one-third of the committee’s membership — found few eager to crown Mr. Trump their nominee for a third time. While they praised his policies and accomplishments as president, many expressed deep concerns about his age (he’s 76), temperament and ability to win a general election, often in unusually blunt terms.

“This isn’t 2016,” said Mac Brown, the chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky. “People have moved on.”

Jonathan Barnett, an R.N.C. member from Arkansas who claims to have been the first member of the committee to endorse Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, said the party would benefit from its nominee being forced to navigate a crowded primary field.

“I’ve been a supporter of Donald Trump in the past,” Mr. Barnett said. “I just think that we need choices this time. We’ve got to look at all of our options.”

The motivation to leave Mr. Trump behind is not ideological but political, the party leaders said: They worry he can’t win.

This is interesting given that recent polling shows Trump leading President Biden:

Former President Trump holds a 3-point lead over President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 rematch, according to a new Emerson College poll released on Tuesday.

Forty-four percent in the poll said they would support Trump in the 2024 presidential election, compared to the 41 percent who said they would back Biden. Another 10 percent said they would support someone else, while 4 percent remained undecided.

Additionally, with regard to Ron DeSantis, who would likely be his strongest competitor, polling shows Trump with a strong 26-point lead over Florida’s governor.

Of course, it’s early days. Anything can happen. But it’s telling that Republicans are willing to go on the record and express doubts about Trump being able to win an election.

Meanwhile, the rumor mill is ramping up with guesses about who might be Trump’s running mate. I’m reading that the noxious Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is positioning herself for the spot. Without a doubt, her loyalty to Trump counts a whole lot in her favor. After all, he is a man who values fealty and unfailing loyalty to him above all else. Marge ticks off both boxes:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is angling to be Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024, according to two people who have spoken to the firebrand second-term congresswoman about her ambitions.

“This is no shrinking violet. She’s ambitious — she’s not shy about that, nor should she be,” said Steve Bannon, the former top Trump aide who hosts the “Bannon’s War Room” podcast, on which Greene has been a guest.

“She sees herself on the short list for Trump’s VP. Paraphrasing Cokie Roberts, when MTG looks in the mirror she sees a potential president smiling back,” he added in an interview, referring to Roberts, the late political reporter who worked for NPR, ABC News and other outlets.

A second source who has advised Greene said her “whole vision is to be vice president.” The source, who has ties to Trump and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said he also believes Greene would be on Trump’s short list.

Just imagine a super-MAGA ticket with Trump/Greene…

I just did…and I’m already exhausted.

–Dana

1/24/2023

Documents Marked As Classified Discovered At The Pence Residence

Filed under: General — Dana @ 3:23 pm



[guest post by Dana]

From CNN :

A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

The FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security Division have launched a review of the documents and how they ended up in Pence’s house in Indiana.

At this point, we don’t know what the documents concern or their level of classification. Pence’s team is said to have followed protocol with the discovery.

From Pence’s representative:

“Vice President Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence,” Jacob wrote. “Vice President Pence understands the high importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and stands ready and willing to cooperate fully with the National Archives and any appropriate inquiry.”

The classified material was stored in boxes that first went to Pence’s temporary home in Virginia before they were moved to Indiana..The boxes were not in a secure area, but they were taped up and were not believed to have been opened since they were packed, according to Pence’s attorney. Once the classified documents were discovered, the sources said they were placed inside a safe located in the house.

Also, there is this:

In November, Pence was asked by ABC News at his Indiana home whether he had taken any classified documents from the White House.

“I did not,” Pence responded.

“Well, there’d be no reason to have classified documents, particularly if they were in an unprotected area,” Pence continued.

The question now becomes: Which elected government executives (or former executives) *don’t* have a few classified documents stashed somewhere in their homes? I’m not talking about 300 classified documents intentionally taken to one’s private residence, or where staff was instructed to move said classified documents after a DOJ subpoena was issued for their return, and where surveillance footage confirmed the removal of boxes storing the documents…

–Dana

Only One Side Has Been “Escalating” The “Conflict” In Ukraine…And It’s Not Ukraine

Filed under: General — Dana @ 12:05 pm



[guest post by Dana]

I’m annoyed by a column I read this morning titled Avoiding the Nightmare Scenario in Ukraine. (To which I must point out the obvious: the nightmare scenario in Ukraine is already happening and has been for nearly a year.) While I disagree with several things in the piece (comparing Ukraine (which borders Russia and is a democratically run state) and Afghanistan (which doesn’t border Russia and is not a democratically run state) – “My nightmare scenario is making our Ukraine experience more like our Afghanistan experience. We babysit, fund, and provide the state capacity to a corrupt government” – underestimating U.S. and NATO forces, etc.), my quibble here is with a portion of the concluding view of the Ukraine-Russia situation. The author writes:

My belief from the beginning of this war remains relatively unchanged. Russia cannot create its desired Ukraine without unsustainable sacrifices. And the U.S. and the West cannot create the Ukraine of its dreams without massive risks (straining NATO to the breaking point, or leaving the Pacific undefended). That is why both sides must avoid escalating this conflict to the point where the players become convinced it can only end with NATO’s total humiliation or a regime change in Russia.

Why is Ukraine included in this warning to avoid escalation of the conflict Putin’s war in Ukraine for any reason at all? Ukraine did not invade a sovereign nation and wage war upon it. Ukraine is not committing genocide against the Russian people in their homeland. Ukraine is not intentionally targeting civilians. Ukraine has not abducted tens of thousands of Russian children and forcibly resettled them in a place other than their homeland. Ukraine is not being led by a murderous madman. Ukraine is not escalating the war. Ukrainians are defending themselves, their homeland, their sovereignty, and their way of life against an adversary who seeks to destroy the very existence of the nation. The war ends when Russian troops voluntarily leave Ukraine with no territorial claims, or when Ukrainian forces are supplied with all of the weaponry they need and drive the Russians completely out.

But why is the West afraid of the day after Putin anyway? Consider the viewpoint of pro-democracy Russians:

The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin is living on borrowed time. The tide of history is turning, and everything from Ukraine’s advances on the battlefield to the West’s enduring unity and resolve in the face of Putin’s aggression points to 2023 being a decisive year. If the West holds firm, Putin’s regime will likely collapse in the near future.

Yet some of Ukraine’s key partners continue to resist supplying Kyiv with the weapons it needs to deliver the knockout punch. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden in particular seems afraid of the chaos that could accompany a decisive Kremlin defeat. It has declined to send the tanks, long-range missile systems, and drones that would allow Ukrainian forces to take the fight to their attackers, reclaim their territory, and end the war. The end of Putin’s tyrannical rule will indeed radically change Russia (and the rest of the world)—but not in the way the White House thinks. Rather than destabilizing Russia and its neighbors, a Ukrainian victory would eliminate a powerful revanchist force and boost the cause of democracy worldwide.

Putin’s effort to restore Russia’s lost empire is destined to fail. The moment is therefore ripe for a transition to democracy and a devolution of power to the regional levels. But for such a political transformation to take place, Putin must be defeated militarily in Ukraine. A decisive loss on the battlefield would pierce Putin’s aura of invincibility and expose him as the architect of a failing state, making his regime vulnerable to challenge from within.

The authors also express concerns that a number of us share:

The West, and above all the United States, is capable of providing the military and financial support to hasten the inevitable and propel Ukraine to a speedy victory. But the Biden administration still hasn’t coalesced around a clear endgame for the war, and some U.S. officials have suggested that Kyiv should consider giving up part of its territory in pursuit of peace—suggestions that are not reassuring. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made it clear that the Ukrainian people will never accept such a deal. Any territorial concessions made to Putin will inevitably lead to another war down the road.

The West must do everything in its power to help prevent this from happening.

–Dana

1/23/2023

Verdict: Oath Keeper Members Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy

Filed under: General — Dana @ 3:11 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Just a quick update:

Three members of the Oath Keepers and a fourth person associated with the far-right militia group were convicted of seditious conspiracy by a Washington, DC, jury on Monday for their role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection…The four men – Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo – were accused of plotting to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral college victory, a conspiracy that culminated in the attack on the US Capitol…A sentencing date was not set, but all four defendants will be placed on house arrest until they are sentenced, Judge Amit Mehta said Monday. They cannot have firearms in their house, and all four will have limitations on their phone communications and internet use…In addition to the seditious conspiracy charges, Minuta, Hackett, Moerschel and Vallejo were also found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, as well as conspiracy to prevent a member of Congress from discharging their official duties

Today’s verdict comes after Oath Keepers founder and leader Steward Rhodes and one other individual were found guilty of seditious conspiracy (and other charges) late last year.

–Dana

1/22/2023

Constitutional Vanguard: Is ChatGPT Woke?

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 12:44 pm



I decided to find out, and wrote about it here. I learned something other things about ChatGPT along the way. Like, it knows who I am! Um, sort of.

In other ChatGPT fails, the musician Nick Cave has decried ChatGPT’s attempt to replicate his style as “bullshit.” At Slate, Charles Seife claims that he asked ChatGPT to write his obituary and found it riddled with errors. That piece motivated me to ask ChatGPT if it knew about Patterico. I was gratified to learn that it had heard of me:

Patterico is a pseudonym used by an American blogger, attorney and former prosecutor who writes about legal issues, politics, and technology. He is known for his criticism of the mainstream media, and for his coverage of legal and political issues, including the intersection of technology and the law. He is also known for his criticism of certain political figures and some of the events that took place in the United States during the last years.

“Former” prosecutor? Does ChatGPT know something I don’t?

Turns out it’s the opposite: I know a few things ChatGPT doesn’t know. (I am left-handed.) Its knowledge of me was pretty limited, as illustrated by the fact that when I asked it whether Patterico likes Donald Trump, it replied: “I don’t have enough information to answer that question with certainty.” LOL! And when I asked it to write my obituary, it refused, telling me “I apologize, but I don’t have any information that Patterico has passed away.” Thank goodness!

Read it here. Subscribe here.

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