The Democrats are spazzing more than usual as they realize that some of the folks they expected to go into the voting booth to vote for them – or to sit at home terrified of the pangolin pandemic and fill out ballots by mail – are giving Donald Trump a closer look. Hey, if the crazy quilt of groups that makes up the Donkey Party comes unraveled and some of those voters defect to the Donald, turn out the lights cuz the party is over.
Here’s the zillion dollar question: Is the House in play? Signs point to “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, you botoxed harridan, you’re fired!”
Time to talk meat – no, not the memorable supporting character “Meat” from the film Porky’s. Meat. Carne. The thing men eat. We delve briefly into my new obsession, cooking steaks and pork chops through the magic of reverse sear.
And finally, you know and love my “Unredacted” podcast but on the anniversary of 9/11 a regular recording session turned into something I did not expect…
Revel In The Lib Freakout
There are plenty of indicators that the libs know they’ve got problems. Let’s review the one bright spot in their world of suffering: the polls. Even the most garbage media polls are tightening, and while a “popular vote” is not a thing, to the extent polling it seeks to make it a thing, it reflects the huge surplus votes from the dummies in such locales as Cali, NY, and that place that used to elect Kennedys but doesn’t anymore. The polls in the battleground states are significantly tighter. So, even the one indicator they are ahead in has a trend that is definitely trumpy.
We’re seeing huge enthusiasm for the president in boat parades, rallies, and signage. With the creepy weirdo who lives in a basement, we are seeing … nothing. Who is the person who is energized by Joe Biden? He’s got the energy of Jeb!, combined with the communication skills of, well, Jeb!.
Holy cow, that’s it. The Democrats were actually dumb enough to elect their Jeb!!
But the real terror is coming from the fact that black, Hispanic, and even Jewish voters are going over to the GOP at unheard of rates. Again, these are polls and you should believe them as far as you can throw a Bulwark staffer – Ahoy! – but in the law we call the media reporting good poll numbers for the GOP an “admission against interest.” That’s a kind of hearsay that often gets admitted in court, because common experience teaches that people rarely lie about things that are against their interest.
And minorities going Republican is about as against the media’s interest as it is humanly possible to be.
What happens if five percent to 20 percent of these formerly sure thing voters say, “Hey wait, I’m sick of giving away my vote to people who take me for granted?” I think Mr. T best predicted the outcome of that for the Democrats:
“Pain.”
Do We Take The House?
I’m thinking “Yes.” Is this based on polls? Not really, though I do talk to a fair number of candidates and they do say the internal polls are, at worst, tight. There are relatively few public polls to go on. The fact is that if the national vibe is turning toward Trump, that probably means the House is going GOP too. And the fact the Democrats are not babbling about a blue wave (well, the Twitter suckers are, but not the folks in the know) means they are aiming at barely holding on, not expanding.
And speaking of expanding, Jerry Nadler is the face of Congress. So is the taut, creepy visage of Nancy Pelosi. And they are bad faces. Who likes them? Now, Nancy's a lot of things but she is not without cunning, and she knew the hair salon fiasco was a disaster for her and her party – that’s why she went full harpy. People don’t dig her, and people get that her entire Scat Francisco vibe is about trashing normal people. I think she knows her position is in danger, especially because she only took power by swinging moderate districts. She made those moderates drink her chardonnay – Kool-Aid is for the great unwashed – and now they are all getting painted as submissive slaves of the Dominatrix of the House. It’s a bad look.
I think we have a real chance to snag the gavel, and when we do, she’ll detonate. It’ll be glorious.
And if you are like me, trapped in Ted Lieu’s district, just remember to support star candidates elsewhere like Sean Parnell and Mike Garcia.
Reverse Sear
Time for a digression into food. Why? Because it’s my column and I feel like it and because the only thing that gets you people more wound up is when I talk guns.
Anyway, I grill, and I even sous vide, but lately I have been killing it with a technique I learned about a few years ago and only began using a lot lately.
Reverse sear.
Here’s the idea: you cook the meat in an oven on a rack at a relatively low temperature until it’s cooked internally and then you sear it on a hot skillet. It’s just that simple. Let’s walk through a nice New York strip.
First, pick a good one. I go prime when I want to stack the deck, but choice can work. You want it thick, like an inch or better. Get it out of the fridge a while before. I sprinkle it with Lawry’s season salt, pepper, and Tony Chechere’s Cajun powder (not too much of it). Then I pat it in and let it sit for a few hours.
Ready to cook? You need an hour or so – reverse sear requires time management. Turn your oven to 250-275 and let it warm up. Then put the meat on a rack and shove it inside. I like to put a slice of raw bacon on top. You have a 30-45 minute cook time. You need a meat thermometer and after 30 minutes stick it in. You want the interior 130 for medium rare.
The cast iron skillet is essential. I take some bacon and render it – the crispy remainders are a nice snack. Throw in some butter and get it smoking hot.
Remove the steak and use tongs to put it on the skillet. I start on the sides. You want to char those and render some fat. Get a good char on all surfaces. Take it off. Eat it. It’s amazing.
It does not have the smokey tang of a grilled steak, but it is consistent and delicious. I do it with ribeyes a lot, and I have done it with flank steak and pork chops (add a tiny bit of sugar to the rub for pig meat).
Try it (there are tons of YouTube vids on it) and let me know how you did. Then you may tell me I am a visionary.
A Very Special “Unredacted”
You VIPs know and love my FCC-compliance-scoffing Townhall VIP podcast “Unredacted” that drops like a tac nuke every Monday. And you know I often rope my cronies into an after dinner recording session so you don’t have to listen to just me talking and talking and talking. Well, last Friday (9/11) we made a really special one. Owen Brennan – you may remember him from being the genius behind the legendary Ted Cruz Office Space ad in 2016 – was not always a Cali player (and my neighbor). On that awful day, he was Rudy Giuliani’s speechwriter, and he was right there. Check out this very different “Unredacted” podcast as I get serious and Owen tells his amazing story of being in the midst of history (he was just off-camera as George Bush promised that the bastards who knocked down the towers would be hearing from us soon). Listen here. It’s remarkable.
Check out my unintentionally non-fiction best-selling conservative thriller selling series, People's Republic, Indian Country, Wildfire. and Collapse. Also, get my new intentionally non-fiction book The 21 Biggest Lies about Donald Trump (and You!)!
My super-secret email address is kurt.schlichter@townhall.com.