Steve's Diary, 12-17-25

The kollapsing klimate kult, FDR revisited, and other cheery items

• Today’s news of the rapidly collapsing climate change cult is the news that Ford is essentially dumping its electric car plans (and taking a whopping $18 billion charge), while Europe is backing away from its plan to phase out gasoline powered cars. The Wall Street Journal’s headline conveys it all: “Europe Reverses Course on Combustion-Engine Ban.” The subhed could have been: “Al Gore Hardest Hit.” Recall that Gore said in his lunatic 1992 book Earth in the Balance that the internal combustion engine was a “mortal threat” to mankind, and should be eliminated in 25 years. Well, we’re now more than 30 years past when he made that utterance, and we’re keeping it.

• While we’re on the subject of nutty environmentalism, I recently did a podcast with the Law & Liberty folks which they headline, “The End of the Eco-Tyrants?” (This link includes a transcript if you prefer to read it, which some people apparently do.) Here is the audio file if you want to listen or download for your car on next nature walk:

• My Sunday New York Post feature on FDR revisionism is out from behind the paywall. So enjoy!

• Meanwhile, get your barrel of popcorn ready. Axios reports:

Inside the push to knock Newsom off his perch as 2028 frontrunner

Gavin Newsom‘s Democratic rivals are plotting how to take down the early 2028 frontrunner, with a heavy emphasis on how unpopular his left-leaning views are outside deep-blue California.

Driving the news: Our conversations with more than 20 Democratic operatives, including several working for 2028 hopefuls, reveal that they see the California governor as the guy to beat — and a guy with a lot of personal baggage that’s exploitable for a presidential primary. . .

Among the bill of particulars:

1. The “too liberal, coastal elite” argument

• Newsom has defended providing health care for undocumented immigrants because he supports universal health care — a mainstream position in the 2020 Democratic primary that some Democrats have abandoned.

• Affordability, housing and homelessness remain big problems in California, despite Newsom initiatives as mayor and governor to address them.

2. The scandals

• When he was San Francisco’s mayor in early 2007, Newsom apologized for having an affair with his campaign manager’s wife, who was also a subordinate in his mayoral office.

• Newsom subsequently went to alcohol counseling and said: “I have come to the conclusion that I will be a better person without alcohol in my life.” (He later said he began drinking occasionally.)

During California’s strict COVID lockdowns that he imposed as governor, Newsom in November 2020 attended a birthday dinner for a lobbyist and adviser at the posh French Laundry in Napa.

• He apologized and admitted attending the dinner was a “bad mistake.” The incident fueled a movement to recall Newsom that he ultimately beat back.

• “French Laundry is never going away, an adviser to a potential 2028 rival told Axios. “It’s one of the stickiest things ever.”

• On the other hand, this headline is truly alarming:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez holds a slight lead over Vice President JD Vance in a hypothetical 2028 presidential matchup, according to a new poll.

The New York Democratic congresswoman, known as AOC, edges the likely Republican nominee 51 percent to 49 percent, in The Argument/Verasight survey released on Tuesday. However, the result was within the poll’s 2.7 percentage point margin of error, making the two candidates statistically tied. The poll asked voters who they would vote for if the election was between the two of them.

• It seems that Susie’s “Wiles” deserted her when she agreed to be interviewed by Vanity Fair. This is yet another instance of "ventriloquist journalism,” where skilled “reporters” have relentless ability to get you to say something embarrassing or quotable out of context.

I’m so old I can remember how Reagan’s whiz kid budget director, David Stockman, agreed to speak at length with The Atlantic’s very left wing writer William Greider. The result was “The Education of David Stockman,” and it was an education indeed. Stockman really thought he could “educate” Greider, and couldn’t fathom that Greider was out to get him and embarrass Reagan. Stockman went overnight from being wunderkind to Deep Throat. I’m surprised the hyper-competent Wiles fell for this.