January 30, 2018 — Scott Johnson

Disinformation, Democrat style: Edward Jay Epstein comments

Featured image Our friend Edward Jay Epstein is the author, most recently, of How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft and the City Journal column “A question of motive.” Ed’s long career has centered on issues of intelligence and counterintelligence with respect to which the late CIA head of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton, turned out to be a mentor to Ed as he navigated his path in »
January 30, 2018 — Steven Hayward

Memo to Trump, Re: Reforming The “Civil Service”

Featured imageHere’s a puzzler for you: the number of civilian federal employees is actually smaller than it was when John F. Kennedy was president. This anomaly is explained by one of the smarter liberals around, John DiIulio, in his provocative book Bring Back the Bureaucrats. I say let’s not do that, but DiIulio does reveal that since government is vastly bigger than it was when Kennedy was president, there must be »
January 29, 2018 — Steven Hayward

Liberalism Is Just Resentment and Envy Sanctified

Featured imageThis week’s New York Times Sunday Magazine offers up a long, sumptuous feature about high-end private jets. It’s great fun if you like to ogle the perks of the top 0.0001 percent. You almost expect to hear the theme song of that gaudy old TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous playing the background while you read along. It really is airplane porn. The story focuses on the premier »
January 29, 2018 — John Hinderaker

Liberals Offer a “Shadow Cabinet.” Resist!

Featured imagePeople For Against the American Way has organized something called America’s Cabinet. I will let them describe it: America’s Cabinet is a non-partisan project launched by the Young Elected Officials Network (YEO) that offers a vision of what America can be for all Americans. America’s Cabinet is a group of young local elected officials educating and informing the general public about what Washington should be doing now to support communities »
January 29, 2018 — John Hinderaker

Explosive House Memo to be Released, As McCabe Leaves FBI

Featured imageThe House Intelligence Committee voted today to release the four-page memo that sums up FBI and Department of Justice abuses relating to the Steele dossier, the Obama administration’s FISA applications, and improper spying on the Trump campaign by the Obama administration. It appears that the memo’s contents are as has been rumored: South Carolina GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy, who helped write the four-page memo, said Sunday he wants it made »
January 29, 2018 — Steven Hayward

Dems on Immigration: That Was Then, This Is Now

Featured imageHere’s Chuck Schumer in 2009, saying “When we use phrases like ‘undocumented workers,’ we convey a message to the American people that their government is not serious about combating illegal immigration.” Don’t believe me? See: Now take in Bernie Sanders in 2007, saying guest workers are a bad idea for low wage Americans: Then there’s this wonderful clip of Sanders saying “open borders is a Koch brothers proposal.” Man those »
January 29, 2018 — Steven Hayward

Loose Ends (34)

Featured image• Donald Trump, Intersectional Feminist? So Donald Trump says he’s “not a feminist.” I’m not sure whether to laugh hard, or laugh even harder. Especially at the reaction that might have ensured if he had said he is a feminist! It’s actually even better than that: Trump turns out to be the perfect “intersectionalist”! In his interview with Piers Morgan, Trump said, “No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist. I mean, »
January 29, 2018 — Scott Johnson

Made for each other

Featured imageThis past Thursday afternoon my daughter Eliana interviewed Ambassador Nikki Haley for Politico’s Women Rule podcast. Most of the interview is devoted to Haley’s family background, her first interest in politics, her education in foreign policy, and her work at the UN on behalf of the Trump administration. Walking in the footsteps of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and John Bolton, Ambassador Haley is making us proud. Eliana also asked Ambassador Haley »
January 29, 2018 — Scott Johnson

Disinformation, Democrat style

Featured imageI have thought from the moment I read the Steele/Trump dossier produced in the service of the Clinton presidential campaign that, assuming it is what it purports to be, it is highly likely to constitute Russian disinformation. Today the Wall Street Journal turns to retired CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman who served in the former Soviet Union for his opinion. Hoffman makes the case that “The Steele dossier fits the »
January 29, 2018 — Steven Hayward

Today’s Classroom Lesson: The Corruption of Diversity and Quotas

Featured imageNational Review‘s Jim Geraghty offered an interesting observation the other day about the actual motivations behind the push for “diversity: in the media: Back in my journalism pollywog days, I recall going to some gathering at the National Press Club where the Washington offices of most of the big news organizations were represented. They went around the room and introduced all of the bigwigs, and I noticed a clear pattern. The »
January 28, 2018 — John Hinderaker

Are the Democrats Fighting a Civil War?

Featured imageThat is the provocative hypothesis put forward by Danial Greenfield at Sultan Knish. On its face it sounds hyperbolic, but Greenfield makes a rather sober case. You should read it all, but this will give you some of the flavor: How do civil wars happen? Two or more sides disagree on who runs the country. And they can’t settle the question through elections because they don’t even agree that elections »
January 29, 2018 — Steven Hayward

The Power Line Show, Episode 52: Regarding Henry

Featured imageJust in time to download for your morning commute tomorrow (or your evening workout at the gym today), the Power Line Show podcast episode 52 is now up! I walk though all of the important questions with the best “psephologist” in the business—Henry Olsen, who changed his mind on election eve 2016 and predicted that Trump was likely to win. He goes through the four things that he noticed in »
January 29, 2018 — Steven Hayward

#MeToo Becomes “Hey, Wait a Minute!”

Featured imageThe Doctrine of Unintended Consequences and Perverse Results strikes again. Who could have seen this coming: A lobbyist flies solo from Texas to Washington to press his case on the Hill, leaving behind the female associate who did much of the work on the issue. He recognizes that his decision to fly alone is a lost opportunity for his talented young co-worker, but right now, with everything that’s going on, »
January 29, 2018 — Scott Johnson

The NFL kneeling protests: An invitation

Featured imageTomorrow over the lunch hour I will participate in a symposium sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (CSPG) at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School. With a nod to the Super Bowl that will be played this Sunday a mile or so up the road, the symposium takes up the player protests that attracted attention in high places this season. The symposium is Betrayal or »
January 29, 2018 — Scott Johnson

The Tom Cotton You Don’t Know

Featured imageMichael Morell is the former Acting Director of the CIA and current contributor to The Cipher Brief. He hosts the site’s Intelligence Matters podcast. In his January 25 podcast he interviewed Senator Tom Cotton (audio below). Here is the summary: Republican U.S. Senator and Army veteran Tom Cotton is often described as a hawkish conservative for taking a hardline stance on issues like immigration and the Iran nuclear deal. In »
January 28, 2018 — John Hinderaker

South Dakota Moves to Protect Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity On Campus

Featured imageA bill has been introduced in South Dakota’s legislature that would go a long way toward protecting free speech on university and technical school campuses, while also encouraging intellectual diversity. It is House Bill 1073, and it will get a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on Friday, February 2, at 10:00. (That is in Pierre, for any of you who are intrepid enough to consider attending.) You can read »
January 28, 2018 — Steven Hayward

Hope for California! Gun Yoga??

Featured imageGun yoga—gun yoga!!—has come to . . . Santa Monica!?! I think each and every one of these ladies has earned a turn as our empowered feminist of the week in our Saturday picture gallery. Okay, so too bad this is a put on, but with the humor deficit in California, it could work! »