Monthly Archives: September 2016
September 28, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, I asked whether Republican leaders will rubber stamp President Obama’s internet giveaway. My fear was that they would end up backing a continuing resolution that does not include language blocking the transition away from U.S. oversight of the Internet’s domain name system. Without that language, the Obama administration will hand oversight of the domain name system to an international organization. This would create a danger that countries like
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September 28, 2016 — John Hinderaker
A funny thing has happened as we approach Election Day: the issues have more or less disappeared; or, at least, the press has stopped talking about them. Donald Trump raced to the front of the GOP pack by focusing on illegal immigration. For months, liberals inside and outside of the press denounced Trump’s immigration views, accusing him of being a bigot, etc. But immigration has now disappeared from the news.
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September 28, 2016 — John Hinderaker
We have chronicled the agonizing decline of Venezuela into socialist decay over the last couple of years. As poverty has deepened, Western news agencies have taken notice of Venezuela’s symptoms, if not, usually, the cause of that country’s disease. CNN Money reports on middle-class Venezuelans who come to the United States to stock up on basics they can’t buy at home: Carmen Mendoza came to New York to visit her
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September 28, 2016 — Scott Johnson
FBI Director James Comey appeared on Capitol Hill for an oversight hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee today. GOP members focused their questions primarily on the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation and Comey’s ultimate decision not to recommend charges against the former secretary of state. The C-SPAN video of the hearing is posted here. I found the questioning by Reps. Sensenbrenner, Jordan, Gowdy, Franks, Ratcliffe, Trott
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September 28, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Newly released figures show that murders increased by 11 percent in the U.S. in 2015. 1,532 more people were murdered last year than the year before. The murder rate (murders per 100,000 population) rose by 10 percent. According to Kent Scheidegger of the Crime and Consequences blog, only twice in more than a half century has the rate jumped double digits in one year. In one other year, the increase
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September 28, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Late this past Friday afternoon the FBI conducted its second document dump in the Clinton email case. To those paying attention it has become clear that the case has compromised the FBI and destroyed the reputation of FBI Director of James Comey. These Friday afternoon document dumps come straight from the scandal management playbook perfected under the (Bill) Clinton administration. They remind us, in case any reminder was necessary, of
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September 28, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Shimon Peres died this morning in Israel at the age of 93. Marilyn Berger writes his obituary for the New York Times. Tom Gross corrects the Times obituary here. Berger’s obituary is posted with a video on Peres’s life and career with commentary by Clyde Haberman. Raphael Ahren looks back at Peres’s long career for the Times of Israel here. On a personal note, I was invited to attend Israel’s
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September 27, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
I still don’t know for sure whether, as police say, Keith Lamont Scott was brandishing a weapon when he was shot or, as his wife says, he was unarmed. But the more we learn about Mr. Scott, the more clear it becomes that this was a violent and dangerous man. And as we learn about his wife, we realize that she was one of his victims. I wrote here about
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September 27, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Donald Trump can’t blame his poor debate performance on Lester Holt. Nor would it be wise for him to try. Biased moderators usually win twice when the victim whines. That’s why Kellyanne Conway shrewdly praised Holt’s performance after the debate. But Holt’s performance was not praiseworthy. Rather, it was a nakedly biased effort to aid Hillary Clinton. The mischief began with the very first question. Holt proclaimed the state of
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September 27, 2016 — Steven Hayward
And if so, when will you stop? That’s the question that might well come to mind when taking in the results of a recent World Values Survey on the question of whether wife-beating is ever justified. Let’s go to the tape: I had no idea they had so many Super Bowls over in the Middle East. Special bonus correlation: More here from Jason Richwine.
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September 27, 2016 — John Hinderaker
Democrats are euphoric about Hillary Clinton’s performance last night, and probably even more so over Donald Trump’s performance. For the reasons I have said in other posts, their celebrations might be premature. But the point of this post is to note how the press is doing its best to drive the Democrats’ narrative forward. The Associated Press used to be regarded as an objective, straight-up news source. Now it is
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September 27, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
In a CNN poll of debate-watchers, 62 percent thought Clinton won the debate compared to 27 percent for Trump — a 35-point margin. According to Nate Silver, that’s the third-widest margin ever in a CNN or Gallup post-debate poll, which date back to 1984. Only a 1992 debate between Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush and the first Obama-Romney debate were viewed as more one-sided. Meanwhile, a PPP poll had
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September 27, 2016 — John Hinderaker
Barack Obama has always regretted, I think, that he doesn’t have a country that is worthy of him. From his earliest days in office, he has eagerly chronicled our faults, real and fabricated, while in the halls of our enemies. This has not endeared him to me, or to many other Americans. In his final speech to the United Nations, Obama said that he believes America has been a force
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September 27, 2016 — Steven Hayward
We can go with polls, focus groups, gut feeling, chicken entrails, what have you, but it’s worth noting these three charts from the good folks at The Daily Shot of the read of the financial markets, which have a good track record of assessing things. First, on the betting market Trump’s odds took a big nose dive. And the Mexican Peso, which has been in free fall, rallied sharply during
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September 27, 2016 — Steven Hayward
One of Donald Trump’s main campaign themes is that American manufacturing is in free fall, because of liberalized trade and foreign nations taking unfair advantage of us. There is something to the point about currency manipulation by China, and lower wage rates in Asia and Mexico are certainly a factor for some companies moving out of the country. And Trump is also correct to be targeting our highest-in-the-world corporate tax
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September 27, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren was in New York last week in connection with the doings at the United Nations. Oren’s memoir is the invaluable Ally, which we interviewed him about on the Power Line podcast posted here. Oren is now a member of the Knesset from the Kulanu Party and deputy minister for diplomacy. During his visit last week Newsweek posted Oren’s latest piece laying
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September 27, 2016 — John Hinderaker
The consensus here at Power Line was that Donald Trump performed miserably last night. My verdict was a little less harsh, in part because I think he always performs miserably in debates, but it doesn’t seem to matter. For those who are feeling despondent this morning, the Daily Mail offers a little good news. The newspaper collected screen shots of 19 “snap” polls conducted immediately after the debate, and in
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