April 12, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Aaron MacLean is host of the School of War podcast and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Before that, Aaron worked on Capitol Hill as senior foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Senator Tom Cotton and served on active duty as a U.S. Marine for seven years, deploying to Afghanistan as an infantry officer in 2009–2010. Following his time in the operating forces, he was
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April 12, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll contemplates RENEWAL AND RENAISSANCE. She writes: Every single winter in Minnesota – and several summers here in Arizona – I have looked in dismay at the trees and other dormant, frozen, or parched foliage in my yard and said, “Well, THAT ain’t comin’ back.” And I am always wrong. It feels good to be wrong. That which looks dead and gone springs to life, warms the heart, and
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April 11, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Over the weekend I received an invitation to attend the New Civil Liberties Alliance conference hosted by George Washington University Law School yesterday: “Is administrative law still unlawful?” (Plot spoiler: the answer is “yes.”) Luckily for me, I am in Washington visiting family this week and was able to attend the conference. The conference celebrated the tenth anniversary of the publication of Professor Philip Hamburger’s monumental treatise Is Administrative Law
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April 11, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Tucker Carlson must be one of the most popular conservative commentators in the country. His show on X attracts clicks by the hundreds of thousands. This week he sought falsely to blacken Israel’s reputation by promoting the views of a Bethlehem pastor that Israel mistreats Christiand. In so doing, he obviously seeks to drive wedge between Israel and Christian supporters of Israel. While Israel is engaged in a fight for
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April 10, 2024 — Scott Johnson
In an interview that was recorded last week but aired last night on Univision — transcript and video here — President Biden criticized Israel’s conduct of the war and called for a ceasefire without tying the demand to the release of the hostages held by Hamas. Indeed, the name “Hamas” does not appear in the interview. “Well, I will tell you, I think what [Prime Minister Netanyahu is] doing is
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April 10, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Tucker Carlson devoted the October 9 episode of his X show to the Hamas/Israel war. He opened by searching for “the wise path forward” and asking what we should “do next in this chaotic moment.” For some reason, he didn’t directly answer his own question. We were to infer, however, that it’s none of our business. It might be best to avert our eyes. “War begets more war,” he advised.
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April 9, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The IDF has released video of the highlights of its interrogation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Tariq Salami Otha Abu Shoulf. As IDF Lt. Col. (reserve) Peter Lerner puts it, “In his interrogation he reveals in simple terms how they organize the mass manipulation of the media.” As we have all seen over the years, it’s not too difficult. The terrorists and their allies have had it worked out for
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April 9, 2024 — Scott Johnson
We are given to understand that the Dearbornistan vote has something to do with the Biden administration’s turn toward Hamas. In the category of what’s wrong with this picture?, the invaluable MEMRI tuned in to the International Al Quds Day rally in front of Dearborn’s Henry Ford Centennial Library (perfect!) this past Friday (video below). Chants of “Death to America” were joined with chants of “Death to Israel” among the
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April 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The site formerly known as Twitter covers a lot of news that you won’t easily find anywhere else, if at all. When it comes to the Hamas-Israel conflict, most of it is of the heartbreaking or infuriating variety. The tweet below, for example, falls into both categories — “Hamas Negotiators have reportedly told International Meditators in Cairo that it has No Ability to Release the 40 Hostages in the Humanitarian
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April 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
I’m not a fan of the Star Tribune, yet keeping up with it is an occupational necessity for me. The Star Tribune dominates the local news in roughly the same fashion that the New York times dominates the national news. It sets the agenda for other outlets that chase its tail. Over at Alpha News, we seek to fill the void created by the Star Tribune and its uncompetitive competitors.
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April 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
I found the oral argument of the case now styled Murthy v. Missouri last month to be utterly demoralizing. As soon as the oral argument concluded I rashly hazarded my assessment that it portends a victory for the massive censorship-industrial complex represented by the Biden administration, probably on procedural grounds (i.e., standing). My assessment was a hot take based on the tenor of the argument. The argument seemed to me
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April 7, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Merle Haggard died eight years ago yesterday at the age of 79 — to be exact, on his seventy-ninth birthday. Haggard is finally the subject of a full-scale biography — The Hag: The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard (2022), by Marc Eliot. Mark Pulliam reviewed it at Law and Liberty in the excellent column “Our redneck poet.” He “expand[s] upon Eliot’s respectful (but not hagiographic) treatment of the
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April 7, 2024 — Scott Johnson
President Biden used the IDF’s accidental killing of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza to demand that Israel capitulate to Hamas. That’s my translation of the White House readout of Biden’s April 4 phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I posted the crucial excerpt here last week. I also noted that Secretary of State Blinken added a twist in his April 4 press conference. He declared that
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April 6, 2024 — Scott Johnson
I want to strike a Nietzschean note in this comment on the rideshare ordinance enacted by the City of Minneapolis this past month. Under the ordinance, Uber and Lyft would be required to pay drivers a minimum rate of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute to ensure that they earn the equivalent of local minimum wage of $15.57 per hour — effective May 1. The city council overrode
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April 5, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Douglas Murray has just posted the documentary America’s Drug Crisis on his YouTube channel. I have embedded it below. He writes in the YouTube caption: “As the U.S. has turned away from ‘the war on drugs,’ many cities have sought more ‘humane’ approaches to dealing with addiction. They’re not working. In my new documentary, I explore just how deep-seated America’s Drug Crisis has become – and how the policies we’ve
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April 5, 2024 — Scott Johnson
We have traced President Biden’s retreat from the public defense of Israel in its war on Hamas to his adoption of the Hamas line. He has now taken up the strategery of Dr. Jill to demand an immediate ceasefire. The White House readout of Biden’s call yesterday with Prime Minister Netanyahu has Biden demanding Israel’s agreement to Hamas’s terms: [Biden] made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement
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April 5, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Philip Hamburger’s Is Administrative Law Unlawful? (2014) constitutes a pioneering work of intellectual restoration. Provoked by recent developments in administrative law, I have returned to it this week. Just in time for this concluding post, I heard from Professor Hamburger last night. He wrote: Dear Scott, Thank you so much for your kind discussion of my book! Alas, there is still a long way to go in clearing up the
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