Monthly Archives: November 2016
November 19, 2016 — John Hinderaker
Perhaps not, but it often seems that way. Vice President-Elect Mike Pence is in New York, working with Donald Trump on staffing their new administration. He took last night off to see the popular Broadway musical “Hamilton.” When he and his family took their seats, some in the crowd booed–although, to be fair, it sounds to me as though more applauded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdwFX4EwpZ4 The real outrage came at the end. As
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November 19, 2016 — Scott Johnson
The ascent of Keith Ellison to the possible leadership of the Democratic Party is a fateful event. Here is a man who was an active local leader of the racist and anti-Semitic cult known as the Nation of Islam until some time past his first attempt at political office as a Democrat, yet who has never acknowledged, accounted or apologized for his activities and expressed beliefs on behalf of the
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November 19, 2016 — Steven Hayward
The left’s total meltdown over Trump is the gift that keeps on giving. I suspect they’ll be giving us this gift for much of the next four years. There’s talk of a “million woman march” the day after inauguration, giving Bill Clinton a good reason to stick around after Trump is sworn in. Fun times! Headlines of the week: And finally. . .
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November 18, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
The left is going to make attacking Jeff Sessions the cornerstone of its early resistance to Donald Trump. Elizabeth Warren, a possible presidential contender in 2020, sounded the call almost immediately, asserting a moral imperative to block Sessions’ confirmation. The alleged moral imperative is based on stale and, in some cases, disputed claims of mildly racist comments that were alleged 30 years ago when Sessions was denied confirmation for a
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November 18, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
I agree with John’s assessment that Mike Pompeo is a great appointment for CIA Director. Pompeo was a leading opponent of the Iran deal. He worked with our friend Sen. Tom Cotton to discover important secret side deals to that agreement. Pompeo is also a proponent of detaining terrorists at Gitmo. In addition, he supported the “enhanced” interrogation methods used during the Bush administration. Regarding CIA personnel who employed such
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November 18, 2016 — John Hinderaker
So far, Donald Trump’s appointments are going a long way to reassure observers like me, who worried that the GOP had nominated a candidate who was not a conservative. Let’s just say that anyone who puts Jeff Sessions in charge of the Department of Justice is no liberal. A less high-profile but equally stellar appointment is Trump’s selection of Congressman Mike Pompeo, from Kansas, to head the CIA. Pompeo is
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November 18, 2016 — John Hinderaker
When a Republican wins the presidency, it is always fun to ridicule the celebrities who vowed to leave the country should such a horror take place. To my recollection, not one has ever followed through on such a threat (or promise, depending on how you look at it). This year is no exception. Michael Ramirez captures my sentiments exactly. Click to enlarge: Celebrities may have played a larger than usual
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November 18, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Donald Trump has selected Michael Flynn to be his national security adviser. The selection is a natural one. Flynn was Trump’s go-to guy on national security matters during the campaign. The retired Lt. General is already under attack on a number of fronts, both personal and substantive. The focus should be on substance. I don’t know Flynn’s views on the full range of national security related topics. I agree with
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November 18, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Jeff Sessions is Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, I’m delighted to report. Sessions was said to be under consideration for Secretary of Defense. However, the Senator’s expertise and background militated in favor of the AG position. It’s a good sign that Trump recognized this. I hope he takes the same approach to selecting his Secretary of State, for example. Over the years, I have admired Sen. Sessions from afar
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November 18, 2016 — Steven Hayward
The left is hard after Stephen Bannon, Trump’s campaign strategist and former CEO of Breitbart. I’m not a huge fan of Breitbart in the post-Andrew Breitbart era, but the fact that the left is after Bannon so hard recommends him, of course. (While Breitbart has published some dodgy material and has shown some bad judgment about some issues and people—like trying to dump Paul Ryan from his House seat in
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November 18, 2016 — Scott Johnson
This post continues “Sentencing the ‘Minnesota men'” (3). In these two posts I offer my observations and impressions of the nine sentencing hearings in the case of the Somali Minnesotans who have pleaded guilty to, or have been convicted of, conspiracy to support ISIS among other related charges. The nine men sought to leave Minnesota to wage jihad with ISIS in Syria. The Weekly Standard has just published my condensed
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November 18, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll reflects on the UNSOLICITED ADVICE in which we are awash. She writes: Can it really only have been ten days ago that this miracle occurred? Every time I turn on TV or surf the Net, I feel like I used to feel when I would re-watch the DVDs of the 1987 World Series Twins victory. I was always terrified that THIS TIME the Twins might lose. But no.
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November 17, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
A pro-Trump student was beaten yesterday during an anti-Trump march held by students from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland, about half an hour from where I live. The march occurred during school hours. The victim, who wore a “Make America Great Again” cap, argued with one of the protesters. Pretty soon, according to a witness, he was “jumped,” and found himself being punched and kicked by the disputant
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November 17, 2016 — John Hinderaker
Liberals see Donald Trump supporters as dark, hateful, potentially dangerous. Yet somehow, the violence–real and symbolic–is all on the other side. This story comes from San Antonio: “2 students, teacher reprimanded for Trump assassination skit.” Two 10th-grade students at a San Antonio high school and their teacher have been reprimanded for the performance of a skit portraying the assassination of President-elect Donald Trump. The San Antonio Express-News reports the skit,
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November 17, 2016 — John Hinderaker
Every dark cloud has a silver lining. Donald Trump’s victory represents a rare fundraising opportunity for the Democrats, and they are taking advantage of the hysteria that currently prevails on the left. Thus, today’s email from the Democratic National Committee has the subject heading, “Trump’s latest plan is modeled on the internment of Japanese-Americans.” Of course it is! Here is the body of the email. Click to enlarge: Pretty much
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November 17, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
This past summer, Harvard economics professor Edward Glaeser wrote a powerful critique of infrastructure spending. His article, which appeared in the City Journal, was a response to a proposal by Bernie Sanders to spend $1 billion on public infrastructure. But Glaeser’s arguments apply to similar proposals by other politicians and might well apply to the proposal Donald Trump offers, assuming he follows through on his pledge to rebuild America’s infrastructure.
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November 17, 2016 — Steven Hayward
The media is in full cry that Trump’s transition is in complete chaos and “disarray.” More proof, it is supposed, that Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing, and is in over his head. Hmm. Seems to me we’ve heard this kind of thing before. Oh yeah, this is what the media screamed about Ronald Reagan, who departed for his Santa Barbara ranch right after the 1980 election, to the horror
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