Monthly Archives: July 2017
July 5, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition struck the terrorist group 37 times on July 4. So reports the Daily Caller, citing a statement by Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). The majority of the strikes took place in Syria, in support of the Syrian Democratic Force’s (SDF) push on ISIS’s capital of Raqqa. They hit ISIS oil infrastructure, as well as 17 fighting positions in or near Raqqa. Backed by U.S. air strikes the
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July 5, 2017 — Scott Johnson
CNN dispatched the head of its “leading investigation team for the social, mobil generation”– Andrew Kaczynski of the so-called KFile unit — to blow the lid off the source of the GIF showing President Trump taking down CNN. President Trump tweeted it out on July 2 (below). #FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017 If you’ve been following the news, you know that Trump’s tweet represents
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July 4, 2017 — John Hinderaker
I started to write an essay on the philosophical significance of fireworks as a form of resistance to the nanny state, but it was lousy so I trashed it. Instead, this is a straightforward account of an Independence Day spent in the land of the free–by which I mean my native state of South Dakota. Visiting family here over the Fourth of July is a longstanding tradition. Any visit at
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July 4, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
North Korea today successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. The launch marks a breakthrough of sorts for the regime. The missile flew higher and remained in the air longer than previous attempts — long enough to reach Alaska, experts believe. The New York Times explains: Their missile traveled only about 580 miles, by itself no great achievement. But it got there by taking a 1,700-mile trip into space and re-entering
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July 4, 2017 — Steven Hayward
My favorite indictment against King George III in the Declaration of Independence is this short passage that applies more fully today than in 1776: He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance. Yep. That’s why this is the feel good story of the day, even though CBS surely doesn’t think so: Meanwhile, the next time
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July 4, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Look at the bright side (so to speak): at least Governor Christie didn’t take off his shirt. That would clear any beach, and might have brought down the plane the snapped the pic of him validating why the government should own as little land as possible. In any case, here’s to the 4th: But let’s remember what we have to celebrate on the beach this summer: And coming next month—more
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July 4, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles proudly announces that it has become the first jurisdiction in the United States to issue a gender neutral drivers license. The historic event took place on June 27, when it issued a license to Nic Sakurai with the gender listed as “X.” The DMV advises applicants, and as well license holders interested in changing their gender designation, as follows: Applicants should indicate
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July 4, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In early 2016, when candidates Donald Trump and Chris Christie were double-teaming candidate Marco Rubio, Trump liked to say that Rubio couldn’t get elected dog-catcher in Florida. Trump was wrong. That November, the good people of Florida reelected Rubio to the U.S. Senate. Could Christie get elected dog-catcher in New Jersey? Maybe last week, though with his approval rating as governor at 15 percent, it wouldn’t have been easy. Now,
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July 4, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Glenn Reynolds, the ubermensch of the blogosphere, has a number of running heds on Instapundit that he either created or extends in the most creative ways. You’ll recognize them: • Higher education bubble update. • Choose the form of your destructor. • Teach women not to rape. • Why are Democrat run cities such cesspools of violence and racism? • They told me if Trump were elected we’d see [fill in the
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July 4, 2017 — Scott Johnson
President Calvin Coolidge celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1926, with a speech providing a magisterial review of the history and thought underlying the Declaration. His speech on the occasion deserves to be read and studied in its entirety. The following paragraph, however, is particularly relevant to the challenge that confronts us in the variants of the progressive dogma that pass themselves off today
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July 4, 2017 — Scott Johnson
On July 9, 1858, Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas gave a campaign speech to a raucous throng from the balcony of the Tremont Hotel in Chicago. Abraham Lincoln was in the audience as Douglas prepared to speak. Douglas graciously invited Lincoln to join him on the balcony to listen to the speech. In his speech Douglas sounded the themes of the momentous campaign that Lincoln and Douglas waged that summer and
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July 3, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Heading into the 1967 season, the Chicago Cubs had not finished in the top half of the National League since 1946, and had experienced only one winning season since that year (1963, when they went 82-80). The Cubs had hoped that their fortunes would turn around when, in 1966, they hired Leo Durocher as manager. Durocher had won a pennant managing the Brooklyn Dodgers and two pennants and a world
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July 3, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In this NPR story, the headline of which is about how conservative Justice Gorsuch’s votes have been, we learn that Justice Kennedy has not hired law clerks for the term that will begin in October 2018. Moreover, he has let applicants for these clerkship jobs know he is considering retirement. This doesn’t mean Kennedy will retire before the October 2018 term begins. However, the fact that he’s seriously considering doing
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July 3, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Vivian Gornick is the author of the 1979 book titled The Romance of Communism. It’s a romance with which many readers of the New York Times are familiar even if the thought of it is revolting to anyone who knows the relevant history. Earlier this year in anticipation of May Day the Times turned over valuable real estate in its Sunday Review section to Gornick to celebrate the time “When
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July 3, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday CBS News profiled author Herman Wouk at the ripe old age of 102. The cluelessness of the CBS correspondent made the interview uncomfortable viewing, but it reminded me that I had meant to draw attention to the essay by Williams College Professor Michael Lewis about Wouk. This Michael Lewis, I should add, is Faison-Pierson-Stoddard Professor of Art History at Williams College, not the popular journalist and author. Published in
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July 3, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Courtesy of an appreciative account by Washington Post Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes, Hugh Hewitt tipped his listeners this morning to Chief Justice John Roberts’s ninth-grade commencement address early last month at the Cardigan Mountain School. Cardigan Mountain is an elite boarding school for boys in grades six through nine in Caanan, New Hampshire. Barnes observes: “Sitting up front under a large white tent as John Glover Roberts Jr. took
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July 2, 2017 — John Hinderaker
I will guest host Laura Ingraham’s radio show tomorrow from 9 to 12 a.m. Eastern. Guests will include Byron York and Betsy McCaughey, with more to come. It will be a fun show, and I hope you can tune in! You can go here to find a radio station in your area or to listen online. If you miss the show live, you can get highlights via podcast on iTunes,
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