Monthly Archives: July 2017
July 15, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The Budget Control Act of 2011 resolved the purported “debt ceiling crisis” of that year, when it was widely (but falsely) alleged that the U.S. would go into default if the debt ceiling were not increased. Hardly anyone liked the sequestration that resulted from that budget compromise, but I did. It was the only effective check on federal spending in my lifetime. This video by the Center for Freedom and
»
July 15, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The anti-Trump mainstream media is buzzing with news that Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian American lobbyist and veteran of the Soviet military, attended the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. Rosalind Helderman and Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post insist that Akhmetshin’s presence “adds to the potential seriousness of the Trump Tower gathering that is emerging this week as the clearest evidence so far of
»
July 15, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Did Putin prefer Trump in the presidential election of 2016? According to the intelligence report dated January 6, 2017, Putin not only preferred Trump to Clinton. He mounted a so-called influence campaign to put him over. The report is posted online here. Issued under the auspices of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the report is based on the intelligence and assessments of the CIA, the FBI and
»
July 15, 2017 — Steven Hayward
As I surveyed the cartoons, memes, and photos in the large inventory for this week, I couldn’t help but think—”Isn’t this just like last week? And the week before? Is CNN still beclowning itself? Is Trump still provoking Tweetrages? More Russia fanaticism from everyone? Is Gov. Christie still on that beach?” I’m afraid right now that we may be in this pattern for the next three and a half years.
»
July 14, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Last month, the New York Mets promoted Tim Tebow from Columbia in the South Atlantic League (“Low A” ball) to St. Lucie, a “High A” team in the Florida State League. Tebow hadn’t done anything to deserve the promotion. At the time, he was batting .222, with an on-base percentage of .311 and a slugging percentage of .340. As I noted, though, the move made financial sense for the Mets.
»
July 14, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Talk of Russia, which the Democrats considered our ally (or something) as recently as 2012, when President Obama scoffed at Mitt Romney’s statement that Russia was a geopolitical rival, has dominated the political scene for months. Given that fact, it is remarkable that nothing particularly significant about Russia has been discovered. President Trump, meanwhile, has taken a tough line against Putin’s regime, much tougher than Barack Obama’s, as should have
»
July 14, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
It has been years since my conservative cousin from New York contributed to Power Line. David Brooks’ latest column smoked him out, inspiring this contribution: Donald Trump appears to have caused David Brooks to lose his senses. In today’s New York Times, Brooks imputes the alleged ethical lapses of Donald Trump to the the original sins of his grandfather and father. It seems the bad seed started with grandpa Frederich
»
July 14, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I’m traveling today, but not to worry: I’ve got the Week in Pictures in hand for tomorrow morning, going up at 6 am (central time) sharp as usual. But sometimes a picture comes along that is so extraordinary that it deserves to be separated from the crowd: I mean seriously: what the hell? Clinton between two Bushes? Does Slick Willie not know how symbolically accurate this photo is, displaying his
»
July 14, 2017 — John Hinderaker
CNN is having a hard time these days. So it doesn’t help when anchor Poppy Harlow doesn’t recognize the National Anthem: Trivial mistake? Perhaps so. But if President Trump made it, the Democrats would be indicting him for treason. Via Daily Caller.
»
July 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Rebecca West wrote a once well-known book about British supporters of the Nazis during World War II that she called The Meaning of Treason (1947). Harry Kalven’s review is posted here. West famously revisited the subject to take account of the British Communists who spied for the Soviet Union in The New Meaning of Treason (1964). Sidney Hook’s review is here. When I wrote “The new meaning of collusion” earlier
»
July 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I wrote about the New York Times stories here and here reporting on Donald Trump, Jr.’s June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer in “The new meaning of collusion.” I focused on the latter story in a post early on Tuesday morning, before Trump Jr. released the email chain that the story described at second hand. Whatever the faults of the story, in retrospect I wrongly made light of it.
»
July 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll is not coming out with the declaration: I’M A MAN! She is quoting Mr. AG. She writes: Mr. AG and I take a multi-vitamin every day. Never one to miss a marketing opportunity, Centrum makes more or less-identical vitamins labeled “Women,” “Men,” and the one I take for Geezer-Americans labeled Adults Fifty-Plus called Centrum Silver. As I was shaking my vitamin out of the bottle, offering one to
»
July 13, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Peter Baker of the New York Times presents a timeline that invites the reader to view Donald Trump, Jr.’s emails and meeting with the Russian lawyer as connected with other events occurring in the same time frame. The conclusion Baker thinks can, but not necessarily should, be drawn is that, his recent denial notwithstanding, the senior Trump knew about his son’s impending meeting with the Russian lawyer and thought the
»
July 13, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Edina High School in suburban Minneapolis was long regarded as one of the country’s top secondary schools. In recent years, its national ratings and its local reputation have slipped, perhaps in part because teachers are spending time promoting a left-wing agenda and bullying conservative students rather than teaching the subjects they are paid to teach. Following last November’s election, 80 Edina High School teachers–which must represent pretty much the entire
»
July 13, 2017 — Steven Hayward
There was a new movie about Churchill right before D-Day out this spring, starring Brian Cox as Winston, that was so bad I didn’t even bother with a smackdown here. Andrew Roberts wrote that “The only problem with the movie – written by the historian Alex von Tunzelmann – is that it gets absolutely everything wrong. Never in the course of movie-making have so many specious errors been made in
»
July 13, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s clear that Natalia Veselnitskaya pulled a bait-and-switch on Donald Trump, Jr. She induced him to a meeting with the promise of information that could be used against Hillary Clinton, but delivered no such information. Instead, she used the meeting to lobby the son of the presumptive Republican nominee for president on the supposed evils of the Magnitsky Act. That Act blacklists Russians who were determined to have engaged in
»
July 13, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
I wrote here about the need for a clock in baseball — a clock that would limit the time pitchers can take between pitches. I suggested a 20 second clock. The need for a clock arises from the ever-increasing amount of time it takes to complete a ball game. This season, the average major league game is taking 3 hours and 8 minutes to complete, the longest time in history.
»
