Monthly Archives: August 2017
August 31, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham say they have reviewed evidence that James Comey drafted a statement to announce the closure of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server months before key witnesses, including Clinton herself, were interviewed. In a letter to current FBI director Christopher Wray, the two Senators characterize Comey’s approach as “conclusion first, fact-gathering second,” adding “that’s no way to run an
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August 31, 2017 — John Hinderaker
On Tuesday, reporters asked press secretary Sarah Sanders whether President Trump had contributed to Hurricane Harvey relief. A reporter asked again yesterday: Q You said yesterday you would check if the President or the First Lady had made a personal donation to hurricane relief. Have you gotten anything back on that? MS. SANDERS: No, I know they’re looking into some different options. Today the White House announced that President and
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August 31, 2017 — John Hinderaker
A case titled Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31 is on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on a petition for a writ of certiorari. The 7th Circuit’s opinion in the case is here. It is widely expected that the Court will grant certiorari. The case raises issues substantially identical to those in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. In Friedrichs, decided last year, the
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August 31, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I set forth the chain of events that sparked my interest in the 2016 MSP International Airport tour for Somalis only in the post “(DHS) Magical mystery tour (and why I need a lawyer).” Last year I sought information from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights (OCR) under the Freedom of Information Act. OCR provided a few heavily redacted pages and rebuffed the administrative law judge when
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August 30, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Our friend Tevi Troy is an expert on presidents responding to disasters. He wrote a book — “Shall We Wake the President? Two Centuries of Disaster Management from the Oval Office — about it. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Tevi gives President Trump high marks for his administration’s response to Hurricane Harvey. “Washington’s disaster authorities appear to be in sync with the state on roles and responsibilities; the Federal
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August 30, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Campus Reform reports on a horrific incident that occurred at the University of Nebraska on Friday. Katie Mullen, a Nebraska sophomore, heads the Turning Point USA chapter on campus. She was “tabling” various posters (“Big Government Sucks” is a favorite), stickers and the like on the university’s campus. As Ms. Mullen was manning her table, three or more professors began to harass her. They carried signs attacking Turning Point, screamed
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August 30, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
A federal judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Sarah Palin against The New York Times, ruling that Palin’s complaint failed to show that a mistake in an editorial was made maliciously. The editorial accused Palin of having incited Jared Loughner to murder six people, including a sitting Congresswoman, a federal judge, and a nine year old girl. The supposed incitement was an online map with “targeted” Democratic districts.
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August 30, 2017 — Steven Hayward
An old Reagan-era joke that can be endlessly updated goes as follows: Scientists announce that the world is going to end tomorrow. How will the news media cover it: Wall Street Journal: World to End Tomorrow: Markets to Close Early. (See page A8 for details.) USA Today: World to End Tomorrow—But We’re Grinning and Bearing It New York Times: World to End Tomorrow: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit Washington Post:
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August 30, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Trump administration is responding well to the disaster in South Texas. However, some of the best work is being performed by a loose, intensely non-formal operation known as the “Cajun Navy.” Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post offers this tribute: At a time such as this, you want the guys who can still thread a line when their hands are wet and cold. They’re descending on Houston in their
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August 30, 2017 — Scott Johnson
The Star Tribune has yet to report the machinations of Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken in blocking Senate consideration of the nomination of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. I understand that Senator Klobuchar is sensitive about the disclosure of her machinations. She would prefer that they remain out of sight, leaving her image as Our Lady
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August 29, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
My position on the pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio is that it was a reasonable exercise of the president’s pardon power. Not pardoning the sheriff would also have been reasonable, in my opinion. Indeed, as I said in my post on the subject, I don’t like presidential pardons. Absent overwhelming evidence that the person getting the pardon did not commit the offense for which he was convicted, my preference is
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August 29, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The New York Times has run a lot of pretentious ads since the last election, claiming to stand for “truth.” But their latest one strikes me as odd, and perhaps revealing: Who is the “they” who have politics on their side? The Republicans, who have generally fared well in recent election cycles? Conservatives? I can’t think of any other obvious possibilities. And who is the “we” who have journalism on
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August 29, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Detroit riots of 1967. Michael Barone reminds us that the rioting went on for six nights, with some 2,500 stores looted and burnt, some 400 families displaced, and property damage estimated at around $300 million in 2017 dollars. Forty-three people, many of them innocent bystanders, were killed. More than 1,000 people were wounded. Even so, the riots were always going to be
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August 29, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Hurricane Harvey wasn’t man-made, obviously, but the scale of the destruction was, in large part, an unintended consequence of government policy. Michael Grunwald reports at Politico: “How Washington Made Harvey Worse.” Nearly two decades before the storm’s historic assault on homes and businesses along the Gulf Coast of Texas this week, the National Wildlife Federation released a groundbreaking report about the United States government’s dysfunctional flood insurance program, demonstrating how
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August 29, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Renewable energy, along with unicorn flop sweat, Al Gore’s organic gasses, and moonbeams always get the ink for the “future of energy.” And don’t forget how Tom Friedman and others like to remind us that China is going to overtake the U.S. as a “clean energy leader” because Trump dumped the Paris Climate Accord (thereby causing Hurricane Harvey in the process). Turns out if you look close you find out
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August 29, 2017 — Scott Johnson
University of Minnesota Law School Professor Myron Orfield has materialized in the Star Tribune this morning to play the race card against Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Stras. The Senate’s consideration of Justice Stras’s nomination to the Eighth Circuit has been blocked by Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. With the dishonesty that permeates his column, Orfield declares that Klobuchar and Franken “are exhibiting appropriate diligence.” It is true that
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August 29, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I have been following the ongoing cage match between Minnesota Democratic Governor Mark Dayton and Minnesota’s majority-Republican House and Senate in this series. It’s an interesting story that deserves national attention as a sign of the political times. At the end of this year’s slightly extended legislative session Dayton signed all tax and budget bills. He could have vetoed any of them. Even though he professed extreme unhappiness with certain
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