Monthly Archives: August 2018
August 29, 2018 — Steven Hayward
Last week our coveted Green Weenie Award went to the silly critters at PETA for protesting crabs cakes. . . in Baltimore. Someone in Baltimore has settled the matter: Heh. Meanwhile, that same Green Weenie Award was also granted because of PETA’s efforts to liberate the animals on the boxes of Animal Crackers. Apparently the critters at Vox are jealous of PETA’s multiple Green Weenie Awards from Power Line, as
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August 29, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The mainstream media is going wild because Florida Republican Ron DeSantis, just nominated to run for governor against African-American Andrew Gillum, said he hopes voters don’t “monkey this up” by electing his far-left opponent. This is what DeSantis said: Florida elections are always competitive, and this is a guy who, although he’s much too liberal for Florida, I think he’s got huge problems with how he’s governed Tallahassee, he is
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August 29, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, Arizona Democrats nominated David Garcia to run for governor. Garcia is a left-wing candidate, but a reasonably attractive one. He’s the Democrats’ highest-performing statewide candidate of the last 12 years, having almost won his 2014 race for state superintendent. And he is Latino. Incumbent Doug Ducey will be favored to defeat him, but can’t take the race for granted. This raises the stakes in Ducey’s selection of a replacement
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August 29, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Last night, as I discussed at the end of a long post on Tuesday’s primaries, Rep. Martha McSally won the Republican nomination to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jeff Flake. Her opponent is Rep. Kyrsten Sinema. It figures to be a tight race, as both congresswomen are fairly popular. Sinema has a radical past, but has positioned herself as a centrist in recent years, presumably with an
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August 28, 2018 — Steven Hayward
Two weeks ago Professor Lisa Littman of Brown University’s department of behaviorial and social sciences published an article on PLoS One, a well-regarded, peer-reviewed online scientific journal, with the title “Rapid-onset gender dysphoria in adolescents and young adults: A study of parental reports.” Before proceeding, know that Prof. Littman is not tenured at Brown. I’ll post immediately below the abstract and conclusion (and the whole study is available—no paywall or
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August 28, 2018 — John Hinderaker
Bruce Ohr, the number four official in Barack Obama’s Department of Justice, testified before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees today. Given what we know about his role in the DOJ/FBI scandal, his testimony should have been riveting. However, he testified in closed session, so this will be a short post. Fox News hints at what happened behind closed doors: While lawmakers told reporters that Ohr was being cooperative, Rep.
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August 28, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Tonight, I’ll be following primaries in Florida and Arizona (in between watching tape of a German soccer match played last weekend). Florida’s big ticket contests are for governor. On the Republican side, it looks like Rep. Ron DeSantis holds a commanding lead over state agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam. Putnam is the candidate of the state’s Republican establishment. DeSantis has the endorsement of President Trump. With more than one-third of the
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August 28, 2018 — John Hinderaker
Minnesota will be the eye of the hurricane in November, with two Senate races, at least four competitive House races, and the governorship at stake. The Democrats nominated their strongest candidate for governor, 1st District Congressman Tim Walz. But if Republicans have their way, Walz and all other Democrats on the ballot will be tarred by association with Walz’s de facto running mate, Keith Ellison. The national press is beginning
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August 28, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
With the passing of Sen. John McCain, it falls to Arizona governor Doug Ducey to name a replacement. The replacement will hold the seat until 2020, when it will be up for grabs in an election. This article looks at candidates whose names have been floated as potential appointees. Of those on the list, my least favorite choice is Cindy McCain. I’m not confident she’s a conservative. There is speculation
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August 28, 2018 — Steven Hayward
I think press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders may be my favorite person on Trump’s staff. I love they way she treats the White House press corps with such cool contempt, which is what they deserve. So it is a great delight to see the folks at Bad Lip Reading do their own rendition of Sanders in action that really does convey the effectual truth of the dynamic of the White
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August 28, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation has responded to my critique of his article defending the leniency-for-criminals legislation being pushed in the Senate. I appreciate his response. Like a good lawyer writing a reply brief, Malcolm begins by citing the points he made that I didn’t dispute. Let me begin by returning the favor. Here are points I made that Malcolm does not dispute. I consider them decisive. First, Malcolm
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August 28, 2018 — Steven Hayward
Arthur Herman has a good recollection over at National Review of the climax of the Democratic Party’s disastrous 1968 national convention in Chicago exactly 50 years ago on this date. It was unhappiness with the grassroots of the party that led to the “reforms” that disempowered party bosses and insiders and made the Democratic Party more populist (that’s before “populism” became a dirty word for liberals), resulting in such sterling
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August 28, 2018 — Steven Hayward
So I arrive on campus for the first day of classes yesterday, where I am greeted with this large poster: Just how to think about this? That it is good to see that college folk still have a sense of humor? A “Civil War on the Left” entry? Or opportunity for satire: “In this corner, Tweedledee; in that corner, Tweedledum.” Maybe an occasion to modify an old joke: “The problem
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August 28, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Tiger Woods is in the news for refusing to disparage Donald Trump in response to questions posed to him after the final round of the Northern Trust about his relationship with him. This the left and its media adjunct cannot abide. Now Tiger can become the subject of CNN’s perpetual hatefest for a few hours this morning. Having answered the call to serve in the Army at the height of
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August 28, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Today is the official publication date of Art from the Swamp by our late friend Bruce Cole. With the kind permission of Roger Kimball and Encounter Books, we are posting Roger’s brief foreword below. This is one foreword that I wish I did not have to write. When my friend Bruce Cole died suddenly in January 2018, age 79, he left the manuscript of this book about Washington’s patronage of
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August 27, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The Trump administration has cut more than $200 million in aid for the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza. This decision followed a review by the State Department “to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with U.S. national interests and provide value to the U.S. taxpayer.” According to the Washington Post, the cut “effectively means the United States is giving no money to the Palestinians.” I’m not sure that’s the
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August 27, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Jemele Hill, the sports highlights presenter who fancies herself a political pundit, is finally out at ESPN. The network will buy out her contract, reportedly worth $2.5 million. Hill is best know for idiotically calling President Trump a “white supremacist.” Thereafter she continued to offer hack left-wing political commentary on Twitter, in violation of company policy. ESPN’s new president, Jimmy Pitaro, reportedly wants to get the network out of political
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