Monthly Archives: December 2019
December 22, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Here’s the chart that suggests why Trump will be re-elected next November: A strong economy with rising wages across the board (but especially for low-wage workers) is always a formula for re-election. And this didn’t happen because of high minimum wage laws in Seattle. Peggy Noonan observed yesterday in her Wall Street Journal column: A Quinnipiac poll released Dec. 10 showed that since February 2018, the share of the population
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December 22, 2019 — Scott Johnson
With the heat generated by the Pelosi Players performing their impeachment farce in the House of Representatives last week, Martha MacCallum’s interview with Attorney General Barr last week hasn’t gotten the attention it merits. I posted an 18-minutes clip and transcript yesterday in “Barr versus Comey.” In the five-minute clip below (posted here by FOX News), Barr discusses the questionable origin of the Russia hoax and the scope of the
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December 22, 2019 — Scott Johnson
In his daily online Wall Street Journal column of December 16, James Freeman took up “Obama’s FBI and the press.” He opens his column in the spirit of accountability that animates this series: “Thanks to a report from the Obama-appointed inspector general of the Justice Department, now everyone knows the truth about 2016. The Obama administration misled the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and wiretapped an American who supported the
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December 22, 2019 — Scott Johnson
This morning I want to revisit a few of the secular pop songs that seize on Christmas in one way or another for their own artistic purposes. Last year I added three more selections to the lineup. I’d like to stick with it again this year. These are my selections in chronological order of release along with my notes on them. In the video below Johnny and Edgar Winter perform
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December 21, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
I’m a big fan of Yuval Levin, but I disagree with some of what writes in this post on “the Senate’s burden” regarding impeachment. Yuval quotes with approval this passage from Greg Weiner: Impeachment is a matter of prudence whose frame of reference should be civic health, not merely presidential conduct… It is not merely whether Trump is guilty but also whether the nation will be better off—now and in
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December 21, 2019 — John Hinderaker
Minnesota’s Democratic governor has initiated a rule-making proceeding intended to import California’s vehicle emission standards to Minnesota. Basically, a large percentage of vehicles sold in the state would have to be electric. In order to meet that mandate, electric cars would be subsidized by higher prices for gasoline-powered vehicles, the ones a large majority of people want to buy. The rule-making order is, I think, illegal, as there is no
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December 21, 2019 — John Hinderaker
Under socialized medicine, costs can’t be controlled through competition, so they are controlled by simply denying people care. This is why in the U.K., people will tell you the National Health Service is relatively inexpensive, but no one will tell you it is good. The London Times reports on an investigation that finds a shocking absence of primary care physicians: A national shortage of GPs has left some surgeries with
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December 21, 2019 — John Hinderaker
Thursday evening, the day after Christmas, starting at 7 p.m. Central time (5 Pacific, 8 Eastern), we are doing a VIP Live event. If you are a VIP member, you will get an email with a link to a live address where you can watch the event and submit your own comments and questions on the issues of the day. We have quite a few new VIP members; I hope
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December 21, 2019 — Scott Johnson
Martha MacCallum flew to Detroit this week to interview Attorney General William Barr for her evening FOX News show. FOX News broadcast portions of the interview on Thursday and Friday. Below is video of the first 18 minutes of the interview broadcast on the show Thursday night. In it, among other things, Barr responded to former FBI Director James Comey’s transparently deceitful interview with Chris Wallace this week on FOX
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December 21, 2019 — Scott Johnson
As we seek to call out the journalistic accomplices in what Lee Smith calls The Plot Against the President, I want to draw on the work of a columnist or two who are similarly interested in settling accounts in the aftermath of the Department of Justice Inspector General report on FISA abuse issued last week. Today I turn to Matt Taibbi’s Rolling Stone column “Five Questions Still Remaining After the
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December 21, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Since we learned recently that all you need to be an avant garde artist in good standing these days is a banana and six inches of duct tape, it is fitting that Fielding Mellish’s classic quote from “Bananas” is the perfect description of the impeachment farce this week: “I object, your honor! This trial is a travesty. It’s a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of
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December 20, 2019 — John Hinderaker
Last night’s Democratic presidential debate had the lowest ratings of any of this year’s debates: According to Nielsen figures provided to Variety, the Los Angeles debate hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico and simulcast on CNN drew just over 2 million viewers across PBS stations nationwide, and was seen on CNN by just over 4 million people. PBS told Variety that the debate live streams across the participating networks’ digital
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December 20, 2019 — John Hinderaker
Our friends at Grabien prepared this montage of some of the media’s worst moments of 2019. Given the media malpractice of the last year, the video could be the length of Ben-Hur, but they’ve whittled it down to a mere eight minutes. And it is a fun walk down memory lane, as pretty much all of the media’s worst moments have, by now, blown up in their faces. Enjoy:
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December 20, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Professor Noah Feldman, whose biography of James Madison I admire, embarrassed himself when he testified about impeachment before the House Judiciary Committee. Now, he is embarrassing Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi is withholding the articles of President Trump’s impeachment from the Senate. Feldman argues that the House has not impeached President Trump until it sends along those articles for trial. If Feldman is right, then the supposed “indelible mark” on Trump’s presidency
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December 20, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Like Paul, I skipped the Democratic debate last night, which is too bad as it sounds like it offered some good comedy. I’m especially bemused by Elizabeth Warren’s complaint that Mayor Pete held a fund raiser in a Napa Valley wine cave that . . . was filled with crystals. Well this is New Age California, after all, where healing crystals are all the rage. I don’t get the problem
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December 20, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Which “deep state” figures will be indicted in connection with the scandalous handling of the Russia probe that targeted Donald Trump? I have to believe that Kevin (“Viva la Resistance!”) Clinesmith will be. You can’t let government lawyers get away with making material alterations to documents. Andrew McCabe might also be indicted. In 2018, Michael Horowitz found that the former FBI official “lacked candor” with James Comey, FBI investigators, and
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December 20, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
I didn’t watch the Democratic candidates’ presidential debate last night. In fact, I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even know it was taking place. Based on accounts of the debate, I wish I’d tuned in. I take perverse enjoyment in seeing candidates I don’t like trying desperately to ward off defeat. Elizabeth Warren is such a candidate. Not long ago, she was right on the heels of frontrunner Joe
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