Monthly Archives: June 2021
June 30, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
If Kamala Harris didn’t exist, the media would have to invent her. The mainstream media is determined to treat Joe Biden with kid gloves. Gossip about the White House seems largely off-limits and apparently not easy to come by without great effort. But journalists love gossip and drama, so they seek them one level down from the Oval Office. And what’s more dramatic than a woman on track to becoming
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June 30, 2021 — John Hinderaker
I know, this is a post we could do several times a day. But here are a couple of examples of the sheer insanity of today’s Left. First, in Ohio GOP representative Jena Powell introduced a bill to prohibit boys from competing in girls’ sports. Just a few years ago, this would have been noncontroversial, if anyone had even thought of such a thing. But today, the “trans” ideology has
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June 30, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
The race for New York City mayor was always going to be a s***show, at the least on the Democrat side. Given the new ranked-choice voting system and pre-existing problems with vote counting, the Democrats weren’t expected to declare a winner until weeks after the voting. Things took a turn for the worse yesterday when the Board of Elections released updated results showing that what was a substantial lead for
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June 30, 2021 — John Hinderaker
The “green” energy boom has devastated America’s electric grid. Americans are used to having reliable electricity, but across the country dispatchable energy sources–coal, nuclear, in some cases natural gas–are being replaced with unreliable sources, i.e. wind and solar. The result is increasing fragility of the grid, which is being manifested in blackouts. First there were rolling blackouts in California. Then a polar vortex led to brownouts in Minnesota, with residents
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June 30, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
the more I like him. My visit to Florida in April also left me with a good feeling about its governor. How refreshing to experience life in a state comparatively free of excessive covid restrictions. Now comes word, via Stanley Kurtz, that DeSantis has vetoed a stealth protest-civics bill, S.B. 146. Stanley reports: Ostensibly, S.B. 146 was designed to forward “civic literacy education.” In fact, it was a quiet effort
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June 30, 2021 — Steven Hayward
I think it is Glenn Reynolds who came up with the observation that the demand for racism exceeds the supply, which explains the proliferation of Jussie Smollett-style racism hoaxes. And Hollywood is happy to do its part to reinforce this narrative. The Daily Wire reports that the CW network has greenlit a series based on Jane Austen novels that will: update a number of Jane Austen classics for the “modern”
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June 30, 2021 — Scott Johnson
The divided Minnesota legislature appears to have ended the one-man rule of Governor Tim “tear down this” Walz overnight. It is perfectly fitting that Walz (I believe falsely) presents himself setting aside his crown as a matter of his royal grace (press release at 11:40 p.m. last night): After reaching a deal with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to protect monthly emergency food payments for Minnesotans, Governor Tim
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June 30, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Just before his show was aired last night, the NSA issued a statement responding to Tucker Carlson’s charge that the agency is monitoring his electronic communications. As anyone familiar with the ways of Washington knows, however, the NSA statement requires close reading. Techno Fog gives it a close reading and concludes: Those who look closely will see something else: that the NSA, while stating that Tucker “has never been an
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June 29, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
I fear that Justice Kavanaugh is on his way to becoming another Chief Justice Roberts, but without the years of quality conservative jurisprudence Roberts produced before he “grew in office” into his current, more moderate incarnation. Kavanaugh appears to have been almost fully “grown” before he took office. Today, Kavanaugh joined Roberts and the Court’s three liberals in a ruling that keeps in place the federal eviction moratorium. Kavanaugh voted
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June 29, 2021 — John Hinderaker
For some time, William Barr was a hero of the Trump administration. As a result he was reviled by Democrats. But near the end, he had a falling out with Trump, which I take it related mainly to Trump’s insistence on questioning the results of the (highly questionable) 2020 election. Now the enmity between the two men has grown bitter, as Barr is a subject of, and a collaborator in,
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June 29, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
England defeated Germany today in a round of 16 match at the European Championship. It’s the first time since the 1966 World Cup final that England prevailed over West Germany/Germany in the knockout stage of a big tournament. At the 1970 World Cup, West Germany gained revenge for the 1966 result. The Germans also knocked out England in the semi finals of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1996 (both
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June 29, 2021 — Steven Hayward
Yesterday afternoon I turned in to the publisher the final, completed manuscript for my next book, M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom (pre-order now!), which means I’ll be turning up more frequently here on Power Line. One of the things it will include as an appendix is “Stan’s Six Rules for Political Combat,” and I thought I might as well share them here now, since we’re locked in a
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June 29, 2021 — Scott Johnson
If Republicans have signed off on the alleged infrastructure bill that is to be formulated as a “compromise” lopping off the ginormous tax and spending package Democrats intend to push through on their own, we should take a closer look at its contents. According to the March 31 White House Fact Sheet: The President’s plan invests $213 billion to produce, preserve, and retrofit more than two million affordable and sustainable
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June 29, 2021 — Scott Johnson
The Manhattan Institute’s invaluable Heather Mac Donald wrote “The revolution comes Juilliard” for MI’s City Journal last month. The story Heather tells is a tale of our time from the ever larger land beyond satire. Racial hysteria and opposition to Western civilization are among its themes. Heather’s column concludes: A leader in the arts world, told of Juilliard’s travails, observes: “This is a crucial time to stand up and call
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June 29, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I have taken up the issue of Joe Biden’s declining mental faculties by reference to the tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Everyone can see that the guy is naked. In his New York Post column this morning, Kyle Smith takes up the issue in a way that recalls the old Buddy Miles number “Them Changes” (“My mind is going through them changes…”). Referring to Biden’s bizarre performance at last
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June 28, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s understandable if, at the start of a soccer tournament like the World Cup or the Euros, the manager of a national team doesn’t know which players make up his best eleven. After all, these teams don’t play regularly and their composition changes every time they gather for a tournament. After three matches, though, most managers know their best eleven. And if one or two of its members are unavailable
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June 28, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
As college students, John and I both subscribed to the philosophical doctrine of determinism. We differed, though, on what implications, if any, the doctrine had for the issue of income distribution. I believed that because the traits that result in wealth are determined by causes beyond our control — the genetics lottery, for example — wealth is undeserved. Therefore, inequality is unjust and should be abolished John understood that my
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