November 13, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Brett Kavanaugh’s elevation to the Supreme Court created a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. I suspect that every star conservative lawyer in Washington under the age of, say, 52 had eyes on this seat. Today, President Trump nominated Neomi Rao to fill it. Rao currently serves as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a Senate-confirmed job. She
»
November 13, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
I keep being asked how the good people of Arizona, which almost invariably has sent center-right candidates to the Senate, could have elected Kyrsten Sinema. I’ve been asking that question myself. Sinema once called Arizona the meth lab of Democracy (maybe she was onto something). She said she didn’t care if people join the Taliban. She entered politics as a member of the Green Party. She received honors from the
»
November 13, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Election Day did not produce a Blue Wave, but it went well for Democrats. They picked up more House seats than in any midterm election since 1974; they held onto some Senate seats and Red States; and they picked up Senate seats in two purplish ones. Democrats can also be encouraged by results in what recently has been the solidly Republican South. In Georgia, a leftist candidate, Stacey Abrams, appears
»
November 12, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Right now, we don’t know how large the Democratic majority in the U.S. House will be. The estimates I’ve seen suggest it will be approximately 15. This means that Nancy Pelosi can’t lose many votes from Democrats if she is to be restored as Speaker of the House. And it’s my understanding that some of the newly-elected Democrats said during the campaign either that they wouldn’t vote for Pelosi or,
»
November 12, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
On Election Night, I wrote that the so-called Blue Wave many on the left were expecting had turned into a fizzle. This was a reasonable assessment when I wrote it. Republicans had won Senate seats in Indiana and Missouri, two toss-up races, along with the expected victory in North Dakota. In Florida, where the Democrat was slightly favored to win, the Republican was winning. (No votes had yet been counted
»
November 12, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Later this afternoon, I will be the guest of Seth Leibsohn on KKNT 960—”The Patriot”—in Arizona. I’m schedule to appear at 6:30 Eastern Time. We will be discussing FIRST STEP, the leniency for drug felons legislation I wrote about yesterday.
»
November 12, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post blasts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not taking a hard line on Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Diehl’s op-ed comes as no surprise. The Post hates Netanyahu and Khashoggi wrote op-eds for for the paper. Diehl is normally a pretty sensible guy. But in this instance his rage has steered him off course. Virtually every
»
November 11, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Team leniency — the folks who favor shorter sentences for federal drug felon and favor letting these felons out of jail before their sentences have been fully served — promised it would push for such legislation as soon as the elections were over. They weren’t going to push for it before the elections because leniency legislation is massively unpopular. Now that the elections are safely behind them, leniency supporters have
»
November 11, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post keeps coming up with ways to broadcast anti-Trump screeds in a form that misleadingly suggests its reporting the news honestly. We’ve become familiar with variations of the following locution: “This report is based on interviews with 38 individuals with knowledge of the situation, including senior White House officials.” It allows the Post to pick and choose among the people it talked to and report pretty much whatever
»
November 10, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Members of the Washington Post’s large stable of Trump haters keep making fools of themselves in the attempt to paint President Trump as a racist. The latest effort, typical of the others but probably even sillier, comes from the Post’s media critic Paul Farhi. Farhi notes that Trump has “singled out three African American women who are journalists” for abuse ” just for asking him questions.” He then accuses Trump
»
November 10, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Matthew Whitaker is President Trump’s selection to replace Jeff Sessions. Whitaker will be the Acting Attorney General. Whitaker is qualified for the position. He served as Sessions’ chief of staff and, at one time, as a U.S. Attorney. Like almost anyone Trump might have named to replace Sessions, though, Whitaker has come in for bitter criticism from the Trump haters. They make three main arguments: (1) Whitaker can’t oversee the
»
November 9, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Dartmouth College has a disgraceful record when it comes to protecting students and others from thuggish behavior from leftists. Dartmouth’s president, Phil Hanlon, seems indifferent at best to the right of students to hear conservative speakers and, indeed, to the right of all students to be free from left-wing bullies. The latest shameful episode at Dartmouth involved David Horowitz, a well-known conservative public intellectual. Horowitz provides the dismal details in
»
November 9, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
I understand why the Post wants to keep banging the drum over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. He’s one of their own. Trying to cause the U.S. to reverse its foreign policy in the Middle East over one more killing in the region, however heinous, seems rather ambitious and, from the point of view of U.S. interests, misguided. But the Post has every right to try. However, the Post crosses
»
November 8, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions has received an outpouring of praise from conservatives whose focus is public policy. I quoted some of that praise last night. There’s a lot more I could add, but instead I’ll confine myself to this article by Heather Mac Donald. She argues that by firing Sessions, President Trump has put key portions of his agenda at risk: Trump won the presidency by promising to restore
»
November 8, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s great that the Republicans picked up Senate seats in North Dakota, Missouri, and Indiana. However, these states won’t decide the 2020 presidential election. Judging by 2016, the most important states in two years will be Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. What did we learn about these states from Tuesday’s election? In Florida, the Republican candidates for governor and senator appear to have prevailed, though the Democrats are
»
November 7, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Jeff Sessions is out as Attorney General. His ouster was inevitable. He and President Trump have irreconcilable differences about the role of the AG. Sessions believes it’s the Attorney General’s job to enforce federal law; advance the president’s agenda on law enforcement, immigration, civil rights, etc.; and conduct himself ethically at all times. Trump believes it’s the Attorney General’s job to be his wingman. Trump wouldn’t have needed a wingman
»
November 7, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Josh Kraushaar compiled what he calls the progressive scorecard from last night. Note that it includes only seriously contested races. (Bernie Sanders won, as did the 29 year-old airhead from New York with the hyphenated name): Arizona governor: Garcia loses Florida governor: Gillum loses Georgia governor: Abrams loses Maryland governor: Jealous loses Texas senator: O’Rourke loses California 45th: Porter trails Nebraska 2nd: Eastman loses Pennsylvania 1st: Wallace loses Virginia 5th:
»
