July 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
President Trump’s latest attack on Jeff Sessions is perhaps his most stupid. Here is what Trump told the Wall Street Journal: When they say he endorsed me, I went to Alabama. I had 40,000 people. He was a senator from Alabama. I won the state by a lot, massive numbers. A lot of the states I won by massive numbers. But he was a senator, he looks at 40,000 people
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July 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In April, approximately 170 people marched to Claremont McKenna’s Athenaeum, disassembled a fence newly built to restrain protests, and blocked the entrances. Claremont’s security officers failed to control the crowd. Consequently, Heather Mac Donald, scheduled to address a live audience regarding her book The War on Cops, was forced to speak to a camera instead. Now, Claremont McKenna has punished seven of the student-protesters. It suspended three for one year,
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July 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In this post, my cousin wrote about Mayor de Blasio’s “One Book – One New York” initiative which urged Gothamites to vote for a work of literature to all read together. The nominees were anti-American screeds by the likes of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Chimamamda Ngozi, and Junot Diaz. Commenting about the post, David Randall of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) calls “One Book – One New York” a college common
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July 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In America, we don’t persecute defeated party leaders. That’s the stuff of Robespierre, Stalin, and Mao. Even Donald Trump seemed to recognize this. In his better moments on the campaign trail, he responded to chants of “lock her up” with “defeat her.” After his election, Trump let it be known that he did not intend to prosecute Hillary Clinton. For his part, Attorney General Sessions has been focusing on the
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July 24, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Many conservatives believe that voter fraud exists on a significant scale in this country. The left insists that it does not. Indeed, says Roger Clegg, some on the left deny that voter fraud exists at all. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity wants to find out whether, and to what extent, voter fraud exists. To do so, it needs data, specifically voter data from the states. The left filed
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July 24, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
You might think that a website called “American Greatness” would be concerned that the U.S. is “outsourcing security in Syria to the Russians” (to use the reported words of the Trump administration’s acting assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs). You might think that such a site would have qualms about the U.S. abandoning Syrian fighters that we armed, trained, and encouraged to fight against the pro-Iranian regime in
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July 24, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
At the Aspen Security Forum, the same conference Scott discussed here, CIA Director Mike Pompeo discussed with clarity the situation the U.S. confronts in Syria. As Josh Rogin reports, Pompeo stated that we have two main enemies in Syria: ISIS and Iran. Our goals, in addition to finishing off ISIS in Syria, should be to stop Iran from establishing a zone of control that spans the region and “providing the
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July 23, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Over the weekend, Congress reached an agreement on sweeping sanctions legislation to punish Russia for its election meddling and aggression toward its neighbors. Congress thereby rejected President Trump’s contention that he needs flexibility to adjust the sanctions to fit his diplomatic initiatives with Moscow. Congressional Republicans, it appears, don’t have faith in Trump’s diplomatic initiatives with Moscow. Will Trump veto the legislation? Probably not. He seems to lack the votes
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July 23, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
A few days ago, the Washington Post reported that Attorney Jeff Sessions’ statements about what he discussed with the Russian ambassador are at odds with reports by the ambassador to his government about what he and Sessions discussed. However, as I argued here, there is no inconsistency between the statements of Sessions quoted by the Post and the Russian ambassador’s alleged description of his talks with Sessions. The Sessions statements
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July 22, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
My conservative cousin from New York has been following New York City mayors since the days of Robert F. Wagner, Jr. I think John Lindsey remains his nominee for the worst of the lot, but the current mayor seems to be closing in fast. My cousin reports: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is an ardent admirer of Communist Cuba and the Sandinistas. He presides over a town whose
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July 22, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Ted Leonsis owns the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals. The hockey team has done quite well under his leadership, though a deep playoff run has eluded it. The basketball team has often been mediocre or worse, though it now is among the better NBA squads. Leonsis also owns the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. The team, like the league, has struggled. Leonsis blames the WNBA’s woes on the media.
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July 21, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post claims that Attorney General Sessions’ statements about what he discussed with the Russian ambassador are at odds with reports by the ambassador to his government about what he and Sessions discussed. The Post relies on, you guessed it, “current and former U.S. officials.” But the Post fails to describe a contradiction between what Sessions has said and what the Russian ambassador supposedly reported. Here are the only
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July 21, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Sean Spicer resigned from his job as White House press secretary this morning. The resignation occurred promptly after President Trump appointed Anthony Scaramucci to be White House communications director. Spicer reportedly told Trump he believes the appointment is a major mistake. It had been rumored for quite some time that Spicer would go. He seemed to lose Trump’s confidence and certainly had lost the trust of the White House press
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July 21, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Did President Trump certify to Congress on Monday that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal? This is what virtually of all of the reporting on his action says he did. We wrote that, early in the day, National Security Council director H. R. McMaster indicated the administration would certify Iranian compliance. The next day we reported, per Eli Lake, that Trump had balked at providing certification and came close
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July 20, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
I’ve been critical of President Trump today. But few days go by without me being happy he defeated Hillary Clinton. Here’s a reminder of why. Yesterday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced that his agency will “reinterpret” the ultra-instrusive Obama housing rule known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). The rule was designed by the Obama administration to seize federal control over local zoning for the purpose of
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July 20, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
We know little, if anything, about what happened at the formal between President Trump and Vladimir Putin after Trump told the autocrat-thug that he was honored to meet him. We know nothing about what transpired at the dinner in Hamburg after Trump sought out Putin for further discussion. But now we know what Trump has done for Putin since they met in Germany. He has ended a CIA program in
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July 20, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Most of us understand, I think, that President Trump lacks class and self-discipline. Still, I would not have expected him to rip Jeff Sessions, his Attorney General, in an interview with the New York Times, of all organs. If Trump is this unhappy with Sessions, then fire him. Or accept his resignation, which Sessions reportedly offered after the last time Trump popped off about him. But don’t whine to Maggie
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