May 25, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Some time today, or maybe tomorrow, the number of deaths attributed to the Wuhan coronavirus in the U.S. will reach 100,000. Unfortunately, we’re hitting that number just about on schedule for those of us who have relied on graph paper — as opposed to fancy models, wishful thinking, or a sense of panic — to project the death count. 40 percent of the U.S. deaths are from New York and
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May 24, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Ralph Northam, Virginia’s governor, toured Virginia Beach with his entourage on Saturday. He stopped to talk with folks, at least one of whom took a selfie with Northam. Northam and his fan were no more than a foot apart when the woman snapped the selfie. The governor has instructed Virginians to maintain a “social distance” of six feet. Northam was not wearing a mask. Although Virginia hasn’t yet required that
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May 24, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Here is how David Brooks begins his May 21 column for the New York Times: I was an American history major in college, back in the 1980s. I’ll be honest with you. I thrilled to the way the American story was told back then. To immigrate to America was to join the luckiest and greatest nation in history. . . . To be born American was to be born to
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May 23, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Scott reported here on the resistance from Minnesota’s Catholic bishops and Lutheran leaders to continuing restrictions placed on religious worship by Gov. Walz. That resistance has paid off. Walz has agreed to lift his restriction on church services of more than ten people. The way is now clear for houses of worship of all faith traditions to open to larger groups starting Wednesday, May 27, 2020. The Becket Fund, which
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May 23, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Judge Emmet Sullivan has hired Beth Wilkinson to represent him as he defends his unusual actions in the Michael Flynn case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Sullivan already asked for assistance from outside counsel when he appointed John Gleeson to argue against the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the Flynn prosecution. That extraordinary move helped land Sullivan in the dock, so to speak, thus causing
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May 22, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Since the early days of the pandemic, we have noted that an economy seriously damaged by prolonged lockdowns would be very bad for public health. In our first Power Line VIP program following the lockdowns, Steve pointed to robust research regarding the adverse health effects of major economic downturns. Since then, many others have made the same point. Even some liberals seem finally to be recognizing this reality. Writing in
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May 22, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
President Trump has complained that “FoxNews is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected on November 3rd.” Trump added: Sure, there are some truly GREAT people on Fox, but you also have some real “garbage” littered all over the network, people like Dummy Juan Williams, Schumerite Chris Hahn, Richard Goodstein, Donna Brazile, Niel Cavuto, and many others. They repeat the worst of the Democrat speaking points, and lies.
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May 21, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
There might have been a time when the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic would have united Americans, or at least not exacerbated our divisions. Americans might have been able to agree that China should be strongly condemned for its deadly misconduct in providing false information about the scope of the pandemic and how the virus spreads. Barring entry to the U.S. of people from the pandemic’s epicenter might not have been controversial,
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May 21, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ordered Judge Sullivan to respond within ten days to the petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Michael Flynn. I discussed and quoted from the petition here. The court also “invites” the government “to respond in its discretion within the same ten-day period.” Flynn was fortunate to draw the panel he did. It consists of Karen LeCraft Henderson, a
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May 21, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
In an era when American politics is dominated by obnoxious loud mouths, it’s not surprising that Mark Cuban thinks he should have a big role. Cuban deems himself presidential timber, and has not ruled out running for president in 2024. Last night Cuban went on Sean Hannity’s program to question President Trump’s leadership. Cuban told Hannity: He can’t be blaming the victim all the — you know, Sean, this is
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May 20, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
So, President Trump says he’s taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against contracting the Wuhan coronavirus. You have to give him credit. He has the courage of his convictions. Actually, it doesn’t require courage to take hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure. The drug has been widely used to treat malaria and lupus for many decades. Like virtually every medication, it has side effects. However, it is not dangerous. The FDA
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May 20, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The Wuhan coronavirus is waning in Europe. A month ago, new reported cases in Italy were running at about 3,500 per day, down from a peak of around 6,000. Now, they are averaging around 800. A month ago, Italy was averaging around 500 reported deaths from the virus per day, down from a peak of more than 800. Now, the daily average is around 150. Moreover, the number of reported
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May 20, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The Department of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General Barr, has moved aggressively to make sure that state and local measures to contain the Wuhan coronavirus do not violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom. We discussed some of the DOJ’s actions here, here, and here. Now, the New York Times reports that Justice Department has “warned California’s governor that his COVID-19 restrictions discriminate[] against places of worship
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May 19, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Recent numbers regarding the Wuhan coronavirus in the U.S. are somewhat encouraging. The reported number of daily deaths from the virus has averaged around 1,000 the past three days. In early May, daily deaths were averaging about twice that number. Two of the past three days were weekend days. Sometimes the number of reported deaths declines on weekends, so we’ll need to see what happens during the rest of this
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May 19, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn’s lawyer in the criminal case against him, has filed a Writ of Mandamus to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The petition asks the D.C. Circuit to issue an order directing the district court to grant the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss its case against Gen. Flynn. It also asks that the district court be ordered to vacate its order appointing amicus
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May 19, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Today, the National Football League is considering a proposal to enable teams to improve their draft position by hiring minority candidates for coaching and executive positions. As I understand the proposal, a team that hires a minority head coach would move up six spots in the third round of the following year’s draft. Hiring a minority general manager would enable a team to move up ten spots in that round.
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May 18, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Mitch McConnell has selected Marco Rubio to serve as acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rubio replaces Richard Burr, who stepped down last week because he’s under investigation by the FBI regarding stock sales he made just before the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic caused stock values to plummet. Rubio was once best known in the Senate for his amnesty-style immigration reform bill. Now, he’s probably best known for his hardline
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