January 13, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court has halted the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-testing requirement on large American employers. The majority doubted the existence of legal authority for the sweeping mandate. The Court’s three liberals — Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan — dissented. The Court did, however, allow to remain in place the administration’s requirement of vaccinations for most health-care workers at facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funds. The vote
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January 13, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Has any president in the last 50 years delivered a worse speech than Joe Biden did yesterday in Georgia? The only one that comes immediately to my mind is Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” address of 1979. But impolitic as it was, at least that speech contained a kernel of truth. I invite the distinguished presidential scholars among our readers and my co-bloggers to point to a speech worse than Biden’s. How
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January 12, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Greg Gutfeld has gained smashing ratings for his late-night comedy/commentary show on Fox News. The popularity of an avowedly pro-Trump, anti-woke host triggers this article in the Washington Post. The Post’s report, by Manuel Roig-Franzia, recognizes the threat Gutfeld poses to the left. Roig-Franzia writes: In a matter of months Gutfeld’s new program has made him significantly more influential [than Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson] — well-positioned to aid the
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January 12, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly has been urging Maryland governor Larry Hogan to run for the Senate. So far, according to this report, Hogan has pushed back against the urgings of McConnell and Sen. Rick Scott, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. But McConnell isn’t giving up. He even enlisted his wife, Elaine Chao, to talk to Hogan’s wife, Yumi Hogan, about the matter. Could Hogan defeat Van
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January 12, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Terry McAuliffe probably lost any hope of winning his race for Virginia governor when he said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” McAuliffe might well have lost anyway, but some observers thought at the time, and most think now, that he was doomed once he made that remark. In future elections, Democratic candidates will, I assume, avoid making statements like McAuliffe’s. But Stanley Kurtz
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January 11, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
When Joe Biden ran for president, he blamed Donald Trump for the high number of deaths in the U.S. attributed to the Wuhan coronavirus. He also claimed that U.S. deaths per capita were abnormally high compared to those elsewhere in comparable parts of the world. That claim was false. As I showed at the time, per capita U.S. deaths from the virus here were in line with those in the
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January 11, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Of course not. Yet Democrats and their media allies insist that it is. Take for example, the lead article in the Washington Post’s Sunday Outlook section. It’s by Sam Rosenfeld, an associate professor at Colgate University. Rosenfeld claims that democracy is “on the brink of disaster” in America. As evidence, he moans that “in 2021, Republican state legislatures passed new restrictions on voting access.” But these restrictions tend to ensure
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January 11, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Lani Guinier, the law professor and civil rights attorney, died on January 7. The Washington Post’s obituary is here. The Post uses its obituary to settle old scores against Republicans and to make political/ideological points. Accordingly, the obit begins this way: Lani Guinier, a lawyer whose innovative and provocative writings on racial justice and voting rights were used to undermine her nomination to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division
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January 10, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Many shelves are empty again at the local stores where we shop for food. Last week, my store of choice, part of a big local chain, was devoid of yogurt and only two bottles of orange juice remained. Since then, the shortages have become worse. What’s the cause of this problem? One significant factor appears to be a lack of workers due to illness from the new coronavirus variant. This
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January 10, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
A friend called my attention to a show on YouTube called “Black Conservative Perspective.” It features commentary by Greg Foreman. I enjoyed the two episodes I’ve seen, which can be viewed below. The first is a report that MSNBC might fire Joy Reid, whom Foreman calls a racist, seemingly with good reason (I’ve never seen Reid’s show — just a few clips that support Foreman’s characterization.) The second is Foreman’s
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January 10, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
The FA Cup is the signature tournament in English soccer. It’s open to every team in the top four English leagues and also to “non-league” teams from all over the country. More than 700 clubs compete in it. The romance of the FA Cup stems in part from occasional upsets of top teams by ragtag semi-pro clubs featuring barbers, landscapers, teachers, etc. Upsets of that magnitude rarely occur these days,
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January 10, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Eric Adams, New York City’s new mayor, has hired his brother to serve as a deputy NYPD commissioner. The brother, Bernard Adams, will be responsible for the mayor’s security, among other duties. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this appointment. In fact, it’s natural, assuming Bernard Adams is well qualified for this position, for the mayor to want someone with a close personal connection to be in charge of keeping him
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January 9, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
My friend who reads the New York Times has been waiting for it to provide frontpage coverage of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s memo instructing prosecutors not to seek jail or prison time for all but the most serious crimes and to cease charging a number of “lower-level” crimes. Having previously relegated the matter to page 18, the Times finally elevates it to the front page in discussing pushback by New
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January 8, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
CNN went all-in on the anniversary of January 6. It spent the day discussing the unpeaceful protests, with coverage culminating in a two-hour show from Statuary Hall inside the Capitol. Nancy Pelosi appeared for an interview. MSNBC also devoted hours and hours to similar coverage. Personally, I thought the anniversary of the rioting was a good time to reflect on it. But not all day. And certainly not with CNN
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January 7, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in two cases involving Joe Biden’s covid vaccine mandates — (1) the OSHA mandate on all private business with 100 or more employees and (2) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate on health-care workers who participate in Medicaid and Medicare programs. The arguments lasted for roughly three-and-a-half hours. I didn’t listen to them. However, according to the accounts I’ve read,
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January 7, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post has announced that it will promote Steven Ginsberg, its national editor, to the position of managing editor. Ginsberg will now oversee the Post’s main news sections, including the national, metro, and sports sections. The Post informs its readers that as national editor, Ginsberg “led the organization’s political coverage through the Trump years and helped propel the company to one of its most successful periods with reporting that
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January 7, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Kevin Porter was the point guard on some outstanding Washington Bullets teams in the mid-1970s. He’s a local legend in the D.C. area. Kevin Porter Jr. is the fine young point guard for the Houston Rockets. Like the old Bullet, he’s African-American, but the two are not related. Porter Jr.’s father served prison time in the 1990s for killing a 14-year-old girl. He claimed the gun went off accidentally. He
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