August 15, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Salon has a good column summarizing the argument presented by Patrick Lawrence in the Nation asserting that the alleged Russian hack of the DNC email was rather an inside job. It nicely complements our previous installments in this series. Author Danielle Ryan quotes the official DNC response to Lawrence’s Nation article provided to the Nation after publication and now appended to the article: U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the Russian
»
August 15, 2017 — Scott Johnson
The latest Washington Post collusion story is different from the others. The story is “Trump campaign emails show aide’s repeated efforts to set up Russia meetings.” Last night Paul Mirengoff summarized and and deconstructed the story here. If you’ve been following the collusion hysteria, you won’t want to miss this story. The story comes in the accustomed form — under the byline of numerous Post heavy hitters (Tom Hamburger, Carol
»
August 15, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Last week I noted Patrick Lawrence’s article on the the purported hack of the DNC email by the Russians in the run-up to last year’s election. Lawrence reported on the analysis presented by former intelligence officials who assert it was something else entirely. Lawrence’s article was posted under the heading “A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year’s DNC Hack.” Lawrence’s article includes relevant links. The analysis has been
»
August 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Lest there be any doubt about his own views, President Trump has forcefully condemned the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend. “To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend’s racist violence,” Trump said, “you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered. As I said on Saturday, we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. It has no place in
»
August 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Wherever craven liberal authorities hold sway, the quest to bring our past into conformity with the wave of our totalitarian leftist future continues with token resistance, it any at all. Yale University presents a useful case in point. At NRO Kyle Smith notes that “Yale’s determination to take a giant jar of Wite-Out to history has reached a new level of fatuousness.” Smith points to the Yale Alumni Magazine report
»
August 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
On the scene in Charlottesville, New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg noted on Twitter: ew York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg was on the scene yesterday. On Saturday she wrapped up her observations on Twitter: “The hard left seemed as hate-filled as alt-right. I saw club-wielding ‘antifa’ beating white nationalists being led out of the park” (below). 2. The hard left seemed as hate-filled as alt-right. I saw club-wielding
»
August 13, 2017 — Scott Johnson
What a sickening display of racism, anti-Semitism and all the rest the “white nationalists” served up in their demonstration over the decision to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville. According to the New York Times, the planned rally was promoted as “Unite the Right,” attracting groups like the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis and movement leaders like David Duke and Richard Spencer. NBC News has a good
»
August 12, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I set forth the chain of events that sparked my interest in the 2016 MSP International Airport tour for Somalis only in the post “(DHS) Magical mystery tour (and why I need a lawyer).” Last year I sought information from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights (OCR) under the Freedom of Information Act. OCR provided a few heavily redacted pages and rebuffed the administrative law judge when
»
August 12, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Baseball is a beautiful game when it’s played well and you can watch it with a rooting interest in the home team. I have continued watching the Minnesota Twins this season even though management recently gave up on their playoff chances, trading away their closer (Brandon Kintzler) and a newly acquired starter (Jaime Garcia) after one appearance. We nevertheless have the pleasure of watching some talented young players come into
»
August 11, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday the Nation posted Patrick Lawrence’s article on the the purported hack of the DNC email by the Russians in the run-up to last year’s election. Lawrence reports the analysis by former intelligence officials who assert it was something else entirely. Lawrence’s article was posted under the heading “A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year’s DNC Hack.” The “report” comes in form of open letters to the president
»
August 11, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Mike Mullen is the news editor of Twin Cities alternative weekly CityPages. Last week Mullen took after Mitchell Gunter’s Campus Reform report on a University of Minnesota student group called Tongues Untied. Tongues Untied describes itself as “a space by and for People of Color who identify as LGBTQIA and/or Same-Gender-Loving.” Mullen mocked Gunter’s criticism of the group’s exclusivity. When it comes to argument, Mullen is a practitioner of the
»
August 11, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll is offers a short course: HOW PRIVILEGED ARE YOU? Competitive Victimhood 101. She writes: Let me stipulate right out of the box that I consider myself blessed beyond any possible sense of merit. Blessed by being raised by two stable, loving parents in a great small town in the Midwest; blessed by finding a wonderful spouse early in life; blessed with good health for myself and loved ones.
»
August 10, 2017 — Scott Johnson
In today’s Star Tribune Stephen Montemayor takes up the fate of the Minnesota edition of the Obama administration’s Countering Violent Extremism Program. The Obama administration’s approach to the problem of radical Islamic terrorism was fraught with stupidity and euphemism. The Trump administration has reform of CVE on its plate. Montemayor takes up the subject with the local angle in his article “As Washington debates how to counter terrorism, Minnesota groups
»
August 10, 2017 — Scott Johnson
On Monday our friend Seth Leibsohn invited me to appear on Phoenix AM 960’s Seth and Chris Show yesterday afternoon. Seth asked me to discuss my post on the law, the leaks and the New York Times. My discussion with Seth frames the background to my “Ten theses on leaks.” What is to be done? In my view, the Trump Department of Justice must pick its best case to prosecute
»
August 9, 2017 — Scott Johnson
This past Friday Attorney General Sessions held a news conference to announce the Justice Department’s dedication to stopping the flood of leaks of classified information that is undermining the Trump administration and damaging our national security. The transcript of Mr. Sessions’ statement at the press conference is posted here. What is to be done? This was the only potential reform of policy or practice mentioned by Attorney General Sessions: “[O]ne
»
August 9, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Glen Campbell died yesterday in Nashville at the age of 81 of complications from the Alzheimer’s disease with which he had been struggling for the past six years. Obituaries in the New York Times and the Washington Post do a good job covering the full scope of his life and career. The length and breadth of Campbell’s career are remarkable. He excelled as an instrumentalist on guitar sufficiently to make
»
August 9, 2017 — Scott Johnson
This morning we conclude our preview of the new (Summer) issue of the Claremont Review of Books. In our preview of the issue I passed over outstanding reviews and essays by Charles Kesler (on campus protest then and now), William Voegeli (on “diversity”), James Ceaser (on the current populist wave), Harvey Mansfield (on “polarization”), Algis Valiunas (on Frank Lloyd Wright), Brian Anderson (on Jane Jacobs) and others. Subscribe at the
»
