This weekend I discussed how President Donald Trump’s own words had been the primary problem for lawyers seeking to advance his agenda. Trump’s comment and tweets have routinely undermined defenses and alienated allies. The column was prompted by Trump’s London tweets. While discussed for their triggering outrage across the political spectrum in Great Britain, one of the most controversial tweets also contained references to the immigration order as a “travel ban.” It was a remarkably ill-considered tweet. However, on Monday morning, President Trump doubled down and actually attacked his own lawyers at the Justice Department and directly contradicted their position in court. As I mentioned earlier, government counsel must feel like they have a daily Perry Mason moment with their client jumping up in court screaming incriminating things. The only logical conclusion that can be reached is that Trump really does not care if he wins the case. The problem is that there is a large and talented team at the Justice Department that is still laboring under the assumption that the President does want to prevail before the Supreme Court.
Category: Media
We have previously discussed how politicians often attack free speech and other rights to show that they are “tough” on terror after attacks. Prime Minister Theresa May however may have set a record. May did not hesitate in immediately blaming the Internet and calling for government regulation of free speech to combat attacks like the one in London. Of course, if these terrorists were connected to ISIS (or inspired by ISIS), their extremism was not caused by free speech on the Internet. Indeed, the Internet often allows security to track extremists on the web.
Continue reading “May Calls For Free Speech Controls on the Internet In Response To London Attacks”
We previously discussed the proposal at Evergreen State College to have all white faculty, staff, and students leave campus for a day as part of a “Day of Absence” to raise awareness of the contribution of the black community. Evergreen State College biology professor Bret Weinstein made a reasoned objection to the plan for this year’s “Day of Absence.” As shown in a videotape, there was a mob scene around Weinstein as students called him a racist and called for his resignation. Protests have denounced his “anti-blackness” and demanded his removal from teaching. Now, the faculty at Evergreen State College has sent a letter to students supporting the protesters and their demands for disciplinary action of Prof. Weinstein.
I have been writing about how President Donald Trump has brought out the worst in his critics in the media as well as the courts. Ironically, some in these institutions appear to be rushing to confirm the stereotypes that he has painted of them. The latest example is CNN host Reza Aslan. CNN has been criticized by many for its coverage of Trump and alleged bias against his Administration. The loudest critic is of course Trump himself. Recently, CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria declared that Trump attained the White House through “bulls–t.” Now Aslan, who hosts CNN’s program “Believer” has called President Trump “a piece of sh–” and “an embarrassment to humankind” after Trump used the latest massacre to his call for U.S. courts to approve his executive order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries. Aslan seemed intent to establish that he is a “true believer” in the anti-Trump cause but he also represents a media organization. His attack is the latest evidence of media personalities losing any sense of professionalism and dispassion. As I said yesterday, media must decide if they still want to report or merely rave at the new and newsmakers. Aslan may be as “spiritually curious” as advertised but he is now professionally dubious as a journalist. At the same time, as discussed below, President Trump is again causing an international outcry with his tweets after the attack.
Continue reading “True Believer: CNN Host Calls President Trump A “Piece of S–T””
We have been discussing how Howard Dean and other Democratic leaders have been declaring that there is an exception for speech that they claim to be hate speech. Now they appear to have been joined by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) which have declared that Kathy Griffin’s photo of Trump’s severed head is unprotected under the First Amendment.
Continue reading “VFW Declares Kathy Griffin Unprotected By First Amendment”
We have yet another example of how free speech is being eviscerated in Europe through an assortment of different legal standards. An unnamed 45-year-old Swiss man is an example of how the defamation laws can have the same impact on free speech. He was convicted of defamation after simply “liking” posts on Facebook that said bad things about Erwin Kessler, the leader of Swiss vegan group Vereins gegen Tierfabriken.
Continue reading “Swiss Man Found Guilty Of Defamation For “Liking” Facebook Postings”
We have been discussing the rapid erosion of free speech on our campuses and the increasing confrontations with students who bar speech with which they disagree. The result is that schools are caving into academic demands made by students, including incidents like the recent one at Northwestern where academic freedom is being lost to effective mob rule. It is a very serious problem that has now led to the first legislative intervention. Wisconsin legislators are pushing a bill that would suspend or expel students who disrupt speakers. I agree that schools need to suspend or expel students who are engaging in violent or extremely disruptive conduct like shutting down classes like the one at Northwestern. Notably, while a few suspensions were handed out after the assault on a faculty member at Middlebury, no one was expelled. However, the Wisconsin law is concerning in its language and scope. We need faculty to stand up for free speech and stand up to these disruptive students, including serious disciplinary action.
As some on this blog know, I have never been a fan of comedian Kathy Griffin. I have found her crude humor to be juvenile and never understood why CNN and Anderson Cooper continued to use her during New Year’s Eve programming. As I previously stated, Griffin often seems to substitute an increasingly obvious lack of comedic talent with a rising level of obscenity. Now, she has shocked even many of her many enablers with a picture holding the bloody severed head of President Donald Trump. Griffin clearly must have known that a firestorm would result from the disgusting and deeply disturbing image. That buzz however seems to be turning into a buzz saw with even her former supporters are expressing outrage at the image. Update: CNN finally cut Griffin after two days of fierce criticism.
Continue reading “Kathy Griffin Channels Her Inner ISIS [Updated]”
With Harvard holding its first black-only graduation this year and various schools creating black only dorms and safe spaces, “separate but equal” seems to be on the resurgence in America (something I wrote about ten years ago). However, Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has stood firm against all forms of discrimination and barred the black feminist festival in the French capital because it is “prohibited to white people.” She said that racial discrimination in any form or for any purpose will not be tolerated.
Continue reading “Paris Mayor Calls For Banning Of Black Only Event In Paris”
One of the most damaged individuals from the various controversies surrounding President Donald Trump has been his National Security Adviser, General H.R. McMaster. McMaster of course replaced the most damaged individual, General Michael Flynn who is now the subject of multiple investigations. McMaster was brought in to bring professional and credibility to the position. He was an excellent choice. However, the use of McMaster to try (unsuccessfully) to deflect concerns of Trump’s disclosure of highly classified information to the Russians destroyed much of his reputation in Washington. Now, what remains of that reputation seems to be rapidly evaporating with McMaster’s dismissive “not concerned” response to a high-level advisor (Jared Kushner) reportedly asking the Russians to create a secret, secure communications line through their embassy or other location. While that allegation does not appear a criminal violation in and of itself, it would a highly disturbing addition to an already troubling story on the close relations between the Trump officials and the Russians. The former head of the NSA and CIA under Bush said that such a back channel would be both uncommon and dangerous.
With the steady stream of controversies swirling around the White House, there has been little attention given a highly disturbing report that the Obama Administration engaged in previously undisclosed and violations of the Fourth Amendment. Just a few days from the 2016 election, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) reportedly raised a highly unusual alarm over the creation of “a very serious Fourth Amendment issue” by possibly unconstitutional surveillance conducted under President Barack Obama. If true, this should be given equal attention to the other stories crowding our front pages and cable coverage. The Obama Administration has a well-documented history of abuse of surveillance and stands as one of the most antagonistic administrations toward privacy in our history. Indeed, if true, many of the former Obama officials currently testifying against the Trump Administration were responsible for a far broader scope of abusive surveillance programs.
In a stinging defeat for the Trump Administration, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld an injunction on the Trump Administration’s immigration order. The Fourth Circuit is widely viewed as one of the most conservative circuits and has proven the most deferential to national security powers by the Executive Branch. Indeed, the government often openly forum shops in pushing national security cases through the Eastern District of Virginia and ultimately the Fourth Circuit. The 10-3 vote is an impressive victory for the challengers and now sets the case for the long-awaited petition to the Supreme Court. The court did not spare the rhetorical bite, observing that the order “speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.”
We previously discussed the alarming breach of an intelligence sharing agreement with the U.K. after U.S. officials released details given to them from British intelligence on the Manchester bombing, including the identity of the bomber. Now, British police have stopped sharing information with U.S. authorities after a series of leaks to American media. In the meantime, after Trump’s rational odd denial that he mentioned Israel in his giving highly classified intelligence to the Russians, Israel has acknowledged it was indeed their intelligence and they had to implement a “fix” and “clarify” their position with the U.S. on intelligence sharing after Trump’s disclosure. Update: Trump denounced the leaking of the information. Some have noted that the statement was rather belated and others have noted that it is equally ironic (given Trump’s personal disclosure of the highly classified Israeli intelligence to the Russians). Nevertheless, Trump is right to call for the FBI to investigate the leaking of the shared intelligence.
This week President Donald Trump again made headlines in denying that he ever mentioned Israel in his giving highly sensitive intelligence to the Russians. (The problem is that no one suggested that he had and the later statement appeared to reaffirm to the world that Israel was the source of the human intelligence from a spy inside ISIS. News accounts suggested that Israel might have been the source but no one suggested that Trump said it was Israel to the Russians). Now the Trump Administration is accused of leaking British intelligence to U.S. media in the aftermath of the massacre in Manchester. The British were reportedly irate and made a formal complaint over the violation of core protocols and protections for intelligence sharing. This is a very serious complaint and further undermines the core relationships that we rely on in the sharing of national security information. It should result in an immediate congressional investigation to determine what happened.
It appears that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has found relief from the pesky protesters of Western democracies. He gave an almost breathless account of how he didn’t spot nary one protester in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, just tranquil silence of the Saudis. It could be that the Trump Administration found a country unanimously and enthusiastically supportive of its policies. It could also be that protests are generally unlawful in the Kingdom. The Saudis however are famous for public demonstrations of a different kind from beheadings to the image above of festive hangings.