Yesterday, I had the odd experience of walking into my torts class only to have a student proclaim “all stand for Justice Turley.” Unbeknownst to me, Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson had publicly stated that I was on the top of his list for Supreme Court nominees. While I am not ditching my day job just yet, I am honored by Governor Johnson’s consideration. If nothing else, it got my students to stand up as I entered the class. I had assumed that the class was recognizing the achievement of my Chicago Cubs in clinching of a spot in the National League Championship, but this is even better.
Continue reading “Libertarian Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson Names Top Pick For The Supreme Court . . .”
Category: Politics
I have long been a critic of the Supreme Court justices engaging in public appearances where they hold forth on contemporary issues and even pending matters before the Court. I have been particularly critical of the late Justice Antonin Scalia and Associated Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who clearly relished appearances before ideologically supportive groups. I have called this trend the “rise of the celebrity justice.” Recently, Justice Ginsburg started another firestorm over public comments where she joked that she would move to New Zealand if Donald Trump is elected. Ginsburg apologized for that latest public controversy, though I discussed in a column how the incident spoke to a much larger problem on the Court. While she express “regret” in that instance, it did not deter Ginsburg in continuing to speak publicly and hold forth on contemporary issues, though she did make a curious distinction on this occasion.
The election of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte constitutes the lowest point for the struggling Filipino democratic system. Duterte has used profanities against President Obama, the United States Ambassador to the Philippines, Pope Frances, the United Nations and others who have questioned his blood-soaked reign as president. Recently, he even compared himself to Hitler in not only refusing to stop his extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals but saying that he was prepared like Hitler to murder millions. This budding tyrant has declared that the very concept of human rights is the “anti-thesis of government.” Finally, Duterte has pledged to end military training exercises with the United States, break away from the close alliance with the United States, and rely more on China and Russia. He has even been taunting the CIA to try to oust him. For those already familiar with our checkered history of supporting dictators and even enemies of the United States, it will come as no surprise that (just as Duterte is pledging to support Russia and China and fighting the United States), our government just approved another $180 million in aid to someone widely viewed as blood-soaked, anti-American lunatic.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has held on to power as he and his predecessor Hugo Chavez ruined the strongest economy in Latin America with their “Socialist Revolution.” They combined disastrous economic policy with a crackdown on civil liberties, including unrelenting attacks on journalists and political dissidents. With the vast majority of the nation calling for his resignation and new elections, Maduro and his cronies in government have delayed any elections while allowing the country to descend further into economic and social chaos. However, it is not like he is doing nothing. He has created a new award: the Hugo Chavez Peace Prize. The first winner? The paragon of peace . . . Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Continue reading “Venezuela Awards First Hugo Chavez Peace Prize To Vladimir Putin”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.
A long-overdue measure to compensate persons convicted of violating Germany’s 19th century anti-homosexuality law–since repealed–is to finally arrive. The German government set aside a reported thirty-million euros to be distributed among potentially an estimated fifty-thousand men convicted of homosexuality. The award stems for convictions spanning seventy years since the destruction of the Nazi Government.
Continue reading “German Government Set To Pay Compensation To Gays Convicted Of Violating Anti-homosexuality Laws”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.
A nefarious, existential threat was recently vanquished by the post-coup censorship offices of Turkish President Erdoğan. No, it was not the PKK, nor ISIS, nor Fethullah Gülen. It was SpongeBob SquarePants and Smurfette, broadcast on a Kurdish Language children’s television network.
The media crackdown in the aftermath of the failed coup in Turkey has led to closures of dozens of news services and thousands of firings among journalists. Cartoon networks can now become labeled as seditious.
Apparently, SpongeBob’s cohort Squidward Tentacles nefariously slithered into the fabric of the state’s security apparatus and cunningly attempted to dismantle it from within. His ink: it sows discord by fueling the printing presses of subversives.
Continue reading “SpongeBob SquarePants Posed Existential Threat To Turkey”
Hillary Clinton has campaigned tirelessly for women votes, including heralding her nomination as a historic moment for all women. However, she continues to be unpopular not only with voters as a whole but a majority of women. The new Washington Post-ABC poll shows her at a record low despite spending roughly $100 million in political advertisements and an overwhelming media barrage against Trump. While seen by supporters as more of an anti-establishment figure, Trump has equally shocking figures and even top Clinton in unpopularity with many groups. Voters continue to reject both Trump and Clinton but that overwhelming voter anger at these choices does not appear to matter in our political system. The importance of this poll is not to suggest that Clinton will win. Rather, for voters, many believe it simply does not matter. Their views of Trump or Clinton seem immaterial to a system that is detached from the wishes of the majority of the electorate. While the Washington Post reports that Clinton has halted the polling “swoon” in August, the overwhelming distrust factor from the earlier poll continues.
It often appears that no natural disaster can occur without some religious group claiming divine retribution. The latest example is Hurricane Matthew, which Andrew Bieszad, a contributor to the Christian website Shoebat.com, claimed as God’s retribution for this country tolerating homosexuality.
Continue reading “Fundamentalists Declare Hurricane Matthew To Be Divine Punishment”
During the Libertarian convention, I was asked how libertarians generally felt about Gary Johnson’s preferred running mate, former Massachusetts government William Weld. At the time, I said that Weld made for a remarkably strong ticket for the Libertarians and broadens the base for libertarians but that there was widespread suspicion that Weld did not have libertarian values in his DNA. Many resented the view that the Libertarian party is treated as a back stop for Republicans and others viewed Weld as a classic establishment figure, including his well-known friendship with Hillary Clinton. To make matters worse, Carl Bernstein and others who were quoted as saying that Weld was considering withdrawing because he did not want to hurt Clinton’s chances against Donald Trump. He denied that he was withdrawing. However, this week, those past suspicions are in full rage on libertarian sites after the Boston Globe reported that Weld had told reporters that he was going to focus on trashing Trump and again saying how he thought Hillary Clinton is remarkably well qualified to be president. Weld has again denied the stories, but he has repeatedly stated his admiration for Clinton. The result is a total mess for libertarians who hoped that this could be the year that the ticket could make it to one of the presidential debates.
Last night I appeared on Fox to discuss the Trump tax disclosure and my view that such use of debt or losses to avoid taxation are allowed under federal law. This is not say that such practices are based on good tax policy but rather that such practices are not unlawful. Conversely, I have previously stated that the allegations over the status and operation of the Trump Foundation do raise potential liability. Now, the F0undation has been ordered by New York AG Eric Schneiderman’s office to “cease and desist” from soliciting charity contributions.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.
Plaintiff Stephanie Ross Desimone filed suit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alleging the nation provided material support to Al-Qaida in its terror attacks against the United States on September 11th, 2001. This represents the first of such filings–there–are almost certainly to be many following, since the United States Congress last Wednesday overrode President Obama’s veto of a sovereign immunity bill allowing foreign governments to be sued in the United States for supporting terrorist acts within the US borders.
Stephanie’s husband, Navy Cdr. Patrick Dunn, was murdered when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
The full text of the complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, is attached below:
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.
While it might seem to many a prima facie case where a dissident, Kurdish Journalist will risk their safety if deported to a country known for its ghastly mistreatment of members of the press, a Swedish Migration Court ruled that Journalist Kamran Mirzaian will be instead deported to Iran, citing no proof that he will suffer threats to himself or his freedom.
Iran is an internationally recognized pariah with regard to its oppression of journalists and is ranked the 11th worst of 180 countries according to Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index. Journalists subject facing capital crimes in Iran include Briton Salman Rushdie, the seven-year imprisonment of an economics journalist critical of the government’s financial policies, and horrific murders of journalists arrested for “crimes” involving ordinary journalism
Continue reading “Kurdish Journalist Fears Execution If Sweden Deports Him To Iran”
We have been discussing the serious allegations against Donald Trump’s charitable foundation, which have been used in transactions that are linked to Trump’s businesses rather than charities. — which has been sustained for years by donors outside the Trump family — has never obtained the certification that New York requires before charities can solicit money from the public, according to the state attorney general’s office. Now, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) has made the surprising allegation that the Donald J. Trump Foundation does not have the necessary registration and annual audit to operate as a large foundation. I have been critical of Schneiderman in his investigation of climate change skeptics. However, the failure to obtain this necessary registration and comply with basic auditing is quite surprising. Once again, I am unclear how any attorneys representing Trump could continue to maintain the charity without satisfying such basic legal requirements, particularly one (the auditing) designed to prevent the very type of intermingling of funds that been raised by critics.
Continue reading “New York Attorney General Moves Against Trump Foundation”
I recently wrote a column on FBI investigation into the Clinton email scandal and revised my view as to the handling of the investigation in light of the five immunity deals handed out by the Justice Department. I had previously noted that FBI Director James Comey was within accepted lines of prosecutorial discretion in declining criminal charges, even though I believed that such charges could have been brought. However, the news of the immunity deals (and particularly the deal given top ranking Clinton aide Cheryl Mills) was baffling and those deals seriously undermined the ability to bring criminal charges in my view. Now, Comey has testified before both the Senate and the House. His answers only magnified concerns over the impact and even the intent of granting immunity to those most at risk of criminal charges.
The University of Michigan this week have issued a new directive to faculty that they must accommodate students in their preferred pronouns, including “they” and “ze.” Those pronouns will appear on class lists and professors are told to acknowledge any mistaken pronoun use and correct the mistake as “one of the most basic ways to show your respect for their identity and to cultivate an environment that respects all gender identities.” That may not sit well with faculty who have deep-seated objections to the use of pronouns like “they” to refer to a single person as a matter of personal, religious, or intellectual matter. However, the university added that “If there were a persistent pattern of ignoring a student’s preference, we would address that as a performance matter.” One student has already registered his protest by changing his pronoun to “His Majesty.”