Both Democrats and Republicans have denounced the decision of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia not to serve White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. Many of us have called for greater civility, but one West Virginia man took a curious approach to instilling civility . . . by tossing chicken feces at the restaurant. Reginald Scott See, 51, is now charged with littering and disorderly conduct. Continue reading “Man Travels From West Virginia To Protest The Incivility Of The Red Hen . . . By Throwing Feces At The Restaurant”
Category: Politics
There was a curious shift that occurred in the 24 hours leading up to the decision of the Supreme Court in Trump v. Hawaii. News organizations repeatedly emphasized that the travel ban under consideration was, in the words of CNN, “very different” from the one first issued by the Trump Administration and the current order was much narrower. It is certainly true that the current travel ban has a slightly different array of countries and a much enhanced record. Moreover, I was a critic of the poorly drafted and poorly executed original ban. However, it is not true that those differences carried the day with the Court. The two threshold issues remained that same and, until the loss yesterday, challengers maintained that the legal issues had not materially changed.
Continue reading “The Supreme Spin: How The Travel Ban Victory Became A Victory For Critics”
The irresponsibility of our leaders has now given the country a fiscal terminal date: 2028. That is the date that the Congressional Budget Office now calculates as the point where our debt will virtually equal the value of our gross domestic policy. As countries like Greece have gone into a free fall with such reckless spending, both parties have put the United States on the same course for economic meltdown as politicians continue to avoid tough questions with higher spending — including yielding to the Trump Administration’s demand to left balanced budget limits.
I have a column in The Hill today on the decision of the Supreme Court in favor of the Trump Administration on the travel ban. After the first travel ban decision, I predicted that (while lower courts might disagree) the Supreme Court would reverse on the heavy reliance on President Donald Trump’s campaign statements and tweets. For prior columns, click here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here. Nevertheless, critics have cried foul at the 5-4 decision, including Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, has said that this creates a dangerous imbalance in the separation of powers. I believe the opposite is true.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Upholds Travel Ban In Major Victory For The Trump Administration”
There is an interesting account of the recent controversy at the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va. from the father of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders that has gone largely unreported. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has claimed that Stephanie Wilkinson “organized” a group to follow Sanders and her family to a nearby restaurant to scream at them. That is strikingly different from Wilkinson’s account and the account being offered in the media that Wilkinson politely asked Sanders to leave and nothing more. The many stories lionizing Wilkinson have cited her “passive” protest as proof of her “leadership.” If true, the account magnifies the rude and uncivil conduct of Wilkinson and it is clearly material to the story. Yet, only a few conservative sites have carried Huckabee’s account. Continue reading “Huckabee: Wilkinson Led Group Out Of Red Hen To Protest Sanders Eating At Another Restaurant”
It was in vogue in past years for Republicans to call for the elimination of the IRS, a ridiculous and demagogic call. Now Democrats appear to have their own demagogic rallying cry in suggesting the elimination of ICE. Various Democrats went to the airways in the last week to suggest that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be abolished, including Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) who wrote in a Medium pos that ICE had to be abolished “to protect our families.” Sen. Kamala Harris (D. Cal.) also said that the elimination of ICE might have to be occur to protect innocent people. New York Democratic candidate and former “Sex in the City” star Cynthia Nixon went as far to call ICE a “terrorist organization” and demanded its abolishment.
Continue reading ““It Is A Terrorist Organization”: Leading Democrats Call For Abolishing ICE”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper about the passing of my friend Charles Krauthammer. I spoke on Fox News about Charles, who was an extraordinary mind and an extraordinary man.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Life and Genius of Charles Krauthammer”
Recently we discussed the disturbing protest carried out at the MXDC restaurant against Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Members of Congress like Rep. Jackie Speier (D., Cal.) defended the protesters in disrupting the restaurant and forcing Nielsen to leave. It was a sad statement on the utter loss of any sense of civility in our current political discourse. Now, the owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia is at the center of this debate after throwing out White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and her family from breakfast. Many liberals celebrated the rude denial of service by the owners while conservatives have directed their anger at the restaurant. Much of the criticism has been misdirected against the Red Hen in D.C. which has gone to pains to point out that they are not associated with the Lexington Red Hen. Many critics on Yelp and other sites have unleashed on the restaurant. The co-owner responsible for the decision was Stephanie Wilkinson. Wilkinson founded the restaurant with John Blackburn, who reportedly named the restaurant after his favorite childhood story. Wilkinson is reportedly the founder and publisher of Brain, Child magazine. She lists herself as a co-owner of the restaurant. UPDATE: Wilkinson says that she is proud of her actions and would do it again.
Continue reading “No Breakfast For You: Red Hen Kicks Out Sarah Sanders And Her Family [UPDATED]”
The Supreme Court overruled its prior decisions in a historic decision this week that will allow politicians to tap into Internet sales with new taxes. President Donald Trump has praised the decision in allowing Internet sales to be now subject to taxation from all 50 states. The decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair overturns the prior 1992 ruling in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota (what is it about those Dakotas and Internet taxes?). South Dakota wanted to take a cut of Internet sales even though these business have no property or employees in the state. To do so, the Supreme Court had to guy its prior requirement of a physical presence in a given state. It just did by a vote of 5-4. The opinion also contains a body blow to the doctrine of stare decisis (“to stand on the decisions”) under which the Court strives to maintain its own prior decisions. We now have a doctrine of abdicare decisis (“To ignore the decisions).
This morning I posted a column in The Hill newspaper on the passing of Charles Krauthammer, one of the truly great columnists of his generation. For those of us who had the privilege of knowing Charles as well as his millions of followers, this is a devastating loss that will leave a deep and lasting void. Continue reading “FAREWELL, CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER”
Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been dropped by his speaker’s bureau and widely denounced for his mocking of a story of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was separated from her mother. Now, after refusing to apologize, Lewandowski is denouncing the entire story (of playing his own words) to be “fake news.” Continue reading “Lewandowski Declares The Use Of His Recorded Words To Be “Fake News””
Two days ago, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was effectively chased from a restaurant by protesters screaming at her and her companion. The scene at MXDC Cocina Mexicana was shocking to most of us who have decried the loss of civility in today’s political discourse. One person clearly not shocked was Rep. Jackie Speier (D., Cal.) who defended the protesters and blamed it on Trump’s divisive political rhetoric. While the protest seemed clearly organized, Speier portrayed it as a spontaneous expression of anger by citizens in her interview on CNN. The scene was very disturbing as was the apparent impunity exercised by the protesters in shutting down a restaurant. It now appears that it was a protest by the Democratic Socialists of America and one of those participating was a DOJ employee, Allison Hrabar. Hrabar is reportedly a paralegal specialist and her participation could raise again our long-standing debate over the punishment of employees for comments or actions taken outside of the workplace.
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the recent hearing before the Senate Judiciary on the Inspector General’s investigation into the Clinton email controversy.
Here is the column :
Continue reading “The Troubling Lesson Learned By The FBI From The IG Report”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on Giuliani’s statement that the President may “clean up” the entire Mueller investigation with a slew of pardons at the end. After causing an outcry, Giuliani later said that the President would not pardon anyone under investigation. That led to utter confusion, again, about what Giuliani is saying and whether the original statement remains valid for pardons after the investigation.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Pardon Power Is Not A ShamWow For Presidential Scandals”
Many academics have been been following the long-running litigation over Harvard’s admissions criteria. The University has steadfastly resisted efforts to review its admissions statistics and criteria by both litigants and even the Department of Education. It has had to turn over that information and the results are a bit stunning, particularly with regard to the treatment of Asian students. A federal case has revealed what challengers claim is a sizable bias against Asian students and in favor of African American students with much lower scores. This includes a systemic downgrading of Asian students on a “personal” category that many have suggested is an effort to conceal an effective race-based quota or affirmative action system.
Continue reading “Harvard Accused Of Anti-Asian Bias In Admissions”