The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Friday in favor of the use of military funds for building new wall sections along our Southern Border. When the challenge was filed, I expressed doubt over its chances and said that I thought it would fail before the Supreme Court. It now has and the Trump Administration has a lot of money to build a lot of wall . . . just in time for the 2020 election cycle.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Trump On Funds For Border Wall”
President Donald Trump has caused considerable confusion in Sweden by first requesting “bail” (which does not exist in Sweden) for rapper A$AP Rocky in this assault case and then accusing Sweden of letting “our African American community down” by not freeing him. Trump’s intervention in the case was both highly ill-informed and inappropriate in tying U.S. foreign policy to the handling of a celebrity’s routine criminal case.
Continue reading “Trump: Sweden “Let Our African American Community Down””
The House Democrats and the media built up the Mueller hearings for weeks as the long awaited moment in the Trump investigations. It appears that the moment came far too late for most Americans. Less than 13 million viewers tuned in for the hearings, which was widely described as a disaster for the Democrats and, frankly, Mueller. In another example of the growth of cable over broadcast, Fox News secured the largest audience for the day — an ironic conclusion given the false report that Fox would not cover the hearing live. Yet, the numbers were down overall from the hearing of former FBI Director James Comey. The hearing undermined the Democratic position with a remarkably ill-conceived plan of having members just read portions of the report to Mueller who came across as befuddled and confused.
Continue reading “Mueller Hearing Generated Less Than 13 Million Viewers”
Yesterday, I covered the Mueller hearing with CBS and BBC as painful as that duty proved to be. It was an utter meltdown. Some of us had heard months ago that Robert Mueller had “lost a step” and was not viewed as in control of the final report. The Democrats were aware of that but, in what may be the single greatest political blunder in decades, put Mueller in front of cameras for six hours. He proceeded to stumble through his testimony despite being allowed to repeatedly refuse to answer questions that were neither privileged nor classified. While many of use noted the many contradictions and befuddled performance, media stalwarts for the Democrats nevertheless declared the hearing a success. MCNBC’s Rachel Maddow called it a “remarkable day” in which Mueller gave his ‘blunt” review of Trump. Others declared that it was a “victory” for Democrats and succeeded in creating a groundswell for impeachment. This is the problem with the state of media today. Channels and commentators are now part of formula coverage that requires them to advance the expected position regardless of the actual news. It is advocacy journalism and yesterday is an example of how detached it has become from real journalism.
Continue reading “Mueller Meltdown: Commentators Attempt To Spin Disaster For Democrats”
University of Mississippi law professor James Thomas has previously caused a stir with intemperate comments about how conservative senators like Ted Cruz “don’t deserve your civility” and how people should attack them in public. Thomas, who was recently given tenure over opposition at the school, is back in the news by declaring that “MAGA teens are modern day Hitlerjugend [Hitler Youth]. Got a uniform and everything.”
Continue reading ““MAGA Teens Are Modern Day Hitlerjugend”: Controversial Mississippi Professor Renews Attacks Shortly After Gaining Tenure”
Below is my column in the Washington Post Sunday on the legacy of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. With roughly 35 years on the bench, he was the nation’s second oldest and third-longest serving justice.
Stevens will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Monday. On Tuesday his funeral will be held and he will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. I expect he would have preferred center field at Wrigley but this is a strong second option.
Continue reading “The Life and Legacy of John Paul Stevens”
The one major issue upon which President Donald Trump and the Democrats agree (and are working diligently toward) is unlimited spending. Both parties have torn balance budget limit to shreds as they throw hundreds of billions of dollars around like soundbites. As a result, the respected Congressional Budget Office (CDO) is now projected that debt could reach 92 percent of the GDP within ten years. In other words, an economic meltdown caused by politicians who act like children in spending without any notion of how we will actually pay for these programs.
Read more
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the fiasco this week on the floor of the House of Representatives over the resolution condemning President Donald as a racist.
Here is the column:
MORE
Good luck trying to find a manhole in Berkeley. Such terms are now expressly banned in all municipal codes as “male-centric.” People are now expected to refer to “maintenance holes.” Of course, you also cannot ask for more “manpower” to work in the “maintenance holes.” Instead you are to refer to “human effort” rather than “manpower.”
Continue reading “Berkeley Bans “Manholes””
In one of the most disturbing moments of his presidency, Donald Trump stood before a huge crowd in Greenville, N.C. as his supporters chanted “send her back” in reference to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). I have previously discussed Trump’s disgraceful comments regarding Omar and three other freshman members of Congress. While many of us condemned those statements, Trump’s popularity has actually risen with Republicans in the aftermath. Even Trump’s past association with Jeffrey Epstein have not had an impact. NBC just released the video below showing Trump partying with Epstein. Update: Trump says that he didn’t not agree with the chant.
Continue reading “Trump Supporters Chant “Send Her Back” At North Carolina Rally [Update]”
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has risen to prominence for promising to tell truth to power. However, this week she showed that she could spin and shill with the best of them. Previously Ocasio-Cortez accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi of singling out four women of color. That would seem by definition a charge of racism. Now however she insists that Pelosi did single out women of color but was not a racist. At the same time, the “squad” is warning Pelosi not to do it again.
Continue reading “Ocasio-Cortez: I Never Said Pelosi Was A Racist When Accusing Her Of Targeting Women Of Color”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the rising tensions between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and young freshman members, particularly Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders has criticized Pelosi for being “too hard” on Ocasio-Cortez, saying that she and her young colleagues are the future of the party. Other have supported Ocasio-Cortez in saying that Pelosi has a problem with women of color and liberal groups are now going after Pelosi. In the meantime, Democratic members and staff are attacking both Ocasio-Cortez and her top aide, including criticism them for criticizing another member who is a minority woman. Note only did Trump succeed in unifying the Democrats and putting the Republicans on defense, but newspapers are now declaring him the “bigot in chief.”
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Pelosi Under Fire As “The Revolution” Devours Its Own”
President Donald Trump caused another twitter storm this week with a highly offensive posting in which he told four female freshman members to go back to their “original countries” and that they “can’t leave fast enough.” It is a well-known trope used against immigrants. Most of us have heard it. My Sicilian immigrant grandparents heard it continually. It is a disgraceful thing to say to another citizen and it should be condemned by all Americans as unacceptable from an American president. In response to bipartisan criticism, Trump doubled down and tweeted “Their disgusting language and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged.”
Continue reading “Trump Tells Freshman Women To Go Back To Their “Original” Countries”
Yes, we have come to this. Yesterday the White House was the setting for a scene that seems to capture the total loss of decorum in our politics and press. Playboy reporter and CNN contributor Brian Karem can be shown heaping scorn on fathering conservative social media figures like some Internet troll. Former Trump official Sebastian Gorka then responds by heaping insults on Karem. It was an utter disgrace, but President Trump responded by praising Gorka. Never side deserves praise of any kind.
Read mORE
There is a curious pattern in the Trump Administration that you need to beware of presidential praise which often proves the swan song for cabinet members. The latest is Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta who tried to keep his job with a press conference that was widely panned as trying to shift the blame for the sweetheart deal that he gave Jeffrey Epstein, the serial sex abuser. Since I previously called for Acosta’s resignation (and opposed his confirmation) based on his role in the Epstein scandal, I will not feign sympathy.
Continue reading “Acosta Resigns Amid Mounting Questions Over Role In Epstein Scandal”