Eric Greitens, the former governor of Missouri, is under fire this week for his ad featuring himself, a former Navy Seal, storming a house looking for “RINOs” (or Republicans In Name Only). The ad, in my view, was inflammatory and irresponsible. At a time of rising politically-motivated violence, this type of ad, even if meant in jest, is reckless. However, Greitens has now been blocked on the ad by Facebook and tagged by Twitter, a continuation of robust censorship and “content modification” policies at these companies. This is news and there is a worthy discussion on the use of such imagery. However, we have seen how such censorship leads to ridiculous outcomes like YouTube censoring the Jan. 6th Committee because it had video clips of former President Donald Trump. Greitens has lashed out at the companies. Continue reading “Facebook Blocks Greitens’ “Hunting RINOS” Ad”
Category: Politics
As Hillary Clinton advises Democrats to move away from the discussion of trans rights, one student government is taking a different approach in seeking to ban others from speaking against such rights. The students are pushing for a ban on any “transphobic” clubs from campus. The student government at the University of North Texas became the latest student body to seek to curtail free speech rights of other students by declaring opposing views to be harmful. It is a new example of the growing “speechphobic” movement on our campuses. Continue reading “Speechphobia: University of North Texas Students Seek to Ban “Transphobic” Group”
Below is a slightly augmented version of my Hill column on the report that the Biden Administration will go forward with administrative punishment for border agents who were falsely accused of “whipping” Haitian migrants in Texas.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Biden’s Red Queen Justice: Long After the Sentence, the Biden Administration is About to Render a Verdict on the Border Agents”
We have previously discussed the increasing censorship at YouTube where conservative and dissenting viewpoints are now increasingly blocked, including U.S. senators and physicians with opposing views of Covid. It has also banned videotapes of former President Don Trump. Other social media companies have banned others from posting the voice of Trump. The problem with censorship is that it becomes an insatiable appetite. As you censor opposing views, it demands more and more censorship. It becomes increasingly ridiculous as was the case this week. According to a New York Post report YouTube censored the Democratic-controlled Select Committee for a video that included a clip of Trump. It was being posted to implicate Trump in the January 6th riot but YouTube has continued to blindly follow its “he-who-must-not-be-heard” policy.
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) has joined the call for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign due to the communications of his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, with lawyer John Eastman supporting the certification challenge. It is still unclear what that email contains, but Ginni Thomas was a vocal supporter for former President Donald Trump in both public and private. Pascrell called Thomas “a corrupt jurist” and said that he could not be considered “neutral” given the fact that his wife is a political activist. Pascrell’s demand comes after Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse called for an investigation into the matter. The demand is entirely without legal or ethical merit absent new evidence that Justice Thomas himself engaged in political advocacy while ruling on related cases. Continue reading “Democratic Member Calls for Justice Thomas to Resign Over Wife’s Activism”
In Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Cecily observes “I have never met any really wicked person before… I am so afraid he will look just like every one else.” The quote came to mind this week after Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) demanded an investigation of Ginni Thomas. Whitehouse insists that there is a “big investigative gap” in pursuing the leaker of the draft Supreme Court opinion in the pending abortion case, but not the wife of Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas supported the challenge to the certification of the 2020 election. Continue reading “Sen. Whitehouse Calls for Investigation of Ginni Thomas”
In past columns, we have discussed how Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe seems intent upon running through the entire criminal code in declaring clear evidence of every federal crime by former President Donald Trump and/or his family. Just for the purposes of keeping score, Tribe declared evidence supporting criminal charges of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, criminal election violations, Logan Act violations, extortion, espionage, and treason by Trump or his family. He has now added attempted murder in an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” In addition to declaring former President Donald Trump clearly guilty of the attempt to murder Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, Tribe is again assuring viewers that “without any doubt, beyond a reasonable doubt, beyond any doubt, and the crimes are obvious.” I guess there is no doubt. There is also no compelling legal basis for the claim. Nevertheless, Tribe is promising more if needed: “There are other crimes that have been proven. Those are plenty to start with.”
Below is my column on the recent fining and apology of Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio for expressing a dissenting view of the Jan. 6th riot. There has been little support for the exercise of free speech by Del Rio, even from those who support the free speech of athletes protesting during actual games. Instead, there was the useful demands for him to be fired for uttering an opposing view of what occurred on January 6th.
Here is the column:
There has been a backlash nationally over prosecutors who were recently elected in a push by far left groups with support from billionaire George Soros. One of those is Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, who is now in middle of a controversy over an alleged misrepresentation of the criminal record of a felon in order to secure a lower sentence in a plea deal. Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Plowman removed Biberaj and her office from the case. After Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares wrote the court offering to prosecute the case, Biberaj (who described herself as a “progressive prosecutor”) lashed out at Miyares and told him to “stay in your lane.”
The Washington Examiner recently gained access to texts on Hunter Biden’s laptop with the help of a computer expert. One of the newly acquired texts addressed the scandal over his lost gun. In prior interviews, Hunter insisted that he was never aware of federal law enforcement getting involved in the case and did not believe that it was true. However, in the text, he attacked his sister-in-law Hallie for throwing out the gun. He laments that her tossing the gun to protect him meant that the matter was now “in the hands of the FBI.”
Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) went on CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight” to tout the work of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6th riot. In that interview, Schiff declared that the Committee has enough evidence showing former President Donald Trump “engaged in likely multiple criminal acts.” While vague on the specific crimes, Schiff emphasized that the Justice Department did not have to wait any further to launch a criminal investigation based on what has already been disclosed. While the Committee has disclosed new evidence in the form of videotapes and testimony, it has not presented new material evidence of criminal acts in my view. That could still come but the first two hearings largely focused on a “conspiracy” to challenge the election certification and allegations that Trump knew that there was no compelling evidence of widespread election fraud.
Below is my column in The Hill on the January 6th Committee hearings and how the Democrats undermined the legitimacy of their investigation by breaking the long tradition of bipartisan and balanced membership on such special committees. Many of us support the effort to release more information and evidence on what occurred on that day. However, Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to forego even the pretense of a bipartisan and full inquiry.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Pelosi’s Court: How the Jan. 6 Committee Undermined its Own Legitimacy”
Below is my column in USA Today on the alleged attempted murder of Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home outside of Washington, D.C. Less than 24 hours later, protesters were back in front of the Kavanaugh home as well as the home of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. In addition, pro-choice activists posted the location of the school of the Barrett children. It is all part of a national rage addiction where neither decency nor responsibility are relevant. Indeed, seven children of a justice are no longer even a concern in venting one’s rage.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Kavanaugh Murder Attempt is Shocking But Not Surprising”
In January, I wrote a column criticizing the legal position of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in favor of Whole Food workers seeking to wear Black Lives Matter (BLM) symbols or clothing at work. Now a judge has rejected a similar claim brought by employees at Home Depot despite a decision in their favor earlier by the NLRB General Counsel. Continue reading “Court Rules for Home Depot in Barring Black Lives Matter Imagery”
There is an interesting initial battle brewing over an accusation made by Rep. Liz Cheney during the first public hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot. Cheney called out Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry by name as seeking a pardon from former President Trump for his involvement in post election challenges. However, Perry has denounced the accusation, stating on Twitter that “[t]he notion that I ever sought a Presidential pardon for myself or other Members of Congress is an absolute, shameless, and soulless lie.”