We discussed yesterday the decision of the NFL to shelve its policy on anthem protests. In the meantime, the Burgerville chain has faced the same question and reached a very different conclusion. Its employees were wearing protest buttons reading “Abolish ICE” and “No One Is Illegal.” Unlike the NFL which did have guidelines barring such protests, Burgerville had nothing in its rules. However, the chain then formally adopted a non-retroactive rule against such protests or advocacy during work hours for its employees. It is not clear if any Burgerville employee will now be considered for the next Nike “Just Do It” campaign. Continue reading “Just Don’t Do It: Burgerville Takes Opposite Approach To NFL On Protests”
Category: Politics
The opening day has finally arrived for many of us who are football fans. However, if there was hope to have a season without the highly divisive anthem controversy, those hopes were dashed as the NFL officially announced that it would go forward on its policy against protests during the anthem. Further fueling the controversy will be Nike’s campaign featuring “Just Do It” ad, narrated by Colin Kaepernick. Nike is referencing Kaepenick’s stand as an example of courage despite the opposition of many football fans. I have previously written about the legal aspects of these protests.
Update: The Dolphins led the protests today with players kneeling during the anthem. Continue reading “Just Do It: The NFL Backs Out Of Anthem Policy As Nike Takes A Knee With Kaepernick [Updated]”
Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos was sentenced Friday to just 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI despite the position of Special Counsel Robert Mueller that he should spend at least six months in jail. The position of Mueller appeared to reflect a view that Papadopoulos was not as cooperative (or perhaps productive) as a witness. In the end, Papadopoulos appeared in an almost hostile position vis-a-vis Mueller. Continue reading “Papadopoulos Gets A 14-Day Sentence Despite Mueller Demand For 6 Months”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing and the opening statement of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse attacking the conservatives on the Supreme Court as a virtual ideological cabal. I have always found Whitehouse an articulate and insightful member of the Congress. He was not alone in these attacks. However, I found the attack on the current justices to be unwarranted and distorted. There is a tendency when you disagree with a decision like Hobby Lobby to conclude that the motivations of the justices must therefore be raw politics. The possibility that the justices, including Justice Kennedy, are following a coherent jurisprudential view is dismissed in favor of partisanship.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Democratic Attacks On The Supreme Court Confuse Patterns of Principle with Politics”
In an op-ed in The Herald Sun, UNC Professor of English John McGowan is the latest example of the moral and ethical relativism that is becoming increasingly common on our campuses in rationalizing acts of censorship or violence. McGowan writes that the UNC students were acting in a moral fashion in destroying a piece of public art that they disliked. I discussed the Silent Sam incident earlier.
Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has long been an perpetual litigation machine. Indeed, Moore and his wife appear to have created a cottage industry out of being themselves — getting people to give them huge amounts of money to fight their enemies. I have been skeptical of these past lawsuits — as well as Moore’s often bizarre conduct. Now, after the prior lawsuit amounted to nothing, Moore is launching yet another lawsuit. The latest claim is based on Moore’s sitdown with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for his Showtime series “Who is America?” Essentially, Moore is complaining that he made of fool of himself because Cohen tricked him. Moore has demanded $95 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Despite my long admitted aversion to Moore, the complaint does raise some interesting, and unresolved, legal issues. It also presents some risks for Moore himself. Continue reading “Moore Sues Showtime and Sacha Baron Cohen For Embarrassing Interview”
The hysteria and hypocrisy that characterizes modern American politics seems to be worse by the day on both sides of the political aisle. One of the latest examples of distemper is an attack on the woman who was placed behind Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for his hearings. Handlers will often put someone over the shoulder of a nominee for the right optics to reflect his supporters. With attacks over his view of Roe v. Wade, it is not surprising that the White House chose a young former female clerk of Kavanaugh named Zina Gelman Bash. Bash however found herself being called a white supremacist for flashing an “OK” gesture associated with the “white power” movement. It seems clearly to be just the arbitrary positioning of her hands but liberal bloggers like Amy Siskind, president and co-founder of the feminist advocacy group New Agenda, went into full riot over the alleged reveal of Bash’s white power links. The problem is that Bash has Jewish roots and Mexican heritage and has absolutely no ties or association with such groups. She simply crossed her arms and fingers during the long hearing. It is the ultimate sign of our times in how we have lost all decency and decorum in our politics. Continue reading “Not OK: Liberal Bloggers Falsely Attack Kavanaugh Supporter For Flashing White Supremacist Sign At Hearing”
Below is my column in The Hill on the continuing promotionals for “The Notorious RBG.” I have long been a critic of this trend toward celebrity justices and the discomfort over these campaigns is not simply about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The culture of the Court is changing and I do not believe it is changing for the better.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Notorious RBG and the Problem With The Celebrity Justice”
Texas recently settled a legal fight over its failure to install air conditioning at the Wallace Pack Unit near College Station — a facility long deemed dangerously hot in the summer. In the wisdom only known to bureaucrats, the state spent $7 million to fight the lawsuit and ultimately paid $4 million to simply put in the air conditioning system. Continue reading “Texas Spends $7 Million Fighting Demand To Add Air Conditioning To Dangerously Hot Prison . . . Then Installs The System For $4 Million”
This weekend I discussed a surprising, and unreported, allegation made on CNN by former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili against the latest cooperating witness of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, former Republican lobbyist and Paul Manafort associate, Sam Patten. Saakashvili preceded me on CNN and accused Patten of threatening to ruin him if he went public with allegations about Patten’s work with Russian interests in Georgia. Since Saakashvili could easily be called as a rebuttal witness to Patten, the threats could be viewed as witness tampering. Saakashvili viewed them as outright Russian-style blackmail. Since I ran that column, I have heard from a great number of people on both sides, but I received an email this morning from Christina Pushaw, who identifies herself as Saakashvili’s representative. Pushaw sent the underlying material supporting Saakashvili’s charges and confirmed that they have given the allegation and evidence to the FBI today. The complaint to the FBI only magnifies the problems for both Patten and Mueller that I discussed earlier. A submission to the FBI, including a criminal allegation, comes with added penalties for false statements or submissions. Both sides in this dispute have been the subject of serious criminal allegations in Europe. Yet, such communications (if true) from a cooperating witness would unlikely be approved by prosecutors. Mueller’s team is about to present its prosecution of Paul Manafort for witnessing tampering for contacting potential witnesses to shape their accounts. That creates a rather awkward situation when its most recent cooperative witness is allegedly the subject of a complaint to the FBI.
We previously discussed the wisdom of Brazil spending billions on the 2016 Olympics when its country was struggling with serious economic and social problems including rampant corruption. Now, in a loss for the entire world, Rio de Janeiro’s 200-year-old National Museum has been reportedly gutted in a catastrophic fire. According to reports, the museum has begged the federal government for funding of the aging building, including the need for a fire prevention system. Continue reading “Rio Spends Billions On Olympics . . . Then National Museum Burns Due To Lack Of an Adequate Fire Prevention System”
If Paul Manafort needed any further indication of his rapidly reducing future, it came in a new filing in New York last week. No it was not Special Counsel Robert Mueller, it was his daughter Jessica Manafort, 36, who wants now to be known as Jessica Bond. Continue reading “The Name Is Bond, Jess Bond . . . And Definitely Not Manafort”
A curious thing happened this Labor Day weekend when one of Robert Mueller’s most recent cooperating witnesses may have burst into flames on national television – but no one seemed to notice. Former Republican lobbyist and Paul Manafort associate, Sam Patten, only pleaded guilty on Friday, but on Sunday a world leader leveled a serious allegation of criminal conduct committed after his plea bargain. Obviously, this is only one side and Patten could well deny either the email or its meaning. However, the implications of the allegations aired on national television are very serious not only for Patten but Mueller. Update: a complaint has now reportedly been made to the FBI. Continue reading “Mueller Witness Accused Of Blackmailing World Leader After Plea Agreement [Updated]”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the departure of White House Counsel Don McGahn. Trump is now strongly suggesting that he may allow Attorney General Jeff Sessions to remain but only until after the approaching November elections. At that point, the situation could change rapidly and dangerously with a divided Congress. With the expected departure of both McGahn and Sessions, the next chapter appears a paraphrase of Dick the Butcher in Henry VI ”The first thing we do, let’s kill fire all the lawyers.” Obviously, much will depend on their replacements but Sessions’ removal (and the reason for the removal) is far more problematic. Continue reading “In Search Of The “Happier Prospect”: Trump Moves Toward The Removal Of McGahn and Sessions”
According to filings in federal court, former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos claims Donald Trump approved his proposal of a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ahead of the 2016 presidential election. I still do not see that effort as particularly sinister or incriminating. Bach channels have long been established in politics. What is most notable is that he states that Attorney General Jeff Sessions also approved the trip. That fact only reaffirms the clearly correct decision that Sessions made to recuse himself despite the President continued attacks on Sessions. Indeed, the account of the Papadopoulos testimony could conflict with Sessions’ testimony before Congress – making recusal all but inevitable. Continue reading “Papadopoulos Claims Trump and Sessions Approved His Outreach To The Russians”
