This weekend I discussed how President Donald Trump’s own words had been the primary problem for lawyers seeking to advance his agenda. Trump’s comment and tweets have routinely undermined defenses and alienated allies. The column was prompted by Trump’s London tweets. While discussed for their triggering outrage across the political spectrum in Great Britain, one of the most controversial tweets also contained references to the immigration order as a “travel ban.” It was a remarkably ill-considered tweet. However, on Monday morning, President Trump doubled down and actually attacked his own lawyers at the Justice Department and directly contradicted their position in court. As I mentioned earlier, government counsel must feel like they have a daily Perry Mason moment with their client jumping up in court screaming incriminating things. The only logical conclusion that can be reached is that Trump really does not care if he wins the case. The problem is that there is a large and talented team at the Justice Department that is still laboring under the assumption that the President does want to prevail before the Supreme Court.
Category: Society
We have previously discussed how politicians often attack free speech and other rights to show that they are “tough” on terror after attacks. Prime Minister Theresa May however may have set a record. May did not hesitate in immediately blaming the Internet and calling for government regulation of free speech to combat attacks like the one in London. Of course, if these terrorists were connected to ISIS (or inspired by ISIS), their extremism was not caused by free speech on the Internet. Indeed, the Internet often allows security to track extremists on the web.
Continue reading “May Calls For Free Speech Controls on the Internet In Response To London Attacks”
We previously discussed the proposal at Evergreen State College to have all white faculty, staff, and students leave campus for a day as part of a “Day of Absence” to raise awareness of the contribution of the black community. Evergreen State College biology professor Bret Weinstein made a reasoned objection to the plan for this year’s “Day of Absence.” As shown in a videotape, there was a mob scene around Weinstein as students called him a racist and called for his resignation. Protests have denounced his “anti-blackness” and demanded his removal from teaching. Now, the faculty at Evergreen State College has sent a letter to students supporting the protesters and their demands for disciplinary action of Prof. Weinstein.
We previously discussed the crushing abuse and discrimination faced by Muslims in Myanmar. The Rohingya are denied basic rights and face continued violence in the country. The most recent outrage was the arrest of three Muslims for holding Ramadan prayers in the street. Recently, their local school was closed by a nationalist mob.
Continue reading “Muslims Arrested For Praying In Myanmar After Closing Of Muslim Schools”
We have been discussing the opiate crisis that is destroying this country and countless families. A vivid display of the hold of these drugs can be found in the arrest of Chadwick Smith in Muncie, Indiana. Smith was arrested after an auto accident where he shot up with heroin while driving — leading to predictably tragic results. It is truly chilling to think of a person actually shooting up while traveling at high speed down a road.
Continue reading “Indiana Man Arrested After Shooting Heroin While Driving and Causing Accident”
I have been writing about how President Donald Trump has brought out the worst in his critics in the media as well as the courts. Ironically, some in these institutions appear to be rushing to confirm the stereotypes that he has painted of them. The latest example is CNN host Reza Aslan. CNN has been criticized by many for its coverage of Trump and alleged bias against his Administration. The loudest critic is of course Trump himself. Recently, CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria declared that Trump attained the White House through “bulls–t.” Now Aslan, who hosts CNN’s program “Believer” has called President Trump “a piece of sh–” and “an embarrassment to humankind” after Trump used the latest massacre to his call for U.S. courts to approve his executive order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries. Aslan seemed intent to establish that he is a “true believer” in the anti-Trump cause but he also represents a media organization. His attack is the latest evidence of media personalities losing any sense of professionalism and dispassion. As I said yesterday, media must decide if they still want to report or merely rave at the new and newsmakers. Aslan may be as “spiritually curious” as advertised but he is now professionally dubious as a journalist. At the same time, as discussed below, President Trump is again causing an international outcry with his tweets after the attack.
Continue reading “True Believer: CNN Host Calls President Trump A “Piece of S–T””
We recently discussed the controversy surrounding Kathy Griffin and her disgusting image of a bloody severed head of President Donald Trump. Griffin held an equally bizarre press conference on Friday that first took responsibility for the scandal and then insisted that she is being set up by white men and blatant sexism. If this was an effort by attorney Lisa Bloom to repackage the scandal, it was a miserable failure. Indeed, the press conference could be a lesson for all lawyers in high-profile controversies of how not to respond to a scandal. There seemed to be not preparation of Griffin and no development of a single coherent narrative (rather surprising for an entertainer). The set up for the press conference at the law firm was awkward and made the client look like a caged animal. Bloom’s lead in remarks seemed more like a stump speech than a legal defense. Griffin was the object of the exercise rather than a human being in distress. Bloom’s effort to blame Trump for her client’s conduct contradicted one of a number of different narratives being advanced at the same time. The result was a Jackson Pollock press conference of paint splatters. The problem is that they did not make for a pleasing final image. I am not sure what Bloom sought to achieve, but it could not have been what actually occurred. In a rambling press conference, she insisted “Cut the crap, this wouldn’t be happening to a guy.” Indeed, it would. If Anderson Cooper held up the bloody severed head of Donald Trump on CNN, he would also be looking at the end of his journalistic career as would other comedians like Jerry Seinfeld.
Continue reading “Griffin: “This Wouldn’t Be Happening To A Guy.””
We have been discussing how Howard Dean and other Democratic leaders have been declaring that there is an exception for speech that they claim to be hate speech. Now they appear to have been joined by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) which have declared that Kathy Griffin’s photo of Trump’s severed head is unprotected under the First Amendment.
Continue reading “VFW Declares Kathy Griffin Unprotected By First Amendment”
In fulfillment of his campaign promise, President Donald Trump has defied the world and pulled our country out of the Paris Accord. The United States will now join Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries outside of the agreement. You really cannot include Nicaragua because it did not sign in protest of the agreement not going far enough (a valid objection). That leaves us and our environmental fellow traveler, Syria.
In terms of delivery, I thought this was one of Trump’s stronger speeches though MIT scientists say that he got their data wrong. Other experts noted that Trump was wrong on the details of the agreement regarding China’s commitments as well as its costs to the United States.
We have yet another example of how free speech is being eviscerated in Europe through an assortment of different legal standards. An unnamed 45-year-old Swiss man is an example of how the defamation laws can have the same impact on free speech. He was convicted of defamation after simply “liking” posts on Facebook that said bad things about Erwin Kessler, the leader of Swiss vegan group Vereins gegen Tierfabriken.
Continue reading “Swiss Man Found Guilty Of Defamation For “Liking” Facebook Postings”
Ted Wheeler, mayor of Portland, Oregon, has joined a growing list of liberals curtailing free speech and seeking exceptions for speech that they deem to be hateful or offensive. We saw recently Howard Dean espousing the false premise that there is a hate speech exception to the First Amendment. We also saw politicians in California seeking to curtail anything that they deem to be “fake news.” Now Wheeler is espousing the same anti-speech nonsense in seeking to ban a conservative demonstration by a group called Patriot Prayer.
Continue reading “Portland Mayor Demands Feds Bar Conservative Group From Speaking”
As some on this blog know, I have never been a fan of comedian Kathy Griffin. I have found her crude humor to be juvenile and never understood why CNN and Anderson Cooper continued to use her during New Year’s Eve programming. As I previously stated, Griffin often seems to substitute an increasingly obvious lack of comedic talent with a rising level of obscenity. Now, she has shocked even many of her many enablers with a picture holding the bloody severed head of President Donald Trump. Griffin clearly must have known that a firestorm would result from the disgusting and deeply disturbing image. That buzz however seems to be turning into a buzz saw with even her former supporters are expressing outrage at the image. Update: CNN finally cut Griffin after two days of fierce criticism.
Continue reading “Kathy Griffin Channels Her Inner ISIS [Updated]”
With Harvard holding its first black-only graduation this year and various schools creating black only dorms and safe spaces, “separate but equal” seems to be on the resurgence in America (something I wrote about ten years ago). However, Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has stood firm against all forms of discrimination and barred the black feminist festival in the French capital because it is “prohibited to white people.” She said that racial discrimination in any form or for any purpose will not be tolerated.
Continue reading “Paris Mayor Calls For Banning Of Black Only Event In Paris”
One of the most damaged individuals from the various controversies surrounding President Donald Trump has been his National Security Adviser, General H.R. McMaster. McMaster of course replaced the most damaged individual, General Michael Flynn who is now the subject of multiple investigations. McMaster was brought in to bring professional and credibility to the position. He was an excellent choice. However, the use of McMaster to try (unsuccessfully) to deflect concerns of Trump’s disclosure of highly classified information to the Russians destroyed much of his reputation in Washington. Now, what remains of that reputation seems to be rapidly evaporating with McMaster’s dismissive “not concerned” response to a high-level advisor (Jared Kushner) reportedly asking the Russians to create a secret, secure communications line through their embassy or other location. While that allegation does not appear a criminal violation in and of itself, it would a highly disturbing addition to an already troubling story on the close relations between the Trump officials and the Russians. The former head of the NSA and CIA under Bush said that such a back channel would be both uncommon and dangerous.
The Washington Post released a bombshell story on Friday that alleges that senior White House aide (and presidential son-in-law) Jared Kushner met withSergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington to set up a private communications channel with the Kremlin. The channel reportedly was sought for secret and secure and direct communications with the Russians. Once again, there is nothing on its face unlawful about either the meeting or the desire for a secure communications line. However, the allegation (if true) would deepen the unease over the associations between the Trump camp and the Russians. The increasing number of meetings has raised questions over why Trump officials were so solicitous to the Russians — a concern that reached its apex with Trump’s bizarre decision to entertain Kislyak and the Russian Foreign Minister in the Oval Office the day after firing former FBI Director James Comey. Update: After two days, the White House has been conspicuously silent.