Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the growing pledges from House and Senate Democratic members to investigation and possibly impeach Brett Kavanaugh if he is confirmed this week. It would constitute a dangerous and reckless precedent for Democrats to pursue with any new majority.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Democrats Pledge To Revive A Cadaver Synod To Remove Justice Kavanaugh”
The student union of the University of Manchester voted to ban clapping, whooping and cheering because some students might find these common forms of expression to be unwelcoming or alienating for some students. As a result, students are expected to use “Jazz hands” to show approval to maintain a welcoming environment. Continue reading “University of Manchester Bans Clapping and Cheering As Marginalizing For Some Students”
While Democratic politicians and groups continue to use Hillary Clinton as a matinee draw for fundraisers and campaign events, a new Gallup poll shows Clinton remains at record lows in the polls. Indeed, she remains more unpopular than Donald Trump at 36%. Trump has a 41% popularity. It is a striking disconnect. Many of us were critical when the Democratic establishment (and virtually every Democratic member of Congress) all but guaranteed the nomination of Clinton despite every poll showing her to be unpopular and the voters seeking an anti-establishment choice. Now, even after two years of book tours and speeches, Clinton is still distinctly unpopular but Democratic groups continue to make her the face of the Democratic campaign for the midterms. It shows the hold of the Clintons on some in the Democratic ranks even though she is likely to continue to alienate many who are looking for an alternative this election.
Dr. Carol Christine Fair, an associate professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown, has created a firestorm of controversy after she called for the castration and “miserable death” of Republican senators. This is not her first such controversy in profanely attacking Republicans.
We previously discussed Fair tirades against Republicans. Continue reading “Georgetown Professor Again Triggers A Firestorm of Controversy With Hateful Anti-Republican Comments”
Charles Ludington, a college friend of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, released a statement that directly contradicted the testimony of the judge on this drinking in college. Ludington told The Washington Post that he gave a statement to the FBI that Kavanaugh was “belligerent and aggressive” as a drunk in college and once threw a beer in the face of someone who insulted him. He is the third college friend who described Kavanaugh as a belligerent drinker in college.
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper that looks beyond this immediate controversy over the Kavanaugh nomination toward three basic reforms of the confirmation process. With the FBI investigation interviewing witnesses on the first two allegations of sexual assault, it is not clear what new information may surface at the end of the week. In the interim, it would be useful to discuss the now obvious failure of our confirmation process. I have been a long critic of the process, but the Kavanaugh confirmation process has magnified these flaws to a grotesque degree.
Notably, Kavanaugh now has been given the SNL treatment with a performance by Matt Damon that is that type of comical portrayal that hits hard in public controversy.
Here is the column:
The intolerance of art and free expression in many Islamic countries was particularly and painfully evident in the Maldives last week. A beautiful and powerful underwater sculpture by British artist Jason DeCaires Taylor was ordered destroyed by the government after objections by Islamic leaders for its depiction of human forms. Ironically, the art highlighted the dire risk of rising sea levels for the Maldives. Instead, its demise will forever symbolize the risk of rising intolerance of religious orthodoxy. For some tourists who flock to the Maldives, this outrageous attack on art just might be a deterrent to future vacation plans.
Continue reading “Maldives Destroys Famed Art Piece As UnIslamic”
Below is my Hill newspaper column on the unfolding controversy surrounding the allegations of sexual abuse brought against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. As we wait for the week long FBI investigation to be completed, the question remains the same: what is the standard that should apply to such cases once all of the evidence laid before the Senate? As the FBI prepares to submit new evidence, the Senate still must articulate a standard of review for that evidence.
Here is the column Continue reading “A Clear Preponderance: Fact-Finding By the Senate Requires A Standard Of Review”
We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here and here) and England ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. The Europeans appear committed to this trend of curtailing free speech and subjecting speech to coercive definitions of what the majority deems acceptable. That commitment was made all the more evident, and chilling, by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights rejecting a German anti-abortion activist’s challenge to court orders enjoining him from referring to abortions as “aggravated murder” and comparing them with the Holocaust. So now the courts are enforcing speech controls over clearly religious and political viewpoints in Europe. Continue reading ““Necessary in a Democratic Society”: European Court Bars Pro-Life Advocate From Calling Abortion Murder”
Not long after President Donald Trump ordered a one-week investigation of the FBI into allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Maryland officials have announced that they will launch a criminal investigation into the attempted rape allegations of Christine Blasey Ford if she files a complaint. That would create the unprecedented situation of a nominee under criminal investigation as the Senate voted on confirmation.
Continue reading “Maryland Will Open Criminal Investigation Of Kavanaugh If Ford Files A Complaint”
As I discussed in yesterday’s earlier in a column, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., RI) going through the yearbook entries of Brett Kavanaugh was one of the most bizarre moments of confirmations in our history. Whitehouse was attempting to undermine Kavanaugh’s account of not being a black out drunk or participating in sexual exploits at parties with his friends. The hearing devolved into a discussed of the terms “boofing” and the “Devil’s Triangle.” The terms are widely defined on the internet to mean anal sex and a threesome (with one male and two females). Kavanaugh insisted that they meant farting and a drinking game. That led many to question his veracity (I am thankfully ignorant of either term but I have come to realize that my high school and college years were monastic in comparison to most everyone else). One person using a congressional computer however decided to try to add at least some support for Kavanaugh on the Internet by changing the definition on Wikipedia. He or she only succeeded in causing a row that highlighted the controversy over Kavanaugh’s answers.
Continue reading “Definition of “Devil’s Triangle” Changed On Wikipedia To Make Kavanaugh’s Answer”
Yesterday’s Kavanaugh hearing left many questions on both sides, including the ultimate question of the alleged attempted rape of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. However, for lawyers, one exchange sticks out from a professional standpoint. Ford was questioned why she delayed the hearing due to her alleged fear of flying and, more importantly, why she did not simply meet with committee staff in California. Ford admitted that, while she does not like to fly, she does in fact routinely fly around the world, including frequent trips to nearby Delaware. The most striking statement however was the suggestion that she was never told by counsel that she did not have to fly to Washington and the Committee was ready to fly to her — a prospect that she said she would have welcomed. That left a lingering question of whether her counsel did not tell her of a material offer or whether she misrepresented the reason for her delay in speaking to the Committee.
After yesterday’s Kavanaugh hearing, a number of Senators may know how Taiyo Masuda, 23, felt this week when a seal surfaced only to slap him in the face with a live octopus. Not one of the things one prepares for on a kayaking trip in New Zealand.
Continue reading “Octopunch: Seal Slaps Kayaker In The Face With An Octopus”
Japan’s space agency (Jaxa) has released incredible images from its robot rovers of the asteroid Ryugu. I know that I go all squealy over NASA and space pictures, but this is amazing. It is difficult to get one’s mind around the fact that we are looking at the surface of an asteroid that has been moving through space since before the advent of mankind.
In a new twist, Committee staff has reportedly interviewed two men who say that they were actually the two teens who may as assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982 and not Judge Brett Kavanaugh. It is not clear what further information will be released on this latest disclosure but it raises an obviously serious matter for both sides. I remain leery of this lat minute leak and the lack of details — unfortunately a common element in this ongoing controversy.