With the expanding allegations of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein and others, Energy Secretary Rick Perry appears to have the answer: fossil fuels. That’s right, more fossil fuel less sexual assault.
Continue reading “Rick Perry: More Fossils Fuels Means Fewer Rapes”
Ok, maybe counsel over shot the jury a bit in the trial of Senator Robert Menendez. The Senator is facing allegations of bribes from Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen ranging from luxury vacations to luxury flights to campaign contributions. After presenting a fairly complex case of gifts, influence peddling, and nuanced criminal standards, a question can back from the jury. The juror asked the judge “what is a senator?”
Continue reading “Menendez Case Goes To Jury . . . Jurors Sends Out Question “What Is A Senator?””
Juli Briskman is out of a job. The 50-year-old mother of two became a national hero for anti-Trump advocates when she gave President Donald Trump the middle finger as she bicycled along a road in Sterling, Virginia. Trump was returning from a golf game when he encountered the middle fingered salute. Now, her employer government contractor Akima LLC has fired her in a move that she says is both political and arbitrary. Briskman was a marketing and communications employee for Akima and the company clearly decided that flipping off the President was not an optimal marketing strategy for a government contractor. Brishman only worked for the company for six months.
Continue reading “Company Fires Bicyclist Who Flipped Off Trump”
Years ago, we discussed a type of race to the bottom as states outdid each other in lowering the age for hunters. South Dakota lowered the age for hunting licenses to 10. Now Wisconsin is moving into toddler territory with a bill that would allow any age to hunt.
Continue reading “Tote’n Toddlers: Wisconsin Moves To Lower Age For Hunting To 10 Years”
Much of the negative media directed toward President Donald Trump is clearly self-inflicted. However, as we have previously discussed, there has been a pronounced anti-trump media bias. Indeed, former Jimmy Carter has observed that the media has treated Trump usually harshly. An example of this bias was evident is the odd fish story that was aired this week by CNN and other outlets about Trump overfeeding the famed Koi pond at Alaska Palace in TokyoAs many on this blog are aware, I testified in favor of the confirmation of Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch at his Senate hearing. I believe him to be a jurist with a deep commitment to first principles of constitutional interpretation. It was for that reason that I was taken aback the the dismissive and careless comments on Gorsuch by National Public Radio Legal Affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg. Totenberg used the Supreme Court podcast “First Mondays” to launch into Gorsuch for what Totenberg described as pedantic and annoying conduct in conferences and oral arguments. Gorsuch’s colleagues on the Tenth Circuit as well as the broader appellate bench uniformly described him as a collegial, civil, and respectful colleague.
Continue reading “Totenberg: Kagan Appears Smarter and Tougher Than Gorsuch”
According to a newly filed complaint, the New Mexico State University preferred Camille LeVieux to Camille LeNoir. The “new” LeNoir turned out to be a straight, Christian women’s basketball coach. The university appears to have had the older LeNoir in mind when they hired her. LeNoir once as star at the University of Southern California who was drafted by the Washington Mystics and played professionally overseas. She was also an open lesbian. LeNoir would seem an ideal choice except that she spoke openly about being heterosexual and now opposing homosexuality as a sin. Her offer was later rescinded by the New Mexico State University and the hiring coach allegedly told her it was about the video and her defense of heterosexuality.
If you guess drunk driving, you are not even half way there . . .
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”
It may seem like the nightmare for some over the secularization of England, but police are hunting down Jesus this week. It appears that a man dressed as Jesus for Halloween and attacked another man dressed as a “Jedi Knight” — leaving the second man with a broken ankle.
Continue reading “Laying Hands Upon The Messiah: Police Search For Jesus After Attack On Jedi”
A stretch in confinement is never fun. Whether it is a chain gang or breaking “big stones into little stones,” time in jail can be endless. . . . unless you are a Saudi prince or official. After a surprising crackdown on corruption and the arrest of princes and senior officials, the accused were ordered to be held in home confinement at the ultra-luxury Ritz Carlton in Riyadh. The accused will be guaranteed “three squares a day” on a prison menu at various top restaurants that includes “Squid ink, mixed pan-seared seafood” and “Ossobuco alla Milanese, saffron risotto, and pecorino foam” at hundreds of dollars a pop. While there is no prison yard with a weight set, there is the spa with the “Royal Groom of Arabia treatment.”
I will be speaking today at a conference at Yale as part of the annual William F. Buckley Jr. Program. The conference is on “The Constitution and the Courts: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of Freedom.” My specific panel addresses “Judicial Confirmations and Interpreting the Constitution: Borking, Activism, and Originalism.”
Speakers at the conference will include former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, Randy Barnett, Carlos Eire, E. Donald Elliott, David French, Mollie Hemingway, Michael McConnell, Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., Nicholas Rosenkranz, Peter Schuck, Ilya Shapiro, Jonathan Turley, Ed Whelan, and Adam White.
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the highly controversial move of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to use Paul Manafort’s own lawyer as a witness against him. What is most striking about this move is that it was entirely unnecessary given the other evidence of alleged violations of federal law governing foreign agents. The case against Manafort is strong but the denial of attorney-client protections in the case should be a matter of great concern for all citizens — regardless of your view of the underlying merits of the Russian investigation.
The DNC and Clinton emails released by Wikileaks ultimately exposed a pattern of false statements by Democratic leaders particularly Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Schultz insisted that they were completely neutral in the primary despite every indication to the contrary. It was later revealed that Donna Brazile, who replaced Schultz, had first leaked questions for the debate with Sanders to Clinton and then lied about the incriminating emails later to the media (she suggested that they were fake). Now Brazile is making a come back and has been put back into a position of power at the DNC and ironically on the Rules Committee. She is also shopping a book. In the book, Brazile confirms that Hillary Clinton essentially bought the DNC by assuming responsibility for its crippling debt in exchange for control over the organization before the primary. In other words, as shown by the earlier emails and now by Brazile’s own account, the primary was indeed rigged against Bernie Sanders and anyone running against Clinton.
It has been something of a nightmarish week for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). First, former DNC head Donna Brazile revealed in her book that Hillary Clinton effectively bought the DNC before the primary by assuming its towering debts in exchange for control over critical parts of the organization. In addition to the emails showing the DNC favoring Clinton, the book seems to confirm that Clinton and her allies took over key financial decisions for the DNC before the primary. The deal would show that a variety of Democratic leaders, including most notably Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, openly misled the public in the primary. The disclosure in the book came right after the DNC moved to push out Sanders supporters and bring back Clinton allies into key positions last month.
While this scandal was brewing this week, an email surfaced showing that a DNC official told staff not to share employment opportunities with straight white men — a clear effort to discriminate in access to job opportunities. I (and many others) tried to get the DNC to confirm the email. The DNC has largely stonewalled all inquiries beyond a belated and ambiguous statement.
Below is my column in USA Today on the Rick Gates indictment and his potential as a witness for the prosecution in the Mueller investigation. The other obvious concern for the defense should be General Michael Flynn. It is curious that there was no indictment of Flynn given his similar alleged violations involving work as a foreign agent. Flynn would also be a natural target for prosecutors in seeking cooperative witnesses. With George Papadopoulos’ plea and cooperation, other witnesses will start to consider whether they will get a chair when the music stops. The President’s attack on Papadopoulos certainly sends a chilling message for those who might follow his lead, but these are heavy potential charges for potential targets.
Here is the column: