Columns, Politics

A “View from the East Wing”: Jill Biden’s Fantasy Book Tour

Below is my column in the New York Post on the latest claims of former First Lady Jill Biden on her book tour. Today, “View from the East Wing” will be released after a rocky pre-release tour. Her interviews certainly produced buzz, but not necessarily the type that she was seeking. Her claims on the pardon of Hunter Biden are part of an effort to rewrite history that borders on utter fantasy. It appears that the former First Lady would like to be known as both a fiction and nonfiction author.

Here is the column: Continue reading “A “View from the East Wing”: Jill Biden’s Fantasy Book Tour” →

Columns, Politics, Society

The Red Apple: Mamdani Announces Possible Transfer of Housing to Tenants

Below is my column in The Hill on the new housing plan of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to seize the properties of the “worst landlords” and hand them over to tenants or tenant groups. It is a plan that is hardly unexpected given the socialist agenda of the Administration. However, it promises to replicate the failures of socialist systems of the past.

Here is the column: Continue reading “The Red Apple: Mamdani Announces Possible Transfer of Housing to Tenants” →

Justice, Lawyering

The Lawfare Machine: A Dubious Opinion on Abrego Garcia Leads to a Bar Complaint Against Todd Blanche

This week, a public interest group filed an ethics complaint against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, citing the recent dismissal of a criminal indictment against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. The ethics complaint is the latest example of the left’s self-perpetuating lawfare machine. Liberal courts and groups first prime allegations against conservatives, which are then eagerly picked up by media and advocacy groups. It is no accident that this hit job on Blanche called upon the New York courts and bar to deliver the coup de grâce. Continue reading “The Lawfare Machine: A Dubious Opinion on Abrego Garcia Leads to a Bar Complaint Against Todd Blanche” →

Courts, Politics

“Grossly Short of Prudent Decision-Making”: Court Halts Kennedy Center Construction and Name Change

In a ruling Friday, District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the cessation of all repair plans for the Kennedy Center and the removal of Trump’s name from the building within two weeks. It is a detailed and comprehensive opinion, but I believe that Judge Cooper is wrong on the cessation of repairs. Continue reading ““Grossly Short of Prudent Decision-Making”: Court Halts Kennedy Center Construction and Name Change” →

Free Speech, International

British Ofcom Investigates Airing of Trump Interview Calling Climate Change a “Hoax”

I have been writing about the decline of free speech in the United Kingdom for years, including in my book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.  One of the most critical components of the British censorship system is Ofcom, the Office of Communications, which regulates the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications, and postal industries. The most recent controversy is detailed in the Telegraph, with Ofcom investigating GB News over the simple replaying of a Trump interview in which he called climate change a “hoax.” Continue reading “British Ofcom Investigates Airing of Trump Interview Calling Climate Change a “Hoax”” →

Bizarre, Courts, Lawyering

Judicial Whodunit: Federal Judge Given “Private Reprimand” After Holding Sexual Trysts in Chambers…and Then Lying About It

There is a bizarre controversy out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where a federal judge has been reprimanded for engaging in repeated, loud sexual encounters during office hours in chambers with a police officer. While the judge lied to investigators and disrupted the work of court staff, the Eleventh Circuit decided to give only a “private reprimand” and to withhold the identity of the district court judge. However, legal sleuths have pieced together clues and identified one judge in Atlanta as the likely culprit. Continue reading “Judicial Whodunit: Federal Judge Given “Private Reprimand” After Holding Sexual Trysts in Chambers…and Then Lying About It” →

Academia, Politics

Doing the Math: UC Faculty Call for the Return to Standardized Testing After Shocking Decline in Skills

Years ago, I wrote a column denouncing the decision of the University of California system to drop standardized testing in the cause of greater racial diversity. Now, hundreds of UC mathematics faculty have called for a return to such testing after reports showing a thirtyfold increase in students with math skills below high school level. Continue reading “Doing the Math: UC Faculty Call for the Return to Standardized Testing After Shocking Decline in Skills” →

Columns, Politics

Let Them Eat Impeachments: Dan Goldman Fights to Keep the Rage — and His Career — Alive

Below is my column on Rep. Dan Goldman struggling to overcome a challenge from Mamdani-backed Brad Lander. Goldman is sticking to his impeachment-heavy campaign pitch as Lander pushes bread-and-butter issues. He is reportedly over 20 points behind the popular housing advocate.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Let Them Eat Impeachments: Dan Goldman Fights to Keep the Rage — and His Career — Alive” →

Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics

This is a ‘Jackie Robinson moment,’ but not the one Hakeem Jeffries thinks it is

 

Below is my column in The Hill on the calls for a boycott of SEC schools by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries over the Supreme Court banning racial gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act. The use of such sports legends as Jackie Robinson to fight for a form of racial discrimination shows how politics can outstrip our principles.

Here is the column: Continue reading “This is a ‘Jackie Robinson moment,’ but not the one Hakeem Jeffries thinks it is” →

Academia

Cornell Faculty Group Condemns University President Who Was Surrounded by Protesters in Car

We previously discussed the recent incident involving President Michael Kotlikoff, who was accused of hitting a protester while trying to leave a parking lot after an event on the Israeli-Palestinian issues. He was cleared by a university investigation, but the Cornell Chapter of the American Association of University Professors has condemned Kortikoff, who was merely trying to evade protesters who surrounded his car.

Continue reading “Cornell Faculty Group Condemns University President Who Was Surrounded by Protesters in Car” →

Academia, Free Speech, International

Ressa at Dartmouth : Anti-Free Speech Figure Calls the State of Free Speech in the U.S. “Horrific”

In the global anti-free speech movement, Maria Ressa stands apart. The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Columbia professor has used her celebrated position to call for censorship in the name of tolerance and diversity. She is showered with accolades as she calls for curtailing speech with a highly sophisticated, though at times Orwellian, pitch. In the cause of tolerance, she calls for viewpoint intolerance, particularly in the regulation of speech on the Internet.

That was evident this week as she spoke at Dartmouth’s Division of Institutional Diversity and Equity Social Justice Awards. The most insidious aspect of this campaign is how academic and other groups regularly portray Ressa as a free speech advocate.

Continue reading “Ressa at Dartmouth : Anti-Free Speech Figure Calls the State of Free Speech in the U.S. “Horrific”” →

Academia, Columns

“He was right then. He is right now”: Hakeem Jeffries’ Brother Calls on Citizens to Emulate John Brown

 

This week, Hasan Kwame Jeffries, an Ohio State University history professor and the brother of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, joined the mantra of many on the left for citizens to rise up and fight the system “by any means necessary.” However, Jeffries added a menacing element in calling for citizens to emulate John Brown, who murdered white farmers who supported slavery.  He is not the first academic to use Brown as a model for political action today. Continue reading ““He was right then. He is right now”: Hakeem Jeffries’ Brother Calls on Citizens to Emulate John Brown” →

Congress, Courts, Politics

House Democrats Unanimously Vote Down Women’s History Museum Over Limit to Biological Women

House Democrats unanimously voted this week against legislation to build a new women’s history museum on the National Mall. The reason was an amendment that limited the exhibits to biological women to the exclusion of transgender figures. The museum failed 204-216 as House Democrats hoped that they could still secure a museum including transgender figures once they retake power after the midterm elections. Continue reading “House Democrats Unanimously Vote Down Women’s History Museum Over Limit to Biological Women” →

Constitutional Law, Politics

The Spanberger Flea Circus: Virginia Governor Signs Anti-Ice Executive Order Devoid of Meaning

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger rolled out a kind of political flea circus this week with an anti-ICE executive order that would purportedly keep ICE out of polling places and other commonwealth areas. It did not matter that the order has no real impact on ICE. The important thing is the appearance of an impact on ICE. Continue reading “The Spanberger Flea Circus: Virginia Governor Signs Anti-Ice Executive Order Devoid of Meaning” →