THE STATE DEPARTMENT’S HACK:  His name is Patrick Kennedy, the State Department’s Undersecretary for Management.

A State Department official at the center of the Benghazi controversy may also have called off a controversial inspector general probe.

Patrick Kennedy, the State Department’s undersecretary for management, allegedly blocked diplomatic security investigations that may have cast the bureau in a negative light.

According to an internal memo prepared by the inspector general in October 2013 and obtained by the Washington Examiner, Kennedy personally called off an investigation into the ambassador to Belgium after allegations surfaced that the ambassador had solicited “sexual favors from both prostitutes and minor children.”

A former official with the State Department’s office of inspector general said the obstruction of oversight went even further, noting that Kennedy was “good friends” with the acting inspector general, Harold Geisel. The former official requested anonymity to speak candidly about Kennedy’s potential interference with inspector general probes. . . .

Kennedy has been linked to the security failures that led to the 2011 terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the controversy involving Hillary Clinton’s private emails and State Department projects that involved Clinton Foundation donors. . . .

The undersecretary continues to play a role in the State Department’s stonewalling of Freedom of Information Act requests.

Is there anything this guy can’t do? A National Review story on Kennedy in 2013 highlighted his odd career at the Department:

He’s not a political appointee or a longtime Obama backer; he has worked in diplomatic and government positions his entire adult life. . . . But congressional Republicans increasingly see Kennedy as a key figure in what they characterize as the State Department’s culture of unaccountability, secrecy, and rear-covering.

Sounds like the State Department’s resident ass-coverer. I would call for his resignation but then again, there would be a thousand other career civil servants willing to take his place (paid for with our tax dollars, of course).

THE RISE OF ELECTRONIC CRUMPLE ZONES: NTSB wants collision avoidance tech in every new car: The safety agency recommends that automakers should offer advanced collision avoidance systems in every new vehicle they sell.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW about the Takata airbag recall. Including a list of affected vehicles.

NEWS FROM THE HILL: Breaking: Democrats defeat Obama’s trade bill because they’re a pack of straight-up racist obstructionists.

JOE PAPPALARDO: With Putin On the Prowl, Is NATO Ready To Unite?

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: FBI-seized domains still in limbo after DNS hijacking: Frozen sites’ name servers were changed to a domain registered through Chinese company. All this money for homeland security, and apparently everything we have is owned by the Chinese.

HE’S PROVING TO BE USEFUL: Bernie Sanders tries to shame Clinton into voicing her opinion on free trade, other key issues.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton spent Thursday ducking questions about a trade bill before Congress, as her chief rival for the nomination said it was embarrassing to see the party’s leading candidate hide from the biggest issues of the day.

The former secretary of state has avoided the trade issue for months, keeping mum rather than choosing sides in a debate that has split the Democratic Party. But the pressure on her to speak out peaked as the legislation headed to a House vote Friday.

“SecretaryClinton, if she is against this, we need her to speak out right now — right now,” declared Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernard Sanders, who has spearheaded opposition to the free trade measure.

“You can be for it or against it. But I don’t understand how on an issue of such huge consequences you don’t have an opinion,” he said Thursday at a breakfast meeting with reporters in Washington hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. . . .

He said Mrs. Clintonalso owes it to voters to answer questions about climate change, domestic spying by the National Security Agency, the Keystone XL oil pipeline and the political dominance of America’s billionaire class, which also are issues where Mr. Sanders has lead the charge and areas where liberal activists mistrustMrs. Clinton.

“Those are issues. I respect the secretary. But I would like to see a civil, intelligent debate,” he said.

Yeah, “a civil, intelligent debate” isn’t exactly Clinton’s forte. But it’s fun to watch Sanders call out Clinton’s pusillanimity.

MILO YIANNOPOULOS HOPS ON THE TRANS-BLACK BUS: A Big Slobbery Welcome To My Newest Trans-Black Sister, Rachel Dolezal. “Regular readers of this column will recall that the author bravely came out of the closet as trans-black in April, following years of misery in which my innate blackness felt like a complete mismatch for my white body – or, as I refer to it, my honkyself or crackersona. In my case, I had to rely on my natural charm and joie de vivre, sharp intellect and stunning good looks, quick wit and natural comedic timing, and of course my substantial modesty, to effectively shed my white dead-race and embrace the beautiful black man that was inside me. (Minds out of the gutter, please!)”

SOME WISDOM OF THE CROWD NEEDED: Earlier this week, the Daily Caller published this story about a major liberal donor who contributed $5 million to the Clinton Foundation’s No Ceilings women’s empowerment program even as his lawyers were in federal court trying to suppress records related to his long history of sexually abusing women.

Similarly, last July, the Washington Examiner published this story about the same major liberal donor’s former medical devices company killing three people in illegal human testing (we subsequently learned five people died). The story also noted then-Obama senior aide John Podesta’s financial links to the major liberal donor.

Neither story got traction in the national media. Now, I’ve been a journalist a long time and I know these are not nothing-burgers. I’m also pretty sure the results would have been dramatically different had the subject’s last name been spelled K-O-C-H instead of W-Y-S-S. What am I missing here???

DESTROYING IT WOULD BE BETTER: Carly Fiorina says it’s time to redefine feminism.

“A feminist is a woman who lives the life she chooses,”Mrs. Fiorinatold a free-market interest group dinner in Washington in speech that was billed as her first major policy address since declaring her candidacy May 5. “A woman may choose to have five children and home-school them. She may choose to become a CEO or run for president.”

Mrs. Fiorina also delved into abortion and birth control, suggesting liberals have a double-standard on women’s health issues.

“The left fights to protect late-term abortions and sues the Little Sisters of the Poor, but they oppose over-the-counter birth control,” she told the crowd.

She’s right, but to be fair to Fiorina, I don’t think she’s trying to “redefine” feminism so much as offer a healthy alternative to its dependent, whiny version of women demanding various entitlements, repeatedly articulated by progressives such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Feminism has been hijacked by progressives, and it’s no longer about equality for women as much as demeaning and punishing men–often wrapped in poorly disguised hatred of “ironic misandry.”

Fiorina’s vision is one of equality of opportunity and individual liberty–quintessential American values–rather than the one-size-fits-all progressive vision exemplified by the recent liberal anthropologist Wendy Martin’s NY Times expose on Upper East Side women, whom she demeans for choosing to be stay-at-home, involved moms. Haters gonna hate, I suppose. Fiorina’s message is a welcome contrast.

CHANGE: Turkey Comes Undone.

Rather than democracy returning to Turkey as many hope, the country is likely entering a period of political paralysis, instability, and uncertainty. This does not mean instability akin to Syria, Iraq, or Yemen, but rather similar to the years before the AKP came to power, when unstable coalition governments often at war with each other marked Turkish politics in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Erdogan and the AKP have been in power for such a long time that it is easy to lose sight of that unhappy decade. During that era, as politicians tried to outmaneuver each other and pursue their own interests, Turkey’s economy performed poorly; the military had its way, engineering the ouster of the country’s first experiment with an Islamist-led government in 1997; and Turkey lagged well behind the places its elites fancifully considered to be peers—Greece, Portugal, and Spain. It was not a pretty picture. In March 2001, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit helped precipitate a wrenching financial crisis after a rather nasty and very public spat about the slow pace of anti-corruption investigations and reforms. The implication was that Ecevit was dragging his feet because close associates were implicated. The ensuing panic, especially in the banking sector, resulted in a steep devaluation of the lira and a sharp spike in interest rates that brought economic activity to a virtual halt. The problem was made worse given the general lack of confidence that Ecevit, who led a three-party coalition, could take appropriate action to fix the economy. It was because of the economic pain inflicted on Turks as a result of this episode, along with the endless allegations of corruption in high places and military meddling in what seemed like every sphere of public life, that many Turks rejoiced in November 2002 when the upstart AKP, which had only been founded 15 months earlier, won 34.3 percent of the vote and 363 seats in parliament. The hope that the stability of single-party rule would bring a respite from the cruel antics of venal politicians and arrogant military officers was vindicated in a decade of economic growth and development—though the political environment hardly improved under the AKP, especially in the past five years.

On the other hand, Turkey probably won’t become a corrupt Islamist dictatorship now, so they’ve got that going for them.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Is ‘Hot Dog Pizza’ Actually Pizza? An Investigation.

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HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Accrediting Body Places University of North Carolina On Probation. “The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will not lose accreditation over the academic fraud that occurred there, but it will face one year of probation, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges announced Thursday. In October, the university released a detailed report about widespread and long-lasting academic fraud at the university. For 20 years, some employees at the university knowingly steered about 1,500 athletes toward no-show courses that never met and were not taught by any faculty members, and in which the only work required was a single research paper that received a high grade no matter the content.”

It wasn’t just athletes who took these classes, though. And despite efforts to contain this by treating it as an athletic scandal, it’s an academic scandal, through and through.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Watchdog: Report Of Favoritism In University Of Texas Law School Admissions Whitewashed Evidence Of LSAT Scores Of Admittees In The 130s And 140s. “An investigation into the corruption of admissions standards at the University of Texas School of Law confirmed Watchdog’s reports that dozens of applicants had been admitted to UT Law despite atrocious test scores. Nonetheless, Kroll Associates made no mention in its final report of the dozens of inadequate Law School Admission Test scores it found in researching applicant data from 2004 to 2014. Most of those underwhelming students were admitted when Bill Powers was still dean of the law school. Instead, Kroll simply ignored the most damning findings from Power’s tenure at UT Law, and gave detailed figures just for 2010 to 2014.”

SHE’S TRANS-BLACK. DON’T SHAME HER. NAACP leader and civil rights activist outed as WHITE by her parents who say she’s been pretending to be black for years. She’s obviously transitioning, and we should support her choice.

“Her Eastern Washington University bio also says that Dolezal has been the victim of at least eight ‘documented hate crimes.'” Uh huh.

It’s funny, though, that with all the talk of white male privilege, the transitions seem to be toward black and female…

UPDATE: The #WrongSkin movement.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “Al Sharpton peels back the mask, reveals himself as Marty Cohen from Piscataway, New Jersey, and we all go home.”

MORE: “The story of racial crossing in the U.S. is quite complex.” Well, okay then.

Exit question: Is John Boehner transitioning?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE COVERUP: Sarah Westwood: Clinton State Dept. officials stymied agency investigators.

State Department officials blocked investigations into potentially embarrassing allegations of misconduct from agency investigators and even inspector general staff during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.

A former official in the State Department inspector general’s office who was involved with preparing the sanitized report said agency officials also interfered in probes originating in the Office of the Inspector General.

The suggestions of political interference into investigations conducted at the bureau of diplomatic security first appeared in an inspector general report published in February 2013, just as Clinton was leaving the State Department. A Washington Examiner review of earlier drafts of that report suggested potentially damaging passages were removed from the final document. But the State Department official suggests the intervention went further.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the Bureau of Diplomatic Security initially prevented inspectors from reviewing open case files when they began their probe in late 2012.

High-level officials in the inspector general’s office soon informed inspectors they would not be permitted to review closed cases either, said the former Office of the Inspector General employee.

That forced inspectors to base the entirety of their report off interviews with investigators at the bureau of diplomatic security rather than a review of documents.

These people are always hiding something, and it’s never something good.

AS MUCH RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AS OBAMA: In my latest oped with David Rivkin, we explain why Hillary Clinton’s voter reform proposals–automatic voter registration at age 18, a 20-day early voting period, allowing felons to vote, etc.–are all likely to be unconstitutional:

A federal takeover of election laws—and rolling back state voter-ID laws intended to discourage election fraud—is a high priority for progressives. The billionaire financier George Soros reportedly has pledged $5 million to bankroll legal challenges to laws like those that Mrs. Clinton decries. Part of the effort is intended simply to galvanize the Democratic base by stoking a sense of grievance, but the strategy should be taken seriously—and rebutted as unconstitutional. . . .

Congress can use its Elections Clause power to pre-empt state laws, but its pre-emptive authority should be restrained by the anti-commandeering principle. Congress cannot conscript state officials to execute federal congressional-election reforms, but instead must use federal officials to do so. . . .

Republicans have been muted in their response to Mrs. Clinton and the attempt to expand federal power over elections and undermine states’ anti-fraud election laws. Such reticence is a mistake. They would have the Constitution and legal precedent on their side in rebutting her proposals—as they would if they launched a fresh legal challenge to the Motor Voter law. 

Mrs. Clinton is making it clear that, if elected, we can expect her to continue President Obama’s disdain for the Constitution. Clinton’s fury over the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision—which allowed the airing of Hillary: The Movie, as an exercise of free speech—has led her to propose scaling back the First Amendment. Her zeal to expand amnesty for illegal immigrants has caused her to declare that she will “go even further” than President Obama’s actions, which a federal judge has enjoined due to separation of powers concerns. Her eagerness to win the presidency now leads her to disregard yet another fundamental constitutional concept—federalism.

LAST NIGHT, THE OPM HACKING DEVELOPMENTS LED TO RICK WILSON UNLEASHING AN EPIC RANT ON TWITTER. NOW IT’S STORIFIED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE: “1/ Do I have to do all of this myself? Yes, the Chinese pwned us beyond all pwnage with the OPM hack. This is your government.” Read the whole thing, including his concrete suggestions on what the U.S. Government should do.

THE HILL: Senate whip: Dems ‘just flat irresponsible’ on cyber vote. You could have left off the last three words, lately.

The upper chamber on Thursday fell four votes shy of the 60 needed to move forward with attaching the anti-hacking measure to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The provision contained legislation, known as the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), meant to expand the exchange of cyber threat data between the government and the private sector.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was trying to rush CISA through the Senate in response to the massive digital theft of workers’ data from the Office of Personnel Management, which exposed information about at least 4 million people — and likely more.

“Our colleagues across the aisle have now blocked an amendment that would provide for greater sharing of information to address the rampant and growing cyber threat that this country faces,” Cornyn said. “Sharing cyber threat information will help us as a country deter future cyber attacks, and it helps both the public and the private sector act in a more nimble way when attacks are detected.”

On the upside, the Chinese apparently have all our data already, so . . . .

CARBON LIMITS FOR THEE, BUT NOT FOR ME: Obama Cracks Down on Airplane Emissions, Buys Massive New Air Force One.

The Air Force has now chosen a $367 million Boeing 747-8 (before upgrades) that runs 4,786 square feet; Business Insider calls the plane a “palace in the sky.” It’s the longest airliner ever and flies 8,000 nautical miles at a clip. The interiors are glossy and gorgeous, including leather couches, big screen TVs, top-of-the-line side tables, a state room that would make the MGM Grand envious, a huge office, and a conference room.

The current Air Force One is insufficient for the Obama administration and the Air Force. A Boeing 747-200B series model, Air Force One can refuel in midair, has in excess of 4,000 square feet on three levels, and includes an office, a conference room, a medical suite, two galleys capable of feeding 100 people, plus quarters for the president’s staff, press, and guests. Taxpayers currently spend $206,337 for every flight hour aboard Air Force One.

As for emissions, the current Air Force One burns 5 gallons of jet fuel for every mile flown, amounting to 21.1 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per gallon.

Also, if you watch this video, the interior looks like something a Russian mobster would pick.

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THE BRIDE AT EVERY WEDDING, THE CORPSE AT EVERY FUNERAL: Obama Makes Surprise Appearance at Congressional Baseball Game.

ED DRISCOLL ON HOW TOM WOLFE WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME. “A decade ago, Tom Wolfe’s I Am Charlotte Simmons warned of the mindset driving today’s campus ‘rape crisis’ hysteria.”