Archive for 2016

ROGER SIMON: Keep the Iowa Caucuses the Way They Are.

Plus this: “I remain sympathetic to Trump, although I think the whole ‘outsider’ meme is one great made-for-media load of you-know-what, only useful as some kind of crutch for talking heads on the Megyn Kelly show…What we are really looking at is a battle of three insiders of different sorts. Cruz plays the game of the ideological purist, Trump the game of the tycoon who can make us all rich (too bad he doesn’t own Apple or Google, just some flashy hotels and golf courses — but who’s counting?) and Rubio plays the game of the guy who can bring us all together.”

Read read the whole thing.

JOHN KASICH REVEALS PLAN TO CLIMB OUT OF ELECTORAL BASEMENT: A PINK FLOYD REUNION CONCERT.

If Kasich can find a way to get Rick Wright and Syd Barrett on the stage in 2017, he’s got my vote — though I’m not sure what this says about Kasich’s stance on Israel.

HARVARD STUDY: Moderate Coffee Drinking Associated With Longevity. “The investigators observed that, compared with people who don’t drink coffee, those who drank three to five cups of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee per day had a lower risk of death from type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, and suicide.” Well, I can certainly understand the lower risk of suicide. Possibly of murder, too. . . .

SHOT: Chris Christie defends TSA, says getting blown up is ‘inconvenient.’

CHASER: “The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that the acting administrator for the Transportation Security Administration would be reassigned, following a report that airport screeners failed to detect explosives and weapons in nearly every test that an undercover team conducted at dozens of airports. According to a report based on an internal investigation, ‘red teams’ with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General were able to get banned items through the screening process in 67 out of 70 tests it conducted across the nation.”

HILLARY’S EMAILS VS THE VALERIE PLAME SCANDAL: A tale of two administrations.

And the double-standards of one MSM.

CHRISTIAN ADAMS ON MARCO RUBIO’S NOVEMBER ELECTABILITY PROBLEM: “To recap, Rubio was the ringleader of the Gang of 8 who sought to do what the Republican base does not want done: amnesty. It would be like nominating a candidate who supported government health care in a year when the base vehemently opposed it*, which I will get to shortly.”

Read the whole thing.

* Speaking of whom, “I say this every day but this time it’s not a goof: Will be surprised if Romney doesn’t signal support for Rubio this week,” Allahpundit tweets.

THE REAL IOWA HEADLINE IS REPUBLICAN TURNOUT: While everyone is disputing how to spin the post-Iowa momentum–did Hillary “really” win, or did Rubio “really” come in second–the real headline is that the turnout numbers suggest strong Republican enthusiasm and significantly depressed Democratic enthusiasm:

Eight years ago, when Clinton was the favorite to defeat Barack Obama and John Edwards in the caucus, around 220,000 Democrats turned out. The Democrat turnout was almost double the Republican turnout, a clear sign of Democrat enthusiasm after 8 years of the Bush Presidency.

This year, however, just over 170,000 Democrats turned out to caucus, in a contest that was widely regarded, and broadcast by the media, as a nail-biter. Despite a massive turnout operation by the Clinton campaign and record-breaking rallies from Bernie Sanders, Democrat turnout dropped around 25 percent from 2008.

The Republican turnout was around 180,000, the highest turnout in its history. It is also the first time more Republicans turned out when both races were contested.

Indeed, the Republican turnout of 180,000 was about 60,000 more than the turnout in 2012, which was itself a record Republican turnout.

Overall, the Republicans experienced a 50 percent increase in turnout over 2012, whereas the Democrats experienced a 23 percent decrease.

If this enthusiasm gap continues through the general election, the Democrats will really need to work overtime on voter fraud to have a decent shot at the White House.

NO JUSTICE, NO FOOTBALL: “Here come the shutdown demonstrators to this Sunday’s Super Bowl,” Debra J. Saunders writes at the American Spectator. “Social media and news organizations report chatter of a big protest a-brewing. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Kevin Fagan — master of the protest beat — told me, ‘Chances are very good that a major disruption will be attempted at least.’”

Beyond the potential for sabotage and screaming Bay Area protesters that will keep the Super Bowl’s massive security presence on their toes, I’m sort of amused at the schizophrenia of the local politicians and their supporters:

TYPICAL BLUE WEENIE, LAST WEEK: Climate change is the single biggest issue facing humankind. We only have five years to save the earth. The situation is so bad, we must discourage jet travel, ban plastic bags, slap solar panels onto everything, start designing self-driving cars and do everything we can to punish automobile owners.

TYPICAL BLUE WEENIE, THIS WEEK: Isn’t this great – everybody’s flying in to SFO and San Jose Airport! We’re hosting the sporting event with the single biggest carbon footprint on the planet!

RICHARD EPSTEIN: Why Fiscal Stimulus Fails. “The key point here is that what needs to be done is not to fiddle with interest rates, but to make major structural reforms in important economic areas, most notably in labor markets.”