SO FOR MY NEXT USA TODAY COLUMN I REWATCHED THAT FAMOUS APPLE 1984 COMMERCIAL, and damned if today’s Silicon Valley doesn’t look just like the bad guys. That could practically be Larry Page or Mark Zuckerberg up there on the big screen . . . .

RIGGED: Court Admits DNC and Debbie Wasserman Schulz Rigged Primaries Against Sanders.

UPDATE: Meh, on second reading the headline really oversells this. Key bit: “‘In evaluating Plaintiffs’ claims at this stage, the Court assumes their allegations are true—that the DNC and Wasserman Schultz held a palpable bias in favor Clinton and sought to propel her ahead of her Democratic opponent,’ the court order dismissing the lawsuit stated.” That’s a standard assumption at this stage and doesn’t represent any actual finding on the merits.

BAKE MY CAKE OR SUFFER THE PENALTIES: As Ed Driscoll reported yesterday, the D. James Kennedy Ministry is suing SPLC, GuideStar, and Amazon over “Hate” labeling. I’ve had a chance to go through the Complaint, and my view is the defamation claims may have enough merit to proceed, the Trademark claims are weak, but the most interesting thing — and what may be the most impacting aspect of this suit — is the claim under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 4 2000(a), which the Plaintiffs point out:

“Because the Amazon Defendants are operating a public accommodation(s), it is a violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically 42 U.S.C. § 2000(a), for the Amazon Defendants to deny the Ministry the privileges and advantages of the AmazonSmile program on the basis of the Ministry’s religion and the beliefs that are inherent to that religion.”

Now here’s where it gets interesting. If the Commerce Clause gives government the authority to trump a businessman’s personal beliefs, even if couched as a First Amendment expression, then the same logic that requires Christian fundamentalists to bake “gay” wedding cakes against their beliefs ought to mean that Amazon has no right to deprive the Ministry of a public accommodation because they “don’t like” that Church’s view on gay marriage.

I’m betting if Amazon doesn’t settle, that this issue is headed to the Eleventh Circuit, and maybe even SCOTUS. This is right in Justice Gorsuch‘s wheelhouse. Stay tuned.

THE RISE OF “PREMIUM MEDIOCRE:”

A few months ago, while dining at Veggie Grill (one of the new breed of Chipotle-class fast-casual restaurants), a phrase popped unbidden into my head: premium mediocre. The food, I opined to my wife, was premium mediocre. She instantly got what I meant, though she didn’t quite agree that Veggie Grill qualified. In the weeks that followed, premium mediocre turned into a term of art for us, and we gleefully went around labeling various things with the term, sometimes disagreeing, but mostly agreeing. And it wasn’t just us. When I tried the term on my Facebook wall, and on Twitter, again everybody instantly got the idea, and into the spirit of the labeling game. . . .

Premium mediocre is the finest bottle of wine at Olive Garden. Premium mediocre is cupcakes and froyo. Premium mediocre is “truffle” oil on anything (no actual truffles are harmed in the making of “truffle” oil), and extra-leg-room seats in Economy. Premium mediocre is cruise ships, artisan pizza, Game of Thrones, and The Bellagio.

Premium mediocre is food that Instagrams better than it tastes.

Premium mediocre is Starbucks’ Italian names for drink sizes, and its original pumpkin spice lattes featuring a staggering absence of pumpkin in the preparation. Actually all the coffee at Starbucks is premium mediocre. I like it anyway. . . .

The entire idea of the country that is France is kinda premium mediocre. . . . (Switzerland is the actually elite European country).

Try this concept on for size yourself.

WHY ARE PROGRESSIVE UTOPIAS SUCH CESSPITS OF RACISM? How Portland Is Driving Away New Residents of Color.

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TO BE FAIR, WE’RE BASICALLY BETTER AT EVERYTHING. SEXIER, TOO. Lawyers Make Better CEOs Than MBAs.

BYRON YORK: Trump vs. The Filibuster.

President Trump brings an outsider’s perspective to the long debate over the Senate filibuster. An overwhelming majority of the Senate disagrees with his desire to kill the filibuster, which means he doesn’t have a prayer of winning. But he’s not entirely wrong, either.

Set aside Trump’s sledgehammer tweets directed at Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. In private conversations, Trump has made a reasonable and sophisticated case against the filibuster. Not only has the filibuster been eliminated for appointments, Trump has noted, it has also been eliminated (through the process of reconciliation) for some of the most important things the Senate does — that is, the budget and related bills it passes each year. So now, after all those changes, what remains of the filibuster is somehow supposed to be sacred and can never be changed again?

Trump’s question not only recognizes the reality of former Majority Leader’s Harry Reid’s nuclear-option destruction of the filibuster for appointments, and McConnell’s extension of that to Supreme Court nominations — it also takes into account the reality of reconciliation, by which, a generation ago, the Senate killed the filibuster for budget-related bills. The rule allows those measures to pass on a simple majority vote.

In other words, the filibuster has been steadily whittled down — by the Senate itself, of course, and not by a headstrong president — so why can’t the Senate do it again?

The thing is, the GOP leadership likes having an excuse for not doing what it promised GOP voters it would do.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS NO ONE IS ASKING: Seven Reasons for ‘Inconvenient’ Sequel’s Stunning Fail.

Why would anyone want to see a film about global warming by a man who declared he was done trying to fight it, by selling out to the Biggest of Big Oil?

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Egypt-themed fraternity party sacrificed on altar of “cultural appropriation.”

WAIT, I THOUGHT THE SCIENCE WAS SETTLED: ‘Good’ cholesterol might actually be bad.

IT’S A MIRACLE: Kid Rock Has Right Stuff for Senate … Says Smokey Robinson.

If you think Kid Rock could be the next U.S. Senator from the great state of Michigan … Smokey Robinson will second that emotion.

We got the Motown legend at LAX and asked what he thought about Kid’s potential run next year. Admittedly, kind of a trick question — Smokey’s all about his home state, but politically you’d think he’s on the other side of the aisle from Kid. He was a staunch Obama guy, after all.

Well, he shocked us a bit by all but fully endorsing Kid! Smokey says he knows the rocker well, and thinks he’s ready for office.

As for whether he’d vote for Candidate Kid — Smokey’s gonna shop around, but he definitely sounds open to it.

Well, there you are. And Kid Rock does have an easy-to-get-behind platform:

DEMOCRATS OBSESSED WITH ERASING THEIR OWN HISTORY: Then they came for Philadelphia’s Frank Rizzo statue.

MATTIS TO TROOPS: ‘Hold the line until our country gets back to respecting each other.’

Defense Secretary James Mattis gave a pep talk to U.S. troops stationed abroad during his trip to three countries last week.

In a video that has recently surfaced on social media, Mattis is seen speaking to U.S. troops in an unknown location. In his remarks to the troops, Mattis said the U.S. is facing “problems.”

“Our country right now, it’s got problems we don’t have in the military,” Mattis said. “You just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it.”

Mattis said the U.S. has “two powers” – “inspiration” and “intimidation.”

“We’ve got the power of intimidation, and that’s you, if someone wants to screw with our families, our country and our allies,” Mattis said. “The power of inspiration – [and] we’ll get the power of inspiration back.”

He also thanked the troops for their service and said he came out of retirement to “serve alongside young people like you who are so selfless and, frankly, so rambunctious.”

See, he gets what these guys got, and probably for similar reasons.

STUPID THINGS LEFTISTS SAY:BLM Organizer Demands White People Sign Over Their Property to Minorities.

ONCE MORE THE REAL NAZIS SELF-IDENTIFY: San Diego State College Republicans Called ‘Hate Group’.

FAIR? SINCE WHEN IS THE MEDIA SUPPOSED TO BE FAIR? (Certainly not since Trump’s election!) ‘Wall Street Journal’ Editor-in-Chief Criticized for Asking Media to Be Fair to Trump.

BRING OUT THE STAKES! Political Vampires.

THINGS LEFTISTS SAY: Social Justice Newsletter Says Veterans Should Be Banned From Four-Year Universities.

DERP STATE FOR THE WIN: CIA keeping a watchful eye on. . .its director!

2365 REVIEWERS GAVE THIS STUDY AN AVERAGE OF 4.4 STARS: People are complete suckers for online reviews.

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE: BACKFIRE: Major NASCAR Sponsor Tells Trump Supporters To Shop Elsewhere — Racing Legend Vows To Cancel $150,000 Order.

CHANGE: Advertisers move away from using pictures of white, straight customers for fear of being seen as racist or gay-hating. Prediction: Ads grow less effective on average consumers, ad revenue for media outlets drops. The GOP’s political-correctness Screwfly Solution for the left continues to work!