TYLER COWEN: Two American Power Centers Are About to Clash. “The most interesting intellectual conversations right now are going on in San Francisco and Washington. What happens as tech dreams collide with government realities?”
Within a political system, wealth confers great power. Against a political system, it confers very little.
ANALYSIS: TRUE. Scott Pruitt Is Trump’s Biggest Asset. That’s Why The Left Wants Him Gone.
Mollie Hemingway:
There are poor ways, average ways, and shrewd ways to tackle the constitutional problems that arise from the administrative state. Many Republicans either don’t realize the problems of an unelected bureaucracy’s power, or fail to combat those problems effectively. Pruitt is in the final category, demonstrating competency and a devotion to rule of law. And he has the courage that so many of his GOP peers lack, not being intimidated by the normal media frenzy that intimidates other Republican appointees.
Recently, a coordinated attempt to oust him has taken shape, as this liberal TV producer notes:
Just think of them as Democratic operatives with bylines and… you know the rest.
The most charming of which might have been Bill Kristol, about whom Hemingway notes, “this week tweeted his desire for Michelle Obama to run and defeat Donald Trump, said Pruitt was a parody of sycophancy for supporting a conservative deregulatory agenda.”
DON’T GET COCKY, KIDS: Bumps Appear on Democrats’ Road to Midterm Triumph: Republicans are getting a chance to be competitive in Connecticut, Iowa and California House races that once looked daunting.
Here in Tennessee, Phil Bredesen is polling ahead of Marsha Blackburn for the Senate seat Bob Corker is vacating.
IN THE MAIL: From Frank J. Fleming, Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled.
AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH: Roger Simon asks, Will Social Media Be the Death of Us—Literally?
(Classical reference in headline.)
DANIEL MITCHELL: Which State Will Be the First to Suffer Fiscal Collapse?
STEPHEN KRUISER: Only Week 2 and the Coordinated Industry Attacks On Roseanne Have Begun. “The woman and the show.”
The more they tighten their grip, the more stars will slip through their fingers.
EXCELLENT QUESTION: Why haven’t cheating FBI lovebirds been fired yet?
Possible answer here. “What role did Lisa Page have in the handling of warrant applications, and in particular those involving Peter Strzok?”
WHEN WOMEN DOMINATE POLITICS, EVERYONE WILL BE NICER, RIGHT? West U councilwoman accused of yelling obscenities at teen wearing Trump shirt.
The girls said they were in line at Tiny’s Milk and Cookies in West U on Saturday, waiting to buy cookies for younger girls at their nearby church.
“A tall, short-haired blond woman came up to them and screamed, ‘Grab em by the (expletive) girls!'” the father of one of the girls said. He did not want to be identified, fearing retaliation against his daughter.
The girls initially tried to laugh it off, the father said.
“Then, she yells it again!” the father said. “At that point the girls were getting kind of scared, and then the woman starts, you know, going, ‘MAGA! MAGA! MAGA!’ while shaking her fist.”
One of the girls was wearing a shirt that read, “Trump: Make America Great Again,” the father said.
The father said the girls left without responding to the woman. He said one of the girls said she noticed that Burke had taken a picture of her.
“They were scared,” the father said. “They were absolutely scared. My little girl essentially wanted to know if this woman was going to hurt her.”
West U police referred the case to Harris County Precinct One Constable’s office, which filed a class C misdemeanor charge against Burke.
I don’t think this warrants criminal charges, but it certainly warrants public shaming.
THE MOST USEFUL LAW SCHOOL RANKINGS FOR PROSPECTIVE LAW STUDENTS: The 2018 Revealed-Preferences Ranking of Law Schools
As I noted way back in 2004: A huge amount of information is encapsulated in the actual revealed preferences of students who decide to attend or not to attend a law school, because most of these students will have done some research before choosing a school. Such information includes desirability of geographic location (clearly a big factor if one compares, e.g., U.S. News rankings to LSAT rankings), local reputation, job placement, quality of life, tuition costs, bar passage, faculty quality and commitment to teaching, student satisfaction, national reputation, and, of course, U.S. News ranking.
A notable winner in this rankings system is Brigham Young University, which takes the 18th spot, as opposed to being tied for 41st in U.S. News. A notable loser is Washington & Lee, which falls from 26th in U.S. News to 55th in revealed preference.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How Gun Ownership Protects Citizens From An Abusive Government.
SHIPBUILDING: Huntington-Ingalls Sinks $2B Into Shipyards: Digital Plans & Computerized Welding.
The Navy’s new acquisition chief, James “Hondo” Geurts, was impressed by HII’s high tech tools during a visit to the company’s giant Newport News yard in Virginia. Newport News builds all nuclear-powered carriers and half of the Navy’s nuclear submarines. New England’s Electric Boat, owned by General Dynamics, builds the other half of each sub; the two yards ships components back and forth on huge barges.
Huntington-Ingalls’ other major yard, its namesake facility in Ingalls, Miss., builds conventionally-powered destroyers and amphibious warships — competing with General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine and NASSCO in San Diego — as well as the Coast Guard National Security Cutter, a version of which HII’s proposed as the future Navy frigate.
While HII wouldn’t give precise figures, about $850 million of investment is going into Newport News and $950 million into Ingalls.
This is a great sign, because we were never going to get to a 355-ship Navy with our current infrastructure.
AT AMAZON, Flingshot Slingshot Flying Screaming Monkey.
THE TEACHERS ARE REVOLTING.
Like most non-government workers, I’ve gone years at a time without a raise. For the same reason, I have been laid-off due to a bad economy. A pension? As if. Yet I never picketed my various employers, stopped showing up to work, or demanded that my overtaxed neighbors pony up cash.
I’m sure that teachers believe they’re underpaid; pretty much everyone thinks they’re underpaid. But they should remember that the vast majority of taxpayers also are struggling and have been for a long time. These strikes aren’t harming politicians, but kids and their parents. And the last thing an angry parent wants to do is to give more money to people making their lives miserable.
Meanwhile, all the teachers are showing up at my kids’ charter schools here in Arizona. I expect that a lot of new students will be joining them in the fall.
Time to press school choice.
UPDATE: U.S. education spending tops global list, study shows.. The system keeps demanding more resources, when what we need is a different system.
JIM GERAGHTY ON KURT EICHENWALD, JOURNALISM AND THE MEDIA MAD MEN LIST:
I’m sure you find people in all walks of life who seem a little . . . cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, but I wonder if journalism attracts more than its fair share.
I’m sure you’ve already assembled a long list of Mad Media Men in your head — from news anchors who believe 1970s typewriters could perfectly mimic the default settings of Microsoft Word, to the fabulists who told tall tales and expected to forever escape the consequences, to the ones caught in hot-microphone tirades and tantrums, to the one that suddenly blurted out claims that the Jews control the media.
Nonsense. Leading Democratic politicians have assured me that they simply control the weather.
DAVID HARSANYI: Democrats, get set to lose your ‘collusion’ delusions.
And the dream of impeachment? Well, that would probably die, as well.
Much of the case for the impeachment of Trump is tethered to the alleged illegitimacy of his election — and much of that case relies on the findings of the Mueller investigation. Judging from the reaction we’ve seen so far to the reports that Trump is merely a subject, but not a target, of the special counsel, it seems most Democrats haven’t fully prepared themselves for the eventuality that the investigation may end up vindicating Trump.
Circumstances can change, obviously, but what happens if election interference amounts to nothing more than Russian hacking, fake Facebook accounts and Twitter bots, all of which went largely ignored by the Obama administration until it became politically advantageous for Democrats to make an issue?
What will Democrats do if Michael Flynn, and others who misled investigators, did so for political and personal reasons having nothing to do with “collusion?”
If the durability of Bush Derangement Syndrome is anything to go by, I suspect not much would change.
ONE OF MANY REASONS ERIC HOLDER SHOULD NOT BE PRESIDENT: Flashback: Eric Holder defends using Justice Department airplane for 27 personal trips
SEGREGATION TODAY, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER: Students demand ‘POC-only space’ at NYC university. “A coalition of student groups is demanding that The New School establish a space reserved exclusively for students of color, accusing the ‘overtly white administration’ of ignoring their previous appeals.”
“Overtly white.” You can’t make this stuff up.
A BIG CHANGE FROM THE DISGRACED MEGAN BARRY: Carol Swain Qualifies for Nashville Special Mayoral Election Ballot. I think it’s time that Nashville had a woman of color as mayor.
CHINOOK IN A SNOWSTORM: A New York Army National Guard CH-47 in a winter exercise with “harsh conditions.”
KAROL MARKOWICZ: Jimmy Kimmel’s attack on Melania Trump is despicable and wouldn’t be tolerated for any other immigrant. I remember when comedians were actually funny, instead of just shills who said mean things on behalf of the Democrats.
LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Pruitt Public Enemy #1 and Much, Much More. “After an 8 year hiatus from scrutinizing high level political appointees, the media and progressive fronts have begun an assault on Trump’s EPA secretary.”
SEOUL’S GOAL: South Korean foreign minister affirms “a complete dismantlement of the North’s nuclear program” is the shared South Korean and American goal. South Korea and the U.S. are preparing for denuclearization talks with North Korea. The foreign minister also said there will be a “trilateral” Japan-China-South Korea summit in May “to strengthen the peace momentum.”
You can find the diplomatic background here. The article includes a 2017-2018 Trump Administration denuclearization diplomacy timeline.
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