THE JOURNOLIST LIVES: As Supreme Court positions harden on union case, likely deciding justice is silent.

This WaPo writeup by Robert Barnes repeats a refrain you’ve been seeing all week:

In an hour-long, often caustic oral argument, the justices largely echoed their stances from two years ago, when a shorthanded court split, 4 to 4, on whether it is unconstitutional to require government workers to pay a fee to unions representing them even when they choose not to join.

But the justice likely to break the tie — rookie Neil M. Gorsuch, who in his short time on the court has consistently sided with conservatives — said nothing Monday to hint at his leanings in a similar case.

What Gorsuch decides will have major implications for the future of organized labor, which has become a pillar of Democratic Party politics, and for millions of workers in the nearly half of the states that require payments from nonmembers to cover the cost of collective bargaining.

If union dues only cover the cost of collective bargaining, then where do all those political donations (almost exclusively to Democrats) come from?

And why has almost every infotainment industry story I’ve read on this case include that same bit of legerdemain? Or is to ask the question to answer it?

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Five Reasons Kimmel’s Oscars Will Go Hard Left (Again). “Word that the show’s producers will tone down the progressive lectures doesn’t pass the smell test.”

It’s also a safe bet Kimmel’s Oscar ratings will go hard south (again).

CHRIS BYRNE HAS CANCER AND NEEDS HELP: Here’s the GoFundMe page. I donated $100, and Larry Correia donated too.

PARTY OF THE COMMON MAN: Bernie Sanders’ son just announced he’s running for Congress.

FRANCE 24 INTERVIEWS A RUSSIAN MERCENARY: The short article basically repeats the video interview (which is on the web page). But the video is still worth watching.

IS THERE NOTHING IT CAN’T DO? Johnny Walker Just Solved Gender Inequality By Introducing ‘Jane Walker.’

Uber-woke third wave intersectional feminists assure me that it pairs quite well with Lady Doritos.

PATRICK POOLE AND FAKE NEWS: Egyptians Enraged After BBC Report Quickly Falls Apart.

BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: K. Michelle removes butt injections on television. “The ‘Love & Hip Hop’ star explained that although she thought she looked ‘so good,’ the pain wasn’t worth it. . . . K. Michelle received her injections about four to five years ago, and decided to undergo the reversal procedure to return to her natural curves.”

NOW UP ON SSRN: My new paper, Splitsylvania: State Secession and What to Do About It, looks at internal state secession movements (e.g., the move to separate the rural eastern counties of California into “New California”) and offers some suggestions. The introduction, I think, could be the outline of a Kurt Schlichter novel. . .

Your downloads are, as always, much appreciated.

UPDATE: From the comments: “So the solution short of revolution is for our elected representatives to show some humility and to act in a statesmanlike manner? To quote a great man: The chances of that are vanishingly small.” That is the flaw in my approach.

THE PUNCHLINES WRITE THEMSELVES: Your Tax Dollars Are Helping to Pay for a Clown College in Nancy Pelosi’s District.

HEH: The Supreme Court May Rescue Blue-State Finances.

In that 2016 case, Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association, the justices seemed set to strike down agency fees. But Scalia died and the court split 4-4. Now, with Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench, the court seems likely to deem agency fees unconstitutional. The ruling in Janus will probably come in June.

If so, big changes could be in store for the blue-state model of governance. Without the ability to charge agency fees, public unions will lose members and millions of dollars in revenue each year. Over time this will weaken their ability to fund candidates for office, lobby elected officials, and campaign for ballot measures.

What’s bad for Democrats is good for Blue States — which is the natural result of years of one-party rule.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:

Shot: Meghan McCain, Meredith Vieira to join health conference in Vatican City:

“The View” co-host Meghan McCain and former co-host Meredith Vieira are heading to Vatican City to honor their loved ones, and their fight against disease, at an international conference that will focus on hope for better and more effective health care around the world.

Leading scientists, patients, families, religious leaders, government representatives and more from across the globe will join The Cura Foundation’s Unite to Cure event to discuss the latest innovations and research that will prevent and treat disease.

At the conference, which will be held from April 26 to 28, Pope Francis is expected to receive participants.

“I’m honored to be part of this event,” McCain said on “The View” today.

Vieira attended the conference once before with her husband, Richard Cohen, saying, “It’s going to be an amazing experience … it gave Richard tremendous hope.”

—ABC News, yesterday.

Chaser: View’s Behar, Hostin Mock Pence as ‘Dangerous’ Christian With ‘Mental Illness:’

[Sunny] Hostin, who identifies as Catholic, called Pence’s Christianity “dangerous:”

When you have a Mike Pence who now puts this religious veneer on things and who calls people values voters, I think we’re this a dangerous situation. Look I’m Catholic. I’m a faithful person, but I don’t know that I want my vice president, um — speaking in tongues and having Jesus speak to him.

While Joy Behar decided to mock Pence instead, suggesting he had a “mental illness.”

“Like I said before, it’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you,” she warned.

Hostin agreed as the audience clapped. “Exactly. That’s different!” she gushed.

“That’s called mental illness, if I’m not correct. Hearing voices,” Behar quipped.

Guest host Sherri Shepherd added to the mockery, saying, “What concerns me is how long is the conversation with Jesus…anything that’s too much is concerning.”

—NewsBusters, February 13.

Want more Trump? Trashing a huge chunk of your viewers as mentally ill for being practicing Christians will get you more Trump.

HARSHING THE NARRATIVE: Schools are safer than they were in the 90s, and school shootings are not more common than they used to be, researchers say.

WORN OUT BY THE BATTLE FOR HUE: Great photo of an exhausted Marine. He’s fallen asleep on the hull of his vehicle (an Ontos). From the Vietnam War Tet Offensive commemorative photo series.

RELATED: Ontos in action.

CUTTING GUN SALES WITH A “NO GUN REGISTRY:”

Their idea was originally aimed at reducing gun suicides. This is no small problem. The number of deaths from mass shootings each year, while horrific, is dwarfed by the 21,000 people who take their own lives annually using guns. But the authors’ suggestion might also be useful in reducing mass shootings — and without provoking arguments over the scope of the right to bear arms (more on that in a later column).

At the heart of the proposal by Ayres and Vars is an elegant yet simple device. The state establishes a “No Gun” registry. Joining is entirely voluntary, but upon adding my name, I give up my right to purchase a firearm. Not forever. Not for some set period of time. The waiver is in effect only until I change my mind, which I am free to do whenever I like.

I read their manuscript last year, and it’s an interesting analogy to the voluntary casino-exclusion lists for people with gambling problems. But the problem here is, who, in this toxic political environment, would trust this sort of list not to be abused?

When your institutions are politicized and untrustworthy, it takes options off the table. I’m pretty sure this is one of those.

THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP:

TACKLING THE DEEP STATE: I was honored to speak at a panel at CPAC last week entitled, “New Sheriff in Town: How Trump is Taking Down Lawless Government Agencies.” There’s a nice write-up of the panel at LifeZette.

UPDATE: No evidence of foul play in mysterious case of CDC employee missing for 2 weeks.

But no evidence of where he might be, either.

UNEXPECTEDLY: “We Don’t Belong Here Anymore” — Even Landlords Are Fleeing The Bay Area.

SPENGLER: A tidal wave of refugees is coming.

Africa can’t absorb its rapidly growing population. The World Bank estimated in 2014 that between 993 to 2008 the average per capita income of sub-Saharan African economies barely budged—it increased from $742 to$762 per year (measured in 2005 purchasing-power parity-adjusted dollars). Africa retains the fertility behavior of pre-industrial society, with an average of five children per female, but lacks the infrastructure, education, and governance to absorb them into economic life. 64% of sub-Saharan Africans live on $1.90 per day or less.

The problems of sub-Saharan Africa (as well as Pakistan and other troubled countries) are physically too large for the West to remedy: The sheer numbers of people in distress soon will exceed the total population of the industrial world. That means that there is a point in time at which the most devout pussy-hat wearing, virtue-signaling, politically correct liberal will pretend not to notice millions of starving children dying before his eyes.

Read the whole thing.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Growing FL initiative lets college staffers carry on campus.

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LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Fix NICS Lies, Broward Cowards and Much, Much More. “The anti-gun Democrats are not interested in making meaningful change, only in grandstanding.”