HE ISN’T WELL-BEHAVED ENOUGH TO DESERVE ONE: White House doubles down on decision to pull press pass from CNN’s Acosta.
Archive for 2018
November 8, 2018
JIM TREACHER ON the Angry Leftist Mob That Targeted Tucker Carlson’s Home. “‘Anti-fascist’ now means ‘extra-fascist.'” Law enforcement needs to come down on these organized campaigns of violent intimidation.
THIS IS NO TIME TO GO WOBBLY: McConnell Discussing Areas of Bipartisan Agreement with Pelosi.
FEDERAL COURT RULES AGAINST MARYLAND GERRYMANDERING GOP VOTERS INTO OBLIVION: It got lost in the election news this week, but Walter Olson points it out in a tweet late yesterday. The Federal District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that when Maryland’s Democratic establishment redrew congressional districts in 2011, they:
• “The state specifically targeted voters in the sixth congressional district who were registered as Republicans and who had historically voted for Republican candidates.
• “The state specifically intended to diminish the value of those targeted citizens’ votes by removing a substantial number of them from the sixth district and replacing them with Democratic voters for the purpose of denying, as a practical matter, the targeted voters the opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice.
• “The state gave effect to its intent by, on net, removing about 66,000 Republican voters from the sixth district and adding 24,000 Democratic voters in their place.
• “The state meaningfully burdened the targeted Republican voters’ representational rights by substantially diminishing their ability to elect their candidate of choice.
• “The state also burdened the Republican voters’ right of association, as demonstrated by voter confusion, diminished participation in Republican organizational efforts in the sixth district, and diminished Republican participation in voting, as well as decreased Republican fundraising.
• “These injuries were the direct result of the state’s purpose to convert the sixth district from a solid Republican district to a Democratic district.”
As a result, the court ordered Maryland officials “promptly to adopt a new plan in conformance with this Memorandum Opinion for use in the 2020 congressional elections.”
I live in this district, so this decision is great news, especially because the 2011 gerrymandering resulted in my part of Maryland being “represented” by the insufferable radical left-winger, Rep. Jaime Raskin.(Correction: Make that “the insufferable Democratic Rep.-elect David Trone,” replacing Rep. John Delaney, who, for reasons understood only by him, is preparing to run for president in 2020).
Now the focus is on Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. The Democrat-dominated legislature will have to get the new plan past him. There are a bunch of us in Maryland who will be watching him very carefully on this issue.
SPOILER: THE BIRDS DON’T CARE. Woman Launches ‘Feminist Bird Club’ to Promote ‘Intersectionality’ in Bird-Watching.
IF YOU STILL HAVEN’T EXPLAINED TUESDAY’S RESULTS TO YOUR KIDS: “Uncle Strickland” at the Washington Free Beacon has it all laid out for you. Here’s a sample:
“I’m certainly no stranger when it comes to discussing politics with children. My nephews, Brayden and Attechus, are a pair of pompous, pampered hipsters who embody everything wrong with their generation — lazy cynics masquerading as intellectuals who trust Amazon to pack their orders of neckbeard oil and ironic tank tops, but don’t trust Arby’s to pack a sandwich full of succulent, slow-roasted American beef. I’ve had to set them straight a time or two at holiday gatherings. But when it comes to my own offspring, and other patriotic children, the conversations aren’t always so much fun.”
CORN, POPPED: Democrats are sounding every alarm now that Trump has forced Jeff Sessions to resign.
Several prominent Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who serves as ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, have raised concerns that Sessions’ departure could throw a wrench in the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“The firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions places the Special Counsel’s investigation in new and immediate peril,” Schiff said in a statement.
“It is abundantly clear that Sessions was forced out for following the advice of ethics lawyers at the Department of Justice and recusing himself from the Russia probe, and for failing to bring about an end to an investigation that has produced multiple indictments and convictions and may implicate the President or others around him,” Schiff said.
Democrats have major concerns regarding the newly appointed Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who has previously lashed out at Mueller and the Russia probe at large.
I’m still waiting for any sign of smoke, much less fire.
LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Venezuela’s consumer prices rose 833,997 percent in past 12 months.
“The figure is still scandalously high,” opposition lawmaker Angel Alvarado said. The legislature has become the only source for economic indicators after the central bank stopped publishing such information nearly three years ago as the economy unraveled amid a collapse in crude oil prices.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro in August slashed five zeroes off the ailing bolivar currency and boosted the minimum wage thirty-fold in an effort to stabilize inflation, which has eroded purchasing power and contributed to an exodus that has seen 2 million Venezuelans migrate since 2015.
Plus: “The IMF expects hyperinflation to reach 10 million percent in 2019.”
Zeros remain in abundance, comrades.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, “ETHICS” EDITION: UGA ETHICS employee caught taking GOP signs. “Melissa Link, who is also a local commissioner, encouraged others on her Facebook page to ‘rip’ up signs as well.” Her photo is exactly as you would expect.
HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE: War and Ebola in eastern Congo are a dangerous combination. My latest Creators Syndicate column.
F-16 FALCON TESTING NORWEGIAN JOINT STRIKE MISSILE: The F-16 in the photo is preparing to fire a developmental test version of Norway’s Joint Strike Missile (JSM). The test was conducted at the Utah Test and Training Range.
ATTENTION SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS: On Tuesday evening, November 13th, Powerline’s Steven F. Hayward is coming to the University of San Diego to deliver the annual Bowes Lecture. His topic: Justice Without Hyphens: The Eroding Foundations of Law. Yes, the University of San Diego has an annual lecture by a conservative thinker. (Thank you, Mrs. Bowes!) Reserve your tickets now.
MICHAEL GOODWIN ON JIM ACOSTA: This isn’t journalism, it is narcissism.
This killer quote in context:
The conduct of a handful of so-called reporters during President Trump’s news conference was disgraceful beyond measure. This is not journalism, this is narcissism.
Naturally, the boorish Jim Acosta of CNN was the instigator. As is his habit, Acosta doesn’t ask questions — he makes accusations and argues. Almost daily, he does it with the press secretary; Wednesday, he did it with the president.
“I want to challenge you,” Acosta began after Trump called on him. Trump realized he’d made a mistake, murmuring, “Here we go,” and Acosta didn’t disappoint.
He insisted that despite the president’s use of the word “invasion,” the caravan of Central American migrants “is not an invasion.”
He adopted a lecturing, I-know-best tone to declare that “they’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away; that’s not an invasion.”
Trump’s response should not have been necessary: “Honestly, I think you should let me run the country, you run CNN.”
Read the whole thing.
MONICA SHOWALTER: Biggest loser at midterms? Barack Obama.
Then there were the midterm campaigns that weren’t gimmes, some very high profile, and high media-exposure ones: Joe Donnelly of Indiana for Senate. Bill Nelson of Florida for Senate. Andrew Gillum of Florida for governor. Stacey Abrams of Georgia for governor.
Those were the ones Obama went hoarse campaigning for, yelling and waving his arms, voice cracking, speeches described as fiery, telling voters to vote for these guys or die. With Gillum in particular, racial appeals were a factor and Obama’s presence was supposed to help. Gillum had a big media buildup about being a first black governor of Florida as an argument to draw votes, and he later cried racism to fend off corruption allegations. Adding Obama to campaign was obviously part of the appeal. This time, the race-politics identity card simply failed.
And Obama? What did he get? Zilch. Zip. Zero. Nada. The voters rather noticibly rejected the ex-president’s appeal for votes. Been there, done that.
He’s the bride at every funeral and the corpse at every wedding.
FAMILY AFFAIR: Paul Bedard: Secret weapons Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Lara delivered Senate win. “Republican Party officials are crediting President Trump’s 53 rallies across 24 states for building its lead in the U.S. Senate, but are also giving a nod to the non-stop campaigning of his family — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric and Lara Trump.”
Related: Oprah, Rihanna fail to deliver black governors in Fla., Ga.
TOM SHATTUCK: Trump fends off being Acosta’d by the media. “It was obvious that Acosta was not there for an answer. He was there to call the president a hateful racist and to argue. When a White House staffer tried to take away the microphone he resisted.”
MARK PULLIAM: The “Pro Bono” Hoax: Part II. “The self-serving ‘pro bono’ label thus serves a dual purpose: Within Big Law, it promotes the feel-good virtue-signaling that allows legal elites to reap huge profits while falsely posing as Atticus Finch, and externally it obscures the nature, extent, and consequences of the highly-ideological campaign being waged by the legal establishment. The pro bono banner is calculated to deceive, even as it exemplifies the legal profession’s vanity and arrogance.”