TODAY’S DEMOCRATS ARE RIFE WITH ANTISEMITISM: “Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) wrote in 2006 an op-ed for the Final Call, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s publication known for espousing anti-Semitism.”
And to think, both congresswomen are NBC approved: “’We Love Them!’ Barf: ‘SNL’ Promotes Liberal Democrat Women as Heroic Crime Fighters!”
LAYERS OF FACT CHECKERS, PART DEUX: “Professional political reporter” Marianna Sotomayor swings and misses:
Not only did 2016 see Hillary and Jill Stein and Carly Fiorina in the race, but in 1972 both Patsy Mink and Shirley Chisholm were declared candidates for the Democratic nomination. Ben Rhodes was right about the political reporters in DC: they don’t know anything. It’s a shame researching something like this is soooo difficult.
SUPER BONUS: Although her error has been pointed out dozens of times on her twitter feed, NBC *still* has refused to correct.
SPENGLER: Germany Struggles to Regain a National Identity, with Mixed Results. “My advice to Germans: stop obsessing about the past.”
JIM MEIGS: The Nuclear Option: As atomic power fades, a new band of supporters argues that it is still our best source of clean, reliable, and—yes—safe electricity. You can’t seriously claim concern with greenhouse emissions and also oppose nuclear power.
TRUMP’S POPULARITY ABROAD: Higher than you might think from following the news.
RUN ALL THE CANDIDATES: Rep. Seth Moulton Is Thinking About Running For President.
TODAY IS THE 172nd ANNIVERSARY OF THOMAS EDISON’S BIRTH: President Reagan issued a proclamation in 1983 making Edison’s birthday Inventors’ Day and urging that it be celebrated with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
I would celebrate by thinking happy thoughts about Edison while purchasing light bulbs on Amazon. But, alas, here in California, buying light bulbs over the internet is a very unpleasant chore. When I try to check out I find the light bulbs I chose are forbidden to residents of the Golden State.
PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Prof calls out UNC for ‘indoctrinating,’ implementing ‘likely’ unconstitutional mandate. “One of their reasons for having students live on campus, what they’re calling a strong point of living on campus, is that they can teach about power, privilege, and oppression in society at large, which to me says, ‘we are indoctrinating our students and we recognize it’.”
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LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Jews Are Buying Off Lawmakers and Much, Much More. “There is some serious rich, liberal Jewish coin funding the left and there is a fine line the anti-Semitics in the Democrat party have to walk. They need to signal just enough Jew-hating to keep their Jew-hating base/membership happy, but not too much where it frightens Jewish checkbooks that we Jews (yes, I am Jewish) are headed for the ovens again. Use your indoor voice for your anti-Semitism, not your outdoor voice. Rep. Omar is the Democrat’s outdoor voice.”
And it’s getting louder.
LISA DE PASQUALE: Why The Anti-Men ‘Galentine’s Day’ Is Nothing To Celebrate.
THIS MORNING’S NON-SHOCKER: John Roberts Let Politics Sway His Obamacare Ruling.
A forthcoming book by reporter Joan Biskupic, who has covered the Supreme Court for decades, goes into detail on Roberts’ first defense of the health-care law—his ruling in the 2012 case of Nation Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius. In a book review for The Atlantic, Michael O’Donnell includes the following precis of Biskupic’s reporting:
She writes that he initially voted with the four other conservatives to strike down the ACA, on the grounds that it went beyond Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. Likewise, he initially voted to uphold the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid. But Roberts, who kept the opinion for himself to write, soon developed second thoughts.
Biskupic, who interviewed many of the justices for this book, including her subject, writes that Roberts said he felt ‘torn between his heart and his head.’ He harbored strong views on the limitations of congressional power, but hesitated to interject the Court into the ongoing health-insurance crisis. After trying unsuccessfully to find a middle way with Kennedy, who was ‘unusually firm’ and even ‘put off’ by the courtship, Roberts turned to the Court’s two moderate liberals, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. The threesome negotiated a compromise decision that upheld the ACA’s individual mandate under Congress’s taxing power, while striking down the Medicaid expansion.
On the day of the ruling in June 2012, Chris Cillizza, then writing for The Washington Post, claimed that Roberts’ opinion “made good on his pledge to referee the game, not play it.” But the story Biskupic tells, which confirms prior reporting by Jan Crawford published shortly after the ruling, contradicts Cillizza’s view entirely. Roberts’ entire approach to the case consisted of playing games—and highly political ones at that.
The tenor of the passage reinforces how Roberts abandoned his stated principles in NFIB.
Shameful.
SALENA ZITO: A surprise virtual visit from the President.
No president has ever visited here before. So, it was a pretty big deal when 14 local high-school students had President Trump in their classroom, talking to them Wednesday, all thanks to a Skype video call that Sen. Joe Manchin was having with a civics class.
Brennan Williams is still grinning ear to ear a few days after the experience. “Well, I mean, I’ve never talked to somebody that important before, and it was just crazy,” he said of initially talking to Manchin.
“Then, the president of the United States calls the senator and then decides he wants to talk to us, well, that was even crazier. I just couldn’t stop smiling; I still can’t,” the 18-year-old senior said.
His classmate Parker Stout, 18, said it was an honor he will never forget. “We prepared for our Skype call with Sen. Manchin by watching the State of the Union Address Tuesday night. What we never expected was that that would include talking to the president,” Stout said.
Manchin said the once-in-a-lifetime event occurred Wednesday afternoon during a Skype video call that Webster County High School principal Stacey Cutlip organized with the senator’s office to discuss issues that came up during the State of the Union address, as well as other topics.
“They wanted to talk about the environment, they want to talk about coal, the jobs possibilities, what’s going to happen. And they want to talk about guns, as you know that’s usually a big thing. But now the front-burner was about the shutdown, how we’re going to handle it and border security,” Manchin explained in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
“So, we were talking about all those things, and we were 20 minutes or so into our conversation, and I see on my cellphone “Unknown” pops up. Well I know the way it pops up, it’s either going to be someone from Schumer’s office or McConnell’s office calling about something,” he explains.
“Or maybe the White House. You never know,” he says.
Turns out it was the White House, specifically President Trump’s assistant on the other line.
“So, I pick up the phone and his assistant Madeline says, ‘The president wants to talk to you, Joe.’ And I said, ‘OK, Madeline. I’m on a call. Let me just tell these kids I’m gonna put them on hold for a little bit. Just a second, I won’t tell them anything,’” Manchin explained.
He tells the kids he needs to put them on pause for a few minutes and from their vantage point, Stout and Williams explained all they saw was a black screen. A few moments later, Manchin comes back and tells the students he has “a little surprise for you.”
Manchin put the phone on speaker, and the president starts to chat with the kids.
Odds on Manchin switching parties just went up a bit.
TODAY’S DEMOCRATS ARE RIFE WITH ANTISEMITISM: Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar accused of sending ‘anti-Semitic’ tweets.
Related: Ilhan Omar retweets, deletes post accusing her of anti-Semitism.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Progressives Bearing Gifts.
HMM: To Hell and Back: Brexit Undaunted By Europe’s Jibes.
If any proof were needed of the EU’s mendacity, sufficient evidence is manifested in the manner in which it has treated a member country that simply wants to exit on amicable terms. Nowhere has the mandarin class demonstrated the virtue of charity in their relations with Britain’s hapless prime minister, Theresa May, and certainly not toward Brexiteers.
Mr. Tusk may believe the simple desire for independence an act worthy of the EU’s wrath. If so, as most sins, it’s a popular failing that grows by example. A recent poll in France disclosed that 40% are favorable toward a Frexit of their own.
For Britons, though, Brexit is less an act of sin than an exercise in redemption, their chance to set the record right and begin afresh. They believe, as American revolutionary Thomas Paine wrote, “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”
Brexiteers’ aim of regaining independence exemplifies the virtue of justice. Self-government, personal responsibility, and voluntary relations among the nations of the world. The European Union typifies the reverse.
Read the whole thing.
LEFTISTS, MOSTLY: Who’s afraid of Neomi Rao? “At a time when Democratic politicians are facing serious allegations of sexual assault and wearing racially intimidating costumes, the left is focused on taking down would-be federal judge Neomi Rao.”
Well, that’s understandable. Nobody wants to focus on their own serious failings.
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