Archive for 2019

BUFF SUNRISE: The sun rises behind a B-52H Stratofortress at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., December 12, 2018. How many of you recall the old Cold War phrase regarding the day the sun rises twice?

THE BREAKING OF THE NEVER TRUMP MIND:

The Never Trumpers say they don’t recognize a Republican Party where the core tenets are neither free trade nor foreign democracy promotion. But maybe they just didn’t know their voters by sight, because the only party that has truly departed recognition is Never Trump.

Each week brings this movement a new and bizarre position: Opposing tax cuts, supporting Obamacare; wishing North Korean talks ill, wishing Democratic investigators well; dreaming of European political meddling, pining for American political comeuppance.

Rick Santorum, the Catholic working-class firebrand rarely seen among Washington’s polite classes, had long commented that a party such as the GOP, with a donor class so out of line with its base, could not possibly continue to function.

There could not be such a massive realignment without something somewhere snapping, but despite the Never Trump hysteria, it doesn’t appear to be the party. Though the president’s House was defeated in the first post-Trump national elections and his two-year approval among Democrats lies at historic lows, his approval with his own voters—those who the Never Trumpers courted not long ago—is second only to George W. Bush after 9/11.

Read the whole thing.

“WE WILL NOT COMPLY:” ‘Gun-toting hippies’ greet Boulder ‘assault weapons’ ban with mass noncompliance.

Boulder’s newly enacted “assault weapons” ban is meeting with stiff resistance from its “gun-toting hippies,” staunch liberals who also happen to be devoted firearms owners.

Only 342 “assault weapons,” or semiautomatic rifles, were certified by Boulder police before the Dec. 31 deadline, meaning there could be thousands of residents in the scenic university town of 107,000 in violation of the sweeping gun-control ordinance.

“I would say the majority of people I’ve talked to just aren’t complying because most people see this as a registry,” said Lesley Hollywood, executive director of the Colorado Second Amendment group Rally for Our Rights. “Boulder actually has a very strong firearms community.”

The ordinance, approved by the city council unanimously, banned the possession and sale of “assault weapons,” defined as semiautomatic rifles with a pistol grip, folding stock, or ability to accept a detachable magazine. Semiautomatic pistols and shotguns are also included.

Current owners were given until the end of the year to choose one of two options: Get rid of their semiautomatics by moving them out of town, disabling them, or turning them over to police — or apply for a certificate with the Boulder Police Department, a process that includes a firearm inspection, background check and $20 fee.

Judging by the numbers, however, most Boulder firearms owners have chosen to do none of the above, albeit quietly.

“The firearms community in Boulder — they may be Democrats but they love their firearms,” said Ms. Hollywood, herself a former Boulder resident.

One longtime Boulderite who has openly refused to comply is Jon Caldara, president of the free-market Independence Institute, who writes a column for the Denver Post and hosts the public-affairs show “Devil’s Advocate” on Colorado Public Television.

“The question was, do I do this publicly or do it privately, and I’ve chosen to do it publicly because somebody has to,” Mr. Caldara said. “There will be thousands of people in Boulder living in the shadows, worried about somebody turning them in.”

I thought Democrats didn’t want people “living in the shadows.”

SHE’S REALLY ESCALATED FROM JUST DRINKING BEER ON TWITTER, APPARENTLY: Elizabeth Warren on Drugs.

REASON TV: LEAVE THE STRAND ALONE! Iconic Bookstore Owner Pleads With NYC: Don’t Landmark My Property — Nancy Bass Wyden says historic designation would compromise her ownership rights and mean dealing with bureaucrats who “do not know how to run a bookstore.”

NEW DEM LINE: ONLY WOMEN CANDIDATES ARE ASKED IF THEY’RE “LIKABLE.” James Taranto: Oh, really?

YOU KNOW, PROTECTING THE BORDERS IS ONE OF THE FEW THINGS THAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING:  Can Trump Build the Wall?