NEWS FROM THE INCREASINGLY OBVIOUSLY CORRUPT WORLD OF HIGHER EDUCATION: Wallace Hall, University of Texas Admissions Whistleblower, Receives Apology.

In response to the recent nationwide college admissions scandal, the Student Government of the University of Texas–Austin has proposed an apology to Wallace Hall—a former member of the University of Texas System’s Board of Regents. Mr. Hall was an early whistleblower concerning admissions corruption in 2011, and faced harsh criticism for requesting application documents to investigate. Some attempted to argue (oddly) that he was overstepping his role as a trustee, and a controversial impeachment process against him began. Impeachment attempts were not successful, and Mr. Hall’s claims were validated in 2015 when an investigation found widespread admissions corruption.

Now, in light of the college admissions scandal that has swept the nation, students want to right the wrongs done to Mr. Hall. It is refreshing to see students take a moral stand and exhibit such leadership. The Student Government’s statement noted that Mr. Hall was “one of the few University administrators genuinely acting on behalf of students and fairness in admissions.” Trustees should always govern with student interests in mind and should not be discouraged from assuming an active role in the university. Now the University of Texas should do the honorable thing and add its own apology to Mr. Hall.

Yes, it should.

KIMBERLEY STRASSEL: Barr Brings Accountability: Trump’s foes call it ‘stunning and scary.’ Here’s what they have to be scared about.

The most inadvertently honest reaction to Attorney General William Barr’s congressional testimony this week came from former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Mr. Barr had bluntly called out the Federal Bureau of Investigation for “spying” on the Trump campaign in 2016. Mr. Clapper said that was both “stunning and scary.” Indeed.

No doubt a lot of former Obama administration and Hillary Clinton campaign officials, opposition guns for hire, and media members are stunned and scared that the Justice Department finally has a leader willing to address the FBI’s behavior in 2016. They worked very hard to make sure such an accounting never happened. Only in that context can we understand the frantic new Democratic-media campaign to tar the attorney general. . . .

Mr. Comey testified that the Trump probe was simply too sensitive for members of congressional intelligence committees to know about—an unbelievable statement given the heavy publicity he gave the investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s improper handling of classified information. Here’s a more plausible explanation: Mr. Comey and his crew have also testified that they were all convinced Mrs. Clinton would win the election. That would have meant that no politician other than the incoming Democratic president would have known the FBI had spied on the Trump team. Nor would the public. A Clinton presidency would have ensured no accountability.

Mr. Trump’s victory destroyed that scenario, and it became clear that the new Republican president would soon know that the former Democratic administration had surveilled his campaign on the basis of information from his rival. At that point two things happened. Neither was accidental, and both were aimed, again, at forestalling accountability.

First, Mr. Comey and other intelligence officials, including Mr. Clapper, engineered the public release of all the scandalous claims against Mr. Trump, to provide some cover. As liberal commentator Matt Taibbi notes in his new book, “Hate Inc.” Mr. Comey’s Jan. 6, 2017, briefing of the president-elect about the dossier was a classic Washington “trick.” It served as the “pretext” to get the details out, a “news hook” to allow the press to publish the dossier—with its salacious fictions about prostitutes and Moscow hotel rooms—and go wild.

Democrats used the furor in their successful push for a special counsel, which gave greater legitimacy to the FBI’s probe. The appointment of a special counsel also froze other oversight. Congress can’t have access to certain documents or ask witnesses certain questions, since that might interfere with the probe. The White House can’t demand answers, because that too would interfere. Mr. Trump’s adversaries got to hide behind Robert Mueller for nearly two years.

Flashback, March 2017: “Hypothesis: The spying-on-Trump thing is worse than we even imagine, and once it was clear Hillary had lost and it would inevitably come out, the Trump/Russia collusion talking point was created as a distraction.”

IF YOU LIKE YOUR PLAN, SO WHAT? New ‘Medicare for All’ Bill Would Kick 181 Million Off Private Insurance.

Plus:

Under Section 303 of the new Senate bill, private contracts between doctors and patients would be discouraged. Doctors who choose to take private payment from patients outside the system would face a stiff penalty.

Under Section 303, the physician would have to sign an affidavit that he engaged in such a contract, submit it to the secretary of health and human services, and then forego all reimbursement from all other patients enrolled in the new federal entitlement for a period of one year. Few doctors, of course, would be able to do such a thing.

This is essentially the same policy embodied in the previous version of the Sanders legislation, and an even more restrictive version is embodied in the House bill (H.R. 1384).

This, along with the abolition of all insurance alternatives, would come as a striking restriction on patients’ personal liberty.

That’s a feature, not a bug.

YES. THINK OF THE CHILDREN! Scientists Recommend Reducing The Number Of Democratic Presidential Candidates To Help Fight Climate Change.

SO MUCH FAKE NEWS, SO LITTLE REPORTING: From ‘no crisis’ to ‘breaking point’: Mainstream media changes its tune on border crisis amid illegal immigration surge.

CHANGE: Israeli Millennials, Tilting Right, Helped Elect Netanyahu.

Like most Israeli millennials, Tal Shushan is a proud right-wing voter.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been Israeli prime minister for more than half Ms. Shushan’s 23 years. During that time, the country feels more secure than ever, she says.

“He knows how to defend his country,” said Ms. Shushan, who recently left the military and voted for Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party Tuesday.

Israel’s young people have helped move the country right during the past decade, supporting Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud and smaller parties that help him form governing majorities. It is likely to be a lasting shift because of the rising ultra-Orthodox population, which tends to vote for religious parties that align with Likud in governments.

Born close to or after the 1993 Oslo peace accords between the Israelis and Palestinians, and coming of age during a wave of violence known as the second Palestinian intifada, Israel’s millennials take a harder line on security and peace than older generations.

“The hope or yearning for peace is foreign to them,” said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank in Jerusalem.

Do not yearn for “peace.” Work for victory.

BUT OF COURSE: YouTube Hides PragerU Video of Candace Owens’ Testimony in ‘Restricted Mode.’

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: California Has Become America’s Cannibal State.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Are More Indictments of Obama Officials Coming?

BUT OF COURSE: Internet Censorship Is Only for the Little People, French Edition: Censorship continues to be about empowering those in charge.

WHEN SPYING COULD BE CALLED SPYING: “The F.B.I.’s surveillance of [John] Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law enforcement purpose.” The answer, of course, is when it’s done under a Republican administration.

ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE: Facebook and Twitter Reps Squirm, Refuse to Say Whether Mother Teresa Quote Is ‘Hate Speech.’

THIS IS CNN: OK, We Admit That Obama Separated Families At The Border. But…

Liberal Monday: “We need sanctuary laws to ensure that immigrants can contribute to our gorgeous mosaic.”
Liberal Tuesday: NOT IN MY BACK YARD!

SO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE A PUNISHMENT YOU SAY, USA TODAY? Report: White House wanted to release immigrants into sanctuary cities to punish Democrats.

LIFE IN OBAMA’S HOME TOWN: No One Had a Problem Watching a Man Get Beaten Up Until He Pulled Out His Gun.

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt as after the pistol was drawn, the incident deescalated. The young men seemingly moved off, no longer interested in assaulting the older man.

Two things we can take from this…

For one, a good guy with a gun absolutely does see to it that violence is stopped. According to CWB Chicago, the man is not affiliated with a police department and appears to just be an armed citizen. The two young men seem to have little problem doing violence to the older man until the weapon is drawn and suddenly there was peace.

The second, however, is that though the firearm stopped the fight, it would appear that this is where people decided the situation was disagreeable. This is a problem. If the man was aided against the two men then perhaps the gun wouldn’t have had to come out. Sadly, no one did. He was forced to rely on the firearm.

Society seems to have less of a problem watching someone get beaten up than watching the would-be victim defend himself with the best means possible.

Well, some parts of society, anyway.

“THIS IS PROPER STUDIO ETIQUETTE: ‘THANK YOU.'” Studio Etiquette: Everything Your Engineer Wants You To Know But Is Afraid To Say.

I doubt many of you will get the reference. But I may be wrong.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: We Will Never Fix Campus Indoctrination Until We Cut College Subsidies.

INSTAPUNDIT IS A SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP. I, Glenn Reynolds, am its sole legal representative.

UPDATE: This is for the folks at Twitter.

THIS TWITTER “INSTAPUNDIT” ACCOUNT IS AN IMPOSTOR: The first letter is actually a lower case l rather than an uppercase i.

FLASHBACK: Don’t Fear The Leaker.

OPEN THREAD: Just be yourself. Humming along with Morcheeba is optional.

#JOURNALISM: Boston Globe Publishes, Then Edits Op-Ed Encouraging Waiters To ‘Tamper With’ Trump Official’s Food.

Howie Carr piles on: Globe’s Phony Sanctimony Sounds A Bit Fishy.

THIS IS THE VERY BEST TIMELINE: They Started a Ned Flanders Metal Band. Then ‘The Simpsons’ Called.

What started as a joke between friends four years ago has now become official Simpsons lore (and maybe even canon, a la Armin Tamzarian). Just hours after the episode aired, Okilly Dokilly shared the news with a sold out crowd at their Chicago show, and the morning after, the band’s frontman, who goes by the stage name Head Ned, says he’s still in shock.

“I’m very much in disbelief. It’s like this is just a strange alternate universe and I’m gonna wake up the next day and it’s just like, ‘No, you didn’t start the Ned Flanders band, you still work in accounting,’” Head Ned tells Rolling Stone. “And I’ll be like, ‘Well alright, at least my imagination knows how to have a good time.’”

The idea for Okilly Dokilly came from a conversation between Head Ned and the group’s original drummer, Bled Ned, who were trying to imagine the most ill-fitting name for a death metal band. After hitting upon Okilly Dokilly, the duo continued to spin the joke out: What if the frontman was dressed like Ned Flanders, what if everyone dressed like Ned Flanders, what if it was a “Nedal band” not a “metal band,” what if all the lyrics were Flanders quotes. The dream began to materialize when Head Ned realized they not only had access to a pink Flying V guitar, but his job at a clothing company allowed him to buy green sweaters in bulk.

Video (not bad) at the link.

YEAH, PRETTY MUCH: Dems worry: Does the fact that white men top our presidential polls and fundraising mean we’re hypocrites?