CNN SAYS INTERIOR SECRETARY RYAN ZINKE TOLD EMPLOYEES DIVERSITY ISN’T IMPORTANT: He denies that he said anything like that. But Peter Kirsanow isn’t sure Zinke should be quite so defensive. Quoth Kirsanow (tongue in cheek* and certainly not in his capacity as a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights): “Speaking as a black male, I often find myself in arguments with Hispanic women about wetlands policy.”

*It is a sad commentary on our times that I needed to point out this was tongue in cheek.

THE ORIGINAL RESEARCH MADE ME FEEL SICK: Megan McArdle helps expose Liz Warren’s highly influential “research” on bankruptcies as highly flawed. No, it is not true, nor has it ever been true, that most bankruptcies are the result of medical bills. Yet those findings helped drive policy for years. More details here.

I HOPE IT’S TRUE: Paul Sperry reports that the Dept. of Education will withdraw the ghastly Obama-Era Dear Colleague Letter on school discipline this summer. Good. It has caused nothing but trouble and misstates the law to boot.

HOME ALONE: John Fund on the Trump Administration’s failure to fill open positions:

Compared with President Bill Clinton’s administration at a similar point in his presidency, Trump’s personnel office has fewer than a fourth the number of staffers to process paperwork and interview applicants. Several of the offices at the personnel department are empty most of the day. This lack of resources reflects a lack of understanding in Trump and others that you can’t have a political revolution by waiting for the perfect nominee or by using players from the other team.

President Trump doesn’t see the urgency of this. He told Forbes magazine last October: “I’m generally not going to make a lot of the appointments that would normally be — because you don’t need them,” he said. “I mean, you look at some of these agencies, how massive they are, and it’s totally unnecessary. They have hundreds of thousands of people.”

Oh dear.

JUST HOW BAD ARE IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES? MAYBE NOT SO TERRIBLE: If the allegations of sexual abuse, pepper spraying, and racial slurs made in connection with this lawsuit on behalf of Somali and other African detainees are true, the responsible parties obviously need to be punished.  The allegations are serious.

But I have to say that when I toured the Karnes immigration detention center a few years ago for the Commission on Civil Rights, it was … well … pretty nice—decorated with pictures of rainbows, SpongeBob SquarePants, etc.  Even the members of the Commission’s Progressive Caucus seemed surprised. The Port Isabel facility that we toured the next day was not as attractive. Still, the detainees seemed satisfied with their treatment. One told us (in Spanish) that if they let him out on Sundays, he wouldn’t mind staying indefinitely. I couldn’t help but like the guy. Unlike my current gentleman friend, he’d probably be willing to eat my pot roast without complaining.

Unfortunately, long before the Commission began taking evidence for its report, it had committed itself to the conclusion that these facilities were hellholes. As I hope I demonstrated in my 56-page dissent, the allegations that made it into the report were based mainly on feverish hearsay-upon-hearsay, much of it provably false. They weren’t based on anything we actually saw.

UNREQUITED LOVE:  Libertarians love free immigration, but immigrants don’t love libertarianism.

THIS WEEK IN CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY: At the Mount Vernon Conference (March 21-28, 1785), George Washington hosted delegates from Virginia and Maryland to reach an agreement on developing the Potomac River.   It set a precedent for states acting together outside the framework of the Continental Congress. It also caused delegates to think seriously about the advantages of a stronger national government. Two years later, some of the same individuals met in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention.

HAPPY 104^TH BIRTHDAY, NORMAN BORLAUG: If you don’t know who Norman Borlaug was, it’s high time you learned. His claim to fame: Saving over a billion people from starvation. Yes, that’s a “b” for “billion,” but even if it were an “m” for “million,” it would be a staggering achievement. When others are teaching their children and grandchildren to act like a ruthless killer (“Be like Che”), teach yours to “Be like Norman.”   Make his memory eternal.

DOD REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON MILITARY SERVICE BY TRANSGENDER PERSONS:  An interesting read.  I doubt many who are talking about it in the media have read it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY HOUDINI:  I wish he could get us out of the budget deal.

VOTER FRAUD IS A MYTH: THE GUYS AT THE CHICAGO BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS TOLD US SO: Last week the Chairman of the Illinois Advisory Committee to the Civil Rights Commission presented his committee’s report to the Commission. The following transpired at the end:

Commissioner Kirsanow: Thanks very much for your presentation, it was very informative. …. I think you said that you didn’t find any evidence of voter fraud in Illinois?

State Chairman: That is correct …

Commissioner Kirsanow: And how did you make that determination?

State Chairman: … [W]e had government officials including those with Cook County Clerk’s Office, which administers voting, and those with the Chicago Board of Elections. [Muffled but audible gasp in the room]. …

Commissioner Kirsanow: Oh, well, thank you. It may in the future, if you look at this again, be a good idea to look at some media reports … that cite a number of individuals who’ve been convicted of voter fraud including Mahmoud Vakili, an Iranian citizen who was convicted and sentenced to prison for voting while he was not eligible to vote, Steveland Kidd who CBS says was sentenced for voting fraudulently pursuant to absentee ballot, Brian McDouglar two years in prison for falsified absentee ballot, Audrey Cook, Augustus Stacker, Pamela Brant, Monica LaPlant. Sometimes the media has information that maybe Cook County doesn’t.

Peter Kirsanow is a gem.

SHE’S RIGHT, YOU KNOW: University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax notes that the problem of low academic performance by affirmative action beneficiaries won’t go away just because student grades are shrouded in secrecy:

The mindset that values openness understands that the truth can be inconvenient and uncomfortable, doesn’t always respect our wishes, and sometimes hurts. Good feelings and reality don’t always mix. But there is a price to be paid for putting the quest for psychological comfort over openness on matters central to how our society is organized.

Alas, Wax’s article, entitled The University of Denial, is itself shrouded in semi-secrecy behind the WSJ paywall. For more easily accessed data on the issue, try A “Dubious Expediency”: How Race-Preferential Admissions Policies on Campus Hurt Minority Students. Or spend a few dollars for Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help and Why Universities Won’t Admit It.

MARK TWAIN WAS RIGHT: HISTORY DOESN’T REPEAT ITSELF, BUT OFTEN IT RHYMES: The Texas teen who made up an elaborate tale that she was kidnapped and raped by three black men will (unfortunately) not be jailed. It’s hard not to be reminded of the notorious case of the Scottsboro Boys when reading her story. Weird fact: She is from the town of Pottsboro.

MILLENNIALS CAN’T CATCH AN EVEN BREAK:  Employers who recruit on campus may be violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.