WELL, FOR ONE THING, PRESIDENTS HAVE ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY, NOT QUALIFIED IMMUNITY, AS PROVIDED IN Nixon v. Fitzgerald. In both cases, the immunity is only for civil damages, not criminal liability. But there are reasonable arguments that have been made, including by the Justice Department, for presidential immunity to criminal prosecution — and anyway, if everyone else can argue for, and sometimes get, new constitutional decisions from the Supreme Court, why should Trump be barred? He may be wrong (he probably is, but not certainly) but as usual the righteous indignation that meets a Trump claim is mostly because it’s a Trump claim, not because of its validity or lack thereof.

For the record, I oppose both qualified immunity and absolute immunity, both of which are judicial inventions without any basis in the Constitution — the latter being enjoyed by judges and prosecutors as well as the President — but that’s not the point here. And given the degradation of our political and justice systems, you can probably make a better argument today for immunity from criminal prosecution than for civil immunity.

BIGOTRY AND EXCUSES MASQUERADING AS THOUGHT: ‘People of color’ can’t be racist against whites, UW-Madison teaches law students.

THE PROCESS IS THE PUNISHMENT: The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into Arizona State University over its handling of anti-Semitic incidents, Campus Reform has learned.

WHY IS HIGHER EDUCATION SUCH A CESSPIT OF HATRED AND BIGOTRY? At UNC, Anti-Semitism Is Too Close to Call. “So, at the end of the day, the faculty of the University of North Carolina couldn’t bring itself to condemn the statement, at a UNC event, that Gaza’s massacre of Jews on October 7 was ‘a beautiful day.’ The Faculty Council voted 32-29, with six abstentions, to table the resolution condemning anti-Semitism on campus. The resolution was just too controversial for liberal college professors to get behind.”

“YOU CANNOT EAT TREES:” Scottish Farmers Protest New Green “Rewilding” Policies.

The thing is, the proponents of those policies know that you can’t eat trees.

MY LATEST NEW YORK POST COLUMN: Why I love the blue-state refugees moving to my red state.

CNN ACTUALLY RAN SOMETHING NICE ABOUT DEPLORABLES?

I seriously cannot believe CNN actually aired this!!! 👀🔥

Rep. Dean Phillips on meeting MAGA for the first time.

“I gotta tell you guys, I went to a Donald Trump rally a couple of nights ago. I’ve never been to one. I had an event across the street. I saw the line of people… pic.twitter.com/y0GfCQnKRs

— Steve 🇺🇸 (@SteveLovesAmmo) January 23, 2024

AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WOULD BE MY GUESS:

Trump will be the GOP nominee

What we don’t know yet is how much donor money is going to be wasted over the next month

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 24, 2024

SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR TOOLS OF THE REGIME: RealClearInvestigations: Leniency on Tap for Anti-Trump Leaker of Thousands of Tax Returns.

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: RealClearInvestigations: Public Education’s Alarming New 4th ‘R’: Reversal of Learning. “The alarming plunge in academic performance during the pandemic was met with a significant drop in grading and graduation standards to ease the pressure on students struggling with remote learning. The hope was that hundreds of billions of dollars of emergency federal aid would enable schools to reverse the learning loss and restore the standards. Four years later, the money is almost gone and students haven’t made up that lost academic ground, equaling more that a year of learning for disadvantaged kids. Driven by fears of a spike in dropout rates, especially among blacks and Latinos, many states and school districts are apparently leaving in place the lower standards that allow students to get good grades and graduate even though they have learned much less, particularly in math.”

It’s wrong to entrust your kids to public schools.

SO JUSTIN TRUDEAU GOES TO JAIL NOW, RIGHT? Canada’s Act of Emergency Powers to End Truckers’ Protests Was Unjustifiable, Rules Court.

SOME PARTS OF AMERICA STILL WORK:

Falcon 9 launches 22 @Starlink satellites to orbit from California pic.twitter.com/c4VQWo5Kx2

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 24, 2024

OPEN THREAD: Just one tonight, I’m not made of money here.

RICK TUMLINSON: The White House versus the private sector in space.

MY LATEST NEW YORK POST COLUMN: Why I love the blue-state refugees moving to my red state.

TRUMP WINS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. “Trump will become the first Republican to sweep competitive votes in both Iowa – where he won by a record-setting margin eight days ago – and New Hampshire since 1976, when the two states cemented their status as the first two nominating contests.”

HOW STRONG IS STRONG ENOUGH? “Keep in mind that this is part of the reason you hired a coach: to be objective. Your feelings about how hard the set was are irrelevant.”

IS THIS REAL LIFE? IS IT JUST FANTASY: Is Your Life Real?

Related thoughts here.

FROM ROBIN HANSON, thoughts on the fertility crisis.

AN EARLY LOOK AT the next Porsche Macan.

A CLASSIC CHAMBERING: First Shots: Ruger .45 ACP LC Carbine.

I THINK THE SCREEN-ENTHUSIASM HAS GONE TOO FAR: The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus has a 48-inch panoramic ‘infotainment’ screen.. “When in Park, the luxury SUV’s screen offers gaming, video streaming, and—in the future—video conferencing.”

No thanks.

IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Association found between dark chocolate consumption, reduced risk of essential hypertension.

SHE’S AMBITIOUS BUT NOT THAT BRIGHT: Fulton County DA’s Case Against Trump Just Got Really Messy. “Things are not going well for Fani. It’s all of her own doing. She has gotten caught in some very unethical and corrupt behavior, allegedly, something she probably didn’t expect to happen. . . . It’s an ugly intersection of professional malpractice and personal soap opera.”

SPACE: Contact restored with NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter.