WHATEVER: Dem. Rep. Al Green Blames Trump for Ralph Northam Scandal, Urges Impeachment. “Va. Gov.’s refusal to resign is a symptom of Trump’s bigotry, Congressman says.”
When Republicans do something dumb, it’s because Republicans are evil. When Democrats do something dumb, it’s because Republicans are evil.
I BLAME THE DEMOCRATS’ CULTURE OF HATE: Dozens of bullet holes found in Ohio synagogue.
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS: U.S. destroyers sail in disputed South China Sea amid trade tensions.
CONFIRMED: Washington Post ranking editors quashed VA Lt. Governor Fairfax sexual assault story.
Democracy dies in darkness, but Democrats die in sunlight, apparently.
YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BLOG: Democratic Presidential Clown Car Update.
SEEN ON FACEBOOK:
OH: Impeachment Push for Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Slows Down. “Lawmaker who had vowed to launch proceedings says he isn’t ready to start that process in the House of Delegates.”
“There has been an enormous amount of sincere and thoughtful feedback which has led to additional conversations that need to take place before anything is filed,” Delegate Patrick Hope, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter early Monday morning.
Democratic legislators in Virginia circulated Sunday afternoon a draft resolution to start impeachment proceedings against Mr. Fairfax.
Mr. Fairfax, the 39-year-old Democrat and former federal prosecutor, has denied the two allegations of sexual assault against him, one from 2000 and the other from 2004. He called over the weekend for a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe. He said encounters with both of his accusers were consensual.
“The Lt. Governor is aggressively exploring options for a thorough, independent, and impartial investigation of these allegations. We hope, for example, that the FBI will show a willingness to investigate,” a spokeswoman for Mr. Fairfax said Sunday. “He believes that an inherently political process is not the most likely path for learning the truth.”
If you’re wondering why Hope is backing down, Liz Sheld has that for you.
HEINLEIN’S CRAZY YEARS (CONT’D): Mother Arrested, Spends Seven Hours In Jail For Calling Transgender A Man.
PAULA BOLYARD: Grammy Attendees Go Wild for Michelle Obama During Cameo Appearance. “The glittery former first lady was given a royal welcome by the Hollywood elites.”
She’s closing in on a “Run All the Candidates!” tag.
SPENGLER: Germany Struggles to Regain a National Identity, with Mixed Results. “My advice to Germans: stop obsessing about the past.”
RUN ALL THE CANDIDATES: Rep. Seth Moulton Is Thinking About Running For President.
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.
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.
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.
TORAH ON ONE FOOT: The Secret to Happiness.
I REALLY HOPE THIS PANS OUT: Austin Tech Firm May Have Solved Drive-Thru Ordering Mishaps.
RIDING IT OUT? Northam Surrenders To GOP On Tax Cuts As WaPo Reports “Stronger Position.” “Part of the ‘stronger position’ comes from having the other two Democrats holding the state’s constitutional offices under a cloud of scandal at the same time. Democrats are trying mightily to draw distinctions between the three, especially between Northam and Herring.”
Having a severely wounded Dem governor remain in place might not be a bad outcome for Virginia Republicans.
CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Sheriffs In New Mexico Stand Against Proposed Gun Laws.
29 out of 33 ain’t bad.
UNEXPECTED HEADLINES: Clown-masked robbers armed with machete get beaten down by scooter-wielding grandma.
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