ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: Colorado adopts stricter emission standards.

Friday’s vote by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission enacts an executive order by Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Under the rules, new vehicles sold in Colorado must average 36 miles per gallon (15 kilometers per liter) by the year 2025. That’s about 10 miles per gallon (4 kilometers per liter) over the existing standard.

With the vote, Colorado joins several other states in moving pre-emptively to avoid any weakening of federal emissions standards by the Donald Trump administration.

Auto industry representatives oppose the move as too hasty. They say it will drive up the cost of new vehicles and induce car owners to hang onto their older, more polluting, vehicles.

Older cars are inherently less safe, too.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Spin Machine in Overdrive for McKay’s ‘Vice.’

PAULA BOLYARD: Ohio Gov. Kasich Announces He Will Veto Heartbeat Bill and Stand Your Ground Measure. “Ohio’s lame-duck governor has turned his attention to another White House bid.”

For which party?

VIDEO: Rep-Elect Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) Dismantles Dem Reps Who Claimed Trump Is ‘Literally Attacking Freedoms.’

NOAH ROTHMAN: The Social-Justice Injustice. “What Brett Kavanaugh’s trial by fire was really all about.”

For the social-justice left, Brett Kavanaugh represented a dominant demographic group, and he was therefore due a comeuppance for that reason alone. To those for whom Kavanaugh’s guilt was a foregone conclusion, not only was the presumption of innocence an overly charitable dispensation; so, too, was the notion that he should be allowed to defend himself. At the very least, his most fervent critics appeared to suggest, Kavanaugh should have had the decency to let the allegations against him stand, as a courtesy to his accuser and those like her.

To Quartz’s Ephrat Livni, Kavanaugh wasn’t entitled to “any process” whatsoever. Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution argued that “Kavanaugh cannot blame or attack or seek to discredit a woman who purports to have suffered a sexual-assault at his hands.” If he did, he’d be no better than Harvey Weinstein, smearing his victims in a final, flailing effort to save himself. Yahoo’s Matt Bai said Kavanaugh “makes a victim of [Ford] all over again by essentially calling her delusional.” As a service to the #MeToo moment’s reckoning with the abusive men hiding in plain sight, Bai suggested that Kavanaugh should at least allow for the possibility that he was guilty of a sex crime. Bai even drafted a confession for the judge.

Plus: “This is nothing less than an assault on the rule of law, which is based on the proposition that we judge allegations of malfeasance on a case-by-case basis according to the facts alone.”

Well, yes. But mob rule is always the goal of power-seekers skilled at whipping up mobs.

LTC (USAF, RET.) ROB LEVINSON: What the US Military Owes Stan Lee.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I grew up, but in my heart of hearts I knew, if I could be anything, I wanted to be Spiderman, one of the X-Men, or the Hulk. Sure, it would be cool to have superpowers, but only if I could use them to help other people. While figuring out how to get bitten by a radioactive spider was pretty difficult, when I decided to join the U.S. military, it was because in the back of my mind I knew that it was the closest I could come to being a superhero. I would get training to fight noble battles defending the weak and the innocent, always on the side of righteousness. Of course, the world is more complicated than a comic book. Still, I can’t help but think that, deep down, so many of the guys I served with, and the kids serving today, are wannabe X-Men hoping that someday they’ll get uniforms as cool as theirs.

When I went off to the Air Force Academy, part of the attraction was all the exciting things I could learn to do there — skydiving, flying planes and gliders, scuba diving. The academy even had opportunities to go train with Navy SEALs and green berets in the summer. And Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape sounded awesome. If that wasn’t a school for superheroes, I don’t know what is.

Once I went out into the force, being an intelligence officer didn’t quite fit the superhero image on most days. But there were some moments. As a 2nd Lt. in 1988, I volunteered to stand watch in Panama, overseeing all U.S. base security forces e.g. MPs, in the country as tensions were running high with the dictator General Noriega. On the second or third night I was on duty, we got a radio call that a Special Forces team deployed in the jungle to document hostile activity was taking enemy fire. A green beret chief warrant officer much older than me, who was working the radios looked at me and asked “What do we do Sir?” At first, I thought he was talking to someone behind me. Then I asked, “Well Chief, what do you recommend?” He told me I could deploy our quick reaction force, known as the “Heavy Team.” I asked if I was allowed to do that, and he said “Sir, right now you are Joint Task Force Panama.” I honestly had no idea if I had the authority to deploy the Heavy Team. I was a 2nd Lt. Air Force intelligence officer and as far as I knew I might be starting a war. But I had American soldiers under fire, and they were asking me for help. I didn’t know what the rules of engagement were, and we couldn’t get ahold of anyone more senior than me to ask.

I didn’t know what I should do, but I sure as hell knew what Captain America or Spiderman would do when people were in danger.

You’ll want to read the whole thing.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Court Sez ‘No’ on Trump Asylum Ban and Much, Much More.

DOG BITES MAN: Activists, Democrats, and the Media Keep Smearing Betsy DeVos Over New Title IX Rules. “Misleading reporting makes due process sound like a bad thing.”

The worst example is an article from Abbey Crain, whose article at Alabama.com makes several significant errors.

“Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ proposed changes for how schools handle Title IX cases would allow students accused of sexual assault to cross-examine their victim,” writes Crain.

This is simply untrue. The new rules specify that an accused student’s lawyer or support person must conduct the cross-examination.

“The rules would create a higher burden of proof for victims of sexual assault to prove a Title IX violation occurred,” Crain continues, “removing Obama-era regulations that required a ‘preponderance of the evidence.'”

This isn’t quite right either: Colleges may use a higher burden of proof than the preponderance of the evidence, but it’s not mandatory.

Crain then turns the article over to Madeline Anscombe, a victims’ rights activist who claims the changes would “limit ways students who are sexually assaulted could seek justice.”

But the new rules give students more options for seeking justice. The permit accusers who do not wish to undergo the full-court treatment to seek informal resolution, mediation, restorative justice, or any other option that satisfies both parties. “At any time prior to reaching a determination regarding responsibility the recipient may facilitate an informal resolution process, such as mediation, that does not involve a full investigation and adjudication,” the new rules state.

Perhaps the Title IX activist community wants everyone accused of sexual misconduct to be subjected to life-ruining sanction, but I get the sense that some victims are not actually keen on such an outcome.

Actual victims ought to be fine with this. Women who lie about rape, less so.

BORDER SECURITY: DHS Shuts Down San Ysidro Port After Reports Of ‘Border Rush’ By Caravan Migrants.

AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME? Is this the start of Arab NATO plan?

On Oct. 31, the Egyptian Ministry of Defense had noted in a statement that land, naval and air forces, special forces and air defense forces from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan arrived in Egypt to take part in the military exercises alongside Egyptian troops. Lebanon and Morocco have joined the exercises as observers.

The statement said that the military exercises aim to “face common challenges and support efforts for security and stability in the region.”

Commenting on Arab Shield 1, Brig. Gen. Safwat al-Zayat, an Egyptian expert in military affairs, said that a state of anxiety prevails within the Arab region. He noted the escalating pace of military maneuvers among Arab countries or between them and countries outside the region.

Speaking to Al-Monitor over the phone, he said, “The Arab Shield 1 exercises come amid [Arab] fears of armed conflicts in the region. The situation in Yemen is deteriorating, the conflict in Syria is ongoing and the crisis in Libya is worsening.”

Arab armies don’t have a very good fighting history in the modern era, but maybe the seriousness of the current situation will force them to get serious about training, doctrine, maintenance, and individual initiative.

Maybe.

GOOD: F-35 Tests Out Tech that Keeps Pilots from Crashing Into the Ground. “Auto-GCAS saves lives, it’s been proven in the F-16 and the F-22. We’ve been able to be an advocate to the warfighter, and the F-35 enterprise as a whole, to get them to accelerate implementation of F-35 Auto-GCAS by about seven years.”

Given that this is proven technology and the importance of the F-35 to three service branches and to foreign allies, I’m surprised Auto-GCAS wasn’t baked in much earlier.

PRIORITIES: Palm Beach Went for Coloring Books, iPads Over Vote-Machine Upgrades.

The company behind the Palm Beach machines says official claims that they overheated are false. “The idea that this equipment is at fault is a mischaracterization,” Kay Stimson, vice president of government affairs for Dominion Voting Systems, told RealClearInvestigations. “There were no reports of overheating machines during the recount. We had engineers on the ground there, available 24/7, and they heard nothing from anyone at Palm Beach County.”

Three statewide races – for governor, U.S. senator and agriculture commissioner – were close enough to require a statewide recount this year. Because of vote-counting problems, Palm Beach election workers were forced to miss the Thursday deadline for recounting votes. A circuit judge extended the count to this Tuesday, although remaining doubts over the winners appeared to have been settled over the weekend.

The counting controversy in Palm Beach seems certain to endure, however.

Problems have occurred despite federal election security funding that the county has been given to keep voting systems running correctly — part of the millions doled out to states under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, or HAVA.

Records show Palm Beach County this year used its $909,000 share of HAVA funds to buy iPads for voters to check in at the polls. A 2009 audit of the county’s elections department found the agency improperly spent $48,000 in HAVA money on coloring books.

Sheesh.

TONI AIRAKSINEN: College Students Felt Depressed, ‘Rejected’ After 2016 Election.

I wonder how much of this “depression” is real, and how much of it is Generation Preen virtue-signaling for the pollsters.

YOU DON’T SAY: Chicken Pox Flare-Up In North Carolina Highlights Public Health Vulnerabilities Related To Anti-Vaccination Movement.

NO. Hot Cheetos turkey will spice up Thanksgiving dinner.

CHANGE MORE OF THE SAME: White House backs down from legal fight, restores Jim Acosta’s press pass.

WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG TO NOTICE? Women’s March Founder Calls on Leaders to Step Down amid Accusations of Bigotry.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST? George Conway Brushes Off Concerns About His Marriage: ‘That’s My Business, Not Theirs.’

AVNER ZARMI: The Looming Political Crisis in Israel.

EVERYTHING IS RACIST: Chipotle Fired Manager After Admitted Dine-And-Dasher Called Her Racist For Requesting Proof He’ll Pay.

• The maker of a viral video alleging racism by Chipotle bragged on Twitter about dining and dashing at restaurants.

• Masud Ali objected to Chipotle employees wanting proof that he would pay after the employees said he had previously made off without paying.

• Chipotle fired its manager despite knowing about the subject’s Twitter admissions and without reviewing Ali’s history of theft.

Chipotle screwed up — and Qdoba has better meats.

ISN’T ANYONE TAUGHT TABLE MANNERS ANYMORE? Train for Thanksgiving With Our Angry Uncle Bot.

WILL IT ALSO COME WITH A LECTURE ABOUT HOW BOYS ARE BAD? Disney’s Star Wars park will come with original music from John Williams.

RACISM, STRAIGHT UP: Tijuana protesters chant ‘Out!’ at migrants camped in city.

“SADISM” DID NOT MAKE THE LIST: Why Airlines Don’t Want You to Fly Basic Economy. “Carriers have a vested interest in making this bargain-basement travel as inconvenient as possible.”

DAVID HARSANYI: Dear TSA, Please Stop Molesting Kids At The Airport. “It’s bad enough that the government wastes our time. Children shouldn’t be props in its Security Theater.”

The other day, after slogging through a check-in line at one of the nation’s busiest airports, dutifully removing my shoes and belt and checking my bag and pockets for other potentially dangerous items (water and loose change), I was pulled aside by a crack Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent so he could further investigate the contents of my carry-on. While waiting, I took this picture of what looked to be a ten-year-old boy being molested by a 250-pound man.

Now, normally I would have reported this incident to the proper authorities. Inappropriate contact with a child, inside or outside his clothing, is a criminal act. But, in this case, the proper authorities were the ones feeling up the kid and the father had already protested the frisking—although, like all of us, he probably understood that no matter how vociferously he objected to this bit of state-sanctioned criminality it wasn’t going to change anything.

As far as the TSA is concerned, we’re subjects not citizens.