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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas last night.  It's here.

JULY 9,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

AMERICAN REALITY – FROM FOX:   Protests turned tense at the steps of the Supreme Court Monday night after President Trump chose Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Some protesters were screaming back and forth at each other amid a heavy law-enforcement presence.
Pro-choice activists held purple signs reading “Protect Roe” and “Don’t Criminalize Abortion.” Others chanted: “Kavanaugh has got to go!” Others shouted into bullhorns, “abortion is violence” and “uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.”  Democratic leaders such as New York Democrat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attended to speak to the crowd -- and occasionally were drowned out by the activists.  You can be sure Kirsten Gillibrand, our senator, showed up.  She's the greatest opportunist in the Senate.  The demonstrations are a symbol of what's to come – a thoroughly debased confirmation process dominated by the loudest voices.  Kavanaugh is a quality nominee, and should be confirmed.

CIVIC VIRTUE – FROM FOX:   Fans of “The Bachelorette” took to Twitter ahead of President Trump's Supreme Court announcement to complain that the breaking news will interrupt the reality dating show.
The competition typically runs on Mondays from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST — but Trump is expected to reveal his nominee for the nation's highest court at 9 p.m.   “Can he just tweet it? I don’t want this cutting into The Bachelorette tonight,” one person complained.   A Twitter user claimed, "If they interrupt The Bachelorette for Trump’s Supreme Court nomination then I am 100% done with this country."  Please leave.

CLASS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD – FROM CNS:    On Sunday, Netflix aired a “Salute to Abortion,” hosted by “comedian” Michelle Wolf, who closed the segment with a star-spangled, flag-waving, drum corps declaration: “God bless abortion!”  On her weekly Netflix program, “The Break with Michelle Wolf,” Wolf used Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announced retirement to tout abortion rights and demean pro-life Americans..."  Such taste.  When you don't have talent or intelligence, I guess this is what you do.

July 9,  2018     Permalink

THE CHOICE – AT 9:40 P.M. ET:  The president announced his nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. 

Judge Kavanaugh currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, the most influential federal appeals court in the country.   The judge has often been described as the most influential appellate judge serving right now. 

He is a conservative.  It is a quality appointment.  In his acceptance speech, Judge Kavanaugh acquitted himself with dignity and intelligence.  I was happy to see that he proudly described his participation in religious life.   He is a practicing Catholic. 

None of Judge Kavanaugh's brilliance and intelligence will matter to the already hysterical Democratic opposition.  They are opposed.  They would be opposed to Solomon himself.  Chuck Schumer, whose job as leader of Senate Democrats is already in doubt because he's seen by the lunatic fringe as too moderate, was on the attack even before Mr. Trump announced the name of his selection.  Chuck pictured a dark day for America.  We are doomed.  We are going right to Hell.  This is worse than the Civil War.

The fun begins tomorrow when the judge makes his rounds.  The focus will be on two Republican female senators, Collins of Maine, and Murkowski of Alaska, who could be wobbly on confirmation if they think Kavanaugh will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Attention will also focus on Rand Paul, who has some objection to Kavanaugh, but, I suspect, will come through at the end.  And then there are the Democrats who are up this year for re-election in states that voted heavily for Trump.  Can they really vote against a man like Kavanaugh and win their races?  That may be the key political question of the next four months.

Stand by for a tough confirmation.  But I am optimistic.  The White House has been preparing for the fight.  I think the Dems will overplay their hand, and many will wind up at clinics seeking treatment for self-imposed depression.

July 9, 2018       Permalink

THOSE TOUGH KOREAN TALKS – AT 1:25 P.M. ET:   We knew the talks with North Korea would be tough, and that's the way things have turned out.  The session between Secretary Pompeo and the Norks several days ago was bumpy.  Talks with North Korea always has been.  President Trump is hoping for a breakthrough, which is what drove him to arrange a summit with North Korea's leader, Kim Jung Un.  Now for the hard part.

The Trump haters are rejoicing that the first real negotiating session was tough.  Anything to discredit the president.  These are the same haters who had no problem at all with President Obama's foreign policy of endless concessions.  That policy is over.  From Fox: 

President Trump suggested Monday that China could be “exerting negative pressure” on North Korea to stray from the denuclearization “deal” signed last month, amid trade tensions between the U.S. and Beijing.

The president expressed “confidence” that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un will “honor” the deal, despite tense talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the weekend.

“I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea,” Trump tweeted. “China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade—Hope Not!”

The president’s tweet comes days after the administration increased tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports as Beijing said it would be “forced to make a necessary counterattack.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed various levels of government to get ready for a full-on trade war, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing Chinese officials.

China is expected to hit back against the Trump administration’s 25 percent tax on those Chinese goods with taxes on an equal amount of American products, including soybeans, lobsters, sport-utility vehicles, and whiskey. But according to the Journal, China has not yet outlined exact targets.

But the president’s confidence in North Korea comes after the rogue regime over the weekend accused the U.S. of undermining the spirit of last month’s summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore, calling talks with Pompeo “regrettable.”

COMMENT:  No crisis, just the usual aggravation.  There will be more negotiating coming up, and we will know if there is any chance for real progress.  If not, both the president and the secretary have pledged that the sanctions on North Korea will remain in place, and we will have shown the world that we at least tried.

July 9, 2018       Permalink

THE DAY – AT 1:05 P.M. ET:  It is Supreme Court day, and that's sad.  It's sad that the appointment of one justice, to be announced by President Trump at 9 p.m. ET tonight, is arousing so much tension, controversy...and hatred.

It wasn't that way at one time, although the Court has always had its moments of controversy.  FDR tried to pack the Court during his second term, frustrated by the hostility of some justices toward his New Deal measures.  He failed.  The American people wouldn't have it.

The Court erupted in controversy when it ruled segregated schools unconstitutional in 1954.  The South hated the decision, and the choice of justices became an issue in politics.  That trend was strengthened in 1962, when the Court again offended sensibilities in its famous "school prayer" decision, which actually only said that the state could not impose prayers on public schools.

But it wasn't really until Roe v. Wade, the famous abortion decision, in 1973, that the Court became the political presence that it is today. The reason, of course, is that school segregation and school prayer are logical issues for a federal court, as they involve interpretation of Constitutional protections.  On the other hand, abortion was traditionally seen, and is still seen by many today, as a social issue, a matter of personal morality, not subject to judicial review. 

The same with the issue of gay marriage.  Why would a Court decide on an issue of personal, religious, and traditional morality?  But it did.

So the Court today is seen as a place where people with social causes, which may well be legitimate, can come for relief.  In my view, no matter how you feel about particular issues, that trend has damaged the Court severely, made it a political branch of the government, and lowered its prestige.

President Trump has promised to appoint a strict constructionist, in the tradition of Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was his first appointment to the Supreme Court.  We'll know tonight.

July 9,  2018     Permalink

JULY 8,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

GREAT TALES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT – FROM THE LEXINGTON (KY) HERALD-LEADER:   Three people are behind bars after one woman allegedly tried to sell methamphetamine in a Magoffin County courtroom.  Telby Fields, 24, of Mount Olive, Kentucky, was in court on Monday, July 2, for a scheduled court date in an earlier 2018 case in which she was charged with third-degree terroristic threatening. While sitting in the back waiting for the judge to appear, Fields reportedly asked at least three other people waiting in the courtroom if they would be interested in buying methamphetamine from her.  A security officer overheard the transactions and told Magoffin County Sheriff Department Detective Neil Adams.  She should join the Socialist Party, claim victim status, and go right to Congress.

I WANT TO HEAR THE EXPLANATION  – FROM THE SACRAMENTO BEE:  A man tried to light his cigarette with the flames coming from his burning sedan after rear-ending an SUV westbound on Interstate 80, according to the California Highway Patrol traffic incident information page  The collision occurred around 2 p.m. on Sunday west of Antelope Road near Citrus Heights, the CHP said. According to a log published on the incident information page at 2:19 p.m., a witness reported that a shirtless male attempted to light a cigarette with his incinerated car. At 2:26, a log reported that the man tried to run into the fire.
A witness reported to the CHP seeing the male driver and female passenger attempt to switch seats before officers arrived. The man ultimately admitted to being the driver, the CHP said, and was arrested for driving under the influence.  No one suffered serious injuries.  And he should wear a shirt.  No sense of respectability.

July 8, 2018       Permalink

HERE COME THE JUDGE – AT 3:20 P.M. ET:  The president will announce his choice for the Supreme Court tomorrow night.  The Democrats are already calling it one of the worst choices in human history, worse than Moses turning the wrong way in the desert and missing the oil.

Get set for major-league weeping.  If you know a Democrat, give him, her, or whatever, a pack of Kleenex.

We usually don't like speculative stories here, but The New York Times has a pretty good reporting piece on the pressures on the president to make the right call:

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, told President Trump this past week that Judges Raymond M. Kethledge and Thomas M. Hardiman presented the fewest obvious obstacles to being confirmed to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court, according to Republican officials briefed on the conversation.

While careful not to directly make the case for any would-be justice, Mr. McConnell made clear in multiple phone calls with Mr. Trump and the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, that the lengthy paper trail of another top contender, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, would pose difficulties for his confirmation.

Mr. McConnell is concerned about the volume of the documents that Judge Kavanaugh has created in his 12 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as well as in his roles as White House staff secretary under President George W. Bush and assistant to Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.

The number of pages is said to run into the millions, which Mr. McConnell fears could hand Senate Democrats an opportunity to delay the confirmation vote until after the new session of the court begins in October, with the midterm elections looming the next month. And while Judge Kavanaugh’s judicial opinions are publicly known, Mr. McConnell is uneasy about relitigating Bush-era controversies, the officials briefed on his discussions with Mr. Trump said.

COMMENT:  We recall the wise advice from William F. Buckley Jr, who advised the Republican Party always to nominate the most conservative candidate who can be elected.  The same advice goes for Supreme Court nominations.  The president should name the most Constitutionally committed conservative who can actually win confirmation.

The choices I've seen so far can probably all be confirmed, though a few might need the support of vulnerable Democratic senators who are running for re-election this year in red states.

July 8, 2018       Permalink 

OH NO, CAN THIS BE HAPPENING AGAIN? – AT 1:21 P.M. ET:  Now we know who she is.  She's "Jaws."  And it isn't safe to go back in the water.  From Michael Goodwin at the New York Post:

Hillary Clinton is up to something.

Five times in the last month alone, she sent e-mails touting her super PAC’s role in combating President Trump. Most seized on headline events, such as the family-separation issue at the southern border.

Under the message line, “horrific,” she wrote June 18: “This is a moral and humanitarian crisis. Everyone of us who has ever held a child in their arms, and every human being with a sense of compassion and decency should be outraged.” She said she warned about Trump’s immigration policies during the 2016 campaign.

Three days later, she was back again, saying that her group, Onward Together, raised $1 million and would split it among organizations working to change border policy, including the American Civil Liberties Union and a gaggle of immigrant, refugee, Latino and women’s groups.

And the day after Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, Clinton introduced a newly minted resistance partner. Called Demand Justice, it promises to protect “reproductive rights, voting rights and access to health care” by keeping Senate Democrats united in opposing any conservative Trump nominee.

The instant, in-house nature of Demand Justice was reflected by the name of its executive director: Brian Fallon, Clinton’s campaign press secretary.

In truth, Fallon’s role doesn’t tell us something we didn’t know. Onward Together, formed in May of 2017, is a Clinton 2020 campaign vehicle in waiting.

Its homepage says the group “is dedicated to advancing the vision that earned nearly 66 million votes in the last election.”

Advancing the vision? More like advancing the candidate who collected those votes despite not having a vision.

With the Democratic Party locked in a battle between its far left wing and its far, far left wing, no single leader has emerged to unite it. Clinton is trying to play that role by being a mother hen to the fledgling activists drawn to politics by their hatred of Trump.

If they were active in 2016, most probably supported Bernie Sanders in his primary challenge to Clinton. But by helping to fund them now, she is putting them in her debt for later.

COMMENT:  I think Goodwin is right, but I wonder if Clinton could ever get the nomination again.  Her party has left her, and is on to more extreme things.  Much of the new party even sees Bernie Sanders as too moderate. 

But, in a dark way, I'd like to see Hillary run again.  The fun factor can't be beat. 

July 8, 2018        Permalink  

SIGN UP!  BE LESS THAN YOU CAN BE! – AT 12:52 P.M. ET:  There are times when an academic opportunity presents itself, and you must respond!  Get this one, from Campus Reform: 

The Portland State University Women’s Studies department will offer a course next semester exploring “ecological feminist spirituality” and the potential for an “ecological revolution.”

“Ecofeminist Spirituality” is a senior-level course taught by Dr. Frodo Okulam, and primarily aims to explore “different forms of ecofeminist spirituality” including “feminist biblical interpretation” as well as “goddesses and spirituality.”

"The insight of Ecofeminism is that the oppression of women and the exploitation of the earth are related."

“The insight of Ecofeminism is that the oppression of women and the exploitation of the earth are related,” Okulam told Campus Reform, adding that “in its least radical form…it would use existing laws to reform our relationship with nature.”

But Okulam also teaches students about other variations of ecofeminism. In a handout she often provides to students, for instance, she explains that there are Socialist Ecofeminism, Radical Ecofeminism, and Spiritual Ecofeminist schools of thought.

The most radical of these, she says, is Socialist Ecofeminism, which “would end the domination of women and nature inherent in the capitalist economy’s exploitation of both” and “transform the structure of power itself.”

Spiritual Ecofeminists would seek “a balance within our ways of knowing, so that neither mind nor body are seen as opposed to one another,” she added. “They do not argue for the primacy of women over men, but against practice of…hierarchical power itself.”

Though Okulam said that next semester’s syllabus isn’t yet ready, a copy of the previous syllabus indicates that the class is a cross between environmental science, biblical studies, and feminist theory.

COMMENT:  Space is limited.  Please rush.  And share the wisdom with us.

July 8,  2018     Permalink