American Power

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Joel Kotkin, The Human City

New, from Joel Kotkin, at Amazon, The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us.

Plus, The New Class Conflict.

Heh.

I love babies too, although my wife and I haven't been in a position to have the full complement of in-home nanny services, to say nothing of house cleaners lol.

She's sweet though. Big families are cool — and oh so politically incorrect!

At the Federalist, "Blake Lively Loves Babies So Much She Wants a House Full."

#HugAShark https://t.co/7ZcFXwKoCm
— Blake Lively (@blakelively) June 9, 2016

PREVIOUSLY: "Blake Lively Under Attack for Alleged 'Racist' Instagram Caption."

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant to Shut Down

Instapundit had this yesterday, "IF YOU DON’T SUPPORT NUCLEAR POWER, YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT CARBON EMISSIONS: Are Greens Coming Around To Nuclear Power?"

Well, if the greens are coming around, they're not around California.

See the Los Angeles Times, "PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear power plant":

One of California’s largest energy utilities took a bold step in the 21st century electricity revolution with an agreement to close its last operating nuclear plant and develop more solar, wind and other clean power technologies.

The decision announced Tuesday by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to close its beleaguered Diablo Canyon nuclear plant within the next decade runs counter to the nuclear industry’s arguments that curbing carbon emissions and combating climate change require use of nuclear power, which generates the most electricity without harmful emissions.

Instead, PG&E joined with longtime adversaries such as the Friends of the Earth environmental group to craft a deal that will bring the company closer to the mandate that 50% of California’s electricity generation come from renewable energy sources by 2030.

PG&E’s agreement will close the book on the state’s history as a nuclear pioneer, but adds to its clean energy reputation. California already leads the nation by far in use of solar energy generated by rooftop panels and by sprawling power arrays in the desert.

“California is already a leader in curtailing greenhouse gases,” said Peter Bradford, a former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “Now they’re saying they can go even further. That’s potentially a model for other situations.”

Under the proposal, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County would be retired by PG&E after its current U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission operating licenses expire in November 2024 and August 2025.

The power produced by Diablo Canyon’s two nuclear reactors would be replaced with investment in a greenhouse-gas-free portfolio of energy efficiency, renewables and energy storage, PG&E said. The proposal is contingent on a number of regulatory actions, including approvals from the California Public Utilities Commission.

The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, built against a seaside cliff near Avila Beach, provides 2,160 megawatts of electricity for Central and Northern California — enough to power more than 1.7 million homes.

Tuesday’s announcement comes after a long debate over the fate of the plant, which sits near several earthquake fault lines. The Hosgri Fault, located three miles from Diablo Canyon, was discovered in 1971, three years after construction of the plant began...

More.

Plus, "It'll take time — and $3.8 billion — to shut down the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant."

RELATED: From Joel Kotkin, at the O.C. Register, "Climate justice: California's state religion."

Donald Trump Hammers Hillary Clinton in Major Speech Pivoting to General Election

Here's NYT's Maggie Haberman on Twitter. I'll update with the full video when that becomes available on YouTube shortly:

Trump is much improved on the prompter
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

"This is not a rising tide that lifts all boats. This is a wave of globalism." Trump
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

Trump basically using Clinton's argument against him back at her: "She gets rich making you poor."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

Trump's pre-written text does not match what he's saying now
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

It is stiflingly hot in this ballroom where Trump is speaking
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

Trump now misquoting one of the mother's of a Benghazi victim
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

This speech has an actual message, and a frame. The problem for Trump's team? He gets on a plane to Scotland tomorrow night.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

What had been a very focused jobs speech now is descending into the conspiracy theory rabbit hole
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

We are at the transitive property portion of the speech
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

"We can’t hand over our government to someone whose deepest, darkest secrets may be in the hands of our enemies."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

Now we are at the portion of the speech written by Stephen Miller.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

"So they probably now have a blackmail file over someone who wants to be President of the United States."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

Trump news in speech: "Change immigration rules to give unemployed Americans an opportunity to fill good-paying jobs"
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

Trump nutshell on POTUS vacancies: "Gonna have as many as five, probably three, could be four."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

A 41-minute speech from Trump
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 22, 2016

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

ICYMI: Eric Metaxas, If You Can Keep It

Here's the Metaxas book, at Amazon, If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.

BONUS: From Dennis Prager, Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph.

Donald Trump Running 'Different Kind of Campaign' (VIDEO)

Laura Ingraham speaks out on Fox & Friends. Donald Trump needs to stop going after "personalities" and hit the Clinton machine with a clear and consistent message.

Watch, "Ingraham: Trump campaign needs to send a consistent message."

Trump calls into the show to talk about a "different kind of campaign."

Well, as in "different" means going completely "earned media," we'll see how that works. See previously, "Donald Trump Reportedly 'Getting Crushed' by Corrupt Democrat Party Money Machine."

BONUS: More video at Fox, "Corey Lewandowski discusses dismissal from Trump campaign." He mad a classy exit, that's for sure. I almost expect him to rejoin the campaign at a later date. That this was all choreographed to give the image of competence and change at Trump's headquarters. But we'll see. We'll see.

Hailey Clauson Behind-the-Scenes Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 (VIDEO)

She's so great!

Via Sports Illustrated:

Donald Trump Reportedly 'Getting Crushed' by Corrupt Democrat Party Money Machine

Well, this is ironic, isn't it?

If Trump's campaign is really hurting for cash, he should loan his team's finance arm about $250 million, which shouldn't be a problem, right? Trump's supposedly worth $10 billion. No need to "self fund," which I thought was a stupid pledge in any case. But he needs to be up on the airwaves with rapid response ads and character attacks against Hillary Clinton and the corrupt Democrat smear machine.

If Reince isn't drilling the point home, then the fault lies just as much with the RNC as it does with Trump's organization. A Clinton-Democrat smear campaign of ads won't move the GOP blue-collar base, which already loves Trump, but it could convince some fence-sitting independents, who might succumb to the lies and demonization.

So, that's the problem.

It's all over Memeorandum right now, "Donald Trump Starts Summer Push With Crippling Money Deficit."

And on Twitter:

New @FEC reports just how thin @realDonaldTrump's organization is. https://t.co/W4EGZHz9bT Breaking it down at 10 am on @MSNBC w/ @jdbalart.
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) June 21, 2016

FACT CHECK: PANTS ON FIRE https://t.co/Qvdm7CkQe8
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) June 21, 2016

Donald Trump faces cash disadvantage heading into general election with Hillary Clinton https://t.co/WVCSgCt8wn
— Capital Journal (@WSJPolitics) June 21, 2016

Trump directed nearly a fifth of the $6.7M he spent in May to companies he owns or to reimbursing his kids: https://t.co/xXpuvw0q4w
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) June 21, 2016

Meanwhile, two of the three Trump super PACs didn't file reports with the FEC yesterday.
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) June 21, 2016

The presumptive Republican nominee drew fewer than 140 maxed-out donations in May.
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) June 21, 2016

Trump, in what he billed as first fundraising plea, says he'll match up to $2 million in donations in next 48 hrs https://t.co/uLUuMPXwlc
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) June 21, 2016

Donald Trump raised $3.1 million in the month after he became the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, giving him a staggering cash disadvantage heading into the general election against Hillary Clinton.

After largely self-financing the primary election, Mr. Trump said last month that he would begin actively soliciting money for the general election. He appointed a national finance chairman and finalized a joint fundraising vehicle with the Republican National Committee. But his haul that month suggests his campaign was unable to turn his clinching of the party’s nomination into any fundraising boost.

Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, raised $27 million last month even as she sought to fend off the final weeks of primary rival Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. She has raised $240 million over the course of the cycle, to Mr. Trump’s $17 million. (He has also loaned himself $45.7 million through May.)

Mr. Trump’s May haul, which he supplemented with $2.2 million in loans, left him with $1.3 million in the bank. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign had 32 times as much in its war chest: $42 million.

Mr. Trump’s cash deficit means it will be extraordinarily difficult for him to rival Mrs. Clinton’s expansive operation, both in TV ads and grassroots efforts. He has said he will rely heavily on the RNC, but the party’s efforts in battleground states are small in comparison to the Democrats and nonexistent in several blue states, such as California, that Mr. Trump says he wants to put on the map.

Mr. Trump, who touts his frugal operation, spent more than he raised in May, paying out $6.7 million over the course of the month. Of that, nearly 20%—or about $1.1 million—went to companies Mr. Trump owns or to travel reimbursements for his children, who serve as surrogates on the campaign trail.

In 2012, GOP nominee Mitt Romney raised $23.4 million in May, the month after he clinched the nomination, and had $17 million in the bank.

Mrs. Clinton’s super PAC also far outpaced Mr. Trump’s network of outside groups last month. The Clinton group, Priorities USA Action, raised $12.1 million in May, an uptick from the previous month, and has $51 million in the bank. Great America PAC, one of the super PACs backing Mr. Trump, raised $1.4 million in May and had about $500,000 on hand at the end of the month. Mr. Trump has at least two other groups backing him, too.

Out Today: Dana Loesch, Flyover Nation

Our long ~~national nightmare~~ wait is over.

Available at Amazon, Flyover Nation: You Can't Run a Country You've Never Been To.

Plus, Dana will be speaking at the Politicon Convention this weekend in Pasadena. Hope to see you there!

Sherpa Fire Raw Video

I guess it's actually spelled "Scherpa." At the Santa Barbara Independent, "Yes, ‘Sherpa Fire’ Is Spelled Wrong."

And at CBS News 5 San Francisco:

More, at the Los Angeles Times, "Dangerous fires, extreme heat across Southern California."

Monday, June 20, 2016

Late Cartoons

I missed posting cartoons yesterday, so what the heck?

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Cartoons."

Branco Cartoons photo Deflecting-600-CI_zpsjbxdeerr.jpg

And at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Theory of Relativity," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup."

Cartoon Credit: A.F. Branco, "Deflecting Massacre Blame."

Nina Agdal Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Video 2016

Somehow I missed this clip from earlier this year.

I'm slackin' on my Rule 5!

Via Sports Illustrated:

Deal of the Day: Ivation 1.7 Liter (7-Cup) Precision-Temp Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Tea Kettle [BUMPED]

At Amazon, Ivation 1.7 Liter (7-Cup) Precision-Temp Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Tea Kettle; 6 Preset Heat Settings; Auto Keep-Warm for 2-Hours; Safety Shutoff Boil-Dry Protection, 1500w SuperFast Heatup.

Also, Save 69% on Norton Security Premium - 10 Devices.

More, Computer Accessories.

Plus, Power Wheels Disney Frozen Jeep Wrangler, Baby Blue/Purple.

And, AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable - 6 Feet (Latest Standard).

Still more, from J. Kael Weston, The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BONUS: Clinton Romesha, Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor.

Donald Trump Assassination Attempt: Man Arrested Trying to Kill Trump at Las Vegas Rally (VIDEO)

Now, would this be getting more mainstream media coverage if some "right-wing extremist" tried to steal a policeman's gun at one of Hillary's events?

I think you know the answer.

But see the Las Vegas Sun, "Secret Service: Man at Las Vegas rally said he wanted to kill Donald Trump."

And at the Washington Examiner, via Memeorandum, "19-year-old man tried to kill Trump at Las Vegas rally, officials say."

U.S. Supreme Court Limits 4th Amendment's Ban on 'Unreasonable Searches'

Interesting.

At WSJ, "U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Limits Constitutional Protections Against Searches":

WASHINGTON—A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday limited constitutional protections against searches, ruling that evidence gathered after police illegally detain someone could be used in court absent “flagrant” misconduct by law enforcement.

Writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said a police officer’s possible “negligence” in stopping a pedestrian without reasonable suspicion shouldn’t prevent prosecutors from charging him with a drug offense.

The ruling came in a South Salt Lake City, Utah, case in which a man named Edward Strieff walked out of a house an officer had been watching after getting an anonymous tip about “narcotics activity” happening there.

The officer, Douglas Fackrell, stopped Mr. Strieff, asked what he was doing at the house and ran his identification through a police database. When that produced a traffic warrant, Officer Fackrell arrested Mr. Strieff and searched him, discovering the drugs.

Utah conceded that the police stop was illegal but argued that the discovery of the warrant provided the officer a legitimate reason to arrest Mr. Strieff and search him.

“The warrant was valid, it predated Officer Fackrell’s investigation, and it was entirely unconnected with the stop,” Justice Thomas wrote in the 5-3 ruling. “And once Officer Fackrell discovered the warrant, he had an obligation to arrest Strieff.” That, in turn, authorized the officer to search Mr. Strieff under Supreme Court precedents that allow police to search arrestees to ensure they aren’t carrying concealed weapons.

Justice Thomas was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan filed separate dissents, each joined in part or in whole by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“This case allows the police to stop you on the street, demand your identification, and check it for outstanding traffic warrants—even if you are doing nothing wrong,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “If the officer discovers a warrant for a fine you forgot to pay, courts will now excuse his illegal stop” and allow prosecution for any evidence he finds...

Also at USA Today, "Supreme Court allows searches based on outstanding arrest warrants":

The decision was controversial because in some cities thousands of people have arrest warrants pending against them, mostly for traffic violations as insignificant as unpaid parking tickets.

There were 16,000 outstanding arrest warrants in Ferguson, Mo., as of 2015 — a figure that amounts to roughly 75% of the city’s population — the Justice Department found during its investigation into the 2014 police shooting of an unarmed, 18-year-old African-American man. Cincinnati recently had more than 100,000 warrants pending for failure to appear in court. New York City has 1.2 million outstanding warrants.

The high court case involved a Utah narcotics detective's detention of a man leaving a house that was under observation for possible drug dealing. Based on the discovery of an outstanding arrest warrant for a minor traffic infraction, the man was searched and found to have illegal drugs...

Hydration Stations in Phoenix (VIDEO)

That's nice, but maybe the Salvation Army should be setting up some hydration stations at the border.

Illegal aliens are going to be dying to get into the U.S. in this weather, literally.

Free Speech Farce: How One College Lets Students Censor Debate

From Jillian Kay Melchior, at Heat Street, "Muzzled Professors: An Inside Look at How One College Lets Students Censor Classroom Debate":

"Bias Response Team" tells professor to avoid "transgender issues" after students complain: https://t.co/lSj7uME8IH pic.twitter.com/pnJanIlsUO
— Heat Street (@heatstreet) June 20, 2016

For many students and professors, one of the great appeals of college life is being exposed to new and different ways of thinking. But that age-old process is now under threat at schools around the country. Take the University of Northern Colorado.

After two of the school’s professors asked their students to discuss controversial topics and consider opposing viewpoints, they received visits from the school’s Bias Response Team to discuss their teaching style. The professors’ students had reported them, claiming the curriculum constituted bias.

These incidents, both in the 2015-2016 academic year, reflect a growing trend in higher education. College students increasingly demand to be shielded from “offensive,” “triggering” or “harmful” language and topics, relying on Bias Response Teams to intervene on their behalf. Such teams are popping up at a growing number of universities.

Heat Street filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get a look at some of the complaints to UNC’s Bias Response Team, and a sense of how the team is handling those petitions. In one report reviewed by Heat Street, a professor, whose name was redacted, had asked students to read an Atlantic article entitled “The Coddling of the American Mind,” about college students’ increasing sensitivity and its impact on their mental health.

The professor then asked his students to come up with difficult topics, including transgender issues, gay marriage, abortion and global warning. He outlined competing positions on these topics, though he did not express his personal opinion.

In a report to the Bias Response Team, a student complained that the professor referenced the opinion that “transgender is not a real thing, and no one can truly feel like they are born in the wrong body.”

“I would just like the professor to be educated about what trans is and how what he said is not okay because as someone who truly identifies as a transwomen I was very offended and hurt by this,” the student wrote.

A member of the Bias Response Team met with the professor, the report says, and “advised him not to revisit transgender issues in his classroom if possible to avoid the students expressed concerns.” The Bias Response Team also “told him to avoid stating opinions (his or theirs) on the topic as he had previously when working from the Atlantic article.”

In a separate incident, a professor, whose name was also redacted, asked his students to choose from a list of debate topics, some of them regarding homosexuality and religion.

The Bias Response Team’s notes summarized: “Specifically there were two topics of debate that triggered them and personally felt like an attack on their identity (GodHatesFags.com: is this harmful? Is this acceptable? Is this Christianity? And Gay Marriage: should it be legal? Is homosexuality immoral as Christians suggest?)”

The student, whose name is redacted and who is referred to as “they” in the report, complained that “other students are required to watch the in-class debate and hear both arguments presented.”

“I do not believe that students should be required to listen to their own rights and personhood debated,” the student wrote. “[This professor] should remove these topics from the list of debate topics. Debating the personhood of an entire minority demographic should not be a classroom exercise, as the classroom should not be an actively hostile space for people with underprivileged identities.”

The Bias Response Team wrote that while this incident “did not reach a level of discrimination,” members still contacted the professor to “have a conversation… [and] listen to his perspective, share the impact created for the student and dialogue about options to strengthen his teaching.”

The Bias Response Team wrote that once the conversation was completed, they wanted a full report of “the outcome of your time together. . . so I can document and share with the student that outreach was completed.”

The University of Northern Colorado did not respond to Heat Street’s request for comment about whether the Bias Response Team is a threat to free speech and academic freedom. We also asked to be put in touch with the professors who had received complaints, but we did not hear back before publication...

I don't create "safe spaces" in my classrooms, and I don't let students censor debate, although I don't think my campus has a "bias response team." (And I'm not going to give administrators any ideas.)

I discuss controversial issues in class all the time, presenting both sides of debate, but usually contrasting "Main Street" opinion from the collectivist wisdom found at major media outlets like the New York Times. I always put the New York Times homepage up on the overhead screen, starting from the minute I call the roll sheet. I'll usually begin class lectures with a discussion of the hot news items. It's great. We discussed leftist political correctness after the Belgium jihad attacks (I posted this ABC News piece on administration threats to prosecute anti-Muslim "hate speech" in class), and transgender issues pretty much the whole semester. We had especially good discussions on the trans problem, and one of my students was transitioning from female to male, and told the class that Donald Trump was the only candidate so far that he could relate to! Now that was a teachable moment, heh.

In any case, more at the link.

Carey Murphy Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Casting Call 2017 (VIDEO)

Via Sports Illustrated:

Welcome to Port Antonio, a Tourist-Free Haven on Jamaica’s North Coast (VIDEO)

Via GQ:

Eric Metaxas, If You Can Keep It

I mentioned this book last night.

At Amazon, If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.

Eric Metaxas photo 13445604_10210141097786932_1890168626194202079_n_zps9ltpcvov.jpg

Eric Metaxas photo 13445604_10210141097786932_1890168626194202079_n_zps9ltpcvov.jpg

Dana Loesch Hired by NRA as Women's Policy Adviser and National Spokesperson

At the Washington Times, "Dana Loesch lands big NRA role: Special Adviser on Women's Policy."

She's been doing these NRA videos for a while now, in any case, and they're great!

Hope Hicks, the 27-Year-Old Accidental Press Secretary for Donald Trump

From Olivia Nuzzi, at GQ:

Inside surreal Trump campaign @Olivianuzzi finds most improbable star operative in politics https://t.co/u0VTITfi6D pic.twitter.com/lsZZV1foA0
— Geoffrey Gagnon (@geoffgagnon) June 20, 2016

weird that Corey Lewandowski isn't answering his cell
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) June 20, 2016

Trump's just-departed campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told Hope Hicks, "you're fucking dead to me." https://t.co/wywfkqY9yQ
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) June 20, 2016

From the antechamber to Donald Trump's office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, I was fetched by Hope Hicks. She was apologetic for the wait and a little nervous about what I'd come to discuss—namely, her.

The 27-year-old press secretary was clad in a teal dress, and she dug her stilettos into the colorless carpet as she showed me into the office, a room festooned with enough Trump memorabilia to suggest a serial killer's shrine. There before me sat Trump himself, behind his giant desk, upon which there was nothing resembling a computer, a PalmPilot, or even an Etch A Sketch.

“Oh,” Trump said, flashing his notorious disdain for handshakes as I extended my arm. He stood and reached, Martian-like, for my hand, as if the ritual were not the habit of businessmen or politicians. Hicks, meanwhile, settled into a $5,000 red velvet Knoll lounge chair. She affixed a smile to her face, and then said nothing more to me. As if speaking were not the habit of a spokesperson. But then, Hicks—who never appears on TV and rarely talks to reporters—resembles a traditional political spokesperson about as much as Trump resembles Mister Rogers.

Hicks is a product not of Washington but of the Trump Organization, a marble-walled universe where one's delightful agreeability and ferocious loyalty are worth more than conventional experience. She is a hugger and a people pleaser, with long brown hair and green eyes, a young woman of distinctly all-American flavor—the sort that inspires Tom Petty songs, not riots. And yet Hicks has, almost by accident, helped architect the strangest and least polite campaign in modern American history.

I wanted Hicks to help me understand just how all this had come to pass, how a person who'd never worked in politics had nonetheless become the most improbably important operative in this election. But she declined my request to talk. Instead, she arranged something more surreal: I could talk about her with Donald Trump, in front of her.

Trump, of course, has little experience with subjects other than Trump, which he made clear when I asked him about Hicks's quick ascent to his inner circle. “Bill O'Reilly last night said it is the greatest political event in his lifetime,” Trump said, exaggerating O'Reilly's point. “The most incredible political event in his lifetime! That's pretty big. You know, who knew this was going to happen? So…” He pivoted, reluctantly, to the topic at hand. “Hope's been involved from the beginning, and she has been absolutely terrific.”

Hicks's job—a sui generis role of outsize importance that she half invents on the fly—involves keeping the media at bay and operating as Trump's chief gatekeeper. But she's also summoned in critical moments of confusion to play instigator and score-settler. It was her job to facilitate Trump's rebuke of the Pope after His Holiness questioned the Christianity of anybody who would build a border wall (kind of Trump's thing). And it was she who helped malign a female reporter who'd been manhandled by Trump's campaign manager, immediately claiming she was a lying attention hound. Hicks was also called on this spring to explain why Trump, over the course of three days, advocated four positions on abortion. She tried without success to quell the confusion, declaring, finally, that President Trump would end abortion, simple as that: “He will change the law through his judicial appointments and allow the states to protect the unborn.”

Still, for all the grenades Hicks has to both jump on and lob, it's a more quotidian skill set that seems to impress the boss. “If you see her phone going”—he raised both hands and mimicked Hicks answering several devices—“ ‘This is Hope. This is Hope. This is Hope.’ ” He hung up the make-believe phones. “She gets a call a minute, probably,” he said, seemingly pleased with this antiquated barometer of his own popularity...

WARNING! 'Game of Thrones' Spoilers!

WARNING: Spoilers ahead. Click away if you haven't seen this week's "Game of Thrones" episode!

*****

I don't DVR shows. My wife does.

If I wanna watch something I prefer to watch it when it goes live. I watch shows on a real TV. I don't stream and I don't record. I've got no time for all that. I'm not much of a television person beyond news and sports. The exception is the cable movie channels, which I love to have, even if I don't watch as many flicks as I should to justify the subscriptions. Call it luxury of affluence, or something, heh.

In any case, for the shows that I do like to watch, like "Game of Thrones," I need to stay off Twitter on Sunday nights.

Jamie Kirchick killed the climax for me last night. Sheesh:

For a minute there I was going to say Ramsay Bolton's demise wasn't sufficiently sadistic.
— (((Jamie Kirchick))) (@jkirchick) June 20, 2016

And if you want a full summary and analysis (with spoilers), click on Heat Street, "Everyone Loved ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Episode 9, but I Hated It. Here’s Why."

Omar Mateen's Family Should Be Under Arrest

They should all be behind bars, IMHO. From Robert Spencer, at FrontPage Magazine:

Arrest the Widow, Investigate the Family https://t.co/rLnI53jFt0 via @JihadWatchRS #Orlando
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 20, 2016

Noor Salman, the wife of Omar Mateen, the Orlando gay nightclub jihad mass murderer, has gone missing, and with good reason: she explodes the idea that Mateen was a “lone wolf” terrorist. She should be arrested – but now she is gone.

Salman witnessed him selling his house to his brother-in-law for $10 – a clear indication that the couple knew jihad was in the offing. She has admitted to law enforcement authorities that she and her husband had recently been “scouting Downtown Disney and Pulse [the nightclub where the jihad massacre took place] for attacks.” Mateen texted her during his massacre, asking if she had seen the news; she responded that she loved him.

As authorities deliberated over whether or not to arrest her, Salman herself showed more dispatch. Last Wednesday, the killer’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, told reporters that Salman was “no longer here.”

No one seems to have asked Seddique Mateen himself where she has gone, but he probably knows. There are, after all, numerous indications that he may not be as upset about his son’s jihad massacre as he has claimed: he is an open supporter of the Taliban, and the morning after the murders, he posted online a video in which he claims that he was “not aware what motivated” Omar to “go into a gay club and kill 50 people,” but then he adds: “God will punish those involved in homosexuality,” as it is “not an issue that humans should deal with.”

Despite Seddique Mateen’s professed puzzlement over his son’s actions and denial that Omar had been “radicalized,” is it really any wonder that a man who grew up in a household in which the Taliban were held up as positive role models would turn out to be a jihad terrorist? Omar Mateen is known to have cheered at school when al-Qaeda flew planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001; is it likely that his father, a supporter of al-Qaeda’s allies and collaborators the Taliban, rebuked him for doing so?

While not revealing where Noor Salman is, the family issued a statement saying: “Noor is completely innocent and [was] unaware of the attacks.” It added the claim that she is unable to comprehend “cause and effect.” The mainstream media, always anxious to exonerate Islam from responsibility for the crimes done in its name and in accord with its teachings, even dragged out Salman’s middle school teacher to say: “Noor had difficulty with retention, she had difficulty with conceptualizing, understanding, all challenges to her. She tried hard. She was very sweet.”

So, they're going with the fucking retard defense.

That's a new one, I guess. Desperate, but new.

More at that top link.

Folks Hit the Beach on Sunday to Beat the Heat (VIDEO)

It's supposed to be 100 in Irvine today. It got up to 96 yesterday.

Great time to get outside and get into the water.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Terror Attack in Orlando Re-Exposes Great American Divide

From Salena Zito, at RCP:

SMITHTON, PA - Gunshots echoed across the mountains hugging the valley cut by the Youghiogheny River as anglers, boaters, bikers and day-hikers enjoyed the Great Allegheny Passage recreational area between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

A group of men in their mid-30s, dressed in biking shorts and jerseys, stood around a gazebo built for travelers on the 300-mile trail, discussing where to end their day. The gunfire horrified them — but not in a duck-we're-under-attack way. Their reactions ranged from ridicule to misunderstanding to disgust and concluded with an assumption that they were unsafe around “these people” and it was time to move along.

In truth, the shots came from a local sportsmen's club. Most people around here consider the club members to be among the region's premier conservators; they stock the river every spring, lead clean-up crews along the trail, keep the deer population contained with their hunting and donate venison to needy families who can live off the meat of one buck for more than a year.

Theirs is a tradition passed from father to son. They don't own AR-15s but will defend your right to do so — not because they think people should have semi-automatic weapons but because they see gun ownership as one of our freedoms that Main Street America is ceding to cosmopolitan elites.

On Monday, as the motives and the blame for the Orlando massacre were dissected by “experts” on CNN, a successful Pittsburgh businessman called, distressed by the media coverage.

“Why do they make me feel as though I am somehow to blame for this?” he asked.

He is white, middle-aged, a gun owner, a devout Catholic and, despite his success and widespread respect for his generosity, he felt he heard a “Shame on you!” message from President Obama on down.

Everyone, he said, appeared to blame the tragedy in Orlando on guns, bigots, racism and people whose religious beliefs do not support gay marriage (but likely could care less if someone is gay): “It was like a series of code-words aimed at Middle America.”

Obama, many Democrats and much of the political class always come across as not being on Main Street's side. It is a feeling that makes Americans feel frustrated, ostracized, unsafe. And it adds to that disconnect that pundits always bemoan yet perversely contribute to by piling on against the “otherness” of traditional American culture.

Obama inserted politics into his passionless initial reaction to the Orlando slaughter; a day later, passion emerged only when he attacked Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. In both instances, he blamed Republicans for not passing a semi-automatic weapons ban and a ban on weapons sales to suspected terrorists on the nation's no-fly list.

The last time I checked, Democrats controlled Congress and the presidency in 2009 and 2010 and they never allowed either of those measures to go to the House or Senate floor for a vote...

Keep reading.

Donald Trump Fires Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski

This is breaking.

At USA Today:

#BREAKING Corey Lewandowski is out as Donald Trump’s campaign manager https://t.co/NAd7H4gGNH
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) June 20, 2016

And originally from Maggie Haberman, at NYT:

Donald Trump is replacing his embattled campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, ahead of a tough general election race https://t.co/i4BQ4NspZh
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) June 20, 2016

Santa Barbara Sherpa Fire Still Raging Out of Control

This is a nasty, nasty fire.

Watch, at KEYT News 3 Santa Barbara, "Day 4 of fire fight in Scherpa comes to a close," and "West Goleta Residents Told to Think About Preparing."

And at the Santa Barbara Independent, "Scherpa Fire: Sunday Afternoon Update."

And from the Santa Barbara County Information Officer, incredible photos from the other day, when the fire jumps the 101 Freeway near Refugio:

#SherpaFire a tractor-trailer drives past flames in the center divider of US 101 at El Capitan State Park. pic.twitter.com/Z9m9ChHYeO
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) June 17, 2016

#SherpaFire wind driven flames move down hillside near El Capitan State Park. pic.twitter.com/rZxRpPV2e8
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) June 17, 2016

#SherpaFire a skycrane helicopter makes a drop on the US 101 center divider at El Capitan State Park. pic.twitter.com/wE0AhAQmZ5
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) June 17, 2016

#SherpaFire firefighters take shelter behind the engine as flames advance on them along near El Capitan State Beach. pic.twitter.com/wj5OHmLKUi
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) June 17, 2016

It's still early on the West Coast. More triple-digit temperatures are expected, and this fire is burning in parts of the Santa Ynez outback, where there's few if any service roads.

Showdown Over Gun Control This Week on Capitol Hill

It's astonishing that our politics have come to this.

All of these terror attacks simply do not raise gun control issues.

At WSJ, "Lawmakers Set for New Showdown on Guns":

WASHINGTON—Republicans and Democrats are headed for a new showdown over gun control this week as lawmakers sort through four proposals on the divisive issue in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre.

The Senate will vote Monday on provisions to limit access to weapons for people on the government’s terrorist watch lists and expand background checks. One Republican-sponsored measure to delay gun sales to buyers on a watch list has secured support from the National Rifle Association.

None of the proposals is likely to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome Senate hurdles. But some momentum was already building for a bipartisan compromise led by Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) to prevent people on the government’s no-fly list from buying firearms while still offering a route to appeal those decisions.

Omar Mateen, the gunman in the Orlando shooting that left 49 dead, was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013 and 2014 and was placed on the terror watch list. But he was removed when authorities couldn’t find evidence to continue the investigations.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Federal Bureau of Investigation plans to release Monday a partial transcript of the 911 calls from the gunman inside the nightclub. But she said the transcript won’t include what Mateen said about his support for Islamic State.

“What we’re not going to do is further proclaim this individual’s pledges of allegiance to terrorist groups and further his propaganda,” she said on NBC Sunday.

The Justice Department didn’t clarify what exactly Mateen said about terror or Islamic State.

The heated election season adds another wrinkle to the political maneuvering in the wake of Orlando. Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump last week broke with many in his party by supporting an outright ban on gun sales to people on terror watch lists. Democrats are intensifying their focus on terror watch lists alongside other measures such as expanded background checks. While Republicans in some tight Senate races might benefit from reaching a deal, such a move could also spark a backlash from conservative voters and from gun-rights groups.

Any gun-control measure would need to overcome significant hurdles, including winning support in the Republican-controlled House...

The administration's memory-holing of 9/11 is outrageous and reprehensible.

That said, I doubt the proposal on the terror watch list restrictions is going to fly. There's too many good, decent people who'll be banned from buying firearms because of bureaucratic screw-ups. Just a week or so ago, Dana Loesch's step-father was detained and questioned at the airport over a mistaken name. It's just not going to work.

Markets Soar After Poll Suggests Britain Will Stay in European Union

Hmm. It's just one poll?

Maybe traders are really jonesin' for the U.K. to stay?

At WSJ, "Global Stocks Soar After Poll Suggests U.K. Will Remain in EU":

Stocks, sterling and oil soared at the start of the week after polls suggested the U.K. was more likely to vote to remain in the European Union in Thursday’s referendum than previously expected.

The Stoxx Europe 600 jumped 3.7%, on track for its best day since August, while the British pound surged more than 2% against the dollar to as high as $1.4674.

Futures pointed to a 1.3% opening gain for the S&P 500. Changes in futures markets don't necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell

“We’re in this sort of frenzied period where Brexit is front and center,” said Bob Doll, senior portfolio manager at Nuveen Asset Management.

A survey published in the Mail on Sunday showed that 45% of respondents backed the U.K. staying in the trade bloc, compared with 42% in favor of leaving. The poll-of-polls, averaging the last six polls in the U.K. vote, returned to 50/50, suggesting growing momentum for the “remain camp” in the referendum...

Keep reading.

There's no mention of the Jo Cox murder, but no doubt ghoulish British leftists will continue to exploit the poor woman's death.

FLASHBACK: From 2004, "Postcard from Britain: Immigration Is Hot Issue as Elections Approach."

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Father's Day

Sorry for the light posting.

My younger sister was here on Friday, and then yesterday my mom came for Father's Day. We went out to B.J.'s in Irvine for a wonderful dinner last night.

I've been hanging out watching sports all day today, with the exception of an afternoon excursion to Barnes and Noble, where I picked up a copy of the new book out from Eric Metaxas, If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.

I'm also halfway through Roger Scruton's, Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left. Scruton's an absolutely stellar writer, and the book's excellent. It's heavy duty scholarship, though, so not a quick read. But his command of the literature is breathtaking, and he's just merciless in skewering all the neo-Marxist postmodernist pap.

On the sporting front, the Angels have been outstanding this weekend, especially the pitching. Both offense and defense have been great too, especially yesterday, with the Halos taking the Athletics 7-1. Tim Lincecum made his major league comeback, picking up the win, although this Sports Illustrated piece just savages him as a hollow shell of his old self.

Today Jared Weaver had a pretty amazing outing, a 2-0 shutout over the A's. I don't know how great or not it was according to all the sophisticated metrics of professional analysts, but it was nice to see Weaver pitch the complete game for the win, clearly rekindling some badly needed confidence for a pitcher who's also seen better days.

LAT's Pedro Moura was impressed, in any case:

Attended two sporting events in Oakland today. This is a story about the less lit one. Jered Weaver threw a shutout. https://t.co/PAX59kZq3W
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 20, 2016

And the first man in the majors to throw a Maddux in 2016 is Jered Weaver, because you can’t predict baseball and, really, you shouldn’t try
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 19, 2016

The Angels beat Oakland, 2-0. Jered Weaver threw a CG. At 2:19, it was their shortest non-Kershaw game of the year. That’s what you want.
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 19, 2016

Jered Weaver’s 23rd out was his first strikeout. He has only thrown 85 pitches through 8 scoreless innings. This is a remarkable performance
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 19, 2016

Jered Weaver has now thrown seven scoreless innings without striking anyone out. Last man to do that was Rick Porcello in July 2014.
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 19, 2016

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Deal of the Day: Save on Outdoor Lounge Sets from Hanover

At Amazon, a great time to be outdoors, Hanover Metropolitan 5-Piece Outdoor Lounge Set.

Also, Save Big on Select Yamaha Bluetooth Receivers.

More, Duduma® Polarized Fashion Designer Sports Sunglasses for Cycling Running Baseball Fishing Tr628 Superlight Frame.

And, Bluetooth Headphones, HaMi Noise Cancelling Headset Wireless Stereo Earbuds with Microphone Gym Running Sports Sweatproof for Android IOS Devices.

Plus, San Francisco Bay OneCup, Fog Chaser, 80 Single Serve Coffees.

Still more, from Kenneth C. Davis, Don't Know Much About History, Anniversary Edition: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned.

BONUS: William C. Davis, The American Frontier: Pioneers, Settlers, and Cowboys 1800-1899.

Kristen Keogh's Triple-Digit Weekend Forecast

Well, it won't be too bad if you're down by the seashore.

Otherwise, if you're out and about, be sure to drink plenty of water.

Here's Ms. Kristen, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

Antje Utgaard Dances in Her Underwear and Skinny Dips (VIDEO)

Watch, at Playboy, "Antje Utgaard Dances in Her Underwear and Skinny Dips When Left Alone at the Playboy Mansion."

Plus, "Is Antje Utgaard the Next Kate Upton?"

She's got a crazy-hot Instagram feed, man.

'Frat-House' Culture: Oakland Loses Third Police Chief in 9 Days (VIDEO)

Why are Democrat-run cities such cesspits of toxic macho culture and racist sexual predation?

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Oakland police bombshells: Racist texts, latest chief steps down":

Oakland’s acting police chief Paul Figueroa stepped down Friday, becoming the third head of the Oakland Police Department to abruptly leave the top post in nine days, just as another bombshell dropped: A new internal investigation is under way, this time into racist text messages and emails shared among officers.

A visibly frustrated Mayor Libby Schaaf revealed the probe at a news conference Friday night that she began with a simple declaration: “I am here to run a police department, not a frat house.” With that, she disclosed that her city’s department, already engulfed in a sex scandal, was also being probed for racist communications that were “wholly inappropriate and not acceptable for anyone who wears the badge of the Oakland Police Department.”

The texts were sent by African American officers, Schaaf said. She would not give other details, including whether members of the police command staff were implicated, saying state law governing public release of police disciplinary matters prevented her from doing so.

Some of the officers being investigated were “engaging in hate speech,” and others were “tolerating it” by receiving offensive messages and not reporting them, Schaaf said. One text obtained by NBC news showed an image of a Ku Klux Klan member on a cereal box with the message, “Brad, I heard you got boxes of these in your cupboards.” Another text appeared to show the word, “N—.”

Well, maybe they should bring back Jerry Brown for another term as Oakland mayor? I mean, why not? He's on his fourth term as California's governor and we've still got a long way to fall!

Still more.

And note this part:

Meanwhile, the mayor has set her sights on significantly changing the department — ending what she says is a disgusting frat culture, even as the department has been under federal oversight for the last 13 years.

“We have a department with almost no women, no LGBT people, and a dramatic underrepresentation of people of color,” Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan told The Chronicle. She is pushing for reforms that would require Oakland’s police force to rethink its hiring and recruiting strategies.

Oh brother. I'm sure that "recruiting strategy" will really fix things right up. Might as well put out hiring feelers to Black Lives Matter activists!

RNC Promotes Report Accusing Democrat Party of Conspiring to Nominate Hillary Clinton

Well, that oughta piss off a few Bernie bros, heh.

At the New York Post, "Leaked document shows the DNC wanted Clinton from start" (via Memeorandum):

DNC was pushing HRC as candidate from May, 2015 of last year. #Guccifer2 pic.twitter.com/0rJcTspOvl
— Kick (@MatthewKick) June 16, 2016

The document, posted online by the hacker “Guccifer 2.0,” outlines ways to hit back at the GOP presidential field, such as “use specific hits to muddy the waters around ethics, transparency and campaign finance attacks on HRC.”

Heh, guilty much?

Paused EU Referendum Debate to Resume with Calls to Be More 'Respectful'

Who wasn't being "respectful"? The suspect in the Jo Cox murder, Tommy Mair, wasn't political and wasn't campaigning for Brexit. This is a made-up controversy. Made-up by desperate and demonic leftists who look like they're about to lose.

At the far-left Guardian:

Paused EU referendum debate to resume, but with a more respectful tone https://t.co/YKKYppqKPs
— The Guardian (@guardian) June 18, 2016

Clinton Snarks at Trump on Twitter

It'll be a full-blown Twitter campaign this election, which must say something about the extreme significance of social media, or of modern times, or something.

I just can't help that it feels kinda stupid, insignificant even. Or, it's just weird.

And notice the pro-Clinton tone at this Politico piece. Here's hoping that Donald Trump blows off all the demands that he become more "presidential." Those are leftist demands for "civility," as in "civility bullshit."

. @HillaryClinton, taking a new posture on Twitter, snarks at Trump https://t.co/l3pqLVnDEb | Getty pic.twitter.com/QWv0VkLzlB
— POLITICO (@politico) June 18, 2016

Ten-Point Swing to #Brexit in EU Referendum

The vote's scheduled for Thursday, June 23rd -- less than a week away.

Louise Mensch's thinks it's more than at ten-point swing, on Twitter:

The independent reports as a ten point swing to #Brexit what i think is a 20 point swing to #VoteLeave https://t.co/TdQcP6ENbX
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) June 18, 2016

U.S. Diplomats Slam Obama's Syria Policy, Call for Airstrikes on Assad Regime

From Austin Bay, at the Observer, "As Assad Continues to Wipe Out Syria, State Dept. Dissenters Confront Obama":

Dissenting State Department officials are demanding President Barack Obama wage war on the Assad dictatorship—which is a short step away from demanding regime change.

Late on June 16 The Wall Street Journal reported that the “near collapse” of the current ceasefire had spurred 51 “mid-to high-level State Department officers involved with advising on Syria policy” to sign a “dissent channel cable” calling on the Obama Administration to target Syria’s Assad regime with repeated “military strikes.”

At the moment, the article remains behind The Journal’s paywall, so I’ll include several extended quotes. Journal reporters who personally reviewed the cable described the document as “a scalding internal critique of a longstanding U.S. policy against taking sides in the Syrian war, a policy that has survived even though the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has been repeatedly accused of violating cease-fire agreements and Russian-backed forces have attacked U.S.-trained rebels.”

The dissenters argue “Failure to stem Assad’s flagrant abuses will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as Daesh, even as they endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield.” The Journal adds that Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The article provides excellent background information, noting the “Dissent Channel” is an authorized forum for expressing opposing views. It also quotes a former State Department official who acknowledged: “It’s embarrassing for the administration to have so many rank-and-file members break on Syria.” The dissent comes from “the heart” of the State Department bureaucracy—in other words, career, professional diplomats.

Yeah, and keep in mind the overwhelming majority of these "career professionals" at State are leftists. It's thus even doubly telling how disastrous this dissent is the for administration's policy.

More here.

And pay wall? What pay wall?

Just click through at the Google link to read the WSJ's piece, "U.S. State Department Officials Call for Strikes Against Syria's Assad."

Friday, June 17, 2016

The 'Never Trump' Murder-Suicide Pact

From David Horowitz, at Breitbart (via FrontPage Magazine):

My Breibart piece today:https://t.co/u27aJSDAJa
— David Horowitz (@horowitz39) June 17, 2016

Barack Obama delivers nuclear weapons and $150 billion to America’s mortal enemy in the Middle East – and every Democrat to a man and woman defends his betrayal; Hillary Clinton violates the Espionage Act and delivers classified secrets, including information on an impending drone attack, to America’s enemies – and every Democrat to a man and woman defends her. Obama and Clinton lie about matters of war and peace – and every progressive publicly swears they are telling the truth.

But when Donald Trump insinuates the president is a man of uncertain loyalties, Republican leaders back away from him. When Trump proposes fighting “radical Islam,” securing America’s borders, stopping unvetted immigration from Muslim terrorist states, surveilling mosques, and scrutinizing the families of terrorist actors, Republicans join Democrats in denouncing him, or take an uncomfortable distance or maintain a silence that leaves him to fend for himself.

The left is blaming Christians, Republicans, and guns for the Orlando slaughter. The president and Hillary are claiming that ISIS is on the run – a lie flatly contradicted by the CIA director himself. They want to disarm Americans. If Hillary is elected, borders will stay open, and protecting Muslims will take priority over fighting Islam’s holy war against us.

In other words, Democrat betrayers of America are on the attack, while Republican leaders who claim to be patriots are on the run. Where, to take one example, is Ted Cruz? He claims to be a patriot and care about the Constitution, but he is AWOL — sulking like Achilles in his tent over personal slights he can’t get past to fight for his country’s survival. The Republican leader of the Senate and his second-in-command have both announced they will not participate in the presidential election, while the leader of the House makes clear his extreme embarrassment over Trump’s proposals to establish immigration policies appropriate to a nation under siege. This is the sad state of the Republican forces in retreat in an election campaign that will decide the fate of our country.

There are actually two wars we are engaged in– one with the Islamic caliphate and the other with an American left that refuses to recognize the enemy we face or the magnitude and nature of the threat. In this internal war, too many on the right have taken a course whose only practical effect can be seen as a betrayal of their cause. Erick Erickson has summed up the view of the Republican renegades in this succinct phrase: “We are in the midst of a murder-suicide pact that will be our ruination.”

This is, in fact, a precise description of what the #NeverTrump right is up to. But in Erickson’s inversion of reality, it is “the Republican Party [that] intends to murder the nation and commit suicide along the way.” What Erickson and his fellow saboteurs, led by Mitt Romney and Bill Kristol, want is for the Republican Party to block Trump and repudiate the record number of Republican primary voters who nominated him. This would actually be a Republican suicide in November – one that would indeed “murder the nation.”

Although the defection of the Republican leadership from the field of battle is still ongoing, there has been a break in the ranks of the #NeverTrump spoilers. Two of their leading intellectual figures, Hugh Hewitt and Andy McCarthy, have finally come to realize not just the futility of their efforts but their destructiveness as well. For the sake of the nation, let’s hope that there are a lot more such reversals on the way.

Meanwhile, the really big problem remains that of the Republican leadership, which thinks that “We’re stuck with Trump but we won’t dump him!” is an appropriate battle cry. As we all know, the Democrats are vicious, unprincipled attack dogs with a kept and unprincipled media in their camp. Passivity in the face of this blitzkrieg is, in practice, no different than a white-flag surrender. Paul Ryan summed up Republican fatuity in his answers to media questions in the wake of Orlando about whether he’s still supporting Trump. Ryan’s answer: he would be defending Republican principles in this election. Well, Paul, principles aren’t running in this election. Candidates are. And unless Republicans rally around Trump, and Trump beats Hillary, Republican principles are going down with him.

PREVIOUSLY: "Hugh Hewitt: We Can't Dump #DonaldTrump."

Hugh Hewitt: We Can't Dump #DonaldTrump

This is great!

Hugh Hewitt's done an about-face on Donald Trump, and it's spectacular!

At WaPo, "Clinton’s the real risk. If we want to stop her, we can’t dump Trump":

With his undisciplined comments about federal district Judge Gonzalo Curiel the week before the attack in Orlando, Trump was losing ground and the confidence of many Republicans who have reluctantly backed him. But if he sticks with the tone and the focus of Monday’s speech, Republicans will stay with him. Despite endless talk of a mutiny within the GOP, if Trump can forcefully expose the weak leadership and serial failures of Obama and Clinton in the fight against terrorism — the central issue of our time — he will not only consolidate support, he will make any talk of an intra-party coup obsolete. On Monday, as he did throughout the primaries, Trump spoke to the Republican base and the undecided middle in a way no other candidate has.

When Trump said, “I will be meeting with the NRA” to “discuss how to ensure Americans have the means to protect themselves in this age of terror,” liberals may have blanched, but conservatives cheered. When he said, “I refuse to be politically correct,” he returned to the theme that powered him to the top of GOP polls. Promising to provide “our intelligence community, law enforcement and military with the tools they need to prevent terrorist attacks,” Trump sent the message that Clinton cannot, and will not, to a country demanding security.

It’s not just that voters give him a polling edge on national-security issues, it’s that this week he finally returned to what so many voters liked about him in the first place. He’s not a policy wonk, and he’s not an orator in the mold of Abraham Lincoln. But more than any other right-of-center politician, he relishes aggressively championing Republicans’ national-security priorities.

With Monday’s speech, a bookend to his strong words on religious liberty at Friday’s Faith & Freedom Coalition forum, Trump has returned to a winning message and walled off the assorted “never Trump” holdouts trying to upend his nomination. Although there’s been talk in recent weeks of implementing new rules at the Republican convention in Cleveland that would allow party leaders to replace Trump — talk that I’ve entertained — the appetite for that sort of drastic measure is gone. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) want no part of a coup, so there won’t be one. Yes, party rules allow for last minute rules changes and tricky procedural maneuvers. But for Republicans to root for a coup at this point would be more than just futile, it could be completely self-defeating. No Ryan, no McConnell, no mutiny. Period.

Despite reservations, Ryan, McConnell and others have judged the cost of trying to make a change at the top of the GOP ticket to be higher than the cost of betting that Trump will ultimately see that his path to the White House is a return to big themes — not small arguments and inflammatory rhetoric. They understand that Republicans have to stick with Trump if they want to avoid capitulating to Clinton, who has demonstrated again and again that she is unfit to lead — and, that at this stage, Trump alone can run successfully against her. If Ryan and McConnell have wagered wrong, we’ll soon know. But events of the past few days suggest that they are right.

Clinton can’t respond effectively to Trump’s blunt assessment of terrorist threats because Americans know that her positions over the years — on Egypt, Iraq, Syria and especially Libya — have directly contributed to the dangers we face.

Trump is positioned to make the case that Clinton’s cavalier approach to State Department email security has compromised her ability to combat terrorism, particularly if, according to new reports, she discussed sensitive operations, such as planned drone strikes, via non-secure communications. He is positioned to make the case that, according to former CIA deputy director Michael Morell, our adversaries’ intelligence services could “have everything on any unclassified network that the government uses,” including hers — meaning that anyone who sent her anything may have been compromised as well.

Trump will make sure that the Clintons’ serial scandals: the Clinton foundation’s questionable dealings, the appointment of an unqualified Clinton ally to the International Security Advisory Board and obscene multimillion-dollar payments made to former president Bill Clinton as “honorary chancellor” of for-profit Laureate International Universities, are never far from voters’ minds. Add in the latest revelation of the Russians’ hack of the Democratic National Committee’s computers, and the public’s concern over the former secretary’s at-home server skyrockets.

CBS News May Have Broken Federal Law with 'Straw Purchase' of AR-15 (VIDEO)

And the pathetic thing is that Mateen didn't use and AR-15. He used a Sig Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle.

At Free Beacon, "Store Owner: Undercover CBS Purchase of AR-15 Broke Federal Law."

Hat Tip: Dana Loesch.

West Hollywood #ShootBack Posters

This story made the local news last night, which is great!

Via Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "EXCLUSIVE: GROUP BEHIND #SHOOTBACK POSTERS SAYS GAY COMMUNITY CAN’T PROTECT FAMILIES IF ELECTED OFFICIALS DISARM THEM."

At ABC News 7 Los Angeles and the L.A. Times:

Posters saying #shootback appearing in parts of West Hollywood https://t.co/J283nAyHnh pic.twitter.com/H55VmN4GX7
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 16, 2016

West Hollywood plastered with rainbow #ShootBack signs https://t.co/cOnYRdCv32 pic.twitter.com/8AKplhOitb
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 16, 2016

Jo Cox: Best of Britain

From the lovely Louise Mensch, at Heat Street, "Jo Cox MP Was the Best of Britain. Politicising Her Death is the Worst":

Jo Cox MP Was the Best of Britain. Politicising Her Death is the Worst | Heat Street https://t.co/zqJkLCE7zB pic.twitter.com/MSZJBVQjpJ
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) June 17, 2016

Jo Cox’s killing has stunned the nation. A new MP, passionate about her job, her family and her children, is gunned down at a surgery where she is trying to help people.

Every one of us must have our hearts broken. The worst of it is imagining, or trying to imagine, the pain of her little ones, just three and five.

Jo was just 41. She was a woman in the prime of her life, a politician of great promise....

The Vote Leave campaign bears no responsibility – none – not the tiniest sliver – for any part of what happened to Jo Cox MP, and neither do its supporters. Anybody suggesting that at this grief-stricken moment should be treated with the most profound contempt.

Be sure to RTWT.

Who would have thought serving in parliament would be such a dangerous job?

Thursday, June 16, 2016

The Political Establishment Will Exploit the Murder of Jo Cox to Kill Brexit

From Paul Joseph Watson, at InfoWars, "'Not all Muslims' Crowd Will Blame All 'Vote Leave' Conservatives for Shooting of MP":

The shooting of Labour MP Jo Cox will be swiftly exploited by the political establishment and blamed on those who want to limit immigration and vote to leave the European Union.

Mother of three Cox, who supported the ‘Vote Remain’ campaign, was stabbed and shot in her constituency near Leeds today.

The killer reportedly shouted “Britain first” during the incident, although Maria Eagle MP, one of the most prominent people to make this claim, has since deleted her tweet about it.

When another eyewitness was asked if he heard “Britain first” being shouted, he responded that he “never heard that”.

Another eyewitness told Breitbart’s Raheem Kassam that he didn’t hear the words either.

It has since emerged that the man has received treatment for mental illness and was in receipt of “psychotherapy and medication”. He also “had no political views” and no opinion on the EU referendum.

However, the facts don’t really matter to the left, who scream “Not All Muslims!” after every Islamist attack, but will immediately exploit the death of Jo Cox to frame ‘Vote Leave’ supporters as dangerous extremists.